Vigil For Lucy Meadows At The Daily Mail Monday March 25th

More than 150 people have indicated they will gather outside the Daily Mail offices at Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT on Monday at 6.30pm to hold a Vigil in memory of Lucy Meadows.

London

From the Facebook event:

For those of you who have been upset and outraged by the Daily Mail's treatment of Lucy Meadows, a candle-lit vigil is going to be held outside the offices of the Daily Mail on Monday at 6.30pm.
...
There may be other event pages for this - we found out about the event on Twitter but we can't seem to find any other details/event pages so thought we'd make this one so that we can share information and co-ordinate.

Lucy Meadows was a transwoman and teacher at St Mary Magdalen's school in Accrington. The school were very supportive of her transition but after calls from a minority of parents, The Daily Mail published a highly offensive and transphobic piece by Richard Little john 'outing' her, resulting in Ms Meadows being hounded and vilified by the press. Reports of her death were confirmed yesterday and suicide is suspected but not yet confirmed.

Please share this as widely as possible, and let's show The Daily Mail that transphobia is utterly unacceptable, reprehensible and has tragic consequences. Let's also pay tribute to a brave woman and dedicated teacher.

"The other side" By Abigail Pope .



I wrote and recorded a song today after I found out about Lucy Meadows’ death. It’s so heartbreaking to see such bright lights get snuffed out for no other reason than to sell a paper or feel important. Yeah, we look and sound different, but we’re just people. We need all the things people need, and we are denied them, and for many, it’s too hard a road to walk.
Lucy Meadows, trans teacher whose gender reassignment made news, found dead at home.

The Other Side

Can’t you leave the girls alone
crying in their pillows
They ain’t done nothin to you
except put on makeup and high shoes
How many stares and laughing twits
drives a girl to slit her wrists
Lucy are you crying
I’ll meet you on the other side

Magnolia Junior High Principal Tells 16 Year Old Student "I don't want a dyke in this school."

Targeted with hateful slurs by staff and students, being forced to use the wrong restroom  Destin Holmes was forced to leave junior high school. But she's back and she brought friends.

It's a story all too familiar to trans students. Hateful people could care less why a person belongs to the LGBT community, be it Gender variance or sexual orientation. Its all the same to Moss Point Mississippi Magnolia Junior High school principal, staff and students who were targeting Destin because she was a convenient outlet to vent there feelings of inadequacy and frustrations with life.



SPLC Moss Point Demand Letter

March 21, 2013

Maggie Griffin, Ph.D Superintendent
Moss Point School District 4924 Church Street
Moss Point, MS 39563

Joanne Pettaway
Principal
Magnolia Junior High School 6601 Orange Grove Road Moss Point, MS 39563

VIA EMAIL AND FIRST CLASS MAIL

Dear Ms. Griffin and Ms. Pettaway,

We have been retained by Destin Holmes and her family concerning severe and pervasive harassment Destin experienced during her time at Magnolia Junior High School (“Magnolia”). Destin was formerly an eighth grade student at Magnolia, where she was enrolled from August 15, 2011 until March of 2012. During the seven months Destin was enrolled in the Moss Point School District (“the District”), Destin was targeted for harassment by school administrators, teachers, and other students based on her sexual orientation and gender expression. The harassment began immediately upon

her arrival at Magnolia and intensified following notification by Destin’s family to the principal (“Principal Peyton”) and the Moss Point School District Superintendent at the time, John Ladner. Destin found respite only after she left Magnolia, a decision made after harassment continued unabated and Principal Peyton told Destin during an in person meeting in March of 2012, “I don’t want a dyke in this school.”

School Officials Unlawfully Blamed Destin for the Harassment Against Her

Destin is a young woman who identifies as a lesbian and who wears clothing typically associated
with male-identified individuals—baggy jeans, polo shirts, and baseball caps. For the first three days Destin was enrolled at Magnolia she was repeatedly referred to as “he” by teachers although she repeatedly informed them that she was a “she.” Throughout the year, teachers and students called her “it,” “queer,” and “he-she” in front of other students. Destin was denied access to the girls’ restroom by teachers who knew that she was female. Students regularly called Destin anti-gay slurs with no reprimands from teachers. In one troubling instance, a teacher refused to allow Destin to participate in a classroom math activity in which teams were divided by gender, because, according to the teacher, Destin was “in-between.” Destin cried while the other students joined their groups at the sides of the classroom.

Instead of addressing the harassment and disciplining the students and staff who targeted Destin as a result of her orientation and gender identity, school officials blamed Destin as the cause of the harassment. Destin’s father and grandmother both met with Principal Peyton and Vice Principal Peyton on multiple occasions to report the harassment against Destin, but the bullying did not stop. Instead, Destin’s and her family’s reports led the school administration to further target Destin and blame her for the harassment she suffered. In October of 2011, Destin became so depressed about the hostile environment at school that she attempted suicide. During a meeting to address Destin’s treatment at school, Principal Peyton told her father that “if she’s going to dress like a boy, she’s going to be treated like a boy.” After repeated meetings, in March of 2012, Destin’s grandmother sent a letter to the Mississippi superintendent of schools, the Moss Point School District superintendent, and Principal Peyton describing the harassment against Destin and Principal Peyton’s inappropriate response. Even after such reports, the hostility persisted and Destin was forced to withdraw from school.

