8/24/13

Beating death of Harlem transgender woman Islan Nettles being investigated as a hate crime

Saturday just after midnight, Islan Nettles, a 21-year-old fashion design student was walking down 8th Avenue near West 147th Street right in front of a police precinct, when a group of men started saying some very mean things.

"They were called f****, they were called he-she's, she males, things of that nature," her mother Delores Nettles said.

Police say one of the men was 20-year-old Paris Wilson, who they say punched Nettles, knocked her down, and wouldn't stop.

She was taken to Harlem Hospital with severe head trauma where she slipped into a coma and was pronounced brain dead Tuesday. ~ ABC Local

A spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office, Ellen Borakove, said on Friday that the death had been ruled a homicide and the cause was “blunt force trauma.”




ABC Local reports

Ms. Nettles, who, according to her LinkedIn page, was an intern assistant designer at Ay’Medici, a Harlem fashion company, was walking with a group of transgender friends on Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 147th and 148th Streets when they encountered several men across the street from the station house of Police Service Area 6, which patrols public housing developments in the area.

When the men concluded Ms. Nettles and her friends were transgender, a scuffle broke out, the police said, with punches thrown and homophobic slurs shouted.

A 20-year-old Harlem man, Paris Wilson, was arrested late Saturday and, according to a criminal complaint, was charged in the case by the Manhattan district attorney’s office with misdemeanor assault and harassment. At the time of the arrest, police officers did not realize that the confrontation might have involved bias. At some point later, prosecutors said, a witness went into the Area 6 station house and told the police that homophobic language had been used.

The Police Department’s hate crimes task force is now investigating the case.

Prosecutors also said that more, and graver, charges could be filed against Mr. Wilson, who on Friday remained free on bail.




8/23/13

MLK's "I've Got A Dream" now includes LGBT people because "We Have a Dream"


Martin Luther King said during his famous speech that "We can not walk alone" reminding his followers that there were white brothers and sisters among their ranks that day.

An epiphany of historical significance that the LGBT community has built our success on. But  MLK did not mean to include the LGBT community in "we". So for the record from day one we were "We" and continue to be "We".

The organizing genius behind the March on Washington was civil-rights veteran Baynard Rustin. What is less-known now, or then, is that he was gay. That might have not been known at all had Rustin not been arrested on what were then called morals charges (he was arrested in 1953 along with two other men in a parked car in Pasadena, Calif.)

King had kept Rustin at a distance under pressure from other black leaders. The late Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. of Harlem had forced Rustin off of the board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Roy Wilkins, head of the NAACP, didn't want Rustin running the 1963 march.
But Rustin's mentor, A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, insisted. It was Randolph's idea to have a March on Washington in 1941 to protest segregation—and it was called off only when President Roosevelt desegregated the defense industry. So when the idea surfaced of a March on Washington in 1963, to demand justice on the 100th anniversary of the end of slavery, Randolph's word counted above all others. And it was Rustin who did much of the speaking that August day.
Sen. Strom Thurmond denounced Rustin as a communist and homosexual in a floor statement, but the press didn't pick it up. Rustin died in 1987 and President Obama will present him, posthumously, with the Medal of Freedom.

I didn't know that the greatest speech ever made was being held hostage for profit. Mother Jones has brought it to my attention that commercial enterprises must pay a hefty fee to publish MLK's I've Got A Dream Speech.

I'm a poor blogger who never had an advert on my blog for just that reason. It allows me the freedom of speech.


So here for your viewing pleasure one of the most important moments in American history, but first a little about one of the most important figures in LGBT people struggle for our shared dream.



 I've Got A Dream.




8/22/13

Watch Chelsea Manning's Lawyer Announce her transition

The Army private's statement, provided to TODAY exclusively, signed "Chelsea E. Manning."
TODAY
The Army private's statement, provided to TODAY exclusively, signed "Chelsea E. Manning."

Subject: The Next Stage of My Life

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back.

Thank you,

Chelsea E. Manning
Source Free Manning


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It's ok to discriminate (while making informed decisions) It's Not ok to discriminate to validate biased bigotry

From the I couldn't make this up file. The right wing hate publication "One News.com" " an column  authored by  Mr. Nate Kellum, chief counsel for the Center for Religious Expression (Memphis, TN), a legal entity dedicated entirely to the protection of religious speech.

Nate KellumCalifornia’s new “transgender” law mandates school districts allow students to participate in school activities and use facilities based on their “gender identity” – and that opens a Pandora’s Box of problems.


The word “discriminate” carries with it a regrettable connotation. Mere mention evokes thoughts of Jews in concentration camps, elections without female participation, and water fountains marked “whites only.” But to discriminate, according to Merriam-Webster, is to simply note a distinction.
Detecting differences is not always bad; in fact, quite often, it only makes sense to discriminate.


