James Spencer 16 Year Old High School Trans Student Barred From Men's Room

James can't quite understand what the hold up is.

According to news reports he has been denied the use of the public facilities that correspond with his gender expression by the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. . That discriminatory policy is in stark contrast to the welcoming environment established by the nearby Toronto School board.

James has gathered signatures on a petition from over half of the students at the school asking that he be allowed to use the men's room. Seem's simple enough.

But the school continues to drag their feet saying they need time to evaluate the situation and educate the students. In the mean time they have segregated James further acerbating his situation. Seems the students are trying to educate the board. If only they'd listen.

More at The Star.com

Standing UP4 St8 Older Republican Cross Dressers

"Older Republican Cross Dressers", a unsuccesfull Kickstarter public fund raiser framed as an Avant-garde project, going where no respectable film maker has dared, but enduring that steamy side, the living rooms of old cross dressers to understand why, just why do they do it.

Hope they find what they are searching for...

"The liberals have no clue" says one heterosexual Republican cross dresser. "I'm a patriot" says another  transvestite explaining why he's a Republican and I guess in some way why he's allowing himself to be filmed.

I'm down with it so far. Everyone should have the right express there gender and or sexuality.

OK but this is different. The trailer seems to intent to educate amuse/humiliate a la Jerry Springer exhibiting older conservative transvestites in compromising bar scenes.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I was proud of the Republican special forces guy. Yes, you and I have vastly different political beliefs but we were in the Army for the same reasons.

I never asked any of my fellow soldiers about there political beliefs and I never asked any of the cross dressers about that who attended a Church in Fort Worth I used to go to. I'm sure many were politically Conservative, but so what?

I do know they were courageous intelligent older cisgender hetero men. I learned that  when they invited the police chief to the one meeting I was invited to. They had a great conversation with him about their unique concerns should they be stopped en fem.

It's a sucker

Click Here to Watch the Old Republican Cross Dressers
Obuchoska and filmmaker Mark Brady made the natural melding of conservatism and gender diversity the focus of this fund raiser and want 18 grand to finish ridiculing asking. As of Nov 10 2012 with three days left on the Kickstarter project they have only raised about a grand. Wonder why.

More at The Villager

I'm sure the Radphlegms could cough up with some cash, if they only knew.

And Kickstarter turned down my project to document the 2012 Moscow Pride?

Demand Inclusion of LGBT Rights in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional organization established in 1967 comprised of countries in the South East Asia region.
In 2009, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) was formed to promote and protect the human rights of people in the region and was tasked to formulate the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, which aimed to standardize all human rights of all people in the Southeast region of Asia.

•Five member countries have laws that target and criminalize transgender women for ‘cross dressing’: Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Further more...

•Six member countries of ASEAN have laws criminalizing same sex activities between mutually consenting adults: Brunei, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore, Philippines (in Marawi City), Indonesia (in South Sumatera province).

•None of the 10 member countries of ASEAN have national anti-discrimination laws to protect people of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity or other minorities and vulnerable groups.

"The only glimpse the public and civil society groups have had of the proposed declaration was by way of a leaked document" Jakarta Post 

The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration does not include or recognize the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) persons.

"Civil society groups gathered in Phnom Penh last week argued that time was running out to rid the proposed draft of clauses that would restrict peoples’ rights rather than protecting and enhancing them."

Since it’s conception, LGBT groups have been demanding the inclusion of human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration but our demands have fallen on deaf ears. This is a clear sign by the member countries of ASEAN that they do not recognize the existence of LGBTIQ persons and have no interest in protecting and promoting the human rights of LGBTIQ persons in this region.

 

Take Action!  Stand in Solidarity with the ASEAN LGBT Caucus and IGLHRC in demanding the inclusion of LGBT Rights in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration!

Malala Yousafzai's Khushhal Classmates Celebrate Her UN Day

As Malala recoveres from her injuries in the UK and thanks the global community for their prayers and support, United Nations has also declared November 10 to be celebrated globally as Malala Day.
As the world salutes this young hero's courage, young girls from her home town Swat also have messages for Malala.

