Comments | eredien: My letter in support of fuding for the SANE program/Genderqueer Fun!

eredien

My letter in support of fuding for the SANE program/Genderqueer Fun!

Nov 24, 2009 19:05

CKD wrote earlier today about his support for the SANE program. If you haven't read his blog post on it or the Boston Herald's article about the SANE program in MA, please go and read it ( Read more... )

queer, health, hunting deer, politics, gender

Comments 6

postrodent November 25 2009, 01:41:48 UTC

That is an excellent letter. And I had no idea about either of these bills... and now I think it'd probably be in my interest for me to write my rep about them.

Also, wishing you luck with your parents. You did a brave and rational thing, I hope the response is equally reasonable.

eredien November 25 2009, 02:13:53 UTC

Well, I did call her and talk to her for about 45m. I didn't get around to mentioning the email or the nickname, but we did end up having a great conversation wherein I again realized that my mother can sometimes be astonishingly reasonable. ;)

So I count it as a net win.

(To be clear: there are 3 bills and one budget-cut thing.)

friode November 25 2009, 02:37:28 UTC

IIRC, the proposed hate crimes bill takes things that are already illegal anyway, and if the victim falls into certain categories, makes the penalty stronger. IIRC, there are studies showing that longer jail terms don't actually deter crime at all. And IIRC, back when she was on the Somerville Board of Aldermen, Denise Provost was the only person who voted against the Somerville gang ordinance, and part of what she said is that no prosecutor was ever going to prosecute under that law, because it required proving that several different things were happening together, and it was just easier to prosecute any one of those things, which were each already illegal by themselves ( ... )

eredien November 25 2009, 13:20:05 UTC

IIRC, the proposed hate crimes bill takes things that are already illegal anyway, and if the victim falls into certain categories, makes the penalty stronger.

This wiki pagediscusses current state law as relates to gender. "Gender" is in there, and "Gender identity is encompassed in the terms "sex" and "disability," according to two October 2001 Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination rulings. Millett V. Luttco, MCAD No. 98-BEM-3695 (Oct. 11, 2001) and Jette v. Honey Farino Mini Market, MCAD No. 95-SEM-0421 (Oct. 11, 2001). " However, gender expression is not in the current statues. Also, gender identity would be put in explicitly, not implicitly.

The full text of the house bill is here. The full text of the senate bill is here.

IIRC, there are studies showing that longer jail terms don't actually deter crime at all.I am not sure if "more people in jail" and/or "more jail time" is ever a good way to stop a problem in the long term, esp. given the incredible incarceration rates in our country. I am also going to try to ( ... )

baphnedia November 25 2009, 04:58:49 UTC

As far as speaking with your family... in my case I waited until someone else who knows my family very well found out about what I am... which is ok, I suppose, the consequences of telling 'em when I did took a small weight off of my shoulders (which also led to my recent post)...

eredien November 25 2009, 13:32:12 UTC

I posted on the friends-locked one with some resources for you.

I already came out as bi (technically, pan-sexual or whatever the new word is, since I'm also attracted to genderqueer people and not just men/women) to my family, so I feel like coming out as genderqueer is not going to be as huge a deal. I've always been kind of a tomboy and was only sad when I felt like I could only be a woman by being "feminine." And like I said, maybe mom won't even notice it.