Monday, November 12, 2007
India: Nose Ring As Thorn
He was unhappy with his body. Now, more comfy in her skin, Rose awaits her TV talk show.
by Pushpa Iyengar
"Being a star is not easy," declares Rose, as she arrives fashionably late. Draped in a yellow sari and matching accessories with scarcely a hair out of place, she announces that she will host a weekly talk show that will discuss gay issues, sexuality, and other 'taboo' topics. It's not just the subject matter of Ipadikku Rose (Yours, Rose) that is expected to make waves in this largely conservative city when it launches on the Star Vijay channel from the end of December. It's Rose herself who seems all set to create a sensation in Chennai.
"I started out as a boy. But the body must have the same gender as the mind," explains the 28-year-old, who 'came out' nearly four years ago to embrace her new persona. From Ramesh she became Rose, after a journey both tortuous and torturous that first saw her battle deep-rooted prejudice and outrage within her own family. Twice, she was thrown out of home—the last time in February 2007, when she won the Miss Chennai title in a beauty contest organised by Sahodaran, a gay group.
Gradually, though, her family is coming to terms with who she is. Things are better now, she says, to the extent that a sister-in-law has loaned her the yellow sari, and her father, her worst critic earlier, now takes her side against a censorious brother. But is Chennai ready for her brand of in-your-face discussion on alternate sexuality?
A couple of years ago, a renowned psychiatrist, Dr Matrubhudam, broke new ground by hosting a show called Pudhira Punidhavam (Is it revolutionary or is it Sacred?) that had 250 episodes discussing sex. In fact, the show was aired in rural areas, and featured sexual problems that people in rural Tamil Nadu faced. Chennai-based sexologist Dr Narayana Reddy comments that with the proliferation of Tamil channels, they need to do something different beyond cinema and politics to get eyeball attention. "Having such a show as Rose's could be one way of doing so."
Through her show, Rose wants to change the overwhelmingly negative image of transgenders as beggars and sex workers that is perpetuated by films and TV. "We have no role model and I wanted to fill that vacuum," she says. She hopes that with youth in the studio audience, and discussion of subjects like child sexual abuse and other sexual crimes, her programme will bring into the open issues that have been hushed up for too long. Some 26 episodes are planned, and shooting starts next month. . . .
Transgender Bill May Be Close to Passing
Legislation to Protect Against Gender Identity Bias Drops Bathroom Stipulations
Maryanne Arnow of Germantown, a transgender woman, says she's had a hard time finding restaurant work since she started her transition four years ago. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
November 11, 2007
Montgomery County appears poised to join the ranks of 13 states and the District this week by passing broad protections for transgender individuals in housing and employment. But when the County Council takes up the issue for a vote Tuesday it will not include a controversial reference to their use of public restrooms, something opponents equated to indecent exposure.
Faced with a flood of e-mails, phone calls and radio advertisements, the bill's sponsor, council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), said yesterday that she was pulling language referring to the restrooms and was confident that the measure had enough support to pass the nine-member council and win approval from County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).
"We're just being pragmatic here. The bill still does what it's supposed to do," Trachtenberg said, dismayed by what she called a "campaign of misinformation and hypothetical, hyperbolic rhetoric."
Trachtenberg, a past president of the Maryland National Organization for Women elected to the council last year, was inspired to seek protections for the transgender community in part by her chief of staff, Dana Beyer, a retired eye surgeon and transgender woman. Similar anti-discrimination legislation introduced in the Maryland General Assembly failed by one vote in a Senate committee this year, and proponents plan to try again in January.
As initially written, Trachtenberg's bill did not explicitly address the use of public restrooms or dressing rooms by the transgender community. The council's health committee members -- Trachtenberg, George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) and Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) -- amended the bill during a work session last month after considering several options to clarify who should have access to public facilities. They unanimously settled on a standard used in Boston's human rights law that allows access based on a person's gender identity "publicly and exclusively expressed or asserted." . . .
