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quinta-feira, 28 de janeiro de 2010
quarta-feira, 27 de janeiro de 2010
Now available: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1
Filed by: Jeff Sheng
January 26, 2010 6:30 PMPrint
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/01/dont_ask_dont_tell_volume_1.php#more
I first want to start this post by saying a big thank you to the over thirty service members in our military who have allowed me to photograph them for my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," photo series so far. It takes a huge amount of courage to volunteer for this project, as these individuals are basically risking being kicked out of the military - it is something that I do not take for granted. Any one who knows me personally, will know that I care deeply about those that I photograph, and I feel indebted to the number of people so far willing to risk their careers to be in this project.
That being said, I am incredibly pleased and happy to announce the pre-sales and release of my first publication, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1.
I decided to break up the publication of my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" project into different volumes for various reasons, the most significant is that after consulting with various groups involved with the repeal effort of DADT, most notably, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), they advised that I try to release a book at the beginning of 2010. My initial plan was to finish the project by the end of 2010 and then publish everything into a larger book in 2011, but I chose instead to break things up and release the project in segments throughout 2010 to help put a "face" to those that are affected the most by this policy and add to the debate this year on the issue.
To finish Volume 1 I had to fly over 30,000 miles across the United States the last three months, while gaining the trust of seventeen service members willing to be in a project that had no real finished product at the time - and to be the first ones willing to be in something that no one else had participated in yet. I am still amazed that I had such a large number of volunteers. If you read the LA Times article written in mid-November about my project, I am quoted as saying that my goal was 20 portraits by this Spring. I currently have over 30 and my goal is now to have over 100 different photo shoots by August. Please contact me via e-mail if you are interested in participating.
To get a copy of the book, please visit the online book store I have set up specifically to handle the sales of the DADT books: www.DADTbook.com. I decided that for the time being, I would discount the book to $25 from the retail price of $30, in order to get a nice jump-start to initial pre-sales. I am also offering $5 off to those who are students, in the military, or those under financial hardship, so you can get a copy for just $20. I have also set up a way for people to donate money directly to the project itself, and as a thank you, for even just $1, I'll gladly sign your book before sending it off to you.
Since somebody asked from my last post, I wanted to just reiterate that the project is completely self-funded and self-published. I chose to photograph this issue because about 2 years ago, when my other photo project "Fearless" was beginning to get a lot of media attention, I began to receive anonymous e-mails from closeted service members in our military asking if I had ever considered working on a photo project on DADT.
For those of you who don't know about "Fearless," that photo series is about openly LGBT-identified athletes on high school and college sports teams, who are "out" to their teammates and coaches. A lot of the closeted service members who e-mailed me were incidentally also high school and college athletes, so they were particularly interested in "Fearless." In 2009, I finally decided to commit to working on DADT, and Volume 1 is the first product from that commitment.
To make this all happen though, I've basically taken on an enormous amount of debt - but I say this not to garner sympathy or whatnot (since we all live with debt) but rather, to stress the point that I don't make the work I do to make money. The discounted price of the books are basically close to my cost to pay my book printers in Los Angeles, and my intention here is to raise the issue of DADT to the public via these photo books. I am an artist, and making beautiful, compelling images is what drives me. If on the chance, I were to pay off my debt and was financially able to donate books or profits to organizations working for the repeal, I would gladly do so.
So please, go to the site www.DADTbook.com and order a copy soon. The books should be ready to be shipped in a week, maybe even sooner, and for the time being, at least for the first 500 copies, they are $5 off from the normal retail price. I know that Bil will be reviewing a copy soon, and there will be a contest shortly for the readers of the Bilerico Project to win copies soon too. Here are some images from the book, which also includes selected anonymous e-mails from various service members affected by the policy in some way:
January 26, 2010 6:30 PMPrint
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/01/dont_ask_dont_tell_volume_1.php#more
I first want to start this post by saying a big thank you to the over thirty service members in our military who have allowed me to photograph them for my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," photo series so far. It takes a huge amount of courage to volunteer for this project, as these individuals are basically risking being kicked out of the military - it is something that I do not take for granted. Any one who knows me personally, will know that I care deeply about those that I photograph, and I feel indebted to the number of people so far willing to risk their careers to be in this project.
That being said, I am incredibly pleased and happy to announce the pre-sales and release of my first publication, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1.
I decided to break up the publication of my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" project into different volumes for various reasons, the most significant is that after consulting with various groups involved with the repeal effort of DADT, most notably, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), they advised that I try to release a book at the beginning of 2010. My initial plan was to finish the project by the end of 2010 and then publish everything into a larger book in 2011, but I chose instead to break things up and release the project in segments throughout 2010 to help put a "face" to those that are affected the most by this policy and add to the debate this year on the issue.
To finish Volume 1 I had to fly over 30,000 miles across the United States the last three months, while gaining the trust of seventeen service members willing to be in a project that had no real finished product at the time - and to be the first ones willing to be in something that no one else had participated in yet. I am still amazed that I had such a large number of volunteers. If you read the LA Times article written in mid-November about my project, I am quoted as saying that my goal was 20 portraits by this Spring. I currently have over 30 and my goal is now to have over 100 different photo shoots by August. Please contact me via e-mail if you are interested in participating.
To get a copy of the book, please visit the online book store I have set up specifically to handle the sales of the DADT books: www.DADTbook.com. I decided that for the time being, I would discount the book to $25 from the retail price of $30, in order to get a nice jump-start to initial pre-sales. I am also offering $5 off to those who are students, in the military, or those under financial hardship, so you can get a copy for just $20. I have also set up a way for people to donate money directly to the project itself, and as a thank you, for even just $1, I'll gladly sign your book before sending it off to you.
Since somebody asked from my last post, I wanted to just reiterate that the project is completely self-funded and self-published. I chose to photograph this issue because about 2 years ago, when my other photo project "Fearless" was beginning to get a lot of media attention, I began to receive anonymous e-mails from closeted service members in our military asking if I had ever considered working on a photo project on DADT.
For those of you who don't know about "Fearless," that photo series is about openly LGBT-identified athletes on high school and college sports teams, who are "out" to their teammates and coaches. A lot of the closeted service members who e-mailed me were incidentally also high school and college athletes, so they were particularly interested in "Fearless." In 2009, I finally decided to commit to working on DADT, and Volume 1 is the first product from that commitment.
To make this all happen though, I've basically taken on an enormous amount of debt - but I say this not to garner sympathy or whatnot (since we all live with debt) but rather, to stress the point that I don't make the work I do to make money. The discounted price of the books are basically close to my cost to pay my book printers in Los Angeles, and my intention here is to raise the issue of DADT to the public via these photo books. I am an artist, and making beautiful, compelling images is what drives me. If on the chance, I were to pay off my debt and was financially able to donate books or profits to organizations working for the repeal, I would gladly do so.
So please, go to the site www.DADTbook.com and order a copy soon. The books should be ready to be shipped in a week, maybe even sooner, and for the time being, at least for the first 500 copies, they are $5 off from the normal retail price. I know that Bil will be reviewing a copy soon, and there will be a contest shortly for the readers of the Bilerico Project to win copies soon too. Here are some images from the book, which also includes selected anonymous e-mails from various service members affected by the policy in some way:
El presidente Lula envía mensaje a militantes LGTB
Publicado por Ivan en Ene 25, 2010
Anticipando la V Conferencia de activistas LGTB de América Latina y el Caribe, que se reunirán en Curitiba la próxima semana, el Presidente de Brasil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ha enviado un mensaje de salutación en el que reafirma su apoyo a la defensa de los derechos LGTB y el combate de la Homofobia.
El mensaje de Lula ha sido difundido a través del activista Toni Reis, Presidente de la Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais, y coordinador general de la Comisión Organizadora del evento.
En el mensaje, el Presidente Lula afirma que la lucha contra la intolerancia y la discriminación, con los consecuentes esfuerzos por el respeto a las personas, incluida su orientación sexual, fue una preocupación durante toda su gestión.
El mensaje integro será difundido en la apertura de la Conferencia, el próximo 27 de enero. En la ocasión, el mensaje de Lula será leído por el diputado federal Rosinha (PT-PR), integrante del Frente Parlamentario por la Ciudadanía LGTB.
La Conferencia regional de ILGA LAC reunirá cerca de 400 militantes de 35 países que trabajan en la defensa de los derechos de la población gay, lesbica, transexual, bisexual e intersex.
sexta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2010
Transgender actor makes finals of reality dating show
Scott Turner Schofield is shown in a scene from "Debutante Balls" at Out North theater company. Schofield, who was born female, competed recently as one of 30 bachelors on ABC's "Conveyor Belt of Love."
By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com
Published: January 9th, 2010 04:09 PM
Alaskans who watched "Conveyor Belt of Love" on KIMO Channel 13 Monday night might have recognized Scott Turner Schofield. The transgender playwright and performer is associated with Anchorage's Out North theater company where he is the current guest artistic director.
Schofield was part of a male meat market on ABC's latest reality dating show. The set consisted of a conveyor belt that brought men before five leggy models. Each contestant had 60 seconds to sell himself as a potential date. The women indicated whether they were interested or not with auction-style paddles.
Cute, charming, animated, self-assured and blond, Schofield finished in the final four out of a field of 30.
Few viewers would have guessed that the eligible bachelor was born a girl named Katie. On his Web site (undergroundtransit.com/Bio.html) he describes himself as "a man who was a woman, a lesbian turned straight guy who is usually taken for a gay teenager."
"I always felt different," he said in an interview. "Even as a kid. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, 'I wanna be a boy.'"
As a teenager, Schofield gave in to pressure to act more like a girl. "And I did it very well. I was on the homecoming court and attended three debutante balls." The latter experience is the subject of a one-man play he'll present at Out North this month.
As a high schooler in Charlotte, N.C., Katie realized that she liked girls better than boys. "I figured I must be a lesbian, but something still didn't feel quite right," Schofield said.
When he was 19, he met someone who was born female and now lived as a male. It was a revelation. "I didn't know that a girl could become a guy."
He changed his name and began to take hormones that altered his secondary sexual characteristics, such as lowering his voice and causing him to grow facial hair. His play about the legal, medical and social aspects of the change, "Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps," was presented at Out North in 2008.
During that residency, he presented workshops for young people at McLaughlin Youth Center. He called the experience "particularly powerful. It reminded me of why I got into theater in the first place."
He talked with Out North Executive Director Mike Huelsman about coming back to continue that work. When Huelsman took a sabbatical this fall, he invited Schofield to fill in for him for six weeks, a gig that juggled administrative tasks with a return engagement at McLaughlin. When that job wraps up this month, he'll go to New York City to study and write thanks to a grant from the Princess Grace Foundation.
Schofield got the "Conveyor Belt of Love" call by "applying for everything that's out there."
That's about all he could say about it because of a confidentiality clause in the contract.
It's unclear whether the show's producers knew of his status as a "transgender" person, the word Schofield prefers to "transsexual."
It's also unclear whether there will be a second "Conveyor Belt of Love" episode. The show -- created as a stand-alone special by parties responsible for "Survivor" and "Big Brother" -- was panned by critics for its "glacial pace" and too many ridiculous contestants.
But the New York Daily News reports that more episodes may be ordered.
As for Schofield, he sounded a little disappointed at being "passed up for a guitar player" in the final round. However, he added, "I had a very positive experience, the whole thing."
quarta-feira, 20 de janeiro de 2010
terça-feira, 19 de janeiro de 2010
Is America Still Making Men?
Posted by Dennis Prager on Jan 19th, 2010 and filed under FrontPage.
Every society has to answer a few basic questions in order to succeed and even in order to survive. One of them is, “How do we make good men?”
The reason for the importance of this question is simple: Males untutored about how to control their natures will likely do much harm. Conversely, males who are taught to how to control themselves and to channel their drives in positive directions make the world a much better place. The good man is a glory of civilization; the bad man ruins it.
Throughout American history, American society asked, “How do we make men?” (It was understood that “man” meant a good man.) Anyone who thought about the subject knew that boys who are not transformed into men remain boys. And when too many boys do not grow up into men, women suffer and society suffers.
What is a man (as opposed to a boy)? The traditional understanding was that a man is he who takes responsibility for others — for his family, his community and his country — and, of course, for himself. A man stood for ideals and values higher than himself. He conducted himself with dignity. And he was strong.
For much of American history, making boys into men was understood to be of supreme importance, and society was usually successful. When I was a boy in the 1950s, without anyone expressly defining it, I knew what a man was supposed to be. And I knew that society, not to mention my parents, expected me to be one. It went without explicitly saying so that I would have to make a living, support myself as soon as possible and support a family thereafter.
When I acted immaturely, I was told to be or act like a man. I wonder how many boys are told to “be a man” today; and if they were, would they have a clue as to what that meant? It would appear that for millions of American boys, this has not been the reality for decades. Many families and society as a whole seem to have forgotten boys need to be made into men.
There are numerous reasons:
1. The distinction between men and boys has been largely obliterated. The older males that many American boys encounter are essentially older boys, not men. They speak, dress, and act similarly (think of men who “high-five” young boys instead of shaking their hands). And they are almost all called by their first names. Even when a boy (or girl) addresses an adult male as “Mr.,” many men will correct the young boy or girl — “Call me” and then give the young person his first name. This is often true even with regard to teachers, physicians and members of the clergy. When a young person calls an adult by his first name, the status of the two individuals has been essentially equated. Boys need men to respect. It’s not impossible to do so when they call men by their first names, but it makes it much harder.
