Cross-posted by Vincent Paolo Villano, National Center for Transgender Equality

Last week, in honor of National LGBT Health Awareness Week, we released a preview of this resource highlighting nine facts about sexual and reproductive health for transgender people. Too often, transgender people don’t seek medical care out of fear of discrimination or harassment. Other times, they don’t receive adequate care because their providers are unsure about what questions should be asked, or what screenings or treatments are needed. The resource, Transgender Sexual and Reproductive Health: Unmet Needs and Barriers to Care, provides an overview of what providers can do to improve care.

In NCTE and the Task Force’s National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 50% of the transgender respondents said they had to teach their health care provider about appropriate care. “That number is just staggering considering the progress the medical community has made around our health,” said Mara Keisling, NCTE executive director. “More and more health care providers know who trans people are, and I hope that they use this resource to step up their level of care.”

In addition to providing information about trans sexual and reproductive health needs and experiences, the resource makes a series of policy recommendations for providers, health organizations, and government agencies urging them to:

• Follow accepted medical guidelines from the American Congress of Obstreticians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
• Adopt policies of respect and nondiscrimination.
• Train staff and providers on cultural competence and nondiscrimination.
• Revise Title X family planning grant guidelines for to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation and to address the cultural and clinical needs of transgender patients.
• Eliminate public policies that require sterilization procedures for trans people.

NCTE has released this resource as a supplementary document to the health care “know your rights” guide published last week. The guide, Health Care Rights and Transgender People outlines the health care protections transgender people have, and the process for reporting instances of discrimination.

(http://pointersviewpoint.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sexting.jpg)

Dear Senator Christine Kehoe:

Recently, I have been following the progress of Bill numbered SB 919, titled: An act to amend Sections 32261, 32265, 32270, and 48900 of the Education Code, relating to school safety. Senator Ted W. Lieu of the 28th District of California authored SB 919. SB 919 regards minor’s sexting, texting sexually explicit materials, in schools. SB 919 proposes that sexting be an act that can result in a student’s suspension or expulsion.

As a concerned citizen of the great State of California, I am writing you to speak out against Bill numbered SB 919 because it does not seek to educate young people about sexting, it only penalizes them when they are caught. I whole-heartedly agree that something should be done to protect young people from sexual exploitation and cyber bullying however, educating and creating awareness around the topic of sexting and how young people can prevent sexting from adversely affecting their life is crucial component that is left out. As a Child and Family Development student about to graduate from San Diego State University, I know from experience and lecture that punitive punishment such as grounding, spanking and timeouts only act as a Band-Aid and only temporarily fixes non-compliance issues. For example, parents who are warm, responsive and can let children learn by experiences with logical and natural consequences fair better in the long run.

Expulsion and suspension do little to offer young people a chance to learn while sexting warrants this type of consequence. Instead, adults should offer strategies that empower young people to make informed decisions. Adults need to provide an opportunity for young people to comprehend the adverse affects of sexting rather than just expel or suspend them. Another reason that Bill numbered SB 919 is an issue is that the current child pornography laws do not make a distinction between adults with possession of child pornography and minors who are sexting other minors. This is problematic because minors who are sexting other minors can be mislabeled as sex offender, which has long lasting implication on that person’s life.

Last week, I volunteered at a curfew sweep of San Diego, which brought in tons of young people. One thing I learned is that first time offenders could take a diversion course which aims to teach them skills that would hopefully help them make choices that would keep them from reoffending. The diversion course would keep the curfew violation off their record and would forgive them of the fine as long as they complete the diversion course. Implementing diversion curriculum can help educate young people and keep them from being mislabeled. This is more powerful than being expelled or suspended.

