#7::Transgender woman killed in Cleveland remembered as loving partner | cleveland.com

A 45-year-old transgender woman shot and killed Friday will be remembered for her devotion to hair styling and being a loving and caring partner and friend, despite battling drug addiction for most of her life, her longtime partner said.  

Phylicia Mitchell died Friday after being shot in the chest about 6 p.m. outside her home on West 112th Street near Detroit Avenue, in the city's Edgewater neighborhood.

She is the first transgender person killed in Cleveland since Brandi Bledsoe in October 2016. There were 23 transgender people killed that year in the U.S. and 28 in 2017, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Transgender woman killed in Cleveland remembered as loving partner | cleveland.com

Police: Two people shot in central Las Vegas - FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

One of only THREE exclusively transgender clubs (Jacques Cabaret in Boston and Divas in SanFran the other two), details are very slim.  Whether the Parkland (FL) shooting has something to do with lack of reporting, no one lost their lives.  As of today 2/28/2018 I have yet to see any updates.

Las Vegas Metro police are investigating an early morning shooting in the central Valley that left two people injured.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting at 900 East Karen Avenue, near Maryland Parkway.

On arrival, officers located the two victims. One suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and the second person was shot in the stomach, according to Lt. Isaac Auten.

The victims were transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect has not been located at this time, police said.

Police: Two people shot in central Las Vegas - FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

See also::  Someone shot up a Las Vegas transgender bar but you probably didn’t hear about it

Bill de Blasio signs order allowing transgender access to NYC bathrooms – LGBTQ Nation

Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, signed an executive order on Monday that guarantees people access to single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identity at city facilities, including offices, pools and recreation centers, without the need to show identification or any other proof of gender. The move comes amid a continuing national debate over anti-discrimination laws.

“Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right that should not be restricted or denied to any individual,” de Blasio said. “Every New Yorker should feel safe in our city — and this starts with our city’s buildings.”
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The order does not apply to New York City’s public schools because there already is a policy that students must be allowed to use locker rooms or restrooms consistent with their gender identity. A bill currently pending before the city council would require publicly available, single-occupancy restrooms in both public and private buildings to be designated as gender-neutral.

Bill de Blasio signs order allowing transgender access to NYC bathrooms – LGBTQ Nation

BREAKING: KFC apologizes to transgender woman, offers her a job, fires manager – LGBTQ Nation

Georgia Carter, 27, had been out of work for about a year when she went into an interview with a local KFC on Williamsburg Rd. last week. Sure enough, with her experience in fast food services, she nailed the interview and was offered a job on the spot.

“How would you handle an upset customer?” said Carter (top image), remembering one of the questions she was asked. “You be polite. You’re in customer service. There’s no ‘handling’ them, you’re polite regardless.”

But that expected level of politeness wasn’t extended to her when an hour later she got a call from the manager she interviewed with.

“George, we have a problem,” Carter said, again recalling that afternoon. She wasn’t bothered being referred to by her birth-name, but the next sentence was heart breaking.

When the manager pointed out she put ‘male’ as her gender on her application, she was quick to clarify.
“Yes, I’m transgender, I live as a woman,” she recalled saying. “I am a woman.”
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"I’d like to become someone people can talk to, an advocate or something. I want to help people,” she said. “I hope it opens people eyes. I hope people wake up. It’s not the dark ages anymore, its 2016, its time for us to step out in the light and not hide who we are or who we love.”

And don’t think she’s proud or happy to see the offending manager get canned – she said she felt sad that he lost his job, but she think’s the broader fight for equality is more important.

“It was just desserts,” she said. “You can’t do wrong to people and expect everything to be okay.”

BREAKING: KFC apologizes to transgender woman, offers her a job, fires manager – LGBTQ Nation

Transgender policy sparks heated debate at St. Paul charter school - StarTribune.com

A heated debate over how to address the needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming students has dragged out for months at a public charter school in St. Paul, drawing in state activists and pitting parents against one another.

The dispute began when the parents of a 5-year-old child who is gender nonconforming asked Nova Classical Academy to help ensure their student wasn't being bullied. When other parents heard that faculty members were talking with children about such bullying, the school's board got involved, and outside groups stepped in.

The Minnesota Family Council, a Minneapolis-based Christian organization, now plans to hold a community meeting Tuesday at Nova to discuss the topic.

The charter school's controversy comes as schools across the country are enacting policies intended to make transgender students feel protected and included.

Since Nova did not have a policy in place, the backlash is falling on the shoulders of one family, said Jill Gaulding, a co-founder of the nonprofit Gender Justice who is working with the family.

