June Letter From the Board
| Pride in Action: A Journey of Advocacy and Celebration |
| My birthday is at the end of May and this year I turned 63. I always try to take some time during that last week of May to reflect on the past and plan for the future. I started my transition in early 2015 and before then I had never attended a Pride event or been a part of any Pride celebrations. When the NTBA Board asked me at our last meeting to write about what Pride Month means to me, it came at the perfect time. Pride has become very special to me over these last 9 years, but this year it will be different for me. I graduated from high school, college and law school in Nebraska. After law school I moved to California and for the last 36 years I have been a prosecutor for the LA County District Attorney’s office. Last year Nebraska became the first state in the country to pass and sign into law a bill that both restricted a woman’s right to abortion access and placed draconian regulations on transgender youth’s access to medically necessary healthcare. Because of my Nebraska roots I flew back home to last year testify and lobby against the health care restriction bill and a companion sports and bathroom bill. After the passage of the medical restrictions bill, I made a promise to the trans youth of Nebraska that I would return home and fight for their rights. I kept that promise and last July I bought a house in Omaha and became a Nebraska resident again. For the first time in my life I became a registered Democrat and immersed myself into the politics of Nebraska. Shortly after I returned, I was asked to join the executive board of the Stonewall Democratic Caucus. I have also been elected to both the county and state central committees and was recently elected to be a delegate to the State Convention. It’s because of these political activities that I am going to miss many of the organized Pride events that I have attended in the past. So, I am showing my Pride this year in new and different ways. On June 2nd the Stonewall Democrats held our first ever Lavender Gala to raise funds for use in electing queer and ally candidates. Senator Danica Roem came to Nebraska as our keynote speaker. We had a lesbian couple give us $300 for a scholarship for an LGBTQ+ student. When we discovered we had 3 extremely qualified applicants, our board came up with the additional money so that all three students received a Stonewall scholarship. Our fundraiser was successful beyond our expectations, raising over $6,000 for our caucus. Thank you Danica! The State Democratic Convention is being held June 7- 9and I am going to miss Pride events because of that. I am running at that convention to become a delegate to the National Convention. Additionally, I am running to be the 2nd Congressional District elector for the Electoral College. Nebraska is one of only two states that are not winner take all (Maine is the other one) and twice in the recent past the 2nd district electoral vote has gone to the Democratic candidate. I am hoping that the first transgender elector to the Electoral College will be a transgender woman from a deeply red state. The following weekend the Keep Woman’s Sports FEMALE bus tour is pulling into Omaha for a rally. The State Senator who sponsored the anti-trans legislation has vowed, if she is re-elected, to bring an even more draconian version of the Sports and Spaces bill to the legislature. So I am helping organize a protest to the rally. Because of that I am going to miss the LA Trans Pride event which is being held the same day. LA Trans Pride is very special to me because it was the first Pride event I ever attended. I am sad that I am going to miss it this year. Also new this year is an opportunity to provide some education to various groups. I have been hired by a multi-national corporation and a national law firm to speak at their Pride celebrations to provide insight into transgender issues and how they can assist in protecting our rights. I will end Pride Month by being elected to become the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of APLA Health (formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles) a Federally Qualified Health Center which provides over 14,000 LGBTQ+ clients with medical, dental, and behavioral health services. Additionally, we provide food, transportation and housing to many of our patients. I will be slated to become Chair next June and will continue in my quest of building a Transgender Health and Wellness center in Long Beach, something that is very much needed. So while I may not be able to attend the traditional Pride events I have attended in the past this year, I am showing my pride this year in ways that I hope will make a difference for our community in real and substantive ways moving forward. Jessie McGrath -NTBA Board Member |
Circuit Culture
| What is it like to be a trans person in the place where you live or work? We want to learn more about your experience and share it with the NTBA community! Why are we asking? It is a way to transform our NTBA membership into connection. To find people who live near us. Or live far away but experience life in a relatable way. Beyond that, trans students and attorneys regularly make decisions about where to live and vacation, your stories could help inform us. Here are some questions you could answer, but please share anything that describes what it is like to be a trans person where you are.Can you describe how you feel when you sit at a park or café with friends?What is it like when you go to lunch with a new person?What kinds of activities do you enjoy doing with other trans people in that location?Do you recognize other trans people when you are at the grocery store?How is your experience as an attorney different than the experience of less privileged trans people?How does race play into your experience? For the upcoming month, we are looking for submissions from folks in the Eighth Circuit. Please consider submitting anything from a sentence to a couple of paragraphs to info@transbar.org before June 25th. Until the work is done, Pelecanos -NTBA Board Member |
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