By Dr. Jillian T. Weiss

Dr. Jillian T. Weiss has a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Law, Policy & Society. Currently Associate Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College of New Jersey, she has conducted research involving hundreds of companies and public agencies that have adopted “gender identity” policies. She publishes a popular blog on the subject of Transgender Workplace Diversity, and has numerous research publications on the subject of gender identity. Links to these are found below.

Dr. Weiss is also Principal Consultant for Jillian T. Weiss & Associates, a consulting firm that works with organizations on transgender workplace diversity issues. She has trained hundreds of employees at corporations, law firms, diversity trainers and governmental organizations. Dr. Weiss has worked successfully with Fortune 500 companies and large public agencies during the past few years, including Boeing, HSBC, KPMG, Viacom, and the New York City Department of Homeless Services. Her work has been featured in news stories by the New York Times, Associated Press, the Society for Human Resource Management, Workforce Management Magazine, and HR Executive Magazine.

Originally posted on The Bilerico Project.

It was a beautiful fall day as my partner and I drove upstate from New York City to enjoy the change of seasons in Northeast U.S.A. this past weekend. We enjoyed looking at the glorious colors of the foliage in my car, proudly emblazoned with an “Obama ’08″ sticker on the rear bumper of my Jeep.

Suddenly, from hundreds of feet behind, a red SUV accelerated madly, blowing the horn continuously as it careened within inches of our bumper. We were traveling at about 60 miles per hour, and just entering a sharp exit curve that required slowing to a speed limit of 40 mph. This is a dangerous situation for any vehicle, but especially to roll-over prone vehicles like my boxy, high and narrow Jeep. My heart pounded and my knuckles whitened as I wrestled the steering wheel into the curve. I slowed down to accommodate the steeply-banked turn, hoping the maniac behind me would slow down enough to avoid an accident. Instead, the red SUV moved even closer and the continuous horn blaring did not cease.

(Break)

My partner and I were both frightened — what kind of nutcase were we dealing with? Would there be an accident? Were we dealing with one of those deadly road rage situations you read about in the paper? What had angered this person to the point of reckless high-speed driving? As we would find out in moments, the answer lay in the “Obama ’08″ bumper sticker on the back of my car.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles south in Washington, D.C., Senator McCain is expressing “outrage” at the remarks of Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a revered civil rights leader who witnessed the terrible violence visited upon African-Americans and those who stood with them in the segregation years.

“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” Lewis said in a statement.

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to Lose Weight Exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama,” wrote the Democrat.

McCain Campaign Increases Racist Rhetoric

Meanwhile, increasingly frustrated at Sen. Obama’s rise in the polls, McCain and his campaign are using rhetoric targeting Sen. Obama as a frightening, unpatriotic, lying demagogue who condones terrorists. While neither McCain nor the campaign has actually said that Obama is a terrorist, they have said that Obama is palling around with terrorists and is a terrorist’s best friend. It is a short leap to the perception in the public mind that Obama is a terrorist, and those who support Obama are supporting terrorism.

A google search for “Obama is a terrorist” brings up over 275,000 websites using that specific phrase. This “Obama is a terrorist” meme is all over the place, and McCain cannot disavow it. One brave man has gone to McCain/Palin rallies and found people willing to go on camera agreeing that he is, in fact, a terrorist.

McCain supporters at his town hall meetings have said they are scared for their children if Obama is elected, McCain and Palin have given fiery speeches accusing Obama of lying about his association with Bill Ayers, a member of the 60′s Weather Underground group, who participated in bombing statues and buildings as well as violent street protests. Supporters at these events have been documented on camera shouting comments like “Traitor!”

One supporter began his speech at a McCain rally by calling Sen. Obama “Barack Hussein Obama.” Others have revealed at McCain town hall meetings that they believe internet rumors about Obama being an Arab Muslim, rather than a Christian African-American. A woman at one town hall, who spoke disparagingly of Obama, received wildly telegraphed signals from Sen. McCain to stop before he grabbed the microphone from her: “I can’t trust him. I have read about him. He is not… He is not… He is an Arab….” McCain stopped the woman before she could go, but not before she demonstrated the extent to which campaign rhetoric is fueling wide-spread racist internet disinformation campaigns about Obama’s Arab and terrorist “ties”.

