4/4/14

Houston Mayor Annise Parker pushes for a city ordinance to protect transgender people in public accommodations

Houston is the last large city in Texas without an ordnance protecting it's LGBT citizens from discrimination. Mayor Parker announced in her state of the city address, she intended to change that. Mayor Parker, an out lesbian signed an executive order in 2010 which extended protections to transgender city employees in city-owned buildings but the fact that there no city ordnance's protecting transgender and gay people in public buildings did not escape the community's attention.

Mayor Parker intent on getting the ordinance passed during her final two years said "A young African-American man should not be turned away from a club on Washington Avenue. A returning veteran with a service dog should not be denied service at a local restaurant. An older woman should not be denied a job on a city contract. And yet these things do happen in the friendliest, most welcoming, most diverse city in the United States. And yes, a gay or transgendered individual should have the same rights enjoyed by all other Houstonians."

According to Houston Public Media the  Houston Area Pastor Council has already begun campaigning against the proposed non discrimination ordinance presumably because it would be transgender inclusive.



Houston GLBT Political Caucus Issues Statement in Support of Proposed Houston Human Rights Ordinance


Contact: Maverick Welsh
713-306-5825
maverick@maverickwelsh.com

At its regular monthly meeting on April 2, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus membership approved a statement in support of a proposed Human Rights Ordinance for the city of Houston. The statement reads:

“The Houston GLBT Political Caucus supports the City of Houston in passing a citywide Human Rights Ordinance that will protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on real or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, sexual orientation, disability, marital or family status and veteran status. We support an HRO that ensures every Houstonian has equal access to employment, housing and public accommodation.”

“Houston is a world class city,” said Caucus president Maverick Welsh. “It’s past time that we updated our city ordinances to reflect our position as the economic and cultural capital of Texas. Every Houstonian deserves the right to work and provide for their family without fear of losing their job or home because of who they are or who they love.”

The Houston GLBT Political Caucus is the South's oldest civil rights organization dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. Founded in 1975, it is the largest GLBT political organization in the city of Houston and Harris County.


4/2/14

Governor Rick Perry says Texas won't comply with the Federal Rape Prevention Act

Transgender people are at particular risk of violence and rape while incarcerated. A problem which the 2003 bill was designed to help prevent, but Perry says the regulations which are mandated for implementation by May 15th, are federal interference with state governance and are too costly.

The AP is reporting  In his letter, Perry cited a portion of the law that bars cross-gender searches and seeing inmates without clothing, saying that because 40 percent of prison guards in male units are women and complying with the law may mean the loss of job and promotion opportunities."

The state also will not raise the age — from 17 to 18 — at which it treats inmates as adults, Perry wrote. The rules, he added, do not allow for “differences among the states.”

States that do not comply could lose federal grant dollars. Three grants that totaled $23.9 million last year could be subjected to partial cuts, Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said, adding that Texas has not been told how much money could be at stake.
County jails and local lockups can take measures to comply with the federal rules. Some already are, including the Harris County Jail, which revamped policies regarding the housing of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inmates.


Source National Center Lesbian Rights

Do transgender prisoners have a right to be housed in a facility consistent with their gender identity?

Transsexual people who have not had genital surgery are generally classified according to their birth sex for purposes of prison housing, regardless of how long they may have lived as a member of the other gender, and regardless of how much other medical treatment they may have undergone[1] -- a situation which puts male-to-female transsexual women at great risk of sexual violence. Transsexual people who have had genital surgery are generally classified and housed according to their reassigned sex.

One mechanism that is sometimes used to protect transsexual women who are at risk of violence due to being housed in male prisons is to separate them from other prisoners. This is referred to as “administrative segregation.” On the positive side, placing a transgender or transsexual woman in administrative segregation may provide her with greater protection than being housed in the general population. On the negative side, however, administrative segregation also results in exclusion from recreation, educational and occupational opportunities, and associational rights.[2]

Do transsexual prisoners have a right to obtain hormone therapy while in prison?

