A week ago Saturday, Melissa highlighted the story of Jenna Talackova, the aspiring Miss Universe pageant contestant who had been removed from the competition because she is transgendered, and the rules states that contestants must be "naturally born" women. Well, Talackova was born female, but she had the misfortune of being born female inside a male body. Similarly, Lucas Silveira, the frontman of the Cliks (whose video I posted above), was born male inside a female body. But as it has been custom in our culture, when people speak colloquially about sex, they think of every organ but the brain.
Today, Melissa will not only update you on Talackova's situation, but tie that into a larger discussion about what the transgender communities throughout the country and the world are facing. She'll do so with an amazing coterie of guests, including Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality; Kate Bornstein, author of the soon-to-be released "A Queer and Pleasant Danger;" and Mel Wymore, who is running for a City Council seat on New York's Upper West Side -- and if elected, will become the first openly transgendered person on that Council.
Melissa will also examine the Obama administration's recent refusal to sign an executive order banning gender-identity and sexual-orientation discrimination by federal contractors, a decision that came shortly after it banned such discrimination for any entity receiving money from Housing and Urban Development (even faith-based organizations).
Other topics include the recovery of Detroit, home of many an American icon (no, that's not a reference to Mitt Romney). Speaking of the presumptive Republican nominee, we'll make a most logical comparison of some of his statements to those of someone who's quite fascinating. Also, with it being the traditional Tax Day, we'll talk about taxes, too. All that, this morning's breaking news, and more with the rest of our guests:
- Allison Kilkenny, co-host of Citizen Radio, and reporter for In These Times and The Nation.
- Joy-Ann Reid, managing editor of theGrio and an MSNBC contributor.
- Randa Fahmy Hudome, energy expert and former associate deputy secretary of energy under George W. Bush.
- Rick Newman, chief business correspondent, U.S. News & World Report.
- Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI), a freshman U.S. Congressman from Detroit who recently proposed the Student Loan Forgiveness Act.
- Kai Wright, editorial director of Colorlines and Nation Institute fellow.
And as always, be sure to interact with us during the show on Facebook and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. See you all at 10am ET!
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MHP show - Looks like another meet the REpublicans show. I watch so that I can avoid this sort of thing with Scheiffer and Steph and Gregory.
OK, you want to do fair and balanced ala Faux News go right ahead, maybe it will get you a few viewers, but it cost you this one.
Well, you're always going to lose a few bigots here and there. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
Bigotry has nothing to do with it. You made an erroneous assumption. The fair and balanced representatives dominate the discussion, add little or nothing to it and for the most part just parrot talking points. This show and Up with Chris Hayes began with intelligent discussion, reasonable debate and provided useful information, that has been missing with the fair and balanced agenda. If they want a conservative viewpoint on their shows, then put on conservatives who at least can contribute something useful and informative to the discussion rather than being a partisan shill.l
"Bigotry has nothing to do with it."
Yes it does. You object to the presence of transsexuals on her show. That's bigotry.
I think you're misreading Fred's complaint. It doesn't read that he's objecting to what you assume he is.
On the Detroit bailout you all touched on something that needs to be applied to Wall Street tbtf. GM is now a much smaller corporstion, it was too big.
Well, the too big banks got much, much more money and no such smaller directives!!!!
It bothers me to hear that what President Obama is doing doesn't "do enough," i.e. comments about Buffet plan. I am very grateful that in spite of the fact that the Republicans will not cooperate with him whatsoever, Obama is doing everything possible to help Americans, everything that he can get done without them. Small steps are better than falling backwards.
Rick Newman continues stating the falsehood that the auto bailout was unpopular, when in fact what was unpopular was the bank bailout. Most regular working class stiffs like me understand only too well the benefit to ALL of us the auto bailout provided.
Thanks to Joy-Ann Reid for pointing out the undeniable fact that every working American is more of a job creator than any wealthy American - we spend virtually every penny of income on goods and services, which are the underpinnings of the economy. Without all of us buying all the goods and services they sell, they aren't rich and there is no America.
You know,Why are in the media pushing perverted lifestyles?,you talk about abnormal,it's like they're trying to convince people you can't be abnormal,queer,wrong,unless you disagree with anyone pushing morality.
