6/10/14

Caught on video: Guy brags about attacking transgender woman Rye Silverman on the way to WEHO Pride

Comedian Rye Silverman wrote on Tumblr about being attacked on her way to the Los Angeles Pride in West Hollywood aka WeHo Pride. Later the prep was filmed bragging about the attack to Mo Fathelbab of "The Experiment" who was interviewing pride attendees and serendipitously recorded him confessing to the hate crime.

Ms. Silverman described the attack:

"I was just getting on the train to go down to Dyke Day as part of Pride weekend. As I was coming down the steps into the station I overheard a guy on the escalator yell “why the fuck are you wearing a skirt?!” I ignored it and just kept walking to buy my ticket.:

"As I’m standing there waiting in line this piece of shit puts his arm on my shoulder and says “Hey women wear skirts.” Because he’d put his hands on me I reacted out of instinct and grabbed him in case he was planning on doing any thing else. He must have only intended to walk away because instead what happened was I ripped his tank top (because of course this fuckwad was wearing a wife-beater) and then he started swinging at me."




Click Here to watch Opens in new window




From here on it’s kind of a blue but it basically turned into a fight. My glasses got flung across the room and we both hit each other a few times before both backed away from each other. He kept putting his fist out like he was planning to hit me again and he started yelling that I started it, that I came after him and that for someone who wears skirts I was “acting like a man,”which he said over and over again. I told him to get the fuck away from me and then some other guy coming off the escalator heard me and stepped in and told him to get away from me too and then a Metro employee showed up so I’m sure someone had gone to get him.



I almost went home but I decided I couldn’t let him ruin my day or my pride weekend. I got my train pass and leaned against a wall to compose myself for a few moments. And then get ready to go down for the train and he’s right there at the bottom of the escalator. I took a wide path around him and got in a car on the other side of the train.

This all just happened less than an hour ago. I typed most of this in the notepad on my phone on the train trying to process it. Mostly I’m still shaken up that it happened at all, that it happened in broad daylight with a group of people around. But at the same time, I’m feeling super proud of myself for having stood my ground. I am not a victim. Not this time. Not ever.

We all love Rye Silverman here at The Experiment. She is not only one of our favorite standup comedians toiling away in the Los Angeles comedy scene, she is also one of our favorite people. (Check out the ‘Why Aren’t You Following?’ profile we did of her in April.) So it pained us to hear that some piece of shit (who is pictured above) attacked her at an L.A. Metro station on Saturday simply because she’s a transgender woman.

She later posted:

The thing that keeps flashing back to me about earlier today is how my attacker kept trying to say “you started it” when he was backing away from me.

The thing is that I can actually understand why in his simple mentality that he truly believes that’s true. Because basically he saw me as less than him, he saw me as someone who he had a right to put his hands on and he never ever expected that I would do anything in response to defend myself. In his mind I actually broke some sort of social contract where he thinks I’m just supposed to take it. That’s why he kept saying I was “acting like a man” for defending myself.

I really want to hear the version of the story he tells where he’s the hero and I’m the villain. I’m morbidly obsessed with that kind of mental process. But I hope that he’ll think twice before putting his hands on anyone else again.

And then a surprise hit the Internet in the form of a Funny or Die video — which featured the attacker… at fuckin’ L.A. PRIDE!

Holy crap!!! This video, 1:40 in, that’s the guy, this is the guy who attacked me. Notice he just says he asked me why I was wearing a skirt, no mention of him grabbing me and getting in my face. Anyone know this piece of shit?




6/8/14

The ENDA Schism: HRC is once again on the outside looking in

A protester begins shadowing this years HRC DC Pride contingent
Photo Oblogdeeoblogda.me
I admit it. I really didn't care that much about this years ENDA religious exemptions. I mean, its obvious the bill would never be introduced into the House with its Republican strangle hold. But its become increasing difficult to ignore,  There is something seriously wrong, and its not just this doomed legislation.


The splitting of the T from the GLB was the impetus that flung planetransgender into the blogosphere with our first crude posts in 2007.

Now once again HRC is being seen as a outsider with ulterior motives regarding the current ENDA Legislation. This time ENDA seems to be overstepping TittleVII religious exemptions making the bill worthless.

So how hard is it to fix?

It could be as it was in 2007 that HRC is a led by a testosterone driven egocentric man who would rather drive his organization over a cliff for a gay win than admit to an error?

And I will admit, I do not fully understand exactly what makes this version of ENDA's religious exemptions so erroneous. What began with GetEqual's protestations, easily dismissed as reactionary by gay.com, is blossoming into a yet another full scale HRC showdown.

So is HRC listening this time?

When the people who were carrying the signs at this years DC Pride (right) went to the front of the HRC contingent they were pushed away. After all these years there's still no place in HRC for dissent.

This years ENDA no matter how doomed will have an effect on next years legislation. So its important to note when ENDA was introduced four trusted human rights organizations, American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center expressed their concern over the religious exemptions it contained in a Joint Statement.

That concern has evolved into outright condemnation as HRC continues to push this problematic bill.


Thomas Library of Congress S.815 Religious Exemptions
COMPARE THAT WITH TITLE VII religious exemptions

OK so what about HRC and why are we focusing on them?

Towleroad is reporting that while HRC is raking in millions promoting this bill they have requested an audience with the Pope to protest the firing of LGBT people from Catholic Schools, a practice that this bill would enshrine into law.

HRC is caught with its politically expedient duplicitous beeratches down. Again.


