Governor Christine Gregoire this morning signed the anti-hate-crime bill that passed earlier this month.
Under state law, a person is guilty of malicious harassment for hurting or threatening someone for their race, color, religion, ancestry, disability, or sexual orientation. This bill sponsored by state Senator Joe McDermott (D-34)—standing to the left of the governor in the photo—adds “gender expression or identity” to the list. PS—Rob McKenna, you are finally safe.
You are too cute by ten – the head line stinks
just learn to say trans – it is OK to your readers, and covers all the possible variations
She also signed into law the Breast Feeding bill, which affects a lot of women too.
While the joke about Rob McKenna being a transgendered teenage boy is definitely hilarious, according to longstanding Olympia legislative lore, this law may have actually protected former WA Gov., Dixie Lee Ray, who is rumored to have been born a man with underdeveloped male genitalia.
Yay!!
the rob mckenna joke is seriously unnecessary. don’t be an asshole.
i don’t like him either, but there’s no reason to make him the butt off a transphobic joke.
Was I the only one who read “Rob McKenna” and thought “Rain God”?
I was?
Ok, carry on.
Oh, The Stranger… sadly ironic that a law protecting trans people is reported in a way that’s likely to be offensive to trans people.
Your headline isn’t funny, it’s transphobic and offensive.
Your joke that Rob McKenna must be a trans person is transphobic and offensive.
Geez, and papers like this are supposed to be my ally?
@1 yes the headline stinks. So does the McKenna Joke.
This wasn’t a joke:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/22/tran…
If I (a trans person) come off as too sensitive to jokes. . . well eff you.
Poking fun at transpeople is ubiquitous. I mentioned to a friend today that I could only think of two times in my life where the subject of being trans came up in a non-sensational or “light-hearted” manner. Would a gender conforming het claim the same?
It’s a shame that a place like the SLOG isn’t any different.
Having gender identity included in the hate crime big is a big deal for us – again eff-you.
@7 what she said.
I was sooo pissed I stumbled all over the keyboard.
what I meant to say was only twice in my life did subject of trans come up in the media where it was not presented as sensational or made fun of. . .
. . . and hate crime “bill” of course.
buttfuck my vagina
This doesn’t only protect trans people, it also protects anyone that doesn’t conform to gender roles. Examples: genderqueers, intersex people, androgynous people, femme men and boys, butch women and girls, people in “drag” costumes, etc. Dan Savage and Kelly O and Paul Constant amongst others would be protected by this law if they were assaulted because they were in costume making a Stranger video.
This is an amazing step towards gender freedom (of which gay marriage is one small part).
I love Dominic’s posts usually, but the jokes were in poor taste. How about some articles about trans, genderqueer, or intersex people or issues in Seattle? People outside of traditional genders (except drag costumes) have been weirdly taboo in The Stranger. I bet your readers would love them.
Do you girls keep lawyers on retainer?
Several of the groups protected in the bill will have great cases for malicious harassment at the hands of the cesspool that is Slog.
Finally.
I’m VERY excited that WA state has finally passed this, but I’m disgusted by your headline. As a Transgendered person, I find this very hateful speech! And we wonder why it takes SOO long for us to get any legal protections at all! Please have some respect for us?
But, the headline explains exactly what the law is about. Ah sensitive Seattleites. If you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at (besides Rob McKenna)?
@15, Besides the fact that it’s not what the law is about (see my comment @11), it’s a ridiculous misunderstanding of LGBT issues. Imagine if 10 years ago someone wrote about lesbian/gay hate crimes laws with a rough equivalent headline, like “you can’t beat a woman (even if she doesn’t like men anymore)”. Then finished the story with a joke like, “Hillary Clinton, you’re finally safe”. That’s offensive at best.
Trans people and other gender nonconformists have ridiculously high levels of harassment and non-acceptance, like Dominic exhibited in this post, causing their suicide rates to be astronomical, even in comparison to lesbians and gay men. Pretty much every single one will say they were born with their gender, and identified outside their assigned gender from their earliest memories. Calling an MTF “born a man” is another form of harassment. “Born with a penis,” maybe, but you’re still ignoring intersex individuals (over 0.5% of humanity).
what #11 said. More posts about trans issues would be welcomed. The first time in the nation where someone was found guilty of a hate crime for killing a transwoman happened yesterday in Colorado. Where was there any mention of that here? Especially in light of the signing of our gender idenity included hate crime law.
I just have to say as one of the students who worked very hard on passing this bill this session (I’m the one next to the Governor in the pic) it is really heartwarming the emails I received from the transgendered community and the positive comments I see on news blogs about its passage. It is really was an incredible experience and the law was long overdue.
Here’s to all those who lost their lives in this struggle and for all those who will be helped in the future to know that the legislature is on your side.