I can accept that Seamus is “male” but I am not so sure I accept that he is a man. His gender identity is incongruent with man-ness, but fully congruent with male-ness. I am not sure if a men’s locker room is a place where men (sex) change and shower. I think it may be. I don’t think it is the place where males are, if that makes sense.
The more frightening part of bills like this however, is considering the door it could open. We know that underneath the anti-same-sex marriage facade is just blatant rejection of gay people- of being gay as an acceptable sexual orientation. If wedding providers can be considered for exclusions and allowed to discriminate, what is to stop restaurant owners, employers, health care providers…
So if Baltimore County does strip public restrooms and locker rooms as they are considering, they are essentially saying that discrimination is acceptable because Fear trumps facts. They may do this to try and compromise, but this is no compromise. It is a loss for equality; a loss for LGBTQ rights; and a win, only for the antigay haters.
Personally, I think this says less about “gay headline policy priorities” and more about the fact that black LGBTQ’s have not been a visible part of the LGBTQ movement all along, from a political perspective.Therefore, what is seen as “major progress” by some is still seen as very little progress by others. I also disagree with the sentence:
The PA House Democratic Policy Committee hearing on HB 300 will be airing on Pennsylvania Cable Network. PCN is available online at http://www.pcntv.com/pcnplus/. It will also stream on the House Democrats website at www.pahouse.com. The hearing begins at 2pm.
I received a blast email from Rep Evankovich about his upcoming public forum. Questions received from constituents will be addressed b y a panel of other elected officials from both sides of the aisle. This is a perfect opportunity to pose some questions about HB 300, the state-wide non-discrimination protections, as well as other issues of importance to Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ community. At the bottom is a link to his website where a form exists to[Read More…]
Every time a journalist uses this type of language it discredits any attempt to portray the bill as being truly about non-discrimination. “Bathroom Bill” kills real dialogue and understanding every time. Even if the journalist feels it is important to share both the truth as well as the opposition’s position, it can be done without this language.
If activists truly care about full equality, then we must take responsibility for keeping the focus on full equality. Consider Canada, which has had Marriage Equality for 10 years, but a Trans person can still be fired or refused housing. We, as activists, especially highly vocal ones, do the whole of our community a disservice by being too overly focused on only one aspect of full equality.
June 21, 2011, Bethlehem, PA — Following a three hour public meeting, the City Council of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania voted unanimously to send the proposed non discrimination ordinance back to Mayor John Callahan for his signature. The ordinance was introduced by Mayor Callahan in September 2010 and previously passed unanimously through the Human Resources and Environment Committee and the First Reading of City Council. Mayor Callahan is expected to sign the bill into law. Adrian Shanker[Read More…]
I saw this reported on Pam’s House Blend, although the quote and link below are to original sources. OTTAWA — The House of Commons passed a bill Wednesday that will amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to protect transgender and transsexual Canadians from discrimination. “It’s a great day,” said the bill’s author, NDP MP Bill Siksay. “It’s been in the works for six years, and it’s great to see people from all[Read More…]