Catholic Church Attacks Trans People Again

One of the things I've been more than pissed off about is the ongoing pattern since 2003 of anti-trans rhetoric coming out of the mouths of Pope Francis and his predecessor along with anti-trans policies.

Once again the Catholic Church has opened their mouth and let something transphobic come out of it.

It started in Spain back in July when 21 year old transman Alex Salinas asked his parish priest if he could be his nephew;s godfather.   The priest according to Salinas initially agreed to the request but changed his mind when Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cadiz y Ceuta challenged the decision.

Salinas is recognized by the Spanish government as a male, but the Catholic Church refuses to do so and offered him the position of  'spiritual godfather', which is a position the Catholic Church designates for people they deem ineligible for the godparents role.

Never mind the fact that Salinas has been faithfully attending mass at his parish.

After the critical backlash that ruling generated in Spain, Bishop Zornoza quickly deferred to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that enforces Catholic teaching to render a final verdict on the subject.

That verdict recently came from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and it reeked of transphobic bigotry.

It concluded that “transsexual behavior itself reveals, in a public manner, an attitude opposite to the moral imperative of solving the problem of sexual identity according to the truth of one’s own sexuality.” 

“It is clear that this person does not meet the requirement of carrying out a life conforming to the faith and the position of godfather,” the statement read. It later added, “Discrimination is not to be seen in this, but only recognition of an objective lack of the requisites that by their own nature are necessary to take over the ecclesial responsibility of being a godparent.”

Salinas blasted the Vatican's transphobic ruling in a Facebook post, and has left the Catholic Church on top of it,    His sister has also decided not to baptize his nephew in the wake of their rejection of her trans brother.

The poisonous anti-trans legacy of Paul McHugh is bearing bitter fruit not only for the international trans community, but will continue to cost the Catholic Church trans and cis followers that believe that trans people are just as human as any cis person .   .


   

Don`t Spend Your T-Bills Where You Aren`t Respected

I`ve been busy the last few days moving to the new Casa De Monica, and just started catching up with all the trans news that I need to comment on.

One of those issues I felt the need to comment on is a trans dignity and respect.

I was perusing my Facebook feed and noted a comment from a well known activist who was recounting a transphobic experience she`d had at her local hairdresser.

She was getting her hair done when a conversation started in the shop about last week`s  SCOTUS marriage ruling.   She was stunned and pissed off to hear the beautician working on her hair express a negative reaction to it, and then take a potshot at guys and girls like us by adding that she couldn`t stand people who `changed their sex.`

Little did the transphobic hairdresser know that she was working on the tresses of one of those people she hated.

The person in question didn`t elaborate on how far along she was in the process of getting her hair done at the time the transphobic comment was uttered.   But having been in a similar situation back in the late 90s when I was getting my hair done and another beautician not working on my hair at the time made several derogatory comments about Black Americans (she was Nigerian), I ripped her a new anus.

So what is Moni`s moral in this story?   The bottom line is that if you are so inclined and the situation calls for it, we need to call out disrespectful commentary and negative treatment of trans people.   I understand it`s a judgment call as whether or not you feel safe to do so, but if you are in a reasonably safe space,  put them in check.

How you do it is your call.

Now why am I saying this?  Because the odds are that transphobes aren`t going to let their negative commentary loose unless they think they will have majority support in whatever venue this is happening in.  

If we let transphobic comments slide for whatever set of reasons, then it will happen again to someone else until the transphobe finally gets checked on their nekulturny behavior.

Maybe missing out on some service fees plus tips or getting checked by their supervisor after you have a chat with them will speed up that process

Neither should we trans peeps spend our precious T-bills with people or companies who don`t respect our humanity.  

Nevada Unjust Anti-Trans Bill Dies!

AB 375 the GOP dominated Nevada legislature's attempt to attack trans kids failed Monday night on a mainly party line vote.

Five Republicans, Pat Hickey, Derek Armstrong, Glenn Trowbridge, Robin Titus and Melissa Woodbury voted with the all the Nevada Assembly Democrats to kill the unjust bill on a 22-20 vote.

The transphobic measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Ira Hansen (R)  would have required students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their genitalia, as well as require schools to provide separate facilities for transgender and intersex students.

Opponents said the bill would lead to additional bullying and targeting of trans students in Nevada schools.

"This bill flies in the face of everything this Legislature should stand for, and it harkens back to a time when telling people they were different was accepted," Democratic Assemblywoman Heidi Swank said.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) spokeswoman Mari St. Martin said earlier that the governor was closely monitoring the bill and had strong concerns with legislation that "targets students based on their gender expression, or potentially sanctions discrimination."

