Comments on: Life on the Hill: Frank’s new aide settles into job

By: JK

JK — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:09:15 +0000

Chris S. LOL!!

I am on topic, the story is about the first “Openly Trans” staffmember not Barney Frank. Diego Miguel Sanchez now is a sheep working in the fox’s den. He has to be careful not to allow or advise Frank to once again jettison the Trans community like Frank has done in the past.

Frank & HRC were the ones advocating for this mans very exclusion from the laws that would protect Frank. Once again right on topic.

Also who the hell made you the forum police? You hear something you don’t like and without understanding the full ramifications of what your saying lash out at others. You obviously don’t know all of the history that has taken place nor the problems of leaving trans people out of the bill.

Zip it!

By: SteveMD2

SteveMD2 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:50:35 +0000

Bit by bit, despite setbacks, America is making progress.

I’m a str8 guy who is devoting much of his spare time and money to equality for gays (and yes trans people – I funded a significant chunk of what ended the attempt by the religious sickos to make Trans people non-people in the eyes of the law in Montgomery county – just as hitler did with the Jews before the Holocaust.

Keep it up, but this is an urgent appeal – if you are gay or trans, and not getting involved in politics, I’d like to gently kick your butt. Cuz we can’t win the political battles without you, vs the mentally sick haters who denigrate the very meaning of God, as well as themselves with their hatefilled illness.

By: Alexa

Alexa — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:40:49 +0000

Mark, I agree wholeheartedly. The ‘openly’ moniker is ridiculous.

By: Alexa

Alexa — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:07:45 +0000

Step, break open a history book. Without trannies, there would have been no Stonewall riot. How far along do you think you’d be now without that?

Chris, there was no hope of Bush signing ENDA, with or without transgender inclusion. Congressman Frank sold the trans community down the river for a simple majority vote in the House only, with NO POSSIBILITY of a 2/3 override on a veto, or even a floor vote in the Senate. I’m grateful for all the work he’s done over the years, but he definitely failed the trans community on that one.

By: Step

Step — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:50:20 +0000

This is one of the worst decisions in our history. We haven’t ESTABLISHED rights for gays at the federal level so why bring a tranny into it? I’m so tired of trans being grouped with gay/lesbian/bi.

By: Chris Sullivan

Chris Sullivan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:08:45 +0000

JK – teh article is NOT about HRC, it IS about Barney Frank. Stay on topic. Yes, obviously he removed trans protections from the bill, that was the whole issue -you are not shedding any new light here. This was done because he felt it would help its chances to pass and then add trans protections later. His thinking was that it was better to pass an ENDA w/o trans protections and then add them than to have EVERYONE without some benefit. That was the entire point of the controversy. It was an unfortunate reality he had to deal with, people who were not willing to vote to pass it WITH trans protections but who would have voted for it NOW w/o them. Nobody is saying that this is a pleasant dynamic, but adopting an “if I can’t have it, neither can you” isn’t helping anyone either. I would be careful about telling people that they don’t know what they are talking about when they damn well do know VERY WELL what they are talkng about – you only make yourself seem ignorant of the facts. …and “Chris” what you say is simply not true. “Tedd” your comments also have nothing to do with the issue in this article. It’s easy to sit back and pontificate, getting some DONE is quite another matter. Barney Frank has my full support.

By: Tedd

Tedd — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:23:17 +0000

My high regard for Representative Frank has plummeted. When I approached his office about the usurious interest rates that one of the largest banks in the U.S. were beginning to charge their long-term credit card customers (this was also one of the banks that received bailout billions), I did not even receive a response to my inquiry. I guess he is (was) too busy becoming the new media darling or his staff really dropped the ball. In any case, Barney has become yet another hot winded, long winded politician.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:02:48 +0000

Chris, an ENDA bill without protections for gender identity is pretty worthless anyway. It would allow employers to fire gay people for not adhering to gender stereotypes, thus putting men who aren’t macho enough and women who are “too butch” at risk. Typically, that’s why gay people (or people perceived as gay) are fired anyway.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:27:19 +0000

ps., I meant to say “surely there have been no ‘un-openly transgedner’ Congressional aides.” Hopefully the day will come when we are no longer the only group of people who treat our identities, and have them treated by others, as something to be revealed or hidden as one might an ugly wart. Of course I know many LGBT people must be cautious, especially the young, but by the time someone is identified as LGBT in a news report, the ‘openly’ is moot and we do ourselves a disservice by perpetuating it.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:24:31 +0000

Oh, Yeah, and
“and thought it pragmatic to attempt to it the way it was and then to add trans protections when the time was better”

He REMOVED us from the bill we were ALREADY in Chris. Them’s the facts