[Italy] [Blog/Commentary]
Italian "gay baby" ad: insightful or insolent?

Pretty startling, isn't it? The ad, which has appeared in Italian newspapers and on billboards across Tuscany, says, "Sexual orientation is not a choice." The ads are sponsored by the regional government in an effort to combat homophobia and to promote the Festival of Creativity. Similar ads appeared in Quebec last year; the campaign was developed by a Canadian foundation called Emergence.

[India] [Film]
Depicting the transgender truth

It's a community most people ridicule or prefer to keep at arm's length.

But what does it mean to cross the gender divide, to be free of being male as society defines it?

That's the theme explored in the film Our Family.

A true story about a family of transgender women that unfolds over three generations.

[MD,USA]
Transgender man can keep post as pastor
Methodist council rules after local clergy questioned his appointment
Church Court Rules For Transgender Pastor
The United Methodist Church's highest court ruled Tuesday that a transsexual pastor can keep his post.
[Blog/News/Video] Methodists Vote to Keep Transgender Pastor
In a potentially landmark decision, the United Methodist Church has ruled that a transgender pastor who applied for a name change can remain in the ministry. The decision in case of the Rev. Drew Phoenix was released on Tuesday by the church's Judicial Council.

[NJ,USA]
Two former men share transgender experience
Transgender activists Barbara "Babs" Casbar and Terry McCorkell spoke to a crowd of about 30 College students Thursday night in Forcina Hall to address the historical, political and social issues of transgender advocacy. They also shared their own gender identity experiences: the two former men now each lead the life of a woman.

[AZ,USA]
Gay Rights Group Quits Club Dispute

A Valley gay rights group, Equality Arizona, has washed its hands of an ongoing battle between transgenders and a Scottsdale nightclub.

[ENDA]
Landmark gay rights bills split state's congressional delegation
[Commentary] ENDA, Obama and the cultural war
[News/Commentary] Critics Claim ENDA Would Threaten Religious Freedom
(press release) Reform Jewish Leader Calls on House to Pass Transgender Inclusive Non-Discrimination Act
TVC: ENDA would force Christians to 'kowtow' to homosexual, transgendered employees

[Pakistan]
The travails of the third gender

Bindiya, a member of the Hijra (Eunich) community, won the hearts of a jam-packed audience at The Second Floor on Saturday night with her witty responses during the question-answer session after the screening of a documentary on her life entitled, Bindiya Chamki Gií.

[Thailand]
Canadian suspect's lover denies involvement

A Thai transvestite who was key to the recent arrest of alleged Canadian child molester Christopher Paul Neil has denied providing victims for him.

[Japan]
Japan sex-change parents can't change records: court

Japan's Supreme Court has denied pleas from two people with gender identity disorders to change their sex in government household records, their legal adviser said on Monday.

Supreme Court nixes transsexuals' bid to have gender officially altered

The Supreme Court has quashed the bid by two western Japan transsexuals to have their genders changed on their official family registers, court officials said Monday.

[Australia]
Transgenders, Big Spenders And Suspenders

Chanel is a transsexual sex worker and was just nineteen when she began working the streets. Unlike most young people, Chanel's worries were not focused on fashion or what she was planning to do on the weekend. Instead, she was more concerned with where was she going to sleep that night and what her next meal would consist of, or more to the point, if she was even going to be having one.

[GA, USA]
Victim of a Sunday shooting says she was targeted

Excerpt: The constant violence they believe was triggered by their sexual preferences. "They started shooting because I am a transsexual and there are a couple of transsexuals who hang there," said Thomas. "Whatever my sexual preference is it has no reason for anyone to mess with me. I don't mess with anyone else."

[USA]
Efforts to 'cure' gays draw protests

The long-raging debate over efforts by some religious and psychological groups to "cure" homosexuals is flaring a new this weekend on two battlegrounds: at a conference in Irving and at a Barack Obama campaign concert in South Carolina.

[CA,USA] [Commentary]
Bill a shameless waste of energy

Excerpt: This bill will force all school dress codes to include transgender dressers. School bathrooms and locker rooms will no longer be gender specific. It will make room for transgender participants on gender-specific sports teams.

[MA,USA] [Blog Commentary]
Mass Equality Forgets To Come Back For Transgender People?

The Boston Globe is reporting that <http://tinyurl. com/2vnva8> MassEquality is debating whether or not to disband the organization, after winning marriage equality in Massachusetts. The debate is creating tensions among onetime allies. Some gay leaders believe MassEquality should broaden its mission to include issues such as transgender rights and HIV/AIDS, while others disagree and say expanding Mass-Equality' s agenda to other gay and lesbian causes could dilute its effectiveness, crowd out smaller groups that advocate for gay rights, and alienate some lawmakers and donors who supported same-sex marriage. They believe the group should stay focused on its original mission and perhaps share its expertise with gay-marriage advocates in other states.

[CO,USA]
Trans candidate fights underdog status

First time candidate Pamela Bennett, a transgender woman and Air Force veteran running for one of two at-large city council seats in Aurora, Colorado, is fighting hard to prove that her underdog status in next week's election is misplaced.

