Trans News Updates of 2007:
This page links to news of general interest to the trans community during 2007. This running log of news also serves as a window into areas of media focus and public interest regarding trans issues during 2007. Let us know if you hear of news to include in this list. To access to a wide range of trans news, we recommend "Google News", searching on keywords such as transgender, transsexual, sex reassignment, sex change, gender variance and gender transition.
2007: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
Lynn Conway
December 2007:
12-31-07: St.Petersberg Times: "Susan Stanton's lonely transformation" -
"Susan has met
hundreds of other people like her. She was among the gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people lobbying for a law that would make it illegal for
others to discriminate against them.
But Susan has said all along that she's not like other
transgender people. She feels uncomfortable even looking at some, "like I'm
seeing a bunch of men in dresses."
Eventually, she decided it was too early for
transgender people to be federally protected. People need more time, more
education, she says. "The transgender groups boo me, now, when I speak.
Isn't that ironic?
"But I don't blame the human rights groups from
separating the transgender people from the protected groups. Most Americans
aren't ready for us yet," Susan says. Transgender people need to be able to
prove they're still viable workers -- especially in the mainstream.
"The biggest issue against the federal legislation is
that politicians think the ladies' rooms will be invaded by guys in drag,"
Susan says, "instead of someone like me."
Comment: Consider those words of the inexperienced, self-obsessed individual HRC has put forward to represent our community. Is it any wonder trans people boo Stanton when she speaks?
12-30-07: New York Times: "Effort to Block California Anti-Bias Bill" - "Conservative groups in California are gathering signatures to try to block an anti-discrimination bill because it includes language that would extend protection to public-school students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity." (more)
12-29-07: Pink News (UK re Spain): "Spanish clerics to face investigation over gay "cure" speech"
12-28-07: Wall Street Journal: "Crossing Over", by Naomi Schaeffer Riley - In a hateful article that demonizes transwomen, the Wall Street Journal reveals the biases of its new owner Rupurt Murdoch. It refers to several transitioned women by name as men, and quotes transphobic Catholic ideologue Paul McHugh as saying "I concluded that to provide a surgical alteration to the body of these unfortunate people was to collaborate with a mental disorder rather than to treat it."
Here's some info about Riley (who is clearly clueless trans issues and relies on McHugh on what and how to think). Also note her conservative religious ideological preoccupations (she's author of God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America). Might be a good time to alert GLAAD and to send some thoughtful letters to the editor.
12-28-07: BBC America (on U.S. cable television): "Teen Transsexual - All Richard Parker wants for his 18th birthday is to be Lucy Parker. Richard has spent his life dealing with gender identity issues and has long dreamed of the day when he can have surgery to become a real woman. Unable to get the surgery until he turns 18 and has proven to doctors that he is psychologically committed to life as a woman, Richard has spent the last two years living as Lucy. This is her story." (Premieres December 30th at 10pm et/pt. Part of 'BBC America Reveals' series)
12-27-07: GayWired.com: "Roller Coaster Ride: 2007 Trans Year In Review", by Jacob Anderson-Minshall
12-26-07: The Advocate: "Our Picks for Trans Young Adult Fiction - Five top novels for young adult -- and not-so-young adult -- readers looking for stories about the lives of young trans people"
12-26-07: Gaywired.com: "Gay Rights Groups File Motion to Protect Students from Discrimination" - "Equality California and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network are seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by anti-gay organizations that would prevent enforcement of California statutes protecting students from discrimination, harassment and bullying in publicly-funded schools"
12-25-07: Al Arabiya News (UAE, re Kuwait): "Controversy over law for transvestites - Kuwait gives own cells to ‘bisexual cons’" - "This step came in the wake of a new law penalizing men who dress like women in the Gulf emirate. According to the controversial law, offenders are sentenced to a maximum of one year and fined not more than 1000 Kuwaiti Dinars (3646.97 US Dollars) or either of the two." (more)
12-24-07: Manchester Evening News (UK): "My battle to be the real me" (article about PFC campaigner Christine Burns)
12-24-07: Christian Post: "Pro-family Group Identifies Worst Offenders of Faith, Family Values" (group aligns the gender protections under California SB77 with Satanism and with the recent Colorado killings, proclaiming that: "It is clear that persecution (i.e., of Christians) has not ceased to exist in the modern era,” . . . “Defamation, which leads to marginalization and persecution, is not an irrational fear for Christians.”)