Tuesday was the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin, so that means AB 375 is dead for this session.  

But as you know, vanillacentric privileged GOP oppressor never give up when it comes to exercising their oppressor gene, and he wishes to try to make this issue a ballot initiative or tlke it to the local level.

So great work Nevada trans community and allies.   Celebrate your win, and prepare for the next round.

Unjust TX HB 2801 Bill Must Die

Yesterday the Texas Transkid Bounty Bill, HB 2801 was scheduled to receive a hearing in the State Affairs Committee.  

It was one of the bills I lobbied against Monday, and Jessica Farrar, my state rep is on state affairs.  They have already seen my smiling face in their ATX office, and will hear from me again soon.

Pena's other legislative travesty attacking transkids in HB 2802 and Debbie Does Discrimination Riddle's unjust bills criminalizing being trans in Texas (HB 1747 and HB1748) have also been assigned to State Affairs but as of this writing don't have a hearing date set.

But back to the more important ones criminalizing and putting a bounty on trans kids in HB 2801

We are already facing the unacceptable situation of 85% of Texas trans* students being harassed in schools.   46% of Texas transgender students have experienced physical assault.  9% have experienced sexual assault.   11% of Texas trans students drop out because of these issues.

And Rep. Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena) has proposed two bills that don't solve these problems, but exacerbate them? 

This unjust HB 2801 bill is also in violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in schools, and transpeople are covered in Title IX. 

This unjust bill will also cost cash-strapped Texas school districts thousands of dollars.

Rep  Pena came before the committee yesterday in a hearing room packed with transpeople, parents of trans kids and other supporters and asked the State Affairs Committee not to hear it yesterday because he is rewriting the bill. 

The State Affairs committee hearing on HB 2801 has been until next week, so that gives us time to build the pressure to kill it.  We do have allies on that committee who don't like those unjust bills either.  

So it's time to do something to help our trans kids.  If you want to help them, pick up your smartphone and call the members of the State Affairs Committee and let them know you oppose this bill.   If you are a constituent of these state affairs committee members, even better because you have heightened clout and influence in this situation.   Same goes if you are a mother, mother of a trans child, teacher, or school administrator..

These bills attacking our trans kids in a school setting and offering bounties targeting them are not only unjust, but do nothing to help Texas create a climate conducive to learning.   Texas teachers and school administrators should not be put in the position of policing gender identity.

Transphobia Rep Pena, is not good for business.   Those unjust bills will have a deleterious effect on attracting corporations and talented people to the Lone Star State.    

Don't need trans hate in the Lone Star State!

The Lege and Rep. Pena need to expeditiously find out what happens when you mess with Texas transkids.  Call, write and e-mail them.

And yes HB 2801 needs to die.

The Kentucky Anti-Trans Bill Is FINALLY Dead!

It took a little longer than expected, but Sen. CB Embry anti-trans Bathroom Bounty Bill is finally dead with the end of the 2015 Kentucky General Assembly session at midnight EDT.

You'll recall that back in February the Kentucky senate Republicans shadily passed the bill out of committee, then passed the unjust bill it in the GOP controlled Senate on a 27-9 vote.

But SB 76 was DOA in the Democratically controlled House, and it was parked in a committee with no intention to let it out to the House floor much less bring it up for a committee vote.  

With the clock ticking toward the end of the session, Embry decided to tack his unjust bill to HB 236, a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House that would allow for a student representative to be appointed to school superintendent search committees. 

Dismayed Kentucky students from across the commonwealth not only saw the bill they had worked so hard to pass being hijacked by Embry, but also being altered Tuesday after two student rallies in Frankfort and news coverage about the impasse.

HB 236 was altered by the Kentucky senate to allow the student to sit on the search committee,  but the student would not be able to vote on who is recommended for the job.    The 'Student Religious Speech' amendment was also attached to HB 236  by Sen. Albert Robinson (R) to permit students to voluntarily express religious viewpoints in schools.  Senator Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington) successfully attached another amendment that would make HB 236 immediately come into force after it became law with Governor Steve Beshear's (D) signature. 

Sen. Embry withdrew his 'Bathroom Bounty Bill' amendment and the altered  HB 236 passed 27-9. But the damage was done, and the amended HB 236..has no support in the Democratically controlled House when they voted overwhelmingly for the original bill.

While I'm sad that a great bill that would have empowered Kentucky students fell victim to GOP political shenanigans, the bigger picture is that the unjust anti-trans bill is FINALLY dead. 

Kentucky Senate Votes 27-9 To Oppress Trans People

As expected, the GOP controlled Kentucky Senate did the bidding of the Kentucky Family Foundation and passed the unjust SB 76 bill by a 27-9 vote.

