Net Neutrality: Who is minding our store?

FCC’s Reported Capitulation around Open Internet Protections is a Major Step Backward

“If true, this proposal is a huge step backwards and just must be stopped,” said Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner who now serves as a special adviser to Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. “If the Commission subverts the Open Internet by creating a fast lane for the 1 percent and slow lanes for the 99 percent, it would be an insult to both citizens and to the promise of the Net.”

Susan Striech, WikiCommons
Fair Use/Educational

Technologists, activists, and regular people like you have been trying to get the rest of us to pay attention to one of the most destructive efforts afoot in government today — the dismantling of the Internet as we know it, a beloved creation bestowed upon our culture that it cannot and should not be without, a method of worldwide communication, a tool of epic proportions to make the world a better place, right up there with clean air and water.

Most people know that the Internet was first developed for the Department of Defense as ARPANET, circa 1970 in order to facilitate communication between contractors and various agencies within the government for research and development purposes. (It so happens VenusPlusX Co-Founder Dan Massey was involved in this project professionally, so we were among the first to “go on line.”) Only after the Internet became available for public use, making every user an instant author, were the full dimensions of Internet potential realized. First in, pornographers, who at one point in the 80s were responsible for 50% of commercial Internet traffic. As the first generation of adults to start using the Internet, we quickly realized what the Internet meant to us personally, how it would change our lives, how we could use it to build a better future, how even the most vulnerable among us would finally have a platform to be heard in our new “town square.”

We started writing about the importance of preserving net neutrality a couple of years ago, when it was threatened by congressional efforts of control content and its flow to users (SOPA, PIPA), and even the White House’s proposed Online Privacy Bill of Rights. It’s always been somewhat a mystery why this subject doesn’t draw more attention and activism. Perhaps now that we are about to lose the best aspects of the Internet, more people will take this on as a primary issue.

Were we lulled into the belief that Obama, having campaigned on a platform of securing net neutrality both in 2008 and 2012, and a seemingly cooperative Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would be enough to stave off the opportunistic, profiteering, parasitic special interests by providers such as Verizon and Comcast? After a judge struck down the FCC’s ruling that disallowed charging different rates for different content, the Commission is now circulating new draft rules that would in practice allow corporations to control the Internet and the speed at which information moves across it. Everyday people, small business owners and organizations, the voiceless, will all be shut out. Payola used to be a dirty word for it but what we are about to experience is a complex pay-to-play scheme whereby providers name the price that Netflix, HBO, and other users must pay to stream their material, costs which will be passed onto to consumers.

Like every other part of our government lately it seems, special corporate interests have trumped the will of the people, and, in the case of net neutrality, the needs of the deserving, the voice for voiceless.

Get off our couches, and do something about it!

To learn more go to: Common Cause, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post.

Thousands of drug offenders to receive clemency

Step by step, month by month, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, as left us breathless as he and the Obama Administration have begun to heal America by destroying some of the malignant tentacles of the 40-year-old War on Drugs.

April 2013 will become one of the greatest landmark in establishing human rights in our own country because Holder’s most recent efforts will expand the eligibility for clemency to the 20% of all current prisoners who are serving sentences for marijuana possession, eventually freeing tens of thousands of people and improving the future for just as many families. He’s hiring more lawyers to free more and more people from jails and prisons.

In order to keep up with the influx of applications, Holder says the Department of Justice will assign more lawyers to review the applications. “As a society, we pay much too high a price whenever our system fails to deliver the just outcomes necessary to deter and punish crime, to keep us safe, and to ensure that those who have paid their debts have a chance to become productive citizens,” Holder said. “Our expanded clemency application process will aid in this effort. And it will advance the aims of our innovative new Smart on Crime initiative – to strengthen the criminal justice system, promote public safety, and deliver on the promise of equal justice under law.

