Hundreds came out of the closet during Lisbon Pride Parade!
VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNnJY32Hs5o
Love is too beautiful to be inside the closet!
VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNnJY32Hs5o
Love is too beautiful to be inside the closet!
http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/books/2014/11/17/transgender-pioneer-leslie-feinberg-stone-butch-blues-has-died
Transgender Pioneer and Stone Butch Blues Author Leslie Feinberg Has Died
She was a pioneer in trans and lesbian issues, workers rights, and intersectionality long before anyone could define the phrase. Her partner, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and family offered us this obituary.
By Advocate.com Editors
November 17 2014 11:17 AM ET
Leslie Feinberg, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, died on November 15. She succumbed to complications from multiple tick-borne co-infections, including Lyme disease, babeisiosis, and protomyxzoa rheumatica, after decades of illness.
She died at home in Syracuse, NY, with her partner and spouse of 22 years, Minnie Bruce Pratt, at her side. Her last words were: “Remember me as a revolutionary communist.”
Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of “transgender liberation,” and her work impacted popular culture, academic research, and political organizing.
Her historical and theoretical writing has been widely anthologized and taught in the US and international academic circles. Her impact on mass culture was primarily through her 1993 first novel, Stone Butch Blues, widely considered in and outside the US as a groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender. Sold by the hundreds of thousands of copies and also passed from hand-to-hand inside prisons, the novel has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovenian, Turkish, and Hebrew (with her earnings from that edition going to ASWAT Palestinian Gay Women).
In a statement at the end of her life, she said she had “never been in search of a common umbrella identity, or even an umbrella term, that brings together people of oppressed sexes, gender expressions, and sexualities” and added that she believed in the right of self-determination of oppressed individuals, communities, groups, and nations.
She preferred to use the pronouns she/zie and her/hir for herself, but also said: “I care which pronoun is used, but people have been disrespectful to me with the wrong pronoun and respectful with the right one. It matters whether someone is using the pronoun as a bigot, or if they are trying to demonstrate respect.”
Feinberg was born September 1, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Buffalo, NY, in a working-class Jewish family. At age 14, she began supporting herself by working in the display sign shop of a local department store, and eventually stopped going to her high school classes, though officially she received her diploma. It was during this time that she entered the social life of the Buffalo gay bars. She moved out of a biological family hostile to her sexuality and gender expression, and to the end of her life carried legal documents that made clear they were not her family.
Discrimination against her as a transgender person made it impossible for her to get steady work. She earned her living for most of her life through a series of low-wage temp jobs, including working in a PVC pipe factory and a book bindery, cleaning out ship cargo holds and washing dishes, serving an ASL interpreter, and doing medical data inputting.
In her early twenties Feinberg met Workers World Party at a demonstration for Palestinian land rights and self-determination. She soon joined WWP through its founding Buffalo branch.
After moving to New York City, she participated in numerous mass organizing campaigns by the Party over the years, including many anti-war, pro-labor rallies. In 1983-1984 she embarked on a national tour about AIDS as a denied epidemic. She was a key organizer in the December 1974 March Against Racism in Boston, a campaign against white supremacist attacks on African-American adults and schoolchildren in the city. Feinberg led a group of ten lesbian-identified people, including several from South Boston, on an all-night “paste up” of South Boston, covering every visible racist epithet.
Feinberg was one of the organizers of the 1988 mobilization in Atlanta that re-routed the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan as they tried to march down Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., on MLK Day. When anti-abortion groups descended on Buffalo in 1992 and again in 1998-1999 with the murder there of Dr. Barnard Slepian, Feinberg returned to work with Buffalo United for Choice and its Rainbow Peacekeepers, which organized community self-defense for local LGBTQ+ bars and clubs as well as the women’s clinic.
A WW journalist since 1974, Feinberg was the editor of the Political Prisoners page of Workers World newspaper for 15 years, and became a managing editor in 1995. She was a member of the National Committee of the Party.
From 2004-2008 Feinberg's writing on the links between socialism and LGBT history, "Lavender & Red," ran as a 120-part series in Workers World newspaper. Her most recent book, Rainbow Solidarity in Defense of Cuba, was an edited selection of that series.
Feinberg authored two other non-fiction books, Transgender Warriors: Making History and Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue, as well as a second novel, Drag King Dreams.
Feinberg was a member of the National Writers Union, Local 1981, and of Pride at Work, an AFL-CIO constituency group. She received an honorary doctorate from the Starr King School for the Ministry for her transgender and social justice work, and was the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award.
