TransTech partners with MillerCoors
As part of its year-end fundraising efforts, TransTech Social Enterprise ( TTSE ) announced a partnership with MillerCoors to match all donations up to $10,000 from now through Dec. 31.
Allied Media Projects fiscally sponsors TransTech, making all donations tax-deductible.
The $10,000 matching program will be used to create education and employment opportunities for transgender and gender-nonconforming people as well as anyone facing discrimination in the workplace. TransTech's apprenticeship program focuses on graphic design, web-coding and administrative skills.
Visit www.TransTechSocial.org .
Court overturns inmate's gender reassignment
By a margin of three to two, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling ordering Massachusetts prison officials to provide taxpayer-funded gender-reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, an inmate convicted of murder, according to WHDH.com .
Kosilek is serving a life sentence for killing spouse Cheryl Kosilek in 1990.
The court found that Kosilek failed to demonstrate that prison officials violated the Eight Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment by not providing the surgery. Additionally, the court noted that the state Department of Correction has provided treatment for Kosilek's gender-identity disorder, including female hormones, laser hair removal and psychotherapy.
In a joint statement, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Massachusetts expressed disappointment with the ruling.
"Our Constitution does not to allow prison officials to withhold medically necessary care because of prejudice and fear," said Chase Strangio, staff attorney in the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Kosilek's behalf. "We will keep fighting until transgender prisoners receive the health care they need based on medical protocols and are not subjected to different standards out of misunderstanding of people who are different."
See www.whdh.com/story/27643122/appeals-court-overturns-sex-change-for-michelle-kosilek for more about the ruling .
UChicago hosting events with Anya Jabour
The University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality is hosting "A Lesbian Love Triangle at the University of Chicago: Sophonisba Breckinridge, Marion Talbot, and Edith Abbott" on Wed., Jan. 14, 4:30-6 p.m.
The talk—which will feature Anya Jabour, professor of history and co-director of the Program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Montana—will take place at 5733 S. University Ave.
This lecture examines the complex personal and professional relationships of three prominent women during the formative decades of the University of Chicago: Marion Talbot, dean of women; Sophonisba Breckinridge, assistant dean of women; and Edith Abbott, dean of the School of Social Service Administration.
Breckinridge had long-term intimate relationships with both Talbot and Abbott; Talbot and Abbott competed for Breckinridge's affections.
Jabour will also lead a workshop on Thursday, Jan. 15, 12-1:30 p.m., entitled "From Romantic Friendships to Sexual Deviance: Analyzing Women's Same-Sex Relationships in a Transitional Era."
For more about the events, see gendersexuality.uchicago.edu/projects/closeted/ .
