@ Syracuse
I’d like to echo some of eastsidekate’s comments on this. If I, gods forbid, were to be murdered tomorrow, I have no doubt that my family would refer to me using the wrong name and the wrong pronouns. They would say that they had lost a daughter, not a son. I’m not thrilled that they refer to me in this way, but they’re my family, and I love them. We all make our compromises.

But even if it would hurt or embarass them to see and hear me referred to as a man, to hear my correct name used in news articles, I would still want those articles to use the correct name and correct pronouns. Because I love my family, yes, but that doesn’t trump my sense of self and my identity. Respect for my family doesn’t trump respect for me.

I don’t know what Lateishs Green would have wanted, and in no way will I speak for her. But I did want to offer my perspective.

I believe part of this might have also had to do with the sophistication level (?) of the jury… some of whom might not have known the difference between gay and trans, sexual orientation and gender. It’s doubtful people who were in any way trans aware (or who had a trans person in their lives) would have even be permitted to serve on the jury by the defense attorney.

It seems that for much of the life of the bill, like up until summer 2008, many people involved in organizing to pass GENDA didn’t even realize that language was in the bill because it hadn’t been publicized. Several groups in the GENDA Coalition attempted to initiate a discussion about the possible removal of the hate crimes language from GENDA– you can read about how that process went down here: http://srlp.org/node/301

Also, the initial media reports did use the Lateisha’s birth name, and I’m assuming that the family’s initial statements (along with police reports) had something to do with this. However, that was nearly 9 months ago, and the public statement’s I’ve seen coming from the family recently haven’t tended to use Teish’s birth name. Even if you accept the premise that the family owns Teish’s identity (see gina’s comment above), I see ample reason to think that the media could have changed. For instance, I noticed that the CBS/NBC affiliates’ coverage was largely respectful, whereas the Post-Standard and News10Now’s remained pretty awful throughout the trial. Clearly, the media had enough material, time and education available to be respectful if it so chose.

That said, while I regret the tone of my comment, I don’t regret the content. Perhaps we could have a respectful and healthy discussion. However, as far as I can tell, you seem to be premising that discussion on the idea that because you’re an LGBT advocate who was at the trial, your opinion holds some extra weight. We both witnessed the trial, and we both advocate on behalf of the LGBT community. My point was given that you seem so ready to dismiss Teish’s identity on the basis of what others may have thought of her (including the bureaucracy), you’re probably missing talking for trans people, rather than listening to them. I’m not sure that this means that I’m “erasing” you as a trans advocate. Rather, it means I’m doubting whether you have the perspective to be an effective advocate for trans and gender non-conforming people.

I think it’s interesting that you would try to silence me as a trans advocate or even try to have a respectful discussion with me about my comment or what I witnessed at the trial. Rather than having a healthy discussion, you would silence someone who is helping this family.