Monday, April 14, 2008
From the shadows
13 Apr 2008, S Shanthi; Amrita Singh TNN
You spot them at traffic signals, wearing makeup, brightly coloured sarees and flowers in their hair, mocking and demanding a few bucks. Their visibility has been limited to this and some social occasions where they, again, turn up to ask for money. A misunderstood community suffering from social stigma, the third sex in India has for long been kept out of the mainstream. But times, they are a-changing. Today, you can see them hosting TV shows, acting in serials, getting driving licences, contesting elections, working in call centres and modelling for calendars. The third sex in India is slowly coming out of the closet and entering the mainstream. And, they are finally getting their long overdue support from the government and NGOs. The Tamil Nadu government in fact recently decided to grant them official status and give them ration cards. Rose, the first member of the third sex to anchor a chat show, on a Tamil TV channel, says, "I wanted to challenge society, wanted to make people understand the real me. I realised this could be possible only through media, which can reach the masses. Hence, I developed a concept and approached a television channel, which appreciated my idea. Thus, my chat show was launched on a Tamil channel." The show was an instant hit and Rose's producer is all praise for her. "When all other TV channels asked 'why Rose?' our point was 'why not Rose?' She has the right attitude, is smart, intelligent and with excellent communication skills, which are the pre-requisites for any anchor and that was enough for us," says programming head, Pradeep Milroy Peter. Rose is one among many path-breaking members of the third sex. Rahul Singh, an activist with the Naz Foundation, says many of his friends from that community are working in call centres and running their own businesses. Family acceptance is also gradually coming. He recalls an incident where a middle class business family not only came to terms with its child's transsexual status but have also accepted her marriage. She had gone through school and college posing as a male. It was a shock to the family when she decided to follow her heart but the parents have accepted her now. . . .Read More |
Questioning gender bends College
11 April 2008 | By Devan Barbar, Flat Hat Staff Columnist
Why do people on this campus choose such bizarre events to get upset about?
We are facing economic depression, an ongoing war halfway across the world and an historic presidential race, and yet people take time out of their day to worry about guys wearing skirts? GenderBending Day, which took place yesterday, was, apparently, something to get worked up about — flyers were torn down and vandalized, the event was mocked and some even took offense at its mere presence.
While I wasn’t involved in planning the event (and, I confess, did not participate), the premise of GenderBending Day seems clear. Students were encouraged to dress in a way that exposed typical conceptions of gender, either by cross-dressing or deviating from their typical feminine or masculine style. Essentially, the students in this group wanted to address the difference between sex and gender and encourage people to think critically about how our culture enforces a female versus male binary. Basically: Why do we claim that gender roles are somehow naturally and inextricably tied to sex?
GenderBending Day, as you can imagine, did not see wide involvement. That’s not to say that the event wasn’t successful — it certainly sparked discussion, and the students who did participate had great experiences. I’m sure it was no surprise to the group that most students on campus were either too busy to remember the event in the first place or too uncomfortable with its premise. The negative responses from some individuals, however, were somewhat shocking. Sure, GenderBending Day isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but did people really have to have a big problem with it? . . .Read More, including Readers' Comments
The Rationing of Rights
April 19, 2008
Tamil Nadu’s recent addition of a third gender column on ration card applications is one of a series of much needed, progressive reforms that benefit hijras, says MORGAN HARRINGTON
DISCRIMINATED AGAINST and forced to live in secluded communities, India’s hijras have always had to fight for basic entitlements. Two weeks ago, however, a major victory was achieved when Tamil Nadu added a third gender to ration cards. Hijras may now enter a ‘T’ (for transgender) in place of a ‘M’ or ‘F’ on ration cards. The move makes Tamil Nadu the first Indian state to officially recognise its hijra citizens.