Senator McCain is apparently recognizing that the carefully-controlled campaign rhetoric is tapping into a vein that could spiral into violence by some on the right. He has chastised his followers who have openly showed their rage, fear and prejudice, saying that “Sen. Obama is a decent person.”

But, as he himself said, he does not mean to diminish his followers’ “ferocity.” His attempt to disassociate himself from the “terrorist” rhetoric ignores the effect of his inflammatory message. In fact, when McCain made his comment about Obama being a “decent person,” his own crowd jeered and booed. When Republican campaign speeches and ads openly state that Sen. Obama is a liar regarding his alleged ties to “domestic terrorists,” McCain’s tepid disavowals do nothing to dissipate the fear and rage generated among his supporters.

Right Wing Rhetoric

I googled “Obama Arab,” and came up with this as the first result:

Kenneth Lamb, journalist of some note, posits an interesting argument to Obama Hussein’s roots on his blog, Reading Between the Lines . Please go here and read it all.Yes, it’s important. Add it to the troubling pot of where Obama Hussein’s allegiances lie. Obama Hussein, descendant from Arab slave traders. Ouch. Spin that.

That’s from a blog called “Atlas Shrugs,” which has the following as its byline:

Western Civilization hangs in the balance. This blog is part of the solution. Get your heads out of the sand and fight the Great Fight. The Jew may be the canary in the coal mine, but you, my friends, will be next. Changing the World, one word at a time…Citizen Soldier

I gather from this that the Citizen Soldier should “do something” if he or she wishes to save Western Civilization from the dangerous effects of an Arab slaver as president. Hmm, let’s see, if I were your average Turner Diaries-reading right wing extremist with strong NRA beliefs, what would I think of to do? What would Timothy McVeigh do?

I googled “Obama terrorist” and came up with this as the first entry:

Obama’s Terrorist Connection – William Ayers This video, which has almost 140,000 views, is only one of many on the internet. It intersperses dramatic news footage of 1960′s bombings and Weather Underground members advocating violence with pictures of Obama and misleading text suggesting that he was very close to Ayers despite knowing of Ayers’ background. The comments include a number of equally racist and violent sentiments, such as

“HUSEIN WHO? DIDN’T WE HANG HIM?”

and

If obama becomes president he will probably get assassinated the first week by some red neck.

There are many other comments that imply that the election of Obama is going to result in the death of Americans through terrorism.

The McCain campaign is stoking these fires by harping on the idea that Obama has terrorist ties, and claiming that any association, no matter how tenuous, is a matter for fair comment. These tenuous disclaimers do nothing to quell the violence they raise in American hearts.

Free Speech, George Wallace and “Fighting Words”

McCain expressed outrage that his campaign’s assertions about Obama’s “terrorist” ties should be likened to those of George Wallace, which, as Rep. Lewis correctly noted, “created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks” against African-Americans in the 1960s. While Senator McCain and Governor Palin insist that they have the right to raise Obama’s “terrorist associations,” they are refusing any responsibility for creating a climate in which violence might be seen as justified. Thus, while decrying terrorism themselves, they are inciting violence against Senator Obama — and cars with Obama bumper stickers — with “fighting words” like “terrorist.”

The words “Sen. Obama is a terrorist” are “fighting words.” “Fighting words” are words generally expressed to incite hatred or violence and to place the targets of the words in danger of harm. This idea was first defined by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1942 decision (Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire), in which the Court was required to decide whether calling someone a “fascist” and a “racketeer” constituted free speech or disorderly conduct. The Court said it wasn’t a freedom of speech issue.

There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or “fighting words” those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is cl

early outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.

Repeatedly using words that suggest that Senator Obama is a terrorist, even though the words, when parsed in Mrs. Grundy’s English class don’t quite add up to that, is not protected by the First Amendment.