Our Investigation Shows that LGBT Students, and Those Perceived as LGBT, are Subjected to a Hostile Environment

Our investigation into complaints of anti-gay hostility in the District, including interviews with other students, confirms that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) students and those perceived as LGBT are subjected to a hostile environment that robs them of equal educational opportunity. School officials routinely ignore severe and pervasive anti-LGBT harassment. Rather than addressing bullying, school officials have blamed the students who suffered harassment and often punish them for defending themselves. Officials have also placed LGBT students in educational isolation for extended periods after reporting harassment. Several LGBT students report being told to “suck it

up” by school administrators after alerting them to the harassment they faced. Notice from families and others has been ignored. Despite being notified of the problem, the District has failed to take adequate measures to address the severe and pervasive environment of harassment aimed at Destin and other LGBT students.

School Officials’ Failure to Adequately Address Anti-LGBT Harassment Violates Established Law

School authorities’ failure to adequately respond to Destin and her family’s complaints of ongoing harassment violate established law and Destin’s constitutional rights. The Fourteenth Amendment provides that “[n]o state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. This guaranty prohibits a school from singling out any group of students for disfavored treatment based on their membership in an unpopular minority. Doing so sends a message that LGBT people do not deserve the opportunity to learn alongside their heterosexual peers. This violates federal law. School officials have been held liable if they turn a blind eye to harassment experienced by LGBT students. In Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified School District, 324 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2003), after almost five years of litigation, a school district agreed to a sizeable monetary settlement and a three-year consent decree that required extensive policy changes and training. In Nabozny v. Podlesny, 92 F. 3d 446 (7th Cir. 1996), a district that initially refused to address anti-gay harassment eventually agreed to substantial money damages for a former student who had endured anti-gay harassment.

Title IX additionally prohibits sex discrimination by any school that receives federal funding. See 20 U.S.C. § 1681 (“No person ... shall, on the basis of sex, ... be subjected to discrimination under

any education program” receiving federal funds.). The U.S. Department of Education instructs that Title IX can apply to anti-LGBT harassment and that it “prohibits gender-based harassment, which may include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping.”1 Anti-LGBT harassment in schools can be actionable under Title IX. See e.g., Theno v. Tonganoxie Unif. Sch. Dist., 377 F. Supp. 2d 952 (D. Kan. 2005) (finding liability for anti- LGBT harassment). Moss Point School District’s failure to address anti-LGBT harassment relating to Destin’s gender nonconformity violates Title IX.

Additionally, Destin’s treatment violates Mississippi law that protects against hostile school environments and prohibits disciplinary procedures against students who become involved in altercations as a result of a continued pattern of bullying.2 Mississippi law requires school authorities to protect students like Destin who may be more likely to be perceived as disruptive when they are merely responding to continued harassment.

To Remedy the Discrimination Against Destin and Other Students, the District Must Enact a Comprehensive Plan to Address Anti-LGBT Harassment


Destin wants to go back to school in Moss Point, but she cannot return to an environment where she is targeted because of her sexual orientation and gender expression. The District has a responsibility to ensure that Destin and students like her have an opportunity to learn in a respectful environment. Consequently, the District must take appropriate measures to remedy the anti-LGBT hostility as

it not only endangers Destin but also constitutes impermissible discrimination. An appropriate response is not merely to address individual instances of discrimination as they occur, but rather
to implement a plan to comprehensively address the hostile environment. As the U.S. Department of Education instructs, “[b]y responding to individual incidents of misconduct on an ad hoc basis only, the school fail[s] to confront and prevent a hostile environment from continuing.”3 Thus, it is the responsibility of the District to implement a plan to ensure that Destin and students like her are not singled out for mistreatment due to their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Merely reacting to incidents when there is a pervasive pattern of discrimination does not satisfy the District’s legal obligations.

One year ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center resolved a case on behalf of several students like Destin who faced a similar hostile environment in the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota. Those students experienced anti-LGBT harassment that the district failed to address. SPLC filed a federal lawsuit and the district eventually agreed to a five-year consent decree with federal oversight. The decree features a multi-faceted plan to improve the school climate and systemically address bullying and harassment as well as a monetary award.

Teaching Tolerance, an educational arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center, recently published a best practices guide to help schools improve school climate.4

Without prompt and meaningful action to remedy the hostile environment against LGBT students
in the Moss Point School District, we intend to file a federal lawsuit seeking full redress for Destin as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. If the District wishes to avoid litigation, we welcome an opportunity to meet with District representatives and discuss potential solutions. We are available for an in-person meeting during the remainder of March or early April.

Thank you for your careful attention to this important matter. Sincerely,

Vanessa Carroll, Senior Staff Attorney SPLC Mississippi Office

Sam Wolfe, Senior Staff Attorney LGBT Rights Project

1 U.S. Dep’t of Educ., Office for Civil Rights, Dear Colleague Letter: Harassment and Bullying, 7-8 (Oct. 26, 2010), www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.pdf. 2 Miss. Code. Ann. § 37-11-69 (West).
3 Dear Colleague Letter at 8.
4 Best Practices—Creating an LGBT-inclusive School Climate (2013),

Teaching Tolerance Best Practices

It was Hair And Nails Day Again For This Little Man

unicorn456 added this caption on Reddit "Note: Have posted him before. He is not trans just has a very accepting mother who teaches her boys to ignore stereotypical gender roles.

If a boy wants to paint his nails so be it. If he wants to wear a dress so be it!

Awesome mom award 2013"

You can view his wonderful picture here.

