ItGetsMoreGay

Discharged gay soldiers will receive pay they lost

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:34:35 -0500

Discharged gay soldiers will receive pay they lost:

Some military personnel who were discharged for being gay had their separation pay cut in half — even though it was an honorable discharge. But now, after a class action suit brought on by the ACLU, those service members who were honorably discharged for being gay will receive their full pay.

As a result of the settlement, all service members covered by the suit will be contacted and have the option of receiving 100% of what they would have earned if they had been honorably discharged for any reason other than being gay.

“There was absolutely no need to subject these service members to a double dose of discrimination by removing them from the armed forces in the first place, and then denying them this small benefit to ease the transition to civilian life,” said Laura Schauer Ives, managing attorney for the ACLU of New Mexico, in a press release. “This decision represents a long-delayed justice to these veterans.”

The pay reduction was a Defense Department policy and not part of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, so it did not change when the law was repealed, ACLU officials noted.

The settlement covers personnel who were discharged on or after November 10, 2004, as far back as it could extend under the applicable statute of limitations. The total amount of pay owed to these service members is about $2.4 million, which “is small by military standards, but is hugely significant in acknowledging their service to their country,” said Joshua Block, staff attorney for the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project.”

Really, this is the least we can do.

So I’ve been busy…. In March, it will be one year...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:20:17 -0500

So I’ve been busy…. In March, it will be one year since I started to explore my gender expression and have used it to become a drag queen. I currently identify as gender fluid and I love every moment of it.

Photo

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:10:59 -0500

When you see it, REBLOG IT.

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:08:52 -0500

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

If you ever want to talk: My Tumblr ask is always open.

lacigreen: seeimsmiling360: Fave quote: “You can tell how...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:08:17 -0500

lacigreen:

seeimsmiling360:

Fave quote: “You can tell how smart somebody is by what they laugh at.” ~ Tina Fey

perfect. just because it’s “supposed to be funny” doesn’t mean it’s not bullying.

Photo

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:08:07 -0500

loveyourrebellion: D.C. Launches First Ever Transgender Respect...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:06:14 -0500

loveyourrebellion:

D.C. Launches First Ever Transgender Respect Ad Campaign

Art of Transliness: Trans Guys of the Year

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:04:17 -0500

Art of Transliness: Trans Guys of the Year:

transguys:

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2012 TransGuys Community Awards!

You can view the final voting results, check out all the amazing nominees, and see my big fat apology for the lateness of publishing the results, here.

All of this year’s nominees have…

I need to get back to this page.

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:02:30 -0500

To my followers: what would you like to discuss/hear/see?

victoria-sikora: I joined Monster High!!!! FOLLOW MY DRAG...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:35:02 -0500

victoria-sikora:

I joined Monster High!!!!

FOLLOW MY DRAG PAGE! victoria-sikora.tumblr.com

Five Ways Cis Feminists Can Help Build Trans Inclusivity And Intersectionality

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:30:02 -0500

Five Ways Cis Feminists Can Help Build Trans Inclusivity And Intersectionality:

1) Be willing to confront instances of transphobia, cissexism, cisnormativity, cis-centrism, cis privilege and other forms of destructive bias where you find them (especially when you find them within feminist, activist or queer spaces), not through “call outs” or other toxic, self-defeating or abusive strategies, but by taking the opportunity for genuine discourse.

2) Don’t take a purely passive, reactive approach. Rather than waiting for things like someone saying something overtly cissexist, or a trans person bringing up a particular concern, be willing to proactively introduce trans issues, or trans-relevant aspects of broader issues, to feminist discourse. Likewise, proactively treat possible consequences, perspectives and concerns relevant to trans people and trans experiences as being not only significant but essential to all feminist issues and conversations.

3) Don’t assume any given issue is strictly, or even primarily, relevant to cis women. All feminist concerns are also transgender concerns, and vice versa. There are no feminist dialogues in which trans voices “don’t belong”, or to which trans voices have “nothing to add”. There are nosocial issues related to gender that don’t have consequences for trans people.

4) Proactively seek out transgender voices, perspectives and input on all issues, not simply what you regard as “trans issues” or situations where the value of such perspectives is immediately obvious to you. Come to us, rather than waiting for us to come to you.

