1/29/13

Pictures: Femen MEN At The Paris Marriage Equality Rally

Some pictures of the January Paris marriage rally you won't see on mainstream media:


See more of her pictures



Another Inmate Win For Tax Payer Funded Sexual Reassignment Surgery

The million dollar question:
Will taxpayers have to foot another failed million dollar legal battle to deny Ophelia Azriel her right to medical care like they did with Michelle Kosilek ?

As many of you are aware I am an outspoken advocate for our removal from the DSM-5. But in these cases it's essential we remain in the DSM to insure that the most vulnerable of our community receive adequate medical care. And thats what we are all about. Community.

DIAZ, Circuit Judge January 28 2013:

Virginia inmate Ophelia Azriel De’lonta (born Michael A.Stokes) filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that prison officials denied her adequate medical treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. Because we conclude that De’lonta’s complaint states a claim for relief that is plausible
on its face, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I.
On appeal from a dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, we accept as true all the factual DE’LONTA v. JOHNSON 3 allegations contained in the complaint and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Flood v. New Hanover County, 125 F.3d 249, 251 (4th Cir. 1997).

A.
De’lonta has been in the custody of the Virginia Department of Corrections ("VDOC") since 1983, serving a 73-year sentence for bank robbery. She is a pre-operative transsexual suffering from a diagnosed and severe form of a rare, medically recognized illness known as gender identity disorder ("GID"). GID is characterized by a feeling of being trapped in a body of the wrong gender. This belief has caused De’lonta to suffer "constant mental anguish" and, on several occasions, has caused her to attempt to castrate herself in efforts to "perform[ ] [her] own makeshift sex reassignment surgery." App. 14, 46, 48. De’lonta has described these ongoing urges to perform self-surgery as "overwhelming." App. 31.

In 1999, De’lonta filed a § 1983 lawsuit alleging that VDOC had instituted a policy that wrongfully prevented her from receiving GID treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. As in the instant case, the district court dismissed De’lonta’s 1999 complaint for failure to state a claim. We reversed and remanded, holding that De’lonta’s need for protection against continued self-mutilation constituted an objectively serious medical need under the Eighth Amendment and that De’lonta had sufficiently alleged VDOC’s
deliberate indifference to that need. De’lonta v. Angelone ("De’lonta I"), 330 F.3d 630, 634 (4th Cir. 2003). The parties subsequently reached a settlement in which VDOC acknowledged De’lonta’s serious medical need and agreed to provide continuing treatment.

Read the full opinion of 4th Us Court Of Appeals: 117482.P Ophelia De'Lonta v. Gene Johnson

The barn door swung open to transgender prisoners rights with Mischell's case:




There's a lot of controversy within the trans community about our tax dollars being used to fund a convicts SRS when so many of us will never have the same opportunity? Begging the age old question, what do I have to do to get SRS?

Whats your take?



1/27/13

Namoli Brennet Seattle CD Release Concert Live Streaming In HD!

Facebook event "A rare and cool opportunity that I'm pretty excited about: My Seattle CD Release at Empty Sea Studios this Friday will be streaming LIVE in HD Video! Starting at 7:30 pm PST (concert starts at 8 pm). This is a great chance to catch a *super* high quality concert broadcast, and the cost is pretty darned cheap: just $6.99, and $2 of that goes to benefit Lambert House, Seattle's LGBTQ Youth Center. The quality is seriously amazing, hope you'll tune and tweet your requests and comments!"

More info and advance tickets at Empty Sea.com

Namoli invites you to tweet requests and comments to @Namoli during her show!



It's amazing music and for a great cause! I already have tickets for her fabulous show! With 50% of the profits going to the artist and two dollars of every ticket bought going to the Lambert House Seattle's LGBTQ youth center its a win win!

New Orleans PD looking For This Transgender Robbery Suspect

French Quarter Robbery Suspect Might Be a Transgender Woman.

Police are looking for the individual in the video below. They think this person might be a transgender woman but have failed to describe her as such. Instead they have desribed her as a male out of ether transphobia or just plain old ignorance. Maybe both.

But in any case misidentifying and misgendering this person makes her apprehension that much more difficult.

Source: The Times-Picayune, LA, USA "The first suspect -- featured in the above surveillance footage -- was described as a transgendered male with brown skin who's slightly under 6 feet and in his mid-20s to early 30s."



Detective Steve Nolan is in charge of the investigation.

Citizens with information that can help solve these crimes are asked to contact Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.STOP. You could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment. You do not have to give your name or testify to receive the reward



1/26/13

Video: Anonymous Hacks US Gov't Websites In Retribution for Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz's Suicide

Anonymous hackers deface the official website of U.S. Sentencing Commission website (ussc.gov) on Friday under a new campaign called "Operation Last Resort" in memory of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz and also threatening to release a massive WikiLeaks-style exposure of sensitive U.S. government secrets.









1/25/13

IKEA Apologizes To Thai Transgender Alliance For "Forgot To Deceive" Advert

The IKEA letter Apologizing to the Thai Transgender Alliance and the world's trans community for the offensive advertisement:


The universal condemnation from the world's trans community easily transcended language barriers. The momentum we created quickly propelled our concerns into mainstream media bringing this issue front and center to this massive corporation's attention.

I appreciate the apology from IKEA and I hope other corporations will also understand trans people will not abide being mocked.

The offending advertisement "Forgot to Deceive":