NC Trans DNC 2012 Delegate Was Told By Woman's Democratic Group that She belongs In the Men's Auxiliary

In a story broken by the Gorilla Angel Report Janice Covington the first transgender woman in history from North Carolina to be elected as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention was told by the Mecklenburg Country Democratic Woman’s Association that they turned turned her down for membership.

She wasn't just rejected she was insulted to the core. The Mecklenburg Country Democratic Woman’s Association administrators said she belongs in the men’s auxiliary.

Janice Covington asked in in a facebook status:

 "ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?"

"I joined the Democratic Woman’s Association when asked to become a member during the Mecklenburg County Democratic Convention back in April of 2013. I filled out the application and then paid my membership fee. After a month or so I received a phone call from Mary Belk chair of the membership committee. During our conversation she said she remembered me and realized I was a Transgender Woman. We talked a little longer and she then said she accepted me as a member. I was then contacted about 3 weeks later to inform me of a meeting at the Asian Library in Charlotte NC on June the 12th 2013.

I arrived at the meeting early and was asked to help set up chairs for the meeting, I did this without hesitation. I then received my name tag and was checked off on the role when I checked in at the table near the entrance. After a great meeting, I was approached by a person who was on the board of directors of the Democratic Woman’s Association; she then informed me they had a problem with my membership. I asked what it was and she stated that I could not belong to the Woman’s association and that it would be better for me to be in the men’s auxiliary. I was insulted to greatest extent. I informed her that her request was not an option. She then informed me that the North Carolina State Democratic Woman’s Association would have to vote on me to allow me to remain a member. I feel that this is not acceptable and is in contrary to the policies of the Democratic Party’s mission statemen"

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It just happened that when I reading the article by Courtney O'Donnell I had been on the phone receiving some ground breaking news from a life long friend in Dallas Texas, Pamela Curry, who told me she is exploring grassroots support for a run at the 2014 Texas Democratic primary for the 32nd Congressional District of Texas.

That's huge news in it self since as a transgender woman she could be running against the Chairman of the House Rules Committee Republican Pete Sessions .

Curry, who has served as election day judge and democratic precinct chairwoman for six years shed some light on Covington's predicament. Curry explained she was instrumental in the amending of the Texas Democrats  non discrimination policy in 2012 which now reads

"No test of membership in, nor oaths of loyalty to, the Texas Democratic Party shall be required or used if it has the effect of requiring prospective or current members of the Democratic Party to acquiesce in, condone, or support discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, ethnic identity, economic status or disability. Further, discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, ethnic identity, economic status or disability in the conduct of the Democratic Party affairs is prohibited."

.Curry explained that a states party's auxiliaries purpose is to help candidates get elected and with that being said it only follows that they adhere to their state's political party's rules.

The North Carolina 0.03 NON-DISCRIMINATION Rule is vague and could be interpreted as leaving wiggle room for bigotry:

No test for membership in, or any oath of loyalty to, the North Carolina Democratic Party shall be required or used which has the effect of requiring prospective or current members of the Democratic Party to acquiesce in, condone or support discrimination based on status.

The Democratic Women of Mecklenburg County just posted a response to The Gorilla Angel Report to their facebook page:

Janice Covington replied asking if she has voting rights which is valid question since men are allowed to be associate members but are not allowed to vote.

The DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF NORTH CAROLINA membership qualifications:

"Any woman who is an active Democrat in North Carolina as defined in the Plan of Organization, Democratic Party of North Carolina, and who pledges herself to the principles of the Democratic Party and to work for the election of Democratic candidates through her local Democratic Women’s organization, if such exists, shall be eligible for membership in this organization."

Enough dancing around transphobia in Mecklenburg County.

The North Democratic party's rules needs to be expanded to specifically include transgender people but that does not excuse how Ms. Covington is being treated. She isn't just any woman she is a transgender woman who deserves the respect she is being denied.

Facebook page Democratic Women of Mecklenburg County

Facebook Group Democratic Women of North Carolina (state group)

Kelli Busey's 55 Vblog Much Ado about Nothing

Hey all, it's kelli Busey blogger at planetransgender. If you actually watch this video without falling asleep, wow, awesome! I wanted to reach out in the most personal way I could on my birthday and connect with you to say thank you for reading planetransgender.



You made it! Quick change the channel before the video rewinds!

Social Security Administration (SSA) No Longer Requiring Surgery or BC for Gender Marker Change!

