Gender correction for Saudi girls

Sebastian Usher
BBC world's media reporter

Five sisters in Saudi Arabia are having operations to become men.

The doctor carrying out the surgery stresses that he is performing what he calls "gender correction" rather than sex change operations.

As a conservative Islamic state, Saudi Arabia does not allow surgery for transsexuals, but permits operations on people with an intersex condition.

Three of the five sisters have already been operated on. The remaining two are to have surgery next week.

The sisters' ages range from 19 to 38.

Dr Yasser Jamal - who is performing the operations at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah - says the sisters are not Saudi by origin but Arabs who have lived in the country all their lives. None of them is married.

After their operations, they are moving to a different district, although Dr Jamal says they are not facing problems in their community.

'Smooth transition'

In tacit acknowledgement of the sensitivity of the subject in Saudi Arabia, Dr Jamal, himself a Saudi, emphasised that the sisters fell into the intersex category - without clear male or female sexual characteristics.

He said that he would never perform surgery on transsexuals - people with normal genitalia but who believe that they belong to the opposite sex.

He said Islam did not allow people to change what God had created.

In Saudi Arabia, transsexuals are associated with homosexuality, which is banned in the kingdom.

Dr Jamal has performed more than 200 intersex operations.

He said the transition from being treated as a woman to a man in Saudi Arabia usually went smoothly, but that there could be problems for men becoming women.

He said they found the restrictions of being female in Saudi Arabia difficult to cope with. . . .

"The Birthday". . .life of Iranian TSs. . .

. . .with English translation.

"The Birthday": Dutch Documentary on Iranian Transsexuals

January 11, 2007

Dutch filmmakers Negin Kianfar and Daisy Mohr take viewers inside the experience of young Iranian men who decide to become women. As noted here before, sex change operations in Iran are legal, sanctioned by none other than Khomenei himself.

If you don't speak Farsi or Dutch, the documentary "The Birthday" may be bit tough to follow, but it's worth it even for the on-the-street, behind-closed-doors, and in-the-operating-room visuals. Watching conservative Iranian parents try to come to terms with their son's decision is particularly interesting. Heading into doctor's office is also eye-opening. And simply walking the streets of Iranian cities like Qom offers a window into a world we rarely see. . . .

THIS WEEK AT THE LGBT FILM FESTIVAL

David Wiegand

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The story of this year's San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Film Festival, a.k.a. Frameline, isn't necessarily how many films made the cut, but that more than 600 were considered. The number says it all: The LGBT experience is being showcased and analyzed in more films than ever before, from every corner of the world.

This year's festival kicks off Thursday and continues over the following 10 days with a dizzying array of films. From features, to shorts, to documentaries, to experimental works and films from established directors, Frameline swirls with variety and creativity.

This week and next, we'll offer an overview of some of the films to be shown at the four festival venues: San Francisco's Castro Theatre, Roxie Film Center and Victoria Theatre and the Parkway Theater in Oakland.

Here are thumbnail looks at some of the films scheduled for the first few days of the festival: . . .

"Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother," 7 p.m. Friday at the Victoria: Kids, meet Charlie Weaver's transgender granddaughter. Well, of course, no one needs to meet her at this point. David, Rosanna and Patricia's sibling has been proudly out and visible on the Hollywood scene for several years. The film ends up being a kind of inside-out look at single-subject reality films, as Alexis gets a bit tired of being in the spotlight halfway through. At that point the film gets even more interesting and, in many ways, much more real. . . .

"Trained in the Ways of Men," 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the Castro: Shelly Prevost takes on the very difficult story of Gwen Araujo, the transgender East Bay teen who was savagely murdered in 2002. Although it could stand some significant editing, the film looks at Araujo's struggle with her identity, her mother's journey of understanding and the trial of the young men who ended Gwen's life. The film is an often poignant reminder of how important it is to protect other Gwen Araujos. . . .

"25 Cent Preview," 10:15 p.m. June 17 at the Castro: Cyrus Amini looks at the not-so-pretty life of hustlers in the Tenderloin, mixing documentary footage from the real streets of San Francisco with improvised performances. The raw, gritty texture of the film fits the texture of the lives of a pair of hustlers, named Marcus and Dot.com, who just want to survive. Kids, don't try this at home. . . .

