Transgender : Faith of the Heart

"This film is meant to be encouraging and hopefully inspirational. I know it's been a while since I did a transgender ralated film and I hope this one doesn't disappoint." ericaravenwood

Gender variance is not a disorder

Classifying transgender people as having a mental disability ignores society's intolerant attitudes

by Marisa Christensen

September 15, 2008

In an April 2007 edition of "20/20," viewers were introduced to "gender identity disorder," a medical classification for people who do not exhibit the characteristics that are assigned to their gender. On its Web site, ABC News published an article written by the American Psychological Association entitled "What is Gender Identity Disorder?" providing information on how to detect this disorder in children, adolescents and adults.

According to the APA, an individual who has gender identity disorder displays signs of uneasiness about performing the gender role of his or her sex. The individual cannot be intersex; instead, they must be born in a body that is considered entirely female or male, at least in terms of biology.

Additionally, the individual's desire to identify as a different gender must transcend "any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex." I suppose this means that if I want to dress like a man so that I can earn $1 doing a job that would pay a woman 75 cents, then I'm O.K. But if I feel like doing it for some reason other than privilege, then it's a disorder. . . .Read More

Ruling Inspires New Hope For Transgender People

By Ann E. Marimow

15 September 2008

To Allyson Robinson, it means accompanying her young children to public restrooms in Montgomery County without worrying that someone will call the police.

For Colleen Fay, it brings the hope that the next time she applies for a driver's license she won't be badgered about her previous life as a man.

And for Chloe Schwenke, it means other people like her will be able to enjoy the job security she has found in her international development work in the District.

With the decision by Maryland's highest court last week to block a referendum petition, Montgomery County's law banning discrimination against transgender people takes effect immediately.

The measure, passed by the County Council last year, prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. It was to take effect in February but was put on hold when some religious and conservative groups launched a petition drive. . . .Read More

Transsexual Modelmania

16 September 2008

by Brianna Austin

With all the hype that has been surrounding the lead up to appearance of ISIS, the transgender model that will appear on America’s Next Top Mode season premiere, I couldn’t help wondering what all the excitement was about.

ANTM is bathing in all the media hype, Janice Dickinson is sniping Oh, please, I did it on my show first with Claudia,” (in an interview that appeared on New York Mag.com) and Simon Doonan -- Barney's creative director and author of "Eccentric Glamour" – said he agreed with Dickinson that the world of high fashion might be ready for a transgender model. . . .Read More

Murder's a Drag: A Film

"Who is killing Brisbane's drag queens? A journalist investigates the strange case of serial showgirl murder that has gripped the Queensland capital."  nixfilm

Obama Evolving On Gay Marriage

CARLOS SANTOSCOY  SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

In a new interview published by the Washington Blade, Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama unequivocally stated an Obama-Biden administration would work to advance gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights.

Answering written questions submitted by the Blade, Obama pledged “equality for all.”
In the interview, Obama said he and wife Michelle are “blessed with many openly gay and lesbian friends and colleagues,” crediting an openly gay college professor with broadening his view on gay and lesbian issues.

“A college professor of mine helped me to see the lives of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people from a different perspective. ... And he was just a terrific guy,” Obama said. “His comfort in his own skin and the friendship we developed helped to educate me on a number of these [gay] issues.”. . .Read More

London Transgender Film Festival 2008

September 14, 2008

Since this festival is independently funded we need your support. Thanks to you all for attending the London Transgender Film Festival Fundraiser Sun Aug 24 2008 and helping us raise some well needed funds! at Gasworks 155 Vauxhall Street London SE11 5RH 3pm- 6pm, £5/4. . .Read More

National Survey on Transgender Experiences of Discrimination in the U.S.

14 September 2008

NGLTF

Purpose

You are invited to participate in a research project regarding transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States. Your responses will be part of an important report on transgender people’s experiences of discrimination in housing, employment, health care and education. 

Procedures

You will be asked to complete an online survey. Your participation and responses are confidential. Please answer the questions as openly and honestly as possible. You may skip questions. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Please note that you can choose to withdraw your responses at any time before you submit your answers. The survey results will be submitted directly to a secure server where any computer identification that might identify participants is deleted from the submissions. Comments provided will be analyzed using content analysis and submitted as an appendix to the survey report. Quotes from submitted comments will also be used throughout the report to give “voice” to the quantitative data.

Discomforts and Risks

There are no risks in participating in this research beyond those experienced in everyday life. Some of the questions are personal and might cause discomfort. In the event that any questions asked are disturbing, you may stop responding to the survey at any time. Participants who experience discomfort are encouraged to contact:

The Trevor Project
866-4-U-TREVOR
The Trevor Helpline is the only national crisis and suicide prevention helpline for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth; the Helpline can also help transgender and gender non-conforming adults. The Helpline is a free and confidential service that offers hope and someone to talk to, 24/7. Trained counselors listen and understand without judgment.

