terça-feira, 30 de junho de 2009

30 ideias para ajudar a causa LGBT do seu jeito





---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: isadora
Date: 2009/6/30
Subject: 30 ideias para ajudar a causa LGBT do seu jeito
To:



Caros amigos,

Gostaria de dividir com vocês o resultado de um projeto de que participei no último mês. Eu e mais 5 queridos blogueiros criamos um blog com 30 ideias do que qualquer um pode fazer para ajudar a causa LGBT (para os que não sabiam que tenho um blog, prazer, sou o http://ingredientedesviante.blogspot.com).

Nosso blog e mesmo as 30 ideias não são pensadas para servir a todo mundo: são mais direcionadas ao público que imaginamos que acessa nossos blogs e que interage conosco, mas a partir da nossa experiência, tentamos pensar ações que podem estar ao alcance de qualquer um. Mais do que isso, quisemos passar a mensagem de que todo mundo pode ter ideias simples e colocá-las em prática para combater o preconceito. Esperamos que o blog e as ideias tenham um efeito positivo nos leitores e, se daí suscitarem novas ideias, pequenas ações ou novos projetos desse tipo, nos sentiremos felizes e gratificados.

Acessem lá: http://30ideias.blogspot.com . Ajudem a divulgar, se gostarem do projeto!

Um beijo grande,
Isa.

Abaixo, segue a apresentação do projeto.

___________________________________________



30 ideias para ajudar a causa LGBT do seu jeito


Gays, lésbicas, bissexuais, travestis e transexuais sonham com uma sociedade mais justa e inclusiva, em que preconceito e homofobia sejam coisas do passado e direitos básicos estejam ao alcance de todos. No entanto, muitos culpam “os outros” pelos problemas, sem enxergar que também fazem parte das soluções.

São pessoas que nunca se interessaram pelo movimento LGBT, não pretendem se aproximar dele, mas têm boas intenções e até gostariam de fazer algo – só não sabem por onde começar.

Nós somos um grupo de seis amigos, todos blogueiros, e nos reunimos para elaborar esta lista de ideias para ajudar a causa LGBT. Com base naquilo que conhecemos e vivenciamos, pensamos em sugestões viáveis, realistas, que pudessem sair do papel e ser incorporadas ao cotidiano.

Esta é uma iniciativa independente, desvinculada de interesses de grupos ou partidos, e que não concorre ou compete com o trabalho da militância organizada, nem esgota os temas que são tratados. Com estas ideias, queremos apontar um caminho para que mais pessoas, sozinhas, tomem atitudes úteis e construtivas, que gerem efeitos sociais positivos, a curto e longo prazo. E também tenham outras ideias!

Não estamos aqui para impor opiniões ou ditar regras, mas para dar uma contribuição para o fim da inércia coletiva. Nossa intenção é que mais e mais pessoas, nos mais diversos lugares, percebam que podem fazer a diferença, que isso está ao alcance delas, e se sintam encorajadas.

Convidamos você a ler e refletir sobre estas pequenas atitudes individuais, mas que visam a trazer benefícios para todos nós. Não precisa seguir ou concordar com todas elas. A ideia é que cada um absorva aquilo que estiver mais próximo de sua realidade. Leia, pense e veja como você pode fazer a sua parte. Seja bem-vindo(a)!

segunda-feira, 29 de junho de 2009

Homossexualidade e Psicanálise

Homossexualidade e Psicanálise

A relação entre psicanálise e homossexualidade dificilmente pode ser considerada estável. A posição do próprio fundador da disciplina, que possuía uma compreensão “perversa polimorfa” da sexualidade, na qual “todos os seres humanos são capazes de fazer uma escolha de objeto homossexual e que de fato a consumaram no inconsciente”, era que a homossexualidade “não é motivo de vergonha, não é uma degradação, não é um vício e não pode ser considerada uma doença” Apesar disso, durante décadas as instituições psicanalíticas promoveram uma visão moralizante da conduta sexual, entronizando a heterossexualidade reprodutiva como destino de uma sexualidade supostamente normal.

Este debate perpassou a história da psicanálise, sendo abordado de maneiras diversas na esteira dos seus movimentos teóricos e instituições. Dois psicanalistas do Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Quinet (UVA) e Marco Antonio Coutinho Jorge (UERJ), propõem retomar os conceitos de Freud e de Lacan para trazer à luz para a sociedade o que a psicanálise tem a dizer sobre o assunto. Para comemorar os 40 anos do Stonewall, evento fundador do movimento homossexual, eles organizaram o colóquio “Homossexualidades na Psicanálise”, que aconteceu na sexta feira, 26 de junho, no campus Tijuca da Universidade Veiga de Almeida. Clique aqui para ver a programação.

Em conversa com o antropólogo Horacio Sívori, pesquisador do CLAM, Antonio Quinet e Marco Antonio Coutinho Jorge repassaram os modos como a homossexualidade foi abordada ao longo de mais de um século de psicanálise, e como essa questão continua a instigar a teoria e prática psicanalítica.

Horacio Sívori – Parece curioso a psicanálise se preocupar com a homossexualidade quando, na compreensão freudiana, a sexualidade é uma força cujo impulso se estruturaria para além, ou a despeito, de classificações sexológicas convencionais, como a distinção entre hetero, homo e bissexualidade.

Antonio Quinet - Freud elaborou o conceito de pulsão, para tratar justamente da “força” do “impulso” sexual. A pulsão sexual – a Trieb freudiana, infelizmente designada como “instinto” na tradução brasileira – se distingue do instinto sexual próprio do animal, pois ela é determinada pelo inconsciente. O “representante da pulsão” é uma “energia” que Freud designa de “libido”, que é da ordem do prazer, do desejo e do gozo. Essa pulsão está além, ou a despeito, como você diz, de qualquer classificação. Ao contrário, é ela que vai qualificar esta ou aquela atividade erótica: a pulsão oral, anal, escópica, etc., constituem a sexualidade, independentemente do sexo do parceiro. No sexo, o que interessa à pulsão sexual é a satisfação da zona erógena (a boca, o ânus, os genitais, mamilos, etc.). O parceiro do sexo é um objeto que, “na cama”, o sujeito recorta do corpo do outro. E isso independe do gênero dos parceiros sexuais. A pulsão é sempre parcial. E o coito genital não é absolutamente uma exigência da sexualidade, nem uma suposta “maturidade” da pulsão; e muito menos uma norma. A psicanálise se opõe à pedagogia do desejo, pois esta é uma falácia. Não se pode educar a pulsão sexual. Não se pode desviá-la para acomodá-la aos ideais da sociedade. A pulsão segue os caminhos traçados pelo inconsciente, que é individual e singular.

HS – Então, qual seria o lugar das chamadas identidades sexuais na teoria e prática psicanalítica?

AQ - Sobre a questão do que chamamos de orientação sexual, Freud utiliza o termo de “escolha de objeto” para designar uma escolha homo ou heterossexual, e propõe o conceito de bissexualidade estrutural para todo ser humano. Para a psicanálise, assim como a homossexualidade, o interesse exclusivo de um homem por uma mulher também merece esclarecimento. A investigação psicanalítica, diz Freud em seu texto premiado sobre Leonardo da Vinci, opõe-se à tentativa de separar os homossexuais dos outros seres humanos como um "grupo de índole singular", pois "todos os seres humanos são capazes de fazer uma escolha de objeto homossexual e que de fato a consumaram no inconsciente". O complexo de Édipo, que cai no esquecimento do Inconsciente, comporta, também a ligação libidinal do filho para com o pai e da menina para com a mãe, além das ligações do filho com a mãe e da filha com o pai. Assim, o número de homossexuais que se proclamam como tais, diz Freud, “não é nada em comparação com os homossexuais latentes”. Há uma diversidade enorme na homossexualidade tanto na praticada quanto na latente e sublimada. Devemos falar, portanto, de “homossexualidades” no plural, como está no título de nosso Colóquio.

A questão das identidades sexuais é complexa. O termo identidade não é um termo psicanalítico. Não é um conceito com o qual o psicanalista opera. Este lida com as identificações do sujeito que, como sujeito da linguagem, é dividido, por estrutura, sempre entre dois significantes. Não há “gay em análise” (título de um congresso de psicanalistas realizado na França), e sim sujeito de desejo, sujeito do inconsciente, cuja unicidade é falaciosamente suposta por meio de suas identificações. A identificação a um grupo, ou a um nome (ou a um significante definidor desse grupo) e até mesmo, dirá Lacan, ao “homem” e à “mulher” não define absolutamente o sujeito. E muito menos sua escolha de objeto, ou sua orientação sexual. Freud, como ele mesmo o diz, está mais próximo dos gregos da Antiguidade que valorizavam mais a pulsão do que seu objeto. Ao radicalizar a separação, operada por Freud, da posição sexuada em relação à anatomia, Lacan propõe formas distintas de gozo: o gozo fálico, que é o sexual propriamente dito tanto para homens quanto para mulheres, qualificado de ”masculino”; e um gozo para além do falo, o “gozo feminino”, que ultrapassa o sexo e até mesmo a linguagem. Em suas “fórmulas da sexuação”, Lacan situa, por exemplo, as mulheres histéricas do lado masculino; e do lado feminino todo aquele que se encontra no lugar de objeto de desejo, sem que isso corresponda a uma definição de gênero. Nesse sentido, subverte totalmente a questão da “identidade”, dos grupos, redutos e guetos. O que não quer dizer que, em termos de estratégia política, o tema de identidade não tenha sua utilidade. Mas sem que o sujeito se engane sobre essa suposta definição de sua “identidade” singular.

