Midterm elections are taking place today (6 November) in the US and many are thrilled with the several LGBTI candidates running for office.
However, not everyone is happy with this ‘rainbow wave’ that could change the political scenario.
Some of these crucial candidates’ opponents and their supporters have whipped up prejudice against them with anti-LGBTI flyers.
A Republican on his gay opponent ‘and the man he calls his “husband”‘
The mailer targeting Smith Jr. (right) and his husband (center).
As the Pittsburgh Current reported in early November, Republican Daryl Metcalfe currently serving Butler County, Pennsylvania, highlighted in a series of flyers that his Democratic opponent, Daniel Smith Jr. is gay.
Smith Jr. is indeed an out gay man. Looking at the mailers sent to voters seems that Smith Jr.’s sexual orientation is the only argument Metcalfe’s supporters have.
‘Smith Jr. endorsed by liberal gay activist groups and unions,’ the flyer reads in bold.
Moreover, Metcalfe belittled Smith Jr.’s marriage.
A picture of Smith Jr. with his husband and Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf at Pittsburgh PrideFest is on another mailer, as reported by The Daily Beast.
The caption reads: ‘Smith Jr. and the man he calls his “husband.”‘
Metcalfe, endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), has a track record of opposing LGBTI equality.
He was against Philadelphia’s program to market the city to LGBTI tourists.
Furthermore, after the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, openly gay state representative Brian Sims tried to make a speech in the Pennsylvania House supporting the decision. Metcalfe was one of several representatives who blocked Sims from speaking. He labeled Sims’s speech as ‘open rebellion against what the word of God has said’.
Several other episodes of LGBTI discrimination
This is only the latest incident targeting an LGBTI candidate.
The Conservative Republicans of Harris County sent out some mailers in Houston. They asked voters to ‘remember when the Democrats wanted to allow men to enter into women’s public bathrooms’.
The line is a reference to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), an LGBTI nondiscrimination measure that has been repealed.
The mailer also features a picture of a drag queen next to a crying baby captioned ‘Help me!’ It warned that ‘Democrats Support A Drag Queen Story Hour (For Kids)’.
Houston Public Library hosts a monthly Drag Queen Storytime event. According to the organizers, ‘these vibrant Queens will help to instill a sense of love and acceptance in our children while encouraging them to be true to themselves’.
Trans candidates are constantly misgendered
Rodney Garcia’s mailer targeting his trans opponent Amelia Marquez.
Trans candidates have to deal with the frustration of being misgendered by their opponents.
Amelia Marquez might become the first transgender person elected into Montana’s House of Representatives.
In an interview with the Missoulian Independent, her opponent Rodney Garcia repeatedly referred to Marquez by her birth name.
When the reporters reminded him of her legal name, he said he deadnamed her out of ‘respect and courtesy’.
He then added: ‘I just got a door hanger on my door and it says [Amelia] too, but I go by her given name.’
A pro-Garcia mailer also accused Marquez of supporting the statement ‘Men should be allowed to use the women’s restrooms.’
‘Get ready to win’
Trans Democratic representative for Virginia Danica Roem reminded trans candidates in the midterm elections of her journey.
‘2017: The Republican Party of Virginia paid for two transphobic mailers against me. I then won by 8%,’ she wrote.
‘2018: RPV launched another transphobic web attack against me. And then we expanded Medicaid,’ she continued.
She then said: ‘To candidate putting up with this garbage: get ready to win.’
Jared Polis, Kyrsten Sinema, Nelson Araujo and Tammy Baldwin are LGBT candidates on Election Day 2018. (Blade photos by Michael Key)
As voters head to the polls on Nov. 6 for the 2018 mid-term elections, they will decide a number of races (and one ballot question) that will directly impact the LGBT community.
Here is the Blade’s rundown of races to watch and the possible outcomes:
Transgender advocates at a White House protest in October. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Massachusetts new battleground for transgender rights
The only LGBT-related ballot question in 2018 is Question 3 in Massachusetts, where voters will decide whether to uphold a law barring anti-transgender discrimination in public accommodations.
Signed into law by Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in 2016, the Massachusetts law has been targeted by anti-trans groups, who put the measure up for referendum. Anti-trans groups stoked fears the law will enable sexual assault by allowing men to enter women’s restrooms. (That is false. In fact, a study from the Williams Institute, at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found non-discrimination protections have increased safety in public restrooms.)
