Legal rights seems to be the theme of this months edition of the newsletter.
A controversy over a will in Akron, outrageous behavior by a member of the
Florida legislature, and a trans-couple denied a marriage license in California
are among the stories this month. Additionally, not covered in the newsletter,
but still present in our minds is the Ohio Defense Of Marriage Act which
could have tremendous implications for all transgendered individuals. Check
your email to stay abreast on this issue.
Finally please note, immediately below this message, the notice for PFLAG's
"Virgil For Our Children." TransFamily is co-sponsoring this event and Karen
would like to see a good turn out from Transfamily..... T's, parents, spouses,
so's, children, and friends.
 Helping Families in the Greater Cleveland Area Since 1985 |
Vigil For Our Children
|
| This event is intended to demonstrate our love and affection
for our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered friends and family members,
and bring attention to the hate and discrimination directed at our loved
ones by a judgmental society.
We want to send a peaceful message that while differences will always exist
within our society, and even our churches, it is time for our public and
private institutions to embrace everyone equally, and to accept the wonderful
gifts our loved ones have to offer us.
The event will consist of short, informal public speeches interspersed with
traditional folk music. We encourage people bring childhood pictures of their
loved ones, to help emphasize the basic humanity of our LGBT children and
to demonstrate our familial love for them.
This event is open to the public. |
| Contacts:
|
PFLAG Cleveland -
http://members.aol.com/pflagcleve; (216)556-1701
GLSEN Cleveland -
http://www.glsencleveland.org
Transfamily of Cleveland -
http://www.transfamily.org; (216) 691-HELP (4357)
Join Us!
This month's
meeting will be on Thursday, May 3rd at our normal location, using
our regular format although if the weather permits we will be outside. If
you are inspired to cook up an entrée for this month's meeting, please
indulge yourself.
Items to bring:
Casseroles/Main Dishes
Side Dishes
Hors d’oeuvres
Snacks
Soda (pop)
And
Desserts
Need directions?
Call (216) 691-HELP (4357) or
e-mail Karen at
karen_gross@transfamily.org
Transsexual, Stepchildren In War Of Will
By Phil Trexler, Akron Beacon Journal staff writer
Sunday, April
1, 2001- Sean Brookings has been a groom three times, a widower once. He's
also been a bride, a mother and a widow. But it's his fifth marriage -- his
third to a woman since his sex-change operation -- that has landed the
Springfield Township man in Summit County Probate Court. The bearded, balding,
tattooed former carpenter is battling his dead wife's children over her estate
and a mobile home that isn't so mobile after 30 years of sitting within spitting
distance of Springfield Lake.
The adult children's claim is simple: The January 1995 marriage of Brookings
and their mother, Dimple Lois McKinney, was a fraud and so is her will. It
must be a fraud, they contend, because everyone knows two women cannot legally
marry in Ohio. But according to court records, the two were very much legally
married by the state. And it wasn't the first time that Brookings drove south
and took out a marriage license in Canton.
As a man, Brookings applied for and received three marriage licenses after
proposing to three different women. His first stint as a groom ended when
his wife ran off with his son, whom he bore 32 years ago when he was Sharon
Perry. His second marriage lasted four months. His marriage to McKinney lasted
the longest. She died of respiratory failure last May, after more than five
years of marriage. In her will, she left everything, including her trailer,
to Brookings. And Brookings says that's the way she wanted it. Her kids,
he says, ignored her until her death. ``This is my home and I'm not going
to give it up without a fight,'' Brookings, 54, said as he rocked slowly
in his easy chair.
Leslie Allen McKinney, 31, said he shudders when he thinks of Brookings living
in his mother's trailer. He claims his mother didn't know Brookings was a
transsexual when they married, and when she did learn the truth, she endured
years of physical and mental abuse, trapped in a drug-induced haze until
her death last year at the age of 61 -- an allegation Brookings denies. McKinney
has hired Tallmadge attorney Vincent J. Alfera to support the claim that
his mother's marriage and will are void, and to seek ownership of the trailer
and other personal property. ``It makes me sick to think what my mother went
through,'' McKinney said. ``And it makes me sick to think that thing is living
in my parents' home.''
Several marriages
A locked fence with a buzzer surrounds the West Parkway trailer home to alert
Sean Brookings of visitors. Above the garage door is a ``Wild Man'' sign.
On this day, Brookings walks slowly outside with a shy, yet firm hand shake.
His white shirt is buttoned down, showing off his gold chain and hairy chest.
Tattoos of a sword and snake can't conceal the mastectomy scars. Black pants
and pointed black cowboy boots complete his ensemble. Inside the home, he
sits in his easy chair, lifts his bushy forearm and lights a Maverick. He's
tried, but can't quit cigarettes. ``Growing up, I knew I was different,''
he says. ``I knew I wasn't gay, but I also knew women didn't date women.''
This Springfield resident spent the first 40-plus years of life as Sharon.
Sharon attended Central High School in Akron and dropped out in 1962 to marry
Edward Miller, a man 18 years her senior. The marriage lasted about a month.
``I just couldn't take it. I knew it wasn't what I wanted,'' Brookings said.
In 1965, Sharon married construction worker James G. Perry Sr. The couple
had two children and Sharon played housewife until being widowed in 1978
when her husband was killed in a work accident.
Thoughts of living life as a man grew for Brookings after that accident.
``Once the kids were of age and starting a life on their own, I looked into
it,'' he said.
The transformation began in 1986 and was finished in 1991. Before the final
surgery, he married his first bride, Julia Barreda, a petite Florida woman
10 years his junior. The marriage license was granted in late 1988 by the
Stark County Probate Court, the same court that made Ohio legal history a
year earlier by denying a transsexual a marriage license application. ``Every
now and then one gets by because there's so many of these surgeries going
on,'' said Probate Judge R. R. Denny Clunk, who denied the transsexual marriage
license to another couple in 1987.
