The Week In Transgenderism 4/1/13

Nicole

The sexy woman in the photo to the right was born a boy! That’s the slant a British tabloid took on their “meet the transsexual” story. They made it even more sensational with the headline “Bloke who ogled me in bar called me Glenda the bender when I was a boy” and then saying she got her revenge on the “bloke.” The story is almost worthy of a TWIT Award but we are withholding that honor since it does tell how she was picked on as a child and has found her place in life. Even though some of her attitudes about gender roles and being recognized as transgendered are a little old fashioned. You can read Nicole’s story in The Sun.

The Arizona House panel that was weighing the merits of locking up transgendered people caught in the “wrong” bathroom took some steps to soften the bill before they approved it. They stopped short of making it a crime to be in the bathroom of the gender you identify with if your genitals don’t match the sign on the door but they did shield any business owners from civil or criminal liability if they bar TGs from their restroom facilities. Can’t a TG take a pee around here? Read all about the Arizona kerfuffle on the ABC website.

An FtM high school student in Maine was threatened with murder by a younger male student. The FtM had been putting up with harassment since September when things escalated in late February. The harasser, who was suspended from school, told police that he wanted to shoot the TG student because of the way he dressed and made other remarks about the TG’s sexual orientation. Could it be a case of a FtM TG being harassed for being a gay male? In any event it’s a hate crime. Read all about it in the Bangor Daily News.

How will this go over in Dubai?

We wish the best of luck to friend of TGF Willam Belli who, along with his co-conspirators Detox and Vicky Vox, is set to appear onstage at a Dubai nightclub. Of course we hope the show goes well but since crossdressing is illegal in Dubai we hope Willam knows that he’ll have to contain his drag to the stage. If he slips into the crowd for a cocktail his femme finery will have to remain backstage. The story can be found on the website 7DaysInDubai.com.

In better news from Maine we learn that the Maine Principal’s Association has issued a new policy on transgendered athletes. As of March 29 transgendered high school students in the state will be able to participate in sports on the team that matches their gender identity. Of course someone’s always got to disagree but in this case it was only one vote in opposition. Read about it at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network website.

Booties LaFerris, last year’s winner.

How would you like to be Miss Hell’s Kitchen? Sounds like a hot title to us. But, you’re too late. Eleven queens from New York will participate in the Miss Hell’s Kitchen pageant tomorrow night in NYC. The proceeds from the event will support a foundation that raises AIDS awareness. New York City on a Tuesday night? You might be able to find parking. Get the story from DNAinfo.com.

A transgendered poet from Portland, Oregon sent a formal request to The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking them to review the 1981 decision which stated that Medicare and Medicaid would not pay for gender reassignment surgery because the procedure was deemed “experimental.” The CMMS opened a 30 day public comment period that is set to end April 27. But the point seems to be moot as the story begins with the news that the White House had nixed the idea. Trying to dodge conservative criticism about spending? See what you can make of the story in Medical Daily.

Isis King

Models are not known for their ability to give forth learned discourse. Most often they are seen but not heard. We’d like to believe that transgender models would be the exception but it seems that we must’t hold our breath. Isis King of America’s Next Top Model fame, in an effort to explain the difference between “transgender” and “transsexual” just seems to muddy the water. She does make some good points though. Read the interview at the Huffington Post and decide is she should be seen but not heard.

Only in England. A hospital in Gravesham, England has a new device that will benefit transsexuals who are trying to learn how to raise or lower the pitch of their voices. It can also be used in therapy for people who have over used their voices by speaking loudly for too long a period of time. We say only in England because the $7500 machine was funded by the League of Friends of The Gravesham Community Hospital. How many groups like that in the U.S. would raise money for a machine to benefit TGs? The story is at Kent Online.

Drag on Campus Stories

There were several college campus drag shows last week. The University of Cincinnati had a Gender F**K Drag Show with student participation and local drag queens. The money raised from ticket sales went to TransOhio and the local high school’s Gay Straight Alliance. The story is in The News Record.

The Lehigh Show

Lehigh University gave their ninth annual drag show. Lehigh’s is called Illusions and is hosted by the school’s LGBTQIA student group. (Wow! They’ve got everyone covered in those initials.) The show even had a theme, Candyland. Professional drag mistress of ceremonies Ferocia Couture prowled the stage and got the audience involved. Other professional entertainers took the stage and student performers got into the action. The story is at Lehigh Valley Live.

Purdue University presented its fourth annual Royal Amateur Drag Ball. The event was the kickoff for the school’s “Gaypril” event series which features different campus LGBTQ groups all through April. The story is at  jconline.com.

Wichita State’s drag show came Friday night at the end of their Pride Week. It was the schools third annual drag show. Details are available in The Sunflower.

TWITs

Don’t go to the shops and pester the staff for fashion advice. If they look nervous just push off before the constabulary are called. One crossdresser in Perth, Scotland did not follow that plan. He also made it a habit to try fondling and pinching women while on his shopping trips. People may already think we’re loony for walking around in women’s clothes so don’t make it worse by being a pervert. We give our first TWIT Award to Gavin Scott who scared all the ladies at St. Catherine’s Retail Park for five months. The story is in The Scottish Sun.

We find ourselves awarding another TWIT Award to British tabloids and The Daily Mail in particular. On March 19 a British primary school teacher who had undergone gender reassignment surgery last year was found dead in her home. Now that the public have learned that it was suicide they are pointing the finger at the tabloids for harassing the woman to death. The papers held the view that it was bad for the children to have a male teacher show up as a female. Their non-stop coverage of Lucy Meadows earns them their TWIT. The story is in Edge Boston.

Portland, Oregon is said to be a tolerant town. But this story shows you always need to be aware of your surroundings when you are trying not to dream it but be it. A man in Portland thought going to the midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show with his housemate would be a fun night out and since the theater encouraged dressing up he wore a Frank-N-Furter style outfit. He ended up getting kicked in the head. Repeatedly. A major TWIT Award to his drunken, moronic, homophobic attacker. Kudos to the bystanders who pulled the attacker off of the faux Frank-N-Furter. The story (with video) is at KOIN.com.

Tags: featured, news, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News