This is a prime example of the progress at its best, and the further dismantling of completely coercive and useless systems. Things like racially motivated “stop and frisk” are unconstitutional in the first place and techniques like it are headed for the dustbin of history, at long last. Most important, we are seeing the first reversal of the corrupt and coercive corporate prison industry. Amazingly, as U.S. taxpayers we have been paying for the privilege of this industry’s Washington lobbyists wasting our time fluffing our congressmen, judges, and local communities for longer and more severe sentences, for the express purpose of improving profits, mostly on the backs of people of color, who have been ensnared by the War on Drugs because of poverty and joblessness.

What do you think?
Is there anything about the War on Drugs worth saving?
How will society change once this domestic war has ended, beyond the end of penalizing drug users?
What do you think of the very concept of for-profit prisons? Aren’t they a brick and motor conflict of interest?

in End Police Bias / Key Issues / News of Note / Op-Ed / Public Information / Videos by Alison Gardner 22 Apr 2014 0 comments

Dan Massey Memorial Service: Eulogy

Additional material from this February 28, 2013 Memorial Service: Introduction, Mayor’s Proclamation, Dan The Activist, Upcoming Book Excerpt, and Printed Program. Also see: Wikipedia, The Advocate, Huffington Post, and MetroWeekly.

Dan, 1977

I am Joan Wentworth, a friend with a long history with Dan and his family. Within the embrace of that friendship, loyalty, love, and service are themes in this story.

I have always had a deeply intuitive trust that Dan and Alison were innately loyal people. Dan was loyal to his family, friends both new and old, to values that he esteemed, and to the movements that held those values.

For all who knew him, walking with Dan in this life for any length of time was an experience measured according to his thoughtful and personal understanding of LOVE, whether he was propagating the idea that God is Love or that Love is God, Dan meant it, and lived it. There was a measure of urgency about him to put that love into service.

