[Brasil]

Ministério chama travestis para desenvolverem campanha de saúde
Travestis vão escolher como querem ser representadas pelo Ministério da Saúde

[Brasil]

Kassab aprova nome social para travestis e transexuais paulistanos
Travestis e transexuais serão tratadas pelo nome social em órgão da prefeitura de SP

[España]
FELGTB apuesta derechos de transexuales como eje central 2010, Año para TRANS-formar
La temática que guiará transversalmente las actuaciones de la FELGTB, como organización LGTB más grande de España, ha sido presentada en Sevilla, junto a las conclusiones del Año de la Educación.

[Germany]
Report: "Transsexual People in Germany,"
A Human Rights Report [PDF]

[Malawi]
Prosigue el juicio a la pareja de Malawi entre humillaciones e insultos

Prosigue en Malawi el juicio a Steven Mojenza y Tiwonge Chimbalanga, la pareja que se enfrenta a una posible pena de 14 años de cárcel acusada de homosexualidad y escándalo público. Ayer Tiwonge Chimbalanga, que según deducimos de las informaciones periodísticas que nos llegan sería una mujer transexual y no un gay, comparecía después de haber permanecido varios días recluída en una de las prisiones más sobresaturadas del país. Su condición física parece ser mala. Poco antes de comenzar la sesión, Tiwonge vomitó en pleno tribunal, perdiendo el conocimiento y cayendo al suelo entre las risas y los insultos del público, que gritaba “Auntie Tiwo ali ndi mimba” (”Tía Tiwo está embarazada”).

[Uganda]
UN rights chief criticizes proposed Uganda legislation against homosexuality

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] on Friday strongly criticized [press release; UN News Centre report] proposed legislation [text, PDF] in Uganda which would implement harsh punishments for homosexual behavior, including the death penalty in some circumstances. The bill includes provisions which would allow sentences of life imprisonment for people who are be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, and also allows the death penalty [AFP report] in situations of "aggravated homosexuality," which includes the rape of a minor or where an individual carries the AIDS virus. The bill also imposes punishments of up to three years in prison for those who fail to report the identity of a person who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered within 24 hours, including family members.

[Pakistan]
Debating the third gender

Despite the recent orders by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, in which it was suggested that transvestites be given their rights such as issued CNIC’s and be hired for debt recovery, the community continues to face the scorn and neglect of the Pakistani society. This was stated by Bindiya Rana, a transvestite who is runs an NGO by the name of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA) Welfare at an event at Faraar (The Second Floor).

[Canada] [Sports/PR]
Sport leaders say 'no more' to IOC gender discrimination

The Coalition of Athletes for Inclusion in Sport has released the official alternative to the current International Olympic Committee (IOC) Gender Policy. Kristen Worley is a Canadian high performance track cyclist who has been speaking publicly on the issues of gender discrimination and the treatment of gender variant athletes and has recently taken on a new role as a co-founder of the Coalition.

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Hair, gender, and power

Over a year ago I posted about a boy who wasn't allowed to start public school in Texas because he had long hair. He was Native and it was part of his culture to keep his hair long.
Another school in Texas, this time a suburban school instead of a rural one, has a problem with a boy who wants long hair, this time for apparently no reason other than taste. He's allowed to go to pre-K, but he and his long hair have been separated from the other students in the library with a teaching assistant. Long hair on a boy, the school board claims, is such a distraction that he can only be handled by people with hazmat suits. Talk about gender anxiety.

[IA, USA]
Anger at Iowa Newman center after bishop fires transgendered employee

Nearly 100 laity are boycotting Mass at an Iowa Newman center after Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines fired a transgendered housekeeper who had quietly offered counseling services and formed a transgendered support group there. Bishop Pates told Susan McIntyre, who was born as Jim Ford, that “your unauthorized representation indicating that you are employed by and operating on behalf of the Newman Center as a counselor or social worker” led to the housekeeper’s firing.

[Haiti/USA]
Vermont Artist and Transman Flo McGarrell Among Those Killed In Haiti Earthquake

Excerpt: The thirty-six year old artist was serving as director of the non-profit FOSAJ, an art center in Jacmel. He had just returned to Haiti after spending the Christmas holidays with his parents, James and Ann McGarrell. He had also spent the summer with his family. He had just dropped off his godfather at the airport and was returning to Jacmel when the earthquake struck. He had stopped in at a hotel on his way back home. His mother, Ann, received a phone call from one of McGarrell’s friends, and the first thing she asked was if he was alive. The answer was, of course, ‘no’.

[Puerto Rico]

La justicia de Puerto Rico declara procesable al presunto asesino del joven gay Jorge Steven López
La justicia puertorriqueña dictaminó que es “procesable” el principal acusado del crimen de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, un joven gay brutalmente asesinado en noviembre.

[Cuba]
Se reúnen expertos para tratar temas de sexualidad

Hoy inició el Congreso en el que se reunirán unos 300 expertos de distintos países para abordar temas de género y masculinidad. Durante la reunión, que concluirá el viernes, participan también suecos especializados en transexualidad.

[Argentina]
Apuñalan a reconocida trans de Tandil, Argentina, autor detenido “tentativa homicidio”

El hecho aconteció en horas de la madrugada en la intersección de las calles Tierra del Fuego y Buzón, de Tandil. La víctima fue operada en el Hospital Santamarina y su estado es “estable”. Un hombre fue detenido, estimándose que fue el autor de la tentativa de homicidio.

[Argentina] [Film]
Splendour and weakness of the Latin American Cinema

Excerpt: The film El último verano de la boyita, by Argentine JuliaSolomónoff, is another well done poetic search. The case of ahermaphrodite in rural Rosario, from the perspective of a girl whospends her holidays there along wit her family, allows the youngdirector embroider a story with respect for differences and a vote forchildren’s sensitivity against a world sometimes closed or distant toadults, particularly in that savage but brutally beautiful worldinfected by prejudices and ignorance: the countryside.