Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 133

The Beauty of Trans People

After a very emotionally draining Transgender Day of Remembrance where we pay tribute to our people who have been taken from us, I felt that it was important to pay tribute to those who have done a lot for this community.  This video features several people across the country in a positive light.

The music is "New Horizons," by Moody Blues and yes, it is copyrighted.  However, YouTube is allowing it on with the addition of their advertisement bar for the song.  I would say this constitues "legal fair use."

The trans community hopes you will like this.

Newly named anti-gay hate groups plead victimhood but do not address charges

crossposted on
But the venue that they chose to address SPLC's list and the way that they are saying (or rather what they are not saying) raises some questions as to the accuracy of their complaints.

Coral Ridge Ministries's Robert Knight, Concerned Women for America's Wendy Wright, and Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition head Gary L. Cass all responded in outraged tones over SPLC's either profiling or designating their organizations as anti-gay hate groups.

The venue where they choose to address the charges was on the pages of World Net Daily, an online publication which is infamous for its anti-gay rhetoric.

A writer on the site, Les Kinsolving, has in the past referred to the lgbt community as the "sodomy lobby."

In October of this year, he called a judge’s order to stop enforcement of the military’s ban on gay and lesbian troops in the military as a "disease ridden judicial decision."

In August of this year, the publication dropped conservative writer Ann Coulter as a keynote speaker from a conference it held because she earlier spoke at a conference held by a gay Republican group.

And in February of this year, another writer on World Net Daily, Molotov Mitchell, spoke out in favor of Uganda's "Kill The Gays" bill, even evoking Martin Luther King Jr's name in defense of it. 

Joining Cass, Perkins, and Knight was Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in an official statement which may not have been put out to World Net Daily specifically but was still picked up by the publication.

The irony of appearing in an anti-gay online publication in order to complain about being unfairly targeted as anti-gay seemed to have escaped Perkins, Wright, Knight, and Cass. This is probably because they were too busy pleading victimhood.

Knight - "Smearing legitimate groups merely for disagreeing about homosexuality is a very hateful act."

Perkins - "The Left's smear campaigns of conservatives is being driven by the clear evidence that the American public is losing patience with their radical policy agenda as seen in the recent election and in the fact that every state, currently more than thirty, that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so . . ."

Cass - "We are going to form a coalition of organizations to lobby Congress to withhold funds from SPLC."

Wright - "If they were to judge according to actions, they would have to have a special section for homosexual groups that vandalize and threaten people who oppose the homosexual agenda. We've had death threats against us posted openly on websites because of our work to uphold traditional marriage."

Of course Wright did not say just which lgbt groups were threatening her organization. Nor did she, Knight, Perkins, or Cass directly address any of the charges lodged by the SPLC, which are listed in a detailed report.

For the record, Knight, whose name pops up several times in the report, is inaccurate when he said that groups are being smeared for voicing a mere objection to homosexuality. SPLC said the following in the report:

Generally, the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.

SPLC also gave a detailed description as to what these falsehoods are, including the claims that:

Gays molest children at a higher rate than heterosexuals,

Same sex parents harm children,

Gays have a lifespan shorter than heterosexuals, and

Gays controlled the Nazi party in Germany and helped orchestrate the Holocaust.

SPLC contends that these groups are knowingly pushing these falsehoods.

Now it would seem to me that through all of the whining and clinging to the cross of victimization done by Knight, Perkins, Wright, and Cass would be some type of declaration that these charges aren't true.

Maybe some type of short statement such as "we never said these things" or "we were misconstrued."

But none of the four denied the fact that their organizations are pushing these falsehoods.

So while it seems that these groups aren't ignoring SPLC's charges, it's obvious that they are doing a insanely poor job of refuting them.

Ranker: Top 12 Most Invasive TSA Sexual Harassment Cases (So Far)

The sad truth is that there are probably more than these twelve that are worthy of exposing, but here are two examples that made Ranker's top of the list...