Published on Nov 8, 2012 by United Nations 

United Nations, New York, November 8 2012 - Malala Yousafzai is a global symbol of every girl's right to an education. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon adds his voice to the messages from over 1 million people across the globe.

Text of the Secretary-General video message in support of Malala Yousafzai and Girls' education:

Malala Yousafzai is a global symbol of every girl's right to an education.
On November 10th, citizens from across the globe are speaking out for Malala and on behalf of the 61 million children still not in school.
My Special Envoy for Global Education, Mr. Gordon Brown, will deliver a petition in support of Malala and the universal right to education. I am adding my voice to the messages from over 1 million people across the globe.
Education is a fundamental human right. It is a pathway to development, tolerance and global citizenship.
Join us in our campaign to put education first -- for Malala and girls and boys throughout the world.

Oregon Transgender Mayor Stu Rasmussen Wins Fifth Term!

Congratulations goes out to gender rebel Stu who won his fifth term  as mayor of Silverton Oregon. They love Stu now as much as when Stu was was almost protested by the Westboro Baptist Church.

Meet Stacie Laughton, New Hampshire's First Transgender Law Maker

The United States of America's fit's of growth just blossomed with this election. All across the country religion freedoms were honored, minorities rights protected but none more extraordinary for trans people (with the exception of the reelection of Obama) than this.

Stacie Laughton told the Nashua Telegraph  she hopes other LGBT people will be inspired by her win and will run for office also.

But as ground breaking as this is Stacie told the Telegraph she will remained focused on  "advocating for the homeless, those in low-income housing, and those with mental illnesses and physical disabilities. She also said she would like to strengthen the public school system."

I am inspired Stacie, not just by your win but by what you see as important. Great job and congratulations!

San Francisco On Track To Pay For Uninsured Resident's SRS Starting Fall 2013

San Francisco California may soon become the first US city to provide Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS)  to its uninsured residents according to the minutes of  November 6 2012 meeting of the Department of Health.

The City's Board of Supervisors resolution calling for the removal of the exclusion of SRS from the Cities "Healthy San Fransisco" regulations was favorably received by the Health Commission who published this memorandum.

The Health commission has put into motion the machinery necessary to make this happen by publishing a resolution, yet to be approved pending studies, to enable the city Hospital the funding and protocols necessary for this surgery.

This is truly a historical moment in our march towards equality. Major Kudos to all who are making this happen.

As a side note, I hope my city of Fort Worth will take notice of this, since they adopted all of the 20 recommendations made in the wake of the Rainbow Lounge Raid with the exception of one,

Funding for SRS 

Such a missed opportunity! Texas are you going to be OK being 2nd best? There's still time to be the first! Enact all of the 20 recommendations, not just 19!

Class Action Lawsuit To Make Sweden Pay For Decades of Forced Sterilization Of Trans

Its Payback Time in Sweden!
[VIA TGEU'S TRANS-INFO-EUROPE EMAIL LIST]

"A coalition of Sweden's LGBTQ and Trans* organizations have joined forces to bring justice to Trans* and Gender Variant people in Sweden. In an outstanding class action law suite under the leadership of civil rights attorney Kerstin Burman the Swedish Government will finally have to face the cost for the forced sterilizations of Trans* and Gender Variant Swedish citizens who for decades have to undergo sterilization and in order to enjoy the basic human right have their gender legally recognized."

"Attorney Kerstin Burman will represent the claims of well over 100 victims of forced sterilization in Sweden. The Swedish Government has as a result of an earlier legal action accepted to pay compensation to the victims of forced sterilization between 1935 and 1975. The victims were mainly Roma and Traveler women as well as persons with disabilities and single unmarried women with low income. I'm proud to say that I'm joining my fellow Trans* and Gender Variant victims in this legal battle. Finally the time has come for the Sweden to pay for decades of injustice and human rights violations to our people!"

