The Week In Transgenderism 8/227/12

Stav

It had to happen eventually. Our favorite androgynous’TG model, Andrej Pejic, is not the only androgynous/TG model anymore. Meet Stav Strashko. Stav is a 20-year-old Ukrainian lad who grew up in Tel Aviv. (How come we don’t have any androgynous models from here with plain old American names? Step up American androgynes!) Stav debuted in high heels, red underwear and a raincoat in a Toyota spot that is running overseas. Read about Stav and see the Toyota commercial in The Daily Beast. See if you think the commercial is a step forward for TGs.

As the gay rights movement has become successful in mainstreaming gay people right wing conservatives who used to run attack ads against gays are finding a new target. Who might that be? What minority do they see as ripe for attack? That would be us. Their ads used to portray gays as pedophiles. Now they are presenting ads that make us out to be predatory and dangerous. Read the story at livescience.com.

What would happen to you if you went to your job at a local hospital in your femne finery? Would it help if you had a note from your psychologist that said you needed to wear women’s clothing for your mental health? You would be lucky if you worked at a hospital in Taipei in Taiwan. A software engineer working at The Mackay Memorial Hospital was fired for his crossdressing. He took it to the city government and won. Read his story at AsiaOne.com.

What type is this queen?

Last week Michael Musto, the very gay columnist from New York City, devoted his blog to The Five Worst Types of Drag Queens. We’re amazed. There are only five? If you’re thinking of getting on stage in your drag finery check out Musto’s list of what to avoid if you want to be a popular queen. It’s in The Village Voice.

Actor and rapper Will Smith had a song called Parent’s Just Don’t Understand. Apparently understanding is also hard for the justice system in Virginia. They couldn’t seem to understand that a transman who got married in Virginia was not committing a crime when he put an “M” gender marker on his marriage license application. They sentenced Levi Gammons to a year in prison for felony forgery. Even though his transition to male was complete and legal in his home state of Florida. Read about this major injustice and how you can help him when he gets out of jail. The story is in The Advocate.

Voter ID laws around the country are going to keep many people who lack the proper state sanctioned photo ID from participating in the next election. Minorities, seniors and college students may be affected. Another segment of the population that may be turned away at the polls is the transgender community members whose birth certificates don’t match their current gender. But, the National Center for Transgender Equality has some help for TGs who are worried about their vote being taken away. The story is in The San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.

Kickboxing crossdresser.

The rise of crossdressing in Japan has attracted the attention of Australian television news. The report says that one publisher of how-to books on crossdressing has sold over 100,000 copies. The Aussies interview several Japanese men who love to dress up and they focus on one man who is a champion kick boxer. Watch the video at ABC News. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation.)

So far the United States seems to be one of the best places for transgendered people to live. Yes, we have our problem areas but we’re nothing like Indonesia. Those here who worry about the imposition of Islamic law would realize we are very, very far from that if they spent some time in that country. Religious extremists there have put laws in place that mandate death by caning just for being LGBT. Read about it at womensnews.org.

In India, while not perfect, things are looking up. The Election Commission of India has ordered that first time transgender voters do not need to get their voter registration form signed by their parents of go looking for a sponsor. The order was issued when it was learned that many parents were refusing to sign their transgendered offspring’s forms. Now TGs will be assigned a “guru” who is authorized to sign the form. Sounds like official status for the “house” system in which older queens are the matriarchs of “houses” that provide food and shelter to young TGs. Check out the official Indian version in The Times of India.

Baramee

Some TG students at a school on Thailand have been granted permissions to attend graduation en femme. While this is a good thing and we applaud the decision we have to question how the article about Baramee Phanich refers to her throughout as “he.” We suspect it is a cultural influence and that after she obtains gender reassignment the proper pronoun will be used. Sadly, in our opinion, Baramee is a Buddhist and plans to shave her head to be ordained as a monk in order to “show gratitude” to her grandmother and parents. We hope her time as an active monk is not long, her hair grows back and she gets her GRS. The story is in The Nation.

Baramee is lucky in that she currently has a job and will graduate from school on the path toward her goal of GRS. Many Thai transgendered people are often lured into going to Oman in the Middle East to take work as massage givers who more often than not give “happy endings” to their work. They go into the massage trade because of a loophole in the law. It says that only men can work in massage parlors that cater to male customers. While the ladies look like women they are still male in the eyes of the law. But it’s not really a day at the beach. Read about what it’s like to be a TG masseur in Bahrain at asiaone.com.

Are you a fan of the Real Housewives franchise? Do you wait with bated breath for the next episode of the several editions of this “reality” series? If you do watch this stuff then you need to know that the Real Housewives of Miami is bringing a drag queen on board. You can tell the ratings were dropping faster than the ice cubes from a spilled cocktail when they bring in a queen to spice things up. Meet the new “real housewife” Elaine Lancaster in The Sun Sentinel.

The Manilla doll.

We told you about Drag Queen Barbie in last week’s TWIT. This week we have learned that she has competition. The fierce new drag doll is modeled after Drag Race contestant Manilla Luzon. The NiniMomo company has created the Manilla doll and we know that you’ll want to run right out and buy one. Wait till you read about how much she costs first. The article is at newnownext.com.

TWITS

First TWIT Award of the week goes to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for their stand against gay and transgender county employees in their North Carolina county. Are there any gay and transgender county employees there? We may never know since they’ll have to stay in the closet since the Commissioners refused to hear an amendment to their personnel ordinance that would have protected employees from discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Read the revoltin’ development in Ashville’s Citizen-Times.

Candy and Andy

This TWIT Award presentation starts out with good news for fans of Andy Warhol and his superstars. The makeup company NARS has announced that they will be putting out a line of makeup inspired by the white wigged artist and it will be available exclusively through Sephora. With names like Debbie Harry Cheek and Eye Pallette, Walk on the Wild Side, and Beautiful Darling, named after Warhol superstar Candy Darling, we bet that Sephora will be mobbed with queens in October when the first half of the collection is released to an eager public. That’s the good news and there’s nothing TWITty about it. The TWIT Award goes to Melody Marks, a writer at examiner.com who didn’t examine her source material closely and called transsexual Candy Darling, “transvestite Cindy Darling.” At least she got the Darling part right. Get more info on the makeup collection at examiner.com.

Tags: featured, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News