HS - Qual o alcance atual da despatologização da homossexualidade promovida no campo psi há mais de 30 anos?

Antonio Quinet - Ao responder a uma mãe preocupada com a homossexualidade do filho, Freud, em 1935, aponta que esta não é nenhuma desvantagem, nem tampouco uma vantagem, "ela não é motivo de vergonha, não é uma degradação, não é um vício e não pode ser considerada uma doença". Apesar dessa indicação de Freud em 1935 – o qual cinco anos antes assinara uma petição a favor da descriminalização da homossexualidade –, só em 1973 a American Psychiatric Association (APA) deixou de considerar a homossexualidade como doença. E isso, depois que ativistas gays, por duas vezes (1970 e 1971), invadiram o encontro anual da APA. Mas, por incrível que pareça, analistas da IPA (Associação Internacional de Psicanálise) se colocaram contra e fizeram um manifesto com duzentas assinaturas contra a retirada da homossexualidade da lista de doenças. Acabaram vencidos e, mesmo assim, só em 1993 a OMS retirou-a da sua classificação internacional de doenças. Essas duas correntes continuam existindo na psicanálise. Hoje em dia, os analistas adeptos da concepção de doença são menos explícitos, pois não fica bem ser homofóbico. Seus discursos são menos violentos e repressores, mas não deixam de existir.

Marco Antonio Coutinho Jorge - Por incrível que pareça, os psicanalistas talvez tenham sido os que mais reagiram a esta despatologização, e ainda reagem hoje bastante a ela. Haja vista a querela sobre a homoparentalidade ocorrida na França há alguns anos que opôs dois grupos de psicanalistas: de um lado, Elizabeth Roudinesco e Sabine Prokhoris, entre outros, defenderam a legalização da adoção de crianças por casais homossexuais e reconheceram o desejo deles de filiação como plenamente legítimo; de outro, Jean-Pierre Winter e Charles Melman, entre outros, se opunham a isso e usavam a teoria psicanalítica como argumento para sustentar suas posições altamente conservadoras. É impressionante ver psicanalistas lacanianos assumirem posturas tão conservadoras e malsãs, condizentes com as opiniões menos esclarecidas da população. Os psicanalistas, quando se trata de homossexualidade, se tornam freqüentemente religiosos, no sentido de que pregam uma versão única da verdade para todos. Ora, nós sabemos que a singularidade do desejo do sujeito é a mola mestra da ética da psicanálise, tal como sustentada por Lacan, de modo que qualquer ideal de normativização do pensamento ou do comportamento deve ser considerada anti-freudiana e anti-lacaniana. Antonio Quinet - Do ponto de vista da psicanálise, podemos pensar que esses analistas adotam o senso comum quanto ao homossexual, que provoca o imaginário de um gozo outro, tão diferente – e ao mesmo tempo tão semelhante – ao do “normal” que ameaça. Então, para a consciência da norma, é melhor qualificá-lo de pervertido, não-confiável, pois é um gozo periférico, daí ser peri-goso. Por outro lado, a exemplo de Ana Freud, a aceitação da homossexualidade do outro se encontra na dependência de como o sujeito lida com a sua própria. Quanto mais ele a rejeita em si mesmo, menos saberá lidar com ela, podendo fazer desse outro um objeto de ódio, de agressões e até de assassinato. O desejo pelo outro, ao ser recusado, pode se transformar em ódio. Da homofobia ao homoterrorismo é um passo. Um pouco mais de análise não faria nada mal a esses analistas!

HS – Existe uma polêmica desde o surgimento da psicanálise e a partir da transmissão dela para os discípulos de Freud. Vários historiadores da psicanálise mencionam uma “puritanização” da psicanálise, particularmente por parte de analistas norte-americanos, de quem o próprio Freud disse, “eles não sabem que estamos a trazer a peste”.

AQ - Não há um consenso e isso tem uma história que se encontra nos pós-freudianos. Ernest Jones, biógrafo de Freud, vai contra a posição de Freud de permitir o acesso normal de homossexuais à formação analítica. Freud considerava existir vários tipos de homossexualidade, e que cada caso deveria ser apreciado, assim como qualquer candidato. A historiadora da psicanálise Elisabeth Roudinesco relata que Jones, ao contrário, considerava que a homossexualidade “é um crime repugnante; se um de nossos membros o cometesse, seríamos objeto de grande descrédito”. Ana Freud também foi contra o pai, deturpando sua teoria, militando contra o acesso de homossexuais na psicanálise e tentando em sua clínica converter os homossexuais em bons pais de família. Logo ela que nunca foi vista com homem nenhum, e partilhou toda sua vida com uma mulher sem nunca ter se assumido homossexual. Roudinesco também lembra que Melanie Klein considerava a homossexualidade como um distúrbio esquizóide para se defender da paranóia. Este quadro é o legado freudiano que chegou aos Estados Unidos e se expandiu pela Europa!

Depois do Congresso da IPA de Barcelona em 1997, em que Ralph Roughton, analista didata, e outros se declararam homossexuais e traçaram o histórico da questão do ponto de vista institucional e teórico, podemos dizer que não se pôde mais tratar o tema da mesma forma repressiva na IPA. Com Lacan, houve uma retomada dos princípios e da ética da psicanálise, o que não impede hoje alguns pós-lacanianos de também deturparem seu ensino e retomarem teses que, embora sofisticadas, são impregnadas da concepção de desvio e anormalidade, que serão retomadas em detalhes em nosso Colóquio.

HS - Quais as definições ou usos atuais da categoria "perversão", se não associada ao desvio de um desejo sexual considerado mais legítimo ou sadio?

MACJ - A homossexualidade não é uma perversão, porque a noção de perversão implica, antes de mais nada, em que haja uma versão correta! É digno de nota que a homossexualidade foi considerada originalmente uma inversão, antes de ser tratada como uma perversão. A inversão significa que algo está totalmente de cabeça para baixo. Vê-se que de fato trata-se sempre de crer na existência de uma versão normal e conforme da sexualidade. Esta não é a minha concepção nem acredito que seja a de Freud. Porque a homossexualidade é, no fundo, uma subversão radical. Mais essencialmente ainda, considero que a homossexualidade é, na verdade, a revelação da subversão inerente à sexualidade humana, que não se subordina a nenhum ideal. Se não há inscrição da diferença sexual no inconsciente, como demonstraram Freud e Lacan, cada sujeito construirá uma sexualidade – homo, hetero ou bi – absolutamente legítima. Pois não cabe a ninguém autorizar a sexualidade de ninguém. Isso sim seria perversão, querer tomar-se pelo Outro e querer fazer a Lei para o desejo do Outro. Nada mais distante da psicanálise do que isso.

AQ – Apesar do termo “perversão” estar articulado historicamente a “desvio da norma” sexual e à noção de perversidade e periculosidade, a psicanálise o utiliza de maneira bem diferente. Em primeiro lugar, Freud generaliza a perversão: a sexualidade é não só perversa, mas “polimorfo-perversa”, pois a sexualidade admite toda a variação possível, sendo seu objetivo unicamente a satisfação pulsional. A conexão da sexualidade com a reprodução é um dado científico-religioso que o sexo desconhece. Por outro lado, perversão é uma das “estruturas clínicas”, ao lado da neurose e da psicose. Não é mais patológica do que as outras. São três modos de se lidar com a castração simbólica, ou melhor, três meios de negá-la, pois ela, tanto para o homem quanto para a mulher, gera angústia e ameaça. Para a psicanálise, um homossexual pode ser neurótico (histérico, obsessivo, fóbico), psicótico (esquizofrênico, paranóico) ou perverso (fetichista, sádico, masoquista, voyeur, etc.). E mesmo dentro de cada tipo clínico, a diversidade é imensa. São também três maneiras de gozar: o neurótico não sabe como gozar, o psicótico atribui o gozo ao Outro, e o perverso se faz de instrumento do gozo do Outro.

Identificar todo homossexual à perversão é algo que a clínica desmente e só pode advir de uma leitura apressada, de preconceito ou de homofobia (a respeito da própria homossexualidade ou da homossexualidade dos outros). Não existe “O Homossexual”, e sim homossexuais, tanto quanto neuróticos, psicóticos e perversos. Lacan aproxima a perversão da sublimação, mostrando que são duas formas de se atingir um gozo para além do princípio do prazer, que é da ordem da criação – o perverso com a fantasia e o artista com a obra. E, no final de seu ensino, nos anos setenta no seminário RSI, “Real, Simbólico, Imaginário”, ele desconstrói o conceito fazendo um trocadilho entre perversion e père-version, apontando que a perversão é uma versão do pai, que ele designa como “aquele pai que tem uma mulher como objeto de desejo”. Lá onde se esperava a norma, Lacan coloca a perversão, como a característica por excelência da sexualidade.

HS - São freqüentes os relatos de pacientes e de profissionais que transitaram numa análise ou numa formação psicanalítica, de práticas homofóbicas por parte de analistas e de instituições, como a tentativa de "curar" tendências homossexuais, ou a regra (formal ou informal, explícita ou não) que impedia um/a homossexual assumido de se tornar analista. MACJ - Tudo decorre da mesma noção normativizante, e eu diria mesmo pré-freudiana, da sexualidade. Freud foi tão claro e sereno quanto a isso: ao finalizar sua obra mais importante sobre a sexualidade, os Três ensaios sobre a teoria da sexualidade, ele asseverou que "quando a homossexualidade não é considerada um crime [sim, porque na época esta questão era colocada desse modo em muitos lugares da Europa], ver-se-á que ela responde amplamente às inclinações sexuais de um número não pequeno de pessoas". O colóquio tratará desse aspecto em especial, com a apresentação de pesquisas feitas sobre a homofobia nas instituições de psicanálise e na literatura psicanalítica.

