Remembering Larry

Lawrence "Larry" Fobes King was murdered in school by a younger classmate for not dressing like most guys, which they saw as acting "gay." It is obvious to me her was transgender! How can his happen in 2008. Easy people at carefully taught to hate transgender people and anything or anyone that is not seen as "normal." Tennessee is even working on a law that says:

... no public elementary or middle school shall permit any instruction or materials discussing sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/HB2997.pdf

Not saying Larry was gay, but they sure perceived him that way.

Several students at the school said the victim sometimes was the butt of jokes because of his nonconformist behavior and style of dress.

"He didn't care," said Matthew Puga, a seventh-grader. "He'd say, I am what I am."
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/13/
violence-at-eo-green-school-student-shot-in/

Larry's uncle set up this website for his nephew.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Today eighth-grader Lawrence King, 15, of Oxnard, CA, was declared brain dead after a school shooting on Tuesday. King was shot twice by a fellow student while in class at E.O. Green Junior High School. Prosecutors are charging the assailant with murder with a hate-crime enhancement. King remains on a ventilator for organ donation. The victim was openly gay and was reported to have occasionally worn feminine clothing and makeup to school. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that King's peers attribute his attack to his open sexual orientation.
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20080216100311101

Slain teen remembered as fun, quirky at Rainbow Alliance candlelight vigil

Blue was Larry King's favorite color eye shadow.

Along with his signature black, high-heeled boots and varying shades of lipstick, friends say he wore dramatic makeup and dressed more flamboyantly in the last two weeks before he was shot to death by a classmate at an Oxnard middle school.

The cosmetics added a quirkiness to his personality, friends said. But they didn't define the 15-year-old boy Melissa Castillo knew.

"He didn't know he had a lot of friends," Castillo said. "We all thought he was funny but not in a mocking way. We all really liked him. I wish he knew that."

...

"Any 15-year-old is finding out who they are. It's normal to experiment in any direction," she said.

King was shot Tuesday morning inside a computer lab at the school. He was declared brain dead on Wednesday and taken off life support Thursday night. Prosecutors have charged a classmate, Brandon McInerney, 14, with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime and want him tried as an adult.

Students have said King was teased because he was gay. Some classmates also reported a confrontation between the two boys in the days before the shooting.

Authorities have not released details on a motive, and prosecutors have declined to elaborate on the hate crime charge. A hate crime is defined as an illegal action taken toward a person based on any of several criteria, such as race, religion or sexual orientation.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/
feb/16/slain-teen-remembered-as-fun-quirky-at-rainbow/

Episode 34: Interview with the lovely and successful Kimberli on the Trans-Ponder podcast.

A few weeks ago I suggested to Jayna of Trans-Ponder that she interview my friend Kimberli. And here it is.

1:2008-02-15 02:21:28

In this episode (right click on the link and save as) located HERE we interview the lovely, inspiring, and successful Kimberli. She discusses with us her story and experiences of being an African American transwoman, living in stealth, and making something of herself in the big wide world. You can read more about Kimberli's story on Lynn Conway's site or just click HERE

Thanks to Vickie Davis for suggesting this interview!

Great job Mila, Jayna and Kimberli. I treasure my relationship with you Kim, and I am glad others in our community are getting to know you too.

Our beloved Katherine "Katie" Evans

Katherine "Katie" Evans

Katie Evans

She lived in Nashville and was
formerly of Bowling Green Kentucky.
Katie died February 6, 2008, at her home.

She was a surveyor and draftsman for an engineering company
in Franklin, Tennessee. She was a dedicated Events Coordinator for the
Tennessee Vals and had many ideas that were left undone.

She was a dedicated Tval and she had lots of ideas
for the group. We will try our best to follow
up on the things she wanted to do.

She will be missed!

The Tennessee Vals Board




Search Engine Optimization

2-08-2008




PS: She was this webmistress's best friend.
Good bye Katie.

