Diane Rodriguez Sues Ecuador In Trans Human Rights Case

The last time I talked about Ecuadorian trans activist Diane Rodriguez on this blog I along with the rest of Trans World was anxiously waiting to see if she'd make trans history and become only the fourth trans person on Planet Earth and the first in the Western Hemisphere to be elected to her national legislature.

That didn't happen for her last February, but Diane is back in the news.  She has filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian government in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in San Jose, Costa Rica to get her nation to correct the gender code on her identity documents. 

Rodriguez is the founder of the Ecuadorian TBLGI rights organization X Silhouette Association and has been battling for five years to have her identity documents changed.  

In 2009 she set a precedent in Ecuador by becoming the first transperson in her nation to take her case to the Civil Registry and have her name legally changed.

The problem is that Ecuador is one of those nations that won't change the gender code on those identity documents without surgical intervention.  That requirement for genital surgery not only is a medical barrier for some people, it's also a fiscal one because many poor Ecuadorian transpeople who would like to change name and gender code to match their gender presentation don't have the means to afford SRS. 

Ecuador’s constitution protects people on the basis of ‘aesthetic freedom,’ and guarantees equality before the law without discrimination on the basis of gender identity. - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/transgender-woman-sues-ecuador-refusing-recognize-her-new-gender180214#sthash.I0RxXnYW.dpuf

Ecuador's constitution has language in it that not only guarantees equality of the law without discrimination  based on gender identity, but protects people on the basis of 'aesthetic freedom'.

‘I have to continue the process, not only for me but for the entire GLBT community, and in this case specifically for the trans community,’ Rodriguez said - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/transgender-woman-sues-ecuador-refusing-recognize-her-new-gender180214#sthash.I0RxXnYW.dpuf

"I have to continue the process, not only for me but for the entire GLBT community, and in this case specifically for the trans community," Rodriguez said in an interview.

She is hoping that in taking her case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, they will rule that those clauses in the Ecuadorian constitution also include the right of pre-op (or non operative) transsexuals to change the gender codes in their identity documents. 

Best of luck to Diane and hope she gets an important legal win for herself and the transpeople of Ecuador.

Chilean Trans Rights Bill Unanimously Advances

The election of President-elect Michelle Bachelet is already paying dividends for the Chilean transgender community.

Bachelet regained the seat she held from 2006-2010 and while she was gone was appointed the first executive director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment Of Women, a post she held until March 2013 until she resigned to run for the presidency.

I'm mentioning President-elect Bachelet's backstory to set the stage for the good news coming from this South American nation where there has been positive movement on trans issues since 2012.  

Trans activists in Chile began a push that year to enact a trans identity law similar to the one on the eastern side of the Andes in Argentina as their public healthcare plan announced in May 2012 they would begin to cover SRS..  

It seems that the Chilean National Congress heard their trans constituents.  They advanced on a 29-0 vote with three abstentions a bill that would allow trans Chileans to legally change their name and gender without surgical intervention, hormonal treatments and psychiatric or psychological evaluations.

It was a move widely applauded by Chilean rights activists.  The bill is also supported by President-elect Bachelet who returns to office March 11.  

"Our lawmakers have recognized our dignity,” Andrés Ignacio Duarte Rivera, founder of the Organization of Transsexuals for the Dignity of Diversity, a Chilean trans advocacy group, told the Washington Blade after the vote.

The deadline to submit proposed amendments to the bill will be March 3, but so far so good for our Chilean trans cousins.

AB 1266 Repeal Referendum Effort Clears Initial Hurdle

After hearing the news coming out of California moments ago, I'm going to repeat what I said in a post last month.  Hope you Cali peeps have a game plan in place if the PFAS haters succeed in getting this on the November 4 ballot.

My concern about that possibility is elevated because of the news that the haters effort to get a referendum on the ballot to repeal AB 1266 cleared the first hurdle.  

The random sampling indicated that AB 1266's opponents failed to gather the 504,760 valid signatures of registered voters they needed to put their measure on the ballot, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D) said.   However Los Angeles County was the last one in the spot-check verification process, and its 77.9% verification rate bumped up the statewide verification rate to 77.93% and 482,582 signatures. 

While that was below the 81.5% one needed to shut down implementation of the law or immediately put the repeal referendum on the California ballot, it was enough to move it to the second phase.  Secretary of State Bowen's office will now check every one of the 619,241 signatures received on those petitions, and that process needs to be completed by February 24.

So that now another month and a half of waiting to see if this referendum happens or it doesn't.

In the interim, Childen of Light, better be using your time wisely.

Netherlands Passes Groundbreaking Trans Identity Law!

