LGBT Day at Canton Senior Center

Canton Senior Center

40 Dyer Avenue, Canton CT 06019

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

10AM-3PM

Come out and Connect! ~ Feel free to link this webpage!

LGBT elders and allies from all Connecticut towns are welcome

Join us & please, Help Spread the Word

A Day of Empowerment, Education & Fun

Canton Senior Center

40 Dyer Avenue, Canton CT 06019

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

10AM-3PM

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS

• 10:00-11:30 AM: Wii Nintendo Bowling & Bean Bag Game Competition 
• 10:00-11:30 AM: Mandala Workshop: “Knowing & Being True to Your Authentic Self” theme. (Max. 15 participants) Inspired by You; Lead by Donna Gentile 
• 11:00-1:00 PM: Free Blood Pressure Readings & Health/Wellness Resources Available (Thanks  to the Farmington Valley, VN  & the Farmington Valley, Health District))
• 11:30-1:00 PM: Free BRUNCH available to the Attendees & Presenter
• 1:00-2:30 PM: Mandala Workshop: “Knowing & Being True to Your Authentic Self” theme. (Max. 15 participants)
• 1:00-2:00 PM: Better Sex In Later Years? It Can Be a Reality”:  Engaging Workshop lead by Justine Ginsberg, RN, BSN, Community Health Coordinator, complete with literature, & resources on how to embrace & enhance your sex life. Freebies included. 
• 1:00-2:00 PM: Wii Bowling, cards  & Bean Bag Game & Puzzles
• 2:00-3:00 PM: Belly Dancing Demonstration & Lesson with Kalia of Kalia Belly Dance (CT)
• 2:00-3:00 PM: Educational & Informative Workshop: Estate Planning in & outside of domestic partnership or marriage; Protecting Assets & long term Planning Workshop with Financial Advisor Diane Fisher & Expert on Senior Living Options Lori Riley

Reserve Your Spot for the day by Calling 860.693.5811 x6

Let us know if you need any special accommodations, including for food!

RSVP by Monday, December 8th!

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Hartford:
Transgender Day of Remembrance
COMMUNITY ** COMPASSION ** HOPE
7:00pm Friday November 20, 2015
To be held at the Metropolitan Community Church of Hartford 155 Wyllys Street, Hartford CT 06106
(Parish House, Church of the Good Shepherd, entrance in the back)
Office: (860)724-4605

Springfield MA:
UniTy of the Pioneer Valley
Thursday November 12, 6:30pm 3300 Main St Springfield.

Westport:
The Unitarian Church in Westport
WHEN
November 20, 2015 at 7pm - 8pm
WHERE
The Unitarian Church of Westport
10 Lyons Plains Rd
Westport, CT 06880
United States
CONTACT
Arnela Ten Meer · nelaya21@gmail.com

Niantic:
OutCT has organized a special program in honor/memory of the transgender community. Everyone is welcome!
Friday, November 20, 2015
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Niantic Community Church
170 Pennsylvania Avenue
Niantic, CT

Granby:
On Friday, November 20, First Church will commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance, beginning with a brief worship service at 6pm in the sanctuary and then continuing with informal Q&A in Cook Hall over a baked potato buffet. The event is open to all who seek to learn about this important topic.
Where:
219 North Granby Road
Granby. CT 06035

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 6 of 6 – Signing)

It was a great honor that CTAC was invited to signing of the bill.

After the ceremony we were handed the signed copy of the law and a pen that he used to sign the bill, which we will donate to the LGBT collection at the Elihu Burritt Library on the campus of Central Connecticut State University.

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 5 of 6 – The Senate)

Reprinted from Diana’s Little Corner In The Nutmeg State by permission

I have been monitoring my emails and then on June 1, I received an email from our lobbyist saying we were on today’s Senate calendar, so I started monitoring CT-N Senate telecast. All day long I listen to classical music (that is what CT-N plays when the Senate is out of session). Then around 3:30 I heard the Senate called to order…RATS! I was just heading out the door to go to the local NBC station to comment on the Craitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair article.

When I got home the message light was blinking with a message from my state senator’s aide, I had called and emailed her asking her to bring the bill up for a vote in the Senate. The message said that the bill was just being heard in the Senate. I looked at the timestamp of the voice message and it was twenty minutes ago. So I turned on CT-N and another bill was now being heard.

