Video: HUD Secretary Speaks to Transgender Rights Group

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan on Tuesday, Nov. 15, became the first sitting cabinet member to attend a transgender-specific event when he delivered the keynote address at the National Center for Transgender Equality's annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Donovan highlighted HUD's work to ensure equal treatment of trans people in federally-funded housing and mortgage programs in his speech at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. He also pointed out the Office of Personnel Management's ban on discrimination against trans federal employees, the addition of gender identity and expression to the federal hate crimes law and the directive that trans veterans receive equal access to health care as among the Obama administration's trans-specific accomplishments.



NCTE also honored Pride at Work Co-Chair Donna Cartwright and Brian Bond, former deputy director of the White House Office of the Public Liaison.

Man Charged in Murder of Camila Guzman

DNAinfo.com reported late on Wednesday, Aug. 17, that police have arrested a Brooklyn man in connection with a transgender woman’s murder inside her East Harlem apartment earlier this month.

Equan Southall, 25, allegedly stabbed Camila Guzman on Aug. 1. DNAinfo.com reported that Southall and Guzman, who emigrated from Chile in 2001, had been dating for four months. The National Coalition of Domestic Violence Programs most recent report indicated a 15 percent increase in domestic violence incidents in LGBT relations in 2009—and a 50 percent increase in domestic violence-related homicides from 2007 to 2009.

“As a community we must openly and honestly discuss this problem and create an environment where victims of domestic violence can access the support they need to be safe,” said Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

David Paterson accepts award from transgender rights group

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund honored former New York Gov. David Paterson at its Sixth Anniversary Benefit at the Chelsea Art Museum in Manhattan on Monday, May 23.

Here is a video of Paterson's acceptance speech in its entirety.

Paterson bans discrimination against transgender New York state employees

Governor David Paterson received a standing ovation at the LGBT Community Center in lower Manhattan earlier today as he signed an executive order to ban discrimination against transgender state employees.

"For far too long... the transgender community has had to wait for the same equality others enjoy based on employment," he said. "That ends today."



Governor David Paterson signs the executive order.

Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle and Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund were among those who joined state Sen. Tom Duane, state Assemblymembers Deborah Glick, Dick Gottfried, Danny O'Donnell and other elected officials on stage as Paterson signed the directive.

"Transgender people, like all New Yorkers, need stability, and it starts in the workplace," Melissa Sklarz, director of the New York Transgender Rights Organization, said.

Paterson's executive order makes New York the seventh state to specifically ban discrimination against trans public employees. His mandate also came as an arguably much needed shot in the arm for activists who continue to lobby state lawmakers to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, marriage for same-sex coupes and the Dignity in All Schools Act.

"Today is a good first step," Van Capelle said. "It is not the end of our fight."



From right; Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and Pauline Park of the New York Association for Gender Rights and Advocacy stand alongside Gov. David Paterson.



State Sen. Tom Duane applauds Gov. David Paterson.



Melissa Sklarz of the New York Transgender Rights Organization.

Paterson to ban discrimination against transgender New York State employees

Boy in Bushwick has learned Gov. David Paterson will sign an executive order tomorrow that will ban discrimination against transgender state employees.

The governor is scheduled to sign the order tomorrow morning at the LGBT Community Center in lower Manhattan. Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, praised the move.

"This executive order will ensure that hard-working transgender employees of New York State can work without fear of discrimination, and provide for themselves and their families," he said. “We applaud [Gov.] Paterson for taking this important step for transgender equal rights.”

Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania currently ban discrimination against their public employees based gender identity and expression. The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act remains stalled in Congress, but Dru Levasseur of Lambda Legal told the New York Times he feels the state will once again be at the forefront of what he described as states "that are taking the lead on workplace fairness."

Puerto Rican activist maintains murdered teenager identified as gay

As Jorge Steven López Mercado's family continues to mourn the teenager's death, activist Pedro Julio Serrano continues to insist the 19-year-old identified himself as a gay man.

"He was very comfortable in his own skin, he loved to cross gender boundaries and he was accepted as such by his friends, his partner and his own parents," Serrano, who remains in Puerto Rico and continues to counsel López's family, wrote on a blog he posted on Nov. 27. "His mom, Myriam Mercado, knowing that his son used hair extensions as part of his look, even told the press in Puerto Rico, "Behind that wig and those boots, there was a human being, a very much loved son, a brother and a friend."

Serrano further alluded to activists, bloggers and others who suggested Juan A. Martínez Matos murdered López and subsequently decapitated, dismembered and partially burned his body near Cayey earlier this month in an act of anti-transgender violence.

