For the first time since its passage in 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been used to bring charges for targeting a victim because they were transgender, reports Robin Maril on the HRC Blog. This Act expanded existing federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by bias against the…
OAKLAND — In the aftermath of the tragic fire at the Ghost Ship artist community Dec. 2 that claimed the lives of more than 35 people, local authorities and media have continued to disrespect transgender victims by not honoring their correct names and gender identities. The following joint statement was issued by Equality California, National…
PITTSBURGH—Speaking at the World AIDS Day Conference, Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine emphasized the importance of HIV disease education for health professionals working with transgender individuals. “Helping medical professionals better understand how to prevent and treat HIV disease in the transgender community can be a matter of life and death,” said Dr. Levine. “Today…
LOS ANGELES — The City of Los Angeles has dedicated $290,000 toward addressing disproportionately high rates of unemployment in the transgender community, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday. Allocated by the Workforce Development Board, the funds will boost employment services that the TransLatin@ Coalition, in partnership with Special Services for Groups, and the Los Angeles LGBT…
Following the barring of transgender San Diego Police Officer Christine Garcia from attending the recent Transgender Day of Remembrance event at The Center because she was in uniform, the president of The Log Cabin Republicans of San Diego, Gina Roberts has issued a statement describing the LGBT community as exclusionary, and that the community should,…
SAN DIEGO — Thursday, Nov. 17, over 100 members and allies of San Diego’s Transgender community held a march and ceremony to embrace transwomen and transmen who lost their lives to violence this past year. The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is held yearly on or around November 20, to memorialize those murdered as a…
Thursday, Nov. 17 The San Diego LGBT Community Center held the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) ceremony to honor members of the trans community who lost their lives to violence this past year. San Diego Police Officer Christine Garcia, the first openly transgender police officer in the San Diego Police Department, had played an…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota district court ruled this week that transgender people on the state’s Medical Assistance program in Minnesota deserve access to medically necessary services related to gender transition. Since 2005, surgical treatments for gender dysphoria have been excluded from coverage even though equivalent treatments were covered under the federal Medicare program and…
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is withdrawing its proposal to provide medically necessary gender confirmation surgery for transgender veterans, as a result of funding issues. A statement from the department to Military.com said, “VA has been and will continue to explore a regulatory change that would allow VA to perform gender alteration surgery and…
“We were making out in my car and I reached down and felt something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Then I blacked out and the next thing you know there’s a dead body and I’ve got a hammer in my hand,” said Josh Vallum in a September 2016 prison interview while he was awaiting…
