Angie Zapata in Greeley, CO

BRIGHTON -- At least 200 people gathered on Wednesday night to mourn an 18-year-old transgender person who was apparently beaten to death last week.

Justin Zapata, who went by the name Angie Zapata and was living as a woman, was found dead in a Greeley apartment in the 2000 block of 4th Street on July 17.

She had fatal wounds to her head and face.

Greeley Police say they don't have the evidence to definitively call Zapata's murder a hate crime, but they are not ruling it out.

Her family and friends remain convinced that was the reason she was killed.

"Why would anybody, you would dare do something like that? Why?" said Alicia Portillo, one of Zapata's friends.

Zapata's funeral service was held Wednesday night in Brighton.

Police believe they are getting close to a suspect.

http://www.9news.com/news/article.asp...

Blurring the lines of sexual demarcation

August 5, 2008

THAT'S MEN: Our sexual orientation may be guided by culture as much as by biology, writes Padraig O'Morain

'IF YOU look at the number of women wearing trousers walking down Grafton Street any day, there is a very high percentage who appear to like wearing trousers," writes Seán, a reader responding to a column I wrote a while back about the use of cosmetics by men.

Eighty or 100 years ago, he writes, all the women walking down Grafton Street would be in dresses or skirts. "So, the question is, if there was more acceptance of cross-dressing for men, and they were freely allowed their choice in this, could you see as many men in a similar percentage to current day women, wearing skirts or dresses down Grafton Street? I think so," Seán writes. . . .Read More

Teenager 'strangled Thornton Heath transexual after date mistake'

5-August-2008

thisiscroydontoday.co.uk

A teenager strangled a transsexual after taking her out on a date when he discovered she used to be a man, the Old Bailey heard today.

Shanniel Hyatt, 18, covered the body of 39-year-old Kellie Telesford with a white blanket - with the brown furry scarf used to choke her still bound tightly round her neck.

He then stole her mobile phone, freeview box and DVD player and used her Oyster card to catch the bus home, the court was told.

She was found three days later, still in her dressing gown and underwear, on the floor of her bedroom after concerned friends had alerted police.

When Hyatt was later interviewed by police he denied he had reacted violently after discovering she was a pre-op transsexual during the date. . . .Read More

Thailand's Teen Castration Ban Splits Doctors, Gay Campaigners

By Shanthy Nambiar and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

August 5, 2008

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Paiboon Marvin started wearing dresses and makeup before he became a teenager. Now 16, he wants to be castrated as the next step toward becoming a woman.

Until recently, that wouldn't have been a problem: Boys of any age in Thailand could have their testicles removed for as little as 5,000 Baht ($150) with no questions asked. Now Paiboon may have to wait two years because the procedure will be outlawed for those under 18, after pressure from gay rights activists who say youngsters may follow a trend and regret it later.

``I don't think I'm too young to do it,'' says Paiboon, wearing a green-ribboned top, shorts, mascara and pink lipstick. ``I know I won't change my mind. I've known since I was a kid that I'm not male.''

The business school student has support from doctors who perform more than 1,000 castrations and sex-change operations annually in the Buddhist kingdom, which has one of the world's largest transsexual communities. They argue many minors seeking castration have gender identity disorder and surgery is an essential treatment. . . .Read More