SB 919 will not prevent sexting and penalizes those who are caught. I hope that we could look at other examples when being punitive in our attempts to raise adolscents has backfired and use this model to create an appropriate course of action to bring awareness to the possible adverse affects of sexting. Teaching young people why adults do not think it is a good idea to engage in sexting is better in the long run than punitive punishment. We owe it to young people to come up with a better alternative to SB 919. We need to find a balance between respeting adolscent's expression of their sexuality and "protecting" them from the adverse affects of sexting. We need a bill that includes education and brings awareness to sexting and the implications of minors engaging in sexting.

Sincerely,
Rikki Bower

This is big -- see the breaking news below! And if you have a minute, please thank President Obama and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for standing strong with young women.

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Dear Advocate-

Moments ago, the Obama Administration announced the final rule on student health insurance plans.

And it's very good news.

Starting in August, student health plans will have to cover contraception. Young women across the country are now one step closer to accessing birth control.

In the past few months, the attacks on birth control itself, and against the millions of women who use contraception, have been vicious. Thank you for standing strong — and for your resilient mobilization on this critical issue.

Even though a small yet vocal minority continues to try to deny women access to birth control, we're glad to hear that the Administration stood strong with young women across the country with this decision.

Please take a minute to thank President Obama and Secretary Sebelius! Send your note TODAY!

Our work isn't over yet. As many of you know firsthand, or from student advocates like Sandra Fluke, some religious-affiliated colleges have refused to allow their student health plans to cover contraception. Thankfully, that's about to change — the only question is how soon.

And that is where we need your help.

Universities that do not currently offer contraception coverage can apply for a waiver giving them until August 2013 to start offering birth control coverage. Sadly, during this unnecessary delay, young people will be the ones to pay the price. In the coming weeks, Advocates for Youth will partner with students at religious-affiliated colleges to help educate university administrators about the importance of this new ruling — and to encourage schools not to apply for this waiver. It's about time we all started putting student health before politics.

Thank President Obama and Secretary Sebelius now for standing with young women!

Today's decision is the direct result of the long, hard work of activists like you. From thousands of letters to the Obama administration to the overwhelming response to our recent "Birth Control Valentine" photo campaign, this is your victory.

We have a long way to go, but I'm honored to work alongside you each and every day.

Congratulations!

Deb Hauser
President
Advocates for Youth

Nearly 300,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS and they continue to face gaps in access to care. Women are the foundations of many families, but we often place the needs of others before our own. National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day asks individuals and organizations across the country to increase the overall knowledge of HIV/AIDS among women and girls and improve access to care. - Nancy C. Lee, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women’s Health

This week two important things are taking place. It’s International Women’s Week, and tomorrow is National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In the spirit of awareness, I’d like to encourage everyone to take some time out to learn more about HIV/AIDS and the way it affects women and girls, and spread awareness. I learned from a very smart woman that one of the reasons why HIV and AIDS are still such an overpowering epidemic, is the fact that most people affect an attitude of nonchalance towards statistics when they seem to have nothing to do with them. For instance, I could look at a statistic like this -- In 2005, the majority of Latinas living with HIV/AIDS were infected through heterosexual contact -- and decide that since I’m not Latina, it has nothing to with me; and therefore, I’m going to do nothing about it.

On Saturday, March 10, the Young Women of Color Leadership council is taking to Twitter to spread awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. We invite you to join us!

As an incentive, I will select 10 random people who post NWGHAAD-related tweets and use the hashtags #YWOCLC #NWGHAAD. The selected individuals will receive an awesome safer sex kit containing contraceptive and informational goodness. Spread the word!

Read more about NWGHAAD and what you can do to observe it here.
Follow YWOCLC on Twitter
Check out our Facebook page

UPDATE, Feb. 15: And now we're at more than 500 photos! A HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted a valentine!

UPDATE, 4:30pm: We've received more than 300 photos so far — and we still have to upload a lot more. Check out the photostream below!

Hundreds of you have already shared the Birth Control 4 Us campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere...keep your messages and photos coming!

