11/9/10

Arrest Bush ~ Protesting with Code Pink at the Dallas book signing


Protesting with Code Pink at GW Bush's signing of his memoir "Decision Points," a guide to torture in Dallas Texas, 2 miles from the Bush residence. We demand Bush be made accountable for authorizing torture, imprisoning innocent foreign national.
We demand the United States immediately cease spiriting away people to former soviet block countries for torture. We were regaled unceasingly by cars passing by with with shouts of "FUCK YOU", GO HOME, YOU SUCK.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com/video.



One bible thumper looked me in the eye and said, well the Koran says 'kill all infidels' so why shouldn't we torture them?

I asked if he had ever read the Koran on much to his credit he admitted he had not. I told him the same was true for many fanatic Muslims and Christians, both groups hatred of each other being fed by a misquoting hating voice.

Not that that excuses Bushes torture. NO it DOES not.

Our protest peaked when we moved directly across from the Bush heads and started chanting "ARREST BUSH NOW" which resulted in your face arguments and heated standoffs, all under the close eye of a ever increasing police presence.

Another thing. How many log cabin gays are there in Dallas? There had to be hundreds there sucking up to the murderer of our youth.

Look for us on the news tonight.

10/30/10

Noose on Equality Calif. Door Police response "It's just a string" get over it.

Mel Distel picture right, Equality California volunteer facebook note
"What Happened Tonight: Hanging a Noose on Someone's Door is Not a Crime"

by Mel Distel on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:36am

I'm still shaking as I write this. I feel confused.

Tonight I arrived to unlock the office while Daniel was picking up scripts at Kinkos. There was a small noose(pictured left) hanging from the door handle. Being that we are an organization advocating for gay rights, I felt the message like a chill through my spine. This was intentional. At the encouragement of fellow activists, I called the Santa Ana Police Department and officers were sent out to our office.

I couldn't get the image out of my head. I smoked a cigarette outside the office
and my thoughts were spinning. I felt jumpy, and was startled when any person or car crossed my line of vision. This was a message of hate, and I felt unsafe. Inside the office, our phone bankers were shocked and hurting. They continued on with their phone bank calls (vote for Melissa Fox) and worked to stay focussed on the task at hand. (contiues after video)

KABC ABC


I could not focus. I could barely make calls. I waited for the police to arrive, believing that when they did I would feel safe and affirmed.


When the police arrived, two officers spoke to Daniel and myself outside. The male officer dominated the conversation. There was nothing they could do, of course, there was no suspect and no crime had been committed. The officer said "what it is, is a string on a door." My vision got blurry, I was embarrased and felt stupid for making the call. I took a deep breath and said "Do you see any correlation between the fact that this is a gay office and there was a noose left on our door in the wake of all of these teen suicides?" The officer said, "Sometimes you just have to live with being a victim," and proceeded to mention that his car had been broken into before. As if that's the same. As if having your stereo stolen is anything like the message "You should kill yourself." As if random theft is anything like an act meant to convey hate and stir up fear in the heart of a minority group.

I want to thank Karla for having a long discussion with the sargeant about the situation. No, it was not legally a hate crime, because there was no crime (just hate). And the officer likely did not intend to come off the way he did.

But I'm still in shock. I pray that no officer ever tells a bullied teen that, "sometimes you just have to live with being a victim." The officer made me feel foolish for being shocked and afraid. I feel stupid and unjustified. Our volunteers felt hurt, angered and confused.

I am so grateful for the excellent family of volunteers who came together tonight, supported eachother, worked through their emotions, and even made an astonishing number of phone bank calls.

I am sorry for anyone who has experienced hate or intimidation, and my heart goes out to anyone who has reported it and been made to feel stupid for reaching out for help.

Stay strong, Orange County, the fight for tolerance has not yet been won.

Yours,

Mel Distel

10/29/10

AC Cooper 360 McCance "I will resign" Arkansas citizens will make sure he will at least honor this promise

Little Rock AR Center For Artistic Revolution (CAR) "After a few days of intense organizing working to secure Mr. McCance’s resignation, CAR went to Pleasant Plain, Arkansas. Our purpose was to put more pressure on the school board and Mr. McCance to ensure that he resigned. We conducted a vigil at the Midland High School commemorating the lives of the 11 teenagers who took their lives in September as well as all those who have killed themselves because of being tormented by remarks much the same as those of Mr. McCance."



"Cooper asked exactly what are you appoligizing for?" McCance "It was over the top"

Cooper "Do you understand the pain you have caused with those words to bullied gay children if there is any in your school district and to those who aren't gay but are bullied anyways?" MaCance "Well that's a big what if"

"If" meaning he doesn't seriously beleive there are really and gay children in Pleseant Plains. That response is worthy of Iran's Ahmadinejad who also believes there are no gay people in his care.

He said he would resign (submit a letter in 3 to 7 days) from the school board to spare the district the bad press and distractions of dealing with the fallout from his comments.

AC 360 blog

As of Friday there has been no letter of resignation received according to the Arkasas Times blog.



CAR's Facebook's response? "...if he reneges we will go back until he does!"

So will we.

Hollywood Transgender Attackers Caught on Video Have you seen this man?

