Yeah, still breathin'!

Yes, I know, it's been awhile.  Sorry.

The past 6 months have been fraught with stress, loss and all the depression that comes with the process of falling out of the middle class into poverty.  I still have no job and there are no real prospects for one.  After three years of unemployment my confidence is weak and works against me.  At this point, I assume I won't be hired because of my age/sex/gender.  Of course, at least two of those three characteristics are not supposed to be used to determine employability.  They're illegal but, of course, there's little one can do against discrimination like that.  It's almost never overt enough to provide evidence that would stand up in court.

This kind of economic disempowerment is one of the biggest issues that trans people face.  We need to fight and demand our rights on political, as well as social and humanitarian, grounds.  That fight takes resources but we are denied opportunities to earn them.  Catch 22 at its finest.

I've hesitated to ask people for support.  Most of the people I know and love are in similar financial straights yet, if I don't ask, I can't do much to promote the civil rights protections the trans community need.  The world won't change just because someone writes things in a blog on the internet.

So I've decided to add a PayPal "Donate" button to this blog.  I don't expect much, if anything.  I realize people are hurting in the financial department as much or more than I but even a couple of dollars will help.  Any donations I receive will go toward costs incurred in the pursuit of trans visibility, civil rights protections and community.

The first event that I need funds for - for gasoline and travel expenses, primarily - is a meeting of western New York trans groups in Rochester NY on April 28th.  I think it's vital that the southern part of western New York be represented there.  I would go as the primary facilitator of the Southern Tier Trans Network, the support group I formed for the area's trans community.  I would also act as a representative as the local PFLAG T-Net coordinator.

The need is for travel expense money so I can attend the ESPA Equality & Justice Day in Albany on May 8th.  I need gasoline to get to Buffalo and back so I can catch the bus to Albany.

Thank you.  Any support is gratefully appreciated.

I won't be going to Albany next week.

I won't be going to Albany next week.

The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) has decided to sponsor an "Equality and Justice Day" again this year (they didn't do one last year) on Monday, May 9th.  I've been to two of these events before and I won't be going this year.

I thought about going.  I even made plans to do it and made a commitment that I will be breaking, something I do not do lightly.  The unwillingness to go was present before I figured out the motivations behind it.  I was hemming and hawing about right up into the deadline for registration.

What sealed my decision was yet another email from ESPA about the upcoming event.  I'd received a number of these emails before and they were all very similar to what I've seen over the past few years:

MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality Gender MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality GENDA MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality GENDA MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality MarriageEquality etc.

Then, the last missive from ESPA had the following (paraphrased), ". . . marriage equality being a life and death issue for them."

That little piece of bullshit sealed my decision.  After nine years of waiting to get gender identity protections under the law that gave the same to cis GLB people in 2002, after all the misery and pain and the Deity knows how many deaths that NY trans people have suffered because they couldn't find a job, or were humiliated by being thrown out of a bathroom, or were made homeless by some intolerant landlord and complaining tenants, I heard the head of ESPA write that the convenience of being married in the state you reside is a matter of life and death???  Sorry, they can go do for themselves without my help.

I've become convinced that, in New York State at least, trans LGB and straight people will not get equal protections until in-state marriage convenience/equality is achieved.  Yeah, most of the cis people who are working for marriage equality will then go home.  Yes, most of the resources of the cis GLB political community will go on to other things.  But then, at the very least, the issue of civil rights protections for gender vairiant New Yorkers will have the space to be seen and heard without the looming, oxygen depleting issue of marriage rights muffling the voices and drowning out the cries of the afflicted.

I've always maintained that the best way to separate your true friends from those who really don't care a whole lot is to change your sex.  The passing of the marriage equality issue in NY will do the same.  The true friends and allies of the trans community will keep working, no matter how few in number they may be.  Of course, winning on this issue will be difficult.  It'll take more time.  More trans people, including myself, will suffer the consequences of being an unprotected but vulnerable minority.  The huge distraction, however, of false friends who pay lip service while pushing you to the back of the room - and all too often out the back door - will be gone.  The selfish political activists who work only for their own immediate gain in marriage equality, at the expense of others, will have gone home.  And then, only then, will the trans community and its true allies be able to be heard. 