During a period when diseases would not allow her to read, write, or talk, Feinberg continued to communicate through art. Picking up a camera for the first time, she posted thousands of pictures on Flickr, including “The Screened-In Series,” a disability-art class-conscious documentary of her Hawley-Green neighborhood photographed entirely from behind the windows of her apartment.
Diagnosed with Lyme and multiple tick-borne co-infections in 2008, Feinberg was infected first in the early 1970s when little was known about the diseases. She had received treatment for these only within the last six years. She said, “My experience in ILADS care offers great hope to desperately-ill people who are in earlier stages of tick-borne diseases.”
She attributed her catastrophic health crisis to “bigotry, prejudice and lack of science” — active prejudice toward her transgender identity that made access to health care exceedingly difficult, and lack of science in limits placed by mainstream medical authorities on information, treatment, and research about Lyme and its co-infections. She blogged online about these issues in “Casualty of an Undeclared War.”
At the time of her death she was preparing a 20th anniversary edition of Stone Butch Blues. She worked up to within a few days of her death to prepare the edition for free access, reading, and download from on-line. In addition to the text of the novel, the on-line edition will contain a slideshow, “This Is What Solidarity Looks Like,” documenting the breadth of the organizing campaign to free CeCe McDonald, a young Minneapolis (trans)woman organizer and activist sent to prison for defending herself against a white neo-Nazi attacker. The new edition is dedicated to McDonald. A devoted group of friends are continuing to work to post Feinberg’s final writing and art online at Lesliefeinberg.net.
Feinberg’s spouse, Minnie Bruce Pratt, an activist and poet, is the author of Crime Against Nature, about loss of custody of her sons as a lesbian mother. Feinberg and Pratt met in 1992 when Feinberg presented a slideshow on her transgender research in Washington, DC, sponsored by the local Workers World branch. After a long-distance courtship, they made their home for many years in Jersey City, NJ, where, to protect their relationship, the couple domestic-partnered in 2004 and civil-unioned in 2006. They also married in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts and in New York State in 2011.
Feinberg stressed that state authorities had no right to assign who were or were not her loved ones but rather that she would define her chosen family, citing Marx who said that the exchange value of love is — love.
Feinberg is survived by Pratt and an extended family of choice, as well as many friends, activists, and comrades around the world in struggle against oppression and for liberation.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Though we have often used "he" in reference to Feinberg at The Advocate, we recognize that this obituary was written by Feinberg's wife, Minnie Bruce Pratt, while at the author's bedside. Thus we are using her preferred pronouns here, despite our previous reporting.
Transgender Pioneer and Stone Butch Blues Author Leslie Feinberg Has Died
She was a pioneer in trans and lesbian issues, workers rights, and intersectionality long before anyone could define the phrase. Her partner, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and family offered us this obituary.
By Advocate.com Editors
November 17 2014 11:17 AM ET
Leslie Feinberg, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, died on November 15. She succumbed to complications from multiple tick-borne co-infections, including Lyme disease, babeisiosis, and protomyxzoa rheumatica, after decades of illness.
She died at home in Syracuse, NY, with her partner and spouse of 22 years, Minnie Bruce Pratt, at her side. Her last words were: “Remember me as a revolutionary communist.”
Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of “transgender liberation,” and her work impacted popular culture, academic research, and political organizing.
Her historical and theoretical writing has been widely anthologized and taught in the US and international academic circles. Her impact on mass culture was primarily through her 1993 first novel, Stone Butch Blues, widely considered in and outside the US as a groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender. Sold by the hundreds of thousands of copies and also passed from hand-to-hand inside prisons, the novel has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovenian, Turkish, and Hebrew (with her earnings from that edition going to ASWAT Palestinian Gay Women).
In a statement at the end of her life, she said she had “never been in search of a common umbrella identity, or even an umbrella term, that brings together people of oppressed sexes, gender expressions, and sexualities” and added that she believed in the right of self-determination of oppressed individuals, communities, groups, and nations.
She preferred to use the pronouns she/zie and her/hir for herself, but also said: “I care which pronoun is used, but people have been disrespectful to me with the wrong pronoun and respectful with the right one. It matters whether someone is using the pronoun as a bigot, or if they are trying to demonstrate respect.”
Feinberg was born September 1, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Buffalo, NY, in a working-class Jewish family. At age 14, she began supporting herself by working in the display sign shop of a local department store, and eventually stopped going to her high school classes, though officially she received her diploma. It was during this time that she entered the social life of the Buffalo gay bars. She moved out of a biological family hostile to her sexuality and gender expression, and to the end of her life carried legal documents that made clear they were not her family.
