Yesterday Was a Good Day for Trans Rights
You might know that Howard County, Maryland, yesterday passed a bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Hopefully the state of Maryland will be passing a similar law in the upcoming legislative session and local ordinances will become unnecessary.
Metro Weekly has it:
Two other US communities passed gender-identity nondiscrimination bills yesterday, as well.
In Evansville, Indiana:
Weird, wanting people to know you are nice people, what a strange motivation!
Finally, Columbia, Missouri:
The most visible LGBT tidal shift in recent years, of course, has had to do with marriage equality, which has grabbed most of the headlines, so it is heartening to see these advances for transgender people, too.
There will always be repressive social forces, groups and individuals who desire to prohibit what they don't understand, but there is also a proud American tradition of respect for personal liberty and for the individual. It does not come automatically though, you have to fight for it constantly; the fact is that people are essentially good and kind, they will do the right thing if they understand the choices they are offered.
Metro Weekly has it:
The Howard County Council has approved legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, making it the third jurisdiction in Maryland to do so.
The measure, which extends gender identity protections to county residents in the areas of housing, law enforcement, public accommodations, financing, employment and health and social services, was initiated by Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and Gender Rights Maryland. It passed the council on Dec. 5 on a 4-1 vote along partisan lines, with Republican Greg Fox opposing. Howard County Approves Gender Identity and Expression Non-Discrimination Bill
Two other US communities passed gender-identity nondiscrimination bills yesterday, as well.
In Evansville, Indiana:
A measure which was passed Monday by an unanimous vote of the city council, amends the Evansville city’s municipal code to include provisions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
...
“By broadening our statute and adding four different types of people, it will let people know we are nice people, and we are tolerant,” [ the measure’s sponsor, City Councilman Dan McGinn ] said. “We want to let the rest of the state and the rest of the world to now discover the great people of Evansville.”
“Talking about the issues is what helps to eliminate the prejudice and bigotry,” he said. “I think a more open, free society will let people know we’re starting a trend where we’re trying to let them know we’re accepting of all lifestyles.” Evansville city code to include protections for sexual orientation, gender identity
Weird, wanting people to know you are nice people, what a strange motivation!
Finally, Columbia, Missouri:
The Columbia City Council passed legislation to include gender identity in the city's nondiscrimination ordinance, Dec. 5 protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Under the leadership of Mayor Bob McDavid and the Columbia City Council, Columbia will become the sixth city in the state to provide basic protections fully inclusive of both sexual orientation and gender identity.
“The Columbia City Council took an important step forward tonight moving us closer to a society that judges people ‘by the content of their character,’” stated Rep. Stephen Webber. “This is a major victory for our city, one that hopefully the rest of the state and country emulates.” Columbia Includes Gender Identity Protections
The most visible LGBT tidal shift in recent years, of course, has had to do with marriage equality, which has grabbed most of the headlines, so it is heartening to see these advances for transgender people, too.
There will always be repressive social forces, groups and individuals who desire to prohibit what they don't understand, but there is also a proud American tradition of respect for personal liberty and for the individual. It does not come automatically though, you have to fight for it constantly; the fact is that people are essentially good and kind, they will do the right thing if they understand the choices they are offered.
posted by JimK at 10:53 AM
20 Comments:
"“The Columbia City Council took an important step forward tonight moving us closer to a society that judges people ‘by the content of their character,’” stated Rep. Stephen Webber."
this guy is a real, live moron
since when is desire and behavior not an element of character
what those fringe advocates want is no regard for the content of character
"“This is a major victory for our city, one that hopefully the rest of the state and country emulates.”"
sad
these yokels are just hoping they can be like the "cool people" they see on TV
"The most visible LGBT tidal shift in recent years, of course, has had to do with marriage equality, which has grabbed most of the headlines,"
not one electorate has voted to include gay partnerships in the definition of marriage
what kind of tidal shift is that?
"so it is heartening to see these advances for transgender people, too"
lunatics are heartened to see lunacy advance?
