Finally, we see some progress in one of the most neglected areas of the LGBT rights movement: transgendered rights.
New York is slated to become the fourteenth state to enact laws protecting the transgendered from discrimination in employment, housing, public accomodations, and credit. A renewed call for the New York legislation to act has come in the wake of a public opinion survey showing that only 13% of those polled would not support the legislation.
While the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act may face a slight challenge in being passed now that Governor Spitzer, who had previously promised to sign the bill into law if it reached his desk, has resigned in the wake of a public scandal about his alleged ties to a prostitution ring, I'm optimistic that our transgendered brethen in New York will finally get the reprieve they deserve:
"'Transgender New Yorkers routinely face discrimination in ways that impact our lives, big and small, and we deserve the opportunity to have a job and a home and provide for ourselves and our families just like anybody else,' said Debra Oppenheimer, a transgender woman and a Board Member of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley in Rochester."
...so long as we don't get another Sally Kern growing a big mouth in New York before the bill makes it through the legislature.
1 comment:
Great article! This blog needs more faithful readers. xD
I agree, the T in GLBT is the most neglected, it is also the least understood. Most people know the "G" the "L" and even the "B" but when it comes to the "T" most go "huh? you mean that crossdresser on those sitcoms?" Its a sad thing, people need to be educated about this. Few people indeed outside of the GLBT community realize the definition, much less understand it. Heck, there is even some misunderstanding in the TG community itself, seeing as only with the recent invention and advancement of the internet has this very taboo subject been unearthed and a mass community created. Just now does it seem like the community has almost fully agreed on correct terminology of what are acceptable terms and what aren't. Many TGs will have a personal preference of what they like to be called whether it be "Transexual" or "Transgender" (the current newer-age wave of TG peoples seem to be agreeing on "Transgendered" though as it takes "sexual" out of the name, making it sound less like some sort of a disorder or fetish to a media-controlled society). The agreed definition is "person experiencing some degree of gender dysphoria." which encompasses all peoples in the spectrum, each different from the next. Great article again, hope to see more TG news and speculation in the future. Anonymous.
Post a Comment