Hello again everyone -

It looks like the real battle to keep this legislation in place is about to begin. The opposition claims to have met their petition numbers to force this bill to referendum, and possible repeal.

I was out in the cold, alongside fellow supporters, day after day, facing the hatred, the lies, the misperceptions and misinformation being fostered by our opponents, and not slept day and night, off and on, for a couple of weeks now.

We have been trying to stem the tide of untruths, accusations, misperceptions, misinformation, illegal or unethical petitioning methods, and frightening negative associations being made to the general public about transgendered people, and our apparent direct or indirect connection to things like "sexual predators" and "pedohiles", etc.

We are facing statements about and how this law invariably - "opens the door to anyone that cares to throw on a dress and makeup",, and "invade the women's facilities to "peep at, prey on, or rape and generally destroy the privacy and safety of such facilities".

Myself, a retired and locally well-respected MTF TG surgeon, as well as a few other fearlessly open T friends and LGB friends, and people from the Vigilance blog and Teachthefacts, have been characterized as bullies, and myself , Mr. Kennedy (of Vigilance) and Dr. Beyer, specifically accused of being - "Transgender Thugs", trying to interfere with the fair democratic processes of the fellow citizens of this state and county.

We were backed by Equality Maryland in the initial efforts of our own campaign to oppose the opponents, and by using the slogan "decline to sign".

The opposition groups may even now be preparing lawsuits against us personally as i write this.

The opposition has now reported, that they did in fact, reach their number of required signatures this week, and will be ready to move forward to getting their referendum of this bill as quickly as possible.

They have placed fear and doubt in the minds of literally thousands of people, and have done so by directly associating sexual predators with every common negative characterization associated with T, as well as LGB people. This has been put right in the face of all of my fellow citizens and neighbors,, and they have done this so effectively, as to be able to tap deeply into the fears of the general public, and achieve, if not possibly far exceed their goals.

This is not over. Now the real fight begins. Those like myself that have been the most visible and most directly involved in opposing this campaign must now challenge the validity of these 30,000 + signatures that have been turned in. It is likely i will vounteer to be sitting in an election board office or school for the next several days, sifting through these petition signatures and trying to verfiy that enough are invalid for various legal reasons, so that we can effectively challenge this referendum attempt.

Below are current links to the Vigilance blog today, as well as a couple of press articles that have been published as this all got really cranked up in the last couple of weeks.

If this law is pulled and goes back to the council and the public for vote in November, then that will give us a few short months this year to crank up every possible educational effort to the general public to stem the tide of common misperception and stereotypes, as well as the all of the fear that has now been VERY effectively associated in the minds of thousands of local parents and familes, in letting such a "bad law" stand that will clearly endanger (specifically)their wives, sisters, daughters, their privacy, their safety, and their sanctity in the use of any public and private facilities.

The opposition has stated that if it is simply reworded, and language excluding definition of "gender identity" or "gender Expression" in the bill is re-written, they will be fine with that and leave it alone. I seriously doubt that, given past experience that others have talked with me about on this issue here in this region.

Many of the petitioners i spoke to in person this week honestly claim to have no issues with T people at all, per se, but clearly do not understand the issue, and have only been given the typical mass of fear, misinformation, untrue characterizations, untruth, and hatred from the opponents, that got them to go out there and spread these lies to the public in the first place.

The opponents are backed by big conservative and religious power from all over the country, and that means facing pockets that are much deeper than any of us have at the moment.
All the more reason to fight on, and bring this to a head, and hopefully significant national attention. Better education of the general populace is key and of CRITICAL importance.

Every person that is given the chance to look beyond myth, misinformation, bigotry, stereotype, and hatred, is one more person that may support our push for the simple and truly ethical acknowledgement of equal human rights for all people, not just the ones that fall within "normal" "acceptable" societal standards of gender and sexuality, as dictated by the opponents of our right to exist as fellow citizens with as much right, and access, to all facets of "normal" mainstream public society that they themselves enjoy without question or debate.

Please help if you can, and in ANY way that you can.