"I understand the politics behind identifying a hate crime victim as trans when part of his or her expression does not conform to his or her sex, but sometimes we must bend the rules to accommodate the cultural and societal differences," he wrote. "I would like to ask for respect of our cultural and societal differences from our friends in the U.S. In our Puerto Rican culture, people who are gender nonconforming, gender variant or gender queer are not considered trans. We only consider as transgender or transsexual, people who identify as such. And we respect that."

Puerto Rican law enforcement officials announced last week they would investigate López's murder as a hate crime, but Serrano once again stressed acceptance and unity among LGBTs during an impromptu late night speech at Krash in Santurce over the weekend in which he criticizes the crowd for anti-trans comments some made in the wake of López's gruesome death.



"Let's respect everyone, let's open spaces for everyone and let's achieve a Puerto Rico for all," he said.

LaTeisha Green's mother speaks at Brooklyn forum

Roxanne Green spoke emotionally, passionately and even angrily as she talked about her murdered daughter LaTeisha at a forum at the Brooklyn Law School on Oct. 7.

“You would have liked LaTeisha—she was very outgoing,” she said. “She was like the energizer bunny.”

An Onondaga County jury convicted Dwight DeLee in July of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon after prosecutors accused him of shooting Green and her brother Mark Cannon last November as they and a friend sat in a car outside a Syracuse house party. Initial media reports indicated DeLee targeted Green because he thought she was gay. She was actually transgender.

New York State does not include gender identity and expression in its hate crime statutes, but prosecutors constructed what Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, described as a “narrative Teish was gay or lesbian to achieve a conviction.” A judge sentenced DeLee in August to 25 years in prison, but Roxanne Green said she feels the sentence was too lenient.

"He shouldn't see another day on the street," she said.

Cannon added he decided to participate in the panel because he did not “want to see another family go through what our family has gone through.”

“We lost someone very important to us,” Cannon said.

LaTeisha Green’s death was among a series of anti-LGBT violence and bias crimes that have taken place across New York State over the last year. Keith Phoenix and Hakim Scott allegedly beat Ecuadorian immigrant José Sucuzhañay to death on a Bushwick street corner last December because he thought he was gay—he and his brother Romel were arm-and-arm as they walked home from a nearby bar. Trinidad Tapia and Gilberto Ortiz allegedly severely beat Leslie Mora with a belt buckle as she walked home from a Jackson Heights nightclub in June. And a group of assailants attacked Carmella Etienne with rocks and empty beer bottles as she walked home from a store in St. Albans on July 8.

“I was pretty much scared for my life,” Etienne recalled as she described how nobody came to her assistance while the men attacked her. “I felt like nobody cared. It happened in my neighborhood.”

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported earlier this year violence against LGBT people has increased 24 percent since 2007. The NCAVP further reported 29 known bias-related murders in 2008; the highest rate since 1999.

Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, attempted to link how she and her organization feel race, immigration status and other socio-economic factors can motivate anti-LGBT violence and bias crimes in her response to Sucuzhañay’s death.

“We at the Anti-Violence Project know too well that many people continue to be victims of violence because of their identity—whether that violence is a result of hatred of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation,” she said in a Dec. 8, 2008, statement.

Andy Marra, a senior media strategist for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who worked with Silverman and LaTeisha Green’s family after her murder and during DeLee’s trial, pointed out what she described as additional challenges she and others who worked on LaTeisha Green’s case encountered. These include how law enforcement respond to anti-LGBT hate crimes and other bias attacks and how the media covered the murder.

“Media is not talking about what it means to be transgender—or gender variant,” Marra said.

More than 30 editors, reporters and other media professionals from the Syracuse area attended a training in April on how to cover LaTeisha Green, her death and DeLee’s then-pending trial. Marra stressed the importance of what she feels is the need to use gender-appropriate pronouns, chosen names and overall sensitivity.

“Its conversations like that I have on a daily basis,” she said. “It’s a learning process for them.”

Silverman further stressed a more general problem he encounters is a reluctance among many police departments and prosecutors to adequately pursue anti-trans hate crimes and bias-motivated attacks.

“Too many of these cases don’t get the attention like LaTeisha’s case did because of a lack of response,” he said. “Sometimes it’s us banging pots and pans and saying to make this a top priority.”

Silverman and Cannon both applauded the Onondaga County District. The Empire State Pride Agenda, TLDEF and other LGBT advocacy organizations have repeatedly used LaTeisha Green’s murder to call for the inclusion of gender identity and expression to both New York and federal anti-hate crime and discrimination laws. Roxanne Green stressed, however, her and her family’s pain continues to run very deep.

