i have some news to share & updates for you to know on transgender community worldwide
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i have some news to share & updates for you to know on transgender community worldwide
APRIL 14, 2018
Transgender News Anchor Challenges Barriers in Conservative Pakistan
"I thought that our transgender community was lagging behind in education and jobs, and they are not strong enough politically," she said. "So I wanted to do something for my community."
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Lahore: Marvia Malik made headlines when she debuted last month on a private television channel in Pakistan, becoming the conservative country's first transgender news anchor.
Opinions are mixed about the slim 21-year-old who appears regularly on the Kohenoor News channel in Lahore, capital of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab, but Malik says she has achieved her childhood dream.
"I thought that our transgender community was lagging behind in education and jobs, and they are not strong enough politically," she said. "So I wanted to do something for my community."
Many transgender individuals in Pakistan live in secluded communities and have no choice but to beg on the streets or sing and dance at private parties to earn a living. Some also turn to prostitution to make ends meet.
Malik says she was disowned by her family when she was 16, following years of being forced to dress and act like a boy.
She sought a different route for herself, so she trained and then found work as a makeup artist to fund her journalism degree at Punjab University.
Marvia Malik, Pakistan’s transgender news anchor, checks herself in the mirror before a news broadcast at the Kohenoor News channel in Lahore
Marvia Malik, Pakistan’s transgender news anchor, checks herself in the mirror before a news broadcast at the Kohenoor News channel in Lahore. (Image: Reuters)
Through her connections in the beauty industry, she landed a modeling job and became the talk of the town.
The story of her life, and her demeanour, impressed the selection panel at Kohenoor News, which hired her as a trainee anchor.
Kohenoor Chief Executive Junaid Mehmood Ansari says he had apprehensions about Malik going on air, but his worries were put to rest by social media praise for his efforts to promote transgender people after her first appearance, on March 23.
Recent legislation has made clear that transgender individuals in Pakistan are guaranteed all the citizens' rights enshrined in its constitution, with national identity cards providing for a category of "third gender".
Marvia Malik chats with her colleagues before a news broadcast at the Kohenoor News channel in Lahore. (Image: Reuters)
But not all Pakistanis are so accepting.
"This new transgender thing is the influence of Western culture, and this is totally wrong," said Ayaz Khan, a resident of the southern commercial hub of Karachi.
Trans Action Pakistan, a campaign group, estimates there are at least 500,000 transgender people among Pakistan's population of 208 million.
APRIL 2, 2018
Singapore Couple Challenge Annulment of Marriage After Sex Change
Faith, the husband, then underwent sex change surgery and updated her national identity card to read "female", the paper said.
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A gay man is silhoutted on a gay rainbow flag during a demonstration for gay rights in Hanoi, Vietnam (Reuters)
Singapore: A Singaporean couple have launched a legal challenge after authorities annulled their marriage because the husband underwent a sex change, a lawyer said Monday.
The city-state voided the marriage last year, saying the operation made their partnership a same-sex union that is illegal under Singapore law.
Singapore is a modern and vibrant society in many ways but attitudes towards homosexuality are still conservative and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said the country is not yet ready for same-sex marriage.
The couple, Faith and Bryce Volta, married as man and woman in 2015, the Straits Times newspaper reported.
Faith, the husband, then underwent sex change surgery and updated her national identity card to read "female", the paper said.
Six months later the government's Registrar of Marriages met the couple to discuss the sex change and later informed them the marriage would be annulled.
The couple have now asked the High Court to review the decision taken by the registrar, confirmed lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, whose law firm is representing them for free.
Authorities previously cited the country's laws which state marriage is a union between a man and a woman as the reason for annulling the union.
Singapore maintains legislation dating back to British colonial rule making sex between men a criminal act, although it does not actively enforce the law.
Nevertheless support for gay rights is growing due to more relaxed views among the younger generation and the large expatriate community.
FEBRUARY 16, 2018
Transgender Woman Successfully Breastfeeds Baby In World First
First ever case of a transgender woman successfully breastfeeding her baby.
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(Photo courtesy: AFP Relaxnews/ Wavebreak/ Istock.com)
In a breakthrough, US doctors have reported the first ever case of a transgender woman successfully breastfeeding her baby.
According to the doctors at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the 30-year-old transgender woman underwent a three and half months of a regimen of domperidone, estradiol, progesterone, and breast pumping.
As a result, she was able to achieve sufficient breast milk volume to be the sole source of nourishment for her child for six weeks.
The case, published in the journal Transgender Health, illustrates that in some circumstances, modest but functional lactation can be induced in transgender women.
"We believe that this is the first formal report in the medical literature of induced lactation in a transgender woman," said Tamar Reisman, endocrinologist and Assistant Professor at the varsity.
The woman explained that her partner was pregnant but not interested in breastfeeding and that she hoped to take on the role of being the primary food source for her infant.
She had been receiving feminising hormone therapy for the past six years as well as was being treated for insomnia and anxiety, but otherwise appeared to be a "pleasant, well-nourished, well-developed woman", Reisman said.
However, the patient had not undergone any gender reassignment surgeries, breast augmentation or vaginoplasty.
The study showed that the patient underwent a treatment with the female hormones progesterone and estradiol, stimulating her chest with a breast milk pump, and intake of domperidone -- a nausea medication known to increase milk production and suppress testosterone for three and half months.
A month later, the patient began producing "droplets" of milk, and post three months, she produced about eight ounces of milk per day, Reisman said.
After the birth of the baby, weighing 6lbs 13oz, the patient breastfed exclusively for six weeks, during which the baby's paediatrician commented that "the child's growth, feeding, and bowel habits were developmentally appropriate."
Later, the patient began supplementing breastfeedings with 4-8oz of Similac brand formula daily due to concerns about insufficient milk volume, Reisman said.
JANUARY 11, 2018
Hurray! German Playboy Is Going To Feature A Transgender Model On Its Cover
Giuliana Farfalla, 21, who has featured topless, posted a photo on her Instagram page giving her fans a look into the magazine's cover page.
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"Love, I'm on the latest Playboy cover and I'm really proud of the result. I hope you like the cover as much as I do."
Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Florian Boitin quotedly said that putting Farfalla on the cover was in line with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's tradition of being "resolutely opposed to all forms of exclusion and intolerance."
She further said Farfalla was a "beautiful example of how important the fight for the right to self-determination is".
Farfalla rose to fame after her participation in the reality TV series Germany's Next Top Model.
Last year, a French model named Ines Rau became the first openly transgender person to be named a Playboy Playmate in the 64-year history of the publication.
The issue is due on newsstands Thursday. And we couldn’t be happier about it.
March 24, 2018
Trump Moves To Ban Most Transgender Individuals From Military Service
The White House said that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had found that individuals with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria presented a risk to military effectiveness.
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday that bans most transgender individuals from serving in the US military, but gives the armed forces some latitude in implementing policies.
The memorandum said that transgender individuals with a history of "gender dysphoria," which was defined as "those who may require substantial medical treatment, including through medical drugs or surgery," are disqualified from military service "except under certain limited circumstances."
It added that the secretaries of defence and homeland security "may exercise their authority to implement any appropriate policies concerning military service by transgender individuals."
The White House said on Friday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had found that individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria presented a risk to military effectiveness.
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Pentagon said that it would continue to assess and retain transgender individuals in the US military.
"This new policy will enable the military to apply well-established mental and physical health standards ... equally to all individuals who want to join and fight for the best military force the world has ever seen," the White House said.
Trump announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military, reversing former President Barack Obama's policy of accepting them.
A number of federal judges have issued rulings blocking Trump's ban. The judges said the ban would likely violate the right under the US Constitution to equal protection under the law.
On Friday, the Pentagon reaffirmed that it would continue to comply with federal law.
"(The Pentagon) will continue to assess and retain transgender service members," Pentagon spokesman Major David Eastburn said.
© Thomson Reuters 2018
March 05, 2018
Oscars 2018: A Fantastic Woman Wins Best Foreign Film
In A Fantastic Woman Daniela Vega plays the role of a film and stage actress as well as an opera singer, Marina, a transgender woman in love with Orlando, a much older man
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HIGHLIGHTS
The film features transgender actress Daniela Vega
"I moved from being a man to a woman and I'm glad I did it," she said
Daniela plays a transgender artiste in love with a much older man
PARIS:
A Fantastic Woman, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film on Sunday, is a romantic drama that paints the touching portrait of a fighter, played by the unforgettable transgender actress Daniela Vega. Vega, a film and stage actress as well as an opera singer, plays Marina, a transgender woman in love with Orlando, a much older man who dies the night of her birthday celebration.
The movie tells the tale of her battle to win the right to mourn her dead lover, against the resistance of his ex-wife and their adult son. They call her a "chimera" -- a monster from Greek mythology, made from several species.
"I think no one in this world hasn't gone through a transition in their lives, if only from being a baby to a grown-up," Vega said last year at the Berlin film festival, where the film directed by Chile's Sebastian Lelio won best screenplay honors.
"I moved from being a man to a woman and I'm glad I did it. This is my personal choice and this is what constitutes my humanity."
Lelio, 43, is part of a new wave of Chilean filmmakers along with Pablo Larrain, a co-producer on this film and the director of Oscar-nominated Jackie (2016).
"Film should ask questions rather than deliver answers; the main goal is to shed light on something," said Lelio, who earned international acclaim for "Gloria" (2013), another film centered on a woman in crisis.
He says it would have been unthinkable to case a non-transgender actress in the role of Marina, likening it to the scorned practice of "blackface."
In the film, Orlando's family bars Marina from the funeral, kicks her out of the apartment she and Orlando intended to share, and even takes away her beloved German shepherd, Diabla.
Meanwhile the police suspect Orlando's death from an aneurysm may have involved drugs or foul play, and submit Marina to questioning and a humiliating physical exam.
With determination and grit, Marina lives her life and refuses to go away without a fight.
"She is fantastic because she finds dignity where there was none," says Vega.
Lelio says the film was written well before transgender culture started to be "ingrained in our collective imagination."
His first English-language feature - Disobedience, starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams as lovers in an Orthodox Jewish community in London -- hits US theaters in April.
January 14, 2018
Chelsea Manning Eyes US Senate Seat For Maryland
Manning was released in May from a US military prison in Kansas where she had been serving time for passing secrets to the WikiLeaks website in the biggest breach of classified data in the history of the United States.
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WASHINGTON: Chelsea Manning, the transgender US Army soldier who served seven years in military prison for leaking classified data, is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the US Senate seat from Maryland, according to Federal election filings seen on Saturday.
Manning, who was granted clemency by former US President Barack Obama, was released in May from a US military prison in Kansas where she had been serving time for passing secrets to the WikiLeaks website in the biggest breach of classified data in the history of the United States.
