City forces TG woman to dress in men's room

by Eric Resnick

July 18, 2008

Cleveland--A city swimming pool has told a transgender woman that she must sign in as a man and use the men’s locker room to change into her swimsuit.

Karen Deamons of Cleveland has been swimming at the Cudell Recreation Center on the city’s west side since 2005. She swims there three times a week as part of her rehabilitation from a stroke that year.

Deamons says that there has been tension between her and Cudell management since she started swimming at the facility. But it has escalated in the last month, resulting in her being barred for a week, then being required to sign the men’s registry when she arrives.

She has filed a sex stereotyping complaint against the city of Cleveland. The complaint, filed June 24 with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, will be investigated by Gina Curry of the commission.

Deamons says she complied last year when Cudell told her to use the men’s changing room, but “it’s getting harder and harder” mostly because of the children at the facility. . . .Read More

TRINIDAD

"Sample clip from the upcoming feature documentary TRINIDAD directed by PJ Raval and Jay Hodges."

See: http://trinidadthemovie.com/

'I'm mistaken for a man every day'

The beguiling combination of kd lang's androgynous looks and sensuous voice propelled her to fame in the 90s but, asks Emine Saner, does she want her first collection of new songs in eight years to put her back at the top of the charts?

Wednesday July 16, 2008
The Guardian


kd lang ... 'I love getting older'. Photograph: Sean Smith


For a while, in the 90s, it felt as if kd lang was everywhere. Then she was nowhere. Today, she's here, in a hotel room in Cologne, halfway through a European tour of her first album of original songs in eight years. Gone are the model groupies, celebrity friends and media circus. She is older, wiser, more settled. A reincarnation, if you like. . . .Read More

Young Teens Openly Express Sexuality; LGBT Pre-Teens Proud, Not Safe

Many Middle Schools Don't Have Policies to Safeguard Against Anti-Gay Bullies

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES

July 16, 2008


Sean has felt since the age of 2 or 3 that he was a boy in a girl's body. Telling his parents at age 11 was difficult but coming out as transgender among his seventh-grade classmates was like walking into a lion's den.

When Sean first shared his sexuality with his mother, "She didn't take it well," he said. "She cried for about a week, but then went on the Internet and understood it better."

About a month before Sarah's "transition" to Sean, his mother informed school officials, but no one told teachers or students.

"One day I was Sarah with female pronouns and Monday I was Sean with male pronouns, without any explanation," said Sean, a pseudonym for the central New Jersey teen who wants a fresh start in high school this fall.

"I was bullied every day, shoved into lockers, beaten up and made fun of," said the 14-year-old. "The teachers were standing right there, saying nothing or just not aware of it." . . .Read More

Transsexual Tilapia?

By Ylan Mui | July 16, 2008

I know what you're thinking already. It sounds totally insane. But the tilapia you eat very likely has gone through a sex change.

Let me explain: When we began working on our story about Whole Foods' new farmed seafood standards, one bullet point caught our eye: No Methyl testosterone for sex reversal.

As it turns out, farm-raised tilapia is typically given testosterone in their food when they're very small, for the first 35-40 days of feeding, Whole Foods seafood quality standards coordinator Carrie Brownstein told me. Any fish that were on the path to a womanly fishhood change course to become strapping male tilapia instead, turning the pond into one big fishy frat party. . . .Read More

Looking Back: Tula Interviewed, Part 1

"CAROLINE COSSEY, KNOWN AS TULA, A TRANSITIONED FEMALE, AUTHOR AND ACTRESS ON THE DONAHUE SHOW IN 1991."

View video here.

Looking Back: Tula Interviewed, Part 2

"Caroline Cossey also known as Tula, a transitioned woman, author and actress in part 2 interview on the Donahue Show 1991."

View video here.

