I Am Transgender

by Robbi Cohn


I am the person who is unemployable merely because of my gender identity.

I am the person who lives within a heartbeat of homelessness.

I am the person who might be reduced to prostitution to survive.

I am the person most likely to commit suicide because I have no way to survive.

I am the person living with the despair of hopelessness.

I am the person my family has abandoned and forgotten.

I am the person my church tells me is damned.

I am the person the military has asked me to “don’t ask, don’t tell”.

I am the person right-wingers think will molest women and children in bathrooms.

I am the person who has the same values as other human beings.

I am the person Barney Frank has asked to wait my turn.

I am the person my political party wishes would just go away.

I am the person who has spent countless hours educating in vain.

I am the person who my political party has claimed still needs to educate.

I am the person my community has asked to not make waves.

I am the person who advocates for equal opportunity.

I am the person who believes in diversity.

I am the person who believes people should be judged by what they do, not how they look.

I am the person who wants to love and be loved.

I am the person my one-time friends and acquaintances often shun.

I am the person who works for equality for all marginalized human beings.

I am the person who abides by the principles of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am the person who trusts in the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi.

I am the person who finds solace in the love of the Great Spirit.

I am the person who was created to be free.

I am the person who was endowed by my creator to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I am the person whose potential should remain unlimited, yet has been marginalized.

I am the person society has disenfranchised.

I am the person who must work in stealth, lest I be fired.

I am the person who has erected a wall around myself so as to keep my reality secret.

I am the person other minorities have disinherited.

I am the person elites within my community tend to disparage.

I am the person who lives in your neighborhood.

I am the person who attends your church.

I am the person who works side by side with you wherever I am employed, if I am employed.

I am your brother, sister, father or mother.

I am transgender.

Students observe National Transgender Day of Remembrance

By Michelle Wu
Princetonian Contributor


Students and local residents remembered victims of murders motivated by anti-transgender hatred during a service in the University Chapel yesterday evening.

The event was part of the National Transgender Day of Remembrance, a tradition started nine years ago to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman from Boston murdered on Nov. 28, 1998, in a crime that remains unsolved. Since then, the event has grown to encompass the remembrance of all victims of anti-transgender hate and prejudice.

"We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred-based violence," Debbie Bazarsky, director of the University's LGBT Center, said in her opening remarks at the service. "Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no signs of abating."

Dean of Religious Life Rev. Alison Boden led a prayer for victims of anti-transgender crimes, in which she lamented that people were murdered for "being who they were" but admired the "integrity with which they lived their lives."

Following a performance of the song "True Colors" by the FireHazards a cappella group, Ellen Adams '10 recited "How Old," a poem about the pain of living as a transgender individual.

The service also included a candlelight vigil for the 14 people killed worldwide in anti-transgender crimes since last November, as well as the seven people murdered in New Jersey within the last 15 years for the same reason.

Office honors transgender victims with ceremony

by Sandra Plasse

11/16/2007

Lauren Adamski has been dating a transgender individual for three years.

Her partner appears masculine but has a feminine name. When her partner's name is called in public - when picking up a prescription, for example - people assume that it belongs to Adamski. Of course, the assumption is wrong and causes confusion and strange looks.

People in society get frustrated when they are faced with gender ambiguity, said

Adamski, LGBT Resource Center program coordinator at Syracuse University.

"Stereotypes can foster ignorance, and in some extreme cases, violence," said LGBT director Adrea Jaehnig.

At noon, a remembrance ceremony will be at Hendricks Chapel for those who have been killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event, in its fourth year at SU, coincides with the National Transgender Day of Remembrance. While the actual day of remembrance is Nov. 20, it is celebrated earlier in Syracuse because of Thanksgiving break.

"The event is important to remember the people that were discriminated against," said junior Renee Orenstein, a magazine and international relations major. "It's a way to make people aware that these terrible things are happening. It's a way to remember the people and get the message out to the public that these things are actually occurring."

The remembrance tradition began in 1999 with a candlelight vigil in San Francisco. The idea for the memorial came from the murder of Rita Hester a year earlier.

