11/13/13

Call me Stephen! Meet the high school coach who just came out as transgender

Stephen Alexander is amazing. Born into the wrong body Stephen grew up in a small Conservative Rhode Island town denying his true gender. It wasn't just scary he told Out Sports the prospect of telling his family terrified him.

So he moved to New York city and spent some time learning about himself without constraints and came home one day and declared he wanted his family to call him Stephen. A truly wonderful story of fulfillment and acceptance.

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Watch Denver Wrangler protesters explain their grievances. So why is gay media still silent?

A very diverse group of LGBT people and allies met Sunday afternoon in front of a bear gay bar called "The Denver Wrangler" to bring attention to their denying entrance to Vito John Marzano, a regular patron who happened to be in drag that day after performing at a nearby fundraiser.

The bar contends they denied him entrance because his ID did not match him visually while simultaneously telling him he wasn't transgender de facto acknowledging that his ID matched.

The law ( para 47-912) requires places that offer alcoholic beverages to insure patrons are of legal age which was accomplished when the staff recognized Vito after he took off his wig. Vito's video of the encounter shows that the management denied him access to public accommodations because of his gender expression in violation of Colorado civil rights law.

Update: Gay media responds in force. List of article published by gay bloggers since this was posted at the bottom of the page.

I asked feminist Yvonne Wright why she was protesting she told me  "What disturbs me the most about this is the opposition from people within our community. If we don't stand together as a community - GLBT - we will never get anywhere. To hear gay men say things like "let them go to their own bars," is reminiscent of the times whites said let black go to their own bars. It is one thing to cater to a specific clientele. It is another to deny entrance or service because you are not a member of that clientele. When you are a public establishment, in Colorado you are required by law to treat everyone the same regardless of race, religion, sex, gender identification or sexual orientation."

More about the sign that shouts transmisogyny over gay media's silence, after the video.


Denver Wrangler and Gender Discrimination - Protesters Explain Their Grievances from Daniel Gonzales on Vimeo.
Video by Daniel S Gonzales
exgaysurvivordan@gmail.com

Video was filmed entirely on a public sidewalk using a large cumbersome camera in plain view of all present, ergo no subjective nor reasonable expectation of privacy existed. Daniel S Gonzales holds the exclusive copyright to all video footage taken at the protest used in this film.

For more information on the boycott Denver-wrangler.com

Now about the gay supremacist trans-eraser sign....

Ms. Wright posted this on facebook:

Yvonne Wright
I just e-mailed this to "Out Front."

"One of your regular columnists, Brent Heinze, is outside The Denver Wrangler during tonight's protest with a sign that says "support gay marriage, not drag queens at beer busts." I am just curious if you are covering this event and, if so, if you have seen this. I cannot understand why Denver's leading publication for GLBT issues would allow such a man to be a contributing columnist. It is also my sincere hope, as a legitimate journalist myself, that you are covering this protest. I am an Emmy award winning journalist who has covered stories through-out the world, has worked as both a reporter and an editor, and can say with confidence that this is a significant news event in our community. It has become loud and divisive. The whole issue of gender identity when being used to ID someone at a bar and excluding them and/or women from beer busts is one worth examining (especially since it is illegal and violates the very anti-discrimination codes intended to protect us - an oppressed minority). I realize a lot of people support The Denver Wrangler. I realize the bar contributes to a lot of events in our community. But, I hope you ARE a legitimate source of news and information for our community and, therefore, willing to cover sensitive issues that effect us all. Even more, I hope that you do not allow this man who is publicly spewing hate and discrimination to continue to be a part of your publication." 
Thank you, Yvonne Wright


Brent Heinze posted this "apology" on a facebook group called "Exile Fetish Balls"

Brent Heinze
"I want to express my sincere apology to those who I hurt through my statement during the Wrangler protest on Sunday. By no means was my sign that read, “fight for gay marriage not drag queens at beer bust,” meant to show aggression, intolerance, or non-acceptance to anyone that expresses themselves how they want. It was intended to express my perspective about the fact that some in our community focus on being extremely negative and their energies could also be put towards larger inequities locally. Again, it was not meant to be construed to be hateful towards people expressing individualized gender expression or that they deserve to be discriminated against. I apologize for this having those undercurrents.

