National Media Follows the Latest on Proposed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal
March 18, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
This morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee held an informal hearing on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ where they heard testimony from Former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Jenny Kopfstein and Air Force Major Mike Almy, both Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who explained the detrimental effect of the current law on the strength of their units and their own lives.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director Aubrey Sarvis stated in this morning’s press release, “Not only did they explain how the archaic ban is harming military preparedness, but they illustrated the generational divide on the issue” – referring to the opposing stance of some older members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In testimony before the same committee just two days ago, however, General David Petraeus said “the time has come to consider a change” to the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, according to CBS News. With these sentiments, Gen. Petraeus joins the ranks of Adm. Michael Mullen, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Gen. Colin Powell calling for a thorough review of the policy.
On the Senate floor, the historic bill Military Readiness Enhancement Act authorizing the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Carl Levin has picked up 25 cosponsors in two weeks.
Across town this afternoon, ABC News reported that Lieutenant Dan Choi and Captain James Pietrangelo II chained themselves to the front gate of the White House in protest of the policy, resulting in their arrest – which ABC News captured on video.
GLAAD will continue to keep you updated on mainstream media coverage of the push to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
Related Posts:Our Families Count Encourages LGBT People and Allies to Participate in the Census
March 18, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
“The Census counts, and so do I” is the primary message of the new video “We All Count!” produced by Our Families Count, a public education campaign to increase the visibility of LGBT people on the 2010 U.S. Census.
As Census forms are delivered to households across the country during the month of March, Our Families Count is working hard to ensure that LGBT Americans understand the importance of filling them out, as statistics gathered from each Census guides vital government decisions, from redistricting to funding allocations for social services.
While this year’s Census records only five identity areas (age, sex, race/ethnicity, relationship, tenure of stay in your home), under Relationship same-sex couples have the opportunity to be counted as either “unmarried partners” or as husband/wife.”
In an interview with GayPolitics.com, Our Families Count coordinator Che Ruddell-Tabisola explained, “What is different for the LGBT community…is that the Census will count same-sex couples as we define ourselves – whether as unmarried, same-sex adult partners (as in 2000), or as married same-sex husbands or wives.”
On their website, Our Families Count details:
“In order to be counted as a same-sex couple, one of the partners must be listed as ‘Person 1’ (since the Census asks each household member to list how he/she is related to Person 1). Same-sex couples who have been legally married or consider themselves to be spouses should identify the other person as a ‘husband or wife’.” Our Families Count does acknowledge that “those terms fit some – but certainly not all – LGBT households.”
While this Census will not record information about an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Our Families Count encourages those “who are living with a spouse or partner [to] indicate that relationship by checking either the ‘husband/wife’ or ‘unmarried partner’ box” while advocates continue to push for congressional legislation to expand the identity categories recorded by the Census.
Although this means that transgender people cannot officially identify as such, Our Families Count notes that “the census asks each of us to tell the truth as we understand it. Check the box on the census form that most closely reflects your current gender identity.”
For further resources regarding the U.S. Census, check out the U.S. Census Bureau Toolkit for LGBT Communities.
GLAAD is a proud partner of Our Families Count and encourages all LGBT people and allies to fill out your Census and send it back to ensure our community’s full visibility.
Related Posts:Prodigal Sons Heads to LA after Successful NYC Run
March 17, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Tonight and Thursday night will be your last chance to catch Kimberly Reed’s autobiographical documentary, Prodigal Sons, at the Cinema Village in New York City. (Click here for tickets & showtimes.) After a nice long run, accompanied by multiple Q&A events, on Friday the film heads to Los Angeles theaters.
On opening night Friday, March 19th at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theater, GLAAD’s Entertainment Media Manager Jonathan Rosales will introduce the 7:30 screening and lead a Q&A afterwards with Kimberly.
Reed will also host her own Q&A sessions there after the 7:20pm and 9:45pm screenings on Sat, March 20th and the 3:00pm and 5:10pm screenings on Sun, March 21st.
Prodigal Sons will also be opening in Irvine at the Edwards Westpark 8 theater on the 19th, before continuing on to open in Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, San Diego, and several other locations around the country in the following weeks.
GLAAD congratulates Kimberly Reed and the Prodigal Sons team on their successful New York run and will continue to support their efforts to increase accurate and inclusive representations of transgender people in the media.