Was Dan ever NOT in service to something of value? I can’t quite remember, but did Dan and Alison EVER go on a vacation to do nothing more than to relax? Maybe once? Wasn’t their whole life, for both of them, dedicated to improving the world? Look at the people whom Dan attracted to his life. Just look around today at the diversity of this group. He saw ideas as movements and created collective units from them. His science community, his spiritual communities, his social activism are all peopled with ideals that motivate and serve; they’re all the same transcendent ideals, really, rooted in the premise that Human beings must be known to be loved, while divine beings must be loved to be known. My dear friend Dan has been an enigma in my life since I first saw him in 1974 at a Urantia Book Readers conference. I will never forget that first time. He and Alison were that distinguished, fascinating couple—tall, distinctive, and with a lot of hair, and at the time a little bit “scandalous.” I thought they were the perfect hippies, cool, groovy types who would have no trouble believing in supernatural messengers. I heard Dan was a scientist and mathematician, which sounded so elusive, and that Alison was an educator, which I could relate to. Right off, Alison showed a warm personal interest, which was so gratifying and compelling, it made up for what appeared to me to be Dan’s prompt and unabashed critical assessment. He was intimidating. Maybe intimidating is not the word, but if you can recall Dan’s stature and his curious gaze, you can appreciate my unease. Dan was taller than even I, and that for one I was not used to, but he was also “DAN” whom everyone seemed to know and respect. Awesome Dan with Awesome Alison and they were talking to me. When I told Dan I was a Latin teacher, he was quick to let me know that he had chosen MIT over other universities specifically because they did NOT teach Latin there. I think he was smiling when he said it, but either way, he took his leave rather quickly. So, I dutifully assumed my place as the dead-language teacher in his life. Nevertheless, he did talk to me. And here I am close to 40 years later, still the dead-language teacher, but one made so much more alive by my friendship with this awesome couple. Imprinted in my mind forever is also the last time I saw Dan. It was at the wonderful surprise 70th birthday party Alison arranged for him just over a month before he became ill. I sat next to Alison, opposite him. At one moment, I caught him looking intently across the table at her. I wish I could have heard whatever it was he was saying to himself. His gaze was contemplative, and perplexed. He seemed appreciative, but a bit stunned. How in the world had she managed to surprise HIM? How HAD she outwitted him? No one had before her— Alison gave Dan his first and most memorable surprise birthday party. The classicist in me compels me to point out that Penelope was the one and only person ever to outwit Odysseus. And she did it with the test of their marriage bed, immovable and built from an ancient olive tree ever rooted in the ground. It was their secret sign, the secret of the bed only those two knew. Dan and Alison surely have their exclusive secret sign. To my mind that makes them epic heroes. And then, of course, in an apparent deliberative display of one-upmanship, Dan managed to surprise her, too, by leaving just over one month later. How lucky were we 17 people present at that celebration of Dan’s 70 years of living. There were photos all along the table of Dan as a boy and a young man, etc. And there he sat, center table, surrounded by his children and their spouses, people whom he cherished in his life, by extended family, and the beautiful woman who has loved him for 40 years. He had to have been happy. I am touched to the core by the vision of that Last Supper. I spent many, many years following Dan and Alison around, from New Hampshire to Massachusetts to Virginia and finally to DC. Alison became my dearest of friends and most intimate adviser. Dan hung over our visits like a benevolent mind spirit! He was always somewhere in the house working on something–something fascinating, I guessed. He worked a lot, always. He would pass by on his way out to work, dressed neatly in a business suit, with his hair close-cropped, but he was wearing Birkenstocks on his feet, which I always thought was the right touch of eccentricity for a scientist. Before the children came, I did not actually see Dan much, but once the house gave birth, he was a constant presence. He was always talking to them, teaching them something, just playing with them. Our families became close. My daughter, Bree, babysat for both Ross and Tiye for years. I became godmother in case anything unforeseen should happen. I depended on their friendship and love in ways neither of them could possibly fully know. That is what love does—it grows imperceptibly, as you get to know each other. Human beings must be known to be loved. With these human beings, it was easy. Dan’s level of brilliance gave a surge to the depth of my own insights. I did not always understand what he was saying, in fact if I am honest, I rarely understood what he was saying, but I listened with the chaste enthusiasm of a schoolgirl who adores her teacher because he is so smart and so cute! Gradually over the years, I had opportunities for solo conversations with Dan. Always the professor, he gave freely of his knowledge, to put it mildly. I got the complete history of the occult foundations of Washington DC on one long ride from Union Station to Great Falls in Dan’s cool I’m-still sexy-black Lexus two-seater sportscar. I think my question was something like, “So, do you like DC?” I figured out that I needed only to ask one question, make one simple inquiry, and I would be the beneficiary of a long and fascinating narrative, full of tangents and supportive references. Sometimes he even remembered I was there. I wish I could remember every single word. He told me that he hoped Obama would win in 2008 because he was the ethical candidate and the survival of our world depended on moral revision, or something like that. Once the Supreme Court redefined “human,” in terms of corporations, Dan declared the end of the world, as we know it (not exactly his words, either.) The next I knew he had discovered the Transhumanist movement, or for all I knew he had invented it, and was setting out to transform it. When Dan