In the meantime I'll visit my state representatives when they are in the local area and will write them legible handwritten letters about the vital importance of civil rights protections for gender identity.  As an afterthought, I might even mention how stupid it is to grant same sex couples full marriage equality when they get married in another state or country where it's legal but not allow the ceremony performed in-state to be legally recognized.  Hopefully then, when the marriage equality brass band has stopped blaring in their ears, they may actually start to listen, having hear some faint echos about the issues before!

I'm beginning to see double!

I read an article in the Gay City News about the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) becoming involved in the fight against those New York State senators who voted against civil marriage equality last year.  The first paragraph of the article tells us,

     Signaling clearly that it is “all-in” on the push for marriage equality in the Empire State, the Human Rights Campaign, the Washington-based LGBT lobby, has launched the Campaign for New York Marriage, promising to deliver what the group’s top spokesman, Fred Sainz, termed “an unparalleled commitment of resources.”

With the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) so closely resembling the HRC and it's Gay Elite Inc. focus on the monetary benefits of marriage for well to do gay and lesbian people it's no wonder that I'm seeing double.  HRC and "HRC-Lite" in the same state, working together on an issue that, while it's important, is geared primarily towards benefitting straight acting, well off gay and lesbian couples while simultaneously, and with unfortunate consistency, ignoring once again the gender variant gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight citizens of New York?  It's enough to make you nauseously dizzy!

I suppose the push towards electing politicians who support same sex marriage rights might benefit the trans community somewhat.  They might be a bit more likely to support nondiscrimination laws for gender nonconforming people.  That's a long shot though, as we have seen for far too long in this state.  It's much more likely that support for trans inclusion in the state's nondiscrimination law will be nowhere near the list of criteria they draw up for possible candidates to support.  ESPA and HRC have traditionally been too lazy to reach alll the way to the furthermost reaches where gender variant people have been pushed, substantially by Gay Elite Inc.'s doing.  The Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA) of 2002 has been called a gay hate crime against the trans community.  I may not go that far but, to tell you the truth, it sure feels like it sometimes.

Where was the HRC when ESPA was giving it's lip service to the trans community this past year and previous?  Where was Senator Duane when the Senate's Judicial committee was voting the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) into the trash bin?  When will it be "all in on the push" for ESPA and the HRC instead of a feeble nudge when they get around to it for GENDA?

I've written before in this blog that marriage equality affects the trans community as well as the GLB's.  My marriage is legal but because it looks like a same sex coupling I have to be prepared to out myself as trans, and to take the obvious risks by doing so, to defend it .  And do we need to be reminded of the egregious cases in Kansas and Texas where trans women were denied their existing marriage rights because of their past?  The fact remains, however, that being legally married in a legally recognized union is poor consolation when you can't get a job or are fired for transitioning.  The bigots that harass us in restaurants and who deny us a decent place to live because we are different would laugh in our faces if we waved our marriage certificates in front of their noses, no matter how legally valid they were.

I will, as I have done before, publicly support civil marriage equality in New York State and the rest of our country.  It's only right that I do so, transgender couples have a dog in this hunt as well as the GLB's.  I will continue, however, to remind Gay Elite Inc. of their promise made in 2002, to "come back" for the trans community all the while adding the less than welcome fact regarding their part of the responsibility for the broken lives, shattered families and economic failures within the New York trans community.

A much needed victory!

The New York State Senate approved the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) last night in a 58-3 vote.  Governor Paterson has already indicated that he will sign this bill into law.  it will take effect on July 1, 2012.  It's notable that this bill is the first in state history to include protections for gender identity.  The bill also includes “actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex.”

An amendment to add cyber bullying was defeated.  Republicans pushed for the amendment claiming it was more inclusive and makes the bill better.  “If we look at this honestly, we should support this amendment because it’s all-inclusive,” Sen. John DeFrancisco.  The law covers actions that happen on school property only.  Since there are a number of important related issues to cyber bullying that would not have been addressed by the bill as written, I think it's a good thing it wasn't added.  The issue is complex enough to require a separate bill. 

