Transitioning DC’s Homeless Shelters

All over the United States, transgender people suffer discrimination and violence when they enter homeless shelters and try to access resources for homeless people. This discrimination comes not only from other shelter residents, but also from employees and operators of such shelters. Though this is a problem everywhere, a few cities have begun to correct such problems, such as San Francisco and now Washington, DC.

Transgender people face obstacles in homeless shelters from the moment they walk in the door. Their gender is often identified based on their bodies, not on their self-identified gender. Showers and restrooms, which often have little privacy, provide an unsafe space for transgender people. Also, transgender people are harassed by shelter employees and other shelter clients, often with no recourse.

In Washington, DC, NCTE has been working with other area organizations such as the DC Trans Coalition, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Different Avenues, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, Neighbors’ Consejo, and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless to develop a curriculum to train homeless shelter employees on how to comply with the DC Human Rights Act and treat transgender residents with equality and respect. The first training will be taking place in mid-July and will include employees from shelters around the city. Though this is only a first step, it is an extremely important one in the fight for transgender equality on all fronts.

NCTE in the News

If you were watching CNN Newsroom on Sunday night (June 24th), you might have seen our executive director, Mara Keisling, interviewed by Rick Sanchez. Mara appeared on a program entitled "Living from the Inside Out". It featured various trans-related topics, such as relationship dynamics, spirituality and transgender youth. Reverend Drew Phoenix, a minister with the United Methodist Church who recently came out as transgender, was also
featured on the show.

Mara had a great interview, speaking about the inequalities transgender people face and the courage and tenacity that it takes to be trans in today's world. When Mara was asked whether or not being transgender is "nature or nurture", she stated that it doesn't matter; transgender people deserve the same rights and protections as everyone else, regardless of what makes them who they are.

NCTE's March Calendar Available

In 2007, NCTE is offering a free monthly calendar for you. Each month features an aspect of human rights that is vital to full transgender equality. The calendars are available on our website every month.

Because March includes National LGBT Health Awareness Week (March 11-17), this month's calendar discusses the importance of effective, compassionate health care for transgender people.

Click here to download your free March Calendar

And leave a comment here to tell us where you've hung your NCTE calendar. Maybe in your cubicle at work? In your dorm? In the kitchen above the toaster?

Good column out of Largo

Stones Fly in Largo; Society is Thus Saved

By HOWARD TROXLER
St. Petersburg Times
March 1, 2007

Steve Stanton stood in front of the world to announce he would become Susan, and the world replied: You're fired.

So much for loyalty and ability. After 14 years as Largo's city manager, Stanton went from trusted chief executive to ex-employee in a week.

Out of the din of the past few days, and the comments from Tuesday night's meeting of the Largo City Commission, three alleged justifications for firing Stanton emerged:

(1) Being a transsexual is a sin.

(2) Being a transsexual is disgusting to society.

(3) Being a transsexual is too disruptive for a city manager in a leadership position.

As for the first claim, "sinner" had better not be a disqualification for employment, or else we are all in trouble.

I want to see these headlines:

City fires confessed coveter

False-witness bearer canned

Official fails to honor Sabbath, is removed

Well, why not? After all, those sins rank right up there in the Judeo-Christian top ten, along with idolatry, adultery and the rest. Heck, "transsexual" isn't even listed in the original instruction manual.

But those are sins that even people sitting in church pews commit. Better to focus on somebody else.

Phooey. Let's reject the idea that "sin" gets you fired, even if one preacher in the crowd Tuesday night confidently declared that Jesus himself would have been leading the charge for Stanton's job.

Next comes the "too disgusting" part, which is an evolving standard. Other people at times in America also have been considered too disgusting by the majority to be allowed among decent people:

Divorced women.

Unwed mothers.

People in wheelchairs or with other physical differences.

Ethnic minorities.

Gays and lesbians.

Whoops, that one's still partly in effect. (I wonder, though, if Stanton had announced "merely" that he was gay, if he would have been fired quite as quickly.)

This brings us to the "too disruptive" claim, and yet even here we ought to be careful. We also have used "too disruptive" to justify racial segregation, educational and professional barriers against women and lots of other ills.

The test of "disruptive" ought to be whether someone's status actively interferes with his or her job, period - not whether somebody else finds it distasteful to work with a divorcee, a Protestant or a left-hander.

So if Stanton stayed, but proved himself unreliable, unstable, unable to do his job, then the City Commission would have grounds for removing him. As it was, such actual track record was not needed: One commissioner "sensed" Tuesday night that Stanton had lost his ability.

It is a tough line of work, being a city manager, and make no mistake - the City Commission did not need any grounds at all to fire him.

City managers are hired guns who serve at the pleasure of their bosses. In his time in charge, Stanton fired plenty of people himself. As somebody said in a movie once, it's just business.

Still, I keep picturing him making that announcement, a mixture of dread and hope in his face. Dread won, as it turned out. Society is thus protected. How righteous we all are.

© 2007 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times

Breaking News: NCTE Outraged by Discriminatory Firing of Largo, FL City Manager

Clear Example of Employment Discrimination

Late Tuesday, the Largo City Commission voted (5-2) to begin the dismissal process of City Manager Steve Stanton following his recent coming out as a transgender person. Stanton has served the Largo community for 14 years.

Read on

AP Photo shows supporters in Largo

Hot Off the Press: Special Edition of NCTE's Newsletter

NCTE has just posted a "Special Edition" of our monthly Newsletter. This month, we've focused on the federal legislation that will soon be introduced in Congress and the many ways that you can take action to pass these bill into law! To read it online, please click here.