SU's event this year will include poetry readings, a candlelight vigil and a moment of silence. During the candlelight vigil, two students will read a list of the names of those who died due to transgender violence.

The list is 17 pages long.

The event is a way for the cause to get the attention it deserves, Adamski said.

"When a death or a murder like this occurs, there isn't a lot of media attention to it. If there is, it is not explicitly stated that it was a hate crime or that this happened because of hatred or violence against transgender people specifically," Adamski said. . . .

Transgender activist shares struggle

by Mary Duke
November 15, 2007

A transgender activist said Wednesday there is an enormous misunderstanding about what the term “transgender” actually means.

Jessica Janiuk spoke to University of Wisconsin students Wednesday about her difficult journey to find her identity as a woman.

Janiuk, born male, spoke as part of the UW Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center’s Transgender Awareness Week, which will continue through Saturday.

In 2005, Janiuk lobbied the UW System Board of Regents to add transgender persons to their list of those protected by the UW System’s nondiscrimination policy.

LGBT Director Eric Trekell said UW lacks acceptance and understanding of transgender people, though there are other places where the situation is worse.

“Something like in 28 states people can be fired from their jobs because they are transgender,” Trekell said.

UW senior Joe Erbentraut, event coordinator for the LGBT Campus Center, said the group is “going all out to educate the campus on transgender.”

“This is the first time in a few years that we have done a full week of awareness events,” Erbentraut said. “We want to create a community for transgender students on the community.”

Janiuk said transgender is an umbrella term where anyone not identifying with societal gender norms would fit.

From a young age, Janiuk said she began to identify outside those norms when she noticed she acted differently from other children.

“I was stealing my mother’s clothes when she wasn’t looking,” Janiuk said. “I didn’t know anything was socially wrong with this.”

As Janiuk grew older, her urge to become a woman only became stronger, but with this urge arose feelings of fear.

“I remember going to bed and wishing that God would turn me into a woman so I could live a happy life,” Janiuk said.

The confusion she felt about her gender led to severe depression when she started her freshman year at UW.

“I entered into severe sadness — I had no motivation to do anything,” Janiuk said. “I couldn’t get myself out of bed. I felt that numb sensation.”

According to Janiuk, dressing up as a female character from the animated show “Sailor Moon” for Halloween one year was an awakening moment in her life.

“I felt something I had never felt before,” Janiuk said. “I felt my gender identity and my physical presentation were coming closer together. It was a happiness I had never felt before.”

By 2003, Janiuk decided she had enough of hiding her true identity and underwent surgery to become a physical woman.

Janiuk said she hopes people realize individuals can express themselves as they please.

“Each person has the ability to give themselves their own label,” Janiuk said. “I think it’s unfortunate that people in society put labels on other people for them.”

UW senior Angela Birrittella, mentor and support group coordinator for the LGBT Campus Center, said hearing about transgender issues like this is important because she said in the LGBT community, transgender individuals are often left out.

"Breaking Gender Barriers"

Candis Cayne has a fraternal twin brother. . .and a history of a supportive family.

Sultry Blond On ABC Show Is Hawaii Transgender

Cayne Misses Islands, Comforts Of Home

15 November 2007


HONOLULU -- Local actress and transgender woman Candis Cayne is heating up the small screen on the ABC TV show "Dirty Sexy Money."The sultry blond on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" is Cayne.She is a 1989 graduate of Maui's Baldwin High School.

This island girl was born a boy. She was born Brendan McDaniel with fraternal twin Dylan.Cayne said she knew she was different from a young age."(Dylan) was off with his friends playing football and riding bike, and I was with my girlfriends playing Barbies," Cayne said. "My parents were very liberal, and amazing, and they kind of let me be who I wanted to be. They never really questioned it."They remained supportive when she decided a decade ago to transition to a woman.Now, Cayne is having the time of her life playing the role of the transgender Carmelita, the love interest of Billy Baldwin's character."It's something I've prepared for 15 years. So, I'm really, really… it's a dream come true kind of," she said.It's a dream come true for the Maui girl who still misses the islands."I'm obsessed with cone sushi and I love shoyu chicken. Those are my two favorites, and I go right to the beach, Makena, and go and hang out with my parents," she said. . . .