The three no votes all came from Republican party members: John DeFrancisco (District 50), George Maziarz (District 62) and Dale Volker (District 59).  My senator, Sen. Cathy Young, voted yes which gives me hope that she will give GENDA a fair shake when it comes back to the Senate (someday).  The amazing thing is that Ruben Diaz, the perennial Senate homo/transphobe, voted yes.  I suspect he saw the bill would be passed anyway and didn't want to be on the losing side, especially in an election year.  The bill was passed in the state Assembly 9 times already and this is the first year the Senate has acted on it, having been blocked from coming to the floor until now.  “Shameful,” Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell, a Manhattan Democrat who shepherded the bill through his chamber, texted from the Senate balcony. “For nine years we passed this bill and the Republicans did nothing.”

It IS shameful that it took this long to get such an important bill passed.  It's equally shameful that the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) is still in the Senate's dead zone, after being killed in the Judicial committee two weeks ago.  Will we have to wait 6 more years for that to pass?  I certainly hope not.

The view from the back burner

I was looking through the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) website this morning and was struck by the general dearth of coverage there of the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) and the fight to make it law.  I noted the paucity of coverage and was considering a blog post about it when I saw that Kat Rose, on the ENDAblog, noticed the same thing and beat me to it.

What she showed is more proof, as if it were really needed, that GENDA always was, and apparently always will be, so far on the back on the rearmost ESPA burner that the danger of its being pushed off the back of the stove is as real as the danger of my being unemployed for the next decade or so - until I hit retirement age, if I survive that long -  since my civil rights protections still haven't been passed into law.

 To give credit where it’s due, ESPA has done work for GENDA and the trans community in New York. They sponsored many trans people, including me, for their Equality and Justice lobbying days in Albany and have at least one trans person, a trans man, on their payroll to be the point person for organizing around this issue. The problem I have relates not to the work they’ve already done, work that I’m grateful for, but how their priorities stack up and, as the ENDAblog post shows, their priorities simply do not place much importance on the gender variant gay, lesbian, straight and bisexual trans people in New York.

I figure ESPA to be in the same mold as the HRC, run primarily by and for the well to do white gay men of the state who will always make certain their priorities are given the greatest attention, “collateral damage” be damned. They haven’t figured out yet that pushing employment and housing protections for gender variant people would ultimately give them greater resources to fight for their issues, which so many trans people support but cannot contribute to because they are too wrapped up in scratching out their own survival in a state that still considers them third class citizens.

I’m going to look at more trans centered organizations, probably NYAGRA (the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy), to push more aggressively in the face of ESPA failures in this regard. I’ve lost hope that ESPA can ever get the job done.

A baby step, perhaps

Senator Stachowski's office still couldn't confirm his commitment last Friday when I called. GENDA has moved from the Investigations and Government Operations committee to the Judiciary Committee so I guess that can be counted as progress, although I'd quantify it as a baby step. The following is the test of the letter I wrote to my state senator:

May 28, 2010

Senator Catherine Young

Room 513

Legislative Office Building

Albany, New York 12247

Dear Sen. Young,

I’d like to thank you for sending me a letter last March 25 replying to my telephone call regarding the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA, S2406). Since action on this bill is becoming more imminent, I’d like to address the point you raised about this bill.

Your letter stated, “Senate Bill 2406 would open all public accommodations, including restrooms, high school locker rooms, health clubs, dorm rooms and other single sex residential facilities like homeless and family violence shelters to both biological genders dependent upon how a person chooses to self identify.” I‘m troubled with how you singled out public accommodations, particularly those that are separated by sex. First of all, the bill is also about preventing unfair and harmful employment and housing discrimination. I guess I should be encouraged that you have no issue with two thirds of the bill’s scope, however, your point makes little sense when I consider that transgender people already use public restrooms and other facilities based on their gender identity and expression. Indeed, there’s nothing in the law now that prevents them from doing so. In addition, the bill’s language does not prevent the formulation of reasonable regulations and processes designed to minimize disruption and maximize the dignified and respectful treatment of all people in other areas where our culture separates us by sex. Finally, I’d like to remind you of the 13 states and over 100 counties, cities and towns (including Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and New York City) that have similar laws. The first one was passed in 1976, in Minneapolis, 34 years ago! The predicted negative consequences, such as the ridiculous assertion that predators will use such laws to get away with gaining entry to women only spaces and commit crimes, have never been shown to happen. The presence or absence of a nondiscrimination law does nothing to prevent or encourage criminal activity nor does the presence of such a law excuse it.

