June 26: The 5th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice

On June 26, 2009, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color and allies will take to the streets of NYC once again and demand justice to let the world know, that on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for justice, raising our voices until we are heard. We call on all activist and organizers for justice, both local and organizations around the country and world to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together. Below and attached are the points of unity which hold together the purpose of this march.

To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org

For more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.

SAVE THE DATE – Trans Day of Action – June 26, 2009 – Starting Rally 3PM

The 5th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice

POINTS OF UNITY

Initiated by TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Center for Community Organizing.

We call on Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities and our allies from many movements to join us for the 5th Annual Trans Day of Action (TDOA) for Social and Economic Justice. As TGNC People of Color (POC) we recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to build the world we want to see. Much has changed since last year’s TDOA, the election of a new US President has brought hope to many of our communities, however we still live in a time when people of color, immigrants, youth, elders, rural communities, people living with disabilities and poor people are disproportionately underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state. In fact, due to the growing financial crisis conditions have worsened. As a result, it is even more critical that we unite and work together towards ending the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia within our movements for justice. We call for an end to the continued single issue platform of gay marriage over TGNC justice by our movements. Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC justice will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced! These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this march:

• We demand that all people receiving public assistance (welfare) including TGNC People of Color, be treated with respect and dignity. We are in solidarity with all people living on public assistance. TGNC POC face transphobic harassment and discrimination when applying for and seeking to access public assistance/welfare. For over three years TGNC communities in NYC have called on the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the NYC agency responsible for public assistance, to address these systemic problems. After initially ignoring requests for a meeting, due to community pressure raised by TDOA, last year HRA agreed to meet. As a result, this past year TransJustice and a committee of organizations and community members including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and others have worked with HRA to develop a new HRA procedure to prevent transphobic discrimination including TGNC cultural competency training. To date we are currently awaiting HRA’s final approval of the procedure and anticipate a response by Trans Day of Action.

• We demand an end to the profiling, discrimination, harassment, brutality and murders that occur at the hands of the Police. Communities of color continue to face rampant police harassment and brutality. Last month two lesbians of color were brutally beaten by police officers in front of a club in Brooklyn, NY. In 2006 a Transgender woman of color was assaulted and harassed by an employee at a McDonald’s, when the police arrived they arrested and abused her. We are in solidarity with all people impacted by police violence including supporters of Iman Morales, the family of Sean Bell and the Jersey 4. Like other oppressed communities, TGNC people are targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police daily. We demand an end to the brutality and harassment and call for Justice for all people impacted by police violence. We call for an independent prosecutor for all cases of police violence (www.peoplesjustice.org). To improve TGNC people’s safety in interactions with the police we demand that Commissioner Ray Kelly implement changes in NYPD policies and adopt the “Proposed Policy for the Treatment of Transgender People in NYPD Custody” and the associated changes to the NYPD patrol guide, submitted to the NYPD in April 2009. (www.ipetitions.com/petition/NYPDTransPolicy/)

• We demand an end to the violence and harassment faced by women and LGBTSTGNC communities in the NYC public transportation system (MTA). Women and LGBTSTGNC communities face rampant violence and harassment in the NYC public transportation system. In 2005, a woman was sexually assaulted in a subway station in full view of a train conductor and a station agent. In 2006, a transgender woman was harassed by an MTA worker using anti-transgender slurs - bystanders joined in the harassment. We call on the MTA to be accountable and work proactively to end the violence and harassment that occurs in their transit system and to comply with Local Law 3 which prohibits gender identity/expression discrimination. (nyersforsafetransit.wordpress.com & newyorklawschool.typepad.com/leonardlink/2008/02/brooklyn-court.html)

• We demand the full legalization of all immigrants. In the last year, violence towards immigrants has increased. We oppose all forms of enforcement, which target people trying to survive a deepening global economic crisis, and are in solidarity with migrant rights organizations around the world. We oppose any immigration reform proposal that includes a registration process, more militarization at the border and further criminalization of undocumented people. TGNC people deserve the right to access competent and respectful immigration services. We demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and issue passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are.

• We are in solidarity with all prisoners, especially the many TGNC people behind the walls who are often invisible to our movements. We call attention to the under-reported accounts of severe violence and rape that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners. We demand an end to the torture and discrimination TGNC prisoners face. We demand that all TGNC prisoners receive competent and respectful healthcare. We oppose the continued growth of the prison industrial complex that targets our communities, yet we recognize that TGNC people need access to services and facilities that lessen our vulnerability to violence within the present jails and prisons. We call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly puts POC, immigrants, TGNC and poor people behind bars - further criminalizing our communities and our lives.

• We demand that TGNC people have access to respectful and safe living spaces. Many TGNC people face discrimination from landlords and housing administrators displacing us from our homes due to gender identity or expression. A disproportionate number of TGNC people have been or are currently homeless and face discrimination when trying to access shelters and other assisted living programs. NYC law and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) state that people will be placed in shelters according to gender identity and that discrimination based on gender identity will not be tolerated. We demand that all DHS shelter administrators continue to provide adequate Trans sensitivity trainings for all personnel and enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect all homeless people.

• We demand that TGNC people have equal access to employment and education opportunities. We are outraged by increasing unemployment facing all communities, particularly TGNC POC. TGNC people continue to face blatant discrimination and harassment from employers due to systemic transphobia. Few TGNC people have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. We demand that employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies and comply with Local Law 3.

• We demand that all people, including TGNC people, have access to essential health and human services. We are in a period of ongoing budget cuts to critical services such as HIV/AIDS, youth, LGBT, etc. We call on Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg to stop the budget cuts to essential health and human services and restore funding. The Piers have been a safe space for our community, particularly LGBTSTGNC youth of color for years. In solidarity with FIERCE, we demand the establishment of a 24hour LGBT youth center at the Piers. (www.fiercenyc.org)

• We demand that children and youth under jurisdiction of the Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Private Foster Care Agencies, have the right to freedom of gender expression/identity. In 2002 it was established that NYC’s foster care system cannot discriminate against TGNC children and youth nor force them to only wear clothing associated with birth gender. ACS and private foster care agencies must be accountable for the health of people under their care including TGNC people. After organized community pressure ACS established an anti-discrimination policy for TGNC people. We demand that ACS fully implement this policy.

• We oppose all the public and hidden wars of the U.S. the continued occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the expansion of U.S. militarization. We are appalled by the ongoing attacks on the people of Palestine through the denial of equal rights inside Israel, division through the wall, economic isolation, blockades of supplies and imports, escalating militarization throughout the occupied territories, and the continued refusal of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. We support organizations intensifying efforts through boycott, divestment, and sanction strategies. We oppose escalating military activities everywhere. We demand the immediate removal of all U.S. troops from all countries under occupation and demand an end of use of U.S. dollars to cultivate and sponsor wars against people in the U.S. and abroad.

• We demand justice for the many TGNC people who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered. These incidents continue to be silenced, misclassified or blamed on TNGC people. The police and media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. An increase in hate crime laws will not solve the problem but will give increased power to the state to put more people in jail. Instead we call for a unified effort for all of us to address the root causes of why these incidents happen. As a society that seeks social justice we seek to find ways of preventing attacks on TGNC people by building strong and knowledgeable communities and using transformative justice to hold people accountable.

