Looking Back: Tula Interviewed, Part 2

"Caroline Cossey also known as Tula, a transitioned woman, author and actress in part 2 interview on the Donahue Show 1991."

View video here.

Human Rights Campaign Releases Statement on McCain Comments Against Same-Sex Adoption

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2008

CONTACT: Human Rights Campaign
Brad Luna 202/216.1514 Cell: 202/812.8140
Trevor Thomas 202/216.1547 Cell: 202/250.9758

Comments show McCain is out of touch with today’s leading child welfare organizations

WASHINGTON - July 15 - The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, issued the following statement today after Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, told the New York Times he remains opposed to adoption by same-sex couples implying that he is opposed to single-parent adoption as well. In the interview, published Sunday, July 13, McCain said, “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.” “McCain’s comments on adoption show a disturbing disregard for the reality that thousands of children and youth face -- the possibility of never having a permanent, loving home,” said Ellen Kahn, director of the HRC Foundation’s Family Project. “Leading child welfare organizations in the U.S. concur that there is no reason to prevent gay and lesbian people from raising children, and the child welfare professionals who are mandated to find the best possible families for children in need recognize that every potential loving parent, whether single or married, gay or straight, is a valuable resource for children who are in need of a permanent family. It is an insult to these professionals and the children whom they represent to suggest that the door should be closed to people other than a “traditional” married couple. It is also an insult to the thousands of children being raised by lesbian and gay parents, and who are thriving and contributing positively to their communities.” . . .Read More

Critique, POV, Opinion: Boys Will Be Girls?

Catholic Therapists Help Kids Overcome ‘Transgender’ Issues


BY CELESTE McGOVERN
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT

July 6-12, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — When “Ben Carson” was 3 years old, his favorite color was pink and his best friend at nursery school was a girl. He drew flowers and he loved Snow White.

His parents noticed differences between him and other boys and they started to recall with concern the little things he had done since he was a toddler — such as wandering around the house wearing a towel robe like a dress.

“Then one evening when he was 4 years old, I was putting him into bed and he said, ‘I really don’t want to grow up,” recalled his father, a government worker in Philadelphia who requested anonymity to protect his son. “And he said, ‘I really wish I was a girl.’ Something clicked. I just knew something was really wrong with my son. He was depressed and just not happy with who he was.”

If young Ben lived in Massachusetts, he could be a candidate for “gender reassignment” treatment at a children’s hospital there that recently opened a controversial clinic that allows young children to select their own gender and treats them with hormones. Hearings that began June 26 at the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee show just how accepted gender reassignment has become. Democrats on the committee want to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against adults who change their gender. . . .Read More

Questioning Athletic Gender Norms

Women's Sports Foundation - 2008

Jess Ream, a student at Mount Holyoke College, spoke with It Takes A Team! about being a transgender college athlete. Jess is currently a senior, and played ice hockey from freshman year to junior year. It Takes A Team! is the Women's Sports Foundation's program aimed at eliminating homophobia in athletics.

What athletic accomplishments are you most proud of?

My senior year of high school I was league MVP and made the All-State team in CT for basketball. I also went into New-England’s seated 3rd in javelin in my first and only season of track and field. I was the only athlete from my school to go to State opens for three events, and won discus for Class S States.

How do you identify your gender?

I identify as transgender or genderqueer. I am female bodied, but usually pass as a man. I do not have a pro-noun preference. Identifying as just male or female has always felt like playing dress up. I have been told, and feel, very much in the middle. I let people call me what is most comfortable for them, since I don’t mind either.

How did you “come out” to your teammates and coaches?

I was bisexual when I joined the team. I had never played ice hockey or even skated on ice before, but a girl I was dating was on the team. I would go to games as support, but after watching a couple of games, I knew I had to try it. As I started to realize the extent of my gender, I felt uncomfortable on a women’s team. Even though I was not the only transgender or transsexual on the team, and no one on the team seemed to mind, I still didn’t like that we being lumped in with the “women’s team”. Removing gender labels like this at a single sex college would invite transgender athletes to socially become part of the campus they already are attending. Coming out as a transgender stopped my official sports career. Although I continue to work out avidly, I was not able to resolve being trans and being an athlete. . . .Read More