Today is
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Archive
Action Alerts
Tell Senator Bayh that you OPPOSE the Federal Marriage Amendment!
full story >>
Indiana House Republicans again walked off the floor on Thursday after Democrats denied them the chance to advance their proposed state constitutional ban on civil marriage for same-sex couples.
full story >>
SB 245 is posted for passage on FRIDAY. The Friday session begins at 8 AM Western KY time (9 am for everyone else in KY). Please voice your opposition to SB 245.
full story >>
Kentucky Fairness Alliance has learned that many of the messages from Fairness supporters opposing SB245 were wrongly written up as supporting this discriminatory Constitutional Amendment last week.
full story >>
Volunteers across the state have already signed up to help defeat discrimination- now join us for our first show of force as we blitz Michigan on Primary Day. Be one of our 1,000 on August 3rd!
full story >>
Michigan now has legislation that allows physicians and hospital staff to refuse non-emergency treatment to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered patients.
full story >>
The government issued new rules last week to airport security and law enforcement agencies, which will impact the transgender community.
full story >>
United Nations to consider resolution opposing sexual orientation-based human rights violations and linking anti-gay bias to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
full story >>
Transsexual Menace is organizing the Unity Rally for Transgender Rights joined by other GLBT organizations to protest HRC's dubious efforts on behalf of transgender inclusion in federal legislation.
full story >>
Activism
Five months after the death of TGNet Arizona founder Alexander John Goodrum, TGNet’s Advisory Board announces plans to merge with another advocacy group, Southern Arizona Gender Alliance (SAGA).
full story >>
California will make history on Monday, March 24th as Assemblyman Mark Leno names a transgendered woman, Theresa Sparks, the Woman of the Year from the 13th Assembly District.
full story >>
The Gill Foundation made grants totaling $2,123,950 to 93 organizations or programs supporting a wide range of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) initiatives and HIV/AIDS programming.
full story >>
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Fort Collins, Colo., against anti-gay Rev. Fred Phelps on the weekend.
full story >>
A Seminole resident wants the city to be among the first in Florida to add protections for transgendered residents. The city's in no rush.
full story >>
Florida to hold statewide Trans/Gender Summit & Townhall Meeting in Orlando July 13 at the GLBCC Center.
full story >>
Members of Georgia's transgendered community offered vocal opposition against a federal bill to ban anti-gay job discrimination based upon the exclusion of protections based on gender identity.
full story >>
The Gender March Exploratory Committee announces a meeting to plan the national gender march on Washington organization.
full story >>
When it comes to the Chicago Pride Parade June 30, there were plenty of winners and one big loser among Illinois' leading politicians.
full story >>
Within every community there are those that find a cause, injustice or revolution for which they can embrace and become passionate. Are you involved? Should you be involved?
full story >>
Members of a transgender panel told ISU students that they are happy with their gender identities, despite some discrimination over the years.
full story >>
Thousands of youth every year are abused, kicked out, or run away from home which is certainly contributed to by their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
full story >>
Topeka gays, fed up with constant attacks by extreme right wing preacher Fred Phelps, are pressing city council to enact GLBT civil rights protections.
full story >>
Transsexuals are constantly harassed and there is a general lack of acceptance by the community, which has forced them to turn to prostitution, a forum organised by transsexuals heard recently.
full story >>
GLAD releases its new publication,
Transgender Legal Issues in New England, a comprehensive outline of the legal protections of transgender people in the six New England states.
full story >>
Protesters march in response to the city's "Police and Good Governance Act," passed Oct. 21 which criminalizes any "man dressed as a woman who transits in the public way causing social perturbation."
full story >>
A patchwork of small rooms stacked with library materials, flyers and bulletin boards, the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center serves as an information center for LGBT people in SW Michigan.
full story >>
A Michigan transgender activist is making waves by running for political office.
full story >>
A national transgender group launched by a Lansing woman plans to march to the state Capitol Saturday to push cities to adopt anti-discrimination laws.
full story >>
Organizers of an event called genderBLUR have come out of the woodwork to hold three consecutive sold-out performances at Patrick's Cabaret this year, with many more in the works.
full story >>
Just as before the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act passed, activists remain divided over how to add protections for the trans community to New York state law.
full story >>
Transgender rights advocates rallied on the steps of City Hall last year in a push for transgender civil rights. They got their wish this year, but say plenty of work remains to be done.
full story >>
When Judy Shepard brought her message of tolerance to Akron, Ohio, in April, she carried a special credential: a union label.
full story >>
Creating Change is in Portland, Oregon, from November 7-10. The Gender Splendor Pre-Conference Institute starts on Thursday, the 7th, at 9:00am. The Conference ends at 1:30 on Sunday, November 10th.
full story >>
Gender Equality Conference held at the Nittany Lion Inn, Penn State University Main Campus.
full story >>
In a parade organized by the Rainbow Pride Coalition, a coalition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual groups, hundreds marched the main strip of the hotel district of Condado, PR.
