Sex: M  F

Odds are you know the answer–and it’s there. You joke “yes, please!” or “as often as possible!” but you also circle the letter that applies.

Imagine it wasn’t that simple.

From here:

Imagine you’re me, six months before this, and you’re young and naïve and full of stupid, figuring that putting M will help them you treat you better (ha!), checking yourself in to see a doctor because you’re struggling to breathe. And the dude takes one look at your forms and your barely passing self, and refuses to enter the room. He just stands there at the edge, asking you to holler symptoms at him, and you sit there knowing that if you collapse, this man will pause and debate whether to save you or not. This is what happens when forms, bodies and cis prejudice collide.

She’s a transsexual. Obviously a doctor needs to know the gender of the body he’s examining–different sexes have different parts. But there’s no way he needed to treat her like that!

It gets worse:

Imagine how vulnerable you feel. Driving (what if a cop pulls me over). At the bank (what if they think I’m trying to scam my own money). At the doctors. At school. At work. At anywhere they want a piece of ID, anywhere they want you to tick a box that divides humanity into two. Anywhere they want you to fill out a form. Confess, little tranny girl, confess. Tell them what in their minds what you “really” are. Or else. And they’ll get you anyway.

Why does a driver’s license need “sex” on there? It has a picture.

I don’t know how to make it all work. But we need a better way. We need to think about this. Something so simple as removing the “sex” from official ID could make life so much easier for many people. Wouldn’t it be a step in the right direction, at least?

When pictures from Abu Ghraib surfaced, some members of the military were held accountable–or rather, sacrificed as scapegoats. The humiliation and intimidation of those prisoners was rightfully judged a crime, and some of the perpetrators convicted. But others were never charged.

Now we know that the actions went far beyond attacks on dignity and comfort. Physical assaults and psychological torture have been enacted in the name of the American people. These atrocities must not be allowed to stand unchallenged by the rule of law. Please appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute these hideous abuses, to the fullest depths of the deeds, the broadest scope of justice and the highest levels of corruption.

It is no less than your duty as the Attorney General of this country.

I thought your comments about America fearing conversations on race were right on target, and I tried to take them to heart. Thank you for serving your country in this time of such challenges.

That’s my letter. Where’s yours?

Send it here: Department of Justice

It’s utterly marvelous, some of what’s been going on.

World response, on a person to person basis, has been amazing. Half of Twitter is probably showing as from Tehran right now, because we reset our “home” location to hide the real Iranians in our numbers. To distract and keep busy the gov’t IT guys, Iranians have been leading Dedicated Denial of Service attacks on gov’t websites, and hackers elsewhere are coming up with ways to keep it going and make it more effective. A man named Austin put up directions to creating a proxy, and took on the job of getting the addresses to the Iranians. People in New Jersey, Holland, France, Texas, Oklahoma, the Czech Republic–from everywhere–are voicing their support. Twitter even moved its planned maintenance time from the middle of the night for the US (one assumes their largest demographic) to the middle of the night Iran time, so they wouldn’t cut the flow of information.

What chokes me up is that though the US has been at odds with Iran for most of my life, finally US citizens can see Iranian citizens are not so different from us–except for SO much braver. There they are–men and women, old and young–marching peacefully for the most part, hiding at night because that’s when the Basij come, and then taking to the streets again.

People of Iran, I, unknown American, salute you. Person to people. It’s trite but it’s true. We all want the same things. God willing, we will get there.

God is great.

Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure.

Think that’s not such a big deal anymore? Read this.

A court has ruled that the heirs of the late actress Choi Jin-sil must compensate an advertiser since she failed to maintain her dignity as a model when pictures of her after a beating by her then-husband Cho Sung-min were publicized in media. A construction company sued Choi in 2004 for W3 billion (US$1=W1,250) for damages incurred and the modeling fee paid.

Her husband beat her up, and pictures were published, and it’s her fault that she lost her dignity. Worse, since the actress died in 2008, her 8yo son and 6yo daughter will have to pay.

Her children. Not the bastard who beat her up.

Equality Now, linked above. Can’t Stop the Serenity. Because this madness must stop.

It’s hideous.

They’re not the most articulate people; they’re not practiced TV hosts spouting lines. In their situation, “totally bummed” might be the best I could come up with too.