Embrace diversity of transgenders

2009/12/20

NST OnLine

Since the media went to town with Fatine Young's immigration dilemma, questions have arisen on whether our society lacks compassion and kindness when it comes to transgenders. AUDREY VIJAINDREN speaks to experts and religious leaders who believe it's time Malaysians vacate the judgement seat and adopt a more sympathetic approach.

RUDE whistling from passing cars, derogatory name-calling and warding off items that are hurled in their direction are only some of the many things Malaysian transgenders have had to live with for years.

The story of transsexual Fatine Young, 36, who married a British man and is about to be deported to Malaysia for overstaying, is yet another plight of a transgender.

But as the world evolves and society advances, is it time we got off our high horses and started acting more humane? Whether their courage and lifestyle is right or wrong, admirable or sinful, do transgenders deserve less respect and dignity than anyone else?

PT acting executive director and Pink Triangle programme director, Raymond Tai, believes there is much misunderstanding and ignorance among many Malaysians regarding transgenders.

"There is so much misconception on what it means to be a transgender, transsexual, transvestite or gay. Because people do not understand what each term means, there is confusion and a tendency to make moral judgments. . . .Read More

Genderqueer, Gender Querying

Jason talks about exploring gender, growing up as a genderfluid person with a penis, the fun that can be had playing with gender, and being a trans activist.

boccaleone

GenderVision: Transgender in the Workplace

The 10th installment of the cutting-edge video program, GenderVision, dives into employment issues faced by transgender persons. As transgender people work towards fair and equal protection of their right to work, at both state and federal levels, many grapple with the realities of being singled out for mistreatment in the workplace. Ethan St. Pierre, former police officer & security supervisor, and female-to-male transsexual talks about his experience of being harassed and fired simply because of his gender. Alishia Ouelette, firefighter and male-to-female transsexual talks about her experience as a firefighter in Danvers, where she remains on the job after undergoing intense public scrutiny.

NNangeroni

TransFM celebrates "The 13 Days of Christmas"

December 13, 2009

by Matt Kailey


TransFM Internet Broadcasting Network, a “network of voices who share experiences, thoughts and ideas on the topics of gender, sexuality, politics and much more,” will broadcast live during the holiday season with “The 13 Days of Christmas,” beginning Sunday, December 13 and running through December 25. Broadcast hours will be 5 p.m. to midnight EST from December 13-24, and 10 a.m. to midnight EST on December 25.

TransFM founder and creator Ethan St. Pierre says, “We have a wide variety of shows planned, with guests that will surely entertain, intrigue, and provoke emotion. We realize that the holiday season can be a lonely time for people in our community, and we would like to bring you friendly voices from people who care about our community and care about you. We will have our phone lines open 24/7 during our holiday broadcasts for those who wish to join in the conversation either on or off the air. Please give us a call at 978-518-1835.” . . .Read More

Jenny Jones chooses Houston TG Center for 'Jenny's Heroes' grant

December 9, 2009

by Matt Kailey


Talk show host Jenny Jones surprised Cristan Williams, director of Houston’s Transgender Foundation of America (TFA), on December 7 with a phone call informing Williams that she had been chosen as a “Hometown Hero.”

Williams applied to receive a “Jenny’s Heroes” grant of $5,000 to purchase trans-related books for the Foundation’s TG Center library and was chosen from thousands of applicants to receive the money. . . .Read More

Gender-reassigned face health hurdles: study

December 12, 2009

by Stuart Roberts

This year 60 people have applied to change their sex in Sweden. Most gender-reassigned people achieve a better life through their surgery, but a new study shows that the risk of attempted suicide and psychological problems remains high, Dagens Nyheter reports.

“For most transsexual people, their life improves, but it’s not easy immediately after the operation,” Cecilia Dhejne, a scientist and doctor at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, told the newspaper.

Her study shows that transsexuals have a five times higher risk of being treated for attempted suicide compared to a control group. They also receive psychiatric care three times more frequently than others, the study, which has not yet been published, reveals. . . .Read More

New discovery: gene keeps ovaries from turning into testes

December 11, 2009

by Matt Kailey


British and German scientists believe they have discovered a gene that maintains the function of the ovaries, according to the UK's Daily Mail.

When the gene was switched off in adult female mice, another gene became active, literally changing ovarian cells to those found in testes, which also led to the production of testosterone in the mice.

Scientists say that this could have implications for delaying menopause — and motherhood. In addition, it could have implications for transsexual people as far as manipulating the hormones that the body is able to naturally produce.