and Alison came to NYC, they always included me somehow. I hold onto so many precious dinner conversations that jarred me out of complacency. How often would I finish correcting Latin tests and find myself an hour later engaged in an explanation of the joys of erotic robotics. Then I had to go home, ALONE, to digest, all of it, which after that, seemed unfair. Alison was always able to help me understand Dan’s ideas by transforming them into literary metaphor. My mind is full of images that somehow translate into ideas deeper than any I could explain in words. Alison is the queen of metaphor and the great interpreter of her husband/partner. She has that NJ street-wise pragmatism combined with a literary eloquence that could filter Dan’s “esoteric cogitations” (and hers) for me. So much in Dan’s recent years seems full of wonder. The dead-language teacher in me has to resist finding myth in his story. It would be so easy to mythologize him. There is his three-fold evolution from Scientist to Urantian to Transhumanist, from husband to father to Transgenderist. We find ourselves remembering his life here in a building dedicated to one of his most precious life’s goals—equality. From his ivory tower of information theory, to his highly tangible defense-systems innovations, all the way to his transcendent social activism, Dan used his mind for the Good. He clarified for me God the Supreme and led me to envision God the Ultimate. Dan made practical sense of where all this living and experiencing was really taking us. He seemed to know for sure. And he did. I really do believe that Dan knew he was immortal and that we were, too. He was so TRANS, always ‘trans-ing’ some obstacle or other. Now he has transitioned and transcended, and who knows what else he is doing there. Reading the numerous testimonials that started pouring in on line I gained a humbling insight into who Dan was and will remain to those who knew him. It seems he had so many incarnations that each of us probably has our own version of him. Dana says his manner was “respectful but firm, and though Dan and Alison both had strong opinions, they never demanded compliance.” (adapted) Dan was opinionated. Davis adds, “His tremendous intellect was matched by a compassionate heart and generous sense of humor.” Dan was funny. Lee offers: “Dan, never hesitant to express his truth-seeking beliefs—blew the roof off a UB event when he went ‘off-script’ and boldly challenged many of the pre-conceived “pure revelation” concepts that many held so conservatively.” (adapted) Dan was NOT conservative. There is no disputing he was intelligent, or that he was formidable. Either way, his mind was a gift for all of us. Living with Dan must have been something like living with an intellectually challenging Socrates, who was a real handful, they say. But that spirit of confrontation is exactly what propels spiritual evolution. Dan was not a lazy religionist, nor could he abide those who were. He tamed and trained his own genius in service to greater values and expected as much from others. Alison used to say that when she passed on, I would inherit Dan–second wife she called me! As if I could ever have presumed to manage Dan. Love him, yes, but delight him, no. Only Alison could do that, only Alison, and everyone knows that. Their bond is a melding of 2 hearts and 2 minds: his math, her literature; his facts, her meanings. The goal of each: something very valuable–a true love relationship, enviable and beautiful to see. Dan’s earth family is relatively small in number, but these four people are all larger than life each in his/her own way. Surely I seem naïve, awed perhaps, when I talk about the Masseys, but in my own defense, I am a literature teacher, I earn my money from hyperbole. Hyperbole is a poetic device suiting for description of this family. Tiye is everything from a ballet dancer, a blogger, an artist, a scholar, a linguist, a health expert, a good wife, a loving daughter, a tough-love kind of sister, a loyal friend, and a precious godchild (that’s the short list), and she has managed all that along with the wise selection of her wonderful husband, Carles, in just 27 years. She is a Massey. That is fact, not hyperbole. Nor can her love for her dad or for her mom be exaggerated. Ross is a larger than life character, too. He is already running the world, you know, in his own way and he is only just 30. What 17-year old goes to Cal Tech and in his first year starts tutoring upperclassmen? Who finishes Cal Tech with a year to spare? Who goes to Cal Tech in the first place and learns to drink beer? Ross has his dad’s irony, irreverence, and wry humor. His reserved and benign presence is the embodiment of both his mother and father. When I see Ross, I hear Dan and I sense Alison. Yet he is so vividly his own person. I can’t see either Alison or Dan on skis out running an avalanche on any mountain anywhere, particularly in Alaska. I am not convinced that was an intelligence test, but Ross passed it, thank God, and he has found the wisdom to choose a partner as spirited as he is. Caroline, Carles, you have the best of paradigms to model. Your partners have observed a partnership in their parents that is select. Dan and Alison raised their kids in an atmosphere of freedom, the freedom to do the right thing as each understood it—no jealous interference, no pre-made prejudices. Alison shared with me Dan’s marriage mantra: “Marriage is a state of perpetual divorcement to which both parties agree every morning to try one more time.” It’s like Aphrodite’s bath. Each time she bathed she restored her virginity. What a great idea! Who has ideas like that? And, finally — to my dearest, Alison. You have made me laugh over the years more than anyone I know. You and Dan made humor an art form. Please try to remember all the peculiar perspectives, all the terse witticisms, all the hilarious ironies you and Dan nurtured over the course of your years together. Keep laughing, and keep us laughing, please. It is the best way to preserve each other, to remember each other. As it is said, “humor is the antidote to the exaltation of ego,” which I guess means being funny is a preservative. Alison left me with a final and lasting image of Dan. She described his body, lying on the bed at 8:30 am Monday, January 28, 2013: “He looked like a pharaoh, like a Pharoah. ” Thank you Dan-Alison, Ross, and Tiye for your friendship, your loyalty, and your love. I love you.