Hugs,
Vickie :-(

Deep condolences on Katie's passing. Seems like the last time I saw her was at the Lobbying 101 thing at East End UMC. So I'm very sorry to hear of her loss. Lot of folks are gonna miss her.
Hugs, Fredrikka

This was definitely unexpected. My sincere condolences to the group and Katie's family for this loss. I only had the pleasure of knowing Katie for a short time but will definitely treasure it. She absolutely will be missed.
Charisma

Katies will be misses terribly by me. She was a jem.
R CT

The news of Katies death is a real shock to me. When I met Vickie, Katie was with her and I became friends with both. Katie was an inspiration to me because she had gone thru what I had gone thru with the loss of my wife. I held her in my highest thoughts as I have with all the TVAL girls. I offer my condolences to her family and to her other family, The TVALS.
Julie

This is a real shock. Our last conversation was Thursday night after the Lobbying 101. She was in a great mood & said she was looking forward to Southern Comfort, SRS, & Advancing Equality Day on the Hill. She was a beautiful person & I will miss her terribly.
Marisa

This is such a tragedy. I just saw and talked to Katie about a week or so ago at the board meeting. Sat right across from her. I cannot believe this. Katie was a very good person and very dedicated to this group. Unfortunately I hadn't got to know her as well as some of you but I am grateful that I got the opportunity to know her. I am still trying to wrap my brain around all of this.
Shayna

Roxie and I have been talking about what to say about Katie, after feeling the shock of her death. I don't think I ever saw Katie that she didn't have a smile on her face, and enjoyed life. You never had to wonder what Katie thought about something, because she would tell you. She had some great ideas and we should see to it they are carried out. She was the cornerstone of our transition meetings, and we thought of her as a good friend. Our Hearts will be heavy with her loss for many, many years. Katie was so much younger then me, much healthier then me, and so much stronger then me it was just a shock. A shock that I just couldn't get rid of, which is why it has taken me so long to write something. This sudden loss should serve to remind us just how fragile life is and how sudden it can end. We need to love our brothers and sisters, give a helping hand when they need it, and a hug when they need it. I don't know if I got our feelings across, but we will really miss Katie.
Sara & Roxie

Ethan interviews Jennifer on The Radicalguy podcast

Ethan does a great interview with Jenny in this podcast. I have her book and I hope to get her to sign it sometime.

Guest: Jennifer Finney Boylan

from The Radicalguy by Ethan St.Pierre

Jennifer Finney Boylan is a widely praised author and professor. Jenny's memoir,She's Not There won an award from the Lambda LIterary Foundation in 2004, the year after its initial publication. The book has since been published in many foreign editions, and was an alternate selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. Her 2008 memoir, I'm Looking Through You, is about growing up in a haunted house. While trans issues form part of the exposition of the book, the primary focus of I'm Looking Through You is on what it means to be "haunted," and how we all seek to find peace with our various ghosts, both the supernatural and the all-too-human.

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Original audio source

Isabel Allende: Tales of passion

This is just one of hundreds of fantastic talks, by the smartest of the smart, as Isabel says in her talk.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

Trans-Ponder Podcast

Mila began transition around April of 2006 and
went full time at the end of January 2007


Jayna began transitioning around
June of 2006.


I found this on Transadvocate.com and I love
listening to them. I have listened to about
7 of their 30 podcasts.

I wish them good luck!

Re: Don't let Joe Solmonese get away with lying

Should the head of HRC get away with lying to the Transgender Community!

The answer is no!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-6ZoNJj-bU

Fix this Joe!

Vickie

On Jan 16, 2008 11:36 AM, Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign <hrc@hrc.org> wrote:

		Joe Solmonese said he would not only support an inclusive ENDA bill, but would also oppose any attempt at submitting a non-inclusive bill. Tell Joe Solmonese to keep his word. Dear Joe, The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which claims to be the largest US LGBT civil rights organisation, has not signed onto an endorsement of the statement signed by the members of United ENDA, opposing the split of the proposed bill into separate legislation – one for sexual orientation and one for gender identity. "We are very disappointed and angry that any civil rights organisation claiming to advocate for our rights can turn their backs on us when the going gets tough," said Ethan St.Pierre, Board Chair of NTAC. "It amounts to a betrayal, since HRC earlier promised to support only an inclusive ENDA." At the Southern Comfort Conference (SCC) in mid-September, HRC Exec. Director, Joe Solmonese made a promise as keynote speaker that HRC would not only support an inclusive ENDA bill, but would also oppose any attempt at submitting a non-inclusive bill. While at SCC, HRC culled many new memberships and donations from the Transgender community. "After removing gender identity from a bill that would have protected millions of Transgender Americans from discrimination in employment, the message being sent to the entire Congress and to corporate America is that it is acceptable to discriminate against Transgender, intersex, and other gender variant Americans," NTAC Chair, St. Pierre added. As a result of HRC's rescission of their promise three weeks earlier, the only Transgender ever seated on their Board of Directors, Donna Rose, resigned October 2, 2007 in disappointment. Additional resignations from the Transgender community are continuing to come in, including Robbi Cohn resigning from HRC's steering committee for the Carolinas. In Rose's resignation, she stated, "The relationship between HRC and the Transgender community is one scarred by betrayal, distrust, and anger. I have become a focal point for much of that frustration," she noted, adding she "accepted that responsibility with the hope that I could help to change [HRC]." "I call on other like-minded board members, steering committee leaders, donors, corporate sponsors, and volunteers to think long and hard about whether this organisation still stands for your values and to take decisive action." http://ubuntero.org/ftmichael/weblog/archive/2007/10/

