Sunday, August 30, 2009
News media sucks at reporting on violent attacks on transgender individuals in Washington, D.C.
It has been a frightening week to be trans in Washington, D.C.
Posted by Jos - August 28, 2009, at 02:53PM
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Posted by Jos - August 28, 2009, at 02:53PM
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India: First of its kind: A clinic just for transgenders
Bosco Dominique, TNN 29 August 2009, 03:43am IST
PUDUCHERRY: Transgenders, often distanced by society, will soon have a clinic functioning exclusively for them in this former French enclave.
Even as a group of transgenders in Chennai launched a matrimonial website exclusively for them, in Puducherry the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute showcased a clinic, which, they claimed was the first such medical facility for transgenders in south India.
The clinic boasting of providing complete health care services for transgenders will offer consultation and treatment free of cost in the disciplines of gynaecology, urology, dermatology, psychiatry and paediatrics. ‘‘The transgender clinic will function thrice a week from 9am to 3pm,’’ said Prof D R Gunasekaran, V-C of the Sri
Balaji Vidyapeeth University to which the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College is affiliated.
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PUDUCHERRY: Transgenders, often distanced by society, will soon have a clinic functioning exclusively for them in this former French enclave.
Even as a group of transgenders in Chennai launched a matrimonial website exclusively for them, in Puducherry the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute showcased a clinic, which, they claimed was the first such medical facility for transgenders in south India.
The clinic boasting of providing complete health care services for transgenders will offer consultation and treatment free of cost in the disciplines of gynaecology, urology, dermatology, psychiatry and paediatrics. ‘‘The transgender clinic will function thrice a week from 9am to 3pm,’’ said Prof D R Gunasekaran, V-C of the Sri
Balaji Vidyapeeth University to which the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College is affiliated.
Full Story
Thursday, August 27, 2009
D.C. Bathroom Signs: Ignored By Many, Hated By Some, Expensive, and Possibly Illegal
Posted by Amanda Hess on Aug. 12, 2009, at 1:30 pm
When Omar Miskinyar opened 14th Street NW nightlife spot Policy earlier this year, he invested in the unexpected. Inside the sprawling restaurant, bar, and lounge, ornate chandeliers hang below exposed pipes and ducts. Graffiti by artist Andrew Funk blazes across the tasteful taupe walls. Cherry-red patent-leather booths ring a bar with a wall of flat-screen televisions. And rather than pants vs. triangle, “ladies” vs. “gents,” or “Barbie” vs. “Ken,” the doors to the restrooms are marked with a pair of swirled Plexiglas exclamation points. One is blue, the other is pink. They’re the size of human beings.
Human beings, however, do not always fit the color scheme. That raises something of a grammatical problem for Miskinyar: Policy’s subtly gendered punctuation may be inconsistent with a little-known provision of D.C. human rights law.
Since 2006, the D.C. Human Rights Act has protected transgender men and women from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations—including restrooms. Since public bathrooms are traditionally gender-specific, gender nonconforming clientele have faced harassment, attack, and even arrest for picking the “wrong” gendered stall. Restaurants with multi-stall bathrooms segregated by gender can work to eliminate discrimination by ensuring that even when rooms are marked for ladies or gentlemen, they’re free of harassment for the spot’s gender-variant pissers.
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When Omar Miskinyar opened 14th Street NW nightlife spot Policy earlier this year, he invested in the unexpected. Inside the sprawling restaurant, bar, and lounge, ornate chandeliers hang below exposed pipes and ducts. Graffiti by artist Andrew Funk blazes across the tasteful taupe walls. Cherry-red patent-leather booths ring a bar with a wall of flat-screen televisions. And rather than pants vs. triangle, “ladies” vs. “gents,” or “Barbie” vs. “Ken,” the doors to the restrooms are marked with a pair of swirled Plexiglas exclamation points. One is blue, the other is pink. They’re the size of human beings.