12-23-07: USA Today: "Calif. anti-bias bill causes stir over 'gender'"
12-23-07: Christian Post: "Half a Million Signatures Sought to Bring Pro-Gay School Bill to Voters"
12-22-07: Daily News and Analysis (India): "Transgender to bare it all in autobiography" - "Rose, the first transgender to host a TV show in India, wields the pen to fight the system"
12-21-07: TypicallySpanish.com (Spain): "Sacked transexual accepts out of court settlement" (more, more- with video, more- with video)
12-21-07: International Nepal Solidarity Network (Nepal): "Blue Diamond Society: Great victory of Nepalese LGBTI !" - "Supreme Court of Nepal issued directive orders to the Government of Nepal to end discrimination against LGBTI and ensure equal rights as heterosexual men and women in Nepal." (this is amazing news out of Nepal) (more, more, more, more, more, more,)
12-21-07: Bay Windows: "Season’s greetings from HRC and Bitch" - "It’s a bit of an understatement to say that the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) relationship with the transgender community is a bit strained at the moment."
12-21-07: The Hindu (India): "Court serves notice to Union Ministries
on sex change issue" - "The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the
Union Home and Health and Child Welfare Ministries and the Delhi Government
on public interest litigation seeking guidelines for treating those who
undergo natural sex change midway through their lives as a separate category
with all the benefits that are available to other members of society." (print
version)
12-21-07: SameSame.com.au (Australia): "The Gender Neutral Throne"
12-20-07: Flushing Times Ledger (NY): "A shelter in search of a home"
12-20-07: Colorez (Arizona): "Transgender News in 2007"
12-20-07: The Hindu (India): "This calendar with a difference seems all set to create a buzz"
12-20-07: CCH News: "Transsexual job applicant can pursue Title VII sex bias claim"
12-20-07: Winston-Salem Journal (NC): "Transgender people on the move to find neutral bathrooms"
12-19-07: 365Gay.com: "Palm Beach Adds Gender Identity To Nondiscrimination Law"
12-19-07: The Advocate: "Groups Aid Transgender Student Who Was Denied Housing"
12-19-07: Reuters: "Less invasive hysterectomy okay for transsexuals"
12-19-07: Sydney Star Observer (Australia): "Breaking the Transsexual Myth"
12-18-07: Deseret Morning News (Utah): "Transgender student fights denial of housing at SUU"
12-17-07: The Eagle Tribune (North Andover, MA): "Denied at NECC" - "Northern Essex Community College has denied the use of the men’s locker room to a transgender student because of his female anatomy" (more)
12-16-07: Indrani Kopal (Malaysia): "She's my son (Part-1)"; "She's my son (Part-2)" - Portions of a 30 min documentary by Indrani Kopal -- FFF07 Winner (Tamil and English, with English and BM subtitles) - "Synopsis: Transgender issue is real, but it is a reality many Malaysian will not admit to. Treated as a sex object and often the butt of lewd jokes and social outcasts, many boys who had the urge of becoming a girl, resisted it. Suganya begs to differ. 'She's my son' tells the story of Suganya from her mother's point of view. "He", before the sex change, had the courage to face the reality and today, as "she", stroll the road confidently with her family and friends accepting the reality as she did." (please add supportive comments on the YouTube pages)
12-16-07: Transfigurations Project News: An exhibition of photographer Jana Marcus' Transfigurations will be held at Stanford University's Clayman Institute, Jan 3 - March 21, 2008 (click here for slide show of a portion of this wonderful exhibit).
12-14-07: TS-Roadmap: "Denise Tree (aka Kiira Triea) trial update"
- Kiira Triea,
the
56-year-old author of the transkids.us hoax site, was
cited in 2005 for several traffic offenses and failed to appear at trial.
Triea was briefly committed in September 2007, and the case in now in trial.
12-13-07: Bay Area Reporter: "Former HRC trans business leaders pave their own path" - "Two transgender business leaders once involved with the Human Rights Campaign have taken matters into their own hands and launched their own employment education project." (For more information about Jamison Green's and Donna Rose's new project, visit http://www.transeducate.com).
12-13-07: Gay City News: "In the courts: Is Another Chance Possible?"
12-13-07: Transgender Tapestry (new posting from Issue #112): "Learning to See - A Mother’s Journey", by Tina Marian - A mom’s story of accepting her 21-year-old transsexual daughter (see also link from TS Roadmap)
12-12-07: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia re Germany): "Woman sues doctor over mistaken sex" - Christiane Völling, an intersexed woman from Germany, is suing a doctor for having surgically assigned her male without her consent (more). (see also the press release in the OII website).
12-12-07: Evening Courier (Halifax, UK): "Women's World - New look and a new start"
12-11-07: 365Gay.com: "NYS Employee Accused Of Running Trans Escort Service At Work"
12-10-07: Catholic World News (Italy): "Two Italian priests defy bishops on marriage issues" - "Yesterday, at the 11:00 am Mass, Father Santoro asked his parishioners to support the transsexual and her husband as they prepare for their church wedding."
