Nina Smith over at Queercents is doing a series on ‘Transgender Finances’ – covering issues like Social Security, marriage, etc. She has already interviewed me, James Green, Jenny Boylan, Jay Sennett and a few other trans people & allies. This series is a great, cool idea, & I’m glad to see someone’s doing it. Thanks, Nina!
Bad News
The body of a transgendered person has been found in the American River in Sacramento, CA. No word yet on how the person died, but we’re bracing to hear the bad news. It’s never a good day when you realize that you’re hoping it’s because of suicide instead of a hate crime/murder.
22 years old, and Latina – which tells me it was a hate crime that put her in that river. Vaya con dios, whoever you are.
Conservative for Obama
A remarkable, short column by Wick Allison, a former Editor of The National Review and current Editor in Chief of D Magazine, where this piece appears.
This sentence, especially, stood out:
It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.
Do read the comments and reactions; it’s a very interesting set of opinions, all pretty articulate.
The b in LGbt
Yesterday was Bisexuality Day. Who knew?
20/20 Hindsight
If we had given a damn about the people who couldn’t pay their mortgages & were being foreclosed upon, and had figured out a way to help them keep their homes, would we be in this mess now?
Please Donate
If you like what we’re doing here & can help us keep doing it, please donate. Thank you so much.
iPod Bites It
Found a useful bit of software for converting .m4a files (Apple’s bullshit) to the .mp3 format, and it’s called dB Power Amp, and it’s pretty easy to use. The only vital thing to know is that you need to install the codec you need – for the type file you want to transfer from – after you install the main program.
In my first round with iTunes, I didn’t know you had to tell it to rip from discs to .mp3; silly me, but I assumed they’d automatically rip to the most popular music file format. So I had a few thousand songs on my recently-deceased iPod still in .m4a format.
The good thing is that you can trade-in your iPod for a gift certificate toward your new player (or iPhone, or whatever) and I got me a Sansa Sandisk Fuze, 8 mg. I’m most pleased that it gives me (1) video (which my 4th gen iPod didn’t have); (2) a voice recorder (which makes it deductible!) and (3) the ability to delete songs from the mp3 player instead of having to do it through my computer’s software, like you have to do with iTunes, which always seemed incredibly stupid to me. (What was I supposed to do – keep a list of stuff I wanted to delete until I got home & made the time to do that? Silly.) After trade-in, and a J&R markdown, I got it for only $80. It’s also Consumer Reports “Best Buy” – which basically means it’ s the best bang for the buck.
So I’m pleased. The thing is so small it fits into that tiny little pocket on the front right bit of your jeans, which means it’ll be small enough for shirt pockets, too.
Another Betty
Betty White just gave out an Emmy along with Mary Tyler Moore, and she looks fantastic. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t had any work done, and honestly, she made Mary Tyler Moore – who’s had too much work done – look even weirder than she did already.
My opinion, only, but I really do feel that when women try to preserve their youth with too much plastic surgery, they kind of end up underlining that they’re old.
My guilty confession is that I’m a late-night Golden Girls addict, which is a genius show. Imagine, a comedy about four women over 50 who all have active sex lives! It seems like such a radical idea, even now. Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White and the late Estelle Getty were all exactly right for their parts, and the writing was corny in an 80s kind of way, but still funny.
My Friend Brian is Right
& He can sing, too!
Congrats, Diane Schroer
& Thank you, ACLU.
WASHINGTON, DC September 19, 2008 — Today the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Diane Schroer, supporting her claim that she was wrongfully denied employment by the Library of Congress after she notified them that she intended to transition.
In 2004, while still living as David, retired US Army Colonel Diane Schroer was offered and accepted a job with the Library of Congress. When she notified her new employers of her intention to transition, the offer was rescinded. After a highly distinguished military career, Col. Schroer decided to fight once more to uphold American values of fairness and justice.
“True to form, Diane Schroer has once again demonstrated her bravery and her commitment to American democracy,” noted Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “By fighting for her rights, she has defended the honor and rights of all transgender people who have been discriminated against on the job. NCTE congratulates her on this historic win and applauds the tremendous work of the ACLU in securing this victory for us all.”
In his ruling United States District Judge James Robertson stated, “After hearing the evidence presented at trial, I conclude that Schroer was discriminated against because of sex in violation of Title VII.” He went on to note, “None of the five assertedly legitimate reasons that the Library has given for refusing to hire Schroer withstands scrutiny.”
Judge Robertson concluded, “In refusing to hire Diane Schroer because her appearance and background did not comport with the decision maker’s sex stereotypes about how men and women should act and appear, and in response to Schroer’s decision to transition, legally, culturally, and physically, from male to female, the Library of Congress violated Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination.”
You can read the whole of the decision at the ACLU’s website (pdf).