'Born in the Wrong Body'

Transgender youth share their stories in an MSNBC documentary.

The page includes two videos (MTF and FTM).

Gender and the Pulpit

Workplace difficulties can arise for trangendered persons in nearly all professions, but what about those who are called to work for God?

WEB EXCLUSIVE

By Lauren McCauley

Special to Newsweek

Updated: 4:42 p.m. ET Jan 23, 2007

Jan. 23, 2007 - In 1973, Eric Karl Swenson was ordained in the Presbyterian Church and went to work doing what he’d always dreamed of: ministering to a congregation of the Southern Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. More than 20 years later, one dream almost ended when another began. When the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta discovered in 1996 that Swenson had finally fulfilled another lifelong desire—having sex-change surgery to become a woman—it started proceedings to revoke Swenson’s ordination.

At the time of her “transition,” Swenson did not resist the church’s questions nor blame its reluctance. “I had been in the closet for 30 years, learning to accept myself,” she says. “It is difficult for me to be angry at others for not accepting.” Married with two daughters before her transition, Swenson described her struggle, years later, in a sermon: “I had spent the better part of four decades wrestling secretly with the unreasonable and incorrigible desire to be female.” After almost three years of grueling questions and debate, the Presbytery finally agreed, 181-161, to sustain her ordination, making Swenson the first known Protestant minister to transition from male to female while remaining in office. Now 59, Swenson is tall and blond, with shoulder-length hair and an assertive manner. Erin, as she’s called, continues to work as a pastoral counselor and, she hopes, as an inspiration for others who find themselves living out, what may be, the last taboo in society, let alone organized religion.

This past weekend, Swenson and her peers gathered in the hills of Berkeley, Calif., for the first National Transgender Religious Summit at the Pacific School of Religion, an ecumenical seminary that prepares students for ordination in the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the Disciples of Christ. The conference, open to members of all faith traditions, is a joint project of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific School’s own Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS). Sixty-five religious leaders attended, from Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Quaker, Jewish and Agnostic communities across the country. On the agenda: denominational policy and outreach to transgender communities.

At the heart of almost every conversation that occurred during the conference was this: how does a person who chooses to live “with permanent gender ambiguity,” as one handout put it, also participate as a leader in an institution as traditional as religion?

Conference organizers think the time is right for transgendered persons of faith to come out of the closet. “Transgendered people are beginning to find their public voice with more advocates and opportunities for protection,” explains Justin Tanis, an ordained minister who helped put together the summit—and who was born female. With the House and Senate now under Democratic control, Tanis says, activists in the transgender community feel that they may finally be heard, and they are working hard to put together legislation on Capitol Hill, especially on the issue of workplace rights. No one knows how many people in the United States live with an ambiguous gender identity, either because of a firm conviction that they were born in the wrong body or because of a political ideology or youthful experimentation. But the issue has gained great resonance on college campuses of late, as well as in local legislatures and in gay activist circles. Last weekend’s conference was evidence that at least some of these people have strong religious identities as well.

The transgender issue is so new that most religious denominations have not yet made policy statements about it. In 2003, the Roman Catholic Church announced that transsexuals suffer from “mental pathologies” and should be barred from religious orders and the Catholic priesthood. Often using Biblical language to make their point, conservative Christian groups have treated transsexuals and other people with ambiguous gender as having psychological defects that can be cured with psychotherapy. Swenson, not surprisingly, objects to this characterization. “To pick out small pieces of Scripture and use them in a hateful way is damaging to me and to the Scripture,” she explains. “God says to love one another; should anything else matter?” Swenson finds evidence of God’s love, for her unique case, in Isaiah: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than songs and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 56:1-5).

Transgendered people say another difficulty is that many religious denominations reinforce gender stereotypes—conventions about women’s and men’s roles in the life of a church, for example, that pose problems for people who want to live outside those rules. “The Bible has been used incorrectly throughout history to justify slavery and to oppress women,” says Joshua Holiday, a female-to-male pastor at the LIFE (Love Is For EveryBODY) Interfaith Church in Louisville, Ky. A year and a half ago, Holiday organized a gathering of African-American transgendered people, The Transsistahs, Transbrothahs Conference (TSTB), to promote greater acceptance in the black community.

Transgendered clergy say they know that parishioners can become distracted by thoughts about what lies beneath their robes, but they hope that people in the pews can learn to see them as ministers with a holy mission. Religion, says Tanis, “is about compassion and human dignity”; he hopes the seminar will teach transgendered clergy to embrace their uncommon situation and use it for good. After going through his own transition, he says: “I had a greater sense of internal peace; I was wiser and could be a better religious leader. It is a gift to be able to see the world through more than one gender’s eyes.”

College made easy

Best of the Best: Top 20 Campuses from The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students
(in alphabetical order)

American University
Duke University
Indiana University
New York University
Oberlin College
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
Princeton University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania
University of Puget Sound
University of Southern California

Schools adjust to transgender teachers

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press Writer | November 25, 2006

TUCKERTON, N.J. --For nine years, he was Mr. McBeth, a substitute teacher who kept things moving along in the classroom and filled in ably when the regular teacher was out sick.

And then one September, he was Miss McBeth.

The sex-change operation William McBeth underwent in 2005 roiled this rural, conservative area when she applied to be rehired as a substitute in Eagleswood Township. Parents packed a school board meeting last winter, some decrying what they termed an experiment, with their young children as guinea pigs; others supported her right to be who she is and work at what she does best.

But then a strange thing happened a few months later: When McBeth was up for a job at a different school in the area, no one protested. In fact, no one voiced an opinion at all when she was hired.

"There's no doubt about it; they've calmed down," said McBeth, a retired marketing executive and divorced father of three.

"There's no reason I shouldn't teach," said McBeth. "Look at me as a person: Am I qualified to teach? Yes. Do I have experience? Yes. Do I have a good report card from the schools? Yes. I have nothing to hide, and I'm proud of who I am."

