11/27/09-by Paula Brooks
The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario is catching flak over H1N1 vaccinations… not because it is giving them… or concerns that a batch of H1N1 swine flu vaccine was recalled after reports that the shots were leading to great number of severe allergic reactions…but because it sent students home with a vaccination consent form that included a line asking if the students, were transgender as well as male and female…

Last week, Ontario health officials expanded their H1N1 vaccination program to include elementary school children and adults over 65 with chronic health problems beginning Monday free of charge.

Sault Ste. Maries’ Algoma Public Health Unit, which issued the forms to the School District, indicated that the collection of information on other genders besides male and female in the Health Units jurisdiction was a requirement of the Ontario Ministry of Health.

However, Sault Ste. Marie Catholic School Trustee Kathleen Rosilius has taken issue with the consent forms and questioned the appropriateness of distributing the vaccination consent forms in Catholic schools, telling the conservative LifeSiteNews that the forms are, “agenda-driven, social-engineering.”

Unlike other health units in Canada that have experienced shortages of the H1N1 vaccine, a few small northern health units including Algoma, were initially provided proportionately more vaccine because of concerns about transportation and weather problems in that part of Canada, so the the rural Canadian health district decided to expand its vaccination program to other less than high risk groups.

On Wednesday however, the World Health Organization (WHO) and a pharmaceutical company warned the doctors in Canada not to use a batch of H1N1 swine flu vaccines after reports that the shots were leading to great number of severe allergic reactions…. There have been 24 confirmed cases of a type of severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis in Canadians who have received an H1N1 flu shot, including one person who died after getting vaccinated…

While elementary school students Canada have not been considered a high risk group, and it is not known if this Health District received the vaccines in question, children are highly susceptible to the H1N1 virus and it is well known that influenza will spread rapidly amongst elementary school students, then on to others including those who may be considered high risk, so vaccinating children contributes to reduce transmission to others….

So notwithstanding some Catholics getting their panties in a bunch over the consent form wording… all in all it is generally a pretty good idea to have your elementary school aged child vaccinated… at least it will be after the Canadian government health officials get it figured out why the vaccinations are killing people…

And as a gay mom… I would have to say that I would be far more concerned about the fact that vaccinations that are supposed to be keeping my children safe and well might not be doing that… instead of worrying the wording on a permission slip does not fit my view of the world.

Too bad doctors and scientist can’t come up way to make safe vaccines or a vaccination for bigotry and ignorance…

via Sault Ste. Marie Catholic School Board Using Gender-Confused H1N1 Vaccine Consent Form.

Photo via Kodomut on Flickr

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Posted by Melanie Nathan; Today,  Nov 20^th  is  Transgender Day of Remembrance. A sombre day with hundreds of  events around the world to honor  the memories of lives lost to anti-transgender violence. This day of Remembrance is celebrated with events purposeful in memoriam, advocacy and education.

The day was first observed by Transgender communities in 1999, and is held on the anniversary of the death of Rita Hester, a transgender woman whose life was cut short in Boston just weeks following the gay-bashing death of Matthew Shepard. To date, her murder, like most anti-transgender murder cases, remains an unsolved crime.

Events are planned in many centers around the US, including Portland, New York, Richmond, San Francisco and many more, including abroad. 

This year’s commemoration also comes just weeks after President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which added gender identity to the federal hate crimes law.  This year’s Day of Remembrance is especially poignant, coming on the heels of the one year anniversary of Lateisha Green’s shooting death in Syracuse, New York.  Her killing led to New York State’s first-ever hate crime conviction stemming from the death of a transgender person.  It was just the second such conviction in United States history.

Let us remember -
Angie Zapata, an 18-year old Latina transgender woman was found brutally murdered in her home in CO.
 2009:
Taysia Elzy, age 34  Indianapolis, Indiana USA;
Caprice Curry, age 31 San Francisco, California
Jimmy McCollough, drag performer, 34, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Foxy Ivy, under 35, Detroit, Michigan
Kelly (Frederick) Watson, age 32 , Albuquerque, New Mexico
Christopher Jermaine Scott, 30, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cesar Torres, 39,  El Paso, Texas
Beyonce (Eric) Lee,  21 New Orleans, Louisiana
Tyli’a Mack also known as NaNa Boo, 21, Washington, DC
Paulina Ibarra,  21 East Hollywood, California
JJDoe, Baltrimore  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-stabbing1026,0,2707985.story
Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado,: Cayey, Peurto Rico,  decapitated,  November 14, 2009
Jorge was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. Jorge was 19 years old.
Sources: http://www.365gay.com/news/murder-suspect-thought-puerto-rico-gay-teen-was-a-woman/

Please feel free to list names in the comments section – with asmuch information as you would like to provide.

