Will there be no "T" in ENDA?

[MarieDelta]

Just recently saw this. I feel a bit frustrated as you might immagine...



Rep. Barney Frank will introduce two separate versions of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act -- one that prohibits job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and another one that does the same for transgender people, his staff said Friday.
The ENDA bill without trans-inclusion will be marked up by the chamber's Education and Labor Committee on Tuesday so that it can be sent it to the House floor for a vote, Steven Adamske, a spokesperson for Rep. Frank, told The Advocate.

"The other one, GENDA if you will, will move on a separate track and will give the ability for the committee and other lawmakers to hold hearings on it and better educate other lawmakers," Adamske said.

The original bill sponsored by Reps. Frank and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., included protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Frank and House leadership decided to split the measure in two after a whip vote revealed that the trans-inclusive language was sinking its chances.

Advancing two separate bills has, at least temporarily, set House leaders and LGBT activists on opposite sides of the fence.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said she wasn't convinced the original trans-inclusive bill couldn't pass.

The Full article: http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2007/09/28/1

Peace,

Marie

[Skater Boy]

I dunno, Marie... in theory sexuality and gender are two seperate issues, aren't they? sexuality refers to one's sexual preferences, whereas gender would seem to refer to one's psychological sense of self.

I'm not saying that the two aren't related in ANY way, but I guess I could understand how one might see the two as not quite the same.

That said, the "GLBT" label does include everyone, so you may have a point.

Could it be possible that a seperate bill for trans issues may prove more beneficial in catering specifically for trans people's needs?

[shameless agitator]

Hmm I dunno. If they really thought the trans issue would kill the whole bill, maybe splitting it up was a good idea. That at least allows for a partial victory. I'm not sure if it would ultimately help or hinder the chances of the transgender portion though. It would really depend on whether the GLBT organizations kept up the pressure or not. If the GLB portion stopped lobbying after they had what they wanted (which I'm sure the conservatives are counting on), then the trans population would be fucked. If everybody stayed on top of it though, it would actually make their case stronger than it is now, because there would be a precedent established.

[MarieDelta]

The combined ENDA has passed the senate.

I feel that we're being sold down the river a bit.

Yes, I know intimately that sexual oreintaion and gender are two seperate issues (believe me I hear about it on both sides of the aisle). For once though I would like to feel as though we're being backed by our allies instead of sold down the river.

It will be a long hard fight to get gender discrimnation ended in this country.

There are only eleven states that currently protect Gender Identity. You can be fired, evicted, and in general treated like crap if people don't like your gender presentation in the other states. And even in the states that do protect it, life can be made hell for you. Remember the transwoman prisoner who was put in with a male prisoner who raped her?

That happened here in California, not long ago. California is one of the few states that does protect gender identity.

Transgender women helped start the Stonewall Inn Riots in NYC, and the Compton Cafeteria riots in SF a year earlier. I am proud to be a sister to those women.

Any way as I said, its very frustrating.

[Skater Boy]

lol, Marie, maybe y'all should start up some more riots on this one? "If you can't make 'em see reason, then make 'em see stars!!!"

Just kidding... I don't advocate violent protests. But perhaps there is something non-violent that the Trans community can do. With the support of the GLBT organizations and the rest of the community, ofcourse.

[izzfan]

Marie, you have some great points about the invisibility of trans issues and the under-reported problem of transphobia. As with bisexuality, transgender seems to be surrounded by all sorts of stereotypes and misconceptions that need to be dispelled.

It would be absolutely amazing if both bi and trans issues got the same amount of prominence/ awareness/ media coverage as gay and lesbian issues get these days. To continue my parallel with bisexuality, it could be said that most of the misunderstandings about trans issues stem from the fact that 'transgender' is a very wide term that covers a whole range of gender identities/expressions [eg: TS, TV/CD etc...] just like 'bisexual' is a term that covers most of the kinsey scale.

Being very slightly transgendered myself [CD/TV - still mostly in the closet about this except to some of my friends] I have to say that trans bills like the one you've described are certainly a step in the right direction but that a lot more needs to be done on a grassroots level to end the problem of transphobia [and biphobia for that matter, but that's a topic for another post...]. Education is a key issue, both in terms of public information to explain TG issues and hopefully dispel a few stereotypes and prejudices but also more resources and support for trans people.

Izzfan :flag2:

[ps: sorry for the constant paralells between trans and bi issues but it seemed like an interesting point/analogy/paralell to make in regards to problems such as biphobia and transphobia]

[HighEnergy]

Yes, Marie, it's going to be a very, very long road. I can't help but think that we've got another thread going right now over black/white issues and that legislation started in the 1960's.

[Azrael]

Yes, Marie, it's going to be a very, very long road. I can't help but think that we've got another thread going right now over black/white issues and that legislation started in the 1960's.
Brown vs. Board of Education was even before that, 1954 I think.