12-10-07: Michigan Daily: "Transgender issues unfairly downplayed"
12-10-07: Fox-5 TV (Atlanta): "Transgender Suspect Arrested in Check Writing Scam"
12-09-07: San Francisco Chronicle: "Jonni and Angela Pettit: From husband to wife" (photo)
12-08-07: TS Roadmap.com: "Andrea James publishes guest column in The Advocate"
12-08-07: ISIS press release (from 9-07): "Fresh Focus: Sex-Ed Digital Video Contest - An interactive digital video contest to engage students in discussion about sexuality education" (for folks age 15-30) "Using digital video technology, tell us what your Sex Ed experience was like OR tell us how you would redesign Sex Ed for the future." (an opportunity for input re trans issues; deadline is 12-31-07).
12-08-07: Los Angeles Times: "Report assails care of detainees with AIDS" - "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides inadequate care and treatment of illegal immigrant detainees with HIV/AIDS, according to a new survey by a civil rights group that was prompted by the July death of a transgender inmate at a San Pedro facility."
12-08-07: The Jakarta Post (Indonesia): "Transvestites protest fatal raid" - "They said the officers pushed her into the nearby river and then threw stones at her until she drowned" (raid was by 'public order officers' (not police) enforcing social codes).
12-08-07: The Independent (UK): "War in the wards as Cardinal issues hardline abortion code" - "Senior figures in the Catholic Church were enraged when it was revealed that doctors associated with the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth were not only performing abortions but also carrying out sex change operations"
12-08-07: Colorez (Southern Arizona): "Trans workers face persistent discrimination" (includes discussion by Amanda Simpson)
12-07-07: Nashua Telegraph (NH): "Area doctor opens up Amherst practice" - "In her new practice, Dr. Madden will treat various traditional medical conditions within all age groups including pediatric well child exams, routine adult preventive health-care visits, gynecologic exams for women and care of the elderly. Having undergone gender reassignment surgery, Dr. Madden is able to offer health-care services to patients who come from alternative lifestyles, are gender variant, or who have diverse family situations." NEW
12-07-07: Yale Daily News: "From drag ball to panels, Trans Week reviews mixed" (Note: In a not-uncommon move by clueless GLB and women's-studies groups, Yale trans "awareness" week highlighted a drag show that stereotypes transwomen - as in the photo in this article).
12-07-07: Guardian Unlimited (UK): "Directors quit Catholic hospital in ethics code row" - "A Catholic hospital is in turmoil after two directors resigned, refusing to accept tighter ethical codes on abortions, contraception and sex-change operations."
12-07-07: Gay City News: "No Gotham Welcome Wagon For HRC"
12-07-07: Columbia Spectator: "Transgender Students Search for Campus Niche"
12-06-07: Gay City News: "Trans Library of Congress Suit a Go" - "In a curiously incomplete opinion, US District Judge James Robertson has again rejected a motion by the Librarian of Congress to dismiss a federal civil rights sex discrimination claim by Diane J. Schroer, a male-to-female transsexual denied employment by the Library."
12-06-07: Associated Press: "Congress Drops Hate Crimes Bill" (more)
12-06-07: ITN.co.uk (re Argentina): "Argentinian teen wins sex change battle" - "A teenage girl in Argentina has become the first minor in the country permitted to undergo a sex change operation." (includes link to video interview with Nati).
12-06-07: Gulf Daily News (Bahrain): "Sex change op is successful"
12-06-07: Cafebabel.com (France, re Thailand): "Plastic surgery: turn to the Thai scalpel" (Français)
12-06-07: Bay Area Reporter: ""SF ID cards to help TGs"
12-06-07: Bay Area Reporter: "Gay chamber hires transgender ED" - "With the country's LGBT community embroiled in a debate over protecting transgender people in the workplace, the nation's oldest gay chamber of commerce announced this week it has hired a post-op transsexual woman as its new executive director." (story about Katherine Dean, of Pacifica, CA)
12-05-07: Windy City Times: Letter to the editor: "Protesting HRC" - "IGA intends to peacefully protest HRC’s event featuring Susan Stanton. We intend to send a clear message that education initiatives and paid public appearances do not compensate for national HRC policies . . ." (Illinois Gender Associates protests Susan Stanton's paid appearances on behalf of HRC).
12-05-07: KPHO.com: "Scottsdale Extends Anti-Bias Law"
12-05-07: Associated Press: "Transgender Ga. Politician Loses Runoff"
12-04-07: "Argentine Undergoes Sex-Change Surgery" - "A 17-year-old Argentine has undergone surgery to become a female only months after winning a court battle in the first case of its kind involving a minor in this country" (link to earlier stories about 'Nati', more)
12-04-07: Inside Higher Ed: "The Meaning of a Transgender Homecoming King"
12-04-07: M&C News (re Germany): "German court rules transsexual can be excluded from police"
12-03-07: 365Gay.com (re Nepal): "Nepal Gays Threaten Gov't With Increasing Protests" - "Last year police arrested 26 transsexuals in one raid. According to Blue Diamond they were taken to the Hanuman Dhoka central police station in Kathmandu where they were held for weeks without being allowed to contact anyone."
