Let's help

[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

Colo. man convicted of murdering transgender woman

Allen Andrade, 32, of Thornton, was sentenced to life in prison without parole* after being convicted of killing Angie Zapata, 18. The jury deliberated for just two hours before finding Andrade guilty...

...Prosecutors had argued Andrade knew for hours that Zapata was biologically male and beat her to death because he disliked gays. They said Andrade had attended a court hearing with Zapata where court officials used her legal name, Justin...

...During the trial, prosecutors played recorded jail conversations where Andrade referred to Zapata as "it" and said it wasn't as if he "killed a straight, law-abiding citizen."

*Methinks the fucker is in need of a lethal injection. But at least he didn't get away with it. If it was up to me, "gay panic" would be no defense.

[ila]

Originally Posted by St. Araqiel

Colo. man convicted of murdering transgender woman

*Methinks the fucker is in need of a lethal injection. But at least he didn't get away with it. If it was up to me, "gay panic" would be no defense.

I'm glad he got at least life in prison. Hopefully the justice system is starting to take violence aganist transwomen seriously.

[CreativeMind]

Originally Posted by St. Araqiel

Methinks the fucker is in need of a lethal injection. But at least he didn't get away with it.
If it was up to me, "gay panic" would be no defense.

Originally Posted by ila

I'm glad he got at least life in prison.
Hopefully the justice system is starting to take violence aganist transwomen seriously.

Well, I'll add my voice to those applauding the court's ruling. At heart and on the surface, I'm generally not a supporter of "hate crime" legislation simply because I think that if you kill someone, then you've crossed a line of no return and SERIOUS consequences should follow, no matter who you are. Honestly, if you've KILLED SOMEONE -- if you've actually taken another life -- then odds are pretty damn high you deserve to have your ass handed to you, in one way or another (unless you can show it was in self-defense, like a woman protecting herself from a rapist, that kind of thing). I generally feel that if a person is attacked and somehow the other person dies, I'm willing to give you a pass for self-defense. I think most people feel that way. But if you KILL someone on the road by being a stupid drunk driver or you attacked someone and killed them in a violent rage (as was the case here), then you're up shit's creek as far as I'm concerned. No excuses will be tolerated.

In terms of giving him a lethal injection to pay for his crime, that's the larger debate of the death penalty and whether you believe in it or not. As for Ila's point about the system finally taking notice, I certainly hope so -- but that goes back to my "hate crime" stance. I just think the justice system OVERALL should be far, far, FAR stricter in terms of punishments given out, certainly in cases where someone has died. Yes, I'm a real law and order type of guy.

Frankly, the sheer fact that this guy was even allowed to use "gay panic" as a defense would have me wide-eyed in the court room if I had been a juror. And had I been the Judge, I certainly would have leaned forward and sternly said, "Counselor, approach the bench with your client." Then in a whisper and leaning over the bench, I would have simply added, "You're not ACTUALLY going to use such a LAME defense, are you? SERIOUSLY, if that's going to be your story for why you KILLED a fellow human being, I'm gonna spare everyone the time and money involved in this case and just bang my gavel right now and send your ass off to jail because that is SO FUCKING PATHETIC it's not even worth listening to."

[CreativeMind]

Originally Posted by transjen

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

Unfortunately, that's one of the BIGGEST parts of the problem. Namely, trying to determine "when" it's appropriate for schools to get more involved, and when we should let kids learn or explore things more openly.

In general, most people believe that kids -- certainly young kids -- should be allowed to be kids and there's a sort of "child-like innocence" that should always be protected -- at least for a certain amount of time. In other words, we should let kids play in the sandbox and let them believe in Santa Clause, and we shouldn't be SO quick to ram sex down their throats and turn kids into adults. And that's where the problem REALLY starts since we (as a society) are still having MAJOR problems addressing this. Case in point...

A few months ago there was a news story you might remember. A woman was teaching a class that involved hooking her laptop up to a projector in the classroom. The only problem was, when she booted up her computer porn started to suddenly flash on the screen. Once she saw what was happening, the teacher instantly tried to shut it down -- but the fact that porn was shown got her into instant trouble. She was sued by some parents who felt that their kids had been exposed to sexually explicit material. On the flip side, some experts testified on her behalf in court. They basically noted that in examining the computer, she had actually gotten an internet virus a day or so before and simply didn't realize it. In other words, she thought the computer was fine, so she innocently booted it up in the class...and then suddenly -- BOOM -- the virus kicked in and porn screenshots took over. The defense team argued she wasn't to blame and it could have happened to anyone, though they likewise noted it was a cautionary tale for anyone who surfs the Net these days and what could happen to you (and your computer) if you're not careful.

When that story hit -- as is usually the case with "hot topics" of the moment -- there was a flurry of debate about schools and libraries and computers and the internet. For the most part, most communities and jurisdictions have decided that spam filters and porn blockers are legal on computers in schools. Courts have ruled that in order to safeguard children, filtering computers on school grounds does NOT violate First Amendment rights. Meanwhile, those same courts have ALSO ruled that such filters are ILLEGAL in public libraries, since an adult SHOULD have full access to the internet -- for example, someone who is poor and can't afford to have a computer at home, and thus they have no other choice BUT to use a computer at their local library. That person, as an adult, should NOT have his First Amendment rights to see whatever he wants infringed upon.

The reason I bring this up is because just the other day (and again you might have seen this on the news) is there was some controversy over a school that was blocking access to GBLT web sites because someone felt the sites were PORNOGRAPHIC and blocking them was warranted. Yet on the opposite side, Gay activist groups felt the sites were INFORMATIONAL and that by denying kids access to the sites, the school was infringing on their basic rights to explore their own sexual identity issues.

So now we've come full circle to the issue everyone fights tooth and nail over because it really IS a very telling personal stance: At what age do you think we should let kids in school be taught certain things? And assuming we can even agree on an age, then "what" are you willing to discuss in school?

Me, I remember taking sex education my freshmen or sophomore year in High School. And as I seem to recall, my parents did have to sign off on it. It wasn't an enforced class in the curriculum, which meant parents could still have a choice in the matter. But we had the class then...at the start of High School...because it made the most sense. High School was pretty much the time that your hormones rage, so it made the most sense to pull kids aside THEN and say "Hey you! Mister and Miss Hormone! Here are some things you'd both better know RIGHT NOW to be safe." And the way I see it, Sex Education didn't turn me into a sex crazed maniac -- instead it gave me answers and made me realize how easily teen pregnancy could happen and how easily STDs can be transmitted and all sorts of things I'm glad I found out about before it was too late. That was a case where education worked because it gave me answers to things I needed to know, and in the end it DID protect me.

But as I said, we still have a LONG ways to go since it often seems that we can't even agree to TALK about these things. When you take a topic for debate off the table COMPLETELY and say "Nope, I'm not even willing to discuss this, I'm not even willing to HEAR your ideas", then it's going to be one, long, uphill battle for change to truly take place.

[transjen]

One big problem is there are some people who think that being gay or transgendered is a choice so they think by saying they are freaks there kids will grow up normal, Well i hate to be the bearer of bad news i never woke up one moring and think gee prehaps i'll become a girl wouldn't that be cool to have a sex change. When i was about 5 or 6 i know something wasn't rite and i should be a girl not a boy it took me awhile before i found out about transsexuals and i was not alone but for the longest time i felt that way, I never chose to be transgendered it's just the way i am and believe me highscool was not a fond time for me perhaps if i went to a highscool like Newton perhaps things may have been better S.I.G. Jennifer