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FRAMELINE 31: The film festival runs Thursday through June 24. Schedule and ticket information: www.frameline.org.

Men are really the weaker sex

By Kathleen Parker
First published: Sunday, June 10, 2007 In the world of gender politics, death is the latest measure of parity.

Not only do women outlive men, but recent research shows that they're also being born more often than in the past. The allegedly stronger sex, it turns out, is really the weaker and more vulnerable -- from conception until death do us part.

Nature has always seen to it that about 105 males were born for every 100 females, but that ratio has been shifting the past three decades, possibly owing to environmental pollution as well as to stressful current events.

In both the U.S. and Japan, the male-to-female ratio dropped between 1970 and 2001 -- from 106.3 boys for every 100 girls to fewer than 105 per 100 in Japan, and from 105.5 to 104.6 in the U.S.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say that these dips, though small, suggest that paternal exposure to environmental pollutants is taking a toll on the male reproductive system. Some studies have shown that certain pollutants may affect the viability of sperm that bear the Y chromosome, which determines male sex.

In Italy, men who were exposed to dioxin during an industrial explosion fathered significantly fewer boys than girls. Another study of workers at a Russian herbicide plant found that only 38 percent of children born to male workers were boys, while female workers produced the normal male-to-female ratio.

If the environment doesn't reduce the male population, current events may. Last year, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley reported that women stressed out during pregnancy tend to produce fewer males. In the former East Germany, for instance, male birth rates declined following the country's 1991 economic collapse.

One possible explanation is that when women are stressed, their bodies produce high levels of stress hormones -- glucocorticoids -- that cause problems for male fetuses. Researchers concluded that women's bodies spontaneously abort weak male fetuses and embryos because weak sons aren't likely to produce as many offspring as will strong sons -- or even weak daughters.

If nature is unpredictable, at least she is consistently ruthless.

Not only do the strongest survive, but only the strongest males make it to the birth canal. . . .

Glen or Glenda?

. . . an Ed Wood public domain film.

Christine Jorgensen: Two Interviews

"I thought Christine Jorgensen's interview on the album "Christine Jorgensen Reveals" (1958) was so extraordinary that I wanted folks to be able to hear it in entirety, all 55 minutes. I think she displays quite well how articulate she was and I admire how well she handled the often inane questions with poise and a political correctness well in advance of the times. So, please enjoy the additional photos and the interview.

The interviewer, R. Russell, became more known later as comedian Nipsy Russell."

Looking Back: Christine Jorgensen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The picture from the album cover for Christine Jorgensen Reveals (1958).

Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989), a noted photographer, was born George William Jorgensen, Jr. in The Bronx, New York City, USA, and is famous for having been one of the first persons to have sex reassignment surgery — in this case, male to female.

George Jorgensen had an unhappy childhood growing up in the Bronx, and later described herself as having been a "frail, tow-headed, introverted little boy who ran from fistfights and rough-and-tumble games."^[1] Jorgensen graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1945 and was drafted into the Army afterward. When he returned to New York after the Army, he heard about the possibility of sex reassignment surgery, and researched it thoroughly. He intended to go to Sweden, where he had found the only doctors in the world performing these type of surgeries at the time. At a stopover in Copenhagen to visit relatives, he by chance was pointed in the direction of Dr. Christian Hamburger. He ended up staying in Denmark, was allowed to begin hormone replacement therapy and eventually underwent a series of surgeries.

A media sensation was created on December 1, 1952 when the New York Daily News carried a front-page story (under the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty") announcing that in Denmark Jorgensen had become the recipient of the first "sex change". This is not true, however. The type of surgery in question had actually been performed by pioneering German doctors in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Danish artist Lili Elbe and Dorchen, both patients of Dr Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of sexual science in Berlin, were known recipients of such operations in 1930-31. What was different this time, was the added prescription of artificial hormones. When Jorgensen returned to New York in February 1953, she became an instant celebrity. . . .

