[UE]
Comissão européia aprova oficialmente adoções por gays
A Comissão de Ministros do Conselho Europeu, que conta com 47 representantes de países membros, aprovou, na última quinta-feira (8), a nova Convenção Européia para Adoções, estendendo normas a casais heterossexuais em relações estáveis, casais formados por pessoas do mesmo sexo e pessoas solteiras. O texto atualiza leis de datadas de 1967.

[UK]
£250k of tax cash for sex changes
Almost £250,000 of taxpayers' cash could be spent on sex change operations in a Black Country borough each year, it emerged today.
Sandwell Primary Care Trust (PCT) is reviewing its policy on gender dysphoria and expects the number of procedures to increase to around four a year – costing up to £60,000 a time. Bosses today declined to confirm current numbers, citing patient confidentiality, but revealed over the past three years, there had been "five or less" such operations.
Female-to-male surgery costs around £60,000, while male-to-female surgery is about £15,000.

[Norway]
Surprising transsexual aid
Norway's Christian Democrat Party continues their support for transsexuals, in contrast to the conservative image of party leader Dagfinn Høybråten.

[Moldávia]
Prefeito de Chisinau proíbe realização da Parada
Dorin Chirtoaca, prefeito de Chinisau, na República da Moldávia, proibiu nessa sexta-feira (9) a Parada Gay da cidade, que já havia sido confirmada pela Prefeitura e estava marcada para ser celebrada no próximo domingo, dia 11.

[Brasil]
Homem transexual é invisível no Brasil, diz presidente da Parada
Excerto: Xande é o que se chama de "homem transexual" (nasceu com genitália feminina, mas sente o desejo de ser identificado como do sexo oposto), um grupo que, segundo o próprio, ainda é "praticamente invisível" no Brasil. "Alexandre" não é seu nome de batismo.

[Australia]
Reduced jail term for basher
A man who bashed a transexual at her Melbourne apartment will spend less time in jail after having his sentence reduced by two years.
Clinton Dwayne McRae went to Isabella Labrador's apartment after meeting her at a Crown Casino bar in January 2006.
When McRae discovered Ms Labrador was really a man, he punched her, dragged her by the hair, smashed a vase over her head, and then stabbed her with the jagged pieces.
The Court of Appeal has found McRae's sentence was manifestly excessive and re-sentenced him to five years prison with a minimum of two years and nine months.
Term cut for tranny bash
A MAN who assaulted a transvestite when he discovered 'she' wasn't a woman has had two years cut from his sentence.

[Canada] [Events/Film]

Inside Out fest flicks dare to be sweet

A South Korean film about a boy with a Cindy Crawford beauty mark and a passion for Madonna who tries to win money for a sex change by wrestling gets the opening-night gala treatment Thursday at the 18th edition of Inside Out, the Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival.

[NY,USA]
Transgender teen says he has support at Brewster school
Brewster High School student Michael Loscalzo said he was scared to go to school yesterday, given all the attention he's received for his recent decision to start dressing as a girl.
But as the day wore on, he was pleasantly surprised to find that students who normally wouldn't talk to him were congratulating him and saying hello in the halls, he explained after school.

[USA] [Television]
Transgender characters find their role
Although long known to the gay community, breakout star Candis Cayne became a household name this year with her recurring role as the male-to-female transgender character Carmelita on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money."
Photo: Candis Cayne in "Dirty Sexy Money."

[USA] [Health/Medicine]

Q&A: Doctors on Puberty-Delaying Treatments

A small group of doctors around the world have introduced a controversial approach to the treatment of preteens and teenagers who believe they are the opposite sex.

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Zucker revisited: The lunatics rule the asylum

Yesterday I mentioned that Dr. Ken Zucker has been named as the leader of the group that would be recommending/making changes to appear in the next updates to the DSM. This is horrible news for trans people, their families, and those who care about them.

[Blog/Commentary] On the road again.

Excerpt: The underlying message that people like Dr. Zucker is sending is that life as a transsexual is so horrificly difficult and unsatisfactory that it needs to be stopped, at all costs. It is obvious to me that he percieves us as freakish oddities who end up struggling in all aspects of life. Perhaps it doesn't occur to him that, for some, our difficulties are more a result of being forced to be something we're not more than of being transsexual. Or, that part of the reason that it can be so difficult a life is because people like him continue to stigmatize and pathologize it.

[Blog/Commentary] Gender-Variant Children And Transsexuals Will Likely Still Be Disordered In DSM-V

In 1973, Homosexuality was removed as a disorder from the American Psychological Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Second Edition (DSM-II). It was the step that recognized that individuals whose sexual interests are directed primarily toward people of the same sex weren't afflicted with a psychiatric disorder.

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Changing At Nine

"…..and how long have you known you were Transgender?"

"Well….how long have you known you were not?"

It's really the same thing. There's a lot about what I am that confuses me, but there's one thing I know for a fact, it's not a choice. It's not something I decided to do because there was nothing on TV that night.

[USA]
Lawyer blames school in shooting of gay Oxnard student

Excerpt: Educators should have moved aggressively to quell rising tensions between the two boys, which began when King openly flirted with McInerney, said Deputy Public Defender William Quest.

Instead, administrators were so intent on nurturing King as he explored his sexuality, allowing him to come to school wearing feminine makeup and accessories, that they downplayed the turmoil that his behavior was causing on campus, Quest said.

[Blog/Commentary] Lawyer blames school in shooting of gay Oxnard student

In an utterly unsurprising move, the lawyer for Lawrence King's accused killer continues asserting that it was everyone's fault except his client's .