Gay-Straight Alliance hopes to educate teens

Group at Washington high school formed to support one another at tough age

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By STEVE STEIN

of the Journal Star

Dec 14, 2008

WASHINGTON — High school can be a tumultuous time for a student.

Nobody knows that better than Patrick Coughlin, who has been a high school guidance counselor for more than 20 years, including 16 at Washington Community High School.

"High school is when many of us form our self-image," Coughlin said. "I'll bet most adults remember how they felt about themselves during high school."

High school can be particularly stressful for a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual student. In an effort to support those students at Washington, a Gay-Straight Alliance has been formed at the school, with Coughlin as its advisor.

Sixty-four students - some gay or lesbian, some straight - signed up to join the alliance, and a proposed constitution has been written. Coughlin discussed the alliance at this month's District 308 School Board meeting, and approval of the alliance's constitution is expected to be on the board's January agenda.

According to the constitution, the alliance's purpose is "to encourage acceptance and tolerance within the diverse population of our school, promote pride in our community, create a safe environment for all (Washington students), and educate the school community." . . .Read More

“I Like That About Me.”

Year in Review: 2008

By Robin Berghaus and Vicky Waltz

Through December 24, BU Today is looking back at the most popular stories of the year. We’ll be back with new stories for the new year on Monday, January 5. Happy holidays!

Most children dream of possessing the magical ability to fly, to be invisible, or to talk to animals.

But as a young boy growing up in Jefferson City, Mo., Emeri Burks wished only to be a girl. “I prayed every day for the body that would fix things, that would make everything right,” recalls Burks (CAS’08). “More than anything, I wanted to be anatomically and biologically female.” . . .Read More

TSG16: Taking Action, Making Change

"The TG community exists beyond just the internet. Get out there, get involved in real issues. Don't just talk about issues. Make real change.

We show a hearing on LGBT prison issues from this last week (how timely for this question) and discuss awkward teen moments."

TrannystarGalactica

Gender-identity protection on City Council's agenda

Anti-discrimination proposal would add transgender people

Sunday, December 14, 2008

By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Transgender residents of Columbus -- men who consider themselves women, and women who consider themselves men -- would gain legal protection under legislation going before the City Council on Monday night.

The Columbus Community Relations Commission has recommended that the city add gender identity to the list of categories in local anti-discrimination ordinances. The move would put Columbus another step beyond Ohio law and on par with dozens of other big cities and college towns.

"We don't want discrimination in the city of Columbus for anyone," said Councilwoman Priscilla Tyson, a sponsor of the legislation.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman and a majority of council members back the idea.

Ordinances barring discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations already protect Columbus residents based on their race, sex, religion, ancestry, national origin and sexual orientation.

The legislation on Monday night's council agenda also would add age (for those 40 or older), disability, family status and military status as protected classes, although state or U.S. laws already cover each of those.

Columbus has protected gays in its civil-rights ordinances for about 20 years. Backers of the new legislation say the term sexual orientation once was thought to include people who live or dress as the opposite gender. . . .Read More

S. Idaho transgender woman fights use of male name

by JESSIE L. BONNER | Associated Press Writer • December 13, 2008


PAYETTE, Idaho – For nearly a year, Catherine Carlson refused to pay the fine for driving with a suspended license because it was issued to both her and the man she used to be.

She went to jail four times over the ticket that includes both her legal name and the one she was born with, Daniel Carlson. She had surgery 28 years ago to become a woman, the gender she believes should have been assigned her at birth.

Carlson legally changed her name in the 1970s, but police and court records include both in this rural farming and ranching community east of the Snake River in southwestern Idaho.

"The ticket was the last straw," Carlson said.

Her fight against local authorities brought up questions Payette County had never answered before: where to house a transgender person in a jail with separate cells for men and women, which courthouse bathroom should she use, should the former male name be stricken from county records.

"This is a very conservative old-fashioned community, that's just the way it is. This is rural, small town Idaho. This is new to us," said Payette County Sheriff Chad Huff. . . .Read More

MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy

By Diego Cevallos


MEXICO CITY, Dec 10 (IPS) - When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X?

