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 Friday, November 14th …

[VT, USA] “They started out loving me. They thought I was the greatest thing since Grandma’s apple pie,” he recalls. But Tony says things changed once town officials learned he was transgender. “It was like day and night. I went to work one day and no one talked to me,” he says. Tony says he was ostracized, harassed, and officers didn’t respond to calls for backup. On some occasions, he felt his life was put in danger. He was being forced out. “I was a victim,” Tony says. “I know I will never forget it and I will do everything in my power to prevent anyone else from going through it.” – Transgender Discrimination

[CA, USA] In Palm Springs, a restaurant has changed its dress code: “The revised policy no longer forbids male patrons dressed in drag … The owners’ policy change comes more than a month after Dink’s opened and three weeks after Palm Springs entertainer Tommi Rose was turned away from the restaurant because of his attire. Rose, who frequently performs in drag, visited Dink’s on Oct. 18. He had attended the Equality Awards earlier that night and was wearing an evening gown. The doorman told Rose that his “kind” wasn’t allowed there, Rose said. When he asked the doorman what he meant, he was told “‘men dressed in drag,’” Rose said.” — Men in drag now welcome at Dink’s

[OR, USA] From columnist Carol McAlice Currie writing in Friday’s Statesman Journal (alternate link here or here), “Hampton would have been within his rights to pull his son from the child care program. Instead, he took his grievance to the airwaves via the Lars Larson talk show. Larson declared that sexual orientations such as this employee’s are “illegal, disgusting, grotesque and perverse.” Hampton urged the conservative talk-radio fans to call the Y and make sure that other children weren’t “left in jeopardy” … Protect them from what, I asked? A person different from themselves? A person who has enough to deal with as she struggles to reject a gender assigned by genitals, but not borne out by feelings? … Seeking to shame or embarrass the Y and this individual is wrong, and so is the message the other children now are getting: that people who are different are to be despised.” — Father should teach tolerance

[GA, USA] “Is ‘butch’ an outdated word? Maybe. But there are still butch women — of course it’s there.” With the rise of transgender men, however, sometimes there is a blurring of the old-school butch/femme roles that became popular in the 1950s among working class lesbians. “Now we have tranny boys who date gay men, who date femmes, who date other transmen — the rainbow spectrum has really changed in the past four to five years,” Holder said … “A femme is about being a lady, beauty. I like to dress up, smell good, look good. I have always been a girly-girl,” she said. “A femme is the essence of being a lady. I hold myself to a certain standard.” Watson has dated both femmes and studs. She explained that “butch” is the word that tends to be used by white women while “stud” tends to be an African-American term … The hardest part of being a lovely femme is going to clubs and other women telling her she’s not a lesbian. “They think I’m straight because of the way I look. I always ask, ‘Well, what does a lesbian look like?’ I’m very comfortable with who I am.”” — Butch/femme dynamic thrives in Atlanta women

[CT, USA] “The weathered bronze statue strikes the classic Venus de Milo pose — a graceful female figure with rounded breasts and belly, standing in coy contrapposto, covering her genitalia with a casual hand. But the Grecian symbol of womanhood takes a new twist in this photo, sporting a pink tie and short blond wig, with playful orange balloons floating at its feet. Instead of the quintessential feminine image, viewers now face a wacky, whimsical, sexually ambiguous human figure. All of the art on display at the Afro-American Cultural Center gallery’s exhibit of Trans/Genderqueer art and photography seeks to similarly confuse the viewer’s preconceptions of biological, sexual and cultural boundaries.” — Full breasts exposed

[MI, USA] “In a late night session Thursday, the Michigan House passed a package of two bills to expand the state’s ethnic intimidation act. Under the bills, bias motivated crimes would be subject to more severe punishments, including extended prison time and upgrading of misdemeanor criminal acts to felonies … The set of bills expands the current definition of bias crimes to include sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity and/or expression. It also makes it a crime for targeting a person because they are perceived to be a member of a protected class.” — Michigan House passes hate crime package, sends it to Senate

