Turnaround year for Transgender People in Tennessee

2008 was a horrible year for transgender people in Tennessee. The attacks and murders put Tennessee on the map in the national media. Some began calling Memphis the most dangerous place to be transgender in the country.

A series of events this year indicates that 2009 could be an important turning point in the rights and protections of transgender people in Tennessee. Just today Memphis-based FedEx announced that its non-discrimination policy will now include gender identity, and 10 Metro Council members in Nashville filed a non-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. Last month, the Shelby County Commission passed a non-discrimination resolution that protects County employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Earlier in the year, Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis) and Sen. Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis) introduced a hate crimes bill that adds gender identity or expression to the current statute. The bill actually got out of a House subcommittee this year when much of the Legislature was focused on budget, guns, and abortion.

An incredible effort went into those advances. A lot of credit goes to people in Shelby County who are making an incredible effort to address the discrimination and violence experienced by the transgender community. Their work is helping the entire state have a new conversation about transgender rights. And a lot of credit goes to our allies the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition for their tireless advocacy.

I am hopeful that we are now on a tragectory that will continue to gain momentum. The violence and discrimination suffered by transgender people is a blemish on our state. The policy efforts we've seen this year to address the problem honor us all.

More support for the hate crimes bill

In an email to members, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition has announced more support for HB 0335:

We also wish to thank the additional co-sponsors who have signed onto the bill since it passed in subcommittee on Wednesday:

Sherry Jones (D-Antioch)
Mark Maddox (D-Dresden), House Democratic Whip
David Shepard (D-Dickson)
Mike Kernell (D-Memphis)
Janis Sontany (D-Nashville), Secretary, Judiciary Committee
MIke Turner (D-Old Hickory), House Democratic Caucus Chair
Gary Odom (D-Nashville), House Democratic Leader
Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro), Chair, Judiciary Committee
Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville)
Joe Armstrong (D-Knoxville), Chair, Health & Human Resources Committee

Furthermore, on Thursday, the Nashville chapter of the NAACP voted unanimously to endorse HB0335, and ask all of its members to support this legislation. We greatly appreciate their action as well.

The bill will be heard on Wednesday in the full House Judiciary Committee.

Big day for federal and state hate crimes laws

Wednesday marks a watershed for hate crimes policy at the federal and state level:

Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA), also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. The bill would give the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the department with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the victim is chosen because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Tennessee's own Congressman Steve Cohen is a member of the House Judiciary Committee that will work on the bill. The Human Rights Campaign has put together an action alert on the federal bill and this video featuring Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, whose murder ten years ago helped change the debate about hate crimes in America:



As we noted in a previous post, the Tennessee House Criminal Practice Subcommittee will consider HB 0335, which would add gender identity and expression to Tennessee's hate crimes statute as sentencing enhancement factors, as advocated by the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. Click here for TEP's action alert on the bill to contact the members of this subcommittee.

Whatever happens with the federal and the state bills this week, the movement to pass these protections and to provide resources for tackling hate crimes is growing. The violence that besets the GLBT community, once so casually dismissed without having to require serious justification, is out in the open. Its justifying discourses are in shambles. Now all that's left is to fill the space with sound policy. I hope 2009 is the year that happens.

TN Hate Crimes bill on notice this coming week

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition announces that HB 0335 by Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis) will be heard on April 22 in the House Criminal Practice subcommittee. The bill adds gender identity or expression as a sentencing enhancement factor to Tennessee's hate crimes statute that currently includes sexual orientation. Additionally, TTPC announces that Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) and Rep. Larry Turner (D-Memphis) have signed on as co-sponsors.

The Tennessee Equality Project supports TTPC's efforts in advancing this bill. We have made the case many times for hate crimes legislation on this blog. We wish to remind everyone in this tight budget year in Tennessee that the fiscal impact of this bill has been assessed as minimal, which removes one of the chief objections. As we have said before, the main objections will now be ideological. But we hope that increasing numbers of legislators can put aside ideology and realize that there are real victims in Tennessee who deserve these protections. In particular, we should mention Duanna Johnson, who was beaten and verbally abused when she was taken into custody in Memphis and then later brutally murdered.