In the Netherlands, trans rights advocates are celebrating a major win in that western European nation with the passage of a Gender Identity Law that does not require sterilization, court orders or genital surgery as prerequisites to change gender markers on documentation. 

It passed with a lopsided 51-24 vote of Dutch lawmakers in The Hague on Tuesday, and when the new law takes effect July 1, Dutch citizens aged 16 and older will only require a statement from an expert attesting to the trans person's desire to do so to match their gender identity.

The move to do so was driven by a report on the human rights of trans people in European states which called out The Netherlands over their previous unjust law and demanded a modification of it.
  
Despite the major win, there were trans rights groups who felt that the proposals pushed by Justice State Secretary Fred Teeven and enacted into law didn't go far enough.  Some parties wanted to lower the age consent threshold for SRS from 16 to 12.  Teeven said that he considered that too early and pointed out that boys in puberty often wrestle with their identity. 

"This law is a victory for transgender people in the Netherlands," the chairpersons of Transgender Network Netherlands and COC Netherlands say in a statement. "There is an end to all the humiliating situations that transgenders still daily deal with because the sex designation on their paper is different from the gender in which they live."   

There were elements of the Dutch trans community who pushed for an Argentinian style Gender Identity Law provision in which you don't need a doctor's statement to change identity documents.

Human Rights Watch also hailed the new law as a positive step.

“The new law is an important step toward equality for transgender people in the Netherlands,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “It puts people in a much stronger position to change their gender identity without intrusive and abusive medical requirements.” 


It's a huge improvement from the previous status quo in which a transperson seeking to change their documentation to match their gender identity not only had to be sterilized, but undergo genital surgery or other unwanted gender modification operations, followed by having to get judicial permission to do so.

That created situations in which Dutch transpeople who objected to the sterilization, genital surgery requirement or judicial intervention chose to live their lives with official documents that didn't correspond with their current gender presentation.    That created problems for them as they applied for jobs, tried to access healthcare, traveled and otherwise had to use that documentation to officially identify themselves.

Since the law had already passed the other Dutch parliamentary chamber, all it needs is King Willem-Alexander's signature to become official.

The new law when it goes into effect in July will go a long way toward solving some of those problems  .

The 6th Annual TTNS Will Take Place In...

San Marcos, TX on the Texas State University campus!

For the first time in Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit history, it leaves the Houston area where it was conceived and hits the road to another part of the Lone Star State as its co-founder Josephine Tittsworth envisioned. 

A TTNS road trip was actually slated to happen on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station back in 2011, but unforeseen on campus complications in Aggieland unfortunately caused it to be shifted back to Houston.  

Barring any unforeseen complications, the 6th annual TTNS will take place August 8-9, 2014 on the Texas State University campus.

The 2013 TTNS event was held on the University of Houston campus for the third time (2009, 2011, 2013) with Rice University (2010) and UH-Clear Lake (2012) hosting the others.   

So what's the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit?  It a two day event that tackles TBLG issues pertinent to higher education.   Interested academics and other parties in higher education gather at the TTNS host campus to discuss and strategize about what does and doesn't work in regards to codifying inclusion of  'gender identity and expression' into institutional policy.

There are other issues of importance to the Texas transgender community discussed during the TTNS that will facilitate those goals.   

The TTNS since its 2009 founding and inaugural event on the University of Houston campus has grown to become a much coveted event in Texas academic circles.  The TTNS has been responsible for the increasing list of Texas colleges, universities and school districts that have added gender identity and expression language to their non-discrimination statements and anti-bullying policies.  

The TTNS not only has facilitated the education and training that led to these advances, but has also fostered discussions between activists, students and academics on how to create campuses that are more conducive and comfortable for transpeople to simply be themselves.  That results in trans students being better able to focus on getting their educations and becoming productive citizens.   

So mark your calendars and make your plans now to join the TTNS crew in San Marcos, Texas for what is sure to be another interesting and groundbreaking event.   One day I hope to see one of the Texas HBCU campuses in either Prairie View A&M University or Texas Southern University bid to host it. 

As soon as I receive it, I'll post to this TransGriot space more information about the 2014 edition of the TTNS in terms of when registration opens, when the call for presentations goes out and what your campus needs to do if you want to host the 2015 edition of the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.

See you in San Marcos, and looking forward to that TTNS chocolate break again! .

Rev. Al, Where You At On The Islan Nettles Case And Trans Rights In General?

I have much love for the Rev. Al Sharpton as a human rights warrior, and don't miss his MSNBC show Politics Nation when it comes on at 5 PM CST.  

