NY Ponders Transgender Hate Crime Provisions Meanwhile WE Holla Back!

With the passage of a New York State hate crime bill that provided prosecutors a method of insuring more than a one day incarceration for perpetrators of violence against gay people, many including myself breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, those recently enacted laws do not cover violence intended to terrorize transgender people as a class . The result of passing gay only hate crimes laws has left transgender victims like Carmella Etienne (left) unprotected, since NY gender specific crimes are unreported resulting with criminals empowered and anonymous.

The The violence experienced by transgender people in New York is but one state in a country that left to its devices, leaves transgender people behind. How much harassment, how many beatings, how many deaths will go unreported as hate crime? How many transgender people will die before we are recognized as citizens that are targets in terror.

One New York grass roots initiative to end street harassment is seeking funds from the Knight Foundation.Hollaback is entered for a $100,000 grant to implement a system to photograph and text via cell a description of the incidence which will be offered to the public including maps detailing the occurrence and statistical data as to location.

You can Hollar Back in Texas; Holla Back Texas

National Equality March - Opening Invocation delivered by the Rev. Troy D. Perry.

National Equality March Opening Invocation delivered by the Rev. Troy D. Perry, founder of the Metropolitain Community Church which I am a member.


MCC Church.org

MCC Church Facebook

President Obama HRC Black Tie Speech Transgender Inclusive?

Did President Obama's powerfull speech at the Black Tie dinner make a positive concrete commitment to transgender inclusion?

Or was Obama simply stirring the muddy waters of LGB politics to placate HRC's ego maniacal gay power brokers and allow them once again a sense that it's ok to double cross transgender people at their convenience?

Rebecca Juro's article at Bilerico project "What Barack Obama really said about transgender rights" is a excellent read prior to viewing President Obama's speech at the Washington DC National HRC Black Tie Dinner.



I believe that Obama made an incredible statement from day one of his presidency by including ALL Americans in the dynamics of shaping the national profile. This inclusive structure will serve freedom loving people for generations to come.

We have nothing to fear but fear it's self. Is change incremental? Julian Bond has a answer to that and we should be proud, so proud to have our transgender civil rights movement be recognized as allied by the NCAAP.



Incrementalism is a bitter pill to swallow for transgender people to accept since we have always been on the fringe of the political and religious herd, powerless, making us the weakest and most vulnerable.

Knowledge of the Christian religion will quickly assure you that the people who claim to speak for 'conservative' Christians are simply hate mongers and have no basis in the bible to back up their bigotry.

Haters will claim their reward when they are judged.

Do the political right wing assertions that granted equality we will victimize children in the bathroom have any foundation in reality? Really!

All we have to do is continue on as productive citizens, in our jobs and some in faith institutions. Some of us are incensed and will loudly not accept incrementalism and demand change, NOW. Those voices are essental for the progression of transgernder human rights and meanwhile, we all just keep on keeping on.

Texas Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) 2009

View Larger MapEvery third day worldwide, a transgender person is murdered because of our gender identity or expression. That is unacceptable. Murdering a gender diverse person is a hate crime specifically intended to victimize an entire segment of society.

Hate crimes targeting a specific demographic due to racial, ethnicity and gender expression is often the most horrific and murderous. Hate so unconscionable societies natural response is to protect us with laws for accountability and additional punishment of the perpetrators.

Sadly, the reality is hate crime laws serve as a deterrent offering a opportunity for reparation and are not a guarantee of indemnity.

Our sorrow is mourned and an awareness created in mid November when we and our allies gather internationally for the Transgender Day of Remember (TDOR) Face Book TDOR

Texas Transgender Day of Remembrances (TDOR)
updated as required.
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Dallas TDOR

Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Southern Methodist University Quadrangle, at the Flagpole
Address: 6425 Boaz Lane, Dallas TX, 75205
Sponsred by GEAR and OUT and Equal


Fort Worth TDOR

Location: Robert Carr Chapel at TCU
Street: Address: 2855 S. University Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76129
Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Start: 7:30
Press Release
Facebook Page
Sponsors Bright Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Agape MCC, Trinity MCC, Sexuality Education Center, Ft Worth and the Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies


San Antonio TDOR

Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009
Time: 6:00am - 9:00am
Location: 611 E Myrtle, San Antonio, TX
San Antonio Gender Association SAGA.org will host and a press release can be found on Facebook Face Book

Austin Texas TDOR

Date: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Front Steps of Austin City Hall
Address: 301 West Second Street, Austin 78701
Sponsred by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) Face Book page, Central Presbyterian Church, Equality Texas, First United Methodist Church, Gathering Place; Grace United Methodist Church; Jewish QT; Katy Koonce, LCSW; Lutherans Concerned/Austin Central Texas Chapter; MCC Austin at Freedom Oaks; OutYouth; PFLAG of Austin; Trinity United Methodist Church; and Wildflower Church.


Houston TDOR

Event: Transgender Day of Remembrance
What: Ceremony
Start Time: Saturday, November 21 at 6:30pm
End Time: Saturday, November 21 at 10:00pm
Where: Houston Holocaust Museum
Hosted by: Transgender Foundation of America
Houston TDOR Face Book page

Transgender Hate Crimes: Victims, Their Families & Advocates Speak Out

Transgender people face pervasive discrimination, harassment and violence. Leslie Mora and Carmella Etienne—victims of hate crimes in two separate incidents in Queens—are witnesses to the violence that is perpetrated against people because of their gender identity or expression. In its most extreme form, such violence can turn deadly, as it did in the case of Lateisha Green,a young African American woman who was shot and killed, and whose death lead to New York State’s first hate crime trial and conviction stemming from the death of a transgender person.

On Wednesday, October 7th, at 7pm, TLDEF clients Leslie Mora and Carmella Etienne will join Lateisha Green’s family in speaking about their experiences as victims of hate-motivated violence. Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Andy Marra, senior media strategist at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, will discuss the status of gender identity and expression in federal and state hate crime laws, as well as strategies to educate the public through the media on issues of gender identity and expression.
WhatTransgender Hate Crimes: Victims, Their Families & Advocates Speak Out

Where: Brooklyn Law SchoolForchelli Conference Center205 State Street, Brooklyn (map)

WhenWednesday, October 7th7:00 pmCo-SponsorsAnti-Violence Project, Brooklyn Law School, Empire State Pride Agenda, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Make the Road New York, New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), and Queens Pride House.
Dinner and refreshments will be served.This event is free and open to the public.

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Texas District Judge Rules Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

District Judge Tena Callahan's ruling was immediately challenged by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott who maintains that Texas laws prohibiting same sex unions and marriages also deny same gender couples from dissolving these legal unions in Texas.

Judge Callahan believes that becuse federal law was written to protect all Americans it should pertain equally to all.

According to the the Dallas Morning News 'He [Judge Callahan] cited wording in the state Family Code that "the law of this state applies to persons married elsewhere who are domiciled in this state. And he noted that "Black's Law Dictionary defines a person as a 'human being.' "

on the web

Wall Street Journal Law Blog .Dallas Judge Shoots Down Texas’ Ban on Gay Marriage

AP Story Dallas judge clears way for gay divorce

by kelli Busey planetransgender