2. Boys today have fewer adult men in their lives than ever before. Many boys are not raised by any father. More are not raised by a father who lives in the home full time. Nearly every teacher and principal American boys have in elementary and high school is a female. The boy’s clergy person and physician may well be women. And few male figures in contemporary film radiate manhood as defined above.
3. The ideals of masculinity and femininity have been largely rendered extinct. Feminism, arguably the most influential American movement of the 20th century, declared war on the concepts of femininity and masculinity. And for much of the population, it was victorious. Indeed, thanks to the feminist teaching that male and female human beings are essentially the same (note, incidentally, that no one argues that male and female animals are the same, only human beings are), untold numbers of boys have been raised as if they were like girls. They were denied masculine toys such as play guns and toy soldiers, and their male forms of play — e.g., roughhousing — were banned.
4. America has become a rights-centered rather than a responsibility-centered society. Aside from helping to produce a pandemic of narcissism, the rights-centered mindset is the opposite of the obligation/responsibility-centered mindset that makes a boy into a man. It is not good for either sex to be rights-preoccupied; but it is particularly devastating to developing men, as men are supposed to be obligation-directed. The baby boomer generation helped destroy manhood in most of the ways described here. One additional example was its widespread slogan, “Make love, not war.” One cannot come up with a more unmanly piece of advice: “Don’t fight for your country, screw girls.” If the greatest generation had adopted that motto, Hitler and Tojo would have won. A few years ago, the city of Chicago named a street after Hugh Hefner, a man who has played games much of the day and night, lived in pajamas and devoted his life to sex — quite a model of manhood for American boys.
5. There are few places where men can bond with other men. One major way men become men is by associating with other good men. The only places left where this normally takes place are sports teams and the military. The same holds true for boys. And much of society is now working on breaking the most significant all-boys institution, the Boy Scouts.
6. Males no longer have distinctive roles. Men do best when they are relied upon, when needed; and they feel most needed when they do something distinct from women. This exists today in sports and the military. It is symbolic — significantly so — that there are no more “men at work” signs on highways. Now “people” are at work. “Men” have disappeared.
7. Many churches and synagogues have been feminized. This has occurred in at least three important ways: Clergy are increasingly female (and touchy-feely males) — for the first time in Christian and Jewish history; God is often depicted as androgynous and no longer either demanding or judging (He just loves all the time); and religion has been changed from morally and theologically demanding to a therapeutic model. So religion, too, has become yet another place where boys encounter few men, and few masculine models (even in God, as noted, is no longer masculine).
8. Instead of the traditional American model of masculinity, which was a rare combination of masculine toughness and stoicism with doing good (e.g., Superman), boys are now taught to be preoccupied with their feelings and with (unearned) self-esteem. They are not even allowed to lose; all boys playing a sport are given trophies, not just winners.
9. Increasingly, marriage is regarded as optional. The most obvious expression of men assuming responsibility — marrying a woman and taking care of her and their children — is no longer a male ideal. Vast numbers of men quite openly admit to having problems with the C-word (commitment) and responsibility of being a family’s sole breadwinner.
When boys do not become men, women assume their roles. But they are not happy doing so. There are any number of reasons American women suffer from depression more than ever before and more than men. It is difficult to believe that one of those reasons is not the very emasculation of men that the movement working in their name helped to bring about. And so, a vicious cycle has commenced — men stop being men; women become man-like; men retreat even further from their manly role; and women get sadder.
domingo, 17 de janeiro de 2010
sábado, 16 de janeiro de 2010
sexta-feira, 15 de janeiro de 2010
Italy to open transgender-only prison
Posted by Sherwin
Italy plans to open the world’s first prison for transgender inmates in a town near the Tuscan city of Florence, according to the BBC.
The almost-empty women’s penitentiary in Pozzale will be converted into a specially-equipped detention center for transgender inmates with drug and prostitution-related offenses.
The prison includes its own library, recreation center, football field and agricultural land. The inmates will have their own cell and will be given a personal development plan.
The United States, however, doesn’t have specific facilities for its transgendered prisoners; instead it employs the following policy:
Transsexual people who have not had genital surgery are generally classified according to their birth sex for purposes of prison housing, regardless of how long they may have lived as a member of the other gender, and regardless of how much other medical treatment they may have undergone. Transsexual people who have had genital surgery are generally classified and housed according to their reassigned sex.
Read more: http://dailycontributor.com/italy-to-open-transgender-only-prison/10600/#ixzz0chDoL1jL
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
O processo Transexualizador
Publicada em: 16/12/2009 às 10:50
notícias CLAM
Há pouco mais de um ano, em agosto de 2008, o Ministério da Saúde baixou a portaria nº 1.707 que instituía, no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), o Processo Transexualizador. Esta norma técnica estabeleceu um conjunto de estratégias assistenciais para transexuais que pretendem realizar modificações corporais do sexo, em função de um sentimento de desacordo entre o sexo biológico e o gênero.
A concretização dessa política foi resultado de anos de debates, regulamentações e discussões entre o poder público, a sociedade civil organizada, representantes de classes profissionais e os próprios transexuais. Entretanto, isto não significou a linha de chegada dos debates, muito menos a aceitação plena do que foi implementado. Pelo contrário: existe ainda a clara percepção, entre pesquisadores, de que impasses e desafios impõem-se na agenda pública para que se possa avançar em alguns pontos.
A pesquisadora Márcia Arán, professora do Instituto de Medicina Social (IMS/UERJ) e coordenadora da “Pesquisa Nacional sobre Transexualidade e Saúde: condições de acesso e cuidado integral” (IMS-UERJ/MCT/CNPq/MS/SCTIE/DECIT), ressalta a importância das negociações que foram feitas entre vários atores sociais para a construção desta política. A iniciativa do Ministério da Saúde reconhece que a orientação sexual e a identidade de gênero são determinantes e condicionantes da situação de saúde, e que o mal-estar e o sentimento de inadaptação em relação ao sexo anatômico de usuários e usuárias transexuais devem ser acolhidos e tratados pelo SUS, seguindo os preceitos da universalidade, integralidade e da equidade da atenção.
Mas chama a atenção, por outro lado, para a preponderância do discurso médico. “Nessa pactuação, ainda predominam as resoluções do Conselho Federal de Medicina, que considera a transexualidade uma patologia, um transtorno de identidade de gênero”, afirma, jogando luz sobre um dos principais elementos de discussão desta política do SUS: a patologização da condição transexual.
A exemplo de outros países, o Brasil condiciona o acesso ao serviço à definição do diagnóstico de “transtorno de identidade de gênero”. Em artigo de janeiro de 2009 na revista Physis, cujo tema foi “Transexualidade e Saúde”, Márcia Arán, que atuou como editora adjunta deste número, fez um inventário histórico sobre como a medicina e a temática da transexualidade se entrelaçaram de maneira que, até hoje, a literatura médica influencia diretamente as políticas públicas.
Na esteira de um processo de incremento das possibilidades tecnológicas da biomedicina e de maior liberdade sexual, a partir de meados do século XX, a transexualidade foi ganhando terreno nos fóruns acadêmicos e nas ciências. Segundo a pesquisadora, “em meados da década de 1960 do século passado novas teorizações médicas e sociológicas - como os estudos de Harry Benjamin, John Money e Robert Stoller - começaram a esboçar as especificidades da transexualidade que, somadas ao progresso da biologia e da viabilidade técnica para adequação do corpo à identidade de gênero, deslocaram essa experiência de uma situação individual e absolutamente marginal para um problema médico-legal reconhecido e passível de tratamento”.
Neste contexto, o doutor Norman Fisk definiu um primeiro diagnóstico para a transexualidade, categorizando-a como uma patologia. “Isso é um problema sério, porque esse diagnóstico, criado com o objetivo de regulamentar o acesso ao tratamento, acaba estabelecendo um modelo normativo e correcional de sexo-gênero. O que faz com que transexuais acabem se apresentado, muitas vezes, de forma estereotipada e artificial para se encaixar no padrão esperado de masculinidade e de feminilidade condizentes com a noção de ‘transexual verdadeiro’”,observa Márcia Arán.
Em 1980, a condição transexual foi adicionada ao manual de diagnóstico psiquiátrico da Associação de Psiquiatria Americana (APA) e, em 1994, o termo “transexualismo” foi substituído por “transtorno de identidade de gênero” (TIG).
No Brasil, o Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM) regulamentou, em 1997, a operação de transgenitalização, condicionando-a ao acompanhamento prévio mínimo de dois anos por um médico psiquiatra, dentre outras especialidades. A normatização da transexualidade, portanto, criou, via diagnóstico médico, uma porta de entrada para o processo transexualizador. A própria portaria 1.707 vincula, inclusive, sua efetivação ao atendimento das condições estabelecidas pelo CFM, que determina o diagnóstico, as terapêuticas prévias e o acompanhamento pós-operatório como “atos médicos em sua essência”.
Márcia Arán afirma que a necessidade do diagnóstico de “transtorno de identidade de gênero” como condição de acesso à saúde restringe em muito os processos de cuidado. Segundo a pesquisadora, é necessário construirmos uma noção mais ampliada de saúde, baseada na individualização do cuidado e na integralidade da assistência para que se possa acolher de fato as necessidades de saúde desta população. Essa restrição biomédica, observa, foi determinante para que a pesquisadora, quando psicóloga do Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho (UFRJ) em um programa de assistência a transexuais, vislumbrasse a necessidade de realizar uma pesquisa sobre os Serviços que prestam assistência a transexuais no país com o objetivo de colaborar com a gestão de uma nova política.
“Ao conversar com homens e mulheres transexuais, conviver com eles e elas, no movimento social, ou mesmo a partir da minha experiência clínica, pude perceber que estas pessoas têm várias experiências de construção de gênero e existem várias formas de subjetivação da transexualidade. Na minha opinião, não tem nada que justifique definir a transexualidade como uma patologia, nem mesmo como uma estrutura psíquica. É uma experiência de desacordo entre sexo e gênero que pode se manifestar de diversas formas. Isto não quer dizer que as pessoas trans, assim como qualquer outra pessoa, não possa manifestar uma forma de sofrimento psíquico, principalmente em função da experiência de exclusão social, de discriminação e muitas vezes de injúria e violência, e não possa necessitar ou desejar realizar uma psicoterapia ou um tratamento psiquiátrico”, explica Márcia Arán.
Segundo ela, é preciso pensar e discutir alternativas de regulamentação do acesso à saúde que possam, mesmo reconhecendo o sofrimento psíquico em algumas pessoas, não enquadrá-las em uma patologia psiquiátrica.
Além disto, num cenário de extrema vulnerabilidade de gênero, principalmente em função da dificuldade de mudança da identidade civil, a cirurgia de transgenitalização não pode se tornar uma tábua de salvação, ou seja, uma forma de inclusão social. “É importante considerar em que contexto se dá a opção pela transformação corporal. Alguns homens e mulheres transexuais podem desejar a cirurgia de transgenitalização pela exclusiva necessidade de reconhecimento social, o que nos faz pensar que a cirurgia não necessariamente seria indicada se vivêssemos num mundo onde a diversidade de gênero fosse possível. Algumas destas pessoas, já têm uma vida afetiva e sexual satisfatória e já são reconhecidas pelo gênero que dizem pertencer e em outras condições poderiam permanecer como estão. Porém, outras pessoas consideram a realização de modificações corporais do sexo, inclusive a cirurgia, um evento vital para a construção de si. Entre estes extremos há um continuum de possibilidades que devem ser consideradas. Como por exemplo, muitos homens trans que desejam a realização de cirurgias para a modificação de caracteres sexuais secundários (como a mastectomia - remoção da mama), mas não desejam realizar a cirurgia de transgenitalização, ou o caso das travestis que desejam apenas as modificações dos caracteres sexuais secundários. É por isto que a individualização do cuidado é parte constitutiva de qualquer projeto baseado na integralidade da assistência”, acrescenta Arán.
De acordo com a pesquisadora, “apesar da experiência de vulnerabilidade estar presente na vivência trans, é importante que se diga o quanto estas pessoas conseguem, em situações muito adversas, construir modos de vida satisfatórios, produtivos e alegres”. Um dos maiores entraves para a realização plena de suas vidas não é, a dificuldade de relacionamento afetivo e sexual, nem a construção de redes de amizade, mas a extrema dificuldade de profissionalização proveniente da impossibilidade de mudança do nome civil. Por isto que muitas pesquisadoras já vêm afirmando que a permissão para a troca de nome e sexo no registro civil independentemente da realização da cirurgia, resolveria o problema mais agudo da vida cotidiana de transexuais.
A qualidade das cirurgias é um elemento que também merece atenção. Segundo Arán, “é importante que o Ministério da Saúde possa acompanhar e fiscalizar a qualidade das cirurgias que estão sendo realizadas, e principalmente possa apoiar os Centros de Referência para que eles se transformem em Centros de formação de profissionais, já que este é um dos grandes problemas para a organização de novos serviços. Além disto, observamos que os poucos profissionais que se dispõem a realizar este tipo de assistência, muitas vezes ficam muito sobrecarregados, já que tem a tarefa de realizar a capacitação profissional da equipe interdisciplinar e implementar medidas de humanização, para que se possa garantir um atendimento de qualidade e livre de discriminação”.
É por isto que apesar de constatar que o serviço do SUS ainda necessita de ajustes, Márcia Arán avalia a portaria como uma iniciativa cujos desdobramentos permitem pensar a construção de uma assistência integral. Além disso, a institucionalização do processo transexual por meio do governo joga luz sobre o tema e contribui para consolidar sua inserção na agenda pública.
