2/22/14

I'll be at the White House next week reporting for the Transadvocate, a newly designated news site

I will be at the White House next weekend and not outside looking in but inside it with the rest of the LGBT bloggers, who will be attending the 5th Annual LGBT Media Journalists Convening.. Having attended my first one last year I'll tell you, except the unexpected, every second.

But this year is extra special. I will be visiting the president's house as a reporter for the transadvocate, formally a blog, but now a newly designated news site. So we will be heard loud and clear, above the din, with the rest of the world's news agencies.

So will I meet with the president? That's unknown, but probably not. However, in case I do I'd like to forward your questions and comments to him. And if enough people respond here it's possible Mr. Obama's peeps might take notice. And if they do they might even ask him to speak with us, as long as we are in his house and all.

So what's up? Is this possible or just hype? Expect the unexpected.

What would you say to the president of the United States?






Biolife rejects transgender woman plasma identifying her as male assuming promiscuity

Western Washington University alumni Briana Reynolds donated plasma four years prior to beginning transition at Biolife without a hitch. She said that Biolife never asked her about her sexual orientation. However, after she began the transition to female, Biolife continued to identify her as male and assumed she was having unsafe sex with men and would not allow her to donate.

Not only was Reynolds self esteem damaged she also lost an important source of income.
Although Reynolds filled out a form at BioLife stating she has never engaged in male-to-male sex and sexual orientation was never brought up during her meeting with the nurse, homosexual behavior was the reason given to explain why Reynolds was ineligible to donate, she said. 
“I don’t know how to describe how it made me feel,” Reynolds said. “It’s judging me and making assumptions about me simply based on the way I dress.”
Even though Reynolds is a virgin and has never engaged in any type of sexual encounters, the nurse wouldn't budge on the issue, Reynolds said.
 
“I don’t dress like a woman when I go out. I wear women’s clothing because I am a woman.” Reynolds told Western University's student newspaper.

The Biolife eligibility criteria makes no mention of transgender status in determining eligibility. It states that a potential donor's "medical history interview consists of a series of questions about their past and present health history, including questions regarding possible exposure to certain infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis."

Recently in 2013 a transgender woman sued a Plasma collection company.  “You people can't give plasma,” Lisa A. Scott allegedly was told by a CSL Plasma nurse, according to her suit filed in 2013 at the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

I spoke with "Bridget" at CSL Plasma Fort Worth, who told me that I could not donate plasma because I am transgender. Bridget would not give me her job title, last name or reason for denial other than my transsexuality. Keep it classy Bridget.

Although the FDA has been aware of the need to study transgender people independently from gay men since 2009, there has been no such initiative undertaken.

AABB/FDA Liaison Meeting – 5/29/09

The current guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to indefinitely defer any male donor who has had sex with another man, in the period from 1977 to the present day.

Female sexual partners of MSM are deferred for one year since the last exposure. This is the same policy used for any sexual partner of someone in a high risk group. The argument used to follow these policies is that blood should be collected from a population that is at low risk for disease, since the tests are not perfect and human error may lead to infected units not being properly discarded, and these population groups would be considered a high risk. The policy was first put in place in 1985


Source CDC "Under existing guidelines, FDA bans any male who has had sexual contact at least one time with another male since 1977 from donating blood during his lifetime. The American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), American Red Cross, America's Blood Centers, and several major U.S. cities have called for changes to the lifetime ban. HHS is currently revisiting the policy."



In June of 2010, HHS brought together an independent panel of experts. The Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability reviewed the policy and decided to keep it and concluded the ban was "suboptimal," because it allows high-risk individuals to donate while keeping low-risk donors out. However, the expert committee also concluded "available scientific data are inadequate to support change to a specific alternate policy." The panel suggested the policy not be changed and recommended further evaluation.


AZ SB 1062

Steven 'Steve' B. Yarbrough's Ratings and Endorsements Equality AZ and Imiagrant rights both 0.

2/21/14

Nation wide effort as bigots endeavour to throw Transgender people back to Jim Crow era citing 'religious' beliefs.