Ms. Maria Sundin
BSc SW

Member of the Board RFSL - the National Federation for LGBT Rights
Co-chair Transgender Europe
WPATH Membership Committee
Global Forum for MSM and HIV - Transgender Reference Group

[11/7/2012]

Source: Yahoo group transgender news message 76395

"In Sweden most transgender individuals are denied the right to change their legal gender. Under the provisions of the present law, Lagen om fastställelse av könstillhörighet i vissa fall ( SFS 1972: 119) only those individuals who have undergone treatment by one of the six regional gender teams will be granted the right to change their birth gender.

According to this law the applicant must be a Swedish citizen, unmarried and sterile and above the age of 18. With the application a statement by the treating psychiatrist must be submitted that the patient meets the criteria in WHO ICD-10 F.64.0 and that this condition has prevailed since the patients youth. This is in effect a stricter diagnostic criteria than that present in the ICD-10." - Transgender Health Sweden

Incredibly, today's enlightened Europe is still the dark ages for trans people as 17 countries STILL require sterilization before one's gender identity is officially recognized.

This is nothing less than genocide.

 AutoStraddle Feb 2012

I Was ReTweeted By MTV

 

I Was  Retweeted by MTV who I retweeted in a obvious self promotional name dropping stunt. Reminds me of Dire Straights (another name drop)  I can't stop..... I need it for free...

MTV:: Against Me! Share Details of “Killer” New Album 

WHATS ALL THIS NAM$E DROPPING ABOUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD?

Just the hottest fucking licks to hit in YEARS!

Barack Obama Is Reelected! LGBT Progresives Win National Agenda

From: Barack Obama to Kelli Busey

"How this happened"

I'm about to go speak to the crowd here in Chicago, but I wanted to thank you first.

I want you to know that this wasn't fate, and it wasn't an accident. You made this happen.
You organized yourselves block by block. You took ownership of this campaign five and ten dollars at a time. And when it wasn't easy, you pressed forward.

I will spend the rest of my presidency honoring your support, and doing what I can to finish what we started.

But I want you to take real pride, as I do, in how we got the chance in the first place.

Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests.

There's a lot more work to do.

But for right now: Thank you.

Barack



Via Al Jazeera "Barack Obama storms to second term"

Barack Obama has won the US presidential election, defeating his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

The incumbent president has captured at least 303 electoral votes - more than the majority of 270 required for victory in Tuesday's quadrennial election.

During his victory speech in Chicago, Obama said that "the task of perfecting our union moves forward".

"We are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation," he said. "We know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come."

All I can say is thank god. Thank God for Obama, the man who has directed this country on a progressive path, the man who told the Social Security Department to stop harassing my employer because Ohio refuses to amend trans people's birth certificates, thank god that I can keep this job I have fought so hard for.

Thank god for America.

TVC Throws *Bibles In Attack Against Transgender Teachers.

*Unread Bibles

The "Traditional Values Coalition" (TVC)fearful of losing presence in Congress has come out swinging wildly against our allies in both Houses.

TVC Press Release: ENDA Hurts Kids: "H.R. 1397/S. 811, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), is radical legislation that hurts kids and forces schools to hire or retain transgendered teachers in every school district in America -- granting them protected minority status. ENDA is also a clear violation of the religious liberties and rights of conscience of Christian business owners."

  Lies, misinformation and hate mongering. The truth about HR1397.

1. ENDA does not 'force' anyone to hire transgender people, it only disallows discrimination based on our gender expression and identity. The most qualified will continue to be hired and retained.

2. ENDA does not violate religious liberties, it protects all religions as it should.

Miss Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) spokesperson Andrea Lafferty, here's the dictionary definition of Inapplicable  which is what ENDA is to religious institutions.

3. The..."conscience of Christian business owners".. who actually read the Bible will be positively affected by ENDA. The Bible speaks about transgender people three times affirming us as gods children. God did. Jesus Christ did and after Jesus ascension to heaven the Holy Spirit acted directing a conservative pastor to baptize a black transgender person so others would know.

