Thank You!
We are so grateful for your generous response to our fundraising letter! Together, we have raised over $20,000. Your contributions make it possible for NCTE to continue working for transgender equality in Washington, DC, and throughout the country.

Congressional Summer School Underway
At least thirty teams from across the country will be making visits to their members of Congress this month as part of NCTE's Congressional Summer School. The purpose of the program is to encourage people to visit their Senators and Representatives while they are working from their home districts during the August recess. Because Congress is not in session here in Washington, DC, you can be visiting them while they are there, in your state and often, much more available to constituents.

The efforts of local leaders and grassroots advocates are critical in the growing movement for transgender equality. Visiting your members of Congress during this August recess is especially worthwhile and politically vital as we move closer to the introduction of a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Congressional Summer School is a perfect opportunity to educate members of Congress about the presence of transgender people in their district, the discrimination and violence that the transgender community continues to face, and the lack of protections at the federal level.

Those who are already signed up have had the opportunity to participate in an orientation, by conference call, and received the Congressional Summer School kit and a copy of Making Your Voice Heard: A Transgender Guide to Educating Congress. We are also sending out a briefing paper to participants with the latest information on pending legislation.

People interested in participating in Congressional Summer School should contact Simon Aronoff, Deputy Director, as soon as possible.

Congress is in summer recess - let the learning begin!

NCTE Focuses on Anti-Oppression Work
The NCTE staff and interns gathered on July 27 for an all-day anti-oppression training, Our leaders were Lisbeth Melé ndez-Rivera, of Intersections, and Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, the Director of Capacity Building for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The day included valuable opportunities for personal reflection and social analysis, as well as time to strategize ways that NCTE can continue its commitment to diversity. We then developed some specific plans to help our work speak to the very diverse transgender community.

NCTE encourages all organizations to engage in anti-oppression work. Some specific resource suggestions for setting up a training are available on our website.

According to NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling, "We can never be too aware of how our work and our lives either help fight racism and other forms of oppression or make them worse. We are so thankful to Intersections for providing this opportunity for us and encourage other transgender groups to seek similar training."

Intersections can be contacted at 301-588-3099. Many thanks to Lisa and Lisbeth for their wonderful facilitation of this important day!

Legislation Update
Domestic
This month has been full of victories for transgender people. Easton, PA passed a law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in housing, employment and public accommodations. In Orange County, FL the County Fair Housing Ordinance has been amended to include sexual orientation. The ordinance defines sexual orientation as including "actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity or expression." Also this month, The Kalamazoo Public Schools in Kalamazoo, MI added gender identification to their anti-discrimination policy. The district will not tolerate or condone any bias or discrimination towards any person based on gender identification.

Finally, Harvard University Business School has now added a third gender to their online application. New applicants can now check female, male or transgender on their application.

International
Internationally, there have been some major breakthroughs for transgender people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has recently expanded its options for the 2006 census. Now Australian citizens can select female, male, intersexed or androgynous when responding to the census.

Thank you to all you trans-activists who are making these changes happen! Keep up the good work!

Taking a Stand Against Hate Crimes
Improving the Hate Crimes Statistics Act
NCTE has worked with a broad coalition of civil right and anti-violence groups to provide feedback to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. Implemented in 1990, this legislation mandates the tracking of certain information about hate-motivated violence and is a very important source of data for anti-violence work. The Department of Justice is soliciting feedback this year from the community.

One of the recommendations of the coalition is to add tracking of crimes where gender is factor, noting that more and more states have hate crime laws that include gender identity and expression. Other recommendations include the tracking demographic data of both victim and perpetrator, expanding the categories to record ethnicity and increasing the training for college security to address bias-motivated crimes.

In addition to NCTE, the letter is signed by a number of groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Anti-Defamation League, the YWCA, the Asian American Justice Center, the National Council of La Raza, and many more.

Hate Crimes Conference
In San Francisco, District Attorney Kamela Harris' office organized a national two-day conference in July to address the phenomenon known as the "panic defense." When someone has been accused of a hate-crime, the defense may argue that the perpetrator panicked when they realized that the victim was gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, and thus was not in control of his or her actions at the time of the crime. Defendants in the Gwen Araujo murder trial attempted this strategy; this was one of the cases considered at the conference. Both California and New York are considering legislation to ban the use of the panic defense, arguing that bias is not an excuse for violence.

Resources for Responding to Hate Crimes
NCTE has just completed a manual of resources for communities responding to hate crimes. The manual will be distributed this fall. We hope that all of our communities remain safe, but if you need a copy before the release date, please contact us and we'll send you an advance copy.

New Book: Transgender Rights
A groundbreaking book on transgender civil rights, edited by Paisley Currah, Richard Juang and Shannon Minter, will be published next month by the University of Minnesota Press. The three authors are founding members of NCTE. Richard Juang is the co-chair of NCTE's Board of Advisors, of which all three are members.

The publisher describes the book: "With analysis from legal and policy experts, activists and advocates, the essays in Transgender Rights bring transgender people's activism into view, articulate the challenges they face, and offer perspectives and strategies for future action. Examining crucial topics like family law, employment policies, public health, economics, and grassroots organizing, this groundbreaking book is an indispensable resource in the fight for the freedom and equality of those who cross gender boundaries. Moving beyond media representations to grapple with the real lives and issues of transgender people, Transgender Rights will launch a new moment for human rights activism in America."

About the authors: Paisley Currah is associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a founding board member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. Richard M. Juang is assistant professor of English at Susquehanna University and co-chair of the NCTE's Board of Advisors. Shannon Price Minter is legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a founding board member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

You can order the book from the University of Minnesota website.

Gender Issues Addressed in Nature
Nature, a leading international scientific journal, featured an article by Ben Barres, a neurobiologist who is also an FTM. Barres is a tenured professor of neurology and biology at the Stanford University Medical School in Palo Alto, California. His article, "Does Gender Matter", considers the scientific evidence of whether women and men are innately different, particularly in their ability to do math and science. Barres argues that discrimination, both blatant and subtle, is the deciding factor. The article is, in part, a response to former Harvard president Lawrence Summers' assertion last year that men are better at science due to biological differences. Barres also discusses the unique perspectives he has gained working in the sciences as a woman and then as a man.

The full article is in the July 13 edition of Nature. You can read it for free in your public library or purchase a copy of the article by clicking here and going to "Commentary."

In addition to the article itself, its publication in this prestigious journal was covered by a wide variety of media, including the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.