He has been a standup ally for the same gender loving (SGL) end of the community, but I'm curious to find out along with other people in the African descended trans community where does Rev. Al stand when it comes to trans human rights?

This question became more valid in the ongoing developments in the Islan Nettles case.   

Nettles was attacked by transphobic thugs on the corner of W. 148th St. and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, mere blocks away from the Harlem headquarters of the Sharpton founded and headed National Action Network on W. 145th St.   The organization had been silent on this case as local trans women and Delores Nettles, the mother of Islan have demanded justice be served for this senseless murder.

In the meantime, as the clock ticks toward the dawning of a new year, a message is being sent that the lives of transwomen of color in New York City don't matter as long as Paris Wilson, or whoever the alleged perpetrator of this transphobic hate crime is not sitting in a jail cell.

We also had New York attorney John Scarpa basically saying trans lives don't matter in open court while defending his client Rasheen Everett.  Fortunately the judge in the case thought otherwise and he is getting called out by organizations and various people for the anti-trans remarks. 

In defense of Rev. Al, I'm aware that he and the National Action Network don't get involved in cases unless they are invited to do so by the families of the victims. 

So based on that knowledge, have to respectfully ask the next question of the New York trans community.   Have you or Delores Nettles talked to people at the National Action Network and asked them or 'the Rev' to get involved?

If Ms. Nettles or the local trans community have done so, then the onus shifts back to the National Action Network and Rev. Sharpton, and you can legitimately ask the question and get righteously indignant New York trans community about why NAN or the Rev haven't gotten involved.  

It also opens the door to asking the followup questions of where does Rev. Sharpton and by extension the National Action Network stand when it comes to this case, decrying the horrific levels of homicidal anti-trans violence aimed at trans women of color and the human rights of trans women in general?  

The trans community of New York City, the nation, the TransGriot and the world are awaiting your answer to those questions.

TransGriot Update.  Seems as though the answer to the first question I asked in this post is that Rev. Al and the National Action Network are aware of the Nettles case.   There was a December 7 panel discussion moderated by Dominique Sharpton entitled 'My Brothers Keeper' at NAN's Harlem headquarters that included trans panelists Sean Coleman, Arisce Wanzer and Kimberly Howard.  

C-279 Second Session Update- At Senate Second Reading

You peeps on both sides of the 49th Parallel, AKA the Canada-US border are wondering what the blazes is happening with C-279, the federal trans human rights bill that passed the Canadian House of Commons back on March 13 with a 149-137 vote. 

It has been in the Canadian Senate ever since, and if C-279 passes, it would amend the Canadian Criminal Code to add gender identity to the list of grounds protected from discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act and under the hate propaganda section of the Criminal Code.  

Translation:  It would protect trans people from discrimination at the federal level.


Because Conservative PM Stephen Harper asked for and got Parliament prorogued, it basically reset the entire legislative process.  C-279 at the time it was prorogued was at the stage where it only needed to undergo its last two hours of debate and pass its third vote before moving to the Royal Assent state to become Canadian law.  To sponsor Sen. Grant Mitchell's (Liberal-Alberta) unhappiness, the Conservatives in the Senate stalled it before they went on their summer recess on June 30.

NDP MP Randall Garrison, the sponsor of the private member's bill is still optimistic that it will pass even though Sen. Mobina Jaffer (Liberal-BC), whose Human Rights committee C-279 passed through in June on its way to Third Reading, expressed some pessimism in a July Straight.com article that it would pass after the successful last minute Conservative stalling tactics.  .

She is a supporter of the legislation along with Sen. Mitchell, who is the Senate sponsor shepherding its passage through the Red Chamber. 

So here's what has happened since the Canadian Senate returned to handle the nation's legislative business during this second parliamentary session on October 16.


Parliament was prorogued until after Canadian Thanksgiving on October 14.   When the senators returned to work on October 16, the good news was they reinstated C-279.   The bad news is that it had to start the entire legislative process in the Senate all over again. 

C-279 received its First Reading the next day (October 17), but didn't receive Second Reading until November 26.  Starting today this week is the last of five fixed sitting days for the Canadian Senate in 2013 before they go on their holiday break December 20.

The Senate will not return from that break until January 28, so any further action on C-279 is probably going to be delayed until after New Year's Day to give the haters like REAL Women of Canada (think the Maple Leaf division of the TERF's), their right wingers and Conservative senators in opposition to it a chance to throw more 'bathroom bill' (arrgh) shade at it again in an attempt to kill it. 

Okay, Canadian TransGriot readers, that's you cue to become agents of your own trans liberation and get busy calling, writing or e-mailing your senators to urge passage of C-279.

