Pelosi backstabs LGBTs by dropping the transgender from ENDA

[IndianaGreen]

Remember Hillary Swank winning the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a transgender man in the biopic Boys Don't Cry?

Boys Don't Cry (film)

Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 LGBT independent drama film based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a young transman who was raped and murdered by his male friends after they found out he had female genitalia on December 30, 1993. The film features Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena and Chloë Sevigny as Brandon's girlfriend Lana Tisdel.

Boys Don’t Cry received overwhelmingly positive acclaim from critics, especially the two lead performances from Swank and Sevigny, and considering its reasonably low budget, and independent production, it was a box office success, with most of the success coming from word of mouth and critical views. Swank was awarded the 1999 Academy Award for Best Actress, and Sevigny was nominated for the Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

The film is set in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Falls City, Nebraska but was filmed in Greenville, Texas, a small town about 45 miles northeast of Dallas.. Its release was concurrent with the murder of gay teen Matthew Shepard, which sparked additional public interest in the film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Don%27t_Cry_%28film%29

Published on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 by The San Francisco Chronicle

Gay Rights Groups Angered by Weaker Antidiscrimination Bill

by Carolyn Lochhead

Leading gay rights organizations, with the pointed exception of the Human Rights Campaign, withdrew their support Monday from a landmark gay civil rights bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., pulled transgender people from the legislation that would protect gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination.

The intense backlash by the gay community surprised House Democratic leaders, forcing them to postpone what had been intended as a big House vote this week to include gays and lesbians in the nation’s job discrimination laws for the first time in American history.

The debate playing out between gay rights activists and two of their biggest supporters in Congress raises a classic political question: Are activists better off compromising and accepting progress or continuing to fight for everything they want?

Gay rights groups have been waiting for a decade for the bill to pass, and many say a few more months to try to build support for including gender identity would be worth the wait. They say transgender people will have little chance of winning protection from discrimination if they aren’t included in this bill.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/02/4261/

[mediaman007]

1. Next thing she'll support is taking the vote away from GLBT's!

I bet that they will have to continue paying taxes though.

[rodeodance]

2. I admit, I was shocked to hear this. It is just stupid to exclude them.

[rodeodance]

3. "but was postponed until the week of Oct. 15."-----see here:

Pelosi and Frank, however, fear the inclusion of gender identity will kill the overall bill - again denying gays and lesbians protection against job discrimination.

Pelosi, D-San Francisco, issued conflicting statements Monday in reaction to the turmoil. The first declared her personal support for including transgender people in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act but asserted she would stick by her decision to drop them from the bill to give it a greater chance of passage.

About three hours later, the speaker issued a new statement saying, “After discussions with congressional leaders and organizations supporting passage” of the bill, committee and floor votes on the bill had been postponed to “allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill.”

The new statement was signed by Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the only openly lesbian member of Congress (Frank is the only openly gay member), who had withheld her endorsement from the bill after the decision to drop transgender people.

The statement also was signed by Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who heads the committee that will oversee the bill. The committee’s vote on the jobs discrimination bill had been scheduled for today but was postponed until the week of Oct. 15.

[IndianaGreen]

5. oppose any legislation that leaves any part of our community behind

Nearly 100 gay organizations sent a letter Monday to every member of the House saying “very clearly and unequivocally that we refuse to accept and in fact we oppose any legislation that leaves any part of our community behind, particularly the transgender community,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “This is a watershed moment in the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement. The last five days have been one of the most grueling and difficult we have ever faced, but our community has rallied in ways we’ve never seen before.”

The letter was signed by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; National Stonewall Democrats; Lambda Legal; the National Center for Lesbian Rights; and dozens of other national and state groups.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/02/4261/

[IndianaGreen]

4. Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors Vote to Reaffirm 2004 Policy on ENDA

Looks to me that HRC is sufering from a bit of triangulation, unwilling to buck the Democratic leadersheep. Whose side is Joe Salmonese?

Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors Vote to Reaffirm 2004 Policy on ENDA

10/2/2007

WASHINGTON - Last night, the Human Rights Campaign’s Board of Directors voted to reaffirm the 2004 policy supporting a fully inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Therefore, HRC will not support the newly introduced sexual orientation only bill. The board’s position articulates a process for continued dialogue with House leaders about strategies that have been put forth to, in the end, achieve passage of a fully inclusive ENDA.