Some transsexual prisoners are able to maintain their hormone treatment in prison.[3] The policy of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is to provide hormones at the level that was maintained prior to incarceration. Specifically, the policy provides:

“It is the policy of the Bureau of Prisons to maintain the transsexual inmate at the level of change existing upon admission to the Bureau. Should responsible medical staff determine that either progressive or regressive treatment changes are indicated, these changes must be approved by the [Bureau of Prisons] Medical Director prior to implementation. The use of hormones to maintain secondary sexual characteristics may be continued at approximately the same levels as prior to incarceration, but such use must be approved by the Medical Director.”[4]
Even if the prison does provide hormones, however, there is no guarantee that they will be provided at the appropriate levels and with the necessary physical and psychological support services.[5] In addition, it is often difficult for transsexual prisoners to document a prior prescription for hormones, either because of the practical difficulties and limitations imposed by incarceration, or because many transsexual prisoners are indigent and do not have private physicians willing to advocate for them. Moreover, even when transsexual prisoners are able to provide sufficient documentation, prison officials may disregard or flout the policy.

The issue of whether a transsexual person is entitled to hormone therapy while in prison has been litigated extensively, based on the established constitutional principle that it is a violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment for prison officials to exhibit “deliberate indifference” to a prisoner’s “serious medical needs.” Until the last several years, in almost every case, courts have ruled in favor of prison officials.[6] More recently, however, prisoners have had more success.[7]


4/1/14

Transgender college student Andraya Williams humiliated by Piedmont campus police says enough is enough

Subjected to discrimination, intimidation, humiliation and stonewalled by North Carolina Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), transgender student Andraya Williams tells the TransAdvocate she's had enough.

On March 19th, Ms. Williams was detained by a campus school guard while exiting the lady's room bathroom telling her that they had heard reports of a man in the restroom and asked her for her college ID.

Ms. Williams then presented her ID, which clearly identifies her as female. Despite that the guard persisted in mockingly questioning Ms.Williams gender and called reinforcement. When the other guards arrived, they surrounded Ms. Williams eventually escorting her off campus.

The next-day Ms. Williams intent on resolving the incident went to the Dean of student life, who informed her she was suspended for not presenting her ID to the guards.

Ms. Williams told the TransAdvocate the Colleges version was simply not true, and she has proof. "When the guard first approached me, I called my attorney who listened to the entire incident. She heard me present my ID to several officers. She heard me then ask if I was free to leave"

Ms. Williams begun the process of changing her legal documents say she started transition in 2010 and began living in her authentic gender in 2012 when she turned 20.

Unsafe campus


The school says she won't be 'protected' if she uses the lady's room until she complies with their demands. "The school is requiring me to show proof of my gender," says Ms Williams, "but they haven't specified what they need to see." Meanwhile, Ms. Williams says she is attending classes but her attendance is suffering. "I don't feel comfortable on campus" she says "my attendance is only so-so."

Attorney Sarah Demarest with Charlotte's LGBTQ Law Center has issued an official statement demanding that CPCC comply Title IV, apologize to Andraya Williams and in the future that she allowed to use the correct restroom without school harassment.

LGBTQ Law Center



Ms. Williams classmates, community, and even those who have never met her are outraged over her mistreatment. They are organizing a protest on Facebook scheduled for Friday April 4th at 12pm at the corner of Elizabeth and Kings. Ms. Williams said she will be attending and when asked what she would like the school to take away from the protest Ms. Williams responded "it's time for policy changes and education on trans rights. It's not OK to discriminate"

3/30/14

Transgender woman beaten to death in Joao Pessoa Brazil

A transgender woman, looking 29, was found dead after being beaten by several people in Guardência Street, near Hope Square in the South Downs together in Joao Pessoa , on the night of Friday (29), according to the Bureau of Homicide capital. The suspicion civilian police is that, besides being beaten, the victim was struck by blows from melee weapon due to perforations that officers found the body.