About 20 transgender teachers are working in classrooms nationwide, but more are in the process of "transitioning," experts estimate. That opens up a host of issues the teachers -- and their employers and students -- have to deal with.

"The question often arises: Are transgender people competent to be employees, and those questions can come from co-workers, management or students," said Chris Daley, director of the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco. "A lot of that is because there is a lack of information about who transgender people are."

David Nielsen, a librarian at Southwest High School in Minneapolis, began living as a woman in the spring of 1998 and came to school one Monday as Debra Davis. She was sued by a co-worker who objected to her using the women's restroom. The claim eventually was rejected by an appeals court, but not before local police got involved.

"I had a sex crimes detective in my building investigating me," she said.

Part of the difficulty was the suddenness of Davis' transformation.

"As far as I knew and as far as the school knew, I was among the first people to suddenly do that in a high school who worked directly with children, basically over a weekend," Davis said. "I didn't take a year off, I didn't do it over the summer. Literally, a man left on Friday and a woman came back on Monday."

She met with school officials and staff, and again with students to answer any questions they had.

"They asked, 'What do we call this person?' It's Miss Davis now, it's Debra," she recalled. "It's 'she' now. 'What bathroom is she going to use?' The kids did pretty well. Did they come to the library to see their new, improved librarian? You bet they did!"

The students were great, she said. Some festooned the hallways with signs of support, including one with the slogan "Hate Is Not A Family Value."

Not every adult was as welcoming, though.

"The people who struggled were people who struggle with diversity," she said. They were concerned that "the kids would have to have contact with someone like me who's an abomination of God."

For 72-year-old William McBeth, he had the feeling he was different from the age of 7. Growing up in Atlantic City, N.J., he would sneak into the closet to try on his mother's and aunt's clothes when no one was around, and wasn't quite sure why.

"You had these feelings that you didn't clearly recognize," she said. "You knew you were different, and you knew these were thoughts you couldn't bring up to anybody. I lived that life in fear. I did everything I could: I was a Boy Scout, a surfer, I was in the military. I ran a ski lodge in Alaska. I had a magnificent life.

"But you're living under the fear that someone would find out about you," McBeth said. "You know they wouldn't understand; I didn't understand it. It wasn't until middle age that I knew there were other people like me."

In 2003, while hospitalized for a heart condition, McBeth did some soul-searching.

"I said to myself, 'What is the one thing you've always wanted to do in your life?'" McBeth recalled. "On your deathbed, you regret not the things you did, but the things you didn't do. I said, 'Well, let's do it.'"

McBeth had a sex change operation in May 2005, after a long process of psychological evaluation, hormone therapy and electrolysis.

She said she erred by not keeping her certification as a substitute teacher current while she was out of work during the surgery. That required her to reapply, and set the stage in February for a contentious school board meeting in Eagleswood, a community near Atlantic City. One parent, Mark Schnepp, took out a full-page ad in a local newspaper urging parents to oppose the hiring.

"This person taught as a man, left for a year, and came back as a woman," Schnepp said. "My biggest problem is it's very young children in the Eagleswood school. For the young ones, it could cause tremendous confusion."

But Scott Rodas, whose son is a third-grader in Eagleswood, said McBeth's hiring "should have been a no-brainer. We should give enough credit to our children to know that someone like this isn't going to hurt them."

When McBeth was up for rehiring at the Pinelands Regional School system in September, no one said a word.

"I personally don't think there's anything wrong with it," said Katie MacPhee, a student at Pinelands Regional High School. "I can see where some people might have concerns, but people just need to get over it."

Jennifer Boylan, an English professor at Colby College in Maine and author of the best-selling autobiographical novel, "She's Not There: A Life In Two Genders," said she was concerned about how students and faculty would respond to her transition six years ago.

"Everyone was extremely supportive and generous," she said. "That surprised me, but maybe it shouldn't have. It's possible that we are all more grown up than we think."

For some who have made the transition, what's at issue goes beyond an identity change.

"This is about how we treat people in the workplace in a civil society," said Jillian Todd Weiss, an assistant professor of law and society at Ramapo College in New Jersey, who transitioned in 1998, about five years before she began teaching. "It's not about acceptance, although that would be nice. It's about law and policy, which states that it's illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of gender."

Daley said the same rules apply to transgender teachers as anyone else.

"Just treat them like you would any other employee," he said. "Give them a supportive, comfortable work environment, and you won't have any problems."

Agents of change . . .

Transgender Canadians are coming out at younger ages, raising a host of new and sensitive issues

HAYLEY MICK

May 8, 2007

As a child, Adrian Daniels wore hockey jerseys. He dreamed of marrying figure-skating champion Katarina Witt. And each night before he went to bed, he prayed that he would wake up the next morning with something he had always wanted: a penis.

"I always knew I was a man," says the Toronto native, now a frank 20-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard, pierced eyebrow and confident swagger.

Adrian's transition from female to male included an official name change at the age of 16, male hormones at 18, and breast-removal surgery a year later.

With each step, he bumped into people who argued that his feelings were temporary, banished him from the boys' washroom, or made him pay for being different with taunts and fists. "They thought I was a freak," he says. . . .

Transgender teen, Fort Worth ISD reach compromise

By John Wright of the Dallas Voice

Friday, May 4, 2007

The BS at school is over for Rochelle Evans, according to her attorneys.

Rochelle, a 15-year-old transgender girl formerly known as Rodney, was suspended for three days from Fort Worth’s Eastern Hills High School on Thursday, April 26. Rochelle said school officials told her the punishment was for saying “bullshit” during an emotional conversation with a friend after an assistant principal demanded that she remove a wig and high heels.

But she returned to school Thursday, May 3, after reaching an agreement with the Fort Worth Independent School District that will allow her to be identified as Rochelle and with feminine pronouns, her attorneys said. She will also be allowed to use a single-stall bathroom in the nurse’s office rather than a boy’s or girl’s room.