I’m trying to work with a few people to see what can be done in the future to have more conversations and see where it goes. I appreciate those who have taken the time to talk and email me about their concerns and frustrations instead of just throwing me under the bus or writing me off. I’m hopeful that through this combative situation some good can come out of this. I’m looking optimistically towards the future."

Hieinze's sign was not a fux pa as he would like to pass it off as.

It clearly frames the issue as nothing else could have. As the video shows, people who were protesting were thoughtful, positive and sensitive. People who belong to the boycott page who were at the protest said were very encouraged by the reactions of Wranglers patrons with whom they interacted with.

The Protest page is and open group so anyone can post. One gay man in a thread since removed by the page admin called us "Twats" and told us to STFU. That sort of behaviour was seen time and again on other threads removed by the group admin.

Objecting to discrimination isn't "slanderous". The Wrangler is touting this letter by local group after members said they went "incognito' to the beer bust and found no discrimination.

Pink Panther LGBT summarily bans Wrangler dissension on Facebook. Will they ban you too?

In fact the only ones being intolerant is the Denver Wrangler staff. They have tried there best to silence the transgender media with intimidation and even threatened Vito with a lawsuit.

Another fact.  The Denver Wrangler has been very intent on cleansing the Internet of evidence, first getting favebook to censor articles about the incident, getting you tube to violate the video and by pressuring myself and the TransAdvocate to take our posts down.

I wanted a cisgender feminist perspective about the Brent Heinze appology so I asked Ms. Wright to comment on it:
His apology was not an apology. Instead of saying "I'm sorry for what I did," he said "I'm sorry if I hurt anyone because of what I did." This is what Heinze said in his apology about the sign, "It was intended to express my perspective about the fact that some in our community focus on being extremely negative and their energies could also be put towards larger inequities locally." This basically reiterated what he said the night before. So what if there are "bigger issues" in his mind. Who decides what is big and what is small? If you're gay and you want to marry, Equal Marriage is a big issue. If you're trans and you are turned down entrance to a bar and embarrassed in front of your friends, that's a big issue. One case doesn't detract from the other. We can all work on many issues simultaneously. Even the U.S. Congress is able to do so by considering both equal marriage and equal treatment in the workplace. One issue doesn't negate or over-ride another. Furthermore, for Heinze to call the protesters "negative" is a slap in the face to GLBT people who fight against injustice everywhere. If he expects me to sit back and not be "negative" when members of my community are being discriminated, he's terribly, terribly mistaken.

"Trans-erasure" "Gay Supremacist" Gay misogyny? Am I being melodramatic? Well lets go to gay blogs that have picked up this story who have published a empathetic view....

Silence.

That's not for a lack of trying. I tried to get gay blogs to speak about this when it the story first broke.



 And more recently so has Dan Gonzales:





Silence.

And once again...











If we are to win this battle for equality we must be willing to conduct painful introspection and open, civil dialogue. Without it we stop recovering from the Barney Frank era and splinter once again. There is no LGB without the T.

The following bloggers and sites have since joined the conversation.

Towleroad "DENVER WRANGLER GAY BAR HIT WITH PROTEST FOR DISCRIMINATING AGAINST TRANS PEOPLE, DRAG QUEENS: VIDEO"

The Advocate "WATCH: Queer Protesters Allege Discrimination at Denver Bear Bar"

Soadahead

carriefairfield.com

Thank you  for retweeting and asking, why?


Thank you OUT Front Co!




Thank you Advocate Mag!


Thank you Andy!!! love ya




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11/11/13

Woman who claimed Nebraska Medical Center denied her treatment has taken Hir post down

Mika Covington is a genderqueer who prefers the pronouns sie and hir. Sie lives with end stage (stage 5) Nephropathic Cystinosis which affects approximately 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 newborns. There are only around 2,000 known individuals with cystinosis in the world.