ENDA only affects people with boundless hatred, obviously not Christian people.

This is clearly a malicious attack not by a follower of Christ but by a very evil, evil person.

"True The Vote" Training THUGS to Target Trans As Fraudulent Voters

The image to the left was distributed as a teaching aid to "True The Vote" poll watchers thugs who were instructed to be on the look out something that doesn't seem right....... nudge, nudge them transsexuals ya know ha ha snort gimme another beer partecting OurMerica makes me thursty burrrp.



According to Mara Keilsing,  NCTE Executive Director “It is disgraceful that True the Vote would try to thug anyone into not voting. True the Vote’s true agenda is a shameful attempt to scare trans people away from participating in our democracy.”

In case you are challenged, be prepared by bringing NCTE’s “Voting While Trans Checklist” with you when you vote. The Checklist includes a message from NCTE to poll workers clarifying possible questions they may have about your identification.


If a poll worker or poll watcher attempts to deny you a ballot, call the National Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) immediately.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

ABC's "Hit and Miss" Dumps On Transgender Again. But This Time It's Our Moms They Attack.

It takes contemptuous awareness of a minorities sensitivities to do the damage ABC tried to do with Work it and continues to do with Hit and Miss down under.

And it keeps getting worst by the episode.

From Australian Broadcasting Cooperation, ABC2, more pain.

Episode Synopsis
Episode 2 9:30pm Monday, November 12 2012:
"Riley (Karla Crome) reluctantly agrees for Mia (Chloe Sevigny) to take Leonie (Roma Christensen) to a ballet class. Surrounded by real mothers Mia feels out of place."

My take on episode 2....Of course Mia would feel out of place, maybe even embarrassed to have her worthlessness exposed so vividly. How could she, a pre operative transgender pretender ever live up to the standards set by real mothers, dick or no dick?

Supposing we yank Chloe and put in someone else...

Episode 2
Riley (Karla Crome) reluctantly agrees for Mia (Michell Obama) to take Leonie (Roma Christensen) to a ballet class. Surrounded by real mothers Mia feels out of place.

My take on the rewritten Episode 2? Of course Mia would feel out of place, maybe even embarrassed to have her worthlessness exposed so vividly. How could she, a black woman pretend ever to live up to the standards set by white mothers?

The second scenarios not entertaining, amusing or even acceptable. Why? Because black people would burn your pathetic little ABC house down, that's why.

I think we should burn your pathetic little ABC house down for doing what you are to transgender people.

We are human beings of equal worth regardless of our plumbing just as cisgender people are. Treat us as such. Period.


You can convey your love of our moms to the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation using their contact form by clicking here.

The Australian Anti-Discrimination Board isn't taking any more complaints blaming it on a 'lack of resources. That's news to me. They were before when we recently complained to them about Tevor Ashley's play titled "trAnnie" which was subsequently appropriately retitled  "trAshley".

Dar Williams "When I was A Boy"

I won’t forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand


I said I was a boy; I’m glad he didn’t check.

I learned to fly, I learned to fight

I lived a whole life in one night

We saved each other’s lives out on the pirate’s deck.



And I remember that night

When I’m leaving a late night with some friends

And I hear somebody tell me it’s not safe,

someone should help me

I need to find a nice man to walk me home.



When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom,

Climbed what I could climb upon

And I don’t know how I survived,

I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew.



And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too.



I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike

Riding topless, yeah, I never cared who saw.

My neighbor came outside to say, “Get your shirt,”

I said “No way, it’s the last time I’m not breaking any law.”



And now I’m in this clothing store, and the signs say less is more

More that’s tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me

That can’t help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat



When I was a boy, See that picture? That was me

Grass-stained shirt and dusty knees

And I know things have gotta change,

They got pills to sell, they’ve got implants to put in,

they’ve got implants to remove



But I am not forgetting…that I was a boy too



And like the woods where I would creep, it’s a secret I can keep

Except when I’m tired, ‘cept when I’m being caught off guard

And I’ve had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way

To catching fire-flies out in the backyard.