We commemorate Amanda Milan, Sakia Gunn, Ruby Ordeñana, Gwen Araujo, Erika Keels, Victoria Arellano, Lawrence King, Saneesha Stewart, Duanna Johnson, Angie Zapata, Teish Cannon, Taysia Elzy and the many others we have lost, who struggled and lived fearlessly, being true to who they were. They keep the fire of struggle burning within all of us.

On June 26, 2009, TGNC POC and allies will take to the streets of NYC once again and demand justice to let the world know, that on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the rebellion is not over and we will continue fighting for justice, raising our voices until we are heard. We call on all activist and organizers for justice, both local and organizations around the country to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together. To endorse TDOA 2009, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org, for more info contact - info4tdoa@alp.org or Mya at 718-596-0342 x 23.

U.N. figures to greet NY 'People's Economic Summit' May 31

In front of UN at 47th St & 1st Ave,
Sessions and Panels: 11am to 5pm
Main Plenary starts at 1:pm

Byron Blake, United Nations ambassador for Jamaica and senior advisor to President of UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto-Brockmann, will bring greetings from UN President d’Escoto to the People's Economic Summit's plenary session on May 31 in New York. Ambassador Blake.

The People's Economic Summit, called by the U.S.-based Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM) and other organizations, was first called to show solidarity with the U.N. Conference on the Economic Crisis that had been scheduled for June 1-3. The summit will also discuss plans to organize protests in Pittsburgh, PA., in September to protest at the next G20 meeting.

The June 1-3 U.N. Conference was aimed at representing all U.N. members in confronting the worldwide economic crisis and not just the restricted elite powers of the G8 or G20. Pressure from some of the G8 countries forced the U.N. organizers to postpone the UN Conference to June 24-26. But those organizing the People’s Economic Summit say that the forced posponement simply means that the peoples struggle against the bankers is more important than ever and their summit must go on.

Hundreds of participants representing community organizations, solidarity groups, women's, lesbian/gay/bi/trans, workers' unions and other progressive organizations will join the Peoples Summit from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in a summit tent city across the street from the U.N. on May 31 under a tent at 47th Street and Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza.

Besides Byron Blake, featured speakers include: Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Ajamu Sankofa, Vinie Burrows, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Nellie Bailey, City Councilperson Charles Barron, Chris Silvera, Brenda Stokely, Larry Hamm, Lynne Stewart, Rev. Lucius Walker, Dulphing Ogan and Curtis Doebbler.

BOPM organizer Larry Holmes said that "because of recent developments, the May 31 Summit will not only be a critical opportunity to discuss the causes of the world economic crisis, hear the voices of those who are suffering the most because of this crisis and plan mass action, it will also be a protest against the G20 governments, especially the U.S. and European imperialist powers that have conspired for six months to either derail, discredit, or weaken the U.N. economic summit."

"The People's Economic Summit, Holmes added, "will be discussing such things as how can the mass movements work together, how can we elevate the organization of the unemployed in the struggle for jobs, and in specific terms how will the movement here respond to the next G20 summit meeting scheduled to take place in September in Pittsburgh, Penna."

Holmes concluded, "The campaign of the rich against the U.N. conference on the world economic crisis should and must serve as a reminder that changes from above are only possible if there is mass resistance from below. It is to this understanding and this purpose that the People’s Economic Summit is dedicated."

For more information:

Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Email: http://bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml

Breaking News: Prop 8 decision

American Civil Liberties Union, May 26, 2009

Today, personal freedom took a big hit in California. In a 6-to-1 decision, the California Supreme Court ruled against us in our case to overturn Proposition 8.

Marriages of same-sex couples will continue to be banned in California.

This is deeply disappointing, especially in light of the recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling saying that it is unconstitutional to keep gay couples from marrying -- and the passage of laws opening marriage to everyone by the Vermont and Maine legislatures. Public support for marriage for same-sex couples is gaining ground, but California is being left behind.

Matt Coles, the director of the ACLU's LGBT project, recorded a personal message about California's decision, what it means for people’s lives and its impact on the freedoms of all Americans.

Please take a minute to watch this video and share it with your friends and family:

click here for video from ACLU

This decision legitimizes discrimination and allows the government to intrude on our most intimate commitments. You can be sure the ACLU will continue to work for fairness for gay couples and families.

But this case goes beyond the LGBT community. It is also about the government imposing one group’s idea of morality on everyone else. And when that happens, you can be sure the ACLU will be there.

Listen to what Matt has to say about the Prop 8 decision and the important work the ACLU is doing to protect the personal freedoms of all Americans.

Those opposed to same-sex marriage are on the wrong end of history. And, with your help, the ACLU will wage and win this battle for equality no matter how long it takes.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union

13th Annual Conference on Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnicity

Same-Sex Marriage and Beyond: Charting A Progressive Course

University of North Carolina School of Law
February 21, 2009

On February 21st, 2009, The University of North Carolina School of Law's Conference on Race, Class, Gender and Ethnicity is hosting its thirteenth annual conference entitled, Same-Sex Marriage and Beyond: Charting a Progressive Course. This year's conference is co-sponsored by the UNC Lambda Law Students Association. The Conference will bring legal practitioners and scholars together with activists, community members, and other academics to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the LGBTQ movement created by the struggle for same-sex marriage, and to chart a path forward for the movement and its allies. Our program will consist of four panels and two keynote speakers. The panels will examine: Marriage and Partner Recognition, Children and Parenting, Violence and the State, and Intersections.

Speakers Include:
Kevin Cathcart, Lambda Legal, New York, NY
Shannon Price Minter, National Center for Lesbian Rights, San Francisco, CA
Imani Henry, International Action Center, New York, NY
Maxine Eichner, UNC School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC
Gael Guevara, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, New York, NY
Ian Palmquist, Equality NC, Raleigh, NC
Catherine Smith, Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO
Barbara Fedders, UNC School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC
Robert Rosenwald, ACLU of Florida, Miami, FL
Aaron Morris, Immigration Equality, New York, NY
Justin Smith, Project STYLE, Chapel Hill, NC

Conference registration is $75 for CLE Credit**, $20 otherwise, and free for students, unemployed, and fixed income registrants. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

For directions to the law school, schedule, and more information or to register on-line go to:
http://www.unc.edu/crcge
and join us on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47917463548

This event is co-sponsored by the UNC Graduate and Professional Student Association. The Conference also wishes to thank the UNC School of Law and the UNC Student Bar Association for their support.

** The North Carolina State Bar has not yet approved the CLE credits for this year's conference; however, based on previous years conferences we expect the conference to be worth five hours.

Local, nat’l groups to challenge ‘ex-gay’ Charlotte conference

Author, activist Wayne Besen to visit Charlotte
by Matt Comer, Q-Notes, Feb. 12th, 2009

CHARLOTTE — Local and national groups will soon converge on Charlotte, all of them holding events involving the LGBT community or set against it.

On Feb. 21, the anti-gay Focus on the Family and Exodus International will hold their so-called “ex-gay” conference Love Won Out at Central Church of God. Their event coincides with the Human Rights Campaign’s Carolinas Gala and a joint conference of the Metropolitan Community Church and Unity Fellowship, two primarily LGBT Christian denominations.

The Charlotte LGBT community has responded by organizing a grassroots effort to counter the harmful myths, lies and false hope of “ex-gay” ministries promoted by Focus on the Family and Exodus. The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) will hold a series of events Feb. 14 through Feb. 21 to raise public awareness and challenge the “ex-gay” presence.

