Thursday, July 31, 2008
GenderVision: Being Transgender (intro)
"Gordene O. MacKenzie, PhD carefully reviews the difference between sex and gender, as well as some of the basics of gender identity and expression. Then, in the program continuation at www.gendervision.org, Nancy Nangeroni and Gordene interview Grace Sterling Stowell, director of BAGLY , the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Youth. They discuss the services provided by BAGLY, as well as some of the issues that trans youth face. Then Nancy, Grace and Gordene expose some of the most popular myths about transgender people. " NNangeroni
Next GenderVision Installment Covers Pride 2008
July 31, 2008
William Henderson
GenderVision, a television program available on cable access in Beverly, Mass., and in parts of California and New Hampshire, is broadcasting its fourth episode, "Pride," which follows hosts Gordene O. MacKenzie and Nancy Nangeroni as they march and speak with participants in Boston's 2008 Pride parade.
Along their route, they meet, and interview, members of the GLBT Senior Coalition, transgender and youth participants in the parade — asking each what makes Pride "so special to them" — and collect a variety of perspectives from spectators, including Boston Mayor Tom Menino.
In conjunction with this new program, GenderVision is making available for purchase a DVD of its second program, "Being Transgender … Myths & Youth Issues," . . .Read More
William Henderson
GenderVision, a television program available on cable access in Beverly, Mass., and in parts of California and New Hampshire, is broadcasting its fourth episode, "Pride," which follows hosts Gordene O. MacKenzie and Nancy Nangeroni as they march and speak with participants in Boston's 2008 Pride parade.
Along their route, they meet, and interview, members of the GLBT Senior Coalition, transgender and youth participants in the parade — asking each what makes Pride "so special to them" — and collect a variety of perspectives from spectators, including Boston Mayor Tom Menino.
In conjunction with this new program, GenderVision is making available for purchase a DVD of its second program, "Being Transgender … Myths & Youth Issues," . . .Read More
Judge: Transgender law repeal will go before the voters
Opponents of referendum appeal the decision
30 July 2008
Janel Davis
A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge is allowing voters to decide if a county law banning discrimination against transgendered people should be repealed.
In a 25-page opinion issued Thursday, Judge Robert A. Greenberg said advocates for the legislation were too late in challenging the signatures collected by Citizens for Responsible Government and certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
30 July 2008
Janel Davis
A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge is allowing voters to decide if a county law banning discrimination against transgendered people should be repealed.
In a 25-page opinion issued Thursday, Judge Robert A. Greenberg said advocates for the legislation were too late in challenging the signatures collected by Citizens for Responsible Government and certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
On Monday, Equality Maryland, a gay rights advocacy group that is challenging the repeal effort, filed an appeal in the Court of Special Appeals.
‘‘We’re disappointed, but the court concluded that we were right but were too late in filing,” said Jonathan S. Shurberg, an attorney for Equality Maryland. ‘‘If I didn’t think we had a strong chance to win, I wouldn’t recommend to my client that we appeal.” . . .Read More
China's Olympic-sized sex and gender problems
Rounding up and testing female 'gender suspects' while disallowing sex talk to foreigners makes Beijing look like a bad place to be a top female athlete
July 31, 2008
Violet Blue
July 31, 2008
Violet Blue
In a couple weeks, the Olympics begin in China. It's a big country. So big that it manufactures most of the world's sex toys, and was recently host to the world's largest sex toy expo, the Fifth China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition. In 2007, the expo boasted over 30,000 attendees who gawked, poked, squeezed and generally tingled (or cringed) at all the weird and wonderful and wobbly and mystifyingly gender-bending sex gizmos on display.
Next month, something similar is supposed to happen on a more athletic scale: The 2008 Summer Olympics will attract athletes, press and spectators from all over the world. And China's done some pretty weird things to get ready for the fete. Like Beijing shutting down all building sites and many factories to clear the smog after failing air quality tests. And arresting (or sorta-disappearing) the founder of China's pioneer human rights Web site 64Tianwang — the numbers refer to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre. There's a lot more, like the pre-Olympic clampdown on sex, after-hours bars and adult lifestyle chat. . . .Read More
Transgender rights still unenshrined
31 July 2008
By Carlito Pablo
By Carlito Pablo
Raigen D’Angelo recalls playing a low-key role in the transgender-rights movement as a sex-trade worker during the 1990s.
“I did not want my clients to know about me, and if you look at the picture of me on the wall right there,” D’Angelo said in her East Vancouver home, pointing to a framed photo of a sultry-looking woman. “I would probably have been beaten royally by clients if they knew what I was, and I didn’t want my picture on every newspaper as a transwoman.”
More than a decade ago, advocates like Sandra LaFramboise waged a similar campaign to enshrine transgender rights. According to LaFramboise, a former nurse, they even came close to winning a landmark victory during the NDP government of then-premier Glen Clark. . . .Read More
Duped lover kills transsexual with fire extinguisher
31 July 2008
Metro.co.uk
A furious dupe has been accused of murder with a fire extinguisher after discovering a woman who gave him oral sex was born a man.
Allen Ray Andrade allegedly battered Justin Zapata to death in a fury after discovering the truth.
He had believed the partner he picked up online was a woman known as Angie Zapata.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Eddie Izzard - Dentists
Eddie's comments on dentistry. . .(the color on that set sure beats any dentist's office I've ever seen!)
Kelantan Religious Officers Arrested Transgender Women.
July 30, 2008
Tilted WorldThe Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department sent a clear message to transgenders all over the world. Do not come to this conservative state in Malaysia if you identify as a transgender, or even as a transsexual. We will arrest you, jail you and fine you if we find you dressed up as women. It is reported in The Star on Friday, these Kelantanese religious moral guardians arrested young adult transgenders at a beauty pageant held within a nearby resort. The Malaysian Insider reported the arrest of 16 out of 50 contestants from all over the country, while 3 managed to escape by dangerously diving into the river, during this contest called the “Glam Nite Miss Universe Asia 2008″ at Tok Bali, Bachok.
Abdul Aziz Mohd Nor, chief assistant director of the religious group, was mentioned saying “activities of the transsexuals, including dressing up like women, were against Islamic practices”. By the picture of those busted, some were indeed transsexuals. So this begets the question, how much do Mr. Abdul Aziz know about transsexuals? Transsexuals (a sub-entity of transgenders) are a group of people that can now be reasoned medically and socially as women. They are not dragging around in women’s clothes. As for the “activities”, is it not normal for women to enter beauty pageants? . . .Read More
Woman born a man demands right to marry
29 July 2008
Timesofmalta.com
A woman, who was born a man but was legally declared female following gender reassignment surgery, filed a Constitutional application today claiming that a previous court decision stopping her from getting married was in breach of her human rights and subjected her to degrading and inhuman treatment.
Joanne Cassar explained that she was born a man and, ever since she was a child, she felt she was female. When she was old enough she had gender reassignment surgery and, some time after, the court upheld her request to alter her gender annotation to female on her birth certificate.
She eventually applied for the issuing of her marriage banns to marry her partner but the director of Public Registry objecting and she took her case to court. . . .Read More
Ask Deepak: Transgender Ex-Boyfriend
July 29, 2008
After reading several accredited reports about transgender and transvestite behavior, the confrontation was mega-hard for me to deal with because what I read could have been his life story, so exact: Coming from a very strict Christian upbringing (you go to hell if you’re gay or lesbian and to heaven if you serve), having lived in a male environment all his life, riding a huge Harley Davidson, two failed marriages, and keeping up a tough appearance, his true nature must stay in hiding. He has been trapping himself all of his live, doesn’t know what he wants or who he is, has no goals, cannot plan, cannot commit, is always restless and on the run. A constant battle between his male and female side, mindboggling and so very hard to get a grip on. . . .Read More
Question:
My (now ex-)boyfriend wants to be a woman, but has not opened up to me about this. It is so obvious but he remains in denial and refuses to get anywhere near the subject. How do we best deal with each other on this because we remained on good terms since we still care greatly about each other. Here’s the situation:
After reading several accredited reports about transgender and transvestite behavior, the confrontation was mega-hard for me to deal with because what I read could have been his life story, so exact: Coming from a very strict Christian upbringing (you go to hell if you’re gay or lesbian and to heaven if you serve), having lived in a male environment all his life, riding a huge Harley Davidson, two failed marriages, and keeping up a tough appearance, his true nature must stay in hiding. He has been trapping himself all of his live, doesn’t know what he wants or who he is, has no goals, cannot plan, cannot commit, is always restless and on the run. A constant battle between his male and female side, mindboggling and so very hard to get a grip on. . . .Read More
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
'Transsexuality gene' boosts male hormones
Linda Geddes
29 July 2008
29 July 2008
A gene variant has been identified that appears to be associated with female-to-male transsexuality – the feeling some women have that they belong to the opposite sex.