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin was elected in 2006 to that seat and is expected to run for re-election this year. He is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Cardin was easily re-elected in 2012, beating his Republican challenger by 30 points in the heavily-Democratic state.
COMMENTSManning had been working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for furnishing more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, an international organization that publishes information from anonymous sources.
She came out as transgendered shortly after her sentencing, but the military denied her request for hormone therapy treatment while behind bars. She was placed in solitary confinement after attempting suicide twice.
© Thomson Reuters 2018
April 4, 2018
Here's A Lesson For The Kerala Professor Who Said Transgenders Are Born to Women Who Wear Jeans
Mind doing some research, sir?
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In the recent times, we have come across several statements that Indian men have said about women. Apparently, "eating chowmein leads to rape," "rape by two men is not gangrape", "boys will be boys… they commit mistakes"-- the list is long. Latest to be added to the list of stupid and senseless statements, is from a professor from Kerala who reportedly said that women who wear jeans and act like men give birth to transgenders.
Please take a moment to let the weirdest statement of our times sink in.
During a counseling session held in Kasargod, this apparent "educated" professor Rajith Kumar, who has been conducting "health awareness" classes for several years now, said:
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Well, the man did not stop giving "gyaan" on the "un"scientific reason for the birth of trans but went a step ahead to teach about how autistic kids are born.
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This might come as a shock to Mr. Kumar, but it is our duty to let him know that "acting like men" or "wearing jeans" has nothing to do with the reproduction system of a woman. The child, whether a girl, boy or a transgender is born irrespective of the "dressing choice" of the mother.
Though science has still not come clear on why people are born transgenders but such people are those who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. For instance, a person who is assigned ‘male’ at birth by doctors, but grows up to identify as a girl/woman, is a transgender woman, or a trans woman.
As far as autism goes, Scientists suspect that a faulty gene or genes might make a person more likely to develop autism while there are also other factors present, such as a chemical imbalance, viruses or chemicals, or a lack of oxygen at birth. There's no mention being a 'rebel' that cause autism.
Raising concern over such irresponsible remarks, Kerala minister of health and social justice KK Shailaja released a press note stating that Professor Kumar has been barred from participating in government programmes. "We are mulling legal action against him for making such derogatory comments," Deccan Chronicle quoted the minister saying.
In his defense, professor Kumar shared a video on his Facebook page saying his only intention was to "save children from leading life in wrong ways."
Kerala, considered as the most educated state in India, has been experiencing backlash over the rising instances of sexism against women. Recently, another Kerala professor said "women in his college were not wearing the hijab properly and deliberately exposing their chests like “sliced watermelon.”
April 10, 2018
Transgenders to be Recognised as Independent Gender Category in PAN Form - INDIA
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which frames policy for the department, issued a notification on Monday that provides a new tick box for the transgenders to apply for the PAN.
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In this November 26, 2017, people sing and dance as they take part in the 10th Namma Pride March, an event promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender rights, in Bengaluru. (File Photo: Reuters)
New Delhi: The government has amended Income Tax rules that will now allow transgenders to be recognised as an independent category of applicants for obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN) for their tax-related transactions.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which frames policy for the department, issued a notification on Monday that provides a new tick box for the transgenders to apply for the PAN.
The notification, issued under sections 139A and 295 of the Income Tax Act, specifies the new application process for obtaining a PAN number by an individual.
Till now, only male and female gender categories were available to be chosen on the PAN application form.
A senior official said the notification amending the tax rules was brought out in view of some representations received by the CBDT in this context.
"Individuals from the transgender community were facing hassles in obtaining a PAN card and this problem was further magnified as Aadhaar had the third gender category but not PAN. "Hence, the transgenders were not able to link their PAN with their Aadhaar due to this anomaly," the official said.
The amendment will now be reflected in Form 49A (PAN application form for Indian citizens) and 49AA (PAN application form for individuals not a citizen of India), the official added.
PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number alloted by the I-T department to individuals and entities.
The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.
Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.
As per updated data till March 5, over 16.65 crore PANs, out of the total about 33 crore, have been linked with Aadhaar. The deadline to link these two has been extended recently till June 30 by the CBDT.
Interview with Janet Mock-
Janet Mock is talking so fast I can’t keep up. One moment we are in Hawaii and she is living, desperately uncomfortably, as a little boy called Charles. The next she is 10 years old and has created the alter ego Keisha to enable her to talk to boys on the phone. Then she is living happily as a transgender girl, a star pupiland captain of the school volleyball team. Now she is 16, doing sex work and stripping at a local club to earn enough money to pay for her operation – or bottom surgery, as she calls it. It is an astonishing story – and we have barely started. There is her move to New York at 21, a master’s in journalism, two bestselling memoirs, a groundbreaking drama she co-scripted and two marriages – and, along the way, she has become the world’s most prominent trans activist. Phew!
Read more here-
https://www.theguardian.com/society/...oking-for-that
Much appreciated!
April 17, 2018
Classes Begin in Pakistan's First School for Transgenders in Lahore
The Gender Guardian school which offers a full 12 years of academic education from the primary level to matriculation and then leading up to college, has been opened by NGO Exploring Future Foundation (EFF) in the Defence Housing Authority area of the city.
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Lahore: Pakistan's first of its kind school for transgenders opened on Tuesday to provide education and vocational skills to people from the community.
The Gender Guardian school has been opened by NGO Exploring Future Foundation (EFF) in the Defence Housing Authority area of the city.
The NGO said Lahore — Pakistan's second-most populous city — has a population of about 30,000 transgender persons.
Classes on Tuesday commenced in the school, which offers a full 12 years of academic education from the primary level to matriculation and then leading up to college, its officials said.
The school also has training-based courses in eight fields, including cooking, fashion designing and cosmetics, on offer.
"This school has been set up to educate the neglected and oppressed section of the society. It is unfortunate that transgenders are forced to live in isolation since their childhood," says EFF's Asif Shahzad, the owner of the school.
He said there is no age limit for people to enroll as students in the school, which has 15 faculty members including three transgenders.
"So far 40 transgender persons have been enrolled in the school. This is the only such school in any Islamic country in the world," he claimed.
Shahzad lamented that parents hide the gender of their child and do not like to talk about the matter fearing society's reaction.
"Such a child when grows up starts earning a living through singing and dancing. When they grow old, transgender persons beg in street," he said.
"We are also trying to convince them (transgender people) to lead better lives and also try to tell the rest of society that they are also human beings and that they should be treated as humans," he added.
Mooeza Tariq, managing director of the NGO, said after the completion of training, transgender people will also be provided funds and services for setting up of their own businesses.
"Most of the enrolled students have shown interest in fashion industry, including learning about cosmetics, fashion designing, embroidery and stitching, while some have also shown interest in graphic designing and culinary skills," Tariq said.
January 10, 2018
Gay Prince From Gujarat Throws Open Palace Doors To Vulnerable LGBT People
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, heir apparent to the throne of Rajpipla in Gujarat, said it was particularly hard to come out in small-town India, where traditional values hold sway and heterosexual relations are the norm.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Manvendra Singh Gohil is the only openly gay prince in India
Prince Gohil is the heir apparent to the throne of Rajpipla in Gujarat
He is building a centre for the LGBT community on his palace grounds
MUMBAI: The only openly gay prince in India is throwing open his palace doors to lesbians, gays, transgender and other Indians shunned for their sexuality.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, heir apparent to the throne of Rajpipla in Gujarat, said it was particularly hard to come out in small-town India, where traditional values hold sway and heterosexual relations are the norm.
"People still face a lot of pressure from their families when they come out, being forced to marry, or thrown out of their homes. They often have nowhere to go, no means to support themselves," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
So the prince, 52, is building a centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) on the grounds of his ancestral palace.
"I am not going to have children, so I thought, why not use this space for a good purpose?" Gohil said, adding that he will offer rooms, a medical facility and training in English and vocational skills to help people find jobs.
Gohil came out to his family more than a decade ago, prompting his mother to take out a newspaper advertisement disowning him.
After coming out, Gohil set up the Lakshya Trust, a charity for LGBT people in his conservative home state, and became a champion for gay rights. He has made numerous international appearances, including on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
He is a vocal critic of the colonial-era law that criminalises consensual sexual relations between same sex adults. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court said it would reconsider its 2013 decision to uphold the law.
"Lifting the law will encourage more people to come out and live their lives freely. But it may also mean more people in need of support," Gohil said.
Gohil said he is renovating and extending his palace, built in 1927, on the 15-acre site, installing solar panels for power, and reserving some land for organic farming.
An online crowdfunding campaign and donations are financing the centre, which will be managed by his charity, he said.
Gohil's high profile has helped the LGBT community in India enormously, said Harish Iyer, a gay rights activist who hosts a radio show dedicated to LGBT issues.
"For him to be one of us, the stakes are even higher, so providing this space is a great gesture," he said.
"We are lucky to have many LGBT-friendly spaces in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. But in smaller towns, there are not so many places, and that is where they are most needed."
© Thomson Reuters 2018
7 February 2018
The transgender-only home giving people a 'safe place'
Lexi and Phoenix are living in a home set up exclusively for transgender residents.
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The 21-year-olds say living there has given them the confidence to be themselves.
Phoenix told Newsbeat: "People at the safe house can relate to how I'm feeling and we can all talk to each other and support each other."
We went to visit them at the flat in the north east of England, which has been set up by the charity Trans Aware.
It says its the first of its kind in the UK.
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Phoenix (left) and Lexi say they're more confident now they live in the safe house
The flat is just like your typical student house.
There are ready meals in the fridge, everyone crowds into the living room each night to watch TV and, on the day we visit, they've run out of milk - so we're on herbal tea and black coffee.
What makes it unique though is that everyone living there can relate to feeling like they've been born in the wrong body.
Lexi had been living on her own for 10 months and was feeling isolated before moving into the home because she was in an area where people didn't know her.
She said: "That was quite a setback for me because I didn't get to be the person I am. If I was going out I'd call a taxi so I wouldn't draw attention to myself when I was leaving the house.
"I'm still quite early in my transition so people do notice and that's when you can get the verbal abuse.
"Now I'm in the house, I feel so much more confident because I know that when I go out I've got a friend who is the same as me - who can walk down the street with me."
That friend is 21-year-old Phoenix.
She was one of the first residents to move into the home in November and says it's given her the confidence to be herself.
She's even thinking about applying for a place at university to study performing arts.
"I struggled a lot when I was younger with how I looked and I didn't quite understand why. It feels like you're not the person you feel you are inside.
