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One of the best scenes of GLEE ever that no one is talking about! #GLEE #Trans #Equality #LGBT

Wow, just wow. I watched this weeks episode of GLEE and it respectfully deals with the topic of a faculty member going through a transition from female to male. Overall, I feel it was so well done and the scene above moved me to tears.

This is what Billboard.com had to say about it: "Glee gets knocked around a lot for being totally ridiculous a lot of the time, but the show is then also capable of pulling something like this: A transgender chorus of 300, led by a happily returning Unique, to sing the powerful Hairspray ballad about overcoming the odds and dreaming of a better tomorrow, all for a tearful and overwhelmed Coach Beiste. It was pretty special, and a great way to close out the hour."

Sara Gilbert: ‘It’s more important to let go of the idea that you have a son, than to lose your child’

On Dec. 29, Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen from Ohio, stepped into the path of an oncoming semi truck on a interstate highway, leaving behind a suicide note describing having felt “like a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was four, and how her parents pushed her into conversion therapy and Christian counseling.

Recently, “The Talk” discusses teen suicide:

“I would just say to people out there who have different beliefs … just think it’s more important to let go of the idea that you have a son, than to lose your child,” says openly gay co-host Sara Gilbert.

Watch:

The Youth Suicide Prevention Program reports that over 50 percent of transgender youths have attempted to commit suicide at least once before reaching the age of 20.

"I'm Not Asking Anymore, I am Just Being!"

Cincinnati official speaks out for LGBT youth after transgender teen’s death

Cincinnati’s first openly gay councilman has used a council speech to offer support to youth who are struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Chris Seelbach

Chris Seelbach has been speaking out following the recent suicide of Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender girl.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Seelbach gave an emotional nine-minute speech Wednesday to close the council’s first 2015 meeting.

Seelbach read a social media post attributed to Alcorn, who was killed by a truck while on foot on Interstate 71 early Dec. 28. Seelbach says others with feelings of isolation or mistreatment like those expressed in the post should know that they can survive rejection and pain and that he has faith in them.

Holding back tears, Seelbach said in part to the LGBTQ community:

“The truth is, we as a society have failed you. What I know for sure is that with every day, it may not feel like it gets better, but I know that you can get through it. You can survive the rejection. You can survive the pain. You can survive the isolation. You can because you’re exactly who you’re supposed to be. You’re the person God made you to be, and you have the strength to persevere. It will not be easy. It may not get better with every day, but you can do it – I know you can. If no one seems to have faith in you, I do. 

[...] 

“You are not alone. … You can live. You can live. You can live.”

Transparent Creator Jill Soloway Dedicates Golden Globe Win to Leelah Alcorn

Transparent, the Amazon series that follows the various members of the Pfefferman family as they come to terms with their patriarch, Mort's (Jeffrey Tambor) transition, won the Golden Globe for Best TV Series, Comedy. Joined on stage by the cast, creator Jilly Soloway dedicated the award to "the memory of Leelah Alcorn and too many trans people who die too young."

Watch,

"I'm Not Asking Anymore, I am Just Being!"

Uninformed religious leaders are guilty of causing Leelah Alcorn’s pain, desperation, rejection, and death

Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender teen, stepped in front of truck on an Ohio interstate just after 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, leaving behind two notes that auto-posted to her blog after her death in which she described the root of her despondency.

From the age of four, Leelah had sensed she was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. At 14, she finally identified a name for it — transgender. She shared her “cries of happiness” at this discovery with her mother who “reacted extremely negatively.”

Under the encouragement of their church, Kings Mill Baptist Church in Kings Mill, Ohio, Carla and Doug Alcorn took their transgender child to a Christian therapist — not for depression, but to stem their child’s “gender confusion.”

One need only read the public comments online to sense the outrage from many members of the LGBT community and their supporters.

Doug and Carla Alcorn, parents of three other children, are being severely criticized for rejecting their child’s transgender condition. Their neglect is seen as a major contributory factor of her suicide.

The Alcorns, along with tens of thousands of other parents of LGBT children, though not innocent, are products of a toxic blend of ignorance about human sexuality and gender identity, ideology, and tainted theology prevalent in conservative Christian communities.

When you live in isolated and dogmatic evangelical and Baptists communities, it is likely that your default dogma will mirror such views.