The new rule is cause for great joy. “The government has now recognised us as a third gender. It gives us much needed dignity in society,” says Noori, an HIV positive hijra, head of the South India Positive Network in Chennai. While an alphabet on a ration card may seem like a benign technicality, for Tamil Nadu’s estimated one lakh hijras (known locally as aravanis) it is a significant achievement. Ration cards, voting forms and passports have been available for aravanis only after a great deal of struggle. Ignorant administrators would leave the gender category blank, merely entering kuduma thalaivar (head of family) or, more often, ‘male’. “It is a positive development which will encourage more aravanis to openly declare themselves as transgenders,” says Jeeva, who heads the Transgenders Rights Association. Jeeva got her card in 2006, where she is referred to as kuduma thalaivar but her associate Shabina Francis is identified as ‘female.’
Historically, Tamil Nadu has had a very visible aravani community and, more recently, very vocal aravani
Yet, being hijra affects citizenship. Rose says, “It’s only been three or four years that ‘trans people’ have started asking for identity cards. Even now when we go and ask for IDs they don’t have a proper system to scrutinise our applications. Take my case. I wanted to change from a male name to a female one and retain the gender ‘M’ on my passport. If you want to change your gender on your passport, you need to have a sex reassignment surgery and I haven’t done that. For nine months my application was frozen because they didn’t know what to do.” activists. An aravani festival is held in the town of Koovagam annually, with a highly competitive “Miss Koovagam” beauty contest. Recently, it has been home to India’s first transgender television star, Rose. . . .Read More
Tamil Nadu’s recent addition of a third gender column on ration card applications is one of a series of much needed, progressive reforms that benefit hijras, says MORGAN HARRINGTON
DISCRIMINATED AGAINST and forced to live in secluded communities, India’s hijras have always had to fight for basic entitlements. Two weeks ago, however, a major victory was achieved when Tamil Nadu added a third gender to ration cards. Hijras may now enter a ‘T’ (for transgender) in place of a ‘M’ or ‘F’ on ration cards. The move makes Tamil Nadu the first Indian state to officially recognise its hijra citizens.
The new rule is cause for great joy. “The government has now recognised us as a third gender. It gives us much needed dignity in society,” says Noori, an HIV positive hijra, head of the South India Positive Network in Chennai. While an alphabet on a ration card may seem like a benign technicality, for Tamil Nadu’s estimated one lakh hijras (known locally as aravanis) it is a significant achievement. Ration cards, voting forms and passports have been available for aravanis only after a great deal of struggle. Ignorant administrators would leave the gender category blank, merely entering kuduma thalaivar (head of family) or, more often, ‘male’. “It is a positive development which will encourage more aravanis to openly declare themselves as transgenders,” says Jeeva, who heads the Transgenders Rights Association. Jeeva got her card in 2006, where she is referred to as kuduma thalaivar but her associate Shabina Francis is identified as ‘female.’
Historically, Tamil Nadu has had a very visible aravani community and, more recently, very vocal aravani
Yet, being hijra affects citizenship. Rose says, “It’s only been three or four years that ‘trans people’ have started asking for identity cards. Even now when we go and ask for IDs they don’t have a proper system to scrutinise our applications. Take my case. I wanted to change from a male name to a female one and retain the gender ‘M’ on my passport. If you want to change your gender on your passport, you need to have a sex reassignment surgery and I haven’t done that. For nine months my application was frozen because they didn’t know what to do.” activists. An aravani festival is held in the town of Koovagam annually, with a highly competitive “Miss Koovagam” beauty contest. Recently, it has been home to India’s first transgender television star, Rose. . . .Read More
How we see each other
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Seattle Times staff columnist
Seems like everyone belongs to a group with a cause.
And whether they recognize it or not, many causes share a common desire to be accepted.If they'd start by accepting each other, we might get somewhere.
I thought about that Thursday, when I had the chance to hear three people talk about life from a transgender perspective. The three transgender, black people were on a panel put on by the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas.
What they had to say was more interesting than their physical details.
The panel was the forum's second discussion of gender identity in the African-American community.
One of the panelists, Dean Jackson, a Seattle native who does organizing work on gender issues in communities of color, said he once thought changing genders was something only white people did.
He learned otherwise, and has made his own transition from woman to man. Along the way, he discovered that "it wasn't so much that my body didn't fit." It was more that he didn't fit into a binary system of gender classification. . . .Read More
Celebrate Transgenders
Jennifer Beckwith
4/14/08
As a volunteer speaker for an organization that aims to eradicate homophobia, I tell my coming out story, focusing on two main themes: diversity and communication. The acceptance and understanding of diversity has been stressed to me throughout my life and now I continually try to uphold that amazing legacy.
