Transgender Conversation planned with Bishop robinson

By Ben Briscoe
Nov 13, 2008


Trans pastor hopes Day of Remembrance prompts more advocacy for rights, protections

Simone Walton was killed for being a transgender person right here in Dallas.

In December of 2005, the 40-year-old was shot to death in Oak Cliff. She is not alone.

The Remembering Our Dead Web Project estimates that two people a month, on average are killed in violence against transgender people. Transgender pastor David Wynn of Agape Metropolitan Community Church in Fort Worth wants to do something about it.

“My emotions in a situation like this run the gamut. I feel profoundly sad that those folks have lost their lives simply trying to be who they are. And then I also feel very angry that someone felt like they had the right to hurt somebody simply because they are surprised by who they were,” Wynn said.

That’s why he’s helping to organize a local ceremony to commemorate the 10th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. . . .Read More

Transgender man expecting second child

Stuff.co.nz | Friday, 14 November 2008

An American transgender man, who created news waves around the world when he gave birth to a daughter earlier this year, is pregnant again.

In his first interview since giving birth, Thomas Beatie, 32, told journalist Barbara Walters he opted out of taking the male hormone testosterone after giving birth because he and his wife Nancy wanted another child, reported Agence France Presse.

"I feel good," he said in the interview with US network ABC.

"I had my checkups with my hormone level...everything is right on track," said the bearded Thomas.

The couple's second child was due on June 12, he said.

Known as Tracey when he was a child, Thomas made it to the finals of the Miss Teen Hawaii USA beauty pageant when he was 14, but was "uncomfortable" throughout.

Thomas began a lesbian relationship with Nancy when he was 24, and in 2002 had sex-reassignment surgery to remove his breasts.

He never had phalloplasty, surgery to create an artificial penis, and retains female reproductive organs, according to ABC. . . .Read More

CBS Dr. Phil - Transgender Children

"Dr. Phil invites anti-gay activist Glenn Stanton to discuss medical issues involving transgender people, despite lacking a background in that area. Stanton makes a number of inaccurate statements about transgender people." glaadvideo

Transgender Doctor Talks Sex Change Hospital

November 11, 2008

By GINA DINUNNO

New reality series Sex Change Hospital (WE tv Tuesdays, 11 pm/ET) follows patients — from retired grandfathers to construction workers, businessman and office managers — as they undergo surgery to transition from one gender to another. We caught up with Dr. Marci Bowers (formerly Mark Bowers), who has performed over 550 male-to-female sexual reassignment surgeries, to find out more about the life-changing operations at her clinic in Trinidad, Colo., the compelling docudrama and the social stigmas involved with transgender patients.

TVGuide.com: How did Trinidad, Colo., where the show is based, become the "sex change capitol" of the world?
Dr. Marci Bowers: That goes back to the days of Dr. Stanley Biber, my mentor and predecessor. He actually had done his first sex reassignment on a male-to-female local patient back in 1969. At that time, many universities had an active gender reassignment program, but they gradually closed down shortly after some study was designed to show it didn't help people. But of course, the problem didn't go away, and there was a need for Dr. Biber to continue his work. I'm not sure who dubbed this little tiny mining town of 9,000 people the 'sex change capitol,' but at one point, he had done more two thirds of all the world's sex reassignments. He did about 3,500 of the surgeries in his career. . . .Read More

Obama transition team is transgender-inclusive

12 November 2008

by Nick Cargo

In what is being viewed as a strong signal to activists nationwide, the transition office of President-elect Barack Obama has issued a non-discrimination policy including sexual orientation and gender identity.

"The Obama-Biden Transition Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other basis of discrimination prohibited by law," says the website of the Office of the President-elect, Change.gov.

While Executive Order 13087, signed by President Clinton in 1998 to amend President Nixon's Executive Order 11478, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in hiring for the federal civilian workforce, it does not mention gender identity. "The inclusion of gender identity is a bold departure from the past," said ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Christopher E. Anders, "and it sends a clear message." . . .Read More

The Second Most Beautiful Girl in New York

Looking for love but finding lust in the city of men

by Spencer Morgan | August 26, 2008

A while back, a friend of mine boasted that he was spending time with a hot transsexual. Now, my friend—let’s call him Ryan—is quite the ladies’ man. Despite his perplexing androgynous style—tight jeans, guy-liner, the occasional wig—Ryan always shows up with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.

Now he was dating a tranny, and talking about it as casually as if he’d recently begun incorporating onions in his scrambled eggs. He went on and on about how she was “totally fucking hot, man. Probably one of the hottest transsexuals in the world; it’s probably between her and some Thai boy.”