Transgender policy sparks heated debate at St. Paul charter school - StarTribune.com

How bad is the epidemic of violence against transgender women? It's hard to know. - Vox

But are these murders a growing epidemic? The answer, worryingly, is we don't know. Local, state, and federal governments don't collect much data on trans populations or violence against them, which means the 21 deaths we know about are — at best — a bare minimum, and it's unclear how big of a problem those deaths signify.

"There's very little data on violence against transgender women of color," Chai Jindasurat, the co-director of community organizing and public advocacy at the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), told me. "There's so much data that needs to be collected for us to make the case that we know we can and should be making to policymakers about why this issue is so important."
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That's important, because if we don't know exactly how many trans people are in the US, we can't figure out the rates of violence they face. And further demographic breakdowns could give more insight into who, exactly, is more likely to face violence — whether, for example, trans women of color are at greater risk.

But we also don't know how many trans people are victimized by violence each year. The biggest issue is that trans people often aren't correctly identified by authorities. If a homicide victim has a penis, police will assume that person is a man. If a victim has a vagina, police will assume that person is a woman. That's it. Police will rarely question if the victim identified differently — at least until family, friends, and media bring it up. (As one example of how bad this can be, the Advocate, an LGBTQ news outlet, reported that one woman, Jasmine Collins, wasn't identified as trans for two months.)

How bad is the epidemic of violence against transgender women? It's hard to know. - Vox

ADDENDUM::Transgender Woman Attacked and Killed As Baptists Advocate Curing “Transgenderism” with Prayer

In a time when Laverne Cox is killing it and Caitlyn Jenner is making waves, it’s easy to pat ourselves on the back when it comes to transgender issues, but visibility is far from equality or security. As it stands, transgender individuals face discrimination in housing, healthcare, the workforce, and the legal system. Hate-motivated violence against transgender individuals rose by 13% last year, which is significant for a population already four times as likely to be murdered as the general population with one in two sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. And those numbers are likely low due to police reporting tactics. For transgender people of color, this reality is even worse.

Transphobia is real and deadly. Activists are working hard to counter its lethal impacts, but Christianity, in particular, is making things hard for them in the U.S.

• Southern Baptist Conference: ‘Struggling’ LGBT People Can Change Through Christ
• Evangelical transgender conference rejects notion that gender identity can change

There is so much wrong with this sort of position. Being a transgender individual is not a disorder or a function of confusion; it’s embracing who you are. The idea that it’s something that can be “cured” brings to mind the despicable practice of gay conversion therapy. But taking it a step further, Hamilton actually suggests parents turn their backs on their children. He’s literally advocating child abuse under the guise of Christian compassion. When this is what children are taught, it’s no surprise that 80% of transgender individuals report being harassed in school. When this is how we treat them, it’s no wonder that 50% of transgender individuals will attempt suicide at least once before the age of 20.

Transgender Woman Attacked and Killed As Baptists Advocate Curing “Transgenderism” with Prayer

Evangelical transgender conference rejects notion that gender identity can change - The Washington Post

With a statement as such, "ll the speakers have agreed to a statement published last year that rejects 'that a human being could possess a gender other than the one indicated by biological sex.'"  I'm not too sure about how much informed "Christian thought" will take place.

People have the right to their religious beliefs, said Anderson, who had never heard of the biblical counselors group. But he added that he was concerned that the mix of worldviews between religion and science is one “we don’t feel works very well for people.”

“We want to be very careful to keep what psychology has to say from its knowledge distinct from what religion may have to say from its knowledge,” he said.

The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors had planned its conference last year, Lambert said. But nobody could have predicted what has happened since then. Stars such as Laverne Cox of “Orange Is the New Black” and Caitlyn Jenner have turned the national spotlight on transgender issues, and the Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

It’s important that seminary students understand the world they live in, he said. And it’s important for Christians to learn to think about the issues in a way that is “not just informed by Christian thought, but informed by Christian care.”

Evangelical transgender conference rejects notion that gender identity can change - The Washington Post

This Cartoon Shows Just How Little Conservative Christians Understand Transgender People

So Michael Brown (PhD, Near Eastern Languages and Literatures) is one of those idiots I like to dislike.  He hasn't quite reached the pinnacle of Scott Lively's status, but he is close.  He is, in my mind, a misguided soul who needs to STFU about things (LGBTQ issues) he knows nothing about.