Por outro lado, as lacunas a serem preenchidas ainda persistem, sobretudo no que diz respeito a uma política de atenção básica destinadas a transexuais e travestis. Márcia Arán explica que as pessoas trans evitam se expor e, por isso, relutam em ir ao posto de saúde. “Então, não adianta haver um centro de referência para um atendimento de alta complexidade e não se ter uma rede de assistência associada. É fundamental que nos municípios e Estados – tanto as secretarias municipal quanto estadual de saúde – comecem realmente a desenvolver uma política de atenção básica”, diz, citando como exemplos bem sucedidos de ambulatórios TT (transexual e travesti) em Uberlândia e na cidade de São Paulo.
Na lista de desafios a serem enfrentados, há a exclusão dos homens trans (pessoas do sexo biológico feminino que se reconhecem como homens) da portaria do Ministério da Saúde, em razão da natureza experimental da cirurgia de transgenitalização de mulher para homem. Apesar do impasse, reconhecido por Arán em virtude da complexidade da cirurgia de construção do neofalo, ela defende que intervenções de caráter secundário como mastectomia e histerectomia (extração do útero) estejam acessíveis a esse público sem a necessidade prévia da cirurgia de transgenitalização. “A idéia seria dissociar esses dois tipos de cirurgia para que os homens trans pudessem realmente ser acolhidos na sua singularidade”, propõe, argumentando que muitas pessoas não pretendem, num primeiro momento, realizar a cirurgia de transgenitalização.
A não inclusão das travestis na portaria é outro problema apontado. A despeito das diferenças em nível de intervenção e alteração corporal, as travestis, por não estarem contempladas dentro da visão correcional, ficam alijadas da assistência. Um dos efeitos dessa exclusão, por exemplo, é a procura por silicone industrial, nocivo e inadequado para uso em pessoas, o que configura uma situação de extrema precariedade e vulnerabilidade, de acordo com Márcia Arán.
Para além de impasses propriamente médicos, outros ainda se configuram. No âmbito jurídico, a modificação do nome é efetuada na maioria dos casos somente após a cirurgia de transgenitalização. Para a pesquisadora do IMS, o ideal seria desatrelar a realização cirúrgica da mudança do nome. Nas circunstâncias atuais, em que os arranjos legais e burocráticos dificultam o processo de mudança da identidade civil, as pessoas trans acabam tendo dificuldade na escolarização e na profissionalização.“Não tem como ter uma política de assistência à saúde no Brasil sem que haja um suporte jurídico para a mudança de nome”, salienta a pesquisadora, apontando a Espanha, onde a alteração na carteira de identidade independe da realização cirúrgica, como uma referência para as discussões.
Mesmo diante de inúmeros desafios a serem trabalhados e enfrentados, a especialista é otimista. Ela lembra que, em 2001, quando iniciou seus trabalhos com o tema, a única referência existente então era o CFM. “De lá para cá, avançamos muito em termos de propostas de pesquisadores, profissionais de saúde e do movimento social (como o movimento LGBT, o coletivo de mulheres que vivenciam a transexualidade e a participação de homens trans). Todos passaram a dar algum subsídio para essa política, principalmente em relação ao que estamos chamando da necessidade da redescrição da experiência da transexualidade, ou seja, da importância do reconhecimento da diversidade da experiência trans”, afirma, elogiando a postura do Ministério da Saúde ao dar chance para que os diversos atores sociais envolvidos possam influir.
“Desta forma, se inicialmente a institucionalização da assistência a transexuais no Brasil esteve associada ao modelo estritamente biomédico, no qual o diagnóstico de transtorno de identidade de gênero tem como tratamento possível a cirurgia de transgenitalização, hoje esta política de assistência integral permite uma abertura para uma noção mais ampliada de saúde a partir da real necessidade dos indivíduos envolvidos”, conclui.
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CLAM
notícias CLAM
Há pouco mais de um ano, em agosto de 2008, o Ministério da Saúde baixou a portaria nº 1.707 que instituía, no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), o Processo Transexualizador. Esta norma técnica estabeleceu um conjunto de estratégias assistenciais para transexuais que pretendem realizar modificações corporais do sexo, em função de um sentimento de desacordo entre o sexo biológico e o gênero.
A concretização dessa política foi resultado de anos de debates, regulamentações e discussões entre o poder público, a sociedade civil organizada, representantes de classes profissionais e os próprios transexuais. Entretanto, isto não significou a linha de chegada dos debates, muito menos a aceitação plena do que foi implementado. Pelo contrário: existe ainda a clara percepção, entre pesquisadores, de que impasses e desafios impõem-se na agenda pública para que se possa avançar em alguns pontos.
A pesquisadora Márcia Arán, professora do Instituto de Medicina Social (IMS/UERJ) e coordenadora da “Pesquisa Nacional sobre Transexualidade e Saúde: condições de acesso e cuidado integral” (IMS-UERJ/MCT/CNPq/MS/SCTIE/DECIT), ressalta a importância das negociações que foram feitas entre vários atores sociais para a construção desta política. A iniciativa do Ministério da Saúde reconhece que a orientação sexual e a identidade de gênero são determinantes e condicionantes da situação de saúde, e que o mal-estar e o sentimento de inadaptação em relação ao sexo anatômico de usuários e usuárias transexuais devem ser acolhidos e tratados pelo SUS, seguindo os preceitos da universalidade, integralidade e da equidade da atenção.
Mas chama a atenção, por outro lado, para a preponderância do discurso médico. “Nessa pactuação, ainda predominam as resoluções do Conselho Federal de Medicina, que considera a transexualidade uma patologia, um transtorno de identidade de gênero”, afirma, jogando luz sobre um dos principais elementos de discussão desta política do SUS: a patologização da condição transexual.
A exemplo de outros países, o Brasil condiciona o acesso ao serviço à definição do diagnóstico de “transtorno de identidade de gênero”. Em artigo de janeiro de 2009 na revista Physis, cujo tema foi “Transexualidade e Saúde”, Márcia Arán, que atuou como editora adjunta deste número, fez um inventário histórico sobre como a medicina e a temática da transexualidade se entrelaçaram de maneira que, até hoje, a literatura médica influencia diretamente as políticas públicas.
Na esteira de um processo de incremento das possibilidades tecnológicas da biomedicina e de maior liberdade sexual, a partir de meados do século XX, a transexualidade foi ganhando terreno nos fóruns acadêmicos e nas ciências. Segundo a pesquisadora, “em meados da década de 1960 do século passado novas teorizações médicas e sociológicas - como os estudos de Harry Benjamin, John Money e Robert Stoller - começaram a esboçar as especificidades da transexualidade que, somadas ao progresso da biologia e da viabilidade técnica para adequação do corpo à identidade de gênero, deslocaram essa experiência de uma situação individual e absolutamente marginal para um problema médico-legal reconhecido e passível de tratamento”.
Neste contexto, o doutor Norman Fisk definiu um primeiro diagnóstico para a transexualidade, categorizando-a como uma patologia. “Isso é um problema sério, porque esse diagnóstico, criado com o objetivo de regulamentar o acesso ao tratamento, acaba estabelecendo um modelo normativo e correcional de sexo-gênero. O que faz com que transexuais acabem se apresentado, muitas vezes, de forma estereotipada e artificial para se encaixar no padrão esperado de masculinidade e de feminilidade condizentes com a noção de ‘transexual verdadeiro’”,observa Márcia Arán.
Em 1980, a condição transexual foi adicionada ao manual de diagnóstico psiquiátrico da Associação de Psiquiatria Americana (APA) e, em 1994, o termo “transexualismo” foi substituído por “transtorno de identidade de gênero” (TIG).
No Brasil, o Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM) regulamentou, em 1997, a operação de transgenitalização, condicionando-a ao acompanhamento prévio mínimo de dois anos por um médico psiquiatra, dentre outras especialidades. A normatização da transexualidade, portanto, criou, via diagnóstico médico, uma porta de entrada para o processo transexualizador. A própria portaria 1.707 vincula, inclusive, sua efetivação ao atendimento das condições estabelecidas pelo CFM, que determina o diagnóstico, as terapêuticas prévias e o acompanhamento pós-operatório como “atos médicos em sua essência”.
Márcia Arán afirma que a necessidade do diagnóstico de “transtorno de identidade de gênero” como condição de acesso à saúde restringe em muito os processos de cuidado. Segundo a pesquisadora, é necessário construirmos uma noção mais ampliada de saúde, baseada na individualização do cuidado e na integralidade da assistência para que se possa acolher de fato as necessidades de saúde desta população. Essa restrição biomédica, observa, foi determinante para que a pesquisadora, quando psicóloga do Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho (UFRJ) em um programa de assistência a transexuais, vislumbrasse a necessidade de realizar uma pesquisa sobre os Serviços que prestam assistência a transexuais no país com o objetivo de colaborar com a gestão de uma nova política.
“Ao conversar com homens e mulheres transexuais, conviver com eles e elas, no movimento social, ou mesmo a partir da minha experiência clínica, pude perceber que estas pessoas têm várias experiências de construção de gênero e existem várias formas de subjetivação da transexualidade. Na minha opinião, não tem nada que justifique definir a transexualidade como uma patologia, nem mesmo como uma estrutura psíquica. É uma experiência de desacordo entre sexo e gênero que pode se manifestar de diversas formas. Isto não quer dizer que as pessoas trans, assim como qualquer outra pessoa, não possa manifestar uma forma de sofrimento psíquico, principalmente em função da experiência de exclusão social, de discriminação e muitas vezes de injúria e violência, e não possa necessitar ou desejar realizar uma psicoterapia ou um tratamento psiquiátrico”, explica Márcia Arán.
Segundo ela, é preciso pensar e discutir alternativas de regulamentação do acesso à saúde que possam, mesmo reconhecendo o sofrimento psíquico em algumas pessoas, não enquadrá-las em uma patologia psiquiátrica.
Além disto, num cenário de extrema vulnerabilidade de gênero, principalmente em função da dificuldade de mudança da identidade civil, a cirurgia de transgenitalização não pode se tornar uma tábua de salvação, ou seja, uma forma de inclusão social. “É importante considerar em que contexto se dá a opção pela transformação corporal. Alguns homens e mulheres transexuais podem desejar a cirurgia de transgenitalização pela exclusiva necessidade de reconhecimento social, o que nos faz pensar que a cirurgia não necessariamente seria indicada se vivêssemos num mundo onde a diversidade de gênero fosse possível. Algumas destas pessoas, já têm uma vida afetiva e sexual satisfatória e já são reconhecidas pelo gênero que dizem pertencer e em outras condições poderiam permanecer como estão. Porém, outras pessoas consideram a realização de modificações corporais do sexo, inclusive a cirurgia, um evento vital para a construção de si. Entre estes extremos há um continuum de possibilidades que devem ser consideradas. Como por exemplo, muitos homens trans que desejam a realização de cirurgias para a modificação de caracteres sexuais secundários (como a mastectomia - remoção da mama), mas não desejam realizar a cirurgia de transgenitalização, ou o caso das travestis que desejam apenas as modificações dos caracteres sexuais secundários. É por isto que a individualização do cuidado é parte constitutiva de qualquer projeto baseado na integralidade da assistência”, acrescenta Arán.
De acordo com a pesquisadora, “apesar da experiência de vulnerabilidade estar presente na vivência trans, é importante que se diga o quanto estas pessoas conseguem, em situações muito adversas, construir modos de vida satisfatórios, produtivos e alegres”. Um dos maiores entraves para a realização plena de suas vidas não é, a dificuldade de relacionamento afetivo e sexual, nem a construção de redes de amizade, mas a extrema dificuldade de profissionalização proveniente da impossibilidade de mudança do nome civil. Por isto que muitas pesquisadoras já vêm afirmando que a permissão para a troca de nome e sexo no registro civil independentemente da realização da cirurgia, resolveria o problema mais agudo da vida cotidiana de transexuais.
A qualidade das cirurgias é um elemento que também merece atenção. Segundo Arán, “é importante que o Ministério da Saúde possa acompanhar e fiscalizar a qualidade das cirurgias que estão sendo realizadas, e principalmente possa apoiar os Centros de Referência para que eles se transformem em Centros de formação de profissionais, já que este é um dos grandes problemas para a organização de novos serviços. Além disto, observamos que os poucos profissionais que se dispõem a realizar este tipo de assistência, muitas vezes ficam muito sobrecarregados, já que tem a tarefa de realizar a capacitação profissional da equipe interdisciplinar e implementar medidas de humanização, para que se possa garantir um atendimento de qualidade e livre de discriminação”.
É por isto que apesar de constatar que o serviço do SUS ainda necessita de ajustes, Márcia Arán avalia a portaria como uma iniciativa cujos desdobramentos permitem pensar a construção de uma assistência integral. Além disso, a institucionalização do processo transexual por meio do governo joga luz sobre o tema e contribui para consolidar sua inserção na agenda pública.
Por outro lado, as lacunas a serem preenchidas ainda persistem, sobretudo no que diz respeito a uma política de atenção básica destinadas a transexuais e travestis. Márcia Arán explica que as pessoas trans evitam se expor e, por isso, relutam em ir ao posto de saúde. “Então, não adianta haver um centro de referência para um atendimento de alta complexidade e não se ter uma rede de assistência associada. É fundamental que nos municípios e Estados – tanto as secretarias municipal quanto estadual de saúde – comecem realmente a desenvolver uma política de atenção básica”, diz, citando como exemplos bem sucedidos de ambulatórios TT (transexual e travesti) em Uberlândia e na cidade de São Paulo.