Thanks,

Sincerely,


Maryanne A. Arnow

e: allwayscooking@juno.com

links:

http://www.teachthefacts.org/2008/02/crw-meets-target.html
http://www.nbc4.com/politics/15352093/detail.html
http://www.teachthefacts.org/2008/02/petitions-are-due-today.html
http://www.gazette.net/stories/020808/polinew204427_32367.shtml

The United States of America?

Land of the Free and Home to the Brave?

May I suggest that if this petition succeeds those words will need at total rewrite and the country will also need to hang its head in shame. I am from Great Britain and had always believed that our two countries still shared a belief in a caring society. Recent events in the States coupled with rising religious fundamentalism means that we need to fight this every step of the way for all the disadvantaged people in your country and ultimately throughout the world, both now and in the future.

As for 'Freedom' how can the word still be used when we will no longer have the freedom to become the people we actually were meant to be? It almost makes me laugh (but in a far from humorous way) that the religious right can rail against us as being pedophiles and perverts. In the town that I was born in there was a church leader from a denomination where the priests are not allowed to marry, who was jailed for many years for what he did to small boys in his care, other churchmen have done the same. As if transsexuals who ARE women would ever consider doing the same, however we have become trapped in a web of mistruths and misinformation. I do not know the US constitution, but are not basic human rights enshrined in it? And this is something they are trying to remove from us!

As for 'Bravery' it appears that the apparently small minded bigots who are putting together this petition have no real idea of what the words mean. 200 years ago you were brave enough to kick us British out as you were being denied your freedoms, now your country folk are trying to deny the girls in your country theirs. They appear to be using the classic technique that has been popular throughout the centuries of if you don't understand something or someone ... KILL IT!! In 'speaking' to girls in the USA through the internet I have round them to be some of the kindest, caring and gracious people I know. These are qualities which appear to be in short supply in the USA at the moment, but there is a group of girls who could help the country find them again. It is a shame that people do not appear to fully realise the bravery it takes to make the decision we have, simply to live our real lives.

In my previous life I was an Advertising Copywriter, so I know a little about influencing people. It is great that publicity is appearing about what is happening, but is this just a trickle or a full blown flood? People need to be 'hit' by the fact of what is happening in their country and in their name almost every day. It is sad but true, these days image is everything, are there any really glamorous TS women who could become spokes people on TV across the country? Does anyone know any famous people who would be prepared to act as a spokesperson for us?

It needs a lot more thought, but if the bigots ate using such negative tactics to attack what is still a very small minority, shouldn't we use positive ones to defend the attempted removal of basic human rights?

Nothing fights lies like the truth, however you need people out there speaking it - and even a casual reading of these boards will show you how hard that is to find.

Thank you both, for your very kind and supportive words. It is greatly appreciated.

Git er' done...


LoveForever,

Sincerely,


Maryanne

Mary Ann, I am praying for your cause. People around here want to ignore what is going on there, but it can happen anywhere. I say if you're going to try to pass HRO amendments, be prepared for a long drawn out expensive, exhaustive battle

At some point, there needs to be some agreement as to who is covered by what.  We can't even do that on this board.  Much harder then in real life. 

Thought I would love to think in some perfect world lies are destroyed by truth, reality proves otherwise.  Just look at the number of people who still think that Iraq had something to do with 9-11. 

I wish you luck, and I know that elections are often won not on the merits, but because of who shows up to vote, which often depends on what other issues are on the ballot.

HI All -

Updated links/Schedules as of 2/29/08

Hi all - 

We need your help, especially if you have a portable computer available to bring with you. We have a large number of data entry tasks that still need to be performed.

If you are still able to be available, please call myself or Anna Lucas directly, anytime today after 9AM to confirm and get onto the schedule.

We just posted updated schedule last night and are getting this out to everyone.



Location:

Nat'l Gay & Lesbian Task Force Headquarters

1325 Massachusetts Ave. NW Wash DC

6th Floor offices

****************************************************

TIMES AVAILABLE: 10AM-8PM - - Friday, Feb 29th

****************************************************

Weekend schedules to be posted later today.



