Trans News Updates:
Compiled and edited by Lynn Conway
[Version of 7-02-09]
These pages link to emerging news of special interest to the trans community. They also serve as a window into the media's focus and the public's interest in trans issues as time goes by - enabling us to track shifts in media spins and social attitudes over time. You can also exploit the pages as a searchable news archive by using "find" in your browser or the internal Google search-box at top right. E-mail Lynn if you see interesting news for listing here. To access current or past news, click on the month/year in this table:
2009: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul
2008: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2007: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2005: - - - Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
SPECIAL ALERTS:
06-10-09: LynnConway.com: "Formal complaint of academic misconduct filed against Ken Zucker" (PDF)
05-30-09: "We say, to the APA, stop sexualizing us!", by Julia Serano, Ph.D.
05-20-09: "GID Reform Now Protest At Annual APA Meeting - Speaker Madeline Deutch, M.D." (with video)
05-19-09: Psychiatric Times: "Gender Identity Disorder: Has Accepted Practice Caused Harm?" (Could the APA be waking up?)
05-16-09: Transsexualism will no longer be classified mental illness in France (FR, DE, ES, NL, PT, SU)
This special section is being used for reference/coordination in investigations now underway. It contains compilations of news about Ken Zucker's trans-reparatism, his role in the DSM revisions, and his and his colleagues' attacks on their trans critics:
1. News re Zucker's trans-reparatism and his role in revisions of the APA's DSM:
In April 2007, this site began an exposure of Zucker's trans-reparatism in a webpage entitled: "Drop the Barbie: Ken Zucker's reparatist treatment of gender-variant children", reflecting back on a 2001 article that had broken the story and coordinating with Andrea James who posted a parallel exposé of Zucker's reparatism.
The following year National Public Radio broadcast a heartbreaking documentary on May 8-9, 2008 contrasting Zucker's decades-old reparatist methods to more modern treatment protocols. A further exposé of Zucker's reparatist treatment of gender-variant children, "But For Today I Am A Boy" (Français), was published in the Torontoist (on May 9, 2008). OII followed up by raising important questions about Ontario's sponsorship of Zucker's work (see also OII's Open Letter to WPATH)
However, even though he was known to be a trans-reparatist, Zucker was selected to lead the revision of the Amer. Psychiatric Association's section on 'sexual and gender identity disorders' in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). With Zucker thus empowered, there appears to be little chance for removal of GID from the DSM, and trans people will likely be stigmatized for another decade as being mentally ill even after transition. See the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) press release protesting Zucker's DSM selection. The huge scale of the protest was made even more visible in a petition against Zucker's DSM selection that gained over 9,500 signatures (noticia en español). See also the petition protesting Ontario gov't support of Zucker's work. (more, more), and the petition in protest of Zucker's key role in a UK conference on adolescent transitions. More recently, Zucker’s and Blanchard’s gender clinics came under criticism even from within CAMH itself, in a scathing report issued by CAMH's own Diversity Program Office.
For background on needed DSM reforms see GIDReform.org and Kelley Winters' essays ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 ), especially "Blinded Me With Science: The Burden of Proof". See also "DSM ON THE BOOKSHELF", an open letter to WPATH by clinician Tracie O'Keefe [PDF], "DSM: Diagnosing for Status and Money" (more, more, more). See also Prof. Sam Winter's report on how the 'mental-illness' classification causes transphobia all around the world.
On Feb 6, 2009, Joelle Ruby Ryan (chair), Julia Serano, and Kelley Winters, Ph.D. presented a workshop at IFGE 2009 entitled “Disordered” No More: Challenging Transphobia in Psychology, Academia and Society" [NEW], in response to the pathologization of gender variant people by reactionary psychiatrists and sexologists. You'll find a report on the workshop at this link and we'll be posting videos there soon. See also the text of Joelle's presentation, “The Transgender Tipping Point: It is Not the Transperson Who is “Disordered” but the Society in which S/he Lives”, by Joelle Ruby Ryan [PDF], and Kelley's presentation on “Top Ten Problems with the GID Diagnosis”, by Kelley Winters, Ph.D. [PDF]
For more on the pathologization of transpeople by the DSM, see Kelley Winter's new book: Gender Madness in American Psychiatry, Essays from the Struggle for Dignity", by Kelley Winters, Ph.D. [announcement PDF] .
2. Updates on the Zucker's attacks on transgender critics:
In July '07, Zucker as editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior (ASB) subverted that journal as a propaganda machine in defense of ASB editorial board members Bailey, Blanchard, Lawrence (BBL). Zucker did this by announcing and pre-publishing Alice Dreger's one-sided history of the Bailey book investigation. Zucker promoted Dreger's anti-transgender hit-piece as if it were an independent scholarly work, devoting the entire June '08 ASB to Dreger's defense of Bailey, Blanchard and Lawrence – in a not-so-veiled attack on Zucker's own primary trans-critics (Andrea James and Lynn Conway). Ardent Bailey supporter Ben Carey followed with a New York Times article on 8-21-07 in which Dreger portrayed Bailey as a great scientist under siege for 'telling the truth'.