[ENDA]
[Blog/Commentary] ENDA Insanity
Gay Foe Tancredo Won't Seek Re-Election To House
ENDA and "Gender Identity": A Feminist, Woman-Centered Response
Speaker Pelosi Delays ENDA Vote Yet Again!
[Blog/Commentary] The END of ENDA?
[Blog Commentary] The battle to stop ENDA continues
[Editorial] Narrow the hate crimes act
[News Analysis] Non-Discrimination Bill Leaves Out Transgendered People
ENDA Not on the Agenda This Week

Quase 10 % da população transgénero será assassinada, em comparação com 0.0055 % da população em geral.
60 % da população transgénero será vítima de crimes de ódio.

Estas estatísticas vindas como não podia deixar de ser dos EUA, providenciadas pela Gender Evolve, são a base de uma petição online às Nações Unidas demandando direitos iguais para a população transgénero aos da restante população.

Enquanto lá por fora vão aparecendo estatísticas, até mesmo da Austrália, no outro lado do planeta (46.9 % de trans femininas e 29.4 % de trans masculinos foram ameaçados com violência), em Portugal não se conhecem estatísticas relativas à população Transgénero.

Por esse mundo fora, Transgéneros e amigos/apoiantes reúnem-se em Novembro para o Transgender Day of Remembrance, para relembrar e honrar aqueles que foram assassinados devido a Transfobia.

Este evento teve o seu início para comemorar a vida de Rita Hester, cujo assassinato em 1998 despoletou uma vigília em San Francisco, e o Remembering Our Dead website, que tenta enumerar os nomes daquel@s que foram assassinados devido a Transfobia.

Desde essa altura, o evento espalhou-se, tendo presentemente lugar em numerosas cidades pelo mundo fora.

Sendo um evento com uma importância cada vez maior, traz ênfase aos perigos e diferenças de se ser Transgénero, enquanto une a população Transgénero com um verdadeiro sentimento de comunidade ao honrar os seus mortos. É também uma representação do activismo Transgénero, que luta pelos direitos humanos que se deve ter, nomeadamente o direito a não se ser assassinado por se ser Transgénero. Igualmente revela ao mundo o nível de violência a que a população Transgénero está sujeita, relembrando que a transfobia existe e é uma realidade, até aqui no nosso pequenino Portugal, alargando a discussão para além da homofobia.

Em Portugal, a totalidade dos movimentos ditos LGBTTI, continuam sistematicamente a ignorar esta data marcante da comunidade Transgénero.

Muito graças a vários blogues que foram aparecendo por aí (Transfofa em blog, Lara’s dreaming, Fishspeakers entre outros) feitos por Transgéneros (Transexuais nestes casos) que decidiram que já chegava de não termos uma voz nossa, os grupos e associações LGBTTI lá começaram a prestar atenção (a contra-gosto ou não) a esta comunidade que tem sido sistematicamente ignorada e discriminada desde que se iniciou o chamado movimento LGBTTI em Portugal, com o início das várias associações/grupos existentes.

Mesmo quando se comemora anualmente o Pride, o dia do orgulho gay, que comemora os Stonewall Riots, teimam em esquecer que quase três anos antes aconteceu o Compton’s Cafeteria Riot.

Em Agosto de 1966, no Gene Compton’s Cafeteria localizado no Tenderloin em San Francisco, uma área operária e pobre da cidade onde a população Transgénero vivia ( e ainda vive), aconteceu o primeiro levantamento LGBTTI.

Tudo começou quando uma provocadora Queen se recusou a abandonar o café, fazendo com que a gerência chamasse a polícia. Quando esta chegou, não obteve a reacção que esperava. A maioria das pessoas presentes eram Transgéneros, e "começaram a partir todas as janelas do lugar, e enquanto tentavam sair para escaparem aos estilhaços de vidros, a polícia tentou apanhar e meter nas carrinhas todos que pudessem apanhar, mas foram atacados a murro e pontapé, tendo uma carrinha policial ficado com os vidros todos partidos e uma banca de jornais foi totalmente queimada."

Embora algumas mudanças positivas se tivessem sucedido a este levantamento, como um melhor relacionamento com a polícia local, e o estabelecimento de serviços sociais para benefício da população Transgénero, este acontecimento, por ter sido protagonizado por Transgéneros, não deu início a um movimento nacional massivo como sucedeu com o levantamento similar na Greenwich Village em New York depois de um raide policial ao bar Stonewall.

Aconteceu demasiado cedo, quase 3 anos antes de Stonewall? Ou foi novamente a Transfobia ainda existente dentro dos próprios movimentos LGBTTI a fazer esquecer que a população Transgénero existe e tem voz, direitos e vontade de lutar por eles?

O facto é que, em Portugal, comemora-se todos os anos o Pride, com uma marcha e uma festa, agora (finalmente) não só em Lisboa mas também no Porto, com o apoio da quase totalidade das associações/grupos LBGTTI além de outras referentes a direitos humanos, e o Transgender Day of Remembrance continua a ser completamente ignorado.

Até quando?


[Argentina]

Se abrió la primera sala médica exclusiva para travestis y transexuales

Comenzó a funcionar de manera gratuita en Rosario y recibió pacientes cuya mayoría presenta trastornos hormonales, lesiones por aplicación de silicona y enfermedades de transmisión sexual. Ahora, tendrán un lugar para los controles ya que por la discriminación las personas "trans" no accedían fácilmente a los servicios médicos.

[Argentina]
Encuentro para la inserción laboral de travestis y transexuales

La diversidad sexual sigue siendo poco tolerada por una sociedad que plantea como "normal" que haya hombres a los que les gustan las mujeres y mujeres a las que les gustan los hombres, dejando de lado a un amplio porcentaje de la población que elige otra orientación sexual. El problema que esto genera es que esa elección trunca otras elecciones, como por ejemplo el poder insertarse en el mercado laboral formal con los mismos derechos y obligaciones que el resto de los ciudadanos y ciudadanas.

