[Ireland] [Commentary]
Irish Labour Party's Policy on Transgender Rights
In light of recent events, where a labour party councillor called for the HSE; to exclude Transgender persons from their services concerning gender reassignment abroad, The Labour Party pointed us (Corktrans Website) to their 2010 conference in Galway, particularly to "Session 1: Promoting Justice and Law Reform; Motion 128".

[Israel]
Jerusalem hosts subdued gay pride march
Thousands of Israelis marched calmly Thursday in Jerusalem's longest gay pride parade despite opposition from anti-gay demonstrators.
The subdued Jerusalem march from the center of town to the parliament building contrasted with flamboyant gay pride parades elsewhere in the world. Organizers said they were adjusting to the religious character of the city and using their march to promote their political agenda.
Gay Pride March in Jerusalem Angers Orthodox Jews

[Indonesia]
Edict Aims at TV and Sex Changes
Indonesia’s highest Islamic authority has followed up a series of contentious edicts with a new one barring Muslims from watching television gossip shows or having sex-change operations.

[Canada]
Untested treatments could put trans people at risk
Long-term effects of hormones unknown
When Ryan Jarman decided to start hormone therapy as a trans man in 2004, he was turned down by no less than 17 doctors.
“They all told me no because they didn’t have the experience,” he says. “I offered them information, but they all just weren’t interested.”
When he finally found a physician willing to accept him as a patient, Jarman was put on 200 mg of testosterone every two weeks. When he later moved to Vancouver, his new doctor at the Three Bridges Clinic, one of two clinics in Vancouver that treat transsexuals, cut his dose in half and told him trans people are usually started on no more than 35–50 mg of testosterone.

[Canada]
Gender change basis of refugee claim
An Irish national who’s been living and working in Nova Scotia is fighting deportation.
Tanya Bloomfield, who owns and operates a computer business, is battling federal immigration officials by claiming refugee status — a claim that says she could be the victim of hate crimes if she returns to Europe.
Bloomfield, a transgendered female, has been living in the Chester area. She moved to Canada more than three years ago but her applications to remain in this country have not been successful.
Irish trans woman applies for refugee status in Canada

[Canada]
5 minutes with: Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne, the 2010 Role Model Grand Marshal of the Vancouver Pride Parade, is the first transgendered actress with a reoccurring role on a network show. She played a transgender character in the television series Dirty Sexy Money on ABC.

[USA]
The choice of being transgender
Why do I choose to be transgendered? It’s a hard life and it’s not like anyone would ever have to know how I really feel inside. You’re right, I do have a “choice.” I could choose to keep my female body and go on living a life of unfulfilled dreams. Because I am not the person in my dreams.

[IN, USA]
Transgender woman claims she was mistreated by BMH staff
Erin Vaught went to the emergency room at Ball Memorial Hospital on July 18 expecting treatment for a lung condition that was causing her to cough up blood.
What she got, she says, was treatment of a very different kind.
Vaught is a transgender woman, specifically a transsexual, someone who has transitioned or is transitioning from one gender to another. In Vaught's case, it's from male to female. And she said that being a transwoman became an issue the moment she walked into the hospital.
Transgender woman says hospital mistreated her

[TX, USA]
Wharton firefighter's ex-wife says transgender widow 'has created a big mess'
The first wife of the firefighter killed battling a rural Wharton County fire says the battle over his estate is tearing their family apart for a second time.
Heather Delgado doesn’t believe her ex-husband’s transgender widow should be entitled to his benefits.
Firefighter's Ex-Wife Comments on Transgender Battle
Fallen firefighter's ex-wife speaks out
Dead Firefighter Thomas Araguz Testified He Didn't Know Wife Is Trans. Is Nikki Araguz Screwed?
[Commentary] Nikki Araguz Update 6 - Umm...About That 'Texas Law' Meme

[Puerto Rico]
Una tendencia funesta
Van siete asesinatos de homosexuales en los últimos nueve meses
Siete asesinatos contra homosexuales ocurridos en los últimos nueve meses han alzado la voz de alerta en cuanto a la posibilidad de que algunos de éstos pudiera tratarse de algún crimen de odio por la orientación sexual de las víctimas.
Tres de estos casos ya fueron resueltos por las autoridades. El más reciente fue el del estilista transexual Juan Antonio Santiago, mejor conocido como “Ashley”, cuyo asesino, identificado por la Policía como Emmanuel “Mangüi” Adorno Ayala, de 22 años, confesó el crimen a las autoridades a finales de mayo.

[Argentina]
First politician transsexual gets married next Tuesday
A transsexual who works as council in Bella Vista, Tucuman, Argentina will marry with the tourism director, becoming the first marriage of a transvestite since the sanction of the homosexual marriage law.
Rody Humano is 38 and will marry Juan Carlos Lizarraga, whom she has been living for 10 years.
Un funcionario y un concejal travesti celebrarán la primera boda gay en Tucumán

[Argentina]
Boda gay local tras los muros: se casa un travesti con un preso
Un hombre que viste de mujer y un presidiario de Almafuerte se casarán el próximo miércoles a las 10 en la cárcel de Cacheuta, a través del Registro Civil Móvil.
Con el aval que les otorgó la aprobación en el Congreso nacional del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo, Diana –como se hace llamar uno de ellos, el que está en libertad– y Jorge Osvaldo, hoy preso, serán los primeros argentinos homosexuales que contraerán matrimonio intramuros. No así la primera pareja conformada por un travesti, ya que, en Tucumán, un concejal que manifiesta esa condición dará el “sí” el martes.
(Foto: Para siempre. Además de tener tatuado el nombre de su amado, Diana se unirá ahora ante la ley con Jorge Osvaldo.)

[Ireland]
‘Transphobia’ accusation after councillor’s surgery remarks
An accusation of "transphobia" has been levelled by Sinn Féin at a Labour councillor after he questioned the HSE’s funding of sex reassignment surgery.
Galway Labour county councillor Colm Keaveney has stated that the HSE should not pay for public patients to undergo sex-change operations abroad when cuts are being made to frontline services for children.

[France]
Lea T, Latest Brazilian Supermodel, Not Like Rest
Givenchy's Transgender Star Model Is Undergoing a Sex Change.

[Kenya]
Myths About Transgender People
On 30 July 2010, a transgender woman (who I shall refer to as Storm) was arrested in Thika District in Kenya's Central Province. She was arraigned in court for intent to commit crime and remanded thereafter in a female remand facility. It was discovered she didn't possess 'female genitalia' the day after. She was thoroughly whipped by a warden for 'causing the confusion'.
She was transferred to a police station and placed in isolation. While the senior officer was absent, one of the police officers transferred her to a male cell where she suffered sexual assault on top of being 'baptised' with a bucket full of urine. Her food was grabbed by some inmates. When she reported the matter to the senior officer, she was beaten up by the officer. Three weeks later a law court released her on a personal bond.

[Israel]
Rights groups: Doctors discriminating against sex-change patients in Israel
Members of Israel's transgender community are protesting what they see as discriminatory treatment by the Israeli medical system, including doctors' demands for a psychological evaluation before providing hormonal treatments for people who want to undergo sex changes.
A project promoting the right to high-quality health care for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered will be kicked off at today's gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

[India]
We have transgender among human beings. Are there transgender among animals?
In animals gender identity is a sense of identification with either the male or female sex, as manifested in appearance, behavior, and other aspects of a individual’s life. It is very strong in mammals since sex is determined genetically on the basis of sex chromosomes called allosomes (X and Y chromosomes). In man the gender identity emerges by the age of two or three and is influenced by a combination of biological and sociological factors reinforced at puberty. Once established, it is generally fixed for life.