Human beings, however, do not always fit the color scheme. That raises something of a grammatical problem for Miskinyar: Policy’s subtly gendered punctuation may be inconsistent with a little-known provision of D.C. human rights law.
Since 2006, the D.C. Human Rights Act has protected transgender men and women from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations—including restrooms. Since public bathrooms are traditionally gender-specific, gender nonconforming clientele have faced harassment, attack, and even arrest for picking the “wrong” gendered stall. Restaurants with multi-stall bathrooms segregated by gender can work to eliminate discrimination by ensuring that even when rooms are marked for ladies or gentlemen, they’re free of harassment for the spot’s gender-variant pissers.
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Tucson man convicted in attack on transsexual Vietnam veteran
By Carol Ann Alaimo
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.25.2009
A Tucson man was convicted of assault and disorderly conduct Monday for attacking a transsexual Vietnam veteran, who testified that her assailant mocked her before the attack.
Defendant Richard Ray Young denied the name-calling but was sentenced to 30 days in jail, a $1,000 fine and three years' probation for the assault last October at Tucson Greyhound Park.
Judge Pro Tem Richard Madril of South Tucson Municipal Court also ordered him to take anger-management counseling and be assessed for alcohol abuse.
The victim, Janey Kay, who was born male and had surgery early last year to become female, sustained a cut lip and had two handfuls of hair ripped from her scalp in the incident.
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Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.25.2009
A Tucson man was convicted of assault and disorderly conduct Monday for attacking a transsexual Vietnam veteran, who testified that her assailant mocked her before the attack.
Defendant Richard Ray Young denied the name-calling but was sentenced to 30 days in jail, a $1,000 fine and three years' probation for the assault last October at Tucson Greyhound Park.
Judge Pro Tem Richard Madril of South Tucson Municipal Court also ordered him to take anger-management counseling and be assessed for alcohol abuse.
The victim, Janey Kay, who was born male and had surgery early last year to become female, sustained a cut lip and had two handfuls of hair ripped from her scalp in the incident.
Full Story
New Zealand: Transgender law change support grows
Posted in: New Zealand Daily News
By GayNZ.com Daily News staff - 27th August 2009
MPs from across the main political parties are pledging their support for changes to legislation to improve the legal status of transgender people.
A report based on the groundbreaking Human Rights Commission Transgender Inquiry, titled To Be Who I Am and released early last year, called for changes to laws which currently exclude transgender people from discrimination protection and which require gender reassignment surgery before a person's legal gender identity can be changed.
Genderbridge, an organisation set up to support transgender people, says Auckland Central and National MP Nikki Kaye is the latest to confirm her support for the changes and ACT leader Rodney Hyde has for some months signaled his support. Gay Greens MP Kevin Hague has confirmed that his party's nine MPs are "fully supportive of the proposed changes," according to Genderbridge's Allyson Hamblett.
Justice Minister Simon Power is understood to be supportive and Hamblett says an approach is soon to be made to Prime Minister John Key. The Labour party has long looked favourably on such changes.
Original Story
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By GayNZ.com Daily News staff - 27th August 2009
MPs from across the main political parties are pledging their support for changes to legislation to improve the legal status of transgender people.
A report based on the groundbreaking Human Rights Commission Transgender Inquiry, titled To Be Who I Am and released early last year, called for changes to laws which currently exclude transgender people from discrimination protection and which require gender reassignment surgery before a person's legal gender identity can be changed.
Genderbridge, an organisation set up to support transgender people, says Auckland Central and National MP Nikki Kaye is the latest to confirm her support for the changes and ACT leader Rodney Hyde has for some months signaled his support. Gay Greens MP Kevin Hague has confirmed that his party's nine MPs are "fully supportive of the proposed changes," according to Genderbridge's Allyson Hamblett.
Justice Minister Simon Power is understood to be supportive and Hamblett says an approach is soon to be made to Prime Minister John Key. The Labour party has long looked favourably on such changes.