“Terrorist” is not merely a pejorative term like “soft on crime” or “lefty.” Consider the case of Nadar Sokanvar, who told co-workers on the first anniversary of 9/11 that he thought the U.S. would be hit by terrorists. He was convicted

of disorderly conduct and sentenced to 30 days in jail for saying that. The court held that the main issue is a “perceived or real threat to the safety of others,” and that the key factor was that others believed their safety was at risk as a result of the statement. (98 P.3d 303) Consider the case of Reggie Upshaw, who gave a public speech that he supported the terrorist attacks of 9/11 — he was thrown in jail for disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. (741 N.Y.S.2d 664) The judge upheld the charge, noting that it is necessary to consider the defendant’s words and deeds in the context in which he spoke and acted.

When McCain and Palin and their campaign create a perception that Senator Obama is a terrorist whose election would threaten the lives and safety of Americans, and they know that their campaign rhetoric is creating a condition in which others are responding to that threat with violence, then their speech is no longer in the realm of free speech. It moves into a much darker territory — the territory of fighting words, of inciting a riot.

McCain and The Man In The Red Jeep

After accelerating at high speed towards our car on a steeply banked highway exit, and blowing his horn continuously for a minute or so while inches from my bumper, the red jeep swerved to the right and stepped on the accelerator. As it pulled even with our car, the window opened and a man in his forties with tattoos on his arm leaned out. He screamed something towards my partner, who was sitting frozen in her seat. It took us a moment to recognize it as “Don’t vote for a black man!”

He then stepped on the gas and swerved in front of our car, cutting us off. As I stepped on the brake, he stuck his arm out the window and raised his middle finger, and I let him go. Feeling very shaken, I memorized his plate number and my partner wrote it down. We discussed calling the police, but I felt that filing a police report would be tantamount to giving this dangerous thug our names and addresses.

I was shocked that afternoon to hear Michelangelo Signorile having a discussion with Naomi Wolf on his Sirius OutQ radio show about how one mark of an increasingly right-wing society is seemingly random attacks by ordinary citizens on their opponents. Michelangelo brought up the fact that a number of incidents of intimidation against Obama supporters have been reported in the national press.

Were the enraged acts of the man in the red jeep just the acts of an individual, with which McCain and Palin and their accusations of “terrorism” against Obama are unlinked? I say no.

I say that John McCain, by encouraging his supporters to call Senator Obama a terrorist, whose election will result in American deaths by terrorists, is taking the same road as George Wallace.

The subject is different — yes. Wallace advocated racial segregation, and McCain does not advocate racial segregation. McCain does not espouse racist ideology. But that is beside the point. While it was not John McCain or Sarah Palin in the red jeep behind me, it is they who “sowed the seeds of hatred and division” and “created the climate and the conditions that encouraged that vicious attack.” As the courts said in the cases of Nadar Sokanvar and Reggie Upshaw, a perceived threat may be dangerous, and the context of violence moves speech from politics into incitement to riot.

Of course, John McCain and Sarah Palin aren’t on trial for disorderly conduct and incitement to riot, nor should they be. But neither should be claiming “outrage” at the suggestion of Rep. John Lewis that their “Obama is a terrorist” line is contributing to an atmosphere in which violence is becoming more likely.

Am I exaggerating? Go ask the man in the red jeep.

By Monica F. Helms

I set this vacation aside to fly to San Diego so I could attend the wedding of my oldest son, Robert. Just so happened, the weekend had been also set aside by the planners of Southern Comfort for their yearly conference. I would miss seeing all of my friends by not being at SCC, but I would be spending time with friends and family in Southern California. I felt there would probably be disadvantages and advantages to both, and at the end, my feelings turned out correct.

Day One: My vacation actually started a day before I flew out to San Diego, giving me time to get ready for the trip. But, a day that would seem rather dull and mundane turned out to be an interesting one after all. Around 3 PM, I picked up my ex-girlfriend at the airport, because she came into town to attend Southern Comfort.

It felt nice to see Karen again, but the strong love I had for her had changed to a deep friendship. This friendship went far deeper and more diverse then our relationship had ever been. I still have a love for her, but it is the same kind of love I have for the few other people I call my best friends.

