[International] [Commentary]
Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis to be Moved Out of Sexual Disorders Chapter of DSM-5
Dr. Jack Drescher, a member of the subworkgroup on Gender Identity Disorders of the DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, confirmed yesterday that the Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis will be removed from the sexual disorders chapter and placed in a separate category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

[Ireland]
Senator Zappone: Transgender People No Longer Mentally Ill
Senator Katherine Zappone today welcomed the announcement by the American Psychological Association that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, a guidebook used by psychiatrists all around the world, will no longer class transgender people as being mentally ill. ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ will be removed from the fifth edition of the manual due to be published in May 2013.

[Sweden]
Sweden forces girls n’ guns, boys n’ dolls ads
Sweden might be known for its safe family-friendly Volvo cars, but its Christmas toy ads are anything but family-friendly ─ by conservative standards. One of the most socially liberal nations on the planet now mandates gender confusion in ads geared toward youth.

[South Korea]
Gay, transgender Korean students discriminated against at school
A study has found that half of sexual-minority students feel that they are discriminated against at school because of their sexual identities.

[Australia]
Activist's quest: "I'm not sick. I'm transgender"
Cairns-based activist Michelle Diamond (pictured) is delighted with a planned change to how mental disorders are defined so that she will no longer be considered to have one.

[USA]
Breaking: Supreme Court Will Review Prop8 & DOMA Cases
Transgender Law Center celebrates the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States today to accept review of two cases that have challenged the constitutionality of laws barring access to marriage for same-sex couples. The cases include Perry v. Brown, in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s Proposition 8, which prohibited same-sex couples from marrying in that state, is unconstitutional, and Windsor v. United States, in which the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. DOMA bars the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples.

[CA, USA]
California restaurant kicks out trans women, eats humble pie
Transgender Law Center assisted two transgender women in Los Angeles who were wrongfully asked to leave a restaurant in Burbank in October. While eating dinner, the two women, Jennifer Reid and Victoria Rose were approached by the restaurant’s manager and asked to leave, allegedly because their clothing was not appropriate for a “family restaurant.” The women rightly believed that they were being targeted because of their gender identity and contacted TLC for information about the law and their rights.

[CA, USA]
Accepting the Face You See in the Mirror: One Trans Man's Story
Being comfortable in your own skin, is what most of us strive for at some point, in my opinion. For each person, being confident and secure with who they are on the inside as well as externally, is somewhat of an eternal struggle. For many people, what they see when they look in the mirror is a huge deciding factor on how they feel about themselves. Having said that, imagine if every time you looked in a mirror, what you saw reflected back at you did not represent who you feel you are on the inside?

[FL, USA]
Group honors transgender community
It was a candlelight vigil without the candles, since a cool breeze would have made the ceremony impossible. But that didn't stop two dozen people from attending a Transgender Day of Remembrance service on the steps of City Hall on Nov. 20.

[IN, USA]
Notre Dame Finally Approves LGBT Organization
Students at the University of Notre Dame have requested the addition of an official LGBT resource group 15 times, and finally, those students' prayers have been answered.

[MA, USA]
Scout And Liz Margolies marry in hope to inspire youth
Liz Margolies married her partner Scout during a small ceremony on Thursday in an old fur vault in Chelsea that will soon be renovated to become a new sanctuary for a LGBT Jewish congregation. The couple thought their wedding could serve as inspiration to LGBT youth who have been following their story.

[MD, USA]
Baltimore Observes Transgender Day of Remembrance
The 14th annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was observed with solemn and insightful evening services held at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore on Tuesday, November 20. The annual service was held in recognition and remembrance of the members of the worldwide transgender community killed in recent years with many of the victims losing their lives in horrific and violent manners. The Transgender community holds these services in cities throughout the world on this date each year to bring attention to recurring discrimination that still persists against trans people. In Baltimore the event is organized by the Transgender Response Team and other members of the Baltimore and Maryland LGBT community.

[MD, USA]
Pressing Ahead for Gender Identity Rights
The civil rights team that had success in Howard and Baltimore counties will press ahead in 2013 to secure gender identity rights in Maryland. On November 20, Gender Rights Maryland (GRMD), the state’s only civil rights organization exclusively representing trans persons and the Howard County and Baltimore County chapters of Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) announced they will continue the alliance they formed this past year in passing gender identity and expression legislation in two Maryland counties.

[NY, USA]
'I do not have sex for money!' Beat-down tranny testifies in assault case
"I do not have sex for money!" smokin' FDNY beat-down transsexual Claudia Charriez insisted to a Manhattan assault jury today, on her second day of testimony against hunky hose handler Taylor Murphy.
‘Flame’up at FDNY tran trial
[Commentary] Repugnant NY Post Does Another Repugnant Thing