Demand Face Book UN-ban Transman Dominic Scaia's Top Surgery Pictures

UPDATE Jan 15 Facebook reevaluates decision to censor Dominic's profile picture!!Transgender people's VICTORY and EMPOWERMENT!!!
*****Original post******** Pictured right is Dominic Scaia a transgender man from Canada who posted this profile picture of himself after top surgery on FaceBook. His account was then terminated and Dominic was unable to solicit a reply from FaceBook as to why.

Face Book reinstated Dominic's account only after xtra.ca contacted facebook. xtra.ca received this statement in a email.

"Photo content that you uploaded has been removed for violating Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Photos containing nudity or other graphic or sexually suggestive content are not allowed. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, we are unable to provide further information about the removed content.

However, after reviewing your situation, we have reactivated your account, and you should now be able to log in. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, please refrain from posting photos of this kind and remove any that still exist on the site. For more information on conduct prohibited by Facebook, please read our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Terms" link at the bottom of any Facebook page."

Pictured left is a example of one of thousands of Facebook pictures that are of bare chested and sexually explicit cis men. Facebook's determination of acceptability is biased against trans men since these pictures and titles clearly are sexually suggestive. Hell, the word SEX is often used in the picture description! This is further illustrated since a cis woman who had the same type of surgery for the removal of a cyst was allowed to post like pictures.

Dominic talks his Facebook experience,

Dominic invites all to contact Face Book and express your opinion!

Join the Facebook group: Stop Transphobia on Facebook - Un-Ban Dominic Scaia

I find facebook's actions to be two-facebooked.

I contacted facebook using the press option and asked these questions on January 15, 2010 and stated I would like to have a answer by January 20th.

1.How does facebook determine acceptability of profile or other publicly view pictures?
2.Does facebook take into account the persons stated gender when determining if a naked chest picture is acceptable?
3.If facebook does not base it's decision to suspend a facebook account with a naked chest picture, on the stated gender of the account holder, who or what standards does facebook use to base this decision?
4.Why is contacting facebook difficult for suspended account holders?

It remains to be seen if facebook has the bravado to face these issues chest on or not.

Update January 15,2010 9:91pm CT

I received this email from Facebook in response to the above request for a interview with facebook;


Hi Kelli,

Thanks for your inquiry.

"We evaluate content on Facebook according to our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, the governing document for our site (http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf). Photos containing nudity violate our policies, and we will remove these photos – and may disable the account of the person posting them – when they’re reported to us by our users.

When determining if a photo meets our standards around nudity, we do take into account the gender of the person depicted.

Our policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children (over the age of 13) who use the site. Users can always write to our appeals queue (using the contact form in the “Warnings” section of our Help Center) if they feel they’ve been treated unjustly. Our team will then investigate and reinstate the account if appropriate.Regarding our customer service practices, we are committed to serving our 350 million users the best we can and continue to explore new options and additional resources to accomplish this goal."

Best,
Jackson Colaco
Facebook Public Policy

I replied with this email.

Dear Jackson Colaco,

The Facebook policy is fair and well advised. It would be supported by most gender diverse if it was adhered to. However Facebook did not follow it's own guidelines.

If facebook followed it's stated policy of taking into the consideration the stated gender of the account holder when deciding if a profile picture meets criteria that requires a account to be suspended, Facebook would not have suspended Mr. Dominic Scaia's account.

I am asking Facebook to follow it's policy and allow Mr. Dominic Scaia to post pictures of his bare chest without fear of retribution from Facebook.

Thank You,
kelli anne Busey
planetransgender
http://planetransgender.blogspot.com
Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies
http://dallastaa.ning.com

Amnesty International Stop Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill!

A proposed bill storming through Uganda's parliament is one of the most severe pieces of anti-homosexuality legislation in the entire world! If passed, it would establish an alarming precedent that would virtually annihilate the human rights of Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population.
Stop Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill!

In October 2009, Parliamentarian David Bahati introduced draconian legislation in Uganda that would make "any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex" punishable by prison or even death. The bill even takes aim at those offering protection or support to any lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) person by instituting harsh prison sentences of up to 7 years.

If the Ugandan Parliament chooses to endorse this hateful legislation, it would be responsible for depriving countless Ugandans of their human rights as well as placing LGBT people throughout the world at significantly greater risk.

The vote on this bill could happen as soon as the end of this month, so we've got to act fast.

Fortunately, momentum to fight Uganda's egregious bill has already started building in Washington. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is spearheading a joint Congressional letter that will be sent to Uganda's President urging him to put an end to this discrimination. We need all U.S. Representatives to unite in opposition to codify persecution and discrimination in Uganda. Urge your Representative to sign-on to stop Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.We fear that the negative consequences sparked from the passage of such irresponsible legislation will not stop at Uganda's borders, but will reverberate throughout the rest of Africa and even the world. Make your voice heard and stand up for human rights in Uganda! Make your voice heard and stand up for human rights in Uganda!

Tell your Representative to condemn the proposed legislation that would deal a blow to human rights in Uganda and across the world.