Hands in Underwear

It seems to be a recurring theme that most of these assaults tend to happen to people working in the news and broadcasting industry, because they're the few who have the ability to report on it. The amount of sexual assaults that happen (TSA or not) every single day that go completely unreported is actually quite soul-crushing and devastating.

So the TSA gets another setback when an ABC producer rings in her opinion by stating a trip to the TSA is worse than "a trip to the gynecologist." Meaning the agent she dealt with during her pat-down felt her underwear, felt the inside of her underwear and searched for an explosive device which was, of course, never found.

[image error]This Guy

Do you remember LolCats and those pictures with quotes like 'I Can Haz Cheezeburger?"

Of course you do.

Well, the picture to your left may very well start of its own line of LolJunkGrabbing. This photo snapshot miraculously managed to go unnoticed by the TSA when it was taken (cameras are a threat to the US, you know.) What we get is the entire focal point of the pat-down debate and just how unpleasant, awkward, and downright scarring the new and improved procedural are proving to be.

Even the TSA agent seems to be hating on his life at that moment as he digs into that guy's junk like it's a unmovable car part that just won't give.

All that this picture is missing is the agent being red-faced and sweaty with Ren-and-Stimpy-detailed veins popping out of his neck. Seriously, that grimace is sure to inspire hundreds of ridiculous quotes. This picture has been featured in more new stories and internet coverage than any TSA picture thus far and this man will no doubt become an internet superstar (or will sue the pants off of someone.)

The newspaper source got its topic right. This is an image that your mind will not get rid of.

The Hammer falls: corrupt pol Tom DeLay is going to the clink

This man embodied the GOP web of corruption and dealmaking, and a jury of his peers only took 19 hours to bring it all down on The Hammer.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay - once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress - was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts against DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge.

Prosecutors said DeLay conspired with two associates, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, to use his Texas-based PAC to send $190,000 in corporate money to an arm of the Washington-based Republican National Committee, or RNC. The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Texas House candidates. Under Texas law, corporate money can't go directly to political campaigns.

DeLay opted to have Senior Judge Pat Priest sentence him. Under the charges he was convicted of, he faces 5 to life for the money laundering and 2 to 20 years on the conspiracy charge.

Kerry Eleveld's 'A View from the Hill' goes broadcast

In this feature, "The Death of DADT?", The Advocate's Eleveld, our eyes and ears on the Hill, discusses DADT repeal before the end of the year with insiders.

The inaugural episode of A View From the Hill With Kerry Eleveld examines the prospect of repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy before year's end. Eleveld first sits down for a one-on-one with Richard Socarides, former aide to President Clinton. That segment is followed by a panel discussion with Washington insiders, including AmericaBlog's Joe Sudbay, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's Aubrey Sarvis, and Mike Sozan, chief of staff to Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo).

New federal task force on LGBT youth suicide prevention to be announced

Pamela Hyde

On World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10th, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates launched a new public-private partnership called National Action Alliance on Suicide Prevention ("Action Alliance").

"This alliance gives us an opportunity to engage every sector of society-public, private and philanthropic," said Secretary Sebelius. "Now we will be able to work together more effectively than ever before to reach people at risk and help them stay safe."

The Action Alliance's own press release was more specific about groups at risk, acknowledging that "...we have high rates of non-fatal suicide attempts in other groups, especially young Latinas and Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender (LGBT) youths."

The Action Alliance is coordinated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at US Department of Health and Human Services.  SAMHSA also administers the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

SAMHSA's Administrator Pamela Hyde, an openly gay Obama appointee, stated in a recent letter to Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) that Action Alliance "will shortly announce the establishment of a task force to reduce suicide among LGBT youth."

The task force, she said, will be co-led by Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, US Department of Education, and by Charles Robbins, Executive Director of The Trevor Project.  The Trevor Project is a national suicide prevention program for LGBT youth.

Jennings founded the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which "strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression."  Like Hyde, Jennings is an openly-gay Obama appointee.