For additional information about the film and screenings, please visit www.prodigalsonsfilm.com.
Related Posts:Report on Transgender Employment Discrimination in New York Finds Ongoing Bias
March 16, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Julian Brolaski, a transgender man that was refused work at J. Crew (NY Daily News)
On Sunday, LGBT rights supporters gathered outside J Crew on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to protest the results of a recent report that found the retailer biased against openly transgender applicants. Make the Road New York, a non-profit that promotes economic justice, equity and opportunity for all New Yorkers, conducted research into the hiring practices of 24 retail stores in Manhattan by sending two otherwise evenly matched applicants into the stores, one transgender and one not. On Sunday, they released their findings in a report titled “Transgender Need Not Apply: A Report on Gender Identity Job Discrimination.”
According to the New York Daily News, one of the openly transgender applicants, Yo Smith (a 39-year-old transwoman performance artist), did not receive a single job offer from the dozens of retailers she applied to, but her non-trans counterpart received eight.
Overall, the report “found a 42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants… [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender.”
A listing of the results by employer can be found on The Gothamist blog. Atop the list sits J Crew, where one of the transgender test applicants “was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called,” while his cisgender* testing counterpart was interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.
As Make the Road New York’s Irene Tung told The Gothamist, “The two separate instances of discrimination are considered by the Attorney General and also by social scientists who specialize in matched pair testing, to be especially egregious because they represent a pattern of discrimination. So it is this pattern of discrimination we are singling out at J. Crew.” The group has filed a job-discrimination complaint with the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
The San Diego Gay & Lesbian News reported that this effort has been endorsed by the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, FIERCE, LGBT Equality Coalition of Queens, Queers for Economic Justice and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
While New York City Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination on the basis of either sexual orientation or gender identity, openly transgender job applicants have continued to experience discrimination, as this report confirms. New York still lacks state-wide protections against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, although advocates are hopeful that the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) will pass through the New York Senate this year, after an early-March victory in the Assembly, where it has now passed three times.
GLAAD will continue to keep you updated on media coverage of employment discrimination against transgender people.
…
* In her book, Transgender History, Susan Stryker defines cisgender as preferred over nontransgender. The prefix cis means “on the same side as” (that is, the opposite of trans). The idea behind the term is to resist the way that “woman” or “man” can mean “nontransgender woman” or “nontransgender man” by default. “Cisgender” names the usually unstated assumption of nontransgender status contained in the words “man” and woman.”
Related Posts:VH1’s “TRANSform Me” Highlights Trans Identity for the Non-Trans Community
March 16, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Last night VH1 premiered its new makeover reality show “TRANSform Me,” starring three transgender women, Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, and Nina Poon. Each episode follows the trio as they aid women across the country to realize their inner selves, with the help of their “glambulance.”
While “TRANSform Me” does present only a certain type of transgender woman and glorifies only a certain kind of femininity, it seems to remain genuine to each of the women’s identities and excels at discussing transgender identity and experiences in a very accessible way. The most praise-worthy aspect of this show is not so much its frank discussion of gender identity, but the way it relates the experiences of transwomen to those of cisgender* women, demonstrating the universality of the desire to match one’s outward self-presentation with one’s inner identity.
As Laverne Cox begins to consult with the subject of their first transformation, Nicole (a 25-year-old who recently lost 60 pounds but still wears her old clothing), she explains, “We all basically felt differently inside than we were on the outside, and we took steps to change that. That’s exactly what you did when you lost weight, right? …So we’re going to use what we’ve learned transforming ourselves to transform you.”
(L to R) Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, and Nina Poon
On the show, Cox, Clayton, and Poon also break down the fundamentals of trans identity for those who have never considered issues of gender identity before. When Nicole asks Laverne Cox the naïve but typical question “You used to be man?”, Cox laughs and then gives the nuanced answer, “Sort of. We’re transgender, so we always felt like we were little girls inside, but when we were born what was on the outside suggested differently.”
As the three strive to bring out Nicole’s “inner goddess,” they also succeed in showing the audience their own. Even if that might not be the way every woman would describe her process of self-actualization, we can all agree with Jamie’s closing sentiment, “We know how intense it is to finally see yourself realized the way that you’ve always pictured.”
GLAAD commends VH1 for their thoughtful production of this show and looks forward to more inclusive and educational episodes of “TRANSform Me” each week. Visit their fan page, where they link to the Audre Lorde Project, GLAAD, and additional resources about transgender identity.
