[UK]
Magistrates at Northwich say Hartford woman can be named in court case
A Hartford woman appeared before magistrates at Northwich, on Wednesday, accused of harassing her neighbour over a five-year period.
Jan Krause, 47, of Walnut Lane, denied she had harassed Carol Story from May 2004 to December 2009.
Krause had applied to the court to have her hearing held in private and for an order to be issued which would prevent her from being identified by the press.
As a transsexual, Krause said she felt the publicity would place her at risk of physical harm and hate crime.

[France]
Transsexualism No Longer Viewed as Mental Illness in France
France has removed transsexualism from an official list of mental illnesses, according to an order issued by the French Ministry of Health reported Friday by French news media.

[Sweden]
Swedish lawmaker defends alleged drag-queen junket
In Parliament he’s Fredrick Federley, a serious and respected representative of the small Center Party. But a few times a year he becomes Ursula, a "grandiose diva" with curved eyelashes, pouting lips and skimpy dresses.
In tolerant Sweden, the 31-year-old politician’s cross-dressing habit only became an issue this week, when critics questioned who accepted an alleged junket to the sun-soaked Canary Islands: Fredrik the lawmaker or Ursula the drag queen?

[Pakistan]
Pakistan Supreme Court gives transgender community hope
Pakistan's transgender community has long lived on society's margins, harassed by police, ridiculed as freaks, and often rejected by their own families. Now the Supreme Court is giving them hope through a petition for their rights to be respected.

[Japan]
School lets boy with gender identity disorder try attending as girl
An 8-year-old boy who suffers mental woes caused by gender identity disorder has attended a public elementary school as a girl since last fall, a local board of education in Saitama Prefecture said Friday.

[USA] [Commentary]
The fight over the DSM
A new diagnostic manual prepared by the American Psychiatric Assn. either trivializes serious conditions, needlessly encourages hurtful stereotypes or succumbs to political correctness, depending on whom you believe.
[Blog/Commentary] Compromise: Analysis Of The DSM-V Revisions, Part 1

[USA]
Federal hate crime law now protects those with disabilities
Excerpt: The changes attracted attention mostly because they extended protection to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, but the law also was expanded to include crimes based on a person's gender or disability.
[Blog/Commentary] The Religious Right’s Battle Against Hate Crime Laws
[Blog/Commentary] Hate Crimes Laws: A Conspiracy to "Eradicate" the Christian Right?

[USA] [Blog/News]
What's the holdup in getting ENDA through the House?
What's the hold up on ENDA? Why hasn't it been moved to a full vote in the House of Representatives? What language was being "tweaked?"

[USA]
Oprah features transgender lesbian filmmaker Kim Reed [video]
''I was this perfect guy in some ways, but I was just trying to overcompensate to be successful at this male thing... I thought it would fix me. I thought it would make this other crazy idea go away.... A lot of times, I wanted to be one of the girls more than to really have a girlfriend.... I kind of found it through a process of elimination. And I didn't know what felt right until I got there. Going through the process, it wasn't like I could really even put my finger on it at first. ... I was trying to avoid it, I didn't want to be 'weird.' I didn't want to be different, I wanted to fit in.... I'm wondering if I'm gay, and I try dating men as a man, and that doesn't feel right. But what it really was, is I'm realizing at that time, that I'm just drawn -- I just have to be female.''
[News/Video] A Transgender Woman's Journey / Kimberly Reed's High School Reunion

[CA, USA]
CA trans woman claims she stabbed boyfriend in self-defense
Jacky Davis, a transgender woman living in Bakersfield, Calif., openly admitted to stabbing her on-again-off-again boyfriend, 45-year-old registered sex offender Arthur Arnold.

[OH, USA]
Man sues hospital over cross-dressing worker's advances
A man hospitalized with gunshot wounds when he was sexually assaulted by a male worker dressed as a woman is suing University Hospital, police and others, saying they allowed Chad Thrasher to act as a woman, touch his penis, put lip gloss on him and kiss him as he was recovering.

[Puerto Rico]
Lista Verona para su cambio de sexo
La reconocida diseñadora y transexual ya tiene los pasajes para viajar a Colorado, donde le realizarán la cirugía
A poco más de dos semanas de lo que posiblemente será el paso más trascendental en su vida, Verona Disdier se prepara para someterse a la operación de género que tanto anhela.
“Estoy culeca, loca porque llegue ya el día”, dijo Disdier, la famosa transexual de 31 años que a partir del próximo 3 de marzo tendrá el cuerpo físicamente de una mujer.
Será ese día cuando la doctora Marci Bowers -una reconocida obstetra ginecóloga que ejerce la medicina en Seattle, Washington, y en Trinidad, Colorado- le realizará la operación.

(Foto: Carlos Giusti/ END - La doctora Marci Bowers (izquierda) -una reconocida obstetra ginecóloga- realizará la operación.)

[Mexico]
Cancela el Conapred el Programa de Diversidad Sexual, VIH y Sida

Tras la información difundida por representantes de la comunidad de la diversidad sexual respecto de que el Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación (Conapred) eliminó el Programa de Diversidad Sexual, VIH y Sida, el presidente de este organismo, Ricardo Bucio Mújica, confirmó esta medida; sin embargo, aseguró que la desaparición de este programa no implica la desatención de este sector de la población, sino que responde a un cambio de estrategia para potenciar las capacidades instaladas del consejo.