I checked my email and there were emails from out lobbyist and the other members of the coalition all congratulating and thanking Betty Gallo. The bill had passed not ten minutes ago!

CT-N has a rewind feature so I rewound it about a half hour and watched the short debate.

Senator Gerratana (D) from the 6th District from my district read the bill and Senator Markley (R) from the 16th asked a question about “other treatment clinically appropriate” and what did it mean. Sen. Gerratana replied by reading from the WPATH Standard of Care . Sen. Markley then asked if there were any other New England state that have a similar law, Sen. Gerratana replied saying yes, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Sen. Witkos (R) from the 8th District asked if we would have to go through Probate Court to change our birth certificate, Sen. Gerratana said no, only if it was for an out of state birth certificate. Sen. Witkos then asked some medical procedure questions and it was fun watching Sen. Witkos and Sen. Gerratana discussing genital on the floor of the Senate.

The bill was then voted on… Yea 32, Nay 3, and absent and not voting 1

The Hartford Courant said this about the floor debate,

Sen. Terry Gerratana, the co-chairwoman of the legislature's public health committee, said the bill is indicative of an evolving understanding of gender transformation. "Standards of care change and the bill reflects ... the best standard of care is regarding gender change,'' the New Britain Democrat said.

Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington, was among the bipartisan majority backing the measure. "I often feel like I lack the expertise to make decisions on subjects like this," he said. "However in light of the information I've received, and the testimony that we heard at the community level, I'm prepared to support the bill as it stands."

In a Wall Street Journal article Sen. Markley is quoted,

“We are talking about making changes to things which have been established by law and custom for a long, long time,” said state Sen. Joe Markley. In an interview last week, the Republican lawmaker said he was reluctant to support the legislation but voted in favor of it Monday. “It becomes a matter of where you draw the line. I don’t know where medically, psychologically, where that line should be.”

Governor Malloy said that he will sign the bill and it will take effect on October 1st

No one person can pass legislation, it takes a coalition and our coalition members (In alphabetical order) were…

American Civil Liberties Union of CT (ACLU)
CT TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC)
CT Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF)
Equality Federation
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
True Colors

And many thanks to Rachel and also the ACLU for providing our lobbyist Betty Gallo of Gallo & Robinson LLC.

Part 6 will be on my thought on working on this legislation...

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 4 of 6 – The House)

Reprinted from Diana’s Little Corner In The Nutmeg State by permission

Now the waiting begins, when would our bill get voted on in the House, the days ticked by and I worried that it was going to be like 2009 when the bill came up for a vote on the last day of the session and the Republicans talked the bill to death. Would history repeat itself?

Then on the night of the 14th just before I went out to a LGBT Dinner and Movie at a the Simsbury Senior Center I received an email from our lobbyist, Betty Gallo saying that our bill will to be heard that night. I was torn between going to the dinner or rushing up to the capitol but since I was one of the people who suggested the senior centers have LGBT night I figured I should go to the dinner. However, I kept on eye on my email. Then at 9:04 came this brief email... "Debate begins in the House." and I held my breath.

That was followed by this email at 9:13, “Bill passed 126-18” then came all the emails from all those who worked on the bill, we were ecstatic. The bipartisan support continued in the House.

The CT Mirror reported,

An easier path to new ID for transgender persons
By: Mark Pazniokas
May 14, 2015

With little debate, the House of Representatives voted 126 to 18 Thursday night for legislation easing the way for transgender people to legally change their sex on birth certificates, drivers’ licenses and other forms of identification in Connecticut.
[…]
“It affects a very small group of people, but it makes a huge difference in their lives,” said Betty Gallo, a long-time lobbyist on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

The Hartford Courant wrote,

"There are some individuals who cannot have the surgery,'' said Rep. Matt Ritter, co-chairman of the legislature's public health committee, which has jurisdiction over birth certificates and other vital records.

"There are medical reasons. Sometimes there are financial implications,'' Ritter said. "So we've created a new mechanism to allow one to amend their original birth certificate with conditions."

The transcripts of the House session showed that the discussion and vote lasted less than nine minutes.

