Trans News/ Issues

[Soon]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

My husband did not need to have his birth certificate changed in order to obtain the corrected passport. He has all documents (SS, DL, Passport etc.) with his correct gender.

Some states won`t change a birth certificate at all (I think there are three of these).

Should read--He has all other documents changed (SS, DL, Passport) without having had his BC changed.

[Quintease]

I'm not sure where to put this, but someone may find it interesting:

A blog about what's in your pants http://www.originalplumbing.com/2011...r-not-to-pack/

[Thinker]

Nevada's employment non-discrimination bill has been signed into law by the governor (he broke ranks with the Republicans on this one). Good job, Gov. Sandoval!

http://www.lvrj.com/news/sandoval-si...122529078.html

[EnderD_503]

Read an awesome article in the Mirror today that told the story and experiences of a British transman. It was cool to see that the article just told it like he said and like it was instead of making assumptions, insults or falling into the usual stereotypes.

The man who was born a girl
by Becky Dickinson, Daily Mirror 25/05/2011

As Jack Chapman walked into his old school for the first time since he’d left 20 years earlier, former pupils and teachers glanced over and then away again, not recognising him.


It’s to be expected at a reunion but Jack had changed more than most – when he’d been there as a teenager in the 80s he was a girl called Julie.

“We all had to collect name badges when we went in and of course mine said Julie on it,” he says. “People kept looking at me and asking each other who I was. Then someone came up to me and said: ‘Sorry, I think you’re in the wrong place’.

“We had to sit on long tables from the 1960s to 1990s,” Jack, now 40, says. “It was like being invisible. I could see and recognise people but they had no idea who I was.”

Most people assumed Jack had been in sixth form, as the all-girls’ school later took boys. “But they looked at the dates on my badge and saw that couldn’t have been the case,” he says.

Other people thought he must have been someone’s partner, but Jack explained he was once a girl.

Then he met his form teacher. “I pulled out an old school photo with the yellow wall background and said: ‘Look, here I am.’ She stared and said ‘That’s nice, dear’.”

But, as Jack looks at an old school photo of himself, even he has trouble recognising the 16-year-old in the picture. The eyes are still the same shade of green, but everything else has changed. The jaw is thicker, the hair has receded, the shoulders are muscular.

Looking at himself as a small child is even stranger – the long hair and delicate features are gone. He’s even had his ears pinned back.

In fact, it’s hard to believe he’s looking at the same person. That’s because Jack was born a girl and, for the first 30 years of his life, was Julie.

From as early as he remembers, Jack knew he was different. He says: “My parents used to put me in dresses but I never felt happy. I loved it when I got hand-me-downs from my older male cousins.”

More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-23154617/

[blackboot]

Transgender rights victory in Vermont
May 25, 2011
by taskforceblog

Congratulations to advocates in Vermont, and a special thank you to Rep. Bill Lippert and state health officials, who worked on tremendously important legislation relating to gender changes on birth certificates.

Although some other states allow gender changes without proof of surgery in their policies, Vermont becomes the very first to have clear language in its statute that makes clear surgery is not necessary to update one’s birth certificate.

It was our pleasure to provide consultation, along with GLAD, on state-of-the-art language in the statute so Vermont could modernize this law.

The trend against requiring surgery for identity documents is growing, with many states abandoning old-fashioned surgery requirements. The Department of State modernized its policy on passports in 2009. And, the policy for “Consular Reports of Birth Abroad,” which are federal birth certificates for U.S. citizens born outside of the U.S., also no longer requires proof of surgery.

A similar bill is being considered in California and advocates are working in other states as well. For many years, gender on driver’s licenses in many states has not been dependent on showing medical treatments.

[Thinker]

What a great piece! Thanks for sharing it.

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Read an awesome article in the Mirror today that told the story and experiences of a British transman. It was cool to see that the article just told it like he said and like it was instead of making assumptions, insults or falling into the usual stereotypes.



More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-23154617/

[Jess]

from: http://glaadblog.org/2011/07/11/conn...mination-bill/


On July 5, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) signed legislation that will prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations based on gender identity or expression. The law (“An Act Concerning Discrimination,” or HB 6599) was passed by the House of Representatives (77-62) on May 19 and the Senate (20-16) on June 4. It will go into effect on October 1, 2011, at which time Connecticut will become the 15th state (along with the District of Columbia) with a law that protects transgender people from discrimination.
Immediately following the Senate vote in June, Gov. Malloy called the bill’s passage a step forward “for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Gov. Malloy in a written statement released shortly after the Senate vote was taken. “It’s difficult enough for people who are grappling with the issue of their gender identity, and discrimination against them has no place in our society.”
In the lead-up to the Senate vote back in June – the bill’s final hurdle – GLAAD worked closely with Dr. Jerimarie Leisegang, the director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, to ensure that journalists throughout Connecticut reported on the bill in a fair, accurate and inclusive manner.
Gov. Malloy signing the Connecticut bill into law is but the latest in a string of remarkable gains on transgender issues across the country.
GLAAD thanks Gov. Malloy for signing this important bill into law, and we congratulate all of our colleagues in Connecticut, many of whom have worked tirelessly for seven years to see the passage of this bill come to fruition. We look forward to October 1, when the law goes into effect, and to the day when it is illegal to discriminate against transgender people in all 50 states. In the meantime, we strongly encourage the media to report on the significance of what passing this non-discrimination bill will mean for transgender people in Connecticut. For more information on the prevalence of discrimination within the transgender community, please see the report “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey,” released earlier this year by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).

