Washington
Arizona Based Anti-Gay Legal Group Warns College In Washington About Transgender Student
“The college has to follow state law,” Evergreen spokesman Jason Wettstein told ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV. “The college cannot discriminate based on the basis of gender identity. Gender identity is one of the protected things in discrimination law in this state.”
The unnamed 45-year-old student identifies as female but has male genitalia which has raided outrage among some parents and faith-based organisations who note that children as young as 6 years old use the locker room. One incident involving a 17 year old female was reported to local law enforcement.
“[A mother] reported her daughter was upset because she observed a person at the women’s locker room naked and displaying male genitalia,” said a police report filed in September by her mother.
Joseph Backholm, director of the conservative non-profit Family Policy Institute of Washington, the anti-gay group leading the efforts to prevent same-sex marriage in the state's ballot referendum 74 currently up for a vote this Tuesday told KOMO;
"If it were my kid I would be absolutely outraged," said Backholm. "(Parents) have the reasonable expectation that there are not going to be naked men or people that their daughters believe are naked men -- however they see themselves -- in that restroom."
In its letter sent Friday, the Alliance Defending Freedom group warned the school:
“The fact that this individual was sitting in plain view of young girls changing into their swimsuits puts you and Evergreen on notice of possible future harm,” David Hacker, senior legal counsel, wrote.
The college has installed privacy curtains, and said it would not change its policy for now.
Maine
GOP Lawmaker Cites Deceased Gay Brother As He Fights Same-Sex Marriage
AUGUSTA, ME -- Republican state representative David Johnson, (R-Eddington) is urging voters in Maine to reject passage of equal marriage referendum in Tuesday’s referendum vote.
The GOP lawmaker released a statement on the on the anti-gay Protect Marriage Maine website which refers to his brother's a 25+ year same-sex relationship.
Johnson's brother died this past April after he struggled through a two-year battle with cancer.
“I miss my brother and stay in contact with his partner because I love them both and know many other gay couples and love them dearly as well. The fact remains that God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman, and we have no right to redefine marriage.
It has taken me a while, but I have finally figured out that God’s plan is better than man’s plan in all aspects of life. He constructed marriage this way for a reason. Numerous studies confirm this, showing that kids do much better when raised by their married mother and father.”
Johnson added, “On Tuesday, we will decide between affirming God’s plan for marriage, or seeking our own route. Please join me in voting no on Question 1, after all our Nation’s motto is still, ‘In God we trust.’”
On Friday, Public Policy Polling released its final poll on the Maine marriage equality initiative, and also said the measure is leading for passage by a 52-45 margin, numbers virtually unchanged from 52-44 in its last survey.
Maine’s is the first and so-far only ballot initiative brought by petition to approve the same-sex marriage; similar ballot initiatives in Maryland and Washington state were brought about by petition drives in an effort to reject marriage equality laws enacted by their state legislatures earlier this year.
New York
Activist Gay Blogger, Actor And Readers Team Up On Twitter To Help Ali Forney Center
After news of destruction was publicly released, a concerted effort lead by LGBT blogger Joe Jervis- who is also New York based and is a longtime supporter of the center, along with countless readers of his popular blog Joe.My.God blog spread the cry for help on the social network Twitter which led to the center being the recipient of a significant cash donation infusion.
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday:
The story was this: The Ali Forney Drop-In Center filled up with four feet of water. A lot of places in Manhattan got hit pretty hard, but there was reason to be especially concerned about this 1,200-square-foot office:
It served New York’s homeless LGBT teenage population – the fringe of the fringe, kids turned out from home for being gay, kids who had to sleep on subways and sometimes turn to prostitution when they didn’t have a place to stay at night. The drop-in center was ruined, its floors buckled, its electrical outlets filled with sea salt. So Ali Forney founder Carl Siciliano put out a call for help on Facebook.Then a popular gay blogger named Joe My God picked up the message and ran with it.
And then Twitter – specifically, the people on it -- ran with it.
Pam Grier tweeted the news to hundreds of thousands of followers, Joseph Gordon-Levitt tweeted it to hundreds of thousands more, and in less than 24 hours, the Ali Forney Center had received more than 900 donations totaling $100,000, Siciliano said in an interview Sunday evening. “We’ve never had a day where $100,000 came in online before,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s actually kind of phenomenal. And it shows the power of social media to do good.”
Although LGBT youth had historically been marginalized by traditional, mainstream institutions, Siciliano said, now the community could rally around those needing help the most. And social media helped make it happen, allowing people to help each other without waiting for someone else to tell them what to do.
According to Jervis, he will be continuing his push to gather donations with a fundraiser in Manhattan this coming weekend in Hell's Kitchen at a location to be announced.
Late Tuesday, AFC's director Siciliano said via press release:
"This facility provided care to the most vulnerable youth served by AFC, those stranded out on the streets awaiting shelter While our new 24-hour drop-in center will open as planned in a different location, it will not be ready for full service for several months.
"We are thankful that all of the young people who find shelter and housing with us were kept safe through the storm, and that none of our eight housing sites were damaged.
"We are pursuing every means possible to take care of our youth in the interim. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center has graciously offered us the use of its space, and we are currently evaluating this option.
“As we take on this challenge, we are enormously grateful for the immense outpouring of support we have seen, and we hope our city and the LGBTQ community will continue to rally behind us.”
Donations to the AFC can be made at: http://www.aliforneycenter.org/hurricanesandy
Posts
1 comments:
Equality has responsibilities as well as rights. Assuming the Trans student was genuinely naked in the locker room, that was an inconsiderate act towards other users. That she is comfortable in her skin is fine, but she must accept that others would be outraged by seeing male genitalia in a female locker room.
If one wishes to avail one's self of the right to be treated as the sex with which one self identifies then one has the responsibility to others not to flaunt the use of that right.
The incident may well also have been misrepresented or fabricated, but one can never quite tell in these situations.
Post a Comment