[India]
KUD, UAS considers admission to transgenders
Taking a cue from Bangalore University which issued application forms to give admission to transgenders in `Others' category, now the Karnatak University and University of Agricultural Sciences of Dharwad, are also planning on giving special attention to transgenders while taking admission from next academic year.

[Indonesia]
Jakarta, wave of fatwas against transsexuals, temporary marriages, gossip and sperm bank
In Indonesia the MUI (Indonesian Ulemas Forum) has issued a new wave of fatwas. After the controversy over civet Coffee, the MUI yesterday declared "haram" (forbidden in the religious sense) sex changes, temporary marriages, gossip and the sperm bank. However, it remains halal, allowed, the breast milk bank.

[Canada]
Transgender N.S. woman to seek refugee status
Chester business owner says she'll be target of hate if returned to native Ireland.
A transgendered Nova Scotia woman who is originally from Ireland said she will claim refugee status if immigration officials try to send her home.
Tanya Bloomfield says being transgendered makes her a target for hate in Europe.
Bloomfield has been in Canada since 2006, but immigration officials are now asking her to leave. (Photo)

[USA]
Study recommends normal breast screening for transsexual women; sex expert disagrees
Breast screening habits for transsexual women shouldn’t differ from those of biological women, according to a recent European study. However, a human sexuality expert disagrees, saying screening for transsexual women should depend on when the patient started estrogen therapy and not age alone.

[CA, USA]
LA's Transgender Film Festival
The second annual TG Film Fest will be held at the Renberg Theater on August 28th 2010 with four ninety minute screenings. The TG Film Fest continues to showcase entertaining, poignant, and intriguing visions from the queerest part of the LGBT spectrum.

[CO, USA]
Sex-Change Capital Loses a Doctor
A doctor known for her expertise in helping transgender people is leaving the so-called sex-change capital of the world for the San Francisco Bay area.
Marci Bowers told KMGH News that she was planning on leaving her Trinidad, Colo., practice by October 1 to help more people and to unite with a first-year surgical resident in San Francisco with whom she is in a relationship. (Photo)

[TX, USA]
Firefighter's Ex-Wife Comments on Transgender Battle
Accompanied by her attorneys at a Thursday news conference, Heather Delgado left no doubt she has little regard for Nikki Araguz, the transgendered woman who married Delgado's former husband.
"She's all about publicity and it's been all about her from the beginning. And basically, she needs to understand it's not only about her," Delgado said.

[Argentina]
Político travesti se casará
El concejal de la ciudad argentina de Bella Vista Rody Humano será el primer político travesti en casarse en Argentina, el 3 de agosto.
Esto se da tras la entrada en vigencia de una reforma legal que permite el enlace entre personas del mismo sexo. (Photo)

[Brasil]
Secretaria Nacional de Direitos Humanos publica Nota Pública sobre a violência contra as travestis e transexuais no Brasil
A Subsecretaria de Promoção e Defesa dos Direitos Humanos da Secretaria Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República vem publicamente reafirmar seu compromisso no combate à violência e discriminação contra a população de travestis e transexuais do Brasil. Esses atos são conhecidos como transfobia.
Vítima desse tipo de violência, a jovem Camille Gerin, de 25 anos, foi agredida brutalmente a pauladas e morreu na tarde nesta terça-feira, em Campinas (SP). No estado de Mato Grosso, somente nos últimos trinta dias, oito travestis sofreram agressões físicas, entre elas a militante LGBT, Lilith Prado.

[UK]
Bethany Black: Life as a transsexual comedian
Bethany Black is a stand-up comedian. She also happens to be a post-operative transsexual lesbian - but don't dare try to pigeonhole her
It's difficult to know how to sum myself up. I'm tempted to go the Goodfellas route: as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a lesbian. (Photo: Bethany Black: 'After I transitioned, my life just got better and better.')

[UK]
Transsexual wins asylum claim
Malaysian trans woman Fatine Young has won her asylum claim to remain in the UK.

[UK]
Health chiefs spend £20k on sex swap ops
HEALTH chiefs in the Borders have revealed they have spent more than £20,000 on sex swap operations in the past year.
The National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland has spent more than £1.5m over the past five years on sex-change operations for transsexuals.
More than 100 patients have undergone gender reassignment surgery at private clinics and hospitals in England because Scotland lacks the specialist facilities needed to carry out the operations.

[UK]
Hate crimes targeted under police initiative
Central Scotland Police part of three-year plan to reduce crimes including intimidation and discrimination
The plan is designed to help people who are victims of intimidation, harassment or physical assault because of their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.
Crackdown on hate crime launched

[France]
Trans model stars in Givenchy adverts
A trans woman is one of the models in an advert for designer label Givenchy.
Lea T is a former male model and previously worked as the assistant of Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci.
PIC: Can you guess what's different about this model?

[Sweden]
Transgender need more protection in law
Transgender people need more protection, the Liberal Party has announced, adding it proposes that the hate crime law be clarified so that it is clear that it also applies to this group, Sveriges Radio's news bulletin Ekot reported on Wednesday.
The proposal is part of a national action plan to combat hate crimes, the report said.
"It is always important that the law be as specific as possible," Integration and Gender Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni told Ekot. "It is also important to note that there is a group in our society who are neither bi- nor homosexual, but have a different gender identity than the one we believe that they have."

[Swaziland]
DPM’s office will support, protect sex change teacher
The Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku has said his office will support and protect the teacher who underwent a sex change.
The DPM said as his office was responsible for the welfare of all citizens in the country, they could offer support through counselling to Patricia who had her male organs removed and replaced with female ones.
The teacher who was previously called Petros has been subject to some public humiliation and the DPM said this should not be the case.

[Nepal]
Nepal to host first gay pride march: lawmaker
Nepal will this year hold its first gay pride parade, the country's only openly homosexual member of parliament told AFP on Tuesday.
Sunil Pant said he hopes up to 3,000 gays, lesbians, transvestites and transsexuals from Nepal and neighbouring countries will march through the streets of the capital Kathmandu on August 25.

[India]
Transgenders hail reservation in Bangalore varsity courses
Transgenders in Karnataka on Tuesday celebrated recognition of their identity by the Bangalore University that has reserved one seat for them in all post-graduate courses run by it.
[Commentary] Indian university lets students choose M, F, and TG
The Indian University Creating Specific Slots + Bathrooms For Transgender Students

[New Zealand]
Census becomes trans-inclusive
A trans group is welcoming a move giving transgender people the right to tick the box in Census forms which reflects the sex they actually are.
Statistics New Zealand has completed its review into the Statistical Standard for Sex and released the following new guidelines:
“In responding to a question on sex, most people are able to classify themselves as either male or female. A person who has undergone sex reassignment should be classified to that sex. A person who was of indeterminate sex and who has undergone sex assignment should be classified to that sex. Someone who is currently undergoing such procedures and living as the sex that they are taking steps towards would be classified as that sex.”

