9/2/12

Femen: "Une armée française sera formée à Paris" In Paris A New Feminist Army


When Pussy Riot was imprisoned after a mock 'trial' for protesting the Orthodox Church's integration and perversion of the Russian state people worldwide of all genders and political affiliations became upset and the resulting protests took many forms.

One such protest took place in Kiev, Ukraine where members of the feminist group FEMEN cut down crosses. Similar action occurred across Russia where more crosses were cut down, persumably in protest of Pussy Riots mock trial and unfair imprisonment.

The woman in the video who cut the cross down in Kiev escaped her country to Paris after the police attempted to arrest her. The Russian goverment has saturated the Internet with versions of their official media outlet, RT , so it's critical this version be told as well. This is her story.

Femen: "Une armée française sera formée à Paris" from FEMEN Video on Vimeo.



9/1/12

Video: Wayne Besen Takes Down XGay & Anti Trans AFA Front Man

At the 7:06 mark Besen confronts Brown about his use of defamation while demonizing transsexual people. Brown, obviously aware that this would come up backpedaled trying to legitimize his pejorative use of 'tranny' citing Glsen's extremely occasional use the word in respective, and in my opinion misguided attempts to connect with youth.

There's a world of difference between Glsen's research and Browns horrible "poem".



Source: Advocate-
"Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, an organization set on debunking the "ex-gay" myth, took on antigay Dr. Michael Brown, who runs a campaign claiming "God Has A Better Way" than homosexuality. On Friday's edition of The David Pakman Show, a public-access news and political talk show, Besen and Brown accused each other of inciting violence and vitriol against their opponents."

"What [Brown] does is he incites people to violence in my view," said Besen on the program. "Just look at his rhetoric... I think it's this combination of militaristic language and the demonizing of a minority that sparked my view of Dr. Brown."

"I also believe that he comes across here as very nice and kind, but again, it's a fraud," Besen continued, as Brown smiled on the split-screen Skype video conference."


**************

As a follower of Christ and former truck driver who spent many nights in between eastern Texas and Louisiana I will testify to this. The AFA radio network all but owned the airwaves late night in those rural areas and the hateful anti LGBT rhetoric they espouse would have convinced any uniformed individual LGBT people are the devils spawn.

Do not be taken in by Brown's smugness, he like all of the signers of the letter to Fox asking that Besen be censored will only be satisfied if they can silence us, imprison our gender expression, or worse, eradicate us as they are trying to do in Russia and Uganda.




Leslie Feinberg re-charged for June 4th solidarity action for CeCe McDonald


The Hennepin County prosecutor has re-charged me with Gross Misdemeanor,
which carries a maximum of 1-year prison & $1,000 fine,
for my June 4 demonstration.of solidarity with CeCe McDonald.

I've been ordered to appear:

Sept. 13 at 8:30 am
Hennepin County District Court
PSF 141, "Public Safety" Facility
401 South Fourth Street
Minneapolis, MN

I hope to see friends and other activists in court.

As defendant, I welcome parents and other caregivers bringing children of all ages, including infants and toddlers. I’ll bring crayons and drawing paper.

Please wear purple/buttons/t-shirts in solidarity with CeCe McDonald! I'll be wearing the free CeCe t-shirt designed by artist/activist Ricardo Levins Morales.

I've made a sign in support of CeCe to take with me to court. If you make and post your own sign in support of CeCe McDonald and/or have already posted one online, send me a copy of the photo/credit/location via social media and I’ll do my best to include your solidarity in the multi-media dedication to CeCe.

Please check that morning for the assigned courtroom.

My thanks to lawyer Bruce Nestor and the
National Lawyers' Guild for helping me
defend myself in the court of the 1%.

These words below are the only statement I can make at this time--the best I can do. I also include my June 4 statement below.

August 30, 2012 statement:

I will not be silent!

As a revolutionary activist, journalist/author, and proud member of the National Writers’ Union/UAW Local 1981—I will not be silent!


STOP the WAR AGAINST

TRANS WOMEN of COLOR!

FREE CECE McDONALD NOW!

http://supportcece.wordpress.com

Source: Leslie Feinberg Facebook Note





Free Cece on Tumblr

Free Cece on Twitter

Apathy leads to cancer. Which side are you on?

8/31/12

Transgenders: Pakistan's Open Secret

In Karachi Pakistan

Only 40 seconds long this preview of "Open Secret" elicited strong emotions...sadly we are unable to view the show on television in the states....



...but apparently the full episode can been seen on Channel 4 if you are in the UK.

Source: Indian Express-Open Secret "The documentary revolves around three transgender women: Sana, Karachi’s most sought-after transgender dancer who wants to give up the profession after a gruesome gang rape; Chahat, who was abandoned by her middle-class family for her feminine ways; and Maggi. Obaid-Chinoy spent four months with her subjects, during which she entered their comfort zones and surveyed every aspect of their lives, learning about their past, their struggles and how their sexuality has made them feel at different stages of their lives. “We witnessed the dangers that come with their professions and the mistreatment that comes with their social status,” she says.

The 53-minute film will release in Pakistan later this year while the Indian release date is still under discussion. “I am confident that the film will impact Indians and Pakistanis in the same way. I hope that it prompts a dialogue about the existing perception of transgender individuals,” she says. The story then continues with their struggles to create job opportunities with the Pakistani government. “During the filming of this documentary, the government recognised that transgenders are very effective tax collectors,” says Obaid-Chinoy.

