A Curious Eye

Twenty-three percent (23%) said they were gay, lesbian, or same gender loving, 25% bisexual, 4% asexual and 23% queer. Two percent (2%) said their sexual orientation was something else such as trans-attracted.

Multnomah County is jumping to the forefront of a national debate by becoming one of the first in the country to require single-occupancy, gender-neutral bathrooms in all new construction projects for the county.

When Congress last voted on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in 2007, the bill would have prevented employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation but not gender identity or expression. House Democrats removed transgender protections from the legislation, claiming they wouldn’t have enough votes to pass an inclusive ENDA.

The District of Columbia is expected to pass legislation that would make it easier for transgender people to obtain new birth certificates reflecting their change in gender identity.

The D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee voted this week to ease restrictions on gender identity changes, approving a proposal that would require only a certified statement from a medical doctor, reported WRC-TV.

Previously, a change would have required public notification in classified newspaper adverts and surgical requirements.

The new law, which will come before the council in the coming weeks and is expected to pass easily, would issue a new birth certificate rather than simply amending the original.

For a culture that struggles even with the reality of homosexuality, ‘transgender’ will be impossible for some to understand. Beck’s book may change that.

“If you don’t see yourself anywhere else online, come here.”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) The Idaho Transportation Department this week agreed to new regulations allowing transgender drivers to change the sex designation on their driver’s licenses without a note from a surgeon, after two people complained that previous policy violated their civil rights.

Through the American Civil Liberties Union, they complained this was not only an invasion of their privacy but also an arbitrary requirement, since only a fraction of people undergoing a gender transformation do so through a surgical intervention, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. 

In the light of Arizona voting against trans rights in bathrooms, a picture guaranteeing those rights in Washington has gone viral