The article says that it could eliminate the need for some surgeries for transsexual people, although it does not really explain how. It’s possible that ovaries could be turned into testes that produced testosterone for female-to-male trans people. . . .Read More

Fatine remains resilient

"I will never leave Ian….for only death can tear us apart"

by Joe Lee

December 14, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: Fatine Young has not said much to the Malaysian media after the story of his immigration woes were picked up by local news agencies two weeks ago.

Many parties have chastised Fatine, a pre-op transsexual whose real name is Mohammed Fazdil Min Bahari.

The 36-year-old has been living in Spondon, Derby with his partner Ian Young, 30, since December last year.

After they met in Kuala Lumpur, Fatine had gone to England on a six-month tourist visa. It quickly became obvious to the couple that long-term arrangements would have to be made. Ian proposed to Fatine, and they applied to the Home Office to marry and subsequently had a civil ceremony in June at the Derby Register Office.

Since then, Fatine had twice applied for a visa to remain permanently in England but has been turned down by British government officials.

Now, he is hoping it will be third time lucky after sending another application, this time appealing to stay under the Human Rights Act and the right to a family life. . . .Read More

transsexuality and the college

Star Jones show presents an interesting interview with a couple of transgender people, in wich they talked about their experiences in the college when they decided to go there, with their real personality.

laucristina

The Sissy Show: I'm Just A Cowboy Transvestite

Created in 2003 by Christine Howey and Katherine Harvey, The Sissy Show is a musical revue that provides a humorous and bittersweet exploration of the personal and social joys and sorrows of people whose bodies and lives do not quite match their internal sense of their gender. The show features 25 songs done in a variety of musical styles ranging from pop, rock, R&B, and hip hop to Gilbert & Sullivan, cowboy songs, jazz ballads and salsa. The songs deal with the many unusual occurrences- from the comical to the tragic- in the lives of male-to-female transgender people.

I bought the soundtrack right before the website disappeared off the Internet, but I think it's a tragedy that nobody knows about this awesome musical, so I'd like to share its amazing songs with the rest of the world. If the owners of the material have any objection to it being here on Youtube, by all means, contact me and I will happily take it down.

I'm just a cowboy transvestite
Out on the range all alone
I'll sing you my song
And then I'll move on
In my high heels and eau de cologne.

I first knew there was something different
When I couldn't quite wrestle a calf
But I could braid hair, sew a quilt and prepare muskrat stew
In ten minutes flat. . . .Read More

cand86

Vatican rebuke for cardinal over anti-gay comments

December 4, 2009

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

IN A most unusual move, senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi this week distanced the Holy See from highly controversial, anti-gay and anti-transsexual comments made by retired Vatican curia figure Cardinal Javier Barragán from Mexico.

In comments carried by the Italian news website Pontifex News, Cardinal Barragán, former president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Workers, said: “Transsexuals and homosexuals will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it’s not me who says it but St Paul. People are not born homosexual, rather they become homosexual and for different reasons – education issues or because they did not develop their own identity during adolescence. It may not be their fault, but acting against nature and the dignity of the human body is an insult to God.” . . .Read More

Live and let live

December 6, 2009

Sharing The Nation by ZAINAH ANWAR

Iran allows Muslim transsexuals to undergo sex reassignment surgery and the government even pays for it. Malaysia, Egypt and other Muslim countries allow such surgery for Muslims only if they are born with sexual organs of both male and female.

The story of Fatine, the 36-year-old transsexual married to a British man and about to be deported to Malaysia for overstaying, once again brings to light the intense discrimination that transgender people suffer in Malay­sia.

If I were Fatine, I too would be worried for my safety and well-being upon returning to Malaysia. The prospect of life here would be grim after all the publicity.

The Director-General of Immigration has accused her of “having brought great shame” to Malaysia and threatened her with a travel ban, depending on the severity of her case. And she could also be charged for cross- dressing under the Syariah Criminal Offences Act and be fined and/or imprisoned. . . .Read More

Japan transsexual queen wants her country more tolerant

(AFP)

December 4, 2009

TOKYO — Japanese TV personality Ai Haruna said she wants her country to be more tolerant toward people of diverse sexual orientations, a month after she was crowned the world's most beautiful transsexual.

Haruna, 37, already a household name in Japan, was chosen Miss International Queen 2009 at a pageant in Thailand last month after judges picked her over runners-up from the host country and Brazil.

"I was surprised to see many transgender people work at hotels and restaurants with no problem in Thailand," she said at a Tokyo press conference.