Na lista de desafios a serem enfrentados, há a exclusão dos homens trans (pessoas do sexo biológico feminino que se reconhecem como homens) da portaria do Ministério da Saúde, em razão da natureza experimental da cirurgia de transgenitalização de mulher para homem. Apesar do impasse, reconhecido por Arán em virtude da complexidade da cirurgia de construção do neofalo, ela defende que intervenções de caráter secundário como mastectomia e histerectomia (extração do útero) estejam acessíveis a esse público sem a necessidade prévia da cirurgia de transgenitalização. “A idéia seria dissociar esses dois tipos de cirurgia para que os homens trans pudessem realmente ser acolhidos na sua singularidade”, propõe, argumentando que muitas pessoas não pretendem, num primeiro momento, realizar a cirurgia de transgenitalização.
A não inclusão das travestis na portaria é outro problema apontado. A despeito das diferenças em nível de intervenção e alteração corporal, as travestis, por não estarem contempladas dentro da visão correcional, ficam alijadas da assistência. Um dos efeitos dessa exclusão, por exemplo, é a procura por silicone industrial, nocivo e inadequado para uso em pessoas, o que configura uma situação de extrema precariedade e vulnerabilidade, de acordo com Márcia Arán.
Para além de impasses propriamente médicos, outros ainda se configuram. No âmbito jurídico, a modificação do nome é efetuada na maioria dos casos somente após a cirurgia de transgenitalização. Para a pesquisadora do IMS, o ideal seria desatrelar a realização cirúrgica da mudança do nome. Nas circunstâncias atuais, em que os arranjos legais e burocráticos dificultam o processo de mudança da identidade civil, as pessoas trans acabam tendo dificuldade na escolarização e na profissionalização.“Não tem como ter uma política de assistência à saúde no Brasil sem que haja um suporte jurídico para a mudança de nome”, salienta a pesquisadora, apontando a Espanha, onde a alteração na carteira de identidade independe da realização cirúrgica, como uma referência para as discussões.
Mesmo diante de inúmeros desafios a serem trabalhados e enfrentados, a especialista é otimista. Ela lembra que, em 2001, quando iniciou seus trabalhos com o tema, a única referência existente então era o CFM. “De lá para cá, avançamos muito em termos de propostas de pesquisadores, profissionais de saúde e do movimento social (como o movimento LGBT, o coletivo de mulheres que vivenciam a transexualidade e a participação de homens trans). Todos passaram a dar algum subsídio para essa política, principalmente em relação ao que estamos chamando da necessidade da redescrição da experiência da transexualidade, ou seja, da importância do reconhecimento da diversidade da experiência trans”, afirma, elogiando a postura do Ministério da Saúde ao dar chance para que os diversos atores sociais envolvidos possam influir.
“Desta forma, se inicialmente a institucionalização da assistência a transexuais no Brasil esteve associada ao modelo estritamente biomédico, no qual o diagnóstico de transtorno de identidade de gênero tem como tratamento possível a cirurgia de transgenitalização, hoje esta política de assistência integral permite uma abertura para uma noção mais ampliada de saúde a partir da real necessidade dos indivíduos envolvidos”, conclui.
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CLAM
quinta-feira, 14 de janeiro de 2010
On Being First: Amanda Simpson can help us all learn about trans issues
by Dana Beyer
Published on January 14, 2010
"Being the first sucks," Amanda Simpson, one of the first openly trans appointments to a federal government position, told ABC News. "I'd rather not be the first but someone has to be first, or among the first. I think I'm experienced and very well qualified to deal with anything that might show up because I've broken barriers at lots of other places and I always win people over with who I am and what I can do."
I know how she feels. Full disclosure: Amanda Simpson and I are friends, and fellow board members at NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality). She is also my role model, the woman who proved to me, by virtue of her campaign for Arizona state representative in 2004, that I can get elected.
She's pretty good at inspiring others, as well. A good friend of mine at the Human Rights Campaign related how little he knew about the trans experience, until one day he inadvertently wandered into a presentation at an Out & Equal conference and was soon mesmerized by the speaker. That speaker was Amanda, and she changed his life.
She will do that for many more, particularly gay men and lesbians who still find it hard, at times, to wrap their minds around the concept of gender identity, as distinct from sexual orientation. Ron Gold, the 90-year-old gay-rights pioneer, is the most recent example of that group, mired in outmoded queer theory.
I don't find this surprising, not when you've spent your entire life viewing human sexuality through the lens of desire, rather than the lens of being. Some trans persons have just as hard a time understanding sexual orientation, and have behaved very cruelly as a result. So this appointment is an opportunity for learning.
I've read much of the hate speech out there, from the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association and Focus on the Family. I've been there, and it isn't pleasant -- not by a long shot. Even David Letterman couldn't pass up the opportunity, and caused a mini-storm of protest. The attitude exemplified in his 46-second skit is, indeed, the courtroom defense used by perpetrators of violence against trans women. But I see this a little differently.
Very shortly Amanda will be performing her duties, dealing with advanced missile-guidance systems and the like, helping make our country safer. NCTE, on whose board we sit, decided to publicize her appointment because we believed the benefits of her visibility, within the federal government and without, will have a much more lasting impact than the ranting of Tony Perkins and Peter Sprigg.
And David Letterman? Well, he personally kept himself at a distance during the routine, almost as if he felt obligated to do something, anything, with this story, but he managed without a hostile affect. My emotional reaction was this was a pretty lame skit. I felt far different this time than I have with similar comedy routines in the recent past. And the next evening Rachel Maddow jumped in with a sterling report on both the appointment and the change in federal hiring procedures.
There is a political aphorism usually attributed to Gandhi: ''First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.'' Over the past decade, the most reactionary decade in modern American history, the transgender community has made huge progress culturally, as well as legally. The fighting continues with the reactionaries, the freepers, and the late-night comedians still going for the cheap laughs, but those who aren't prejudiced and have a willingness to learn, as my friend did when he discovered Amanda, now have a golden opportunity to discover just how much people like Amanda have to offer our nation.
As someone remarked on Pam's House Blend, ''I just can't wait till she's debating missile-system design with Stephen Colbert.'' I can picture that interview ending with Mr. Colbert saying, ''You're quite the qualified person for this job. Why couldn't you just be a man??'' And Amanda replying, in deference to the late Joe E. Brown from Some Like It Hot, ''Well, nobody's perfect!''
Dana Beyer, M.D., a retired eye surgeon, is currently a candidate for Maryland state delegate. An author of The Dallas Principles, she is vice president of Equality Maryland and governor at HRC.
Published on January 14, 2010
"Being the first sucks," Amanda Simpson, one of the first openly trans appointments to a federal government position, told ABC News. "I'd rather not be the first but someone has to be first, or among the first. I think I'm experienced and very well qualified to deal with anything that might show up because I've broken barriers at lots of other places and I always win people over with who I am and what I can do."
I know how she feels. Full disclosure: Amanda Simpson and I are friends, and fellow board members at NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality). She is also my role model, the woman who proved to me, by virtue of her campaign for Arizona state representative in 2004, that I can get elected.
She's pretty good at inspiring others, as well. A good friend of mine at the Human Rights Campaign related how little he knew about the trans experience, until one day he inadvertently wandered into a presentation at an Out & Equal conference and was soon mesmerized by the speaker. That speaker was Amanda, and she changed his life.
She will do that for many more, particularly gay men and lesbians who still find it hard, at times, to wrap their minds around the concept of gender identity, as distinct from sexual orientation. Ron Gold, the 90-year-old gay-rights pioneer, is the most recent example of that group, mired in outmoded queer theory.
I don't find this surprising, not when you've spent your entire life viewing human sexuality through the lens of desire, rather than the lens of being. Some trans persons have just as hard a time understanding sexual orientation, and have behaved very cruelly as a result. So this appointment is an opportunity for learning.
I've read much of the hate speech out there, from the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association and Focus on the Family. I've been there, and it isn't pleasant -- not by a long shot. Even David Letterman couldn't pass up the opportunity, and caused a mini-storm of protest. The attitude exemplified in his 46-second skit is, indeed, the courtroom defense used by perpetrators of violence against trans women. But I see this a little differently.
Very shortly Amanda will be performing her duties, dealing with advanced missile-guidance systems and the like, helping make our country safer. NCTE, on whose board we sit, decided to publicize her appointment because we believed the benefits of her visibility, within the federal government and without, will have a much more lasting impact than the ranting of Tony Perkins and Peter Sprigg.
And David Letterman? Well, he personally kept himself at a distance during the routine, almost as if he felt obligated to do something, anything, with this story, but he managed without a hostile affect. My emotional reaction was this was a pretty lame skit. I felt far different this time than I have with similar comedy routines in the recent past. And the next evening Rachel Maddow jumped in with a sterling report on both the appointment and the change in federal hiring procedures.
There is a political aphorism usually attributed to Gandhi: ''First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.'' Over the past decade, the most reactionary decade in modern American history, the transgender community has made huge progress culturally, as well as legally. The fighting continues with the reactionaries, the freepers, and the late-night comedians still going for the cheap laughs, but those who aren't prejudiced and have a willingness to learn, as my friend did when he discovered Amanda, now have a golden opportunity to discover just how much people like Amanda have to offer our nation.
As someone remarked on Pam's House Blend, ''I just can't wait till she's debating missile-system design with Stephen Colbert.'' I can picture that interview ending with Mr. Colbert saying, ''You're quite the qualified person for this job. Why couldn't you just be a man??'' And Amanda replying, in deference to the late Joe E. Brown from Some Like It Hot, ''Well, nobody's perfect!''
Dana Beyer, M.D., a retired eye surgeon, is currently a candidate for Maryland state delegate. An author of The Dallas Principles, she is vice president of Equality Maryland and governor at HRC.
A safe place to meet and escape from a double life
Date: 14 January 2010
By Linda Colling
A man awaiting a sex-change op and an open cross dresser are just two people who have found a lifeline and safe haven at Age Concern Sunderland which has struck a first in the region for the charity in a Tea With Dorothy group.
It's guaranteed to raise eyebrows – a groundbreaking new group at Age Concern Sunderland which is catering for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender over-50s.
Tea With Dorothy is the first group of its kind in the North East, launched by the charity to reach out to men and women throughout Wearside, offering somewhere for them to meet and be themselves in the privacy of like-minded people who want to socialise and give one another support.
For the small group of over-50s to over-70s, it is the first time they have had the opportunity to be frank about their sexuality. The fact is
the majority have been leading a double life.
As Adrienne Rowly, good neighbour co-ordinator for Age Concern Sunderland, says of the pioneering group: "A lot of them have hidden their background for so many years and have gone through the process of being married and raising a family because it was easier to hide it."
As part of her role she has taken over the Tea With Dorothy group (a name derived from the secret language, polari, which gays used to find out who was and wasn't gay by asking: "Are you a friend of Dorothy?").
It's all been an eyeopener for Adrienne.
"It's made me very appreciative certainly of the older ones and what they have had to go through," she says. "The fact that they have had to hide it gets overlooked. They couldn't be open about it like people today. They haven't been able to do that.
"A lot of the time they just want to chat and meet other people. They don't always want to have to discuss being gay, bi-sexual, transexual or lesbian.
"Tea With Dorothy offers somewhere for these older people to come and meet in safety without having to go round all the pubs and clubs because older people don't necesarilly want to do that.
"For those that come here we have facilities where they can get changed. There's one who arrives as a man and gets changed as a woman."
That cross-dresser, who likes high heels, paints his nails and wears frocks, is totally different to a transexual I spoke with called Sheila, who helped get another group off the ground at Age Concern in North Tyneside and is now waiting for a sex change and a boob job.
In her pretty slippers, stockings, long skirt and cosy cardigan, Sheila who has gone from being born Dave to dressing as a woman and waiting for sex reassignment surgery, says: "All the clothes make me feel a woman. But I am a woman not a man.
"When I came out everybody that I knew – friends family, colleagues – disappeared. I have had to battle all the way through on my own."
Now over 50, Sheila "knew she was different" from being five.
"The process has been going on since then but at that time you didn't have information technology and society didn't accept you if you were different," she says.
Dressed as a woman not surprisingly brought a strong reaction for Sheila who was leading a double life in the early stages before daring to come out. It shocked everyone who had known Dave the bachelor.
Overnight she provoked outrage. One neighbour told Sheila "I saw a woman go into your house the other day".
"I said it was me. She was OK but there were certain other people round the neighbourhood who for being a woman I got abuse, physical attacks, harrasment and vandalism," she said.
"Being transgender, no matter where you are people know and you will get abuse. It's very hard to live with. There's no network or support system as such to cater for that."
Having worked in a call centre as a woman and fought for the right to use the ladies loo, Sheila has been unemployed for three years and believes she is being discriminated against by employers for being transgender.
After having her car repeatedly vandalised, she moved to a different neighbourhood. She now believes in keeping a low profile and lives in a flat.
Yes, she was once in a long term relationship with a woman: "It was one of those unwritten rules that you have a relationship. "
Does she have any regrets?
"All I have regrets over is that it has taken too long for the services to make me the person I want to be."
Tea with Dorothy meets on the second and third Wednesday of every month from 5pm-7pm and if you want to talk in confidence to Adrienne, call 5141131.
quarta-feira, 13 de janeiro de 2010
The Proposition 8 Court Case: What's the Big Idea?
by: "Tamara Jeanne Urban" tamarajeanne24@yahoo.com tamarajeanne24
Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:34 pm (PST)
The Proposition 8 Court Case: What's the Big Idea?
This week marks the start of what the LA Times calls a "landmark" legal case for gay rights as lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies take to the courts to overturn Proposition 8, the Californian ban on gay marriage. The case, known as Perry v. Schwarzenegger, has attracted national attention, but what is it that Olson and Boies will be arguing?
