Rachelhippyhell

Hello Every One :)

2006-05-07T16:48:00.000Z

NO... I'm not dead yet. I'm very much alive and more than a bit stressed as it's coming upto the end of term. Which is why I haven't been posting of late.
I have 4 assignments to finish by the 15th, so I've been a bit busy.
Normal service should resume after this date, fingers crossed.
I hope your all well and doing ok. I've missed some of you (you know who you are:).
Huggy Love, Rachel

Nepal: ‘Sexual Cleansing’ Drive Continues

2006-03-18T18:36:00.000Z

Human Rights Watch

New Arrests of Transgender People, HIV Workers

(New York, March 18, 2006) – New arrests of metis (an indigenous term for transgender people) and HIV/AIDS outreach workers in Kathmandu show that a persistent pattern of police violence and abuse has not abated, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch has learned that on the night of March 14, the eve of the Holi festival (festival of colors) – a major Hindu religious holiday – police in the Thamel and Durbar Marg areas of Kathmandu rounded up 26 metis.

According to the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepali non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the fields of sexual rights, sexual health and HIV prevention, they were taken to the Hanuman Dhoka central police station in Kathmandu. Five were later moved to Kalimati police station.

Human Rights Watch understands that as of March 16, they have still not been permitted to speak to a lawyer. All have reportedly been charged with committing a “public nuisance.” No further particulars of their alleged offence are known.

“This is the latest incident in a violent police campaign to ‘cleanse’ Kathmandu of those considered undesirable,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Police regularly assault and in some cases sexually abuse transgender people, all in the name of enforcing ‘moral values.’”

Those arrested included two staff, two outreach workers, and two peer educators working for the Blue Diamond Society. The Blue Diamond Society has repeatedly documented police abuse of transgender people, also known as hijras.

In other recent incidents, on January 3, three metis walking in the Thamel district were reportedly severely beaten by four uniformed policemen who shouted, “Metis! Kill them!” The police threatened that “these hijras pollute the society and must be cleaned out.”

On December 28, police arrested a meti, took her to the Shore Khutte police station, and forcibly stripped and mocked her while checking her genitals. They also allegedly threatened to cut her hair off as punishment for wearing women’s clothes. She was released the next day.

Previously in August 2004, police had also rounded up 39 metis from gathering places in Kathmandu. They were held for almost two weeks in the Hanuman Dhoka police station. Journalists were allegedly summoned to videotape the detainees in their cell, and when one meti complained, three policemen reportedly beat her. Another was beaten when she demanded to use a toilet.

The detainees said that police told them: “Acid should be put on the faces of the hijras: they don’t deserve to live.” The detainees were finally released amid mounting international pressure. The metis received no redress for their detention or abuses sustained.

“Arbitrary arrest, police abuse, and discrimination against any group send a message that all Nepalis’ basic rights are at the government’s mercy,” said Long. “By jailing outreach workers campaigning against the spread of HIV/AIDS, the police threaten public health as well as civil liberties.”

Not all education is on the curriculum

2006-03-18T18:14:00.000Z

Bay Area Reporter

At a time when most are planning their retirement, a 71-year-old teacher, Lily McBeth, instead left her teaching position in order to manage her gender transition. When she returned, the board at Eagleswood Elementary School in Eagleswood Township, New Jersey welcomed her back.

After a contentious school board meeting, where members of the New Jersey Family Policy Council made arguments against subjecting seemingly-defenseless children to a transgender teacher, it was further reinforced that McBeth would be welcomed to the Eagleswood faculty.

The New Jersey Family Policy Council is, of course, unhappy, and is urging parents to file legal challenges against the board members. Again, the argument is that young, impressionable children should not have to be subject to the trauma of someone who used to be a man teaching classes.

The head of this group views this as just another part of the push to allow for same-sex marriage: I'm not sure exactly how he came to that conclusion – but I digress.

McBeth is hardly the first teacher to transition. The first I know of was a physical education teacher in the greater San Francisco Bay Area who transitioned from female to male a couple decades ago. Last I heard, he was still teaching. Many others have followed, from Debra Davis – a school librarian in Minnesota – to Diane Giles in California.

One of the better-known teachers to go through a gender transition is Dana Rivers, who was drummed out of a high school near Sacramento in the late 1990s. Like McBeth, Rivers faced the argument – this time from the school board itself – that the students would not be able to handle her transition.

It was her students who were some of her most vocal supporters.

I am of the firm belief that it is not the students who have the biggest issues with any of this: it is the parents who don't seem to understand what is going on. If anything, it's these same parents that make what would probably make the largely quiet transition of a member of the faculty into an issue that hits the national news. Indeed, if parents felt that they'd be uncomfortable explaining things to their children before, imagine how it must feel to do it once you have CNN news vans parked at the school.

This all seems to be part of this "think of the children" mentality that fails to address real-world issues – often, children really aren't as fragile as their overly-doting parents seem to think they are. These parents seem to forget that schools are there to prepare their tots for life in the real world – a real world where, yes, they are going to possibly come across transgender people.

That's the shame of it all. I'm not saying that kids should be exposed to all the ways of the world – I'd pass on exposing them to Fred Phelps, for example – but they should be given a full education. This includes learning about tolerance, and respect, and acceptance of all people.

In the 1970s – back when I was in the sixth grade or so – the battle was over gay and lesbian teachers. Thanks to the Briggs initiative in California, it became necessary for citizens of the Golden State to go to their polling place and decide if gay and lesbian teachers, as well as gay and lesbian sympathizing teachers, would be allowed in public schools. I fear that the voters of 2006 would not have handed John Briggs the defeat that he faced in 1978.

The Briggs initiative was an offshoot of Anita Bryant's infamous "Save The Children" campaign, which led to a number of antigay laws getting passed, including ones similar to the Briggs initiative. I should add that John Briggs, during the fight over the initiative, argued that the bill was imperative, in order to keep cross-dressed teachers out of the classroom. What old is new again.

This is not an issue that I can watch from a distance. As I write this, I am in the process of starting to work as a substitute teacher and aide at a local school. I will be dealing with developmentally disabled youth in a classroom setting. Students who, one could argue, might have an even harder time with having a transgender person in their midst.

Frankly, the ones I worked with for an all-too-brief period of observation seemed to like me just fine. I am not there to make an issue of my transgender status, nor is it anything that has come up with the students – or anyone else. Indeed, I rather hope to be just one of many wonderful, diverse folks working at the school.

Do I worry about what some parents might say? You bet I do. It is one of the issues, I suppose, with being transgender in this society. While I am not equating my entry level teaching experience with that of McBeth or any of the other fine instructors I listed above, it strikes me that some seem to prefer their kids be left without a competent teacher versus one who also happens to be transgender.

This doesn't strike me as saving any children: rather this seems like spreading ignorance – and isn't that, at heart, what teaching is supposed to combat?

Gwen Smith applauds all those who have made a commitment to teach. She's online at www.gwensmith.com.

Gender isn't a two way street

2006-03-06T18:11:00.000Z

BayAreaReporter

Being transgender provides one the unintended consequence of becoming very aware of how society reinforces and polices gender among its members. We see it as we grow up, placed into gender roles that don't speak to us. We see it, too, as we begin to shift away from such, whether moving entirely from one gender to another, or simply choosing to move into spaces beyond the typical conventions.

The first question asked when a child is born is the one that tells the world – or at least everyone in the delivery room – if a child is a girl or a boy. From the moment a blue or pink blanket is doled out, the average child is placed in a lifelong series of rigidly gender specific situations.

Some households, and some locations, are better than others. Yet even in the most gender transcendent spots, one might still find a false dichotomy in action. Such is the nature of participation in a society that requires one to walk a path – and one path only – specific to a determination about your genitals by a delivering physician.

It has not always been so rigidly defined, though such a division among the sexes has likely played a role in human society since there were humans around to have a society. Even as late as the 1920s little boys and little girls were dressed and groomed largely identically – in dresses – until males reached their breeching age, typically before age 5. Such a quaint practice fell out of favor in the era of the depression and World War II, and never returned in the post-war era.

When I was a young child in the 1970s – yes, even in those days of so-called unisex clothing and other attempts to break down the barriers between the sexes – gender was very much policed. Young girls lived in the era of Holly Hobbie, hot pants, and Easy Bake ovens in fashionable avocado green. Boys had Big Jim dolls, "Toughskin" jeans, and Evil Knievel.

I pushed every line I could, trust me. Still, even then there were lines one simply could not cross. In an era that brought the fight for equality between the sexes, some things were still treated as immutable. Women remained – as a general rule – the homemakers; men the breadwinners.

Fast forward a couple decades, as I worked on coming out in the era of grunge. The roles had 20 or so years to shift. Kurt Cobain could perform "In Bloom" while wearing a dress, but he was a rare exception. This was the era of Spice Girls, after all, and women were being signaled to be, well, girlish. Into this world I had to learn to move from one gender to another.

As I worked toward my own transition, I became acutely aware of how rigidly gender was still being enforced. I would say that it might be even more so today.

Yes, one can argue yet again that there are both trends and people defying gender roles today. Yet, like Nirvana's frontman a decade ago – or David Bowie in my youth – these were not the standard, but were, perhaps, reactions to it.

Take a moment to consider how many things one encounters in a given week that are specific to one of two specific genders. Clothing stores focus toward two roles, but so do the toy aisles at your nearby Toys 'R' Us. Even seemingly generic toys like Lego building blocks are sold with a specifically feminized version cast in pastels and focusing on home and family sets: no castles or construction sets to be found. Barbie – Web site polls to the contrary – remains aimed as a toy for young girls, and the Bratz dolls follow right along in her wake.

Fashions for women have increasingly begun to focus on low-cut jeans and midriff-baring tops. Clunky heels have had their renaissance, as have large bangles and beads. Men's fashion remains a little more toward the center, but even then the styles remain focused toward a masculine ideal.

We live in a time when the ideals of masculinity or femininity can be seen embodied by the celebrities of our era. I feel we can do so much better, though, than a female ideal that is Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, or the male role models of Ashton Kutcher or Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. There is little room for those who might otherwise take a place outside the space of a genitals equal gender dichotomy.

In my own life over the last several years, I have tried to be mindful of gender presentation. I have even sought to make it clear that I am not going to fit myself into a stereotype simply because I identify as a woman: I would rather chart my own course than fit into someone else's arbitrary designations.

This doesn't change who I am, or what I may identify as. I know who I am, and I need not worry about trying to act as something I'm not.

I'd like to offer a challenge to each of you, though. I'm not going to ask you to go out there and march against gender – at least not today. No, rather I want you to consider, just for a moment, how gender has defined your own life, and consider for a moment if some of that might have held you back from time to time. Maybe, just maybe, you could even consider a change in your own life against these constructs, and just briefly explore a road less taken. It might be worth the trip.

Gwen Smith has little reluctance in wrecking a perfectly good set of polished nails when it comes to working on her car. She's online at www.gwensmith.com.

Transsexuals in Croydon Take Significant Step Forward

2006-03-04T16:36:00.000Z

UK Gay News

Police recognise, agree guidelines on a long-standing problem.

Which Loo?

Do you use the Ladies or the Gents?

It’s a problem if you’re changing gender – especially if you’re changing from male to female.

You wouldn’t use a Gents public lavatory, dressed as a woman. But if you’re taken short, and use the ladies, you may be verbally abused, assaulted and may even be breaking the law.

Well, Aurora, Croydon’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Police Focus Group has chalked up a significant success. After over two years consulting with transgender organisations and the police, they have got the police to agree to some guidelines.

Quite unexpectedly, Scotland Yard offered to endorse Croydon’s work, giving it authority across the whole of London. This is a very welcome development as the ‘Which Loo?’ issue that has never before been addressed by the police anywhere in the country.

“I'm delighted that the police have worked so closely with us on this issue” said Michelle, who received her certificate of gender recognition last year.

“It’s important that trans-people know that the police are aware of the problem and are trying to help the whole community stay safe”.

Ceri-Leigh Hawden from the self-help group Gemini said: “It’s great that it’s London-wide - but I’ll cheer louder when it’s national!”

Rachel, who has been attending Aurora since 2003, said: “I had a really bad experience when I had to use the ladies three years ago – it’s extremely humiliating. We’re really pleased the police have taken interest in this problem.”

Sandra, organiser of the local ‘trans’ group, Friends of the Firebird, said: “I came to Aurora to do something about this problem. Now Croydon is the first police division ever to do anything about it. The Met Police have formally endorsed Croydon’s work, and they’re the first in the UK.”

Chief Inspector Tom Morrell, from Croydon Division of the ‘Met’, added: “The ‘Which Loo?’ project has been developed as a result of close co-operation between police and community members within Aurora.

“We will continue to work with Aurora in order to identify and take positive action to address local issues of concern to the LGBT community”.

Aurora’s guidelines can be found at www.aurora-croydon.org.uk.

In a statement issued by Scotland Yard, the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate said that they were pleased to support the partnership initiative between Aurora and Croydon Borough Police.

“[It] supports the Metropolitan Police Service vision of making London safer for all our communities.

“The MPS recognises that this particular issue is of concern to the transgender community, and is certain that ‘Which loo?’ will provide practical suggestions that will give confidence and support based on the experiences and learning of other transpeople.

“By working closely with community groups such as Aurora and the LGBT Advisory Group to the MPS, we make clear our commitment to making places safer for everyone, and will investigate incidents or crimes motivated by transphobia when they are reported to us.

“We also recognise that there are many reasons why victims of such incidents do not have the confidence to report directly to the police, and we would therefore encourage victims to report, anonymously if necessary, using one of the third party reporting options outlined on the Aurora website,” the statement concluded.

Community divided over transgender teacher

2006-03-04T16:26:00.000Z

abc13.com

(3/03/06) - A New Jersey town is divided after the school board voted to allow a teacher to return to school after undergoing a sex change.

For the last five years, William McBeth has been a substitute teacher at Eagleswood elementary school, but it will be Lily McBeth, 71, who will fill in for sick teachers. McBeth underwent a sex change last year.

During a heated school board meeting this week, the community stood divided on the 4-1 decision to allow McBeth to return to the classroom.

"I will not allow you to put my kids in a petri dish and hope it all comes out fine," said parent Mark Schneep, who had taken out an ad in a local newspaper urging parents to attend the meeting.

Others were as passionate about their support for McBeth.

"I don't see how this is an issue, honestly, because he's a totally competent teacher and I don't see how that could have changed," said student Leandra Bourdot, 17.

From William to Lily

To the outside world, it appeared like William McBeth had grown up as a man's man. In his younger years, he was an athlete, a soldier and a surfer. In 1962, he was featured in a Sports Illustrated centerfold on "Bold Americans," the modern-day equivalent of extreme athletes.

William McBeth was married for 33 years and is the father of three children, a son and two daughters.

"My path was a very common path," McBeth said. "They're growing up male, but they're fighting with themselves. They're trying to disguise it, trying to do something to get rid of it. I engaged in macho activities like surfing. The damned thing is that you can't tell anyone. I got married and had children, raised them. It was a perfect family."

While the rest of the world was blind to McBeth's internal struggle, McBeth said she knew from the time she was 3 years old that she was different. But it wasn't until she was "free of those bonds of marriage and fatherhood," that she felt free to pursue her own happiness.

"I realized I was a person of worth who didn't have to question myself anymore," McBeth said. "I'm proud of who I am."

Going Back to Work

McBeth can understand why some have a hard time dealing with her decision. Her own children struggle with it. "At times, it's difficult," McBeth said. "You have to remember they're going through the same process everyone else has to, and I respect their right to believe whatever they want to believe."

But McBeth said the concerns of the Eagleswood parents were misdirected.

"They are projecting their thoughts into their children, their own insecurity and fears," McBeth said. "Children don't have those concerns. Their little minds are very curious and open to new ideas. It's not the children up there screaming about this."

McBeth said she was prepared to deal with any curiosity of her students, who have previously known her as a man.

"You don't discuss those things with a child in the classroom, no matter what it is & nothing [to] do with anything in your personal life," McBeth said. "You put that aside until the appropriate time. You simply say, 'I can discuss that with you at another time outside of the classroom.'"

McBeth said she was prepared to deal with any curiosity of her students, who have previously known her as a man.

"You don't discuss those things with a child in the classroom, no matter what it is & nothing [to] do with anything in your personal life," McBeth said. "You put that aside until the appropriate time. You simply say, 'I can discuss that with you at another time outside of the classroom.'"

Right now, McBeth is just waiting for the early morning call asking her to substitute teach and enjoying her new life as Lily.

"I don't really have to defend myself to other people. Their problem is not a problem for me," McBeth said. "I'm proud of who I am."

Canadian Cyclist Kristen Worley Reveals She Is A Transsexual

2006-02-23T19:14:00.000Z

All Headline News
Yvonne Lee - All Headline News Staff Reporter
February 22, 2006 10:00 p.m. EST

(AHN) - Canadian cyclist and 2008 Olympic hopeful Kristen Worley reveals that she had sex-reassignment surgery to change her gender from male to female, reports MSNBC.com.

Worley has been talking about her gender change to sports organizations in Canada in the hopes of receiving permission to compete in the Beijing Olympic games.

She speaks publicly about her gender for the first time to MSNBC.com.

Worley says, “I shouldn’t be worrying about what people are going to do when they find out, but I’m so afraid."

She adds, “I'm just like any other girl there.”

International Olympic Committee rules instituted in 2004 say a transsexual athlete must wait two years after sex-change surgery before competing.

Helen Carroll, sports project coordinator for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, says to MSNBC.com: The new IOC rule "set a precedent for other organizations.

She adds, "The U.S. Track and Field Organization has adopted rules very similar to the IOC ruling. Australia and Europe changed their professional women’s golf rules so that Mianne Bagger could compete.”

No athlete in an Olympic game has ever admitted to being transsexual. Worley says she expects a backlash from fellow cyclists now that her sex change is public.

However, she says: “This could not be a more important issue — for sports and for society.”

Guatemala: Transgender People Face Deadly Attacks

2006-02-22T14:09:00.000Z

Human Rights Watch

Victims Concerned That Police May Have Been Responsible for These Crimes

(New York, February 21, 2006)— The Guatemalan government must take immediate steps to stop a pattern of deadly attacks and possible police violence against transgender women and gay men, and end impunity for these crimes, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.

One transgender woman was murdered and another was critically wounded on December 17 when they were gunned down on a street in Guatemala City. Paulina (legal name Juan Pablo Méndez Cartagena) and Sulma (legal name Kevin Robles) were stopped by four men on motorcycles at an intersection in Guatemala City's Zone One, the center of the city.

Eyewitnesses reported that the assailants were wearing police uniforms and riding police motorcycles that identified them as members of the national police. The assailants shot Paulina twice in the head, killing her immediately. They shot Sulma three times, and she is still recuperating from her injuries.

Paulina, a former sex worker, worked for the Organización de Apoyo a una Sexualidad Integral frente al SIDA (OASIS), a nongovernmental organization that works to prevent HIV/AIDS and to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Sulma is a volunteer with OASIS and a sex worker.

Since the attack, Sulma and other transgender sex workers have reported being subject to undue police surveillance, causing them to fear for their lives. According to Sulma's report to OASIS, police warned her that, as witness to the attack, her life is in danger. OASIS said that its office and personnel have been under undue police surveillance. According to OASIS, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has made no further investigations into the attack since preliminary investigations in late December.

"These cold–blooded shootings are just the latest tragedy in Guatemala's pattern of deadly violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity," said Jessica Stern, researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "The police have not done enough to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and now there is concern that they may be responsible for someone's murder."

LGBT people in Guatemala regularly face attacks and threats. In 2005, at least 13 transgender women and gay men were murdered in Guatemala. On December 21, two men in an unmarked car with tinted windows robbed two gay male sex workers at gunpoint in Guatemala City.

In the space of a single month, three gay men were murdered in Guatemala City late last year. Luis Sicán was shot to death on November 6 in Guatemala City’s Zone One. Flavio José Morales was shot to death in Zone Three of on October 12. Héctor Osmín García was shot to death by a security guard on October 7 while distributing flyers for a beauty salon. According to OASIS, there have been no prosecutions in any of these cases.

In its letter to Guatemala's president, Human Rights Watch outlined several steps that the government should take to end the violence and intimidation targeting LGBT people in Guatemala.

First, the government must ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations of the December 17 shootings — as well as other similar attacks reported over the past year. The authorities must also ensure that those responsible for these crimes are brought to justice.

In addition, the Guatemalan government should end any undue police surveillance of Sulma and other transgender sex workers, of OASIS and other NGOs advocating for the rights of LGBT people in Guatemala.

Human Rights Watch recommended that national police work with representatives of LGBT and sex worker communities to introduce sensitivity training in accordance with human rights principles to end discrimination against LGBT people and sex workers.

"Sulma has good reason to fear that the people who attacked her could strike again,"said Stern. "Guatemalan authorities must take immediate steps to protect LGBT people and hold their assailants accountable."

Human Rights Watch sent letters today detailing these human rights abuses to President Oscar Berger, the Office of the Minister of the Interior, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the national police, the Solicitor for Human Rights, and the Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala.

Is this justice?

2006-02-20T18:19:00.000Z

Bay Area Reporter

Last month, three men were sentenced for their role in the Gwen Araujo murder. Two of these men, Michael Magidson and Jose Merel, were give a mandatory 15 years to life sentence. The third, Jason Cazares, was sentenced to a mere six years for voluntary manslaughter. As a further indignity, he was allowed to remain a free man until the end of March -- so he could see the birth of his third child.

Let me back up for a moment, to a night in October of 2002. My television was showing a grainy photo of a young boy and talking about the body of said youth being found. It caught my ear because they said something about the victim "dressing like a woman" or some such.

In the years that followed, we learned more. We heard about a transgender girl who fell in with a group of men -- the men who would ultimately beat and strangle her to death, then bury her in a shallow grave. We saw defense lawyers try twice to convince jurors that their reason for murdering this girl was because they "panicked" over her transgender status.

I was one of a handful of people who became close to this case, starting on that first night in 2002. I attended Gwen's viewing, and held hands in a circle of mourners outside her funeral. I went to the preliminary hearing, and helped stage a protest when Michael Magidson was attempting to get bail reinstated after that hearing. I attended court throughout both trials.

Throughout this, I asked for only one thing: justice. I find myself conflicted, with all of this over, as to whether we've achieved it.

Don't get me wrong: I'm glad that two of her murderers are going to prison, and will likely be there for many years to come. Fifteen-to-life, particularly in the case of murder, will tend to the latter end of the sentence.

At the same time, there is another man who will spend a mere six years total behind bars. This is less his time served, of course, which will make his stay seem all that shorter. He was fortunate enough to gain bail after the first trial, and has remained out.

Gwen's family gets to look at a box of ashes. They will never again see Gwen, or hear her voice, or feel her touch.

I am biased, of course, being a transgender woman who is also very involved with the issue of anti-transgender violence. I have also gotten to know Gwen's family, and feel the pain they have faced over the last three and a half years. I have a hard time finding justice, knowing that they will always have to live with this.

That said, there are things beyond the trials and sentences that I can look at. When the story first broke in the media, and for some time afterward, there was a continual fight to get the media to use Gwen's name and her preferred pronoun. Over the last three years, everyone has had to remain diligent with the media, continually reminding outlets when necessary.

Indeed, it only became common to see the correct name in use throughout the media because Gwen's family had her name posthumously changed.

That it remained in the media is another important aspect. This case has received more media attention that any anti-transgender murder before it. In my own archives -- used to create and maintain the Remembering Our Dead Project -- the folder of Gwen Araujo related material is larger than the records on all other anti-transgender murders combined. The case got heavy media coverage in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it was also covered throughout the country and in some foreign outlets. It was treated as a major news story.

The upshot of this is that the story is known outside of LGBT circles: it is a story that a great many people know at least the basics on, even if they've never knowingly met a transgender person in their life. This, if anything, increases awareness of transgender issues in ways that one could never expect.

This case has also spawned transgender civil rights bills in cities nearest the murder, has helped spur a bill to attempt to render useless the "panic" defense, and has even re-ignited efforts for a federal hate crimes bill that is inclusive of gender expression and identity.

Finally, this case has helped to bring awareness of transgender issues into schools. Last November, the Gay-Lesbian-Straight Educator's Network had me speak at a middle school not far from where Gwen Araujo used to live. I was very touched by this experience, knowing that somewhere amongst these 800 7th and 8th graders might be

Of course, I wish that could have come without Gwen Araujo's death in the first place -- but I'm glad that her death is not otherwise forgotten like so many others before and since.

So maybe this is how justice is achieved. There's no way that Gwen will come back, but maybe through her death we've seen the seeds be laid that will help prevent the same thing taking place again -- at least in her area.

Gwen is only one of hundreds, including the most recent case I've heard about -- the murder of Alexis King of Philadelphia. The local mainstream media is calling her a transvestite. The alleged killer is claiming a panic defense.

It begins again -- but, again, there is a chance for change.

Gwen Smith would do it all over again, if she had to. She's on the World Wide Web at www.gwensmith.com.

Trans/Forming Knowledge: A look at transgender identities, how they unsettle some basic assumptions

2006-02-20T18:13:00.000Z

Chicargo Chronicle
By Jennifer Carnig
News Office
February 16

The Center for Gender Studies is sponsoring a conference this month that challenges the core of the fields of gender and sexuality studies by asking questions such as “What does it mean to be a woman?” “What does it mean to be gay or lesbian?”, and “Are those labels real or a construction imposed by a heteronormative society?”

“Trans/forming Knowledge” will focus on transgender studies, a relatively new field and one with few scholars and no established university or college department. But questions invoked by those in the field cannot be ignored, said George Chauncey, Professor in History and the College and Interim Director of the Center for Gender Studies.

“The emergence of transgender studies in recent years has raised far-reaching questions about the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of gender, women’s, queer and sexuality studies,” Chauncey said. “This symposium invites the community to consider the significance and implications of these questions by engaging in a sustained, interdisciplinary conversation with four of the field’s leading scholars.”

Included in the conference are two of the field’s founders—sociologist Aaron Devor and historian Susan Stryker—as well as Yale University women’s historian Joanne Meyerowitz and University of Southern California feminist theorist Judith Halberstam.

The contemporary transgender movement started in the early 1990s, emerging around the same time as queer studies but also intersecting with feminist theory, said Stryker, co-editor of The Transgender Studies Reader, due out from Routledge in June.

“The focus of the conference is to look at the impact of transgender studies on sexuality studies, gender studies and feminist studies,” she explained. “What’s interesting is that all of those fields in some way look at the relationship between sex, gender and sexuality—our bodies, our social roles and our desires. And each one of these fields has been productively unsettled by new work coming out in the field of transgender studies, which looks at the growing number of people who problematize what it means to be men or women. The self-identities of people that we call transgendered productively unsettle assumptions about sex, gender and sexuality for other people.”

Thinking about gay, lesbian and queer studies, Stryker explained, the whole idea of being same-sex depends on what the definition of “sex” is.

“You’re agreeing to an assumption of what a man is and what a woman is,” she said. “But how about somebody who was born female but never identified themself as a woman? Someone who had mastectomies, genital surgeries and now takes testosterone—who lives as a man—and has sex with men. Is that gay sex? That’s just one example of how transgender identities are unsettling a really basic assumption of queer studies.”

Thinking about women’s studies, Stryker asks a similar question—who is a woman? And perhaps more importantly, what is the nature of a gendered self—the nature of being a man or a woman?

While these questions may seem important only to a small segment of the population, Stryker said that the fact that such questions are being asked at all signals the start of a paradigm shift in gender studies and gay and lesbian studies that could have major repercussions.

“These questions become a critique for everyone and a launching point for a re-examination of how it is that all humans understand their bodies,” she said. “There is a whole new intellectual movement starting to happen.”

As she writes in her introduction to the forthcoming Transgender Studies Reader, “Ultimately, it is not just transgender phenomena per se that are of interest, but rather the manner in which these phenomena reveal the operations of systems and institutions that simultaneously produce various possibilities of viable personhood, and eliminate others. Thus the field of transgender studies, far from being an inconsequentially narrow specialization dealing only with a rarified population of transgender individuals É represents a significant and ongoing critical engagement with some of the most trenchant issues in contemporary humanities, social science and biomedical research.”

The conference begins at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Biological Sciences Learning Center 109, 924 E. 57th St. A screening of Stryker’s public television documentary, Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, will be followed by a discussion with the director. The film uncovers a 1966 event in which transgender people physically fought back against police harassment at a restaurant in San Francisco, a full three years before the more widely known Stonewall riots that occurred in New York’s Greenwich Village.

The discussion continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, in Room 122 of the Social Sciences Building, 1126 E. 59th St. In the morning, Chauncey, Devor and Stryker will discuss the intersectional origins and developments of transgender studies. Meyerowitz and Halberstam will then explore the implications of transgender studies in the afternoon session.

The conference is being organized with support from the Lesbian and Gay Studies Project and is free and open to the public. For more information, call (773) 702-9936 or visit http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/cgs/.

Fighting 'trans panic' through laws, disclosure

2006-02-11T13:29:00.000Z

Southern Voice Online
Friday, February 10, 2006

When to reveal status remains tough subject in biased society, experts say.

Gwen Araujo died a brutal death.

After partying with a group of friends in September 2002, including having sexual contact with several young men, Araujo, 17, was invited to party with them again on Oct. 3, 2002.

But when the young men learned that night that Araujo had male genitalia, they beat and strangled her, leaving her body in a shallow grave. And when Araujo''''s attackers went on trial, they claimed their discovery justified their actions.

Late last month, the California Assembly approved a first-of-its-kind bill putting the state on record against the so-called "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses used by some killers to receive lighter prison sentences.

Passed by the Assembly Jan. 26 and now pending before the state Senate, the bill is named for Araujo, and its approval came just one day before her assailants received the longest sentences allowed by law.

Michael Magidson, 25, and Jose Merel, 26, were sentenced to the mandatory terms of 15 years-to-life for second-degree murder. Jason Cazares, 26, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in a plea bargain and was sentenced to six years.

As part of their defense, the assailants said they believed Araujo to be female, had sexual contact with her, and then snapped when they found out she was biologically male. One defendant cried over and over, "I can''''t be gay, I can''''t be gay," according to court testimony.

