Pregnant Man!

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Bloggers Weigh in on Transgendered Pregnant Man

By Ross von Metzke and Ann Turner

3.26.2008

Thomas Beatie, a transgendered man from Portland, Oregon who revealed he is pregnant in the latest issue of The Advocate, is five months along according to various reports.

Now the story, which spread like wildfire on the Web yesterday following its appearance in the latest issue of the LGBT news magazine, is prompting mass discussion among bloggers.

Beatie, who transitioned from female to male, decided not to remove his reproductive organs and stopped taking testosterone injections. Upon learning his wife, Nancy, couldn't carry a child, he tried. Now, Beatie and his wife are expecting a baby girl in July.

Beatie claims he's faced discrimination from doctors and hospitals, and now blogs are weighing in on the topic.

GaySocialites.com writes: "I was even more shocked at how upset people were to find out that Beatie was born a woman. In a strange-sort-of-way, everyone seemed to want Beatie to defy the laws of anatomy by getting pregnant as a man." . . .Read More

Gays, transgenders explore meaning of sex

Laura Clark

3.26.2008


Sitting on the edge of the stage in the Center Theater last night, Sarah Perlmutter defined gender and sex as two different words.

"A person's sex is what they were born as, but a person's gender is the sex that feels more natural to them," said Perlmutter, a sociology sophomore.

Perlmutter, along with several other UK students, led a discussion titled, "In My Shoes: Stories of Our Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Ally Campus and Community." The discussion was part of the Diversity Dialogues series sponsored by Student Diversity Engagement and the Division of Student Affairs.

The event aimed to raise awareness of harassment toward gay and transgender people, and to allow the panel to share their experiences and answer questions about discrimination.

The main point of the discussion was to educate those who may not understand some of the issues gay and transgender students have to deal with, which is why international studies sophomore Danielle Cole attended. . . .Read More

City's shelters to get standards of care

by Seth Hemmelgarn

March 27, 2008

After years of input by homeless shelter clients, operators, and homeless advocates, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 Tuesday, March 25 to adopt a set of standards of care for homeless shelters. Supervisors Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd voted against the measure.

The standards, introduced to the board and sponsored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, address everything from training staff members on how to be sensitive to LGBT issues to making sure bathrooms are stocked with toilet paper.

Ammiano said he's "very proud" of the legislation's passage. He said Mayor Gavin Newsom is supportive of the legislation and implementation should begin "just about immediately." Newsom's office did not provide a comment by press time.

Quintin Mecke of San Francisco's Shelter Monitoring Committee, the group largely responsible for developing the standards, told the Bay Area Reporter the guidelines will hopefully "make a difference in the everyday experience people have in the shelter system."

Mecke, who ran unsuccessfully against Newsom in last year's mayoral race, said that staying in the shelters can be particularly hard for transgender people. He said there have been several cases where staff have told transgender people they need to provide a doctor's note to prove their gender when the person requests a female bunk. He referred to this burden of proof as "humiliating" and "unnecessary." . . .Read More

The Evolution of Transgender Media Coverage

March 28, 2008

(Independent press, Media criticism) Permanent link

The transgender narrative is well known, thanks to films like Boys Don’t Cry and Transamerica. But the problem, as Extra! reports in an analysis of transgender coverage over the past few years, is the idea that a single “transgender narrative” exists.

The narrative is by now quite familiar: A somewhat prominent white, middle-to-upper-class man comes out as a transgender woman, her long history of feeling “trapped in the wrong body” is detailed, and her struggles and surgeries are documented, as are the struggles of those around her to understand and embrace her change.

The Extra! report also seizes upon another shortcoming of media attention: that many reporters and television reporters obsess over a person’s “genital status,” reducing their transgender guests to sideshow surgical curiosities. Larry King is a notable perpetrator of such invasive questions—because, he explained to one guest, “we’re all fascinated with what happens.” . . .Read More