by David Ertischek
December 29, 2008
WEST ROXBURY -
A recent art show inside a Park Street home wasn’t just about the works on display. For the home’s owner, Gina Sage Kennedy, it meant so much more.
Not only were several artists’ works on display, but also Kennedy’s deceased wife Jayne’s art was on display for the first time ever.
“Jayne painted in oils on canvas,” said Gina. “Her work has never been showed before. I don’t know why… she never got around to doing it. She really loved her work with a therapeutic value for it. It was one of those places that when she did her artwork she was able to create something.”
Many people may remember Jayne, who owned the former Centre Street business Tranquility, where Gina worked as a massage therapist. Before closing because Jayne became ill in 2006 from breast cancer, the store sold organic products such as soaps, oils, as well as textiles and paintings.
Gina is selling the home they shared together for several years after getting married in 2002, and the art show served several purposes.
“To honor Jayne. To close the house and the funds raised [will go to the Elizabeth Stone House and Lynn’s House],” said Gina. The Elizabeth Stone House offers programs for battered women and transitional housing. Lynn’s House was started by Jayne’s good friend, Bernadette Kelly, and is a temporary home for women in need. . . .Read More
Monday, December 29, 2008
Transgender Bangladeshis to vote today
by Rachel Charman • December 29, 2008
Today's general elections in Bangladesh will be the first ever to allow transgender people to cast ballots.
A Bangladeshi court ruled that transgender people are fully-fledged citizens and must have the right to vote.
100,000 transgender people are expected to be amongst the 81 million voters predicted to turn out to vote.
Transgender social worker Joya Shikder said: "We've always been overlooked in previous elections.
"It's exciting to be given this recognition but the authorities have stopped short of acknowledging us as a third gender."
Security has been tightened ahead of the election, following an outbreak of violence at a motorcade on Saturday which injured nearly 200 people. . . .Read More
Family Rejection a Health Risk for Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Youth
New America Media, News Report, Viji Sundaram, Dec 29, 2008
Editor's Note: Early intervention and acceptance makes a critical difference in helping to maintain many LGBT adolescents in their homes and reduce their risk for mental and health problems. Viji Sundaram is health editor at New America Media.
SAN FRANCISCO--Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth whose families have rejected them because of their sexual orientation are at far greater risk for mental and physical health problems than those who come from families who have accepted them, according to a recent study.
“For the first time in the world, research has established a predictive link between specific negative family reactions to their child’s sexual orientation and serious health problems for these adolescents in young adulthood, such as depression, illegal drug use, risk for HIV infection and suicide attempts,” said Caitlin Ryan, lead author and researcher of the study titled, “Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Gay and Bisexual Young Adults.”
Ryan conducted the study, called the Family Acceptance Project, with a team of researchers at the Cesar E. Chavez Institute at San Francisco State University. Their findings will be published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics.
One of the major findings of Ryan’s research is that Latino males reported the highest number of negative family reactions to their sexual orientation in adolescence. Such a response could take the form of religious beliefs that being gay is sinful, or a belief that their child’s homosexuality is a medical or psychological condition that can be cured.
It was poignant to see how adolescents felt rejected when their parents tried to change the children’s sexual identity or gender expression, she said. . . .Read More
Editor's Note: Early intervention and acceptance makes a critical difference in helping to maintain many LGBT adolescents in their homes and reduce their risk for mental and health problems. Viji Sundaram is health editor at New America Media.
SAN FRANCISCO--Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth whose families have rejected them because of their sexual orientation are at far greater risk for mental and physical health problems than those who come from families who have accepted them, according to a recent study.
“For the first time in the world, research has established a predictive link between specific negative family reactions to their child’s sexual orientation and serious health problems for these adolescents in young adulthood, such as depression, illegal drug use, risk for HIV infection and suicide attempts,” said Caitlin Ryan, lead author and researcher of the study titled, “Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Gay and Bisexual Young Adults.”
Ryan conducted the study, called the Family Acceptance Project, with a team of researchers at the Cesar E. Chavez Institute at San Francisco State University. Their findings will be published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics.
One of the major findings of Ryan’s research is that Latino males reported the highest number of negative family reactions to their sexual orientation in adolescence. Such a response could take the form of religious beliefs that being gay is sinful, or a belief that their child’s homosexuality is a medical or psychological condition that can be cured.
It was poignant to see how adolescents felt rejected when their parents tried to change the children’s sexual identity or gender expression, she said. . . .Read More
Monday, December 22, 2008
Lana Lawless is Transgendered Golfer
December 22, 2008
by Cathryn Friar
by Cathryn Friar
Lana Lawless is the current Women’s Long Drive Golf Champ, a sport driven by power, muscle and speed. How she got to where she is today is not your usual golf champ story - Lana use to be a man. Read more about her below, see a photo and a video.
