Tennessee: Not Giving Up

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Tennessee’s Anti-LGBT Bathroom Bill Is Dead. For Now.

Tennessee Rep. Susan Lynn has pulled her sponsored “Bathroom Bill,” which would require all public schools, including universities, to require students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender at birth. The controversial bill is strikingly similar to the much-protested North Carolina HB2, and to Georgia’s recently repealed HB 757.

Rep. Lynn said her decision wasn’t impacted by corporations, businesses, and LGBT advocacy groups protesting the measure, but instead because the discriminatory practices of the bill might lose Tennessee $1.2 billion of Title IX funding, a source of funding that forbids any discrimination based on sex.

….

During her April 18 press conference, Rep. Lynn said she had only intended to ensure protection: “We just did want to protect children at the state level.” But at that time, two transgender students—Jennifer Guents and Henry Seaton—were headed to Gov. Haslam’s office with more than 67,000 signatures opposing the legislation.

Although she’s pulled the bill from consideration, Rep. Lynn hinted at plans to revive the legislation in the future.

No, Rep. Lynn, your legislation had nothing to do with protecting children, and am I ever sick to death of the sanctimonious “for the children” excuse. If nothing else, have the honesty (we all know you have no integrity) to tell the truth: it’s all about your bigotry and your personal ick factor. Of course, you’re going to try and revive your bigotry law later on, nothing is more important that appeasing the bigot crowd, right? I have a better idea, Rep. Lynn – why don’t you visit the 21st century for a while?

LGBT Roundup

A lot of news today.

Survivor Contestant Places Rainbow-Painted Outhouse Atop North Carolina’s Tallest Mountain:

Neal Gottlieb's Facebook

Neal Gottlieb’s Facebook

“Yes, at least for a little while, North Carolina’s highest point is an outhouse; a fitting symbol for a state that has sullied itself with shitty, repressive legislation,” Neal Gottlieb pens in a letter to the Governor of North Carolina.

…Protesting North Carolina’s anti-trans “bathroom bill”, HB2, Neil Gottlieb placed a rainbow outhouse on the summit of Mount Mitchell, the state’s tallest mountain. Gottlieb, a contestant on this season’s Survivor: Kaoh Rong, shared the photos and a letter penned to NC Governor Pat McCrory.

On Facebook Gottlieb wrote,  “I proudly placed a rainbow-painted outhouse displaying a trans pride flag at the summit of North Carolina’s tallest mountain this morning in protest of the state’s repressive HB2 legislation. It was a brilliant site. The follow letter was nailed to the front of the outhouse and calls out the governor for the crap has become known as the ‘bathroom bill.'”

Gottlieb then posted his letter:

Read More Here.

Target Defies North Carolina Bathroom Law:

The company says it will welcome trans people to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The company says it will welcome trans people to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Target is taking a stand against North Carolina’s transphobic bathroom bill, saying its customers and employees can use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

The company announced the policy on its corporate website today, saying, “Inclusivity is a core belief at Target. It’s something we celebrate.”

The department store chain even proclaimed its support for the Equality Act that is proposed in Congress.

“We believe that everyone — every team member, every guest, and every community —deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally,” the company said in its statement. “Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination.”

Full Story Here.

[Read more…]

U.K. Issues Travel Warning About Antigay U.S. States

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Days before President Obama travels to England, the United Kingdom’s foreign office has issued a travel warning to British tourists visiting the American South, specifically referencing North Carolina and Mississippi.

On the U.K.’s Foreign Office website, under the local laws and customs section of the USA travel advice, is the following message:

Local laws and customs

Laws vary from state to state. When you are physically present in a state, even temporarily, you are subject to that state’s laws. You must carry a passport showing that you have leave to enter or remain with you at all times.

The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country. LGBT travellers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before travelling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community. You can find more detail on LGBT issues in the US on the website of the Human Rights Campaign.

Full Story Here.

Sounds So Horrible It’s Wonderful.

It’s pretty bad. It’s still not as bad as Pat Boone. Way to go protesters! If you’re in the area, think about making a horrible noise at another Pat.

‘Can You Hear Us Now, Pat?’: Awesome ‘Air Horn Orchestra’ Actually HB2 Protest At Governor’s Mansion.

