FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2009
WASHINGTON - The International Foundation for Gender Education welcomes the new White House directive to release same-sex marriage data from the upcoming census. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) had been used to justify withholding federal statistics about same-sex marriages for the last decade. The new directive would put an end to this practice.

"Transgender People have had their lives and identities discounted for far too long. Having legitimate marriages erased by bureaucrats is intolerable," said Denise Leclair, executive director of IFGE. "Reversing this offensive policy is a major step forward for the entire LGBT community. We thank the administration for addressing this injustice."

Thousands of heterosexual marriages have become what are effectively same-sex marriages when one partner transitions to the other sex. Although these marriages are legal, rules enacted to prevent gay and lesbian marriages have frequently been used against them as well.
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The International Foundation for Gender Education promotes acceptance for transgender people everywhere through education. Founded in 1978, IFGE is the largest transgender advocacy organization with members worldwide. Providing educational outreach for the emancipation of all gender variant people from restrictive gender norms, IFGE is a non-profit educational corporation with offices in Waltham, MA and Washington, DC and is recognized by the I.R.S. as a 501c(3) charitable organization .

MEDIA CONTACT:
Stephanie Battaglino
201.704.2996 NY | 202.207.8364 DC
media@ifge.org
Communications Director
International Foundation for Gender Education


IFGE | 272 Carrol St NW | Washington DC | 20012 | 202-207-8364
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111th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 2981

To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 19, 2009

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. KIRK, Mr. LANCE, and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

June 1, 2009
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

Resolution

Whereas people are naturally endowed with a wide diversity of gender expression, identities, and sexual orientations;

Whereas, the distress felt by gender non-conforming people is fundamentally due to social prejudice and heterosexism, and is not a characteristic of their identities;

Whereas diagnosis of psychological disorders has been used as a form of social control;

Whereas, the inclusion of normal variations of behavior as diagnostic criteria has been widely used to justify discrimination against gender non-conforming people by individuals, governments, and corporations; and has resulted in material harm to people;

Whereas, the principle responsibility of medicine is to "Do No Harm;"

Therefore, be it resolved that we find the American Psychiatric Association to have a responsibility to ameliorate this harm, and hereby call for the following remedies:

(1) We hereby call on the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association to issue a declaration stating that: Gender variance, and gender non-conforming behavior do not constitute a psychological disorder;

(2) We hereby call on the American Psychiatric Association to remove the diagnosis of so- called "Transvestic Fetishism," which explicitly pathologizes gender non-conforming behavior, from their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual;

(3) We hereby call for the reform of any diagnosis that can be made solely based on gender non-conforming behavior, specifically including “Gender Identity Disorder in Children.”

Resolved this day May 15, 2009 by the Board of Directors of
The International Foundation for Gender Education

(TRENTON) April 27, 2009 – New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) Chief Administrator Sharon A. Harrington today announced that customers who are preparing to undergo sexual reassignment will be permitted to change the gender status of their New Jersey Driver License to reflect the new gender that they have begun to identify with prior to surgery. The policy update reflects the understanding that sexual reassignment is an extended process for the transgender community.