Hello and welcome to Transgender News week 33
A Chronology of Advances in LGBT Rights in Canada, and in BC
This review provides a brief summary of some legal and legislative developments in Canada, and then a summary of similar developments in British Columbia.
This is a little out of date (actually a lot) but provided information I didn’t know before.
Source: BCTF
U.S. a decade behind Canada on LGBT rights, says activist
“Things are happening a little faster in Canada than here in the U.S.,” added Battaglino. “Canada’s had marriage equality since 2003, and has moved on with better surgical supports and stronger human rights legislation, while in the States, we’re still debating the issue of marriage equality. We have a long way to go.”
We of course, we knew that, after all Canada is superiour! That’s humour, in case you are furiously typing a rebuttal right now. The truth is we are ahead on almost all LGBT rights, but we’re far from perfect here in Canada. We still have a long battle to go. For a start we need to get away from the notion that SRS = ‘true transgender’ that seems to be enshrined in law in most of Canada. Toronto, Alberta and in July this year BC have moved away from that but it needs to be Federal.
Source: Metronews
Queer Film Fest has grown from humble roots
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival starts this Thursday and runs through Aug. 24. In its 26th season, the event continues expanding its mandate and range further yet again.
The nature of what defines queer cinema just becomes more all-encompassing as time goes on.
This goes a long way to explaining how what began as a smaller boutique screening series is now Western Canada’s largest queer arts festival featuring all the galas, special events and unique programming you’d expect of a marquee event.
So glad this is growing so quickly, I hope this becomes North America’s premier LGBT film event.
Source: The Province
BC judge says gay panic defence no longer valid
A BC Supreme Court judge has strongly condemned the gay-panic defence in rejecting a Port Alberni man’s second attempt to use it to justify killing a man he met online.
…
“Moreover,” she ruled, “in this day and age I do not consider it likely that ‘homosexual panic’ will often, if ever, provide a valid basis upon which to find provocation.”
This is an obvious and late change. Damned awesome, scumbags have got away with murder – literally – by trotting out this old trope. Great to see it shot down.
Source: Daily Xtra
Trans man MacKinnon lifts his way to victory
National-level powerlifting comes next, and it’s the last stop before the world championships. “Well, people say to dream big,” he says, “but my life has always been rooted in reality.”
MacKinnon’s enthusiasm plays out. At the end of the 15-hour meet, he places first in his weight class. Perhaps even more satisfying: he lifts 200 kilograms (2.78 times his body weight) in the deadlift, his personal favourite manoeuvre.
Yeah, go MacKinnon! The Gay games are taking place in Cleveland Ohio right now. They provide another platform for international pressure on LGBT rights.
Source: Daily Xtra
Party or protest? For Ottawa’s Capital Pride, it’s both
It was only in 1969 that homosexuality was decriminalized by then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau’s C-150 omnibus bill, which also decriminalized abortion and contraception. It was the bill about which Trudeau famously said: “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
Capstick pointed to the first public gay protest more than 40 years ago on Parliament Hill.
A demonstration in August 1971, with about 100 people in attendance, supported a manifesto that outlined demands for basic changes to policies and laws affecting the gay and lesbian population.
“This was not a demonstration of pride,” he said. “The signs said, ‘Homosexuals are human beings.’ We’ve come an incredibly long way.”
McNamara agrees. “The first pride celebrations were not celebrations. They were marches,” she said. “There were people in the streets.”
LGBT has come a lot way toward gaining acceptance in society, for us people who are transgender we have a long way to go yet. Even here, in what was graded as the most second friendly city in the world – Victoria BC – I’ve been yelled at in the street.
We’re not done, I’m not even sure we’re at the tipping point yet, but I think we’re darned close.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
UK: Former boxing manager and UKIP politician comes out as transgender
Maloney has been married twice, is now single, and has three daughters. She says that her family have been supportive of her desire to undergo transition, including her mother.
‘I finally told her about wanting to be a woman because she was worried about my health… She told me it was time to start looking after myself and living the life I wanted to live.’
…
Among the first to offer supportive mentions on Twitter were Stonewall Scotland, who tweeted, ‘Great to see a positive trans story in the press. Trans issues can and should be reported this way’.
The press reaction has been pretty positive, this is unusual in a country that has traditionally vitriolic tabloids. I don’t like Kellie as a person, I don’t like the right wing and crazy UKIP, but good on her for taking action and becoming who she was meant to be.
Source: Gay Star News
UK: Top 20 tips for how business can support its LGBT workforce
The idea that LGBT inclusion is a non-issue, something that doesn’t need to be dealt with, is widespread within business. Many are the leaders who stick their heads in the sand, ignoring the matter altogether and consequently harming the trust, growth and reputation of their business.
Every day we hear of homophobic abuse in the workplace, cementing the mistrust in business support for LGBT people. This week Californian lesbian councillor Jovanka Beckles was called “filth” during a council meeting, only to be told she had herself to blame. Here in the UK, Lib Dem councillor Sam Phripp left his position after experiencing homophobic bullying from fellow politicians.
I wish we lived in a world where being L, G, B or T was a non-issue but unfortunately we’re not quite there yet, and until we are silence is the last thing we need. Positive action is required to combat these issues, not just from dedicated lobby groups but from employers.
Very true, I’m lucky that I work for an organisation that has strict rules regarding equality, a lot of people don’t. Businesses need to educate themselves.
Source: The Guardian
US: LGBT Americans Less Likely to Be Religious
While 41% of non-LGBT Americans identify as highly religious, only 24% of LGBT Americans feel the same
Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Americans are far less likely to identify as religious than non-LGBT people in the U.S., according to new Gallup poll.
Only 24% of LGBT Americans identify as “highly religious” — meaning that religion is an important part of daily life and services are attended weekly or almost weekly — compared with 41% of non-LGBT Americans. For LGBT Americans, 47% identify as nonreligious, while only 30% of non-LGBT Americans do.
From the ‘this is obvious’ department of news.
Source: Time
US: Meet an Officer Who Transitioned at the CIA
“Once they raised [Jenny’s case] with me, we actually got together to walk through where she was, what kind of support she needed, and what the professional sort of guidance was for how to enable and support an employee going through this process,” says Moore, who now serves as dean of the agency’s analytic training program.
Moore says one of the most important parts of that journey was fostering clear and respectful communication “so the employee can make that transition at their own pace, in a way that they are comfortable with.”
…
“When I was going into it, I was very concerned that I would be fired,” Jenny says. “I didn’t know any trans people at the CIA. I didn’t know that you could be trans … if they employed people like that. I was terrified that I’d lose my job and all the things I had worked for. I didn’t know how I would explain to my employer how this hadn’t come up before. I was filled with a lot of fear.”
I can imagine the CIA is a highly male dominated work environment but the transition described here went smoothly. It sounds like an organsied workplace with an advanced, open and accepting set of policies.
Source: Advocate