GLAAD has worked closely with the show to ensure accurate terminology is used throughout all episodes. We also provided advice on how the three stars can effectively speak to the national media about the the importance of this groundbreakng program.
….
* In her book, Transgender History, Susan Stryker defines cisgender as preferred over nontransgender. The prefix cis means “on the same side as” (that is, the opposite of trans). The idea behind the term is to resist the way that “woman” or “man” can mean “nontransgender woman” or “nontransgender man” by default. “Cisgender” names the usually unstated assumption of nontransgender status contained in the words “man” and “woman.”
Related Posts:ABCNews.com Perpetuates Claims of Problematic ‘Expert’
March 9, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
This morning ABCNews.com published an article based on the outcry against Life & Style magazine for targeting the gender expression and identity of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s child, Shiloh. (Please see this recent update blog as well.) To its credit ABC quoted fair-minded childhood psychologists and representatives of GLAAD. But unfortunately the the piece also amplified several dangerous messages from a so-called ‘expert’ from the anti-LGBT organization, Focus on the Family.
ABC’s original article also carried a headline that nearly mirrored the defamatory one appearing on the cover of Life & Style’s March 1st edition: “Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: Turning Shiloh into a Boy?” After discussion with GLAAD’s Director of National News, ABC agreed to change the headline to the current “Mag: Brangelina Dressing Shiloh Boyish.”
But the story still devotes a vast amount of space to the views of Glenn Stanton, who represents the virulently anti-LGBT organization, Focus on the Family. Stanton does not have the expertise or qualifications to speak credibly about raising children and it was irresponsible of ABCNews.com to perpetuate his unsubstantiated views. As GLAAD’s Senior Director of Programs Rashad Robinson recently noted in his critique of Life & Style “We believe media has a responsibility to differentiate between credible authorities and politically motivated (and usually self-proclaimed) experts like Focus on the Family’s Glenn Stanton.”
Please join in our Call to Action against Life & Style for their original publication, and call on ABCNews.com to correct its missteps as well.
Click here to contact ABC News
Related Posts:GLAAD Trained Couples First to Wed as Ceremonies Begin in D.C.
March 9, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Today marks the first day that same-sex couples can legally marry in Washington, D.C. After applying for marriage licenses last Wednesday, couples were finally able to be married this morning. First among these pioneering gay and lesbian couples to say their vows and have their marriage license signed were Sinjoyla Townsend and Angelisa Young, one of the couples for whom GLAAD was happy to provide media training and assistance on the ground over the past week.
Sinjoyla Townsend (L) and Angelisa Young (CNN.com)
Working in conjunction with Campaign for All DC Families, GLAAD’s Senior Media Field Strategist, Adam Bass, is present at the Equality Center-- where the first ceremonies are taking place – and live tweeting the historic and touching moments from the proceedings. At 8:30 this morning the marriage licenses for those who applied last Wednesday were available for couples to pick up. By 10:45 am EST Sinjoyla and Angelisa were married, and at 11:00 am their license was signed, making the bond official.
Rocky Galloway (L) and Reginald Stanley with Rev. Sylvia E. Sumter (AP)
Following that ceremony, Rocky Galloway and Reggie Stanley and then Candy Holmes and Darlene Garner became the second and third same-sex couples to legally wed in the nation’s capital city. Jessica Gresko of the Associated Press described 100 guests sitting on white chairs, surrounded by snapdragons, roses, and carnations as the pastor pronounced the couples “partners in life this day and for always.”
These first marriages were highly celebrated, and AP also talked to many same-sex couples who planned to wed at the courthouse over the next weeks. The courthouse, which normally holds 3-4 weddings each day is expecting 10-12 per day over the next several weeks.
Darlene Garner (L) and Candy Holmes (AP)
GLAAD applauds the media for its extensive coverage of this historic moment and congratulates all those couples who are paving the way toward full marriage equality.
