First Transgendered Mayor

CatholicNationalist

Tasmanian take on transgender issues

May 12, 2009

by Şafak Timur


ISTANBUL -They are often in the media when they are arrested for prostitution, beaten by a client or police, or worst of all when they are victims of a hate crime. But this time transgender people living in Istanbul are on camera to talk about themselves and their lives to an independent filmmaker from Australia’s Tasmania.

"I just saw two transvestites waiting in the street near two police who were heavily armed standing in front of a police station," said Julien Poulson as he told the Hürriyet Dailiy News & Economic Review about one of the many moments that impressed and inspired him to make a documentary about the transgender community in Istanbul.

Born to a family with Irish roots who were deported to Tasmania Island by Britain, Poulson is familiar with Turkey through his ancestors as well, who battled against Ottoman armies at Gallipoli. Poulson said he would like to see "what is under the carpet" rather than just the nice palaces in the city like a tourist. He said he first encountered the transgender community "accidentally."

"We were sitting in a café in Taksim when an acquaintance asked me whether I had seen the transvestite’s street in Taksim and I went to see," he said. There are places in cities where nightclubs in one area make a "red light district," but Istanbul’s transvestite street is not like that, Poulson said. "It is just an ordinary street with a couple of buildings and people from the windows calling out [for clients]," he said. . . .Read More

Is My Marriage Gay?

By JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN

May 11, 2009

Belgrade Lakes, ME

AS many Americans know, last week Gov. John Baldacci of Maine signed a law that made this state the fifth in the nation to legalize gay marriage. It’s worth pointing out, however, that there were some legal same-sex marriages in Maine already, just as there probably are in all 50 states. These are marriages in which at least one member of the couple has changed genders since the wedding.

I’m in such a marriage myself and, quite frankly, my spouse and I forget most of the time that there is anything particularly unique about our family, even if we are — what is the phrase? — “differently married.”

Deirdre Finney and I were wed in 1988 at the National Cathedral in Washington. In 2000, I started the long and complex process of changing from male to female. Deedie stood by me, deciding that her life was better with me than without me. Maybe she was crazy for doing so; lots of people have generously offered her this unsolicited opinion over the years. But what she would tell you, were you to ask, is that the things that she loved in me have mostly remained the same, and that our marriage, in the end, is about a lot more than what genders we are, or were. . . .Read More

Texting Trolley Driver Is Transgendered Male

Driver Tied to Boston Crash Cited Transgender Status Before Hiring

by Michele McPhee

BOSTON, May 11, 2009


The Boston-area transit authority trolley driver who allegedly slammed into another train while text-messaging his girlfriend Friday was hired as a minority because of his transgendered "female-to-male" status and had three speeding tickets on his driving record in recent years, ABC News has learned. . . .Read More

Gender change 'priceless'

Local transsexual woman beginning PhD on the topic

By ALYSSA NOEL, SUN MEDIA

May 11, 2009


The approximate cost of surgery to transition from a man to a woman? Around $20,000.

The cost for a woman to become a man? Roughly $80,000.

The peace of mind that comes after years of hoping, dreaming and planning to make the gender you feel match the sex you are? Priceless, according to Carol Allan, a local transsexual woman who made her transition nearly two decades ago and is now beginning a PhD on the topic.

Transsexual people, both pre- and post-surgery, have been in the media across Alberta since the provincial government announced in April that it would no longer fund sexual reassignment surgery.

But while Allan fully disagrees with that move, she says transsexuals have been portrayed as needy people lapping up welfare money, unable to stand on their own feet.

Transsexual people, like the rest of the residents in the province, run the gamut when it comes to socio-economic status, she said. And it's the ones at the bottom of that heap that she's worried will suffer from the slashed health-care spending. . . .Read More

Sex vs Gender (for Joan)

Transgender speech for Joan's class.

REELworldDorchestah

Fierce and Fabulous

5/6/2009

Lee Ann Cox

Some have tattoos to look tough or hip. But the large one peeking from Owen Daniel-McCarter's sleeve is sweet. It depicts a childhood memory of flying a kite with his beloved grandfather, who was gay. The idyllic scene is as you'd expect, except Daniel-McCarter '04 is wearing a dress.

The dress is a universally understood symbol of the sex he was assigned at birth, but Daniel-McCarter now identifies more closely as male than female. It can be a confusing concept for the uninitiated, but a couple hours with this charismatic "trans-identified" activist attorney — transgender, translucent, transgressive — and you may be the one transformed, with a new way of seeing, a new empathy, a new scrutiny of both self and systems that determine how justice is meted out.

