Maine Anti-Trans Madness

If you're questioning why I've been part of the team fighting that jacked up HB 235 bill in Maryland, peep this unjust bill that is percolating in Maine.

It's a bill written by freshman Republican Rep. Ken Fredette (big shock) in reaction to a Maine Commission on Human Rights decision favoring a transchild.     This LD 1046 bill seeks to amend the Maine Human Rights Act by adding this paragraph at the end of it.


It is not unlawful public accommodations discrimination, in violation of this Act, for a public or private entity to restrict rest room or shower facilities that are part of a public accommodation to the use of singlesex facilities to members of a biological sex regardless of sexual orientation. Unless otherwise indicated, a rest room or shower facility designated for one biological sex is presumed to be restricted to that biological sex.

Note to EQMD, Morgan Meneses Sheets and all you trans sellouts taking shots at me and the folks pointing out the fatal flaw in your moldy trans half a civil rights loaf in various net venues.   This kind of crap is fracking why public accomodations language in a civil rights bill matters.   Without P/A language, it's a waste of time, money and energy to even pursue penalties against someone who discrimates against you.

But if you were a POC who has had to deal with being in a marginalized body from birth and at times has to use the court system to enforce their civil rights, you would know that.

Okay, now that I'm done venting at the Civil Rights Clueless Clique for now, back to the more important 'bidness' of pimp slapping this proposed Maine Madness.

We do have some Maine based transpeople planning to testify at the Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled next week against this flawed bathroom bill that needs to die. 

You know the TransGriot will keep you posted on this unjust bill as well. 

Nikki Araguz Update 20-Nikki's Getting Deposed

Haven't done a Nikki update in a while because there hasn't been much news coming out of the case until today. 


It's Nikki's turn to be deposed by the opposition attorneys in the case.   In our last episode Heather Delgado, the ex-wife of Thomas Araguz who filed this suit was being deposed by Nikki's attorneys.    

Just take a few moments to send her your prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes.

And for you TransGriot readers who want to catch up with what's been happening and what I've posted about the case so far at the blog, here's the link to do so.

HB 235 Dying In The MD Senate?

The unjust HD 235 trans rights bill crossed over to the Maryland Senate Monday and has landed in the Senate Rules Committee   

According to the Baltimore Sun's Maryland Politics blog, HB 235 has some formidable procedural hurdles with less than two weeks left in the Maryland legislative session

It has to first undergo a short Rules Committee hearing to determine its policy committee assignment.

Once its assigned to the proper policy committee, it then has to undergo a hearing in that committee before it hits the Senate floor for a vote.  

But with two weeks left, the Senate is engaged in trying to pass Maryland's state budget, and Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller said that they are unlikely to take up this bill before the session ends.

"When we are through with the budget we’ll have time to deal with other issues that might have a chance of passage," Senator Miller said after the morning session. "At this point in time I’d say the chances of passage of that bill are next to none."

Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill!

Hmm.. that's not what InEquality Maryland wanted to hear after all the shady stuff they pulled just to get to this point.   After losing their gay marriage bill, the last thing the want to happen is have another loss.

But the civil rights karmic wheel is turning on them, and they have no one to blame but themselves.   You introduce a comprehensive bill, the entire community would have gotten behind it, and my last two months worth of posts on this issue would have a much different tone.     



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Joanne Cassar Malta Marriage Case Update

Been continuing to track the developments in the Joanne Cassar case for you TransGriot readers.

To bring y'all up to speed on this case, she's the Maltese transwoman who has been fighting a protracted battle for several years to preserve her marriage rights.  She has won and lost at various levels of the Maltese court system and we celebrated when she got another favorable ruling back in December.    

But alas, the Malta AG decided to appeal Cassar's latest win, so the battle continues.   Cassar has made it clear that she intends to fight this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France if necessary.

But its been bittersweet for her because the scrutiny from the case broke up her relationship with the man she was going to marry..

In the wake of her legal win, a Maltese MP filed legislation allowing for administrative gender changes. 

The latest news is that Cassar's attorneys Jose Herrera and David Camilleri have filed submission responding to the Malta AG, and referenced the Christine Goodwin vs. UK case in which the European court ruled that the state could not prevent transpeople from getting married.