It's vitally important if your senator is a Conservative.  They need to hear from you and know they have trans constituents. 

All we can do on our side of the 49th Parallel is watch the bill's progress, wait unless y'all tell us otherwise, and cheer for its passage when it finally happens. 
.   

65th Anniversary Of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
--UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights preamble, December 10, 1948

In the wake of the horrific human rights violations committed during World War II, the newly organized UN General Assembly, led by a committee chaired by former US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt spent 18 months drafting this landmark UN document which was adopted on December 10, 1948. 

The original drafters of the document in addition to Commission chair Eleanor Roosevelt (US) were Dr. Charles Malik (Lebanon), Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR), Dr. Peng-chun Chang (China), René Cassin (France), Charles Dukes (United Kingdom), William Hodgson (Australia), Hernan Santa Cruz (Chile), and John P. Humphrey (Canada).

The task was even more remarkable considering this was occurring during the outbreak of the East-West  Cold War tensions between the US and USSR that would dominate international world affairs for the next four and a half decades.

December 10 was the 65th anniversary of the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   It is one of the most translated documents in human history and serves as an aspirational goal for all those who strive for full human rights coverage. 

In fact, Nelson Mandela used the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a model for the 1996 South African Constitution.  During the year the document celebrated its 50th anniversary, Mandela addressed the UN General Assembly on September 21, 1998 and challenged them to work harder to enforce the words of the declaration for years to come. 

He said at the time, “The new constitution obliges us to strive to improve the quality of life of the people. In this sense, our national consensus recognizes that there is nothing else that can justify the existence of government but to redress the centuries of unspeakable privations, by striving to eliminate poverty, illiteracy, homelessness and disease. It obliges us, too, to promote the development of independent civil society structures.”document


I've pointed out since 2007 that the trans rights struggle is an international human rights struggle grounded in not only our various national constitutions, but the International Bill of Gender Rights drafted 20 years ago at the 1993 ICTLEP Conference in Houston, the Yogyakarta Principles, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

When I say that we have the moral high ground in our trans human rights struggle, these are the documents I point to along with the US Constitution when I talk about trans human rights in a national and international context. 

It's also heartening to note on the anniversary date of the adoption of the UN Declaration of Human Rights that the UN is increasingly getting the message that trans rights are an international human rights issue.  

Back in 2011 the same UN Human Rights Council that penned the Declaration passed a resolution sponsored by South Africa, Brazil and 38 other nations that not only affirmed the universality of human rights, but noted concern about acts of violence and discrimination aimed at people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

On September 26 there was a first ever ministerial meeting on LGBT rights convened at the UN Headquarters in New York to discuss advancements for protecting the human rights of LGBT persons and to secure commitments from UN member states toward making the protection of TBLG citizens in those member states and elsewhere in the world a reality.

Squash Trans Hate For The 2013 Holidays!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas People!

Remember last month when I posted about the Change.org petition to get the TERF flavored Gender Identity Watch declared by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate site?    It hit its modest inital goal of 1000 signatures within hours.

The petition is now up to 6,024 signatures at the time I created this post, so let's have some fun this holiday season squashing trans hate for the holidays and seeing if we can get that to 10,000 signatures before Christmas Day.    And yes, international trans peeps, you too can join in on the fun!

Here's the link to the Change.org petition. 

Tracey Fighting To Be Herself

Where are the trans teen kids who share my ethnic background?  It's a question I've been asking and frankly so have my readers for a while.

One of my readers recently sent me a story about 10 year old Tracey Wilson, who lives in British Columbia with her parents.

While I was happy to read about her transition and her loving parents supporting it, the part of the story I'm not happy about is that the seeds of the transphobia that Dr. Paul McHugh sowed in the Vatican back in 2003 continue to bear poisonous transphobic fruit at the flock level. 

Tracey is now living as a girl full time.  When she wanted to do so at her semi-private Catholic school as well and her parents Michelle and Garfield informed Sacred  Heart of Tracey's wish, the school said no.   They offered to let her use the disabled bathroom, but not the girl's one and refused to authorize a name change or allow Tracey to wear the girls school uniform claiming they didn't have a policy for it.

The great thing about living in Canada besides universal health care and Timmy's is that they have strong human rights protection enshrined in their Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Tracey's parents have filed a human rights complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal against the Independent Catholic Schools of Vancouver.

And yes BC, it's past time for you to join the other four provinces and the Northwest Territories in your home and native land that protect the human rights of trans citizens of your province.