Scene outside the bar before the beating.
 

October 3rd these five people were taped running out of the Plaza a latino drag bar after a "transgender woman dressed as a man", probably a drag performer.

The main suspect is a Latino man, approx. 25 years old, white shoes, orange sweat, closely cropped hair and possiable wearing a gold medallion.

He was seen leaving the scene in a white late model suburban.

Please call the police at 213-922-9234 or 213-922-8268.

La Blog

10/28/10

McCance Death Wish for Queers Creates "Grave Situation"


Pleasant plains Arkansas population 267 give or take a couple of queers that kill themselves if of school board member Clint McCance has his wish.
Pleasant Plains Graveyard.

The Midlands school district website has removed all pictures and contact information. The district issued a statement condeming McCance's statement but distanced itself from him saying he acted as a private citizen.



Tens of thousands of angry concerned citizens LGBT and heterosexual agree on one thing, he should be fired immediately.




A school board member should never wish death for his students regardless if he is acting as a public official or a private citizen.

The concerned citizens also agree hate speech is unacceptable from anyone. Condemning children publicly to death is inexcusable regardless if someone is from a major metropolitan area or as in McCance's situation, a rural community. There is no excusing someone for wishing children dead. Period.

10/26/10

Turkey: TransAction ConVergence "Demand Freedom" for Five Transgender Activists Türkiye'nin Beş Transseksüel Aktivistler Talebi Özgürlük


Demand Freedom for five

TransAction ConVergence joins with Episcopalian TransEpiscopal in calling for the imediate release of five transgender activists beaten, gased, falsely charged and held for trial on Oct. 21 2010.

IGLHRC
For Immediate Release

(New York, October 18, 2010) Prosecutors should investigate the attacks against five transgender rights activists by police in Ankara and drop all charges against the activists, five human rights organizations said today. In a letter to Turkey’s Interior and Justice ministers, the rights organizations said that the police officers responsible for the attack should be held accountable and called for an end to violence against toward transgender people.

The five activists from the Ankara-based transgender rights organization Pembe Hayat were arbitrarily detained and beaten by police officers on May 17, 2010. Following a familiar pattern in Turkey, the five were speedily charged with resisting the police, before the prosecutor had concluded an investigation into their complaint of ill-treatment. Their trial is set for October 21. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison.

"Police ought to protect transgender people and their advocates, not attack them," said Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa regional coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "When police turn into perpetrators, it becomes painfully clear that official apathy allows leeway for attacks on transgender people."

The letter to the Justice and Interior ministers was signed by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Human Rights Watch, COC Netherlands, GATE - Global Advocates for Trans Equality, and the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe).

Four police officers from the Esat Police Station stopped the car the in which the activists were riding at about 10:30 p.m. on May 17 and accused them of intending to commit sex work. The women –Yeşim (Duru) Tatlıoğlu, Buse (Bülent) Kılıçkaya, Türkan (Deniz) Küçükkoçak, Selay (Derya) Tunç, and Eser (Nehir) Ulus – phoned for help, prompting 25 local human rights observers to go to the scene. The police forced the five activists out of the car, beat them with batons, kicked them and sprayed them with tear gas. Witnesses told the human rights organizations that the police screamed at the activists, "[f]aggots, next time we will kill you!"

"The Turkish government is turning us trans people into criminals, for no other reason than existing. Being trans in Turkey means being judged and condemned just because of what we are," said Mauro Cabral, co-director of Global Advocates for Trans Equality (GATE). "We are the crime: the government abuses us and forces us to live and die outside of the law, instead of protecting us."

Police handcuffed the women, forced them to kneel, and beat their heads and legs while one policeman told them their activism would not protect them. All five women, visibly bruised, were forced into a police van and taken to the police station. Police held them in custody until the next morning. They were officially charged on June 18, 2010.
Full press release (IGLHRC) Turkey: Drop Charges Against Transgender Rights Defenders

The Rev. Cameron Partridge of TransEpiscopal has this to say:

"We stand in complete solidarity with the five transgender activists as they go on trial in Turkey . We pray for their release, for the recognition of their human dignity, and that those who have treated these women in such a dehumanizing way would be held accountable for their actions. As we move toward Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, when communities around the world remember those who have died because of their gender identity or expression, we work to transform cultures of violence into spacious communities in which all of us can be who we are."

Please join TransEpiscopal, Integrity and other major international human rights organizations by expressing your concerns to the two Turkish Ministers:


Mr. Sadullah Ergin
Ministry of Justice
Address: 06659 Kizilay, Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 419 33 70
E-Mail: sadullahergin@adalet.gov.tr
or
iydb@adalet.gov.tr

Mr. Beşir Atalay
Ministry of the Interior
Address: T.C. İcisleri Bakanlığı, Bakanlıklar, Ankara, TurkeyTel: +90 312 422 40 22
E-Mail: besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr
or
ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

Reuters Alertnet

Walking with Integrity supports global transgender community

Turkish LGBT org. "Pembe Hayat"

Demand Freedom for Five Turkish Transgender Activists

TransAction ConVergence. Transgender, Transsexual, Intersexed, Asexual, Gender Gifted and Allied people converging on Facebook, the world's largest social network, to share news and ideas and to advocate.