Category: news

News

Posted on

Congrats, Diane Schroer

& Thank you, ACLU.

WASHINGTON, DC September 19, 2008 — Today the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Diane Schroer, supporting her claim that she was wrongfully denied employment by the Library of Congress after she notified them that she intended to transition.

In 2004, while still living as David, retired US Army Colonel Diane Schroer was offered and accepted a job with the Library of Congress. When she notified her new employers of her intention to transition, the offer was rescinded. After a highly distinguished military career, Col. Schroer decided to fight once more to uphold American values of fairness and justice.

“True to form, Diane Schroer has once again demonstrated her bravery and her commitment to American democracy,” noted Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “By fighting for her rights, she has defended the honor and rights of all transgender people who have been discriminated against on the job. NCTE congratulates her on this historic win and applauds the tremendous work of the ACLU in securing this victory for us all.”

In his ruling United States District Judge James Robertson stated, “After hearing the evidence presented at trial, I conclude that Schroer was discriminated against because of sex in violation of Title VII.” He went on to note, “None of the five assertedly legitimate reasons that the Library has given for refusing to hire Schroer withstands scrutiny.”

Judge Robertson concluded, “In refusing to hire Diane Schroer because her appearance and background did not comport with the decision maker’s sex stereotypes about how men and women should act and appear, and in response to Schroer’s decision to transition, legally, culturally, and physically, from male to female, the Library of Congress violated Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination.”

You can read the whole of the decision at the ACLU’s website (pdf).

Posted on

RIP DFW

The thing about being away is that you miss a lot of important news, like Ike and poor Gilchrist, TX; or the fact that Palin dropped 10 approval points over the weekend, or, most sadly, that novelist David Foster Wallace committed suicide this past weekend.

I was never a huge fan of his work, with the exception of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and of course – like every other writer alive – I was jealous of how much attention he got. The first piece I read by him was in Harper’s, and it was about cruises, and I found the endless footnoting drove me nuts, BUT – and this is a big but – his style broke through certain dull trends in novel-writing that I couldn’t bear even more. Every once in a while someone tells me that they think the footnotes of She’s Not the Man I Married is the best part of the book, and I’ve always described them jokingly as my attempt at being the David Foster Wallace of the gender set.

I’m stunned, about as stunned when I learned that another master & experimental stylist, Spalding Gray, also committed suicide. It’s a worry for people like me – prone to depression, only happy – you might even say alive – when writing. I have an old writer friend who used to ask me all the time, when we were taking writing workshops at CCNY together, whether I would choose writing or happiness, if I chose one or the other. I always said happiness.

& David Foster Wallace reminded me tonight why.

RIP, and the deepest condolences to his wife and sister.

Posted on

Thank You Del

Activist and co-founder of The Daughters of Bilitis, Del Martin, has died. She co-founded the DOB – the first lesbian organization in America – with her partner, Phyllis Lyon, in 1955. Together they wrote and edited the group’s newsletter, The Ladder, and also co-wrote the 1972 book Lesbian/Woman. They were also issued the first marriage license after California’s Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry. That is, they were married on June 16, 2008, nearly 60 years after they met.

Godspeed, Del Martin. And Phyllis — what can anyone say? Thank you both so much for being so brave. Phyllis, I hope your bravery sees you through missing her in the days ahead.

Posted on

Diane Schroer & the LOC

The ACLU has a stunning blog post up about the Diane Schroer / Library of Congress case.

Science doesn’t matter, the Library insists, it’s what Congress was thinking of when it passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “Everett Dirksen,” a reporter said to me in the hall outside Court, “wasn’t thinking of Diane Schroer when he helped pass the Civil Rights Act.” “Probably true,” I said as she headed off to meet her cameraman, “but James Madison wasn’t thinking of TV when he penned the First Amendment either.”

The issue isn’t the way someone who wrote or voted for a law was thinking it would apply; the issue is the concept embodied in the law. What was the idea? The flip answer is that on this point, Congress didn’t have an idea; many of those who voted to put sex into the 1964 Civil Rights Act were hoping it would kill the bill.

But in 1964, as today, it is hard to believe that anyone thought sex was just about chromosomes or even just anatomy. It was about the whole package. The issue in the case is how does that idea apply in a world where the package is different than we thought in 1964, a reflection of more things than we thought, maybe not including a lot of things we thought, maybe more fluid than we thought.

It was written by Matt Coles, the Director of the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & AIDS projects. Read it.

Posted on

An Ally, & a Priest

Another trans ally has been attacked defending a few trans teenagers, and right here in Queens, NY.

People often wonder why, as an ally, I get so upset about violence against trans people, but I know that as much as I’d prefer to be the type of person who would run & save myself, I’d be the idiot who got in the transphobic asshole’s way.

But more than that: sometimes people assume New York is some trans mecca. In some ways, it is. But the reality is, it only takes one transphobic asshole to ruin someone’s day.

I hope the folks at Carmen’s Place all recover okay, & that they find somewhere they feel safe.

Posted on

Congress to Hold First Ever Hearing on Trans Issues

Today is America’s first Congressional Hearing on transgender issues. The hearing, “An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace,” is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 10:30 am in room 2175 of Rayburn House Office Building. Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ) called the hearing as Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor. Witnesses have not yet been announced.

“I am really proud of the role that NCTE played in getting us to this historical day. This is not only an opportunity to be truly heard by our fellow Americans, it will help to build the foundation for significant changes in federal laws protecting transgender people from discrimination,” notes Mara Keisling, Executive Director of NCTE.

Committee hearings are open to the public and you are welcome to attend in person if you are in the area, but please be aware that space is limited. Some hearings are broadcast on CSPAN and streamed live through their internet site. You can stay up-to-date by checking NCTE’s blog.

WATCH:  If you would like to watch the first Congressional Hearing on transgender issues, you may be able to watch it through the committee’s live webcast at http://edwork.edgeboss.net/wmedia-li…eam_070124.asx

Posted on

RIP “Foole”

George Carlin died tonight, in LA, at the age of 71. I don’t even know what to say: he is probably Betty’s all time favorite comedian & one of mine as well. There are so many of us who grew up influenced by his worldview, but more than that, by his observations on the ridiculousness of human behavior. In a good way.

My favorite bit of his, which I refer to more often than I would have ever expected, is from a routine he did not too long ago, where he’s talking about the whole “save the planet” activism, & then points out, “The planet will be fine. We’re the ones who are going somewhere. The planet’s going to shake us off like a bad case of fleas.”

Indeed. Thanks for a lifetime of laughing so hard my sides hurt, Mr. Carlin. Maybe they’ll give you that ass, at long last, in the heaven you never believed in.