The gender-inclusive version of ENDA is going to be introduced in the Senate today, & we REALLY REALLY need this, & so REALLY REALLY need you to contact your senators.
PFLAG has a tidy little letter to send to your senators.
PLEASE DO THIS.
Matt Barber’s Lobotomy Was Covered, Apparently
Matt Barber, the former policy director of Concerned Women for America, is raising the bogeyman of funding for trans genital surgeries being covered by the health care proposed by the Obama administration.
As a commenter at Pam’s House Blend has pointed out, however, there is no such plan.
An article at Oregon magazine quotes some of the language Barber is interpreting as being about transgender people/diagnoses:
“Page 972 of the House version of the bill (H.R. 3200) provides for “standards, as appropriate, for the collection of accurate data on health and health care” based on “sex, sexual orientation [and] gender identity.” The Senate draft indicates that the government will “detect and monitor trends in health disparities,” requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to “develop standards for the measurement of gender.” (i.e., officially recognize subjectively self-determined “transgender” or “transsexual” gender identities). It further mandates ‘‘participation in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups from…different genders and sexual orientations.”
which comes straight from Barber’s article/press release which also appeared in Canada’s Free Press (which bills itself as a “conservative free press”). The bolded bits are Barber’s interpretation of what the House & Senate versions actually say.
You can email Matt Barber directly at jmattbarber@comcast.net.
TransPartner-phobia?
An MTF spectrum person murdered hir wife, & the Nebraska affiliate of ABC that reported it made this comment:
Experts on transgender and cross dressing say it’s unusual for such cases to end in violence, and when they do, it’s usually the cross dresser who is the victim.
& Granted, the phrase “such cases” is incredibly vague, but still, I want to know which experts they interviewed, because in all of the 9 years I have been working in the trans community, I have yet to hear of a case of a non-trans spouse murdering his/her trans spouse. I’m not saying it’s impossible – I’m just saying I’ve never heard of it. If anyone knows of a case, I would like to know about it.
However, there’s the trans woman who killed her husband in Cleveland, and the upstate NY crossdressing doctor who killed his wife, & now this case.
I am not saying that transgender people aren’t victims of violence way too often. They are murdered in hateful ways way too often. However, I have never heard of a trans person who was murdered by their own spouse. Instead they are often murdered by: strangers, johns, dates.
I am also not saying that trans people are homicidal, because they aren’t.
I am also not saying that partners of trans people are saints, by any stretch.
I would just like to know on what evidence this assertion by “experts” was based.
So this pisses me off, since the experts implied that spouses are often the murderers, when/if there is a trans person married to a non-trans person, and as far as I know, there is no evidence whatsoever to back up that assertion.
Happy Nearly-Equal Day in WI
Big Blinking Caveats
Has everyone seen this article about girls & superheros from Thursday’s NYT? Interesting stuff.
Little girls don’t embrace superheroes as often or avidly as boys. That may in part be developmental. With the big blinking caveats that there are vast variations within — as opposed to between — the sexes and that nature is heavily influenced by nurture, research on sex and play indicates that little boys are more readily drawn to competitive, rough-and-tumble activities, while little girls (again, big blinking caveat, see above) strive for group harmony over individual dominance. Beyond that, let’s face it, the choices for girls have not exactly been compelling: who can even remember Batgirl’s secret identity? (She was Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara.)
I like her big blinking caveats myself, but I’m going to bold them, anyway.
(h/t to Sarah for sending it)
Two Tune Tuesday: Marco’s Guitar
No, “Marco’s Guitar” isn’t the name of the band; I’m talking about Marco Pirroni, long-time Ants guitarist, original Siouxie & the Banshees guitarist, & his current work with a band called The Wolfmen. The time you got to hear him and didn’t know it was probably in the Sinead O’Connor track Jump in the River, which he rocks, and of course I threw in some of the fine, fine, Ennio Morricone inspired stuff from the Ants days: Clint. Eastwood.
How much do I wish Adam would come back just to get that guitar back? A lot.
That Wolfmen song is one of the reasons I was really holding out on Betty changing her name to Jackie. (There just are no good songs about Rachels, but plenty of good ones about Jackies, & Betty’s the kind of person you write songs about. Or books, say, if you can’t write songs.)
Getting Married
We’re with some friends today who are getting married, and with other friends, friends of friends, family of friends. It’s lovely to be around all these people celebrating the love & commitment of two fantastic people.
There are two poems that will be part of their ceremony below the break.
Believe It Or Not
I’ll be speaking at Tri-Ess’ annual “Holiday en Femme” this year, which will happen in Chicago, from November 4th – 8th.
Honestly, I miss crossdressers so I’m sure I’ll have a blast.
Summer Wedding Clothes
Honestly, what do you wear when you’re me, for a summer wedding, when you’re doing a reading & want to feel confident & where a bunch of people will be looking at you?
I’m not the long tunic/flowing pants type. I’m not the sundress type. Everything I own is black.
Miss Thing tells me she has no appropriate sandals. I do not understand how someone can own 50 pairs of shoes & not own the right sandals (especially when she doesn’t know what dress she’s wearing yet).
On top of the rest, it may rain, which means nothing too sheer.
*sigh*
I am so bad at formal clothes.
Why We Love Neil Gaiman
Aside from the ferocious, sympathetic trans characters in Sandman, there’s this story, about how he told his daughter Holly that she was named after an infamous Holly.
(This post is dedicated to B., who is about the only other teenager I know who is this cool.)