[Brazil]
Brazil: Carnival, a Complex Annual Revolution for Women, Gays
Excerpt: There is a growing explicit presence of transsexuals at carnival, who have gone beyond simply coming out in public and have earned legitimacy for the defence of their rights. Recently their struggle has become more politicised: one of their demands, for example, is the right to separate bathrooms, said Correa.

[UK]
The devoted fiancee who's sticking by her man, the father of her son, despite the fact he wants to become a woman
Until six weeks ago, Andrea Fletcher was the partner of respected writer and journalist John Ozimek. She was the mother of their five-year-old son Rafe and very much looking forward to, one day, becoming his wife.
She has wanted to marry him ever since their first date seven years ago, walking along the pebbled beach at Aldeburgh in Suffolk, wrapped up against the cold and eating chips, and it is not difficult to understand why she fell for the Oxford graduate and former IT and marketing consultant.
A quick look at John Ozimek's photograph shows a handsome, seemingly confident, middle-aged man whose image sits perfectly with his intelligent essays on political and sexual liberty, censorship and data protection, which are regularly published on a broadsheet newspaper website.
(Photo: Still in love: Jane and Andrea are handling the challenges of the sex change one step at a time.)

[Italy]
Singer can take both sexes' roles
A trainee opera singer has combined a sex change with a dramatic extension in her vocal range to gain admission into one of Italy's most prestigious music schools.
Emily De Salvo, formerly Stefano, was denied a place at the Tito Schipa Conservatory in Lecce three years ago when the admissions panel was not sure whether to place her among the male or female singers.

[Germany] [News/Film]
“Kids Are All Right” Wins Berlin’s Teddy Award
Excerpt: The documentary prize went to sole non-American winner of the night, Italian Pietro Marcello’s “La bocca del lupo.” The film was described by Thompson on Hollywood as “a strange, poetic little film that begins and ends with silent found footage of long-ago Genova, dreamily spends time in a rather disreputable bar, and achieves nirvana during a long sequence where the love story between a Sicilian tough guy and a deep-voiced transsexual that began in prison is laid out for us in their own words.”

[Norway] [News/Health/Commentary]
SM and fetish off the Norwegian sick list
The Norwegian Directorate of Health announced February 1, 2010, that the diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism, Sadomasochism, Multiple disorders of sexual preference and dual-role transvestism, have been repealed from Norway’s official list of medical diagnoses by 1.02.10.

[Russia]
Transsexual Muscovite Confused during Passport Exchange procedure
A standard passport-exchange procedure, which a male resident of the Moscow region had to have upon reaching 45 years of age, had a very unusual ending. Both employees of the migration service and police officers were surprised to find out that the male applicant was actually a female, Pravda.Ru reports with reference to a press service of a local department of the Internal Affairs Directorate.

[Kenya]
False Gay Marriage Rumor Sparks Kenyan Riots
In the coastal town of Mtwapa in Kenya’s Kilifi district, media hysteria and outrage by clerics over a non-existent gay wedding whipped up mob violence that began on February 12, unleashing a house-to-house witch hunt by anti-gay vigilantes, street attacks targeting gay men, the sacking of an AIDS-fighting medical center, and a widening wave of ultra-homophobic national media coverage.

[Uganda]
Fear grows among Uganda’s gay community over death penalty draft law
There was a time in Kampala when gay men would meet for furtive one-night stands, even if they were prevented from forming lasting relationships in a country where homophobia is rife.
“You would just have sex, then disappear. We were secretive out of fear,” said Peter, 39. At one point, things had begun changing for the better. “You could know where a guy lived and hung out; you could start to form relationships, something more permanent,” he said. “Then along comes this Bill that wants to kill us.”
The pastor using pornography to fan the flames of gay hate in Uganda

[South Africa]
Semenya to skip major race
South Africa's women's 800-metre world champion Caster Semenya, the subject of an investigation into her gender, will skip the first major domestic race starting this week, a spokeswoman said.

[India]
Mangalore: Panel to recommend BC status for transsexuals
In what could be a landmark move, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes plans to recommend the inclusion of transsexuals or “hijras” in the list of Backward Classes in the State.

[South Korea]
Harisu is charged with promoting pornography?
Veteran singer, Lee Kwang Pil (44) has filed a charge with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against transsexual celebrity, Harisu (35) for promoting pornography through her photo exhibition, and violating the Youth Protection Act. (Top photo)

[New Zealand]
"Community is important" stresses Awards winner
A sense of community is important to glbt people, according to Thomas Hamilton, the transgender Executive Director of Rainbow Youth, who was tonight honoured at Auckland's inaugural OurFest community awards.

[Australia]
Sex change murderer denied parole over hitchhiker death
Sex change killer Maddison Hall was today forced to listen to a plea from the mother of her victim before losing her latest bid for freedom.

[Canada]
Women-only pharmacy reverses policy excluding trans women
North America's first women-only pharmacy has quietly reversed its controversial "women born women" policy to allow transsexual women through its doors.