5) Don’t treat the larger social conflict of gender as being dialectic or binary in nature. Don’t assume a unidirectional model of gender-based oppression.

kaliem: The Trevor Project has given an award to Katy Perry....

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:28:04 -0500

kaliem:

The Trevor Project has given an award to Katy Perry. Yes, you read that correctly. The Trevor Project, the organization whose aim is to prevent LGBTQ youth suicide, is giving an award to Katy Perry to honor her for “inspiring LGBTQ youth to find their spark through her video ‘Firework’” and ”increasing visibility and understanding of the LGBTQ community.”

I wonder which acts of visibility and understanding they’re referring to exactly. Was it the time she made heaps of money for celebrating the stereotype that girls kissing girls is an act done for attention? You know, the song Kathleen Hanna called “straight-up offensive,” P!nk said “trivializes lesbianism” and Beth Ditto noted was indicative of Perry ”just riding on the backs of our culture, without having to pay any of the dues and not being actually lesbian or anything at all”?

Or was it the time she peppered a song with effeminate gay male stereotypes so she could insult an ex-boyfriend, equating queerness with negativity and encouraging bullying against gay people? Did the fact that she opened that song with the lines “I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf /While jacking off listening to Mozart” really seal the deal for a LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group?

Maybe it was the time she talked about looking like a “tranny” in Rolling Stone? Or when she mocked trans* people on twitter, inspiring a condemnation from GLAAD? Those don’t seem like moments when queer visibility was improved, nor were they stellar examples of helping other to “understand” our community any better. Those seem like moments when some homophobia slipped through the cracks, and no one listened when queers called it out. After all, Perry herself has declared that “certain parts of the world — especially in the U.S. — are just dying to be offended” and that it “won’t change how I express myself as an artist.”

Being pissed off at Katy Perry isn’t anything new for the queer community, which is why it seems strange for us to be giving her some kind of award, although it’s certainly not the first time we’ve been baffled by Perry’s inclusion and celebration in a queer space. In 2008, Perry made the cover of the OUT 100, earning the coveted honor of “Musician of the Year,” inspiring lesbian entertainment blogger Dorothy Snarker to ask OUT, “What the fuck? Katy Perry? Katy fucking Perry? This is a joke, right? What you meant to do was pick an actual lesbian to pose amid the gay men, right? Right?”

Autostraddle pretty much nails it with this article.

I’ll never understand why people are so pissed at KP for her at least attempts, when there are plenty of celebrities that flat out hate LGBTQQIA people that this attention should be directed. The way you interpret the words is so far from the intentions, and that is what matters. Sometimes, I’m appalled by the closed minds of Queer people, when they’ve gone through so much discrimination themselves, they still refuse to try to understand alternative points.

"You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as..."

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:35:25 -0500

“You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.”

- RuPaul (via fuckyeahdragrace)

glaad: fenwayhealth: In honor of Transgender Awareness Week,...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:27:55 -0500

glaad:

fenwayhealth:

In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, our youth health center, The Borum, is highlighting some of the challenges faced by trans and gender nonconforming youth.

Though we still need more research to better reflect the diversity of trans youth’s experiences, what we know now clearly points to a need to do more to care for and empower them.

Learn more here.

Our thanks to GLSEN, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and all the other great organizations whose work contributed to the creation of this graphic.

Download/share a high-res PDF of this infographic here.

Learn more about Transgender Awareness Week: http://www.glaad.org/transawarenessweek

glaad: Today we observe Transgender Day of Remembrance. Take a...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:14:14 -0500

glaad:

Today we observe Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Take a look back at the history of transgender visibility.

ourspiritnow: transstudent: It is over 1000 times more likely...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:10:19 -0500

ourspiritnow:

transstudent:

It is over 1000 times more likely that a transgender person will be murdered than a cisgender person. Transgender Day of Remembrance is meant to bring awareness to this alarming statistic through memorializing the dead. Click Here for more information about TDoR. Click here for a list of some of our dead. Click here to repost on Facebook. Click here to retweet.

