Trans People Suffer Abuses at the Hands of the NYPD

Image courtesy of thetakeaway.org

 

A recent article from Jezebel.com details the harsh, humiliating way trans persons are treated by the New York Police Department while in custody. In one particularly egregious example, a trans woman named Temmie Breslauer was painfully chained to a fence for 28 hours by police officers who referred to her as a "faggot" and "he-she" (among other epithets). As the article notes, this treatment is not unheard of, and transgender advocates have been working for years in an attempt to end this abuse.

Thanks to OUTlaw President Erika Scibelli for the link.

The End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Yesterday the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a policy which barred openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the armed forces, officially took effect. While this move does not affect transgender Americans, who are still not allowed to serve, and will not reinstate soldiers discharged while it was in place, this is still an historic time for America. Now gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers who defend our nation will no longer be required to hide their true feelings and identities for fear of losing their jobs. One soldier took the opportunity to call his father and reveal that he is a gay man--his father assured him that he loves him unconditionally and that this would not affect their relationship in any way. OutServe Magazine published names and photos of 101 courageous soldiers who were previously forced to live their lives in the closet. Navy Lt. Gary Ross finally married his partner of eleven years in Vermont. The Marine Corps spent time deleting multiple references to "homosexual conduct" from their regulations handbook. While the controversy surrounding DADT is far from over, this is a major step in the right direction.

Megyn Kelly Defends Chaz Bono From Transphobic Attacks

As was noted in a previous post, Dr. Keith Ablow has been up in arms over the notion of a transman on Dancing with the Stars, because he believes that impressionable young children will be encouraged to change genders. Fox News' own Megyn Kelly, however, grills Dr. Ablow on his anti-transgender views which she deems irrational and hateful. Kelly rightfully declares that sex reassignment surgery is not some fad which children will seek to emulate, even quoting John M. Oldham, President of the American Psychiatric Association, who said recently that there is "no evidence that viewing a television game show with a transgender contestant would induce Gender Identity Disorder in young people."

Check out the video of the interview here.

Dr. Keith Ablow Says Watching Chaz Bono on Television Harms Children

Fox News pundit Dr. Keith Ablow, who recently penned an article urging parents to prohibit their children from watching Dancing with the Stars contestant Chaz Bono, appeared on Fox Business' America's Nightly Scoreboard to proclaim that seeing a transman on television will cause kids to question and change their gender:

"This tour, this 'fame tour' of Chaz Bono, promoting transgenderism as if it's a civil right. There are a lot of kids who will be watching. Look. Kids go through phases. Adolescents. There may be tomboys watching who are girls. They don't really need to be encouraged to say 'hey wait what a second.' Maybe I'm not just a tomboy. Maybe I'm a boy!....This is a guy who has had a terrible run of things. An incredibly tortuous path and it's not over. So I don't like the idea that you'd suggest to adolescents and young people a surgical remedy at the plastic surgeon's office for a psychiatric condition!"

Guyanese group seeks to tackle transphobia

The New York Times reports via Reuters:

"GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - A group of transgender men in Guyana have asked the country's Supreme Court to strike down laws that leave them open to arrest following a police crackdown on male cross-dressers.
Police in the tiny South American country, where both homosexuality and transgender dress have been illegal for decades, detained and briefly held six transgender males in jail last February on charges of "cross-dressing."
"It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I felt like I was less than human," Seon Clarke, who was among those detained last year, said in a statement from Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) on Monday.
Clarke is also one of those who on Friday filed a motion for the Supreme Court to overturn the sexual orientation and dress laws. SASOD, which is representing the group, said it had assembled an international team of lawyers for the case.
The recent crackdown brought criticism from international rights groups, and drew attention to similar laws that make homosexual activity and transgender dress a crime in many of the Caribbean region's former British colonies.
The Supreme Court has not said whether it will hear the case.
Guyanese law prohibits men from appearing in public in female attire, and vice versa. The law appears in a section of Guyana's legal code that also makes homosexuality a crime.
An effort to overturn the laws has been opposed by Guyana's powerful Christian, Hindu and Muslim clergy and has gained little traction with the government.


(Reporting by Neil Marks in Georgetown. Writing by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Paul Simao)"