[International]
HIV experts call for declassification of transgenderism as mental illness
An international meeting of experts on HIV has called for transgenderism to be reclassified as a medical condition, rather than a mental illness.
[Blog/Commentary] HIV/AIDS Experts: GID Should Be Reclassified From Mental Health Disorder To Medical Condition

[International]
Some Events of the year 2009
Part 1: Legislation, litigation, organizations, news media and bookshops
Part 2: Persons
Part 3: art, movies, theatre, books

[UE]
Homofobia y Transfobia institucionalizada en la Unión Europea

Si bien, es cierto la urgente necesidad de poner un acento especial en las políticas económicas, que nos conduzcan a un descenso de las tasa de desempleo en Europa, no es menos cierto y grave, la actual situación de desigualdad, discriminación y vulneración de los Derechos Civiles hacia Lesbianas, Gais, Transexuales y Bisexuales en el seno de la Unión Europea.

[España]
Después de una ardua lucha reasignan de sexo al Coordinador Área Trans de Xega Asturias
«Nací, soy y moriré hombre»
Es el primer asturiano que se somete a una cirugía de reasignación sexual. «Por fin puedo desnudarme con la luz encendida, usar el espejo, entrar en la ducha...» (Foto)
«Nací, soy y moriré hombre»
De mujer a hombre en 17 horas

[UK]
Paper guilty of transsexual slur

A Belfast newspaper has been found guilty of breaching the press code of practice for describing a transsexual as 'a tranny.'

[Francia]
Fallece en Francia de gripe A una reconocida artista transexual argentina de nombre Arena
Era conocida como Arena y era famosa por sus participaciones en este carnaval entrerriano, falleció en París víctima de la nueva influenza. Contrajo la enfermedad en Francia, donde se encontraba por razones laborales.
La reconocida travesti entrerriana murió en París víctima del virus de la gripe A, publicó el sitio web Máxima Online. (Foto)

[Itália]
Embrollo jurídico en Italia: un matrimonio civil y religioso celebrado hace ya 5 años se convierte en matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo
El que era un matrimonio heterosexual, tanto civil como religioso, ha pasado a ser un matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. Después de 5 años de matrimonio, el cónyuge que ante la sociedad era el marido se ha sometido a un proceso de reasignación de sexo para acomodar su cuerpo a su identidad femenina, dando lugar a un nuevo modelo familiar.

[Italy] [Blog/News/Commentary]
Milan, transexual commits suicide in an italian detention and expulsion centre

At about 3 p.m. on Christmas Day a 34-year-old transexual of Brazilian origin committed suicide by hanging herself with a sheet in the Via Corelli CIE in Milan, where she had recently been detained. Another detainee sounded the alarm half an hour later, but it was too late, and medics were unable to save her. “The umpteenth victim of the measures dictated by the Italian Northern League and the “security package” say Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau, co-presidents of Everyone Group, the human rights association.

[Uganda]
Ugandan pastors defend anti-homosexuality Bill
Pastors in Uganda recently chided evangelical pastor Rick Warren after he urged them to speak out against the country's anti-homosexuality Bill.
[Opinion] In Uganda, a Hate That We Must Confront
Gay in Uganda, and Feeling Hunted
After Americans Visit, Uganda Weighs Death for Gays
Four Ugandans, Four Points of View

[Rwanda]
Rwandan parliament dismisses homosexuality bill

The Rwandan parliament has thrown out the bill which see ks to make homosexuality a criminal offence, the national radio reported.

[Sud Afrique]
Caster Semenya n’a rien rèclamè
138 millions de dollars pour réparer le préjudice causé par les suspicions autour de sa féminité ! C’est le montant de l’indemnité qu’aurait réclamé Caster Semenya selon la presse américaine à l’IAAF et à la Fédération sud-africaine d’athlétisme.

[Qatar]
Cross dressing ‘on the rise in Qatar’

As much as 70% of girls who have taken to cross dressing remain adamant and refuse to give up their abnormal behaviour, says a report published in the local Arabic daily Arrayah.

(...) Highlighting the reasons for the spread of this phenomenon she mentioned lack of parental control, programmes on the satellite channel that seek to encourage wrong values in life and the illusion of being independent in life.

[Pakistan]
New rights for trans people in Pakistan
The Pakistan Supreme Court has ordered the government to allow trans people the right to a distinct gender.

[India]
5,000 join up for first desi eunuch beauty pageant

Nazaaqat search for the gorgeous Kinnar a first in the history of Indian beauty pageants has already attracted 5,000 entries from eunuchs from various parts of the country.