While such complex behaviour is likely the result of multiple genes, environmental and cultural factors, the researchers say the discovery suggests that transsexuality does have a genetic component.
The variation is in the gene for an enzyme called cytochrome P17, which is involved in the metabolism of sex hormones. Its presence leads to higher than average tissue concentrations of male and female sex hormones, which may in turn influence early brain development.
Clemens Tempfer and his colleagues at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria discovered the variant after analysing DNA samples from 49 female-to-male (FtM) and 102 male-to-female (MtF) transsexuals, as well as 1669 non-transsexual controls.
The variant was more common in men than women, although it doesn’t seem to be implicated in MtF transsexuality as the proportion of MtF transsexuals with it was similar to that in non-transsexual men. In women, however, there were some differences: 44% of FtM transsexuals carried it, compared with 31% of non-transsexual women. . . .Read More
Thai school offers transsexual toilet
By Jonathan Head
29 July 2008
With its spacious, tree-lined grounds and slightly threadbare classrooms, there is nothing obviously unusual about the Kampang Secondary School.
29 July 2008
 A new toilet sign has been created at this Thai school |
It is situated in Thailand's impoverished north-east, and most of the pupils are the children of farmers.
Every morning at 0800 they all gather outside to sing the national anthem and watch the flag being raised.
Then they have a chance to use the toilets, before heading off the first classes of the day.
Kampang is proud of its toilets. Spotless, and surrounded by flowering tropical plants, they have won national awards for cleanliness.
But there is something else about them too. Between the girls' toilet and the boys', there is one signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red. . . .Read More
Meet the gay man and transgender woman who "Want to Work for Diddy"
Rob Smith and Laverne Cox want to work for Diddy
If I were to tell you that when one of the biggest hip-hop stars in the world conducted an exhaustive search to find 13 candidates to be his next assistant, the final candidates included a gay man and a transgender woman, what would you say?
On one hand, you may be surprised that the somewhat homophobic hip-hop world was so inclusive of LGBT contenders for the position, but if you were the gay in question, you’d probably start jumping up and down and screaming!
That is exactly what I did when I found out I was one of 13 finalists picked to compete in the new reality show I Want to Work for Diddy, premiering on Monday, August 4 at 9PM on VH1. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the show leads into the mess that is New York Goes to Hollywood, so my Mondays will be pretty full from now on.
My name is Rob Smith, and I’m a freelance writer, blogger, and media industry professional based in New York City. The experience on the show was one of the most challenging and amazing experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m thrilled to be giving AfterElton.com readers an exclusive weekly recap and lowdown on my experience with the show and everything that went on behind the scenes during taping. . . .Read More
Neighbors Help Troubled Transgender Woman
Joyce Peterson
July 29, 2008
Memphis, TN - To say that 43 year-old Duanna Johnson leads a difficult life would be an understatement. At her small, rundown, North Memphis house you'll find condom wrappers on the ground outside her door.
Her power meter is missing. Not that it matters because her electricity was turned off months ago after she stopped paying her utility bill.
She has one extension cord running from her bedroom window to the neighbor's house. They charge her $20 a month to plug into their electricity. It powers the single fan Duanna uses to cool her house.
And because Johnson has no running water in her home, neighbors often let her use their bathrooms to wash up and take care of her personal hygiene.
"Well, she would come over and talk," says 82 year-old Hattie Mae Benson. "And I mean, it was a good while before I knew what was happening."
Benson has been Johnson's guardian angel for the past three or four months, providing Memphis' most famous transgender woman with food, a clean bed to sleep in and a bathroom. . . .Read More
July 29, 2008
Memphis, TN - To say that 43 year-old Duanna Johnson leads a difficult life would be an understatement. At her small, rundown, North Memphis house you'll find condom wrappers on the ground outside her door.
Her power meter is missing. Not that it matters because her electricity was turned off months ago after she stopped paying her utility bill.
She has one extension cord running from her bedroom window to the neighbor's house. They charge her $20 a month to plug into their electricity. It powers the single fan Duanna uses to cool her house.
And because Johnson has no running water in her home, neighbors often let her use their bathrooms to wash up and take care of her personal hygiene.
"Well, she would come over and talk," says 82 year-old Hattie Mae Benson. "And I mean, it was a good while before I knew what was happening."
Benson has been Johnson's guardian angel for the past three or four months, providing Memphis' most famous transgender woman with food, a clean bed to sleep in and a bathroom. . . .Read More
Monday, July 28, 2008
P. Diddy Casts Transsexual "Assistant"
7-26-2008
BGay News
BGay News
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' new reality show is documenting his search for a new assistant and the rapper and entrepreneur has cast a transsexual as one of the contestants for the position.
On the new show, which premieres on VH1 next week, gorgeous transsexual Laverne Cox competes with other contestants to become P. Diddy's new assistant. . . .Read More and View Promo Video
Chinese to check athletes' genders in sex-change crackdown at Beijing Olympics
BEN ENGLISH | July 27, 2008
THE CHINESE have left nothing to chance - not even cross-dressing Olympic gender cheats.
Beijing has set up a sex determination lab to test female Olympic athletes they suspect are men.
"Suspect athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination," said Union Medical College Hospital's Professor Tian Qinjie.
"Initial test results would be available in three days, while an official result takes seven days.''
Prof Tian said the test aims to maintain fairness of the Games, and to rule out inaccurate test results.
Experts say test results for about one in 500 to 600 athletes are abnormal. . . .Read More
THE CHINESE have left nothing to chance - not even cross-dressing Olympic gender cheats.
Beijing has set up a sex determination lab to test female Olympic athletes they suspect are men.
"Suspect athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination," said Union Medical College Hospital's Professor Tian Qinjie.
"Initial test results would be available in three days, while an official result takes seven days.''
Prof Tian said the test aims to maintain fairness of the Games, and to rule out inaccurate test results.
Experts say test results for about one in 500 to 600 athletes are abnormal. . . .Read More
Trans Formed: To Be Homeless & Transgender
By Lydie Raschka
July 28, 2008
The night my church opened its 10-bed homeless shelter for 18-to-24-year-olds, I volunteered to supervise them. A novice to any kind of shelter experience, I was nervous as I dragged my red cart with pillow and blanket to the church, and grateful that Mina, an elegant, 70-something social worker, also would be there.
July 28, 2008
The night my church opened its 10-bed homeless shelter for 18-to-24-year-olds, I volunteered to supervise them. A novice to any kind of shelter experience, I was nervous as I dragged my red cart with pillow and blanket to the church, and grateful that Mina, an elegant, 70-something social worker, also would be there.
Six young people arrived in a clump at 10 p.m., clutching pillows and belongings and, in one case, a teddy bear. They came from Sylvia's Place, an overcrowded downtown shelter. One woman, wearing a do-rag under a baseball cap, surprised me with a quick hug. In the coming months, she would outline the danger she felt in our relatively safe-seeming Manhattan neighborhood, how every time she walked outside she'd hear some comment, how she was hit in the face just waiting for the bus. . . .Read More
The transgender story
Malcolm Venable
28
28
Jul 08
Oh boy, your calls and emails on the story about transgender people pumping with silicone...wow.
Before I go on, a few disclaimers:
- the ability to comment on that story was turned off (not by me) because some of you, in short, can't be trusted to express yourself without resorting to hate speech. (A whole nother topic, trust me.)
- the point of this post is not an attempt to open up this space for comments; you may, of course, but be aware that they'll be promptly deleted or turned off if your comments are ugly. It's sad that some of you don't even know you're being the very face of evil, but anyway.
This post is simply to explain the story, to address your comments...so here we go.
I think the main point of the article for me, which I guess could fairly be called an expose, was to expose a part of life here few of us knew existed. There was no agenda to make you feel sympathy, nor to convert you or your children to homosexuality and gender confusion as some of your ineloquent phone calls suggest.
We all live in the same physical space yet occupy so many vastly different worlds, and I find that fascinating, and that was that. . . .Read More
Sunday, July 27, 2008
In The Life: Beauty on the Black Market
"For transgender women who are low income, the ability to 'pass' as a female can make the difference in being able to simply get a job, put food on the table or avoid the very real threat of violence. The stakes are higher for trans-women and some women will go to some pretty extreme measures to enhance their feminine appearance. In this episode's final segment, In the Life explores this important health issue for the trans community." msvamplatex
Who Are We and Why are We Moving to Boston?