California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), who authored the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, said her bill is dedicated to leveling the judicial playing field.

"It was exclusively Gwen''''s trans status that made her a target," Lieber said in an interview Feb. 8. "This murder was something we in the Bay Area thought only happened in rural, isolated places, and this crime really stuck with me and the residents here."

Obligation to tell?

Cole Thaler, staff attorney for transgender rights with the gay litigation group Lambda Legal, said the jury''''s decision to bestow the harshest punishments in the Gwen Araujo case is a hopeful sign the tide is beginning to turn against "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses.

"These kinds of defenses are ''''heat of passion'''' defenses," Thaler said. "And the heat of passion defense results from how we as a society expect reasonable people to react in certain ways. When these kinds of defenses are successful, they are simply confirmation of homophobia and transphobia as being part of our values — and I argue that we don''''t want these as our societal values."

Courts haven''''t found that transgender people have any legal obligation to disclose their status to potential sex partners, Thaler said, tending to side against any kind of "sexual fraud" defense made in cases involving trans victims.

Society needs to be educated that trans people are who they say they are, regardless of their genitalia, he added.

"If you meet someone at a bar and decide to go home with them, there is no obligation to reveal your racial ethnicity or your religion," Thaler said. "A trans woman is accurately representing herself as a woman … The fact Gwen Araujo was born with male genitalia did not make her any less of a woman."

Disclosure ''''really big issue''''

Rachael St. Claire, a transsexual psychologist from Colorado, has experienced disclosure issues both personally and professionally, particularly with male-to-female clients.

"Disclosure is a really big issue for them," she said. "Male-to-female transgender people who are attracted to heterosexual men have a difficult time. And generally what I counsel is for the person to identify what their values are and what their intentions are," St. Claire said.

If a trans person is going to disclose to a partner for the first time, they may want to do it in a public place or even over the telephone to be safer, she said.

And as a transsexual woman who has faced disclosure many times in dating relationships, St. Claire said it''''s often a "relationship killer" with the heterosexual men to whom she is attracted.

"I don''''t think it is very safe to be having a relationship with a heterosexual man without telling them because of the potential violence," she said.

But even if a transgender person doesn''''t disclose her status to a date, it doesn''''t justify a physical attack, St. Claire stressed.

"That''''s like equaling a woman''''s responsibility for not being raped," she said.

Randi Ettner, a Chicago therapist and transgender specialist whose books include "Gender Loving Care: A Guide to Counseling Gender-Variant Clients," said the issue of disclosure is the most frequently asked question in her practice.

"Unfortunately, there is so much ignorance and prejudice about this condition that trans people have to be very careful who and how they tell someone," she said.

There is no "universal answer" when it comes to disclosure, she added.

"This is the most personal and private information about someone. You have to have some sort of trust," she said.

Ettner said she understands transgender people often walk a fine line, but she advises not waiting very long to disclose being transgender to someone you are dating.

"You don''''t want to let too much time go by so that the other person feels blindsided," Ettner said. "But in casual dating, there''''s also not the responsibility to bring up such a personal issue. I do think for pre-operative people engaging in sex who are not honest, they may be putting themselves in unsafe situations."

Still, revealing transgender status is not a first-date conversation, either, Ettner warned. Instead, she advocates getting to know a person and having that person get to know you, as well as trusting intuition about how the partner might react.

"You want them to know you have more value than just your genitals," she said.

No ''''100 percent protection''''

Gordene MacKenzie co-hosts and produces "GenderTalk" radio with her partner, Nancy Nangeroni, a transgender woman. MacKenzie said trans women, especially trans women of color, are particularly vulnerable to violence.

Education on every level — in schools, in state legislatures, with federal lawmakers — needs to occur to make the world safer for trans people as well as for people are simply different, MacKenzie said.

"We are dealing with a human rights and civil rights issue here," she said.

"Trans panic" defenses simply shift the blame to the victim, she added. "These strategies are defending bigotry and saying that because someone is of a certain gender, their deaths don''''t matter as much. We need to change our way of thinking."

Gwen Smith, a trans activist and writer, said she still faces some fear living openly as a transgender woman, and she has had friends murdered simply because of their gender identity.

"Being trans threatens a lot of people. It''''s the most visible form of homophobia, and it frightens people," she said.

In Araujo''''s case, she was simply living her life as honestly as she knew how, Smith said. Perhaps precautions could have been made, but the truth is there is no universal way to be safe in today''''s world for trans people.

"You can take self-defense courses, you can be more forthcoming with partners and be more careful about who you are with, but that does not guarantee 100 percent protection," she said.

Balancing safety, honesty

Law student Victoria Steinberg examined the Gwen Araujo case in an article titled "Heat of Passion Offense: Emotions & Bias in ''''Trans Panic'''' Mitigation Claims," published in the 2004-2005 Boston College Third World Law Journal.

Blaming trans crime victims for not disclosing their status removes responsibility from their attackers, Steinberg wrote.

Araujo "did not wear a sign on her forehead that said, ''''I am transgender, this is what my genitalia look like,''''" Steinberg argued. "But her killers didn''''t wear a sign on their foreheads saying, ''''We might look like nice high school boys, but really, we are transphobic and are planning to kill you.'''' That would have been a helpful disclosure."

A very deep distrust of gender non-conformity pervades our society, Steinberg observed, and that distrust is often acted out through violence against transgender people.

"We do not currently live in a society that is very tolerant of transgender identities, and so the transgender community is stuck with the difficult task of balancing two essential goals: safety and honesty.

"To this tricky balancing act is added the problem that even when a transgender person feels that he or she is honestly expressing their identity, that expression might feel to someone else like a lie or a surprise," she said.

Hollywood hypocrisy

2006-02-07T18:05:00.000Z

The Bay Area Reporter

Let's hear it for Felicity Huffman. To play the role of Bree in the film Transamerica, she had to be trained in how to play a transsexual learning to present as a woman, alter her voice, wear extensive makeup and a wig, and even don a phallus she nicknamed "Andy." All part of presenting her character – a pre-operative transsexual – to the masses.

As a result of her heartfelt portrayal, she won a Golden Globe Award. That's the latest in a slew of awards for this flick. There is even some Academy Award buzz around her performance. This would, of course, lead to comparisons between her and Hilary Swank, who took home an Oscar for her portrayal of Brandon Teena in the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry .

It really is great that Transamerica has done so well, and that Huffman's portrayal of a transgender woman has been so highly regarded. At the same time, I feel that the film and its accolades reveal another story, one that shows the shallowness, even hypocrisy of the world that is Hollywood.

The same week that Huffman won her Golden Globe, another story was unfolding on the small screen. On American Idol , we met Zachary Travis. Travis identifies as male, but has a look and sound that is decidedly female. He preformed Whitney Houston's "Queen of the Night" for the judges, and gave his all.

As fate would have it, I saw this performance with my sister, who just so happens to be active in music. She agreed that Travis's singing – while not the best out there by any stretch – was nonetheless better than some of the others who made the cut for American Idol 's Hollywood studios that night.

Unfortunately, Travis was not chosen. This was hardly a surprise, given that all the teasers leading up to his performance were playing up the gender issues. They made sure to save this one for last, telling us about high heels, and offering a clip of Idol judge Randy Jackson questioning said contestant's gender.

Simon Cowell – who is known as the tough judge of the trio – did indeed take Travis's gender to task, referring to him as "atrocious" and "confused." The softest of the judges – Paula Abdul – also nixed Travis, reassuring him and everyone else that she was basing her opinion purely on Travis's singing.

Also within this same week, a Rolling Stone article came out on one of the two Wachowski brothers, of The Matrix fame. It is hardly a new story that Larry Wachowski has – fairly firm rumor has it – begun to show signs of some pretty heavy feminization. There is also the issue of a name change from Laurence to Laurenca.

This Rolling Stone article – like those American Idol teasers – was plenty salacious, promising their real-life story may be "stranger than fiction." It was replete with tales of bondage clubs and pornography, and even quotes on "autogynephilia" from controversial professor J. Michael Bailey.

This is the heart of the issue. Huffman – and before her, Swank – did highly commendable portrayals of transgender people. They were showered with accolades for same. Yet the reality is that transgender people can only be portrayed: they will be hard-pressed to be accepted in Hollywood.

I am reminded of an issue several years ago, where it became obvious that Hollywood was hiring non-disabled actors and actresses to portray disabled characters. These performances also garnered those actors some acclaim.

Consider Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, Dustin Hoffman as Raymond "Rain Man" Babbitt, and Billy Bob Thornton as Karl Childers in Slingblade. One could contend that these performances gained so much notoriety because a non-disabled actor was able to "act" convincingly disabled. This is the same thing that Swank and Huffman have, perhaps, done within Transamerica and Boys Don't Cry .

Yet you would be hard-pressed to find actual, visible transgender people either in front of or behind the cameras. Huffman did indeed bring a reality toward playing the part of Bree – but why not a film featuring one of our real, actual transgender performers, written by transgender scriptwriters, and produced and directed by transgender filmmakers?

When Huffman appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, she was faced with a host focusing on "Andy" the phallus – and making disparaging comments about transgender people. Those watching got to hear Letterman say that he feels those who are gender variant might have once behaved as "normal," framing all who are transgender as being, by extension, abnormal.

The most telling moment in this interview, however, was when Letterman spoke of a former staffer of the show, now named Hope. Hope is a former staff member of the Late Show, and one who transitioned at that job.

Of course, to Letterman, Hope will always be – to paraphrase the talk show host – "Howard in a dress." Somewhere out there, Hope had to cringe through this, being both outed and disparaged in a single breath on late night television.

To her credit, Huffman corrected what she could correct, and appeared visibly pained over the things she could not. She has learned a lot from playing the part of a transsexual woman, I am certain – but there are far more people out there who would side with Letterman or Cowell before they'd side with her.

So kudos again to Huffman on her win, and for giving life to the character of Bree -- but let us not pretend that the dream factory that is Hollywood is enlightened. It remains a place of great stories, but precious little substance.

Gwen Smith wishes Hope, Laurenca, and Zachary the best out of a rough world. She's online at www.gwensmith.com.

Japan - Transsexual not allowed to register new gender in Gifu

2006-02-06T20:25:00.000Z

Crisscross.com

GIFU — A family court in Gifu Prefecture has rejected a request filed by a male-to-female transsexual to officially register as a woman because she has two sons who were born before the sex change.

Atsuko Mizuno, 44, said Monday the Gifu Family Court rejected in a Jan 16 decision her request on the grounds that the law only allows people diagnosed with gender identity disorder to register their sex change if they do not have children. The law, implemented in July 2004, is based on the reasoning that children would be confused if a parent with such a disorder seeks to officially register a gender change.

Community: 2, Transgender Panic: 0

2006-01-29T11:07:00.000Z

Indybay.org

Araujo Defendants Sentenced, AB 1160 Advances.

January 27, 2006 – San Francisco, CA – Three defendants in the 2002 murder of Bay Area transgender teen, Gwen Araujo, were sentenced to prison one day after landmark legislation, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victim’s Act, passed through the California Assembly. Michael Magidson and Jose Merel were in the Hayward County Superior court to be sentenced on their second-degree murder convictions. Jason Cazares was being sentenced to six years in accordance with plea to voluntary manslaughter charges.

"This is a day we have long awaited," said Transgender Law Center Deputy Director, Cecilia Chung. "While seeing anyone sentenced to prison is no reason for celebration, today marked further proof that transgender panic strategies do not have traction with Bay Area juries. Despite their attempts to blame Gwen for her own murder, these men are being held accountable for their horrific choices."

In Sacramento, Assemblymember Sally Lieber's legislation, AB 1160, passed on a party-line vote on Thursday January 26th. The bill, sponsored by Equality California, is the first in the country to offer a response to defendant’s who attempt to use societal bias against their victims as a means of getting a "get out of jail free card." The bill clearly states that bias against victims should never be a factor in determining the culpability of the people who are accused of committing crimes against them.

"The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victim’s Act is a modest effort to ensure that the same societal bias that led to the death of Gwen isn’t used against people like her to lessen the guilt of murders," said Christopher Daley, TLC’s Director. "The wholly inadequate plea bargain reached in 2005 by the Fresno County District Attorney’s office in the murder of Joel Robles is clear evidence of the need for this kind of action."

The Transgender Law Center, founded in 2002, provides legal services to transgender people and their families throughout California and promotes common-sense public policy solutions to widespread gender identity discrimination.

www.transgenderlawcenter.org

Ragsdale: Pastor uses faith in gender change

2006-01-29T10:58:00.000Z

DesMoinesRegister

A transgender pastor, who came to peace about his gender identity and his faith while in seminary, will speak about his experience next month at Simpson College.

Malcolm Himschoot is a United Church of Christ pastor. He also grew up as a girl even though he felt he should have been the "third brother" in his family.

His story about trying to reconcile his self-perception and how the world viewed him, his transition from "Miriam" to "Malcolm" and his struggle with faith, love and gender identity were featured in a documentary, "Call Me Malcolm," released in 2005.

"I was in my last year of seminary at Iliff School of Theology when I was invited to tell a story nobody would have assumed I would have just by looking at me," Himschoot said. "In my life, my gender journey was about discovering and living truth, living out of a place of compassion for myself and in relationship with others."

A Colorado native, Himschoot enrolled at Iliff in Denver as "Miriam" Himschoot. Originally, she hoped to study theology to better understand Christianity and the teachings of her home church even though those teachings seemed to indicate God hated her.

During Himschoot's struggle for identity, she became estranged from her parents, family, church and friends.

In college, however, Himschoot learned about transgender individuals and began investigating the condition and alternatives open to transgendered people. Shortly thereafter Himschoot began adopting a male identity.

Transgender is a broad term that refers to people who don't conform to traditional gender identity. It includes transsexuals who may transition from male to female or female to male by presenting themselves in their preferred gender or by undergoing sex-reassignment surgery. Those who change gender don't necessarily change their sexual orientation.

Christian community

Supported by the Iliff Christian community, Himschoot began presenting himself as a man, asking people to "call me Malcolm."

Joseph Parlagreco, who directed the documentary for Filmworks and the United Church of Christ, said the film is a snapshot of Himschoot's life.

"He didn't know he was going to be a minister. He didn't attend seminary with that objective. He had no job. He was where a lot of us are, trying to figure out who we are, where we fit in, who we should love and who will we marry. These are universal questions," Parlagreco said.

Himschoot, 28, is an outreach pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. He has a passion for urban ministry, addressing "poverty and how the faith community needs to pay attention to inner-city issues." He's proud of United Church of Christ's policies that welcomed him and gave him the opportunity to serve others.

"I've been privileged to claim my experience and be in ministry in a church that has been open and affirming for at least 20 years," Himschoot said.

His mission to promote understanding and his friendship with Jan Everhart, director of the Lilly Initiative for Vocational Exploration, brings him to preach and speak at Simpson College on Feb. 5.

Everhart and Himschoot met at Iliff, a United Methodist seminary.

"I knew Miriam, an excellent student who won the student of the year award studying for a masters of divinity," Everhart said. "Malcolm made his transition while he was a student there, something he did incredibly gracefully, with great integrity and faith."

According to statistics cited by FtM International, an education and advocacy group for female-to-male transgender, cases of transgender occur in approximately one in 50 people, at about the same frequency as birth defects such as cleft palate.

"Researcher Lynn Conway found that occurrence is stable across society, is found in all different cultures and it has been stable across time," said Rabbi Levi Alter, president of FtM International. "Some people are shocked at the frequency, but that's because you can't necessarily tell who is transgender just by looking at them. They don't go around wearing a sign."

Some are uncomfortable

Alter said he knows some people are uncomfortable with the transgender concept, but "this is a real-life issue."

"Some people prefer to have simple choices, black or white, right or wrong, my way or the highway," Alter said.

Himschoot agrees that most people think "God created things a certain way and if you change anything at all, you're going against God."

"That's just not the God I know or the God I worship," he said. "The stories Jesus told, the way he touched people's lives, I only see doors opened, not doors closed."

Everhart, a biblical scholar, believes that thinking about gender should be broader than the male-female construct.

"What I have learned over many years is that it is not that clear for some people," Everhart said. "God is creative. There are more than two ways to be."

Transsexual insurance

2006-01-28T14:08:00.000Z

uk.gay.com
Chris Morgan

There are still members of the LGBT community that are discriminated against by the insurance industry. In his latest financial column Chris Morgan highlights the treatment received by one transsexual client.

Sophie is concerned about a life assurance application that she’s made recently to a life assurance company. She has applied to cover her mortgage for a sum of £42,500 over 12 years, which pays out in the event of her death or serious illness.

Sophie said:

‘The life assurance company are not treating me fairly, as they keep addressing any letters to Mister, even though my original application form was in the name of Ms Sophie. I changed my gender six years ago, and they are not recognising my new identity.’

Sophie has a right to feel aggrieved, as any person who has already undergone gender reassignment is entitled to apply for insurance in their acquired identity. This rule applies to all Life Assurance, Critical Illness, Income Protection, Pension and Investments applications.

The Association of British Insurers has issued guidance notes on this subject, which now acts as the industry standard. Where gender reassignment has already taken place prior to an application, the person should be treated in accordance with their new identity.

Sophie continued

‘My application has now been running for over 4 months, and the premium keeps going up. It appears that I’m being charged as a male, when the policy should be on rates charged to a female. What do you suggest I do?’

Here’s a summary of insurance industry rules that apply to Transsexuals

If you have already been through gender reassignment, then any financial application should be made and treated on your acquired gender. It is quite normal for any Life Assurance company to ask you for access to any medical records.

The premium that you pay should be on the basis of your new identity and any increased premiums on your policy should be for medical reasons only. Any correspondence from the insurance company should be addressed in line with your wishes.

Should your intention be to undergo gender reassignment, but you have not started the process then you should be treated under your current gender. If you already have existing insurance policies in place, then you are entitled to change these and be addressed as your new title.

And Sophie?

We arranged a Mortgage Protection policy for Ms Sophie, without any issues over identity and with premiums at normal rates. In our opinion, no matter what a persons gender, creed, colour, sexuality, health status you should be treated with respect.

Chris Morgan is Managing Director of Compass, Financial Advisers to the Gay Community www.compassifa.co.uk and editor of Pink Finance the gay finance magazine www.pinkfinance.com

Life after Gwen

2006-01-27T17:29:00.000Z

sfgate.com
Sylvia Guerrero

I am not sure how I expected to feel at this point. When my daughter Gwen, a transgender teenager, was brutally murdered on Oct. 4, 2002, I was sure that I would never feel whole again. Looking back, I didn't yet know exactly what "transgender" meant or how to fully embrace my child's identity. But I knew one thing: I wanted justice for my child.

I thought that maybe I'd feel better on the day when the four suspects in her murder were brought to justice. More than three years and three months since Gwen's murder that day is finally here. On Friday, these men are being sentenced to prison terms for their actions, two of them convicted of second-degree murder and two taking plea bargains for voluntary manslaughter. I guess I hoped that once we got to the sentencing date, the pain would end and I could get back to my life. But it hasn't and I can't.

No amount of justice can return the part of me that these men took when they killed Gwen. The closure that people keep talking about hasn't come. It would be so much easier to write that it had. After all, that is what most people want to read: The system worked; my family is whole; the story is over. It would be comforting and allow us to get on with our lives. Of the many things I'm feeling, closure isn't one of them.

I'm angry. Angry that Gwen's brothers and her nieces and nephews won't get to grow up knowing her the way her aunts, uncles, older sister and I did. Angry that instead of celebrating her birthday, we get together each year to commemorate her death. Angry that, in both trials, the defendants tried to blame Gwen for her own murder. Angry that other young lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender kids continue to face the discrimination she did in our public schools and our workforce.

I'm also grateful. Grateful that my family and our friends rose to the challenge and sat through two gruesome and explicit criminal trials to make sure that everyone knew that Gwen was loved for who she was. I'm grateful for the support we've all received from perfect strangers who have told us in-person and through e-mail that we are in their thoughts and prayers. I'm grateful for the remorse that two of the defendants and some of their family members have expressed to me and my family.

And I'm sad. Sad that I'll never get to see Gwen grow into the beautiful woman she would have become. Sad that four men chose to end my daughter's life, and throw away their own simply because they thought they were acting like "real men." And sad that other transgender women have been killed since Gwen's murder and that we don't have a realistic end in sight to that violence.

Within this mix of emotions, though, the one that I hold onto most dearly is hope. Since that tragic night, my own family has grown by two beautiful grandchildren. More and more parents are supporting their transgender children. California has become the country's most protective state for transgender people. And just this month, a new law has been proposed in Sacramento, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, and sponsored by Equality California, an LGBT civil-rights lobbying group, to protect people from being blamed for their own murder.

Maybe the reason I don't have closure around Gwen's death is that there is still work to do. If I've learned anything since Gwen's murder, it is that hope alone is not enough. Each of us who hopes to live in a state where our families are protected needs to work toward making California that place. For instance, boys and girls in schools throughout the Bay Area need to hear, firsthand, how important it is to be themselves and to respect each other's differences.

None of us can change the way the world was on Oct. 4, 2002. But each of us now has an important role to play in creating a state where we can celebrate more birthdays and commemorate fewer murders.

Sylvia Guerrero is the mother of Gwen Araujo and an activist for LGBT civil rights. She speaks at schools around the Bay Area through the Gwen Araujo Transgender Education Fund administered by the Horizons Foundation.

Transsexual drug dealer spared the cane

2006-01-23T17:48:00.000Z

planetout.com

SINGAPORE -- A court has spared a Thai transsexual drug dealer from caning because Singaporean law does not allow women to be sentenced to that punishment, a newspaper reported Friday.

Thai prostitute Mongkon Pusuwan, who underwent a sex change from male to female a decade ago, was instead sentenced on Wednesday to six years in jail after a medical report concluded that she was a woman, The Straits Times reported.

District Judge Bala Reddy handed down the sentence after the long-haired Mongkon, 37, pleaded guilty to charges including trafficking in cocaine and tablets containing ketamine, the report said.

The amount of drugs in her possession was too small for her to qualify for Singapore's mandatory death penalty for some drug cases.

Mongkon, whose passport identified her as a male, was arrested in December.

Men who commit similar crimes can be sentenced to caning. Offenders are strapped to a wooden frame and lashed across the bare buttocks with a rattan rod.

The punishment drew international attention in 1994 when American teenager Michael Fay was caned for spray-painting cars, despite objections from then-U.S. President Bill Clinton.

The plastic activist

2006-01-21T01:52:00.000Z

The Bay Area Reporter

Transgender activism is hard. One is often fighting a lonely, uphill battle against deeply ingrained societal norms, and oftentimes even our allies are shaky in their support.

That's why I was glad to hear about a new ally standing up for transgender people, a woman who built a $1.9 billion dollar-a-year empire. A most remarkable woman who has served in all branches of the armed forces, yet still has had the time for a successful career as a flight attendant, veterinarian, and ballerina.

Even after 50 years, she still has a killer body, though it's clear that there's a lot of plastic going on. Actually, that's all there is: injection molded plastic.

I'm speaking of Barbie Millicent Roberts. That is, Barbie, a 10-inch doll made by the Mattel toy company.

That she is such a fan of gender transgression might come as a surprise. All these years, I thought Barbie simply reinforced traditional stereotypes of women, and pushed a world that's all about dedication to your boyfriend and your dream home – which apparently should be painted in Pepto-Bismol pink.

When I was young, Barbie was still more something to hang miniature fashions off of, or pilot around the bedroom floor in a scaled down Corvette stingray. It was big news when she started to come out with attire and accessories that reflected the liberated, working woman.

Today, you can get Barbie in a plethora of professional outfits, not to mention ethnicities and abilities that go a little farther in showing a realistic portrayal of women in modern society. Granted, scaled up to life size, she's still 7-feet 2-inches – but at least she's a little closer to reality.

Into all this steps the Concerned Women of America, and the director of its Culture and Family Institute, Robert Knight. I'll avoid the usual comment about a man being the spokesperson for a women's organization, except to say that it probably just shows them to be a very old-fashioned group, having the man speak for the "little ladies."

CWA's main beef has been about a question on a poll present on the Barbie Web site. The problem the group has? This poll gave three options on gender: "Boy," "Girl," and "I Don't Know."

You can guess where it went from there. Shouts of how Mattel, through Barbie, was promoting the "homosexual activist agenda." Of course, days later, the poll response clanged to "I Don't Want To Say" – but Concerned Women of America is still not happy.

It's view, of course, is that this single, otherwise innocuous question promotes "gender confusion," and will lead young girls down the path of same-sex lovin.' It's a slippery slope argument that if a kid isn't sure of their sex, then it is that much easier to "trap" them into homosexuality.

CWA also contends that Barbie is materialistic. I can't argue with the group on that. Unfortunately, CWA places this view in opposition to Barbie "serving the Lord, getting married, having kids" and all that good stuff that Barbie used to do. All of those seem like difficult tasks for a doll to accomplish, however.

I have to admit: I didn't grow up with Barbie dolls, even though they often appeared on my holiday wish-list. The closest I got was a series of inferior "Wizard of Oz" dolls – yes, this probably should have told someone something about me – and the larger-than-Barbie Bionic Woman doll. Indeed, I didn't have my first Barbie until I was in my 30s, and it sits on a display stand collecting dust.

The dolls I had, however, were simply things I played with. They were toys with which I could pretend and imagine, playthings that could occupy my time in an enjoyable way. The Bionic Woman doll did not influence me to try bending steel bars, nor did the Glenda the Good Witch doll make me want to pilot around in a large pink soap bubble.

If I was still the kid I was then, and was faced with that poll, I don't know what answer I might have given. I doubt it would have been any more life changing that selecting my age within the same poll.

Of course, as I am a transgender woman – and had plenty of inkling of such from an early age – maybe I would have taken that third option. Yet if I had, this only proves something that already existed within me. It doesn't leave any room for saying that the poll contributed to my gender identity or expression. Heck, if I was surfing a Barbie Web site at that age, when the rest of the world considered me a boy, that would say far more about my gender than that one poll answer ever would.

My situation is, I suspect, one of few. For most kids, the issue of their gender isn't that big an issue. It is, at best, something taken for granted and, more than this, something that isn't that big a deal. Certainly not as big as the CWA wants us to believe.

The same is true of the doll itself. If anything, the doll may perpetuate issues with appearance and body image in women, but it isn't turning people away from their morality or values. To blame a piece of injection molded plastic for turning people away from church or family is the very definition of a scapegoat.

Perhaps this is the thing the Concerned Women of America doesn't understand. Sometimes, a doll is just a doll, and sometimes a kid is just a kid. Fretting over their gender when all they are doing is playing with their favorite plaything is just so much wasted energy.

Gwen Smith always lusted after the "Barbie Friend Ship" when she was a kid. She's online at www.gwensmith.com.

USA - Sex Change Doctor Dead At 82

2006-01-18T20:28:00.000Z

CBS NEWS
TRINIDAD, Colorado, Jan. 18, 2006

(AP) Dr. Stanley Biber, a small-town physician who said he performed more than 4,500 sex change operations in his career, has died, a friend and funeral home owner said. He was 82.

Biber died in Pueblo, where he had been hospitalized for complications from pneumonia. The cause of death was not announced Tuesday.

"We've lost a tremendous friend in our community," said Mary Winter, owner of the Cormi Funeral Home in Trinidad, a town of 9,300 near the Colorado-New Mexico border.

Winter said Monday that Biber was her family's doctor for generations. "He was just a great man," she said. She said no public services had been scheduled.

Biber, an Iowa native, moved to Trinidad in 1954 after serving as an Army surgeon in South Korea. As the town's only general surgeon, he delivered babies, removed appendixes and performed other more routine operations.

He told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview that he performed his first sex-change operation in 1969. A social worker he had met through a welfare case asked for the surgery, and he agreed after talking to a New York physician who had done some sex reassignment operations, and getting sketches from Johns Hopkins University.

Word spread, and at one point he was performing 150 transsexual operations a year, he said.

He stopped doing surgery in 2003 and closed his practice in 2004, at age 81, saying insurers refused to renew his malpractice coverage. He said the companies gave no reason but he suspected it was because of his age.

Biber was a former Las Animas County commissioner and also had a small ranch east of Trinidad.

Residents of Trinidad have said the town was largely accepting of Biber's sex change practice. Former Trinidad Mayor Harry Sayre said in 2004 that Biber was a pillar of the community.

"I consider him probably one of the outstanding leaders in Trinidad of the last century," Sayre said. "He and I had our battles many years ago, but I consider him a real true friend."

Biber's protege, Dr. Marci Bowers, underwent a sex-change operation several years ago and now performs an average of five such operations a week in Trinidad.

"I think he put the operation on the world map," Bowers said. "He made it safe, reproducible and functional and he brought happiness to an awful lot of people. And when you wanted a voice of reason, he was always there."

Nepal police step up attacks on transgender people

2006-01-16T17:27:00.000Z

Advocate.com

Police officials in Nepal have unleashed a string of attacks on transgender people, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

“Police in Kathmandu are violently attacking and even sexually abusing transgender people to clear the streets of people they deem immoral,” Scott Long, director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Nepali human rights groups are calling this crackdown ‘sexual cleansing.’ This amoral campaign has to stop.”

In the latest reported incident, on January 3 at about 10 p.m., three metis were walking in the Thamel district of Kathmandu. A local slang term for transgender people, a meti is a man by birth who identifies as a woman. Four uniformed police from Durbar Marg police station reportedly saw them and shouted, “Metis! Kill them!”

One meti was beaten with a baton on her back; one policeman pulled his gun and pointed it at her, saying, "These hijras pollute the society and must be cleaned out. ” (Hijra is a common term for a transgender person.) The two other metis were also beaten severely. All three reportedly have bruises on various parts of their bodies.

The Blue Diamond Society, a Nepalese nongovernmental organization defending sexual rights and sexual health, has documented numerous such incidents. On December 31 at about 11 p.m., also in Kathmandu’s Thamel district, a meti was detained by police at Shore Khutte police station. One policeman beat her with a bamboo baton, calling her derogatory names. She escaped, but her right hand is reportedly swollen and badly bruised.

