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

Transsexual Begins First Day As Lake Worth City Manager

27 April 2009

WPBF.com


LAKE WORTH, Fla. -- A transsexual who was recently hired as Lake Worth's city manager spoke to WPBF News 25's Jim Abath on her first day on the job. Lake Worth commissioners voted earlier this month to hire Susan Stanton as the new city manager.

Stanton, formerly known as Steve, was fired as Largo's city manager in February 2007 after her plans to have a sex change became public. She told Abath on Monday that it seemed cameras followed her everywhere as she applied for a new job. . . .Read More

Exploring the Transgender Community

About Us

With his sharp male face and the beginnings of a beard wisping along the bottom of his chin, Shawn Wallace seems perfectly at ease with the masculinity he's exuding.

From his place on the couch by his partner, Chris, and one of their many babies, a Scottish Terrier named Nigel, Wallace speaks frankly and openly about his identity.

Some of the physical signs of his masculinity are a direct result of the hormone injections he started four and half years ago. Every 10 days, Wallace has to give himself a 100 milligram shot of testosterone to keep up and increase the changes to his body.

"You get facial hair and body hair everywhere you could possibly imagine," Wallace says, describing the chsanges that have occurred in his body. Other changes include his voice deepening, his face becoming more square, his body and trunk thickening and of course, growing a beard. "I feel like I've been kind of slow about it. It's taken me forever to get this little bit, so I'm happy to have it." . . .Read More

transgender

A woman who underwent a sex change several years ago prepares to testify on a bill that would provide civil rights protection for transexual and transgender people in Connecticut.

racingcat

Transgender / Transsexual Men on the Maury Show / Lando FTM

We were on the first show about transgender / transsexual men. My sister joined me to give the perspective of what it's like to have your sister become your brother.

LandoThomas

Reporter Blog From Transgender Murder Trial Of Allen Andrade

Suspect Accused In Slaying Of Angie Zapata

Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter

April 21, 2009


GREELEY, Colo. -- 7NEWS reporter Lance Hernandez is blogging from the first-degree murder trial of Allen Andrade, who is accused of killing Angie Zapata, a transgender teen. Tuesday was the fourth day of the trial.

11:47 a.m.Lead investigator, Greg Tharp of the Greeley Police Department is on the stand.

He's talking about his interview techniques. Tharp told the court that police want the defendant to know that they know more about the crime than he thinks they do, but they don't want him to think they know everything.

He said investigators threw out a "lifeline" of self-defense to the defendant to get him to talk. Tharp said that allows the defendant to believe he has some leeway to begin providing his statement of facts.

The investigator talked about a conversation he had with the defendant's girlfriend, Angie Tyree. He said he told her that Andrade was going to be arrested for murder in this case. He said they discussed that the victim's PT Cruiser was related to the homicide case. He said she told him she remembered a suspicious conversation with Andrade. She said Andrade told her that he was scared and needed to skip town.

The prosecutor said that was in contradiction to what the girlfriend testified about on Monday.

Tharp also told the court that he acquired the recordings of the jailhouse phone calls made by the defendant from the Adams County and Weld County jails. He said the phone calls obviously provide information police might not otherwise have.

Felicia Mendoza was the recipient of one of the phone calls. She and Andrade had an intimate relationship. She asked the defendant if it was OK to keep something he had given her or if she should get rid of it. Tharp said as he listened to the call he believed that they were discussing potentially destroying evidence in the case. . . .Read More

Transsexual Andrea Paredes beats Chilean discrimination to play tennis on women's tour

A 37-year-old financial consultant from Chile who this week became the first transsexual to compete in professional women's tennis since Renee Richards in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and who lost heavily to a British opponent, has told Telegraph Sport how she was encouraged to play by the American's story.

By Mark Hodgkinson

26 Apr 2009

Andrea Paredes also disclosed how she has suffered from years of discrimination in her own country, "as they are not very advanced in Chile". "I'll get more comments in Chile after this tournament, but I'm tough. I've had to be."

When Richards featured at the 1977 US Open, she created a controversial piece of tennis history by being the first transsexual to play in the women's game, and now Paredes is the second after she was given a wild card into a low-level tournament in Buenos Aires where she was beaten 6-0, 6-0 in 25 minutes by a Scottish qualifier, Nicola Slater. Paredes, who was born Ernesto, had a sex-change operation in 2000. She was intrigued to hear about Richards, who was born Richard Raskind, had an operation to change sexes, was initially blocked by the American tennis authorities from playing at the US Open, and then successfully sued them through the Supreme Court to have the ban overturned. A year after her first appearance, Richards made the quarter-finals of the grand slam in America. . . .Read More

A woman's quest to erase a past that won't die

30 years after gender-reassignment surgery, woman's past as a man lingers

By Jessie L. Bonner

4/24/2009


PAYETTE, Idaho - Catherine Carlson threads through the discount store, her hiking boots clopping against the linoleum. She is numb to the shoppers who glance curiously as she plucks a pair of long underwear from a sales rack.

Cold sneaks through the walls of her trailer home, but this is the only remedy she can afford. At checkout, Catherine writes a $15 check. The clerk with the "Deb G" name tag examines the signature and runs her eyes over Catherine — the side-swept, faded blond hair, large knuckles, blue jeans and plaid work shirt.

Under the harsh fluorescent lights of the Bi-Mart, Catherine's narrow face is mapped with fine lines and abandoned by cosmetics. She ignores the unwelcome survey of her appearance.

---

Catherine, 52, leaves the cocoon of her trailer about once every 10 days. Payette, a tiny community of farmers and ranchers in southwestern Idaho, did not know she existed until a year ago when she decided she could no longer hide. . . .Read More

Angie Zapata in Greeley, CO

A Greeley transgender woman was apparently murdered this month (video originally posted: August 04, 2008) because a man she met on the Internet became angry when he discovered she was biologically male.

The Weld District Attorney charged Allen Ray Andrade, 32, of Thornton with second-degree murder and aggravated motor vehicle theft Wednesday after Thornton police arrested him on traffic warrants and Greeley police arrested him thereafter on the murder charge. He was picked up while he was in the dead woman's car. . . .Read More

hatecrimesbill

Transgender Murder

Murder trial coverage

dreamindemon

‘Queen Raquela’ reaps int'l acclaim

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines - When Cebuano transsexual Raquela Rios first met Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson online, she thought he was looking for romance, like she was. He gave her a movie role instead.

She soon realized he was doing research for a movie. “He was in touch online with other Asian transsexuals, mostly Thai and Filipinos, but decided on a Pinoy because we are fluent in English,” said Raquela.

Following a barrage of e-mails, the pair embarked on the adventure that resulted in the film, “The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela.”

The shoot, Raquela recalled, brought her from tropical Cebu to frigid Scandinavia. “I never imagined I could become an actress and travel,” she said. Her inexperience initially daunted her. “I had no idea how to act, but [after a while] it felt natural. . . .Read More

Comedian David Hoyle is no drag

With scary make-up, savage wit and no showtunes,the comedian David Hoyle takes his audiences right to the edge

TimesOnLine

4/21/2009

David Hoyle tosses his head back and regards his reflection. His outfit - leather miniskirt, fishnet top and cut-off leather jacket (plus red dog collar) - pleases him, with its whiff of Nancy Spungen. “I'm quite into the S&M look at the moment,” he says airily, “I think it happens as you get older.” He glances over at me and twinkles.

We are in the Candy Store costumiers, Hoyle trying on outfits in preparation for his new show at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the pioneering alternative gay venue in South London, which launched Lily Savage, Amy Lamé's Duckie and the comedian Scott Capurro. Dave's Drop-in Centre “is loosely inspired by a psychiatric daycare centre,” Hoyle explains, “and all the activities that go on, from occupational therapy to hobbies to empowerment, group catharsis.” Each of his six shows will have its own theme and Hoyle will collaborate with different performers from the alternative scene. “The one I'm working on with [the burlesque comedian] Fancy Chance will touch on issues of nationalism, nationality and immigration; when I'm working with Dickie Beau that will be to do with the past and childhood. I think that's going to be a very emotional show.”. . .Read More

Transgender bill not ready for prime time

Perspective

4/20/2009

AP

The transgender rights bill being considered by the Legislature aims provide a measure of human dignity for a segment of the population that we are still grappling to define.

There have been strong emotional reactions on both sides and pressure to either pass or kill it quickly.

But the complexity of the issue and unanswered questions as to its implications warrant much closer review before moving forward.

House Bill 1728 is anti-discrimination legislation that aims to fill a gap in the state's laws against hate crimes.

At it's heart is an effort to protect people being fired from jobs, denied housing just because their gender identity conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.

It's too simplistic to label this strictly as a "bathroom bill" that threatens the safety of women and children. . . .Read More

Transsexual runs for presidency

There is no shortage of candidates in the Indian presidential election, including one 45-year-old transsexual, who says its her sexual identity that will defeat the political heavyweights.