Determined to stop trans criticism of Zucker, Bailey, Blanchard and Lawrence, Dreger went on to launch e-mail attacks and threaten the academic career of graduate student Joelle Ruby Ryan who had proposed a women's study conference panel on transphobia in academe (see Élise Hendrick's commentary, Lynn's comments and this article). Dreger's attempt to prevent Joelle's panel backfired. It was held as scheduled on June 21, 2008 (see flyer and handout), and produced powerful essays that further exposed Bailey and Dreger (see detailed report at this link) including Élise's essay on the odd form of 'academic freedom' claimed by Bailey and Dreger and Andrea's essay "Fair comment, foul play". Videos of all the presentations are posted on YouTube. See also the prestigious Point Foundation 's mention of Joelle's NWSA panel at this link and her upcoming IFGE workshop at this link.
Julia Serano has published an exposé of Dreger 's effort to resurrect Bailey's disgraced career, and her book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity provides the context for understanding these events. For an overview of BBL pseudo-science, see "Science and Ideology: The Blanchard-Bailey-Lawrence Model of Transsexuality, by Élise Hendrick and "The Bailey Affair, Again" by Joan Roughgarden. For a deconstruction of Carey's Times' article, see this essay by Élise Hendrick. Dreger's scholarship was further questioned in June '08 in ASB peer commentary papers highly critical of Dreger's 'history'.
3. Zucker exploits the 'other' APA (Amer. Psych. Assoc.) to push his views and suppress opposition: During 2008, Zucker's attempted to suppress emerging evidence that the prevalence of transsexualism is much greater than he has previously claimed: "Falsification of GID prevalence results by the APA Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance", an Investigative Report by Lynn Conway, 8-28-08 [PDF]. See also Lynn's letter to the President of the APA re that Task Force, 9-05-08 [PDF], and this open letter and investigative report re the APA's response.
4. Zucker's attempt to suppress Lynn's website and attack her freedom of speech: Lynn's exposure of Zucker's reparatist activities and the exploitation of the ASB to disseminate anti-transgender propaganda has apparently been unsettling to Zucker. On January 27, 2009, Zucker responded by falsely accusing Lynn of libel in a letter sent by CAMH attorney Peter Jacobsen to Lynn and to her university - in a clear attempt to suppress Lynn's website on the eve of an IFGE workshop that would prove embarrassing to Zucker. Lynn called Zucker's bluff by openly reporting the attempt to infringe upon her Constitutional rights (En Español, En Français). (For a humorous view of these events, see the cartoon by Jayna Pavlin). News of Zucker's attack quickly spread, as in the Queerty article "Dr. Kenneth Zucker's War on Transgenders" and in essays by Kelley Winters and Mercedes Allen, and Lynn was interviewed by LOGO-TV about Zucker's attack. See also this YouTube video and the 365Gay.com News video: "Transgender Crusader". Evidence then emerged that Zucker had engaged in a pattern of threats against other women. In June '09, Lynn filed a formal complaint of academic misconduct against Zucker (PDF) for launching that unfounded attack.
5. Recent news re the DSM:
4-27-09: Facebook Group launched: "Close the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic"
4-29-09: Documentary Video re the DSM Controversy
5-15-09: "Reform GID Now: A Protest to demand the APA Reform Gender Identity Disorder"
5-15-09: "Resolution by IFGE BOD to APA" (IFGE calls for DSM Reform)
5-16-09: "Transsexualism will no longer be classified as a mental illness in France (FR, DE, ES, NL, PT, SU)
5-19-09: Psychiatric Times: "Gender Identity Disorder: Has Accepted Practice Caused Harm?"
5-20-09: "GID Reform Now Protest At Annual APA Meeting - Speaker Madeline Deutch, M.D." (Links to Video)
5-23-09: "Call to Action to Urge Trans-Affirming Position Statements by the APA"
5-30-09:
"We
say, to the APA, stop sexualizing us!", by Julia Serano, Ph.D.
“Am I seriously suggesting that Michael Jackson was a homosexual autohebephile whose erotic goals included resembling Peter Pan and having sex with pubescent boys? I sure am . . . Does my theory say anything about the origins of Michael Jackson's tremendous talent? There are some correlations between sexuality and abilities. For example, gay men are vastly overrepresented among professional dancers and fashion designers. This may reflect their increased interest in and dedication to dance and fashion, rather than natural talent per se. Autogynephiles tend to be gifted in technical, mathematical, and scientific pursuits, with computer scientist being the prototypic autogynephilic occupation. But we don't really know anything about the occupational interests of hebephiles, much less autohebephiles. Although there have been rock stars accused of child molestation, it doesn't seem as if there has been an excess of such accusations (in the way, say, that a disproportionate number of figure skaters died during the AIDS epidemic, presumably because they were gay).” – J. Michael Bailey
[J. Michael Bailey is a very angry, unfulfilled man. He couldn’t wait until Michael Jackson was in his grave before launching this sexualized, over-the-top pop-psych analysis of possible “paraphilic” sources for the entertainer’s wondrous talent. However, dreaming up ridiculous witch-like labels for the creative gender-variant people whose talents he so deeply envies does not alter the reality that the muse speaks to them – and not to Bailey. In the end, Bailey’s only hope for escaping such ongoing humiliations is the promotion of his eugenics viewpoints, so that such people are not allowed to exist in the first place – and embarrass him by their brilliance.]