[MI, USA] “Less than twenty-four hours after the Michigan House overwhelmingly approved the passage of a package of bills to expand the state’s Ethnic Intimidation Act, a mother of a murdered transgender teen encourage the State Senate to move on the bills.” — Mother of slain transgender teen speaks out on Mich. house passage of bias crimes bill

[USA] Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality asked about ENDA (Will Congress be able to pass a trans-inclusive ENDA?), “Absolutely. We were so close last fall. Now, there are a lot of people doing a lot of work around ENDA and I am confident that if we all get the grassroots and DC work done that has to be done, we will have sufficient votes to pass ENDA and even overcome any possible parliamentary maneuver from our opponents. That being said, most of us do not expect ENDA to come up right away in this Congress though I wouldn’t want to venture a guess more specific than that.” — We Won, We Lost. What’s Next for 2009?

[USA] Rea Carey of The Task Force asked about her organizations’ legislative priorities, “The Task Force Action Fund has a number of legislative priorities, including expanding and strengthening existing federal hate crimes law and the repeal of ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but our top legislative priority will continue to be passage of an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Leadership will likely move other legislation first, such as the hate crimes bill, and we look forward to working with them on those efforts as well. However, a key focus of our energy and expertise will be on creating federal employment protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” — We Won, We Lost. What’s Next for 2009?

[USA] “These past few years we have seen a number of serious researchers complain that anti-gay and “ex-gay” ideologues are distorting and cherry-picking lines from scientific publications. The cure for this, and the prevention for a repeat of the past eight abysmal years of American history, is, it seems to me, education. People need to learn to read critically, everyone should have a solid background in scientific methods, some statistical literacy would be a nice thing. Listen carefully when you hear them talk about education, about home-schooling and charter schools, and when they complain about our public schools. Some groups benefit when Americans are poorly educated.” — NARTH Misinterprets the Science

[USA] “I keep wondering just how much the many different configurations of body, gender, presentation and behavior (words from the Trans 101: Terms and Concepts workshop yesterday) that fit under the big umbrella of “transgender” are asked to fit there because of the rigidity of the binary gender packages of “male” and “female”, “men” and “women.” As presenter Beth Harrison-Prado noted at the outset, “transgender” is above all a word — albeit freighted with meaning in our culture — and a word required by people’s growing recognition that gender in real life, rather than in the movies, magazines, and the conventional popular cultural imagination, is complex and immensely variable.” — Gender Complexity

[USA] From ABC News, “Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who bore a daughter four months ago, has become the public face of an issue for many other transgender people: having their roles as parents legally recognized. In an exclusive interview airing tonight on “20/20,” Beatie told Barbara Walters that he is pregnant with his second child … As the biological parent, Thomas Beatie has legally secure rights. His wife, on the other hand, is not biologically related to their baby but is granted parental rights by virtue of her marriage to Thomas Beatie. So if the validity of their marriage were challenged, experts say, Nancy Beatie’s parental rights could be in jeopardy. “There is litigation in other states over whether their marriage would be recognized,” said Nancy Polikoff, a law professor at American University in Washington, D.C. Polikoff envisioned a scenario in which the Beaties moved to a state that refuses to recognize Thomas Beatie’s legal sex change in Hawaii. If that happens, his marriage would be revoked as an illegal same-sex marriage and Nancy Beatie’s parental status could be questioned. That would be a nightmare for the Beaties. “Oh, I think we’re very worried,” Nancy Beatie said. “We’re both very worried.” Said Thomas Beatie: “If something were to happen to me, I want to make sure that Nancy has custody over her daughter” … In order to secure Nancy Beatie’s parental rights, lawyers advise the Beaties to do what many same-sex couples with children do — have Nancy Beatie, as the nonbiological parent, adopt their baby. “When there is a slight question whether the marriage will be upheld by a court if it’s challenged, the nonbiological parent will take the step of adopting the child, not because it’s always necessary but just to make absolutely sure that the parent-child relationship is legally protected,” Columbia’s Goldberg said. Polikoff of American University said, “Adoption will guarantee recognition in all states.” The Beaties agree that adoption would protect them, but they don’t want to do that as a matter of principle. They see themselves as a legally married heterosexual couple. They note that they file taxes jointly as husband and wife. “We shouldn’t have to adopt our own daughter,” Thomas Beatie said. The Beaties are seeking legal representation to pursue a change in the birth certificate. “I feel that it’s a flawed document,” he said. “We’d like to see this process remedied for the next child, for the next pregnant man.” — Pregnant Man, Other Transgender Parents Face Legal Questions