Lana is a 55 year old bartender from Palm Springs, California who is transgendered. In fact, Lana was was a S.W.A.T. cop for 18 years working the gang unit in a very tough Southern California city.
“I had a very tough and mean exterior. People didn’t want to mess with me. I had a hard exterior, but I was compassionate inside. I always let the gay guys go; they had enough drama in their lives.”
As a man, Lana had been married but fathered no children. “I was hiding in the straight world,” she said, “but Lana was always in there, and I wanted her to live. I had started to go to L.A. to the clubs, playing dress-up on the weekends, but I wanted to be a normal girl.”
For 21 years, the big, burly swat cop played golf at a private club, got down to a plus-1 handicap and even won the club championship. But, after gender-reassignment surgery, she left golf and all her old friends behind. “Other than my family, I have no friends from my previous life,” she said.
After watching the 2006 ESPN broadcast of the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, her interest was peaked and she was drawn back into golf.
The image of a big burly policeman-turned-woman golf champ doesn’t sit easily with many of the other golfers because Long Drive is a sport driven by power, muscle and speed. . . .Read More
2008: A Year of Progress for Boston GLBTs
by Zachary Violette
EDGE Contributor
Monday Dec 22, 2008
With marriage equality in Massachusetts secured for the foreseeable future in 2007, GLBT-rights advocates turned their attention to the transgender community early in 2008.
MassEquality in January unveiled its plans for the year, which included getting protections for transgender men and women added to the Massachusetts hate crimes and nondiscrimination statutes.
The trans-rights community brought out its big guns for a blockbuster 13-hour Judiciary Committee hearing in March featuring written and oral testimony in favor of the bill from Gov. Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and nearly 100 citizens.
Less than a dozen people, including MassResistance organizer Brian Camenker, testified against the bill. Despite the strong showing, the bill never made it out of committee, but its passage remains a priority for the GLBT community in 2009, advocates say.
Another long-standing legislative priority was the repeal of a 95 year-old law that had been used to prevent out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts.
Proposals to repeal the so-called "1913 Law" had been floated ever since 2004, when then-governor Mitt Romney revived the law, which was initially created to curb interracial marriages. But those attempts consistently failed to gain traction in the legislature. . . .Read More
EDGE Contributor
Monday Dec 22, 2008
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MassEquality in January unveiled its plans for the year, which included getting protections for transgender men and women added to the Massachusetts hate crimes and nondiscrimination statutes.
The trans-rights community brought out its big guns for a blockbuster 13-hour Judiciary Committee hearing in March featuring written and oral testimony in favor of the bill from Gov. Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and nearly 100 citizens.
Less than a dozen people, including MassResistance organizer Brian Camenker, testified against the bill. Despite the strong showing, the bill never made it out of committee, but its passage remains a priority for the GLBT community in 2009, advocates say.
Another long-standing legislative priority was the repeal of a 95 year-old law that had been used to prevent out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts.
Proposals to repeal the so-called "1913 Law" had been floated ever since 2004, when then-governor Mitt Romney revived the law, which was initially created to curb interracial marriages. But those attempts consistently failed to gain traction in the legislature. . . .Read More
Critique, Opinion, POV: Pope puts stress on 'gay threat'
23 December 2008
BBC.com
Pope Benedict XVI has said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
He explained that defending God's creation is not limited to saving the environment, but also protecting man from self-destruction.
The pope was delivering his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff.
His words, later released to the media, emphasised his total rejection of gender theory.
Pope Benedict XVI warned that gender theory blurs the distinction between male and female and could thus lead to the "self-destruction" of the human race.
Gender theory
Gender theory explores sexual orientation, the roles assigned by society to individuals according to their gender, and how people perceive their biological identity. . . .Read More
Friday, December 19, 2008
The X Factor in chart domination
itv.com
18 December 2008
The X Factor is dominating the top 10 Christmas singles chart.
18 December 2008
The X Factor is dominating the top 10 Christmas singles chart.
According to sales at HMV and hmv.com, this year's winner Alexandra Burke is currently No 1 with her cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, while her performance has sparked a rival in popularity for the late Jeff Buckley's version, placing him at No 2.
Leona Lewis, who won The X Factor in 2006, is at No 3 with her cover of Snow Patrol's Run. She also performed the song on the show this year.
Beyonce is at No 4 with her single If A Were A Boy - but her song Listen, which she performed live on the X Factor final with winner Alex, has re-entered the chart at No 6.
Britney Spears' Womanizer is at No 9 and Take That's Greatest Day is at No 10. Both songs were performed by the stars themselves on The X Factor during the run-up to the final.
