Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Today is Transgender Visibility Day!

March 31, 2009, marks the first annual International Transgender Visibility Day, with various events scheduled to take place around the globe.

According to Rachel Crandall, the creator of created Transgender Visibility Day, and head of Transgender Michigan explains the need for a day of celebration:
Unlike Transgender Day of Remembrance, Crandall said, the day of visibility aims to focus on all the good things in the trans community, instead of just remembering those who were lost. "The day of remembrance is exactly what it is. It remembers people who died," she said. "This focuses on the living. People have told me they love Remembrance Day but it really focuses on the negative aspect of it. Isn't there anything that could focus on the positive aspect of being trans?"
An article first appearing on March 26 in Issue 1713 of Between the Line News explains:

Though the event was borne out of Michigan, events all over the country and even world have popped up since Crandall put the word out on Facebook. Maryland Equality is holding an event. Members of a high school Gay Straight Alliance in Washington, D.C. are painting the transgender symbol on each other's faces. A group in Minnesota is holding a whole weekend of workshops and discussions surrounding the topic.

And in Michigan, the Ruth Ellis Center and youth trans group GenderSpark also have plans in the works to be involved with the day.


To Crandall, the enormous and viral growth of the events proves that people in the community were waiting for something just like the Transgender Day of Visibility. "I think sometimes people are thirsty for something and we may not even know it until we take the first step," she speculated. "I took the first step and people are just hungry for it."

One big change from usual events, Crandall was proud to report, is that the Transgender Day of Visibility was done all on a grassroots level, without backing from any large organizations. So more than just big events that raise money, Crandall hopes that the day will allow people to get involved as individuals - from coming out to their friends, family or coworkers, to just wearing a ribbon to show support.


"I've heard people say that if it wasn't for this, they wouldn't be doing anything out," she said. "...I think a lot of trans people are just looking for an opportunity to actually do something, not only to write a check. They want to actually do something and I think this day is giving them something to actually do."
In a March 27 article by author, professor, and lecturer John Corvino discusses the need for a Transgender Day of Visibility, on his perspective as a gay man.

Some gay people wonder why we get lumped with the transgender community at all. Sexual orientation is one thing, they say, and gender identity is another.

That’s true as far as it goes, and perhaps it’s better to talk about our overlapping communities than about a single GLBT community.

Still, the alliance makes sense insofar as both (overlapping) groups suffer from rigid social expectations about sex and gender. Compare “If you’re born biologically male, you should grow up to be a man” with “If you’re born biologically male, you should grow up to love a woman.” The similarities between the two inferences seem to outweigh the differences.

Then there are those who question whether linking GLB to T might slow down GLB political progress, insofar as society has a harder time with trans issues than sexual- orientation issues.

Even if you find those who raise such questions insensitive, it’s hard to argue that they’re being irrational. In general, society does have a harder time with trans people than gay, lesbian, or bisexual people, which is one reason why the trans community needs and deserves our support.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of us who could benefit from frank and open dialogue about all of these issues. Transgender Day of Visibility is an important step in that direction, and gays—and everyone else—should support it.

Contact your local LGBT Community Center to learn more or if there is no events planned, why not start one!

For more information, including events, about International Transgender Visibility Day, check out the facebook page of Rachel Crandall, one of the founders of the day.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Same-Sex Marriage Bills Gain Ground in New England, to Become "Marriage Equality Zone"

The states of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine each moved closer this week to becoming the next New England state to recognize same-sex marriages after Massachusetts and Connecticut.

NEW HAMPSHIRE - The AP reported on Thursday March 26 that the New Hampshire House has voted 186-179 in favor of recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry. The bill now moves to the New Hampshire Senate, where its future is uncertain.

Democratic Gov. John Lynch has said he opposes gay marriage, but hasn't said whether he would veto the legislation if it made it to his desk. Two years ago, New Hampshire gave gay couples the right to enter into civil unions.

According to the AP, the first attempt to pass the gay marriage bill in New Hampshire fell one vote short in the House, but opponents were unable to kill it. The House then reconsidered and passed the measure Thursday.

VERMONT - Vermont, the first state in the Nation to succesfully (cf. Hawaii) introduce civil-union legislation back in the 1990s, voted Monday March 23 on a bill to recognize same-sex marriage equality in the state. The marriage bill, which passed the Vermont Senate by an overwhelming majority vote of 26-4, now heads to the Vermont House for a vote in the coming days.

Republican Governor Jim Douglas has said he disagrees with the bill, and has expressed his intention to veto the bill if given the chance. The bill would require a 2/3 majority vote in both the Senate and the House in order to survive the Governor's veto.

If the bill becomes law, Vermont will become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage without being forced to do so by the courts.