Signs are good Massachusetts voters will uphold the law. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll published on Monday found 68 percent of voters favor keeping the law in place compared to the 28 who want it repealed.
The outcome of the vote either way would have a significant impact on transgender rights. If voters affirm the non-discrimination law, it would signal growing support for transgender rights and discourage anti-trans political attacks elsewhere. But if voters reject the transgender protections, it could set a precedent for anti-trans attacks to come.
From left, Sharice Davids, Angie Craig, Gina Ortiz Jones and Chris Pappas (Photos courtesy of the campaigns)
Candidates could boost LGBT representation in U.S. House
A bevy of lesbian, gay and bisexual candidates are seeking election to the U.S. House and could significantly shake up LGBT representation in Congress if they’re victorious.
The LGBTQ Victory Fund has endorsed 12 congressional candidates who will be on the ballot next week. Four of them are openly gay incumbents: Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I..), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.). (With Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) departing Congress to run for governor, Cicilline will become the most senior openly gay member of the House next year.)
Each of these congressional candidates could achieve milestones in their own right. In Kansas, attorney and former mixed martial arts fighter Sharice Davids is challenging Rep. Kevin Yoder (R). If elected, Davids would be first female Native American in Congress and first out lesbian to represent Kansas. Polls have consistently given Davids a lead in the race by single digits.
Other candidates would be the first openly gay people to represent their states in Congress: Lauren Baer in Florida, Angie Craig in Minnesota, Rick Neal in Ohio, Gina Ortiz Jones in Texas and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Katie Hill in California and Tracy Mitrano in New York could be the only out bisexuals in the House.
The election of each of these candidates would double the size of the LGBT Equality Caucus in the House, making it comparable to the size of other minority caucuses.
From left, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Christine Hallquist, Lupe Valdez and Gov. Kate Brown (D-Ore.) (Blade photos of Polis and Brown by Michael Key; photos of Hallquist and Valdez courtesy of campaigns)
Gubernatorial candidates could make history
Other LGBT candidates could make history by being the first openly gay and transgender persons elected as governor.
Democrats have nominated to run for governor in 2018 one candidate each of every segment of the LGBT community: Lupe Valdez, a lesbian, in Texas; Jared Polis, a gay man, in Colorado; Kate Brown, the incumbent bisexual governor in Oregon; and Christine Hallquist, a transgender woman, in Vermont.
Polis, a five-term member of Congress, seems most poised to achieve a milestone. Polls in recent weeks have Polis between seven and 12 points ahead of his Republican opponent, Colorado State TreasurerWalker Stapleton. If Polis wins, he’d be the first openly gay person elected governor in the United States.
As the incumbent governor in Oregon, Brown also is favored to win election. However, the race is actually tighter than Polis’ in Colorado. In several polls over the past few weeks, Brown has polled between one and five points ahead of her Republican challenger, State Rep. Knute Buehler. Real Clear Politics designates the race as a “toss up.”
Unlikely to win are the other two candidates. Valdez has consistently lagged behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in polls by double digits, in some cases by more than 20 points. Despite the historic nature of Hallquist’s candidacy as a transgender nominee for governor, Hallquist is also behind incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled the Equality Act will be a “top priority” if she becomes speaker. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Democrats poised to take control of U.S. House
The election outcome that will have the biggest impact on the nation as a whole, not just LGBT people, is the possibility of Democrats taking control of the U.S. House, ending the monopoly of Republican control in both Congress and the White House.
Observers say the Democratic takeover of the House is a likely outcome. Politics guru Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eights pegs the chances of that happening at 86.4 percent. (The prospects of Democratic takeover of the Senate, however, are basically inverted at 17.6 percent).
With Nancy Pelosi running the show as House speaker (again), political observers expect strict oversight of the Trump administration and committee chairs to issue subpoenas requiring federal officials to testify. That oversight could include scrutiny of anti-LGBT policy from the Trump administration.
But Pelosi has identified also as a personal priority the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit.
Democratic control of one chamber of Congress is likely not enough for the Equality Act to become law, but movement in the House could set the bill up for passage in subsequent years with a more favorable Senate and White House.
