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!

The City of Seattle has kicked off its annual Open Enrollment period for City employees, with a key change to employees’ health plans. Starting on January 1, 2012, transgender health care procedures will be included in all plans.

The addition occurred thanks to the work of five of Seattle’s volunteer commissions: the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Commission, Commission for People with disAbilities, Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Board, Human Rights Commission, and Women’s Commission. All five groups contacted City Council and the City’s Personnel Department on March 23 to point out extensive exclusion clauses for medical care for transgender people. The exclusions included treatments, medications and services for gender affirming surgeries and procedures.

"Transgender treatments are not cosmetic; they are medically necessary," said Tiffany Nelson and Eleazar Juárez-Díaz, Co-Chairs of the Seattle LGBT Commission. "We applaud the City of Seattle for helping to lead the way for the country on this important equity issue.” 

Broad transgender exclusions create a ripple effect for individuals’ health care. Once a person becomes identified as transgender, insurance companies often deny other basic medical and psychological care.

“We were excited and proud to work with the LGBT, Women’s, Human Rights and Immigrant and Refugee Commissions on this issue,” said Erica Sekins and Patt Copeland, Co-Chairs of the Commission for People with disAbilities.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (September 25, 2011)-The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) will release a newly-revised edition of the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, on September 25, 2011 at the WPATH conference in Atlanta.

The revised Standards of Care can be found here

The SOC is considered the standard document of reference on caring for the transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming population. The newly-revised SOC will help health professionals better understand how they can offer the most effective care to these individuals. The SOC focuses on primary care, gynecologic and urologic care, reproductive options, voice and communication therapy, mental health services and hormonal and surgical treatment.

"The latest 2011 revisions to the SOC realize that transgender, transsexual, and gender nonconforming people have unique health care needs to promote their overall health and well-being, and that those needs extend beyond hormonal treatment and surgical intervention," said SOC Committee Chair, Eli Coleman, PhD, Professor and Director at Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota.

This is the seventh version of the Standards of Care. The original SOC were published in 1979. Previous revisions occurred in 1980, 1981, 1990, 1998 and 2001.

Ingersoll Gender Center is proud to present Namoli Brennet & Eric Himan at Empty Sea Studios, intimate acoustic performance space near Woodland Park Zoo for a benefit concert for Queer Youth Space. 
Namoli is a standout folk singer/songwriter with a mesmerizing voice and moving and soulful songs.  She is also an out trans artist.  Few of her songs feature up –front or obvious trans-related themes but her unique personal perspective pervades every lyric and note.  If you love roots and folk music and discovering great new artists, you owe it to yourself to come out and hear Namoli, as a great folk artist.  Period.

Namoli will be joined by award winning folk singer-songwriter Eric Himan. 

Three Dollar Bill Cinema presents this groundbreaking film festival to provide the Pacific Northwest with a venue for films by, for, and about transgender people, encouraging visibility and positive representations of transgender issues. Launched in 2006, Translations is one of only a few transgender film festivals in the world.

Highlights from the 2011 Translations lineup include:

• BECOMING CHAZ - Opening Night Movie & Reception (Friday, May 17 7pm - AMC Pacific Place)


• SOLD: EXAMINING THE T IN TV ADVERTISING - Free program!


• THIS IS WHO I AM - Short Films


• GENDER BENDER SINGALONG - Mix with the music!


• HE IS MY GIRL - Closing Night Film

For a complete schedule with program descriptions, ticket prices and more information, visit http://threedollarbillcinema.org/calendar/2011-translations

Paulette de Coriolis

We are all getting older, some of us faster than others. Some of us will age in place,
living at home with help from a spouse of children. Some of us will need hired help
to continue to live at home. And some of us will move into assisted living or nursing
home facilities. None of this is easy, but for transgender elders it can be more of a
challenge than for “straight” people.

I’ve been interested in this area ever since King County Senior Services and
the (now defunct) Seattle LGBT Community Center presented a series of four
workshops on aging and the LGBT community. That was five years ago. Now that the
baby boomers are starting to retire, interest has increased. Here is some of what is
happing in the Seattle area.

“Ten More Good Years” – Movie Screening and Panel Discussion
Sunday, May 1, 2011, 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM

The unique challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) elders
explored in documentary film Ten More Good Years

The Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) will host a screening of Ten More
Good Years on Sunday, May 1, 3 pm – 5:30 pm, in Community Hall in the Brick
Building at the PNA, 6532 Phinney Ave North, Seattle, 98103. 206-783-2244.
Approximately one hour long, the film will be followed by a panel discussion.

There is limited seating for screenings and discussions, therefore, RSVPs are
encouraged. Please contact Katie Parker at katiep@phinneycenter.org

Film Summary
The lives and challenges of LGBT elders is the focus of Ten More Good Years.
Directed and produced by the president of LookOut Film, Inc., Michael Jacoby, the