Let's help

[Bionca]

Originally Posted by Amy

I've said before we need to get the people here to put their money where their mouths are, so to speak. If you really care about us, campaigning for our rights is a damn good place to show it. One of my friends just got some horrible treatment in a bar recently, and this sort of shit just gets me so angry with our society...

Sorry about your friend

Bars are like a mine field for me. I think I'm the only woman in the world sometimes who dreads having a drink bought for her by a stranger.

That said, I tried to get some support going for something a tad more important than jerking off or discussing cock. I'm disappointed - but not overly surprised.

[transjen]

It will take more then just asking for equal rights, The laws really don't need changing people do, You can pass all the laws you want but some people don't care about laws they see a Tgirl and think they are less then human and there for beating us or worse is fine and in there rights and we have no rights because we are less then human. I was always pushed around and picked on as a kid so i'm kinda use to the hateward of others like i said people need to change Jennifer

[Bionca]

Jen -

Yes and no. Obviously people/society need to change. One of the ways society needs to change is the way trans* peeps are treated by the law. When a trans* person can get sent to the wrong prison simply because the state failed to correct her documentation there is a problem. When rape and domestic violence and homeless shelters can deny services to trans* women there is a problem. When the simple act of using a public restroom becomes up for debate there is a problem.

With the case of violence it becomes even more critical. The abysmal rate in which our attackers are caught, much less convicted is maddening. Even when the attacker is well know to members of the community. When Kelly Telesford (from the UK, so not directly applicable to the US) can be strangled, her last date found with her stolen property on him, can get found not guilty because he implied she was "easy" and into "freaky sex'. There is a problem.

When men who have a history of dating trans* women can kill us and get a "manslaughter" conviction and sentenced to 6 years in jail by claiming "gay panic". There is a problem. When a Trans* woman in DC is left to die in a car accident because the EMTs are too busy making fun of her genitalia. There is a problem. When those same EMTs get a promotion a year later - that is an outrage.

So, yeah people need to change, but a good start is letting folks know that assaulting, raping, murdering us isn't a justifiable act worthy of a mitigated sentence. That firing us from our jobs because we are trans* is not going to be OK. That's where the law comes in. Sometimes you can't depend on the kindness of strangers.

[smc]

An op-ed in today's edition of my local newspaper, The Boston Globe, offers a small glimmer of hope for at least a bit of change here in Massachusetts. Here's a link to the piece, which discusses the problem of bullying of school-age kids who identify as transgendered and how the suicides of some have spurred efforts to pass legislation in the state to force schools to deal with anti-LGBT bullying.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ed...ound_bullying/

My local high school (from which all three of my kids graduated) is somewhat notorious among the national anti-gay activists not only for having a principal who is openly lesbian but for its annual "ToBeGLAD Day" an all-day event (it stands for "Transgender Bisexual Gay Lesbian Awareness Day"). Parents are kept out of the school so that the homophobes cannot disrupt the event. The result has been one of the most tolerant high school environments in the country, one where my youngest daughter reports that on several occasions she witnessed BMOC jocks come to the defense of gay kids who were being harrassed by other students!

[Bionca]

smc -

Your high school seems pretty darn swell.

[Bionca]

I posted this about the Angie Zapata case on another blog where we were talking about hate crimes and wether this could/should be classified as a hate crime:

This is the very heart of a hate crime. Beyond the basics of Angie was killed for being trans* (which is enough on its own). The ripples of this and every other case of violence and murder of trans* women by intimate partners are mirrored in the fear and suspicion that I, and most of my friends feel when trying to do something so simple and basic as go on a date.

This case, and the many many others that are reported (or more often not) confirm for us that we are never safe. That no matter what we do, how careful we are we are always to blame for our own attacks. This is the crux of hate crime legislation - to criminalize actions that instill fear in a unprivileged/ minority community. This is the daily fear that I and my trans* sisters who date men have EVERY SINGLE TIME we on a date.

That fear that some curious cis-guy is going to freak out all over our bodies after he gets his. That he will feel justified and be able to claim his own "violation" and liken our bodies to rape.

[smc]

Originally Posted by Bionca

smc -

Your high school seems pretty darn swell.

Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts -- the focus of national attention by anti-gay groups for years because the faculty and staff let kids be themselves. The homophobes accuse NNHS of "teaching kids to be gay."

One of the best things about the school is that a few non-LGBT kids have graduated, gone on to college, and then become noted attorneys defending LGBT people in civil discrimination suits.

[transjen]

Originally Posted by smc

Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts -- the focus of national attention by anti-gay groups for years because the faculty and staff let kids be themselves. The homophobes accuse NNHS of "teaching kids to be gay."

One of the best things about the school is that a few non-LGBT kids have graduated, gone on to college, and then become noted attorneys defending LGBT people in civil discrimination suits.

Wish i attended a highschool like that when i was a teen Jennifer