White House Affirmatively Responds To Petition Calling For Conversion Therapy Youth Ban

One of the things that is a major concern for TBLG leaders is the use of so called conversion therapy on TBLG people to 'cure' them.  It was such a conversion therapy that drove Leelah Alcorn to commit suicide.

In the wake of Leelah's death, a WeThePeople.gov petition calling for the passage of Leelah's Law that would ban the use of the scientifically discredited use by licensed therapists of conversion therapy aimed at TBLGIQ youth, hit the 100,000 signature threshold for a White House response in January  and eventually 120,958 signatures when it was closed. 

In the petition response yesterday from senor White House adviser Valerie Jarrett:

Conversion therapy generally refers to any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.[1] Often, this practice is used on minors, who lack the legal authority to make their own medical and mental health decisions. We share your concern about its potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer youth.

When assessing the validity of conversion therapy, or other practices that seek to change an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation, it is as imperative to seek guidance from certified medical experts. The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm.

As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.

I keep telling y'all that President Obama is the best POTUS ever on trans issues, and he keeps proving it with every executive order he issues and every policy position he takes.

New Virginia Governor Signs Exec Order Banning TBLG Discrimination

The inauguration of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) happened Saturday during a sometimes rain soaked ceremony on the capitol steps in Richmond.

Despite the rain, it heralded a joyous day for liberal progressives and Democrats in the state because this was the first time since 1989 that the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general spots were held by Democrats.

And as McAuliffe promised during his campaign, one of his first acts as the 72nd governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia was signing an executive order banning discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation and for the first time ever, gender identity.

Word to the wise 2014 midterm voter:  This is why elections matter.   The Republican governors would rescind the executive orders the Democratic governors issued once they got into office.

It's about time that happened, and hopefully before Gov. McAuliffe's term ends, maybe they can pass a law that adds gender identity and sexual orientation language to the categories of persons protected in their state nondiscrimination laws.

Are Virgina's Transpeople About To Be Thrown Under The Civil Rights Bus?

While I'm happy that the next governor of the commonwealth of Virginia will be a Democrat, what I'm not happy about is that Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe is possibly about to throw the Virginia transpeople who helped get him elected under the human rights bus.

McAuliffe announced that one of his first acts as governor once he is inaugurated in January would be banning  discrimination in state workplaces based on sexual orientation.  

It's the same executive order that former Virginia governor Tim Kaine signed in 2006 that was rescinded four lears later when Republican Bob McDonnell succeeded him.

That's a problem because sexual orientation language alone will not cover trans people.  Gender identity or expression language needs to be added to that executive order to cover the trans community  

And for those of you in GL World who will throw the 'you transpeople are covered under Title VII and we're not' point to justify this, bigots aren't paying attention to Title VII, Glenn v Brumby or the EEOC Macy v Holder case until after they discriminate against trans people and get whacked by it.

What they do pay attention to is laws and the media telling them laws have been passed that make it illegal to discriminate against protected classes of people.

Bottom line is that favorable court and EEOC rulings and precedents aren't enough .  We need anti-trans discrimination laws on the books in our cities, counties, states and our nation that explicitly state anti-trans discrimination is unacceptable.  

If you GL people in Virginia and elsewhere don't think that it's important to have those laws on the books or transpeople pointing out the missing gender identity and expression language is 'attacking your allies', then let's see how secure you would feel your human rights are if all the anti-discrimination laws in this country that have sexual orientation only language in them to prohibit discrimination against you were suddenly no longer available and you had to depend on the court system or EEOC administrative rulings to enforce them. 

Bet you'd see it differently wouldn't you? 

So to ensure the executive order covers all LGBT Virginians in state employment, gender identity and expression language needs to be expeditiously added to that executive order. 

We'll see if it happens. 

Here We Go Again With The ENDA Executive Order

It's back for the 2K13, the predominately white gay grousing over President Obama not moving on their demands to sign an ENDA executive order.

The ENDA executive order they have been pushing for since 2010 has been a recurring theme in GLBT politics.  It's also bogus.   Far from eliminating discrimination for the entire LGBT community 'with the stroke of a pen', it only protects TBLG people employed by federal contractors.

It only benefits the gays who are employed by federal contractors and I'm extremely skeptical about the benefits to the rest of the community not covered by the executive order.. 

The Employment and Nondiscrimination Act is the legislative solution for the problem of LGBT employment discrimination.  It would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in both public and private employment and benefit the ENTIRE TBLG community.

An executive order won't.  

Granted, even Stevie Wonder can see that ENDA isn't passing out of a Republican controlled House.  But one of the reasons it's a Republican controlled House is because some of you GL peeps sat on your asses on November 2, 2010 instead of taking them to the polls during that midterm.

At the same time, because you were mad at President Obama for not dropping what he was doing to clean up the mess Junior left him and immediately cater to what you wanted him to do, you loudly and stupidly called for the GL community to sit out that election to 'punish the Democrats'.

And who ended up getting punished?  Damned sure wasn't the Democratic Party, it was all the GLBT peeps who aren't in your tax bracket who got punished.   It was every person in the US who depends on having the Dems in power to fight for them inside I-495 to keep their human rights from being trampled on by the neo-fascist Republicans.

But now that we have this lemon Congress, how do we make lemonade out of the situation?   And no, the ENDA executive order ain't it because it isn't broad enough to cover the sectors of the BTLG community that desperately need the anti-discrimination coverage.

Time to focus people on the long game and remember your Dallas Principles. 

Circle November 4 on your 2014 calendar, bust your butts to ensure the Dems hold or expand their Senate majority and take control of the House back.   We can raise our appletini glasses together to celebrate the return of the speaker's gavel to Nancy Pelosi's hands from the clutches of the GOP Cryin' Man and then get busy executing the full court press in 2015 to pass an inclusive ENDA..