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Privacy in Idaho

Idaho's transportation department has made the surprising decision (because this is, after all, Idaho) to amend its policy on driver's licenses to allow transgender people to change the sex designation on their licenses without confirmation from a surgeon that they have had sex reassignment surgery.

The ACLU of Idaho had expressed concern in support of two transgender Idaho residents who had changed the sex designation to match their gender identities only to have the state turn around and cancel their licenses when it was realized that proof of surgery had not been provided. ACLU of Idaho Executive Director Monica Hopkins said the state "did the right thing in updating its policy."

From our standpoint, [the] surgical reassignment is not necessary to operate a motor vehicle on the highway.

--Hopkins

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Cognitive Dissonance

Ashley Del Valle, 38, decided to take a vacation from her home in Queens, New York to sunny Savannah, GA.

Apparently that was her first mistake.

Del Valle has been living as a woman for 20 year and had her name legally changed in 2002. She and her cousin decided a trip to Savannah would be fun. They were wrong.

On Saturday Night, April 6, Ashley chose a sheer blouse to wear on their nightlife adventure for that day. Mistake number two.

Del Valle, who appeared on an episode of TLC's "NY Ink," said she and her cousin were club hopping and hit popular gay club Club One as well as other clubs before stopping in Ellis Square to decide where to go to eat.

She said many people recognized her from the TV show and she was posing for pictures with tourists.

--GA Voice

Early that morning (about 1am) she was arrested for indecent exposure by a Savannah Chatham Metro Police officer. The police report claims that her breasts were exposed. She disputed the arrest, which earned her a second charge of disorderly conduct.

She was then taken to the jail, where a she was examined by a nurse, who discovered she was still "technically male." So she was placed in a holding cell in the men's portion of the jail. For two days she was referred to as "a thing" and otherwise harassed.

I felt like I just wasn't being treated like a human being.

--Del Valle

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The humanity shortfall in federally funded faith-based charity

The John L. Young Women's Shelter is located three blocks from the US Capitol. The shelter is operated by New Hope Ministries, Inc of Woodbridge, VA. Not surprisingly the shelter is operated under a city-funded contract. And in the District of Columbia that usually means federal money is involved somewhere along the line.

A lawsuit was filed against the shelter on April 5 and a complaint was filed with the DC Office of Human Rights on March 22 by two transgender women who charge that employees of the shelter said they could not be admitted because of their transgender status.

An attorney with the DC Trans Coalition filed the lawsuit on behalf of Lakiesha Washington, a homeless woman who attempted to spend the night in the shelter on April 3. The lawsuit says at that time a discriminatory act took place.

A female employee at the shelter asked Washington, "Are you a woman or a man?" Washington replied, "I am a transgender woman." The employee asked Washington if she had any documentation (presumably a court ordered legal name change or proof of gender reassignment surgery) and Washington said that she did not. The employee then told Washington,

 

 

 

"We don't do transgenders here. You have to leave."
 

 

 

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A Grand Conspiracy in Plain Sight

This week, Barack Obama unveiled his budget proposal. Among the lowlights is a proposal to  cut Social Security and Medicare in exchange for a few very modest tax increases on the wealthy. And that's just his opening bargaining position. 

I decided to conduct a little experiment. I'd watch or listen to some mainstream news, such as CBS or NPR during prime news time(early morning and late afternoon), and see how many times the media mentioned this very important news. For the most part...(crickets). 

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Forced sterilization is necessary because...THREE!

We thought everything had been settled in Sweden.

Apparently we were premature.

Two members of the Swedish Parliament are warning the government that forced sterilization of transpeople must continue, else the government will have to recognize a third gender or third sex.

And everyone knows it would be wrong to have three because…THREE!

Conservative MPs Tuve Skånberg and Annelie Enochson, Christian Democrats, have written an op-ed in the Christian newspaper Dagen in which they offer a counter-proposal to the government plan to remove requirements that transpeople be sterilized before undergoing gender reassignment procedures.

The [government] proposal would have far-reaching consequences. The key consequence being that Sweden would introduce the possibility of creating a third gender, called ‘person’ in the law books – men who give birth.

--Tuve Skånberg and Annelie Enochson

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The Ohio Tea Party is Outraged--by Republican Governor John Kasich's Budget

Enigmatic Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio continues to baffle both the left and the right. His biennial budget proposal is definitely a mixed bag in this Socialist Barbarian's opinion, but Teabaggers, lawyers, and accountants positively hate it; therefore, it's not all bad. The News Record  has a nice, short summary. 

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Unlike heaven, West Virginia

We may be making progress at the Supreme Court, but that doesn't imply that progress is happening elsewhere.

 photo skinner221_zps2f1d96d8.jpgThere has been a bill in the West Virginia House of Delegates to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's anti-discrimination laws. But its sponsor, West Virginia's first openly gay legislator Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson County) has announced that he has asked the chairman of the committee considering the bill to forget about it ahead of today's procedural deadline. Skinner expressed concerns that the proposed exemption for religious organizations would be amended so broadly as to make the bill meaningless.

I believe that the wisest course of action today is to delay the battle in the House for another day.

--Stephen Skinner

Skinner thanked the hundreds of volunteers who have lobbied for the bill thought phone banks and in person. He also thanked those lawmakers who had co-sponsored and expressed vocal support for the measure.

To those of you who support the (bill) but feel you cannot vote for it, it is not my job to soothe your conscience. I will not give up on you, but I want you to explain to your children, your grandchildren, your brothers, sisters and friends, why you will not do so.

--Skinner

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