[USA] A related article, also from ABC News, “No longer living on the fringes of society, transgender families are quietly raising their children in towns and neighborhoods across the country. Take the case of Andey and Leaf Nunes, and their son Antonio. Even in San Francisco, where the two men live, their relationship raises eyebrows and the questions of, “What is a woman? What is a man?” “We’re a gay male couple that got to have a child the old-fashioned way,” said Andey, a transgender man. “I am Antonio’s biological mother on his birth certificate.”" — Transgender Couples: Changing the Face of Family

[UK] “An Audience with April Ashley takes place in the Small Concert Room at St George’s Hall tomorrow at 7.30pm. Miss Ashley was born in Liverpool in 1935 and lived in Norris Green for all of her childhood. In 1960 she was one of the first transsexual people to undergo gender confirmation surgery in Morocco. She went on to develop a successful career as a model, appearing in Vogue amongst other magazines. She was “outed” as a transsexual by the Sunday People in 1961 and her marriage and subsequent divorce removed the ability of trans people to acquire full legal status. This was not satisfactorily resolved until the passing of the Gender Recognition Act of 2004.” — Out and About

[UK] Where Julie Bindel is scheduled to be on December 5th. — Public Debate: A Feminist Perspective on the Transsexual Debate,

[India/Nepal] ““Sexual minorities should be treated as fairly as other citizens. If a member of our community breaks the law by all means book him but please don’t round up every hijra or transsexual you can find, the activists who support them and brutalise them,” said Manohar of Sangama. ”Also, please stop spreading false and outlandish stories about people being kidnapped and castrated just to sensationalise issues and create more fear and mistrust among the public,” he added appealing to the press and the authorities.” — Reality bites

[Australia] “So say we all.” — In Parliament Yesterday

Well, one show has moved out of town (actually it was closer to Black Mountain and about 18 miles or so up the valley from downtown Asheville). No loss. Just another “circus” whose methods are also certainly questionable. You can read “the reviews” from Pam Spaulding and Wayne Besen.