Now the bill moves on to the Senate.

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 3 of 6 – Public Health Committee)

Reprinted from Diana’s Little Corner of the Nutmeg State by permission.

Our strategy was basically the same as the defense against the insurance bill but in reverse. We only wanted a few people to testify on behalf of the bill, we wanted healthcare providers, a lawyer, and members of the trans community speak for the bill. We knew that the bill had the support of the governor’s office and the Democrat leadership in the legislature. What we didn’t know was what the opposition would do, we want to keep everything low key and not have a lobby day or anything like that, we figured the less talk about the bill the easier it would sail through the legislature. Because there are many ways to defeat a bill besides voting, like talking it to death like they did in the House for the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill in 2007.

We also feared some might happen like it did in Colorado, according to the Colorado Independent,

When it was Norton’s turn to testify, he explained that he was representing a group called Colorado Family Action, one of 38 family groups across the nation tied to Colorado Springs-based evangelical empire Focus on the Family.
[…]
“The testimony here today doesn’t justify a wholesale change to the law,” he said. “The members of the General Assembly [may] make it more likely that [the people of Colorado] will be subject to fraudulent activity.” He referred to an estate case in Texas in which Thomas Araguz claimed to have never been told that his wife had been born a boy. After Araguz died, his mother sued to have the marriage declared void.

The case is ongoing.

“It is not just fraudulent inducements to marry that may be more likely to occur,” he explained.

The day of the committee hearing on the bill I was at home waiting for a call to testify and when I got the call I must have set a record to drive from my home to Hartford. There were only about six of us to testify for the bill and no one testified against it and the committee received about eighteen written testimonies for the bill, all of them favorable.

The committee vote amazed me, the vote didn't go anyway I expected...

Total voting: 25, Yea: 23, Nay: 2, Abstain: 0, Absent/Not voting: 3

What that meant was that the bill has strong bipartisan support because eleven of the committee members are Republican. Before the vote we heard that the Republicans were going to introduce an amendment and to get the word out to our organizations to have people call or email the committee members to vote for the bill.

The minutes from the committee shows that there was only a positive discussion about the bill,

Senator Gerratana asked for a motion to JFS* to the Floor H.B. No. 7006 (RAISED) An Act Concerning Birth Certificate Amendments.

A motion was made by Representative Ritter and seconded by Representative Riley.

Representative Ritter explained that current law prohibits sex designation to be changed on birth certificates unless the individual undergoes a gender reassignment surgery. This bill will allow a sex designation to be changed on birth certificates with a notarized affidavit from a licensed physician, APRN, or psychologist stating that the person has undergone surgical, hormonal, or other appropriate treatment.

Representative Perillo asked if this legislation provides any advantages given to an individual.

Representative Ritter referred to testimony submitted to the committee which addressed the awkwardness for individuals who apply for employment whereas birth certificates are required for the application process.

Representative Srinivasan asked for clarification of other clinically approved treatments as written in the bill.

Representative Ritter acknowledged that there have been questions on this term from both sides of the aisle and a definition may be beneficial as the bill moves forward in the House.

Representative Srinivasan asked if this bill restricts a person who changes their gender and then decides to change back.

Representative Ritter pointed to line 40 in the bill which identifies the required written statement that an applicant's gender differs from the sex designated on the original birth certificate.
Representative Zoni asked if there are age restrictions for gender change.

Representative Ritter explained that there are no major restrictions under Title VII.

The next stop is the House.

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 2 of 6 – Side Tracked)

Reprinted from Diana’s Little Corner of the Nutmeg State by permission.

While we were waiting for the bill to be introduced in the Public Health Committee, we received word that in the Insurance and Real Estate committee a bill was introduced to take away our insurance coverage. The bill was HB5193 was introduced by a Republican,

AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:That title 38a of the general statutes be amended to specify that health insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall not be required to provide coverage for gender reassignment surgery or related surgical expenses.
Statement of Purpose:To specify that health insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall not be required to provide coverage for gender reassignment surgery or related surgical expenses.

