I’d like to offer my apologies to those in the Genderific Book Group of Phoenix. Michael Brown & I crossed wires over logistics. I’d be happy to re-schedule.
Breaking: CA Court Declares Same Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
Wow.
More Hateful Violence
The NYPD has a bad record with its treatment of trans people, so one woman – who was arrested for an illegal subway swipe – is suing them.
A trans woman named was killed in DC this week, and the DC Trans Coalition reports other violence as well.
I am never going to understand this kind of violence.
HUD: Equal Access to Housing Rule Trans-Inclusive
Wow. Housing non-discrimination for trans people? Really? What amazing news. Via NCTE:
“I am proud to announce a new Equal Access to Housing Rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT individuals and couples have the right to live where they choose […] If you are denying HUD housing to people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, actual or perceived, you’re discriminating, you’re breaking the law, and you will be held accountable. That’s what equal access means, and that’s what this rule is going to do.”
The new rule makes several urgently needed changes to current federal housing and housing-related programs including: prohibiting owners and operators of federally-funded or federally-insured housing, as well as lenders offering federally-insured mortgages from discriminating based on gender identity or sexual orientation;and clarifying the definition of “family” to ensure that LGBT families are not excluded from HUD programs.
Read the whole article. Honestly, when i first started doing advocacy around trans issues, I didn’t expect to see these kinds of rules put in place by 2012.
100 Trans Blogs
Sugar and Slugs put together a list of 100 trans-related blogs; not all of them are primarily dedicated to trans issues, but still, this is pretty amazing.
I think there were three when I started, & I’m not sure any of those are still online/active.
Buy Girl Scout Cookies
If you haven’t yet heard, a Girl Scout troop allowed a young trans girl to join and in response, people are boycotting the sale of Girl Scout cookies.
Which, to my mind, means: more for us! These will be the most guilt-free cookies ever.
The Girl Scouts, by the way, have continued to support an inclusive membership policy despite the boycott.
Shit Trans Guys Say
I know everyone is sick of these already, but I find this one charming:
More interesting is the same guy’s musings on being “trans enough”.
Shit Cis People Say to Trans People
You knew it was coming:
“You transgenders are so inspiring” is probably my fave.
That said: we have had plenty, PLENTY of trans women ask us if my partner has had “the surgery”, how we have sex exactly, and whether she is gay, was gay, and whether or not I was/am/have become a lesbian.
Transition-Related Care is Tax Deductible
How’s that for good news for an upcoming tax season?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has affirmed that transgender people can deduct their hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery expenses. This announcement indicates that the IRS will follow the U.S. Tax Court’s 2010 ruling in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner, which held that gender identity disorder (GID) is a medical condition, and transgender people receiving hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery as treatment for GID may deduct these costs as medical expenses.
NCTE has links to the .pdf of the IRS announcement as well as the tax trial that set the precedent.
Be Who You Are
Alas, another children’s book about a trans child, this one called Be Who You Are, about a young girl who is born male-bodied.
The only thing that bugs me about this is the idea of using the term “gender non-conforming” for a child like this. On the surface of it, sure. But it’s exactly the gender typical femininity of such kids that often convinces people they are trans in the first place; if she were more of a tomboy, her trans status wouldn’t be as obvious to people, right?