Human Rights Campaign Releases Statement on McCain Comments Against Same-Sex Adoption

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2008

CONTACT: Human Rights Campaign
Brad Luna 202/216.1514 Cell: 202/812.8140
Trevor Thomas 202/216.1547 Cell: 202/250.9758

Comments show McCain is out of touch with today’s leading child welfare organizations

WASHINGTON - July 15 - The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, issued the following statement today after Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, told the New York Times he remains opposed to adoption by same-sex couples implying that he is opposed to single-parent adoption as well. In the interview, published Sunday, July 13, McCain said, “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.” “McCain’s comments on adoption show a disturbing disregard for the reality that thousands of children and youth face -- the possibility of never having a permanent, loving home,” said Ellen Kahn, director of the HRC Foundation’s Family Project. “Leading child welfare organizations in the U.S. concur that there is no reason to prevent gay and lesbian people from raising children, and the child welfare professionals who are mandated to find the best possible families for children in need recognize that every potential loving parent, whether single or married, gay or straight, is a valuable resource for children who are in need of a permanent family. It is an insult to these professionals and the children whom they represent to suggest that the door should be closed to people other than a “traditional” married couple. It is also an insult to the thousands of children being raised by lesbian and gay parents, and who are thriving and contributing positively to their communities.” . . .Read More

Critique, POV, Opinion: Boys Will Be Girls?

Catholic Therapists Help Kids Overcome ‘Transgender’ Issues


BY CELESTE McGOVERN
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT

July 6-12, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — When “Ben Carson” was 3 years old, his favorite color was pink and his best friend at nursery school was a girl. He drew flowers and he loved Snow White.

His parents noticed differences between him and other boys and they started to recall with concern the little things he had done since he was a toddler — such as wandering around the house wearing a towel robe like a dress.

“Then one evening when he was 4 years old, I was putting him into bed and he said, ‘I really don’t want to grow up,” recalled his father, a government worker in Philadelphia who requested anonymity to protect his son. “And he said, ‘I really wish I was a girl.’ Something clicked. I just knew something was really wrong with my son. He was depressed and just not happy with who he was.”

If young Ben lived in Massachusetts, he could be a candidate for “gender reassignment” treatment at a children’s hospital there that recently opened a controversial clinic that allows young children to select their own gender and treats them with hormones. Hearings that began June 26 at the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee show just how accepted gender reassignment has become. Democrats on the committee want to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against adults who change their gender. . . .Read More

Questioning Athletic Gender Norms

Women's Sports Foundation - 2008

Jess Ream, a student at Mount Holyoke College, spoke with It Takes A Team! about being a transgender college athlete. Jess is currently a senior, and played ice hockey from freshman year to junior year. It Takes A Team! is the Women's Sports Foundation's program aimed at eliminating homophobia in athletics.

What athletic accomplishments are you most proud of?

My senior year of high school I was league MVP and made the All-State team in CT for basketball. I also went into New-England’s seated 3rd in javelin in my first and only season of track and field. I was the only athlete from my school to go to State opens for three events, and won discus for Class S States.

How do you identify your gender?

I identify as transgender or genderqueer. I am female bodied, but usually pass as a man. I do not have a pro-noun preference. Identifying as just male or female has always felt like playing dress up. I have been told, and feel, very much in the middle. I let people call me what is most comfortable for them, since I don’t mind either.

How did you “come out” to your teammates and coaches?

I was bisexual when I joined the team. I had never played ice hockey or even skated on ice before, but a girl I was dating was on the team. I would go to games as support, but after watching a couple of games, I knew I had to try it. As I started to realize the extent of my gender, I felt uncomfortable on a women’s team. Even though I was not the only transgender or transsexual on the team, and no one on the team seemed to mind, I still didn’t like that we being lumped in with the “women’s team”. Removing gender labels like this at a single sex college would invite transgender athletes to socially become part of the campus they already are attending. Coming out as a transgender stopped my official sports career. Although I continue to work out avidly, I was not able to resolve being trans and being an athlete. . . .Read More

My Facial Feminization Surgery

"This is a 3 min 41 sec video diary of still images from my Facial Feminization Surgery by Dr. Spiegel on Dec. 16, 2006. It was very very painful but worth it." Vicki Estrada

Trans parents, trans kids: two new guides

by Dana Rudolph

Jul 10, 2008


Two new works offer much-needed guidance for families with transgender members, but each approaches the subject from a different perspective. One addresses parents of transgender children, while the other targets children of transgender parents.

