Among the items on the agenda will be discussion about the meeting that took place this past weekend in Memphis of the brand new Coalition of State Transgender Advocacy Organizations, of the recently concluded state legislative session, federal legislation and policies, and upcoming local efforts to pass non discrimination laws in Tennessee.  Of course, we will also discuss the 2010 elections.  Early Voting starts one day earlier, on Friday, July 16.

Attendance is free and open to all.  If you wish to attend, please contact us for directions.

And Please Save These Other Dates!

Saturday, July 24, 4:00 to 5:30 pm, CDT
Fundraising Reception Featuring

Mara Keisling Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality Co-Chair, United ENDA Coalition

Tribe
1517 Church Street
Nashville, TN 37203

Saturday, October 23 (New Date!)
TTPC 6th Annual Dinner
Nashville
Details to follow soon

At the present time, there is no legislation pending in Congress which will end discrimination against transgender persons in the military.

Pass ENDA Now

There is, however, a bill pending that does ban discrimination against all LGBT people, the Employment Non Discrimination Act (S.1584; H.R.3017).  The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition has joined several hundred other local, state, and national organizations calling on Members of Congress to begin action immediately.  We are tired of the delays.

Currently two members of the Tennessee delegation are co-sponsors of ENDA, Jim Cooper (202-225-4311) and Stephen Cohen (202-225-3265).

Please contact them and thank them for their support, but also urge them to oppose any Motion to Recommit designed to delay the bill or weaken transgender protections in the bill.

The rest of Tennessee’s Representatives are:

• Phil Roe, M.D., 202-225-6356, Member of the House Education and Labor Committee
• John Duncan, Jr., 202-225-5435
• Zach Wamp, 202-225-3271, candidate for Governor of Tennessee
• Lincoln Davis, 202-225-6831
• Bart Gordon, 202-225-4231
• Marsha Blackburn, 202-225-2811
• John Tanner, 202-225-4714

and Tennessee’s Senators are:

• Lamar Alexander, 202-224-4944, Member of the Senate HELP Committee
• Bob Corker, 202-224-3344

Use this message:

My name is _____ and I am a proud resident of (your city, county). I am calling in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.1584; H.R. 3017), to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from job discrimination. Please take action to pass ENDA now. I can be reached at _______ (give your phone number). Thank you.

It only takes a moment.  Your action can help shape the future.

Currently, 12 states and more than 100 localities have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections, covering nearly 40 percent of Americans.  The State of Tennessee is not one of those states, but the Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and in 2009, both Shelby County and Metro Nashville, have all adopted such policies for their employees.  Additionally, more than 150 Fortune 500 companies, including most recently, Federal Express, have enacted nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBT workers.  Other agencies and private employers based in Tennessee do have such policies in place, but many remain unprotected.

And, according to numerous surveys, large majorities of likely voters in the U.S. support federal employment non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people. Polling data from 2006 shows that voters are more likely to support a candidate who votes for LGBT discrimination laws than they are to vote against.

Randy Smith, who served in the first Iraqi war, added: “I definitely wouldn’t want to share a shower with a homosexual. We took care of that kind of stuff, just like (Kirkland) said.”
Smith later tried to apologize, saying he knew of violence against gay service members in concept only and never knew of any actual incidents or anything that he could report, but maintained he was “telling it how it is actually” and claimed that hazing would come if “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed.  Smith also said he he has a 19-year-old gay daughter who lives in California, and that while he “disagrees with her lifestyle,” he understands that it is her right to live it.   “I don’t begrudge her because she’s gay,” Smith said. ”… I would have no problem standing beside a gay man in a time of war, standing back to back, him having my back and me having his back, but I would, as I said last night, have trouble sharing a shower with a gay man.”

Dr. Kirkland, on the other hand, just dismissed his original comments as a “joke.”  In more recent days, he has issued a statement to “clarify” his position, but he has still not recognized that the problem is one of bigotry and intolerance towards LGBT people, and that problem needs to be addressed immediately in both the military and society at large.
The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition would like to remind both Dr. Kirkland and Mr. Smith that they do not have to look far for examples of violence in military, or in the district they seek to represent, against LGBT people.

• On July 5, 1999, Private First Class Barry Winchell, a Missouri native stationed at Fort Campbell, part of which is in the 8th Congressional District, was bludgeoned to death in his sleep by fellow soldiers because he was in a relationship with a transgender woman he had met in Nashville at a local nightclub.
• There are several other acts of violence within the district that have been based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.  In 1992, an entertainer named P-Nutts was found with her throat slashed in Clarksville.
• On July 15, 2007, a lesbian from Lauderdale County was left blind in one eye as a result of a beating at a nightclub in Jackson because she looked too masculine.
• On July 18, 2009,  the home of a transgender woman in Benton County was burned down.

