This Week In Transgenderism 5/11/09

Meghan Chavalier

Remembering Virginia Prince. Trying to forget about Allen Andrade. Trans-folk find competition at job fairs. A porn star/activist talks with a man who helped make trans-porn readily available. One FtM wins the right to surgery, while another changes her mind and goes after the therapist. A familiar trans-band hits the stage in Minneapolis. Are they or aren’t they? A Harry Potter actor is spending a lot of time with a drag queen. A sex club fights to stay open in the Bay Area. And puberty was never podcasted like this before.

And unfortunately, another TWIT of the Week. All this and much more in this edition of TWIT Notes!

Our top story actually happened last week: the passing of Virginia Prince. Love her or hate her, the controversy surrounding her life and her ideas is covered in the Advocate in case you missed TGForum‘s coverage last week.

An Australian FtM teen has won a court order allowing him to get a double mastectomy. News Medical has more.

Meanwhile, another Australian has decided the FtM diagnosis was wrong, and is fighting to get the shrink who made the recommendation censured. The Australian has that story.

Your papers please! Pride Source reports on an important change of law in Austria. Getting the M on official documents changed to an F no longer relies on SRS.

Jobhunters

How bad is the economy? Straight guys are attending job fairs for TG’s. No, they’re not dressing up, but they should at least make the effort. SFWeekly has reaction.

Get those resumes ready: Proctor and Gamble has, to very little fanfare, gender identity and expression to their non-discrimination policies. The Washington Blade has the story.

And CNN Money has an article on dealing with transition in the workplace— from the employers and coworkers points of view.

Allen Andrade is a really, really bad man. Not only is he serving a life sentence for killing Angie Zapata, but he just got another 60 years beyond that for being a habitual criminal. (We’d hate to be his cellmate for those extra 60 years.) Read the Greeley Tribune for more.

An FtM makes the case against blue being reserved for boys and pink for girls. His piece is at Student Direct.

A popular FtM professor at the University of Missouri has been fired. Find out why in the pages of the Maneater.

And say hello to another FtM: Owen Daniel-McCarter is the founder of the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois. His story is at the University of Vermont’s site.

George Sand was a well-known crossdressing female writer. Slightly lesser well-known was Rachilde, a French woman who also dressed as a man. But Rachilde is getting her day in the sun, thanks to a graduate student’s research. It’s covered in the San Marcos Mercury.

This week’s meet-the-transsexual/religion-and-the-Tgirl/obit comes to us via newstipper Linda Jensen and the Spec.

The famed band All the Pretty Horses are taking the stage every Thursday at a club in the Twin Cities. And Venus DeMars tells the tale of the band to the City Pages.

Some schools in Australia have already banned discrimination against and bullying of gender varient students and staff. But the Star Observer says the rules were vague, until now.

In the United States, there’s been a long battle to show TG’s in the cinema as something other than the victim or the villian. But, in Nepal, that fight is just about to start. Read why at Thaindian News.

The war against HIV/AIDS is ramping up in India, with a new batallion of counselors and advisors. And Express Buzz says they’re TG.

A Milwuakee-area TS is raising money to make a movie to raise money to pay for her SRS. The Decider reports the movie is about raising money to pay for her SRS.

The Edmonton Journal says as lawmakers debate whether or not to restore public funds for SRS, Canadian TG’s are outside, trying to get their attention.

Ever want a behind-the-scenes look into the transgender porn industry? Meghan Chevalier interviews the head of Shemale Yum at Stopping the Hate.

On the topic of sex, you may be aware of the San Francisco sex club Power Exchange. The trans-friendly club is fighting to stay open. More at Mission Local.

More and more shows are going directly to the Web. Programs like Zack16, that would have a tough time getting a slot in the middle of Must See TV, are finding fans online. Read more about Zack16 at Tilzy.

Our Lady J

No reference to a romantic relationship, but Harry Potter‘s been hanging out with TG performer Our Lady J. The New York Press dishes the dirt.

GayNZ reports a new social networking site aimed at the drag crowd is coming under fire for being a little too kid friendly.

GayNZ also reports on the controversial idea that drag is boring, over, yesterday, finished, kaput, and a whole lot of other past-tense descriptions.

Andrea Paredes

The Advocate talks with the first openly TS pro tennis player since Renee Richards.

Cincinnati Police have identified a suspect in the 2003 murder of a crossdresser. WLWT has details.

TWIT of the Week: He had better luck in drag. Police in Perth have arrested a man after a second armed robbery. The first one they say he pulled was in drag. The second one, in drab. Perth Now has more.

Category: Transgender Community News