Transgendered - Thrown under the bus.....

[LeftHander]

House Cuts Transgender People from Hate Crimes Bill
by Carolyn Lochhead

Washington - Even as the Senate passed a hate crimes bill sought for a decade by gays and lesbians, House Democratic leaders decided Thursday to strip transgender people from another long-languishing civil rights bill, generating dismay in the gay community and furious but fruitless lobbying for more time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Reps. George Miller, D-Martinez, Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., believe they lack the votes in the Democrat-controlled House to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act if it includes gender identity along with sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for firing an employee.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/28/4176/

[JackBeck]

1. That headline is wrong.

They were taken out of ENDA.

Nonetheless, I wish this hadn't happened. They were able to pass the Hate Crimes Bill with gender identity attached.

[Justitia]

2. I know you don't want to hear this right now, but we can expand it, once we get it on the books.

I know that is cold comfort and I feel like shit about this, but we really can expand the definitions once we get the law on the books.

I fight for healthcare access legislation frequently, and we have to do this a lot - get the actual law on the books, then expand who it actually applies to.

That's what we've done with both Medicare and Medicaid over the years (now w/SCHIP).

Just want to throw that out there to give some hope that not all may be lost.

[BlooInBloo]

3. That's what sucks about "baby steps".

[backscatter712]

4. As Martin Luther King Jr. said,

A right delayed is a right denied.

FUCK YOU CONGRESS!

[enlightenment]

5. My son tells me that there is a component of the

gay and lesbian community that is less than accepting of transgendered people - he has had several issues since he transitioned, among those who you would think would be understanding.

Obviously, it's just a segment of the community, but it is still telling that gender identity is considered the new hot button.

Gads. I get sooo tired of weasel-worded congress-critters. Gumby has more spine than most of these people.

[Marrah_G]

9. all groups contain jackasses n/t

[JackBeck]

6. John at Americablog has called for a debate.

And has posted the three arguments that could be made. Good post, imho.

http://www.americablog.com/2007/09/should-we-kill-enda-if-transgender.html

[LeftHander]

10. No debate needed....kill the bill.

I would rather have us all there then sit back and let the Republicans use hate, fear and ignorance to divide our community.

Lets wait. The people are going to remove droves of Republicans from office this next election and then we can make some real progress. The shrill voices of fear, hate and division are going to get much quieter.

[undergroundpanther]

7. Ahhh damn

Baby steps my ass. Sometimes the gay community is hostile to us .If we cannot rustle up enough numbers,because trans-gender is not so easy to live through and be open about without being threatened 24 7, we will NEVER be protected by bills that will protect gays.. A trans-woman I know when she walk down the street she gets rocks tossed at her she had her lip cut a few months ago.And she is harassed on the bus.
Gay people in baltimore as far as I can observe do not live under the constant assaults from both straights and gays trans-women/Trans-men suffer through.( I have seen gay men harass her and she says she is lesbian and these same guys bother her she says no, leave me alone, I am a lesbian ,etc.and they don't stop because they get a kick out of it.)

There would be no stonewall riot if a trans-woman hadn't taken off her shoe..
I fear SOME of the gay people who are wanting to be secure for themselves may very well toss the T off GBLT if it means they get some legal protection.And I have heard such talk myself and it ANGERS me.

[swimboy]

8. Damn it.

I do not want them selling out our transgendered brothers and sisters. I am even willing to wait on the passage of ENDA to bring them in at the same time. What kind of chances do you think they have of getting their own separate act through Congress?

I don't want to be part of an "I got mine so I'm okay" mindset. The fact that they have been split off of one version of ENDA is bound to have hurt them terribly. It sends the message that they are not even in the back of the bus but are on a trailer the bus is hauling that can be uncoupled any time the bus is having trouble going uphill.

This breaks my heart.