Peter Kay's anti-X Factor song, Once Upon A Christmas Song, performed by transsexual Geraldine, is at No 7. . . .Read More
Turkish court acquits transsexual singer
by Daren Butler
December 19, 2008
ISTANBUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A Turkish court has acquitted a popular Turkish transsexual singer over comments questioning a military campaign against Kurdish separatist guerrillas, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
Bulent Ersoy was tried on charges of "turning the people against military service" in a case that raised concerns about free speech in the European Union candidate, where criticising the military, powerful and respected institution, is a crime.
The court ruled that Ersoy's comments, which angered the country's powerful armed forces, were within the bounds of freedom of expression, the agency said late on Thursday. . . .Read More
December 19, 2008
ISTANBUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A Turkish court has acquitted a popular Turkish transsexual singer over comments questioning a military campaign against Kurdish separatist guerrillas, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
Bulent Ersoy was tried on charges of "turning the people against military service" in a case that raised concerns about free speech in the European Union candidate, where criticising the military, powerful and respected institution, is a crime.
The court ruled that Ersoy's comments, which angered the country's powerful armed forces, were within the bounds of freedom of expression, the agency said late on Thursday. . . .Read More
When Steve Becomes Stephanie
What does a star player’s gender change imply for a traditional company’s culture?
by Loren Gary and Brian Elliot
♦ INTERACTIVE CASE: How would your company accommodate an employee's decision to change gender? Tell us your opinion.
Thunk! The Audi trunk slammed shut, and Eric and Henrietta Mercer carried their bags of groceries into the house. As Eric started putting away the food, Henrietta sorted through the mail. She was surprised to find a letter from Morgan, their 29-year-old daughter, a genome researcher in Boston.
“What’s the special occasion?” Henrietta wondered aloud as she settled into a kitchen chair and kicked off her shoes. A moment later she exclaimed, “Jeez Louise.”
Eric turned around. “What’s up?”
“Morgan sent us a copy of her Massachusetts driver’s license renewal form. Take a look at this: ‘Complete only if something has changed—name, address, telephone number, gender designation.’”
Morgan’s letter was eerily connected to the challenge foremost in her mother’s mind. As the senior vice president for human resources at LaSalle Chemical, Henrietta knew that about 25% of the leading U.S. companies had policies in place to protect employees against discrimination based on gender identity. But she had never imagined she would actually encounter the issue, and certainly not at LaSalle, a Fortune 1000 company headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, that provided products and services to oil-drilling, refinery, and pollution-control businesses. . . .Read More
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Transgender Lawsuit
by Jamie Meyers
December 18, 2008
December 18, 2008
A local community college is accused of sexual discrimination. It's all over a life-altering decision that's now changing the way one student is treated. It's an unusual case that could set a precedent for universities all across the country and it's a story you will see exclusively on cbs 21.
"It was coming to the point james was going to die, one way or another, james is gonna die" says Jamie Nicole Anderson. James is a former marine, now gone but Jamie Nicole doesn't miss him. She says, "not one bit. I remember james was a very unhappy individual and Jamie is a very happy individual. "
Jamie Nicole *is* James, after under going complete gender re-assignment surgery. The surgery after a long process of making small changes, like wearing make-up, growing her hair out, and dressing as a woman. She says, "I was a little scared of what other people would say, of what other people would think." . . .Read More
New Edition of ’Manual of Disorders’ Inspires Gender Identity Controversy
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Dec 18, 2008
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the go-to book on psychiatric problems. It’s an indispensable resource for the mental health profession, and, for patients, insurance carriers, and the pharmaceuticals industry, the tome--popularly referred to as the DSM, now slated for a fifth edition, to be published several years from now--has a huge impact on who receives what sort of care, and who pays for it.
But there are social implications to the book as well, and what the new edition has to say about transgendered persons is already a source of contention.
In a Dec. 17 article, The New York Times reported that an array of syndromes and afflictions may or may not be officially included in the book, which serves as a registry for what is considered to be a "disorder" meriting insurance coverage. Pharmaceuticals companies have been known to push for recognition of different afflictions as official disorders so that insurance companies will pay for medication; meantime, the individuals living with those afflictions may be affected financially and socially by the question of whether what ails them is officially recognized in the Manual as a disorder. . . .Read More
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Dec 18, 2008
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But there are social implications to the book as well, and what the new edition has to say about transgendered persons is already a source of contention.
In a Dec. 17 article, The New York Times reported that an array of syndromes and afflictions may or may not be officially included in the book, which serves as a registry for what is considered to be a "disorder" meriting insurance coverage. Pharmaceuticals companies have been known to push for recognition of different afflictions as official disorders so that insurance companies will pay for medication; meantime, the individuals living with those afflictions may be affected financially and socially by the question of whether what ails them is officially recognized in the Manual as a disorder. . . .Read More
On O'Reilly Factor, Miller ridiculed transgender man, child he gave birth to
—A.J.W.
