Congress holds first-ever transgender hearing
House members hear tales of discrimination, fear

By JOSHUA LYNSEN
JUL. 4, 2008

http://www.southernvoice.com/2008/7-4/news/national/8813.cfm

Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti doesn't want anyone else to suffer what she's endured.

Once a man working in aeronautics engineering, Marcus Taraboletti said she lost her job in 2003 after informing her Florida employer that she planed to change her sex from male to female.

"I cannot tell you how meaningless life feels when an event like this happens," she said. "I was humiliated."

In the years since, Marcus Taraboletti has been unable to secure another job in her field. She's exhausted her savings while caring for two children. And she's accepted that she might have to sell her home.

QuoteRep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is gay, also encouraged the many transgender people who attended the hearing to be tenacious in their push for protection.

"I recognize when I first got involved in politics, if I was honest about who I was, it would have made some people nervous," he said. "But they got used to me. I just want to reassure people here, they're going to get used to you."

This person still doesn't get it, does he? Trans-people have been working for accepance of both ourselves and of gay men like Barney and for lesbians, etc since way before he ever got himself elected to office.

His well-meaning attempts to lecture us on how we should go about things seems to me to attempt to belie the stance he's already taken on ENDA and our 'ability" to be recognized.

Will it ever dawn on Barney that perhaps the society may well "accept and tolerate" "gender-variance" before they accept and tolerate his sexual orientation? Afterall, what happens consistently with our opponents and those who would re-define us, dismiss us or deny us civil rights?

They ALWAYS link us with "homosexual." That the term applies to a lot of us as to our sexual orientations is definitely a fact. Thus, we often have interests in both TG civil-rights and "gay" civil rights. That he simply fails to show he can see that point does nothing, imo, to indicate that he can even begin to imagine, let alone advocate for, a conditions/s he himself doesn't experience and probably finds as perplexing as do the religious bigots.

Nichole

That is why I do not go to gay clubs or bars, do not participate in rallyes or marches.  I refuse to be targeted by hate mongers. I believe that we each need to be able to live our lives as long as we to done harm anyone. And no one gets hurt by being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgendered or cross dressing.

They never try to understand or listen to us.  Yes, we do ride the coattails of the gay rights movement, because we all just asking for equal rights under the law, period.  Do they deny those rights to Muslims, Africa Americans, Native Americans or Jews?  No because the laws specifically includes them.  That is all we ask, is to be included in the law.  Oh, they would if they could.   Can we said Shades of the National Socialist German Workers Party.  For those who may not recognize the name, Lets called it by its other name, The Nazi Party.  When will America wake up to their hate tactics.

Janet