Susan's Place Transgender Resources

TG Crossroads (http://www.tgcrossroads.org/news/?aid=1437)
Cole Krawitz

After the passage of the REAL ID Act -- a dangerous add-on to an $82 billion military spending bill in 2005 -- the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform recommended using REAL ID for voter identification at the polls. Election reformers and civil rights advocates responded with a swift outcry. They did so again a few weeks ago, when Senator Mitch McConnell tried to attach a REAL ID requirement for voters to the immigration bill. The challenge continues as photo ID bills sweep state legislatures, and as states move to implement REAL ID legislation by 2008. Hurricane survivors, African Americans, Latinos, grandmas and grandpas, young people -- you might have to kiss even more of your rights goodbye. That should scare you.

Real I.D. has nothing to do with national security, and everything to do with constructing a national database of all people that fall outside of "the norm." In Germany, it was creating the master race. In amerika in the 21st century, it is about rooting out anyone that does not comply with their religious directives. Then, later they can use the list to easily identify and round up all of the "deviants" into containment camps. The end of life as we knew it is over, and the era of the fascist is here. Comply or die.

or move to Canada :)

So, can we prepare a list of countries where we can seek asylum, and what their entry requirements are?

Really, I've a feeling we're at a cusp -- things are either about to get much better, or much worse.

I want to have an exit strategy handy, just in case the latter...

Karen

Yeah, Im with Karen...  sence I allready live on the border I wonder if I can maby get asylum from mexico...  I mean really, with so many people trying to get out, it shouldnt be too hard to get in... right?

I am voting for Canada or New Zealand. If I could afford to get to NZ as easy as it would be to get to Canada then I would definitely go there.

I'd like to move to Canada, except I'm already there  ;).

The weather really sucks for 4 months. But, besides that its great.
Very soon, the canadian dollar will go over the US dollar value.
Our economy is going gangbuster too.

New-Zealand is nice, went there for 18 days in 1997, but its kind of remote, isolated (I felt more isolated there than in Australia which is at least close to SE Asia. I don't quite like the Auckland region, but the south Island is very beautyful.

Trannies who transition do not generally lack for smarts, talent, drive and ambition.  We may also have a few negative points, but the positive often does outweigh that.

I remember hearing something Eric & Stan (http://www.10couples.org/stories.php?cv=Eric) video on the 10couples.org website.  Eric and Stan - a gay couple, had emigrated from San Francisco to Canada, to escape gay persecution and to be able to legally partner.  Somewhere it was said that America's loss was Canada's gain.

What America doesn't realize in the Fred Phelps - James Dobson evangelical Dominionist-led persecution is mentioned in this Time Magazine article on The Lavender Heart of Texas (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1622593,00.html);

QuoteEnsorcelled by strivers and status, Dallas has always tried hard to be sophisticated. And the city knows a mathematical equation about American city life: urban sophistication requires gay civilization. Gays have gentrified once crumbling neighborhoods like Oak Lawn in Dallas; many gays have relocated to the city to work at companies like American Airlines that have a significant gay customer base.

Trans may be different from Gay/Lesbian in many ways, but I believe we ALL share the qualities that make that 'urban sophistication' happen, as well as talents that do us and enlightened employers well in creative industries.

Folks, America needs us more than we need America.

What would happen if everybody in the LGBT community left for places that accept and respect us as human beings?  The U S and A would accelerate its decline towards a provincial third-world has-been republic 'governed' by corrupt politicians.

So, where's that list?

Karen

Quote from: Karen on June 13, 2007, 11:42:57 PM
Trans may be different from Gay/Lesbian in many ways, but I believe we ALL share the qualities that make that 'urban sophistication' happen, as well as talents that do us and enlightened employers well in creative industries.

Indeed. It's not really gays as such, but rather the cultural diversity, and the resulting atmosphere that one can (and should occasionally) do something that does not conform to social norms. If a society wants to survive in the modern post-industrial world, it needs freaks -- and it needs to accept those freaks, not just tolerate them.