The Transgender Child, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper (Cleis, 2008), is subtitled, "A Handbook for Families and Professionals," but speaks mostly to parents. With even mainstream media such as NPR and the parenting magazine Cookie broaching the subject of gender variance in children in the last few months, the appearance of a thorough, authoritative work for parents is long overdue. This book fills the need with balance and sensitivity.

The authors have each published other books on LGBT parenting: Brill authored The Queer Parent’s Primer (New Harbinger, 2001) and co-authored The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth (Alyson, 2002). Pepper, coordinator of LGBT Studies at Yale University and an editor at Curve magazine, wrote The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians (2nd Edition, Cleis, 2005). In addition, Brill has extensive experience working with gender-nonconforming and transgender children and their parents. She started a parents’ support group at Children’s Hospital Oakland, founded Gender Spectrum Education and Training (genderspectrum.org), and co-produces the national Gender Spectrum Family conference (genderspectrumfamily.org).

Brill and Pepper draw on their own knowledge and that of professional therapists, lawyers, endocrinologists, and activists. . . .Read More

Retrospective: Sex-Change Pioneer, Dr. Stanley Biber

by Jeff Brady

All Things Considered, January 19, 2006 · The king of sex-change procedures has died. Dr. Stanley Biber performed more than 5,000 such operations over more than 30 years. In the process, he turned the tiny town of Trinidad, Colo., into the sex-change capital of the world.

Listen Now

Gay men and straight women have similar brains, study says

The research suggests a basic biological link between sexual orientation and a range of mental functions.

By Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 17, 2008

The brains of gay men resemble those of straight women, according to research published today that provides more evidence of the role of biology in sexual orientation.

Using brain-scanning equipment, researchers said they discovered similarities in the brain circuits that deal with language, perhaps explaining why homosexual men tend to outperform straight men on verbal skills tests -- as do heterosexual women. . . .Read More

THE MATING GAME

What does gay look like? Science keeps trying to figure that out

Finding common biological traits -- things like hair growth patterns, penis size, family makeup -- might one day shed light on the origins of sexual orientation.

By Regina Nuzzo, Special to The Times
June 16, 2008

Last month, Sen. John McCain dropped by “Saturday Night Live,” drawing laughs from his promise, if elected president, to fight expensive federal projects -- such as, he spoofed, a Department of Defense device to "jam gaydar."

That was a joke. But some scientists are, in a way, working on gaydar, the supposed ability to discern whether a person is homosexual by reading subtle cues from their appearance. Just don't refer to it that way. The preferred term is "sexual orientation correlates."

These scientists are searching for innate traits that might not appear to be related to sexual orientation or even to standard clichés. So measuring a subject's shoe size is permissible; asking about ownership of Barbra Streisand albums would be cheating. Some inborn traits might be expected if homosexuality is -- as most scientists believe -- rooted in biology, and they might provide clues about the biological origins of sexual orientation.

Finding and solidifying these links isn't easy. Studies contradict each other, and some promising paths don't pan out. (A link between male homosexuality and finger lengths isn't holding up, and a claim that gays have distinctive fingerprint ridge patterns is largely discredited.) Scientists don't always agree on how to interpret the results, and more progress has been made with regard to men than to women. . . .Read More

Bad Questions to Ask a Transsexual: The Director's Cut

http://www.calpernia.com/diary
After years of teeth-grindingly ignorant and insulting questions, Calpernia Addams finally snaps and shares her list of Bad Questions which you should never ask a transsexual. These are all real questions from real life!