Discrimination against her as a transgender person made it impossible for her to get steady work. She earned her living for most of her life through a series of low-wage temp jobs, including working in a PVC pipe factory and a book bindery, cleaning out ship cargo holds and washing dishes, serving an ASL interpreter, and doing medical data inputting.
In her early twenties Feinberg met Workers World Party at a demonstration for Palestinian land rights and self-determination. She soon joined WWP through its founding Buffalo branch.
After moving to New York City, she participated in numerous mass organizing campaigns by the Party over the years, including many anti-war, pro-labor rallies. In 1983-1984 she embarked on a national tour about AIDS as a denied epidemic. She was a key organizer in the December 1974 March Against Racism in Boston, a campaign against white supremacist attacks on African-American adults and schoolchildren in the city. Feinberg led a group of ten lesbian-identified people, including several from South Boston, on an all-night “paste up” of South Boston, covering every visible racist epithet.
Feinberg was one of the organizers of the 1988 mobilization in Atlanta that re-routed the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan as they tried to march down Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., on MLK Day. When anti-abortion groups descended on Buffalo in 1992 and again in 1998-1999 with the murder there of Dr. Barnard Slepian, Feinberg returned to work with Buffalo United for Choice and its Rainbow Peacekeepers, which organized community self-defense for local LGBTQ+ bars and clubs as well as the women’s clinic.
A WW journalist since 1974, Feinberg was the editor of the Political Prisoners page of Workers World newspaper for 15 years, and became a managing editor in 1995. She was a member of the National Committee of the Party.
From 2004-2008 Feinberg's writing on the links between socialism and LGBT history, "Lavender & Red," ran as a 120-part series in Workers World newspaper. Her most recent book, Rainbow Solidarity in Defense of Cuba, was an edited selection of that series.
Feinberg authored two other non-fiction books, Transgender Warriors: Making History and Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue, as well as a second novel, Drag King Dreams.
Feinberg was a member of the National Writers Union, Local 1981, and of Pride at Work, an AFL-CIO constituency group. She received an honorary doctorate from the Starr King School for the Ministry for her transgender and social justice work, and was the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award.
During a period when diseases would not allow her to read, write, or talk, Feinberg continued to communicate through art. Picking up a camera for the first time, she posted thousands of pictures on Flickr, including “The Screened-In Series,” a disability-art class-conscious documentary of her Hawley-Green neighborhood photographed entirely from behind the windows of her apartment.
Diagnosed with Lyme and multiple tick-borne co-infections in 2008, Feinberg was infected first in the early 1970s when little was known about the diseases. She had received treatment for these only within the last six years. She said, “My experience in ILADS care offers great hope to desperately-ill people who are in earlier stages of tick-borne diseases.”
She attributed her catastrophic health crisis to “bigotry, prejudice and lack of science” — active prejudice toward her transgender identity that made access to health care exceedingly difficult, and lack of science in limits placed by mainstream medical authorities on information, treatment, and research about Lyme and its co-infections. She blogged online about these issues in “Casualty of an Undeclared War.”
At the time of her death she was preparing a 20th anniversary edition of Stone Butch Blues. She worked up to within a few days of her death to prepare the edition for free access, reading, and download from on-line. In addition to the text of the novel, the on-line edition will contain a slideshow, “This Is What Solidarity Looks Like,” documenting the breadth of the organizing campaign to free CeCe McDonald, a young Minneapolis (trans)woman organizer and activist sent to prison for defending herself against a white neo-Nazi attacker. The new edition is dedicated to McDonald. A devoted group of friends are continuing to work to post Feinberg’s final writing and art online at Lesliefeinberg.net.
Feinberg’s spouse, Minnie Bruce Pratt, an activist and poet, is the author of Crime Against Nature, about loss of custody of her sons as a lesbian mother. Feinberg and Pratt met in 1992 when Feinberg presented a slideshow on her transgender research in Washington, DC, sponsored by the local Workers World branch. After a long-distance courtship, they made their home for many years in Jersey City, NJ, where, to protect their relationship, the couple domestic-partnered in 2004 and civil-unioned in 2006. They also married in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts and in New York State in 2011.
Feinberg stressed that state authorities had no right to assign who were or were not her loved ones but rather that she would define her chosen family, citing Marx who said that the exchange value of love is — love.