Quote from: Karen on June 13, 2007, 11:42:57 PM
What would happen if everybody in the LGBT community left for places that accept and respect us as human beings?  The U S and A would accelerate its decline towards a provincial third-world has-been republic 'governed' by corrupt politicians.

Sadly enough, that's one thing where Heinlein's future history, written in the 1950's, seems to be right on track. Five years until Nehemiah Scudder.  :-\
I'm pretty confident it won't go quite that far, of course, but it's funny in a scary sort of way.

  Nfr

Quote from: Keira on June 13, 2007, 11:23:09 PM

I'd like to move to Canada, except I'm already there  ;).

The weather really sucks for 4 months. But, besides that its great.
Very soon, the canadian dollar will go over the US dollar value.
Our economy is going gangbuster too.

New-Zealand is nice, went there for 18 days in 1997, but its kind of remote, isolated (I felt more isolated there than in Australia which is at least close to SE Asia. I don't quite like the Auckland region, but the south Island is very beautyful.

What are some of the more progressive and modernized areas of Canada? What four months are the bad ones?

I believe in standing and fighting. Eventually one runs out of areas to run to and by then, it is most definitely a lost cause.

Im all for standing and fighting... but the IRA accomplished allot by fighting from someone elses doorstep rather than there own...  Sometimes its safer to retreat and replan after you know whats to happen than to blindly fight uncertanty in the face of uncertanty...  what good would it be to end up a martyer if there is noone to remember?

This country has become an autonomous empire with no regard for anyone other than those in control. The real ID would not be my main motivation for leaving the US. It would be the other litany of reasons that would make me leave. I agree with Lynn as well, what is the point of fighting when there is no one left to fight for? We can protest and we can make a stand but we can't make the decisions or choices to that influence positive change in our society.

I am going to step off my soapbox before I get to entrenched in this.

Why stand and fight? Has the ideal of standing up for what is right taken leave of those within this country? Have we sunk so far below our ancestors who shed blood on this land in order to start a new nation?

I do not stand and fight for just for those who are transgender nor the other who fall in the LGBTIQ listings. Nor is it just for those who are black, asian, latino, or whatever. I do so for those who are individuals. Those who are willing to recognise that while society has it's functions that without those of us who think on our own, it is surely lost.

I do not stand just for the people but for the ideal and while I may indeed be killed, die in some camp, or fade into obscurity.... the idea of freedom for everyone will always remain.

Quote from: Karen on June 13, 2007, 11:42:57 PM
What would happen if everybody in the LGBT community left for places that accept and respect us as human beings?  The U S and A would accelerate its decline towards a provincial third-world has-been republic 'governed' by corrupt politicians.

We have an excellent historical example of what that process looks like.

Quote
During the Islamic Golden Age (fl. 622 AD - 1258 AD in Gregorian calendar; or 1 AH - 656 AH in Islamic calendar), scholars and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to philosophy, science, and technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations. Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the Golden Age, and passed on to Europe to be expanded upon in the European Renaissance.[1] The Golden Age of Islamic history roughly corresponds to the Middle Ages or Dark Ages in Christian Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

And then the religious conservatives took over, and see where they are today.  That's the future of our society.

You posted about Islam! Expect the feds to show up at any time.  ;D

Quote from: LostInTime on June 14, 2007, 12:12:33 PM
You posted about Islam! Expect the feds to show up at any time.  ;D

Oh, they've been watching me for years.  Must be really boring.

Quote from: Keira on June 13, 2007, 11:23:09 PM
I'd like to move to Canada, except I'm already there  ;).

The weather really sucks for 4 months. But, besides that its great.
Very soon, the canadian dollar will go over the US dollar value.
Our economy is going gangbuster too.

Quote from: Renae Lupini on June 14, 2007, 06:57:17 AM
What are some of the more progressive and modernized areas of Canada? What four months are the bad ones?

I loved my brief experience of Montreal ... soo cosmopolitan, civil and cultured !  Absolutely friendly people. I guess a wonderful city to live in  :).

But hey, Quebec is French speaking, and fiercely fights for its independence, culture and seperate identity, distinct from the all-peursuasive, invasive, world dominating, "English" speaking, American (non-) culture ! 