In his testimony Rep. Sampson R-Wolcott said in part,

I initially proposed this bill in response to bulletin IC-37 released by the State of Connecticut Insurance Department December 19, 2013 which mandated entities issuing individual and group health insurance to provide certain types of coverage for gender reassignment surgery. I find the a bold action disconcerting because it is the duty of the State of Connecticut General Assembly to make the determination of what health insurance coverage should be mandated and not the Insurance Department. It is also my sincere belief that this issue must be properly vetted through the legislative process.

Notwithstanding the concerns addresses above, this policy raises a whole host of issues that deserve to be heard and reviewed to determine is this should remain the law in our state. For instance, many respected medical professionals claim that this procedure is barbaric and that the established treatment for gender dysphoria is not gender reassignment surgery but rather some type of counseling and/or mental health treatment. We must also consider how to address the members of the medical community who find gender reassignment surgery objectionable based on their Hippocratic Oath and/or religious beliefs.

I have already posted my thoughts on the bill on my blog so I do not want to reiterate them again.

Upon hearing about the bill the coalition discussed our strategy to block the bill. We knew that there wasn’t enough votes to pass the bill out of committee but we also knew we had to put up a defense against the bill. We settled on having healthcare providers, a lawyer, and members of the trans community speak against the bill.

During the hearing there was no one who spoke in favor of the bill and we were joined by two other people who spoke against the bill, a LCSW who works with trans clients and a retired RN whose son is trans. [There were a number of people who submitted written testimony opposing the bill.] When the committee got to the bill, the bill sponsor got up and left the room.

The JF Deadline* came and went with no vote on the bill so it died in committee but we had to be vigilant to make sure it wasn’t added as an amendment later on in the session.

*JF DEADLINE
The date by which each committee must report out bills or resolutions for further consideration by other committees or the full General Assembly. The committee deadlines are listed in the Joint Rules and all reports must be submitted to the Legislative Commissioners' Office by 5:00 p.m. on the dates listed.

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates (Part 1 of 6 – The Beginning)

Today the law to change your birth certificate without needing to have surgery went into effect. CTAC was one of the organizations that lead the effort to pass the law. Here is the history of how the coalition came together to pass the law.

Reprinted from Diana’s Little Corner of the Nutmeg State by permission.

Diana is the Executive Director of CTAC

For the next six days I will be writing about the history of bill H.B.7006 An Act Concerning Birth Certificates.

For me it all started at Frist Event in Massachusetts in 2014, I was talking to Mara Keisling, the Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality and the topic of birth certificates came up. We both agreed that it was worth a try in Connecticut and she said that if we decided to propose the legislation contact NCTE and they could help.

In August I posted something about needing to change the birth certificates law in Connecticut on my Facebook page and Robin from True Colors thought it was a good idea. We exchanged emails and I met with her intern in early September to hash out our thoughts. At our next meeting we contacted NCTE and talked about getting started on the bill, it was decided to bring in other organizations into the discussion.

So late in September I contacted many of the core organizations that worked on the anti-discrimination legislation back in 2011. It seems like everyone had the same idea, it was time for the legislation.

We then had our first meeting at the lobbyist office in November and at the meeting we had people from True Colors, GLAD, ACLU, Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), Equality Federation, and I represented CTAC and on the phone were Planned Parenthood and NCTE.

At the meeting we discussed various strategies to chance the law on birth certificate; the three options that we discussed were to make the change by regulation, add an amendment to an existing bill, or have a stand along bill. Each option had its own drawbacks; the regulation was the easiest but also the easiest to change back by another governor, an amendment would also be risky because it could be dropped from a bill as easy as it can be added to a bill and the last option was to pass a new law and that would be the hardest to do.

We also discussed how to make sure that death certificates reflect the proper gender.

At the next meeting in December we were joined by a professor from Quinnipiac University School of Law who is on the Board of Directors at CWEALF. At the meeting the lawyer from GLAD provided a rough draft of the proposed law and NCTE provided a draft of the talking point for the bill. Also the lawyers from GLAD and NCTE discussed if any changes were need for making sure that the death certificates listed the correct gender and the consensus was that the death certificate should track the birth certificate. Therefore no changes need to be made.

In addition, the governor’s office was in favor of the bill. The Department of Public Health had some concerns but eventually went along with the proposed changes to the bill.

