Diaries

VA opens gender clinic in Cleveland

A ceremony was held today in the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center to announce the opening of the GIVE (Gender Identity Veteran Experience) clinic.

The clinic will have an initial enrollment of 20 transgender veterans, aged 21 to 75. GIVE will be open on a half day each month and will be supervised by Dr. Megan McNamara, who began working with trans veterans two years ago. Dr. McNamara is a primary care and women's health doctor. She will be the clinical lead physician. The treatment team will also include a nurse, a psychologist, and a social worker.

It felt like a good fit for me, professionally, and I felt that a lot of patients could use this service.

--Dr. McNamara

OT 11-12-15: On Minimum Wage

The first real job I had was in 1976. I had been looking for work that summer for a couple of months with no luck. Then, finally, I was hired as a short order cook in an Orange Julius kiosk on Los Feliz Blvd., near Hollywood. It happened to be 106 degrees that day and I spent it over the grill. I was pretty excited after work because I'd made money! But as the night progressed I just couldn't face doing that ever again.

Great Night For Bernie Sanders Campaign in San Antonio!!


FEELIN' THE BERN IN SAN ANTONIO!

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Texans for Bernie.png

Well folks, tonight was one of the most exciting nights I've ever had in politics in Texas.

It was a meeting with the state campaign staff of Bernie for President. They laid out the agenda. Then we divided up into working groups.

I met with a few people under the Labor for Bernie banner. And here's where it gets exciting! I met the former long-time editor of Labor Notes. Yes he's moved down here to San Antonio from Detroit and he's now working with Unite Here.

A super great guy. And this is BREAKING NEWS. The Hyatt workers FINALLY have union recognition. It hasn't even been publicly announced yet, so you are hearing this ahead of the public announcement. This has been a SIX YEAR fight. So exciting.

I met a local leader of National Nurses United. She invited me to a Bernie gathering at her house on Saturday afternoon. Great lady. They don't have any hospitals organized yet in San Antonio, but they are here on the ground and active.

Obama Administration officially endorses Equality Act

Yesterday The administration officially endorsed the amending of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect LGBT Americans from discrimination.

As of yet, there is no federal law that explicitly prevents people from being fired, evicted, or refused service on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A proposal just to ban employment discrimination for LGBT Americans (ENDA) has been continuously stymied since 1994.

The Equality Act, which the White House announced it would support Tuesday, aims to provide a wider range of protections, and in the most direct way possible. The bill would insert language about gay and transgender people into legislation created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act — the historic measure that banned many forms of discrimination by race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

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