full story >>
Texas delegates Christina Ocasio and Vanessa Edwards Foster mingle in the crowd, talk political strategy and don't reveal, unless asked, what distinguishes them from nearly everyone else at the DNC.
full story >>
A shelter which serves the transgender population in Galveston, Texas, near Houston, is in danger of closing due to lack of funding.
full story >>
The Dallas Transgender Alliance's membership has grown to 45 in its first month.
full story >>
The newly formed Dallas Transgender Alliance wants John Thomas Gay and Lesbian Community Center officials to add the word transgender to the facility's name.
full story >>
For only the second time in recent years, the transgender community had delegates at the DNC and our needs, while not part of the official platform this year, have been heard by some top Democrats.
full story >>
The Program Director for Pride At Work, AFL-CIO, discusses why the labor movement needs to be supportive of a trans-inclusive ENDA.
full story >>
For many years, our community has debated the place of transgender people in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The time for debate is over. ENDA must be amended to protect transgender people.
full story >>
Members of Congress are being asked to sign pledges they will not discriminate in employment practices based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
full story >>
These are heady days for transgender activists as they strengthen their lobbying efforts and gain civil rights protections in city after city.
full story >>
GLAAD Center for the Study of Media & Society is seeking applications for one Research Initiative to be funded in March 2003 and two commissioned papers to be funded in March and April 2003.
full story >>
NTAC Board of Directors by a unanimous decision established the NTAC Bereavement Fund to help family and friends in the transgender community defray costs associated with the loss of a loved one.
full story >>
Cities across the United States are crossing one of the last civil rights frontiers, extending employment, housing and public accommodation protections to transgendered people.
full story >>
Key activists from The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force traveled from Washington, D.C. to Tacoma this week to provide assistance to Tacoma United for Fairness (TUFF)/No on Initiative 1 campaign.
full story >>
A Tacoma GLBT organization works to preserve an ordinance that provides protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
full story >>
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announced that its Community Impact Fund will distribute $500,000 to support organizing projects that advance full equality for GLBT people.
full story >>
One of the most intricate, important and challenging issues to ever face the Human Rights Campaign is how to grapple both legally and authentically with the issue of "gender identity and expression."
full story >>
We are now accepting submissions for logo/artwork to be considered for the True Spirit 2003 Conference held February 14-17, 2003, in Washington, DC.
full story >>
TransActivism DC, a Washington DC activist consortium, distributed pamphlets at the HRC National Dinner to heighten awareness of the lack of legal protection afforded transgendered people in the US.
full story >>
Gender March on Washington Committee will plan and coordinate a national grassroots effort to culminate in the Gender March in Autumn 2003 or Spring 2004.
full story >>
A new national survey shows that American voters may be more progressive on transgender issues than activists previously thought, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
full story >>
A major study of attitudes toward the transgendered community commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) shows that knowledge of their lives remains vague and often misinformed.
full story >>
HRC poll shows that while most people accept that a person can be transgender, more education is needed to help people better understand the lives of transgender Americans, says HRC.
full story >>
We are seeking help and support from agencies, organizations and other groups in nearby states and elsewhere in order to provide the best education and info at this conference in April 2005.
full story >>
Breaking US News
Monday in a historic vote, the San Diego City Council unanimously voted to amend the city’s Human Dignity Ordinance (HDO) to protect the civil rights of transgender people.
full story >>
After investigating a resident's complaint that [s]he has been harassed by Hobart police, the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice have concluded no civil rights violations took place.
full story >>
Civil rights organizations from across the state come together to persuade the legislature to amend the state’s civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
full story >>
Leslie Fox, a pre-operative transsexual, is tired of being threatened. The individual allegedly harassing Fox is a Hobart, Indiana police officer.
full story >>
Governor Paul Patton is the first governor in the country to grant transgender-inclusive protection for state employees through an executive order. There are over 31,000 people who work for the state.
full story >>
Massachusetts' highest court ruled today that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution, but stopped short of issuing marriage licenses to couples challenging the law.
full story >>
The Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay sex Thursday, ruling that the law was an unconstitutional violation of privacy.
full story >>
After 10+ years of pressure from the transgender and allied community, the Human Rights Campaign announced today they will only support an ENDA that includes both gender identity and expression!
full story >>
Sakia Gunn (right) was stabbed to death May 11 after telling a man she was a lesbian. A week earlier, Jessica Mercado (left), a Latina transgender woman, was found stabbed to death.
full story >>
The Executive Committee of Pride At Work passed a resolution stating that it stands firmly for an inclusive LGBT movement and will only endorse legislation that explicitly includes transgender people.
full story >>
Breaking World News
A WOMAN charged with murdering a transgendered truck driver today pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
full story >>
Three Ontario Superior Court judges unanimously ruled that the current legal definition of marriage is discriminatory, and ordered it changed to include recognition of same-sex marriages.
full story >>
Alberta's legislation to address the legal needs of unmarried, committed relationships becomes law on June 1, 2003.
