Violent Attacks On Transgender People Raise Alarm [NPR]

"We have become the target, and someone has to be responsible for it,"
Ruby Corado says. "In my opinion, it really starts with the accountability of
those that are out there to protect us."

A series of shootings and violent attacks put Washington, D.C.'s transgender community on edge this summer. Police hesitate to call the attacks hate crimes, but they've stepped up their patrols. Still, the transgender community is demanding more action.

It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Dix Street in northeast Washington. The neighborhood is a popular gathering place for transgender women, but tensions arose when Lashai Mclean, 23, was murdered here in late July.

Days after the shooting, transgender activists Earline Budd and Ruby Corado held a vigil for Mclean. Today marks the first time they've returned to the site since then — and they are shocked by what they see.

The singed and severed legs of a teddy bear are strewn across the street, and floral bouquets are charred black. Corado and Budd find that the makeshift memorial they had left behind has been torched.

Budd sees the vandalism as an omen.

"It was a clear message to us that we're not welcome, and that what happened to Lashai could happen to any of us," she says.

Days after Mclean's murder, another transgender woman was shot, just one block away.

And on Aug. 26, an off-duty police officer stood on the hood of a car and shot through its windshield, hitting two transgender women and a male friend, wounding one critically. The officer is a 20-year veteran of the city's police force and is currently in jail, awaiting trial.

FULL ARTICLE

SLDN Releases Post-DADT Service Guide [Care2]

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) this week released a legal guide for LGBTs to help them navigate the landscape of the post-DADT repeal environment.

The guide, “Freedom to Serve: The Definitive Guide to LGBT Military Service,” is designed to offer a comprehensive overview of laws and policies relating to military service that may be of interest to LGBT servicemembers, as well as their friends and family.

“The information contained in this legal guide will help service members, prospective service members, their families, and friends make informed decisions about how to serve successfully as we move beyond ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ It will also assist them in understanding how to protect themselves when necessary and how to respond if they are targeted in any way for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said SLDN Legal Director David McKean.

FULL ARTICLE 

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And I have to ask, what is going to be done to acclimate heterosexual service members into a DATD-repealed environment to further protect LGBTQ service members?

Online Exhibition of Women Who Have Run for President [NPR]

With all the commotion about Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin potentially running for president, perhaps it's time to take a look at some female presidential candidates of the past. The National History Museum and the Shana Alexander Charitable Foundation are featuring a dozen subjects in an online exhibit titled: "First But Not The Last: Women Who Ran For President." -NPR

NPR posted a few of these women on their site. There are a noticeable number of women of color. Visibility is a beautiful thing... even if it's years later. Here are a few:

Courtesy of U.S. Government
Patsy Takemoto Mink

Patsy Takemoto Mink, 1972

"In 1972, a group of liberal Democrats in Oregon asked Mink to be their presidential candidate, and she was on the ballot in Oregon's May primary. She received 2 percent of the vote, coming in eighth out of nine candidates. Nevertheless, Mink achieved her objective of getting Americans to find a female president thinkable."

AP
Lenora Branch Fulani

Lenora Branch Fulani, 1988 and 1992

"Lenora Branch Fulani has spent almost three decades fighting to end the two-party system and create a 'viable, national, pro-socialist' party for those who feel ignored by the Democratic and Republican parties."

John Duricka/AP
Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm, 1972

"Overall, people in 14 states voted for Chisholm for president. After six months of campaigning, she had 28 delegates committed to vote for her at the Democratic Convention. The 1972 Democratic Convention was in July in Miami, and it was the first major convention in which an African American woman was considered for the presidential nomination. Although she did not win the nomination, she received 151 of the delegates' votes."

MondoHomo: Music Revue

Thelma & the Sleeze, lost bois and Heavy Flow rocked the HOUSE! What a night. If you missed tonight, it's not too late to get your lady-gay on. Sunday (5/29):

Mondo Day Camp

12-4pm, FREE, Cabbagetown Park

Let’s get those yummy balls a swingin’ in a gayday of fun in the sun. This dyketastic park day is an all-ages Queer Family event with playground sports, BBQ, aerial play, fagtastic games with the Atlanta Radical Fairies ( http://www.radfae.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_58136741057), big gay pillow fight, music and outdoor cruising! Everybody Wins at the GayDay Games! Bring your A game and pillows!

