This Week in Transgenderism 6/29/09

Lady Gaga, or Look-alike?

Wrapping up Pride month, with a special emphasis on the T. Dozens of crossdressers are arrested in one fell swoop in Saudi Arabia. A British TS is eating again, and will get her HRT paid for. A Catholic Priest moonlights as a drag queen. Another look at life for transsexuals in Iran. And is it better to be transgendered in Iran, or the Deep South? Southern Girl RuPaul‘s still a sharp and smart as ever. And an obituary for someone you may not realize influenced you. And waaaaay too many TWITs of the Week.

All this and much, much more in this edition of TWIT Notes.

Mara Keisling

The Obama administration has reportedly been working on policy that would ban discrimination against federal employees who happen to be transgender. The New York Times has details, and OnTop has reaction from Mara Keisling, of the NCTE.

And as Congress starts work on a gender-inclusive ENDA, Colorado may be where they look for help. The Rocky Mountain State has had such a law on the books since 2007.

“There’s nothing wrong with discrimination.” A committee of the County Commission in Memphis, Tennessee, does everything they can to perpetuate the stereotype of the backward, inbred, hick Southerner by not only voting down a GLBT anti-discrimination measure, but by opening their mouths and talking about it. The Memphis Flyer has the shocking story.

To underscore things, the Daily Kos has the story of another transgender in Tennessee, trying to make things work.

Some good news: North Carolina legislators passed a bill that offers protections for students based on
not only sexual orientation, but also gender identity. The story is in the Advocate.

And more good news out of the American South. A judge says a discrimination suit filed by a TS state employee can move forward. The Ledger-Enquirer doesn’t say if the court victory by Diane Schroer had any influence.

TG Heroes

You know it and we know it: The riots at Stonewall were headed up by the gender-variant. And the
riots begat the modern GLBT movement. And the GLBT movement is often shortened to “gay rights”. But, in Boston, the Edge reports there’s a move to remind everyone about the importance of the T, by honoring 40 TG heroes.

Democracy Now talks with trans-activist Mya Leilani Vazquez about the ongoing fight for trans-rights and trans-acceptance.

A Christian columnist at the Indianapolis Star writes about his love for those in the GLBT community.

My, my, my. How things have changed. A national chewing gum company sponsored a drag queen contest at a Pride festival to pick a spokesmodel. BlogTo has more.

Pride activities in San Francisco started with the Trans March on Friday. The Examiner has more.

Tracee McDaniel

In Atlanta, they aren’t celebrating Pride until Halloween because of the weather. But they are observing the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots this month. Southern Voice says like many other communities this year, the T is getting the spotlight at those ceremonies, with speakers like Tracee McDaniel.

More Pride coverage from the Plain-Dealer in Cleveland, from the Examiner in Denver, and from ABC News in Syracuse, (And although Syracuse was the scene of the high profile murder of Latiesha Green, the reporter fails to make the connection.)

There are Pride marches in India, but according to Tehelka, many of those marching wear masks. But, they’re still out there. Makes one think about one’s own situation, doesn’t it?

Alexandra Billings

And in Chicago, the grand marshall of the Pride Parade is the first TG woman actually cast to play a TG woman on television. Windy City Times talks with Alexandra Billings.

Last week, we told you about the GLBT neighborhood in NYC that’s fighting to stay quiet, peaceful and friendly. This week, a TG activist says she knows what’s behind the surge of anti-social behavior, and she knows how to fix it. Go girl! Read more at the Villager.

The Sante Fe Reporter has an interesting interview with a trans-man on the alphabet soup, civil rights, Pride and much more. Good reading.

Human rights advocates are critical of Saudi Arabia’s arrest of 67 crossdressers. The Post-Chronicle says those 67 also face charges of possession of alcohol.

Debbie Lead: Hunger Striker

The hunger strike is over, and a British TS will be getting her hormones paid for. We get more from the BBC.

There’s an ongoing push to encourage medical professionals to treat transgendered patients like, well, human beings. Advance Web has the latest.

It’s been said that Columbus, Ohio, is the epicenter of transgender activities in the United States. And with an event like this one, in the pages of Out in Toledo, it just might be true.

Also in Columbus, get this: a gay Catholic priest has hit the dance charts as a drag queen. No. Seriously. Read OnTop. Really.

If you think money will solve all your problems, consider this article from Forbes, on the secret lives of the rich and famous, and watch for the story of Robert Alan Durst.

Be Like Others

The documentary “Be Like Others” looks at the Iranian government‘s policy on transsexuality, and PopMatters looks at the disparity between that policy and the one on homosexuality.

Proving there’s no bad publicity, an Italian TV star, (who happens to be TS), has jumped into a sex scandal around Italy’s Prime Minister. Details are at the Telegraph.

It would be remiss of us to not mention the death of Michael Jackson last week. Whether or not he was gender variant, his style and popularity helped raise the visibility of those who flouted convention in the 1980s. The New York Times takes a look.

RuPaul talks to Creative Loafing about how important it is to not only dress up, but also to not dress up. She’s still a smart, smart lady.

How Kerry got her curves back: We’ve already told you about the actress who plays a TG character in the upcoming movie “Life is Hot in Cracktown”. But now Kerry Washington tells Contact Music how the role affected her. In a good way.

Since so many of us start out buying our clothes from Goodwill and other second hand stores, what better way to celebrate the grand opening of a charity shop than to have a drag queen cut the ribbon? Crawley News has more.

Russian Victim

Quite frankly, we’re tired of reporting on the murders of transgendered people. But we’re going to keep doing it. The latest victim comes from MosNews in Russia, where a man killed his girlfriend after learning she was transsexual.

They keep saying pop star Lady Gaga is a transvestite, or at least dresses like one. So, naturally, a radio station in New Zealand held a Gaga look-a-like contest, and rejected one TG contestant. Stuff has more.

If you follow celebrity gossip and the like, you might be able to figure this one out: Some B-lister named Tyrese is defending A-lister Megan Fox after someone went on Twitter and claimed Megan is TS. Bossip has the schoolyard chatter.

From gossip to advice: a 50-year-old writes to a Memphis Flyer columnist asking for a way to let the new woman in his life know about his extra-curricular, extra-gender activities.

Lots of TWITS of the Week: From Shanghai, six TG thieves posing as prostitutes are in custody. Or are they thieving prostitutes posing as transgender? The Inquirer has more.

The mayor of a Florida town has a live-in drag queen lover, and things were fine, until that lover brought someone else home, early one morning. Then, it got complicated. News-Press has more.

TWIT of the Week

Prison for a previous TWIT of the Week. Remember the guy who dressed and stalked? Yeah, the Oldham Advertiser says he’ll have two years to make new friends in prison.

We here at TGForum encourage getting out of the house en femme. What we don’t encourage is getting stoned before you do it, or assaulting passerbys. Otago Daily Times has more.

“It was unclear why the man was wearing women’s clothing, or why the two were in the room together.” Really? Wow, the Salt Lake City Tribune is kind of naiive, aren’t they?

Just as gold lame boots don’t make for good weapons, crying doesn’t make for a good defense. The Times-Picayune has the trial for a drag queen’s crime spree.

TWIT of the Week

And finally, if you do get accused of participating in voter fraud, and crying doesn’t work, don’t think declaring your gender identity loudly and repeatedly in court will get you off the hook. You just embarrass the rest of us. Fox 8 has the story and the video from a trial in Cleveland.

Category: Transgender Community News