full story >>
Columns and Features
This year may prove to be a defining one for Australian bisexuals, even though they regard the community's understanding and tolerance of them as being at least 20 years behind gays and lesbians.
full story >>
A girl who wears men's boxers to sleep is hardly a rarity -- but a guy who sports a pink sequined top is. At least, this is what society thinks, says Yale prof, writer and psychotherapist Amy Bloom.
full story >>
Transgender teens in Southwestern Ontario face as many obstacles now as they did 15 years ago when Angela Heddington's parents tried to get help for her, experts say.
full story >>
Three letters to the Editor in response to an article which suggested that gay rights advocates should not attempt to include gender identity and expression in civil rights laws.
full story >>
Columnist interviews 13-year-old FTM youth in California who has been living as male at school and home since the fifth grade and the adults in his life who have supported him.
full story >>
Clark was one of an estimated 400 women who took up arms in the war. They were female soldiers disguised as men, who marched, mastered their weapons, entered into battle and even gave their lives.
full story >>
Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights makes the connection between gay civil right, transphobia, and the struggle for trangender rights.
full story >>
I am a transsexual, not a transvestite. There is a difference and it's an important one. A transvestite is someone who dresses like someone of the opposite sex.
full story >>
Oregon State University student challenges stereotypes about masculinity on campus.
full story >>
Columnist discusses building bridges between communities and discovering his own tendencies toward transphobia.
full story >>
Gay and lesbian Hoosiers made historic progress in the 2003 session of the Indiana general assembly where one representative introduced a gay-inclusive nondiscrimination bill before advocates asked.
full story >>
A reporter follows crossdressers as they meet up to dress and discuss what draws them to crossdressing and how their significant others react to their activity.
full story >>
An interview with Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman whose relationship with PFC Barry Winchell is the subject of Showtime's upcoming film "Soldier's Girl."
full story >>
"I think we've come a long way in terms of engagement, dialogue, tolerance, learning and adaptability. I think 10 years ago you'd never see uniformed LAPD in the gay [pride] parade."
full story >>
The Gully spoke with transgender activist, Pauline Park, about racism, transgender issues, and what's on the drawing board for the transgender movement.
full story >>
What I am speaking about is the manner and significance we assign to sex and gender roles in society, and all the desperation that is exercised to hang onto those roles at all costs. --Rebecca Kastl
full story >>
Society will have to change before the bureaucracy does, and society still has a long way to go. Gender-benders can be found on Japanese television, but they're often treated as jokes.
full story >>
Nature cast Joanne Proctor as a male at birth. She was born with XY chromosomes, testes, and a penis - but the psyche of a girl. Fifty years on she has undergone a remarkable change of life.
full story >>
Natasha Mitchell of "All in the Mind" radio program explores the inner workings of sexuality and gender with panelists Milton Diamond and Jamison Green.
full story >>
Discussion with a Barrister, a transsexual and a representative of the Evangelical Alliance on whether British law should be changed in light of court decision upholding rights of transsexuals.
full story >>
Rachel Thompson responds to the images of transgendered people in the media, especially stereotypes perpetuated by day time talk shows.
full story >>
Libby Adler, assistant professor of law at Northeastern University, hails the passage of anti-discrimination protection based on gender identity and expression in Boston.
full story >>
Transgender writer and advocate, Roslyn Manley, responds to fellow columnist, Charles Karel Bouley, for his insensitve treatment of the life and death of Gwen Araujo in his December column.
full story >>
Even after Gwen Araujo's brutal murder, gay people can still be heard to whisper, "I just don't think `they' should be included with `us.'" How is Gwen different from Matthew Shepard?
full story >>
The murder of Gwen Araujo presents an opportunity to examine our attitudes about gender, gender expectations, discrimination based on gender identity and individual and institutional responsibility.
full story >>
A lesbian interviews a transgender artist and discovers her own hidden prejudices.
full story >>
When her son, 4, wears toenail polish, he learns how hard it is to flout peer pressure.
full story >>
Tracy Heenan found herself in a pattern of easily darting in and out of relationships.
But when she met Cathy Webster, Tracy wanted to commit herself in a way she never had before.
full story >>
Jon Davidson of the Lambda Legal Education and Defense Fund responds to the question of possible U.S. recognition of marriages solemnized outside the U.S.
full story >>
A lesbian describes her experience at a gender conference workshop dedicated to the FTM restroom issue.
full story >>
It was just a matter of time before it occurred among Prudential's 61,000 employees. But in 22 years at the firm, Ron Andrews, a vp of human resources, "had never encountered a more difficult issue."
full story >>
"Never have pronouns been so provocative." So begins a column in the San Francisco Chronicle about the difficulties journalists had writing about Gwen Araujo, the transgender teen killed in Newark.
full story >>
Profiles transgender students at Michigan State University and discusses what it means to be transgendered.
full story >>
Phyllis Randolph Frye has been around for quite some time as an activist for the Houston GLBT community, and in fact a national activist as well.
