Interview: We're Here, We're Queer ... Kind of

Authors Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall on mystery and being second-born

By Amy Atkins

Jacob and Diane Anderson-Minshall

Blind Curves, the first in the Blind Eye mystery novel series by husband-and-wife writing team Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, opens with investigative reporter and lesbian Velvet Erickson flipping off passing motorists as she cruises down San Francisco's 101 North freeway. Velvet is soon the prime suspect in the murder of a prominent lesbian publisher and turns to Yoshi Yakamota, her blind lesbian, private investigator friend, and Yoshi's assistant, Tucker Shade, an ex-Idaho lesbian, for help.

Yes, there's a pattern here. The publisher of Blind Curves is Bold Strokes Books, a company that publishes lesbian-themed fiction by lesbian authors that appeals to not only a lesbian audience, but also a larger lesbian-gay-bi-transgender (LGBT) audience. And, before 2005, Diane and Jacob would have been called lesbian authors because until 2005, Jacob was Susannah prior to undergoing female-to-male sex reassignment surgery. Now the couple, who are both from Idaho and met at a Pride rally, are husband and wife. . . .

transgender. . .the struggle and blessing. . .an art film

Would Jesus really have terminated Stanton's employment?

Jesus, the transgender terminator?

Some citizens of Largo, Fla., cited religious grounds for the dismissal of Susan Stanton, the transgender city manager. Would Jesus really have terminated her employment? This and other transgender tales from the Bible.

By Joanne Herman

An Advocate.com exclusive posted June 5, 2007

With dozens of citizens speaking at the February hearing that would ultimately lead to the dismissal of Susan Stanton, the transgender former city manager of Largo, Fla., the media needed a pithy sound bite, and it found an especially good one: “If Jesus was here tonight—and believe me, I know the Bible—I can guarantee you he’d want [Stanton] terminated.” Those words were spoken by the Reverend Ron Sanders, pastor for the Lighthouse Baptist Church. Never mind that his church has only 30 members; his words were broadcast around the world. Why? Because we (or at least the media) tend to assume that any one clergyperson may speak for all religious people.

Meanwhile, in an interesting coincidence, Newsweek ran a story about Boston University professor Steve Prothero’s new book Religious Literacy. A prime tenet of Prothero’s book is that while more than 90% of Americans say they believe in God, only a tiny portion actually know anything about religion. Newsweek says that almost everyone fails Prothero’s religious literacy quiz on the basics, such as the names of the four Gospels. (You can take his quiz on the Newsweek Web site.)

If Prothero’s assertion is correct, many Americans must be relying on others to interpret religious tenets and, even worse, may be unable to recognize when clergy are embellishing a bit, to put it politely. As one of the citizens at the Largo hearing said, “I wanted to quote the story of Jesus leading the mob to come take someone’s job, but I couldn’t find that passage in the Bible.” . . .

A Wild Elegance

"A wild Elegance is published 4 times a year, or as possible and is a free support and resource newsletter for prisoners with gender identity disorder. American Friends Service Committee ( AFSC ) is an authorized distributor of A Wild Elegance. You can also now find Wild Elegance at our blogspot at, http:// wildelegance.blogspot.com , in addition AFSC can be reached at 2161 Massachusetts avenue, Cambridge Ma. 02140-9961."

"A Wild Elegance" is published and edited by Donna Dawn Konitzer.

Blending Genders

By Katrina Fox.

6/06/2007 6:44:15 PM


The transgender liberation movement in the West came into its own in the 1990s, but other cultures have their own take on sex and gender diversity, writes Katrina Fox.



From ancient Greek cults to Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism and even early Christianity, the concept of transcending or blending gender has been around for centuries. In the West, the German-born sexologist Dr Harry Benjamin coined the term 'transsexualism' in 1966 to describe individuals who were born biologically one sex but believed they were the other (such as a woman 'trapped' in a man's body and vice versa).

Transsexualism was subsequently hijacked by the medical profession and deemed a pathology, for which the solution was to undergo psychiatric assessment, take hormones and eventually have genital realignment surgery. Transsexuals were required to comply with stereotypical dress codes and behaviours attributed to their opposite gender, and under no circumstances were they allowed a sexual orientation outside that of strictly heterosexual.

Enter the 1990s and the birth of the 'transgender' and 'genderqueer' movements, in which a plethora of sex and gender identities emerged. Some people identified as having no sex or gender, some considered themselves male and female, and others claimed they were a 'third' or 'other' gender.

Such concepts of third, fourth and more genders are not new to non-western cultures, however. . . .

Point Foundation Announces 2007 Scholar Class

LOS ANGELES, June 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Point Foundation -- the nation's largest publicly-supported organization granting scholarships to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students -- today announced awarding the largest number of scholarships in its six-year history. The diverse group of 38 recipients includes many firsts for the organization.

