Tag Archives: trans rights

Why We Should All Watch Attorney General’s Incredible Speech On Trans Rights

Attorney General Loretta Lynch – the first black woman to hold the job – has just elevated the profile of the Justice Department with the potentially epic clash with North Carolina over its new bathroom law.

In suing the state (where she was born and raised) for discriminating against transgender people, Lynch invoked the defining civil rights struggles of the last century and made clear that the federal government sees its dispute with North Carolina as about far more than bathrooms and showers.

At a news conference this week, she announced the lawsuit, and said directly addressed North Carolina residents

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, friends and colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past. Let us reflect on the obvious but neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good and never works in hindsight.”

Her remarks, in unusually forceful and personal language, came as North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory refused to back down over a law that requires transgender people to use the public restroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.

The Justice Department says the measure violates civil rights laws and is seeking a court order to block it.

Rain Dove Proves North Carolina’s House Bill 2 Hurts More Than The Trans Community

A wide range of people – from musicians to politicians – are taking a stand against North Carolina’s House Bill 2.

Thankfully, one of the most outspoken is activist Rain Dove.

511889458

The androgynous supermodel has released a short video on Facebook about discriminatory new laws.

With almost half a million views in one day, an essay that dismantles the bill accompanies the video.

Dove begins the essay by writing

DISCOVERY! HB2 IS NO LONGER VALID OR ENFORCEABLE! As of TODAY this minute-this very second that you read this the discriminatory ‘bathroom’ part of the bill can’t be upheld! Here’s why North Carolina’s HB2 Law is NOT VALID.”


[interaction id=”57279128d1fca18d369a9a4a”]


Dove goes onto explain that North Carolina does not have a statute requiring an individual to give their ID when approached by police.

The only circumstance that would allow for an officer to be able to take your birth certificate or ID force fully (whether you like it or not) would be if you are driving a vehicle or REASONABLY SUSPICIOUS of committing a crime.”

The essay highlights how law enforcement officers, as well as the general public, cannot decide if someone is of the “right sex” to use the restroom. Dove states that doing so is “called PROFILING” and also notes that

In 2014 Eric Holder BANNED Racial, Religious, and Gender profiling in the United States for Federal Officers as a technique to determine ‘potential guilt’. It’s called ‘Gender’ Profiling and not “Sex” Profiling because Sex refers to your sexual organs and/or birth certificate status. Gender refers to ‘the state of being’ aka your energy, aesthetics, clothing, voice, hair style – the you that is you.”

Watch the video below:

https://www.facebook.com/raindovemodel/videos/1798127703749354/

Poland Passes Country’s First Ever Transgender Recognition Bill

Poland’s parliament have passed the country’s first ever transgender recognition bill.

The legislations was brought to parliament by Anna Grodzka – Poland’s first openly transgender politician. She introduced the Gender Accordance Act in May 2012, and it was finally passed on Thursday (23 July) by 252 votes to 158, with 11 abstained.

Wiktor Dynarski, president of the Polish advocacy group Trans-Fuzja Foundation said

It is a huge victory for trans people in Poland. For the past few days we have seen members of parliament advocating both against and for the law, but it was for the first time that we actually heard Polish policymakers openly protecting bodily autonomy of trans people and recognizing that trans citizens need to have their dignity assured.”

Although the country has legally recognised transgender citizens since the 1960s, the requirements of what it means to be transgender in the eyes of the law have never been specified, leading to a lack of rights for the community.

Under the new law, an unmarried transgender citizen would be legally eligible to apply for a new birth certificate and new educational and employment documentation – without having to undergo surgery or hormone therapy.

However, they would still need to present two independent confirmations of “being a person of a different gender identity than the gender legally assigned” from a clinical psychologist or doctor, before they were able to apply.

For the bill to become law early next year, it still needs to be passed by the senate and signed by the country’s president.

Ms Grodzka announced her plans to run for President earlier this year. She was elected as a Member of Parliament in Poland in 2011, in what is usually a notoriously conservative country.

There are currently no openly transgender heads of state in the world, meaning that Grodzka – who is already the world’s only elected transgender MP – would make history again if successful.

It’s difficult but I need to carry it on…it does affect my private life, it’s quite hard to share my life with another person with so much going on, but at the end of the day this is my life and I’m happy. I hope I can show other transgender people that life is worth living.”

In May, the Polish Parliament again voted against having a debate on the regulation of gay and straight civil partnerships.

Denmark’s Groundbreaking New Ruling in EU Trans Rights Battle

Gender and identity is a tricky and complicated subject for many around the world. While many of us understand that it’s incredibly important for a person’s gender to be recognised (whether they aren’t cisgendered or if a person doesn’t identify with the male/female binary), in plenty of places around the world issues such as a person’s chosen pronouns and gender presentation aren’t recognised or respected and in many of these same places, the sexual organs that you’re born with are the only defining facets of your gender. That’s not the case though and the physical and the mental sides of sex and gender respectively aren’t mutually exclusive, especially for those who don’t necessarily identify with the male or female identity that the doctor’s assigned them at birth. But in order to change the gender listed on these formal documents it can be a tricky process, but thankfully for those looking to change their gender on legal documents in Denmark, things just got a whole lot easier.

That’s thanks to new legislation in the European country as changing the gender on your legal documents no longer requires you to undergo sex reassignment surgery, a move likely made to reflect the fact that more and more people realise that your physical self has no affect whatsoever on just what you feel your gender is. Too, you also don’t have to be diagnosed with “Gender Identity Disorder” as Denmark are doing away with that part of previous proceedings which bizarrely added to the stigma that trans* men and women already face. Sterilisation is also no longer required which is also great news. Now, all that’s required is a statement explaining that you’d like to change the gender on your legal documents and a 6 month “reflection” period.

Support didn’t end there either as Denmark’s Interior Minister Margrethe Vestager says that the decision “will make life easier and more dignified for the individual” while ILGA-Europe (International Lesbian and Gay Association Europe) co-chair Gabi Calleja called it “another significant change in Europe” comparing it to Denmark’s monumental decision in 1989 in which it became the first country in the world to introduce a legal concept of same-gender marriage. So while the fight for trans* rights is far from over, Denmark’s change is huge and should be lauded and with support like that the future for trans* rights in Europe looks incredibly hopeful.

Source: RTE News.