That aside, Hemant Mehta is someone I like and his criticism of the meme Brown posted is spot on.  Mehta is correct, "Dr. Michael Brown, a columnist for Charisma, is one of many Christians who puts on this guise of compassion while ignoring what scientists and psychologists say on the subject of sexuality. He says gay and transgender identities can be “cured.” He says he’s not transphobic, but misgenders them all the time. He also calls them predators.

What I find "comical" and it is a point Hemant notes - It’s telling that the character who most resembles Brown’s own view is the child — the one person who’s expected to not get what’s happening and who can be forgiven for not understanding the complexities of gender. Brown, on the other hand, should know better - I can relate to.  To this day, even with 44DDs, people still misgender me based on appearance.

Growing up I was not the most feminine of creatures (I'm still not but don't mess with my hair products or lotions).  I was a tom-boy through and through; hell, I still am, even though my body says otherwise. (It's all in the mind,,,hehe,,,I would still be playing hockey if I was physically able.)  Bizarre thing is, up until my 11th birthday my hair was butt length.  By age 12, it was blatantly obvious I was not male.  But because I didn't always look or act the part, I was notoriously sent to the little boys room. Even as recent as 5 years ago I would have little kids ask if I was a boy or girl, especially if I was wearing one of my ball-caps.  But as Hemant notes, a child "can be forgiven for not understanding the complexities of gender."

That is what Brown and his ilk don't get, it is not a matter that is simple.  I will be the first to admit that for many years, when younger, I sometimes questioned whether I was in the "wrong body".  But as I grew older, both in age and maturity, I learned to accept my differences and embrace that "I am woman".  I am, who I am.  Just because I love (and sometimes fuck) someone of the same gender assignment only means that the heart chooses whom it chooses.  It says nothing else, period.

To degrade a segment of the population that Brown does, only shows me that Brown is not comfortable with who he has become; who he is at the core.  He tries to fit himself into an ideal that is flawed.  A man made construct (the theological notion of complementarianism) based a stagnant and dead text written 2000+ yeas ago.  I mean seriously dude, you're getting you sexual ethics from a "book" that doesn't even science.  Think about it, Adam and Eve where not distinct creations but fucking clones; how does that work exactly?  It's a book that condemns a man for "spilling his seed".  Or worse isolates a woman because of a natural process.

Do you send your wife to the doghouse when she is on her period?  If you don't then,,,well,,,STFU!!

This Cartoon Shows Just How Little Conservative Christians Understand Transgender People

UPDATE::Suspect Arrested In Murder Of Transgender Woman India Clarke

Police in Tampa, Florida, have arrested a man they believe murdered India Clarke, whose death put her on a growing list of transgender woman killed violently in the U.S. this year.

DNA evidence linked 18-year-old Keith Lamayne Gaillard to Clarke's death, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office press release. Investigators found Gaillard's DNA under Clarke's fingernails, as well as on a condom containing fluid in her car. Police said the suspect's fingerprint was found on a cigar wrapper in the car.
Clarke had died at a family-friendly park in Tampa on July 21. Detectives initially reported that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, but revealed this week that she'd been shot in the head and arm.

A maintenance worker found Clarke's body on the morning of July 21 in the park at the University Area Community Center.

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Meanwhile, her parents and authorities refused to call her by her preferred pronouns.

"We are not going to categorize him as a transgender. We can just tell you he had women's clothing on at the time," detective Larry McKinnon told BuzzFeed News. "What his lifestyle was prior to that we don't know -- whether he was a cross-dresser, we don't know."

Suspect Arrested In Murder Of Transgender Woman India Clarke

Woman suing Fishbones after being mistaken for a man and kicked out of the woman s restroom - WXYZ.com

I highlight this case for 3 reasons,,,

1. So Peter LaBarbera, you still feeling like a Jew?  In other words, it is and LGBTI issue.
2. It is an LGBTI issue that may have "interesting" legal ramifications, especially in regards to the type of politicking that occurs - ie. Michelle Duggar.
3. It is something I can relate too.

You see I am not exactly the most feminine of individuals.  I smoke, I chew, I cuss like a sailor.  At points in my life my hair has been buzzed to a crew.  And as an athlete,,, lets just say I ain't no gymnast and I walk like I just got off a horse.  Although I'm a 44DD, while wearing a coat, many times I have been called sir.  I have had little kids ask me if I was a boy or a girl. 

It use to bother me especially when I was younger.  Now I laugh hysterically and flash my tits and threaten to make people feel 'em just so they are sure (uh,,,not the little ones , just adults).  But, I shouldn't have to. And yes, I am being blunt for a reason as I do not understand what the fuss is all about.