On December 28 at about 1:30 a.m., a meti named Sahiba was arrested in the Thamel district. She was taken to the Shore Khutte police station. There police verbally abused her and commanded her to strip. When she refused, they stripped her forcibly of her clothes and checked her genitals while mocking her. They threatened to cut off her hair as punishment for wearing women’s clothes. She was released the next day.

In yet another incident, early on the morning of December 7, police from the Shore Khutte station raided a hotel in the Thamel district. The raid was reportedly in retaliation against the hotel for refusing to provide a room free of charge for four policemen to have sexual relations with two metis. During the raid 11 metis were arrested. Eight were held without charge for five days, then released; the other three were held for an additional day.

“The police are using brutal harassment and detention without charge to clear transgender people off the streets,” Long said. “These attacks reflect a law enforcement system that is unchecked and operating outside the law.” (Advocate.com)

Nepal transsexual 'abuse' concern

2006-01-14T14:12:00.000Z

BBC NEWS

A leading human rights group has written to Nepal's government voicing concern over what it calls continuing police abuse of transsexuals.

Human Rights Watch says there has been a pattern of arbitrary arrests and violence against "Metis", who identify themselves as women.

The organisation has called for a full investigations of such abuse and appropriate punishments.

Police in Nepal say they are taking the allegations very seriously.

However, the head of a human rights cell in the police said many of the Metis were working as prostitutes and that as this was illegal in Nepal, raids on hotels were "permissible".

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says Metis are a common sight in the city's streets late at night.

Job skills

Human Rights Watch said that in the past few weeks, Metis had been detained without warrants, badly beaten, burned with cigarettes, forced to strip and even had guns pointed at them.

Similar allegations - sometimes with photographic evidence - are regularly made by the Blue Diamond Society, a charity working among Nepal's transsexuals.

The officer said the police were in dialogue with Blue Diamond on how to train the Metis in other job skills.

Blue Diamond is the subject of a lawsuit by a conservative lawyer who wants it closed down.

However, the government has said there are no legal grounds for doing so.

'I want to be a woman'

2006-01-12T16:34:00.000Z

EDP24
CHRIS BISHOP

10 January 2006 08:02

A senior director of a Norfolk hospital has revealed to the world that he wants to become a woman, saying he has found his true identity at last.

Colin Bone, medical director and senior consultant in gynaecology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, will take three months' leave later this year to begin “gender reassignment”.

He will return to work at the hospital in the autumn, from when he will be known as Miss Celia Macleod, taking his mother's maiden name.

Last night Mr Bone, 60, said: “It's been a long, slow and hard struggle - like it has for most people. The hardest thing of all is coming out to yourself.

“The support I have had from this organisation fills me with pride and humility. I feel a great deal of admiration for the efforts people have made, it makes me feel really humble.”

Mr Bone has been married to Gloria for 35 years. The couple, who have a 27-year-old son called Alan, intend to remain together in their home at Flitcham, near King's Lynn.

“We have every intention of staying together, she's a truly remarkable woman to whom I owe a lot,” said Mr Bone.

“As I've been on a journey to come out and be myself, she's not been far behind me.

“The most difficult thing was actually recognising who and what I should be. Part of the pressure is internal pressure, pressure not to offend.

“My son has been terrific. He has given support not only to me but to his mother as well.”

Mr Bone is a transsexual, who suffers from a condition called gender dysphoria, which is believed to be caused by the mother's hormones being disturbed during the early weeks of pregnancy.

While sufferers have the physical body of a man, they feel they should really have been born a woman.

“I've been aware of gender issues since before I was 10 years old, so this has been living with me for half a century,” said Mr Bone.

“I had some very strange times in puberty and adolescence, but this was not long after the Second World War and social standards and mores being what they were, one did one's best to conform.”

Mr Bone, who has been medical director at the QEH since 2002, believes thousands of people could be affected by dysphoria.

“There seem to be more people coming out of the woodwork, my hunch is we will find the frequency of this is one person in 4000, that's a lot of people and a lot of heartache,” he said.

He said anyone who needed advice could seek information online from organisations like The Gender Trust.

Mr Bone will begin gender reassignment therapy in early June. This includes hair removal, hormone therapy and speech coaching.

If these are successful, he will have a full sex change operation a year later.

He is paying to have the £50,000 course of treatment done privately at a London specialists.

In a statement, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust said: “The transition is being made with the full knowledge of the hospital trust board and chief executive, with whom Colin has been open and frank about his intentions.

“The board and professional colleagues, along with his wife and family, will continue to give Colin/Celia support as necessary during what is certain to be a challenging time in both his professional and personal life.

“The Trust has written to all his current patients this week with a personal explanation.”

Hospital chief executive Ruth May said: “Colin has been open and honest with us as to his intentions for the future.

“He has an outstanding professional record of achievement in the medical field and the change to his lifestyle in no way diminishes his professional competence or his ability to fulfil his role as medical director.

“However, this issue may well raise further questions for patients. A dedicated helpline will be set up today on 01553 613463 and we will do our utmost to answer any questions from the public in a straightforward way.”

Mrs May has written to every member of staff at the hospital, informing them of the reasons behind Mr Bone's gender change.

“He has increasingly recognised over recent years that he has been trying to deny gender dysphoria,” she said.

“He has now reached a point in his life where he needs to accept his real identity.

“You can imagine that the coming months are both scary and exciting for Colin, representing a big step on an extraordinary journey of self-realisation.”

Waddell's TG clinic celebrates 10 years

2006-01-12T16:25:00.000Z

EastBayAreaReporter

To understand the historical significance of the Tom Waddell Health Center's Transgender Clinic, one must travel back in time about 14 years, when many more people believed that gender reassignment therapy was a questionable practice, and yet a dedicated group of professional providers decided to ask the city of San Francisco to begin funding and providing these services to those in need.

Recognizing that the transgender population would seek hormones on its own – and without medical supervision, would often do so unsafely – the staff on Waddell's HIV team began discussing the possibility of providing a medically sound alternative for hormonal therapies, combined with primary medical and psychosocial care targeted toward lower-income people in the Tenderloin, lower Nob Hill, and South of Market districts.

"A couple of us looked around and said there's this whole population that is at risk and that isn't coming to us for medical care, and yet there's something that they want – hormones – that we could be providing if it was safe to do so," recalled Mark Freeman, a nurse practitioner at the clinic. "It was before the term harm reduction had become popular but that was essentially what we were arguing, that with this specialized service they would come to us for what they want, and they would stay for complete healthcare, which would include paying attention to their sexual risk factors, drug risk factors, as well as their athlete's foot or colds or chronic illnesses. The idea was that if people get into primary care and have their own medical provider they are more likely to take their health seriously and believe they can do something about it."

The primary objection to getting such a clinic off the ground, said Freeman, was that "nobody else does this in public health." It took three years of making a case to San Francisco's Department of Public Health for the clinic to get the go-ahead, a move "that was a big step for DPH, and they should be given credit for that," said Freeman. "There were certainly no respectable clinics that provided these services free or low-cost."

It then was up to the staff to conduct research on the effects of hormones despite a lack of long-term studies, and to develop a protocol for how to administer them and monitor the people taking them.

"We were able to assure ourselves that whatever risks were there, they did not seem to be overwhelming," said Freeman. "And if people were able to take those risks, and identified themselves as a transgender person, and they were willing to engage in primary care, then we wanted to be there for them."

Ten years ago, Tom Waddell's transgender clinic became the country's first specialized city-funded clinic of its kind. To celebrate this milestone, an invitation-only party will be held at the Center for Sex and Culture, Tuesday, August 2, from 6 to 10 p.m. Expected guests include Mayor Gavin Newsom, members of the Board of Supervisors and Human Rights Commission, and representatives from area nonprofits and social service agencies. Lipstick Conspiracy, Andy Toon, Veronica Klaus, Nicki Harris, and Ben Keim will provide entertainment. Most of all, the party is to honor the transgender clinic's past and present clients, who have an open invitation to the event.

"The party is really to celebrate our patients," said Mary Monihan, RN. "These people have gone through a lot of difficulties in their lives to live as the person they know they are, and we certainly want to thank them. Everything we learned, we learned through them."

Waddell's transgender clinic operates on an informed consent model with a protocol for administering hormones that includes blood work, a physical exam, and meetings with mental health counselors to assess risk factors and allow the patients "to really explore how transition is going to affect their relationships, their work, the people in their community," said Monihan.

The clinic has about 600 active patients and has seen between 1,500 and 1,800 people throughout its first decade, she said. The majority of the patients are male-to-female, although a growing number of female-to-male clients have been using the clinic in recent years. For the most part, Waddell patients are not represented in high-visibility transgender events such as the Tranny March, said Freeman, but rather, are dealing with daily risks that come with unemployment, homelessness, and other hardships.

"What we're most concerned about are issues like getting the word out for people not to go to 'pumping parties,'" he said, referencing the recent death of a San Diego woman who received illegal silicone injections along with nine other transgender women at a private house party last month.

Pumping parties usually involve out-of-towners without medical licenses who arrange to deliver silicone injections to MTFs who wish to feminize their appearance.

"We have seen so many disasters from these kinds of procedures – silicone in the cheeks that came out through the mouth, buttocks that became infected and then fell into the leg and caused inflammation. These are not implants, it's a direct injection of some substance, which could be kitchen oil or car wax," said Freeman, adding that a Waddell patient lost her life after a pumping party several years ago, and that the clinic sees about one person a month who is dealing with infections, discolorations, inflammations, or migrations from such procedures.

But the Waddell staff members have also witnessed many positive events experienced by their patients. They have, for instance, been privy to the relationships transgender people sometimes form, which have led to the advent of pregnant gay men.

"Two of our patients, both with full beards, were the parents in the delivery room when one of them was giving birth," said Freeman, noting that the clinic had not seen fertility issues in transgender men who stop taking testosterone. "I would have loved to have seen the faces of the nurses in that situation. But good; get used to it."

Additionally, said Freeman, getting transgender people involved in their own healthcare and making them aware of the risks associated with hormones means that more transgender people are becoming healthier.

"I can't tell you how many of our MTF patients have quit smoking because cigarettes affect estrogen levels," said Freeman, who estimates that 80 percent have kicked the habit. "I can't tell you how many FTM patients have lost weight or got their diabetes under control or have done whatever was necessary so that they weren't adding another risk factor with testosterone, but removing a risk factor to do what they needed to do without hurting themselves."

It is also the transgender population at Tom Waddell, said Monihan, that has been the most vocal and articulate whenever the health center has faced budget cuts, and transgenders have repeatedly made the case to city policy makers for funding the center as a whole. When Monihan accepted an award on behalf of the transgender clinic from the transgender community last month, she told audience members that the entire health center owed a great deal to them.

"They have been the most outspoken of all our patients," said Monihan. "We owe the transgender community a lot for keeping our clinic as viable as it is."

For more information about the Tom Waddell transgender clinic, visit www.dph.sf.ca.us/chn/HlthCtrs/transgender.htm. If you are a past or present patient of the transgender clinic and wish to attend Tuesday's party, call (415) 307-6290 or (415) 355-7588 to get on the list or to receive an invitation.

Sex-swap vicar fights to stay wed

2006-01-03T16:47:00.000Z

icWales
Lucy Ballinger, Wales on Sunday

SEX-SWAP vicar Dian Parry is launching a landmark court case against the Government.

The 66-year-old transsexual - who was formerly a bearded blacksmith called Bill from Croeserw in Port Talbot's Upper Afan Valley - is just a step away from being legally recognised as a woman.

But she won't take the final leap because under British law, it would mean annulling her 45-year-long marriage to wife Anita.

The grandparents - who still live together as a married couple - would then have to take new vows in a civil partnership ceremony, which were introduced just before Christmas.

This year they will aim to take the Government to the European Court of Human Rights in protest against the law, as they believe the Reverend's official change from man to woman should make no difference to their marriage.

On their website, The Christian Transgender Page, Anita said: "Things are now better. Dian has become even more considerate, tender, and placed. At the same time she has retained her self advocacy.

"While the physical side of our relationship has waned away and our relationship taken a new and different course; we have become like sisters."

Although the Parries are unable to directly comment on the case themselves, Emma Martin, from the pressure group Sanctity, which is pushing for change on the issue, spoke on their behalf.

"Before someone can get a full gender-recognition order they must annul their marriage," said Mrs Martin. "But this is like a physical break for people who have been married for years.

"Even if they did become civil partners it is not the same as being a married couple. We want there to be some kind of continuation of the marriage.

"Because of this the Parries are one of two couples taking the Government to the European Court of Human Rights, saying forcing people to annul a marriage in these circumstances is against the European Convention of Human Rights."

The Parries will argue the Government's failure to recognise their marriage breaches their right for respect for privacy and family life, the right to marry and prohibition of discrimination.

"Most marriages in which one of the couple undergoes gender- transference from male to female or female is a hell of a strain on the other partner," said Mrs Martin. "About 95 per cent of couples break up, there are very few who stay together.

"If they do, the marriage becomes more about being soulmates. But to have a full gender-recognition certificate or new birth certificate these couples must annul their marriages.

"This is not fair on the non-transsexual partner, as all they have done is support someone they love through an incredibly difficult time in their lives. For them the trauma is even worse than for the transsexual person."

The Government has stopped short of making same-sex marriages legal but recognising a marriage which took place before someone changed sex would effectively allow this.

Jo Sawyer, from equality organisation Liberty, said: "Although transsexuals can get interim recognition certificates, they would have to annul the marriage to get full recognition in everything.

"I think there are arguments about the right to stay married, particularly in marriages like this one, of long standing. There are very few other circumstances where the Government would say a family unit would have to break-up, so there are arguable grounds."

Roger Smith, director of human rights organisation Justice, said the legal challenge could take years.

"As you can't have a woman married to a woman, this is a backdoor challenge to civil partnerships," he explained.

"To take this case to the European Court of Human rights, they would have to go to the High Court and challenge the decision they should annul their marriage.

"Then they would have to take it as far as they can in the British courts, exhausting all avenues up to the House of Lords before getting a referral to the European Court of Human Rights.

"It will take several years and be rather expensive, but doing it would bring up the issues for public discussion.

"I don't think they have a brilliant chance of winning, but like in the Diane Pretty euthanasia case, it will have a impact by raising the issue."

lucy.ballinger@wme.co.uk

2005-12-21T23:09:00.000Z

HAPPY YULE EVERY ONE :)

UK 'in breach' over transgender's pension

2005-12-18T13:01:00.000Z

UK.Gay.com
Ben Townley

The UK is in breach of discrimination laws by not allowing a post operative transsexual woman to claim her pension and retire at 60, an EU court advisor has ruled.

Sarah Richards, who was born a man in 1942, wants to retire at the same age as other women but has so far been refused because her birth certificate lists her as a man.

She had been told by the government that she will have to wait until she is 65 before she can access the money she saved throughout her career and retire from work.

However, the advocate general, who proposes rulings to be considered by the European Court of Justice, says that decision is wrong.

"In this instance, Ms Richards is denied her pension in circumstances where, had she been registered as female at birth, she would have been entitled to it," the European Court said in a statement, based on the advocate's findings.

"Such a refusal constitutes discrimination," it added.

Under British law, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will only accept the original birth certificate as proof of identity, even if the person is transgendered and post-operative.

However, new laws introduced this year allow transgendered people to apply for a gender recognition certificate and have their true identity partially recognised by the state.

The Court will now consider the proposals before making a decision, although it has already said that the relative rarity of the problem means the British government was unlikely to be made bankrupt by the flow of people looking to retire early.

"Given the relatively few people who would be affected by the judgment, the financial implications would not create a risk of serious economic repercussions in the UK," the advocate's statement said.

Transsexual agrees to pay fine for breaching the peace

2005-12-16T19:38:00.000Z

Belfast Telegraph

I've made my point, says Denise.
A transexual who failed to appear at an Appeals Court hearing in Ballymena today revealed she will be paying a £30 fine imposed earlier this year for breaching the peace.

Denise Martin (44), who started life as Douglas but who has lived as a woman for the last 27 years, initially refused to pay the fine as she felt she has been mistreated by the judicial system.

But speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Denise, from Latharna House in Larne, said: "I think I've done what I set out to achieve. I've let people know how I felt about the way the courts and the police treated me.

"I'll pay the fine. I'll go up to Larne courthouse and pay the £30."

Following an altercation between herself and a transvestite in the Dunluce Street area of Larne in April, she was summonsed to appear in the Co Antrim town's magistrate's court in September.

The transvestite, who has since moved from the Larne area, claimed that during a verbal spat, Denise lifted his skirt and felt his genitals - an allegation branded as "rubbish" by Denise.

She was summonsed as Douglas Martin and failed to appear at the hearing, where she was fined £30 in her absence for breaching the peace.

She said: "When my name was read out in court, they referred to me as Douglas but I've been living as Denise for 27 years."

She also failed to appear at two appeals hearings in Ballymena - one listed last month and one which took place on Monday. During the second hearing, Judge Desmond Marrinan warned that if she failed to pay the fine, she faced seven days in jail.

Since the hearing in Larne, Denise has spoken out about the way she feels she has been treated by the judicial system.

She said: "I'm a woman and the courts need to recognise me as a woman.

"I've been threatened with jail but if this was the case, would they send me to a men's jail or a women's jail?"

Transvestite bathrooms may become law in Brazilian city

2005-12-15T19:07:00.000Z

Chicago Sun-Times

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- For most, it's a choice of the men's room or the women's. A Brazilian city is trying to give an option to those who don't fit easily into either category.

A bill passed by the Nova Iguacu city council this week would require nightclubs, shopping malls, movie theaters and large restaurants to provide a third type of bathroom for transvestites.

Mayor Lindberg Farias will decide whether to make it a law.

"A lot of lawmakers didn't want to deal with this issue, but it's a serious problem in society," said Councilman Carlos Eduardo Moreira.

Unwanted in either washroom

Moreira, a 32-year-old policeman on leave from the force, said he got the idea when dozens of transvestites showed up for a samba show.

"It was a real problem. The women didn't feel comfortable having them in the ladies' room, and the men didn't want them in their bathroom either," said Moreira, the father of two children. "I'm not doing this for my own benefit."

He said the "alternative bathrooms" could also be used by men or women who didn't mind sharing space with transvestites.

Moreira said there are nearly 28,000 transvestites in Nova Iguacu, a poor city of about 800,000 on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Gays split on issue

Moreira denied that the cost of building a third bathroom would be a big problem for restaurant or club owners. "It requires an initial investment, but after that, the establishment will end up making more money because it will have a larger public. And transvestites like to spend," he said.

The issue has divided gay groups; some feared it could segregate gays, while others said it recognized a problem.

"At first we were against the law, but after some discussion we decided we had to support it," said Eugenio Ibiapino dos Santos, a founder of the Pink Triangle Association.

It's a tough life

2005-12-11T16:36:00.000Z

Malay Mail
Jeswan Kaur

The fear of being caught by the police, unemployment and harassment are just some of the problems faced by transsexuals, writes JESWAN KAUR.

Sulastree Ariffin wants to get married one day and have a family. Suraya Shakila yearns to buy a house and save some money.

These are seemingly normal dreams but for these two friends, they are unattainable. Yet, they never stop praying for these to happen and for society to show a little compassion and acceptance.

Like their other transsexual peers, Sulastree and Suraya face endless problems from a very judgmental society. In every aspect of their daily lives, from banking transactions to job applications, there would be the inevitable run-ins with authorities.

Although Sulastree and Suraya have not undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS), both have been cross-dressing for many years now. They realise the life-long crisis that stares at them but then there is little they can do to improve matters.

Prior to the 1983 fatwa, the SRS was conducted at Universiti Hospital (now called Universiti Malaya Medical Centre) and transsexuals who underwent the surgery succeeded in having their gender status officially stated in their identity cards.

The dilemma faced by transsexuals recently took centrestage after newspapers reported the humiliation faced by Mumtaz, a transsexual, at the hands of the police. Mumtaz had undergone the SRS in Bangkok, Thailand, and was alleged by the police here to be involved in the sex trade. She was asked to strip naked at a police station to prove that she was really a woman. Mumtaz’s request for a policewoman to be present was also rejected and she was taunted by the policemen asking her questions about her sexual preferences.

Then there was a report of transsexual Jessie Chung who married Joshua Beh in Sarawak recently. Her marriage raised many eyebrows and whilst blessed by the couple’s churches, the marriage is not legally acknowledged.

These two developments have once again brought into focus the controversy surrounding transsexuals but more importantly, it has highlighted the myriad of problems faced by this community and the lack of support from the authorities.

Says Sulastree, a project coordinator for transsexuals at PT Foundation: “Many of us are happy with our appearances and do not want to undergo a sex change. But we want our appearances and gender status to be stated as ‘woman’ in our identity cards. Because the law does not allow this we end up facing so many hassles, be it at the hospital, Immigration Department, while travelling abroad or when we have to deal with the police.

“I remember how uneasy we felt when visiting a fellow transsexual warded in a Government hospital. It saddened us to see her placed in a male ward and the awkwardness we felt because people around were staring at us.”

Because of the persistent discomfort that surrounds them, many transsexuals have become immune to society’s perception.

“It can be very hurtful how society reacts to us, causing many of us to become depressed. The failed relationships, broken hearts and not having anyone to talk to have led to some transsexuals committing suicide. Many of us live life suppressing our feelings because of the prevailing social stigma we face.

“I used to be depressed before. When I sit at a stall to eat, other customers don’t want to share the table with me because of who I am. It is painful when people shun us but after a while, I decided not to get upset by such attitudes. Even when I use the female toilet, I act ‘normal’. I touch-up my make-up and walk out feeling good despite being stared at,” says Sulastree.

Getting a job was equally difficult.

“People don’t think we need a job to survive. It is this judgmental attitude that forces us into the sex trade. I did odd jobs before PT Foundation gave me a chance. What I earn now is enough to pay for my food and rent. I also manage to save a little,” Sulastree adds.

This former sex worker, however, has given up her dreams of getting married and raising a family.

“You can love someone so dearly but then reality sinks in and their family will not accept us. But we too have feelings and would like to love and be loved.”

For Suraya Shakila, 40, securing a job was her biggest difficulty and she had no choice but to turn to the sex industry.

“No doubt I earned more at the time but sex work was a job forced upon me by circumstances. When I was job-hunting, employers wanted me to dress like a man but I could not. I am a woman in a man’s body and I feel like a woman. I cannot imagine wearing men’s clothes. But then the employers will never want to understand this. To them, the image of their company is more important.”

She recalls the days when police raids used to terrify her.

“I would hang around a particular spot waiting to solicit customers and then all of a sudden we would hear shouts and commotion. My friends and I would run for our lives, with some of us falling into the drain. It was such a humiliating experience.”

Suraya, who now works as a sales person, says: “I am glad I got this sales job. Although I barely make enough, about RM800 or so, it is better than selling myself. I make enough to eat and pay the rent. However, like everyone else, I too dream of owning a house and have some savings. Most importantly, I want the prejudice against transsexuals to end.”

In the case of Dankerina, or whose birth name is Badrul Hisham Abdul Wahab, 42, living as a transsexual comes with a price.

“There is much to pay. I cannot cross-dress when I’m attending work-related functions because I have to keep my company’s image in mind. I opt for clothes that are gender neutral. When I’m on my own, I cross-dress, complete with make-up because that is the real me. But when I need to get official matters done, I dress like a man. It can be tough sometimes but that is how things are.

“I have to always remind myself to be strong, mentally, when I leave the house because I know my appearance will attract attention. It is a constant battle not to let the public’s opinion bother me.”

Ann Coulter and I

2005-12-08T18:22:00.000Z

The Bay Area Reporter
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

There is something that Ann Coulter and I have in common.

No, I am not outing Coulter as transgender. I do not know if she is, and, frankly – given some of the things I've heard come out of her mouth and by her hand – I rather would hope that she is not a transwoman.

That said, there are plenty of people who relish the thought of Coulter being transgender. If one spends any amount of time looking over what passes for political discourse on the Internet – as just one example – one will find that any debate as to the merits of Coulter's often wildly right-wing stance quickly dissolves into innuendoes about her birth gender. There are even a couple of sites populating the byways of the Web that focus exclusively on Coulter's gender.

This isn't just found on the Internet: Stephanie Miller, the host of radio's The Stephanie Miller show, has on numerous occasions labeled Coulter as a transsexual. Indeed, many of the more progressive liberal outlets seem to be more than willing to perpetuate that Ann Coulter is, well, more like "Man Coulter."

Of course, Coulter is but one example. For roughly the last five years, I've seen photos of George W. Bush floating about. That is, images of his face, digitally grafted onto various female bodies. When I think back to the late 1980s, I also recall President Bush's mother, Barbara Bush, lampooned in a similar fashion as Coulter.

Similar representations have ended up in state politics: this was most notable in California during the recent special election, where a line of anti-Schwarzenegger memorabilia included a bobblehead of the California governor as a "sissy" in a pink dress cradling an M-16, as well as Governor Girlie Man branded lipstick and nail polish.

Such exchanges fall on both sides of the political spectrum, too, with the attorney general under President Clinton, Janet Reno, regularly portrayed as some form of transgender person.

The thing is, I expect that sort of stuff from the right wing. I've seen more than a few attacks on transgender people from conservatives over the years, and even debated transgender issues with Bill O'Reilly in his so-called no spin zone. Attacks on transgender people – as well as gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and others – from the right are as plentiful as salt water in the ocean.

When I see it comes out of the left I find myself far more bothered.

It is not the right that tells me it is supportive on my rights: it is the left. These are the people who have been entrusted to fight for our employment rights and protections, among other needs. Yet it is members of the left who are engaging in this sort of childish behavior, and are indirectly harming transgender people in the process.

Maybe I'm the one who is being oversensitive here. Perhaps this is nothing more than a little "harmless fun." Certainly, few are setting out to directly insult transgender people when they make jokes about Coulter. Nevertheless, that remains the end result.

Over the last few years, a lot of noise has been made about the use of the word "gay" as a schoolyard slur, and how it sets a belief that being gay equates with being inferior or bad. I would contend that using transgender identity as a slur in the same fashion as illustrated with Coulter serves transgender people at least as bad as "That's so gay!" serves homosexuals.

I'm sure if you asked most who have used "gay" as such a pejorative, you would find few who attributed much thought to it. Yet it remains a pejorative in spite of intent.

If one takes a look at all of this, one will note two things: when Coulter, Barbara Bush, or Reno's gender is called into question, it usually has to do with their appearance, their assertiveness, or a combination of both. When George W. Bush or Schwarzenegger face the same, it is usually being aimed directly at their masculinity.

To put it bluntly, people are saying that the former are ugly and unladylike, and that the latter are not "man enough." This is exactly what any number of transgender people face in the world today, largely from those who choose to deny our identities.

Back in the days before I transitioned, particularly back in middle and high school, there were many times when I was accused of not being man enough. While they clearly had a point or two, their intent – usually demonstrated in schoolyard pummeling – was clearly an attempt to put me down for my assumed shortcomings.

While that doesn't happen very often, I have had to face those who have chosen to make light of my appearance or a lack of so-called stereotypical femininity since the beginning of my transition. In some of those instances – while I did not face the direct violence of my school days – there was clearly an air of anger directed at me due to my own variance from "gender norms."

None of this had to do with my political affiliation (or lack thereof), unlike the others listed above. This doesn't change the fact that I faced much the same derision – and the same attacks against their gender – as they have.

This is, of course, how Ann Coulter and I are alike: we both receive the same slurs.

Gwen Smith is no fan of Ann Coulter or any of her ilk. You can find her online at www.gwensmith.com.

Second 'wedding' after sex change

2005-12-07T18:36:00.000Z

BBC NEWS

A husband and wife have "remarried" under new civil partnership laws - 14 years after the groom stopped living as a man to become a woman.

Bernard and Joyce Rogers married 38 years ago but have lived "like sisters" since 1991, when Bernadette - as she is now known - underwent gender surgery.

Bernadette, who was born and brought up in south London, said she had always known she was really a woman.

The couple live Woodford Halse, near Daventry, Northamptonshire.

Now retired, Bernadette was once the director of research for the Rank Organisation and helped develop colour television and teletext services.

Officially recognised

She also acted as chief scientific adviser to Margaret Thatcher's government on broadcast technology.

She married Joyce, the widow of her best friend, almost 38 years ago and became a stepfather to her two children.

The 76-year-old finally got her two wishes on Monday this week; to be officially recognised as a woman and to be legally married to Joyce.

The couple were granted an early release from divorce proceedings by a judge at Northampton County Court on Monday - allowing Bernadette a new birth certificate showing her as a woman - and then took part in the civil union ceremony.

On Wednesday she said: "I have been waiting 71 years for this.

Gender status

"I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom this morning and thought 'Yes, you have done it now'."

The Gender Recognition Bill, which became law last year, brought formal rights to a person with a diagnosed gender identity condition once they had been medically treated.

The Bill gave legal acknowledgement of the change in their gender status.

But it refused such acknowledgements if the transsexual remained married, meaning that Bernadette and Joyce had to divorce in order for the law to recognise Bernadette's status as a woman.

USA - Transgender Naturalization Applicant Mistreated by Immigration

2005-12-06T18:31:00.000Z

Immigration Equality
Contact: Victoria Neilson
350 West 31st Street, Ste. 505
New York, NY 10001
(212) 714-2904
vneilson@immigrationequality.org For Immediate Release
------------------------------------------------
Gloria (not her real name) has been living in the United States since she was a teenager. Born in Ecuador, her family brought her to the United States as a legal permanent resident so that she could have the opportunity to lead a better life. Recently she applied to become a citizen so that she could be a full participant in American society. When she went to her naturalization interview, however, rather than being welcomed to the U.S. as a citizen, she was abused and mistreated by a transphobic naturalization officer.

“He asked me why I am the way I am,” Gloria recalls. “When I told him that I was born this way, he told me that he didn’t believe me. Then he asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I told him that I do, he asked me why I have a boyfriend since I’m a man.”

After hearing about Gloria’s experience, Immigration Equality has taken on Gloria’s case for representation. “Neither transgender identity nor sexual orientation have any relevance to a legal permanent resident’s application to naturalize,” explains Victoria Neilson, Immigration Equality’s Legal Director. “It’s shameful that a government officer would treat an applicant so disrespectfully.”