AQ – Conheço vários casos de homossexuais cujos analistas tentaram “curá-los”, seja por pedido deles mesmos por não aceitarem sua atração pelo mesmo sexo, seja da parte dos analistas que queriam – baseados na teoria freudiana da bissexualidade – “desrecalcar” a heterossexualidade latente. Não conheço nenhum analista que tenha tentado fazer o contrário. Ouvi também relatos de pacientes cujos analistas queriam fazer o sujeito masculino ter relações com mulheres para “perder o medo do outro sexo” e “afrontar a castração”. E até mesmo, máximo do cinismo, ouvi um caso em que o analista tentou ensinar o sujeito a fazer sexo oral com uma mulher. Quando o analisante não sai dessa análise, os resultados podem ser catastróficos, indo até, por exemplo, a produção de um quadro deliróide/delirante, como já tive a oportunidade de observar. Essas conduções de análise por esses analistas causam o descrédito da psicanálise, impedindo que aquele sujeito se beneficie da análise para ultrapassar suas reais dificuldades. Quanto á formação analítica, não há uma regra escrita, que eu conheça, em nenhuma Sociedade ou Escola de Psicanálise que impeça homossexuais de entrarem numa formação, mas o boicote se dá ainda em muitos lugares, através de diversos procedimentos que vão da coação a impedimentos até a indiferença na instituição.

HS – Que matizes são possíveis na produção psicanalítica atual, a respeito da abordagem das homossexualidades e do que é chamado de perversão?

MACJ - Há diferentes versões sobre a homossexualidade e sobre a perversão na psicanálise. Nesse sentido, nosso colóquio poderia ter se intitulado igualmente "As homossexualidades e as psicanálises": Pode-se dizer que existem tantas versões sobre a homossexualidade e a perversão quanto psicanálises. Mas de uma forma geral, acredito que há um ponto de resistência crucial dentro da própria psicanálise em relação à despatologizar de fato a homossexualidade. Trata-se de um ponto opaco, resistencial, que concerne a meu ver a uma resistência à própria concepção psicanalítica da sexualidade como um todo e não apenas à homossexualidade. Há uma resistência fundamental em aceitar a concepção freudiana da sexualidade, francamente desvinculada dos ideais da ciência e da religião. É através destas que a maior resistência se produz dentro da psicanálise. Há um fundo de religiosidade que faz com que os psicanalistas possam às vezes, infelizmente, se unir ao senso comum, para o qual é preciso dar um sentido unívoco à vida e logo à sexualidade.

Quanto à religião, a minha hipótese é a seguinte: a Igreja católica produziu um golpe de mestre ao condenar a homossexualidade por um lado e produzir, por outro, a segregação dos sexos no convívio entre seus religiosos. O resultado foi uma única e atraente mensagem: quem quiser vivenciar a sua homossexualidade, vinde até nós! A força da Igreja católica certamente dependeu da força de sua convocatória dirigida aos homossexuais e, se ela hoje está decadente, acredito que isso se deu em concomitância à aceitação da homossexualidade pela cultura ocidental. Não é mais necessário ser padre ou freira para viver a sua homossexualidade. O início da decadência da Igreja se deu muito próximo a revolta de Stonewall.


Fonte: CLAM


domingo, 28 de junho de 2009

TransOhio Transgender & Ally Symposium

Check Out Our Workshops & Presentation!

Transgender and Ally Symposium

Friday, August 14, 2009
Meet & Greet @ Club Diversity
Evening entertainment @ Havana

Saturday, August 15, 2009
Workshops & Presentations @ Capital University Law School

Fabulously Fluid:
A Evening of Performance, Music, Comedy and Spoken Word
@ Wall Street Night Club

Sunday, August 15, 2009
Symposium Closing
Post-Symposium Brunch @ Union Bar & Grill
Our Workshops and Presentations
Trans-Sex & Identity
Trans identities create a sexual landscape where you can't assume what the "opposite" or "same" sex is, especially when someone is in transition. Not only is the trans person often reinventing his or her own sexuality, but if s/he has a partner, or is looking for one, lots of issues come up. How does a heterosexual partner of a trans person "transition" to having a same sex partner? How does a lesbian partner find support in her community when she's being identified by others as straight? How do we balance our public and private identities in ways that don't invalidate either partner's sense of self? How can we respect & validate our partners' gender before, during & after transition? How can the trans person find ways to let their partner know if/when their sexual feelings have changed? Presenter: Keynote Speaker Helen Boyd (Helen is kink-, poly-, and queer-inclusive. All are welcome to attend, and partners are encouraged to come with questions/issues.)

Queers of Size: Promoting Fat-Positive Community and Activism in LGBT Organizations
From The L Word to the pages of Out Magazine, often the queer body is presented as thin, toned, and nautilized. In spite of these stereotypical images, LGBT folks come in all shapes, sizes and weights. This panel looks at size and sizeism in the queer/trans community and the need for greater fat-accpetance. We will discuss our experiences as queer people of size and fat studies scholars, as well as our work as activists and community organizers to promote fat-positivity with both society-at-large and within LGBT spaces and organizations. Attendees will emerge with a better understanding of fatphobia, as well as critical tools and resources for promoting fat liberation and size diversity within their own community spaces, organizations and advocacy groups. Presenter: Joelle Ruby Ryan

Communicating under Stress (A workshop for partners)
Communicating your thoughts clearly in a way that nurtures both yourself and the other person is a win win experience. This workshop is an opportunity for partners to examine new thoughts and to consider some creative ways of communicating. Learn how to get your points across in a kindly manner while also validating your own feelings and experience. Taking good care of yourself and enhancing your own personal growth can be done while caring for your loved one. Presenter: Ellen Seigel

Our Experience in Becoming an Inclusive Congregation
Representatives of a variety of congregations across Ohio that specifically mention gender identity or expression in their statements of welcome will briefly outline the reasons for their decision, what "went into" making it, and what the decision has meant to their respective congregations. It is expected that at least a few denominations will be represented. Representatives may include, but will not be limited to, clergy from those churches. Presenter: North Congregational United Church of Christ

Hormones & Black Market Perils
Presenter: David Brandebura, R.Ph.

HRT for Transgender Patients
Presenter: Dr. Elena Christofides, M.D., FACE.

FtM MtF Surgery: Regional Care now available in New Hope & Key West
Dr. McGinn will discuss her vision for regional transgender care and emphasize the advantages of rewarding trans-friendly cities with our business in the current economy. She will share the current offerings of Papillon Gender Wellness Center as well as her current surgical results for Vaginoplasty, FFS, Ring flap metoidioplasty and FtM top surgery. This talk is useful for the FtM as well as the MtF community. Presenter: Dr. Christine McGinn, D.O.

Dr. McGinn will also be available for private consultation on Saturday and Sunday. Consult reservations are required and can be made by contacting the office at 1-215-693-1199.

Practical Legal Applications for the Transgendered Person & Allies
In this workshop, we'll be discussing topics that include: interacting with law and government officials, traveling and dealing with the TSA, driver's licenses, birth certificates, managing your medical paperwork and how/when to disclose your transgender status, medical power of attorney, wills and estates, contracts housing, trusts, funeral arrangements and more. Topics are relevant to all attendees. Presenter: Melissa Marie Alexander

Transgender Youth & the Juvenile Justice System
An overview of the challenges faced by transgender youth when they become involved with the juvenile justice system: * Overview of the juvenile justice system * How transgendered youth may become involved with the juvenile courts. *Myths about transgendered youth in detention *How the juvenile courts may perceive transgendered youth *How the juvenile system responds to transgendered youth *Issues of differential treatment *Issues of harassment/potential violence *Legal rights of transgendered youth *Experiences of transgender youth in the juvenile system *Special concerns with transgendered youth in the juvenile justice system: *Mental health issues *suicide *Protection from harm *Healthcare issues *Advocacy & reform issues *Working with transgendered youth in the juvenile justice system. Presenter: Dr. James Buccigross

Open Door Coffeehouse
Open Door is celebrating their 7th year through its partnership with the Akron Area Pride Collective, to proclaim God's extravagant welcome to LGBT and allied community. Open Door has successfully offered a non alcohol venue with some wonderful entertainment from the community. The Open Door Coffeehouse is an "open mike" style program for all people, including the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. The Open Door Coffeehouse, an alcohol free/issue free event for people to gather, socialize and make new friends. Participants read poetry or short stories while others share from personal experiences. They also have serious musicians and karaoke projected on a screen so others can sing along. You choose what to sing, play on the piano or other forms of entertainment such as funny and professional videos from on line and personally crafted. Organizers try to accommodate anyone whatever their genre or expertise, unless you would rather just sit back and watch/listen. If you have a yen to perform (music, poetry, interpretive dance, fiction etc.) you can let it out here. Or you can make friends and be part of the audience in the very safe, supportive environment. Presenter: Joni Christian

Safer Sex for Everybody
This session would cover the basics of safer sex and would include information on generalizing good safer sex options to the trans population. "Standard" safer sex literature often does not include information that is readily applicable to trans people. In addition to basic information, the session would include a question and answer portion, and discussion as appropriate. Presenter: Elizabeth Weiss

Making History Come Alive
Many people would like to write a book but don't know how to go about it. This program would explore some of the basics the presenter has learned from almost 60 years as a writer/author. Although I could do this solo, it also could be an interesting panel discussion with one or two other published authors. Presenter: Diana Britt Franklin