Kyle
May-July 2008
My name is Kyle and I am a 28 year old FTM. For the past five years I have been teaching high school English in Los Angeles. While my passion has always been for writing, I began my teaching career in Newton, Massachusetts after I received my undergraduate degree (in English and American Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing Poetry) from Brandeis University in 2002. Dissatisfied with the toll teaching has taken on my writing life, I am moving back to the Boston area to begin an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry at Emerson College. . . .Read More
May-July 2008
My name is Kyle and I am a 28 year old FTM. For the past five years I have been teaching high school English in Los Angeles. While my passion has always been for writing, I began my teaching career in Newton, Massachusetts after I received my undergraduate degree (in English and American Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing Poetry) from Brandeis University in 2002. Dissatisfied with the toll teaching has taken on my writing life, I am moving back to the Boston area to begin an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry at Emerson College. . . .Read More
On “The Transgender Child” and new transgender narratives
Mik Danger
July 26, 2008
About two weeks ago I finished reading Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper’s new book “The Transgender Child: a handbook for families and professionals”. The book is incredibly well done, and while some of its suggestions are vague, the vagueness is a direct result of the great gender diversity transyouth (and adults) can have. Brill and Pepper do a good job of not pining and specific template of transgender identity on these youth. However, I was disappointed by the incredibly short sections on intersecting identity. For youth with (other) disabilities the section basically translated as "good luck!" and for the section on religious and ethnic intersections, it could be translated as "some communities are difficult, but your child is worth it". The book was written with a heterosexual married white adult in mind who has a well-paying job and is able-bodied. There were attempts to steer away from that metaidentity, but they weren't too successful. I feel compelled to forgive, as the book is still invaluable, and be upset because by now we should know better. . . .Read More
July 26, 2008
About two weeks ago I finished reading Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper’s new book “The Transgender Child: a handbook for families and professionals”. The book is incredibly well done, and while some of its suggestions are vague, the vagueness is a direct result of the great gender diversity transyouth (and adults) can have. Brill and Pepper do a good job of not pining and specific template of transgender identity on these youth. However, I was disappointed by the incredibly short sections on intersecting identity. For youth with (other) disabilities the section basically translated as "good luck!" and for the section on religious and ethnic intersections, it could be translated as "some communities are difficult, but your child is worth it". The book was written with a heterosexual married white adult in mind who has a well-paying job and is able-bodied. There were attempts to steer away from that metaidentity, but they weren't too successful. I feel compelled to forgive, as the book is still invaluable, and be upset because by now we should know better. . . .Read More
India: On the frontline
VAISHNA ROY
27 July 2008
As Rose, the host of ‘Ippadikku Rose’, fights to realign rigid notions about gender and sexuality, it’s worth asking if we know what tolerance really means.
As Rose says: “What about my hobbies, my friends, my skills? There’s so much more to me.”
Transgender: An umbrella term that represents a whole range of people from drag queens to transvestites to eunuchs. I am headed towards my first social encounter with one. But I am not yet sure just what Rose is. All I have is a woman’s name, a man’s voice and a celebrity status as talk-show anchor.
27 July 2008
As Rose, the host of ‘Ippadikku Rose’, fights to realign rigid notions about gender and sexuality, it’s worth asking if we know what tolerance really means.
As Rose says: “What about my hobbies, my friends, my skills? There’s so much more to me.”
Transgender: An umbrella term that represents a whole range of people from drag queens to transvestites to eunuchs. I am headed towards my first social encounter with one. But I am not yet sure just what Rose is. All I have is a woman’s name, a man’s voice and a celebrity status as talk-show anchor.
I am curious but also wary, a fastidious shrinking from meeting another tedious exhibitionist. Aravanis are characteristically loud, aggressive and lewd. Rose has chosen to challenge this stereotype and her on-screen personality is intriguing, which is why I am in this narrow street in the bowels of West Mambalam, reluctant to ask for directions. . . .Read More
In transgender circles, silicone is a risky shot at womanhood
By Malcolm Venable
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 27, 2008
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 27, 2008
One Saturday evening in spring, female impersonators strutted, sashayed and lip-synched to R&B and gospel songs at a Norfolk banquet hall while guests showered them with dollar bills. People feasted on a down-home spread of green beans, fried chicken and macaroni, on tables sprinkled with confetti.
Presiding over it all in a crimson evening gown was Vega Perry, who played the part of the regal, occasionally bawdy hostess. . . .Read More
LAMBETH: Transgender Episcopal Priest Speaks out at Canterbury
By Hans Zeiger
July 25, 2008
CANTERBURY-The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, a transgender Episcopal priest from the Diocese of Massachusetts, spoke Friday at a Lambeth Conference "fringe" event along with four other transgender people. A former female with a PhD from Harvard in early Christian thought and sex and gender, Partridge transitioned to maleness about six years ago. He has served part-time as priest at St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Allston, Massachusetts since June 2006.
Partridge, who has a partner, said that the current debate in the Anglican Communion about homosexual inclusion is difficult for transgender Anglicans. "We feel it's implicitly about us," he said, adding his reservations about the oversimplified sex and gender categories in which the debate is carried on. "It may be overwhelming to add us into this ... I think there's a lot more complexity and richness that we haven't yet recognized. If adding trans into the debate helps us to recognize complexity, I actually think that will be a good thing." . . .Read More
July 25, 2008
CANTERBURY-The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, a transgender Episcopal priest from the Diocese of Massachusetts, spoke Friday at a Lambeth Conference "fringe" event along with four other transgender people. A former female with a PhD from Harvard in early Christian thought and sex and gender, Partridge transitioned to maleness about six years ago. He has served part-time as priest at St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Allston, Massachusetts since June 2006.
Partridge, who has a partner, said that the current debate in the Anglican Communion about homosexual inclusion is difficult for transgender Anglicans. "We feel it's implicitly about us," he said, adding his reservations about the oversimplified sex and gender categories in which the debate is carried on. "It may be overwhelming to add us into this ... I think there's a lot more complexity and richness that we haven't yet recognized. If adding trans into the debate helps us to recognize complexity, I actually think that will be a good thing." . . .Read More
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Dear Mr. President:
July 24, 2008
Family Equality Council sent letters to both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama about queer families. They promise to release any responses they receive. Follow the jump to read both letters. LETTER TO MCCAIN CAMPAIGN
Family Equality Council sent letters to both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama about queer families. They promise to release any responses they receive. Follow the jump to read both letters. LETTER TO MCCAIN CAMPAIGN
(same letter sent to Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign)
July 21, 2008
The Honorable John McCain
United States Senator
241 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator McCain:
In light of recent events, I want to be certain that our presidential candidates truly understand the great diversity of American families and how best to meet their needs.
As a lesbian mother and the executive director of Family Equality Council, the national organization working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families by building community, changing hearts and minds and advancing social justice for all families, I know how hard parents work to raise happy, healthy children. Regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identities, regardless of how many parents or caregivers are present in a family, all parents begin each day with their children at the forefront of their thoughts. On behalf of diverse families, I present you with the following information on the variety of family types that exist in this country and ask for your plan to recognize, respect, protect and celebrate all of the loving families you seek to represent. . . .Read More
Celebrity Daughter Kathlyn Beatty Rumored to be Transgender
By Ann Turner | 7/24/2008
A not-so-blind item posted on gossip guru Perez Hilton’s website on Thursday has some speculating celebrity spawn Kathlyn Beatty may be living life as a transgender. Although Hilton does not name names in the gossip tidbit, investigation by other Hollywood bloggers has led some to believe the subject of the rumor is the daughter of movie stars Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.
A not-so-blind item posted on gossip guru Perez Hilton’s website on Thursday has some speculating celebrity spawn Kathlyn Beatty may be living life as a transgender. Although Hilton does not name names in the gossip tidbit, investigation by other Hollywood bloggers has led some to believe the subject of the rumor is the daughter of movie stars Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.
According to a “Not So Blind Item” posted on PerezHilton.com, a teenage daughter of a superstar celebrity couple is now living life as a transgender boy. “Now going by the name Stephen, the teen’s parents pulled him out of the prestigious Buckley School in Los Angeles and are having him home-schooled to keep him out of the public eye,” Hilton states on his blog. . . .Read More
The Former 'Pregnant Man' Debuts His Baby
By Champ Clark
July 23, 2008
It's been three weeks since his blue-eyed baby debuted in this world, but Thomas Beatie – better known around the world as the Pregnant Man – can already say this about his daughter's personality: "She's easygoing and mellow and intelligent."
On June 29 at 8:55 p.m., Beatie, 34, a former female beauty pageant contestant, made cultural history as perhaps the first legally transgender male to give birth, bringing into the world a 9 lbs., 5 oz. baby girl named Susan Juliette.
"She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her," Thomas tells PEOPLE in his first interview since he and wife Nancy returned with their bundle from Bend, Oregon's St. Charles Medical Center. "Just holding her is the best feeling in the world." . . .Read More
(. . .a very cute baby, IMO! R.A.)