Have a wonderful day:)

$60,000 Raised In Three Days To Help Kate Bornstein Stay Alive! Your Help Is Needed Too

Over $60,000 dollas has been raised by Laura Vogel Go Fund Me project in three days towards the $100,000 needed!

Kate Bornstein has cancer. The good news, direct from the team of skilled doctors on her case, is that the cancer is curable. However, the treatment plan that gives Kate the best chance of beating cancer is incredibly expensive. Kate has spent the past thirty years helping the rest of us Stay Alive—now it’s our turn to give back. Let’s HELP KATE BORNSTEIN BEAT CANCER AND STAY ALIVE!

This August, Kate was diagnosed with lung cancer. She underwent surgery, after which extensive testing led her doctors to believe that the cancer was gone. However, in February, Kate’s doctors discovered that this was not, in fact, the case. The cancer was back. Since receiving this news, Kate has seen numerous talented physicians and other medical professionals. The consensus is that Kate’s cancer IS CURABLE. However, Kate’s treatment plan is more complicated than most because she has suffered from another kind of cancer--CLL, or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia--for over fifteen years. Kate will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment. She will eat according to strict nutritional diet plan and she will take a large number of supplements that will strengthen her body’s ability to handle the chemo and radiation.

This is the treatment plan is Kate’s best—and only—chance at survival. However, it is also exceptionally expensive. While Kate does have health insurance, she must pay the very high deductable, make high monthly insurance payments, and make co-payments for doctor visits and prescriptions. Also, Kate has to travel to the hospitals that are best suited to administer her unique treatment plan. Right now, this means going to Chicago five times over the next two months for chemotherapy. In the coming months, she may also have to travel to San Diego and Texas for additional treatment. Luckily, Kate will undergo radiation therapy in New York City, where she lives, but because of her weak immune system, she will have to take cabs to and from the hospital five days per week for at least two month s . Additionally, insurance does not cover the high cost of the supplements that her doctor insists are an integral part of her treatment plan.


During the course of her treatment, Kate’s immune system will be seriously compromised, she will be exhausted, and she will experience periods of extreme nausea. As a result, her doctors have insisted that Kate take a hiatus from work-related travel, speaking engagements, performances, and even writing. For the next eight to ten months, Kate will be undergoing treatment and recovering from cancer, so she will not be able to work. This means that Kate will have no way to pay for rent, utilities, food, pet care, or any other normal expense. So, not only does Kate have to worry about paying her medical bills, she also has to worry about paying her basic living expenses. This is where we come in. Kate’s work—her books, lectures, performances, apps, and online presence—has helped countless people choose life instead of suicide. Kate’s efforts have literally saved thousands of lives. Now, it’s time for all of us to save the life of just one person: Kate Bornstein. Through our donations, each of us has the power to give Kate our thanks, to be there for her in this difficult time, and to help her save her life. Please join me in donating whatever you can to help Kate beat cancer and STAY ALIVE.

Lucy Meadows Just Out Trans Teacher Found Dead: Mail Online Deletes Article That Caused Her So Much Pain

When you click the link to Richard Littlejohn's Mail Online now deleted article crucifying Lucy Meadows...... it still appears momentarily like a ghost haunting them from Google's cached graveyard.

I was able to snip it before it fades away completely.

While it's not clear at this moment whether Lucy Meadows committed suicide or whether her death could be attributed directly to the toxicity of this article a number of things are certain.

Her transition would have been a whole lot better if the schools letter to the parents, however well intended, hadn't misgendered her. This letter alone probably wasn't the sole reason Mr Cowie and other transphobic parents contacted the Mail Online about this, but it certainly did not help.

The Mail online removed this article March 21st two days following Miss Meadows death which in my book is a self incriminating admission of culpability.

There was a level of acceptance by students for Lucy Meadows who by all appearances was a lovely caring soul regardless of her gender expression.

Zinna Jones read the article before it was taken down and reports it essentially told her to go away. This is devastating for someone who cares for her students as Miss Jones undoubtedly did.

There is a online petition: Daily Mail: Fire Richard Littlejohn for victimizing Lucy Meadows, leading to her possible suicide.

Note to the Fail Online. Your turn is coming. You can't run, delete or hide. We don't forget or forgive. Anonmyous Open Letter To Richard Littlejohn of the U.K. Daily Mail:

I am writing this to be the voice of Lucy Meadows. Words are not enough for me to describe the sadness and horror I feel on behalf of Ms. Lucy Meadows. As someone who was bullied for coming from an LGBT home, and for having obviously less than male emotions and less than male macho behavior, I know the effects of being bullied to the point of suicide. I almost took my own life back in 1993. I unknowingly tried to overdose on an anti-anxiety med that I became addicted to in my pain and deep depression of that time in my life. I was only 15 years old. I use the word "unknowingly" because I was in such an overwhelmed, separated, otherworldly mental state that was dark, lonely, beyond painful, and truly scary. I was lucky enough to somehow know that I needed emergency medical help. I am still here because I sought help. Lucy Meadows deserved to life her life with encouragement, support, dignity, respect, and she deserved to be treated like a valuable human being.

Richard Littlejohn has done more than just step over the line, he has used his position to commit pre-meditated murder, even if British law doesn't see it that way. Richard Littlejohn, YOU are worse than the lowest and most worthless excuse for a human being! YOU used your position to gain ratings and profit at the expense of the life of another person.