Partners of Transgender Individuals Panel
Panelists: TBA, Moderator: TBA

Parents of Transgender Individuals Panel
Panelists: TBA, Moderator: TBA

Intersexed: A frank discussion of the lives of intersexed individuals
Intersexed People: How many of us are there, how little people know about us and the condition we have. The more we educate people, the more they will understand. Presenter: Barbie Rogers

Legislation and You
This session will focus on current legislation, how it effects the everyday lives of the transgender community, and the importance of making change. Participants will additionally learn impactful ways to tell their stories in order to effectively educate and challenge current legislation. Presenter: Erin Upchurch, MSSA, LSW

Everything You Wanted to Know about TRANS but Never Asked!
Open to All TQI & Allies, Partners, & Family Members of TQI. Sensitive and thoughtful discussion of participant-raised topics of TRANS Concerns, Questions and Answers with, Merâl Crane, Clinical Director of the GPCO (Gender Program of Central Ohio) since 1979. No Questions off limits! Presenter: Meral Crane

Trans Survival: Initiating activism on college campuses
Initiating policy change to make your college campus a more trans-inclusive environment can be overwhelming. This program will start with a discussion of the environments of different college campuses. In the discussion each person in attendance will explain the changes they hope to see on their campuses in order to make them more trans-inclusive and the foreseen barriers to making these changes. After this discussion everyone will look at the Trans Survival Guide made by members of GenderBloc at the University of Cincinnati. We will discuss the process of creating such a document and how the creation of the document and the networking it requires can open doors to initiate the previously discussed changes at your college or university to create a more trans-inclusive environment. Presenter: Emma Southard

Queer Parenting
Presenters: Sile Singleton & Erin Tarr

"You look like a Freak": Influences of Gender on Societal Recognition
Identity is communicated through gender expression. Societal gender norms determine what behaviors and expressions are culturally acceptable and create a concept of normalcy. Normalcy is the key determinant in societal recognition. We group identities based on recognizable traits that align to gender normative expectations. Atypical expressions in sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender presentation that exist outside a heteronormative construct lack normalcy. This lack of normalcy results in marginalization, denial of societal recognition, and the label of "freak." This workshop evaluates the cultural concept of normalcy and how it affects members of the queer, and more specifically the transgender and genderqueer community. It will cover gender identity, sexuality, desire, and how these elements play into the presentation and creation of freaks. It will also discuss who enforces the rules of gender expression, why we feel we have to follow them, and how we can break them. Presenter: Jac Stringer

Sex Change Hospital - Episode Screening & Discussion
Stephanie will lead a discussion and a Q&A session around the screening of her episode of the GLAAD Media Award - nominated documantary series, Sex Change Hospital. The series ran for the first time in the U.S. on the Women's Entertainment (WeTV) cable neetwork in the fall of 2008, and is currently still being shown on that channel. It was also featured in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in 2007. The episode also features Stephanie's dear friend and noted author, Diana Franklin, of Dublin, Ohio. Diana accompanied Stephanie to Trinidad, Colorado for her gender reassignement surgery with Dr. Marci Bowers in July of 2006, which is chronicled in the episode. Diana will co-lead the discussion and Q & A as well. Presenters: Stephanie Battaglino and Diana Britt Franklin

Gods, Goddesses, Atheists and Jesus - Transgender in Religion
What has religion had to say about transgender people throughout history? Which religions and denominations are accepting and welcoming today? Why does the Pope, while presenting in some interesting fashion choices, have a problem? How do you choose a place of worship? How do transgender religious professionals and congregants negotiate these issues? How can we make our church or religious groups more educated and accepting? We will look at and discuss these questions in a practical and fun session. Presenter: Kat Holtz

FTM Panel Discussion (This discussion is for FTM/Masculine self-identified individuals only.)
Let's drop the polite conversations and let's talk blunty. Come talk to Shane, Jacob, Milo and Edward about their experiences growing up, changes in community once you transition, coming out, sexuality and relationships, things we know now that would've been helpful years ago, hormones and experiences with emotional and physical changes, managing anger & aggression, support networks, mentoring and more. There will also be a discussion about surgical options and a chest surgery show-and-tell. This discussion is for FTM/Masculine Identified individuals only. Panelists: Shane Morgan, Jacob Nash, Milo Primeaux, Edward Bowers

"Learning your Needs" Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence (MACC) Statewide Needs Assessment
In this workshop, we'll discuss the following: 1) Learning to describe your needs - Cultural Competence Needs Assessment Project design and process, 2) Listing the Needs Assessment findings and 3) Discussing the project outcomes and implications for the transformation of Ohio's behavioral health system. Presenter: Charleta B. Tavares

Sponsors
Capital University Law School
Outlook Columbus
The Center on High - Stonewall Columbus
Wall Street Night Club
Club Diversity
The Apothecary Shops
Gender Program of Central Ohio
North Congregational United Church of Christ
The Wexner Center
Equality Ohio
LinkOUT
NLA-Columbus

Ancient India didn't think homosexuality was against nature

by Manoj Mitta, TNN
Fonte/Source: Indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: Was Indian society tolerant of homosexuality before the colonial administration proscribed it in 1860? The government has taken
conflicting positions on this within the country and outside.

On a petition pending before the Delhi high court seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, the government said in its counter affidavit that that there were “no convincing reports to indicate that homosexuality or other offences against the order of nature mentioned in Section 377 IPC were acceptable in the Indian society prior to colonial rule.”

But when it was being reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council last year for the first time ever, India distanced itself from that provision when Sweden, arguably the most gay-friendly country in the world, questioned its record in ensuring equality irrespective of a person’s sexual orientation.

This is how Goolam Vahanvati, who was then solicitor-general and is now attorney-general, tried to save India’s face before the council as part of its official delegation. “Around the early 19th Century, you probably know that in England they frowned on homosexuality, and therefore there are historical reports that various people came to India to take advantage of its more liberal atmosphere with regard to different kinds of sexual conduct.

“As a result, in 1860 when we got the Indian Penal Code, which was drafted by Lord Macaulay, they inserted Section 377 which brought in the concept of ‘sexual offences against the order of nature’.

Now in India we didn’t have this concept of something being ‘against the order of nature’. It was essentially a Western concept, which has remained over the years. Now homosexuality as such is not defined in the IPC, and it will be a matter of great argument whether it is ‘against the order of nature’.”

Vahanvati’s admission on the international forum that the ban on homosexuality was a western import and its relevance was debatable flies in the face of the government’s unabashed efforts before the Delhi high court to retain Section 377, complete with its colonial baggage and archaic notion of unnatural offences.

Whatever the politics behind this glaring contradiction, there is ample evidence placed before the high court by petitioner Naz Foundation substantiating in effect Vahanvati’s view that in the centuries prior to the enactment of section 377, India was rather accommodating of homosexuals.

While the penalty imposed by Section 377 goes up to life sentence, there is nothing close to it in Manusmriti, the most popular Hindu law book of medieval and ancient India. “If a man has shed his semen in non-human females, in a man, in a menstruating woman, in something other than a vagina, or in water, he should carry out the ‘painful heating’ vow.” Thus, this peculiar vow, involving application of cow’s urine and dung, was meant not only for homosexuals but also errant heterosexuals.

The penalty is even milder if the homosexual belongs to an upper caste. As Manusmriti puts it, “If a twice-born man unites sexually with a man or a woman in a cart pulled by a cow, or in water, or by day, he should bathe with his clothes on.’’

Since Manusmriti was written at a time when bath generally meant taking a dip in a river or a lake with other members of the same gender, the penalty of making a homosexual bathe without taking off his clothes was probably designed to avoid the embarrassment of his being sexually aroused in public.

In another indicator of the liberal Hindu heritage, Kama Sutra, a classic written in the first millennium by Sage Vatsyayana, devotes a whole chapter to homosexual sex saying “it is to be engaged in and enjoyed for its own sake as one of the arts.” Besides providing a detailed description of oral sex between men, Kama Sutra categorizes men who desire other men as “third nature” and refers to long-term unions between men.

Interview: Life is Hot for Kerry Washington

By Clay Cane






Kerry Washington is back in the edgy role of Marybeth, a transgender prostitute with a drug addiction in “Life is Hot in Cracktown.” Based on the book by Buddy Giovinazzo, who also wrote and directed the film, “Cracktown” is a haunting tale of intertwining stories surrounding the crack-cocaine epidemic.




The Bronx, N.Y., native is known as one of the most respected actresses of this generation for her work in films like “Ray,” “The Last King of Scotland” and Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me.” Washington has never been afraid of provocative roles and says, “This film allows us to have a window into a world that we normally wouldn’t pay attention to,” referring to “Cracktown.”

Here, Kerry Washington sounds off on “Cracktown,” playing a transgender woman, homophobia and much more.

I was so amazed at how well you landed this character.
Oh, thank you! You say that to all the girls! [Laughs]

[Laughs] What type of research did you do for the character?
I had an incredible woman named Valerie Spencer, who was my transgender authenticity consultant. [Laughs] She was a girl from the community and an incredible woman. I knew that I was going to need a lot of support on this. So, I worked with her and did a lot of reading, research and watched a lot of movies. I always work that way -- I feel my job in some ways is that of an anthropologist to immerse myself into the world of the character. I knew this world was so different than mine so I had Valerie on set everyday. I believe very strongly in a community of guidance. My job is to respect the community I am portraying.

