A long debate ended early Tuesday morning when Gainesville City Commissioners voted to pass an Anti- Discrimination Ordinance for transgendered people...


Commissioners voted four to three.

The ordinance   more...is mostly addressing housing and employment discrimination, but the part of the ordinance that created much controversy; allowing transgender people to use whichever restroom they wanted in public settings.

Now business owners are left with a lot of questions that really are not being answered.

http://tinyurl.com/2gfvgr  less

Gainesville Controversial Transgender Bathroom Ordinance

A controversial ordinance dealing with transgendered people and their right to use the bathroom of their choosing will come before Gainesville's   more...City Commission on Monday, January 28, 2008.

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/2v3hvv">http://tinyurl.com/2v3hvv</a>  less

"<a href="http://tinyurl.com/3afcm3">This story</a> speaks for itself. Who knew Ayatollah Khomeini was into trannies?"

<a href="http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/09/27/why-there-are-so-many-transsexuals-in-iran/">http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/09/27/why-there-are-so-many-transsexuals-in-iran/</a>

Equally Speaking: September 24, 2007
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/32wtk8"http://tinyurl.com/32wtk8</a>

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A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that found transsexuals   more...are not covered by federal discrimination laws.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Krystal Etsitty had no legal recourse in fighting her firing by the Utah Transit Authority in 2005.

The court, which sits in Denver, found that the trial judge was correct in finding that the transit authority feared it could be sued by people born biologically female if it were discovered Etsitty still had male genitals.

<a href="http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/092107bus.htm">http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/092107bus.htm</a>  less

This spring, Eyewitness News told you about a Duluthian who was born a man and the struggle with becoming a transgendered a woman. Since our story aired, Marla Evans received support form some people   more...while she says she was let go from two roles at her church, St. Mary's Star of the Sea in Duluth.

"I was really stunned, stunned speechless," said Marla.

She says she was told she could no longer volunteer there as a Sunday school teacher. She also played guitar in the church band--a paid position, but she says she was let go from that as well.

<a href="http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S202050.shtml?cat=10335">http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S202050.shtml?cat=10335</a>  less

A local Fox affiliate reports on Susan Stanton applying for the Tempe, Az City manager postion. She didn't get the job.

Attacks against minorities are on the rise, but experts disagree when it comes to how much.

Adam May reveals why state and federal statistics are different and why hundreds of local cases might go unreported.
  more...
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On her way to buy some orange juice, 26-year-old Pamela Brown, who started living as a woman three years ago, said she was viciously attacked because she is transgendered.

"I saw five guys blocking the storeway. They called me a [expletive deleted] and then I was hit. Then I was attacked by two more guys from the back and my fiance ran over," she said. "I probably could have been killed if I was by myself."

Brown is now recovering while in protective police custody.

Meanwhile, two young men have been arrested near the Old Town Mall in Baltimore where the beating occurred.

Police commented on the attack last week.

"More than likely it will be upgraded to a hate crime, simply because of the things that were being said," said Troy Harris, Baltimore City Police spokesperson.

But now the city state's attorney's office is not pursuing hate crime charges. Why?

A spokesperson says while there was provocative language, it is free speech and there's no evidence of premeditation.

<a href="http://wjz.com/local/pamela.brown.hate.2.636503.html">http://wjz.com/local/pamela.brown.hate.2.636503.html</a>  less

Activists from across the U.S. descended on the HRC fundraising dinner in Washington DC on Saturday, October 6 2007. They were protesting the HRC decision NOT to oppose a newly introduced version of the   more..."Employment Non-Discrimination Act" (ENDA) that was stripped of the language which would have protected transgender people.

<a href="http://www.ifge.org/Article351.phtml">http://www.ifge.org/Article351.phtml</a>  less

HRC President Joe Solmonese speaks about the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), September 14, 2007 to a transgender defined (transgender people, their significant others, freinds, and family   more...members) audience at the Southern Comfort Conference (Atlanta, Georgia).

There were 871 transgender defined members in the audience. (more)  less

Today Joe Solmonese released a video celebrating today's Senate passage of the hate crimes legislation. The passage of the hate crimes bill which marks the first time a trans-inclusive piece of federal   more...legislation has ever passed both chambers of Congress...

<a href="http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2007/09/joe-solmonese-r.html">http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2007/09/joe-solmonese-r.html</a>  less

PORT EWEN, N.Y. Parents and school officials in Ulster County are addressing a bizarre situation after a Port Ewen principal announced he will undergo a sex change operation.

Ulster Boces School &   more...Technical Center principal Gary Suraci, 52, has created quite the buzz since going forth with his decision to become a woman, informing school officials just six weeks ago. Officials say he's changed his first name to "Genna."

<a href="http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_240174305.html">http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_240174305.html</a>  less

When students come to school next week, the principal will no longer be a man, he'll be a woman. School officials are meeting with parents and guardians, and will soon talk to students, to prepare them.   more...
Gary Suraci, the principal of Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Center in Port Ewen, N.Y., is undergoing a sex change. Now, instead of being Gary Suraci he will be Genna Suraci.

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/32zkbo">http://tinyurl.com/32zkbo</a>  less

Make-up, high heels and tight blue jeans may not be unusual for high school, but what if it's a teenage boy who is wearing that to class?

Rodney Evans said he has always considered himself a woman, but   more...didn't start dressing like one until his freshman year.

The 15-year-old says he wears women's clothes to school often, but not usually an entire outfit.

On April 26, Evans wore heels, fake breasts and a wig to class at Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth.

School officials said the clothing was distracting, and they placed Evans in detention. That's when, officials say, Evans began shouting obscenities...

<a href="http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_122190230.html">http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_122190230.html</a>  less

An Ozarks mother says her son is being discriminated against at school and she's working hard to keep him in class. The mother says the problem lies in the guidelines inside the Springfield Public School's   more...student handbook.

Fashionable jeans, purses and the latest trend in make-up may not be unusual for many high school girls, but for an Ozarks student, it is causing some controversy.

Vladimir Moran Miller says he's been fighting to be normal all his life.

<a href="http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=11373">http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=11373</a>  less

On News 12 Westchester, Joann Prinzivalli ,of the New York Transgender Rights Organization (NYTRO) , comments on a recent drag show by Westchester County Legislators. (<a href="http://www.news12.com/WC/topstories/article?id=212990#">http://www.news12.com/WC/topstories/article?id=212990#</a>)