In applying for the license, Brookings never mentioned his divorce from a
man -- or either of the previous marriages -- although that information is
asked for on the application.
The marriage to Barreda lasted less than two years. She ran off and married
the son that Sharon Brookings bore. The couple is still married. ``It was
hard,'' Brookings said of his first failed marriage as a man. There is no
record of his divorce from Barreda. Nor is there any record in Probate Court
that Brookings ever legally changed his name. Brookings, however, says he
obtained his driver's license and a Social Security card in Sean's name with
documentation provided by medical authorities involved in his sex change,
and he believes the name change was handled the same way.
In 1990, Brookings took the plunge again, marrying Virginia H. Baughman,
55, of Twinsburg. Again, Stark County granted the marriage license. The union
lasted just four months. Brookings said the woman was too worried that her
children would learn of his past. A divorce was granted in Summit County.
Disputed claims
In 1994, Brookings met a recently widowed Dimple Lois McKinney through a
personal ad she placed. He wined and dined the 55-year-old. Both lived on
Social Security disability benefits -- McKinney for mental problems because
of anxiety and Brookings because of a back injury. Brookings said he told
McKinney -- as he did his other two wives -- about Sharon very early in their
relationship. ``I'd be stupid to try and hide something like that. I didn't
want to get involved with her and tell her later and maybe have to break
up,'' Brookings said. ``She said she didn't mind and that as far as she was
concerned, I was a man.''
Leslie McKinney said his family suspected something was different about
Brookings. ``Ever since I heard him speak and looked at him, I sensed something
was wrong,'' McKinney said. ``Mom wasn't as smart. She was grieving and I
think she thought she had somebody to take care of her.''
Months before they were married, Brookings' name went on the trailer deed.
Brookings said the deed transfer was in exchange for about $9,000 in repairs
he made to the home, including fixing the bathroom floor when the toilet
collapsed.
On Jan. 1, 1995, the couple wed. Again, Brookings went to Canton for his
marriage license. This time, Brookings mentioned only his divorce from Baughman.
After the wedding, a survivorship deed, in which property automatically transfers
to a surviving spouse upon death, was created, and the new Mrs. Brookings
wrote a will leaving her trailer to her husband.
Leslie McKinney said his mother learned of Brookings' past only after the
wedding and that she was horrified and embarrassed. ``About a month after
the wedding, he came up to her and told her and said, `I have something to
show you,' '' McKinney said. It was the tape of Brookings' appearance a couple
years earlier on the Sally Jessy Raphael show, which detailed the sex change.
``She was so torn to pieces because she felt she was taken so badly by this
he-she,'' McKinney said. ``But she said she couldn't get out because he had
already taken half of everything she had.''
Soon, Springfield police were regulars at the trailer, visiting there at
least six times for domestic quarrels, according to court records. Sean Brookings
said police were often called by Mrs. Brookings and often told to leave by
Mrs. Brookings without any arrests. McKinney said his mother's doctor and
neighbors noticed signs of abuse. ``She wanted out. There wasn't a day that
she didn't wish she could,'' he said. ``But because of the threats, the bruises,
Sean's physical and verbal abuse, she couldn't.''
Brookings said he never struck his late wife, and that, most times, she was
the aggressor. He said his wife was always depressed, particularly about
her children and their absence on Mother's Day and other holidays.
But court records show one case in which Brookings was accused of assaulting
his wife during an argument. Mrs. Brookings told police her husband pushed
her, bloodied her eye and spit in her face. He was sentenced to a treatment
program for domestic abusers. ``I had a good relationship with her,'' Brookings
said. ``She never wanted to leave me.''
In an interview, Brookings denied any criminal arrests, aside from three
drunken driving convictions. However, his arrest for assaulting Mrs. Brookings
was his third for domestic violence and the first since 1991, according to
police records. Brookings' criminal record goes back to 1973. As a woman,
records show, Brookings was charged with crimes including possessing stolen
mail, assault, disorderly conduct and grand theft.
Aside from the abuse allegations, McKinney claims that Brookings kept his
mother's medication in a locked safe, keeping some for himself.
Brookings says his late wife was an addict. He says he was the only one who
tried to save her from her depression and mental anxieties, and that her
children would visit only when her Social Security check came and they needed
money. ``I had to take her pills because she would overdose,'' he said. ``It
was easier for her to sleep than face her problems with her kids.''
Attorney Alfera said Mrs. Brookings lost 50 pounds between the time she married
and her death on May 6, 2000. OxyContin, Xanax and the pain killer Darvon
were among the medications found in her system. The drugs were prescribed
by three doctors. ``I don't think any one doctor knew about the others,''
Alfera said. Brookings ``kept her highly medicated to the point where she
was so intoxicated on medication she would not fight. There was no resistance.
She was the perfect target.''
Money was also an issue in the marriage. McKinney claims his mother was solvent
when she met Brookings. Before she died, they had filed for bankruptcy. A
week before her death, Mrs. Brookings had agreed during a telephone call
with her son to make an appointment with a divorce lawyer, Alfera said. The
meeting never took place.
A hearing is scheduled for May 18 in Summit County Probate Court, where
Brookings' attorney, Randi Barnabee, will argue that the children's
lawsuit should be thrown out. The will, and not the marriage license, is
the key to Brookings staying in the trailer, the lawyer said. ``I just don't
see a credible claim on their part,'' said Barnabee, a male-to-female transsexual
who specializes in gender issues. ``The marriage is not relevant. The will
specifically gives everything to Sean. And to be honest, I don't think we'd
be here if Sean was not a transperson.''
Alfera counters that the marriage is void and that Sean Brookings does not
exist legally. ``There was someone pretending to be Sean Brookings who really
is biologically a female,'' he said. ``And if there was ever a case of fraud
and signing a will under duress, this is it.''
Outside the trailer, Brookings walks toward a garden his wife helped tend.