It begins with a crucial understanding. Gender (the social construct that defines what's masculine and feminine, separate from anatomical sex) can be as fluid as conversation, with moments of laughter and intensity, sadness and joy. . . .Read More

Unemployed straight guys attend transgender job fair

by Ashley Harrell

5/5/2009


When the man who had always been a man walked in, well, that was a little strange. After all, this was registration for the fifth annual Transgender Job Fair at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center last week. The point was to help connect transgender folks — who have a difficult time finding work, even in a thriving economy — with savvy, sensitive employers.

And although there were no hard and fast rules about attendees being gender-bending, it seemed pretty ballsy for a man who had always been a man and who identified as one to show up at the fair. He was in jeans and a buzz cut, and exuded regular-guyness. "What do I have to do?" he asked volunteer Sherilyn Connelly.

Connelly was also there to find work, as she was recently laid off from her job as a Web producer at Cubik Media. She made her male-to-female transition in 1999, and is fabulously distinctive with her darkly lined eyes and orange-, purple-, and platinum-dreadlocked hairdo, which she has affectionately dubbed "the Squid." . . .Read More

Austrian court strikes down transsexual surgery law

by Rex Wockner

5/7/2009


Austria's Administrative High Court has struck down a law that blocked recognition of male-to-female transsexuals' new gender unless an individual's penis had been removed. . . .Read More

Teenage girl who wants to be a boy wins right to have breasts removed

6 May 2009

News-Medical.Net

Reports than a teenage Australian girl has won the right in court to have both breasts surgically removed, have made the headlines around the world and evoked some very strong criticism.

The 17-year-old, known as Alex in court and referred to as a boy, was born female but lives as a male, has a psychological condition that makes him/her unhappy with his/her gender.

The Family Court in Melbourne has decided that the removal of both breasts would help Alex to build a new life as a boy but the decision has evoked anger from many who say it is irresponsible.

According to reports Alex has "gender identity dysphoria", a psychological condition where a person believes they are the opposite sex and has been on hormone treatment since he was 13 to prevent menstruation.

Alex apparently applied to the court for a double mastectomy before he turned 18 - the age at which he would not need the court's consent and which he would no longer receive social support services as a minor.

Family Court chief justice Diana Bryant says Alex lives life as a male, was socially constrained by the breasts, avoided being hugged and wore binding at the beach and the breasts were an impediment to his social development, which everyone thought was very important.

Judge Bryant was quoted as saying that the evidence 'overwhelmingly' showed, that it was in his best interests and the order was made quickly so that he could have the operation straight away. . . .Read More

3x ftm

This is a story of 3 Korean FTMs (Female Toward Male) who struggle
to have their true lives.

Synopsis:

This documentary portrays the diversity within FTM transgenders
in South Korea through the experiences and life of three
FTMs.

Each individual has different processes of identification
and diverse reasons why he wants to be an FTM, or has no other
choice but to undergo FTM surgery: H has always wanted to be a
man with physical power and tough behaviour from his childhood;
K has been always confused with who he is, ever uncomfortable
with and unfit for any gender role and only recently found who he
has been since learning about transgender; finally, J, who met a
girlfriend at a lesbian community, decided to be a man for a better
career and to satisfy his girlfriends demands.

This documentary also tries to encourage each of them to affirm
their sexuality over the binarism of gender which is clearly divided
into male and female. For non-transgendered individuals, it can be
an opportunity to discover and expand their own perceptions of
diverse sexuality.

newasiafilmfestival

Sex change Army hero Jan to become Scotland's first 'transgender' police officer

By Miles Goslett

May 2, 2009

A paratrooper who underwent a sex-change operation has been accepted by the police as a trainee woman constable.

Jan Hamilton, formerly Captain Ian Hamilton, quit the Army in 2007 after 20 years’ decorated service and embarked on a full gender reassignment programme.

Now living in Glasgow, she has been accepted by Strathclyde Police to begin two years’ probationary training, making her Scotland’s first transgender police officer.

A source said that Miss Hamilton, 44, had ‘sailed through’ the initial six-month selection process: ‘Jan Hamilton scored highly in the written tests and had no problem with the fitness tests.

'She completed the mile-and-a-half run in about 11 minutes, even though women are allowed to take up to 16.’ . . .Read More

'Etiquette guide' for Thai monks

April 27, 2009

BBC News

A Buddhist preacher in Thailand has announced plans for new guidelines aimed at curbing the flamboyant behaviour of gay and transgender monks.