Italian health minister backs coverage for sex changes

Rome, Apr. 25, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Italy's health minister has indicated that she will support legislation to extend state health-care coverage to the costs of "sex-reassignment" therapy.

Italy's health service currently pays for the costs of surgery to alter the genitals of people who identify themselves as transsexuals. But Livia Turco, the health minister from the Democratic Left party, says that she will back a proposal to cover hormone replacement therapy, the removal or enlargement of breasts, permanent hair removal, and surgery to alter facial features in line with the patient's new gender identity.

"There is nothing scandalous about the national health service granting greater attention to transsexuals," Turco argued. "I think the hospital services should take responsibility for people who need to harmonize their bodies." . . .

Egypt: Sally’s Story

Sixteen years ago, Sayed Mursi went under the knife to become Sally, sparking a national debate on sex-change surgery.Today, as more and more children are born with genital defects, are we ready for round two?

By Azza Khattab

I don’t know what drew my attention first: The imposing giant of a woman with the flame-colored hair, or the gargantuan chocolate sundae she was attacking with such obvious delight. Whatever else you care to say about her, know this: Sally Mursi is a woman with one hell of an appetite.

“Good for you,” I blurt out with a smile. “It doesn’t show at all!”

Sally, I quickly discover, takes compliments — and questions, criticism, barbs and simple observations — with a roaring laugh that rocks you back in your seat.

“I know how to spoil myself rotten,” she says triumphantly, feisty and cynical to the core. “To hell with dieting! Give me a break! No sane woman could say ‘No’ to this! What’s a kilo or two? Stand in front of the mirror, shake your booty and POOF — they’re gone!”

By this time, any doubts I had about this woman’s femininity have gone “poof” with her pearls of wisdom about chocolate ice cream. Only a woman could know such a basic truth.

As for shaking her booty? Sally knows a thing or two about that, too. Several times married and divorced, the former Azharite is known as Rahma, her stage name, in El-Haram’s most famous night clubs, where she takes on the role of the playful bimbo — the kind who winks, shoots you air kisses and croons “Hello, Baby!” as she belly dances around the floor. . . .

India: Chennai transgenders go quacks' way for sex change

By ANI

Saturday June 9, 01:38 PM

Chennai (Tamil Nadu), June 9 (ANI): Since sex change is not legal in India, transgenders in Chennai, go to unqualified doctors or quacks to get sex reconstruction surgery.

Instead of correcting the sex, they end up with physical ailments due to unscientific surgical processes used by the quacks.

Dhana Lakshmi, a doctor for South Indian Positive Network, a voluntary organisation, said most of the transgender community work as the sex workers. They feel that they are females.

"They think that the first hurdle for them is their genital organs. By removing their genital organs they think that they completely become a female physically," Lakshmi added.

Unfortunately, no one has been doing the surgery. So, people go to quacks, Lakshmi said.

Many a time, these transgenders go to Andhra Pradesh to get surgeries done there.

"A doctor in Kadappa in Andhra Pradesh operated upon me. After operation we faced some difficulties like we become fat, we can't walk as before," said Jeeva.

Eunuchs are also considered transgender, but they do not go for sex change surgeries. (ANI)

A brief interview clip with rapper Foxxjazell

Foxx is one of the young LA Ts in Cris Beam's book, "Transparent. . . ."

Cuba's sexual minorities find a champion in a Castro

Transvestites outside the National Center for Sexual Education in Havana. The center's services include training AIDS counselors. (Jose Goitia/NYT)


by Marc Lacey

HAVANA: Twenty or so transvestites sat in a circle recently discussing their woes: harassment, boyfriend troubles, the challenge of removing hair from their legs. Empathizing with them was Mariela Castro Espín, Cuba's premier sexologist.

"I know, I know," she said, putting her hand on one of her own legs to show she could relate.

Then the conversation took an interesting turn. The transvestites, who are receiving training as AIDS counselors at the National Center for Sexual Education, which Castro directs, brought up sexual liaisons some of them had had with soldiers. Maybe counseling in the barracks was needed, they said.

