TS/TV/CD/LGBT News and opinion from around the world for Friday June 11th 2010

As detailed in the EEOC's lawsuit, the motorcycle shop refused to allow Dean to work as a mechanic, despite her being trained to repair Harleys, and hired less qualified men. After Dean filed an EEOC sex discrimination charge against Dudley Perkins in February 2006, the company fired her two months later in April of that year.

A group of out-of-town protesters made a serious miscalculation when they came to Logan last month to protest a proposed anti-discrimination law for gays.

The proposed ordinance was hanging by a thread among divided members of the Municipal Council. But after the loud, confrontational demonstrations by the Sandy-based group calling itself “America Forever,” the measure easily passed.

Asked about his experience as an openly gay senior executive in Asia, Sturdy said: "It has been a positive experience. Our employees are still in the process of figuring out how to deal with it, but it has never been an issue and BNY Mellon is extremely supportive."

To the newspaper's credit, at least they used the correct female pronoun for Gordon. But it's clear they focused on Gordon's transgender identity to dramatize an otherwise mundane story. And we should be outraged, right? Well, it depends on how you look at it.

Why are transgender people unfairly singled out for job discrimination? In part it is because the current DSM has its own bias against transgender people. As opposed to the other diagnoses, individuals who successfully resolve their gender incongruence, through a gender transition or otherwise, are still considered mentally ill. This bias is removed in the draft of the next version of the DSM due in 2012.

Kern gained national attention by trying to blame the economic problems of the nation on moral decline. In 2008, Kern stated: “I’m not gay-bashing. But according to God’s word that is not the right kind of lifestyle. Studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades. It is not a lifestyle that is good for this nation.”

"To say that political messages — or at least political messages that are seen by certain people as unrelated to queer issues — shouldn't be present, I think, is only considering the recent history of Pride," says Warren. "The corporatization of Pride has led to this idea. Pride in general is a venue at which we can actually raise our voice and say that as a queer community this is something that concerns us."

Interpride is not the first group to contradict part of the Pride Toronto censorship resolution.

The new policy will require a letter from the applicant's physician attesting to the "appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition." A model letter will be included with the policy to assist physicians in writing the letter. "Appropriate clinical treatment" is left undefined in the policy, and what is appropriate in particular cases will be decided within the doctor-patient relationship.