July 23, 2008
It's been three weeks since his blue-eyed baby debuted in this world, but Thomas Beatie – better known around the world as the Pregnant Man – can already say this about his daughter's personality: "She's easygoing and mellow and intelligent."
On June 29 at 8:55 p.m., Beatie, 34, a former female beauty pageant contestant, made cultural history as perhaps the first legally transgender male to give birth, bringing into the world a 9 lbs., 5 oz. baby girl named Susan Juliette.
"She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her," Thomas tells PEOPLE in his first interview since he and wife Nancy returned with their bundle from Bend, Oregon's St. Charles Medical Center. "Just holding her is the best feeling in the world." . . .Read More
(. . .a very cute baby, IMO! R.A.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Changing from Male to Female
"Slide show of a intersexed girl transitioning from her early days as a macho guy to a feminine, good-looking (not to mention a bit narcisstic) girl.
She's 23 going on 24, graduating from college in Indonesia. She's now an Assistant Brand Manager for P&G Bangkok." psastrowardoyo
A Clan, a Network, a Tribe, a Family
Queer, Isn't It?
Not only does the GLBT community view itself as one movement, society has mandated that the groups are linked -- if not intentionally, then through selective exclusion.
July 23, 2008
Michael Abernethy
Now that Daniel has graduated college, he and his partner Chris have started talking about purchasing a home together. Two houses down from Chris live Susan and Casey, who are on and off girlfriends. Jason lives on the corner; he’s straight for the most part, but he doesn’t mind letting a guy take care of his sexual needs sometimes. One street over lives Andrew, “Anita” after he’s in full drag and the curtain goes up.“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” —Author Jane Howard
“Remember, there are two things that keep us oppressed - them and us. We are half of the equation.”—U. S. Congresswoman and lesbian Tammy Baldwin
Gay. Lesbian. Bisexual. Transgendered. Welcome to my neighborhood, an extraordinarily diverse one with a much higher than normal percentage of GLBT people, especially considering it isn’t near a “gay mecca”. Incredibly diverse people within a few blocks of one another, each with his or her own challenges. Can one organization represent the legal and social needs of all these people? . . .Read More
No real advantage
July 22, 2008
Simon Wong
Thanks to television, viewers across the world have seen vivid images of the violent riots in the Olympic torch relay and the sexually explicit costumes in the gay parade.
Less publicized, but somewhat related and equally controversial, is transsexual athletes’ participation in the Olympics. Although transsexuals account for a small percentage among athletes, the controversy lays bare the huge erosion of the value of sports.
Central to the criticism against transsexual participation is the perceived disappearance of a level playing field. A female athlete who was born a male likely retains certain structural characteristics that might be beneficial in sports. . . .Read More
Simon Wong
Thanks to television, viewers across the world have seen vivid images of the violent riots in the Olympic torch relay and the sexually explicit costumes in the gay parade.
Less publicized, but somewhat related and equally controversial, is transsexual athletes’ participation in the Olympics. Although transsexuals account for a small percentage among athletes, the controversy lays bare the huge erosion of the value of sports.
Central to the criticism against transsexual participation is the perceived disappearance of a level playing field. A female athlete who was born a male likely retains certain structural characteristics that might be beneficial in sports. . . .Read More
'One Damn Man': Transsexual pen pals pen play
Andrea Abney
July 23, 2008
It all started with a fan letter.
July 23, 2008
It all started with a fan letter.
Gina Grahame e-mailed Aleshia Brevard in 2003 after reading her book, "The Woman I Was Not Born to Be," about Brevard's life as a transsexual. Grahame identified with Brevard's book, both because she knew the places Brevard described in "Woman" and because Grahame is also a transsexual.
Eighteen months and 1,500 e-mails after the women started corresponding, they decided to use their relationship as the basis for a play, which resulted in "Inside/Out." The two will perform a cutting from that play on Sunday at the San Francisco Theater Festival.
"We see this as a family relationship, extended family though it might be," says Brevard, 70, who lives in Santa Cruz. "It is a mother-daughter relationship, and that developed over that year and a half." . . .Read More
German court rules in favour of transsexual rights
July 23, 2008
thestar.com
thestar.com
BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters)–Germany's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a man seeking legal recognition as a woman will be allowed to stay married to his wife in a landmark decision that further strengthens the rights of transsexuals.
The Karlsruhe-based court ruled unconstitutional a requirement that married transsexuals first get divorced before their new gender could be legally recognised. The court said that law violated a person's basic rights. . . .Read More
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
TransSports - OutLoud Radio
"Here, I'm being interviewed about TransSports or being gender non-conforming while in sports at school. Also, my experiences were taken account of and this all done by Noah Miller and Elena Chin of San Fransico for OutLoud Radio." cheyanne2314
Queen Harish dances in drag
Tuesday, July 22, 20
"I like to copy the Bollywood actresses," Queen Harish says with a chuckle. "But not the new kinds with the very short, short clothes." She prefers the colorful, traditional full skirts of her native Rajasthan. After being featured in the musical documentary "When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan," Indian drag sensation Queen Harish has become quite the jet-setter. New York, London, Barcelona, Tokyo - "the dancing, whirling, desert drag queen," as she calls herself, is everywhere, flying in for celebrity weddings, giant outdoor concerts and gay parties. "They were hot," she says after performing at the packed Desilicious pride party in sweltering New York this year. "I have to make them more hot."
Harish is also married and a dad. He goes to his local Hindu temple twice a day. And he says he'd never even heard the term "drag queen" until he came to the West. . . .Read More
Transgender Information Network
Current Affairs #1
Posted in Current Affairs on July 22, 2008 by transgenderinfo
Current Affairs is a new initiative we are starting here at Version 3.0 of the site. The aim is to give brief overviews of those longer, more in-depth news and magazine pieces that bring transgender people and issues into focus. You know, those kind of human interest stories. Adding to each piece as a new piece comes to light.
Our first current affair is to do with Transgender Children. Recently in the media there has been lots of talk about issues surrounding transgender children and debate about what age is too young to make such a decision. In an article entitled Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change? that was published in the TImes Online - a mother of a transgendered child and a doctor from Amsterdam discuss the issues. . . .Read More
Posted in Current Affairs on July 22, 2008 by transgenderinfo
Current Affairs is a new initiative we are starting here at Version 3.0 of the site. The aim is to give brief overviews of those longer, more in-depth news and magazine pieces that bring transgender people and issues into focus. You know, those kind of human interest stories. Adding to each piece as a new piece comes to light.
Our first current affair is to do with Transgender Children. Recently in the media there has been lots of talk about issues surrounding transgender children and debate about what age is too young to make such a decision. In an article entitled Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change? that was published in the TImes Online - a mother of a transgendered child and a doctor from Amsterdam discuss the issues. . . .Read More
Newsweek Gets It Backwards
July 22, 2008
Newsweek's cover story this month is entitled "Young, Gay and Murdered: Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications." [ http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790/page/1 ]
The reporter, Ramin Setoodeh seems to me to have concluded that it was because Larry came out and because he dressed in a vampy way and directed sexual and romantic comments toward boys at school that he was gossiped about, harassed and finally murdered. I would question the chronology. I am totally skeptical about the assumption that his behavior led to the other boys' hostility rather than their hostility fueling his behavior. Because it’s the latter that I have seen so often. A little kid starts out gender variant by nature, even in pre-kindergarten. But often subtly so. Then other kids' discomfort and grown-ups refusal to address their discomfort or teach about stereotypes leads to their excluding that child from play and refusing to sit with the child at lunch. The teachers continue to hope the problem will go away. . . .Read More
Newsweek's cover story this month is entitled "Young, Gay and Murdered: Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications." [ http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790/page/1 ]
The reporter, Ramin Setoodeh seems to me to have concluded that it was because Larry came out and because he dressed in a vampy way and directed sexual and romantic comments toward boys at school that he was gossiped about, harassed and finally murdered. I would question the chronology. I am totally skeptical about the assumption that his behavior led to the other boys' hostility rather than their hostility fueling his behavior. Because it’s the latter that I have seen so often. A little kid starts out gender variant by nature, even in pre-kindergarten. But often subtly so. Then other kids' discomfort and grown-ups refusal to address their discomfort or teach about stereotypes leads to their excluding that child from play and refusing to sit with the child at lunch. The teachers continue to hope the problem will go away. . . .Read More
Young, Gay and Murdered
Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications.
