LGBT-inclusive hate crimes bill passed by House

Author: Joel Wendland

People's Weekly World Newspaper, 05/10/07 12:42

Civil rights organizations hailed the passage of a new bipartisan hate crime bill in the House last week.

The bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, would amend current legislation that lists race, religion, color and national origin as categories federally protected from hate crimes, to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.

Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, welcomed passage of the bill. He declared it “a win for young GLBT men and women, including an increasing number of GLBT individuals of color, who have lost their lives for merely being who they are.”

Urging quick passage of the bill, currently in the Senate, National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy said, “Hate violence sends two messages to the targeted group: ‘not knowing your place is dangerous’ and ‘your kind is not welcome here.’”

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force singled out the bill’s inclusion of gender identity as a protected category for special mention.

“This clear inclusion of transgender people in hate crimes laws is especially important,” read an NGLTF statement. “[V]iolence against transgender people is widespread, largely underreported and disproportionately greater than the number of transgender people in society.”

According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the anti-hate-crimes bill has broad support from law enforcement organizations, religious groups, labor unions and civil rights organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches, and the Parent Network on Disabilities. Approximately three in four Americans support comprehensive hate crimes legislation.

Yet the bill’s passage may be thwarted by the loud voices of a few extremists.

Right-wing radio personality James Dobson is leading an effort to pressure Republican senators and President Bush to block passage of the bill. Bush has indicated that he may veto the bill if sent to his desk. In a recent radio program, Dobson implied that laws aimed at preventing hate crimes against gay people are anti-Christian and amount to making anti-gay beliefs a “thought crime.”

The Rev. Bishop Yvette Flunder, senior pastor at San Francisco’s City of Refuge United Church of Christ, rejected Dobson’s message. “When religious leaders speak about a God that supports violence perpetrated upon some supposedly outside of God’s will, they give permission for acts that lead to physical abuse and death.”

Praising passage of the anti-hate-crimes measure, Flunder, who is African American, said, “People are getting weary of the politics of fear. People are seeking peace. [They] are understanding that violence begets violence.”

Send a message to your senator here: http://hrc.org/.

FUSD Boy wants to be Prom Queen

By Gene Haagenson

05/10/2007 - It looks like high school proms in Fresno will never be the same. After the school district changed its rules to allow a girl at Fresno High to run for prom king, a boy from Roosevelt High wants to be a prom queen.

Roosevelt High holds its prom on Saturday and one of the three candidates for queen is a boy, who likes to be thought of as a girl. The campaign for prom queen is on at Roosevelt High and Johnny Vera is stumping for votes.

Johnny is a transgender. A boy, who wants to appear to his classmates, and the world as a girl. Johnny says, "You know, to start, I was never a typical boy. Cause you know, it's just a fact."

Johnny who also goes by Crystal is a cheerleader, and was class vice president last year. He was also elected homecoming prince two years ago, as a boy. For him queen is just another step.

Johnny says, "First of all, I want to run for queen because I've been very involved in my school. You know, I get along with a lot of people. I feel that I have made an impact in my school."

He was inspired to run after Cynthia Covarubias from Fresno High ran for prom king last month. Her candidacy changed school district policy, clearing the way for Johnny to run. Cynthia lost the race for king, and not everyone at Roosevelt will vote for Johnny.

Matthew Esparza, student, says, "I don't think it's good for him to be prom queen."
Action News: "How come?"
Esparza: "'Cause he's a guy. He's still considered a guy, still."

Student Colleen Aguilar says, "I think it's really cool because it's the way he wants to be, and its his choice in life, so, if he wants to go for prom queen, good luck."

But win or lose, Johnny is just happy to have the chance to try. Johnny says, "I'm just like any other girl. I'm just like any other candidate. I'm just trying to do this cause, I want to do it."

The prom is Saturday night. Now, Johnny says he's been treated well by most students at Roosevelt. After graduation he is going to fashion design school in San Francisco.

Copyright KFSN-TV, www.abc30.com, and myabc30.com. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit written

She’s Not The Man

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Published: April 19, 2007

Betty Crow (left) with her wife, author Helen Boyd. Photo by Haley Thayer.

“Being trans happens to more than just the trans person,” says Betty Crow.

She should know. The trans-identified New Yorker is best know as cover girl and subject of her wife Helen Boyd’s books 2003’s My Husband Betty: Love, Sex and Life with a Crossdresser and the recently released She’s Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband.

The struggling actress, and web designer has spoken widely on trans issues and served as a board member for the National Center for Transgender Equality, before recognizing that her passions lay not in advocating for trans people themselves, but for their partners. “I’ve [heard] so much heartbreak…that I feel drawn towards doing what I can to let [partners] tell their stories. We need the stories of our partners and loved ones; without them we’re just a group of people existing in a void and the general public will dismiss us as such.”

Crow says that while people often think she is not getting her voice heard, she is actually quite content being the written about by her wife. “I’m okay being the subject. Completely willing, in fact. I’m all for personal transgender narratives, but I think equally valid and important points can and should be made by those who love us.”

Although Crow recognizes that transition can be a “beckoning siren, calling you and you alone,” she argues that it invariably impact others—and their relationships.

