Please visit the HCC website for more information:

http://southwest.hccs.edu/southwest/psi-kappa-speaker-series-kicks-off-with-cristan-williams

The HCC Board took action to protect transgender students after an investigation into a recent incident found problems with HCC staff. That incident followed on the heals of a June 2010 bashing incident raised questions about the safety of transgender students.

Houston, TX – Transgender communities in the United States are among the groups at highest risk for HIV infection. In recognition of World AIDS Day, the Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is proud to announce the launch of our new web resource for accessing information about transgender HIV issues.

“We hope this new resource will assist providers in providing culturally competent services to our transgender community” said Lou Weaver, TFA President. The website includes a section on current HIV studies affecting the transgender community, current HIV news affecting the transgender community as well as several cultural competency tools such as agency DOs and DON’Ts, The 9 Principles and more .

www.tghiv.com

In 1999, the TFA began working to address health disparities within the transgender population. Since that time, TFA has pioneered HIV strategies for the transgender population. Currently, TFA is an active collaborative partner with a variety of HIV coalitions and organizations including the Ryan White Leadership Team, the Community HIV Prevention Planning Group, the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services and facilitates the City of Houston Transgender HIV Task Force.

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Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for transgender people.

The student attempted to inform Leveston that the comments made her feel unwelcome in the classroom but Leveston responded stating that, “everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion” and that the student should respect his right to feel uncomfortable with transgender people, “Everyone has the right to his or her own preference,” wrote Leveston, “just do not go trying to push your views on me. Case closed.”

The student then approached TFA for assistance in resolving the situation. “I broke down as when I left the class. All I knew was that I needed to get to the [TFA Transgender] Center. By the time I got there, I couldn’t stop shaking. I wanted to quit school at that point. I felt hopeless.” said the student.

HCC recently closed the investigation acknowledging numerous worrisome issues with the behavior of Levenston. These deficiencies were innumerate in a letter of closure delivered to the student:

“… the Instructor failed to demonstrate sensitivity and treat the student in a respectful  manner in the following ways: 1) He did not show sensitivity in choosing the articles to share with the students, though he had prior knowledge that a student that was transgendered [sic] would be in class; 2) his email sends mixed signals by apologizing yet defending his own and the students’ rights to have their preferences and ends the comment with ‘case closed’ in essence dismissing any further dialogue; and, 3) failed to show concern for the student when she abruptly left the classroom and did not attend the next class period, yet the Instructor did not reach out to her to determine if there was a problem. Rather, it was the student who had to reach out to the Instructor.”

With mixed feelings about the investigation, the student said, “While I’m happy with the outcome of this investigation, the entire thing has been an incredibly stressful ordeal that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.” When asked about her future at HCC, she said, “I’m grateful that the school recognizes that there’s a problem with that teacher and that they need to clearly include transgender people in their non-discrimination policy, but I’m not going to return to HCC. What happened to me in that classroom has changed the way I feel while at the campus. I’ll be attending San Jac [San Jacinto College] in Pasadena next semester. They have a very clear non-discrimination policy that is explicitly inclusive of transgender people.”

Currently, HCC administration has taken a stop-gap measure to attempt to address anti-transgender discrimination and harassment by asserting that gender identity and expression are protected under their prohibition of discrimination based upon sexual orientation. Currently, one page on HCC’s website makes this assertion while their actual nondiscrimination policy remains silent on the issue of protecting students from discrimination based upon gender identity and expression.

In addition to this apparent stop-gap measure, HCC has posted numerous anti-discrimination posters around campus after TFA organized a meeting between the student and HCC administration. However, these posters remain silent on the issue of protecting students from discrimination based upon gender identity and expression.  On November 3, HCC’s Office of Institutional Equity and Student Services presented “Inclusion Fusion,” a forum where instructors learned how to “…create an inclusive, friendly and welcoming environment in their classrooms.” The event featured gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

In addition to brining the HCC administration to the table to discuss anti-transgender discrimination, TFA has participated in numerous HCC student and instructor forums. “HCC recognizes the need to clearly protect their transgender students from discrimination and harassment” said Lou Weaver, TFA President. “TFA will continue to work with the HCC administration to ensure the protection of their transgender students.”