He intends to build a memorial on the site to his late wife. ``Lois told
me I was her life, she loved me and couldn't live without me,'' he said.
``I want to build something for her to remember her by whenever I walk outside
our home.''
Copyright © The Beacon Journal Publishing Co.
Gender Issue Torn Asunder
By Jim Davis, Fresno (California) Bee
A man and woman
were denied a marriage license in Fresno County last month because the man
is in the process of becoming a woman, a case raising legal, social and
philosophical questions.
The man dressed like a woman, carried a driver’s license indicating
he was a woman and even used the women's restroom, but he also claimed to
be a male-in-transition, undergoing hormone therapy without completing a
sex-change operation.
"I made the decision to deny the marriage license, because same-sex marriages
are illegal," Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar said. However, Salazar is
waiting for a legal opinion from county counsel to see whether he made the
right decision. "Obviously, this is a gray area," Salazar said.
Charlotte Jenks, president of Central California Pride Network, a gay and
lesbian group in Fresno, doesn't see it that way. She argues that if the
man still has a penis, then he should be treated as a man. "If he is still
a man, then it doesn't matter how he dresses," Jenks said.
Spokesmen for the Secretary of State and Attorney General offices said the
issue is outside their jurisdiction.
Citing privacy concerns, Salazar declined to identify the couple. He tried
to relay a message to the couple, but said their phone was disconnected.
He has contacted the man's doctor, who said the couple may not want to pursue
the case. Still, Salazar said he would send them a letter after he gets the
legal opinion.
The couple sought an application for a marriage license three weeks ago.
Jose Gomez, a deputy commissioner in the clerk's office, asked the woman
whom she was marrying, and the couple told him they were together. "I just
informed her that in the state of California, we don't do that ceremony,"
Gomez said.
That's when the couple asked to speak with a supervisor. The issue went through
the chain of command to Salazar, who was appointed county clerk less than
two months ago. Salazar said the man appeared to have breasts and presented
a doctor's note saying that he had been feminized. "The attire, the makeup
-- in every aspect this person appeared to be a female," Salazar said.
Gomez said the male-in-transition was "a fairly good-looking lady, a blonde.
"Woman or man, I wouldn't be able to tell you."
Salazar decided not to grant a marriage license because the man was living
as a woman in manner, appearance and even legal documentation -- with the
driver’s license. "They were not very happy about the outcome," Salazar
said. "By all indications, they appeared to be frustrated about the process."
Jenks said Salazar made the wrong decision: "If I dress up in men’s
clothes and bind my breasts, can I marry my partner?" Jenks points to the
California prison system -- which houses males undergoing hormone therapy
in male prisons -- as an example of how government already handles these
cases.
About 15 to 20 transsexuals, all male, are housed in California prisons,
said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections. Four
are taking hormone injections. According to department policy, if someone
has undergone a sex-change operation, then they would be put into a prison
of the new sex, Heimerich said. He was not aware of that ever happening.
Melinda Whiteway, a Walnut Creek lawyer specializing in transgender documentation
issues, said that what the prison does is departmental policy, which is different
from case law.
California law states that marriage is a personal relation arising out of
contract between a man and a woman. But Whiteway, who is co-vice chair on
the California Bar committee on sexual orientation and gender identity
discrimination, said the laws surrounding the issue are murky because there
isn't any California court precedent. The only state that has settled the
issue is Texas, where the state appellate court ruled that a man remains
male even after sex-change surgery, Whiteway said.
As a practical matter, Whiteway said the couple should have gone to a county
more familiar with transgender issues and the man should have gone in male
drag. "It's a no-win situation for the county clerk," Whiteway said. "The
safest thing is for the clerk to say, 'No, I don't think so.'"
Salazar said the couple's request poses legal and social questions that cannot
be easily answered. "I'm just trying to apply the law to a very unusual
situation."
Lawmakers Sadly Flunk Equality Test
By John Wark, Tampa Tribune
April 14, 2001
- Sixteen-year-old Rachyl Carey of Tampa visited the Capitol and knocked
on her lawmaker's doors Monday with 80 other gay, lesbian and straight students
from Florida's public high schools and colleges. She was dressed in heels,
a black shirt and a maroon angle-cut skirt printed with roses as she met
the aides of four Tampa Bay area senators.
"The first one was kind of patronizing,'' said Carey, who is transsexual.
"But most of them were quite responsive and none were rude. It was pretty
much a positive experience.
"They gave us helpful advice. They told us different things. That we should
have a bill written up so they know what we are asking for, which will happen
next year. They told us to write letters and things like that. ... Regardless
of whether they took what we were saying to heart, they were all very friendly,
very cordial.''
Carey's experience was in sharp contrast to what happened to four gay youths
from Orlando who, meanwhile, were meeting with one of their lawmakers,
Representative Allen Trovillion, R-Winter Park.
Carey and her contingent of friends came to Tallahassee to tell lawmakers
how classmates harass them and how teachers and school administrators fail
to protect them. Some teachers and administrators act as if the students
are to blame for bringing the mistreatment on themselves, they said.
Virtually all of the students said they have been subjected to condemnation,
discrimination, harassment and violence because their sexual orientation
or gender identification is different. Carey, who said her mother pulled
her out of a Dunedin school in ninth-grade for fear she would be harmed,
vividly recalls being spit upon during a school pep rally. "That was a complete
and totally dehumanizing experience. It really showed me the hatred people
felt toward me,'' she said.
Carey and the others implored lawmakers to strengthen the state's
antidiscrimination laws to protect them. Most of the lawmakers said they
believe the state's existing antidiscrimination laws are sufficient to protect
everybody -- gays, lesbians, blacks and whites. A new law is not needed.
It's only a matter of enforcing existing laws, they said.
Accept that fact, and what to do to protect gay and lesbian college and high
school students becomes a difficult question. Laws exist -- but it's also
true that they seem to get ignored.