“I don’t know if it will get any easier,” she said.

New York Assembly passes transgender rights bill

The New York State Assembly passed a bill earlier today that would ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

First introduced in 2003, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit discrimination against transgender New Yorkers in public accommodations, employment, housing and other areas. GENDA passed the Assembly last June by a vote of 108 to 34, but Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle was quick to praise today's vote.

"Transgender New Yorkers shouldn’t have to live in fear that they will lose their job, get kicked out of their apartment or be denied service in a restaurant just because of who they are," he said. "The Assembly continues to demonstrate its recognition of these important protections and its place as a leader on civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender New Yorkers and their families."

New York is among the growing number of states in which lawmakers continue to debate trans-specific legislation. The New Hampshire House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill earlier this month that would add gender identity and expression to the state's non-discrimination statutes. And Massachusetts and Rhode Island legislators have also debated similar bills in recent weeks.

GENDA now goes before the Democrat-controlled state Senate. Governor David Paterson has said he would sign the bill into law.

Author reads new book on trans kids on Lower East Side

Transgender and gender variant youth continue to gain more visibility in the media as a result of the high profile murder of Lawrence King inside his Oxnard, Calif., middle school and other crimes that have taken place across the country. This trend is not to say there are those who have a more positive experience or transition, but these young people continue to face innumerable problems as my article in EDGE New York about author Stephanie Brill's book "The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals" details.

There remains an extremely significant amount of ignorance and misunderstanding surrounding the transgender and gender variant experience. Brill told me one of the main reasons she and her colleague, Rachel Pepper, decided to write the book is because of the apparent lack of information available to parents and other family members of these children. She further stressed society needs to make some fundamental changes to accept these children as who they are. "The Transgender Child" certainly provides an opportunity to begin the process to achieve these goals.



With transgender and gender variant children gaining more visibility through the national media, Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper decided the time was right to detail the struggles with which these young people and their families struggle.

"The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals" examines a variety of topics that include how to identify a trans child, parental acceptance, response from teachers and classmates, medical and even legal issues. Brill held a reading at Bluestocking Books on the Lower East Side on Sunday, Aug. 3, in addition to singings and other events across the city to promote the book. She told EDGE in a recent telephone interview her work with trans and gender varient children through Gender Spectrum and other organizations motivated her to write "The Transgender Child."

"Through that work, I realized parents were struggling in isolation without access to information to help their children," Brill said.

She further described "The Transgender Child" as the first-of-its-kind book to offer resources and other information for the thousands of families she said are raising trans or gender-variant children. Cleis Press released it on June 1, but Brill reaffirmed her belief the increased publicity surrounding these issues only solidified her desire to write about them.

"It’s a great combination," she said.

Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks are among those who have either profiled trans or gender variant youth or examined the variety of issues they face on their programs over the past year. Brill contends Lawrence King’s murder inside an Oxnard, Calif., middle school in February and other cases, such as the death of Angie Zapata inside her Greeley, Colo., apartment on July 17, highlight the need for "greater cultural understanding" of trans or gender variant youth.

"We [societal] need to make some fundamental changes in allowing all members of society to be safe in who they are," Brill said.

Brill further stressed the perspective she brings into the book comes from love and acceptance-or a love-based philosophy.

"I really want everybody to be accepted for who they are and not have to hide or be afraid of being a target or being a target just because of who they are," she said. "We are a nation devoted to individuality and personal expression on many levels, and this is another level that needs to be accepted for children. This is just part of the normal expression of humanity."

Log onto www.genderspectrum.org/index for more information.

Buck Angel, a man with a pussy: LGB without the T

The debate over whether transgender people are actually included within the LGBT acronym the leaders of the movement for [gay and lesbian] rights have created certainly shows no signs of abating anytime soon. And the fact that more than a few gay men remain uncomfortable with transgender or gender variant people remains a reality within the movement.

My first ever Village Voice story, which appears in this year's Pride issue, examines what arguably remains a difficult topic about which to talk. Working for one of the country's largest LGBT advocacy organizations for a year and a half certainly provided some valuable insight for this story. And the article simply discusses a reality about which many people within remain arguably uncomfortable to talk.


As the undisputed king of transgender porn, Buck Angel thrives on his ability to deconstruct traditional notions of masculinity. He unabashedly promotes himself as a man with a pussy. Headlining the 2006 Black Party was a career high: "It was super-awesome—the audience was amazing," Angel says. "Everything was really positive."