full story >>
Phyllis Randolph Frye has been around for quite some time as an activist for the Houston GLBT community, and in fact a national activist as well.
full story >>
Compassion was not my initial response to the news that a transgender mountain biker was creating a stir in Canada.
full story >>
Janet Barger was the only professor at the University of Texas at Tyler told not to wear nail polish. Earrings also were off limits, and men's clothes were mandatory.
full story >>
Disc jockey Frank Bennett "Uncle Frank" returns to long radio career as
"Aunt Fran" after transitioning to female.
full story >>
Female to male (FTM) transsexuality has long been a marginalised issue, meaning that there is limited medical information available on the long-term effects of testosterone usage.
full story >>
Review of book "Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods - My Mother's, My Father's and Mine" by Noelle Howey.
full story >>
Transgender people have been featured in network TV shows and been the subject of an Academy Award–winning film. But just how deep is the average American's understanding of transgender issues?
full story >>
The report describes how, from 1996-99, the legal responsibility of employers to protect transsexual employees from sex discrimination was clearly established by test cases and government regulations.
full story >>
There is a lot of ignorance [on transgender issues] in the gay and lesbian community and the first step is to figure out what our fundamental needs and goals are.
full story >>
Health and Wellness
A Gwinnett County woman is in jail, charged with injecting silicone into an Albany transvestite's body to make him look more feminine.
full story >>
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) issued a statement on Thursday at the Amnesty International Global Human Rights Conference, saying that prejudice can affect the health of gays and lesbians.
full story >>
Men who live their lives as women, also known as male-to-female transgenders, have high rates of drug use and often have sex while on drugs, US researchers report.
full story >>
Registered Nurse/LVN required to run large transgender program within busy urology practice in Los Angeles, California.
full story >>
A South Carolina man could face up to 20 years in prison after being found guilty in the death of a woman who attended a silicone-pumping party in Miramar.
full story >>
Women who take hormones for years run a higher risk of Alzheimer's or other types of dementia, according to yet another startling study.
full story >>
Do we as trangender people struggleour whole life to come out, only to then go back into hiding behind a mask of a different color?
full story >>
What is normal anyway? How many times have you looked in the mirror and exclaimed, "What's wrong with me, why can't I just be normal?"
full story >>
Trangender activists hand out condoms and advice, hoping to prevent yet another case of HIV in transgender prostitutes, their straight male clients, and the men's wives and girlfriends.
full story >>
The death of a Brooklyn transsexual in August was caused by silicon injections [she] received 12 years ago by unlicensed practioners.
full story >>
Patrick Califia-Rice, San Francisco based author and therapist, will present the keynote address entitled "Beyond Gatekeeping: Improving Mental Health and Social Services for Transgendered People."
full story >>
The FDA is announcing a nationwide alert concerning all injectable drugs prepared by Urgent Care Pharmacy of Spartanburg, SC, based on the lack of assurance that their products are sterile.
full story >>
FDA announces that all drugs containing estrogen or estrogen and progestin must include a warning of the slight increase in the risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and breast cancer.
full story >>
Avodart (dutasteride) is indicated for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate.
full story >>
A new drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration is the first to combat osteoporosis, the brittle-bone disease, by causing the body to form new, healthy bone tissue.
full story >>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a quick HIV test on Thursday that reduces the waiting period for results from two weeks to 20 minutes.
full story >>
TransCare is a new national consulting agency that provides public health agencies and community outreach organizations with transgender health training and educational resources.
full story >>
More than a quarter of women who receive saline implants will undergo another breast operation within five years, according to studies presented at an FDA advisory committee hearing.
full story >>
Whitman-Walker Clinic officials plan early next year to offer hormone therapy maintenance and more primary health care services for transgender residents who have limited access to care.
full story >>
Check out the online magazine of health and fitness for transsexual and transgendered people. Trans-Health is a quarterly collaborative effort containing submissions by people from around the world.
full story >>
Adoption / Parental Rights
San Francisco has joined the court battle to uphold the validity of "second-parent" adoptions--a popular arrangement used by a parent's unmarried partner to gain legal standing as a co-parent.
full story >>
The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a man who helped rear a young boy since birth is his lawful father even though he is not the biological parent.
full story >>
Britain's upper chamber of Parliament voted Tuesday to allow unmarried and gay couples to adopt children. The approval signals that the measure will likely become law.
full story >>
A Florida judge ruled that a transsexual father is a man for purposes of Florida marriage law, is the legal father of the two children born to his wife Linda, and should be awarded primary custody.
full story >>
The toughest anti-gay adoption law in the United States got a boost of support from 21 Florida state legislators on Monday.
full story >>
The Florida Legislature has the authority to forbid gay men and lesbians from adopting children, lawyers for the state wrote in a brief filed in a federal appeals court here.
full story >>
A transsexual father has been granted temporary custody of his children after a judge ruled their mother violated standing orders not to use her husband's sex change to turn the children against him.
full story >>
Linda Kantaras now stands accused of physically abusing them, the children. Michael has submitted an emergency motion asking for immediate custody.
