Egyptian Pharaoh May Have Been Natural Transsexual

May 04, 2008

BALTIMORE — Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead.

So concludes a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten for an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on the deaths of historic figures.

The female form was due to a genetic mutation that caused the pharaoh's body to convert more male hormones to female hormones than needed, Dr. Irwin Braverman believes. And Akhenaten's head was misshapen because of a separate condition in which skull bones fuse at an early age. . . .Read More

Transsexual husband annuls marriage and enters into civil partnership with wife to keep pension benefits

By ANDREW LEVY

1 May 2008

Two women have married each other in a civil partnership - more than 30 years after they became husband and wife.

Martin Packer had to annul his marriage to Linda so he could be legally recognised as a woman after a sex change.

This left both of them facing a financial blow as they would have had to forfeit certain tax and pension rights. . . .Read More

Transgender voice - Beginning

Hello everyone, this is my first voice video where I try to give some tips as a beginner in making my voice more feminine if you are male to female like me. . . .Read More

Gender Outlaws: Switching from a man to a woman (or vice versa)

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D.

April 23, 2008

Transsexuals and transgendered people can often tell us a great deal about our society because they've experienced what most of us never will: being perceived as a man or a woman in the same lifetime.

A worthy read on this topic is Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw, which chronicles some of her experiences as a transsexual woman. One memorable passage describes the first time Kate walked into a store after being able to successfully pass as a woman. She was shocked to find that nobody was treating her with any respect. A so-called "normal" woman who's been a woman her entire life would never know the difference. . . .Read More

Asheville's transgender community speaks

Lisa Gillespie • April 30, 2008


ASHEVILLE – At age 8, Holly Boswell decided she had magic powers.

Her mother had given Holly a Peter Pan book, and she fixated on the character of Tinkerbell. Holly was then a little boy, but she had been questioning her gender identity since age 2 or 3, she said. “I was thinking to myself, What am I — a fairy?”

Only much later did she find another word for herself: Transgendered.

Boswell was one of four transgendered Asheville residents who spoke Tuesday night at an event organizers called “Transcendence.” The 90-minute program of documentary film clips and discussion was held at the Unitarian Universalist Church. . . .Read More

Lesbians forced to live in anonymity in India

Shai Venkatraman

April 29, 2008


In the US, lesbian talk show host Ellen Degenres created history as the country's topmost television star.

But in India, in Tamil Nadu, transgender athlete Shanthi attempted suicide because she was constantly humiliated about her sexuality.

In a more progressive Kerala, lesbian suicides continue to be on the rise but their police still write them off as ordinary deaths. To this day, sexual minorities in India, especially women are outcastes, shunned by society even their own families.

In the anonymity of our cities, they still find spaces to blend in. But in rural India, coming out means violence, brutality and even death.

Travelling from Gujarat to Karnataka NDTV heard stories of transgenders, bisexuals and lesbians - some visible, most invisible.

Julie met Rekha when she was thirteen years old. Both of them belong to lower middle class families of a village in Kerala. They were classmates and good friends. . . .Read More

Students close mouths, open minds for Day of Silence

Nicole Higginbotham

4/29/08


What began as a University of Virginia class assignment in 1996 has since become a national event, allowing students and faculty across the U.S. to speak up on issues concerning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals in the school setting.

On April 24, UNO participated in the Day of Silence event, with JohnCarl Denkovich, director of the Gender and Sexual Orientation Agency, organizing the day's proceedings. Many students participated on campus by not speaking and handing out information to other students.

During an event in the Milo Bail Student Center, several speakers addressed issues relating to discrimination and bullying including Meredith Bacon, professor in the political science department, and Sara Barnett, GLSEN Jumpstart/Central High School Student Leader.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is a national organization that focuses on sexual identity and orientation acceptance.

"There are many people … who feel very isolated on campus and cannot be who they are," said Joseph Price, professor in UNO's English department. . . .Read More

Report reveals disturbing divide in treatment of transexuals in the EU

By Adam Lake • April 29, 2008

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)-Europe and TransGender Europe have published a comprehensive report on the experiences of health care by transgender people in European Union.

The revealing poll shows the disturbing divide in the treatment on transgender people in Europe.

The legal survey is the result of the largest and most comprehensive data collection on transgender people's lived experiences to date.

In the UK, there is estimated to be around 15,000 transsexual people who self-identify as the opposite gender from the physical body they were born with.

