The Week In Transgenderism 2/11/13

Rachel and Lou

Everyone knows that Lou Reed wrote the theme song of the TG community — Walk on the Wildside — but did you know he took his own wild walk and had a transgendered lover? Why yes, he did. Her name was Rachel. She was of Mexican Indian heritage and was described as either long-limbed and elegant or “grotesque,” depending on the level of transphobia in the person providing the description. Learn more about Rachel on the Dangerous Minds website.

The race for governor of Bangkok is heating up and one candidate is courting a segment of the electorate that most of the politicians in Thailand have not reached out to in the past. Candidate Pongsapat Pongcharoen advocated for Bangkok to embrace varied genders and different lifestyle. The ad also features several kathoeys. Get the story in Global Post.

Boston must pay.

A transgendered woman in Boston was arrested in May of 2010 for refusing to leave the women’s restroom at a homeless shelter. The woman claims that five police officers entered the bathroom to eject her and didn’t stop with that. They made her take off her top and bra and jump up and down. How much money does Boston have to give her for that demeaning dance? Read the story in the Boston Globe and find out.

Parents of transgendered children in the Chicago area now have a dedicated place to turn for help. The Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has established a gender identity clinic to offer transgender and gender variant children a full range of services. Get the news from WBEZ.

Monica Beverly Hillz

If you’re a woman can you be a drag queen? That’s a question that has come up on RuPaul’s Drag Race during the last episode. One of the queens came out as a transgendered woman. Other Drag Race contestants have come out as TG before but they have done it after the end of the season. Monica Beverly Hillz could not wait and went ahead and came out on the show. Read about a woman being a man being a woman at NewNowNext.

TG Lingerie

Now transgendered women have undergarments designed just for them. Hold on. We thought there were a number of companies marketing lingerie for TGs? The news report we just found acts as if Chrysalis Lingerie is something new. Could be they do have a new take on foundations for TGs. Get the story in the Daily News.

Sara Davis Buechner

The overwhelming need to be who you really are makes it a challenge for some TGs. Do they take the steps needed to live in their correct gender if making the transition may ruin their career and leave them no way to make a living? One transsexual who felt she had no choice but to become whole was a famous concert pianist. When she transitioned suddenly no orchestras wanted to hire her. Read Sara Davis Buechner’s story in The New York Times.

Anna Grodzka

The transgendered member of Poland’s Parliament was hoping to become the deputy speaker for her party. As far as they’ve come in Poland, just electing a TS to their Parliament was a big deal, they haven’t gotten that far. Her nomination was defeated by a large margin. Still Anna Grodzka is happy to represent her home city of Krakow and is grateful for the support of those there who voted her into office. Get the full story in The Huffington Post.

Not to be out done in the trans-legislator department the country of Ecuador may be elect their first transgendered lawmaker in their election later this week. Diane Rodriquez is a psychology student and trans rights activist from the town of Guayaquil. Like Poland a large number of the voters in Ecuador are Catholics. If it could happen in Poland maybe Ms. Rodriquez has a shot at winning a seat. We wish her best of luck. Read all about the upcoming election in the GayStarNews.

Bear drag

We’re very tolerant of diversity here at TGForum. That said we have to admit we’re scared by the newest trend (we can only hope it’s not a trend) to appear in the gay world — bear drag. Right. Hairy queens with beards. Okay. We’ve gotten ourselves under control again and all we can say is “you go girl.” Read all about it and view photos of this phenomenon at The Huffington Post.

What is it about McDonald’s and TGs getting beat up? There was the assault in Maryland and a knife attack in Manhattan last year. The latest assault on a transgendered person happened in Brisbane, Australia. A well known drag performer, Alexei Paige, went to the local Mickey D’s (they call it Maccas down under) after her show at a club in the Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane when a man in line behind her was affronted that “a dirty tranny” was ahead of him in line making him wait for his Big Mac. She tried to defuse the situation but the asshole, there we said it, punched her in the face and ran. He was caught immediately and held for the police. Find out what good things came out of the attack and read about it on SameSame.com.au. (Warning: The photo of Alexei right after the incident is pretty raw.)

Julie

In Samoa there is a well established third gender called fa’afafine. Samoan boys who decide to live as girls are allowed to do so by their parents and other children. One proud member of the third gender is Julie, a lady who happens to be the brother/sister of a rugby star named Manu Tuilagi who is on the English rugby team. Manu may, like other rugby players, eat the dead players on the field but he has high regard for his sister. That’s how she came to be featured in the Daily Mail.

 TWITs

Be careful who you invite to your sex dungeon. A transwoman in south Wales who was house sitting for a dominatrix pal was charged with rape after she took a woman who was visiting her on a tour of the facility. Something occurred in the house and the TG admits that they had sex but denied the rape. The good news in this story is that Nadine Natasha Williams was cleared of the rape charge. The bad news is just how badly she was treated by the paper reporting the story. They refer to her a a man and use male pronouns throughout the article. Take a look and see if you think the Daily Mail deserves their TWIT Award.

Brown Universty will be covering gender reassignment surgery for students who participate in its medical plan.Horray for Brown! Now comes the TWIT Award. It goes to Fox and Friends for the sleazy stuff they said on the air last Thursday when they reported on the university’s decision. It’s not exactly what they said that is objectionable. It’s the way they said it. Watch a clip and read about other conservative media reaction to the news at The Atlantic Wire.

Tags: featured, news, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News