[Canada]
Transgendered parade marshall Candis Cayne marches to her own drummer
“Marching to a different drummer” is a bit of a tired cliché, unless you happen to be a transgendered parade marshall, in which case it’s simply the honest truth. The glamorous actress Candis Cayne, neé Brendan McDaniel, has always marched to her own beat, first by transitioning from a man to a woman, and then by beating the odds and actually making a go of her acting career in L.A. If ever a person was born to be a grand marshall at Vancouver’s illustrious pride parade — a mantle shared with many icons of the LGBT community — it’s Cayne. (Photo)

[EUA]
"Travestis me fazem ser uma mulher melhor", diz cantora Ke$ha
Conhecida pelo hit "Tik Tok", a cantora Ke$ha, que já declarou ser bissexual, disse em entrevista à revista norte-americana "Paper Magazine" que travestis fizeram dela uma mulher melhor.
Beautiful Trans Women Make Ke$ha Feel Insecure

[USA]
Hate Crimes on the Rise, as Non-Profit Budgets are Slashed
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), a division of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, released a report about hate or violent crimes against the LGBT community. The findings are startling, with murder against LGBT individuals at the second-highest level seen in the past decade.
Ironically, or morbidly, the findings seem to correlate the rise in violence with the passage of federal hate crime laws. They show the highest spike in incidents against the LGBT community in October 2009, which coincides with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

[TX, USA]
Transgender widow of Texas firefighter in court
A Texas judge is hearing testimony from the transgender widow of a firefighter and will decide whether to extend a temporary restraining order on her late husband’s assets.
Transgendered widow could lose benefits
Widow was on Jerry Springer
Transgender Drama Seeps into Courtroom

[Puerto Rico]
Exigen dar seguimiento a investigación de muerte de transexual…
El activista de derechos humanos Pedro Julio Serrano exigió a las autoridades a continuar la investigación del asesinato de una mujer transexual que fue encontrada hace tres semanas muerta a balazos en el sector Terraplén de Loíza. “Ni tan siquiera se ha provisto una identificación de esta más reciente víctima transexual. En los pasados ocho meses, han ocurrido siete asesinatos de personas gays y transexuales y no ha habido una respuesta responsable y decidida por parte de las autoridades para frenar esta ola de violencia. Es hora de hacer justicia”, aseveró Serrano.
Identifican a transexual asesinado en Loíza

[Argentina]
Lanzan campaña para debatir ley sobre identidad de genero
El debate sobre la identidad de género, que es el derecho de las personas transexuales a cambiar su nombre y ser reconocidas como tales, será lanzado en los próximos días por distintas organizaciones, en el marco de gran cantidad de amparos que se vienen presentando en los últimos tiempos en distintas ciudades del país.
En este sentido, ayer se conoció un amparo por identidad de género presentado ante la justicia tucumana por el cual dos transexuales pidieron que se les reconozca como mujeres.
El debate sobre esta temática será lanzado en agosto próximo por la Federación de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Trans (FALGBT) como parte de una campaña para que se inicie la discusión en el Congreso de un proyecto de ley sobre identidad de género que otorgue la posibilidad de cambiar de identidad a la población transexual que lo desee.

[Brasil]
Travesti foi espancada até a morte depois de convite para programa
A polícia de Campinas, no interior de São Paulo, prendeu Roberto Rubens de Macedo, 25 anos, depois de ele ter espancado a travesti conhecida como Camily. A vítima ficou em coma num hospital da cidade, mas não resistiu e morreu nesta terça-feira (27).
Segundo a polícia, Roberto agrediu a travesti depois de ter recebido um convite para fazer um programa com ela.
Ele não gostou do convite de Camily e passou a espancá-la. Ao ver que a vítima estava desacordada, o agressor fugiu.

[UK]
Malaysian transsexual married to Englishman wins asylum, couple can stay together
Fatine Young, a Malaysian transsexual in a civil partnership with an English man, Ian Young, has won her asylum claim. The couple had been told by the Home Office they had no right to live together in the UK and instead should live in Malaysia.

[India]
Indian University Creates Quota for Transgender Students
As U.S. colleges and universities struggle with how to accommodate transgender students, one university in Bangalore, India is taking proactive measures to ensure that they feel fully welcomed.
Bangalore University’s academic council unanimously approved Monday a proposal to add a third gender option to application forms and reserve one seat in each of the school’s 60 post-graduate courses for transgender students, according to DNA India. Bangalore University is the first in India to open admissions to transgender students and to reserve a spot for them.
B'lore varsity reserves seats for transgenders
Varsity reserves seats for transgenders
Transgenders get quota in P-G courses

[New Zealand]
Cross-dresser jailed for raping bondage partner
A Rotorua cross-dresser has been jailed for raping a woman who took part in bondage sessions with him.
Gordon Murray Waite, 42, was convicted by a jury in June of raping the woman in her home in March last year. He had jumped out of her wardrobe wearing only a women's G-string and raped her as she was preparing for bed.

[Australia]
New evidence implicates several former police officers in Adele Bailey murder
The 32-year mystery over the murder of transsexual prostitute Adele Bailey has taken a dramatic twist, with explosive new evidence implicating several former officers being given to the Office of Police Integrity. (Photo: Adele Bailey)

[USA]
Federal Housing Protections for Transgender Tenants
As Change.org's Adam Amir put it, the Obama administration has tossed the gay and transgender communities a few more crumbs. First, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan announced earlier this month that the agency would pursue cases of housing discrimination against LGBT tenants. Now there's news that HUD is expanding its interpretation of federal housing policy to include protections for gender identity.

[USA]
New national trans network formed; local on steering committee
A national network of state and local transgender advocacy groups -- dubbed the Trans Advocacy Network -- has been formed in order to build a stronger nationwide movement. Gunner Scott, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), will sit on the steering committee.

[CO, USA]
Colorado Sex-Change Doctor Considering Move
A town nicknamed the "sex change capital of the world" could be losing a doctor who has performed hundreds of the operations.
Dr. Marci Bowers said Monday she is "98 percent sure" she will be moving to the San Francisco area Oct. 1.
"There are advantages to being in a bigger city with access to airports," said Bowers, adding that Trinidad's location about a three-hour drive south of Denver was a barrier for some potential patients.

[MA, USA]
Panel mulls testimony from transgender group, Capone's
The doorman at Capone's Italian American Restaurant looked at the members of a local transgender social club and pointed to a sign that read "Positive ID Required."
"I said, 'Not a problem,'" Ashley Bottoms, the founder of Sisters Family, recalled last night. Members had their driver's licenses, the same ones they had previously used to get into the Peabody restaurant and nightclub.
"They have to match, exactly," the doorman said, according to Bottoms' testimony to the city's Licensing Board. Bottoms protested, arguing that people change their appearance all the time: They get a haircut, they shave or grow facial hair.

[OR, USA]
TransActive Releases “You Are What You’re Born…”
A new video by TransActive Education & Advocacy examines the “negative cumulative effect that oppressive and exploitative media representations have on all transgender people, especially children and youth.”

[SC, USA]
North Charleston police arrest suspects who nabbed man's purse
Police arrested two men who allegedly held up a third man dressed in drag early Monday morning.

[TX, USA]
Deposition: Wharton firefighter unaware wife born a man
A Wharton Volunteer Fire Department captain whose estate is now the subject of a bitter court battle questioning whether his marriage was valid testified in April that he did not know his wife used to be a man, according to a court deposition obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
[Commentary] Death and Texas
[Commentary] Trans Marriages Have Always Been Legal

[Brasil]
Travestis foram presos por aplicarem o golpe do “Boa noite Cinderela”
A Polícia Militar prendeu dois travestis em Uberlândia, no Triângulo Mineiro, acusados de aplicarem o golpe ´Boa noite, Cinderela´.

[Ireland]
Call for HSE to axe sex-change ops as child denied aid
The HSE should not pay for public patients to undergo sex-change operations abroad when cuts are being made to frontline services for children, a Labour Party councillor hass claimed.

[Zimbabwe]
African Activist Cleared on Porn Charges
A gay rights activist was found not guilty on pornography charges after a police raid of his home in May which turned up a DVD in his office featuring two men having sex.
Zimbabwe gay rights activist not guilty of porn charge

[Kuwait]
Transvestite nuisance
Police have arrested four cross-dressers and referred them to the General Department for Criminal Investigation for creating a nuisance inside a public park, reports Al-Anba daily.
According to reports the arrest came when the transvestites entered a public park and began harassing women and young girls. When the park security guards tried to evict the foursome, they beat the guards and the latter called the police.