[dafydd]

I think it's disgusting and cowardly that they shaved off the Trans stuff. Trans is so embedded into LGBT rights in history that to not consider part of a unsplittable whole is like saying lesbians have nothing in common with gay men.
homophobia and transphobia are interlinked.
d

[MarieDelta]

And here was another case where Transphobia harmed someone who was not trans: Gender Confusion (http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/?ak=2917)

These issues do affect everyone. They may not seem to but gender is so elemental to personal expression that virtually no one can be said to have no gender expression.


From the article:


Despite being strip searched and having female genitalia, Soto's androgynous appearance led to assumptions that placed the 47-year-old in a male facility where she had to shower with four other men. Her pleas to be moved to a female facility were repeatedly ignored.

Anonymous government sources shared an internal report with The Washington Post last week, which reported that D.C. officials plan to fire three corrections officers involved in the mix up.

But that's simply not enough, says local transgender activist Ruby Corado, who says she hears stories like Soto's all the time.

''It's the perfect example of how not having a plan on how to deal with individuals that do not fit in the binary gender of this society, of being male or female, creates [problems],'' she says.

It was, in fact, just a few days ago that Corado met with other community members, including those from Transgender Health Empowerment, to discuss the Police Department's lack of understanding and sensitivity toward individuals who fall outside of societal gender norms, during arrests and incarcerations.

''There's really no guidelines that are in place on how to deal with transgender individuals,'' Corado says. ''And the bigger [issue] is people are arrested, booked, and then... housed in the wrong section of the jails [where] they just get victimized over and over again.''

Traci Hughes, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), says the department's procedure in such cases is to contact someone from the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU).

''[It's] to make sure that the person who is arrested feels comfortable enough and that we are classifying the person correctly,'' she says. ''We want to make sure we adhere to any degree of sensitivity that's involved when dealing with this particular segment of our population.''

What I'm saying is this: We all need protection from harassment.

Femme gay men, Butch lesbian women, trans individuals, even straight people may not conform to local gender expectations. Why should they have to?

Further not being able to find work, has caused some transgender women to work the streets as prostitutes, with some of them at frighteningly young ages. These women make up one of the largest populations of HIV infected people. Caused mainly by sharing needles from black market hormones.

I suppose now I am only preaching to the choir, but thanks for listening and responding guys.
Marie

[HighEnergy]

Thank you for sharing, Marie. Not all of us have these issues in front of us everyday, and we should be aware of what others suffer.

I used to work with the homeless. One of my favourite clients was transgendered. She went through hell from what those around her put her through, along with her own hell of attempting to accept herself which was not easy on a day to day basis. The "Christian" shelters threw out her clothes and made her dress as a man. When she did get her own place through the assistance of a social services agency, it was in the crack infested ghetto. At first she was thrilled to be in her own place and able to be who she was, but then over time in a very violent neighborhood, she was scared dressing as a woman. My children had met her on many occasions and she had explained to them who she was and "what" she was. The worst day was when my girls who accepted her completely as a very large tattooed woman seemed shocked to see her dressed as a man and it broke her heart. She started dressing as herself again, and got beat to a pulp by the crackheads in the neighborhood a few weeks later. Her life was a special hell.

So, I think the transgendered folks need the most protection and acceptance from all of us.

[Skater Boy]

Thank you for sharing, Marie. Not all of us have these issues in front of us everyday, and we should be aware of what others suffer.

I used to work with the homeless. One of my favourite clients was transgendered. She went through hell from what those around her put her through, along with her own hell of attempting to accept herself which was not easy on a day to day basis. The "Christian" shelters threw out her clothes and made her dress as a man. When she did get her own place through the assistance of a social services agency, it was in the crack infested ghetto. At first she was thrilled to be in her own place and able to be who she was, but then over time in a very violent neighborhood, she was scared dressing as a woman. My children had met her on many occasions and she had explained to them who she was and "what" she was. The worst day was when my girls who accepted her completely as a very large tattooed woman seemed shocked to see her dressed as a man and it broke her heart. She started dressing as herself again, and got beat to a pulp by the crackheads in the neighborhood a few weeks later. Her life was a special hell.

So, I think the transgendered folks need the most protection and acceptance from all of us.

Thats a sad story. Its even sadder because I bet this sort of thing happens quite a lot in some places.

I have to admit that I'm not fully aware of the historical significance of the "T" in GLBT. But it does make sense that Trans people should be protected/defended just like the rest of us. Whether that be inclusive in the GLB bill or seperately. But even if it IS done seperately, it should be done to an equal, if not higher standard than inclusively.

[shameless agitator]

Thank you for sharing, Marie. Not all of us have these issues in front of us everyday, and we should be aware of what others suffer.