The agreement came during a meeting Wednesday, May 2, attended by Rochelle; her mother, Lenora Flores; her two pro bono attorneys, Phyllis Frye and Jerry Simoneaux Jr. of Houston; and three district officials, including the principal of the school.

“It was definitely worth it — definitely, definitely, definitely — because I finally get to be me,” Rochelle told a contingent of news reporters outside district offices after the meeting.

Simoneaux said he was “very, very happy.”

“This is a win for everybody,” he said. “This is a win for my client, Rochelle. It is also a big win for the Fort Worth school district.”

In a statement issued shortly after the meeting, the district referred to Rochelle as Rodney; said her suspension had nothing to do with dress code violations; and said the issue could have been resolved much sooner and without the involvement of attorneys.

“We find it disheartening that anyone would use this situation — or any of our students in any way — for their own personal or professional agendas,” the statement read.

Frye, a noted transgender activist, brushed off the statement Thursday, saying she believes it was written prior to the meeting and had nothing to do with the outcome.

“We stand by the positive message that we felt was conveyed to us on Wednesday,” Frye said.

District spokeswoman Barbara Griffith, who wrote the statement, admitted Thursday she may not have “been in full communication” with district officials who attended the meeting. Griffith confirmed that Rochelle would be allowed to use the nurse’s bathroom, but declined to comment further for privacy reasons.

“I’m just going to let the statement speak for itself,” Griffith said.

“If they seemed happy with the way things worked out, then that’s great. I’m not here to tell our side of the story.”

In addition to the suspension, Rochelle was charged with class-C misdemeanor disorderly conduct. According to Simoneux, district officials said during the meeting they have no authority to drop the charge because it was filed by the Fort Worth Police Department.

To avoid further problems — such as retaliation against her client from school officials for “dragging them through the mud” and a possible expensive lawsuit — Frye said she advised Rochelle during the meeting to wear flat shoes to school and avoid wigs, although continuing to identify as a girl.

“Our tone was to try to present to them [district officials] with alternatives,” Frye said.

Rochelle and her attorneys said district officials cited cutting classes and poor grades as part of the reason behind the suspension. But Rochelle said those problems stemmed from her coming to grips with being transgender in the face of harassment from school officials.

“It was my way of dealing with it,” she told the Voice during an exclusive interview at Agape Metropolitan Community Church after the meeting.

Coincidentally, Rochelle had just signed up for Saturday sessions to make up for missed classes when the latest brouhaha began. After signing up in an assistant principal’s office — wearing high heels and a wig — she returned to class but soon was summoned back.

The assistant principal, claiming that Rochelle’s outfit was disruptive to the school environment, demanded that she remove the wig and high heels, Rochelle said. After calling her mother, Rochelle agreed to take off the high heels but not the wig. The assistant principal then told Rochelle she was suspended for three days for refusing to follow orders and told her to wait in the hallway.

There, sobbing, Rochelle said she encountered a friend and unleashed.

“I stated this is bullshit that I can’t be who I am in school,” she said.

Rochelle said she’s unsure whether anyone but her friend heard the remark, but in any case she was called back into the assistant principal’s office and told to leave campus.

Rochelle said three friends who accompanied her for support later were disciplined unfairly in an unrelated matter.

“Go figure,” she said.

Rochelle said for the most part, other students and teachers at the school don’t have issues with her transgender status. Every day, she sports things like girl’s jeans, fingernail polish, a purse and makeup.

But on the roughly six occasions this year when she’s worn a wig, high heels or fake breasts, one school official in particular has taken exception.

“Every attempt has failed,” she said. “It was either being sent home for the remainder of the day, going to in-house suspension for the remainder of the day, or being suspended for the remainder of the day and a day.”

Fortunately, in addition to her friends, Rochelle has the firm support of her mother, Flores.

“As a mother, it’s my duty to my daughter to allow her to feel comfortable, safe and whole,” Flores said.

Rochelle said the most important thing is being able return to school and finish her education. But she also said she hopes what she’s been through will help other transgender kids.

“I think I’m strong enough to take a stand for all those who don’t have a voice,” she said.

Colorado Legislature Passes Non-Discrimination Bill

Monday May 7, 2007

Members of the Colorado Senate voted to pass a bill prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity last week. This legislation, which previously passed the Colorado House, now goes to Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk.

Assuming the bill is signed into law, Colorado will become the 20th U.S. state to ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and the 12th to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

"Legislators in Colorado have taken historic action to advance the cause of equality for all Coloradans. Once this bill is signed into law, Colorado will be a freer and fairer place for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents," Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in a release. "We applaud the many legislators who voted for fairness and equality, and we congratulate Senator Jen Veiga, who has fought for more than a decade to pass this legislation. We also thank Michael Brewer of Equal Rights Colorado for his hard work, as well as all the HRC members in Colorado who gave their efforts toward passing this important legislation."

Brewer, a spokesperson for Equal Rights Colorado, added: "We are very proud and pleased in Colorado that after a decade of hard work, patience and education, we join the ranks of states which give basic employment rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. We are very proud of the hard work Senator Jen Veiga has done to pass this bill, and we are thrilled to finally bring this to conclusion."

Mookey's Story: A Transgender Journey

Entry VC FILMFEST 2007

NAM Multimedia, , Daffodil Altan, Carolyn Goossen and Min Lee, Posted: May 05, 2007

Editor's Note: A new generation of transgender youth is finding more societal acceptance and support than ever before. But hardships remain, particularly for young people from immigrant backgrounds. Carolyn Goossen, a content producer at New America Media and Daffodil Altan spent time with Mookey, a 24-year-old Chinese-American college student just beginning hormone treatment. Min Lee is an editor at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia. This film is an official entry into The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival VC FILMFEST 2007 -- Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind.