[Ed. Note -- This writer is an organizer with CRANE.]

On Feb. 14, CRANE will hold an Uptown Charlotte public awareness event, “Light a Candle for Love,” and speak to passers-by and Uptown dinner and party-goers about LGBT equality. Organizers will pass out glow sticks (instead of candles in the very windy downtown area) symbolic of the light and love that lives within each person. They’ll discuss equality issues with community members.

A few days later on Thursday, Feb. 19, the grassroots group will host Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth” and a syndicated columnist whose work appears in Q-Notes. In his presentation, “Pray Away the Gay,” Besen will discuss the myths and lies of “ex-gay” organizations like Exodus International. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Charlotte’s Lesbian & Gay Community Center.

A press conference will follow the next day. Media has been invited to the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Charlotte where Besen will unveil a new Truth Wins Out/Lambda Legal booklet “Ex-Gay & the Law.” The new publication offers resources for those who might have been victimized by unscrupulous “ex-gay” ministries and therapies.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, the grassroots group’s efforts will culminate in a non-violent, silent protest of the Love Won Out conference. Members and supporters will be present outside Central Church of God on Sardis Road from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

More information on each event, including times, locations, directions and parking information for the Saturday protest is available at www.rainbowaction.org/events/.

“These programs sell false hope and take advantage of desperate and vulnerable people who just want acceptance from loved ones,” Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said of “ex-gay” ministries and therapies. “Love Won Out’s dangerous sexual engineering campaign is ineffective, psychologically damaging and confuses stereotypes with science. We hope to educate the community and provide people with accurate and reliable information.”

At the same time as the Love Won Out conference, LGBT and affirming religious leaders will meet for a conference of their own.

“It is ironic,” said The Rev. Nancy Wilson, presiding bishop of Metropolitan Community Churches and an open lesbian, “that the theme of the Focus on the Family conference is ‘Love Wins Out’, because that is exactly what happened to me and so many of my colleagues who will be joining me in Charlotte.”

Bishop Tonyia Rawls, of Charlotte’s Unity Fellowship Church, agreed that the “ex-gay” conference’s impact will be harmful. “My faith tells me that love is stronger than the death created by homophobia and intolerance,” she said. “I cling to the message from the Scriptures that in all things God works for good. Even in the midst of negative and destructive messages, God is present working to dispel the negativity and restore both those who are alienated and harmed as well as those who inflict such harm.”

Organizations helping CRANE to organize the counter to Focus on the Family and Exodus international include national groups Truth Wins Out, Lambda Legal, the Human Rights Campaign and Faith in America, and local and state groups like One Voice Chorus, Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, Q-Notes newspaper, Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice, UNCC Pride and EqualityNC.

info: www.rainbowaction.org

Hundreds In Charlotte Protest Prop 8 & Rally For LGBT Rights

David Dixon, Action Center For Justice, Nov. 20, 2008

Photo by Carol Marley.

Click here for more photos.

This past Saturday, Nov. 15, some 300 people rallied outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center in downtown Charlotte. The action was part of a national day of protest against California’s Prop 8 ban on the right of LGBT people to marry and be able to receive the over 1,000 benefits marriage entails.

There were a large number of energetic youth in the crowd. People driving by in cars honked & raised their fists in support as chants of “Out Of The Closet, Into The Streets” filled the air.

Some of the signs read “Yes We Can”, “You Can’t Outlaw Love”, “Ban H8”, “Marriage Is A Human Right”, and “Gay Rights Are Human Rights”. Many of the signs were noticeably homemade, creative & rainbow colored.

Laura Benjamin reports on University of North Carolina – Charlotte’s Niner Online: “To open up the program, two choral groups, Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte and One Voice serenaded the crowd. Following their selections, Reverend Catherine Houchins of the Metropolitan Community Church spoke and offered a blessing for those couples, gay and straight, who were in serious and committed relationships. After Rev. Houchins, Mandy Plante, Providence High School president of the Gay/Straight Alliance, gave a captivating speech that promoted equality.” (nineronline.com, Nov.18, 2008)

Protest were held in hundreds of cities throughout the U.S. and are expected to continue until marriage equality and equal rights for LGBT people are attained.

It’s no wonder since The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reports that: “The 1,138 federal benefits and protections of marriage are only available to couples that are allowed to legally marry. These include Social Security survivor and spousal benefits, the ability to file a joint tax return, immigration rights, and coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act. To date, civil unions are not ‘portable,’ meaning that when a couple moves to another state, none of the benefits, rights or responsibilities coming from civil unions move with them.” (Workers World, Nov. 20, 2008)

The anti-war movement & all progressives should join the movement for marriage equality and equal rights for the LGBT community.

The Charlotte protest was organized by UNC-Charlotte’s PRIDE. To get involved contact Braxton Midyette at 704-687-4150 or pride@uncc.edu.

Across the country: Thousands in streets defend same-sex rights

Right-wing churches bankrolled Prop. 8 in Calif.
Imani Henry, Workers World, Nov. 14, 2008

The election victory of Barack Obama will go down in history as a triumphant step forward in the struggle against racism and national oppression in the U.S. Unfortunately, it was also an election where more than 10 million voters in Florida, Arizona and California supported right-wing ballot initiatives to deny marriage rights to lesbian, gay, bi and trans people.

Thirty states now have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. A proposal in Arkansas was also passed to stop gay men and lesbians from adopting children.

The struggle around California’s Proposition 8, which amends the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, garnered national attention. Prop. 8 was the highest-funded campaign in any state and exceeded every other electoral campaign in spending except for the presidential race.

Prop. 8 was launched by ProtectMarriage.com to counter the California Supreme Court’s May 15 ruling which deemed unconstitutional a 2000 ban on same-sex marriage. “Vote Yes on Prop. 8” forces raised $35.8 million. The ban won 52 to 48 percent.

The coalition of right-wing organizations that supported Prop. 8 included the Roman Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, American Family Association, Focus on the Family and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

The Utah-centered Mormon Church actively organized support for Prop. 8 and raised significant funds in both that state and California. Every congregation was read a letter in support of the bigoted ballot measure and urged to donate and raise funds. About 45 percent of donations to ProtectMarriage.com from outside California came from Utah, much more than any other state. (Mercury News, Oct. 24)

Prop. 8 marriage ban ignites protests

On Nov. 4 across the country, LGBT people of all nationalities gathered to watch and then celebrate Obama’s victory. But on Nov. 5—with the announcement of the passing of Prop. 8—a new firestorm of protest was ignited. LGBT political and legal organizations immediately started an appeal process.

An estimated 10,000 people rallied, marched, sat down in the streets and/or shut down traffic in Los Angeles and San Francisco. On Nov. 6, the protests spread to more cities, including San Diego and Westwood, Calif. More than 3,000 people protested on Nov. 7 in downtown Salt Lake City at the Mormon temple and church headquarters.

Actions took place throughout California on Nov. 8, including a march of 13,000 in Los Angeles and 10,000 in San Diego. On Nov. 9, the California Highway Patrol was forced to close two state highway traffic ramps for 13 hours, as 350 people protested outside the largest Mormon temple in Oakland.

Saturday, Nov. 15, has been called as a national day of action against Prop. 8. In California, protesters are planning massive rallies at city halls all across the state. Legal and economic campaigns have been launched throughout the country to strip the Mormon Church of its tax-exempt status. An economic boycott is being discussed.