LGBT Roundup

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Tennessee’s anti-transgender “bathroom bill” has gone down the drain again — and it will apparently stay there for at least a year.

In March, a legislative committee had delayed action on the bill by sending it to a summer study session, but the committee, under pressure from the far-right Family Action Council of Tennessee, revived it in early April. Today, though, its sponsor in the House of Representatives, Susan Lynn, said she would withdraw the bill until next year, reports Nashville paper The Tennessean. Full Story Here.

"We must take a stand against prejudice," says a statement on the band's website.

“We must take a stand against prejudice,” says a statement on the band’s website.

The members of Pearl Jam say North Carolina would be a better place without its new anti-LGBT law, so they’re canceling this week’s concert there and asking fans to support a repeal of the measure.

“It is with deep consideration and much regret that we must cancel the Raleigh show in North Carolina on April 20th,” says a statement posted by the band on its website Monday. Full Story Here.

The iconic classic rock band announced today that it is refusing to play any shows in North Carolina in protest of an anti-LGBT law.

The iconic classic rock band announced today that it is refusing to play any shows in North Carolina in protest of an anti-LGBT law.

Boston, known for classic ’70s hits such as “More Than a Feeling,” has canceled three shows scheduled for May in North Carolina in protest of House Bill 2.

Tom Scholz, the founder of Boston, apologized to fans who bought tickets in a statement posted on Facebook. “The removal of the shows from our schedule is a major disappointment. It has always been my wish to inspire people with BOSTON’s music,” Scholz wrote.  Full Story Here.

Skye Thomson was supposed to meet with Pat McCrory before he signed House Bill 2. The confab never took place, but the trans ninth-grader still has something to say to the governor.

Skye Thomson was supposed to meet with Pat McCrory before he signed House Bill 2. The confab never took place, but the trans ninth-grader still has something to say to the governor.

While Thomson, a trans boy attending high school in eastern North Carolina, spoke to two of McCrory’s staff members, a promised meeting with the governor never took place.

In light of HB 2’s passage, Thomson wrote an open letter to the governor, pleading with him to actually sit down and meet with him and other trans youth. Read the message below, via the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Dear Governor McCrory:

My name is Skye Thomson. I am 15 years old, I live in Eastern North Carolina, and I am a transgender boy. That means I was born a female and identify as a male.

I was in Raleigh for the debate on House Bill 2 on March 23. I was the only transgender student who got a chance to speak out against HB2, the so called “bathroom bill” that is supposed to keep everyone safe in bathrooms. But it doesn’t keep everyone safe, especially people like me. Imagine yourself in my shoes, being a boy walking into a ladies room. It’s awkward and embarrassing and can actually be dangerous. By putting this law in place you’re putting kids like me in danger.

Read the rest here.

John Kasich on Anti-LGBT Discrimination: ‘Get Over It’

Kasich

Kasich

Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich’s answer to LGBT people turned away by businesses is “get over it,” while his advice for those business owners it to pray.

Kasich, the governor of Ohio, has said he wouldn’t have signed anti-LGBT laws like the ones recently enacted in North Carolina and Mississippi, but today on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash, he said that as president, he wouldn’t do anything to stop states from passing such legislation.

“There is a legitimate concern for people being able to have their deeply held religious beliefs, religious liberty,” he told Bash. “But there’s also people who we shouldn’t be discriminating against. … We need to strike a balance, and I just wish we’d take a breath and calm down and take a breath, because you see, trying to legislate that balance is complicated and you keep doing do-overs, because nobody gets it right.”

He continued, “What I would like to say is just relax, and if you don’t like what somebody’s doing, pray for them, and if you’re feeling like somebody is doing something wrong against you, can you just for a second get over it?”

[…]

He also mentioned, as he had previously, that he had attended a friend’s wedding to a same-sex partner, but he told Matthews, “I don’t think it’s right, and the wedding that I went to, they know that I don’t agree with them.”

I imagine they know just how much you disapprove now, Governor. I suspect you don’t have all that many gay friends whose wedding you have attended. Kasich probably wouldn’t seem so bad if he could manage to keep his mouth shut. Full Story Here.