Making matters worse, the officer determined that Gloria needed to submit a letter from her mother, and ordered Gloria to have her mother use the male pronoun for Gloria in the letter. “My mother knows me as her daughter,” Gloria explains, still visibly shaken. “How can he ask me to make my mother go back to calling me her son?”

According to Immigration Equality he can’t. “A naturalization officer has no business telling a mother how to refer to her child. It’s not relevant to her case, and it’s offensive for him to make such a demand,” says Ms. Neilson.

Although Gloria asked to speak to the officer’s supervisor, he refused, telling her that his supervisor was too busy. Again, Ms. Neilson says this was improper. “If a problem arises with an officer during an interview, the applicant should be able to speak with his or her supervisor.” Immigration Equality is bringing the officer’s behavior to the attention of the site supervisor in the hope that the officer will be reprimanded.

Immigration Equality (formerly the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force) was founded in 1994 and advocates for equality under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive immigrants, their families, friends and loved ones. For more information on Immigration Equality, please visit www.immigrationequality.org .

Red Hart - One of my Pic's

2005-12-06T15:37:00.000Z

Heir's How The Gender Bends

2005-12-04T15:08:00.000Z

Out look India
Anuradha Raman

Transgender surgeries rise across social strata and in states culturally preferring sons.

Once sex change was something you'd heard of in the epics. Or happening to some faceless rich who could afford the expensive surgery.

Not any more. The number of transgendered—across the social spectrum—is growing, with sex change operations prevalent widely in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu.

And with government-run hospitals and reputed private ones refusing to entertain such requests, quacks and quickfixers are wielding the scalpel with impunity.

Growing numbers apart, what's sinister about this gender twist is that it is no longer individuals trapped in their bodies making these decisions. Parents in their perennial quest for a male heir are forcing such operations on their daughters. They are making a complete mockery of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Technologies Act which prohibits sex determination to prevent female foeticide. Many families admitted to Outlook that they have rung up doctors to simply transform their daughters into sons.

Confirmation comes from Delhi-based plastic surgeon Sukhdayal Singh Sethi, who stopped performing transsexual surgeries a few years ago.

He talks about how he had to turn down pleas for sex change from Haryana and Rajasthan families because he was unable to check the authenticity of their claims. "I've had parents requesting their daughters to be changed into sons. As they were not accompanied by their daughters, I had no way of checking the genuineness of their claims," says Sethi.

However, that wouldn't have prevented them from going to some other doctor. "I have performed seven surgeries so far, all of them from female to male, only after ascertaining that the cases were genuine. The surgeries have been performed after getting all the legal documents attested by a magistrate. And all this was done only after a team of psychiatrists was convinced about the individual's desire to change. I have kept all the affidavits as backup," says Sethi. Mumbai-based Dr Kalpesh Gajiwala too has had to turn down requests from families who wanted to change their daughters' sex. It was Gajiwala who handled the case of Aparna Mafatlal, who became Ajay Mafatlal, ostensibly to stake a claim in the family fortune.

It doesn't help matters that the cultural preference for sons has actually led to a skewed population ratio in favour of boys in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. It is also not surprising that these states boast of neonatal sex determination clinics in some form or the other.

Sethi once handled a case where a grocer with six daughters requested him to consider his 22-year-old daughter who wanted to be a man. "The girl managed the store and I found her literally wearing the pants in the family and behaving like a boy. So, despite the fact that he had six daughters, I was convinced about the genuineness of the claim as was the team of psychiatrists I consulted before operating upon her," says Sethi.

Taking recourse to loans and borrowing money from relatives, these ordinary folks cannot afford the luxury of the rich to fly abroad for a sex change. It's the other way round, in fact. With such operations being cheaper here than in the West, doctors say the number of foreigners coming to India for correctional surgeries has been on the rise in the last couple of years. "While a surgery in India could cost Rs 2 to 3 lakh, it could be three times higher in the West," says Calcutta-based plastic surgeon Sheila Rohatgi.

She talks of an unfortunate case she had to handle when a girl brought up as a boy by her parents wanted a sex change. "After putting her through an intense psychological test, I had to make a choice. But it was indeed sad that the child did not know what it meant to be a woman," says the doctor who was not happy with the decision made.

While Sethi argues that in most cases his patients were actually lesbians, where one of the partners wanted to be male, Teesta Mitra, 30, a transsexual from Calcutta, finds the whole argument ridiculous. "I choose not to respond to questions about homosexuality," she says.

"It was toxic poison when I grew a beard at the age of 17 and was determined to change all that," she says. So, Teesta underwent a sex change operation to become a woman and is currently undergoing laser surgery sittings to get rid of unwanted hair. Her father, a worker at a biscuit factory, stood by her while her mother strongly opposed the change. Her father had to take a loan to fund the surgery and today Teesta, who always considered herself a woman trapped in a male body, says her ambition is to become a good actress.

It has taken Teesta a long time to become a woman and she's determined to stay that way. "If I had my way, I'd clone somebody like me," she says. She is now reunited with her mother who has become her strongest supporter. They will, in fact, be starting a helpline for the transgendered community. Teesta has already taken a bow in cinema and waits for more offers to come by. She says she does not feel discriminated now. "It was painful earlier when I had to lodge an fir against boys in my colony. Now, I am at peace."

Closely following the Mafatlal case is Richa (name changed) who has just embarked on her personal journey to become a man. "I always thought myself to be a boy and nothing else. I also have a girlfriend who understands me and I have explained my decision to her," says Richa. For the moment, she has convinced her psychiatrists of her need to become a man but not her parents who are still in a shock over her decision. "Though my brother has offered me money, I will be taking a loan as the surgery is expensive," she says. Her doctor has explained the pitfalls in the transition from female to male. Possessing a wisdom beyond her 25 years, Richa says sex is not really on her mind. "There is more to life than sex," she says.

But what if you're denied passports, ration cards, or discriminated against in your professional career if you've had a sex change? Even the law doesn't seem to be on the side of the transgendered. The only rights they enjoy appear in Articles 14 (Equality before law) and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law) applicable to all citizens of India.

Teesta will be applying for a passport and accepts the task is both daunting and a challenge. For Richa, who'll be seeking a change of gender in the passport, there are ways to bend the rules. "I have fought too hard for my identity and cannot let a small matter like a passport affect me," she says. Ankur, who works in a software firm in Delhi, is not sure how his office will react to his decision to change from a man to woman. "I am on hormones right now and I am really unsure about how my employers will react," he says. One metro away, Professor Manabi Bannerjee, earlier Somnath Bannerjee, is battling it out at West Bengal's Department of Education. It is yet to recognise her change to a woman though she intimated her changed status to the authorities than a year ago. Clearly, the courts will have to step in to help out the transgendered till society accepts their choices for what they are.

USA - Neutral zone

2005-12-04T15:05:00.000Z

The eye opener
By: Josh Swan

Members of the Ryerson community are rallying for gender neutral washrooms on campus.

On Nov. 24 RyePRIDE and the Women's Centre held an event to raise awareness about the need for transgender washrooms with a movie screening and panel discussion.

RyePRIDE campaigned for gender-neutral washrooms last year and its education co-ordinator, Jessica Miller, a third-year arts and contemporary studies student, said it's time to raise the issue again.

"We just want to see (gender neutral washrooms) around campus. We want more than one so people won't be a target for violence," Miller said.

Gender-neutral washrooms would allow members of the Ryerson community who are transsexual to have the option of using washroom facilities that aren't designated for only one gender.

Nora Loreto, RSU vice-president education, said having gender neutral washrooms on campus is a good idea.

"It's important that people feel safe in the most private area of the school," she said.

But David Rayside, a University of Toronto professor with the institution's Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies said many people who identify as transsexual may not want to use these washrooms.

Rayside said transsexuals who have undergone sex reassignment surgery so their biological sex matches their gender identity may just want to use the mens' or the ladies' room. But he added that having the facilities would help.

Women's Centre events co-ordinator and third-year arts and contemporary studies student Sarah Landau said she hopes to raise awareness about the issue on campus. She said some students still think having gender neutral washrooms on campus is a "bit of a radical ideal."

Bralalalala tracks on-line

2005-12-03T14:11:00.000Z

The ever infamous Bralalalala has put a selection of her tracks on line. The CD metal queen has been compaired to Anthrax in style and qualitity, and has won several awards much to the annoyance of the main stream music industry.

Check them out here: Vitaminic.com

Won't to know more about her then start here:
bralalalala.biz

USA - Pee in Peace!

2005-12-03T12:50:00.000Z

Indybay.org
by Bryan Burgess

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) makes history today by releasing Peeing In Peace: A Resource Guide For Transgender Activists and Allies. The guide will help transgender community members and allies confront gender-based discrimination and harassment in public bathrooms. Transgender people, including people whose gender expression isn’t stereotypical, are regularly alienated from employment, education, social services, and consumer environments simply because they are prevented from using the correct bathroom or because they are harassed while doing so.

Peeing In Peace (PiP) provides information about legal rights and advocacy tools for anyone who faces this kind of discrimination. PiP also offers community activists and allies basic tools that they can use when advocating with employers, school administrators, government officials, and business owners to create safe bathroom access policies. PiP provides the common sense solutions that many decision makers have told us they need in order to create non-discriminatory environments. Grassroots activists will also be able to use PiP to help create a bathroom safety campaign

Electronic copies of PiP can be downloaded free at http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org or printed copies can be ordered for $9.99 at http://www.lulu.com/content/181840.

here's the pdf of the document
www.transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/pipguide.pdf

Anti-bias bill would protect sex changers

2005-12-02T18:34:00.000Z

Northjersey.com
By RUTH PADAWER
STAFF WRITER

New Jersey's anti-discrimination law, already one of the toughest in the nation, would protect cross-dressers and people who change their sex if a bill that appears headed for victory in the Assembly becomes law.

The proposal, which has bipartisan support, would add "gender identity or expression" to the classes safeguarded from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

If the bill passes, New Jersey would become the seventh state to protect transgender people, joining Maine, Rhode Island, California, New Mexico, Illinois and Minnesota.

"A couple years ago, I would have thought, 'Oh, my God, what legislator is going to touch this with a 10-foot pole?'Ÿ" said Steven Goldstein, a leading lobbyist for gay and transgender rights in New Jersey. "But this has been a total cakewalk. It's the easiest thing we ever worked on - a basic anti-discrimination bill. Legislators from both parties have been extremely open to it."

The bill, which could go before the Assembly Judiciary Committee as early as next Thursday, already has a long line of Democratic co-sponsors and one from the other side of the aisle, too: Joe Azzolina, an old-line Monmouth County Republican who previously sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and opposed domestic-partnership rights for gays. Azzolina said this effort is different.

"I'm in the supermarket business, and I don't believe in discrimination based on gender, religion, race, creed or sexual orientation," said Azzolina. "We have gays and lesbians working for us and all we ask is that they don't flaunt it. A doctor once told me they can't help what they are - they're born that way - so you can't hurt them or blame them for that."

Goldstein said he counts 50 supporters out of the 80 Assembly members. A date has not been set for the bill to go before the Senate, but its sponsors are optimistic, too.

"A vote in favor of this bill isn't condoning anyone's choice to switch from male to female," said the Senate's deputy majority leader, Joseph Vitale, D-Woodbridge, a primary sponsor. "It's just recognizing that everyone should be treated equally under the law."

Not everybody agrees.

"Why do we need this?" said Len Deo, head of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, a conservative lobbying group. "I don't think a person with a mental disorder should be protected against discrimination. It puts a real burden on the public welfare."

The bill would codify a four-year-old ruling by the state Appellate Division. The court found that an employer violated state law by firing its medical director when she became a male. State law, the court said, bans discrimination against people who don't fit stereotypical notions of gender and, by extension, covers those who switch from one gender to the other.

Garden State Equality, the state's most prominent gay rights group, unveiled plans Thursday to run a television commercial in support of the bill - the first TV ad in the United States for transgender rights. The 30-second spot will air 21 times on News 12 New Jersey between Monday and Dec. 9 and 16 times on the station's "Power and Politics" show over the next two weekends.

New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination, enacted in 1945, originally banned discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin and ancestry. One of the first anti-discrimination laws in the nation, it said, "Such discrimination threatens not only the rights and proper privileges of the inhabitants of the State but menaces the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state."

Ten times since then, state lawmakers have amended the landmark decree, expanding its protections to cover other vulnerable classes, including, in 1991, sexual orientation.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, proposed the newest amendment this year when she was still in the Assembly.

She said, "I hope someday in our country people will be seen for who they are, for their personalities rather than the categories they fit or don't fit."

Federal civil-rights law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin and gender. It does not explicitly cover sexual orientation or gender identity. Gay and transsexual litigants have argued in federal courts that the gender clause, by implication, covers them, but few judges have agreed.

Babs Casbar, a grandfather in Edison, has spent the last 15 years slowly turning into a woman. As political leader of Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey, Casbar has lobbied for the change to the state law.

"We wear a scarlet letter," Casbar said. "Society sees us as freaks. Employers say you can come to work as Bruce but not as Carol. People are afraid of being hassled by security guards, by landlords, everywhere they go. We're a class that has been subject to discrimination and we deserve protection."

Fast facts

The 1945 N.J. Law Against Discrimination protected race, creed, color, national origin and ancestry. It evolved to cover additional categories.

1951: military service

1962: age

1970: marital status, sex

1977: nationality

1981: atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait

1991: sexual orientation

1992: familial status

1996: genetic information

2002: public housing aid

2003: disability, domestic partnership status

What kind of queen are you?

2005-11-30T16:02:00.000Z

You are a Earth Queen. You will have a calm
kingdom. Wisdom, Respect and Pureness are very
important.

What kind of Queen are you? ( With BEAUTIFULL pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks shyanne for finding this.

Transgender, intersex leaders meet in Argentina, issue declaration

2005-11-30T13:25:00.000Z

The Empty Closet

New York City and Buenos Aires) The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), responding to the needs of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) transgender and intersex individuals, convened the first-ever Transgender and Intersex Training Institute to help plan for the future of the trans and intersex movements in LAC.

The two-week Training Institute took place in Cordoba, Argentina in October where a seven-member coordinating team and 19 activists and advocates from 14 countries trained together in the areas of human rights, transgender and intersex politics and activism, and organizational development. The participants shared experiences, successes, failures, and strategies to ensure full and equal social and political rights for trans and intersex individuals.

At the end of the Institute, participants issued an eight-point statement—La Falda Declaration— to serve as guiding principles for working on trans and intersex issues throughout LAC. With all participants signing La Falda Declaration, they stated, among other items, that together they all:

• Affirm and defend the right of all trans and intersex people to fully enjoy their fundamental human rights;

• Affirm the need to collectively build positive cultural representations of trans and intersex communities and individuals;

• Demand…protection for trans and intersex activists as human rights defenders;

• Commit to fight together against all forms of state and non-state violence.

“This meeting was a historic step for the trans and intersex communities in Latin American and the Caribbean,” stated Alejandra Sarda, program coordinator for IGLHRC’s Buenos Aires office for LAC. “The Institute can help form an intra-regional network for building the capacity of trans and intersex activists and the organizations for which they work. Even though these activists have worked individually on trans and intersex issues for years, many had never come face-to-face with other LAC activists working on the same issues. They were able to take the time to learn, reflect and challenge themselves and others to develop a fuller and more effective vision that will empower them to move forward.”

“This Institute was a key to open doors, to free ourselves from censorship, from the invisibility in which many times our bodies and identities have been placed by society,” said Dalia Daniela Romero, a participant from Colombia at the Training Institute. Andres Rivera from Chile attended the Cordoba meeting and commented, “To acknowledge each other’s existences, to learn how trans people live in other countries… those have been the first building rocks for creating a trans movement with its own agenda that is also able to discuss and exchange with other movements.”

Trans and intersex individuals are particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence, discrimination, harassment, torture, economic discrimination, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other human rights violations, which are over-looked and often perpetrated by the police and other government officials. The 7th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, 2005 served to memorialize those killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. In 2004, IGLHRC documented 71 murders of LGBT people, including murders that were specifically targeted at trans people in Chile, Brazil, Honduras, Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

• In La Plata, Buenos Aries, Argentina, Giselle, a trans sex worker, was brutally beaten to death by unidentified men while she was working. Her sister and a friend tried to launch an investigation, but abandoned the effort after receiving death threats from the police.

• In Lima, Peru, in November, police discovered the body of a young transvestite who had been tortured to death. Her body was then burnt. She has not yet been identified.

• In Santiago, Chile, in May, two skinheads beat a transgender woman, Cecilia Canto (45), in the street, near a police station. Police officers refused to even call an ambulance.

In Latin America and throughout the Caribbean, there are few laws that provide protection from discrimination for trans and intersex people. Laws in a number of countries prohibit or restrict access to sex reassignment surgery, and a wide array of countries have public laws that prohibit cross-dressing. To make matters worse, trans and intersex organizations, such as ALITT, one of the main trans organizations in Argentina, are denied official legal recognition and thereby, suffer from an increased lack of funding.

“IGLHRC is committed to working with LAC trans activists and organizations – to face head-on the injustices trans people face – and to advance broad social change and tolerance for all trans and intersex individuals, ” stated Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of IGLHRC.

Since the late 1990s, IGLHRC has had staff working directly in Latin America, but in the last year, the size of the staff in its Buenos Aires, Argentina office has doubled. The LAC Program is involved throughout the region working in collaboration with other human rights and LGBT organizations in documenting human rights abuses, playing a role in emergency response, and as a convener of meetings and human rights training.

For more information and a copy of La Falda Declaration, contact Geoffrey Knox at 212-229-0540 or gknox@geoffreyknox.com

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is the only human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or murder because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists on the ground in countries around the world, by monitoring and documenting abuses, by engaging offending governments, and by educating international human rights officials. A US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Buenos Aires.
www.iglhrc.org

TRANSSEXUAL WRITER PROTESTS OFFENSIVE REMARKS IN SUNDAY TIMES (SINGAPORE) INTERVIEW WITH ROCKER

2005-11-29T14:22:00.000Z

Transgender ASIA

28 November 2005, Singapore. Ms Leona Lo, a transsexual writer based in Singapore wrote a scathing letter today to The Sunday Times, Singapore, to protest offensive remarks published in its interview with rocker John Molina. In "The Email Interview: Rocker John Molina" (The Sunday Times, Nov 27), the interviewer made reference to Ms Jessie Chung from Kuching who had undergone sexual reassignment surgery to "become" (writer's quotation) a woman, and said the general opinion is that "a normal man can never fall in love with a man-made woman". He asked for Mr Molina's personal thoughts on this.

In her letter to The Sunday Times, Ms Lo said the writer's remarks contain at least two popular misconceptions about post-operative transsexuals, namely, "that straight men cannot fall in love with us and that we are man-made." She wrote, "Let me set the record straight. Transsexual women throughout the world have had loving and enduring relationships with straight men. Lynn Conway, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Emertia, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States of America, and Jessie Chung are two excellent examples. For a complete list of transsexual women successes, please log on to www.lynnconway.com. Heterosexual men who are sexually secure have no problems falling in love with and remaining committed to transsexual women. However, based on past experiences, I have to concede that Singapore men may have a problem in this area because they are generally not very secure about their sexuality, which may explain the inherent skepticism in the interviewer's question."

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Use the link to read the whole article. Transgender Asia is a wonderful site for information, why not take the time to explore it.

OPINION: Resolving the plight of those born ‘different’

2005-11-26T18:52:00.000Z

NEW STRAITS TIMES
CHOW KUM HOR

Transsexuals’ plea for legal recognition has met fierce opposition from religious groups. They stand a better chance if the appeal is made on medical grounds, writes CHOW KUM HOR.

Resolving the plight of those born ‘different’

Transsexuals’ plea for legal recognition has met fierce opposition from religious groups. They stand a better chance if the appeal is made on medical grounds, writes CHOW KUM HOR.

IT was one wedding the ulama were not ready to proclaim as holy matrimony. Just about everyone who’s ever led a prayer in a mosque, conducted a sermon in church or run a Buddhist or Hindu temple has opposed Jessie Chung and Joshua Beh’s widely-publicised wedding reception in Kuching on Oct 12.

Jessie was born a male and used to be known as Jeffery before going for a sex change in three operations over the last three years.

For the authorities, the Chung-Beh marriage is seen as a same-sex wedding — a union that breaches fundamental religious tenets and is not recognised under the country’s laws. The ensuing moral and legal controversies surrounding the wedding have given the impression that the fate of transsexuals in the country only revolves around sex change and marriage — which, as any transsexual will tell you, is not the case.

"This whole controversy about transsexuals has gone off-tangent. It is like rojak," says former sex worker-turned-activist Sulastri Ariffin.

"The public and the media focused on Jessie’s wedding but in fact, there are bigger issues affecting this group of people like equal treatment, social ills, job opportunities and educating the public. Marriage is only one small part."

Sulastri, himself a transsexual, says the biggest problem is the legal recognition of individuals he insists are simply biologically different. Transsexuals are people who perpetually identify with the gender opposite to the one assigned to them at birth.

Scientists have yet to conclusively ascertain what causes transsexuality although some say it might be due to upbringing by parents who wanted a child of a different gender.

Locally, transsexuals are estimated to number around 15,000, mostly in the Klang Valley, and they go by different names, many of which are derogatory, such mak nyah, pondan and bapuk.

The reality is that transsexuals here are deeply-marginalised, no thanks to society’s deep-rooted notions of what constitutes male and female.

The aspersions cast on this community, says Universiti Utara Malaysia associate professor Dr Teh Yik Khoon, eventually breeds discrimination.

Taunted and humiliated all their lives and, in many cases, turned down by prospective employers for being "different", the isolation eventually pushes many into vice. A sizeable number end up as prostitutes in places like Chow Kit in Kuala Lumpur, although there are also many transsexuals, or T.S. as they are known, who have decent jobs.

Sulastri, the programme co-ordinator for P.T. Foundation (formerly known as Pink Triangle), a transsexuals advocacy group, says the holy grail in resolving the plight of these people is to accord them the right to be recognised in the gender they identify with. They want to be allowed to change the details in their identification papers to reflect their new gender.

Without legal recognition, he says transsexuals are pushed to the fringes of the society. "Our identity cards say we are males but our physical attributes and mannerisms say otherwise. We face problems when getting our passports, when applying for a loan and discrimination at the workplace."

A few years ago, transsexual Wong Chiou Yoong applied for a court order to change his gender in his identity card because a bank turned down his application to open an account with them.

Last month, another transsexual, Mumtaz, was allegedly forced to strip by three policemen to prove his claim that he had undergone sex change operations in Thailand.

While advocates feel legal recognition of transsexuals may alleviate many of their problems, the proposal is fraught with religious sensitivities. In 1983, the Conference of Rulers issued a fatwa (edict) prohibiting Muslims from undergoing sex-change procedures, with the exception of khunsa or hermaphrodites.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that the Government does not condone same sex marriages but added that transsexuals should be treated humanely and with respect.

Perak mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria does not buy the "woman trapped in man’s body" idea, while Christian, Buddhist and Hindu groups have also condemned any attempts to desecrate the sanctity of our God-given bodies by means of a sex change. Lobby groups and religious organisations have also kept up the pressure on the Government not to recognise same sex marriages.

Teh, however, says that religion is something one practices in his or her own way. "When you persecute and push them to the fringe, isn't that worse? Can the police officers who allegedly mistreated Mumtaz say for sure that they have secured a place in heaven? They have no right to make fun of her like that."

Prof Datuk Hamdan Adnan, a member of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), says that when dealing with transsexuals, the authorities should err on the side of kindness.

"Let’s not play God. It’s a medical issue, more than a religious or political one. It’s ridiculous if a person has female private parts and possesses female characteristics but the IC still says he is male."

He says the best way to clear the air over whether one is transsexual, and whether sex change surgery is necessary, is to get a medical opinion.

The Malaysia Medical Association supports the proposal. "Transsexualism must be treated as a disease," says its president Datuk Dr Teoh Siang Chin. He proposes that a multi-disciplinary team comprising psychiatrists, surgeons, obstetricians and gynaecologists, urologists and endocrinologists examine transsexuals before they go for sex change procedures.

History has shown that when medical opinion is given adequate consideration, hardliners may soften their religious stance, especially when a person’s physical and emotional well-being is at stake.

Cases in point include Muslim fundamentalists’ earlier rejection of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and organ transplants — procedures subsequently ruled permissible by religious authorities.

As it is, transsexuals already have a sympathiser in Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law, Datuk M. Kayveas. He is the most senior government official thus far who has called for laws to be amended to allow transsexuals to change their particulars in their MyKad.

His counterpart in the Home Ministry, Datuk Tan Chai Ho, while conceding that transsexuals appear to have grounds for their case, says that more "consultation" needs to take place.

The Government, he adds, needs to consider feedback from religious groups — the very quarter who are most staunchly opposed to allowing sex change.

So, until and unless transsexualism is treated as a medical issue rather than a religious or political one, this group of people will continue to be victimised simply for being born "different".

And this is enough reason for the Government to take an objective look at the issue.

Sex Change Dilemma: Kayveas: Allow gender update in MyKad

2005-11-24T14:24:00.000Z

The Malay Mail
SUSHMA VEERA
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24:

There is a need for provisions to update a person’s gender details in their MyKad when a sex change has been done legally and properly.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk M. Kayveas, said that since a person is able to make amendments to their names or religion on their MyKad, there should not be a problem for them to amend their gender.

“Once an individual is medically acknowledged as a transsexual, the necessary legalities have to be put in place,” said Kayveas yesterday.

He said that it is also time for society to accept transsexuals and not isolate them.

“When we can accept the changes taking place in the world, environment, and the weather, I don’t understand why it is so difficult for us to accept changes in the human body,” said Kayveas.

“Look and see what the international community is doing in such situations. Learn from them,” he said.

He cited the case of a transsexual who claimed to have been forced to strip naked at the Ipoh police headquarters to prove she is a woman after police rejected her request to have a policewoman present.

In the Oct 16 incident, Mumtaz, born Abdul Malik Theen Mohamed, was remanded and was allegedly forced to strip to prove her claim that she had undergone a sex change operation in Thailand.

Kayveas said that everyone has the right to update their personal details from birth to death.

“We should not be too rigid on this matter, ” he said.

Kayveas also said that transsexuals must be respected as human beings and Malaysian citizens.

“They are neither foreigners nor criminals. It is not their choice to be in-between. They were born that way. For those who believe in God, it is God’s creation, so respect it,” he said.

Kayveas also said that society should try to help transsexuals to lead a normal life.

On Nov 15, the New Straits Times reported that the Government has no plans to amend the law to allow change of sex status in the MyKad.

However, exceptions could be made if an applicant has been given the green light by the court.

The report quoted Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid who had said that existing laws also prohibit Muslims (except for medically-certified khunsa or hermaphrodites) from changing their sex status or name in the MyKad after undergoing a sex-change operation.

To date, Azmi had said, there has only been one case where a sex and name change was allowed in the MyKad, after a court ruling.

He said that it was up to Parliament to amend the law but there has been no such move towards this.

Getting down to business

2005-11-23T15:35:00.000Z

Bay Area Reporter
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Many years ago, at the beginning of my transition from mail to female, I started to distribute copies of my resume, looking for a job to replace the one I lost shortly after I began to live publicly as a woman. I had a pretty good list of skills behind me, and was targeting workplaces similar to that which I'd just left. Typically, I was – if you'll allow me a slight moment of bragging – a little more qualified than some of the positions for which I was applying.

I soon discovered that my skills would have very little to do with my average interview. Sure, the prospective employer and I would do the dance, but we both knew that my chances were next to nil as soon as I walked in the door. There was usually a slight change in expression, and a slight "tightening up" in the room. When they saw me, they did not see a woman across from them: they saw a man in a dress.

They were always polite, though, letting me know that they would interview many others, that my resume was fine, and that they'd be calling me back in a week. They rarely bothered with that call, however. I couldn't even land a temporary position through the local employment agencies.

It took nearly a year for me to finally land a position, in a rundown business in a neighborhood so rough that I had to hide against a filing cabinet one day, so as to have some protection from the guns-drawn police standoff happening in the parking lot.

I don't offer this story in an effort to play off your sympathies for what I went though, but rather I offer it as an illustration of what is a common occurrence for most transgender people who choose to enter the public arena. It's not a pleasant experience. What's worse, my experience – while not uncommon – is better than what many out there have faced. I've known more than my share of transgender people who have somehow ended up almost totally unemployable.

With this in mind, I was pleased to see a particular bit of inaction from the United States Supreme Court, as the justices decided not to hear an appeal from the city of Cincinnati on behalf of its police department.

It was in the Queen City that a veteran of the city's finest was demoted. This officer had been living as a woman, Philecia Barnes, in her off-duty time, but was still serving on the force as a male.

The story gets complicated in her 17th year with the force, where she was initially promoted to sergeant – or was going to be promoted – when superiors decided that Barnes did not have "command presence." She was then put into the equivalent of "double-secret probation," and finally demoted.

She sued the department, using Title VII under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A jury found for her. The ruling was appealed, and the appeal was rejected – and now the U.S. has sided with those decisions by declining to hear the case. This goes against an established precedent that claims Title VII to not apply to transgender people, but falls in line with similar rulings over the last few years that Title VII may indeed cover transgender employment rights. It all seems to hinge on how one defines sex under Title VII.

In 1994, a similar case – this time a transgender firefighter – also used Title VII to protect the rights of a Jimmie Smith, who began to face trouble in the workplace after disclosing in confidence to her supervisor plans to transition. This led to a battery of psychological tests she was required to take. She sued, and was subsequently suspended from duty. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found in Smith's favor.

Of course, this is by no means a 100 percent effective stance for transgender people seeking redress against workplace discrimination.

In 2000, an employee of the Winn-Dixie grocery chain, Peter Oiler, was fired. Winn-Dixie made no bones about the reason: Oiler, while not presenting as anything other than male in the workplace, cross-dressed in his off hours. A Louisiana federal district judge found for Winn-Dixie, citing that Title VII did not apply.

Title VII has plenty of legal history excluding transgender people from coverage, and it likely only takes the right legal argument – and the right judges – to make the Title VII argument moot.

This is why it's still important that transgender protections become explicit, such as in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. I'm actually able to say something positive about the Human Rights Campaign – a rare occurrence – as it embarks on a campaign to educate members of Congress about the need for a transgender-inclusive ENDA. Of course, I can balance that with HRC's lackluster stance on hate crimes legislation and other protections for trangender people, but I digress.