This bill, no matter how far it gets in the legislative process, is drawing attention to a serious problem that requires additional focus. It's time to protect all our state's citizens from acts of violence. When particular populations are at risk, public policy must address the problem.

TTPC statement on voter i.d. bills coming up in Senate committee

Statement from the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition:

Seven Voter ID Bills to be Reviewed by State Senate Committee

This Tuesday, March 3, the State Senate State and Local Government Committee will hear seven bills which would make new requirements for Voter ID's in Tennessee. The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is opposed to any legislation which could lead to new requirements for changing gender markers which would present new challenges to transgender people who transition. This could lead to the disfranchisement of transgender voters in Tennessee.

The seven bills before the committee are:

SB0150 by Bill Ketron
SB1681 by Bill Ketron
SB0587 by Mae Beavers
SB0191 by Dewayne Bunch
SB0173 by Bill Ketron
SB0886 by Bill Ketron
SB0194 by Dewayne Bunch

Please contact members of the members of the State and Local Government Committee to express your concern about these bills and their potential negative impact on transgender voters:

Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), Chair
Lowe Finney (D-Jackson), Vice Chair
Joe Haynes (D-Goodlettsville), Secretary
Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville)
Mike Faulk (R-Church Hill)
Thelma Harper (D-Nashville)
Mark Norris (R-Collierville)
Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville)
Ken Yager (R-Harriman)


The State and Local Government Committee meets Tuesday, March 3, at 8:30 am, in Legislative Plaza, Room 12.

Marisa Richmond
President

Richardson introduces gender identity as sentencing enhancement factor for hate crimes

Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis) has filed HB 0335, which would add gender identity and expression as a hate crimes sentencing enhancement factor. Tennessee law currently includes sexual orientation. Given the vicious attacks on the transgender community in Memphis last year, this bill is a welcome signal. Although it faces an uphill climb, it should provide the occasion for more statewide discussion of hate crimes against transgender persons.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is the lead organization in advocating the bill.

Local Memphis media looks beneath the surface

Eyewitness News continues to follow the evolving story of Leeneshia Edwards, a transgender African American woman who was shot before Christmas Eve. She continues to recover from her injuries at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.

In the story, Dana Rebik explores why lack of employment opportunities for transgender people can lead to involvement in high risk activity like sex work. The story emphasized some of the points made in a statement released by the Tennessee Transgender Politcal Coalition:

We call on business people who refuse to hire transgender people to open their doors immediately to transgender workers so there are alternatives to working on the streets.

We call on shelters that routinely turn away transgender people who are seeking help, to open their doors so that transgender people do not have to live on the streets.

We call on religious leaders who preach intolerance towards crossdressers and transsexuals from the pulpit to cease immediately and begin preaching messages of love and acceptance of diversity.

We call on political leaders of all parties to stop campaigning against transgender people and start supporting fully inclusive employment non-discrimination and hate crimes legislation to show that the lives of transgender people have value.

The piece aired on television was more detailed.

Four GLBT organizations to hold election night party in Nashville

The Tennessee Equality Project, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Victory Fund invite you to Tribe on election night to watch the returns and wash away the longest campaign ever with a drink or two.

Chattanooga hate crimes vigil recalls victims, urges passage of Matthew Shepard Act

This evening Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition President Marisa Richmond and I observed the 10th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death by making the trip to Chattanooga for the annual hate crimes vigil, which is one of the opening events of Tennessee Valley Pride. Several of the recent Tennessee hate crimes involving members of Tennessee's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community were remembered. Speakers urged Chattanoogans to do more to persuade Tennessee's congressional delegation, especially former Chattanooga Mayor and current Senator Bob Corker, to be more supportive of the Matthew Shepard Act. At the end of the event, the crowd drew close to share their hopes for working together to make all citizens of our State safe from bias-motivated violence and finally extinguished their candles.

The vigil was an important step in breaking the isolation that members of our community often feel outside Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville. This isolation is a major obstacle to greater advocacy for equality.