The bill originally failed to advance out of the Senate Education Committee last Thursday, but was stealthily brought back up on Monday in a surprise meeting and voted out by an 8-1 margin.

The unjust bill then went before the full Kentucky Senate with three Republican senators Jared Carpenter of Berea, John Schickel of Union and Julie Raque Adams of Louisville being drum majors and a drum majorette for justice and voting against the bill.

Six  Democrats, Julian Carroll of Frankfort, Perry Clark of Louisville, Denise Harper Angel of Louisville, Morgan McGarvey of Louisville, Gerald Neal of Louisville and Reginald Thomas of Lexington also voted against the bill.

So Kentucky trans peeps, these are the Senate peeps you thank for standing up for your human rights.

Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, said in a statement the "Bathroom Bully Bill" as they call SB 76, lacks legal muster and will increase bullying in schools.

"What an embarrassment the Kentucky Senate has made of our commonwealth," Hartman said

But I need to remind you TransGriot readers the Kentucky General Assembly has split legislative control, with the Democrats holding the Kentucky House (thank God) by a 54-46 margin.

And with only ten days left in this legislative session, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, indicated that the unjust measure won't win House approval.

"The Democratic-led House can better spend the remainder of the legislative session working on other bills," Stumbo said.

Translation:  SB 76 is about to get parked in a House Committee where it won't see the light of day, much less the House floor.   And in case you're wondering Kentucky's governor is Steve Beshear (D)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/27/3717535/kentucky-senate-approves-bill.html#storylink=cpy

But I don't think my trans friends and our allies back in the Bluegrass State will exhale until the 2015 session is over.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/27/3717535/kentucky-senate-approves-bill.html#storylink=cpy

Down Goes The Unjust SB 76 Anti-Trans Bill In Committee!

Received some wonderful and surprising news earlier today from my old Kentucky stomping grounds that had me happy dancing in my place after I heard it.

It's also a major reason why if you're able to do so, LGBT peeps need to be staying in red states to fight the hate and not running to some so-called coastal LGBT oasis that seems to have green human rights grass that at closer inspection is Astroturfed.

SB 76, the Bathroom Bounty Bill that Sen. CM Embry (R) filed at the behest of long time Kentucky homobigot Kent Ostrander of the Kentucky Family Foundation, died in spectacular bipartisan fashion in the GOP dominated Senate Education Committee.

If  Embry's unjust SB 76 had passed and been signed into law (doubtful with a Democratic House and Democratic governor), it would have mandated that Kentucky schools provide separate, private areas designated for use by students based on their genitalia where students could be in a "state of undress." The bill proposed allowing students to sue their school for up to $2,500 each time they saw a student who appeared to have a non-matching gender presentation in a facility "designated for use by the cisgender biological sex of the aggrieved student.”

Embry tried to make this unjust legislative pig more palatable before the hearing by offering an amendment to strip out the bounty language.   But the 'Bathroom Bounty Bill' as it was dubbed by opponents, was fought by the Fairness Campaign and other interested parties who braved the frigid below freezing temps to make the trek to Frankfort for the hearing that started at noon EST.

People testifying against the bill included Atherton HS principal Tom Aberli and trans teen Henry Brousseau .  He told the Huffington Post in an interview he was harassed in restrooms until he was allowed to use the men's room.  Once that happened, there have been no issues.

“A lot of folks think that having a separate and private restroom for trans kids is the way to go,” said Brousseau during his Senate committee testimony, “While that might work for some, when somebody tells us that we’re so different that the only way to accommodate us is to create a special restroom, the message is clear that we don’t belong. But the thing is, right now schools get to make their own decisions about what’s best to accommodate trans kids, and every school may decide differently. The problem with this bill is it would take away that right for schools to decide.”



Aberli said in his senate testimony that he and others at Atherton were forced to educate themselves about an issue they previously knew little about, and that the state should not take away their authority to do what they think is right.



“What I quickly found was that this is an issue of respecting people for who they are,” said Aberli. “I’m going to boil it down: This is a civil rights issue.”

The unjust bill died a painful death (at least in the opinion of the KY Family Foundation) in the Republican controlled committee, falling one vote short of being passed out of it. 

Six Republican members voted for it, while Sen Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) voted NO with the two African-American Democratic senators Neal and Thomas with no explanation for her vote.

Senator Johnny Ray Turner's (D-Prestonburg) decision to abstain left the unjust bill one vote short of passage to the full Republican controlled Kentucky Senate, where they have a 26-12 edge.

Bills need seven votes to be passed out of committee.