The crime occurred around 23h. The Military Police was fired after receiving a call that a woman was being beaten and dragged through the street. In the record of the occurrence made by Homicide Division stated that the identification of the victim is unknown and the only object apprehended on site was a mobile device.

Local residents said they did not recognize the victim as area resident. The body was sent to the Management of Medical and Forensic Dentistry (GEMOL), Christ in the neighborhood.

[Google Translate] Source NH Radio 87.9

Transgender woman murdered in São Paulo Brazil

The Bahian transsexual Giovana Souza Silva, 33, was gunned down in the south of São Paulo late on Thursday, 28.

According to information of the 27th Police Precinct, which registered the police report, the incident occurred at about 21:30, between Meadow Street and Avenue Indianapolis Taborda, in Jardins neighborhood.

According to police, Giovana was born in Jucuruçu but her family resides in nearby Itamaraju (distant 751 km from Salvador), in southern Bahia.

Still no information about the authorship and motivation of the crime that is being investigated by Homicide (DHPP) in São Paulo.

Info realize that Giovana be vying for a spot of prostitution when she was killed, but this has not been confirmed by police.

As the 27th Precinct, Giovana's body was taken to the Forensic Medical Institute (IML), located in the neighborhood Aclimação and then should be taken to Itamaraju, for burial.

[Translated by Google] Source http://m.atarde.uol.com

3/29/14

VICTORY! Glaad finally responds to transgender peoples outrage over RuPauls Transphobia

In what could be heralded as a major victory and a possible changing of the guard GLAAD has responded to the trans communities outrage regarding Rupauls Drag race 'She He' challenge.

The Internet was rife with people upset with Rupaul for using trans defamation for profit, as was I.

But my anger was primarily focused at GLAAD for their historical acquiescence to the Drag shows transphobic rhetoric and I said so here on the Transadvocate and the Daily Kos.. Using phrase 'He-She' promotes violence regardless of who says it.


Parker Marie Molloy, noted transgender journalist with the Advocate wrote about how "RuPaul Stokes Anger With Use of Transphobic Slur" and contacted GLAAD:
"When asked for comment on last night's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, GLAAD vice president of communications Rich Ferraro responded, "While some drag queens may use the term to refer to themselves, 'she-male' is too often used by others as an offensive term to denigrate and hypersexualize transgender women. Unfortunately, most Americans are still unaware that there is a difference between gay men who perform in drag and transgender women. That's why GLAAD will continue to tell the stories of trans women like CeCe McDonald, Carmen Carrera, and CrossFit athlete Chloie Jonsson."
 Mr. Ferraro posted this comment on the original planetransgender post calling them out leading me to believe it was just business as usual.

But yesterday, the drag show's executive producers released this statement:

“We delight in celebrating every color in the LGBT rainbow. When it comes to the movement of our trans sisters and trans brothers, we are newly sensitized and more committed than ever to help spread love, acceptance and understanding,” said RuPaul Charles, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Steven Corfe and Mandy Salangsang

Logo said, “We have heard the concerns around this segment. We are committed to sharing a diverse range of trans stories across all of our screens and look forward to featuring positive and groundbreaking stories of trans people in the future.”

GLAAD's  statement was somewhat defense. They said that they contacted the show the very next morning after the show aired but said that it took time to work with the show.

Fair enough, but what of all these years where instead of calling out Rupaul for transphobic speech you awarded him and pimped his show?

To my knowledge this is the first time that GLAAD has criticised RuPaul or the drag race. That would not have happened if our the transgender community and cisgender people of good will  hadn't shouted in outrage. It wasn't gental dialouge that got GLAADS attention.

Sometimes it gets to the point where you just have to shout out loud to be heard and that's what we did. Loud and Proud.
.