The Week In Transgenderism 3/12/12
Evie on the left.
Back when Barack Obama was a little kid living with his mom in Indonesia the family hired a “manny” to look after “Barry” and do other work around the house. The “manny” was actually a nanny — an MtF transgender woman named Evie. Young Obama never saw her dressed in women’s clothing but she often left the house en femme after he had gone to bed. When Obama’s family left Indonesia Evie’s life took a downward turn. Now she is living in squalor and fear in a slum. Read her story at the Associated Press website.
Do you like a good mystery? Is your idea of a good time settling in with a cup of tea and a good cozy mystery book? Well here’s a mystery for you. Who do the bones found in the chimney in 1989 belong to? She was wearing a paisley dress, blouse, sweater and shoes but no underwear. And her bones say that she was a male. Now there’s a new clue in this cold case. Learn what it is in the Wisconsin State Journal.
There’s been some thunder down under and it’s come from our favorite queen RuPaul. It seems the fabulous Miss Charles was booked to appear at the Sydney, Australia gay and lesbian mardi gras and got all diva on them at the last minute. The Aussies haven’t been this upset since Rihanna did her diva stunt in 2011. We hope that it was just jet lag making RuPaul a bit cranky. Read about the drama at couriermail.com.au.
The actor best known for his portrayals of tough guys, demons and beasts is set to appear in an upcoming film as a transgendered woman. It took hours of makeup to transform Ron Perlman into Hellboy. It looks like the makeup department didn’t spend much time transforming him into a TG. The film is billed as a comedy. Be prepared to picket theaters. Like Perlman’s character, this could get ugly. Learn more at The Hollywood Reporter website.
A trans actor in Canada is starring in a short film called House for Sale. The actor, Atif Siddiqi, considers himself (he’s cool being called he) a member of the TG community but he’s not sure where he falls on the spectrum. He admits to being an effeminate crossdresser though and that works for his acting career. Learn more about him at xtra.ca.
From Canadian films we turn to India. You’ve probably heard of the Indian film industry referred to as Bollywood. But have you heard of Mollywood? Not Dollywood — Mollywood. It’s the South Indian film industry. It’s a big country, ya know. A lot of room for making movies over there. A transsexual activist, writer and filmmaker is set to portray the first transsexual heroine in a Mollywood film. Making her the first TS heroine is all of Indian cinema. The story is in The Times of India.
You know all of those advances in protections for transgender (and GLB people) that localities are passing? We’ve gotten some good protections from discrimination in many areas so we at least are covered when we’re out and about in those towns. Now we find that social conservatives (read Republicans) in several states are working to make it illegal for local communities to protect LGBT rights. It’s a cagy strategy and you should know what they’re up to so you can contact your representatives and let them know they can’t get away with it. The story is in The American Independent.
In Virginia a gay high school student was suspended for wearing high heels (beige platform spikes) to school. (In the three days off the the principal handed him he’ll be able to shop for more sexy shoes.) The principal claimed that Asante Cotman was disrupting classes by wearing heels. Seems like the only disruption was the principal showing up at every one of Asante’s classes to pull him out. Read it and watch the video on towleroad.com.
The state of Virginia seems to be loaded with school boards that want to crack the whip and make people conform. Another school district there was poised to ban crossdressing by its students. The ban was supposed to protect the crossdressing kids from bullying. After attacks by civil liberties and GLBT groups the school district has changed the language of the proposed ban. Is it a win for teen crossdressers? Not so much. Read what the Suffolk school board is up to at Rueters.com.
Taylor
Our Meet The Former Solider Who Wants to be a Priest and Is TG article is about Sam Taylor. Taylor is a South Carolinian who served as a chaplain’s assistant in the Irag war and is now living as a female and intending to become an Episcopal priest. Meet her and read her interesting story in The Chapel Hill News.
While surfing the Web for TWIT bits we came across a site that is devoted to obituaries. The obit that caught our eye was the one for Harris Glenn Milstead. Mister Milstead passed away in 1988 and John Waters lost his favorite actress — Divine. The text of her obit is a little short but there are videos to watch and you’ll find it on legacy.com.
A queen in Regina
Back in February we told you about how hot the drag scene is in chilly Saskatoon, Canada. We mentioned that it was no wonder that there was drag out that way since the province’s capital is Regina — also the word used to denote the official title of queen. (As in Elizabeth Regina.) Now we have found an article that let’s us know about that drag friendly capital city and introduces us to a queen named Yada Ya-Oughta-Book-Ahead. The story is in the Leader Post.
Andrej Pejik may be moving from modeling into the movies. An article about the famed androgynous model who is equally at home in a menswear show or a womenswear show has been talked about as the star of a forthcoming French film. Get the details in The Hollywood Reporter.
Pandrogynous?
Truth is stranger than fiction. Once upon a time a male musician and artist who once fronted a band called Throbbing Gristle met a female musician and artist who used to be a nurse. They were in a band together and then they started a performance art project aimed at creating a new gender. They had cosmetic surgery to look like the same. Their project was filmed for seven years and now a documentary about their project has opened in New York. Read about The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye in The Wall Street Journal.
TWITs
Robbed WWE
Our first TWIT this week is a drag performer and go-go dancer from Atlanta who had a side gig as a pimp and human trafficker. Pasha Nicole helped her roommate hold a 16 year old victim against her will and forced her into daily sex acts. TWIT Award! Read about the awful things drugs can make you do at WSBTV.com.
How often do you see “World Wrestling Entertainment” and “transgender” in the same headline? Not that often, so it caught our eye as we surfed the Web and it lead us to TWIT number 2 for this week. Kelly Monique somehow got hold of the bank account information belonging to the WWE (you’ve heard about that identity theft stuff, right?) and cleaned out more than $50,000 over two months last year. Miss Monique is a TWIT for taking money that doesn’t belong to her — and for thinking she could get away with it. The reporting website gets a TWIT cause they go out of their way to call her a man through the whole report. The offenders can be found at newtimes.com.
Category: Transgender Community News
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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It seems to me that having Trans news available is a valuable service. If I were thinking of improvements, I would encourage viewpoints about Trans news and an invitation from the news providers and reporters to readers to blog comments, reactions and their own thinking. The beauty of the internet is getting the audience involved. The more minds at work on a subject the more growth available to our spirits.