[Chile]
Unesco y el gobierno de Chile premian a organización transexual de la Fedisech

Importante distinción otorgada TravesTalca por el gobierno de Chile y la UNESCO benefició a una de las organizaciones de la Federación Chilena de la Diversidad Sexual (Fedisech), marcando un nuevo reconocimiento en la lucha contra la discriminación que lideran las minorías sexuales organizadas.

[Panama]
Transexuales quieren dejar las calles

Los transexuales quieren dejar la vida en las calles, pero piden apoyo de las instituciones encargadas de velar por los derechos sociales, anotó aquí la dirigente Marcela Romero, presidenta de la Red Trans Latinoamericana y del Caribe, con sede en Argentina.

[USA/Australia] [Blog/Commentary]
Today's Battle

People who are Intersexed are watching this whole thing from the sidelines. And if you think there's tension between GLBs and TGs, there's more between TGs and the Intersexed! Less than there was, since the proof came in that Transsexuality is just a form of Intersex, but still some.

Intersexed people make up 1.7% of the population, but 9 in 10 don't show symptoms. Basically, only 1 in 1000 of the population have blatant symptoms that they can't hide. So that's only 300,000 people. They try hard to "fly under the radar", concentrating on issues such as preventing involuntary surgery on themselves, which often creates transsexuality when the surgeons guess wrong.

GLBs have no idea, do they?

[CA,USA] [Commentary]
The Threat of Sacrilegious and Scandalous "San Francisco Values"

Excerpt: "Then the Archbishop begins to distribute Holy Communion, the two transvestites join the line. When the turn came for the mustached one, the Archbishop gives him a blessing, then, but after a short (inaudible) dialogue, gives him Communion in his black-gloved hands. The transvestite with painted lips receives Communion without any problem"

[USA] [People/Television]
Rebecca Romijn family fears

'Ugly Betty' star Rebecca Romijn is worried she may have to quit the show if she wants to have children.

Rebecca, who married actor Jerry O'Connell in the summer, believes the hit US TV show's bosses will struggle to create a pregnancy storyline for her character, because she plays a transsexual.

[ENDA]
House calendar for coming week does not include ENDA vote

[UK]
The Ladyboys Of Bangkok Olympia Theatre

SITTING at a cabaret table it felt as if we had been transported to La Cage Aux Folles, via some particularly interesting Thai nightclubs. Not like we were sitting in the Olympia in Tuebrook.

[Bolivia]
Prostitutes Strike in Bolivia

Excerpt: The rampage began after citizens demanded that brothels and bars be located at least 3,200 feet away from schools. Within 48 hours, angry mobs had taken matters into their own hands, burning more than 30 establishments. Hundreds of women and transvestites were forced to strip while their belongings were torched; dozens were beaten and mutilated as the police stood by and watched. "It was something we needed to do," says El Alto resident Roberta Quispe Mayta. "Now our husbands will behave better and the prostitutes will leave."

[Canada/Iran]
'I was forced to flee Iran'

Excerpt: Sayeh is one of the many Iranian transgenders who have experienced such governmental acts of arrest and torture first hand. She was arrested several times by police forces and experienced humiliation and abuse at their hands. Police forces pushed her into a black car, bombarded her with demoralizing and dehumanizing words and took her to a detention centre.

[Malaysia]
Cops nabbed over 'bribe' to free transvestite

Two senior police officers were nabbed by Anti-Corruption Agency officers on suspicion of accepting a bribe to secure the release of a transvestite.

[Malaysia]
Malaysia's transexuals battle sex change woes

When Khartini Slamah first came out as a transexual, he was a dutiful Muslim son by day and a prostitute by night, working on the streets of the Malaysian capital.

The option of sex change surgery was out of the question in this moderate Muslim country where Muslim transexuals are banned from changing their gender and same sex relationships are a criminal offence.

[USA] [PR/Healthcare/Science]
Vaginal Reconstruction Not Needed for Most Inter-Sex Females, Hopkins Study Shows

Dispelling a common myth, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center say vaginal reconstruction should be a matter of preference for most teens or adult women born with a type of inter-sex condition marked by the presence of both female and male genitals.

[USA]

Blanchett enjoys cross-dressing roles

Australian actress Cate Blanchett loved dressing up as a man so much in her new movie - she is to do it again on stage.

[WI, USA]

Trial over in prisoner sex change operation, but no ruling yet

Testimony is done in the trial over a Wisconsin law banning hormones for male prisoners with gender identity disorder.

[ENDA]

[Commentary] ENDA: Religious freedoms in peril

[Ireland]
High Court win by Athlone native finds State breached transexual’s rights

Legislation surrounding the rights of those who have changed sexes will now have to be revised following the historic legal victory by an Athlone native last week.

The successful win last Friday at the High Court by Dr Lydia Foy, born Donal Mark Foy, means that the State has breached the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to give a new birth certificate recording her new gender and name.

[Lithuania]
Lithuanian mayor bans gay rally

An annual gay rights conference in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, was attacked with smoke bombs, after a rally in the city was banned.

Over 200 gays, lesbians and transsexuals attended the meeting.

Delegates inside a local bar found it difficult to breathe after the smoke bombs were thrown, but had to stay inside because of safety concerns.

