Phelps Phamily Coming To Houston August 6-Let's Plan A Phundraiser

According to the Dallas Voice the Westboro Baptist Church has announced they are  coming to H-town to protest Texas Gov. Rick 'Goodhair' Perry’s 'The Response' prayer event at Reliant Stadium on August 6 sponsored by the American Family Association.    

This ought to be interesting.  Two Southern Poverty Law Center certified hate groups squaring off against each other at a GOP political event masquerading as a faith based one.  

They'll also have to perform an exorcism in Reliant Stadium when it's over.

Since we already know that Marge and company are coming down I-35 from Topeka,  I have a suggestion.   Let's do what other areas of the country do when the Phelps Phamily desecrates their city limits:  Use it as an opportunity to fundraise for TBLG causes.

Since we have a couple of months, let's pick a worthy TBLG organization in town and pledge a certain amount of money for every minute that the Phelpses are in the Houston city limits, inside Harris County or however y'all wanna do it. 

It's not only a fun way to satisfy your urge to do something to protest the Phelps Klan for taking the time out of their busy hatemongering schedule to pay us a visit, it gives us the delicious irony of using their appearance in our beloved city as a way to fundraise for organizations in the TBLG community.  

It's also potentially lucrative.  When the Phelps Klan showed up in Dallas last summer to picket the Resource Center Dallas, they raised $11,000     

So H-town, I know we can do better than Little D.  Let's get busy so we can give the Phelpses a warm welcome and raise tons of money for local BTLG causes in the process.

Maryland Same Gender Marriage Bill Derailed

Wow..the same gender marriage bill in Maryland got derailed before it even left the Legislature.

I was expecting it to pass and have to face a referendum, but the shocking news out of Annapolis is that the bill has been sent to committee where it will probably die.   With 2012 being an election year, I don't realistically see it coming back up until 2013.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had this to say about what happened

“It is my firm belief that equality under the law means equality for everyone, and our laws should reflect that fundamental principle. Together, we’ve worked hard to protect and expand these rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in our state.  It was my hope to sign a marriage equality act consistent with these progressive reforms, while protecting religious freedom in our state.   
“As One Maryland we must work together to respect the dignity of every individual.  I remain committed to working with all Marylanders to ensure that rights are protected for equally for everyone.”

Governor, can you tell Del. Pena-Melnyk and (In)Equality Maryland that a trans rights bill without public accommodations language is an affront to the dignity of trans Marylanders, not respecting it?

So what are the peeps at (In)Equality Maryland going to do now that they have plenty of time on their hands to correct that travesty of a trans rights bill percolating through the Maryland legislature?

Stay turned to the next exciting chapter of 'As Maryland TBLG Rights Turns'

European Parliament Says TBLG Women Need Specific Attention

More IWD related news that will be music to the ear of the international TBLG community.   

The European parliament adopted its 2010 report on the equality of men and women in the EU states,  and noted that TBLG women deserve specific attention.

The European Parliament “calls on the Member States and the Commission to pay particular attention to vulnerable groups of women: disabled, elderly, immigrant, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, and minority women and women who have little or no training and are responsible for dependants, all of these being specific groups in need of measures tailored to their circumstances”
The Parliament also ”notes that transgender people remain a highly marginalised and victimized group facing a high degree of stigmatization, exclusion and violence, as reported by the Fundamental Rights Agency“. 

The Parliament also goes on to “strongly encourages the Commission and the Member States to follow the Agency’s recommendations for stronger and clearer protection against discrimination on grounds of gender identity”

Manhattan, KS Passes TBLG Protective Law

The list of areas that protect transpeeps win its civil rights statures just got longer.

Manhattan, KS, the city that is the home of Kansas State University became the first city in the state to pass a civil rights law that adds gender identity language to atcovers trans people and the second to add sexual orientation language. 

The Manhattan City Commission voted in favor of the non-discrimination ordinance 3-2.    The two haters, Bob Strawn and Loren Pepperd spit out the usual 'special rights BS' as the reason they opposed it.    The three YES votes included Mayor Bruce Snead. 

"This is about equal rights," Snead said. "It's not about special rights or special protections. It's about equal protections."
The Manhattan ordinance has several key changes that aided its passage.  Notably, the term gender identity was given a definition. According to the ordinance, it is defined as "a person's good faith and continuing presentation of the person's gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics, which may or may not be consistent with the person's biological sex." 

An exemption was added to the Unlawful Employment Practices, section 10-16. The exemption allows an employer to be relieved of liability if they provide similar accommodations, such as restrooms and locker rooms, for persons with a different gender identity.

A provision was added giving business owners and those providing public accommodations may inquire "whether a person has good faith and continuing to establish a particular gender identity" to ensure, for example, that a man is not merely identifying himself as a woman to enter the women's locker room.

We'll see how well that provision works.

Since there's always been this rivalry between Manhattan and Lawrence because of the two universities they house,  time will tell if Lawrence, the home of the University of Kansas, will step up to the plate and protect its TBLG citizens against discrimination like Manhattan did.

But for now, I have another reason to root for Kansas State whenever they play.