Director's Cut: I edited this so that it gets to the point more quickly, cuts out some extraneous chatter and repeated information, and illustrates the "Do you date gay or straight guys?" question more simply with graphics. =)

Chuck Colson’s “Sick” Commentary Regarding TransYouth — And The Doctors Who Treat Them

July 10th, 2008 by Autumn Sandeen

I really get tired of going over the same crap over and over again regarding gender. The mental hebetude of conservative Christians discussing transsexual youth and adults is beyond incredible. These dullards have no personal qualifications that indicate expertise in gender issues, and even in their supposed area of expertise — Biblical scriptures — they cherry pick scriptures on sex and gender to make points on gender when other scriptures counter the evangelical message.

Chuck Colson, in a Breakpoint article entitled It’s a Sick, Sick World takes another stab at transgender people and issues — some of his previous stabs include here, here, here, and Coming to a School Near You. In It’s a Sick, Sick World, he gets around to attacking Dr. Norman Spack, who treats transyouth with puberty delaying medications — in large part to keep these not-gender-confused children from committing suicide.

So here’s what the former Watergate conspirator and hebetudinous writer said in his most recent piece about Dr. Spack and transyouth (links added for reference; emphasis added):

He has been called “demonic,” “barbaric,” and has been compared to Nazi doctors. And when you read about his work, it is easy to see why Americans are so outraged. Dr. Norman Spack is a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Not long ago, he opened a clinic for what he terms “transgendered” children. Incredibly, he is giving kids as young as seven drugs that delay the onset of puberty–the first step in sex-change surgery when they are older.

…When these kids hit their teen years, they are given the option of taking cross-hormones for a few years—which will allow them to develop the characteristics of the opposite sex. Tragically, the treatment will condemn these teenagers to lifelong infertility.

…So why are doctors like Spack altering young bodies instead of treating confused minds?

The answer is that many doctors have embraced the modern teaching that sexual identity, rather than being biologically determined, is a preference or a choice. According to this, people should be allowed to choose whatever sex they want to be. . . .Read More

ANDROGYNY

Boy meets girl

Menswear designers blur gender lines with androgynous looks that revive the persona of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust

Jul 11, 2008


Derick Chetty
star styist

Gold jeans pimped out with large, colourful crystals, lacy shorts, flouncy silhouettes and miles of shocking pink. Are these the trends that emerged recently during women's couture week?

No.

They are the boy-meets-girl trends that marched down the runways of the spring/summer 2009 menswear shows in Milan and Paris.

The recurring theme raises the question: Are men the new women?

Well, at least when it comes to the fabrics they are.

This new take on androgyny brings such traditionally feminine fabrics as silk, tulle, organza, lace and crepe de Chine and embellishments like sequins, beading and embroidery to menswear.

This was not a drag show or a cross-dressing spectacle, however. Designer Jean Paul Gaultier did that years ago when he put men in skirts and corsets.

This crossover is executed in a remarkably masculine way.

Take the high top sneakers at Lanvin, for example – very modern and urban, but now sexually ambiguous when blinged out with shiny beads.

As for those glittering gold jeans with the jewels at Dior Homme, haven't we seen that look before? During the glam rock era, perhaps on David Bowie? . . .Read More

"Little Britain" takes satire to U.S

By Alex Dobuzinskis, LOS ANGELES (Reuters)

12/07/2008


Hit BBC television show "Little Britain" is taking its outrageous satirical humour to U.S. premium cable channel HBO in September, drawing on stars such as David Schwimmer and Rosie O'Donnell to lure U.S. audiences.

The show, a cultural phenomenon in Britain, is the latest comedy import to the U.S. after programs like "The Office," which airs on the NBC network, have made their mark in the U.S.

Creators Matt Lucas, 34, and David Walliams, 36, told reporters and TV critics gathered in Los Angeles for an early look at the show that they know how far to push their riskier jokes and trade-mark mockery of the disabled, poor, gay and fat people.

In one scene in "Little Britain USA," which premieres in the U.S. on September 28, Lucas appears in drag as the leader of a weight-loss group. O'Donnell -- the gay U.S. actress and talk show host -- drops in for a visit, playing herself. . . .Read More

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