GW Argues Over Transgender Rights

By AMANDA HESS

16 April 2009


G.W. Argues Over Transgender Rights was originally published on The Sexist on Apr. 16, 2009, at 3:38 pm.

George Washington University student group Trans Education and Advocacy (TEA) is spearheading the campaign to add “gender expression and identity” as a protected group in the university’s non-discrimination policy. In 2006, “gender expression and identity” became a protected group under the District of Columbia’s Human Rights Act, but the university’s policy has since failed to follow suit.

G.W.’s non-discrimination policy currently reads: ”The University will not permit discrimination on grounds of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation or identity, or any other illegal basis in any University-recognized area of student life.” Even though “gender expression and identity” is officially incorporated into the university policy under D.C. law, the lack of explicit wording at the university level can make filing grievances with the University Police Department and school administrators very, very difficult (review my G.W. transgender discrimination story, “Menace to Sorority,” for a refresher). . . .Read More

Transgender woman hired as city manager for Lake Worth, Florida

April 9, 2009

Former city manager of Largo, Florida and transgendered woman Susan Stanton has been hired as the new city manager for Lake Worth. Stanton, formerly named Steven, was fired from her job as Largo's city manager in 2007, apparently when her sex-change operation became public knowledge.

Susan Stanton.
Image: personal image of Ms. Stanton.

"We said all along that we'd pick the best candidate regardless and that's what it's all about, we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't," said Jeff Clemons, the mayor of Lake Worth. He added that the city's commission voted in favor of Stanton 4 to 1. . . .Read More

Journey to womanhood: Transgender individual tells her story

by Linda S. Mah | Kalamazoo Gazette

April 16, 2009

In 2008, Hunter underwent gender-reassignment surgery. He is now Amy Hunter.

As a man, Hunter was a fixture in the theater community, serving as production designer for both the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre and the Whole Art Theatre.

Now Hunter, 48, of Alamo Township, is the support-services coordinator for the Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center. In this role, she has many responsibilities, among them running a support group called Trans•cend for people who think they may be transgender and helping them connect with counselors and doctors.

Today he is.

In 2008, Hunter underwent gender-reassignment surgery. He is now Amy Hunter.

As a man, Hunter was a fixture in the theater community, serving as production designer for both the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre and the Whole Art Theatre.

Now Hunter, 48, of Alamo Township, is the support-services coordinator for the Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center. In this role, she has many responsibilities, among them running a support group called Trans•cend for people who think they may be transgender and helping them connect with counselors and doctors. . . .Read More

Transsexual Activist Makes Bid in Indian Elections

by Mark Leon Goldberg - April 16, 2009

The world's largest democracy goes to the polls today for the first phase of multi-stage parliamentary elections. By mid May, 714 million voters will cast ballots at 800,000 polling stations. There are, all told, 1,715 candidates for office. But one of these political hopefuls is unlike any other candidate India has ever seen. Her name is Daya Rani Kinnar and she is a transsexual activist.

From the Hindustan Times:

Kinnar is a popular figure in Ghaziabad and will stand for election as an independent candidate. “I don’t mind taking on all the political heavyweights. I was born in Ghaziabad and people know me. I don’t have children. I will work only for people. I am going to give a tough fight to Rajnath Singh, who is an outsider. The sitting MP did nothing for the constituency,” Kinnar said. . . .Read More

Changing Sex to Escape Death: Homosexuals Dilemma in Iran

Arsham Parsi has been on several fact-finding missions in Turkey, meeting and helping many Iranian gay and lesbian refugees, as part of his Iranian Queer Organization. He says many of them have no choice but to undergo sex change operation or face death.

TelevisionWashington

Shelters slowly adapt to help transgender homeless

By DIONNE WALKER – April 3, 2009

ATLANTA (AP) — Twelve years heading the Salvation Army's downtown homeless shelter had done little to prepare Janeane Schmidt for the recent night when a soft-spoken biological male transitioning into a female walked in.

Schmidt didn't want to refuse someone in need. Having seen few such cases, however, and with limited space that winter night, she wasn't sure where to place the transgender woman. The shelter has space for homeless men and women but not anyone in between.

"Rather than turn them away, we give them a cot," said Schmidt, whose staff allowed the woman to stay a week in the shelter's lounge — the only space they could find.

"I don't even know of another shelter that takes the transgendered" in Atlanta, Schmidt said.

Nationwide there are plenty of holes in the safety net of shelters that catches men and women who have fallen on hard times. Activists say help is even harder to find for the transgender homeless, whose nontraditional gender status raises questions about sleeping arrangements and shower facilities. . . .Read More

California court of appeals affirms right of transgender individual . . .

