News and views for Saturday, November 15th …

[USA] Wisconsin Public Radio’s audio magazine, To the Best of Our Knowledge, has an hour-long show entitled “Transgender Identity“: “Aaron Raz Link and his mother, Hilda Raz wrote the story of Aaron’s gender reassignment surgery. Conceptual artist Genesis P-Orridge talks about music and gender. Jason Goodwin wrote a novel set in 19th century Istambul. Kelley Eskridge is never specific about the gender of her recurring character Mars.” — Transgender Identity

[MI, USA] “A proposed Kalamazoo city ordinance aimed at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals from discrimination will be introduced Monday before the City Commission … The proposed city ordinance, dubbed the “Equal Rights Ordinance,” would protect against discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. The ordinance would apply to both the private and public sectors, although there would be some exemptions. Churches would be exempt and so would individuals who are seeking to rent out part of a residence in which they are living.” — Proposed Kalamazoo ordinance would ban discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered individuals

[UK] “Craig-Wood, who launched Memset in 2002, has been shortlisted for the IBM-sponsored Demeter Award for being the most inspiring entrepreneur aged between 26 and 35 … As entrepreneurial women go, Craig-Wood bears the unusual distinction of having been an entrepreneur previous to having been a woman. According to Memset’s press release, Craig-Wood underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2005. Perhaps ironically, she says she has since encountered challenges trying to be taken seriously as a woman in a male-dominated industry. Those challenges may make Craig-Wood further emblematic of some of the spirit of the awards.” — Hosting Exec in Everywoman Awards

[UK] “April Ashley, one of the first people in the world to undergo a successful sex-change operation and an icon for transsexuals across the globe, will be holding an “audience with” evening in the concert room of St George’s Hall tonight … Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935 to a poor family, she describes her childhood as “horrendous”. As a little boy, her androgynous looks resulted in endless bullying, physical abuse from her mother, and culminated in her being forced to endure inhumane experimental treatments in misguided attempts to normalise her.” — Sex-change pioneer April to hold court

[India] “I love the scent of jasmine, have a crush on Abhishek Bachchan and want to wear glass bangles. When I look at a woman I am ogling at nothing but her tempting chiffon and gorgeous hair. While at home I apply kajal on my eyes, but it never sticks as I often burst into tears. Sometimes, I feel I won’t be able to take it anymore and want to end my life.” These are the words of Manu, a transgender in Thiruvananthapuram, who for two decades now has suffered the trauma of living a double life, unable to attain her only dream — to live as a woman. Manu is just one of the thousands of transgenders in Kerala for whom realising their original sexual identity is nothing more than a dream forcing many into lives of depression, prostitution or quiet frustration.” — Lives rarely told of social rejection and frustration

[Finland] “Pirkko Mäkinen, the Equality Ombudsman, demands clarity on matters regarding sexual minorities. Transgenered persons’ rights currently fall through the cracks, she says … Speaking at the TransHelsinki event organised by the Sexual Equality Association SETA on Saturday, Mäkinen said the legal rights of sexual minorities should be made clear. The current text of the Equality Act does not specifically mention transgendered persons. Mäkinen points out that a sex change operation should not have any bearing on an employment relationship … Earlier this week, a local Imatra vicar’s announcement that he plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery led to factions of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church questioning whether the vicar could keep his job.” — Equality Ombudsman: Time to Clarify Rights of Sexual Minorities

[Turkey] “As we were getting ready for the “November 20th, Remembrance Day for Transgender victims of hate murders” we were devastated by a news we received. On November 10, 2008, around 9:00 PM in Etlik, a district of Ankara, our friend Dilek was attacked with a pump action shotgun. She passed away at the Ankara Diskapi Education and Research Hospital at around 12:30 AM on November 11, 2008.” — Another transgender friend was murdered in Ankara!