What's real means nothing to you, Dick Littlejohn! The disgusting, skin deep, inhumane mind and existence you live in is worse than that of any other evil that can be referred to. EVIL is too nice to call you, you are far worse than evil, you are a huge zero! Your existence here on this earth never mattered, and will never matter. I am speaking, Dick Littlejohn, as the voice of the person who can never speak for herself, for the voice you stole without any sort of legal or moral justification. Asking who the hell you think you are to do what you did and to have done it at the cost of sending someone to their untimely grave is an opportunity I am NOT going to give you!

YOu didn't give Lucy Meadows ONE CHANCE to live a decent life, YOU did NOT give Lucy Meadows mercy or understanding, YOU are guilty of the worst crime anyone could ever have committed! I AM NOT here to give you a chance to have a voice or a chance to explain, because no one anywhere wants to hear it. YOU DON'T GET A CHANCE to defend yourself! On behalf of the life that was taken, I am reserving that right to take YOUR voice from you in exchange, and what I mean by that is to tell you that you should not even attempt to speak. You should wallow in the same shame, inhumane indignity, and your life should literally become worse than the hell you heaped upon Lucy!

Dick Littlejohn, you stand publicly convicted by public morals and everyday standards of human living. You stand convicted outside the realm of a legal court of law for the crime of being a predator who singles out women whose only crime is to correct their bodies to match their brain. A transgender person live with a very real medical problem for which the only treatment is to transition into the proper physical body and social mode of living. YOU took that HUMAN RIGHT and MEDICAL OPTION away from Lucy, and it led to her death!

Shame is too light of a word to use here for you. On behalf of thee educated, civilized, compassionate, understanding, loving people of the world: RESIGN YOUR POSITION IMMEDIATELY and PERMANENTLY RESIGN FROM EVER AGAIN BEING A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA! After that, YOU CAN GO LIVE A LONELY, SOLITARY, PAINFUL LIFE OF INTERNAL TORTURE UNTIL THE MOMENT OF YOUR OWN NATURAL DEATH! When the day of your death comes forth, I hope you are greeted by Lucy Meadows, and I hope you are tormented by her in the exact way you tormented her! After that, I hope she is granted the power to send you straight to hell if there is such a place!

Smith College Requires a Trans woman to be Sterilized prior to Admittance

In what amounts to forced eugenics, Smith College has told a transgender applicant she must complete sexual reassignment surgery as a requirement before she can attend the school. The Smith College Trans : policy would appear it is a welcoming place.

From Calliope Wong blog "But in order to be legally recognized as “female” on my birth certificate according to BOTH Massachusetts and Connecticut law, I have to undergo vaginoplasty (feminizing genital surgery). From what I understand, Smith College will only evaluate me as a “real” girl if I get sex reassignment surgery."

"If I understand Smith correctly, this is perhaps the most obscene of rights violations that I have ever witnessed from a school. It’s not a loud and boisterous violation, which is all the worse: its sly wording hurts just as much but is hard to detect. By simply stating that only “females” may be allowed to apply and attend Smith, Smith College sets the bar for transwomen applicants impossibly high."

-transwomen are most likely not ready for surgery at 17 or 18, the typical age of a college applicant. It’s a monumental personal decision that usually arises from years of introspection and deliberation.

-transwomen may not even feel the need for genital surgery. Some transwomen do not experience extreme dysphoria about the state of their genitalia, and opt not to undergo vaginoplasty.

-genital surgery is notoriously expensive (several tens of thousands of dollars, easily), and many transwomen cannot afford to pay for vaginoplasty at this point in their lives."

What NOW? A Trans Skateboarder? Ready Or Not Her She Comes!

Given the push back MMA fighter Fallon Fox has received for asking to fight people of her own gender it begs the question asked by JENKEM: Is the world ready for a transgender skateboarder? Photos are awesome and the writing superb. Check out her story here.

Arizona Amendment to S.B.1432 Seeks to Criminalize Undocumented Trans Potty Goers

Rep. John Kavanagh has submitted an amendment to the states disorderly conduct classification effectively making transsexuality illegal. This amendment is being snuck into a bill that has to do with providing an executive director to the board of licensing for massage therapists.
Many believe the amendment is in response to Phoenix adding trans protections which was seen as a stab to the heart by some the most venomous anti LGBT groups in the nation such as Az Policy Institute which happen to be based right in Rep. Kavanagh's back yard.

Rep. Kavanagh told KNAU public radio"...it will not be necessary for people to carry that (a birth vertificate) around, any more than it's necessary for someone entering a men's room or women's room now to produce documentation. "But if you go into a public shower," Kavanagh said, "and you're a male and it's a female public shower, and the police are called, well, you'd better be able to prove that you're a female and not a male. Otherwise, you're going to go to jail, which is where you belong."

The amendment gets it'd first hearing today.

NGOs Urge Japan: Halt Forced Sterilization Of Transgender People

In Japan the right to legal sex change in case of transsexual has been approved by legislation in 2004. The legislation only allows the person who has no children in addition to having undergone the sex reassignment surgery. The condition is amended in 2008 to "those who has no child under 20 years old", but still sterilization and sex reassignment surgery is compulsory to legal sex change.

Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced sterilization, programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization. In the first half of the 20th century, several such programs were instituted in countries around the world, usually as part of eugenics programs intended to prevent the reproduction and multiplication of members of the population considered to be carriers of defective genetic traits. Widespread or systematic forced sterilization has been recognized as a crime against humanity by the Rome Statute in the Explanatory Memorandum. This memorandum also defines the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.[1][2] Despite international agreement concerning the inhumanity and illegality of forced sterilization, it has been suggested that Government of Uzbekistan continues to pursue such programs.[3] Also, in many countries, transgender people are required to undergo sterilization before gaining legal recognition of their gender. ~Wikipedia


Joint statement by the International Lesbian and Gay Association, Gay Japan News and Rainbow Action Delivered by Azusa Yamashita March 14, 2013.

Thank you Madam/Mr. President, This statement is also on behalf of Gay Japan News and Rainbow Action. We welcome the responses of the Japanese government to the recommendations made by the governments of Argentina, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the United States requesting to prohibit and eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We appreciate that the Japanese government has taken positive steps in recent years towards protecting the rights of LGBT people by changing relevant policies. Such changes include issuing the legal document certifying one’s single status when one attempts to marry abroad whether it is same-sex or opposite-sex couples. Inclusion of mental health of sexual minority population in the national policy on suicide prevention is also one of these changes. However, sterilization requirement of transgender people in the Law on Special Provisions for Handling People with Gender Identity Disorder, lack of anti-discrimination legislation including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as well as social stigmatization remain great challenges towards achieving equality and wellbeing of LGBT people. We are also concerned by the government’s decision to reintroduce the supplementary teaching materials for moral education in elementary and junior high schools that says being attracted to someone of the opposite sex is natural. This reinforces heteronormativity and excludes non-heteronormative pupils. We call on the government of Japan to take concrete steps to implement the recommendations to protect all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We will be happy to share our expertise in this regard. Thank you Madam/Mr. President. Azusa Yamashita March 14 2013

Lonesome's Pizza Removed "Tranny Breadsticks" From their Website Menu!

This is too awesome! Everyone who contacted the restaurant about this have the good people at Lonesomes Pizza to thank for listening to our concerns. After reading about "tranny breadsticks" on Reddit and how upset some peeps were about this I decided to call them too. I talked with a really cool manager, John, who said he'd talk to everyone about our concerns. A screen grab from the original post Portland Oregon's Lonesome Pizza "Tranny Bread Sticks".

Noah, a owner at Lonesome's pizza posted this comment to the original srticle:

Noah Antieau Owner at Red Truck Gallery

oye... been going back and forth on this one all morning... -ultimately, we've decided to change the menu name. the absolute last thing we ever want to do is upset somebody who's already got a rough road. the idea of doing that makes us all feel pretty horrible. so, if you're transgender, we're all apologies. christ, both me and nik (I'm 7 ft tall and he's 3 foot 6) have been listening to shit our whole lives, and to think that we're heaping it on to somebody who deals with exponentially more shit on a daily basis makes us both feel like dicks... so, again, long story short, we'll come up with some other sophomoric, hopefully inoffensive name (anybody with an idea for a breadstick name is more then invited to throw something out).

-but I've got to say one other thing here, I know this isn't going to be awesome for pizza sales, ...but we don't sell any pizza anyway, so what the hell... the ONLY thing that caused us to hesitate about changing the menu name is the notion that we might be placating a particular group of Portlanders who we so very, very much dislike... -there is in our little town a small, but loud minority of folks who are in a constant search for platforms for there own sanctimony. just douchebags who like the sound of there own pretentious voices. on behalf of everyone at our pizza place, we'd like you to know that you suck. order from Dominoes or somebody. seriously. you suck. -that being said, if you're an outlier, if you're anywhere near feeling like your on the margins, we really want your business, you're why we dig (and identify with) this town. you're the best thing about it. again, we really are sorry to all the transgender folks. we're dumb, no question, but we're learning.
-the dudes from Lonesome's Pizza.

And true to his word Lonesome Pizza's new web page and menu:

Thank you dear people at Lonesome's Pizza. You definitely rock:)

Lonesomes Pizza's looking for suggestions so they can name their breadsticks. You can call get a pizza and suggest a new name at 503-234-0114.

Sun TV Host Michael Coren's Vile Attack on our Little Sister, Coy Mathis

Sun Tv host Michael Coren knows his screed attacking 6 year old Coy Mathis would invoke a response from reasonable intelligent people. I almost feel like I'm playing into his hand by acknowledging his existence. Almost. There must be a rebuttal to ignorance even if its as pathetically transparent as this is.

As a friend of the Mathis family I am ill after watching this video. How could anyone say these awful things about such a loving family and dear daughter?

Coy is a girl. She knew she was a girl as did I in my earliest recollections. The real harm will come one day because Coy will watch this video and if she had any doubts that some people are ignorant assholes, she won't after watching this video. Want to know how people are responding to the screed? There's a well written article and a discussion over at Pink News.

Milan Boudreaux, Murdered Metairie La. Trans Woman's Memory Desecrated By The Media

Trigger warning! There's a lot of problematic reporting initiated by the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs office which as a law enforcement agency is obligated to use official records in reports. This was then broadcasted by much of the media without consideration to the victims transgender identity.

Reading the comments on the Sheriffs facebook page it becomes clear that Milan Boudreaux, the slain transgender woman would have wanted to be remembered as such, not as Morris Williams or as a transvestite as reported by much of the media.

Please click pause after viewing or this video or will continue to run and run and run:(

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (Official) Facebook March 13.

Sheriff Newell Normand announces the arrest of Melvin Miller, B/M, 20, of 7332 Townsouth #2 Baton Rouge, for two counts of second degree murder.

