http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra
Transgender at five: Tyler’s story leads to outpouring of other stories
By Petula Dvorak, Published: May 21 2012
I heard from transgendered senior citizens who lamented their decades living a lie.
I got e-mails from confused parents who had their aha moment when they read Tyler’s story.
And sure, I heard from the haters. The Internet troll employment benefits package apparently doesn’t offer vacation days, so they’re always there.
When I met Tyler seven months ago, he was 4 and had just switched from being known as a girl to being known as a boy. On Sunday, I wrote about the difficult journey that Tyler’s parents, Jean and Stephen, have been on since their child was 2 and began insisting she was a boy. (To protect their identity, The Washington Post used the family member’s middle names and referred to the now-5-year-old as Tyler, the name his parents say they would have given him if he had been born a boy. We also opted not to publish details about where they live and go to church and school.)
Jean and Stephen read and did research. They went to doctors, counselors, their pastor and support groups before they could accept that their child was transgender. A psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder and offered a prescription: Allow the child to live as a boy.
No one knows how many American children suffer from gender identity issues because they so often go unacknowledged by parents and pediatricians. Scientists and doctors offered guesses that ranged from one in 1,000 to one in 10,000. But given the hundreds of online comments and e-mails I received, I wonder whether it isn’t more common than we know.
“We are going through the same thing. My daughter is 6,” one reader from Oregon wrote. “When she was just a little over 2, she started telling us her penis had been cut off, and it really hurt.”
Their family doctor won’t really address the concerns, so she reached out to Jean for help in finding experts and information. “I cannot express how frightening it is to go through this without support,” the mother wrote. “I am so afraid to make a mistake.”
A mother from Atlanta wrote to say she can relate to Tyler’s story: “My daughter reminds me of this little girl who wanted to be a boy. I am constantly reading up on transgender, gender variant and gender non-conforming. She has not been diagnosed, but I am in the process of finding out more. My husband and I have been grappling with this for a while now.”
Or this simple, desperate note from someone in Virginia: “My kid has been a ‘boy’ since she was old enough to know, I want to say 5 or 6. We need to get him hormonal help, and it is long overdue. I will drive or fly anywhere.” It included a request for doctors’ names and phone numbers.
Every fifth e-mail seemed to come from someone who knows someone who is transgender.
“A transgender child just came into my kid’s sixth-grade class,” one parent reported.
Or, “There was this child who used to play with my kids,” another parent wrote. “I always suspected there was something going on there.” Years later? Sure enough, the child is a transgendered adult.
There were stories about transgender nieces, stepdaughters and co-workers. And I heard from transgender adults who didn’t have people around to believe them when they were little.
“I didn’t transition until my early 30s because of my Mormon family and because I thought I would never find a partner and have a family,” wrote JackC6a. “But I was wrong about my prospects for happiness. Though my family has been distant and cold, I have my own family now that includes an awesome partner and child. Tyler is a lucky kid to have such a supportive family.”
I heard heart-wrenching stories from transgendered grown-ups who were beaten, shunned, ridiculed and belittled every time as children they told the adults around them how they felt.
You think this is something new? Check out this comment from Johnbh99:
“Fifty years ago I had a job in a funeral home while attending university. My partner and I picked up a body one day that appeared to be a man but turned out to be a woman,” he wrote. “We got instructions from the next of kin that all references to the deceased would use the male pronouns and the deceased would be referred as Mr. in the newspaper. This person was a respected member of the business community in a major southern city.”
Even in the South in the 1960s, the transgendered were living in our communities.
This is what Tyler’s parents wanted when they asked me to tell their story: to spark discussion and educate people about the transgendered.
Jean and Stephen received many supportive e-mails and phone calls. Folks who know them but didn’t understand what they are going through now understood.
“I was surprised at how nice some of them were,” Jean told me.
And how did Tyler feel about the story?
He was too busy playing with trucks to care what anyone thinks about him.
To read Petula Dvorak's previous columns, go to http://washingtonpost.com/dvorak .
Transgender at five: Tyler’s story leads to outpouring of other stories
By Petula Dvorak, Published: May 21 2012
I heard from transgendered senior citizens who lamented their decades living a lie.
I got e-mails from confused parents who had their aha moment when they read Tyler’s story.
And sure, I heard from the haters. The Internet troll employment benefits package apparently doesn’t offer vacation days, so they’re always there.
