I'm really amazed by the LGBT population (I agree with Larry Flick of Sirius OutQ that the word community makes us sound smaller than we are). The majority of the people who are a part of the population, myself included, will get all fired up when we learn about something that immediately affects us and the population as a whole. We scream, shout, protest and even call our elected officials demanding our equal rights. At the end of the day, after we've had our say, we go home and go back into hiding. We go back to worrying about gratifying ourselves, leaving the fight once again to the advocacy groups, many of which have their heads so far up the political ass they haven't seen the light of day in years.

As a population we need to stop this. We need to get angry and stay angry until we get our rights and our protections. We need to continually call our elected officials and demand equality. We need to call into the radio shows and let our voices be heard and get on TV to let the nation see that we are just like them and need the same rights and protections they enjoy. We need to be angry 24/7.

Unfortunately, before we can do this and make people understand our fight and form allies we need to stop fighting with ourselves. The LGBT population is so disorganized because even we can't accept each other. If we can't accept ourselves how can we expect others to accept us? We need to unite and fight this fight as a whole.

During the Civil Rights movement, the African-American population was very organized. Yes, there were many different groups and one group may not have agreed with the methods of other groups but they were all fighting the same fight. They organized, they planned and form allies. In the end Civil Rights were passed.

We need to work as a population, each organization coming together to plan the next move. We have so many issues that many don't know where to start or which battle to fight. We need to fight all of the battles. We need to take on each issue head on whether the issues affect you or not, because in the long run all of the issues affect all of us.

Barney Frank once said on OutQ that we need to take a page from the NRA in how they lobby congress and fight for the right to bare arms. They are organized and they fight as a unit. They alert their members immediately about issues. They get donations from their members so they can go to congress and push those Representatives and Senators they feel are their enemy and get them to vote their way.

Let's put aside and differences we have towards each other and organize. If we truly want our rights; our protections and to be treated as equals we need to work as a population not as individuals.

 

KristiTV
diamondtgr@comcast.net
http://diamondtgr.home.comcast.net

About two weeks ago I sent Scott Brown and email urging him to push for a vote on ENDA and also to support and vote for the bill when it does come up for a vote. Here is the reply that I received from his office yesterday, May 19, 2010.

Dear ,
 
     Thank you for your letter regarding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 (S. 1584).  As always, I greatly value the input of my constituents on all issues and appreciate hearing from you.
 
     On August 8, 2009, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced in the Senate by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR).  This bill would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, or joint labor-management committees.  This bill will also prohibit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from collecting statistics from covered entities on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.  Furthermore, S. 1584 would provide for enforcement, including giving the EEOC, the Librarian of Congress, the Attorney General, and U.S. courts the same enforcement powers as they have under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, and other specified laws.
 
     Currently S. 1584 is under review by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  While I am not a member of this committee, I will certainly monitor the progress of the bill in recognition of the importance of these issues.
 
     Again, thank you for sharing your views with me.  Should S. 1584 come before the full Senate for debate, I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind.  If I can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact me or visit my website at http://scottbrown.senate.gov.
 
           Sincerely,
     Scott P. Brown
     United States Senator

*** Please do not reply directly to this message as this mailbox cannot receive inbound messages. Should you have any additional questions or comments, please visit my website at http://scottbrown.senate.gov. ***

Scott Brown is one of the six hold outs for DADT, he is not a friend of LGBT people. Please contact his office and continue to contact Scott Brown until both bills are passed. Make sure he know this is important to us and that we will not except anything but passage.

KristiTV
diamondtgr@comcast.net
http://diamondtgr.home.comcast.net

Once again politicians have failed us. They promise they will work for equality and then turn their backs. New York residents had been told that the New York Senate may vote on Marriage Equality yesterday (Tuesday, November 10, 2009) and then delayed the vote.

 

This has become the norm with politicians across the country and especially with the Obama administration. We make a bit of noise; they respond, throw us a bone and then ignore us again or even worse take the bone away from us as they did in California and Maine. I for one am tired of bones; I want the prime rib others are enjoying.

 

There has been some great progress made such as Marriage Equality in several states with Massachusetts leading the way and the passage of the Hate Crimes bill. These are wonderful but they are not enough, we still need to fight.

 

The Obama administration and elected officials around the country need to be constantly harassed and informed that we are American citizens and we deserve equality, it is our Constitutional right. They need to know that if they are going to continue to turn their backs on us we are not going to support them.