I'm a pragmatist. To me this isn't an issue of pie-in-the-sky wishes. No, to me this is an issue of basic fairness.

All those years ago, all I wanted to do was clock in, do my best, and get compensated for same, but my transgender status – a status that was largely irrelevant for the jobs I was applying for – kept me from employment.

Jimmie Smith and Philecia Barnes, likewise, had proven their ability to do their jobs – but it was the simple fact that they were transgender that kept them from being treated fairly by their superiors.

Through their victories – and maybe even an eventual ENDA victory – perhaps there's a chance, after all.

Gwen Smith will work for food. You can find her online at http://www.gwensmith.com.

Transgender Day of Remembrance - LA, USA

2005-11-22T16:09:00.000Z

Close to 100 people marched through the streets of West Hollywood this Sunday in a series of weekend events part of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Day was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The day started as a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, a victim of a anti-transgender murder, her case has yet to be solved

Short video of the march and speakers of the Transgender Day of Remembrance event held today in West Hollywoodhttp://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/139697.php

Also 3 gallerys by Susan Forrest .

1
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/139698.php

2
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/139718.php

3
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/139738.php

Day of Rememberance or Night of embarrassment

2005-11-21T22:16:00.000Z

Indybay.org
by Producer of Tranny Talk

As a trans person and a someone who produces media I have to say that generally the TG/TS community does not know how to treat the media. My experience with the TGDOR.

First of all Tranny Talk was the only broadcast media to show up, and as the producer of this show I felt I was treated like shit by those people. Gwen Smith the creator of the TGDOR is always bad mouthing the so-called mainstream media, BUT when trans only media shows up she treats them like shit.

My point; if the trans community wants respect from the media then they need to earn it. The trans community and its leaders need to learn how to treat the media or the media will not give them respect.

Secondly: The turnout was small. Actually the turnout was an embarrassment. It was so small that I could not get one snap shot of the march.

Thirdly: I would like to say that the group the Pink Pistols were there, and their presence was appreciated and will never be forgotten.

And the fourth and final rant: If the trans community wants the violence to stop then get right with the status quo, and quit alienating the community from the rest of the world.

The display by Gwen Smith was a disappointment and as a trans person I do not feel like I am a part of that community. Peace and Good Luck (and will the people from TGDOR please go to school, they need the education.)

homepage.mac.com/trannytalk/Menu1.html

State sex-change status in ICs: MP

2005-11-21T22:02:00.000Z

Sun2Surf
Regina William

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A person who undergoes a sex change should be allowed to have this stated in the identity card so that the current sexual identity is not disputed.

Bukit Mertajam MP and DAP deputy secretary general Chong Eng said in a statement, a person who has undergone a sex-change operation cannot be classified as male and neither is she a natural female.

"The identity card should accurately state the person as a male or female who has undergone a sex-change operation.

"For instance, take the case of Mumtaz, a transsexual who had undergone a sex-change operation. She alleged that three policemen ordered her to strip naked for them to see if she was physically a woman and not male as stated on her identity card.

"To allow a transsexual person like Mumtaz to state her sex-change status does not mean the government supports sex-change, but is merely taking the necessary steps to categorise persons who have undergone sex-change procedures.

"This would then enable the police and other public and private agencies to recognise their gender status.

"If Mumtaz was allowed to state her gender status in her identity card then the three policemen would not have the excuse to order her to strip for them to see with their own eyes that she is physically a woman. Such a step will, at least, prevent police from abusing their power to order transsexuals to strip naked," she stressed.

She stressed that the current policy of not allowing persons like Mumtaz and Jessie Chung, another transsexual who had also undergone a sex-change operation, and the first transsexual to have openly married recently, had caused difficulties in their daily interactions in the private and public sectors.

Chong claimed they are not allowed to purchase health insurance or take housing loans from banks and they face difficulties in securing employment, and on top of this, they face discrimination and humiliation.

"Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution among other things, prohibits discrimination based on gender.

"Transsexuals and those who have undergone sex-change operations have a gender of their own and have similar rights as any other male or female human being.

"As a minority group their life is already difficult. The government, which claims to be caring and ever ready to serve the people, must not make their lives more difficult by banning change of gender status in their ICs. They are people too," she stressed.

Transsexual: I was humiliated and forced to strip

2005-11-20T16:31:00.000Z

The Star
BY NG SI HOOI

KUALA LUMPUR: A transsexual has alleged that she was humiliated and forced to strip naked before three policemen after she was detained for suspected vice.

Mumtaz, who was born Abdul Malik Theen Mohamad, claimed that the incident occurred at the Ipoh central police station on Oct 16.

The 24-year-old cook, who underwent two sex-change operations in Thailand, said she had to strip in front of three policemen although she told them she was now a woman.

“I asked for a policewoman to examine me but they refused, saying my MyKad stated that I am a male,” she told a press conference held by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

Mumtaz was accompanied by her husband A. Ravichandran, 28, and six transsexual friends.

She was arrested during a raid at the Luck Inn Hotel in Ipoh at about 3.30pm that day.

Mumtaz was in Ipoh with Ravichandran to look up a friend and they were staying at the hotel. During the raid, she was alone in the room as Ravichandran had gone out.

“The police accused me of being involved in vice when they found two condom wrappers in the room,” she said.

Mumtaz, who said she had a traditional wedding ceremony with Ravichandran in India in July, claimed that the police humiliated her by making remarks about her body and even joked about buying four-digit lottery.

“When I related my experience to another policeman who recorded my statement, he told me not to cause trouble,” she said, adding that she was remanded for four days in a lock-up for women.

Mumtaz said she sent a complaint letter to the Police Disciplinary Unit on Nov 7 and lodged a report at the Brickfields police station yesterday.

“I hope the Government will take action against the policemen as they have humiliated me. I also appeal to the Government to allow me and others like me to change our gender in MyKad.

“We face difficulty in getting jobs as we are identified as males in our MyKad,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kok urged the Government to allow transsexuals to change their gender in MyKad so that similar incidents would not recur.

Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim confirmed that a police report had been lodged and the case would be referred to the Ipoh police.

One of my Pic's - Handy Man

2005-11-18T16:36:00.000Z

Transsexual Forced To Resign From Gay Post

2005-11-17T16:29:00.000Z

Rainbow Network

A Brighton transsexual has claimed he was forced to resign from his job as co-ordinator of a gay safety forum because of sexual discrimination.

During an employment tribunal Andy Baldwin accused members of Brighton and Hove City Council, and prominent members of the city's gay community, of transphobia.

According to The Argus, the tribunal was told that the council was steeped in a culture of bigotry and discrimination against transsexuals.

Baldwin told the tribunal that he had become the subject of a whispering campaign by his line manager Linda Beanlands, the council's community safety manager, and Anthea Ballam, who chaired the safety forum.

"Anthea Ballam had been calling me objectionable and incompetent. I was told she said she would rather be dead than let me carry on as co-ordinator," Baldwin said.

The tribunal heard that Baldwin had recorded a conversation between a friend and David Miller, who had taken over as chairman of the now-defunct safety forum, in which Miller allegedly said, "I do not think that being treated as a transsexual can be regarded as normal."

Baldwin’s friend told him that, "In his eyes, I was nothing more than a man dressed up as a woman."

Baldwin claims he was forced to resign in January 2003 after "resistance, disinterest, inaction and bigotry."

Jessie: Give our marriage a chance

2005-11-17T16:08:00.000Z

The Star
BY LOONG MENG YEE

KLANG: Transsexual drama queen, sinful couple – these were among the taunts that Jessie Chung and her husband have had to put up with following their much publicised wedding.

Chung and her husband Joshua Beh spent nearly RM1mil on their wedding last Saturday, but since then have been holed up in their house in Kuching, biding their time until the unwanted attention caused by their union abates.

“I want nothing more than peace and quiet. I did not wish for this kind of attention. Who would?

“My marriage was supposed to be a happy occasion. It was, and I am thankful for it, but some post-marriage comments about us in the press were hurtful.

“We are especially worried about the effect these words may have on my parents, Joshua’s, and our loved ones,” said Chung yesterday.

Chung, who was born male more than 30 years ago, underwent three major operations to become a woman, having known from young that she was a woman trapped in a man’s body.

The media stories about her being “man enough to be a woman” sparked off comments and opinions about the legality of the marriage.

Chung said it was never her intention to challenge the laws of the land with her union, believed to be the first involving a man who had had a sex change.

She added that she understood the sensitivities of living in a Muslim country, and would not seek legal recourse to gain recognition for her marriage.

“My marriage is recognised by our parents. I am a woman married to a man. I have a healthy marriage. If there is any issue with God, it is the cross for Joshua and me to bear,” said Chung.

On allegations that she had courted attention by publicising her wedding, Chung said it was a Catch-22 situation.

If she had not invited the press to the wedding, the press would still have turned up to cover the event because of its unusual elements, she said.

More than anything, Chung wants a peaceful life after a turbulent journey and wishes for nothing more than some understanding from the media and society.

“Give my marriage a chance. Give me a chance,” she said.

November 20th - Transgender Day of Remembrance

2005-11-16T22:46:00.000Z

Indybay.org

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

www.gender.org/remember/day/what.html

Where

The following locations have let us know they are hosting an event for 2005. Please drop us a note if you know of an additional location, or if you are interested in hosting an event. Several additional events and locations will be forthcoming.

All events are on Sunday, November 20th, unless otherwise indicated.

Adelaide, Australia A day’s worth of events will be held, including a ceremony devised especially for the Feast Festival to celebrate and mourn those transfolk who have lost their lives. All events will be held at Feast at Fowler’s Live, Lion Arts Centre, Corner North Terrace and Morphett Street. Disability Access. For additional details, see http://www.feast.org.au/

Melbourne, Australia Metropolitan Community Church of Melbourne, Australia will hold a service of rememberance honouring our TG brothers and sisters at 7:00 p.m. at 217 Burnley Street, Burnley. Our service will include a candle lighting ceremony within a service. Our guest speaker is a young FTM man who is a member of our youth group and the congregation have journeyed with him both spiritualy and through transition for a number of years.

Perth, Australia Details Pending.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada Calgary’s First Transgender Day of Remebrance will be held on Monday, November 21, 2005 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Hosted by Positive Space at Mount Royal College In the Meditation room at Mount Royal Lincoln Park campus. A Rabbi, and several christian church leaders will be saying prayers. For additional information, see http://www.mtroyal.ca/positivespace/events.shtml

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada TTIQ Alliance and Lambda Christian Community Church will host the following on Sunday, November 20, 2005 at Garneau United Church 11148 - 84 Avenue: - 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Information Fair: Trans men and women will be on site to share information and resources, answer questions, book speaking engagements and talk about services that are available in the Greater Edmonton region. Alberta’s Transgender Warrior Display will be included. - 3:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Film: Soldiers Girl, The true story of a young soldier beaten to death for falling in love with a transgendered nightclub performer. - 7:00 p.m. Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Service with the Remembering our Dead Memorial Quilt & Display.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada March starts at 3:30pm sharp in front of the Carnegie Centre, 401 Main St. They will be marching to SFU Harbour Centre 515 W. Hastings St., Terasen Room #1800. Speakers include Libby Davies and Bill Siksay, MPs (members of parliament). There will also be a screening of the documentary In the Flesh. Tami Starlight, Canadian national trans activist/advocate, will hold a reading of our fallen trans community members. There will also be a memorial Open microphone for community members to speak, and Much more. Sponsored by SFU — Out On Campus, Egale Canada, Trans Action Canada, and Xtra West.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. An event will be held at the Metropolitan Community Church, 2786 Agricola St., Bloomfield Centre, suite # 108 at 7:00 p.m. on the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Several events will be taking place in Ottawa. These include:

Tuesday, November 15, 2005: A Film Night: NFB Doc: In the Flesh At Pink Triangle Services, 177 Nepean St., 5th Floor at 7:00 p.m. The film will be the National Film Board Documentary, In the Flesh, about two Male to Female and two Female to Male transsexual people, including the Montreal and Toronto activist and film-maker, Mirha-Ross Soleil. An open discussion will follow facilitated by Jessica Freedman.

Thursday, November 17, 2005: A Panel Discussion on Transsexuality & Transgenderism at Sandy Hill C.C. 250 Somerset St. East at 7:00 p.m. The Panel for the Discussion will be Helma Seidl, MSW, RSW, CCC, RN, Dr. Norman Barwin, Bill Siksay, M.P., Jessica Freedman and Alex Adams. The panel will be chaired by Jessica Freedman.

Friday, November 18, 2005: A Divergence Dance at Shanghai Restaurant, 651 Somerset Street West at 10:30 p.m. 19+ $5 cover.

Sunday, November, 20, 2005: Transgender Day of Remembrance Observance at Jack Purcell C. C., Elgin St. at 2 pm. Ceremony at 3:00 p.m.

St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (Brock University) A Transgender Day Of Remembrance event will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Brock University, Pond inlet, on Monday November 21st. The event will include Hershel T. Russell’s slide presentation “The Joy of Gender” and interviews of local Trans Youth. A candle light vigil will follow the presentation. Politicians, media, unions, GLBTQ allies and the general public have been invited to the event. This event is funded by the Unitarian Congregation of Niagara, PFLAG St. Catharines, The Imperial Sovereign Court of St. Catharines and the Greater Niagara Region, The New Vouz, and Has been organized by PFLAG St. Catharines, OPIRG-Brock, Niagara Pride, OUTNiagara, Aids Niagara, CAW Local 199 LGBT Committee, Brock Pride and Transgendered of Niagara.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Their ceremony will be held at 519 Church Street Community Centre on Saturday, November 19th, from 5:00 til 7:00 p.m.

Strasbourg, France Support Transgenre Strasbourg (http://www.sts67.org/) will hold a Transgender Day of Remembrance commemoration on Saturday, November 19th, 7:00 p.m. at Pc Center, 80 rue du faubourg Nationale, just before our monthly meeting. All T* people, SOFFAs and supporters are welcome.

Tel Aviv, Israel The Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony, sponsored by the Human Rights Commission of Tel Aviv Municipality, will take place at Tel Aviv City Hall.

Bologna, Italy Candle Light and torchlight procession at Piazza Ravegnana at 6:30 p.m. During the event they will be read victim names and will distribute material about transfobia. Organized by M.I.T. (Movimento Identità Transessuale)

Catania, Italy An event will be held at Open Mind, Via Gargano 33 Organized by Circolo GLBT "Open Mind" Catania.

Firenze, Italy A Candle light memorial will be held at Via Lombardia 2 at 6:00 p.m. Organized by A.I.T. Firenze.

Genova, Italy To be held at Comunità San Benedetto al Porto, Via San Benedetto 12, at 7:30 p.m. Additional detals pending.

Milano, Italy At C.I.G. Arcigay Milano, Via Bezzecca 3. A candle light event with live harp accompaniment. 8:00 p.m. Hosted by Crisalide AzioneTrans - Milano and C.I.G. Arcigay Milano.

Pescara, Italy To be held on Piazza Salotto at 6:00 p.m. Hosted by Jonathan - Diritti in Movimento / Crisalide AzioneTrans Pescara.

Piacenza, Italy Their event will be held at L’A.T.OMO Strada Malchioda, 39. At 8:00 p.m. there will be a Candle Light event, at 9:00 p.m. wil be a showing of Ma vie en Rose, and at 10:30 p.m. there will be a debate. Organized by Arcigay Piacenza L’A.T.Omo.

Torino, Italy A candle light vigil will be held at 9:00 p.m. at Circolo glbt Maurice, Via Basilica 3. Organized by Gruppo Luna Transessuali, Torino.

Auckland, New Zealand Their vigil will be held on Monday, November 21 at Family Nightclub and Bar, 270 Karangahape Road, starting at 7:00 p.m. There will be an open mic.

Wellington, New Zealand Agender New Zealand in association with TransMana will be hosting an event in the nation’s capital city. To be hosted on the Transgender Day of Remembrance at 2:00 p.m. in Civic Square behind the Main Library. This will be the 2nd annual event in New Zealand. All transgendered people and our supporters are welcome to attend. An open mic will be available to all.

Quezon City, Philippines On November 19, the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), in cooperation with the Order of St. Aelred, will be hosting the first Transgender Day of Remembrance in the Philippines at the Friendship Hall of The Order of St. Aelred at 5 PM. The theme of the Manila Event is “A Day of Remembrance, The Start of Acceptance”. An ecumenical mass of remembrance and candle lighting will be held in honor of those who died since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2004. Refreshments shall be served for the guests. Additional details are available at http://www.m2fstrap.org/.

Edinburgh, Scotland An act of remembrance on Saturday, November 19, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m., open to all, will be lead by the Metropolitan Community Church, Edinburgh, followed by refreshments and the opportunity to socialise. MCC Edinburgh will be jointly hosting the event with the LGBT Centre for Healthy Living in Edinburgh, Transmen Scotland, and LGBT Youth Scotland.

Seoul, South Korea Details pending.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands The Noodles, an Amsterdam (NL) based queer and/or transgender group, will hold a memorial at their monthly cafe at Saarein II, Elandsstraat 119. Open from 5:00 p.m., At 6:00 p.m. there will be a walk from Saarein to the Leidseplein. There they will hold a vigil. Afterwards, they will walk back to Saarein.

Derby, United Kingdom Details Pending.

London, United Kingdom We will be meeting at 5:30 p.m. outside the NFT café/bar on the South Bank in London. There is a map and directions at http://www.bfi.org.uk/incinemas/nft/about/location.html. Bring family, friends, candles and anything you’d like to share (words, homemade brownies, a hip flask..), and let us know if there is something special you’d like to do — a reading or perhaps playing some music, for instance. For additional information, see http://www.transfabulous.co.uk.

America, For a full list of american locations please see the main post (Link at top of this page),
as it's a little long to put the list here. Sorry.

or click here: www.gender.org/remember/day/where.html

If it rains, it pours

2005-11-16T14:34:00.000Z

Well what a week...
My granpa is in hospital dying of cancer and he's not expected to last the week.
The internet cafe I work for is closing down due to a lack of customers, because my two bosses are too fricking stubborn and messed up to work together. I'm feeling down about uni and not being able to move forward with my transition because of a lack of funds. And I've been offered the business by one of my bosses, which would mean dropping uni, putting myself in debt and working every hour on earth in an attempt to save this hole. As well as making it problematic income wise when I take off at least 6 months once I do have the op... AhhhhhH!!!!!!!!!!
Some body let me off this crazy fucked up bus of a life. I feel like I'm being driven around the same roundabout and not going anywhere but in circles, because if it goes down the wrong road then I'm fucked.

Life.. you got to love it.

I'm all woman, says sex-change Denise

2005-11-16T14:12:00.000Z

Belfast Telegraph
By Ashleigh Wallace
15 November 2005

A transsexual from Larne is in the process of changing her birth certificate to prove to the courts in Northern Ireland that she is a "fully fledged woman".

Denise Martin was fined £30 at Larne Magistrate's Court in September on a charge of breaching the peace.

The 44-year-old, who started life as Douglas but who has been living as a woman for 27 years, said she feels she has been treated unfairly by the judicial system.

The charge relates to an incident with a transvestite which took place in Larne earlier this year.

Denise admits the pair became involved in a verbal spat but denied lifting the transvestite's skirt - a charge for which she was fined £30 but which she vows she will not pay.

She appealed the outcome of the case but failed to appear at an appeal hearing which was held in Ballymena last week.

She is currently filling out a form sent from England which will allow her to change her birth certificate from male to female.

Denise says she wants this document before the next appeal hearing so she can prove to the judge that she is a woman.

Denise, who had her sex change operation in London 22 years ago, said: "I only knew I was being taken to court about five months after it happened. "A policeman called to my door and asked me if Douglas Martin lived here."I said no but a few minutes later I heard a clunk and there was a summons lying under the letterbox.

"When my name was read out in court, they referred to me as Douglas but I've been living as Denise for 27 years.

Neither Denise nor the injured party attended the court hearing.

She said: "I never touched him and for him to say I tried to touch his genitals is wrong.

"I didn't go to court because I felt it was so unjust I had to go to court for something so trivial.

"I am not going to pay this fine but if they send me to jail, are they going to recognise me as a woman, because that is what I am - a fully-fledged woman."

awallace@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Time up for cross-dressing cop?

2005-11-16T12:33:00.000Z

BBC NEWS
By Ram Dutt Tripathi
BBC News, Lucknow

The authorities in India's Uttar Pradesh state are trying to work out what to do with a senior police officer who likes dressing up in drag.

Things came to a head last week when inspector general Devendra Kumar Panda turned up in court in a yellow dress and dark red lipstick.

TV news channels flocked to his home to film him worshipping Hindu deity Lord Krishna in the form of a tree.

Mr Panda says he is the reincarnation of Goddess Radha, Lord Krishna's beloved.

His wife takes a different view - she has filed for separation because he is not behaving like a husband.

The court in Lucknow ordered Mr Panda to pay 7,000 rupees ($150) a month in maintenance allowance.

Wife's fears

Mr Panda's wife, Veena, fears he may lose his job - and she her maintenance allowance.

"Please keep my future in mind," she told reporters. "I am a 51-year-old lady and a graduate. I should not suffer due to any action against him."

The couple have been married for 33 years and have two sons, but Mr Panda now pays his family no attention.

He has been spending his time embracing a peepal, or holy fig, tree in his garden, chanting mantras to his beloved Lord Krishna.

One room in his house is kept sacred and secret.

"That is my private bed room. Only Krishna can enter there," he says.

'Strange behaviour'

There is nothing unusual in a Hindu ascetic getting up early and quoting from scriptures, as Mr Panda does.

Nor is it uncommon for Hindu sects to worship deities as lovers, or for men to live like women devotees.

But Mr Panda's position is a tricky one, seeing as he is a senior police officer.

Colleagues kept his penchant for ladies' clothes a secret for years, but must now decide what to do with a man who has become a figure of ridicule.

"The appearance and behaviour of Mr Panda is strange," admits director general of police, Yashpal Singh.

"But maybe he is suffering from some mental problem and any disciplinary action may precipitate things."

Malaysian transsexual says she won't challenge government to recognize her marriage

2005-11-15T18:48:00.000Z

Mainichi News

KUALA LUMPUR -- A Malaysian transsexual woman said Tuesday she won't fight a decision by the government to declare her marriage to a man as illegal, because she wants "no trouble" over what is believed to be the first such union in this mostly Muslim country.

Jessie Chung, a Christian businesswoman who was born male and underwent sex change surgery in China in 2003, said she was "satisfied and very much in love" after marrying Joshua Beh in a ceremony conducted by independent church pastors in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state Saturday.

"I respect the laws in this country," Chung said in a telephone interview. "I want to cause no trouble for the Malaysian government. My husband and I want a peaceful life. We will be content as long as no one tries to interfere with our marriage."

Home Minister Azmi Khalid said Monday their marriage was invalid, because it was considered a same-sex union. Chung's identification papers state she is still a man, since Malaysian transsexuals cannot legally update their gender status even after changing their sex.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship comprising 2,000 churches said it also won't recognize the marriage.

Malaysian newspapers said it was the first marriage involving a transsexual in this Southeast Asian nation.

A U.S.-trained ethnic Chinese nutritionist in her 30s who runs a health therapy business, Chung, whose original name is Jeffrey, expressed hopes that the publicity might encourage further public awareness about the struggles of transsexuals.

"I cannot force people to change their minds, but I hope they will learn to accept us," Chung said.

Many transsexuals in Malaysia face discrimination and cannot find employment, forcing them into illegal sex work, activists say. (AP)

Iran's transexual revolution

2005-11-13T13:24:00.000Z

The Independent

An unlikely religious ruling has made Tehran the sex-change capital of the world. Caroline Mangez went to meet the brave souls who have swapped gender in this rigidly conservative city, where women wear the chador and homosexuality is punishable by death.

I know because I've experienced both worlds: as a man in Iran I have more freedom and choice than as a woman," muses 30 year-old estate agent Milad Kajouhinejad, 30, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a hirsute chest. It gives him pleasure, this manly gesture, just as it gives him pleasure to carry an attaché case and sport the full beard of a practising Muslim. Until three years ago, he could do none of these things. "I never used to go to the mosque, either," he adds. "I did not want to have to wear a chador. Now I can pray in boxer shorts if I feel like it, and I never miss prayers," he says.

Milad gives thanks to Allah five times a day and, while doing so, always offers a special prayer to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, "without whom," he says, "every transexual would have had to leave Iran. He was the first to issue a fatwa authorising a man or woman to change their sex."

More than 15 years after Khomeini's death, the cleric's unlikely religious judgement means that Iran now has one of the world's largest populations of transexuals, and the fatwa itself has become the stuff of legend. "A theology student told me that he delivered his verdict after he was contacted by a couple who no longer experienced any physical pleasure. He advised them to change sex and, once the woman had become a man and the man a woman, then to remarry," says Mahnaz Javaheri, 42, the mother of Athena, a 20-year-old who, as she puts it, "needed to be freed of her man's body". A devout Muslim, Mahnaz says that if the three imams she consulted hadn't given their permission, she would never have let her son Hadi become Athena, "even if it meant him committing suicide. These three great ayatollahs all said that he should have the operation as soon as possible."

The real story behind Khomeini's fatwa is scarcely less dramatic than the apocryphal version. He issued it in 1983, after a man named Fereydoon, who had made several unsuccessful attempts to gain an audience with the Iranian leader, eventually forced his way into Khomeini's private rooms. Fereydoon persuaded the cleric that he was a woman trapped in as man's body by revealing the breasts he had grown thanks to a course of hormone treatment.

Before this extraordinary moment, Khomeini's administration had routinely harassed and arrested transexuals, lumping them together with Iran's gay community. According to Iranian law, homosexuality is punished by lashings, prison and even, in the case of persistent offenders, the death penalty.

"Before Khomeini delivered his verdict, there was a lot of corruption. Hundreds of gays and lesbians used to meet in Laleh Park, right in the heart of Tehran. By authorising transexuals to change sex, the imam separated the wheat from the chaff," Milad says pragmatically, delighted to be the man he always felt he was back in the days when he was a she called Mahboubeh, "the beloved". The only traces of this other life are two minuscule pinkish piercings in his ears, where his mother Fatima used to try and get him to wear earrings, and the black-and-white photograph in their family album which shows Mahboubeh, aged three, crying because her hair has been put in bunches.

"All the restrictions that women in Iran are subject to applied to me," says Milad. "I wasn't allowed to go out, let alone consult a doctor about my problems, and of course I had to wear the veil in public. I used to hide boy's clothes in my satchel to play with the kids in the street after school."

He sees the past as a procession of bad memories - with one or two compensations. "I was a big hit with the girls in my class. They came from strict families, so it was a chance for them to have a boyfriend without seeming to be up to anything."

"Yes, they knew we couldn't take what was most precious to them, their virginity," concurs Amin, 28, formerly Milad's best friend at school, who has also undergone a sex-change operation. "So they were very relaxed. No one ever made fun of us. In Iran, a man who behaves like a woman is despised, looked down on. But a girl who behaves and dresses like a man is respected for her strong character."

Mahboubeh was nine when her father, a long-distance lorry driver, caught her in a clinch with one of her girlfriends. He didn't say anything but was convinced that his daughter was turning into a homosexual. In 1986, to "awaken" Mahboubeh's femininity, her parents forcibly married her to a 30-year-old cousin. She was only 12 but, on the eve of her wedding, a state doctor confirmed that she was an "adult woman" by establishing that she had breasts and was menstruating. After being raped, she ran away.

"After the police took me back to my father, he agreed to let me get a divorce when I told him that otherwise I would commit suicide," he says.

Some years later, at university, Mahboubeh discovered a book on transexuals in the library - and with it the existence of Milad within her. Since Iran's clergy prides itself on its ability to pronounce on every aspect of the faithful's lives, it was to them that she turned. "First I saw a state doctor and then, for a year and a half, I was passed between experts and psychiatrists. I was given hundreds of tests, a brain scan. In the end, a clerical judge gave permission for my operation."

"On grounds of sexual identity disorder," the accompanying medical certificate reads.

At this point, the young woman, who was by then 26, was rejected by her parents. "We needed someone to prepare us," her father says now, "to explain that afterwards we wouldn't be able to see any difference between him and other men."

"We didn't like it at first," explains Fatima, the mother who Milad still helps in her kitchen - unlike the other three sons in her now-reconciled family. "My family threw me out," recalls Milad. "I had to find money... I drove a taxi from six in the morning to midnight. The rest of the time I slept in my car."

The procedure took years and cost thousands of pounds, between two and three times as much as the £2,000 an Iranian surgeon charges for turning a man into a woman. "I applied to the committee of imam Khomeini's charity for financial assistance which they give to people, well, to people like me. They give us interest-free loans up to £700."

Milad had read on the internet that four operations would be enough. Skin grafts, nerve grafts, muscle grafts - he has had 23 operations in three years and will have the last one before the end of the year. "My surgeon, Dr Khatir, has done such a good job that soon a woman won't notice a thing," he says. "He is a pioneer. He was doing this before the revolution. I am the only person in Iran, and perhaps in the world, to have gone as far, medically speaking. The last operation was the hardest..." Two bouts of four hours at a time on the operating table; his friends crying in the corridor, him thinking he was dying, saying his final prayers, a scarf clamped between his teeth to stop him screaming, and which he only took out to tell Dr Khatir, "Go on, I'd rather die than stay a woman."

Milad still saves all his money to spend on removing his unwanted femininity. "My birth certificate, my identity card and my driving licence were changed when I stopped being a woman, in 2001. For the deep voice, the build, the beard, there are the hormones... I'll be taking them all my life." Milad, who claims to have as much success with women now as before, wears a wedding ring "so they don't hassle me. When I've finished all the operations and I have enough money, I'll think about marriage."

Amin, who is still Milad's best friend, is already engaged. He is a respected member of the Guardians of the Revolution, a very strict military organisation; no one there knows about his operation. "No one in my wife-to-be's family knows my former identity either," he says. "All trace of it has been erased. I would be too afraid that they would object to our marriage. Everyone in my family was fine about it until my father died. But since my two sisters learnt that, under sharia law, as the only male heir of the family I was entitled to twice their share of the inheritance, they have refused to see me."

