It looks like California law accommodating transgender students is going up for vote. (Opponents of California transgender student rights law gets signatures to repeal https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,153744.msg1279138.html#msg1279138).

It is really, really, really important that we get our message out on this one.

The law might be upheld or repealed. We need to make sure that EITHER WAY, the entire country hears what we have to say.

There will be a dialog leading up to the vote.

That dialog will make the difference between progress and regression. If we do this right, even if the bill fails, people will better understand how we live. We will see increasing acceptance of our transitions and an understanding that our health and safety depends on using the accommodations appropriate to us.

But if we do this wrong, if we stay silent, our detractors will become braver. We might start to see more bills like the recent one in Arizona that actually BAN US from using the correct facilities.

So PLEASE!!!

If you are a Californian, MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!

Write letters to the newspaper. Appear on local radio and TV programs. Talk to everyone you know, and lots of people you don't know. Engage strangers in the street, set up tables, post signs, speak to any group you belong to or that might be willing to hear you.

The eyes and ears of the entire country will be on you.

Some talking points, if you need them:

* Thousands of us live full time as members of our identified gender. It would be embarrassing for both us and others there to use facilities designated for the opposite gender. A lot of the time it would be downright dangerous.
* Millions of times a day, transgender men and women use public restrooms designated for our identified gender without incident.
* We do not choose to be transgender.
* Transgender is serious, frequently resulting in depression or even suicide when untreated.
* It can't be "cured" and the only recognized treatment is to live as our identified gender.
* People whose appearance makes their transgender obvious need the same rights as others. They can't help their physical characteristics, but they are just as much members of their identified gender as those who blend.
* In places with public accommodation laws there has not been a single documented case of a man falsely claiming to be transgender to justify entering facilities designated for women.

Please, do not be silent.

I'm not in California, I live in Kansas. But I'm considering discussing trans issues and my own transition on my new blog on tumblr which I made to stay in touch with friends. I was thinking about making a separate one last night and just leaving it up for people who happen across it to read, but the more I think about it, one of the best things that would help us would be if people simply know that they know someone who is perfectly normal, rational, level headed, talented, and also happens to be transgender. That's about as public as I can go at the moment and maintain my safety due to where I live, unfortunately.

The idea that people in 2013 in the United States who claim to be religious forgiving love thy neighbor as thyself Christians ... It's bad enough when they go after adult transgender people. But that they will go so far as to make up news stories to bare false witness to try to discredit and slander us, and now try to get laws to legitimize vilifying and discrimination against children ... It's just too far.

I'll do what I can.