Calif radio hosts to address transgender issues

Associated Press Writer

6/8/2009

SACRAMENTO—The hosts of a Sacramento radio program who were criticized for making anti-transgender remarks are planning to air a special segment this week featuring transgender advocates.

Rashad Robinson of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said Monday that the general manager of station KXRQ-FM told him that talk show hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States also plan to apologize during Thursday's show. . . .Read More

Male mum gives birth to son

10 Jun 2009

The Sun

PREGNANT man Thomas Beatie yesterday gave birth for the second time - to a boy.

Transsexual Thomas had conceived through artificial insemination.

Sources said it was a "natural childbirth" and that the boy was healthy and well.

Thomas, 35, was born a woman and became the first man to give birth after having daughter Susan Juliette last June.

Thomas, of Bend, Oregon, changed sex in his twenties.

He had a breast removal op and legally became a man - but kept his ovaries. . . .Read More

Australian Aims to Become First Transsexual Pro Footballer

By David Salter | 6/10/2009

An Aussie Rules football fan is looking to become the first transsexual to play the competitive sport, according to an article in Sunday's edition of The Age.

Will, who asked not to use his last name, told The Age writer Jill Stark, "I'm just an ordinary guy who wants to play football, just with slightly different circumstances of how I came to be a guy."

The 25-year-old had a sex change two years ago and has had a double mastectomy. He takes hormones to induce body hair growth and to lower his voice. The article stated that Will "does not feel the technology is advanced enough to create a functioning penis."

The Australian would-be footballer has gained the support of Victorian Country Football League's president Glenn Scott, who told Will that in order to play he would need to legally change his birth certificate to reflect his male sex, but that otherwise his attempt, if successful, would be allowed. . . .Read More

"Transgender"

Transgender defined by our friends, neighbors & colleagues.

TransLeadership

Controversial Trans Pioneer Prince Dies at 96

By Amita Parashar

May 6, 2009

Click the byline to view more stories by this author

Virginia Prince, a pioneer of the cross-dressing community and longtime activist for transgender rights, died on Saturday, May 2. She was 96 years old.

Prince's philosophies attracted fierce criticism, especially from transgender people. She was staunchly against sex-reassignment surgery, writing in 1978 that she believed it was "perfectly possible to be a woman without having sex surgery." She is widely believed to have coined the term "transgender" around 1970, but as a description exclusively for heterosexual people who did not wish to have reassignment surgery. . . .Read More

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

June 1, 2009


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism. . . .Read More

KRXQ Sacramento Radio Hosts Encourage Violence Against Transgender Children

by Michael Rowe

June 2, 2009

Even by the flexible moral, ethical, and professional standards of American talk radio, the May 28th segment of KRXQ 98.5 FM Sacramento's Rob, Arnie, & Dawn in the Morning radio talk show makes for a sickening half-hour of ugliness and cruelty. For once, the focus was not LGBT adults, but minors. The hosts, Rob Williams and Arnie States, devoted the segment in question to a vicious diatribe against transgender children, some as young as five, focusing in particular on the case of one Omaha family raising a gender dysphoric child, and their decision to support her transition from male to female.

Williams and States took turns referring to gender dysphoric children as "idiots" and "freaks," who were just out "for attention" and had "a mental disorder that just needs to somehow be gotten out of them," either by verbal abuse on the part of the parents, or even shock therapy.

"Allowing transgenders to exist, pretty soon it becomes normal to fall in love with the animals," they said. . . .Read More

Conservatives Warn Quick Sex Change Only Barrier Between Gays, Marriage

Rep. Iscoe warns gays will give penises to lesbians who will give them vaginas so that homosexuals can marry and continue their attack on the American family.

TheOnion

Harvard to Endow Chair in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies

By Jacques Steinberg

June 3, 2009

Harvard University will endow a visiting professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies, a position that, it believes, will be the first endowed, named chair in the subject at an American college.

The visiting professorship was made possible by a gift of $1.5 million from the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus, which will formally announce it at a dinner on Thursday, after Harvard’s commencement exercises. With the gift, Harvard said it would regularly invite “eminent scholars studying issues related to sexuality or sexual minorities” to teach on campus for one semester, according to a draft of a university press release.

The chair is being named for F.O. Matthiessen , a Harvard scholar and literary critic who “stands out as an unusual example of a gay man who lived his sexuality as an ‘open secret’ in the mid-twentieth century,” according to the release. . . .Read More

I was a lipstick lesbian... now I’m a gay man

by Sharon Hendry

21 May 2009

WITH her sexy curves, perfect pout and long, blonde hair, gorgeous Katherine Dalton was in big demand as a model.