In male-dominated Iran, girls who have the misfortune to be born in a boy's body are a laughing stock. Setareh, now a 24-year-old woman, has first-hand experience of this from the two years' military service she had to do when still called Saeed. "Life in barracks was agony. While I felt more and more like a woman, I was being ordered to speak in a deeper voice, to be more masculine. To stop people making fun of me, I ended up wanting to look like a Hizbollah fighter, growing my beard long and trying twice as hard in training. It was in the army that I fell in love with Ali, the day he fought with three soldiers who were trying to rape me at knifepoint. I was 19, he was nearly 21. It was Ali who encouraged me to set about changing sex so that I could marry him."

They have persuaded Ali's parents that Setareh is the sister of the Saeed they used to know. "Every time my parents-in-law ask me about Saaed, I blush and say he has gone on a long trip," says Setareh, who never takes off her chador. "Ali insists I wear one, just as he likes me to devote myself to housework." Giving pleasure without being able to feel it - "I was warned" - Setareh is perfectly reconciled to her lot.

With one eye glued to a religious chat show, Magnaz, the mother of 20-year-old transexual Athena Javaheri recalls: "At first we thought this odd idea of dressing as a woman came from his grandmother who loved dressing him up as a girl and getting him to dance."

Now, she says her main concern is whether her former son will be able to give her any grandchildren.

Athena has torn all the pictures of her as a little boy out of the family album. In the photographs from the 1960s, her father Hussein, who is 52 now, looks like Jim Morrison. Twenty five years of revolution, however, have made him a conventional man who doesn't let Athena go out without a chador.

"I couldn't accept it," he says, "my only son! I beat him until he tried to commit suicide. Then the doctors had to explain to me that he wasn't homosexual before I would agree to the operation."

According to some transexuals, their legal status in Iranian society has prompted hundreds of gay Iranians to apply for permission for sex-changes, which, if granted, would allow them to continue their relationship without fear of arrest. "The best psychiatrists don't make any distinction between a transexual and a homosexual," claims Amin. "So, if you're a woman, you just have to go the chemist and inject yourself with testosterone to obtain a permit to be operated on. Many women then have a bit of breast reduction to be able to indulge their deviancy. When they get arrested, the permit is a big help."

But legal recognition is not the same as social acceptance. Transexuals in Iran continue to suffer not just ostracism, but physical attacks. For every happily assimilated Milad and Athena, there are newly made men and women on the streets of Tehran who can never reveal the truth that lies behind their chador or business suit.

Getting away with murder

2005-11-12T16:45:00.000Z

The Bay Area Reporter

Ten years ago, a man by the name of William Palmer walked into the Playland Cafe in Boston, Massachusetts. When he left the bar that night, he was with a 23-year-old transsexual by the name of Chanelle Pickett. The following day, Pickett's body was found by police in Palmer's bedroom. She had been beaten, and then strangled to death.

In a jury trial two years later, Palmer was acquitted of murder charges, and only sentenced to two and a half years in jail on assault and battery charges.

The Chanelle Pickett murder is one of the cases that led to the Remembering Our Dead project, which tracks antitransgender violent murders. The Remembering Our Dead project also coordinates the Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20 – the anniversary of the day that Pickett's body was discovered.

I wish I could say that things are getting better, and that antitransgender violence is well on its way to being a thing of the past. Maybe it is, but if so, it's got a long way to go. The numbers simply don't bear that out.

Since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance, there have been 24 murders. There are even a couple others for which the evidence is yet too scarce to be sure, and of course, there are plenty of examples of individuals who were assaulted and survived their attacks.

That's an average of two murders every month, with half of those cases being within the United States. It's four more murders than last year. It's also in line with the last decade, plus or minus five cases over the last 10 years, save for an abnormally high number of cases in 2003.

Indeed, since Pickett's death on November 20, 1995, there have been exactly 200 reported antitransgender violent murders. Roughly 20 a year, and just about one every two weeks. Half of those – approximately 100 people – were residing in the United States at the time of their death.

Think about that for a moment. Picture if you can 200 people. It's no small number, particularly when one is talking about people.

Can you, right now, think of 200 people with whom you regularly associate? If so, imagine a world where each of them left your life, one every two weeks, for a decade. Imagine what it would be like to see your friends, your family, your co-workers, and even your most causal acquaintances slowly stripped away.

Each of these 200 people who have been murdered have been lost to their family and friends. For each of these people, there are hundreds more who mourn the loss.

I've had the honor of meeting many friends and family members of some of those lost in the last decade or so. I've also lost friends of mine to this sort of violence. I can tell you with every shred of my being that I would not wish such a loss on my bitterest enemy.

Let me further put all this in perspective: 60 people have died, worldwide, from the bird flu, and we hear about it on the news nearly every night. Yet stories of antitransgender violence remain largely hidden and untold.

I'm not trying to diminish the importance of preparedness when it comes to a possible pandemic, but I do want to keep things in perspective. The government is pushing hard for a response to a disease that has killed 60 people, and is not currently being passed human to human – yet more than triple the number of deaths barely gets covered within the media, let alone in the world of politics.

This is one of the things that baffles me. I know how often someone is killed due to antitransgender violence, and I know what it feels like to lose someone to this. Yet so little seems to be done about these murders.

In Congress, a transgender-inclusive hate crimes bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives, yet the Senate remains, at best, reluctant to do the same. In fact, the leaders behind this bill – most notably Senator Edward Kennedy, who represents Massachusetts, where Chanelle Pickett lived – want the transgender-inclusive language struck from both the Senate and House versions of this bill.

Likewise, the Human Rights Campaign is standing with the senators on this, even refusing to sign onto a letter supported by representatives of over 40 top national organizations. It would seem that getting a win is more important to HRC than doing the right thing.

When people like William Palmer kill people like Chanelle Pickett, one often notices a pattern of what's termed "overkill." The assumed reason for this is that the killers want to do more than kill: they wish to erase the very existence of their victim.

It would seem to me that the lack of attention that is often paid to these murders, coupled with more than light resistance by the people we entrust to ensure our rights to want to include transgender people under the most basic of legal protections, simply further the goals of these killers. It allows for more erasure than they may have been capable when they committed murder.

In a civilized society, this is unacceptable. We should not be aiding killers, we should be helping victims. When one considers how many victims there have been, I cannot help but wonder why more isn't being done: if not for them, then for the two hundred that we might be able to expect over the next decade.

After all, the next victim could be someone you know.

Gwen Smith, who started the Remembering Our Dead project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance, hopes all her readers participate in events on November 20. You can find her online at www.gwensmith.com.

---------------------------------------------

http://www.rememberingourdead.org/

Canadian Province Ordered To Pay For Sex-Change Surgeries

2005-11-12T16:13:00.000Z

365gay.com
by Fidel Ortega,
365Gay.com Miami Bureau

(Toronto, Ontario) The Ontario government has been ordered to cover the costs of sexual reassignment surgery for three transsexuals left stranded when the previous Tory government delisted the service from the government paid health care system in 1998.

In an interim ruling, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found the province discriminated against them based on a disability when it cut funding for the surgery on Oct. 1, 1998.

Ontario had paid for the procedure since 1969. It's now the only province that doesn't.

Diagnosed with "gender identity disorder," an internationally recognized medical condition, Martine Stonehouse, Michelle Hogan and a third complainant known only as A.B. were patients at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health's Gender Identity Clinic in Toronto on the day the funding ended.

They were part of its transition program so they could receive the clinic's recommendation for sex-change surgery. It was the only clinic in Ontario that had an arrangement with the Ontario Health Insurance Plan for sex-reassignment surgery and the supporting services.

The tribunal found that delisting the surgery had a disproportionate adverse impact on the complainants, as they had already spent years in the transition process.

There was a "grandfathering" clause, but it covered only those individuals who'd already been recommended for surgery. Given how far along each of the complainants were, the tribunal said they should have been grandfathered as well.

Hogan is encouraged by the ruling, but has no idea what the final decision will contain.

It's also unclear when it will come, which is why this was released in the interim.

Hogan was already taking hormone replacement therapy when the government cut its funding, and like A.B. has already had the surgery.

The tribunal said that given the nature of the complaints, it would be unfair, especially to those waiting for funding to complete the surgery, to continue their treatment only after the full decision and reasons were released.

A health ministry spokesman said the government plans to comply with the interim order while awaiting the final decision.

Airline must pay £25,000 to bullied transsexual worker

2005-11-11T18:10:00.000Z

timesonline.co.uk
By Nicola Woolcock

A TRANSSEXUAL airline worker who was forced from her job by managers unhappy with her appearance won her claim of sexual discrimination yesterday. Marlene Davidson, 51, who was formerly called Malcolm, had an unblemished four-year career with the budget airline, Flybe.

But after beginning a sex-change procedure she was mocked, bullied and told to use disabled lavatories. Ms Davidson won her case at an employment tribunal in Exeter and has been awarded an undisclosed amount of damages, thought to be about £25,000.

She started her sex change in 1997, initially living as a woman at home and as a man while at work. But managers complained when she grew her hair and had her ears pierced.

Ms Davidson, from Feniton, Devon, was overlooked for promotion five times. She resigned in 2003, complaining that she had been forced out by discrimination. John Hollow, the tribunal chairman, criticised Flybe for failing to give her enough support. Don Darby, Flybe’s personnel manager, said that he had been “dumbfounded” to learn that Ms Davidson was undergoing a sex change.

Indianapolis Mayor Issues Order Protecting Transgender City Workers

2005-11-11T17:53:00.000Z

365gay.com

(Indianapolis, Indiana) Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson has moved to protect the rights of transgendered municipal workers.

Peterson has amended an executive order he signed in 2004 that protects gay and lesbian city workers to include the transgendered.

The order prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. In signing the document Peterson said it brings the city in line with a state policy adopted by Gov. Joe Kernan and kept in place by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The mayor's action drew praise from LGBT advocacy groups including Indiana Equality and Stonewall Democrats.

“Changes such as this have been needed for a very long time and will make a real difference in the lives of so many people who are simply trying to make a living, support their families, and contribute to the community,” said Leigh Anne Richards, President of the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance.

The Bloomington Human Rights Commission has recommended that the Bloomington City Council add gender identity to the city's human-rights ordinance, which already includes sexual orientation. The recommendation has not yet come up for a vote.

The Indianapolis City-County Council is currently considering an amendment to its Human Rights Ordinance that would protect all Indianapolis citizens and workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the areas of employment, education, public accommodations, and housing.

A similar proposal was defeated in April. (story)

Nationwide, more than 100 communities and at least 16 states and Washington, D.C. have some form of LGBT anti-discrimination statute in place for private employment.

The Spot - One of my Pic's

2005-11-09T16:38:00.000Z

Famous British Transsexual Divorce Trial Focus of Lawrence University Address

2005-11-09T13:51:00.000Z

Lawrence University
Contact: Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services,
920-832-6590/richard.peterson@lawrence.edu
For Immediate ReleaseNovember 8, 2005

APPLETON, WIS. — April Ashley was a British supermodel and fashion icon in the 1950s and ‘60s. And when she announced her marriage to Arthur Corbett, the heir of Lord Rowallen, she also became Great Britain’s most famous transsexual.

Dan O’Connor, a lecturer in the University of Wisconsin’s department of medical history and bioethics, explores the gaps between the medical and legal definitions of sex and the popular cultural signs of gender in the Lawrence University address “‘Wife a Man’: The April Ashley Divorce Trial and the Definition of Sex in Postwar Britain.”

O’Connor’s presentation, Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 4:15 p.m. in Lawrence’s Science Hall, Room 102, is free and open to the public.

A one-time member of the British merchant navy, Ashley spent two years as a showgirl at the Carousel, Paris’ famous female impersonator nightclub before undergoing sex reassignment surgery in 1960. Three years later in Gibraltar, she married Corbett, a transvestite and likely a homosexual, who was well aware of the facts of Ashley’s gender. Their marriage was never consummated, leading to a landmark court battle.

In a 1969 trial — the first case in which an English court has been called upon to decide the sex of an individual — the judge rules ‘wife a man’ on the grounds that although Ashley had a sex change operation, she was, by three biological criteria, a male “at birth” and the marriage was annulled.

The ruling was subsequently applied beyond the scope of marriage to deny transsexual British citizens basic civil rights and left them unable to legally change their sex in the UK until 2003 when it was repealed.

O’Connor is teaching at UW as a visiting research fellow from the Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick in England. He is currently completing his Ph.D. dissertation “Sex Signs: Transsexuality, Writing and the Languages of Male and Female in Britain and the U.S., 1950-2000.”

NZ - Transpeople ‘expendable’ to Labour?

2005-11-08T19:33:00.000Z

gaynz.com

Labour believes the transgender community is expendable – that’s the reaction of advocacy group Agender NZ to the news that MP Georgina Beyer is withdrawing her private members bill that aimed to make discrimination on the grounds of “gender identity” illegal.

Beyer told GayNZ.com last week that she withdrew her Human Rights (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill because of a desire shown by New Zealanders at the election for more conservative government, and because she feels the bill is not necessary. She believes as it stands, transgendered people are adequately protected against discrimination under existing Human Rights Act provisions.

Agender NZ, an advocacy group which aims to eliminate the social stigma attached to transgendered people, strongly disagrees with Beyer’s reasons for withdrawing the bill. “We regularly see the need for this legislation in our work,” says President Claudia McKay. “Agender believes the proposed legislation sends a message to the community that it is not okay to discriminate against Trans people. To not have it in place sends a clear message to New Zealand that it is still open season on Trans people.”

McKay says the Human Rights Commission’s own research shows it is unclear whether all transpeople would be covered under the existing Human Rights Act. At best, she says, the existing category of ‘sex’ would apply only to post-op transsexuals, who make up a small percentage of the community.

Beyer’s bill would not have created a special category for transpeople, but would simply put them on a level playing field with other New Zealanders, McKay says. She suggests the decision to shelve the bill was more likely politically motivated. “It seems that to Labour, the title of the old John Wayne movie ‘They were expendable’ is an apt description for the transgendered community,” she says.

Court Passes on Transsexual Discrimination

2005-11-08T18:48:00.000Z

www.ksl.com
By GINA HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider shielding employers from discrimination lawsuits by transsexuals, dodging a workplace rights fight.

The court's refusal to intervene leaves in place a victory for Cincinnati Officer Philecia Barnes, who was born Phillip Barnes.

A federal appeals court upheld a jury's finding that Barnes was a victim of discrimination, under a federal civil rights law. The city had been ordered to pay the officer $320,000, and pay another $550,000 in attorney fees.

Barnes, a 24-year veteran of the Cincinnati police force, dressed as a man at work but a woman during off-hours in 1999 when the officer was demoted. Barnes sometimes wore makeup to work and had manicured nails.

Richard Ganulin, one of the city attorneys, told justices that employers should be protected from discrimination lawsuits based on "transsexual and homosexual characteristics." The city maintains the demotion was for professional reasons.

Had the court agreed to hear the case, arguments would have been scheduled in the spring, in time for two justices named by President Bush to weigh in. At issue was the scope of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts, which protects people from sex or race discrimination.

Sexual orientation is not covered in the law, but justices were asked to deal with a related issue: sex stereotyping of transsexual workers.

A transsexual is a person who has undergone a sex change operation or whose sexual identification is with the opposite sex.

The case would have been a follow-up to a 1989 Supreme Court decision which made it more difficult for employers to win lawsuits accusing them of sexual stereotyping and other bias. That case involved a woman who argued she was denied promotion because her supervisors thought she did not act feminine enough.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor played a key role in that case. She sided with the woman and wrote a separate opinion that gave guidelines for lower courts to follow. Victims, she wrote, must show that "an illegitimate criterion (such as sexual stereotyping) was a substantial factor" in the employer's personnel decision.

Bush has named appeals court Judge Samuel Alito to replace the retiring O'Connor, and some civil rights groups oppose the nomination. Another Bush nominee, Chief Justice John Roberts, was confirmed in time for the start of the Supreme Court's term last month. Roberts replaced Rehnquist, who had voted against the female worker in the 1989 case.

There are no good estimates about the number of transgender workers in the United States because of their fears of going public, said Lamda Legal attorney Cole Thaler.

"Trans employees are particularly vulnerable to harassment and discrimination because they deviate from employers' ideas of what men and women are supposed to look and act like," said Thaler, a lawyer with the gay-rights group that is not involved in the Barnes case.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said that Barnes was subjected to an unusual daily evaluation by other sergeants and required to wear a microphone at all times

The case is Cincinnati v. Barnes, 5-292.

One of my pic's - Freek

2005-11-06T17:53:00.000Z

Copyright D-notice Designs 2005

A sort of self portrait of how I felt about my self before I made the decision to transition.

Guy Fawkes night - YEAH!

2005-11-05T18:20:00.000Z

"Remember, remember,
the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
We see no reason why
Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!"

- Guy Fawkes

Surviving transgender abuse

2005-11-05T18:11:00.000Z

VermontGuardian.com

By Hannah Mason
posted October 14, 2005

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The following article is part two of a series on the dynamics of intimate partner violence.

Many of us don’t think much about our gender, although it affects us constantly. Imperceptible guidelines dictate what our bodies look like, what we wear, and how we walk. Along with those come judgments; we know what a “real man” is, and we can tell exactly what a “real woman” is.

Transgender people break away from one or more of society’s expectations around gender — expectations that insist that everyone is either male or female, that one’s gender is fixed, that gender is rooted in our biological sex, and that our behaviors are linked to our gender. What about those whose gender identity does not fit neatly into traditionally and narrowly defined gender roles?

Society has a concrete way of dealing with people who deviate from these expectations. It attempts to force them back into place, to keep them in the “man” box or the “woman” box. Many transgender people deal with shame and self-doubt in confronting the pressures to conform. In addition, stories of brutal violence against transgender people are common. The fear that a transgendered person feels upon being “outed” to the wider community is directly linked to the stories of those who have had the experience with devastating results.

Imagine, then, that through this continuing atmosphere of violence, a transgendered person finds someone they truly love. Or maybe they already have a relationship with someone when they begin discovering that they feel that their prescribed gender may not be fully representative of who they really are. How do you attempt to leave your partner if society is constantly telling you that they may be the last person who will love you?

Many survivors of intimate partner violence experience self-doubt, a wish to help their batterer and protect children, a belief that the abuse they currently experience might be better than potential future abuse, lack of financial resources, and a sense that there is no where to turn. For people who do not conform to traditional gender roles, these feelings are often magnified by the experiences they have had with society forcing them to conform.

Because of society’s lack of knowledge about transgender people, and a general “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude, batterers use tactics that play off of this cultural discrimination. The threat of “outing” someone can carry with it the risk of losing a job, alienating family, or being denied medical access.

Transgender people who attempt to leave a relationship and stay in a hotel may be denied public accommodation, or be asked to leave a restaurant where they try to get something to eat. The batterer is often knowledgeable of all of these facts and is quick to remind the survivor of them.

In our efforts to support them, we need to take steps that do not create additional hazards for trans survivors and revictimize them as they are able to finally leave. Education, understanding, and speaking up against both relationship and discrimination violence opens options for us all. Since society already plays a role in supporting the batterer, every step that we as a community can take to help survivors is critical.

There are things we can all do to help transgendered survivors of domestic violence:

Check out the Survivor Project (www.survivorproject.org/) or GenderCrash (www.gendercrash.com/101.shtml). Find out more about the specific differences between transsexual, transgender, cross-dresser, and other gender-variant people.

Call legislators to support H.478, which proposes that “gender identity and expression” be added to the current discrimination law, making it illegal to discriminate against transgender people in the workplace and in public accommodations.

Attend the Transgender Day of Remembrance Speakout on Nov. 19. Contact Hannah@SafeSpaceVT.org for more information.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or sexual violence, contact SafeSpace Vermont at 866-869-7341 or the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence at 800-ABUSE-95.

Hannah Mason Houser is program coordinator for SafeSpace Vermont.

Beyer withdrew gender bill herself

2005-11-05T12:07:00.000Z

gaynz.com

MP Georgina Beyer’s Gender Identity Bill has not been dumped, says the MP, and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister says its future is entirely up to her.

Reports of the bill’s demise at the hands of the Labour Party hierarchy last weekend in the Sunday Star-Times appear to have been premature. Beyer says she’s written to the newspaper to clarify the situation. “At no time did Helen Clark or Michael Cullen ask me to withdraw the bill,” Beyer told GayNZ.com.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen’s office confirmed that Beyer’s bill forms part of a reinstatement motion that will carry over all pending bills from the last Parliament into the current one.

However, Beyer herself has decided to withdraw it on the basis that she doesn’t think it is necessary. She says the drawing of her bill from the private members ballot earlier this year preceded the release of the Human Rights Commission’s National Plan of Action, which addresses quite strongly issues around discrimination against transgendered people.

“Every time a trasngender issue has come before the Human Rights Commission in the past it has been resolved before it has ever reached a court,” says Beyer. “So as yet there is no court ruling to suggest that we are discriminated against. I will assume until I see otherwise that we are included in the Human Rights Act protections.”

Ironically, Beyer’s reasons for withdrawing the bill coincide with the reasons why Wayne Mapp, the National Party’s “PC eradicator”, didn’t support it in the first place. He told GayNZ.com he didn’t think it was necessary, as no evidence existed to suggest that “serious discrimination” against transgender people was occurring.

“Precisely, which is why I’ve done what I have done,” Beyer agrees. “For the same reason, Larry Baldock’s Marriage Amendment Bill was not necessary. It is already understood that marriage is between a man and a woman, just as from what we know to date, transgender people are protected under the Human Rights Act.”

In addition, Beyer says support in the new Parliament for socially progressive legislation has been reduced, and she feels no need to drag the glbt community through an acrimonious public debate. “The mandate from the voters was quite clear. They wanted a more conservative government, and I would have no support whatsoever to get this bill through even a first reading.”

At any rate, she says, it was never her intention to create a special new category for transgendered and intersexed people under the Human Rights Act. “That would be an extreme move, we should just be included under sexual orientation. But I am now assured that we are protected – so I suggest everyone go and check it out.”

Ref: GayNZ.com (c)

Landmark Transgender Equality Education Campaign Launched

2005-11-04T14:41:00.000Z

Indybay.org

WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign launched the first-ever advertising and landmark education campaign on transgender issues today with an ad in Roll Call, the leading publication for Congressional news and a new handbook designed to educate Americans about transgender equality. Produced in partnership with the National Center for Transgender Equality, the ad in Thursday's Roll Call is first in a series focusing on the stories of hard-working Americans who have been discriminated against in the workplace because of who they are.

"The more Americans know and understand each other, the more united we are as a nation," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Our new education campaign underscores that employees, many of whom provide vital national security positions, are being denied opportunity to do their job purely because of who they are. Most Americans want a federal law to end discrimination. But no law exists. We're working on Capitol Hill and across the country to build support for that law, a law we unequivocally support."

"These moving ads put this issue in front of Congress in a big way," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). "Coupled with the education that many of us have been doing for years, these ads will go a long way toward building the support we need to pass a transgender-inclusive non-discrimination law. This isn't the beginning and it won't be the end, but it's a big chapter toward getting this done."

The Human Rights Campaign's new publication "Transgender Americans: A Handbook for Understanding" will be distributed to every member of Congress this week. The handbook addresses many of the challenges facing transgender Americans without legal protections, including employment discrimination, health care issues, identity document obstacles and
school issues, and was produced in collaboration with supporting partners NCTE and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute.

"I'm so proud to be a part of this campaign," said Diane Schroer, a 25-year Army Special Forces Officer who was offered but then denied a counter-terrorism job when she told her future employers she was transgender. Diane's story is featured in the Nov. 3 Roll Call ad. "I had the same skills in counter-terrorism the day they denied me the job that I did the day they offered it. When it comes to keeping Americans safe, discrimination can't be a part of the equation."

A new area of the Human Rights Campaign's website, http://www.hrc.org/transgender, features the ads, the handbook and more information. Another Roll Call ad will run Nov. 10.

NCTE today also released a new publication entitled "Make Your Voice Heard: A Transgender Guide to Educating Congress. This publication is available for free download at http://www.NCTEquality.org.

Today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Human Rights Campaign is also hosting a briefing on Capitol Hill (Longworth House Office Building 1539) to highlight workplace challenges for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that LGBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.

Mexico Transsexuals Protest Police Raid

2005-11-03T12:02:00.000Z

365gay.com
by Mark Stevenson,
Associated Press

(Mexico City) Transsexuals are protesting against a raid by Mexico City police that forcibly rounded them up, photographed them and took their fingerprints as part of a search for a serial killer who allegedly dresses as a woman to gain access to his victims.

Since 2003, Mexico City has been gripped by a series of a least five killings and possibly as many as 20 of older women living alone; in many cases, the assailant was described as a man dressed up as a nurse or social worker.

The transsexuals, most of whom work as male prostitutes, offered to join efforts to catch the killer known as the "Mataviejitas," or "Old Lady Killer" but said the Oct. 14 raid was misdirected and had violated their civil rights.

"They kicked the girls and beat them," said Alma Delia, 45, a matronly transsexual who was among the three to four dozen people picked up in the raid.

"They sprayed them with tear gas. When they finally took us to the police station, they told us 'cooperate, give us your fingerprints and you can go.'" Mexico City prosecutors later acknowledged that none of the fingerprints collected in the raid matched those found at the crime scenes. They said the raid in which the transsexuals were loaded aboard a bus and released around dawn the next day was motivated by "complaints from neighbors."

The transsexual groups said they doubted the killer was part of their community, but have produced a wanted poster showing police sketches of the suspect and offered to post it around the gay community, and have offered to turn in their own fingerprints on a voluntary basis.

"We want to cooperate and help catch this person," said Jaime Montejo of the advocacy group Brigada Callejera. "We just don't want the transsexual community to be used as scapegoats." Montejo said he believed the raid was designed to cover up police inaction on the case.

One transsexual, who gave her name as Paloma, 36, said police "are just picking on us, the most vulnerable ones."

Paloma, who refused to give her last name for fear of police reprisals, called the raid illogical. "Would a serial killer walk around at night dressed as a woman, with all the police who are always watching us?" The killer is believed to gain access by befriending elderly women by offering them health or pension services, and once in their homes, beating and robbing them and then strangling them.

Police said the fingerprints found at five of the crimes scenes belong to the same person, but that there are no similar links in the cases of another 31 elderly women killed since 2003.

However, some details like the cause of death, or the profile of the victims are similar in about 20 of the cases.

Janiuk speaks at Diversity Week

2005-11-01T17:14:00.000Z

The Spectator
By: Lyssa Beyer
Issue date: 10/31/05
Section: Campus News

Many people unknowingly hold misconceptions about ideas referring to homosexuality and its relationship with the concept of gender identity, said senior Jessica Janiuk, a transsexual student at UW-Eau Claire.

These are the misconceptions Janiuk, who was Diversity Week's keynote speaker, addressed during her presentation on being a transsexual student at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Hibbard 101.

Janiuk said sexual orientation is an attraction to someone. It is something outside of your body, while your gender identity is "how you identify as."

"I identify myself as a transsexual," she said. "My physical body and my gender identity were so far apart from each other that I had to seek out physical change."

As Janiuk outlined the many details of her transition, several audience members asked questions to understand a topic many of them had never discussed before.

The first question that arose from the audience was how Janiuk knew she really was supposed to be a woman. Her answer came in the form of a comparison to random cravings for food. "Where does that craving come from?" she asked. "What is telling you that you like it?"

"I don't know," answered an audience member.

"Exactly," Januik said.

She also explained aspects about the transition that came as a surprise to many.

For instance, before a person can take hormone pills, he or she has to meet several pre-requisites. It has to be certain that any one wishing to undergo this transition to the opposite gender wants to only because of gender identity issues, and not because they suffer from some other mental disorder.

This is crucial to know, because hormones have many side affects that are irreversible, and surgery is permanent as well.

Such a permanent decision also requires the involvement of family. The board that evaluates whether a person is fit for the transition requests the presence of the person's parents so it can see that the family at least is aware of what is going on.

However, not all parents are willing to accept such a transformation, and Janiuk explained that exceptions are made in individual cases to these guidelines.

Janiuk's parents accepted it.

Although it took time, they eventually realized that she should do what she needed to do to be happy. Januik said.

Senior Kelly Pierce said she was awestruck by the courage it took for Janiuk to stand up for what she wanted.

"I was so impressed with her strength of character," she said. "She knew that it would be a possibility that her friends and family would abandon her, but she stayed true to herself because she knew what was right for her, and that's awesome."

One thing that could not be altered by hormones was Janiuk's voice. She worked with a voice trainer on the Eau Claire campus to learn how to raise her voice and achieve a feminine sound.

Achieving the complete transition from masculinity to femininity is a long road, and Januik portrayed the physical transition through years of photographs.

Looking at the changes in the pictures sparks different emotions in Janiuk.

"It's interesting because that was me," she said.

"I remember that moment when I was standing there. It's like seeing a different person, but not."

Have a great SAMHAIN every one :)

2005-10-31T17:15:00.000Z

Tonight is Samhain (Pronounced 'Sowen'), named after the Aryan lord of death 'Samana'.
This is the summers end and the beginning of the celtic new year. It is a time to honour death and to celebrate rebirth and the cycle of life.

B.C. race a steamy drama

2005-10-30T14:07:00.000Z

National Post
Brian Hutchinson
National Post
Saturday, October 29, 2005

'Queen of Hearts' spices up politics in Vancouver

VANCOUVER - Larry? Larry couldn't stand it anymore. He was airlifted to Ottawa, where he's now Senator Campbell. Trying to win his old job as Vancouver mayor is Jim, a draft-dodging, opera-loving descendant of Oklahoma sharecroppers.

Jim Green's chief opponent is Sam. That's Sam Sullivan, a Cantonese-speaking quadriplegic and conservative-minded city councillor who has helped junkies score crack and heroin, sometimes driving them around the needle-infested Downtown Eastside and letting them fix inside his van. Sam wants to be mayor, too.

Then there is Jamie Lee Hamilton, a former Miss Gay Vancouver. She's a towering aboriginal transsexual and part-time prostitute. She's running for a seat on city council. She calls herself the Queen of Hearts.