The Alcorns too, are victims of the poisonous and ill-informed teachings from their religious leadership.

My Chemical Romance Guitarist Dedicates New Song to Trans Teen Leelah Alcorn

Saddened and angered by the tragic suicide of 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn last Sunday, My Chemical Romance lead guitarist Ray Toro has dedicated his new song "For the Lost and Brave" to the deceased trans teen.

Wrote Toro on his blog:

I wrote this song about a year ago, waiting to release it on my record when it was complete. There have been many times that I've almost put it out, but have always found a reason to hold it back. But lately there seems to be so much hate and misunderstanding in this world. 

As I'm sure many of you felt after reading the news of young Leelah Alcorn taking her own life, my heart sank. I felt sick. Yet another young life gone because of not being heard, not being understood, and not being unconditionally loved for who they truly were. After hearing her story, and reading her final Tumblr post, I finally felt it was time to share this song. 

It is time we learn to accept each other for who we truly are. Being seen, heard, and truly loved as our authentic selves is something we all want, and something we all deserve.

Listen to "For the Lost and Brave",

Facebook’s shame: The shocking Leelah Alcorn hate page

Facebook appears to have today taken down a ‘community’ set up for the express purpose of mocking Leelah Alcorn and urging trans people to kill themselves.

However, this did not happen until after Gay Star News made senior managers aware of its existence, as over the last 24 hours, Facebook moderators have persistently claimed the page was entirely acceptable to Facebook’s community standards.

Warning: Some of what follows is distressing, particulaly the link to the hate group's page.

The Facebook community page was titled ‘Go truck yourself’, a clear reference to the fact that trans teen Leelah Alcorn died after being run over by a truck. The page address includes the term ‘nomoredegenerates’.

The page contains multiple images associated with death. The comment ‘Go truck yourself’, is printed directly over a picture of Leelah Alcorn.

There are also many other insults directed at the trans community. In a comment that combines racism with transphobia, the page’s author writes: ‘You Marxists freak out when a mutant degenerate an heros itself under a truck.’ (sic)

There is also reference to ‘the Holocahoax’ and ‘muh 6 gorillion chosen ones’.

However, when trans users of Facebook, some highly distressed by this content, reported the page, they were sent a standard response, telling them Facebook ‘reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn’t violate our “Community Standards”’.

As a direct result the page owner then posted: ‘Man... All that reporting and you still can’t take me down? You degenerates are pathetic. You’re all a bunch of pussies.’

This remained so until an hour after this Gay Star News reporter contacted Facebook and asked them to respond to questions about why they were continuing to host this page.

Facebook have not yet provided any official comment as to why they consider such material does not breach hate speech guidelines. However, they do have a fairly checkered history on removal of hate speech and incitement to violence.

Over the last decade they have frequently removed entire pages and communities for hosting pictures showing breastfeeding. However, on more than one occasion, sites calling for violence against LGBTI minorities or against women have been classed as acceptable on the grounds they might be considered humour.

In the last week, Facebook has been criticized for its refusal to remove Islamophobic material and similar hate speech.

Community activists are concerned pages of this kind are part of a wider backlash brought on by sympathy for Leelah.

One group, using internet anonymity as a cover for their activity has been actively celebrating the suicide of trans individuals, and urging its members to phone trans support hotlines, including those dedicated to preventing suicide, in order to block them.

There have since been reports from the United States of trans hotlines being blocked as a result, with time and resource being taken up by people whose primary aim is to prevent suicidal trans people from obtaining help and support.

Transgender teen struck and killed on Ohio interstate in apparent suicide

"My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say 'that’s fucked up' and fix it. Fix society. Please."

A 17-year-old transgender teen was struck and killed by a passing semi trailer on an Ohio interstate on Sunday, and a previously written suicide note later appeared on the teen’s Tumblr blog through scheduled publishing.

Leelah Alcorn was in the roadway when she was struck, and is believed to have walked 3-4 miles from her parents house in nearby Kings Mill, Ohio.

Police say she died at 2:20 a.m. Sunday.

The incident is being investigated by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, but hours after Leelah’s death a suicide note appeared on her Tumblr blog.

In the note, Leelah said she identified as a transgender female from age 14, when she first became aware of the term, having felt “like a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was four.