"There will always be repressive social forces, groups and individuals who desire to prohibit"
no governments are prohibiting any gay crap
what's going on now is that certain governments are trying to take away the rights of their citizens to enter into relationships with who they want to and not even speak in a negative way about sexual deviance
"what they don't understand, but there is also a proud American tradition of respect for personal liberty"
there is nowhere in this country where homogaeity and the related deviances are illegal
that's not the issue here
"It does not come automatically though, you have to fight for it constantly; the fact is that people are essentially good and kind, they will do the right thing if they understand the choices they are offered"
and, if they don't, the government will tell what to do and what to say and who they can hang with
this isn't the government providing information to help people understand their "choices"
this is repressive government making choices for you
and they're not done yet
"RICHMOND, Va. -- A transgender Virginia inmate has appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit asking the state to pay for him to have a sex change operation, saying a jury should decide if hormones and other therapies he receives are adequate.
U.S. District Judge James Turk tossed out Ophelia De'Lonta's lawsuit in October, saying the state was adequately treating his gender identity disorder, a mental illness in which people believe they were born the wrong sex. Turk said courts have ruled that inmates are guaranteed only minimum care, not preferred therapies.
De'Lonta claims his disorder causes him to attempt castration and that the surgery is the only thing that will make him stop. In an appeal to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals filed last week, he cites established treatment guidelines that say the surgery is needed in severe cases."
The addition to the law is so full of holes the law will never be effective.
"There will always be repressive social forces, groups and individuals who desire to prohibit what they don't understand [like the person(s) who posted the three comments above], but there is also a proud American tradition of respect for personal liberty and for the individual."
Hip hip hooray for Americans with "respect for personal liberty and for the individual" and TTF supporters!
"A California transgender woman is reportedly planning a civil lawsuit after allegedly being tased in the abdomen and in the genital area by officials.
As LGBT Weekly is reporting, Brooke Fantelli, who is apparently a well-known figure in the off-road racing community, was allegedly stopped by a ranger while in the midst of a photo shoot in the Imperial County desert.
Though the 43-year-old Fantelli had been living as a woman for some time, she had been told by her physician that she needed to live two full years as a female before she could change her California identification. Only when the ranger saw Brooke’s identification card did the hostile interaction begin, according to the report.
Fantelli said the ranger went from referring to her as "ma'am," "her," and "she" to “sir,” "him," and eventually "dude." She said she was eventually told by the ranger that she was being arrested for being drunk in public after consuming beer (Fantelli claims she had two and a half beers, the officer said she had four) before finally being subjected to the excessive force.
"He actually looked me straight in the eye and says, 'You used to be a guy,' and I said, 'Yes, I did.' There was no way around it. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to do that," Fantelli, who is heard audibly screaming in the video, told San Diego's 10News last month. She went on to note, "It was obvious. He hated me."
Watch video of Fantelli's alleged interrogation."
"Hip hip hooray for Americans with "respect for personal liberty and for the individual""
Americans do indeed support personal liberty
so why are gays seeking to change things?
because, generally unAmerican, gays don't support anyone's liberty but their own
I've got news for you. Some gays are just as American as you are. Get over it.
Today Was Another Good Day for Trans Rights:
"Appeals court panel rules for Ga. trans woman in job discrimination case
BY DYANA BAGBY
DECEMBER 06, 2011 12:25
A federal appeals court panel today upheld a lower court ruling that Georgia transgender woman Vandy Beth Glenn was illegally fired from her job as a legislative editor in the Georgia General Assembly after she informed her employer she planned to transition from male to female.
"The question here is whether discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. …We hold that it does," the three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Judge Rosemary Barkett wrote the opinion for the unanimous panel.
"There is thus a congruence between discriminating against transgender and transsexual individuals and discrimination on the basis of gender-based behavioral norms.
"Accordingly, discrimination against a transgender individual because of her gender-nonconformity is sex discrimination, whether it’s described as being on the basis of sex or gender," the three-judge panel ruled.
Glenn said today she was "giddy" about the news and especially pleased the panel voted 3-0 in her favor.
"I asked Greg [Nevins, Lambda Legal attorney representing her] if this was a precedent on a ruling made so quickly after arguments. He said not in matters of national security or presidential elections," Glenn said. "So this is extremely unusual but I think it speaks to the strength of our case."
The state could appeal to the the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals or to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Glenn said she believes the "end of the tunnel is in sight."
"I'm not kidding myself that this is necessarily over, but even if they do appeal the odds are not in their favor," she said.
Glenn mentioned she is going to Disney World in January to run the Disney World marathon.
"I feel I could fly the marathon right now," she said.
Meet the judges
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel that heard Vandy Beth Glenn’s case includes an Alabama attorney known for anti-gay decisions, Georgia’s first female Superior Court judge, and a so-called “activist judge.”...
