News and views for Wednesday, December 24th through Friday, December 26th …

[TN, USA] “Making it the fourth hate based shooting in three years, another Memphis transgender woman has been shot and is in a Memphis hospital in critical condition … My Eyewitness News reports that [the victim, Leeneshia] Edwards, is in critical condition at “The Med”.  Nicole Holliwell, her cousin,  told My Eyewitness News that  Edwards was shot in the jaw, side and back and is undergoing multiple surgeries.” — Memphis transgender woman shot

[USA] “The Bush administration issued a “right of conscience” regulation last week that could enable health care workers to deny treatment to gay patients based on religious beliefs, according to activists. Issued Dec. 18, the rule allows the federal government to withhold funds from health care facilities if they do not permit workers to opt out of performing medical procedures they find objectionable based on religious or moral grounds … In a Dec. 19 statement, HRC said a health care worker might be able to refuse to administer an HIV test to gay patients and even be exempt from telling them where else they could receive the test. Additionally, pharmacists could refuse to fill a prescription for hormone therapy if they have objections to transgender people, HRC says … The regulation goes into effect around the time President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Cristina Finch, senior legal counsel for HRC [Human Rights Campaign], said Obama could issue another rule to rescind President Bush’s upon taking office, but undoing the regulation could take several months. Congress also could take action on the regulation, but there is no indication from lawmakers or from the Obama administration on how they plan on reacting to the rule, Finch said. The Obama transition team did not respond to a request for comment on how it would respond to Bush’s regulation.” — Rule change could allow doctors to reject gay patients

[USA] The San Francisco Bay Guardian has an article on the disproportionately high risk of sexual assault faced by LGBT prison inmates: “This year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted the first national survey of violence in the corrections system. It found sexual orientation to be the single greatest determinant for sexual abuse in prisons — 18.5 percent of homosexual inmates reported sexual assault, compared to 2.7 percent of heterosexual prisoners … Alex Lee, a co-director of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project, read a statement from Bella Christina Borrell, a 56-year-old transgender inmate: “Female transgender prisoners are the ultimate target for sexual assault and rape. In this hyper-masculine world, inmates who project feminine characteristics attract unwanted attention and exploitation by others seeking to build up their masculinity by dominating and controlling women.” Of course, there are policies in place that should protect inmates from each other. PREA [the Prison Rape Elimination Act, passed by Congress in 2003] stipulates that sexual assault during incarceration can constitute a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, and mandates that facilities employ a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse. However, like many things in life, the theory and practice have little in common … Advocates recommend that an effective classification system must be implemented. First, corrections officials have to acknowledge that factors like an inmate’s sexual orientation or transgender status put them at an exceptionally high risk for violence. Second, steps must be taken to reduce the instances of harassment, abuse, and sexual assault suffered by inmates. Female transgender inmates must be issued sports bras and should be allowed to shower separately from the general population to curb humiliation and predation. If an assault occurs, victims should not be placed in punitive custody, the complaint must remain confidential, and assailants cannot be allowed the opportunity to retaliate. Finally, corrections officers should have to participate in an extensive training program to help them deal with these factors. Bambi Salcedo, a transgender ex-convict who now works with transgender youth at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles put it simply: “We have to realize that homosexual and transgender inmates must be treated with dignity in the correctional system.” — Sentenced to rape

[USA] At Polymorphous Perversity, “In White v. U.S. [PDF of the opinion here], the D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed a sentencing enhancement for a prison guard who physically and sexually assaulted a transgender prisoner … While I’m generally predisposed to favor more lenient sentencing, this strikes me as appropriate. “Reduced physical capacity” is a real stretch, since trans people aren’t physically impaired in any way by virtue of being trans. But trans people are certainly especially vulnerable to abuse in prisons, especially given the dominant practice in the U.S. of housing inmates on the basis of their birth sex. And when a prison guard exploits that vulnerability, a sentencing enhancement may serve to deter such exploitation in the future.” — Increased sentence for targeting trans prisoner

[USA] “Special rights and protections under the law of the land” could be coming for “transgender and transsexual people” in 2009, one of a number of troubling prospects foreseen by one “Bible-believing Christian.” — Why Christians should be troubled by the election of President-elect Obama

[Canada] “A transsexual Quebec inmate who hasn’t physically completed the transformation to a woman has created an incarceration quagmire for federal corrections officials after being transferred into a men’s prison … Veilleux had previously been held at the Tanguay prison for women in Montreal while awaiting sentencing, but other female inmates weren’t comfortable with her presence there … said lawyer Andre Boissonneault. “Legally she is a woman but she hasn’t had her operation, so she’s partly a man,” Boissonneault said. “That caused some problems.” … [transgender Quebec lawyer, teacher and politician Micheline] Montreuil, who has visited clients in the prison where Veilleux is currently incarcerated just north of Montreal, says it is a rough institution that caters specifically to men. “I don’t know how she’s going to react but knowing how inmates are, she could face harassment and could even be assaulted,” said Montreuil.” — Transsexual Quebec inmate sentenced to serve time in male prison

[New Zealand] “Noeleena Lochhead feels like she has been let out of an asylum. It has been 18 months since the 61-year-old transformed from Noel to Noeleena. The Waimate woman had a sex change operation in Thailand in May last year a decision she has never regretted. “I have never had any regrets. I feel more at peace and feel I am free,” she said. “I use the analogy that I have been let out of the asylum. I climbed over the fence and ran and ran and I am never going back to the asylum because I had been inside for 50 years.”" — Sex change brings `freedom at last’

[UK] “The Christmas angel tells us: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy for all people.” The Pope, on the other hand, has been using this Christmas season to spread entirely the opposite message, a message of fear and exclusion that seems more bad news than good … In direct opposition to the theology of Deuteronomy, Isaiah writes that “to the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and hold fast to my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name that is better than sons and daughters” — yes, better than sons and daughters. And what is true for eunuchs is true, by direct analogy, for people who are gay. Inclusion is not a piece of trendy modern theory. It is a biblical imperative. Those who take the Bible as if it were a reference book cannot mentally accommodate the idea that the story being told is about the developing consciousness of the people of Israel, of how they got it wrong and how they are led to a new understanding by God … And one last thing. Why on earth did the Pope think Christmas a good time to ignite this sort of row? For while we are all spitting tacks, those worryingly androgynous angels are trying to get their own message across: peace on earth and goodwill to all. And all means all.” — The Pope has forgotten Christ’s word

News and views for Sunday, December 21st through Tuesday, December 23rd …

[CA, USA] Transgender art student Micha Cardenas recently spent 15 days in a virtual world: ” … the bigger surprise is how well Cardenas says she’s adapted to living almost entirely in a virtual world. Reality and unreality occasionally blur. Online interactions feel as immediate as those in the lab. This is a revelation since one of Cardenas’ project goals is answering the question of whether the requirement that transgender people spend one year living as the opposite sex before gender reassignment surgery could be supplanted with living for a year in a virtual world … The answer, though, isn’t quite so clear-cut. “The real life requirement is about dealing with the hardships, rejections and bias that transgender people experience.” In Second Life, Cardenas says social mores tend to be more tolerant: Everybody can be anybody.” — Online-world immersion probes ‘possibilities of transformation’

[MD, USA] Montgomery County’s transgender rights law barely avoided a ballot challenge last month: “Just one vote on the state’s highest court kept a challenge to Montgomery County’s new ban on discriminating against transgender individuals off the ballot on Election Day. Explaining its Sept. 9 order blocking the referendum attempt, the Court of Appeals on Friday revealed its vote had been 4 to 3. The majority said the law’s opponents had not gathered enough valid signatures to force a popular vote. The court also held the law’s backers had not waited too long to contest the Montgomery County Board of Elections’ decision to permit the referendum.  “It would have been nice [to have had it] 4-3 the other way,” said Kevin Karpinski, a partner at Karpinski, Colaresi & Karp P.A. in Baltimore, who represented the elections board before the court. The controversial law, which went into effect shortly after the court’s order, bans discrimination against the transgendered in employment, public accommodations, housing, cable television and taxicab service.” — Top court explains why it kept transgender-law challenge off ballot

[NV, USA] “It has been a bizarre year in golf … At the recent RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship here at Mesquite Regional Park, the year grew even stranger … it is odd but true that the new women’s world champion is a 55-year-old bartender who used to be a man. Although golf is a sport largely without controversy, the reign of long-drive queen Lana Lawless, who lives in Palm Springs, Calif., is expected to be neither tranquil nor uneventful. For starters, there is her startling honesty. “This is who I am. This is my life,” she said firmly. “That other person, that 245-pound SWAT cop I used to be, he’s gone. He’s not coming back.” — Long-drive champ shares her secret

[TX, USA] Jennifer Gale was honored at a memorial service Sunday in Austin: “A homeless advocate, perennial mayoral candidate and vivacious character to Austin was remembered Sunday. Jennifer Gale was found dead early Wednesday morning on an Austin street. Her cause of death has not yet been determined, but homeless advocates hope her death sheds light on those shivering in the shadows.” — Austin community remembers Jennifer Gale (Video), Memorial Service honors Austin original Jennifer Gale

[USA] “The Bush administration, in its final days, issued a federal rule Thursday, Dec. 18, reinforcing protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions and other procedures because of religious or moral objections … Transgender advocates say the new rule could have a huge impact on health care for transgender men and women. “Transgender people already experience tremendous hostility and discrimination in the health care setting,” said Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund Executive Director Michael Silverman said. “We oppose HHS’ new regulation and call upon President-elect Obama and the new administration to rescind this policy as soon as they take office.”” — Trans advocates protest Bush’s 11th-hour HHS rule change

[USA] “The vast majority of brutality against gays is carried out by young men, usually acting in groups, said Riki Wilchins, executive director of Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, a Washington nonprofit that works in schools to address discrimination. Their victims most often are other young men with feminine demeanors or transgender women, said Wilchins. “These assailants are looking to eradicate and exterminate something that enrages them, and that is what makes them hate crimes,” he said … Many of the incidents that have captured headlines this year — from the February shooting death of a gay teenager at his Southern California middle school to this month’s slaying of a Brooklyn man who was fatally beaten while walking arm-and-arm with his brother — fit Wilchins’ profile. Larry King, the 15-year-old shot by a classmate, wore feminine clothing and makeup. Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, was beaten with a baseball bat in Brooklyn and kicked by three men who jumped out of a car yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs.” — Many suffered from anti-gay violence in 2008

[Netherlands] “A new investigation into the tangled sex lives of deep-sea squid has uncovered a range of bizarre mating techniques … The study also identified the first known transgender squid: Ancistrocheirus lesueurii. Some males of this species studied for the survey not only resembled the opposite sex in size and appearance but were found to have developed female sex glands. One possible explanation is that the males impersonate females to sneak undetected among potential mates, Hoving said. Alternatively, it may be that waterborne residues from human contraceptive pills or other “gender-bending” pollutants known to be affecting fish and amphibians are also harming the squid, Hoving said. Previous studies have suggested “contaminating chemicals are slowly getting into the deep-sea food web,” Hoving noted.” — Bizarre Squid Sex Techniques Revealed

[Netherlands] “Amsterdam hosted a Christmas celebration for its gay community on Sunday featuring a nativity tableau with a male Mary in drag that church organizations denounced as an affront to traditional values. Organizers said the event was meant to raise Amsterdam’s profile as a gay capital at a time when homosexuals feel threatened. Christians for Truth, an independent religious group, had asked the city council to cancel the “Pink Christmas,” event, saying it made a mockery of Christian tenets. The city did not comment. A male entertainer known as Wendy Mills posed as Mary in a blonde wig and high-heeled black boots and holding a plastic doll. Another man played Joseph in black leather trunks and a silver shawl … “By portraying Joseph and Mary as homosexuals, a twisted human fantasy is being added to the history of the Bible,” Christians for Truth said in a statement ahead of the event.” — Amsterdam’s gay Christmas features Mary in drag

[Vatican City] From Time, “”The celebration of the birth of the Lord is at our doorstep …” Thus began Pope Benedict XVI in his annual pre-Christmas address to top Vatican officials. But rather than a pro forma holiday wish of good tidings, the pontiff delivered his latest heavy-hitting discourse on everything from ecology to ecumenism, with carefully chosen citations from past Popes and even Friedrich Nietzsche. The topic that most grabbed press attention came about halfway through the 30-minute long address: transsexuals. Without actually using the word, Benedict took a subtle swipe at those who might undergo sex-change operations or otherwise attempt to alter their God-given gender. Defend “the nature of man against its manipulation,” Benedict told the priests, bishops and cardinals gathered Monday in the ornate Clementine hall. “The Church speaks of the human being as man and woman, and asks that this order is respected.” The Pope again denounced the contemporary idea that gender is a malleable definition. That path, he said, leads to a “self-emancipation of man from creation and the Creator.”" — The Pope’s Christmas Condemnation of Transsexuals