Candis Cayne on Project Runway!

Candis Cayne is taking over the world.

Ever since appearing on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money as Billy Baldwin’s secret transsexual lover, this real-life transsexual has popped up on The View, Good Morning America, Hollywood red carpets and, well, right here in Planet Gossip.

And last night, there she was on the premiere of the new season of Project Runway! I spotted her in the modeling photos that contestant Jack Mackenroth used to show his designs during his audition for the hit Bravo reality show.

Cayne and Mackenroth have been good friends for quite some time. While Mackenroth hasn’t dressed Cayne for any of her public appearances, she tells me, “I’ll definitely be hitting him up for some."

As for the photo below, it's smokin' hot Mackenroth. I couldn't help but share it with you!

Gender is not a hobby

It is a fact for Finney Boylan

Kristen Miller

11/14/2007

Gliding across the stage in a floral dress and a black blazer, Jennifer Finney Boylan compared her surgical procedure in 2001 to "the feeling of leaving one country and going to another." Boylan, an author and professor at Colby College, is referencing her sex-change procedure when she officially and completely went from James to Jenny. Six years later, on November 6, 2007, she stood before a packed auditorium at Clark University in Worcester, MA to explain her personal experience with being transsexual. Her talk was not about the surgery itself, but how she dealt with this lifelong and nearly incomprehensible condition.

"The issue of transgender is so hard to talk about because the term refers to all sorts of people," Boylan said. The term covers territory from drag queens to homosexuals-which caused Boylan to exclaim, "So no wonder everyone's confused!" Boylan does not claim to be an expert on the subject, nor that she is the "emblematic transperson." She just has "a bunch of allegedly amusing stories," she remarked with a smile. These stories are outlined in her memoirs, titled "She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders." They range from stories of her time as a man, where she would practice public speaking with a bra on-to her life with children and their reactions to her fame as a transsexual.

It was at the age of ten when the feeling of "living in the wrong body" began, Boylan remembered. His mother was ironing his father's shirt, and when she was finished, she held the shirt up and said, "Someday you'll wear shirts like this." Boylan recalled the puzzling feeling that came over him, as he countered her remark in his mind with, "but you never wear shirts like that?"

This feeling of confusion was a crushing, invisible burden in his life that grew heavier and heavier. Boylan explained that it is too hard to identify with a person who is transsexual if you are not one yourself. "Imagine feeling something to which people say, 'that's really weird [stuff],'" she explained. "The fact you don't have to think about what it means to be a woman is a privilege. You have something that transsexuals don't have." . . .

Sister Mary Elizabeth - an Icon for the World

Update - March 19, 2005
Profile by Amber Thorne

---

The list of selfless acts of kindness to others is as diverse as it is long for Crystal Heart Award winner Sister Mary Elizabeth. Her name is recognized throughout the world, and yet if you are not involved in the arena of the AIDS pandemic you may not have heard of her. Transsexuals in this state may not know that their ability to amend the sex moniker on their California birth certificate is directly attributed to her work. She has dedicated her life to God and is a tireless champion for her fellow man.

She was born Michael Clark in Pontiac, MI, in 1938 and by the age of 3 she knew that she was different from other boys. She felt more comfortable around girls because in her heart she knew that she was one. She tried to talk and act like a girl even though her feminine mannerisms prompted much taunting by the school boys. As is the case for many in our community, she suppressed her true nature and conformed to societal expectations.

In an attempt to live a normal life she joined the US Navy Reserve in 1955. Then in 1959 she got married and joined the regular Navy serving in Hawaii and Vietnam as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare, scuba diving, and sea survival. The marriage ended after 11-years in divorce.

Mary Elizabeth married again to another woman who would be pivotal in her life. Feeling guilty about her secret, she came out as a transsexual to her wife who then supported her as they talked about what they had to do. Her wife convinced Mary Elizabeth to tell her parents, and contrary to years of feared rejection, they understood. Encouraged by a loving spouse and parents she underwent a psychological evaluation which showed that she was a woman inside. When the Navy found out about this evaluation, Chief Petty Officer Michael Clark was discharged honorably. The discharge left her "angry" because she had often been commended for outstanding service.

