Rep. Lofgren Calls Out A Transphobe

For us to eventually win World War T, we will need to have the help of allies who abhor oppression as much as those of us who are experiencing it firsthand.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. called out a transphobic witness during the committee meeting.  That transphobe, Gail Heriot, unfortunately sits on the US Commission of Civil Rights and Rep. Lofgren took exception to her problematic testimony   .

This was the section of Ms. Heriot's testimony that Rep. Lofgren objected to and read aloud during the Judiciary Committee meeting.

"If I believe that I am a Russian princess, that doesn’t make me a Russian princess, even if my friends and acquaintances are willing to indulge my fantasy. Nor am I a Great Horned Owl just because — as I have been told — I happen to share some personality traits with those feathered creatures"
-Gail Heriot

Rep. Lofgren made it clear that she couldn't let that comment be entered into the record without being challenged and told committee chair Rep. Steve King (R-IA) that very point.

"I’ve got to say, I found this rather offensive," Lofgren announced after reading Heriot's transphobic statement. "It says to me that the witness really doesn’t know anything and probably has never met a transgender child who is going through, in almost every case, a very difficult experience finding themselves."

And here's the video of that exchange. with Heriot and Rep. King..

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Raffi Makes Trans History Again!

Just last August Raffi Freedman-Gurspan made history as the first out trans staffer ever to work at the White House as the Outreach & Recruitment Director in the presidential personnel office and Associate Director for Public Engagement. .

Now the 28 year old trans Latina is set to become the first trans person to be named as the White House LGBT Liaison in the 21 year history of the position. President Obama appointed her to replace Aditi Hardikar, who left the post in January to join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

I'd met both previous occupants of the LGBT Liaison position, and met Raffi last year during the Trans WOC White House panel event I attended last March.  

Raffi will not only take on the LGBT Liaison job duties, she will continue in her role as Outreach & Recruitment Director

This appointment is a big deal.   It's fantastic to witness a trans person finally being appointed as the initial point of WH contact for LGBT groups on all issues, and continues to illustrate that President Obama has been the best president ever when it comes to not only advancing trans human rights issues, but actually entrusting us with key positions in his administration..

Congratulations Raffi!  

New CDC Trans Feminine Breast Screening Policy Takes Effect

When I went to my Galveston, TX based gender clinic for my first transition medical checkup 20 years ago this April, my endocrinologist at the time Dr. Lee Emery said as I sat down in the chair at her desk, "I have good news and bad news for you. Which one do you want first?"

"Let's start with the good news," I said.
"The good news is that your chances for prostate cancer because of HRT have dropped to near zero.". 
"That's great!  What's the bad news?'
"Your chances for breast cancer just doubled," Dr. Emery said in a matter of fact tone.

So it was with that two decade old conversation in mind I hailed the December 20 CDC reversal of an old trans exclusionary policy in the wake of the October controversy stirred up after Colorado trans woman Jennifer Blair was denied a screening.

The federal early detection program offers preventive breast cancer screenings to low-income women, but had Raymondesque language in it limiting it to people who are genetically female. 

The 62 year old Blair had sought the screening after detecting an unusual growth in one of her her breasts that was found to be benign.   She subsequently filed a complaint under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act in October after being forced to leave the facility without having the mammogram that would have otherwise been covered under federal law.   

The medical studies concerning transwomen, HRT and breast cancer are ongoing, but we still need to be as estrogen based lifeforms doing regular breast self exams. 

Once you hit age 40, mammograms need to be done on a regular basis to save the boobies.  It's even more important for us African-American transwomen because we are susceptible to acquiring a type of breast cancer that is aggressive and fast growing, so it's even more important that we do so, especially if the cis women in our family have a history of breast cancer.

Cancer prevention expert Dr. Jacqueline Miller issued a memo stating "federal funds may be used to screen these transgender women."  

The memo specifies patients must be "transgender women (male-to-female) who have taken or are taking hormones and meet all program eligibility requirements."

The new CDC policy takes effect today, and will probably lead to one day saving someone's life.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls Out The GOP Over The Government Shutdown

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took to the Senate floor and told it like it T-I-S is about who voted for the government shutdown and who is behind it. 

And in the process gave som,e peeps a civics lesson about the varios agencies we depent on that are part of the federal government that have impacts on our daily lives large and small.

She also slammed the Republifool-Tea Klux Klan  'Anarchy Caucus' for pushing this unnecessary and embarrassing government shutdown.

And you knew I was going to post the video from her speech..

113th Congress Starts Today

The 113th Congress starts today with the Democrats gaining ground thanks to the 2012 election.  There will be 200 Democrats and 233 Republicans in this Congress with the seat of resigned Illinois Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr to be determined in an April 9 special election.

The 113th Congress will run from today until January 3, 2015 with the eagerly anticipated on our side November 2014 midterm election at the end of it. 

As always, there's history being made with the opening session of the most diverse so far Congress in US history.

There are 84 freshmen in the 113th Congress, 49 Democrats (33 men, 16 women) and 35 Republicans (32 men, 3 women). This year's Freshman House class includes the first Hindu elected to Congress in Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress in the person of Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)

Speaking of women, in the House, the 113th Congress will have the most female officeholders ever with 100 women in both parties serving in the House and Senate.  In addition to the 80 female House members of both parties serving their various districts there will be a record 20 women serving in the US Senate..  

The Democrats will be the first party ever to have more women and non-white members serving in their caucus than white males.  There will be 43 African-American members of Congress pending what happens in the Illinois special election and one* in the Senate    There will also be a record number of 30 Latinos coming to Capitol Hill as well with 3 serving in the Senate.

There are seven total LGBT members of Congress including for the first time ever a senator in the person of  Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  Hopefully one day I'll be writing about the first trans member of Congress, but for now the 'T' isn't part of the LGBT congressional delegation.

