July 22, 2008
Simon Wong
Thanks to television, viewers across the world have seen vivid images of the violent riots in the Olympic torch relay and the sexually explicit costumes in the gay parade.
Less publicized, but somewhat related and equally controversial, is transsexual athletes’ participation in the Olympics. Although transsexuals account for a small percentage among athletes, the controversy lays bare the huge erosion of the value of sports.
Central to the criticism against transsexual participation is the perceived disappearance of a level playing field. A female athlete who was born a male likely retains certain structural characteristics that might be beneficial in sports. . . .Read More
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
'One Damn Man': Transsexual pen pals pen play
Andrea Abney
July 23, 2008
It all started with a fan letter.
July 23, 2008
It all started with a fan letter.
Gina Grahame e-mailed Aleshia Brevard in 2003 after reading her book, "The Woman I Was Not Born to Be," about Brevard's life as a transsexual. Grahame identified with Brevard's book, both because she knew the places Brevard described in "Woman" and because Grahame is also a transsexual.
Eighteen months and 1,500 e-mails after the women started corresponding, they decided to use their relationship as the basis for a play, which resulted in "Inside/Out." The two will perform a cutting from that play on Sunday at the San Francisco Theater Festival.
"We see this as a family relationship, extended family though it might be," says Brevard, 70, who lives in Santa Cruz. "It is a mother-daughter relationship, and that developed over that year and a half." . . .Read More
German court rules in favour of transsexual rights
July 23, 2008
thestar.com
thestar.com
BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters)–Germany's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a man seeking legal recognition as a woman will be allowed to stay married to his wife in a landmark decision that further strengthens the rights of transsexuals.
The Karlsruhe-based court ruled unconstitutional a requirement that married transsexuals first get divorced before their new gender could be legally recognised. The court said that law violated a person's basic rights. . . .Read More
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
TransSports - OutLoud Radio
"Here, I'm being interviewed about TransSports or being gender non-conforming while in sports at school. Also, my experiences were taken account of and this all done by Noah Miller and Elena Chin of San Fransico for OutLoud Radio." cheyanne2314
Queen Harish dances in drag
Tuesday, July 22, 20
"I like to copy the Bollywood actresses," Queen Harish says with a chuckle. "But not the new kinds with the very short, short clothes." She prefers the colorful, traditional full skirts of her native Rajasthan. After being featured in the musical documentary "When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan," Indian drag sensation Queen Harish has become quite the jet-setter. New York, London, Barcelona, Tokyo - "the dancing, whirling, desert drag queen," as she calls herself, is everywhere, flying in for celebrity weddings, giant outdoor concerts and gay parties. "They were hot," she says after performing at the packed Desilicious pride party in sweltering New York this year. "I have to make them more hot."
Harish is also married and a dad. He goes to his local Hindu temple twice a day. And he says he'd never even heard the term "drag queen" until he came to the West. . . .Read More
Transgender Information Network
Current Affairs #1
Posted in Current Affairs on July 22, 2008 by transgenderinfo
Current Affairs is a new initiative we are starting here at Version 3.0 of the site. The aim is to give brief overviews of those longer, more in-depth news and magazine pieces that bring transgender people and issues into focus. You know, those kind of human interest stories. Adding to each piece as a new piece comes to light.
Our first current affair is to do with Transgender Children. Recently in the media there has been lots of talk about issues surrounding transgender children and debate about what age is too young to make such a decision. In an article entitled Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change? that was published in the TImes Online - a mother of a transgendered child and a doctor from Amsterdam discuss the issues. . . .Read More
Posted in Current Affairs on July 22, 2008 by transgenderinfo
Current Affairs is a new initiative we are starting here at Version 3.0 of the site. The aim is to give brief overviews of those longer, more in-depth news and magazine pieces that bring transgender people and issues into focus. You know, those kind of human interest stories. Adding to each piece as a new piece comes to light.