[India]
Bangalore University scores a first, opens to third sex
Bangalore University is bending the gender. It will soon allow eligible transgenders pursuing higher education to take admission and avail the reservation quota of one seat in each of the 60 post-graduate (PG) courses that it offers.

[Canada]
Ontario moves to end CAMH death grip on trans health services
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the infamous Toronto facility known for regressive and humiliating treatment of transgender clients, is about to lose the monopoly that allowed them to become the most notorious “gender clinic” in the world. A Provincial Trans Health Project Advisory Committee is being formed to address this problem that emerged in Ontario over 40 years ago and has been a problem ever since.

[Canada]
'Huge learning experience'
A concert by internationally lauded pianist Sara Davis Buechner is among the highlights of this year's Queer Arts Festival.
The 51-year-old Buechner, a professor at the University of B.C., has played since she was a three-year-old in New York. She trained at Juilliard, and drew raves at her New York City concert debut at age 24.

[USA] [Commentary]
20 years from now: wishful thinking?
I was reminded this morning: the wheel turns slowly for trans individuals. My legal name has been changed for over five years; yet, for three years I have been wrangling with the Social Security Administration and the IRS to get my name legally changed on tax records. I decided to go up to the Winston-Salem office and, once and for all, get this fixed. Even though I had brought enough documentation (I thought), the clerk rudely informed me that she would be unable to effect the change without a properly amended birth certificate. Great! Stuck in the classic trans Catch 22. No money equals no surgery equals no amended birth certificate equals no money. I can’t afford my surgeries and the fact that the IRS has screwed up my credit by refusing to make the name change has been partially to blame.

[USA]
Transgender Man Thomas Beatie Due With Third Child
Thomas Beatie, the world's first transgender man to give birth, is expecting a third child any day now, RadarOnline.com first reported.
Beatie gave birth to his first child, daughter Susan, on June 29, 2008 in an Oregon hospital. Austin followed a year later.
“He's in full-term now and passed his due date,” an unnamed source close to the family said.

[AZ, USA]
Should Gender Transitioning Start At Age 9?
The Arizona Daily Star today published an interesting article on what many consider to be a contentious topic: transgender children. Profiled is 9-year-old Josie Claudine Romero, who was born a boy and, at the age of 5, was diagnosed by a doctor with gender identity disorder. She has lived as a boy for the last three years and, according to the piece, will soon start to take "drugs to prevent her from going through puberty as a boy. As a teen she hopes to begin female hormone therapy. When she's an adult, she expects to have sexual reassignment surgery."

[TX, USA]
The Nikki Araguz Case: Video of Friday’s Post-Hearing Press Conference
[Commentary] Local Fox ‘News’ in Houston is at it again in the Araguz case
[Commentary] Notes From a Scandal, Texas Style

[Venezuela]
"No tengo problemas con los transexuales, soy actor ante todo"
No es difícil notar el encanto de José Manuel Suárez, un actor que hasta hace poco era la estrella infantil de la novelas de Venevisión, pero ya creció. Es una nota a través del teléfono. Habla sin parar y casi no deja terminar una pregunta cuando ya la está respondiendo. El joven, de 22 años, está en la mejor etapa de su carrera artística. No sólo es solicitado en la pantalla chica, sino que en estos momentos toda Venezuela lo ve en la gran pantalla por tener a su cargo el papel del protagonista joven en la película Cheila, una casa pa&39; maíta

[Portugal]
Festival Lisbon Unplugged contra preconceitos
Foi apresentado oficialmente aos media esta sexta-feira no Espaço Fábulas, o 1º festival desligado de preconceitos, que acontecerá a 10 e 11 de Setembro deste ano nas instalações do Instituto Superior de Agronomia na Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa.
A ideia é unir várias vertentes (musical, artística, cultural e ecológica) num evento destinado a promover a diversidade com as várias vertentes interagindo entre si.

[Swaziland]
Petros becomes Patricia
A Swazi male teacher has become a woman after undergoing a sex change procedure.
Her name used to be Petros but she is now known as Patricia.
She is even dating a man.
She decided that she no longer wanted to be a man after discovering that she was trapped in a man’s body. (Photo)

[Uganda]
Country Rejects AU Gay Group
Uganda has opposed the pending recognition of a South African gay rights group, Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), as an official observer at all African Union conferences, and to contribute to the NGO's forum.

[India]
Workshop on transgenders held
Students from several city colleges on Friday learnt the art of film making and got insights into the life of transgenders at a technical workshop at Loyola College.

[USA]
Trans protections for housing implemented
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has provided new guidance on the Fair Housing Act, instructing HUD staff that discrimination against transgender people can be addressed under the law’s existing ban on gender discrimination. The policy decision offers additional help to transgender people who experience discrimination.

[AZ, USA]
Meet Josie, 9: No secret she's transgender
Wearing a khaki skirt and black tank top with a splash of heart-shaped rhinestones, 9-year-old Josie Romero skips across her family's living room, eager to show off her Great Dane, her little sister, and the birds in her backyard.
When asked about her necklace - a silver triangle on a black cord - she beams.
"This is a transgender symbol," she says of the circle that joins the symbols for male and female with a third symbol that combines the first two.
(Photo: Josie and her mother, Venessia Romero, put final touches on their pizza. Mom says she's just following Josie's lead. "Shedding our preconceived ideas of who our child ought to be" is a necesssary struggle, she says.)
Being 'out' and transgender - at the age of 9
Photo gallery: Josie Romero, transgender child

[NC, USA]
Coastal: Trans member denied, but still fighting
Discrimination is not new to country club-styled or private social communities. Jews faced this for decades, as well as African-Americans.
Now, there’s a new group to enter the arena.
At the Hanover Seaside Club it seems that transgender applicants are being treated the same. Rachael Gieschen, 69, whose grandfather co-founded this coastal club in 1898, was recently given the nay-nod with regard to her membership status.

[TX, USA]
Judge bars firefighter's widow from benefits
A judge Friday agreed to temporarily bar the allegedly transgendered widow of a Wharton firefighter from spending or collecting his death benefits.
State District Judge Randy Clapp ruled after hearing from Nikki Araguz that she received a check for $60,000 on Thursday, about a 10th of the total cash expected because of Thomas Araguz's July 4 death in an egg farm inferno.
When families attack!
Fundraiser for Fireman's widow Nikki Araguz Marriage Defense
It's Happened Before: Transgender Couple
Transgender widow talks in student video
Fallen Firefighter's Widow in Court
Exclusive: More from Transgender Widow
Wharton Firefighter's Assets Frozen
Firefighter Widow in Gender Case Barred from Benefits
Firefighter's widow barred from spending death benefits, has no access to $600,000 estate
Judge bars firefighter's widow from benefits
Judge bars fallen firefighter’s transgender widow from collecting, spending death benefits
[Commentary] Transgender widow put on trial
[Commentary] when is a widow not a widow
Nikki Araguz: What happened in court today
[Commentary] Disclosure, Trans Panic, and Ciscentric Narratives of Honesty
Press Release: Widow Braves Hostile Court Proceedings
[Commentary] Nikki Araguz Update 4-First Phyllabuster
[Commentary] Nikki Araguz Update 5 -Sounds Like Somebody's Bitter

[VA, USA]
Virginia Governor's Former In-Law Seeks Transgendered Rights
The issue of transgendered rights is hitting close to home for Virginia's governor.
His former brother-in-law identifies as a woman and is speaking out.
Robyn Deane told ABC 7 News reporter Greta Kreuz that she's struggled since she was a child with this and would probably have killed herself if she had to go on as a man. (Photo)

[Cuba]
Mariposa ante las cámaras
Ser travesti pone a las personas en una condición vulnerable frente a diversos tipos de violencia, confirman especialistas y las propias víctimas.
Esa realidad ha pasado también a formar parte de las temáticas abordadas por audiovisuales de disímiles signos, como el documental Tacones cercanos, de la joven realizadora cubana Jessica Rodríguez, recién egresada de la Facultad de Medios Audiovisuales del Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA).

