California Senate Passes Bill Which Will Allow LGBT History to be Taught in Public Schools.

w/ Sen. Mark Leno during San Francisco Pride 2010

The California state Senate has passed legislation that will require public schools to include the history of LGBT people in social studies lessons. It will be up to the actual school districts what to include in lessons, and what grade students will receive them.

This is groundbreaking! The affect this will have on our culture is one that will acknowledge and celebrate diversity. Children will grow up with the knowledge that their LGBT peers have just as much to offer society as any other, and therefore deserve the same rights anyone else does. I am proud that my home state is leading the way in ensuring accurate history lessons.

Democratic Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, a friend of mine, and who is openly gay, is the sponsor of the bill, which passed Thursday on a 23-14 vote. The measure now goes to the Assembly. Senator Mark Leno is one of the biggest allies to the transsexual and transgender community that I know. When I lived in California, I was an organizer for the San Francisco Trans March for two years. He came to speak both times at the pre-march event, and is always showing up at TS/TG events. I’m so glad we have an ally like him.

Everyone, please email and call those Assembly members in California, if this bill passes, it will be a big step closer to a more harmonious society!

TFM TV Interview- Sandy Rawls Speaks: "I'm Glad H.B. 235 Died Because it Left Out Public Accomodations Protections"

April 12, 2011) at Trans United's Baltimore building w/ founder Sandy Rawls (center) and Trans United member Lindsey Harrington

Yesterday I went to Baltimore, Maryland to spend the day with Sandy Rawls, Founder and Director of Trans-United. I sat down with her and we discussed the failure of the unjust H.B. 235 compromise, why Trans-United supports the bill dying, what should have happened, and what needs to happen in passing a fully comprehensive bill in 2012

TFM TV Exclusive Interview with Sandy Rawls below:

w/ Sandy Rawls at the beautiful Baltimore harbor

Senator Madaleno Listens to Transsexual Marylander's Concerns & Agrees to Include Public Accommodations to Antidiscrimination Bill Next Year. Victory!

Annapolis, Maryland. April 7, 2011- Ashley Love and Trans Maryland's Jenna Fishetti speak to Senator Madaleno concerning the unjust H.B. 235 compromise on the day of the Senate Judicial Committee's public hearing where transsexual human rights advocates spoke out against the bill

Yesterday Maryland’s only openly gay senator, Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery), provided a statement to Metro Weekly regarding the Senate sending the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act, House Bill 235 back to the committee yesterday, therefore defeating the unjust bill. If passed, the bill would have made Maryland’s transsexual and transgender residents 2nd class citizens in the area of public accommodations. Human rights activists and transsexual and transgender groups rallied against the bill, demanding the bill either be amended to include these lifesaving protections, or be killed. Thankfully, the bill was denied a chance to spread it’s dehumanizing message that transsexual and transgender people are ‘less then’.

In Sen. Madaleno’s statement he said, “…Before next session, I will pre-file a new version of the Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act that includes provisions for housing and employment, as well as public accommodations in the hope it can receive a full debate and vote in the Senate before the last day of the session.”

This is great news! Senator Madaleno has listened to the public outcry of the transsexual and transgender communities who have expressed that we will not accept unequal treatment under the law. This is a man of integrity and merit. We will accept nothing less then a fully comprehensive bill.

Senator Madaleno’s full statement:

After an overwhelming vote in favor of HB 235 by the House of Delegates, this bill was inappropriately referred to the Senate Rules Committee, which delayed action for nearly a week. After successful votes in the Rules Committee and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, the full Senate never had an opportunity to debate this issue because of today’s vote to recommit.

The Senate's action today means that transgender individuals in Maryland will continue to be denied housing on the basis of their gender identity. Every homeless transgender person that dies on the street will do so because of the Senate’s failure to pass HB 235. Every transgender individual who cannot provide for themselves or their family because they are denied employment based on their gender identity will do so because of the Senate's failure to pass HB 235.

I remain firmly committed to seeing this landmark civil rights legislation pass the Maryland General Assembly. Before next session, I will pre-file a new version of the Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act that includes provisions for housing and employment, as well as public accommodations in the hope it can receive a full debate and vote in the Senate before the last day of the session

It’s Monday @ Midnight: The Unjust H.B. 235 Compromise is Officially Dead. Now to Educate About Life Saving Public Accommodations Protections

5, 4, 3, 2, 1….the bill is dead.

Today the Maryland Senate sent the Gender Identity “Anti-Discrimination” H.B. 235 bill back to the committee, making it dead until next year. Great work to everyone who oppossed the bill without the public accomodation protections inclusion ammendment, and worked hard to educate why this compromise is problematic and unacceptable. Now we have a chance to add it on to next year's bill.