"My family accept me for me but they don't really understand it, whereas people at this safe house can relate to how I'm feeling and we can all talk to each other and support each other."
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Living in the safe house has given Phoenix the confidence to think about going to uni
A survey by LGBT charity Stonewall released last month suggested that 44% of trans people avoid certain streets because they don't feel safe there.
While 25% said they were discriminated against when looking for a house or flat to rent or buy.
Trans Aware worked with The Students Living Company to set up the house. The residents pay rent which includes bills and wi-fi.
The charity would like to see it replicated by other organisations around the UK.
Ellie Lowther, from the charity, said: "Young trans people might not always have support from their families, they could be sofa surfing or living somewhere where they're always having to justify who they are.
"They need a solid base if they're going to reach their potential in life."
March 17, 2018
Transgender pageant crowns Miss Vietnam as the new Miss International Queen
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Miss International Queen 2018 winners. From L-R, 2nd runner up Rinrada Thurapan from Thailand, Crown keeper Nguyen Huong Giang from Vietnam, 1st runner up Jacqueline from Australia. Photo from nationmultimedia.com
Vietnam’s Nguyen Huong Giang won the coveted title in the contest that is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageants for transgender women.
Miss Vietnam was crowned in the picturesque resort city of Pattaya, Thailand, the venue of the contest since 2004.
Wong of Asia Pacific Transgender Network that beauty contests such as Miss International Queen provided a powerful medium to showcase the challenges, talents and hopes of the transgender community.
Besting 26 other remarkable candidates, Miss Vietnam brought home the bacon when she won the Miss International Queen title in Thailand on March 9.
Nguyen Huong Giang won the coveted title in the contest that is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageants for transgender women according to the latest transgender news by the Agence France-Presse and published by the Jakarta Post on March 10.
Camaraderie, diversity
Miss Vietnam triumphed over candidates representing countries from Mongolia to Mexico. She was crowned in the picturesque resort city of Pattaya, Thailand, the venue of the contest since 2004.
Before the coronation, the candidates were busy preparing for the competition. Huddled in a packed dressing room, they put on their makeup and had their hair done with as an army of stylists whirred around them.
Nitasha Biswas, who represented India, said, “This is my first international experience of coming to pageant where it is really a big exposure to all my trans sisters all over the world.”
Growing LGBT community
The competition was considered fierce, but many took the opportunity for camaraderie among transgender contestants who, although coming from diverse background and culture, have commonly shared experience of discrimination back home.
This year’s winner, Vietnam, had a growing LGBT community. Recently, its communist government is pushing for a landmark legislation that would allow transgender individuals to legally change gender.
The host country, Thailand, has a thriving, visible LGBT community and is hailed for its being open-minded on issues that many LGBT members face.
It has also become a destination for many transgender people who are facing intolerance in their own country, including Myanmar.
“Myanmar is a developing country so there is still only a small amount of transgender people,” Juana Paing, this year’s Miss Myanmar. “I want to try my best for Myanmar to be more open for transgenders.”
Tolerance
In addition, Thailand is considered one of the top places to undergo sex reassignment surgery. However, some parts of society remained to have deeply-held conservative beliefs.
Many of its transgender citizens, despite having attained a high level of education, still couldn’t find stable full-time employment opportunities outside of the entertainment and sex industries. Up until 2012, transgender people were considered to have a medical illness.
The Thailand government has also not legalized and does not recognize same-sex marriage.
But the beauty pageant was welcomed by LGBT advocates including Joe Wong of the advocacy group Asia Pacific Transgender Network.
Wong said that beauty contests such as Miss International Queen provided a powerful medium to showcase the challenges, talents and hopes of the transgender community.
“I’ve learnt from others that contests like these create sisterhood and bonds,” he said.
04/17/2018 01:30 PM EDT
Coast Guard won’t ban transgender members unless compelled
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Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said the Coast Guard is committed to transgender troops‘ continued service. | AP Photo
The Coast Guard remains committed to allowing transgender members to continue to serve until there is an explicit policy barring them, Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told lawmakers today.
Zukunft said during a House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing today that senior officials from all five of the armed services continue to discuss how to move forward given President Donald Trump's efforts to implement a ban on transgender people serving in the military. But that the issue has not yet been "reconciled" among all branches, he said.
At least 17 of the 40,000 active-duty Coast Guard members would be considered transgender or to have "transitioned," per Zukunft, who said he counted one transgender person among his personal staff.
"We are certainly committed to their continued service in the United States Coast Guard," he said. "We will make sure that there is a one policy for all service members."
Zukunft made the comments in response to a line of questions from Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) about the Coast Guard's position on the matter.
"Seems to me this is an invented problem and a waste of time and dollars and military resources by targeting these dedicated service members who've proved their fitness and their ability to serve," Price said.
April 18, 2018
Wednesday is National Transgender HIV Testing Day: What you need to know
Testing events being held across the state on Wednesday, April 18
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Today is National Transgender HIV Testing Day, which occurs annual each April 18. It’s a special day to raise awareness and provide resources for important issues surrounding the trans community and HIV.
Trans people are among some of the most at-risk groups for new HIV diagnoses, along young people, gay, bi and other men who have sex with men, as well as people of color generally. What’s more, trans people often face increased stigma and discrimination when attempting to access HIV testing or other preventative treatment or healthcare — creating situations where trans people are less likely to be tested or receive prompt care if they are HIV-positive.
Groups across North Carolina today are holding testing and other awareness events to highlight the important issues facing the trans community and HIV healthcare.
First, some quick facts…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
From 2009 to 2014, 2,351 transgender people were diagnosed with HIV in the United States. Eighty-four percent (1,974) were transgender women, 15 percent (361) were transgender men, and less than 1% (16) had another gender identity.
Around half of transgender people (43% of transgender women; 54% of transgender men) who received an HIV diagnosis from 2009 to 2014 lived in the South.
A 2013 report found that the estimated percentage of transgender women living with HIV in the United States was 22% among 2,705 transgender women sampled.
Among the 3.3 million HIV testing events reported to CDC in 2013, the percentage of transgender people who received a new HIV diagnosis was more than 3 times the national average.
Where to get tested today…
Free HIV testing events will be held on April 18 at sites across North Carolina, including:
Alliance of AIDS Services – Carolinas in Raleigh from 9 AM – 4 PM (1637 Old Louisburg Rd, Raleigh NC 27604)
Carolinas CARE Partnership in Charlotte from 10 AM – 1 PM (5855 Executive Center Drive, Suite 101, Charlotte, NC 28212)
El Centro Hispano in Durham from 4 PM – 8 PM (2000 Chapel Hill Rd #26A, Durham, NC 27707)
North Star LGBT Center in Winston-Salem from 5 PM – 7 PM (930 Burke Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101)
Triad Health Project in Greensboro from 1 PM – 5 PM (801 Summit Ave, Greensboro, NC 27405)
11:58, 19 APR 2018
Scotland's only Miss Transgender UK entrant hopes to get £10,000 life-changing surgery
Perth's Aria Welsh is Scotland's only entrant in the 30-strong field and says she will donate a large chunk of cash to charity if she wins.
Attachment 1070344
Aria Welsh would receive breast enhancement, facial feminisation, Adam's apple shaving and reassignment surgery
Scotland's only Miss Transgender UK 2018 contestant has said she hopes to receive life-changing surgery worth a whopping £10,000.
Aria Welsh will compete against 30 other women from across the UK to claim the national title and a trip to Thailand for the gender reassignment surgery.
The kind-hearted 26-year-old has been saving up for the surgery but says if she wins, she will donate those savings to charity .
The procedure would include breast enhancement, facial feminisation, Adam's apple shaving and reassignment surgery.
Aria Welsh hopes she can bring the title home for Scotland
Attachment 1070345
The winner of the competition, if medically fit and chosen by the hospital, will also get a modelling contract with the world-renowned Kamol hospital as well as flights and accommodation.
Aria, from Perth , Perthshire, says she is delighted to be the only Scottish contestant in the competition and hopes to bring the crown home for Scotland.
Aria, who was born as a boy called Thomas, came out as transgender three years ago but says she has felt "different" since she was seven.
She said: "I've always been feminine and used to pretend a towel wrapped around my head was long flowing locks."
"I first came out to a transgender friend who helped me lots and was my rock. I then came out to my mum and my ex-fiance."
Aria Welsh was called Thomas when she was younger and was born a boy
Attachment 1070346
Aria said the breakdown of her relationship was the hardest part of coming out.
She said: "In hindsight it needed to happen so doors could open up for me.
"The most uplifting thing for me is to be free, to be who I was supposed to be. To live my life by my own rules and not societies."
Miss Transgender UK entrants have to raise money for a chosen charity before going to the final in Cardiff, Wales, in November.
Aria has decided to raise money for Stillbirth and Neonatal Death (SANDS) a charity that has been close to her heart since her family suffered a huge loss in 2003.
She said: "SANDS helped my family when we lost my brother who was a stillborn baby 15 years ago.
"I was only 11-years-old at the time but I was definitely old enough to feel the pain.
"The reason I'm getting involved in this is that I can raise money for my charity of choice. It isn't just your run of the mill beauty pageant.
Attachment 1070347
Aria Welsh will donate money she was saving for reassignment surgery to the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity if she wins (Image: Duncan McGlynn)
"The charity were always there to give us advice and they are amazing.
"I just can't wait to present the charity a huge cheque."
If Aria is successful in her fundraising efforts she will be invited to the final along with five other lucky contestants.
The aspiring pageant queen would get the chance to perform in categories such as Best Evening Gown, Best Talent and Best Creation.
And if she wins generous Aria hopes to treat her supportive family and friends to a big dinner to celebrate.
She said: "My family and friends have been the biggest support since I came out as transgender when I was 23."
"The reaction from other people were a mix. There was a pocket of people that didn't understand. I do try and take the time to explain.
"For the most part it has been amazing and I'm one hundred per cent happier.
"As soon as I started the hormone therapy a sense of calm came over me and it was as if my life was leading up to that moment.
Attachment 1070348
Aria came out as transgender three years ago (Image: Aria Welsh / SWNS)
"Ever since I transitioned all these doors keep opening for me solidifying that I've made the right decision."
Proud mum, Rachel Scott, 48, said: "I loved Thomas but sometimes I struggled to like him when he was a teenager.
"Aria on the other hand is a far more responsible and settled person who I am proud to call my daughter."
Last year's winner, Bea Wood, said winning the competition was life-changing.
The 29-year-old, who was born as a boy called Ben, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, was previously banned from the Miss Inspiration beauty pageant for not being a natural-born female.
She said: "I had never met another transgender before and had no support groups or help locally so did it all on my own.
"Through coming out I lost a lot of family, friends, and even my job."
