Upcoming FTM Fitness World Conference 2015

Monica Roberts

My trans brothers have been asking me why I haven't been covering the news from their half of the community lately, and they have a point. I do need to do a better job of it since I have the only continuous publishing blog dealing with trans issues from an African-American trans perspective.

And covering trans issues from an African-American perspective means I not only need to cover the stuff that happens on the trans feminine end, it also means I need to cover the issues and developments on the trans masculine end, too.

But you trans brothers also need to step up and let Monica know what's happening, and what you think I need to be talking about that you think needs to be brought to our attention for a wider discussion across Trans World.

Commentary over, now let's segue to what this post is about.

This weekend in the ATL the FTM Fitness World Conference will be taking place October 1-3 at the Ramada Plaza -Downtown Atlanta (Capitol Park) with the 2015 theme of The Warrior Within You.

The event was founded by Neo Sandja with the goal of bringing the trans community and trans masculine men together who want more out of life through workshops, activities, exhibits, partnerships, networking and entertainment.

It also made a little history in the process. In 2014 The FTM Fitness Conference hosted the first ever bodybuilding competition for men of trans experience.

The FTM Fitness World Conference has two goals, The first one is to embrace diversity by focusing on what unites us instead of what separates us and bridging the gap between us based on age, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religious affiliation and more.

The second on is to empower our community. It seeks to do so by inspiring attendees to push for excellence while rejecting mediocrity. It wishes to inspire attendees to be the change they wish to see in their local communities and realize they possess the tools to succeed in every area of their lives while focusing on what united the trans community.

The emcee of this year's event will be my lovely Houston homegirl Diamond Stylz, and keynote speakers will not only include FTM Fitness World Con founder Neo Sandja, but also Dr. Kortney Ziegler, Ryan Salinas, Tracee McDaniel, and Buck Angel,

And yes, the 2nd annual FTM Fitness World Bodybuilding Competition will be a part of this year's event.

If you wish to learn more about #FTMFitCon15 you can go to ftmfitnessconference.com for further information.

Revenge Porn Now Recognised As Abuse, By Blogger

Revenge porn is sexually explicit media that is distributed without the consent of the individual(s) involved. In the wake of civil lawsuits, legislation has been passed in various countries and jurisdictions to criminalize this practice as well as to define it.

The term "revenge porn" is generally used to indicate content uploaded by intimate partners with the intention of humiliating the partner depicted (hence "revenge" when uploaded by an ex-partner). The term is also often misused to describe non 'revenge' scenarios, including nonconsensual pornography distributed by hackers or by individuals seeking profit or notoriety. The images are usually accompanied by sufficient information to identify the pictured individual, typically their name and location, and can include links to social media profiles, home addresses and workplaces.

Victims' lives can be ruined as a result, the victims exposed to cyber-stalking and physical attack as well as facing difficulties in their workplace should their images become known as a result of routine checks by employers. Some have lost their jobs, while others have been unable to find work at all. Copyright law cannot help if the person who publishes the image also made it.

Jurisdictions which have passed laws against revenge porn include Israel, Germany, the United Kingdom, and twenty-three states within the United States

Recently, Google publicised advice about a new type of abuse that may be reportable, when present in a Blogger blog.

Our philosophy has always been that Search should reflect the whole web. But revenge porn images are intensely personal and emotionally damaging, and serve only to degrade the victims—predominantly women. So going forward, we’ll honor requests from people to remove nude or sexually explicit images shared without their consent from Google Search results. This is a narrow and limited policy, similar to how we treat removal requests for other highly sensitive personal information, such as bank account numbers and signatures, that may surface in our search results.Supposedly, "revenge porn" mitigation is limited to removal from Google Search. In one forum discussion, however, the new classification appears to have successfully resulted in an offensive blog being removed from Blogger.

It appears that "revenge porn" is now part of the "Remove information from Google" reporting process.

You may use the "Remove information ..." form, to report "revenge porn".
If you are offended by a Blogger blog - and if the contents of the blog reflect the description
nude or sexually explicit images shared without their consent.

You may use the "Remove information from Google" form, to cite malicious blog content.

Please be aware that these reports will be evaluated carefully.
Please consider reality, however. Since this is a new abuse category, any reports most likely will be evaluated very carefully by the staff who process the complaints.

Don't try to stretch the definition, by what you "believe", or what might be considered the case, in extreme circumstances. Submit a complaint, only when the complaint fits the definition of the new abuse category.

Do the right thing, and report "revenge porn" only when it is righteous.

Unlike bogus DMCA complaints, I don't see any suggestion of any penalties for malicious misuse of the form. However, if you intentionally misuse this new abuse category, consider that your doing so may make one of the legal staff spend time evaluating your complaint, while another, genuinely worthy complaint may wait, unattended.

Do the right thing - and only cite the new category when it is, honestly, necessary.

Peace & tolerance

H