Jon Nelson
Your weekday morning blend from Instant Tea:
1. Fort Worth officials received a briefing Tuesday on progress the city has made in addressing the concerns of the LGBT community in the nearly two years since the Rainbow Lounge raid. According to the Star-Telegram, the city has implemented 19 of 20 recommendations made by an LGBT task force formed after the raid. The only recommendation left outstanding is that the city provide health insurance to cover the cost of sex reassignment surgery for transgender employees. Other ongoing concerns include some apparent resistance to diversity training among police and firefighters, as well as the question of whether the city should subsidize domestic partner benefits. But overall, everyone seems pleased with the progress. “I think there is no city, because I’ve looked, in the United States which has done more in less time on these issues than the city of Fort Worth,” said Jon Nelson, a member of the task force and a leader of Fairness Fort Worth.
2. A Texas House committee is expected to take up a bill this morning that would allow same-sex parents to put both their names on the birth certificate of an adopted child. HB 415, by Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, would resolve an issue in Texas that’s been the subject of a high-profile lawsuit in Louisiana, where a federal appeals court recently ruled against a same-sex couple in a case that could go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the full House could give final approval today to an anti-bullying bill that’s become Equality Texas’ top priority in this year’s legislative session. HB 1942, by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, would then go to the Senate for consideration.
3. GLAAD is calling on Houston’s Fox affiliate (KRIV-26) to apologize for a segment that aired last week called, “Is TV too gay?” which criticized Glee‘s portrayal of gay teens. The segment aired the same night as a Glee‘s “Born This Way” episode and featured Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, which has been certified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Watch the full segment below. To sign GLAAD’s petition, go here.
Why does Faux News propagate lies from a know hate group? …In 2009,[AFA] it hired Bryan Fischer, the former executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance, as its director of analysis for government and policy. Taking a page from the anti-gay fabulist Scott Lively (see Abiding Truth Ministries, above), Fischer claimed in a blog post last May 27 that “[h]omosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and 6 million dead Jews.” …
https://splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners
How many times do I have to explain it? The proposal I made to the DTF was that “Transgender Health” issues be covered by the city’s health coverage. A transgender woman, being post-op, pre-op, or non-op, still has issues that insurance companies can deny. For example, when one transitions from male to female, the health records with the city (and the insurance company) will be changed to show that person to be female. However, if that person is dilegent with the wellness of their body, she will not only get a yearly mammogram (depending on her age) which is covered under the health plan…she will also need a yearly prostate exam, which is NOT covered under the health plan because she is female and females do not have the prostate gland. I have been told that by a health care provider!
The COFW’s health plan through AETNA specifically excludes any medical coverage for a gender transition. The media’s refering to “taxpayer funded sex changes” is bigotry at its best. I can’t believe that DV would report this as “that the city provide health insurance to cover the cost of sex reassignment surgery for transgender employees”. Shame on you for carrying on the bigotry instead of reporting what the issue really is!