Back in January of 2010, there were allegations that Federal Air Marshals managers allegedly ridiculed lesbians, gays, and African-Americans, and the story was encapsulated in the imagery of the ‘Jeopardy Game Board’ from the Orlando Field Office of the Federal Air Marshals. As photographic evidence of the allegedly bigoted office climate, a “Jeopardy Game Board” — a mock-up of the Jeopardy game drawn with blue marker on a whiteboard — gays were allegedly referred to as “Pickle Smokers,” lesbians allegedly referred to as “creatures,” and African-Americans allegedly referred to by “Our Gang.”

With the start of a new legislative session in Maryland right around the corner, this report from Sharon Brackett, Board Chair for Gender Rights Maryland, is welcome news indeed.

The Lowell Sun printed two of the dozen or more letters to the editor today critical of the Sun’s December 16 anti-trans “Christmas” column, written by Dan Phelps. But the Lowell Sun has still not apologized for the anti-trans column.

As we approach the Christmas holidays, what editor thought this was fit to print? Here’s an excerpt from “Christmas carols — with a twist” written by columnist and copy editor Dan Phelps at the Lowell Sun. Lowell is the fourth largest city in Massachusetts and is located 20 miles northwest of Boston.

In the brick-and-mortar world, the two crossdressers in “Work It” would be having uncomfortable discussions with the HR department of their new employer about transitioning in the workplace, including issues regarding public accommodations — to include restrooms. They would likely at least face workplace harassment, and if they lived in the 35 states without employment protections based on gender identity, they may even have been fired without recourse for being trans.

With the recent case of the former Macy’s employee, Natalie Johnson, who was fired because she harassed a transgender customer, the right wing group, the Liberty Counsel, is acting as if it won the lottery, spnning the incident on Fox News as a violation of religious liberty.

The Council of Howard County, Maryland passed legislation last night that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in the areas of housing, law enforcement, public accommodations, financing, employment, and health and social services.

Equal Rights Washington is asking supporters to “Talk turkey with your legislators about why marriage matters” over the Thanksgiving Day holiday by e-mailing their legislators a note and by forwarding on the same request to friends and family.

Governor Deval Patrick signed into law today An Act Relative To Gender Identity, “historic legislation to legally protect transgender individuals from discrimination in housing, education, employment and credit. The new law, signed at the State House today, also provides additional civil rights and protections from hate crimes.”

A Trans-Walmart Moment has come without much notice, but the moment should be considered significant: Walmart has recently changed their corporate nondiscrimination policy to add gender identity.