9/17/13

South Dakota Transgender Woman Cori McCreery awarded $50,000 after being fired for transitioning

Yesterday Lambda Legal  announced a landmark settlement for Cori McCreery, a transgender woman in South Dakota who was terminated from her job after she informed her employer that she would be taking steps to transition from male to female at work.

Cori McCreery had known and worked for the the owner of this small grocery store for years, building a sense of trust and loyalty. When the owner of Don's told her it was fine with him that she transition on the job she was not surprised even though South Dakota has no state LGBT protections.

But the day she came dressed authentically her world came crashing down.

Cori McCreery explains..."that at Don’s Valley Market, I was a very good employee – in fact, I had just been promoted and given a raise. I had known the owner for years; in fact, I had worked for him for four years at a different grocery store he owned back in 2000 to 2004. So, when he initially told me it was ok for me to come to work as my true self, I trusted that. I had already been living as a woman in every other aspect of life, and to go to work as someone else was not something I could deal with anymore. Working is so important to me, and being at there as myself was something I needed."

"The day is a little foggy from the shock, but I remember being told that I was “making other employees uncomfortable” and “what would moms think?” I didn’t know what to do. I trusted my boss, liked my job, I needed the pay check and I felt like my safety net had just been pulled out from underneath me. That was definitely a day when I knew I needed help."


Ms. McCreery having a great network of friend and family was able to quickly recover, finding employment elsewhere. But the its a lesson the owner of Don's Valley Market won't soon forget and employers nationwide should make note of.

If you discriminate against transgender people because of our gender expression you will be held accountable under Title VII. This was not the first trans victory against job discrimination since title VII was amended and it probably won't be the last. It's a tough learning curve for bigots.

"I'm so incredibly thrilled," Cori McCreery told Lambda Legal, who now works for a company which scores 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. "This gives me hope. The day I was fired, I had no idea what I would do. I now feel a sense of closure and can focus on my future. No one should be fired just because of who they are."

McCreery's settlement affirms the EEOC's position on workplace protections for transgender employees and the types of severe penalties employers could face if they attempt to discriminate against their transgender employees. McCreery's employer did not have a workplace non-discrimination policy, which is avoidable and in business owners' best interest to establish policies.


Statement on the EEOC.Gov website Rapid City Market to Pay $50,000 to Settle EEOC Finding of Discrimination Against Transgender Employee


Say Goodbye to Melony Smith, murdered transgender woman


The SoCal Tgirls facebook event invites our community and allies to Say Goodbye to Melony Smith aka Vanhxay Inthichack who was murdered last week.


  • Partly Cloudy 81°F / 59°F
  • Melony Smith's viewing is on Wednesday on 9/18 at 4:30-8:30pm.

    The actually funeral is on Thursday 09/19 at Skyrose Chapel at 1:00pm.

    Misty Vane got two big bouquet of flowers for our community and 2 dozens of flowers for people who show up to put each rose on her coffin.


Melony's funeral was made possible by the TG community :


Respectful media articles can be found at the Advocate, Lexi Cannes and The Baldwin Park Patch,  planetransgender and the  sgvtribune.com.


9/15/13

Mister Cee Hip Hop Icon gets outed by a lowlife tramp. You are still the man Mr. Cee

I have never been more tempted to call someone the "T" word as right now. Even though the tramp who outed Mr. Cee @Bimbowinehouse identifies with it I still feel its defamation so I'll just have to make due with calling him a stinking lowlife tramp.

The trans umbrella does not cover you @Bimbowinehouse
We have our pride.

Mister Cee is honestly confronting who he is. I respect that. And for the record there is nothing wrong with wanting to be with a trans person but seriously Mister Cee, consider raising your standards a bit.

Melissa Harris-Perry weighs in on MSNBC....

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The tramp's video that outed Mister Cee... Mister Cee talks to Breeze at Hot. Published on Sep 12, 2013 Mister Cee shocked everyone here at HOT 97 when he resigned from the station yesterday. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation commends Mister Cee on his revolutionary stance and voice for sexual freedom. (Stay tuned to http://freestdcheck.org/ for an exclusive personal video address from Mister Cee soon) This morning Ebro had him on the HOT 97 Morning Show to talk about why he made the decision to leave.




Murder of LA Transwoman, Melony Smith, misgendered and disrespected almost went unnoticed

The mainstream media reported Ms Smith's murder using her birth name, further obscuring her identity by misgendering her. Thanks to Lexi Cannes her death will not go unnoticed.
 TransPride LA has verified a way to help with the final expenses of this young immigrant, but only a couple days remain before she is laid to rest.