On the Senate side, the Democrats retained control of the Senate and thanks to two independent senators caucusing with them in Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) will have a 55-45 edge 

As far as the 113th Congress leadership goes, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will remain Senate Majority Leader, Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will remain as Senate Minority Leader.   In the House Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will remain the House Minority Leader but as to who will claim the Speaker of the House gavel is questionable on the GOP side with current speaker John Boehner (R-OH) being in serious trouble with he conservative movement and his rebellious caucus.

It also remains to be seen if the Democrats take their opportunity to change the filibuster rule today.  hope they do after the way the GOP has been abusing it for the last few years.  

Will definitely be tuned into the political drama inside I-495 when this 113th Congress starts.

Mr. Rogers Defends PBS

In 1969, when President Richard Nixon (R) wanted to cut funding to PBS (sound familiar?)  Fred Rogers of  the long running PBS show Mister Rogers Neighborhood headed to Capitol Hill to defend that funding in a Senate hearing  

This 2012 Election Is STILL About The Supreme Court

As much as the pundits will try to make this election about the economy, I submit this election is about a far more important factor the media pundits aren't talking about in terms of the Supreme Court.

I bring this subject up because in a few hours another term of our nation's highest judiciary body starts and runs through June 2013.   Just as in the last term, there will be some contentious subjects such as Section V of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, same gender marriage, Prop 8 and affirmative action that come up to be argued in front of the 5-4 conservative leaning Roberts Court.

It hasn't escaped my attention that there are four justices who are over 70 years of age.  Clinton appointed Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (77) and Stephen Breyer (71) are past that age on the liberal progressive side.

Reagan appointed Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy (73) is a predominately right leaning swing vote, and reliably conservative Antonin Scalia is 74.    

The next president (and I pray it's a second term President Obama) could possibly get to appoint three and possibly four Supreme Court justices during his next term  and shape the direction and political orientation of it for the next thirty to 40 years.  

For you people who claim there's no difference between the two parties, nowhere does your rhetoric look more delusional and politically clueless than when it comes to what person is in the Oval Office picking Supreme Court justices and judges for the federal judiciary.

The last thing I want is a President Romney (yecch) advised by Robert Bork picking those justices.


I would rather have it continue in the liberal-progressive direction of being diversified as the trend has been under President Obama.  

We have already seen President Obama's first two picks be women in terms of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. 

I'd also like to remind people there has never been an African-American woman, an Asian of any gender, a Latino male or a Native American jurist of any gender selected to serve on the SCOTUS.

As a matter of fact President Obama's judiciary picks have been leaning heavily towards women and persons of color.   He has had appointed and confirmed a record 72 women to the federal judiciary in his first term with 29 of those women being non-white ones.   31 of President Obama's judicial picks were African-American, three were openly gay and there is no reason to doubt that pattern won't continue in a second Obama term

With a gridlocked Congress, the federal judiciary will become more important to advancing our human rights agenda.  With 90 federal judicial vacancies and four potential ones at the Supreme Court level diversity in the federal judiciary not only improves the quality of the decisions rendered by federal courts, it's a trend I want to see continue.

It's not only about the economy stupid, it's about the federal judiciary. and especially the political orientation the Supreme Court will take for the people in my generation for the rest of our lives.

Ponder that point as you enter the voting booth on November 6 or whenever during this month you get to cast your early voting ballots.

Another Obama Administration 'Crumb'- HUD Housing Nondiscrimination Rule To Be Enacted

The rainbow fixated on gay marriage only detractors of President Obama or busy selling out to the GOP were loud about hollering 'crumbs' every time the administration made regulatory or policy changes that positively impacted this community.

Well, here's another 'crumb' they can gripe and mumble incoherently to themselves about.   

The Federal Housing Administration announced today in a press release they have released the final text of HUD's new nondiscrimination rule that will prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in several HUD programs including Title VIII based public housing and FHA backed loans.

It was also announced during the just concluded Creating Change conference in Baltimore by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

According to HUD the new nondiscrimination rule will:

• Requires owners and operators of HUD-assisted housing, or housing whose financing is insured by HUD, to make housing available without regard to the sexual orientation or gender identity of an applicant for, or occupant of, the dwelling, whether renter- or owner-occupied.  HUD will institute this policy in its rental assistance and homeownership programs, which include the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs, community development programs, and public and assisted housing programs.
  
• Prohibits lenders from using sexual orientation or gender identity as a basis to determine a borrower’s eligibility for FHA-insured mortgage financing.  FHA’s current regulations provide that a mortgage lender’s determination of the adequacy of a borrower’s income “shall be made in a uniform manner without regard to” specified prohibited grounds.  The rule will add actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity to the prohibited grounds to ensure FHA-approved lenders do not deny or otherwise alter the terms of mortgages on the basis of irrelevant criteria.
  
• Clarifies that all otherwise eligible families, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, will have the opportunity to participate in HUD programs. In the majority of HUD’s rental and homeownership programs the term “family” already has a broad scope, and includes a single person and families with or without children.  HUD’s rule clarifies that otherwise eligible families may not be excluded because one or more members of the family may be an LGBT individual, have an LGBT relationship, or be perceived to be such an individual or in such relationship.
   
• Prohibits owners and operators of HUD-assisted housing or housing insured by HUD from asking about an applicant or occupant’s sexual orientation and gender identity for the purpose of determining eligibility or otherwise making housing available. In response to comments on the proposed rule, HUD has clarified this final rule to state that this provision does not prohibit voluntary and anonymous reporting of sexual orientation or gender identity pursuant to state, local, or federal data collection requirements.

The rule will be published in the Federal Register and will take effect 30 days after its publication.