[Europe]
Can Public Transport be Better? Have Your Say this March!
Around 40 public transport users and operators from across Europe will meet in Coimbra, Portugal in March to discuss how to realize social inclusion. With workshop preparations underway, there is still time for Europe’s transgender community to add its view to their agenda.

[Europe]
17 European Countries Force Transgender Sterilization (Map)
People rightly flipped out across the internet last month over news that the Swedish parliament would not be repealing a barbaric law that forces sterilization on trans people seeking to change their gender on legal documents. While it's despicable that Swedish politicians are opposing the law change, much of the outrage, no doubt, occurred because people previously didn't realize that a forced sterilization law existed in Sweden.

[UK]
Equality chief: Religious are not above the law
The chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission has said religions must defer to the public laws of the state.

[UK]
Trans media charity slams attempts to ‘expose’ man who gave birth
Calls to identify the anonymous transgender man reported to be the first in the UK to give birth have been decried by a charity calling for accuracy and respect for trans people in the media.

[UK]
Transgender storytelling for kids at C of S venue
Children as young as five are being targeted to take part in a homosexual and transgender storytelling workshop at a Church of Scotland venue this weekend.

[India]
Eunuchs beat up youths for turf invasion
Two youths who tried to earn some money in the guise of eunuchs at a wedding ended up getting badly thrashed by real eunuchs who turned up at the spot.

[Indonesia]
Two LGBT rights activists could join Indonesian human rights commission
Transexual and gay rights activists pass first round of selection for Indonesian human rights commission

[Malaysia]
Transsexuals targeted in over a dozen attacks in Malaysia
Series of violent hate-crimes against transsexuals in the last six months are met by police in-action
Police to go after gang attacking transsexuals
[Letters to the Editor] Need to have hate crime legislation
[Letters to the Editor] Act against assailants of transsexuals

[Australia]
Teenager indecently assaulted on train
Police have charged a transgender person with indecently assaulting a teenage boy on a Sydney train.

[New Zealand]
Prison health report upsets Labour
The Labour Party says damning report on healthcare in prisons amounts to evidence of human rights abuse.
The Ombudsman's report praises medical staff but says they have limited resources, outdated equipment and unsuitable facilities.
Transgender prisoners seen at risk of sexual assault
Corrections' stance on trans inmates slammed
NZAF adds to calls for Corrections to reconsider

[Canada]
The life of a travelling t-girl
Salespeople do it; so do musicians. So do travelling t-girl (trans girl) escorts: they spend much of their working lives on the road.

[Canada]
Trans rights bill to be reintroduced in Ontario
For the fourth time, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo is tabling Toby's Act, a private member's bill to amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to include gender identity and gender expression. This time, the legislation has support from all three political parties.

[Canada]
Live and let live in the trenches
Transsexuals are campaigning to serve in the American military.
(OMG! Whoa! Whaa--? Trannies in the trenches!?)
At ease, folks. This should come as no bombshell in the Great White North, where every one of the letters LGBTQIA is allowed to go fight the bad dudes.

[USA]
Northwestern professor co-authors study on LGBT suicide risk factors
A Feinberg School of Medicine professor has tapped into the causal factors behind suicidal thoughts in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

[AK, USA]
Standing For Justice
Shall the current Municipal Code sections providing legal protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability be amended to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity?

[DC, USA]
D.C. Council staffers invited to briefing on anti-trans violence
D.C. Council member Michael Brown (I-At-Large) is asking a staff representative from each of the 13 Council members’ offices to attend a Feb. 29 briefing on the increase in crimes, including murders, against members of the city’s transgender community, according to Brown spokesperson David Meadows.

[FL, USA]
Susan Stanton interested in Sarasota city manager post
The search to replace former City Manager Bob Bartolotta, which is set to begin Tuesday, has already attracted interest from the nation's most famous transgender city manager.
Susan Stanton eyeing city manager job in Sarasota
Candidates for city manager down to 8

[CA, USA]
The extraordinary lives of Terri Pohrman
Terri Pohrman has led an extraordinary life, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say “extraordinary lives.”
Born male in Portland, Ore., Pohrman has been a transsexual for 42 years. She recounts careers in show business, women’s fashion, hairdressing and 30 years of involvement with Napa Valley politics.

[PA, USA]
No Discrimination in Cheltenham
The board of commissioners passed a new ordinance to protect LGBT rights last night
UPDATE 2: Cheltenham Passes Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

[PA, USA]
Court ruling denies access to D.A.’s Morris 911 recordings
A judge last month denied PGN’s request for access to all 911 recordings pertaining to the death of Nizah Morris that may be in the possession of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

[PA, USA]
White House holds LGBT health summit
The White House heard the concerns of LGBT people here during the first of a series of conferences aimed at allowing the Obama administration to engage directly with the LGBT community and highlight its achievements.

[SC, USA]
S.C. panel: No public cash for inmate sex changes
A South Carolina legislative panel on Thursday advanced a bill to prohibit state money from being used for sex change surgeries for inmates -- a move opponents said brings them one step closer to a lawsuit challenging the legislation.
Bryant bill bars payment of inmates' sex-change surgery

[Colombia]
Engine oil butt job leaves Colombian transvestite in agony
A Colombian transvestite suffers agony after receiving getting butt implants filled with airplane engine oil, reported local media Thursday.