You definitely look like a woman, but your character, Marybeth, looked like a transgender woman. So what look were you going for?
That's such an interesting question. One of the things I realized in approaching this role was that I actually figured out early on that I was going to learn a lot about being a woman -- period. Because, really, what a trans woman is, is somebody who is a woman but whose biology has betrayed them in someway. For me, I take for granted my identity as a woman. I take for granted my anatomy and physiology. I don't really think about those things. What if actually I was born with my body betraying me in some way? I would think about it differently. I go to the gym four times a week to get rid of my ass but what if instead I was paying thousands of dollars on the black market in hormone therapy to have an ass? [Laughs] I might walk differently, stand differently, dress differently -- I might think about celebrating my identity as a woman in a different way.

Were you concerned at all with getting any flack for playing a transsexual character?
I don’t really think my job as an actress is to be liked. I think my job as an actress is to tell stories about human beings; I felt like that is what was important. I went through similar things on "She Hate Me" -- people are going to say what they are going to say, but I think my work is about honoring humanity. For me, as an artist, I don’t think it's fair for me to say, "I’m going to tell honest stories about this segment of society and not this other segment." I respect other people's decisions to only tell certain stories and only portray certain characters. It might be different if I had kids, it might be different if I was just at a different point in my life, but right now I try not to shy away from things because it might not make people like me -- no matter what I do in life people are not going to like me for one reason or another. [Laughs]

There's a perception that Black people are more homophobic than White people. What's your reaction to that?
I think generalizations of any sort are dangerous. I'll say, if that is the case -- right now it's an American issue. We're dealing with Prop. 8 in California and it's scary, it's really scary. People don’t think about the fact that when Barack Obama's parents had him -- it was illegal for them to be married in several states in this country. So if we start making it okay that certain people can marry and other people can't, it's a slippery slope of civil rights. Who knows who is going to be allowed to marry or not marry next. I’m not interested in moving backward as a society. So whether it's more prevalent or not in the Black community, I think as a whole America is dealing with the issue of homophobia. We got to be really honest about whether we believe in civil rights for all people or not. As Black people we need to remember the moment that we say it's okay to disenfranchise one segment of society, we're opening the door to move backward on ourselves.

I have a feeling you are going to get some rave reviews for this film. Do good reviews matter to you?
There's no easy answer to that. With a film like this, I want people to have access to this story because I think it's unique so good reviews help that. But, again, I really make an effort to not do the work so that people like me. That's like the kiss of death for any artist. In order to stay truthful and brave in the work you have to let go about whether people like you or not. You have to be willing to have people misunderstand you and judge you.

This character has sexuality about her, but she is in some rough circumstances. Did you feel sexy playing her?
Wow -- that is such an interesting question. It's always hard for me to watch my own work. Sometimes that's because I’m so in it that it's almost like when I see it, it's like somebody showing yourself video when you're drunk at a party. [Laughs] You're like, "I don't remember any of that!" I had a lot of that with Marybeth. I keep trying to wrap my head around it. It was kind of shocking for me to watch the movie because I was so immersed in it. Sometimes when I work, I do a movie like "Fantastic Four" for example, you are kind of more conscious of the result and what it all looks like. This was one of those movies where I was just in it. There's a lot about the process I don’t really remember. But, I do know when I was playing her I felt very connected to womaness, to what if my identity as a woman was something that was really important to me -- sensually, sexually, physically, emotionally. What if it was something that I could never take for granted any day of the week? I was really connected to women in energy in a different way. She is a woman who makes her living having sex so there is some of that, too. I was connected to my sexuality as commerce. It was complicated.

What do you think people can learn most about "Life is Hot in Cracktown”?
I think sometimes in life we want to ignore the problems of society and just think about the good. I believe in positive thinking and affirmative living, I also think it's really important to remember all of our disenfranchised members of society. This community, for me, I would have nights coming from a late night of shooting or coming home from a club where I would be driving on Santa Monica Boulevard at two in the morning and I would see these girls. But, I never really thought about them. I never really thought about what their lives looked like, what their realities were. I just kept my eyes on the road. I think it's important to think about the people that we sometimes are afraid to make eye contact with in life and that's what the film is about -- all those people we ignore on the street that we don't make eye contact with, that we don't pay attention to and allow into our lives for all kinds of reasons that makes sense, but it's important to remember the full spectrum of human existence.

“Life is Hot in Cracktown” opens in select cities today.


***

Clay is a blogger for BET.com's What the Flick. You can read more of his work at www.claycane.net.

sábado, 27 de junho de 2009

Man shoots sex swap lover

24. 06. 09. - 18:00

Man shoots sex swap lover
croatiantimes.com

A furious boyfriend shot his lover after finding she'd been born a man.

Vladimir Filipov, 33, had lived with 'Kamilla' for two years before he discovered she was really a transsexual named Kiril, say police in Volgograd, Russia.

The truth emerged when she turned down his marriage proposal and he feared his lover was cheating on him.

After cracking her computer security horrified Filipov discovered the real reason for her refusal - she'd been born a man and had a sex swap operation in Australia.

When she returned from work, he pulled out a gun and killed her with a shot to the crotch before trying to take his own life by slitting his wrists.

But now Filipov is facing life in prison after police found his suicide confession note when paramedics saved his life.

Fonte: Croatian Times

Diretor e elenco de "Questão de Gênero" realizam debate sobre transexualidade

Diretor e elenco de "Questão de Gênero" realizam debate sobre transexualidade
Por Marcelo Hailer 17/6/2009 - 13:11


Com o público ainda digerindo o documentário "Questão de Gênero", o diretor Rodrigo Najar iniciou o debate após sessão da pré-estreia realizada nesta terça-feira (16/06), no HSBC Belas Artes, dizendo que escolheu fazer um filme sobre transexuais, pois tinha o desejo de pesquisar algo que fosse diferente de si.

Najar revelou que, durante o processo, acabou por descobrir mais "semelhanças do que diferenças" em seus personagens. Participaram da mesa Alessandra Saraiva, mulher transexual e conhecida da comunidade por organizar as "Terças Trans", Erick Barbi, homem transexual músico retratado no filme, e o diretor do documentário, Rodrigo Najar. A psicóloga do Centro de Referência de Campinas, Barbara Meneses, juntou-se à mesa para debater a questão trans.

Najar justificou a ausência de Xande, presidente da Parada de SP, que também é retratado no filme, dizendo que ele não pôde comparecer por estar ocupado resolvendo o problema dos ataques homofóbicos realizados pós-Parada. Com esse gancho, o diretor pediu aos debatedores que falassem da violência. Alessandra foi enfática e disse ser mais fácil falar das vezes que não sofreu com ataques homofóbicos.

Erick Barbi contou que, para não sofrer discriminação social, buscou ser o "melhor aluno, o melhor filho". Segundo ele, bastava virar as costas "para as risadinhas acontecerem". O músico relatou que, hoje em dia, já não sofre tanto, pois conseguiu mudar o seu nome em todos os documentos. No entanto, fez questão de ressaltar que as pessoas trans "sofrem preconceito de todos os lados". "As pessoas são cruéis e nós temos que mudar a cabeça delas", afirmou.

Questionada sobre o modo como os psicólogos fazem o diagnóstico em mulheres trans que estão no processo de encaminhamento para a cirurgia, a psicóloga Barbara Meneses assumiu que, boa parte deles, se baseia no padrão heterossexual e que os profissionais "estão muito fechados para repensar essa questão". Meneses assumiu que a maioria dos profissionais cobra um "estereótipo masculino e feminino".

Barbara disse considerar esse padrão de análise dos psicólogos dos centros da Santa Casa "um absurdo" e questionou: "Então uma mulher transexual não pode gostar de corridas de carros?". Além da problemática de se conseguir um diagnóstico que ateste o sujeito ser homem ou mulher transexual, para que assim possa fazer a cirurgia pelo SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde), falou-se também do drama para mudar os nomes nos documentos.

Alessandra, que já fez a cirurgia de transgenitalização, contou que, mesmo operada, não consegue autorização judicial para trocar seu nome nos documentos. "Por isso a importância de uma lei, assim não temos que ficar aguardando a boa vontade do juiz", disse. Erick relatou que, nos Estados Unidos, a pessoa que estiver a três meses no tratamento e passando por acompanhamento psicológico, já pode requerer a alteração do nome nos documentos, isso antes mesmo de ser operado.

A respeito do descompasso entre a realidade social e da medicina em relação à questão trans, Barbara Meneses disse que a principal resistência está nos médicos e que as próprias transexuais "dão aula sobre hormônios". Em seguida, um dos presentes perguntou como colocar o nome no currículo.

A psicóloga explicou que, no Centro de Referência, pede-se às meninas que coloquem o nome social em destaque para deixar claro ao entrevistador. Alessandra relatou que decidiu trabalhar por conta própria, pois para ela "o mercado de trabalho é uma roleta russa e tudo depende de quem vai entrevistar". Disse ainda ser "altamente desgastante sair à procura de trabalho" e afirmou que o problema não é o currículo e, sim, "o preconceito do entrevistador".

Uma expectadora disse que estava com dificuldades para se afirmar como mulher transexual e pediu conselhos à Alessandra, que respondeu: "Olha, esse processo é difícil, mas você tem que se impor". Alessandra destacou que há uma lei que proteje as trans nesse caso: "Você chega e diz: prazer, sou Cintia, me respeite, senão eu entro com processo baseada na lei estadual anti-homofobia 10.948". Tanto Alessandra quanto Barbara se ofereceram para ajudar a menina no que fosse preciso.

Após um debate intenso de informações e curiosidades, o diretor Rodrigo Najar agradeceu a presença de todos e o debate terminou por volta das 23h.