Mika had alledged in a blog post tha sie has since removed, that the University of Nebraska Medical Center had refused to perform a kidney transplant after learning of Mika's transgender status.

Mika Covington has since messsaged me via facebook that sie is concerned about possible legal actions and therefore has taken hir blog post down.

This leaves me without an unattributable article and in a very bad position. I will leave this post up with the statement I received from the Nebraska Medical center and will update it as necessary.

Update 11/13/2013. Mika Covington messaged me regarding my taking down the planetransgender post down:

" I still stand by what I said in my post. But, I would point out that no where in my post did I state the University explicitly denied on basis of gender identity or political party preference/identification. Nevertheless, I did include in my post that I had issues because of being gender identity and political party preference/identification. In addition, I must state that I never gave Queerty or the Daily Kos to do a story on my Cystinosis and gender identity."
"Thank you again for writing a post on what was said in my blog."


Update 10:46 PM CT

Taylor Wilson, Senior Media Relations Coordinator at the Nebraska Medical Center has emailed me with this statement:

"We have performed thousands of transplants over the last 40 years. Patients are never rejected based on gender, race or religion. EVER. Organ transplant is highly regulated by the government and politics is never part of the discussion. Without consent from the patient, we can't comment specifically about this case. However, we can say that each prospective transplant recipient has to attend appointments on a regular basis and complete a variety of tests before being eligible for transplant. We want to make sure each patient takes the utmost care of the gift of life they're being given, both immediately after the transplant and for years to come."


"Our institution is filled with talented, caring individuals who strive to provide the highest quality care to everyone. We provide care to the sickest of the sick and often become a place of refuge when other bigger-name centers have turned them down. One of our recent transplant patients may have said it best in this video:"

 Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Taylor Wilson
Senior Media Relations Coordinator
The Nebraska Medical Center





Mr. Wilson said they have not received the needed consent form from Mika they need to address this case specifically he wanted to respond in general to this blog post.

Mika has tweeted a number of time sie has emailed the Nebraska Medical center but has yet to receive the consent form.




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11/10/13

Breaking: Group claims to have enough signatures to force a vote on Ca student Transgender rights

The political strategist who is coordinating the fight against AB 1266 has told the AP they have collected enough signatures to force a referendum.

AP: Opponents of a new California law that gives transgender students certain rights say they have collected enough signatures for an initiative that could repeal the law.

Frank Schubert, the political strategist handling the signature gathering effort for conservative groups, said Sunday that the group submitted 620,000 signatures to get the initiative on the November 2014 ballot. To qualify, at least 505,000 valid signatures must be submitted.

If there have been enough signatures collected as Schubert claims a qualification process must validate those signatures. There is no mention of this on the central hate groups web page.


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Pink Panther LGBT summarily bans Wrangler dissension on Facebook. Will they ban you too?


Post by Kelli Anne Busey.


Posted on the Denver Wrangler web site
http://denverwrangler.com/news/open_letter_from_the_pink_panthers_movement1. Colorado law only says that establishments must ensure people embibing are of age. 2. I am happy that someone went to the Denver Wrangler and had a good time. I don't doubt they did on that particular day. 3. Expressing a view is not slanderous. I am positive that if I or Cristin Williams or any of the mainstream publishers slandered the Wrangler they wouldn't have hesitated in bringing a lawsuit.

What followed has just as deplorable. The Denver Wrangler pressured the members of the charities it helps to support by telling individuals they would be unwelcome if they talked about that incident or even remained friends with the victim.

The Denver Wranglers paid representives then went after myself and the TransAdvocate where my planetransgender article was cross posted. 


They demanded we take down the pictures and in private messages demanded I delete my article from facebook. They succeeded in pressuring facebook to censure my article and deleted Vito's Youtube video. But their bullying only served to increase my resolve to stand with Vito.

To my knowlage anyone who has dared to question the Pink Panthers to this point about there reaction to the Wrangler incident has been banned from their page. I am asking that you question this as well. Would you belong to a group who whould summarily banned
dissent?

I doubt it. Like there letter said on the Wrangler post they claim to welcome dialog. 
Will they welcome yours? 