Open communication, I feel, is the means by which one develops understanding, particularly about issues which are generally only whispered about. Transgender people are probably the most whispered about group of all.
As a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community, I face many dangers wrought by a society that refuses to embrace us as we have embraced ourselves and our identity. Transgender people, however, have it worst. They are a minority within a minority and face the most misunderstanding and ignorance, which often leads to violence.
It is quite understandable that transgender people face such discrimination if we examine the patriarchal nature of our society. Patriarchy is steeped in sexism, and sexism influences homophobia and transphobia. We live in a society that is defined by its gender roles, which favor the characteristics of men over those of women. This is why it is more acceptable for women to display qualities such as aggression and dominance than it is for men to be effeminate. However, what happens when gender lines are even more blurred?
. . .Read More
4/14/08
As a volunteer speaker for an organization that aims to eradicate homophobia, I tell my coming out story, focusing on two main themes: diversity and communication. The acceptance and understanding of diversity has been stressed to me throughout my life and now I continually try to uphold that amazing legacy.
Open communication, I feel, is the means by which one develops understanding, particularly about issues which are generally only whispered about. Transgender people are probably the most whispered about group of all.
As a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community, I face many dangers wrought by a society that refuses to embrace us as we have embraced ourselves and our identity. Transgender people, however, have it worst. They are a minority within a minority and face the most misunderstanding and ignorance, which often leads to violence.
It is quite understandable that transgender people face such discrimination if we examine the patriarchal nature of our society. Patriarchy is steeped in sexism, and sexism influences homophobia and transphobia. We live in a society that is defined by its gender roles, which favor the characteristics of men over those of women. This is why it is more acceptable for women to display qualities such as aggression and dominance than it is for men to be effeminate. However, what happens when gender lines are even more blurred?
. . .Read More
Eaton Corp. helped transgender employee
By Maureen McDonald
14 April 2008
Audrey Hopkins, 47, became the first transgender individual hired into Eaton Corp.'s 100-member information-technology group in October 2005.
Her name and capabilities were already known to her boss and many staff members who had worked with her in her former identity as Dave Hopkins, a 20-year consultant and troubleshooter for advanced computer manufacturing systems.
Today Hopkins, senior IT specialist, reports finding mostly receptive managers and employees in auto plants across America where her skills in software design and business systems are sought after.
Equal access to employment is a policy supported in spirit and statements, according to Jim Parks, an Eaton spokesperson who affirmed a company policy of empathy and cooperation for race, creed, gender and gender identity in the workplace so long as behavior doesn't intrude on productivity. . . .Read More
14 April 2008
Audrey Hopkins, 47, became the first transgender individual hired into Eaton Corp.'s 100-member information-technology group in October 2005.
Her name and capabilities were already known to her boss and many staff members who had worked with her in her former identity as Dave Hopkins, a 20-year consultant and troubleshooter for advanced computer manufacturing systems.
Today Hopkins, senior IT specialist, reports finding mostly receptive managers and employees in auto plants across America where her skills in software design and business systems are sought after.
Equal access to employment is a policy supported in spirit and statements, according to Jim Parks, an Eaton spokesperson who affirmed a company policy of empathy and cooperation for race, creed, gender and gender identity in the workplace so long as behavior doesn't intrude on productivity. . . .Read More
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Arizona, IFGE, Love and My Two Sons
April 12th, 2008
Going back to Arizona has always been one of adventure and pain for me. I lived there most of my life, graduating high school there, I joined the Navy from there, I was married there, my two sons were born there, I was divorced there, I started my life as Monica there, and my father is buried there. All of my family, with the exception of my oldest son lives in Arizona. To say that Arizona holds an important place in my life would be like saying that air is important in my life. I can’t quit Arizona.
Most of the time when I go back to visit family in Arizona, it is near the end of the year, for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. This time, I was able to visit in March and April, when the temperatures were in the 80s and 90s. That’s tank top weather! I love being a girl.