Exploring sexuality
by Max McGowen
12 November 2007Kaden Trifilio is a freshman. At the beginning of the year, he said he was "full of self-doubt." But this doubt, he said, was not because of classes.
It was because he, once a female, was considering becoming a male.
For Trifilio, life as a transgender student on campus can sometimes be complicated. "So far people have been respectful. But broader issues do persist, such as housing considerations," said Kaden, whose legal name is Katherine.
To confront the issues facing transgender students on campus, Transgender Education and Action, a committee of Allied in Pride, is hosting a series of events this month as part of Transgender Awareness Month. Allied is also continuing its campaign to change GW's housing policy for transgender students and update the University's anti-sexual harassment policy.
Only the Scholar's Village residence halls on Mount Vernon are fully gender-neutral, said Seth Weinshel, GW Housing Program's director of assignments. Additionally, he said there are very few singles available, even for third- and fourth- year students on campus.
For transgender students, questions always arise. Trifilio often wonders which bathroom he should use - and the answer varies. . . .
Culture shock makes us cringe, then change
Hyein Lee
11/12/07Bebe Scarpi, the only transgender high school principal in America, was our guest lecturer last Tuesday for the class "Policing Same Sex Desires."
"I've never identified myself as transgender," she said. "I prefer drag queen. I've always been a 'she' and always will be."
Scarpi has no problem telling you straight up what she thinks. After years of fighting for gay rights - as the founding president of the Gay Community at Queens College and founding board member of the National Gay Task Force, to name just a few accomplishments - she is still fighting as she speaks with a voice that you can't help but tune in to.
From 2 to 3:15 p.m., this middle-aged woman with reddish-brown hair entertained our questions about her personal life, gay culture and the 1969 Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, an outbreak of violence involving the police and LGBTQ community.
"Forty-second street was nothing like it is today," said Scarpi, reminiscing a New York in rather different times: A time when the city, unlike its present attitude, was policing the LGBTQ community and performing raids on gay bars, arresting anyone violating a gender-based dress code or engaging in prostitution. "It was one big orgy, right down eight blocks. There was public sex everywhere."
I could only prop my chin on my right arm and listen, my eyes occasionally dilating in response to some of the edgier things that Scarpi said. . . .
Thai student crowned queen of the transsexuals
Tanyarat Jirapatpakon (C) of Thailand poses with runners-up Chanel Madrigal (L) of Philippines and Aleika...
Mon Nov 12, 2007
PATTAYA, Thailand (Reuters Life!) - At a ceremony full of feathers, frills and false eyelashes, a 21-year-old Thai was crowned queen of the transsexuals at a weekend beauty contest that bills itself as the world's largest.
Panyrat Kirapatpakon, a Thai business student, beat 24 transsexuals and transvestites at the extravagant pageant in the resort town of Pattaya to the "Miss International Queen" title and the $10,000 prize money.
The contest, in its fourth year, was held at the Tiffany's nightclub famous for its transvestite and transgender cabaret and aims to highlight the status of transsexuals around the world.
The contestants, shortlisted from more than 100 hopefuls, came from 15 countries, with a record number from Europe.
"I'm glad to see more people participating in these pageants and many countries giving more opportunities to transsexuals, because in the past many countries, including Thailand discriminated against us," winner Panyrat said.
"But this place has opened our chances and allowed the world to see us."
Bangkok is also a global centre for sex-change surgery, and on the surface, predominantly Buddhist Thailand appears very tolerant of homosexuality, with many openly gay celebrities.
Katoeys -- Thai slang for cross-dressers, transvestites or transsexuals -- are common in offices, schools and on television, but activists say Thailand remains deeply conservative at heart and still has many rules discriminating against non-heterosexuals.
Like other beauty pageants, the contestants paraded in their national costumes, evening gowns and swimsuits to an audience of more than 1,000 people, many of whom were transsexuals and even more extravagantly dressed.
You are not welcome here, club tells Leona Lo
