POV, Critique, Opinion: Caster Semenya sex row: What makes a woman?

20 August 2009

by Germaine Greer

What makes a woman? Are women made? Feminist orthodoxy says yes; feminist fundamentalists hold that biology is a cultural creation. You can see what they mean; biology has traditionally studied the male animal and extrapolated the female as a disembodied set of reproductive organs.

Even though we know that a Y chromosome is only an X that has lost a leg, we still think in terms of male = perfect, female = imperfect. In plainer terms what the academic feminists could be taken to be saying is that (a) you're a woman if you think you are and (b) you're a woman if other people think you are. Unfortunately (b) cannot be made to follow from (a).

Nowadays we are all likely to meet people who think they are women, have women's names, and feminine clothes and lots of eyeshadow, who seem to us to be some kind of ghastly parody, though it isn't polite to say so. We pretend that all the people passing for female really are. Other delusions may be challenged, but not a man's delusion that he is female. . . .Read More

An interview with transgender author Matt Kailey

24 August 2009

by Ily Goyanes

Matt Kailey wears many hats. He is a writer, editor, media personality and public speaker on transgender issues. He has spoken at universities across the country as well as appeared in documentaries.

Kailey won the Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, Inc. and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He has also been a judge for the Lambda Literary Awards. He is the managing editor of Out Front Colorado, one of the oldest LGBT publications in the nation and his writing has appeared in The Advocate, Instinct, Frontiers, and many other print and internet publications.

He writes Tranifesto, a blog promoting gender diversity and discussing transgender issues. He is also the Denver Transgender Issues Examiner. Kailey had his erotica story, Teeny Weenies, Inc. published in Best Transgender Erotica.

IG: How do you identify regarding your sexuality?

MK: Usually gay, meaning attracted to men. But I also have a queer identification, which, to me, represents a potential attraction to a variety of people. This does not mean that I am automatically attracted to everyone. What it means is that I can find myself attracted to someone based not on their maleness or femaleness, but on certain characteristics, both physical and emotional, that I find attractive. . . .Read More

A Husband's Transformation Into A Woman

A 7/21/2009 feature (http://tinyurl.com/njkm4y) from ABC News' Primetime on transgender woman Chloe Prince's transition from male to female.

StephanieKayStevens

This Boy's Life: Being Transsexual in Kuwait

August 14, 2009

By Sahar Moussa


Gharam' means passion in Arabic and Gharam is what this young Kuwaiti male- to-female transsexual likes to be called. The first impression you get when sitting with Gharam is confusion. He is tall and thin with short, straight black hair, an obvious nose job and full lips and cheeks. You can see his well-shaped, wide eyes sparkle under the blue contact lenses and clean eyebrows. You cannot help but notice his soft skin and hairless arms under his navy blue t-shirt and his well-defined, lean body under the tight, white, low-waisted jeans. His smiles and gestures are exaggerated, showing off his well-manicured nails, fake dimples and perfect white teeth. . . .Read More

Underground but loud

20 August 2009

by Do Tuan


The increasing popularity of homosexual beauty contests has raised eyebrows, with people asking whether or not such events are legal.

A week doesn’t go by without a beauty pageant or fashion show making headlines in Ho Chi Minh City.

Publicity magnets, these events have launched the careers of several of Vietnam’s most successful models, actresses and singers.

But as the times change, so have the beauty contests and fashion shows, as some of the most popular pageants are now for homosexuals and teenage girls while the catwalks have become crowded with transsexuals. Many of these events are unlicensed, but they’ve been growing in popularity and numbers throughout the country. But some worry about their legality. . . .Read More

Lack of Coverage on Transgendered Pakistanis Shows Bias in US Media

19 August 2009

by Sanjeev Bery

It probably wasn't the first time that someone had organized an Independence Day cricket match in Pakistan. But it almost certainly was the first time that such a match occurred between a team of professional cricket players and a team of transgendered Pakistanis.

As the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported, the transgendered team won.

Known as hijras, transgendered Pakistanis and Indians have historically lived in their own communities and within their own cultural contexts. The word hijra combines a range of sexual identities -- gay crossdressers, hermaphradites -- who identify as female, and male-to-female transgendered individuals. In Indian and Pakistani English, words like "eunuch" and "transvestite" are often used in place of the word hijra. . . .Read More

Transsexual Cop - New Zealand

August 2009

Five years ago Steve was a macho, no-nonsense cop. But unbeknownst to his police bosses, Steve longed to become a woman. Today Sarah Lurajud is New Zealands first openly transgender police officer.

For most of Sarahs 24 years in the police, she was living a lie. I made a conscious decision that that would be a secret I'd take to the grave. In the force Steve was known as a good cop but in the end Sarah had to be Sarah. I was petrified of losing my job and didnt know how my colleagues would react. Despite the shock, she was appreciated as before. Sarah was and is a good cop.

journeymanpictures

Runner's sexual definition throws gender-bending questions into the sports arena

19 August 2009

by Mike Szymanski


Is she male, is she female?