in Dan Massey / Events / News of Note / Public Information by Alison Gardner 22 Apr 2014 1 comments

Not Your Typical “Driving While Black” Story

Black Youths Attending Princeton Conference Pulled Over by Police, Then This Happened

You are riding in a car with some friends, and you get pulled over by a cop. What do you do? A group of members from the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) responded to this predicament by exercising transformative justice, when they engaged in an enlightening conversation with the officer who stopped them as they left a campus event at Princeton University (Princeton, NJ). It was supposedly for a broken taillight that turned out not to be broken at all. When confronted by the carful of African-Americans who called this incident simply another case of Driving While Black, the officer said his feelings were hurt.

Turns out the officer was also African-American, proving the point that as people of color, we also profile against our very own, sometimes completely unaware of our prejudice. We must start accepting responsibility and treating one another with the respect that we wish other races would show more often.

Racial bias in any form is evil because it affects a person’s attitude and this plays a factor in the self-fulfilling, destructive behaviors that plague the black community. It’s time for us to stop passing the buck and reclaim our dignity.

What do you think? Was the officer in the wrong? Did the camera change the dynamic of the conversation? Is profiling ever justified?

in News of Note by Kwani 22 Apr 2014 0 comments

¡También en Español!

Con la vuelta de VenusPlusX después del relanzamiento de su nuevo look y navegación, ya estamos listos para planear el relanzamiento de VenusMasX. Mientras tanto, éste sigue manteniendo la función del hogar de numerosas traducciones del material de VenusPlusX.

VenusMasX está lista para entrar en su segunda fase de vida, por lo cual, este año estamos buscando a un nuevo Webmaster y Editor de VenusMasX, quién la llevará a esta segunda fase, aumentándola en publicar material original y exclusivo dedicado al mundo Latino. (Si interesado, póngase en contacto con columbia@venusplusx.org.)

Actualmente estamos aceptando aplicaciones para becarios-estudiantes/asistentes al Webmaster-Editor de VenusMasX. Por el momento, son prácticas no pagadas. Candidatos ideales escriben y hablan bien en Inglés y Español, tienen conocimientos de informática y redes sociales, tienen iniciativa, y son capaces de representar a VenusPlusX en reuniones, conferencias, etc. Puede ser un trabajo remoto.

En Español Now that VenusPlusX is back on line and relaunching this month with its new look and streamlined navigation, we are planning to relaunch VenusMasX very soon. In the meantime, it still functions as a repository for the substantial translations of VenusPlusX material.

VenusMasX is ready to go into its second phase of existence, so this year we are searching for a new English-SpanishWebmaster and Editor for VenusMasX, who will take the site to its second phase, expanding it to publish original and exclusive material devoted to the Latin world. (If you are interested, please contact us, columbia@venusplusx.org.)

Currently we are accepting applications for VenusMasX Student Interns/Assistant Webmaster-Editors. This is currently an unpaid internship. Preferred candidates write and speak well in fluent English and Spanish, are computer-literate, are social media savvy, self-starters, and capable of representing VenusPlusX at public meetings, conferences, etc. Work can be done remotely.

in Español / News of Note / Public Information by Alison Gardner 22 Apr 2014 0 comments

Until we meet again . . .

Dan and I have just spent the last a couple months retooling our website to focus more directly on the campaigns that have become the most important to us, and finishing our book on erotic communion that we have been researching and writing for the last 3 years. Look for more info on both.

For now, we have to report that Dan at 70 put down his keyboard on January 28, and after a short and painless illness took his last breath on this earth. He arose anew to carry on with the joyful immortality he and his family enjoy, only now in different form. When you chance to live day-by-day in the eternal-infinite, the now that can so easily escape our grasp, it’s not surprising that a transition like this is pervaded by peace and grace, lessening emotional pain, joyous in the unfolding of a new reality.