[UK] “Now … there is no word in the English language, that I am aware of, for the smegma-like mixture of dead skin cells, gynaecological lube, stale urine (gives it its distinctive smell) and sweat that is sometimes present as a white residue on the end of a dilation stent when a post-operative trans woman withdraws the stent after dilating her neovagina. I propose rectifying this linguistic oversight. I propose naming this mixture, “bindel”. All those in favour, say “Aye” (and better still, link to this post so that Google finds it).” — Coining Petty Neologisms for the Sisterhood

[South Africa] “South Africa hosted the first ever African Strategy Workshop for transgender activists last week … There is only one transgender organisation, Gender DynamiX, on the whole continent. The African Strategy Workshop was designed to help activists, “document human rights abuses against transgender people, derive best practices for human rights advocacy, and share information on gender identity, reassignment surgery and hormone treatment.” … Activists focused on the case of South African Daisy Dube, who was murdered in Johannesburg after requesting that she not be called istabane (a derogatory Zulu slang word, similar to faggot).” — Trans activists attend first pan-African meeting

News and views for Friday, December 19th and Saturday, December 20th …

[MO, USA] Writing in Camp this week, Jamie Tyroler notes that “As everyone knows, the economy has been horrible the last several months. Stores have closed, as have restaurants and bars. Many companies, including large multinational corporations, have laid people off.  The futures of giants General Motors and Chrysler are in question. According to the History Channel’s recent program Crash: The Next Great Depression?, “the stock market has dropped a third since 2007, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs, home foreclosures doubled between 2007 and 2008, venerable financial institutions have shut their doors, and the auto industry found itself on the verge of bankruptcy.” Unfortunately, for many transgender people, this is not much different from day-to-day living. Many of us are unemployed or underemployed.” — For 2009, the Economy Matters Most to the Transgender Community

[OH, USA] From Gay People’s Chronicle, led by a group of influential, mostly black ministers, opponents of Cleveland’s recently-passed domestic partner registry legislation will seek a public vote on the bill: “A domestic partner registry passed by city council last week appears to be headed for the ballot box … a group of conservative ministers say they will try to stop it with a citywide vote … “It is our aim to put it back in front of council,” [Rev. C. Jay] Matthews said of the registry. Matthews said he was not sure how it would be done, but talked about putting the measure on the ballot for the public to decide … Cleveland’s charter gives two ways [referendum or initiative] to put a matter before the voters.” — Referendum looms over partner registry

Interestingly, Council member Zack Reed, who voted against the registry, said “he would vote for an ordinance to add gender identity to the city’s non-discrimination codes. Said Reed, “I have been a friend to the LGBT community and I will continue to be.”

[OH, USA] Also from the Chronicle, what happened to Cleveland’s transgender rights bill, which the City Council was expected to approve at the same meeting at which it passed the partner registry bill: “A measure to add transgender people to the city’s non-discrimination code was delayed this month for more legal review, says its sponsor, not because of strong opposition to an unrelated domestic partner registry … [the bill's sponsor, Council member Joe] Santiago said the protection of transgender people is different from the partner registry, and he is not expecting the same kind of backlash. “This has to do with equal rights,” he said. “Nothing else.” … The TG bill’s delay produced speculation that it might somehow be related to the registry opposition. But the measure was held back because the city law department isn’t finished with it yet, said city spokesperson Andrea Taylor, and it shouldn’t be interpreted as anything other than that. “They are just doing a thorough review,” Taylor said, “It’s an internal review” which has taken a little longer than expected. Santiago says he expects the ordinance to be ready to be voted on when council returns from its holiday recess in January.” — Cleveland TG bill will move in January, says sponsor

[OH, USA] And Chronicle coverage of Columbus’ passage of its transgender rights bill: “Ohio’s capital city became its fifth to protect transgender people from discrimination with passage of an ordinance on December 15. City council passed the measure unanimously before a packed chamber, with many people wearing rainbow stickers. The move came after last week’s hearings and public comment that revealed little opposition. The ordinance updates sections of the city code to bar discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and “ethnic intimidation,” which is Ohio’s term for hate crime … Shane Morgan, who is transgender, told the committee some of his personal story of transitioning. “I just want to see all people have the same opportunity to succeed in life,” Morgan said, “and no more violence.” Karen Patrick, who is also transgender and a Cincinnati native, also emphasized that Columbus is behind the times now. Mental health professional Michelle Crane testified “in support of the whole package” and told the committee that with discriminating conditions against transgender people going largely unaddressed, 50 percent attempt suicide by age 30. McCauley testified that 12 percent of hate crimes are committed on the basis of gender identity and expression.” — Columbus TG equality law passes with few opponents

[TX, USA] Austin, Texas’ non-discrimination ordinance was not much help for Jennifer Gale. From Zoe Brain, “Why was she, a well-known character and perennial mayoral candidate homeless? Well, those who are Transgendered are often so. But why could she not at least sometimes avail herself of a homeless shelter, the one run in Austin by the Salvation Army? Because they would have put her amongst men, many of them of less than upstanding moral character. Austin has laws in place that prohibit discrimination in many ways – but religious organisations are exempt. They are allowed to be.. selective.. in their charity. They are allowed to pass by the wayside, when others are not.” — Two Point Eight Degrees

[PA, USA] Some more on Jamie Nicole Anderson’s trans bias case against Harrisburg Area Community College (the putative reason for her dismissal from the HACC nursing program): “Anderson said she was suspended for three days Oct. 2 by HACC for “insubordination,” using the women’s rest room after being told not to because some operating room employees said they were “uncomfortable” with her being there. Anderson said she was dismissed from her program on Oct. 30 for her violation of a dress code that forbids more than two earrings in an ear. “I forgot to take (one) out that day,” she said. Anderson said she filed the complaint because she wants the situation corrected for her and other transgendered people like her. “There are thousands of others with stories exactly like mine,” she said. But she said she didn’t want to be the poster child for transgenders or victims of discrimination. “This is not something I asked for,” she said.” — Ex-student claims transgender bias by HACC

[India] From the Times of India, it seems (to me anyway) that this “first-of-its-kind” surgery, which cost 2,000,000 Rupees ($42,480.98), must involve more than “nerves”: “What eunuchs inflicted on Chandrashekar was undone after a first-of-its-kind 36-hour surgery by doctors at Apollo Hospital here [Bangalore] … Chandrashekar was kidnapped by Mangala alias Basavaraju of Nelamangala and was forced to undergo a sex-change operation in Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh … Pai told TOI it wasn’t plastic surgery, but that nerves removed from the hand and skin were used to recreate his sex organ. The surgery, which usually cost Rs 20 lakh in the US, was done for free.” — Doctors reverse eunuchs’ damage to boy

[NY, USA] From the New York Times, a boy from Brownsville, Brooklyn, brushed off teasing and bullying to make the cut at the usually for girls Holiday Classic Double Dutch Competition at the Apollo Theater: “Like many pioneers before him, ZeAndre has discovered that stepping across traditional boundaries can make you a target. When he told his mother, Crystal Orr, about joining the Jazzy Jumpers, her first response was, “Oh, no, Double Dutch is for girls!” But compared with the boys in his school, his mother was an easy sell. He was mocked, he had his masculinity called into question, and once, ZeAndre was even shoved down the stairs at school. The teasing regularly reduced him to tears and made him want to quit.”  — A Fifth-Grade Pioneer in Double Dutch [VIDEO]

News and views for Sunday, December 14th and Monday, December 15th …

[NY, USA] Two news reports on the Binghamton, New York city council’s passage this evening of a transgender anti-discrimination bill: “In a move that was hailed by state civil rights groups, the city council on Monday passed a law that would outlaw discrimination against transgender individuals … Council member Sean Massey, D-5th District, who proposed the local law, said it was a “sad fact” that its protections were necessary … The director of the Central New York Civil Liberties Union, Barrie H. Gewanter, said the city was sending a strong message to state lawmakers who have not yet passed laws protecting those people … Galen D. Kirkland, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights, wrote to council members last week to express that agency’s support for the bill.” — Council approves anti-discrimination law, City council passes anti-discrimination bill

[OH, USA] In Columbus, Ohio, the city council was expected to pass a transgender anti-discrimination bill on Monday evening: “Tansgender residents of Columbus — men who consider themselves women and women who consider themselves men — would gain legal protection under legislation going before the City Council tonight. The Columbus Community Relations Commission has recommended that the city add gender identity to the list of categories in local anti-discrimination ordinances. The move would put Columbus another step beyond Ohio law and on par with dozens of other big cities and college towns … Columbus has protected gays in its civil-rights ordinances for about 20 years. Backers of the new legislation say the term sexual orientation once was thought to include people who live or dress as the opposite gender. People still refer to the “LGBT community,” which represents lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, but advocates say one’s gender identity is different from one’s sexual orientation. And acceptance of transgender people often lags, they say … Gender identity and other new categories added to the anti-discrimination ordinances also would be added to the city’s hate-crimes ordinance.” — Gender identity on city’s agenda: Anti-discrimination proposal would add transgender people

[USA] From columnist Deb Price in The Detroit News today, “But the [Schroer v. Billington] ruling, while a groundbreaking warning to other employers that they might be sued and held liable for similar discrimination, doesn’t automatically protect anyone beyond Schroer. In fact, federal judges disagree over whether federal sex discrimination laws cover transgender Americans … The ACLU is heartened, though, that President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, in an historic first, includes “gender identity” in its nondiscrimination policy for appointment-level jobs in the next administration. The legal group hopes, as president, Obama will take the next step — signing an executive order formally banning job discrimination based on gender identity within the federal civilian work force. President Bill Clinton signed a similar order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in civil service jobs.” — Activists pin hopes on Obama banning transgender bias

[USA] From today’s Washington Times, two transgender persons figure in the Young America’s Foundation‘s list of “top 10″ examples in 2008 of political correctness “running amok” on college campuses: “The roster includes … West Point, the veritable bastion of military tradition, recently hosted Allyson Robinson, a transgendered speaker and one-time graduate of the Army academy … [and] the University of St. Thomas for censoring pro-life speaker Star Parker while showcasing liberal comedian-turned-Senate candidate Al Franken and Debra Davis, another transgendered activist.” — Critics of PC decry ‘top 10 abuses’ of ’08

(Allyson Robinson currently serves as Associate Director of Diversity at the Human Rights Campaign. A report on her return to West Point — well worth the read — can be found at Trans Universe. Debra Davis recently spoke at the University of Kansas.)

[USA] A sign of the times: “Activity on TJobBank has all but stopped as far as new job postings, even from the non-profits and advocacy organizations.  Funding for non-profits has become scarce as the economy slides deeper into recession.” — Jobs – Trans-employment in a Recession

[USA] From Radha Smith, “I have argued that the gate-keeping process hampers the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist and I believe it does. I also believe that transitioners very much should have a therapist who can work with them, guide them, follow them and hold and hear their inmost yearnings, doubts and struggles … Opposition is not always a bad thing. It can help us to see cracks and fissures in our plans and timelines. It can show us areas we still require working in before we’re absolutely ready to move to the next transitional stage. Better, it seems to me, have that before one’s surgery than after. That much less work to do later on. Because, later on, we’ll still have problems. It’s inevitable. However, the impulse remains, quite naturally, among some transitioners to “game the system,” to get what I want when I want it and caution or discovery be damned. OK, I understand the impetus; but, I still maintain that sometimes the transitioner should be slowed in her headlong rush. Self-discovery and self-acceptance are always worthy attainments. The therapist who cares enough, is skilled enough, to demand that I do that for him or her should be held by me to be a “good therapist” not as one who “wants to derail me.”” — Gaming Therapists, Gaming Ourselves

News and views for Wednesday, December 10th …

[CA, USA] The Marin Independent-Journal reported yesterday that two San Rafael parents are upset by a school policy that allows students who identify as a different gender to use the restrooms and locker rooms assigned to that gender: “San Rafael school officials say the policy is in keeping with state law, which treats gender and sexual identity as protected statuses. Unless students would be subject to “unavoidable nudity,” they could be asked to share a restroom with a student who is biologically of the opposite sex. To do otherwise would leave the school district open to lawsuits, attorney Dora Dome said. “A subject’s discomfort does not have the same legitimacy on a legal basis as supporting the rights of an individual,” said Dome, the district’s legal counsel. “Based on a substantial legal record, the district must allow access to transgendered students.” — Parents irked by policy allowing transgendered access

