The Week In Transgenderism 1/9/12

Stars of Work It

ABC’s “crossdressing comedy” Work It debuted last week and the critics are unanimous in their scorn for the show. If just seeing men dressed in women’s business suits is all you need as entertainment then this show will be a hit with you. If you expect things like plot, character development, or writing above an eight grade level you’ll be disappointed. Read a condensation of what all the critics thought at Time.com.

We leave the heady realm of bad comedy and turn to a totally serious subject. There’s a movement afoot in New York City to make it easier for transgender people to change the gender marker on their drivers license. The law currently says you have to have gone through surgery, which many either don’t want or find too expensive to pursue. Read all about it at the BBC website.

Transgender City Manager Susan Stanton was fired last month by the Lake Worth. Florida commissioners. She was let go even though she was doing a good job, and it’s claimed that her gender had nothing to do with the firing. Then why did the city terminate her employment? Read the in depth article about the firing in The South Florida Gay News.

We often go on about how much we love out favorite transvestite comic Eddie Izzard. Now we can crow about an FtM comedian from Maine. Ian Harvie is his name and he has filmed a comedy special that he’s pitching to cable networks. Learn more about Harvie and his comedy in The Portland Press Herald.

One tampon company’s humor is other people’s outrage. New Zealand is where a company produced a television spot that had a cisgendered woman and a transwoman in front of a mirror competing to see who was the most womanly. The TG loses the competition when the cisgendered blonde holds up a tampon. Read about the viewer reaction and what the company did at lgbtweekly.com.

Our “meet the transsexual” article comes to us from the U.K. It’s about an American transsexual who they claim is “set to be the world’s tallest transsexual.” Hey reporters! She’s already transsexual, she just hasn’t had the surgery yet. Or is she having an operation to make her taller? That could be it. Anyhow, if you think you have problems blending in as a woman, the lady is 7 feet tall! Check out the story in The Sun.

Russell touched this innocent girl.

Now here’s one of those stories that makes us wonder who to give the TWIT Award to. David O. Russell, a film director whose work includes Three Kings and The Fighter, was working out at a gym in Florida with his transgender niece Nicole (by adoption — his adoption into the family of the niece’s mother) when they began discussing Nicole’s breast augmentation. Nicole claims Russell came on to her and felt her up. Russell claims that she acted provocatively and told him it was okay to check them out. Police were called and no arrests were made. TheSmokingGun.com refers to Nicole as “he” throughout the report. Who do we give the TWIT to? Read the story and decide. All we can say is that Nicole looks like she could be trouble. Wink, wink.

There are times when Americans are easily confused. Today we bring word that apparently some Americans have been confusing Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul with famous drag diva RuPaul. Huh? As odd as that may seem we guess anything is possible. So, RuPaul is working it, as only she can. She went to New Hampshire on Saturday to visit the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester to deliver the message in person that she is not now and never was a candidate for president. Get the story from Reuters.

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Meanwhile Australian drag diva Courtney Act is prospering in Los Angeles. Ms. Act moved to tinsel town a few months ago to pursue her acting career. Now she is helping to revive a gay video bar from the ‘80s with regular appearances at the new Revolver. Sounds like the hot spot to hit if you’re looking for a cocktail in L.A. Check out the story in The L.A. Times.

If a trip to Los Angeles is not  doable then maybe the east coast is the place to be. Atlantic City casinos have been faced with increased competition from casinos in Pennsylvania, and perhaps the operators in Atlantic City have just grown tired of serving a primarily older, jogging suit and gold chain wearing clientele. They are spending money to market their games and nightlife to the GLBT community. They’re kicking off the outreach later this month with “Out in AC” the same weekend that the Miss’d America pageant happens. Check out their marketing strategy in The Press of Atlantic City.

Uniontown, Pennsylvania is a small city in the western part of that state. There are a lot of pickup trucks and baseball hats. Flannel is a big fashion item. I guess it would take a lot of courage for a crossdresser to walk into a Walgreen’s store and buy a soda for his wife if he was dressed like a woman. But wait till you read the bad choice this guy made to work up his nerve. He never got to buy that drink. The odd story is at CBSNews.com.

If you’ve read your TWIT for the past few years you know that injecting loose silicone into your body is not a good idea. (See Dallas Denny’s post today.) The practice will not go away even though it kills and disfigures TG women every year. It isn’t just an American problem. Here’s the story of a Columbian TS beauty queen who just had to have some more injections to prepare for a big pageant. It’s in Columbia Reports.

Speaking of enhancing body parts, Chaz Bono is saving up his cash to get the final item for his gender shift. That’s right, Chaz wants to get a penis. The surgery to create a phallus is touchy and the results are often disappointing but Chaz evidently feels that he’ll be more comfortable with something down below. Get the story from ABC News.

It’s funny how nobody seems to know what “transgender” means. Even people who are transgendered often don’t get it. Here at TGForum we accept the word as an umbrella term that covers all gender variance. To us it covers everything from the guy who wears panties now and then to a post op transsexual. TG body builder Chris Tina Bruce says that’s what the word means, but she also seems to think it’s a descriptor for people who live in another gender all the time without seeking surgery. Now we’re confused, too. See how she explains it in her blog on The Huffington Post.

Last week we told you about hawks that disguised themselves as females so they could avoid fights with other males and hang out with real females. Clever birds. But not as clever as the hawkfish. The hawkfish is born female, becomes male at maturity and then — if they need to — can change back to female. Learn about this fascinating finny gendermoprh at newscientist.com.

Men with vaginas need to take care of them. Sadly fear of embarrassment often keeps female to males from visiting the gynecologist on a regular basis, if at all. Fortunately things are getting better as the doctors are learning about the needs of transgender patients and beginning to make it easier for TGs to get checkups. Read the story in The Sun Sentinal.

Our TWIT Award recipient is the Bulgarian Culture Minister. You’d think an artist would be cool about gender and gender roles. But no. Vezhdi Rashidov, a sculptor, has made misogynistic and homophobic statements and he managed to offend trans people while doing so. See what he said at novinite.com.

Tags: featured, tg news, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News