Our first current affair is to do with Transgender Children. Recently in the media there has been lots of talk about issues surrounding transgender children and debate about what age is too young to make such a decision. In an article entitled Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change? that was published in the TImes Online - a mother of a transgendered child and a doctor from Amsterdam discuss the issues. . . .Read More
Newsweek Gets It Backwards
July 22, 2008
Newsweek's cover story this month is entitled "Young, Gay and Murdered: Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications." [ http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790/page/1 ]
The reporter, Ramin Setoodeh seems to me to have concluded that it was because Larry came out and because he dressed in a vampy way and directed sexual and romantic comments toward boys at school that he was gossiped about, harassed and finally murdered. I would question the chronology. I am totally skeptical about the assumption that his behavior led to the other boys' hostility rather than their hostility fueling his behavior. Because it’s the latter that I have seen so often. A little kid starts out gender variant by nature, even in pre-kindergarten. But often subtly so. Then other kids' discomfort and grown-ups refusal to address their discomfort or teach about stereotypes leads to their excluding that child from play and refusing to sit with the child at lunch. The teachers continue to hope the problem will go away. . . .Read More
Newsweek's cover story this month is entitled "Young, Gay and Murdered: Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications." [ http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790/page/1 ]
The reporter, Ramin Setoodeh seems to me to have concluded that it was because Larry came out and because he dressed in a vampy way and directed sexual and romantic comments toward boys at school that he was gossiped about, harassed and finally murdered. I would question the chronology. I am totally skeptical about the assumption that his behavior led to the other boys' hostility rather than their hostility fueling his behavior. Because it’s the latter that I have seen so often. A little kid starts out gender variant by nature, even in pre-kindergarten. But often subtly so. Then other kids' discomfort and grown-ups refusal to address their discomfort or teach about stereotypes leads to their excluding that child from play and refusing to sit with the child at lunch. The teachers continue to hope the problem will go away. . . .Read More
Young, Gay and Murdered
Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications.
July 19, 2008
At 15, Lawrence King was small—5 feet 1 inch—but very hard to miss. In January, he started to show up for class at Oxnard, Calif.'s E. O. Green Junior High School decked out in women's accessories. On some days, he would slick up his curly hair in a Prince-like bouffant. Sometimes he'd paint his fingernails hot pink and dab glitter or white foundation on his cheeks. "He wore makeup better than I did," says Marissa Moreno, 13, one of his classmates. He bought a pair of stilettos at Target, and he couldn't have been prouder if he had on a varsity football jersey. He thought nothing of chasing the boys around the school in them, teetering as he ran. . . .Read More
July 19, 2008
At 15, Lawrence King was small—5 feet 1 inch—but very hard to miss. In January, he started to show up for class at Oxnard, Calif.'s E. O. Green Junior High School decked out in women's accessories. On some days, he would slick up his curly hair in a Prince-like bouffant. Sometimes he'd paint his fingernails hot pink and dab glitter or white foundation on his cheeks. "He wore makeup better than I did," says Marissa Moreno, 13, one of his classmates. He bought a pair of stilettos at Target, and he couldn't have been prouder if he had on a varsity football jersey. He thought nothing of chasing the boys around the school in them, teetering as he ran. . . .Read More
Critique, Opinion, POV: Transgender opponent seeks common ground
July 22, 2008
Jeffrey Winslow
Hudson
This letter is in response to the "Why are some people so anti-transgender?" letter of June 4.
Dr. Jennifer Madden makes an interesting use of what I call "semantic sleight of hand" in that she shuffles attention away from the arguments of my previous letters and instead debates character: my petty character and Dr. Madden's sterling spiritual character. I believe the terms "insecure" and "self-righteous" are part of my description.
Dr. Madden spoke of interconnectedness in her letter. What do Jennifer Madden and I have in common? We were not born with female biological parts.
What does this mean? . . .Read More
Jeffrey Winslow
Hudson
This letter is in response to the "Why are some people so anti-transgender?" letter of June 4.
Dr. Jennifer Madden makes an interesting use of what I call "semantic sleight of hand" in that she shuffles attention away from the arguments of my previous letters and instead debates character: my petty character and Dr. Madden's sterling spiritual character. I believe the terms "insecure" and "self-righteous" are part of my description.
Dr. Madden spoke of interconnectedness in her letter. What do Jennifer Madden and I have in common? We were not born with female biological parts.