That's what the IAAF running officials are wondering about the fantastic South African runner Caster Semenya.

(The Endurance Sports Examiner, Roman Mica, did a top-notch job of capturing the controversy, and you may want to follow more about this issue and the world of racing through the column. And, New York Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner Samantha Chang is following what is going on with the issue, too!)

The issue is befuddling the sports world (and it's about time!) Man? Woman?

Well guess what? What if she is neither—or all of the above?

Finally, people may start realizing that the definition of sex is perhaps as fluid as the definition of one's sexuality. Yeah, just like people aren't homosexual or heterosexual, they aren't just simply male or female either. It's really not confusing at all. It's about learning a few more definitions, and realizing that world isn't made up of just black or white, but many shades of gray. . . .Read More

Transsexual tells of how sex work led to HIV

August 16, 2009

By Audrey Edwards

SHE looks older than her 19 years and is pencil-thin.

Fatin (not her real name) is fidgety and plays with her sweater while she furtively looks around to see if anyone nearby is listening in.

It doesn't matter that the interview is being carried out in a poorly-lit corner of a religious school compound at her village in Johor.

The orang asli transsexual is cautious at first and speaks quietly.

But as she warms up, Fatin, who was confirmed HIV-positive last year, lets her guard down. She says she also suffers from tuberculosis.

All in the name of fun

"It all began when I started hanging out with my friends at the bus stop," she says, smiling shyly as she relates how she became involved in sex work, which led to her being infected with HIV.

"Guys would drive by, stop, look and then choose whoever they liked." . . .Read More

Australian transsexual pair win legal recognition as men

IndianExpress.com

18 August 2009


Two Australian transsexuals have won legal recognition as men despite the duo still having female reproductive organs.

The pair was previously denied legal recognition of their sex change by West Australian state government, as the government argued that until they had hysterectomies done they could not be considered men under the Gender Reassignment Act. . . . Read More

040 Transgender falsetto basics

If you train via the "falsetto/mickey mouse" method, keep in mind that if you think you'll achieve a female voice immediately, you may be disappointed. In my view, falsetto is to show you how to sound without resonance (that deep male vibration) and it strengthens and gets your vocal cords used to speaking in a different way.

Once you get stronger vocally and can control your falsetto, then you can expand and make your voice sound more feminine. That'll be a vid in the future sometime, perhaps, maybe. :)

Actually, as you practice more, you'll find that you will also have an expanded range, so practice does lead to sounding more feminine. But it does NOT come from just doing falsetto. Use falsetto as a tool for the above reasons.

Good luck and have fun practicing. :)

candiFLA

The Female-to-Male Pre-Op Transsexual

7/27/09

NYmag.com

Once a week, Daily Intel looks behind doors left slightly ajar. This week: The Female-to-Male Pre-Op Transsexual, 28, male, Brooklyn, queer, in a long-term, sometimes-open, relationship with a woman.

DAY ONE
9 a.m.: Wake up, think about jerking off. Nah, too hung-over. Rather loll around bed for a while anyway. Been working too much lately anyway; never get to do this anymore.
1 p.m.: Biking to work. There are a lot of good-looking women as I bike down Fulton Street. Try not to stare at boobs, as I am basically a 15-year-old boy. I’m still learning this. I have been on hormones for two and a half years, and am transitioning, female-to-male. I am fully passing, and pre-op. Being on testosterone has made me a much more, um, visual person.
3 p.m.: Trying desperately to get some work done in the real-estate career I’m trying to build, only to be distracted by a not-even-that-sexy picture of the cast of Hair naked. You can’t see anything. How does anyone get anything done? Mystery.

DAY ONE (cont.)
4:05 p.m.: No one in office, quick jerk-off to porn. I don’t care what my friend says, XTube is way better than PornHub.
5:05 p.m.: Somewhat shocked at the lewdness on the talk boards on Yelp today. The “How to get in my pants” thread makes me wonder if people forget that anyone can read what they’re writing.
10:30 p.m.: Realize I’m overdue for my T shot (testosterone) because libido and energy are both down.
11:30 p.m.: Start talking with gf about how when we get our own place we’ll have sex all over the apartment, with emphasis on the kitchen. We’ve been together for four and a half years, and she’s fully supportive. We start canoodling, and I tell her I’m not in the mood. She seduces me in about a minute.
12:30 a.m.: Both satisfied, asleep. . . .Read More and See Comments

State reverses policy that made it harder to get ID reflecting gender change

8.10.2009

By Lindsay Toler

Seattle Times staff reporter


In January, over objections of the transgender community, the state Department of Licensing made it tougher to change gender information on driver's licenses, citing goals of fighting terrorism and reducing identity theft. Last week it abruptly changed course, not just reverting to the original policy — but making it easier than before.

It's hard to say for sure how many of the 80 or so transgender Washingtonians who change their driver's-license information each year might be terrorists.