Posted and blogged by – Melanie Nathan. nathan@privatecourts.com

11/04/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
What would Jesus do if he was a transwoman? That is, in some ways, what Jesus Christ: Queen of Heaven is asking. The play explores the journey of faith that one transwoman, the playwright Jo Clifford, undertook. Transgender deities are not uncommon in ancient times, of course, with there being masculine and feminine forms of deities. The Goddess Aphrodite has been said to have had a masculine form and that she would go between them. In fact, one Catholic saint is said to have taken on the visage of Christ, even growing a beard.

Jesus Christ: Queen of Heaven is part of the Glasgay!, a celebration of Scotland’s LGBT culture. Organizers of the festival have stated that they did not intend for this to be offensive or to cause controversy. Unfortunately, the play drew three hundred protesters who decried the play waving placards and singing hymns. Some of the placards could have been called incitement to homophobia and transphobia as well as being just plain provocative.

“”You can’t blaspheme God and use freedom of speech as an excuse for that. True biblical Christianity is becoming marginalised through political correctness,” said Pastor Jack Bell of Zion Baptist in Glasgow.

Of course, their decrying of freedom of speech should also be noted in that it is what allows them to both protest and use placards which equate transsexuality with perversion, and that being among the mildest of the signs, apparently. As the saying goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. As to Pastor Bell’s feelings about how, if this was about the Prophet Mohammed, it should be noted that Salman Rushdie was given a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam. Of course, if he and his church were to advocate that level of repression towards freedom of speech, then he would be rather rapidly rounded up as a terrorist.

In 1999, a gay bar was bombed in Soho, London, and it was deemed a terrorist act.

BBC News

11/02/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
By now, many of the people watching the battle in Maine have heard that Yes on 1 has increased their ad buy to $25,000 on the eve of the election, and yet, this is the campaign that, until this past Friday, was deep in debt and running out of money. The question that every Maine voter tomorrow should be asking themselves as they go to the polls is whether or not they want their votes bought by people outside the state. That is what this coming to. Yes on 1 has received little money from inside Maine, and now they are suddenly able to buy more ad time with money that they did not have even four days ago? This is fishy.

In all likelihood, the money comes from the National Organization for Marriage out of New Jersey who are trying to buy- yes BUY- the election in Maine. If it does not come from NOM, then it may come from the Roman Catholic Church who are shuttering schools and churches in an attempt to stay solvent and running the risk of splitting their congregation at a time when the Catholic Church is already bruised from repeated scandals involving priests assaulting children.

The people of northern New England have always been proud of their independence. When outsiders have come to take our Senate seats, we have sent them packing. When the battle over marriage equality hit Vermont and New Hampshire, the outsiders were all but told to leave.

Tomorrow, Maine voters will go to the polls, and they will be offered their thirty pieces of silver by the potentates sitting in some exotic location like Atlanta, Salt Lake City, New Jersey, or even Rome. Tomorrow they will face the biggest decision of what it means to be a Mainer. Will they sell their votes to those who have provided all but nine percent of the funds for this No on 1 campaign and strip their fellow citizens of the rights that they worked so hard to obtain. Will they follow the nameless, faceless financiers of this campaign and condemn their fellow citizens to second class status?

Today, there were seven rallies in support of No on 1. At one rally, there were as many as two thousand people gathered. People of all faiths, all races, and all traditions gathered to state clearly that any nation that is willing to sell out the freedom of a few risks having freedom for none.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

In Georgia, I watched a political campaign in which a Mormon was smeared as being a non-Christian. His opponent said ‘vote for me, I’m a real Christian’. In Georgia, I watched as Catholics were discriminated against and called Papists and treated as if they were trying to take over the country. I listened to people talk as if Catholics liked to not only rape young children, but drank their blood and ate their flesh at Mass. In Georgia, I listened to people talk as if Jews were greedy, and that they too ate young children.

Bigotry does not stop simply because you say that you support their causes on one issue. The day will come when Catholics, Jews, Mormons, and others will be the next target. They do not want to hear that, but that is the reality.

This country was founded on the principles that all were created equal, and that freedom and liberty were for all people. In 1961, a war broke out to try and bring freedom and equality to all. That work is still not over.

But, tomorrow, Maine’s voters will go to the polls and they will find out whether or not their vote can be bought by a coalition of organizations who have made up, now, about ninety-two percent of the money used to fund the Yes on 1 campaign.

Only know this, if your vote can be bought, when they come for you, none of us will speak out for you.

10/29/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention bill. The law was named for two men who were the victims of crimes due to their sexual orientation (Shepard) and race (Byrd). The law extended the hate crimes protections to sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability. It also removed the provision from existing laws that these protections are intended specifically for people who are engaged in activities that are considered Federal in nature such as attending school or going to court.

