[Iran]
Sex change funding undermines no gays claim
When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's combative president, provoked his latest controversy in New York this week by asserting that there were no homosexuals in his country, he may have been indulging in sophistry or just plain wishful thinking.
While Mr Ahmadinejad may want to believe that his Islamic society is exclusively non-gay, it is a belief undermined by the paradox that transsexuality and sex changes are tolerated and encouraged under Iran's theocratic system.

[Russia]
Androgynous boy with female genitals refuses to become woman
A Moscow-based hospital performed an operation on an androgynous boy who had a genetic set of chromosomes typical of female organisms. At his very young age the boy was diagnosed as having cryptorchidism. His parents, natives of the Middle East, wanted the son to grow older to have a special operation to solve the problem. The boy faced first problems in connection with the diagnosis at the age of twelve when he discovered that his genitals were bleeding.

[Singapore] [Books/People]
Leonard to Leona, Singapore transsexual bares all
At the age of 10, Leonard Lo was determined to become a woman.
Now 22 years later, Singaporean transsexual Leona Lo details the shame and anger she felt on her journey in a cathartic book that is raising eyebrows in this regulated city-state with old-fashioned attitudes toward sex.

[USA]
Candis Cayne: Actress, Dancer, And Transsexual Performer
For those of you who do not know who Candis Cayne is well she is an actress, dancer, and transsexual performer.
Candis Cayne was born Brendan McDaniel in Maui, Hawaii. Her parents had moved there from California so they could teach at a Waldorf school.
PHOTO: Candis Cayne
[People/Television] Transsexual actress joins mainstream American drama

American transsexual actress Candis Cayne will feature in the new U.S. prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money.

Cayne a well-known performer in New York City will play Carmelita, the transsexual lover of married Senator Patrick Darling, played by Billy Baldwin.

[USA] [Commentary]
Why America shouldn't enact hate crime laws

To perpetrate a crime of violence against an individual solely because of his race, religion, color, creed, or national origin is so morally repugnant that it necessarily engenders outrage in people of good will. It is, therefore, not only instinctive but commendable that a concerned society would want to do something meaningful to deter what is essentially an insult to the national conscience.

[Commentary] Fabricated fears about hate crime legislation

Excerpt: Unfortunately, some clergy across the nation have joined together to oppose this bill in an aggressive and divisive manner. For instance, conservative African-American leaders - most notably Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland's Hope Christian Church - have been inundating the media and faith communities with the message that this legislation will allow police to storm into worship services and arrest clergy if they speak against being gay. They make the incendiary allegation that the bill will create "thought crimes" by punishing people for thinking ill of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

[USA]
Academic Attack Against Transwoman by Alice Dreger

When I was South Carolina Coordinator for Lesbian Issues in NOW many years ago, I introduced a resolution at the state level in the National Organization for Women. That resolution which included trangender women made it clear that all women were to be part of the organization's membership and that all legislation that NOW would endorse must include all women. That resolution made it all the way to the National level and was passed. It is sad that some women still have less right to speak freely and lack equal protection under the law.
I received this e-mail from a woman who simply made a call for a paper. I wish to share this with all parties who support the right of all women to be heard. - Curtis E. Hinkle, Founder: Organisation Intersex International