The Week In Transgenderism 1/11/16

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Lately there’s been a lot of noise about refugees. Some are concerned that letting people fleeing war and terrorism need to be kept out of western countries. If that policy had been adopted during the Bosnian War we would never have had a chance to meet Andreja Pejic. Pejic was a refugee from Bosnia who found a home in Australia. Now she is speaking out about trans rights, equating them with human rights in general. Read what she has to say in the Daily Mail.

Caitlyn Jenner has taken some heat from the trans community over her role as a spokesperson for that community. She is, after all, a new girl in town, and she has stumbled over some of the things that are viewed as canon law of the trans community. Is it fair to criticize Jenner over her faux pas when she is just learning the ropes? Jenner maintains she never claimed to be a voice for anyone’s gender journey but her own. Learn more in the Advocate. Thanks to Jan Brown for the story.

Last week TWIT had a link to a story about Will Smith’s son Jaden modeling womenswear for Louis Vuitton. Reportedly Smith is so thin that he was able to wear unmodified runway samples for the photoshoot. But what is behind putting a young man in womenswear? What’s up with that? There is a long analysis of why Jaden is wearing a skirt in The New York Times.

When a flamboyant trans woman passes on what happens to her wardrobe? Local Philadelphia trans trailblazer, Donna Mae Stemmer, passed away this in June. She was a well-known figure in the LGBT community and her outfits were legendary. Her wardrobe was donated to a local AIDS charity and along with the wardrobe came years worth of Polaroid photos of Donna Mae posing in hundreds of her different outfits. The photos are now on display at Philly AIDS Thrift. Learn more on the Philly.com website.

Who is the latest trans model to be used in a fashion designer’s ad campaign? She’s not a model at all. She’s film director Lana Wachowski. She is appearing in Marc Jacobs’ Spring 2016 ad campaign. Actually the other folks who are featured are not models either. Jacobs is using a spectrum of people he feels “represent a celebration of my America.” Learn more on the Vogue website.

The non-binary people are making a push for recognition as a third gender. One N.B. student in Canada could not fill out the Canadian census form since there were only two choices for gender and they don’t identify with either one. They wrote to the the official in charge of the census asking for a third choice but it seems the forms have already been printed and that’s a no go. Learn more in the Independent.

The TSA has promised that they will be more sensitive to differences they may see on the scanner when they process trans passengers. They were prodded to move in this direction after the ordeal of a trans woman at an airport in Florida became known. She missed her flight and was treated badly by the TSA agents. Have they really improved? A trans man writes about his bad experience with the TSA on the Transadvocate website. Thanks to Jan Brown for the story.

6 Pack

Doing a casting search for musicians to form a band is not a new idea. There was Menudo, the Puerto Rican boy band from the ‘70s and since then other groups have been formed by producers. The latest addition to the genre is an all hijira group called the 6 Pack Band. The members were chosen by a film company out of hundreds of applicants and their first release is a cover of the Pharrell song Happy. Learn more on the Mashable website.

Oh possums, the man behind Dame Edna, Barry Humphries, has pissed off the trans community with remarks on his BBC radio show. Barry agreed with Germaine Greer that trans women are not women but “mutilated” men. Humphries, like Greer, is old school and maybe that accounts for it. His remarks drew fire from trans actress Rebecca Root. Read about it in the Telegraph.

Emmie Reek

A Brazilian drag performer has become the first drag performer on The Voice of Ireland. Her name is Emmie Reek and she traveled to Ireland to learn English. Why not England? Who’s to say? In any event she performed Adele’s One and Only as her first song and if she is chosen to proceed with the competition she has a dilemma to solve. Find out what it is and learn more about Ms. Reek in the Independent.

Sophie Cook works for the Bournemouth Cherries of the Premiere League in British football (the sport called “soccer” in North America). She recently returned to work after her gender reassignment surgery, and got a round of applause from the players. Her story is in Sports Mole.

While the lot of trans women in Cuba has been improving in recent years it’s still not a day at the beach. Much better than it was in the 1960s and ‘70s, Cuba still has improvements to make in the way people there treat trans people. To learn about the contrast of old Cuba and new Cuba’s treatment of trans people check out the article recommended by Jan Brown on the WJCT website.

Rose in the ring.

One of Thailand’s top kick boxers is a trans woman called Rose. She fights in the male category and has won 70 out of 100 fights. Each fight makes her around $1500 which she is saving up for her gender reassignment and feminizing surgeries. While she is a fierce competitor in the ring she does have one weakness. Find out what it is in the story about her on the Australian Broadcasting Company’s website.

Juno Dawson, the author of This Book Is Gay, will write a monthly column for Glamour magazine, documenting her MtF transition. You can read her first column in Glamour Magazine.

In India an admissions panel at Jawaharlal Nehru University is discussing the possibility of giving a slight preference in admission to transgender applicants. The Times of India has the story.

The 8-year-old with makeup artist.