"We are now faced with definitive Congressional action to move forward a version of the bill stripping gender identity. Though we support a fully inclusive ENDA, we acknowledge the legislative strategy put forth by Congressman Frank and the Democratic leadership to obtain a clear path towards an inclusive bill in the future," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "We look forward to working with them to accomplish the goal all of us share - ending workplace discrimination against the entire GLBT community."

"Since 2004, HRC has had in place a policy that supports only a fully inclusive version of ENDA and the Board of Directors voted to reaffirm that position," Solmonese continued. "Therefore, we are not able to support, nor will we encourage Members of Congress to vote against, the newly introduced sexual orientation only bill. And will continue working with our allies in Congress to support a comprehensive, legislative strategy to achieve passage of a fully inclusive ENDA as quickly as possible."

The Human Rights Campaign has been and continues to be on the front lines actively and exhaustively advocating for an inclusive piece of legislation that protects all members of our community. HRC has led the charge on Capitol Hill for an inclusive bill and has focused grassroots organizing in 40 congressional districts across the country targeting moderate Members of Congress to educate them on the need for a bill protecting the entire GLBT community.

"For more than a decade HRC has been aggressively working to secure employment protections for the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Even in the dark days of anti-gay leadership in Congress, we moved Corporate America forward because we refused to accept that progress wasn’t possible. And today, we again reject the notion that progress isn’t possible by rededicating our efforts to specifically educate members of Congress on the need for gender identity protections in the workplace," said Solmonese.

"Some may say we should have joined the growing chorus of public dissenters earlier. We believed, and still do, that the correct course of action was to continue dialogue with our allies on the Hill and work to the last minute to effect change," said Solmonese. "That decision, in addition to yesterday’s letter signed by GLBT and civil rights organizations, paid off when we were able to engage in direct conversations that resulted in a guarantee from House leadership to postpone the mark-up until later this month."

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

http://www.hrc.org/news/7762.htm

[IndianaGreen]

6. United opposition to sexual-orientation-only nondiscrimination legislation

United opposition to sexual-orientation-only nondiscrimination legislation

October 1, 2007

Dear Madam Speaker and Representatives:

The undersigned represent the vast and celebrated diversity of the LGBT community in this country. Some of us are national leaders of organizations with tens of thousands of members and constituents, some of us run the only local organization in our state. But we are united in a common cause: We ask you to keep working with us on an Employment Non-Discrimination Act that protects everyone in our community, and to oppose any substitute legislation that leaves some of us behind.

We ask and hope that in this moment of truth, you will stand for the courage real leadership sometimes demands. You each command enormous respect from all of us and we do appreciate the difficulty of balancing a variety of competing demands. But the correct course in this case and on this legislation is strikingly clear. We oppose legislation that leaves part of our community without protections and basic security that the rest of us are provided.

You told us you supported a fully inclusive ENDA and would bring it up for a vote this year. We expect that you will honor that commitment and we look forward to working together to pass a bill that we can all be proud to support.

Sincerely,

National Organizations
National Association of LGBT Community Centers
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc.
National Stonewall Democrats
National Transgender Advocacy Coalition
National Youth Advocacy Coalition
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
American Institute of Bisexuality
BiNet USA
Bi Mental Health Professionals Association
Bisexual Resource Center
Bi Writers Association
COLAGE (Children of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere)
DignityUSA
Equality Federation
Equality Project Investor Advocates
Faith In America
Family Pride Coalition
Freedom to Marry
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
GLSEN – the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
The Gender Public Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC)
International Foundation for Gender Education
Immigration Equality
International Federation of Black Prides
Keshet
Lambda Legal
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Metropolitan Community Churches
Mautner Project: the National Lesbian Health Organization
New Ways Ministry
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
Out4Immigration
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Pride At Work, AFL-CIO
Reconciling Ministries Network (United Methodists)
Transgender American Veterans Association
Transgender Law and Policy Institute
Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
TransYouth Family Advocates
Unid@s, the National Latin@ LGBT Human Rights Organization