full story >>
Unprecedented Court TV coverage of Michael Kantaras' child custody battle in Clearwater, Florida, has helped to educate more people about transsexualism and sex-reassignment than any case before it.
full story >>
Ruling that same-sex marriages are illegal in Illinois, a Cook County judge today denied parental rights to a transgender male.
full story >>
A lesbian must pay child support to her former partner even though she was neither related to nor the adoptive parent of the child, a Massachusetts judge has ruled.
full story >>
A chief county judge in Michigan issued a memo on Tuesday banning judges throughout Washtenaw County from awarding second-parent adoptions to the unmarried partners of biological parents.
full story >>
The Nebraska Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that invalidated -- for the purposes of Nebraska law -- a lesbian mother's Pennsylvania adoption.
full story >>
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry signed a bill on Tuesday that forbids same-sex couples residing out of state from adopting children in Oklahoma, a move gay activists called "anti-family."
full story >>
Swedish legislators voted Wednesday to let same-sex couples adopt children -- a decision that gay activists hailed as a step toward gaining the full benefits of marriage.
full story >>
The author of legislation that would ban gays and lesbians from serving as foster parents in Texas is refusing to meet with LGBT community leaders.
full story >>
After 15 months of litigation, two Vermont women have finally obtained a piece of paper that would normally be sent by return mail: their son's birth certificate.
full story >>
Civil Liberties Watch
Florida's Orlando International Airport tests new detection devices that show realtime picture of your naked body, raising concerns about privacy violations. Machines may soon be used nationwide.
full story >>
The Arizona Supreme Court revised its rules of professional misconduct by lawyers, making it an ethical violation for a lawyer to show intentional bias or prejudice based upon sexual orientation.
full story >>
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that a law barring sexual relations between people of the same gender was an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
full story >>
Mission Australia is now legally permitted to refuse charity services to transgender people, which tranny activists are calling un-Christian.
full story >>
A California judge has ruled that a transgender woman facing a murder trial cannot appear in court dressed as a woman. Her attorneys have also filed a motion challenging her mental competency.
full story >>
Dominique DeRemer had guarded her secret since the earliest years of childhood and fully intended to take it to her grave.
full story >>
Faced with angry protests from the trans community, msn.com has quietly reversed a decision to link all searches on the term 'transsexual' to a commercial porn site.
full story >>
ACLU asks the Supreme Court to declare Kansas's "Romeo and Juliet Law" unconstitutional due to higher prison sentences given to gays than heterosexual teens for the same consensual sexual activities.
full story >>
Anti-gay group misappropriates transwoman's image in flyers in an effort to get voters to rescind a civil rights ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
full story >>
A Missouri Supreme Court ruling issued Tuesday unanimously upheld a state law setting aside separate spots for men and women on political parties' county committees.
full story >>
After weeks of debate, the Francis Howell School Board may take no action regarding the father who dressed as a woman while chaperoning his fourth-grade daughter's field trip.
full story >>
A MATTER OF OPINION: We should approach the question with tolerance, not legally questionable dress codes.
full story >>
The recent controversy following a Castlio Elementary School field trip is not the fault of a parent labeled a "crossdresser," according to Francis Howell school district Superintendent Dan O'Donnell.
full story >>
Attorney Arlene Zarembka claims a case decided in 1985 would give legal leverage to the a parent who is the target of the complaints about crossdressing on student field trips.
full story >>
At the heart of the hoopla in St. Charles County over a father dressed as a woman chaperoning a school field trip is a debate about the right of a father to participate in his child's school life.
full story >>
School principals encourage parents to become involved, but when a cross-dressing father chaperoned a recent field trip, he raised a few parental eyebrows.
full story >>
The Ohio Supreme Court rules that the state's importuning (soliciting) law, which criminalizes expressions of sexual interest between people of the same sex, is unconstitutional.
full story >>
After a storm of media attention, Rhea County retreated Thursday night from a call for the jailing of gays on charges of "crimes against nature."
full story >>
Because Texas law forbids gay sex, calling someone "queer" is slanderous, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled in an opinion released December 18.
full story >>
Lambda Legal files papers asking the US Supreme Court to review the case of two men convicted of violating the Texas "homosexual conduct" law, arguing it violates privacy and equal protection rights.
full story >>
Log Cabin Republicans and its think tank, the Liberty Education Forum, announced plans Wednesday to file a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the challenge to the Texas sodomy law.
full story >>
The Human Rights Campaign praised a decision by the Supreme Court today to hear a case that could lead to sodomy laws being ruled discriminatory and unconstitutional.
full story >>
Republican members of Congress indicate that they will advance legislation which could override existing state and local laws that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
full story >>
The Cendant Corporation, which franchises thousands of hotels across North America, has issued a new "Controversial Guest" policy that discriminates against people on the basis of sexual expression.