Early in my trip, I got the chance to spend a little time with Serena Freewomyn, a writer for the popular blog, The Bilerico Project. I was always impressed with Serena’s viewpoint and her writing style. The Friday we got together was a fun evening. She brought two of her friends with her and they were a blast.
The most interesting part of the trip to Arizona started on Wednesday when I arrived at the Double Tree Hotel in Tucson. I actually got to go swimming at the hotel pool. No one could tell I was a pre-op in the suit I wore, and it didn’t even have one of those cute little skirts. (As I said, I love being a girl.) But, that was nothing compared to what Fate had in stored for me later that evening. . . .Read More
SAN MARCOS: CSUSM opens gay, lesbian pride center
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students can find support, resources at CSUSM
By ANDREA MOSS
SAN MARCOS ---- Josh Lovelace knows firsthand why some Cal State San Marcos students might need a refuge on campus.
"Walking through the hallways, sometimes you'll hear people make homophobic comments," the 29-year-old graduate student and openly gay man said last week. "I'll say, 'Hey, did you know that I'm one of them?' And they say, 'Oh, no, I didn't.' "
Lovelace said he's confident enough with his own sexual identity that homophobic comments typically don't faze him. Even so, he said he welcomed last week's opening of a gay and lesbian center on campus because of the support it will provide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, as well as to students questioning their sexual identity. . . .Read More
By ANDREA MOSS
SAN MARCOS ---- Josh Lovelace knows firsthand why some Cal State San Marcos students might need a refuge on campus.
"Walking through the hallways, sometimes you'll hear people make homophobic comments," the 29-year-old graduate student and openly gay man said last week. "I'll say, 'Hey, did you know that I'm one of them?' And they say, 'Oh, no, I didn't.' "
Lovelace said he's confident enough with his own sexual identity that homophobic comments typically don't faze him. Even so, he said he welcomed last week's opening of a gay and lesbian center on campus because of the support it will provide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, as well as to students questioning their sexual identity. . . .Read More
POV, Critique, Opinion: Pregnant, yes - but not a man
By Jeff Jacoby
Globe Columnist
April 13, 2008
Globe Columnist
April 13, 2008
TRACY LaGONDINO is pregnant, and that news has drawn a fair amount of attention. It's been in People magazine, on "Oprah," all over the Internet. Tracy's baby, due in July, is doing well. But Tracy has a serious problem, and the rest of us do, too.
A 34-year-old who grew up in Hawaii and used to compete in beauty contests - she was once a finalist in the Miss Hawaii Teen USA pageant - Tracy, who now calls herself Thomas Beatie, apparently suffers from Gender Identity Disorder, syndrome 302.85 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. According to news accounts, she has felt uncomfortable with her female identity since adolescence. When she was in her 20s, the Telegraph of London reported, "she became more masculine," began a lesbian relationship, "and researched what it meant to be a transgender male." There followed breast-removal surgery and testosterone injections. Tracy/Thomas grew a beard, changed her legal identity to male, and married her partner, Nancy.
But it takes more than a mastectomy and hormone treatments to overturn biology. Thomas may be a man in the eyes of the law, but she remains physically a woman, with a woman's reproductive system, a woman's genitals, and a woman's chromosomes. So when she and Nancy decided to have a baby, she had little trouble conceiving through artificial insemination. The result is the spectacle that has drawn so much attention: a bearded pregnant woman named Thomas, who identifies herself as a man, and has a lawfully wedded wife. . . .Read More
GENDER IDENTITY AND PHANTOM GENITALIA
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Some people know, with absolute certainty, that they were born the wrong gender.
A girl sees that she has no phallus, yet she feels deeply, unambiguously male. A boy is equipped with a penis, yet he feels fundamentally, unarguably female.
Such discord often gets chalked up to the physical - prenatal hormone exposures, abnormal brain structures, gay genes. Or to the psychological - repressed homosexuality, absent dads, overbearing moms, parents who wanted a baby of the opposite sex.
But there is a new explanation: Some transgender men claim to possess phantom penises. From the time they were little girls, they say they had vivid sensations of a penis between their legs. Others develop such a phantom when they begin taking testosterone therapy.