Around a third of them have surgery to change their bodies to be the opposite sex

The report has show how life can still be very hard for transgender people in some parts of Europe.

Many transgender citizens still fear for their safety, the report concluded.

It also looked at how many trans people were unable to work due to discrimination, and facing great difficulties in obtaining access health care as well as gender reassignment services.

Transsexual people experience varying degrees of acceptance around the world. . . .Read More

Shaving my legs is such a drag

April 28, 2008

Contributed by Julia Serano

I had about seven different conflicting thoughts/emotions upon viewing this video:

1) Oh my god, I *cannot* believe that companies are actually using personal endorsements from transgender-spectrum people to help sell their products to non-trans women. How groundbreaking!

2) And at the same time, how disturbing! I think I am experiencing the same queasy feeling right now that old-school gay/queer rights activists most certainly felt when beer companies first began offering to sponsor pride parades and queer events. . . .Read More, and the many comments.

A coming out party

In the coming months, you're going to hear more from Ottawa's transgendered community as it makes an effort to gain understanding and acceptance

By ANN MARIE MCQUEEN

26 April 2008


He works for one of Ottawa's three emergency services. A father in his 30s, married, with two children.

Privately, he's been putting on women's clothes since he was eight.

He fears what would happen if anyone found out.

Even if he was officially accepted on the job, he believes, knowing his co-workers' attitudes, it would wreak havoc on his career.

"Unfortunately," he says,"we have to cloak ourselves." . . .Read More

TV has never seen more transgender characters

By P. Ryan Baber

25 April 2008

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Although long known to the gay community, breakout star Candis Cayne became a household name this year with her recurring role as the male-to-female transgender character Carmelita on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money."

She also made history as the first transgender actress to play a transgender character in primetime, and she even shared an onscreen kiss with William Baldwin.

"It just never would have occurred to me to cast a person that wasn't transgender," says creator and executive producer Craig Wright. "The minute Candis walked through the door, there wasn't a single ounce of opposition."

This was a bold step for a network at a time when most LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) ground is broken on cable. With two cable networks -- Here! and Logo -- providing dedicated gay content, and numerous other cable networks featuring LGBT characters in original miniseries, documentaries and dramas, the LGBT experience is being portrayed with more complexity than ever. . . .Read More

Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People

New publication provides invaluable ‘how-to’ advice to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations seeking to become fully transgender-inclusive

WASHINGTON, DC - April 28 - The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force today released a joint publication titled Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: The Nine Keys to Making Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organizations Fully Transgender-Inclusive, geared toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations. “Transgender inclusion has been an important issue in the LGBT community, particularly in the past year. Yet, many organizations struggle with how exactly to become fully transgender-inclusive. We are excited to offer this free new resource,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). Opening the Door, which is based on years of personal and professional experience within LGBT organizations, makes the case for full inclusion at every level of an organization. It examines the need for genuine, consistent advocacy for inclusion of gender identity and expression in policies, programs, legislative stances and public positions, and explores critical issues such as understanding the transgender experience and the role of an ally, how to address staffing issues, dealing with prejudice and ways to further outreach. The voices of LGBT leaders discussing real-life experiences with transgender inclusion are found throughout the guide. . . .Read More

Peter Kay targets TV talent shows with new comedy

Apr 28 2008

COMEDIAN Peter Kay is making a TV series based on talent shows - starring himself as a tubby transsexual.

Britain's Got The Pop Factor will parody The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, having previously sent up club acts in Phoenix Nights.

This time, one of the characters Kay will play is transsexual singer Geraldine King - whose real name later emerges as Gerry. . . .Read More

Hot Docs Review: Be Like Others

Apr 28th 2008

by Monika Bartyzel


There is one moment in Tanaz Eshaghian's Be Like Others that starts by plucking at our insistent hopes for happiness. Hungry for love and affection from his family, Ali Askar tells a story about being thrilled when his father insisted that Ali have breakfast with him. While it was such a simple action, it was one with insistence that Ali had never seen before. This act seemed full of the loving camaraderie and acceptance that the young man had dreamed of. His father poured them tea, but Ali refused to drink it; he realized that this wasn't a warm act of fatherly love. This wasn't a breakthrough moment in their relationship. Ali's father was trying to kill him with rat poison. His father would rather kill his son than allow him to get the sex change that he yearns for.