A special thanks to all those who have delivered valentine tweets and pictures to their Members of Congress. Here's a snapshot of all of the grassroots activism so far:

Want to get involved? Here's how:

• Click here to download and print your valentines (or make your own!)
• Take a picture of yourself holding your valentine
• Post it on our Facebook Page or email your photo to bc4us2012@gmail.com
• Tweet these pictures to ".@SpeakerBoehner" and your Senators and make sure to include the hashtag #bc4us. To find your Senators on Twitter, click here.

This week alone, you've sent more than 3,500 letters to President Obama and Congress asking them to fight back against attacks on birth control insurance coverage. And they have heard you loud and clear.

This morning, President Obama reaffirmed that women will be able to access no-copay birth control. If your employer has decided not to provide contraceptive coverage on religious grounds, insurance companies will be required to provide no-copay birth control coverage to you directly. While the Catholic Health Association has already come out in support of this solution, Republicans in Congress are only increasing their efforts to roll back birth control access.

Today's announcement is a clear victory for women's health, but the fight is far from over. It's going to be tough, but you have the power to make politicians in Washington back down from their continuing attacks on birth control. We all need to step up to the plate on this one.

That is why, during the week of Valentine's Day, we're asking you to help show support for birth control on your campus or in your community by joining the Birth Control for Us campaign and creating a Valentine's Day uproar! 

TAKE ACTION: "Twitter Storm" Congress with #BC4US valentines.

• Step 1: Click here to download and print your valentines (or make your own!)
• Step 2: Take a picture of yourself holding your valentine
• Step 3: Post them on our Facebook Page or email them to bc4us2012@gmail.com (*)
• Step 4: Tweet these pictures to ".@SpeakerBoehner" and your Senators and make sure to include the hashtag #bc4us. To find your Senators on Twitter, click here.

So get out there and let's start a Valentine's Day ruckus!

*by sharing your photos via our Facebook Page or email, you give permission for these photos to be used for any Advocates for Youth materials, including but not limited to websites and printed publications. All photos must be of people age 18 or older.

Here's a handy infographic and timeline about social conservatives' ever-ambitious War on Contraception. Help us spread the word — post this on your Facebook profile and elsewhere!

Click the preview below to see the image in full:

As a child of the 80s, I realize there are many fights I’ve been lucky enough to miss because of the throw down activism of generations of women before me. From the right to vote to Title IX to Roe, women have been paving the way so that my generation and those that follow are not treated differently simply because we have vaginas.

But low and behold, in 2012, we are revisiting a fight that few of my generation ever thought we’d have to engage in: the fight over birth control.

When I was deciding what college was best for me, I looked at schools based on the types of degrees they offered, the quality of the faculty, the professor-student ratio, financial aid availability and more. I ended up attending Georgetown University because of its School of Foreign Service and the Jesuit ideal they espoused of “men and women for others.” While I, a spiritual yet unreligious student, was concerned about going to a Catholic school, I was reassured that the University did not push its faith on its students; it was only there if we wanted it. In fact, in my four years there, the closest thing to Mass I attended was the Convocation.

What I didn’t realize was that while Georgetown prided itself on diversity and inclusion of many faiths and beliefs (we had a rabbi and imam on campus as well), it nonetheless imposed its faith on female students by denying them access to birth control in its student health plans. Condoms were also not to be distributed on campus, except in our free speech zone, or “Red Square,” and by the rogue group H*yas for Choice (not officially affiliated with the university, hence the * that came from a lawsuit).

While students (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) at Georgetown have been fighting back against these restrictions for years, the fight has now gone national as the Catholic Bishops have decided that religious-affiliated employers and universities should be able to impose their interpretation of a religion on their employees’ and students’ health insurance.

To follow most of the media’s coverage on this, you’d think that the Obama administration is force-feeding the pill to Catholic Bishops when in fact, not only do actual churches NOT have to cover contraception, but you, as an employee or student at a religious-affiliated institution, don’t have to access this benefit.