MAINE & RHODE ISLAND - Next month Maine lawmakers plan to hold a legislative panel for the purposes of hearing a bill to recognize same-sex marriage, just as Rhode Island did back in February.

Nationwide, only the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts allow gay couples to marry.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Beware the Generic Health Care Proxy: Potential Problems and Unforseen Consequences

Attorney Todd Ratner of the Western Massachusetts law firm of Bacon\Wilson recently wrote an article about the possible dangers of filling out a generic Health Care Proxy at a hospital or clinic. The message to clients: not all health care proxies are equal.

Potential Problems. Hospitals often encourage or direct patients to complete a generic Health Care Proxy upon arrival to an emergency room or in advance of an operation. While the boilerplate form supplied by a hospital is legally sufficient and simple to complete, it does not necessarily cater to your specific circumstances and needs.

Furthermore, your admission to a hospital is not necessarily the best time to consider and make decisions regarding a possible terminal illness or to consider and select your health care decision-maker. It is obviously better, if given the opportunity, to contemplate and make important health care decisions in a less stressful situation and prior to the occurrence of a stressful or emergency medical event.

It can also be a problem if you have already executed a Health Care Proxy as part of your overall estate plan, and you then hastily fill-out and sign the hospital form. Execution of the new form revokes your prior Health Care Proxy, thereby stripping you of the carefully thought-out intentions provided for in the prior, now revoked document.

A Well-Drafted Health Care Proxy. The best Health Care Proxies are not simply forms, but are powerful legal instruments that address your unique concerns and intentions. A well-drafted Health Care Proxy should address the following:
  • Living Will Language: Whether or not you wish to be kept alive by machines in the event that independent physicians concur that you are in an irreversible coma or other terminal condition with no chance of recovery
  • Organ Donation: Whether or not you wish to be an organ donor
  • Creation or Burial: Whether or not you wish to be cremated or buried
  • Burial Instructions: Where and how you wish to be buried
  • HIPPAA Sufficient Language: Authorizing another to review, request, and receive your medical documents while you are incapacitated
  • Statement Regarding Same-Sex Marriage: A provision that prevents a hostile jurisdiction or change of law with regard to your same-sex marriage from revoking the entire instrument
If you already have a well-drafted Health Care Proxy. If you already have a well-prepared Health Care Proxy, be sure to ask the hospital whether they require you to fill out their generic form. If they do not, then instruct them that they should consult your existing Health Care Proxy. If you have a well-drafted Health Care Proxy sitting in your home or office file cabinet, prepare a letter to your primary care physician instructing her to place the instrument in your medical file; they are required to do so by law upon request.

If you do not have a well-drafted Health Care Proxy. An experienced estate planning attorney can provide you with the alternatives and options available to make the document suitable for your situation so that you do not have to rely on a boilerplate form filled-out under less-than-ideal circumstances.

What is a Health Care Proxy?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Live Blogging from inside California Supreme Court on Proposition 8


The California Supreme Court hears arguments today on whether Proposition 8, the anti-gay-marriage initiative, should be upheld and, if so, whether the marriages of an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples should remain valid.

Follow the LA Times streaming blog reported from inside the California Supreme Court.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Massachusetts Married Couples File Federal Suit Challenging the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Several married same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Boston on Tuesday, March 3, challenging the 1996 Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Specifically, the plaintiffs in Gill, et al vs. Office of Personnel Management, et al challenge Section 3 of the Act which overrides a state’s determination that a same-sex couple is married and says that they are not married for purposes of all federal laws and programs. Under DOMA, the word ‘marriage’ means only the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to an opposite sex husband or wife. The law suit does not seek to force states to recognize gay marriages performed in other states, but demands that the federal government treat all married couples, as defined by the states, equally under federal law.

The plaintiffs each allege they have suffered a real and tangible harm under DOMA, including: (i) the denial of a passport in married name; (ii) denial of income and other tax benefits; (iii) denial of retirement and pension benefits; (iv) denial of social security benefits, and other federal rights and protections.

According to GLAD:
The federal rights and protections denied to committed gay and lesbian married couples and surviving spouses include some of the critical legal safety nets that couples count on when they marry and that help them fulfill their responsibilities to one another as they plan their lives and futures, have children, cope with the loss of a spouse, and for which they contribute their American tax dollars. It harms them, their children and their other dependents.
According to Scott Wu, one of the lead GLAD attorneys for the Plaintiffs:
Our legal argument is that [the portions of section three targeted in the lawsuit are] a violation of our federal government’s guarantee to treat citizens equally by refusing to recognize the marriages only of same-sex couples, and that principle of equality should apply in other contexts if we’re successful," said Wu. While GLAD believes the suit stands a strong chance of reaching the Supreme Court, Wu said it was too soon to tell how long it might take to get there.
You can meet the various plaintiffs by clicking here.