That is the question raised by a Mexican transsexual through an appeal under consideration by the Supreme Court, which brings up the issue of the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination.

The 11 Supreme Court justices are expected to issue a final ruling on the appeal in the first few weeks of 2009, in a case that is the first of its kind to be brought before the country’s highest judicial body with jurisdiction over constitutional matters.

"The decision the judges have in their hands involves our right to live without the shadow of discrimination hanging over us," Gloria Davenport, a transsexual who works as an adviser to the government’s National HIV-AIDS Prevention and Control Centre (CENSIDA), told IPS.

Studies show that transsexuals are especially vulnerable to violence, discrimination and humiliation, all of which are exacerbated by the length of time it takes for them to legally change their identity in Mexico City, the only place in the country where they can do so, thanks to a municipal law approved in August.

According to estimates by the governmental Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, at least 148 lesbians, gays, transvestites and transsexuals were killed from 1995 to 2006 in homophobic attacks. . . .Read More

Transsexuals find new body doesn’t ensure happiness

by Nhu Lich December 10, 2008

A Vietnamese transsexual (L) with her boyfriend There are no official statistics on the number of transgender people in Vietnam and how many undergo gender reassignment surgery.

But post-operative transsexuals say the painful and expensive medical procedures they endured didn’t give them the normal lives they were expecting. Several local transgender men have sought sex change operations overseas because the surgery is not performed in Vietnam. In 2000, singer Cindy Thai Tai, who spent US$30,000 for sex reassignment procedures in Thailand, became one of the first locals to go public about her gender reassignment surgery. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nhu of Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said he wasn’t familiar with any cases of local women undergoing surgery to become men. However, men seeking surgery to become women were relatively common. Surgically altering a man’s sexual organs to resemble a woman’s was simpler than making a woman’s resemble a man’s, he said. Dr. Nhu estimated more than 100 Vietnamese transsexual men, most aged around 30, had undergone sex reassignment surgery abroad to become women. . . .Read More

Four Letter Words II

"The second part in a series on trans languages."

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icecoldbath

Mayor lends an ear to transgender woes

10 Dec 2008, 0538 hrs IST, TNN


PUNE: City mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Tuesday promised to look into matters concerning the 5,000-strong transgender community in the city. She assured members of the community that she would explore the possibility of giving them some kind of identification, so that they can lead a dignified life.

Vanchit Vikas, a city-based non-profit organisation involved in uplifting the poorer sections of society, has extended its support to the transgender community. Giving the community a platform to voice their grievances, the organisation held an event on Tuesday, which was attended by Bhosale. It was a moving experience not just for the mayor, who heard their woes, but also for members of the transgender community, as they fought to keep back their tears.

"The very thought that such an important person came here to listen to us and have a cup of tea with us is overwhelming," said Panna, a member of the community. "Nobody has ever treated us so well." . . .Read More

SF Weekly Letters: Web Extra

December 9, 2008

Crossing Lines
The legal argument: We write to protest Lauren Smiley's offensive and inaccurate article, "Border Crossings" [Feature, 11/26]. We all spoke with Smiley at length, and are outraged at the misrepresentation of what we said. Rather than present a balanced picture of the incredible hurdles transgender asylum seekers face in proving their cases, Smiley unfairly painted them as criminals and prostitutes who are essentially given a free pass to immigration in the United States. This could not be farther from the truth.

The implication that most transgender asylum seekers are prostitutes is untrue and offensive, and grossly distorts the information we gave Smiley. If the attorneys with whom she spoke appeared to have a high success rates on their cases, this is because she spoke with the handful of attorneys in the U.S. who are actually experienced enough in transgender matters to present well-prepared, well-argued cases. We all routinely turn down representation for individuals who don't meet the legal standard, and unrepresented asylum seekers rarely win.