Health insurance exists because it’s incredibly expensive to buy anything out of pocket-including contraception. Birth control can cost around $50 a month. About half of women struggle to pay for what can total $600 in a year. Making contraception accessible means that women are more likely to use it. Shocking, I know. And considering the fact that half of pregnancies in the United States are unintended and we have the highest teen birth rate in the developing world, you’d think access to contraception would be something we’d all agree on (especially those who fight to take away access to abortion services AND complain non-stop about low-income women accessing services like welfare, food stamps and WIC).

When I was at Georgetown, I had friends on the student health plan who were sexually active and went without contraception. After working with students at Boston College, I learned of a phrase that their sexual health group spent their time fighting against, “pull and pray” as in “pull out and pray you don’t get her pregnant.”

Because that’s what happens when you take away access to contraception.

Just because you attend school or work at a religious-affiliated institution does not mean you have to comply with the belief system of that institution. On the college-level, many of these schools brag about their religious diversity as a way to recruit new students-especially student athletes. Could you imagine what would happen to Notre Dame’s football team or Georgetown’s basketball team if they insisted that all students be Catholic? Yeah, right.

The thing is that the media is making this a much bigger deal than it actually is. Just because the Catholic Bishops are pissed does not mean every other Catholic or person of faith is pissed. In fact, new polling data show that the majority of Catholics support the Administration’s decision. When will the media highlight that?

Or what about the fact that in December the House held a hearing on this issue and a representative from the Catholic Healthcare Association had to admit that some of its hospitals already cover contraception.

At my alma mater, while students are denied contraception through their health plans, employees are not.

And in 2009, almost 90% of students at Boston College (70% of whom identify as Catholic) voted to make birth control prescriptions available from their student health services.

The point is, to Americans and especially young Americans, this decision is a big deal in the right direction. To listen to the Catholic Bishops as if they represent the views of all Catholics or people of faith is absolutely absurd.

Like I said before, I’m a child of the 80s. I in no way thought that birth control would be my fight and frankly I’m pissed as hell that it is. I don’t want the next generation of women to have to check into whether contraception is available or not when applying to the college or job of their dreams. It’s 20-freaking-12. We should be long over this fight, but please believe that young women will not back down.

Ya know, children are our future, and it is best that tolerance is taught early. I remember when I was at home for Christmas, my 11-year old cousin came to my parents house unexpectedly, and had not been previously briefed on my gender transition. She handled it just fine, which of course, gives me hope for the younger generation.

Of course, it makes me sad that some girl in California has decided to let bigotry stand in the way.

TRIGGER ALERT FOR FOLLOWING VIDEO:

Apparently, one girl scout, angry that the Girl Scouts decided to let in seven year old Bobby Montoya, a transgender child (note that we do not yet have a preferred name for Bobby, she is male assigned at birth who is transitioning to female), decides that she should go on a campaign to boycott girl scout cookies, simply because all girls are allowed.

Now, it is true that the Girl Scouts are a all-girls organization. However, Bobby Montoya and other transfeminine children ARE NOT BOYS!!! We are not talking about allowing boys in, indeed, if Bobby was a boy, identified as a boy, presented as a boy, and was proud to be a boy, Bobby would not have been allowed in, and rightfully so. But Bobby is a GIRL, and thus, she needs to be in the GIRL SCOUTS. Now, everyone thinks that allowing transfeminine children into the girl scouts will create problems, however, as stated before, children are an adaptable bunch, and my 11 and 13 year old cousins have been able to accept me as a girl.

Also, one of my biggest pet peeves is bullying. This hateful screed may not necessarily be overt bullying, harassment, or intimidation, but almost a third of all trans youth have attempted suicide at one point in their lives. This girl from California is just stoking the fires, and if Bobby or any other trans* child killed themselves just because one person cannot stand the concept of gender self-determination, she would have blood on her hands she could never wash off.