This is a streaming MP4 video - you'll need Quicktime 6 or later to view it.

City worker pushes for sex-change coverage

BERKELEY: Clerk says operation should be part of health care benefits; San Francisco and UC cover procedure By Doug Oakley MEDIANEWS STAFF Contra Costa Times After three marriages that all quickly broke up as soon as she told her male and female spouses she felt trapped in the wrong body, Lynn Riordan decided she couldn't remain a man the rest of her life. So at age 39, she began taking hormones that would gradually begin her transformation from man to woman. Then, unemployed but with $11,000 scraped up from the equity on her home, she paid for a sex-change operation four years ago in Montreal, where she says such procedures cost less than in the United States. "It seems to be a medical condition, not a choice, and many people have tried to be what they are not. I did, for 30 years, and couldn't do it anymore." Today, the 49-year-old Riordan is an accounts clerk for Berkeley's finance department and because of her persistence, the city will consider allowing sex-change operations to be covered as part of its employee health benefits. City Council members Darryl Moore and Kriss Worthington are asking the city manager and the city's personnel board to explore the financial feasibility of offering the benefit to any of the city's approximately 1,500 employees. They are to report back in six months. Moore said Riordan brought the issue to his attention as an equity issue. Noting that the city's health care providers, Kaiser Permanente and Health Net of California, cover heart surgery and gallbladder surgery, Riordan couldn't understand why sex change surgery should be treated any differently. "They have these exclusions specifically for transgender surgery being covered, and it's just not fair," Riordan said. "This is not about choice; it's a birth defect. It's just to alleviate suffering for some people, and, well, that's a noble thing." Riordan said ignorance "is driving the fear to removing the exclusions to allow the surgery." Brad Kieffer, a spokesman for Health Net of California, which insures 2.3 million customers in the state, said the company doesn't normally cover sex-change surgery under its group benefits, but will add them if a company or municipality asks. Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Alix Saben said Kaiser offers sex-change-operation benefits to all University of California employees and San Francisco city employees, but groups must ask for it to be included in their plan. "It's really controversial, that's really the answer. The society doesn't view it the same way as a birth defect, they view it as a psychiatric issue, and the psychiatrist and the patient make the decision whether it's medically necessary," Saben said. San Francisco started offering the benefit to its employees in 2001, said Marcus Arana, a discrimination investigator with the city's Human Rights Commission and one of the architects of the policy. Arana said he faced resistance from people who feared it would end up costing the city too much money because those wanting the surgery would flock to San Francisco to get jobs or marry city employees just to get the benefits. Insurance companies don't offer it unless specifically asked, and out of fear, he said. Through 2005 the city collected $5.6 million from employees in increased premiums to cover the benefit, but paid just $183,000 on 11 claims for different surgeries, Arana said. Worthington said many U.S. corporations offer the benefit, so Berkeley should, too. "I just think it's time for Berkeley to catch up with mainstream corporate America on this issue," Worthington said. "I think it's a medically desirable thing for Berkeley to include in health plans." Moore said San Francisco's experience shows it won't cost Berkeley much money, and it's the right thing to do. If Berkeley approves the plan, those who want the surgery will be able to avoid the financial and emotional hardship Riordan faced four years ago. "There's so much suffering involved when you don't have the surgery," Riordan said. "Every single day you suffer it."

Demagogues of defamation

EDITORIAL | www.sovo.com

Where is the outrage when cable TV’s talking heads trash trans people?

By SIMON ARONOFF
May. 04, 2007

I GREW UP in Fayetteville, Ga., and graduated high school just a few years before the dawn of gay-straight alliances — or at least before they dawned on Fayetteville.

Our community newspaper, The Citizen, was absolutely devoid of any liberal media bias, and when Ellen DeGeneres made the decision to come out on her sitcom, The Citizen opined with a column that read, in a nutshell, “Gross!” Why must Ellen bring her lily-licking ways into our living rooms? Why does she have to flaunt it?

Young and angry, I decided to submit a letter to the editor. It actually got published, and I still have the yellowed clip. Not all of The Citizen’s readership appreciated my 19-year-old explanation of the cultural importance of Ellen’s coming out. In fact, we got venomous prank calls at my parents’ house for months. But my soccer coach’s wife did call with a surprisingly appreciative review, and I got a really nice letter from a family friend.

Words have power. Words in the media have more. That’s why Michael Savage’s recent disgusting on-air tirade slandering Ruby Ordenana, a 27-year-old transgender woman who was found murdered on March 16, was so dangerous. I know you’ve read this before: Hate speech creates an environment where hate crimes are acceptable. But is anybody listening when those words slander transgender people?

SAVAGE’S COMMENTS MAKE the world an even more dangerous place for me and my trans brothers and sisters. Ruby’s body was found nude, lacerated and strangled, and the attention-seeking Savage called her a “freak” and a “psychopath.”

What is worse, Michael Savage (who no one expects to deliver actual news) is not the only trans-bashing voice in the media. Try reading through some transcripts from CNN’s Glenn Beck or MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson. Enabled by networks, producers and advertisers in this dangerous defamation, here’s Carlson in his own words:

“Just because you’re castrated and have a fake set of boobs does not make you a woman. It makes you a castrated man with a fake set of boobs. If a person voluntarily undergoes a castration … that is an act of a crazy person. … That’s like setting your hair on fire or blinding yourself … and I don’t want a person that unstable teaching my kids.”

And from CNN’s talking head Glenn Beck reporting on a trans teen who was turned away from her prom for wearing a dress: “Don’t we as a society, don’t we have the right to say, what the hell is wrong with you? … Go home and change, freak boy.”

AT THE NATIONAL Center for Transgender Equality, we’ve been trying for a year to get CNN and MSNBC to take some responsibility for these trans-bashings. We monitor. We write. We speak with the network ombudsmen. We ask, at the very least, that producers book a trans-positive guest interview to offer some balance as their pundits call us “mentally ill.”