Feinberg is survived by Pratt and an extended family of choice, as well as many friends, activists, and comrades around the world in struggle against oppression and for liberation.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Though we have often used "he" in reference to Feinberg at The Advocate, we recognize that this obituary was written by Feinberg's wife, Minnie Bruce Pratt, while at the author's bedside. Thus we are using her preferred pronouns here, despite our previous reporting.
NOTE: Phi Alpha Tau are still accepting donations for the Jim Collins Foundation until 07 April! They've now raised over $20,000.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/reversal-emerson-college-pay-frat-brothers-transgender-surgery/story?id=18675886
Donnie Collins is getting help from his fraternity brothers at Emerson College in Boston, who are helping him pay for transgender surgery to start his transition from female to male. (Courtesy of Emerson College)
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
March 7, 2013
Donnie Collins, the 19-year-old transgender student whose fraternity had pledged to help with sex change surgery, will get insurance coverage after all, according to Emerson College.
School officials told ABCNews.com that its insurance carrier had agreed to cover so-called "top surgery" or breast removal for Collins, who was born female but has identified as male since prep school.
"After the rejection of his initial request, the college contacted Aetna for clarification -- knowing that transgender benefits have been part of its insurance policy with Aetna since 2006," the college said in a statement.
Last month, Emerson's Phi Alpha Tau, a professional arts fraternity, heard that Collins' insurance would not pay for sex reassignment surgery and launched a campaign to help him out.
The men posted a video on the fundraising site IndieGogo.com and raised $18,000.
Emerson was one of the first colleges in the nation to remove the exclusion of transgender benefits from its policy, according to the college.
( Read more...Collapse )
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/reversal-emerson-college-pay-frat-brothers-transgender-surgery/story?id=18675886
Donnie Collins is getting help from his fraternity brothers at Emerson College in Boston, who are helping him pay for transgender surgery to start his transition from female to male. (Courtesy of Emerson College)
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
March 7, 2013
Donnie Collins, the 19-year-old transgender student whose fraternity had pledged to help with sex change surgery, will get insurance coverage after all, according to Emerson College.
School officials told ABCNews.com that its insurance carrier had agreed to cover so-called "top surgery" or breast removal for Collins, who was born female but has identified as male since prep school.
"After the rejection of his initial request, the college contacted Aetna for clarification -- knowing that transgender benefits have been part of its insurance policy with Aetna since 2006," the college said in a statement.
Last month, Emerson's Phi Alpha Tau, a professional arts fraternity, heard that Collins' insurance would not pay for sex reassignment surgery and launched a campaign to help him out.
The men posted a video on the fundraising site IndieGogo.com and raised $18,000.
Emerson was one of the first colleges in the nation to remove the exclusion of transgender benefits from its policy, according to the college.
( Read more...Collapse )
- Current Mood:proud
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
Note: all of the comments on this article so far are entirely positive and well worth reading.
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=653098
Up, Up and Away
By Derek Jory
Tuesday, 29.01.2013 / 2:04 PM
Potty training, as all parents know, can be a tall task.
Convincing a child to own the throne takes a lot of persuasion, and the prospect of wearing big boy/big girl underwear often does the trick.
When Nicole Oskam took her two-year-old daughter Anneke shopping for big girl underwear 14 years ago, pink was out, as were unicorns and Strawberry Shortcake. Anneke wanted Superman underwear and wasn’t leaving the store without them.
Anneke, fantastic taste in superhero gitch and all, was a gender nonconforming child from a very young age, according to Nicole, who assumed her daughter was a tomboy.
Fast-forward from the beginning of Anneke’s journey to where she is today and, well, a lot has changed.
For starters, Anneke is now Cory, a 16-year-old male currently blissfully residing on cloud nine after sharing the ice at Rogers Arena with Vancouver Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider.
Yes, the most recent chapter to Cory’s story had him standing beside his hero, after whom he renamed himself upon making the transition to become male, as part of Minor Hockey Week when the Canucks hosted the Calgary Flames on January 23rd.
( Read more...Collapse )
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=653098
Up, Up and Away
By Derek Jory
Tuesday, 29.01.2013 / 2:04 PM
Potty training, as all parents know, can be a tall task.
Convincing a child to own the throne takes a lot of persuasion, and the prospect of wearing big boy/big girl underwear often does the trick.
When Nicole Oskam took her two-year-old daughter Anneke shopping for big girl underwear 14 years ago, pink was out, as were unicorns and Strawberry Shortcake. Anneke wanted Superman underwear and wasn’t leaving the store without them.