After her Gender Identity Dysphoria diagnosis she began hormone therapy and in 1975 had sex reassignment surgery, emerging as Joanna Michelle Clark. In August of that year she was surprised by a Reserve recruiter who visited her office, urging her to enlist again. She told him that she was a transsexual, but he said he didn't think that fact would be a problem. With full disclosure to the Army she was accepted, becoming Sergeant First Class Joanna Clark in the WACs.

Eighteen months later during proceedings to promote her to warrant officer the military found out about her transsexual status and initiated discharge proceedings, claiming fraudulent enlistment. She fought against this discharge and her case was eventually settled out of court with a stipulation that the details of the settlement not be discussed. In the end, she received another honorable discharge with credit for time served in the Reserve. To this day it is still unlawful for transsexuals to enlist in the US military, in spite of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Mary Elizabeth's involvement in the transsexual community began in 1975 while visiting a Los Angeles-based transsexual rap group moderated at the time by San Diego's own "Ar"lene Lafferty. She listened to its members sharing the problems they were encountering in establishing new identities. In classic form she said, "If you can't change your records because of the law, then change the law!" This was a task many thought impossible. "I believe the process will work for those willing to make it work," she said at the time. Many people thought the idea was crazy and couldn't be done. Even her father, a retired city council member, told her to forget it. But she went ahead anyway, determined to prove that the system can work.

She leased a Savin word processor and began a letter-writing campaign aimed at changing the law. With the sponsorship of Willie Brown, and significant support of the Gray Panthers, AB 385 (W. Brown-1977) became the law that everyone said could never be. For thousands of post-operative transsexuals in California the road to a consistent identity became a reality. AB 385 which permitted the State Department of Health to issue new birth certificates to post-operative transsexuals became effective on January 1, 1978.

Shortly thereafter, State Senator Paul Carpenter along with twenty-two co-sponsors introduced emergency legislation SB-2200 to prohibit Medi-Cal from funding sex reassignment surgery and related services. Mary Elizabeth argued the unconstitutionality of the bill before the state Legislature and his bill was defeated. Today, although it is extraordinarily difficult, Medi-Cal will pay for sex reassignment surgery.

In 1978, she wrote "Legal Aspects of Transsexualism," an important early document on the subject of transsexualism which is still referenced today. She was behind the creation of the ACLU of Southern California Transsexual Rights Committee, the first such committee in the history of the ACLU impacting existing laws and regulations on both state and federal levels.

Forming the community of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary with two other women at St Clements, Mary Elizabeth made her vows as an Episcopalian sister in 1988 "We got off to a good start until I made my vows," she explained. "And then, of course, the press descended and the church abandoned ship the next day." After the other two founding members left, she changed her affiliation to the American Catholic Church, an organization of independent Catholic churches. . . .

Groups Lambast New Gender Law

by Cynthia De Castro

LOS ANGELES - SB 777, a new law recently signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been getting criticisms from various sectors of California.

The new law requires textbooks, instructional materials, and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual “marriages,” and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called “gay history.” Silence on these sexual lifestyles will not be allowed.

Conservatives are worried that this new law will turn every government school into a sexual indoctrination center. It bans “discriminatory bias” against homosexuals and others with alternative sexual lifestyles. Some groups are already issuing calls to parents to get their children out of California’s public school system.

Authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl, a self-admitted lesbian, SB 777 amends the definition of “gender” to the Education Code: “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.

SB 777 also deletes the true definition of “sex” from the Education Code. Currently, sex is defined as the “biological condition or quality of being a male or female human being.”

Because of the bill’s wide-open definition of “sexual orientation,” homosexual “marriages” and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality would be positively portrayed to children as young as kindergarten. SB 777 will teach these highly-controversial sexual subjects without parental permission.

