May 19, 2012

The board of directors of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, today voted to endorse marriage equality.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the NAACP have worked together on issues related to racial and economic justice, LGBT rights and marriage equality, among others. NAACP leaders Julian Bond and Ben Jealous have each also spoken at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the largest convening of pro-LGBT rights supporters in the country.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said today:

This is truly a historic moment as the NAACP — the nation’s oldest civil rights organization — takes an official and unequivocal stand for marriage equality. As the country’s oldest national LGBT rights group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could not be more thrilled.

April 24, 2012

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds the opinion by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that transgender people are protected from discrimination by federal law. The EEOC found that an employer who discriminates against an employee or applicant on the basis of the person’s gender identity is violating the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The ruling involves the case of Mia Macy, a transgender woman denied a job by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Macy is represented by the Transgender Law Center. This precedent-setting decision applies to both private and public employees in the United States.

Findings from Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality showed what a severe and life-threatening problem employment discrimination is for transgender people: 26 percent lose their job just because they are transgender, 90 percent experience mistreatment, discrimination or hide who they are to avoid it.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey says:

This is a historic victory for transgender people and their families — and it couldn’t come too soon. Our national survey on transgender discrimination found staggering levels of workplace discrimination against transgender Americans. This jeopardizes their ability to have or keep a job, have a roof over their head, and feed and take care of their family.

Mia Macy’s situation is a case in point. She and her family moved from Phoenix to the Bay Area because of a job offer. After the job was taken away, they couldn’t afford to keep up their house payments, and their home was foreclosed on. This has been devastating. This is no way to live, and the EEOC’s ruling will go a long way toward addressing such injustices.

We applaud the EEOC for this opinion and congratulate the Transgender Law Center for its work leading to this victory. Special thanks to Mia for her courage. Transgender people across the nation will now know that they are protected by federal law and have legal recourse if they are denied a job or fired just because of who they are.

However, we still need clear, explicit protections for transgender people in the 34 states that don’t have those laws, as well as on the federal level. We continue to call on Congress to move the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, with a Senate hearing on the bill with no further delay.

In what is one of the biggest breakthroughs for the trans community, the EEOC has ruled that gender identity is protected under Title VII.  This decision extends federal protection of our rights by including gender identity under the code for sex discrimination. Now, instead of a long and costly trip through the court system to secure one's rights, we can simply file a petition to the EEOC for further investigation. 

Marsha Botzer, Founder of Ingersoll Gender Center states "This nation-wide decision is a grand step that brings us closer to true equality.  Ingersoll Gender Center has been helping people in their self-discovery for decades now, and we know this ruling will help many people build new lives.  I am fully aware we still need to win ENDA to round out this work, but this is a success worth our cheers!  Thanks the many individuals, people like Masen Davis of the Transgender Law Center, who worked hard to bring this into being."

Our hats are off to Mia, TLC and everyone else involved in securing such an important piece of our fundamental rights.

As was reported earlier this week in SLOG, our part of the Exhibit Stars on Broadway was damaged and/or stolen.  We along with the artist  are truly saddened that this artist's original piece has been reported as missing.  If you have any information, please email Metro.

First sitting Cabinet secretary to address nation’s largest annual gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocates

BALTIMORE, Jan. 28 — Today, while addressing nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a new HUD policy to fight discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs.

The new rules, to be published next week, will help LGBT people and their families across the country stay in their homes, get the loans they need to buy homes, and access life-saving federal assistance programs to help get low-income people and families back on their feet.

Donovan is the first sitting Cabinet secretary in history to speak at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the country’s largest annual gathering of LGBT rights advocates. They have been meeting this week in Baltimore to strategize and mobilize in this critical election year.

 (January 24, 2012  - Seattle, WA)  Ingersoll Gender Center announces a new support group for people in the Transgender  community who want to find work or improve their career. 
Seattle Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (STEEP), a program of Ingersoll Gender Center, will meet twice monthly, on the first and third Thursdays.  We will address issues related to the challenging job market.  The group will be led by veteran Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Joy Shiels and Ingersoll Board Member, Ryan Blackhawke.  Joy has 25 years of experience working in vocational rehabilitation and currently works out of the North Seattle Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) office.  Ryan has over 20 years of experience as a community activist for LGBT issues.  Ryan is a seasoned facilitator of Ingersoll's peer support groups and serves as Director of Communications on Ingersoll's Board.

The initial meeting, to be held on Thursday February 2^nd from 7:00-9:00 PM at Seattle Counseling Service (1216 Pine Street, Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98101),  will be an informational session for anyone interested.  We will discuss what people need and want from this support forum and together we will define the work of the group for an ongoing series of 9 sessions.  Among the issues to be addressed are: the job search, personal presentation, discrimination in the job search and on the job, developing a vocational plan for personal and economic improvement, and accessing community resources.

Ingersoll Gender Center has not missed a meeting in 1,980 weeks. This week is no different. Ingersoll WILL be meeting at the same time in the same place - Wednesday, 7:00PM - 9:00PM at Seattle Counseling Service. See you there!

SnowBall2011 is rolling your way.  Be prepared.  Buy your tickets today at :

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/205644

 December 3, 2011 6:30PM

Seattle City Hall, Bertha Knight Landes Room
600 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98124
Tickets ONLY $20.00 per person

Catered dinner, entertainment, dancing, awards and celebration!

Every year Ingersoll Gender Center throws a big party to bring the community back together to celebrate and review the year, to look forward and to connect with friends old and new.

This year SnowBall2011: The Snowball Effect is all about the amazing momentum building for justice and equality for our communities.  While there is still so much to do, the velocity for change is undeniable and our community is on a roll.

Come join us for good food and friends; stay for the entertainment, schmooze and celebration.  This year we are so excited to be holding SnowBall2011 at the beautiful Seattle City Hall Bertha Knight Landes room in downtown Seattle.  We will be joined by many friends including our gracious host city councilperson Sally Clark.

Think you have to wait for Translations Film Festival to see some quality films about Trans characters? Think again. For It is time for the 16th Annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the largest event of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Ingersoll is proud to co-sponsor the darling of Sundance Gun Hill Road directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green and starring Esai Morales and Harmony Santana. And not only do we have a touching story about a young woman coming out as Trans, Harmony began her own transition on the set during the making of the movie in a classic case of Life Imitating Art. 

"When Enrique (Esai Morales) returns home after a three-year prison sentence, he finds his family transformed. His wife is hiding an affair, and his teenage son, Michael, has become Vanessa (poignantly played by Harmony Santana, who was undergoing her own gender transition during the filming). Can Enrique find the strength to accept his son for who he has become, or will he cling to his conceptions of masculinity and revert to the patterns of his criminal past? Despite its brutality, this Sundance favorite is a touching story of acceptance in the tough, unforgiving world of the Bronx." - SLGFF

Get your tickets now before they run out!