You better glance over your shoulder people.  There is a concerted backdoor effort to strip you of your rights and its not a isolated initiative, its happening in your state.

Transgender people, just emerging from Jim Crow are all too familiar with the day to day reality of living as second-class citizens, it's a living hell.

That we are not included in the Wikipedia definition is testament to our historical invisibility.


The Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the United States at the state and local level. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that tended to be inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages. De jure segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States. While Northern segregation was generally de facto, there were patterns of segregation in housing enforced by covenants, bank lending practices, and job discrimination, including discriminatory union practices for decades.
kansas bill HB 2453


According to Dana Liebelson at Mother Jones that bill is dead, but before you sigh in relief know there are similar bills popping up all across the country. South DakotaTennesseeHawaiiOklahoma, Ohio and Mississippi to name a few.



The Kansas bill, a catalyst for Arizona which just passed a bill legalizing discrimination and other state's efforts to enact similar legislation, didn't die in the Senate because of group epiphany, it's dead because of public outrage over it. If nothing else most Republicans are pragmatic politicians.





There will be a rendezvous at the Kansas State house on February 25th organized by Equality Kansas, Great Plains Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, The MainStream Coalition, and the ACLU of Kansas. Read more about that at the Daily Kos.

2/19/14

Virginia High School League's new transgender athletic policy requires sexual reassignment surgery and HRT

Giving the Commonwealth's high school league the benefit of the doubt its possible they thought they acted in a way that encouraged gender diversity in sports with the adoption of the state's first transgender high school athletic policy...or it could have been a preemptive strike to ensure that not one transgender student will ever play sports in Virginia.

Ether way the new policy which was passed 27-0, requires the exclusion of all teenage transgender athletes except the ones who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery and are undergoing hormone-replacement therapy (HRT).

The policy which requires surgical modifications of adolescents makes no distinction between male to female (MTF) and female to male (FTM) athletes.

The following is the draft that was presented to the Virginia High School executive committee Wednesday according to ABC 13 WEVC. It is unknown if there were any changes.

VHSL rules and regulations allow transgender student‐athlete participation under the following conditions:

A. A student‐athlete will compete in the gender of their birth certificate unless they have undergone sex reassignment.

B. A student‐athlete who has undergone sex reassignment is eligible to compete in the reassigned gender when:
The student‐athlete has undergone sex reassignment before puberty, OR
The student‐athlete has undergone sex reassignment after puberty under all of the following conditions:
a. Surgical anatomical changes have been completed, including external genitalia changes and gonadectomy.
b. Hormonal therapy appropriate for the assigned sex has been administered in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimize gender‐related advantages in sports competition.
c. If a student‐athlete stops taking hormonal treatment, they will be required to participate in the sport consistent with their birth gender.

C. A student‐athlete seeking to participate as a result of sex reassignment must access the VHSL eligibility appeals process.
Note: VHSL honors and respects all individuals based on gender, race, sexual orientation and creed while striving to provide safe and equitable competition.


Click Here to watch opens in new window
The touchstone for transgender inclusion in high school athletics is AB 1266.
"(f) A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

WPATH treatment of adolescents displaying gender dysphoria (pg. 178) "Irreversible Interventions:Genital surgery should not be carried out until(i) patients reach the legal age of majority to
give consent for medical procedures in a given country and (ii) patients have lived continuously for at least 12 months in the gender role that is congruent with their gender identity. The age threshold should be seen as a minimum criterion and not an indication in and of itself for active intervention."


Janet Mock on the Colbert Report "Get it the Fu#k together" Pier Morgan gets all bent

What could be better than a spot on the Colbert Report.

Colbert: Are things getting better for the transgender community?
Janet: Yes me sitting here with you as your first openly transgender guest, I'm assuming.

Yes it is.

But wait! Update! Piers Morgan got all bent out of shape after watching the Colbert report. See his latest tweet after the video.


The Colbert Report
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Sheesh Pie Morgan.