Law ignored: A Massachusetts school system prevented a male student from
wearing a dress to school. Law upheld: The student sued. The student won.
The school appealed. The student won again. The law, ruled the court, permits
a student to wear whatever any other student wears, male or female.
High school can be a difficult time when peer pressure on young people is
intense. This social need to make others conform to be like us may be a natural
group dynamic or one that's learned. Whichever it is, it's difficult to entirely
fault young people for being swept up in it.
What young people need is guidance from teachers, parents and other authority
figures in how to behave when confronted by the pressure to conform. Conforming
is OK. So is not conforming.
The question is where are the adults who can maturely guide the young to
a deeper respect and tolerance for those who are different -- adults
who can counsel them on the unwise human cost of pressuring everyone to be
the same?
Is Trovillion such a model adult? Or is the Winter Park Republican one of
those in authority who teach that it is OK to condemn youths who are different,
that it is OK to subject them to new pressures to conform using the threatening
terminology of ostracism and alienation?
"You are going to cause the downfall of this country that was built on
Christian principles,'' Trovillion told the students. "You're throwing your
life away... You have to suffer the consequences of your actions...
The Scripture says that no homosexual will see the Kingdom of God,
and I can't put it much straighter than that... God destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you and a lot of others.''
Is Trovillion the role model public school teachers and administrators should
follow? If a lawmaker can treat youths this way, why not teachers?
Is Florida Education Commissioner Charlie Crist a model adult? Crist on Thursday
issued a written denunciation of Florida Atlantic University for allowing
a play to be staged that depicts a gay, Christlike character living in modern-day
Texas. Crist wrote that the school's sponsorship "should appall any thinking
person who honors the religious beliefs of others. For Christians, it is
a personal attack.''
Does Crist's silence on Trovillion's attack on the gay students indicate
he agrees with Trovillion? By remaining silent, what example is Crist setting
for teachers and school administrators? He quickly condemns a play with a
gay theme that offends Christians and fails to condemn a state lawmaker who
chastises students for being different.
Sadly, no one in a high position in state government has stepped forward
to criticize Trovillion as Crist has criticized FAU.
And even though it is heartening that Senate aides treated Rachyl Carey with
civility and respect, the silence of the Legislature tells all that needs
to be known about Florida as a place of equal protection.
The students will tell you this is the way it is for them. That's why they
came to Tallahassee. People can do what they want to them.
The adults who could do something about it stand by in silence.
'God Will Destroy You'
The Associated
Press - Tallahassee, Fla., April 10 -- Four gay activists visiting the Capitol
were told by a veteran lawmaker that the country has lost a lot because of
gay and lesbian activities and that their lifestyles are at odds with Christian
principles.
"I told them I disagree with what they're doing and I think they're headed
in the wrong direction," said Rep. Allen Trovillion, a Winter Park Republican
and World War II veteran.
Trovillion said Tuesday he had no intention of supporting legislation that
would broaden Florida's discrimination laws to include sexual orientation
and gender identity. "I'm against discrimination, but I'm opposed to this,"
Trovillion said Tuesday, adding that laws already on the books protect people
from discrimination.
The 74-year-old lawmaker said he was surprised at a newspaper account of
his 10-minute meeting Monday with four gays. The four were part of Equality
Florida Youth Lobby Day 2001, staged to increase awareness of the discrimination
and harassment gay students say they endure at public school.
"He said we bring it on ourselves," said Chris Vasquez, a senior at Edgewater
High School. "He's spouting ... ideas that only make the world more dangerous
for gay youth."
"God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you and
a lot of others," Trovillion told the group, according to the Tampa
Tribune.
Trovillion described the meeting as a polite exchange, noting that one of
the students thanked him as the group left. "I didn't tell them they were
going to hell," said Trovillion. "I said God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
I believe in what the scriptures said."
When asked Tuesday, the lawmaker said he believed homosexuals would go to
hell if they did not repent. "There's only two places you can go if you're
Christian. The Kingdom of God or hell," Trovillion said. "That's their choice."
Students Appeal For Safe Schools Prompt Action
By Equality Florida
Tallahassee,
FLA - April 10, 2001 - With national attention focused on the escalating
harassment and violence occurring on school campuses, students, parents,
educators and youth advocates are applauding today's announcement that a
Dignity for All Students bill will be introduced in the Florida
legislature.
Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell and Rep. Ken Gottlieb made the announcement about
sponsoring the safe schools bill in front of the House chambers and were
joined by students, parents, educators, and members of the clergy. Presently,
there are no Florida laws that protect students from this kind of bias-based
harassment, and educators say they lack the training and clear legal guidance
necessary to address the problem.
"When we speak of harassment and violence on school campuses, we are not
talking about occasional teasing that all students experience, said Nadine
Smith, Director of Equality Florida. "We are talking about the relentless
and degrading harassment that destroys a safe learning environment. The Florida
Dignity For All Students bill gives our state the tools to create safe schools."
Their press conference comes just a week after Equality Florida's Youth Lobby
Day. Organized by youth, the event drew 80 young people, primarily students,
from across the state to Tallahassee to urge the introduction of such a measure.
The timing of the announcement sends a clear message that the voices of
Florida’s youth have been heard.
"Schools aren't safe for LGBT youth," said Chris Vasquez, a senior at Edgewater
High School who attended the Youth Lobby Day. "We went to Tallahassee to
share our stories and spread that message. I am very happy that legislators
have shown a commitment to Florida’s youth and taken action."
On Thursday, legislators did respond by announcing the sponsorship of the
Florida Dignity For All Students Act. The bill would establish legal protection
from bias-based harassment and violence for all students, as well as provide
training and education to teachers and administrators in order to help them
properly address the problem on school campuses. A third component of the
act would provide statewide data collection and documentation of the climate
in Florida schools, so problem areas and incidents could be well documented.