12-03-07: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Judge finds no gender fraud in Riverdale election" (more)
12-03-07: Newswise Press Release: "Surgeon Urges Colleagues to Reconsider Their Views About a Medical Procedure for Transsexual Patients" - "A prominent gynecologic cancer surgeon is urging her fellow physicians to reconsider their views about a medical procedure for transsexual patients making the transition from female to male."
12-03-07: Entertainment Tonite (via YouTube): "ET Transgender Summit Series"
12-03-07:
Organisation Intersex International (OII): "MY SON, MY STRUGGLE", a diary by
the mother of an intersexed child (Edited and translated from the French
by Curtis E. Hinkle, Founder of
OII).
12-03-07: Computerworld: "Unsung innovators: 10 people who shaped the computer industry"
12-02-07: Sun Journal.com (ME): "His? Hers? Ours? These bathrooms serve all"
12-02-07: Times Record-Herald (NY): "The courage to make a life-altering change"
12-01-07: IBNLive (India): "Transgenders come out, take up AIDS fight"
November 2007:
"People come to the idea of transsexual person with a lot of preconceptions.
They're going to be carrying a lot of baggage from shows like Jerry
Springer," she said. "When they actually see the show, they're going to be
surprised. They're going to see a girl next door from the south living in
L.A. and trying to date."
"The show, hosted by comedian Alex Mapa, follows Calpernia Addams as she whittles down a group of eight bachelors living together in an Los Angeles–area house, with the help of her best friend and fellow transgender activist Andrea James. Addams is an out trans woman to all the show's suitors from the start of the series. The show will feature online voting at Logo's website, allowing viewers the opportunity to tell Addams whom they think she should eliminate." (more, more)
11-29-07: NewMedia Journalism (Canada): "Transgendered Canadian Races toward Olympic history" - "It's been three years since the International Olympic Committee approved rules to allow transgendered athletes to become Olympians. A Canadian woman who was born male may become the first person to test those rules next year at the Beijing Games."
11-30-07: American Spectator: "Flushed Out" - "I am a woman, and I'm supposed to be here." - "Imagine if you had to say that every time you entered a public restroom."
11-29-07: PinkNews.co.uk (UK): "Two people arrested in trans murder case"
11-28-07: Hindustani Times (India): "Caught between the sexes"
11-27-07: Echelon Magazine: "Transgender Leaders Donna Rose and Jamison Green Resign from HRC Business Council" - This article includes open letter from Donna Rose and Jamison Green to HRC.
11-27-07: Associated Press: "Two Transgender Members Quit Group —
saying the group's support of an employment nondiscrimination bill that
excluded transgender workers put them "in an untenable position."
(more)
Jamison Green and Donna Rose's resignations from the business council of the Human Rights Campaign are effective immediately, according to a joint letter. "Considering recent broken promises, the lack of credibility that HRC has with the transgender community at large, and HRC's apparent lack of commitment to healing the breach it has caused, we find it impossible to maintain an effective working relationship with the organization," they said.
11-27-07: Pink News (UK, re Bahrain): "Gulf authorities to pay for gender reassignment"
11-27-07: Gulf Daily News (Bahrain): "Let me lead a normal life" - "A woman about to embark on the rest of her life as a man has appealed to the people of Bahrain for acceptance"
11-27-07: Daily Illini (Univ. of Illinois): "Community feels transgender care, services lacking"
11-26-07: Wimbledon Guardian (UK): "Transexual's death now treated as murder"
11-25-07: CAMH (Canada): "Have you: Received services at CAMH’s Gender Identity Clinic? - We’d like your feedback" - The infamous Blanchard-Zucker Gender Identity Centre at CAMH (aka 'the Clarke Institute') comes under scrutiny in upcoming trans-community focus-group meeting in Toronto. (PDF)
11-25-07: San Gabriel Valley Tribune: "Fighting for the throne - Transgender student elected"
11-24-07: Pattaya City News (Thailand): "Democratic Party leader visits Tiffany’s Show Theatre" - "to address the Transsexual Community of Pattaya to discuss his intentions for improving their rights and recognition"
11-24-07: The Tribune (India): "Different strokes" - "She’s had the courage to acknowledge her alternate sexuality, accept it and finally declare it to one and all. Arup Chanda meets Rose, who was Ramesh Venkatesan a year ago, and is today all set to be the first transgender host of a television talk show in the country"
11-23-07: The VitalVoice.com: "GLBT minus T equals discord"
11-23-07: New York Times: "Transgender Politician Faces Fraud Lawsuit"
11-23-07: Lavender Magazine: "Show Girls Doc: An Interview with Jeremy Stanford and Maria Roman"
11-22-07: Organization Intersex International (OII): “Alice Dreger, have you no shame?” - In attempts to defend her “disordered” terminology for intersex people, Alice Dreger has begun giving seminar talks entitled: "No Matter How You Slice It? Parsing Intersex".
