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

“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

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.

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

'One Damn Man': Transsexual pen pals pen play

Andrea Abney

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

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