In released statements following the signing, President Obama stated “This is the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more than a decade…But the cause endured and the struggle continued, waged by the family of Matthew Shepard, by the family of James Byrd, by folks who held vigils and led marches, by those who rallied and organized and refused to give up, by the late Senator Ted Kennedy who fought so hard for this legislation and all who toiled for years to reach this day.” The President ran down the statistics for the last decade. In that time, 12,000 known hate crimes have been perpetrated based upon the assaulted’s sexual orientation. Roughly 7,600 hate crimes of one form or another occur every year.

“At root, this isn’t just about our laws; this is about who we are as a people. This is about whether we value one another — whether we embrace our differences, rather than allowing them to become a source of animus…But we sense where such cruelty begins: the moment we fail to see in another our common humanity — the very moment when we fail to recognize in a person the same fears and hopes, the same passions and imperfections, the same dreams that we all share,” the President went on to say.

Said Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother and the president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board of Directors. “The legislation went through so many versions and so many votes that we had to constantly keep our hopes in check to keep from getting discouraged,” she continued. “But with President Obama’s support and the continually growing bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate lining up behind the bill this year, it became clear that 2009 was the year it would finally happen.”

Shepard added, “We are incredibly grateful to Congress and the president for taking this step forward on behalf of hate crime victims and their families, especially given the continuing attacks on people simply for living their lives openly and honestly.”

At the signing was Representative Tammy Baldwin. Rep. Baldwin is openly lesbian, and one of the first openly gay or lesbian members of Congress to be elected. She and Jared Polis were both elected after coming out. Representative Barney Frank did not come out of the closet until after he had already won election. Baldwin is also the co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. She said this about the death of Matthew Shepard on the day of the signing of the bill that, in part, bears his name, “I remember where I was and what was happening when the news of Matthew Shepard’s murder began to circulate. I remember how many people I encountered who felt scared and frightened themselves because such a heinous attack had been perpetrated against him because of his sexual orientation. It is high time that this Act become law. It has been an effort that I’ve worked on ever since I came to the Congress of the United States, and I think it will send a very powerful message.”

Below is a video from Rep. Baldwin regarding the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act.

10/27/09-by Paula Brooks

Photo- Joe Fudge, Daily Press / October 24, 2009

Virginia’s William and Mary’s Jessee Vasold made history this weekend when she became that schools first transgender homecoming queen.

Vasold, a junior who identifies as “gender-queer,” took to the field to except the homecoming crown at halftime of the William and Mary’s game against James Madison wearing a red shirt, black pants and a small silver lip ring to applause from the crowd.

“I knew I was nominated, but I was just surprised, because there were a lot of other really good candidates on the ballot,” Vasold told the Williamsburg Daily Press. “I know all of the other girls, and they’re wonderful people, really friendly. So I was surprised.”

Gender-queer the term for those who identify with something other than traditional male or female gender roles.

“Normally, it really just depends on the day, how I dress,” said Vasold, who prefers gender-neutral pronouns – “ze” instead of he or she and “zir” instead of him or her. “I don’t identify as a woman. It really just depends on the day and the occasion.”

William and Mary president Taylor Reveley said he had no problem with Vasold’s selection, made in nominations and voting by students.

“I knew Jessee before,” Reveley said. “(It’s) a little more publicity than normal for a homecoming queen, but it’s just fine.”

Vasold, said family members were in town for homecoming, and while they have been “generally” supportive, some were unsure about Vasold’s decision to accept the homecoming title.

“They’re a little hesitant about this, but they realize that it’s my choice to accept,” Vasold said.

Vasold is the student assembly undersecretary of diversity initiatives for the college’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs.

Last year, Vasold was co-president of the Lamba Alliance, the school’s GLBT advocacy group.

Paula Brooks | Create Your Badge

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8/25/09 – Candice Metzler’s experience highlights the challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers, who, in Utah, are not protected against discrimination in the workplace by local, state or federal laws.

The Silverton, Oregon city council has voted 4-3 to reprimand transgender Mayor Stu Rasmussen for wearing a short black skirt and black halter top to a recent youth board meeting after one local citizen, complained to the council.

Council members made clear that the issue was strictly a dress code issue and was not a “personal vendetta.”

“The issue is not that the mayor dresses in women’s clothing. The issue is that the mayor dressed in inappropriate attire,” council member Randal Thomas said.

In his defense, Rasmussen said the dress was appropriate for the weather, which was nearly 100 degrees and humid.

As a note, Stu Rasmussen still identifies as male and all pronouns are apropreate.

The European Union’s Commission on Human Rights has released its report concerning gender identity and basic human rights. This paper is something of a study on a given topic with regards to the Human Right’s Charter of the European Union. It often refers back to the Charter, and deals with specifics of law regarding human rights and that given topic. It is intended to make suggestions with regards to changes that the various European Union nations need to make in order to adhere to and change their laws with regards to this particular topic.