 

Having trouble clicking on the links above? Simply copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar to take action today:
© 2007 The Human Rights Campaign. All rights reserved. Human Rights Campaign | www.hrc.org 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-3278 Phone: 202/628-4160 TTY: 202/216-1572 Fax: 202/347-5323
	If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific Human Rights Campaign list, or update your account settings, you can visit your Subscription Management Page. Click here to remove yourself from all Human Rights Campaign lists.

Hermaphrodite pony finds friendship with donkey

Thanks Helen for this one.

http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/?p=1855

Hermaphrodite pony finds friendship with donkey

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Meet Tootsie - a hermaphrodite pony who lived for 12 years with his owners thinking he was female.

Tootsie the hermaphrodite pony

For most of his life the Shetland pony, who has both male and female genitalia, was thought to be a mare and went by the name of Amy.

And to add to his confusion he has been taken into care, undergone a sex change operation and been re-homed - only to be shunned by his peers.

But now Tootsie - named after Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing character in the film of the same name - finally appears to be settling in at the Bransby Home of Rest for Horses, near Lincoln.

And he has found an unlikely friend - in stablemate Derek the donkey.

Verity Chappell, welfare manager at Bransby, said the other animals at the sanctuary had not been very tolerant of the exotic new arrival.

'He doesn't seem to know what he is.

'I think behaviourally he is not sure and the other animals seemed to have an issue with him,' she said.

'Before they even touched him, we noticed they flapped their ears back, which is a sign they don't like someone, as if to say "you're not normal".

'We knew we were going to have to pair him with another animal.

'He seems to have settled in with a little donkey called Derek.

'To begin with there was a little animosity, but he will remain with Derek now for the rest of his life.'

The Shetland, who lived with a family for all his life, was only found to be different when he was taken in by the RSPCA. Vets are now carrying out blood tests to check Tootsie's chromosome levels and determine his exact sex.

Despite his upbringing as a mare, Tootsie still has an eye for the ladies.

Peter Hunt, who founded the animal rest home 40 years ago, said: 'I am 75 years of age and this is the first I have ever seen.

'He still squeals and gets excited by mares. He is full of life in that department. If he could get near them he would be a bit of a nuisance.'

We eagerly await the heartwarming film version of Tootsie and Derek's story.

--
=======================================================

Yahoo IM: vickiecd
Email: davis.vickie@gmail.com
http://vickiedavis.blogspot.com/
Website Director of http://tvals.org/

If you are not working to integrate your life
you are working to disintegrate it.
       Callan Williams

"Courage is not the absence of fear
but rather the judgment that something else
is more important than fear."
       Ambrose Redmoon
      (by way of Donna Rose's 2006 SCC Speech)

People will do anything, no matter how absurd,
in order to avoid facing their own soul.
       Carl Gustav Jung

=======================================================

Julia Serano on YouTube

Julia Serano


Julia Serano - Cocky


Julia Serano interview with Velvetpark


http://juliaserano.livejournal.com/
http://juliaserano.com/

Banco Provincia of Argentina

I ran across this video again and thought it was worth repeating.

I love this video and it still makes me cry. It is a Television Commercial From Argentina for a bank.

"Hello, Mr. Louis."

"Hi...I have a question. When you applied to get the loan to open this beauty salon, did you have to show an ID?"

"...yeah.... "

"and on your ID, it says that you're really a male, doesn't it?"

"..yes."

"and they still gave you the loan?"

"yes."

"well...they are the same bank that just gave me a loan to save my farm. and...it just made me think, you know? and I came here...to apologize for treating you poorly all these years. for not knowing how to treat you."

http://vickiedavis.blogspot.com/2007/07/television-commercial-from-argentina.html