She added: "The best thing about this competition is that it doesn't matter what stage of transition you are at.
"Miss Transgender UK was set up to empower transgender women who are often excluded by regular pageants because they only allow genetically born females.
"It's not about being judged on the way you look. It gives the girls a chance to show themselves to the world with who they are and why they are amazing."
Aria has set a target of £1000 but hopes to raise more.
19 Apr 2018 19.23 BST
Jim Waterson Media editor
Mumsnet reports itself to data regulator over transgender rights row
Parenting site confirms paid intern posted IP addresses of forum users on Twitter
Attachment 1070391
Justine Roberts, the Mumsnet founder and chief executive, has criticised the ‘thought police’ attitude to trans rights in the UK. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
Mumsnet has reported itself to the UK data regulator after a former employee published the IP addresses of forum users in a dispute over transgender rights.
The parenting site confirmed it had contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and informed the police after the recently departed intern had made a series of posts on Twitter criticising Mumsnet’s stance on trans rights, accompanied by screengrabs apparently taken while she worked at the company that included private information only visible to staff.
In a series of now-deleted posts on Twitter, Emma Healey, who was a paid intern in the site’s press office for six months, claimed that the “vast majority” of discussion of trans issues on Mumsnet “descends into scaremongering and hate speech”.
“Whilst I was at MN [Mumsnet] (Sept 17-Mar 18), there was really no attempt to keep this discussion civil or polite,” she wrote. “Misgendering and deadnaming were completely tolerated, and the internal moderation policy would change pretty much every day.
“There were many staff members, me included, who raised concerns about what was being said on site – but it was never taken on board. Any criticism has been dismissed as a smear attempt by ‘trans activists’ rather than actually thinking about what was being said.”
I was mistakenly trying to do what I thought was the right thing as someone with very strong feelings on LGBTQ+ rights
Emma Healey, former paid intern at Mumsnet
Healey had had limited access to the personal information of registered users that was not visible to the general public.
IP addresses are assigned to users by internet service providers and can used to ascertain the approximate location of an internet user. Although it is difficult to precisely identify an individual from their IP address without the cooperation of an internet provider, the information can be used to monitor other online activity and to corroborate other identifying information.
Mumsnet has recently been under pressure from trans rights activists over the content on its forums, with some campaigners contacting the site’s advertisers to complain about the tone of discussions on the issue. Justine Roberts, Mumsnet’s founder and chief executive, has publicly criticised the “thought police” attitude to trans rights in the UK and said she believed it was the “right thing to do to allow this discussion to take place” on her site.
A spokesperson for Mumsnet said Healey had now promised to delete all other Mumsnet-related material. The spokesperson said the company believed the former intern had not intended to publish the three IP addresses of forum users and had done so accidentally.
Justine Roberts, Mumsnet’s chief executive, said: “For us this is about civilised debate and free speech. As an organisation we absolutely believe in the rights of transgender people to be safe, happy and supported. However there are parents (including some trans parents) on Mumsnet who also believe that there are some issues - such as the prescription of hormone-altering medication to young children, and the impact of gender self-identification on women-only refuges and other ‘safe’ spaces - that merit discussion.
“We at Mumsnet have always strongly believe that robust, civilised debate is the best way to reach resolution on difficult issues. Some activists disagree with us on the merits of even having of debate and view it as transphobic in its own right.
“Transphobia is against our guidelines and we delete and ban users who are repeat offenders; we’ve also proactively reminded our users of the importance of abiding by our rules, and will continue to do so.”
Healey later issued a statement via Mumsnet apologising for her decision: “I was just mistakenly trying to do what I thought was the right thing as someone with very strong feelings on LGBTQ+ rights – and in doing so, I did something very misguided and frankly awful.
“I have definitely learnt my lesson: not only about not tweeting in anger but about the language I use, being careful what I say, the power of social media and thinking about all the potential outcomes of my actions (not just the outcomes I intend). As such, I am taking some time away from social media and will return with a hopefully more mature attitude.
“I’d like to also apologise to any users who have felt hurt, attacked or vulnerable due to my actions. I recognise that we do not agree on this issue, but I know the impact that my actions may have had on them and their mental health.”
An ICO spokesperson said: “We are aware of a possible incident involving Mumsnet and will be looking into the details.”
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19 Apr 2018 03:49PM
#IamGay backlash a rare win for China's LGBT community
Attachment 1070392
Despite some progress, the LGBT community faces daunting legal and social hurdles in China AFP/STR
BEIJING: China's gay community scored a victory after a massively popular social media platform reversed a ban on "homosexual" content, but challenges remain in a country where LGBT culture remains taboo in the entertainment industry.
Gay-themed films struggle to make it into movie theatres, same-sex relationships are banned from television screens and gay content is forbidden on online streaming platforms.
But the latest censorship move caused a public backlash that prompted Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like platform with 400 million active monthly users, to make a surprising about-face.
The popular microblogging platform had abruptly announced last week that it was removing "illegal content" including "videos with pornographic implications, promoting violence or (related to) homosexuality".
The move triggered an #IamGay campaign on the platform, with many calling for a boycott. Even the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, posted an essay on Weibo promoting LGBT acceptance, though it cautioned that gays were not immune to censorship of porn and violence.
"This is an incremental victory and quite a positive signal, but I also think Sina was mostly worried about its stock tanking," said Xiao Tie, director of the Beijing LGBT Center.
"They haven't yet deleted the original notice and there's been no apology, so for us, it's still not really over - there are many challenges we still face," she added.
Raymond Phang, co-founder of Shanghai Pride, explained that people were riled by the insensitive language of Weibo's notice.
"It's good to clear up inappropriate material that's violent or pornographic, but the words that they used pointed to a specific community, to people rather than content. It's really disappointing coming from such a big platform," he said.
Phang said gay content bans had previously come directly from the authorities, making it difficult to protest.
"Sina is a listed company, so at least we had channels to make our voice heard, like contacting customer service. But in the past, what could we do? Who's going to write to the government? Which mailbox, which bureau?" he said, laughing.
CENSORED FILM
But a struggle continues to put homosexual content in mainstream culture.
In 2016, government censors banned gay characters on television, with guidelines decreeing: "No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on."
Last year, authorities banned gay content from all online streaming platforms.
Oscar-winning "Call Me by Your Name", the story of a summer romance between two young men in Italy, was pulled from the Beijing International Film Festival last month.
But after a two-year delay, Chinese theatres on Friday finally released "Looking for Rohmer", a film about a secret homosexual relationship between Chinese and French lovers that has been hailed as the country's first gay movie.
Yet the film appeared to be cut beyond recognition, to the point that it is nearly impossible to discern any romance between the two main characters, who never kiss and hardly even hold hands.
Their love was expressed indirectly, through a fleeting, imagined performance of a scene from a Tibetan opera in which the two dance the parts of a star-crossed couple.
The website of the International Chinese Film Festival in Sydney lists the film's running time as two hours, but the version screened in China lasts only 83 minutes.
On Tuesday evening, only eight people had pre-purchased tickets for any screenings in central Beijing theatres.
GAY 'CURES'
LGBT rights face other challenges in China.
A lack of comprehensive sex education leaves many completely uninformed about LGBT issues, particularly given deeply embedded traditional values and pressures to get married and have children.
It also has no anti-discrimination law for gender identity and sexual orientation.
China only decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, and withdrew it from its list of mental illnesses in 2001.
Clinics throughout the country are still known to offer "cures" for being gay involving electroshocks, confinement and chemical castration.
Though neighbouring Taiwan is home to vibrant gay pride parades, such festivals are limited to cultural activities or social events in the mainland, where mass mobilisations of any kind are seen as potential threats to social stability.
Same-sex marriage remains illegal. A court in Hunan refused to grant two men the right to marry in 2016, in China's first-ever lawsuit on the issue.
But the LGBT community has made inroads in other cases.
A court in the southwestern province of Guizhou ruled last year that a transgender man had been illegally fired from his workplace in China's first-ever unfair dismissal case.
And last summer, a court in central China ordered a psychiatric hospital to compensate and apologise to a gay man forced to undergo conversion therapy, two years after another tribunal condemned a different clinic offering the same kind of "cure" in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing.
Source: AFP/aa
April 19, 2018
Breaking Stereotypes, Transsexual Couple To Tie Knot In Kerala
Ishan and Surya are now all set to break several stereotypes in the society and set an example as the first transsexual couple to marry in Kerala.
Attachment 1070393
Ishan and Surya would be the first transsexual couple from Kerala to tie the knot. (File photo)
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: He was a 'woman' and she was a 'man' once and ostracised by their families and harassed by the society over their transgender status for long. But, Ishan and Surya are now all set to break several stereotypes in the society and set an example as the first transsexual couple to marry in Kerala, having undergone sex change surgeries some years ago.
As every ordinary man and woman, they will be marrying in an auspicious ceremony at an auditorium here on May 10, with the blessings and support of family members and friends.
Religious barriers and societal stigma has not deterred the transgender couple, in their 30s, from their decision to enter wedlock and lead a normal life.
A known TV artist, Surya said she had always cherished the dream of becoming a bride like any other woman. "We both have suffered a lot over our gender. We were excluded and marginalised by the society once," she told PTI.
"But, now, everyone is starting to accept us. I hope, this marriage will help us getting more acceptance in the family and society," she said.
Hailing from a middle class family in Vattiyurkkavu here, Surya underwent the sex change surgery and became a woman in the year 2014.
The 31-year-old transwoman said she had been living separately from her family for some years as her parents and siblings could not accept her choice of gender.
The story of 33-year-old Ishan, a member of a conventional Muslim family at Vallakkadavu, is also not different.
He said he met Surya while working in an NGO engaged in the welfare of transgenders.
Ishan said he had to suffer a lot to make his family and community understand his gender issues. A woman before, he underwent the sex reassignment surgery three years ago.
"I proposed Surya and conveyed my wish to marry her. I was particular that it should be a legal marriage and we want to live a normal life like any other couple," he told PTI.
The transsexual couple is excited as both families have given their nod for the marriage and promised all support.
"We are trying to set a model to our fellows transgender and prove that we can also live a normal life like any others in the society," they said.
Both Surya and Ishan are members of the government's Transgender's Justice Board.
According to unofficial figures, there are over 35,000 transgenders in Kerala, which unveiled the country's first transgender policy in 2015.
19/04/2018 Newshub staff
Joe Rogan blasts Kiwi weightlifter Laurel Hubbard in rant on transgender athletes
US comedian and martial arts commentator Joe Rogan has once again taken aim at Kiwi athletes on his podcast - this time targeting Kiwi transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.
The podcast host drew derision last year after labelling the Tall Blacks "stupid" and "f**king dummies" for performing a haka at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014.