Dan and I have spent the last 4 decades in partnership and parenthood dedicating ourselves to Love and service, seeking Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in all our actions and decisions. While we often fell short, there is not anything that was and is more important in shaping who we are and want to be. In sharing his thoughts of late, Dan centered on one phrase to illuminate what we must do to make our world better, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

For information on Dan’s Memorial Service in Washington, DC, on Saturday afternoon, February 23, contact columbia@venusplusx.org. In lieu of flowers, Dan requested that a contribution be made to Casa Ruby instead, or a charity of your choice. A newly endowed Dan Massey Transleadership Scholarship Fund might be your choice, as well.

We are compiling many of your notes and letters in a book that will have blank pages and photographs for anyone that wants to contribute their thoughts, or you could send them to columbia@venusplusx.org at any time to be included in this special keepsake.

For more, click through to Wikipedia, The Advocate, and Huffington Post.

in Dan Massey / Events / News of Note / Public Information by Alison Gardner 07 Feb 2013 1 comments

Trevor Project Working for a Better Future for All Youth

The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 by the creators of the film “Trevor“: James Lecense, Peggy Rajeskim and Randy Stone. The Academy Award-winning film is about a young boy dealing with being bullied while undergoing self-discovery about his sexual identity. The three creators soon found out that there was little (if any) support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth facing the same types of crisis as Trevor. In response to this, the filmmakers founded The Trevor Project., now a leader in providing crises intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth.

TREVORSPACE is the largest online network of LGTBQ youth with over 45,000 members in 138 countries. The community continues to grow with over 1,000 new people joining every month. AskTrevor is a non-emergency Q&A platform which receives about 200 letters per month. Trevor also offers online counseling and the suicide prevention hotline, Trevor Lifeline, which has received 200,000 calls since its’ inception. Lifeline handles on average 100 calls a day, 2,900 calls a month, 35,000 calls per year. Trevorchat is a live chat geared towards depressed or suicidal youth and it serves 6000 youths a year. If you feel depressed or suicidal (or know a friend or family member who is) please do not hesitate to call the Lifeline at 866-488-7386. Trevor Project’s Senior Education Manager Nathan Belyeu took time recently to talk to VenusPlusX.

Why do you think there is so little political discourse on LGBTQ youth?

Belyeu: This is a really interesting question. Current research has shown that LGBTQ people are starting to come out younger than they once did. Organizations such as The Trevor Project are working hard along with our partners to increase awareness and understanding regarding the LGBTQ youth community and make sure that our youth’s voices are heard by our elected representatives.

Why is suicide among LGBTQ youth increasing?

Belyeu: Suicide is a very complex issue. Only 60% of all youth in the U.S. who need mental health care actually get it. When we talk specifically about LGBTQ youth, they often face additional stressors which place them at increased risk for suicide including issues related to coming out, bias, and victimization on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and a lack of supportive communities.

When you add the influence of stressors like prejudice, fear, and hate to things that affect all youth, such as lack of access to appropriate mental health care and resources, LGBTQ youth are at an increased risk for suicide attempts. This is why The Trevor Project offers crisis intervention services that are accessible 24/7 (The Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386); instant messaging with a counselor through TrevorChat; a social networking community for LGBTQ youth (TrevorSpace.org); education programs that teach both students and adults how to help recognize warning signs and help a person get the help they need (Trevor Lifeguard and CARE workshops); and, so much more.

How are the public schools systems dealing with LGBTQ youth Are they even equipped to handle the subject?

Belyeu: Many schools across the country are providing support to LGBTQ youth through staff education and training, education for students regarding LGBTQ issues, and by creating supportive spaces and groups for LGBTQ students and their allies. A large percentage of our schools across the country, however, still have a lot of work to do to create spaces that are supportive and safe for all students to learn and reach their educational goals. The Trevor Project provides a variety of resources for school administrators and staff including direct education for staff and students, the Trevor Lifeguard and CARE workshops, as well as resources which can be requested from our website http://ww.thetrevorproject.org/

Have popular shows such as Glee and United States of Tara been effective in bringing LGBTQ issues into the mainstream?