full story >>
The American Civil Liberties Union won a significant victory on Friday in its war on Internet censorship, as a three-judge U.S. District Court panel scrapped the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
full story >>
The District has a new plan to cut back on transvestite prostitutes, and drug abuse around 4th and K Streets in Northwest Washington, near the INS Headquarters.
full story >>
Civil Union / Marital Rights
CHRIS SOMERS would like to start married life with the truth. But the law recognises only marriage between a man and a woman - and Chris is neither.
full story >>
On Thursday, Belgium became the second country in the world -- after the Netherlands -- to legally recognize gay marriages.
full story >>
The marriages of transsexual women and men across the country are already testing the boundaries of marriage as the nation wrangles over the rights of same-sex couples to wed.
full story >>
A group of gay California legislators and state leaders introduced a bill to grant nearly all the rights, benefits and obligations available to heterosexual spouses under state law to gay partners.
full story >>
Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon released a consultation paper setting out the possibilities for same-sex unions which may be law by spring.
full story >>
Ernie Eves, Ontario Premier, has no objection to same-sex marriage and his Conservative government will not appeal a landmark Ontario Superior Court ruling that would allow gays and lesbian to wed.
full story >>
Canada took a major step toward legally recognizing same-sex marriage on Friday when an Ontario court ruled that to do otherwise is unconstitutional.
full story >>
Connecticut Legislature's judiciary committee rejected on Wednesday proposed legislation to extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.
full story >>
Connecticut Gov. John Rowland has signed into law a bill that extends a variety of legal options to same-sex couples.
full story >>
Despite overwhelming evidence of Kantaras' male gender, Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeals gnullified the original divorce and custody order because the marriage never legally existed.
full story >>
Florida Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's decision that a transsexual's marriage was valid, saying that marriage for postoperative transsexuals should be determined by the state's legislature.
full story >>
On Wednesday Germany's high court upheld a law allowing gay couples to marry.
full story >>
We can all debate whether marriage for gays and lesbians should or should not happen, but those of us in the intersex community dread someone defining marriage.
full story >>
The debate over Indiana's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage threatens to overshadow other matters in the closing days of Indiana's legislature.
full story >>
A plan to extend health insurance benefits to the unmarried domestic partners of Indianapolis city employees was turned down by a vote of 5 to 3.
full story >>
Cummins Engine, Indiana University, Bank One and other big Indiana employers already offer domestic partnership benefits. Now the city of Indianapolis is considering it a similar measure.
full story >>
Justice, Inc., encourages Indiana residents to contact their city council representatives to voice their support for the proposed domestic partnership benefits ordinance.
full story >>
A proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution banning same-sex marriage, civil unions and other forms of partner recognition failed Tuesday in the Kansas House by just four votes.
full story >>
A transsexual woman accused of false swearing in applying for a marriage license has requested a jury trial. She alleges that a male officer strip-searched her while being held in jail for six hours.
full story >>
Leavenworth County, Kansas, officials arrested Sandy Clarissa Gast, a transsexual, on Thursday after she tried to get married to her male partner.
full story >>
On October 7, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of transwoman J'Noel Ball Gardiner whose marriage was challenged after her husband died without a will, leaving an estate worth $2.5 million.
full story >>
Avoiding the same-sex marriage debate, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected transsexual J 'Noel Gardiner's claim to half of her late husband's $2.5 million estate.
full story >>
The attorneys for J'Noel Gardiner have filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
full story >>
Transsexual J'Noel Gardiner will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to compel the state of Kansas to recognize her as a woman, her lawyer said Wednesday.
full story >>
Another state rules against the validity of a transsexual's marriage. Kansas Supreme Court decision voids J'Noel Gardiner's marriage on grounds that she is a still a "man"
full story >>
"If Marshall were still alive, I wouldn't have to be explaining to another woman that I'm a woman," she said. "He would be standing here saying, 'How dare you ask my wife these questions?'"
full story >>
A marriage involving a person who had sexual reassignment surgery may be valid under Kansas law, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
full story >>
While many state legislatures are passing laws that deny legal recognition to gay and lesbian couples, Maine is making same-sex couples eligible for some of the same benefits married couples have.
full story >>
Legislatures in three states, two of them in New England, will be presented this year with bills that would recognize gay and lesbian relationships.
full story >>
Legislators yesterday used a procedural maneuver to kill a ballot question that sought to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
full story >>
A constitutional convention in Massachusetts was convened but quickly adjourned on Wednesday, avoiding a vote on an amendment to ban recognition of same-sex marriage.
full story >>
Four of the five major party candidates in the Michigan gubernatorial race would support a bill establishing civil unions for same-sex partners, the Detroit Free Press reports.
full story >>
Early returns indicate that voters in Missouri have approved by a margin of approximately 65% to 35% an amendment to their state constitution which prohibits the recognition of same sex marriages.
full story >>
With the prospect of same-sex marriages occurring in Massachusetts on May 17, the New Hampshire House voted 213-140 to ban the recognition of any relationship that would be illegal under state law.
