The Week In Transgenderism 4/9/12

Ousted from pagaent.

Jenna Talackova, the woman who was tossed from the the Canadian Miss Universe pageant because she was born male, has gotten some good news. Or not. A confusing statement from the pageant owners lead us to believe that she will be allowed to compete but exactly how that will happen is not clear. Get clarification, or more confusion by reading the story in The New York Times.

If you live in Anchorage, Alaska — sorry! Propostion 5 was on the ballot there last week and if you are TG in that city you can still be discriminated against since it didn’t pass. The bad news is in The Kansas City Star.

In The Life, the first — and only remaining LGBT newsmagazine on public television — is focusing on transgender issues this month. If you’ve already missed the premier of the series, titled Becoming Me, you can view it online. The information and link are at sfgate.com.

Our Meet The Transgender Clergy Person story today is about Reverend Carolyn Woodall. Rev. Woodall is a deacon in the Episcopalian church in the Sacremento, California area. Read about her and view a video on the CBS Sacramento website.

Music is good, right? Dancing is also good, right? Raising money to benefit a women’s health center by throwing a dance party should be really good. Right? Oh, someone can always find something to complain about. Subject to Change is an organization in Chicago that produced a dance party fundraiser for the Chicago Women’s Health Center. But problems arose. Get the details on the protests from MtF women in the Chicago Phoenix.

Bet you’d like to know where drag queens get the fabulous costumes they wear onstage. While many of the girls make their own costumes (kudos to those with sewing skills!) there is a spot in the marketplace for businesses that design and produce dresses that can make a 6’ 4” man look like a petite ‘50s starlette. One such business is Planet Pepper in New York City. They make many of the gowns worn for Night of 1000 Gowns. It’s located (where else?) in New York’s Garment District and they’ve been designing and hand-making fabulous dresses for their drag clientele since 2009. Find out how they do it at businessinsider.com.

Singapore has a reputation for being uptight. They have been so worried about entertainment that may be a bit racy or too upsetting that they haven’t allowed gender bending shows to enter the country for fear of what might happen to the populace exposed to such goings on. But now the Ministry of Culture has finally decided that Singapore is ready for Tiffany’s Cabaret Show, the first transgender show in Asia. Read about the Cabaret Show and Singapore’s change of heart at asiaone.com.

What do you do when you’ve just gotten married? (Well, after the honeymoon stuff.) You put your new wife on your health plan. Seems simple enough, and if your transgendered wife has all of her paperwork done — legal gender change and name change — then you would think you were all set for a wonderful life. That’s what Calvin Radtke thought when he added his wife Christine to his union health plan. The health fund that managed his insurance coverage decided that the couple were gay married, and since that’s illegal in their state they weren’t going to cover her. In fact they filed a fraud claim against the Radtkes for $80,000. Fortunately it worked out in the Radtkes favor. Get the good news in The American Indpendent.

Mala Mala

Ever wondered what the transgender scene in Puerto Rico is like? Well, you’re in luck. A couple of filmmakers have been workng on  a documentary about transgender people on the island and the film is almost ready. But they could use a little help to get it finished. See a clip and photos from Mala Mala at kickstarter.com.

You probably, if you’re like me, have the idea that transgendered people, along with gay people and bisexuals, are pretty accepted in Scandinavian countries and places like Iceland. They just seem to be a tolerant people, right? Well, you’d be wrong according to an FtM who was assaulted by three men after he used the men’s restroom at a Reykjavik nightclub. He was lucky to escape with minor injuries and hail a cab. When he explained to the cab driver about his beat up and bloody condition the cabbie said that “it is insane to be a ‘trannie’.” Thanks for the empathy. Not! Learn more about intolerance in Iceland in the Icelandic Review.

Kitty De Luxe

Melbourne Australia’s drag community has been reduced, again, with the loss of one of their top queens. Kitty De Luxe passed away two Fridays ago after a seizure and heart attack. She was only 30. Read her death notice in the Star Observer.

If you’re into underground lesbian and transgender art and poetry then you are probably sad that you missed seeing Brontez Purnell, Erin Markey, Cassie J. Sneider, Kit Yan and others at Sister Spit in Long Beach, Californaia last Friday. You can tell they’re underground, have you ever heard of them? The event contained performances with university scholars, artists, activists, poets and more. Learn more about Sister Spit in the Press Telegram.

Spade

In the mainstream entertainment world everyone is excited about the unprecidented cross category sweep that took place at the 2011 Razzie Awards. The winner, in all 10 categories, was the Adam Sandler flick Jack & Jill. While some have called it a crossdressing comedy we’re not sure if that applies. For one thing it’s not very funny so calling it a comedy is not accurate, and while Sandler (and supporting player David Spade) dress in women’s clothing for their roles they are playing women not crossdressers. It’s possible that since they are crossdressing to play women that may give it the right to be called a crossdressing movie, we guess. Check out all the categories the picture won in at the Razzie Awards website.

San Diego residents, or those who fly in, can attend a play called Deconstruction of a Drag Queen that opened last week at the 10th Avenue Theater. The story is based on the life of a choreographer drag queen named Anthony Diaz and was written by a woman named Katherine Harroff. Read all about it at voiceofsandiego.com.

TWITS

Mensa

Our first TWIT today is Carla Mensa from Chula Vista, California. Mensa is that society for high IQ people. Although her name is Mensa there is no relationship between Carla and the Mensa society. With three prison terms already in her past Ms. Mensa decided to steal a truck. She then lead police on a high speed chase. Sorry Carla — that’s major TWIT-worthy. The story is at 10news.com.

The Toxic Tush TG “Doctor” is back in the news. More of her victims have come forward and more charges have been brought that she represented herself as a doctor and injected things like Fix-A-Flat, mineral oil, cement and super glue into her “client’s” rear ends. She has stated that she’s “innocent or whatever” of all charges and is waiting for her court appearance. To her and to her “victims” — whose unrealistic views of what a female body should look like and how they thought they could get it cheaply and quickly — we award another gigantic, hideously disproportionate TWIT Award. The story is found in the Mail Online

Our What A Country TWIT Award goes to Malaysia. If you think the United States is a harsh place for transgendered people to live take a look at the latest edict from Malaysia’s Department of Information. Television and radio stations have been told to stop broadcasting any programs with transsexual or effeminate characters. Another colossal example of people fearing what they don’t understand. When GLBT people are portrayed as a threat to cultural and religious norms instead of a natural part of the makeup of humanity mistakes like this are made and TGs suffer. Can they hold back the tide of GLBT people who are tired of being oppressed and marginalized with rules like this? Let’s hope not. Read the stupidity as freemalaysiatoday.com.

Tags: featured, news, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News