Something positive for a change

So much of the news regarding transgender people is all bigotry, all hate, all the time. For a change, a couple of positive stories. I wish the article about Mumbai used transgender people, rather than transgenders, which reads all kinds of wrong to me.

Jennifer Pritzker, right, and Brenda Cossman of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto, was in town recently to receive an award for her contributions to the field of sexual diversity education. Vince Talotta / Toronto Star

Jennifer Pritzker, right, and Brenda Cossman of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto, was in town recently to receive an award for her contributions to the field of sexual diversity education. Vince Talotta / Toronto Star.

Jennifer Pritzker is a retired U.S. Army colonel and a businesswoman. She is also thought to be the only openly transgender billionaire in the world.

The Pritzker family founded the Hyatt hotel chain and, according to Forbes magazine, is one of the 400 wealthiest broods in America. Forbes estimates that Pritzker alone is worth $1.76 billion.

But if money doesn’t buy happiness, it also doesn’t buy tolerance. This is why Pritzker, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1974, didn’t come out publicly as transgender until 2013.

[…]

Fortunately, Pritzker says, a lot has changed since 1974. Not enough, but a lot.

Determined to help foster that change, the military veteran and philanthropist recently donated $2 million to the University of Victoria to establish a chair of transgender studies at the school — the first of its kind in the world.

“Knowledge dispels fear,” she says (a motto she picked up from the British Royal Air Force.) “It helps people dispel fear of the unknown, of (for instance) jumping out of an airplane in flight.”

If you can train people to do something as inherently terrifying as jumping out of airplanes, Pritzker believes, it’s reasonable to assume that you can also convince prejudiced lawmakers and American citizens to accept their transgender peers.

[…]

“There’s still work to be done,” says Pritzker. But those who support transgender rights can take some solace in the fact that big business is beginning to understand the bottom line.

“Productivity and profitability will not suffer by virtue of inclusion,” Pritzker says. “I’m as much a capitalist as I am anything else. And capitalism doesn’t have to be a zero sum game.”

Full Story Here.

Participants holding a rainbow flag pass through a junction during a gay pride parade, which is promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in Mumbai, January 31, 2015. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4NPD8

Participants holding a rainbow flag pass through a junction during a gay pride parade, which is promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in Mumbai, January 31, 2015. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA – Tags: SOCIETY) – RTR4NPD8

Mumbai: With an aim to make transgender community self-dependent, a national-level ‘Trans Empowerment Mela’ will be organised in suburban Borivali here allowing over 500 community members to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas.

The Mela, to be held on Tuesday, is being organised by Anam Prem, an NGO, with the objective of “making the transgender community self-dependent through dignified modes of income generation”.

“This mela gives a platform to the hundreds of transgenders across the country and will make everyone aware of their entrepreneurial potential. It would also remove the long-held (negative) societal perceptions about the community,” said Manisha Parab, a volunteer from the group.

Full Story Here.

Across the Pond: Prove Your Gender!

Ny Richardson.

Ny Richardson.

It looks like the insanity currently infecting uStates is spreading, all the way across the pond. Naturally, there’s a whole lot of denial going on, nothing new there, and there’s been quite the effort to blame the victim. Full Story Here.

Ny Richardson, a 16-year-old from Yorkshire, England, claims she was kicked out of her local McDonald’s after using the bathroom because the staff thought her gender didn’t match the facilities she used.

“I ordered my food and left it with my girlfriend as I went to the toilet,” Ny told Yahoo News. “When I was in there, someone told me to get out and when I sat back down, the manager came over and told me that I needed to leave because I have been in the girls’ toilet.”

Richardson protested and the manager asked the teenager to show her ID to prove her gender [Ed. note: C’mon, guys]. When she failed to produce any ID, the manager told her to leave and called the police.

Richardson says she was humiliated by the experience and calls the manager’s attitude towards her “disgusting.”

“I’m still angry about it now,” she added.