From my perspective the "morality" best expressed by Santorum and the Republican Party as a whole (attempts to limit women's health care) is more abnormal than the views of the LGBT community as a whole (supports health care for all genders).
I would be interested to see where Transgendered People fall on the Wealth Scale. I suspect they are found somewhere in the bottom 1% of the that scale. They represent the circumstances of some people in this country that survive at the opposite end of the economic scale from the ultra-wealthy, like Mutt Romney and his Nascar Team Owner friends, represent the circumstances of some people in this country at the top 1% of that scale.
If we consider that 98% of the population is not included in ether of these groups than the ultra wealthy are just as perverted (abnormal) as Transgendered People.
Perverted? What is perverted about being in love with another human being? What is perverted about living as the person that your brain tells "you" you are? What is perverted about wanting to be accepted as a fellow "American", a fellow "human being", a fellow "person"?
You completely lost me on the second part; "it's like they're trying to convince people you can't be abnormal,queer,wrong,unless you disagree with anyone pushing morality."
Where did you see that? What "morality" did you think they were promoting people to "disagree" with?
I'm really curious to know, how do you think "gender" is determined? Is it simply determined by which type of plumbing you've been physically provided at birth? Do you believe that there can "only be two"?
Flagged for inflammatory speech. Although most of what you wrote was simply incoherent gibberish.
Sorry, but morality is in the eye of the beholder. When there is a consensus about what is moral it usually becomes a law, and that changes over time, like everything else having to do with humans.
"Sorry, but morality is in the eye of the beholder."
No it isn't and you don't actually believe that either. What is law is based on consensus but what is moral is not. Slavery is immoral even if people believe it is not. Homosexuality and transsexualism are not immoral even if bigots like yourself believe they are.
Are you blind, can you read. Where is there one single word of bigotry in anything I posted. Are you another right wing mind reader, or just an arrogant leftie who is so convinced of his own righteousness that he is incapable of error. I'm not gonna bother to even attempt to have a discussion with you since it obvious you don't bother to read what you are commenting on, let alone making sense in your comments.
Good morning, Melissa. My husband and I watch your show faithfully on Saturday and Sunday. Your show today, Sunday, April 15th, creates such hope and excitement in response to your courageous willingness to bring important discussions before the public. Also, we send congratulations to the producers of your show. (We also watch and appreciate, greatly, "Up" with Chris Hayes. (PS/ Today is our granddaughter, Poet's, 4th birthday!)
was disappointed with today's panel, same old GOP talking points pushing same old agenda to follow same old ideas that have been failing all but the rich for years now, oh and don't forget to blame the working class again.
Good Morning, Melissa. I've been watching your show with great interest and enthusiasm since it began, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the segment on Energy this morning. Two of your guests were allowed to put forth the thought that the current administration has no energy policy, and that somehow that President Bush was wonderful on energy. What! Does anyone remember the Haliburton giveaways? The President has consistently pursued an all of the above strategy. There was no one there who had any substantive argument to defend the EPA. I understand that there may be an attempt to be fair, but does being fair mean allowing unchallenged untruths to be aired on your show?
Happy Birthday Poet:^) Melissa and guests, I love the discussion you are having about LGBT problems and successes. I have a similar comment to what I said above, it amazes me how much President Obama gets done but he can't get everything done and not right now. The entire Congress does not tackle America's big problems because the Republicans stall us on our bigger problems. President Obama is steadily and tenaciously helping all of our various problems while wading through the muck that is Washington today not to mention dealing with critical issues in our currently troubled world. And, I have heard him speaking and saying "This is not a political issue," and the very first thing the media says after the speech is words to the effect of "I wonder what is the political purpose of this speech?" He puts up with alot. Thanks Melissa for not dwelling on the politics.
While individual women like Hillary Clinton, and Susan Rice, may be respected, as long as the rest of us describe ourselves as "girls" with the diminution that implies, we will not be taken seriously by males.