State Organizations (grouped by state, alphabetically)
Equality Alabama
Equality Arizona
Equality California
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center
Transgender Law Center (California)
AMBI (California)
Equal Rights Colorado
Love Makes A Family (Connecticut)
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
Equality Florida
MEGA Family Project (Georgia)
Idaho Equality Committee of Your Family Friends and Neighbors
Equality Illinois
Indiana Equality
Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance
One Iowa
Kentucky Fairness Alliance
Equality Maine
Equality Maryland
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
Triangle Foundation (Michigan)
Michigan Equality
OutFront Minnesota
Equality Mississippi
PROMO (Missouri)
Montana Human Rights Network
Forward Montana
Citizens For Equal Protection (Nebraska)
Garden State Equality (New Jersey)
New Jersey Lesbian & Gay Coalition
Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
Concord Outright (New Hampshire)
Seacoast Outright (New Hampshire)
PFLAG-New Hampshire
Equality New Mexico
Empire State Pride Agenda (New York)
New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA)
Equality North Carolina
Equality Ohio
EqualityToledo Community Action
Kaleidoscope Youth Center (Columbus, OH)
TransOhio
Basic Rights Oregon
Equality Advocates Pennsylvania
PA Diversity Network
Northeastern PA Rainbow Alliance
Marriage Equality Rhode Island
South Carolina Equality Coalition
Alliance For Full Acceptance – South Carolina
SC Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement
Trans Carolina (South and North Carolina)
Equality South Dakota
Tennessee Equality Project
Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition
Equality Texas
Equality Utah
R.U.1.2? Community Center (Vermont)
Equality Virginia
Equal Rights Washington
Gay City Health Project
Fair Wisconsin
Center Advocates (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Wyoming Equality

http://www.thetaskforce.org/activist_center/ENDA_oct1_letter

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. I have a suggestion:

Before everyone gets themselves all in an uproar about this, I suggest you go over to the following post by John Aravosis, proud gay activist, former Senate Aide, and damned smart person.

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/if-wishes-were-horses-beggars-would.html

http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/i-agree-with-ngltfs-executive-director.html

Now, I know that it is fashionable to shit in Nancy Pelosi's every punchbowl and I am not about to argue that she has not deserved at least some of the criticism, but as regards matters such as these, I tend to listen to smart folks who know more about it. That includes smart Gay folks like John Aravosis.

[IndianaGreen]

8. NOW Commemorates Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20

The transgender community lives in fear of death. Trans people have been brutally murdered, such as transgender teen Gwen Araujo. Here is a NOW press release from 2004:

NOW Commemorates Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20

November 19, 2004

by Kourtney Stamps, Communications Intern, with contributions from Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, Senior Field Organizer

On Saturday, Nov. 20, NOW will join groups around the world in commemorating the Sixth Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day set aside to memorialize our friends and allies in the transgender community who have been killed because of hatred or prejudice.

Special events, including marches, speaking engagements and candlelight vigils will be held around the world to honor the memories of these brave individuals whose lives were cut short by heinous acts of violence. These events are also organized to raise awareness and inspire discourse about a topic that often goes unnoticed by civil rights groups- the unique plight of transgender individuals.

Defining "Transgender"

Many people, feminists included, do not fully understand what it means to be transgender. "Transgender" is an umbrella term for people who feel the gender they were assigned at birth does not correspond with their gender identity.

Within the transgender category, there are several subcategories. Transsexuals are people who change their gender roles and sometimes their bodies in order to live as members of another sex. This process may include surgery, electrolysis or synthesized sex hormones. Crossdressers wear the clothing of another sex on occasion, but do not desire to change their bodies. Other groups of people who feel that they do not fit into a rigid gender system may identify as Genderqueers, Androgynes, Gender Blenders or Gender Benders. These people may feel that they are both male and female or that their gender identity falls outside the system all together.

Bring transgender is not directly correlated with a person's sexual orientation. Transgender individuals may identify as straight, gay, asexual or bisexual. Some transgender people strongly identify with the lesbian, gay or bisexual community, while others identify more with the straight community. Each transgender person makes that decision for him or herself.

The History Behind the Day

Transgender Day of Remembrance is held in November in honor of Rita Hester, a trans-woman who was murdered in her apartment just outside Boston, Mass., on the night of Nov. 28, 1998. Hester died of multiple stab wounds, and her murder--like most anti-transgender murder cases--remains unsolved. Her murder spawned "Remembering Our Dead," a web project dedicated to immortalizing the names of those persons killed because of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. A candlelight vigil held in San Francisco in 1999 is recognized as the first Day of Remembrance event. Since then, events have been organized in numerous cities in the U.S. as well as in various countries around the world.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It is meant to raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that the mainstream media rarely performs. It also gives non-transgender people a chance to step forward and show their alliance with the transgender community. Most importantly, it serves as a memorial service for individuals whose lives might otherwise be forgotten.

