Well Tennessee, Is She A Woman Or Not?

One of the things that pisses off transpeople is the legal and societal double standards based on ignorance hurled at us by everyone we come in contact with from radical feminists to conservafool lawmakers.

Was sent a link to this story unfolding in Tennessee about transwoman Andrea Jones and sighed when I saw that.  Tennessee is the only US state that has a law on the books explicitly preventing people from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates.

I have documented in this blog's electronic pages far too numerous instances of transphobic behavior and outright violence originating in and aimed at transwomen in the Volunteer state.  And when you keep screwing with people, sooner or later they will say 'Enough!" and go straight the hell off.

This latest story starts with Ms. Jones heading to her local drivers license bureau in Morristown, TN to get the gender marker on her drivers license changed from M to F.  The Tennessee Department of Safety rule is that they will change the gender marker on the license “if an applicant presents a doctor’s statement indicating that a full sex change has occurred and the procedure is complete.”   

Problem number one is that 'full sex change' is a little nebulous to begin with.  

Jones presented a statement from her doctor that he had performed an orchiectomy on her (she had her testicles removed) only to be told she needed to have SRS, which it does not state in that regulation.

You can get a gender code change on a US passport without surgery and Social Security paperwork as well, so why should you need a $10-20K surgery to do so for your drivers license?.


She took off her top outside the drivers license office and exposed her breasts in protest and was arrested for indecent exposure.   The police report even referred to her as a man: “Mr. Jones continued to yell that he had the right to show his breasts in public,” it read, “and wanted to be recognized as a female.”

She spent 23 days in jail, lost her job in the process and is now pushing for the state of Tennessee to come up with some clarity on this issue. 

“It’s not right for the state to ask me to be both male and female,” Jones told local TV station WATE 6. “A choice needs to be made. They cannot hold me to both standards
. 
So make up your mind, Tennessee.   If Ms. Jones is a woman as you asserted when you arrested her for indecent exposure, then you need to change the gender marker on her license and birth certificate for her and all transpeople born in the Volunteer state.   

If you're claiming Ms. Jones is a man despite having an orchiectomy, which is gender changing surgery since she doesn't have testicles an, then the arrest for indecent exposure is invalid.

Well Tennessee, the human rights loving part of the world want to know where you stand on this issue. Is she a woman or not?  

Why A Trans Rights Bill Is Needed In Canada

Liberal MP Dr.Hedy Fry and NDP MP Randall Garrison just introduced Bills C-276 and C-279 a few days ago in the Conservative majority dominated Parliament.  

Why did they do so?   Because it's clear that the Great White North and the trans people who live inside its borders need that human rights coverage.

A blatant case of anti-trans discrimination has blown up and become international news centered on the Trail's End Farmers Market in London, ON.

On September 10 Karen Clarke, the cis female owner and proprietor of True 2 You of London, a business that sells candles, oils, air fresheners and incense was called by the manager of the farmer's market and told she could not set up a booth in their 'family friendly' facility the next week if she planned on having a trans person running it. 

Clarke had worked a morning shift in the booth, then left it in the hands of her trans employee Dani Dominick in order to prepare for the next day's business.   She was shocked to receive the transphobic call at 8 PM that evening.

"He said it made everyone uncomfortable and it just wasn't right. This is a family place, a family market and this just isn't right. I just kept insisting what happened that was wrong and he said you walk up to the person and they're dressed like a woman and they've got big hands, a deep voice and tattoos and it's just not right. It's just not a family place he kept repeating that over and over again. And I kept trying to get from him what was wrong, what was so not right, what was it that people were complaining about and there was no details forthcoming that way. He called them 'those people' several times."  

Dani, the employee in question is according to Clarke one of her best employees and has worked without issue at the Children's Festival, Rib Fest, and Food Fest this past summer. In addition to working for Clarke, Dani also lives with her as part of a rent-for-work agreement.

Attorney Michelle Boyce is providing legal counseling to Clarke and a discrimination complaint has been filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.   Boyce says that if it rules in their favor, the fall out could be significant.

"We're in the process of filing human rights against Trails End Market, its blatant discrimination of what they've done. I've never seen a case so obvious."

There is a Change.org online petition that has sprung up in support of Clarke and the trans workers discriminated against that has garnered over 3700 signatures .

But let's hope that some of the fallout from this incident that Boyce talked about is a groundswell of positive public opinion that gets the Trans Rights Bill passed even in this Conservative dominated Parliament.

Transpass Is Still A Trans Problem In Philly

When I had the honor and pleasure of speaking on the Bryn Mawr campus back in October 2009 I took a SEPTA train from the airport to downtown Philly and kicked it with Dionne Stallworth for a few hours before heading to the campus.

After finishing my speech and spending some quality time afterwards with my Bryn Mawr hosts I rode the  train back to the airport to catch my flight back to Da Ville with no fuss, no muss and no problems short of falling asleep on the train and riding past my stop on the way to Bryn Mawr.

I also had a SEPTA day pass to do it with.