[CT, USA] A verdict is expected Friday morning in the murder trial of Anthony Rogers.  Rogers is accused of killing Southern Connecticut State University student Ricky Lee Blakes in 2004.  Blakes was dressed as a woman at the time of his murder: “When he found out Blakes was a man, Rogers pushed him out of the car and shot him in the upper body, [Rogers' former girlfriend, LaToya] Boyd said. She said that Rogers told her that after shooting Blakes, he drove around the corner, came back and shot him a few more times. Blakes was found by police facedown in a pool of blood just off Woodward Avenue, dressed in women’s clothing. Police did not realize it was a man until they rolled over the near-lifeless body, police officers said in testimony last week.” — Verdict expected Friday in Rogers murder trial

[USA] Edge Boston has a feature on trans people — Melissa Sklars, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Amanda Simpson, Dana Beyer — who have become active in politics: “When America elected its first African American president, pundits boldly declared the landscape of prejudice and limitations changed forever, and in a heartbeat. But when the sun rose on November 5, gay Americans woke up to a country in which their rights were further diminished [Prop 8]. These recent setbacks pale in comparison to the fact that few states protect against job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – or gender identity. Marginalized by society as well as the LGBT movement, the transgendered are steadily gaining visibility in the political arena. They’re accomplishing that by building a reputation and power base through old fashioned political networking … Transgendered candidates are still often viewed with skepticism by their own parties and as curiosities by the media. “It’s still very difficult for the transgendered to get elected to office,” says Melissa Sklars, a director of the New York Trans Rights organization.” — Trans Politicians Move Into Mainstream

[Australia] From the Sunshine Coast Daily, an itinerant trans woman alleges that she was verbally abused and attacked last Tuesday: “”He just started screaming abuse at me, swearing and calling me a ‘trannie fag’,” Alice said … She said the man chased her into a nearby playground where he allegedly threatened anyone who came to her aid. She alleged the man smashed a bottle and hit a man who had tried to protect her. Another car arrived at the scene and a man holding a base ball bat stepped out of the car and allegedly chased Alice down the street … Alice, her best friend and her daughter have spent the past 18 months travelling around Australia. She says once knowledge of her transsexual nature is made public, she is chased from the towns. The Sunshine Coast, she said, had been no different … “I can’t understand why normal people act like this. I harm no one but I am always subjected to people’s abuse because they don’t like me for who I am.” Police have charged a man with one count of public nuisance and two counts of common assault.” — Transexual woman ran out of town [Updated story]

[Mexico] The Mexican Supreme Court is considering a case focusing on the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination: “When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X? That is the question raised by a Mexican transsexual through an appeal under consideration by the Supreme Court, which brings up the issue of the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination. The 11 Supreme Court justices are expected to issue a final ruling on the appeal in the first few weeks of 2009, in a case that is the first of its kind to be brought before the country’s highest judicial body with jurisdiction over constitutional matters.” — MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy

News and views for Saturday, December 6th …

[CA, USA] “Richard Masbruch brutally raped and tortured a Fresno woman in 1991. Today, in a case that may be the first of its kind, he lives in a women’s prison. Masbruch, who was reclassified by prison officials as a woman after he castrated himself, is the focus of an inmate complaint that says Masbruch is a danger to other prisoners at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. In recent years, the prison system has given female hormones to Masbruch, helping Masbruch transition from man to woman, said his brother, Craig Masbruch. Prison officials would not confirm whether Masbruch received such treatment, but said the prison system provides hormone treatment to some transgender inmates at taxpayers’ expense. Officials said that in March they transferred Masbruch, 41, to Chowchilla after he was reclassified as a female. There are dozens, and possibly hundreds, of California prison inmates who are classified as men but consider themselves women, state prison officials said. Those inmates are housed in men’s prisons. Masbruch appears to be the only transgender prisoner who has been transferred from a men’s to a women’s prison, or vice versa, they said. And Masbruch may be the only male inmate in the United States who has been reclassified as a woman while in the prison system, one expert said.” — Transgender inmate faces complaint

[CO, USA] “About 25 protesters braved a brisk wind and fumes from cars zipping past Friday afternoon to show their support for Blake Williams, a transgender teen who says he dropped out of Aspen Valley High School because he didn’t feel safe. Williams, 18, said he’s endured bullying and verbal abuse at three schools – two in Academy School District 20 and one charter school – in the two years since he began transitioning from female to male. He called on District 20 and other district administrations to begin training staff on the issues facing Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. “We need to be protected from the hate, the bullying,” he said. “We want to be treated as human beings.” … Those at the rally, though, believe that it’s taken too long for educational institutions to recognize the issues facing LGBT students, and several organizations represented at the protest are calling for action … As the psychologists, sociologists and others debate gender identity and sexual orientation issues, those in the LGBT community say they struggle to simply be treated as normal citizens. “Those of you who are not transgender may not understand us,” said Nancy-Jo Morris, who leads the support group Peak Area Gender Expressions. “But you know when people are being mistreated.”" — Transgender teen decries hate at schools

[CT, USA] “Murder defendant Anthony Rogers’ former girlfriend testified at his trial Friday that as they watched a news report about the homicide of Ricky Lee Blakes, he confessed to killing the Southern Connecticut State University student. LaToya Boyd, 25, of Norwalk, said after the report aired, Boyd told Rogers that she went to school with Blakes. In response, Rogers called Blakes – found by police dressed in women’s clothing lying in a pool of blood at Woodward Avenue and Lawrence Street – a derogatory word for a homosexual, Boyd said. “He told me he had something to tell me. . . that he killed Ricky,” Boyd said. Boyd said that Rogers told her that he was driving down Woodward Avenue early in the morning of July 30, 2004, when Blakes, jumped in his car. After Blakes touched Rogers, Rogers said he opened the passenger door and pushed Blakes out and shot him in the upper body, Boyd testified. Boyd said Rogers told her he drove around the block and returned to the intersection. “He came back to where Ricky was. . . . He saw him on the ground yelling for help. . . . He shot him a few more times. . . . He opened up the door and shot him,” Boyd said.” — Girlfriend: Rogers said he killed Blakes

[NY, USA] “The ad directs readers to NoMobVeto.org, which asks for signatures supporting a campaign to “expose and publicly shame anyone who resorts to the rhetoric of anti-religious bigotry — against any faith, on any side of any cause, for any reason.” HILARIOUS! They are asking for support to do EXACTLY what WE have been doing: exposing and publicly shaming anyone who resorts to anti-gay bigotry. So it’s HATE when we do it, but OK when they do. How fucking typical. You’ll note that they decry the “violence” of the anti-Prop 8 protests, but remain as silent as always about the uncountable brutal attacks against LGBT people which are committed EVERY DAY of EVERY YEAR by people trained by THEM to hate gay people from the moment they know what the word means.” — Full Page Ad From Beckett Fund In NYT Decries “Bigotry” Of Marriage Protests

[Mexico] From the New York Times, “Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages. But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders. “Muxe” is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.” — A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico

[Mexico] From the Times photo feature accompanying “A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico”: “Alex with her mother, Rosa Taledo Vicente, and her father, Victor Martinez Jimenez. Mr. Martinez is a construction worker who speaks Zapotec but little Spanish. He and Alex have a loving relationship, and when asked about having a muxe son he replies: “It was God who sent him and why would I reject him? He helps his mother very much. Why would I get mad? God sent him for both of us. Why would I get mad?”” — In Mexico, Beyond Gay and Straight

[Thailand] From Radio Australia, “Even before last week’s protests shut Thailand’s main international airport, the ongoing political crisis had led to a dramatic fall in tourist numbers. It’s forced the cancellation of several high-profile – including an annual beauty contest for transgendered people, who had been hoping to compete for the title of Miss International Queen.” (Listen) — Thai ‘ladyboy’ beauty contest cancelled amid protests

News and views for Wednesday, December 3rd …

[CT, USA] “Testimony began Wednesday in the second murder trial of former Norwalk resident Anthony Rogers, already serving a 71 year sentence for murder, weapons and assault charges. Rogers, 26, is accused of shooting Ricky Lee Blakes, a 23-year-old student at Southern Connecticut University who was known by some in South Norwalk to be a cross-dresser … An affidavit in the case suggests police believe that Rogers’ motive in allegedly shooting Blakes was homophobia. A confidential informant told police Rogers had picked up Blakes after midnight on July 30, 2004, believing he was a woman. When Blakes made sexual advances and it became clear Blakes was a man, Rogers’ allegedly shot Blakes, dumped him out of the car, left the scene and then circled back to shoot into his body three more times, according to the document.” — Murder trial against convicted killer begins

[USA] From GLAAD, “According to the Pulse of Equality telephone survey among 2,008 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, conducted from Nov. 13-17, 2008, Americans support key policy proposals that affect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Among them … About six in 10 (63%) U.S. adults favor expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people. (Hate crimes laws cover gay and transgender people in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and an additional – 20 states’ laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.) … A slight majority of U.S. adults (51%) favor protecting gay and transgender people under existing laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. (Existing non-discrimination laws cover gay and transgender people in only 12 states and the District of Columbia, and eight other states’ laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.) … [GLAAD President Neil G.] Giuliano suggested that one of the crucial issues facing LGBT people is that many Americans aren’t aware of the injustices that they face. “Majorities of Americans clearly favor equality for gay and transgender people,” Giuliano added, “but we’ve seen that too many still mistakenly believe that the intolerance and injustices we face are things of the past. So it’s more vital than ever that we tell our stories, illustrate the injustices we face, and remind people of the common ground we share.” — Poll Shows Majorities of U.S. Adults Favor Legal Protections for Gay and Transgender Americans

[Colombia] “Homosexuals can remain in the closet and not be noticed, but that is not an acceptable alternative for transgender people who suffer violence to a greater extent in Colombia, where armed combatants in the conflicts too often turn prejudice into murder. “We are not interested in hiding our sexual preference,” and in this country “killing is easier” than in others, said Diana Navarro, the head of Corporación Opción, an organisation that works for the rights of prostitutes and transgender people, a term used in Colombia to refer to transvestites, transsexuals and cross-dressers … She estimates that the transgender population of Bogotá varies from 1,500 to 3,000, depending on the time of year. Their bold visibility represents “anarchy” in contrast with a “globalisation that would like to make people homogeneous,” so they are the first to be “expelled by the armed groups,” and the foremost victims of killings. Cali, the third largest Colombian city, is known as a death zone for transgender people. Out of 21 LGBT murders there in 2006 and 2007, no less than 16 were of transgender persons, a disproportionate number for that tiny minority, according to Colombia Diversa … Another of Navarro’s forceful views is that Catholicism is at the root of the violence against sexual minorities. The strong influence the Catholic Church retains in Colombia, and its conservative hierarchy, do heighten pressures against LGBT people, other activists agree.” — Colombia: Where Homophobia Totes a Gun

[UK] From The Telegraph, pantomime from A to Z: “Cross-dressing. How to explain this to incoming Americans, who have heard about us weird Brits? Well, guys, there’s the principal boy, who in reality is a gorgeous-looking female, then there’s the dame, who’s a (preferably big and ugly) bloke, and the ugly sisters, also blokes (even bigger and uglier). And in some productions the principal boy (who’s a girl) gets the girl (whose mother is a man, of curse). As for the cow… Dames. The quintessence of panto. Some great names – John Inman, Les Dawson, Jack Tripp, Paul O’Grady and Roy Hudd – have hung up their false bosoms one way or another, but the next generation, including Berwick Kaler, Christopher Biggins, Ken Morley and Clive Rowe are filling their size-nine slingbacks with elan … Fairies. Every good panto needs a fairy. I leave the jokes to you … ” — There’s nothing like a dame…

[International] “It’s not just women who buy products that promise to tuck, tighten and conceal their guts, butts and blemishes. Men have become the latest targets of marketers eager to sell merchandise that purports to improve and enhance everything from their abs to their skin to the shine of their hair … The man vanity craze is even spreading globally — bras made for cross-dressing men are flying off the shelves in Japan. But as strange as these products may seem at first glance, fashion experts say that with men becoming increasingly conscious of their appearance, it was only a matter of time before clothing makers caught on to an untapped source of revenue. [Men's fashion and grooming expert at About.com, Daniel] Billett said he’s recently seen an influx of makeup lines for men, male girdles and even underwear with butt padding.” — Marketers Aim to Man-Up Men: Bras, Tummy-Tucking Tanks Target Male Consumers

News and views for Monday, December 1st and Tuesday, December 2nd …

[USA] Yesterday’s this day in history: “It’s front-page news when George Jorgensen Jr. is reborn as Christine Jorgensen, gaining international celebrity and notoriety as the first widely known person to undergo a successful sex-change operation … Jorgensen’s sex change, which may have been leaked to the press by Jorgensen herself, hit the headlines Dec. 1, creating an international sensation. “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty” screamed the banner of Jorgensen’s hometown New York Daily News … But Christine Jorgensen’s world was not an enlightened one, particularly when it came to transgenderism. She paid the cost for this lack of sophistication. A first announced engagement fell through, and a second one failed as well, when the state of New York refused to issue the couple a marriage license. Her intended husband also lost his job when the marriage plans became known. She later traveled the lecture circuit, talking about her experiences and advocating for the nascent transgender cause. Jorgensen died of cancer in 1989, a few weeks short of age 63.” — Dec. 1, 1952: ‘Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty’

[USA] While some people change, others don’t ever seem to change their tune. Not quite yesterday in history, but this was Matt Barber of the Concerned Women for America railing last December against “homosexual activism”: “Still, the real trouble begins when our government seeks — by force of law — to make all of us share in that delusion by enacting thought crimes edicts such as “hate crimes” legislation and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). As I’ve said before, it’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” meets George Orwell. Homosexual activist legislation forces everyone to entertain the delusions of a very small percentage of the population who define themselves based upon aberrant and mutable sexual behaviors. These laws lend official government recognition to conduct that every major world religion, thousands of years of history and uncompromising human biology have deemed both immoral and unnatural.”