Now all we had to do was wait for the session to begin.

###################

GLAD has a birth certificate tool kit to help you with the paperwork.

CTAC At Work

In partnership with HUD Connecticut, CT Fair Housing, CT TransAdvocacy and AIDS-CT,

Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness presents:

 Safe Shelter and Fair Housing for Transgender Individuals

Where/When: 
North and Southeastern CT Area:
September 21st, 2015
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Middletown/Meriden/Wallingford Area:
September 30th, 2015
9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Free training | Lunch will NOT be served.

Description:
This training will instruct executive directors, project coordinators, and frontline staff on how to make housing and shelter programs safe and inclusive for transgender individuals. This training will include information about HUD guidelines, gender identity and expression, and best practices for serving LGBTQAI individuals.

Note: This training will be repeated for other regions of the state, location and dates TBA.

CTAC at Work - Training

Yesterday morning CTAC along with AIDS Connecticut (ACT), the CT Coalition to End Homelessness, the CT Fair Housing Center, and HUD did training down in southeastern Connecticut to homeless shelter managers and some staff on how to make shelters more trans inclusive. The two hour training covers, the state and federal laws, culture competency and how to integrate the shelters. The presentation was then followed by a Q&A session.

The training is part of an ongoing project to train homeless shelters to be inclusive of trans residents.

A New Law Goes Into Effect…

On October 1^st we will be able to change our birth certificates without surgery with a letter from our doctors. CTAC is proud to co-sponsor a webinar with GLAD and other trans organizations around New England.

2015 U.S. Trans Survey

If you identify as trans, genderqueer, or non-binary, please set aside time to complete the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey.

NCTE need your help in getting the most diverse sample yet in order to better understand what our community needs, and how our community has changed over the past few years. Your voice matters, and we’re waiting to hear your story.

If you know a trans person who doesn't have access to the internet help them take the survey. We need to count all trans people not just the ones who have computers.

Take the survey here.

Voice Training

The University of Connecticut has a voice training program for trans people...

In A Word: Transgender Transition Through Speech
June 29, 2015
By: Sheila Foran & Bret Eckhardt

Communication happens in a gesture. A laugh. A choice of phrasing. Things that most of us never think about. But for individuals transitioning from one gender to another, speaking and acting in a way that supports their new identity can seem like a daunting challenge.

That’s where the speech-language pathologists at the University of Connecticut’s Speech and Hearing Clinic enter the picture.
[...]
Individuals seeking to adopt speech that sounds more feminine may feel particularly challenged, says Chase [Wendy Chase, clinic director]. The transition of male to female is complicated by biology. During puberty, a male’s larynx, or voice box, expands and the vocal cords become thicker and longer, which results in a deeper sound. Currently there is no medically approved intervention that can reduce the size of a person’s voice box.

Speech-language pathologists at the clinic help male to female clients pay particular attention to the rate of vibration of their vocal chords – commonly referred to as pitch – as well as all the other aspects of vocal retraining that they’ll need to feel successful, says Chase.

CTAC At Work – Legislative

CTAC has a long history of legislative victories.

CTAC has worked with coalitions to help pass the Hate Crime legislation in 2004, in 2011 the Anti-Discrimination legislation, and in 2015 we again worked with the coalition to pass the Birth Certificate bill that will go into effect on October 1^st.

This year we also worked with the coalition members to defeat a bill that would have stripped us of our insurance coverage. Bill H.B. 5193 stated purpose was,

…health insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall not be required to provide coverage for gender reassignment surgery or related surgical expenses.

We will continue supporting legislation that helps and work against bills that are counter to the transgender community.

CTAC Press Release

Yesterday with the signing by the governor Connecticut joined the ranks of seven other states, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, California, Washington, and Oregon and Washington D.C. to be able to change our birth certificate without surgery. On October 1^st Public Act 15-132 will go into effect, the law will allow transgender people to change the gender designation on their birth certificates with a notarized statement from their physician or psychologist attesting to the fact that they have transitioned. making it the same way that you can change your gender on Social Security, passports, and diver license.

The new law also allows those born in another state to change their birth certificate with a Probate Court order if their birth state permits it to be changed.