First, a few details about the case.
The couples involved are Kristin Perry & Sandy Stier and Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo. Both couples want to marry but are prevented from doing so due to Proposition 8 which was enacted by voter initiative in November 2008. They are therefore challenging the gay marriage ban in federal court.
Representing them is Theodore "Ted" Olson, former solicitor general under President Bush and a prominent conservative, and also David Boies who was the Democratic trial lawyer who opposed Olson in the Bush v. Gore election hearing. The case is presided over by Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker for the Northern District of California.
Most notably Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the group Protect Marriage, will be defending Proposition 8. Protect Marriage, a key campaign group for Proposition 8, took up the case after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown declined to defend the ballot measure.
Both sides will be arguing over the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and if there truly exists a legitimate interest in reserving the term "marriage" for heterosexual unions. Olson/Boies believe that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, that Proposition 8 was motivated by anti-gay bigotry, and, what is more, that equal access to marriage is a constitutional right.
Writing a column for Newsweek, Olson talks us through some of the arguments surrounding Proposition 8 and gay marriage as a whole.
He starts by saying that the conservative "knee-jerk hostility" to same-sex marriage fails to acknowledge the broader picture of how allowing gay couples access to marriage actually strengthens the institution itself and therein perpetuates the conservative ideal:
Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation. At its best, it is a stable bond between two individuals who work to create a loving household and a social and economic partnership. We encourage couples to marry because the commitments they make to one another provide benefits not only to themselves but also to their families and communities. .. The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance. Conservatives should celebrate this, rather than lament it.This is an argument that might be used against the opposition should they argue that banning gay marriage carries fundamental interest for the State in preserving the traditional definition of marriage.
Judge Vaughn Walker has already made this avenue difficult to pursue for the defenders of Proposition 8 when he challenged them to actually demonstrate how heterosexual marriage is undermined when same-sex couples are also allowed to marry.
Olson then draws on the notion that civil unions and the like are not, and can never be, a replacement for marriage, and that anything less than marriage is a denial of basic rights. This is interesting because, in upholding Proposition 8 in May last year, the Supreme Court of California ruled that the difference between marriage and the domestic partnerships that are now open to LGBT Californians was nomenclature– that it was just a word. Clearly this difference of opinion can be expected to feature quite prominently in the trial as can the idea of "seperate but not equal" legislation.
An argument as to the "tradition" of marriage is also likely to feature. Olson quite effectively slams a dividing wall down between the religious recognition of marriage and marriage as a civil institution in the U.S., saying that:
"Marriage is a civil bond in this country as well as, in some (but hardly all) cases, a religious sacrament. It is a relationship recognized by governments as providing a privileged and respected status, entitled to the state's support and benefits. The California Supreme Court described marriage as a "union unreservedly approved and favored by the community." Where the state has accorded official sanction to a relationship and provided special benefits to those who enter into that relationship, our courts have insisted that withholding that status requires powerful justifications and may not be arbitrarily denied."He asks, therefore, how it can be that California can place a ban on equal access to civil marriage for gay couples?
Olson also refutes that Proposition 8's nature as a voter enacted initiative strengthens its validity. He argues that the very essence of equal protection is that it is designed to protect minority rights from the will of the majority.
This will be a key issue in the case as the opposition attempts to establish that Proposition 8 was enacted as part of the democratic process and therefore is "the will of the people" as the "ultimate legislators" . This will be one of the larger and more contentious issues that speaks to the very heart of whether sexuality is to be treated in the same regard as other protected classes such as race and religion.
Olson goes on to highlight how speaking to procreation as a legitimate argument for restricting marriage does not hold weight either. He contends that because marriage is not restricted from such groups as the elderly, or even persons that can not, or do not want, children, preventing same-sex couples access to marriage on the grounds that they can not procreate displays very obvious bias and unequal treatment. Judge Walker also demonstrated skepticism of this argument during a pre-trial hearing last year.
Olson concludes the article with how he believes that Proposition 8 is weakened by California's tangled web of marriage legislation which, because of Proposition 8, has created three separate classes of unions in California: Heterosexuals who are married, gay and lesbian couples who were married during the brief interim of gay marriage bans and still retain the right to call their union a marriage, and finally gay and lesbian couples who are relegated to domestic partnerships. In this way, Olson argues that Proposition 8 is "particularly vulnerable to a constitutional challenge".
Readers who are interested to know how Olson/Boies will attempt to prove that there is a constitutional right to gay marriage may wish to read "Yes: It is a fundamental right under the constitution" written by David Boies.
In the piece, Boies cites four major court cases in which he believes the constitutional question of equality in marriage rights has already been established. With regards to the right to marry, Boies is quite firm:
"The constitutional issue is quite simple. The Supreme Court repeatedly has held that the right to marry the person of your choice is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the Constitution. "He believes that this means same-sex couples should also have access to the civil institution of marriage just like heterosexuals.
So how important is the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case? Should the case eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court and be won with California's gay marriage ban being struck down, it would be hard to justify any other state's same-sex marriage ban and therefore the implications could be wide reaching and beneficial. From the American Foundation of Equal Rights:
The case is intriguing, exciting and potentially very significant because it addresses multiple important questions that, surprisingly to many, remain open in federal law,” said Jennifer Pizer, marriage director for the gay law advocacy group Lambda Legal. “Can the state reserve the esteemed language and status of marriage just for heterosexual couples, and relegate same-sex couples to a lesser status? Are there any adequate public interests to justify reimposing such a caste system for gay people, especially by a majority vote to take a cherished right from a historically mistreated minority?”Should Olson and Boies lose however, the decision to uphold Proposition 8 could, potentially, slow progress toward marriage equality for years to come with a dangerous and stifling precedent.
The New Yorker has a lengthy but rewarding piece detailing the case which you can read by clicking here.
In related news, the Supreme Court of the United States has been petitioned by the supporters of Proposition 8 to prevent camera footage from the court case being broadcast on YouTube and a live feed being established.
At the time of writing this, broadcast has been blocked for three days as the Court says that they require more time to deliberate. Proposition 8 supporters argue that they will be subjected to harassment if their identities are known while those trying to overturn the ban maintain that transparency and public interest require the trial be broadcast.
The trial is expected to last for around three weeks. It is expected to reach the United States Supreme Court in March, 2011.
terça-feira, 12 de janeiro de 2010
Spanish boy, 16, becomes one of world's youngest transsexuals after having sex-change operation
By Tom Worden
A 16-year-old Spanish boy has become one of the world's youngest transsexuals after having a sex change operation to become a girl.
The teenager underwent surgery at a hospital in Barcelona after convincing family, doctors and a judge he was a girl trapped inside a boy's body.
The youngster is recovering after the operation, paid for by the family, in the city's Hospital Clinico last week.
The unnamed 16-year-old was treated at this hospital in Barcelona
Dr Ivan Manero, who has been treating the teenager with hormone therapy for two years, said shortly before the surgery: 'When the family contacted me he was 14 years old.
'During the last two years he has received treatment and he is totally prepared for the surgery.
'It is preferable to operate before the patient is 18, because at that age it is more minor operation because the patient is not so well developed.'
Dr Manero, head of the hospital's Gender Disorder Unit, added: 'He is not the first person under 18 to have come for sex change advice, but he is the first one whose parents where prepared to confront the Justice system so their child could be happy.'
Under Spanish law under 18s cannot have a sex change without the permission of a judge, which has never previously been granted.
German Kim Petras, formerly Tim, became the youngest transexual in 2008
A judge gave the consent last November after reading extensive medical and psychiatric reports in favour of the surgery.
The teenager had told doctors: 'I have always felt like a girl trapped inside a boy's body.'
A group of specialist doctors and psychiatrists will monitor and assist the youngster over the coming months.
Last year 25 sex change operations were carried out in Barcelona, but all were over the age of 18.
Fifteen of those were men who changed their sex to become women.
In February 2009 German teenager Tim Petras became the world's youngest transsexual when she had a sex change aged 16 and changed her name to Kim.
Kim, who was born a boy but began calling herself a girl when she was two, has since launched a modelling career, landing a job as a model for a nationwide German hair salon chain.
Her surgery was paid for by the German health service.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242532/Spanish-boy-16-worlds-youngest-transsexuals-having-sex-change-operation.html#ixzz0cQ2n0NQU
A 16-year-old Spanish boy has become one of the world's youngest transsexuals after having a sex change operation to become a girl.
The teenager underwent surgery at a hospital in Barcelona after convincing family, doctors and a judge he was a girl trapped inside a boy's body.
The youngster is recovering after the operation, paid for by the family, in the city's Hospital Clinico last week.
The unnamed 16-year-old was treated at this hospital in Barcelona
Dr Ivan Manero, who has been treating the teenager with hormone therapy for two years, said shortly before the surgery: 'When the family contacted me he was 14 years old.
'During the last two years he has received treatment and he is totally prepared for the surgery.
'It is preferable to operate before the patient is 18, because at that age it is more minor operation because the patient is not so well developed.'
Dr Manero, head of the hospital's Gender Disorder Unit, added: 'He is not the first person under 18 to have come for sex change advice, but he is the first one whose parents where prepared to confront the Justice system so their child could be happy.'
Under Spanish law under 18s cannot have a sex change without the permission of a judge, which has never previously been granted.
German Kim Petras, formerly Tim, became the youngest transexual in 2008
A judge gave the consent last November after reading extensive medical and psychiatric reports in favour of the surgery.
The teenager had told doctors: 'I have always felt like a girl trapped inside a boy's body.'
A group of specialist doctors and psychiatrists will monitor and assist the youngster over the coming months.
Last year 25 sex change operations were carried out in Barcelona, but all were over the age of 18.
Fifteen of those were men who changed their sex to become women.
In February 2009 German teenager Tim Petras became the world's youngest transsexual when she had a sex change aged 16 and changed her name to Kim.
Kim, who was born a boy but began calling herself a girl when she was two, has since launched a modelling career, landing a job as a model for a nationwide German hair salon chain.
Her surgery was paid for by the German health service.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242532/Spanish-boy-16-worlds-youngest-transsexuals-having-sex-change-operation.html#ixzz0cQ2n0NQU
segunda-feira, 11 de janeiro de 2010
Transevent 2010:The Empire Conference May19-22 Albany
Posted by: "Mona Rae Mason" monaraemason@yahoo.com monaraemason
Fri Jan 8, 2010 7:35 am
You asked for it .. You got it! A conference right in the center of a major city.
TRANSEVENT 2010:THE EMPIRE CONFERENCE will be at the Crowne Plaza in the historic section of downtown Albany, where nightlife abounds! Save the cab fare — fabulous fine dining, local pubs, and entertainment clubs are all within easy walking distance. Historic landmarks, incredible architecture, numerous museums, shopping, and fabulous parks are all in the area; and the beautiful Hudson River is only two blocks from our door!
For 2010 we are partnering with the Capital District LGBT Community Council, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary just two weeks after the conference. They are developing several programs, especially ones concerning Trans-youth and Female to Male Trans people; and are also organizing many social activities (think picnics, restaurant tours and club crawls...) for our enjoyment.
Come join us for this important, educational, and entertaining conference. Meet old friends and make some new ones.
Just a few of the slated speakers and workshop presenters and forum leaders:
Arlene Lev, Author-"Transgender Emergence", therapist and advocate
Hawk R. Stone, Activist, therapist
Michael Silverman-Founder and Exec. Director, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF)
Dr. Richard Docter. Internationally known author & researcher
Pauline Park-NYAGRA Chair
Dr. Douglas Osterhout
Dallas Denny
Lady Ellen
Jan Brown
Kim Watson
Vanessa Sheridan, Author-"The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace"
Dr. Richard Heuer,
Dr. Sherman Leis
Marriette Pathy-Allen
Anne Copps, Attorney and Reese Kelley on legal issues
Rachael Lynn King, founder and Exec. Director-THEOS Place (Transgender Helping Each Other)
Rusty Mae Moore, Ph.D.
AND MANY MORE!
on tap after dark...
Wednesday · The conference kicks off on May 19th with a welcoming reception and barbecue at the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council from 5-8:30. Please join us for good food, good company and a tour of the oldest continuously operating LGBT Community Center in the country. The Center is at 332 Hudson Avenue in the historic Center Square neighborhood, with many friendly bars, restaurants, and shops just around the corner.
Thursday · With a nod to Albany's founders, a Dutch Treat Restaurant Crawl of the hippest downtown restaurants.
Conference Entertainment
Friday night brings a choice — sit back and enjoy the show, or enjoy it even more by being in the show!
We're producing our own spectacular, Trannies Got Talent!, and every conference attendee is invited (and encouraged!) to take part. You'll never find a friendlier audience, so whether you're a seasoned performer or taking your first steps on stage, this is a great opportunity to shine.
All types of acts are welcome — musical, comical, magical, theatrical, or what-have-you. Make sure to bring your music, instruments, costume, and/or props to the conference; and practice practice practice! As we get closer to May, keep an eye on the conference web site for more details about getting involved.
Trannies Got Talent! is being put together by our own conference staff: produced by Mona Mason and directed by Cyndi Lindsey with the assistance of Erica Askew.
Saturday night finds us in the hands of the Master Entertainer Jade Esteban Estrada, which means we'll be very well taken care of indeed! He is a multi-talented show business phenomenom — writer, actor, singer, comic, impersonator, choreographer, and more.
Jade has created numerous one-man shows, including the unique and mesmerizing "ICONS" series that includes The Lesbian and Gay History of the World (now up to volume III) and TransWorld! The Transgender History of the World. When TransWorld! was presented at the 2007 IFGE conference it went over like gangbusters as Jade, with quick on-stage costume changes and on-target tableaus, took the audience on a moving and exhilarating romp through T history.