So proud of my former senator, Gerald Neal (D-Louisville), who voted against the bill, telling Brousseau: “Unfortunately, your situation is still subject to the fear, ignorance and loathing that results there from something that some individuals see as different from what they understand and what they embrace.”

That's our point, America.  We're tired of you haters trying to pick on trans people for right wing political game and to satisfy your oppression gene.  Let us trans people pee ,have human rights coverage and leave us the hell alone to live our lives..

And stop obsessing over what fracking bathroom we use when we need to handle a basic biological function.

Dave Wilson Proposes Anti-Trans Houston Charter Amendment

I've been aware since Thanksgiving he's been up to this shady unconstitutional BS for a while since my mom and sister got those transphobic hate pieces in the mail.|

Now it's starting to get more media coverage

Longtime Houston TBLG hater Dave Wilson wants to make Houston trans people permanent third class citizens.

In this blatant attack on Houston trans people, Wilson wants to have this language added to the City of Houston charter

"Except as required by State or Federal law, the City of Houston shall only define 'Gender Identity' as an Individual's Innate Identification, as either male or female, which Is assigned at birth. Perceived gender identification Is not allowed In defining 'Gender Identity.' Furthermore, the City of Houston shall require entities doing business with the city to adopt the same definition of 'Gender Identity.'"

Not no but hell no.  Besides, why would we trust a guy who deliberately misrepresented himself as Black to get elected to the Houston Community College system board? 

Wilson would need to collect 20,000 signatures to place his anti-trans amendment on the 2015 city ballot.

Seeing that they just failed to collect enough signatures to get HERO on this year's ballot, I would hope they would have even more trouble putting something even more extreme, discriminatory and anti-human rights in front of City of Houston voters.

And there is no fracking way I will sit idly by and allow this piece of anti-trans crap to desecrate the City of Houston's charter.

I will fight that with every fiber of my trans being to ensure the Wilson Anti-Trans Hate Amendment  dies a public and painful death.

As a matter of fact, I think it's past time that we TBLG folks and our human rights loving allies push a charter amendment of our own  that seeks to ban the use of the charter amendment process to roll back the human rights of marginalized groups.

And this is also one more glaring example of why the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance needs to be implemented without delay.

Tired Of People Racistly Painting Trans Women Of Color As 'Uniquely Violent'

We have seen this disgusting racist pattern before.    It was present when CeCe McDonald was sentenced to jail time in Minnesota despite defending herself from being violently attacked by a white supremacist and his buddies. 

Jewlyes Gutierrez was facing criminal charges for defending herself after a November fight at her high school despite being bullied and attacked  by three cis female girls in California.   Never mind the inconvenient fact that Jewlyes had been bullied by the same girls for over a year and tried to get indifferent school officials to intervene to stop it.

And now we have the jacked up case of Jane Doe.  She is a 16 year old trans girl of color who despite being in that system since age 4, surviving numerous incidents of violence, sexual assault and abuse, that in some cases perpetrated by the people in the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) that were supposed to help and protect her, she was sent to an adult male prison on April 8 despite not being charged with any crime.   Only increasing national outrage over this got her moved to an adult female prison, which is still messed up.

And the reason why this happened?  Because according to the fear mongering DCF Commissioner Joette Katz, Jane was 'far too dangerous' to remain in their care.

Really?   When DCF personnel are complicit in some of the violence that Jane Doe has faced, they are obligated to fix their part of the problem they caused in Jane's young life.  

Throwing her in a lockup with adult male prisoners is not fixing the problem, it's exacerbating and pouring gasoline on it. 

In all these cases, we have the intersections of several problematic societal layers. The first problem is the obvious whiff of racism combined with the overwhelming stench of transphobia in all these cases.  The other dynamic involved here is the racist assumption that trans youth of color are 'uniquely violent' and 'dangerous to women'.

Some of that 'dangerous to women' piece has its roots in the predator memes trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERF) have been peddling for over four decades.

And hello, let's inject another dose of reality into this conversation.  If you're constantly being picked on or have violence directed at you simply for trying to live your trans life as best you can, sooner or later you are going to snap and lash out at the person that sent you over the edge.  Hell, I was an adult when I transitioned, and there were days I'd had enough of people's transphobic bullshyt and snapped on the very next person that crossed my path spouting transphobic ish.

The bottom line is that I'm tired of transwomen of color who far too often are the victims of violent attacks aimed at them by cisgender people being given the side eye by a transphobic society as if they are the problem.  

When we transwomen of color already have to deal with societal drama brought on by our ethnicity,  and we have to deal with an unjust and racist  legal system, the last thing we need is the misguided perception of being tagged as 'uniquely violent' being thrown into this toxic transphobic stew.      