When I met Tyler seven months ago, he was 4 and had just switched from being known as a girl to being known as a boy. On Sunday, I wrote about the difficult journey that Tyler’s parents, Jean and Stephen, have been on since their child was 2 and began insisting she was a boy. (To protect their identity, The Washington Post used the family member’s middle names and referred to the now-5-year-old as Tyler, the name his parents say they would have given him if he had been born a boy. We also opted not to publish details about where they live and go to church and school.)
Jean and Stephen read and did research. They went to doctors, counselors, their pastor and support groups before they could accept that their child was transgender. A psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder and offered a prescription: Allow the child to live as a boy.
No one knows how many American children suffer from gender identity issues because they so often go unacknowledged by parents and pediatricians. Scientists and doctors offered guesses that ranged from one in 1,000 to one in 10,000. But given the hundreds of online comments and e-mails I received, I wonder whether it isn’t more common than we know.
“We are going through the same thing. My daughter is 6,” one reader from Oregon wrote. “When she was just a little over 2, she started telling us her penis had been cut off, and it really hurt.”
Their family doctor won’t really address the concerns, so she reached out to Jean for help in finding experts and information. “I cannot express how frightening it is to go through this without support,” the mother wrote. “I am so afraid to make a mistake.”
A mother from Atlanta wrote to say she can relate to Tyler’s story: “My daughter reminds me of this little girl who wanted to be a boy. I am constantly reading up on transgender, gender variant and gender non-conforming. She has not been diagnosed, but I am in the process of finding out more. My husband and I have been grappling with this for a while now.”
Or this simple, desperate note from someone in Virginia: “My kid has been a ‘boy’ since she was old enough to know, I want to say 5 or 6. We need to get him hormonal help, and it is long overdue. I will drive or fly anywhere.” It included a request for doctors’ names and phone numbers.
Every fifth e-mail seemed to come from someone who knows someone who is transgender.
“A transgender child just came into my kid’s sixth-grade class,” one parent reported.
Or, “There was this child who used to play with my kids,” another parent wrote. “I always suspected there was something going on there.” Years later? Sure enough, the child is a transgendered adult.
There were stories about transgender nieces, stepdaughters and co-workers. And I heard from transgender adults who didn’t have people around to believe them when they were little.
“I didn’t transition until my early 30s because of my Mormon family and because I thought I would never find a partner and have a family,” wrote JackC6a. “But I was wrong about my prospects for happiness. Though my family has been distant and cold, I have my own family now that includes an awesome partner and child. Tyler is a lucky kid to have such a supportive family.”
I heard heart-wrenching stories from transgendered grown-ups who were beaten, shunned, ridiculed and belittled every time as children they told the adults around them how they felt.
You think this is something new? Check out this comment from Johnbh99:
“Fifty years ago I had a job in a funeral home while attending university. My partner and I picked up a body one day that appeared to be a man but turned out to be a woman,” he wrote. “We got instructions from the next of kin that all references to the deceased would use the male pronouns and the deceased would be referred as Mr. in the newspaper. This person was a respected member of the business community in a major southern city.”
Even in the South in the 1960s, the transgendered were living in our communities.
This is what Tyler’s parents wanted when they asked me to tell their story: to spark discussion and educate people about the transgendered.
Jean and Stephen received many supportive e-mails and phone calls. Folks who know them but didn’t understand what they are going through now understood.
“I was surprised at how nice some of them were,” Jean told me.
And how did Tyler feel about the story?
He was too busy playing with trucks to care what anyone thinks about him.
To read Petula Dvorak's previous columns, go to http://washingtonpost.com/dvorak .
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Mood:
pleased
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra
Transgender at Five
By Petula Dvorak, Published: May 19 2012
[LJ video embed not working correctly. Video available at original article.]
She first insisted she was a boy at the age of 2. "I am a boy" became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder. Now Tyler 's parents allow him to live as a boy, and the 5-year-old is reveling in his new identity. (The Post is using the name his parents would have given him if he had been born a boy to protect the family's identity outside their community, where their situation already is widely known.) (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)
Kathryn wanted pants. And short hair. Then trucks and swords.
Her parents, Jean and Stephen, were fine with their toddler’s embrace of all things boy. They’ve both been school teachers and coaches in Maryland and are pretty immune to the quirky stuff that kids do.