Castro smiled and raised her eyebrows but did not dismiss the suggestion out of hand. Homosexuality is illegal in Cuba's military. In fact, some Cubans have avoided military service altogether by claiming to be gay.

Making the proposal even more sensitive, everyone in the circle understood, is the fact that Castro, 44, is the daughter of Raúl Castro - the commander of Cuba's armed forces and, with the recent health problems of his brother, Fidel Castro, the temporary leader of the government. . . .

Confessions of An Ex- Ex- Transgender

You’ve probably heard of the ex-gay movement. You may have even heard of the ex-ex-gay movement. Odds are slim that you know anyone that is ex-transgender. But have you ever known anyone that is ex-ex-transgender?

You have if you’ve read this blog.

In 1997 I confessed to my wife that I’d cross-dressed most of my life. After her initial shock wore off, she began to accept and integrate this part of me into our marriage. This was an activity that I’d never told anyone about, much less participate in with another person in. In late 1997 I began to realize that I might not be a crossdresser, but that something deeper was hidden underneath all the shame. My wife, the love of my life, had told me in no uncertain terms that if I was a bisexual or transsexual, our marriage would be over. Those two facts were playing a tug of war in my mind for months that caused me to go into a cycle of depression. In January of 1999 things finally came to a head, this looming thing was something I knew that I couldn’t hide from myself any longer. Crying curled up in a ball in the middle of my bed, I realized I couldn’t rid myself of this. . . .

Minister knows transgender issues

Formerly a man, she will speak at a conference this weekend at the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill

Meiling Arounnarath, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - As a 10-year-old, Eric Swenson stuffed toilet paper in his T-shirt to make breasts.

At 60, Erin Swenson talks to churchgoers, college students and others about life as a transgender person.

This weekend, Swenson, the first known mainstream Protestant minister to go from male to female while ordained, will speak at the Church of Reconciliation as part of a weekend conference, "Transgender Experience: Deconstructing Stereotypes, Constructing Identities and Communities."

"I grew up 'closeted' as a transgender person," Swenson said. "I know what it's like to live in that closet and having to struggle with those feelings of shame and fear."

Transgender people are becoming more visible. Rebecca Romijn plays one in the hit TV show "Ugly Betty." Felicity Huffman starred as one in the 2005 movie "Transamerica." Newsweek ran a cover story last month.

The National Center for Transgender Equality estimates that 750,000 to 3 million Americans are transgender.

Mo Morelli, 24, of Carrboro has been taking testosterone injections once a week for two years. They have made his former feminine features more masculine: His jaw is more square, his body is hairier, and his arms are more muscular. He had his breasts removed in January.

He remembers a defining moment four years ago. He wore an all-white tuxedo to accompany his friend to a nice dinner.

"I was still a 'girl' then with a shaved head," Morelli said. "At first, I felt like I was [dressing] in drag. And very quickly it felt like it wasn't drag -- it felt like it was right."

Amanda Ashley, also of Carrboro, started dressing in women's clothing and taking female hormones eight years ago. She identifies herself as a "translesbian" because she is attracted to women.

"I always knew I was different, yet I couldn't quite put my finger on it," Ashley said. "It was unusual because I was never attracted to men as a male. And since our society tends to identify our genders by our sexual orientation, it was very confusing.

"It took a while for me, but since it was so persistent and it was so ringingly clear, it couldn't be denied." . . .

Gender Odyssey Presents Conference Dedicated to Families Raising Gender-Variant Kids

Thu Jun 7, 12:22 PM ET

Families with gender variant and transgender children will find a wealth of information and support at Gender Odyssey's first national conference focused specifically on them. The ground-breaking conference will be held Aug. 31 -- Sept. 2, 2007 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle. At this event, families with kids who do not conform to society's traditional gender expectations can connect with each other, while having access to national experts in the field of gender variance. . . .

Counterpoint and controversy

Theron Bowers | Thursday, 7 June 2007

Focus on gender politics: Is changing gender as simple as changing clothes?

Newsweek recently painted a sympathetic portrait of women imprisoned in men's bodies. Such people need a psychiatrist, not a surgeon.