Contact: Maryanne Arnow, Volunteer Coordinator

301-370-0944 / Email: allwayscooking@juno.com

Additional Contact: Also please contact Anna Lucas,
EQMD Volunteer Coordinator, Task Force Leader, at:

saverightsnow@gmail.com
Tel: (202) 639-6330



Thank you very much for your offer to help in this very important legislative effort.

Most Sincerely,



Maryanne A. Arnow

*******************************************************************************

LINKS:

http://www.teachthefacts.org/vigilance.html

http://nctequality.org/Resources/links.html

http://www.equalitymaryland.org/

*******************************************************************************



Posted on: February 29, 2008, 04:41:02 AM

---

Hi all,

We have revised the schedule for the petitions striking task force/project, mainly so that people's regular workweek schedules would be better accommodated, and we can realistically make our goals in striking down this petition.

It is of utmost importance that as many people get in to help us during the weekdays and weekday evenings this week, because we will not have as many people available as we do/did during weekend times.

Please invite anyone that you think can possibly help us. We are seeing excellent results thus far, and as long as we can get enough folks going on this consistently everyday, we will likely make our goals and be able to strike this petition. Please forward this to anyone that may have an interest in this effort.

If you still need to be scheduled please contact myself, Anna Lucas or Mary Zicari at EQMD, Dana Beyer, Lisa Mottet, or anyone else that you are familiar with. Please CC or contact me directly if possible on any new volunteers, or scheduling needs in general. I will also post my email, and (tentative) schedule for this week upcoming as it now stands.

***************************************
NEW/REVISED SCHEDULE AS OF 2/29/08 11:07AM EST

***************************************

AVAILABLE TIMES

FRIDAY, Feb 29th, 2008 - 10AM-8PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 1ST - 12PM - 5PM

MON 3/3/08 through FRIDAY 3/07/08

10AM -8PM



*  *  *  *  *  *   *   *   *    *     *      *

MY schedule:

Monday- 12 - 7PM

Tues - 12-7 or 1-8PM

Weds - 2-8PM

Thurs - 12-7/1-8

Friday - 12-8PM



TASK FORCE OFFICES

Nat'l Gay & Lesbian Task Force Offices/HQ

Nat'l Center for Transgender Equal Rights/HQ

1325 MASS AVENUE NW, DC - 6TH FLOOR

To everyone that has given their valuable time and extremely positive effort in helping with this very important matter, i must personally thank you, as this legislative effort directly affects my life within my own home county, and can only help continue to set the precedent for equal human rights for all of us, no matter where you live or work.  Most Seriously - THANK YOU.

Most Sincerely,

Best Regards all,



Maryanne A. Arnow

Volunteer Coordinator

e: allwayscooking@juno.com

tel Direct: 301-370-0944


Also please contact Anna Lucas,
EQMD Volunteer Coordinator, Task Force Leader, at:

saverightsnow@gmail.com
Tel: (202) 639-6330


Thank you

Posted on: February 29th, 2008, 11:10AM

---

Here is the Schedule update as of today. Additional postings will be added later today.

**************
AVAILABLE TIMES:

FRIDAY, FEB 29th - 10AM-8PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 1ST - 12PM - 5PM

MON 3/3/08 Through FRIDAY 3/07/08 
10AM -8PM



***********************

* IMPORTANT * - PLEASE Bring a laptop if you have one.
FROM THIS POINT FORWARD WE WILL NEED PEOPLE THAT HAVE LAPTOP COMPUTERS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

Until we get the next batches of petitions, we will have mainly data entry/data crosscheck tasks available.

UPDATES TO BE POSTED.


Nat'l gay & Lesbian Task Force Headquarters

1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Wash DC

6th Floor


Contact: Maryanne Arnow, Volunteer Coordinator

301-370-0944 / Email: allwayscooking@juno.com

Additional Contact: Also please contact Anna Lucas,
EQMD Volunteer Coordinator, Task Force Leader, at:

saverightsnow@gmail.com
Tel: (202) 639-6330


Posted on: February 29, 2008, 10:21:29 AM

---

MARYLAND - PETITION STRIKING TASK FORCE - UPDATED SCHEDULE AS OF 3/2/08



MON 3/3/08 Through FRIDAY 3/07/08 

HOURS - 10AM -8PM



***********************

* IMPORTANT * - PLEASE Bring a laptop if you have one.