The first and biggest news out of this paper is that gender identity is a fundamental right according to the Commissioner for Human Rights, which is currently Thomas Hammarberg. According to this paper, transpeople suffer from a great deal of discrimination, which in turn violates their fundamental rights “including the right to life, the right to physical integrity and the right to health.” The paper goes on to discuss in detail each of these issues.

The big news for the transgender community in Europe are the recommendations. The paper outlined twelve different areas that the EU nations needed to improve upon and address. The paper calls for the recognition of gender identity as a separate issue from sex or sexual orientation discrimination and it should be protected as such, and it calls upon member nations of the EU to enact specific hate crimes legislation to combat transphobia.

Additionally, it calls upon member nations to provide gender reassignment procedures including hormone replacement, surgery and psychological support accessible through the public health systems. For many transpeople, this would be a major boon since the cost of transitioning is often incredibly high. The paper also calls upon the member nations to not automatically revoke the marriages of anyone who transitions while married.

There are, of course, several other areas that they make recommendations upon. The biggest is that the nations should consult with transpeople and their organizations as to what needs to be done within their nation in order to protect the rights of transpeople. In some nations such as Great Briton and Spain, this is not necessarily a major issue. Both nations are already making some progress along these lines; however, nations such as Poland could pose greater issues with regards to the human rights of transpeople. Their track record for many gays and lesbians is not exactly stellar, and the notion that they might be willing to extend human rights to transpeople seems dubious.

The Commission’s papers are not binding law, but rather guidelines and recommendations to the EU member nations. The European Union is a conglomerate super-state which has twenty-seven members currently. They are the most unified of the various super-state organizations. Most organizations like this are loose confederations of states which meet every so often in order to hash out a unified front on particular issues such as the economy. The European Union is the only super-state organization which has its own elected governing body.

In theory, the EU is suppose to respect the tribal level differences of each member nation. It does not always work perfectly. There are also several issues with regards to the level of bureaucracy in the EU. The Human Rights Commission is suppose to guide the EU states on issues of human rights including the protection of linguistic, racial, ethnic, and other minorities. Linguistic minorities include any group that speaks a minority language within the borders of that nation. Great Britain has six minority languages- Cornish, Scots, Gaelic, Manx, Scots Gaelic and Welsh; Spain has three- Galician, Basque and Catalan.

Human Rights Commission Paper
European Union Homepage
Picture of the European Union Headquarters

A jury in Syracuse, NY today convicted Dwight DeLee of manslaughter as a hate crime for the killing of Lateisha Green, a transgender woman shot outside a house party last winter.

DeLee was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter for the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Green outside a party in November because of anti-gay bias. He becomes just the second person in the U.S. convicted of a hate crime that involved the death of a transgender victim. The Onondaga County Court jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for about six hours over two days.

DeLee also faces additional prison time because he was convicted of a hate crime.

DeLee was initially charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, however Judge William Walsh told the jury that it could also consider convicting DeLee of manslaughter as a hate crime, as well as murder or manslaughter without the hate crime element.

Green, who was born Moses Cannon, began living as a woman at age 16, and frequently dressed in women’s clothing but was wearing jeans and a T-shirt the night she was killed.

During three days of testimony, DeLee’s attorney, Clarence Johnson, had tried to refute prosecution assertions that his client hated homosexuals and tried to show that prosecutors had presented no evidence showing DeLee had a history of anti-gay bias before the shooting.

But several witnesses said they heard DeLee call Green a “faggot” just before Green was shot with a .22-caliber rifle while sitting in a parked car outside the party.

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Bono is not having a sex change operation. That is, U2 frontman Bono is not having a sex change. Chaz Bono still is. While Bono did make a statement about how he would be more than willing to become a woman “for the right reason”, he is not planning on having a sex change any time soon. The confusion stems from the headlines which often simply stated “Bono Having Sex Change Operation”.

Bono was confused initially since he got a rather teary call from his wife. According to Bono “She kept on repeating ‘It all makes sense’, but I thought she’d just finally understood why we made our Pop album. Turns out she thought I was a woman.” Bono even got grilled by his own U2 band mates. For some reason they thought he was a woman for the last thirty years.

“If one child in Africa was happier because I became a woman, I would go through with it. It doesn’t matter if I’m a man or a woman. The only reason I exist on this planet is to save it. And wear women’s sunglasses,” Bono said, getting back to the business of saving the world.

Thanks to Huffington Post for bringing this funny story to my attention.

