Press Release
For Immediate Release
Kelli Busey
214-226-7080
kellibusey@yahoo.com
Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies
http://dallastaa.ning.com/
Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies (DTAA) and the City of Dallas TX working together to make "The Bridge" homeless shelter transgender accepting.
Dallas Texas. Dallas TX enacted Ordinances in 2002 prohibiting discrimination in housing and the workplace based on gender identity and sexual orientation. It was not until the death of a mayoral candidate and homeless transgender woman Jennifer Gale after spending a night exposed to subfreezing temperatures did it become apparent the cities homeless shelter did not house transgender people according to the transgender person's self determined gender identity. Transgender people were judged by a shelter staffer as to whether the applicant was female or male regardless of information supplied on intake. The transgender homeless person was then required to sleep, shower and use bathrooms without protection in whatever accommodation chosen by the staffer.
This condition created a unsafe environment for transgender people. Many transgender people would then refuse to stay in the cities shelter and forgo the opportunity to learn how to move from the streets to become a vital contributing member of society.
Dallas transgender Advocates and Allies invited the City to a conference in which it would conduct a gender 101 and introduce the City of Dallas to who transgender, queer and the gender diverse people are. The next step was to use the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force study "Transitioning our shelters: A guide to making homeless shelters safe for transgender people" to suggest options to make the cities shelter safe and accepting for the gender diverse.
According to DTAA member Kelli Busey "My initial reaction to this effort was that the conference was a success. The city managers who were present although dismayed by the unaccountable absence of the invited Bridge personal at the meeting, became involved and enthusiastic about the prospect of caring for our GLBT homeless population. We will be monitoring the city to insure it implements policy that will make it compliant with it's gender and sexual protective ordinances. We will also offer our assistance to the City of Dallas to conduct ongoing Gender 101 classes for Bridge employess. The need for this was made apparent at the meeting by the observation of a Dallas City manager who noted that when the Bridge was initially opened there was a concern expressed for making it GLBT accepting but "It was never followed up on."
Press Release
For immediate Release
planetransgender
January 28, 2009
1/28/09
1/27/09
Chicago: ACLU sues on transgender birth certificate
Source Radical Queer News;
Chicago: ACLU sues on transgender birth certificate
CHICAGO, Jan. 27 (UPI) — The American Civil Liberties Union says it will sue Illinois for refusing to issue a new birth certificate to a citizen who underwent a sex-change operation.
Attorneys announced the lawsuit in Chicago Tuesday, saying the state Department of Vital Records had routinely changed birth certificates for transgender people for more than 40 years before recently pulling the plug on the practice.
The ACLU called birth certificates a fundamental document people need to legally and accurately establish their identity.
Full story at United Press International, Inc.
Chicago: ACLU sues on transgender birth certificate
CHICAGO, Jan. 27 (UPI) — The American Civil Liberties Union says it will sue Illinois for refusing to issue a new birth certificate to a citizen who underwent a sex-change operation.
Attorneys announced the lawsuit in Chicago Tuesday, saying the state Department of Vital Records had routinely changed birth certificates for transgender people for more than 40 years before recently pulling the plug on the practice.
The ACLU called birth certificates a fundamental document people need to legally and accurately establish their identity.
Full story at United Press International, Inc.
Supreme Court: law bars sex harassment retaliation
Supreme Court: law bars sex harassment retaliation (Reuters).
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An employee is protected from being fired in retaliation for answering questions during an employer's investigation of suspected sexual harassment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
The unanimous court ruled the federal civil rights law's anti-retaliation provision for employees who report workplace sex or race discrimination also extended to an internal investigation of a supervisor or another worker.
"Nothing in the statute requires a freakish rule protecting an employee who reports discrimination on her own initiative but not one who reports the same discrimination in the same words when her boss asks a question," Justice David Souter wrote in the
opinion.
Full Article at Democratic Underground
1/25/09
DEMAND the Dallas Voice stops using "TRANNY"
Thank you Nikki Dreams for this wonderfully sensitive and enlightening video. I hope everyone who watches this comes to appreciates how harmful it is to the self respect of transgender people when you call us "Trannie" and unless we are a entertainer with published articles which we identify ourselves individually as a "Drag Queen or Tranny" please do not call us by these names.
The Dallas Voice and it's Web Log which bill themselves as a "LGB Paper" have been a constant recipient of my emails and phone calls to both the Editor, Tammye Nash and News Editor, John Write, both of whom I consider an allies, protesting their use of these derogatory names. I have explained that we suffer from the use of TRANNY as Black people do being called "Nigger" by non Afro Americans or Hispanics hate "Wetback" or Jewish people rail against 'Kike".....this list of bigotry inspired names is used by haters........and how others will capitalize on their insensitivity resulting in the marginalization, Victimization and violent murders of Transgender people.