But just in case, the state was ready.

In January — after three years of discussion — the Department of Licensing made it tougher to change gender information on driver's licenses, citing goals of fighting terrorism and reducing identity theft.

Last week it abruptly changed course, not just reverting to the original policy — but even making it easier than before.

"It just didn't seem to make sense," explained Doron Maniece, acting assistant director at the department. . . .Read More

Transgender Issues 101: Do trans people want to do away with gender?

Matt Kailey

August 10, 2009

Some non-trans people wonder if transgender and transsexual people want to do away with or change the concept of gender as it is recognized by mainstream U.S. culture.

You will often hear trans people speak of the “binary gender system” — the two-gendered system under which our society is structured — and the strict limits that this system imposes on gender identity and expression.

But the system imposes those limits on everyone — not just trans people. And those very strict expectations about how men and women are supposed to think, dress, and behave can be detrimental to many people — not just to trans people. . . .Read More

This Morning - Worlds Youngest Transsexual: Kim Petras

World's youngest transsexual

At 16 years-old, with blonde good looks and a wholesome appeal, German pop singer Kim Petras is set to be a superstar.

But this is no ordinary girl - Kim was actually born a boy called Tim. Last October, after turning 16, she had a sex change operation to fulfil her dream of becoming a woman.

She is believed to be the youngest person in the world ever to have the dramatic surgery.

Kim says her family totally supported her decision to have a sex change: "They drove me to every doctors appointment and were there every step of the way." . . .Read More

ThisMorningChannel

Chicago Moms Blog: Just looking for a little support for my transgendered child

13 July 2009

By JEN KHATCHATRIAN
CHICAGO MOMS BLOG


"You are setting him up to fail" was the last thing I heard before my throat began to tighten and my eyes flooded with tears. How could my own family say such things to me? "I will not listen to you!" sputtered out of my mouth as I frantically searched for the button to drop the call. Did that just happen?

Heavy sobs rippled through me as I heard their final words ring through my head. Earlier in the conversation I shared that I was searching for a transgender play group for my child who has known for almost two years that he is a girl inside. Just recently he began wearing his dresses outside of the house and mentioning his loneliness for friends who felt the same way as he did. I assured him that I would find a play group and felt confident this was a positive step in supporting him as he navigated through his feelings.

Earlier in the day I felt disheartened after a trip to the Center on Halsted (well known for their support of the LGBT community) only resulted in a voice mail message. Instead of everything quickly falling into place as I hoped, I had to be patient and wait. If I thought that the frustration of the delay was bad, the phone call I made looking for some encouragement ended up being the lowest point of my day. . . .Read More

Transsexual Charged Again with Back-Alley Silicone Injections

by Natalie O'Neill

July 8, 2009


The male-to-female transsexual sent to jail after a client's botched cosmetic procedure ended in death was arrested again this morning. Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies and Florida Department of Health agents raided the quiet two-story home of Donnie Hendrix at 8 a.m. They collared her for practicing medicine without a license. She's accused of charging $400 to $600 for silicone injections, the same procedure that killed a 53-year-old Miramar secretary in 2001. . . .Read More

Female Pop Star, 16, Used to Be Male

13 July 2009

By ERICA DAVIES

At 16 years old, with blonde hair and a wholesome appeal, Kim Petras is set to be a superstar.

But this is no ordinary girl. Kim, of Cologne, Germany, was actually born Tim.

Last October, just days after turning 16, she had a sex change operation to fulfill her dream of becoming a woman.

According to doctors, Kim is the youngest person in the world to ever have the dramatic surgery.

"There never was a defining moment when I thought, 'I'm not meant to be a boy,'" said Kim, who spoke exclusively to The Sun. "I've lived my entire life as a girl."

Thanks to her campaigning, the legal age for transgender surgery in Germany was dropped from 18 to 16. Kim began hormone therapy at the age of 13 in Hamburg, and made headlines after appearing on a German TV documentary to push for the right to have a sex change. . . .Read More

Transgender 'Top Model' Contestant - Tyra (Part 2)

The Tyra Banks Show - ''Transgender 'Top Model' contestant'' (Recorded Nov 18, 2008, WWOR)

Megami284

Buck Angel: Self Made Man

By Travis de Jonk, 6th July, 2009

He is one of the most famous porn stars in the world with an impressive collection of films under his belt. He has been photographed and captured by many artists worldwide. He is ruggedly handsome, layered in stunning tattoos and his pierced sexy muscled body is a stunning example of manhood. But there are plenty more other reasons why Californian born Buck Angel is so captivating and fascinating. Buck is a self made man like no other. He was born and raised as Susan.

“A lot of people ask me what it was like growing up as a girl… it’s funny because I was never raised that way,” says Buck.

“I was a tomboy. I wore boys clothes and played outside a lot. Everyone always treated me like a boy growing up so always felt I was one.” . . .Read More