Cleveland 'Plain Dealer' Dehumanizes Horrific Murder of Trans Woman

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's coverage of the murder of Cemia Acoff, a transgender woman whose body was found tied to a block of concrete at the bottom of a pond after being stabbed repeatedly, is being denounced by LGBT rights organizations for its dehumanizing characterizations of the victim and transgender people.

An earlier piece on the murder had referred to Cemia as "it".

GLAAD writes:

GLAAD, Equality Ohio, TransOhio and Cleveland's LGBT Community Center are working to address anti-transgender local coverage of the story of a Cleveland transgender woman, Cemia Acoff, who was found dead earlier this month.

Throughout the day we have been in touch with all three local organizations and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the source of two highly problematic stories, currently titled "Brutal slaying marks the end of Cleveland man's fight for acceptance" and "Oddly dressed body found in Olmsted Township pond identified" (The latter had been previously said "Oddly dressed man.")

As of 3:05 PM, the Plain Dealer has updated its two stories to remove pronouns (except in the case of that one headline) and a few of the more sensationalized aspects of the stories. However, many problems remain.

Describing Acoff as "oddly dressed" is incredibly insulting.
 
Her murder did not "end her fight for acceptance," it ended her life. Period.
 
There is no need to describe what she was wearing at the time of her murder; she had already been identified at the start of both stories, describing her wardrobe only trivializes her murder.
 
Acoff's criminal record is almost certainly irrelevant to the story, especially when provided without any context concerning the trans community and law enforcement.
 
And removing pronouns doesn't fix much. Yes, the stories are no longer factually incorrect, but this tact still shows an unwillingness to respect the victim's gender identity and accept her as female.

Laurel Ramseyer at Pam's House Blend adds:

The journalist knew that Acoff was a trans woman because he reported that fact, yet he chose to not only mis-gender her, but he refers to her body as an “it”.  Corpses are generally referred to in the press as male or female, depending on the apparent anatomy or the determination made in the source police report.

Even mis-gendering the body would have been better than applying the dehumanizing “it”.

Violence against transgender people is at epidemic levels in the United States, with transgender African-Americans one of the hardest-hit subpopulations.  Pieces of dehumanizing garbage like these articles in the Plain Dealer (here and here) or this article at Fox 8 Cleveland only feed the flames of hatred and abuse.

Our thoughts go out to Cemia's family and friends.

'Empire State Pride Agenda' Launches $250K Ad Campaign to Push Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA)

New York's Empire sTate Pride Agenda is launching a multimedia ad campaign to push for passage of GENDA, the Times Union reports:

The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act has been stalled at the Capitol for years, but after the 2011 legalization of same-sex marriage, it has become the "top legislative priority" of the Empire State Pride Agenda, according to Nathan Schaefer, the organization's executive director. The bill would add "gender expression" to a list of factors in state law — including race and sexual orientation — for which discrimination is expressly prohibited.

"Transgendered New Yorkers can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes —they can be denied public accommodation," Schaefer said. "We are hopeful we can bring it to the floor based on the reality of very real discrimination that transgender New Yorkers face."

His group is partnering with others to fund the media campaign, which will include radio spots as well as display ads in newspapers and websites. This is the first time a significant advertising campaign has been launched around the bill. Schaefer said it would be a major part of the Pride Agenda's April 30 rally at the Capitol.

Listen to one of the new radio ads HERE.

Transgender Woman Banned from Idaho Grocery Store for Using Women's Bathroom

Aly Robledo, a 25-year-old transgender woman in Lewiston, Idaho, was banned from a Rosauers grocery store after using the women's bathroom, the AP reports.

Lewiston's KLEW adds:

Robledo was given a no trespass order Monday night shortly after exiting the Rosauer's grocery store location in Lewiston.

"A male subject who was using the female restroom, and that made some women customers uncomfortable because of the appearance that a male was using their restroom," said Lewiston Police Captain Roger Lanier.