Leelah said she subsequently came out online, and turned primarily towards the internet for friendship. She said she attempted to convince her parents that she had to medically transition, but claims she instead received therapy and “biased” counseling from Christian therapists:

Leelah also describes coming out as gay at age 16, hoping it would be a stepping stone to coming out as transgender at a later date. She wrote that she was instead taken out of school by her parents and cut off from the outside world for five months as her parents denied her access to her laptop, social media and phone.

5 Reasons the LGBT Community Should Not Sit Out This Election

With only a week and a half to go, the word among political pundits is that most progressive voters will stay home on November 4th. While midterm elections are not as sexy as the ones in which we get to pick a president, here are five reasons why the LGBT community should not sit out this year:

Marriage Equality

At present over 30 states have some level of marriage equality in place, but over a dozen still do not. Further, even with court after court striking down gay marriage bans, some in the deepest of red states, many conservatives are vowing to fight this issue to the bitter end. Several states that were affected by federal appeal rulings are doing everything in their power to still thwart equality. We must be just as passionate in battling their bigotry, but at the ballot box. A vote for gay-friendly candidates helps ensure we continue to have elected officials in place to appoint progressive-minded judges and to vote against bills that target gays, lesbians, and transgender people.

Transgender Rights

There's a pervasive feeling that since gays and lesbians have achieved marriage equality we have now completely won the fight against the discrimination that has long been waged against our community. However, gay marriage is only one of our battles. We cannot forget our transgender siblings who have also made gains, but are still not afforded an appropriate level of respect and dignity in this country. Transgender people are frequent victims of hate crime, with society doling out few repercussions to the perpetrators. A quick read of the news reveals a number of recent attacks, often fatal, on transgender individuals across our country, including a recent beating that made headlines in Brooklyn, New York this past week. On top of the crimes we hear about, statistics show that many transgender people who experience brutal treatment do not report attacks as many law enforcement agencies do not adequately respond to these crimes. In addition, transgender men and women endure acts of bias that go beyond the obvious and include the subtleties of employment discrimination and denial of basic services. As a community we must continue to put our powerful money, voices, and votes behind candidates that will advocate for equality on every level and do not leave any of our brethren out in the cold.

Employment Non-Discrimination

Since 1974 some form of employment anti-discrimination bill has been brought to the floor of the United States Congress with little success. Most recently a number of gay-rights groups pulled their support for the latest Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) fearing the bill would have allowed religious groups to cite objections and thus legally discriminate against LGBT employees. The more senators and congressmen we help to elect, the better chance our community has of Congress passing a fully inclusive ENDA to protect workers from dismissal simply for being homosexual or transgender.

Reward Obama

Maybe President Obama disappointed the anti-war and anti-Wall Street movements, but let's not forget so easily that Obama has stood up for our community almost more than any other group of people in the country. The White House itself is quick to remind us on its website that O's list of accomplishments include repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ending the legal defense of DOMA, signing hate crimes legislation and so much more. Plus, we cannot minimize the fact that this president is the first one to state that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marriage. No politician is perfect, but Obama stood by us and we should show some gratitude at the polls to help to elect individuals that are more inclined to work with the president on other progressive issues, like immigration reform.

Duty

Finally, with people all over the world marching year after year, even dying for the basic right to cast a vote in an election, we have that privilege at our fingertips. According to statistics, only 37 percent of voters even went to the polls in the 2010 mid-term election. To people around the globe that live under oppressive regimes where citizens have no voice at all, we must look like a self-absorbed, lazy, and entitled nation of people. Whether we agree or disagree with the people that are vying for office, we need to get our butts off the couch and away from the computer long enough to exercise our right and let our voices be heard. Even if we despise the individuals that are running, we can always write in the name of a candidate that we don't see on the ballot. The groups of people that seek to deny the LGBT community equality and dignity have no problem mobilizing on Election Day to make their point. As a gay, lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual, and queer-affirming group of people, we must show the same diligence and advocate for our own rights at the ballot box.

Watch A Transgender Student Athlete's Emotional Response To Right-Wing Misinformation

On MSNBC, a transgender student described the pain caused by right-wing misinformation about a policy that could allow athletes to participate on the team that corresponds with their gender identity.

During a recent edition of MSNBC's NewsNation with Tamron Hall, guest host Richard Lui led a segment on the Minnesota State High School League's consideration of a proposed participation policy for transgender student athletes. The proposal, which has since been temporarily tabled, would potentially allow student athletes to play on the sports team that matches their gender identity.