July 19, 2008
At 15, Lawrence King was small—5 feet 1 inch—but very hard to miss. In January, he started to show up for class at Oxnard, Calif.'s E. O. Green Junior High School decked out in women's accessories. On some days, he would slick up his curly hair in a Prince-like bouffant. Sometimes he'd paint his fingernails hot pink and dab glitter or white foundation on his cheeks. "He wore makeup better than I did," says Marissa Moreno, 13, one of his classmates. He bought a pair of stilettos at Target, and he couldn't have been prouder if he had on a varsity football jersey. He thought nothing of chasing the boys around the school in them, teetering as he ran. . . .Read More
July 19, 2008
At 15, Lawrence King was small—5 feet 1 inch—but very hard to miss. In January, he started to show up for class at Oxnard, Calif.'s E. O. Green Junior High School decked out in women's accessories. On some days, he would slick up his curly hair in a Prince-like bouffant. Sometimes he'd paint his fingernails hot pink and dab glitter or white foundation on his cheeks. "He wore makeup better than I did," says Marissa Moreno, 13, one of his classmates. He bought a pair of stilettos at Target, and he couldn't have been prouder if he had on a varsity football jersey. He thought nothing of chasing the boys around the school in them, teetering as he ran. . . .Read More
Critique, Opinion, POV: Transgender opponent seeks common ground
July 22, 2008
Jeffrey Winslow
Hudson
This letter is in response to the "Why are some people so anti-transgender?" letter of June 4.
Dr. Jennifer Madden makes an interesting use of what I call "semantic sleight of hand" in that she shuffles attention away from the arguments of my previous letters and instead debates character: my petty character and Dr. Madden's sterling spiritual character. I believe the terms "insecure" and "self-righteous" are part of my description.
Dr. Madden spoke of interconnectedness in her letter. What do Jennifer Madden and I have in common? We were not born with female biological parts.
What does this mean? . . .Read More
Jeffrey Winslow
Hudson
This letter is in response to the "Why are some people so anti-transgender?" letter of June 4.
Dr. Jennifer Madden makes an interesting use of what I call "semantic sleight of hand" in that she shuffles attention away from the arguments of my previous letters and instead debates character: my petty character and Dr. Madden's sterling spiritual character. I believe the terms "insecure" and "self-righteous" are part of my description.
Dr. Madden spoke of interconnectedness in her letter. What do Jennifer Madden and I have in common? We were not born with female biological parts.
What does this mean? . . .Read More
Monday, July 21, 2008
Gender Switch
"Chase McCown and Heather Rushworth improv a scene based on the suggestion "Gender Switch" at The Second City in Hollywood, 2007."
. . .a caricature of verbal and nonverbal difference between men and women. How does it correspond to what you see now and then in your family, friends, and associates?
Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change?
July 21, 2008
When children are adamant that they are trapped in the wrong body, is it ethical to offer them hormone treatment? A concerned mother and a Dutch psychologist believe the answer is 'yes'
Last year Sharon Lane* found her 12-year-old son Nick* trying to cut off his penis. Since he was a toddler, Nick has been adamant that he is really a girl. Aged 5, he declared: “God has made a mistake. I should have been born a girl.” A year later he asked, “When can I have the operation to chop off my willy and give me a fanny?”
Nicky - who suffers from a rare condition called Gender Variance (GV), sometimes referred to clinically as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) - started attending school dressed as a girl at the age of 9, unable to “pretend” any longer. She was the subject of constant bullying and harassment so severe that she now attends a special school for “at risk” children.
When Nicky hit adolescence, things just got worse. “She felt like an alien in her own body,” explains Sharon, who describes Nicky as her “daughter”. “When she started experiencing erections, she would scratch her skin raw.”
Nicky has twice attempted to cut off her penis and taken several overdoses. “Sometimes I felt like I was on suicide watch,” Sharon says. . . .Read More
When children are adamant that they are trapped in the wrong body, is it ethical to offer them hormone treatment? A concerned mother and a Dutch psychologist believe the answer is 'yes'
Last year Sharon Lane* found her 12-year-old son Nick* trying to cut off his penis. Since he was a toddler, Nick has been adamant that he is really a girl. Aged 5, he declared: “God has made a mistake. I should have been born a girl.” A year later he asked, “When can I have the operation to chop off my willy and give me a fanny?”
Nicky - who suffers from a rare condition called Gender Variance (GV), sometimes referred to clinically as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) - started attending school dressed as a girl at the age of 9, unable to “pretend” any longer. She was the subject of constant bullying and harassment so severe that she now attends a special school for “at risk” children.
When Nicky hit adolescence, things just got worse. “She felt like an alien in her own body,” explains Sharon, who describes Nicky as her “daughter”. “When she started experiencing erections, she would scratch her skin raw.”
Nicky has twice attempted to cut off her penis and taken several overdoses. “Sometimes I felt like I was on suicide watch,” Sharon says. . . .Read More
Thai teens seeking sex changes grapple with new rules
20 July 2008
by Elizabeth GibsonBANGKOK (AFP) — Valee Pancharoen watched her son transform as he became a teenager, first painting his nails, then wearing a wig and, finally, the dresses he had been wearing for years but hiding from his parents.
Now 18, Ponchalearm's changes are all the more striking as he sits, slim and ladylike in a top of white satin and black lace, next to his stern and athletic twin brother.
Ponchalearm's aunt absent-mindedly runs her fingers through his waist-length auburn hair extensions as the family quietly discusses whether Ponchalearm is ready for a sex change operation.
"It's my life and I've decided that I must do it before university," Ponchalearm says. "I feel happy, it's fun, I can express myself as I want. I'm lucky I have friends who understand me."
As he speaks, his mother softly cuts in to express her concern that he is too young to understand the long-term consequences of his decision. . . .Read More
Questioning Transphobia. . .
Transphobic Tropes #3 – “Reifying Gender”
July 21, 2008
by Lisa Harney
Moving on steadily. Hope you’re all enjoying these posts, though it feels a bit weird to not have an accompanying rabbit picture. Here’s another one that gets regular thrown at trans people, particularly by radical feminists.
Basically, it’s the notion that, by medically transitioning, we reify gender—which is something that feminism is supposed to be destroying.
This is a particularly stupid line of argument, that it nevertheless has had enough traction to convince enough people it’s worthy of repeating. And repeating. Usually, it’s tied to an argument that trans people have the most retrogressive of personal presentations. . . .Read More
July 21, 2008
by Lisa Harney
Moving on steadily. Hope you’re all enjoying these posts, though it feels a bit weird to not have an accompanying rabbit picture. Here’s another one that gets regular thrown at trans people, particularly by radical feminists.
Basically, it’s the notion that, by medically transitioning, we reify gender—which is something that feminism is supposed to be destroying.
This is a particularly stupid line of argument, that it nevertheless has had enough traction to convince enough people it’s worthy of repeating. And repeating. Usually, it’s tied to an argument that trans people have the most retrogressive of personal presentations. . . .Read More
Transgender Candidate For Hastings City Council
July 21, 2008
by Liz Collin
"The third ward was going to come up vacant and I thought, why not, it's time for a little change," said Estes.
Change is something she has more experience in then most. Lara used to be Lawrence. She said when she was young, she never felt like she fit in with the other boys. . . .Read More
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Charles' Take on STP Devices
"July 6, 2008. AccompliceXX did a great vlog on how to make an STP device, so I thought I would add my take on STP devices to put out there." charlesasher
Kate Bornstein Interview
3.6.2007
Kate Bornstein is America's most storied gender outlaw, an outsider's outsider. She has been a genderqueer activist for many years, exploring gender identity literally, figuratively and theatrically. In this Eros Zine interview, she touches on a wide variety of topics, from trans sexual orientation to transgender porn of the past, from baring her soul onstage to her latest book. . . .Read More
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Kate Bornstein is America's most storied gender outlaw, an outsider's outsider. She has been a genderqueer activist for many years, exploring gender identity literally, figuratively and theatrically. In this Eros Zine interview, she touches on a wide variety of topics, from trans sexual orientation to transgender porn of the past, from baring her soul onstage to her latest book. . . .Read More
Activist: Transgender lot needs help as they can’t get jobs
20 July 2008
By FASLIKA DAS
By FASLIKA DAS
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government’s offer of welfare aid to homosexuals should be extended to the Mak Nyah (transgender) instead.
Pink Triangle Foundation programme director Raymond Tai said most homosexuals were “well-to-do” as they were employed just like “normal people” and would only face discrimination if they were open about their status.
“They are not like the Mak Nyah who are physically different. The Mak Nyah do not get employed and this results in them prostituting themselves,” he said.
“They are the ones deprived of basic privileges such as education and employment, not homosexuals.” . . .Read More
Interview and New Book. . .
WCQ221 The Transgender Child
Host Alexandra Billings
Host Alexandra Billings
This is a very special and personal show. Alex shares many aspects of her life with Amy on this Queercast, including this sweet baby pic. From quitting smoking, to living in her Republican town, but most importantly she shares her transgender story.