From left, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) (Photos by Gage Skidmore via Flickr)
Kyrsten Sinema in tight race for U.S. Senate in Arizona
Kyrsten Sinema achieved a historic first this year when she became the first open bisexual to win a major party nomination to run for U.S. Senate, but despite expected Democratic gains, a win for her on election night in Arizona is in question.
Amid political attacks for her past anti-war protests and public comments disparaging Arizona as “crazy,” Sinema’s former lead in the race against Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), the first female commander in the U.S. Air Force, has dissipated. McSally has taken the lead in several polls by a slim margin.
But the race is still tight and could go either way. McSally has admitted she’s getting her “ass kicked” over her vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, according to USA Today. In Arizona, 1 in 2 people are insured thanks to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.
Another U.S. Senate race with an LGBT candidate once thought to be competitive was Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) bid for re-election. But polls show Baldwin, the only out lesbian in Congress, well ahead of her Republican challenger, State Rep. Leah Vukmir, by as much as double digits.
From left, California state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Long Beach) and Nevada Assembly member Nelson Araujo (D-Las Vegas). (Photo of Lara public domain; Blade photo of Araujo by Michael Key)
LGBT candidates of color seek statewide office
Other LGBT candidates are poised to make history because their wins would make them the first openly gay people of color to win statewide office in the United States.
Those candidates are California State Sen. Ricardo Lara, who’s running to become California Insurance Commissioner, and Nevada State Assembly member Nelson Araujo, who’s running to become Nevada secretary of state. (Also among them is Texas gubernatorial candidate Valdez, although her victory seems unlikely.)
Both candidates are first-generation Americans. Lara was born of parents who entered the United States illegally from Mexico and Araujo’s parents were refugees of the Salvadoran Civil War. A win for either candidate would be a first not only for the LGBT community, but also the immigrant community in the United States.
Polling is scant in these less than high-profile races. Araujo is facing the daunting prospects of challenging an incumbent, Republican Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, but may do well if bolstered by a “blue” wave on Election Day. Lara is running for an open seat against Steve Poizner, an independent candidate who previously served as insurance commissioner.
The House and Senate are red. The Trump Administration is directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community on a weekly basis. Your. Vote. Matters.
With midterms just around the corner, it is not only important to vote, but be an informed voter as well. Democrats across the nation have seen a swell of LGBTQ+ candidates running for various positions.
“I think candidates are running because they see it’s possible,” Victory Fund President Annise Parker said. “They see the need for more LGBTQ candidates to get involved in the process. But they now see clear evidence that we can win at the very highest levels of government.” Victory Fund is agroup endorses viable LGBTQ candidates.
Currently, there are only six out LGBTQ House members and one lesbian senator. There will be at least 22 LGBTQ+ candidates on the ballot for House seats, several in highly competitive districts that will determine control of the House. Among the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red To Blue” candidates – those with a good chance at flipping a GOP-controlled House seat, as reported by NPR – is Katie Hill (D), running for the U.S. House of Representatives, CA-25.
In October, President Barack Obama endorsed Hill, who is bisexual, and 21 other openly LGBTQ-identifying candidates.
“President Obama is endorsing candidates who are passionate about public service and committed to making a positive difference in people’s lives, so it is unsurprising so many of our LGBTQ candidates are on the list,” Parker said. “The experiences and struggles of LGBTQ leaders make them authentic, values-driven candidates who understand the pain and difficulties so many are facing right now. We are part of every community and every constituency – women, people of color, immigrants and religious minorities – and that diversity strengthens and refines our perspectives. LGBTQ people are running for office in historic numbers not just because our community needs us, but because America needs us.”
According to Victory Fund data, a total of 430 openly LGBTQ+ candidates have run for office at every level of government this year. The Midterm Elections are on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
More than 1,600 scientists released an open letter Thursday opposing the Trump administration’s memo erasing legal protections for trans people.
The letter, signed by over 700 biologists, 100 geneticists, and nine Nobel laureates, pushed back on the administration’s claim that defining sex according to observed genitals at birth or a genetic test is grounded in science. “This proposal is fundamentally inconsistent not only with science, but also with ethical practices, human rights, and basic dignity,” read the letter. “The proposal is in no way ‘grounded in science’ as the administration claims. The relationship between sex chromosomes, genitalia, and gender identity is complex, and not fully understood.”