When Chastity Bono came out as a lesbian, it has been reported that her mother’s reaction was primal. Her mother, of course, is singer/actress Cher. Chastity Bono’s father was Representative Sonny Bono. Congressman Bono died tragically in a skiing accident. Chastity Bono has just come out again, this time as a transman. That is correct, Chaz Bono, as he is now known, began transitioning from female to male earlier this year. So far, word has not come down from Cher as to her reaction. Perhaps she has yet to stop screaming.

Cher was accepting of Chastity’s lesbianism, and I, for one, am hopeful that she will be welcoming of her new son.

The CNN report states that Chaz Bono has already changed his name. Bono has been a major fixture of the LGBTI rights movement for some time now, and it is certainly my hope that he will continue to be a part of the movement moving forward.

Transsexuality is never something that is easy to deal with. The depression associated with the gender identity disorder that causes transsexuality can lead to over eating, self harm, substance abuse, and suicide. It is considered to be a separate issue from homosexuality and transgenderism. A small portion of transsexuals are also gay or lesbian.

It is never easy to face that long, difficult and often painful journey from one sex to another. As a transwoman, I know what it is like. The feelings of being in the wrong body, the shame, the isolation. It is never easy to walk forward. The ability to focus on the future is damped down by the horror of depression. The sadness and disappointment that one sometimes sees in family and friends. It is never easy to be transsexual. I wish Chaz the best.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/11/sonny-and-chers-daughter-to-become-man/

There are, by some estimates, as many as five different genders, and one estimate pegged it at somewhere around twice that. It may surprise people that the whole issue of gender identity is far more complex than a simple nod at ‘male’ or ‘female.’ It is into that fray that an after-school group in Burlington, Vermont is wading. “Gendertopia” is run in conjunction with Outright Vermont. Often times, bullying occurs because people engage in non-gender conforming activities or expressions. It is a form of social control and constraint which is intended to reinforce what some people see as the norm of society. For instance, men wearing makeup, pink clothing, or styled hair may be seen as ‘feminine’, and that produces a response from people concerning the sexuality or gender norms that have been instilled into the bullies. In many ways, this program is intended to help break down the barriers which produce the bullying which can often lead to boys and girls hurting and even killing themselves.

“The program was designed to help young people identify the subtle signals used to express gender and how not being aware of those signals can lower self esteem and possibly lead to an increase in at-risk activities like substance abuse or dropping out of school,” Christopher Neff of Outright Vermont said to the AP.

So far, neither Outright Vermont nor the Burlington School District have had any kind of adverse reaction to the program. Gendertopia focuses on the differences in which gender is expressed. They discuss popular culture as well as going around the city and look at the different ways in which gender is expressed around them.

Gender expression is an issue that has shown up in popular culture a great deal, especially for a younger generation. It is typically a surprise to find out that many of the people who play online video games engage in a form of cyber-cross dressing by playing characters opposite their own sex. And yet, many boys and men play female characters online and many girls and women play male characters.

Steve Cable of Vermont Renewal had not heard of the program, perhaps because he lives in Rutland, Vermont, but he stated that he feels that we should not be teaching children about the differences in gender expression implying that it could lead to confusion for individuals who have not yet figured out their life yet. He also talked about how Outright Vermont promotes all gender expressions no matter how weird. Mr. Cable, who has made grumbling about wanting to run against State Senator Kevin Mullin in 2010, has been the most vocal of the anti-LGBTI figures in Vermont. Senator Mullin voted for the recent marriage equality bill despite being a Republican. Cable and his Vermont Renewal, a group that sounds more like a pro-recycling organization than a pro-traditional values organization, were on the losing side of the same-sex marriage fight.

Gendertopia deals specifically with gender identity and gender expression and not with sexuality. Forty teens signed up for the program, and around a dozen showed up for the meetings. The school district would like to run it again in the fall.

Gender expression and gender identity are issues that are not often looked at head on, even for the gay and lesbian communities. There is often a perception that gay men are effeminate and lesbians are overly masculine; however, the gender expression and identity of gays and lesbians runs the entire gambit with some being what could be considered transgender.

Photo- Sun Through Clouds and Trees, Rutland, VT

I saw this video of a cell phone commercial from Mexico over on Queerty.com which clearly perpetuates Transphobia.

This is what Latin gossip site Guanabee had to say about the video:

In this regional spot from Northern Mexico for a cell phone dealer called slur, a woman receives a call from someone asking to speak to her, ‘maricon,’ or faggot, son. To which she replies, ‘He’s no faggot!’ To which her son, who has popped out of the adjoining room in drag, applying blush, replies in his queeniest whine, ‘Yes I am, mah!’ Then the announcer says something about expecting the unexpected from Ahorro Cel. And then there’s a gay little person because all adds about Mexicans must feature a little person.

We suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, but we are taken aback by the fact that they could use the word “maricon” on television let alone that a brand would want to associate themselves with such bigotry. Even in Mexico. But, then again, this ad is from Sonora which is in the northern part of Mexico which is kind of like saying it’s in Alabama. (Or California.) It has a decidely machista/homophobic culture. So, if anyone in the world was going to get away with it, it was these people.

Here is the video for your viewing displeasure:

If interested, you can find the Ahorro Cel website HERE.

There is something of a medical and scientific debate going on as to the reality of whether or not to classify transsexuality in with the variety of physical ‘disorders’ considered intersexuality. Intersexuality is a category of genetic and physical ‘abnormalities’ which often blur the lines between the two distinct sexes of male and female. Some intersexuals are born with ambiguous genitalia. That is, their physical parts may appear to be a blend of male and female. Others are born with genetic abnormalities such as having two ‘X’ and one ‘Y’ chromosomes, or one ‘X’ and no second chromosome.

There are enough different forms of intersexuality that it would be close to impossible to list them all with any ease, and there is certainly a great deal of controversy over what exactly qualifies as intersexuality.

For many with an intersexual condition, life can be difficult. Not all intersexuals suffer from any form of gender identity conflict, but they often do have medical issues. Making matters worse, for those who had surgery at a young age to ‘correct’ their ‘deformities’, those medical issues can end up being life long problems. For instance, there is a high chance that a infant who is surgically modified will end up having sexual problems later in life whether or not they choose to remain in the gender they were assigned to by the doctor. While incidents do occur where a transperson loses sensation in their new sexual organs, it occurs at a much lower rate.

Should transsexuality be considered part of intersexuality? That is a good question to ask. Certainly a number of people with genetic disorders to not consider themselves to be intersexuals. A number of people with Klinefelters (those with XXY genetics) and Turner’s Syndrom (those with XO genetics) do not consider themselves to be intersexual. An Australian team back in 2008 discovered a genetic component to transsexuality. Part of the problem with the study is that it is fairly small. The study had only one hundred twelve individuals within it.
The study showed that transwomen had a higher instance of an elongated androgen receptor.

Another study showed how many transwomen had identical brain structures to cysgender women. However, I would have to wonder if that study is accurate. The problem with all of these studies are that they involve small numbers of people. Unfortunately, the rarity of transwomen (one in ten thousand) and transmen (one in thirty thousand) means that it is hard to find research subjects. Given the numbers who also do not wish to remain hidden means that many transpeople are unwilling to step forward to be involved with these studies.

Irregardless of the label, transsexuality does appear to be genetic and physical rather than mental. Whether or not one wants to label transsexuality as part of the intersexuality spectrum seems to be more about categorization and having neat little slots to fit people into. Transpeople and intersexuals have a difficult time because of the rigid definition of what is considered to be normal.

For further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexuality

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexuality#Prevalence

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/5/2034

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7689007.stm

I grew up in the South, but I was born in Vermont.

When I arrived in Florida at the tender age of eight, I had almost no prejudices when it came to race. I did not inform my parents that my fourth grade teacher was black. They found out during parent-teacher day. For me, even now, I do my best to look beyond race. I recently read an article where I actually had to ask what was so offensive about it because, quite simply, I had no references to the racial stereotypes being used.

While I was in the South, specifically in Georgia, I ran into an attitude which annoyed me greatly. Somehow because I am white, it was assumed that my ancestors were responsible for slavery. Never mind that only one fourth of my family, my German ancestors, had been in this country prior to 1865. In fact, my Spanish ancestors arrived in this country in 1910, and my French-Canadian ancestors in the late 1920’s. To make matters worse, my German ancestors were called up to fight for the Union in the Civil War. They were, after all, from Pennsylvania. After a while, I gave up trying to explain and just walked away and did my best to not let the acid of their accusations etch a racist attitude on my soul.

In the fight over who is responsible for Prop 8 passing, there was a lot of anger back and forth. Yes, many people attacked the black community for their support of Prop 8 based upon their erroneously reported support. Their support was in line with the Hispanic community with both being around sixty percent. It had been reported at eighty percent or there abouts because of exit polling. Never mind that exit polling is totally useless, at least according to Nate Silver.

In the wake of Prop 8, we also saw the backlash from the African-American and Gay/Lesbian community which basically accused the entirety of the white LGBT community of being racist. I was flabbergasted. I had pushed back against the racism and against these accusations concerning Prop 8 being the fault of what amounted to sixty percent of less than five percent of California’s population, and tried to explain why the African-American community had voted for Prop 8 (largely due to religion).