Mr. Kellum  didn't bother to include the full definition of discrimination just the one that fit his needs in validating his argument. I think California has been a little less discriminatory in its understanding of word discrimination while passing AB 1266. . From the same source that Mr. Kellum used to make his incredibly inane argument, the merriam-webster.com dictionary :

dis·crim·i·nate

 verb \dis-ˈkri-mə-ˌnāt\
dis·crim·i·nat·eddis·crim·i·nat·ing

Definition of DISCRIMINATE

transitive verb
1
a : to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of
b : distinguishdifferentiate <discriminate hundreds of colors>
2
: to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences; especially: to distinguish from another like object
intransitive verb
1
a : to make a distinction <discriminate among historical sources>
b : to use good judgment
2
: to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit <discriminate in favor of your friends><discriminate against a certain nationality>
Using his subjective quotation of dictonary Mr. Kellum said that: "Ignoring the significance of this discernment, (presumably of the word discrimination) the State of California recently passed a transgender student law that blurs recognizable distinctions between males and females in their public school system. 

No Mr. Kellum it is not OK to use a skewed quote from the Merriam Webster dictionary to validate your hatred of transgender people. My suggestion Mr Kellum? You should  read your bible.




8/21/13

Fontana Police found Murdered Transgender Woman's car, looking for a person of interest

Fontana police Wednesday afternoon found a Mercedes belonging to a transgender woman and former YouTube reality star who was apparently slain in her apartment.

Domonique Newburn, 31, was found dead inside her apartment Tuesday afternoon after residents called police reporting a disturbance, the Fontana Police Department said.

Witnesses said that a man seen leaving the apartment took off in the victim's black 2004 Mercedes.

But the vehicle appeared to have been parked "for some time" at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino, where it was located by detectives, Sgt. Doug Imhof said in a statement.

He said there were no details on how the vehicle ended up at the park.

Police said the man seen leaving the apartment was described as 5-foot-8 with an average build and wearing blue jeans. He was believed to be in late 20s or early 30s.

Read more at LA Now


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Miss Universe 2013 contestants will be sentenced to jail if she's transgender


Imagine a Miss Universe pageant with two exit doors.  Each contestant must take one regardless if she is the winner, runner up or an also ran as instructed by her handler. One leads to bright lights, a Dachau and fame. The other leads to a waiting paddy wagon, beat downs and a gulag. Sounds ludicrous, well its not.

NBC co owner of the Miss Universe pageant is intent on holding this event in Moscow. NBC has have issued a statement that they are "concerned"  about the treatment of LGBT people in Russia but have made it clear, they will not move the pageant.

The same city where just a week ago a Olympic contestants who had painted their finger nails colorfully were made to remove the polish because it looked like the colors of LGBT flag.

The same city where LGBT pride has been outlawed for a hundred years.

The same country where anyone who dares to speak in opposition of the ruling party, the state church or speak up for LGBT people are beaten and unmercifully persecuted and imprisoned.

Its the same country that promises competitors and visitors at the winter Olympics in 2014 that they will pay the same price its citizens suffer if the speak about LGBT people.

So what if one of the contestants is transgender? Obviously there wouldn't be a transgender contestant or anyone to speak of equality if the next Miss Universe pageant is held in Russia. It will be the most oppressive manipulated anti LGBT propaganda show of all time. The silence would be deafening.

The same country that NBC is broadcasting the Sochi winter olympics in 2014 despite the worlds condemnation.

Is this the world be accept?

Source: Medi Matters.org

On June 18, the organizers of the annual Miss Universe pageant announced that the 2013 competition will be held this November in Moscow, Russia.
The announcement came just one week after the Russian legislature unanimously adopted an extreme new law banning “gay propaganda.” Under the new rules, anyone who is caught showing support for the gay community or LGBT equality can face fines or jail time for promoting "gay propaganda" to minors. Similar laws have already been used to justify violence against LGBT people throughout parts of the country, and human rights groups have stated that the measure is in clear violation of international law.
NBC Universal, which co-owns Miss Universe, is already facing scrutiny over whether it will report on the impact of Russia’s draconian new anti-gay measures during its exclusive coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The network’s handling of Miss Universe is an important first test.
Even some of NBC’s own celebrities are jumping ship because of the risky decision to hold the pageant in Moscow. Andy Cohen, an NBC employee and openly gay Bravo star who hosted the contest for the past two years, recently backed out of hosting the 2013 event, citing concerns for his own safety and that of participants and spectators.
Just last year, the Miss Universe pageant changed its rules to allow transgender contestants to compete. The decision to host the pageant in Moscow this year is a giant step backward.
By relocating this year’s “Miss Universe,” NBC can send a message to Russia that its bigotry will not be tolerated or legitimized by the international community. With the 2014 Olympics on the horizon, I can’t think of a more important time for NBC to demonstrate its commitment to the safety and dignity of its participants and guests.
Sign the Equality Matters letter and ask NBC to set a precedent with Russia.
Best,
Cynthia Padera
Campaigns Manager
Media Matters for America