Transgendered Folk Marginalized Again

H/T to Mimi for the inspiration:

Jennifer Gale was a homeless transgender activist found dead on the streets of Austin Texas in December 2008.


The story of her sad demise here from
the Austin press:

Austin icon and perennial mayoral candidate Jennifer Gale was found dead Wednesday morning.

Gale was known as a quirky Austin personality. She ran for mayor several times, and had already filed paperwork in the 2009 race.

Gale’s body was found outside the First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Avenue, which is north of the UT campus between Guadalupe Street and Speedway Street. Firefighters received a call around 7:30 a.m., and crews preformed CPR for 30 to 45 minutes without any response.

Austin EMS Director Ernie Rodriquez said Gale died from cardiac arrest. While they are not certain, EMS workers believe cold may have been a contributing factor.

The transgendered formerly homeless marine last sought the mayoral seat in 2006, where, according to City records, she gained 6.7 percent of the vote.

See this link for story of how marginalized transgender people are: The television stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul completely missed the transgender angle where the offensive "flyer" stated the blood drive was to be held at the "Jennifer Gale Church."

planetransgender: "Jennifer Gale" blood drive Twin Cities Criminal Defames Gay and Transexual people

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

National science group boycotts Louisiana to Protest "Science" Education Act

Part 3 in series: Jindal, What's up with That?

Jindal's catering to Ultra Right for political gain hurts Louisiana.

by Bill Barrow, The Times Picayune

Monday February 16, 2009

BATON ROUGE -- A national organization of scientists has informed Gov. Bobby Jindal it will not hold its annual convention in Louisiana as long as the recently adopted Science Education Act remains on the books. See the letter HERE.

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology told Jindal in a recent letter that its executive committee chose Salt Lake City for its 2011 convention over New Orleans "in large part" because of the legislation. Satterlie's letter is posted on the group's Web site under the headline: "No Thanks, New Orleans."

"That's too bad," Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said of the group's decision. "New Orleans is a first-class city for a convention." Plotkin said the governor did not respond to Satterlie's letter.

Jindal signed the law last year, agreeing with its supporters that science teachers need wider latitude to use supplemental materials for lessons on topics such as evolutionary biology, global warming and cloning.

State teachers unions have said educators already are free to use materials other than text books, though a handful of students testified before lawmakers that teachers are sometimes unsure of how to handle questions that challenge established scientific theories, particularly evolution.

Many science groups, both in Louisiana and nationally, urged the governor to veto the bill. They cast the act, sponsored by Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, as a back-door attempt to allow Judeo-Chrisitan creation theology or "intelligent design" -- the concept that biological life forms are the result of an intelligent being -- to be taught as part of science class.

The act allows local school boards to approve supplemental materials as part of its curriculum. The state school board retains power under the law to bar specific materials, either on its own or after a public hearing on a citizen complaint about specific texts approved at the local level.

"It is the firm opinion of SICB's leadership that this law undermines the integrity of science and science education in Louisiana," Richard Satterlie, president of the society, wrote to Jindal.

According to Satterlie, New Orleans "has been a popular venue" for the the 2,300-member organization in the past. Satterlie told Jindal that the 2009 meeting brought more than 1,850 scientists and graduate students to Boston for five days last month.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||