Now, I am more than well aware that life for many gays, lesbians and transpeople of color is very hard. Add in one part racism and two parts homo- and transphobia, and you get a very dangerous mix. It is not just black LGBT’s who suffer, however. It is all of our brothers and sisters of the varying minorities. A recent survey of gay, lesbian or transgender students A recent survey of gay, lesbian or transgender students found that nearly eighty percent of them were victims of verbal abuse due to their sexual orientation, and that half of those students had also been attacked for their race. Around a quarter of the students had missed or skipped school due to the threats they faced. For Native American students, it often got worse, with over half of them also reporting that they had been harassed over their religion.

While it is true that there have been strong racist tendencies in the gay and lesbian community up until fairly recently, it is also true that many gays and lesbians were transphobic. I have come to believe that my first endocrinologist was transphobic. She put up barriers to transpeople transitioning all the time according to information I learned after I stopped going to her. She is also lesbian. Rather than coming out and saying that she was uncomfortable treating transpeople and passing me along to another doctor, she kept me strung along for a long time.

Until recently, being transsexual or transgender as a whole was looked down upon by the other parts of the LGBT community. Transgenderism was stitched onto the LGB in order to lump all “gender abnormals” together. To many gay men, a straight transwoman was a traitor. To many lesbians, trans-lesbians were interlopers. They were men who wanted to get in on being lesbian and were not true lesbians. Never mind that the issue was far more complicated than that. We often saw LGBT groups pushing for gay and lesbian friendly legislation and not including protections for transpeople as well. Transpeople were almost never represented within the leadership of the LGBT movement, and their voices almost never heard and even sometimes suppressed. A decade ago, I had a lot of gay and lesbian friends. When I came out as transsexual to them, I became persona non grata to them. I was no longer their friend, and no longer welcome to eat lunch with them. By that point, the gender conflict within me was already tearing my sanity apart and I needed someone to help. I got none within the gay or lesbian communities.

But those attitudes have changed, and all it took now was for more transpeople, gay or straight, to step forward and help fight. To tell our stories and make those stories count. Tell people of the hurdles we faced as people who are part of this community, and to unify this community behind laws which would benefit us all. Reluctantly at first, I began to blog about my experiences without blaming anyone for what happened to me over the last decade. Yes, I had been excluded, but I chose to educate and inform rather than slip into hatred over the past. For many African-American gays and lesbians, we need to hear their stories and to rectify no only our attitudes, but the attitudes within the African-American community. But the first thing that has to happen is to put aside the hatred within that overlapping segment of the society. I have found that the fastest way to make someone racist or homophobic is often to constantly accuse them of being racist or homophobic. To respond to hatred with hatred. To verbally attack rather than educate.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

Back in November, WCAX out of Burlington ran a three part series on transgenderism and transsexuality. The series ran at 6:15pm for three days in a row and covered a general discussion of what transgenderism is, the mental and health aspects of transgenderism, and transphobia.

WCAX News is an hour long local news on the Burlington CBS affiliate. The series was done in a manner which was not only positive, but also very understanding.

What follows is the third and final part of that series.

Back in November, WCAX out of Burlington ran a three part series on transgenderism and transsexuality. The series ran at 6:15pm for three days in a row and covered a general discussion of what transgenderism is, the mental and health aspects of transgenderism, and transphobia.

WCAX News is an hour long local news on the Burlington CBS affiliate. The series was done in a manner which was not only positive, but also very understanding.

What follows is the second part of that series.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

Back in November, WCAX out of Burlington ran a three part series on transgenderism and transsexuality. The series ran at 6:15pm for three days in a row and covered a general discussion of what transgenderism is, the mental and health aspects of transgenderism, and transphobia.

WCAX News is an hour long local news on the Burlington CBS affiliate. The series was done in a manner which was not only positive, but also very understanding.

What follows is the first of the three segments.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

The most difficult thing for any transwoman is finding clothes that fit. Most women’s clothing is designed around a woman who is, typically, around 5′5 to 5′7. I, for example, am 5′11, and I am lucky. My frame is built like any woman’s but grown from 5′5 to 5′11. That means, well, for one thing, it’s hard to find pants that fit. For another, it’s hard to find shirts that fit. In fact, it is rather hard to find any clothes that fit. What’s worse is that this isn’t unique to being transsexual. Many a woman tall of stature has had trouble finding decent clothing.

My biggest issue has been finding pants. Now, most transsexuals have a big issue with making sure that, well, they aren’t showing. That is, that the danglely bits between the legs aren’t obvious. There are numerous methods from tucking between the legs and wearing tight undergarments to the use of specially designed undergarments which level off all the bits and pieces. Unfortunately, this is something of a baffling issue for me since my weight makes it unusual for anything there to show up, and I wear skirts anyway due to a combination of my height and weight.

