ABC News Producer's Transition reveals the True Dawn

ABC News producer D. Ennis was to coworkers and friends just a very affordable and able person. The kind of person you want to share a beer with at joe's bar at the end of a day. By all outward appearances and old facebook profile pictures that what Ennis was. But much of that changed with the beginning of the new day.

As affable as Ennis was what people saw when the sun rose and a new workday began, to some extent, was a false false dawn. Ennis was keeping a secret from the world.

Dawn told the world about her coming out in a life event on facebook:

Today I begin anew. I arrived at work tonight in my LBD (little black dress, for you guys) and found on my desk a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my coworkers and a touching ...note from the president of the news division of ABC (I myself brought the cake -- and the glitter -- to thank my very accepting colleagues).

Please understand: this is not a game of dress-up, or make-believe... it is my affirmation of who I now am and what I must do to be happy, in response to a soul-crushing secret that my wife and I have been dealing with for more than seven years, mostly in secret.

I have a rare medical condition -- nothing deadly or infectious -- but it has resulted in an unusual hormonal imbalance, one so profound that I don't resemble the man you first met ten years ago. It's wrecked our marriage and changed me, both physically and in my personality; even my own way of thinking has been altered.

What I have done is to try to put together a life based on my new experience. I have spent years fighting this, trying through dozens of tests and sheer willpower to overcome what doctors cannot cure nor reverse, or even satisfactorily explain.

My beloved wife and I are separating after nearly 17 years of marriage because of this change in me; despite the heartbreak, she has encouraged me to start this new life that we both believe better fits who I now am. It's not something I've longed for or dreamed of, or discovered in my youth. It's not even something, frankly, that I wanted to do -- but I've realized, I needed to do it.

I am transgender, and identify as female. My legal name is now Dawn Stacey Ennis, and my government records now reflect that my gender is female. However, I have not had surgery of any kind, and the HRT I now take is merely to maintain a balance in what is already, mysteriously a more female than male body.

My bosses at ABC have been supportive beyond my hopes and encouraged me to be real, to be who I feel I am. Trust me, this is NOT the midlife crisis I was counting on -- I'd much prefer to have bought a sportscar. Even an affair, I think, would have been something we might have recovered from. But Wendy and I realize that with this, there is no going forward for us, and that is without doubt the saddest aspect of this change for me.

As you may know,we have three children and we are putting them first. I am moving out Saturday, to give my wife and our kids time and space to adjust to life with me on the outside. It's not what I want, but we agreed it's what she can handle. It's a small sacrifice to try to avoid ruining the end of their school year.

I know this is a lot to throw at you out of the blue, and I'm sure if you had to pick someone we know in common who might be transitioning from male to female, I'm guessing I would not even crack the top ten. But it's my reality. I hope you can understand.

I look forward to hopefully keeping you as my friend, and respect your choice to block or defriend me if that's how you feel. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Being a journalist, I've asked them all, and will share what I know.

Warmly,
Dawn

Department of Justice: Create a National Task Force to address the serial Killings of Black Trans Women

Three transgender woman of color have been murdered in April alone. "Enough is enough" says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) in a joint press release with The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs:

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) is deeply concerned of three unsolved homicides of transgender women of color that occurred during the month of April in 2013, which continues a trend of murders of transgender and gender non-conforming women and people of color in the past few years. On Wednesday, April 3rd, Kelly Young, a 29-year-old black transgender woman, was found shot to death inside a home in Baltimore, Maryland. Then on Thursday, April 4th, 30-year-old Ashley Sinclair, a black transgender woman, was found shot to death in a wooded area in the Oak Ridge section of Orange County, Florida. And on April 30, another young black transgender woman, Cemia Dove, also known as Ci Ci was found on April 17 in a retention pond in Olmsted Township, Ohio. Dove, a 20-year-old woman, had multiple stab wounds, was tied to a concrete block, and was found naked from the waist down. As of April 30th, all three of these homicides remain unsolved.

At issue is also the media's horrific reporting of Ce ce Dove in Ohio and there dismissive attitude to local LGBT groups concerns:

The Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), an NCAVP member organization that works to end LGBTQ-related violence and homicide, has issued a press release about Dove’s murder, but media failed to pick up the story. “BRAVO is saddened to learn of the most recent hate crime murder, and outraged at the media’s flagrant disregard for human dignity,” said Gloria McCauley, Executive Director of BRAVO, “Every homicide deserves to be investigated and all possible leads followed so that we can understand what the cause of the homicide was. This is particularly true when the homicide involves a community that we know is at a higher risk of bias-related homicides such as transgender women of color.”

Three unsolved homicides within one month should elicit a national outcry," said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director and CEO at NBJC. "We need to hold our law enforcement officials accountable at every level--from local police departments that need to work tirelessly to find these killers and bring them to justice, to federal agencies such as the Department of Justice that should create a national task force to address the serial killings of Black trans women in this nation. How many more lives must be lost before we take serious action to stop this madness?"