FROM THIS POINT FORWARD WE WILL NEED PEOPLE THAT HAVE LAPTOP COMPUTERS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

Until we get the next batches of petitions, we will have mainly data entry/data crosscheck tasks available.

UPDATES TO BE POSTED.


Nat'l gay & Lesbian Task Force Headquarters

1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Wash DC

6th Floor


Contact: Maryanne Arnow, Volunteer Coordinator

301-370-0944 / Email: allwayscooking@juno.com

Additional Contact: Also please contact Anna Lucas,
EQMD Volunteer Coordinator, Task Force Leader, at:

saverightsnow@gmail.com
Tel: (202) 639-6330


Posted on: March 02, 2008, 10:18:24 PM

---

There are no weekend hours this Saturday and Sunday but the future
reviews have become a lot more time critical.

URGENT HELP NEEDED! (again)
We found out this morning that the Montgomery County Board of
Elections certified the signatures that the anti-LGBT extremists
collected to take away rights for the residents of Montgomery County,
so the heat is on now! We have 10 days to file a lawsuit disputing
the validity of the signatures, and we need your help! We've had a
stellar group of people coming in all week to help, and we are
getting in the next batch of signatures next week and so we'll need
all hands on deck again! It took us 2 weeks to sort the first batch
of 15,000 signatures. The second batch is 17,000. So, we have more
signatures and less time. Help! Help! Help!

The hours to volunteer are as follows:
Monday, March 10 - Thursday, March 13 from 10am-9pm
Friday, March 14 - 10am-6pm
Saturday/Sunday (March 15-16) hours: to be determined

**if you have a laptop that has the program Microsoft Access and
wouldn't mind bringing it in to volunteer that would be very helpful
(or if you want to loan it to us that would be great too!) **

Where: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's headquarters in
Washington, DC
1325 Massachusetts Ave, NW, 6th Floor (note: The building
reads "Nat'l Air Traffic Controllers" and after office hours, you
need a cell phone to call to get let in)

Call or email to Anna at: saverightsnow@gmail.com Tel: (202) 639-6330, or 
also contact Maryanne Arnow at: allwayscooking@Juno.com Tel: (301) 370-0944, to sign up for a specific time. We need you!

Some background information:

Last November the Montgomery County Council (Maryland) unanimously
passed a law to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity
and expression. Anti-LGBT extremists created a campaign of scare
tactics to collect 25,000 valid signatures (even creating an
outrageous website www.notmyshower.net). The opposition turned in
more than the required amount of signatures to the Board of Elections
in hopes of putting this issue on the ballot in November, which if
passed, would take away rights for the residents of Montgomery
County.

We need to stop them! Equality Maryland has hired an attorney to make
the case that many of these signatures are invalid, and the law
shouldn't be put on the ballot.

THANKS ALL. IF YOU SHOULD HAPPEN TO BE ANYWHERE IN THE GREATER DC/MD/NoVa area, PLEASE STOP IN IF YOU CAN AND GIVE US A HAND. THIS MAY BE "JUST A LOCAL ISSUE" TO SOME, BUT WILL AFFECT NATIONAL STRATEGIES AS REGARDS ANTI-LBGT GROUPS, AND WILL BE POTENTIALLY PRECEDENT SETTING FOR THESE SAME GROUPS ON A NATIONAL LEVEL IF THIS LAW IS OVERTURNED. THE TIME TO ACT AND HELP US IS NOW

Sincerely,


Maryanne


Posted on: March 09, 2008, 05:06:12 PM

---

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

UPDATE 3/11/08



HI ALL -


TASK FORCE SCHEDULE/CORRECTION/UPDATE - CURRENT WEEK OF MARCH 9th-16th

There were no weekend hours this past Saturday and Sunday, but the future
reviews have become a lot more time critical.

