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 01 Shemale News: Former Largo City Manager Steve Stanton, Now Susan Ashley Stanton
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2007
CONTACT: Ali Bay, Communications Manager
PHONE: (916) 284-9187 EMAIL: ali@eqca.org
Assembly Passes Bill Granting Same-Sex Couples the Ability to Marry in California
Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, Authored by Assemblymember Leno and Sponsored by EQCA, Gives all Couples the Protections and Responsibilities of Marriage
SACRAMENTO The California Assembly on Monday passed AB 43, legislation that would give same-sex couples the ability to marry. Authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act would provide all California couples the dignity, legal protections, responsibilities and social support that only come with marriage. The Assembly passed the legislation with a 42-34 vote.
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Former Largo City Manager Steve Stanton, Now Susan Ashley Stanton
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2007
CONTACT: Ali Bay, Communications Manager
PHONE: (916) 284-9187 EMAIL: ali@eqca.org
Assembly Passes Bill Granting Same-Sex Couples the Ability to Marry in California
Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, Authored by Assemblymember Leno and Sponsored by EQCA, Gives all Couples the Protections and Responsibilities of Marriage
SACRAMENTO â The California Assembly on Monday passed AB 43, legislation that would give same-sex couples the ability to marry. Authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act would provide all California couples the dignity, legal protections, responsibilities and social support that only come with marriage. The Assembly passed the legislation with a 42-34 vote.
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By WTSP-TV Tampa
May 14, 2007
TAMPA, FL -- Weeks before she plans to live full time as a woman, Susan Ashley Stanton will be in Washington trying to get lawmakers to understand transgender issues.
The former Largo City Manager, will head to Washington D.C. today as Susan Ashley Stanton. Tonight, Stanton is scheduled to make a public appearance at a reception honoring transgender advocates. He'll meet with legislators on Tuesday to lobby lawmakers to support two proposed federal laws. Event organizers say it will be the biggest transgender lobbying effort ever.
Tampa Bay's 10 News will be there tonight when Susan Ashley Stanton appears in Washington D.C. You can watch stories tonight on '10 News at Six' and '10 News at 11.'
Meanwhile, over the next couple of weeks Stanton will also be preparing to interview for a job as Sarasota City Manager and also plans to move out of her Largo home. |
The California Assembly has once again affirmed that every Californian deserves the opportunity to marry the person he or she loves,â? said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. âTodayâs vote shows that support for ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage is growing. The people of California, through their elected representatives, are speaking on this issue and they are coming down on the side of fairness.â?
In 2005, the California Legislature became the first legislative body in the nation to approve a bill that would allow same-sex couples the choice to marry. This yearâs bill is all but identical to that landmark legislation, which the Assembly passed with a 41-35 vote, giving the bill the minimum number of votes needed. As was the case in 2005, this yearâs bill protects religious freedom by reaffirming that no religious institution would be required to solemnize marriages contrary to its fundamental beliefs.
âThe momentum to afford all citizens their fundamental right to marry the person they love grows stronger with todayâs pioneering vote,â? said Assemblymember Leno. âFor the second time in our nationâs history, elected officials of the most populous state in America have embraced the basic human right of all people to marry and raise families as first class citizens under the law.â?
Although California allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners, marriage and domestic partnership remain two separate and unequal institutions. Same-sex couples are not allowed the universal recognition that married couples enjoy, leaving them without essential support systems they may find necessary upon illness or disability, in times of crisis and in older age.
âWe have lived with domestic partnerships in California for seven years and we know that they are not a substitute for marriage,â? said Kors. âTodayâs vote demonstrates that the Legislature recognizes this unjustifiable inequity, and we applaud their determination to end it. Marriage is one of lifeâs significant and universally understood progressions that all people should have the ability to experience if they so desire.â?
Some of the nationâs top scientific and health organizations have presented peer-reviewed literature and consensus statements supporting the end of excluding same-sex couples from marriage because it hurts lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families. Health experts and medical organizations agree that treating a certain group of people differently creates social isolation and victimization, perpetuating negative stereotypes and alienating the group from health, family and social support systems. While providing important benefits, domestic partnerships perpetuate this exclusion and its negative consequences.