Political correctness is not only contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment of the American Constitution but also makes for soporific discourse. Newsweek’s recent cover story on transgenders certainly proves that the priests of tolerance and diversity have successfully exorcised the ghost of satirist H.L. Menken from the mainstream media. Newsweek’s coverage was so saccharine that I needed wet wipes after each page.

An issue involving sex and castration should generate a lot of hotly disputed questions. Unhappily, Newsweek relegated any dispute to the usual evangelical bogeyman, with mild scepticism replacing controversy. After all, it averred, we can’t really know the difference between men and women, or male and female. Even the experts at the International Olympic Committee plead ignorance, it was claimed, when it comes to "scientifically" differentiating between a man and a woman. (If East Germany still existed I guess that its athletes could get their medals back!) . . .

Speed Skater: Transgender Athlete

Chile: Transgender murders go unpunished

Chilean court freed Andrea Sanchez's confessed killer. Album de familia de Andrea Sánchez

Benjamin Witte. Jun 6, 2007

Hate crime is on the rise.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee turned its attention to Chile this year — something it has not done since 1999. And, for the first time ever, the committee made a brief reference to problems affecting the country’s sexual minorities.

The Committee praised Chile for finally doing away with legislation in 1998 that criminalized homosexual relationships.

But “the Committee is still concerned about the discrimination to which certain people are subject because of their sexual orientation. Among other areas, [discrimination] exists in the courts and in access to health care,” the UN body concluded, following its 89th session in March.

The report went largely unnoticed in Chile. The country’s mainstream press made no mention of the Committee’s conclusions nor local media note that on March 23, a court in the northern desert city of Calama — as if to illustrate the Committee’s observations exactly — concluded a two-and-a-half-year-old case involving a murdered transvestite by allowing the confessed killer to walk free.

Ana Sánchez, a middle-aged woman from Santiago’s impoverished La Granja district has neither read nor even heard of the recent Human Rights Committee report. Without realizing it though, she is familiar with its contents. After all, it was her son — Calama resident Andrea Sánchez (born Fernando Andrés) — who on Nov. 12, 2004 was brutally beaten to death by a man who bought her sexual services for 2,000 pesos, less than US$4.

The attacker, later identified as Víctor Vicencio Marín, was arrested at the scene of the crime. He spent the next three days in jail, but then went free on bail. “Turns out it’s cheap to kill a faggot,” he was quoted as telling reporters upon his release.

Despite the killer’s admitted guilt, the case dragged on. Vicencio was able to hire a private lawyer. Ana Sánchez was not. Finally, in late March, the Calama criminal court reached a decision: a four-year suspended sentence thanks to Vicencio Marín’s plea bargain. Unless he commits another crime, the confessed murderer will not spend a single additional day in prison. . . .

Transgender in Russia

(Approximately 33% of the clicks on my blog come from outside the US. Russia is the low count with typically 1% or less.)

Transphobia in Russia
Brian Dark / LGBT center together (RUS)

Unfortunately, there are few transgender specialists in Russia. They work only in big cities, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk. They say there are some transgender specialists in Rostov-Na-Donu, but anyway the situation is far from perfect. Doctors (psychiatrists) often don’t see the difference between transgender inclination and schizophrenia . They mix up self-idendification with sexual orientation. There is no fixed document in Russian legislation, which lets a determine sequence of changing the documents simultaneously or before changing the sex. Few people can change documents before the operation. The transgender problem is considered to be a completely medical one. That means that only doctors deal with transgenders, but there is no social support for them. Transgender people often face homophobia and transphobia, especially in small towns. Transgender people are often abused, insulted and raped. However, victims seldom go to the police. There are cases, when transgender persons went to the police, but they were refused any help, because there is also great homophobia among policemen. In the media this topic has scandalous and marginal trace, most „normal people“ think that transgenders are prostitutes or people, lost for the society. We would like to find new friends among foreign transgender people, to learn their experience with homophobia and transphobia and their adaptation after the change of the sex. We are interested in everything connected with the life of transgender people abroad. Download Brians Speech - Abstract Download PDF, 293 KB