Anneke, fantastic taste in superhero gitch and all, was a gender nonconforming child from a very young age, according to Nicole, who assumed her daughter was a tomboy.
Fast-forward from the beginning of Anneke’s journey to where she is today and, well, a lot has changed.
For starters, Anneke is now Cory, a 16-year-old male currently blissfully residing on cloud nine after sharing the ice at Rogers Arena with Vancouver Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider.
Yes, the most recent chapter to Cory’s story had him standing beside his hero, after whom he renamed himself upon making the transition to become male, as part of Minor Hockey Week when the Canucks hosted the Calgary Flames on January 23rd.
( Read more...Collapse )
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Current Mood:
pleased
I read this article a couple of days ago. It's very encouraging.
At the Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Victoria Ortega, 33, focuses on women’s health, HIV prevention, beautification, and safety. As a transgender woman and community organizer, she actively incorporates LGBTQ issues into her community-building in the neighborhood.
http://nbclatino.com/2013/01/04/transgender-latinos-forge-their-own-path-help-others/
At the Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Victoria Ortega, 33, focuses on women’s health, HIV prevention, beautification, and safety. As a transgender woman and community organizer, she actively incorporates LGBTQ issues into her community-building in the neighborhood.
http://nbclatino.com/2013/01/04/transgender-latinos-forge-their-own-path-help-others/
http://www.glaad.org/blog/ncte-launches-new-voting-while-trans-psa-series-featuring-laverne-cox-janet-mock-kit-yan-other
NCTE Launches New "Voting While Trans" PSA Series Featuring Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Kit Yan & Other Trans Advocates
Monday, 01 October 2012 - 10:00 am
by Daryl Hannah, Director of Media and Community Partnerships
Today, GLAAD and National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), an advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights and liberties of transgender Americans, released a series of public service announcements at http://votingwhiletrans.org/ outlining how transgender Americans can keep their right to vote this election day and feature NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling, writer and advocate Janet Mock, actress Laverne Cox, performance artist Ignacio Rivera, Charles Meins, and poet Kit Yan.
The PSAs are part of NCTE’s "Voting While Trans" public awareness campaign and part of GLAAD's effort to raise visiblity about the challenges thousands of transgender people may face heading to the polls this November. This year thousands of transgender Americans face being denied the right to to vote or having their vote discounted because of new strict photo ID law. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that more than 25,000 transgender people could lose their right to vote as a result of revised photo ID laws.
"New voter ID laws have created costly barriers to voting for trans people. And much worse, the debates about voter ID laws alone have made the idea of voting so toxic that many of us aren’t even going to try to vote on election day," said NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling. "Voter ID laws are silly. State legislatures have enacted them attempting to solve a fake problem. And as a result, transgender people - like students, veterans, low-income people of color, and older Americans - risk being denied a ballot this year," Keisling added.
Getting accurate identification has been an old challenge for transgender people. Many states have overcome this problem by modernizing their laws on updating birth certificates and drivers licenses, making voting more accessible to transgender people. However, the passage of dozens of new voter ID laws and strict photo ID requirements will now make it much harder for transgender people to vote. GLAAD has been working with media to elevate the everyday challenges trans Americans face trying participate fully in their communities simply because of antiquated photo-ID laws. We've also launched the http://glaad.org/vote page to encourage LGBT people and our allies to stand up and be heard this November.
"Every day, countless transgender Americans face challenges trying to secure IDs that reflect their true identity, and as a result, experience hardships in fundamental freedoms including the right to vote," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "We all deserve to make sure our voice is heard. These new strict-photo ID laws will adversely impact thousands of already disenfranchised Americans, many of whom are transgender people of color, who may also be low income, elderly or have a disability."
NCTE and GLAAD urge transgender people to verify whether their voter registration information matches the name and address on their identification. Additionally, transgender people who are able to update their photo ID are encouraged to do so.
Visit http://votingwhiletrans.org/ to learn more and watch the PSAs, and visit http://glaad.org/vote to find out how you can register to vote.
NCTE Launches New "Voting While Trans" PSA Series Featuring Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Kit Yan & Other Trans Advocates
Monday, 01 October 2012 - 10:00 am
by Daryl Hannah, Director of Media and Community Partnerships
Today, GLAAD and National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), an advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights and liberties of transgender Americans, released a series of public service announcements at http://votingwhiletrans.org/ outlining how transgender Americans can keep their right to vote this election day and feature NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling, writer and advocate Janet Mock, actress Laverne Cox, performance artist Ignacio Rivera, Charles Meins, and poet Kit Yan.