That was, however, far from the universal view among the thousands of hyper-masculine attendees. The Black Party—the mega dance-and-flesh fest held every March at Roseland—reflects the hyper-masculine ideal that dominates gayborhoods like Hell's Kitchen, South Beach, and the Castro. Joe Jervis, live-blogging during the party, summed up the sentiments of many attendees: "Men who have been fucked, fisted, shackled, flogged, and pissed upon have finally crossed a lurid and yet rarely discussed carnal threshold. They have seen, in person, a pussy."

Angel himself concedes that his unconventional plumbing causes discomfort among gay men: "I don't conform to what you tell me I should do," he says. "The world is not black and white. Sexuality is not black and white. Gender is not black and white. And I'm putting that out there in your face."

Angel's performance at the Black Party was a direct challenge to the men who have pretty much run the gay-rights movement for decades. The transgendered—which encompasses anyone whose gender identity and expression doesn't fit into traditional masculine or feminine roles—may have helped instigate the 1969 police riots at the Stonewall Inn. But since then, the movement has endured an ongoing struggle to find its place at the table, even as it continues to become more institutionalized and more an accepted part of mainstream America.

Transpeople present a threat to the conformity of today's gay leaders. The faces of contemporary gay activism are the well-scrubbed visages of Ellen DeGeneres and gal pal (and soon wife) Portia de Rossi; Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter; and such folks as Nathan Lane, Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, and TV judge David Young. The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation—two of the largest and most powerful national gay-rights groups in the country—put forward these trained spokespeople to mouth carefully crafted messages and talking points that effectively market their brand of lesbian and gay identity to a largely straight audience.

Despite some notable setbacks, this strategy has largely worked in creating what Suzanna Walters, chair of the Department of Gender Studies at Indiana University, calls "a model of tolerance and acceptance that perpetuates the message: 'We're here, we're queer, but we're no different than you.' That makes these mainstream organizations nervous about their hard-fought gains."

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, a Washington-based lobby, believes this situation has created tension between the transgendered on the one side, and gay men and lesbians on the other: "It becomes easy then to blame some other associated group for attracting the hate and disrespect," she says. "So passable non-trans gay people suspect transpeople—or even non-passable gay people—of being the problem."

Race is another factor. Kai Wright, author of Drifting Towards Love: Black, Brown, Gay and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York, believes that discomfort toward transgender or gender-variant people (sissies and butches) remains particularly entrenched among gay men of color.

"We're more sensitive to it, because the amount of gender policing we do among each other—casually and socially—is striking: Are you man enough, women enough, the right kind of woman?" Wright says. "As individuals, we struggle with gender nonconformity, because it is something that has been thrown at us so much."

This discomfort can be far-reaching. After last year's Gay Pride March, a male bouncer followed Khadijah Farmer, a 27-year-old black lesbian, into the women's restroom of Caliente Cab Company and demanded that she leave because her appearance was too masculine. Farmer received a $35,000 settlement that mandated the implementation of transgender sensitivity training for the popular restaurant's staff.

Michael Silverman, executive director of the New York–based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, based Farmer's lawsuit on the city-wide anti-gender identity-discrimination law. The bouncer violated city regulations when he targeted Farmer because of what her lawyer described as "unconventional gender expression"—treatment hardly unique to Farmer. "Gender issues are still quite scary and uncomfortable for a lot of people," Silverman says. "It's sort of an us-versus-them, black-and-white, sun-and-moon scenario." But, he adds, "we aren't night and day, or black and white—we're all affected by these questions about gender-based discrimination."

The long-standing complaints by transgender activists that their gay counterparts haven't done enough are based on what they see as a visceral level of discomfort with the subject.

At least one prominent gay leader is willing to come clean about his own issues. Matt Foreman recently left his post as head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for a position at a gay philanthropic organization. Before that, he headed the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state's major LGBT political lobby. While there, he sparked widespread outrage among New York transgender activists over his decision not to push for trans protections in the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act back in 2002. The bill had been languishing in Albany for three decades before it passed the state legislature. Foreman readily concedes that he feared including such protections would have jeopardized SONDA's passage. He maintains that gay-rights leaders have made significant strides since then: "The people who move the movement do get it," he says.

A highly contentious debate over the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act most clearly exposed the fault lines between the transgendered and the rest of the LGBT coalition. The bill was first introduced back in 1974 as a proposed amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act that would add sexual orientation to the federal non-discrimination statutes. As it turned out, gender identity and expression was only added to ENDA in the late 1990s.

Openly gay Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank introduced two versions of the bill last September—one that included gender identity and expression, and another that didn't—because he feared the inclusive bill did not have enough votes to withstand a challenge on the House floor. This tactic sparked the creation of a coalition of more than 370 local, statewide, and national LGBT organizations, largely spearheaded by Foreman, to support the inclusive bill.