According to the Associated Press: “Utah’s growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California’s ban on gay marriage. It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah.” (Nov. 6)

Don’t blame Prop. 8 win on Black community

In a despicable effort—played heavily in the media—to deflect attention from the rich and powerful religious right, California’s Black communities have been blamed for Prop. 8’s passage. The media falsely concluded that the high voter turnout of Black people resulted in the measure’s passage.

The LGBT movement has been erroneously depicted as entirely white and middle class, and Black communities as politically conservative, highly religious and heterosexual.

But LGBT communities and movements in the U.S. are overwhelmingly multinational and working class in character, and neither Prop. 8 nor the oppression of LGBT people originates from the African-American community. The millions in donations raised by the anti-LGBT forces did not come from the pockets of Black churchgoers.

A new study released by the University of California, Los Angeles-based Williams Institute indicates that more than 7,400 Black men and women in California are in same-sex relationships. Fifty-five percent of Black women and 11 percent of Black men are raising children within these couples, the study found. It also found economic disparities among Black same-sex couples and their heterosexual counterparts.

Christopher Ramos, the study’s co-author, noted: “These analyses break stereotypes about gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, like the idea that they are all wealthy. We find that gay and bisexual [African-American] men in California have household incomes that are 44 percent lower than their heterosexual counterparts.” (L.A. Reporter, Oct. 23)

In a statement, Kathryn Kolbert, a reproductive rights attorney and president of the pro-LGBT People for the American Way, countered the divisive news coverage: “[We have looked] at the basic numbers and concluded that it is simply false to suggest that Prop. 8 would have been defeated if African Americans had been more supportive.

“The amendment seems to have passed by more than half a million votes, and the number of black voters, even with turnout boosted by the presidential race, couldn’t have made up that difference. ... Republicans and white churchgoers, among many other groups, voted for Prop. 8 at higher rates than African Americans. ...Who’s really to blame? The religious right.” (www.pfaw.org)

The right-wing campaign of lies and deception during the campaign included “robocalls” directed at Black households that falsely portrayed Obama as a Prop. 8 supporter. In fact, it was Black communities and religious leaders who mobilized to counter much of the right-wing efforts.

The California NAACP sent mailers opposing Prop. 8 to 140,000 Black households. In October the campaign in the Black community against Prop. 8 ranged from an evening of preaching against Prop. 8 at a predominantly Black church in San Francisco to a press conference held on the steps of Oakland’s city hall by prominent African-American leaders.

While John McCain was a supporter of Prop. 8 and Obama publicly opposed it, both candidates voiced opposition to gay marriage. Obama is only for the right of civil unions for LGBT persons, which do not confer the same rights and benefits as marriage does.

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: “The 1,138 federal benefits and protections of marriage are only available to couples that are allowed to legally marry. These include Social Security survivor and spousal benefits, the ability to file a joint tax return, immigration rights, and coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act. To date, civil unions are not ‘portable,’ meaning that when a couple moves to another state, none of the benefits, rights or responsibilities coming from civil unions move with them.”

At the heart of the Prop. 8 and marriage equality struggle is the right to health care and employment benefits that all workers of every nationality, gender and sexuality should have. LGBT marriage is essentially about workers’ rights. This is why organized labor has fought the bosses to have domestic partner benefits in their contracts. Prop. 8 is a setback to the entire progressive movement for social and economic justice.

It is not surprising during this capitalist economic crisis that the right wing poured millions of dollars into a campaign to deny benefits to LGBT workers. At the heart of their efforts is an attempt by the entire ruling class to pit workers and oppressed communities against each other in the hope we won’t unite to fight back against them.

The struggle to overturn Prop. 8 will continue. A multinational, multisexuality movement will be a powerful force to turn back all the economic attacks coming down on the working class in this period.

Turkey's Anti-War Diva

By PELIN TURGUT/ISTANBUL, TIME, Feb. 28, 2008

Better known for her tabloid love affairs, plastic surgery and husky voice, transsexual Turkish diva Bulent Ersoy makes the unlikeliest political activist. Yet she has caused a storm of outrage by becoming the only public personality to speak out against Turkey's invasion of northern Iraq. So pervasive is the nationalist climate that Ersoy has been vilified for declaring — on a national TV equivalent of American Idol, where she is a judge — that if she had a son, she would not have sent him to fight this war. She is now under investigation for being "anti-military".

Ersoy is widely popular but the response to her declaration has been bellicose. Turkey's TV watchdog said it has been inundated with calls protesting Ersoy's comments. Officials at the Star TV channel are said to be contemplating dropping her as a judge on the show. An Istanbul prosecutor has begun an investigation into her remarks on the grounds that they could put people off military service, compulsory for men over the age of 18. Many of those killed in Iraq have been conscripts. (This is not the first time Ersoy has been on the wrong side of the military: she was banned from performing for several years following a military coup in 1980.)

When she delivered her remarks on the air, Ersoy immediately got into a fight with a fellow celebrity judge, the singer Ebru Gündeþ, countered that were she to have a son, she would have no hesitation in having him "fight like a lion." "Martyrs killed in action do not die, the country will never be divided," she said. Ersoy retorted that there was no point taking refuge in clichés.

Turkey's military has said it has killed 230 PKK rebels in the current operation while Turkish losses stood at 27, but the casualty reports cannot be independently confirmed. The conflict has killed up to 40,000 people since 1984.

The U.S., mindful of upsetting Iraq's only fairly peaceful region, is urging Turkey for a quick end to the invasion targeting separatist Kurdish rebels based in the mountains of north Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Ankara today, called for the operation to be over shortly and for the government to address the economic and social concerns of its Kurdish minority, which complains of cultural and other restrictions as well as deep poverty.

But his call appears to be falling on deaf ears. Turkey is awash in fervent nationalism — newspapers are emblazoned with military heroics and jingoistic slogans. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is loathe to upset a cosy alliance with the far right Nationalist Action Party, which helped it push through a recent law allowing headscarves in universities. Although thousands of Kurds in the southeast have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the invasion, there has otherwise been virtually no public opposition (with the exception of Ersoy's comment) to the invasion. A political solution to the Kurdish issue appears a long way off.

Since November, the U.S. has been providing military intelligence to the Turkish army, helping target air strikes. Now that the Turkish army is engaged on the field in north Iraq, it may not want to pull back quickly. Ankara is deeply suspicious of the regional Kurdish government there, which it accuses of supporting the PKK. It is also concerned that the largely autonomous region may seek independence, in turn fomenting similar demands by its own restive Kurdish population. In response to Gates' remarks, the Turkish military did not set a timetable for withdrawal. "Short term is a relative notion. Sometimes it is a day, sometimes a year," Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit said after his meeting with Gates.

International Women's Day: A Salute to Women's Resistance

We invite you/ and or your organization to help revive the struggle tradition of International Womens Day

The following statement was put out by the International Women’s Day ’08 Coalition based in New York City. Women activists and women’s groups are encouraged to sign the statement, View or Download English or Español flyer for NYC March, or volunteer to build the demonstration or list a local IWD event in your area.

* No war on women at home and worldwide
* Unite to win our liberation

On March 8, 1908, working women in the needle trade industry took to the streets of New York City demanding better working conditions, higher wages, shorter workdays and the overall improvement of women’s lives in this country.

These women marched through New York City demanding justice for women workers and immigrant workers; they were in fact working immigrant women.

