Becoming Me final

Photo Timeline documenting my transition.

Popeslave

Growing up different: B.C. transgender patients line up for surgery but doctor who can do it is denied OR time

By Katherine Dedyna

January 25, 2009


Katherine Dedyna writes about British Columbians living with gender identity disorder who continue to face expensive surgery and long stays at a private Montreal clinic now that plans for a publicly funded sexual reassignment clinic on the West Coast have collapsed.

- - -

As a tomboyish six-year-old, the little girl would tell kids she didn't know that her name was Sean. She wanted to be a boy; she felt like a boy inside. Growing up, the feeling intensified. She presented an increasingly male facade to the world. She wore men's clothing, kept her hair cropped and took testosterone for years to promote beard growth. Hair also grew on large breasts hidden by a chest binder.

But no more. At 37, Sean Brown is recovered from a double mastectomy on Oct. 28 to remove those breasts and contour a male chest. He finally feels outside the way he feels inside -- masculine in a way he couldn't fully imagine before. "It's absolute relief," he says. And he's able to live his life in ordinary ways that once eluded him: "I went swimming for the first time and got changed in the change room." No hiding required. . . .Read More

Gwen Araujo is ‘A Girl Like Me’ Movie

25 January 2009

By Cathryn Friar

Gwen Araujo was born Eddie Araujo, a transgender teenager who was murdered. Her story was told in a 2006 Lifetime movie called ‘A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story.’ Read more about Gwen’s story below, see a photo, and watch a video.

‘A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story’ is a 2006 biography made-for-tv movie directed by award-winning director Agnieszka Holland and first aired on Lifetime Television.

It’s a really tragic story that documents the real life of Gwen Araujo, who was born Eddie Araujo, Jr., a transgender teenager who was murdered by four men in Newark, California after it was discovered she had male genitalia. Scenes from the ‘A Girl Like Me’ movie depicting the murder trial are shown alternating with the story of Gwen’s life.

The four men who killed Gwen Araujo, two of whom she had been sexually intimate with, beat her for hours then strangled her, dumping her in a remote area in the mountains. Two of the defendants were convicted of second-degree murder, but not convicted on the requested hate crime enhancements. The other two defendants pleaded guilty or no contest to voluntary manslaughter. In at least one of the trials, a ‘trans panic defense’ - an extension of the gay panic defense - was employed. You can go here to read details of what happened to Gwen, written by her mother Sylvia Guerrero. . . .Read More

Nigeria: 'Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill' violates Constitution

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index: AFR 44/001/2009

26 January 2009

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute (NBAHRI) and Nigerian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by the 'Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2008', currently before the Nigerian National Assembly. The Bill would introduce criminal penalties for marriage ceremonies between persons of the same sex as well as for persons witnessing or helping to formalize such a marriage. This is in contravention of the Nigerian Constitution and inconsistent with Nigeria's obligations under international and regional human rights treaties which the country has ratified. We therefore urge the National Assembly not to pass the Bill.

Under Nigeria's criminal code and penal code, consensual same sex conduct between adults is already punishable: chapter 42, section 214 of Nigeria's criminal code provides a sentence of fourteen years' imprisonment for 'carnal knowledge against the order of nature.' . . .Read More

EXCLUSIVE - Interview With Katelynn From The Real World: Brooklyn

Read more at http://glaadblog.org/tag/the-real-world/

As I posted about on Friday, GLAAD was able to sit down with some of the cast members from this season of MTV's The Real World. It's the most LGBT inclusive season to date.

If you missed the first few interviews, you can click here to watch them. And if you missed the first episode, you can visit MTV's website and watch the entire thing along with video dailies from the cast members. The next episode airs this week on Wednesday, January 14th.

Below is our exclusive interview with Katelynn, The Real World's first ever transgender housemate.

It's encouraging to see MTV including a transgender housemate and providing greater visibility and a larger platform for transgender issues. Katelynn worked at the New York City LGBT Center while filming, which we'll hopefully learn more about as the season unfolds.

You can read more information on the cast members from the MTV press release:

Katelynn, 24 - West Palm Beach, FL

Katelynn is a native of West Palm Beach and was raised in a religious Italian household, where she dreamed of being as good of a mother to her children as her own mom has been to her. Yet, this goal seemed unattainable since Katelynn was born male. In high school, she realized that something was missing in her life, and she began the slow transgender process by starting to dress in more feminine clothing. By age 17, she began living as a woman. This past July, Katelynn traveled to Thailand to undergo surgery to complete her transformation. She is a self-proclaimed computer geek and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. After a string of bad relationships, she hopes to one day marry her current boyfriend, Mike.

glaadvideo

New senator from NY named

January 23rd, 2009

— Tammye Nash

Newly-appointed U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York

Reports are that New York Gov. David Paterson has chosen Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. And LGBT rights activists - or at least the ones sending me press releases - are already singing the new senator’s praises.