"SAMHSA recognizes that LGBT youth face unique risk factors that make them vulnerable to suicide," said Hyde.  Her agency "will use its programs and initiatives to ensure a focus on LGBT youth. ...We are deeply committed to improving the social-emotional conditions and circumstances for LGBT youth."

Planning for the task force began in September with the convening of the Action Alliance Executive Committee and was an outcome of the interests and expertise of its members, Sally Spencer-Thomas from the Action Alliance Press Office told me in a telephone interview.  Hyde, Jennings and Robbins all sit on Action Alliance's Executive Committee.  

The LGBT task force will be formally announced by the end of the year, said Spencer-Thomas, along with task forces geared for other at-risk populations including American Indians/Alaska Natives, military veterans and their families and Latina youths.

Huck celebrates the ousting of Iowa's pro-equality judges

I'm sure former Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee will run for Prez. This nonsensical pandering to the anti-gays is disgusting.

Former Arkansas governor, Fox News commentator and 2012 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has called voter's November 2 decision to oust three of the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices who brought gay marriage to the Midwest "historic," the AP reported.

"It was a very important statement that voters made, a statement that resonated across the country and one that I think will give legs to a larger movement over the next few years," he said.

Ignoring your hate group status won't make it go away

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

For now, the groups (i.e. the American Family Association, the Family Research Council) just added by Southern Poverty Law Center to the list of anti-gay hate organizations seem to be silent on their new status.

But other folks aren't.

Lgbt activist and author Dan Savage is making sure that this designation isn't being ignored.

Savage (who came up with the idea of the "It Gets Better Project" to combat the problem of gay teen suicides) took CNN to task yesterday during an interview for how the network gives a platform to these groups:

The Southern Poverty Law Center labels these groups as hate groups and yet the leaders of these groups, people like Tony Perkins, are welcomed onto networks like CNN to espouse hate directed at gays and lesbians. And similarly hateful people who are targeting Jews or people of color or anyone else would not be welcome to spew their bile on networks like CNN and then that really -- we really have to start there. We have to start with that type of cultural reckoning.

Meanwhile, a person whose presence was noted several times on SPLC's profile of these groups, Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries, has come out with a new book claiming to tackle the so-called "harmful effects of same-sex marriage."

One wonders if he cited the work of the discredited Paul Cameron in this book like he has done several times in the past, including as a Congressional witness in 1994 when he spoke against ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act).

 

One thing is certain. Even before SPLC's citation, he wasn't so eager to talk about Cameron. In June of this year,  Knight, through his representative, declined to have an interview with me about the subject.

This is a far cry from the conversation I had with him in 2004 when he came to the University of South Carolina to have a debate with former Human Rights Campaign head Elizabeth Birch.

During the conversation after the debate (a conversation I recounted in my 2007 book Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters), I was able to question Knight as to why he used Cameron's work even though it had been discredited several times.

His answer to me was:

“Yes we have used his research. So what?”

But Knight and others listed by SPLC do have their defenders.

William A. Jacobson, Associate Clinical Professor at Cornell Law School, didn't care for SPLC's list. He is especially angry that the National Organization for Marriage is on the list (Editor's note - SPLC does not consider NOM as an official anti-gay hate group, but did profile the organization):

The inclusion of NOM on this list really is outrageous, and typical of how SPLC seeks to demonize a mainstream conservative (and in this case, constitutional) view.  The explanation SPLC gives for including NOM is flimsy and filled with innuendo.  

Jacobson also said about SPLC's list in general:

Most of these groups are unknown to me,  although a couple are well-known Christian groups, such as American Family Association and Family Research Council (both of these entities will be on SPLC's upcoming Hate Group list).  I don't defend or not defend these groups because I don't know much about them, but based upon SPLC's past performance, the burden should be on SPLC to make the case for including a group on a hate list.

Unfortunately that leads one to think that Jacobson didn't read SPLC's breakdown of these groups at all. The organization gives very detailed reasonings as to why these groups are profiled as well as the inaccurate things they say about the lgbt community.