You may recall on February 14, 2013 JPSO deputies were called to 2209 Edenborn Apt. 3, regarding two badly decomposed bodies inside the apartment. The two victims were Morris Williams (36) of Metairie and Akeen Boudreaux (33) also of Metairie. Investigators determined Williams’ silver Pontiac was missing as well as a lap top computer and an iPhone.

On February 19, Detective Rhonda Goff got word of Baton Rouge Police responding to a domestic call of a fight between a man and a woman. The woman turns out to have been a transvestite, AKA “Jasmine.” The man who fled the scene was Melvin Miller. Miller was driving Morris Williams’ stolen silver Pontiac.

Miller denied being in New Orleans during the estimated time of the murders. However, cell phone records placed Miller in the area where the murders occurred. Detective Goff also learned Miller arrived in Baton Rouge driving Williams’ car and had his possession the victim's computer and cell phone. Miller told Goff, he obtained the vehicle from an unknown black male in Baton Rouge.

Detective Goff got an arrest warrant for two counts of second degree murder. Miller was booked into the East Baton Rouge Jail on a parole violation immediately following the interview by Detective Goff.

Portland Oregon's Lonesome Pizza "Tranny Bread Sticks"

Update! Click here to read about awesome Lonesomes Pizza decision to remove the word 'tranny' from there website menu.

I just talked with a very nice man, John, a manager at the Lonesome pizza and asked him about the use of the word 'tranny' on the restaurants website. He said the 'tranny' bread sticks promotion were the idea of co owner Nik, who identifies "as trans and a midget". I asked him if he had received any negative feedback from the trans community about using the word 'tranny' and he said no he hadn't.

I then explained that the word 'tranny' is widely regarded as defamation by the transgender community but John said it was ok because Nik, who he said does not identify by ether gender pronouns said its ok.

I understand Oregon is on the leading edge of trans inclusively affecting societal norms but I think the wishes and sensibilities of the vast majority of the trans community should be taken into account. I think the word 'tranny' should be removed from there website.

What do you think? Am I acting like a word police troll or am I making a rational request?
Lonesome Pizza a very cool restaurant with a very problematic breadstick 503-234-0114

Madonna In Uniform Slams Boy Scouts and Putin at The #GlaadAwards

If Putin sat down with Pussy Riot in The Same Room he'd probably want to Fuck them all. ~ Madonna at the 2013 Glaad Media Awards



Published on Mar 17, 2013

Madonna discusses the Boy Scouts ban on gay members and presents the Vito Russo Award to Anderson Cooper. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.

We're Hiring: We've Reached The Trans Equality Tipping Point

Transgender Law Center, CA, USA

[3/16/2013 Email]

We're Hiring & Other Big News!

If you've been watching the news, you've seen that we're approaching a tipping point toward equality and justice for transgender people. Heck, just in the past few weeks coverage included our friends Laurie and Devon on the Katie Couric Show, Phoenix passing an inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, and Massachusetts instructing schools to allow transgender youth to use the appropriate facilities at school. Progress is happening folks!

Expanding Our Staff

Transgender Law Center has reached a tipping point too. We've hired Cecilia Chung as our new Senior Strategist. We're in the final stages of hiring a new Deputy Director and Program Manager. And now, I'm proud to announce that we will hire an additional Staff Attorney to help us grow our national impact. Please share the job opening far and wide so that we can attract the most talented pool of applicants possible!

Broadening Our Impact

The TLC staff are busy working on all kinds of projects that will create waves of equality for years to come. We currently are representing clients in South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Arizona, and Nevada. As we are able, we'll share more about these cases! We're supporting two bills in California, one that will make sure transgender students have a fair opportunity to participate in programs and facilities that match their gender, and one that will finally eliminate the costly and burdensome court requirements for
legally changing your gender.

Supporting The Movement

Additionally, we continue to work in collaboration with our partners -from signing Amicus Briefs supporting marriage equality to joining our friends Pride at Work in educating labor leaders about the importance of collective bargaining for transgender health benefits. We also joined in efforts with National Center for Transgender Equality and Just Detention International to encourage Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to strengthen standards to prevent sexual abuse against LGBT immigration detainees, and contributed to a fund to help LGBT Dreamers obtain student visas.

Celebrating Our Work

I can't believe we're already gearing up to celebrate our 11th Anniversary with a fabulous Gala. There will be several surprises this year, but one that I'm super excited about is that we are accepting public nominations for our Vanguard Award! Click here to nominate a mover and shaker in the community who you think deserves recognition.

I am so proud of everyone involved in this movement - those of you sharing your stories with your friends and those of you campaigning for anti-discrimination laws in your hometowns or even at the White House. Everyone has a role to play in making the world a more fair and just place.

With great pride,

Masen Davis
Executive Director

P.S. All this progress sometimes has its set-backs. With your support we'll be able to weather any challenges that come our way, and continue this incredible momentum. Please donate what you can today!.

Guilty! Steubenville Football Players Face Years Of Jail For Rape

GUILTY!

Social media is responsible for this justice. Steubenville police and courts had already turned a blind eye to the teenager's rape and if not for a blogger who refused to be bullied anonymous and the world would have never known about what happened that night.