Will they ban you if you attend today's protest at the Denver Wrangler?

  		• PROTEST ACTION: Spread the word - Sunday 11-10-2013 4pm @ the Denver Wrangler.

    Gender non conforming attire is highly encouraged.
    We will be meeting outside the Denver Wrangler to let our voices be heard. We will then proceed to a bar crawl of other establishments in the area to show support of other venues which do not discriminate based on gender presentation.

    We will keep it peaceful. We will not enter the bar. We will stay on the public sidewalk and not block traffic, or access to the venue.

    MORE INFO:

    It has been understood for many years that the Wrangler denies entry to individuals if their gender presentation does not match their government issued ID. The Wrangler also discriminates using gender based pricing at their beer busts as women are not allowed to participate. This is illegal under the Colorado Anti Discrimination Act.

    The Wrangler as a bar, is classified as a venue of public accomodation. As such, they are obligated to accomodate any individual based on their gender or perceived gender status. This policy is transphobic and discriminatory against anyone who presents their gender differently. It is a shame that an establishment which frequently operates under the LGBT banner would have such a policy.

    On 8/31/2013 Vito John Marzano tried to enter the Wrangler after attending a fundraiser while in drag. He was denied entry because his gender presentation did not match his government issued ID. It was all caught on video.

    Since that night an official complaint has been filed with DORA, and an investigation is under way. A movement called "Boycott the Denver Wrangler" has been formed to encourage Denver residents not to give business to the Wrangler until they change their discriminatory policies. We have attempted to open a dialog with the Wrangler at a nuetral location to end the Boycott, but they refuse. The only response we have received from the Wrangler is threats cvia their attorneys to Vito to cease and desist.

    DORA states the following on this issue:

    Colorado Law prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation based on certain protected classes (characteristics). Examples of prohibited discriminatory practices include: terms of service; denial of full and equal service; intimidation; failure to accommodate; access; conditions; privileges; advertising; and retaliation. A place of public accommodation can be a: bar; restaurant; financial institution; school or educational institution; health club; theater; hospital; museum or zoo; hotel or motel; public club; retail store; medical clinic; public transportation; nursing home; recreational facility or park; and library.

    Colorado law prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. By legal definition, sexual orientation means heterosexuality, homosexuality (lesbian or gay), bisexuality, and transgender status. Transgender status means a gender indentity or gender expression that differs from societal expectations based on gender assigned at birth.
    http://cdn.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/DORA-DCR/CBON/DORA/1251629367385
Denver Wrangler
1700 Logan St., Denver, Colorado 80203
View Map · Get Directions


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Atlanta night club Don Pollo denies entrance to transgender woman saying 'because we can'

On Friday November 8th at about 3:30am Alissah Brooks was illegally denied public accommodations access by employees of Don Pollo's who refused her entrance because of her gender identity. Don Pollo's facebook page makes no mention of the establishment being a members only nightclub.

A male employee appears and asks, “What’s the problem?” One of Brooks’ friends explained, “The problem was she’s a transgender and [the bouncer] denied her entry.” Without skipping a beat the employee asks, “What’s wrong with that?



Here's what's wrong with that...it's against city code as of July 19th 2013 to deny public accommodations on the basis of gender identity. Marco Polo owners and staff really need to become better informed and hopefully less bigoted.

http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=10376

Too small to read manager Luis Munoz? You can click the link or read it here....especially for you...



Sec. 94-68. Unlawful discrimination.

(a)
Except as is exempted in subsection (b) of this section, it shall be unlawful for any person, whether acting for himself/herself or another, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of a public accommodation, to engage in or cause another to engage in any of the following prohibited acts, or to allow a subordinate employee of the public accommodation to engage in any of the following prohibited acts, in any public accommodation in the legal limits of the City of Atlanta:
(1)
Denial, refusal, rejection, or granting or any privilege, service, goods, merchandise, advantage, facility, membership, commodity or accommodation because of an individual's, or the perception of an individual's, race, color, creed, religion, sex, domestic relationship status, parental status, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide by a blind, deaf or otherwise physically disabled person.


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