But it kept getting more intense, all this boyishness from their younger daughter. She began to argue vehemently — as only a tantrum-prone toddler can — that she was not a girl.
“I am a boy,” the child insisted, at just 2 years old.
And that made Jean uneasy. It was weird.
Transgender at Five - Gallery (7 images)
“I am a boy” became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing, breathing.
Jean and Stephen gave up trying to force Kathryn to wear the frilly dresses that Grandma kept sending. Kathryn wanted nothing to do with her big sister Moyin’s glittery, sparkly pink approach to the world. (Moyin attends school with my son, which is how I came to know the family. The Washington Post is using the family’s middle names to protect their identity beyond their community, where their situation already is widely known.)
Kathryn didn’t even want to be around other little girls, let alone acknowledge that she biologically is one.
Jean tried to put her daughter’s behavior to rest. She sat down with a toddler-version of an anatomy book and showed Kathryn, by then 3, the cartoonish drawings of a naked boy and girl.
“See? You’re a girl. You have girl parts,” Jean told her big-eyed daughter. “You’ve always been a girl.”
Kathryn looked up at her mom, incomprehension clouding her round face.
“When did you change me?” the child asked.
( Read more... )
Transgender at Five
By Petula Dvorak, Published: May 19 2012
[LJ video embed not working correctly. Video available at original article.]
She first insisted she was a boy at the age of 2. "I am a boy" became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder. Now Tyler 's parents allow him to live as a boy, and the 5-year-old is reveling in his new identity. (The Post is using the name his parents would have given him if he had been born a boy to protect the family's identity outside their community, where their situation already is widely known.) (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)
Kathryn wanted pants. And short hair. Then trucks and swords.
Her parents, Jean and Stephen, were fine with their toddler’s embrace of all things boy. They’ve both been school teachers and coaches in Maryland and are pretty immune to the quirky stuff that kids do.
But it kept getting more intense, all this boyishness from their younger daughter. She began to argue vehemently — as only a tantrum-prone toddler can — that she was not a girl.
“I am a boy,” the child insisted, at just 2 years old.
And that made Jean uneasy. It was weird.
Transgender at Five - Gallery (7 images)
“I am a boy” became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing, breathing.
Jean and Stephen gave up trying to force Kathryn to wear the frilly dresses that Grandma kept sending. Kathryn wanted nothing to do with her big sister Moyin’s glittery, sparkly pink approach to the world. (Moyin attends school with my son, which is how I came to know the family. The Washington Post is using the family’s middle names to protect their identity beyond their community, where their situation already is widely known.)
Kathryn didn’t even want to be around other little girls, let alone acknowledge that she biologically is one.
Jean tried to put her daughter’s behavior to rest. She sat down with a toddler-version of an anatomy book and showed Kathryn, by then 3, the cartoonish drawings of a naked boy and girl.
“See? You’re a girl. You have girl parts,” Jean told her big-eyed daughter. “You’ve always been a girl.”
Kathryn looked up at her mom, incomprehension clouding her round face.
“When did you change me?” the child asked.
( Read more... )
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Mood: pleased
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor
Argentina Gender Rights Law: A New World Standard
by The Associated Press
May 11, 2012, 12:09 am ET
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Activists say Argentina now leads the world in transgender rights after giving people the freedom to change their legal and physical gender identity simply because they want to, without having to undergo judicial, psychiatric and medical procedures beforehand.
The gender identity law that won congressional approval with a 55-0 Senate vote Wednesday night is the latest in a growing list of bold moves on social issues by the Argentine government, which also legalized gay marriage two years ago. These changes primarily affect minority groups, but they are fundamental, President Cristina Fernandez has said, for a democratic society still shaking off the human rights violations of the 1976-1983 dictatorship and the paternalism of the Roman Catholic Church.
Activists and academics who have tracked gender identity laws and customs worldwide said Thursday that no other country has gone so far to embrace gender self-determination. In the United States and Europe, transgender people must submit to physical and mental health exams and get past a series of other hurdles before getting sex-change treatments.
Argentina's law also is the first to give citizens the right to change their legal gender without first changing their bodies, said Justus Eisfeld, co-director of Global Action for Trans Equality in New York. "The fact that there are no medical requirements at all — no surgery, no hormone treatment and no diagnosis — is a real game changer and completely unique in the world. It is light years ahead of the vast majority of countries, including the US, and significantly ahead of even the most advanced countries," said Eisfeld, who researched the laws of the 47 countries for the Council of Europe's human rights commission.
