Barbara Murphy, who many of us knew as Tahoebasha, passed away on the afternoon of November 1. Tahoe's online activism began on Conyersblog in 2005, where we became close friends. She posted often on Docudharma in the early years of that wonderful progressive website and was a strong and inspiring voice for peace, justice, and equality on Daily Kos and Firedoglake and Facebook.
Equality news out of Canada from yesterday:
Attorney General Suzanne Anton said the BC Liberals will table the amendment in the upcoming summer legislative session, after years of lobbying by NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert and transgender advocacy groups.
In Canada-speak, "tabling an amendment" means "bring it to the table."
As British Columbians, we must ensure everyone in B.C., especially those most likely to face discrimination, are not only protected by the law, but feel they are protected and understand that they are protected.
--Anton
NC Gov. Pat McCrory was interviewed on NPR the other day and managed to express the idea that passage of Hate Bill 2 was the fault of transgender people.
If we had not pushed for equal rights and access to public accommodations, then conservative forces would not have been forced to take them away from us.
He and other conservatives were also vehemently upset over AG Loretta Lynch's comparison of the current state of affairs to Jim Crow.
Gov. Charlie Baker was mysteriously chosen as the keynote speaker at a networking event hosted by Boston Spirit Magazine last night in Boston.
Yet when the Republican took the stage, he was confronted by signs and chants from demonstrators urging him to support a transgender anti-discrimination bill, which has been a hot topic of late for the Massachusetts governor.
Despite pleas from his audience, Gov. Charlie remained steadfast:
I will make sure I talk to all parties involved before we make any decision.
Presumably that includes Massachusetts Family Institute, which promotes hatred against transgender people.
All over the country, bills are being filed that treat transgender people like pawns in a chess game.--Kasey Sufredini
Kasey Sufredini of Freedom for All Americans has penned an opinion piece for CNN: Let transgender people achieve their American dream
The UK parliament's Committee on Women and Equality has released the first report from its parliamentary inquiry into discrimination against transgender people in education, health and criminal justice.
The inquiry was tasked with assessing levels of transphobia, access to NHS services and issues faced by transgender youth.
The NHS was found to be particularly lacking.
Hey, good Morning. This Monday Morning Open Thread is due to be published by 6:00 am Pacitic Time. Johnny says it must be up by 5:00 am Pacific time to meet that deadline (the server must be running Windows). Hence, it is being drafted and queued Sunday evening and I will show up as soon as I get up and get going. (As a retiree, I have a lot of flexibility in that regard.)
This evening's music features Chicago blues harmonica player and singer Big John Wrencher.