Remember love. ourspiritnow

Fiction: Falling In To Place

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 00:38:34 -0500

Fiction: Falling In To Place :

November 15, 2012

by: Timothy Elliot

Again, she steps onto the steel platform to cross over the highway. Today, she may be one of only a handful to have walked this path, interesting enough, when the murmur of the large city was still heavy in her ears.

She loved to come here; to see all of the tall buildings, full of people. It gave her the ability to find calm without ever stepping foot out of the city she found home in.

In a single building there may be thousands of people rushing about going here and there, always in a hurry to be somewhere, even when that somewhere was unknown. They rush past each other on the streets, one car thrusting the gas pedal in order to get in front of another, arriving at their destination maybe an entire second sooner at the cost of the burst of gasoline. The veins in their foreheads slightly raise; they put stresses on themselves, but she is at peace now.

She sighs. The sun is setting. She should head home now; get a full night of sleep before tomorrow begins at the office.

***

He exists. He goes to work. He calls his mother at night. He comes home to his husband each day, and they have dinner. They talk about their day. They watch some late night television and he turns off the light to return to his husband to hold him in the night.

‘Fuck, I can’t be here right now.’ His body feels tense and out of place. ‘I’m not here right now.’ She is sitting in his place. He exists, but now, he isn’t out to answer for his name.

His boss calls his name. He isn’t there, but she answers in his place, “Yes?”

“Peter, I want that write up by three. I have that meeting at four and I’d like to read through it before hand.”

“Already got it; been waiting for you to pass by to give it to you.” They were a hard worker; it was an efficient distraction.

“Great! I’ll look over it in a bit then. Good work, Pete.” Her boss’ hand pats his shoulder as he hands over the completed report. Under the pressure, he grimaces slightly. He is uncomfortable with this type of contact; he is unfamiliar with this type of formality.

Peter had only been working at the company for a few months. He hadn’t really spoken at great lengths with many of his co-workers; they were mostly standard white male cubicle rats in his eyes. White button-ups with neutral tones; silk ties and polyester suits. He felt out of place. The only co-worker he had even attempted to connect with was Cassy, the receptionist. Cassy and himself had run into each other in the break room the first week that he had started working there. She had noticed the clear nail-polish and his shaven arms. There was a short exchange where she expressed her love of ‘gays’. She had many friends that were gay, and she was so excited to meet him. ‘It’s so stereotypical’, he thinks, ‘almost sounds like she’s collecting’. After that, he had decided he was not very interested in getting to know her, but he remained friendly. It might be good for him to claim a few friends in the office; to help pass the time at least.

It is lunch break, and Peter has packed his lunch per usual. Cassy is already settled in the break room.

“Peter! Come join me! I’m just sitting down for lunch!” Peter looks down at the table and notices her food is almost completely gone.

“Hi! I would love to. Just let me heat up what I brought.” He unzips the lunchbox and takes out the Tupperware to place in the microwave.

The third co-worker that had been in the break-room leaves and Cassy watches the door close behind him with a type of anticipation that puts her on the edge of her chair; “So, I have this friend.” She began so many conversations this way. Peter knew what was coming. “He’s just perfect for you!–He’s really nice.”

‘Yes, he’s nice. They’re all nice, I’m sure.’ His thoughts entertained him. He wonders if she has a picture of this one as well to show him. Also, he wonders why she never questions that he’s never followed through on any of her set-ups. She continues to make new suggestions, never wondering what happened to prevent the last.

“He’s a dancer, and he lives down town. You should give him a call. I’m sure he would love you!”

“Oh really…That sounds, good.” Peter didn’t wear his wedding ring to work. It was set with a princess cut diamond; not appropriate for the corporate office. Cassy had seen it once before, it fell out of his lunch box one of the first couple of times he had run into her in the break room.

“Here’s his number.” Cassy scribbles down the telephone number onto her napkin. “His name is Chad.” She is gleaming.

“Thanks.” His tone is apparent in its lack of interest, but Cassy never seems to notice. She hasn’t demonstrated to Peter an observant nature, and Peter has a default block towards new people.