The synopsis for some prime- time TV soaper? Hardly. This is real-life municipal politics, Vancouver style. It's far too gritty --and sticky -- for the small screen.

--------------------------------------------

The Whole articule is about two pages long so I'm not going to post the whole thing, It is worth a read.... And people say politics is dull :)

PM gives Beyer's bill the chop

2005-10-30T13:56:00.000Z

Stuff.co.nz
30 October 2005
By HELEN BAIN

Prime Minister Helen Clark has told transsexual MP Georgina Beyer that her bill to protect transgender people from discrimination is "history", and Beyer blames a "climate of intolerance" for its demise.

Beyer's bill, the Human Rights (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill, was drawn late last year in the ballot that decides which private members' bills will be considered.

But its journey through the parliamentary process was delayed until after the election because the government got campaign jitters about its subject.

Now, Beyer says, Clark and Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen have said her bill won't be revived.

The bill, like all legislation left on the table when the last parliament was dissolved, has lapsed, and would need to be included in a carry-over motion to be debated in the new parliament.

Beyer said her bill was the victim of a growing climate of intolerance in parliament and society.

"I feel quite disappointed that I have had to capitulate. The political landscape has changed... They want to appease the more conservative elements that have come to the fore in recent years. It is quite alarming when you see this growing tide."

Progressive legislation in previous terms, such as the Civil Union Act and legalisation of prostitution, had fanned discontent among conservative voters, and the current social climate would not accept her bill, Beyer said.

"I want to see this issue dealt with sensibly, without the accumulated backlash - it is not a safe environment for the transgender community if we have this debate now."

Beyer said the appointment of National MP Wayne Mapp as spokesman for eradication of political correctness showed that it would now be "open slather" in attacking minority rights.

National would have "jumped on (the bill) with very emotive and divisive tactics," Beyer said. Even if Labour had supported the bill, it is unlikely that the parties supporting the government, NZ First and United Future, would back it.

NZ First leader Winston Peters said before the election that the bill would result in cross-dressing teachers in New Zealand classrooms.

"We realise that as a party we are going to have to knuckle down and maintain stability, rather than get caught in their venom," Beyer said.

Beyer said the bill would have protected a minority which was vulnerable to discrimination and had no protection in the law.

"Who would have thought that to protect such a basic human right would be such a contentious issue?"

Beyer was determined to continue to fight for rights of transgender people. "It will probably appear that I have lost this battle but the war is not over yet."

She hoped the issue would be addressed through a Human Rights Commission proposal currently before the government.

Beyer has spoken to transgender Auckland fashion designer and performer Linda Le Pou, also known as Lindah E, who was prevented from presenting an award at the Pasifika Music Awards, and was encouraged that Le Pou might take a "test case" in the fight against discrimination.

Le Pou is in mediation with the Human Rights Commission over the matter.

Mapp said the gender identity bill was a classic case of political correctness and he was pleased it would not proceed.

"It is taking things to a ridiculous extent. I'm not suggesting open slather on discrimination, but why do we need a special law for transgender people?

"It's a choice issue - that's a choice she made."

New Zealand did not need law for "that sort of thing" because laws should uphold the rights of mainstream society, not be "captured by a minority".

Inside The Church Of Hate

2005-10-30T10:29:00.000Z

Watch the Skynews Report Here

Fred Phelps peddles his hate from a church in Kansas. His followers picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq - because he says they died defending a "fag country". Should he be free to preach his poison? A 12-minute video report - some of it secretly filmed - from UK's Sky News channel.

--------------------------

Okay, These people have some serious issues. Scary, scary people.

Beyer’s Gender Identity Bill Dumped

2005-10-30T10:25:00.000Z

GayNZ.com

MP Georgina Beyer’s Human Rights (Gender Identity) Bill has been dumped from parliamentary consideration, and Prime Minister Helen Clark has said it will not be revived. Beyer blames the Bill’s demise on “a growing climate of intolerance in parliament and society.”

Beyer says the Bill would have protected a minority which is vulnerable to discrimination and currently has no protection under law.

Progress on the Bill through parliament was initially delayed until after the elction because of the sensitive subject matter and right-wing criticism. NZ First leader Winston Peters cited it during the campaign, saying it would result in cross-dressing teachers in New Zealand classrooms. Newly appointed National Party spokesman for the eradication of political correctness Wayne Mapp says the Gender Identity Bill was a classic case of political correctness and he is pleased it will not proceed, as New Zealand does not need a law for “that sort of thing”.

Beyer says she is determined to continue to fight for the rights of transgender people, saying “it will appear that I have lost this battle but the war is not over yet.”

Slap Down :)

2005-10-29T18:16:00.000Z

While looking at a Indy Forum about a fight between the Respect Coalition and OutRage I spotted this:

------------------------------------------------

The Bible condemns homosexuality

03.10.2005 09:38

I would like to remind people that the Bible totally condemns homosexuality. Not only does it call it an abomination in Leviticus, but God also destroyed two cities for having widespread practice of homosexuality too. The religon of Islam also strongly condemns it too. Where does homosexuality come from? It comes from the Devil! See the link below.

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/5003/5003_01.asp

Religous expert

-----------------------------------------------

Hmmm.. I thought. Here we go, flame wars and trolls. So much for the power of discussion, it's muck slinging time.

And then a shining light appeared in the thread, a post so brilliant I had to pass it on. There is nothing more wonderful than watching the bigots being beaten at there own game with out the aid of muck slinging or name calling. I give you ladies and gentlemen, the wonder that is Zoe. Enjoy :)

------------------------------------------------

religious expert - lost in translation...?

03.10.2005 11:29

quick quote from john s dixon:

Sodom and Gomorrah, which is a classically held Scripture used most frequently to "prove" how God hates homosexuality. It is a passage that I contend is most often misunderstood. But I will let the Bible interpret itself. It is written in Ezekiel 16:49,50:

"Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good."

The question I know you will ask is, "What is this about abomination?" Indeed, what is it? Let's look at the account of Sodom again:

The word rendered here as "abomination" comes from "tow'ebah" (in Strong's, it's # 8441), and is said in Strong's to mean "idolatry" or "idolaters". In the Hebrew it is very clear that it does not mean "homosexuality".

In Luke 10:3-12, Jesus talks to his disciples about what to do if they are not greeted with hospitality, and tells what the consequence will be for such towns. In verse 12, Christ says, "But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable [merciful] in that day for Sodom, than for that city." He said this after a full missive on inhospitality, so we must take verse 12 in that context.

You may also look particularly at Genesis 19:4-5, which reads:

But before they [the men in the house and the angels] lay down [to sleep], the men [Strong's #582, Hebrew word 'enowsh] of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter:

"And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know [Strong's # 3045, Hebrew yada] them."

The Hebrew word "'enowsh" is most accurately translated as mortals, and includes all genders and all ages. Even in the context provided in the story, it is clear in the Hebrew that it is the majority of the town population, male and female, that is represented here.

The Hebrew word "yada" has no sexual context, and means to become acquainted with socially. By no means is yada translated elsewhere with a sexual context, either. If sexual interaction were intended, the word "shakab" (Strong's # 7901) would be used instead, which means to know sexually. It is fascinating to note on the side that the NIV mistranslates yada here as "we want to have sex with them".

That said, the notion that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for homosexuality does not hold up. The Hebrew is clear, and nowhere is homosexuality made an issue.

Of very interesting note is that historically it is the Roman Catholic Church that is guilty of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Middle Ages, and even after, the Church was always full of riches, with gold and rich foods, and yet allowed thousands upon thousands of its own subjects to starve and be subjected to slavery as paupers in the papal reign. To escape being exposed for the hypocrite it was, the Roman Catholic Church very likely chose to mistranslate and misconstrue the truth of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to escape the wrath of the people. What better scapegoats than its own abundance of homosexual priests? By pinning Sodom and Gomorrah on this population, the Roman Catholic Church blackmailed its own priesthood into silence, threatening excommunication if anyone spoke against her.

oh, and re: leviticus, here's a few questions..

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev.24:10-16). Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
x
zoe

------------------------------------------------

In the words of 'Marco Polo':
"BOOMSHANKA! INTERCEPTION"

GLBT DISCRIMINATION REPORT - MAINE

2005-10-29T17:47:00.000Z

CPHV : Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence

In 2005, CPHV began an investigation of the extent and impact of anti-GLBT discrimination. By conducting confidential interviews across the state, CPHV was able to collect disturbing evidence that Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender individuals experience discrimination in employment, public accommodation, education, housing and credit.

Download a copy of
Discrimination against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender individuals in Maine

----------------------------------------

You need Acrobat to read this. I warn you now, some people will find this to be an upsetting read.

And now for something completely different..

2005-10-29T17:29:00.000Z

The first trailer is out for Transamerica. You need Quick Time 7 to view it.

And lastly The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies!

Ain't I a woman?

2005-10-28T17:11:00.000Z

BayAreaReporter
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

While issues of discrimination, hatred, and prejudice tend to be universal, there are some things that a transgender person deals with on a regular basis that few non-transgender people are ever likely to face. One example that often frustrates yours truly is some of the questions I've been asked:

"Have you had 'the surgery?"

"What was your name ... before?"

"Are those your real breasts?"

"Which bathroom do you use?"

"What do your genitals look like?"

It's not so much the questions themselves that annoy, it's that someone felt these were appropriate questions to ask – and that they have a right to an answer. I believe I know why they might think this, too: it's part of them trying to figure out – by their own definitions – just what gender I am.

You see, these questions all boil down to one simple question, and one that many transgender people have heard, perhaps more than any of the above:

"Are you a man or a woman?"

In return, I might ask a simple question in response, particularly if I feel the person asking the question might be open to learning a thing or two. It's rare, but it happens.

"What is your definition of 'man' and 'woman'?"

For myself, I find it a deceptively difficult question. I can't so easily quantify it into a set of raw components, I cannot just say, "the doctor just removes your puppy dog tail, and you take sugar and spice on a daily basis."

I'll gladly admit that I did not grow up like many other women. I have a history that some would regard as incongruent with the gender I inhabit today. As such, I have an adjective – transgender – that sits in front of the word woman. It's a modifier for the modified, I suppose, but it does not diminish the value or the importance of the word "woman" in my life. Perhaps it even makes it stronger, given that I've had to work a lot harder at it than many other women out there in the world.

I should add that it's not something I dreamed up one slow weekend over tea, of course. This is something I knew of myself since I was 3 years old. It's something I spent a lot of energy in my teen years trying to deny – but I digress.

You see, when I try to think of those elements that everyone labels as feminine or whatnot, I find that there are also plenty of women who bend, even outright break, these notions. I've also known many men who also do a damned fine job of breaking all the usual descriptions of "man."

I know it's not biology alone. The number of folks I've known with chromosomes that don't fit what my high school textbooks said seems to toss that right out the window. Never minding, of course, that these sex chromosomes are what most will try to tell me defines my gender.

It's also not one's body, at least not in a specific sense. I've known too many women with penises and men with vaginas to settle for that definition. Likewise, this assumes that if, say, a man loses his genitals in an accident of some nature, he does not become a woman simply because he lacks his meat and two veggies.

It's certainly not based on the ability to procreate. I mean, people aren't considered non-gendered before puberty, nor is gender removed at menopause. Infertility has never determined gender for a non-transgender person, so why would it define me?

Hormones? These are too slippery, as it's common for human beings to have both testosterone (the hormone usually attributed to men) and estrogen (strong enough for a man, but made for a woman). Some just have more of one than the other – and all of those can be manipulated.

I sure hope it isn't merely one's social role, because even though we're years removed from the era of Donna Reed and Ozzie Nelson, these remain so much a part of the cultural landscape. I'm neither of them, nor would I want to be.

I know what society has told me about being a woman: it says I should be as neurotic about my appearance as Cathy Guisewite's eponymous character in a swimsuit. Ack!

In the workplace, I'm told that – as a woman – my contributions are worth less than that of a man, and that no amount of schooling or experience will keep me from being second-guessed.

Indeed, both in and out of the workplace, my desire should be secondary to the wishes of others, and I should not expect my needs to be fulfilled unless my needs involve meeting another's' desires: I should be servile, a servant.

I reject these antiquated views of what a woman is – and not simply because I'm a transgender woman. I would hope that many others would regardless of gender.

So how does one define those two genders? It's all nearly impossible to define, without heading into words like "spirit." It seems an innate sense of self, an essence. It's something that one can only feel for themselves, and no amount of questions about bathrooms, genital configuration, or "old names" can change that.

I can only tell you I am a woman, because that is how I see myself – it is what I am. Besides, I've asked myself far more question than anyone else, over many years – I know my truth, and that, ultimately, is all that matters.

Gwen Smith is no Sojourner Truth, Carole King, or Peggy Lee, but she is a woman, W-O-M-A-N. You can find her online at http://www.gwensmith.com.

Get it Out

2005-10-27T20:34:00.000Z

ASU Web Devil

Groups like Exodus International say they can 'save' people from homosexuality, but at what mental cost? SPM talks with Valley residents who have undergone reparative therapy.
by Grayson Steinberg published on Thursday, October 27, 2005

Jacie* lounges comfortably on a cream-colored leather chair just weeks before she will have the sexual reassignment surgery necessary for her to become a woman.

The political science and history sophomore pushes back her dark, red-highlighted hair as she recalls how a fundamentalist Christian counselor caused her a painful bout of depression and self-doubt over her status as a male-to-female transsexual.

"Doctors aren't supposed to fuck with your head and play games," Jacie says. "That's nowhere in the Hippocratic oath."

Her feminine voice rises in volume as she describes the mental scars the therapy left behind.

Jacie was sent to the counselor after several secular therapists diagnosed her as a transsexual. Biologically, Jacie was born as a man, but psychologically considers herself a straight woman. She has endured a long process to become female, including: taking estrogen, regularly consulting psychologists on her mental state and ultimately, going under the knife for surgery that includes a trachea shave, the reduction of the Adam's apple, and an orchiectomy, or removal of the testicles.

But her parents refused to accept her chosen gender identity. Jacie says the Christian counselor quoted Bible passages to convince her she was gay because she dated and slept with other men. Jacie explained her identity was female, but the counselor argued as long as she was biologically male, she was a homosexual who was going to hell.

Jacie says the counselor twisted her words to suit his own agenda, accusing her of being a transvestite when she said was sexually aroused after hugging an attractive guy while dressed as a woman.

"It [was] really like being cross-examined by a lawyer," she says.

The therapist also tried to blame her parents for her gender orientation, Jacie adds, saying her father neglected her by not being home enough and her mother pampered her by not allowing her to play football or ride roller coasters. Eventually, the man told her parents Jacie refused to accept the possibility of becoming heterosexual and could not be cured until she admitted she was gay."
He also made it a lot harder for my parents to accept me, because he didn't tell them I was transsexual," Jacie says.

Psychological damage

Jacie's counselor employed a form of treatment known as reparative therapy, which seeks to change one's sexual orientation.

Dr. Jack Drescher, the chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues, says reparative therapy sets the stage for "patient blaming" when treatment fails, especially when subjects hail from deeply religious backgrounds. Therapists using this treatment tell patients their ability to change their sexual orientation depends greatly on the power of faith. Those who don't become heterosexual, which Drescher says represents the majority, often end up questioning whether their conviction was compelling enough.

Patients can become depressed, anxious, even suicidal, he adds. They find their ability to form relationships with other gay people is seriously restricted. Patients refuse to accept their own homosexuality and are paralyzed by a barrage of homosexual stereotypes and ingrained feelings of prejudice against gay people.

While some positive consequences of therapy are reported anecdotally for certain young gay men and women who see reparative therapy as an escape from the gay bar scene, Drescher says, there is little concrete research on the subject.

One report, "Can Sexual Orientation Change?" conducted in 2003 by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, who led the campaign to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973, found 200 individuals who participated in forms of reparative therapy reported substantial shifts toward heterosexuality in 10 different measures, including attraction to members of the opposite sex and pleasure from heterosexual sex.

Spitzer says he sought to determine whether people changed their sexual orientation at all, not how often this occurred. But since it was so difficult just to find 200 people who had changed for the study, the likelihood of altering sexual orientation is probably rare, he says.

"It's hard to change anything that's basic to a person's personality," Spitzer adds.

100 percent different

The last decade has shown Joe Schneider, a 35-year-old elementary school teacher in Goodyear, that change is possible. For many years, he says he was gay, but is now happily married and heterosexual.

"I'm a 100 percent different person today," he says.

After having casual gay sex, using cocaine and methamphetamines, and regularly hanging out in gay bars all through college, he says he could no longer reconcile his behavior with his Christian beliefs, which told him homosexuality was wrong.

Schneider broke all connections to the gay scene but still found himself depressed, inadequate and unable to befriend any straight men.

Schneider, a born-again Christian, found solace in the form of a local support group run by Exodus International, a non-profit Christian organization offering "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ," according to its Web site.

Exodus taught him that all men are created heterosexual, but certain experiences, such as sexual abuse, or as it was in his case, a neglectful father, make it difficult for men to form healthy relationships with other males, he says. Exodus teaches that gay men view sex as a way of finding the love and acceptance they craved from their fathers but never received as young children.

In his support group, Schneider says he discussed his low self-esteem and desire for affirmation with about 20 other men. They talked about their own personal struggles to eliminate homosexual thoughts and feelings, interrupted by incidents like watching gay pornography or cruising at a gay bar. They bowled together and went to the movies together, and Schneider was also encouraged to form friendships with men in Bible study groups at other churches.

Comparing his struggle to dealing with an addictive disorder like alcoholism, Schneider says it took about three or four years to transform his identity. At one point, he relapsed, he says, having sex and moving in with another member of the group.

"I could no longer be part of the group because I was making no effort to change," he says.

But Schneider says he felt guilty about becoming sexually intimate with another man and eventually returned to the group. He says he eradicated all sexual attraction to other males and later began dating women, one of whom became his wife.

He has also begun operating a non-profit ministry based on what he learned from Exodus, offering advice to those battling the contradiction between homosexual feelings and religious beliefs.

"I don't want anyone to have to go through the pain I went through," he says.

Scott Davis, director of Exodus Youth, says his organization provides support for anyone yearning to escape from the gay lifestyle. Exodus tries to empower young people through faith, but they don't always succeed. They may lack sufficiently strong faith, lack support from friends and family or be poorly motivated, Davis says.

But he adds, "We don't believe there's anyone who inherently can't change."

Davis says some people report continued depression and anxiety after therapy, but the numbers aren't any worse than those any other psychological organization might report. He does not provide any statistics to support this assertion.

But Drescher says he feels that since there's no guarantee of successful treatment, therapists must distinguish those who have the best chance of altering their sexual orientations from those who don't.

"Would you offer the treatment to all [patients] knowing not everyone would improve?" he asks.

Jacie stopped seeing the Christian counselor after four or five sessions, but says the damage was done. She says she would read her Bible at three in the morning just to find verses that could refute what the therapist had told her.

She says it was devastating to hear a Biblical scholar with a psychology degree condemning her to hell.

"It makes you feel horrible," Jacie says. "You've been going to church all your life and God loves everybody except you."

'Don't play God'

Reparative therapy's power to inflict feelings of guilt and depression on those who seek it makes it unscientific and unnecessarily harmful, says Amy Kobeta, director of public affairs at the Arizona Human Rights Fund, a gay rights organization

Reparative therapy organizations function under the belief homosexuality is a mental disorder, which major psychological organizations, like the American Psychological Association, have shown is false, she says.

Rather than trying to conform to preconceived notions of others, gay men and women unhappy with their sexuality should seek licensed psychological therapy that helps them discover their true identities, she says.

Jacie says the first therapist she ever visited to combat her struggle with her gender orientation was a Southern Baptist counselor in his seventies who diagnosed her as a transsexual after only three meetings. She adds he represents a faction of religious therapists genuinely interested in counseling people like herself.

"There's a whole lot of [reparative therapists] out there that are just advancing their own agenda," Jacie says.

Mike Haley, the director of the gender issues department at Focus on the Family, an organization aimed at upholding traditional family values, says it is unfair for gay-rights organizations citing reparative therapy's harmful effects to restrict its availability when it has helped thousands of people, like himself, "[walk] away from homosexuality." People should have the option to seek therapy that will help them understand and, if necessary, eliminate homosexual feelings, especially for Christians who realize their behavior violates God's will, Haley says.

He cites a verse from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 in the New International Version of the Bible, which was also referenced by Schneider, to highlight how homosexuals can and have changed their sexual orientation. It states, "Do you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral ...nor homosexual offenders...will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you just justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of our God."

Though the Bible states explicitly that homosexuality is wrong, he says, some churches too often condemn homosexuals and refuse to offer counseling or even allow gays and lesbians to participate in prayer services

Instead, churches should reserve judgment, he adds.

"Introduce them to Jesus rather than push them away from him," Haley says.

When Jacie attended her old church after her final meeting with the fundamentalist counselor, she received only judgmental stares from attendees who had been informed by her parents what had occurred, she says.

Jacie now attends the United Church of Christ, which has helped her examine scientific evidence within parts of the brain indicating a genetic basis for homosexuality and transsexuality, and realize she has no choice in being who she is, Jacie says.

"They know that, basically, most people would love to be normal," she says.

The Rev. Phil Reller, of Tempe's First Congregational Church, goes further by saying it is very arrogant of the reparative therapy movement to presume they can repair a genetic condition because people living with it are somehow flawed. The First Congregational Church is a member of the United Church of Christ, which openly accepts gay and lesbian followers, according to the church's national Web site.

"To be a person that further lays oppression and judgment on someone based on their own belief system or their own interpretation of the scripture seems just brutal to me," Reller says.

Instead of further enhancing guilty feelings over one's homosexuality, Reller says it is his Christian responsibility to provide counseling that helps lead one to healing and self-acceptance.

"Don't play God," he adds. "If [a] person has a genetic predisposition to gayness...are we to say that God's grace is somehow not full, that they have to change?"

Moving past the shame

Jacie says that she no longer feels nearly as guilty she did initially after her sessions with the Christian counselor.

But recently, after scheduling her trachea shave and orchiectomy, Jacie says she wondered again whether she would burn in hell for her actions.

"It's [the counselor's] farewell gift to me," she says. "The question of whether I'm going to hell."

She adds that she was so angry her parents forced her to see the counselor that she would not speak with them for about four months afterward, refusing to answer their phone calls. Now, though, they are on good terms and have largely accepted her transsexuality.

Jacie says she has no qualms about being honest with her experiences and is hoping her story will stop other parents from traumatizing their own children.

"If I don't do it, I'm as bad as the people putting them through it," she says. "If you know someone's gonna start a fire and you don't tell anyone about it, you're as responsible as the one starting the fire."

Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.

*Editor's note: Name has been changed in order to protect the privacy of the source. Jacie is the name she will adopt after her gender reassignment surgery is complete.

Transsexual Fights For Women’s Prison

2005-10-26T14:34:00.000Z

Rainbownetwork.com

A transsexual who had a sex-change operation 22 years ago is fighting for the right to go to a women's prison.

Denise Martin could be sent to prison after refusing to pay a fine over a breach of the peace offence and might be sent to the all-male top-security Maghaberry jail outside Belfast, according to the Guardian.

“It's a matter of principle,” she told the paper.

“At my first hearing in Larne last month the court referred to me as ‘Mr Martin’ or ‘he’, because on my birth certificate I'm still Douglas Martin. But as you can see by looking at me, I haven't been Douglas for over 20 years.

“On my British passport it states that I'm Denise, and that's who I have been for all these years. But if the next court appearance in Ballymena treats me like a man, then I'm in danger of going to an all-male prison.

“I have instructed my solicitor to fight this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. I didn't go through years of psychiatric counselling, a painful operation and the entire trauma through my life to let the courts deny who I am today.

“I don't care if they fine me £30 or £3,000, I won't pay and I won't rest until they recognise me as Denise.”

Martin said that she was also fighting her case for her partner, as the pair want to get married next year.

“The law, or at least the courts, still sees me as a man and I don't want my partner being branded as someone who has married a man,” she told the Guardian.

“He met me as a fully functioning woman, not as Douglas but as Denise. This fight is as important for him as it is for me.”

Transsexuals Call for Equal Treatment

2005-10-24T17:53:00.000Z

The Korea Times
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

A 54-year-old who underwent a transsexual operation in 1992 looks no different than any other middle-aged man.

However, he has had difficulties at work and in his marriage because he is still a woman on the family register.

His application to change his registered gender from female to male was turned down by the court in 2003.

Lower courts dismissed the suit, saying that a masculine appearance does not determine a persons gender.

Recently, three transsexuals have brought their cases to the Supreme Court in their desperate bid to change their officially registered genders.

The court said that earlier next year, it will make a ruling, which will be a precedent for the top courts decision on transsexuals.

In 2002, a court permitted Harisu, a celebrity transsexual, to change her officially registered gender from male to female after having a sex-change operation.

A total of 81 transsexuals applied for changes to their gender registration between 2000 and 2004.

Among them, 41 transsexuals have been permitted to change their recorded gender.

Currently, there are an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 people in Korea with gender identity disorder, who believe they were born the wrong sex.

However, Han Chae-yoon, head of the Korean Sexual Minority Culture and Rights Center (KSCRC), said that in Korea, their official genders, even after surgery, depend on judges decisions because of the lack of legal ground.

"Being determined a man or a woman in society can determine an individuals happiness over her or his entire life," Han told The Korea Times.

"It is nonsense for judges to decide ones gender at their own mercy in accordance with their tastes and values because of the absence of a relevant law," she added.

Lee Moo-sang, professor at the college of medicine at Yonsei University, said at a forum on transsexuals that people have been able to change their registered genders in Germany since 1980.

About 30 judges and medical experts on transsexual surgery took part in the forum held on Sept. 13.

In Korea, some lawmakers proposed a bill for transsexuals to have the right to change their registered gender in 2002.

However, a move to improve the rights of sexual minorities has hit a snag since the bill could not be passed in a regular session.

Han said that many transsexuals have continued to appeal to the authorities to get legal permission to change their official gender long before Harisu was allowed to change hers.

"For many years, transsexuals have struggled to change their registered sex in the courts. But the courts have not listened. The case of Harisu is just the tip of the iceberg among many transsexuals deprived of their right to happiness," she said.

Lee estimates that hundreds of people undergo sex change operations every year.

"Many transsexuals don't want to come out publicly and helplessly accept the courts decision without appealing to a higher court when they apply to change their registered gender," Lee said.

For that reason, there is no precedent in the Supreme Court since so many are reluctant to appeal, he added.

In 1996, a man who sexually assaulted a transsexual woman was not charged with rape because the victim was deemed by the court not to be a woman.

The court first allowed a transsexual to change the registered gender in Korea in July 2002.
Sweden was the first country to set up a law concerning transsexuals in 1972.

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr

The Transsexual Bond Girl

2005-10-24T16:40:00.000Z

MI6.co.uk

Riding on the popularity of Star Wars, James Bond journeyed to outer space in 1979’s Moonraker, but for his next adventure, producer Cubby Broccoli decided it was time to bring Bond “down to earth”. There was talk, even, of Roger Moore’s retirement, but he was lured back for “one last film” (Moore ended up staying on for three more films). This in mind, For Your Eyes Only was much grittier than several of the previous outings: fewer gadgets, and only a brief appearance from the official Bond car.

For all their efforts to make this film “down to earth”, though, producers could never have predicted the out-of-this-world rumours that would go flying shortly after For Your Eyes Only wrapped shooting.

The Sunday tabloid, “The News of the World” came out with a story claiming that one of the Bond girls was actually born as a man. The rumour grew and grew. One version even went so far as to claim that Roger Moore had performed a love scene with this transgendered Bond girl, and that Moore was quite miffed upon finding out what had happened.

Q. Did a transsexual appear on screen in For Your Eyes Only?

A. Yes. Model-turned-actress Caroline Cossey (whose professional name is Tula) was born with male sex organs on August 31, 1954 in Brooke, Norfolk, England, UK as Barry Kenneth Cossey. However, suffering from Klinefelter's syndrome (XXY chromosomes instead of the normal XY), Cossey was technically more female than male.

Growing up, Cossey claims to have even been mistaken for a girl more than once before making the decision to make the transition. Barry changed her name to Caroline in 1972, began taking female hormones, and had breast augmentation surgery. Throughout the early 1970s, she worked as a chorus girl and a topless dancer to raise money for her sex-reassignment surgery, which she finally underwent at Charing Cross Hospital in London in 1974.

Caroline Cossey’s modeling career took off even before having her sex-reassignment surgery because there was high demand for tall models (she stood at 6 feet tall). Post-op, she became a well-known fashion model, did various advertisements, and appeared on several magazines covers before being cast in 1980 for a role in For Your Eyes Only.

Q. Did Roger Moore perform a love scene with Caroline Cossey?

A. No. Caroline Cossey can only be called a “Bond girl” in the loosest sense. While she does appear on screen, it is only for a few brief seconds, and she has no lines in the film. As a matter of fact, she is not even listed in the film’s credits. Her appearance is during the scene in which Bond goes to Gonzoles’ villa in Madrid. She is one of the many unnamed girls at poolside.

Q. What happened to Caroline Cossey after For Your Eyes Only finished shooting?

A. After “The News of the World” revealed that Cossey was a transsexual, it severely disrupted her acting career; however, Cossey continued as a successful model for several years. She appeared in the music videos for Duran Duran’s “Rio” and for Power Station’s “Some Like It Hot”, and she has even made multiple appearances in Playboy magazine (the first openly “out” transsexual ever to do so).

Cossey was engaged to Count Glauco, an Italian national, in 1983, but under English law, she was still considered a male, and was therefore unable to marry. After fighting for equal rights for transsexuals, she married Elias Fattal in London on May 21, 1989. Unfortunately, Fallat left her shortly after the honeymoon ended, and he had the marriage annulled on June 11, 1989 on the grounds that the marriage was not legal since – again – the bride and groom had not been female and male, respectively. Finally, Cossey married Canadian comic book artist David Finch in 1992, and as of 2003, they were still married and living in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Caroline Cossey has written two autobiographies - “Tula: I am a Woman” (1982) and “My Story” (1991) – and as MI6 reported back in April, Cossey’s memoirs have been published as part of a new book entitled “Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs” (2005).

