Category: politics & causes

politics, both trans & otherwise

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Trans for Obama: Reason #2

Reason #2 to vote for Obama is because when it came to extending non-discrimination coverage for Federal employees and contractors, Obama wanted to make sure that gender identity was an included category for non-discrimination (which is, imho, an excellent predictor of his backing a gender identity inclusive ENDA).

For trans voters: From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund will have lawyers staffing their hotline to respond to callers who experience discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression at the polls.

If you experience discrimination at your polling place, call their hotline at (646) 862-9396. Exercise your right to vote on November 4th. They’ll be there to make sure your vote counts.

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Trans for Obama: Reason #3

Reason #3 to vote for Obama is because on-the-ground discrimination issues – bathrooms, healthcare, veterans’ services, & social services – are exactly the kinds of issues Obama has worked on and felt strongly about for his entire career. A President Obama will give us a chance to bring these issues to light nationally, to do the research on where discrimination is happening, and how, and to whom, and to have the data to fix the problem.

Bathrooms, baby! Maybe someday we can stop talking about them!

& Here’s Charles, born in 1922, talking about volunteering for the Obama campaign in Boulder, CO. (Have a tissue ready.)

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Trans for Obama: Reason #5

Reason #5: Vote for Obama because he was one of the earliest co-sponsors of the Matthew Shepard Act, which provides hate crimes protections for all LGBT people nationally.

& Here’s his closing argument, a speech Obama gave in Canton, Ohio, a few days ago. If you have been listening, it’s a good re-cap of his ideas and platforms, and if you haven’t, then this is it, in a nutshell.

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Trans for Obama: Reason #6

Reason #6 to vote for Obama: he welcomes transgender lobbyists to his office, is fluent in our issues, cares about them, & wants to learn about all the different identities and hurdles faced by all of the different types of transgender people.

(Hey, that’s more than you can say about some members of the trans community!)

& Here’s some Obama cake & cupcakes, and even more clever, Barack O’Lanterns (or Jack O’Bamas?), just in time for Halloween!

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Trans for Obama: Reason #8 – Prop 8

Vote for Obama because: despite LGBT people objecting to both Presidential & VP candidates with the old complaint, “but neither of them are for gay marriage” please keep in mind that in fact, Senators Obama & Biden are both against all of the state and federal amendments that would rewrite constitutions to limit marriage to one man & one woman. Senator Biden, specifically, appeared on Ellen to talk about his dislike of Proposition 8 in California & all other propositions like it.

& For anyone who still hasn’t seen this, the guys from the original Bud “Wassup” ad, 8 years later, are ready for change.

While you’re at it, Californians, Vote No on Prop 4, too.

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Trans for Obama: Reason #9

Reason #9: Vote for Obama because Senator Obama, while working in the State Senate of Illinois, went out of his way to add explicit language that would include LGBT couples in the Domestic Violence bill there. The version with his language didn’t pass (with the Republicans controlling the state senate), but a very good statute did. The point is: Obama specifically wanted language that informed law enforcement to be aware that domestic violence effects LGBT couples too.

Also, check out this endorsement from The Anchorage Daily News.

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10 Days, 10 Reasons

betty cast

I had the fantastic opportunity to listen in on a conference call from Obama Pride that was specifically about & for the trans community. Wow. It is so astonishing to hear people from so many states talk about what they’re doing in their own states, and what challenges we face. With Betty’s foot broken, I’m not sure we’ll get to canvas as much as I’d like, so in addition, I’ve decided to use a bunch of what I learned during that call to give you 10 reasons, in these last 10 days, to vote for Obama.

Thanks to Tobias Wolff and Marsha Botzer for hosting it.

Reason #10: Vote for Obama because the people of Omaha, Nebraska – that red state in a swath of red states – are trying to turn their district blue for the first time since 1964. Go Omaha! Gobama! Nebraska is only one of two states that allocates electoral votes by congressional district (the other is Maine), which is what makes this effort important.