Tag: transgender

When the EEOC came down in favor of Title VII coverage for transpeople, I knew it was only a matter of time until the nasty people struck back.  But I didn’t expect the Associated Press to provide them with the platform.  Or maybe…I’m not surprised.

Before we get to that, I have a little about the trans-heroine of the moment.

Mia Macy is a veteran who became a member of the Phoenix Police Department.  In her last position with PPD she worked in conjunction with the ATF gun squad.  She was certified in ballistics by the ATF.  She was offered a job with the ATF lab in San Francisco.  She thought this would be ideal, since up until that point, she had been living as a man.

So she submitted an application and knew there would be a background check.  One problem, though.  Mia Macy had begun her transition by this time.  And the background check revealed that it would be Mia arriving to work in the position.

So Mia was notified that the position had been defunded and was no longer available.  One problem with that:  It was a lie.  Actually they hired someone else for the purported non-existent position.

Seamus Johnston, 22, is a Pennsylvania transman who was expelled from The University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown for using the men’s locker room on the campus in January, despite the University’s order that he not do so.  Pitt-Johnstown also filed three misdemeanor charges against Mr. Johnston relative to the incident, charging him with disorderly conduct, defiant trespass and indecent exposure.

Mr. Johnston has now filed a complaint with the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations charging the University of Pittsburgh with discrimination, alleging that the school violated the Pittsburgh city code relating to sex and handicap.  Mr. Johnston was adjudged to be fully disabled by the Social Security Administration last May “for a variety of emotional liabilities including gender identity disorder”.  Mr. Johnston has been on hormone therapy for 10 months.

Specifically charged with knowing of or allowing the discrimination to continue are Chancellor Mark Nordeberg, Provost Patricia Beeson, General Counsel Jerome Cochran and attorney Ted Fritz.  Pitt and the individuals have 30 days to respond to the complaint.

The University of Pittsburgh is not taking Mr. Johnston’s complaints lightly.  Due to a series of bomb threats at Pitt’s Oakland Campus (which is the downtown Pittsburgh branch of Pitt), Pitt apparently gave Mr. Johnston’s name as a possible suspect as a disgruntled student.   FBI agents interviewed Johnston and his transwoman wife, Katherine Anne McCloskey, 56, on April 11.  On April 12, Johnston and McCloskey were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the bomb threats on April 17.

McCloskey and Johnston said they believe Pitt officials gave their names to federal investigators because of an ongoing legal dispute Johnston has with the university.

Yesterday was consumed with our buying a new car.  Our ’95 Saturn gave up the ghost last weekend and prolonged renting of a car didn’t seem like the best deployment of our financial resources, so Debbie’s brother freed up some funds from Debbie’s money market account (never had one of those myself) and we were able to afford the down payment on a used car.  We shopped at Enterprise and got what we think is a good deal on a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, which we completed the paperwork on last evening.

List of top things I hate doing (for future reference):   (1) Moving  (2) Looking for a job (3) Buying a car.

So I didn’t really get a chance to write my regular column ysterday…so I had to spend what little time I had available this afternoon (between my classes) to scribble something down to share.

News Items!

You’ve probably already heard about some of these.

1.  Because of Jenna Talackova’s successful bid to be un-disqualified from this year’s Miss Universe Canada competition, the parent organization has decided to change their rules.

The Miss Universe Organization, which is co-owned by Trump and NBC, announced on April 10 that it will be officially changing the house rules to allow transgender contestants to compete in their pageants, which include Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.

Chief US Judge  for the Minnesota District Michael J. Davis has ruled that Minnesota’s DOMA law does not apply to legal marriages entered into by transgender individuals and that therefore a union health care plan could not drop Christine Radtke from coverage under her husband’s health benefits.  

Having transitioned from male to female between 1986 and 2003, Christine married Calvin Radtke in July of 2005 in Goodhue County in southeastern Minnesota.  Calvin works for UPS and is therefore a member of Miscellaneous Drivers and Helpers Union Local #638 and he enrolled himself and his new bride in the union’s Health, Welfare, Eye and Dental Fund (hereinafter, the Fund) plan.

In 2008 Christine’s physician mentioned her transgender status.  Someone at the Fund didn’t like that.  The Radtke’s were informed that as of April, 2010 Christine would be dropped from the health care plan.

The Fund has learned, for the first time, that Christine underwent a male to female sex reassignment surgery prior to your marriage.

In reviewing the terms of the Fund, it is the judgment of the Claims Administrator that despite the amendment of Christine’s birth certificate and your subsequent marriage, the basis for your marriage is not one that is currently recognized under any express provisions of Minnesota Law.  Accordingly, Christine is not an eligible dependent under the Fund.

–health care fund administrators

Supporters of Anchorage Proposition 5 have expressed outrage at an offensive cartoon ads opponents have been using to gin up opposition to the passage of the measure, which would protect LGBT people from discrimination in Anchorage.  The most outrageous of the ads is this one:

Both the House and Senate passed marriage equality in Maryland and the governor signed it into law.  So what’s next?

For some people, what’s next is getting ready to fight a possible referendum in the fall.  But wait!  What about that other very important piece of legislation.  We hope it is not going to be forgotten in all the hubbub.  And we certainly hope that GLBT activists are not going to let Maryland legislators feel that they have done enough for our community at this time.

Senate Bill 212 stands at the forefront.  It would forbid discrimination against people on the basis of gender identity in the areas of public accommodations, housing and employment, just like it is illegal to discriminate on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.

Back in May of 2011, shortly after Chrissy Lee Polis was assaulted as she attempted to use a restroom in a Rosedale McDonald’s, Gov. O’Malley issued a statement:

Even with Maryland’s ‘hate crimes’ law, it is clear that more must be done to protect the rights and dignity of transgendered people.

At the time he committed to working on the issue.  But then, when this year’s session started, the issue was not found on his agenda.

Being an aging lesbian transwoman, I’d rather be writing about the problems of aging GLBT people, but sometimes events make me so furious, that what I would rather be writing about must take a back seat to expressing my fury.

As I wrote about in January, Baltimore County, Maryland has been considering whether or not transpeople deserve the respect inherent in equal rights.  A bill was introduced by Democratic Councilman Tom Quirk to enumerate and protect the rights of transpeople, and had three co-sponsors (two Republicans and a Democrat).  With 4 out of 7 of the council members sponsoring the legislation, it seemed like a shoe-in to pass.

It likely will still pass, but the changes made to it make it into something unrecognizable as a bill to protect equal rights.

Councilman John Olszewski Sr., a Democrat, has introduced an amendment to strip public accommodations from the rights enumerated by the bill.

How we are treated in public is the main concern many of us have.  Yes, we need protection in the workplace, in housing, and in credit, but if we cannot safely conduct ourselves in the public sphere, then we are not equal citizens.  Have we forgotten the sit-ins at lunch counters from the 60s?  Are we so willing to restrict equality that segregation is actually being considered as the solution?

Shame.

Valentine

I used to hate Valentine’s Day.  It seemed like an excuse for people in relationships to flaunt them to raise themselves over the people who weren’t.  And at the time, be a transwoman, there did not seem to be any relationship in my future, near or far.

I was married to a woman for nearly 25 years when I came out.  Beginning transition completely destroyed that relationship.

Life goes on and I was pretty sure that it would go on with me being alone.  I resolved to adjust to that.  About the time I thought I had, I was contacted by a woman who read my submissions to an email list and wanted to get to know me better.  She was teaching English to the Japanese near Tokyo, so it was a very long distance friendship…which grew into a long distance romance and thence to a long distance relationship (LDR).

I wrote a poem about that.