And, this is Matt Barber, now with Liberty Counsel, yesterday: “With Brazil’s government caving in to homosexual activism, many fear America is not far behind. Brazilian activists have launched several lawsuits to silence Christian opposition of homosexuality, and a Christian author has been both censored and fined over comments in his book. Mat Barber, with Liberty Counsel, believes America will likely follow suit. “It’s really chilling, and people need to be aware that this is not a threat that is isolated to Brazil or Europe or Canada,” he contends. “It’s coming to our shores (America) as well.” Barber explains he has witnessed homosexuals seeking to legally silence Christians and notes similar governmental legislation will be reviewed in Washington in January. “Hate crimes legislation, the Employment Non-discrimination act — legislation that under a President Barack Obama and with liberals in control of the House and the Senate, we can expect to see passed,” he says. Barber cites Colorado as an example that some states already have similar laws in place. “Governor Ritter signed into law a bill that says it is essentially illegal to write anything that’s homophobic,” he adds. “So based on that law in Colorado now, to actually publish the Bible would be considered a violation of the law.”" — Will homosexuals silence America’s Christians?

[USA] Meanwhile, unlike Mr. Barber, the “homosexual activists” are looking forward to change: “Officials with the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force are hopeful that Barack Obama’s administration and Democratic leaders in Congress will help orchestrate the passage next year of two gay rights bills that enjoy widespread support. The Matthew Shepard Act, which would authorize federal authorities to prosecute anti-gay hate crimes, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, are considered high priorities among gay-supportive lawmakers, officials with the two groups said … [HRC's David] Stacy and Rea Carey, the Task Force’s executive director, said they believe the consensus among nearly all gay rights advocacy groups is to insist that Congress move forward with a version of ENDA that includes protections for transgender persons. Gay and transgender activists became divided in 2007 when Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), decided to vote on a version of the bill that excluded transgender protections. The two lawmakers said they determined that there weren’t enough votes to pass a trans-inclusive bill and that keeping trans protections in the bill would result in its defeat. The House passed a gay-only version of the bill that year, but the Senate never took up the measure. Capitol Hill observers have speculated that Senate leaders did not believe a trans-inclusive bill could clear the Senate and agreed to requests by gay and transgender activists to put the measure on hold until 2009. Frank told the Blade last month that a coalition of gay and transgender rights groups have made “good progress” in building support for a trans-inclusive ENDA in the year since the House passed the gay-only version of the bill, and he’s hopeful that enough support could be lined up to pass a trans-inclusive version of the bill next year. Obama said during his run for the White House that he, too, supports a trans-inclusive version of the bill. “It’s exciting that we will have a president who not only won’t threaten to veto the bill but who embraces it,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.” — Hate crimes, ENDA seen as top legislative priorities

[NY, USA] “Miller Hoffman knows what it’s like to be hassled for being a transgender person. “Discrimination against transgender people is part of our daily lives,” she told Binghamton city council on Monday night.The Binghamton resident was one of 11 people who spoke in favor of a local law that would make it illegal to discriminate against transgender individuals. The proposed law would also protect against discrimination because of height and/or Lose Weight Exercise as well as age, race, religion, national origin and sexual orientation. The proposed law would apply to employment, housing and public accommodations. Council members may vote on the proposal on Dec. 15.” — Advocates urge council to pass anti-discrimination law

[MI, USA] “The city of Kalamazoo has stepped beyond existing state and federal laws, making it illegal to use sexual orientation to discriminate in housing, public accommodations and employment. The Kalamazoo City Commission voted 7-0 Monday night to adopt an expanded anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it a municipal civil infraction to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender citizens.” — Kalamazoo City Commission unanimously approves gay-rights ordinance

[HI, USA] “Cross-dressers, queer concubines, and the Sin of Onan — the Hawaii of pre-European contact had it all. Most LGBT travelers to Hawaii think of the islands as a languid society, a “hang loose” place of tolerant politics where cultural differences are easily celebrated. But few tourists realize just how queer Hawaii actually was before the Europeans showed up … Another notable queer aspect of old Hawaiian culture that is still strong today is the concept of the mahu. Transvestitism is common in parts of Polynesia, where men choose to don women’s apparel, grow up as a girl, and even become a wife of another man, sometimes even cutting his/her thighs to “menstruate.” Some traditions dictate that a male, usually a younger brother, is compelled to take on the feminine role of family caretaker when a suitable daughter is lacking. Whether or not that connotes homosexuality is not important. Mahu hold a necessary role in the communal family and are usually not outcasts in Polynesian society. Now that modern media and politics have flooded Hawaiian culture, the word mahu is often used in a derogatory way to describe an effeminate man, or a gay man in general. But the mahu tradition refuses to go away: An annual transvestite beauty pageant, The Universal Show Queen, packs in crowds in mainstream Waikiki hotels. And Kim Coco Iwamoto, who is transgender, holds a seat on the state’s board of education — the highest office ever for an elected transgender person in United States. So there is hope that history will repeat itself, and the 50th state can draw on its ancient traditions to become a trailblazer of tolerance in the 21st century.” — Hawaii’s Polysexual Past

[Canada] “There are many things I don’t miss about university life. Foremost among them is the idiotic debate — which seems to be ongoing on most liberal-arts campuses — about bathrooms. I don’t mean the actual physical amenities inside the bathrooms. I mean the eye-glazing arguments about who gets to use what bathroom, unisex versus sex-specific, and — most commonly — the accommodation of pre-op, post-op, mid-op, non-op, quasi-op and paleo-op transgendered individuals, who represent about 0.1% of the student population, yet seem to dominate an enormous share of student-council deliberations. (Please bear in mind that the target of my ire is not the transgendered community itself, most of which is no doubt exasperated by the endless obsession over its bathroom needs, and has legitimate concerns about bathroom harassment besides — but rather the earnest campus activists who, starved for any sort of discrimination to fight in this hypertolerant age, have adopted the toilet as their equivalent to Rosa Parks’ bus seat.)” — Jonathan Kay on the idiocy of university bathroom identity politics: Why not just dig a big hole in the ground and make everybody use it?

[Italy] “What do Silvio Berlusconi and a communist transvestite have in common? That may sound like the set-up to a bad joke, but the search for a serious answer could just bring some focus to the bizarre spectacle of Italian public life. On Nov. 24, millions of Italians tuned into the ever-popular local version of Celebrity Survivor, or Isola dei Famosi (“Island of the Famous”). The show was wrapping up its sixth season with the coronation of the latest champion, Vladimir Luxuria, a former cabaret performer and Refounded Communist party member. In 2006, the unlikely politician became the first transvestite to be elected to Italy’s parliament. Luxuria’s participation had already ensured record high ratings for the 10-week-long show. Interest centered not only on how a communist politician would interact with two-bit stars and showgirls, but curiosity about what Luxuria would look like without her makeup.” — Italy’s Communist Tranvestite TV Star

[India] “Sitting cross-legged on the uneven floor of their bedroom in Dhobi Gali of old Sabzi Mandi in north Delhi is a coy, newly-wed couple. She is chopping vegetables while he carefully covers her face with a dupatta. The marriage, sanctified on November 30 at a nearby Shiv mandir, is unique because the groom, Deepak (name changed), was born a girl and has undergone three operations for a complete sex change, only to marry his childhood sweetheart, Savita (name changed).” — And she became he to marry her

News and views for Saturday, November 29th and Sunday, November 30th …

[FL, USA] “In tight-knit groups of few or many, 1,500 Broward school children marched through downtown Fort Lauderdale to tell the world that they were tired of bullies and strong enough to stop them. ”No more bullying, no more bullying, no more bullying,” thundered a unified chant from 15 school contingents, parents, teachers, community activists and school officials … Denise King, mother of Simmie Williams, 17, who was gunned down last year in Fort Lauderdale, said she was forced to remove her son from public high school because of the humiliations he suffered daily from students because he was gay. ”I hope now that something like that won’t happen again to anyone anymore and anywhere,” King said.” — Broward students march on bullies in Fort Lauderdale

[ME, USA] From Jenny Boylan, “I knew, before we left the house, that someone was going to call me by the wrong pronoun, because someone always calls me by the wrong pronoun. This little slip-up happens virtually every time I am out with friends from Colby College, where I have worked for 20 years now. I know full well that most of these slip-ups are unconscious, and not intended as hurtful. But they hurt, maybe because they are unconscious. The ol pronoun slip is an issue we’ve talked about ad nauseum, over at MHB/community, as well as on my own site. I’m not trying to plow any new ground here. I understand the reasons people mess up, sometimes, and I accept that most people who do so mean well, most of the time.
But it still hurts, god dammit.” — The ol’ pronoun glitch

[GA, USA] “As the Atlanta Police Department’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Liaison, Officer Darlene Harris has served as a symbol assuring fair treatment and greater protection since 2005, when she was appointed to this post. When she disclosed she is intersex in July 2008, Harris garnered attention for her bravery and for drawing focus on the subject of intersex identity and experience. Her story was first featured in Southern Voice magazine on July 4. The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper also ran a story about Harris on August 31. She has increased local and national discourse about intersex and other minority gender constructs in a forthright and professional manner.” — Atlanta’s Intersex Police Officer Seeks Awareness

[NY, USA] From Professor Arthur Leonard, “Rejecting a trial judge’s objection that a gendered name-change would cause “confusion,” a unanimous panel of the New York Appellate Division, 3^rd Department, ruled on November 26 in _Matter of Earl William Golden III_, No. 504992, that the trial court should have ordered the name change, but should include in its order a statement that the name change could not be used as proof of a change of sex. Franklin Romeo of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project represented Golden on the appeal.” — NY Appellate Division Rules on Transsexual Name-Change Petition

[NY, USA] “The origin of Rena Dunsworth might be traced to fall 2006, when a small woodworking company in Denver modified its discrimination clause, for that was when Stanley Wilcox started wearing pink nail polish to work. Then 51 and a maker of custom wooden doors, Mr. Wilcox had sensed since he was 6 years old that he was meant to be female, and he had also sensed for about as long that this was not a feeling for which he would be rewarded. “I would often fantasize about becoming different women I knew,” Ms. Dunsworth — formerly Mr. Wilcox — says now. “Then I would kind of clamp down really hard, afraid people would see the girl in me.” When his workplace put in writing that the sexual orientation and dress of its employees did not matter, Mr. Wilcox was heartened. But after the nail polish, he noticed that his colleagues treated him differently. Then, one day in February 2007, he overheard a co-worker allude to his imminent dismissal. “Turns out it did matter,” Ms. Dunsworth says.” — Road to a New Identity Is Not Without Its Hazards

[USA] From Monica Roberts, “Since some peeps make tons of money off pre-op transgender images with their adult films, magazines and various websites, and transgender people of color are the ones disproportionately bearing the brunt of the anti-transgender violence, when you ask Eddy’s question in that context, somehow it doesn’t seem as insulting as it did at first knee-jerk glance. So did shemalewhatever.com and its like minded cousins black out their website for the day? Did they stop filming the latest epic adult transgender film for release? Did they cancel that trip to Thailand or Brazil looking for poor or young transpeople to take pictures of? Did any of the adult transgender stars or the young transwomen participating in the destruction of our images show up at the TDOR events in West Hollywood, New York or elsewhere? Did they even stop to care? Come to think of it, Eddy’s question is one that we all deserves an answer to.” — Does The Transgender Porn World Celebrate The TDOR?