( Read more... )
Argentina Gender Rights Law: A New World Standard
by The Associated Press
May 11, 2012, 12:09 am ET
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Activists say Argentina now leads the world in transgender rights after giving people the freedom to change their legal and physical gender identity simply because they want to, without having to undergo judicial, psychiatric and medical procedures beforehand.
The gender identity law that won congressional approval with a 55-0 Senate vote Wednesday night is the latest in a growing list of bold moves on social issues by the Argentine government, which also legalized gay marriage two years ago. These changes primarily affect minority groups, but they are fundamental, President Cristina Fernandez has said, for a democratic society still shaking off the human rights violations of the 1976-1983 dictatorship and the paternalism of the Roman Catholic Church.
Activists and academics who have tracked gender identity laws and customs worldwide said Thursday that no other country has gone so far to embrace gender self-determination. In the United States and Europe, transgender people must submit to physical and mental health exams and get past a series of other hurdles before getting sex-change treatments.
Argentina's law also is the first to give citizens the right to change their legal gender without first changing their bodies, said Justus Eisfeld, co-director of Global Action for Trans Equality in New York. "The fact that there are no medical requirements at all — no surgery, no hormone treatment and no diagnosis — is a real game changer and completely unique in the world. It is light years ahead of the vast majority of countries, including the US, and significantly ahead of even the most advanced countries," said Eisfeld, who researched the laws of the 47 countries for the Council of Europe's human rights commission.
( Read more... )
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
http://www.transgenderlegal.org/headlin
Victory! Transgender Woman Wins Health Insurance Coverage for Mammogram
April 30 - We are thrilled to announce that we have resolved a claim on behalf of Beth Scott, a 44-year-old transgender woman in New Jersey who had been denied health insurance coverage for a mammogram. Ms. Scott underwent the mammogram in June 2010 at her doctor’s recommendation. Aetna denied coverage for the mammogram on the grounds that it fell under her policy’s exclusion for treatments “related to changing sex.” As a transgender woman, Ms. Scott was assigned male at birth and developed breasts after undergoing hormone therapy. Aetna refused to alter its position throughout the lengthy appeals process.
TLDEF intervened and argued that Aetna’s interpretation of the policy exclusion was overbroad and that it should apply only to treatments prescribed to change an individual’s sex characteristics. Because a mammogram is a procedure that has nothing to do with changing sex characteristics, Ms. Scott’s mammogram should have been covered. Aetna’s interpretation could have led to the continued denial of claims for medically necessary care for transgender patients, including treatment for conditions such as breast cancer.
Aetna reversed its position and paid for Ms. Scott’s mammogram in full. ( Read more... )
Victory! Transgender Woman Wins Health Insurance Coverage for Mammogram
April 30 - We are thrilled to announce that we have resolved a claim on behalf of Beth Scott, a 44-year-old transgender woman in New Jersey who had been denied health insurance coverage for a mammogram. Ms. Scott underwent the mammogram in June 2010 at her doctor’s recommendation. Aetna denied coverage for the mammogram on the grounds that it fell under her policy’s exclusion for treatments “related to changing sex.” As a transgender woman, Ms. Scott was assigned male at birth and developed breasts after undergoing hormone therapy. Aetna refused to alter its position throughout the lengthy appeals process.
TLDEF intervened and argued that Aetna’s interpretation of the policy exclusion was overbroad and that it should apply only to treatments prescribed to change an individual’s sex characteristics. Because a mammogram is a procedure that has nothing to do with changing sex characteristics, Ms. Scott’s mammogram should have been covered. Aetna’s interpretation could have led to the continued denial of claims for medically necessary care for transgender patients, including treatment for conditions such as breast cancer.
Aetna reversed its position and paid for Ms. Scott’s mammogram in full. ( Read more... )
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
http://transgenderequality.wordpress.co
Victory: Federal Agency Rules Trans People Protected by Sex Discrimination Law
NCTE congratulates our colleagues at the Transgender Law Center, who tonight, announced a significant federal workplace rights victory. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled in a 5-0 decision that an employer who discriminates against a transgender employee or job applicant because of the person’s gender identity is illegal sex discrimination based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Though this ruling follows a growing number of court decisions around the country that have held that transgender people are protected by existing federal anti-discrimination laws, this is the first decision by the EEOC on this issue.
NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said, “This ruling is a major advancement in transgender rights that will provide a significant tool to fight discrimination. It will also help us advocate for still needed protections like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and the federal contractors executive order.”
The EEOC is the federal agency charged with interpreting and enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, and this is the first time it has ruled that anti-transgender discrimination is sex discrimination. The decision applies to both public and private employers throughout the country including in the 34 states that do not yet have gender identity anti-discrimination laws.
The case was brought by the Transgender Law Center (TLC) on behalf of their client Mia Macy who was a denied a job as a ballistics technician at the Walnut Creek, CA laboratory of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). NCTE congratulates TLC on this important victory and thanks Mia Macy for standing up for herself and the rights of all trans people.
Keisling added, “this is a major victory. As many as 90% of trans people still face tremendous discrimination in employment according to our National Discrimination Survey, and it will help so much that the EEOC agrees with what more and more courts have been saying—discriminating against trans people because of their sex, or their perceived sex, or what an employer thinks about their sex is clearly sex discrimination, illegal and wrong.”
Read the full ruling here.
Victory: Federal Agency Rules Trans People Protected by Sex Discrimination Law
NCTE congratulates our colleagues at the Transgender Law Center, who tonight, announced a significant federal workplace rights victory. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled in a 5-0 decision that an employer who discriminates against a transgender employee or job applicant because of the person’s gender identity is illegal sex discrimination based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Though this ruling follows a growing number of court decisions around the country that have held that transgender people are protected by existing federal anti-discrimination laws, this is the first decision by the EEOC on this issue.
NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said, “This ruling is a major advancement in transgender rights that will provide a significant tool to fight discrimination. It will also help us advocate for still needed protections like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and the federal contractors executive order.”
The EEOC is the federal agency charged with interpreting and enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, and this is the first time it has ruled that anti-transgender discrimination is sex discrimination. The decision applies to both public and private employers throughout the country including in the 34 states that do not yet have gender identity anti-discrimination laws.
The case was brought by the Transgender Law Center (TLC) on behalf of their client Mia Macy who was a denied a job as a ballistics technician at the Walnut Creek, CA laboratory of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). NCTE congratulates TLC on this important victory and thanks Mia Macy for standing up for herself and the rights of all trans people.
Keisling added, “this is a major victory. As many as 90% of trans people still face tremendous discrimination in employment according to our National Discrimination Survey, and it will help so much that the EEOC agrees with what more and more courts have been saying—discriminating against trans people because of their sex, or their perceived sex, or what an employer thinks about their sex is clearly sex discrimination, illegal and wrong.”
Read the full ruling here.
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Mood:
tired
GLAD Publishes Groundbreaking Transgender Family Law Book
Resource for practitioners to foster quality representation for transgender clients
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is proud to announce the publication of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients. Featuring chapters by attorneys with expertise in both family law and transgender legal advocacy, the book was edited by Jennifer L. Levi , director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project, and Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder, a litigation associate in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray and a former GLAD attorney. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy will be available in bound and electronic versions on May 16, 2012.
“Some of the most heartbreaking stories I have heard in my career as an LGBT legal advocate involve transgender people in family courts,” said Levi, a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. “The rights of transgender people – as parents, spouses, and simply as human beings – are often trammeled in family court because of pervasive bias and misunderstanding. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy is a road map for transgender individuals and their attorneys to navigate the family court system in this evolving area of law.”
“This book tackles a cutting edge area of family law and we’re thrilled to have contributions from some of this country’s most well-respected experts in this field,” said Monnin-Browder. “Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy details the unique needs and vulnerabilities of transgender people in the family law context. I hope transgender people will read and share it with their attorneys as they plan a family, navigate the dissolution of a relationship or a custody dispute, or simply seek to protect their rights and those of their children.”
The chapters address a broad range of topics, including:
* Culturally Competent Representation
* Recognition of Name and Sex
* Relationship Recognition and Protections
* Protecting Parental Rights
* Relationship Dissolution
* Parental Rights after Relationship Dissolution
* Custody Disputes Involving Transgender Children
* Protections for Transgender Youth
* Intimate Partner Violence
* Estate Planning and Elder Law
In addition to chapters authored by Levi and Monnin-Browder, contributors to Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy include Kylar W. Broadus, Patience Crozier, Benjamin L. Jerner, Michelle B. LaPointe, Morgan Lynn, Shannon Price Minter, Zack M. Paakkonen, Terra Slavin, Wayne A. Thomas Jr., Esq., Deborah H. Wald and Janson Wu.