AB 43 is co-authored by 28 Assemblymembers and 14 Senators, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Sen. President Pro Tempore Don Perata. A broad coalition of more than 250 civil rights organizations and leaders support the measure, including the NAACP California State Conference, United Farm Workers, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Chinese for Affirmative Action, California Teachers Association, ACLU, California Nurses Association, Anti-Defamation League, California National Organization for Women, and California Church Impact, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. Please visit our website at eqca.org
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March 26, 2007
Study describes new type of "semi-identical" twins
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Doctors said on Monday they have identified a third type of twins -- somewhere between identical and fraternal -- after performing extensive genetic tests on two young children.
They are referring to the pair as "semi-identical" -- two sperm cells fused with a single egg -- and said this is a previously unknown way for twins to arise.
With fraternal twins, the most common type, the mother contributes two eggs that each are fertilized in the womb by two different sperm cells from the father. They are genetically as similar as any ordinary siblings.
With identical twins, one egg from the mother is fertilized by one sperm from the father, and then very early in development the embryo splits and two fetuses grow. These twins are very similar genetically.
The new case came to light because one of the twins had an abnormality in sexual development -- ambiguous genitalia -- and was considered a hermaphrodite with both ovarian and testicular tissue. This child is being raised as a girl. The other twin is a boy. |
Cont.
Writing in the Journal of Human Genetics, researchers said the "semi-identical" twins are more genetically similar than fraternal twins, but less similar than identical twins. "This observation suggests the existence of other similar twins that have not yet been, and may never be, identified," they wrote.
"I think the most important thing is that this shows that our understanding of how twinning arises is probably something of a simplification, and that there are some very probably rare variations on how this can arise," Dr. Vivienne Souter of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, lead author of the study describing the twins, said in an interview.
"Since we don't ordinarily look at the genetics of twins, there probably are more cases out there, but they have not come to light because they haven't been investigated in the way that these twins were," added Souter, a geneticist also trained in obstetrics and gynecology who is the mother of fraternal twins.
The "semi-identical" twins were evaluated at a U.S. hospital initially a few years ago, the researchers said.
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Souter said the twins were conceived completely naturally, noting that in vitro fertilization or infertility treatments were not involved.
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Trans-friendly bill re-enters N.Y. legislaturee
published Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Two New York State legislators have reintroduced the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which bans discrimination across the state toward people based on gender identity and expression. If the bill is passed, New York will become the 10th state with such a law.
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and State Sen. Tom Duane, both Manhattan Democrats, re-introduced the bill after failed attempts in 2003 and 2006. The Empire State Pride Agenda has been working closely with Gottfried and Duane for several months.
Both chambers will assign bill numbers to the legislation this week.
"Transgender New Yorkers are routinely subjected to discrimination in their attempts to get and keep their jobs, rent an apartment, or generally go about the business of living their lives openly and without fear," said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, in a written statement. "Legal protections based upon gender identity and expression are a basic civil right."
Several counties and cities within the state have similar protections in place, including Buffalo, Albany, New York City and Rochester.
Eighty-six New York-based Fortune 500 companies have similar nondiscrimination policies, including American Express, Kodak, and IBM, the Pride Agenda said.
New Jersey's trans protections became effective Jan. 1. California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington state have similar laws, according to the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. (The Advocate)
see below for more details
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Trans prof, school settle bias complaint
published Thursday, March 15, 2007
A transgender professor who was fired by a Christian school in Michigan has reached a settlement in her sex discrimination complaint.
Julie Nemecek and Spring Arbor University agreed to the settlement Monday after mediation talks with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Terms of the deal were not released, but Nemecek said Tuesday that she will no longer be employed by the school outside Jackson, Mich., about 75 miles west of Detroit.
"I'm looking for other employment," said Nemecek, who recently changed her first name from John. "I may do some consulting work. I'm definitely going to do advocacy for transgender issues."
Spring Arbor said the discrimination charge has been withdrawn.