With the latest news showing that Senator Stachowski has pledged to vote yes on this bill I’d like you to publicly pledge a yes vote as well. I would like you to affirm the American ideal that discriminating against someone because of who they are and what they look like, rather than what they do and how they do it, violates their civil rights. I would like you to pledge a yes vote for all of the gender variant people who live in your district. You might be surprised how many of us there are, because we can still be legally discriminated against in New York we tend to hide in order to avoid the harm that discrimination can wreak on our lives.

My personal experience has been impacted by the absence of this non discrimination law. I have been unemployed for almost a year and a half now, and have been refused a chance for a position with a former local employer that I was very qualified for because of my gender identity and the steps I have taken to accommodate it in the past. The absence of this law causes real harm to real people. Please do what you can to repair this problem. Publicly pledge and vote YES on S2406.

Sincerely,

Unfortunately, I doubt this'll work but I can't not try.

Let's get it moving!

With ENDA getting closer and closer to death's door, these statewide nondiscrimination laws become all that much more important. H1728 in Massachusetts, GENDA in New York, the trans inclusive bills in Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Nevada, Maryland and Delaware ALL need to be fought for. They need to be fought for BEFORE marriage equality (in the states where is isn't the law already) so that TBLG people can be assured of a fair chance at employment because they need it for survival's sake and because an employed person has more economic power to support the fight for equal protections and equal treatment for all of the other issues that affect their community.

I've been unemployed now for 17 months. At least one job opportunity has been denied me because of who I am, never mind that I was extremely well qualified for the job. I'm sure other opportunities have been lost because of discrimination as well - I've sent out hundreds of applications - but this is one that I am certain was denied me because of trans/homophobia and misogyny. This harmful discrimination is legal in New York State, Massachusetts and in 36 other states in a country whose ideal is supposed to be equal protections for all people, not just the "right" people.

The cowardly politicians will never move on these laws as long as they hear more from the radical (ie fascist) "religious" right wing than they hear from the GLTB and allied communities. We have to drown out the hateful propaganda from groups like the "Traditional Values Coalition," "Focus on the Family," "MassResistence" or the "New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms" and the only way to do that is to get off your inertia, pick up the phone or a pen and call/write/visit your legislative representatives to tell them how important these bills are and how egregiously wrong their opponents are. Most people support equality when the whole truth is given to them but they won't get it if we stay silent.

Speak out for your community!

Speak out for your GLBT friends and family!

Speak out for yourself!

Bathroom paranoia coming to New York

A recent article by Charlie Butts, at the inadequately named "OneNewsNow" (it should be named "OneSidedNewsNow") tells us that the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) which has been languishing in a New York State Senate committee, will "soon" be coming up for consideration. I wonder how he knows this, perhaps he has sources unavailable to me, but what I was told is that GENDA wouldn't be considered until after the budget mess was cleaned up. Since the state budget is now more than 40 days overdue, with no progress in evidence, I'd imagine he might be exaggerating just a bit. On the other hand, if one uses the logic that the more overdue something becomes, the more likely it will be settled soon, he may have something.

Of course, being a "religious" right wing pundit, Mr. Butts immediately launched into the favored tactic of fear mongering based on imagined horrors that "could" happen in public restrooms. Like his compatriots in Massachusetts, he called GENDA a "Bathroom Bill" and like his compatriots everywhere, he is making things up to scare people.

Mr Butts mentions Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (whom we can thank for the lovely graphic about GENDA), who maintains that, "It (GENDA) would open all public accommodations, including restrooms and high school locker rooms, to both biological genders if an individual chooses to identify his or herself as the opposite sex. So, your [readers] should think of things like cross-dressers, transvestites or even potential child molesters who are just looking to get access to those facilities."