Obaid-Chinoy tells us that Sana was lucky enough to secure a job as a tax collector (currently the only official position offered to transgenders) and maintains ties with some of her family members. But Chahat begs for a livelihood and has still not come to terms with her ostracism. Maggi still dreams of flying."


8/30/12

Bavarian Dad Wears A Dress To Be a Role Model For Child

This has to be the most awe inspiring hope giving man of the year, ever.

Via Tumblr-oneandonlygabriel:

I really, REALLY wish you could read this article about a father who started wearing skirts because his son likes to wear skirts and dresses and he wants his son to feel stronger Like, holy shit, the end made me feel so happy
I took the liberty to translate the text.
Please note that it’s not a word to word translation.


Sometimes men simply have to be role models.

Because his son likes to wear skirts Nils Pickert started with it as well. After all, the little one needs a role model. And he thinks long skirts with elastic bands suit him quite well anyways. A story about two misfits in the Province of southern Germany.

My five year old son likes to wear dresses. In Berlin Kreuzberg that alone would be enough to get into conversation with other parents. Is it wise or ridiculous? „Neither one nor the other!“ I still want to shout back at them. But sadly they can’t hear me any more. Because by now I live in a small town in South Germany. Not even a hundred thousand inhabitants, very traditional, very religious. Plainly motherland. Here the partiality of my son are not only a subject for parents, they are a town wide issue. And I did my bit for that to happen.

Yes, I’m one of those dads, that try to raise their children equal. I’m not one of those academic daddies that ramble about gender equality during their studies and then, as soon as a child’s in the house, still relapse into those fluffy gender roles: He’s finding fulfilment in his carrier and she’s doing the rest.

Thus I am, I know that by now, part of the minority that makes a fool of themselves from time to time. Out of conviction.

In my case that’s because I didn’t want to talk my son into not wearing dresses and skirts. He didn’t make friends in doing that in Berlin already and after a lot of contemplation I had only one option left: To broaden my shoulders for my little buddy and dress in a skirt myself. After all you can’t expect a child at pre-school age to have the same ability to assert themselves as an adult. Completely without role model. And so I became that role model.

We already had skirt and dress days back then during mild Kreuzbergian weather. And I think long skirts with elastic bands suit me quite well anyways. Dresses are a bit more difficult. There was either no reaction of the people in Berlin or it was positive. In my small town in the south of Germany that’s a little bit different.

Being all stressed out, because of the moving I forgot to notify the nursery-school teachers to have an eye on my boy not being laughed at because of his fondness of dresses and skirts. Shortly after moving he didn’t dare to go to nursery-school wearing a skirt or a dress any more. And looking at me with big eyes he asked: “Daddy, when are you going to wear a skirt again?”

To this very day I’m thankful for that women, that stared at us on the street until she ran face first into a street light. My son was roaring with laugher. And the next day he fished out a dress from the depth of his wardrobe. At first only for the weekend. Later also for nursery-school.

And what’s the little guy doing by now? He’s painting his fingernails. He thinks it looks pretty on my nails, too. He’s simply smiling, when other boys ( and it’s nearly always boys) want to make fun of him and says: “You only don’t dare to wear skirts and dresses because your dads don’t dare to either.” That’s how broad his own shoulders have become by now. And all thanks to daddy in a skirt.

I hope it’s alright like this.

Reblogged from Steegeschnoeber.tumblr

8/29/12

The Screaming Queens Are Free! || Well For $1.99 Anyways!

I might be the last person in the world to find this out but...you have roots. I have roots and we have a movie about the beginning of our struggle for freedom.

While I was doing some research I stumbled upon an iconic movie 'The Screaming Queens' and wanted to watch it but the website that marketed it gave few options to view it, all too expensive for Joe or josephine trans person (like me).

Effectively putting our history out of our reach...free enterprise being what it is....the least profitable purchase option usually not being the most visible option to obtain a product...I posted about it...is there an affordable way?....

....and Alexis Whitham, Educational Programming and Acquisitions Manager for Frameline which markets LGBT movies emailed me in response to the planetransgender post Frameline Stop Holding The Screaming Queens Hostage (for $250.00 or $36.00). Alexis told me that the the Frameline Website is being redone so presently it did not have all the option for buying or watching the movie (including the cheaper options).

As it turns out the streaming version of The Screaming Queens online is available on Amazon streaming video for $3.99 for indefinite viewing and for $1.99 for a seven day rental.

Is the streaming version good? Does it take forever to load? Is it constantly buffering?

Yes, no and no. I watched it last night on my slow Clear Wireless connection and it was perfect, loaded in seconds and didn't pause even once for buffering. But more than just perfect, the movie is incredible.

Really. Family, watch this movie. I'm old enough so I can identify with much of what our sisters went through but take the discrimination I have faced and still endure and multiply it times incomprehensible.

Our sisters died on the street because they were given no option. No choice but to riot. None. They fought for our right to life at Gene Compton's Cafe.

Here's how to watch the Screaming Queens for $2.19 tax included. After clicking this link to Amazon Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria you will first see a number of pricier purchase options but if you want the $1.99 version scroll to the bottom of that page and you will find a link which when clicked will bring you to your destination.

The Screaming Queens for $1.99. Enjoy.