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Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for transgender people.

I write in hope of encouraging you to vote this year.

At every level, Politicians need to hear from their constituents. They need to be aware that they have transgender people in their districts, and they need to be aware that those transgender people vote.

I used to think that my one vote couldn’t make a difference. Through my service at Transgender Foundation of America, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus and with the friends I have made in the past couple of years I have come to realize that I can and do make a difference, but only if I work to make my voice heard.

Remember HB 723 this spring? The bill that would have endangered the marriage of every trans person in Texas? The bill that we kept from going to a vote by calling and visiting our State Legislators over and over again? I do. I will always remember the pride I felt knowing my community stood up for something they believed in. We won because we were able to show elected officials that we were paying attention, and that there would be consequences to their actions.

If you are worried about voting and showing id that might not match, try early voting at the West Gray location; that’s what I did last time. No questions were asked.  I’m not trying to endorse any particular candidates or party. I want to encourage everyone to let their voice be heard because we can not afford to be silent and have others determine our future.

Thanks for your time,

Lou Weaver

Board of Directors President

Transgender Foundation of America

Helpful Texas links:

Early voting locations

Click here to find out if you are registered to vote

Fill out a voter registration card online

For Immediate Release

Houston, TX – The transgender Houston Community College student is satisfied with the outcome of an investigation launched after she was referred to as a “freak” in class. The comment was made during a classroom discussion of a paper written by the instructor, Donny Leveston, entitled “Taboo: Incest and Homoeroticism.”  Leveston, ended the classroom discussion by saying, “I don’t care what those people do, as long as they keep it away from me.”

The student attempted to inform Leveston that the comments made her feel unwelcome in the classroom but Leveston responded stating that, “everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion” and that the student should respect his right to feel uncomfortable with transgender people  “Everyone has the right to his or her own preference,” wrote Leveston, “just do not go trying to push your views on me. Case closed.”

The student then approached the Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) for assistance in resolving the situation. “I broke down as when I left the class. All I knew was that I needed to get to the [TFA Transgender] Center. By the time I got there, I couldn’t stop shaking. I wanted to quit school at that point. I felt hopeless.” said the student.

After advocating for a meeting with school officials, TFA President Lou Weaver accompanied the student to the meeting. “I am pleased that HCC welcomed the meeting. Their first priority was the student; not far behind was diversity training. The College will be hosting panels for their faculty and staff to choice from, and are looking to our community for education. They want to know what issues a trans identified student might face, and our ideas on how to erase these barriers. As a former HCC student, I’m very proud of the way this has been handled. I anticipate positive changes from them in the near future.”

The student was overjoyed by the school’s response. “I feel safe at the school again. I feel welcomed. I was able to transfer out of the class and the instructor will receive the professional support he needs so that something like this won’t happen again.”

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Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for transgender people.

I advise parents to not allow their children to watch the episodes in which Chaz appears.

Here’s why: Many of the children who might be watching will be establishing a sense of self which includes, of course, a sexual/gender identity. Some will be girls becoming comfortable with dramatic changes in their bodies. Some will be boys coming to terms with integrating the dawn of manhood with exquisite feelings of vulnerability. Young viewers will include tomboyish girls and sensitive, less stereotypically “masculine” boys. They will also include children who have sustained the losses of loved ones and are wrestling with depression, perhaps wondering who they are absent their deceased mothers or fathers.

- Keith Ablow for FOX News, 9/2/2011

Ten days later on the Howard Stern Show, Ablow claimed that transsexualism is like getting a tattoo: “… if a person came to me tattooed as a zebra,” adding, “I’m not going to have my kids watch a show in which people pretend to be farm animals.”  Ablow is famed for his Chris Angel-like “Street Therapy” addressing the traumas of strangers on the streets of New York and claiming to resolve their mental health issues within minutes.