The evangelical university, affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, fired the 55-year-old associate professor last month after a 15-month dispute. It previously had decided not to renew Nemecek's contract after the spring semester, citing conduct "inconsistent with the Christian faith."
Nemecek is an ordained Baptist minister who began living as a woman in 2004. Nemecek is legally a male and is getting hormone therapy but doesn't plan to have a sex-reassignment operation or end a marriage of 35 years.
Nemecek's case became known around the same time as that of Steve Stanton, who is disputing his dismissal as city manager of Largo, Fla., after announcing he would undergo gender reassignment. (David Eggert, AP)
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Record number of NYS Legislators sign on to Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA)
Measure re-introduced with 68 Assembly and 16 Senate co-sponsors
Press Contacts: Joe Tarver (212) 627-0305
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Albany, New York, March 14, 2007 – This week Assembly member Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and State Senator Tom Duane (D-Manhattan) re-introduced the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) with a record number of co-sponsors in each chamber.
GENDA bans discrimination across New York based upon gender identity and expression. It ensures that all New Yorkers, including transgender people, who present their gender in a way that differs from what is traditionally associated with their birth sex, are protected from discrimination in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, and other areas of everyday life.
First introduced in 2003, GENDA was re-introduced this week with a record 68 co-sponsors in the Assembly and 16 in the State Senate. In 2006, GENDA had 53 Assembly co-sponsors and nine (9) Senate cosponsors. Both chambers will be assigning bill numbers to the legislation this week. The Pride Agenda, the over 200 organizational members of the GENDA Coalition and the LGBT community has been working closely with Assembly member Gottfried and Senator Duane for several months to achieve this record number of co-sponsors in order to continue building the momentum that is needed for passage.
“Transgender New Yorkers are routinely subjected to discrimination in their attempts to get and keep their jobs, rent an apartment, or generally go about the business of living their lives openly and without fear,” said Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle. “Legal protections based upon gender identity and expression are a basic civil right. We thank Assembly member Gottfried and Senator Duane for taking the lead to pass this important piece of legislation. Nine states already have laws providing protections based upon gender identity and expression, along with 86 cities and counties and at least 85 Fortune 500 companies. Clearly, New York is lagging behind.”
NYS localities, states and NYS-based Fortune 500 Companies with Transgender Protections
A number of New York localities have already enacted their own ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression, including: Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester (including the Rochester School District), Rhinebeck (covering town employees only), and Suffolk and Tompkins Counties. New Jersey became the ninth state to ban discrimination last year. The others are: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington. The Office of the New York State Comptroller has also adopted a policy prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression for its state employees.
Support in the private sector and general public for these kinds of measures have been growing exponentially in recent years. New York-based Fortune 500 companies with policies prohibiting discrimination based upon gender identity and expression include but are not limited to: American Express (NYC), Bausch & Lomb (NYC), Citigroup (NYC), Corning (Corning), Eastman Kodak (Rochester), Goldman Sachs (NYC), IBM (Armonk), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYC), Keyspan (Brooklyn), Lehman Brothers (NYC), MetLife (NYC), PepsiCo (Purchase), Pfizer (NYC) and Viacom (NYC).
Overall GENDA Support in Assembly and State Senate
According to the Pride Agenda’s legislative scorecard, GENDA has the support of 82 Assembly members, more than a majority of the 150-member chamber. In the Senate, the scorecard shows 23 Senators in support of GENDA, still short of a majority. To review the Pride Agenda’s scorecard, go to www.prideagenda.org/issues/legislative/scorecard.html.
Pride Agenda Calls for Legislature to Act
“The private sector gets it, local and state governments are getting it and now a record number of Assembly members and Senators are getting it,” said Van Capelle. The overwhelming legislative support, particularly in the Assembly, should show the Leadership there is broad-based agreement that it’s time to move on GENDA.”
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For a complete list of Assembly and State Senate co-sponsors of GENDA and for any questions from GENDA’s prime sponsors, call:
Eliyanna Kaiser with Assembly member Gottfried (646) 326-1545
Mark Furnish with Senator Tom Duane (518) 455-2452 |
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