Now The Joe Rogan Experience - which is one of the most popular podcasts in the US - has turned its attention to Hubbard, who competed at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast earlier this month.
During a debate about whether male-to-female transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against other females, Rogan pointed to Hubbard as an example of where such competition proves problematic.
"When transgender athletes go into weightlifting competitions, the male-to-female transgender athletes are overwhelmingly dominant," he said.
"I mean, is this a coincidence? No! It's someone who's had f**king testosterone pumping through their system and a Y chromosome their whole life.
"Now all of a sudden we're supposed to say, 'No, she's a woman; she's dainty'.
"She's got size 14 feet! She's got gorilla hands! What in the f**k are we doing here?"
The remark came after one of his guests, British activist Maajid Nawaz, mentioned Hubbard's appearance at the Commonwealth Games.
"The only reason [the debate about Hubbard competing at the Games] didn't lead to crunch time was because she injured herself in the competition by sheer accident," he said.
Earlier in the podcast, Rogan explained that while he is all for people being legally recognised as a gender that doesn't match their biological sex, he thinks sport should treat the issue differently.
He referenced the heavy criticism he faced after vocally opposing MMA fighter Fallon Fox when she was permitted to compete against cisgender women after transitioning from male to female.
"I've actually gone through this extensively," he explained, "because there was a woman who used to be a man and was competing in mixed martial arts against women and beating the shit out of them.
"I was saying 'this is a mistake'.
"You can't deny biological nature. There's physiological advantages to the male frame."
New Zealand Olympic Committee CEO Kereyn Smith has continually maintained that Hubbard should be allowed to compete.
"She meets all CGF, IF, NZOC and OWNZ criteria for selection and participation and is within the IOC Guidelines that have been designed to balance an individual's right to compete while ensuring a fair field of play," she told Newshub during the competition.
Newshub.
16th April 2018
'Do NOT approach her' Police warn over transgender woman missing from hospital
COPS have warned the public not to approach a transgender woman who went missing from Ealing Hospital in London.
Attachment 1070453
APPEAL: Cops are searching for this missing transgender woman Andre Kirlew
Andre Kirlew was last seen at 6.30pm on Thursday in the hospital's Costa shop.
The Met Police said she suffers from bipolar, paranoid schizophrenia and should not be approached by members of the public
She is described as black, slim build, 6ft tall and wearing a red wig down to her waist.
Andre is known to frequent the W13 area – roughly between the Northfields and Perivale tube stations - and local parks in London.
At the time of her disappearance she was wearing a short orange and blue skirt and a thin brown leather jacket.
She is also wearing heavy make up with blue eye shadow, bright blue contact lenses with thick black framed glasses without lenses inside.
Officers are increasingly concerned for her wellbeing and would urge anyone with information on her whereabouts to call police on 101 or Missing People on 116000 quoting CAD 7278/12APR18.
April 12, 2018
Defense chief says he is 'prepared to defend' new transgender military policy
Attachment 1070454
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis testifies during a House Committee on Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 12, 2018.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has faced controversy over a military policy on transgender recruits recently released, said Thursday that he is prepared to defend the new plan.
But Mattis also told the House Armed Services Committee that he will defer to the courts’ direction on the matter for now.
The comments are among the latest from a Pentagon official since the White House said last month that it intends to at least partially ban transgender people from serving in the military. Pentagon officials have mostly dodged questions on the matter, pointing to several ongoing court cases allowing transgender servicemembers to continue to serve.
“It’s a highly charged issue from some people’s perspective and it’s under litigation right now,” Mattis said during the congressional hearing. “Current policy stays in effect… as directed by the courts and I have submitted to the president what I think is the best military advice.”
The hearing, which was part of Mattis’ wide-ranging testimony before the House committee, was part of an exchange with Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who rejects the proposal. Speier questioned the proposal’s lack of input from medical groups, which refuted its conclusions and said there were no valid medical reasons for the exclusions.
Speier also held up a photograph of Air Force Sgt. Logan Ireland, a transgender servicemember who was named noncommissioned officer of the quarter during a deployment to Afghanistan.
“You rolled out this new policy and now you are basically saying ‘I’m not prepared to defend it,’” Speier said.
Mattis rejected Speier’s claim. Mattis said officials looked at enlistment standards and gave a recommendation that troops who do not have gender dysphoria should be allowed to serve.
Under former President Barack Obama’s last Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the Pentagon opened military service to all transgender people in June 2016, largely based on a study that it commissioned from the think tank Rand Corp. The organization estimated there were between 4,000 and 12,000 transgender troops on active duty and in the reserves.
In Mattis’ recommendation, released publicly in a 48-page document last month alongside the White House announcement on March 23, the defense secretary proposed banning any individuals from serving who have a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria except in certain cases.
“I’m prepared to defend it. But out of respect for the courts, I do not intrude,” Mattis told Speier. “It was the best military advice I could derive from civilian overseers and military personnel.”
Across the Capitol Hill complex Thursday, Army officials testified before a Senate committee that they had not seen any issues with unit cohesion as a result of open transgender service.
“Nothing has percolated up to my level,” Army Secretary Mark Esper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Gen. Mark Milley, Army chief of staff, echoed the remarks during questions from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on whether there were impacts on unit cohesion.
“Not at all. We have a finite number. We know who they are and it is monitored very closely, because I am concerned about that, and I want to make sure they are treated with dignity and respect,” Milley said. “I have received precisely zero reports of issues of cohesion, discipline, morale and all those sorts of things.”
In reaction to the exchange, Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin said Milley’s remarks were significant.
“It is telling for the Army chief of staff to acknowledge there have been ‘zero’ problems with cohesion, discipline or morale just weeks after a DoD report, ostensibly based on months of research, insisted that transgender troops pose a risk to cohesion, discipline and morale,” Belkin said in a statement.
Stars and Stripes reporter Corey Dickstein contributed to this report
12 APRIL 2018
Radical feminist warned to refer to transgender defendant as a 'she' during assault case
Attachment 1070499
Maria Maclachlan, who was giving evidence against Tara Wolf
A radical feminist has been warned by a judge to refer to the transgender defendant as a “she” during an assault case.
Maria Maclachlan, 61, was giving evidence against Tara Wolf, 26, whom she claims tried to attack her at a rally, knocking her to the floor.
She told Hendon Magistrates' Court: "A hooded figure suddenly ran at me, ran past me from left to right, knocking the camera from my hand.
"They swatted it. Although it was knocked out of my hand it was caught by the strap so it didn't hit the ground, which I thought was the intention."
District Judge Kenneth Grant warned Ms MacLachlan to refer to Miss Wolf as “she” while giving evidence.
He said: "The defendant wished to be referred to as a woman, so perhaps you could refer to her as 'she' for the purpose of the proceedings."
Attachment 1070500
Tara Wolf arrives at the court with supporters. CREDIT: JULIAN SIMMONDS
Ms MacLachlan replied: "I'm used to thinking of this person who is a male as male."
The row was the latest in an ongoing battle between Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs), who believe that transwomen should not be given the same rights as those born female, and transgender activists.
The two factions have repeatedly clashed over the issue of men who “self-identify” as female and are allowed in women-only spaces and take on roles reserved for women.
The group of radical feminists, including Ms Maclachlan, had gathered at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park last September to discuss changes to the Gender Identity Act which will make it easier for people to define their gender themselves.
Transgender activists were holding a counter demonstration when the two groups clashed and Ms MacLachlan, who describes herself as a "gender critical feminist," was allegedly punched.
Attachment 1070501
Supporters of Ms MacLachlan outside court CREDIT: JULIAN SIMMONDS
She was filming a group who were chanting "When TERFs attack, we strike back" and claimed she simply thought she might get some "amusing footage".
Ms Maclachlan has admitted that following the event she sent out a tweet featuring a close-up of the defendant's face with the words: "Hiya, got any hair restorer while I'm in hiding? Love Tara."
Miss Wolf, who faces one charge of assault by beating, admitted being involved in the fracas but insists she was acting in self-defence.
She said Ms Maclachlan was shaking her partner "like a rag doll" when she struck her.
She described the event as a hate rally and said the fight broke out because she feared Ms MacLachlan planned to out her as transgender online.
Attachment 1070502
Tara Wolf arrives at the court with supporters. CREDIT: JULIAN SIMMONDS
"Terfs have a history of taking people's pictures and posting them in pages like GenderIdentityWatch.com, a database that makes us a target for the far-right," she told the court.
"(The complainant) was trying to get people's faces. She was filming the argument that was going on between the two groups."
Ms Maclachlan argued that she was not even aware the group were trans, saying she thought they were all male.
"They were not easily perceived as trans. I don't mind going though them face-by-face if you want to argue the toss," she said.
"When I started filming I didn't have any particular intention of what I might do with the footage. I might have shown it to my husband, I might have posted it on my Facebook page, or I might have uploaded it on my blog."
She denied she was trying to make the protesters feel "scared, uncomfortable or unsafe".
Wolf admitted posting on Facebook ahead of the event: "I wanna f*** up some terfs. They're no better than fash (fascists)."
She claimed she made the comment out of bravado and wanted to protest peacefully.
The trial is due to last two days.
April 16, 2018
Constitutional milestone on transgender rights
For the first time in any court, a federal judge in Seattle has ruled that transgender people are entitled to the fullest protection of the Constitution against discrimination. U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman issued that ruling Friday in a case involving President Trump’s move to bar almost all transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military, but the decision would also apply to other kinds of discrimination claims by transgender people.
In doing so, the judge refused an Administration request to lift a temporary order she had issued in December barring enforcement of the ban that was first announced last July by President Trump in a Twitter message that caught the U.S. military by surprise. The ban was designed to undo completely a policy that the Obama Administration had adopted, permitting transgender individuals to join or continue serving in the military.
“Any attempt to exclude them from military service will be looked at with the highest level of care” by the courts, Judge Pechman wrote.
Other judges around the country have issued rulings giving transgender people some protection under the Constitution or under federal laws barring discrimination based on sex or gender, but no judge before the Seattle jurist had taken the broad next step of designating transgender individuals as a class of people entitled to full legal protection against government policy that discriminates against them. (A transgender person is one who is assigned a biological gender at birth but who, in growing up, comes to develop the opposite gender identity.)
Judge Pechman reached her historic ruling on the level of constitutional protection with two conclusions.
First, she ruled that transgender people have long been the targets of discrimination based on their gender identity, that their identity is something basic to their human character rather than a personal choice, that they are fully capable of functioning in society, and that they lack political power sufficient to protect themselves against bias. That meant she had designated them as what technically is called a “suspect class” – not because their identity stirs suspicion, but because that identity is so basic to them that any official policy that treats them less favorably is “suspect” under the Constitution’s guarantees of equality and due process.