Before I bought my wardrobe, the first thing I did was observe other women. I looked at what women my size and height wore, and then rejected anything that looked horrible. That is, I did not go after a wardrobe which amounted to sweats and tee shirts. Instead, I looked over what women wore, looked at what was good, and asked family and friends for help. I know that this is an impossible thing for many transsexuals to do since, unfortunately, having a lot of family and friends is not a typical situation for most of us.

I have been lucky on this front. My mother and I went shopping for my new wardrobe at a specialty store called Catherine’s. It caters to large women, both tall and wide. I bought a fair sized wardrobe, which seven years later, is still serving me well. My mother helped me choose my clothing.

However, I did not get rid of my old, male clothing. As weird as it sounds, there is no real reason to just give away or get rid of male clothing. Besides the fact that I have a few nice shirts and vests which, when worn, make me look more butch than femme (oddly enough, they did the opposite when I was living male), many women wear some male clothing at some point. Then there is the fact that life is hardly clean. I wear most of my male clothing while doing things like cleaning out the basement, chopping wood, and other odd assorted messy chores.

So, to pass along advice on fashion to those transsexuals who may read this article. In order to pass effectively, dress appropriately for your age, size, and profession. For some reason, doing this seems best. Do not be afraid to dress in old male clothing for dirty chores. After all, I’ve known many a woman who hold on to their husband’s old clothes to paint their houses.

I have something of a secret.

While I have stated that I am lesbian, the reality is probably closer to that I was more bisexual than strictly lesbian. The reality is a lot more complex than it might seem.

For many years, I did have some attraction to men. I kept it buried largely due to my own self hatred of being born male coupled with the mental scaring of being molested at the age of eleven. This may or may not be relatively common in the transsexual community. I was told by one therapist that some transsexuals tended to be attracted to women in part because of personal hatreds within themselves. This is not, however, why they were transitioning.

I recently got an update from my doctor about my transitioning. I’ve fallen below the normal testosterone levels for a man. What is odd is that, since that began to happen several months ago, I’ve found my interest in men disappearing. I no longer find men appealing. It is not even that I find them disgusting, which I use to, but I look at a guy and feel, well, nothing. Conversely, my attraction to women seems to have solidified. I find my attraction to women ramping up.

This is not uncommon.

Many transsexuals find that they stop being attracted to one sex and start being attracted to the other as they transition. To start with, transsexuals cover all sexualities. There are straight transwomen and lesbian transwomen. There are straight transmen and gay transmen. Some estimates are that up to forty percent of all transsexuals are also homosexual. Unfortunately, those numbers can be very hard to pin down since many transsexuals choose not to talk about these issues and that the trans-homosexual community may be more willing to speak up and are, thus, over represented. And they are further muddled by the number of open transsexuals who have stayed married to their partner despite any shifts in sexual attraction.

There are, however, many anecdotes of transsexuals ‘switching’ sexualities. They’ve lived their lives attracted to women and, after transitioning, are now attracted to men, and vice versa. Occasionally, a story crops up of a transwoman who started out being attracted to men and now is exclusively attracted to women. The reality is more that the person is either hetero or homosexual and with the switching of their outward sex, they have kept to their sexuality, it is only that they have shifted in who they are attracted to.

Perhaps sexuality is more hardwired than people would like to believe. Certainly those who see them as being a choice would love to believe that, but in truth, they are fairly set.

For now, I’m glad that my sexuality has solidified in the way that I’ve always known it would.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

This is a ‘duh’ statement…. Transsexuality is different than homosexuality.

At some point, a transsexual individual begins to live their life dressing, acting and being the person they wish to be. To the world at large, they begin to live their gender. This is called “living full time.” We live our lives being ourselves all day, every day for years. This often goes on at least for two years before the final surgeries are done.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

I’m Sei. For those who read my coming out piece on this blog entitled The Longest Road, you know that I’m both transsexual and lesbian. Beginning this week and for as long as I can write them, I will be exploring and explaining the world of transsexuality here, and especially focusing in on that place where it intersects the lesbian world.

Estimates vary as to how many homosexual transsexuals there are in the world. There is even controversy as to whether or not we can be considered homosexual or heterosexual. Of course, actually talking to many of us might help alleviate much of the confusion. The majority of us identify ourselves as being homosexual because, like it or not, that is how we express our sexuality.

It is unfortunate that many trans-lesbians and gay transmen prefer to remain silent about their experiences. Being a transwoman and being lesbian means having some rather unique experiences. I hope to share those, and to answer any questions that anyone reading what I write have about either transsexuality or my experiences as a trans-lesbian. If I do not know the answer, I will certainly be willing to try and find out, or I will let you know if I do not know. Certainly, if something it off limits, I will also let you all know.

My experiences are often different from even other transsexuals in the world. I have a stable, loving, and accepting family, and what few friends I’ve had over the years have stood by me. I will do my best to help those who wish to know more, and to help any trans-lesbians out there.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.