Statistics regarding the number of transgender individuals killed every year are nearly impossible to compile because they are based only on what has been reported. It is impossible to know how many more murders go unreported. These cases rarely receive attention from the mainstream media. When they do, reporters almost never acknowledge that the victim was living as a member of another gender, instead using the pronouns compatible with the person's sex assignment at birth. Despite these problems, the "Remembering Our Dead" web project has been able to compile rough statistics. The site reports that between 1970 and October 2004, 234 transgender people were killed in the U.S. In 2003 alone, 32 transgender murders were reported worldwide.

Inclusive Language Needed

People who do not identify as the gender they have been assigned at birth face the threat of violence, actual physical attacks, verbal assaults and, in the worst cases, murder. Unfortunately, the law does not adequately protect transgender people against discrimination because legislative language is not specific enough to address their unique identity. It is this language that must change in order to provide transgender individuals and their families with legal recourse if they are targeted by perpetrators of hate crimes and other acts of anti-transgender prejudice.

Most anti-discrimination laws are written to prohibit discrimination based on a person's sex or sexual orientation. Since transgender persons are not targeted for either their sex or their sexual orientation, they are not protected under such legislation. The language needs to be rewritten to prohibit similar discrimination based on a person's gender identity and expression.

For the past several years, NOW has worked with other activist groups to make "gender identity and expression" part of the legislative language. The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2003, also known as the Hate Crimes Bill, was one such focus for our efforts. NOW officers worked closely with Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, to encourage Congress to add the appropriate language to the Hate Crimes Bill. This legislation passed the Senate, but without the changes NOW and other groups wanted. Making anti-discrimination policies trans-inclusive was also one of the conference resolutions passed at the National NOW Conference in 2002 and has been an important aspect of NOW's guidelines ever since.

We Must Take Action

As NOW strengthens its alliance with the transgender community, we encourage all feminists and progressives to take a stand on this important issue. "We must do everything in our power to prevent the discrimination and violence transgender people experience," said NOW Action Vice President Olga Vives. "As we remember those who have died because of hate and prejudice, we will help bring attention to this grim injustice."

To learn more about the Transgender Day of Remembrance, visit the official web site. To find out if an event is planned in your area, click here.

For additional information about Transgender Issues, please refer to the following organizations' web sites:
The National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition
The Transgender Law and Policy Institute

http://www.now.org/issues/lgbi/041119remembrance.html

[David Zephyr]

9. K&R.

Kick.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Speaking of kick, someone should challenge Pelosi in the Democratic primary

She has been a shameless enabler of Bush's crimes by putting impeachment off the table and by blocking defunding the war. She has been the lead blocker for the rightwing agenda by opposing Murtha's war tax, and by pulling this stunt on ENDA.

[David Zephyr]

12. IG, I wanted Cindy to enter the primary against Feinstein.

Apparently Barbara Boxer talked Cindy out of challenging Feinstein.

I wish that the Green Party would focus on the Democratic primaries where the blue-dogs are. Lieberman was "primaried" (I love that verb) and, sadly he went on to win with Rove's help, as I know you know, but Lieberman will never be elected again as every poll out of CT now shows.

[IndianaGreen]

13. People that support Hillary can't see beyond January 20, 2009

Move forward to November 2010. The Clinton 44 Administration will have by then two years of uninterrupted war in Iraq under its belt, and two years of antiwar marches against its war policies (assuming that we are not at war with Iran). The Clinton 44 Administration is also facing opposition from the Left on its corporate friendly health care proposal and neoliberal trade policies. It also faces mass resistance to its unwillingness to rollback the abuses of power of the Bush regime by restoring the Constitution to its pre-9/11 eminence.

Assuming that we have none of the sleaze and scandals of Clinton 42, and factoring the expected GOP reactionary behaviour (which will be present no matter which Democrat is in the White House) what will the outlook be for the 2010 elections? More importantly, how fractured will the Democratic Party become when it finds itself as the war party?

[Forkboy]

11. She's pulling a McCain and sinking herself into irrelevence.

[AtomicKitten]

14. perhaps it was to assuage the wingnuts to pass it

I'm getting tired of these so-called compromises at the expense of the American people.

[iconocrastic]

15. Payback for what Whoopi Goldberg said to her

on national TV.

What goes around comes around.