This Friday-Saturday-Sunday is the 30th annual Bele Chere Festival. A much better show, believe me … hope you can visit here sometime.

~~~

Just a couple of local links …

Equality Asheville

Phoenix

BlogAsheville

OUTLOUD

Some news and views, trans and otherwise, catching my attention today …

#1 – Sophia Siedlberg from the Organisation Intersex International commented on a Bay Area Reporter feature today (“DSM controversy could overshadow opportunities“) on Kenneth Zucker, Jack Drescher and DSM-V …

If the APA feel that some of the very real anger expressed about how certain people are appointed and the actions of those people, then the APA should consider the possibility that the Clarke Northwestern academics they have elected have, in the past been known to provoke an acrimonious response from those they “discuss” and then deliberately ignore any invitations for polite debate, while crying foul when people get angry out of sheer frustration. That is a well known and documented tactic on the part of the Clarke-Northwestern. And one that renders their objections to being called everything from “Quacks” to “Nazis” utterly meaningless, as they have deliberately taken an invidious approach to debate, in order to cry foul when the predictable response happens. We have to ask why do the Clarke-Northwestern do this? Most logical people would conclude that there may be some truth in the more slanderous accusations levelled at the Clark Northwestern as they persistently fail to engage in open debate, in a way that appears deliberate.

On the The Bay Area Reporter

#2 – Barack Obama supporter and Transadvocate blogger, Marti Abernathey, is the subject of a Bay Windows feature today (“Trans parent, gay son: pride across the generations“) …

Abernathey fights through her involvement with various national and state transgender and LGBT organizations. She runs the Transadvocate group blog (transadvocate.com) and is contributing editor for another, the Bilerico Project (bilerico.com). She also fights simply by being open about who she is. “A lot of the reasons why there are fewer obstacles now for gay and lesbian parents is because there are gay and lesbian parents,” she explains. “There’s exposure to the straight community, so it’s not an abstraction, it’s real. When trans people are open and honest about who they are, then people will start to see we’re just parents. We’re not trans parents, we’re parents. I think that’s what gays and lesbians want, and what trans people want.”

And, speaking of Obama, he has a fan in Rupert Murdoch (“Rupert Murdoch Says Obama Will Win“) …

“He is a rock star. It’s fantastic”

#3 – Actor and comedian Harvey Korman passed away today (“Comic powerhouse Harvey Korman dies at 81“) …

Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in “Blazing Saddles,” died Thursday. He was 81.

…

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks‘ 1974 Western satire, “Blazing Saddles.”

…

After 10 successful seasons, Korman left Burnett’s show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. “The Harvey Korman Show” also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

“It takes a certain type of person to be a television star,” he said in that 2005 interview. “I didn’t have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. … Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I’m fine.”

#4 – Where would some folks be without us … ? (“A better way to morality“) …

Cross-dressing to my mind is the single most important factor in spreading the homosexual lifestyle.

#5 – One way to get rid of some carbon footprints (“Environmentally Friendly Bombs Planned“) …

New explosives could be more powerful and safer to handle than TNT and other conventional explosives and would also be more environmentally friendly.

…

To make safer, more environmentally friendly explosives, scientists in Germany turned to a recently explored class of materials called tetrazoles. These derive most of their explosive energy from nitrogen instead of carbon as TNT and others do.

…

These compounds have great potential, “especially for large caliber naval and tank guns,” Klapötke added

Way back on March 30th, in the Ideas section of the Boston Globe, there was a a Q&A with Dr. Norman Spack. Dr. Spack has a clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston; he’s “a doctor who helps children change their gender.” The article is about the clinic, about the treatment, and about why the clinic exists.

IDEAS: At what age should children be allowed to take hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, that will forever change the way their bodies develop?

SPACK: Well, the Dutch would say 16. But I think more flexible guidelines will be coming out. For some kids, 16 might be appropriate. For others {hellip} you loseWeight Exercise opportunities if you wait. [One of my patients, a] transgendered girl from the UK, was destined to be a 6-foot-4 male. With treatment, she’s going to end up 5-foot-10.

Dr. Spack isn’t providing for or arranging for minors to receive genital reassignement surgery as minors.

How the story has been told and emphasized — from being about the quality of children’s lives and suicide prevention to one emphasizing conservative Christian beliefs and theology; from focusing on these children to focusing on the statements of Dr. Paul McHugh — the John Hopkins professor who advised the Catholic Church regarding sex abuse and transsexuals — and whether or not Dr. Norman Spack is a “nutjob”, or whether treatments offered to transgender children at Dr. Spack’s clinic are “barbaric,” “a rejection of the lawfulness of nature.” , and “cooperating with psychosis.”

Although treatment of transsexual youth (or even adults) is not always couched in terms of faith-based, conversion therapy, often it is.

The National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality‘s (NARTH’s) Dr. Richard P. Fitzgibbons mixes the treatment of transsexual adults with his Catholic faith — and the treatment of youth diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) — in his NARTH piece The Desire For A Sex Change:

[After the fold, NARTH, the Liberty Council, and the Catholic Medical Association weigh in.]
Read the rest of this entry »

Who would ever have thought gender identity disorder would be a rampant in Kuwait. (I didn’t think they even had a chapter of Transexual Menace there.) From the Kuwait Times today …

He [Dr. Khalid al-Mohanadi] also pointed to a growing problem related to gender identity disorder that has developed from being merely a social problem to a rampant phenomenon, quoting a relevant recent study he made for the National Assembly.

Gender identity disorder cases ought to be treated through religious, psychological and social perspectives, he said.

Concerning Satan worshippers, al-Mohanadi said they underwent “intellectual invasion” that resulted from spiritual, psychological and religious vacuum.

But, he reassured that those youths return to reasoning once they are put under appropriate religious and psychological guidance.

Sounds like Dr. al-Mohanadi owns the local Kuwaiti NARTH franchise. Nice touch — being lumped in there with the satan lovers, by the way.

