The Week In Transgenderism 4/30/12

Cruz

A Brooklyn TG who has been out about her transgenderism since grade school, and is now 69-years old, has been honored by the Justice Department as one of the nation’s top crime fighters. Vicki Cruz works as a domestic violence counselor for NYC’s Anti-violence Project. She received a National Crime Victim’s Service Award two weeks ago. Read her story in The New York Daily News.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the government agency that interprets federal employment discrimination laws. The Commission has just ruled that Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of gender. Yay! Thanks EEOC. Get the full story from Rueters.

Chall

If you’re driving along and see a 314 pound man walking along the highway heading toward Washington, D.C. pulling a trailer loaded with camping gear you’ve just spotted Mikal Chall. The Michigan transman left San Francisco on April 23rd to walk across the country. He is doing it to raise awareness of the inequalities that TGs people are subject to in America. Check out his story in The Bay Area Reporter.

Yonlada Suanyot is a transsexual in Thailand and she’s running for a provincial political post. Suanyot is famous in Thailand as the singer Posh Venus in a pop group called Venus Flytrap. Since quitting the band she has been active in politics and runs her own jewelry business and a satellite television station. That should help her with campaigning. Get the story from Global Post.

The transgender woman accused of murder after an incident outside a Minneapolis bar last June is going to trial soon. Read 23-year old CeCe McDonald‘s story, and view a video report at democracynow.org.

The transgender widow, Nikki Paige Araguz, has filed a civil suit against the city of Wharton, Texas hoping to get her husband’s worker’s compensation benefits. It’s going to be an uphill fight because Texas still insists that if you’re born a man you can’t change it with surgery and hormones — so in their eyes the marriage was a same sex marriage not recognized as legal in that state. The story is in the firefighter’s news, Firehouse. (Comments on the story are decidedly Texan.)

A Canadian transman is fighting a bill for $3400 (Canadian dollars we assume) for a hysterectomy that he says was medically necessary. He had multiple polyps and abdominal pain so his doctor said that removal of the uterus was the only option since he couldn’t take estrogen while taking testosterone. When he got out of surgery he found that his procedure would cost him since it was considered part of gender reassignment. Get all the details from the CBC website.

Miss Singapore 2011 (cisgendered)

The inclusion of transgendered women in the Miss Universe pageant starting in 2013 has caused ripples around the world. We’ve mentioned that Singapore is a very conservative country that is only now starting to allow transgender cabaret performances. How are they taking to the notion that TGs can compete in the Miss Universe Singapore contest? Read all about it in The Asian Correspondent.

San Francisco has a reputation as a gay mecca and if a TG isn’t safe there they’re not safe anywhere. A recent trend in violence toward transgender women is undermining the city by the bay’s LGBT friendly cred. A third of all hate crimes in Frisco have been perpetrated against transgender women. This trend is especially pronounced in the city’s Mission District. Get the story and view a video report at KGO-TV’s website.

Cruise MC Darcel Stevens

Arrr maties, if yer sailin’ the high seas in September and the sound of disco music and the laughter of drag queens drifts across the water to yer ship you’ve chanced upon the course of the Disco Queens on the High Seas cruise. Shiver me timbers but those ladies are more tempting than mermaids. Get the details on the cruise, which will include the 1st Miss High Seas 2012 Drag Pageant, in USA Today.

Voter I.D. laws are going to cause problems for many people but TGs who are transitioning are going to have a tough time for sure. Read one FtM’s story in The Daily Wildcat.

Here’s another country to add to the list of places you don’t want to be transgendered. Russia. A transwoman and her partner sought asylum in Sweden and that country is kicking her out. Smooth move Sweden. She has only a few days to lodge an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights who could over rule Sweden’s Immigration Court. Get the facts at Pink News.com.

Jiz Lee

Do porn stars have a place on campus? Other than in the privacy of the student’s dorm rooms? At Williams College in Massachusetts the students and faculty are wondering if a lecture by a TG porn star has academic merit. Most of the students don’t seem too upset but some alumni are concerned. Learn more about Jiz Lee’s college lecture in The Daily Mail.

Eggold

Celebrity drag alert! Ryan Eggold from 90210 is starring in a film about a TG drag cabaret star. Right now Queen is playing in festivals around the world but keep your eye on its Facebook page (link in the story) for info on when it’s released. We’ve always said it takes a handsome man to make a pretty queen and Ryan’s drag photos support that belief. Check them out at Just Jared.

The CBS television show The Mentalist returned to the air last week with a drag extravaganza. Well, the plot featured drag queen performers and a transgender plot device. Read a show recap at BuddyTV.com. Watch a clip of the episode’s denoument at CBS TV.

TWITs

Our first TWIT Award goes to Chase Mason Kelley, an 18-year old from Memphis who beat a transgender woman until she was unconscious. Then this moron’s brother tried to run her over with his Jeep but fortunately for her he missed. Kelley shares the TWIT award with WREG TV since their report called the victim a transman when it is clear that she was MtF. The confused report is at the WREG-TV website.

TWIT Award Number Two goes to Don Imus. Not known as a bastion of sensitivity Donnie has had problems in his life related to the stupid things he has said on his radio show. Now he’s come clean about something he did when he was 18 that is worse than just talking trash about people on the radio. A horny young Imus picked up a TG woman without knowing it and when he found out what he was making out with he punched her out. Whether or not we attribute his reaction to the stupidity of youth, or not, we still have to give him his TWIT. Check out his confession in On Top Magazine.

Never kick a ladyboy’s plate while she’s eating on the floor. Or, don’t sit on the floor eating when you might expect your drunken ladyboy roommate to come home. No matter who stabbed who it seems like both these “ladies” should chill a bit. Over react much? Our TWIT goes to both ladyboys and a minor TWIT is awarded to the newspaper that mixes pronouns and honorifics as if they were readily interchangeable. Get the report and graphic photos in the Pattaya Daily News.

Tags: featured, news, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News