Similarly, transgender women who are born male and later undergo sex reassignment surgery generally do not report having a phantom. They say that their penis was never part of their body image. . . .Read More
Mountie disciplined after looking for transsexual love in uniform
Matthew Ramsey,Canwest News Service
April 12, 2008
April 12, 2008
VANCOUVER - A B.C. Mountie has received informal discipline for posting a dating profile online using a picture of himself in his red serge uniform to find transgendered and transsexual mates.
"I am looking to meet mature Thai women who are interested in a sincere friendship that can develop into a LTR (long-term relationship) and possible marriage," wrote "Dave" on the thaikisses.com site.
"Special interest towards TS (transsexual), TG (transgendered) women. Any nice Katoey women looking for a serious LTR." . . . .Read More
Thursday, April 10, 2008
"She's a Boy I Knew"- Clip #4 - "Initial Reactions"
A short clip from the feature documentary "She's a Boy I Knew" containing the transgender filmmaker's parents recounting their 'initial' reactions when she told them about her female gender identity. Through the film, both parents come a long way in understanding & supporting their child. Check out the film's website at www.artflick.com
Frock 'n' roll
Tokyo's rock scene may leave you questioning your sexuality, Craig Platt discovers.
Normally, wearing a grey shirt and jeans wouldn't make me feel conspicuous in a crowd - but right now I feel distinctly out of place.
I'm standing in a crowd of about 200 Japanese youths who are dressed in the most outrageous costumes I've ever seen - goth kids with white-fright make-up and black fingernails, punk kids with dyed blue hair and a wide and wild variety of piercings, girls dressed in baby-doll clothes more suited to tweens than teens.
In my conservative, smart-casual outfit, I'm by far the blandest person here.
We're all waiting for entry to "Red Carpet Day", a music event at Shibuya O-East, a club in Tokyo. The gig features seven "visual-kei" bands - a genre known more for its over-the-top outfits than for its music. . . .Read More
Children of men
Wednesday, 09 April 2008
The story of Thomas Beatie, the ‘pregnant man’, caused a media storm recently, but what do trans men think about it?
The story of Thomas Beatie, the ‘pregnant man’, caused a media storm recently, but what do trans men think about it?
After Thomas Beatie spoke out publicly recently about his decision as a trans man to become pregnant (SX#375), everybody had an opinion.
Conservative commentators were outraged, while Oprah Winfrey – on whose show Beatie and his wife Nancy appeared – called it “a new definition of what diversity means for everybody”.
But he’s not the first trans man to become pregnant: in 1999, Matt Rice – then the partner of trans male author Patrick (formerly Pat) Califia – gave birth to a daughter.
Califia spoke about the couple’s experiences in the Village Voice, describing how some female-to-male (FTM) trans people wished the baby dead and started to call Rice by his ‘girl’ name.
Nearly a decade has passed since then, so what do trans men think about those in their community such as Beatie, who, having kept their reproductive systems in tact, exercise their right to become a parent by conceiving a child?
“Bringing the child into the world in this way is not about reproductive rights,” asserts Craig Andrews, Coordinator of FTM Australia, a membership organisation that provides resources to trans men. . . .Read More
A Case Of Mistaken Identity
Wednesday, 09 April 2008
The spirit of three intersex subjects rises above titles with shock tactics, notes David Knox.
Television usually prefers to rank our community GLTBi. There are plenty of gay males and lesbians. Transgenders are peppered in comedies, or reality ‘tricks’.
With the exception of SBS docos Sinchronicity and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, bisexuality usually confuses producers. And intersex falls off TV’s radar entirely.
So it was with some trepidation that I approached the UK documentary series My Shocking Story. It’s previously featured medical episodes were called Half Man Half Tree and The Man With No Face. Roll up, roll up for the freakshow!
What Sex Am I? is thankfully not entirely tabloid.
Androgyn Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) is the state in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of female or male.