As the conversation continues, Peter contemplates interjecting with the fact of his marriage to Francis. He figures it is more work than it could be worth, so Peter continues to nod and make small effort at replies. Cassy is content speaking without direction or intent, and Peter doesn’t ever bother to interject anything to Cassy about his life. He’s been conditioned to live privately. Peter wonders if she really just enjoys hearing her own voice and at one point, Peter neglects to listen to her at all, but she continues to talk without the slightest notice. He watches his co-workers walk past the break room window; they are all so basic, he thinks. They are all so normal. He remembers the days when he would long for that. As lunch break ends, Cassy and Peter say their goodbyes and they both return to work.

The remainder of the day proceeds mostly uneventful. It is a Friday, and after the workday had ended, they drive home. They call their mother that night, and they eat dinner alone; Francis won’t be back from his conference until the following afternoon.

***

They are hermits today. He thinks to himself about the world. He thinks about society and how they don’t know her; he thinks about the community and how they don’t accept her. To them, both of them: society and the community, she isn’t concrete enough. She isn’t tangible, nor is she always in sight.

They think about this.

Her wardrobe sits in the office room closet. She has half a thought to go there and immerse herself in it. She wants to immerse herself into that life; let herself be comforted in it. Instead, he has already begun shoveling ice cream into his mouth. Quickly, it is all gone, and the feeling of fulfillment he had expected never came.

Again, the thought of her wardrobe floods her mind. She thinks she can feel the draped silk shirt fabric on her arms. She has a collection of chiffon scarves she would love to wear to work if only her co-workers would let her be about it. She thinks also of her cosmetics sitting upon her vanity. She contemplates whether she wants to paint on red smokey eyes or brush on a basic blue lid.

She makes her way to her vanity set and picks up a few cosmetics and a hand mirror. She returns to the living room and returns herself to the couch she was on previously, holding the mirror up to her face. She opens up the primrose colored lipstick and motions towards her lips.

Yet, she prevents herself. She refuses these indulgences. She sets everything down on the coffee table in front of her and stares blankly at it.

She had struggled so long to reach this point. She remembered long, violent arguments with her mother and father, and it had been many years since they had spoken. Since, she couldn’t even remember the sounds their voices made.

She had struggled to find herself, and society didn’t leave many options for her. They weren’t patient to sit idle as observers as she explored her own self; they had interfered, and they had been cruel about it.

She had emptied so many bottles of pills, washed so much of her own blood down the drain, and she had spent her time in the hospital, recovering. Yes, Peter had struggled for her to live.

Now, she sits, still unsure when she can come out.

There is a clicking of keys heard at the door.

Francis walks in and tosses his coat on the couch. He looks at them on the other end and notices the solemn mood across their face.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” She nodded with a slight characteristic refrain.

Francis sits beside them. His expression is easily interpreted by them as to say ‘It’s okay’.

“Do you love me?” She asks him, barely voicing these words.

“I will always love you,” He leans over to the coffee table where the primrose lipstick lay, still uncapped, and brings the color to her lips. They could hear the words unspoken, ‘whoever you are.’ His husband places his hand on his cheek. Her husband brushes it in comfort. Their husband embraces them, and they fall into place.

“I love you too, Francis.”

“And that, Peter, is all that should matter.” Francis smiles, “No need to worry.”

When the workday on Monday ends, the wedding band had never left Peter’s hand. At some point, someone may have made a negative remark about it, and they not have even cared to, but if they did, Peter hadn’t even noticed.

anarcho-queer: Where can I find this book?! “Gay culture has...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:57:02 -0500

anarcho-queer:

Where can I find this book?!

“Gay culture has become the ultimate nightmare of consumerism, whether it’s an endless quest for Absolut vodka, Diesel jeans, rainbow Hummers, pec implants, or Pottery Barn. As backrooms are shut down to make way for wedding vows, and gay sexual culture morphs into “straight-acting dudes hangin’ out,” what are the possibilities for a defiant faggotry that challenges the assimilationist norms of a corporate-cozy lifestyle?

Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots challenges not just the violence of straight homophobia but the hypocrisy of mainstream gay norms that say the only way to stay safe is to act straight: get married, join the military, adopt kids! This anthology reinvokes the anger, flamboyance, and subversion once thriving in gay subcultures in order to create something dangerous and lovely: an exploration of the perils of assimilation; a call for accountability; a vision for change.”