The PSAs are part of NCTE’s "Voting While Trans" public awareness campaign and part of GLAAD's effort to raise visiblity about the challenges thousands of transgender people may face heading to the polls this November. This year thousands of transgender Americans face being denied the right to to vote or having their vote discounted because of new strict photo ID law. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that more than 25,000 transgender people could lose their right to vote as a result of revised photo ID laws.
"New voter ID laws have created costly barriers to voting for trans people. And much worse, the debates about voter ID laws alone have made the idea of voting so toxic that many of us aren’t even going to try to vote on election day," said NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling. "Voter ID laws are silly. State legislatures have enacted them attempting to solve a fake problem. And as a result, transgender people - like students, veterans, low-income people of color, and older Americans - risk being denied a ballot this year," Keisling added.
Getting accurate identification has been an old challenge for transgender people. Many states have overcome this problem by modernizing their laws on updating birth certificates and drivers licenses, making voting more accessible to transgender people. However, the passage of dozens of new voter ID laws and strict photo ID requirements will now make it much harder for transgender people to vote. GLAAD has been working with media to elevate the everyday challenges trans Americans face trying participate fully in their communities simply because of antiquated photo-ID laws. We've also launched the http://glaad.org/vote page to encourage LGBT people and our allies to stand up and be heard this November.
"Every day, countless transgender Americans face challenges trying to secure IDs that reflect their true identity, and as a result, experience hardships in fundamental freedoms including the right to vote," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "We all deserve to make sure our voice is heard. These new strict-photo ID laws will adversely impact thousands of already disenfranchised Americans, many of whom are transgender people of color, who may also be low income, elderly or have a disability."
NCTE and GLAAD urge transgender people to verify whether their voter registration information matches the name and address on their identification. Additionally, transgender people who are able to update their photo ID are encouraged to do so.
Visit http://votingwhiletrans.org/ to learn more and watch the PSAs, and visit http://glaad.org/vote to find out how you can register to vote.
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Current Mood: okay
http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/09/01/camp-for-transgender-kids-builds-trust/7ziUvJtS6gAjKnSAiycKYJ/story.html
Camp unites transgender kids on outskirts
There are few places transgender youth feel accepted. Camp Aranu’tiq was created to change that.
By Bella English, Globe Staff
September 02, 2012
Kids headed to the pool at Camp Aranu’tiq in Connecticut. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
On the volleyball court, a boy spiked a shot and his teammates cheered. Nearby, some campers lay on mats, doing yoga stretches. A girl executed a series of cartwheels. Over in drama, the kids performed a “cranky old lady” talk show; everyone cracked up.
Before the week was over, there were campfires, Capture the Flag, a skit night, and a talent show. Camp Aranu’tiq seemed like a traditional New England camp, complete with requisite lake, rustic cabins, and 65 shrieking campers.
Only when you see tags around campers’ necks, with the words “(HE)” or “(SHE)” under their names, do you realize something’s different here. It is the only camp of its kind in the country, a camp for transgender kids, where idle chatter on sports, music, school, and teenage crushes blends right in with talk about “coming out,” “transitioning,” puberty blockers — and bullying.
For privacy and safety reasons, Camp Aranu’tiq has never allowed media inside, but recently let a Globe reporter and photographer spend a day at its wooded Connecticut grounds during its weeklong session in late August. Campers, parents, and staff are required to sign a confidentiality contract, and the exact location is not revealed until the child is enrolled. “They know it’s a safety issue,” said founder and director Nick Teich.
Related: Camp for transgender kids builds trust (photos)
( Read more...Collapse )
Camp unites transgender kids on outskirts
There are few places transgender youth feel accepted. Camp Aranu’tiq was created to change that.
By Bella English, Globe Staff
September 02, 2012
Kids headed to the pool at Camp Aranu’tiq in Connecticut. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
On the volleyball court, a boy spiked a shot and his teammates cheered. Nearby, some campers lay on mats, doing yoga stretches. A girl executed a series of cartwheels. Over in drama, the kids performed a “cranky old lady” talk show; everyone cracked up.
Before the week was over, there were campfires, Capture the Flag, a skit night, and a talent show. Camp Aranu’tiq seemed like a traditional New England camp, complete with requisite lake, rustic cabins, and 65 shrieking campers.