14 April 2009

In a groundbreaking victory for transgender people born in California, the California Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that any person can amend their California birth certificate regardless of their current state of residence. Previously, only current California residents could amend their California birth certificates.

In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal held that all people born in California, regardless of where they currently reside, can petition a California court for a new birth certificate. The strongly-worded decision was authored by Presiding Judge James J. Marchiano, who stated that “we discern no compelling state interest in treating California-born transgender individuals who reside out of state differently from California-born transgender individuals who reside in California when either class seeks issuance of a new California birth certificate.”

The case was brought by Transgender Law Center (TLC) on behalf of Gigi Marie Somers. Ms. Somers, a sixty-seven year old transgender woman, was born in California and now lives in Kansas. Ms. Somers underwent sex reassignment surgery in 2005 and has lived as a woman for a decade. When she sought to have a new California birth certificate issued reflecting her female gender, she learned that out-of-state residents were required to obtain a court order from the state in which they resided. Unfortunately, Ms. Somers was not able to obtain a court ordered gender change from her county of residence in Kansas. Left in legal limbo and unable to change her birth certificate, Ms. Somers contacted TLC for help. After the San Francisco Superior Court denied her petition due to the residency requirement, TLC Legal Director Kristina Wertz represented Ms. Somers before the Court of Appeal. . . .Read More

Austin transgendered woman fights for equal rights

by Michelle Valles

15 April 2009


Meghan Stabler's past is where she likes to leave it, in the past.

Stabler used to be a man. By the age of 10, she knew something about her was different.

Stabler recalls as a child, "I remember reading the newspaper and there was a tennis player called Renee Richards. And it had this big splash in the front page that said 'Sex change: Tennis player' and it was just like a brain click. I got it, that's what's wrong with me."

But Stabler continued to live as a man. He married to a woman. They had a daughter. But the image was all a lie.

To stop thinking about her identity crisis, she dumped all her energy on being a powerful executive, living lavishly and meeting with influential people all over the world. But still, nothing made her feel like a man. . . .Read More

Delisting transgender surgery may cost province

The Edmonton Journal April 12, 2009


As both a transsexual and an Alberta taxpayer I would very much prefer to see the controversy surrounding the delisting of gender reassignment surgery resolved before anything to the degree of legal or human rights actions have to be taken.

However, something that people don't understand is that GRS is in fact a medically necessary procedure and recognized as such by the medical establishment (and also recognized by the province of Ontario, which relisted GRS last year after a human-rights ruling). . . .Read More

Post Op Surgery w/ Dr. Garramone

April 6, 2009. Post op day. Bandages come off and drains come out.

notch12

Buddhist Thoughts for The Day

8 April 2009

A brahmin once asked The Blessed One: "Are you a God?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "Are you a saint?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "Are you a magician?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "What are you then?" "I am awake."...

7 April 2009

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. - Buddha ...

College Dems travel to Albany, lobby for transgender bill

by Carly Silver

April 8, 2009

The Columbia University College Democrats took their activism off campus last weekend, heading to Albany, N.Y., to lobby for a bill protecting the rights of transsexual and transgender individuals.

The idea for the trip originated when Dems members expressed personal motives for lobbying for the cause. Though it remains to be seen whether those students will have an impact on the passing of the bill, the Dems kept busy by meeting with state officials and receivinig lobbying training.

The current bill in the state senate is based on the Sexual Orientation-Non Discrimination Act—a similar piece of legislation—but, according to Dems Lead Activist Sarah Scheinman, BC ’12, “when SONDA became too controversial at the time for including transgender and transsexual individuals ... the transgender and transsexual provisions were dropped from the list.”

SONDA, which was signed into law in 2002, protects the rights of people of different sexual orientations, but not transgender and transsexual individuals. . . .Read More

Transgender activists fighting back after provincial budget ends funding for sex-change operations

10 April 2009

by ANDREW HANON

"This," says Kris Wells, "could be the next Vriend case."

The provincial government is about to drag all Albertans into yet another costly, shameful and needless legal battle - this time over the decision to stop funding sex-change surgery.

And like the landmark Delwin Vriend Supreme Court case that forced Alberta to protect gays in its human rights legislation a decade ago, or the former premier Ralph Klein's pigheaded - and ultimately futile - fight with Ottawa over same-sex marriage, this is one the government cannot possibly win.

After all, last year Ontario was forced to reinstate funding for sex-change surgery after losing a human rights case.