~~~~~

My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress.
Goodness Gracious, that’s why I’m a mess!

– “Gee, Officer Krupke”

And not from what Olivia St. John is concerned about, as I see it. A resident WorldNetDaily gadfly (to use a relatively polite term), St. John is at it once again this morning (“Homosex in a public park near you“) over “the homosexual agenda,” longtime staple fare at WND …

But in the midst of all this, the reality is that children are at serious risk as the homosexual agenda proliferates in our nation’s public schools and continues invading our public space. The homosexual movement does not view moral people as friends, but our children are strongly desired, and they represent a hub around which the homosexual movement spins.

…

Those influenced by the “rulers of the darkness of this world” are doing their best to “call evil good and good evil” by using the public airwaves, public parks and public schools to push deviant sexual practices into the faces of our innocent children.

An entire generation is at risk.

Talk about fiddlin’ while Rome burns, I wish the Ms. St. Johns out there paid more attention to what the “rulers of the darkness” are leaving for future generations — 4,000 down and a helluva payback. Yup, nevermind death and taxes, let’s worry about “transsexual sex in public parks.” Sheesh …

For Sunday …

#1 – No surprise (Franco is dead!), I guess, that the reparative therapy business is international …

Two Spanish clerics, one Protestant, the other Catholic are under fire by gay rights organisations for their homophobic views.

Protestant minister Marcos Zapata is to face an investigation by the Galicia regional government into the organisation he runs that claims to helps troubled youth. It is claimed that he recently hosted a seminar called “How to Raise Heterosexual Children”.

According to media at the seminar, Senor Zapata likened homosexuality to alcoholism and claimed it was an illness that could be healed through family therapy. He advised the audience to “hug your sons as much as you can, because if you don’t, perhaps another man will”.

The regional government has said it is firmly against “any type of proselytising or homophobic attitudes.”

“After so many legal victories in this country, and for the first time people are talking openly about homosexuality in schools, we have to deal with fundamentalist groups which take us back to the Franco dictatorship,”Toni Poveda, the president of the National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals told The Guardian. “And of course we are going to try to stop this from happening. Sexual orientation is innate and there’s no way to change it.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic bishop of the Canary island of Tenerife claimed in an interview that “homosexuality harms society, and we will pay for it.” He also compared homosexuality to paedophilia and drug addiction.

Spanish clerics to face investigation over gay “cure” speech

#2 – In Canada, a she said, he said …

A Quebec City trans activist and lawyer says the NDP dumped her from her candidacy in a federal Quebec City riding because of her gender identity.

“I was a very attractive candidate when I was chosen to run for the NDP but now, nine months later, it seems I have lost all of my sex appeal,” Micheline Anne Montreuil told Xtra.

Montreuil, who has been involved with the NDP on and off since the late 1970s, says Raymond Guardia, cochair of the party’s Quebec electoral planning committee, contacted her with a list of reasons for dumping her that included a desire by potential candidates in other ridings to not have their names associated with hers. She says the suggestion that she doesn’t work well with others couldn’t be further from the truth.

…

An NDP spokesperson says Montreuil’s gender identity is not the reason she was given the boot.

“She can say whatever she likes but she knows our reasons and she knows that her gender identity is not one of them,” says Matthew McLauchlin, copresident of the NDP Quebec section’s LGBTT commission. “Essentially the reason we couldn’t retain her candidacy is because of her behaviour toward other NDP activists.”

…

McLauchlin says there are no hard feelings toward Montreuil.