The most important aspect of asylum law is that each application is decided on a case-by-case basis. If transgender applicants have a relatively high grant rate, it is because there continues to be such extraordinary violence perpetrated against transgender people around the world that they can often demonstrate a likelihood of future persecution. . . .Read More

Army transsexual wins sex discrimination lawsuit against U.S. government

2008-12-10 04:31:37 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Employment Law, Justice News Flash)

Former U.S. Army Special Forces commander wins sex lawsuit against feds. U.S. Library of Congress found guilty of sexual discrimination after sex change surgery.

December 9, 2008, West Palm Beach, FL (JusticeNewsFlash.com) Leading Justice informers, with sexual discrimination lawsuits, alert of a recent federal judge decision in favor of a former U.S. Army Special Forces commander. U.S. District Court, Judge James Robinson, found the U.S. Library of Congress discriminated against Diane (formerly David) Schroer “because of sex” after it learned Schroer was undergoing a sex change operation. The judge the Library of Congress was initially enthusiastic about Schroer, but revoked its offer of employment after learning of the sex change. . . .Read More

Dr. Phil: Gender Confused Kids - Part 4/4 [Request]

"Dr. Phil tackles the sensitive topic of children who identify more with the opposite sex. What do you do if your son wants to wear dresses and play with dolls? Or if your daughter tells you she wants to be a boy?

Mary says she knew her son was not a typical boy when at 3, he loved nail polish, bras and makeup. Mary says she thought she was doing the best thing for her son by allowing him to choose, but now she's not so sure. She wonders if she caused his gender confusion."

therazorsedge28

Looking Back: ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

At Ever-Tolerant Harvard, One Student's Cause Engenders Lots of Questions, but Little Controversy

By Paula Span
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 23, 1997; Page F01
The Washington Post

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The plan is to meet at noon, near the pillars at Harkness Commons, after his applied mathematics class. Look for a guy with short dark hair, he says, and wire-rim glasses. And here he comes now, ambling across the Harvard campus, wearing the standard undergraduate uniform -- black jeans, denim shirt, work boots, thin silver ring through the inner curve of one ear.

"Hi, I'm Alex," he says. Firm handshake.

Would anyone know? Probably not.

Alex Myers, Class of '00, speaks in an unexceptional tenor. He is 19 years old. About 5 feet 6, he doesn't stand out from myriad other college men. Yet at another time, or in another place, he might well have ignited a serious scandal.

As a freshman last year, Myers moved into a coed dormitory called Greenough Hall, assigned to a single room on the all-male fourth floor. A bit of a nerd who piled on science and math courses, he objected when a neighbor blared rave music at night, but otherwise kept pretty much to himself. The other guys knew he came from a tiny Maine town via a prestigious prep school, Phillips Exeter Academy; they said hello in passing.

Anonymity was fine, for a while. But by the second month on campus, former Exeter classmates had started to gossip. And Myers himself felt uneasy about concealing an essential fact. "It makes me feel as though I'm ashamed of who I am," he reasoned. And he wasn't.

So he told his dorm mates the truth: For his first 17 years, he'd been Alice Myers, a tomboy who kept her hair short and loathed dresses but was, nonetheless, a girl. Just before her senior year at Exeter, however, Alice figured it out: Despite her female body, she felt like a man, a state known as being "transgendered."

So Alice legally changed her name; Myers's driver's license and Harvard ID now read Alex. But despite having jettisoned his Alice identity, he hadn't opted for hormone treatments or surgery, hadn't even seen a doctor. So technically -- biologically -- the guy in Room 407 still belonged to the female side of the species.

Perhaps the most arresting part of this story is what happened next, which was . . . practically nothing. Mild surprise followed by a collective so-what. Confronted with what might have seemed a masquerade, a falsehood, possibly a psychiatric disorder -- "to most people, transgenderism isn't something you expect to meet, it's something you see on `Oprah,' " notes Mike Hellerstein, one of Myers's dorm mates -- the men of Greenough Hall mostly shrugged. There was more fourth-floor bickering about loud music than about sharing bathrooms with a man who got menstrual cramps.

"There really wasn't any reason for a problem," says T. Timothy Wang, who roomed down the hall. "He didn't make a big production out of it. He was just like anyone else.". . .Read More

Letters to President-elect Obama: Donna Rose

Open letters from 26 gay men and lesbians.