The new law is PA 15-132 An Act Concerning Birth Certificate; the bill passed the Public Health Committee, the House, and the Senate with bipartisan support. The vote was of 126-18 in the House and 32-3 in the Senate.

Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition was a member of the coalition that worked to pass this legislation. The other members of the coalition were the American Civil Liberties Union CT (ACLU CT), Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Planned Parenthood Southern New England, Quinnipiac University School of Law Civil Justice Clinic, True Colors, and the UConn Rainbow Center. The ACLU CT graciously provided their lobbyist Betty Gallo of Gallo & Robinson, LLC.

This legislation is CTAC's latest victory in the string legislative actions that began with the passage of the Hate Crime bill in 2004, the passage of the gender identity and expression non-discrimination legislation in 2011, and now the birth certificate bill in 2015.

CTAC At Work - Elder Services

One of the areas that CTAC is doing work in is transgender elder care. We are members of LGBT Aging Advocacy a group of state agencies, non-profits, and senior centers that are working to train nursing homes, senior centers, and home care provides on LGBT care.

We went down to New York City today to the SAGE senior center to get a better understanding of the needs of the senior LGBT community and to learn what programs work. Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is organization that does training and works to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

Three senior centers in Connecticut have a LGBT night one night a month on a rotating schedule and will be expanded to a total of five centers in the fall.

CTAC At Work - Homelessness

HUD, CT Coalition to End Homelessness, AIDS CT, and the CT Fair Housing Center and CTAC gave a workshop at the 2015 Annual Training Institute (ATI) conference about integrating shelters for trans people. The 75 minute workshop reviewed the HUD policy on sheltering transgender clients, a trans man discussed his homeless experiences, and we did a short cultural competency training. That was followed by a session on the nuts and bolts of how to make shelters trans friendly with in-take forms, staff training, and of course what to do about bathrooms and showers and lastly we review the state law on discrimination.

In addition, with our partners we are training homeless shelters staff around the state we are training staff at shelters around the state. We will also be training Coordinated Access Network (CAN) staff.

When you call 211 for housing information you are accessing CAN. CAN serves as the gateway to the resources for shelter housing, permanent housing, rental or utility assistance or specialized services for other crises.

CTAC At Work - Reseach

CTAC is a member of the Community Research Alliance, as group of no-profits that help researchers design research projects and help to recruit people who want to take part in the research. At a meeting recently a researcher was discussing his project to study depression in the elderly and we suggested adding a more demographic question and changing one question.

CTAC suggested changing the question that asked for your gender from “What is your gender?” to “What was your gender assigned at birth?” and adding “What is the gender identity?”

By making those changes their study will also be able to look to see how depression affects the elderly transgender community. In addition, being a member of the alliance we can help recruit trans people for the study.

ACLU Press Release on the Birth Certificate Bill

Connecticut Passes Transgender Rights Bill

Bill removes barriers to changing gender on birth certificate and makes Connecticut a national leader on transgender rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2015

CONTACT: Patrick Gallahue, 860.471.8468, 860.992.7645, pgallahue@acluct.org

The ACLU of Connecticut applauds the passage of a bill that will enable transgender people to change their birth certificate to the appropriate gender without invasive requirements.

Stephen Glassman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said, “This is the arc of history bending toward justice for transgender people. As one of the earliest states to recognize and affirm gender identity and expression in our laws, we have now made this important additional step toward recognizing people as they self-identify with regard to their gender.”

Connecticut law previously included a state Department of Health requirement that people show proof of surgery before they were able to change the gender market on their birth certificate. This burdensome condition denied recognition to numerous people as well as those who could not afford such a procedure.

The new bill empowers healthcare providers with the ability to make a recommendation as to whether a person’s birth certificate should be corrected. The criteria could include "surgical, hormonal, or other treatment appropriate to the individual for the purpose of gender transition.”

Glassman said, “This modernizes our outdated laws and makes Connecticut a national leader once again in an evolving understanding of transgender rights.”

The ACLU of Connecticut made a recommendation to update birth certificate amendment standards in partnership with a coalition of groups including Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, True Colors, Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, and others.

H.B. No. 7006 passed by a vote of 32-3 in the Senate and 126-18 in the House.