But beneath her beauty lay a secret which had troubled her from an early age — she felt she was a MAN and found herself attracted to girls rather than guys.

The 31-year-old says: “For years I was a man trapped in a woman’s body. And although I was a beautiful woman I felt ugly because I was not who I wanted to be. Now I feel complete and it is fantastic.

"Going through the op to be a man was scary but it's the most fulfilling thing I've done and I feel right for the first time in my life."

Katherine - who has changed her name to Adrian - is single but hopes to pursue relationships. . . .Read More

Fare lady cabbie 'fired for sex swap'

by Guy Patrick

4 June 2009

A TRANSSEXUAL taxi driver claims she has been sacked for wearing skirts and nail polish.

Andre Edwards, 50 - who was born a man and was known as Andrew - said her bosses and passengers could not cope with her bizarre lifestyle.

She said: "It's not easy when people shout things at you and call you vile names."

But yesterday bosses insisted Andre was fired after customers complained about HER "bad attitude" - and for upsetting staff by criticising their appearance.

Andre is undergoing "gender re-alignment" after getting hormone replacement pills on the internet, but hopes to have a sex change operation next year.

She has already had electrolysis to get rid of facial hair. . . .Read More

Transgender: Jay's story

Jay describes his transition from female to male and how he feels now.

NHSChoices

Kenya: The Fallacies of Identity Politics

by Audrey Mbugua

21 May 2009

OPINION


Deeply concerned about the profound discrimination experienced by Kenya's transgender community, Audrey Mbugua berates Kenyan society for its unjust treatment of a marginalised group. Rather than creating 'transgender rights' per se, Mbugua calls upon the country to view transgender people as human beings like any other group. Deeply scathing of Kenya's entrenched 'trans-phobia' and the divisive nature of different groups' competing for recognition, the author implores those marginalised to see themselves as part of a wider struggle for justice that transcends identity politics.

Identity politics refers to a political action to advance the interests of a group whose members perceive themselves to be oppressed by virtue of a shared and marginalised identity (such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation).

Two weeks ago, a colleague of mine summoned me into his office and played a news clip dating back to August last year. It involves a Kenyan transgender girl been brutally beaten up in the streets by a group of women and men. Her face is swollen and her clothes torn. She begs for mercy but her pleading is drowned out by the laughter of women and children. She tries to cover her tiny breasts but a man uncovers them for the cameraman to capture it all. After this macabre footage, a female news anchor laughs before yapping about something else 'important' (probably the trauma of gender violence among abused women).

A week ago, I got hold of a collection of hallowing experiences that a group of Kenyan women went through during the infamous post-election violence.[1] One of the accounts reveals a woman who was raped by a group of 11 policemen as her son watched in horror. In the process, she was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another lady reveals that she had full-blown Aids and was bedridden when Kenya went to the elections in 2007. But this did not deter a group of Kenya's General Service officers from raping her. She further revealed that her husband had died a year earlier and her health had deteriorated to the level of her giving up on anti-retroviral therapy. Apart from religious fanatics who believe everything happens for a purpose and God knows and plans everything, who would justify these horrendous acts? Who would want these things to happen to oneself whether there was any purpose or if God had planned them? . . .Read More

Change of direction, new love

by Jill Stark

May 31, 2009

RACHEL and Kimberley Rae say they owe their lives to Dr Trudy Kennedy and the gender dysphoria clinic she worked at. Theirs is an unlikely love story.

Born male, they both longed to be female, knowing from the age of five they weren't like other little boys. In adulthood the decision to "stop living a lie" brought them together.

They met in 2002 a week after Rachel's surgery, which transformed her from Bob, previously a carpenter, a welder and a security guard from central Victoria, into a woman who had finally found peace but who had lost her family as a result. . . .Read More

Gender change 'priceless'

By ALYSSA NOEL, SUN MEDIA

May 11, 2009


Local transsexual woman beginning PhD on the topic

The approximate cost of surgery to transition from a man to a woman? Around $20,000.

The cost for a woman to become a man? Roughly $80,000.

The peace of mind that comes after years of hoping, dreaming and planning to make the gender you feel match the sex you are? Priceless, according to Carol Allan, a local transsexual woman who made her transition nearly two decades ago and is now beginning a PhD on the topic.