[Argentina]
Primer planteo en busca de un DNI con otro nombre y otro sexo
Acudirán a la Justicia para modificar la documentación que rige actualmente en el país. Los involucrados nacieron varones pero se sienten mujeres desde chicas. Contaron que sufren carencias y humillaciones.
Parece una modelo. Altísima y elegante con su tapadito de jean ajustado al cuerpo, despreocupada de la estela de miradas y risas nerviosas que deja a su paso. Una melena colorada le cae sobre la espalda. Lleva las uñas larguísimas, pintadas de blanco, haciendo juego con la vincha que le sujeta el pelo. Claudinna GalaLeguizamón nació varón. Pero desde chica se sintió prisionera en un cuerpo equivocado. "Mi recuerdo más antiguo es el de un acto en el jardín de infantes. Yo le insistía a la maestra que quería ser mariposa. Y terminé en la psicóloga", relata. Agrega que está harta de que en la Facultad de Artes de la UNT, donde cursa el profesorado de Danzas Contemporáneas la llamen por su nombre de varón. "Cada vez que lo escucho siento humillación. Estoy cansada de las murmuraciones y las risitas a mis espaldas", dice entornando sus ojos verdes. Por eso, ella y Emilia Constanza Rodríguez, de igual condición, serán las primeras mujeres transgénero de Tucumán que presentarán una acción de amparo ante la Justicia para cambiar la identidad sexual en su documentación.

[Portugal]
Vem aí o festival “despido de preconceitos”
Chama-se Lisbon Unplugged, vai decorrer no fim-de-semana de 10 e 11 de Setembro na Tapada da Ajuda em Lisboa, e pretende ser mais do que um festival que se foca só na música. Vanessa Cotrim, da produtora Entre Vírgulas, responsável pelo projecto e pelas festas Lesboa que decorrem na capital, explicou hoje em conferência de imprensa que este será um “festival dedicado à diversidade”, sendo dirigido a todos que se “queiram desligar de preconceitos durante dois dias”. Segundo a porta-voz “são esperadas entre 10 a 15 mil pessoas” naquele que poderá ser “o mini-Woodstock português”. Outra novidade é que os participantes poderão acampar na Tapada da Ajuda.

[UK]
Body of Paul Hill’s transsexual prostitute niece ‘found tied up’
A transsexual prostitute allegedly murdered by a client was found semi-naked with her arms tied behind her back with stockings, a court has heard.
Leon Fyle (22) travelled to London for a sexual encounter with Destiny Lauren (29) while the victim's brother sat outside her flat, it is alleged.
Brother’s warning to murdered prostitute Destiny Lauren over ‘risks’ of her job

[Francia]
Modelo transexual es hija de futbolista
Givenchy la ocupó como modelo el pasado mes de mayo para una campaña publicitaria. Recientemente posó desnuda para Vogue.

[Egypt]
Ministry takes legal action against sex change surgeon
The Egyptian Minister of Health has shut down a clinic in Asyut while its owner is questioned on criminal charges of performing sex change operations. Plastic surgeon Mahmoud Eteifi was reported to the ministry by the Medical Syndicate for operating on a 22-year-old man who wanted to be a woman.
Gender transformation is illegal in Egypt unless the patient receives approval from the syndicate and the Ministry of Health. An applicant must be tested and scanned to prove the sex change is meant to overcome a physical problem and not for personal preference. Islam Salah Salem, who underwent the surgery to become Nora Salah Salem, has been moved to another hospital until he recovers from surgery the syndicate has criticized as a failure.
Egypt’s leading psychiatrist comments on transsexual case

[Uganda]
Pastor decries "misrepresentation" of "kill the gays" bill
A Nevada pastor defends his church's financial support of one of the "kill the gays" bill's most prominent backers.
Brave Ugandans 'come out'

[South Africa]
Ehlers tried to do own surgery
Christine Ehlers, a transgender woman claiming she was unfairly dismissed from her company, tried to cut off her own penis when she was five, the Johannesburg Labour Court hears.
'Transgender worker lied about sex change'
Sex change played role in dismissal

[India]
Now, law schools open to third sex
Acknowledging their difference, premier national law schools will include an 'Others' category for transgenders in application forms from the next academic year.
National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore vice-chancellor Prof R Venkata Rao told TOI this was an important move in the area of human rights. "During interaction with transgenders, they pointed out that in application forms, it was always Male or Female in the gender category but there's no mention of Transgenders or Others. This got us thinking."

[Canada]
Moncton woman founding first provincial group to assist trans people
At nearly 35 years old, married, living a cookie-cutter life, Joe made a drastic, life-altering realization: she had been born in the wrong body. Joe decided to become Josie, and to undergo a sex change.
"I felt these feelings my entire life, but never knew transitioning would be possible," she told Here in a recent interview.

[USA]
Trans Advocacy Network to Build National Transgender Political Movement
Transgender leaders from across the United States have come together to form the Trans Advocacy Network, a national alliance of transgender organizations that work at the state and local level, according to the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

[FL, USA]
Elegant Elliot Still Fighting for the Right to Dress Like a Girl
Elegant Elliot Offen, the Howard Stern sidekick whose bodacious body earned him 20 hours in a Miami jail cell, is still fighting the local hotel he says had him "falsely imprisoned." But now the hotel is trying to get the case thrown out, leaving Offen's $21 million lawsuit hanging by a g-string. (Photo)

[IL, USA]
Protest Planned Against ’Americans for Truth’ Anti-Gay Workshop
An anti-gay Illinois-based blog has set up what it calls a "Truth Academy" for children as young as 14, purportedly to "train young people (as well as older pro-family advocates) how to answer ’gay’ activist misinformation and fight the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda."

[TX, USA]
Transgender widow of Texas firefighter in court
A Texas judge is hearing testimony from the transgender widow of a firefighter and will decide whether to extend a temporary restraining order on her late husband's assets.
Widow Nikki Araguz has been sued by the family of her late husband, Thomas Araguz III. Araguz was killed in a July 4 blaze.
His family argues the marriage should be voided because Araguz was born a man and same-sex marriage is not legal in Texas.
Psychologist Weighs in On Transgender Video
Trans Activist Kat Rose Exposes Autumn Sandeen's "LGB Appropriation" of Transsexual & Intersex Issues such as the Nikki Araguz Story in Texas
The "Alleged" Transgender Wife Of A Texas Firefighter And Inheritance
Firefighter's transgender widow decries lawsuit
Texas mom challenges transgender widow's marriage
Transgendered widow of firefighter fights his family's fraud claims (Photo: Nikki Araguz, the transgendered widow of a firefighter killed in the line of duty on July 4, cried during a news conference Thursday in Houston. Her late husband's family is suing to keep Araguz from receiving death benefits, claiming the couple's marriage was illegal under Texas law.)
Wife of Fallon Wharton Firefighter Speaks
Fallen firefighter's widow speaks out
Transgender Widow: Exclusive Footage
Transgender Widow in Tears at News Conference
Texas Transgender Summit attendees on Nikki Araguz case: Littleton v. Prange is bunk
Firefighter's widow defends her marriage in court
Alleged transgender widow benefits frozen

[Puerto Rico]
Exigen detente a la homofobia recurrente de SuperXclusivo
El activista de derechos humanos Pedro Julio Serrano exigió a la gerencia de WAPA TV a detener inmediatamente la homofobia y transfobia en su programa SuperXclusivo.