Mark Snyder, spokesperson for the Transgender Law Center, reaffirmed the concerns expressed over the religious exemption in that letter on Thursday via an email to the Washington Blade.

“We reaffirm the joint statement we issued last spring that outlined our very grave concerns with the religious exemption in ENDA that is significantly broader than the exemptions in other federal civil rights laws like Title VII,” Snyder said. “Our laws should not treat discrimination against LGBT people as a more acceptable form of discrimination.”

But Snyder went further on Thursday by unequivocally saying his organization won’t support ENDA as long as the current religious exemption remains in the legislation.

In addition Equality Illinois broke from HRC issuing a statement condemning the religious exemptions. Now that's news.

So what are these religious exemptions and how would they affect you individually? Well for starters do you work for a corporation?






Pumper says her cause was 'noble' and she's 'remorseful' for death caused by silicone injections

Padge Gordon, the transgender woman charged with murder after injecting a fatal does of silicon to enhance the physique of dancer Claudia Seye Aderotimi, says she's 'remorsefull' in a letter to the DA but contends her actions were 'noble'.

The letter  to Philly AG Seth Williams published in part by Philly.com aka the Daily News reads:
"The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office would like to promote [the] thought that it was greed, recklessness and malice that fueled my conduct," she wrote.

"However, I swear that my aim was noble in nature. I simply really just loved the feeling of . . . helping others feel more beautiful, wonderful and magical about themselves - just as someone once helped me."
Aderotimi's friend testified Gordon sealed the puncture wounds caused by the needles with super glue and left Aderotimi in the motel room to die after after she complained she couldn't breath.

Gordon turned down a plea bargain by Williams which would have landed her behind bars for 15 to 30 years. The maximum she can receive for third degree is 40 years. Gordon is seeking a conviction of involuntary manslaughter for which she could be out in as little as 2 1/2 years in her letter to the DA saying:

This woman eventualy died a horrific death.

Gordon was arrested at yet another 'pumper party' Click HERE to watch video

Gordon's letter continues...
"Please let us amicably put this case to rest without any more negative press and media attention on our city . . . which a trial like this would bring," she wrote.

Gorden was charged with murder while in custody for aggravated assault after she gravely injured a woman with industrial grade silicone injections earlier in 2012.

At the time of Windslowe's 2012 arrest, Williams had called her arrogant and greedy.

"Her conduct cost one young woman her life and placed countless others in danger," he said. "The defendant put her own greed above the public's health and safety, and instead of being remorseful she bragged about prospective clients."

Windslowe's murder trial is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2015


6/7/14

International Business Times flaunt transphobic 'she-male ' J.Lo. headline

Apparently the IBN formally a respected international news source is desperate for click generating revenue. The publication has chosen to race for the bottom beating grocery store tabloids, even Dirt.com with a defamatory headline and transphobic story.

....being known to like trans woman is humiliating and he wanted to see her WHAT?!!....


Dirty.com and intouchweekly.com insinuated in their articles that if a partner is outed as a "chaser",  aka a transsexual fetishist, its the worst possible insult to the cisgender woman. That's bad but what expect fom tabloids? There's no accounting for them. But when a respected international news source ups the ante with their defamatory headline,  that's unacceptable.

The problem with this race to the bottom is other less reputable rags take their cue's from from mainstream media and seeing no repercussions and having nothing to lose will mimic the IBN, or worse..



Man arrested for the 2013 shooting death of Cleveland Transgender woman Brittany Stergis

Delshawn Carroll, 19 has been charged with the 2013 shooting and killing of transgender woman Brittany Stergis. Carroll was arrested at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center while being held for drug possession according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Her murder, stunned friends and family who said that they couldn't imagine anyone could hate her so much that they would kill her.

A facebook post shared by Brittany-Nicole Kidd-Stergis just days before being murdered reflects the sentiments her friend and family shared about her.



6/6/14

3 charged with enslaving a transgender woman in Natchitoches Lousiania.


Christina Harper is among those charged with human trafficking after a transgender woman was found on the side of the highway, with a logging chain wrapped around her

The three David Rodriguez Jr., 37, Christina Marie Harper, 39, and Ambre Tubbs Lomas, 39 turned themselves in Thursday ans are being held at the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center.

The out of state transgender woman met them online and agreed to move in with them. Soon afterwards she was forced to sign over her motorcycle and to hand over her money.

According to the release, she was subject to mistreatment by Rodriguez, Harper, and a third person identified as Lomas. The mistreatment included beatings, carving initials into her body, being shocked with a stun gun and having urine thrown on her. She was kept chained, sometimes outside, fed once a day and given limited water and urine to drink.

On Wednesday, detectives executed a search warrant on the residence in the 500 block of Dick Anderson Road near Ajax. They seized 15 firearms, a stun gun, four computers, two tablet computers, three external hard drives, two digital cameras and an iPod.

Two children in the residence, ages 15 and 16, were removed by the State Office of Child Protective Services.

As a result of the investigation:

• Rodriguez was charged with one count of human trafficking, one count of aggravated second-degree battery, one count of second-degree kidnapping/false imprisonment and two counts of offenses against computer users.

Bond was set at $635,000.

• Harper was charged with one count of human trafficking, one count of aggravated second-degree battery, one count of second-degree kidnapping/false imprisonment and two counts of offenses against computer users.

Bond was set at $635,000.

• Lomas was charged with one count of second-degree kidnapping/false imprisonment and one count of aggravated second-degree battery.

Bond was set at $525,00

Source: Town Talk

The 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedules for Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 429) reportedly includes a total of 9,434 slaves. Source: Ancestry.com