Only when you see tags around campers’ necks, with the words “(HE)” or “(SHE)” under their names, do you realize something’s different here. It is the only camp of its kind in the country, a camp for transgender kids, where idle chatter on sports, music, school, and teenage crushes blends right in with talk about “coming out,” “transitioning,” puberty blockers — and bullying.
For privacy and safety reasons, Camp Aranu’tiq has never allowed media inside, but recently let a Globe reporter and photographer spend a day at its wooded Connecticut grounds during its weeklong session in late August. Campers, parents, and staff are required to sign a confidentiality contract, and the exact location is not revealed until the child is enrolled. “They know it’s a safety issue,” said founder and director Nick Teich.
Related: Camp for transgender kids builds trust (photos)
( Read more...Collapse )
- Current Mood: pleased
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
http://www.glaad.org/blog/are-your-voting-rights-jeopardy
Are Your Voting Rights in Jeopardy?
Friday, August 17, 2012 - 2:00pm by Alexandra Bolles, National News Media Intern
New voter ID laws could prevent more than 25,000 transgender citizens from voting, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA. The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has released “Voting While Trans” resources in order to educate trans voters on what they can do to successfully cast their ballots, particularly during what advocate Laverne Cox says is “a critical election season.”
"Transgender people are already imagined to be committing gender fraud. Now these new voter ID laws could set us up to be accused of voter fraud," explains Mara Keisling, NCTE Executive Director. "Most transgender people have never had problems voting before but this year is different. When a transgender person shows up to a polling place with a name or appearance that isn't perceived to match their voter registration records or their photo ID, they could be turned away."
While voter ID laws vary from state to state, the issue of trans identified individuals trying to procure proper identification has long been an issue for the trans community. This particularly affects trans people of color who, as we know, disproprotionately face challenges obtaining government-issued IDs.
Transgender writer and advocate Janet Mock made clear the potential impact of these voter ID laws, saying they “don’t only make it difficult for trans people to meet ID requirements, but these patchwork of laws attempts to suppress our voices and strip us of our right to stand behind the issues that matter most to us.”
Check out this NCSL page (National Conference of State Legislatures) for a rundown of the voter ID laws in your state. NTCE has also begun disseminating resources, Preparing for the New Voter ID Laws and Voting While Trans Checklist, to assist trans voters in assuring that their political voice is not lost. The resources are easily accessed at http://votingwhiletrans.org.
Some other ways to help you and your trans friends and family hold onto your voting rights:
* Distribute the NCTE resources at an LGBT event, conference, support group, etc.
* Update your legal records before voter ID laws go into effect
* Share this via social media to raise awareness about how the LGBT community is affected by voter ID laws (For your convenience, Facebook, Twitter, and Google buttons are located to the left of this post)
At a time when LGBT rights and related issues are at the forefront of debates and legislative actions in our country, it is of the utmost importance for LGBT people to be able to exercise their political voices on platforms and planks that directly affect them.
GLAAD supports NCTE in their continued advocacy and efforts to raise awareness. Check out http://votingwhiletrans.org/ and share with friends.
Are Your Voting Rights in Jeopardy?
Friday, August 17, 2012 - 2:00pm by Alexandra Bolles, National News Media Intern
New voter ID laws could prevent more than 25,000 transgender citizens from voting, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA. The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has released “Voting While Trans” resources in order to educate trans voters on what they can do to successfully cast their ballots, particularly during what advocate Laverne Cox says is “a critical election season.”
"Transgender people are already imagined to be committing gender fraud. Now these new voter ID laws could set us up to be accused of voter fraud," explains Mara Keisling, NCTE Executive Director. "Most transgender people have never had problems voting before but this year is different. When a transgender person shows up to a polling place with a name or appearance that isn't perceived to match their voter registration records or their photo ID, they could be turned away."
While voter ID laws vary from state to state, the issue of trans identified individuals trying to procure proper identification has long been an issue for the trans community. This particularly affects trans people of color who, as we know, disproprotionately face challenges obtaining government-issued IDs.
Transgender writer and advocate Janet Mock made clear the potential impact of these voter ID laws, saying they “don’t only make it difficult for trans people to meet ID requirements, but these patchwork of laws attempts to suppress our voices and strip us of our right to stand behind the issues that matter most to us.”
Check out this NCSL page (National Conference of State Legislatures) for a rundown of the voter ID laws in your state. NTCE has also begun disseminating resources, Preparing for the New Voter ID Laws and Voting While Trans Checklist, to assist trans voters in assuring that their political voice is not lost. The resources are easily accessed at http://votingwhiletrans.org.