Patrick Gallahue
Communications Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut
330 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06106

NCTE Blog on CT Birth Certificate Bill

Connecticut Assembly Approves Birth Certificate Modernization Bill

After a 32-to-3 vote in the Senate yesterday, Connecticut’s General Assembly sent House Bill 7006 to the Governor’s desk for his signature.  When signed into law, the bill will go into effect on October 1, 2015 and make Connecticut the 8th state to modernize birth certificate access (joining CA, MD, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA, and DC).  Similar legislation is currently on the governor’s desk in Hawaii.

Current law in Connecticut requires a person wishing to change the gender marker on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity to show proof of gender affirmation surgery.  HB 7006 removes this surgery requirement and instead requires a written statement from a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or psychologist attesting that the person applying for a gender marker change has “undergone surgical, hormonal or other treatment clinically appropriate for the applicant for the purpose of gender transition.”  In so doing, the Connecticut state legislature removed a significant barrier to accurate birth certificates that surgical requirements impose on transgender people who cannot or do not want to  undergo such surgeries.

Connecticut’s bill is part of a larger trend of removing unnecessary and restrictive barriers, such as surgical and court order requirements, to changing the gender marker on identity documents.  In addition to recent state-level developments (such as last week’s victory in Maryland and pending victory in Hawai’i), the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has worked hard to successfully modernize gender marker change policies for U.S. passports, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, and Social Security records.

Being able to change one’s gender marker on legal documents is a critical issue for transgender people.  The 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that more than 40% of transgender respondents live without identification that matches their gender identity.  Inaccessible gender marker change policies pose a serious threat to the safety, health, and wellbeing of transgender people by making it more difficult for transgender people to find employment, enroll in school, vote, and apply for public assistance programs.

NCTE applauds the efforts of partner organizations who made this change possible, including the American Civil Liberties Union of CT, the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, GLAD, Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, True Colors, and many other wonderful local advocates.

If you would like assistance in updating your name or gender markers on your legal documents, the NCTE can help.  We can be reached at ncte@transequality.org.

For more information on the ID policies in your state, please consult our ID Document Center here.

Legislative Watch...

The state legislature just passed S.B. 426 “An Act Concerning Employee Online Privacy,” this bill prevents employers from checking your online accounts like Facebook.

The bill says in part...

(5) "Personal online account" means any online account that is used by an employee or applicant exclusively for personal purposes and unrelated to any business purpose of such employee's or applicant's employer or prospective employer, including, but not limited to, electronic mail, social media and retail-based Internet web sites. "Personal online account" does not include any account created, maintained, used or accessed by an employee or applicant for a business purpose of such employee's or applicant's employer or prospective employer.

This is important to transgender persons because many of us have online accounts where we discuss things about being transgender or we have accounts in our feminine/masculine names and not our legal name.

Birth Certificate Committee Vote

The vote tally on the committee vote on the Birth Certificate bill has been posted...

Total voting: 25, Yea: 23, Nay: 2, Abstain: 0, Absent/Not voting: 3

What that means is that the bill has strong bipartisan support because eleven of the committee members are Republican.

The bill allows that you can change you birth certificate without surgery, you will need the same documents that you use to change the gender on Social Security and on your passports. This morning's Hartford Courant said this about the bill,

A legislative panel is backing a change to state law that would make it easier for transgender people to obtain a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity.

The public health committee, which has jurisdiction over birth certificates and other vital record, voted Monday to back House Bill 7006, which now moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration. (The vote won't be final until later today.)

One of the Republicans on the committee had this to say about the bill,

Rep. Jason Perillo , R-Shelton, questioned whether the state should permit people to change an essential document, such as a birth certificate.
"The birth certificate is intended to represent the state of the individual at birth,'' he said. "I don't weight what I weighed when I was born and we don't go back and change my birth certificate because my weight has changed."

But in the end he voted for the bill.

Medicaid Coverage Of Gender Dysphoria

Yesterday morning we received an email from the lobbyist who is working with us on this year’s legislative agenda, she wrote…

The Regulations Review Committee unanimously approved the regulation to require Medicaid to cover treatment for Gender Dysphoria today.