--------------------------------------

Ok, now I've seen it all.. a transsexual article. On the MI6! website. I suppose it takes all sorts to be a spy.

Transsexual insists on going to women's jail

2005-10-23T11:03:00.000Z

The Guardian - Observer
Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
Sunday October 23, 2005
The Observer

Denise Martin is fighting for the right to go to jail - as long as it's a women's prison. Martin, one of Ireland's first transsexuals who had a full sex-change operation 22 years ago, faces a prison sentence next month after refusing to pay a fine over a breach of the peace offence in her home town of Larne.

The slender, 45-year-old bleached blonde could find herself in the all-male top-security Maghaberry jail outside Belfast.

'It's a matter of principle,' she said in between sips of latte inside a hotel overlooking a windswept North Antrim coast on Friday.

'At my first hearing in Larne last month the court referred to me as "Mr Martin" or "he", because on my birth certificate I'm still Douglas Martin. But as you can see by looking at me, I haven't been Douglas for over 20 years.

'On my British passport it states that I'm Denise, and that's who I have been for all these years. But if the next court appearance in Ballymena treats me like a man, then I'm in danger of going to an all-male prison.'

What began as a 'cat fight' between Denise and a middle-aged transvestite in Larne last April may end up in the European Court of Human Rights. If Martin refuses to pay the fine at her next court appearance on 7 November, she risks a custodial sentence.

'My solicitor told me I would have 28 days to appeal, and in that period I would go to a higher court to see if they can change my status to that of a woman. I don't believe I did anything wrong, but I won't pay and am prepared to go to jail, as long as it's a woman's jail.

'If they refuse, I have instructed my solicitor to fight this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. I didn't go through years of psychiatric counselling, a painful operation and the entire trauma through my life to let the courts deny who I am today.

'I don't care if they fine me £30 or £3,000, I won't pay and I won't rest until they recognise me as Denise.'

The transsexual who says she is a normal heterosexual woman has other reasons to challenge the court's definition of her sexuality.

'My partner, who prefers to maintain his privacy, and I want to get married next year. I'm fighting this case partly for him as well. The law, or at least the courts, still sees me as a man and I don't want my partner being branded as someone who has married a man. He met me as a fully functioning woman, not as Douglas but as Denise. This fight is as important for him as it is for me.'

After the court cases and the marriage, the couple are planning to move to London. Asked how her family felt about her going public, Martin said: 'Obviously back in the early days there was a lot of hurt and confusion. But they have finally accepted me as Denise, and they know because I am a very cocksure person that I speak my mind and don't let people walk all over me.'

Aside from challenging the legal system, Martin will soon pose a dilemma for her local Anglican church where she wants to marry. 'I'm a very religious person,' she says, fiddling with a holy medal on a chain around her neck, 'It's extremely important for me to have my marriage blessed in the church as well as recognised in law.'

Martin claims that she was born as a woman trapped inside a man's body: 'I didn't have a sex change, I had a sex realignment. All the surgeons did was to correct my anatomy.

'I have been on a long, painful journey to arrive at the woman I am today. It's for that reason mainly that I will not allow the law to ignore who I now am.'

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said it would be monitoring Martin's case and would be happy to speak with her if and when her challenge reaches the European court.

Sexual minorities in socially conservative Northern Ireland have used the European courts before to challenge domestic law. In the early 1980s gay rights activist Jeff Dudgeon won his case in Europe against the British government over the criminalisation of homosexuality in the north of Ireland.

Gwen Araujo - Misrepresentation and deception or MURDER?

2005-10-22T18:24:00.000Z

Indybay.org
by Producer of Tranny Talk Saturday, Oct. 15,

Did Gwen Araujo misrepresent herself or was she murdered because four men couldn't deal with their own sexuality? No one knows. One thing people do know is the fact that the men who killed her should go to jail. The three links below will take to the reaction by the local community.

http://homepage.mac.com/trannytalk/iMovieTheater82.html

http://homepage.mac.com/trannytalk/iMovieTheater83.html

http://homepage.mac.com/trannytalk/iMovieTheater84.html

Tranny Talk has been on cable channel 29 since 1999, BUT still does not get recognized by the TG/TS community as trans media. This show is creating change. It gets aired every first and third Sunday of the month at 11:30 am on CH 29.
Next air dates: October 16, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. and November 6 2005 at 11:30 a.m. and November 20, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. Watch change taking place!!!

homepage.mac.com/tarantulas/Menu1.html

----------------------------------------------

Personally I think they should have been charged for hate crime.... They PLANNED her murder and then preformed it in a brutal manner that was just sickening in it's viciousness. They didn't just kill her, they butchered her.

Transgender rocker jailed

2005-10-21T20:08:00.000Z

LA Indymedia
by Heather Strommer Tuesday, Oct. 18

Pretext: Myla Poole is a jazz singer, a second place nominee to the 2003 LA music awards, who lost first place to her producer and pianist, Grammy Nominee Rob Mullins, and apparent 2 time Emmy award winning Jazz player, in a addition to a sax player for the Leno show. Bralalalala is a transgender rock star (http://www.bralalalala.biz), winner of the 2005 LA Music Awards, has appeared on ABC, E!, UCLA'S LGBT Newspaper, etc...

Not much more than 2 weeks ago Myla wrote a letter from Bralalalala's inbox to Curve magazine stating that "Bralalalala has helped me come out as a lesbian despite what Rob Mullins told me. Bralalalala is the most unique & determined soul I know, and my best friend." Nude photos of Myla Poole attemting to remove Bralalalala's clothing and french kissing her, are available to the press should they want them. I was given permission to use them for whatever purpose I deemed fit. But something changed in the mind of Myla Poole in a very short time. Myla Poole, who is also an Easy Rider magazine centerfold, who has a variety of drug issues, went on a tirade against Bralalalala suddenly and sharply. At 6am she marched in the door of her bedroom and home demanding Bralalalala, who had been sleeping with her for 2 months, to leave immediately (as in 10 minnutes), or the police would take her away. While Myla was trying to have Bra arrested in front of police, saying such things as, "I didn't realize she was transgender. She tricked me. Please remove this "it" this "thing" from my home. I fear for my safety."

The whole shift in tone appears to result from Bralalalalala not kissing Myla's ass regarding their shared financial endeavors. However, the lack of submissiveness in the Bralala at any time appeared to be impermissible to Myla. She further went on to tell police I assaulted her, which I said she did to me, and well, ultimately, I had to threaten a citizen's arrest of her to stop her from getting me arrested, depite no visual signs of any harm done to either of us. I had to leave essentially because I had no written agreement with her, despite contibuting to rent expenses. However, I did take her car, which I had been the sole driver of for month's to the benefit of the both of us, a car which she was not allowed to drive, by law, due to a suspended license, a criminal record, a dui or some other such reason, which I needed to move out and start up elsewhere. Myla maintained a variety of my belongings. This situation provided the pretext for Myla's next series of chaotic moves:

Bralalalala imprisoned by Myla Poole for free speech.

Myla Poole and Bralalalala were supposedly attempting to recover each others things, and lives, after an abrupt departing 10 days earlier wherein Myla, without notice, called police on Bralalalala, who she was sharing her bedroom and apartment with for 2 months. We had arranged a set up meeting with one another only to exchange our belongings...No prior effort had been made by the two parties to separate items, except 10 days before when Myla had decided at 6am when barging in the door, that it was time Bralalalala immediately leave, and then bringing police into the place., at which time Bralalala took the car to put her things in storage.

The parties had not been in direct contact since that time at Myla's bidding. Myla, in an e mail dated October 13, demanded her car in exchange for Bralalalala's cell phone, $ and other belongings. At that time Myla stated she had placed a restraining order on Bralalalala because she felt her and her son's lives were endangered by this "psycho" named Bralalalala. However, she also stated she would release bioth of these orders in writing, with the recovery of her car.

Hmmm.. Bralalalala met with Myla anyways, not wanting anything further with this person, and not having been served with papers or committed any crime. Myla never returned Bralalalala's things when asked for them at the cafe, but Bra took her to her lousy 1991 Mazda anyways. Myla had undercover police hiding in the bushes for what "they" felt was the right moment to arrest Bralalalala for using her car. Once I turned the keys over to her, officers came out of the bushes with a gun to my head. Myla makes absurd allegations about her car, which Bralalalala had been using to both of their benefit for months(her driver's license is suspended for drunk driving apparently-though she claims now she can get it back-who knows)being stolen and fearing for her life..

Unfortunately, given the angst of the male arresting officer, who felt that the car was "parked too far from the cafe," and that "I might not have given it to her," decided he had grounds to arrest me for what turned out to be a $20,000 bond and a felony charge. This time she manages to have Bralalalala, the transgender lesbian rock star, imprisoned on these false charges for almost an entire day, but Bralalalala, who is no stranger to filing civil lawsuits successfully on her own behalf, is released without bail after making a counter statement that resonates the realities of what really went on, not to mention the obvious, which are that this person willingly put herself in my presence under an alleged restraining order and before the time of arrest the car was freely given to her..what makes her hate this tranny girl so much? Hmmm..

Myla's assault and battery trial is Tuesday for assaulting her ex girlfriend, etc charges. Bralalalala, having spoken with her witnesses, will testify what she has heard from them off the stand, and state Myla has hit Bralala in a drunken stupor numerous times for no reason.

The cops, by the way, thought Myla was transgender also. What an insult she must be feeling.

I don't know what the moral of this story really is. It seems like a genuine waste of time on the surface. I can say that this being the first in line business is a bit stressful..and that even lesbians have proven not too open minded toward me at times. In any event, I am glad to be free again, and obviously will not be speaking to Myla on any level other than our now various court dates. It is unfortunate when anyone thrives on negative attention. I would much rather party. In any case, we deal the hands we are dealt in pursuit of what we really seek in this world, taking with it the good the bad and the ugly- for better or for worse.

Backing Blair VI 'Not Over By A Long Shot'

2005-10-21T18:48:00.000Z

http://www.backingblair.co.uk/long_shot/

A big thanks to poons for pointing this one out. Tim Ireland strikes again!

Tim also has an unfunny side, if your pro-war, a child or of a sensitive disposition then DON'T watch this.

http://www.backingblair.co.uk/the_line/

Cop indicted in transsexual's assault

2005-10-21T12:58:00.000Z

mysanantonio.com
Guillermo Contreras and
Vianna DavilaExpress-News Staff Writers

A San Antonio police officer with 16 years on the force is looking at the possibility of life in prison after he was arrested Thursday on a federal charge of sexually assaulting a transsexual.

The arrest of Dean Gutierrez, 45, came two days after a federal grand jury handed down an indictment charging him with deprivation of civil rights by committing aggravated sexual abuse while on duty.

The indictment capped a probe by the SAPD, the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. If convicted, Gutierrez faces up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release.

The indictment was unsealed Thursday afternoon when Gutierrez made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy. Prosecutors did not seek his detention, so Gutierrez was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and several restrictions, including orders not to have firearms.

Gutierrez, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, declined comment as he left the courthouse, walking past television cameras and escorted by one of his attorneys.

The alleged victim in the case, Gabriel Bernal, 22, and several SAPD officers testified before a federal grand jury in August, and the indictment is a result of that testimony.

Gutierrez had been facing charges in state court, but he had not been indicted there, according to his lawyers, Ed Garcia and Ben M. Sifuentes Jr. Gutierrez will enter a not-guilty plea at his arraignment Oct. 28, Garcia said.

"We understood charges were ultimately going to be presented to a federal grand jury, and we were given the indictment today," Garcia said. "We intend to review it very carefully. There are a number of inconsistencies we believe will lead to him being exonerated once the trial is over with."

Gutierrez is accused of forcing Bernal, who prefers to be called Starlight and a woman, to perform sex acts the night of June 10 on the near West Side.

Police reports and court documents allege the attack occurred after Gutierrez forced Starlight into his police car after picking her up near Zarzamora and South Laredo Street. The documents allege some of Gutierrez's bodily fluid was found in his patrol car and on Starlight's clothes and body.

In an interview with the Express-News on Thursday, Starlight welcomed the indictment, saying she hopes it will send a message to police officers, but noted not all law enforcement officers are bad.

"I thank God justice is being served," Starlight said.

Since the incident, she taped a list of Bible verses to the front door of a relative's home, where she lives.

Among them is John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

She said she prays daily to a collection of figurines of angels and the Virgin Mary crowded together on a dresser in her room, though flashbacks clutter her mind. She said she hopes for peace for herself and her family.

"I want to be me," she said. "I want to be where I was and who I am before this incident happened."

Gutierrez had been on administrative duty since his arrest in July on the state charges, but the SAPD placed him on indefinite suspension Thursday, said Sgt. Gabe Trevino, a department spokesman. Indefinite suspension is tantamount to being fired.

Prosecutors recommended bond because Gutierrez does not have a criminal record, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baumann. He said Gutierrez is presumed innocent and is not believed to be a flight risk.

The case has drawn interest in San Antonio's gay, lesbian and transgender community, which alleges it is profiled and abused, but is reluctant to come forward for fear of persecution. The community has praised Starlight for filing the complaint against Gutierrez.

Baumann commended the police department, which has drawn fire in some cases for handling the investigations of its own officers, for a quick turnaround in the probe. Much of it was done within 24 hours of the incident, he said.

"The police department did a very aggressive and thorough investigation, very quickly," Baumann said. "After that, the FBI working with the police department conducted a very thorough grand jury investigation."

Hijra (India)

2005-10-19T14:03:00.000Z

Absoluteastronomy.com

[Categories: Hindu law, Islam, LGBT, Bangladeshi culture, Indian culture, Pakistani culture, Transgender in non-western cultures]

In the culture of the Indian subcontinent a hijra is a physically male or intersex person identifying as "the third sex" or gender of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Hijras describe themselves as "neither man nor woman", though they usually refer to themselves with female pronouns and grammatical gender, and wish to be referred to as female. Hijras trace their historical roots to Hinduism, mirroring androgynous deities, and were present in the royal courts of Islamic rulers as well.

The group consists of people born with a male body, but with a non-male or female gender identity; people who in the West would be called transgender, transsexual or androgynous; and also people born with ambiguous genitalia. By some reports, occasionally there have also been people who belong to none of these categories who are forced to become hijras, by performing the crude castration / genital reassignment surgery ritual on them without their consent.

In Hindu contexts, hijras belong to a special caste and are special devotees of the mother goddess Bahuchara Mata. Within Muslim contexts, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, hijras believe their third gender is the result of God's will. All hijras, whether Hindu or Muslim, have been affected by Islamic practices. They bury their dead like Muslims instead of the normal Hindu cremation and are said to have guarded the gravesite of Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

Becoming a hijra is a process of socialization into the group through a relationship characterised as chela "student" to guru "teacher" and the gradual assumption of androgynous gender role. Each guru lives with at least five chelas; her chelas assume her surname and are considered part of her lineage. Chelas are expected to give their income to their guru, who manages the household. The culmination of this process is a religious ritual that includes castration. It is expected that a hijra's penis and testes will be removed but not all hijras do so. It is unknown what percentage of hijras are true eunuchs. In modern times, rarely hijras may also have recourse to sex reassignment surgery.

Hijras usually earn a living through prostitution; in premodern times, often this was as Hindu temple prostitutes. They also perform traditional religious ceremonies at marriages and the birth of male babies. In Islamic societies, they were associated with the ruling class and hired as court eunuchs.

In modern times, hijras now face discrimination and have primarily resorted to prostitution. Other possibilities of earning a living are rarely open to them.

Hijra attendance at birth and wedding ceremonies are usually uninvited. The ceremonies are comprised of music, singing, and sexually suggestive dancing. These are intended to bring good luck and fertility. The host pays the hijras a fee for their efforts, which is an established feature in the culture of the Indian subcontinent. In recent times, foreign negative attitudes have affected the Hijra's cultural status. Some now view them with contempt and bribe hijras to perform their ceremonies hastily as most believe they have supernatural powers attributed to their castration that, if offended, bring bad luck.

The ancient Kama Sutra mentions them performing oral sex on male parishioners at Hindu temples, although due to their identification as a third gender, they and the men they have sex with are not accurately described as gay in the Western sense. Some Hijras find husbands. Commonly the Hijra-rights groups support gay rights issues in the Indian subcontinent, but this is an emergent situation.

During British colonialism negative attitudes towards hijras were imported from Europe. The British passed laws outlawing their practices. Many Hindu temples with homosexual depictions were effaced of them. After independence, anti-hijra laws were repealed, but a law outlawing castration, a central part of the hijra community, was left intact, though rarely enforced.

Many modern Hijras, faced with health concerns and discrimination, have become politically active. For example, they have formed HIV /AIDS awareness groups to combat health problems within their communities. Other Hijras have been elected to high political positions.

In November of 2000, Asha Devi - a hijra - was elected mayor of Gorakhpur. The city had a population of approximately 500,000 as of 1991.

The term "hijra" in this context is to be distinguished from an Arabic word of the same transliteration. The last consonant in the South Asian term is not pronounced like the English "r" or the Arabic ra or Ray. The Arabic word means "migration". See Hijra (Islam).

---------------

Okay...I was a little surprised to find this on an astronomy site of all places. The web is truly a strange place.

PAKISTAN: Hijra community seeks HIV awareness

2005-10-19T13:34:00.000Z

IRINnews.org

LAHORE, 20 Apr 2005 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - For members of Pakistan's eunuch-transvestite, or Hijra community, open discussion about HIV/AIDS prevention remains a closed book. Cultural descendents of the court of eunuchs of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), most Hijra today earn their living as prostitutes, beggars or dancers.

"Our customers aren't interested in such things. They're interested in sex!" Sheila, a 30-something Hijra working the back streets of Lahore's red light Hira Mundi district, told IRIN laughingly.

Sheila's friends nodded in agreement. "We have to satisfy our customers. Wearing a condom is simply not part of the deal," another Hijra giggled, shaking her hair for attention.

But for health experts in the South Asian nation, such candor is concerning, with reportedly just 25 percent of men who buy sex from Hijras actually using a condom. Moreover, with the number of reported cases of HIV/AIDS through sexual transmission increasing, it is clear more work is needed in raising levels of awareness among this group, which reportedly numbers tens of thousands throughout the subcontinent.

However, open discussion about sexuality and HIV, not to mention the Hijra community itself, remains largely taboo in conservative Pakistan. Officially, there are close to 2,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. However, given the nature of the subject, few infected people disclose their status. Some experts estimate the true number of HIV-positive people to be closer to 80,000.

In Islamic Pakistan, the Hijra community is looked down upon and remains socially ostracised. Often mocked or ridiculed, their plight is not easily understood, marginalising the group further in terms of HIV awareness.

Moreover, access to health services is poor, despite high-risk behaviour with regard to prostitution.

One NGO working to address that is the Lahore-based AIDS Prevention Association of Pakistan (APAP). Established in 1996, the group has spearheaded efforts on preventive health, HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) awareness and reproductive health among the group in and around the city.

"No one speaks openly about the Hijra. Talking about HIV/AIDS with regard to this group simply does not take place," Dr Muhammad Hanif, APAP's general secretary, told IRIN candidly. Working with a team of volunteer educators, many of them members of the Hijra community itself, Hanif hopes to change that. Through local media and an extensive outreach programme, APAP provides literature about HIV/AIDS, STDs and condom usage both to prostitutes and their clients, as well as the benefits of safe sex.

"Most people do not know the risks they are taking. They believe wearing a condom will inhibit their pleasure," Gori Shermi, a peer counsellor and Hijra herself, told IRIN. "I tell them what the truth is."

But getting the message out hasn't been easy. While APAP had succeeded in making inroads where other NGOs dared not venture, financial constraints on the self-funding group have hampered further expansion. In addition to extending its condom distribution effort, APAP would like to establish a resource centre in Lahore, as well as extend its Hijra peer counselling capacity.

"This all requires money," Hanif said. "Frankly, something we do not have a great deal of at the moment."

“Sex-Change” Lunacy and Judicial Activism Cripple Canadian Correction Facilities

2005-10-18T11:50:00.000Z

LifeSiteNews.com

EDMONTON, October 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week, Synthia Kavanagh, a 43 year-old man previously known as Richard Chaperon and who is officially considered a woman, in a fit of rage trashed the medium/minimum security women’s prison in Edmonton in which he was housed. He fought off guards and threatened the lives of others. He is being transferred to a maximum security facility in Kitchener, Ontario but the policies that put him in a position to be a danger to women prisoners and guards is being questioned only by a Conservative MP.

It all started in 1999 when Kavanagh convinced corrections officials with the help of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, “gender-identity experts” and a Canadian Transsexual support organization, that he was really a woman who needed “gender reassignment treatment” and to be housed in a women’s prison. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the Canadian custodians of the politically correct doctrine that a person’s sex is a matter of personal preference not of genetics, ordered the Canadian Correctional Service (CSC) to provide the “treatment” and a transfer Kavanagh to a women’s prison.

Kavanagh was sentenced to the maximum possible sentence under Canadian law, life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, for the 1987 killing of a male “transsexual” prostitute, Leo James Black. Now he is being transferred, not back to a men’s facility but to the maximum security Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener.

Previous to Kavanagh’s case, Corrections Canada had a policy of housing “transsexuals,” those men who believe they ought to be women, in men’s facilities and did not acknowledge the purported “medical necessity” of sex-change treatments or provide them at taxpayer’s expense.

“I see our government bending over backwards to accommodate the interests of prisoners and forgetting the entire role of prisons is to protect society and to reform some prisoners,” said Conservative justice critic Vic Toews.
The Conservative MP for Provencher, Manitoba, said, “What it appears to me is the government is trying to accommodate the interests of the prisoner and, quite frankly, forgetting the interests of taxpayers.”

The new guidelines, apparently also consider “sex toys” for personal sexual gratification to be a necessary part of a prisoner’s medical treatment. An unnamed prison guard confirmed that Kavanagh had been provided with the sex object “for medical purposes,” as a form of “after care” for Kavanagh’s condition. Gender-reassignment treatment includes surgery to remove the primary male sex organs and hormones to create female-like secondary characteristics.

The existence of “gender dysphoria” is contentious even in the mainstream medical community. Dr. Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry and Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, contends that the gender dysphoria does not exist but that the disorder is psychological in nature.

In the 1970s, McHugh halted sex-change operations at Johns Hopkins, calling them “perhaps with the exception of frontal lobotomy, the most radical therapy ever encouraged by 20th-century psychiatrists.”
For voicing an opinion at variance with the strict dictates of the homosexual propaganda, McHugh has been labeled, “transphobic” and a “conservative Catholic ideologue.”

Read previous
LifeSiteNews.com coverage:Male Murderer to be Sent to Women's Prison after Complainthttp://www.lifesite.net/ldn/ 1999/nov/99111902.html

Canadian Court Orders Prisons to Pay for Sex Change Operations http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/ 2003/feb/03020707.html

Read LifeSiteNews.com Special Report on the acceptance of “Gender Assignment.”http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/ 2004/mar/040323a.html

hw

She's a jolly poor fellow

2005-10-17T17:22:00.000Z

The Times Online
By Carol Sarler

LAST MONTH it was a vicar who joined the first police officer and the first bank manager; last week, with another slash of the scalpel, we were introduced to “Britain’s first transsexual GP” as Dr Vanda Zadorozny, with womb removed, breasts lopped off, a hefty dose of testosterone and a short back-and-sides, reappeared in her surgery as Dr Richard Curtis.

The doctor’s patients, we are predictably told, have been “supportive”. But then, people usually are. As the procedure becomes increasingly commonplace, so there is a widening liberal acceptance that she is indeed he (or, more usually, otherwise) simply because she or he elects to be — an acceptance that is as kind and well-meaning as it is contrary.

It is, for a start, at odds with another strand of liberal thought: that we shall not be defined by our reproductive parts. Not by bulk of penis or breast, we insist, shall we be judged. Quite right, too. One of the achievements of the women’s movement is that what was so widely admired in, say, Jayne Mansfield, is now ridiculed by all save Daily Star “readers” in, say, Jordan. But for a society that trips over itself to reassure a mastectomy patient that she is no less of a woman then blithely to accept that, thanks to similar surgery, “Dr Richard” is no longer a woman at all, is absurd.

The making of a complete man or woman is a long process, involving roles in child play, the angst of puberty, the struggles of adolescence; it is the inner and the outer and the body and the soul and the history of a person, it cannot be substituted by surgery or drugs and it is insulting to those of us who served the full tour of duty to suggest that it can.

So what, you say? Can we not stand the insult, if “Dr Richard” was sad and now is not? And it is true that no harm is done — although it is also true that there is a recognised condition of body dysmorphia where patients plead that they are amputees trapped inside an able body; very rarely do they find a surgeon therefore willing to remove an offending limb. Far too extreme a cure for misery.

However compassionate one might care to be, transsexualism is also an extreme measure of cosmetic surgery. And while I wish the good doctor no personal ill, I am still glad that this is not my GP: anyone so capriciously destructive of the healthy body that Nature gave them would not be welcome near the one she gave me.

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Urge... to... bitch... slap.... rising, Rage ...building!... Must.... nooot.... giivve.... iinn !

Transsexual Killer's Prison Rampage

2005-10-15T13:56:00.000Z

365gay.com
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(Edmonton, Alberta) A transsexual woman who won the right to have reassignment surgery while in prison has been transferred from a medium security facility in Alberta to a high security women's penitentiary in Ontario following a series of violent incidents.

Synthia Kavanagh is in the midst of a 25 year sentence, the maximum under Canadian law, for the 1987 hammer slaying of a transsexual prostitute in Toronto.

Kavanagh allegedly trashed the Edmonton's women's prison, fought off guards and threatened the lives of others. She has been moved to the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario.

Prison officials refused to say if she will be charged for the fracas that led to her transfer.

The Edmonton Sun reports that Kavanagh had been given a sex toy by prison officials for "therapeutic purposes".

Kavanagh won a landmark ruling in 2001 when the Federal Court of Canada ordered Corrections Canada to remove her from a men's prison, house her in a women's facility and pay for her sex reassignment surgery.

"If the medical opinion is that sex reassignment surgery is an essential service for a particular inmate, it follows that it should be paid for by Correctional Services Canada, as would any other essential medical service," wrote Madam Justice Carolyn Layden-Stevenson in her ruling.

The decision forced the government to pay for sex reassignment surgery for any transsexual behind bars who wanted it.

©365Gay.com 2005

NZ’s first transsexual police officer

2005-10-15T13:41:00.000Z

GayNZ.com

New Zealand’s first transsexual police officer has faced mixed reactions from her colleagues, but support from the police hierarchy.

The senior constable, who does not wish to be named, is based in Christchurch and has been on the force as a man for 21 years. She stunned colleagues last year with her decision to remain on the force while changing her gender. She has recently returned to road policing duties.

Police Association regional director Craig Prior says the officer has the support of her unit, and it shows the make-up of the police was a reasonable representation of the population. “There is obviously a suprrise factor in it, but that will go with time,” he says.

Some officers have privately voiced concerns that the constable’s presence is damaging to the reputation of the police. However the district commander, Superintendent Sandra Manderson, says the constable’s record is very good. “We are dealing with a police officer who has been an effective, efficient and dedicated member.”

Labour MP Georgina Beyer has expressed her support for the constable. “It can be a lonely path to walk and it may be for this person, but at least they know they someone like me to call on,” she said.

Ref: Christchurch Press (c)

SEX OP DOC MAKES HISTORY

2005-10-14T13:32:00.000Z

SKY NEWS

Dr Richard Curtis has become Britain's first transexual doctor, after switching from a female GP to become a male one.

But some of his patients have not even noticed the swap from Dr Vanda Zadoronzny two months ago.

"Some people have given me a look up and down, and not actually said anything, but one guy asked me if I'd just had a haircut!" he says.

Dr Curtis has made medical history by becoming the first transsexual to be registered as a male doctor by the General Medical Council.

This was only possible after the Gender Recognition Act came into force in April.

As part of his transformation, Dr Curtis is taking testosterone to lower his voice and start growing facial hair.

He also had a hysterectomy in January, followed by a double mastectomy.

But he says this was easy compared to telling his father, an 80-year-old Polish immigrant.

"He initially took it quite well but then the penny dropped and he got a little bit upset, but he's fine with it now," he said.

Dr Curtis' colleagues have been very supportive while he was undergoing his sex change, but some of his patients may not be so accepting.

"There will undoubtedly be a number of patients for whom their relationship with him will alter and perheps they will decide to end that relationship," said Dr Ceri Parsons.

The girl with two mums - who used to be men

2005-10-14T13:17:00.000Z

Banburytoday

A GIRL being brought up by two mums who used to be men in the 'wierdest family in Britain' went on national television this week to say they are just normal and happy.

Louise Jarvis, 12, was the star of Real Families, an hour-long ITV documentary in which she said she's happy living with her two transsexual parents and wouldn't change a thing.

Louise lives in Claydon with her natural father Brian (now Sarah) and her former partner Kate West, who until 2002 was a lorry driver called Lee.

"I see us as just a normal family," said Louise, a pupil at Kineton School. "I knew that myfather was having the operation but I always knew Daddy would be in my heart. He would be with me but in a different form,"

"Since then I have called him mum and Kate is Kate. The national newspapers said we were the wierdest family in Britain and I wanted to tell people that it wasn't true. That's why I did the documentary.

"We're the same as anyone else. I have my friends round for sleepovers like anyone else. They don't treat me any different to other girls. We live a normal life. We have six cats, I'm doing well at school and I'm learning to play the flute.

"My mates are all OK about it now. The only time things were not so good and my school work suffered was when the papers wrote horrible stories about us.

"The film crew spent about three months following the family and even went with Sarah and Louise to have their hair done by Banbury hairdresser Paul Joseph.

Sarah and Kate met on a gay blind date five years ago and became partners. They had both been cross-dressing for years and after 12-months together decided to have sex change operations. Louise, who had lived with her dad since he and ex-wife Hayley split up when she was three, accompanied Brian and Lee to pre-op counselling sessions.

"I told her when she was eight," said Sarah, 34."It didn't really confuse her. Children are not naturally prejudiced. They just want their parents to love them.

"Kate, 44, said: "We wanted to set the record straight."The documentary was from Louise's point of view. She wanted to make her mum feel good and change the way people thought about us as a family."

FOXeh Fairy - One of my pic's

2005-10-12T16:23:00.000Z