For the scientists behind the letter, it was important to step forward and oppose a policy that they felt was misinterpreting the scientific understanding of sex and gender. “It appears the Trump administration is trying to eliminate the entire concept of gender as a thing separate from sex, in the sense that they believe that they can stop allowing transgender people to self-identify as transgender by requiring everybody to be defined as a binary sex from birth,” said Rachael French, a biology professor at San Jose State University.
“They’ve suggested at least two things: what your genitalia look like when you’re born or whether you have a Y chromosome,” she said in an interview with Rewire.News. “You can’t even test for what sex a person is, let alone be able to define what gender a person is based on their chromosomes. The entire idea from a biological standpoint is ridiculous.”
French said trans people won’t be the only ones negatively affected by the sex definition proposed by the administration. She worried that intersex people could be forced into painful and unnecessary surgeries as children in order to make their genitals conform to the legal definitions of sex being pushed by the Trump administration. Even cisgender people with natural genetic variations could be legally forced into another sex thanks to an invasive government genetics test.
The open letter wasn’t the only response to the anti-trans memo from the scientific community since it was first reported by the New York Times. Science journal Naturepushed back on the administration’s scientific justification for discrimination in an editorial, saying the memo “has no basis in science” and calling for the move to be “abandoned.” A piece in Scientific American called the proposed policy “scientifically absurd.” And Trump’s Centers for Disease Control director, Robert Redfield, said the stigma against the trans community stemming from the policy is “not in the interest of public health.”
For trans women like Tessa Fisher, a third year PhD student at Arizona State University studying astrobiology, coverage of Trump’s anti-trans memo made her feel “scared but also furious.”
The response from her scientific peers has been heartening. “It’s been really amazing,” she told Rewire.News. “Partially because these people are my peers for the most part, and it’s a really nice thing, [it’s] sort of affirming that a lot of the people out there that I work with and I read their papers and I’m sort of doing the same things they are respect who I am. Which is really, really encouraging. It’s a great show [of] genuine allyship.”
With everyone in her life perceiving her as female, Fisher pointed to the sheer impracticality of the plan to erase trans people from existence. “From like a day-to-day point of view [it] makes absolutely no goddamn sense whatsoever. It would literally be pointless for me to call myself male, even if I wanted to, because no one would see me as that.”
Fisher is particularly frustrated about the way those who oppose trans rights have tried to co-opt science for their own means. “There’s the presumption that they know more about the scientific research than I do, even though I’m the one working on a PhD in that,” she said. “In a lot of cases, it’s at the same time kind of shocking how shallow their understanding of science is. The best example I’ve ever had of that is that some Twitter troll who had been picking a fight with me earlier actually tweeted at my advisor and the profile for my program to complain that they had not taught me taxonomy correctly. Which was creepy and also kind of pathetic.”
The public seems to hold overly simplistic ideas about the science of sex and gender, according to scientists. “There is zero scientific evidence for anybody to feel that people, children or anybody else, should have to choose one particular gender,” Mollie Manier, a biology professor at George Washington University, told Rewire.News. Manier’s research focuses on the evolutionary genetics of reproduction.
“If you look across multiple cultures, and apparently even within the history of the U.S., there’s a lot of gender fluidity .… When people are allowed to be more gender-fluid culturally, they often are, and that’s reflecting more of a biological reality that gender is not a binary always,” she said.
Manier, who helped draft the letter, reiterated that there is no genetic test that could conclusively determine a person’s sex or gender. “Even if there were, it is totally inappropriate to use that in order to override an individual’s lived experience of what they think in their heart of hearts they are.”
The Spahr Center is moving to 150 Nellen Avenue in Corte Madera.
We’ll still be in our current office until the end of November. But we’re moving to our new home on November 30th.
We’ll be open for business at noon on December 3rd in Corte Madera at 150 Nellen Avenue.
Transportation information: First; we’re excited that there’s plenty of parking available! The best place to park is next to Big 5. And there are bus stops at the 101-S Lucky Drive exit and across the highway on 101-N next to the pedestrian bridge. Just walk across the across the bridge and jog to your left to get to us.