Transsexual people, both pre- and post-surgery, have been in the media across Alberta since the provincial government announced in April that it would no longer fund sexual reassignment surgery.

But while Allan fully disagrees with that move, she says transsexuals have been portrayed as needy people lapping up welfare money, unable to stand on their own feet. . . .Read More

Gender setters- when doctors play God

by Jill Stark

31 May 2009

Two former patients of Australia's controversial sex-change clinic say misdiagnosis and wrongful surgery destroyed their lives. Jill Stark reports.

HE WILL never forget the noise. Lying on the hospital trolley being pushed towards the operating theatre he heard a primal wail. He looked back to see his younger sister sobbing, traumatised by what he was about to do.

Andrew*, born male, was minutes away from an operation that would make him a woman. Psychiatrists said he had a female brain in a male body. Gender reassignment surgery was the only way to ease the mental torment.

But as he headed to surgery he was struck by an unshakeable thought: "It's not right." He remembers telling the surgeon: "I think I'm doing the wrong thing, I think we've got to stop it."

The surgeon stroked Andrew's face, telling him it was natural to feel frightened before an operation. He protested again. Then it went black. When he woke up he was sure the surgery had been cancelled. The tales he had read of transsexuals who awoke post-surgery feeling "reborn" convinced Andrew, then 21, the operation had been halted, because he felt no different. "Then I remember lifting up the sheets and … feeling it all bandaged. I just started bawling my eyes out and screaming … I remember saying to myself, 'how could you be so bloody stupid?"'. . .Read More

Interview With An Angel. . . Part 1

My friend Angel talks about his top surgery.

Lizador

Cover Story: Faces of Pride -- Dominique Storni

5/26/2009

by Kelly Ashkettle


Dominique Storni is a transsexual lesbian. He was born a boy and raised in Brigham City and Ogden in a Mormon household of eight children. He served a mission, and was married for 17 years, during which he fathered six children. In 2003, he underwent surgery to become a woman. She recently sat down with me at Mestizo Coffeehouse to tell me her story.

What's the difference between transsexual and transgender? We like to believe that gender is between your ears and sex is between your legs.

Are there different terms for pre-op and post-op? That's what we call it. "Pre-op" means before you've have surgery. "Post-op" means you've had surgery. And then there's another option called "non-op." I know some transsexual women who will grow breasts or have breast implants but never do anything to the bottom. Some of them are married to women who identify as heterosexual and want to enjoy the heterosexual benefits of intimacy. So the transsexual partner will say, "Well, I'll live as a woman but keep the male parts for our marriage," and the wife will go, "I'll allow you to live as a woman, but please be at least boy enough to satisfy my heterosexual needs." I think it's a beautiful arrangement of people that really love each other. . . .Read More

Bethany Black

5/28/2009

by Jay Richardson


As the UK’s foremost goth, lesbian, post-op transsexual stand-up, Bethany Black worries about being pigeonholed. So it’s a ‘recovering alcoholic, drug addict and love addict too’ who will be showcasing material from her forthcoming Fringe show this fortnight. After an admission of two botched suicide attempts in her debut, Beth Becomes Her, it’s reassuring to know that Love and a Colt 45 doesn’t presage ‘lucky’ number three but an American malt lager favoured by the comic in her youth. Her debut recalled Black’s transformation from Ben Horsley in intimate, sometimes queasy, detail and she explains that ‘because that show was really personal, I thought I’d go with something a bit more accessible this time, about all the stupid things I’ve done because of love and alcohol.’ . . .Read More

Gay Discrimination Proposal: Transsexual Speaks Up

by Jeni DiPrizio

5/27/2009


MEMPHIS, TN -- Shelby County Commissioners are considering passing an ordinance that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of his or her sexual orientation, identity or expression. The ordinance would protect all county workers. Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal Monday, June 1, 2009. On Wednesday, June 27, 2009, commissioners debated the issue.

Commissioner Wyatt Bunker told fellow commissioners, “You would have to be in a cave to know this isn’t just the issue.” Bunker added, "It's part of a bigger movement. It's part of the homosexual agenda that’s being debated across the country.” He added “the homosexual agenda undermines family values and the family values this country holds dear.”

Darlene Fike is a transsexual who listened to Bunker and the other commissioners. Fike says “I would love to sit down with Mr. Bunker and talk about this from a Biblical perspective. I am a conservative Bible believing woman." . . .Read More