Here’s the statement from Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle:

“We congratulate Kirsten Gillibrand for being appointed by Gov. Paterson as our new U.S. senator from New York. Finally, the great state of New York has a U.S. senator who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples. . . .Read More

Real World Brooklyn: Transgender goes mainstream

January 23

by Leah Klein

Despite the fact that we didn't have television (no my parents weren't hippies) I am a piece of the MTV generation. This is when MTV played music videos and not much more. Now, 20 years later, I still watch MTV for the occasional show and I haven't seen a music video in years.

I was browsing the channels and came across The Real World, Brooklyn and decided to watch for a while. It was the episode when Katelynn comes out to a member of the house. I now save it on TIVO to follow the story. It is an interesting cast of "characters". The dynamic in the house seems good, but Katelynn seems like she's having a rough time. . . .Read More

HIGH-FLYING BIRD: Antony's luminous new album

by George Varga on January 23, 2009

Few singers anywhere sound as haunting -- or as haunted -- as Antony Hegarty, the brawny-looking, transsexual Irish-American maverick with a wonderfully androgynous voice and a tremulous chamber-pop style all his own.

An outsider who proudly embraces his sense of "otherness," Antony achieved international acclaim with his second album, 2005's "I Am a Bird Now." It featured a series of poignant torch ballads and what were once quaintly called art songs, each impeccably crafted and each infused with a dark, shimmering beauty that made them sound like the work of someone who came from another time and place. . . .Read More

Attagirl: Transsexual Police Officer Nominated Grand Marshal of Pride Parade

By Olivia Flores Alvarez in Spaced City

Jan. 22 2009

The nominees for Grand Marshal of the Pride Parade were announced recently and Houston Police Officer Julia Christina Oliver is among the women named. That couldn't have happened two years ago when Oliver was still a male.

In 2006, Oliver, who had been on the force for more than 25 years, was beginning to make the transition from male to female and had just started hormone therapy. She had plans to tell her superiors, of course, but not just yet.

Those plans were put on fast forward when someone tried to blackmail her.

"I had somebody want $10,000 or they were going to tell the police department. So I went in and told them myself the next day, rather than let somebody blackmail me," Oliver tells Hair Balls. "My captain was very supportive. He made an effort to explain what was going on in my life to the other officers, and we suspect somebody walked out of that meeting and called Channel 2 News. The next morning, 9 o'clock, there they were at my doorstep, I was basically ambushed. In one day, I went from being very quiet and private to being very public about my life - whether I wanted to or not.". . .Read More

EXCLUSIVE - Interview With Ryan & Chet From The Real World: Brooklyn

For more visit: http://glaadblog.org/2009/01/21/exclu...

If you missed our first few interviews with some of the cast members from this season of MTV's The Real World, you can click here to see JD & Scott's interview and click here to see Katelynn's. This season is the most LGBT inclusive Real World to date!

And if you missed the first couple of episodes, you can visit MTV's website and watch them along with video dailies from the cast members.

Below is our exclusive interview with Ryan & Chet, two straight cast members who initially don't seem as open to the LGBT housemates, especially Katelynn, as the other cast members.

Ryan was once in the military and is from a small town in Pennsylvania while Chet is from Salt Lake City, Utah and is Mormon. I ask Ryan about serving with gays in the military and I ask Chet about the role of the Mormon Church in Prop 8 and about attitudes towards LGBT people. Their answers are surprising!

glaadvideo

The Real World: Brooklyn | Cast

12.9.2008

mtv.com

Katelynn from The Real World: Brooklyn, a 24-year-old who is a self-proclaimed computer geek and black belt martial artist. . . .Read More including viewers comments

TRANSNATION 2009: A preview of the trans year to come

Special to the Online Edition of Windy City Times by Jacob Anderson-Minshall 2009-01-21

In a world where stories like Thomas Beatie's pregnancy can capture world-wide attention overnight, it's difficult to foretell what the biggest transgender stories of 2009 will be. But here are a few of the stories—and trans folk—to watch next year. Activism/politics Following our massive, community-wide sigh of relief after the 2008 presidential elections, some of us may think the hard work is over. But there's still plenty to fight for nationally—like ENDA ( the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ) —and locally, as in Gainesville, Fla., where the city council last year authorized transgender individuals to use women's bathrooms in the city's businesses and public facilities. The ruling is at risk during March's elections, when a ballot measure may amend the city charter to eliminate accommodations for transgender individuals. Interested in influencing policy decisions? Drop in our your federal representatives during the National Center for Transgender Equality's 5th Annual Lobby Days in Washington, D.C., April 26-28, 2009. Still in school? Join the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network ( GLSEN ) for a new national day of action Feb. 27. TransAction! is a day for education about and celebration of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. To honor the date, GLSEN encourages students to organize a workshop, panel discussion or similar forum about gender, gender identity and gender roles. . . .Read More

Waiting on the world to change

While others resist, Columbus grants the transgender community an identity

BY STEPH GREEGOR

January 21, 2009

Just two weeks ago, Cynthia Nicole was gunned down in the streets of Honduras—three shots to the chest, one to the head—because she was a transgender human rights activist, according to the Human Rights Watch website. A familiar story, it said, in Nepal, Africa, Guatemala, the United States—well, everywhere it seems, except…Columbus?