“I don’t want to diminish her victories as a trans activist,” he says. “That’s what attracted the NDP to her as a candidate in the first place. I hope her work for trans rights continues, as ours will.”

Montreuil’s victories include a decision last year by The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that the Canadian Forces discriminated against her because of her sexuality when it passed her up for a job. She won a similar case against the National Bank in 2004.

Turfed trans candidate speaks out

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I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear those words I don’t generally expect much in the way of facts or proper logic to follow. Olivia St. John, who’s evidently serving last year’s leftover turkey today (see here and here for some examples of reaction last year to all this), does nothing to change that expectation with this doozy from her latest article in WorldNetDaily, “Give ‘peeing in peace’ a chance?” …

Considering that, according to Yale and Harvard-connected psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, pedophilia is more than three times more common among homosexuals than among heterosexuals, and since the GLBT population is strongly unified, doesn’t it strike you as odd that a major transgender organization endorsed by the homosexual lobby would consider having children undress in a teacher’s office?

By the way, speaking of “strongly unified,” I’m sure that Gwen Smith would not be the only person today who would take issue with that description.

Well, what a relief! The conservative religious organizations National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) say that whether or not transgender inclusive language ends up in ENDA, I’ll be protected for being transgender anyway! Suuuuuuuuuuuuuper!

NARTH has posted a legal analysis of ENDA on their website that says Individuals With Gender Identity Issues Arguably Still Would Be Protected Under ENDA. Specifically:

Although the recently modified version of ENDA removes gender identity as a specific protected class, individuals with gender identity disorders arguably would still be protected.

ENDA, as modified, still defines “sexual orientation” as heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality and still prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s “actual or perceived” sexual orientation. Significantly, the inclusion of the concept of “perceived” is a far broader protection than that provided for African-Americans, women, and people of faith under the landmark civil rights legislation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ENDA, as modified, would still, in effect, protect any status that may be perceived by an employer or co-workers to fall within the three included categories. There is no condition of sexual abnormality that may not be perceived to fall within one of these categories, including the following categories excluded by the ADA: pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism and sexual behavior disorders.

Accordingly, gender identity disorders, even though removed from the current proposed ENDA legislation as a specific protected class, also could be “perceived” to fall within one of the three categories. Without containing an explicit exclusion, like that contained in the ADA, persons with these conditions likely will have protection under ENDA, with the result being that ENDA would provide greater and broader protection than those with disabilities under the ADA.

And, the TVC said ENDA will protect she-males transgender people like me when it wrote this week:

Individuals with gender identity disorders still would receive protection under ENDA even though language explicitly including gender identity as a protected class has been removed from the proposed legislation.

- ENDA poses a serious threat to businesses. Even though H.R. 3685 has removed “gender identity,” it will still be a litigation nightmare for any employer who has 15 or more employees. Anyone with a bizarre sexual orientation can claim protection under this legislation. The workplace is not just an employee’s cubicle. Workplaces are public facilities frequented by children-restaurants, stores, theaters, theme parks, hospitals/Dr office etc.

- H.R. 3685 includes the terms “actual or perceived” in it. The term “perceived” provides homosexuals and transgenders far broader protection than for African-Americans, Hispanics, women, or people of faith under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equating cross-dressers or she-males to legitimate minority groups is a slap in the face to all who fought in the Civil Rights Movement.

- In addition, the word “perceived” can be used by transgenders to claim protection under ENDA. This word also covers 30 different kinds of “sexual orientations” in ENDA. Any person who is a heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual under ENDA can also engage in a variety of sexual orientations and bizarre behaviors listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM).

- With respect to faith oriented religious institutions, it is unclear what constitutes “propagation of a religion.” ENDA will force Christian schools, universities, publishing companies, day care centers, independent nursing homes, advocacy groups, etc., not directly connected to a denomination, to kowtow to the demands of homosexual and transgender employees.

