Attending the ceremony for the induction of Debra Forte (among others) into Boston's Garden of Peace yesterday evening, I had a disturbing conversation with Ethan St. Pierre.

Ethan is the nephew of Debra Forte, a transsexual woman who was brutally murdered in 1995 – ironically, while transgender activists, myself included, gathered in protest at the trial for the murder of transsexual Brandon Teena (the murder depicted in the movie Boys Don't Cry). The Garden of Peace is Boston's memorial to the victims of murder. Debra Forte is the first known transgender person included in the memorial.

Ethan St. Pierre is also a transsexual man who is working for the passage of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit discrimination against persons based on gender identity or expression. In other words, it would protect transgender persons against being fired simply for being who they are.

Ethan told me that he is being asked by a member of congress for stories of transgender persons who work successfully with children, in order to counter accusations from the opposition – mostly Republicans, I expect – that transgenders are pedophiles.

According to an AP story, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) predicts that the trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act will pass in the House, though he anticipates difficulty in the Senate. The same story also reports that a trans-inclusive Hate Crimes act "is passing through the Senate", although Bush has threatened to veto it.   See the article.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported on the Transgender Career Expo held this past weekend at the Southern Comfort Conference (SCC). The event timing coincided with the ENDA debates in the House and Senate, although the Times article only briefly notes the upcoming House vote.   See the story.

Waltham, MA (OPENPRESS) September 11, 2007 -- Tiffany Club of New England's 28th annual First Event 2008 Transgender Event, to be held January 16-20 at the Marriott in Peabody, is seeking proposals for presentations and workshops that address needs and interests of all segments of the transgender community.

For well over a decade, transgender activists have worked towards federal protection for gender expression and identity in the workplace. Now, for the first time ever, trans-inclusive legislation that would enact such protections - ENDA - is being debated in the House of Representatives.

Also, trans-inclusive hate crimes legislation - the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" - that passed in the House earlier this year, is being considered in the Senate.

The National Center for Transgender Equality (nctequality.org) is currently calling for you to weigh in with your Representatives and Senators on these two vital pieces of legislation. As the work of many years and countless individuals comes to fruition, the time has come for EVERYONE who cares about any transgender, transsexual, crossdressing, or otherwise gender-variant persons to join together in a chorus of support for these fair-minded measures.

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I've taken to scanning the stories at AlterNet.org each morning for interesting perspectives, and today I ran across an excellent column by Barbara Ehrenreich of huffingtonpost.com. Her penetrating piece points out the latest glaring example of how our Republican-driven economy squeezes the poor (and, increasingly, 'middle' class) for every last dime. Check it out.

With so many transgender persons un- and under-employed, any discussion of the economically disadvantaged certainly includes us - although even trick home mortages, the focus of this piece, remain out of reach for many, if not most, of us.

Too many people treat the world around us like an endless trash bin or loot to be plundered. It's certainly time for a change, time for us to beat back the reversals imposed by Bush and build on the gains of the last environmental movement.

And who's the latest leader of the charge? None other than actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose new documentary "The 11th Hour" picks up where Al Gore left off. I haven't seen it yet, but according to AlterNet , its producers have done a "magnificent job", providing a "first-class overview of the technology, the politics, the consequences of corporate and consumer behavior, and the aspirations and means to fix the mess we humans have created". Sounds like just the right stuff, I can't wait to see it.

There's a website where you can learn more about the movie and the action-oriented community coalescing around it.

The Boston Globe magazine is running a two-part story in their Sunday Magazine about the transition from man to woman of local doctor Deborah (formerly Roy) Berkowitz-Shelton. While kindly supportive of the Good Doctor, the story ploddingly follows the well-worn form of emphasizing the unusual nature of the event, focusing on the social issues confronted in the person's journey from one gender to another. So far, no discussion of, or challenge to, simpleminded gender binarism. In case everyone at The Globe missed it, Renee Richards broke this ground decades ago, and a whole movement has embraced much more complex gender modeling, not to mention - gasp! - basic feminist principles.

Read part 1 of the story

They've also produced a video about it. In part 1, Deborah distastefully uses the phrase "old bag" to reference older female teachers. Makes one wonder, when she describes her pre-transition life as "it was always about, what's the next fun thing I'm going to do", if she's not really just continuing in the same vein. New gender, same BS?

Watch the video