Related Posts:GLAAD On the Ground In D.C. As Couples Prepare to Marry
March 3, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Two of GLAAD’s media field strategists are in Washington, D.C. helping elevate the voices of numerous couples who are set to marry. By 9 am this morning, 60 same-sex couples had lined up outside the D.C. Superior Court to file their applications for marriage licenses, according to The Washington Post. Today marks the first day that the District of Columbia will accept same-sex applications, and the first couples will receive their licenses as soon as Tuesday, March 9th.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 passed the D.C. Council and was signed by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in December but then had to survive the mandatory congressional review period as well because Washington is a federal district. With the review period’s expiration on Tuesday and Supreme Court Justice Robert’s denial of a last-minute request by opponents to stay the new law, however, the marriage equality bill went into effect this morning, making D.C. the sixth location in the country to issue licenses to same-sex couples (joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont).
In preparation for the day, commemorative pens and celebratory cupcakes were on hand at the court. The Associated Press reported that the D.C. marriage bureau also changed the language of its applications and civil marriage ceremonies to be gender-neutral.
GLAAD media field strategists, Adam Bass and Daryl Hannah are on the ground in D.C. providing extensive media assistance to couples as they apply for their newly-legalized marriage licenses. GLAAD is proud to support loving couples who are making lifelong commitment to take care of and be responsible for one another. We’ll continue to keep you updated on all of the latest developments.
Related Posts:Sassafras Lowrey’s Kicked Out Anthology Shares Stories of LGBTQ Youth Homelessness
February 25, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
International award-winning artist, former homeless youth, and former GLAAD Young Adult Media Fellow Sassafras Lowrey releases her anthology of writings from homeless queer youth and their advocates and allies.
Kicked Out is the first book of its kind to bring together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth and combine them with the nuanced perspectives of national organizations like The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and The National Alliance Against Homelessness. Kicked Out is more than an anthology. It is a social movement dedicated to supporting homeless youth, building community with survivors and raising awareness about the epidemic of LGBTQ youth homelessness.
“This anthology introduced by Judy Shepard, gives voice to the voiceless and challenges the stereotypical face of homelessness.”
February 5th marked the national release of the work at the 2010 National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, when Sassafras hosted a signing event and watched the first published copies of her work travel off into the world, where they are bound to draw much needed attention to these often-silenced lives.
Photo Credit: Samantha Box
Published by Homofactus Press, and beautifully illustrated with compelling photography by Samantha Box, this anthology – in Sassafras’ words – is for all those who have “lost their friends, families and homes because of whom they love or how they define their gender.”
Kicked Out has already garnered glowing media attention from a handful of outlets, including a 35-minute segment on “Out Loud,” a queer show on KBOO radio station in Portland, Oregon, featuring interviews with Sassafras, four contributors, and representatives of organizations like the Circus Project, which enable homeless and at-risk youth.
Photo Credit: Samantha Box
To meet the anthology contributors, view resources on youth homelessness, and purchase a copy of Kicked Out, please visit www.kickedoutanthology.com.
Sassafras will continue hosting local release events around the country, including a New York City release on March 19th at The LGBT Community Center and a series of awareness-raising events in Boston in late April. GLAAD is happy to be helping Sassafras pitch her book to mainstream media outlets in hope of bringing these stories into more homes across the country.
We will keep you informed about the progress of this vitally important anthology. We urge all GLAAD supporters to pick up a copy.
Related Posts:Five Gay and Lesbian Los Angeles Area Rabbis to Speak on Jewish Journal Panel
February 25, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Zachary Shapiro (Temple Akiba) and Denise Eger (Kol Ami)
Dr. J.B. Sacks (Faculty, Academy for Jewish Religion)
On Tuesday, March 2, five gay and lesbian rabbis from the Los Angeles area will speak out during a panel sponsored by the Jewish Journal at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., at 7:30 p.m. PST. Jewish leaders are increasingly progressive when it comes to LGBT inclusion. Reform, Conservative and Reconstruction Jewish traditions are on record for full inclusion of LGBT persons. As gay and lesbian rabbis in California, they know that the court challenge to Proposition 8 is just one of many efforts to let Californians and the country know that full and legal equality is the only fair and acceptable outcome.
Lisa Edwards (Beth Chayim Chadashim) and Jocee Hudson (Temple Israel of Hollywood)
With polls showing increasing support among diverse religious groups, it is clear that hearts and minds everywhere will be persuaded more quickly if progressive faith leaders speak out. To watch and listen through a live stream go to http://www.jewishjournal.com/live_broadcast.
