When the issue of trans people is brought up, always just under the surface of discussion is public accommodations in sex segregated facilities such as public locker rooms and restrooms. Without directly discussing it, the majority of us think about bathrooms when discussing anything related to trans people. One recent issue where the public discussion…
If one needs to go to the Restroom at San Diego’s LGBT Center or at the San Diego Airport, one may find oneself presented with an all gender identities public restroom sign. The LGBT Center’s public restroom sign has the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) international symbol for males, the ADA international symbol for females…
In recent weeks I’ve submitted several California Freedom of Information Act requests of various entities at San Diego State University (SDSU), and many have been related to training that SDSU entities do regarding transgender students. What I’ve discovered is that apparently no one has been training staff of SDSU’s Associated Students, to include the staff…
If you use a single stall public restroom in Washington, D.C. it’s going to be gender neutral. It’s a city ordinance that mandates all of its restaurants, businesses and other public places with single occupancy restrooms to designate these as gender neutral. In June of last year, the City of West Hollywood passed a similar…
Given the alleged Jan. 14 incident at San Diego State University (SDSU), how transgender students are publicly accommodated in public spaces at schools covered by Title IX is a relevant question. In the spring of last year the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released new Title IX guidelines for protections against sexual assault. In that…
If you’re active in San Diego’s trans community, you’ve likely heard of Claire Russell. She’s known for being imaginative, being service oriented and for being an organizer. Her work includes volunteering at the LGBT Youth Center, creating an online San Diego Trans Resource Center and she was a key organizer for the first annual Trans*Pride…
There’s a reason why, in the mid-2000s, my first blogging gig was for The Ex-Gay Watch. My parents made it a requirement for me to live in their house that I go to a Christian therapist to “treat” me for my “transvetism.” My parents and I were Pentecostals, and I wanted to be cured of…
After I came out in 2003, most of my holiday seasons have been filled with holiday depression. You know, that kind of seasonal depression one experiences that has known cause or causes and comes and goes at roughly the same times each year in fall and winter. Annual events and anniversaries with gray and black…
According to the USA Today article VA Treats 2,500 Veterans, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA – part of the overall Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA), in 2013 treated 2,567 veterans with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria for transgender specific health care. That’s a significant population of trans veterans in the VA. And, being statistically…
I’ve been put in the position of thinking about musical anthems in past weeks. That’s because Kate Pierson of the B-52s released a song planned to be included in her upcoming solo album – a song she hoped would become a “trans anthem.” The name of that song is “Mister Sister.” It’s strange to think…