[Argentina]
Travestis y transexuales deberán ser nombrados por su nombre de elección

Según una propuesta del concejal socialista Pablo Colono, se deberá designar con el nombre de identidad de género elegido, sea masculino o femenino, a travestis y transexuales que asistan a las distintas dependencias municipales, más allá de los datos que figuren en el documento de identidad. El proyecto fue presentado el jueves pasado y contempla la intervención del Área de la Diversidad Sexual para el cumplimiento al decreto.

[India]

The third gender sound off

Recently, while waiting with my friends to board a train, I chanced to see a transgender wearing a half saree and begging for alms and clothes. Some people mimicked her gait and teased her.

[CHINA]
Doctors battle to save 'human pin-cushion'

Doctors in China have saved the life of a woman who had 26 pins and needles inserted into her body when she was a child in an apparent attempt to change her sex to a boy.

The objects were discovered when the 29-year-old woman, named in local papers as Luo Cuifen, went to hospital for a check-up after she started experiencing blood in her urine.

They had penetrated vital organs such as the lungs, kidney and liver, while a needle in her brain had broken into three pieces.

[Philippines]

An Amazing night of beauties

Excerpt: Amazing Philippine Theater looks for the most beautiful transvestite and transgender in town to be employed with the company and be part of their Amazing Show. The first and biggest theatrical variety show in the country, established on Aug. 15, 2001, showcases the best of Filipino gay talents, featuring Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Broadway, musicals, comedy acts, modern dances, Filipino folk and stylized traditional dances.

[USA] [Commentary]
A dangerous precedent abuilding in California

There is terrible news from California. On October 12, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law three bills which, the opposition argues, introduce the radical homosexual agenda into educational institutions.

Runners support initiative against gender law

Two High Desert legislators on Friday backed a referendum campaign to repeal a new law that they say would promote homosexual lifestyle in public schools and undermine traditional values.

[USA] [News/Health]
Battling breast cancer

Excerpt: The Mautner project is another resource for information about breast cancer and other health issues.

The group also encourages research about the health problems faced by transgender people.

"We don't know what the hormones' effect will be on breast tissue," she said.

Transgendered men who have undergone a mastectomy still have breast tissue, warned Knoll Larkin, health and human services coordinator for Affirmations in Ferndale. "They will still need to do breast self exams."

After three months, transgender women who take estrogen should start doing breast self-exams, he said.

[MI,USA] [Events]
Events lead up to Day of Remembrance

A potluck and townhall will be held at Affirmations Community Center at 6:30 p.m. this Friday, Oct 26. Panelist include Jay Kaplan, staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan LGBT project, Melissa Pope, from Triangle Foundation, Knoll Larkin from Affirmations and Dr. Julie Nemeck formerly from Spring Arbor University, who was fired when the University learned she was transgendered.

[DC,USA] [press release]
Methodist Judicial Council to Rule on Transsexual Pastor

"Even if the Judicial Council cannot decisively rule on the Baltimore transsexual case, we expect the General Conference in 2008 will address it." -- Mark Tooley, Executive Director UMAction

[ENDA]

ENDA Stalls In Congress, For This Week At Least

[Blog/News] What's Happening with ENDA?

ENDA heads to full House vote without TG protection

[Opinion] United ENDA’s exaggerations

[Commentary] In Defense of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

[Commentary] The ENDA divide

Advisers urge Bush to veto ENDA

Freshman Democrats kill transgender amendment

Rumors swirl over fate of ENDA amendment

Religion doesn't confer right to discriminate

[Poland]

Dana International a hit in Poland

Their country has a rather spotty history with its Jews, but Polish TV viewers sure do love an Israeli transsexual. Gender-bending pop star Dana International proved a big hit on Polish variety program Przebojowa Noc ("Night Wire") Saturday evening, getting the studio audience on its feet multiple times with renditions of old and more recent hits, including "Diva," the song that won Israel the top spot at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

[Thailand]

Honorifics bill goes to cabinet for deliberation

The National Legislative Assembly yesterday referred a controversial private member's bill on use of personal honorifics to cabinet, citing its impact on other laws and unresolved scenarios.

The much-awaited bill would give married and divorced women the choice of using Miss (nangsao) or Mrs (nang) and transvestites and transsexuals the use of Mister or Miss.

NLA defers Mr/Ms bill

A bill allowing transgender people to use titles appropriate for their new sex has been put on hold after male National Legislative Assembly members spoke against it.

[Thailand]

Are sexual harassment laws only for show?

Excerpt: Transsexuals are also vulnerable. Being stereotyped as sexually promiscuous, they routinely face sexual abuse verbally and physically. Yet they do not get any legal protection. The Labour Protection Law only protects women.

[CA,USA]

New California law labeled anti-family, 'insidious'

Excerpt: SB 777 prohibits any instruction or school-sponsored activity that would promote discrimination against gender. That means terms like "mom and dad" and "husband and wife" cannot be used in California textbooks because they suggest that heterosexuality is the norm. And under the new law, teachers and students who oppose same-sex "marriage" or who express disapproval of cross-dressing or sex-change operations could face disciplinary measures.

[USA]

A TransAmazon Takes on 'The Man'

You may think the brouhaha over the film The Gendercator is heated, but it's nothing compared to the controversy over 2003's The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey, a psych professor at Northwestern University.

As Joelle Ruby Ryan-a graduate student at Bowling Green University-can attest, it may be four years later but the Bailey Controversy is still boiling over.