full story >>
Social Security Administration denied the benefit request of child of lesbian couple, saying that the child did not meet the agency's test as the legal survivor of the nonbirth mother.
full story >>
Seven gay and lesbian couples filed a lawsuit filed in June 2002 in state Superior Court in Jersey City, calling for the state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.
full story >>
New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey has called on the state courts to turn down attempts to legalize gay marriage.
full story >>
A state judge in Nassau County, N.Y., ruled on Monday that a Vermont civil union should be recognized for the purpose of filing a wrongful death suit.
full story >>
A marriage license was again denied to Jacob Nash, a female-to-male transsexual, and Erin Barr despite Nash's Massachusetts birth certificate listing him as male. Ohio views them as a same sex couple.
full story >>
A man and woman in Trumbull County have again been denied a license to get married.
full story >>
Ohio Probate Judge Thomas A. Swift again denied a heterosexual couple a marriage license--this time because the FTM groom-to-be would not answer questions about his surgery and physical attributes.
full story >>
A transsexual man has filed a federal civil rights suit against a judge who had him arrested for allegedly falsifying the gender on his marriage license applications.
full story >>
A heterosexual couple denied a marriage license by a probate judge put the judge's ruling under scrutiny by filing a new application.
full story >>
Trumbull County Probate Judge Thomas A. Swift has refused to reconsider his earlier denial of a marriage license to a heterosexual couple because the groom-to-be is transgender.
full story >>
After a judge turned down their marriage application and refused to reconsider his decision, a Howland couple, which includes a transsexual, started back at square one Wednesday morning.
full story >>
Same-sex marriages or civil unions will not be recognized in Texas under legislation that Gov. Rick Perry signed Tuesday.
full story >>
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to deprive gay and lesbian Americans access to federal courts to challenge the Defense of Marriage Act.
full story >>
House Democratic Speaker's statement opposing the Marriage Protection Act of 2004 (HR 3313)
full story >>
The Senate handed President George W. Bush a humiliating defeat Wednesday by rejecting a bid to amend the US Constitution to ban gay marriage.
full story >>
The nation's gay marriage battle is moving to the ballot box this November in at least four states where voters will decide whether to amend their state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage.
full story >>
Columnist Adam Goodheart responds to President Bush's statement supporting a Federal Amendment to the US Constitution that would ban same sex marriages.
full story >>
On Wednesday, President George W. Bush tiptoed into the gay marriage debate with a noncommittal comment about a proposed constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.
full story >>
ACLU urges Americans to Oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment that would limit marriage to one man and one woman and support Domestic Partner Benefits for federal employees.
full story >>
Virginia's Marriage Affirmation Act will likely bar same-sex couples in Virginia from obtaining a medical power of attorney, making custody decisions and carrying out estate planning directives.
full story >>
Same-sex marriage is legal in Washington State, King County Superior Court Judge William Downing ruled today.
full story >>
A Superior Court judge in Washington state has expanded the state's recognition of same-sex families.
full story >>
The District government launched a domestic partnership registration program yesterday, ending a 10-year wait for some couples who had hoped the city's 1992 law would help protect their rights.
full story >>
Employment Discrimination
The Southern Arizona Gender Alliance announces its Arizona Transgender Workplace (ATWORK) Project workshop, a free seminar for employers to learn more about transgendered people in the workplace.
full story >>
A woman claims she suffered months of discrimination because her boss and workmates called her a "gentleman" and referred to her as "he".
full story >>
The California Assembly approved a measure Monday outlawing discrimination against job applicants and renters based on their "perceived gender."
full story >>
San Jose City Council voted unanimously to add gender identity to the list of protected characteristics under the city's anti-discrimination policy.
full story >>
California has recently recognized that discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people is a form of sex discrimination. The FEHA is designed to protect them.
full story >>
A transgendered teacher at a Vancouver elementary school, received a round of applause from students when she returned to work Monday.
full story >>
The Northwest Territories has become the first region in Canada to prohibit discrimination against transgendered people.
full story >>
Vancouver's Rape Relief Shelter is appealing a B.C. Human Rights ruling that a transsexual should have been allowed to counsel rape victims.
full story >>
MTF hotel clerk in loses job due to transition; seeks damages in court.
full story >>
Transgender people and the disabled in Connecticut will be granted protection of the state's hate-crimes law under a proposal approved Monday by the legislature's judiciary committee.
full story >>
As a 1993 graduate of Lauralton Hall in Milford, I was ashamed to read the article about two teachers who were forced to resign simply because they are gay.
full story >>
The dismissal of the couple at Lauralton Hall exhibits the wide gap between the essence of Christianity and the narrow-minded hypocrisy of those in authority.
full story >>
Some Lauralton Hall alumna and parents say they are disappointed by the school's decision to force a lesbian couple from their jobs at the all-girls Catholic school.
full story >>
Unfortunately, from this day on I will be ashamed to call myself an alumna of Lauralton Hall. I am sickened to hear of the dismissal of two faculty members on the basis of their sexual orientation.
