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

	CAMH Gender Identity Clinic.

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

Big Brother 5 - Housemates Talk About Transsexuals

Housemates talk about transsexuals in front of Nadia who they don't know is a transsexual.

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

U.S. laws struggle to keep up with gender advances

From children born with DSDs to transgender adults, the legal issues confronting certain groups can be challenging.

by Dave Levitan

July 10, 2008

Whether renewing a driver’s license, applying for a credit card or even getting married, there is always a space on the form to specify one’s gender. Generally speaking, we are only given two options: male or female. In recent years, however, the medical community has moved toward thinking of gender as more of a continuum than a stark dichotomy, with numerous children born with various disorders of sex development and increasing numbers of transgender adults.

The question has become more important then, as our understanding of gender has improved: which box to check on those forms? This question is only meant to be an easy analogy for how the rest of society in America, and particularly U.S. law, has been slow to catch up with the changing notions of gender. The legal problems faced by gender minorities are many, and they range from the mundane to the extremely critical: Which bathroom to use? What can I wear to work? Can I get married? For infants, what is the most ethical and legal way to treat certain conditions?

Although the legal world needs to answer some of these and other questions, the medical professionals who treat both children with disorders of sex development (DSDs, formerly referred to as intersex disorders) and transgender adults should be aware of the challenges their patients face on a daily basis. . . .Read More

My Transgender Life After Wesleyan | Transphobia

Jean Pockrus

July 7, 2008

Yesterday I was violently, physically attacked by a group of transphobic teenagers, three black girls probably between the ages of 15 and 17 years old, in downtown Philadelphia. I was waiting for a bus on the corner as the three girls were walking across the street, staring at me and saying aloud to each other, "Is that a boy or a girl?" Then they began addressing me, "Are you a boy or a girl?" while looking down on me and laughing.

I did what I usually do in these transphobic situations when I'm taunted or stared at. I stared back. I stared back at the girls and said plainly, "It's rude to stare at people." (I also usually answer: "No, I'm not a boy or a girl," to that familiar question, "Are you a boy or a girl?" But I didn't say anything else this time.) One of their friends who was walking with them, a young man who looked about twenty, shouted, "Oh! That bitch said 'respect her.'" I thought the group was just going to continue walking on and leave me alone, but a few moments later one of the girls took a few sauntering steps towards me, smiling a little, and then pulled her arm back fast and punched me hard in the left side of my face. . . .Read More

Transgender Discrimination Hearing: Diane Schroer

Diane Schroer, a retired Colonel in the United States Army, testifies before the Committee on Education and Labor at a hearing examining discrimination against transgender Americans in the workplace on June 26, 2008.

Critique, POV, Opinion: "Letting Go Of God"

A lot of Ts (and others, too) have questions, concerns about religion and being T (or somewhere GLBTQ). Here, Julia Sweeney, who played "Pat" the androgynous person, on one of my favorite television programs,"Saturday Night Live," presents her personal perspective on religion, titled, "Letting Go of God."

Strongly recommended.

Also, see the numerous listeners' comments than follow on the same page.

RA

Jack Bee Garland (aka Babe Bean)

by Liz Highleyman

Lavender Magazine, Issue 341

Jack Bee Garland was a pioneer on multiple fronts, crossing boundaries of gender, ethnicity, class, and geography.

Born Elvira Virginia Mugarrieta in 1869 in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, Garland was the child of an upper-class white woman and a Mexican military officer who became the city’s first Mexican consul. A rebellious tomboy, Garland was sent to a convent school, but escaped by marrying a family friend at age 15, and divorcing a few months later.

Garland began dressing in men’s clothing, and spent the next several years traveling and working odd jobs. In 1897, he was arrested in Stockton, California, for masquerading as a man. Claiming to be mute, and communicating in writing, he gave his name as Babe Bean, and made no attempt to hide that he was biologically female. The authorities soon released him, much to the chagrin of a group of young women who demanded that if he could dress in men’s clothing, they ought to have the same privilege.

Garland, who lived alone on a houseboat in a lake, was hired as a reporter by The Stockton Evening Mail. He was accepted as an eccentric local celebrity. The press often speculated about his gender, referring to him as “the mysterious girl-boy, man-woman.” . . . .Read More

The “Transational” Dr. Marci Bowers

by Chris Jackson

Lavender Magazine, Issue 340

A polite round of applause, and she takes the stage. Adjusting her glasses, and buttoning the microphone to her blouse, she begins to speak. Doctors, med students, and activists alike lean forward in anticipation.

Dr. Marci Bowers
Photo by Sophia Hantzes

“Never dreamed I’d walk back in here in a dress,” she mused.

And then she was off. Coyly, letting her audience idle, and then full force. Smiling, she started in.

The Denver Post calls her the “Rockstar” of gender-confirming surgeries. Dr. Marci Bowers is that and much more. She is one of the premier sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) surgeons worldwide, performing more than 350 alignment procedures every year. Trained under the direction of Dr. Stanley Biber, she has followed in his footsteps, perfecting the techniques that he pioneered.