"In June 2009, a “transkid” murder hoax perpetrated by “KuryousKyooty” aka "Rachel" aka “Roo” aka “Raychel Edeyn Wilson” was greatly exacerbated after being spread by a number of normally credible people who didn’t bother to confirm any basic facts independently"
[Twenty hallmarks of fake trans personae; Twenty hallmarks of fake trans personae]
7-02-09: Associated Press (re India): "Indian court decriminalizes consensual gay sex" (more, more, more)
"A court ruled Thursday to decriminalize homosexuality in the Indian capital, a groundbreaking decision that could bring more freedom to gays in this deeply conservative country. The Delhi High Court ruled that treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's constitution. The ruling, the first of its kind in India, applies only in New Delhi. "I'm so excited, and I haven't been able to process the news yet," Anjali Gopalan, the executive director of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a sexual health organization that had filed the petition, told reporters. "We've finally entered the 21st century.""
7-02-09: The Huffington Post: "Obama White House Not Appealing Transgender Ruling"
"The Justice Department let the deadline to appeal the decision pass Tuesday, a day after President Barack Obama hosted gay supporters at the White House and promised to be their "champion." . . . Schroer said she saw the administration's decision not to appeal as a recognition that transgender discrimination must end and "gives me renewed hope and restores some of my shaken faith in what our country stands for." "This case put employers on notice that discrimination against transgender individuals is like any other form of discrimination _ counterproductive and against our principles as a nation," she said in a statement."
7-01-09: NBC News (Philadelphia): "Jogger Finds Dead Man Dressed in Drag"
"A jogger found a dead man, wearing women’s clothing, in Fairmount Park Wednesday morning . . . The victim was shot multiple times and the body was still warm when cops arrived, police sources told NBC 10. He was believed to be in his late 30s, according to cops."
[This incredibly insensitive article re-victimizes the murder victim.]
7-01-09: Bangor Daily News: "State rules in favor of young transgender"
"The Maine Human Rights Commission ruled Monday that the Orono School Department discriminated against a transgender child by denying her access to the girls bathroom . . . “This ruling is a huge step forward for a vulnerable population that is entitled to the full protection of the law,” said Zachary Heiden, legal director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. “There will always be voices who claim we’re not ready, we’re not there yet, the time to end discrimination is next year, or next session. But victims of discrimination should not have to wait.”"
6-30-09: "6th Annual March for Transgender Pride" ( Links to pages of photos: 1, 2, 3, 4 )
"This year's march marked San Francisco's sixth year since the event began in 2004 when it was first established to honor Gwen Araujo, a young transgendered woman who was brutally murdered in Newark, California in November of 2002."
6-30-09: The National (UAE re Pakistan): "Pakistan to recognise eunuchs"
"After decades of ignominy and exploitation as painted dancers, singers and beggars, Pakistan’s “third sex” is to be officially surveyed and registered under the direction of the Supreme Court. Iftikhar Chaudhry, the liberal-minded chief justice, ordered the establishment of a commission to conduct the survey after a prominent jurist filed a petition drawing attention to the plight of Pakistan’s several hundred thousand eunuchs. Until the registration takes place, the number of eunuchs is unknown. Community leaders estimate it is at least 400,000."
6-30-09: Townhall.com: “My Idea and Your Consequence” (posted 6-24), by Mike Adams (print version, mirrored by the American Family Association)
“One really bad idea that is thriving in higher education is the so-called trans-gendered rights movement. It is thriving not because of the work of trans-gendered persons but because of feminists who are willing to use them to advance their own ideas about gender and equality. . . The fact that feminists have few children helps facilitate their silly views concerning the “social construction” of male/female differences. Of the six most radical feminists in my department, one has no children and the other five have only one child each . . . Feminists applaud, rather than treat, trans-genders who go to the extreme of permanently mutilating their genitals. And they do so in the name of gender equality. It’s almost as bad as applauding the dismemberment of children in the name of sexual liberation.”
[Note: Adams is the University of North Carolina-Wilmington
faculty-member whose hateful transphobic rants were exposed by Lynn Conway
and Leandra Vicci
in an online investigative report in 2005 (
PDF ). Adams
is still lashing out against the professional ostracism he faced following
that exposure. Meanwhile, the 'Christian' right loves his quirky rhetoric,
and apparently think it's helping their cause!]