Geez. Three-hundred LGBT and progressive organizations have been battling for an inclusive, United ENDA for nothing! Why, if those gosh darn religious right organizations say that I’ll be covered without transgender inclusive language, then I should be absolutely assured that the federal courts will rule to protect transgender people with or without transgender inclusive language!

…right?

Seriously, it’s a result predicted by some legislative activists: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with Representatives George Miller and Barney Frank, telegraphed to the religious right organizations exactly what arguments can scare them and their congressional peers into not supporting ENDA. And now, religious right organizations are now beginning to focus more of their arguments straight at transgender inclusion in ENDA — whether or not transgender/perceived gender protections will end up specifically included in the final version of ENDA language.

Now, tell me again exactly how dumping “perceived gender” from ENDA was supposed to be a smart strategy?

With all of the changes this year in how various forms of media — including the entertainment media – with how transgender people and issues are covered, I’m going to start documenting how transgender is becoming the new gay.  I mean that in the sense that the transgender civil rights movement is following a similar path to the one the gay civil rights movement has taken over the past 40-years.

Today’s example story is in how transfolk keep coming out younger and more publicly (just like coming out gay age has now dipped to the early to mid-teens from the middle-age coming out age averages of just post-Stonewall) and are fighting for the right to be themselves in hostile environments.

From the Dallas Morning News’s Transgender teen free to be herself:

FORT WORTH – When Rochelle Evans chooses what she’s going to wear to Eastern Hills High School each day, her choices aren’t solely fashion statements. To Rochelle, her flats, makeup and women’s jeans represent a hard-fought right to express herself.

And a subtle declaration about transgender teens everywhere.

The 15-year-old transgender sophomore, who started high school as Rodney Evans, recently fought a public battle against school administrators over wearing women’s clothes and her reaction when confronted by school officials. As part of the deal, Rochelle is addressed as a female and gets to use the nurse’s bathroom to avoid any awkward scenes in the boys’ or girls’ restroom.

“I just felt more comfortable being a girl,” she said. “I’m not asking for any special treatment.”

And in a parallel course of events, there is Religious Right backlash.  The National Association For Research And Therapy Of Homosexuality (NARTH) released the story entitled Gender Confused Teenage Boy Wins Right To Wear Girl’s Clothing To School (subtitled: The mainstream media is apparently conspiring with transgender confused persons by labelling [sic] them ‘girls’ when they’re genetically boys):

Rodney Evans is a 15-year-old boy who attends Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas. He has recently won the right to wear girl’s clothing to school and to require others to call him “Rochelle” instead of Rodney…

…The reporter [of the , Debra Dennis, referred to this boy as “she” throughout the article, even though he is genetically a male and has not undergone any sort of hormone or surgical procedure yet.

His attorney is Phyllis Randolph Frye who has been involved in transgender political activities for years. Frye underwent male-to-female sex surgery years ago and is a well-known activist among gay and transgender groups.

NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., notes: “No matter how much this boy wants to be a girl–and dresses in a more ‘girly” style than do biological females–he cannot possibly be one, and for the media to conspire with his fantasy is absurd. All his DNA reflects the fact that he is male, and nothing can change that. It’s ironic, though, that the same mainstream media that brackets the term ‘ex-gay’ in scare quotes is willing to call a boy who wears high heels a ‘she.’”

Rochelle is going to have to be strong to be transgender in a hostile school and cultural religious right context.  It looks like Rochelle is up to it, and is going to be powerful example for other transyouth coming out in their schools.

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Note: Dr. Nicolosi apparently doesn’t know what the Associated Book Stylebook says about transgender people and terms:

transgender : Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

Can I say offended and really, really, mean it?

WARNING: Don’t select the link below unless you want to be connected to some she/male porn.  Not work friendly at all.

I went looking for blog links this morning an found this one above about my interview with Dan Gonzales of the Box Turtle Bulletin.   Only this link is a sham link — the link in the box above doesn’t evaluate the story, instead it’s a link to pure she/male porn.  Nice.

It just figures that when I comment on the use of the term she/male by the Traditional Values Coalition and NARTH that the porn industry links the term she/male and some she/male porn to me.