Fonte: A Capa


Anne Hathaway opens Shakespeare in the Park with Twelfth Night

By Mona Molarsky
Fonte/Source: NY City Life Examiner







Olivia (Audra McDonald) courts Viola (Anne Hathaway)Played on a grassy set designed to look like a park, “Twelfth Night” officially opened the Public Theater’s summer Shakespeare season last night after two weeks of previews. Romping over the green hillocks in antic high spirits, actors Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald and Julie White stole the stage from their male counterparts.



It was a true reversal for a play that usually provides the characters Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek with the biggest laughs. And one perfectly in keeping—or so some might argue—with the theme of sex role reversals and confused identities in Shakespeare’s beloved comedy about a maiden who dresses up as lad and must woo her master’s lady love.

“Cross-Dressing in the Park” is the Public’s theme this year, a slogan emblazoned on posters and t-shirts. Characters in drag, and the confusions they inspire, are a Shakespearean staple. This year more than most, the cross-dressing theme seems to have spilled out of the theater. Or maybe our world has simply spilled more completely onto the stage. Either way, gender-bending is becoming so mainstream it may someday lose the power of outré humor.

Summer Shakespeare at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park has been a beloved New York tradition ever since director-producer Joseph Papp (1921-1991) pushed the city to build the theater in 1961. And if the truth be told, Shakespeare in the Park—as it’s known—is as much about the park and its people as it is about Shakespeare.

Every summer at this time, the city’s dedicated theater lovers and a sprinkling of tourists can be found lining up as early as 6:00 AM and waiting six or seven hours to get free tickets for an evening’s performance. To pass the time, folks listen to music, read books, or play charades and cards. A few even recite their favorite Shakespearean monologues. At meal times, picnic baskets loaded with homemade feasts and bottles of wine are often produced. And when it rains—as it has so often this year—intrepid New Yorkers pop open their umbrellas and wait patiently for the downpour to end.

Since the Delacorte is an open-air theater, Central Park itself—its trees, glacial rocks and even the 1865 Belvedere Castle perched high above—becomes the backdrop for every performance. How amusing, then, to find a stage set that’s made to look like a 19th-century park, complete with grassy knolls, trees, embankments and Victorian street lamps. Not one to let an illusion linger, scenic designer John Lee Beatty has turned up one corner of his green lawn, as if it were the corner of a rug. Just a reminder that this park within The Park is a fake. A deconstructionist touch for deconstructing times.

One of Shakespeare’s most lively comedies, “Twelfth Night” is woven together with music, songs and dance. “If music be the food of love, play on!” are the first words of the play, spoken by Orsino, the Duke of Shakespeare’s imaginary island Illyria.

This summer’s production, directed by the seasoned Daniel Sullivan, makes effective use of 60s-style folk rock, composed by the New York band Hem and performed on guitar, fiddle, tambor, Irish flutes and Scottish pipes and whistles. There are some wonderful, high-spirited country jigs and some pretty, slightly-poppy songs that remind us that “Hair,” the Public Theater’s revival and hit last summer, has moved on to Broadway.

Hathaway, best known for her movie roles in “Rachel Getting Married” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” makes her Shakespearean debut as Viola, the cross-dressing, pun-spinning comic heroine of “Twelfth Night.” Her slim figure and impulsive gestures are just right for this headstrong lady who decides to pass herself off as a boy. Her goal—to serve Orsino (played by Raúl Esparza), the Duke of the island where she’s been shipwrecked—is almost hijacked by numerous romantic misunderstandings. But it’s all Viola’s doing; she’s the one who hatched the plan to begin with.

“Thou shalt present me as an eunuch!” she crisply instructs the captain of the recently-wrecked ship, winning guffaws from the audience the night I attended.

With a name like Anne Hathaway, it was inevitable that she’d try her hand at Shakespeare sooner or later. Happily, she pulls off a charming and very creditable performance.

Singer and actress Audra McDonald plays the Countess Olivia, object of the Duke Orsino’s affections. Olivia, of course, will have none of Orsino—she wouldn’t be a comic Shakespearean woman if she did. She prefers his servant boy (Viola in disguise) and throws herself at him (actually her) at every opportunity.

“Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections with an invisible and subtle stealth,” she marvels, after her first meeting with the trousered Viola. When Viola makes her next entrance, Olivia nearly jumps to greet her.

McDonald plays Olivia-in-love with great comic intensity and abandon. Yet, watching this savvy, 39-year-old act opposite the sapling Hathaway, I couldn’t help feeling something was off. Shakespeare loves to make fools of his mismatched couples. But there is no way to believe the bounteous McDonald would waste a minute of her time on this callow youth. And if her erotic impulses were indeed so directed, she’d surely have the wit to make her advances more discrete.

With her obvious worldliness, McDonald would be better off singing Kurt Weil, or getting under the skin of Hedda Gabler and Lady Macbeth. The ideal Olivia needs to be younger, less experienced and most of all … clueless.

As the tart-tongued and mischievous Maria, Julie White lights up the stage during every one of her too-few scenes. Maria is Olivia’s servant and a companion to the always-drunken Toby Belch. While Toby’s sprawled on an embankment, downing barrels of ale with his sidekick Andrew Aguecheek, Maria, a homespun wit and verbal instigator, plans to make a fool of her nemesis, the puritanical and self-important servant Malvolio.

“I will drop in his way some obscure epistle of love, wherein by the shape of his leg, the manner of his gait, the esspressure of his eye, forehead and complexion, he shall find himself most feelingly personated,” she gleefully tells Toby and his gang. They are ever-willing to play along.

The scenes where Maria, Toby and their crew trick the morose Malvolio into wearing yellow stockings and crossed garters can be some of the most hilarious in all comedy. Sitting in a dilapidated room in Chelsea for an off-off Broadway production of “Twelfth Night,” with a cast of unknowns, I once laughed at poor Malvolio until my sides ached.

But Michael Cumpsty, who plays Malvolio with a straight-ahead intensity, barely caused me to chuckle when he appeared in lumpy yellow stockings and intoned the ridiculous lines, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

The usually riotous characters Toby Belch (Jay O. Sanders) and Andrew Aguecheek (Hamish Linklater) also stirred up less hilarity than I hoped. Too bad, since their bumptious antics offer a platform most comedic actors would die for. It seems director Daniel Sullivan is so enamored with his gender-bending ladies that he’s neglected the rest of the cast and the best of the comedy.

If I ever thought the Bard’s play was so brilliantly written no performers could fail it, I now see the script is as dependent on the troupe as any other. “Twelfth Night” is a tricky soufflé that needs astute casting, inspired acting and precise timing in order to rise.

Yet there’s something about Shakespeare in the Park that’s inspiring and somehow always bigger than the sum of its performances. Maybe it’s the sociable, die-hard New Yorkers who return year after year and can recite cast lists the way other Americans recite baseball scores.

“We lined up at 3:30 in the morning once,” a man seated next to me said. “That was in 1976 to see Meryl Streep in ‘Measure for Measure.’”

“And we were watching ‘Three Penny Opera’ when the power failed—right in the middle of the ‘Pirate Jenny’ song,” his wife chimed in. “That was the 1977 blackout. It was glorious!”

Or maybe it’s the exciting knowledge that in Central Park—no matter how well-oiled and tightly rehearsed the production—the uncontrollable and serendipitous can always happen. Airplanes may rumble overhead, mosquitos may buzz around your ears.

Last Sunday night, I sat in a downpour with hundreds of other ticket holders, huddled under umbrellas in the Delacorte Theater, waiting and hoping the show would not be cancelled. At 8:45, the three leading ladies appeared—also under umbrellas—to announce that the show would not go on and the audience filed out into the darkness. Amazingly enough, everyone still seemed in a cheerful mood.

“Orsino wants to marry Olivia. But Olivia loves his servant,” a father, walking under a black umbrella, summarized for his two pre-teen daughters, dressed in yellow ponchos. “We’ll try again next weekend,” I heard him promise.

Three days later, I was back at the Delacorte with my trusty collapsible umbrella. Mercifully, that night the clouds parted and the show started almost on time. And, just after 11:00, when a spirited cast brought down the figurative curtain singing, “Hey, ho, the wind and the rain!” almost 2000 people applauded loudly before heading home. Many—like me—will be back again before long.

For more information about the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park click here



Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater, Summer 2009

View Slideshow » Author: Mona Molarsky
Mona Molarsky is an Examiner from New York. You can see Mona's articles on Mona's Home Page.

Evolution of the Girl Boys

by Jyn Radakovits
Chicago Indie Music Examiner





One of the prettiest guy's alive Molko is a perfect example












As I helped out an ex friend pick out his first pair of girl jeans several months ago it dawned on me the sexiness of a man dolled up in cheap makeup and cross dressing.

Some wonder where exactly the trend started with some music historians crediting the trend with the earliest glam rockers. Glam also known as “glitter rock” was the next logical step after the hippie movement developing as a sub rock genre shortly after the hippies began to trade in their bell bottoms for more mod attire. Known for their outrageous dress, makeup and cross dressing, early girl boys turned away from folk rock and began following suit such as Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld) of T. Rex, one of the earliest bands to cultivate the new scene.

When Bolan shortened the band name of Tyrannosaurs Rex to just T. Rex and began to wear his wife’s glittery makeup on stage he coined his music as cosmic rock. Soon everyone in the UK scene from Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, and Grand Funk Railroad was learning to apply eyeliner.

What began evolved into New Wave kept upping the ante when it came to being more outrageous then the next in costume and lyrics. By the time of Bolan’s death due to a car accident in the late 70’s the kids that grew up listening to such bands were coming into their own and beginning to form what went on to be known as the American First Wave and New Wave bands, giving way to Hair Bands by the mid 80’s.