Los Angeles Bans Official Travel to North Carolina, Mississippi.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

“With one stroke of their pen, Gov. Pat McCrory and Gov. Phil Bryant have jeopardized the safety and dignity of countless transgender, gay and lesbian people — who are already at an increased risk for violent crime,” Garcetti continued, referring to the governors of North Carolina and Mississippi, respectively. “As someone who has fought for many years on behalf of LGBT Americans and their right to equal protection under the law, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep L.A.’s tax dollars from supporting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“State-sanctioned discrimination only perpetuates intolerance, hatred and violence,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin, who authored the resolution, in the same press release. “That is not at all what Los Angeles stands for, and today, we are sending a clear message that we will not endorse — with our dollars or our participation — discrimination toward our transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual sisters and brothers.”

Bloody well took them long enough. At least they have finally joined the sane faction in this toilet fight. Full Story Here.

“No Soy Tu Chiste ( I Am Not Your Joke).”

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© Daniel Arzola.

Out: What prompted you to create the “No Soy Tu Chiste” campaign?

Daniel Arzola: Since I was a teenager I had been creating art with a purpose, with a social voice, a cry in a universal language. I started with poems, then photography, and finally illustration. For me art has always been a social expression. I called it “Artivism.” But, my story is not very different than the stories of so many gay and trans Venezuelan people. I had a difficult adolescence where I was constantly chased and bothered. When I was about 15 years old, neighbors tied me to an electrical post, took off my shoes and tried to burn me alive. They destroyed all my drawings.

I escaped. But, so many people don’t have the chance to escape from something like that. There was one guy who couldn’t run away—he was gay—his name was Angelo Prado. I saw it on the news. What struck me was that, even in this century, when you turn on the TV in Venezuela, if they talk about LGBT people, there is mockery. They are laughing about the pain of others. Making us a joke.

Full Article Here.

Women of the Navajo Calendar Reject Trans Woman

Transphobia strikes everywhere. In long ago tradition, most Indigenous nations recognized that gender was much more than binary, however, it seems that much has been lost in the colonial zeal to rip people from their roots.

Sharnell Paul.

Sharnell Paul.

Lake Powell Life covered this story, and Terese Mailhot at ICTMN has a column about this story.

From ICTMN:

Had Women of the Navajo calendar founders included Paul, they would have been working against historical erasure, reclaiming the stories within their own inclusive cultural roots. Their discriminatory acts speak of lateral violence within our own communities. Oppression works laterally and vertically. Their acts against Paul are acts against cultural reclamation and Indigenous sovereignty. It’s time to give our people voice. Our bodies and our stories have the right to acceptance and recognition. Women of the Navajo had the opportunity to empower culture, identity, and acts of reclamation. Granted, it would have been late to the game, but it’s better to be late than never arrive at a political occasion that is inevitable. All Indigenous bodies are sovereign, deserving of protection, respect, and recognition. What are they scared of? Whatever phobia they invite, it is no doubt the product of boarding schools, assimilation, and other genocidal acts put upon us.

[…]

The stories where I’m from are gone. There is no pre-contact narrative of people who identified as anything beyond the gender binary. There are only a few stories of sexuality and gender, let alone any that speak of gender roles. Our ceremonies and stories were forbidden. Only within the past few generations have people been able to stand and bear witness. There is something from the past that still resonates: that our stories can be erased, and our bodies forbidden. If we do not claim our people, and their identities, and their stories, and their struggles, they will be erased from the continuum, just like everything that has been stripped from us. Their beautiful faces and struggles will not thrive if we don’t lift them up now, to praise their clarity and power.

Stan & Olli & Juan & Carlos

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Penguins get more recognition and acceptance than people. Why am I not surprised?

Two male king penguins, Stan and Olli didn’t quite reach the expectations of zookeepers in Berlin. Both penguins were placed under the European Conservation Program (EEP) to reproduce with a female in order to ensure a strong future for the existence of the species. It turns out the penguins weren’t interested in the females, but rather, each other.

“They’re gay, as far as we know,” said Berlin Zoo spokeswoman Christiane Reiss. “They never bred. And when it came to courtship, they only mated with one another.”

According to The Local, both penguins have been transferred to a zoo in Hamburg where they will be a part of an exclusive male community that’s also home to another gay penguin couple, Juan and Carlos.

[…]

In a country where same-sex marriage is not legal and gay couples have limited adoption rights, it’s nice to see penguins at the forefront of LGBT rights in Germany.

Article.