[NY,USA]

Pride Agenda Eyes State Senate

Excerpt: [Alan Van Capelle, ESPA's executive director] said that the group is also working to make an Assembly vote happen in 2008 on the long-stalled Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act. Transgender activists were vocal this summer in complaining that five years after they were left out of the gay rights bill, the Democratic Assembly had still not moved GENDA, even as marriage moved surprisingly quickly to passage. ... Van Capelle said his group is looking for foundation money to hire a field organizer to build support for GENDA.

[WI,USA]

Gender not a disorder, court told

A psychologist testified Wednesday that a person born anatomically one gender who wants to be the other does not suffer from a disorder but rather has a "biologic condition."

Trial expected to wrap-up in prisoner sex change challenge

A federal court trial is expected to wrap up today (Wednesday) in a challenge to the state law against giving prisoners hormone therapies for sex changes.

[ENDA]

[Blog/Commentary] Vote On ENDA Delayed

[Blog/Commentary] Bush's ENDA Veto

[News/Commentary] Blaming the trannies

Vote on homosexual jobs bill looms in House

[Press Release] CWA Asks President for Veto Pledge on ENDA

[Commentary] Gender identity amendment necessary for effective anti-discrimination law

ENDA vote postponed

Gay-Only ENDA Passes Committee

[International/Australia]
Transgender Day Of Remembrance

Almost 10 percent of transgender people will be murdered, compared to 0.0055 percent of the general population.

In addition, 60 percent of all transgender people become victims of hate crimes.

[UK]
More cash to fund extra sex changes

GENDER reassignment surgery could be given increased funding in the county after health bosses came in for criticism for offering just three such operations a year.

[Lithuania]
Gay conference faces ban on public event

Excerpt: In September a Lithuanian transsexual won a case at the European Court of Human Rights over claims that he has been blocked from completing his gender transition.

The seven judges also ruled that Lithuania must implement new legislation on gender reassignment within three months or pay damages.

[NY,USA]
S(HE) HAS A HISTORY
The transsexual who says she was pressured into an affair with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein when she was just 16 once filed a similar - and bogus - claim against another older man, court filings show.
Photo: SUE-ZY Q: Transsexual Maximilia Cordero (right, with lawyer William Unroch) filed a similar underage-sex suit like the one she has against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
Alleged Cross-Dresser Files Claim Against Billionaire
A would-be model who claims that she was pushed reluctantly into a relationship at age 16 with a billionaire was born male, according to records.

[NY,USA]
Jury Selection in Trial for Ex-Correctional Officer
Jury selection began Tuesday in a Greene County sexual abuse case rife with the twists and intricacies of television storyline.
Greene County correctional officer Kevin Biegel, 46, of Coeymans is facing two counts of felony third-degree criminal sexual act and three counts of misdemeanor second-degree sexual abuse after allegedly forcing an inmate to perform oral sex on him.
According to investigators, Biegel regularly forced Courtney Wilson, 23, an inmate at the medium-security prison, to perform sex acts on him in late 2005.
Wilson, a male-to-female transsexual, had been serving a three-year-maximum sentence for convictions in Ontario County for assault and scheming to defraud. She has since been released.

[WI,USA] [Editorial]
Can't the courts just toss it out?
Taxpayers owe predators absolutely nothing beyond the basics.

[WI,USA]
Inmate says hormones treat identity disorder
A male Wisconsin prison inmate who has developed feminine characteristics after taking hormones testified Tuesday that the treatments have helped him deal with gender identity disorder.

[ENDA]
[Blog/Commentary] Clean-up on the road of progress
Andrews comes under fire over discrimination bill
White House warns 'gay' plan unconstitutional
House bill would protect homosexuals
[News/Commentary/Action Alert] Take Action: Ask Congress to Oppose Special Rights for Gay Employees

[Commentary] Symbolism or Substance in ENDA Debate?
White House indicates ENDA veto
[Blog/Commentary] Representative Barney Frank: Blatantly Duplicitous

[UK]
More sex change ops for Norfolk

The number of sex-change operations carried out in Norfolk is to rise next year to clear a backlog.

The move follows a complaint to the Healthcare Commission by a patient who was disappointed that their surgery was not going ahead as quickly as planned.

[Ireland] [Commentary]
Rewriting history cannot fix nature's cruel twists of fate

It would take a hard heart not to admire the courage and the tenacity of Dr Lydia Foy in legally confronting the state for ten years in the course of her campaign to get herself recognised as a woman.

[Philippines]
Court junks transsexual’s bid for change of gender

THE Supreme Court yesterday rejected the appeal of a transsexual to alter his gender and first name in the civil registry, saying there is no law allowing such a change.

[CA,USA]
Unsung Heroes: Zander Keig's Tao of Trans Activism

In light of his work now, it hard to believe Zander Keig started out with the U.S. Coast Guard or that he was once an undercover narcotics agent. The laid back guy, who still dresses for the Southern California beaches of his childhood, seems like he would have been more at home in the natural foods industry—another job Keig tried before chucking his day job to go back to school at 30.