That effort was started by Lambda Legal last June with inquires to the Department of Social Services asking them to review their policy on transgender health care. CTAC along with GLAD and True Colors submitted comments on the purposed regulation change.

The new regulation goes into effect in 30 days.

Know Your Rights!

When it comes to homelessness you have certain rights. A 2013 law lists the rights that you have as a homeless person.

Public Act No. 13-251Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) There is created a Homeless Person's Bill of Rights to guarantee that the rights, privacy and property of homeless persons are adequately safeguarded and protected under the laws of this state. The rights afforded homeless persons to ensure that their person, privacy and property are safeguarded and protected, as set forth in subsection (b) of this section, are available only insofar as they are implemented in accordance with other parts of the general statutes, state rules and regulations, federal law, the state Constitution and the United States Constitution. For purposes of this section, "homeless person" shall have the same meaning as in 42 USC 11302, as amended from time to time.
(b) Each homeless person in this state has the right to:
(1) Move freely in public spaces, including on public sidewalks, in public parks, on public transportation and in public buildings without harassment or intimidation from law enforcement officers in the same manner as other persons;
(2) Have equal opportunities for employment;
(3) Receive emergency medical care;
(4) Register to vote and to vote;
(5) Have personal information protected;
(6) Have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her personal property; and
(7) Receive equal treatment by state and municipal agencies.
(c) Each municipality may post in the usual location for municipal notices a notice entitled "HOMELESS PERSON'S BILL OF RIGHTS" that contains the text set forth in subsection (b) of this section.

Approved July 11, 2013

Further more, Connecticut's Non Discrimination law covers gender identity and expression in housing and public accommodation and shelter cannot discriminate again trans people. They must house a trans person in the shelter of their gender identity or expression.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a policy statement on homeless shelter for gender variant people.

Notice CPD-15-02: Appropriate Placement for Transgender Persons in Single-Sex Emergency Shelters and Other Facilities
Date Published: February 2015
Description
This Notice provides guidance to recipients and subrecipients receiving Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Continuum of Care (CoC) or Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds regarding how best to provide shelter to transgender persons in a single-sex facility. This notice also provides guidance on appropriate and inappropriate inquiries related to a potential or current client’s sex for the purposes of placing transgender persons in temporary, emergency shelters, or other facilities with shared sleeping areas or bathrooms.
Resource Links
Notice CPD-15-02: Appropriate Placement for Transgender Persons in Single-Sex Emergency Shelters and Other Facilities (PDF)

Placement of Transgender Persons in Homeless Shelters

HUD just released a notice for the placement of trans people in shelters,

Notice CPD-15-02: Appropriate Placement for Transgender Persons in Single-Sex Emergency Shelters and Other Facilities
Date Published: February 2015

Description
This Notice provides guidance to ESG recipients and subrecipients receiving Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Continuum of Care (CoC) or Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds regarding how best to provide shelter to transgender persons in a single-sex facility. This notice also provides guidance on appropriate and inappropriate inquiries related to a potential or current client’s sex for the purposes of placing transgender persons in temporary, emergency shelters or other facilities with shared sleeping areas or bathrooms.

Movie: Kumu Hina

PFLAG of Hartford is sponsoring this movie at Criterion Cinemas at Blue Back Square, 42 South Main St, West Hartford, CT

KUMU HINA
RATING: NR
GENRE: Documentary
RELEASE: 2014
DURATION: 77
Imagine a world where a little boy can grow up to be the woman of his dreams, and a young girl can rise to become a leader among men. Welcome to Kumu Hina's Hawai'i.

During a momentous year in her life in modern Honolulu, Hina Wong-Kalu, a native Hawaiian māhū, or transgender, teacher uses traditional culture to inspire a student to claim her place as leader of the school's all-male hula troupe. But despite her success as a teacher, Hina longs for love and a committed relationship. Will her marriage to a headstrong Tongan man fulfill her dreams? An incredible docu-drama that unfolds like a narrative film, KUMU HINA reveals a side of Hawai'i rarely seen on screen.

# # # # #

PFLAG Hartford is proud to initiate this Gathr event. The film looks amazing: "A transgender Native Hawaiian teacher inspires a young girl to fulfill her destiny of leading the school's male hula troupe, even as she struggles to find love and a committed relationship in her own life."