The message and militancy of these women were so inspiring to women around the world that in 1910 the International Socialist Congress meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, officially declared March 8 International Women’s Day.

This year, on the 100th anniversary of that historic march, we call on you to join us in commemoration of International Women’s Day 2008 to honor all the women who have fought for our liberation by continuing the fight for freedom today.

We are in the midst of a rise in attacks on women--including Black, Latina, Asian, Indigenous, Arab and white here in the U.S.--as well as women who originate or currently live in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Pacific Islands, Australia and Europe.

The attacks inside the U.S. include legal and extralegal attacks on our reproductive self-determination; an escalation of sexual assaults and rapes, like that of Megan Williams and Crystal Mangum; violence toward lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, like the persecution of the Jersey 4; and the detention and deportation of immigrant women and their families.

Artists worldwide are using their creativity to combat the anti-Black and anti-woman images we see in today’s corporate media machines. The media conglomerates peddle destructive mind-poison that hatefully twists and manipulates the images of women of all nationalities and backgrounds. These unrealistic messages promote the rape, abuse and murder of women and young girls everywhere.


Attacks on living standards and the war budget

The economic crisis is affecting women in a distinctive way. Women, young and old, are uniquely affected by the mortgage foreclosures; demolition of public housing in New Orleans, New York and elsewhere; evictions; lack of health care, childcare and job loss that this crisis--intensified by Wall Street’s greed for profits--has caused.

Women comprise the fastest growing population of prisoners in the U.S. Meanwhile, war on working-class youth and youth of color, including racist police brutality and militarization of schools, is demonizing and killing our children.

Cuts in funding for education and social programs are decreasing the quality of life of our youth. The illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are stealing our children, dehumanizing them and devaluing them into nothing more than property of the U.S. military, or worse, taking their lives.

The conditions for women worldwide have greatly deteriorated as a result of war, occupation and ruthless U.S. foreign policy.

The military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, costing trillions of our tax dollars, has caused a backward movement in women’s rights and freedoms in those countries, including a decrease in educational opportunities. Women in those countries are losing family members to murders and illegal detentions and are being sexually assaulted, killed and detained themselves.

The people of Palestine are under a violent and genocidal occupation by the U.S.-funded state of Israel. Women in the West Bank are seeing the demolition of their homes, the murder of their children and the imprisonment of Palestinian men and are being imprisoned and killed themselves. The women of Gaza are starving, dying of thirst and watching their children and loved ones die from lack of health care, water, food and income--all of this forced on them by the U.S. and Israeli blockade. In the most recent revolt against U.S. imperialism and Israeli apartheid, the women of Gaza played a key role in breaking through the Egyptian wall in order to obtain food, water and life necessities.

Women in Sudan and other areas of Africa are dying from U.S. sanctions; women in the Philippines are being rounded up and killed or imprisoned for resisting the U.S.-backed regime; the women of Latin America and the Caribbean are being affected by economic and political U.S. intervention, forcing them to live in poverty and leave their homes for the prospect of better opportunities.

Indigenous women are being brutally repressed for reclaiming their original lands throughout the Americas.

Worldwide sex trafficking has forced women and children into prostitution and illegal servitude. Often these women and children are kidnapped or forced into sex trafficking as a result of economic disparity rooted in imperialist plunder of their countries’ resources.

We mention all these issues because every issue is a woman’s issue.

What women are doing now to resist

The fight for women’s liberation has been a long road and will take unity and militancy to complete.

The growing numbers of new union members are largely women willing to stand up against their bosses and fight for justice at the workplace.

Mothers, wives, sisters and grandmothers are organizing challenges to racist cops who murder their sons, grandsons, husbands and partners with impunity.

Women are leading the fight against military recruiters in their children’s schools and their neighborhoods.

Women are fighting against the legal and extralegal heteronormative and homophobic assaults on the LGBT communities.

Military women are standing up and resisting the violence against their persons and the imperialist war.

Women across the country are organizing against domestic violence, rapes and racist torture.

Women continue to band together to defend their right to control their own bodies and to fight for reproductive justice.

Women are standing up against the bulldozing of their homes and leading the struggles against displacement, gentrification, foreclosures and criminal landlords.

Women have mounted strong and united efforts against the destruction of our land, air, food, water and environmental racism.

Women organize to free their family members who are political prisoners.

Women band together in their communities to stop the lack of quality education, jobs, health care and a safety net for the disabled, seniors, poor families, the homeless and children.

Women stand up against the racist immigration policies that separate them from their children and family.

Women are struggling to recover their children from the so-called child welfare system.

Women will use their creativity to conjure what is nurturing, beautiful and strong about women in our songs, our dances, our poems, our drawings and our musical compositions.

Whether on the streets, in the schools or in our own homes, women will continue to organize their families and friends and will not stop until a more life-affirming depiction of the sustainers of our world becomes mainstream.

Our mission is to empower women worldwide as well as to bring to the attention of our sisters and brothers that we must challenge our oppressors’ divide-and-conquer tactics, such as racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia.

This call is for all of us to honor and uphold the great traditions of women warriors who continue to display courage, strength, wisdom and the will to resist against great odds. Organize, Resist and Build Our Movements for Victory!

Women activists and women’s groups are encouraged to sign the statement, View or Download English or Español flyer for NYC March, or volunteer to build the demonstration or list a local IWD event in your area.

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN MEMORY OF IMMIGRATION DETAINEE

Victoria’s Family Speaks Out On Their Loss and Demands Answers

Los Angeles, CA –Victoria’s family will hold a candlelight vigil in memory of Victoria Arellano, a Latina transgender woman who was living with HIV and died after being denied basic medical attention at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in San Pedro, California. Medical attention to Victoria came too late and only after her cellmates organized a protest to demand medical attention.

“Sadly, Victoria Arellano’s death is not the only one. In the past three weeks, other immigrants have died in either federal or local immigration custody, including a pregnant woman in El Paso and a Rhode Island man whose sister’s request to deliver him prescribed medication was rejected,” said MALDEF President and General Counsel John Trasviña. “The federal government must enforce basic standards for detention and Congress must use its oversight authority to make sure the Department of Homeland Security does so.”

We request that the House Judiciary Committee, Immigration Subcommittee conduct an oversight hearing into the circumstances of Victoria’s death, as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) detention standards and procedures regarding the policies for the treatment of LGBT detainees and for the medical care for all detainees.

"Victoria's death is a human rights violation. Today people living with HIV/AIDS can live a long and healthy life as long as they are taking their medication in a consistent manner. This beautiful young woman, of only 23 years of age, was allowed to die in such an unjust manner simply because the authorities in charge failed to provide her with basic medical attention." said Oscar De La O, President of BIENESTAR.

WHO: The Arellano Family
WHAT: Candlelight Vigil
WHEN: Monday, August 27, 2007
6pm – 9pm
WHERE: Federal Building - Downtown Los Angeles
300 N. Los Angeles Street


Victoria’s family will make a statement to the press and community present. The candlelight vigil will be held in both English and Spanish. A community altar in memory of Victoria will commemorate her life as daughter, sister, friend and community activist.

BIENESTAR is the largest Latino community-based organization in the United States committed to meeting the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. BIENESTAR enhances the health and well-being of Latinos through community education, prevention, mobilization, advocacy, and the provision of direct social services. For more information visit www.bienestar.org.

