BIG NEWS!!!!!.. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE?...TOO LONG!!!

HRC wants ENDA to include transgender protections


In a strong reversal for the country's largest gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign will support only a version of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes protections for gender identity and expression, a source close to the group told Advocate.com on Friday. The group's board of directors is expected to approve the change on Saturday at its annual meeting.

The HRC's announcement is a win for transgender activists who were angry at the organization because it has been lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support the current version of ENDA, which does not include protections based on gender identity and expression. As currently written, ENDA would extend federal employment discrimination protections--already provided on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, and disability--to employees on the basis of their sexual orientation. It was defeated in the Senate by one vote in 1996 and is set to be reintroduced by lawmakers this January.

"Certainly [HRC executive director] Cheryl Jacques led the effort," the source told Advocate.com. "She has been listening to everyone in the community during the past few months, and the senior staff has been moving in this direction."

A handful of groups, led by the Transexual Menace, had announced plans to demonstrate outside HRC's headquarters Saturday morning. Ethan St. Pierre, an organizer of the event, said the rally will go ahead as planned. He had not heard about HRC's announcement as of Friday afternoon but said he remained cautiously optimistic. "We want to hear it straight from them," he said. "If that's the case, then I would be very, very happy. None of us wants people to be excluded from this bill. We can't afford to be a divided community."


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Gender Reassignment Surgery Deemed Not Effective
England
Posted by: Debra Berube

The Guardian has today published a damning article entitled 'Sex changes are not effective, say researchers'. The conclusion of the article, based on a research review carried out by the Aggressive Research Intelligence Unit (ARIF) of Birmingham University, is that there is no proven benefit to anyone undergoing gender reassignment surgery. We understand that The Guardian proposes to publish a further in-depth article in the magazine section of Saturday's edition (31 July).

The management committee of the Trust is considering the options available to it in rebutting the misleading information that they consider the article contains and prejudicial to the lives, health and security of its members. In the meantime it is suggested that having read the article you may feel minded to give your views, by email, to the Editor of the Guardian with a copy to us please.  
  
Should you do so, perhaps you could frame your response with the following in mind :