The silence is deafening.

As a community, we’ve made solid progress curbing anti-gay defamation. Ann Coulter and Isaiah Washington use the f-word a couple of times and they are rightfully raked over hot coals. Syndication is clipped. Rehab is called for. In 2000, Dr. Laura’s “biological error” comment spawned an amazing wave of grassroots media activism that ultimately cost the TV host her show. And Imus finally got his comeuppance.

But is anybody listening when Savage, Beck, Carlson and others routinely slam transgender people? Let’s set up www.StopSavage.com. Let’s join together and organize “CNNWatch.” Let’s make sure that Tucker Carlson’s boss calls him into the principal’s office the next time he mocks transgender lives because the network is nervous about a wave of public outrage and the loss of advertising dollars.

I’m not young anymore, but I’m still angry. That’s why I’ve started the web site Trans Media Watch (www.TransMediaWatch.blogspot.com). This time, I don’t think I’ll be the lone voice. Besides, my parents are moving out of Fayetteville in a couple of months. Let’s stop these demagogues of defamation. Together we can make the environment a little less toxic for transgender people. Let’s do it for Ruby.

A break from sex and gender. . .

. . .three short videos worth watching.
Enjoy!

Transgenders try to navigate Greek system

By Amanda Cohen, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Thursday, May 3, 2007

Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series on the experiences of transgender students at Dartmouth. Today’s article explores the intersection of Greek organizations and transgender students.

In an effort that is exceptional among most fraternities and sororities, Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority forced its membership to examine the definition of “woman” in offering membership to Sasha Bright ‘09, a biologically male transgender student.

Dartmouth’s Greek system, to which over 60 percent of eligible students belong, presents another angle through which students are prompted to consider the implications of gender. Twenty-four of the 27 recognized Greek organizations on campus determine membership eligibility based on gender.

“The Greek system definitely reinforces a strong gender binary on this campus. That makes things very difficult,” said Kris Gebhard ‘09, who is transitioning from female to male. “I have, sort of, by staying out of it, avoided some personal frustration.”

Gebhard said he was not interested in joining a sorority, but is skeptical of the kind of masculinity promoted by the fraternities.

“I think there would definitely be a hierarchy of masculinity [within a fraternity], and I would be toward the bottom of it, if not at the bottom,” Gebhard said.

Unlike Gebhard, Bright said she wishes she were able to join an organization based on the gender she presents.

“I’ve considered [rushing], but the only houses I’d be open to are mainly the coeds. I’d like to join a sorority,” Bright said. “If I hadn’t been born a boy, I would have joined.”

According to Shane Windmeyer, coordinator of Lambda 10, a national clearinghouse that heightens awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in fraternities and sororities, there is typically little knowledge and great misunderstanding about trans-identification within the Greek organizations.

“I would say today that the transgender student is largely left out, if not invisible, from the frat or sorority experience when it comes to traditionally fraternities or sororities,” he said.

Windmeyer added that Greek organizations tend not to take the initiative in tackling these issues.

“Sadly, fraternities and sororities, the way they deal with issues is that they react to problems,” he said. “So if you want a fraternity or sorority to deal with an issue, you have to wait for a problem to land in their face.”

According to Megan Johnson, assistant director of Coed, Fraternity and Sorority Administration, CFS does not currently plan to address how a transgender student fits into single-gender Greek organizations unless Greek community members specifically ask to address this issue.

“Because it’s not something that’s on our radar, it is not an area that our office is focusing on,” she said. “And I’m not saying that that’s right either, but there hasn’t been enough energy or conversation generated for us to say that we really need to pay attention to this.”

Johnson recognized that if the intersection of transgender students and Greek houses is not addressed, these students may hesitate to seek membership in a gender-exclusive organization for fear of being rejected based on biological sex. Local organizations, she noted, do have the power to address the question.

“I don’t know what the motivation for a group to take the first risk would be unless they spent some time thinking and dialoguing about it,” Johnson said.

At Theta, the issue was discussed when one of Bright’s friends, a member of the sorority, brought the possibility of offering Bright a bid to the attention for the other members. Theta hosted a discussion for interested members to explain transgender identification and answer any questions.

Danielle Strollo ‘07, a member of Theta, said that most of the members seemed supportive of allowing a transgender student in the house.

“We felt at the house that we could be ready for that. It was a really good discussion,” Strollo said. “Some people that we felt [may be] more inclined to have problems with somebody who was transgender or gay — those people didn’t come to the discussion.”

In determining who is eligible to join a single-sex organization, Windmeyer said, fraternities and sororities should also consider what happens if a current member comes out as transgender, or if an alum transitions after graduating.

Joanne Herman ‘75, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, transitioned almost 30 years after graduating. After receiving a request from Sig Ep to update her contact information, Herman — who as an undergraduate went by Jeff — wrote a letter explaining her transition and gave them the option of taking her off their list if they wished. Herman said she has not received any mail from them since.

The assumptions about sex and gender within the Greek system extend beyond questions of memberships and into behavior within houses’ social spaces.

Bright, Gebhard and Tiger Rahman ‘09, who is transitioning from female to male, agreed that they feel the most comfortable in coed organizations. Rahman, who plans to begin hormone therapy, noted that the pressure to drink in all Greek social spaces can be difficult for someone taking hormones. Testosterone, a part of such therapy, can affect the liver.

Bright said that since she has begun transitioning, she has perceived a shift in how she is treated in fraternities.

“People, they will not respect your personal space,” Bright said. “Some guys will brush up really close, way closer than I like.”

For Bright, who has not yet begun hormone-therapy but presents as a girl, said that she worries when she gets too close to someone that they will notice the stubble on her face.

“Usually this whole campus is about hookups anyway,” said Bright, who said she is sexually attracted to men. “I have had guys who wanted to hook up with me, but I’ll turn them down. I don’t explain it.”