Founded in 1968, MALDEF, the nation’s leading Latino legal organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, and higher education scholarships. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.

FREE THEM NOW! Lesbians sentenced for self-defense

All-white jury convicts Black women

By Imani Henry, workers.org, June 21, 2007

New York - On June 14, four African-American women—Venice Brown (19), Terrain Dandridge (20), Patreese Johnson (20) and Renata Hill (24)—received sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 11 years in prison. None of them had previous criminal records. Two of them are parents of small children.

Their crime? Defending themselves from a physical attack by a man who held them down and choked them, ripped hair from their scalps, spat on them, and threatened to sexually assault them—all because they are lesbians.

The mere fact that any victim of a bigoted attack would be arrested, jailed and then convicted for self-defense is an outrage. But the length of prison time given further demonstrates the highly political nature of this case and just how racist, misogynistic, anti-gay, anti-youth and anti-worker the so-called U.S. justice system truly is.

The description of the events, reported below, is based on written statements by a community organization (FIERCE) that has made a call to action to defend the four women, verbal accounts from court observers and evidence from a surveillance camera.

The attack

On Aug. 16, 2006, seven young, African-American, lesbian-identified friends were walking in the West Village. The Village is a historic center for lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) communities, and is seen as a safe haven for working-class LGBT youth, especially youth of color.

As they passed the Independent Film Cinema, 29-year-old Dwayne Buckle, an African-American vendor selling DVDs, sexually propositioned one of the women. They rebuffed his advances and kept walking.

“I’ll f— you straight, sweetheart!” Buckle shouted. A video camera from a nearby store shows the women walking away. He followed them, all the while hurling anti-lesbian slurs, grabbing his genitals and making explicitly obscene remarks. The women finally stopped and confronted him. A heated argument ensued. Buckle spat in the face of one of the women and threw his lit cigarette at them, escalating the verbal attack into a physical one.

Buckle is seen on the video grabbing and pulling out large patches of hair from one of the young women. When Buckle ended up on top of one of the women, choking her, Johnson pulled a small steak knife out of her purse. She aimed for his arm to stop him from killing her friend.

The video captures two men finally running over to help the women and beating Buckle. At some point he was stabbed in the abdomen. The women were already walking away across the street by the time the police arrived.

Buckle was hospitalized for five days after surgery for a lacerated liver and stomach. When asked at the hospital, he responded at least twice that men had attacked him.

There was no evidence that Johnson’s kitchen knife was the weapon that penetrated his abdomen, nor was there any blood visible on it. In fact, there was never any forensics testing done on her knife. On the night they were arrested, the police told the women that there would be a search by the New York Police Department for the two men—which to date has not happened.

After almost a year of trial, four of the seven were convicted in April. Johnson was sentenced to 11 years on June 14.

Even with Buckle’s admission and the video footage proving that he instigated this anti-gay attack, the women were relentlessly demonized in the press, had trumped-up felony charges levied against them, and were subsequently given long sentences in order to send a clear resounding message—that self-defense is a crime and no one should dare to fight back.

Political backdrop of the case

Why were these young women used as an example? At stake are the billions of dollars in tourism and real estate development involved in the continued gentrification of the West Village. This particular incident happened near the Washington Square area—home of New York University, one of most expensive private colleges in the country and one of the biggest employers and landlords in New York City. The New York Times reported that Justice Edward J. McLaughlin used his sentencing speech to comment on “how New York welcomes tourists.” (June 17)

The Village is also the home of the Stonewall Rebellion, the three-day street battle against the NYPD that, along with the Compton Cafeteria “Riots” in California, helped launch the modern-day LGBT liberation movement in 1969. The Manhattan LGBT Pride march, one of the biggest demonstrations of LGBT peoples in the world, ends near the Christopher Street Piers in the Village, which have been the historical “hangout” and home for working-class trans and LGBT youth in New York City for decades.

Because of growing gentrification in recent years, young people of color, homeless and transgender communities, LGBT and straight, have faced curfews and brutality by police sanctioned by the West Village community board and politicians. On Oct. 31, 2006, police officers from the NYPD’s 6th Precinct indiscriminately beat and arrested several people of color in sweeps on Christopher Street after the Halloween parade.

Since the 1980s there has been a steady increase in anti-LGBT violence in the area, with bashers going there with that purpose in mind.

For trans people and LGBT youth of color, who statistically experience higher amounts of bigoted violence, the impact of the gentrification has been severe. As their once-safe haven is encroached on by real estate developers, the new white and majority heterosexual residents of the West Village then call in the state to brutalize them.

For the last six years the political LGBT youth group FIERCE has been at the forefront of mobilizing young people “to counter the displacement and criminalization of LGBTSTQ [lesbian, gay, bi, two spirit, trans, and queer] youth of color and homeless youth at the Christopher Street Pier and in Manhattan’s West Village.” (www.fiercenyc.org) FIERCE has also been the lead organization supporting the Jersey Seven and their families.

The trial and the media

Deemed a so-called “hate crime” against a straight man, every possible racist, anti-woman, anti-LGBT and anti-youth tactic was used by the entire state apparatus and media. Everything from the fact that they lived outside of New York, in the working-class majority Black city of Newark, N.J., to their gender expressions and body structures were twisted and dehumanized in the public eye and to the jury.

According to court observers, McLaughlin stated throughout the trial that he had no sympathy for these women. The jury, although they were all women, were all white. All witnesses for the district attorney were white men, except for one Black male who had several felony charges.

Court observers report that the defense attorneys had to put enormous effort into simply convincing the jury that they were “average women” who had planned to just hang out together that night. Some jurists asked why they were in the Village if they were from New Jersey. The DA brought up whether they could afford to hang out there—raising the issue of who has the right to be there in the first place.

The Daily News reporting was relentless in its racist anti-lesbian misogyny, portraying Buckle as a “filmmaker” and “sound engineer” preyed upon by a “lesbian wolf pack” (April 19) and a “gang of angry lesbians.” (April 13)

Everyone has been socialized by cultural archetypes of what it means to be a “man” or “masculine” and “woman” or “feminine.” Gender identity/expression is the way each indivdual chooses or not to express gender in their everyday lives, including how they dress, walk, talk, etc. Transgender people and other gender non-conforming people face oppression based on their gender expression/identity.

The only pictures shown in the Daily News were of the more masculine-appearing women. One of the most despiciable headlines in the Daily News, “‘I’m a man!’ lesbian growled during fight,” (April 13) was targeted against Renata Hill, who was taunted by Buckle because of her masculinity.

Ironically, Johnson, who was singled out by the judge as the “ringleader,” is the more feminine of the four. According to the New York Times, in his sentencing remarks, “Justice McLaughlin scoffed at the assertion made by ... Johnson, that she carried a knife because she was just 4-foot-11 and 95 pounds, worked nights and lived in a dangerous neighborhood.” He quoted the nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” (June 15)

All of the seven women knew and went to school with Sakia Gunn, a 19-year-old butch lesbian who was stabbed to death in Newark, N.J., in May 2003. Paralleling the present case, Gunn was out with three of her friends when a man made sexual advances to one of the women. When she replied that she was a lesbian and not interested, he attacked them. Gunn fought back and was stabbed to death.

“You can’t help but wonder that if Sakia Gunn had a weapon, would she be in jail right now?” Bran Fenner, a founding member and co-executive director of FIERCE, told Workers World. “If we don’t have the right to self-defense, how are we supposed to survive?”