More outrageous than their predecessors, the Hair Bands kept the same fashion of their idols but with a metal edge giving way to the looks of acts such as KISS and Motley Crue.

As the scene branched out again dividing into sects of more rock bands and more metal bands, the fashion even as if fizzled out into Grunge was still hot for the moment until men discovered loose fitting pants again. The day of painted on jeans and the makeup and platform shoes that accompanied them were gone.

Those true to the scene still remembered their roots with bands like Bauhaus covering T. Rex’s “Telegram Sam”, The Replacements among the first to cover “20th Century Boy”, and countless others including Adam Ant, Duran Duran, The Violent Femmes, Elton John, Pete Dorethy, Placebo, The Church, and Siouxie and The Banshees all taken turns with Bolan’s songs.

When Alternative began to become more of a main stream in the late 90’s and 2000’s the metrosexual boys of just years before began to shimmy back into their skinny girl jeans and paint their nails. Rockers went back to wild fashion and wearing eyeliner.

According to a recent online survey names like Brian Molko, Davey Havok, and Dave Grohl, and Ville Valo were among the sexiest men in music.

I was pretty proud of myself helping that boy put on his first pair of girl jeans, although I wanted to punch him in the face for fitting his chiseled body into a size five.

There is a proud legacy of the pretty boys I like to stare at so know where you come from my lovelies and understand the history behind your guyliner and glitter.

A Truly Queer History

Tommi Avicolli Mecca draws together witnesses from an age of liberation

















Myth has it that the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village were the first open queer rebellion against discrimination. Not so. In 1965, the first queer sit-ins on record took place at a late-night Philadelphia coffee shop and lunch counter called Dewey’s, which was a popular hangout for young gays and lesbians, and particularly drag queens and others with gender-variant attire. The establishment had begun refusing service to this LGBT clientele.

As an April 25 protest rally took place outside Dewey’s, more than 150 patrons were turned away by management. But four teens resisted efforts to force them out and were arrested, later convicted on charges of disorderly conduct. In the ensuing weeks, Dewey’s patrons and others from Philadelphia’s gay community set up an informational picket line protesting the lunch counter’s treatment of gender-variant youth. On May 2, activists staged another sit-in, and the police were again called, but this time made no arrests. The restaurant backed down, and promised “an immediate cessation of all indiscriminate denials of service.”

In August 1966, there was a riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, a 24-hour San Francisco eatery popular with drag queens and other gender-benders (this was long before the word “transgendered” was in use), hustlers (many of them members of Vanguard, the first organization for queer youth on record, founded some months earlier), runaway teens, and cruising gays. The Compton’s management had begun calling police to roust this non-conformist clientele, and one night a drag queen precipitated the riot by throwing a cup of coffee into the face of a cop who was trying to drag her away. Plates, trays, cups, and silverware were soon hurtling through the air, police paddy wagons arrived, and street fighting broke out. Some of the 60 or so rioting drag queens hit the cops with their heavy purses, a police car was vandalized, and a newspaper stand was burned down. The Compton’s Riot eventually led to the appointment of the first police liaison to the gay community, and the establishment of the first known transsexual support group in the US.

These are just two of the many nuggets of little-known or forgotten queer history to be found in “Smash the Church, Smash the State: The Early Years of Gay Liberation,” the new anthology edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca, himself a veteran of the earliest gay liberation struggles, and today an activist, gender-bending performance artist, and writer well-known to San Francisco queers.

By the time of the Stonewall riots in June 1969, rebellion and radicalism were in the air. The country had been riven in two by the mass agitation against the war in Vietnam. The multiracial civil rights movement was being replaced by the Black Power movement, the Black Panthers had been born four years earlier, and America’s cities had exploded in urban riots by the black underclass. Feminists had begun to articulate their own liberationist ideology and burn their bras. Stonewall and the militant gay liberation movement to which it gave birth arose out of this ’60s turbulence, and cannot be properly understood separated from this context.

If the first night of the Stonewall riots was spontaneous, and led principally by drag queens like the legendary Sylvia Rivera, a street hustler who always claimed she’d thrown the first beer bottle at the cops, the ensuing nights of protest benefited from some more consciously activist participation. As Mark Segal, who for 32 years has been the publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, puts it in his contribution to this anthology, “Marty Robinson recruited me into the ‘activist group,’ a subgroup of Mattachine New York. If there were organizers of the demonstrations on the nights following the [first] Stonewall riot, it was us. After the first incident in which cops raided the bar, Marty had the brilliant idea to have us write in chalk on Christopher Street, ‘Stonewall Tomorrow Night.’ For three more nights, we gathered and protested.”

What made Stonewall the much-evoked milestone in queer activist history that it’s become was that it was followed in the ensuing weeks by the launch of a concrete and militant political organization, the Gay Liberation Front, into which Robinson and his Mattachine action group merged. Many of the 37 men and women who participated in the founding meeting of GLF, and others who later joined, were youthful veterans of other ’60s struggles, and GLF’s radical politics were multi-issue. Within two years, imitators of the New York GLF had launched some 300 independent Gay Liberation Front cells across the country. At GLF demonstrations, one frequently heard the chant “2-4-6-8, Smash the Church, Smash the State!” — hence the title of Avicolli Mecca’s collection of articles, largely first-person reminiscences of the earliest and most radical wave of gay liberation struggles, the bulk of them specifically written for this volume.

As Nick Benton, a founder of the Berkeley Gay Liberation Front and of its offshoot, the seminal queer newspaper Gay Sunshine, writes, for him and his fellow GLF activists “gay liberation was part of the larger struggle of human beings for liberation, in solidarity with the civil rights, anti-war, feminist, and Third World liberation struggles.” The first editorial of Gay Sunshine proclaimed that gay liberation would represent “those who understand themselves as oppressed — politically oppressed by an oppressor that not only is down on homosexuality, but equally down on all things that are not white, straight, middle class, pro-establishment… It should harken to a greater cause — the cause of human liberation, of which homosexual liberation is just one aspect — and on that level take its stand.”

GLF supported the Black Panthers — and were rewarded with a much-publicized “Open Letter to the Revolutionary Brothers and Sisters” by the Panthers’ charismatic theoretician, Huey Newton, reproduced in this anthology, proclaiming that homosexuals “might be the most oppressed people in the world,” and adding that “we should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms ‘faggot’ and ‘punk’ should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, like Nixon.”

Early gay liberation saw itself as a cultural paradigm shift from the stultifying atmosphere of the Nixon years. As the first editorial in the New York GLF’s newspaper, ComeOut!, proclaimed, “We will not be gay bourgeoisie, searching for the sterile ‘American dream’ of the ivy-covered cottage and the good corporation job, but neither will we tolerate the exclusion of homosexuals from any area of American life.”

The personal testimonies collected for “Smash the Church, Smash the State!”, augmented by manifestos and documents of that early period and biographical sketches of important movement figures, help recreate those heady, joyously rambunctious days of “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll” as queers, influenced by the hippies, Yippies, and Zippies, built their own radical wing of the prevailing youth counterculture, and created their own influential publications — like Boston’s Fag Rag, in which a notorious Charlie Shively article proclaimed “Cocksucking As an Act of Revolution.”

There are numerous contributions by women who tired of the male domination of GLF and founded groups like RadicalLesbians, RedStockings, and Dyketactics. There are also accounts both of radical gay liberation’s earliest and often campy direct actions and of the factional fights that eventually destroyed GLF and led to its replacement by the much larger — and single-issue — Gay Activists Alliance, which emerged just six months after Stonewall.

Avicolli Mecca has not abandoned the anarchic radicalism of those early days. He writes in his introduction, “In many ways, the new millennium gay movement is the antithesis of the early ’70s gay liberation. It cavorts with politicians who may be good on gay issues, but not on concerns affecting other disenfranchised communities. It is in bed with the Democratic Party establishment that gave carte blanche to George Bush to wage two illegal and immoral wars in the Middle East. It courts corporate support for its gala events, even its pride parades, which used to be protest marches and celebrations of the Stonewall Riots. Now those marches seem more of a market than a movement.”

On this 40th anniversary of Stonewall, that’s a critique that deserves to be heard.

A complete collection of the Gay Liberation Front’s newspaper, ComeOut!, has just been posted on the excellent OutHistory website, founded by pioneering gay historian Jonathan Ned Katz, at outhistory.org/wiki/Come_Out%21_Magazine%2C_1969-1972 along with a collection of the original police reports on the Stonewall riot. Tommy Avicolli Mecca’s web site is at avicollimecca.com/. Doug Ireland can be reached through his blog, DIRELAND, at http://direland.typepad.com/.

SMASH THE CHURCH, SMASH THE STATE!

THE EARLY YEARS OF GAY LIBERATION

Edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca

City Lights Books

Becoming a Woman

By Andy Campbell
Fonte/Source: chronline.com
The Chronicle tells what could easily be a hidden story of life in Lewis County, with the intention of helping report the diverse experiences of our neighbors.


Tina Alexis waits to have her eyebrows waxed and plucked at a salon in Chehalis Wednesday. Alexis was born a man.








Transgender: Centralia Resident Relives the Hardship, Joy and Process of Changing Her Gender Forever


Tina Alexis always knew she was a woman, ever since she was a little boy.

She used to play with dolls, liked to wear her little sister’s pretty clothing, and consistently wore makeup.

Though the 50-year-old Logan District resident is currently equipped with male genitalia, she prefers the female title as she works her way through the process of gender reconstruction.

Tina is a transsexual, defined as anyone who believes they should be or are truly the opposite sex.