What does this mean? . . .Read More
Monday, July 21, 2008
Gender Switch
"Chase McCown and Heather Rushworth improv a scene based on the suggestion "Gender Switch" at The Second City in Hollywood, 2007."
. . .a caricature of verbal and nonverbal difference between men and women. How does it correspond to what you see now and then in your family, friends, and associates?
Should I help my 12-year-old get a sex change?
July 21, 2008
When children are adamant that they are trapped in the wrong body, is it ethical to offer them hormone treatment? A concerned mother and a Dutch psychologist believe the answer is 'yes'
Last year Sharon Lane* found her 12-year-old son Nick* trying to cut off his penis. Since he was a toddler, Nick has been adamant that he is really a girl. Aged 5, he declared: “God has made a mistake. I should have been born a girl.” A year later he asked, “When can I have the operation to chop off my willy and give me a fanny?”
Nicky - who suffers from a rare condition called Gender Variance (GV), sometimes referred to clinically as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) - started attending school dressed as a girl at the age of 9, unable to “pretend” any longer. She was the subject of constant bullying and harassment so severe that she now attends a special school for “at risk” children.
When Nicky hit adolescence, things just got worse. “She felt like an alien in her own body,” explains Sharon, who describes Nicky as her “daughter”. “When she started experiencing erections, she would scratch her skin raw.”
Nicky has twice attempted to cut off her penis and taken several overdoses. “Sometimes I felt like I was on suicide watch,” Sharon says. . . .Read More
When children are adamant that they are trapped in the wrong body, is it ethical to offer them hormone treatment? A concerned mother and a Dutch psychologist believe the answer is 'yes'
Last year Sharon Lane* found her 12-year-old son Nick* trying to cut off his penis. Since he was a toddler, Nick has been adamant that he is really a girl. Aged 5, he declared: “God has made a mistake. I should have been born a girl.” A year later he asked, “When can I have the operation to chop off my willy and give me a fanny?”
Nicky - who suffers from a rare condition called Gender Variance (GV), sometimes referred to clinically as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) - started attending school dressed as a girl at the age of 9, unable to “pretend” any longer. She was the subject of constant bullying and harassment so severe that she now attends a special school for “at risk” children.
When Nicky hit adolescence, things just got worse. “She felt like an alien in her own body,” explains Sharon, who describes Nicky as her “daughter”. “When she started experiencing erections, she would scratch her skin raw.”
Nicky has twice attempted to cut off her penis and taken several overdoses. “Sometimes I felt like I was on suicide watch,” Sharon says. . . .Read More
Thai teens seeking sex changes grapple with new rules
20 July 2008
by Elizabeth GibsonBANGKOK (AFP) — Valee Pancharoen watched her son transform as he became a teenager, first painting his nails, then wearing a wig and, finally, the dresses he had been wearing for years but hiding from his parents.
Now 18, Ponchalearm's changes are all the more striking as he sits, slim and ladylike in a top of white satin and black lace, next to his stern and athletic twin brother.
Ponchalearm's aunt absent-mindedly runs her fingers through his waist-length auburn hair extensions as the family quietly discusses whether Ponchalearm is ready for a sex change operation.
"It's my life and I've decided that I must do it before university," Ponchalearm says. "I feel happy, it's fun, I can express myself as I want. I'm lucky I have friends who understand me."
As he speaks, his mother softly cuts in to express her concern that he is too young to understand the long-term consequences of his decision. . . .Read More
Questioning Transphobia. . .
Transphobic Tropes #3 – “Reifying Gender”
July 21, 2008
by Lisa Harney
Moving on steadily. Hope you’re all enjoying these posts, though it feels a bit weird to not have an accompanying rabbit picture. Here’s another one that gets regular thrown at trans people, particularly by radical feminists.
Basically, it’s the notion that, by medically transitioning, we reify gender—which is something that feminism is supposed to be destroying.
This is a particularly stupid line of argument, that it nevertheless has had enough traction to convince enough people it’s worthy of repeating. And repeating. Usually, it’s tied to an argument that trans people have the most retrogressive of personal presentations. . . .Read More
July 21, 2008
by Lisa Harney
Moving on steadily. Hope you’re all enjoying these posts, though it feels a bit weird to not have an accompanying rabbit picture. Here’s another one that gets regular thrown at trans people, particularly by radical feminists.