Make your plans now--The Empire Conference is going to be BIG! Get more details at our web site www.transeventsusa, org/empire and check back often for MORE news and events!
See you in Albany!
Mona Rae Mason
914.457.5925
www.transeventsusa. org/empire
www.monaraemason. com
Fri Jan 8, 2010 7:35 am
You asked for it .. You got it! A conference right in the center of a major city.
TRANSEVENT 2010:THE EMPIRE CONFERENCE will be at the Crowne Plaza in the historic section of downtown Albany, where nightlife abounds! Save the cab fare — fabulous fine dining, local pubs, and entertainment clubs are all within easy walking distance. Historic landmarks, incredible architecture, numerous museums, shopping, and fabulous parks are all in the area; and the beautiful Hudson River is only two blocks from our door!
For 2010 we are partnering with the Capital District LGBT Community Council, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary just two weeks after the conference. They are developing several programs, especially ones concerning Trans-youth and Female to Male Trans people; and are also organizing many social activities (think picnics, restaurant tours and club crawls...) for our enjoyment.
Come join us for this important, educational, and entertaining conference. Meet old friends and make some new ones.
Just a few of the slated speakers and workshop presenters and forum leaders:
Arlene Lev, Author-"Transgender Emergence", therapist and advocate
Hawk R. Stone, Activist, therapist
Michael Silverman-Founder and Exec. Director, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF)
Dr. Richard Docter. Internationally known author & researcher
Pauline Park-NYAGRA Chair
Dr. Douglas Osterhout
Dallas Denny
Lady Ellen
Jan Brown
Kim Watson
Vanessa Sheridan, Author-"The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace"
Dr. Richard Heuer,
Dr. Sherman Leis
Marriette Pathy-Allen
Anne Copps, Attorney and Reese Kelley on legal issues
Rachael Lynn King, founder and Exec. Director-THEOS Place (Transgender Helping Each Other)
Rusty Mae Moore, Ph.D.
AND MANY MORE!
on tap after dark...
Wednesday · The conference kicks off on May 19th with a welcoming reception and barbecue at the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council from 5-8:30. Please join us for good food, good company and a tour of the oldest continuously operating LGBT Community Center in the country. The Center is at 332 Hudson Avenue in the historic Center Square neighborhood, with many friendly bars, restaurants, and shops just around the corner.
Thursday · With a nod to Albany's founders, a Dutch Treat Restaurant Crawl of the hippest downtown restaurants.
Conference Entertainment
Friday night brings a choice — sit back and enjoy the show, or enjoy it even more by being in the show!
We're producing our own spectacular, Trannies Got Talent!, and every conference attendee is invited (and encouraged!) to take part. You'll never find a friendlier audience, so whether you're a seasoned performer or taking your first steps on stage, this is a great opportunity to shine.
All types of acts are welcome — musical, comical, magical, theatrical, or what-have-you. Make sure to bring your music, instruments, costume, and/or props to the conference; and practice practice practice! As we get closer to May, keep an eye on the conference web site for more details about getting involved.
Trannies Got Talent! is being put together by our own conference staff: produced by Mona Mason and directed by Cyndi Lindsey with the assistance of Erica Askew.
Saturday night finds us in the hands of the Master Entertainer Jade Esteban Estrada, which means we'll be very well taken care of indeed! He is a multi-talented show business phenomenom — writer, actor, singer, comic, impersonator, choreographer, and more.
Jade has created numerous one-man shows, including the unique and mesmerizing "ICONS" series that includes The Lesbian and Gay History of the World (now up to volume III) and TransWorld! The Transgender History of the World. When TransWorld! was presented at the 2007 IFGE conference it went over like gangbusters as Jade, with quick on-stage costume changes and on-target tableaus, took the audience on a moving and exhilarating romp through T history.
Make your plans now--The Empire Conference is going to be BIG! Get more details at our web site www.transeventsusa, org/empire and check back often for MORE news and events!
See you in Albany!
Mona Rae Mason
914.457.5925
www.transeventsusa. org/empire
www.monaraemason. com
Tiffany Club’s First Event 2010 30th Anniversary, January 13 -17, 2010, to Be One of the Best Ever
Published on: January 9th, 2010 12:05am by: TCNE
First Event’s 30th anniversary promises to be one of the best ever. New England’s largest transgender conference will feature over 50 workshops, entertainment and special events.
Waltham, MA (OPENPRESS) January 9, 2010 -- The 30th anniversary of First Event promises to one of the best ever. The committee has done an outstanding job of putting together a full array of daytime and evening programming,” said Jamie Hailey, chairperson of FE 2010. .
Among the highlights of this year conference is an expanded transmasculine track.
Initiated and coordinated by Anderson Clark, a FTM activist seeking to increase resources for the transmasculine community, the FTM track features a lineup of speakers and workshops that will address many of the challenges that transmen face.
Matt Kailey, the "National Transgender and Transsexual Issue Examiner" for Examiner.com, author of "Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to the Transsexual Experience" and managing editor of "Out Front Colorado" will talk about defining masculinity and also about how to talk to the press. Jennifer Levi, the director of the Transgender Rights Project at GLAD, will discuss transgender legal issues. Gunner Scott and Ruben Hopwood will present a workshop on transgender suicide prevention and intervention, the first time this topic will be presented at First Event.. Dr. Peter Raphael from the American Institute for Plastic Surgery in Plano, TX will talk about the FTM surgeries offered at his clinic, and he is also sponsoring a transmasculine luncheon in association with his workshop. Hawk Stone will discuss FTM sexuality, and Mycroft Holmes will present a workshop on transgender faith, spirituality and religion. Dr. Evan Eyler will talk about preventative health care and hormones for FTMs.
Says Anderson, “The great thing about First Event and the TransMasculine Track is that resource providers are in one place at one time. At the conference, the men can get first-hand information directly from the speakers with regard to legal, spiritual, social or medical issues and then have the opportunity to ask questions and enter discussions, all in a single venue.”
In addition to the transmasculine workshops, First Event offers a range of workshops from the fun to the serious that are interest to the transgender community. Says Roberta Hailey, FE 2010 programming chair, “As in past years, the workshops offer FE participants valuable, practical information on a variety of subjects. Once again, we feature a number of noted surgical experts. Workshops by Drs. Marcia Bowers, Joel Beck and Mark Zukowski, Douglas Ousterhout, Sherman Leis, Toby Meltzer and Jeffery Spiegel will cover that complete array of on surgical options available for male to female and female to male.”
Several workshops address the challenges of transitioning: Life After Transition, Transitioning on the Job, Thinking of Transitioning? Who do you include?, How to Transition Publicly. There are a number of workshops that tackle the difficult reality that many transgendered persons face such as divorce, financial ruin, abuse, and discrimination. On the more positive side, there are workshops addressing, spirituality, support groups, and developing gender identity.
Mona Mason, the project coordinator for the recently completed Transgender Project will present the findings of this landmark study..The Transgender Project was a longitudinal study from 2004 – 2009 of the male to female transgender population of the greater New York City metropolitan area. This research project was conduced by National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. and funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R-01) from a grant proposal “HIV/STD’s In a High Risk Urban Population: Male to Female Transgender” To date, it is the most in depth and largest study of its kind.. Dr. Larry Nuttbrock (NDRI) was the Principal investigator. Dr’s. Walter Boctking, Andrew Rosenblum, and Sel Hwahng were the co-investigators: Jeffrey Becker, MPH, MSW and Monica Macri, MPH, were the research associates.
In addition to the workshops, FE 2010 will offer a several special events.
There will be an all day health clinic at First Event on Saturday January 16th 2010. Tiffany Club of New England and the North East Transwomen’s Alliance (NETA) present the Health Moves clinic. Health Moves is an outreach program of Northeastern University coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The program is equipped to provide health promotion, health education and basic screening and immunization services. Among the services being offered free of charge will be hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus and pneumonia vaccinations. There will be Health Screenings for Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Rapid HIV counseling & testing will also be available as well as blood pressure screenings. All services are free of charge and confidential.
“I am excited about this upcoming clinic at First Event. It’s a real life statement acknowledging the presence and value of the entire Trans community and its health and ongoing wellbeing.” says Lillith Ponticelli-founder and peer facilitator of NETA
For the second year in a row, FE 2010 will offer the Partners in Process program (PiP) lead by Andrea Ziff and Darlene Ginsburg. This year, PiP is holding a series of events - a regular support session and one on Transexuality - a forum for partners to bring up sexual issues and questions around the transgendered. In addition there are several informal events, two meet-and-greets on Thursday and Friday evenings, and an afternoon Tea on Saturday where people can share and connect in a more casual environment. PiP’s activities are open to any and all spouses/partners of the transgendered - either M to F or F to M - cross-dressers or transsexuals.
Evenings at First Event will offer topnotch entertainment and fun.
Karen Grenier, a favorite New England folk Singer performs on Wednesday and Thursday night.. Says Jamie Haley, chair of FE 2010, “We are excited that Karen will be appearing at First Event.. She is a favorite entertainer of the community” A polished performer as well as an excellent songwriter, Karen received a songwriting award from Nashville's Music City Search in 2002.
Says Karen,” I am looking forward to playing at the First Event 2010 for several reasons. First, I have admiration for people who have the courage to be honest and true to themselves. Secondly, I believe that this openness and honesty will, person by person, dispel the "fear of what is not understood," and will move our society forward toward fairness and compassion. And thirdly, it is important to validate and identify with people and to encourage them to live honestly and fully! My music has been described by a fan as "a hope-filled, honest reflection of emotions and experiences we all face."
On Thursday, January 14, 2010, milDRED Gerestant, internationally known Haitian-American performance artist brings her one woman play When She was King to the Boston Peabody Marriot. play When She was King is a blend of comedy, poetry, dance, music, activism, monologue, cultural history, Spirit, expression, and education.
Says milDRED, “I like roles that push people's boundaries, and makes them think about their own identities formed through society. Through my performances, I draw attention to how society domesticates us into our preconceived notions of gender, race, and sexuality. My life, humanity, and spirituality, brings us a bit closer to recognizing and unlearning constraints, prejudices and stereotypes.”
On Friday night, it’s lights, camera, strike a pose as FE annual fashion show takes the stage. This year’s show is divided into 4 segments - Casual, Business, Swimsuit & Lingerie, and Evening & Club wear. Fifteen fabulous models made even more so by the make up artistry of Jamie Austin, Britannya Grace Heavens, Makeup by Nadia and Natasha Savoy from My Changing Room. These gorgeous ladies will showcase clothes and accessories from Florence’s Fashions, Glamour Boutique and their own glamorous wardrobes. There is sure to be something for everyone’s tastes and budgets.
With each model strutting down the runway several times there will be plenty of opportunity to ooh and aah over these must have clothes.
Event organizer, Britannya Grace Heavens says “The fashion show is such a empowering and inspiring event, especially for those just beginning making their inner person public. The models, audience and everyone involved are living their dream. It is electrifying! I am so thrilled to be involved this year! Last year, I was beginning my transition that was given such a boost my attending FE 2009. I learned so much that has helped me become the person I want to be so much quicker. . Doing this show has been an incredible step in my journey.”
Supporting FE event will be a wide array of vendors and organizations offering a variety of services and products such as clothing, jewelry, wigs, laser treatments, wigs, and cosmetics as well as information on support and advocacy groups.
First Event will be capped of by the appearance of Dr. Jillian Weiss as the conference’s keynote speaker. Since 2000, she has been one of a handful of researchers focusing on the issue from a legal perspective. She has conducted research involving hundreds of companies and public agencies that have adopted "gender identity" policies. She publishes a popular blog on the subject of Transgender Workplace Diversity, and has numerous research publications on the subject of gender identity. Her work has been featured in news stories by the New York Times, Associated Press, Fortune Small Business Magazine, the Society for Human Resource Management, Workforce Management Magazine, and HR Executive Magazine. In addition, she is the author of Transgender Workplace Diversity: Policy Tools, Training Issues and Communication Strategies for HR and Legal Professionals, one of the few books currently available on the subject. She has a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Law, Policy & Society and is an Associate Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Jillian’s study of trangender workplace issues was prompted by her own job loss as a result of transitioning in 1998. “I knew many others who had the same experience. As a lawyer, I was interested in why the law allowed this, and how law might begin to address the issues faced by trans people in employment, “said Jillian.
Her message to First Event attendees will be that we must come together and rise up as a community to demand respect, especially in regard to respect from the law. The ability to get and keep a good job without fear of discrimination is essential for success in life. The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would stop job discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, requires our full participation in order to pass into law in 2010.
For the past 29 years Tiffany Clubs First Event has been one of the premier transgender conferences in the United States. FE 2010 will be held at the Boston Peabody Marriot in Peabody, MA from January 13-17.
Registration forms and information for Tiffany Club’s First Event 2010 Transgender Conference are located at the club’s web site at www.tcne.org or by calling the club’s First Event program office at 802-356-4582 or via email at firstevent@tcne.org.
Tiffany Club of New England, the sponsor of First Event 2010, is a 5013C non-profit corporation and an open resource and support organization for all parts of the transgender community from cross dressers to transsexuals, both Male-to-Female and Female-to-Male, allies and intersexed persons.
###
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First Event’s 30th anniversary promises to be one of the best ever. New England’s largest transgender conference will feature over 50 workshops, entertainment and special events.
Waltham, MA (OPENPRESS) January 9, 2010 -- The 30th anniversary of First Event promises to one of the best ever. The committee has done an outstanding job of putting together a full array of daytime and evening programming,” said Jamie Hailey, chairperson of FE 2010. .