I have resisted the Dallas Voices invitation to post letters to the editor protesting this because I feel it would exploitative on the Dallas Voices part. My indignation would be used as a promotional commercialization aid for the sales of this very hateful language.
!Please save lives and Take Action! Copy the message below and Send the Dallas voice a email!
Phone: (214) 754-8710
Fax: (214) 969-7271
Robert Moore, Publisher
robertmoore@dallasvoice.com
Tele. Ext.112
Tammye Nash, Senior Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com
Tele. Ext.128
John Wright, News Editor
wright@dallasvoice.com
Tele. Ext.113
Ben Briscoe, Staff Writer
briscoe@dallasvoice.com
Tele. Ext.117
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Dallas Voice,
Our community is comprised of Queer, Transgender, Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Intersexed and Questioning people who deserve the same respect as your staff expects to be shown in there personal daily lives. You would scream bloody murder if I called you "Faggot" do not call our people "Tranny". We demand our own community stops leading the way for hate and violence targeting transgender people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Posts on planetransgender
"Angie Zapata's Life and Death : changed how we are treated"
"Boston Herald "TRANNIE" is what a 16 year old calls a gear shift. Not a HUMAN."
DEMAND the Dallas Voice stops using "TRANNY" also published at,
Pams House Blend
Queer Toda.com
Dallas Transgender Activists and Allies(DTAA)
DEMAND the Dallas Voice stops using "TRANNY", auto linked at
QueerCincinnati.com
Queers United
Dallas Voice and it's Weblog and outside publications referencing articles by the Dallas Voice containing the word "Tranny"
Dallas Voice's official Blog Instant Tea responds with post"Planetransgender takes action against the word ‘Tranny’" Visit Instant Tea and leave a comment!
Hot tranny Hawaii | Aloha art
2009’s first hot tranny: Katelyn Cusanelli
January 8th, 2009
Hand Puppet Land blog postings
Oregon Live "Dallas bar owner bans drag queens and trannies"
Weblog headlines Local Gay Hate Crime and uses Tranny in later article
SHE-DICK sings 'Galactic Tranny' ... Dallas Voice DVTV News. Candi Shell
2006-2009 outside.in stories about 'lgbt' in Cityplace
Pegasus News Dallas gay bar to ban drag queens on “Trashy Tuesday”
(Dallas Myspace)theres a pic of me in the dallas voice and ive got this stupid look on my ... OMG you tranny whore shouldnt you be kissing some red necks ass right now
Crews Inn rep says drag queens allowed in on certain conditions; performers vow to continue fight
Dallas Voice Joan Rivers shares the stage with the Turtle Creek Chorale, ... recently as “halfway through becoming a trannie,
The list goes on forever and I have to go to church now.
By Kelli Busey,
Transgender Woman
January 25, 2009
planetransgender
Human Rights First Thanks President Obama
From
Human Rights First
"If there was any doubt that a new day is dawning in America, it has been washed away by the events of [last week]."
"I am speaking about the three executive orders that President Obama signed yesterday. They represent a significant victory—a victory for which Human Rights First has fought relentlessly over the past seven years. And you have been there right alongside us the entire way."
"Standing next to the president as he signed these orders were 16 members of Human Rights First's coalition of retired military leaders. Over the past several years, Human Rights First has brought together more than 50 generals and admirals to speak out against disastrous policies of torture, ill treatment, and indefinite detention."
"Taken together, these executive orders end coercive interrogation practices by the CIA and other U.S. agencies, shut down secret detention facilities, and order the closure of Guantánamo within one year."
Please take moment now and send a thank you to President Obama for his action. Let him know that you will support him in making sure that America's leadership is fully restored.
Posted by Kelli Busey
January 25, 2009
planetransgender
1/24/09
Belovedness and The United Methodist Constitution: Does All Mean All?
Sometimes in my wandering I happen to come back to the United Methodist and am instantly thrust into the very passion of Christianity.
A blog post found on "Religion is a Queer Thing" by Rev. Tiffiany Steinwert, pictured right,
"Belovedness and The United Methodist Constitution: Does All Mean All?"
"There is a story that another UM pastor, Janet Wolf, tells about one of her parishioners. This story about Fayette has become gospel for me in understanding the fullness of the meaning of baptism in our Christian tradition. You see Fayette, although new to the Church understood the power of baptism deep her in soul."
"She came to Janet’s church one summer, pacing back and forth outside the open doors, listening intently to the music, the laughter, the words. Occasionally she would crouch down on the front steps engrossed, amazed and astounded at what she heard. Little by little that summer Fayette moved from the sidewalk to the steps, from the steps to the door and finally one day from the door to the pew."
Please read and share Religion is a Queer Thing.
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