I had a chance to speak with Bowers just before her recent keynote address at the Minnesota Trans Health & Wellness Fair on May 10.

Dr. Bowers, what is your background in the medical field? Sexual reassignment surgery, in addition to being highly controversial, is a challenging and specialized field. How did you come to call it your own?

I am trained formally as an Ob/Gyn. I attended the University of Minnesota, where I graduated in 1986, where I was Medical School Class President and President of the Medical Student Council. I then went to Seattle, where I did my residency in Ob/Gyn at the University of Washington.

I settled into private practice at a large multispecialty clinic in Downtown Seattle called the Polyclinic. I practiced there for 12 years.

About my 10th year, I actually met Dr. Biber. He indicated that Trinidad was in need of an Ob/Gyn, and that, if I came here, I could learn the SRS procedure from him, while performing obstetrics and gynecology for the community. In January 2003, I finally did just that, leaving the relative security of an established practice in Seattle, and facing the specter of the many hours and hassles that go with practicing in a large urban area.

I decided to roll the dice, so to speak, noting that there were very few reassignment surgeons in the United States, and that two of the most prominent, Dr. Biber and Dr. [Eugene] Schrang, were already well into their 70s at the time. I worked with Dr. Biber, side by side, for six months, and then, with his inability to obtain malpractice insurance, took over his duties in July 2003, surviving with a combination of good luck, good skills, intuition, and faith that I was doing the right thing. . . .Read More

My EX-HUSBAND on Dr Phil!

My Ex-Husband was on Dr Phil. We were married a few years ago for a short time. He lied and lets just say he wasn't a very good husband. This is about how I feel about him now not anyone else! Right now I'm mad and hurt and I need to vent!

Las Vegas Marks 10th Annual Kristine W Day

by Scott Kearnan
EDGE Contributor

July 2, 2008

Kristine W will be touring the U.S. and Canada the rest of the year as part of her Love is The Boss Tour.

Kristine W learned the art of performance from an unlikely source: a Vegas drag queen named Bubbles.

Well, not exactly. The legendary club diva, one of dance music’s most consistently successful artist (her ninth consecutive #1 hit on the Billboard Club charts shattered a record previously held by Madonna), is a fourth generation entertainer who has been performing since childhood. She’s a songwriter, producer, jazz musician, guitarist; music is in her blood.

But when she began her career as a working entertainer in the Vegas casino circuit, it helped to have friends who knew a thing or two about being fabulous.

"They had a drag show upstairs called Boylesque," Kristine W said of her first casino gig. "I would go up there and study the drag queens. How they put on their fake eyelashes, the way they would roll up the socks and put them in their boobs... There was one drag queen named Bubbles, and he would tell me all his secrets, like why he was shading his face. And I’d say, ’okay, I’m going to put on more makeup!’" . . .Read More

The 13th Annual San Francisco Drag King Contest Announced

The Biggest Drag King Competition in the World to benefit P.A.W.S. - Pets Are Wonderful Support

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

July 8, 2008


It's coming! Big Ball holder, DragStrip Productions, is proud to announce the most climactic and orgasmic live stage show of orgiastic gender bending revelry in the history of San Francisco: the 13th Annual Drag King Contest - the biggest, girthiest, and most enduring Drag King Competition in the World. Hard and throbbing musical productions, firm and penetrating performances, and extraordinary feats of entertainingly unbridled masculine stamina and staying power are set to explode over the wildly anticipating and engorged-to-capacity-crowd on August 16, 2008 at 8:00 p.m., at the most appropriate venue in town, the DNA Lounge. . . .Read More

Theater - Gender bender

Masquers poke fun at the theatre with Anton in Show Business

BY LINDA SICKLER

July 8, 2008


Imagine a play written for a cast of women who sometimes play men, that was written by a woman who might really be a man. Wait a minute -- what?

Such a play really does exist and it was written by Jane Martin, one of the best-known unknown playwrights in modern theater. Martin is the darling of the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. More plays by her have been introduced at the festival than by any other playwright.

But here’s the strange part. Even though Martin has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the ATL has kept her identity secret for more than 20 years. However, Martin is believed by many to be a man named Jon Jory, the ATL’s former producing director.

Confused? Don’t worry. There’s nothing confusing about Anton in Show Business, a Martin play that is being presented by the Armstrong Atlantic State University Department of Art, Music and Theatre.

“It has an all-female cast of seven that plays both males and females,” says director Samantha Noon. “The whole basis of the play really is to have a laugh at the theater and all the stereotypes involved in the production of a play.” . . .Read More

Stephanie’s Pillowbook

Transgender Books - My Gender Workbook

Posted in transgenderism by Stephanie Delacey on July 9th, 2008

I read Kate Bornstein’s Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us some time ago and found it an exciting and stimulating book. Part autobiography, part introduction to gender theory, and with a large chunk of the text devoted to the script of her play Hidden: A Gender, it is an amusing, honest, touching, passionate, challenging, wildly speculative account of what it means to be transsexual. I had high hopes, then, for My Gender Workbook. Hopes which were rather dashed when I eventually got round to reading it earlier this year. I was very disappointed and, unfortunately, it made me go back to Gender Outlaw and re-assess that, too. . . .Read More

A Platform We Can Believe In, Too

Steve Ralls

8 July 2008


Could this be the year that every American family sees itself reflected in the platform of a major political party? And if so, what would an all-inclusive set of ideals mean for America's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and their loved ones and friends?