National studies reveal that nearly seventy percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment and
the average high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25 times a day. By passing
the safe schools bill, the legislature can make schools harassment free zones.
"This is an important step," said Rachyl Carey, a transgender student who
was withdrawn from a Pinellas County high school because her mother feared
for her safety. "All students need protection. All students deserve to be
safe at school."
State Representative Trovillion Embarrasses Legislature
By Brian Winfield, Equality Florida
Tallahassee,
FLA - "God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you and
a lot of others."
Through a fire of homophobic comments, state Rep. Allen Trovillion, R –
Winter Park, embarrassed the Florida Legislature on Monday, when he unleashed
a personal tirade against Orlando students who visited him seeking help to
end school-based harassment and violence.
The students, part of a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth
in Tallahassee for Equality Florida’s Youth Lobby Day, visited
representatives seeking to share their individual stories about the frequency
of anti-gay violence in Florida schools. One of the students, 17-year-old
Chris Vasquez, was left in tears by Trovillion’s remarks.
"He (Trovillion) is one of the people we're supposed to look up to for moral
guidance and support," Vasquez said. "He's spouting ideas that only make
the world more dangerous for gay youth."
Statistics from national and state studies already paint a grim picture of
life for sexual minority youth in schools. A nationwide report released by
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network in 1999, revealed three
out of four sexual minority youth report verbal, sexual or physical harassment
on their school campus. Similar reports show that those students who are,
or perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are four times more
likely to be injured or threatened with a weapon on school grounds.
Thomas Gentile, a 19-year-old youth from Boca Raton, told Trovillion that
classmates targeted him because of his sexual orientation. School administrators
suspended the attackers for only one day, then humiliated Gentile by suggesting
he provoked the violence by being "too openly gay."
Despite a nationwide call for additional security and safety on school
campuses, Rep. Trovillion told Gentile, "You have to suffer the consequences
of your actions."
Vasquez, a member of the Orlando’s Gay and Lesbian Idea Exchange for
Youth (GALIXY), responded to Monday's incident, "Ironically, Trovillion's
comments only prove our point that discrimination against sexual minority
youth is still rampant in our state...sexual minority youth need protection
from harassment in their schools."
A recent Pinellas County School Climate Survey reported that sexual minority
youth were four times more likely than their straight peers to skip school
because they feared for their safety. The survey also showed that 63% of
the Pinellas students hear anti-gay comments more than twice a day.
"I don't understand why the gay population is becoming so vocal," Trovillion
questioned. "You are going to cause the downfall of this country which was
built on Christian principles."
Statewide human rights leaders expressed outrage upon hearing of Trovillion's
remarks. Equality Florida executive director, Nadine Smith, expressed her
disappointment and urged the Florida Legislature to take action. "Representative
Trovillion has disgraced and embarrassed the Florida Legislature by callously
dismissing the painful experiences of these students," said Smith. "We call
on the Governor, Trovillion's colleagues in the Legislature, and all fair
minded Floridians to stand with students who are striving to make our schools
safe." To this end, Equality Florida is asking all Floridians to express
their outrage by contacting Governor Bush at 850-488-4441 and asking him
to show desperately needed leadership in condemning the bigoted actions of
a callous legislator.
For more information, Equality Florida can be reached at (813) 870-EQFL(3735).
Transperson Killed in Houston
HOUSTON - According
to a report from KPRC TV, the body of 29 year old Francisco Javier Luna was
found at around 4:30 am Sunday morning in a parking lot on Avenue E in downtown
Houston. Luna was found wearing women's clothing and makeup, with a brown
wig near the body. Luna suffered several gunshot wounds, including one to
his face, stomach, and shoulder.
Police were called to the scene by nearby residents, who reported hearing
several gunshots. When police arrived they found Luna's body lying next to
a maroon Dodge Dynasty with paper dealer tags.
Luna's passing is the third reported transgender-related murder in 2001.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at
(713) 308-3600, or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
Remembering Our Dead -
http://www.gender.org/remember
Hate Crimes Against Gays on Rise Across U.S
By Christopher Heredia, San Francisco Chronicle Staff
Writer
Friday, April
13, 2001 - Aurora Grajeda, a resident of San Francisco's Mission District,
said she had been spat upon and stalked by a man bent on harassing her just
because of who she is: a transgender woman.
"At first I was dumbfounded . . . then angry," said Grajeda, 54, recalling
the incident that occurred on Valentine's Day as she walked along Mission
Street to one of her favorite markets. "After he followed me for several
blocks, it was sheer terror."
The man, who was riding a bike, followed Grajeda, taunting her with anti-gay
epithets until she ducked into an alcove, where she found a pay phone and
called police. By the time officers arrived, she was in tears. The man was
gone. The officers took a report, but no arrest was ever made.
Community United Against Violence, a San Francisco anti-violence advocacy
group, released nationwide statistics yesterday showing attacks against gays,
lesbians, bisexuals and transgender men and women were on the upswing. Most
go unreported, and many are mishandled by police, CUAV said.
Some of the group's findings:
-
Nationwide, 2,475 people were victimized by anti-gay violence, up 10 percent
from 2,249 in 1999.
-
Attacks resulting in serious injury throughout the country were down 41 percent,
from 363 in 1999 to 215 last year, while assaults in general rose 60 percent
from 90 to 145.
-
One in six attacks nationwide were against transgender people.
-
Of the 415 incidents reported in Northern California, 271 occurred in San
Francisco, while 144 were scattered across Northern California.
-
U.S. murders motivated by anti-gay hate were down 43 percent, from 28 in
1999 to 16 in 2000.
-
San Mateo County accounted for most incidents outside San Francisco with
11, followed by 10 in Alameda County, seven in Contra Costa County and five
in Stanislaus County.