(Break)

Karen and I had dinner, then we talked for awhile. She got to meet my sweet cat, Aragorn and he took to her rather quickly. Karen also owns a wonderful cat. Afterwards, we went to the Marietta Billiards Club, where we played several games of pool. She won most of them. Damn. After we finished, I drove her back to the hotel where SCC took place and I headed home to finish my packing.

Day Two: I got up early and drove to the Marta station at the mall just down the street from the hotel where Karen stayed. I figured if she needed transportation for any reason, she could use my car. It seemed to have worked out, because she did see a need to use it at one time. The rest of the time, she kept it in the hotel parking garage, which saved me money.

It took me a little longer to get to the airport then I planned, which meant I made it to the gate just as my zone boarded. The flight to San Diego lasted over four hours and I didn’t feel comfortable sitting in those cramped seats on the airplane for that long.

San Diego weather felt so warm that the long-sleeved top I wore made me feel hot. I rented my car and drove down to spend time with my good friend and fellow veteran, Autumn Sandeen. She was kind to put me up for the two days preceding the wedding and I cannot thank her enough for doing so.

That evening, I got to spend time with Brynn Craffey, a trans man who contributes to The Bilerico Project on a regular basis. His writing has always intrigued me, so I figured while in the San Diego area, I would look him up. That evening, we had an amazing conversation on all kinds of subjects, but it’s too bad we live so far apart. I would have loved to talk with him more on a regular basis, because he has done so much in his life.

Day Three: I had lunch with Ben Gomez, the president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) and his partner, Jeffrey Redondo, a member of the San Diego Pride Committee. They told me about the entire goings on with California Prop 8 and other important events in the Southern California area. I smiled when they told me they would be getting married on that Sunday. I hope many people contribute to the defeat of Prop 8, as well as the one in Florida and the Constitution amendment in Arizona.

I spent the afternoon grocery shopping with Autumn at the Navy base commissary, helping her stock up for the next month. Since she recently had gastric by-pass surgery, she has to eat much healthier then she had in the past, meaning a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and other items. I have to say that she has done rather well, because she looks half the size from when I last saw her. It has helped her overall health since getting the surgery.

Not too long after we came home and put away all of the groceries, the Vice Presidential Debate took place. We sat down with popcorn and watched the train wreck known as Sarah Palin try to derail the Obama-Biden campaign. She had her stupid folksy sayings and winks at the camera that must have made the Religious Right morons all wetting their pants with delight. I got sick watching it. “You betcha.”

Day Four: This Friday turned out to be a special day. After saying my good-byes to Autumn, I headed 30 miles north to Carlsbad, CA, where I got myself a motel room and prepared for the rehearsal dinner that would take place later at Fidel’s Norte, a beautiful Mexican restaurant near the ocean.

That evening, I got to see my two sons, Robert and Bryan, for the first time since April. Along with my sons, there were other family relatives and my ex-wife, Donna. We had a wonderful time at Fidel’s Norte, even though my ex and I had to pay for the dinner. I can see my son was marrying into a great family.

That evening, I drove south to a gay nightclub because someone told me they had “Lady’s Night.” They indeed had many women there, but they all appeared as young or younger then my sons. They did, however, had free pool tables, so I got a chance to play a little.

Day Five: Saturday was the wedding day. I could quickly tell that the stress of the day pressed heavily on Robert, shortly after I had my hair done. He told me the wedding started at 5 PM, so I thought I had plenty of time to rest and get ready. But, at 2 PM, he called me and said I had to be at the hotel by 3:30 for pictures. I had to run around to get ready and did not feel happy with the final results. I made it in time, but had my pictures taken a half hour later.

Here is a link to pictures taken by my sister Julie and her daughter, Katie.

The wedding looked beautiful. Olivia made a gorgeous bride and looked thrilled. I cried, like all the other women in my family and Olivia’s family. My sons have always made me proud and this wedding made me feel even prouder of both of them.

At the reception, I actually felt alone. I had no special love with me to dance with, to smile with, and to share my joy with. However, my son and his bride were happy and that means more to me than anything else. Maybe one day I will find happiness like my two sons have. Maybe. Just maybe. Until that day, I wish them all the luck in the world.