H/T Pink News

Red Lion High School says Transman Issak Wolfe will be called by his Birth name at Graduation

The world first became aware of Issak Oliver Wolfe, a transgender senior attending Red Lion Area High School when his bid for prom king was unceremoniously changed to prom queen by the school's principal Mr. Shue. There wasn't much Issak could do about that because it was done without his knowledge at the last moment. He didn't learn of the change until he went to cast his ballot!

But it was just the beginning of Issak's battle for respect. The ACLU became involved at that time demanding that Issak be allowed to attend the prom in his authentic gender as a male with his supportive girl friend Taylor. Mr. Shue relented and allowed them to attend but there is one more critical unresolved issue.

Mr. Shue has said Issak's legal name will be read at graduation. Issak is in the process of changing his name now that he is 18, but that won't be completed until after graduation.

The PA code Title 22 Education does not require schools to read a students legal name at graduation and nether does the Red Lion School District.

Read Issack's authentic name. Soon after graduation it will become his for the rest of his life. It's just a simple request. Respect not bigotry.

From the ACLU May 6th press release

On April 25, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Pennsylvania sent a letter on behalf of Wolfe, asking among other things, that the school allow Wolfe to attend graduation wearing a black cap and gown for boys, as opposed to the yellow cap and gown mandated for girls, and have his male name read at the ceremony. The letter also asked that the school adopt a policy to allow students to run for prom court in accordance with their gender identity, as well as a broader nondiscrimination policy protecting transgender students in the district. In his response, the school district's solicitor agreed to allow Issak to wear a black cap and gown but denied the rest of his requests.

"I am really disappointed that the school district doesn't want to do anything to protect transgender students," said Wolfe, a senior at Red Lion Area High School. "I want to make sure that future transgender students are not humiliated and disrespected the way I was."

Wolfe plans to take his case to the RLASD school board at their next meeting on Thursday, May 16

You can keep up to date with Issak and his wonderful girlfriend Taylor by liking their facebook page and signing The ACLU petition "Issak's Simple Message: Respect, Not Bigotry".

The Plain Dealer Ignores their commitment to follow the AP Style Guide 8 HOURS latter

Eight hours after The Plain Dealer pledged to follow the AP Style guide following their horrendous reporting of transgender woman Cemia's murder they published this problematic article breaking there word.


The Plain Dealer, OH, USA

Olmsted Township police, FBI arrest Parma man in murder of Carl Edward Acoff, Jr.

By Mark Holan, Sun News

on May 04, 2013 at 8:39 PM, updated May 04, 2013 at 8:49 PM


OLMSTED TOWNSHIP -- A Parma man was arrested this morning for the murder of Carl Edward Acoff, Jr., the 20-year-old man whose body was found in a pond on Mackenzie Road April 17.

Andre L. Bridges, 36, is being held in Olmsted Township jail following his arrest by Olmsted Township police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Fugitive Task Force.

Acoff was reported missing by his family in late March, and his body was found by a resident who lives in the apartment next to the retention pond. There were multiple stab wounds in his body, and achain and a concrete block were attached to his waist.

There is still an active investigation going on with this case, according to Olmsted Township Police Chief John Minek.

© 2013 Cleveland Live LLC. All rights reserved

http://www.cleveland.com/olmsted/index.ssf/2013/05/olmsted_township_police_fbi_ar.html

The link no longer works but the damage is irrevocable, setting back coverage of transgender murders twenty years.

Multiple articles similar to this calling Cemia a man and ignoring she was transgender have appeared some word for word since the Plain Dealer published this article.

Five Texas LGBT GetEQUAL Activists Arrested Protesting Senate Stranglehold on Job Protections Bill

Published on May 5, 2013

In the state of Texas it is legal and common practice to fire, refuse to hire, or otherwise discriminate against someone in the workplace solely based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Texas Senate Bill 237 "The Fair Employment Act" Seeks to create a workplace safe from these types of discrimination.


After numerous phone calls, petitions, and emails SB 237 still sits in committee. Fearing that the committee would not budge
GetEQUAL TX Activists payed a visit to the 4 senators who are holding it up.

5 of those activists were arrested for daring to speak truth to power. Join the movement for full equality in all matters governed by civil law.

Man Arrested For The Murder of Ohio Transgender Woman Cemia Acoff

Andre L. Bridges, 36 was arrested Saturday at his home in Parma, Ohio by police and the FBI.

Cemia Acoff, a transgender woman was found tied to a concrete block, underwater in a pond, her body badly decomposed on April 17th.

*Trigger Warning. The source used for this post, News net5, misgenders Cemia repeatedly using her birth name and making no mention that she was a transgender person undoubtedly parroting the atrocious original article published by the Plain Dealer.

You can read the News Net5 article "Arrest made in case where dead body was found in pond, tied to concrete block/steel pipe" here.