This would be funny if it weren't so harmfully idiotic. How are people kept out of inappropriate restrooms now? Of course neither Mr McGuire or Mr Butts address this question because it would illuminate the intellectual bankruptcy of their position. Never mind, they seem to ask us, that public restrooms are already open to anyone who wishes to walk into one, no matter which gender they are presenting as. Never mind, they insist, that inappropriate behavior anywhere, especially in public restrooms, is against the law and will remain so after GENDA is passed. Pay no attention, they apparently demand, that similar laws exist in 13 states, Washington DC and over 100 counties, cities and towns - including New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo - with NONE of the doomsday scenarios they are broadly hinting at in evidence at all.

In my previous blog post I noted that this tactic has failed more than once. Yet the supporters of harmful discrimination still use it. I guess the reason they keep resurrecting this failed strategy is that they have nothing else to replace it with, which is indicative of the vacuous nature of their argument.

They got nuthin' and they knows it!

GENDA has passed twice in the State Assembly already. Not one of the assembly members who voted yes on this bill has paid any political price that I know of. This kind of nondiscrimination law has scored majority support in more than one poll of New York's citizens. If the state's legislature can finally get their shit together and pass a budget and if the "HRC-Jr" Empire State Pride Agenda can shut up about marriage equality for a few weeks, this bill can and should be made law.

A Win!

At 1:45am today, the Missoula, Montana city council voted 10-2 to approve the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to their existing nondiscrimination law. Good for them! I think I may just send them a couple dozen cookies as a token of gratitude!

This victory for equal protections - despite the tired worn out fear mongering the opposition inflicted upon the citizens of Missoula - is another sign that fairness and equality are gaining ground in the US of A, albeit too slowly for my taste. I also noted two other observations regarding this victory.

The first is that the old "male predators in bathrooms" tactic that the far right asshats like to use when gender identity is included in any kind of legislation has stopped working as consistently as they would like. This is the third time now that this tactic was used, previously the fight in Gainesville, FL and Kalamazoo, MI included the same lies, and all three times it's made no difference in the outcomes. I'm sure it's way too early to sound the well deserved death knell for this scurrilous tactic but I am cheered by the thought that the opponents of equal protections under the law will have to think twice before using it again.

The second observation notes that the three instances in which nondiscrimination bills passed despite the "men in ladies bathrooms" fiction all included BOTH sexual orientation and gender identity. Protections for gender variant people weren't dropped for expediency's sake, with the empty promise incremental progress made to gender variant people. I also note that trans people, in too many places that have sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination laws but do not include gender identity, are still waiting. States like Wisconsin, and New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire are egregious examples of this. In Wisconsin, gender variant people have been waiting in vain for the GLB organizations to help them win equality since 1982!

We all need to remember these facts in the fight for the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) that will soon be coming up in Congress. We need to remember that this bill covers both sexual orientation AND gender identity. We need to remember that inclusive bills CAN be passed and we need to remember that dropping trans protections means denying trans people vital job protections for a very long time. Above all, we need to remember that fighting the "bathroom predators" meme works! Presenting the truth in the face of the advocates of discrimination and harm works! They can be beaten if we do the work.

Dallas Area Regional Transit throws woman under the bus

One of the most trying, and frightening aspects of transition for me was having my name changed and then personally having to go to all the organizations, stores, banks, etc. that have records of me, to make the changes in their databases. New York State requires that a legal name change be published in an official legal notice that contains the person's old name, current address and new name before it's finalized. Coming home from work the day mine was published, I half expected to see a mob with torches and pitchforks at my door. Fortunately, no one noticed. Makes me wonder why they call them "legal notices."

A woman in Dallas, an employee of the Dallas Area Regional Transit (DART) system went through a similar process in her state, for a gender marker change instead of a name change, but for her the process didn't turn out as well. Actually, not very well at all. When she went to her employer with the court order asking them to change their records, instead of acquiescing, they went back to court and started the preliminary steps in order to sue, prompting the judge who originally gave the order to rescind it! Just think about this for a minute. Say you had a change done in your life, maybe you got married. Say you went to your employer and asked them to change your last name to your spouse's and update the records to indicate you were married and, instead of complying with your request, your employer went to court which promptly nullified your marriage. How would you feel about that?