And so I tell the man I’m with about the other life I lived

And I say, “Now you’re top gun, I have lost and you have won”

And he says, “Oh no, no, can’t you see



When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked

And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked.

And I could always cry, now even when I’m alone I seldom do

And I have lost some kindness

But I was a girl too.

And you were just like me, and I was just like you”

By Dar Williams 

White Wash Won't Fix Transgender Utah DMV Problem

Utah's Transgender Education Advocates (TEA)  ground breaking survey establishes that most gender diverse Utahans are fairly happy with the states driver licensing process.



Or are they? While many on the TEA Board of directors have resigned due to the fallout and the organization issued a public apology for "re victimizing" the transgender victims they have yet to apologize to some of the activists the Board threatened or post the statement from the victim. Transparency = credibility.

What is really at issue at the beginning remains unchanged. The UTAH DMV is perfectly within its rights to make subjective determination about a applicants gender.

Victim Regina Audette statement found on Pride in Utah but not on the TEA website.

"I was the transgender female who was asked to scrub my make up off so they could took my photo. Well it was Thursday afternoon and my brother and I went to get my ID at the DMV at the Fairgrounds and the assistant supervisor and the security officer was laughing at me and so it was my turn to get my picture taken and so I gave them the… proper paperwork and they looked at it told me they need to talk to the supervisor who pulled me in her office and told me to remove my make up because I was altering my identification and so I took the make up off and they took the picture and while I was waiting the assistant supervisor was yelling that wasnt a female that is a man and making the situation that much worse and then my brother and I went to talk to the supervisor and she said that they wernt making fun of us he had to itch his ass and didnt want to do it in front of me and that was their excuse on why they were laughing."

Removing of make up, changing clothes, repositioning hair in a way expressing a gender other than the applicants and the inevitable misgendering is all within the rights, even expected of DMV employees. Until that is rectified history will continue to repeat itself. Utah transgender residents know it.

NO amount of white wash or gay money will rectify this situation. Only righteous and even occasionally abrasive straight forward transgender advocacy will. Although TEA is on track they really need to present the whole story to regain there respectability.

One person commented on the Pride article how bad the Texas DMV is. She's right, our glass house is far from being in order either.

I had a lady misgender me all through the process when I went for my first license after getting my name and gender marker change. I sucked it up that time.

The next time after four years living authentically I got the same lady! I told her quietly I wanted to wait for another clerk. Wouldn't you know it but she started talking loud enough for the whole town to hear asking me why, why would I want another clerk. She was dieing to humiliate and out me using my personality against me.

This time I didn't do no sucking. I told her in a even, firm demanding taxpaying voice I wanted her supervisor, NOW.

Bullshit ended right then and there. We deserve to be treated with the respect every minority expects and gets. Period.

Kevin Crowned Miss International Transgender! wait...Kevin?

Whoops, embarrassing, my transbike just slipped a couple links while pedaling uphill. Who, what? Kevin? Oh its a transvestite beauty contest but there are quite a few conventional 'transgender' contestants? Kevin?



Kevin told Examiner.com ""I'm very proud to be the first here, and I hope my dad will accept me. Because in the family I'm the only boy, and my dad has big expectations of me. I made it. I won the International Queen Pageant, and I believe that my dad will accept me not only as his son but also as his daughter."

Congrats Kevin you are diversity personified and beautiful. You must be a knock out to have prevailed over those Brazilian beauties.

Meet Happy Couple Deborah Trans and Robert Cis. Address: San Quentin

Reading the excellent huff Post peice in which Mara Keisling And Cecilia Chung Discuss How The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Affects LGBT People, I became curious. What is it really like for a trans person behind bars and having only spent a couple over nights in my misspent youth locked up way before transition, I decided to learn a little about the elephant in the trans room.

These two, sisters and brothers had the misfortune and missteps to end up where I might have, had not my higher power intervened  Robert and Deborah come on about half the way through but its well worth watching the whole thing.



This is number two of a four part series. Watch it then the other parts`. Its like eating potato chips. You can't eat just one, you have to go back again and again.