The following article is one of only a few mentioning her death and a prime example of why we almost didn't know about her authentic gender.
**Trigger warning:
Source The San Gabriel Valley Tribune: BALDWIN PARK - A suspect has been identified in the beating death of a 26-year-old Baldwin Park man found dead inside a motel room earlier this week, officials said.

Stephen Gonzales, 28, of West Covina, was behind bars Thursday after being arrested by deputies from the sheriff’s Industry Station Wednesday on suspicion of drug possession, Lt. David Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said. He was expected to be charged with the murder of Vanhxay Inthichack (Melony Smith) this week or early next week.

Inthichack’s body was discovered about 1:30 p.m. Monday inside a motel room he had rented in the 13900 block of Francisquito Avenue, investigators said.

Though it was not immediately clear how he died, an autopsy determined he had been beaten to death and the case was ultimately ruled a homicide, coroner’s officials said.

A motive in the alleged slaying was not clear, nor was the relationship between Inthichack and Gonzales.

Detectives identified Gonzales as a suspect through cell phone information and surveillance footage near the crime scene.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.



Trans Pride L.A. · 1,323 like this
12 hours ago · 
Donations need to be made by the 18th. Donate at GiveForward. We need to take care of our own, but sadly I could not afford the lowest level of donations the fundraiser offered. I emailed the fundraisers author and asked her to lower the donation levels.

I have reached out to Brian Day the author of  The San Gabriel Valley Tribune's post which made no mention of her status via twitter, facebook and comments. I hope Mr Day will edit his article to at least make a mention of her transgender status



You can comment on the sgvTribune's facebook posting of their article here.


R.I.P Melony Smith dear sister.


9/14/13

Ashanti Mcalister gets life for murder of Trans Rapper Evon (YungLT) Young

One of the five men arrested for the murder of  Milwaukee rap artist Evon Young was sentenced to life in prison on September 13th.

Wisconsin Gazette: A jury found 19-year-old Ashanti Mcalister guilty on June 27 of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 22-year-old Evon Young, a transgender rapper who also was known as Yung LT. 


On Sept. 12, Mcalister was sentenced to life in prison.

Young disappeared New Year’s Day. Police say that Mcalister and four others were involved in Young’s death and then disposed of his body in a trash bin. 



According to testimony, Mcalister shot Young’s body three times after Young had been suffocated and strangled in the basement of his home. 


Mcalister could request parole in 53 years.

Two others arrested in connection with Young’s death entered into plea agreements, which require them to testify against the other defendants. Their sentencing will take place next month.

A fourth man, Ron Allen, will go on trial in October.
And a fifth man, Young’s roommate, Billy Griffin, will have a retrial in November after a jury could not reach a verdict in the first trial


Texas Attorney General wants to sue San Antonio over new LGBT ordinance thats even more respectful of the 1st amendment

Abbott won't come out and say he hates thy gays but he will make it legal for others to, if he can.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and two leading Republican candidates to succeed him say they want to sue the city of San Antonio over its vote last week to add sexual orientation and identity to an anti-discrimination ordinance that already included race, religion and nationality. But Rick Casey says language changes in the new rules actually respect the First Amendment more than the old ordinance.






My San Antionio reports Abbott doesn't bash gays in his warning. He's just worried about language in the ordinance that he thinks will punish those who do bash gays. But such language was in the previous anti-discrimination ordinance for years.

“No person shall be appointed to a (city) position if the City Council finds that such person has, prior to such proposed appointment, engaged in discrimination or demonstrated a bias, by word or deed, against any person, group or organization on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or handicap,” the language said.

This is very disturbing language. Under it, any Christian who said she thought Jews were going to hell might be barred from office. But it didn't seem to disturb anyone until Councilman Diego Bernal sought to add gays and transgendered persons to the list. Bernal, himself a civil rights lawyer, took out that language early in the drafting process. It is no longer in the ordinance.

A surviving section, however, does include similar language. It says, “No appointed official or member of a board or commission shall engage in discrimination or demonstrate a bias, by word or deed, against any person, group of persons, or organization (based on race, color, sexual orientation, etc.) while acting in their official capacity while in such public position.”

A board member or other official who violates this section can be removed by City Council.

This is the section Attorney General Abbott has focused on. “I believe that violates the First Amendment — both freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” he said.