However, the Human Rights Campaign remained conspicuously on the sidelines, even though the nation's largest gay-rights organization had endorsed Frank's bill. HRC has long faced criticism from activists for its perceived bowing and scraping to the D.C. status quo, but this latest maneuver caused Donna Rose, the only transgender member of its board, to resign. Activists staged boisterous and embarrassing protests outside the organization's annual black-tie dinners at the Hilton in midtown and in other cities around the country. The group Radical Homosexual Agenda unfurled a sign that read: "Can't Spell LGBT with HRC! Trans Power Now!"

Activists also unfurled a banner inside the hotel during HRC president Joe Solmonese's speech. Security guards quickly whisked them out, but the absence of two of the city's most prominent openly gay politicians, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and State Senator Tom Duane, who cited "scheduling conflicts," spoke even louder about HRC's freeze-out. "There was consensus and one rogue organization," Keisling dryly notes.

An HRC spokesperson declined repeated requests to comment for this story. Solmonese, however, has gone on record saying that HRC had changed its policy and would only support a trans-inclusive ENDA. This declaration, however, arrived less than a month before Frank introduced his bill. Pauline Park is speaking for most transgender activists when she complains that HRC "values relationships with people in power and access to power more than people in the community."

New York congressman and mayoral contender Anthony Weiner spoke passionately in favor of a transgender-inclusive ENDA on the House floor: "We should also make it clear to those who are watching this discussion: We're not going to negotiate against ourselves," he warned. "Some things are immutable—there are some civil rights that are immutable—and this is one of them."

For his part, Frank tells the Voice that transphobia had nothing to do with his decision to remove gender identity and expression from ENDA; the votes simply didn't add up. But Frank concedes that the "ick factor" among many members of Congress presents a significant impediment to passing an inclusive ENDA.

"Sexuality is a tricky question," he says. "You get into transgender—it embraces all of that—and you have people's fear and dislike of things that are different. Nobody is more different to an average person than a transgender person, and that makes them nervous."

Frank also believes that transgender activists have relied too heavily on mainstream LGBT groups to push the issue. "They haven't done any lobbying yet," he complained. "They insist the gay community will do it, and they are wrong to say the gay community will do it. They have done a very bad job."

Keisling categorically denies Frank's claim. She says that Frank had given her and other organizations their marching orders before last fall's controversy erupted. These included increasing their grassroots efforts outside the Beltway and focusing on specific members of Congress, whom Frank himself identified. "The LGBT movement and our lobbyists, to a large extent, followed Congressman Frank's lead on education around ENDA," she says. "It was his bill."

Keisling also bristles at the suggestion that transgender activists are riding on their gay counterparts' coattails: "Gay activists and organizations were and are, in fact, a very important and effective part of the lobbying for the inclusive ENDA."

Foreman also blasts Frank's criticisms as a way to cover his tracks: "Contrary to Mr. Frank's assertion, all gay activists, including HRC, had been lobbying hard for the inclusive ENDA—not just last year, but for many years before that," he says. "When Mr. Frank and other House leaders turned tail, every single major national and statewide organization—with the exception of HRC and the Log Cabin Republicans—mounted an all-out effort to get the inclusive ENDA back on the table. The scope and depth of this effort surprised the House leadership, and must have embarrassed Mr. Frank."

If anything, the ENDA debacle has emboldened Keisling and her cohorts to lobby Congress even harder. Tammy Baldwin, an openly lesbian Democratic congresswoman from Wisconsin, described her colleagues on the Hill as receptive to their efforts: "People were getting calls in their district offices and in their D.C. offices saying, 'Support a trans-inclusive ENDA,' " Baldwin tells the Voice.

Activists continue to criticize Frank for a willingness to take the "T" out of the LGBT coalition: "Barney is a hero in many ways, but he's hung up on trans issues," Foreman said. "I was once too, so I know all these bullshit arguments inside out."

Frank calls "the transphobic thing" silly. "It's kind of an emotional outburst," he says. "It is easier to yell at your allies than to go out and convert your opponents."

Back in the clubs, bars, and dance floors where the real changes in consciousness occur, however, Buck Angel's career as a man with a pussy continues apace. And he remains as defiant as ever: "There are no rules, as far as I'm concerned," Angel says. "Nobody can deny I am a man. I am not conforming to anyone who says I'm not. Nobody can tell me different."