I went to the Texas SSA office on a hot Friday August afternoon in 2007 on a mission. My terminal manager was getting pressure from the main office to correct a discrepancy in an employees records. My record. I am a MTF whose gender was unrecognized by the SSA. Within a month his requests had turned into a demand. I had to get the SSA to stop sending the payroll department gender"no match" letters or risk losing my job.

I had been able to change everything except my birth state, Ohio, does not amend or reissue birth certificates for transsexuals. Since I was pre op and couldn't produce proof of SRS I was left with only one option. A friend had told me I might be able to get the change through on the QT, as she did, if I did it as directed. So I passively, submissively  approached the SSA window after a short 3 hour wait, smiling in my most pleasant feminine way and explained what I wanted.

Well long story short the clerk produced the regulation denying my gender marker change a couple of hours later and I left unsuccessful and soon to be unemployed. A couple of years later after Obama was elected he directed the SSA to stop sending out those no match letters, but that was too late for me. I lost a $900 a week job because of that bureaucratic bullshit.

And I know I'm only one among thousands of trans people who have had their jobs put in jeopardy thanks to a government which seemed to not care.

I have great news! My brothers and sisters, you will not have to become unemployed and homeless as I did to satisfy that antiquated bureaucratic rule.

According to The National Center For Transgender Equality as of June:

Social Security will accept any of the following forms of evidence for a gender marker change:

• A U.S. passport showing the correct gender,
• A birth certificate showing the correct gender,
• A court order recognizing the correct gender, or
• A signed letter from a [provider] confirming that you have had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition

You can view the official SSA regulation here.

The Pew LGBT Report Ignores The Transgender Experience

Listening to public radio last night on my MP3 while at work in a shipping department I became increasingly disturbed about a PBS show, which I embedded below,  about the recent Pew Report which conducted a first of a kind spectrum wide survey of LGBT people.

I became immediately distraught by the framing the survey with what transgender people perceive as a gay issue, the upcoming supreme court ruling on same sex marriage. What further distressed me was how little the survey acutely reflected my experiences as a transgender woman with nearly 10 years of living authentically.

It really makes me wonder. Did the survey results include the 5% of the LGBT population that is transgender? I do not see evidence transgender people were asked questions based on their gender expression. It appears the results were grouped by sexual orientation regardless of gender expression.

I don't believe the Pew Report properly reflects the transgender experence because it fails to survey us as a separate component of the LGBT population.

I for one have faced and continue to face discrimination at work mainly because many of my supervisors religious beliefs. I have been told "No Way" when asking about a pathway out of shipping to a higher paying job and have been the victim of vicious  rumors since starting there. I have been physically threatened twice with physical harm in the last year at work. I have been harassed by the management and there employees at my apartment. For all this I think it we have made progress but nothing like the Pew Report suggests.

A much more accurate survey for transgender people was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality Injustice at every turn.

Watch Acceptance for Gay Americans Grows, Discrimination Persists on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Zoey Tur Famed LA News Copter Pilot Comes Out as Transgender

Los Angeles helicopter pilot-reporter Zoey (Bob) Tur, who covered the L.A. riots and the O.J. Simpson freeway chase has announced she is transgender.

Tur the lone pilot who dared fly above the LA Riots says she has started taking HRT 30 days ago. She says her life has already started to change and expects major changes within the first year. Tur says her name change is forthcoming is addressed by her birth name and male pronouns during the MP3 interview and the embedded CBS video.. According to Tur, transsexualism a genetic change that occurs in the embryonic state that is yet to be understood.

Nova Scotia Reverses itself the Next Day and decides to Cover Sexual Reassignment Surgery

On June 11th we received the heartbreaking news published by CBC.ca that "After studying the issue, Health Minister David Wilson said in a letter last week that the province has decided not to fund the surgery."

“When we must decide which areas to fund, there are a number of items to consider. For example, what does the best available research tells us, and are we able to fund a service within our limited healthcare budget,” said Wilson.

“The department has given the matter of gender reassignment surgery considerable consideration and we went through a careful policy review, including extensive research and consultation with other jurisdictions.”

"The surgery is either partially or fully funded in all provinces except Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island."

On June 12th, the very next day, Health Minister David Wilson changed his mind and decided to0 rescind the law because "its the right thing to do"

Get the inside scoop on this atDented Blue Merecedes