Transgender Community

GLAD Publishes Groundbreaking Transgender Family Law Book
Resource for practitioners to foster quality representation for transgender clients

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is proud to announce the publication of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients. Featuring chapters by attorneys with expertise in both family law and transgender legal advocacy, the book was edited by Jennifer L. Levi , director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project, and Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder, a litigation associate in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray and a former GLAD attorney. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy will be available in bound and electronic versions on May 16, 2012.


“Some of the most heartbreaking stories I have heard in my career as an LGBT legal advocate involve transgender people in family courts,” said Levi, a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. “The rights of transgender people – as parents, spouses, and simply as human beings – are often trammeled in family court because of pervasive bias and misunderstanding. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy is a road map for transgender individuals and their attorneys to navigate the family court system in this evolving area of law.”


“This book tackles a cutting edge area of family law and we’re thrilled to have contributions from some of this country’s most well-respected experts in this field,” said Monnin-Browder. “Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy details the unique needs and vulnerabilities of transgender people in the family law context. I hope transgender people will read and share it with their attorneys as they plan a family, navigate the dissolution of a relationship or a custody dispute, or simply seek to protect their rights and those of their children.”


The chapters address a broad range of topics, including:


* Culturally Competent Representation
* Recognition of Name and Sex
* Relationship Recognition and Protections
* Protecting Parental Rights
* Relationship Dissolution
* Parental Rights after Relationship Dissolution
* Custody Disputes Involving Transgender Children
* Protections for Transgender Youth
* Intimate Partner Violence
* Estate Planning and Elder Law


In addition to chapters authored by Levi and Monnin-Browder, contributors to Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy include Kylar W. Broadus, Patience Crozier, Benjamin L. Jerner, Michelle B. LaPointe, Morgan Lynn, Shannon Price Minter, Zack M. Paakkonen, Terra Slavin, Wayne A. Thomas Jr., Esq., Deborah H. Wald and Janson Wu.


For more information, or to purchase a copy of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, visit http://glad.org/TFL .
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organisation dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.

http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory/6940/15/2/2012/GT-and-DIVA-publishers-launch-new-digital-magazine-for-trans-community.aspx

GT and DIVA publishers launch new digital magazine for trans community
by Peter Lloyd
15 February 2012

The publishers of Gay Times and DIVA magazine launch a groundbreaking digital publication aimed at the transgender community – META.

META is a unique magazine designed for a wide community of gender variant people. It is written by trans people and their friends for trans people and their friends. Through in-depth features, community discourse, arts coverage, celebrity interviews, comprehensive event listings, and charitable causes, META is a celebration of diversity.

META is connected to the UK’s exciting trans activism movement and is committed to challenging bigotry. It’s dedicated to promoting positive self esteem and connectivity among trans people, generating creativity, motivation and aspiration through inspiring imagery and positive ethos.



In the historic first issue, Vivian Bond, of Kiki and Herb fame, chats about changing personas:

“I am a Mixtress of reinvention. I've thrown everything up in the air many times to see where it lands. As to reinventing myself personally, well… I have always known who I am.”

Reality star Lewis Hancox responds to criticism following his appearance in Channel 4’s My Transsexual Summer:

“I outed myself, basically, and put myself in a vulnerable position. People shouldn’t be attacking me for that – it should be encouraged.”

Performance artist Diane Torr discusses traditional sexism:

“I was following a programme about famous dead people and they’d always have men on. I wrote in and said, “What is it, do women not die?”

Editor Paris Lees said:

“Trans writers have been gaining ground over the past few years, appearing in the New Statesman, the Guardian and the Times. Now, with META, we finally have our own platform. Forget ‘editor’ – speaking purely as a trans woman, I can honestly say I’m thrilled. META isn’t just for trans people, it’s for anyone who’s ready for a grown up discussion about gender – something we don’t always see in the mainstream media”.

META’s debut issue is available for digital download from the App Store or Android Market now!

It includes features on gender-free parenting, exclusive video content, real life stories and debate.

META will also feature Del LaGrace Volcano, Natacha Kennedy, DJ Lady Lloyd, Baga Chipz, Christine Burns, Jane Fae, Roz Kaveney, Jennie Kermode and Jay Stewart.