For more information, or to purchase a copy of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, visit http://glad.org/TFL .
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organisation dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.
Resource for practitioners to foster quality representation for transgender clients
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is proud to announce the publication of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients. Featuring chapters by attorneys with expertise in both family law and transgender legal advocacy, the book was edited by Jennifer L. Levi , director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project, and Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder, a litigation associate in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray and a former GLAD attorney. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy will be available in bound and electronic versions on May 16, 2012.
“Some of the most heartbreaking stories I have heard in my career as an LGBT legal advocate involve transgender people in family courts,” said Levi, a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. “The rights of transgender people – as parents, spouses, and simply as human beings – are often trammeled in family court because of pervasive bias and misunderstanding. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy is a road map for transgender individuals and their attorneys to navigate the family court system in this evolving area of law.”
“This book tackles a cutting edge area of family law and we’re thrilled to have contributions from some of this country’s most well-respected experts in this field,” said Monnin-Browder. “Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy details the unique needs and vulnerabilities of transgender people in the family law context. I hope transgender people will read and share it with their attorneys as they plan a family, navigate the dissolution of a relationship or a custody dispute, or simply seek to protect their rights and those of their children.”
The chapters address a broad range of topics, including:
* Culturally Competent Representation
* Recognition of Name and Sex
* Relationship Recognition and Protections
* Protecting Parental Rights
* Relationship Dissolution
* Parental Rights after Relationship Dissolution
* Custody Disputes Involving Transgender Children
* Protections for Transgender Youth
* Intimate Partner Violence
* Estate Planning and Elder Law
In addition to chapters authored by Levi and Monnin-Browder, contributors to Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy include Kylar W. Broadus, Patience Crozier, Benjamin L. Jerner, Michelle B. LaPointe, Morgan Lynn, Shannon Price Minter, Zack M. Paakkonen, Terra Slavin, Wayne A. Thomas Jr., Esq., Deborah H. Wald and Janson Wu.
For more information, or to purchase a copy of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, visit http://glad.org/TFL .
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organisation dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
- Mood:
hungry
Sign the petition here.
http://www.glaad.org/blog/petition-chri
Petition Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald's Arrest
Saturday, April 14, 2012 - 4:12pm by Marcus Brock, Media Strategist at GLAAD
Momentum is building as the hearing and trial for Crishaun “CeCe” McDonald approaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The community is encouraged to attend the hearing scheduled for April 24. CeCe was the victim of a violent transphobic and racist assault during the summer of 2011. Since, she has been incarcerated and the only person in the altercation to face legal action, even though her aggressor lacerated her cheek with a drinking glass during the heated exchange. CeCe face charges of “second degree murder” for an act of self-defense where she was injured and her life threatened. Hennepin County Attorney General, Michael Freeman has the authority to review CeCe’s case and drop the charges on the rationale of self-defense, but has yet to do so.
( Read more... )
On April 24, 2012 supporters are encouraged to attend the hearing and evidentiary motions at the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 6th Street S, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The hearing will begin at 9 am. CeCe’s trial is scheduled to follow on April 30 on the 13th floor of the Hennepin County Government Center.
You can also show your support for CeCe by signing the petition, which was organized by the Free CeCe Support Committee.
Sign the petition today in solidarity for Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald and the LGBT community! You can also call, fax or email the attorney general here.
GLAAD urges the media to tell CeCe McDonald's story and the continued discrimination transgender people - particularly transgender women of color - continue to face when trying to participate fully in their communities.
http://www.glaad.org/blog/petition-chri
Petition Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald's Arrest
Saturday, April 14, 2012 - 4:12pm by Marcus Brock, Media Strategist at GLAAD
Momentum is building as the hearing and trial for Crishaun “CeCe” McDonald approaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The community is encouraged to attend the hearing scheduled for April 24. CeCe was the victim of a violent transphobic and racist assault during the summer of 2011. Since, she has been incarcerated and the only person in the altercation to face legal action, even though her aggressor lacerated her cheek with a drinking glass during the heated exchange. CeCe face charges of “second degree murder” for an act of self-defense where she was injured and her life threatened. Hennepin County Attorney General, Michael Freeman has the authority to review CeCe’s case and drop the charges on the rationale of self-defense, but has yet to do so.