6-30-09: MyFoxBoston: "State House debates "Bathroom Bill""
"This bill will make the protection of transgender people explicit, uniform, and visible to the general public. It will include gender identity and expression in the state's non-discrimination statute and will amend existing hate crime laws to explicitly protect people targeted for violence and harassment."
"We're sad to bring you the news of another brutal attack on a transgender woman, this one coming during the height of LGBT Pride month. On June 19, 2009, at approximately 2:30 am, Leslie Mora was walking home from a nightclub on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens when she was accosted by two men who brutally beat her with a belt . . .Throughout the attack, Leslie’s assailants called her a “faggot” in Spanish. The attack left Leslie with multiple injuries, including bruises all over her body, and stitches in her scalp. Police called to the scene found Leslie nearly naked and bleeding on the sidewalk. They also recovered a belt buckle from the assailants that was covered in blood. We want you to know that we're working with Leslie to ensure that the perpetrators of this attack are brought to justice."
6-30-09: NBC Philadelphia News: "Transgender Riders Take On TransPass"
"The transgender community takes on SEPTA’s TransPass (ironically enough) Tuesday. That little “M” or “F” sticker identifying a rider’s gender is enough to cause economic hardship, harassment and lack of access to public transportation for the transgender community, according to Riders Against Gender Exclusion (RAGE)."
6-30-09: WZZM13 (Kalamazoo, MI): "Kalamazoo passes protection for gay, lesbian and transgender people" (more, more)
"It's now illegal for landlords and employers in Kalamazoo to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people."
6-30-09: YouTube: "Church Does Gay Exorcism On Teen"
[More videos of the Gay Exorcism reported on 6-26-09: more, more, more]
6-30-09: Express Buzz (India): "Pain, progress and a pride march" (more, more)
"Shielded by a considerate contingent of police personnel and volunteers, the 4 km long march, “couldn’t have taken place, if not for the support of the state government and the police commissioner,” said Sunil Menon, a health activist, part of the organising committee . . . Mallika, a transsexual from Anna Nagar, was overwhelmed and as her eyes welled up she said, “When I was growing up, I was abused, beaten and ragged. Today, to see people supporting us, hugging us and making us a part of their mainstream lives is touching.”"
6-30-09: Express Buzz (India): "‘We don’t encourage transgenders’"
"Magdalene Jeyarathnam, Founder, Center for Counselling in Chennai, attributes the lack of sustainable employment to “prejudice of the management and a largely intolerant workforce.” . . . A HR professional from a software consultancy firm who requested anonymity said, “We don’t encourage transgenders because we have a diverse workforce and it often offends their religious belief systems and this can lead to lesser productivity.”
"I’ve put a motion before the House to call on the federal government to ensure appropriate health care is accessible across Canada to transsexual and transgender people. Anything less than explicit, full, and comprehensive protection of trans Canadians diminishes Canada’s commitment to equality and diversity. And the failure to fully cover SRS within medicare diminishes the fundamental Canadian vision of public health care . . . Bill Siksay is the member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas and the federal New Democrat critic for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual issues."
6-29-09: SheWired.com: "Kerry Washington Comes Out on Top in 'Cracktown'"
" . . . she tackles her heaviest role to date -- Marybeth, the male-to-female transsexual, heroin-addicted prostitute she plays to perfection in Life Is Hot in Cracktown. From her walk to her talk, Washington nails the part -- and it’s a sure sign her best roles have yet to come. Washington sat down with Advocate.com to talk about the film . . . and how she found her femininity in paying trans."
6-28-09: New York Times: "It’s Time to Learn From Frogs"
"Some of the first eerie signs of a potential health catastrophe came as bizarre deformities in water animals, often in their sexual organs. . . Now scientists are connecting the dots with evidence of increasing abnormalities among humans, particularly large increases in numbers of genital deformities among newborn boys. For example . . . up to 1 percent of boys in the United States are now born with hypospadias, in which the urethra exits the penis improperly, such as at the base "
6-28-09: Gay Wired: "Remembering Stonewall: 40 Years Later" (more, more, more)
6-28-09: Chicago Sun-Times: "Nearly a half-million expected at Gay Pride Parade"
"Actor and activist Alexandra Billings is the parade's Grand Marshal. Considering that Billings, a former Chicagoan who now lives in Hollywood, is a transgender woman and the Stonewall rebellion was fueled in large part by transgender people, parade organizers say it is especially fitting that she is this year's Grand Marshal."
6-28-09: New York Daily News: "Memories of Stonewall are still alive"
"A bartender who was slinging drinks at the Stonewall Inn the night it was raided 40 years ago says young people need to know how far the gay-lesbian bisexual-transsexual movement has come - and what the previous generation sacrificed to get here. . ."They have no idea the older generation went to jail for them . . ."