This woman had her genital realignment surgery three years earlier. She made compromises with previous transphobic policies that her employer instituted against her. She followed medically established, international, standards of care, willingly went through the legal and common practice for changing her records yet her employer decided she was not qualified to determine how she would be known to the world. And the judge who gave the order rescinded it because of pressure from DART attorneys who used the fact that their nondiscrimination rules prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation but didn't include gender identity.

This is an example of how cissexual (opposite of transsexual) society negates and oppresses those who are born with the condition known as Gender Identity Disorder. The state told this woman, "I don't care who you say you are. You will be what WE tell you to be!" It also shows the egregious harm that can still happen to gender variant people when, as is the case in New York State, sexual orientation is covered in nondiscrimination rules and laws but gender identity isn't.

It's also a perfect example of why this country need to pass the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) that is currently in Congress waiting for action. After eight years of waiting, New York is no closer to providing civil rights protections for its gender variant citizens and we surely don;t have to be told that this kind of law won't be passed in Texas anytime soon. ENDA needs to be passed and signed by the president. Sexual orientation and gender identity also need to be specifically added to the groups protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. To do any less is to passively approve what happened to that woman in Dallas and what happens all over the country against people because of who they love and who they are.

Lebkuchen á lá Emelye

Here's a recipe that I developed after researching a number of German Lebkuchen recipes. While this is more like a little cake rather than a crispy cookie, it's flavor is delicate and subtle and meant more for an adult palate, especially if real rum is used in the glaze. Enjoy!


Lebkuchen á lá Emelye

• 150 g sugar (300 g if not using Splenda)
• 30 g Splenda (abt 3/4 cup)
  
• 1 Tbsn unsulphered Molasses
• 1 Tbsn Vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbspn Rum or equivalent amount of rum extract
• ½ tspn ground clove
• ½ tspn ground cinnamon
• ½ tspn ground ginger
• ½ tspn lemon zest
• Pinch of Cardamon
• 60 g candied lemon peel (chopped small, abt 3mm (1/8") chunks)
• 60 g candied orange peel (chopped small, abt 3mm (1/8") chunks)
• 275 g finely ground almonds
• 220 g flour
• 1½ tspn double acting baking powder

* Cream the eggs, sugar, molasses and vanilla until slightly frothy. Add the spices, zest and rum.
* Stir in the candied peel and ground almonds.
* Gradually sift in the baking powder and flour, mixing until the batter is thick and stiff. Allow the batter to rest ½ hour.
* Using two spoons drop mounds of dough about 2 inches (5 cm) to 3 inches (7½ cm) across onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
* Garnish with almonds, halved or slivered (doesn’t matter), if desired, and bake in a 350ºF (180ºC) oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until brown at the edges. (Keep an eye on the first batch, all ovens are different!)

* Frost the cookies with a thin frosting made from powdered sugar and milk flavored with almond extract, lemon juice or rum.

NOTES:

> Makes about 2 ½ to 3 dozen depending on how big ya make ‘em.
> Very sticky batter
> They don’t spread much in the oven, rather, they rise into a dome shape
> 8 cookies per sheet works well

Oh, by the way, our esteemed Governor Paterson has announced today that he will sign an order making discrimination on the basis of gender identity/expression illegal when it is perpetrated against state executive's employees. After hijacking the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) last April, in favor of same sex marriage legislation, Gov. Paterson has throw the gender variant community some crumbs. Big Deal! This order affects a microscopic portion of the state's trans citizens and for yours truly this is way too little and way too late as well as completely irrelevant.

Thanks again for nothing, Governor! When will the gender variant community in New York State get a REAL advocate in state government?

Marrige equality fails in New York

The vote was 24 to 38.

In a published statement, Senator Thomas Duane said,

“Today’s vote against Marriage Equality makes me very angry. Promises made were not honored. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, and all fair minded New Yorkers have been betrayed. I am enraged, deeply disappointed and profoundly saddened by the vote today."

I know how he feels. (I've noted that in blog comments here and there and have been accused of holding "sour grapes" in order to trivialize my rage, disappointment and sadness.) The gender variant community in New York State have been feeling that way since before 2002 when the GLB politicos decided to throw us under the bus to pass non discrimination law that covers sexual orientation while excluding gender identity and expression. Broken promises are all we've seen since then. This year is no exception.