There are three subjects profiled here. One is Angel, an 8-year-old Brazilian child raised as female by parents, but discovered to have Y chromosomes at the age of 4. Another is 24-year-old Italian Tiziana who confronts her mother about what she thought was an operation on her uterus at 15. . . .Read More
In pilot program, Stanford to offer ‘gender neutral’ housing options for 2008-09
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN
Stanford Report, April 9, 2008
In an effort to better serve transgender students and to offer more choices to students who want to live with friends of the opposite sex, Stanford will offer "gender neutral" housing options to sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students starting autumn quarter. . . .Read More
Stanford Report, April 9, 2008
In an effort to better serve transgender students and to offer more choices to students who want to live with friends of the opposite sex, Stanford will offer "gender neutral" housing options to sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students starting autumn quarter. . . .Read More
Beatie not meant to be a mirror
ANALYSIS / Many trans men frustrated with media coverage
Well-meaning friends and colleagues assume I identify with — and am concerned about the transphobic reactions to — Beatie's story. In truth I cringe and wish desperately that Beatie would go quickly and quietly away. The more discussion I hear about pregnant men, the more mortified and angry I become. It is a puzzling response considering that I am otherwise so committed to the rights of those who bend the borders of sex and desire. So what is it about Beatie and his desire to bear a child that bothers me? What should the transsexual body look like and who gets to decide?
Although this is a story about Beatie's own sex and body it shines an uncomfortable spotlight on things of which I would prefer not to be reminded. Worse, it invites those who know my history to inquire about my reproductive status and whether I plan to become a pregnant man. It is difficult to articulate how defeating this question is for me, and more difficult to decide upon an appropriate answer. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible not to blame Beatie for inviting this unwanted discussion into my life.
Sensational media representations influence how nontrans people in our lives view us and interpret our experiences. It is demoralizing to have to combat even more confusion about who and what we are when so much misunderstanding already exists.
The story has generated the usual trinity of responses from most nontrans folk of shock, sympathy and outrage. There is, however, an enormous backlash against Beatie among trans men, particularly in the US. Many are rushing to change their legal documents to reflect their post-transition sex. They are concerned that the notion of a pregnant man sensationalized in the mass media will lead US lawmakers to require trans men to undergo the surgical removal of their female reproductive organs before they can become legally male. . . .Read More
Well-meaning friends and colleagues assume I identify with — and am concerned about the transphobic reactions to — Beatie's story. In truth I cringe and wish desperately that Beatie would go quickly and quietly away. The more discussion I hear about pregnant men, the more mortified and angry I become. It is a puzzling response considering that I am otherwise so committed to the rights of those who bend the borders of sex and desire. So what is it about Beatie and his desire to bear a child that bothers me? What should the transsexual body look like and who gets to decide?
Although this is a story about Beatie's own sex and body it shines an uncomfortable spotlight on things of which I would prefer not to be reminded. Worse, it invites those who know my history to inquire about my reproductive status and whether I plan to become a pregnant man. It is difficult to articulate how defeating this question is for me, and more difficult to decide upon an appropriate answer. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible not to blame Beatie for inviting this unwanted discussion into my life.
Sensational media representations influence how nontrans people in our lives view us and interpret our experiences. It is demoralizing to have to combat even more confusion about who and what we are when so much misunderstanding already exists.
The story has generated the usual trinity of responses from most nontrans folk of shock, sympathy and outrage. There is, however, an enormous backlash against Beatie among trans men, particularly in the US. Many are rushing to change their legal documents to reflect their post-transition sex. They are concerned that the notion of a pregnant man sensationalized in the mass media will lead US lawmakers to require trans men to undergo the surgical removal of their female reproductive organs before they can become legally male. . . .Read More
Whoopi Goldberg on pregnant transgender man: 'Uncharted waters'
by PageOneQ
"I found them very sweet and naïve," veteran anchor Barbara Walters says of the Beatie couple, currently expecting a child. "The greatest threat to them," Walters adds, "is that their marriage could be taken away."
Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, recently talked with Oprah Winfrey about his pregnancy. A profile also appears in the April 14 issue of People Magazine. Born a woman, Beatie is legally a man, but still has an intact reproductive system. Six months into his current pregnancy, the child is due in July; the Beaties' gynecologist expects the baby to be healthy, and ultrasound imaging concurs.
The Beaties have received no compensation for sharing their story. . . .Read More
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