[Europe] [Blog/News/Commentary]
Major debate on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at the Council of Europe, 27 January

Next week will see a major debate on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg – the first for 10 years, and only the third in the history of the organisation.

[España]
Menores transexuales, colectivos, activistas, médicos y especialistas de España opinan

Cuando la niña tenía tres años, Maite descubrió que la Naturaleza había jugado una mala pasada a su hija, ya que su cerebro masculino vivía atrapado en una anatomía de mujer. Hoy, cumplidos los veinte y después de "mucho sufrimiento", este joven asturiano es feliz, "muy feliz", destaca su madre.

[UK]
Teenager set to become Britain's youngest sex-change patient

A 16-year-old boy is set to become Britain’s youngest sex-change patient after surgery costing £10,000 was approved by the NHS
Boy, 16, to become Britain's youngest sex change patient after NHS agrees to pay for £10,000 operation

[Turkey]
Life Sentence for Murderer of Transsexual Cagla

The Ankara 5th High Criminal Court handed a life sentence to defendant Murat Olgun G. for deliberate murder aiming to conceal a crime. The defendant received another twelve years imprisonment for aggravated looting. The court rejected the defence's request of mitigation for "unjust provocation".

[Kuwait]
HRW criticises Kuwait

Excerpt: On freedom of expression, [women rights researcher Priynaka] Motaparthy opined Kuwait is one of the countries that fully respect this freedom but in November 2009 one of the critics of the government was detained for allegedly defaming HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. She asserted this incident is a clear manifestation of limited freedom of expression in the country. She slammed the government for violating this freedom through the implementation of a law approved in 2007, which criminalizes the appearance of the members of the so-called third sex. This, she contended, poses a grave threat to transsexuals, more so the personal freedoms.

[Uganda]
Anti-gay bill is also foreign policy issue: Ugandan leader
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Tuesday an anti-homosexuality bill which has caused international condemnation was also a foreign policy issue which should be addressed.
With observers arguing the bill could harm foreign support for Uganda, the president distanced himself from senior cabinet members who insist that Uganda will not be swayed by foreign pressure.

[Malawi]
Malawi government defends gay couple's prosecution Malawi's government said Monday that it is unmoved by international criticism of the trial of a gay couple charged with unnatural acts and gross indecency, felonies for which they could be imprisoned for up to 14 years.
Detained Malawi gay couple appeal to Constitutional Court (Photo: Reuters - Steven Monjeza (L) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga sit in a pick-up truck before appearing at a magistrate court in Blantyre January 4, 2010. A court in Malawi on Monday denied bail to two men arrested last week on charges of public indecency after becoming the first gay couple to marry in a country were homosexuality is illegal.)
Lawyers for gay Malawi couple seek change to law
Opinion: The anti-sex brigade are the worst of hypocrites

West turns Africa into gay battlefield

[India]
Mumbai transgenders take part in a beauty contest

Transgender in Mumbai participated in an audition for a beauty contest titled 'Super Queen'.
Queens on ramp

[USA/Haiti]
LGBTs act locally to help people in Haiti
Since a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti last week, LGBTs in San Francisco have been working to raise thousands of dollars to help.
The quake, which struck Tuesday, January 12, has killed an estimated 200,000 people. On Monday, January 18, The Advocate reported on its Web site that 14 men involved with SEROvie, a Haitian group serving gay and transgender people with HIV, were among the dead.

[USA/Brazil] [Film]
A remarkably unremarkable role
One actress attending the Palm Springs International Film Festival hopes her movie will do more than entertain — she wants it to be a positive step for transgender people everywhere. (...)
It is a courageous role in that Spinelli, who herself has made the voyage from male to female, makes Suzana completely unremarkable.
(Photo: Maggie Downs The Desert Sun - Director Roberto Moreira (left) and Maria Clara Spinelli, right, and of the film “Paulista,” playing at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.)

[USA] [Sports/Education/Commentary]
The Transgender Athlete

"I was really worried about coming out as transgender to anyone else because I knew there weren’t any policies. I was so afraid that my school would ban me from my sport and that was the only thing I had at the time. I finally decided to come out my senior year of college because I was going down a slippery slope and I didn't think I could pull myself out if I didn't come out." -- A transgender former college athlete.
[Blog/Sports/Commentary] Olympics and the coming gender inquisition

[USA] [Blog/Law/Commentary]
Why a Legitimate ENDA is Necessary – Part 628,039,152

Heartland Inns operates a group of hotels, primarily in Iowa. Brenna Lewis began work for Heartland in July 2005 and successfully filled several positions for the chain for a year and a half before the actions at issue here. She started as the night auditor at Heartland’s Waterloo Crossroads location; at that job she worked at the front desk from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. There were also two other shifts for “guest service representatives”: the A shift from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and the B shift from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Lewis’ manager at Waterloo Crossroads, Linda Gowdy, testified that Lewis “did her job well” and that she had requested a pay raise for her. Heartland recorded two merit based pay raises for Lewis. The record also indicates that Gowdy received a customer comment praising Lewis.

[NY, USA]
For Transgender People, Name Is a Message

Katherine used to be Miguel. Olin had a girl’s name. And in October, Robert Ira Schnur, 70, became Roberta Iris Schnur, a Manhattan retiree with magenta lipstick and, she noted the other day, chipped silver nail polish.

[OK, USA]
Transgender candidate campaigns in Norman

The Norman Queer Alliance hosted a pancake breakfast in Norman for Oklahoma House of Representatives candidate Brittany Novotny Saturday to raise funds and awareness for her campaign.
The Norman Queer Alliance hosted the event for Novotny, transgender Democrat running for Oklahoma City seat representative, at the Performing Arts Studio in the Santa Fe Depot.

[VA, USA] [Blog/News]
Loudoun Co., VA Supervisor Delgaudio blasted for public, anti-transgender remarks [video]

''Regardless of how one may feel about the policy in question, there is no excuse for referring to other human beings as 'it.'''

[Puerto Rico]
Declaran procesable al imputado de asesinar a Jorge Steven López

El padre de Jorge Steven López Mercado, Jorge López, salió aliviado de la sala 508 del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Caguas tras escuchar que el imputado por el asesinato de su hijo Juan José Martínez Matos fue declarado procesable.