As for your comment about the bathrooms – well clearly that has made no difference. Most uneducated straight voters will never understand this struggle. Period.

The problem is men dressing as women and women dressing as men – that is all they see. I try to understand as it was once a battle for me to even say I was gay, much less keep a job. But it is a challenge so rather than fight for you I differ to you.

Sorry, but as gay man, when folks ask me why you do it, I only answer with a shrugg and bewildered look. We are not connected.

Just as Tracy Bumpus said above – You will not win this battle with or without the G&L community unless you accept the baby steps.

Trust me however, you will get my vote, if it ever comes up.

Good Luck.

Barney Frankie?

When Christine Jorgenson came back for Denmark in 1953, that headline moved an aboveground nuke test off the front pages as the lead story. We had the ability to marry, and weren’t listed in the DSM manual while you gay folks were.

The pushback from conservative forces came sometime in the late 70′s-early 80′s and hatred and sabotage from GL forces didn’t help

And BTW, some of our peeps are gay. The oppression you GL peeps get is predominately because of your transgressions of the gender binary, not revulsion over who you sleep with. .

Transgender – in the eyes of most voters, I would bet, is thought of as nothing more than a freaky old uncle who dresses up for Halloween – the one your parents whispered in your ear – stay away from him.

Gays and Lesbians – in the eyes of mosts voters, I would bet, rank way easier to accept and a lower YUCK factor.

You need to stand on your own and fight your own battle because this is not a gay issue and should not be tied together.

I remember long ago when being gay and saying so was a horrible thing… with time and education, you might sway a few.

I suspect your climb will be uphill for decades.

Civil Rights and inequality is an oxymoron when put in the same context as this bill is doing. The only thing helping anyone is the appearance of respect. If you have a so called “civil rights” bill that writes inequality into law, than appearnce of respect is lost making transgender peopel no better off than if there was no law on the nooks and perhaps worse off due to the animosity created by a half assed bill not to mention what out of state strategists were compaining about.

What good is employment “non-discrimination” law if an employer can legally harass or humiliate a transgender employee over bathroom issues?

It should be clear that this does not cover trans women in shelters safely. While this means that a shelter can’t turn away a trans person, it does not mean that they will be housed in the appropriate facility. It means that trans women will probably be housed with men – making it highly likely that we will be subject to sexual assault and other violent crimes when we are at our most vulnerable.

It should also be noted that simple daily activities that most people consider basic for survival are still legally able to refuse service to trans people. Things like public transportation and grocery stores. Even within employment and housing the absence of public accommodations can be used to fire trans people and deny us housing – work-place bathrooms and common areas within housing complexes could easily be restricted, denied, or simply used as an excuse.

The trans community has to stop depending as heavily on LGB resources for support and demand trans activism from it’s community. I know too many of my friends that are content to let someone else hand them their rights. The trans community won’t go far unless everyone in it contributes.

Maryland lawmakers aren’t looking for confrontation with the out-of-state radical right wing hate mongers so they capitulate early and don’t look back. They figure most trans women/men probably don’t vote. I don’t know what the statistics are regarding trans-voter turnout but I imagine the lawmakers are correct.