Trans* Petitions by Zoe R

I found this on sunken--eyes.tumblr.com (another blog). This is very helpful for those who want their voice heard for transgender rights.

 

IMPORTANT: Transgender rights

unless you’ve been living in a cave (or have a large amount of privilege), you should know that people who are transgender/sexual are constantly hated/discriminated against  in the U.S. 
There are multiple petitions at change.org to help combat this. here’s the link the to the page:
http://www.change.org/petitions#search/transgender rights
Here are some links to some very important issues:
Speaker of the house: Robert A. DeLeo: Allow amendments for transgender people without surgery.  Some transgender people don’t need or want surgery and others cannot afford it. Surgery should not be a requirement to have accurate identification documents. http://www.change.org/petitions/speaker-of-the-house-robert-a-deleo-allow-amendments-for-transgender-people-without-surgery  
The Governor of MI: Block HB 5039 as it is an attack on basic human rights. HB 5039, which was introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin on October 5, 2011 and was referred to the Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. John Walsh would, in effect, legalize discrimination against students and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in Michigan. It nullifies local control and representation. http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-mi-block-hb-5039-as-it-is-an-attack-on-basic-human-rights  
Speaker of the House: Robert A. DeLeo: Pass Transgender Public Accommodations http://www.change.org/petitions/speaker-of-the-house-robert-a-deleo-pass-transgender-public-accommodations  
Committee on Health Affairs, Chairman: Stop Lithuania forbid gender-reassignment treatment for transgender people.Transgender people, being particularly vulnerable to discrimination, need the right to gender-reassignment treatment, surgery and legally be allowed to transition into their true identity. http://www.change.org/petitions/committee-on-health-affairs-chairman-stop-lithuania-forbid-gender-reassignment-treatment-for-transgender-people  
Remove Transgender from the DSM-5. Transgender people’s civil rights advancement has been severely limited by our diagnosis in DSM because we are considered mentally ill by the American Psychiatric Association.  http://www.change.org/petitions/remove-transgender-from-the-dsm-5
End LGBT Discrimination in Education. Support the Student Non-Discrimination Act. Students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), or are perceived to be LGBT, or who associate with LGBT people, have been and are subjected to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence. In addition these students are also being and have been deprived of equal educational opportunities, in schools all around the country. http://www.change.org/petitions/end-lgbt-discrimination-in-education-support-the-student-non-discrimination-act#
The Department For Education: Enforce The Teaching Of LGBT Issues Within Schools Around The UK. The number of children getting bullied and taking their own lives is rising because of a failure to include the education of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues within the national curriculum. This sends a clear message to our LGBT youth: that they are second class citizens. The time has come for a new message.http://www.change.org/petitions/ofsted-enforce-the-teaching-of-lgbt-issues-within-schools-around-the-uk  
Reparative Therapy Hurts: Revoke the Licenses of Unethical Therapists http://www.change.org/petitions/reparative-therapy-hurts-revoke-the-licenses-of-unethical-therapists#  
Legislative Assembly of Ontario: Support adding ‘Gender Identity’ to the Ontario Human Rights Code.http://www.change.org/petitions/legislative-assembly-of-ontario-support-adding-gender-identity-to-the-ontario-human-rights-code  
Department of Defense: Allow trans-identified people to fight for their country. Transgenderism has been labeled as a psychological disorder, which prevents trans people to join the U.S. Armed Forces. Whether or not a person identifies with his or her socially constructed views of his or her biological sex does NOT prevent the person from serving the country well and protecting the People. http://www.change.org/petitions/department-of-defense-allow-trans-identified-people-to-fight-for-their-country#
The GA State House: Push through the passing of House Bill 630 (Fair Employment Practices Act). Georgia political leaders failed its Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender citizens systematically denying them equal employment rights. Georgia House Bill 630, now known as the “Fair Employment Practices Act”, works to amend Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated in order to include sexuality and gender identity in laws against discrimination against public officers and employees. http://www.change.org/petitions/the-ga-state-house-push-through-the-passing-of-house-bill-630-fair-employment-practices-act#
ICD11 Committee: De-Pathologize gender variation. This is a proposal, including case examples, on future transgender health care outside the psychiatric classification. Support this proposal and tell WHO gender variation is not a mental disorder. http://www.change.org/petitions/icd11-committee-de-pathologize-gender-variation#

Parody of "Shit ___ Say." This version deals with the street harassment that many/most women experience throughout their entire lives.


---Drake

Procreation Topic as Recreation for Men

It seems the issue of contraception and abortion has become a bit of a playground for male government officials. There is much media attention and debate over the topics, and women's rights are being viewed as problems that men must take care of.