[Jess]

from: http://www.gayrva.com/2011/07/15/tra...nts-recruited/



In January, 2011, the newly formed Thai airline company, called PC Air, hired six transgender women to be flight attendants. Over 100 transgender women applied for the job with more to be hired in the future.

As reported by the Daily Telegram, PC Airline president said, “I think these people can have many careers – not just in the entertainment business – and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess. I just made their dream come true. Our society has changed. It’s evolution. I’m a pioneer and I’m sure there will be other organizations following my idea.”

Oddly, the transgender air hostesses will be required to wear special gold name badges, that will identify them to passenge.


This last bit, I agree, seems "odd". I'm not sure why they are asked to wear a different color name tag and I wonder if the author of the article contacted the airline owner to ask.

[o'queery]

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by dameonboy

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

[o'queery]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

The mens room.

Most times it is when i am out in the community that i grew up in.

Though before i had become the boy that i am i was constantly ushered out of the ladies room.

Most times I try not to really let it get to me, but today it just did.

<3

[Nadeest]

Hang in there, dameonboy. I suspect that I would have had that problem, had I lived in one place, all of my life, and also transitioned there. I moved to Texas, from Michigan, during the early part of my transition, and then, just recently, moved to Florida. The only person, here, that knew me as a male, is my mother, and she accepts me as her daughter, now. Few here realize that I have transitioned, unless I tell them.

[Nadeest]

I'm not sure if this fits under this thread or not, but I do find it interesting, and worthy of support. I know several, if not all of the authors of this book. http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazi...Book/index.php

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Nadeest

I'm not sure if this fits under this thread or not, but I do find it interesting, and worthy of support. I know several, if not all of the authors of this book. http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazi...Book/index.php

I preordered this book two weeks ago. Looking forward to it!

[Yew]

I don't get static in men's rooms, but I do feel a little gut-knot going into one I am unfamiliar with. Many of my last visits to a women's room were met with double takes, weird looks etc, some women even leaving, then immediately returning and either embarrassed or hostile, informing me of the exact words on your sign...this was a continual sign that I should be in the Men's.

A couple of days ago I was going into what I thought was a general/unisex dressing room (it has always been free flowing and located between the mens and women's departments) with some two piece suits and was met at the door by a female employee who informed me "this is the women's dressing room" and blocked my entrance. I asked where the men's was and after finding it, made several trips in and out with zero problems. I guess sometimes I think the marker that is still on my ID actually means something, but this is a case of what you see is what you get, and people see me as a guy. The weird and shitty occasion where someone "she's" me can undermine my process a little and I think, Do I Really Pass As Well As I Think I Do?...mostly, yes I do, and so I have to stay true to what is inside- a guy. Sometimes stuff is just super weird. The most static I have gotten going into a men's room was in Pamplona, Spain and it was women waiting in line for the women's room who nailed me coming and going; this was pre-transition but I was still not feminine, and I suspect something about this aggression was about me being in there with 'their men", not cool at all.

Originally Posted by dameonboy

[LeftWriteFemme]

State Requiring Health Insurers To Cover Gender Transition


http://www.courant.com/news/politics...,1545137.story

[Rockinonahigh]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

State Requiring Health Insurers To Cover Gender Transition


http://www.courant.com/news/politics...,1545137.story

I wonder if this means medicare /medicaid would have to follow the same rules???

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

I wonder if this means medicare /medicaid would have to follow the same rules???

Medicaid is a state plan so I would suspect they would. Medicare is federal, so it would not be the case for them.

[Kenna]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Medicaid is a state plan so I would suspect they would. Medicare is federal, so it would not be the case for them.

Unfortunately, Dapper, I feel the need to disagree. The Medicaid Policy Writer, Medicaid Legislative Analyst and Program Manager side of me wants to help out in this situation ....Medicaid and Medicare are both Federal. The Feds (through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -CMS) tell the states what they can and cannot do with Medicaid policy and particular programs. When the Feds make a policy change, they publish it in the Federal Register...the states review the change and have the right to "comment" using the instructions published in the Register. .. There are two different ways that the Feds can direct the states to handle coverage: As a mandated item to add to the "State Medicaid Plan" or as an optional item that the state can decide if they want to cover it or not....THEN there's also the possibility of a "State Waiver" where a state can apply to CMS (the feds) for approval to cover something that's not written in "The State Plan" ...

My suggestion is for any advocate of gender reassignment surgery to be added to MEDICAID or MEDICARE, please write in hard copy to the management of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in D.C...and also the Secretary of the federal Health and Human Services....in pleading any case for mandating coverage, it must be documented as "medically necessary".

Yes, there are Medicaid programs and services that are funded with Federal money and Medicaid programs/services/Waivers that are funded by state budget money. But the policy is driven from the feds down to the states...
if a procedure is currently NOT covered by Medicaid there are.certain legislative contacts to push it through.

I remember recently when dental care for adults has been drastically restricted because the feds and states reduced their budgets for items they decided to remove from the State Plans....
My worry is that even if Medical Necessity is proven for this surgery, several people at the federal or state level (ie. those against LGBTQ rights) will block any additions to the Medicaid or Medicare budget and policy.

[Nadeest]

Yay! Now if we can get the rest of the states to do so!