Original Story
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World's first matrimonial site for transsexuals
Insiya Amir, TNN 27 August 2009, 01:39am IST
Kalki Subramanian is young, liberated and looking for an Indian man who is loving, compassionate, educated. Oh, and one more thing — he should be
OK with marrying a transsexual.
But Kalki isn’t leaving her hopes for a suitable boy to destiny. The founder-director of the Sahodari foundation, that works for transgenders, is setting up a matrimonial website for transsexual women — the first of its kind in the world.
With the Internet matchmaking portal, to be launched on Thursday, she also hopes to create a debate about the issues of matrimony and adoption for transgenders. “There has to be legal clarity for transsexuals to live a better life. We have been discriminated against and exploited for very long”, she says.
Unlike, other dating services in the world, where transgenders are set up with other transgenders, www.thirunangai.net will give transsexual women a chance to find a man of their dreams. Thirunangai, incidentally, means respectable woman in Tamil.
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Kalki Subramanian is young, liberated and looking for an Indian man who is loving, compassionate, educated. Oh, and one more thing — he should be
OK with marrying a transsexual.
But Kalki isn’t leaving her hopes for a suitable boy to destiny. The founder-director of the Sahodari foundation, that works for transgenders, is setting up a matrimonial website for transsexual women — the first of its kind in the world.
With the Internet matchmaking portal, to be launched on Thursday, she also hopes to create a debate about the issues of matrimony and adoption for transgenders. “There has to be legal clarity for transsexuals to live a better life. We have been discriminated against and exploited for very long”, she says.
Unlike, other dating services in the world, where transgenders are set up with other transgenders, www.thirunangai.net will give transsexual women a chance to find a man of their dreams. Thirunangai, incidentally, means respectable woman in Tamil.
Full Story
DC: Q Street Double Stabbing Leaves 1 Dead
Two transgender women stabbed in broad daylight
Updated: Wednesday, 26 Aug 2009, 11:27 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 26 Aug 2009, 3:59 PM EDT
* By ROBY CHAVEZ/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON, D.C. - D.C. Police say a double stabbing in broad daylight left one person dead and another injured in Northwest Washington on Wednesday.
Police say two people were stabbed in the 200 block of Q Street Northwest around 2:30 p.m. Officers found two transgender women in front of the building when they arrived. One of those victims later died at a hospital, while another is wounded but in stable condition.
The crime scene was an alarming sight for residents who live on Q Street. One neighbor told FOX 5 they saw the two victims running from their attacker, and that one of them collapsed on the sidewalk. That victim later died.
Full Story
Updated: Wednesday, 26 Aug 2009, 11:27 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 26 Aug 2009, 3:59 PM EDT
* By ROBY CHAVEZ/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON, D.C. - D.C. Police say a double stabbing in broad daylight left one person dead and another injured in Northwest Washington on Wednesday.
Police say two people were stabbed in the 200 block of Q Street Northwest around 2:30 p.m. Officers found two transgender women in front of the building when they arrived. One of those victims later died at a hospital, while another is wounded but in stable condition.
The crime scene was an alarming sight for residents who live on Q Street. One neighbor told FOX 5 they saw the two victims running from their attacker, and that one of them collapsed on the sidewalk. That victim later died.
Full Story
Attorney: Victim was transgender inmate
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The attorney for a man who was allegedly sexually assaulted Sunday at O'ahu Community Correctional Center said the victim is a transgender inmate and that the assailant is a male corrections officer.
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Lawyer Myles Breiner said his client, 31, is being held at OCCC while awaiting transfer to Laumaka Work Furlough Center, a transitional program for inmates who are about to be released. Breiner said his client has served eight years of a 10-year sentence for burglary and was transferred to OCCC from Halawa Correctional Facility late last year.
Breiner said his client has the appearance of a woman, but has not undergone surgery to become a woman. Breiner said the inmate was therefore placed in a prison module for men.