While transmen and women across the world face deadly consequences for their condition, widely accepted by clinical psychiatrists to be determined in utero, here in Columbus, our people and laws reflect a uniquely open arms policy toward individuals who feel trapped in the body of the wrong gender. In fact, according to a local psychologist, the U.S. transgender population is flocking to Columbus, seeking solace from a world that would rather destroy, than support, those with gender dysphoria. . . .Read More

Pete Seeger & Bruce Springsteen - "This Land is Your Land" - The Obama Inaugural Celebration Concert

18.1.2009
Bruce Springsteen, with folk legend Pete Seeger, is back to sing Woody Guthrie's, "This Land is Your Land."

IllbebackCall

International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), Announces Plans for Transgender 2009 – the 23rd Annual Conference

International Foundation for Gender Education
Stephanie Battaglino
781.899.2212
info@ifge.org
www.ifge.org
201.704.2996 (cell)


Waltham, MA, January 15, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), in association with the Transgender Education Association (TGEA) of Greater Washington, D.C., is proud to announce the 23rd annual conference to be held at the Hilton Mark Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, February 4 – 8, 2009. “We are very excited to be staging this year’s conference right next door to our nation’s capital at such a pivotal time in our country’s history,” noted Denise Leclair, Executive Director of IFGE. “We believe it is very significant that the entire transgender community will be gathering in the Washington, D.C. area just a mere two weeks after the presidential inauguration,” Leclair continued. “2009 is a critical year for our community in terms of securing the same employment rights and protections enjoyed by the rest of society, and we firmly believe that this year’s conference will create momentum for change that will carry through the rest of the year.”. . .Read More

Meet TS Performer And Star Kimber James

January 16, 2009

by Jeremy Meyer

It was hailed as a first for a major adult talent agency in the industry, when L.A. Direct Models signed its first Transsexual performer; Kimber James.

James who originally hails from Miami Florida, moved here to L.A. from New York, and comes from a typical upbringing, but James says her parents took a long time to adjust to her change.

“My mother always said I was promiscuous, but they still haven’t accepted all of this yet” stated James

James credits Gia Darling as the person who gave her the start in the industry, James worked as Darling’s assistant, and they are still close friends.

James’ first film was “Transsexual Babysitters 4” for Devil Films, and James has a total of ten scenes under her belt to date.

“I’m really excited and very honored to be the first transsexual performer to be signed with L.A. Direct Models” says James “I hope this will break barriers within the adult industry on how the industry perceives transsexuals, and take it more seriously.. . .Read More

Under Which Category of Sport Should a Transgender Surgery Person Compete?

January 17, 2009

by Saraswathi Sirigina


Okay, I am not going to claim any priori or knowledge here, all that I want is honest opinion and debate. I have not googled it nor have I studied any precedents, except one case.

Let's debate on the ethical constraints and if there is any scientific or medical evidence that helps or hurts the case of transsexual rights.

The field of sport to my layperson's knowhow is limited to a gender-based segmentation/categorization.

Be it Track & Field, Tennis, Basketball, or Baseball, it has always two distinct areas of division. You have Men's Tennis/Women's Tennis, Men's Track & Field/Women's Track & Field, etc.

Some of these sports of course, do have mixed sport, where a male participant and a female participant team together and face off against a team of similar combination.

So in this distinct scenario of variant clauses, we come to the case of transgender people or transsexuals or people who have gone through Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS).

SRS is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. (wiki). . .Read More

Composer Angela Morley dies

January 2009 by Patrick Newley

Angela Morley, one of the UK’s leading musical arrangers and composers, has died at the age of 84.

In 1953 she began a long association with Philips Records, arranging for the company’s leading light-entertainment artists, including Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield. She also wrote the theme tunes for Hancock’s Half Hour and was the musical director for The Goon Show. In her later career she scored several US drama series including the top soap Dynasty. . . .Read More

Critique, Opinion, POV: Dr. Phil Show on gender identity disorder - Does reparative therapy fit?

"In this clip, a mother of a transgender boy provides evidence that contradicts the expectations of reparative therapist Joseph Nicolosi. Dr. Nicolosi describes his belief that transgender males are overly enmeshed with their mothers and distant from their fathers or other male figures. Toni, the mother of the transgender boy, says she was not close with her son and that the step-dad was close. Focus on the Family researcher, Glenn Stanton also provides commentary."

Psychvideos

Trans Activist Laura Calvo Chosen as Treasurer for Democratic Party of Oregon

January 13th, 2009

by Stephen Marc Beaudoin

Democratic party booster and outspoken trans activist Laura Calvo has ascended another rung on the Oregon political ladder.

At a Jan. 10 executive committee meeting of the Democratic Party of Oregon, Calvo was chosen as the statewide party’s new Treasurer, a position which puts Calvo in elite company: she is now among only a handful of openly LGBT statewide political party officers across the country.

“It’s a pretty huge role,” Calvo says of her new post, which includes managing campaign finance compliance rules, supporting County party organizations, and fundraising for the state party. “It really gives me a chance to roll up my sleeves and move democratic issues forward. We still have the war in Iraq, healthcare, marriage equality, ENDA, all those things that need to be pushed forward on the national agenda.”. . . .Read More