Attacking The 'All Transwomen Are Sex Workers' Meme

Now that Monica Jones has been found guilty of 'Walking While Black Trans' in Phoenix, the question that comes to my inquiring mind is what are we going to do about getting the word out about this injustice being aimed at her and frankly, all trans women of color at times?

Yes, it's easy for all of us to say that we stand with Monica Jones when this obvious injustice is being aimed at her.

But I just feel we need to do more.  I think we can start with a national, coordinated 'Walking While Trans' protest events next month before the May 28 sentencing date of Ms. Jones.  

We could have walks that lead to rallies decrying what happened to Ms Jones.  Put together a coordinated campaign that calls for an end to the 'Walking While Trans' profiling.

Since trans human rights issues are suddenly getting national and international media attention, let's use this moment to do more education about our trans lives. 

I believe we have been given another opportunity to attack and destroy another meme deployed against us that feeds into the unjust treatment being aimed at us.

It's the 'all transwomen are sex workers' meme.   

And before I get accused of pushing 'respectability politics' or attacking sex workers, let me make crystal clear that's not where I'm going with this post.  I am already quite aware of the fact that some of my trans sisters engaged in or still do engage in sex work to pay the bills.   I'm also quite aware that transphobia, racism and gender policing also play debatable levels of a role into the 'Walking While Trans' issue

What I'm focusing on in this post is attacking is the 'all transwomen are sex workers' meme that feeds into the 'Walking While Trans' harassment and arrests that are far too often aimed at transwomen of color.

In New York, the NYPD stop and frisk shenanigans were disproportionately aimed at Black and Latina trans women because in the cops minds, 'we're all potential prostitutes'    

In New Orleans trans women who are just minding their own business are routinely arrested and harassed by the city's police force on prostitution related charges.. 

The 'transwomen are sex workers' meme is also front and center in the ATL 'Queen of Mean' Peggy Denby's efforts to get a draconian law passed that would permanently banish persons convicted of a second prostitution arrest from Atlanta.  

That meme was on a drunk Kenneth Furr's mind when he propositioned a transwoman in a northwest Washington DC CVS store.  It led to an ugly incident in which he ended up firing shots from his police  service pistol at the vehicle the trans women were traveling in. 

There's also a  2012 study by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) that found transgender people across the United States experience three times as much police violence as cisgender individuals.  Not surprisingly to moi, those numbers are even higher for transgender people of color.  

Even when transgender people were the victims of hate crimes, 48 percent reported receiving mistreatment from the police when they went for help.

So in order to confront the Walking While Trans issue plaguing the community, we will have to attack the superstitions and myths that undergird it. 

One of the major ones buttressing it that needs to be destroyed is the 'all transwomen are sex workers' meme.

Mexican Trans Woman Being Denied Opportunity To Play Soccer

Soccer (or football to the rest of the world) is the world's most popular sport and is called 'the beautiful game' by its fans. 

But what is happening to 44 year old Mexican transwoman Miranda Itzayana is anything but beautiful.

Prior to transition, she played for the first division Mexican League team Pumas and others from 1985-1992.   She wanted to play the sport again and in June 2012 after showing documentation verifying her feminine identity, Itzayana joined the Mexican Women's League team Jaguars Aldana.  

Initially she was told there was no problem with her playing in the league, but pressure mounted as opposing teams wanted her thrown out of the league for 'playing like a man'.  Itzayana was also subjected to homophobic and transphobic slurs while playing matches.  

In February during a Mexican Women's League meeting the league and her team bowed to pressure and baseless accusations from opposing teams by not allowing Itzayana to play.  The league after that meeting subsequently enacted a 'women born women' policy to keep her out in violation of the IOC Stockholm Accords that FIFA and national soccer federations follow that allow trans athletes to compete.  

Jaguars Aldana, fearing being barred from the Mexican Women's League, threatened to expel Itzayana from the team if she complained publicly about her unjust treatment.    Upset about the discriminatory treatment she was receiving, she decided to take her case to the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination in Mexico City (COPRED).

The COPRED commissioner ruled in her favor and ordered that Itzayana be reinstated, allowed to play in the next tounament and the discriminatory league rule be changed to allow her participation. 

FIFA has had an ongoing 'Say No To Racism' campaign in which we see the banner held up by players of both teams during every World Cup Men's and Women's tournament and other major confederation tournaments in international soccer.  We'll see it again later this summer in Brazil. 

But as I wrote back in 2011 and Jazz, Aeris Houlihan and Miranda Itzayana can tell you from painful experience, FIFA needs to immediately embark upon a campaign to eradicate transphobia and homophobia
from the sport, too.