I feel compelled to put quotes around the word “anti-discrimination” because I cannot in good conscious call this bill an anti-discrimination bill for many reasons:

• 1) In actuality, H.B. 235 discriminates. To intentionally leave out protections in hospitals, hotels, restaurants, libraries, public transportation, drinking fountains, parks, lunch counters, homeless shelters, you know: PUBLIC ACCOMDATIONS, translates into the same result as discrimination. You can’t in all accuracy call this bill an “anti-discrimination” bill and then leave out these obvious and urgently needed anti-discrimination protections.


• 2) In prior legislation sessions in Maryland, previous versions of this bill had public accommodations protections, then, in an appalling compromise, they were stripped out


• 3) However, gay and lesbian Marylanders ensured PA protections for themselves in 2001, leaving the most vulnerable portion of the LGBT coalition, the transsexual and transgender (TS/TG) communities, out of the bill. We are tired of being left behind. No more. We demand full citizenship in the LGBT coalition. And that includes full rights.


• 4) Equality Maryland did not enroll community buy-in from the actual people who the bill affects, the TS/TG communities. Trans United and Trans Maryland are the only two TS/TG specific organizations in Md., and they both OPPOSE the bill without PA protections, so for the gay and lesbian dominated board and staff of Equality Maryland to (mis)decide to push for a bill w/o PA protections is misrepresentation and wrong. Equality Maryland has no transsexual people on their board or staff, so they have no right to (mis)represent them. EqMd can be an ‘ally’, but they can’t be a ‘dictator’.


• 5) Public accommodations are lifesaving protections, a basic human right. People have died due to no PA protections. Transsexual people have been denied access to hospitals and homeless shelters due to no PA protections. These are rights we are not willing to negotiate away.


• 6) We should not be dancing to the bells of the religious far right and abandoning PA protections to cater to their fear and hatred of diversity concerning TS/TG human beings. Making deals with transphobes is like caving in to terrorists. You just don’t do it


• 7) The message of not including PA protections in this bill sends a loud and clear statement that TS/TG people are 2nd class citizens. The stigma and defamation that this message sends will create long lasting harm and marginalization. No way Jose! Keep your “Trans Crow”, we want FULL citizenship and equality!

Moving forward, things are looking good. Maryland’s TS/TG community has rallied hard, has national support, and are planning to take control of their own movement, no longer the “dependents of the LGB decision makers of the LGB”T” agenda”.

Trans United and Trans Maryland are already working on their plan for 2012. Equality Maryland’s role is not to dictate the terms to Trans United and Trans Maryland, but to follow their lead.

Senator Madaleno stated today,

“Before next session, I will pre-file a new version of the Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act that includes provisions for housing and employment, as well as public accommodations in the hope it can receive a full debate and vote in the Senate before the last day of the session.”

This is great news! This is all we have been fighting for; to have the bill proposed in its authentic and fully inclusive form, WITH public accommodations protections. Without these protections, the bill has no merit, no integrity, no teeth.

The bill is dead, but the transsexual and transgender resistance is so very much alive. This is it. We are taking back our voice, not settling for crumbs and are not resting until we achieve all that is entitled to us as American citizens.

Ashley Love's Senate Hearing Testimony On The Unjust HB 235 Compromise (Written & Audio)

Below is my written testimony each Maryland Senator recieved yesterday at the Senate Judicial Committee hearing regarding the Gender Identity "Anti-Discrimination" Bill HB 235. I was able to read most of it in the two minutes allotted, and then the Senators decided to have me stay after my time slot to ask further questions, after which I explained more about Tyra Hunter's sad story, explained what public accommodation were in depth (they are not just restrooms as the far right likes to propagate to spread fear), explained how the gay establishment is responsible for problematic (mis)education regarding the "transgender coalition" by failing to make a distinction between transsexual and intersex people from transvestites and cross-dressers, gay people don’t own TS/TG people, and that's high time that TS/TG/IS people represent themselves!

Here is the AUDIO link of the hearing. My testimony starts at 1:28:00 http://mlis.state.md.us/mgaweb/senatecmtaudio.aspx



Ashley Love's Testimony at Maryland's Senate Judicial Committee Hearing On HB 235

April 7th, 2011

HB 235 without public accommodations protections has no merit. We ask that you either amend the bill to include these lifesaving and constitutional protections, or vote against it.

I live in New York; however, I have spent time in Maryland, & visit the DC/Md. area frequently.

I was born w/ a rare birth challenge where my chromosomes & anatomy were diverse; I was born intersex, which later transpired into a transsexual medical condition. To be born female & male wasn’t my choice; yet I am all woman gender, woman mind, woman essence, woman spirit. My birth condition is natural & innocent, yet growing up I realized many in society were handicapped to such a crippling degree that they couldn’t accept my community’s diversity. Their ignorance turned into fear, which turned to hatred, & sometimes even violence, & some women I personally knew have been victims of a hate crime.

This misguided fear of diversity has led to the basic human rights for my community in this country being denied. HB 235 has stripped out PA protections. This is unacceptable for any American.

HB 235 as written says that my community is not worthy of protections in public accommodations protections. The civil rights movement was founded on the issues of public accommodations, yet here we are decades later still fighting for them. Prior versions of this bill in previous session originally included PA protections, but due to misinformation and transphobia, they were taken out.

People, such as Tyra Hunter, a transgender woman, have died due to no PA protections. Homeless transsexual women have been denied access to shelters due to no PA protections. Some friends and I were denied service at a restaurant due us being different. People in my community are even denied public transportation, and access to hospitals.

Today some people in court have spread misinformation about my community. A woman who was born w/a transsexual and/or intersex condition is not the same thing as a man who is cross dressing for a lifestyle or amusement. Yet that is precisely what the far right likes to propagate. This propaganda is meant to confuse the public about our medical condition or birth challenge, and their fear mongering is responsible for the marginalization, mis-education and destitution that plague my community.

Also, the gay and lesbian community is not the same thing as the transsexual and intersex community. The gay’s issue is about sexual orientation, where the transsexual issue is about seeking medical treatment to correct our birth challenge, and intersex people need to be protected as infants from malpractice. Many transsexual and transgender Marylanders disagree with how the gay and lesbian community has been misrepresenting their community. It’s time for the transsexual, transgender and intersex coalition to represent themselves, because we have different needs then the gay, lesbian and bisexual community, and our rights many times get devalued, left behind or appropriated under their control.

The only two trans organizations in Maryland, Trans United and Trans Maryland, oppose the LGBT group Equality Maryland’s approval of HB 235 stripping away PA protections. We ask you to listen to the people that this bill affects. We aren’t owned by the gay & lesbian community. We own our voice.

In my opinion, America is the greatest country on Earth. Sadly, one part that we fall embarrassingly and dangerously short is the failure to protect transsexual, transgender and intersex Americans.

I ask that you amend HB 235, or vote against it. I invite every elected official in this court to open your mind, embrace and celebrate diversity, and to not allow us to be treated as 2nd class citizens.

The Advocate Interviews Ashley Love on the Unjust H.B. 235 Compromise: 'Md. Gender Identity Bill on the Move'

I was interviewd today by The Advocate about why the compromised version on HB 235 must either be ammended or withdrawn. It's great to have a national LGBT news source tell both sides of this story. Many LGBT news sources have been censoring the dissent against this bill from the transsexual and transgender community, and only expressing the gay and lesbian (not transsexual's) leadership's POV via Equality Maryland's 'talking point' team. Article below:

Posted on Advocate.com April 05, 2011

Story Updated : April 05, 2011 05:30:00 PM

Md. Gender Identity Bill on the Move By Julie Bolcer

An endangered gender identity antidiscrimination bill has been moved to the Maryland senate judicial proceedings committee, where a hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

The Gender Identity Antidiscrimination Act, which had appeared dead for the year, was moved to the more favorable committee Tuesday morning after extended public pressure that included hundreds of constituent calls and e-mails.

Equality Maryland announced that the senate rules committee voted to send the bill to the judicial proceedings committee, where it is expected to pass and head to the full senate for consideration. The bill passed the assembly by a strong 86-52 margin last month, but in the senate it was unexpectedly assigned to the rules committee, where prospects dimmed.

"This important piece of legislation that will extend vital protections to Transgender Marylanders in housing, employment, and credit lives to see another day thanks to the tremendous leadership of Senators Jamie Raskin and Rich Madaleno both of whom were instrumental in making sure the bill moved out of the Senate Rules Committee,” said Morgan Menses-Sheets, executive director of Equality Maryland, in an e-mail to The Advocate.

“Other legislative allies, including delegates Joseline Pena-Melynk, Ariana Kelly and the LGBT caucus can also be attributed to keeping this bill alive,” she said. The seven members of the house LGBT caucus sent a letter to senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller last week urging him to allow the bill to be passed from the rules committee to the judicial proceedings committee.

“This bill would offer limited protections with respect to employment, housing and financial security,” wrote the caucus members in a copy of the letter provided to The Advocate.

“In the hearing in the health and government operations committee we learned the transgender community has double the national average rate of unemployment (14%) and 90% face discrimination or harassment at work. With regard to housing, 11% report having been evicted for being transgender and 10% have been homeless.”

