Posts Tagged transgender rights

New law requires California public schools to respect students’ gender identity

California has already been proactive in fighting discrimination against trans folks – you may remember us talking about their ban on trans discrimination in healthcare. They also banned gender discrimination in schools.

Lawmakers in the state have now taken steps to make sure that trans folks are not only safe from discrimination but given the opportunity to participate and flourish in school. Governor Jerry Brown has signed the School Success and Opportunity Act into law.

 “The law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2014, is the first of its kind in the country, and requires that California public schools respect students’ gender identity and makes sure that students can fully participate in all school activities,sports teams, programs, and ...

California has already been proactive in fighting discrimination against trans folks – you may remember us talking about their ban on trans discrimination in healthcare. They also banned gender discrimination in schools.

Lawmakers in the state ...

Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet

Quote of the Day: “Motherhood and fatherhood are not binaries”

I really love this piece by Jennifer Finney Boylan, who has spent six years parenting her children as a dad, followed by 12 years as a mom after her transition. I was especially moved by this section:

I understand the reluctance many people have to play down the importance of gender, or for that matter, biology, in parenting; a world in which male and female are not fixed poles but points in a spectrum is a world that feels unstable, unreal. And yet to accept the wondrous scope of gender is to affirm the potential of life, in all its messy beauty. Motherhood and fatherhood are not binaries. And that, I’d argue, is a good thing.

Only a small percentage ...

I really love this piece by Jennifer Finney Boylan, who has spent six years parenting her children as a dad, followed by 12 years as a mom after her transition. I was especially moved by this section:

"Fashion police" badge

For queer and trans people of color, the NYPD is the literal fashion police

Ed. note: This is a guest post from Verónica Bayetti Flores. Verónica is the Assistant Director of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program (CLPP) at Hampshire College. She has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color, and helped to lead social justice efforts in Wisconsin, New York City, and Texas.

After a couple of weeks of almost all LGBTQ-related news focusing on marriage, I was relieved and pleasantly surprised to read a story in the New York Times about the ways that New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy affects transgender and gender non-conforming people of color:

The elasticity that officers in New York and elsewhere have been ...

Ed. note: This is a guest post from Verónica Bayetti Flores. Verónica is the Assistant Director of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program (CLPP) at Hampshire College. She has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought ...

Trans allyship within GLAAD

Ed. note: I’m off this week. The wonderful Tobias Rodriguez is filling in for me. Tobias originally hails from Texas and now lives in New York where he works in social media at a reproductive health organization.

At the GLAAD media awards last week, and again this weekend on the Melissa Harris-Perry show, GLAAD announced that they are dropping their original acronym, the “Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,” and becoming GLAAD, an LGBT media advocacy organization. In doing so, they hope to convey that the organization is evolving to become more trans* inclusive. Recently, GLAAD has been working with trans kids like Coy Mathis and Jazz (both of whom attended the GLAAD media awards) to demonstrate that it prioritizes trans issues in its advocacy ...

Ed. note: I’m off this week. The wonderful Tobias Rodriguez is filling in for me. Tobias originally hails from Texas and now lives in New York where he works in social media at a reproductive health organization.

At ...

Total(ly awesome, trans rights) frat move

The Emerson College chapter of Phi Alpha Tau definitely wins my (highly prestigious) award for Best Frat Ever. The brothers have raised over $8,100 for a gender-confirming surgery for member Donnie Collins. It’s inexcusable that Donnie’s insurance refused to cover his procedure, and many people don’t have supportive institutions to turn to when money is low.  Still, it’s incredibly heartening to his friends’ efforts, particularly given fraternities’ historical dependence on strict gender policing.

For all the symbolic value, though, Donnie’s “thank you” video reminds us that, at the end of the day, this is about a real person now able to live his life the way he wants:

Donnie is donating excess funds raised to the Jim Collins Foundation, a non-profit ...

The Emerson College chapter of Phi Alpha Tau definitely wins my (highly prestigious) award for Best Frat Ever. The brothers have raised over $8,100 for a gender-confirming surgery for member Donnie Collins. It’s inexcusable that Donnie’s ...

Open letter to Elizabeth Warren on a prisoner’s right to medical transition

Dear Elizabeth Warren,

It’s been a long time since I’ve been as excited about a political candidate as I am about you. You speak truth about income inequality in a way that is clear, honest, and heartfelt. At this point it scares me to trust a politician, but I believe you will do good work. I wish I was still a Massachusetts voter (born and raised in Boston) so I could cast my vote for you. Which is why I was so disapointed to read your recent comment that Michelle Kosilek, who is serving a life sentence for murdering her wife, should not be granted access to sex reassignment surgery. And it’s also why I’m writing to you. I believe ...

Dear Elizabeth Warren,

It’s been a long time since I’ve been as excited about a political candidate as I am about you. You speak truth about income inequality in a way that is clear, honest, and heartfelt. At ...

Kylar Broadus: First transgender person to testify before the Senate

Today, Kylar Broadus made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate. Broadus was speaking on behalf of  Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

So, who is Kylar Broadus and why is he a proponent of ENDA? He’s the founder of Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) and a practicing attorney and professor of law Lincoln University of Missouri, which are just two of his many accomplishments. But despite his impressive resume, he’s faced discrimination too. As he testified today in front of The Senate:

Prior to my physical transition, I began working at a major financial institution…. After I announced my gender transition, it only ...

Today, Kylar Broadus made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate. Broadus was speaking on behalf of  Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual ...

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