But for transpeeps in the Philadelphia area, they are still locking horns with SEPTA over their policy of putting 'M' or 'F' stickers on monthly transit passes in order to stem the tide the transit agency claims of $4.9 million in annual revenue losses from people allegedly sharing passes.    But opponents and even SEPTA admits there is no way of determining if the alleged fraud is actually occurring, much less have any way of tracking it.

The sticker system that was put in place to combat it has led to gender policing by SEPTA personnel and Philadelphia area transpeople such as Charlene Arcila being affected by it.

Four years ago Charlene was prevented by a SEPTA driver from using a weekly Transpass because of a gender sticker that didn't match her presentation.

She has used tokens ever since that incident and filed a complaint against SEPTA with the Philadelphia Human Rights Commission.   Because SEPTA is considered a quasi state agency and not subject to local regulations, the complaint hasn't been heard

In addition, when you ask the PHRC about it, all you get is either a 'no comment' or 'they can't discuss pending cases'.

The sticker system doesn't do what SEPTA officials claim it's supposed to do because the agency's antiquated fare collection system is only capable of tracking how often a card is used.   It doesn't track the gender of its user, or whether the card is being shared by same gender riders as the agency alleges.

In the meantime, the SEPTA gender policing issue hasn't gone away in Philadelphia.   It not only has a deleterious effect on trans patrons of the system, but affects cis people who have ambiguous gender presentations as well.   It's not only humiliating to the person who gets questioned, but could put them in a situation in which they could face abuse or bodily harm.


Philadelphia Councilman Bill Greenlee is among those voices who question the need for SEPTA gender policing. “It just seems to me it’s causing problems for people I’m sure are already having enough problems,” he said. “Unless they can really show or prove they’d lose [millions of dollars], why do this?”

SEPTA Chief Financial Officer Richard Burnfield stated, “I look at it as one of the tools that is in our toolbox to help the authority prevent fraud and misuse of our passes.” .

Interestingly enough, since January 2010 SEPTA reported receiving eight complaints about gender stickers, with two complaints regarding to specific instances of discrimination.   

SEPTA also keeps pointing out the problem will go away when they implement their new smart card system in three years, but that's not good enough for Arcila or transpeople in the area who continue to protest and speak out about the issue.

"I feel like they’re trying to sweep it under the rug,” Arcila said. “Once they put the smart card [system] into effect that would close the door on this case.”

A photo ID pass would have done the trick if they were serious about stopping the sharing of SEPTA passes. Since the smart card system is still three years from implementation, that's a moot point now.

The gender policing problem will persist until SEPTA shows some leadership and stops it. 
But unfortunately  until they do, you'll have some SEPTA employees implementing and enforcing the policy in ways that will be problematic in people's lives.

This Ain't Stayin' In Vegas-Cosmopolitan Hotel Has Trans Bathroom Issues

It is becoming increasingly clear as we see transpeople getting attacked, hassled or arrested for simply using the bathroom that the 'bathroom predator' meme needs to be utterly attacked, debunked, ridiculed and destroyed before we end up having to memorialize a dead transperson at a TDOR near you.

The latest episode of cis people gone wild over transpeople using the restroom happened at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas and first becomes known to us due to a hotel review website.

This transperson known as Stephanie is in Vegas for a conference.  She's enjoying a few hours at the hotel's bar and feeling the need to answer nature's call.  She uses the restroom at 4 AM Vegas time and as she exits it finds herself met by security guards, hassled and barred for life from the just opened hotel for doing so.

Of course once the word of what happened gets out to a community already in high pissivity and fed up over the revelations of other bouts of bathroom transphobia breaking out , the Cosmopolitan's FB page gets lit up with complaints to the point in which the hotel has to release a statement about it.

"The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is committed to maintaining a community that recognizes and values the inherent dignity of every person, by fostering sensitivity, understanding and mutual respect of our guests and employees. We sincerely regret any misunderstanding or inappropriate actions that any member of our staff may have taken. And to ensure increased sensitivity within this area, the organization will focus on continued training and on-going awareness initiatives. In addition, we apologize to the individual guest and welcome her back to the resort anytime. Again, we would like to apologize to the LGBT community and anyone concerned and hope to demonstrate our firm dedication to fair and unbiased treatment of all." - The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Umm hmm.   Well, y'all need to write that into the security guards post orders.. 

And while you're at it, are you amenable to doing some training on TBLG issues for your staff?.   Because in an age of instant communications and the mood this community is in right now, what's transphobic in Vegas won't stay in Vegas for long.

More Maryland Mickey D's Bathroom Transphobia

Here we go again.    Another Maryland transwoman who is getting transphobia served with her Big Mac.

A security guard is caught on tape at a McDonalds in Langley Park, MD denying use of the facilities to a transwoman.   This incident according to Denise LeClair of IFGE happened in January.



Address of the latest McDonald's with transphobia on the menu is 7911 New Hampshire Ave in Langley  Park, MD

 Ba ba ba ba ba, not lovin' it..

Think it's time to seriously consider coordinating a nationwide (or worldwide) trans pee-in at McDonald's.