UPCOMING WEEKEND HOURS ARE POSTED BELOW.

URGENT HELP NEEDED! (again)
The Montgomery County Board of Elections certified the signatures that the anti-LGBT extremists collected to take away rights for the residents of Montgomery County, so the heat is on now!

We have 10 days to file a lawsuit disputing the validity of the signatures, and we need your help! We've had a stellar group of people coming in these past days and weeks. We have now recieved the next batch of signatures.

It took us 2 weeks to sort the first batch of 15,000 signatures. The second batch is 17,000. So, we have more signatures and less time. Please help in any way that you can, and PLEASE forward this to ANYONE that might have an interest in helping with this effort.


* * * The hours to volunteer are as follows: * * *

Monday, March 10 - Thursday, March 13 from 10am-9pm
Friday, March 14 - 10am-6pm
Saturday/Sunday (March 15-16) hours: 12PM-6PM

**if you have a laptop that has the program Microsoft Access and
wouldn't mind bringing it in to volunteer that would be very helpful
(or if you want to loan it to us that would be great too!) **

Where:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Headquarters 
1325 Massachusetts Ave, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC

(note: The building reads "Nat'l Air Traffic Controllers", and after office hours, you
need a cell phone to call to get let in)

Call or email to Anna at: saverightsnow@gmail.com Tel: (202) 639-6330,
or also contact: Maryanne Arnow at: allwayscooking@Juno.com
Tel: (301) 370-0944, to sign up for a specific time. We need you!

Some background information:

Last November the Montgomery County Council (Maryland) unanimously
passed a law to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity
and expression. Anti-LGBT extremists created a campaign of scare
tactics to collect 25,000 valid signatures (even creating an
outrageous website www.notmyshower.net). The opposition turned in
more than the required amount of signatures to the Board of Elections
in hopes of putting this issue on the ballot in November, which if
passed, would take away rights for the residents of Montgomery
County.

We need to stop them! Equality Maryland has hired an attorney to make
the case that many of these signatures are invalid, and the law
shouldn't be put on the ballot.

All of your time and hard work are truly appreciated in this effort.

Sincerest Thanks.


Posted on: March 12, 2008, 11:43:01 AM

---

HI ALL -


TASK FORCE SCHEDULE / UPDATE - CURRENT WEEK OF MARCH 16th-22nd

URGENT HELP IS STILL NEEDED!

The Montgomery County Board of Elections certified the signatures that the anti-LGBT extremists collected to take away rights for the residents of Montgomery County, so the heat is on now!

Please help in any way that you can, and PLEASE forward this to ANYONE that might have an interest in helping with this effort.


* * * The hours to volunteer are as follows: * * *

Monday, March 17th THRU Thursday, March 21st - - 10am-8pm
Friday, March 14 - 10am-6pm
Saturday/Sunday (March 22-23) hours: TBA

**if you have a laptop that has the program Microsoft Access and
wouldn't mind bringing it in to volunteer that would be very helpful
(or if you want to loan it to us that would be great too!) **

Where:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Headquarters 
1325 Massachusetts Ave, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC

(note: The building reads "Nat'l Air Traffic Controllers", and after office hours, you
need a cell phone to call to get let in)

Call or email to Anna at: saverightsnow@gmail.com Tel: (202) 639-6330,
or also contact: Maryanne Arnow at: allwayscooking@Juno.com
Tel: (301) 370-0944, to sign up for a specific time. We need you!

Some background information:

Last November the Montgomery County Council (Maryland) unanimously
passed a law to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity
and expression. Anti-LGBT extremists created a campaign of scare
tactics to collect 25,000 valid signatures (even creating an
outrageous website www.notmyshower.net). The opposition turned in
more than the required amount of signatures to the Board of Elections
in hopes of putting this issue on the ballot in November, which if
passed, would take away rights for the residents of Montgomery
County.

We need to stop them! Equality Maryland has hired an attorney to make
the case that many of these signatures are invalid, and the law
shouldn't be put on the ballot.

All of your time and hard work are truly appreciated in this effort.

Sincerest Thanks.