[España]
LISISTRATA, en el Teatro Romano de Mérida con actrices transexuales, del 29 de julio al 8 de agosto
La "Lisístrata" que se representará en el Teatro Romano de Mérida desde jueves 29 de Julio, hasta el día 8 de Agosto, es un espectáculo "divertente" y "almodovariano", protagonizado por mujeres transexuales -entre ellas- dando vida a La Corifea, Carla Antonelli, junto a "la amazona" Paco León, porque su director, Jèrôme Savary, foto inferior izquierda, cree que ha llegado el momento de hablar de "un asunto" que provoca "tanto desprecio".

[UK]
Murdered transsexual prostitute was a niece of Guildford Four’s Hill
A transsexual prostitute who was related to one of the Guildford Four was strangled at her home in London by a man who had visited her for a sexual encounter, a court has been told.
Alleged killer Leon Fyle (22), who denies murder, arranged the encounter with prostitute Destiny Lauren (29) at her flat in Kentish Town, north-west London last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told yesterday.
Guildford 4 niece 'killed by a punter'
Kentish Town transsexual prostitute was strangled by last customer, court is told

[UK]
New blue badge rules sparked by sex-change row
Hundreds of council workers are to be issued with new ­politically correct guidelines on issuing parking permits to ­transsexuals after just one ­complaint of discrimination.

[França]
Transexual brasileira vira destaque após estrelar campanha da Givenchy
A francesa Givenchy trouxe uma novidade em sua nova campanha outono-inverno 2010/11 e causou polêmica. O destaque da marca é Lea T., uma bela transexual brasileira, que chega para reforçar a dicotomia masculino/feminino defendida há tempos pelo estilista da grife e amigo de Lea, Riccardo Tisci.

[Áustria]
Transexuais sentem-se discriminados na Conferência Internacional SIDA 2010
Durante a realização do evento em Viena, os transexuais sentiram-se discriminados por não obterem o mesmo tratamento que os homossexuais, trabalhadoras sexuais e outros grupos com alto risco de serem infectados com o VIH.
Sex workers put on fashion show to fight AIDS
Criminalised sex workers, gays at high risk of HIV in Asia

[South Africa]
Grilling for transexual's former boss
The chairman of the grievance procedure for a company that dismissed a transsexual employee, Christine Ehlers, has been grilled about how he had handled the matter.
Ehlers says she was fired for sex-change, colleagues disagree
Dismissal lands in court

[Thailand]
These “girls” just wanna have fun — all the way to the police station
Girls Night Out took on a whole new meaning by early Wednesday morning. Pattaya police officers and volunteers went to Najomtien Beach after receiving complaints from tourists that several ladyboys came out nightly to sell sexual services and possibly drugs to foreigners on the beach.
Fourteen transsexuals were arrested and taken to the police station.

[Canada]
Mozart, Chopin and gender reassignment
Classical pianist shares transformative journey at Queer Arts Festival
She's smart, funny and wildly talented and she used to be a man.
That's not what classical music pianist Sara Davis Buechner usually wants audiences to focus on when they see her perform. She'd rather her recitals be about her critically acclaimed renderings of classical and contemporary pieces. But on July 30, she'll sketch her life story with words, Bach, Mozart and Chopin in an event called Crossing the Concourse as part of the 2010 Queer Arts Festival, July 27 to Aug. 14.
(Photo: Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver courier - Sara Davis Buechner sketches her life as talented concert pianist who used to be man through words and music in an event called Crossing the Concourse)

[CA, USA]
Sisters Distribute Pink Saturday Funds to Worthy Charities
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc., a benefit fundraising corporation of queer nun volunteers celebrating 31 years of service, held a grants distribution party at the Eagle tavern on July 18 during a beer/ soda bust. The funds had been raised as gate donations at The Sister’s annual Pink Saturday block party, each night before the Pride Parade. Sister Dionna Cross was in charge of the funds distribution, naming each of the recipients and their individual missions.
(Photo by Rink - Sisters Anni Coque L’Doo and Sharon Dypity collected contributions for the buffet and drinks, and there was a raffle, saintings, and grant checks were distributed.)

[ID, USA]
Idaho's Uniform LGBT Hate Crime Reporting, Not So Uniform
Idaho is not among 22 states reporting hate violence targeted toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program issued its annual report for 2009 last week.
Accurately quantifying anti-LGBT hate crime in Idaho is difficult in part because of a disconnect between federal, state and local reporting criteria. Additionally, LGBT people are less likely to report hate crime for fear of being outed or retribution, especially in conservative and rural areas. Human rights activists say there are also concerns about police harassment or indifference.

[MA, USA]
LGBT Activist Gunner Scott Speaks OUT
In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Gunner Scott, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition who has been involved with the transgender rights movement since 1998. He's a nationally recognized activist and was one of the attendees at Obama’s 2010 LGBT Event at the White House. (Photo)

[NV, USA]
8 arrested in Las Vegas Strip gay rights protest
Police say eight people were arrested on misdemeanor charges in a Las Vegas Strip demonstration by advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
Officer Bill Cassell said Wednesday the eight men and women were taken into custody on obstructing a police officer and jaywalking charges.
Each was booked at the Clark County jail and released pending court appearances.
Gay Protesters Arrested for Blocking Las Vegas Strip

[NY, USA]
NY's Dignity Act to protect gay, lesbian & transgender students
New York State is creating the first-ever anti-bullying law to protect students in terms of their gender, manner of expression, and sexual orientation.
New York State is on the verge of passing an anti-bullying bill to protect all state students from bullying and harassment on the basis of their gender, their manner of expression and their sexual orientation.

[TX, USA]
Transgender Community Supports Firefighter's Widow
Members of Houston's transgender community will be in a Wharton County courtroom on Friday to support the widow of a fallen firefighter. A family lawsuit claims the widow, Nikki Araguz, was born a man.
The deceased firefighter's mother and ex-wife want to keep the widow from receiving death benefits on the grounds the marriage is a sham. Araguz was in Houston Wednesday meeting with her transgender attorney, Phyllis Frye, and a leader of the Transgender Foundation of America.
Statement from the 2nd Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination summit on the Araguz case
Family sues to stop payment of benefits to transgender wife of fallen firefighter
WATCH: Fallen fireman’s trans widow speaks out

[Puerto Rico]
Denuncian nuevo comentario homofóbico en "Súper Xclusivo"
Excerto: Dijo que el "primer ataque surgió hace varias semanas cuando Héctor Travieso utilizó la palabra 'patuleco' y al día siguiente tuvo que disculparse, y la segunda ofensa sucedió cuando se burlaron de Harold Rosario utilizando manerismos y tratando de degradar una supuesta y percibida orientación sexual, tras lo cual hubo un compromiso privado de que no volvería a suceder. En esta tercera ocasión, Travieso y Santarrosa, a través de su personaje de La Comay, se burlaron de la conocida comunicadora transexual Samantha Love".
Exigen detente a homofobia y transfobia recurrentes de SuperXclusivo

[Venezuela]
Los crímenes que no se cuentan, Venezuela Diversia denuncia seis asesinatos a transexuales
Venezuela Diversa denunció el asesinato de seis transexuales en Caracas el año pasado. El temor y la vergüenza frenan la denuncia de las víctimas

[Argentina]
Personas transexuales serán tratadas con nombre uso en Universidad Filosofía Buenos Aires
A partir del día de hoy, l@s estudiantes y trabajador@s docentes y no-docentes trans de la facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires estarán habilitad@s, mediante la simple presentación de una nota, a que usar su nombre de elección o identitario en todo trámite o documento interno de la Unidad Académica, incluyendo padrones electorales, actas de exámen, registros, listados de asistencia, etc.

