ezs comment #2...

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If You Are Trans in America, Take the U.S. Trans Survey Today by Cleis Abeni

One seminal work arose in the past few weeks. 

"If You Are Trans..." discusses the 

important work being done by the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition.  There is, no doubt, how

integral this work is.  I myself filled out the rather long form, but it was entirely worth it.  My voice 

was indeed heard, and I'm damn proud of that. (If you want to participate, press USTransSurvey.org.)

However, it makes me wonder what 'might have been'.  Undoubtedly, the University of California, Los

 Angeles holds a position second to none when it comes to precision.  NTAC  holds a position second

 to no one by choosing someone with such prestige.  

Indeed,  only the federal government has such clout - and that's where the problem lies.  Inevitably,

John Boehner would sound the hissy-fit alarm.  "We can't spend that much money on a couple of 

transsexuals!  (sic)  Oh the horror!  Let the private sector do it!"  And, at first blush, it would

seem to be a reasonable premise.  Well, except for the fact that the House of Representatives is built 

like a jigsaw puzzle.  Thus, the House is hardly representative... and thus, very unfair.  


When the House of Representatives is put together every ten years by those who want to stay in power - Republicans and Democrats alike - some, uh, strange things happen. Consider Louie Gohmert.   Oh, Louie, Louie, how could we forget you?  Our "hero" put on an unsuccessful challenge against John Boehner - because he was too liberal!  (Don't that beat all?)  Or his psychedelic "asparagus" comments in the House.  Of course, we wouldn't even be having discussions such as these were it not  for the machinations of Tom DeLay.  


Next we consider the capital of Texas, Austin.  Now, Austin isn't quite as liberal as Provincetown - but it's damn well up there.  Now the good friends in Texas  would have shown some kindness toward their capitol  city... wouldn't they?


Ha!


When the Texas legislature carved up its House of Representatives, they divided  Austin into five parts.  Hence, only 1/5 of Austin got a fair shake in Washington.  It is fair, of course, when a Representative gets to speak his/her mind in D.C., but it is ludicrously unfair when his/her district is shaped like a smashed-up pretzel.


There are anomalies, of course.  A conservative will fall into Jerrold Nadler's district, and a liberal (god bless your heart) will fall into into Louie Gohmert's district.  Hey, that's life.  However you can e-mail them, and let them know that the only good district is a fair district, one so founded by the framers and the Supreme Court.


And, of course, you can run.

Then let us consider the office of Speaker itself.  In the Constitution, there is precious little to tell

us what the Speaker actually does.  "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker..."  And 

that's it!  One interpretation would give the Speaker little more clout than the Dean of the House.   

Isn't that how it was really meant to be?

Consider the case of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.  She's a proud Republican.  But, she's also a mother of a transgender son.  

Whenever the topic of transgender issues comes up, she and a handful of enlightened Republicans 

plead with the Speaker.  Predictably, nothing comes of it.  


Thanks, John.  Thanks, 1/16 of Ohio.

Cheers,

Emily

Speaker Boehner Should Remove Hateful Anti-LGBT Lawmaker From Leadership of Finance Committee

Press
HRC

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please press:  http://www.hrc.org

RIP ENDA (1974-2014)

JOEL TRAMBLEY
please press:  http://lgbtweekly.com

House Republicans Urge Boehner to Allow ENDA Vote

Justin Snow
please press:  http://www.edgeboston.com

Inauguration Day 2013

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Today is, officially, Inauguration Day.  Barack Obama has taken the oath of office for the second time.  

Over the past four years, we have come to see how 435 House members and 100 Senators would react to Mr. Obama's presidency, particularly the Republicans.  There are those who, to their credit, put politics aside (at least for the moment) and worked with the President to stem Hurricane Sandy's fury.  Chris Christie tore into John Boehner when he thought it nifty to put the wreckage on the back burner.  Rep. King(R-NY) thought it ludicrous to float such an idea, never mind post it as official policy.  

Here's where our problem lies, though:  the nutburgers make up a sizable minority and they do tend to yelp the loudest.  Rep. Boehner was probably spooked, and gave the Tea Party what they wanted.  Uh, you might mark that as a really bad strategy, Mr. Speaker.  Yet it's somewhat understandable when the far-right members pull out the long knives when you and Mr. Obama do something horrendous like, say, talk to one another.

Further evidence:  in case you haven't noticed, there was a perfect gem of an asshole named Steve Stockman (R-TX).  Quick quiz:  What other leader has been compared to Barack Obama?  If you haven't run across on the Internet already,  no peeking now.  Cmom, take a guess.

Answer:  Saddam Hussein.

Yeah, you guessed it.  According to Stockman's warped little brain, Saddam and Barack were just the best of pals, plotting the takeover of the world over virgin Mai-Tais. This is the example given to us by intrepid ol' Steve.  

So you are asking what Congress can do to right itself, and have all three bodies behave in a civil manner. What to do, you say.

The answer: you can, with an e-letter.  They hear  various yahoos saying "This is my country!"  We often forget one very vital fact, though.

This is our country, too.

I'll repeat that:  this is our country too, dammit!

We have the right to full, equitable rights for LGBT people. 

We have the right to drop our kids off at school without them being shot to pieces. 

And we have the right to civil, respectful debate, not the kind done by Steve Stockman and his band of idiots.

Please, please write an e-mail to your representatives.  This is so important.  You can look up who your representative is below.

www.house.gov