OII responded that
her talks expose “The Dark Side of Dreger's DSD Activism.”. . . “That title
reveals an insidiously hateful side of Dreger’s character: For someone who
prides herself in being ever so clever with words, she had to know how
hurtful that title would be to intersex people (especially those who've been
"sliced" physically and emotionally by the system Dreger represents,
and who don't appreciate being referred to as "it" either).”
11-22-07: TS Roadmap.com: "Alice Dreger’s “slice it” joke riles intersex activists" - "Alice Dreger recently returned to her alma mater . . . to deliver a lecture titled “No Matter How You Slice It: Parsing Intersex.” Intersex activists quickly pointed out that the title’s pun made light of “normalizing” surgery many intersex people endure and suggests that intersex people are neither he nor she, but “it.”"
11-22-07: AOL Sports (re Germany): "Pole Vaulter Yvonne Buschbaum Retires, Plans to Change Genders" (more, more)
11-22-07: Mlive.com (Michigan): "Michigan governor's order bars bias against transgender employees" (more, more, more)
11-22-07: Gazette.net (Maryland): "Leggett signs transgender discrimination ban into law"
11-21-07: Gay City News: "Politics: Voices of Inclusion Ask, 'What Next?'"
11-21-07: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Palm Beach County bans transgender discrimination" (more, more)
11-20-07: The Nashua Telegraph: "Dr. Jennifer Madden Opens Souhegan Family Practice" - "In her new practice, Dr. Madden will treat various traditional medical conditions within all age groups including pediatric well child exams, routine adult preventive health care visits, gynecologic exams for women and care of the elderly. Having undergone gender reassignment surgery herself, Dr. Madden is able to offer healthcare services to patients who come from alternative life styles, are gender variant, or who have diverse family situations."
11-20-07: NGLTF: "Task Force Commemorates Transgender Day of Remembrance"
11-20-07: The Harvard Crimson: "Vigil Mourns Transgender Victims" (more, more, more)
11-20-07: USA Today: "S.F. approves ID cards that exclude gender"
11-19-07: San Jose Mercury News: "Events spotlight violence against transgender community" - "Throughout the nation, supporters of the transgender community will unite Tuesday to speak out against intolerance and violence" - in the National Transgender Day of Remembrance.
11-19-07: Feministing.org: "Julia Serano: There’s Something About “Deception” " - "Few attempts to blame the victim are more blatant than when trans people are accused of “sexual deceit” or “sexual assault” simply because other people have chosen to express their attraction toward us."
11-19-07: CCH.org: "Court dodges whether sex stereotyping theory applies to transsexuals"
11-19-07: MaineToday.com: "University of Southern Maine Sanctions Transgendered Public Bathrooms"
11-19-07:
Pink News (re Argentina): "Argentina's sixteenth Pride event is great
success
" - "We must work against all types of discrimination and especially on
this day against homophobia, and also pursue the rights not afforded to us;
for example, the identity of transsexual people."
11-19-07: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Transgender candidate misled voters, suit alleges" (more, more)
11-19-07: Asian Pacific News (re India): "Sex change cyclist"
11-19-07: Nurse.com: "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders Search for Safe Havens"
11-18-07: San Franscisco Chronicle: "Gender identity and the chemical delay of puberty - A call for more clinics and treatment for children at an early stage in their growth", by Stephanie Brill and Herbert Schreier.
"Herbert Schreier practices child psychiatry in Oakland and is co-founder of a support group for parents of gender-variant and transgender children. Stephanie Brill, the other co-founder of the support group, also founded Gender Spectrum Education and Training (genderspectrum.org) and is program director of Gender Odyssey Family (genderodysseyfamily.com), a national conference for families with a gender-variant or transgender child."
11-18-07: Gay City News: "Two Spirits Better Than One" - "Native American activist Harlan Pruden can move instantly from a furious passion to heartfelt tears as he discusses the challenges of trying to educate people about the needs and struggles of members of his community who identify as two-spirit, or queer."