But of course, around the same time as this video, a website went up called "Honest Girl Scouts", which is basically trying to turn the Girl Scouts Into The Boy Scouts. Among other things, they:

-Rip people who are considered role models to the Girl Scouts, such as Houston mayor Annise Parker, singer Sara Bareilles, and TV anchor Katie Couric, all because they are pro-choice and pro-queer. But lets forget about their politics for a moment and remember, these are all powerful women who have made something of themselves. Hell, there are major cities in America that have never even had a female mayor (my home, Philadelphia, is one of them), and when the Today Show, which launched Katie Couric's career began, it was a total boy's club (including the monkey). In fact, I am mature enough to say that Susan B. Anthony, an anti-choice woman who gave us the right to vote, is an empowering woman, even if I'm not a fan of her views on reproductive health.
-In an image of a broken girl scout cookie, HGS claims that Girl Scouts "Support United Nations Anti-Population Goals". Because apparently, this group thinks that world overpopulation is a good thing, and that women should remain barefooted breeders.
-Repeatedly claiming throughout the site that Girl Scouts are connected with Planned Parenthood, a meme that has been circulating throughout the internet:

It was hard to find any article linking the two that was not from some pro-life, "pro-family", mouthpiece, but on page two of my search results, I find this article by Amanda Marcotte from Slate.com

The realities behind the Girl Scouts-U.N.-Planned Parenthood myth perfectly illustrate the moderately feminist approach the organization takes toward scouting. Almost the moment the myth began to spread last year, the Girl Scouts' national organization circulated a statement debunking it. According to this statement, in March 2010, the Girl Scouts held a meeting at the 54th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, gathering 30 to 35 teenage girls and encouraging them to "take action on global issues concerning women and girls." The International Planned Parenthood Federation brochure that the right-wing blogosphere accused the Girl Scouts of having passed around ("Healthy, Happy and Hot: A young person's guide to their rights, sexuality, and living with HIV") was not distributed at the meeting. None of the girls in attendance or their chaperones ever saw the brochure until after it started circulating on the Internet, according to a Girl Scouts of the USA press spokesperson.

The article also contrasts the Boy Scouts focus on traditionalist viewpoints, with no change for the times, with the Girl Scouts, who have addressed many current issues, from body image to bullying, and sexual health, in which sex before maturity is discouraged. This is just another example of the double standards that exist in society, where women (of all stripes) calling for their empowerment is looked upon as unholy and somehow something to be shamed.

And even if there is more of a connection between the two groups, please remember that Planned Parenthood does a lot more than just abortions. They deal with a lot of women's health issues, including breast cancer screenings (a special concern for women, and yes, that includes transwomen) and, *gasp*, even men's health too. Believe me, the male opponents of reproductive choice could benefit heavily from regular testicular cancer screenings.

Oh, and as a bonus, here's another interesting faux outrage concerning the Girl Scouts, which was picked up by religiously conservative media:

The incident involved Renise Rodriguez, a 21-year-old Girl Experience Associate for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona in Tuscon. She was wearing a “Pray to End Abortion” shirt when she went into the office during off-duty hours to prepare materials for a meeting. It was there that she was told twice by a supervisor to turn her shirt inside out if she planned to stay in the office or attend a troop meeting, according to Priests for Life

But then, they manage to cover this part of the story:

The leaders had decided that all employees, volunteers and troop members should be in professional business attire, Girl Scout attire or plain shirts without any social, political or commercial messages when present in the council offices.

So, if she was wearing a pro-choice t-shirt, she would have been told to change also, and I doubt that somebody who was in that position would be unreasonable enough to say "boo" over it, nor would Planned Parenthood be calling for an inquisition.

The moral of this story is, while the Girl Scouts, as well as the pro-choice, pro-queer movement handles their points of view in a mostly mature manner and back up their assertions with facts, the anti-choice movement continues to run with simple lies, straw person arguments, and scare tactics.

In conclusion, I would like to say to Bobby Montoya and all transfeminine children who wish to join the Girl Scouts: You go girl, don't ever let anyone get in the way of your dreams. You were always a girl, and nobody can ever take that away from you.

-Jordan Gwendolyn Davis