National call to action

While racist killer cops continue to go without indictment and anti-immigrant paramilitary groups like the Minutemen are on the rise in the U.S., The Jersey Four sit behind bars for simply defending themselves against a bigot who attacked them in the Village.

Capitalism at its very core is a racist, sexist, anti-LGBT system, sanctioning state violence through cops, courts and its so-called laws. The case of the Jersey Four gives more legal precedence for bigoted violence to go unchallenged. The ruling class saw this case as a political one; FIERCE and other groups believe the entire progressive movement should as well.

Fenner said, “We are organizing in the hope that this wakes up all oppressed people and sparks a huge, broad campaign to demand freedom for the Jersey Four.”

FIERCE is asking for assistance for these young women, including pro-bono legal support, media contacts and writers, pen pals, financial support, and diverse organizational support. For details, visit www.fiercenyc.org.

Podcast: Defending The Jersey 4
Imani Henry, a Workers World Party leader, reports on the case of four young African-American lesbians sentenced to 3-11 years for defending themselves against an anti-gay attack. Workers World Forum, June 21, 2007, NYC
Click here to listen to MP3(Running Time 29:05)

NY House passes bill legalizing same-sex marriage

Gay Marriage, a Touchy Issue, Touches Legislators’ Emotions
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM, New York Times, June 21, 2007

ALBANY, June 20 — Teresa R. Sayward did not hesitate when she rose from her seat on Tuesday night to address her colleagues in the State Assembly. An observant Catholic from a small, conservative upstate town, she had rarely shared the story of her son, Glenn, 42, and his struggle to come to terms with his gay identity decades ago.

But she said the occasion — a chance to make New York the second state in the country to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage — called for a highly personal approach.

“We would spend long nights crying together and talking,” she told a full house of hushed lawmakers. “And one night I said to him, ‘You have to be what you are; you can’t be what people think you should be.’ ”

Ms. Sayward received resounding applause, and the bill later passed, 85-61. But in the Senate, where Joseph L. Bruno, the majority leader, opposes the bill, it is not expected to come to the floor.

Supporters of the bill had no illusions about its ultimate fate. But the Assembly chamber, usually abuzz with the white noise of Statehouse gossip and last-minute deal-making, stood silent on Tuesday night as members embarked on a three-hour debate that included tearful tales of family struggles and a gay-marriage proposal via cellphone.

The session, legislators said, was one of the most emotional in recent memory.

Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, the first openly lesbian member of the Assembly, who is known for her toughness behind the scenes, found herself choking up. “I love my partner and I want to know that if anything happens to me that she is protected,” Ms. Glick, a Manhattan Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said, her voice breaking slightly.

The tone ranged from the reverent to the comical. Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat and an observant Jew who said he opposed gay marriage on religious grounds, said he would not vote for the bill “unless God sends a message to me during the next two hours of the debate.” Moments later, thunder from a passing storm resonated in the chamber as lightning flashed outside.

Mr. Hikind chuckled when he was asked about the incident yesterday. “I was going to get up and say, ‘Hey guys, you get it? This is a message for you,’ ” he said.

As the debate ended, Assemblyman Matthew J. Titone, a Staten Island Democrat who is also gay, held up his cellphone and announced that his partner had just proposed. “Now everyone’s asking, ‘So when’s the wedding?’ ” Mr. Titone said yesterday, “and my response is, ‘We’ll have to ask Joe Bruno when it will be.’ ”

On the floor of the Assembly yesterday, having returned to more mundane matters of governance, Ms. Sayward said in an interview that she had not prepared her speech beforehand.

“I’m the mother. I just told my story,” she said, looking out on the chamber from her back-row perch. The speech was “difficult” to deliver, she said, only because of the reaction she expected from her heavily Catholic district, around Willsboro, near Lake Champlain.

“I have received some indications that I may not have the votes that I had the last time,” Ms. Sayward said.

Ms. Glick said she had not expected the debate to be so emotionally exhausting. “I also hadn’t realized how tense I was, and it was an enormous sense of relief,” she said.

She celebrated the vote with a small crowd of Democratic lawmakers at a restaurant. The soundtrack? Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” Ms. Glick reported with a smile. “Most appropriate.”

The 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice

Initiated by TransJustice of The Audre Lorde Project,
LGBTST People of Color Center for Community Organizing

We call on our Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) community and on all of our allies of many movements to join us for the 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice on June 22, 2007. We as Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to change the world we want to see. We live in a time when we see people of color, immigrants and poor people being disproportionately underserved, facing higher levels of discrimination, under heightened surveillance and experiencing increased violence at the hands of the state. It is critical that we unite and work together towards dismantling the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, homophobia and xenophobia that permeates throughout our movements for social justice. Let’s come together to let the world know that Trans and Gender Non-Conforming rights will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced!

Endorsers in Formation as of 6/14/07
*for identification purposes only

Individuals
Council Member Letitia James, NYC
James "Bo" Bolas, New York City
The Rev. Pat Bumgardner
Thomas Chen
David Dixon, Coordinator, Action Center For Justice, Charlotte, NC
Chloe Dzubillo
David Frost
Leslie Feinberg Author, Trans Activist, NYC
Cristina Garza
Martha Grevatt, Trustee, UAW Local 122, former National Secretary, Pride At
Work, AFL-CIO
Lourdes Hunter
Jesse Lokahi Heiwa
Ariana Martohardjono
Bob McCubbin
Amethyst Moonwater
Minnie Bruce Pratt Author, Jersey City, NJ
Edgar Rivera- Colon, Professor, Rutgers, NJ
Tami Starlight, National and international Trans Activist/advocate,
Vancouver, Canada

Organizations
Action Center For Justice
African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change
Al-Fatiha Foundation, Washington, DC
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
CAAAV-Organizing Asian Communities
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
Carberry Development Group, Joplin, MO
CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)
Colorado Anti Violence Program
Community Healthcare Network, Transgender Program, Bronx, NY
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project,(CHAMP)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah's
Critical Resistance
Dari Project
Detroit Action Network for Reproductive Rights, Pontiac, MI
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), NYC
Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services
Esperanza del Barrio
Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment (FIERCE!)
Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST)
Fruta Extrana Inc.
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Gender Action Coalition (GAC)
GLOBE, a group to support and empower the LGBTQ community of Bushwick, NYC
GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side)
Hispanic AIDS Forum, Inc.
Home Outreach Program for Elders at Hartley House
Hudson Pride Connections, NJ
In the Life Media, Inc
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
Inner Child Experience
International Action Center (IAC)
International Action Center, Milwaukee
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
Joplin Gay & Lesbian Center, Joplin, MO
Justice Committee
Justice Now, Oakland, CA
Lavender Pacific Islanders
Legendary House of Ninja
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, NYC
Lighthouse Community Center, CA
LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center), San Francisco
Marriage Equality New York (MENY)
May 1st Coalition
Metropolitan Community Church of New York
Neoyorquinos Socialistas
New Children/New York
NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)
NYC Association of Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Organizations
New York City Lesbian & Gay Anti-Violence Project
New York City Radical Cheerleaders
North East Two-Spirit Society
North Star Fund
People of Color in Crisis (POCC)
PFLAG Transgender Network
Pride At Work, Washington, DC
Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment (PRIDE)
Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, Puerto Rico
Q~POC Lounge
Queens Community House
Queens Pride House, Queens, NYC
Queer Bandit Bike Brigade (qb^3)
Queers for Economic Justice
Queers For Peace and Justice
Queer People Of Color Action
Queer Progressive Agenda, Atlanta, GA
Radical Faeries
Resistance in Brooklyn
Revolting in Pink (R.I.P.)
SafeArt, Chelsea, VT
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, New York Holy Order
South Asian Network in Los Angeles, CA
STONEWALL Veterans' Association (SVA)
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Unity Fellowship Christ Church of NYC—Brooklyn
walk4mewednesdays.com
Workers World Party
Working Class Queer People

These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this important march;

• We demand that TGNC people have equal access to opportunities of employment and education. We are outraged by the high numbers of unemployment and homelessness in our community. Many TGNC people continue to face blatant discrimination and harassment from employers because of the systemic transphobia that plagues their lives from an early age. Few TGNC people have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. TGNC people demand that all employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies that respect the rights of all workers and students and that they comply with the New York City Human Rights Law that prohibits discrimination against gender identity and expression!