[USA] [Commentary]
Is the APA Playing Politics With Sexual Disorder Definition?
Excerpt: Dr. George Rekers, a professor of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science at the University of South Carolina medical school, told CitizenLink.com that, like its earlier decision to delete homosexuality from its list of sexual disorders, the APA is once again caving in to political pressure. “I think they are bowing to activist groups to downplay the actual psychopathology involved by just calling it gender incongruence,” he said. “They don’t want to go back to put homosexuality as the disorder. Now it looks like they’re backpedaling on Gender Identity Disorder.”
[Commentary] Prescriptions for Psychiatric Trouble

[USA]
Rep. Frank: ENDA on Track in House
Massachusetts representative Barney Frank said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is on track in the House of Representatives in an interview with DC Agenda Thursday.

[USA] [Commentary]
Confronting discrimination on two fronts is daunting
This column is dedicated to black and African-American lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and allied leaders past and present, who have made an extraordinary difference in our world.
Like most mainstream narratives, the ordinary stories and lives of LGBT Americans are more often than not told and depicted through the lens of racism. February is Black History Month, celebrated annually since 1926.

[USA]
Exclusive Interview: Kennidi Monroe
Kennidi Monroe is a singer, talk show hostesss, pageant owner, writer and a powerful voice in the transgender community. She started her career in Houston, Texas in the club scene at the tender age of 19 and has since become one of the most recognizable faces on the LGBT circuit. How did she do it all and get where she is today? Ladies and gentlemen...meet Kennidi Monroe. (Photo)

[USA] [Blog/Commentary]
Trans Bathroom Scare Smear used against Gay Gainesville, FL Candidate
Our readers may remember last year's battle in Gainesville, Florida where anti-LGBT forces came together to try to repeal Gainesville's Human Rights Ordinance, which included sexual orientation and gender identity & expression.The fierce battle at the ballot box included tons of odious transphobic statements, mailers, and commercials, yet the anti-LGBT forces were defeated, thanks in large part to the great campaign run by the equality advocates in Gainesville.

[USA]
Slaying of King may lead to a new law
Two years after he was gunned down in an Oxnard classroom, 15-year-old Larry King’s tragic death could lead to a new federal law to protect gay and lesbian students from harassment.

[USA] [Video]

Transgender Children on the Dr. Oz Show (2/18/2010)

[TX, USA]
DART accused of transphobia
DART stands accused of bigotry and transphobia after attorneys for the local transit agency intervened in family court last year to challenge a gender-marker change granted to an employee.
According to court records, a transgender DART employee obtained a court order in February 2009 directing all state agencies to correct their records by changing her gender-marker from male to female, including on her birth certificate

[CO, USA]
Transgender teen talks about life in school
Alex Roberson is a senior at Wasson High School. He "came out" two years ago, when he was 16, as "trans" or transgender.
He said it was not and has not been easy. (Photo)

[NJ, USA]
N.J. Trans Woman Sues Cops for Harassment
A transgender woman is suing the Newark, N.J., Police Department,claiming false arrest and harassment.

[NY, USA]
Judge Allows Testimony in Transgender Case
A magistrate judge in Manhattan refused to block a law professor's testimony in the case of a transgender lesbian who was arrested at the Republican National Convention and claims New York City's law enforcement officers "subject transgender individuals to invasive, overly intrusive searches in order to ascertain their genital status."

[Colombia]
Comunidad gay de Tunja volvió a ser blanco de improperios y amenazas de muerte
'En las narices' de los detectives del DAS de Tunja, cerca de 50 gays fueron atacados.
Recibieron improperios y amenazas por parte de un grupo de jóvenes que portaban armas blancas.
Un nuevo hecho de intolerancia con la comunidad Lgbt (lesbianas, gays, bisexuales y transgeneristas) se protagonizó en las calles de Tunja.

[Colombia]
Lanzan 'Observatorio de los derechos de la diversidad sexual' en Cartagena
El martes 23 de febrero a las 7 p.m. en el Centro de la Cooperación Española, la Corporación Caribe Afirmativo lanzará el 'Observatorio de derechos humanos de la diversidad sexual e identidades de género', en el cual un grupo de investigadores, docentes y activistas de la ciudad, tienen como propósito, entre muchos otros, documentar casos concretos de abusos en contra de la población LGBT (lesbianas, gays, transgeneristas y bisexuales) de Cartagena. La entrada al lanzamiento es libre.
Lanzarán en Cartagena el Observatorio de derechos humanos de la diversidad sexual

[Argentina]
Enojo de los gays por dichos de una reina
El famoso travesti "Turca" y el empresario Tito Bustos salieron al cruce de la tunuyanina Ana Sofía Ponce, que consideró que no hay que mezclar la Vendimia Gay con la Fiesta Nacional.

Bienvenidos al primer culebrón vendimial de 2010. Ana Sofía Ponce, reina de Tunuyán, declaró a Diario UNO que “la Vendimia Gay no tiene nada que ver con la tradición” y desató fuertes críticas de dos reconocidas personalidades de la comunidad homosexual: el empresario Tito Bustos y la Turca, famosa actriz travesti.

(Foto: La Turca. “No está preparada para representar a todos los mendocinos”, disparó la actriz.)