ENDA Don't MENDA

On a scale of one to Betty White, the Ellen DeGeneres Iggy Custody Story, unlike the off-the-charts Michael Vick dog-fight gambling story, is about a seven. And this is not just me talking. The home office has run the story through a rigorous, impartial, sampling process that included the Mitt Romney "Irish Setter in the Dog Carrier on Top of the Family Car Going on Ten Hour Ride to the Family Vacation" Story. They've been very thorough. The needle on the meter never even brushed eight.

Thanks to YouTube, I caught up on Ellen's story. When I first heard about the dogfight, the cynical me wondered if it was Sweeps Week. This despite the fact that I have been treating my cyno-malaise with drugs and hot rocks massage. On day #3 of the saga, Ellen delivered a deftly impassioned call for acceptance and forgiveness and let's move on dog org opening monologue. She mentioned the death threats and violence toward the Mutts and Moms Dog Rescue Shelter and said flatly, "It's not okay."

Ellen's reasoned plea for everyone to sit and stay, could be a blueprint for warring factions everywhere. Condoleezza Rice who is doing the traditional, end of term, desperate, diplomatic shuttling for a Mideast solution might have learned a thing or two. I hope Condi has TiVo.

Watching the intensity of the first day, when Ellen broke down, I marveled that she had shared none of this intense emotion when she came out, lost her sitcom, and surely struggled with the consequences of coming out. But that's a lot to ask and really none of my beeswax.

And, full disclosure: I am not a dog person. When I was three, a big German shepherd jumped in my stroller and scared the bejesus out of me. A year later I saw a Boxer tear another dog's ear off in a dusty, adrenalized swirl in my otherwise placid neighborhood. Dogs know I'm not a dog person, and each one tries to prove that she is not like those other dogs.

For the last few months I have been advocating that the genuine outrage dog lovers and the people who love them evince in these stories should be harnessed for other events people don't seem to care about at all. I tried to get Nancy Pelosi to use, "Puppies don't have healthcare," to override W's veto of SCHIP.

Ironically, while this Iggy top story rules the week, in Washington DC, GLBTs are trying to pass ENDA, the Employee Non-Discrimination Act. Or actually, they are trying NOT to pass ENDA. How weird is that? The bill had languished around for years under the slobbying efforts of HRC, but suddenly gained a new leash on life, when Rep. Barney Frank tried to get it out of committee, minus the provision for ending discrimination against our Ts, transsexuals. And why now? I bet you can get ENDA with a T when W is gone.

On a scale of one to Renee Richards, it's not okay.

Three hundred and two organizations have signed an endorsement to re-introduce transsexual protection to the bill. Wisconsin's fearless Rep.Tammy Baldwin motioned to put trans protection back in the bill.

It's a wicked mess. How about "Labradoodles need rights too!"?

Comments

[SouthJerseySteve]

Baby steps.... sometimes you have to crawl before you can run a marathon.

[queertodaydotcom]

Protections based on gender identity and expression are not just abuot trannssexuals! It is about protecting ALL of us based on how feminine or masculine we are. When you make it only about transsexuals - who are only a fragment of the Trasngender community at that - you are falling in line with Barney's language.

Protections based on gender identity and expression will protect all straight, LGBT people!

[KenNY]

Funny about Ellen D. re-gifting dogs. I guess Ellen has an anti-hate cat law in her household. If convicted, she evicts you.

[4smartpeas]

Great blog Kate, thanks.

[4smartpeas]

Zoebrain, you seem to have missed the point in Kate's blog. Clearly, she thinks "trannies " should be included in ENDA. As do I.
However, I must agree with HollywoodBill. This bill may not be perfect, but we should take what we can get and hold our ground. We will eventually win equality for all GLBT Americans.

[ZoeBrain]

That's really funny!

Here's some really side-splitting stuff, you'll love this.

75% of transgendered people are not in fulltime work.

Their average income is less than $15,000, in fact, a third of them earn less than $10,000

The average cost of transition is in excess of $100,000, and all but a few insurers in even fewer states specifically exclude it from coverage.

I think it totally hilarious that those most desperately in need should have been tossed in the dumpster at the last moment, don't you?

A Californian study showed 31% of TG people suicide.

A Scottish Office survey, conducted under the most scrupulously verifiable Scientific conditions, showed 50% had self-harmed by age 20.

And this one's the real killer: a Western Australian survey showed that 90% suffered premature death from suicide, substance abuse, violence, or STDs. Why, I nearly died laughing at that one! You see, I'm Intersexed, and so part of the mixture that is "Transgendered".

It's good to see that the author thinks so highly of dogs though. Compared to Trannies, anyway.

[SaraWhitman]

Whoa, Zoe, you're wrong. Kate Clinton has been one of the few people to stand up for this- she was the ONLY one who mentioned the need for T inclusion at a DC gala recently while everyone else was politely clapping for Barney Frank.

You are misreading her humor, and with less than 48 hours left to do something about this, it's understandable passions are running high.

But this is an ally, not someone to fight against.

Click here to do be heard!

http://tinyurl.com/27d6d8

[HollywoodBill]

How incredibly naive to think that when a Dem takes over the White House next year, suddenly the House and the Senate will be able to get all these wonderful utopian dreams passed. Life will be wonderful!

Barney Frank is to be commended for finally getting ENDA moving again. This thing has been kicking around in one way, shape or form for the past 30 years. And while it is certain to be vetoed by present management, this is merely a warmup for what can happen sometime after new management takes over.

Anyone who thinks that the Dems in Ohio, Missouri or Arkansas are going to put their necks on the chopping block for Transexuals is living in a parallel universe. Frank and Company realize this and are somehow managing to cobble together enough support for ENDA that the American public will go for it. They're not ready for equality for Transexuals and that's not going to change anytime in the near future.

Politics is the art of the possible. An all Democratic House, Senate and White House is supposed to govern and do what they are elected to do. Any political party that goes to the extreme isn't going to be in power very long. Gay marriage probably caused the Dems the 04 election. Transexual equality isn't going to make it on the campaign trail. They're not going down that road again.

The deal is on the table. Only fools don't know when to take a good offer when it is presented to them. Thank you Barney Frank.

[AnotherTry]

It won't change anytime soon with your attitude.

ZoeBrian presents an excellent point. This person is intersexed, meaning they possess some of both gender's sex organs. Hopefully, this person's doctor didn't try to decide for them at birth which sex they will have to be.

Intersexed individuals embody the physical proof that gender identity and sexual expression are completely biological in nature. Everyone deserves to be treated equally no matter what people in Ohio think.

Wasn't it Jesus that said what you do to the least of us you do to me?

I'm a gay man and if my community doesn't have a T, then I guess I don't have a community.