Some other ways to help you and your trans friends and family hold onto your voting rights:
* Distribute the NCTE resources at an LGBT event, conference, support group, etc.
* Update your legal records before voter ID laws go into effect
* Share this via social media to raise awareness about how the LGBT community is affected by voter ID laws (For your convenience, Facebook, Twitter, and Google buttons are located to the left of this post)
At a time when LGBT rights and related issues are at the forefront of debates and legislative actions in our country, it is of the utmost importance for LGBT people to be able to exercise their political voices on platforms and planks that directly affect them.
GLAAD supports NCTE in their continued advocacy and efforts to raise awareness. Check out http://votingwhiletrans.org/ and share with friends.
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jul/29/oxford-university-dress-code-transgender-students
Oxford University changes dress code to meet needs of transgender students
Students sitting exams or attending formal occasions will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing specific to their gender
Press Association
http://guardian.co.uk/ , Sunday 29 July 2012 06.27 EDT
New rules mean that male Oxford University students will be able to sit exams in skirts and stockings and women will have the option of wearing suits and ties. (Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian)
Oxford University has rewritten the laws governing its strict academic dress code following concerns that they were unfair towards transgender students.
Under the new regulations, students taking exams or attending formal occasions will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing that is specific to their gender.
It will mean men will be able to sit tests in skirts and stockings and women will have the option of wearing suits and bow ties.
The laws, which come into force next week, follow a motion put forward by the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer society (LGBTQ Soc) was passed by the student union.
Jess Pumphrey, LGBTQ Soc's executive officer, said the change would make a number of students' exam experience significantly less stressful.
She told The Oxford Student newspaper: "In future there will be no need for transgender students to cross-dress to avoid being confronted by invigilators or disciplined during their exam."
Under the old laws on academic clothing – known as subfusc – male students were required to wear a dark suit and socks, black shoes, a white bow tie and a plain white shirt and collar under their black gowns.
Female students had to wear a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse, black stockings and shoes and a black ribbon tied in a bow at the neck.
If a transgender student wanted to wear subfusc of the opposite sex they had to seek special dispensation from university proctors, who had the power to punish those who breached the rules.
Oxford University said: "The regulations have been amended to remove any reference to gender, in response to concerns raised by Oxford University Student Union that the existing regulations did not serve the interests of transgender students."
Simone Webb, president of LGBTQ Soc, said: "This is an extremely positive step, and indeed long overdue."
He told The Oxford Student: "I am of the opinion that it is possible to keep elements of tradition in this way while making them unrestrictive to trans students, genderqueer students, or students who wish to wear a different subfusc to that which they'd be expected to wear."
Oxford University changes dress code to meet needs of transgender students
Students sitting exams or attending formal occasions will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing specific to their gender
Press Association
http://guardian.co.uk/ , Sunday 29 July 2012 06.27 EDT
New rules mean that male Oxford University students will be able to sit exams in skirts and stockings and women will have the option of wearing suits and ties. (Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian)
Oxford University has rewritten the laws governing its strict academic dress code following concerns that they were unfair towards transgender students.
Under the new regulations, students taking exams or attending formal occasions will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing that is specific to their gender.
It will mean men will be able to sit tests in skirts and stockings and women will have the option of wearing suits and bow ties.
The laws, which come into force next week, follow a motion put forward by the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer society (LGBTQ Soc) was passed by the student union.
Jess Pumphrey, LGBTQ Soc's executive officer, said the change would make a number of students' exam experience significantly less stressful.
She told The Oxford Student newspaper: "In future there will be no need for transgender students to cross-dress to avoid being confronted by invigilators or disciplined during their exam."
Under the old laws on academic clothing – known as subfusc – male students were required to wear a dark suit and socks, black shoes, a white bow tie and a plain white shirt and collar under their black gowns.
Female students had to wear a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse, black stockings and shoes and a black ribbon tied in a bow at the neck.
If a transgender student wanted to wear subfusc of the opposite sex they had to seek special dispensation from university proctors, who had the power to punish those who breached the rules.
Oxford University said: "The regulations have been amended to remove any reference to gender, in response to concerns raised by Oxford University Student Union that the existing regulations did not serve the interests of transgender students."
Simone Webb, president of LGBTQ Soc, said: "This is an extremely positive step, and indeed long overdue."
He told The Oxford Student: "I am of the opinion that it is possible to keep elements of tradition in this way while making them unrestrictive to trans students, genderqueer students, or students who wish to wear a different subfusc to that which they'd be expected to wear."
- Current Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Current Mood: pleased
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