But it is more complicated than a transsexual wanting a sex change. In Iran, this matter is complicated because homosexuality is punishable by death, and transgendered lifestyles are not an option. . . .Read More

Transgender Press Conference

Diane DeLap, Spokesperson of Affirmation: United Methodists for LGBTQ Concerns.

Transgender Press Conference

Rev. Drew Phoenix, St. John's United Methodist Church, Baltimore, MD.

JACKSON INSPIRED BY DRAG QUEENS

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

4.23.2008


Janet Jackson is so impressed by the legion of drag queens who attempt to mimic her act she'd like to be one.

The Control hitmaker admits she checks out drag stars who have their own Janet Jackson act whenever she hears of one - and some are amazing.

She chuckles, "One of them was at the Baton (Show Lounge) in Chicago. This was a few years ago. And she did a wonderful job. . . .Read More

Journey of a transgender choreographer

Stanford Lively Arts presents Jin Xing Dance Theatre

04/24/2008

by Joe Landini


Queer performance takes on an international slant this weekend, as trans choreographer-led Jin Xing Dance Theatre appears at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium. Jin, a former colonel in the Chinese army, is the first transwoman to be recognized as a cultural pioneer in China. In Germany, Die Zeit (The Times ) has called Jin "probably the world's best dancer."

As a boy, Jin was trained at a Chinese military dance academy, a unique cultural model where some of China's best artists are developed. In an interview with journalist Sheila Melvin, Jin said, "They gave me a fantastic education. For a child who wants to be an artist, it is wonderful, especially with the discipline. I still benefit from this education." In addition to learning traditional Chinese dance, opera, acrobatics and Russian classical ballet, Jin learned how to shoot a machine gun and make bombs. . . .Read More

The Naked Playwright’s Transgender Jesus

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

April 24, 2008

“The basic premise is that Jesus was FTM,” says award-winning playwright Tobias K. Davis, describing his one-act play, Crossing, which retells the story of Christ’s crucifixion with this transgender twist. “His struggles and persecution and crucifixion were motivated not only by his teachings and how they threatened the Roman Empire, but by his gender, and how it threatened the rigid binary society.”

Davis lives in his hometown, Northampton, Mass., where he graduated from Smith College. It was during his senior year there that Davis collaborated with classmate Claire Avitabile in creating and directing The Naked I: Monologues From Beyond the Binary (“a transgendered take on The Vagina Monologues”), which won first place in the 2003 Five-College Denis H. Johnston Playwriting Competition. The Naked I and Davis’ short, The Best Boyfriend, have been performed at a numerous theater festivals and college campuses. His latest work, Standards of Care, premieres this June 6-15 in Minneapolis and explores the “strange relationship that exists between transgendered people and the medical and therapist community.”

Standards explores those relationships and issues facing two transgender guys - one older and one a teenager - who battle gender dysphoria, struggle with therapy, fight for family support and search for love. The title refers to the Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders (SOC), which spells out standards for psychiatric, psychological, medical and surgical management of gender identity issues. Davis suggests that these standards exist not for the well being of trans patients, but for benefit of the medical community and society at large. . . .Read More

Lonely road: Why school is hell for transgender pupils

When 'Lauren' decided she wanted to be recognised as a girl, life at school became a nightmare. Should teachers be doing more for transgender pupils?

By Rachel Pugh
24 April 2008

The day that Lauren Quick, 11, started at the mixed comprehensive in her Yorkshire home town, an older lad stormed into her classroom at break, shouting, "Oi, there's a tranny in here – show me where it is!"

Suddenly, Lauren, who had been insisting from the age of three that she had "a girl brain in a boy's body", was surrounded. She was distraught and, weeks later, made her first attempt to kill herself. Two further attempts followed in the next five months – the last in the school lavatories.

Her life, says mother Jan, had become a living nightmare. Every day, she faced shouts of "man beast" and "tranny" from pupils, as well as calls to "get your dick out" – even, on one occasion, when she was being escorted by a teacher. Lauren's response was to self-harm on a regular basis.

The town's police hate crimes unit became involved three times after several incidents, including one pupil spitting in her face and a mother who was picking up offspring shouting, "You fucking tranny", through the car window as Lauren walked home from school. Lauren was more often absent than in school.

Although the school supported Lauren's desire to be accepted as a girl, and made determined efforts to stamp out the bullying – taking the perpetrator of each incident aside to explain Lauren's circumstances – one day, everything came to a head. Lauren was ambushed on the way home by older boys, who tried to remove her skirt in an attempt to see her genitals. . . .Read More