The new mandate would be enforced by the attorneys of the California Department of Education, which would sue school districts that don’t comply.

One news article translated the new law into simpler terms. It bans the use of “Mom and Dad” and “husband and wife.” Also, a boy can go into the girls’ restroom if he pleases if that’s how he defines his gender. Consequently, a girl can also use the boys’ restroom for the same reason. High school Homecoming Kings and Queens may now both be either male or female, depending on how the person defines his/her gender.

“Parents are angry at the Democrats for passing this school sexual indoctrination bill and frustrated that Republicans did little to fight it,” said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a leading California-based pro-family organization.

“The notion of forcing children to support controversial sexual lifestyles is shocking and appalling to millions of fathers and mothers. Parents don’t want their children taught to become homosexual or bisexual or to wonder whether they need a sex-change operation. SB 777 will shatter the academic purpose of education by turning every government school into a sexual indoctrination center,” he said.

Thomasson is calling upon every California parent to pull their child out of California’s public school system.

“The so-called ‘public schools’ are no longer a safe emotional environment for children. Under the new law, schoolchildren as young as kindergarten will be sexually indoctrinated and introduced to homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality, over the protests of parents, teachers and even school districts,” he said.

Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed similar bills last year when he was running for re-election, conservative groups noted. Surprisingly, he signed the bill three weeks ago without any comment.

Supporters said the new law is supposed to eliminate “confusion” about the State’s responsibility to ensure that all school programs, textbooks, instructional materials and activities are free from unlawful discrimination.

Schwarzenegger also signed a bill allowing domestic partners and married couples equal opportunity to change their surnames upon marriage or domestic partnership registration. Specifically, the bill would require that marriage license forms contain spaces for either party to indicate a change in his or her last name to his or her spouse’s last name.

Parents from all across California and the nation have been flooding concerned agencies with calls and e-mails, completely stunned that Gov. Schwarzenegger would sign the bill.

One plan filed with Attorney General Jerry Brown last week to stop the signed law from taking into effect is calling for a referendum. Once it is given a title and documentation, supporters will have only 90 days to collect enough signatures – an estimated 434,000 – to qualify the referendum for an election ballot. . . .

About The Day of Remembrance

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

Veronica Klaus is brassy and confident onstage. . .

. . .discussing her sex change in 'Family Jewels.' In person, though, she protects her privacy.

Edward Guthmann

March 20, 2006

In her one-woman show, "Family Jewels," the flame-haired chanteuse Veronica Klaus picks up an antique tuba, hoists it over her shoulder and plays the upbeat lament "All of Me." It's a great image for a cabaret performer to offer a crowd -- a slice of 21st century vaudeville -- but also an ironic one, given that Klaus, 5-foot-10 and gorgeous, is a transsexual.

The song is mildly masochistic: "Can't you see, I'm no good without you," Klaus moans. But in her hands "All of Me" becomes an outsider's declaration, a demand for respect.

"Take me as I am," Klaus seems to purr between the lines. "This envelope, this reconstructed body, this hair color that doesn't exist in nature. This is good enough."

Klaus, 41, is one of an estimated 12,000 transsexual women in the United States, a population that's not only growing but inching toward social acceptability. Felicity Huffman won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination this year for playing Bree, a hapless sex-change candidate in the comedy "Transamerica." And Larry Wachowski, one of the co-directors of "The Matrix" film trilogy and producer of "V for Vendetta," has changed his sex and is now living as Lana Wachowski.

"Family Jewels," playing at Theatre Rhinoceros until April 1, might be subtitled "Everything You Always Wanted to Ask About Transsexuals But Were Afraid to Ask." Through music and anecdotes, Klaus takes us back to a small-town, Midwestern childhood and broken home, an adolescent passion for Bette Midler and showbiz roots in a puppet ministry called the God Squad. She was a "big-boned girlie boy," a red-headed kid with a Huck Finn face before she transitioned -- as we see in an onstage slide show.

Klaus doesn't scrimp on details, but devotes a funny chunk of the show to the gender reassignment surgery that resulted in a neovagina -- "my remodeled rumpus room." During the procedure, the male genitalia isn't so much discarded as "rearranged," she explains. "It's like 'organ-gami.' " . . .

