S/he Said
"I believe that coming out makes for a happier life, but that's not a matter of ethics, that's just corny advice."
-Rachel Maddow, about a criticism she supposedly made towards Anderson Copper in an interview, http://www.maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com, April 25.
"McDonald's needs to publicly apologize to Chrissy. They need to offer adequate compensation before they are sued. They need to fire each and every one of their employees at that Baltimore store who stood back and allowed the beating. They need to start publicly supporting efforts to advance awareness and acceptance of transgender people so things like this don't happen again."
-Julie H. Lynch, author of the blog Gendersense: Thoughts for Trans Liberation, in a post titled "When bathroom access is a life or death issue," about the beating of Chrissy Lee Polis, a transgender woman, in a Baltimore McDonald's, http://www.gendersense.com, April 29.
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in this country continue to be fired daily simply because of who they are. Think of it – a single manager, acting out of nothing more than personal prejudice, can rob a company of a skilled employee and deprive that person of the means to support themselves and their family. Our country can't afford to have more people out of work and our businesses can't afford to be short on good employees. Discrimination should never be the deciding factor in an employee's career – people should be judged on their skills, contributions, and dedication to the job."
-Selisse Berry, executive director of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, in a press release, applauding the reintroduction of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, http://www.outandequal.org, March 31.
"In addition to working to pass inclusive legal protections for the most vulnerable transgender Marylanders, we at PFLAG must continue to dismantle the fears and prejudices of our society by continuing to support those coping with hostile communities, along with enlightening an ill-informed public about the very real and pervasive violence far too many trans people endure on a daily basis."
-Liz Owen, writing for the PFLAG National Blog in response to the April 18 beating of a transgender woman in a Baltimore McDonald's, http://www.blog.pflag.org, April 25.
