This Week In Transgenderism 6/1/09

Miss Ronnie Rho had the weekend off so this edition of This Week in Transgenderism was compiled by stand-in News Maven Angela. Indonesian TGs are trying to raise awareness about TG issues. Karen Diane Thomas is transitioning on the job and it’s not easy being a TG in the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. TransLondon has decided to boycott the Pride Parade, a crossdresser in Wales was killed by a skirt. Say what? We’ve got a couple of meet-the-TS stories, info on Isis on The Tyra Banks Show this week and a whole lot more is all in this edition of TWIT.

Kamel at IDAH.

Indonesia’s transgender community faces discrimination, as TGs in most of the world do,  but they came out last week on International Day Against Homophobia to raise public awareness about the issue with a series of different events. The Jakarta Post has all the details.

Karen Thomas

Karen Diane Thomas is a construction worker, a member of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Philadelphia, Pa. and she’s transitioning on the job. How’s it going? Note the word “brotherhood” in her union’s name. It hasn’t been easy. Read her story in The Philadelphia Gay News.

Shelby County, Tennessee’s Commissioners are considering passing an ordinance that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of his or her sexual orientation, identity or expression. Of course certain members of the Neanderthal community have grunted their opposition to the ordnance claiming it is part of the “gay agenda” and will destroy life as we know it. A Tennessee TS is speaking up for the ordnance. Get the story from Eyewitnessnews.com

TransLondon, the largest group in the capital for all trans-identified people, has announced it is boycotting London Pride. Why are their knickers in a twist? Well, Pride wanted them to march at the back of the parade and wear high heels and fairy wings. The nerve. Get all the gory details from Pink News.

Miss Tiffany TG contest.

Things are tough for TGs in Jakarta but Thailand’s not the paradise some would think. Just because you’ve heard about the Ladyboys don’t think they have it made. Voice of America News has an article on the “third sex” seeking acceptance and legal support. Read about it on VOANews.com.

It’s scary out there! Ask the two TG ladies who were out for a stroll in Cincinnatti last Thursday. They were held up and one was shot was by the robber. WCOP-TV has the details on their website. The report talks about how the police and rescue people came to the assistance of the victims but they called them “male crossdressers” and “men dressed as women.” That’s a little bit TWITy, but read the story at wcpo.com and make your own decision.

CROSSDRESSER KILLED BY SKIRT. That’s the headline and we can’t do any better than that when it comes to grabbing your attention. Usually it’s a gun or blunt instrument. This time she was killed by a tight instrument. The Daily Star has the story.

Carmen

Carmen, a former stripper and drag queen who was also a candidate for mayor is back in her old New Zealand “vamping ground” according to stuff.co.nz. She was back to participate in a gender conference. What makes that news? She’s 74! And she’ll be doing her drag act at the conference. Get the story from stuff.co.nz.

In the May 18 edition of TGF we brought you a story in TWIT about a Turkish politician who was working to provide legal protections for TGs. Let’s hope he does something to protect them from the Turkish police.  A TS named Esmeray has filed charges against two policemen who kicked and beat her and she has appeared in court twice to to tell her story. Read about it at bianet.org.

The play’s the thing! A Canadian playwright  has chosen a mysterious matador from the early 1900s as the inspiration for his new play, Matador. She started her career as a woman but then a royal decree banned women from the ring. She promptly announced that she was a man and continued to fight. The question here is, was the matador a man, a woman, or a transvestite?  Read the rest of the story in The Calgary Sun.

Campus drag.

College has certainly changed since I was in school. There have always been a few schools in The Ivy League that supported drag performance troupes but these days drag on campus — male to female and female to male — is a fact of life. Schools even offer courses like Drag 101. I wonder if I can get life experience credit toward a degree in the drag arts? Read about the drag on campus scene at The University of Washington in The Daily.

Dominique Storni

Dominique Storni, a transsexual from Utah, is the subject of our first meet-the-transsexual story this week. And yes, she was raised Mormon. After fasting and praying for 35 years Dominique decided it was time to be who she really was. Read her story on the In Utah This Week website.

Meet the TS Two: Back in April our music columnist Pamela DeGroff told you about a classical organist in Philadelphia who happened to be a MtF. Back in April her story appeared in the Philadelphia Gay News. Now the straight weekly in Philly has picked up the story. Read all about Desiree Hines in The City Paper.

Desiree Hines

Hurricanes are no fun and they can cause a lot of extra problems for TGs. The National Center For Transgender Equality has put together a Hurricane Preparedness Kit for transgender people and if you are a TG who lives in a hurricane prone area you may want to take a look at the kit. Visit their website.

Perhaps the police in Honduras went to the same training school as the police in Turkey. For some reason they seem to have the same attitude about transgendered people. Not only do they like to turn a blind eye when a trans person is killed, oftentimes they’re the ones doing the killing. The Advocate has the story.

Who’d think that you could get gender reassignment surgery in Cuba, of all places? But then somebody in power decided they wouldn’t do them anymore. Now, the latest word is that Cuba will begin doing the procedure again and they already have people waiting in line. Could Havana be the next SRS destination? Take a look at the story on 365gay.com.

Isis

Meanwhile, no one will be getting gender reassignment in Australia. The only clinic in that country has been closed. After several investigations and legal actions by former patients the doors were shut. Allegations are that the clinic was performing surgery on people with “significant psychiatric conditions, such as borderline personality disorder and psychotic depression…” Read the article on theage.com.au.

Karen Dior

Isis, and other TGs, will appear on the Tyra Banks Show this week. Isis is confronted by another Top Model who calls her “a mistake.” Watch a video preview here.

Mike Szymanski from  Examiner.com did a post on that site back in April featuring what he terms “bisexual trans characters.” While we disagree on his assessment of their sexuality we do agree with their trans-ness. Mike has videos of Karen Dior, a television spot from South America that is very interesting and there’s a slideshow featuring Dior, Frankenfurter, and others. We missed it in April so we add it as a bit of retro TWIT this week. Click here.

Category: Transgender Community News