The decision is supposed to be announced in May.   I would strongly suggest we say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed for Cassar that she wins another round in favor of her marriage rights. 

GL Peeps, We Trans Peeps Don't Like Legislative 'Crumbs' Either

GL community, if legislative ‘crumbs’ aren’t acceptable to you, they aren’t for me and my community either, especially in light of the fact it’s trans POC’s who are taking the brunt of the trans hate casualties and the discrimination.


TransGriot  February 15, 2011

When will you GL peeps and your Gay Inc organizations buy a vowel and get a clue that just as you don't like what you characterize as civil rights 'crumbs'  neither do we?

I'm tired of seeing transpeople die, and especially my young transsisters     I'm tired of my people not getting their humanity respected, their human rights disrespected and their Constitutional rights ignored.

It also pisses me off that some of the worst offenders in that regard happen to be our GL 'allies'.

I'm tired of unjust laws being pushed on us by GL 'equality' orgs as they preach the gospel of incremental progress for us while they demand nothing less than full blown first class civil rights law for themselves.

Yeah, I said it.   I did not flinch or stutter when I said it, either   Unjust laws.

Cue the good Doctor to 'ejumacate' you GL peeps on what an unjust law is.   But then again y'all already know because you've been pushing them on us for decades when you're not cutting us out of the just laws you create for yourselves.

“An unjust law is a code that anumerical or power majority compels a minority group to obey, but does not makebinding on itself.”

"There are two types of laws: there are just laws andthere are unjust laws... What is the difference between the two?  An unjust law is a man-made code that is outof harmony with the moral law."

HB 235 is so out of whack with the moral laws of fairness and justice that even Stevie Wonder can see how wrong it is.    And when you take into account a so-called allied organization created this unjust law at the same time that they are demanding same gender marriage for themselves, and this civil rights malpractice is even more egregious.to the trans community.

But back to my original point.   We transpeople hate legislative 'crumbs' too    Just as you repeated that word ad nauseum until the DADT repeal was passed,  the TransGriot, my trans brothers and sisters and our allies are going to say the word until you live up to your Dallas Principles that you are so egregiously violating and do the morally right and correct thing.     

MD 235 Gets Worse

The alleged trans rights bill (In) Equality Maryland is pimping will get a hearing in Annapolis on March 9.    The Maryland House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee will hold that hearing on HB 235 at 1 PM EST

(In) Equality Maryland and GINDA sponsor Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk isn't budging on the Maryland trans community's request that the bill be strengthened by adding public accommodations language to it, and the trans community inside and outside Maryland isn't going to stop fighting it until it does or it's dead.

Now comes the news that the white trans toms supporting this bill want to name GINDA for the recently murdered African American transwoman Tyra Trent.

''When I looked at what this bill was about, which was housing and employment, and knowing what I had read about Tyra, she had had a history of trouble with the law and had been selling her body on the street to make ends meet,'' says Brackett. ''I can't wonder if we had a proper [law] protecting employment for transgender persons, her life might have been different.''
Oh really?

Or is it about the fact that since African American transpeople inside and outside the state are part of the group of trans folks leading the charge against this jacked up bill, you and you wallowing in privilege friends are engaging in this pathetically transparent attempt to rename the bill for Trent in order to give you and your vanilla flavored (In)Equality Maryland friends some PR cover?

Naw, Sharon.   Ain't gonna work.    You and your vanilla flavored trans sellouts didn't give a rats anus about the African American trans community in Maryland when you conspired with (In) Equality Maryland to craft this jacked up GINDA bill.

Now because you've encountered fierce resistance that you could have avoided with an honest dialogue with the African-American trans community before introducing this bill, you want to do your usual bit of using the deaths of Black transpeople for your nefarious purposes.

To quote Maya Wilkes, my fave character from the dearly departed show Girlfriends, "Oh HELL no!"

Until HB 235 fixes its fatal flaw, I would urge the Trent family to not allow their child's name and memory to be desecrated by being attached to an unjust bill that doesn't address and fix the problems that led to her death in the first place. .