..."Senior Judge Phyliss Kravitch — Born in 1920 in Savannah, Kravitch was nominated in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was the first woman appointed to a federal bench in the Southeast and during her law practice earned a reputation fighting for marginalized people, including the right for black people to vote to in the formerly all-white Democratic primary. She was also the first female Superior Court judge in Georgia.
Judge William H. Pryor — Born in 1962 in Mobile, Ala., Pryor was named attorney general of Alabama in 1997 and held that post until 2004. Nominated by President George W. Bush to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals through a recess appointment, Pryor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2005. His nomination was opposed by many LGBT advocacy groups. As Alabama Attorney General, Pryor filed an amicus brief in Lawrence v. Texas in favor of upholding sodomy laws, stating that if the Constitution protects "the choice of one's partner . . . (then it) must logically extend to activities like prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography, and even incest and pedophilia." Pryor also cast the deciding vote to not hear a challenge to Florida's law that bans gay people from adopting.
Judge Rosemary Barkett — Barkett was nominated to the Eleventh Circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and she was confirmed by the Senate in 1994. Born in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, in 1939 to Syrian parents, Barkett moved to Miami when she was six and became a U.S. citizen in 1958. In 1985, she was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, making her the court’s first female, first Hispanic and first Arab-American judge. Dubbed an “activist judge,” she was opposed by conservatives who did not like her stance against the death penalty but she continually voted to uphold it in more than 200 cases. In the Florida gay adoption case, she voted in favor of hearing the challenge."
http://www.thegavoice.com/index.php/news/national-news/3856-appeals-court-panel-rules-for-ga-trans-woman-in-job-discrimination-case
"I've got news for you. Some gays are just as American as you are. Get over it."
I've got a real shocker for you:
if you think it should be illegal to not associate with you, you're unAmerican
I didn't say ALL gays
I said gays, in general
although I shouldn't have really said that
I mean those who support the gay agenda, which are mostly those who are "out"
it's actually an open question how many gays support the gay agenda because only self-identified gays would be counted in the tallies and there are sizable numbers in the closet
the ones who are "out", like to provoke confrontation for political purposes
Provoke confrontation?
Oh glitter bombs are simply good fun and a lot less confrontational than tea baggers who carry loaded guns to Presidential town hall meetings to assert their Second Amendment Rights.
Do you long for the good old days when you could get thrown out of a Presidential town hall event for wearing a tee shirt that expressed your First Amendment Rights?
Oh, or maybe you're not talking about glitter bombs but are talking about tying someone to a fence post and pistol whipping him senseless because you got asked for a "date." Provoking confrontation like that?
tell us more about these "glitter bombs"
might come in handy for a holiday celebration
btw, there may be more to the Matthew Shephard story than the propaganda you've been told
you might want to move on and stop playing the victim card after all these years
people who want to be treated like victims never really get assimilated into society they way they want to be
This, "Anonymous" - "because, generally unAmerican, gays don't support anyone's liberty but their own" is the biggest crock of s--t that you have thrown yet.
"not one electorate has voted to include gay partnerships in the definition of marriage" And, I wonder, what would have been the outcome of a "vote" on doing away with inter-racial marriages? or the allowance of a Catholic-Protestant marriage? You are a hypocrite. I suggest that a vote be taken on the degree of your bigotry and hatred!
"if you think it should be illegal to not associate with you, you're unAmerican" Nowhere has it been established that you have lost your right to associate with whom you choose. Yes...even you can associate with the ignorant bigots and haters who espouse your nonsense.
You speak with such authority...as if you know everything about GLBT people. Your reference to the mythical "gay agenda" (it's actually an open question how many gays support the gay agenda because only self-identified gays would be counted in the tallies and there are sizable numbers in the closet... the ones who are "out", like to provoke confrontation for political purposes") has become such a farce.
The phrase "gay agenda" is an old, hackneyed, laughable,failed relic of those like you who yearn for the days of subjegation of those that you dislike.
Oh, my gosh...you couldn't have described yourself any better: "people who want to be treated like victims never really get assimilated into society they (sic) way they want to be" That's you! in a nutshell!!
Give it a rest...lest you lose any more of the pittance of reliability and credibility and respect that you feel entitled to.
and, "Anonymous" the correct spelling is "subjugation". Just thought I would make the correction before you threw a snit-fit about the "failings" of other people.
Yeah, and it's "HETEROSEXUAL," not "HETROSEXUAL."
