[International]
The IDAHO 2012 Report is out!
With mobilization stretching across all continents and over 100 countries, the 2012 edition of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia broke new records.

[UK]
School forced to allow transgender pupil, 16, to sit exam in a skirt
A school has been forced to allow a transgender pupil to sit a GCSE exam dressed as a girl, because of equality laws, it was reported.
The school backed down after telling Ashlyn Parram, 16 - who was born a boy but is undergoing gender reassignment treatment - that the teenage could not sit the paper because he was not wearing boys' uniform.
Ashlyn, who was wearing a skirt, claimed to have showed headmaster Chris Walls a copy of the Equality Act 2010, which gave the right to be treated the same as other pupils.
Trans teen banned from exam reads teacher her rights
(Photo: 16-year-old transgender Ashlyn Parram (right) and her mum, Miranda, from Boston in Lincolnshire)

[UK]
New search rules for trans police officers and suspects drawn up
It is all change for trans police and policing, as increased awareness of trans sensitivities sees new rules for searching suspects – both who can do the searching and how people should be searched – emerging in the last few weeks.

[UK]
WATCH: Trans Rollergirl Featured in New Pet Shop Boys Video
The video for the Pet Shop Boys' anthemic new single "Winner" continues the song's message of perseverance and features an appearance by Dirty Diana, a transgender member of the London Rollergirls.
Pet Shop Boys new video features trans rollergirl

[Serbia]
Serbia Becomes a Hub for Sex-Change Surgery
Twenty years ago, newspapers here jeered that transsexuality was an act against God. Today, people are coming from around the world to Serbia for sex change operations, which are now subsidized for Serbs by national health insurance.

[Philippines]
Filipino gays protest during President’s state of the union address
LGBT rights groups issue a ‘State of the LGBT Under Aquino’ address

[Australia]
Genderqueer the new frontier
In our postmodern world of understanding gender, it would seem ‘labels’ should eventually become irrelevant. While historically queers have played with gender for hundreds of years, is it really fathomable that one day we could do away with the terms male and female?

[New Zealand]
Board explains use of 'transvestite' in report
The Chair of an Auckland local board says there was no intention to be discriminatory in a report about prostitution, which refers to transgender street workers as ‘transvestites’.

[Canada]
Jenna Talackova Q & A
Sipping on a summer drink, Jenna Talackova quietly makes her way across W 2nd Ave, past a bus stop, into Characters Talent Agency near Granville Island. A gaggle of guys, immersed in conversation, stop and stare — which could mean they recognize the former Miss Universe Canada contestant, or they think she’s gorgeous, or both.

[USA]
Lutherans for Full LGBT Participation
On July 8, TransLutherans was announced as a new affinity group in ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation at our assembly in Washington, D.C. Thanks to the board for approving the formation of this group at its 2012 spring meeting in Minneapolis. TransLutherans has been a long time in the making. A word or two about the history of this process is in order.

[USA]
DSM-V To Rename Gender Identity Disorder 'Gender Dysphoria'
The newest edition of the psychiatric diagnostic manual will do away with labeling transgender people as "disordered."

[FL, USA]
Rosita Hidalgo: Transgender Murder on South Beach
Hector Sarna isn't surprised that his friend Rosita Hidalgo was killed. As a transgender woman who was a sex worker, she was putting herself at risk. He warned her that one of the men she brought home would hurt her, or worse. He remembers a day almost a year ago when a man client beat Rosita after finding out she was once a man. Hector told her to be more careful.

[ID, USA]
Boise police: 27-year-old suspect charged with aggravated battery in stabbing case
Elizabeth D. McClerkin is being held in the Ada County Jail on a felony charge of aggravated battery after Boise police say she stabbed a man several times with a knife in the torso early Saturday morning.
Police officials said Monday the man was taken by paramedics to a local hospital early Saturday morning for treatment of non life-threatening injuries.
(Photo: Elizabeth D. McClerkin. Police officials say McClerkin’s mugshot from the jail is accurate.)

[KS, USA]
KU to be recognized for transgender education support
Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project announced Monday it will be awarding its K-STEP Key award to The University of Kansas at an awards banquet on Aug. 24, according to a news release. The award is in appreciation of KU’s support of transgender education.

[MO, USA]
Creve Coeur bans discrimination based on sexual orientation
The Creve Coeur City Council voted Monday to update a non-discrimination ordinance to include gender identity and sexual orientation.

[NE, USA]
Police: Masked Men Carved Anti-Gay Slurs Into Nebraska Woman’s Body
An openly lesbian Nebraska woman appears to have been the target of a horrific hate crime which took place inside her own Lincoln home.

[NY, USA]
On anniversary of same-sex marriage, Pride Agenda turns efforts to transgender rights
The legalization of gay marriage in New York state is celebrating its one year anniversary, but the Empire State Pride Agenda still has many goals left to accomplish.