A lot has happened within the the last few weeks that have impacted the transgender community.  The Mathew Sheperd bill has passed the Senate and will go to a conference committee.  Hopefully gender identity and sexual orientation will not be stripped out of the bill.  It has been attached to the Dept of Defense bill a move that made it easier to pass.

ENDA has passed in the house and I’m sure it will pass in the Senate.  There is alot of opposition to this bill.  The right is again using our community as a scapegoat to defeat it.  Their argument has been the bathroom issue again.  It has been used successsfully on the state level on the East coast.  We all need to call our senators and have a face to face meeting with them.  There are pointers on how to acheive this by going to www.ncte.org.

Just a few days ago the trila for the murder of Lateisha Green in New York ended with the conviction of manslaughter with hate crimes.  This is the sencond such conviction in this country.  Because Dewight Delee used the word “faggot” they used the hate crimes statue.  Presently New York does not include gender identity in hate crimes.  We are moving forward little by little.

This week is the start of Hotter Than July put on the black society of Detroit.  The link will let you know the calender of events.   http://blackpridesociety.org/web/index.php?option=com_events&Itemid=54.  This is a fun event and should not be missed.  I know I will be there for the family picnic on the 25th.  I urge all who read this to attend.

Shalom for now.