[CA,USA]
Bill’s language contested

Opponents protest that antidiscrimination wording oversteps education code boundaries

[USA] [Book]
Legends of the Chelsea Hotel

Excerpt: And so he learns that Stormyé DeLarverié isn't just another scowling older woman keeping the unwary out of her own bathroom, but the lesbian drag king who threw the punch that kicked off the Stonewall Riots

[ENDA]
[Commentary] Time to End ENDA
Evangelicals Lambaste Homosexual Employment Bill
White House Warns Of ENDA Veto
House leaders delay ENDA vote

[International] [History]
Struggles for sexual, gender liberation rooted in national liberation movements

Resistance rose wherever European colonial and imperial powers enforced the restructuring of indigenous sexualities, gender expressions, organization of the sexes, and family and kinship structures. This "New World Order" facilitated the economic exploitation of the labor, land and resources.

[España] [Comentario]
No, no. No es así.

No, no. No es así. No es un problema de si sobra o falta un trocito de algo. Eso es muy simple. Es probable que ha usted le sobre grasa en el cuerpo. ¿Probó hacer deporte, comer realizando alguna dieta?. En cualquier caso jamás (y esto lo digo como persona de ideología liberal) yo intentaría limitar derechos, sino ampliarlos.

[Ireland]
Transsexual wins landmark case after epic 10-year battle

THE Government is legally obliged to revise the law on the rights of those who have changed sexes following a landmark decision in the High Court yesterday .

[India]
Net demand: return her asian games medal

Kristen Worley and Santhi Soundarajan have never met. But Canadian transsexual cyclist Worley, according to gaywired.com, a netzine supporting the cause of gays, is fighting the cause of the Indian athlete and other victims of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS).

[Thailand]
Draft 'ignores transvestites'

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is to consider a bill tomorrow that would allow people who have undergone a sex-change operation to use either "Miss" or "Mr" as their title and married and divorced women to choose "Miss" or "Mrs" as their title.

[Malaysia]
Battling stigma

A Singaporean transsexual fights the 'culture of shame' in Asia.

SHE loves children and her lifelong dream is to be a wife and a mother, but the raspy voice and masculine frame betray the fact that Leona Lo was born a man.
Photo: Leona Lo plans to travel Asia to advocate greater tolerance for gender diversity.

[Argentina]
Una transexual se presenta a las elecciones en Argentina

Erica Moreno, una transexual de 33 años de edad, se presentará a las elecciones municipales de Ushuaia, la capital de Tierra del Fuego en la Patagonia argentina.

[Argentina]
El primer consultorio del país sólo para travestis y transexuales ya funciona

Rosario abrió el primer consultorio médico público del país que se ocupa exclusivamente de la atención médica de los travestis y transexuales, que tienen un promedio de vida que no supera los 40 años.

[Canada] [Commentary]
Transgressive technologies: Does a posthuman dystopia await us? Part One

Excerpt: Such technologies can be a vehicle for the almost indefinite perpetuation of "the unnatural," never allowing today's societies to "catch their breath" and possibly return to earlier, sounder bearings. For example, in the book, Posthuman Bodies (edited by Judith Halberstam, Indiana University Press, 1995), a group of ultra-radical, postmodern writers and scholars, looks forward to the deconstruction of actual physical gender which could occur as a result of advancing technology. They talk of such things as men literally being able to bear children, as well as a "transgendered" existence across a "spectrum" of variants.

[Philippines]
SC junks transsexual’s plea for gender, name change

To prevent complications with existing laws, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of a transsexual for his name and gender to be changed in his birth certificate, to allow him to marry his American fiancé.

[CA, USA] [Commentary]
Entering the realm of the ridiculous

This one comes right out of "You've got to be kidding me!"

Either that or, "That's California for you."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a law that would open female school locker rooms to transgender men.

The law, Senate Bill 777, would permit transgender students to enter the locker rooms and restrooms of the gender with which they identify most.

Conservative Groups Target Calif. Students Rights Act

Socially conservative groups have begun a petition drive to repeal legislation that would protect California students from bias.

[Commentary] CA Schools: Pull Christian Kids Out

Christians in California are outraged that their children in public schools will be indoctrinated pro-homosexuality in all its aspects. Therefore, believers are urged to pull their students immediately out of all public schools for home schooling or private schools.

[Commentary] Public school parents are slow learners

The Terminator is at it again. Only this time he seems bent on terminating what's left of childhood innocence in California public schools.

[WI,USA]
Trial starts Monday that will test prisoner sex change law

A state law prohibiting tax dollars from paying for prisoner sex changes will be tested this week, with a trial in federal court.

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Wisconsin Anti-Transgender Law

A Wisconsin law that bars the state from paying for gender reassignment surgery for prison inmates violates the US Constitution a federal judge was told Monday.

[ENDA]
[PR] DQRC Supports Trans-Inclusive
[Blog/News/Commentary] ENDA Don't MENDA
[Commentary] Excluding transgenders shouldn't stop gay bill
[Commentary] One Inch at a Time
[Blog] Open Letter To The CBC
[Blog] Fundies freaking after White House won't commit to vetoing ENDA, admits WH staffers helped draft legislation
Gay groups battling for broader bill

[UK]

How can I tell my kids I dress like a woman?

SLUMPED in the middle of the dance floor, tears streaming down her face, Kate Rose was at rock bottom. Her wig ripped from her head by a total stranger

- who then pelted her with abuse

- she felt totally worthless.

[UK] [News/People]

'A year ago I was Ian, 16 stone with 14-inch biceps, a Captain in the Paras. Today I'm Jan, 11 stone and size 12

He was an elite soldier in the Paras and had served in every major conflict for the last 20 years - but Capt Ian Hamilton could not go on living as a man. Twelve months on and after painful surgery, the new Capt Hamilton tells HER extraordinary story...