The segment featured OutFront Minnesota Executive Director Monica Meyer and Zeam Porter, a transgender student athlete who delivered an emotional speech during a public hearing about the proposal. When asked about the hearing, Porter described the difficulty of being exposed to misinformation about transgender students, including a misleading, transphobic ad published in Minnesota's Star Tribune:

Transgender teen told she can't come to school as girl

The last time Rachel Pepe was at school, she was known to her teachers and classmates as Brian.

Now, as the 13-year-old transitions her identity and gender with the support of her mother, Rachel may not be able to go back.

Her mother says an official at Thorne Middle School told her Rachel must come back school dressed as Brian and prepared to act like Brian. No accommodations would be made and no out-of-district educational options would be available.

The decision by the Thorne official is a violation of state and federal anti-discrimination laws, experts argue. Now, Middletown's school superintendent says his district will work with Rachel's family to reach a resolution.

"He was going to school last year as Brian," said Angela Peters, Rachel's mother, adding that her child developed stress-related seizures, depression and panic attacks. "How can I send her back as Rachel? And I am not sending her back as Brian because the depression will start again."

Rachel remained deeply isolated from the rest of the student body but still, her mother said, the children would bully her because she was so quiet.

"She would get off the bus and just cry," Peters said. "Then she would go to sleep for 17 or 20 hours and refuse to go back there."

Words do hurt!

The Only Thing Wrong In This Little Girl's World Is The People Who Won't Accept Her For Who She Is

This Is What Happens When Parents Love Their Children Unconditionally

Medicare Coverage Ban on Sex-Change Surgery Lifted

Transgender people receiving Medicare may no longer be automatically denied coverage for sex reassignment surgeries, a U.S. Department of Health and Services review board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures as a medically necessary and effective treatment for individuals who do not identify with their biological sex.

Ruling in favor of a 74-year-old Army veteran whose request to have Medicare pay for her genital reconstruction was denied two years ago, the agency’s Departmental Appeals Board ruled that a three-decade-old HHS rule excluding such surgeries from the procedures covered by the national health program for the elderly and disabled was unjustified.

"Sometimes I am asked aren’t I too old to have surgery. My answer is how old is too old?" the veteran, Denee Mallon, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, said in an email interview before the board issued its decision. "When people ask if I am too old, it feels like they are implying that it’s a ’waste of money’ to operate at my age. But I could have an active life ahead of me for another 20 years. And I want to spend those years in congruence and not distress."

Jennifer Levi, a lawyer who directs the Transgender Rights Project of Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders in Boston, said the ruling does not mean Medicare recipients are necessarily entitled to have sex reassignment surgery paid for by the government.

Instead, the lifting of the coverage ban means they now will be able to seek authorization by submitting documentation from a doctor and mental health professionals stating that surgery is medically indicated in their individual case, Levi said.

Transgender health advocates said that because private insurance companies and state-run Medicaid programs that provide health insurance for low-income individuals often take their cue from the federal government on which treatments to approve or exclude, the decision could eventually pave the way for sex-reassignment surgeries to be a routinely covered benefit.No statistics exist on how many people might be affected by the decision. Gary Gates, a demographer with The Williams Institute, a think tank on LGBT issues based at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that people who self-identify as transgender make up 0.3 percent of the U.S. adult population. Over 49 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare.

The appeals board’s decisions are binding on HHS unless they are appealed in federal court. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency within HHS that manages Medicare, opted not to defend the transgender surgery exclusion before the five-member board and had initiated the process for lifting it on its own before Mallon filed her complaint.

The ruling does not apply to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for individuals and families with low-incomes and is regulated by the states. Some states have blanket exclusions on sex reassignment surgeries and the sex hormones transgender people often take during their transitions, while others evaluate claims on a case-by-case basis.

Transgender rights activists hope the action on Medicare motivates private insurers, who often take their cues on what is considered medically necessary, elective or experimental from the federal government to eliminate exclusions on sex reassignment surgeries from their plans.

Mallon was born a man and identifies as a woman.

"When I learned that Medicare denies the essential care I need, I remember saying ’This is not right. They’re relying on these archaic reasons to deny me the care my doctor agrees I need? I knew I had to do something to challenge that," Mallon said.