[USA] From Helen Boyd, “Some things you just never expect. NPR recently did a show about a crossdressing husband & father that was about as off the mark as Dr. Phil usually is. Pathologizing, full of the embarassed & shamed comments by the wife and commentary of the narrator, it was rife with ignorance and misunderstanding, and seemed to equate this person’s other mental health issues with his need to crossdress. Wow. I wish I were more often pleasantly suprrised by the media, but I really never expected this kind of crappy story-telling from NPR. Just one opinion that offset all the negativity would have been nice. That the story is about someone who is deceased makes it all the more sickening. There is no one to represent Doug/Donna to explain what crossdressing is all about. You can listen to it here – all of 12 minutes & nothing redeemable! – & narrated by a family “friend.” Feh.” — Crossdressing Husband & Father on NPR

[Canada] “The B.C. Federation of Labour has passed an emergency resolution supporting a new high school course called Social Justice 12 and accusing the Abbotsford board of education of “homophobic and transphobia behaviour” for its refusal to offer the elective course this year.” — B.C. Fed backs course

[International] “We are proud to announce that the Organisation Intersex International has its website in Chinese thanks to the tremendous efforts of one of our Chinese speaking board members. The site already contains our Official Positions, our mission statement, information on Intersex Solidarity Day, a translation of 10 Misconceptions about Intersexuality, videos and a news service containing articles related to intersex issues.” — OII now available in Chinese

[Ireland] At The Irish Independent, a “conversation” with an Irish transwoman: “I am what you call a ladyboy, or a pre-op transsexual. I have breasts but I still have meat and veggies too. I’m not going to have the full operation — I want to stay this way for good because I want to be special. If I had the full operation, people would just categorise me as female, and I want to be different. You can have the best of both worlds.” — Dale Belino

[Ireland] An upcoming screening in December at the Irish Film Institute: “Fresh from its world premiere at the Cork Film Festival, where it was greeted with laughter, tears and warm applause, Identities, Vittoria Colonna’s new feature-length documentary, is this month’s Ireland on Sunday selection. Identities is a sensitive and compelling documentary which explores the multicoloured, multicultural transgender community in Ireland. Five personal stories give shape to the different but parallel worlds of transvestism, transsexualism, drag, sexual identity and gender dysphoria. Documented in a series of revealing black and white interviews, each narrative is preceded by a colour performance art piece, and more abstract self-representation. At its heart, this is a film about the human spirit and overcoming stereotype and categorisation. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Vittoria Colonna and producer Rachel Lysaght.” — Ireland On Sunday: Identities

News and views for Wednesday, November 26th through Friday, November 28th …

[CA, USA] “Trans-Latina migrants are slowly discovering the asylum option in San Francisco and California. A steady stream of transgender applicants has been showing up in what immigration attorneys say are open-minded asylum offices and immigration courts that have become acquainted with gender-identity–based claims. Exact numbers of how many transgender women have gotten asylum are hard to come by since the government doesn’t track the reason for awarding asylum status. Yet such cases almost seem like a sure thing because of the severity of the alleged discrimination. “You almost gotta try to loseWeight Exercise it,” attorney Robert Jobe says. In fact, none of the 12 immigration attorneys interviewed for this story could remember any trans clients being denied some sort of protection. Even if applicants can’t get asylum, they may still be eligible to stay via other international treaties that offer haven from persecution. And, as many trans-Latina prostitutes have learned, even a lengthy rap sheet in this country won’t seriously threaten their chances of receiving protected immigration status.” — Border Crossers

[GA, USA] “As the 31 names of transgender people killed around the world during 2008 were read aloud at Atlanta’s Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, each of the deceased’s biographies ended with “Remember me.” A crowd of more than 100 braved wind and cold temperatures Nov. 20 outside the State Capitol to do just that. A bell chimed for each person and trans activist Sir Jesse McNulty played “Taps” after the names were read. Many of the dead included transgender women of color — a “holocaust” that can no longer be ignored, according to Dee Dee Chamblee, executive director of LaGender Inc. “There is a holocaust of transgender women of color. Many of them are prostituting [because they can’t get jobs] and are in danger. But when you are African American and transgender, well, you can’t get lower than that,” she said. “These women are killed out of meanness, hatred. And all they want is to eat, a place to stay. They put their life on the lines. Everybody should be outraged.”” — Transgender activists, allies rally at Capitol

[MI, USA] “Nearly 70 people filled the rows at Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit on the bitterly cold evening of Nov. 21 to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance … “We are here to remember our transgender brothers and sisters who have been killed just for being transgender,” said Rachel Crandall, executive director of TransGender Michigan. “If you ask me how I feel about that, I’ll say I’m really pissed off.” Crandall’s anger is not difficult to understand. According to a letter read by Transgender Detroit’s Michelle Fox-Phillips from Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Smith, a transgender person has a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered due to anti-transgender violence or prejudice. “I wish to remind each of you (that) the most basic right we have is the right to exist,” Fox-Phillips read. Currently no transgender-inclusive hate crimes legislation exists in Michigan or at the federal level.” — Community gathers for 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

[NY, USA] “A midlevel appeals court ruled Wednesday that a transgender individual can change from traditionally male to traditionally female first and middle names, regardless of potential confusion. The case involved Earl William Golden III’s petition to change names to Elisabeth Whitney Golden. A lower court had concluded the proposed change was “fraught with possible confusion.” The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court noted that people can change their names “at will,” provided there is no fraud, misrepresentation or interference with the rights of others. Done in court, the switch can be “speedy, definite and a matter of record.” While confusion can be one reason for a judge to reject someone’s name change petition, “that factor is not, standing alone, a basis to deny a petition inasmuch as ‘confusion is a normal concomitant of any name change,”‘ Justice Anthony Cardona wrote.” — NY court removes bar to transgender name changes

[NY, USA] “And so Syracuse mirrors in painful fashion the national schizophrenia of a people determined to push the boundaries of possibilities while insisting on denying others the freedom to be who they are. On the night that America celebrated the election of Barack Obama, millions watched in disbelief as the people of California voted to ban gay Americans from enjoying the delights and anguish associated with the institution of marriage. This is the great contradiction that presents itself in the current chapter of American history. What is it about this country, and about our community, that still causes some to cling to the idea that we can decide for other people how to live out their sexual lives? What is it about the idea of someone loving someone of the same sex, or realizing that their mind and their body are at odds on the question of gender, that some in this freedom-loving country find so offensive? Many will say this is just a problem of the individual who pulled the trigger. You can think that if you choose to, but it only makes the problem persist, and makes you part of it. That man pulling the trigger learned somewhere along the line that there is a right way and a wrong way to love somebody, and that his anger against those who are different is somehow justified. He learned that people like him get to decide the fate of another person. He learned that those people should learn to be like him. A gun, a few drinks, a dare later, and Teish Cannon lay bleeding in her brother’s arms.” — A Nightmare on Seymour Street

[USA] From Kelley Winters, “Psychiatric incarceration and abuse of gender variant youth and adults has for generations been facilitated by diagnostic nomenclature that equates difference with disease: nonconformity to assigned birth-sex with mental disorder and sexual deviance. It is time for the American Psychiatric Association and other mental health organizations to repudiate the practice of gender-reparative therapies, as they have renounced reparative therapies for sexual orientation. It is time for the APA and the mental health professions to extend an apology to all who have been imprisoned or traumatized in the course of these treatments. In drafting the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, it is time for the APA to remove the classification of Transvestic Fetishism and revise that of Gender Identity Disorder to serve constructive rather than destructive purposes. It is time for new diagnostic nomenclature consistent with the medical principle of “First, do no harm.”” — The Gender Gulag: Voices of the Asylum

[USA] From Vanessa Edwards Foster, “Typically I must admit a slight bias towards moms in allowing their children to be who they are innately – who they were meant to be. Much of this comes from my upbringing and my own dad’s notice of my natural feminine tendencies and his insistence that I “be the man” from the age of five onward, urging me into football and other masculine pursuits. Men have a harder time dealing with anything resembling emasculation. But in an unusual twist, Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher may well be doing the right thing, while his son’s mom, Tyna Robertson, is in the wrong. It’s Robertson who is claiming that Urlacher is feminizing his three year old son Kennedy, and seeking to remove Urlacher’s visitation rights.” — Pro Linebacker’s Child Used As A Football In Tabloidesque “Gender Confusion” Custody Battle

[USA] “Shame on you, Dr. Phil. As a man who’s own personal mantra is urging people to “get real,” Dr. Phil was decidedly unreal in his approach to transgender rights on a show that aired last month. (You Tube clip at the bottom of this post.) Allison Steinberg’s latest post takes Dr. Phil to task for allowing a phony doctor with ties to Focus on the Family to be an “expert” on his show regarding to transgender issues … Dr. Stanton, in fact, is no doctor. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of West Florida and is known widely as one of the foremost defenders of evangelical family values. He is a fellow at James Dobson’s organization Focus on The Family, which boasts a Christian mission, “To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.” The show angered the parents of transgender children that were guests on the show as well as the larger LGBT community.” — Dr. Phil Misrepresents Transgender Identity

[Australia] “The Australian Department of Health has come under fire for appointing two men’s health ambassadors who were allegedly involved in writing a document that espoused homophobic views … The paper entitled ’21 Reasons why Gender Matters’ was published by the Fatherhood Foundation two years ago and Mr Marsh and Mr Williams were among 34 authors who contributed to the document. Amongst other things, the paper describes homosexuality as ‘gender disorientation pathology’ and suggests that gay people are more likely to abuse children, be unfaithful or violent in relationships and abuse drugs.” — Australian government ‘health ambassadors’ in gay hate controversy

[Australia] “Australia’s Health Minister Nicola Roxon has dismissed one of the new Men’s Health Ambassadors for co-authoring an anti-gay, anti-transgender report. Warwick Marsh, president of Fatherhood Foundation, was one of 34 co-authors of 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters, a report which calls homosexuality a mental disorder. Ms Roxon announced today that Mr Marsh would no longer be an ambassador on the panel. “Mr Marsh has not repudiated his offensive comments. This makes his position as an Ambassador untenable and I have made a decision to dismiss him from this role,” she said.” — Health ambassador sacked for standing by anti-gay comments

[Australia] “A bitter feud has erupted at a prestigious golf club after it was revealed a leading member was undergoing a sex change. Male members of Wynnum Golf Club in Brisbane were disgusted when they learned married dad-of-one Don Asher, 52, had begun hormone treatment to become a woman. They forced Mr Asher to quit the men’s team after he turned up for a tournament wearing a dress. Following an emergency meeting at the club, Mr Asher was given permission to play for the ladies team. Yesterday he said he has never been happier– despite the hostile reaction of his former friends. “It feels as though everything is right at last,” he said.” — Sex-change golfer now a birdie

[Australia] “Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes sent a solemn message last week, calling on Australians to remember the “horrors and difficulties” that discrimination still inflicts on people who are gender diverse. The comments were made to mark the 10th International Transgender Day of Action and to announce the impending release of a report which will give recommendations on how to tackle trans discrimination in Australia. “It is sobering to think that this day of action was established as a reminder of those who have been killed as a result of anti-gendered hatred or prejudice,” Innes said. After same-sex entitlement reforms, the Commission has now set its sights on the rights of the trans community and has been researching and consulting on issues faced by gender diverse communities over the last year.” — Innes pushes for trans law change

[Thailand] “The ever increasing turbulence of the anti-government protests notwithstanding, a demonstration of a different nature was taking place yesterday in Bangkok. Unaffiliated to any political party, a group of transgender ‘ladyboys’ paraded past central Police Headquarters in Bangkok to protest at the lack of AIDS awareness in Thailand. Glamorously dressed in brightly coloured ball gowns and feathered head-dresses, the group struck a contrasting pose to the increasingly militant demonstrations … While observers hope the increasingly fraught situation in the country will end peaceably, the ladyboys, with their stylish parade of singing and dancing showed the world how peaceful yet fabulous protest is all about.” — ‘Ladyboy’ protests amid Thailand’s political chaos

[Malaysia] “While the causes of gender identity disorders are still disputed, one thing is certain – these patients need care and compassion, rather than discrimination.” — Gender poser

News and views for Tuesday, November 25th …

[MA, USA] “A crowd of more than 200 people filled St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s Church in Allston to hear prominent members and supporters of Boston’s transgender community memorialize the violent deaths suffered by transsexuals worldwide at the 10nth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event is held every Nov. 20, the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, in honor of Rita Hester, a transsexual whose violent – and still unsolved — murder in her Allston apartment shocked the community and spurred candlelight vigils and other memorial services across the world.” — More than 200 gather for Transgender Day of Remembrance observance