Participants in NCTE's 2006 Lobby Day

Here are four important actions that you can do today:

• Sign our online petition to Congress urging passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Click here to sign the petition now.

• Save the date! NCTE's Lobby Day is scheduled for May 15. It is your chance to educate our members of Congress in Washington, DC. Our goal is to make the largest gathering of trans people ever to speak out for our rights in our nation's capital. There will be training on May 14, time for meetings with members of Congress and a rally for Transgender Equality. We need your participation!

• Share your story . If you have a personal employment discrimination story, we can help get it heard on the Hill. NCTE, ACLU, and other organizations have just started collecting stories of employment discrimination online to present to Congress in support of ENDA. To share your employment discrimination story, please click here .

• Get 'em at home . Plan ahead to visit your member of Congress in your home state during the week of April 9-13. They'll be in their home district office for Spring recess. Why not write an email right now to several friends and invite them go with you to visit your representatives in April? Then call to schedule a visit. It's easy to do and it is very effective. If you need information about how to schedule a visit, check out NCTE's guide, Making Your Voice Heard: A Transgender Guide to Educating Congress.

Gender Identity Discrimination Surfaces in Florida

This just in from Equality Florida:

Tonight, City of Largo Commissioners will consider a resolution to fire their City Manager Steve Stanton, a 17-year veteran of the city. Last week, Steve--now Susan--announced that she is transgender and will be completing the gender reassignment process in the coming year.

Largo Mayor Pat Gerard, Police Chief Lester Aradi and other city administrators have been extremely supportive of the city manager and are doing an excellent job of educating the community.

Unfortunately, Commissioner Mary Black has decided to take the discriminatory and divisive step of proposing a resolution to fire Susan. This amounts to employment discrimination and must be stopped.

The proposed resolution to remove the city manager will be voted on TONIGHT. A local mega-church is organizing opposition to Largo's support for workplace diversity. They've sent hundreds of negative emails and we expect them to crowd city hall tonight. We must show Largo city leaders that fair-minded Floridians are willing to stand up for diversity in the workplace and will support them as they oppose employment discrimination.

Three Things You Can Do...

1. Email Largo Commissioners. We've prepared an editable email that you can personalize or send as is. Click here to send an email.
2. Call Largo City Hall (727-587-6700) and express your support for Susan and for workplace diversity. Encourage Largo leaders to continue their policy of education and tolerance.
3. Show Up. The City Commission meeting is open to the public and will be held at 6:00PM TONIGHT - February 27th at Largo City Hall - 201 Highland Ave. Largo, FL 33779.

Save the Date!

This is it. This year we have a very real chance to pass a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). NCTE is calling on transgender people and allies to come to Washington, DC, on May 14 -15, 2007, for what is shaping up to be the largest lobby day in trans history. Will you be there? Will your friends?

For decades advocates have fought hard to write federal anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation that includes transgender people. Now is our shot. Please try to be here. Your voice is vital.

Protections for transgender people—for all LGBT people—are so very close to becoming the law of the land. But it won’t happen without your voice. So save your pennies. Bank your gas money. Schedule your vacation days. Book your flight. This is the mother of all Transgender Lobby Days.

**SAVE THE DATE**

May 15, 2007
NCTE Lobby Day
Washington, DC

Of course, there is no cost to attend NCTE's training on the 14th and Lobby Day visits on the 15th. We'll be sending out information on local hotels and opportunities to take action before May. So watch your email.

If you’re not on our email list and would like to get updates, sign up by clicking here. See you in DC.

NCTE Wins Grant for New "Privacy and Documentation Project"

We received some wonderful news this week that we're so happy to share with you! NCTE has been awarded a significant two-year grant to start a much needed Privacy and Documentation Project. While NCTE will raise additional funds to fully resource the program, this grant will allow us to jump start the Project.

NCTE's Privacy and Documentation Project will expand upon the work we are already doing around the REAL ID Act, the new privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), employment I-9 "no match" letters, and the tightening of identification document rules and the rapid loosening of privacy protections.

Today in America, it is very difficult to work, travel, open a bank account, or enter a club or gym without government issued identification that accurately matches one's identity. The importance of accurate ID is increased for transgender people who often face discrimination or violence when ID documents "out" us as trans.

Since NCTE's founding in 2003, the demand has been overwhelming for accurate information on obtaining state and federal identification documents in one's preferred name and gender (e.g., driver's licenses, birth certificates, passports, Social Security cards, military records, professional licenses, school transcripts, etc.). Because obtaining updated ID is often tied to presentation of some type of medical "proof" in order to revise ID documents, significant medical privacy concerns also surround these records' ability to disclose a person's transgender status and confidential medical information.

Growing NCTE's work on these issues is critical. Our new two-year grant will help us do just that. So more privacy and documentation news to come!

WWJD?

Rev. Dr. Julie Nemecek, 55, has taught at Christian-based Spring Arbor University in Michigan for 16 years. She is an ordained Baptist minister and served as associate dean of adult studies for the University. Despite an excellent work record, Julie’s contract was terminated after coming out as transgender. She is such a well-respected member of the Spring Arbor campus that over 145 students formed “We Support Julie Marie Nemecek.” The group rallied on Monday, February 12th on Julie’s behalf. Supportive students gathered on campus sidewalks and carried signs that asked, “What would Jesus do?”

“I have worked hard for this university, have been praised for my performance, and I have done nothing immoral or sinful,” said Nemecek.

NCTE anticipates that a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will be introduced this year. If passed ENDA would protect thousands of trans people who experience employment discrimination every day.

For more information about Professor Nemecek’s story, click here to read Roselyn James' article “Christian College Fires Transgender Professor."