HRC Backs Trans-Exclusive ENDA

As lawmakers on Capitol Hill debate ENDA on the House floor as I write, the Human Rights Campaign remains in the cross hairs of many LGBT activists within the movement after it announced its support for the transgender-exclusive version of the bill yesterday. HRC President Joe Solmonese told the Associated Press in an interview that ENDA without gender identity and expression could eventually lead to legislation which protects transgender people.

"Sometimes with these sorts of complex and weighty legislative fights, the best way to move towards the ultimate piece of legislation you are looking for is to do it by degree," he said to the news agency.

Solmonese's own board last month voted to reaffirm a 2004 declaration in support of a trans-inclusive ENDA after Congressman Barney Frank [D-Mass.] reintroduced two versions of the bill which separated sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. Freshman Democrats on Capitol Hill also expressed concern to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] and other blue leaders that they could not vote in favor of a trans-inclusive ENDA because of concerns related to their re-election bids. Politics remains a series of compromises but HRC's sudden change of heart undoubtedly raises a series of troubling questions among LGB and especially T activists who maintain their support for a trans-inclusive ENDA.

National Center for Transgender Equality executive director Mara Keisling acknowledged the politics at play in her almost daily ENDA update today. But she could barely contain her disappointment at HRC and other non-LGBT organizations which endorsed the trans-exclusive ENDA.

"That official abandonment of transgender people by these organizations yesterday may have therefore changed the vote count but we do not know," Keisling opined. "Some members of Congress will still make a principled NO vote and LGBT people should rush to support them."

HRC's decision arguably confirms the long-standing belief among transgender activists (and their supporters) that the lobbying group has never actually taken their concerns to heart. It also appears to confirm the conclusion the position that HRC fails to take into account the interests of the so-called rank and file LGB and especially T American. President Bush has already indicated he plans to veto ENDA. But HRC will certainly remain in many activists' cross hairs over its decision to officially endorse transgender exclusion in a historic piece of legislation.

Trans-Exclusive ENDA Bill Advances

A version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act without gender identity and expression advanced in the House yesterday despite lobbying and last minute pleas from many within the movement for LGBT rights to block the amended bill. The controversy erupted late last month after Congressman Barney Frank [D-Mass.], with the apparent backing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.], introduced two versions of ENDA which separated sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. The National Lesbian & Gay Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality and more than 200 other national, statewide and even local organizations blasted the politically calculated move.

The Human Rights Campaign, which maintains support of the inclusive ENDA, has remained conspicuously quiet after the controversy erupted and has faced numerous criticism and even protests as a result of its own calculation. Others, such as former Washington Bladeeditor Chris Crain, have expressed support for Frank's decision to introduce two bills. What remains is a bitter (and arguably nasty) rift between the 'left wing' and the 'right ring' of the movement for LGBT rights. This debate will obviously continue as lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- and eventually President George W. Bush -- seal ENDA's fate. Transgender people must not be left behind. The movement itself has made transgender people part of its umbrella advocacy. Now is not the time for it to turn its back on them in the name of political expediency.

ENDA Debate Continues

The movement for LGBT rights remains divided over the future of a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Human Rights Campaign board member Donna Rose resigned last week with a scathing criticism of the organization's apparently neutral stance on the controversy despite their pledge to only support an inclusive bill. Former Washington Blade editor Chris Crain and others have supported U.S. Rep. Barney Frank [D-Mass] in his decision to introduce two versions of ENDA which separate sexual orientation from gender identity and expression.

The current debate remains a classic liberal vs. conservative ideological battle within the movement for LGBT rights. The addition of transgender or 'T' to the ubiquitous LGBT acronym in the late 1990s remains a rather politically charged development in the broader movement. National organizations remain committed, at least in their public statements, sound bites and talking points, to advance transgender equality as part of their overall missions. Some of their actions (or inactions) may arguable indicate their actual intentions but the reality remains: Transgender activists (vis-a-vis transgender Americans) continue to gain more visibility. The ENDA debate only confirms it.

Trans Victory in Delay of U.S. Employee Non-Discrimination Bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] delivered LGBT activists a hard won victory late yesterday after she postponed final debate on an amended Employment Non-Discrimination Act which does not include gender identity and expression. These activists expressed outrage over concerns among Democratic House leadership the long-sought ENDA would not pass a final vote based on trans-specific language. The debate will obviously continue as the movement for LGBT rights continues to solidify support for the inclusive ENDA on Capitol Hill. But it remains imperative transgender Americans remain part of the overall purview of ENDA despite any possible political wrangling to the contrary.

In an apparent victory for LGBT activists and their supporters, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] postponed final debate on an amended Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The bill has come in for criticism from gay organizations because it does not include transgender-specific protections.