Second, the judge said this designation entitles transgender people to have official forms of discrimination against them judged in court by “strict scrutiny” – the toughest test that government policy must meet in order to survive as constitutionally valid. Under that test, a government policy challenged as discriminatory will be struck down unless it is proven to serve a “compelling government interest” and is “narrowly tailored” to do so.
Judge Pechman’s decision almost certainly will be appealed by the Administration, since it argued strenuously before her that the transgender policy is entirely constitutional and should now be cleared for enforcement.
The constitutional result for transgender people of the new ruling, if it withstands an appeal, would be that they would get the same constitutional protection that covers people who face discrimination based on their race or national origin. And it is a slightly higher level of protection than protects people who face discrimination based on their sex as a man or as a woman.
Although the judge will now apply that test to the military’s transgender ban, she will consider doing so only after she gets more facts about how the policy was adopted. Added facts, she said, will be necessary for her to determine whether the policy was adopted sincerely to serve the military’s mission, so that the judge should defer to the military choice. Further facts, she also said, would be necessary for her to determine – even if she were to defer to some degree to the military – whether the ban actually fails the constitutional test.
The latest version of the ban, the judge noted, only emerged from the Pentagon in March, and the individuals and groups challenging the ban thus have not yet had a chance to contest the new data on how the policy was fashioned.
The further review, Judge Pechman said, will help her decide whether the Pentagon’s “deliberative process – including the timing and thoroughness of its study and the soundness of the medical and other evidence it relied upon – is of the type to which courts typically should defer.”
The judge voiced some skepticism about the Pentagon’s arguments, saying they were “strikingly similar” to the justifications that the military previously had put forward to defend racial segregation in the military, the former ban on gays in the military, and the longtime ban – only recently relaxed — against allowing women to serve in combat roles in the military.
Because the case will now go on in her court, the judge ruled, she would not remove the prior temporary order she had issued against enforcement. That order will apply to military and civilian government officials, but not to President Trump personally, she decided.
Even so, the judge denied the Administration request to remove the President from any part in the case from here on, concluding that he was sufficiently involved in instituting the ban and reinforcing it that an ultimate ruling against its constitutionally would apply to him, too.
The judge ordered lawyers for the Administration and for those individuals and groups challenging the ban to continue exchanging information about the case and to prepare for a full trial of the two issues still before her – whether to defer to the military and, even if she does defer to some degree, whether the ban is unconstitutional as a form of discrimination against a protected class of people: transgender individuals seeking to join the military or seeking to remain in the ranks.
Because Judge Pechman serves on a federal trial court, the first level of the federal judiciary, her ruling on the enforcement restriction could now be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as could her later ruling on the constitutionality of the ban.
Across the country, three other federal trial judges have also temporarily barred enforcement of the ban, on grounds narrower than those applied by Judge Pechman. But so far no federal appeals court has ruled on those orders.
Because the Trump Administration has a keen interest in the military ban, and because the challengers are also keen on pursuing their legal contests against it, the controversy is likely to reach the Supreme Court, perhaps sooner rather than later.
Awesome news from around the world, and then the US with fucking Trump is of course out here trying to discriminate. History is not going to look on this era of America well.
20 Apr 2018
Top Military Brass at Odds with Mattis on Transgender Issues
Attachment 1070574
In this July 29, 2017, photo transgender U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer Sims is silhouetted on a balcony after an interview with The Associated Press in Beratzhausen near Regensburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Top military leaders have gone public in the past week to disagree with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on the possible erosion of "unit cohesion" and readiness that Mattis said might come from allowing transgender troops to serve openly in the ranks.
The latest to come forward was Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey.
"We haven't heard" of any problems with unit cohesion since transgender troops were cleared to serve under the Obama administration in 2016, Dailey said at an off-camera session with Pentagon reporters Friday.
In addition, "I have received no formal reports" on dissension in the ranks or morale problems caused by the presence of transgender troops, Dailey said.
Army Secretary Mark Esper, who joined Dailey at the briefing, also said that transgender troops currently serving have not been a problem in terms of unit cohesion or other issues.
Esper then cut short the discussion, citing the ongoing cases in four federal district courts that have indefinitely blocked the Pentagon from acting against transgender individuals currently serving, or barring the recruitment and retention of transgender individuals.
In his memo to President Donald Trump last month effectively supporting a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, Mattis cited the difficulties of reconciling gender dysphoria with military service.
Gender dysphoria has been defined as the conflict between a person's biological sex and the gender with which that person identifies psychologically and emotionally.
Those with gender dysphoria "could undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion, and impose an unreasonable burden on the military that is not conducive to military effectiveness and lethality," Mattis said in the memo that summarized a six-month internal study he ordered.
The study followed several tweets sent out by Trump last summer in which he argued for a ban on transgender military service.
"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow [transgender individuals] to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump said in a tweet last July.
The Pentagon study backing up Trump included input from the service chiefs, according to Mattis, but those same chiefs have since clearly stated that they've had no problem with transgender individuals in their ranks.
Last Thursday, as Mattis was before the House Armed Services Committee supporting an effective ban, on transgender troops, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"No, not at all," Milley said when asked by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, whether transgender troops posed a problem for unit cohesion.
In testimony before SASC on Thursday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Gen. Robert Neller, the Marine Commandant, also said they have seen no discipline, readiness or unit cohesion problems arising from having transgender individuals serve openly.
"I am not aware of any issues," Richardson said. He said the Navy applied lessons learned from integrating women sailors into submarines in adapting to transgender sailors. He said that maintaining a "standards-based approach seems to be the key to success."
Neller said he had met with several Marines and sailors who have identified as transgender individuals. "I learned about their desire to serve," he said. "As long as they can meet the standard of what their particular occupation was, I think we'll move forward."
Adm. Paul Zukunft, the Coast Guard Commandant, said the Coast Guard has no problems with allowing transgender individuals to serve openly.
Zukunft told the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee Wednesday that he has a transgender individual on his personal staff.
"We are certainly committed to their continued service in the United States Coast Guard," he said.
The top leaders' open disagreement with Mattis underlined the potential difficulties he will have in enforcing a ban if the courts permit it.
"The Secretary is in an untenable situation," said Matt Thorn, executive director of the OutServe-SLDN advocacy group. “[Mattis] is in an untenable situation because of the president of the United States.”
Federal District Court judges in Seattle, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Riverside, California, have all blocked the transgender ban and ordered the military to continue recruiting and retaining transgender individuals.
In the Seattle case (Karnoski v. Trump), Judge Marsha Pechman earlier this week ordered Justice Department and advocacy group lawyers to prepare for trial but gave notice that the government will have a high standard to meet in proving that a ban is constitutional.
"Because transgender people have long been subjected to systemic oppression and forced to live in silence, they are a protected class," Pechman wrote in her ruling. "Therefore, any attempt to exclude them from military service will be looked at with the highest level of care."
April 17 , 2018
A model has set out her ambitions to be the first transgender woman to walk in the Victoria’s Secret show.
Attachment 1070644
Leyna Bloom made her dreams clear in a recent tweet alongside two snaps of herself wearing a black bikini, writing: “Trying to be the 1st trans model of colour walk a #VictoriaSecret Fashion show. #transisbeautiful #LeynaBloom”.
The 27-year-old’s tweet quickly went viral, garnering more than 106,000 likes and 32,200 retweets.
Trying to be the 1st Trans model of color walk a #VictoriaSecret Fashion show. #transisbeautiful #LeynaBloom 💕 pic.twitter.com/xkLW5W9YqO
— Leyna Bloom (@leynabloom) April 9, 2018
The annual lingerie fashion show has been running for 23 years and has never cast a transgender woman of colour in its exclusive lineup, that last year starred Bella Hadid and Alessandra Ambrosio.
Were Bloom to be included, it would mark a historic moment for the brand that is perennially scrutinised in the media for its homogenised show cast, which primarily consists of whippet-thin and impossibly-toned women.
Fans praised the Chicago-based model for aspiring to diversify the show, urging the US lingerie brand to take note.
“You are sooo beautiful!! @VictoriasSecret, make it happen,” one wrote.
“While I don't care for Victoria's Secret, you absolutely deserve to walk! Any woman deserves to walk and feel good and confident about herself,” another added.
Bloom has been modelling professionally since 2014 and has walked the catwalk for New York-based labels Chromat and the Blonds.
It’s not the first time that the young beauty has taken a swipe at Victoria’s Secret.
In November 2017 Bloom criticised the brand for having “way more white girls” than any other race in its lineup, despite being praised by other outlets as the most diverse show yet.
"It's like every time they added a woman of colour they added another white girl,” she wrote.
“Next year they need to cast trans and curve models all colours not just Caucasians."
Speaking to Yahoo, Bloom said walking in the runway show has always been a dream of hers.
“This is a platform that glorifies femininity,” she said.
“I always felt in my most natural state I am heavenly.
“For my trans sisters, regardless of colour, this will be a moment for us all.”
04/21/18 03:13 PM EDT
Trump admin plans to undo Obama-era health-care protections for transgender people: report
Attachment 1070698
The Trump administration plans to get rid of a rule issued by President Obama that prevented health-care providers and insurers from discriminating against transgender people, The New York Times reported.
The Obama-era rule prohibited discrimination based on race, age, color, national origin, sex or disability for health programs that received federal funds, the Times reported.
Because most practicing physicians accept patients using Medicare or Medicaid, the rule widely applied to health-care providers across the U.S.
LGBTQ advocates say that Trump’s planned move would erase gains made for transgender Americans and get rid of treatments that transgender people have been denied in the past.
The Trump administration argues that they needed to make the changes because a federal judge found parts of the rule unlawful.
The White House is currently reviewing a draft of the rule submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The move is the latest in what critics see as the Trump administration’s effort to scale back transgender rights.
In the past, Trump has worked to ban transgender people from the military and the Education Department got rid of guidelines for how to accommodate transgender students at schools.
10 April, 2018
Trans women will be able to compete as women in this year's Boston Marathon
Attachment 1070809
Transgender runners will be able to compete as their self-identified gender in the Boston Marathon on Monday, 16 April.
This is a welcome step forward for human rights, but not a new one: trans people have been quietly running the race for "several years", the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) told NPR.
The BAA has no specific policy on transgender runners taking part in the word-famous race, but this year there has been a heated debate following a profile in Canadian Running of three transgender women who signed up for the race
Concerns were raised by readers around the perception of 'fairness' and how testosterone could potentially give trans women runners a physical advantage.
The thought of registering for the competition under her identified gender is what inspired transgender activist Amelia Gapin to undergo the surgery, she told Canadian Running.