[Malaysia]
Transvestite Found Dead With Multiple Stab Wounds

A 64-year-old transvestite was found dead in a room of a three-storey shop lot in Jalan Wong Ah Fook, near the city centre here this Friday's morning with multiple stab wounds.
Transvestite found dead with multiple stab wounds

[Japan]
Japanese Man Pulls a Gender-Bender to Fool Cops
Would you go this far to avoid a traffic ticket? Yoshihiro Nishimura, a Japanese commuter caught driving without a license, decided to forgo his masculine pride and pretended to be a woman so as to fool the traffic officers.

[Canada]
Police seek identity of cold-case victim
While making a pit stop on a rural road near Markham, Ontario, in 1980, a motorist stumbled across the skeletal remains of a young man.
Along with the body, police found a pair of ladies’ red high-heeled shoes, white socks, jeans and a powder compact with mirror. All items are believed to have belonged to the victim. He – she – was a cross-dresser.

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Canadian Trans Rights Bill C-389 Moving Towards Debate

I talked a few months ago about Canadian MP Bill Siksay filing a private member's bill May 15 that would add “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list of protected classes in the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.
[Blog/Commentary] Important Action Alert: Bill C-389 Gender Identity and Gender Expression Protections

[USA] [Commentary]
The year that was

At the closing of the year I – like so many other writers – like to look back on the year that was, and offer my own assessment of what the last 12 months were all about. Indeed, it happens so often at this time of year as to make it a bit of a cliche, but so be it.
[Blog/News] Top 10 LGBT Stories of 2009
[Blog/News] Trans News Timeline: 2009

[USA]
Meet Amanda Simpson: President Obama appoints transgender woman as Advisor
''I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.''
Amanda Simpson appointed to Department of Commerce

Obama's New Queer Appointee Amanda Simpson Brings Some 'T' to the Administration
[News/Commentary] President Obama Names Transgender Woman To Department Of Commerce
Obama Makes First Transgender Appointment
Obama appoints transgender political activist as advisor
[Blog/Commentary] Amanda Simpson Appointed Senior Technical Advisor For The U.S. Bureau Of Industry And Security
[Blog/Commentary] Amanda Simpson Makes History
[Blog/Commentary] Amanda Simpson, The DC Power Elite, and the Cultural Imaginary
Claim of transgender Presidential appointment not supported by White House website

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Should We Scrap the Word "Transgender"?

The definition of "transgender" is not universally agreed upon. Some define it very broadly, to include anyone with a history or a hint of gender variance. Women who like sports. Men who like to cook.

[FL, USA]
Deputies arrest Immokalee cross-dresser in connection with sexual assault on 4-year-old
A 31-year-old Immokalee man was arrested Tuesday, after Collier County Sheriff’s Deputies say he sexually assaulted a child in Arcadia.
Leo Delacruz Mendoza, of the 3000 block of Alamo Drive, was arrested on a warrant out of Desoto County. (Photo)

[MD, USA]
MVA delays policy change on transgender documentation
The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration has postponed a policy change that, starting Jan. 1, would have required transgender residents to obtain a court order or amended birth certificate to change the gender on their driver's license or identification card.
Md. halts policy change for transgender drivers
MVA postpones policy change for transgender drivers

[MI, USA]
Year in Review: Top LGBT stories of 2009
Battle for equality continues to be fought at state and local levels

[VA, USA]
Va. transgendered inmate locked down for six months
A transgendered woman convicted of drug trafficking has been locked down in solitary confinement for the past six months in a Virginia jail because they feared she would be raped by fellow male prisoners, a jail official said.
Transgender Woman in Solitary in Virginia Jail
Transgender Woman In Solitary In Va. Jail

Va. transgendered inmate removed from lockdown

[Argentina]
Silicona y metacrilato falsos se consiguen en farmacias argentinas y provoca la muerte
La compulsión por el cambio estético lleva, en algunos casos, al riesgoso procedimiento de aplicarse PMMA falso. El negocio ilegal que desnudo la muerte de Solange Magnano.

[Peru]
LUCES Y SOMBRAS DE 2009 - Resumen de Noticias Destacadas
El año se caracterizó por una mezcla de eventos positivos y negativos: por un lado discretos avances en los niveles de tolerancia de la sociedad peruana hacia gays, lesbianas, bisexuales, transexuales y travestis y, por otro, hechos de violencia que, en muchos casos, configuraron, crímenes de odio, es decir violentas manifestaciones de la mas absoluta intolerancia frente a la diversidad.