Tracey's human rights complaint will be heard in the spring, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it along with everyone else in Trans World and the African Diaspora

I Like Sports And I Need To Write About Sports

When I'm out and about in our community and the subject turns to what I write about on TransGriot, I have people tell me that they love it when the Shut Up Fool Awards pop up every Friday.  They are appreciative of the hard work I put in and long hours to keep up with all things trans here and around the world.

They enjoy my Ten Questions interviews and love it that I break down politics and how it impacts this community as well.  They love my Black trans history posts and for the most part me discussing race and class and how it affects our TBLG community.   They love my motivational posts and also want to hear my views and analysis on whatever subject I feel like talking about.   

But every now and then I get some pushback as to why I discuss sports on this blog.  

Well, frankly, because it's my blog and if I want to talk sports on it, I can.   Second, because TBLG sports fans exist, I'm one of them and they need love and content to read, too.  I write about my local Houston teams.   I have opinions I want to express about developments in the collegiate and professional ranks from time to time.   And because female athletes don't get much ink or love in an arena dominated by male sports writers, I'll comment on developments in women's sports that pique my interest.

Far too often female athletes and their athletic achievements are belittled by male sports writers and male sports fans.  Women's sports leagues like the WNBA, women's international sports and women's collegiate sports are seen as not deserving of media attention like 'the menz.' until some controversy pops up. 

If we don't talk about female athletes, their accomplishments and the issues that impact them, who will?  

I like discussing my fave tennis playing siblings the Williams Sisters, who get far too much disrespect from the media, their fellow players and knuckle dragging racist idiots in comment threads despite having Tennis Hall of Fame level careers. 

Serena and Venus will always get love here and when deserved, some WTF's.  And yes, the 2014 Australian Open starts January 13-26.      

Third, keeping up with all things trans means that I need to be talking about trans athletes, our history and how developments in the sports world like the LGBT Sports Coalition and Nike LGBT Sports Summits affect our community. 

As Kye Allums, Fallon Fox, Michelle Dumaresq, Christina Kahrl, Keelin Godsey  and others prove, trans people are also breaking ground and making history in the sports world as Renee Richards once did when she sued the USTA in 1976 for the right to play in the US open and won.  

As a blog that seeks to chronicle trans people making history, that means you readers need to see their stories.  They are also trailblazing leaders and pioneers in the sports world that are busting stereotypes about us and they deserve our community's love, understanding, appreciation and support.

Speaking of stereotypes, just as we do so as a community when it comes to doing Trans 101 mythbusting about transpeople in the rest of society, there is just as much disinformation, mythbusting and Trans 101 that needs to be done about transpeople in the sports world.  

There are also sports related issues that we need as a community to be paying attention to and be able to discuss authoritatively like the NCAA rules for trans athletes.  We need to be able to talk about the International Olympic Committee's Stockholm Consensus that allow trans people to compete in the Olympic Games.   We need to be aware about Jazz's successful two year fight with the US Soccer Association to allow trans kids to play and be working on getting FIFA to allow trans athletes to play on international soccer teams like cis people can.  

We also need to as a community need to be keeping up with the states that allow trans kids to compete at the high school level in the gender they present to the world and fight for their right to compete.   

I also see the parallels between transpeople making groundbreaking strides in athletic competition and the African-American human rights struggle.   It's no accident that with the successes of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympic Games, boxer Joe Louis, and Jackie Robinson smashing baseball's color line in 1947 among our countless other sporting achievements that African-Americans also gained increased acceptance of our humanity and advancement in our human rights struggle. 

I submit that as more out trans athletes make their mark in the sporting world, we'll see less hatred and drama directed at us as a community as a result of their athletic competition success, and it will pave the way for other trans athletes to exceed what the pioneers accomplished. 


We transpeeps not only increasingly play the games, we have people like Christina Kahrl, who is breaking ground by writing about the athletes who play them as an ESPN.com columnist and a member of the Baseball Writers Hall of Fame.  

I have TBLG sports fans and trans athletes who thank me for writing about them, standing up for their humanity against the transphobic haters and using my TransGriot platform to talk about being a sports personality who happens to be trans.   That will continue because trans athletes have an important role to play in our ongoing trans human rights struggle.

Trans athletes not only excel on the field of play to prove we can do so just like any other cis person, we love the various games we play.   As they play the games they love, they demolish stereotypes and advance trans human rights at the same time for all of us, even for you trans peeps who hate sports.   

So yeah, I like sports, I write about sports and need to continue doing so.   

Trans Younglings, Imagine Growing Old, Not Dying Young

Was perusing my Facebook wall and noticed a post from a young African-American trans person in which she expressed her joy about turning 24 next month.  What saddened me and motivated me to write this post is that she admitted that if you'd asked her ten years ago, she didn't think she would live to see that age.

