Paul Scott Recall Update

One of the things I was watching was the ongoing battle in Michigan's Genessee County to recall transphobic conservanegro state Rep. Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) from office.  

In addition to earning the ire of the trans community in Michigan and beyond for his rampant transphobia, the cookie chomping knee-grow made the mistake of pissing off educators in the state.

Scott heads Michigan's House Education Committee, and pissed off teachers in the state and his 51st House district by shepherding the state cuts in K-12 funding and new taxes on pensions.  He has also been influential in pushing teacher tenure reform efforts championed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) that made it easier to fire teachers.

An enthusiastic recall effort spearheaded by teachers and people in the 51st District exasperated with Rep. Scott and funded by the Michigan Education Association got organized.   The Genessee County Elections Board approved the language on July 23 and the effort began to collect the 9,600 signatures required to force the recall election.  

The Recall Paul Scott team collected more than 12,000 signatures in a mere two weeks and the Michigan Bureau of Elections validated 11,000 of them, putting it well over the number needed to get the recall question placed on the November 8 ballot.

Rep. Scott struck back by filing a suit to stop the recall effort in Genessee County which was denied, then he took his efforts to stop the recall to neighboring Ingham County.   A divided Michigan Court of Appeals three judge panel surprisingly issued a 2-1 vote ruling to halt the recall despite the fact that absentee ballots for it had already been sent out, their rationale being the Genessee County judge erred in not granting the injunction to Scott.

The legal fun continued to reverse that ruling and Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady issued an injunction on October 6 to take the Paul Scott recall off the November 8 ballot.   

With a drop dead date of October 25 looming as to whether or not the now on legal life support recall effort could continue, another appeal by the Recall Paul Scott proponents was filed to the Michigan Supreme Court to flip the legal script and let the recall election happen. 

On Wednesday their legal Hail Mary was successful when the Republican dominated Michigan Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Rep. Scott and overturned his injunction and the Court of Appeals ruling. 

Ah, I love it when democracy is allowed to happen.

The recall election is back on, and Michigan voters in the 51st District will have the opportunity on November 8 to decide whether this transphobic teacher basher gets to stay in the Michigan Legislature until the 2012 election cycle or gets kicked to the curb ASAFP.

You know what outcome I'm rooting for.   Care for an Oreo, Paul?

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.

Pam's Ponderings- I Want To Be A Model/Actress. So Do A Slew Of Others

TransGriot Note: Another post from author Pamela Hayes :

It has been raining relentlessly all day. I put on galoshes and a raincoat and went to the library. Some new books came out a few weeks ago and I wanted to see if the library had them.

They didn’t. I am fighting the urge to just buy the damn books. But I have so many books crammed in bookcases, in boxes in the utility closet and in my mother-in-law’s garage.

So, I’m going to try and reduce the book load by getting novels from the library. But I may have to resort to a Kindle. The library is too slow about getting books or if they do get them, they may have one or two copies of a title and if the work is by a popular author, the book is quickly rented and then there is a waiting list.

And impatient me does not want to be dealing with all that. So, perhaps a Kindle is the way to go, although I’m a little unwilling to read a book from an electronic device.

I ran my errands using my husband’s Jeep. I don’t like driving Jeeps.

Ugh! Too butch.

But my husband took my car in to be inspected.

God, I’m so bored. Of course, I’m bored, sitting here penning this. I was originally going to write about how many transsexuals, not all, think that they’re breathtaking beauties.

I hear so many girls talking about wanting to become a model or an actress. And of course, one doesn’t have to be a great beauty to enter those professions. I don’t think Naomi Campbell and a slew of others aren’t all that.

But I’d like to tell those trans women who have fantasies about becoming the next Heidi Klum or Kerry Washington that it isn‘t easy. And I’m not trying to douse their aspirations.

But I’d suggest you have a plan B or C because plan A may not happen.

I think I know what all this, ’I want to be a model/actress’ is about. You have low self-esteem. You’re not that crazy about yourself. You want people to adulate you. And you feel you can achieve that by becoming a celebrated icon. Your family members, society has knocked you and you want to accomplish something big, so you can show your critics. I get it.

I understand.

I would love to become a best selling novelist, so I can stick my tongue out at my critics and say, ‘Take this, bitches.’ So I understand where the model/actresses wannabes are coming from.

It is with reluctance that I say forget this model/actress shit. It is a long shot. Even if you were genetic, it would be a long shot.

But baby, your asses are trans and I have trouble seeing this bigoted world allowing a trans actress to play a genetic woman on a TV show or in a movie. I can’t see a trans woman on the cover of Essence or Glamour. I’d like to see it.

But when Isis King was on America’s Next Top Model , she should have been profiled in Essence, Ebony or Jet and I don’t recall seeing her there.

I know there is a trans woman that recently had surgery that was on the cover of a magazine and maybe she was on Oprah, but will she become as big as Naomi and Heidi and Cindy?

I doubt it.

And I’m not being negative. I’m being truthful. I’m offering my opinion. I think those t-girls with dreams about becoming models and actresses may become popular in the trans community or become celebrated on the Net or may achieve RuPaul‘s level of success.

And believe me, I’m not mocking Ru‘s popularity. I used to enjoy her talk show.

But for those trans girls who are dreaming about becoming a model/actress, go for it. But remember, it may not work, so have a plan B.

I’d suggest becoming a teacher, lawyer or a nurse who looks like a model.

Back in the day, I was told that I should be a model, that I look like something out of Hollywood. I never pursued any of that. But some girls hear it and judging from how they act, I think it goes to their heads.

Just don’t invest totally in something that may not happen.