Queen - I Want to Break Free

Queen - Live Aid - Part 3 (3/5)

One of the greatest rock groups of all time at one of the great concerts: 13.07.1985, London (Wembley Stadium), England.

Transgender discrimination outlawed

(Courtesy, Transgender Law & Policy Institute)
Transgender activists outside the offices of the D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign in this file photo taken Aug. 7, 2004. Montgomery County Council members unanimously approved a measure that outlaws discrimination against transgender people.

Nov 14, 2007

by Kathleen Miller

WASHINGTON - Montgomery County Council members unanimously approved a measure that outlaws discrimination against transgender people, despite the outrage of protesters who worried the measure would allow men access to women’s restrooms.

The legislation will “prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, cable television service and taxicab service on the basis of gender identity” and add gender identity discrimination to the lists of potential types of prejudice.

The measure, passed Tuesday, also says that there will be no change in how restroom access is determined, but that didn’t satisfy protesters such as Adol T. Owen-Williams II.

“I hope it’s on your conscience when little girls start showing up dead in public bathrooms,” Owen-Williams shouted at council members as they left the room.

About 25 protesters held signs that read “Gender ID Bill is LOO-NY” or “Safety.” Protesters said they wanted a bill that would specifically bar individuals with male genitalia from using female restrooms and locker rooms.

Michelle Turner, spokeswoman for local group Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said she hoped the council would “reconsider it, rewrite it and then allow a public hearing so more citizens here in Montgomery County have an option or an opportunity to say something about it and have their voices heard.” . . .

Australia: DREADCIRCUS IN TRANSITION

Jade Starr will once again rock the music scene.

After months in the studios recording their next CD, singer Jade Starr and her troupe of transsexuals and lesbians, known as Dreadcircus, are set to launch their latest album this week before jetsetting to Adelaide for the Feast festival.

They will be joined on tour by Ikochi, an Asian transsexual band that promises to deliver a high-energy show thanks to its unique sound spanning the traditions of the Japanese Showa era through to rockabilly and punk.

Bass player Kota and drummer Datsuke will join Ikochi’s stunning transsexual lead singer and guitarist Chikako at the events.

But before the groups hit the road they will be playing at the Sandringham in Newtown on Thursday 15 November, then at Slide on Sunday 18 November with She Is. . . .

TV gives a role to transsexuality

With taboos being erased, story lines involving transgender characters have been emerging on prominent shows.

By Roger Catlin

Gay people on TV are old hat.

By now, Entertainment Weekly reports, 61% of college freshmen, who grew up with "Will & Grace," approve of gay marriage. The finding in the national poll is up 10 percentage points from a decade ago.

A turn around the dial will bring you gay story lines in daytime soap operas, same-sex dating on MTV shows such as "Next" and "A Shot of Love With Tila Tequila," and prominent gay characters in ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" and several cable shows: FX's "Nip/Tuck," HBO's "The Wire" and Showtime's "The L Word."

Suspected of being gay is no longer the guaranteed laugh it was on TV anymore, even on macho shows like "Two and a Half Men." And characters such as George on "Grey's Anatomy" or Barney on "How I Met Your Mother" can be credible as virtual Lotharios, though they are played by gay men.

No, to add shock to TV shows in 2007, writers have turned to transsexuals.

How surprising was it last season on "Ugly Betty" when Alex, the long-lost brother of Mode magazine editor in chief Daniel Mead, returned as Alexis, who was not only a woman but a woman who looks like Rebecca Romijn (exactly like her, as it turned out)?

A story line over the summer on "Entourage" involved Johnny Drama trying to get in good with the mayor of Beverly Hills by hooking him up with what appeared to be a beautiful woman at a trendy bar. Her pre-op secret was revealed in one of those skirt flash shots the paparazzi so love. But the mayor (Stephen Tobolowsky) decided he liked his exotic new acquaintance anyway.