On a recent evening, I met the woman in question, the beautiful Jamie Clayton, at a bar in the Lower East Side. She is 5-foot-10, has long, wavy red hair, porcelain skin and big blue eyes. She sat upright in her stool, long bare legs draped on top of each other exposing upper reaches of thigh under a gray cloth miniskirt. . . .Read More

Interview with Jamie Clayton

"Interview with Jamie Clayton, transgendered woman. . ." tsbutterfly14

Finland: Imatra Vicar Plans Gender Reassignment Surgery

11.11.2008

YLE


A local Imatra vicar's announcement that he plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery is forcing the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church to take a stance on sex change.

The minister, Olli Aalto, who is taking a temporary leave of absence, intends to begin hormone treatments. After this, he will undergo surgery and physically become a woman.

Voitto Huotari, the bishop of the local Mikkeli diocese, says Aalto can no longer continue in his job. Aalto considers this view to be blatantly discriminatory. . . .Read More

Opinion, Critique, POV: Will Federal Female Employees Be Safe from Cross-Dressing Men Using Ladies' Restrooms in the Obama Administration

'The Obama-Biden Transition Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other basis of discrimination prohibited by law.' -- Application for non-career federal jobs in an Obama Administration (http://change.gov/page/s/application)

Contact: Peter LaBarbera, 630-717-7631; americansfortruth@comcast.net

CHICAGO, November 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- Americans For Truth reacted to the news that an Obama Administration will likely enact "gender identity" as a nondiscrimination category by questioning whether federal female employees will be protected from transsexual men wearing dresses who demand to use ladies' restrooms on the basis of their self-perceived "female identity."

"Men who believe they are women, and vice versa, will be officially protected based under Obama on the basis of their 'gender identity' (read: gender confusion)," said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth about Homosexuality. "Cross-dressing, 'male-to-female' activists already demand the right to use female restrooms on the basis of this same notion of 'gender identity'-based rights. So will an Obama Administration allow these big-boned men in female clothing to use ladies' restrooms in federal buildings? . . . .Read More

Bisexual, transgender stereotypes discussed

By Caitlin Burnham

November 11, 2008

"Bi-now, gay later," "shim," "it" and "tranny" were some of the stereotypes of bisexuals and transgenders written on a white board in the Speak Out meeting Monday night.

Speak Out, a queer political activist group at Penn State, held their biweekly meeting in the HUB-Robeson Center to discuss "bi-phobia and trans-phobia," co-president Alex Yates said.

The meeting began by addressing the stereotypes written on the board and deconstructing them.

Yates (sophomore-secondary education) said the people being called these names are "obviously a person" and should be treated as such.

This brief discussion segued into an open forum addressing everything from bisexuals' acceptance in the LGBT community to asexuality. . . .Read More

Speaker sheds light on transgender life

By Joe Preiner

November 12th, 2008

Debra Davis is a hugger. She describes herself as a parent, grandmother, good friend and good neighbor. She’s also a transgender person.

Davis will be relating her experiences in her presentation “Transgender: The New Face on Campus” tonight at 7 at the Courtside Room in the Burge Union.

The presentation, of which Davis has given more than 1,000, has taken her to campuses across the Midwest, including previous visits to the University. Davis said she enjoyed speaking at each school because of the experiences she had at each one.

KANSAN

Davis focuses her presentations on her life as a transgender person. She said people often asked her what it was like to transition from male to female. Davis dedicates a portion of her time to tell stories about her life and the transition process, which started when she was a high school librarian. She also reserves time for questions from the audience. She said being led in new directions by the students’ curiosity was the most exciting part of her tours around the Midwest during the past several years. . . .Read More

America's First Transgender Mayor

HappyCityGirl

Oregon Town Elects Transgender Mayor

"This past Tuesday the small town of Silverton, Oregon elected Stu Rasmussen as its mayor.

Rasmussen is first openly transgender candidate elected mayor in the country.

This short video accompanied a 11/7/2008 news story ("Silverton gives its vote to transgendered mayor") (tinyurl.com/6mxd9h) in The Oregonian about Rasmussen. (11/8/2008)" StephanieKayStevens

Barbara Walters Exclusive: 'Journey of a Pregnant Man'

Thomas Beatie's First Interview Since Giving Birth as a Transgender Male

ABC News: 20/20

November 11, 2008


Last spring, the stunning announcement that Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, was pregnant sparked controversy and questions about traditional notions of what is a man and what is a woman.

In their first interview since the birth of their daughter, Susan, this past summer, Beatie and his wife, Nancy, speak candidly to Barbara Walters. . . .Read More

Nicole Kidman To Play World's First Post-Op Transgender Woman

By Christian Taylor

November 10, 2008

Nicole Kidman will play the world’s first post-op transsexual in the film The Danish Girl, opposite Charlize Theron.

The film is based on the true story of married Danish artists Einar and Greta Wegener. Kidman plays Einar, who stands in for a female model that his wife Greta (Theron) was to paint.

