Another year is drawing to a close as we continue to make positive progress towards a world of greater equality for transgender people. In 2006, we have been honored to work with you as we've trained trans people and allies to educate members of the United States Congress, to change laws and polices at the state level, and to take action in local community building. There are wonderful partner organizations around this country and amazing advocates for transgender rights that we have been so excited to work with during this year. We are looking forward to taking even further steps in 2007 to address the challenges that continue to face our community. We hope you'll join us in this exciting and important work.

The United Nations Human Rights Council considered the question of gender identity and expression during a session last Friday, December 1. Norway, speaking on behalf of 54 nations' delegations, delivered a statement highlighting the particular human rights concerns relating to sexual orientation and gender identity and encouraging the United Nations to continue to address them.

Norway's statement has been applauded by international human rights advocates. According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), more than 460 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 69 countries have expressed their support for the statement. At a conference this past fall, ILGA delivered a workshop on transgender issues for the Human Rights Council. You can find information about that here.

You can read the full text of the statement and learn more on these websites:

• The United Nations' Human Rights Council
• International Lesbian and Gay Association

From Buffalo, New York to Wellington, New Zealand, from Edinburgh, Scotland to Oakland, California, and many, many places in between, members of the transgender community, our allies, family and friends gathered at the end of November for the annual Day of Remembrance. Crowds varying from hundreds to the faithful few met to commemorate transgender people lost to violence in the past year.

Events took place in such diverse locations as government buildings, places of worship, college campuses and non-profits. In some places, organizers used the opportunity to incorporate other events; for example, in Boston, the community met for a town meeting in addition to Day of Remembrance observations, while at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, a Transgender Awareness week preceded the Day of Remembrance. Some places called attention to still-unsolved murders of transgender people as part of the solemn commemorations. In Sydney, Australia, the event was held in the New South Wales Parliament House.

Truly a grassroots event, the Day of Remembrance observations each had a local quality to them. Many included the presence of local activists, religious leaders, parents, children and allies. You can find more information at Remembering Our Dead. Reading through the names of those who have died is moving and important; noting the incredible organizing done in so many places is also empowering.

Many thanks to the organizers for all of their hard work to provide information and resources to the community for the Day of Remembrance every year. Thank you, too, to all of the folks in local communities who organized events. Together, we will continue to honor those we have lost while working diligently to create a world free from anti-transgender violence.

Voters in Ferndale, Michigan have approved a human rights ordinance that bans discrimination against gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people. This is the third time that the human rights ordinance has come before voters, and this time, it passed resoundingly.

The New Jersey State Senate has passed a bill to amend the NJ Law Against Discrimination to include "Gender Identity and Expression" as a protected category; positive action is likely in the General Assembly on Thursday and Governor Corzine is expected to sign it. For information and to take action to get this bill passed, contact Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey or Garden State Equality.

Employees of the City of Phoenix, Arizona are now protected against discrimination based on gender identity and expression. The policy which covers city workers has recently been updated to add these categories; sexual orientation has been covered in the policy since 1992. Tempe and Tucson had also include gender identity and expression in their non-discrimination policies. More information is available from the Arizona Human Rights Fund.

The Lansing, Michigan City Council was presented with a human rights ordinance in November. This ordinance would include among other things, gender identity/expression. The council is expected to vote on the ordinance on December 11th.

The Chicago, Illinois Zoning Committee has voted to remove restrictions on drag performers in the city. Previously, male and female impersonators were required to have special permits for performances, which were limited to "adult zones" of the city.

It's that time of year-time to reach into your wallet and make your final tax-deductible gifts for 2006. And this year your donation to NCTE is worth twice as much! In response to the work we've been doing, an anonymous donor with a long history of philanthropy in the LGBT community has committed a $5,000 matching grant to NCTE. That's right, this donor will match all donations made to NCTE by December 31st up to $5,000. This is our second matching contribution opportunity in 2006. Earlier this year at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta, generous anonymous donor from the transgender community pledged to match every gift donated to NCTE up to $10,000! SCC attendees rose to the challenge and met the $10,000 goal! With your help, the National Center for Transgender Equality has become the country's leading advocate for the civil and human rights of everyone under the transgender umbrella. Since our founding just three short years ago, NCTE has been extraordinarily effective at:

• Voicing our communities' concerns to U.S. Congress members;



• Building coalitions with other organizations to improve their transgender work;



• Training hundreds of community members like you on how to educate your elected officials; and



• Monitoring and informing you about issues that impact our community like the REAL ID Act, employment "no match letters," passports, medical records, healthcare access, hate crime legislation, anti-discrimination laws, immigration, family law, safe shelter access, respectful media coverage, and more.

We need your help to make sure we have the resources to continue fighting for transgender equality. And our biggest fight is right around the corner, with a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to be introduced next year. We don't have to tell you that NCTE will lead the effort to pass this historic legislation in 2007.

We need you to ensure that the year-end $5,000 match goes to support this and other critical work for transgender equality.

Please make a gift of $50, $100, $500 or even $1,000 to the National Center for Transgender Equality today.

Remember, your dollars will work twice as hard if you give before December 31st.

Your financial support will keep our work going and help us build a bigger and stronger NCTE. Together, we'll make transgender equality a reality. With your help, we'll get there sooner than anyone ever imagined!

Contribute online, or make checks payable to NCTE, mailed to us at 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005. Your contributions to NCTE are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law.

NCTE is organizing a gathering of religious leaders to discuss issues of public and denominational policies on January 19-21, 2007. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at Pacific School of Religion and the NCTE, will be held in Berkeley, California.

The goals for the meeting include increasing support among religious communities for public policy issues that impact transgender people by educating religious leaders on public policy issues, developing strategies to take a transgender-supportive stance in the public arena, and considering ways to address religious-based opposition to transgender inclusive public policies. Organizers also want to assist religious organizations in developing transgender-inclusive policies by sharing information about the best practices that are being used and developing innovative new strategies for transgender inclusion.

The event is specifically focused for those who are involved in public policy work or focused on policies in their own faith traditions. If you, or someone you know, is interested, please contact NCTE's Program Manager, Justin Tanis, by e-mail to request an invitation. Registration for the event is $55 and limited scholarships are available.

All My Children, the long-running soap opera on ABC, has introduced a transgender character, an apparent first for a day time television series. The story line features Zarf, a rock star, who realizes his desire to transition from male to female; the first episode of this plot aired on November 20. Zarf is played by Jeffrey Carlson.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and several transgender consultants advised ABC about the character; you can read GLAAD's press release on the program. All My Children has engaged issues of sexuality and gender in the past, including being the first day time show to add a regular character who was a lesbian and to feature two women in a relationship kissing. Rarely have transgender characters appeared on television before.

For the last year, NCTE has produced a weekly column of ideas that all of us can implement called 52 Things You Can Do for Transgender Equality. Ranging from starting a support group to running for office, each column highlighted resources that would help you accomplish that task. The column has been picked up by news sources as well as by local activists and we've been so excited to hear the ways in which people have implemented the ideas and added their own. As this campaign ends, we are beginning another exciting project.

Each month in 2007, we will be highlighting a human rights issue that relates to transgender people, produced in a format that you can print and hang on your wall, to serve as both a calendar and as a reminder of the important principles and goals we have to work on as a community.

Look for our new monthly format and for a poster highlighting all of the 52 Things ideas coming at the end of this month!

	Masen Davis

Masen Davis, a member of NCTE's Board of Directors, has a brief appearance in the movie Borat, currently playing in theaters. While the movie studio might characterize him as an extra, we prefer to think of his role as a "cameo appearance." Congratulations, Masen!

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