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Advertiser Staff Writer
The attorney for a man who was allegedly sexually assaulted Sunday at O'ahu Community Correctional Center said the victim is a transgender inmate and that the assailant is a male corrections officer.
Advertisement
Lawyer Myles Breiner said his client, 31, is being held at OCCC while awaiting transfer to Laumaka Work Furlough Center, a transitional program for inmates who are about to be released. Breiner said his client has served eight years of a 10-year sentence for burglary and was transferred to OCCC from Halawa Correctional Facility late last year.
Breiner said his client has the appearance of a woman, but has not undergone surgery to become a woman. Breiner said the inmate was therefore placed in a prison module for men.
Full Story
Sunday, August 23, 2009
HEALTH-ARGENTINA: "Buddies" Ease Transgenders' Hospital Visits
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (IPS) - Keeping a hospital appointment in the Argentine capital is a far less fearsome ordeal for transgender persons, a sector of the population that according to doctors had "dramatic" statistics of illness, when they are accompanied by trained health promoters who, like them, have chosen a different gender identity.
"It's easier to communicate among ourselves than with hospital staff," Valeria RamÃrez, a transgender promoter with the city of Buenos Aires' Programme to Facilitate Access to the Health System for the Transgender Population, told IPS.
In place since 2007, the strategy has increased the frequency of consultation and health check-ups by this marginalised community, as well as boosting the immune systems of those infected with HIV/AIDS.
Full Story
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (IPS) - Keeping a hospital appointment in the Argentine capital is a far less fearsome ordeal for transgender persons, a sector of the population that according to doctors had "dramatic" statistics of illness, when they are accompanied by trained health promoters who, like them, have chosen a different gender identity.
"It's easier to communicate among ourselves than with hospital staff," Valeria RamÃrez, a transgender promoter with the city of Buenos Aires' Programme to Facilitate Access to the Health System for the Transgender Population, told IPS.
In place since 2007, the strategy has increased the frequency of consultation and health check-ups by this marginalised community, as well as boosting the immune systems of those infected with HIV/AIDS.
Full Story
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Genes, not just drugs, can bend gender too
By Marlowe Hood (AFP) – 6 hours ago
PARIS — The gender test ordered up for the South African wunderkind who grabbed 800-metre gold this week could reveal any of several genetic disorders resulting in a physically ambiguous sexual identity, experts say.
Hormones and surgery, in other words, are not the only things that can bend gender to boost female performance by shape-shifting bodies and building muscle mass.
But taking steroids or hiding a sex-change is cheating.
Being born with unusual chromosomes is not, which raises the uncomfortable possibility that an athlete could be stripped of a gold medal because of her -- or his -- genes.
Whether this is what lies in store for 18-year-old Caster Semenya, who demolished the competition at the athletics world championships in Berlin, is still unknown.
Full Story
PARIS — The gender test ordered up for the South African wunderkind who grabbed 800-metre gold this week could reveal any of several genetic disorders resulting in a physically ambiguous sexual identity, experts say.
Hormones and surgery, in other words, are not the only things that can bend gender to boost female performance by shape-shifting bodies and building muscle mass.
But taking steroids or hiding a sex-change is cheating.
Being born with unusual chromosomes is not, which raises the uncomfortable possibility that an athlete could be stripped of a gold medal because of her -- or his -- genes.
Whether this is what lies in store for 18-year-old Caster Semenya, who demolished the competition at the athletics world championships in Berlin, is still unknown.
Full Story
After losing her job, transgender Utahn fights workplace discrimination
Bias » Salt Lake City Library forum will focus on topic tonight.
By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 08/19/2009 06:14:49 PM MDT
Salt Lake City resident Candice Metzler wanted to let her work colleagues see the transition she already had begun in her personal life. Known to them as a man, Metzler wore mascara, eyeliner and white-tipped acrylic nails to a company barbecue.