From The Advocate December 16, 2008

Dear Mr. President:

I want to start by congratulating you on this historic achievement. You have waited a lifetime for this moment in time, but our country has waited generations. I’m still pinching myself to make sure it’s real.

This historic election has meant so many things to so many people. More than simply a contest of ideology or political doctrine, it has tested deeply held ideals and has transformed the very fabric of our country. It has been a contest pitting Hope against Fear, Change against Status Quo, and Future against Past. After all that has happened in recent years it has renewed my confidence in the American People and in the political process in general. More than once, it has moved me to tears.

I believe to my core in your twin campaign mantras of Hope and Change. I have pledged to do what I can to help you make your vision of a country where all are valued, where each of us has opportunity, and where a renewed vision of America that is committed to integrity and credibility become reality. You cannot do that by yourself, and I have dedicated myself to be one of the many faces that represent the diverse depth and breadth of Americans it will take to achieve it. . . .Read More

A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico

by MARC LACEY

December 6, 2008


Mexico City — Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages.

But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

“Muxe” is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community. . . .Read More

Four Letter Words I

"The first part in a series on trans languages."

Partner Video

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icecoldbath

Cut-price sex change!

Dec. 6, 2008 By Ben Goldby

A MIDLAND clinic offering sex change operations for just £1,500 is being investigated by health chiefs.

The cut-price chop is being advertised by Shangri-La & Surgeon Ltd, which is based in an industrial unit in Birmingham’s Chinatown area.

Adverts plastered around the Arcadian Centre under the title “Beatiful You, Beautiful Price” boast that the surgeon is now working with “Tiffany Models” and promises cosmetic surgery everybody can afford.

As well as a full sex change op, the menu of surgery options includes a £1,200 boob job, liposuction for just £890 and buttock implants for £1,281.

Horrified transsexual support groups say the ultra-cheap Birmingham surgery is the lowest-priced operation anywhere in the world, and is half the price of the cheapest surgeries in Thailand. . . .Read More

(. . .very high risk, IMO! R.A.)

Transgender teen decries hate at schools

December 5, 2008

SUE McMILLIN
THE GAZETTE

About 25 protesters braved a brisk wind and fumes from cars zipping past Friday afternoon to show their support for Blake Williams, a transgender teen who says he dropped out of Aspen Valley High School because he didn't feel safe.

Williams, 18, said he's endured bullying and verbal abuse at three schools - two in Academy School District 20 and one charter school - in the two years since he began transitioning from female to male. He called on District 20 and other district administrations to begin training staff on the issues facing Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students.

"We need to be protected from the hate, the bullying," he said. "We want to be treated as human beings."

Others at the rally across from Aspen Valley, an alternative school in D-20, said the education community, including colleges, must work harder to address issues that face LGBT students.

"This doesn't stop at high schools," Ayden Merino, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs freshman said of discriminatory practices. "It goes on in colleges. They can't even figure out what kind of dorm room to put us in." . . .Read More

Australia mulls official 'intersex' gender

UPI.com

6 December 2008


CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Australian government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission is pushing for "intersex" to become an officially recognized gender.

The commission distributed a paper entitled "Sex Files -- The legal recognition of sex: Proposed reform" among transgender and transsexual advocates that supports adding "intersex" to the recognized genders of male and female for use on passports and driver's licenses, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"Recognition of intersex: Persons who cannot or do not identify as either male or female would be able to choose to be identified on their birth certificate and passport as intersex," the paper reads. . . .Read More

West Palm Beach transsexual to be on Real World

Sun-Sentinel
12/04/2008

WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Two of the eight Real World house-mates will be moving from South Florida to Brooklyn.

One is sure to be the topic of much conversation. Katelynn grew up in West Palm Beach as a male. According to MTV, she began to realize she was more comfortable as a woman in high school. By 17, she was living full-time as a woman. Now 24, she went to Thailand last summer for the surgery to complete the transformation. She has a boyfriend she hopes to marry. . . .Read More