Benefits

The results of the survey will be part of an important report on discrimination against transgender people by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to help create better opportunities for transgender and gender non-conforming people. We are grateful to Penn State University’s Center for the Study of Higher Education for hosting the survey and maintaining the integrity of our data.

Statement of Confidentiality

You will not be asked to provide any identifying information, such as your name, and information you provide on the survey will remain confidential. In the event of any publication or presentation resulting from the research, no personally identifiable information will be shared. Your confidentiality will be kept to the degree permitted by the technology used (e.g., IP addresses will be stripped when the survey is submitted). No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the Internet by any third parties. Please also remember that you do not have to answer any question or questions about which you are uncomfortable. 

Voluntary Participation

Participation in this research is voluntary. If you decide to participate, you do not have to answer any questions on the survey that you do not wish to answer. Individuals will not be identified and only group data will be reported (e.g., the analysis will include only aggregate data). By completing the survey, your informed consent will be implied. Please note that you can choose to withdraw your responses at any time before you submit your answers. Refusal to take part in this research study will involve no consequences. . . .Read More

If one of us ain’t free ...

September 14, 2008

By JULIAN C.H. LEE

An anthropologist reports on a very different Merdeka event he attended that dealt with a subject often swept under the carpet: alternative sexualities.

IN August last year, malaysiakini.com reported that a transsexual woman in Malacca had been brutally assaulted, allegedly by state religious officers, who also detained her because she was a man dressed as a woman, and that is an offence.

Sexual identities and behaviours attract a great deal of attention in Malaysia, and those who are seen to fall outside heterosexual norms are the subject of official punishments as well as vigilantism.

And yet, as a presenter at an unusual symposium held during the Merdeka weekend pointed out, alternative sexualities actually have a long history in this region. The crowd-pulling political scientist Dr Farish Noor (from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) hosted a session at which he delivered a lecture entitled From Panji to the Present: A Short History of Sexuality in Malaysia and South-East Asia. . . .Read More

Shedding The Light on Vampires in America (HBO)

(Might this be viewed as a metaphor for LGBT Rights? R.A.)

"Watch an exclusive exposé on the vampires living among us. For more information about True Blood, log onto HBO.com" HBO

'Transvestite toilet' for transgender people

September 10, 2008

by  ANI

A Thai school has added a third option to the standard'boys' and'girls' bathrooms' a 'transvestite toilet'.

The Kampang School unveiled a unisex restroom designated by a human figure split in half' part man in blue and part woman in red with words "Transvestite Toilet" written below, after 200 students said they considered themselves to be transgenger.

Although most rural Thais are conservative in many ways, the initiative at the school reflects Thai society's tolerance for transgender communities. "These students want to be able to go in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped. . .Read More

What Has Sex Got to Do With It, Ex-Man Asks Court: Ann Woolner

11 September 2008

Commentary by Ann Woolner

Bloomberg.com

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- For a manly man, you could do worse than David Schroer, if you will pardon the sexual stereotype.

A full colonel when he retired from the Army in 2004 at the age of 47, Schroer qualified as an Airborne Ranger with 450 parachute jumps and won too many medals to name. He had commanded Special Forces in Haiti and southern Africa.

After the terrorist attacks on the U.S. seven years ago today, he was picked to create and direct a classified, interagency group to track terrorism and plan U.S. responses. He briefed officials up the line to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Schroer seemed a perfect fit when, in retirement, he applied for a job at the Library of Congress analyzing terrorism and international crime for Congress.

His high-powered references praised him and he wowed the Library of Congress interviewers. His qualifications made him ``significantly better'' than the other applicants, Charlotte Preece, the library manager who decided to hire him, told Schroer over lunch in 2004. . . .Read More

Transgender leader Rachel Crandall to receive prestigeous community award

by Jessica Carreras

9/11/2008

Just over ten years ago, Rachel Crandall was married, living as a man and unhappy. Then, she made the choice to be true to herself and lost her marriage, her job, her home and her life. But in the end, she says, she got all her happiness back - and then some.

On Sept. 17, the Michigan Bar Association will celebrate not only everything Crandall has gone through, but everything she has given. That night, she will become one of only two LGBT people - and the only transgender person - to receive the Liberty Bell Award, honoring her work as co-founder and executive director of TransGender Michigan.

The Liberty Bell Award is given to local citizens who have excelled in providing service within the community. It honors non-lawyer citizens who have donated their time and resources to help further the rights of others. They have been given out since 1986, but only once before to an openly gay man - Jeff Montgomery - in 2006.