The bill has divided transgender advocates, however. Some groups opposed to the measure, including Trans Maryland and Trans United, say it offers inadequate protections by failing to include the category of public accommodations, which encompasses restrooms, hospitals, restaurants, transportation, shelters, and other public areas. Delegate Pena-Melynk, the lead sponsor of the bill, said the category was excluded in order to secure passage of the bill, which has failed over public accommodations in the past.

Transgender and transsexual advocate Ashley Love called the measure a “second-class bill” in an interview with The Advocate, likening the proposal to settling for civil unions instead of marriage equality. She said that removing protections for public accommodations could set a dangerous precedent by buckling to conservative critics around the country who focus on the issue of bathrooms in trying to defeat transgender rights legislation.

"H.B. 235 passing without public accommodations protections will create a second-class status for Maryland’s transsexual and transgender community, and more dangerous, other states could follow this unjust blueprint,” she said. “It’s hypocritical that Equality Maryland refused second-class civil unions, and only first-class marriage, yet they’re accepting a second-class ‘antidiscrimination’ bill for transsexual and transgender people, when most transsexual and transgender Marylanders only support a first-class, fully inclusive bill."

Love indicated that she and others would continue to advocate against the bill.

A senate source confirmed that testimony would be heard on the bill in the senate judicial proceedings committee this Thursday at 1 p.m. The hearing time is likely to be abbreviated due to the volume of unfinished business as the Maryland state legislature approaches its adjournment date of April 11.

'Point Honors Benefit' Honored Andy Cohen & Grethe Cammermeyer. Raised Funds for LGBT People's Higher Education

Kelly Ripa (co-host of event) and supermodel Iman

Last night the Point Honors was held at the beautiful Capitale in Manhattan, and was hosted by Kelly Ripa and Sam Champion. The Point Foundation helps LGBT people finance higher education, as well as linking them up with mentors and professional development. Andy Cohen and Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer each were honored, as well as Johnson & Johnson

Andy Cohen (Bravo's VP & TV Host of 'Watch What Happnes Live') recieved the Point Courage Award. Cohen helped build the highly successful network Bravo, which has multiple LGBT characters.

Joelle Ruby Ryan, a friend of mine, was actually Point Foundation's first scholar from the transsexual or transgender community. I asked her about her experience with the organization, and she tells us, “I was in the final stages of writing my dissertation, and had run out of University funding. It was the support of Point that allowed me to complete my dissertation and receive my Ph.D. in 2009. I was unbelievably lucky to be mentored by transsexual pioneer Lynn Conway. As transsexual and transgender students and scholars, we often struggle with multiple challenges in order to finish our education. From familial rejection, to employment discrimination and economic hardships, to accessing culturally competent medical care, accessing higher education can seem like an unattainable dream. That is precisely why organizations like the Point Foundation are so vital: they provide a life line for those of us oppressed by transphobia and offer us the tools to go on to successful and rewarding professional lives.”

The Point Legend Award went Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer for her pioneering work in ensuring gays and lesbians could serve openly in the military.

w/ Point Foundation's Executive Director Jorge Valencia

Jorge Valencia, Executive Director & CEO of the Point Foundation, tells Trans Forming Media, “The harsh reality is that many high school students are marginalized and endure bullying daily just to be able to get to college and begin their adult life where the environment is very likely to be more accepting. Yet, financial hardships and no family or community support can jeopardize that goal. And this is where Point comes in and becomes so relevant to the future of our society. We not only provide financial support and leadership training, we also provide mentoring, through the building of inter-generational partnerships. By lending their professional expertise and career guidance, Point Mentors become important role models and friends to our scholars, while meaningfully broadening their own experience.”

Actress Marsha Thomason presented a Point scholar with an award

I ran into a pal from Los Angeles, actress Marsha Thomason, who plays a lesbian character on White Collar. She starred on TV shows ‘Lost’ and ‘Vegas’. She presented a scholar with an award. Thomason tells Trans Forming Media, “I was thrilled to be asked to take part of Point Honors tonight because they provide such a wonderful service to the LGBT community. These are kids who are disenfranchised who can now have higher education. I think that’s very exciting and I’m happy to meet some of the scholars tonight as well.”

Sam Champion (Good Morning America) was co-host of the event

MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts presented the Point Inspiration Award to Johnson & Johnson, which was accepted by Chris Hacker, Chief Design Officer, J&J Consumer Companies.

w/ Real Housewives of New Jersey's Teresa Guidice

Johnson & Johnson's Christina Lang (L) and Erica Deuso (R)

Kelly Ripa and Sam Champion were an entertaining duo!

Actress Judith Light (left) was an honoraree chair, and actress Lorna Kelly (right) hosted the silent auction