 All I can really say to all this is GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Researchers Kenneth J. Zucker and Susan J. Bradley are names that every gay man and lesbian woman should know, especially if they were treated to become “straight” at a camp or a ex-gay affirming psychologist’s office — but almost no one knows who Zucker and Bradley are.

The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals (NARTH) quotes Zucker and Bradley often in defense of treating children diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) — described as a “pre-homosexual condition” by Joseph Nicolosi in his book A Parents Guide To Preventing Homosexuality. (Update – See Further Reading‘s GID Reform Advocates: DSM-IV-TR: Gender Identity Disorder in Children, 302.6 for how the Childhood GID applies to LGB people.)

Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley are from the Clark Institute (CAMH), specifically the institution’s Gender Identity Clinic.

In Gene Chase’s review of Zucker & Bradley’s Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents, Chase states of Zucker and Bradley:

They are specialists in Gender Identity Disorder (GID), which is the last vestige of the characterization of homosexuality as a disorder in the old APA DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual].

Recall that GID is the feeling of conflict in one’s gender. It is not being transsexual (ts), since no biology is a part of the diagnosis. It is not being transgendered (tg) alone, since that may not be conflicting. It is not cross-dressing, since that is a behavior not a feeling.

Here’s what has been said about Zucker and Bradley’s work, some of it in their own words:

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David Roberts from the Ex-Gay Watch contacted Dr. Francis Collins after NARTH published the article “Homosexuality Is Not Hardwired,” Concludes Dr. Francis S. Collins, Head Of The Human Genome Project.

In the XGW article Major Geneticist Francis Collins Responds to NARTH Article, David Robert’s quotes Dr. Collins from their email interchange:

It troubles me greatly to learn that anything I have written would cause anguish for you or others who are seeking answers to the basis of homosexuality. The words quoted by NARTH all come from the Appendix to my book “The Language of God” (pp. 260-263), but have been juxtaposed in a way that suggests a somewhat different conclusion that I intended. I would urge anyone who is concerned about the meaning to refer back to the original text.

The evidence we have at present strongly supports the proposition that there are hereditary factors in male homosexuality — the observation that an identical twin of a male homosexual has approximately a 20% likelihood of also being gay points to this conclusion, since that is 10 times the population incidence. But the fact that the answer is not 100% also suggests that other factors besides DNA must be involved. That certainly doesn’t imply, however, that those other undefined factors are inherently alterable.

Your note indicated that your real interest is in the truth. And this is about all that we really know. No one has yet identified an actual gene that contributes to the hereditary component (the reports about a gene on the X chromosome from the 1990s have not held up), but it is likely that such genes will be found in the next few years.

NARTH has a disclaimer on their website that reads as follows:

Opinions expressed on [the NARTH] web site are the views and sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of NARTH. NARTH values diversity of opinions and freedom of speech, and encourages individual writers.

I assume then that the NARTH disclaimer now covers misrepresentations by NARTH’s President A. Dean Byrd of non-NARTH scientists views in the articles he writes?

NARTH’s leadership appears to be somewhere in between oddly incredible and just plain non-credible. Using the cover of Free Speech to now cover misrepresentations of scientists’ views seems unbelievable — but since the discredited article as of this writing is still up after being exposed as inaccurate indicates it is believable.

This article that misrepresents Dr. Collins views also speaks to NARTH’s poor track record of actually doing quality “R” for “Research” — NARTH’s “R” in their full name of the “National Association For Research And Therapy Of Homosexuality.”

The National Association For Research And Therapy Of Homosexuals (NARTH) and the TVC have both used the term “She/Male” to refer to pre-op and non-op transsexuals.  Most transpeople I know find the term “She/Male” pretty ofensive.

David Gonzales at the Box Turtle Bulletin interviewed me for their “If It’s Wednesday, It’s Ex-Gay” segment to talk about the term She/Male, and has a podcast posted.

 I won’t boast of my performance during the interview.  I don’t seen to be able to sit still these days (new med), and I think that comes accross in the interview.