Our office will be closed for the move On Thursday November 29th and Friday November 30th. We will re-open at our new location, 150 Nellen Ave in Corte Madera at noon on Monday, December 3rd. We would like the transition to be as smooth as possible for everyone, so please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Gender Awareness and Education
In collaboration, The Marin County Office of Education, The Spahr Center and Domincan University invite you to two special events on November 14th.
Free Documentary Screening – Becoming More Visible
Are you Male or Female? For the four fearless young transgender adults featured in the film this is not a simple question.
These four defy societal norms to be their true selves and become more visible.
No transition is easy, but for some it is easier than for others.
Becoming More Visible shines a humanizing light on their different stories, both their struggles and their triumphs, and showcases the importance of having a steady support system.
The screening will be immediately followed by a panel of special guests, including one of the youth featured in the film, to answer audience questions and open a dialogue to help ignite the awareness and understanding needed to put an end to the discrimination of transgender young adults worldwide – to encourage society to see these young people for who they are today.
Horizons’ Q Series are free public events featuring leaders of the LGBTQ movement in dialogue about our movement, our culture, and what it means to be LGBTQ.
The Q Series offers excellent opportunities to learn about the work being done by Horizons’ grantee partners and to meet and connect with others.
These popular programs include high-level, strategic discussions about movement strategy, emerging issues affecting the LGBTQ community, how to give more effectively and strategically, and feature outstanding professionals and community leaders.
We wrap up the year with our comprehensive analysis of the state of the LGBTQ movement as seen by some of its most outstanding leaders. Join high profile national and international leaders as they highlight the advancements and challenges of 2018 and look ahead.
Not In Our Town – Novato
Presents a screening of the film Light in the Darkness
Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness tells the story of residents of a Long Island village taking action after a series of anti-immigrant attacks by local teenagers ended with the hate crime against a local immigrant Marcelo Lucero. While starkly revealing the trauma of hate, the film provides a blueprint for people who want to do something before intolerance turns to violence.
This event is free and open to the public
Date: November 8, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Unity in Marin 600 Palm Drive, Novato, CA 94949
Hosted by: NIOT Novato, Novato Charter School Many Hearts Committee
In cooperation with: The Novato Unified School District, Novato Police Department, City of Novato and Unity in Marin.
HIV Client Advisory Committee Email Update
All clients, please note: if you want to communicate with the committee, please use the following email address. It is managed exclusively by a committee member.[email protected]
Resources for Family Caregivers
Are you caring for a loved one? You give lots of support, but you deserve support too. Click here to find a variety of helpful information, in-person and online groups for people providing caregiving to a family member. Family Caregiver Alliance has partnered with Smart Patients to create a new Caregivers Community. You can join for free to learn, share and interact with other caregivers in a safe, supportive environment. Be well!
World AIDS Day
We invite everyone to join us on Thursday, November 29th in recognition of World AIDS Day. The Spahr Center and the Marin HIV Care Council are jointly hosting a gathering from 7:00 – 8:00 pm at The Falkirk Cultural Center, 140 Mission Ave, San Rafael. There will be a client open forum preceding the World AIDS Day gathering from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. All clients are invited to attend and share their views. The forum is hosted by the Care Council.
TRANS-Action Marin
On October 26th, an intergenerational group of forty LGBTQ, gender expansive and transgender youth, adults, seniors and allies gathered at The Spahr Center to defend and declare their basic rights. They were responding to the Trump administration’s announcement that they will roll back the definition of gender to just ‘male’ or ‘female’. At the gathering we announced the launch of our new advocacy initiative, TRANS-Action Marin. Please join us to help plan our action next steps; we want to speak up and speak out. TRANS-Action Marin will gain momentum by partnering with supporters and organizations across the county. Click the link below to visit our new Trans-Action Marin website and sign up to get involved!
Trans advocates are outraged prominent trans health professionals have suggested creating an international global registry of trans children.
A recently published article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine called for the registry to ‘further study of this basic demographic and its associated factors’.
One of the authors is Dr Polly Carmichael, the director of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). The GIDS is currently undergoing a self-imposed review after a senior staff member accused it of ‘fast-tracking’ children to gender transition.