The Alberta government politicians insist their decision wasn't based on morality. They say they had to "delist" the service in order to save about $700,000 in the provincial budget.

Yeah, right.

Yes, that's the same budget that will see overall program spending hiked by $1.1 billion and a total deficit of $4.7 billion, the most profligate in Alberta history. . . .Read More

Transsexual granted right to change name to Immanuel

9 April 2009

by Charlotte West


The Swedish administrative court of appeals has granted a 28-year-old Sandviken transsexual the right to be called Immanuel. . . .

Both the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) and the county administrative court have previously denied the request for a name change on the basis that Immanuel was an unsuitable name for a woman.

This is not the first such case to come before the Swedish courts. In November, Jan-Olov Ågren, a male cross-dresser from Norrbotten in northern Sweden, was handed a similar victory in his bid to go by the name Madeleine.

But the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) had previously rejected Ågren’s application to have his name changed to Jan-Olov Madeleine Ågren on the grounds that it is not appropriate for a man to have a woman’s name. . . .Read More

First openly transgendered U.S. mayor to get reality show

by Bill Dalton

April 9, 2009

Silverton, Oregon, is the first US city to have an openly transgendered mayor. In just a matter of weeks, it might also become the first city in America to have a transgender mayor as a star of his own reality show for educational purposes, as Komo News informs and Oregon Live can confirm.

Stu Rasmussen is a 60-year-old software engineer who has over 20 years of experience in politics. He’s also in a stable relationship with his live-in girlfriend, who says they’ve been together for better and for worse for the past 35 years. . . .Read More

Transgender Reality Show Contestants - Tyra (Part 1)

The Tyra Banks Show - ''Transgender reality-show contestants'' (Recorded Mar 30, 2009, WWOR). Former "Top Model" Isis talks about her sexual reassignment surgery -- and gets the surprise of her life! Plus, the latest "ANTM" castoffs.

Megami284

Lake Worth hires transgender city manager

John Bachman

7 April 2009

At her last job she was hired as a man and fired when he was about to get a sex change. Lake Worth is looking past the transgender controversy and hiring Susan Stanton as its city manager.

Lake Worth Florida is a city known for being progressive and tolerant. So when you ask the locals about their new city manager, Susan Stanton, who used to be a man named Steve Stanton, you get reactions like these.

"How about just let everybody live, let's keep going and let her do the job and worry about not looking under everybody's bed," said Lake Worth resident Steve Saulsberg. . . .Read More

A Small Colorado Town Becomes "Capital of Transsexuals" And Houston Hears About It

By Olivia Flores Alvarez

April 6, 2009


More than three years ago cinematographer/director PJ Raval heard about a small town in Colorado that was "the sex change capital of America." Intrigued, he contacted the doctor, herself a transsexual woman, and began a conversation that resulted in a two-and-a-half year film project, Trinidad.

"I had never heard of this town," Raval told Hair Balls after a Saturday night screening here in town. "Then I read a couple of articles saying it was a town of transsexuals with an abnormal amount of large women's stores. I thought, 'That sounds crazy, I gotta go check it out.'"

When he got there Raval didn't find any super-sized stores, but he did find three post-operative transsexual women, all in their fifties and each with a different experience living in Trinidad. Marci is the doctor currently responsible for the town's "sex change capital" title (she does an average of six gender-reassignment surgeries a week, more than anywhere else in the U.S.). She's integrated well into the local community and has a female partner. . . .Read More

Unequal funding for gender reassignment surgeries

By Katherine Dedyna, Canwest News Service February 28, 2009

Not all transsexuals are created equal -- at least not in B.C. Male-to-female transsexuals -- those born with male bodies who identify as women -- can have genital surgery paid for by the health care system.

But female-to-male transsexuals -- those born with female bodies who identify as men -- have been cut off from Medical Services Plan coverage for nearly 15 years when it comes to construction of a male genitalia.

Alberta covers the complicated process of creating a penis, and Ontario has recently reinstated its coverage. But in B.C., "there is no consideration of that that I'm aware of," Health Minister George Abbott recently told Canwest News Service. He says the procedure has a "high failure rate" and "the best clinical medical advice is that to fund a high-risk procedure of that character may not wise."

Nor is Abbott aware that anyone has made a request for the province to reconsider Medical Service Plan (MSP) coverage for phalloplasty. "Were someone to tender such a request, like all other proposals, we would look at it. . . . And we would attempt, as we have to this point, to engage the best medical expertise possible." . . .Read More