The House Committee on Education and Labor was scheduled to approve the latest version of the bill on Tuesday before sending it to lawmakers for a final vote. Pelosi said in a statement that the hearing will now take place later this month.

"This schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill," she said.

Pelosi’s announcement came only hours after the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Black Justice Coalition and 87 other national and statewide LGBT organizations sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to postpone debate on the amended ENDA. The Human Rights Campaign and the NGLTF also signed onto a similar request spearheaded by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

NGLTF executive director Matt Foreman applauded Pelosi’s postponement. He expressed hope an inclusive bill would pass the House during an Oct. 1 telephone press conference.

"We do believe congressional leaders want to do the right thing," Foreman said.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, agreed. She added her organization received an outpouring of support from across the country after Congressman Barney Frank [D-Mass.] announced last Thursday he would separate sexual orientation and gender identity and expression into two bills. Keisling remains confident House members will support ENDA with trans-specific protections.

"We worked like hell to get it passed," she said. "We think it can still be done."

The Senate voted 60-39 in favor of ENDA last Wednesday as part of the Defense Authorization Act while the House passed it in May.

Frank co-sponsored the bill in the House alongside Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin [D-Wisc.]. He introduced separate versions of the bill after Pelosi and other Democratic House leaders became concerned it would not withstand a final vote with trans-inclusive language. Baldwin refused to endorse the revised ENDA.

NBJC executive director H. Alexander Robinson maintained his organization would only support an inclusive bill.

"It is unconscionable for us to think we would support cutting transgender protections out of ENDA," he said.

PFLAG executive director Jody M. Huckaby said more than 12,000 members of his organizations wrote postcards to Congress over the last five days in an attempt to lobby lawmakers to oppose the amended bill. He added he will remain opposed to any attempt to remove gender identity and expression from the bill.

"It is not a strategy to leave out some of our loved ones," Huckaby said. "A strategy would keep our families together... and keep them protected."

The HRC, which is the country’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, has remained relatively quiet on the current ENDA controversy outside of a handful of critical statements published in the Washington Blade late last week. Transgender activists had previously criticized the organization for endorsing a version of ENDA without gender identity and expression. The HRC changed course in 2004 after it announced it would only support transgender-inclusive legislation.

Foreman refused to answer questions about HRC’s current strategy [Pelosi is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at its annual Washington gala on Oct. 6.]. He maintained he and other activists will continue their lobbying efforts ensure lawmakers pass an inclusive ENDA.

"We must signal loud and clear to every member of Congress: We are one community, and we demand protections for all of us, and nothing else will suffice," Foreman stated.

The Price of Political Expediency

The debate and outcry over the removal of gender identity and expression from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act continues inside the movement and on Capitol Hill. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has scheduled a conference call later today with other organizations to discuss the current situation (and to reaffirm their positions). The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation references the controversy on its Web site while the Human Rights Campaign, which one can easily conclude has the most at stake in this debate, fails to do so.

The question remains: Will ENDA move forward at the expense of transgender Americans? Politics is more or less a series of calculated compromises designed to find the path of least (political) resistance. President Bush has already promised to veto the legislation. But the current debate highlights a number of possible truths. Some within the national movement continue their token transgender activism in the name of maintaining the image of inclusion. These figures arguably back down upon political pressure. Others -- wealthy white gay men for argument's sake -- are invested in issues which only affect them and their interests. Yet more may fail to understand the underlying oppression transgender Americans encounter on an almost daily basis.

ENDA is a step towards remedying these injustices but is certainly not the panacea some may conclude. The movement has a responsibility, however, to insure all of those on whose behalf it claims to advocate are included. These constituents certainly include transgender Americans who expect nothing less than their gay and lesbian brothers and sister. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

A Transgender-Exclusive ENDA?

The collective movement for LGBT rights barely had time to celebrate the historic passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S. Senate before details emerged that House Democrats have reportedly proposed dropping gender identity and expression from the bill. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Parents, Friends & Families of Lesbians and Gays, the Anti-Violence Project and other organizations immediately blasted the proposal in an hastily prepared statement.

"If media reports from the last 24 hours are accurate, it is unconscionable that Congressional leaders would rush to a decision to strip protections for transgender people at the same time as states across the nation are adding these protections at an unprecedented pace," it read.

The Washington Blade first broke this possible development on Sept. 26. The Human Rights Campaign expressed its deep disappointment over the alleged move but did not comment beyond that in an interview with the paper yesterday. The HRC faced scathing criticism after it initially refused to endorse a trans-inclusive ENDA. It changed course in 2004 after transgender activists protested outside their Washington headquarters.