Photo: A year of painful surgery and Captain Ian Hamilton's sex change was complete

[UK]

Transvestite killer jailed for five years

A MAN who unlawfully killed a transvestite who died after having sex with him has been jailed for five years.

[USA/EU]

Here come the language police

Excerpt: Has any one asked the question; just how many high school and elementary students are gay or transsexual? Gay high school students, a few perhaps but transsexual or elementary school transsexuals; just how many of them are there in California? Has California changed its laws to defend the sensitivities of a non-existent group of people?

[CA,USA]

Feds transfer illegal immigrants held at LA detention facility

Excerpt: The San Pedro center came under sharp criticism last summer when a transgender Mexican immigrant with AIDS being housed there died while in custody. The family claimed Victor Arellano was improperly denied medical attention, a contention immigration officials rejected.

[FL,USA]

'Injustice' to Stanton incited him to run

The firing of former City Manager Steve Stanton continues to fuel John Mandujano's campaign for the Largo City Commission.

[USA] [News/Commentary]

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence now teach theology

In response to critics, the gay performers known as "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" defend San Francisco archbishop Niederauer for giving them Holy Communion "in keeping with the Second Vatican Council."

[ENDA]

[Blog/News] Forward movement

Alarms raised by White House work on 'gay' employment rights

[Blog/Commentary] Holy Cow! Fundies Say ENDA Will Protect T's Without Specific T Language!

Alliance of LGBT Organizations Demands Transgender Inclusive ENDA

[Blog/Commentary] House Committee Approves Trans-Free ENDA

[España]
LOS TRANSEXUALES DISCREPAN DE LA PROPUESTA DE SANIDAD Y EXIGEN RECIBIR ATENCION INTEGRAL COMO PROMETIO EL PSOE

La Plataforma por la Inclusión de los Derechos Sanitarios de las Personas Transexuales en el Sistema Nacional de Salud (PDST) ha decidido dirigirse al Ministerio de Sanidad para pedirle que incluya, "sin más dilaciones", la atención sanitaria "integral de la transexualidad en la cartera de servicios comunes del Servicio Nacional de Salud, en cumplimiento del programa electoral del PSOE".

[Ireland]
Gender ruling 'will give so much hope' to people with condition

THE Government has been urged to ensure the rights of transgender people living in Ireland are fully respected, following yesterday’s landmark ruling in the Dr Lydia Foy case.

[Argentina]
Diversa, un nuevo año apostando por la diversidad y la integración

Comenzó en la ciudad de Buenos Aires la cuarta edición del Festival Internacional de Cine Gay Lésbico Trans de Argentina, Diversa, que en este nuevo año da el salto a las grandes salas, al incorporar una pantalla en el complejo Hoyts del Abasto.

[CA,USA]
Everyone remembers Stonewall, but Compton's was first

Excerpt: In 1995 Stryker, a transgendered historian, and co-author Jim Van Buskirk were working on “Gay by the Bay,” their soon-to-be-published capsule history of the San Francisco LGBT movement, when they came across an interesting item in the program for the 1972 gay Pride march. The article described an August 1966 riot at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin, a poor and working-class area of the city where many transgenders lived then — and still do.

[CA,USA] [News/Commentary]
What were you thinking, Governor?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the picture of the people's politician last week as he vetoed the latest gay marriage bill.

California law against 'bias' brings challenges

Excerpt: [Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families] said while it's true the law doesn't require any specific teaching or actions, he thinks it will open the door for lawyers to take schools to court and force them to ensure that textbooks, class materials, school assemblies, sports teams and homecoming games "include homosexual, bisexual and transsexual lifestyles in a positive way."

Gay rights measure targeted

Opponents launched a referendum campaign this week to overturn Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on legislation touted as an anti-discrimination measure for gay and lesbian students.

[DC,USA] [News/Science/Religion]
Explanation for Transgenderism Continues to Elude Scientists

If some theologians are troubled by the implications of transgenderism, scientists seem to be equally mystified by its origins.

[MI,USA]
'Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights'

National project connects LGBT and straight community, culminating with powerful film and candlelight vigil

[ENDA]
House Committee Rejects ENDA Amendments To Protect Religious Freedom
[News/Legal Analysis] CONGRESS MODIFIES LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROVIDE FEDERAL PROTECTION AGAINST EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY
[Commentary] 14 Good Reasons to Oppose H.R. 3685, the 'ENDA Our Freedom" Bill; Bush Staffers Helped Craft ENDA Exemption
House committee OKs sexual-orientation protection
[News/Commentary] Lesbian Notions - The ENDA Game
[News/Commentary] A Transgender-Inclusive ENDA Would Give the Law Some Teeth
[News/Blog] Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez wants trans inclusion in ENDA
[PR/Blog] Why ENDA Must Cover Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
[Blog Commentary] Do I Want The Baldwin Amendment?
[PR] All Democrats Should Support Baldwin Amendment
[Blog Commentary] Matt Foreman Responds to Barney Frank

[España]
Charla debate "Evolución de la realidad transexual en España"

Lizethe Alvarez Echeverry, presentará los avances en España para las personas transexuales, así como los problemas con los que se enfrentan tanto a gran escala como en su vida cotidiana. Hará especial hincapié en la realidad como mujer transexual e inmigrante, que conoce tan bien por su experiencia propia, la marginalidad obligada, la discriminación, la identidad, la aceptación.