While she cried about the prospect of reaching her upcoming 24th birthday on December 7,  I was saddened to hear that to the point of shedding tears that too many of our young people believe they won't reach that age.   

And that dynamic needs to change.

Growing up I looked forward to milestone birthdays.  I eagerly looked forward to turning 18 because you were not only considered to legally be an adult, it signified that I could finally vote in elections.  You could also at the time of my 18th birthday in 1980 legally drink at the time in Texas.

I also looked forward to my 21st birthday as well.  

There was also a meme going around at the time that one in four Black male children would not live to see their 30th birthday.  Maybe it was my Taurus stubborn streak talking, but I was determined to not give in to such defeatist thinking. 

I not only made it my mission to be around God willing for my 30th birthday in 1992, but wanted to see the dawn of the 21st century and the year 2000 eight years later.  

I wanted to make it to my 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays in addition to being the best Moni I can be.  

As someone who works hard to push trans human rights forward, I want to see the results of this hard work I and countless others are doing to plant those civil rights trees for you trans younglings.  I have to be alive to not only do the work, but see those trans civil rights trees take root and grow as a result of that work. 

I make the choices and attempt to do my best to not put myself in negative situations that could result in a premature end to my life.  Sometimes stuff and life events happen that are beyond your control and you have to make snap decisions as you're in the moment that could have an impact positively or negatively on your life.  But the things I can control, I try my best to do so.
 

But that doesn't mean I cut all fun out of my life either.  Ask the peeps who were at the 2012 OUT on the Hill how good my dancing abilities are.    I did my share of partying back in the day and mass consumption of alcohol.  But I also strove to never put myself in the position of being so drunk that I didn't know what zip code I was in.  If I did get drunk, I either slept it off at a trusted friend's house or did so with a designated driver beside me in the club to drive my drunk behind home when we left.


I'm also cognizant of my surroundings, a quality that's even more important as someone navigating society in a feminine body.  I learned once that failure to be aware of that at all times or an ill timed lapse in judgment can result in bodily injury, sexual assault or death.   TDOR's remind me every year that we do have people who irrationally hate us enough to kill us.

Trans younglings, all the slings and arrows and trans hate we expose ourselves to is ultimately for your benefit.  Hell, it does me or no one else any good to fight for the trans human rights laws and policies this community needs if you second decade of the 21st century transwomen or the ones behind you aren't around to enjoy their benefits because you have this misguided belief you won't live to see 30. 

We want you to be able to live your lives to their full potential and make your most expansive dreams come true. But that can't happen if you're not walking on this plane of existence to do so or you robbed this community of your future greatness and talents because you took your life while going through a depressingly rough patch in it.

Getting to be my age is a wonderful, constantly evolving experience.  I enjoy being the mentor for you I didn't have.  There is life beyond age 24.  Life for transpeople is getting better.  It many not be changing as fast as we'd like, but there is ample visible evidence the arc of the moral universe is bending towards justice for trans people. Some of the things you're seeing today were in our wildest dreams territory for trans people when I transitioned in 1994 and we pushed this in conditions far more hostile than you see today.

And don't forget what we did trans human rights warriors did in the 90's-early 2k's was based on the struggles and work our sisters did like Christine Jorgensen, April Ashley, Coccinelle, and Phyllis Frye who put themselves in the public eye in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.   They built on the work of the trans women who were at the Cooper's Donuts riots in LA, the 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit-In that occurred in Philly, the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot and Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson at Stonewall in 1969.

What will life be like for transpeople in 2024?  2034?  2044?  2054?  Some of you reading this post may have the answer to that question. 

You may become the first trans governor of a state.  The trans doctor who comes up with a cure for cancer.  An astronaut who walks on Mars.   Perform at Carnegie Hall.   The next trans state legislator or first trans mayor of a major city.  Come up with the next great business idea that creates jobs for all of us.  Become the first trans Olympian.  When the medical technology develops to that point you may even be able to give birth to your own children should you desire that or even come up with the breakthroughs that make it happen.  You may even become the first trans president of the US, a US senator, a federal judge or congressmember.

You may witness the time when the TDOR's are no longer needed. 

But just like Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, Sharyn Grayson, Gloria Allen and others are around to be mentors to me and trans women of my Baby Boomer and beyond trans generations, and I am proudly mentoring your generation of trans women, you will inevitably get older and eventually be the mentors of the mid and late 21st century trans women now transitioning in the elementary, middle, high schools and colleges right now or just being born.    

But you have to be alive to live long enough to be able to properly mentor those trans younglings when the time comes for you to take on that role.   
 