Guest: Author Stephanie Brill joins Amy to discuss her new book, The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals. . . .Read More
China: Television programme calls transgender people "human monsters"
July 20, 2008
News Agency: TREND News
News Agency: TREND News
Television watchdogs were investigating after transgender people were described as "human monsters" in a Chinese language television programme, a media report said Sunday, the dpa reported.
The expression "yan yiu," which translates as "human monster," was used 23 times during a report on transgender people in Thailand broadcast by the ATV television station, the South China Morning Post said.
The expression also appeared in subtitles 28 times in the segment which lasted 11 minutes and 45 seconds.
Sam Winter, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's faculty of education and also director of Transgender ASIA Research Centre, said the use of the expression would damage Hong Kong's reputation as a cosmopolitan city.
He filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Authority and asked the television station and producers of the programme to apologize publicly to the local transgender community.
"It is unimaginable to call transgender people freaks on TV in other developed sections of the world - you won't hear the word 'nigger' on television in the US," Winter said. . . .Read More
Transgender characters from the Bible
July 19, 2008
TIMESOFMALTA.COMPeterson Toscano, an American theatrical performance activist, will tonight present a piece on transgender characters un-earthed from the Bible.
Aptly named Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender In The Bible, the one-man show is about people who do not fit in the gender binary and who, in transgressing and transcending gender, find themselves at the centre of some the Bible's most important stories.
Drawing inspiration from one-on-one interviews with transgender and gender-queer individuals, Mr Toscano weaves their experiences with the stories and lives of transgender people right on the pages of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
Hilarious and deeply moving, he deepens well-known, and lesser-known, Bible stories as he presents an array of characters with an array of genders. . . .Read More
Police Officers Finally On Trial For Beating Transsexual Esmeray
The police officers who beat up and insulted transsexual Esmeray in June 2007 for passing by the front of the station will be tried for the crime of “simple bashing and insulting.”
Bia news center - İstanbul
18-07-2008
Tolga KORKUT
The two police officers who beat up and insulted transsexual Esmeray will be tried a little more than a year later. Beyoğlu 2nd Criminal Court of Peace, where the case will be tried, has not set the hearing date yet.
According to the information Esmeray’s lawyer Meriç Eyüboğlu supplied to Bianet, the prosecutor accuses the police officers Mustafa Muhammet Çırakoğlu and Ceyhan Göven with “simple bashing and insulting.” . . .Read More
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sex change treatment should start in adolescence - Czech experts
CTK
17 July 2008
Prague- The government working group for sexual minorities wants the bill on special medical services to enable sex-change treatment to start being applied to people under 18, Minister for human rights and ethnic minorities Dzamila Stehlikova (Greens, SZ) told CTK today.
17 July 2008
Prague- The government working group for sexual minorities wants the bill on special medical services to enable sex-change treatment to start being applied to people under 18, Minister for human rights and ethnic minorities Dzamila Stehlikova (Greens, SZ) told CTK today.
The Health Ministry is to submit the respective bill to the government in August.
The bill regulates the rules for sterilisation, castration, and sex-change operations as well as artificial fertilisation and abortion.
The Czech Sexological Association is pushing for changes in the treatment of adolescent transsexuals.
Its member Ivo Prochazka said this treatment would only be applied to the clear cases of transsexuals. The children's parents would have to approve the treatment.
Prochazka added that the treatment is based on the administration of medicines to inhibit the development of sexual organs. However, the process is still reversible.
Then sexual hormones are being administered before the sex-change operation that can be performed only on patients over 18. . . .Read More
Universities see rising amount of co-ed dorms
Jack and Jill aren’t allowed to live together at the University of Kansas yet, but more and more school are allowing members of the opposite sex to live together.
By Case Keefer
16 July 2008
By Case Keefer
16 July 2008
Most colleges didn’t allow students of different genders to live in the same dormitory 40 years ago.
After gender-neutral buildings were opened, universities began to allow members of the opposite sex to live on the same floor. Now, there’s a new gender-based issue to debate in student housing.
“We’re at the next phase in the evolution,” Jeffrey Chang, co-founder of the National Student Genderblind Campaign, said. “Why can’t men and women take the next step and live together?”
Chang, a senior at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., started the national campaign for gender-neutral dorm rooms after he was not allowed to share a room with one of his close female friends his freshman year.
It caught on. National news organizations such as USA Today and CNN featured the National Student Genderblind Campaign in stories. Students experiencing rejection like Chang began reaching out to the organization. And Chang said the number of schools allowing gender-neutral rooms doubled, from 15 to 30.
“Whether or not schools are actually doing this is one thing,” Chang said. “But schools are actually talking about it. Students are talking about it. That’s the thing I’m most happy about.” . . .Read More
Transgender People Need Advocacy At Work
Written by Rob Mathias in Gay News Worldwide
July 17, 2008
July 17, 2008
Two University of Oregon doctoral students dove into issues of transgender identities — in the workplace and professional counseling — and surfaced with a call for psychologists and vocational counselors to not only treat but to act as advocates for their clients — and to help end discrimination in the workplace.
“One of the main points of our paper is that not only do we need to be, as vocational psychologists or career counselors, working with transgender people at an individual level to help them get hired, but we also need to be doing a lot of social advocacy work — working with employers and workplaces — improving antidiscrimination policies and doing legal advocacy,” said lead author Maya Elin O’Neil. . . .Read More
City forces TG woman to dress in men's room
July 18, 2008
Cleveland--A city swimming pool has told a transgender woman that she must sign in as a man and use the men’s locker room to change into her swimsuit.
Karen Deamons of Cleveland has been swimming at the Cudell Recreation Center on the city’s west side since 2005. She swims there three times a week as part of her rehabilitation from a stroke that year.
Deamons says that there has been tension between her and Cudell management since she started swimming at the facility. But it has escalated in the last month, resulting in her being barred for a week, then being required to sign the men’s registry when she arrives.
She has filed a sex stereotyping complaint against the city of Cleveland. The complaint, filed June 24 with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, will be investigated by Gina Curry of the commission.
Deamons says she complied last year when Cudell told her to use the men’s changing room, but “it’s getting harder and harder” mostly because of the children at the facility. . . .Read More
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
TRINIDAD
"Sample clip from the upcoming feature documentary TRINIDAD directed by PJ Raval and Jay Hodges."
See: http://trinidadthemovie.com/
'I'm mistaken for a man every day'
The beguiling combination of kd lang's androgynous looks and sensuous voice propelled her to fame in the 90s but, asks Emine Saner, does she want her first collection of new songs in eight years to put her back at the top of the charts?
Wednesday July 16, 2008
The Guardian
kd lang ... 'I love getting older'. Photograph: Sean Smith
For a while, in the 90s, it felt as if kd lang was everywhere. Then she was nowhere. Today, she's here, in a hotel room in Cologne, halfway through a European tour of her first album of original songs in eight years. Gone are the model groupies, celebrity friends and media circus. She is older, wiser, more settled. A reincarnation, if you like. . . .Read More
Young Teens Openly Express Sexuality; LGBT Pre-Teens Proud, Not Safe
Many Middle Schools Don't Have Policies to Safeguard Against Anti-Gay Bullies
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
July 16, 2008
Sean has felt since the age of 2 or 3 that he was a boy in a girl's body. Telling his parents at age 11 was difficult but coming out as transgender among his seventh-grade classmates was like walking into a lion's den.
When Sean first shared his sexuality with his mother, "She didn't take it well," he said. "She cried for about a week, but then went on the Internet and understood it better."
About a month before Sarah's "transition" to Sean, his mother informed school officials, but no one told teachers or students.
"One day I was Sarah with female pronouns and Monday I was Sean with male pronouns, without any explanation," said Sean, a pseudonym for the central New Jersey teen who wants a fresh start in high school this fall.
"I was bullied every day, shoved into lockers, beaten up and made fun of," said the 14-year-old. "The teachers were standing right there, saying nothing or just not aware of it." . . .Read More
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
July 16, 2008
Sean has felt since the age of 2 or 3 that he was a boy in a girl's body. Telling his parents at age 11 was difficult but coming out as transgender among his seventh-grade classmates was like walking into a lion's den.
When Sean first shared his sexuality with his mother, "She didn't take it well," he said. "She cried for about a week, but then went on the Internet and understood it better."
About a month before Sarah's "transition" to Sean, his mother informed school officials, but no one told teachers or students.
"One day I was Sarah with female pronouns and Monday I was Sean with male pronouns, without any explanation," said Sean, a pseudonym for the central New Jersey teen who wants a fresh start in high school this fall.
"I was bullied every day, shoved into lockers, beaten up and made fun of," said the 14-year-old. "The teachers were standing right there, saying nothing or just not aware of it." . . .Read More
Transsexual Tilapia?