In his speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Duane said,

"People have said to me 'now is not the time'. There's always time to be on the right side of history."

But never the right time to truly fight for the gender variant people in New York State, Sen. Duane? Why didn't GENDA (Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act) get onto the extraordinary session agendas? Why didn't you raise hell about that? Why didn't your allies in the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) say anything either?

After June, GENDA disappeared in favor of the marriage equality law in the communiques from the ESPA, the governor and from the state legislature. Somehow, the "coup" attempt by the Republicans in the senate was turned back. Was GENDA sacrificed in a deal in order to get the marriage debate and vote? Such treachery won't be admitted by anyone. We'll never know for sure but it sure looks that way.

The state legislature has gone home until the new session starts next year. It's doubtful Gov. Paterson will call any more extraordinary sessions. I guess it wasn't time yet to "come back" for the trans community. It seems it's never time if the GLB politicos can gain an advantage for themselves by sacrificing gender variant people in New York. The GLB community have had protections for seven years already. Your civil rights are protected, Mr Duane. Mine aren't. And it's apparent you think that's perfectly alright.

No, dammit! I will NOT call my senator about same sex marriage!!

Well, here it is nearing the end October and I haven't visited with you in months! It has been a relatively uneventful summer so there was little to get me going enough to write about. The leaves are now falling and the days have been cool and generally wet. Winter is just around the corner.

One thing that kept me busy was my involvement with the Rainbow Pride Connection LGTB Conference at Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, New York. The conference was quite a success, with almost 100 people attending (140 people attended the lovely concert given by the Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus), and plans are underway to have another conference next October 2nd.


I received an email a week ago from the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) asking me to contact my state senator to ask her to support same sex marriage equality. Pretty much all New Yorkers are aware of the idiotic stalemate that was induced by a Republican power grab last June in the New York State Senate. What they may not be aware of is that the stalemate prevented the upcoming vote on the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) as well as the vote on marriage equality for same sex couples. Since that time the governor, David Paterson, has called a few special sessions of the Senate in order to take care of urgent business that was neglected. What has been conspicuously missing from these sessions has been any talk about these two important civil rights measures.

What has been conspicuously missing from ESPA's public statements is GENDA. All I hear, again, are requests to lobby for same sex marriage rights. The governor himself has mentioned them yet GENDA is nowhere to be seen! What the hell is going on? It seems a repeat of the 2002 Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA) is happening once again. Transgender people are being ignored, being thrown off the bus once again! Does anyone think the GLB community will devote the resources that are needed to pass GENDA after they get marriage equality along with their 7 year old inclusion in New York's nondiscrimination and hate crimes law? Look what happened in Massachusetts. It's been 5 long years since the GLB community received marriage equality there yet the transgender population is still without basic protections. They currently have legislation pending in their legislature to remedy this but I haven't heard anything about it in months. Obviously, it isn't the priority that marriage equality was.

The New York State transgender community was told to wait their turn, to wait until the GLB community came back for them. Here we are seven years later, still waiting and watching while so many political resources are drained on an issue which, while it's certainly important, does nothing to enhance the quality and even survivability of life for the transgender community. This cannot continue. I will call my state senator (Cathy Young) again, even though she has come out publicly against same sex marriage rights, and I will ask her to support GENDA and if there is enough time, to support marriage equality. I cannot wait any longer for basic civil rights protections. WE NEED GENDA FIRST!

I sent the following email to Governor Patterson via his website. I urge all of you to join me in this effort:

Dear Gov. Paterson,

I am appalled by your recent promotion of same sex marriage rights while transgender individuals such as myself still lack the basic civil rights protections we so desperately need and which would be awarded by the passage of the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act.

We need you to point out that being married to your same sex sweetheart is of little use if you can still be legally thrown out of your apartment, fired from your job and denied services in the public sphere because you don't fit within someone else's idea of what gender you ought to be or look like. While same sex marriage equality is important, non discrimination law that includes gender identity and expression is vital. It's a matter of survival for a great many New Yorkers.

Please use your position to promote GENDA first. Once that's done, marriage equality will be just as easy as it is now to pass. If marriage equality comes first, I fear transgender New Yorkers will NEVER see the protection they so desperately need.

Thank you,

Jamestown, New York