News Archive
Old news:
May 17, 2008 - Equal rights for GLBT Mainers in jeapordy. Members of a radical right-wing Christian group will be collecting signatures at polling locations on June 10th petitioning the state for a referendum on a piece of legislation that would repeal many of the gains Mainers have made toward equal rights for all (including GLBT Mainers). Rights put in jeapordy by such a referendum include joint adoption by unmarried couples and nondiscrimination in employment, housing, etc. on the basis of sexual orientation. Equality Maine will be at the polls on June 10th as well, collecting signatures on a petition supporting equal rights. They welcome volunteers at the polls. See the Portland Press Herald article for more info about the proposed legislation.
May 16, 2008 - California same-sex couples gain right to marry. On Thursday, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage on the basis that sex is not a legitimate reason to deny the civil right of marriage and the rights and privileges that come with being legally married. For more info, visit the CNN story here
March 30, 2008 - MTN meeting on 3/30 with 9 people present. Here are the meeting minutes. Our next meeting is planned for Sunday, April 20 - time and place TBA.
Feb. 28, 2008 - Currah Talk Review, by Ali Ouellette: On Feb. 28, Professor Paisley Currah presented the talk "Body Politics: New Directions in Transgender Studies" at Bowdoin College. Currah's history of fighting for transgender rights on multiple fronts made him an interesting and knowledgeable speaker regarding the progress toward trans rights and the "gaps" still present in policy and research. [more...]
Feb 24, 2008 - We had a productive meeting on Sunday Feb. 24, with 10 people present. Here are the meeting minutes if you are interested. Our next meeting is planned for Sunday, March 30 - time and place TBA.
Feb. 23, 2008 - From the Sun Sentinel: FORT LAUDERDALE - The shooting death of a gay teenage boy who was dressed in women's clothing is being investigated as a possible hate crime, while detectives try to determine whether he was targeted because of his sexual orientation. [more...]
Feb. 15, 2008 - From the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition: Three days after a 14-year-old shot a classmate at E.O Green Junior High in Ventura County, California, a community mourns, a school district scrambles to review its safety policies, and eighth-grader Lawrence King has died. [more...]
October 21, 2007- On September 27, H.R. 3685 was introduced to the House of Representatives. This bill is a version of the federal Employment Non-Discrimation Act of 2007 (ENDA) that EXCLUDES protection for Transgender Americans. What this means is that if this bill passes, it would still be ok to fire someone or make employment decisions based on a person's gender expression. While the H.R. 2015 version of ENDA offered protection from discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, H.R. 3685, the bill that is currently active in the House (on October 18 moved from committee to full House consideration), includes protection based solely on Sexual Orientation. One Congressperson has vowed to introduce an amendment to H.R. 3685 adding protection based on Gender Identity when the bill goes to the floor (possibly as soon as next week).
(see www.govtrack.us for info about Congressional Bills)
Friday, November 16 ~ 2007 Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony at the USM Library in Portland was sponsored by the Maine Speakout Project, USM's Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity, MaineTransNet, Queer Insurgency, and USM's Women and Gender Studies Program. It included caucuses for networking and a Remembrance Ceremony honoring the lives of those who have died this year due to anti-transgender violence. Alex, who was honored to deliver the keynote address, has had a few requests to put the transcript online, so here it is.
The event made headlines on the Maine Christian Civic
League website, on a page with the interesting url of
"www.cclmaine.org/artman/publish/Maine_3/Tranny_Bathrooms.shtml".
The article mentions Alex: "Miss
Alex Roan, a biological female who believes she is a man, of the Maine
Transgendered [sic] network..." For some reason, the article emphasizes the
location's bathrooms, where two (of at least 14 bathrooms in the building) were
made gender neutral for 2.5 hours in order to provide a safer environment for
ceremony attendees. The article is careful not to blatantly put forth any
opinion about "the bathroom matter," but observations such as, "Men and women
were seen entering and leaving the bathrooms freely, often together as groups,
throughout the transgendered [sic] event," imply that this is obviously an
unnatural occurrence. The
article, which contains several erroneous assumptions and clusters of implicit
disrespectful wording, goes on to give links to the contact information page of
all sponsors of the event and all organizations who participated, presumably so
that this group's followers can more easily send email expressing their
disapproval. (Here's an example of one fan letter
we received.)
It's interesting that the Christian Civic League is making assumptions about Alex's genetic makeup. However, since Alex--according to the CCL--is just a confused woman, I suppose there would be no problem if he wanted to legally marry a man. Hmm...
It is sad that
certain self-described "Christian" groups, like the Christian Civic League,
appear to put so much effort into
promoting "values" that perpetuate hate and discrimination, rather that
spreading a message of compassion, respect, and helping those less-fortunate
than themselves.
Saturday, November 17 ~ LGBTQ Symposium 2007: Strengthening Community, Building Alliances in Rockland, Maine, sponsored by the Maine Community Foundation - Equity Fund, and attended by MaineTransNet, was a great success, with many opportunities for networking with LGBTQ groups and individuals around Maine. Hopefully, the Maine Community Foundation will sponsor events like this in the future, giving LGBTQ groups in the state a chance to collaborate and learn from one another.
September, 28, 2007 - The House of Representatives just passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act in a vote of 237 to 180. If this bill is passed by the Senate (who will vote sometime this summer), sexual orientation and gender identity will be added to existing federal hate crimes laws. This means that local law enforcement agencies will investigate and prosecute hate crimes committed against members of the GLBT community. This will mean that for the first time ever, hate crimes motivated by gender expression will be monitored as its own category instead of being lumped into other categories, such as sexual orientation. This will allow us to get a more accurate picture of just how often violence is committed against individuals not conforming to gender stereotypes. (see the Human Rights Campaign website for more info)
On April 24, 2007 the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA) was introduced to Congress. If this bill passes, it will become illegal in all 50 states to fire, refuse to hire, or not promote an employee based on their gender identity/expression or sexual orientation. At present, only eight states have laws that prevent workplace discrimination based on gender expression or identity. (They are California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Washington.) (see the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition website for more info)