What first struck me about Leslie Feinberg is hir commitment to fighting oppression on a universal scale, rather than just in a cliquish self-focused manner. This means recognizing where our needs correspond and intersect, and characteristically parallel causes like race and sex, or reproductive rights and genital reassignment surgery access.
Continue readingTag: Transsexual
Dented 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: 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: On Trans* Beauty Contestants
I have to admit, as far as trans issues go, beauty pageants are way down my list of priorities. At a time when it’s difficult to access doctors willing to treat trans people for the flu let alone assist in transition, when even something as simple as basic human rights
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
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Five reasons it’s important to support trans rights now.
(Previously offered to Xtra.ca. They did post a reply by Christin Milloy) Xtra’s Rob Salerno recently questioned whether it was important to work toward explicit inclusion for transsexual and transgender people in human rights legislation, by adding the terms gender identity or gender expression. He wrote this in response to the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Transport Committee upholds gender marker match requirement
The Transport Committee has upheld the gender marker match requirement in the Aeronautics Act which has the potential to ban some or even most transsexual and transgender Canadians from flying. Although no one has come forward publicly to say that they’ve been denied passage since this went into force, reports
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: A motion on the trans air travel concerns, and a handy guide on how to get a proper passport.
The Transport Committee will be meeting again on Thursday to discuss a motion put forward by Olivia Chow with Randall Garrison and Dany Morin to remove the gender marker requirement from the Aeronautics Act. The motion reads: “That the Government repeals Section 5.2 (1) 3 (c) of the Identity Screening
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Canadian MPs Allegedly Snicker and Mock Trans Screening Concerns in Parliament
Continuing the reportage of the new regulations that could potentially bar some trans Canadians from being able to board a plane. Here’s part one for the background, and a statement from the Trans Equality Society of Alberta. There are a few online petitions to address the issue, including this one
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: TESA: New Regulations Potentially Bar Some Trans Canadians From Air Travel
I just wanted to update folks on the Aeronautics Act regulatory change issue. Firstly, I caution people to avoid saying that that trans people are “completely banned” from airlines, especially since we don’t know yet if that’s how this will play out. The regulation has been around since July or
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: New airport screening regs raise questions for trans Canadians
Marathon runner Jennifer McCreath has pointed out a recent regulatory change that the Harper Conservatives have made to the Aeronautics Act (i.e. passed by ministerial fiat, rather than shepherded through Parliamentary process) that potentially affects many trans (and cis) Canadians and could even ban some from air travel: Sec 5.2(1)
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans woman asked by NWT Finance Minister to leave to accommodate “spooked” Governor General
CBC News is reporting that a human rights complaint has been filed against Northwest Territories’ Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger over an incident that occurred during the December 9th visit to Aurora College by Canada’s new Governor General, David Johnston. Miltenberger, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Thebacha, is alleged to have
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Parsing Hate: The motivation behind the “Transsexual Registration Act”
On December 10th, Monica at TransGriot pointed to a Facebook Group advocating for the creation of a “Transsexual Registration Act.” The creator of that page and the idea he presents are fringe enough that we typically don’t dignify them with attention, but sometimes it’s important to point to these things
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Can a Trans Human Rights Bill pass with a Harper majority?
“It’ll never pass,” I often heard. “Not with a Harper government. They’d never support human rights inclusion for transsexual and transgender people.” And then it passed. Oh, Bill C-389 — championed by the now-retired NDP MP Bill Siksay — had its challenges. It narrowly passed Second Reading in June of
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Hate Speech on Trial in Canada
If you lived in certain parts of Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto over the past decade, there’s a chance you’ve encountered or at least heard about flyers distributed by Bill Whatcott. These fliers are typically peppered with photos of naked or half-naked gay men kissing (or in at least one instance, engaging in oral sex), with 
Dented Blue Mercedes: Something brewing beneath transphobic ads in Ontario
On September 28th, Charles McVety’s Institute for Canadian Values pushed a proposed curriculum for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) into the forefront of the Ontario election, with a full-page ad published in the National Post. The ad read, “Please! Don’t Confuse Me. I’m a girl. Don’t teach me to question if I’m a boy, 
Dented Blue Mercedes: McVety Conflates His Confusion With “Canadian Values”
(On September 28th, The National Post ran an ad from Charles McVety‘s “Institute for Canadian Values,” which tried to allege that LGBT-positive education would confuse children about their gender. This was sent to the paper at the time, and the Post has since pulled those ads, and publicly apologized) Apparently, Charles McVety is confused. No, 
Dented Blue Mercedes: Trans Rights Bills Intrduced in New Canadian Parliament
In the first week of the 41st session of Parliament, two Private Member’s Bills were introduced, both proposing explicit inclusion of transsexual and transgender people in the Canada Human Rights Act and the hate crimes clauses of the Criminal Code of Canada. Both were inspired by Bill C-389, which had passed in the last session 
Dented Blue Mercedes: Guest Post: Beth Elliott’s Rebuttal of the Brennan-Hungerford Submission
Beth Elliott is a San Francisco Bay Area writer, musician and lesbian activist. The first transsexual woman to transition to be an out lesbian, she served a year’s term as Vice President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (1971-72), but was purged from the organization three months later. She was one 