She suggests that couples often don’t survive one member’s gender transition, because the experience is more change than most people can accept. “This really can be a deal breaker for a great many partners. That’s understandable. It’s not like a gender change is something they signed on to. Having your partner change gender…certainly changes the basic equation of the partnership.”

In her partnership, Crow spends more and more of her time as a woman, but retains “some version of a boy life.” She calls her transition “non-standard,” because while she generally passes, Crow hasn’t begun estrogen treatment nor undergone gender reassignment surgeries. She’s not sure she ever will. “I got lucky enough to be physically androgynous and I’m going to explore that…before doing things that have irrevocable consequences.” Ultimately, Crow says that while she tips toward the female end of the scales, she feels more “in-between” than anything else.”

Still, Crow hasn’t ruled out the possibility that one day, “I [may] have to live my life fully and 100 percent as a woman.” Concerned that might doom her marriage, Crow insists—that for now—she’d rather remain “in-between” than run that risk. “I refuse to be a slave to something I didn’t ask for. Being transgender..isn’t and cannot be the sole thing that defines me.”

Explaining some trans women’s overtly feminized presentations, Crow argues, “Overdoing it seems like such an understandable response in a culture that so readily adores the trivialization of beauty in women. Maybe the critique…should more properly be seen in the context of our culture.”

In a short afterword to She’s Not the Man, Crow echoes some of Boyd (myhusbandbetty.com)’s feminist sentiments. “I’m not a woman (I don’t have the hubris to claim that). Until I’ve a lot more time in this world being seen, treated, and perceived as a woman, I cannot in good conscience take upon myself such a term. Don’t get me wrong, I feel female, but truly, what does that mean: feeling like woman?”

Crow has a sexual preference for other women, but she acknowledges that without experience in the lesbian community, she doesn’t really feel comfortable claiming a lesbian identity. “I really don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

Blind Curves, the first Blind Eye mystery co-authored by trans writer Jacob Anderson-Minshall, is available now through powells.com. Contact jake@trans-nation.org or visit Anderson-minshall.com for more information.

Dignity for All

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall Published: May 10, 2007

Asian American transgender activist Pauline Park considers the push for gender-neutral pronouns in the U.S. “profoundly ahistorical.” “Gender-neutral pronouns are not native to the English language,” she argues. “And—unlike in Chinese, for example—[they] feel extremely artificial to speakers of English.” Park says she’s come to understand that the historical roots of transgenderism differ in various cultures. For instance, she contends, “There was a pre-modern trans identity in virtually every Asian society, and I think it’s important for transgendered Asians to envision themselves in light of their precursors.” Co-founder of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York, Park is best known for spearheading the successful campaign to pass the New York City transgender rights law enacted in 2002. After leading that campaign, she (www.paulinepark.com) helped draft guidelines—adopted by the Commission on Human Rights two years later—for implementation of the statute. NYAGRA (www.nyagra.com) is a founding member of a coalition that secured enactment of the New York City’s Dignity in All Schools Act, a law making schools safe for gender-variant children. Likewise, the organization supports the statewide version of the Dignity Act—currently pending in the New York state legislature—which would prohibit discrimination and harassment in public schools throughout the state. Park argues the law is essential because transgendered and gender-variant students face “pervasive discrimination and bullying and bias harassment in schools…throughout the state.” Unfortunately, she says, “[The Dignity Act] has passed the [New York State] Assembly several times but never the Senate, whose Republican majority refuses to consider any bill with gender identity and expression in it.” At least 10 states (including California) and dozens of New York localities have passed comprehensive anti-harassment measures for their public schools. Park also serves as vice-president of the board of directors of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF). Last December, the TLDEF (www.transgenderlegal.org) honored her work by establishing the Pauline Park Fellowship. And in 2005, Park was chosen as the first openly transgendered grand marshal of New York City’s LGBT Pride march. The inexhaustible transgender activist also authors a regular blog on BigQueer.com, and has a piece in the upcoming anthology Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place, and Time. In her essay, “Homeward Bound: The Journey of a Transgendered Korean Adoptee,” Parks writes of coming to terms with her gender identity as well as her identity as a Korean adoptee. White fundamentalist Christian adoptive parents in Milwaukee raised her and her non-transgender twin brother. “Being born in Asia and adopted and raised in the United States,” Park says, “enabled me to understand that all identities are social constructions. Just as I have come to realize that I have a distinct identity as a Korean adoptee, I have come to understand that I have a distinct identity as a transgendered woman that is different from that of a non-transgendered woman.” Although her identity may be a social construct, Park admits she can’t step away from it. “It’s not as if I’m Asian American one day and transgendered the next. When people meet me for the first time or see me on the street, they may or may not read me as transgendered, but the first thing they see is my Asian face and features, and they often make assumptions based on that Asian physiognomy.” Park says that transgendered white people need to understand that discrimination and harassment based on gender identity or expression differs in important ways from that based on race or ethnicity. “There are so many challenges facing transgendered people of color both within the transgender community and in their own communities of color. And non-transgendered people of color need to understand that there are important parallels and similarities between those two different types of experiences despite significant differences.” Trans writer, Jacob Anderson-Minshall, co-authored Blind Curves, the first in the Blind Eye Mystery series, available now. Contact jake@trans-nation.org or visit Anderson-minshall.com for more information.

Out Of The Shadows - Transgender Children