Basically, it’s the notion that, by medically transitioning, we reify gender—which is something that feminism is supposed to be destroying.
This is a particularly stupid line of argument, that it nevertheless has had enough traction to convince enough people it’s worthy of repeating. And repeating. Usually, it’s tied to an argument that trans people have the most retrogressive of personal presentations. . . .Read More
Transgender Candidate For Hastings City Council
July 21, 2008
by Liz Collin
"The third ward was going to come up vacant and I thought, why not, it's time for a little change," said Estes.
Change is something she has more experience in then most. Lara used to be Lawrence. She said when she was young, she never felt like she fit in with the other boys. . . .Read More
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Charles' Take on STP Devices
"July 6, 2008. AccompliceXX did a great vlog on how to make an STP device, so I thought I would add my take on STP devices to put out there." charlesasher
Kate Bornstein Interview
3.6.2007
Kate Bornstein is America's most storied gender outlaw, an outsider's outsider. She has been a genderqueer activist for many years, exploring gender identity literally, figuratively and theatrically. In this Eros Zine interview, she touches on a wide variety of topics, from trans sexual orientation to transgender porn of the past, from baring her soul onstage to her latest book. . . .Read More
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Kate Bornstein is America's most storied gender outlaw, an outsider's outsider. She has been a genderqueer activist for many years, exploring gender identity literally, figuratively and theatrically. In this Eros Zine interview, she touches on a wide variety of topics, from trans sexual orientation to transgender porn of the past, from baring her soul onstage to her latest book. . . .Read More
Activist: Transgender lot needs help as they can’t get jobs
20 July 2008
By FASLIKA DAS
By FASLIKA DAS
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government’s offer of welfare aid to homosexuals should be extended to the Mak Nyah (transgender) instead.
Pink Triangle Foundation programme director Raymond Tai said most homosexuals were “well-to-do” as they were employed just like “normal people” and would only face discrimination if they were open about their status.
“They are not like the Mak Nyah who are physically different. The Mak Nyah do not get employed and this results in them prostituting themselves,” he said.
“They are the ones deprived of basic privileges such as education and employment, not homosexuals.” . . .Read More
Interview and New Book. . .
WCQ221 The Transgender Child
Host Alexandra Billings
Host Alexandra Billings
This is a very special and personal show. Alex shares many aspects of her life with Amy on this Queercast, including this sweet baby pic. From quitting smoking, to living in her Republican town, but most importantly she shares her transgender story.
Guest: Author Stephanie Brill joins Amy to discuss her new book, The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals. . . .Read More
China: Television programme calls transgender people "human monsters"
July 20, 2008
News Agency: TREND News
News Agency: TREND News
Television watchdogs were investigating after transgender people were described as "human monsters" in a Chinese language television programme, a media report said Sunday, the dpa reported.
The expression "yan yiu," which translates as "human monster," was used 23 times during a report on transgender people in Thailand broadcast by the ATV television station, the South China Morning Post said.
The expression also appeared in subtitles 28 times in the segment which lasted 11 minutes and 45 seconds.
Sam Winter, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's faculty of education and also director of Transgender ASIA Research Centre, said the use of the expression would damage Hong Kong's reputation as a cosmopolitan city.
He filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Authority and asked the television station and producers of the programme to apologize publicly to the local transgender community.
"It is unimaginable to call transgender people freaks on TV in other developed sections of the world - you won't hear the word 'nigger' on television in the US," Winter said. . . .Read More
Transgender characters from the Bible
July 19, 2008
TIMESOFMALTA.COMPeterson Toscano, an American theatrical performance activist, will tonight present a piece on transgender characters un-earthed from the Bible.
Aptly named Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender In The Bible, the one-man show is about people who do not fit in the gender binary and who, in transgressing and transcending gender, find themselves at the centre of some the Bible's most important stories.
Drawing inspiration from one-on-one interviews with transgender and gender-queer individuals, Mr Toscano weaves their experiences with the stories and lives of transgender people right on the pages of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
Hilarious and deeply moving, he deepens well-known, and lesser-known, Bible stories as he presents an array of characters with an array of genders. . . .Read More
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