Called ‘Evidence for a Change in the Sex Ratio of Children Referred for Gender Dysphoria: Data From the Gender Identity Development Service in London (2000–2017)’, it researched the difference in the number of trans boys and girls and at what age they were most likely to start accessing treatment for gender dysphoria.
As far as the research goes, trans advocates don’t consider it a ‘priority’. But one sentence in the article’s conclusion has them worried.
‘It’s not really interesting in terms of priorities, it’s not an area of research that should be a priority for children referred to the gender identity service,’ Twitter user @Dad-Trans told Gay Star News.
Dad-Trans has a trans child and is a vocal advocate for trans children. He remains anonymous to protect his child’s and family’s identities.
‘On the scale of things this paper is really something that is very minor in interest as parent of a trans child,’ he said.
‘They’re (researchers) are seeing a difference in numbers and they think it’s interesting. I’m not so concerned about the numbers.
‘It seems less interesting than thinking why these children need help and what we can do to help them.’
Dad-Trans describes the call for a trans registry as ‘chilling’.
‘We’re living in a time when Donald Trump recently released a memo where he’s basically talking about legislating about assigned sex and then basing laws upon that, so it’s concerning,’ he said.
‘Once your name is on that registry it can be used for any number of reasons.
‘I don’t trust these people with my child’s data, with my data and i’m really concerned about how it might be misused politically and as we’re seeing now, the intention is there and we’re already seeing policy and legislative decisions by people in power who wish ill of trans children.’
The trans advocate expressed concern about private data being shared across international borders and with private medical practitioners.
One of the practitioners he was most concerned about was Canadian doctor, Kenneth Zucker. The Canadian doctor also contributed to the controversial article.
Zucker is a controversial figure in trans children’s health globally.
Until 2015, he headed Child And Adolescent Gender Identity Clinic at Toronto’s Centre For Addiction And Mental Health (CAHM). The centre stood him down from the role after Canada banned reparative therapy for gender identity or sexual orientation.
Zucker’s methods came under review because he argued that gender dysphoria is not fully formed in very young children. He also encourages parents to stop their children engaging any ‘cross-gendered behavior’.
‘Allowing a little boy to cross-dress just perpetuates [his] confusion,’ Zucker told Daily Xtra.
Even though Zucker successfully sued CAHM he is still widely criticized among LGBTI advocates.
Dad-Trans said it was very worrying that Zucker called for an registry of trans children.
‘It’s deeply worrying, an international database of gender dysphoric kids is just rife for abuse and every time we see something like this, [it reminds me] every time fascists begin and that’s with creating a list of people,’ he said.
‘They’re not seeing these children as humans, they’re seeing them as numbers.
‘I don’t feel that they’re putting the health of and the well being of those young people front and centre which is what they should be doing.’
Zucker told Gay Star News that criticism of the proposed registry is ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’.
‘If one did establish some kind of registry or a cross-clinic database you would go through institutional review board procedures [to approve it],’ he said.
‘You would have the permission of parents, of minors to use information anonymously. So, individuals would be de-identified.’
Zucker said while the details haven’t been ironed out, the database would include anonymous data such as: the age of the child’s referral to the gender center, ‘sex assignment at birth’, did they meet the full criteria for gender dysphoria or were they sub-threshold for it’.
The doctor admitted there wasn’t a strong need for the register but cross-referencing the data would be ‘interesting’.
‘The suggestion isn’t to identify individuals,’ he said.
‘It’s to understand a phenomenon, so, even if you do research in a single centre, and you have your institutional review board, databases are always anonymous with regards to individuals. I could send you a raw data file of, let’s say, 500 participants in a research you would have no idea who they are. It’s an absurd criticism.’
But Zucker’s arguments have not eased Dad-Trans’ concerns.
‘If they’re using data up to 2017, even if that’s been anonymised, at a minimum they’ve got the gender, the sex assigned at birth, their age and the time they went to the service,’ he said.
‘So when your dealing with a very small number of children at the age of 12, you can create a jigsaw of data that’s very simple to find out the identity of those children.
‘I think it’s utterly disgraceful that they’re involved in sending data across international borders.’
Carmichael and Zucker
Along with concerns about the international registry, trans advocates have questioned the appropriateness of Carmichael teaming up with Zucker to publish a medical journal article.