Sultry blond

Another politician on a TV series who decided to stick with his transsexual is William Baldwin's Patrick Darling on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money." Though a married New York state attorney general running for U.S. Senate, he is determined to continue his illicit relationship with Carmelita, despite entreaties from his family lawyer.

Carmelita, a sultry blond with a very low voice, is notable because she might be broadcast TV's first recurring transsexual character who actually is played by a transsexual. She is played by Candis Cayne, whose previous credits include "Wigstock: The Movie," "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" and an episode of "CSI: New York."

A transsexual story line also occurs early on another new ABC series, "Big Shots," in which divorced cosmetics CEO Duncan Collinsworth, played by Dylan McDermott, hooks up with a transsexual prostitute at a rest stop -- a tryst that threatens his career when the story gets out.

A more normal depiction of a transsexual life comes as a small part of the FX series "The Riches," about a family of grifters, whose youngest son prefers to dress in women's clothes.

Even as more daytime talk shows take a more serious look at transsexuals, including an October episode of "Oprah Winfrey," some in the transgender community are not encouraged by TV's tendency to depict transsexual women, especially those of color, as prostitutes. The only transsexual women who so far escape that profession are white.


'I'm totally natural'

But on "There's Something About Miriam," an imported BBC series on the Fox Reality cable channel, a group of men vie for the affections of a Mexican woman. According to Fox Reality, the show involves "six eligible men, one beautiful model named Miriam and an enormous secret reveal you never saw coming."

But in this season of transsexuals, of course you saw it coming.

And if you didn't, it was revealed in the premiere (shown, oddly, on Halloween, following the announcement of a winner on "The Search for the Next Elvira").

"I'm not a real woman. I wasn't born as a girl, I was born as a man. I'm a transsexual," Miriam says with about 10 minutes left in the first episode. "I see myself as a girl because I've been living about half my life the way I am living now.

"I don't have any operation. I'm totally natural, this is me."

A doctor from Spain is then interviewed, so he can say, "I can confirm that she has got masculine genitals."

"I see myself as a girl, so basically I like straight guys," Miriam says. The guys won't find out until the final episode.

When "There's Something About Miriam" first aired in the United Kingdom in 2004, it was called "the cruelest reality show idea yet."

Its participants sued the show for conspiracy to commit sexual assault, defamation, breach of contract and personal injury in the form of psychological and emotional damage.

The cases were settled out of court, and the show since has been shown in Australia and Poland. Still, it is perhaps understandable that the cast refuses to do interviews related to the show's U.S. debut.

Mara Keisling, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, has said, "It's just natural that as there are more trans people visible in public, that's going to be reflected in popular culture."

But its emergence comes with terms that are offensive to the community, such as "she-male" and "tranny."

And conservative watchdog groups are against it altogether.

Christopher Gildemeister, in the TV Trends column for the Parents Television Council, says ABC has an "apparent fetish for transsexuals" in a season where "bizarre forms of sex are being emphasized to a much greater degree on television than ever before."

Bar installs new bathroom for transgender woman

11/12/2007

By Jennifer Korducki


A transgender woman has settled a civil rights complaint with a Scottsdale nightclub owner over the use of a bar’s bathroom.

A face-to-face meeting between Michele de LaFreniere and bar owner Tom Anderson over the weekend ended the dispute, now that the bar has put in a single-stall restroom available to every customer.

De LaFreniere originally filed a civil rights complaint over the use of the bar’s bathrooms against Anderson’s Fifth Estate a year ago.

The complaint was filed after Anderson banned de LaFreniere and some of her friends from the nightclub after women complained about men in dresses using the toilets in the women’s restroom.

De LaFreniere was also allowed to return to Anderson’s Fifth Estate, a downtown Scottsdale bar.

Rocky Risley Horror

Double Take: Rocky Horror Picture Show

November 14, 2007

By Meredith Richard

This weekend, red-lipstick wearing, feather boa bearing, experimental film enthusiasts united at Risley to celebrate the glory that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Huddled on the floor of Risley’s Great Hall, the students observed all of the traditions associated with this cult classic, with the aid of hosts Chris Macklin and Jasmine Haboubi ’08. For this weekend’s presentation of the show, students certainly dressed for the occasion, some in as little as lingerie, fishnets and high-heels. Others took the more traditional route, and dressed to emulate one of the stars of the show, yet this still did not entail much more in the way of body coverage. This costume-party atmosphere contributed greatly to the overall experience of the show.