December 18, 2008
Summary: On The O'Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller ridiculed Thomas Beatie, a transgender man who recently gave birth to a child, calling him a "nympho satyr" and saying: "[A]ll I know is the guy's more pregnant than the old woman in the shoe is. And somebody has got to get some protection for this guy, be it a condom or an IUD or a satellite dish or a catcher's mitt. I don't even know what he needs down there, but I need an equipment check on aisle five." Referring to the baby, Miller had video of the polar bear cub at the Berlin zoo aired. . . .Read More
December 18, 2008
Summary: On The O'Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller ridiculed Thomas Beatie, a transgender man who recently gave birth to a child, calling him a "nympho satyr" and saying: "[A]ll I know is the guy's more pregnant than the old woman in the shoe is. And somebody has got to get some protection for this guy, be it a condom or an IUD or a satellite dish or a catcher's mitt. I don't even know what he needs down there, but I need an equipment check on aisle five." Referring to the baby, Miller had video of the polar bear cub at the Berlin zoo aired. . . .Read More
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Dude Starr Interview on BENDER TV Melbourne
"This is the Version of the interview which went to air on Bent TV did with me over the Midsumma tour. Filmed @ Revolver Feb 8th 2007."
Kate Bornstein Weighs In on Last Night's Trannytastic Terminator
by Charlie Jane Anders
December 16, 2008
Terminator universe. We asked transgender activist and author Kate Bornstein for her opinion of the episode.
December 16, 2008
Terminator universe. We asked transgender activist and author Kate Bornstein for her opinion of the episode.
For those of you who don't know her, Kate Bornstein is the author of two books on gender issues, Gender Outlaw and My Gender Workbook. Plus two other books, Nearly Roadkill: An Infobahn Erotic Adventure and Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws. She's also a playwright and performance artist.
I already wrote about my thoughts on last night's episode here. Among a whole host of UFO freaks, the episode introduced us to Eileen (aka "Abraham"), a blogger about UFO conspiracy stuff who has worked with a mysteriously advanced metal. At my urging, Kate watched the episode, and she was pretty thrilled with it. . . .Read More
Transsexual sues over discrimination
December 11, 2008
by ANDREW WOLFE Staff Writer
CONCORD – A Milford woman charges that PC Connection refused to hire her for a sales job after learning that she'd applied to the company as a man seven years earlier.
Brianna Cook filed the suit against PC Connection, of Merrimack, on Dec. 1 in U.S. District Court in Concord. The company has yet to respond.
Cook is a post-operative transsexual with experience in marketing communications and sales, both as a man and as a woman, her suit states.
She claims PC Connection officials implied that her hiring was assured, and that a company recruiter later told her she was eventually rejected because she hadn't disclosed that she had previously applied to the company as a man.
Cook and her lawyer, Mary Notaris, of Salem, accuse the company of gender discrimination in violation of state and federal law and seek punitive damages, as well as compensation for lost wages and mental anguish. . . .Read More
by ANDREW WOLFE Staff Writer
CONCORD – A Milford woman charges that PC Connection refused to hire her for a sales job after learning that she'd applied to the company as a man seven years earlier.
Brianna Cook filed the suit against PC Connection, of Merrimack, on Dec. 1 in U.S. District Court in Concord. The company has yet to respond.
Cook is a post-operative transsexual with experience in marketing communications and sales, both as a man and as a woman, her suit states.
She claims PC Connection officials implied that her hiring was assured, and that a company recruiter later told her she was eventually rejected because she hadn't disclosed that she had previously applied to the company as a man.
Cook and her lawyer, Mary Notaris, of Salem, accuse the company of gender discrimination in violation of state and federal law and seek punitive damages, as well as compensation for lost wages and mental anguish. . . .Read More
Internet: Nearly Half of Women Surveyed Choose Internet Over Sex
by Kristy Erdodi - December 16, 2008
Close to half of women surveyed said that they would choose to abandon sex for two weeks rather than give up their Internet access.
Close to half of women surveyed said that they would choose to abandon sex for two weeks rather than give up their Internet access.
Almost half of women questioned by Harris Interactive said that they would choose to abandon sex for two weeks, over sacrificing their internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which delegated the survey.
The survey results, comprised of 2,119 adult respondents surveyed last month in the U.S., make up part of Intel's broader commissioned study on Americans' reliance on the internet in today's economy.
Although nearly 46 percent of women respondents showed their willingness to give up sex life over Web access, only 30 percent of men surveyed would do the same. . . .Read More
Buddhism: Your Daily Meditation
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.- Buddha
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