‘I am concerned that by publishing with Zucker the Head of GIDS, is effectively endorsing his (Zucker’s) widely discredited approach, and that this signals a broadening division between GIDS and the rest of the world including Canada, America, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, who, unlike Polly, and the England service, follow both the latest World Professional Association of Transgender Health approach to affirmative care, and the clinical guidance from the Endocrine society,’ Dad-Trans said.
‘I am also very concerned about the data protection considerations of sharing referral data of NHS patients, including my daughter, with a dismissed psychologist in private practice across international boundaries.
‘I call on NHS England, the Health Ombudsman, the Care Quality Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate as a matter of urgency.’
Gay Star News sent Carmichael and the GIDS multiple requests for comment but did not receive a reply.
Barbra Streisand has dropped an LGBT anthem, in a not-so-guarded F.U. to President Trump.
The legendary gay icon released her thirty-sixth studio album, Walls, on November 2.
The title of the record is a direct reference to the Trump administration’s border wall policy, and many of the tracks bear an overtly-political nature.
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Speaking to Canadian outlet Maclean’s, Streisand confirmed the meaning behind the track.
She said: “He’s trying to divide our nation and the world. That’s what’s so scary. Diversity is proven to be our strength.
“To say people are how they are because of how they were born—it’s that thinking that is wrong. I believe different shouldn’t be judged by any other kind of meter.”
She added: “Statistically, in terms of genome studies, people have 99.9 percent of the same genetics. We are alike. We all want peace and happiness and family and love and understanding.”
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The track’s lyrics include: “Love’s always right/Love always knows the way/When some are just too blind to see the light/ You know what’s true/Be true to you/Be proud, be strong/‘Cause love’s never wrong.”
Streisand is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the US and a total of 150 million albums and singles sold worldwide.
Kramer had blamed Streisand for the lengthy delay in securing a screen adaptation of his theatrical AIDS crisis drama The Normal Heart, claiming production was held up because of creative conflicts with Streisand, who held the rights to the adaption.
Streisand accused Kramer of “misrepresenting” her feelings, saying: “As a filmmaker, I have always looked for new and exciting ways to do love scenes, whether they’re about heterosexuals or homosexuals.
“It’s a matter of taste, not gender. I was trying to reach a large audience, and I wanted them to root for these two men to get married.”
A film version of The Normal Heart was released in 2014 on HBO, 29 years after the play of the same name.
We, the undersigned businesses, stand with the millions of people in America who identify as transgender, gender non-binary, or intersex, and call for all such people to be treated with the respect and dignity everyone deserves.
We oppose any administrative and legislative efforts to erase transgender protections through reinterpretation of existing laws and regulations. We also fundamentally oppose any policy or regulation that violates the privacy rights of those that identify as transgender, gender non-binary, or intersex.
In the last two decades, dozens of federal courts have affirmed the rights and identities of transgender people. Cognizant of growing medical and scientific consensus, courts have recognized that policies that force people into a binary gender definition determined by birth anatomy fail to reflect the complex realities of gender identity and human biology.
Recognizing that diversity and inclusion are good for business, and that discrimination imposes enormous productivity costs (and exerts undue burdens), hundreds of companies, including the undersigned, have continued to expand inclusion for transgender people across corporate America. Currently more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500 have clear gender identity protections; two-thirds have transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage; hundreds have LGBTQ+ and Allies business resource groups and internal training efforts.
Transgender people are our beloved family members and friends, and our valued team members. What harms transgender people harms our companies.
We call for respect and transparency in policy-making, and for equality under the law for transgender people.
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Adobe Systems Inc.
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Addy Chen, left, has been charged under Myanmar’s sodomy law. (Photo courtesy of Myo Min Latt)
YANGON, Myanmar — The LGBTI community in Myanmar has demand fair media coverage of a gay man with HIV who is charged under the controversial Penal Code 377 for allegedly committing sexual abuse against one of his employees.The accused, Aung Myo Htut, aka Addy Chen, is an outspoken LGBTI rights advocates and commonly known to be HIV-positive. Chen, who also owns a restaurant in Yangon, allegedly asked one of his waiters to give him a massage and sexually assaulted him in March.
Chen was arrested on the same day the man who accused him of sexual assault filed a case against him at a local police station. Chen was charged under Section 377 of the national penal code, which makes same-sex sexual acts illegal, regardless if they were consensual or not.