6-28-09: Daily Mail (UK): "Sex change ops on the NHS have trebled... since the procedure became a 'right'" (more)
"Sex changes on the NHS became a right in July 1999 after the Appeal Court recognised that those who believed they were born into the wrong body were suffering from a legitimate illness. In 1999, the year sex changes became free, 49 people had the operation on the NHS in England. But last year that figure had increased to 137, according to the latest figures from The NHS Information Centre. . . In addition to the NHS figures . . . last year at least 150 Britons had their sex-change operations privately, either abroad or in the UK."
6-28-09: The Hindu (India): "Transgender groups demand right to life" (more)
"BHUBANESWAR: People belonging to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups took out a rally here on Saturday, demanding their right to life and dignity. . . “Those with alternative sexualities and gender identities are expressions of diversity of humanity. We are not suffering from physical or mental illness. Our sexualities and gender are not the result of western culture or media influence; nor are they indicators of cultural degradation,” Subham Mishra, a leading gay activist, said. . . At a seminar earlier, experts and activists hailed the boldness with which these people started pressing for their rights."
6-28-09: The Gleaner (Jamaica): Block loopholes in proposed sex laws - Senator" (more)
" . . . another parliamentarian is urging her colleagues to block every loophole to prevent a man who undergoes a sex change from seeking coverage under the definition of sexual intercourse in the proposed law. . . Government Senator Hyacinth Bennett said the vagina and penis should in the bill, be stated as the natural sex organs as defined at birth . . . She argued that a man could claim to change his gender to that of a woman by having a vagina surgically constructed and then seek coverage under the definition of sexual intercourse."
[Beware: Jamaica is an incredibly homophobic/transphobic society.]
"Certain national and international groups are pushing for the addition of “gender identity” and “gender expression” to anti-discrimination laws. . . Such persons deceive themselves, deceive others, and are being deceived by mental health professionals and surgeons. . . One lie leads to another. A clearly male person presents himself in public as a woman. He has had surgery and hormone treatments to perfect his impersonation and he demands that we pretend this makes him a woman . . .
Those who are obsessed with the idea of being the other sex often resist therapy. They refuse to look at the psychological reasons for their desires. . . Lawrence also points out that when autogynephiles are not accepted as the sex they want to be they can be vulnerable to narcissistic rage . . . If you want to understand the full potential of such wrath, consider the case of John Michael Bailey, whose book The Man who would be Queen provoked retaliation from a small group of persons who didn’t like being labeled autogynephiles. They used the Internet to make outrageous accusations against Bailey, attacking his children, trying to turn colleagues against him, and to have him fired from his job. . . Even if only a small number of autogynephiles are prone to narcissistic revenge, they could cause incredible harm to anyone who speaks the truth . . .
And it gets worse. . . children who think they are the other sex are given puberty-blocking hormones so that secondary sexual characteristics do not appear. Then they are given hormones proper to the other sex, so that at age 18 they can be surgically mutilated. In other words, the entire educational, psychological, and medical establishment is conspiring to see that these children never receive proper treatment."
[This is serious stuff: In the run-up to ENDA, the Catholic Church is escalating its attack on trans people by exploiting the Blanchard/Bailey/Lawrence terminology to defame transitioned women as "autogynephiles." In the process, they are lionizing trans-demonizer J. Michael Bailey as a great scientific truth-seeker whose life was 'ruined' by a tiny group of such witch-like people, citing the historical fiction writing of Bailey-defender Alice Dreger as their 'evidence'. Does this remind you of something? Like when the Church condemned thousands of women as "witches", and produced scholarly tomes to 'prove' that they were 'possessed'?]
6-27-09: WBT (posted 6-26): "Catholic Church as Anti-Trans Hate Group: The Smoking Gun"
6-26-09: Truth Wins Out: "Church’s Exorcism of Gay Teenager Is Child Abuse and Fanaticism Disguised as Faith (CNN story; video of exorcism)
"Shocking Video Reveals Underbelly of ‘Ex-Gay’ Ministries . . . The exorcism video shows a teen writhing on the ground as adults implore so-called “homosexual demons” to get out. The leaders yell at the boy on the ground saying, “Right now in the name of Jesus, I call the homosexuality, right now in the name of Jesus.” This scene unfolds for 20 minutes with the boy in a near seizure, even vomiting."
6-27-09: The Day (Connecticut): "Echoes Of 1969 Still Sound 40 Years Later"
"How could so much happen in one year? And how could it remain so relevant today? There are landmark years, and 1969 was certainly one of them. Forty years ago Sunday the Stonewall riots in New York City marked the start of the modern gay rights movement, and today's continuing debate over same-sex marriage illustrates that while the cause of tolerance has made impressive gains, the fight for equal treatment continues."
6-27-09: AARP: "Stonewall 40th Anniversary"
"What Was Stonewall? Considered the official start of the gay-rights movement, the demonstrations started after police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969."