11-18-07: Edmunton Sun (Canada): "Take a trans on them"
11-18-07: Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland): "Press banned from tranny job bias case"
11-17-07: EarthTimes (re India): "Transgender to campaign for gender justice in education"
11-16-07: Pegasus News/Dallas Voice: "Dallas human rights fundraiser could be showdown on transgender issues" - "That's because leading transgender activist Donna Rose will be there, and so will Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese"
11-16-07: The Arizona Republic: "'A lot of issues' spurred Human Relations panel into action"
11-16-07: Daily Orange (Syracuse Univ.): "Office honors transgender victims with ceremony"
11-16-07: Daily Princetonian: "Students observe National Transgender Day of Remembrance"
11-15-07: KITV-Honolulu: "Sultry Blond On ABC Show Is Hawaii Transgender"
11-15-07: The Badger Herald (Univ. of Wisconsin): "Transgender activist shares struggle"
11-15-07: Bay Area Reporter: "Transgender drop-in center is reborn"
11-14-07: Bay Windows: "Remembering victims of violence"
11-14-07: Le Provocateur: "Gender is not a hobby - It is a fact for Finney Boylan"
11-14-07: AthletesCAN (Canada): "AthletesCAN heads Sport Canada-funded transitioning/transitioned athletes project" "AthletesCAN, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), is heading up a Sport Canada-funded project entitled Promising Practices: Working with Transitioning/Transitioned Athletes in Sport."
11-14-07: The BG News (Bowling Green State Univ.): "Living in a transgender world - Q&A clears up confusion in terms of gender" (print) "Joelle Ruby Ryan encouraged any and all questions. Ryan, founder of Transcendence, the University based transgender support group, said workshops will be held throughout the week to further educate people on transgendered people and the obstacles they must overcome"
11-13-07: ABC News: "Transgendered Actress Breaks Hollywood Barriers" (story about Candis Cayne and her husband Marco McDermott).
11-14-07: The Arizona Republic: "Bar owner, transgender patron settle yearlong bathroom battle"
11-13-07: Washington Blade: "Mont. Co. approves trans bias bill - Bars discrimination in housing, employment, accommodations" (more)
11-13-07: Dane101.net (Madison, WI): "Transgender Awareness Week at the UW"
11-12-07: Lambda Literary Foundation: Open posting of Letter to the New York Times, Sept. 20, 2007: "In your recent article on J. Michael Bailey and his book, The Man Who Would Be Queen (“Criticism of a Gender Theory, and Scientist Under Siege” by Benedict Carey, August 21, 2007), your journalist reported, “The Lambda Literary Foundation, an organization that promotes gay, bisexual, and transgender literature, nominated the book for an award.” Mr. Carey failed to disclose that the Foundation later withdrew the award nomination in response to our judges’ assessment of the book, which they ultimately considered transphobic and inappropriate for a Lambda Literary award. . . ." (more)
Thus we see yet another independent third party expose Alice Dreger promoting exaggerations and unsupported innuendos from her self-proclaimed "scholarly history" of the Bailey book fiasco. (more)
11-12-07: BeingT.com: "The producers and the cast of "t" invite you to join us for a celebration and a screening of the trailer. november 14, 2007, 7pm to 9pm, lucky chengs, 24 First ave (btwn 1st & 2nd), NYC " (more, more)
11-12-07: GWHatchet (George Washington Univ): "Exploring sexuality"
11-11-07: AFP (re Thailand): "Thai crowned world's transsexual beauty queen" (more, more, more, more, video, video)
11-11-07: Seattle Times: "On TV, being gay is so passé; now transexuals are in"
11-11-07: Washington Post: "Montgomery Wisely Keeps Anti-Discrimination Law For Transgender People Out of Public Restrooms" (columnist Marc Fisher applauds move to keep transgender people out of public restrooms of their choice).
11-10-07: LeonaLo.com (Singapore): Media Release: Transsexual Author Leona Lo Ejected from Popular Singapore Bar for being "Lady Boy" - Leona Lo is the author of My Sisters, Their Stories, a book about transwomen in Singapore and Thailand, and recently published her autobiography, From Leonard to Leona: A Singapore Transsexual's Journey to Womanhood. (Leona's website; more about Leona's story)
11-09-07: Gazette.net (Maryland): "Montgomery County Council acts to quell protests over transgender bill" - "After a vigorous e-mail campaign attacking the public accommodations section of a bill designed to protect transgender people from discrimination, a Montgomery County Council committee has decided to remove that portion of the bill."