[UK]
I'm a tranny llama farmer

KERRY Whybrow likes nothing better than pulling on her bright pink wellies and heading out to talk to her llamas.
A committed vegetarian and animal lover, she makes no secret of the fact she prefers her four-legged friends to people.
But then, Kerry hasn’t had an easy life.
From the moment she hit puberty, she’s fought a secret battle.
Kerry carried that secret with her through three marriages and a distinguished fire service career.
For the softly spoken llama farmer used to be a MAN and always felt she'd been born in the wrong body.

[Ireland]
Judgement due in landmark sex change court case

Judgment is due in the landmark case taken by a Co Kildare dentist who wants to have her sex change recognised by the State.

Lydia Foy, from Athy, was born a male, but underwent gender reassignment surgery at 15.

Students Call For Gender Recognition Laws

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has highlighted the "vital human rights implications" of a High Court ruling on the right of an individual who has undergone gender reassignment to be recognised as female on her birth certificate.
Photo: Lydia Foy
State in breach of ECHR in transgender case
The High Court has ruled that the State is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) over its failure to recognise a sex change that a transgendered person underwent more than a decade ago.
Ireland violated transsexual' s right to new birth certificate under EU law, judge rules
Ireland violated European human rights law by refusing to give a transsexual a new birth certificate recording her new gender and name, a Dublin judge ruled Friday in a landmark judgment.

[Argentina]
Salud e inclusión laboral para travestis y transexuales se debate en Rosario

Organizado por el Área de la Diversidad Sexual de la Municipalidad de Rosario, tuvo lugar el primer encuentro para el abordaje de políticas de inclusión laboral para travestis y transexuales.

[Thailand]
Transvestite led Thai cops to hunted Canadian

After a three-year hunt involving cutting edge technology and police on three continents, it was dogged detective work and a Thai transvestite that finally led officers to Canadian pedophile suspect Christopher Neil.

[Vietname]
Government considers transsexuality

The Ministry of Health will allow local qualified clinics to perform transsexual surgeries, according to the draft decree on redefining sexuality that has been submitted to the government for consideration.

Photo: Cindy Thai Tai, a transsexual singer, make-up specialist.

[USA]

Fake Male Syndrome is on the way out

Excerpt: ...The return of the man's man is bad news for radical feminists and militant homosexual groups who have spent decades promoting gender confusion to our youth. Well-funded radical feminist and homosexual groups are behind the assault on schoolchildren. They've made tremendous inroads in indoctrinating them into "alternative" sexual lifestyles. Case in point. On the afternoon of October 12 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger caved in to radical homosexuals and signed a bill that could force government run schools to accommodate children with "gender identity" issues by permitting them to use the boys' and girls' bathrooms and locker rooms, depending on which gender they choose to identify with at that time. Does this not make you want to homeschool your kids? If you live in Sodomfornia you'd better start now, before your child is robbed of his or her innocence. Remember, those who control the schools control the future.

Christian Parents Urged To Pull Kids Out Of Calif. Schools

Excerpt: The second sexual indoctrination bill that Schwarzenegger signed, AB 394, will promote transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality to students, parents, and teachers through school training programs against 'harassment" ' and ' discrimination. '" ...Moralists can read between the bold lines on that second bill. It means that those who express the biblical position on homosexuality could face lawsuits.

[IL, USA]
Report clearing prof leaves critics unsatisfied

After a barrage of national media attention, a constant stream of Internet invectives and a formal Northwestern investigation into his research on transsexuals, is psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey ready for even more attention?

[MD, USA]
Transgender pastor prompts uneasy questions for Methodists

The Rev. Drew Phoenix is many things to many people.

To St. John's of Baltimore City, he's the fun-loving pastor who counsels them, takes their kids hiking, explains Scripture, and plunges into worthy causes.

To conservative Methodists, Phoenix embodies another front in the "culture wars," a rebel who has defied God and nature and should be removed from ministry.

[MI, USA] [News/Events]
Health, social issues focus of transgender-youth conference

Lance Hicks will be one of about 50 teenagers in Ferndale this weekend to talk about equality, activism and health issues as a part of one of the largest gatherings of transgender youth in the Midwest.

[PA,USA][Blog Commentary]

The 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit-In

Excerpt: In April-May 1965 sit-ins took place at a Philadelphia diner called Dewey's Lunch Counter. The interesting twist about this protest is that it involved African-American gay and transgender people. It's probably the first documented instance of people protesting over anti-transgender discrimination.

[ENDA]

Workplace anti-bias bill moves forward

BREAKING: House Committee Approves ENDA Without Trans Protections

[News/Commentary] Lessons From the ENDA Mess

[Readers Comments] Sound off!

[Commentary] A new direction for inclusive ENDA

[Commentary] Hate crimes laws should be expanded

[Letters to the Editor] The objective in leaving transgendered out of anti-bias law

GOP Reps save ENDA in close committee vote
D.C. gay groups buck trend on ENDA
Baldwin seeks to amend ENDA
Rift deepens among gays as rights bill moves to House floor
[Press Release] House Committee Advances ENDA Legislation that Splits LGBT Community, ACLU Urges One Bill for One Community
[News/Commentary] Bill to Grant Special Workplace Rights to Homosexuals Advances
Sexual Orientation Bill Passes House Committee for First Time
[Commentary] Stop the Barney bashing
Frank To Support Baldwin ENDA Amendment
ENDA Still Protects Gender Identity