CA Dem Convention Reaffirms Transgender Community’s Rights

The annual California Democratic Convention held at the San Jose Convention Center last month generated many stories about policymakers and activists coming together in preparation for the upcoming elections.

kris pic

Kris Hayashi

Yet one important development was overshadowed by top-line political headlines: the adoption of the California Democratic Party political platform reaffirming the rights and dignity of the transgender community.

When delegates met, they added into the platform a declaration to: “Protect the right of all people to use facilities and participate in all aspects of society consistent with their true gender identity, regardless of the gender assigned them at birth.”

This is a significant and necessary step forward for all transgender people—who are simply those born as one sex, but feel deeply and consistently that their gender identity is different.

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, “Transgender people face extraordinary levels of physical and sexual violence, whether on the streets, at school or work, at home, or at the hands of government officials. ... More than one in four transgender people has faced a bias-driven assault, and rates are higher for transgender women and transgender people of color.”

Frankly, these statistics are appalling.

Rick Zbur

Rick Zbur

No one should be harassed or have their privacy invaded in order to use a public facility, simply because they are transgender. All Californians—no matter their race, age, gender or sexual orientation—should have the same freedom to go about their lives without fear of prejudice.

The delegates at the California Democratic Convention must be applauded for recognizing the importance of making a clear statement that all Californians have a responsibility to take a stand against discriminatory attacks on transgender people.

While their recent action was a positive stride, it’s just the beginning. As Californians, we cannot stop until transgender people are treated equally in all parts of life—a mission that’s worth fighting for.

Kris Hayashi serves as executive director of the Transgender Law Center. Rick Zbur is executive director of Equality California (EQCA). 

17 Comments

  1. Sorry guys,
    You got it wrong, your true gender is the one that come with your chromosomes, XX or XY.
    You may feel like your the other sex but that’s the problem with parts between your ears, not between your legs.
    Privacy in the bath room should be just that privet till you can get it all fixed!

    • Funny you mention Transgender and bathrooms Empty.

      Last place I worked for we hired a MTF pre-op trans gender. I don’t even think the guy had started taking hormones yet. Being my department fielded most facilities complaints, it came to us first.

      The guy had been going in both the men and womens bathrooms. I don’t think the guys cared so much, but the women were extremely uncomfortable with his going in there.

      There’s all sorts of societal norms and small issues like this that have to be worked out. Maybe bathrooms should be unisex instead of MF. Right now though, the US as a society isn’t ready for that, and as long as there remains segregated bathrooms, we’ll see a lot of people uncomfortable with trans-gendered patrons.

      • Just wait till someone’s 6 year old daughter ends up watching a 6″4″-300lbs transvestite peeing in the sink!
        I know one!

      • > but the women were extremely uncomfortable with his going in there.

        Just curious.

        Which group is more numerous in American society?

        A. Women.
        B. “Transgender”

        And, why would Democrats advocate policies that make women “extremely uncomfortable” to accommodate the exotic gender narcissism of a tiny, tiny segment of the population?

        Almost sounds like a “war on women”.

        • It’a a “War On Normal” by the community organizer “Tribe” to barrow your term.

          They are pandering to 2.5% of the population at the expense of turning the country inside out.
          This is right out of “Rules For Radicals” Saul Alinsky 1971.

          I’ll send you a cookie If you can tell us all who running that party!

          • SJO,
            Well he certainly pays for the strings they pull, he wasn’t the guy I was thinking of.
            By the way that’s a great list of “Who’s Who” in the occupy left handed wingnut world, some even I haven’t heard of yet.
            I give you a cookie anyway.
            Is Mrs Field still making cookies?

    • Science today recognises that there are 50 genes not related to those on our sex chromosomes which play a role in determining our sex. Also the great variance we find among humans and their sex chromosomes muddies the waters significantly for those, generally ignorant haters, who want to raise the “XX XY furfie” in order to make a lame point. So XX and XY chromosomes are no longer considered such valid markers of sex in learned circles. But you confuse sex and gender. Sex is developed early in foetal development. The architecture of our brain which determines our gender perception takes place later in our foetal development and is a chemical and hormonal process. There’s never a perfect match of sex and gender but we mostly don’t notice this in our society. However, 4% of the time there is a significant enough mismatch that it’s very noticeable and we call people with such a mismatch “transgender”.

      The problem is not what is between the transgender person’s ears. Rather, the only problem is what’s between ignorant people’s ears. I hope “Empty Gun” that you’re a little more enlightened now.

      There has never been one reliable report from anywhere of a transgender person causing an upset when using their gender appropriate bathroom. It’s time for people who live in civilised nations like you, Empty, to drop their ridiculous inabilities to deal with something as simple as difference and get on with minding their own business.

  2. this is another PC rigged term meant to kindly BS people into thinking that this is “normal” and therefor a right. I have nothing against anyone who wants to dress up and modify their appearance and behavior. But that’s all it is – modification. – like lipstick, piercing, implants, hair styling, clothing or “packing” (a fake phallus worn by women in tight jeans to lend appearance of a hung guy)- it is nothing more that modifying the APPEARANCE of the gender what your DNA already defines you as.

    This is the kind of PC loonie-ism that is driving mainstream Americans to give closer consideration to candidates like Trump.