Belyeu: We know from research that having positive role models and positive media representations of LGBTQ people and allies helps create a broader awareness and understanding of LGBTQ people and the community as a whole.

There are so many youths that end up homeless once they come out to their parents. What programs are there for these youths?

Belyeu: Homelessness is most certainly a problem for many LGBTQ young people. Many cities across the country are starting to understand the special needs of LGBTQ youth and are responding by providing resources for shelters that are inclusive and supportive of LGBTQ young people. Organizations like Trevor: Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) and the Family Acceptance Project are working hard to assist families in the process of being accepting and supportive of their LGBTQ youth, hopefully decreasing the amount of LGBTQ young people who end up homeless nationwide.

What types of support groups would you like to see established in local communities?

Belyeu: The Trevor Project is working hard to provide resources for LGBTQ young people nationwide through our services, but it is very important that resources and support services exist locally, where youth can access them and can feel accepted at home. One form that this often takes is GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances) in schools and universities. In locations where schools are not providing this type of support network, many LGBTQ and allied adults are successfully starting youth support groups to provide safe and affirmative places.

How can our readers support the Trevor Project?

Belyeu: There are a variety of ways, including volunteer opportunities that you can participate in to help LGBTQ youth nationwide and in your local community; events that you can attend to support our mission and goals; as well as various ways to support our work financially. To learn more about how to be engaged visit our website: www.TheTrevorProject.org .

Do you think that campaigns such as “It Gets Better” are effective?

Belyeu: When paired with other resources such as those provided by The Trevor Project and other organizations, programs and campaigns like these can certainly be part of a holistic approach to increase awareness and visibility regarding LGBTQ youth and the unique issues they face. It Gets Better is also an excellent way to showcase the unique strength and resiliency within the LGBTQ community.

What type of future do you hope for in regards to LGBTQ youth? Do you think it is reachable within today’s generation?

Belyeu: I really love The Trevor Project’s Vision Statement, “A future where the possibilities, opportunities, and dreams are the same for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Every day the staff and volunteers at The Trevor Project are working hard to make sure that vision becomes a reality by saving lives, building community, and changing society and culture so that all youth have a bright future.

in Grassroots / News of Note / Public Information by Brenda 24 Nov 2012 0 comments

Violence against D.C. prostitutes has gone too far

Violence against local D.C. prostitutes has become alarming. A local transgender woman, “Jane,” who wishes to remain anonymous, shared her story with me.

As she describes it,”I was beat an inch from my life.” She said she was going to work as usual,”clocking in” as it’s called — those few moments that you take to get yourself ready for the long dreadful night to come. For some girls it’s a breather, for some it’s a drink or a drug and for others it’s simply a prayer to get them through the night, but this routine is done among co-working prostitutes to kind of put some ease into what will always be a harmful night.

On this night, Jane had just parked her car in her usual spot that on the local stroll. She took a moment to apply some lipstick and perfume before clocking in. Nothing seemed abnormal, “I looked around before getting out and everything looked fine” said Jane.

“The moment I stepped out, before the door could close I felt something hit me on the side on my head. Tthe moment I turned to see what it was, pow! another one, and before I knew it, I was down on the ground being attacked by multiple people. They beat and kicked me until I was unconscious. The blows were so severe that it was not possible for me to have been beat with only fist and feet.

“I awoke to a homeless man trying to help me. I can only assume he thought I was dead. I suffered a broken jaw, three cracked ribs, a twisted ankle, and more than anything, no understanding. They also took my keys and car. I cannot identify these people because I saw no one and of course no one on the streets will say who it was. I know that prostituting is not legal and in that sense, I’m wrong, but I like sex so I chose this profession and I don’t think it’s fair to just be attacked and robbed because I’m an easy target or easy mark. Everyone in the area knows me and for the most part everyone respects me. I give respect to everyone so this obvious set up attack on my life has wounded me deeply and I want justice,” says Jane. “I deserve it!”

