Trans group says FEMA sex change
scandal was fabricated
We buy inierestfni &worfliwliUe
used books & Compacf Discs.
Exact origin of story remains unclear
by Mark Smith
Last month, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) tes
tified before a House Homeland
Security subcommittee to inves
tigating an estimated $1.4 bil
lion fraudulent waste of
Emergency Assistance Funds
(EAF) to Hurricane Katrina vic
tims. The unprecedented level of
Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
fraud was blared over television
newscasts and emblazoned on
newspaper headlines. Much of
the coverage led with the same
outraged fact: “FEMA funds
paid for a sex change.”
However, the National
Transgender Advocacy Coalition
(NTAC) is now publicly calling
the media and authorities on
this claim, demanding proof that
this occurred and calling the
press accounts “fabricated” and
“fraudulent.” In reviewing both
‘It appears [the sex
change] story was
prime red meat for
conservatives looking
to turn attention
away from the presi
dent and onto Katrina
victims and FEMA.’
— NTAC President
Vanessa Edwards
reference of a sex change, nor any surgery of
any type being paid for by FEMA
funds.
“It appears [the sex change]
story was prime red meat for con
servatives looking to turn attention
away from the president and onto
Katrina victims and FEMA,” said
NTAC President Vanessa Edwards
Foster. “It also appears there’s no
veracity to the story that EAF funds
were used for gender reassignment
surgery. These press claims are
what’s fraudulent.”
House Homeland Security
Investigations subcommittee chair
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
called the discovered waste “crimi
nal” but never mentioned any
thing about sex changes. However
Rep. Charles Dent (R-PA) did note
the sex change claim shortly after
the House testimony, comment
ing, “1 don’t understand how this
could happen.”
How the sex change allegation
originated remains unclear. The
June 14 story by Larry Margasak
of The Associated Press noted a sex
Foster
House subcommittee testimony and the GAO change in a laundry list of items scammed
report that uncovered the fraud there was no from FEMA. While news outlets as diverse as
The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, ABC
News, MSNBC and Bloomberg Report carried
the story, the more conservative news outlets
such as The Wall Street Journal or Fox News
made no mention of the sex change accusation.
When questioned about the story, the
GAO’s Office of Public Affairs stated: “There
was no reference to that allegation — because
we cannot confirm it.”
“The press reported on fabricated claims
of sex changes paid with FEMA funds, but no
media ever mentioned $2,000 paid to a
Christian Broadcast Network from EAF pay
ments,” Foster of NTAC commented. The GAO
report listed $2,000 paid to Colorado-based
LeSEA Broadcasting Network.
After anguishing over the initial FEMA
news reports, NTAC Vice President Courtney
Sharp said she “was shocked to discover that
the [GAO] report didn’t mention anything
about anyone misusing funds to have gender
reassignment surgery.”
A New Orleans resident who lost nearly
everything during Katrina, Sharp said she lis
tened as co-workers and friends disparaged
the person who used FEMA funds to obtain a
sex change. “ [ It] was extremely hurtful to real
ize that someone had embellished the GAO
report and was probably using the negative
see trans on 23
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