And even the rest of Canada seems so much more "adjusted" socially and politically than the USA !

Laura x

Quote from: LostInTime on June 14, 2007, 07:38:59 AM
I believe in standing and fighting. Eventually one runs out of areas to run to and by then, it is most definitely a lost cause.

While I hate to use the phraase, you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

It's time to stand and fight.

Chaunte

Worse months for weather  January-March. Outside those 3 months, there are 1 month in autumn or spring (usually not both) that completely sucks: November and April are good candidates the other ends up being a tossup (could be good or bad).

Late february and March are the worse from a psychological point of view, its dreary and winter is starting to wear you down.

The "good months" are usually May to October.
December is slightly cold, but it doesn't rain, there's a little snow and the pre-holliday atmosphere is great. So, I'll add it to the good months.
(So, its 7 months that are good).

The city of Montreal itself is very progressive, its like a gay and TS heaven, the rest of the province, not so much. You can pass or not pass in the central neighborhoods, people won't blink.

Quote from: LostInTime on June 14, 2007, 09:11:49 AM
Why stand and fight? Has the ideal of standing up for what is right taken leave of those within this country? Have we sunk so far below our ancestors who shed blood on this land in order to start a new nation?

I do not stand and fight for just for those who are transgender nor the other who fall in the LGBTIQ listings. Nor is it just for those who are black, asian, latino, or whatever. I do so for those who are individuals. Those who are willing to recognise that while society has it's functions that without those of us who think on our own, it is surely lost.

I do not stand just for the people but for the ideal and while I may indeed be killed, die in some camp, or fade into obscurity.... the idea of freedom for everyone will always remain.

I have rarely read an exhortation so powerful. It bears repeating - over and over again.....

I like the warm weather, so I am strongly considering moving to the Bahamas or British Virgin Islands.

QuoteWhat would happen if everybody in the LGBT community left for places that accept and respect us as human beings?  The U S and A would accelerate its decline towards a provincial third-world has-been republic 'governed' by corrupt politicians.

What we have at hand is a growing polarization of fundamental differences between groups of people that have completely different views of the world, and how things work or should work.
No doubt that as things become more uncomfortable in their own less accepting states, regarding laws and whatnot, people will begin to migrate to places where liberalism will allow them the steadfastness to be themselves. In other words, a mass migration to the coastal areas of people with even half a brain.

Then, as the fascists begin to crack down, even states rights will begin to suffer. This is nothing less than a power grab by the people that lost the civil war -- the first one. They will not rest until they have succeeded in bending the country to their way of thinking and behaving. It is going to be ugly.

For those of you that have the financial acumen and the training and education to escape the coming maelstrom, I salute you and wish you well. I have a GF that is independently wealthy and educated, and even she could not get into NZ on a permanent basis. I don't even have the wherewithal to escape to Canada, so I have no choice but to dig in for the long slog.

I will not go quietly into the night, or alone. Today is a good day to die. Better that than be shipped away like human cattle. I just hope someone is left to remember how things used to be, before the dark ages fell upon us again.

Quote from: Thundra on June 14, 2007, 08:58:15 PM
What we have at hand is a growing polarization of fundamental differences between groups of people that have completely different views of the world, and how things work or should work.

No doubt that as things become more uncomfortable in their own less accepting states, regarding laws and whatnot, people will begin to migrate to places where liberalism will allow them the steadfastness to be themselves. In other words, a mass migration to the coastal areas of people with even half a brain.

Then, as the fascists begin to crack down, even states rights will begin to suffer. This is nothing less than a power grab by the people that lost the civil war -- the first one. They will not rest until they have succeeded in bending the country to their way of thinking and behaving. It is going to be ugly.

The perspective from the year 2100:

Quote
The American preoccupation with terrorism contributed to loss of freedoms for its citizens to the point where 85% of the people in the world classed the U. S. to be as repressive as the Soviet Union had been during the Stalinist period.  It also contributed to the ecological crisis of the 21st century.  The neo-conservative insistence that global warming was "junk science" and the refusal of the United States to abide by the Kyoto Protocols led to the droughts, the New Dustbowl, and the resulting catastrophic soil depletion of the Great Plains.