The group gathered its data from victim reports given to 26 anti-violence
nonprofit organizations across the country. "On the surface, the decrease
in seriously violent incidents may sound encouraging," said Oscar Trujillo,
hate crime victim advocate at CUAV. "But we know, from talking with people
across the country, that many anti-gay crimes are not recorded as bias crimes."
The group's numbers are higher than those collected by law enforcement agencies.
Last year, San Francisco police recorded 179 hate-motivated crimes, down
from 218 in 1999. In 66 of those attacks, racism was the motivating factor;
59 were anti-gay attacks; 29 were a product of anti-Semitism; 16 resulted
from hatred of ethnic groups. Three were against transgender men and women;
three were a result of religious intolerance, two of political persecution
and one of disability.
"We encourage people to make reports with the police," said Inspector Anna
Brown, team leader in the San Francisco Police Department's Hate Crimes Unit.
"It has to be a cooperative effort. Often, the victims are too traumatized.
They don't want to repeat the words someone said, and the officer may not
think of asking. It's important that we get as much information as possible."
Brown said victims of anti-gay crimes were more apt to report an attack to
a community organization than they were to police.
CUAV had several recommendations for reducing anti-gay violence, including
promoting tolerance in schools, expanding police sensitivity and hate-crimes
training programs, and encouraging lawmakers to adopt a federal hate crimes
statute that includes sexual orientation and gender.
"The only way to stop hate crimes is to talk about it," said Grajeda, a member
of TransAction, a San Francisco activist group. "I don't want to get used
to the harassment. My answer is to fight back."
Toronto Faces Quandary On Transsexual Housing
By Tom Lyons, National Post
April 3, 2001
- Toronto, ONT - City council here will consider a plan to create a separate
shelter for homeless transsexuals. Proponents of the idea say regular shelters
are inappropriate for the estimated 100 homeless transsexuals in Toronto,
mostly men hoping to become women.
"There is merit to having a distinct, separate facility for people who are
transgendered because they have distinct needs," said John Jagt, the city's
director of hostel services.
Anabella Wainberg, manager of the Women's Residence shelter, agrees segregation
is needed. "To put a transgendered person who is still physically a male
in a bedroom with a psychotic woman who thinks that little green men are
abusing her is not a good mix for either of them" she said.
Ms. Wainberg's shelter is one of the few facilities in Toronto that accepts
transsexuals. She said a decision in 1998 by the Ontario government to stop
funding sex-change procedures means many transsexuals have not completed,
or started, their operations. She said these "pre-operative transsexuals"
are difficult to place.
Some critics say the new policy, which will be brought to city council in
September, is discriminatory. "When you segregate, you're saying transgendered
women are a risk to other women because they have a penis," said Cindy Cowan,
executive director of Nellie's, another shelter that takes in transsexuals.
"But it's discriminatory attitudes which make shelters unsafe, not transgendered
women."
Christina Strang, the director of Meal-Trans, an outreach service for low-income
transsexuals, said Mr. Jagt's proposal is akin to racial segregation. "It
would be similar to saying some people have a lot of problems with people
who are of a different colour staying at a shelter," said Ms. Strang, who
conducts training sessions on transsexual issues with the city shelter staff.
The issue came to a boil in February when the Salvation Army, contracted
by Toronto to operate a temporary 120-bed shelter, banned transsexuals. Two
transsexuals, Venus Robinson, 23, and Tenishah Anderson, 21, say they were
turned away twice in January after they admitted to management they were
only halfway through their sex-change operations.
"At first, they were going to let us in, let us sleep there and everything.
It was not even an issue. But as soon as we said we were transsexuals it
was a big deal," Ms. Anderson said. "There was one lady in specific, she
came down on us really hard. She goes, 'Do you have your penises cut off?'
And we were like, 'No. We have breasts. There's only so much we can do. Give
us some time. It's not like we're going to expose it.' "
Fae Sturge, director of the shelter, confirmed the two were turned away.
But she said the Salvation Army is merely following the terms of its contract
with the city, which specifies that residency be limited to couples and single
females. "We have a policy that states they have to be 100% female to stay
with the single women," said Ms. Sturge. "They point-blank told me that they
were not. So we said to them that we would find them another place to stay."
© 2001 National Post Online
Sheriff Negligent in Teena Brandon Death
By Kevin O'Hanlon, Associated Press
Lincoln, Neb.,
April 20 -- A former sheriff was negligent for not protecting a cross-dressing
woman who was murdered in the case that inspired the movie Boys Don't Cry,
the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today.
In a scathing, 20-page opinion, Chief Justice John Hendry ordered a lower
court to award the victim's mother $80,000 and refigure damages for emotional
distress. The ruling reversed an earlier decision that said Teena Brandon,
who often dressed as a man and went by the alias Brandon Teena, was partly
responsible for her own death. Sheriff Charles Laux was more concerned with
Brandon's sexuality than he was with keeping her safe after she had reported
she was raped, Hendry said.
Brandon, 21, was posing as a young man and using the alias Brandon Teena
in 1993 when two acquaintances, John Lotter and Marvin Nissen, learned her
true gender. She told the sheriff they had raped her, and about a week later,
they killed her in a Humboldt farmhouse, along with two others who witnessed
her death.
Brandon's mother, Joann Brandon, sued the sheriff for more than $350,000,
saying he should have offered her daughter protective custody. The district
judge awarded $17,360.
Joann Brandon's lawyer, Herb Friedman, hailed the ruling. "It's clear that
this young woman was tormented not only by the people that killed her, but
tormented by a local sheriff who simply did not understand anything about
her," Friedman said. "He brutalized her. That should not be condoned in a
civilized society."
Attorney Richard Boucher, who represented Laux and Richardson County in the
case, declined immediate comment.
In the ruling, Hendry said Laux showed indifference to the rape allegation
by referring to Teena Brandon as "it" and not immediately arresting the two
suspects, who had threatened to kill her if she reported the rape. Hendry
said Laux's tone on the tape-recorded interview was "demeaning, accusatory
and intimidating."
