Transprogressive Some people consider Pfc. Bradley Manning a hero; others a whistleblower; others still consider him to be a criminal who endangered the security of the United States. There was a portion of the San Francisco LGBT community who wanted to own Manning as a San Francisco Pride honoree this past June. Others didn’t want…
The Vital Statistics Modernization Act (AB 433) became law Jan. 1, 2012. It alleviated the confusion, anxiety and even danger that trans people in California face when they have identity documents that do not reflect who they are. Authored by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, the act changed the documentation standard for obtaining a legal gender change…
I often think about the Scripture Luke 6:31 – a statement of the golden rule. That Biblical verse states, “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” I often think too about the statement made by Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are…
How do any of us know what our gender is? If one is assigned male at birth and loses one’s genitalia in an IED explosion, is one still male? If one is assigned female at birth and lose one’s external genitalia, breasts or uterus to disease, is one still female? Obviously the answers to those…
I was enamored during my first San Diego Pride in 2003. I’d began transitioning in early February of that year, then went to my first trans peer support group in late May, and then agreed to staff the trans booth in July. Frankly, I can’t remember whether or not I marched in the trans contingent…
COMMENTARY: BY AUTUMN SANDEEN According to a former OutServe-SLDN leader, 19 chapters of OutServe-SLDN are threatening to breakaway unless the majority of the existing board is replaced. In particular they are seeking the resignation of Josh Seefried, co-chair of the current OutServe-SLDN board of directors and alleged instigator of the plan to replace Allyson Robinson….
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) bills itself as the largest LGBT civil rights organization in the U.S., but it has a reputation of not being trans friendly. In the 110th Congress (2007/2008), the HRC was the only LGBT civil rights organization that supported the non-trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) put forward in 2007 by congressional…
GetEqual staged a sit-in at Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s Washington, D.C. office June 13 where eight LGBT protesters were arrested. The protesters staged the sit-in to demand a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the U.S. House of Representatives. One aspect of this protest story that wasn’t reported on much in mainstream…
One of the things that has propelled the gay community forward through the years has been its nonprofits, and community support for these organizations. The HRC, for example, began as a gay specific civil rights organization that was supported by members of the lesbian and gay community, and after decades of work the organization began…
During the past few years I’ve been changing my documented gender at various government agencies. I’ve obtained a court ordered change of documented gender with the state of California and used that court order to obtain a new birth certificate indicating I was born female. I also have provided required documents and followed specified procedures…