By Ylan Mui | July 16, 2008
I know what you're thinking already. It sounds totally insane. But the tilapia you eat very likely has gone through a sex change.
Let me explain: When we began working on our story about Whole Foods' new farmed seafood standards, one bullet point caught our eye: No Methyl testosterone for sex reversal.
As it turns out, farm-raised tilapia is typically given testosterone in their food when they're very small, for the first 35-40 days of feeding, Whole Foods seafood quality standards coordinator Carrie Brownstein told me. Any fish that were on the path to a womanly fishhood change course to become strapping male tilapia instead, turning the pond into one big fishy frat party. . . .Read More
Looking Back: Tula Interviewed, Part 1
"CAROLINE COSSEY, KNOWN AS TULA, A TRANSITIONED FEMALE, AUTHOR AND ACTRESS ON THE DONAHUE SHOW IN 1991."
View video here.
View video here.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Looking Back: Tula Interviewed, Part 2
"Caroline Cossey also known as Tula, a transitioned woman, author and actress in part 2 interview on the Donahue Show 1991."
View video here.
View video here.
Human Rights Campaign Releases Statement on McCain Comments Against Same-Sex Adoption
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2008
CONTACT: Human Rights Campaign
Brad Luna 202/216.1514 Cell: 202/812.8140
Trevor Thomas 202/216.1547 Cell: 202/250.9758
Comments show McCain is out of touch with today’s leading child welfare organizations
WASHINGTON - July 15 - The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, issued the following statement today after Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, told the New York Times he remains opposed to adoption by same-sex couples implying that he is opposed to single-parent adoption as well. In the interview, published Sunday, July 13, McCain said, “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.” “McCain’s comments on adoption show a disturbing disregard for the reality that thousands of children and youth face -- the possibility of never having a permanent, loving home,” said Ellen Kahn, director of the HRC Foundation’s Family Project. “Leading child welfare organizations in the U.S. concur that there is no reason to prevent gay and lesbian people from raising children, and the child welfare professionals who are mandated to find the best possible families for children in need recognize that every potential loving parent, whether single or married, gay or straight, is a valuable resource for children who are in need of a permanent family. It is an insult to these professionals and the children whom they represent to suggest that the door should be closed to people other than a “traditional” married couple. It is also an insult to the thousands of children being raised by lesbian and gay parents, and who are thriving and contributing positively to their communities.” . . .Read More
Critique, POV, Opinion: Boys Will Be Girls?
Catholic Therapists Help Kids Overcome ‘Transgender’ Issues
BY CELESTE McGOVERN
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
July 6-12, 2008
BY CELESTE McGOVERN
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
July 6-12, 2008
PHILADELPHIA — When “Ben Carson” was 3 years old, his favorite color was pink and his best friend at nursery school was a girl. He drew flowers and he loved Snow White.
His parents noticed differences between him and other boys and they started to recall with concern the little things he had done since he was a toddler — such as wandering around the house wearing a towel robe like a dress.
“Then one evening when he was 4 years old, I was putting him into bed and he said, ‘I really don’t want to grow up,” recalled his father, a government worker in Philadelphia who requested anonymity to protect his son. “And he said, ‘I really wish I was a girl.’ Something clicked. I just knew something was really wrong with my son. He was depressed and just not happy with who he was.”
If young Ben lived in Massachusetts, he could be a candidate for “gender reassignment” treatment at a children’s hospital there that recently opened a controversial clinic that allows young children to select their own gender and treats them with hormones. Hearings that began June 26 at the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee show just how accepted gender reassignment has become. Democrats on the committee want to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against adults who change their gender. . . .Read More
Questioning Athletic Gender Norms
Jess Ream, a student at Mount Holyoke College, spoke with It Takes A Team! about being a transgender college athlete. Jess is currently a senior, and played ice hockey from freshman year to junior year. It Takes A Team! is the Women's Sports Foundation's program aimed at eliminating homophobia in athletics.
What athletic accomplishments are you most proud of?
My senior year of high school I was league MVP and made the All-State team in CT for basketball. I also went into New-England’s seated 3rd in javelin in my first and only season of track and field. I was the only athlete from my school to go to State opens for three events, and won discus for Class S States.
How do you identify your gender?
I identify as transgender or genderqueer. I am female bodied, but usually pass as a man. I do not have a pro-noun preference. Identifying as just male or female has always felt like playing dress up. I have been told, and feel, very much in the middle. I let people call me what is most comfortable for them, since I don’t mind either.
How did you “come out” to your teammates and coaches?
I was bisexual when I joined the team. I had never played ice hockey or even skated on ice before, but a girl I was dating was on the team. I would go to games as support, but after watching a couple of games, I knew I had to try it. As I started to realize the extent of my gender, I felt uncomfortable on a women’s team. Even though I was not the only transgender or transsexual on the team, and no one on the team seemed to mind, I still didn’t like that we being lumped in with the “women’s team”. Removing gender labels like this at a single sex college would invite transgender athletes to socially become part of the campus they already are attending. Coming out as a transgender stopped my official sports career. Although I continue to work out avidly, I was not able to resolve being trans and being an athlete. . . .Read More
Monday, July 14, 2008
My Facial Feminization Surgery
"This is a 3 min 41 sec video diary of still images from my Facial Feminization Surgery by Dr. Spiegel on Dec. 16, 2006. It was very very painful but worth it." Vicki Estrada
Trans parents, trans kids: two new guides
by Dana Rudolph
Jul 10, 2008
Two new works offer much-needed guidance for families with transgender members, but each approaches the subject from a different perspective. One addresses parents of transgender children, while the other targets children of transgender parents.
The Transgender Child, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper (Cleis, 2008), is subtitled, "A Handbook for Families and Professionals," but speaks mostly to parents. With even mainstream media such as NPR and the parenting magazine Cookie broaching the subject of gender variance in children in the last few months, the appearance of a thorough, authoritative work for parents is long overdue. This book fills the need with balance and sensitivity.
The authors have each published other books on LGBT parenting: Brill authored The Queer Parent’s Primer (New Harbinger, 2001) and co-authored The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth (Alyson, 2002). Pepper, coordinator of LGBT Studies at Yale University and an editor at Curve magazine, wrote The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians (2nd Edition, Cleis, 2005). In addition, Brill has extensive experience working with gender-nonconforming and transgender children and their parents. She started a parents’ support group at Children’s Hospital Oakland, founded Gender Spectrum Education and Training (genderspectrum.org), and co-produces the national Gender Spectrum Family conference (genderspectrumfamily.org).
Brill and Pepper draw on their own knowledge and that of professional therapists, lawyers, endocrinologists, and activists. . . .Read More
Jul 10, 2008
Two new works offer much-needed guidance for families with transgender members, but each approaches the subject from a different perspective. One addresses parents of transgender children, while the other targets children of transgender parents.
The Transgender Child, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper (Cleis, 2008), is subtitled, "A Handbook for Families and Professionals," but speaks mostly to parents. With even mainstream media such as NPR and the parenting magazine Cookie broaching the subject of gender variance in children in the last few months, the appearance of a thorough, authoritative work for parents is long overdue. This book fills the need with balance and sensitivity.
The authors have each published other books on LGBT parenting: Brill authored The Queer Parent’s Primer (New Harbinger, 2001) and co-authored The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth (Alyson, 2002). Pepper, coordinator of LGBT Studies at Yale University and an editor at Curve magazine, wrote The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians (2nd Edition, Cleis, 2005). In addition, Brill has extensive experience working with gender-nonconforming and transgender children and their parents. She started a parents’ support group at Children’s Hospital Oakland, founded Gender Spectrum Education and Training (genderspectrum.org), and co-produces the national Gender Spectrum Family conference (genderspectrumfamily.org).
Brill and Pepper draw on their own knowledge and that of professional therapists, lawyers, endocrinologists, and activists. . . .Read More
Retrospective: Sex-Change Pioneer, Dr. Stanley Biber
by Jeff Brady
All Things Considered, January 19, 2006 · The king of sex-change procedures has died. Dr. Stanley Biber performed more than 5,000 such operations over more than 30 years. In the process, he turned the tiny town of Trinidad, Colo., into the sex-change capital of the world.
Gay men and straight women have similar brains, study says
The research suggests a basic biological link between sexual orientation and a range of mental functions.
The brains of gay men resemble those of straight women, according to research published today that provides more evidence of the role of biology in sexual orientation.Using brain-scanning equipment, researchers said they discovered similarities in the brain circuits that deal with language, perhaps explaining why homosexual men tend to outperform straight men on verbal skills tests -- as do heterosexual women. . . .Read More
THE MATING GAME
What does gay look like? Science keeps trying to figure that out
Finding common biological traits -- things like hair growth patterns, penis size, family makeup -- might one day shed light on the origins of sexual orientation.
