There
is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, sponsored by
Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, outside the Homewood Friends
Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St. The next scheduled vigil is on Jan. 8.
Black Lives Matter. Since this is a First Friday, there will be a potluck
dinner afterwards, followed by a DVD showing.
The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker
Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake
Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL
CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES. The DVDs will be shown at Homewood Friends
Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, usually on the First
Friday. At 7:15 PM, from January through June, a DVD will be shown with a
discussion to follow. There is no charge, and refreshments will be
available. The series theme is CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.
On Fri., Jan. 8 see THE
KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT [2010] Director Lisa Cholodenko’s film is about two
children who were conceived via artificial insemination. They want to
meet their father. The actors are Annette Bening, Julianne
Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska and Josh
Hutcherson. This beautifully acted tale of a lesbian couple and their
children offers an acute study of modern relationships. It is a smart comedy
about the relationship between the sperm donor and the postmodern family--a
lesbian couple and their children. Call 410-366-1637
or email mobuszewski [at] verizon.net for further information.
Published on Portside (https://portside.org)
ACLU Files Brief for Chelsea Manning's Health
Jos Truitt
Monday, December 7, 2015
Feminsting
December 7, 2015, the ACLU filed an opposition brief in the case
of Chelsea Manning’s medical care. The military finally began providing Manning
hormones [1] at the beginning of this year, but they are still requiring her to follow male
grooming standards [2].
ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio explained to me, “Chelsea has
been fighting since she arrived at the [United States Disciplinary
Barracks] more than two years ago to receive treatment for her gender dysphoria
and to be treated like the woman that she is. Though we had some success
in getting Chelsea treatment after we first filed our lawsuit and she has now
been receiving hormone therapy for almost a year, she continues to be forced to
follow male grooming standards and is forced to have her hair cut every other
week to a length not to exceed two inches. Though the government has attempted
to minimize the harm this has caused to Chelsea, her medical providers agree
that the continued refusal to adequately treat her gender dysphoria and the
government’s insistence on treating her as male is having devastating effects
on her physical and mental health.”
This case is about more than hairstyles. It is about medical
treatment for a long misunderstood and stigmatized condition, and about a prisoner’s core identity and her need to
be seen and treated in accordance with that identity … By the time [Chelsea
Manning] was recognized as female and prescribed treatment, she was
already incarcerated. But her incarceration makes her no less of a woman nor
does it make her medical needs any less urgent. For a person with gender
dysphoria, the ability to consolidate and express gender is not merely a choice
but rather a critical part of treatment. To enforce male grooming standards
against Plaintiff is to undermine her treatment and mark her as different
solely because of her sex, gender identity, assigned sex at birth and
transgender status.
The Department of Justice has made [4] the
absurd, victim blaming argument that barring Manning from growing her hair out
is about security concerns and protecting her from potential assaults, as if
her fellow inmates don’t already know who she is or that she’s a woman in a
men’s prison.
Strangio concluded, “We are inspired by Chelsea’s continued
courage to fight for her needs and for justice and we are honored to fight with
her for the treatment she deserves and is constitutionally entitled to
receive.”
I’m inspired too, and I hope to see Manning win this
important fight quickly.
Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing.
She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and
Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics
including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos
first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war
at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy.
Feministing is an online community run by and for young feminists.
For over a decade, we’ve been offering sharp, uncompromising feminist analysis
of everything from pop culture to politics and inspiring young people to make
real-world feminist change, online and off.
Links:
[1] https://www.chelseamanning.org/featured/chelsea-to-begin-gender-related-medical-care
[2] http://feministing.com/2015/04/09/getting-it-right-cosmos-interview-with-chelsea-manning/
[3] https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/050_pls_opp_to_defs_mot_to_dismiss_2015.12.07.pdf
[4] http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/11/19/3723739/chelsea-manning-hair/
[2] http://feministing.com/2015/04/09/getting-it-right-cosmos-interview-with-chelsea-manning/
[3] https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/050_pls_opp_to_defs_mot_to_dismiss_2015.12.07.pdf
[4] http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/11/19/3723739/chelsea-manning-hair/
- See more at: https://portside.org/print/2015-12-21/aclu-files-brief-chelsea-mannings-health#sthash.cOCZxgeh.dpuf
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.
Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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