“I felt female ever since I can remember,” Tina said Wednesday. “Now I want it to show on the outside. My size sort of gives me away.”

Indeed, at 6 feet 2 inches tall, Tina’s stocky build is contrasted by the purple and pink highlights in her hair and the floral-print dress she wore Wednesday. She said a face lift, hormone treatments and genital reconstruction will fix that.

But the process of physically changing a male into a female is a long and taxing one — not only for the doctors who need proof that Tina wants to go through with the surgery, but for Tina herself. The decision comes with a vast array of drama, emotion and self-reflection, she said.

Stuck Inside a Man’s Body

Tina said she wouldn’t have even considered the change 30 years ago. Homophobia was much more widespread, even in areas such as Seattle and Portland that now have a growing acceptance for the gay and transsexual community, she said.

Still struggling with her sexual identity throughout her 20s, Tina tried everything to try and stay masculine: she drove a pickup truck, worked manual labor jobs, attempted a husky voice, and even got married and conceived two kids.

She and her ex-wife divorced in 1999, but she still has an ongoing, stable relationship with her 15-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter.

“You go through a lot of mental issues in this process,” she said. “I’ve lost friends and family over it, but made plenty of new ones.”

She said her parents and many of her siblings turned their backs on her since she came out as a woman nearly six months ago, though she said she still has supportive friends.

But it wasn’t easy living a lie for so long.

“I started becoming suicidal as a man trying to look masculine, and I couldn’t take it anymore,” she said. “I felt feminine anyway, and thought people would figure me out.”

She said she waited cautiously for the time when her kids would be old enough to understand the change, as well as a time when she’d be more accepted in American society.

Taking on the Persona

In order to undergo the genital reconstructive surgery, doctors require that the patient look, act, and feel like the opposite gender every day for at least a year. Patients also go through therapy sessions where psychologists determine whether they’re fit to make such a decision.

Tina changed her name from John in April by recommendation of one of those therapists. She paints her nails, wears jewelry and has girlfriends help her pick out matching outfits that women would wear.

Since she stands out as her female persona, she’s had her fair share of problems. She was attacked recently by five men while visiting her daughter in Corvallis. She said the men started calling her “fag,” surrounded her on the street and punched her.

She was assaulted again at a bar in Chehalis, when a woman came up and groped her while she sang karaoke.

She didn’t call the police on either occasion. She was too scared and shocked.

The fear most likely stems from a sexual molestation case involving a Seattle Catholic priest when she was 12 or 13 years old, she said. She said that case was later settled in court.

Now somewhat fearful of men, Tina said she prefers women sexually and considers herself a lesbian.

“I don’t really go to places with bikers or rednecks anymore,” Tina said. “I frequent a lot of gay bars, or places that are more friendly so I can do karaoke.”

As she gains a repertoire of accepting friends, the fear is slowly dissipating, she said.

Friends in Centralia said she’s strong for going through with her commitment. One said she supports Tina in whatever she does, and is protective of her in public situations.

The Procedure

Dr. Gary Alter is a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Calif., specializing in male-to-female reconstruction for the past 13 years. Tina will undergo the surgery in Thailand, where many of her transsexual friends have traveled for a cheaper operation, but Alter offered some insight as to how the reconstruction works.

He said before a patient reaches him, they’ve already gone through hormone treatment that will give a man breasts, as well as therapy to make sure their decision is the right one.

Tina will start hormone treatment in Portland next week in order to grow real breasts. The process continues with surgery in about a year or two, when doctors will use existing male parts to create new genitalia.

Alter said once the surgery is successful, there should be no concern that new medical problems will arise.

Tina was rejected by Lewis County doctors who didn’t believe she needed hormone treatment or reconstruction surgery, so she said she’ll have to relocate to Portland for a while to find good doctors.

Advice

Tina said it’s important for anyone who’s gay, transsexual, straight or otherwise to be themselves. People will eventually accept differences, she said, even worship centers like the Unity church she attends regularly in Centralia.

She said there is always going to be some level of inner turmoil when someone holds a secret, so let it out.

“I finally feel free now,” Tina said. “I’ve endured many hardships over the years, but I’m the happiest right now than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

It's easy to get a sex change in Iran

by Hanna Rosin
Fonte/Source: TheStar.com















Athena, centre, serves tea to her father and sister in Tehran. She’s shown in 2004, two years after surgery that changed her into a female. Email story

Gender reassignment is a way to deal with homosexuality in a place where gays are executed



The poster for Be Like Others, a documentary that aired on HBO this week, looks like a CD cover for a glam-rock band. One gay-looking Adonis sits on the arm of a red leather couch, his arm linked with that of his sexually ambiguous lover. She or he smiles coyly, other hand resting on her/his inner thigh. This suggestive tableau is in fact a snapshot from Iran, and not even some futuristic Iran after the street protesters have won.

Since the reign of the Ayatollah Khomeini, sex-change operations have been legal in Iran. Khomeini once ran into a man who wanted a sex change, the filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian explains in an interview, and he was "very moved." He said: "You were born in the wrong body and this is a medical issue. It has nothing to do with issues of sin or being a degenerate. You're allowed to have your body match your soul if it's done medically."

Coming from the Ayatollah, this all sounds very enlightened and queer theory-esque. Except, as the film explains, "homosexuality is still punishable by death." We are so used to thinking of "transgender" as the last stop on the gay train to freedom and self-expression that it takes a minute for these twin realities to sink in. For the reigning powers in Iran, homosexuality exists at the opposite end of the spectrum from transgender. The former is a sin and degenerate. The latter is a useful tool for the regime to restore someone with aberrant behaviour to the expected gender norms. As a result, dozens of young men and women in Iran resort to sex-change operations as a step toward a happy, normal life – a step that, the filmmaker suggests, rarely leaves them satisfied.

Those two on the couch, Ali and Anoosh, have always been in love. But they cannot be together or get married until Anoosh has the operation to change his penis into some approximation of a vagina and gets injected with female hormones. The surgeon, though, can't deliver the fairy-tale ending. Identity, especially for the transgendered, is a many-layered and complicated thing. As the film makes clear, Islamic law can dictate what happens to the bodies, but it can't force normalcy or happiness to follow.

When they first arrive at the transsexual clinic of Dr. Bahram Mir-Jalali, the patients experience great relief. They've felt trapped in the wrong bodies, and society has sensed something off about them. Nobody will hire them; police harass them. After years of telling him he's insane, Ali Askar's father one day prepares him a "big breakfast with honey" and a "super nice tea." In a flash of intuition, Askar realizes his father has put rat poison in the tea. This final break with his family drives him to the clinic.

The doctor listens sympathetically and reassures his patients. "He can't help himself," he tells distraught parents from a small town whose young son puts on lipstick and dresses. "What's going on in his sister's head is going on in his head." Vida, the den mother who recently had her own operation, hangs around the waiting room trying to get parents to be supportive, convincing the "girls" to dress respectably, and generally setting the boundaries. "I'm not saying I won't speak to someone who's gay," she explains to a new arrival. "But I can't be friends with him."

After the initial relief, though, the patients start to sense that they are blooming in a very tight space. One of the most painful scenes unfolds the day before Askar's operation. He's trying to convince himself he's making the right decision. His neighbours are nosy, he can't get a job, and he doesn't want to be gay, he says. ("In the West two men can get married, but what's the point of that?") After the operation, "everything will be fine." But it's obvious he's working too hard at it. Finally, the interviewer asks him straight out: If he didn't live in Iran, would he get the operation? "No," he says. "I wouldn't touch God's work."

With this final quote, Eshaghian is suggesting that the regime is forcing these operations on people who don't want them and might otherwise live as gay, or cross-dressing, or some other, more ambiguous identity. But there is a subtler point here, too. Ali Askar might have come to the same conclusion if he lived elsewhere. But his choice feels forced because he does not have any of these other choices; a drastic operation is the only action he can take. Identity, in other words, needs time and a space and a natural way to grow before it fits. It's not like a uniform: It can't quickly be put on, before we are ready, just so others can know easily who we are.

Compare the Iranian patients to the cast of characters in Diagnosing Difference, a new documentary about the American transgender community. Among them is a beautiful Cuban who wears heavy makeup and brags about her breasts, but insists, "I love my d--k. I'm a woman with this body." And then a corresponding man with frizzy long hair who goes by "Holy Old Man Bull" and "happily" says he loves his vagina. Designed to convince the psychiatric establishment to retire the term "gender identity disorder," the film feels more like propaganda than art. Still, it's a useful corrective to the Iranian clerics' version of normal.

I found Eshaghian's film so moving because it gets closer to the universal truth about being transgender than do the confident activists in Diagnosing Difference. Recently, I wrote a story for The Atlantic about transgendered children. They identified themselves as the other gender almost as soon as they could talk, and their parents' responses were not all that different from Khomeini's. They treated it purely as a medical condition and urged their children to live as, and ultimately change their bodies into, the opposite gender. But as one doctor told me, the hardest thing for him to do was to get parents–even the most progressive parents – to hold off on making a decision and let the kids live in an ambiguous place. This suggests that even in an age of shifting sexual identities and gender roles, gender itself is a hard barrier to get around. Researchers are nowhere near finding any convincing medical explanation for why some people are born transgender. They remain a medical mystery, and a social one.

The people I met in my reporting were much more like Eshaghian's characters than like Holy Old Man Bull. They were ultimately not as broken and miserable as Ali Askar, because they usually had their families' support. But like him, they could not easily find a way to "be like others."

Hanna Rosin is the founding editor of doubleX.com, where this article originally appeared.