Transgender Protections. . .

Vermont House Votes to Add Transgender Protections
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Boston Contributor
Thursday May 3, 2007

Vermont’s State House (Source:www.central-vt.com)

. . .The vote, which at 118-28 passed the legislation by an overwhelming margin, enjoyed strong support from both sides of the aisle, with favorable votes from 22 Republicans. The house vote mirrored the earlier passage of similar legislation in the Senate, which approved its own version of employment, housing, public accommodation, insurance and credit protections for transgender residents of the state. The Senate vote passed the bill with a margin of 27-1.

"Republican and Democratic legislators in Vermont have taken an important action to advance the cause of equality for all Vermonters," Joe Solmonese,Human Rights Campaign president, said in a statement. "Once this bill becomes law, transgender Vermonters will be more secure in the knowledge that they are equally protected from discrimination under state law."

The House and Senate versions of the bill differ somewhat from one another, so the legislation will now be taken up by a conference committee before landing on the desk of Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas.

Should Douglas sign the bill into law, it would make Vermont the eleventh state to include transgender residents under anti-discrimination protections, joining California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington state. The proposed legislation follows up on Vermont’s 1991 inclusion of sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination statutes.

So far this year, Oregon and Iowa have also added protections for transgendered residents to their books.

Fort Worth Male Student Allowed To Attend School As Female

(CBS 11 News) FORT WORTH Make-up, high heels and tight blue jeans may not be unusual for high school, but what if it's a teenage boy who is wearing that to class?

Rodney Evans said he has always considered himself a woman, but didn't start dressing like one until his freshman year.

The 15-year-old says he wears women's clothes to school often, but not usually an entire outfit.

On April 26, Evans wore heels, fake breasts and a wig to class at Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth.

School officials said the clothing was distracting, and they placed Evans in detention. That's when, officials say, Evans began shouting obscenities.

It is for that action that school officials say they decided to suspend Evans.

Evans says the school's treatment and the resulting suspension was unfair. He also claims administrators have frequently given him a hard time for coming to school in a skirt.

"There are those students who have their own opinions, and I respect that," said Evans. "However, I surround myself with friends who accept me as Rochelle."

On Wednesday, he made a move to fight the district's decision. Evans hired Phyllis Randolph Frye, a transgender attorney and advocate for transgender rights, to represent his case.

A statement from FWISD Senior Communications Officer Barbara Griffith indicates that the district, "requires that any suspended student attend a conference with his parent before readmission. Rodney would have been allowed to return to school today (Wednesday), but his parent chose to delay that return until we could meet with her lawyer."

FWISD administrators and attorneys met to discuss Evens', and other transgender students', rights.

Evans said he wants "to be able to attend school in a safe environment, as I am."

In an official release, the attorney's office said the meeting would "review and change current school policy regarding proper attire for transgender students, as well as policies regarding restrooms� and protection from harassment."

"We find it disheartening that anyone would use this situation -- or any of our students in any way -- for their own personal or professional agendas," said Griffith. "Our primary focus remains the safety, welfare and academic success of all of our students."

After the meeting, Evans' attorney announced Rodney can attend school as Rochelle. He will use the bathroom in the nurse's office.

College . . . one of the best times to transition.

Transgender students seek understanding on campus

By Amanda Cohen, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Tiger Rahman ‘09 and Kris Gebhard ‘09 are both transitioning from female to male. Rahman explained his new outward identity to one of his classes via e-mail, asking peers to use male pronouns to refer to him.

Sasha Bright ‘09 keeps her head bowed, eyes on her shoes as she hands off her Dartmouth ID card. She avoids the DDS cashier’s eyes, which shift from the card to Bright and back again. Bright’s long, straight hair does not match the cropped cut in the photo. The T-shirt fitted over her feminine torso is a far cry from the baggy shirt featured on the card. The student standing in the dining hall, whose apparent anxiety masks her courage, does not match the masculine name printed to the right of the photograph.

The worker, noting opposing presentations, laughs. Bright didn’t “pass.”

“He gave me my ID. He laughed, and said have a nice night. I was so hurt. I just wanted to, if I could, put that guy in my life for one day,” Bright said.

Bright, like a handful of other students at Dartmouth, identifies as transgender, a term used to describe a person whose internal gender identification differs from his or her biological sex. According to Bright, who is still biologically male, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to conform and present as a single identifiable gender congruous with sex.

“People try to ascertain, especially when I dress androgynously, what I am, because people have to know. It’s like a psychological thing,” Bright said. “They’re like ‘woah,’ like I dropped out of Mars. The looks are amazing.”

The inability of others to understand or accept the identity a transgender student presents — which Bright calls being “read” — triggers anxiety and dejection, she said. Bright said that looks and perceived judgment prevent her from socializing normally, and she often opts to spend time in the safety of her room.

“I’ll even not go to the dining halls and [be] starving all day because I don’t like to deal with other people giving me these looks, the degradation. Just because I wasn’t born with another X [chromosome], they treat me awfully,” Bright said. “I would not wish this on my worst enemy.”

Kris Gebhard ‘09, who is transitioning from female to male, said that references to him as female reinforce his struggle and remind him that he cannot yet pass as a male. Gebhard said he understands that it may just take time for those who knew him as female to get used to his new identity, so he does not outwardly express his discomfort with such references.

“Internally it’s annoying. I’m always very, very sensitive to pronouns and also to when people call me Kristina,” he said. “It’s just a constant reminder of how people in general perceive me or interact with me.”

Gebhard said that he does not mind androgynous references, but prefers masculine associations.

“There’s a lot of empowerment that comes with using masculine pronouns. That’s a reminder in the other direction — it really allows me to more fully embrace my gender identity,” he said. “There’s a lot more freedom in that, freedom to express myself in a way that I’ve been, in some ways, repressing for a long time. So it can really be small and simple, but it all adds up.”

