Shaving my legs is such a drag

April 28, 2008

Contributed by Julia Serano

I had about seven different conflicting thoughts/emotions upon viewing this video:

1) Oh my god, I *cannot* believe that companies are actually using personal endorsements from transgender-spectrum people to help sell their products to non-trans women. How groundbreaking!

2) And at the same time, how disturbing! I think I am experiencing the same queasy feeling right now that old-school gay/queer rights activists most certainly felt when beer companies first began offering to sponsor pride parades and queer events. . . .Read More, and the many comments.

A coming out party

In the coming months, you're going to hear more from Ottawa's transgendered community as it makes an effort to gain understanding and acceptance

By ANN MARIE MCQUEEN

26 April 2008


He works for one of Ottawa's three emergency services. A father in his 30s, married, with two children.

Privately, he's been putting on women's clothes since he was eight.

He fears what would happen if anyone found out.

Even if he was officially accepted on the job, he believes, knowing his co-workers' attitudes, it would wreak havoc on his career.

"Unfortunately," he says,"we have to cloak ourselves." . . .Read More

TV has never seen more transgender characters

By P. Ryan Baber

25 April 2008

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Although long known to the gay community, breakout star Candis Cayne became a household name this year with her recurring role as the male-to-female transgender character Carmelita on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money."

She also made history as the first transgender actress to play a transgender character in primetime, and she even shared an onscreen kiss with William Baldwin.

"It just never would have occurred to me to cast a person that wasn't transgender," says creator and executive producer Craig Wright. "The minute Candis walked through the door, there wasn't a single ounce of opposition."

This was a bold step for a network at a time when most LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) ground is broken on cable. With two cable networks -- Here! and Logo -- providing dedicated gay content, and numerous other cable networks featuring LGBT characters in original miniseries, documentaries and dramas, the LGBT experience is being portrayed with more complexity than ever. . . .Read More

Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People

New publication provides invaluable ‘how-to’ advice to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations seeking to become fully transgender-inclusive

WASHINGTON, DC - April 28 - The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force today released a joint publication titled Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: The Nine Keys to Making Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organizations Fully Transgender-Inclusive, geared toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations. “Transgender inclusion has been an important issue in the LGBT community, particularly in the past year. Yet, many organizations struggle with how exactly to become fully transgender-inclusive. We are excited to offer this free new resource,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). Opening the Door, which is based on years of personal and professional experience within LGBT organizations, makes the case for full inclusion at every level of an organization. It examines the need for genuine, consistent advocacy for inclusion of gender identity and expression in policies, programs, legislative stances and public positions, and explores critical issues such as understanding the transgender experience and the role of an ally, how to address staffing issues, dealing with prejudice and ways to further outreach. The voices of LGBT leaders discussing real-life experiences with transgender inclusion are found throughout the guide. . . .Read More

Peter Kay targets TV talent shows with new comedy

Apr 28 2008

COMEDIAN Peter Kay is making a TV series based on talent shows - starring himself as a tubby transsexual.

Britain's Got The Pop Factor will parody The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, having previously sent up club acts in Phoenix Nights.

This time, one of the characters Kay will play is transsexual singer Geraldine King - whose real name later emerges as Gerry. . . .Read More

Hot Docs Review: Be Like Others

Apr 28th 2008

by Monika Bartyzel


There is one moment in Tanaz Eshaghian's Be Like Others that starts by plucking at our insistent hopes for happiness. Hungry for love and affection from his family, Ali Askar tells a story about being thrilled when his father insisted that Ali have breakfast with him. While it was such a simple action, it was one with insistence that Ali had never seen before. This act seemed full of the loving camaraderie and acceptance that the young man had dreamed of. His father poured them tea, but Ali refused to drink it; he realized that this wasn't a warm act of fatherly love. This wasn't a breakthrough moment in their relationship. Ali's father was trying to kill him with rat poison. His father would rather kill his son than allow him to get the sex change that he yearns for.

But it is more complicated than a transsexual wanting a sex change. In Iran, this matter is complicated because homosexuality is punishable by death, and transgendered lifestyles are not an option. . . .Read More