Three months later, Metzler, was unemployed and homeless. Although her boss had supported her coming out as transgender, clients began shunning the small, home-inspection enterprise after the picnic. The struggling business let Metzler go.
She felt the sting of discrimination more sharply, she said, as she applied to job after job in the construction industry but was turned down. She lost her home and lived on the streets for nearly a year. She finally found a job as a receptionist.
Full Story
By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 08/19/2009 06:14:49 PM MDT
Salt Lake City resident Candice Metzler wanted to let her work colleagues see the transition she already had begun in her personal life. Known to them as a man, Metzler wore mascara, eyeliner and white-tipped acrylic nails to a company barbecue.
Three months later, Metzler, was unemployed and homeless. Although her boss had supported her coming out as transgender, clients began shunning the small, home-inspection enterprise after the picnic. The struggling business let Metzler go.
She felt the sting of discrimination more sharply, she said, as she applied to job after job in the construction industry but was turned down. She lost her home and lived on the streets for nearly a year. She finally found a job as a receptionist.
Full Story
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Lack of Coverage on Transgendered Pakistanis Shows Bias in US Media
Huffington Post: Sanjeev Bery
Sanjeev Bery writes on U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.
Posted: August 19, 2009 03:44 PM
It probably wasn't the first time that someone had organized an Independence Day cricket match in Pakistan. But it almost certainly was the first time that such a match occurred between a team of professional cricket players and a team of transgendered Pakistanis.
As the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported, the transgendered team won.
Known as hijras, transgendered Pakistanis and Indians have historically lived in their own communities and within their own cultural contexts. The word hijra combines a range of sexual identities -- gay crossdressers, hermaphradites -- who identify as female, and male-to-female transgendered individuals. In Indian and Pakistani English, words like "eunuch" and "transvestite" are often used in place of the word hijra.
Of course, it goes without saying that many Pakistani hijras, like their Indian counterparts, live challenging lives of discrimination and social stigma. That is why it was such positive news when the Pakistani Supreme Court recently ruled that transgendered citizens cannot be discriminated against in Pakistani government welfare programs. The Court also directed the government to take specific steps to ensure their well-being.
In the words of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, "Eunuchs are also the citizens of Pakistan and should be given basic fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution."
Of course, even the most sophisticated consumers of American media are unlikely to be aware of such developments. Why? Because American media outlets didn't report on them. For American reporters and editors, Pakistan only exists in the context of security concerns: the Taliban, terrorism, fundamentalist Islam, and the war in Afghanistan.
Full Story
Sanjeev Bery writes on U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.
Posted: August 19, 2009 03:44 PM
It probably wasn't the first time that someone had organized an Independence Day cricket match in Pakistan. But it almost certainly was the first time that such a match occurred between a team of professional cricket players and a team of transgendered Pakistanis.
As the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported, the transgendered team won.
Known as hijras, transgendered Pakistanis and Indians have historically lived in their own communities and within their own cultural contexts. The word hijra combines a range of sexual identities -- gay crossdressers, hermaphradites -- who identify as female, and male-to-female transgendered individuals. In Indian and Pakistani English, words like "eunuch" and "transvestite" are often used in place of the word hijra.
Of course, it goes without saying that many Pakistani hijras, like their Indian counterparts, live challenging lives of discrimination and social stigma. That is why it was such positive news when the Pakistani Supreme Court recently ruled that transgendered citizens cannot be discriminated against in Pakistani government welfare programs. The Court also directed the government to take specific steps to ensure their well-being.
In the words of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, "Eunuchs are also the citizens of Pakistan and should be given basic fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution."
Of course, even the most sophisticated consumers of American media are unlikely to be aware of such developments. Why? Because American media outlets didn't report on them. For American reporters and editors, Pakistan only exists in the context of security concerns: the Taliban, terrorism, fundamentalist Islam, and the war in Afghanistan.
Full Story
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