Chen faces of a sentence of between 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
The media’s portrayal of LGBTI people in Myanmar is unfavorable, adding to deeply rooted social stigma and stereotypes against sexual minorities and people living with HIV/AIDS. LGBTI rights advocates in the country say the portrayal of Chen’s case in the mainstream media is biased against the accused and is very damaging to the LGBTI population as a whole.
“We do not see any media ethics here,” says Yaya Aye Myat, a well-known transgender activist. “Many media reports Addy Chen’s case as if he was already convicted. That makes the public outrageous. In fact, a person is not guilty until proven by the court of law and until then, the person is entitled to the benefits of doubt.”
The Irrawaddy, an influential newspaper in Myanmar, first published a sensational video of Chen’s accuser’s testimony and it went viral among the country’s netizens. The video shows a one-sided story in which Chen’s accuser claims Chen coerced him into performing oral sex on him and later engaging in unprotected receptive anal sex.
Chen’s accuser emotionally said he is just a poor rural boy trying to earn a living in the city to support his siblings. He added Chen ruined his life because he may have been infected with HIV after having unprotected sex.
The restaurant manager, who helped Chen’s accuser to file the case against Chen and is also one of the key witnesses against him, also appeared in the video that has had 1.9 million views and 24,000 shares on the Irrawaddy’s Facebook page.
Other Burmese language media outlets followed up in Chen’s case after the video went viral.
Many people find the allegations against Chen outrageous and are demanding harsh punishment for him, even though a court has not found him guilty. Chen’s accuser in the video showed HIV-preventative drugs he has been taking as suggested by a doctor, but tabloid media has mistakenly described them as antiretroviral drugs, assuming he is already HIV-positive.
Chen’s family deactivated his Facebook page within a week of his arrest because of an overwhelming number of hate messages, derogatory comments and even death threats that he received.
Nay Oo Lwin, a gay rights advocate in Myanmar, says the LGBTI community is against sexual assault, regardless of whether the perpetrator is gay or straight. Lwin added he wants to see a fair trial in Chen’s case.
“We respect the rule of law but we don’t want to be repressed by the laws,” he said. “I feel that the media reports on Addy Chen’s case and discussions on social media are attacking the gay community and intensifying the stereotypes.”
Although the mainstream media reports unanimously describe Chen as guilty, the recent court testimony suggests the opposite.
During a hearing that took place on Oct. 4, the court physician said he didn’t find semen or any tears and lacerations on the anuses of both Chen and his accuser, in contrast to his earlier testimony in which he said Chen had penetrative anal sex with him for 20 minutes. There were also inconsistencies in testimonies by the plaintiff and witnesses.
Media reports also did not report the fact the restaurant manager and witnesses who testified owed a significant amount of money to Chen. They are now postponing payment of these debts due to the trial.
“Addy trusted the manager girl and loaned her lots of money,” said Chen’s relative, Myo Min Latt. “All six witnesses summoned by the plaintiff are debtors to Addy Chen. We have documents that Addy loaned them money. They also admitted to owing money to Addy during the court hearing.”
The defendant’s attorney says she believes her client never abused any of his staff except for asking his accuser to give him a massage. She said the alleged victim has exploited the fact that Chen is a gay man living with HIV to frame him as an abuser.
Despite this evidence, the trials continue.
Chen’s request for bail was denied for the third time on Oct. 30.
Chen’s family says his health is now deteriorating in prison. They say he only has limited access to medicine and medical facilities that people with HIV need.
“He has been detained in prison for eight months so far,” says Latt. “He is already very depressed by the media portrayal of him as gay rapist. He is now getting frequently ill. The trials are going on although the court physician had testified of not finding any signs of abuses on the victim. In the last hearing, the plaintiff attorney requested to add an additional witness to extend the trial. I think they are deliberately delaying the final verdict.”
Myat says the court’s decision to deny Chen’s request for bail will impact the entire LGBTI community.
“There are cases, charged under Section 375 of Penal Code for accused of minor rape and the alleged perpetrators were released on bail, given their age or health condition,” she said. “But not for this particular case. So, who will hold accountable, if the accused in this case does not survive all the trials and found to be not guilty in the end?”
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