[International]
ILGA launches a world Directory of LGBTI and allied organisations
ILGA is launching a world Directory of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex organizations accessible through its website www.ilga.org. This service which lists ILGA member groups as well as non members also includes trade unions, women’s or human rights organizations in an attempt to create bridges with NGOs which are not working specifically on LGBTI rights but include or support this agenda. ILGA’s membership includes for example the city of Barcelona and Amsterdam or multi-million member global trade union Public Services International.

[International]
At the UN, a Hard-Fought Win for an LGBT Leader
On Monday in New York, the United States spearheaded a successful effort in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to accredit the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), a U.S.-based NGO whose respected work over 20 years has shed light on discrimination, combated HIV/AIDs, and promoted human rights around the world. The move, which President Barack Obama called an “important step forward for human rights,” enriches the community of NGOs that inform, influence, and hold accountable UN members.

[UK]
Man denies murdering trans woman Destiny Lauren
A man accused of killing a trans woman in November last year in Kentish Town, London, has gone on trial.
Leon Fyle, 22, who is unemployed, strangled 29-year-old Destiny Lauren after visiting her for sex, a court heard.
Ms Lauren, who was began her transition at the age of 17, worked as a prostitute from her flat on Leighton Crescent.
Her brother Linden had been staying with her but left the flat when she had a customer, the court was told.

[França]
Transexual estrela de Givenchy fotografada nua pela Vogue
Givenchy, a famosa marca de moda francesa, avançou para a campanha Outono/Inverno deste ano com uma modelo transexual.
Lea T., de origem brasileira, é assistente pessoal e modelo de provas de Riccardo Tisci, estilista italiano da marca francesa, seu amigo que assim decidiu lançá-la como modelo da mais recente colecção feminina da Givenchy, para reforçar a dicotomia masculino/feminino defendida pelo estilista.
Família de Toninho Cerezo apoia carreira do filho, que virou travesti
French Vogue's delightfully subversive nude

[Austria]
Transexuales se sienten discriminados en la Conferencia Internacional de Sida del 2010
Durante la realización de la Conferencia Internacional SIDA 2010, en Viena, los transexuales se sintieron discriminados por no ser tratados igual que los homosexuales, prostitutas y otros grupos con alto riesgo de infectarse con el VIH.
Esta fue la premisa del coloquio celebrado en el panel "La población transexual en América Latina" por activistas de la región y el público asistente a la conferencia de Viena, que hasta el momento viene reuniendo a 25 mil participantes.
Marcela Romero, coordinadora regional de la organización Redlactrans en Argentina, denunció el tratamiento preferencial que reciben los homosexuales en la conferencia, debido a su mejor organización por su larga historia de activismo, mientras que las peticiones de los transexuales han sido ignoradas.

[Uganda]
Despite Pressure, Uganda Still Bleak
Ugandan activist Valentine Kalende reports that international pressure has helped slow the progress of that nation's antigay bill. The outlook for gay people, however, remains discouraging, according to Voice of America.

[South Africa]
Sex change made staffer 'impossible'
Colleagues of a woman who claims she was unfairly dismissed from her job because she underwent a sex change said she became impossible to work with and they started to fear her.
Three colleagues of 43-year-old Christine Ehlers, previously known as Chris, testified in the Johannesburg Labour Court yesterday that Ehlers - who was diagnosed as bipolar - came into the office in the morning, threw her diary and keys onto the desk and mumbled under her breath.

[UAE]
Emirati crossdresser's jail term slashed
An Emirati convicted of public indecency, cross dressing, insulting Islam and having homosexual consensual sex has had his jail sentence cut to one year from three, UAE daily the National reported on Wednesday.
Student’s indecency sentence reduced

[Singapore] [Blog/Commentary]
What’s an “Ah Kua”?
Ah Kua is local Chinese dialect (pejorative) for effeminate man. Gay men and transgender women all suffer from the “ah kua” label in Singapore.
The Ah Kua Show draws its inspiration from the infamous “ladyboy” cabaret shows in Bangkok and Pattaya. When I was a child, my parents used to travel to Bangkok on vacation to watch the “Ah Kua” shows there amongst other excursions. I was fascinated by the beautiful women, their extravagant feather boas and fancy footwork. But my mum warned me that they were really “men dressed up as women”. She also warned me against sitting on the toilet seats which were likely stained with the HIV/AIDS virus.

[ID, USA]
Trans Bomb Suspect in Mental Hospital
A transgender woman who was arrested for allegedly putting fake bombs around her trailer, is now at a mental health facility, according to KTVB, an Idaho news outlet.
Catherine Carlson was scheduled to appear in court on July 19 to face charges for placing fake bombs around her trailer, then setting her trailer and truck on fire. Carlson allegedly ran down the street naked before authorities arrested her.

[MA, USA]
A Cinderella story
Coming from the street to the catwalk, Boston’s own Jasmina Andino is competing in this year’s Miss Trans New England pageant.
For Jasmina Andino, becoming a beauty queen would be a Cinderella story: a rags-to-riches tale complete with jewelry, make-up, and lots and lots of shoes.
Andino is the only Bostonian competing in the second annual Miss Trans New England Pageant, which takes place on Sept. 4 in Northampton. (Photo)

[MA, USA]
First Event 2011 Transgender Conference welcomes Jamison Green as keynote; Marriott Peabody to host
"First Event 2011 Transgender Conference", welcomes noted author, WPATH board director, speaker and policy consultant, Jamison Green as keynote speaker; The conference is January 19 - 23rd, 2011, at the Boston Marriott Peabody, in Massachusetts.

[MO, USA]
Missouri Governor Issues Employment Protections
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon recently issued Executive Order 10-24 at the National Conference of the NAACP in Kansas Ciity. The Executive order extends employment protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons working in the Executive Branch of Government of the State of Missouri, requires the Executive Branch to file an annual workplace diversity plan and encourages adoption of the same protections for LGBT employees by all branches of Missouri Government.

[NV, USA]
Protesters against transgendered, gay discrimination block Strip
About a dozen protesters took to the Strip on Tuesday afternoon with a message for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid: Pass legislation that prohibits discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The protesters were from GetEQUAL, a Washington, D.C.-based group that fights for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. They shut down southbound traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard at Tropicana Avenue for about 20 minutes before police arrested at least eight of them for obstructing traffic.
Grupo de acção directa pára o tráfego em Las Vegas
Gay rights demonstrators arrested on Strip
8 Gay Activists Arrested in Reid Protest on Vegas Strip
Eight Arrested in Vegas ENDA Protest

[TX, USA]
Dead Firefighter Leaves Behind Transgender Wife. His Family Wants Her Kicked to the Curb
Thomas Araguz III, a Texas firefighter who died battling a blaze on an egg farm, leaves behind more than just mourners: His transgender wife Nikki Araguz of almost two years is now battling his family, which wants to keep her from getting any of his (likely substantial) death benefits.
With the usual scorn so often levied against trans people, Thomas' mother Simona Rodriguez Longoria says her son's marriage to Nikki is invalid because she was born a man, and Texas doesn't recognize same-sex marriage, blah blah. Eight days after Thomas died, on July 4, his family filed suit against Nikki, claiming further Thomas didn't even know she was trans until after they married; Nikki says he was well aware she was born Justin Graham Purdue, and her non-fully formed male genitalia were removed in an operation after their wedding day. (That she might be intersex and not trans throws a whole other wrench into this charade.)
Firefighter's widow born a man has criminal history (Video)
Firefighter’s transgender widow says they were married before she had sex-reassignment surgery
Widow's gender at center of dispute over fallen Texas firefighter's estate

