News and views for Monday, November 17th …

[NY, USA] “Syracuse police are saying what the family of Moses “Teish” Cannon believed all along: Cannon was shot and killed Friday because of his sexual orientation. Police have charged Dwight R. DeLee, of Syracuse, with Cannon’s murder. DeLee, 20, is scheduled to be arraigned on a second-degree murder charge today in Syracuse City Court … Moses Cannon, 22, often dressed like a woman and had a boyfriend. Family members called Cannon “Teish” and used “she” when speaking about him. Shaconia Williams, Cannon’s sister, said Cannon called himself a transsexual … “I’m angry. It wasn’t her time to go,” said Tameka Johnson, Cannon’s sister. “She was so full of life and had so much left to give.” Cannon’s loss leaves a void in the family that’s going to be hard to fill, relatives said. On Sunday, nearly 20 relatives and friends gathered at Cannon’s home to comfort each other and share stories about “Teish.” “She was always there for me,” said Cannon’s niece, Maniya Cannon, 10. “She would do anything to help other people.”" — Gender motive in death, cops say

[NY, USA] “A Syracuse man charged with murder after shooting two people on Friday night, one fatally, could wind up facing more serious charges. Police say Dwight DeLee, 20, shot and killed Moses Cannon, known by friends and family as Latiesha Green. The victim, 22, was a transgendered person. DeLee was arraigned Monday morning in Syracuse City Court on a charge of second degree murder. No bail was set and DeLee remains in custody … About 70 people attended a candlelight vigil for Latiesha Green on Arthur Street on Monday night. Balloons were hung, and mourners lined up to write their goodbyes on a memorial mural. Latiesha’s mother, Roxanne Green, expressed her frustration with the crime. “Because why would you take his life,” she asked, “just because he’s gay?” She then shook her head in disgust.” — No bail for murder suspect; hate crime charge a possibility

[NY, USA] “High heels are pesky things. They get caught in sidewalk grates, come in styles high enough to cause the wearer nosebleeds and, truth be told, aren’t terribly healthy for feet. Not everyone can walk in them, particularly men. Which is why folks make their way to Mary Veronica, aka Miss Vera, head of Miss Vera’s School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls.” — Mary Veronica’s Miss Vera’s School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls is in session

[USA] “Tyra Banks surprises Isis King, the first transgender contestant on America’s Next Top Model, with sex reassignment surgery in an episode of her talk show to air Tuesday. “This is not happening!” King, who was born Darrell Walls, says when Banks introduces her to Dr. Marci Bowers, a leading gender reassignment surgeon who has experienced the surgery herself. Bowers is paying for the surgery.” — Exclusive Video: Tyra Banks Surprises Contestant With Sex Change Operation

[USA] ““Unfortunately, transgender people end up at the very bottom of the financial totem pole, simply because we are who we are,” contends QueerCents’ new financial consultant, Ashley A. Wilson. “We get discriminated against employment wise, we get discriminated against when we go as consumers to buy things. The challenges are huge.” … For the trans community, already “horribly underemployed,” Wilson projects, “Things are going to be rough for us for a while—very rough. It will be harder for the transgendered to find employment, because they’re laying people off left and right. We’re going to have to do whatever we have to, to survive.” “When you transition,” Wilson contends, “it almost forces you to become an activist because there’s no other way you can survive. You have to stand up for yourself, everywhere. You get tired of it. Like why does it have to be hard all the time? As I say in my [QueerCents] series, in those instances, ‘Remember, you’re a consumer: Don’t back down, don’t get scared and run away—stand up for your rights.” Wilson suggests a similar approach to addressing the trans community’s legal and political woes: “We have to become activists…come together and come out of the shadows and stand up united and say, ‘We’re not asking for anything more than the rights that are supposedly ours as citizens of the United States of America.’”” — TransNation: Start Making Cents: Trans-specific Financial Advice

[Sweden] “Transvestism, along with six other sexual behaviours, will be struck from Sweden’s official list of medical diagnoses starting on January 1st, 2009. The National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) took the decision to declassify the behaviours as illnesses in order to avoid strengthening prejudices about them, said agency head Lars-Erik Holm … The other diagnoses which will soon disappear from the disease registry include fetishism, fetishistic transvestitism, sadomasochism, gender identity disorder in youth, and multiple disorders of sexual preferences.” — Transvestism ‘no longer a disease’ in Sweden