"Steubenville High School students Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond were sentenced to at least a year in juvenile jail, capping a case that came to light via a barrage of morning-after text messages, social media posts and online photos and video. Mays was sentenced to an additional year in jail on a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, to be served after his rape sentence is completed." US News There scum bag lawyer tried to victim blame testifying that: "The reality is, she drank, she has a reputation for telling lies," said lawyer Walter Madison, representing the 16-year-old. That line stinks of transpanic, its the same sort of victim blaming. I find it extremely disturbing mainstream media has published pictures of these two looking sad or hugging there mama's. They committed a crime and now these two who tried to use money and prestige to slander the character of the victim are going to jail. Well, these two are awaiting sentencing and could be incarcerated until they are 21. I don't think thats enough. What about the other boys at that party? I'm sure these two weren't the only ones who should be punished. And what about the dirt bag sheriff and judges who would have let this girl be sacrificed for the sake of the towns football team's image?

Quit Your Bitchin: Let Fallon Fox Fight

Fallon Fox is a woman, get over it. Instead of crying why don't you give her your best shot?

As a transgender woman I can tell you it's not just ones physical condition that HRT and surgery affect. Male to female transition affects a persons total physiological state usually rendering a feminine psyche. I say usually because there are exceptions and there are extremes. Some MTF's (like myself) love the gentle effects of estrogen and would abhor a violent sport like this.

Fallon Fox is every bit of a woman as I, but she loves to fight. This is her thing and she is good at it. Maybe too good for some peoples liking. Really, you watch these woman fight? They're damn good at it. Cisgender or trans they'll take your head off.

All these transphobes commenting on TMZ, where are you when the average Trans woman gets beaten up by cisgender men and woman? Happens nearly every day. Let me guess, laughing up your sleeves? Cheering?

Former UFC champion Pat Miletich states on bloody elbow:

"I think if you have a Y chromosome in your body, you're a man, no matter what hardware you have surgically removed, changed or done whatever. You're still a man. I talked to a lot of female fighters and they think it's bullshit. I agree with them. There's nothing that changes the fact that Fallon Fox was born a man. So what if he lopped off his junk. I mean hey, you're still a man [laughs]. Fallon's confusion does not transfer over to my confusion. He still has a Y chromosome.

I don't have anything against anybody that's transgender, gay, or whatever. Whatever they do to their own body is their decision. That's just the way it is, and I don't have a problem with that. You can't then expect to cross over and beat the shit out of girls. A transgender league might be a great idea. Maybe Dana White would be interested in that. Sell some tickets, right [laughs]?"

You're a ignorant transphobic bigot. You can dress up your hate anyway you want but at the end of the day thats all you are.

I say let her fight. She knows she's got a bulls eye on her now, So instead of bitchin, why don't you just give her your best shot? She's ready for you.

CNA asks "Will Trans Rights Drive Catholic's out of Public School?"

This article by "Christians" has one intent. It is meant to provoke fear, hatred and animosity towards transgender children by their peers through there parents.

The rhetorical question posed by the CNA, a foreboding warning cites the new guidance offered to Massachusetts schools regarding transgender children and hypothesizes:

"The result? Transgender children must be allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex, if they so choose. Teachers will “work with” other students who object to the invasion of privacy, helping them over come their “discomfort” and embrace the agenda of tolerance. In addition, schools must “eliminate” gendered policies such as dress codes (e.g., rules requiring girls, but not boys, to wear dresses to prom, or traditions that dress boys in blue graduation robes while girls wear white) and classroom management strategies that divide children by gender (e.g., a boys’ line and a girls’ line for the water fountain). Transgender children will have the right to insist on being called by any name or pronoun they choose, regardless of its biological mismatch. And other students must go along with it or face “discipline.”

"In its rush to support the “progressive” agenda for transgender rights, the Board of Education has thrown privacy and safety – for the other students – right out the window. That’s bad enough. The full impact of its decision, however, is even worse."

"It’s an insidious strategy that promotes a view of the human person utterly incompatible with Christianity."

Isaiah 56. Speaking for God, he announced: "Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths . . . I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. And the foreigners who. . . hold fast my covenant -- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. . .for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (56:1-7).

"The Massachusetts policy systematically foists a perverse orthodoxy on every teacher and child within the system. It promotes the core belief – the big lie – that there is no such thing as human nature or natural distinctions of male and female. Instead, the Board of Education embraces the idea that each person is a god unto him or herself, creating a gender identity and sexual expression based on feelings, or one’s “internalized sense” of self, regardless of biology."

"The indoctrination (“education and training”) will be part of every Massachusetts school’s “anti-bullying curriculum, student leadership trainings, and staff professional development.” And the Massachusetts Board of Education clearly expects all students and teachers to get with the program. The entire school community must help create a “safe and supportive” culture for transgender and gender non-conforming students."

"Catholic parents who send their children to public school in Massachusetts now have to worry not only about the system’s hostility to religious belief but also about its hostility to basic truths about the human person."

Jesus teaches welcomes and acknowledges the difficulties cisgender people would have in understanding transgender people. In Mathew 19:11 and 12 He said to his followers, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given 12: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

"The implication, according to Benedict, is that man rejects God as Creator and loses the sense of his own dignity and value. “When freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God.” When human beings deny the truth about themselves, they deny the truth about God."

"It’s bad enough that children in public school must learn in an environment that no longer recognizes God. But it’s even worse when that educational environment no longer recognizes basic truths about the human person.
Catholics in the past have been able to opt-out of public school sexuality education classes; it’s impossible to opt-out from a pervasive culture based on a flawed anthropology."

The article finishes by asking:

So the question is: What will we, as a Church, do in response?