[NY, USA] “It’s been 10 days since Moses “Teish” Cannon was shot to death, apparently targeted for being transgender. On Monday, Cannon’s death brought the state’s human rights commissioner to Syracuse to meet with local transgender groups and speak out against what they consider a hate crime … “Part of the challenge we have is to educate and raise the consciousness of those young people who don’t at this point yet fully respect the human rights of those who are transgender,” said [Commissioner Galen] Kirkland. “The only way to stop the cycle of violence, to stop the cycle of prejudice and bigotry is to teach the younger generations coming up so that they know that hate is not ok and action based on hate is never, never, never acceptable,” said NYCLU chapter director Barrie Gewanter.” — Human Rights Commissioner talks about transgender death

[NY, USA] “In response to the tragic murder of Lateisha Green earlier this month, TLDEF [Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund] calls upon Albany lawmakers to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which would add gender identity and expression to the state’s hate crimes law. This plea comes after Dwight R. DeLee, 20, allegedly shot and killed Lateisha Green, 22, a transgender woman, outside a house party in Syracuse on Nov. 14 because he thought she was gay.” — TLDEF Calls Upon Lawmakers to Pass Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act

[OR, USA] “It’s unclear what reaction the group from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., was seeking when it arrived here to rebuke the town’s mayor-elect. But it’s not likely that Silverton’s festive, cheery response was what the religious protesters hoped to achieve. The town greeted the small group with an overwhelming rally of its own. Four Westboro protesters arrived in late morning, going first to Silverton’s city hall, then to First Christian Church, each brandishing a series of signs with a seemingly loose-knit yet dogmatic theme: “Fags Are Beasts,” “You’re Going to Hell,” “America is Doomed,” “Your Pastor is a Whore,” “God Hates You” and “Antichrist Obama.” The target of their sharp language was the town’s transgender mayor-elect, Stu Rasmussen.” — Silverton rallies against church’s hate message

[USA] “Advocates have been fighting for decades to protect gay and lesbian workers from employment discrimination at the federal level, thus far unsuccessfully. Title VII prohibits sex discrimination, but not sexual-orientation discrimination. The sex-discrimination ban has been successfully invoked in some cases by gays, lesbian, and transgender employees who were able to show that the discrimination or harassment they experienced constituted sex-role stereotyping. But for most who experience discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity federal law provides no cause of action. The longstanding exclusion of this type of discrimination from Title VII was poised to end this past year, though, when the House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA). ENDA would have filled an important gap in Title VII and extended protection to a class of workers regularly subjected to discrimination. Two versions of ENDA were considered – one that covered gender-identity discrimination, and one that did not. In some ways, transgender employees have had more success in proving sex discrimination – as I have written about in an earlier column – than gay and lesbian employees have. But, still, their victories have been scattered and they’ve suffered many more losses than wins. It thus makes sense to make ENDA as broad as possible in order to promote workplace equality for all.” — Why the New Administration Should Focus on Workplace Equality: Some Easy Fixes for Important Problems

[Italy] “The first transvestite elected to the Italian parliament, Vladimir Luxuria, garnered the votes of most TV viewers Monday night as the winner of the reality TV show “Celebrity Island.” The 43-year-old served in parliament for two years as a member of the Refoundation Communist Party before losing his bid for re-election in April. Over the past six weeks Luxuria, whose real name is Wladimiro Guadagno, has been a star on reality TV, trying to survive living on the beaches of Honduras with other celebrity “survivors”. In the end viewers picked Luxuria as their favourite … Born a man who dresses as a woman, Luxuria, also an actor, has become an icon of the Italian gay movement and easily won his seat in parliament in 2006 representing a district in Rome.” — Italian transvestite ex-MP triumphs as reality TV star

[India] “Should Shabnam Mausi be using the men’s restroom or the women’s? That’s the rather discomfiting question administrators at the Madhya Pradesh state assembly wrestled with on the day Mausi attended the legislature for the first time in 2000. Mausi made her own choice: She decided to use the women’s. Mausi, the first enunch to get elected to a state assembly, trounced opponents from all major parties in a by-election she contested as an independent candidate that year. After being unseated in 2003, the 48-year-old is back seeking votes for the 27 November polls, this time on a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket … But she is no longer a curiosity in a state where five eunuchs have been elected to various public offices since 2000. There are at least 10 eunuchs, popularly known in the subcontinent as hijras, contesting the polls to the 230-member state assembly this year, according to election officials.” — Eunuchs: fighting polls, still living on the fringes

[Mexico] “Transsexuals in Mexico City can get new – and altered – identity documents starting Monday if they provide a birth certificate and a medical certificate to local authorities thanks to a new municipal ordinance. Those eligible for the benefit are those people who have a report issued by two specialists certifying that they have undergone – or are in the process of undergoing – a sex-change procedure, whether or not it involves surgery. One of the promoters of the initiative is municipal assemblyman Jorge Carlos Diaz Cuervo, of the Alternative Social Democrat party, who told Efe that the aim of the reform is to put a halt to discrimination. The 42 family courts in Mexico City will receive the requests to modify the name and sex on the birth certificates of interested transsexuals, who must prove that they are adult Mexican citizens who have subjected themselves to “a process of (sexual) reclassification.”" — Mexico Transvestites To Get New IDs

News and views for Friday, November 21st through Sunday, November 23rd …

[AZ, USA] “Namoli Brennet’s name is inspired by the word “anomaly,” meaning an exception to the rule. She is that, and also a singer-songwriter with keen talent … in 2002 she released the album “Boy in a Dress.” The title of the album hinted at a larger life issue Brennet was grappling with: Brennet was born male but identified as a female. Sometime after 2002, Brennet started the transition to living her life as a female … Despite her unique life journey, Brennet’s lyrics are accessible and capable of speaking to shared experiences. Although she doesn’t often refer directly to gender transition, the theme of self-discovery informs her work. “I feel like a lot of people go through a process like that, where they sort of have to buck other people’s expectations,” Brennet said.” — Brennet’s life transition sparks musical growth

[FL, USA] “Simmie Williams Jr., the gay teenager slain nine months ago on Sistrunk Boulevard, will be remembered at a pair of events over the next couple of days. Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance around the country, and a ceremony is planned for 6:30 p.m. at the Metropolitan Community Church’s Sunshine Cathedral. The church is at 1480 SW Ninth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? – Click Here.. The day is aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes against the transgendered community. Also, a vigil to mark his birthday will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the corner where Williams was shot: Sistrunk and 10th Avenue. It will include a cake and candlelight march down Sistrunk. Williams was dressed in women’s clothing when he was shot to death Feb. 22. His murder remains unsolved.” — Fort Lauderdale: Events to remember slain gay teenager

[NY, USA] “Dwight DeLee’s family doesn’t believe that DeLee shot and killed Moses “Teish” Cannon and doesn’t buy the motive police have announced for the shooting – DeLee’s dislike of Cannon’s sexual orientation … Dwight DeLee was on parole for a drug conviction and had about three more weeks to go in a halfway house before his release, Williams said. Some family members believe that DeLee was set up as a fall guy for the shooting because he was on parole. “He’s the easiest to hold because he’s on paper (parole),” said Harry Washington, an uncle. Dwight DeLee didn’t catch too many breaks growing up, family members said … ” — Dwight R. DeLee could face hate crime charge in fatal shooting of transsexual

[OH, USA] “[The Cleveland] City Council is considering measures to make this the third Ohio city with a domestic partner registry and the fifth to protect transgender citizens from discrimination … [the] second ordinance that will come before council was introduced quietly by Santiago in August. That ordinance will add gender identity as a protected class every place in city law where other categories such as race, religion, sex and sexual orientation are currently included.” — Cleveland to add TG non-bias and partner registry

[USA] Kit Yan of the Good Asian Drivers has a video response to the Human Rights Campaign’s TDoR video. — Trans Day of Remembrance – Response to HRC

[Belgium] “Attitudes towards gays and lesbians in much of Europe and around the world may have made remarkable advances over the last 20 years, even if some regions of the EU are more hospitable than others. But for transgender people, discrimination, marginalisation and outright hostility remain part of daily experience. Transsexual people are often fired from their jobs when undergoing gender reassignment procedures. They are turfed out of their apartments, refused insurance and confronted with bigotry within the health community. Gender non-conformity is still used as an excuse for harassment, violence and even murder … [According to Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner] “Ignorance seems to be the main reason [behind the discrimination] and this lack of knowledge has led to prejudices which in turn have opened for discrimination and even hate crimes,” he said. “But it also stems from traditional concepts of what it means to be masculine or feminine in our society. We tend to shy away from discussions about sexuality and gender identity, but we need to deal with these issues head on.” There is hardly any area where discrimination does not take place, he believes.” — Transgender people face fear and hate across Europe

[Europe] “The correlations of this polymorphism with various endocrine and phenotypic features of men have been exhaustively studied. Many, though not all of these studies, demonstrate inverse correlation of the repeat length with androgenicity, suggesting that men with longer repeats have weaker overall androgen action. The phenotypes found to correlate directly with the CAG repeat length include poor spermatogenesis and male-to-female transsexualism.” — Increased Estrogen Rather Than Decreased Androgen Action Is Associated With Longer Androgen Receptor CAG Repeats (Abstract)

[India] Life has recently become even more difficult for hijras in Bangalore: “Shortly after, police claimed they had rescued a teenage boy from a “gang of hijras” who had allegedly castrated him without consent. They claim they have broken up a racket, but there are many unanswered questions about the case, which is still under investigation. Nothing has been proved yet but this hasn’t stopped the authorities from using the incident to vilify the community and justify its harassment. As Jenny (name changed) puts it, “After this case, everybody is looking at us as if we are monsters out on the prowl. If this abusive and discriminatory atmosphere prevails, I am worried about what the future holds for us.” To make matters worse, two weeks ago, at least 100 hijras were forced onto the streets in Bangalore’s Dasarahalli locality. “We are living in a constant state of tension. People are being arrested every other day. It was never like this before,” an activist said.” — Life in dire straits

[Japan] “Who said bras are only for women? A Japanese online lingerie retailer is selling bras for cross-dressing men and they’ve quickly become one of its most popular items.” — Bra for the boys an online bestseller in Japan

[Japan] “Takeshi Shimozato, a third-year student at Haebaru Nansei Middle School in Okinawa Prefecture, was awarded the H.I.H. Prince Takamado Trophy on Saturday after winning the 60th All Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest … Shimozato began his speech by explaining his gender identity disorder condition, about which he was sometimes teased during primary school days. One day as a fourth-grader, Shimozato saw one of his female friends playing the piano at his school, surrounded by others. “They all looked so happy. I wanted to be able to smile like her,” he recalled. “More importantly, I wanted others to smile at me.”" — Okinawan boy wins English speech contest

[Mexico] “Attaching flowers to a ribbon headdress, pulling a lace slip under an embroidered skirt and draping a necklace of gold coins over his head, Pedro Martinez puts the finishing touches on the traditional costume of Zapotec women in southern Mexico. “When I get all dressed up like this my father always says, ‘Oh Pedro! You look just like your mother when she was young,” beams Martinez, 28, gluing on fake eyelashes in front of a mirror. Martinez spent two hours in the hair salon he owns getting ready for this weekend’s festival of the “muxes,” indigenous gays and transvestites in the town of Juchitan who have found a haven of acceptance in Mexico’s macho society. The muxes (pronounced moo-shes), mostly of ethnic Zapotec descent, are widely respected in the southern town where a dance and parade that crowns a transvestite queen and celebrates the harvest has been held annually for the last 33 years. Anthropologists say the tradition of blurring genders among Mexico’s indigenous population is centuries old but has been revived in recent decades due to the gay pride movement.” — Mexican transvestite fiesta rocks indigenous town (Photos)

[Netherlands] In the December 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, an article on new research by Madeleine Wallien and Peggy Cohen-Kettenis: “Conclusions: Most children with gender dysphoria will not remain gender dysphoric after puberty. Children with persistent GID are characterized by more extreme gender dysphoria in childhood than children with desisting gender dysphoria. With regard to sexual orientation, the most likely outcome of childhood GID is homosexuality or bisexuality.” — Psychosexual Outcome of Gender-Dysphoric Children

[New Zealand] “”JOBLESS BEYER EYES AUSSIE,” trumpeted Wellington’s Dominion Post back in August. “Former Labour MP Georgina Beyer plans to move to Australia because she cannot find work,” the bleak article began. Yikes – is New Zealand really in danger of losing its highest profile transgender activist?” — She’ll be right – Georgina Beyer keeps it Kiwi