"Since taking the helm at Point earlier this year, I have been pleased with the high caliber and diversity of candidates who applied for support," said Executive Director Jorge Valencia. "This class represents many 'firsts' for the Point Foundation: our first male-to-female transgender Point Scholar, our first Muslim Point Scholar and our first Point Scholars who are also parents. This class expands on the current diversity among our scholars and we are excited to begin working with them," concluded Valencia.

"As someone new to the scholar selection process, I was immediately struck by the profound impact it has on everyone involved," commented Valencia. "For example, after the panel interview with a finalist who appeared particularly nervous, I approached him and asked, 'It wasn't all that bad, was it?' The young man replied, 'No, not really. It is just that I have never been surrounded by so many people who were accepting of me and who simply wanted me to succeed.'" Valencia concluded, "If that does not underscore the importance of our work with these bright and promising individuals, I don't know what could."

Point Foundation provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. As of June 2007, a total of 84 Point Scholars will be currently enrolled in school, and 26 alumni will have continued on to pursue their life goals. . . .

Star cluster RCW 38 in Vela

Medical Therapy and Health Maintenance for Transgender Men: A Guide For Health Care Providers

R. Nick Gorton, MD, Jamie Buth, MD, and Dean Spade, Esq

Available in three formats, click on title above. . .an excellent resource.

Gay Trans Man Collaborates With Feminist Mom

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Published: April 5, 2007

“Perception,” trans man Aaron Raz Link remarks, “is in the eye of the beholder. It legitimately belongs to them,” he says of his new book What Becomes You, an unusual trans memoir, which offers both Link’s perspective and the perspective of his mother, renown feminist scholar and poet Hilda Raz. “We’re all unreliable narrators,” Link argues. “Which is, ultimately, what the book is about. Both art and family teach a larger vision, a shared vision, of identity.”

A Nebraska native currently directing Portland’s Museum of Nature, Link has been a lot of things in his life: a professional clown, museum preparator, writer, HIV tester, theatre teacher, butterfly wrangler, social service worker, jeweler, mask maker, teacher, forensic entomologist’s assistant, object puppeteer, sex educator and performance artist.

The gay man also co-founded Portland’s Transgender/ Identity Resource Center (TiRC), which provides gender-related services and resources. TiRC offers a reference library, peer counseling, referrals, support groups and ResourcesPDX (www.resourcespdx.org) The latter, provides listings of professionals and service providers educated about and supportive of unique challenges facing trans and genderqueer individuals. . . .

Iran: Attitude regarding sex change

Connecticut: Transgender Rights Bill Loses Momentum

June 5, 2007
By COLIN POITRAS, Courant Staff Writer

An effort to give transgender individuals equal protection under the state's anti-discrimination laws got bogged down in debate Monday, leaving the bill's future in doubt with the legislative session scheduled to end at midnight Wednesday.

The proposal had made its way through several legislative committees earlier this year and was approved by the state Senate May 23. But after nearly three hours of House debate Monday afternoon, the bill was set aside, a sign that the legislation is in trouble. . . .

Diana Ross and Ru Paul - sing, "I Will Survive."

Performance artist Candis Cayne talks about her life and career - Interview 2002

Transgender 101 Part 2

Transgender 101 Part 1

Wise Musician’s Mythic Tales

Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Published: May 31, 2007

“Anytime new diversity becomes visible as a voice of culture, that changes how everyone looks at themselves, and forces a question of just what elements our society is comprised of, who is qualified to speak as an artist and who can represent what.”

Trans identified writer, poet, composer and songwriter Eli Wise is a storyteller who uses lyrics to weave his tales. He’s an artist who uses his songs to provide windows onto his inner world. The subject matter of his rock songs is often dark, but Wise isn’t a pessimist. He believes transgender musicians and artists are bring something new to cultural expression by simply telling their unique stories.

The essence of a culture, Wise says, can be found in its mythic tales. “Every culture, even our modern one, relies on archetypes, expressed in myths, in order to understand itself. For instance, Star Wars is the common example given of a modern day myth that kids and adults use…to better understand our lives. The successful entrepreneur is [another] American myth. As soon as you take ideas that are an undercurrent in every day life, and extrapolate them into a larger setting, you are using a mythic structure.”

Wise first became involved in the San Francisco performance community after attending Gender Pirates, a regular trans and gender queer performance, that Wise later co-produced. Gender Pirates is a project of United Genders of the Universe (unitedgenders.org), a San Francisco organization that sponsors support groups for “everyone who views gender as having more than two options.”