You could begin by opening a bible and reading Acts 8 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. In it God sends a conservative minister on a long and dangerous journey to find a black Ethiopian Eunuch who had been rejected by Jerusalem's conservative churches when she tried to be baptised.

Dear CNA your answers lay in your bible. Read it. Put love into your heart and stop using your religion as a cover for your hatred.

Transgender woman Gang Raped In Moving Van In Mumbi

Thursday morning three men kidnapped a transgender woman and raped her repeatedly between Kurla and Ghatkopar Mumbai India. They forced her into the van by threatening to kill her friends then began torturing and raping her over a three hour period before throwing her onto the street.

Source The Indian Express: "The victim said she knew one of the three men, and identified him as Mubarak. We registered a complaint of kidnapping, criminal intimidation and unnatural sex against the three accused," said Police Inspector N Shivle, VB Nagar police station."

"The victim was allegedly burnt with cigarette butts and some kind of chemical was poured on her body, and the police are awaiting medical reports to check if these claims are true."

"After a day-long operation, the police picked up Mubarak Sheikh (25) from the Amrut Nagar slums in Ghatkopar. After being questioned, he was placed under arrest on Thursday evening. DCP (Zone 5) Dhananjay Kulkarni confirmed the arrest."

Full story at Indian Express article: "Mumbai outrage: Eunuch gangraped in moving Maruti, tortured"

There also a problematic article at Times of India which repeatly missgenders the victim: Eunuch sexually assaulted in car

Sydney Police Brutally Slam Teenager For Swearing During Marti Gras

'I blanked out and started crying': Astonishing video showing teenager attacked by cops in Australia as he relives moment he was thrown. A teenager has said he 'could have died' as he relived the moment he was allegedly thrown to the floor by police while being arrested at Australia's Mardi Gras festival.

Thousands of Australians have signed a petition protesting against 'police brutality' after a video showing an officer slamming teenager Jamie Jackson to the ground and standing on his back went viral.



A second video has emerged:



Published on Mar 6, 2013

SYDNEY MARDI GRAS 2013 | POLICE BRUTALITY: 'I do remember the first slam to the ground... then
Amateur footage of 18-year-old Mr Jackson being arrested as he celebrated Sydney's Mardi Gras festival last weekend has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

The video, which was filmed by at least two people, has sparked outrage across Australia and resulted in the head of the Police Association, Scott Weber, warning against trial by social media.

Hundreds of gay activists will now march to a Sydney police station on Friday in protest at Mr Jackson's treatment.

The New South Wales Ombudsman is to investigate Mr Jackson's arrest.

The incident has also opened a debate about the public's right to film incidents involving police as the footage shows officers telling the bystander behind the camera to stop.

Despite being shown protesting his innocence in the footage, Mr Jackson has been charged with using offensive language against police, assaulting officers and resisting arrest.

The arrest, which was witnessed by hundreds of people, came hours after thousands of gay and lesbian people had marched through the Sydney streets to celebrate the annual festival.

Mr Jackson told 7News in Australia: 'I didn't deserve to be treated that way, that's for sure.

'It just got pretty heated and I'm just completely in shock about the whole thing, it could have been dealt with so much easier.

'I've got nothing bad to say about the police but that one officer that was just standing on me in the video treating me like a piece of meat, that was just wrong.'

The crying youngster is heard on the video protesting is innocence and is heard to say 'I didn't do anything wrong' repeatedly.

The person behind the camera is told to stop filming by the officer who then pulls Mr Jackson away by his neck.

The tearful teenager, still vehemently protesting his innocence, is heard telling a bystander who is shouting at the officers to get the policeman's name.

The footage then pans down to what appears to be a spot of blood on a bit of paper on the ground.

But the camera then switches focus back to the office and Mr Jackson, who is seen being slammed face down to the ground.

He is then shown sobbing on the floor with the policeman's boot on his back.

New South Wales MP, Alex Greenwich, who is a gay rights campaigner, said it was very concerning that a large police officer 'body slammed' a teenage boy for swearing.

He said: 'If the only thing that the individual did was use offensive language, then I think many would agree that the approach the police took to the situation and the body slam on the ground is certainly a heavy-handed approach to the matter.'

The officers involved in the incident are heard to warn people filming the incident to put their mobile phones away, but one woman can be heard saying she had a right to record what was going on.

As debate flared over whether police can order people to stop filming their activities with their mobile phones, New South Wales Assistant Commander Mark Murdoch said that not only did the public have a right to do so, but he encouraged it.

Mr Murdoch said an officer who told one witness to stop filming 'cos I said so', will be pulled aside and reminded of police protocol which encourages the public to film police.

He said: 'It is the right of the community to film anyone in a public space.

'Police need to be mature enough to know everyone on the street has a mobile phone and that anyone has the right to record anyone in a public space.'

He added: 'This is a matter we are taking very seriously.'

'It's not about anything other than doing what we do, day in, day out, and that is policing by consent and with the support of the community.

'We're not in the business of doing otherwise -- we are not a third-world organisation.'
Although neither of the two videos that have gone viral captures the initial encounter between Mr Jackson and police, a woman interviewed in one of the clips is heard to say: 'They just slammed his head. There's blood all over the ground.'

According to Sydney's Channel Seven, police sources said that Mr Jackson was 'not an angel' on the night, and is alleged to have tried to kick a woman in the shins and using the worst kind of profane language.

More at Star Observer