[Uganda] The GayUganda blog comments on the beating and arrest of Fatuma Segiyirira: “What crime has this lady committed? Daring to dress like a woman. Deceiving her acquitances. Those seem to be the most heinous crimes, according to the article. And what has been the punishment, which the community meted out fast and furiously? A not so public check to confirm the genital sex. A public beating. Paraded naked, for 5 good kilometres. Jailed. Was there any mention of bail or police bond? To court soon, charge- impersonation. Of a woman. (Any woman!!!) The police commander is not happy. Second time offender, so more charges, he adds grimly. The price of ignorance. Why should a man dress as a woman? Why would one risk one’s very life to do that? As a gay man in Uganda, I realize that I am fine in a way. For a long time, and at great cost to myself, I have learnt to hide. It is simply a necessity of survival. I hide so well that I can get lost in my own deception. A trans person in Uganda is more disadvantaged. Much more disadvantaged, and Segiyirira has paid the price. It could as easily have become a lynch mob.” — A Trans in Uganda

[UK] “The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Children, Young People and Families has said that new guidance is being developed for schools on gender and gender identity. Baroness Morgan was speaking at the pre-launch event for LGBT History Month last night … She later told PinkNews.co.uk that plans for the guidance are well-advanced.” — Education minister reveals new guidance for schools on gender identity

[UK] “People who are undergoing a sex change will be allowed two cards – one in each gender. But they will also be forced to pay twice – landing them with a £60 bill. The Home office said it had been giving careful thought to how it would deal with the cases of ‘transgender’ people. It has decided they will have to hold a card in their current sex, which can be used for travel in the EU. But they will also be able to apply for a card – with corresponding picture – in the name and sex they are undergoing treatment to become. In other words, they will dress and appear as they will once the sex change is complete. This will not be valid for travel but can be used to prove their identity in a second gender reliably and securely and reflects a different name, signature and photograph, the consultation paper says. Finally, when the change of gender is complete, they will hand the card in their original sex back. The one in their new identity will then become fully usable.” — One for each sex: ‘Transgender’ individuals to get two ID cards

[UK] From The Observer on London’s Portman Clinic, which is 75 years old: “But Ruszczynski did give me a copy of an audit showing the reason that patients were referred to the Portman. Most were there because of ‘compulsive sexual behaviours’ – fetishism, transvestism, transsexualism – and some for sexual and criminal offences, including exhibitionism … These days, the clinic is often visited by transvestites and transsexuals, and people who practise bondage and other sexual fetishes. ‘They come here because the desired effect of those things, what they were intended to do, has started to break down, usually when they’re in their thirties,’ Davies says. ‘The papering over the cracks that those practices fulfilled is no longer working. Some patients who are just post-operative can be despairing.’” — Porn addicts, sex offenders, rapists, paedophiles…

News and views for Wednesday, November 19th and Thursday, November 20th (Transgender Day of Remembrance) …

[CA, USA] “A transsexual former California state prison inmate, who claimed to have suffered repeated sexual assaults and beatings at the hands of two cellmates, can pursue a negligence damage claim against prison officials, an appeals court ruled on November 14, but she was not entitled to seek damages under the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the State Constitution … As a result of the appellate court overturning that dismissal, Alexis Giraldo, sent to Folsom State Prison in January 2006 while serving time for a parole violation, will be given a trial on her charge that prison officials were negligent in failing to protect her. However, the court found, the California Constitution does not afford an individual right to sue for damages for violations of the cruel and unusual punishment provision, which can only be enforced through a suit seeking to end unlawful punishment. A trial jury considered but rejected Giraldo’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress.” — Trans Inmate’s Suit Revived

[GA, USA] “Doraville has become the latest Georgia city to add transgender employees to its nondiscrimination policy. The move means transgender workers — those whose biological and gender identity are not the same — cannot be fired or mistreated in the northern DeKalb County city. “We have never discriminated against anyone, and we never will,” said Mayor Ray Jenkins. “We want to stay ahead of the issue.” The policy puts Doraville in rare company. Atlanta and Decatur are the only other cities in the state that protect transgender workers. In fact, while the protections have become more common in private business, they are more unusual at the municipal level. That is why, to advocates, it’s symbolic for a former industrial city of just 10,000 to approve the policy. The change comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit by Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, a transgender woman who said she was fired from her job at the Georgia General Assembly because of her decision to change her gender from male to female.” — Doraville won’t discriminate against transgender employees

[OR, USA] “Stu Rasmussen promised a new administration if he was elected, and he’s as good as his word: Silverton residents not only are getting a new mayor; they’re also getting a new Stu … Silverton appears to have come to terms long ago with Rasmussen’s nebulous gender, which he describes as “25%, maybe 30% between” man and woman, and his “adoption of the twins,” as the mayor-elect refers to his breast surgery. But he still manages to catch some people off guard. “Guys come up to me in the bar and say, ‘Hate to tell you this, but I saw this woman on the street the other day, and I’m thinking, great legs, nice tan, and she turns around and I go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s Stu!’ ” Rasmussen recounts in the deep voice that seems always softened with a trace of humor. “If I could have a face transplant, it’d be perfect. A face like this, only a mother could love. But people overlook the face now,” he says, glancing discreetly down at his tank top, “because there’s all this other real estate.”" — The mayor-elect’s new clothes: Silverton, Oregon, elects a transgender leader

[USA] An interview with Julia Serano: “The rising visibility of trans, intersex, and genderqueer movements has led feminists—and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world—to an increasing awareness that m and f are only the beginning of the story of gender identity. With the release of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Julia Serano offers a perspective sorely needed, but up until now rarely heard: a transfeminine critique of both feminist and mainstream understandings of gender.” — Gender diversity: A Transsexual Woman’s view of Sexism

[USA] From Kelley Winters, “To summarize, the term “autogynephilia” means far more than a description of erotic phenomenon. “Autogynephilia,” and its corollary “homosexual transsexualism,” have come to represent an over-arching body of derogatory stereotypes that are promoted as science but remain dogmatically resilient to contrary evidence … The term “autogynephilia” has grown to represent an affront to the human legitimacy and dignity of many transitioned women. It serves no constructive purpose in an evidence-based diagnostic nosology. I strongly urge the American Psychiatric Association to remove this offensive term from the supporting text of the GID diagnosis and refrain from adding it to the nomenclature of paraphilias in the DSM-V.” — Autogynephilia: The Infallible Derogatory Hypothesis, Part 2

[USA] From Donna Rose, “In a related note, the Human Rights Campaign has produced a video commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance. I don’t mind sharing that although I appreciate these kinds of things in principle I’m having a hard time appreciating this. I blame this organization for actively supporting the single-most destructful thing to be forced upon the transgender community despite their commitments to the contrary. I blame this organization for continuing to treat us with disrespect and, over the past year, could have used their resources to create untold amounts of support and education – but has not. I blame this organization for actually penalizing legislators who demonstrated a higher standard and a greater commitment to full Equality than HRC held itself to. I blame this organization for doing more to fracture the GLBT community than anyone from the outside would ever have been able to do. I blame this organization for trying to become a voice for transgender people when, in fact, they have no right to speak on behalf of any of us: they need to talk with us before they can hope to talk for us. All these things make these kinds of videos feel like a slap in the face more than something to appreciate. They don’t seem to learn that how you do something is just as important as what you do and they continue to do things wrong. –The best way to get the message across that you really care isn’t to produce flashy videos that include only HRC staffers. It’s to treat us with respect, to be honest with us, to engage us, and to actively help find ways that we can work together. It’s to actively build tools to help educate, to help get transpeople jobs, to do the difficult work or rebuilding some level of trust that continues to lay in shambles for most of us. If some of that had come before this video I might feel differently. However, it hasn’t. As a result, recent Press Releases and videos feel more like the same old tired HRC PR tactics than anything heartfelt or sincere to me.  Those looking for a DOR 2008 video created by and with transpeople simply need look here.” — Warning: HRC rant

[MN, USA] Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker, who last week referred to Thomas Beatie as a “mutilated lesbian” and a “freak,” on Tuesday blamed the murder of trans woman Latiesha Green on the media: “Doesn’t some of the blame lie with the American media who enables this fraud? … I would say a majority of the blame does not lie with the nitwit that shot him, other than the fact that he’s a nitwit and a guy who should have been in prison in my opinion, who shot him. But to me, this is the — this is an example of how, by enabling people and trying to push this false reality, leads to horrible crimes like this.”" — Baker: Media have “blood on their hands” for murder of transgender woman because they created “false sense of reality”

[TN, USA] “A former Memphis police officer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to civil rights charges in the jailhouse beating of a transgender prostitution suspect that was captured on video. An indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Bridges McRae, 28, of using unreasonable force by repeatedly striking Duanna Johnson with his fist and handcuffs in the intake area of the Shelby County Jail in February … Johnson, 43, who had a long history of prostitution arrests, was shot to death on a Memphis street by an unknown assailant earlier this month. The killing is still under investigation and no arrests have been made … The beating and Johnson’s murder have drawn the attention of advocates for gay and transgender rights, including the Human Rights Campaign, a national group that has called on the Memphis Police Department for a “commitment to treating transgender people with respect and fairness.”" — Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Videotaped Beating of Transgendered Woman

[Australia] “A doctor has been found guilty of performing an indecent act on a suicidal transsexual patient. Sulieman Hamid, 53, of Melbourne, touched the cognitively-impaired patient on her breasts and lips while he treated her for a slashed wrist in a cubicle at the Sunshine Hospital emergency department in June 2007. The court was earlier told the patient propositioned the doctor while he was treating her. A jury in the Victorian County Court today found that the touching did not constitute the more serious charge of indecent assault. It also found him not guilty of raping the woman at her home the following day.” — Doctor touched transsexual patient

[Canada] “Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has been funded in Ontario since June, but the minister of health still seems confused about it. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has been paying for SRS since Jun 3, after it was announced in May that the government would be relisting the procedure again after 10 years. But health minister David Caplan — who replaced George Smitherman in the portfolio in June — seems unaware of that or that the debate over exactly what shape the final process for SRS in the province will take is ongoing.” — Caplan confused about SRS: Health minister sends contradictory messages

[Finland] An update on Olli Aalto: “The Evangelical Lutheran bishop of Mikkeli, eastern Finland, says that an Imatra vicar who plans to undergo gender reassignment treatment can keep his job … During a joint press conference with Aalto on Thursday, Bishop Voitto Huotari confirmed that Aalto has a legal right to retain his post. Huotari denied that he had ever threatened to dismiss Aalto. He added that it is up to the vicar to decide if he will continue working. Aalto said last week that he had been encouraged to leave the Church and that he would consider legal action if he was expelled from his job. The cleric says he is tired of leading a double life, noting that extensive studies have diagnosed him as a transsexual. Aalto says the Church has a responsibility to provide work for someone who has been a faithful servant.” — Transgender Vicar Allowed to Keep Job

[India] “Police in Bangalore reportedly forced about 100 hijras (working-class transgender people) from their homes last week. Human rights groups said this is part of a pattern of prejudice-driven violence and abuse in the city aimed at hijras, mostly male-to-female working-class trans people … When challenged on their unconstitutional actions, the police told some of the activists that they had orders from higher up to round up hijras in Bangalore. Hijras are often unable to obtain identity papers because their gender identity and appearance do not correspond to their sex at birth. As a result, many cannot find housing, education, or legal employment – or, in many cases, even vote. The effective loss of basic citizenship rights – coupled with widespread social prejudice leaves them economically marginalised and exposed to police abuse.” — Indian police accused of “social cleansing” after another attack on trans community

[New Zealand] “With Jack yesterday were Nicky Gerard and Brooklynne Michelle, who were both born with male bodies and had transitioned to females. One of the toughest tasks was getting a job, and even though they both had university degrees it hadn’t helped, they said. “The discrimination is always there. I mean, you’re upfront with who you are, but generally being that truthful doesn’t help. It’s hard trying to be accepted in a work situation,” Nicky said. Brooklynne remembers before her transition walking down the street to a favourite cafe for a coffee with a mate being no problem at all. “Not now. The minute I’m out walking in the street, the sniggers, the ridicule, the abuse follow me all the way. It’s tough.” The three said that “being trans” was never a lifestyle and it wasn’t choice.”It’s the way we were born.”" — Boys will be girls and life will be tough