Wise recalls the scene during his first Gender Pirates event: “It was very much a community gathering, which made it feel accessible to me as a new guy in town. It was also very clearly a gender queer space, which meant it was open to me wherever I fit on the spectrum, which was great because at the time I didn’t know.” . . .

First transgender officer on KC's police force looks to the future

Jessica, a Kansas City police officer, is 6 feet tall with a chin dimple, pink manicured fingernails and a birth certificate that says “male.”

But in her mind, Jessica believes she has always been a female.

She legally changed her name from David to Jessica last year. And in January, she gained the right to dress as a woman at work.

She asked co-workers to refer to her in female pronouns, like “she” and “her.” She started hormone therapy and removed most of her body hair with laser surgery, but she hasn’t had a sex-change operation, known as gender reassignment surgery. She needs to raise $17,500 first.

Her co-workers are slowly getting used to the idea of working with a transgender police officer — a first for the department. But still, some point to Jessica and tell citizens to talk to “him,” prompting the citizens to look around, perplexed, since all they see is Jessica with her pink lipgloss and coiffed copper hair.

The bad guys can be equally confounded.

They see an officer wearing blue topaz earrings but shouting, “Get down on the ground!” in a deep, booming voice.

“When I get loud, I sound like a man,” Jessica conceded. “It throws the bad guys off. They can think whatever they want. I don’t care.”

Jessica understands the confusion because she lived 40 years mixed-up herself, not fitting in anywhere. . . .

New Jersey: Anti-discrimination law applies to transgendered

Monday, June 4, 2007

By ANDREA GURWITT
HERALD NEWS

It comes too late to help Carol Barlow, but she certainly could have used it.

Could have invoked it when she got fired.

Could have pointed to it when the job interviewer laughed in her face.

Could have sued after, she says, her boss said, "When you become Carol or whatever the hell you're doing, you're out of there."

Because Carol Barlow used to be Bruce Barlow. And first Bruce, and then Carol, suffered harassment, indignities and discrimination at one job and then another, and still more on innumerable job interviews.

Well, that won't cut it anymore.

Starting June 17, it will be illegal under state law for businesses to discriminate against Carol Barlow and any other transgender person. New Jersey's anti-discrimination law, already one of the most far-reaching in the country, will add "gender identity and expression" to its list of protected categories for employment, housing, public accommodation, credit and business contracts.

The legislation, passed in December, makes New Jersey the ninth state with a transgender law.

Vermont, Oregon, Iowa and Colorado passed similar laws this year, but they won't take effect until mid summer. . . .

A Transgender Pastor in the Pulpit?

(A view from the religious right.)

Albert Mohler

What do you do when your pastor shows up in a new gender? That question is now faced by a United Methodist church in Maryland, and the issue of transgender persons is soon to confront all churches and denominations.

As The Baltimore Sun reports, the Rev. Ann Gordon is now presented as Rev. Drew Phoenix. The paper sets the issue clearly:

A year ago, the Rev. Ann Gordon received her routine reappointment as minister of a Charles Village Methodist congregation. Yesterday - after undergoing a sex-change operation and taking on a new symbolic name - the Rev. Drew Phoenix received another one-year contract to head St. John's United Methodist Church.

The paper also reported that the "reappointment" of the minister came after a 2 1/2-hour meeting with Methodist clergy "as well as an emotional open session." In the end, the bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church decided that the church's moral code, known as the Book of Discipline, did not preclude the appointment of transgender persons as pastors.

Before turning to the ecclesiastical and theological issues at stake, we should note the way the minister explained her motivation - to do this for others. "This is about more than me... This is about people who come after me, about young people in particular who are struggling with their gender identity. I'm doing this for them." What she is doing is leading her congregation into an illusion and her denomination into an explosive controversy.

The illusory nature of this transformation becomes clear in another section of the paper's report:

"The gender I was assigned at birth has never matched my own true authentic God-given gender identity, how I know myself," Phoenix said. "Fortunately today God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body in alignment with my true gender."

This pastor claims that she knows her "own true authentic God-given gender identity" to be different than her own body. The ancient Gnostics would understand this repudiation of the body, but not historic Christianity. Christians have believed that the body is a gift from God, for believers the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Despising the body to the point of repudiating birth gender is a posture in direct conflict with the Bible and the historic Christian tradition.

There can be no question that some persons suffer excruciating gender confusions. But the answer to this must be the embrace of birth gender as a central dimension of God's will for the individual. Christians must understand that gender - the sex of an individual - is a part of God's glory in creation. God's own verdict on the creation of humanity as male and female, both made in His image, was that is was "very good." The transgender temptation is a repudiation of God's own verdict on His creation and His plan for humanity. . . .

Protect offspring

Parenting is important, whether your child is TG/TS. . .or an African buffalo. . .it may even take a herd!