I used to work with the homeless. One of my favourite clients was transgendered. She went through hell from what those around her put her through, along with her own hell of attempting to accept herself which was not easy on a day to day basis. The "Christian" shelters threw out her clothes and made her dress as a man. When she did get her own place through the assistance of a social services agency, it was in the crack infested ghetto. At first she was thrilled to be in her own place and able to be who she was, but then over time in a very violent neighborhood, she was scared dressing as a woman. My children had met her on many occasions and she had explained to them who she was and "what" she was. The worst day was when my girls who accepted her completely as a very large tattooed woman seemed shocked to see her dressed as a man and it broke her heart. She started dressing as herself again, and got beat to a pulp by the crackheads in the neighborhood a few weeks later. Her life was a special hell.

So, I think the transgendered folks need the most protection and acceptance from all of us.Unfortunately this is all too common & happens in places you'd think would be safe. I've seen this kind of shit happen everywhere from redneck towns where, unfortunately we've learned to expect it, to urban supposedly accepting environments. I remember one case in San Francisco where a pre-op trans woman was asssaulted by a bunch of drunken assholes wh decided they were going to "help" her with the transition with a broken beer bottle. Fortunately some good samaritans stopped them before they were able to do so.

[the mage]

Trans gendered people are among the MOST victimized on earth.
There is no respite from first, the internal hell, the the external more socially profound hell.

I have a good friend who is post op. Her strength is testament to the human spirit. Her fight is DAILY.

The bigotry and harassment is constant. Even donut shop employees seem to thing its ok to deride this person when shes at the counter as a customer.

People are for the most part just too stupid to be able to accept that which is outside the norm. The bully's take advantage every time while the meek sit and say nothing about the abuse.

Do not be one of either.........step up and say its WRONG.

[HighEnergy]

Part of the time I worked with the homeless, I worked for a church and I coordinated housing the homeless in a number of churches across our town on a weekly rotating basis. One Sunday as they arrived at my church, one came to me and he was an extremely feminine young black man. He was very socialable, polite and kind. Of course the others in the group just had to tell me that he wore women's clothing when he wasn't in the churches. Well, ok. I wouldn't have cared if he showed up at the church wearing said clothing, but that's me. Lots of others would have cared and it showed he was smart.

A couple of days later, one of the pastors of a more conservative church called to tell me I had to throw this young man out because he wore women's clothing. Nope. Not gonna. It is my responsibility as a follower of Christ to accept and love my neighbors as myself and let God worry about the judgement crap. The guy was having fits. We had determined a long time ago that each church was autonomous and made it's own decisions regarding guests and he was overstepping his boundaries. When he wasn't going to convince me to toss the poor soul back under the bridge in the dead of winter, he said, "I would leave MY kids alone with him!" And my response was, "I wouldn't leave my kids alone with you! More kids are molested by preachers than queer homeless folks wearing dresses."

Yup, messing with the church folks was way too much fun!

[wanderingrichard]

Just recently saw this. I feel a bit frustrated as you might immagine...




The Full article: http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2007/09/28/1

Peace,

Marie

thanx, Marie..
i think this posted like thursday or friday night, right? i forwarded it to my g/f, who is trans. [ btw, i've not been this much in love with someone in a very very long time] we talked a lot about this during our weekend together, and we came to the same conclusions that a few others here have, namely that it was a total bullshit cop out splitting the bill like that. she's also going to go back to her activist contacts in the community and see what they say about it. this may get interesting, she doesn't take stuff like this lightly, and we as a community shouldn't either, regardless of our divisions in private.

[MarieDelta]

I don't want you to think that all Transwomen suffer lives of desperation and/ or hopelessness because that isn't what I am saying here at all.

For example:

Lynn Conway -

At IBM in the 1960's did some very critical research and development as a male (she invented dynamic instruction scheduling (DIS)). When she came out as TS, she was let go in 1968. She lost her job, family, friends and colleagues. In short order.

In order to become a success, she did what many TS's did in that era; she went "stealth" and disappeared after her SRS, eventually ending up at work with Xerox in 1973 as it was just forming. In 1978, she wrote the seminal textbook on VLSI, which allowed the Internet and modern computing to become possible.


Now you may be asking yourselves why I am telling you all this. And what this has to do with ENDA and gender discrimination.

Well unless we as a society do something to curb discrimination, based on stereotypes and gender presentation. We as a society lose, time and money. The people who could be active and productive members of our society instead turn into a drain on it, becoming prostitutes and drug addicts. Spreading infection and disease, not because they choose that lifestyle but because they find themselves with no other choice.

And that my friends is a pity. A waste of effort and human resources.

I'm not saying we all are Lynne Conway, but you don't know who will be the next one.

Just something to chew on.

Marie

For more information about Lynne go to her home page (http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/LynnsStory.html).

She also hosts the Transwomen's Successes page (http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/TSsuccesses.html)

And the Successful Transmen page (http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/TransMen.html)