Below is a link to an article that serves as a perfect example of the ridiculous blather surrounding the issues. Here is a direct quote:

     "This week the Georgia State Legislature debated a bill in the House, that would make it necessary for some women to carry stillborn or dying fetuses until they 'naturally' go into labor. In arguing for this bill Representative Terry England described his empathy for pregnant cows and pigs in the same situation."

Click here for the link to the article from the Huffington Post website.

---Drake

Are Trans* People Sick? by Zoe R

 There has been a major push lately to remove the term Gender Identity Disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM. Initially, when the DSM was written, homosexuality was listed as a disorder in this manual. It wasn’t until big efforts led to it being removed in 1973 (Ault, 187). The term was also used to cover people who identified more as a gender different from what they were assigned at birth, because a lot of gay people would share traits with a different gender (Ault, 188). However, this method was presumptuous and ignorant. So they added Gender Identity Disorder to cover the trans community.

            The addition of GID to the DSM has many implications for the community and is symbolic of how the medical community perceives gender. With this inclusion, doctors can advise that the family take one of two paths: accommodation or therapy. In accommodation, the family would accept a child’s deviations from ‘normal’ gender behaviors as acceptable and modify conditions so that they can express their gender how they would like (Dreger, 2009). This could also include prescribing Lupron to delay puberty and allow hormones to be more similar to the gender that they are. People fear that this could be disruptive to the child’s health and too permanent, especially if it is just a phase for some. The other method, therapy, would mean treating the child like he/she is sick, providing tools to help them be more gender neutral or associate with their own sex more (Dreger, 2009). This, as Dreger argues, belittles the child’s desires and puts more responsibility on the family as the environment for taking care of the child.

            Neither method seems to be the most beneficial to the child. A happy-medium clinical method by Peggy Cohen-Kettenis seems to be more effective and justifiable. In this format, a doctor waits to see if the cross-gender behaviors dissipate, and if not, provides support for the child and family to progress through their transition (Dreger). Some people support the inclusion of GID for medical purposes. They can use it to their advantage because if they are diagnosed by a doctor, then they can get insurance to pay for preferred treatments. This could include anything from hormones to reassignment surgery. However, many people are in an uproar because of the stigma that this puts on people in the trans community. It also denies the concept that gender is naturally fluid. These create obstacles to people trying to express their true gender in this society of specific expectations. 

 Ault, Amber and Brzuzy, Stephanie. "Removing Gender Identity Disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: A Call to Action". Social Work Vol 54 No 2. April 2009. Web. 18 March 2012.

Dreger, Alice. "Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood: Inconclusive Advice to Parents," Hastings Center Report 39, no 1 (2009): 26-29.

While this is off my topic of gender, sexuality, and social movements involving abuse, I just read an article about the trend of girls kissing other girls in the college setting and how it is perceived. It was pretty interesting and I think that it is something that it is relevant to our topic of social movements. Here is a summary of the article.

Pamela Lannutti and Amanda Denes’ “A Kiss Is Just a Kiss?: Comparing Perceptions Related to Female-Female and Female-Male Kissing in a College Social Situation” studies the perceptions and implications of the growing trend of female same-sex experimentation. College aged girls may be kissing one another due to desire, need to conform, desire for male attention, or sexual experimentation. Lannutti and Denes researched how female-female kissing is perceived by males and females in terms of atypicality, promiscuity, and sexuality.

            The study was conducted on a large northeastern campus. There were 164 participants, of which 67 were female and 97 were male. Of these participants, thirty reported having same-sex kisses, and four had had same-sex intercourse; interestingly enough, all of these were female. The participants were asked to read a scenario. One had females dancing with each other in front of men with no kiss, one had this same group dancing with two females kissing, and one had the group dancing when a male joins and he and a female kiss. Results showed that males viewed the female-female kiss as significantly more atypical than the females did. Males also perceived the female-female kiss as more atypical than the male-female kiss. Males and females both viewed the female-female kiss as more promiscuous than the male-female kiss or no kiss, and any kiss as more promiscuous than no kiss. When asked about the perceived sexuality of the character in the scenario, male and female participants tended to answer heterosexual. The highest answers of bisexual or lesbian occurred in the scenario with the female-female kiss.

Referenced

Pamela J. Lannutti & Amanda Denes (2012): A Kiss Is Just a Kiss?: Comparing Perceptions Related to Female–Female and Female–Male Kissing in a College Social Situation, Journal of Bisexuality, 12:1, 49-62
Julie Anolick