Sometimes you need a reminder of just how much the world has evolved on males indulging in feminine things. Of course it has evolved in pockets of tolerance here and there, and there are still places where wearing a dress can get you beat up — but it has changed. In the old days a boy who was attracted to wearing makeup and women’s clothes had to hide and sneak around behind his mother’s back. Now his mom may take him to the MAC counter. Here’s the story of an 8-year-old who got his first makeup lesson that way. You can find it on the NewNowNext website.

If you’re one of the folks who was awaiting Caitlyn Jenner’s appearance in your town we have bad news. Her speaking tour which was to begin on February 22 has been cancelled. Learn more from ET Online.

Danni Askini

You may have been fan of DC Comics Justice League. Did you know there’s a real Justice League? It’s the Gender Justice League in Washington state. The League, and their Executive Director Danni Askini, are supporting a state regulation that guarantees access to restrooms and locker room facilities that are in line with people’s gender identities. Learn more in the Seattle Times.

The Transgender Community Coalition of Palm Springs has commissioned a new sculpture to commemorate Transgender Day Of Remembrance. It is being designed by Heath Satow. So far, a permanent location for it has not been assigned. You can read more in the Desert Sun.

In the U.K. a proposal to streamline the process for changing legal gender has support from members of all the major parties. The new process, modeled on the new law in Ireland, allows citizens to declare their new gender. There will be no need for a psychological diagnosis, nor a need for medication or surgery. The story is in the Daily Mail.

Rudrani Chettri

Also in India, Rudrani Chettri has started a crowdfunding campaign whose goal is 5,000,000 rupees. The funds would be used to start India’s first transgender modeling agency. The motto says it will be “run by transgender people for transgender people.” There is more on india.com.

The United States Marine Corps will soon have co-ed boot camps, co-ed officer training schools, and gender-neutral titles. The Advocate has a story on these changes.

Nicola Jane Chase is a trans woman. Before transitioning, she was a morning disk jockey in Hong Kong. She has recently written a book, Tea And Transition, and talked about it with South China Morning Post.

de Alba as Boy-Chic and Salome at Finnochio’s.

The legendary David de Alba, who worked for many years at the world famous Finocchio Club in San Francisco, will bring a special tribute to some of the performers he worked with and who graced that stage via video flashbacks, backstage stories, still photos, and of course, Mr. de Alba’s own International singing act  ‘Boy-Chic.’ He will perform David de Alba as Boy-Chic, Frozen in Time — An Evening at Finocchio’s on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 p.m. in Las Vegas at Model Factory LV. Get more info on David’s website.

TWITs

We wonder how standing up for the rights of all children to have access to the restroom facilities they wish to use can be turned into an attack on non-trans kids. But that’s what TWIT Award winner Ted Cruz continues to do as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. In a recent appearance he railed against the Department of Education’s decision to support equal access for trans students and made disparaging remarks about trans kids. Of course this plays well with his evangelical supporters who view transgenderism as sin. Read more about Cruz’s comments on the Human Rights Campaign’s website.

Davina Ayrton, a transwoman in Britain, has been convicted of the rape of a then-15-year-old girl in 2004. The incident occurred before Ms. Ayrton transitioned. Assuming that the jury reached the right verdict, a TWIT to Ms. Ayrton for that, and even if not, a TWIT for possessing child pornography, which she has admitted. Another TWIT to the judge, who sent her to a prison for males. (In the judge’s defense, he may have had no choice under the laws of Britain, in which case, the TWIT goes to the Ministry of Justice, who thankfully is looking into what to do with transgender prisoners.) The BBC has a story on the trial and verdict, while The Guardian has the story on the sentencing.

The Polk County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office issues a list of prostitutes whom they have arrested, and a list of those arrested for soliciting prostitutes. The list of prostitutes recently outed a trans woman, identifying her by her male name and calling her a “transvestite.” A TWIT Award goes to the Sheriff’s Office. The National Center for Transgender Equality has more.

Some lawmakers in Washington State are upset because the Human Rights Commission bypassed the legislature to implement a ruling that allows trans people to use their preferred restroom. Legislators, who thought they were winning by stalling a bill, are now in the process of drafting legislation to counter this situation. Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute, calls the rule, “this first-of-its-kind, statewide law,” despite the fact that other states have had such laws, and have not had the troubles he insists will follow from such laws. For that ignorance of facts, he gets a TWIT Award. The story is in the Washington Times.

A TWIT Award goes to The Family Policy Council of West Virginia which has been pushing the usual set of lies about anti-discrimination proposals. Allen Whitt, the president of group, says, “It’s a public safety issue. This isn’t a civil rights issue.” I guess that’s a positive step, as he isn’t saying that his civil right to discriminate against trans people is being eroded. Still, it’s worth a TWIT. Laws like this have been implemented elsewhere, and the public safety threat to cisgender people has been nil, while there have been threats to the safety of trans people. You can read about this in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Tags: 6 Pack Band, Andreja Pejic, Dame Edna, Emmie Reek, featured, Jaden Smith, Juno Dawson, Lana Wachowski, news, Transgender, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News