You see, as I pointed out in my first piece concerning Michelle Duggar, all she does is regurgitate the falsehoods perpetuated by Paul Cameron.  Falsehoods "which are derived from the false assumption that men who molest boys are gay, despite the fact that Groth's original study found that none of the men identified himself as homosexual. Instead, the pedophiles were either heterosexual outside of their criminal behavior or were what Groth termed 'fixated pedophiles with no interest in sex with adults.'"

By playing on the "bathroom predator" line of argument, Duggar et al are equating "transgender people to sex offenders and pedophiles, and suggesting that men will simply pretend to be trans as a means to assault women and children in private facilities. These talking points play on the public's fears, and ignore the fact that transgender individuals are far more likely to be the victim of physical or sexual assault in a place of public accommodation than they are to be the agressor."

It's not like Duggar et al have a leg to stand on with their arguments.  But fear wins out and people should know this by now.  It's not as if the "hets" are a persecuted and demonized minority as LaBarbera seems to think.  And it doesn't even matter if Bogorad is part of the LGBTI community.

What matters as Suzi Chase writing over at Suzi's Place points out,

Unless the manager and the guard are ruthless sociopaths who love to see trans people suffer,,,it’s likely that they just never thought about it,,,.  [I]t makes no sense that a woman whose gender history is recognizable should be required to use a different restroom from a woman whose gender history is not,,,.
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This world isn’t ideal. Transgender bathroom use isn’t on the radar of most cisgender people and won’t be, unless we change that. It is up to us to make sure that people understand why it simply can’t be any other way.

If we don’t, more incidents like the one in Detroit will occur, and more people will get hurt.

As the following will attest, what we have is the first known "innocent" victim of the false GOP narrative and moral panic about transpeople in the bathroom.

Cortney Bogorad has lived in Detroit all her life and has eaten and Fishbones multiple times. But, she hasn't returned since the January 23rd incident, when, she says, she was kicked out of the restaurant's women's bathroom - accused of being a man.

Bogorad says she went to use the restroom and a security worker yelled from outside for whatever man is in the restroom to come out now.

“As I came out of the stall, this gentleman - who was a security guard - came in the bathroom, and before I was even completely out of the bathroom he grabbed me by the arms and pushed me up against the wall, told me that boys aren’t allowed in this restroom," she says. "This could have happened to anybody. There are lots of females out there with short hair. some people might think we’re boys, but, at the end of the day, we’re not"

Woman suing Fishbones after being mistaken for a man and kicked out of the woman s restroom - WXYZ.com

Huckabee On Transgender People: I Wish I Could've Said I Was Transgender In HS To Shower With The Girls - BuzzFeed News

While reading this a few disconcerting thoughts came to mind:

He openly fantasizes in public about showering with "underage girls" and then at a later time defends Josh Duggar.  Granted the "girls" would have been in the same age bracket as him;  but not something you would consider as an adult even upon reflection.

It's not about "feeling like a woman" during shower time. It's about feeling like a woman all the time. But as Huckabee understands it, the primary reason that a transgender person would submit to the trials and tribulations  of a lifelong transitioning process is to be able to catch glimpses of chicks in restrooms and locker rooms. 

My very sage friend, Callie Wright of The Gaytheist Manifesto put it this way in response to similar thinking: 

It's my favorite thing in the world when people who very obviously have zero understanding of a community but have gobs of opinion about it. You wouldn't feel like a woman if you had surgery because you're not one. Imagine how fucked up and wrong you would feel if you woke up with a vagina and tits tomorrow. Think honestly for a second about how fucked up that would feel. And you might have something approaching an understanding of what it's like to be trans.

I cannot tell you how disgusted and angry this makes me. This bloviating idiot is making jokes about gender issues that for some are the cause of much pain and ridicule, that they chose death over life.  It is not a "decision" anyone should be forced to make.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joked earlier in the year he wished he could have pretended to be transgender in high school “when it came time to take showers in PE.”

Huckabee made the comments at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this year but the comments were uploaded to YouTube over the weekend by World Net Daily.

“For those who do not think that we are under threat, simply recognize that the fact that we are now in city after city watching ordinances say that your 7-year-old daughter, if she goes into the restroom cannot be offended and you can’t be offended if she’s greeted there by a 42-year-old man who feels more like a woman than he does a man.”

Huckabee continued saying saying he wished someone told him in high school he “could have felt like a woman” and shower with the girls.

Huckabee On Transgender People: I Wish I Could've Said I Was Transgender In HS To Shower With The Girls - BuzzFeed News