…Exciting performances from Dance Truck https://www.facebook.com/atldancetruck?sk=info

and the Atlanta Sedition Orchestra!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xn3ekg9M5g&feature=related

Also...

7pm – MSR, East Atlanta Village – $7 – Mondo Cinema – queer film shorts
10pm – MSR, East Atlanta Village – FREE! – Mondo Finale – dance party

Michelle Obama [mohandasgandhi.tumblr]

I have to wonder… if their roles were reversed and Michelle was president instead of Barack, would the same amount of attention be put on Barack’s appearance?  Those who would answer with a “yes” are perhaps kidding themselves.

For a woman who was educated at Princeton University, Harvard, and was once our president’s boss, one would think the press and media would focus on things other than appearance.  Michelle is obviously a very intelligent and gifted individual and her performance in interviews has impressed me much more than her husband’s.

I understand the way the media works, how politics work, and why Michelle chose the role that she did as First Lady, however, as a young woman who is pursuing a future in the political world of environmental law, it’s rather discouraging to see that even the most educated women will still be judged by superficial things, as if they have any impact on what’s inside or what one is able to contribute to our world.  During the 2008 presidential campaign she was labeled as an “angry Black woman” for saying uncontroversial things.  She’s continuously compared to Jackie Kennedy for nothing more than having what some deem to be a similar fashion sense.  Jackie Kennedy was no where near as accomplished as Michelle Obama and yet we still seem to group the two together.  Michelle is only the third First Lady who has obtained a Master’s Degree (after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush) and despite comparisons to Hillary being perhaps more appropriate, we don’t really see them often.

FULL POST

What's Happening with DOMA

Obama: DOMA Unconstitutional, DOJ Should Stop Defending In Court [Huffington Post]

via The Huffington Post

President Obama has determined that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, and that the Department of Justice should no longer defend the measure, which severely limits the potential of states to honor or carry out same-sex marriages, the administration announced Wednesday.

"The President believes that DOMA is unconstitutional. They are no longer going to be defending the cases in the 1st and 2nd circuits," a person briefed on the decision said, according to the National Journal.

More to come... 

Read the letter from the Department of Justice to Speaker Boehner here.

Know Your Herstory: Karine Jean-Pierre

One of the highest-ranking out lesbians in American politics, Karine Jean-Pierre is a Regional Director in the White House Office of Political Affairs, and previously served as the White House Liaison to the U.S. Department of Labor. “I am a part of multiple communities,” says this Haitian-American. “I fell into politics by accident while making a documentary on Haiti during grad school. Through that experience and counsel from mentors, including former NYC Mayor David Dinkins, I became inspired to make an impact in the world by getting involved in politics.” Jean-Pierre also served as Southeast Political Director in the Chicago Headquarters for the Obama presidential campaign and in the Political Department of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Committee. “It wasn’t until recently that I realized my impact in the gay community,” she adds. “I am currently mentoring two young queer women of color who have both said to me, individually, that they didn’t know someone like me existed: a black, Haitian lesbian working at the White House.”

GO! Magazine

Courtesy of the Associated Press: America Still Acting the Ass

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Pentagon to continue preventing openly gay people from serving in the military while a federal appeals court reviews the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The court did not comment in denying a request from the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights group, to step into the ongoing federal court review of "don't ask, don't tell." The Obama administration urged the high court not to get involved at this point.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that the policy violates the civil rights of gay Americans and she issued an injunction barring the Pentagon from applying it. But the San Francisco-based appeals court said the policy could remain in effect while it considers the administration's appeal.

"Log Cabin Republicans are disappointed that the Supreme Court decided to maintain the status quo with regards to 'don't ask, don't tell,' but we are not surprised," said R. Clarke Cooper, the group's executive director. "We are committed to pursuing every avenue in the fight against this failed and unconstitutional policy."

President Barack Obama has pledged to push lawmakers to repeal the law in the lame-duck session before a new Congress is sworn in. But administration lawyers have in the meantime defended "don't ask, don't tell" in court.

The policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, was lifted for eight days in October after U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ruled that it is unconstitutional. The Obama administration asked the appeals court to reinstate the ban until it could hear arguments on the broader constitutional issues next year.

Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the court's consideration of the issue. Kagan served as the administration's chief Supreme Court lawyer before she became a justice in August.

Associated Press writer Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

NCAA’s First Openly Transgender Player!