11-09-07: Phoenix Business Journal: "Bar association to create commission on sexual orientation" - "The ABA said Friday it was creating a new commission on "sexual orientation and gender identity." The national Bar said it wants to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the legal profession as well as the justice system"
11-09-07: Pridesource (Michigan): "Suicide of transgender youth in Holland (MI) raises questions"
11-09-07: New York Times: Editorial: "An Overdue Step for Equal Justice"
11-08-07: Time Magazine: "The Gender Conundrum"
11-08-07: San Francisco Chronicle: "House approves bill banning bias against gays in workplace" " . . . but the celebration was muddied by miscalculations by Democratic leaders and recriminations among many of those the bill is intended to help" (more)
11-08-07: Queerty: "ENDA: The Day After"
11-08-07: Falls Church News Press: "Anything But Straight: HRC's Broken Promises", by Wayne Besen
11-08-07: Gotham Gazette: Civil Rights: "New York Plays Key Role in Fight for Transgender Rights"
11-07-07: PRNewswire: "PFLAG Commits to Increasing Congressional Education Efforts on the Need for Gender Identity Protections in the Workplace - Organization Disappointed that Massive Groundswell of Family Voices Supporting a Fully Inclusive ENDA were not Heard"
11-07-07: 365Gay.com: "ENDA Passes House Without Trans Protections"
11-06-07: PageOneQ: "ENDA to hit House floor tomorrow without Baldwin Amendment vote"
11-06-07: 365Gay.com: "Solidarity On ENDA Trans Inclusion Unravels"
11-06-07: Chennai Online (India): "Vijay TV presents Ippadikku Rose"
11-05-07: transgriot.blogspot.com: "Why Is The Catholic Church Hatin' On Transpeople?", by Monica Roberts - ". . . the Vatican was being advised by a 30 year enemy of the transgender community: Dr. Paul McHugh.. . . A man with a personal axe to grind against transgender people . . . He has used that position to turn the Catholic Church into an intolerant bastion of transphobia, at least at the leadership level. . . . McHugh has ruined not only the lives of many transpeople in the United States, but is now setting up the conditions to spread his hatred through an institution that impacts people around the world." NEW
11-05-07: KPHO-TV (Phoenix): "Transsexual Charged With Indecent Exposure"
11-05-07: TYFA: "TransYouth Family Advocates announces campaign for transgender suicide awareness"
11-05-07: Gay City News: "BREAKING NEWS -- ENDA Heading to Floor This Week"
11-05-07: Human Rights Watch (re South Korea): "South Korea: Rights Bill Excludes Many"
11-05-07: Reuters Africa (re Bahrain): "Declared a woman, Bahraini man battles Arab norms"
11-05-07: Washington Square News (NYU): "Here and nationwide, bathrooms that aren't his or hers"
11-04-07: The Houston Chronicle: "Pushing the transsexual envelope"
11-04-07: WoodTV8 Grand Rapids, MI: "The struggles of transgenders"
11-04-07: The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): "Transsexual fights for her lesbian rights"
11-03-07: The Times (UK re India): "Transsexual host breaks TV taboo"
11-02-07: The Daily Mail (UK): "My husband became my best girlfriend"
11-02-07: Mark Angelo Cummings: "Ian you will be missed - A tribute to a young FtM brother whose life ended too soon", by Mark Angelo Cummings.
11-02-07: Hindustan Times: "Transsexuals want space, acceptance"
11-01-07: 365Gay.com: "Arizona Bar Ends Ban On Transsexuals"
11-01-07: San Franscisco Bay Times: "Fabulous: Transtasia" (re a documentary about a trans beauty pageant held in Las Vegas)
11-01-07: Bay Area Reporter: "ENDA rumors swirl"
11-01-07: Bay Area Reporter: "Filmmaker defends The Gendercator"
11-01-07: IBN-Live (India): "Meet Rose, India's first transgender TV show host" (more, more, more)
11-01-07: The Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines): Commentary: "Transsexual women"
October 2007:
10-31-07: The New York Times: "The Ghosts of Halloweens Past", by Jennifer Finney Boylan NEW
10-31-07: The Advocate: "Methodists Vote: Transgender Pastor Can Stay" (more, more, more)
10-31-07: Hindustan Times (India): "LOST IN TRANSITION: The attempted suicide by athlete Santhi Soundararajan, stripped of her Asian Games silver after failing a 'sex test', has brought to light the plight of transitioned athletes. Danish golfer Mianne Bagger and Canadian cyclist Kristen Worley, both transitioned sportspersons, talk about their fight to ensure justice for Santhi in an exclusive chat with HT", by Ajai Masand.
(This entry links to a scan of the article, which includes a wonderful sketch) (for links to the online interviews, see the following news items):
10-30-07: Hindustan Times (India): "'Who decides what is the definition of a woman?'" (Ajai Masand interviews Danish golfer Mianne Bagger regarding the Indian Olympic Association's defamatory outing of athlete Santhi Soundarajan)
10-30-07: Hindustan Times (India): "'IOC biggest threat to future of global sport'" (Ajai Masand interviews with Canadian cyclist Kristen Worley regarding the Indian Olympic Association's defamatory outing of India's athlete Santhi Soundarajan)
10-30-07: TransActive Education & Advocacy: "Tragic News: A Child Lost" ". . . a 16-year old transgender boy committed suicide yesterday."
10-29-07: AlterNet: "Non-Discrimination Bill Leaves Out Transgendered People - A debate over whether rights for transgenders should be included in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is opening the possibility for a profound shift in the gay movement."
10-29-07: ILGHRC Urgent Action Alert (re Argentina): "Argentina: Investigate Transgender Murder and Protect Activist in Salta Province" (please write letters).