 

I know I keep saying that you need to contact your elected official and tell them to pass ENDA, fight for Marriage Equality and repeal DOMA and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell but it is so important. Constantly pressuring them is the only way they listen and actually take action. You can find the contact information of your elected officials at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

 

KristiTV
diamondtgr@comcast.net
http://diamondtgr.home.comcast.net

On Tuesday November 3, Maine voted to repeal the right for same-sex marriages. While this is a major set back for equality it is not the end. We still have a lot of work ahead for us and other bills that need to be passed. We also need to stop other states that recognize same-sex marriages from repealing those rights and get them back in the states that we’ve lost.

 

We also need push Congress to pass ENDA (the Employee Non Discrimination Act), repeal Don’t Ask Don’t tell and repeal DOMA (the Defense Of Marriage Act). While our losses and set backs are disheartening we cannot let that stop us. We need to fight even harder now.

 

Please write your Representatives, Senators and the White House. Call them, email them, what ever it takes and don’t stop until we have our rights. Make sure your voices are heard and heard loudly.

 

Encourage your friends and family to do the same.

 

You can find your state Senator and State Representative at http://directory.usayfoundation.org/
President Obama contact information can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/

 

Kristi
diamondtgr@comcast.net
http://diamondtgr.home.comcast.net

On October 22 Congress approved the Hate Crimes Bill (also known as the Matthew Shepard bill). This was a huge step for LGBT rights and protection because President Barack Obama would now have a bill before him to sign, which he promised he would, protecting the LGBT community on a national level. On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the bill into law.

While this is a tremendous occasion and deserves celebration but the work is not finished; we still have a long hard fight ahead of us. We still need to keep the pressure on Congress and the President until have equality.

On October 11, 2009 over 100,000 people marched on Washington for Equality. They peacefully let President Obama and Congress know that we are getting impatient and tired of the broken promises. The President responded by giving a speak and the HRC dinner the night before the march promising that he is working to keep his campaign promises to us (more information on the march can be found here.)

President Obama responses to pressure; we need to keep the pressure on him and on congress. What can you do? Write to your Senators, Representative and the White House and let them know you want EQUALITY. Tell them you want the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) pass. Let them know you want “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” stopped and repealed and scream that you want full marriage rights.

You can found your state Senator and your State Representative at http://directory.usayfoundation.org/
President Obama contact information can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/

There has been a lot of progress made but now is not the time to sit back and look at what has been accomplished, now is the time to not only keep the pressure going but to increase that pressure.

Most of my news about the LGBT community comes from Sirius/XM OutQ radio.

 

Kristi
diamondtgr@comcast.net
http://diamondtgr.home.comcast.net

After a huge computer crash I've gotten a new system and am once again working hard to bring you  resources from the Transgender community from around the world. I have enjoyed the great feedback I've received regarding DiamondTGR and I'm very happy to continue working on the site.

Check out the latest spring and summer fashions in the On Sale section.  From cute tops to functional skirts to to die for shoes.

As always I look forward to hearing from you and your suggestions.

Kristi

It's been a bit since my last update to this blog and the DiamondTGR web site. Unfortunately I've been having computer issues, but I am back and have made some updates to the site.  Some of the updates are invisible and more for organization and others are quite visible.  I've added four new support groups, all of which had been featured by Keith Price on Sirius OutQ in the Morning.  Vist the What's New page for more information.

Kristi

We have added a new support group. Sylvia's Place is a New York City based LGBT Youth homeless shelter.  Sylvia's has been featured on Sirius XM OutQ and helps young (under 21) people who are homeless because of they are LGBT.  Go to What's New and click on the link to Sylvia's Place.

If you know of any support groups or other Transgender friendly groups or companies that you would like to share with our community, please contact me or post them to this blog.

Also on the What's New page, two skirts on sale.  These skirts are beautiful and would make an excellent Christmas gift for yourself or the special girl in your life.

I want to wish all my sisters a Very Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and a Very Very Happy and Healthy New Yeark.

 

Kristi

Welcome to Diamond Transgender Resources.  One of the features of the new site is our blog.  Here we will post information about our site and news about the Transgender community.  We hope that you will take part in the blogs and find them discussions enjoyable and informative.

Thank you for taking the time to stop be and read our first blog.

 

Kristi