In addition, there have been many violent acts perpetrated against African-American transgender women in Memphis, part of which is also located in the 8th Congressional District.

The 8th District Primary will not take place until August 5.  If a candidate is not willing to take a public pledge to support equal rights for all, and is not willing to denounce discrimination and violence against LGBT persons, they do not deserve your vote.

There is nothing funny about violence against LGBT people, and anyone who thinks such violence is a “joke” does not deserve to be a public, elected official.

Currently two members of the Tennessee delegation are co-sponsors of ENDA.  Please contact Jim Cooper (202-225-4311) and Stephen Cohen (202-225-3265), and thank them for their support, but also urge them to oppose any effort to strip or weaken transgender protections in the bill.

The rest of the Tennessee delegation consists of Senators:

• Lamar Alexander, 202-224-4944, Member of the Senate HELP Committee
• Bob Corker, 202-224-3344

and Representatives:

• Phil Roe, M.D., 202-225-6356, Member of the House Education and Labor Committee
• John Duncan, Jr., 202-225-5435
• Zach Wamp, 202-225-3271, candidate for Governor of Tennessee
• Lincoln Davis, 202-225-6831
• Bart Gordon, 202-225-4231
• Marsha Blackburn, 202-225-2811
• John Tanner, 202-225-4714

Use this message:

My name is _____ and I am a proud resident of (your city, county). I am calling in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.1584; H.R. 3017), to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from job discrimination. Please take action to pass ENDA now. I can be reached at _______ (give your phone number). Thank you.

It only takes a moment.  Your action can help shape the future.

Currently, 12 states and more than 100 localities have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections, covering nearly 40 percent of Americans.  The State of Tennessee is not one of those states, but the Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and in 2009, both Shelby County and Metro Nashville, have all adopted such policies for their employees.  Additionally, more than 150 Fortune 500 companies, including most recently, Federal Express, have enacted nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBT workers.  Other agencies and private employers based in Tennessee do have such policies in place, but many remain unprotected.

And, according to numerous surveys, large majorities of likely voters in the U.S. support federal employment non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people. Polling data from 2006 shows that voters are more likely to support a candidate who votes for LGBT discrimination laws than they are to vote against.

Autumn Sandeen

To read more about Autumn’s thoughts on community, activism, and the direct action by  GetEqual at the White House this week, click here.

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R.1283), which would repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, would permit continued discrimination against transgender people in the military.

Yesterday, a new date for the trial was announced in Memphis: Monday, July 12.

If convicted, McRae faces a maximum of 10 years in Federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Johnson was found murdered in Memphis in November 2008. No arrests have ever been made in that case.

Those who voted Yes on the motion were:

• Les Winningham (D-Huntsville), Chair
• Ron Lollar (R-Bartlett), Vice-Chair
• Judy Barker (D-Union City)
• Tommie Brown (D-Chattanooga)
• Ulysses Jones (D-Memphis)
• Mark Maddox (D-Dresden)
• Johnnie Turner (D-Memphis)

We urge you to thank them for refusing to support this ill conceived, discriminatory bill.  Those who voted No, and, thus, were willing to pass the bill were:

• Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville)
• Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald)
• Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster)

Later, on Wednesday afternoon, the companion bill, SB1250, by Dewayne Bunch (R-Cleveland), was sent to the General Subcommittee.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition was one of many groups that worked in opposition to these bills.  We will remain vigilant in the event there is an attempt to revive this legislation in 2011.

Carla Lewis

Last week, Carla Lewis of Maryville, Secretary of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition and blogger at manicsquirrel, qualified as a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives in the Democratic Primary in District 8, covering parts of Blount and Sevier Counties.

This week, however, Carla decided to withdraw and endorse Marvin Pratt in the Primary instead:

While I would be a constant advocate and voice for gay and transgender Tennesseans if elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, the people of the 8th District in Blount and Sevier counties have needs of their own that require attention.
Ranked the most visited national park in the country with 8-10 million visitors per year, the residents of the 8th district rely heavily on tourism as their greatest source of revenue.  Tourism in general is a poverty industry (often part time and seasonal) for its workers while artificially inflating the cost of living for local residents.

According to the USDA, 20% of children in Sevier County though the age of 17 live in poverty.  With an increase in poverty, so increases the occurrence of domestic violence, drug manufacture and use, and unwanted teen pregnancy.

In addition to addressing economic conditions, I have a few creative ideas on improving the education system in Tennessee such as requiring all public high schools to offer classes in brainstorming, problem solving and critical thinking.

We applaud our friend and collegue for coming forward to discuss so many critical issues of importance, even though she has decided not to run this year.  We look forward to her continued efforts in the political arena on behalf of the residents of District 8, and urge other transgender residents of Tennessee to follow Carla’s lead and consider running for office as well.