Ablow worked his way towards media celebrity in the 1980s working in New York television and writing columns for the Washington Post. He increased his celebrity as a frequent guest on day-time talk shows Sally Jesse Raphael, Maury Povich and Gerardo and “infotainment” programs Inside Edition and Glen Beck. Recently, Ablow has enjoyed best-selling author status after co-writing a book about family values with Glen Beck. He is now a paid commentator for Fox News.

Ablow generated controversy earlier this year when he claimed that allowing a boy to paint his toe nails would cause him to become a transsexual. The Daily Show’s John Stewart spent a significant portion of his April 13, 2011 show openly mocking Ablow’s assertions.

Ablow’s most recent statement was discredited in its entirety by sitting President of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. John M. Oldham:

“The American Psychiatric Association (APA) recognizes gender identity disorder (GID) as a psychiatric disorder that involves significant distress or impairment in functioning. The APA supports access to appropriate diagnosis and treatment for persons with GID and recognizes that the decision to undergo gender transition is a deeply personal one. The APA opposes all forms of discrimination against persons with GID. There is no evidence that viewing a television game show with a transgender contestant would induce Gender Identity Disorder in young people.”

- Dr. John M. Oldham, American Psychiatric Association President

Cristan Williams, Executive Director of the Transgender Foundation of America, spoke with ABC News about the controversy Ablow initiated,  saying, “Ablow is a pop-psychologist trained in criminal psychiatry. He’s making claims about a specialized field of medicine and psychology that he’s simply not qualified to make. He’s making the same sort of debunked claims made by known hate groups and while he’s entitled to his personal opinions, it certainly seems unethical to use the platform Fox News gives him to make claims that are not only demonstrably false, but can be incredibly harmful to transgender children who are already at significant risk of bullying as suicide.”

No credible information available today suggests that being exposed to transgender people causes someone to be transgender. What we do know, however, is that ignorance about transgender people, and lack of exposure to gender diversity, may be factors leading to negative attitudes, discrimination, and violence directed at transgender and gender nonconforming people. Further, more and more gender experts are coming to understand childhood gender diversity as normal and non-pathological. What “tomboyish girls and sensitive, less stereotypically ‘masculine’ boys” need is to know that they are not alone, and that they are valued just as they are. For all these reasons, Chaz Bono’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars presents parents with a unique opportunity to open an important dialogue with their children, whatever their child’s gender expression or identity may be.

- Dr. Karl Bryant, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies, State University of New York

On September 2, 2011, Ablow admitted he never interviewed, diagnosed or treated Bono in a professional setting. He wrote in his opinion piece on FoxNews.com, “Chaz Bono didn’t come to me for help, though. She [sic] didn’t ask me for my opinion. But when she [sic] decided to promote gender reassignment surgery in the media as a happy triumph, she [sic] ended up getting my attention, anyhow… Would you not prefer that they try every available medication to impact mood, thought and perception before going under the knife?”

Reparative therapy is an effort rooted in the fundamental belief that gender identity is malleable. In other words, those who subscribe to the idea that transsexualism is a psychiatric condition believe that a female-to-male transsexual can choose to posses a female gender identity if a therapist can apply the right combination of ‘therapeutic’ techniques ranging from electroshock therapy and sexual stimulation to shame tactics and heavy medication. The postulation is that if transsexualism is an acquired psychological pathology, it should be responsive to psychotherapy. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of psychotherapy for the purposes of “curing” transsexualism is exceedingly poor and reparative therapy efforts have been abandoned by the ethical psychological community.

Gender Dysphoria or Gender Identity Disorder is a neuroendocrinological condition present at birth. It is not contagious. It is not about sex per se, but rather about one’s core identity. Such individuals make good citizens, productive workers, and loving parents. Why is there so much discrimination and misunderstanding?

