BeyondChron.org – by Tommi Avicolli-Mecca
“All of us or none of us.” That about sums up my feelings about the controversy over the exclusion of transgenders from the Congressional gay rights bill that would protect queers from discrimination in employment.
Last week, U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) pushed to delete transgender folks from the legislation. A hearing on the bill was scheduled in Congress yesterday. That hearing was postponed for two weeks, after protests were staged by transgender activists across the country. Here in San Francisco, protesters held a 24-hour vigil outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to urge her to stick with the original bill.
At this point, most queer organizations, even the more conservative Human Rights Campaign, have withdrawn support for a bill that does not include transgenders. It’s uncertain what Frank will do now.