"Japan can learn many things from other Asian nations like Thailand and the Philippines." . . .Read More

In a 21-0 vote, Cleveland passes protections for transgender people

December 4, 2009

by Eric Resnick


Cleveland--By a unanimous vote, City Council passed an ordinance protecting transgender citizens from employment and housing discrimination by gender identity or expression on November 30.

The measure updated the city’s existing equal rights code, which already includes sexual orientation.

The same evening, councils in Akron and Summit County passed human rights ordinances that include both sexual orientation and gender identity (see stories).

With the new measures, all of Ohio’s six largest cities now have such ordinances. Eleven more in smaller towns mean that a fifth of the state’s population is covered by an LGBT anti-bias measure. (No state or federal equality law provides any protection, although a measure passed by the Ohio House now awaits Senate action.) . . .Read More

Looking Back: For some, shadow of regret cast over gender switch

2/26/2009

By Steve Friess, special for USA TODAY

The day Mike Penner left the Los Angeles Times made the news. The longtime sportswriter wrote the article himself, a personal essay explaining that he was taking some time off and, upon his return, he would be known from then on as Christine Daniels.

Penner's public acknowledgment in April 2007 that he was transgender and would soon live as a woman shocked the world of sports journalism and turned his new identity, Daniels, into an instant celebrity. Daniels gave speeches, was profiled in Sports Illustrated, collected honors for courage from transgender groups and wrote a blog for the Times titled "Woman In Progress."

Except that the transition didn't last. In mid-October 2008, after a lengthy leave of absence, Penner, 51, returned to the sports pages and the Times newsroom as a man.

And just as suddenly, Penner's story, heralded in its early days as a triumphant example of transgender progress, has instead become a cautionary tale of the lesser-known phenomenon: transgender regret. . . .Read More

Looking Back: About The "Real Life Experience" and Detransitioning

by Autumn Sandeen

Oct 24, 2008


[Note: LenaD has a related diary entitled The road not taken on the same subject as this diary, but with a somewhat different take. ~~Autumn~~]

Some days I hate my job at Pam's House Blend, and this is definitely one of those days. I really need to explain what the Real Life Experience [(RLE) -- also referred to as the Real Life Test (RLT)] is and why some transsexuals detransition...And, this is because the person I met as Christine Daniels is apparently detransitioning (also called retransitioning) to Mike Penner.

Basically, I need to separate the personal from the professional when discussing how detransitioning fits into transsexual experience -- a sometime component of transitioning sexes -- and yet on the very personal level I wish it weren't at the impetus of someone I've known and care deeply about that's leading me to discuss the subject.

But life is what it is. . . .Read More

Looking Back: Interview with Christine Daniels on NPR

Sportswriter Embarks On New Life As A Woman

August 15, 2007

Three months ago, Mike Penner was a longtime sports columnist for The Los Angeles Times. Then he wrote a dramatic goodbye column and disappeared for several weeks.

"I am a transsexual sportswriter," Penner wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them." . . .Read More and Listen

My Transgender Story

A process of self-discovery and self-acceptance

sillyyetsuccinct

Mike Penner dies at 52; Los Angeles Times sportswriter

Penner had been a columnist and covered the Olympics, the Angels, World Cup soccer, tennis and sports media for The Times. In 2007, he announced that he was a transsexual.

by Keith Thursby

29 November 2009


Mike Penner, a longtime Los Angeles Times sportswriter who made headlines in 2007 when he announced that he was transsexual, has died. He was 52.

Penner was pronounced dead Friday evening at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said.

The cause of death has not been determined but was believed to be suicide.

"Mike was a first-rate journalist, a valued member of our staff for 25 years, and we will miss him," Times Editor Russ Stanton said. "He respected our readers a great deal, enough to share with them his very personal journey. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." . . .Read More

Should State Pay for Convict's Sex Change?

Transgender Massachusetts Convict Presses Cash-Strapped Government for Electrolysis

by ANNE-MARIE DORNING
November 27, 2009


A Massachusetts inmate recently lost a bid for state-funded electrolysis treatments. But the prisoner, who has changed names from Robert to Michelle Kosilek, is still pursuing his case to have the state of Massachusetts pay for a sex-change operation in order to complete a gender transformation that started almost 20 years ago.

That puts Kosilek squarely in the middle of a debate over just what kind of medical care prisoners are entitled to, especially in an era of strained state budgets.

When Cheryl Kosilek's strangled body was found dumped in the back seat of a car in 1990, focus immediately turned to her husband Robert. Robert Kosilek had fled the state but was arrested in upstate New York and eventually returned to face charges in his wife's murder. . . .Read More