[Sweden] “Maria Sundin from Sweden’s Trans Oresund network said: “The demand for the exclusion of certain diagnostic criterias such as transvestitism, sado-masochism and fetishism from the Swedish verison of ICD-10 (KSH97) has been supported by the GLBT community for quite a while.” The World Health Organisation’s coding of diseases is known as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and it is on its 10th Revision (ICD-10). “It’s also important that the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare will work towards an elimination of these diagnostic criterias from the ICD-10 on an international level,” said Ms Sundin. “As far as I can see this action will not influence how our national health insurance will fund various medical needs for the transgender community. Access to treatment is based on the diagnosis of transsexualism, which will remain in the Swedish version of ICD-10.” — Sweden removes transvestism and other ‘sexual behaviours’ from list of diseases

[Sweden] “It sounds like a lost episode of The Twilight Zone. A man enters a laboratory, dons a special headset and shakes hands with a woman sitting across from him. In a matter of seconds, he feels like he’s inside the woman’s skin, reaching out and grasping his own hand. Strange as it sounds, neuroscientists have induced this phenomenon in a series of volunteers. People can experience the illusion that either a mannequin or another person’s body is their own body, says Valeria Petkova of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She and Karolinska colleague Henrik Ehrsson call this reaction the “body-swap illusion.”” — Your body is mine

[Germany] Only the sky was the limit when Yvonne Buschbaum soared to big heights as one of the leading women’s pole vaulters in Germany. Now the sky is wide open for Buschbaum, who feels the lightness of being after revealing her transsexuality last year and undergoing a gender change to Balian Buschbaum since then. “Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open,” said a recent diary entry on his website … A year has passed since Buschbaum revealed that she felt like a man trapped in a women’s body and would undergo the gender change to find her personal freedom. She appeared in television talkshows and also won respect in the athletics scene for her courage. But the medical implications of the gender change – the use of doping substances [testosterone] – required Buschbaum to quit pole vaulting … ” — The sky is no limit for gender-changed vaulter Buschbaum

[UK] “The 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance has been marked in the UK by the Trades Union Congress with a call on employers to stop discriminating against people on the grounds of gender identity … Although there have been improvements to the law, there remain gaps and widespread exemptions that leave trans people without full protection in employment … Earlier this week the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, held a meeting about the human rights situation of transgender people and discrimination based on gender identity. He said the problems of transgender persons as to go to the “very roots of what human rights are: the protection of the most vulnerable in society, the integrity of the human body and the right to be free from inhumane treatment.” Professor Stephen Whittle, Jane Thomas and Richard Koehler represented TransGender Europe at the meeting. TEU co-chair Julia Ehrt said: “It is clearly unaccaptable that a transgender person has to trade off legal properties like the right to integrity and self determination versus the recognition as a trans person.” The group said that in most European countries sterility and being single are forced pre-requisites to obtain name and gender change.” — Unions call for an end to discrimination on Transgender Day of Remembrance

I woke up tired this morning, after a really restless night of sleep. I dreamed I was in a hostage situation, and because I had to go to the restroom, the hostage takers were going to likely discover I was trans — it was pretty clear to me in the dream that if those folks found out I was trans that I would be considered an spiritual abomination, and would be killed.

But it was only a dream.

For the 30 individuals on the Transgender Day Of Remembrance list, being found brutally killed because those who killed them did it because of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

One of the last names added to the list this year was Lateisha Green. She was previously referred to by mainstream media by the name Moses “Teish” Cannon — the headline read Syracuse man was killed for being gay, police say. But as Rod McCullom of Rod 2.0 filled us in, the Syracuse murder victim has now been identified as transgender.

Was she killed because she was gender variant in appearance? — was it that Latiesha Green was a trans woman killed because she was perceived to be gay by her killer, ? From the articles, that’s what appears to have happened:

Dwight R. DeLee shot and killed [Lateisha Green] with a .22-caliber rifle Friday night because he didn’t like that Cannon was openly gay, Syracuse police said.

Thinking from a Matthew Shepard Act point of view, it’s important to point out Teich was trans, and to point out she was perceived to be gay. If we leave either sexual orientation or gender identity and expression out of the Matthew Shepard Act…well, one of the lessons of Teish’s death is that being trans or gay isn’t distinguishable in the perceptions of those who would harm us — sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are functionally the same thing.

I guess changing the focus a little, do I need to mention Teish was a double minority? Of the thirty names to be remembered this year, listkeeper Ethan St. Pierre tells me that three of the names are for caucasian victims, and the other 27 are of those who would be members of ethnic minorities. I’m not 100% sure his ethnic breakdown is 100% accurate, but it is clear that we most of the 30 names will be reading tonight will belong to non-whites.

In 2005 I wrote a poem for a victim whose story I found while archiving for transgendernews. GLAAD, in their blog, they have that poem up — for their series “What Does the Transgender Day of Remembrance mean to you?”

The stories mentioned in the poem are all real cases — there actually are two three-year-olds on the list. The three year olds were killed because of gender-variant behavior.

Below the fold is the poem.

If you haven’t thought about going to a Transgender Day Of Remembrance service already, please think about going to one this evening. Dyssonance provided a link in her diary to find out where individual local events are being held, worldwide. In San Diego tonight, we’re having a candlelight march at 6:00 PM, and a service beginning at 7:00 PM — both at our LGBT Center. I’ll be there.

Read the rest of this entry »

News and views for Tuesday, November 18th …

[MD, USA] ” If all humans are created equal, then why do only two Maryland jurisdictions have laws to protect a group that includes hundreds of Marylanders? It’s a statewide conflict over transgender discrimination. Sally Thorner reports people close to the issue say it’s time for a change.” — Top Model Talks About Being Transgender

[TN, USA] “The videotaped beating of a transgender woman in police custody in Memphis last February led to charges against two officers and national condemnation from gay rights groups. The officers were fired, and the Police Department overhauled some of its procedures and began sensitivity training for the entire force. But a week ago, the woman, Duanna Johnson, 43, was found fatally shot near downtown. Ms. Johnson’s death has revived scrutiny of the case as the department is under pressure to find the killer. “Duanna Johnson’s case was tragic before, and now it’s an almost unimaginable loss,” said Jared Feuer, the Southern regional director of Amnesty International. “Her treatment demonstrates a culture of violence against transgender people that must be addressed.” — Murder of Transgender Woman Revives Scrutiny

[MN, USA] “On the November 14 edition of his Minneapolis radio show, Chris Baker repeatedly referred to Thomas Beatie, a pregnant transgender man, as a “mutilated lesbian.” He also referred to Beatie as a “freak.” Baker also stated: “If a lesbian gets pregnant, I’m fine with it. I’m OK. Just stop alternating reality and trying to force me to buy into your psychosis.” Baker made the comments while discussing Barbara Walters’ interview of Beatie and his wife, Nancy Beatie. Guest co-host Nicole Remini said of Walters’ interview, “[S]o Barbara goes, ‘Are you pregnant again?’ Like, bluh. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth on the radio.” Remini added: “It’s disgusting. I really have a problem with it.”" — Radio host Baker referred to Thomas Beatie as a “mutilated lesbian”

[NH, USA] Virginia Prescott of New Hampshire Public Radio interviewed journalist Hanna Rosin, whose article about a transgender child, “A Boy’s Life,” appeared in the November 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly. — Transgender Children

[CA, USA] “A transsexual former California state prison inmate, who claimed to have suffered repeated sexual assaults and beatings at the hands of two cellmates, should be allowed to pursue a negligence damage claim against prison officials, an appeals court ruled on November 14, but she was not entitled to pursue damages under the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the state constitution. The plaintiff’s demand for injunctive relief was properly denied, ruled the court, because by the time of her trial, she had been released on parole … As a result of the ruling, Alexis Giraldo, who was sent to Folsom State Prison on January 4, 2006, while serving time for a parole violation, will be given a trial of her charge that prison officials were negligent in failing to protect her from attacks by her cellmates … Since Giraldo was released on parole before the trial, the state might take the prudential step of offering Giraldo a monetary settlement of her claim rather than have to go through a trial at which each of the named defendants would have to testify, especially considering the specific allegations of callous disregard on the part of some of them recited by the court.” — California Appeals Court Revives Transsexual Inmate’s Negligence Suit Against Prison Officials, but Rejects State Constitutional Claim

[MA, USA] “Remember that President-elect Obama has promised equal rights for the whole GLBT community — “T” meaning transgenders or transsexuals. (“Gender identity” is the code language used for trannies.) Clearly, there is no bottom to this pit of confusion, sadness, and perversion into which these people have fallen. Yet our leftist political leaders will encourage even more troubled people to fall in.” — Anti-Prop 8 Demo in Northampton Pushes “Transgender Rights”

[WI, USA] From Jillian Barfield, ” … I’ve concluded that the overwhelming majority of corporations that have been contacted by The Transgender Job Bank who are on the CEI 100% inclusive list are NOT inclusive and that I believe that the Human Rights Campaign organization is deceiving the public by representing that the problem of transgender workplace discrimination is not as prevalent as it truly is. At the same time The Human Rights Campaign accepts substantial financial support from these same organizations to promote their rich, white, gay, male agenda. The Human Rights Campaign has used their political ’scorecard’ system as a political weapon to disenfranchise the transgender community in Congress. I call upon the Human Rights Campaign to cease these practices immediately and to remove references to the transgender community from their public agenda.” — The Human Rights Campaign – Rich, White, Male, Agenda

[MD, USA] “Martine Rothblatt envisions you uploading a digital version of yourself that could live forever online. It’s not her first far-out idea … it’s a tough sell, that is, until you consider the other seeming impossibilities Rothblatt – who has a doctorate, a master’s degree in business administration and a law degree – has already achieved. When she was young, she dreamed of tiny satellite antennas that could fit on the tops of cars; she later launched Sirius Satellite Radio and won recognition as one of the inventors of the medium. She was born male, but felt female, and in the early 1990s underwent a sex change operation and became an advocate for transgender rights. With no drug development background, she started a biotech company to find a treatment for her daughter Jenesis’ primary pulmonary hypertension, a rare, life-threatening disease that elevates the pressure on blood vessels in the lungs. Today, Silver Spring-based United Therapeutics has a stock market value of about $2.6 billion and gave Rothblatt a compensation package worth $25 million in 2007.” — Virtual immortality

[USA/Australia] “New research suggests transsexualism is indeed a genetic trait. But how conclusive is the study?” — Discovery of a “Transsexual Gene” Raises More Questions Than Answers

[Spain] “The Spanish monarchy is upset that the cranky things their Queen says to them all day managed to get written down and have said that she was quoted “inexactly” and apologized if Grandma’s nutty rants upset any of the local homosexual peasantry. The Spanish Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexual accepted the apology, failing to mention that come Madrid Pride, you can bet half the gays will be dressed up as sexy, glittery Sofía’s.” — Spanish Queen Doesn’t Understand Parading Queens

[South Korea] “Transsexuals should be allowed to change their legal gender without undergoing a sex-change operation, South Korea’s rights watchdog said Monday, suggesting the Supreme Court amend its transgender guidelines. The top court’s guidelines stipulate that transsexual people have to have sex reassignment surgery in order to officially change their gender. The guidelines were made in 2006 to maintain judicial consistency amid concerns that rulings had varied according to judges’ social leanings since the first case for a male-to-female transsexual person was approved in 2002. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said such court guidelines, however, overlook the expenses and health risks transsexual people have to bear for surgery. “A sex reassignment surgery is very expensive, and its results sometimes can have fatal effects on one’s health. Considering those concerns, it is too excessive a demand for the judiciary to require surgery, while there can be other medical methods for sexual transition, like hormone therapy,” Yoon Seol-ah, the commission spokesperson, said. A 2006 survey by the rights commission suggests many transsexual people live in poverty due to prejudice and discrimination. Their monthly income averaged 700,000 won (US$497), it found, while a sex-change operation costs up to 100 million won. No official data exist, but the commission assumes there are about 4,500 people in South Korea who identify with a physical gender different from the one with which they were born. Those who have had gender reassignment surgery number 300 to 400. The watchdog also said other guidelines, such as requiring applicants to be 20 or older and unmarried, or to have finished the military service or be exempt from it, violate their human rights and should be abolished. “Their lives will be better off if their gender gets changed early and their identity forms early,” Yoon said. The watchdog also said judges should rule over transsexual cases with legislation rather than the top court guidelines and suggested that the National Assembly speaker establish a special law on the issue. — Transsexuals should be allowed to change legal gender without surgery: watchdog

[Nepal] A real Shangri-La? “Close on the heels of an international furore over the state of California’s decision to ban same-sex marriages, the apex court of nascent Himalayan republic Nepal has given its nod to such unions. “My eyes were filled with tears when I read the Supreme Court decision,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first publicly gay lawmaker and a gay rights icon in South Asia … Also striking a blow for transgenders, who were the butt of abuse for crossdressing, the court has ruled that crossdressing is not perversion but an individual’s freedom of expression.” — Same-sex marriage gets court nod in Nepal