Tiger Rahman ‘09, who began transitioning from female to male last September, explained his new outward identity to his screen-writing class this spring in an e-mail.

“Yes, my gender presentation/identity may be kind of ambiguous, annoying, confusing or just irrelevant. However you see it, I prefer the usage of male pronouns/honorifics in reference to myself,” Rahman wrote in the e-mail.

Film professor Bill Phillips did not reply to Rahman’s e-mail until an interview with the Dartmouth a few weeks later made him aware of his continued use of feminine pronouns in reference to Rahman despite Rahman’s request.

“It’s really irritating because it seems [like I should be] stopping in the middle of class and being like, ‘Dude, did you not read the e-mail I sent?” Rahman said.

After the interview, Phillips apologized to Rahman over e-mail.

“I realized that I probably had not ingested the content of your e-mail enough. I certainly meant no slight,” Phillips wrote. “I totally support whatever choices you make, and although that is not a high priority in my screenwriting class, I never want to do anything that will make you (or anyone) feel uncomfortable. So if I slip up in the future, it’s just habit … but I’ll try.”

Rahman said that since then, Phillips has not “slipped up” again.

According to Pam Misener, the adviser to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, increased awareness of gender identity can come through education of the campus community.

“I think understanding trans-experiences is, like a lot of other things, skill- and practice-based,” Misener said. “The more skill you have around it and the more practice you get applying those skills, the easier it is to understand that as a life experience.”

Misener said that the learned skills include vocabulary around gender identity, which can be practiced and incorporated into everyday vocabulary.

In an effort to educate the community about transgender issues, Rahman sent an e-mail through the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance BlitzMail account about “trans-etiquette,” explaining ways to learn about gender identity.

“We realize we shouldn’t expect everyone to be on the same page about trans-etiquette if there’s been no real message about what that means. We thought we’d throw out a couple of guidelines that we should all be aware of when dealing with anyone really, but can be especially injurious to trans-folk in earliest stages of transitioning,” Rahman wrote.

Rahman said that students shouldn’t be afraid to ask someone which gender he or she identifies as, but to shy away from the question “are you male or female?” This question, he wrote, “tends to come off as kind of objectifying.”

“Just phrase questions gently and be aware of the fact that even though the problem is very personal, it’s something that has to be dealt with on a public level,” Rahman wrote. “Silence doesn’t help anyone.”

A changed man . . .

Lucas Silveira of the Cliks says the band's new CD, "Snakehouse," out Tuesday, reflects a new direction. (Rahav Segev for the Boston Globe) After a shift in gender identity, Cliks' Silveira finds new freedom in rock 'n' roll By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff | April 20, 2007 AUSTIN, Texas -- Halfway through his band's set at Momo's here last month, Lucas Silveira had an asthma attack. He was struggling for air, which is a major impediment to rocking, and not rocking would have defeated the purpose of bringing his band, the Cliks, all the way from Toronto to Texas for the South by Southwest music festival. Happily, an alert festival volunteer located an inhaler and ran it up onto the stage. A few puffs later Silveira was back at the mike, wild-eyed, full-throated, and even more intense than before he nearly stopped breathing. Adversity builds character. It's been the source of not a few killer tunes. In Silveira's case, adversity has been nothing short of transformational. The day before the Momo's gig he was splayed on a couch in a hotel lounge, analyzing the confluence of events that has led to this fine musical moment. Some of his experiences, like a great love affair and painful split, are familiar to anyone with a beating heart. Others may not be familiar at all, like living your whole life feeling unsure if you're a boy or a girl. "What spurred the songwriting for this new album was a big breakup," says Silveira, who brings the Cliks to T.T. the Bear's Place next Thursday. "But beyond the fact of coming out of a relationship I felt very settled in, I had become completely aware of the fact that I'm transgendered. A lot of the music came out of that confusion, and going to a place that was not so nice, but coming out the other side, being able to climb out of a hole and do what I had to do." The songs on "Snakehouse," which comes out next Tuesday, brim with urgency and fortitude. Rhythms are primal, riffs are sinuous, and Silveira sounds invincible. "Oh yeah oh yeah I've fallen down/But I can get up," he sings on "Oh Yeah," and you can actually hear him swagger. He wrote the song two years ago, right about the time Lillia Silveira changed her name to Lucas. It was more forceful and more passionate than anything he'd done in the past. Looking back, Silveira realizes that as his gender identity shifted, so did his musical identity. "People can see through anything," Silveira says. "I think when you hide, whether it's purposely or subconsciously, people can see that. I came to a very real place in myself and I think that being in touch with who I was made me create some of the best music I've created." Rosie Lopez, head of A&R for Tommy Boy Entertainment, first heard the Cliks in 2004. She liked the band, but didn't fall in love. Two years later Cyndi Lauper's manager sent her the track "Oh Yeah." "I was like, 'My God. It sounds like a whole different band. ' " Lopez signed the Cliks in January, and she concedes that the fact that Silveira is transgendered is both a compelling back story and a significant marketing challenge. The band's audience up to now has been largely gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered, and in June the Cliks will join Lauper, Debbie Harry, Erasure, and the Dresden Dolls on the True Colors tour, designed to raise awareness of issues facing those communities. But both the band and the label are dedicated to broadening the Cliks' fanbase. "I'm learning what it's like to work with someone who doesn't fit into a box, and realizing how much people need boxes," says Lopez. "The best thing we can do is put it out there and let people decide on their own. So far we're getting as much attention from the rock press as we are from the gay press. But this isn't going to be easy. They're going to encounter some resistance. At the same time something magical is going on, and it has everything to do with Lucas being centered and comfortable." Silveira blurs the line between male and female. Gay men, straight women, and lesbians flirt with him at shows. The band's MySpace friends include punky kids, middle-aged New York Dolls fans, and Joan Jett. Silveira's had what's known as top surgery but has no plans to further alter his anatomy. His energy onstage transcends stereotypical notions of gender, but then rock music has always been a safe haven for outsiders. "I remember seeing the cover of 'Ziggy Stardust' and going 'I know that's a boy but he looks kind of like a girl,' and Chrissie Hynde wearing jeans and playing guitar, and somebody like Debbie Harry who had this very feminine yet masculine vibe to her," says Silveira. "All these things that confused me, they made me feel really thrilled. I always took my cues from music. Nina, my guitarist, was just saying 'Rock 'n' roll is your freedom card. You can be whoever you want to be.' " Silveira is clear-eyed. He knows that right now his story is as much a selling point as his music. More important, his story and his music are inextricably bound. "The songs are an extension of what you become as a person," he says. "But it's interesting, because I find that the stronger I get as a songwriter the stronger I become as a person. I feel so liberated when I'm onstage now. I think there's something really sexy about feeling comfortable in your own skin."