[International]
IGLHRC gains consultative status in the UN, Venezuela only country in America to vote 'No'
Yesterday, I was thrilled to hear that the US-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) had gained consultative status by the United Nations (Official press release here).
This came at the end of a prolonged fight to block the accreditation by leaders and representatives from some of the most homophobic nations in the world as well as fundamentalist religious institutions.
Grupo gay gana acreditación en la ONU

[España]
Creada una comisión para elaborar protocolo de atención a la transexualidad
El Ministerio de Sanidad, sociedades médicas y colectivos transexuales han mantenido hoy una reunión en la que se ha acordado la creación de una comisión para la elaboración de un protocolo de atención a la transexualidad en el Sistema Nacional de Salud.
Según informa la Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales (FELGTB) en un comunicado, el primer borrador del protocolo estará listo en el mes de noviembre y la próxima reunión formal será en febrero de 2011.
La FELGTB asegura que el Ministerio de Sanidad se ha comprometido a elaborar una guía de recursos sobre transexualidad para los profesionales de atención primaria, quienes según esta federación, "desconocen en muchos casos la temática trans y no pueden atender de manera oportuna a los pacientes".
Hoy se ha creado la Comisión para el primer protocolo de atención a la transexualidad en España

[UK]
Transvestite heroin addict stole clothes from High Street store to buy drugs
A transvestite heroin addict stole children's clothes in the hope of selling them for drug money.
Philip Garside snatched £111 of clothing from Boots in Lincoln's High Street – just weeks after a drug den he lived in was shut down.
Lincoln magistrates heard he had been living rough in the city ever since.

[UK]
Robber dressed as a woman for £50,000 gem heist
A teenage robber disguised himself as a woman while taking part in an armed raid on a jewellers in Hatton Garden.

[France]
Transgender Model Poses for Givenchy Campaign in French Vogue
The Fall 2010 Givenchy campaign has a few unexpected surprises. Italian designer Riccardo Tisci hired ten models for the campaign. French Vogue decided, though, to feature one of the models nude, which happened to be Tisci's transgender personal assistant, Lea T.
Lea T. is not unfamiliar with the modeling world. She has modeled for Givenchy's haute couture show and has also posed, privates covered, for last month's Italian Vogue. While some have criticized Tisci for using his assistant as a marketing ploy, he remarked that she “exemplifies the masculine-feminine dichotomy that has become one of his design signatures.”

[South Africa]
Sacking 'not over sex change'
Christine Ehlers - sacked after having sex-change operations - was dismissed because she was incompetent, moody, irrational, caused fights at the office, and was unable to work with colleagues, the Johannesburg Labour Court was told yesterday.
In the dispute between Ehlers and multinational steel retailer Bohler Uddeholm Africa, the company's lawyer, Louise Charoux, argued that Ehlers's sex change had nothing to do with her dismissal.

[India]
Transgender? No problem at Bangalore University
Male, Female or Others - the last category is the revolutionary step taken by Bangalore University in ensuring that trans-gender students are not lost when asked to define their sex on the application form.

[Cambodia]
Rights group urge Cambodia to end sex worker abuse
Sex workers in Cambodia are routinely unlawfully arrested and taken by police to government detention centres where they face beatings, rape and extortion, a rights group said Tuesday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that interviews with more than 90 female and transgender sex workers in capital Phnom Penh and three Cambodian provinces found they faced regular abuse by authorities.
Dire rights report: Sex workers face rape and beatings

[ID, USA]
Trans Bomb Suspect in Mental Hospital
A transgender woman who was arrested for allegedly putting fake bombs around her trailer, is now at a mental health facility, according to KTVB, an Idaho news outlet.
Catherine Carlson was scheduled to appear in court on July 19 to face charges for placing fake bombs around her trailer, then setting her trailer and truck on fire. Carlson allegedly ran down the street naked before authorities arrested her.
Bangalore university recognises the ‘other’ sex

[MO, USA]
Missouri Governor Issues Employment Protections
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon recently issued Executive Order 10-24 at the National Conference of the NAACP in Kansas Ciity. The Executive order extends employment protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons working in the Executive Branch of Government of the State of Missouri, requires the Executive Branch to file an annual workplace diversity plan and encourages adoption of the same protections for LGBT employees by all branches of Missouri Government.

[MI, USA]
Julie Nemecek up for appointment to the Jackson Human Relations Commission
Julie Nemecek, who lost her job at Spring Arbor University after undergoing a gender transformation from a man to a woman, is up for an appointment to the Jackson Human Relations Commission.
Nemecek said Monday she sees serving on the commission as an extension of her role as a teacher, advocate and minister on diversity and gender identity issues.

[OK, USA]
Trans Candidate Novotny Talks Kern, Gender With NYT
Brittany Novotny, a transgender woman running for office, says her gender will not be an issue in her candidacy for the Oklahoma Legislature. Novotny, whose gender was addressed in a New York Times article, says her commitment to service should be the most important factor to voters.
A Gay Campaign? Both Sides Demur

[TX, USA]
Transgender Widow May Lose Her Deceased Husband's Benefits in Lawsuit Over Her Gender
The Family of Firefighter Thomas Aganuz Said Couple Split After He Learned Wife Was Born a Man
Nikki Araguz, Transgender Wife Of Dead Firefighter, Taken To Court By Husband's Family Over Assets
They had to destroy marriage in order to save it
Suit alleges firefighter's widow was born a man

[America Latina]
La exclusión de transexuales en A.Latina a examen en documental "Translatina"
"Translatina", un nuevo documental del cineasta peruano Luis Felipe Degregori, se cuela en las vidas miserables de varias mujeres transexuales de Latinoamérica, abocadas a la discriminación y a la pobreza por su identidad sexual.
A partir de testimonios de todo el continente, el nuevo trabajo de este director después de "Peces de ciudad" diseca ese círculo de pobreza, discriminación y violencia que vive el colectivo transexual en Latinoamérica.
"Todo empieza en una escuela que expulsa a jóvenes incomprendidos y les empuja a la prostitución. No están preparados para tratarlos y sus únicas opciones son, o la peluquería, o el trabajo sexual" dijo a Efe Degregori.
La exclusión de transexuales en América Latina a examen en el documental "Translatina"

[Puerto Rico]
Enfrentará juicio por la muerte del transexual Ashley
Emmanuel Adorno Ayala renunció a la vista preliminar, por lo que enfrentará juicio el 27 de agosto por dos asesinatos, entre ellos por la muerte de la estilista transexual de Corozal, Ashley, cuyo nombre es Juan Ocasio Santiago.
La jueza Evelyn Hernández de Martir, del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Bayamón, aceptó su renuncia y pautó la lectura de acusación para el 11 de agosto.

[Argentina]
"Vamos por la Ley de Identidad de Género"
Manifestó Martín Caballero, integrante de VOX Asociación Civil Reconquista, que pertenece a la Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gay, Bisexuales y TRANS.
"Lo que estamos impulsando fuertemente en agenda es la Ley de Identidad de Género, que tiene mucho más consenso que el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. Esta ley permitiría a las personas transexuales, cambiar su nombre y sexo en el documento, sin requerir operación alguna", explicó Martín Caballero, que acaba de participar del Congreso de la Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gay, Bisexuales y TRANS.
"Vamos a por la Ley de Identidad de Género" Manifiesta integrante de la Federación Argentina LGTB -FALGTB