The "good manners" curriculum - the country's first - is being introduced in the northern province of Chiang Rai.

The senior monk told the BBC he was particularly concerned by effeminate activities among novices such as the wearing of make-up and tight robes.

More than 90% of the Thai population are followers of Buddhism. . . .Read More

Margaret Cho geared up for 'Dead'

4 May 2009

By Lisa Respers France


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Comedienne Margaret Cho knows a great deal about Hollywood's obsession with body image.

The once-zaftig actress is co-starring in a new series for Lifetime titled "Drop Dead Diva" about a brilliant plus-size attorney who finds her body inhabited by the soul of a shallow wannabe model.

The Sony Pictures Television-produced show debuts July 12 and stars Broadway actress Brooke Elliott as lawyer Jane Bingum.

Cho plays Bingum's gal Friday, Terri, and it's a more serious role than fans might expect of Cho, known for her irreverent, and often political, humor.

She recently spoke with CNN about her new project, how President Obama helped inspire her upcoming music album (seriously, she really does have a music album coming out) and why some folks in the gay community are a little peeved with her.

CNN: What drew you to this particular character in "Drop Dead Diva"?

Margaret Cho: I thought, what a wonderful part. To me, it's kind of like Moneypenny in James Bond. [My character] gives Jane all of her assignments and gets her on track with this amnesia story that she gives her. . . .Read More

A Transgender Story: From Barry To Bailey

This is my transgender video

BarberJJr

Transgender world sees hope

"I think we're making significant progress regarding basic understanding."

By Karen Auge
The Denver Post

4/28/2009

The redhead in the brown T-shirt and strappy sandals doesn't want to give her name because at work — she's a mechanic — they think she's a guy.

Which, technically, she is. Straddling the gulf between what she has outside and what she is inside requires a juggling act whose toll is evident in the coins that jangle in her hands, in the crossed leg that never stops swinging.

Julie is fidgety too. In seven days, she'll board a plane for Philadelphia, where she'll be wheeled into an operating room and emerge a new person.

But no one at this Tuesday-night "in transition" support group is more anxious than the youngster of the gathering, the college student with a habit of pulling one sleeve over her fist. She's afraid because of what happened to Angie Zapata. . . .Read More

Bill addresses transgender inmates in Calif.

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer

4.28.2009


SACRAMENTO—The state Assembly will consider a bill as early as Thursday that would require state prison officials to take inmates' sexual preference and gender identity into account when they make housing decisions.

The bill by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is supported by gay rights groups that cite studies showing that homosexual, bisexual or transgender inmates are more vulnerable to abuse. It has cleared two committees with little opposition.

Currently, state law requires officials to consider factors such as age, criminal history and mental health in deciding where to house inmates. The department's policy is to classify inmates based on their physical gender, regardless of how they identify themselves.

Just one inmate who was born a male is housed in a California women's prison because she is the only inmate known to have undergone a sex change operation, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California does not pay for inmates' sex change operations, but Thornton said the inmate was altered while serving a previous sentence in Texas. . . .Read More

Transgender Woman Awarded Almost $500,000

29 April 2009

By Neal Broverman

After being denied a job at the Library of Congress because she was transitioning from male to female, Diane Schroer has been awarded the maximum compensation for the discrimination she suffered.

Schroer was awarded $491,190 for back pay, emotional suffering, and out-of-pocket expenses, announced the American Civil Liberties Union -- which represented Schroer in her sex discrimination case -- on Wednesday. . . .Read More

Fluid Borders

Film project for my Gender and Performance Studies class. Interview with a transgender friend.

skamhi

When a staffer switches genders

Coping with major changes can flummox a workplace, but you can protect your bottom line and your employees by promoting tolerance and respect.

By Malika Zouhali-Worrall

April 27, 2009


(Fortune Small Business) -- Tony Ferraiolo will never forget his first day back at work after surgery. The 46-year-old supervisor's knees trembled as he entered the windowless headquarters of Madison Co., a switch and sensor manufacturer in Branford, Conn.

Under the curious gaze of his colleagues, Ferraiolo crossed the plant floor and settled into his office. A few minutes later, Madison owner and president Steve Schickler walked in and sat down. "So you're a 'he' now, right?" Schickler asked. Ferraiolo nodded. "Good enough," Schickler said briskly. "I'll let the managers know."

For Schickler, 50, there was no question about what would happen next. Ferraiolo would continue to supervise more than half of the plant's 50 employees. Life would go on as before, with one small difference: Ferraiolo would no longer use the ladies' room. . . .Read More