Category: politics & causes

politics, both trans & otherwise

Posted on

WI, VOTE! Tomorrow (is one step closer to Recalling Walker)

Fair Wisconsin PAC has announced their 2012 Recall Primary Election Endorsements. They are committed to advancing and achieving equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Wisconsinites through strategic electoral activity, by working to elect pro-fairness individuals in local, state and federal races in Wisconsin.

So get your butt out & vote! Checking your polling place & registration status here.

YOU DO NOT NEED A VOTER ID TO VOTE ON TUESDAY. Due to recent court injunctions on the voter photo ID requirement, citizens will not be required to show a photo ID in order to vote in the May 8 election. Please note that this situation is subject to change. For more information on what you will need in order to vote on Tuesday, please visit the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin website for more information.

Posted on

Exports

Two years ago, Obama unveiled a new goal: to double U.S. exports over the next five years. It’s working.

“American exports are up 34 percent since the president gave that speech, and the number continues to rise.”

Indeed: Gobama.

Posted on

ENDA Again

Gay City News has an interesting article on the possibility of ENDA being passed be Executive Order. Mara Keisling of NCTE gets cranky about it, & rightfully so. But it’s an interesting idea, & might especially be interesting to those of you who like somewhat obscure US history:

Nan Hunter, the associate dean for graduate programs at Georgetown Law School who is also the legal scholarship director at the Williams Institute, explained that the president’s authority to issue such an order derives not from existing nondiscrimination law, but rather from the Federal Procurement Act, in his role, essentially, as “the CEO” of the US government. Precedent for such an exercise of power dates back 70 years –– more than two decades prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act –– to a Franklin D. Roosevelt order regarding racial nondiscrimination by Defense Department contractors as the nation ramped up for World War II.

One key factor about such executive orders –– as distinct from nondiscrimination laws –– is that they do not create a private right of civil action for bias victims. Enforcement is carried out by the Labor Department’s Office of Contract Compliance, which she said has been an effective agent for civil rights protections under administrations friendly to the underlying goal. Regardless of a particular president’s enforcement diligence, however, most government contractors take seriously their obligations under existing orders and regulations, Hunter said.

Still, nothing has happened yet, & it looks like it won’t until after Election Day.

Posted on

Letter from PP About WI Bombing

A (.pdf) note from Teri Huyck to our patients and supporters regarding Incident at Appleton Health Center:

“For 77 years, the dedicated staff at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin have worked to ensure that women and families will always be able to access affordable, high-quality health care in a safe and caring environment in which their privacy and dignity is respected.

“We care for 80,000 patients statewide who turn to us for medical exams, lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control and STD testing and treatment. Over 97 percent of the health care services we provide are essential, preventive care such as this. At three of our 27 health centers, we provide abortion care, a critical component of comprehensive women’s health care.

“Last night around 7:40 p.m. the Grand Chute Fire Department was called to our Appleton North Health Center. Police are telling us that a small, homemade explosive device was placed on an outside windowsill causing a small fire that burned out prior to the fire department arriving. There was minimal damage to one of the exam rooms. No staff or patients were injured or present. The health center will reopen tomorrow. Our primary concern today—as always— is our patients, staff and volunteers.

“Women deserve safe and compassionate care, and we are proud to provide it. Rest assured, our doors will remain open for the thousands of women who rely on Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin each year for high quality health care.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the law enforcement agencies working with us to ensure Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin continues to be a safe and trusted health care provider for Wisconsin women and families.”

Sincerely,
Teri Huyck
CEO and President

Posted on

Domestic Terrorism

A bomb was planned at the Planned Parenthood of Grand Chute, WI. For those of you who don’t know, that’s about 5 minutes from where I live.

How can a person even respond to this kind of violence that would target poor and working class women who are trying to get their health needs met in a difficult economy? How do you explain to people who would bomb a health clinic that PP clinics don’t offer abortion services in the first place? How do you respond to a group that would plan bombs and kill innocent people – theoretically, even the fetuses they say they’re protecting – and who call themselves “pro life”?

How do you respond at all?

I am at the point now where anyone who apologizes for the inflaming and incendiary rhetoric aimed at Roe v. Wade & at a woman’s right to choose is not my friend, my family, or even someone I can talk to. I understand objections to abortion; I was raised Catholic after all, & am the youngest of 6. But this language around choice, the “army of God” mentality that’s been fed to people is so hurtful, so entirely wrong and beside the point.

When will those of you who vote Republican start telling your leadership that you will not vote for them until they stop with this rhetoric and these policies that target poor women especially?

This Planned Parenthood is so easily a place I might speak at or have a student intern at. The women who go there and work there could be friends.

I don’t understand violence as a response to what is sold as a moral objection. It just doesn’t make sense.

Posted on

Firsts.

A trans guy is running for City Council on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (from whence come all things progressive).

“I’m not running because I’m transgender,” said Mr. Wymore, 50, who was born female but now, after testosterone therapy and top surgery, identifies as transgender. But, he said, that “doesn’t mean that being transgender doesn’t bring a certain perspective.”

Although gay men and lesbians have broken many electoral barriers — serving as mayors, state legislators and members of Congress — the same is not true of the transgender community. Only a few, including a Democratic district leader in Westchester County and a former member of the Hawaii Board of Education, have been elected to office around the country.

Of course that really means those who are out as trans, which means there are probably others no one knows are trans who are holding office.

Posted on

Not Just Homos

What’s interesting to me is that it’s never just “sexual deviants” that are targeted by people who are homophobic. You’ll notice the same crowd goes after women who expect to make decisions about their own sexualities and bodies, and in general are anti-sex. This little blog, Chew on This, in predicting the dearth of accurate sex info if someone like Santorum is elected, is spot on. The laws governing who can own, buy or sell sex toys often go hand in glove with laws that govern other aspects of sexuality, whether it’s birth control or sex work or homosexuality.

Posted on

No to Urban Outfitters

So Urban Outfitters was selling a card that said:

Jack and Jill went up the hill / So Jack could see Jilly’s fanny / But Jack got a shock / and an eyeful of cock / Because Jill was a closet tranny

Classy. Someone brought it up (and snagged a copy of the image) on reddit, and then HuffPo picked it up.

Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me at all: the fake hipster of UO is already well-known, and despite how much you might like their stuff, their owner donates your green to guys like – Rick Santorum.

So no UO for me, no matter how fast they try to disappear this one.