After Working the Streets, Bunk Beds and a Mass

The multiple risks for TG youth working the streets . . . story in "The New York Times."

Lesbian, transgender couple become mystery writers

By Lucinda Ryan, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:05/01/2007 02:45:43 AM PDT
THEY SAY WRITERS should write what they know. For some authors, that comes naturally.

Presenting Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall's first book, "Blind Curves (Bold Strokes, $15.95), a mystery set in the Bay Area. The jacket blurb states the story's fictional facts: A lesbian publisher is found murdered on a hiking trail in Woodside, and police suspect investigative reporter Velvet Erickson did the deed. So Velvet, who has 48 hours to clear her name before she's arrested, rushes to her former lover and private eye friend, Yoshi Yakamota — whose Blind Eye Detective Agency reflects the detective's own failing eyesight.

The gay whodunnit is the first of an upcoming series published by Bold Strokes Books, which focuses on lesbian-themed general and genre fiction.

The Hayward couple who wrote it, Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, aren't unfamiliar with mysteries. Jacob's brother-in-law was murdered in Idaho in 2000, and the case has not been solved.

Nor is the couple unfamiliar with the lesbian community. The Idaho natives met at a gay pride parade 17 years ago in Boise, Idaho, where Diane Anderson-Minshall grew up. Jacob Anderson-Minshall, then named Susannah, grew up about five hours away, in Pocatello. At that time, and until about four years ago, when Jacob Anderson-Minshall began undergoing the process to become a male, he was physically female.

Now, five marriage ceremonies later (they never divorced, but they needed to remarry to be considered domestic partners in various states and cities where they lived), the two share their lives in Hayward as transgender man and lesbian wife. They also share writing, not only in the mystery

they wrote together, but also on other books for the series and a memoir of their relationship. In their non-writing hours, they are watching "CSI," "Psyched" the BBC program "Wire in the Blood" or they're reading mystery novels.

His former days as a park ranger left Jacob (then Susannah) with a back injury. He walks with a cane and cannot sit for long periods. He does his writing stretched out on the living room floor. This may explain the disabled private eye character in "Blind Curves." He also writes a weekly column, "TransNation," that appears in several lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender publications.

Her days are spent in San Francisco, where she is editor of the lesbian magazine, "Curve." She loves that job as much as she loves writing books with her husband.

"We're really, really lucky," she says when asked if they argue over their writing. "We've worked on a construction crew together, we started a magazine together. We're the definition of co-dependent."

Diane says she has always done the bookkeeping duties and says there has been a big change in how she is treated in transactions since Susannah changed his name to Jacob.

"I would say Susannah was my wife, and they'd tell me she would have to contact them," Diane says. "Now I say Jacob is my husband and it's immediately accepted."

Jacob says when he was a little girl, he thought he was a boy. As he got older, he felt like a misfit. He was attracted to girls, but he continued to like doing "boy" things. Eventually he channeled the confusion into becoming a lesbian, but a few years ago, he realized he could become the male he had always felt he was. Though, he does make the distinction that he is not a 'straight' man, but a transgender man who feels he fits in more comfortably in the LGBT community.

The couple says people tend to get stuck on the details of the transgender process, on the specifics of surgeries and medications, but that it's more about a lifetime process of change and adjustment.

"I used to be an old-school lesbian," Diane Anderson-Minshall laughs. "I've stopped saying some of the things I used to say, like, 'Why would you do that to your body? I don't say those things anymore.'"

The adjustment also extended beyond the couple; it was difficult for Jacob's parents, particularly his father, to accept his decision to physically become a male. Jacob was raised on a small, family-run farm. There was no TV, but a lot of reading, and in winters, only the room with the stove was warm enough to sit, so the family gathered there. Such a "Little House on the Prairie" life seems incongruous with the Susannah-turned-Jacob story.

After he made the announcement to his family, there were difficult months with little communication with his father, but by the time the couple had planned their wedding — this time as Jacob and Diane Anderson-Minshall — both families came from Idaho to Foster City for the event. For a while Jacob's father steered clear of much conversation at all.

"But finally, before he left, he said to me, 'I've got some tools in the truck if you need them,' and I took that as a message."

The message must have been of acceptance, because it still makes Jacob Anderson-Minshall smile.

You can e-mail Lucinda Ryan at

lryan@angnewspapers.com or call her at (925) 416-4757.

See LA Times readers' comments on Christine's story.

Susan Estrich on . . . From Mike To Christine

Penner's poignant column announcing that he would be going on vacation, that on this vacation he would undergo reassignment surgery, and that he would return to his job as a sportswriter as Christine Daniels generated many positive and supportive responses. And some very ugly ones.

How dare he use the sports pages to unburden himself, a number of people have argued, on the paper's own website and on others that focus on sports. Weird, others said, in comments that can't be repeated here.

Many of them came from men. As one person noted, the women were so much kinder than the men that you couldn't help thinking that Penner had chosen the better sex. . . .