Among the highlights of this year conference is an expanded transmasculine track.
Initiated and coordinated by Anderson Clark, a FTM activist seeking to increase resources for the transmasculine community, the FTM track features a lineup of speakers and workshops that will address many of the challenges that transmen face.
Matt Kailey, the "National Transgender and Transsexual Issue Examiner" for Examiner.com, author of "Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to the Transsexual Experience" and managing editor of "Out Front Colorado" will talk about defining masculinity and also about how to talk to the press. Jennifer Levi, the director of the Transgender Rights Project at GLAD, will discuss transgender legal issues. Gunner Scott and Ruben Hopwood will present a workshop on transgender suicide prevention and intervention, the first time this topic will be presented at First Event.. Dr. Peter Raphael from the American Institute for Plastic Surgery in Plano, TX will talk about the FTM surgeries offered at his clinic, and he is also sponsoring a transmasculine luncheon in association with his workshop. Hawk Stone will discuss FTM sexuality, and Mycroft Holmes will present a workshop on transgender faith, spirituality and religion. Dr. Evan Eyler will talk about preventative health care and hormones for FTMs.
Says Anderson, “The great thing about First Event and the TransMasculine Track is that resource providers are in one place at one time. At the conference, the men can get first-hand information directly from the speakers with regard to legal, spiritual, social or medical issues and then have the opportunity to ask questions and enter discussions, all in a single venue.”
In addition to the transmasculine workshops, First Event offers a range of workshops from the fun to the serious that are interest to the transgender community. Says Roberta Hailey, FE 2010 programming chair, “As in past years, the workshops offer FE participants valuable, practical information on a variety of subjects. Once again, we feature a number of noted surgical experts. Workshops by Drs. Marcia Bowers, Joel Beck and Mark Zukowski, Douglas Ousterhout, Sherman Leis, Toby Meltzer and Jeffery Spiegel will cover that complete array of on surgical options available for male to female and female to male.”
Several workshops address the challenges of transitioning: Life After Transition, Transitioning on the Job, Thinking of Transitioning? Who do you include?, How to Transition Publicly. There are a number of workshops that tackle the difficult reality that many transgendered persons face such as divorce, financial ruin, abuse, and discrimination. On the more positive side, there are workshops addressing, spirituality, support groups, and developing gender identity.
Mona Mason, the project coordinator for the recently completed Transgender Project will present the findings of this landmark study..The Transgender Project was a longitudinal study from 2004 – 2009 of the male to female transgender population of the greater New York City metropolitan area. This research project was conduced by National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. and funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R-01) from a grant proposal “HIV/STD’s In a High Risk Urban Population: Male to Female Transgender” To date, it is the most in depth and largest study of its kind.. Dr. Larry Nuttbrock (NDRI) was the Principal investigator. Dr’s. Walter Boctking, Andrew Rosenblum, and Sel Hwahng were the co-investigators: Jeffrey Becker, MPH, MSW and Monica Macri, MPH, were the research associates.
In addition to the workshops, FE 2010 will offer a several special events.
There will be an all day health clinic at First Event on Saturday January 16th 2010. Tiffany Club of New England and the North East Transwomen’s Alliance (NETA) present the Health Moves clinic. Health Moves is an outreach program of Northeastern University coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The program is equipped to provide health promotion, health education and basic screening and immunization services. Among the services being offered free of charge will be hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus and pneumonia vaccinations. There will be Health Screenings for Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Rapid HIV counseling & testing will also be available as well as blood pressure screenings. All services are free of charge and confidential.
“I am excited about this upcoming clinic at First Event. It’s a real life statement acknowledging the presence and value of the entire Trans community and its health and ongoing wellbeing.” says Lillith Ponticelli-founder and peer facilitator of NETA
For the second year in a row, FE 2010 will offer the Partners in Process program (PiP) lead by Andrea Ziff and Darlene Ginsburg. This year, PiP is holding a series of events - a regular support session and one on Transexuality - a forum for partners to bring up sexual issues and questions around the transgendered. In addition there are several informal events, two meet-and-greets on Thursday and Friday evenings, and an afternoon Tea on Saturday where people can share and connect in a more casual environment. PiP’s activities are open to any and all spouses/partners of the transgendered - either M to F or F to M - cross-dressers or transsexuals.
Evenings at First Event will offer topnotch entertainment and fun.
Karen Grenier, a favorite New England folk Singer performs on Wednesday and Thursday night.. Says Jamie Haley, chair of FE 2010, “We are excited that Karen will be appearing at First Event.. She is a favorite entertainer of the community” A polished performer as well as an excellent songwriter, Karen received a songwriting award from Nashville's Music City Search in 2002.
Says Karen,” I am looking forward to playing at the First Event 2010 for several reasons. First, I have admiration for people who have the courage to be honest and true to themselves. Secondly, I believe that this openness and honesty will, person by person, dispel the "fear of what is not understood," and will move our society forward toward fairness and compassion. And thirdly, it is important to validate and identify with people and to encourage them to live honestly and fully! My music has been described by a fan as "a hope-filled, honest reflection of emotions and experiences we all face."
On Thursday, January 14, 2010, milDRED Gerestant, internationally known Haitian-American performance artist brings her one woman play When She was King to the Boston Peabody Marriot. play When She was King is a blend of comedy, poetry, dance, music, activism, monologue, cultural history, Spirit, expression, and education.
Says milDRED, “I like roles that push people's boundaries, and makes them think about their own identities formed through society. Through my performances, I draw attention to how society domesticates us into our preconceived notions of gender, race, and sexuality. My life, humanity, and spirituality, brings us a bit closer to recognizing and unlearning constraints, prejudices and stereotypes.”
On Friday night, it’s lights, camera, strike a pose as FE annual fashion show takes the stage. This year’s show is divided into 4 segments - Casual, Business, Swimsuit & Lingerie, and Evening & Club wear. Fifteen fabulous models made even more so by the make up artistry of Jamie Austin, Britannya Grace Heavens, Makeup by Nadia and Natasha Savoy from My Changing Room. These gorgeous ladies will showcase clothes and accessories from Florence’s Fashions, Glamour Boutique and their own glamorous wardrobes. There is sure to be something for everyone’s tastes and budgets.
With each model strutting down the runway several times there will be plenty of opportunity to ooh and aah over these must have clothes.
Event organizer, Britannya Grace Heavens says “The fashion show is such a empowering and inspiring event, especially for those just beginning making their inner person public. The models, audience and everyone involved are living their dream. It is electrifying! I am so thrilled to be involved this year! Last year, I was beginning my transition that was given such a boost my attending FE 2009. I learned so much that has helped me become the person I want to be so much quicker. . Doing this show has been an incredible step in my journey.”
Supporting FE event will be a wide array of vendors and organizations offering a variety of services and products such as clothing, jewelry, wigs, laser treatments, wigs, and cosmetics as well as information on support and advocacy groups.
First Event will be capped of by the appearance of Dr. Jillian Weiss as the conference’s keynote speaker. Since 2000, she has been one of a handful of researchers focusing on the issue from a legal perspective. She has conducted research involving hundreds of companies and public agencies that have adopted "gender identity" policies. She publishes a popular blog on the subject of Transgender Workplace Diversity, and has numerous research publications on the subject of gender identity. Her work has been featured in news stories by the New York Times, Associated Press, Fortune Small Business Magazine, the Society for Human Resource Management, Workforce Management Magazine, and HR Executive Magazine. In addition, she is the author of Transgender Workplace Diversity: Policy Tools, Training Issues and Communication Strategies for HR and Legal Professionals, one of the few books currently available on the subject. She has a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Law, Policy & Society and is an Associate Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Jillian’s study of trangender workplace issues was prompted by her own job loss as a result of transitioning in 1998. “I knew many others who had the same experience. As a lawyer, I was interested in why the law allowed this, and how law might begin to address the issues faced by trans people in employment, “said Jillian.
Her message to First Event attendees will be that we must come together and rise up as a community to demand respect, especially in regard to respect from the law. The ability to get and keep a good job without fear of discrimination is essential for success in life. The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would stop job discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, requires our full participation in order to pass into law in 2010.
For the past 29 years Tiffany Clubs First Event has been one of the premier transgender conferences in the United States. FE 2010 will be held at the Boston Peabody Marriot in Peabody, MA from January 13-17.
Registration forms and information for Tiffany Club’s First Event 2010 Transgender Conference are located at the club’s web site at www.tcne.org or by calling the club’s First Event program office at 802-356-4582 or via email at firstevent@tcne.org.
Tiffany Club of New England, the sponsor of First Event 2010, is a 5013C non-profit corporation and an open resource and support organization for all parts of the transgender community from cross dressers to transsexuals, both Male-to-Female and Female-to-Male, allies and intersexed persons.
###
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For NonProfit Organizations and Businesses alike. Toolbars 4 Charity. As simple as a business card, with the power of the internet behind it - ALL absolutely FREE!
Contact Info
Tiffany Club of New England
Phone: 781-891-9325
E-mail: Click Here to Send
Web site: http://www.tcne.org/
Tiffany Club of New England
PO Box 540071
Waltham MA 02454-0071
Release Information
Industry: Lifestyle, More Press Releases from Lifestyle
Country: United States, More Press Releases from United States
MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area): Boston, MA-NH, More Press Releases from Boston, MA-NH
Company: Tiffany Club of New England
Web site: Visit our web site
Transgender actor makes finals of reality dating show
Photo courtesy Out North
Scott Turner Schofield is shown in a scene from "Debutante Balls" at Out North theater company. Schofield, who was born female, competed recently as one of 30 bachelors on ABC's "Conveyor Belt of Love."
Published: 01/09/10 5:16 pm
Alaskans who watched "Conveyor Belt of Love" on KIMO Channel 13 Monday night might have recognized Scott Turner Schofield. The transgender playwright and performer is associated with Anchorage's Out North theater company where he is the current guest artistic director.
Schofield was part of a male meat market on ABC's latest reality dating show. The set consisted of a conveyor belt that brought men before five leggy models. Each contestant had 60 seconds to sell himself as a potential date. The women indicated whether they were interested or not with auction-style paddles.
Cute, charming, animated, self-assured and blond, Schofield finished in the final four out of a field of 30.
Few viewers would have guessed that the eligible bachelor was born a girl named Katie. On his Web site (undergroundtransit.com/Bio.html) he describes himself as "a man who was a woman, a lesbian turned straight guy who is usually taken for a gay teenager."
"I always felt different," he said in an interview. "Even as a kid. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, 'I wanna be a boy.'"
As a teenager, Schofield gave in to pressure to act more like a girl. "And I did it very well. I was on the homecoming court and attended three debutante balls." The latter experience is the subject of a one-man play he'll present at Out North this month.
As a high schooler in Charlotte, N.C., Katie realized that she liked girls better than boys. "I figured I must be a lesbian, but something still didn't feel quite right," Schofield said.
When he was 19, he met someone who was born female and now lived as a male. It was a revelation. "I didn't know that a girl could become a guy."
He changed his name and began to take hormones that altered his secondary sexual characteristics, such as lowering his voice and causing him to grow facial hair. His play about the legal, medical and social aspects of the change, "Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps," was presented at Out North in 2008.
During that residency, he presented workshops for young people at McLaughlin Youth Center. He called the experience "particularly powerful. It reminded me of why I got into theater in the first place."
He talked with Out North Executive Director Mike Huelsman about coming back to continue that work. When Huelsman took a sabbatical this fall, he invited Schofield to fill in for him for six weeks, a gig that juggled administrative tasks with a return engagement at McLaughlin. When that job wraps up this month, he'll go to New York City to study and write thanks to a grant from the Princess Grace Foundation.
Schofield got the "Conveyor Belt of Love" call by "applying for everything that's out there."
That's about all he could say about it because of a confidentiality clause in the contract.
It's unclear whether the show's producers knew of his status as a "transgender" person, the word Schofield prefers to "transsexual."
It's also unclear whether there will be a second "Conveyor Belt of Love" episode. The show -- created as a stand-alone special by parties responsible for "Survivor" and "Big Brother" -- was panned by critics for its "glacial pace" and too many ridiculous contestants.
But the New York Daily News reports that more episodes may be ordered.
As for Schofield, he sounded a little disappointed at being "passed up for a guitar player" in the final round. However, he added, "I had a very positive experience, the whole thing."
Hijras in Karachi, Pakistan
These two wanted money so I have given them 100 ruppees for a Photo.
Eunuchs are quite visible and tolerated in Pakistan.
In the culture of the Indian subcontinent, a hijra (Hindi: हिजड़ा, Urdu: حجڑا) is usually considered a member of "the third sex" — neither man nor woman. Most are physically male or intersex, but some are female. Hijras usually refer to themselves linguistically as female, and usually dress as women.
Although they are usually referred to in English as "eunuchs", relatively few have any genital modifications.[1]
The Hindi word "hijra" may alternately be romanised as hijira, hijda, hijada, hijara, hijrah and is pronounced [hidʒɽaː], between "heejra" and "heejda". An older name for hijras is kinnar, which is used by some hijra groups as a more respectable and formal term. An abusive slang for hijra in Hindi is chhakka.
In Bangla "hijra" is called hijra, hijla, hijre.
A number of terms across the culturally and linguistically diverse Indian subcontinent represent similar sex/gender categories. While these are rough synonyms, they may be better understood as separate identities due to regional cultural differences. In Tamil Nadu the equivalent term is aravanni, aravani, or aruvani. In Urdu and Punjabi, both in Pakistan and India, the term khusra is used. Other terms include jankha. In Gujarati they are called Pavaiyaa (પાવૈયા).