6-26-09: The Times of India (India): "Transgenders spread the Khwaja's message at Urs"
"If one visits the bus stand or railway station during the night, he will be surprised to see beautiful girls chatting fearlessly on the road." I saw them last night while returning home. They were as beautiful as bollywood actresses. I realized later that they were kinnars," said Laxman Singh Rathore . . . Transgenders have gathered at the Urs since ages. "Khwaja Garib Nawaz gave us the power to bless people," said Sonali . . ."
6-26-09: Centralia Chronicle (Washington): "Becoming a Woman"
"Transgender: Centralia Resident Relives the Hardship, Joy and Process of Changing Her Gender Forever"
6-26-09: BBC News (UK): "Transexual wins surgery funding
"A transsexual from Nottinghamshire has won her fight with the NHS to be given hormone treatment and surgery to change sex from a man to a woman"
6-25-09: Bay Windows: "Local activists among 40 ’transgender heroes’ honored at Stonewall bar"
"Scott . . . feels that the list is an important step in reversing a longstanding trend of erasing transgender people from LGBT history. Many gay people believe that Stonewall was a rebellion led largely by gay white men, he said, and there is a larger perception that the transgender community is a relatively recent addition to the LGBT rights movement. "There’s a lot of history that we’ve been written out of, particularly in the early gay rights movement. ... That whole assumption that we just showed up and started doing activism is so dismissive and not true," said Scott . . . "It’s just about who controlled that conversation, who controlled that message and who gets counted as history.""
6-25-09: EDGE (Boston): "AARP Celebrates Stonewall 40"
"To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, AARP has launched a multiplatform media campaign. Online, television, radio and print content includes contributions from prominent and outspoken members of the LGBT communities."
“When people are in transition, they bring the outside into alignment with something that already exists. They don’t go through as much of a change as the people around them do. Internally they remain consistent, and much of transition is managing everybody else’s experience. The decisions people make when they transition are based on a very stable, enduring sense of self. They tend to really know who they are. It just confuses the rest of us. People may postpone transition because they don’t want to be shut off from friends and family.”
"South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke issued an Executive Order on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 to expand the city's non-discrimination policy for city employees to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Indiana Equality thanks Mayor Luecke for his decision and congratulates the entire South Bend community on this step forward."
6-24-09: GLAD: "Inclusive ENDA: Passage is Essential"
"Help Ensure ENDA Becomes Law: You can help build momentum for the bill’s passage by contacting your legislator today and asking him or her to become a cosponsor. Becoming a cosponsor shows that the representative will stand firm with our community in support of this important legislation."
6-24-09: NCLR: "Action Alert: Take Action NOW to Pass ENDA" (more)
"This historic bill has bipartisan support in the House, but we need your support to make it a reality. Please take action NOW to contact your representatives and urge them to support this crucial piece of legislation that protects all workers."
Sample meeting request letters, and other talking points and resources for your meetings, are available in the following toolkits (pdf):
o
The Task
Force ENDA Grassroots Toolkit
o National
Center for Transgender Equality’s Making Your Voice Heard
o PFLAG’s Bringing
the Message Home
6-24-09: GID Reform: "Revision Suggestions for Gender Related Diagnoses in the DSM and ICD
[A synopsis of a presentation to The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) 2009 XXI Biennial Symposium, June 19, 2009 by Ehrbar, Randall D., Psy.D.; Winters, Kelley, Ph.D.; Gorton, R. Nicholas, M.D.]
[Link to complete presentation]
6-24-09: Advance for Nurses: "A Sensitive Nursing Subject - Healthcare providers have victimized transgendered patients in many ways."
"Healthcare providers and society have victimized the community of transgendered patients in many ways. Often, these patients are experiencing multiple losses and are surrounded by their own veil of isolation from their families, friends and co-workers. In addition, they may not seek preventative healthcare or care for acute illness, as it will reinforce their negative experiences or perceptions of how they were treated in the past by healthcare providers. A patient could be bullied, teased or ostracized by members of the behavioral health milieu, including staff, and experience the victim role once again. Often these patients find themselves without healthcare insurance because of unemployment, homelessness and difficulty obtaining access and insurance coverage for medically-desired procedures and for follow-up once the insurer learns they are transgendered . . ."
[An important article to bring to the attention of medical care providers]
6-24-09: Now Toronto (Canada): "When gender is tender"
"Trannies know who they are; it’s everyone else who’s confused"
6-23-09:
New York Times: "New Protections for Transgender Federal Workers"
"Lawyers for President Obama are quietly drafting first-of-their kind guidelines barring workplace discrimination against transgender federal employees, officials said Tuesday."
6-22-09: Examiner.com: "'Make-over Camp': good for girls?
"A controversial new summer camp teaches girls ages 10 to 14 how to develop their “presence.” The definition of “presence” appears to involve fashion, makeup, hostess skills, table setting, and flower arranging. And while some girls will inevitably want to attend such a camp, it can present dangers. Parents of transgendered or gender-diverse girls might send their daughter to such a camp in the hope of “changing” or “correcting” her, rather than letting her express her true gender identity. For a girl with gender identity issues or a strong male gender identity, such a camp could cause enormous emotional trauma."
