Helen Boyd Kramer's journal on gender and stuff
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.
Another opinionated Helen blogging about Barack Obama, except she’s 82, the proper age for someone named Helen.
(via Feministing)
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!
Reason #7: Because in locations like Montgomery County, Maryland, and in Gainesville, Florida, attempts are afoot to repeal trans inclusive legislation that has already been passed. (The Maryland attempt already failed, thankfully.) But they’re doing so with signs that say “Sign our petition to keep men out of the ladies’ room!” Said Florida legislation wants cities to conform to the state’s civil rights code, which is often far less progressive – and far less trans inclusive – than the cities’. (And there’s something similar going on in Colorado.)
A report, not from AlterNet, not from Mother Jones, but from CNN, about voter suppression and voter roll purging that’s important to read, especially since “identity document mismatch” could get trans people’s registrations thrown out.
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.
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.
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.
The Trans for Obama campaign continues! It’s your time to stand up & be counted, trans democrats, independents, and republicans! If you’re voting for Obama, why not make your vote count twice?
First, here’s a reminder of an event way early in the campaign that has been forgotten by the “they’re both against gay marriage” set: Obama made a point of shutting down homophobic sentiments when he could have just let the moment pass. For those who think that them both being against gay marriage means there’s no difference between them when it comes to LGBT issues, please remember that McCain chose a running mate who is for “ex gay” therapy.
Then go look at these photos. I love that this photographer just kind of knew – as did Richard Avedon (watch till the end) – that Obama would become President Obama. Look at the one of his shoes. Of him cleaning up the drips from his ice cream. At the faces of the young people listening to and looking at him.
My firm belief is that Obama is an extraordinary president for extraordinary circumstances. That we are in the latter is in no doubt, considering this week’s economic news; there are lay-offs happening in all sectors of the economy. That the former is true – that Obama is the right president for this time – is only something I can be sure of in my head and heart. His decision to run when he did, his unbelievable good planning with making it to the nomination = all of these things, the odds he’s beat, tell me that his time is now.
And now it is yours. Go out and vote – early, if you can, to avoid the lines, or on November 4th.
This image is, I think, the reason Barack Obama raised $150 million for the month of September. We’ve already voted, with our wallets; we’re tired of being embarrassed to be American, when we really are a great nation that has acted shamefully these past few years.
We’ve added a blog entry by a currently-transitioning trans woman, and a Transmissions column in the Bay Area Reporter by the incomparable Gwen Smith of rememberingourdead.org.
Both go a little more into the whys of Obama (for those of you who haven’t made up your minds).
& We’ve now raised nearly $15k for Obama’s campaign to be president. It makes me positively tingle.