At least five openly transgender women will take part in the iconic 26.2-mile race through Boston this year - and it means more to them than cisgender people might be able to imagine.
The BAA has said it would rather not throw yet more hurdles in the path of the transgender community, with its chief Tom Grilk telling Washington Post:
We take people at their word. We register people as they specify themselves to be.
Members of the LGBT+ community have had a lot to deal with over the years and we'd rather not add to that burden.
But many races - including Boston, New York and Chicago - require registrants to show a government ID with the same name and genders as their application forms to get a bet a bib number, an obstacle for trans athletes who haven't legally changed their personal information.
Typically, people who were assigned male at birth have had a greater struggle registering to elite athletic events under their self-identified gender, and may require surgery or medication to lower their testosterone levels.
The Olympics allowed athletes to compete without gender confirmation surgery after revisiting its guidelines ahead of the 2016 Rio Games, but required female transgender registrants to prove their testosterone levels did not exceed a certain amount.
Perhaps critics concerned about fair competition when trans women run as women should turn their attention to the dehydration, reduced stamina and dizziness caused by treatments such as testosterone blockers.
I've talked to a couple of genetic lesbian women who have concerns about MTF transgender women competing in sports with genetic women....It becomes even more interesting when you thrown in folks like Janae Marie Kroc into the discussion...
Apr 22 2018
‘They pulled me out of the ladies’ room, forced me to go men's instead’
Institute of Business Management recently held discussion featuring transgender people as well as experts from various fields to shed light on awareness about transgender rights
At a conference where one of the speakers was a transgender person, a famous Pakistani journalist told me the time to talk about transgender rights is far [from now], according to Hira Zainab, a student who also runs a non-governmental organisation.
Interestingly, in a country that puts the number of transgender persons at 10,418 — according to the sixth Population and Housing Census held late 2017 — but which transgender people and activists themselves claim could be anywhere between 300,000 to upwards of 500,000, it comes as no surprise that influencers and those in power believe the issue is of little-to-no consequence.
The Institute of Business Management — the college where Zainab studies — recently held a discussion featuring multiple transgender people as well as panellists from various fields, including the corporate world and media. It aimed to shed light on how crucial the goal is to creating awareness about transgender rights and actually working to achieve it.
The challenges Pakistani transgenders face are not just limited to identity cards or voting but extend to day-to-day activities, which hinder them from living in communities other than their Guru-led ones, trying to get accommodation on rent, and pursuing careers.
Attachment 1070885Hiba
In fact, Hiba, a transgender speaker, spoke of how she was shunned from family events because of “what people and other relatives would think of the family”.
“We come from the womb same as any other … It’s not my parents’ fault either … so why are we thought of as curses to our communities?”
Many landlords resort to gimmicks like offering available spaces on double the usual rent in order to deter transgender people from occupying it and force them away from the supposedly ‘decent' neighbourhoods.
This pushes transgender persons back into closely-knit communes where they reside in seclusion, under the leadership of their Gurus, and every transgender person knows the other. However, the lack of proper employment keeps these transgender communities poor, facilities-less, and illiterate.
In May 2017, Meral Kazmi, a SZABIST student whose entrepreneurship venture turned into an art house, took up a project with her peers wherein three transgender persons modelled as people belonging to their dream careers — chef, lawyer, and doctor — and photographed, the result of which was painted as a mural outside the campus.
Once it was complete and the costumes being wrapped up, however, one of those three broke down into tears, saying how a transgender person getting a proper job could not “be real, ever”.
While this is something that can be worked upon, the root of the problem stands with a lack of initiative and the hesitance to step up. Kazmi herself explained how a businessman once told her that he would willingly hire transgender people but it would be after someone else does for the first time.
Attachment 1070887Simi Naz
Yet there are transgender people like Lahore-based Simi Naz, who holds herself in high regard and believes in “snatching rights” from those in control.
“I’m not going to whine about it. I was born very beautiful, I have pretty eyes. I dance… yes, I dance every night in front of 250 people and that’s okay because I enjoy it and it gets me three square meals a day.”
But fear of the unknown is a major restraint, which further exacerbates the problem, says Naaz Fancy, a marketing and advertising executive who was present at the event as a panellist.
When people try to distance themselves from transgender people and fail at trying to get to know them, they become anxious in their presence.
Attachment 1070886Aradhiya Khan
Aradhiya Khan, another transgender person whose brother Salman is a social activist, perfectly captured this conundrum in her story, where she narrated how she was once forcefully pulled out of the ladies’ room at a restaurant where she worked at and ordered to go the men’s room instead.
And every Pakistani citizen knows full well how common it is for transgender people to be chased, harassed, and hooted and catcalled at. Once, when visiting a state hospital for medical attention, Hiba recalled that she and a friend were followed by random boys who kept repeating: “Do these ‘things’ [transgender people] get sick too?”
“Constitution states that every citizen has equal rights,” chimed in Sabin Agha, a seasoned journalist.
“The social structure is such that the common man is not provided proper awareness and maturity” to understand acceptance and inclusivity. “We have outright denied transgender people their rights — social level at the very least.”
Attachment 1070888Sabin Agha (centre)
The non-existence of gender diversity is a “denial, primarily due to religion and [lack of] education”, Agha said.
As transgender people struggle to get an education — like Nisha Rao, an LLB graduate who hopes to become a judge someday and has begged on the streets to pay tuition — it is now on the common Pakistani to step forward in being accepting and understanding.
While the corporate sector has the money, voice, and power to do more for equal opportunities, it is, according to Fancy, “still stuck on women; transgenders are a far cry”. But there is hope, however small it may be, because of people like Zainab, who says she would help everyone get a job regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
“We are humans, sitting here to discuss why our fellow humans are not being given their basic rights,” she said.
“It doesn’t get worse than that.”
4 March 2018
More transgender patients are opting to undergo genital surgery
Attachment 1070976
Gender reassignment surgeries are reportedly on the rise in the United States, according to a major study conducted by The John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The researchers analysed data compiled by the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2000 to 2014, which gave them an indication of the number of patients seeking gender reassignment surgery across the country.
The NIS gathers data from approximately 1,000 hospitals around the US every year, which represents around 95 per cent of the nation’s population.
Using the data accumulated by the NIS, the team assessed a total of 37,827 hospital appointments for gender reassignment surgery.
The ages of the patients ranged from 26 to 49.
The initial analyses of the data were carried out from June to August 2015.
The authors of the study, which was led by Joseph Canner and Omar Harfouch and published in JAMA Surgery, discovered that the number of patients undergoing genital surgeries has risen drastically in recent years.
During a five-year period from 2000 to 2005, 72 per cent of the patients who had gender reassignment procedures in the US decided to undergo genital surgery.
From 2006 to 2011, this percentage increased to 83.9 per cent of patients.
The team also considered what kind of health insurance plans the patients had.
Of the 4,118 people who underwent genital surgery, 56.3 per cent did not have any health insurance cover.
For those who did have health insurance cover in the form of Medicare or Medicaid, 70 chose to have genital surgery in 2014.
This is a notable increase from the 25 patients covered by health insurance who had genital surgery between the years of 2012 to 2013.
The authors of the study noted that it is extremely important that third-party payers, such as health insurance companies, enforce policies that forbid the discrimination of people with gender identity disorder.
In doing so, this will help more transgender patients seek out the help they need should they wish to undergo gender reassignment procedures and improve the accumulation of gender identity data for further study.
In 2016 it was reported that the number of gender reassignment surgeries taking place in the UK had sharply risen, with the number of referrals at a clinic in Charing Cross quadrupling over a decade.
APRIL 22,2018
Trump to Allow Anti-Trans Discrimination in Health Care
Attachment 1071082
The administration will reverse a mandate of the ACA which bars discrimination against trans patients and ensures they receive coverage for vital services.
The Trump administration is using a Texas lawsuit to justify rolling back protections for trans patients that was included in the 2010 Obamacare legislation, The New York Times reports.
The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) banned any hospital, doctor, or insurance company who receives federal funding from discriminating against or denying services based on sex; the Obama administration made it clear in 2016 that provision included transgender and gender-nonconforming patients. Since nearly all insurance plans, doctors, and hospitals accept the government-funded programs Medicare and Medicaid, the protections covered just about every patient in the country. The law greatly expanded coverage for transgender people and also ensured that those who didn't conform to stereotypical gender markers, but weren't trans — possibly LGB or queer-identifying — could not be denied services.
Another benefit of the Obama-era rule on gender identity was that is it allowed trans patients to access numerous services, not just gender-confirmation surgery, but affordable hormones and mental health services opened up to millions.
These benefits and protections are heading for oblivion though, according to the Times. The Trump administration is pointing to a January 2017 ruling from a Texas federal judge who said the 2010 law did not cover gender identity or presentation.
“Congress did not understand ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity,’” Judge Reed O’Connor ruled. In the Affordable Care Act, he said, Congress “adopted the binary definition of sex.”
Trump's Health and Human Services department has drafted their own rule to rescind the protections, which is now with the White House for review. Trump's latest assault on trans people comes after he clumsily banned them from military service — an order temporarily blocked by courts — and removed guidance on accomodating trans youth in public schools.
23rd April 2018
Equalities watchdog says UK government ‘voter ID’ trials will disenfranchise transgender voters
Attachment 1071165 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
The equalites watchdog has issued a dire warning over the UK government’s upcoming pilots of ‘voter ID’ schemes.
The UK government is rolling out voter ID pilots across four local areas, Watford, Bromley, Gosport, and Woking, for the local government elections next month.
Under the plans, voters in the pilot areas will be required to show ID, such as a passport or driver’s licence, before they can vote – ahead of a planned wider rollout in future UK-wide elections.
The plans had already been likened to US state-level ‘voter ID’ laws, which are routinely criticised for disenfranchisement of African-Americans, the poor, and other minority groups unlikely to have such ID.
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which enforces equality and non-discrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales, has issued a bleak warning about the UK trials in a letter of concern sent to Cabinet Office minister David Lidington this month.
The letter, leaked to the Observer, reiterates concerns expressed by LGBT groups over the lack of procedures in place to accommodate transgender voters who often do not have up-to-date identification documents that match their stated gender presentation.
It also warns that the rules could have an impact on older people and people from ethnic minority communities.
Attachment 1071176
In the letter, the EHRC’s legal officer Claire Collier warns: “The Commission is concerned that the requirement to produce identification at the given local elections (Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking) will have a disproportionate impact on voters with protected characteristics, particularly older people, transgender people, people with disabilities and/or those from ethnic minority communities.