  3. Let’s examine the legitimacy of the claim contained in the article above, that transgender people are “simply those born as one sex, but feel deeply and consistently that their gender identity is different.”

    Since gender ambiguity is rare in newborns it would be fair to say that one’s physical gender is unmistakable and consistent from birth, regardless of how one’s gender-related thoughts or feelings might subsequently develop. And because normal humans have thoughts and feelings compatible with their physical gender, we are presented with a huge sample size of what it really means for a person to “feel deeply and consistently” about his or her gender identity. And from that enormous sample size can be deduced what that means from a behavioral standpoint.

    Though it may be common for people, from adolescence on, to experience insecurity and angst about how they fit in with others of their gender, even the most troubled and frustrated of them (whether heterosexual or homosexual) maintain deep and consistent feelings about their gender identity. Closeted homosexuals, even those with some uncertainty regarding their sexual preferences, possess a certainty about their gender no different than do heterosexuals. Men, whether gay or straight, don’t fancy giving up their gear.

    Not so with transgenders, who mutilate the very notion of consistency in nearly every facet of their lives. Despite the exhaustive efforts of irresponsible politicians and an unprofessional media, the evidence reveals that many transgenders regret transitioning and desire to re-identify with their birth gender. How many of them experience this regret, or suffer devastating mental illness, or commit suicide is hard to say for two reasons: the population itself is so unstable it frustrates responsible study; and the frenzied efforts of trans-activists (in the community and media) suppresses unwanted data.

    But no matter what the detransition percentage, the fact of the matter is its mere existence disproves the very claim that underlies the legitimacy of transgender as a distinct identity. Because its inclusion as a unique group is based on its members identifying as a gender opposite that of their birth, the existence of a level of behavioral inconsistency and psychological uncertainty non-existant in normal people makes clear that what we are really dealing with is a collection of desperate people with dissimilar mental issues who’ve sought a similar form of solace. Rather than a credible gender identity, it seems that transgender is really just a readily available self-treatment for the deeply disturbed.

    For the evidence supporting this look no further than the group itself, which claims as members those who’ve undergone surgery and hormonal treatment, those still intact but on hormones, those thinking about taking hormones or having surgery, those living normal lives who’ve experienced a transgender epiphany, and, presumably, any psychotically narcissistic male who feels emotionally smothered by his environment (Bruce Jenner). True to its origins as a politically-manufactured identity group, being transgendered requires of one nothing of substance but grants the claimant immediate and unqualified entitlement to government-sanctioned special treatment. (Guys, job security is as close as the nearest cosmetics counter; for you ladies, the fashion department at Mel Cottens.)

    People who turn to a life of drink due to sadness, failure, or an innate susceptibility are never identified as having been born with a deep and consistent desire to get drunk, nor are people who jump off bridges ever described as having been born with a desire to die, yet, due to political correctness, we are now mandated to consider men who’ve previously fathered families, women who’ve wed men and borne children, and blatantly impaired kids with undeveloped brains, all as legitimate claimants to a social identity that is based on a deep and consistent awareness that their gender identity is different (albeit with a before and after “oops” clause).

    Could anything be more insane? Maybe only those who buy into this nonsense.

    http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/19/transgender-regret-is-real-even-if-the-media-tell-you-otherwise/

    http://thefederalist.com/2014/11/11/trouble-in-transtopia-murmurs-of-sex-change-regret/

    (3rd attempt to post)

  4. Well, lookie here!

    > Working Families Party: Created in 1998 to help push the Democratic Party toward the left, this front group for the Soros-funded ACORN functions as a political party that promotes ACORN-friendly candidates.

    So, is this the connection between Cindy Chavez and the George Soros gravy train?

  5. Editor,

    Confirm my reply, which I’ve uploaded three time and which contains not a single obscenity, is being censored. If so, a reason would be appreciated.

  6. Fantastic news! This is government getting things right, creating a more inclusive society which moves beyond the hatred of those who are ignorant and uneducated and serving the community for the betterment of all.

    • Well Miss/Mr Ricki,

      You must be a hater, you just told me to shut up and mind my own business. That doesn’t work here!

      Then you go on to explain 50 ways to muddy the waters and be something other than male or female, and that we the other 97.5% are ignorant because XX or XY or XXY chromosomes are no longer valid as a predictor of male or female gender or sex.

      Next you have tried to switch the argument around, the problem is not the oddity but the norm, this is left think created to disrupt normal society into thinking it doing something wrong, “Rules for Radicals” stuff that you were indoctrinated into in “Government Schools” or by teachers that came from them.

      People that think like you have made this our businesses, because of “Other Gender” law suits that threaten everyone in your altered little minds. You made it our business when we got sued for not catering to behavior not tolerated by our religion.You made it our business when you demand that we tolerate your religion.

      I suppose most mental health issues are some sort of chemical imbalance in the brain. The pharmaceutical industry has spent billions providing new chemicals for doctors to proscribe to get those genes functioning properly.
      Hopefully one day that same industry will have two little magic pills that will get us back to just two genders.

      In the mean time the rest of us are left guessing as to what you want to be this week, and which bathrooms we need to put in our schools His, Hers, and Others should be more than enough. “All” is just not going to cut it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *