Category Archives: Legal

Legal issues of transgender and transsexual persons.

May 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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It is the fourth Saturday of the month and time again for Trans Talk on The Tenth Voice. Join hostesses Una and Fiona Nowling as they welcome Kendall Martinez-Wright on the program to talk about her life and why she has decided to run for Missouri State Representative next year.

Kendall Martinez-Wright is the first transgender woman to run for the Missouri House of Representatives. She is a Black-Puerto Rican Trans woman, running for office in Missouri, amid a spate of nationwide and local anti-trans bills. She is a resilient woman, community organizer, and a statewide LGBTQ and Human Rights legislative strategist. As a child, Miss Martinez-Wright, along with her mother and younger sister, made the move from Chicago, IL where Martinez-Wright was born, to Palmyra, MO for a better quality of life.

Upon graduating from Palmyra High School in 2012, Kendall relocated to the Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, to attend Lincoln University. During her tenure at Lincoln University, she became a critical advocate for policy and legislative action that impacted funding for education and civil rights. She has served as the leader for social justice marches, fundraising campaigns, and statewide initiatives. Since, Kendall has continued her involvement in serving within approximately thirty-six civic organizations, establishing a wide range of relationships with elected officials, and serving as a discussion facilitator on a wide range of issues from racial justice, access to education, diversity, and healthcare.

Currently, Miss Martinez-Wright resides in her hometown of Palmyra. Her mission is to utilize her position at the table to amplify her voice and elevate your concerns. She is dedicated to community, and working diligently alongside stakeholders and partners in order to cultivate unity within and awareness of the valuable residents of District 5.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, May 22nd at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

October 2020 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the October edition of Trans Talk! Today we are going to start out with the transgender news of the month, then we’re going to speak with Larry Altman, formerly the lead compliance attorney for the Kansas City Missouri school district, and a strong ally to the LGBTQIA community. We will then continue our series of transgender film discussion, this time heading down south to Chile, to review the film “A Fantastic Woman,” a drama involving a transgender woman who is portrayed by an actual transgender actress, Daniela Vega.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, October 24th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

August 2019 Trans Talk and Community Calendar for August-September 2019

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Hello everyone! On this month’s Trans Talk we are going to talk to Seto Herrera to talk with us about Project Pride, the Coteries program for LGBT teens. We will then be speaking with Hannah McBroom, a local artist whose work explores themes of transgender identity, materiality, and the body, and who has an upcoming show of her work, titled “What Was Left.” And we are hoping to have two other important guests on our show today as well, to be confirmed soon!

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, August 24 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

And here as promised is the monthly community calendar update!

Monthly Community Calendar – by Fiona

UMKC is back in session, but their Trans+ group hasn’t picked their regular meeting night yet for this academic year. They’ve promised to let me know when they do, so watch this space.

Every month, I lead the Kansas City SOFFA group for Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies of Transgender and nonbinary persons. We meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. In September, we’re meeting on the 4th & the 18th in Study Room 116. That’s at Leawood Pioneer Library, 6.30 – 8pm. For driving directions and other SOFFA information, you can visit http://transascity.org/SOFFA or email soffakc@yahoo.com

Every third Thursday, the Equal Trans Support Group meets at 5:00 PM. They also have a friends plus allies meeting on the second Monday of the month, at 6pm, and both are at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, a couple of doors down from our studio at 3909 Main Street, Kansas City Missouri. They are also working at the KC Renaissance Festival again this year, starting August 31st, to raise money to support their group. If anyone wants to help them, you can reach out to them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Friends-and-Allies-of-the-EQUAL-Trans-Support-Group-2043657289193085/ The Center has lots of other events too, which can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/

JoCo Q-Space is a youth group for LGBTQ youth. They meet every Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church 13890 W 127th St, Olathe, KS 66062. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/jocoqspace/.

They are the Kansas equivalent of Passages, Kansas City Missouri’s long-running LGBTQ youth group, which meets at the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project’s Q-mmunity Space, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 135, Kansas City, MO, 64111, every Wednesday at 5.30pm – 9pm.

There is an MTF support group at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6pm. There is an FTM support group elsewhere, both for adults and for youth, so if you are interested, please text or call Gus at 816-785-8686.

On the third Saturday of the month, Authentically Me meets from 1-3pm at The Kansas City Center for Inclusion. This is a social group for gender diverse children in KC and their families, aimed at children 12 and under.

The Kansas City PFLAG chapter, which is Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies of LGBT people will meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, and the 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion.

July 2019 Trans Talk and Community Calendar for July-August 2019

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On this month’s Trans Talk we are going to talk to a few good folks from the Transgender Institute of Kansas City, who are going to discuss their move to their new location, their support groups that they are running, and what are some of their upcoming projects.

As usual we will have Una’s news rant, and the community calendar update (which is listed below).

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, July 27 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

The Transgender Community Calendar

On August 2nd, there is a Day of Beauty event at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, running from 5 – 8pm. This is hosted by the Friends and Allies of the EQUAL Trans Support Group & there have been many donations of clothes and beauty products. You can also bring your own donations to the event but makeup products must be new or sterilized. For more information, you can check out the group’s Facebook page and go to events https://www.facebook.com/Friends-and-Allies-of-the-EQUAL-Trans-Support-Group-2043657289193085/ or directly at https://www.facebook.com/events/370948263617943/

On August 21st, from 2pm to 7pm, the Kansas City Center for Inclusion is hosting an LGBTQ Job Fair offsite at the University of Kansas Medical Center at 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, Kansas. Details can be found by going to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/ and then to their events page, or directly at https://www.facebook.com/events/441570989730438/ It’s worth visiting their events page anyway, they have all sorts of events going on every month.

Every month, there is the Kansas City SOFFA group for Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies of Transgender and nonbinary persons. We meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. In August, we’re meeting on the 7th in Study Room 116 & the 21st in the Conference Room. That’s at Leawood Pioneer Library, 6.30 – 8pm. For driving directions and other SOFFA information, you can visit http://transascity.org/SOFFA or email soffakc@yahoo.com

Every third Thursday, the Equal Trans Support Group meets at 5:00 PM. They also have a friends plus allies meeting on the second Monday of the month, at 6pm, and both are at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, a couple of doors down from our studio at 3909 Main Street, Kansas City Missouri. The Center has lots of other events too, which can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/

JoCo Q-Space is a youth group for LGBTQ youth. They meet every Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church 13890 W 127th St, Olathe, KS 66062. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/jocoqspace/.

They are the Kansas equivalent of Passages, Kansas City Missouri’s long-running LGBTQ youth group, which meets at the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project’s Q-mmunity Space, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 135, Kansas City, MO, 64111, every Wednesday at 5.30pm – 9pm.

There is an MTF support group at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6pm. There is an FTM support group elsewhere, both for adults and for youth, so if you are interested, please text or call Gus at 816-785-8686.

On the third Saturday of the month, Authentically Me meets from 1-3pm at The Kansas City Center for Inclusion. This is a social group for gender diverse children in KC and their families, aimed at children 12 and under.

The Kansas City PFLAG chapter, which is Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies of LGBT people will meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, and the 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion.

If you have any events that you think should be added to the calendar, please message us on the Tenth Voice Facebook page, or email us through TransasCity!

VICTORY! Kansas Will Now Change Birth Certificates with Minimal Effort!

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In a huge victory for transgender, intersex, non-binary, gender-fluid, queer, and many other persons in Kansas, the state under Governor Laura Kelly has agreed to immediately allow gender marker changes on birth certificates! To make the change, you need to submit a sworn statement that you intend to make the change, and provide either a passport, driver’s license, or medical note from a physician. From our reading of the consent agreement, no one should even need to pay to hire an attorney to do any of this – it should be a very straightforward process requiring just a notary for assistance (often available for free at your bank).

This victory is the result of the tireless advocacy and work of Lambda Legal and the firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, but very importantly due to the brave plaintiffs Nyla Foster, Luc Bensimon, Jessica Hicklin and a client identified by his initials, C.K. There was also an organizational plaintiff, the Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project, Inc. (K-STEP), which was founded by the late and dearly missed Stephanie Mott, who sadly died this March before seeing this victory.

The announcement on Lambda Legal can be found here, and the consent agreement can be viewed directly at this permanent link: Kansas Birth Certificate Consent Agreement.

Time to celebrate!

January 2019 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk we’re going speak with Courtney, a local woman who recently faced a terrifying and demoralizing level of discrimination as she was thrown out of a local casino for trying to use the ladies’ room. After hearing Courtney’s story, we will have a round-table discussion about the Supreme Court’s anti-transgender ruling this week, and what it means for the future of all transgender rights.

We will have a take on the transgender news of the month, have a book review from Anthony, and then finish up the show with the community calendar update.  I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, January 26 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

October 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk, we will first interview Parker Liu who will give us some breaking news on the The Kansas City Demonstration for Transgender Rights, which will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 27th, at the J.C. Nichols fountain at the east side of the Country Club Plaza. See this public link for more information. Una from this very Trans Talk program will be one of the speakers at the event, so make sure you plan on attending!

Then we will have live music in the studio from the group Evil Pillows, an all trans punk rock band formed right here in Kansas City! They are going to play some songs to help give us some courage and empowerment over the airwaves, and then talk about their band, their inspirations, and their music. Bonus points out there if you guess the origin of their name without looking it up! Find out more information about the band at their Bandcamp link right here!

We will have a take on the transgender news of the month, which is going to be some of the most important news we’ve ever reported upon on Trans Talk, and then finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, October 27th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

September 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk, we will feature an interview with LGBT scholar and activist Brynn Tannehill. In addition to being a retired Lt. Commander in the US Navy and a researcher at a Washington think-tank, Brynn is a frequent author for many journals and news organizations, including the Huffington Post, the Advocate, USA Today, Salon, Slate, and The New Civil Rights Movement.

Recently Brynn has been analyzing the policies and politics of the Trump Administration, the Republican and Democratic Parties, and the political and social zeitgeist we inhabit in this very strange and somewhat terrifying landscape, and she will be joining us on Trans Talk to give her analysis and perspective on where we may be headed, and how bad things could be not just for my transgender siblings out there, but the LGBT community, women, and pretty much the whole doggone planet.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, September 22nd at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

June 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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We have two special guests with us today. First we will be talking with a guest who has visited with us before, Professor Larry Altman, who will discuss the current status of several legal issues impacting the LGBTQIA community in Kansas and Missouri. Then at the bottom of the hour we will be discussing issues of spirituality with the Reverend Seth Sonneville, a hospital chaplain who has worked with the transgender community for some time.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join me this Saturday, June 23rd at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

November 2017 Trans Talk on KKFI

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On this month’s Trans Talk Edition of the Tenth Voice we’re going to have a special interview with a woman who is part of living transgender history. You’ve heard all about the issue of transgender troops in the military, well our guest, Joanna Clark, is the grandmother of that issue. After a long career in the Navy she was ousted from the service in the 70’s and then enlisted in the Army as an openly transgender woman in 1976. She was discharged again and took on the military, suing and winning in court. She went on to fight for transgender rights in the 70’s and 80’s, being instrumental in the fight to change gender markers on birth certificates and drivers licenses in California. She then started and ran the AEGIS online bulletin board, which became the largest HIV/AIDS information database in the world, for which she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and we will finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join me this Saturday, November 25th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

P&G Transgender Advertisement Continues to Lead Debate in India

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Earlier this year Proctor & Gamble released a short film sponsored by their Vicks line of products, which highlights the real-life story of Gayatri, a young Indian orphan who was adopted by Gauri Sawant, a 37-year-old Mumbai-based transgender woman and social activist. The video has gone viral, with almost 10 million views on YouTube, and is notable that no professional actors are used – both Gayatri and her mother Gauri appear as themselves in the video. Thus avoiding the nearly ubiquitous marginalization of our people via transface (artistic portrayal of transgender persons by cisgender persons).

The video tells the story of Gayatri’s life, starting with how when she was 6 years old her mother, a sex worker, died of AIDS. Gauri, her mother’s friend, decided to raise her as her own (despite the fact that she is forbidden legally from adopting the child herself). The video has spurred debate yet again regarding the rights of both transgender and third-gender, or hijra persons in the country. Statistics vary widely on the number of transgender persons in India, but it is estimated that as many as 2 million citizens are hijra, with potentially another million being transgender persons. Both communities face institutionalized class-based and caste-based discrimination in employment, housing, voting rights, and even access to basic social services.

The film composition is very well done and heartwarming, and highlights the inhumanity of denying transgender persons and their families basic human rights. It emphasizes this when Gayatri says the following:

My Civics book says that everyone is entitled to basic rights. Then why is my mom denied them? That’s why I’m not going to be a doctor, I will be a lawyer. For my mom.

The film is well worth your time to watch.

Special Alert: Child Protective Services versus Transgender Families?

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Warrior mom Debi Jackson at Trans-Parenting has passed along this horrifying series of reports about transgender children being taken from their homes by Child Protective Services (CPS) in various states under the guise of “protecting” them. This is a real fear that parents of transgender children face every day of their lives, and I know parents who have to carry with them an entire packet of documents from physicians, psychologists, and attorneys at all times out of fear that a transphobic person or internet troll will lodge a false complaint of child endangerment against them.

CPS cases are judged under a strange set of legal rules, whereby one is presumed guilty until proven innocent, and there are numerous cases of parents losing their children for years, despite being found innocent of any wrongdoing. If you are a parent or relative of a transgender child, or know someone who is, please read and share this series of reports.

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 1)

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 2)

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 3)

February 2017 Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI

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We have a special guest to kick our show off – Christine Burns will be joining us from the UK to discuss her decades-long work for transgender rights, as well as her work as a transgender historian. Ms Burns was instrumental in using the early internet for transgender advocacy, worked with the early political group Press for Change for transgender rights, and also helped craft the UK’s Gender Recognition Act of 2004 – for which she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.)

We have two other special guests for the second half of our show – Grace Cox-Johnson and Johnalita White-Menscher will be joining us to talk about the first year of Transfinity KC, Kansas City’s transgender and allies chorus. We will discuss the performances of the chorus in its first year, and will talk tell us the plans for the upcoming year, as well as information on how you can join and make your voice heard.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.

January 2017 Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI

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Hello everyone! We have two themes to our program this week. First we are going to re-open the subject of transgender prisoners, focusing on what happens afterwards and how society has placed many barriers on success for transgender persons who have served their time and are fighting to live their lives in America. We will be talking with JoAnna Ramsey, a guest we interviewed last October, to check up on her and find out how she has been doing getting her life in order. Also with us is April, a transgender woman and activist who is also trying to get a fresh start after a history of legal difficulties. In our second half we will interview Ari Copeland, a transgender man who is a senior water scientist at a global engineering firm, to talk about his life and to discuss along with Una the perils and joys of crossing the gender barrier in the corporate engineering world.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, January 28 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.

October 2016 Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI

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transgender_prisoner
Hello everyone! We are devoting the entire show this month to a special guest and those who are supporting her. JoAnna Ramsey is a transgender woman who experienced a harrowing time incarcerated in Kansas within the male prison population, and she will be speaking with us about herself, what she went through in prison, and her transgender activism behind the wall. Also with us will be Caroline Gibbs, founder of the Transgender Institute of Kansas City, who will discuss how the Institute worked to help JoAnna, as well as plans for a future outreach project for transgender prisoners. JoAnna is also joined by her friend Tyga McHenry, who will talk with us about JoAnna’s experience.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, October 22 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.