Transition

Once again, violence was on full display. But at least this time, no guns were used. Rather, the perpetrators simply used their fists & feet to attack two women on an Atlanta subway train.

What made this even worse was that no one even bothered to help these women under attack. Everyone else was busy recording video and/or cheering on the assailants. Apparently because these women happened to be trans women, the other MARTA passengers saw this as some sort of luridly entertaining "circus".

Hate crimes against transgender Americans still occur... All too frequently. Don't believe us? Believe the official crime reports. And believe what just happened in Atlanta.

At least here in Nevada, our Legislature has taken action on matters like hate crimes and workplace discrimination. However, other parts of the nation still lack even basic consideration of transgender people's civil rights. And even to this day, we still witness epic slander, fearmongering, and hate speech used to condone discrimination, and sometimes even violence, against the trans* community.



As LGBTQ Pride Month begins today, we have a chance to examine how far we've come... And how much further we still must go to achieve full equality.

At least we have seen some progress in recent days. G-O-TEA politicians in Maryland have just failed to collect enough signatures to place a referendum on trans* civil rights on the November ballot. The US Department of Health & Human Services recently announced it overturned Medicare's ban on covering medically necessary transition related surgical procedures. And Time Magazine will feature Laverne Cox on its June 9 cover along with an extensive article on the state of trans* civil rights today.



Much progress has been made in recent days. But again, there's still so much more to do. ENDA is still not nationwide yet. License to Discriminate "Segregation Laws" are still being considered throughout the nation. Trans* Americans are still banned from open military service. And hate crimes like the brutal MARTA attack still occur all too frequently.

In recent years, we've seen a tremendous transition on LGBTQ civil rights throughout America. Marriage equality is approaching the tipping point of becoming a nationwide reality. And overall, gay & lesbian Americans are increasingly being accepted into the cultural mainstream. Still, let's remember that L & G aren't the only letters that form our community. Our nation's great transition on civil rights has come along, but it's not complete just yet.