(Environmental Concerns Related to Soil Preparation: Soil Erosion (http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/ag101/crop/%20soil.htm)
Long Trem Drought Indicator (http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html))

The end result of the Red vs. Blue split was the balkanization of the United States.  Four regional nations resulted.  The eastern half of the U. S. split along the lines of the First American Civil War (the First War Between the States).  The map of that side of the continent became little different from what it had been in 1861.

(Original 1861 Map of the Confederate States (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Map_Of_Confederate_States.htm))

The plains states west of the Red River and east of the Rocky Mountains, along with western Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, fell into warlordism.  With the nominal national capital in Colorado Springs, the twin challenges of the region were endemic drought and the New Indian Wars.  Under these conditions, several Native Nations were able to achieve virtual independence.  West of the mountains the Pacific Coast became and independent country, as did Hawaii.  Alaska joined the Canadian Commonwealth.

Where the hell did that come from, a book?  Where can I get it?

Quote from: Thundra on June 16, 2007, 01:17:41 AM
Where the hell did that come from, a book?  Where can I get it?

It came from a paper I wrote for my cultural anthropology class.

NICE!  Great minds think alike?

QuoteWhat would happen if everybody in the LGBT community left for places that accept and respect us as human beings?  The U S and A would accelerate its decline towards a provincial third-world has-been republic 'governed' by corrupt politicians.

If we leave, wherever we go we'll be subject to USA foreign policies and corporate globalization. The patriot act has already stripped away our rights, real id act is another step towards impending fascism. A few years ago I contemplated moving to Canada, but came to the conclusion that this is my country too. For the time being I'm staying and working for change from within. 

zythyra

Quote from: Renae.Lupini on June 13, 2007, 10:10:45 PM
or move to Canada :)

Perhaps so, Renae; there is no reversing the decline of this nation, now.

And, I would apologize to you. I was wrong.

Anger destroys.

Relax, (but remain vigilant) the left and the right both oppose a "National ID Card." Those in Congress who are pushing this invasion into our civil rights want to push this on the states to implement, which would cost the states billions they don't have.

Crossdresser Rudy Giuilani wants to force immigrants only to carry a Real ID card, I mean, think of it, how would that work exactly?

Re: Lisbeth's paper.  It reminded me of something I read several years ago, called The Nine Nations of North America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Nations_of_North_America)

There always has been a balkanization of the U S and A, we 'murcans just don't like to admit it.  Travel to different parts of North America, and the culture is definitely different.

Speaking of Balkanization, when I was stationed in Bosnia as a so-called Peaceleeper, we had the weird experience of dealing with two countries in one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BH_municipality_location.gif).  Within the boundaries of Bosnia-Herzegovina  was the red-colored, horseshoe-shaped Republika Srpska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Raca_0003.JPG).  For a 'country' impoverished by prosecuting the war against the Bosniacs and Croats to establish an ancestrally pure orthodox christian theocracy free of the taint of the traitorous Muslim mongrels who defected to the ottoman empire 500 years ago, those signs are hugely expensive -- made of 3M Scotchlite so they 'glow' at night, and they're on every road that leads into the red territory on the Bosnia map.  To this day, Republika Srpska believes they had a higher calling to carry out the war, and would do so again if the peacekeepers ever left.  And so many of  the RS 'citizens' live in poverty, yet show an air of smug satisfaction for having that bit of land to themselves.  I noticed it most strongly in the town of Srebrenica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica) (pronounced: Shreb-ruh-neat-zuh) -- people still had gaping holes in their houses, but they showed an air of satisfaction that the town was all theirs and muslim-free, and the town hall, surrounded by devastation and poverty, had been beautifully restored with gilt-lettered signs and the police who were eying our convoy of hummers with a BBC videographer standing in the gunners' hatch were wearing very new and very martial-looking uniforms.

I can't help but think that that experience was but a foretaste of what it would be like here under a Dominionist Theocracy.  Do read about the Srebrenica Massacre, BTW.

But that could NEVER happen in 'Murica...

...right?

Karen