The Week In Transgenderism – 12/12/11
Nikki Araguz is back in the news. Has she won her appeal over the judge’s decision that is keeping her from collecting her deceased husband’s insurance? No. It’s the outcome of her trial for stealing another woman’s Rolex watch. The sentence includes jail time. Get the story at chron.com.
The British government is going to give murderers whose victims are transgendered much longer sentences than killers who murder just plain folks. The change in sentencing is meant to signal to the criminal element that transgender prejudice will not be tolerated. Imagine the killer who had no idea he was killing a TG — “Here now guv, I dint know they was TG.” Read all about it in The Guardian.
Many people don’t have jobs these days but if you’re one of the lucky ones who remains employed you may be interested to know that the number of companies whose health insurance plans cover gender reassignment surgery is on the rise. Get the stats in The Huffington Post.
Speaking of being out of work, the city manager of Lakeworth, Florida will be visiting the unemployment office this week. Her name, Susan Stanton, may seem familiar to you. She was the city commissioner in Largo, Florida who was fired for transitioning on the job. She got the new job in Lakeworth with the city commission knowing full well she was a transsexual. Why has she gotten the axe? Read the story and view the video at WPBF.com.
In a speech last Tuesday to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland U.S. Secreatary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used the word, “transgender.” She used it as part of GLBT and she stated in stern language that the United States is commited to the advancement of GLBT rights around the world. Find out all about it at CBSNews.com.
Even though Macy’s has a policy that let’s MtF TGs use the womens’ fitting room you need to be careful if you want to try on that dress before you buy it. Why? They’ve got employees who will go against company policy because of their personal beliefs. One such employee in Texas was fired for not letting what she called “a man in makeup and women’s clothing” use the fitting room. No sale! Check it out in The Huffington Post.
Chrissy Polis is in the news again. You may recall that she was the young TG lady who was beaten up in a McDonald’s. We’re not happy to see her appear in the news again because once again she has been a victim. Twice. First by the crooks and it appears by the poice. What information there is can be found in The Daily Record.
Remember the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon? the TG connection here is that the film was based on a real incident in which a bank robber attempted to knock over a bank to pay for his TS girlfriend’s reassignment surgery. The robber, portrayed by Al Pacino in the film, started a lawsuit against Warner Brothers for a cut of the film’s profits. The New York appellate court just put a stop to the lawsuit. Get all the tangled details in The Hollywood Reporter.
In other movie news we learn that Robert Downey, Jr. was the one who suggested the scene in the new Sherlock Holmes movie where Sherlock adopts a female disguise. Well, as someone who has shared pizza with Downey (I really did. Several years ago he was in Philadelphia and we had pizza) I must say that he didn’t exhibit any transvestite tendencies when I met him. Read the story. Speculate amongst yourselves. It’s at 3news.com.nz.
Hobdons Bay is a city in Australia, just outside of Melbourne. They have the distinction of being the first city anywhere, as far as anyone knows, to elect an intersexed mayor. Meet Tony Briffa at care2.com.
Last Monday Columbia, Missouri passed a change to the city’s anti-discrimination code that added gender identity as a protected category. Read about the vote and one transsexual resident’s knee bruising reaction to it in The Missourian.
A new law mandating that TGs can use the restroom that fits their gender presentation was passed in Susquehanna Township in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The township becomes the 26th place in Pennsylvania to approve an ordinance that is aimed at stopping discrimination against LGBT people. Some residents are worried that perverts will pretend to be TGs so they can go into the opposite sex restroom. The story is in The Huffington Post.
It’s summer down under but that doesn’t stop Australian drag queens from bringing a little bit of holiday glitter to that country. It’s our meet the holiday drag queens article! Find it on cairns.com.au.
Heading to The Great White North for a winter vacation? Have you had gender reassignment surgery or are you intersexed? If so you need to know that the Canadian Border Services Agency has a rule that let’s you pick the gender of the office who pats you down. You can even pick a male and female team for your total pat-down. Get the details in The Toronto Sun.
A British TS who became obsessed with Barbie when she was young boy has spent over $300,000 to become a living Barbie. (Wow, having your skin coated with plastic must hurt.) It wasn’t all her money — she’s got rich “friends” and you’ll have to decide whether you think she really looks like the famous doll. The story is in The Daily Mail.
Okay campers, get your thinking caps on. Prepare yourselves for some mental exercise. A professor at Brown University has a lecture she does on gender identity. It’s titled “How Does a Child Know It is Male or Female: From Pre-symbolic to Symbolic Embodiment.” The title should be enough indication that this is going to be hard to grasp. But, the it could be worth the effort. Check out her hypothesis in The Western Herald.
TWITs
A man in Hull, England is our TWIT Award winner. He came upon a transsexual woman in the local library, verbally abused her then chased her outside and hit her. Our TWIT, Ben Matthew Firth, seems to be an equal opportunity hater as he was arrested earlier for verbally abusing a black woman. We’re not vindictive but we hope he gets beaten often while in prison. Find the story at The Jewish Chronicle Online.
TWIT number two is the “transvestite prostitute” who stole her john’s keys, took his truck and then tried to sell it back to him. Oh girl, how can you build up a client list when you take to doing robberies like that? And what’s up with the john? Spring for a hotel room next time and keep your house keys hidden. There are even more heinous details in The Haverford-Havertown Patch.
Category: Transgender Community News