In no way do I wish to romanticize prison or suggest it is a viable alternative to our lives outside. From my experience being locked up I will tell you it was like my wings had been cut. I was repeatedly humiliated, not by other prisoners because I was segregated, but by the guards who found no end to the enjoyment sadistic bastards.

According to the Huff Post article most of the times LGBT prisoners are raped its the guards doing it. To anyone who has spent time in the Army this should come as no surprise when you think about it, in terms of the power structure.

And its brutal. Extremely brutal. Read more on the Huffington Post.

Facing Mirrors: The Paradox of Being Trans in Iran

Source The Guardian (link below):One of the many astonishing paradoxes about life in the Islamic republic is that transsexuality has been legal since a fatwa was issued in 1987 by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Indeed, Iran permits more sex-change operations than any other country, except Thailand, and has long subsidised such surgeries. But, though transsexuals may have the support of the government, they remains highly controversial figures among the public.



Des Buford, Director of Exhibition & Programming at Frameline, spoke with FACING MIRRORS director Negar Azarbayjani and producer Fereshteh Taerpour. (6/18/2012)



Directed By:Negar Azarbayjani
Produced by: Fereshteh Taerpour
Starring:Shayesteh Irani - Ghazal Shakeri - Homayoun Ershadi - Nima Shahrokh Shahi - Maryam Boubani - Saber Abar - Hengameh Ghazian

The religious ruling (allowing SRS) was issued thanks to the activities in the 1980s of Maryam Khatoon Molkara, a campaigner for the rights of transsexuals in Iran, who wrote to Khomeini asking him to determine their fate. Molkara had herself previously been a man, and worked for the state TV before the Islamic revolution in 1979. In the mid-70s, she started to write to Khomeini, who was in exile, asking for religious authorisation for a sex-change operation. In 1987, after a decade of campaigning, she went in person to the home of Khomeini, by then the country's supreme leader, and came back with a fatwa in hand that allowed transsexuals to choose their sex. More at The Guardian

A few years ago while Iran was still accessible via the Internet I became engrossed with the human struggle inside the country. Sadly after the Green Revolution began the goverment responded to closing the electronic border effectively isolating Iran from the world. This movie is a watershed for transgender people as it gives us a look behind this Islamic curtain.

KOMO Seattle Spearheads Attack On Evergreen College Trans Student

The right wing is on the offensive and Komo Seattle, a mainstream media source, is showcasing it with this misgendering misinformational 'news' video.

KOMO has done more that compromise its integrity, they have become the bigot.

At issue is a transgender woman right to use public accommodations as provided by law.



This might come as a surprise to Joseph Backholm. According to a poll I conducted following the original story, asking whether its OK to sauna with minors the vast majority placed the needs of the children above all else, regardless.

Fifty percent said no, not under any circumstance, thirty percent thought if the law provides for it AND privacy can be assured they felt it was OK. The remaining responded yes, if it was lawful.

Clearly the vast majority of trans people are in agreement with Joseph Backholm on that count. If this trans person was in fact exposing her original plumbing to minors it would have been unacceptable.

But there are only allegations of this gross impropriety, yet to be determined in a court of law. And that takes us back to the KOMO story.

This may very well be the worst anti transgender 'news' report, ever found in mainstream media. The disembodied sound bites from the University spokesman never expressed dismay at following the law, but they were were presented as such by KOMO. The video was edited so sound bites seemingly attributed to parents were in fact the voice of leader of the virulently anti LGBT group, the Family Policy Institute of Washington.

The reporter shaking her head in disgust, stated they hadn't been able to 'track down' the trans woman, as if tracking a predator. Evidently despite their best skills at tracking, they were unable to hunt down any of the parents either.

The framing of the KOMO 'news' article is symptomatic of transphobic reporting found in lesser 'conservitive' Faux News reports, blogs and right wing radio all which in a seemingly concerted effort have launched this simultaneous attack to convict this trans woman for simply exercising her rights under the law.