4/6/14

Top model Geena Rocero comes out as transgender

The world makes you something that you're not, but you know inside what you are, and that question burns in your heart: How will you become that? I may be somewhat unique in this, but I am not alone,not alone at all. So when I became a fashion model, I felt that I'd finally achieved the dream that I'd always wanted since I was a young child. My outside self finally matched my inner truth, my inner self.For complicated reasons which I'll get to later, when I look at this picture, at that time I felt like, Geena, you've done it, you've made it, you have arrived. But this past October, I realized that I'm only just beginning. All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history,even our own bodies. Some people have the courage to break free, not to accept the limitations imposed by the color of their skin or by the beliefs of those that surround them. Those people are always the threat to the status quo, to what is considered acceptable.
In my case, for the last nine years, some of my neighbors, some of my friends, colleagues, even my agent, did not know about my history. I think, in mystery, this is called the reveal. Here is mine>>.full transcript

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Meet Drag Artist Conchita Wurst Austria's Eurovision Entry


UPDATE She WON!! Check her song out here

Ms Conchita Wurst, the female half of the individual also known as Tom Neuwirth is causing quite a stir in Austria.
Some love that a drag artist is representing their country in this years Eurovision contest, but some are so upset they have begun a Facebook page in opposition. For the most part, the only thing the Facebook page has succeeded in doing is to give bigots and small-minded people a place to vent on.

Meanwhile Ms. Conchita Wurst appeared on the RTE "Saturday Nigh Show" to spread her message of inclusion and love..



Conchita hopes to follow in heels the last and only Austrian to win, Udo Jürgens in 1966

From her website:

biography

"Two hearts beating in my chest" 

They are a team that only works in a duo. And, although they never get to face each other - and miss regularly in the mirror at moments.
Respect the owner Tom Neuwirth and the fictional character Conchita Wurst and appreciate each other wholeheartedly. They are two independent personalities with their own resumes that set a striking symbol of tolerance and against discrimination together.

Tom

  • Born on 11.06.1988 in Gmunden
  • grew up in the Obersteiermak
  • 2007 Candidate of the ORF casting show "Star Mania"
  • 2011 Final Fashion School Graz
  • Since then, he lives somewhere in Vienna

Conchita

  • born in the Colombian highlands
  • grew up in Germany
  • 2011 candidate of the ORF casting show 'The big opportunity'
  • 2012 Candidate of Austrian preliminaries for the "Euro Visions Song Contest 2013 '
  • 2014 Austria Fixstarterin the "Euro Visions Song Contest 2014"
Conchita owes its birth to the fact that Tom had time of his life struggling with discrimination. So he created a woman with a beard. As a striking statement. As a catalyst for discussion of terms such as "different" or "normal". As a valve with which he wants to carry his message unmistakable and unmistakably in the world. 
Appearance, gender and origin are in fact completely SAUSAGE, when it comes to the dignity and freedom of the individual. "Solely man counts," says Tom / Conchita, "everyone should be allowed to live his life as he sees fit, as long as nobody gets hurt."






4/5/14

Former Cop Nelson Stewart, gets probation for rape of locked-up transgender man

They called it bribery and let the 24 year veteran of the force go with probation. I call it rape when an officer of the law makes a prisoner perform sexual acts, regardless of the reason.

Source Chicago Tribune
The victim was a 30-year-old man arrested June 6 2012 in the 4500 block of West Monroe after he flagged down an undercover cop and offered to perform sex for $20, officials said. The man was taken to the Harrison District and placed in the lockup.

Stewart told the inmate that if he did him a “favor” he could be released later that day, Assistant State’s Attorney Lynn McCarthy said. Stewart told the victim he controlled the paperwork at the district, according to a police report.

Stewart performed oral sex on the man and the man performed oral sex on him, prosecutors said.

The Tribune also reported that Stewart is an active member of the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church and father of two. The Trib also said the church-going man was investigated for breaking a prisoner's jaw and rib cage in 2006, flipped journalists off with both fingers when he exited the court house.




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"