Last month, Sen. John McCain dropped by “Saturday Night Live,” drawing laughs from his promise, if elected president, to fight expensive federal projects -- such as, he spoofed, a Department of Defense device to "jam gaydar."That was a joke. But some scientists are, in a way, working on gaydar, the supposed ability to discern whether a person is homosexual by reading subtle cues from their appearance. Just don't refer to it that way. The preferred term is "sexual orientation correlates."
Finding and solidifying these links isn't easy. Studies contradict each other, and some promising paths don't pan out. (A link between male homosexuality and finger lengths isn't holding up, and a claim that gays have distinctive fingerprint ridge patterns is largely discredited.) Scientists don't always agree on how to interpret the results, and more progress has been made with regard to men than to women. . . .Read More
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Bad Questions to Ask a Transsexual: The Director's Cut
http://www.calpernia.com/diary
After years of teeth-grindingly ignorant and insulting questions, Calpernia Addams finally snaps and shares her list of Bad Questions which you should never ask a transsexual. These are all real questions from real life!
Director's Cut: I edited this so that it gets to the point more quickly, cuts out some extraneous chatter and repeated information, and illustrates the "Do you date gay or straight guys?" question more simply with graphics. =)
Chuck Colson’s “Sick” Commentary Regarding TransYouth — And The Doctors Who Treat Them
July 10th, 2008 by Autumn Sandeen
I really get tired of going over the same crap over and over again regarding gender. The mental hebetude of conservative Christians discussing transsexual youth and adults is beyond incredible. These dullards have no personal qualifications that indicate expertise in gender issues, and even in their supposed area of expertise — Biblical scriptures — they cherry pick scriptures on sex and gender to make points on gender when other scriptures counter the evangelical message.
Chuck Colson, in a Breakpoint article entitled It’s a Sick, Sick World takes another stab at transgender people and issues — some of his previous stabs include here, here, here, and Coming to a School Near You. In It’s a Sick, Sick World, he gets around to attacking Dr. Norman Spack, who treats transyouth with puberty delaying medications — in large part to keep these not-gender-confused children from committing suicide.
So here’s what the former Watergate conspirator and hebetudinous writer said in his most recent piece about Dr. Spack and transyouth (links added for reference; emphasis added):
He has been called “demonic,” “barbaric,” and has been compared to Nazi doctors. And when you read about his work, it is easy to see why Americans are so outraged. Dr. Norman Spack is a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Not long ago, he opened a clinic for what he terms “transgendered” children. Incredibly, he is giving kids as young as seven drugs that delay the onset of puberty–the first step in sex-change surgery when they are older.
…When these kids hit their teen years, they are given the option of taking cross-hormones for a few years—which will allow them to develop the characteristics of the opposite sex. Tragically, the treatment will condemn these teenagers to lifelong infertility.
…So why are doctors like Spack altering young bodies instead of treating confused minds?
The answer is that many doctors have embraced the modern teaching that sexual identity, rather than being biologically determined, is a preference or a choice. According to this, people should be allowed to choose whatever sex they want to be. . . .Read More
ANDROGYNY
Gold jeans pimped out with large, colourful crystals, lacy shorts, flouncy silhouettes and miles of shocking pink. Are these the trends that emerged recently during women's couture week?
No.
They are the boy-meets-girl trends that marched down the runways of the spring/summer 2009 menswear shows in Milan and Paris.
The recurring theme raises the question: Are men the new women?
Well, at least when it comes to the fabrics they are.
This new take on androgyny brings such traditionally feminine fabrics as silk, tulle, organza, lace and crepe de Chine and embellishments like sequins, beading and embroidery to menswear.
This was not a drag show or a cross-dressing spectacle, however. Designer Jean Paul Gaultier did that years ago when he put men in skirts and corsets.
This crossover is executed in a remarkably masculine way.
Take the high top sneakers at Lanvin, for example – very modern and urban, but now sexually ambiguous when blinged out with shiny beads.
As for those glittering gold jeans with the jewels at Dior Homme, haven't we seen that look before? During the glam rock era, perhaps on David Bowie? . . .Read More
"Little Britain" takes satire to U.S
By Alex Dobuzinskis, LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
12/07/2008
Hit BBC television show "Little Britain" is taking its outrageous satirical humour to U.S. premium cable channel HBO in September, drawing on stars such as David Schwimmer and Rosie O'Donnell to lure U.S. audiences.
The show, a cultural phenomenon in Britain, is the latest comedy import to the U.S. after programs like "The Office," which airs on the NBC network, have made their mark in the U.S.
Creators Matt Lucas, 34, and David Walliams, 36, told reporters and TV critics gathered in Los Angeles for an early look at the show that they know how far to push their riskier jokes and trade-mark mockery of the disabled, poor, gay and fat people.
In one scene in "Little Britain USA," which premieres in the U.S. on September 28, Lucas appears in drag as the leader of a weight-loss group. O'Donnell -- the gay U.S. actress and talk show host -- drops in for a visit, playing herself. . . .Read More
12/07/2008
Hit BBC television show "Little Britain" is taking its outrageous satirical humour to U.S. premium cable channel HBO in September, drawing on stars such as David Schwimmer and Rosie O'Donnell to lure U.S. audiences.
The show, a cultural phenomenon in Britain, is the latest comedy import to the U.S. after programs like "The Office," which airs on the NBC network, have made their mark in the U.S.
Creators Matt Lucas, 34, and David Walliams, 36, told reporters and TV critics gathered in Los Angeles for an early look at the show that they know how far to push their riskier jokes and trade-mark mockery of the disabled, poor, gay and fat people.
In one scene in "Little Britain USA," which premieres in the U.S. on September 28, Lucas appears in drag as the leader of a weight-loss group. O'Donnell -- the gay U.S. actress and talk show host -- drops in for a visit, playing herself. . . .Read More
The Pyrrhic Victory of OHIP-funded Sex Reassignment Surgery
An open letter to George Smitherman and David Caplan
by Nikki S., Transgender Columnist
14 July 2008
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Like many others in the trans community, I was pleased to hear that the Liberal government had taken the bold step of re-listing Sex Reassignment Surgery (also known as SRS, GRS, or simply, “the operation”) under the list of OHIP-provided services. When it was removed in 1998, it caused a great deal of hardship to many people.
There’s no question that, for some, SRS is a medical necessity. For those with severe gender dysphoria, SRS is the only cure. No amount of psychotherapy or hormone treatment will alleviate the pain of being disgusted with a major aspect of one’s own body. For those who suffer the most, surgery is the only option, and without access to quality services and medical care, some people choose to undergo this procedure however possible – often with devastating consequences and horrifying results. . . .Read More
Friday, July 11, 2008
Bold stand
After living her entire life as a woman, Atlanta Police Officer Darlene Harris learned she is intersex. Now she’s going public with her journey
by Dyana Bagby
July 11, 2008
Growing up in Spanish Harlem in an abusive household, shuffled between foster homes and nearly killed when shot in the face a decade ago, Atlanta Police Officer Darlene Harris faced considerable struggles growing up.
Harris’ mother, who suffered from lupus and numerous other medical issues, spent much of her time in the hospital. She died at the age of 40 when Harris was 17, forcing Harris and her older sister to raise their younger siblings.
“We were literally dirt poor. I remember eating oatmeal cookies for dinner,” Harris said.
Harris, now 35, over came all of these hardships and built a successful career with the Atlanta Police Department, where she currently serves as the department’s full-time liaison to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenders.
But Harris still faced an internal struggle nobody knew about — one she never understood until just this year. During puberty, she began growing facial and chest hair. She never had a regular menstrual cycle. Emotionally, she said, she had a rage that couldn’t be controlled.
Now she knows why her experiences were more different than others. She was “uniquely different” because she is intersex. . . .Read More
by Dyana Bagby
July 11, 2008
Growing up in Spanish Harlem in an abusive household, shuffled between foster homes and nearly killed when shot in the face a decade ago, Atlanta Police Officer Darlene Harris faced considerable struggles growing up.
Harris’ mother, who suffered from lupus and numerous other medical issues, spent much of her time in the hospital. She died at the age of 40 when Harris was 17, forcing Harris and her older sister to raise their younger siblings.
“We were literally dirt poor. I remember eating oatmeal cookies for dinner,” Harris said.
Harris, now 35, over came all of these hardships and built a successful career with the Atlanta Police Department, where she currently serves as the department’s full-time liaison to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenders.
But Harris still faced an internal struggle nobody knew about — one she never understood until just this year. During puberty, she began growing facial and chest hair. She never had a regular menstrual cycle. Emotionally, she said, she had a rage that couldn’t be controlled.
Now she knows why her experiences were more different than others. She was “uniquely different” because she is intersex. . . .Read More
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