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A Veteran Is Never An “It” Or A “Shim”

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Editor’s note:

J. Rudy Flesher is a Philadelphia based actor, blogger and college student. After a three-year detour working in health care he recently returned to The College of New Jersey to complete his B.A. in Women’s and Gender studies. He blogs (sporadically at the moment and daily when school is not in session) at The Pistol in Bed Thirteen.

You can also read Rudy’s first post here, “Twentysomething Hairless White Gay Men Who Have Time To Take Pilates 5 Days A Week.”

This is Rudy’s second piece at The New Civil Rights Movement.


Today, I was moved beyond words by Autumn Sandeen’s open letter to President Barack Obama at Pam’s House Blend, “President Obama: A Transgender Veteran Is Not An ‘Impersonator,’ ‘It,’ Or ‘Shim.” For those of you that haven’t read it, it describes her experience as a transgender retired Navy veteran arrested at Get Equal’s most recent direct action when, along with five others, she handcuffed herself to the White House fence on April 20th. She was misgendered, mocked by U.S. Marshals, and dehumanized, called “it” and “shim.”

I was, as I said, moved – moved to rage, to indignation, to a sudden urge to call and text all of my transgender family and friends, to make sure they were OK. Why? From the way Autumn was treated, to a transgender student recently attacked and had the word “it” carved into hir chest (I use the gender neutral pronoun “hir” because the victim/survivor’s gender was not noted), I fear for the incomparable amount of hatred and violence directed at my transgender, transsexual, genderqueer and gender outlaw family.

Every single one of us needs to stand with Autumn now, and see that this story doesn’t end in the queer and progressive blogosphere. No person is below the status of a full human being, deserving dignity, love, and a life free and violence and fear. No person is an “it.”

What can we do? By drawing national attention to this disgrace, we can open a dialogue about what it means to be transgender on America, and create an opportunity for education, understanding and compassion.

First:  Let’s create a blog storm that reaches the national mainstream media.  Use your blog, Twitter, Facebook, and every other place you have a voice to encourage your friends to contact media outlets and request that they pick up this story.  Copy and paste the following text into the news sites’ contact forms:

“Autumn Sandeen’s inhumane treatment at the hand of U.S. Marshals due to her transgender identity is a disgrace and cannot go unreported, lest it be forgotten, excused or dismissed. Please see her open letter to President Barrack Obama describing the incident here:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/15940/president-obama-a-transgender-veteran-is-not-impersonator-it-or-shim

and run this story.”

Choose the news station and newspaper that you read and watch the most, or more if you can!

CNN:  http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11b.html?1

MSNBC:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/

Fox News: Contacts to individual shows here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html email here:  yourcomments@foxnews.com

ABCNews http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3052660

CBS Evening News:  evening@cbsnews.com or (212) 975-3247

New York Times:  nytnews@nytimes.com or 1-888-NYT-NEWS

Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/about/chi-email-newstips,0,2569758.customform

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/about/mediagroup/la-feedback-email-form-rr,0,5493970.customform

Don’t see your station or newspaper? I found that Googling the name along with “news tips” or “contact us” got me where I needed to go.

Second: Don’t just contact these news sites.  Direct your friends, families, coworkers and neighbors to Autumn’s original piece.  Let them hear about her experience in her own words.

Third: Don’t hate, educate!  If you yourself know little to nothing about trans issues, today is the day to begin learning!  Here are a few great starting places:  The fabulous and incomparable Kate Bornstein has written both Gender Outlaw and My Gender Workbook: How To Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely. Another great start is an anthology called GENDERqUEER, which describes many, many gendered experiences. For a scholarly bent, check out The Transgender Studies Reader.

Not being transgender myself, this is the best way I’ve found to be a trans ally:  listen a lot and talk a little.  Don’t speak for people.  Say “my friend had this experience” or “actually that’s a misconception, I read that…”  And for the love of Pete, please don’t go running to the one trans guy or gal in your neighborhood for the run down on all things trans. Just like there’s no singular black, gay, or other experience, there’s no one universal trans experience. Identities are complicated by race, sexuality, class, and geographical location.

The bottom line: you don’t actually need to know anything about a person to realize that you don’t need to hate and dehumanize them! If you simply keep an open heart and mind and realize that every person deserves dignity, move to the head of the class.

You can understand someone’s experience later, but compassion starts now, today, this moment.

(image via Pam’s House Blend)

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News

Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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14 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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News

Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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16 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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19 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

By

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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