So please trans younglings, be determined to live long fabulous lives.   Imagine growing old, not dying young.  It's also your best revenge to all the people who reviled you when you were younger to have a more happy and successful life than their miserable ones. 

TransGriot Note: Pics are Cheryl Courtney-Evans, me with Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, and Sylvia Rivera.

Newfoundland And Labrador Adding Gender Identity To Provincial Human Rights Act

Thanks to two years of lobbying by trans advocates in Newfoundland and Labrador and NDP MHA Gerry Rogers, Minister of Justice Darin King announced on November 7 that he would be introducing an amendment to the 2010 Human Rights Act during this House of Assembly session that would add gender identity and expression to the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the province.  

“Discrimination in any form is wrong. This amendment is important to enhancing public education and dialogue around issues of the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgendered and Queer community in the province. Creating a climate of understanding and mutual respect is important to this government and we must all strive to ensure that each person, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression, feels a part of their community.”
- The Honorable Darin King, Minister of Justice

While the government's position was that discrimination against trans people in Newfoundland and Labrador because of gender identity or gender expression was covered under sex in the Human Rights Act, the community and MHA Rogers insisted otherwise. 

MHA Rogers has been personally lobbying the Department of Justice along with trans community members to point out the language was needed, and she is happy that it's finally being done. 

“This is a real victory for advocates of trans rights, “said Rogers. “I’m so happy that all the hard work is paying off and that trans people will now be protected by our Human Rights Act.” - See more at: http://www.nlndpcaucus.ca/nr110713GIRights#sthash.jGhdwD3P.dpuf

is a real victory for advocates of trans rights, “said Rogers. “I’m so happy that all the hard work is paying off and that trans people will now be protected by our Human Rights Act.” - See more at: http://www.nlndpcaucus.ca/nr110713GIRights#sthash.jGhdwD3P.dpuf

"This is a real victory for advocates of trans rights," said MHA Rogers. "I'm so happy that all the hard work is paying off and that trans people will be protected by our Human Rights Act." 

The amendment adding the gender identity and expression language to the Act will not only clarify and strengthen it, but make Newfoundland and Labrador the fifth Canadian jurisdiction to do so after the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. 

Now if the Canadian Senate would get busy doing the right thing and pass C-279 the federal Trans Rights Bill. 

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. 

Transgender Awareness Week Is EVERY Week On TransGriot

Because there are folks in the trans community who believe the Transgender Dy of Remembrance memorial ceremonies are in their words 'too somber', there has been movement over the last few years in several cities that host these TDOR events to host a week of events in the run up to November 20 to educate the cisgender community about our issues, concerns and expose them to our trans world.

Those efforts have led to Transgender Awareness Week. 

The Transgender Awareness Week events can range from trans themed movie nights, lectures, panel discussions, speeches by trans community leaders and elders and debates. 

But why just limit those education and enlightenment efforts to just the week before a TDOR or college campuses?   They can be held at community centers, friendly churches and any venue or room big enough to host them.  

The media that covers us definitely needs that trans 'ejumacation'.  So does law enforcement, the clergy, the legal profession and even our SGL and bi allies.

I submit those trans education efforts are becoming more important because the right wingers are shifting tactics and coming after the trans community with their patented fear, smear and lie tactics.

Yes, those futile efforts to halt the momentum of trans human rights here and around the world will fail, but we will need to do our part to ensure that happens.   One part of that education battle is to do these Transgender Awareness Weeks not only during TDOR, but ensure they happen everyday and everywhere.

Far too many of our own trans people and our allies allies are unaware of our proud history, the trans community's iconic leaders, our trailblazers like Sylvia Rivera and countless others, and the role we transpeople have played in advancing human rights for all people including our own community while fighting a pitched battle to have our own humanity respected and protected.  

Some of those people we know their names, while there are others who fought battles and then faded from the pages of history and we will never know their names, but their contributions were just as valid to enable us to move the trans human rights drive forward to that inevitable civil rights touchdown we will score.  

And yes, I'm proud to have played a role in getting that information and history out there, especially about my own trams community of color.  

I'm also not forgetting about our international trans peeps like Audrey Mbugua, Naomi Fontanos and Victor Mukasa just to name a few who are doing their part to advance the knowledge of trans people and their human rights in their own locales.

Sometimes those trans folks stepping up to lead in other nations are doing so at great risk to their own lives or have sacrificed them to do so like Cynthia Nicole Moreno in Honduras and Agnes Torres Hernandez in Mexico.

I have every intention of continuing to drive home the point that trans rights are an international human rights issue, and will continue to say it as loudly as I can as long as TransGriot exists.  

Transgender Awareness Week is EVERY week on this blog and always will be.

   

US Senate Vote On Trans Inclusive ENDA Happening Later Tonight

For the first time since November 2007, a vote is scheduled to be taken on The Employment and Non Discrimination Act  (ENDA) later this evening.  

The passage of ENDA by Congress and its subsequent signing into law by President Obama would make it illegal to discriminate against someone in hiring or employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity

This trans inclusive version of the bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)  in the Senate and has the public support of all 53 Democratic senators, both independent Senators and four Republicans.  Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) are ENDA co-sponsors, while Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voted for it in committee.  Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has indicated he is 'inclined to support the bill' and has a gay son and it true, it would bring the bill to the 60 vote threashold needed to cut off GOP-Tea Party attempts to filibuster it.

The trans community has long and bitter memories of being cut out of ENDA in 2007 by then Rep. Barney Frank in controversial circumstances.  The trans free bill passed the House 235-184 but subsequently died in the Senate    In 1996 another trans free version of ENDA was voted on in the Senate and failed 50-49.

This cloture vote will pave the way for that to happen, with the final vote scheduled to happen sometime on Wednesday.  

We'll have to see what transpires (pun intended) in tonight's vote, but hope we get to witness history.  

Why Trans Education Efforts Are Vitally Important

It's been 60 years since Christine Jorgensen stepped off that SAS flight from Denmark and into the view of the unblinking eye of the world's media. 

This year has been a particularly historic one in terms of coverage we have received with the launch of the inaugural Trans 100 List by Antonia D'orsay and Jen Richards I was proud to be named to.  There was the inclusion of five Latin@ trans people on the inaugural Honor 41 List that spotlights the achievements of TBLG Latin@ people created by Alberto Mendoza.

We have also had the benefit of Janet Mock and Laverne Cox beautifully gracing the nation's televisions screens and drop knowledge on programs from the Melissa Harris Perry Show to Huff Po Live and beyond.  

Laverne has also made news as a girl like us playing a trans character on the breakout hit drama series Orange Is The New Black.


We even had trans people make lists that aren't specifically geared to our community like Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler being named to The Root 100 list of Top Black Influencers and Laverne win the Out 100 People's Choice Award by a comfortable margin. 


Internationally my transsisters Audrey Mbugua, Naomi Fontanos and Wendy Iriepa have made appearances on the television screens of the world and in their respective homelands.   They intelligently discuss our issues in multiple venues and fight for human rights and justice.

But to borrow the eloquent words of my friend Denny Upkins, sometimes it seems as though the trans community is ice skating uphill when we attempt to smash those anti-trans stereotypes that are used by the Forces of Intolerance to oppose and continue oppressing us. 

In some cases it's the media we have to battle in terms of the people responsible for pushing those unflattering memes that result in on the Internet search engines of the world trans masculine people being erased from the conversation about trans issues and transfeminine people being disrespectfully being conflated with or called men. .

Toni said tin her blog post concerning those unflattering Internet memes:

This is why the work of improving the image, recognizing the greatness and the amazing power that we have, and why we must continue to push forward and make sure that trans women are not the only ones seen, the only ones spoken about — even as we change the way they are seen, and the way they are spoken about.

Sadly, many of those people who need that Trans 101 'ejumacation' besides the media peeps are in our own LGB ranks. And frankly, we need those education efforts in our own pink and blue flag waving trans ranks, too.  We need to be teaching our history to our newly out trans folks.  We need to give them the baseline knowledge, tools and vocabulary to tell their stories and talk about their lives.

As frustrated as we are at times in our trans ranks about the Trans 101 and 102 level of conversation in Cis World about our issues, until we get a solid majority of people acclimated to those Trans 101 and 102 discussions and blow up the obfuscations and falsehoods about us, it makes it more difficult for those who are not in Trans World to understand Trans 201, 202, 301 and 302 conversation levels. 

The trans education work must continue because of not only our four decade old TERF enemies hatin' to the disco beat, we now have the undivided attention of the Religious Reich. 

Defeating the patented Fox Noise fear and smear conservatactics and faith-based anti-trans hate already being deployed against us is going to be an all hands on deck project   We must give social justice minded people who see trans rights as human rights the base level of knowledge about our trans lives in order for them to be the fierce advocates and allies we need them to be. 

And yes trans peeps, sadly that trans education project will be an ongoing one. African descended cis people have been on North American soil for four centuries and we're STILL debunking in the second decade of the 21st century the negative myths that were propagated about us.  

So yes, we need to be tough minded enough to make it happen.   We also need to be cognizant of the fact these trans education efforts are long haul ones vitally important to our lofty goal of acquiring and expanding trans human rights for all of us.