The Week In Transgenderism 10/8/12

Ida Hammer

In 2011 transwoman Ida Hammer applied to her health insurance company for a pre-authorization for gender reassignment surgery. The company turned her down saying the surgery was “cosmetic.” Now comes word that she has been approved. Get just the facts in The Gothamist.

You think Muslims get all riled up when people mess with their holy man? Outrage at “negative” depictions of the founders of religions is not exclusively Muslim. Some Christians, too, can get pretty violent when their Messiah is fiddled with. An art exhibit in Serbia which depicts Jesus in high heels surrounded by queens has created such passion among the devout that the gallery has had to hire armed guards. Read about it in The Advocate.

We’ve reported in previous TWIT columns that Brazil is turning out a crop of transgender models who are making waves in the world of fashion. Well, that’s a world that’s a lot more open minded about some things than the rest of the world. That’s why, while TG models from Brazil are blowing up big, Brazil is being called the “transgender murder capital of the world.” Get the gruesome details at bikyamasr.com.

Davenport

A star of the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race has passed away from from heart failure. Sahara Davenport was just 27. Davenport was the partner of another Drag Race alum, Manila Luzon. Read about a drag star who has left the stage much too soon in the International Business Times.

Canada has a bill that its legislature has been working on which would prevent discrimination based on gender identity or expression. One of Canada’s lawmakers has posted a petition on his website aimed at stopping the bill with an avalanche of popular protest. His problem with the bill? He thinks it will let “transgendered men” into the women’s restroom. Read about his offensive misunderstanding of TGs in The Star.

Denmark used to be a refuge for people fleeing persecution. Lately though the country has tightened its borders and drawn lines about just who gets to come in out of the persecution. Two transgendered women have been seeking asylum there and they are being helped in their fight against deportation by local activists. For them returning to their homeland, Guatemala, may be the last trip they ever take. Read their stories at DW.de.

Gwen Araujo

From the “let’s not forget” file: In October of 2002 Gwen Araujo was murdered by a group of men she was hanging out with at a party. That was ten years ago and Gwen is remembered in the Union City Patch.

Transsexuals in New Zealand are going formal. Does that mean they’re buying gowns and strappy pumps? No, it means that an informal group that started out on Facebook is now taking steps to become a legitimate organization with officers and face to face meetings. Read about the formalization of Transsexuals of New Zealand at gaynz.com.

You may be aware that the Obama administration has been very friendly to transgendered people both domestically and overseas. Last year the administration ordered all U.S. diplomatic staff to work at promoting LGBT rights in the countries where they were stationed. To further support LGBT rights around the wold the U.S. and Europe have been fighting a resolution at the United Nations that would link human rights to “traditional values.” Called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the resolution passed despite European and U.S. opposition. What’s so wrong about “traditional values”? In some countries beating your wife is traditional. Killing gay people is traditional. Throwing transgendered people in jail for crossdressing is traditional. Read about it at LifeSiteNews.com. (A site that seems to support traditional values.) In a bit of irony the Declaration was advanced by the Russians. Weren’t they all Godless commies at one time?

Indecent act?

Violating traditional values in Singapore can get a performer arrested. There is a type of performance called getai that happens in China and Singapore. Singapore being as conservative as any Asian nation has strict rules about what performers can do that is considered “decent.” Recently a performer was “taken downtown” over several violations, including performing an “indecent act.” Could it have been his crossdressing that caused the kerfuffle? Get the story at asiaone.com.

Word on the street, Mockingbird Lane being the street in question, is that the Munsters remake, Mockingbird Lane, has been killed off before Eddie Izzard got a chance to play Grandpa Munster. It’s depressing, as Portia de Rossi was set to play Lily Munster. Oh well. Get the word at vulture.com.

Carla Lamprey

Our Meet The Transsexual article comes to us from England where a transsexual can get the children after she divorces her wife. That’s what happened in the case of Carla Lamprey. Her ex-wife couldn’t take living with her husband if he wanted to be a woman full time. They split and the kids stayed with Carla. Read the story in The Sun.

Artist Grayson Perry, known in England as the transvestite potter, works in other mediums beside clay. His latest artistic project is a partnership with a British architectural group to design a house that is evocative of a fairytale cottage. The house has been built in the countryside of Essex. We find it refreshing that a serious artist who is totally open about his transness is so widely appreciated. Read about the cottage in Artlyst.

Some in England no doubt find Perry to be eccentric. Maybe they think he dresses up to get more attention for his art. That does happen in some places. Take for example art curator Himanshu Verma in India. He is what they call a “shockstar.” They dress dramatically and attend parties where they steal the limelight by looking outrageous. Himanshu’s specialty is showing up in a woman’s sari. He says he’s not a crossdresser and that’s obvious when you see his picture. Check it out in The Asian Age.

Pageant winners help out.

Another example of transgendered people being accepted when help is needed, just like any other volunteers, comes from Thailand. There, in expectation of heavy flooding in parts of that country, winners of the Miss Tiffany Universe pageant worked alongside members of the Royal Thai Navy to pack bags of emergency rations and supplies. The ladies, along with 300 other volunteers packed up 8500 bags of supplies. Read about it in the Pattaya Mail.

TWITS

They just won’t stop. It’s to be expected since they don’t like to pay attention to laws and rules. No matter how often we here at TWIT headquarters admonish criminals to refrain from dressing as ladies while they pull their heists they just keep it up. The first TWIT Award winners this week are the pair of crossdressed bandits who took $25,000 in jewelry from a pawn shop in Marietta, Georgia. Get the details on the job along with a video at theGrio.com.

Caper number two is the crossdressed crook who robbed a bank in Missouri. This one really was hardly trying. Her wardrobe? Medical scrubs with a hoody. Why bother to wear the wig? Just pull a ski mask on and get the robbery over with. If you’re not going to stop robbing places in drag at least do better drag. After all, you’re always going to be on camera so you might as well look good for your big video appearance. The details on this TWIT Award winner are at KSDK.com.

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Category: Transgender Community News