Israel's Dana International singing Diva in winning Eurovision song contest.

Nick offers some observations from about 12 years on testosterone.

Christine Daniels blog

Christine Daniels is a veteran sportswriter who has worked at the Los Angeles Times for 23 years -- as Mike Penner. Christine shocked many readers on April 27, 2007, when she announced her decision to change gender. She will be blogging about her transition over the days to come.

Click on the post title above to access her LA Times blog.

Transgender status unlikely to derail Stanton

The Sarasota manager job will go to the most qualified candidate, leaders say. Their top pick and a runnerup will be announced Wednesday.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published May 29, 2007

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SARASOTA - Here are three factors that probably will help determine whether Susan Stanton becomes Sarasota's next city manager:

Communication skills, budget know-how and experience as a city manager in Florida.

And here's one that people who know Sarasota well expect to play a lesser role - if any - in the decision:

Stanton's transgender status.

"If Susan is not selected, it is because there's another candidate that is more qualified, " said former Sarasota City Commissioner Mary Anne Servian, who met Stanton two years ago and encouraged her to apply for the job.

It would not be, she said, "because they lack the courage to select Susan if she's the best." . . .

India: Transgenders in Tamil Nadu get more than government help

While the state has banned discrimination against transsexuals, two agencies are offering free courses

Abhinav Ramnarayan

Chennai: Seven years ago, 27-year-old Gopal Gopinath walked out of the jewellery store where he worked, unable to bear the lampooning and the mistrust directed at him by his employer.

“I had pierced my ears, and I had grown my hair long, like a woman—and the way I walked and spoke was feminine,” Gopal explained.

No employer he ever worked for quite let Gopal be—whether it was in the jewellery store where he first took up a job, or in a shoe factory, where he endured misery for seven years.

Finally, tired of the posturing, Gopal renamed himself—or rather, herself—Gomathi, and joined the Thamilnadu Aravanigal Association (Thaa), a body run by transgenders that aims to uplift their community in the state.

The association spells its name thus because the acronym Thaa means ‘give’ in Tamil.

“My dream is to have a nine-to-five job in any field, in any capacity,” she says.

What she also means is a job with dignity.

Two agencies, the Stenographers’ Guild and the government-run Women’s Development Corporation, have stepped in to offer free vocational courses in basic computing and hand embroidery for the transgender community—hoping to do just that.

Gomathi took up the course in basic computing, which includes training in spoken English and other interpersonal skills, with the aim to make it possible for transgenders to take up secretarial positions, says Stenographers’ Guild president S.V. Ramasamy.

Ramasamy himself is a product of the guild, after which he joined Indian Bank where he eventually became a senior manager. After retiring two years ago, he has devoted himself to the association that first gave him a leg-up.

The vocational course for transgenders is his brainchild, and the first batch of 10 students, including Gomathi, has just completed the course. The second batch is about to begin. . . .

United Methodist pastor speaks of transgender experience

May. 25, 2007

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

A transgender United Methodist pastor has shared his story with other members of the denomination's Baltimore-Washington Conference in the hopes of promoting a broader discussion about gender identity.

The Rev. Drew Phoenix - formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon - spoke at both a closed clergy session and a general plenary session on May 24 during the annual conference meeting at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. He is pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore.

"I was very grateful for the opportunity to be able to share my story and who I am," Phoenix told United Methodist News Service in a phone interview following those sessions. "I was very pleased at the number of people who were very honest in their reflections and questions."

He said he has been undergoing medical procedures for the transition from female to male during the past year, with "a great team of medical people who helped me think it out."

In his statement to the plenary session, the 48-year-old pastor explained that "last fall, after a lifelong spiritual journey, and years of prayer and discernment, I decided to change my name from Ann Gordon to Drew Phoenix in order to reflect my true gender identity and to honor my spiritual transformation and relationship with God."

By sharing the story of his spiritual journey and relationship with God, Phoenix said he hoped the conference participants "will commit ourselves to becoming educated about the complexity of gender and gender identity and open ourselves to those in our congregations who identify as transgender."

Phoenix, who was ordained in 1989 and previously served in the Bethesda area, said he joined the ministry because of "a calling to be in service to folk who are oppressed, who are poor, who are excluded, who are marginalized."

Although he was named Ann and declared a girl, Phoenix said he always felt he was male and had trouble understanding "the disconnect I was experiencing between my physical, external self and my internal, spiritual self."

"Fortunately, today, God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body into alignment with my true gender," he told the plenary session. . . .