full story >>
Lauralton Hall administrators are in "plain violation" of state law after forcing a lesbian couple out of jobs at the Catholic school, according to some legal experts.
full story >>
A lesbian couple is being forced out of their jobs after administrators at an all-girls Catholic school learned that the couple plans to hold a commitment ceremony, sources said.
full story >>
Inclusion of transgender in the struggle for human rights is standard. And it is definitely not cool to leave out gender identity and expression in legislation.
full story >>
A police force has won the right to appeal to the House of Lords against a court ruling that it acted unlawfully in refusing to recruit a male-to-female transsexual.
full story >>
A post-operative transsexual has received £22,000 in a settlement after she claimed she was discriminated against in her job as a production-line worker.
full story >>
Church instructor alleges firing due to being transsexual.
full story >>
BM has become the 15th Fortune 500 company to add "gender identity or expression" to its EO policy.
full story >>
The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission has ruled that its executive director has the authority to look into allegations of sexual discrimination in the workplace filed by five transgender employees.
full story >>
On March 9, 2004, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson issued an order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation within city government, covering city employees, contractors and vendors.
full story >>
The new Indiana Rainbow Chamber of Commerce unveiled its mission--promoting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender business community--at the June 14 Pride Festival in University Park.
full story >>
A transsexual worker at an Iowa tractor dealership has sued her former employer, claiming she was fired solely because she was changing her gender identity from male to female.
full story >>
In the last year, Lauren Jansen has lost her job, her spouse and her home due to discrimination based on gender identity. Her City Council rejected a proposal to make such discrimination illegal.
full story >>
Exactly 53 years to the day that the City Council rejected including sexual orientation in the city's discrimination law, its predecessors enacted the first discrimination ordinance in Sioux City.
full story >>
Mayor Dave Ferris said he could have chosen his words better in describing his opposition to adding sexual orientation to the city's discrimination law.
full story >>
Tokyo District Court rules decision to dismiss a transsexual employee was illegal in first ever ruling concerning transgendered employees in Japan.
full story >>
The City Commission of Covington, Kentucky voted unanimously (5-0) to expand the City's Human Rights Ordinance to include, among other categories, sexual orientation and gender identity.
full story >>
Covington, Kentucky city commissioners voted unanimously (5-0) to expand their existing human rights ordinance by adding sexual orientation and gender identity.
full story >>
A trucker fired by a grocery store chain because he sometimes dressed as a woman off duty has decided to drop his lawsuit against the company.
full story >>
Three years after Winn-Dixie fired Peter Oiler for cross-dressing on his own time and four months after a federal court ruled the action legal, we remember the Shame on Winn-Dixie protest campaign.
full story >>
According to a Louisiana Federal District Judge’s ruling, companies may discriminate against employees for legal activities pursued while not on the job.
full story >>
Lockheed Martin, the biggest U.S. defense contractor, will give gay and lesbian workers civil rights protections, and their partners will receive health benefits.
full story >>
Laurie J. Auffant was installed as minister of religious education at Follen Community Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Lexington, Mass.
full story >>
A bill to remove protections for gays and lesbians from Minnesota's human rights law would also remove gays and lesbians from the definition of Holocaust survivors and victims.
full story >>
Federal Appeals Court rules Minneapolis school district met its legal obligations when it offered alternate facilities to a teacher who objected to using the same restroom as a transgendered employee.
full story >>
When Eastchester High School's students and faculty gather this morning for graduation, teacher RandeyMichelle Gordon will be missing.
full story >>
LGBT labor and transgender activists gathered at the Central Labor Council in New York this week to strategize how to get unions more involved in efforts to secure employment rights for transpeople.
full story >>
One down, one to go. With SONDA signed into law, that's the mantra of the state's gay leaders as they prepare to tackle the thorny issue of transgender rights.
full story >>
A 23-year veteran of The Eastman Kodak Co. has been fired after objecting to a pro-homosexual memo this month and is now looking to take legal action against the film giant.
full story >>
The Open Door Mission has received "overwhelming support" from the community since a public revelation that the mission's former longtime director is now living as a woman.
full story >>
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday signed into law a bill that extends New York City's human rights protection to transgendered people.
full story >>
Two months after failing to convince state lawmakers not to pass a bill denying marriage rights and survivor benefits to gay couples, advocates have set their sights on new workplace protections.
full story >>
A judge ordered the city to pay an additional $550,000 for attorney fees in the case of a transsexual police officer who said the city discriminated against her.
full story >>
After a church trial on Tuesday, the fate of an Ohio Presbyterian pastor is hanging in the balance on charges of officiating gay marriages and ordaining gays as deacons and elders in the church.
full story >>
A federal court jury has awarded $320,511 to a transsexual police officer who said the city discriminated against her. The jury ordered the city to pay back wages and damages to Philecia Barnes.
full story >>
Susan Myers, who was fired from her job at the Cuyahoga County Human Services Department, sued her former bosses yesterday, claiming that they discriminated against her because she was a transsexual.
full story >>