So here we have it, a trans woman prostitute attacked and robbed. There has been a lot of speculation that there is a local gang that is known for committing these kinds of crimes in this part of the city. The police department knows who they are and have been frequenting the area showing pictures trying to pull this together, but it seems as if they’re getting nowhere.

I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to be in this kind of situation, that’s just me. Some people might think that because you choose to be a prostitute that you pretty much choose all that comes with it…How so? At the end of the day we are all human and we should be treated as such. I encourage those who might have witnessed this crime to come forward and help the police find who did this. This could be any one of us at any time of the day, in any part of the city, whether we are a trans person or a sex worked. This is not an isolated incident, just the beginning of me giving voice to it. This has to stop!

To all my local ‘”PROS”: Stay alert, be smart and stay safe.

Editor’s note: VenusPlusX is working with other grassroots organizations to make sex work legal in Washington, DC. We finally got rid of the unconstitutional Prostitution Free Zones (which were nothing more that police trans profiling zones). Now we have to seriously address both the abolition of laws interfering with sex work so that a much needed sexual healing industry can emerge that will foster much needed sex education and sexual healing for all who seek it.

in End Police Bias / Grassroots / Key Issues / News of Note / Op-Ed / Public Information / Transunity & Transleadership by 16 Nov 2012 1 comments

International Transgender Day of Remembrance in DC

This month’s official DC Transgender Day of Remembrance honors all of those who have died in the strucggle for equality, and their families, as activists rededicate themselves to help answer today’s community concerns.

Celebrated internationally, the Transgender Day of Remembrance in DC will take place at 6 PM, Tuesday, November 20, 2012, at the DC Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge Street NW (just north of M Street, near the Green and Yellow Mount Vernon Square Metro Station), and organizers hope the public will attend.

Earline Budd, Executive Director of Transgender Health Empowerment (THE), and Day of Remembrance planning group member, notes, “Each year this event proves to be better and better, and more empowering for the community.”

Ms. Budd is happy to report, “Also this year, just a few days before the DC Transgender Day of Remembrance, Whitman-Walker Health, Casa Ruby DC, DC Trans Coalition (DCTC) , and THE are co-hosting a community conversation on improving transgender health,” at 7 PM on Thursday, November 15, also at the DC Metropolitan Community Church. Presentations by health providers, advocates, and public policy experts will focus on the significant challenges Transgender individuals have in accessing culturally competent health care, including primary medical care, HIV/AIDS care, mental health care, and addiction services.

in Campaigns / Events / Global Sexual Freedom Watch / Grassroots / News of Note / Public Information / Transunity & Transleadership by Alison Gardner 06 Nov 2012 0 comments

Voting while trans and the problems you might face

New voter ID laws have created costly barriers to voting for many trans people. And much worse, the debate about voter ID laws have made even the idea of voting harder. so many of us may feel discouraged from even trying to vote on election day, according to National Center for Trans Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling. “Our message is don’t let them scare you into giving up your vote.”

I know that this is tough to face. Honestly, who wants to walk into a voting site as a trans person and present an ID that doesn’t completely match up with your physical identity? This seems like reliving many of the past identity issues we’ve faced at some point and have had to really fight hard to overcome. The thing is, we survived it. It did not break us, so don’t let the fear of reliving these emotions stop us from doing the most important thing this country needs us to do at this time: VOTE!

Voter ID laws are dangerous. State legislatures have enacted them attempting to solve a fake problem. And as a result, transgender people–students, veterans, low-income people of color, and older Americans–risk being denied ballots this year. Can you believe this? If we dont stand up and do all that we can, I see this problem getting bigger and bigger. So the first step is voting. Do all that you can and vote. This is our country, too, and we do have a voice.

in Events / Key Issues / News of Note / Public Information / Transunity & Transleadership by 05 Nov 2012 0 comments

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