“In essence, there is a concern that some voters will be disenfranchised as a result of restrictive identification requirements.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was further proof of the UK’s “hostile environment” for ethnic minorities, while Liberal Democrat Ed Davey called on the government to “make clear they that will act” to prevent people being disenfranchised by the tests.
Earlier this year PinkNews asked the Cabinet Office and the four councils involved in the UK voter ID pilot to clarify how they will ensure that transgender voters are not impacted.
Attachment 1071177
PinkNews also asked what procedures have been put in place for transgender people whose current appearance does not match their official forms of ID, and asked what guidance will be provided to polling station volunteers on how to process issues relating to transgender voters.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson told PinkNews: “Local authorities are implementing Equality Impact Assessments and are working with partners to ensure that voter ID does not risk preventing any eligible voter from voting.
“It is in nobody’s interest that any elector is disenfranchised. Everyone eligible to vote will be able to do so.”
Each local authority was apparently required to complete an Equality Impact Assessment to ensure they take into account the needs of the trans community.
However, none of the councils could provide explicit details of any policies or guidance relating to transgender voters to PinkNews, nor any specific policy for resolving cases where voters are deemed by polling station volunteers to not match the appearance or details on their photo ID.
Attachment 1071180
Stonewall executive Ruth Hunt told PinkNews: “We are concerned by the potential unintended consequences of the Government’s voter identification pilots and their use of photo ID.
“Access to photo ID can prove very difficult for some communities, including those who are BAME, disabled, or homeless, and LGBT people will of course make up part of these groups.
“For trans and non-binary people in particular this has the potential to cause significant problems, as some may not have photo identification that accurately reflects their gender identity. It’s not hard to imagine the challenges and confusion that could result from that in a polling station.
“We’re urging the Government to reconsider the proposed pilots and instead take steps to engage communities in future schemes, to ensure that more people from more communities feel empowered to vote.
“For elections, and elected officials, to be truly representative of the communities they are supposed to serve, we need to put effort into encouraging more minority groups to use their votes; not put in place measures that make it more difficult.”
Bromley, Gosport, and Woking councils all specify that voters will need to bring forms of ID, which could dissuade vulnerable trans people from showing up.
The pilots in Bromley and Gosport require voters to bring photo ID such as a passport or driving license to vote, or alternatively a polling card plus a form of non-photo ID such as a birth certificate or utility bill.
Woking only permits forms of photo ID, and requires people without forms of accurate photo ID to apply for a local elector card ahead of the vote. In Watford, voters only need to bring their polling card in order to vote.
In March, the LGBT Foundation and Stonewall signed on to an open letter headed by the Electoral Reform Society criticising the plans, alongside more than 30 other charities and NGOs.
The letter warns about potential impact on minority groups including transgender voters.
It says: “We are writing to express our collective concerns for the Government plans to pilot identification in polling stations at the local government elections in May.
“The Government’s commitment to building a safe and secure democracy is commendable. Electoral fraud is a serious crime and has the potential to undermine public confidence in elections, even if conducted on a small scale.
“However, there is simply not enough evidence of voter fraud in the UK to justify these potentially damaging pilots, which threaten to disenfranchise members of some of the most vulnerable groups of society. In 2016 there were 44 allegations of impersonation – the type of fraud that voter ID is designed to tackle – out of nearly 64 million votes, reflecting just 1 case for every 1.5 million votes cast.
“By comparison, the Electoral Commission has warned that 3.5 million people (7.5% of the electorate) in Great Britain do not have access to any form of photo ID. 11 million electors (24% of the electorate) do not have access to a passport or photographic driving licence.
“As organisations who support and represent a diverse range of communities, we have serious concerns that these proposals present a significant barrier to democratic engagement and risk compromising a basic human right for some of the most marginalised groups in society. Decades of international studies show that restrictive identification requirements are particularly disadvantageous to certain voter groups who are less likely to possess approved ID for a variety of socio-economic and accessibility reasons.
“Voter ID reforms could therefore affect young people, older people, disabled people, transgender and gender non-conforming people, BAME communities and the homeless.
“We are aware that the Local Authorities participating in the pilots will be providing alternative options for people without the photographic identification to vote in the local elections in May. However, we believe the measures do not go far enough to alleviate the potential risk of disenfranchisement and deterrent to voting.
“We are also concerned that the Local Authorities involved have failed to carry out adequate equality impact assessments of the pilots on protected individuals in their areas. We would be grateful to learn what assurances you can give us in this regard.
“We are also very concerned about the low levels of public awareness of the pilots and proposed reforms. We fear that many people will be unaware of changes to the voting process.
“To ensure that voters are not disenfranchised, it is vital that there is wide coverage of the new voting arrangements and that communications are accessible to everyone. Unfortunately there is little evidence to suggest that this has taken place in the various pilot areas even though the elections are now only two months away.
“In December, the Cabinet Office published a five-year democratic engagement plan designed to increase participation in democracy. It is disappointing that these electoral pilots directly undermine this worthy objective.
“We hope you listen to these concerns and urgently reconsider your decision to run the pilots as planned in the May local elections. We would be very happy to meet with you to discuss these issues in more detail and how our concerns may be mitigated.”
April 25, 2018
All service chiefs: No unit cohesion problems with trans military service
Attachment 1071377U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein has become the latest service chief to say trans military service has caused no unit cohesion issues. (Photo public domain)
All military service chiefs have now publicly stated allowing transgender people to serve in the U.S. armed services hasn’t resulted in any problems with unit cohesion or morale, undercutting a report from Defense Secretary James Mattis that raised fears about those issues without a transgender military ban.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein became the latest and final service chief to affirm transgender military service has caused no such problems during committee testimony Tuesday under questioning from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
In response to Gillibrand’s question on whether he’s seen any issues of morale or discipline over allowing transgender people to serve in the military— a policy first implemented in the Obama years before President Trump sought to reverse it — Goldfein replied, “The way you present the question, I have not.”
“I will tell that you that I’ve talked to commanders in the field, first sergeants, senior NCOs and I’m committed to ensure that they have the right levels of guidance to understand these very personal issues that they’re dealing with,” Goldfein added. “And so, we continue to move forward to ensure that we understand the issues.”
Under further questioning from Gillibrand, Goldfein said he had met with transgender service members and learned two things from those meetings: Their commitment to service and “how individual each particular case is.”
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” Goldfein added. “It’s very personal to each individual, and that’s why I go back to we have an obligation to ensure that we understand this medically and that we can provide our commanders and supervisors the guidance they need to be able to deal with this, so we don’t have issues.”
Goldfein’s testimony is consistent with those of his fellow chiefs — Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller — who have each said the change in the Obama years resulting in transgender military service has resulted in no problems with morale or unit cohesion.
U.S. Coast Commandant Vice Adm. Karl Schultz — who’s head of the Coast Guard, but technically not a service chief — has also said transgender service has not caused problems. Last week, he said during congressional testimony he’s “not aware of any disciplinary or unit cohesion issues resulting from the opening of the Coast Guard to transgender individuals.”
The unanimous denials from the service chiefs of unit cohesion problems with transgender service contradicts the recommendation from Mattis delivered to the White House on February, which cited such issues as a reason to ban transgender people from the military.
Based upon that recommendation, Trump reaffirmed in March his transgender military ban after announcing last year on Twitter he’d seek to ban transgender people from the military “in any capacity.”
Aaron Belkin, director of the San Francisco-based Palm Center, said the unanimity among the service chiefs denying unit cohesion problems with transgender service speaks volumes.
“The chiefs have spoken with one voice in repudiating a central tenet of the Pentagon report just weeks after its publication,” Belkin said. “The report did not offer any evidence to sustain its assertion that transgender troops harm cohesion. Now we know why: Two years’ experience of inclusive service has not provided any.”
As a result of litigation filed against Trump by LGBT legal groups, the Defense Department has been enjoined from enforcing Trump’s ban and must allow transgender people to enlist and remain in service.
That litigation and those rulings came up when Gillibrand turned to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who was also present at the hearing.
Although Wilson acknowledged Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan represented the service on the panel of experts Mattis convened to come up with recommendations on transgender service, she declined to answer other questions.
When Gillibrand brought up a letter from the American Medical Association saying the Mattis recommendation defy medical science, Wilson said she had no knowledge about whether Air Force health professionals or outside groups had contributed to his panel, insisting she “wasn’t involved.”
Asked by Gillibrand point blank if she ever recommended a change in policy on transgender service as Air Force secretary, Wilson dodged and made a reference to pending litigation.
“This is a matter that’s in the courts, and I think it’s probably best when things are under litigation that that process play out,” Wilson said. “The guidance that the chief and I have given the service is that all airmen are being treated with dignity and respect and we comply with a court order on accessions as well as retaining airmen who have disclosed that they are transgender.”
Gillibrand retorted the “White House hasn’t taken your advice about leaving it the courts,” pointing out the Mattis recommendation and Trump’s military ban is contrary to rulings from judges in favor of transgender service. Wilson again referenced the litigation.
“That is now in the courts, the new recommended policy change” Wilson said. “While that is being considered by the courts, the court order that we’re under continues. We continue to access transgender members in accordance with the court order.”
Wilson has been praised by the anti-LGBT Family Research Council and has an anti-LGBT record as a member of Congress. As Air Force secretary, Wilson sought to have a penalty lifted on an Air Force commander who refused to recognize the same-sex spouse of a subordinate in retirement materials.
Belkin said the Wilson’s responses to Gillibrand under questioning were an “artful dodge” and raise questions about the secretary’s level of involvement in the trans ban.
“She said she wasn’t part of the panel, but the real question is whether she (and her fellow culture warriors at the Family Research Council) were part of the process, not just the panel,” Belkin said.
April 26, 2018
Stlpublicradio Cut & Paste: Transgender group art show aims for visibility as safety issues linger
Attachment 1071553 This image combines two portraits by different artists in the Metro Trans Umbrella Group's "Transcending the Spectrum" art exhibition.
METRO TRANS UMBRELLA GROUP
Over the past five years, the Metro Trans Umbrella Group art show has more than doubled in size. This year’s event at Koken Art Factory in south St. Louis on Saturday boasts 35 visual artists and 25 stage performers.
The exhibition has expanded as more transgender artists feel safe to show their creations, according to curator Alex Johnmeyer and artist Eric Schoolcraft. But, they noted, growing visibility also highlights the dangers of being seen. To address that, organizers put a safety team in place to escort attendees to and from their cars.
“The murder rate for trans people is staggering, especially for trans women of color,” Schoolcraft said.
Last year, nearly three dozen transgender people died violently in the United States.
In our latest Cut & Paste podcast, Schoolcraft and Johnmeyer talk about the issues transgender people still face, the “Transcending the Spectrum” art exhibition and their personal stories of coming out.