Subsidiarity and the movement for equality

The high-profile cases of violence against two African-American transgender women in Memphis have reinforced some thoughts about the place of subsidiarity in my thinking. It has been fascinating to watch the national discussion take on a life of its own. The comments range from supportive words to calls for a boycott of Memphis until the police department gets its act together.

There has been some strange impulse in the discussion that leads me to think some activists at the national level think it is more important to issue a statement than to see what they can do to help ameliorate the local situation. To my knowledge, the Human Rights Campaign and Amnesty International are the only national/international organizations that have checked to ask what they could do before they issued their statement or got involved. The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition has been closely involved on a consistent basis with the Memphis community for more than five years now and their action reflects a commitment to local solutions, too.

Subsidiarity makes sense in government and it makes sense for those trying to influence government. In our case, the Tennessee Equality Project has a Shelby County committee whose members are perfectly competent to develop appropriate solutions for their community and advocate for them with local officials whom they know personally. So it makes sense to give them the widest possible latitude in working through these problems.

That's not to say that attention from statewide and national organizations is inappropriate. Far from it. When these groups speak, they can bring additional pressure to bear. But they ought to do so in such a way that enhances and supports the efforts of local citizens. Without checking in and asking questions first, activists at the national and state level risk confusing the issue and even undercutting the efforts of those closest to the action.

Perhaps a lack of patience with the federalism that is inherent in American government and a lack of commitment to the principle of subsidiarity partially explain why GLBT issues have not made the same progress in the South as they have in other parts of the country. Obviously there are huge cultural issues as well, such as the place of Evangelical religion in public life. But that is all the more reason to strengthen local efforts. I appreciate those organizations that respect and empower local efforts.

National and local reactions to police officer's attack on transgender woman pour in

The Human Rights Campaign was among the first to condemn the vicious assault by a Memphis police officer upon a transgender woman in custody.

"This type of profound violence is the exact thing that police officers are supposed to protect people from," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "HRC is calling for a full criminal investigation and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."

The news was picked up quickly by national GLBT blog Bilerico, with Alex Blaze providing the coverage.

Locally, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition was the first group to release a statement. President Marisa Richmond calls out Shelby County DA and potential gubernatorial candidate William Gibbons:

"This reprehensible attack upon a person who was not resisting simply because of her gender expression has no place in a civilized society," said Dr. Marisa Richmond, President of TTPC. "The brutality of this attack must be dealt with by the judicial system. If Shelby County District Attorney, William Gibbons, who is reportedly considering a run for Governor in 2010, will not prosecute the officers involved for this obvious hate crime, then he should be removed from office for dereliction of duty," continues Richmond.

Out & About Newspaper has run its own story. In that piece, the Tennessee Equality Project said that our Shelby County Committee has reached out to local law enforcement to find ways of preventing this kind of incident from happening again, even as we condemn the attack. In the interview, we also called on Senators Alexander and Corker to support the Matthew Shepard Act, which would add gender identity and sexual orientation to federal hate crimes protections.

Birth certificate bill advances

The House Public Health and Family Assistance subcommittee voted to send HB3907 to the House Health and Human Resources committee where it has been placed on the calendar for April 8. The companion bill, SB4052, was heard in the Senate General Welfare, Health & Human Services committee. No vote was taken, but the bill may be heard again in the next two weeks.

This bill would allow a person to change the sex designation on his or her birth certificate upon receiving a sworn statement from a medical professional indicating that a person's gender has changed.

We'd like to send a big congratulations to our ally, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, for all their hard work on lobbying for the bill. We would also like to thank TEP members for generating almost 1000 emails to members of the House and Senate committees charged with deliberating on these bills. The teamwork has been outstanding.

Birth certificate bill explained

The Nashville Scene's P.J. Tobia does a pretty good job of explaining the bill before the General Assembly that allow people to change the sex designation on their birth certificates.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2008/03/27/Sex_Document_Style/

The piece quotes the president of our ally organization, Marisa Richmond of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. As we have noted, Marisa is also a member of TEP's executive committee.