Today marks the 14th observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international day of remembrance of the people lost to anti-transgender fear, discrimination, and violence. National Center for Transgender Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling said:
“Today, NCTE is in solemn vigil for the transgender people we’ve lost to senseless anti-transgender violence. Transgender Day of Remembrance is a chilling reminder that the work we all do too often comes too late for many in our community. So, today, we reflect on the people we’ve lost. And tomorrow, we renew our commitment to ending the discrimination and violence that keeps many more of us imprisoned with fear.”
As part of Transgender Day of Remembrance, NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling and NCTE Director of Policy Harper Jean Tobin, along with two dozen other transgender advocates, joined the White House to discuss policies that make transgender lives safer. John Berry, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, led the group in a moment of silence to honor transgender victims of violence.
President Obama’s re-election bodes well for transgender advocacy at the federal level. But President Obama’s victory is not the only sign for maintaining our optimism. This year’s Election results include a lot of good things for transgender equality:
New Hampshire elected the first openly transgender state lawmaker, Stacie Laughton, in addition to electing an all-female delegation of Congressional members.
The election of Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to the U.S. Senate is good for transgender equality. Baldwin became the nation’s first openly LGBT senator, and she championed LGBT equality during her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The U.S. Senate has more pro-equality Senators than ever before. Congress now also has the highest number (seven) of openly LGBT elected officials in Congress’ history including the first out bisexual elected official, Representative Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), and the first LGBT person of color, Representative Mark Takano (D-CA)
Maryland, Maine, and Washington state each passed ballot measures to approve the freedom to marry. Minnesota blocked the passage of a constitutional amendment banning the freedom to marry.
The election outcomes cement health care reform over the long term, ensuring that the practice of denying health care insurance for “pre-existing conditions” ends for good.
Today, at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that they will issue a historic new rule strengthening housing discrimination protections for transgender people. The regulations will be published next week, and go into effect 30 days from then.
In his plenary address, HUD Secretary Donovan said:
“I am proud to announce a new Equal Access to Housing Rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT individuals and couples have the right to live where they choose [...] If you are denying HUD housing to people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, actual or perceived, you’re discriminating, you’re breaking the law, and you will be held accountable. That’s what equal access means, and that’s what this rule is going to do.”
The new rule makes several urgently needed changes to current federal housing and housing-related programs including: prohibiting owners and operators of federally-funded or federally-insured housing, as well as lenders offering federally-insured mortgages from discriminating based on gender identity or sexual orientation;and clarifying the definition of “family” to ensure that LGBT families are not excluded from HUD programs.
According to Harper Jean Tobin, NCTE Policy Counsel, “this is a major and urgently needed advancement in basic protections for transgender people. NCTE is calling on other federal departments to follow HUD’s common-sense approach and use existing legal authority to prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in the programs they fund and administer. We applaud Secretary Donovan and the Obama Administration for this much needed relief for transgender people.”
Mara Keisling added “We are very pleased that, just as he said at NCTE’s Awards Ceremony in November, HUD has clearly listened to our concerns with earlier drafts of the regulations and made them even stronger.”
In announcing the draft rules early last year, HUD cited The National Transgender Discrimination Survey conducted by NCTE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, showing that 19% of transgender and gender non-conforming people had been refused a home or apartment and 11% had been evicted because of their gender identity or expression. The study also showed that 19% of transgender people have been homeless at some point in their lives, and 29% of those had been turned away from homeless shelters and a majority were harassed when they could get in to a shelter.
On Wednesday, transgender and LGBT anti-violence advocates met with Obama Administration officials to offer strategies for addressing the epidemic of violence against transgender people. Recognizing that violence is an especially horrific reality in so many transgender people’s lives, the Administration heard a broad range of policy ideas from the National Center for Transgender Equality and eight other organizations.
The meeting at the White House was facilitated by NCTE’s Executive Director and the team included, among others, Gwendolyn Smith, the founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Smith shared with the Administration real life stories of transgender people who have faced violence.
NCTE’s groundbreaking National Transgender Discrimination Survey released with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, found that 26 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming people have been assaulted because of their gender identity/expression. Ten percent reported experiencing sexual assault because they are transgender.
NCTE Board Member, Marisa Richmond, and NCTE Policy Counsel, Harper Jean Tobin, were among the 300+ LGBT local and statewide leaders who joined President Obama and Vice President Biden for the Pride Month reception on Wednesday, July 29, 2011. Richmond was also among a few invited to meet President Obama before he delivered his speech. Richmond told NCTE:
It was a real honor and privilege to attend the reception, especially since I was the only transgender person who was given personal time to meet the President. I was lucky to express the appreciation of the transgender community for all that he has done to extend the rights of transgender persons across this country.
Like President Obama’s speech in New York City, he strongly advocated for the end of discrimination against everybody, including transgender people:
You’re Americans who want this country to prosper. So those are your fights, too. And the fact is these are hard days for America. So we’ve got a lot of work to do to, not only on ending discrimination; we’ve got a lot of work to do to live up to the ideals on which we were founded, and to preserve the American Dream in our time -– for everybody, whether they’re gay or straight or lesbian or transgender.
Laura Hart on her way to the White House reception, June 22, 2010
This evening, President Obama will host grassroots activists from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities as part of the White House’s second commemoration of the LGBT Pride Month. Among them will be Laura Hart who has been an absolutely amazing and committed volunteer with the United ENDA coalition.
She has put in countless hours in meetings, doing computer work, and helping activists stay in touch with the latest actions and news as we work to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). In March, Laura was also honored as the Volunteer of the Year by the Mautner Project, an organization dedicated to the health of women who partner with women, including lesbian, bisexual and transgender women.
We’re very proud to work with Laura on ENDA on almost a daily basis and delighted that she and her guest, friend Alexandra Beninda, will be among those bringing a transgender presence to the White House tonight. Thanks, Laura, for all you do!
Today’s New York Times includes an article about the Obama Administration’s work to ban employment discrimination based on gender identity. You can find the story in the print edition on page A17 and online.
The article includes statements from John Berry, the Director of the federal Office of Personnel Management and NCTE’s Mara Keisling:
“‘The president is making a very clear statement that transgender people won’t be discriminated against,’ said Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, a group that has been talking with the White House about the new provisions.”
Posted by transgenderequality 