"Starting with different beliefs and assumptions about appropriate diagnoses for transgender and gender variant individuals suffering from gender dysphoria, the members of this panel have reached similar conclusions about desirable changes to diagnostic categories in the next version of the DSM and ICD."
6-19-09: Dallas Voice: "Trans-cending time"
"The transgender movement since the Stonewall Riots, especially in the last 30 years, has gained an almost surprising strength and a proud sense of validation. Its rich history is closely tied to both gay and feminist liberation movements, which seek various forms of gender freedom"
"Transgender issues have been in the news with the recent announcement that Cher's daughter, Chaz Bono, is transitioning from female to male. This subject has been plagued by misunderstanding and fear of the unknown. Transgender children are often shamed, bullied, and made to feel totally alone. As adolescents and adults, they face denial of adequate medical coverage and other forms of discrimination - and worse."
6-18-09: Entertainment Tonight: "Alexis Arquette: A Proud Transgender Female's Advice to Chaz Bono"
6-18-09: Shanghai Daily (China): "New rules on safety of sex-change operations"
"The rules also require a psychiatrist's diagnosis that the applicant has a gender identity disorder and is free of mental illness. He or she must have wanted the surgery for at least five years and lived under the new gender role for at least two years . . . The No. 411 Hospital performed 166 sex-change surgeries last year, mostly on people in their 30s."We turn down thousands of people every year because they can't provide the proper documents or their personal situation is not suitable," said Zhao, one of He's students."
"Vivienne, 42, of Glasgow, is undergoing male-to-female gender reassignment. She has been receiving counselling and hormone treatment for 14 months under the NHS, and is planning to have the full operation in Thailand in October. "
"Grace and persistence under almost unendurable circumstances have earned Victor Juliet Mukasa a place at the head of this year's Pride parade (in South Africa). Still, for someone who's been punished because of his gender identity, "a transperson," as the 33-year-old Ugandan calls himself, the prospect of serving as Pride Week's international grand marshal is scarey."
6-17-09: DNA (India): "You can mark T for transgender in TN"
"Sexual minorities hardly ever have it easy. Marginalised by the regular Joes and Janes, they live along the fringes of society. But there is light at the end of their despair-ridden tunnel, at least in Tamil Nadu, where the state government has introduced schemes to bring transgender people and eunuchs back into the mainstream."
6-17-09: BBC News (re Laos): "Laos tackles transgender taboos"
A new drive to contain the spread of HIV/Aids in Laos is forcing officials to recognise a marginalised group - transgender men known as "katheoy".The BBC's Jill McGivering went to meet some of them in the capital, Vientiane"
[What's with the BBC? Why are they referring to transgender women as "transgender men"? Good grief, how clueless can you get!]
"Shocking new claims in the death of David Carradine. His producer friend David Winters believes Carradine was murdered by transsexual hookers. He tells Globe magazine, "David Carradine was murdered... I strongly believe Lady Boys are responsible. Lady Boys operate in pairs. David would not have stood a chance. They can be very brutal.”"
[Here we go: trans-bashing rumors created to deflect rumors of an autosexual accident]
6-17-09: Examiner.com: "Tri-Ess: The Society for the Second Self"
"Crossdressers are probably as misunderstood in our society as are transsexuals. But crossdressers are not transsexuals, nor are they drag queens. Instead, they are (usually) heterosexual men who dress in what society considers “female” clothing and take on a female appearance in order to express a feminine side of their personality."
6-17-09: Southern Voice: "Frank to introduce ENDA next week"
"Diego Sanchez, who is transgender and a senior policy adviser to Frank, said the bill will be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity."
6-17-09: Wall Street Journal (re China): "China Issues Draft Rules on Sex Change" (more)
"According to official news agency Xinhua, there are an estimated 1,000 transsexuals in China. The English-language China Daily, however, cites experts who put the number of sex changes in China nearly 2,000 Chinese to date, with another 100,000 to 400,000 considering the surgery"
6-17-09: Women Born Transsexual: "Alice Dreger," by Andrea Brown [PDF]
"Alice Dreger is a fan and friend of J. Michael Bailey and has defended him completely, every chance she has got. It is a strange position for someone to take who claims to be an ethicist . . ."
6-16-09: New York Times: ""Sex Change: Second Chance - Terry Cummings" (video story)
"After a heart problem in 2006, Terry Cummings decided to face her lifelong gender dysphoria, a psychological discomfort with her sex, and make the change from male to female."
6-16-09: China Daily (China): "Sex change surgery guidelines drafted"
"Candidates for the surgery must be older than 20 and single, the draft guideline said. They are also required to prove a persistent desire for a sex change, to live for at least five consecutive years full-time in the new gender role, and to engage in mental therapy for at least one year."