The 1999 movie Boys Don't Cry earned Hilary Swank an Academy Award for best
actress for her portrayal of Teena Brandon. The slaying also was the subject
of a 1998 documentary, The Brandon Teena Story.
Thirty-one civil rights groups, including the New York-based Lambda Legal
Defense and Education Fund, filed briefs in the supreme court case.
Lotter received three death sentences for the killings and is awaiting execution
in the state's electric chair. Nissen, in a deal with prosecutors, testified
against Lotter and was sentenced to life in prison. Neither was ever charged
with rape.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Transsexuals File Lawsuits, Test New State Law
By Audrey Cooper, Associated Press
April 23, 2001
- SACRAMENTO (AP) -- After one lost her home and another lost his job, two
transsexuals filed suit Monday under a new anti-discrimination law they say
doesn't go far enough to protect them.
Supporters of transsexual and transgender rights say a favorable court ruling
could set a landmark precedent that boosts protections for people who change
their gender by dressing differently, taking hormones or having a sex-change
operation.
But opponents of the new law -- which identifies transsexuals as a disabled
group entitled to protection if they can prove their gender switch hampered
their life -- call it an example of bad policy gone wrong.
Gary Johnson, 42, said he was hired last year at a Sacramento-based foster
care and adoption agency. At the time, Johnson was appearing in public as
a woman and using his given name, Gaynell. While working at Families for
Children, he began dressing more masculine and was harassed, Johnson said.
Eventually, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave. "The stress of
it all was terrible," he said. "They forced me out of the closet."
Johnson left his counseling job in February, but says the agency effectively
fired him -- a possible violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act
if he can prove the agency acted against him because of his gender change.
Since then, Johnson has legally changed his name and began taking testosterone
injections, he said. He has been unable to find another job, despite his
master's degree in family and marriage counseling, he said.
The second lawsuit, filed by Stanantha Jaros, claims her condominium homeowners'
association tried to get her to move out once they found out that she used
to be a man. Neither the homeowners' association nor Families for Children
returned calls seeking comment.
Karen Holgate, policy director for the Capitol Resource Institute, said the
lawsuits were examples of bad policy. "This is a problem you get when you
pass vague laws that try to give special rights for changeable traits," Holgate
said. "(This is about) someone who cares more about what can be worn to work
than the children he was hired to serve," she said. "Is it really about rights
or to make a statement about an extremist agenda?"
Johanna Rasmussen, spokeswoman for Eqalus, a Sacramento based group for the
gay and transgender community, said there are an estimated 35,000 to 60,000
transsexuals living in California. Johnson and Jaros are seeking unspecified
compensatory and punitive damages.
Ann Landers And Transsexual Acceptance
Ann Landers column - Sunday, March 4, 2001
Dear Ann:
I read with interest the letter from "Heartache in Santa Cruz, Calif.," whose
mother stopped speaking to her two years ago because she thought the
grandchildren "had no manners." You said "Heartache" should tell Mom she
wants to try again, and you couldn't imagine a mother who would not agree
to keep the door open. Well, don't be so sure, Ann. My parents want absolutely
nothing to do with me, and I have extended the olive branch twice.
Seven years ago, I came out of the closet and informed my parents that I
was a transsexual and planned to have surgery to become a female. I know
this was a shock to them, but since my confession, they have treated me like
dirt. When I asked them to please call me by my female name, "Madeline,"
they said they could never do that. When I tried to see them after my sex-change
operation, my father slammed the door in my face. They have made it clear
they will never accept me as a female.
My parents do not miss me, they miss the person I used to be, and that is
who they want to see. But it is not possible. I have decided to stop trying.
I live a thousand miles away and am attractive and successful. I know they
read your column, Ann. Perhaps they will see this and realize how wrong they
are to exclude me from their lives.
-- Estranged and Hurting in Denver
I feel sad for you and truly regret that I cannot offer some sort of viable
solution. I hope that you, on the other hand, will try to understand how
difficult it is for parents who had a male child and were asked to call that
child "Madeline."
The organization PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
offers transgender assistance and may be able to help you bridge the gap
with your parents. Please write to T-Net, c/o PFLAG, 1726 M St. NW, Suite
400, Washington, D.C. 20036
(www.pflag.org).
Good luck.
Ann Landers column - Thursday, April 12, 2001
Thank you for printing that letter about the transsexual whose parents could
not accept him as "Madeleine." That letter meant a lot to me because I am
a transsexual woman, which means I was also once considered a male.
Many people assume it was my "choice" to be this way. They are mistaken.
The only choice for me was to live or die. No one chooses to be transsexual.
This is just the way we "turned out." I have lost jobs, friends and the respect
of many people who were unable to accept the truth about me.
I did not make this decision for sexual reasons. It was an identity issue.
I have always felt that my body was out of sync with my brain. I am not a
freak. I do not molest children or exhibit deviant behavior. I want nothing
more than a loving family of my own and the ability to lead a quiet life,
have a decent job and make friends. I am not "proud" of being a transsexual,
but I am proud that I have been able to come to terms with who I really am.
People should not make our decision their problem.
We need a better understanding and more compassionate acceptance when there
is deviation from the norm. This world is a big enough place for everybody.
One in 2,000 babies -- or five children per day -- are born intersexed, Chase
said during her about 30-minute speech. She was speaking as part of a fundraiser
for the society, which aims to raises awareness of intersexual issues.
A person is intersexed when they are born with what the society calls "mixed
sexual anatomy." If an infant's sexual anatomy protrudes away from the body
more than 1 inch, the baby is considered male. If the protrusion is under
three-eighths of an inch, the baby is female. Infants with protrusions between
those measurements are considered for sex reassignment surgery. And that,
said Chase, can pose a major problem for the patient.
