Tag Archives: transgender issues

“In the 1960s, war protesters moved to Canada to live openly. I did the same in 2003. On several fronts, Canada was far ahead of the United States. Gay marriage was legalized by Canada in 2005. And thanks to its universal medical care I was able have corrective surgery at a superb clinic in Montreal. In the United States, once …

The New York Times yesterday noted our movement’s growing alphabet soup of abbreviations, which some say is necessary because of the young people that just “don’t identify along the LGBT spectrum.” After telling the stories of several gender non-conforming college students, the piece concludes: If history is any guide, the age gap won’t be so easy to overcome. As liberated …

Transwoman Kylan Arianna Wenzel, 26, will compete in this weekend’s Miss California pageant. Karen Ocamb reports at Frontiers: In April, following international fallout when pageant officials disqualified 23-year-old Miss Canada Jenna Talackova after learning she was a transgender woman, Donald Trump and his Miss Universe Organization announced a significant rule change to allow trans women to compete for any of …

Back in July, Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin abruptly quit the Miss USA pageant, declaring that the parent organization was “fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy” because they had allowed a “natural born male” to compete in Canada. Both would have represented their respective nations at Miss Universe had they won. Monnin went on to claim that …

Via Gay Star News: A short film about trans women in Vietnam made by LGBT rights organization ICS has been watched over 200,000 times on YouTube. The film follows Yuki and her friends, showing the people behind the label ‘pêdê’ – the title of the film – a abusive term for trans women in Vietnam. ‘We decided to name it …

The American Psychiatric Association will change an offensive term regarding transgender people in its upcoming revision of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The term “gender identity disorder”, for children and adults who strongly believe they were born the wrong gender, is being replaced with “gender dysphoria” to remove the stigma attached to the word “disorder”. Supporters equated …

Another win in our best month ever: In one of the longest and most emotional meetings in the St. Louis County Council’s history, an ordinance was narrowly passed Tuesday night that adds gender identity and sexual orientation to the county’s anti-discrimination regulations and hate crimes law. An overflow crowd of more than 250 people spilled out of the council chambers …

Today is the annual International Transgender Day Of Remembrance. The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in …

Some great news today from central New York. The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Syracuse Common Council’s passage of legislation amending local civil rights law to protect transgender and gender non-conforming residents from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, such as restaurants, hotels and stores. In an 7 to 1 vote, the Common Council approved a …

Via press release: In the 2013 CEI, released today, a record 252 businesses achieved the top rating of 100 percent, earning the coveted distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.” As a point of comparison, 13 businesses earned a 100 percent in the inaugural CEI 11 years ago, demonstrating that a new normal has arrived. The policies, benefits …

Above is the charming image Tea Party organizers are using as part of their “poll watchers” training. Teabaggers are told to try and spot trans voters who may be trying to vote under their new names.  The National Center for Transgender Equality has a voting guide to deal with just such assholery.  (Via Zack Ford @ Think Progress)

Transgender activist and former Human Rights Campaign staffer Allyson Robinson has been named as the head of the recently merged OutServe-SLDN. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: [H]er selection represents a huge breakthrough for a community that has received a level of respect in recent years but still faces overwhelming discrimination and high rates of violence, according to recent surveys by …

From the National Center for Transgender Equality. Learn more.

Yesterday transman Luke Anderson was named the winner of this season’s edition of Britain’s Big Brother. Luke left the house to huge cheers and was presented with the £50,000 prize money by Brian Dowling, as fireworks went off above the Elstree compound. “It’s great to feel acceptance,” Luke said of his win. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. A …

A senior official from the Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed that under the Affordable Healthcare Act, federally funded agencies and providers will be barred from discriminating against transgender patients. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: In response to a letter sent by a dozen LGBT health and advocacy organizations to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in June, Leon Rodriguez …

Michael Lavers reports at the Washington Blade: The D.C. Office of Human Rights has created the country’s first government-funded campaign to combat anti-transgender discrimination, the Washington Blade has learned. Two trans women and men and a self-identified “genderqueer” person will each appear in one of the five separate ads that the agency will place throughout the city in the fall. …

JMG reader Birdie sends us the above photo and an explanation: “John (right) is acknowledged by his birth state of Illinois to be male and has changed his Illinois state ID and Social Security card to match. James’ California driver’s license has ‘female’ as his legal sex. (He does not want to change his legal sex unless they offer T …

Earlier this month I posted the audio version of this track. Here’s the production video, which Andrew Sullivan calls “one of the very few videos I’ve seen that actually celebrates the life of the transgender person.”

Some transgender advocates are seeking to have the psychological establishment change its terminology as the profession overhauls its main diagnosis manual for the first time in almost 20 years. Advocates have spent years lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to rewrite or even remove the categories typically used to diagnose transgender people, arguing that terms like Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic …