Report Warns Murder Rate Against Transgendered People Is Rising
A new report has found an estimated 200 transgendered persons were murdered from January 2008 to June 2009; which is enough to say that every three days a transgendered person is killed somewhere in the world.
The project was started by the international group Transgender Europe (TGEU) and the journal ‘Liminalis’ in an effort to track and combat violence committed against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and questioning (LGBT) community.
The project compiled at least 121 murder cases from 2008 and another 83 murder cases for the year-to-date. Preliminary results show that the murder rate for transgendered people is a global problem, effecting North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
“Furthermore that the number of reports of murdered trans people is increasing in the last years,” the report warns. “The majority of cases have been reported from Latin America and North America.”
The report shows Brazil is by far the most dangerous place in the world for the transgendered community. In 2008, 59 people were murdered while another 23 murders were reported so far this year. Last year, 16 transgendered people were murdered in the United States, the second most dangerous place on Earth.
While the report is an effort to document all crimes, even its authors admit to the limitations of compiling a survey while countries continue to avoid reporting hate crimes.
See Report Warns Murder Rate Against Transgendered People Is Rising
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This is how weak the GOP is today: for some, Virginia Foxx, GOP Hero
Virginia Foxx is decent church-goin’ woman with a mean, pinched, bitter evil face and she is the GOP’s parliamentary superstar, handling the Rules Committee and the familes of hate crimes victims with the same grace.
The Rules Committee is one of the most important committees in Congress. It decides amendments, debate length, and basically determines when and how bills get to the floor. So Virginia Foxx’s role, as a member of the minority party, is to be as big a pain in the ass as possible. Which is why she keeps making other members cry!
In January, Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) was testifying on the stimulus bill but left the committee room and did not return after Foxx drew a comparison between his handling of the bill and his habit of fiddling with a pencil.
Now this is not too terrible, because Dave Obey can be kind of a dick himself.
But:
She has also been an effective attack dog on the House floor. In March, Foxx caused freshman Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) to become so flustered after an exchange about Kilroy’s vote on the American International Group Inc. bailout that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) soon held a parliamentary boot camp for Democratic freshmen to avoid future incidents.
Once again, not too bad. Parliamentary dickery is a time-honored House tradition, and the Dems could probably use a toughening up.
But where is the anecdote that basically proves that this is a small-minded, hateful, simplistic, miserable excuse for an elected official? Oh, here it is:
Foxx’s most public gaffe came last week during debate over the hate crimes bill. One of the pieces of the bill is named for Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old man murdered in 1998 because of his sexual orientation. Foxx said naming the bill for Shepard was a “hoax” because his murder “wasn’t because he was gay.”
It should be noted that Foxx said this while Matthew Shepard’s mother sat a couple feet away from her. It should also be noted that Matthew Shepard was, in fact, tortured and murdered because he was gay.
See Virginia Foxx, GOP Hero Gawker
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Calif. pageant may dump Prejean
(San Francisco, California) The directors of the Miss California USA pageant are looking into whether title holder Carrie Prejean violated her contract by working with a national group opposed to same-sex marriage and by posing semi-nude when she was a teenage model.
Pageant spokesman Roger Neal said Tuesday it appears Prejean …
Tags: California Usa, Carrie, marriage, Miss California Usa Pageant, Model Pageant, National Group, same sex marriage, San Francisco California, Spokesman, Teenage ModelOn Valentine’s Day, Binational Gay and Lesbian Couples Struggle to Stay Together
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Immigration Equality, the national group aimed at ending anti-LGBT discrimination in immigration law, and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, lauded today’s introduction of the Uniting American Families Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), will provide lesbian and gay Americans the same opportunity as different-sex couples to sponsor their partner for immigration purposes. During a media conference call, Rep. Nadler joined Immigration Equality Executive Director Rachel B. Tiven, HRC President Joe Solmonese, and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund Legislative Staff Attorney John Amaya to discuss the importance of this legislation, along with two binational couples who face the prospect of being forcibly separated under existing immigration laws.
“It should be an outrage to all Americans that our government continues to deny one set of citizens the fundamental rights enjoyed by the rest of its citizens,” said Rep. Nadler. “It is time that we as a society finally acknowledge that a committed, loving family is a committed, loving family, no matter whether a couple is gay or straight. It makes no difference. We should be encouraging and rewarding stable families rather than sweeping them into the margins. We must now pass UAFA, the Uniting American Families Act, and grant gay and lesbian binational families the same legal protections—and the same human dignity—as other Americans.”
“Like many people across the country, there are Vermonters whose partners are foreign nationals and who feel abandoned by our laws in this area. The promotion of family unity has long been part of federal immigration policy, and we should honor that principle by providing all Americans the opportunity to be with their loved ones. I hope all Senators will join me in supporting equality for all Americans and their loved ones,” said Sen. Leahy.
Under U.S. immigration law, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses for immigration purposes. But gay and lesbian Americans are not afforded this basic right. Consequently, many binational gay and lesbian couples are kept or torn apart. The Uniting American Families Act would allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration by meeting the same standard as different-sex couples. The bill would impose harsh penalties for fraud, including up to five years in prison and as much as $250,000 in fines.
“This Valentine’s Day, thousands of gay and lesbian Americans who have fallen in love across borders must grapple with an impossible choice between being with the person they love and staying in their country,” said Immigration Equality Executive Director Rachel B. Tiven. “These couples simply want the same opportunity to prove that their families deserve to stay together.”
“For far too long, our elected officials have ignored the devastating real-life consequences that current immigration policies have had on thousands of gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “We thank Representative Nadler and Senator Leahy for their leadership to ensure that these couples are treated equally under the law. We commend Immigration Equality for their continued leadership in fighting this unjust policy.”
This inequality affects more than 36,000 gay and lesbian Americans, according to the 2000 Census and research commissioned by Immigration Equality and conducted by Gary Gates of the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Audio of the call held today can be accessed at http://www.immigrationequality.org/blog/ and http://www.hrcbackstory.org.
Immigration Equality is the only national organization devoted to fighting for equal treatment under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive immigrants and their families and to winning asylum for LGBT and HIV-positive people fleeing persecution.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
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Can novice group pull off march against Prop 8 in nation’s capital?
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