I love love LOVE Melissa Harris Perry...I just wish she would have had a transperson of color on her panel, instead of just talking about them with our white queer "representation." But it's a marvelous first start. :)
True that. At least they talked about a trans woman of color in talking about CeCe's story. At least they didn't ignore that recent storyline. =)
The Republican kept trying to get party line talking points in, and that was irritating, but otherwise it was an excellent show. Kudos for your respectful treatment of the trans guests and for an honest exploration of the issue.
You have no idea how much I want to say "See? I knew you could do it!", but that would be overstating the obvious. This show is a great example of how trans people and our issues should be presented in mainstream media.
Most importantly, you talked about the politics surrounding trans civil rights and that's something many straight people don't really understand. Recent polls show that most Americans believe that LGBT people are already protected from discrimination in employment even though that isn't actually the case in most of the country.
The truth is that the gay activist community has a pretty rich history of self-serving backstabbing and all kinds of political games and payoffs to gain rights. A big reason why same-sex marriage gets the attention that it does is because that's where the money is. There's a reason why the state of New York has legal same-sex marriage today but still no civil rights at all for transgender people.
As you might imagine, the Democrats don't come out smelling clean from this narrative, nor do the major gay and lesbian civil rights advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, who have historically, and sometimes even blatantly, prioritized marriage and non-transgender-inclusive anti-discrimination protections.
It should be said that HRC has been making an effort of late on the issue of the ENDA Executive Order, and has behaved considerably more like an advocate for working class LGBT Americans than they generally have in the past. Time will tell if this is a momentary aberration or the sign of something more long-term.
Most of the LGBT community is working class, and like everyone else, we're far more concerned with getting and keeping a job, having an affordable place to live, and basically providing ourselves with relatively comfortable lives. Marriage is important for some, of course, but hardly for everyone, and I think it's fair to say that most LGBT people are more impacted on a day-to-day basis by the state of workplace anti-discrimination laws than by the state of marriage laws.
Ok, so now there's no doubt whatsoever (not that there ever really was), that this show can freaking rock this topic. More please!
I would be interested to see where Transgendered People fall on the Wealth Scale. I suspect they are found somewhere in the bottom 1% of the that scale. They represent the circumstances of some people in this country that survive at the opposite end of the economic scale from the ultra-wealthy while Mutt Romney and his Nascar Team Owner friends represent the circumstances of some people in this country at the top 1% of that scale.
Melissa, today you pointed out that many U.S. corporations pay no corporate taxes. I wish you would have mentioned that fact to your guest, the former Bush administration official, when she started yammering about the 35% corporate tax rate being too high. Her "talking-point speak" was annoying in general.
The entire LGBT (or whatever assemblage of letters you prefer) debate is of great interest to me as a Student of Psychology. I thought this was a great segment, but I do wish Melissa had invited a couple of guests who could have talked about the "Science of Gender" in an intelligent way.
We, in Western Society, have been discussing this issue in terms of "morality" and "propriety", without ever really addressing the scientific evidence that exists. We have been, for virtually the entirety of our existence, framing this discussion on a "false premise". The entirety of an individuals "sexual identity" is not determined by what set of organs (below the waistline) an individual is born with. The BRAIN is the determinative organ for sexual identity, and the BRAIN can be (due to the determination occurring at different points in development) a different gender than the "reproductive organs" that the individual is born with. This is a "Scientific Fact" borne out in numerous studies. There are also numerous studies that have indicated that some individuals were born (mostly in the 50's, 60's and 70's; prior to our ability to determine the "gender of the brain") with "both sets" of reproductive organs (as well as "indeterminate" reproductive organs) in which the Physicians "made a determination" at the time of birth, and performed the surgical procedures necessary to provide a "sexual identity" for the individual. These procedures were done without Parental Notification in most cases, and without full documentation.
The question that needs to be answered is; "In how many of these surgeries did the "Doctor" make the wrong decision?" How many "females" ended up with "male" reproductive organs; and, how many "males" ended up with "female" reproductive organs?
These are serious questions that are being "left out" of the entire discussion, to the detriment of not only the individuals who are most affected, but to the detriment of our entire Society.
These questions are also "NOT going to be answered" by a "Moral Code" based on the writings of some nomadic tribe, thousands of years ago.