Jacobson - and many responders to his blog post - were conveniently silent about these inaccurate claims, instead choosing to play the victim and complain about "liberal conspiracies" against Christians.

Wednesday This & That: Open Thread

It's an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread...

So, this is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob have been looking at since our last This & That post.

• I'm quite late on these two stories, but hey -- better late than never. San Jose Mercury News's Alameda County home to first transgender judge in nation:

Alameda County has become home to the first transgender trial judge in the country as Victoria Kolakowski won the race to fill an empty seat on the county's Superior Court bench.

Final results from the county Registrar of Voters show that Kolakowski won 50.98 percent of the vote against deputy district attorney John Creighton, who won 47.98 percent of the vote.

...Kolakowski was the candidate hoping to bring diversity to the bench through her transgender experience and her background as an attorney focusing on civil matters through her job as an administrative law judge at the California Public Utilities Commission.

Kolakowski won a primary in June and campaigned on a platform of being the first transgender judge in the state and bringing change to a bench that, she argued, was too overloaded with white males.

And...

The Houston Chronicle's Transgender Houston attorney becomes a judge:

Thirty years ago, Phyllis Frye, a longtime activist for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes, could have been arrested for wearing women's clothing in the Houston City Council chamber.

Frye, a transgender Houston attorney born as Phillip Frye, fought back tears last week as the mayor appointed her to a municipal bench in the same room where she helped repeal Houston's "cross-dressing ordinance" in 1980.

"I almost started crying, because I remembered 31 years ago, in that very same chamber, I was subject to arrest," Frye said.

The 63-year-old will hear traffic ticket cases and other low-level misdemeanor trials. Municipal judges are not elected, she noted.

Two transgender judges in the country now. Wow.

• KTRK's Controversy over mayor's transgender order:

HOUSTON (KTRK) - A person who was born a man, but lives life as a woman, was arrested after using the women's bathroom at a downtown Houston library. But was it really illegal? The confusion has a local pastor's group calling on the Texas attorney general to decide.

As a transgendered woman, Majanae Chambers is all too familiar with the debate over which bathroom she should use.

"If you live a life as a female, you should go into the female restroom because I went to a male restroom before and I got harassed in a male restroom," Chambers said.

But just last Wednesday, Houston police arrested a person at the city's main library for "knowingly entering a restroom of the opposite sex."

• OneNewsNow's Lesbianism linked to upbringing:

A recently released study shows a link between childhood family structure and the rate of female homosexuality -- undermining the claim that sexual orientation is genetic or biological.

Family Research Council (FRC) looked into the family lives and worship rates of 7,643 women between the ages of 14 and 44. Pat Fagan, senior fellow and director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute at FRC, co-evaluated the data and tells OneNewsNow about the findings.

"Once the girl grows up in a home in which her father is not present, it's about three times" more likely she has had or will have homosexual partners, he says -- but when she is raised by parents who are married and "always intact, it's about a four-percent rate." Moreover, he explains that rate is "slightly higher in the always-intact-but-cohabitating parents -- that's parents who never married."

Statistics are also higher with step-families, the cohabiting step-family, and the single divorced parent, adds the FRC spokesman.

"The big take away from this study is that clearly, this [type of sexual behavior] is not genetic," Fagan points out. "The different rates of homosexuality among women are very reactive to the family structure within which they grow up. If it was genetic, you would find pretty much the same rates all across."

Consider the source of the survey...I'll be looking for the Box Turtle Bulletin take on this survey.

• From the Gospel Herald (Self-described as the "Gospel Chinese News Service">) comes Raise Up Your Hands to Pray for Canada:

If a man feels that he is a woman and walks into a woman washroom or the woman shower/change room in a public facility, this is his gender expression. Any one stops him from doing so can be prosecuted for violating the criminal code.

Will Canada become this kind of nation-state?