Related Posts:Details Magazine Stumbles in Addressing Parental Homophobia
February 24, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
The recent Details magazine article by David Hochman “Would You Really Be Okay with a Gay Kid?” attempts to convey the insecurities straight fathers today feel about having gay sons. Unfortunately, in doing so Hochman presents a one-sided portrait of gay identity and self-expression that conflates sexual orientation with gender expression and appears to uphold rigid standards of masculinity and heterosexuality even as it seeks to broaden readers’ minds.
While Hochman also includes fair-minded opinions from developmental psychology experts, the article seems to legitimize the discomfort, even homophobia, a handful of anonymous fathers voiced in discussing their feelings about their own sons being gay.
He writes, “You may chuckle when little Leo dons butterfly wings and plays tea party for the third day in a row (hey, it’s just a little gender blurring), but you’re really thinking, No, God, no.” By quoting a series of otherwise-liberal dads, who have no problem interacting with gay people outside of their family but cringe at the possibility of having a gay son, Hochman implies that no parent could ever be pleased to have a gay child.
What seems to be most at issue for these fathers, however, has very little to do with their sons’ actual sexuality and everything to do with their gender expression – a distinction Hochman never directly makes, thereby leaving in tact the stereotype that all gay men are effeminate and all effeminate men are gay. Whereas the article purports to question parental homophobia, it turns out to focus solely on male fears about signs of their sons’ deviation from traditional masculine standards. There is also a notable lack of discussion about their gay daughters.
The original online article also included an inappropriately sexual, and crudely cropped, photograph of a rainbow popsicle entering a child’s mouth on the second page. Details removed the picture after GLAAD called with concerns. Editor-in-chief, Dan Peres acknowledged after further reflection that the image was highly inappropriate and told us it was removed from the online version and won’t make it into print. GLAAD pointed out to Details that the image served only to sensationalize the topic and divert attention from the fathers’ misplaced fears to the children’s sexuality.
In looking at the article as a whole, Details missed an opportunity to discuss the very real problem of parental insecurities around both their children’s sexuality and gender expression. This is the second time in as many months that Details has published a problematic article related to LGBT-identity, following a defamatory piece referring to bisexual women as “hasbians” in January. While the effort to discuss parental distress with gender nonconformity is laudable, the casual tone of the writing and treatment of the subject overshadow the original intention. If the sentiment of the article’s closing line, calling for unconditional parental support, could have resonated throughout, the reporting would have been greatly improved.
We encourage you to contact Details to express your concern about the magazine’s problematic coverage of men’s discomfort regarding the idea of having gay sons.
Related Posts:“The Dr. Oz Show” Raises the Bar for Transgender Talk Show Coverage
February 18, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
This afternoon the highly anticipated Dr. Oz Show episode featuring transgender children and their families aired, exhibiting some of the best nationally televised conversations about gender identity, despite some missteps in promotional materials and on-screen visuals.
In the introductory segment of his hour-long health show, Dr. Mehmet Oz hosted two transgender children and their families to discuss their process of realizing and embracing their respective identities. Eight-year-old Josie and her mother Vanessia, members of the organization Trans Youth Family Allies, who some may recognize from their recent appearance on “The Tyra Show,” talked about first learning the word transgender and how drastically Josie’s life improved once she stopped being forced into a masculine identity that did not fit her. Next, fifteen-year old Isaac and his parents Arturo and Monica explained how they decided that taking hormone blockers and undergoing a double-mastectomy would be best for him. While references to surgery and anatomy did come up, Dr. Oz did not focus on those aspects of their stories. Instead, the producers refreshingly included footage of Isaac stating that while the hormones and surgery helped, “I’ve always been me.”
While talking with each family, Dr. Oz consulted guest expert Dr. Robert Garofalo, a pediatrician who advises hundreds of children and their families about gender transitions, allowing the audience to hear probably the healthiest medical opinion of transgender identity ever broadcast. After Dr. Oz presented the phrase “Gender Identity Disorder” and let it linger on the screen behind his transgender guest, Dr. Garofalo was quick to calmly emphasize that the term disorder is not broadly accepted by transgender community members and allies. While Dr. Garofalo acknowledged that the prescription of hormone blockers is relatively new – and therefore under-researched, he stressed that the decision should lie primarily with the children and their families rather than medical professionals.
Alongside this groundbreaking content, however, sensationalized portrayals of the topic remained in the promotional videos for the episode, and even in the episode’s open-ended title, “Transgender Kids: Too Young To Decide?”, which also hovered in the background throughout the segment.