"Intersexuality isn't a medical issue," she said. "It doesn't cause anybody
to be sick or in pain." But it's fear of being different, Chase said, that
makes many parents opt for the surgery.
The fault doesn't lie with doctors alone, she said. "The culture as a whole
is what decided to do that," she said. "Doctors come from this culture that
is afraid and confused and angered by anybody who doesn't fit -- that includes
homosexuality and transgender and physical sexual difference."
Dr. Aron Sousa,a professor in the Department of Medicine and member of the
society, said Chase's visit was a part of medical history. "It's always good
to have Cheryl around," Sousa said. "This is a part of progress."
Human biology senior Brian Bakofen saw Chase speak last year. He said in
that time, the society's cause has gained momentum. "It's really kind of
exciting that now only one year later it seems like they have made such a
bigger difference," he said. Bakofen said the society's influence on intersex
issues has been visible, saying "it's amazing to know that there are hospitals
now that are changing," whereas last year, Chase was saying "hopefully they'll
change sometime."
Chase's own personal struggle with her intersexuality led her to champion
the cause eight years ago. Chase was born with mixed genitals. Doctors declared
her male, but after a year and a half, it was decided she would be made
surgically female.
"I've had to struggle with shame and anger and feelings of betrayal," she
said. "My family is estranged from me." It wasn't until her mid-30s that
Chase felt comfortable addressing the issue with her parents. When she did,
she said the reaction wasn't good. "The first time I ever reached out for
help or even somebody to listen they made it clear that they weren't able
to care about me all that much," said Chase, now 44.
But Chase makes it clear that there is hope, saying, "It's been really exciting
to find allies."
The U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled the Boy Scouts' national policy
banning gay members and leaders is constitutional. The high court cited the
right to freedom of association granted to private groups. Although he was
on the advisory board, Spielberg did not currently have an active, direct
role with the Scouts, Levy said.
"Once scouting fully opens its doors to all who desire the same experience
that so fully enriched me as a young person, I will be happy to reconsider
a role on the advisory board," Spielberg said.
Many cities, schools, churches and companies nationwide have struggled with
how to reconcile support with local Scouts troops in light of their own
anti-discrimination policies.
To register, please call The Center at 216-651-GLBT (5428) or TransFamily
at 216-691-HELP(4357). There is no charge, but reservations are needed, so
please call by. Please help SSAFE and TransFamily to be successful in this
join endeavor with The Center and GLSEN! !
Call The Center for the location and date for the next SSAFE meeting. And,
for more information on any of the above events, please contact The Center
at 216-522-1999.
This is the follow-up to the very successful Forward Motions conference held
in Burbank, CA. in October 1999. Local organizers for FTM 2001: A Gender
Odyssey expect as many as 500 participants from around the world, across
the nation, and all walks of life.
The featured speakers will be Phyllis Randolph Frye, Houston attorney for
Christie Lee Littleton and transgender activist extraordinaire, and noted
author Patrick Califia-Rice. There will also be numerous workshops, "town
meeting" plenaries, social activities, and information sources.
Topics will include gender theory, cultures, and politics; all aspects of
transitioning from female to male; relationships with family, friends, partners,
and lovers; and their relationships with FTMs and others who were born with
female bodies but have a masculine gender identity.
If you have a web site that you would like to link to the conference's, please
inform us; or if you know of other people or organizations who should be
getting these announcements, please forward them and/or send us the necessary
contact information to do so.
An opportunity for GLBT youth to celebrate, network and socialize, including:
speakers, discussion groups, games, art, pride merchandise, food and much
more!
The YLP conference is organized and produced entirely by youth and is FREE
for all youth participants. We are expecting hundreds of young people from
all over the world to attend. YLP is an exciting opportunity for queer youth
from across the globe to come together to exchange ideas. Through the unification
of our diverse abilities and talents YLP provides queer youth with the
opportunity to find strength in numbers despite adversity and empower each
other.
YLP¹s workshops and caucuses present rich resources and tools for queer
youth to become leaders and activists. The workshops serve to educate and
provide a space for dialogue on topics ranging from Communication and Empowerment
to Gay/Straight Alliances 101 to Anti-Racism. The caucuses work to break
down isolation and provide a chance for young people to connect with others
who identify in similar ways.
This year YLP will furnish an all-new adult track for service providers,
parents, and teachers that will include workshops on topics like LGBTQ
youth/adult partnership, youth development, and an adult ally caucus. Please
note that these will be the only workshops permitted for people over 25 and
there is a fee of $50 per person.
For more information, to register, or to facilitate a workshop or caucus
please visit our website at www.lyric.org or e-mail at ylp@lyric.org. You
can also contact Lena Turner @ 415.703.6150 x 25 if you have any further
questions.
NACB 2001 represents the first opportunity for the international community
to come together to discuss aspects of bisexuality and gender under a purely
North American context. As a reflection of the widespread diversity within
the cultural fabric of this region, NACB 2001 is proud to present a multifaceted,
multilingual event, with many opportunities for cultural exchange. Proposals
for all subjects related to the region(s) of North America will be considered,
and contributions from all levels of expertise, and experience are welcome.
Thus, NACB 2001 seeks submissions in the form of proposals for papers,
presentations, panel discussions, lectures, interactive workshops, readings,
cultural events, performances, displays, and days of action to be held during
the conference on all subjects relating to bisexuality, gender and sexual
diversity. Proposals could be placed into one of the following general
subject/track areas:r
Please submit your proposal at the earliest possible date, to ensure it has
the best chance of being implemented! Completed proposal forms, with all
supporting materials, must be received by NACB 2001 no later than APRIL 1,
2001. Conference fees will be waived for the presenters of all accepted
proposals.
Further information about the conference can be found on the World Wide Web
at:
http://bi.org/~binetbc/2001.
NACB 2001 is facilitated by a coalition of members from the Bisexual Network
of British Columbia (BiNetBC).
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