- Dr. Collier M. Cole, Rosenberg Clinic

 

Lou Weaver, President of the Transgender Foundation of America said, “I’m grateful to see a transgender role model in the media.” Weaver, like Bono is a female-to-male transgender person and feels strongly about the importance of transgender people in the media. ”I admire Chaz for what he has done, and for remaining in the spot light. I know that it is difficult to constantly be under observation; but the best way to educate others is to allow them to hear our stories. I wish there had been someone like Chaz out there when I was younger, it could have erased years of suffering for me. ”

“It is really important to teach our children about the diversity of gender identity. This education is an important step toward increasing acceptance of transgender people. Chaz Bono’s story of courageous transformation is one that many children, and many adults, can relate to, regardless of whether or not they are transgender.”

- Dr. Kristen Schilt, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago.

In a 2006 open letter, the Gender Identity Research and Education Society laid out the case for a biological cause to transsexualism, citing the growing mountain of studies that trace the transsexual phenomena back to physiological causes. Since then the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a 40 year old organization that writes the medical and psychological standards of care for transgender people, has stated, “The psychopathologlisation of gender characteristics and identities reinforces or can prompt stigma, making prejudice and discrimination more likely, rendering transgender and transsexual people more vulnerable to social and legal marginalization and exclusion, and increasing risks to mental and physical well-being.”

As a Navajo transgender woman, we are a valued identity to our tribe, and that is what the rest of American society needs to catch up with, to love our sisters and brothers, as my people loved me for the journey I have made in my life.

- Aveda Husniyah Adara is a “Nádleehé” (the traditional Navajo word for “transgender”) member of the Navajo Dine Tribe of the Kiyaa’ani and Dibe Izhiini clans

Ablow’s statements contribute to a culture of shame that, all too often, endangers the mental health of transgender people.  The findings of a recent landmark study of the transgender community highlights the impact of anti-transgender bias which is oftentimes justified by misinformation. In this study of more than six thousand American transgender people found that a staggering 41% reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population. Additionally, transgender students in grades K-12 reported alarming rates of harassment (78%), physical assault (35%) and sexual violence (12%); harassment was so severe that it led almost one-sixth (15%) to leave a school in K-12 settings or in higher education. Sixty-three percent (63%) had experienced a serious act of discrimination and almost a quarter (23%) experienced a catastrophic level of discrimination.

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Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for transgender people.

The victim, Jack Mustachia (sitting), just after the attack in which he sustained injuries to his feet, knees, hands and back.

Houston – On Monday, September 14, 2011 two Transgender Center volunteers came to the aid of an elder member of the Montrose community who was being attacked by a younger man. The incident occurred on the corner of Pacific and Hopkins, just across the street from Club Blur, the location where Aaron Scheerhoorn was brutally murdered in front of a crowd of people who did nothing to stop the attack.

The 93 year old victim, Jack Mustachia, was attacked when he offered to help what appeared to be a homeless man by offering him some food. “I just asked him, ‘Are you hungry? I’ll try to find you something to eat.’ I brought him something to eat but he threw it down and jumped on me. He threw me to the ground and jumped on me. ” Mustachia said that the reason he tried to help the apparent homeless man was that he was just trying to be a good neighbor. “You just help people; that’s they way I grew up.”

Transgender (TG) Center volunteers Margaret Gibson and Carla Mancias were standing in front of the TG Center when they saw the attack already in progress. “There were people just standing around watching this man get attacked. I pulled the older gentleman away from the guy attacking him.” said Gibson.

Cristan Williams, TFA Director said, “After everything happened, Margaret came back inside the Center and told me that the police had arrested the man who attacked one of our elder community members.  After what happened to Aaron Sheerhoorn, I am very proud of both Margaret and Carla for being there. Both of these folks are heroes and serve as fine examples of engaged citizens.”

