A series of recent rulings (and the media circuses that have accompanied them) in the UK has raised questions about what is being termed “sex by deception” — that is, instances where people who are possibly trans are said to lie about their gender, in order to seduce another person. In
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Dented Blue Mercedes: A Real Bathroom Bill.
The Bathroom Bill was supposed to be voted on today. No, I’m not talking about the human rights bill that opponents have tried to tag with that nickname — C-279, which proposes to clarify and enunciate legal protections for most transsexual and transgender Canadians (although the removal of the class
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Intersex Conditions within the Transsexual Brain / Why “Born This Way” Is Not the Point
A bit of point and counterpoint here, to provoke some thought. I thought this portion of a lecture given by Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University, given in 2010, would be worth posting for folks who found this blog recently, and/or aren’t familiar with some of the medical discoveriess since the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-279: To amend or not to amend?
… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we still don’t know what Bill C-279 is going to be when it’s voted on at Third Reading. The bill, which proposes to add trans people to human rights legislation, had an hour of debate at report stage. Randall Garrison requested that amendments be added to the bill,
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Guest Post: Teacher plays scene from Disney Movie to Humiliate Student in Class
[This post comes to us courtesy of Michelle Boyce at the Alphabet Community Centre. -M] Anna Saunders is a mature student who attended a summer school class at Saunders Secondary School and a teacher decided she was a “guy in a dress”, beginning to use male pronouns and “Sir” when
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans Human Rights in Canada: Progress, Stalls and Confustication.
The Province of Nova Scotia passed Bill 140, the Transgendered [sic] Persons Protection Act, today. The Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project (NSRAP) commented on Facebook: “Bill 140 passed today with unanimous support in the Nova Scotia Legislature. “Debate” isn’t the right word to express what happened – it was an outpouring of support for adding
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Dear anonymous guest.
Hi. On Sunday November 18th, 2012, you attended the Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony commemorated in Calgary, Alberta. Thank you. You also left a small tribute. I wanted to let you know that we’ll make it a permanent part of our display for you. It’s a small thing, but hopefully it will help let everyone
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Defining human rights.
Next week or in the week following, Canada’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) will be reviewing the trans human rights Bill C-279, to approve or amend it before deciding whether to forward it on to Third Reading. Following federal Member of Parliament Rob Anders’ disastrous attempt to lobby Canadians against the bill by
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: MP’s trans predator fearmongering escalates.
On Friday, Sun News commentator Brian Lilley interviewed Rob Anders, the Member of Parliament who has drawn condemnation for conflating transsexual and transgender people with sexual predators in a petition he has been circulating on his website, and to at least one church in his riding. In “Children’s bathroom bill
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The Mask of Gender
Normally, I’m not one to promote something if I’m in it. That kind of thing is horribly self-aggrandizing. So I’ll apologize right off for doing that here. But given the recent focus on trans issues due to the comments made by Rob Anders, I thought it would be a good
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Rob Anders, the transsexual bogeyman, and the weird phenomenon of MPs petitioning their constituents.
Rob Anders is on a mission. Hot on the heels of having to halfway apologize for alleging that NDP leader Thomas Mulcair drove former NDP leader Jack Layton to his grave, Anders is now sending at least one church (possibly more) a letter asking them to petition MPs to oppose
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Basic human rights should not be “controversial.” Jacksonville, this means you, too.
“After dismantling Apartheid, when we sat down to write our Constitution, we quite deliberately ensured that gays, lesbians and bisexuals were included in South Africa’s Constitution. “Having ourselves suffered terribly, we did not want to inflict discrimination on any group that lived within our borders and we explicitly stated this
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: On Persecution Complexes and Rage
The interplay of rage and persecution complexes works to shape trans, LGB — and in fact all — struggles against oppression. It can become an eternal feedback loop that can stymie any attempt to move progressive causes forward, if it succeeds in establishing its circuitous pattern. This translates to many
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans rights bill supporters being targeted. Also, a flag for you.
On Wednesday June 6th, Parliament voted to send Private Member’s Bill C-279: An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) to committee for review as part of its trek toward passage. I had expressed concerns at that time about some possible
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-279: When a victory for one can be a victory for… one.
The second hour of Second Reading debate for Bill C-279: An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) occurred on Friday June 1st, and the Second Reading vote is to take place on Wednesday June 6th. I missed any indication that the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Guest Post: Happy anniversary, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms!
(The following comes courtesy of Teacher Trainer Student Guy at anthrotecture, originally published on Tuesday, April 17, 2012) Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, part of the Constitution of Canada. [The Charter affirms equality rights under Section 15, however this section did not
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: CBC: Should we use gender-neutral pronouns instead of ‘he’ and ‘she’?
CBC is asking the question, “Should we use gender-neutral pronouns instead of ‘he’ and ‘she’?“ Citing Sweden’s addition of a gender-neutral pronoun to the National Encyclopedia and a news story last year about a Toronto couple who wished to raise their child genderless until the child decides, and asks: Do
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Potty panic in the halls of Parliament
Did he just say that? Xtra is reporting that during the first hour of discussion for the trans human rights bill C-279, Conservative MP Dean Allison attempted to link trans women with sexual predators. [Bill C-279 sponsor Randall] Garrison says not all Conservative MPs feel that way. “That’s at the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans human rights Bill C-279 Second Reading debate begins tomorrow
Second Reading for Bill C-279 comes up on Thursday April 5th, There will be an hour of debate at around 1:30 EST (11:30 MST). This is only the first part of Second Reading process, and there will likely be another hour of debate in May or possibly June. Three things
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Canadian trans rights bill C-279 to be debated in April.
From the pen of Randall Garrison comes the following: NDP-Quebec LGBTT Commission, Canada Message from Randall Garrison: Gender identity bill to be debated in April Posted on March 3, 2012 by npdqclgbtt Dear friends, Spring is upon us and so is the fight to protect the rights of transsexual, transgender
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