"I really doubt that would be more socially acceptable than someone using the men's restroom," said Robledo.

Lanier told KLEW News that employees confronted Robledo, who explained she identifies herself as a transgendered woman who has gone through one phase of reconstructive surgery.

"The store employees didn't want any further problems, and they chose to exercise their right to trespass this individual from the business," said Lanier. "Anyone who owns or controls their property can make that decision."

"I think calling the police is not really sufficient and I think it's a waste of our tax payers' dollars," said Robledo.

The grocery store chain is refusing to comment: "The manager on duty Wednesday afternoon at Rosauer's chose not to comment. KLEW news attempted to get an official comment from the corporate offices of Rosauers, however our calls have not been returned over the period of two days."

DC Comics Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Superhero Comics

DC Comics this week announced the introduction of Alysia Yeoh in Batgirl #16, who announces she is transgender in a conversation with her roommate Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl), Wired reports:

Taking care to distinguish Yeoh’s sexual orientation from her gender identity, Batgirl writer Gail Simone noted that the character is also bisexual.

Simone attributed the inspiration for the character to a conversation she had with fellow comic book writer Greg Rucka several years ago at the Wondercon convention, after a fan asked why there were fewer gay male superheroes than lesbian ones. Rucka, who co-created (and rebooted) Batwoman as a lesbian character, replied that it would be a real sign of change for a gay male character to appear on a comic book cover — and an even bigger step for a transgender character to do the same.

“I looked out into the audience, saw dozens of faces I knew well — LGBTQ folks, mostly — all avid comics readers and superhero fans and DC supporters,” said Simone. “And it just hit me: Why was this so impossible? Why in the world can we not do a better job of representation of not just humanity, but also our own loyal audience?”

More at Wired...

'Trans 100' List Unveiled

Today, the inagural Trans 100 list was unveiled, highlighting trans people doing positive work nationwide. The list was introduced by GLAAD, We Happy Trans, a website that celebrates the positive experiences of transgender people, and This is H.O.W., a Phoenix based non profit organization dedicated to the betterment of the lives oftrans people.

“The value of the work that is represented by the 100 people on this list is immeasurable,” said Executive Director of This Is H.O.W., Antonia D’orsay, about the Trans 100. “These people demonstrate the diversity, the determination, and the incredible triumph of spirit that informs all trans people, no matter where they are. This is just a glimpse of what trans people can accomplish.”

You can view the full list here and read about those on it here.

A full list of those highlighted, AFTER THE JUMP...

Transsexual Actress Calpernia Addams and Drag Race Star Shangela Light Up New Facebook Home Ad: VIDEO

Transsexual actress and activist Calpernia Addams (below) wrote to alert us to a new ad for Facebook's new 'Home' launcher app in which she and RuPaul's Drag Race star Shangela are featured.

Here's the synopsis of the ad:

A boring business trip gets a lot less boring, when Facebook Home brings a guy's friends on the journey with him. And all it takes is a few glances to reveal that his life isn't as conservative as his khakis.

Mark Zuckerberg featured the ad in his keynote this week, Calpernia tells us, and the ad makes Facebook one of the few companies to feature a trans actress in a commercial in a positive light.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

UPDATE: Business Insider reports that the ad is receiving "a wave of negative reaction":

The ad's intent seems to be to show that having Facebook Home means that no matter where you are, you'll get all the wonderful, unadulterated weirdness of Facebook. But it also gives the odd impression that Facebook Home will turn your life into a visual clown car, with an endless stream of trivia spewing randomly from your phone.

The ad was created by agency Wieden + Kennedy, which also did "Chairs." Facebook spends very little money on TV advertising — why should it, it's owns its own audience of 1 billion people after all — and thus needs its ads to go viral in free online video media. Ads generally don't go viral unless they're very unusual. So what's happening here is that Facebook is being deliberately weird in order to get your attention.