After learning that a community patrol group effort organized by the Aaron Scheerhoorn Foundation would soon be patrolling the streets of the Montrose area, Mustachia said, “I think that would be good. This used to be a very nice neighborhood. I lived here for a long time and I liked it around here; everybody was nice. You could walk up to people and just talk. I would ride my bike around and feel safe. It was a nice community.”

While Mustachia feels differently about the neighborhood, he refuses to allow his attacker to steal away the simple pleasures of life. Mustachia continues to pass his time doing crossword puzzles and people watching from the wooden bench in front of his son’s town home. “Now I don’t feel safe, but I can’t keep locked up in the house. I like to sit out; I enjoy it. My son doesn’t want me to sit out here, but what can I do? I’m old, but I can’t be in the house all day sitting on the couch.” When asked if his attitude towards others had changed after the attack, he said, “I don’t know.” After a pause, he added, “I… I think I’ll keep wanting to help people. My parents always helped people in need. It’s how I was raised. My mother would give the homeless bread if that’s all she had to give and I still fill that way.”

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Transgender Foundation of America (TFA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for transgender people.

Houston, Texas – The Houston Independent School District (HISD), the seventh largest school district in the country and the largest in Texas now has fully inclusive GLBT protections for students. The Board voted 7-0, in favor of the policy, with 2 members absent, on June 23, 2011.

This vote was the second of two that finalized an updated the HISD student code of conduct. When the measure passed, applause erupted in the auditorium.

“My experience in school was fairly horrific. The bullying I endured inspired thoughts of suicide each and every day. There were days when I would beg – on my knees with tears rolling down my face – to not be sent to school. School was a living hell and staff did nothing to make it better. HISD did the right thing and I will forever be grateful to the HISD Board for acting to ensure that no other student need suffer the way I suffered.” Said Cristan Williams, Executive Director of the Transgender Foundation of America.

The following is a list of voting HISD Board members along with their vote.

Juliet K. Stipeche – Voted YES
District VIII
jstipech@houstonisd.org

Anna Eastman – Voted YES
District I
aeastman@houstonisd.org

Paula Harris – Voted YES
District IV
pharris3@houstonisd.org

Manuel Rodríguez Jr. – Voted YES
District III
mrodrigu@houstonisd.org

Carol Mims Galloway – Voted YES
District II
cgallowa@houstonisd.org

Lawrence Marshall – Voted YES
District IX
lmarsha1@houstonisd.org

Greg Meyers – Voted YES
District VI
gmeyers@houstonisd.org

Please take 2 minutes and send an email to the above Board members to thank them for their courage on taking up this important issue.

Enclosed is our donation of $1,500.00 to your organization. We were able to raise this money through the donation of hundreds of party-goers at our last event: Que(e)ry III: Main Entry!

Que(e)ry’s goals are:

• to provide a safe and fun social space and to encourage community among queer information professionals and their friends;
• to raise financial support and awareness for hidden queer library, archival and/or museum collections;
• to celebrate the contributions of queer people to the cultural record and to the information profession;
• to demystify and dispel stereotypes about libraries and librarians;
• to highlight information policy issues affecting the queer community, such as censorship, discrimination , obscenity or privacy.

Thank you for your cooperation with our party. We are very pleased to give you this donation.

Love, Pride and Libraries!

- Que(e)ry Librarians

Jo Collier, professional archivist and chairperson of the TG Center’s Archive said, "These days everybody’s on about the internet, so it’s possible for funding groups to overlook libraries and archives  as something almost passé. It’s wonderful that there are people like the NY City Library group who understand the importance of being able to physically interact with things that connect you with your past. "

The Houston transgender historical archive creates an educational opportunity that is absolutely unique. No other collection of transgender history like the Houston Transgender Archive is known to exist anywhere. The collection offers students, community members and supporters a unique opportunity to access centuries of information about the transgender community. The Library and Archive is open to the public every weekday between 1 and 5 PM.