When the portraits become hugely popular Greta encourages her husband to adopt the female identity, which he does, which leads to a complete metamorphosis and a landmark 1931 sex change operation that “shocked the world” and put their love on the line. . . .Read More

Stu Rasmussen is Transgendered Mayor

By Cathryn Friar

November 9, 2008

This is Stu Rasmussen. He was recently elected as mayor of Silverton, Oregon - population 9,600 - for the third time. And yes, he is a man who enjoys dressing as a woman - he’s transgendered. Read more about him, see photos and a video below.

Stu Rasmussen

Silverton is a Willamette Valley farming community about 15 miles northeast of Salem, Oregon our state’s capital. Some in Silverton say Stu Rasmussen is the kind of woman who could stop traffic—and he knows it. From mini-skirts to black boots, Stu likes to dress for looks! Now Stu becomes our country’s first transgendered mayor. . . .Read More

TRANSparenting

"My take on being a trans-identified parent." LaMuerta27

Deconstructing Gender: Diversity and Exclusion

October 31, 2008 by Radha Smith, MSW

The weekend has arrived, or will at about 1:30 p.m. today. Catherine and I are going to a wedding in Massachusetts. Not our own, the wedding of a very good friend with whom we both once worked. She quit work a few years ago to go to Massachusetts in order to gather

a Master’s degree and now works on a PhD in Sports Psychology.

A couple of years prior to her stopping work she met the love of her life, a man who enjoys very often the wearing of “women’s” clothing. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what that means. The range of human couture and fashion being such that if he wears a pair of slacks and a sweater, what makes it, exactly, a “women’s” pair of slacks and sweater. If he wears a scarf, what makes it a “women’s” scarf?

Does the notion that the clothes might be bought in a department of Nordstrom that’s labelled “women’s” make all of the clothing there female? What if he’s bought the same items at Old Navy? Unlabelled would the clothes then become “androgynous?”

I think we all have this tendency to “gender” pretty much everything in our world: our bodies, our clothing, our habits of action or inaction, our animals, our trees, flowers, the very ground of Earth and the moon, stars and Sun. I cannot think, just this moment, what gender clouds and watches, necklaces, gourds, wreaths and penicillin happen to be. Perhaps some reader would be kind enough to let me know. A note would be fine, please just try not to show forth your disdain when you inform me. I sometimes have this space in my brain that shows itself when I consider gender and gendering. . . .Read More

The Sea Horse, Our Family Mascot

By KATE ROOD

November 1, 2008

MY twin brother, Eli, is jealous of sea horses. They are the only animal species in which the male gives birth to the offspring. Male sea horses have brood pouches where the female deposits her eggs. The eggs then hatch in the father’s pouch, where the young continue to live until they are expelled into the ocean after strenuous labor that can last several days.

Eli is a transgender man, and lived the first 20 years of our lives as my fraternal twin sister. I have plenty of memories of my twin as a little girl, as Emma, not Eli. More often, though, my memories adjust to represent Eli as I know him now, as my brother.

When we were 5, living in a small apartment in Portland, Ore., my mother made our favorite breakfast of buckwheat pancakes on weekends, shaping the batter into K’s and E’s, for Kate and Emma. One morning as my mother assembled the ingredients, Emma, pretending she was a chicken, took two eggs from the counter and placed them next to each other on the carpet. I remember it was a pair of eggs, because even at our young age we knew what it meant to be twins, and whenever we played house, babies came in twos. . . .Read More

This is the woman who played the man who became a transsexual and fooled the world for six years

Between 1999 and 2005, Savannah Knoop lived an audacious double life as Jeremiah 'Terminator' LeRoy - a sex-change Aids sufferer whose stories, based around his white-trash upbringing and life on the streets, turned him into an overnight literary sensation. Polly Vernon unravels a twisted tale

Polly Vernon

November 2, 2008

The trunk show for Tinc - the tiny San Francisco-based fashion label - is New York Fashion Week's most achingly hip, most secretive event. It is held on a sticky day in early September, on the sixth floor of an anonymous warehouse building located 20 blocks down from the big tents and the main action of Bryant Park. Its designer, Savannah Knoop, greets a handful of fashion-week hipsters - the edgiest stylists, the most fashion-forward fashion editors - oh, and me. She rolls out her clothes on two chrome rails, so that we can cop a feel. She encourages us to try her creations on in the loos located halfway down a darkened corridor; she feeds us with farmers'-market brownies and a wine-punch concoction. There is no runway show, no models, no music, no scary clipboard ladies, and no reverence.

Tinc is brilliant. Androgynous, sharp, well-structured, well-fitting, cooler than Christmas. I don't care that 'Tinc' means 'throwaway' in Thai; that it's as green, as a company, as it possibly can be; that the pieces are spiritual one-offs, individually numbered and fashioned from unusual fabrics. I don't care that the logo is a visual representation of the soundwaves created whenever anyone says 'I love you'. I just care that it's good. . . .Read More