It is now as difficult for transsexual people to get access to health services in communist China as it is via government-funded programmes in Toronto at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
6-16-09: Fox News: "First Photo of Chaz Bono Surfaces Since Sex-Change Process Began"
6-16-09: Mom Logic: "The Courage of Chaz Bono"
Dr. Michelle Golland: Chaz Bono's decision to go through the process of becoming a man is one that, as a mental health professional, I know will benefit other people struggling with the same issue: now they have an open and public role model to look toward."
6-16-09: CNN: "Commentary: Transgender people are everywhere," by Donna Rose
"Transgender people -- that is, people who may not experience or express their gender in ways that are necessarily typical for the physical sex of their body -- have been part of the fabric of cultures for as long as history has been recorded. We're a cross-section of society -- pilots, engineers, doctors, factory workers, artisans and pretty much anything else you can imagine. It was only a matter of time before we came to Hollywood. Make no mistake -- Chaz isn't the first and certainly won't be the last."
6-16-09: Researchwithpride.org (Toronto, Canada): "Research with Pride: A Community Forum," Thursday June 18, 2009, 6-8pm, 519 Church Street Community Centre (contact e-mail)
"This community sounding will help shape and direct the Research with Pride: A Community Forum that will be hosted in October 2009. . . We are lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans students and allies at the University of Toronto who are concerned with the health needs of our communities. We come from different disciplines including public health, nursing and health policy and we share the recognition of a gap between LGBTT2IQQ health needs and the health resources our community actually receives . . .We know that certain members of our communities have been exploited, pathologised and made invisible by research that was supposed to be “for our own good.”. . . As more LGBTT2IQQ individuals have entered academia and/or engaged in community-based research, some of us are trying to redefine what research into LGBTT2IQQ health can look like."
6-16-09: USA Today: "Christian conservatives fight expansion of hate-crimes law" (more)
"Conservative
Christian leaders are fighting a bill that would provide federal hate-crimes
coverage to gays and lesbians, prompting questions of who, if anyone, should
be protected by such laws."
"Stephen Whittle, vice president of the “transgendered” lobby group Press For Change, and a woman who has undergone surgery to look like a man, told the bill committee that the law should be applied to “trans people,” who are only at the “stage of life” where they merely “cross-dress part-time.” “That goes right through to people who have undergone gender reassignment,” she said. . . In an article published this weekend in the Catholic Herald, discrimination law expert Neil Addison wrote that the Equality Bill is a direct attack on religious freedom in Britain.”
[Yet another hateful rant from the 'Christian' right]
6-15-09: TS Roadmap: "Megan B. McCormick, transsexualism, and J. Michael Bailey," by Andrea James (more)
"Megan McCormick engaged in fraud in hopes of obtaining a signed photo from me, so she could give it to someone I helped bring up on formal charges. Ms. McCormick’s behavior is analogous to requesting a signed photo from a prominent black activist on behalf of a nonexistent black admirer, then giving it to white nationalist David Duke as a gag gift. That sort of fraud is not exactly the kind of behavior I’d want in my lawyer, so I believe it’s in the public interest to make available the unsolicited materials Megan McCormick sent to me via my website. . .
What kind of person decides on a lark to get involved in a dispute between a controversial academic and the victims of his pseudoscience? What kind of person engages in fraud to obtain a signed gift for J. Michael Bailey from someone who helped file charges against him? Only Megan B. McCormick can explain her troubling behavior, but she’s been too busy trying to erase materials she published on the internet. In the same way that shame-filled crossdressers purge their clothing collection when caught, Megan McCormick has attempted to purge all online evidence she’s published, but it was too late. The internet never forgets." – Andrea James
6-15-09: Gotham Gazette: "40 Years After Stonewall: New York's Role in the Movement," by Andy Humm
"The Stonewall Rebellion, when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people fought back against police repression at a Greenwich Village bar with a six-day riot in June 1969 is considered the birth of the modern "gay rights" movement."
"As Istanbul is preparing for a new Chief of Police, many segments of the city are happy that Celalettin Cerrah is going. . . According to transexual Beren, "During the six years that Celalettin Cerrah has been Istanbul Chief of Police, the violence against transvestites and transexuals (TT) has risen very noticably. His time in office has been a turning point for the worse." Compared with the previous Chief of Police, so Beren, Cerrah has made Istanbul a much more difficult city to live in."
"Broussard said she was twice denied entrance to Park Central, 318 W. College Ave., and said an employee told her if she "used either bathroom it would cause confusion for the other patrons," and that she should go to a club that caters to "her kind.""
"Thailand's cosmetic and gender reassignment surgery industry is bucking the global economic downturn, with glamorous international ladyboy shows a walking advertisement for the skills of local surgeons. Preecha Tiewtranon, chairman and CEO of the Preecha Aesthetic Institute, the nation's leading cosmetic and reconstructive surgery provider, said Thailand remained the world's leading destination for such operations."