• We demand the full legalization of all immigrants. TGNC people deserve the same rights as anyone else to access competent and respectful immigration services. We also demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and issue passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are. We oppose the guest worker program, the Real ID Act, and enforcement provisions to build more walls that give greater powers to the department of homeland security. We also oppose increased barriers for asylum seekers, the HIV ban and other anti-immigrant policies that continue to divide our communities. We stand in opposition to the STRIVE Act and any other reform proposals which would result in the mass deportation of our community.

• We stand in solidarity with all prisoners and especially with the many Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people behind the walls who are often invisible even within prisoner’s rights movements. We call attention to the severe and under-reported accounts of severe violence and rape that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners. We demand an end to the torture and high level of discrimination TGNC prisoners face. We demand that all TGNC prisoners receive competent and respectful healthcare to avoid the severe health problems they experience due to lack of care. We oppose the steadfast and continued growth of the prison industrial complex that continues to target our communities. We also recognize that in the mean time our community needs to have access to services and facilities that lessen their vulnerability to violence within the present jails and prisons. Therefore we are opposed the closing of the “gay and Trans housing” unit on Rikers Island which compromises the safety of the TGNC community that is taken to this facility. We call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly continues to put people of color, immigrants, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people and the poor behind bars - further criminalizing our communities and our lives. We must stand together and fight back!

• We demand that TGNC people have access to respectful and safe living spaces. Many TGNC people face severe discrimination from landlords and other housing administrators that displace them from their homes only because of their gender identity or expression. There are disproportionate numbers of TGNC people who have been or who are currently homeless. In addition, to being thrown out on the streets many homeless TGNC people continue to face discrimination when trying to access the shelters and other assisted living programs. The NYC law and the Department of Homeless Services state that transgender people will be placed in the shelters according to that person’s gender identity and that discrimination based on gender identity will not be tolerated. We demand that all Department of Homeless Service shelter administrators continue to provide adequate Trans awareness and sensitivity
trainings for all of their personnel and enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect the dignity of all homeless people, offering a safe and respectful living space.

• We demand that all people receiving public assistance entitlements including Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color, be treated with respect and dignity. We stand in solidarity with all people living on public assistance in New York and across the country. As time passes, the NYC agencies responsible for the administration of public welfare, the Human Resources Administration (HRA), continue to ignore our demands to address the systemic problems that exist internally and perpetuate the transphobia and harassment faced by TGNC people of color when applying for benefits such as; welfare (Food Stamps, Medicaid, etc.), access to shelters, access to culturally competent and sensitive healthcare, drug treatment programs, adult protective services, eviction prevention, and other essential services from their agencies. We demand that there be an internal investigation of these incidents and an establishment of clear guidelines as to where to submit complaints to the entity responsible to responding to these complaints.

• We demand that the Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Private Foster Care Agencies recognize that they deal with children and youth of color from economically disadvantaged families and who have been torn away from their families and home environments. We demand that all children and youth, under the jurisdiction of ACS, have the right to the freedom of gender expression and identity. In the 2002-landmark case Jean Doe v. Bell, it was established that children in NYC’s foster care system cannot be discriminated against for being transgender and cannot be forced to wear only clothing associated with their birth gender. Government institutions like ACS and private foster care agencies must be accountable for the health of people under their care, and recognize that this responsibility must include Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people and Trans related heath care. We demand that ACS initiates a full investigation of all the incidents of misallocation of personal funds and the violations of confidentiality issues that have negatively affected the lives of children and youth under their care.

• We oppose the Bush Administration’s so called “War on Terrorism” fabricated as an excuse to legitimize the expansion of the U.S. as a imperial super power and to justify a national security strategy that is really meant to militarize our boarders and heighten surveillance and control over people living in the U.S., separating our communities by fostering feelings of hate, xenophobia, and violence. Everyday we see more and more of our basic human rights like; healthcare, jobs, education, housing, privacy, self-determination and the right of dissent slipping away from all of us. We must stand up now to demand the immediate removal of all U.S. troops from all countries under occupation and demand an end of use of U.S. dollars to cultivate and sponsor wars against people in the U.S. and abroad.

• We demand justice for the many trans and gender non-conforming people who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered yet these incidents continue to be silenced, misclassified or blamed on the victim as if this was their fault. The police and the media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. An increase in hate crime laws will not solve the problem but will give increase power to the state to put more people in jail. Instead we are calling for a unified effort for all of us to look deeper into the root causes of why these incidents happen and as a society that seeks social justice find ways of holding people accountable and come to a joint understanding of how we can make our communities safer for all of us. Like many other oppressed communities like communities of color, immigrants and the poor, TGNC people are also targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police. We demand an end to the profiling, harassment, arrest, brutality and murder that occurs at the hands of the police! These incidents of violence do not occur in isolation, and are aggravated by racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, misogyny, ageism and damaging strict heterosexist values.

We stand in solidarity with the 7 young Lesbian women arrested in the West Village for defending themselves from a man that assaulted them, we stand in solidarity with Miriam, a transgender woman who was pushed out the window of her 4th floor apt. and left for dead just a few months ago, we commemorate the memory of Erika Keels, Ruby Ordeñana, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Aruajo, Amanda Milan and the many other brave souls we have lost, who struggled and lived their lives fearlessly day in and day out, being true to who they were. They keep the fire of struggle burning within all of us.

On June 22, 2007, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color and allies will take on the streets of New York City once again and demand justice to let the world know that the Stonewall rebellion is not over and that we will continue fighting for social and economic justice, raising our voices until we are heard! We call on all social justice activists from communities of color, the LGBT movement, immigrant rights movement, the anti-war movement, the reproductive rights movement, youth and student groups, trade unions and worker organizations, religious communities and HIV/AIDS and social service agencies, both local and organizations around the country to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together on June 22nd, 2007!

Yours in Struggle,

TransJustice, a working group of the Audre Lorde Project

To endorse the Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice 2007, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org, for more information about the march send an email to info4tdoa@alp.org or contact Elizabeth Rivera at 718-596-0342 x18.

The 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice Points of Unity
Initiated by TransJustice of The Audre Lorde Project,
LGBTST People of Color Center for Community Organizing
85 South Oxford Street * Brooklyn, NY 11217-1607 Tel:
718-596-0342 ext 18 * Fax: 718-596-1328* Email:
endorsetdoa@alp.org