Feature Archives

Three defendents in the 2002 murder of Bay Area transgender teen, Gwen Araujo, were sentenced to prison on Friday, January 27. Michael Magidson and Jose Merel were in the Hayward County Superior Court to be sentenced on their second-degree murder convictions. Jason Cazares was being sentenced to six years in accordance with plea to voluntary manslaughter charges. The sentencing came one day after landmark legislation, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victim's Act, passed through the California Assembly.

Read the Press Release

Transgender Law Center
AB 1160: The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victim's Act

On January 1, 2006, two new laws to protect the civil rights of transgender people went into effect in the state of California. AB 1400 and AB 1586 will now protect transgender people when they experience discrimination while using public accommodations or getting health care.

Equality California and the Transgender Law Center say California now has the most transgender friendly laws in the nation.

The Civil Rights Act of 2005 (AB 1400) will help protect transgender people when they are discriminated against while using public accommodations such as bathrooms. To help educate society the Transgender Law Center has created a guide called "Peeing in Peace: A Resource Guide for Transgender Activists and Allies."

The Insurance Gender Non-discrimination Act (AB 1586) will protect transgender people in the health care industry. According to the Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights at least 48% of all transgender people experience discrimination in employment, 38% in public accommodations, 32% in housing, and 31% in health care.

Transgender activist Dina Boyer says the laws are a step in the right direction, but transgender people also need devices or methods to prosecute when they experience discrimination. She says "I always hear lawyers, attorneys and public defenders say there is nothing we can do. Hopefully the new laws will enable them to prosecute when a transgender person experiences discrimination."

The Transgender Law Center recently released “Peeing in Peace: A Resource Guide For Transgender Activists and Allies,” a first-of-its-kind publication for transgender activists and allies. This guide will help transgender community members and allies to confront gender-based discrimination and harassment in public bathrooms. Transgender people, including people whose gender expression isn’t stereotypical, are regularly alienated from employment, education, social services, and consumer environments simply because they are prevented from using the correct bathroom or because they are harassed while doing so.

Peeing In Peace (PiP) provides information about legal rights and advocacy tools for anyone who faces this kind of discrimination. PiP also includes basic tools that can be used when advocating with employers, school administrators, government officials, and business owners to create safe bathroom access policies. PiP provides the common sense solutions that many decision makers have said that they need in order to create non-discriminatory environments. Grassroots activists will also be able to use PiP to help create bathroom safety campaigns.

Transgender Law Center | PISSR (People in Search of Safe Bathrooms)

Sunday, November 20th was the 7th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, and it was observed in over 250 locations worldwide. These events briought to light the violence against transgendered people that occurs every day. Gwen Smith, who founded the event, points out that the trans community is not small or powerless. In the last two years, GLSEN and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network have worked with the Remembering Our Dead project over the last two years. As a result of this collaboration, over one hundred of the events will be held at high schools across the US. The Remembering Our Dead Project exists to honor individuals murdered as a result of anti-transgender hatred and prejudice, and draw attention to the issue of anti-transgender violence. Remembering Our Dead is a project of Gender Education and Advocacy, Inc. Press Release

Some local events:
UC Berkeley: A commemoration of the lives lost due to transphobia took place on November 17th at noon on Sproul Plaza’s Mario Savio steps.
UC Davis: Trans Action Week started on November 15th, with events to educate people about transgender legal issues, gender policing in public restrooms and general problems within the transgender community. The Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial concluded the series on Friday at 7 p.m. in MU II. LGBT Resource Center
San Francisco: The event on Sunday started at the San Francisco LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, at 6:30 pm, with a march up Market Street, through the Castro, and ending at the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy. A memorial event featuring speakers and performers was held at the Academy beginning at 7:30 p.m. Photos
The South Bay Transgender Day of Remembrance was held on Sunday, November 20th at 3:00 p.m. at the Billy DeFrank Center. The event included activists from the trans community, a member of Gwen Araujo's family, a slideshow called "Transfigurations: The Making of a Man," and a dance presentation. Read more

There were also events in San Diego, Los Angeles (Report and Photos), and many other cities

The National Gay Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is coming to the Bay Area for its annual Creating Change conference, which is scheduled to take place in Oakland from November 9th through 13th. The NGLTF calls the event the "premier national grassroots organizing and skills building LGBT conference." Gay Shame calls the conference "a spectacle of liberalism in defense of being one of the intitials in either their name or the entire LGBTF panaroma of identities."

Gay Shame plans to give Creating Change its own special welcome. Gay Shame will meet at 11:00am Friday, November 11th at 16th St BART station to go to Oakland and hand out its new zine, which will share "insights into the beautific vision of revolution," at the Creating Change Conference. They plan to return on Sunday to "share with (our) favorite liberal queer advocates again," meeting at 11:00am at 16th Street BART. Read more

Gay Shame continues to hold weekly meetings, and is planning to acknowledge "new yuppie neighbors in the Polk neighborhood" whom it says "are kicking out queer people to make room for more white straight yuppies."

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force | Gay Shame

West Coast Poly Pride Day was held on Sunday, October 9th in MLK/Civic Center Park in Downtown Berkeley. from 12pm to sunset. Performers and speakers included Barely Human DanceTheatre and Wendy-O-Matik. There were also games, information tables, a picnicking, and more.

Poly Pride Day was organized by members of Love+Politics, a Bay Area group of people who identify as polyamorous, queer and/or sex-positive, and who regard that identity as deeply connected to their desire to make the world a better place through progressive activism. A group in New York City held its fifth annual Poly Pride Day on October 8th.

On September 29th Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Equality California-sponsored Assembly Bill 849, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, which had passed the state Senate and Assembly. In his veto statement, he said that he did not feel that the legislature can overturn an initiative that the voters had decided. As a result of his veto, hundreds of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Californians and their families will continue to live without equal protection of the law. Equality California chapters and allied organizations are hosting community gatherings in response to the Governor's veto on Friday, September 30th. Most of the gatherings will take place between 5 and 6pm. Protests are scheduled for Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Modesto, Sacramento, San Francisco (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Video ), San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Solano County, and Ukiah. People in San Diego held a protest on Thursday night. Full list

The Governor did sign four remaining EQCA-sponsored bills: Assembly Bill (AB) 1400, the Civil Rights Act of 2005 (Laird, D-Santa Cruz), builds upon the Unruh Civil Rights Act and related provisions to clarify and reinforce that all businesses that provide services, goods or accommodations to the public cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status; Senate Bill (SB) 973 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica), allows domestic partners of public employees who retired prior to January 1, 2005, to receive death benefits if the retiree dies before their partner; SB 565 (Migden, D-San Francisco), ensures legally recognized domestic partners are treated the same as spouses under California's property tax laws; and AB 1586, the Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act, (Koretz, D-West Hollywood), adds gender and gender identity to existing anti-discrimination provisions in California laws regulating insurance companies and health care service plans. Read more

Transgender Law Center Statement | Past Indybay Coverage of AB 849