Though the show certainly left room for improvement in its promotional methods and on-screen images, GLAAD applauds Dr. Oz and his producers for providing an exemplary discussion of gender identity, unprecedented in its refrain from an intrusive focus on anatomy.
Take Action to Thank the Dr. Oz Producers for Their Coverage of Transgender Children:
We encourage all viewers, advocates, and allies to write letters of thanks to Dr. Oz and his producers to let them know how much their segment has improved the standard for media presentations of transgender-related topics.
Please send emails to susan@zoco.com. If you would like to sign a model thank you letter we have drafted, please click here. Help us generate future episodes of equal or greater caliber.
Related Posts:New NYC Welfare Procedure Addresses Anti-Transgender Discrimination
February 17, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project celebrated the recent victory of their collaborative Welfare Justice Campaign in preventing discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers applying for public services.
The Human Resources Administration of the City of New York (HRA) adopted Procedure No. P-09-22 on December 23, 2009 after a five-year campaign led by the above organizations and a number of elected city officials. The Procedure circulated among all HRA staff, titled “Serving Transgender, Transsexual and Gender Nonconforming Individuals” highlights “a few key areas where employees should pay special attention to prevent creating a discriminatory or unwelcoming environment for transgender clients,” including Titles, Names and Pronoun usage, Access to Restrooms, and Dress Code.
At Wednesday morning’s press conference Jane Corbett, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the HRA expressed that there had been some initial trepidation over how city agencies would receive the new procedure but proudly announced that “there was not one negative reaction.” The procedure will ensure that HRA staff members comply with existing New York City Human Rights Law, amended in 2002 to explicitly protect transgender and gender non-conforming people from discrimination in public accommodations and services, employment and housing, and bias-related harassment.
Discussing the importance of this procedural victory, Tracy Bumpus of Housing Works questioned, “For Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people, what is the value of freedom if we are afraid to seek the life sustaining services offered by HRA because we are discriminated against, made fun of and made to feel less than human?” Their press release cites instances when transgender people applying for government benefits have been turned away and told to return “when they dress more like a girl, or boy.”
Trans and Gender Non-Conforming community members had been fighting this sort of discrimination since 2005 when the HRA along with a Citizen Advisory Transgender Sub Committee developed the draft of a comprehensive procedure, which formed the basis for the HRA Procedure finally implemented in December of 2009. In the wake of this victory, advocates are looking to oversee HRA training methods and curricula, as the implementation phase has presented stumbling blocks for cities that have adopted such procedures in the past.
GLAAD applauds these organizations for their persistence in ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to basic resources, and we encourage local media outlets to spotlight this landmark change in public service procedures.
Related Posts:Sylvia Rivera Law Project Hosts Benefit Art Auction on Thursday, Feb 18
February 16, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
On February 18th, our friends at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) will host their 5th annual party and benefit art auction at Participant Gallery in New York. SRLP is the nation’s leading legal and social advocacy group for transgender communities. The event, Small Works for Big Change, will auction works by 65 artists including Nicole Eisenman, Tony Feher, K8 Hardy, Matt Keegan, Emily Roysdon, Amy Sillman and others.
The event will also feature a live performance by Dynasty Handbag and films by Chitra Ganesh and Rashaad Newsome.
More than a benefit, Small Works for Big Change celebrates the critical work of SRLP and the radical creativity of New York’s most innovative emerging and established contemporary artists. To see the press release for this event, please visit http://srlp.org/swbcpress.
Small Works for Big Change Celebration to Benefit the Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 6:30 – 9:30 PM
Participant Gallery
253 East Houston Street, NYC
For more information about the event please visit http://srlp.org/bigchange
Groundbreaking Dr. Oz Show on Transgender Children Airs Thursday, Feb 18
February 16, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
GLAAD is pleased to announce that on Thursday, February 18th “The Dr. Oz Show” will be airing one of the best 15-minute segments on transgender children to ever appear on national television.
Dr. Oz hosted two transgender children and their families on his show to discuss their experiences growing up and their parents’ decision to support them in their true identity. Representatives from GLAAD and Trans Youth Family Allies were present for the live taping, and we were happy to witness the overwhelming respect and accuracy with which Dr. Oz presented and discussed a topic that has often been mishandled by media professionals.
We encourage all supporters to watch this groundbreaking episode on February 18th. Check here for your local show times/channels. Please check back after it airs for our overview blog.
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