The aforementioned Bill C-389 passed the 2nd Reading after its introduction in March of early this year. Then, the Justice Committee concluded in minutes by a 9-2 vote, and now is back in the House of Commons. Third Reading can come as early as the first week of December.

There's excerpts from a "prayer letter" included at the end of the piece, indicating specific bills and polices -- specifically listing Bill C-389 -- to pray about.

• Our Wiener Story Of The Day: The Atlantic Wire's Redskins Deny Making the Press Eat Terrible Hot Dogs:

So far this week, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has extended the contract of Donovan McNabb against the wishes of Mike Shanahan, seen his team lose by 31 points on Monday night football and been accused of serving the press disgusting, shriveled hot dogs by the Washington City Paper. Of the three, only the last comes as a surprise to Redskins fans, who can be forgiven for assuming Snyder's big-money, low-logic approach to running the team would include a press box spread of liquified filet mignon and Cornish game hen shot down a beat reporter's gullet by a Super Soaker wielding celebrity chef.

As it turns out, it's not like that. NOT AT ALL. Per the City Paper's tipster, "There were buns off to the side, no napkins, warm water, and maybe one bottle of a condiment. Embarrassing."

Indeed. So the team's official blog is attempting to push back against the City Paper's suggestion...

But as always, "The weenie tempts you!"

So anywho...It's an open thread! What are you thinking about today, or what books or articles have you been reading the past few days? Wanna share?

And again, please feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread because...it's an open thread! Woo-hoo!

Resources for National Opt Out Day

Wednesday, November 24, is National Opt Out Day.  We Won't Fly, a grassroots organization that's taken the lead in organizing, describes the goals

The goal of National Opt Out Day is (1) to educate the  traveling public about airport naked-body scanners and the new  "enhanced" TSA groping so they can make an informed decision; (2) force positive change on the TSA by slowing down their security theater with creative protest; and (3) show the airlines our consumer power so that they will lobby the government on our behalf  to get the naked-body scanners removed and the TSA abolished. The  government has failed us. We're taking our message of real security,  dignity and privacy to the airlines until they get on our side.

An important clarification on point #2: the goal is not to interfere with other passengers getting to their destinations.  As AP's Ray Henry describes in  TSA chief: Resisting scanners just means delays, the government is trying to convince travelers not to exercise their rights.  But as We Won't Fly's George Donnelly discusses, Opt Out Day could make security lines move faster by reducing the number of people flying and giving travelers better information than the TSA is providing.

Whether or not you're planning on opting out, it's important to know your rights -- and to know what your options are if something goes wrong.  Fortunately, there are a lot of great resources out there.  Here's a quick guide:


The ACLU's Know Your Options at the Airport and  What to Expect When Getting a New TSA Pat-Down have detailed coverage for travelers

We Won't Fly's one-page flyer is ideal for taking with you and sharing with others

EFF's Stand Up Against TSA's Invasive Security Procedures has detailed information about ways you can contact and complain to the TSA

How to Survive a TSA Screening, on the Wired How-to Wiki, has tips for travelers and protestors

What You Need to Know About Your Rights at the Airport, by the Identity Project, has some important information not found elsewhere, including your rights to get a refund if you're not allowed to fly

NCTE has details on What Transgender Travelers Need To Know

If you run into problems, EPIC's Incident Report form is a good place to report them.  EPIC is currently suing the government to stop deployment of the naked scanners, so sharing this information with them is extremely valuable[image error]

One question that's come up a lot is whether or not it's legal to take pictures.  The TSA says they do not prohibit photos (although some airports may have local ordinances), but there have been some reports of TSA agents attempting to intimidate photographers by claiming otherwise.  If this happens to you, don't panic: follow Robert Graham's and Steven Frisching's lead by responding politely but not giving into intimidation.  Steven says he's got the TSA's Office of Strategic Communications (which handles PR and press liaisons) on his speed dial ... hmm, not a bad idea at all: (571)227-1917.

Good luck -- and happy opting out!

also posted on I Will Opt Out