The apparent discomfort over a trans-inclusive ENDA reflects a broader concern among the so-called movement for LGBT rights that its leaders, many of whom are wealthy white gay men, include the T [transgender people] at their collective table merely to appear inclusive. This cynical concern is reflected among many activists here in Bushwick, in New York and elsewhere with whom I regularly speak. The movement contains a myriad of hard-working, passionate and persistent activists who remain deeply committed to the advancement of fairness and equality. The current debate will highlight who stands with transgender Americans or who simply delivers good sound bites to appear inclusive.

To Support [Or Not Support] Transgender Rights?

The status of support for transgender rights almost always raises questions about whether the broader movement for lesbian, gay and bisexual rights actually advocates on behalf of their gender non-conforming brothers and sisters. Some activists maintain the movement includes transgender Americans in its acronym of constituents as a way to claim they advocate on behalf of the entire LGBT community. Others conclude the push for transgender rights is the next chapter of a social movement that began nearly 40 years ago. Even more people say the movement for lesbian, gay and bisexual rights must do much more to support transgender people and their rights.

These three arguments only add folder to the broader conversation about the status of transgender rights. Activists in Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states have raised these questions in the context of the recent campaigns to advance marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The [Fort Lauderdale] Sun-Sentinel reported today local gay and lesbian activists appear divided on whether to support the inclusion of gender identity and expression to Broward County's anti-discrimination laws. Many of these activists staged a protest last month against Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle for anti-gay comments he made in reference to proposed automatic toilets on local beaches to curb what he described was 'homosexual' activity. The Sun-Sentinel reported, however, some fear a potential backlash if the anti-discrimination proposal moves forward. This position begs the question: do they actually support transgender rights? These activists would almost certainly maintain, at least in public, they do. Their apparent questions about the impact of this proposal may prove otherwise to those who advocate on its behalf.

Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund Celebrates Second Anniversary

The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund has secured settlements for Helena Stone, who reached a significant legal victory with the MTA last October after police officers repeatedly arrested and harassed her after she used a women's restroom inside Grand Central Terminal, and other transgender New Yorkers who have endured discrimination. This blogger attended TLDEF's second anniversary celebration last night in Lower Manhattan. This organization's profile continues to grow within New York as it enhances it's work on behalf of transgender New Yorkers.



From Left; TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman, TLDEF board members Pauline Park, Todd Robichaud and Dinh Tu Tran

Fired Transgender City Manager Front-Runner for New Position

The Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Florida, reported today a former city manager fired from his job earlier this year after he disclosed her transition is the front-runner for the city manager position in the Gulf Coast city. The Largo City Commission fired Steven Stanton, who applied for the Sarasota position as Susan A. Stanton, in February after commissioners learned Stanton's plans to transition from a man into a woman.

The National Center for Transgender Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Lesbian & Gay Task Force and other local, statewide and national LGBT advocacy organizations blasted the commissioners' vote. Police also arrested Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith during a Feb. 27 public hearing in Largo after she began to hand out "Don't Discriminate" leaflets.

Stanton's termination remains an outrageous and tragic example of the discrimination that exists for millions of LGBT people everyday. Most accounts indicate Stanton received excellent performance reviews during his 14-year tenure as city manager. Stanton, through no fault of his own, has become a cause celebre that highlights the need for universal anti-discrimination statutes in this country. Sarasota commissioners recognized Stanton's qualifications, and not his gender identity, in their announcement. The same cannot be said for their counterparts in Pinellas County at their own expense.

LA Times Sports Writer Announces Transition

The LGBT rights movement contains an untold number of unsung heroes who continue to push its collective agenda forward in their own way. They are not the 'paid gays' who regularly appear on CNN or in the New York Times as talking heads, the porn stars who make token appearances at organizational fundraisers and benefits, or those who live in Chelsea, West Hollywood or in the Castro who continue to insulate themselves from the realities with which the vast majority of LGBT Americans continue to live. These unsung heroes are those who advance the movement at great personal or professional risk.

Los Angeles Times sports reporter Christine Daniels is one of these unsung heroes. The veteran reporter and columnist, known to readers as Mike Penner, announced in a column yesterday she will transition into a woman.

"Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation... as Christine," Daniels wrote.

Daniels' disclosure is not newsworthy in an ideal world but sports remains an entity plagued by homophobia and transphobia. Daniels' reporting, however, provided her a unique opportunity to discuss her own transition -- and challenge these pervasive attitudes head-on that have compelled countless other LGBT people to remain in the closet. Daniels shows true courage many may claim the broader LGBT movement lacks in its current incarnation.