"What was going was 'Wow,'" Crandall said of hearing that she had been chosen to receive the award. "I mean, it's really quite an award. It's quite prestigious. I was thinking have I really done things to really earn this award." . . .Read More

TransNation: Doubly Triggered

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall | 9/11/2008

Visual artist Georgette Freeman titles her current exhibit, Up From the Depths: Triggered. When I reach the sixty-one-year-old artist by phone in the same 275-square-foot San Francisco apartment she’s resided in for 33 years; she suggests, “We both know the word triggered. Mine was retirement. What was your trigger?”

When Freeman talks about things surfacing and about awareness—and actions—being triggered by significant life events, she’s speaking not only about her transgender identity but also her creative spark.

The duality is ironic because the aptly titled exhibit features Freeman’s collection of stereo card photographs. Captured by a single camera with two lenses set the same distance apart as the human eyes, the black and white stereo photographs offer dual images of the same subject that, when viewed through a stereoscope or special glasses, produce a 3-D image. . . .Read More

The Ballad of Sarah Palin

"The Ballad of Sarah Palin Song Written, Directed, and Performed by Mason Storm
Produced by Warpedcorp."   WarpedCorp

Michelle Obama Stands Up For Transgender "Rights" And Attacks Sarah Palin

9 September 2008

by Mr. Grey Ghost

What to do if you're a liberal elitist suddenly finding your hubby behind in the presidential polls? Speak to the gay elite in sunny California and join the rest of the loony wing in going after Sarah Palin:

Obama then took the podium, and told the crowd how her daughters, Malia and Sasha, met the pop group the Jonas Brothers at the “Ellen” taping. The daughters were not present at either fund raiser.

Obama then moved on to politics, where she first brought up her husband’s vice-presidential choice. “I think it was a really good pick—Senator Joe Biden,” she said, and later added, “People say they have amazing chemistry, and it’s true.”

Obama continued with talk about Biden when she said, “What you learn about Barack from his choice is that he’s not afraid of smart people.” The crowd softly chuckled. . . .Read More

High court blocks transgender referendum

September 8, 2008

by Bailey Quinonez

Staff Writer

Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, blocked a referendum on Tuesday, Sept. 9, that would have led to a vote asking to overturn Montgomery County's transgender anti-discrimination law.

The law, set to have taken effect in February, was blocked after religious and conservative groups petitioned for a referendum. Tuesday's decision by the Court of Appeals reverses a lower court ruling that sided with opponents and puts the law into effect immediately.

The dispute between the supporters and local religious and conservative groups erupted after a unanimous vote by the County Council in November 2007 when County Executive Isiah Leggett signed the bill. Opponents circulated a controversial petition earlier this year for a referendum for November 2008. 

Equality Maryland, a gay and transgender rights group, alleged that the Board of Elections improperly submitted 26,000 signatures and miscalculated the number of signatures needed to bring the law to referendum. . . .Read More

Transgender Dancer's Hard Road to Love

Portraits of Young People in a Changing China

New America Media, Personal voice/Photo essay, Huang Ping - as told to Rian Dundon, Sep 09, 2008 

Editor's Note: As the glamour of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing fades, NAM takes a post-Olympic look at the country and the real lives of people there. Photographer Rian Dundon captured images and crafted intimate portraits of the lives of young Chinese men and women in a changing society. In the third in a series, Dundon profiles 20-year-old Huang Ping, a transgender dancer who worked at Changsha’s first gay bar, the Night Cat, for three years until it was recently shut down.

His coworkers there were mostly gay and transgender migrants—transient performers floating between different bars and clubs throughout the country. Like many gay bars in China, it featured a nightly variety show with acts that ranged from traditional Chinese opera to more explicit striptease. Since homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, it has seen greater acceptance in large cities like Changsha.

CHANGSHA, China—My mother had always wanted a girl, so even as I grew inside her stomach she hoped that I would come out female. When she finally gave birth to me and realized I was a boy she decided to raise me as a girl anyway by dressing me in female clothes. Then, when I turned 2, my parents divorced and the judge gave my mother custody of my brother and sent me to live with my father. My father later married again, and I’ve only met my mom five times since the divorce. I didn’t know my mother’s phone number for a long time, but in the last year I have gotten back in touch with her, and now we talk by phone. . . .Read More

Transgenders Life

"Video on rights issues for TG made at APNSW Trans-Stravaganza workshop in Thailand, 2006." apnsw

Transgender NYC professor warmly received by faculty, students

September 9, 2008

by Nick Langewis 

Students and staff at New York City's Yeshiva University have mixed, but largely positive, reactions to the return of tenured professor Joy Ladin, formerly Jay.

Fulbright scholar, poet and literature professor Ladin was put on indefinite leave after announcing her gender transition in 2006, according to anonymous staff members. After months of debate between rabbis, administrators, Ladin and her lawyers, Ladin was cleared to return. According to staff, the decision was to avoid a legal battle.

"I think it's fabulous and wonderful," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "I don't know of any other religiously conservative university that employs someone trans." . . .Read More