10-29-07: The Times of India (India): "Youth to speak their mind on sexuality"
10-29-07: Reuters (UK re Japan): "Japan sex-change parents can't change records" (more)
10-29-07: The Stanford Daily: "Housing task forces consider Draw
reforms" ". . . the new policy would not require students to explicitly
say they were transgender"
10-28-07: Brisbane Times (Australia - re Malaysia): "Malaysia's transexuals battle sex change woes" (print)
10-28-07: UK Gay News (re Uganda): "Historic Gay, Lesbian Rights Meeting Held in Uganda"
10-28-07: Guardian Unlimited - Observer Magazine (UK): "Nothing extraordinary for Jo Normal"
10-26-07: Washington Blade.com: "Advisers urge Bush to veto ENDA Gay - Frank fears Dems will bump bill to ’09; Kennedy to introduce Senate version" (detailed overview of the present ENDA situation)
10-25-07: Gay & Lesbian Times: "Born in a bind: treating transgender children" - This article provides a good update on this important issue. Sadly, the Gay & Lesbian Times made a serious "insensitivity" error, and the family interviewed for the article became very upset: Their little trans daughter was referred to throughout the article by a male name and male pronouns. Trans Youth Family Associates helped bring this to the attention of the G< editors, who demonstrated journalistic integrity and a willingness to learn and then apologized to the family.
10-25-07: GayWired.com: "A TransAmazon Takes on The Man", by Jacob Anderson-Minshall - This article discusses Alice Dreger's sudden personal attack on graduate student and Point Foundation Scholar Joelle Ryan, and how Joelle has stood her ground. (extended version of earlier SF Bay Times article) (more) PDF
10-25-07: Mansfield News Journal: "Transgender advocate lauds OSU"
10-24-07: Windy City Times: "Trans-Rights Activists Picket Pelosi Appearance"
10-24-07: CreativeLoafing.com: "Blaming the trannies - Gender bias sweeps the gay punditocracy"
10-24-07: Hindustan Times (India): "Canadian cyclist 'paddles' for Santhi" - "Kristen Worley and Santi Soundarajan have never met. They live continents-apart, Worley in North America, Santhi in India. But Worley . . . is fighting for the cause of Santhi and other victims of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), which results in the external physical characteristics typically associated with women despite having XY chromosomes, and wants the Indian athlete to get her Asian Games silver medal back" (more, more)
10-24-07: JuliaSerano.com: "Call for Transsexual Narratives" - "I am currently working on a paper (which I plan to submit to a peer-reviewed psychology journal) that challenges psychologist Ray Blanchard’s causal theory of “autogynephilia.”. . . This theory posits that all transsexual women who are not exclusively attracted to men transition to female because we are sexually aroused by the idea of being or becoming women. . . . To refute the assumption that “autogynephilic” fantasies *cause* transsexuality, I am hoping to collect applicable narratives from MTF transsexuals who are lesbian, bisexual or “asexual” in orientation." (Please see Julia Serano's call for narratives, and participate if you can).
10-23-07: Lynn News (UK): "More cash to fund extra sex changes"
10-23-07: The Advocate: "Paper Finds Controversial Northwestern Researcher Acted Appropriately" (More in Dreger's media blitz to resurrect Bailey's "ruined" career).
10-23-07: Prenatal Diagnosis Journal (7-20-07): "Case Report: Prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS)" A new diagnostic technique can detect androgen insensitivity syndrome in utero. In this case study the fetus was aborted, in an example of intersex eugenics. The article recommends that the "appearance of fetal sex on ultrasound should be compared with genetic sex" (insinuating that mismatches be "terminated", as done in this case). (more)
10-23-07: Science Daily (10-20-07): "Sex Hormone Signature Indicates Gender Rather Than Just Chromosomes" - "Help with assigning gender could one day be at hand for intersex individuals whose genital phenotypes and sex chromosomes don't match, thanks to the discovery of a stable sex hormone signature in our cells." (more)
10-22-07: 365Gay.com: "Federal Lawsuit Challenges Wisconsin Anti-Transgender Law" - "Lambda Legal and the ACLU are suing the state on behalf of five transgender women incarcerated in Wisconsin"
10-22-07: Inquirer.net (Philippines): "SC junks transsexual’s plea for gender, name change" - (In an incredibly defamatory statement, the Philippines' Supreme Court refers to a trans women by using male pronouns while denying her petition)
10-21-07: CBS News: "LGB Rights Bill: Hold The "T"? - Congress May Exclude Transgender Rights To Drive Tough Bill Forward" (print version)
10-21-07: TSRoadmap.com: "Legal troubles for Denise Tree (aka Kiira Triea) expose more lies" - J. Michael Bailey's supporter and co-author Kiira Triea (author of the fake "transkids.us" website) is in trouble with the law. She is now out on $5000 bond and faces a court in Baltimore on Dec. 10, 2007. Court records reveal that Triea has li