Happy Halloween!!!

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:10:40 -0400

Happy Halloween!!!

thepeoplesrecord: For transgendered soldiers, Dont’ Ask Don’t...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:17:46 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

For transgendered soldiers, Dont’ Ask Don’t Tell carries on
October 29, 2012

On an afternoon in January 1998, Monica Helms walked into a building in Phoenix, Arizona, where she lay her reapplication papers on the counter in front of her and waited for the reaction she knew was coming.

She had been a member of her hometown’s chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans since around 1980, but not under the name “Monica.” Back when she joined, she’d been a man, as all submariners had been at the time, and was unconditionally accepted into a select group within the military. But now, dressing full-time as a woman and six months into the process of becoming physically female, this routine reapplication quickly became more complicated.

The chapter president called up the national organization, which bounced the problem right back to him, saying it was a local issue. So the Phoenix group of about a dozen tried to push her into a generic veterans’ organization for women. She said no. They asked if they could list her as her former name, with “Monica” in parentheses. No.

After months of this, she called the national chairman, who said that if Phoenix wouldn’t let her back in, she could rejoin as an at-large member; after all, the only two requirements for admission were an honorable discharge and prior work on a submarine. Monica registered and asked her hometown group to vote on whether they wanted to see her at meetings. They did.

U.S. Submarine Veterans is now a coed group, and Monica, 61, swells with pride when she says she was the first woman to join. She only wishes this kind of inclusion were the norm for transgender people who are currently serving in the armed forces.

***

Monica is the president of a tiny organization called Transgender Veterans of America. The group has made receiving medical care at veterans organizations a much more pleasant experience for many transgender vets, but the situation for their active-duty counterparts remains the same — if the military finds out, you’re gone.

The armed forces were applauded for promoting equality when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed in 2010. But transgender military members were still excluded, and now that the gay community has achieved equality in the armed forces, they feel that their previous momentum has slowed.

There are around 140,000 transgender veterans in the U.S., says Dr. Gary Gates of the Williams Institute, a research organization dedicated to law and public policy in sexual orientation and gender identity. He estimates that there are roughly 700,000 transgender people in the country, and a recent National Transgender Discrimination Survey showed that 20 percent of them have been a part of the military at some point. (In contrast, only 10 percent of the general population has served.)

There are two general reasons why the military won’t allow transgender people to serve, says Norman Spack of Boston Children’s Hospital, where he cofounded the gender management service clinic, the first to treat pubescent transgender people in the Western hemisphere. First, members of the military don’t want to be in a professional environment with anyone who is gender variant. Second, they don’t know how to classify a transgender person with respect to housing, rooming, or whatever else.Despite this, if the U.S. armed forces discover a transgender individual in their ranks, he or she is dishonorably discharged — in contrast with the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and other nations where they can serve freely. Being transgender, according to the U.S. military, is a psychological disorder, and it renders an individual unfit for service.

Which is to say that many military members are afraid of what they don’t understand.

“Many people don’t necessarily come from very large cities or other parts of the country where there will not just be more understanding, but more tolerance of this sort of thing,” Spack said.

The struggle for equal rights for the transgender community in the armed forces will inevitably be compared to the effort to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but there are key differences.

A main concern for transgender veterans is that they simply don’t have enough numbers to drive a policy change. It’s estimated that transgender people make up 0.6 percent of the 21.8 million US veterans. That’s barely one in 200.

While overcoming the math may turn out to be a major obstacle, the transgender community also has a huge advantage that the gay community did not — they don’t have to deal with Congress. The policy barring transgender individuals from the armed forces is just that; a policy, not a law.

But Michael Segal, a neurologist who is also heavily involved with the military through the Advocates for ROTC program, cautions that a 180 degree change might not be the way to go.

“Even a lot of transgender people will say that they don’t think someone who’s actively going through a transition at that time should be in the military,” Segal said. “I don’t think you’re going to get the same pressure for an all-or-nothing thing.”

Whether or not the fight is for a complete change of policy, though, the transgender community’s struggle for equal rights in the military may begin far away from the armed forces.

Full article