Contact: Gunner Scott
1617 778 0519
gscott@masstpc.org

For Immediate Release

Transgender Equal Rights Now a Reality in Massachusetts

BOSTON, MA [11/16/11] – The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) is proud to announce the passing of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill in the House and the Senate extending civil rights and hate crimes protections to the state’s transgender residents.

Last night, just before 9:00 PM, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the Transgender Equal Rights bill without any amendments. This morning by 10:30 AM, the bill passed in the Massachusetts Senate. The bill must still be approved once more in Senate the Governor can sign it. As we wait for Governor Deval Patrick to officially sign this bill into law, we can celebrate the impact this will have on our transgender youth, adults, and families across the Commonwealth.

MTPC thanks our legislative lead sponsors Representative Carl Sciortino, Representative Byron Rushing, Senator Ben Downing, and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz; all of the House and Senate co-sponsors, and the leadership of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray for providing vital protections for approximately 33,000 transgender residents here in Massachusetts.

This bill will give transgender people equal protections when seeking employment, housing, credit, and education. The bill also expands the state's hate crimes protections to now include transgender people; a community that experiences alarmingly disproportionate levels of harassment and violence.

The final version of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill passed by the legislature unfortunately does not include protections within public accommodations. MTPC and our coalition partners fought hard to try to get public accommodations restored in the Senate version of the bill, and were unsuccessful in doing so. Although this bill does not include public accommodations, this is a historic and important victory in the fight for achieving transgender equality in Massachusetts.

“This is not the end of our fight, and MTPC is committed to getting public accommodations protections for our transgender youth, adults, and families. MTPC plans on introducing a bill for the 2013 legislative session for those public accommodations protections,” said Gunner Scott, Executive Director of MTPC. “For now, let’s be proud of the difference this bill will make in the daily lives of thousands of people across the state who need jobs, a safe place to live and access to education.”

MTPC expresses our deepest gratitude to our community members, who have spent countless hours educating their legislators and the general public about the issues transgender people face. "It is because of the courage of our community members to come forward and tell their personal stories about themselves, their family members, and their friends that we have accomplished this milestone," said Nancy Nangeroni, Steering Committee Chair of MTPC.

MTPC thanks the members of the Transgender Equal Rights Coalition including MassEquality, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), ACLU of Massachusetts, MassNOW, Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Jobs with Justice, and Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality for their tireless work on behalf of transgender equal rights.


Founded in 2001, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) is a 501(c) 3 that works to end discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. MTPC educates the public, advocates with state, local, and federal government, engages in political activism, and encourages empowerment of community members through collective action.

http://calgaryherald.com/officer+educates+police+transsexualism/1819330/story.html

UK officer educates police on transsexualism
By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary Herald
July 23, 2009

CALGARY - Members of the Calgary Police Service attended a workshop on transsexualism Wednesday conducted by a transgendered officer from the UK to learn more about diversity issues.

Const. Louise Worsfold, who transitioned from male to female in 2004 while working as an officer for the Metropolitan Police Service in London, told her story to about 30 members of the CPS.

Const. Lynn MacDonald of the service's diversity resources unit said Worsfold, a firearms officer at Heathrow Airport, contacted her six weeks ago. She was planning a vacation in the Calgary area and offered to do a presentation.

"It was a great opportunity for the Calgary Police Service to learn and grow and figure out the best way to support our members should one of them decide to go through a transition," MacDonald said.
( Read more... )

'But I will not give up because I won't give the mainstream gay organisations the satisfaction of keeping us down. If we give up, they win. The reason we right now as a trans community don't have all the rights they have is that we allowed them to speak for us for so many damn years and we bought everything they said to us, "Oh let us pass our bill, then we'll come for you". Yeah come for me. Thirty-two years later and they are still coming for me. We can no longer let people like the HRC speak for us. It is not my pride, it is their Pride. I have nothing to be proud of except that I helped liberate gays around the world ... before I die, I will see our community given the respect we deserve.'
-- Sylvia Rivera, a tireless Trans activist who fought at the Stonewall riots in 1969 and passed away in February 2002.

Quote found in Pinned Down By Pronouns (2003, Conviction Books), edited by Toni Amato and Mary Davies.