The NCAA’s first openly trans player is set to take the court soon. Kye Allums, a 20-year-old basketball player at George Washington University. On November 13, he’ll take the floor at the Best Buy Classic in Minneapolis for a game against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and become the first publicly transgender person to play NCAA Division 1 college basketball.

Read the full story on Color Lines!

Lt. Dan Choi and Other Growing Concerns

If you read anything today, I need you to read these two articles:

Bad Lieutenant [A feature article on Lt. Dan Choi by The Village Voice]

Dan Choi is People [Autostraddle.com's aptly named article regarding the Voice's article on Lt. Dan Choi]

Times like these I need someone to talk to over a pot of tea....

Will this become a decisive, unmistakably historical movement for the LGBTQ community? Or will we as a nation fall short? This decade, I swear...

Oh Hey, Essence!

Despite the whole hiring-a-white-fashion-director drama, pride filled my heart when I heard that Essence.com featured a lesbian wedding! Aisha Mills and Danielle Moodie are D.C. residents and one of the first same-sex couples to apply for a marraige license. They tied the knot this past summer and I do believe congrats are in order for Aisha and Danielle, and for ESSENCE!

Most black ministers, leaders, and celebrities fully embrace a “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude concerning homosexuality. As a result, black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people remain virtually invisible within the media and our community. This void perpetuates hopelessness and despair that can lead to tragedy like the recent rash of teen suicides resulting from anti-gay bullying. So when the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) teamed up with Essence.com and invited us to share our wedding story, we seized the opportunity to present at least one image of black LGBT love. We hoped that our love story and wedding photos would affirm other black lesbians and give hope to those struggling to see a future for themselves.

Mourning at Howard: Students organizing memorial for lesbian student

 By Yusef Najafi
Published on , 11:51am | http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5654

A former Howard University student died from suicide on Tuesday, Oct. 5, in her home state of California.

According to the university's college newspaper, The Hilltop, students organized a candlelight vigil for Aiyisha Hassan, 20, who attended Howard University from 2008 to 2009, on Thursday night.

Students at Thursday night's vigil
Ryan C. Hamilton

Amari Ice, 22, president of C.A.S.C.A.D.E., the Coalition of Activist Students Celebrating the Acceptance of Diversity and Equality, Howard University's LGBT student group, said Hassan was a lesbian who attended C.A.S.C.A.D.E. meetings regularly.

''It's devastating to say the least,'' Ice told Metro Weekly on Saturday, Oct. 9. ''It's been a lot to deal with especially with all the other youth suicides that have been happening. It's just fuel to the fire. It brought the national issue very very close to home.''

Details regarding Hassan's suicide have yet to be determined.

Lauren Morris, 21, a senior at Howard, who lived in the same building as Hassan from 2008-2009, said she introduced Hassan to C.A.S.C.A.D.E. Morris added that friends have reported Hassan's suicide was related to her struggles with her sexuality.

''She was having a lot of trouble with a lot of different things,'' Morris says, ''but mainly her sexual identity and just trying to express that.''

Sterling Washington, co-founder of C.A.S.C.A.D.E. and former president, came upon news of Hassan's suicide after attending a C.A.S.C.A.D.E. event at the university this week.

''I absolutely think that this is connected in a way to the failure of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to be repealed,'' Sterling, who is gay and an a 2004 Howard alumni said, speaking to Metro Weekly on Friday.

''What happens in a large group trickles down to the junior members… so in this case it's members of society so it affects youth in general,'' he said. ''Those straight-identified youth who already had a proclivity, who already had from their parents, their socialization, this idea that gays are less than, it sort of gives them permission and facilities this whole bullying thing so that those that are most vulnerable to it sometimes see suicide as an out.''

According to Howard students, a memorial is currently being planned for Wednesday, Oct. 13. For an extended version of this story, visit MetroWeekly.com on Thursday, Oct. 14. 

The National Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Suicide Hotline:  

1-866-4-U-TREVOR

Fortune Most Powerful Women Virtual Conference [Free]

The Summit is having its 12th annual women leaders conference and Fortune is bringing it to the masses via the web this year. These women are leading figures in business, government, academia, philanthropy, and the arts. As a TIME subscriber, I was able to register free. I'm not sure if it will cost others or if it is closed to others, but it's worth a looking-into.

Viewers will be able to ask questions and chat with one another. It takes place on Oct. 5th. Space is limited, so don't dally!

Info and Registration