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Instructions for new member sign-up for 2015

BruceMcF — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 02:54:57 +0000

Your account biography page is a Turing Test to prove that you are a human. New members should read the instructions contained in this post. Be sure to access your account after answering the Turing Test, to have your account vetted as soon as possible.

Topic:

VOTS Community

Gender Prison: Trial begins in the killing of Jennifer Laude

Robyn — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 19:00:29 +0000

The trial of Marine Pfc. Joseph Pemberton in the murder of transgender Fillipina Jennifer Laude began yesterday.

Pemberton arrived in court with what was called a security escort but appears to the casual observer to be his entourage.

Laude's mother, Julita Cabillan, when approached by reporters was reported to have said that she would not drop the case, even is she was offered a million dollars.

Lawyers for the Laude family say that prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos had taken that statement as a sign that the Laude family was open to a plea bargain and that the prosecutor promoted that idea with defense attorneys.

Laude's relatives say they received a letter from Pemberton offering 21 million pesos (US $468,000) in exchange for their approval to lower the charge from murder to homicide. Murder carries a 40 year sentence, while homicide gets 20 years.

No amount of money could pay for the years I spent raising my child.

What they did to my child was gruesome. Just because we are poor doesn't mean we can't fight for justice.

--Cabillan

Topic:

Law and Justice

Column:

Gender Prison

TBC: Morning Musing 3.24.15

poligirl — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

I have 4 things for your perusal this morning.

First, on the FISA Court:

To Protect Our Privacy, Make the FISA Court Act Like a Real Court

Topic:

VOTS Community

Column:

The Breakfast Club

Transgender protesters block traffic in downtown LA

Robyn — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 19:15:55 +0000

This last Friday at 5pm several dozen transpeople gathered in downtown Los Angeles at 3^rd and La Cienega, at the site of the Beverly Center shopping mall.

The rally, called the Spring into Love Rally was organized by FAMILIA: Trans and Queer Liberation Movement and the transLatin@ Coalition and supported by NGLTF.

The purpose of the rally was to call for an end to violence against and killings of transgender and gender non-conforming people in Southern California.

Topic:

Law and Justice

TBC: Morning Musing 3.23.15

poligirl — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

I have a triple play of Climate Change articles for you this morning!

First, I love this project:

WHO'S THAT PERSON BEHIND THE LAB COAT?

Topic:

VOTS Community

Column:

The Breakfast Club

Battle of the Bathroom at Boise South

Robyn — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 18:52:27 +0000

DW Trantham is a 13-year-old trans girl, a junior high school student at South Junior High School in Boise.

DW has fought for her rights as a transgender girl...including using a bathroom. When her school relented, citing a communication from the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, parents Pauline Adams and Jacob Smith withdrew their child from South.

Topic:

Education

US District Judge rules that ACA protects trans people from discrimination

Robyn — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 19:00:44 +0000

Jacob Rumble of West St. Paul, MN is a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. He thought his troubles began when he felt severe abdominal pain in 2013. But they actually began when he and his mother arrived at the emergency room of Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina.

He was treated so badly that he filed a federal lawsuit. Both the hospital and the organization which employs the emergency room physician, Emergency Physicians Professional Association (EPPA) filed motions to have the case dismissed.

In a 63-page ruling US District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ruled that Rumble had built a plausible case that he was a victim of discrimination on the basis of his gender identity by an emergency room doctor and denied the defendants' motions.

Nelson's ruling is believed to be the first extensive federal court analysis of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination in health care.

Topic:

Health Care

Column:

Transgender Heroes

OK. Do let us think about the children

Robyn — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:47:39 +0000

Everyone knows the right wing oratory. When it comes time to adress LGBT...especially T, rights, the religious conservatives are all, "Think about thew children!"

I do. All the f'ing time!

Let's think about some of the children whose stories I have recently run across, shall we?

Let's think about Tom Sosnik.

For a while, I dismissed the fact that I hated my body. I pretended to be content with what I was assigned until, at a certain point, I broke.

I went through a series of horrible breakdowns. And I would stand under the water in the shower crying. I knew I wasn't happy.

I am no longer Mia. I never really was. And now I finally stand before you in my true and authentic gender identity as Tom. I stand before you as a thirteen-year-old boy.

I really hope that you all will support my decision to embark on a harder route in life as the boy I truly am. Any form of support I receive with much gratitude and I hope that everyone can really support me because you guys are like my second family. And if you support me, I'll feel like the luckiest boy in the world. Thank you for letting me share my story.

In my heart, I am still the same person. Whether you like that person or not, it’s me.

--Tom

Topic:

Education

CBS takes transgender tack

Robyn — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 19:37:11 +0000

Last year a GLAAD delegation met with CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler and shared concerns over CBS's history of problematic transgender representations.

Mike & Molly and 2 Broke Girls were consistently insisting on using transgender people as the butt of their humor...and CBS dramas used transgender characters only for sensationalism and exploitation.

Historically CBS was the first station to positively portray transgender people (The Education of Max Bickford, Picket Fences, Cold Case, Without a Trace). But then NCIS referred to a transgender woman as a "he/she" and joked about Tony kissing "him" and CSI went bonkers on the subject of transpeople. It's been downhill from there.

Using clips from CBS shows, GLAAD's Nick Adams tried to show how the transgender community was being represented by CBS.

Using several clips from recent CBS shows, he pointed out how anti-trans images in the media contribute to a culture that does not treat transgender people equally.

CBS has failed three of the last five Network Responsibility Index reports produced by GLAAD.

Apparently Tassler and CBS News have decided to display that they have received the message.

Topic:

Media

Roundball Madness in Uganda

Robyn — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:46:35 +0000

Jay Malucha is a 5' 2" point guard for the Magic Stormers. Williams Apako is a 5'6" small forward for the same team. The Magic Stormers play in the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association's women's league. But Jay and Williams both identify as transgender men.

Basketball was introduced to Ugandans by Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s.

When Jay began playing basketball as a teenager, for example, there was no court at his boarding school. The boys would play on netball pitches at night, and Jay would play among them. “I was the only person born biologically female who liked basketball at that school,” Jay said, “and I was the only one with a ball at that time.

Topic:

Culture