Upon our arrival, the “virgins” were instructed to recite an oath: “I, virgin scum, do hereby admit, in front of all of these people, that I am a Rocky Horror virgin. I wish to lose all of my morals and accept decadence in my heart.” And as a sort of initiation, the virgins participated in various contests, some of which involved bananas and condoms, or faking an orgasm. The games were commenced, of course, on the count of 69.

The two usherettes opened the show, with a scintillating, choreographed routine to the opening credits, and the song, “Science Fiction-Double Feature.” While the iconic red lips mouthed the words on the screen set up behind the actors, audience members sang their own version, which complimented the original lyrics of the song. After this, the cast emerged in front of the screen, to reenact the events of the movie as they occurred.

For all of you virgins out there, The Rocky Horror Picture Show follows the newly-engaged couple, Brad Majors (Matt Taylor ’10) and Janet Weiss (Michele Batista ’10), as they attempt a visit to their friend, Dr. Everett von Scott (Scott Mooney ’11). When they get a flat tire along the way, they are left with no choice but to ask for help at the residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Ethan Samuels ’10), a transsexual mad scientist. Formerly very straight-edge, the pair soon learns to embrace the self-indulgent lifestyle of Franky and his gang of eccentric Transylvanians.

The audience participated vociferously at several points throughout the show. We waved our arms back and forth for the windshield wiper scene, held lighters up for the song, “Over at the Frankenstein Place,” and stood to dance the steps to the “Time Warp.” We applauded uproariously when Franky appeared on screen, and threw toast when he held up his flute of champagne during the dinner party scene and suggested “Let’s have a toast.” One member of the audience ran up just in time to give the appearance of having been hit by the lightning bolt that cracked on the screen. Several people also ran up to the screen at the end of the film, to make it look like they were spinning the projected image with their hands.

People yelled taunts and lewd comments at the screen, some of which were personalized to Cornell (i.e. comparing the wacky transsexual Transylvanians to the Cornell Football team). Overall, the show was a vastly entertaining experience, and I would recommend it to any of you Rocky Horror virgins out there. . . .

Living in a transgender world

Q&A clears up confusion in terms of gender

By: Freddy Hunt

11/14/07

If Uncle Bill wants to become a woman - well, actually he's always been a woman, she's just stuck in a man's body - which public restroom will she use? What about her facial hair? Will she have surgery? And if she still likes women, is she a lesbian?

These are some of the questions raised by three children in a film shown at yesterday's workshop, Transgender, Allies and Social Change. The name of the film is "No Dumb Questions," which would have also been an appropriate title for the workshop since Joelle Ruby Ryan encouraged any and all questions.

Ryan, founder of Transcendence, the University based transgender support group, said workshops will be held throughout the week to further educate people on transgendered people and the obstacles they must overcome.

"Everybody asks, 'Why?', but nobody asks, 'Why are people heterosexual or gender normative?'" Ryan said. "The real question is, 'Why do we live in a world that wont accept people for being themselves?"

It is important to educate society on the difficulties transgender people face to gain allies and also because some people will go their whole lives unhappily living a secret, suppressing their identity, Ryan said.

Marlene Bomer, community liaison for Transcendence, said nothing felt better than when she came out and started living outwardly as she felt inside.

"Hello world this is who I am and if you don't like it, tough!" Bomer said sternly. "There's one person that I'm going to worry about and that is myself. If you don't like it, fine, just don't beat me up for it. I'm going to be myself."

There are many colleges and universities nationwide that have included gender identity and expression in their non-discriminatory policies, which would protect gender expression, but BGSU is not one of them.

Although Ryan said there is lots of support at the University, from USG, Faculty Senate and the Student Senate, a policy must be approved by the Board of Trustees in order for it to be implemented. . . .