( Read more... )
On April 24, 2012 supporters are encouraged to attend the hearing and evidentiary motions at the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 6th Street S, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The hearing will begin at 9 am. CeCe’s trial is scheduled to follow on April 30 on the 13th floor of the Hennepin County Government Center.
You can also show your support for CeCe by signing the petition, which was organized by the Free CeCe Support Committee.
Sign the petition today in solidarity for Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald and the LGBT community! You can also call, fax or email the attorney general here.
GLAAD urges the media to tell CeCe McDonald's story and the continued discrimination transgender people - particularly transgender women of color - continue to face when trying to participate fully in their communities.
- Location:Boston, MA, United States
As part of a recent wide ranging interview with NYC based bisexual & genderqueer photographer, writer and activist Morgan Good, well know bi-identified Bilerico columnist Amy Andre asked Morgan, a Board Member with BiNet USA to give a quick snapshot on the bisexual community in the USA right now:
( Read more... )- Location:Brooklyn
- Mood:
thoughtful
Hello! We are part of a diverse research team composed of graduate students and faculty members at Teachers College, Columbia University. We are looking for individuals who would like to participate in a research study exploring the life experiences of South Asian sexual minority men (men whose sexual orientations are gay, bisexual, or queer). This survey should only take about 20 minutes of your time.
After reading below, if you are willing and eligible, please click on the link provided below. Thank you in advance for your time and input. We would really appreciate it if you could pass this message along to anyone else that you think may be eligible and willing to participate, it would be greatly appreciated!
Eligibility Criteria:
* Must be at least 18 years old
*Must identify as a sexual minority man (for example: gay, bisexual, or queer)
*Must identify as South Asian or of South Asian Descent
*Must reside in the United States
If you meet the above eligibility criteria and are interested in participating, please click on the below link to take you to the survey:
https://columbia.qualtrics.com/SE/?S
***This study has been approved by the Teachers College, Columbia University Institutional Review Board: Protocol #12-170. If you have any complaints, questions, concerns, or would like to know the results of the study, please feel free to contact Dr. Riddhi Sandil at sandil@tc.columbia.edu
After reading below, if you are willing and eligible, please click on the link provided below. Thank you in advance for your time and input. We would really appreciate it if you could pass this message along to anyone else that you think may be eligible and willing to participate, it would be greatly appreciated!
Eligibility Criteria:
* Must be at least 18 years old
*Must identify as a sexual minority man (for example: gay, bisexual, or queer)
*Must identify as South Asian or of South Asian Descent
*Must reside in the United States
If you meet the above eligibility criteria and are interested in participating, please click on the below link to take you to the survey:
https://columbia.qualtrics.com/SE/?S
***This study has been approved by the Teachers College, Columbia University Institutional Review Board: Protocol #12-170. If you have any complaints, questions, concerns, or would like to know the results of the study, please feel free to contact Dr. Riddhi Sandil at sandil@tc.columbia.edu
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-obam
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Once, long ago, Evie looked after "Barry" Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world's most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia's streets.
Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. She describes how soldiers once shaved her long, black hair to the scalp and smashed out glowing cigarettes onto her hands and arms.
The turning point came when she found a transgender friend's bloated body floating in a backed-up sewage canal two decades ago. She grabbed all her girlie clothes in her arms and stuffed them into two big boxes. Half-used lipstick, powder, eye makeup — she gave them all away.
"I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn't want to die like that," says Evie, now 66, her lips trembling slightly as the memories flood back. "So I decided to just accept it. ... I've been living like this, a man, ever since."
( Read more... )
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Once, long ago, Evie looked after "Barry" Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world's most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia's streets.
Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. She describes how soldiers once shaved her long, black hair to the scalp and smashed out glowing cigarettes onto her hands and arms.
The turning point came when she found a transgender friend's bloated body floating in a backed-up sewage canal two decades ago. She grabbed all her girlie clothes in her arms and stuffed them into two big boxes. Half-used lipstick, powder, eye makeup — she gave them all away.
"I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn't want to die like that," says Evie, now 66, her lips trembling slightly as the memories flood back. "So I decided to just accept it. ... I've been living like this, a man, ever since."
( Read more... )
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