In South India, the goddess Yellamma is believed to have the power to change one's sex. Male devotees in female clothing are known as Jogappa. They perform similar roles to hijra, such as dancing and singing at birth ceremonies and weddings.[2]
The word kothi (or koti) is common across India, although kothis are often distinguished from hijras. Kothis are regarded as feminine men or boys who take a feminine role in sex with men, but do not live in the kind of intentional communities that hijras usually live in. Local equivalents include durani (Kolkata), menaka (Cochin),[3] meti (Nepal), and zenana (Pakistan).
Hijras are widely referred to in English with the term "eunuch", although LGBT historians or human rights activists might label them as being transgender.
These identities have no exact match in the modern Western taxonomy of gender and sexual orientation. Most are born apparently male, but some may be intersex (with ambiguous genitalia). They are often perceived as a third sex, and most see themselves as neither men nor women. However, some may see themselves (or be seen as) females,[4] feminine males or androgynes. Some, especially those who speak English and are influenced by international discourses around sexual minorities may identify as transgender or transsexual women. Unlike some Western transsexual women, hijras generally do not attempt to pass as women. Reportedly, few have genital modifications, although some certainly do, and some consider nirwaan ("castrated") hijras to be the "true" hijras.
A male who takes a "receptive" or feminine role in sex with a man will often identify as a kothi (or the local equivalent term). While kothis are usually distinguished from hijras as a separate gender identity, they often dress as women and act in a feminine manner in public spaces, even using feminine language to refer to themselves and each other. The usual partners of hijras and kothis are masculine men, whose gender identity is as a "normal" male who penetrates.[5] These male partners are often married, and any relationships or sex with 'kothis' or hijras are usually kept secret from the community at large. Some hijras may form relationships with men and even marry,[6] although their marriage is not usually recognized by law or religion. Hijras and kothis often have a name for these masculine sexual or romantic partners; for example, panthi in Bangladesh, giriya in Delhi or sridhar in Cochin.[3]
Becoming a hijra is a process of socialization into a "hijra family" through a relationship characterised as chela "student" to guru "teacher", leading to a gradual assumption of femininity. Typically each guru lives with at least five chelas; her chelas assume her surname and are considered part of her lineage. Chelas are expected to give their income to their guru, who manages the household. Hijra families are close knit communities, which often have their own houses.
This process may culminate in a religious ritual that includes emasculation (total removal of the penis, testes and scrotum in men). Not all hijras undergo emasculation, and the percentage of hijras that are eunuchs is unknown. The operation—referred to by hijras as a nirvan ("rebirth") and carried out by a dai (traditional midwife)—involves removing the penis and scrotum with a knife without anesthesia. The cry and wail of the target is covered with huge trumpting. In modern times, some hijras may undergo a vaginoplasty, allowing them sexual fulfillment through vaginal intercourse, but such cases are rare. The American transsexual activist Anne Ogborn became an initiated Hijra in 1993. She is the first westerner to be a member of the Hijra community.[7]
Most hijras live at the margins of society with very low status; the very word "hijra" is sometimes used in a derogatory manner. Few employment opportunities are available to hijras. Many get their income from performing at ceremonies, begging, or prostitution — an occupation of eunuchs also recorded in premodern times. Violence against hijras, especially hijra sex workers, is often brutal, and occurs in public spaces, police stations, prisons, and their homes.[8] As with transgender people in most of the world, they face extreme discrimination in health, housing, education, employment, immigration, law, and any bureaucracy that is unable to place them into male or female gender categories.[citation needed]
Hijras have earned an income from the Indian government for collecting taxes from the villages and cities, the most effective method ever employed by the India government in collecting taxes still used in some cities.[citation needed]
Hijras are often encountered on streets, trains, and other public places demanding money from young men. If refused, the hijra may attempt to embarrass the man into giving money, using obscene gestures, profane language, and even sexual advances. Hijras also perform religious ceremonies at weddings and at the birth of male babies, involving music, singing, and sexually suggestive dancing. These are intended to bring good luck and fertility. Although the hijra are most often uninvited, the host usually pays the hijras a fee. Many fear the hijras' curse if they are not appeased, bringing bad luck or infertility, but for the fee they receive, they can bless goodwill and fortune on to the newly born. Hijras are said to be able to do this because, since they do not engage in sexual activities, they accumulate their sexual energy which they can use to either bestow a boon or a bane.
Many modern hijras, faced with health concerns and discrimination, have become politically active. For example, the All-India Eunuchs’ Welfare Association was formed in 1993-94, as well as HIV/AIDS awareness groups to combat health problems within their communities. One such group is the Dai Welfare Society, a mutual aid society formed in 1999 in Mumbai by and for hijras. The group estimate that half of hijras living in Mumbai have HIV.[9] Another group is the Hijra Kalyan Sabha.
Other hijras have been elected to high political positions; Shabnam Mausi became India's first hijra MLA in 1999 (as an independent), only 5 years since hijras have been able to vote.[10] Another hijra, Kamla Jaan, was elected as mayor of Katni, while another, Meenabai, became the president of the Sehora town municipality, the oldest civic body in the state of Madhya Pradesh.[11] In 2005, 24-year-old hijra Sonia Ajmeri ran for state assembly on an independent ticket to represent the estimated 40,000 eunuchs in Gujarat. The wave of hijras entering politics has not been without controversy. In November 2000, Asha Devi was elected mayor of Gorakhpur, a post reserved for a woman. The city had a population of approximately 500,000 as of 1991. She was unseated when a court decreed that she was a man,[12] but was later reinstated.
In Bangladesh, some NGOs have already started their welfare works for hijra & other sexual minorities. Bangladesh Association for Gays(BAG) or Gay-Bangla is the first Internet based organization which supports hijra, kothi, panthi & other sexual minorities. Recently Queer-Bangla has started to support hijra community. In Khulna city, hijra community has started some social works like HIV/AIDS awareness.
Commonly Hijra-rights groups also support gay rights issues in the Indian subcontinent, but this is a newly-emerging situation.
The ancient Kama Sutra mentions the performance of fellatio by masculine and feminine people of a third sex (tritiya prakriti).[13] This passage has been variously interpreted as referring to men who desired other men, so-called eunuchs ("those disguised as males, and those that are disguised as females"[14]), male and female transvestites ("the male takes on the appearance of a female and the female takes on the appearance of the male"),[15] or two kinds of biological males, one dressed as a woman, the other as a man.[16]
During the era of the British raj, authorities attempted to eradicate hijras, whom they saw as "a breach of public decency".[17] Anti-hijra laws were repealed; but a law outlawing castration, a central part of the hijra community, was left intact, though rarely enforced.
In Hindu contexts, hijras belong to a special caste. They are usually devotees of the mother goddess Bahuchara Mata, and/or Shiva.
In Tamil Nadu each year in April/May, hijras — or aravanis, as they are called there — celebrate an 18-day religious festival. The aravani temple is located in the village Koovagam in the Ulundurpet taluk in Villupuram district, and is devoted to the deity Koothandavar. During the festival, the aravanis reenact a story of the religious epic Mahabharata: the mythical wedding of Lord Krishna (who had assumed the form of a woman) and Lord Aravaan, son of Arjuna, followed by Aravaan's subsequent sacrifice. They then mourn Aravaan's death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles. An annual beauty pageant is also held, as well as various health and HIV/AIDS seminars. Hijras from all over the country travel to this festival. A personal experience of the hijras in this festival is shown in the documentary India's Ladyboys, by BBC Three.
It is also believed in India that the hijras rush to celebrate the birth not only for their financial benefit only but also to check whether the new born child is intersexed. If it is intersexed, which is extremely rare, then they would go to any length to recruit him/her in their group.
domingo, 10 de janeiro de 2010
Ann Coulter: Terrorists with bombs in their foreskin
by: Bil Browning
January 9, 2010 7:00 AM
How often does Ann Coulter agree with the ACLU? Of course, since it's Ann, she has to talk about terrorists shoving bombs in their foreskins and up their ass. ("An anus is a good hiding spot!") Like many of our trans friends, Ann has a problem with allowing the full body scans that show all your naughty bits to airport security.
First gay sex scene on daytime TV
by: Alex Blaze
January 9, 2010 4:00 PM Via Feministing, here's the first gay male sex scene on daytime TV, from One Life to Live. It's really cheesy with a cut to the candles just when it's getting fun, but, hey, that's the medium. Plus they get fireworks when they're done.
January 9, 2010 4:00 PM Via Feministing, here's the first gay male sex scene on daytime TV, from One Life to Live. It's really cheesy with a cut to the candles just when it's getting fun, but, hey, that's the medium. Plus they get fireworks when they're done.
sábado, 9 de janeiro de 2010
sexta-feira, 8 de janeiro de 2010
Obama's Appointee is Not a "Cross-dresser"
By Hanna Rosin
We try to be patient with the right’s enduring queasiness about homosexuality, but then every once in a while they drop one so obnoxious it makes you want to assign their kid the gay teacher on purpose. The Family Research Council’s latest crusade—Stop Obama’s Cross-Dresser Protection Bill—launched this morning. Of course there is no such thing as the “Cross-Dresser Protection Bill.” What the Christian right group is referring to is the following:
On New Year's Eve, when most Americans were waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square, the Obama Administration dropped another bombshell in its agenda to radicalize America by appointing its first openly "transgender" person to a high federal post. "Transgender" is an umbrella term for anyone who "expresses" a "gender identity" contrary to their biological sex at birth-in other words, men who claim to be (and dress as) women, and vice versa.
Note the spy-boudoir scene setting, the military metaphor, the extraneous Dr. Evil-style parentheses. Now, either it was a bombshell or a stealth maneuver; it can’t be both. The truth is that the administration was very low-key about the appointment of Amanda Simpson as a senior technical advisor to the Commerce Department, which is hardly a visible post. She has worked for many years in aerospace and defense, and convinced Raytheon, where she worked, to adopt gender identity into its workplace policies. She also ran for a House seat in Arizona. If Raytheon, not a bastion of pro-gay radical thinking, can handle it, so can the federal government.
Now for the true yokel insult. Amanda Simpson is not across-dresser. She had a sex-change operation. If you think for a moment about what that entails, you should bow before that intense level of commitment, not mock it.
We try to be patient with the right’s enduring queasiness about homosexuality, but then every once in a while they drop one so obnoxious it makes you want to assign their kid the gay teacher on purpose. The Family Research Council’s latest crusade—Stop Obama’s Cross-Dresser Protection Bill—launched this morning. Of course there is no such thing as the “Cross-Dresser Protection Bill.” What the Christian right group is referring to is the following:
On New Year's Eve, when most Americans were waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square, the Obama Administration dropped another bombshell in its agenda to radicalize America by appointing its first openly "transgender" person to a high federal post. "Transgender" is an umbrella term for anyone who "expresses" a "gender identity" contrary to their biological sex at birth-in other words, men who claim to be (and dress as) women, and vice versa.
Note the spy-boudoir scene setting, the military metaphor, the extraneous Dr. Evil-style parentheses. Now, either it was a bombshell or a stealth maneuver; it can’t be both. The truth is that the administration was very low-key about the appointment of Amanda Simpson as a senior technical advisor to the Commerce Department, which is hardly a visible post. She has worked for many years in aerospace and defense, and convinced Raytheon, where she worked, to adopt gender identity into its workplace policies. She also ran for a House seat in Arizona. If Raytheon, not a bastion of pro-gay radical thinking, can handle it, so can the federal government.
Now for the true yokel insult. Amanda Simpson is not across-dresser. She had a sex-change operation. If you think for a moment about what that entails, you should bow before that intense level of commitment, not mock it.
quinta-feira, 7 de janeiro de 2010
terça-feira, 5 de janeiro de 2010
UM SENHOR SHOW PARA COMEMORAR A CHEGADA DO ANO
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741
Sensacional
Basta copiar o link e colar no seu browser e assistir a uma coisa absolutamente impressionante, quer a nível técnico, quer a nível musical.Trata-se de um grupo de pessoas, que não se conhecem entre si . É aqui que entram os técnicos de som e imagem voluntários e sem remuneração que se ocuparam de captar o som de cada um dos "cantores", individualmente a nível mundial (uma vez que são atuações ao ar livre e isso é extremamente difícil de fazer sem "ruídos exteriores"). Posto isto e remisturado, atingindo um nível de pureza musical notável, chegamos a esta maravilha musical conseguida através de alta tecnologia, que num instante, junta as pessoas de todo o mundo, fazendo-as sentir e falar ao mesmo tempo a mesma linguagem universal... a música. Momentos como este, de grande dedicação e generosidade, fazem-nos ainda ter alguma esperança na "raça humana" .
Sensacional
Basta copiar o link e colar no seu browser e assistir a uma coisa absolutamente impressionante, quer a nível técnico, quer a nível musical.Trata-se de um grupo de pessoas, que não se conhecem entre si . É aqui que entram os técnicos de som e imagem voluntários e sem remuneração que se ocuparam de captar o som de cada um dos "cantores", individualmente a nível mundial (uma vez que são atuações ao ar livre e isso é extremamente difícil de fazer sem "ruídos exteriores"). Posto isto e remisturado, atingindo um nível de pureza musical notável, chegamos a esta maravilha musical conseguida através de alta tecnologia, que num instante, junta as pessoas de todo o mundo, fazendo-as sentir e falar ao mesmo tempo a mesma linguagem universal... a música. Momentos como este, de grande dedicação e generosidade, fazem-nos ainda ter alguma esperança na "raça humana" .
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