Just thought I would make the correction before you threw a snit-fit about the "failings" of your own misspelling.
"tell us more about these "glitter bombs""
Do you mean to tell Vigilance readers your favorite FAUX NEWS channel isn't covering glitter bombs for you? Maybe you should change the channel once in a while. I thought Newt and wife #3 looked better than ever wearing their glitter bomb.
BTW, "The Google" produces more than two million hits for the term GLITTER BOMBS.
"people who want to be treated like victims never really get assimilated into society they way they want to be"
Oh, yes, that explains why you like to talk about the "gay agenda." You obviously feel like a victim of it. Your logic is something similar to the "gay panic" defense Matthew Shepherd's killers used in court. Claiming to be victims of "gay panic" failed them and whining like you're some victim of the "gay agenda" fails you too.
It's time for you to assess what closet you're stuck in that makes you feel the need to remain "Anonymous" and come here so often to provoke and confront LGBT people.
"This, "Anonymous" - "because, generally unAmerican, gays don't support anyone's liberty but their own" is the biggest crock of s--t that you have thrown yet."
well, it's hard to argue with such insightful and well-reasoned argumentation
please do elaborate without your grasp of nuance
"And, I wonder, what would have been the outcome of a "vote" on doing away with inter-racial marriages? or the allowance of a Catholic-Protestant marriage?"
yes, many times I've wondered just how much there is to know
nevertheless, this speculation is irrelevant to the question at hand since neither represented a redefinition of the institution of marriage
I'm not aware that Catholic-Protestant marriages were ever illegal
"You are a hypocrite."
really? (yawn)
"I suggest that a vote be taken on the degree of your bigotry and hatred!"
why, do you think bigotry and hatred should be outlawed?
""if you think it should be illegal to not associate with you, you're unAmerican" Nowhere has it been established that you have lost your right to associate with whom you choose."
it's the other way around
our citizens are being forced to hire, rent and other enter in business transactions with people they don't want anything to do with
this is not the government's business
"Yes...even you can associate with the ignorant bigots and haters who espouse your nonsense."
yes, but why can't everyone not associate with sexual deviants if they don't want to?
why is the government forcing people to get involved with people they consider deviants?
"You speak with such authority...as if you know everything about GLBT people."
well, thank you
most if it, I learned by reading this blog
"Your reference to the mythical "gay agenda" (it's actually an open question how many gays support the gay agenda because only self-identified gays would be counted in the tallies and there are sizable numbers in the closet... the ones who are "out", like to provoke confrontation for political purposes") has become such a farce."
maybe in your mind, but gay advocacy organizations have a plan of action
are you denying that?
"The phrase "gay agenda" is an old, hackneyed, laughable,failed relic of those like you who yearn for the days of subjegation of those that you dislike."
you can't make that true by just saying it
however, you can appear more intelligent if you use spell check
"Oh, my gosh...you couldn't have described yourself any better: "people who want to be treated like victims never really get assimilated into society they (sic) way they want to be" That's you! in a nutshell!!"
I don't feel victimized personally but I think the gay agenda is bad for society as a whole
"Give it a rest...lest you lose any more of the pittance of reliability and credibility and respect that you feel entitled to."
so resting gives people more credibility in your view?
you aren't very smart, are you?
"the correct spelling is "subjugation". Just thought I would make the correction before you threw a snit-fit about the "failings" of other people."
just to throw a snit:
in the future, could you check your spelling before you post the comment?
"Yeah, and it's "HETEROSEXUAL," not "HETROSEXUAL.""
actually, I'm fond of the latter
"Do you mean to tell Vigilance readers your favorite FAUX NEWS channel isn't covering glitter bombs for you? Maybe you should change the channel once in a while."
I don't actually watch as much TV as TTFers generally do
"I thought Newt looked better than ever wearing his glitter bomb."
omigosh, are the gays lusting after Gingrich now?
"BTW, "The Google" produces more than two million hits for the term GLITTER BOMBS."
good to know
"You obviously feel like a victim of it."
it's always interesting what morons feel is obvious
"whining like you're some victim of the "gay agenda" fails you"
see above
"It's time for you to assess what closet you're stuck in that makes you feel the need to remain "Anonymous" and come here so often to provoke and confront LGBT people"
assessment complete
it's because the lunatic fringe is so entertaining when they are livid and drooling
Now that's progress.
Look who posted a single comment in two segments.
I really am a progressive
I responded to five moronic TTF comments with two
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