The Democratic National Committee and Senator Barack Obama have announced that the 2008 party platform will be put together through a more "open" process that includes numerous opportunities for the public to weigh in with their ideas on what the party should stand for. The party, and the candidate, will hold public forums in all 50 states and invite voters to meet with party officials, and policy advisers, in a national discussion about the vision of the Democratic party.

"Barack Obama believes that every American should be able to contribute to the Democratic platform, just as record numbers have participated in this campaign," deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand told the Associated Press. . . .Read More

Four Teens Arrested In Possible Bias Attack At Queens Shelter

July 08, 2008


Four teenaged boys were arrested for attacking the director and several residents of a transgender center in Astoria Tuesday. NY1’s Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

Father Louis Braxton, Jr., who leads the transgender center "Carmen's Place" in Astoria, Queens, says he was trying to defend a group of transgender teens who were being assaulted Monday night when four teenaged boys attacked him with belts and paint cans. . . .Read More

My voice at 3 months

This is my voice at around 3 months of testosterone therapy. I started at 50mg every two weeks, and then went up to 100mg about 10 days ago.

Phallus in Wonderland

Male pregnancy and a la carte sex changes.

By William Saletan

July 8, 2008


It's a girl!

Well, it's a girl for now. Thomas Beatie, the "pregnant man," has given birth. Beatie used to be a girl, too. Then he decided to become a man. Which he is now. Sort of.

We like to think there are two sexes: male and female. If you're not one, you're the other. That's what the gay-marriage fight is about: Boys belong with girls, and kids need a mom and dad, or so we tell ourselves. Behavior that confounds these assumptions makes us uncomfortable.

But behavior was the easy part. Homosexuality, tomboys, and female impersonation have been around forever. In those cases, you could accuse the gender bender of defying his or her bodily nature. Not anymore. Now the body itself is being bent, not just through old-fashioned castration but through reversible hormone therapy and surgeries that offer a customized mix of male and female genitalia. You don't have to be one or the other. You can be both. . . .Read More

THE THIRD SEX: New job-training program aims to improve lot of India's eunuchs

JASON OVERDORF July 8, 2008


NEW DELHI -- Following the example of India's 18th-century Mughal rulers, who used castrated men or hermaphrodites to guard their harems, the government of the eastern state of Bihar plans to post eunuchs as guards in girls dormitories, colleges and hospitals.

"We are trying to prepare a plan for them so they can be involved in normal economic activity of society," said Vijay Prakash, a principal secretary in the state social welfare department. "They will be trained to work as security guards and for other types of activities which suit their temperament or in which they have developed certain expertise. They will also be involved in promoting activities related to women and child development and AIDS education."

The program will begin as early as this summer, Mr. Prakash said. The department estimates that about 2 per cent of the state's population of 100 million are transgender.

Known as hijras in the Hindi-speaking north, the so-called third sex has a 4,000-year history in India, where they comprise a distinct religio-ethnic group. Most hijras are born as men, but renounce their gender and sexuality to worship the mother goddess Yellamma, also called Renuka. Traditionally, the castration ceremony was performed, at great peril to the recipient, by an elder of the community. Sex reassignment surgery is not available in India, and even today many hijras go to quacks or fly-by-night hospitals to be castrated, which, though it is not compulsory, gives them higher status among their peers. . . .Read More

God Loves You

By paul martin, 8th July, 2008

This month, in honour of the Pope’s imminent arrival, we’re taking a look at religion from a number of different angles. This week psychologist Paul Martin asks us to remember that there are many paths to spiritual fulfillment.

The imminent arrival of the Pope is likely to conjure up a great deal of emotion for most of us in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities – and it goes well beyond the fact that his red Papal shoes clash badly with the detail in those high camp robes!

The outdated, black and white, homophobic beliefs that are regularly espoused as ‘God’s words’ have directly led to a great deal of unnecessary human suffering. They’ve contributed to a society where for many of us there is much self-loathing, depression, suicide and other psychological conflicts. These are torturous issues for many gays and lesbians who have been brought up in religious environments. A great deal of the fundamentalist religious propaganda attempts to manipulate people through negative emotions, like shame and guilt. It’s a very effective way of getting people to believe in stuff that is unbelievably stupid.

As you know, I’m a psychologist at a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender psychological wellbeing centre. In my line of work I, all too often, see the devastation caused by those who have been strongly influenced by these destructive beliefs. The damage from these experiences can be extremely significant and can have long-term negative consequences including depression, anxiety, shame, self-anger and low self-esteem. And then there are those who decide to get married to try and escape these feelings. I have heard too many stories of religious families who have rejected their gay son or daughter, only to find out later that they’ve committed suicide as a result, having drowned in a sea of shame and trauma. . . .Read More