Transgenders get their own beauty parlour

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/delhi/Transgenders-get-their-own-beauty-parlour/articleshow/5074210.cms

"Transgenders who wanted a feminine appearance found it almost impossible to get any beauty treatment anywhere. The parlours for women just did not take them and those meant for men would make them a subject of ridicule. Hence the concept of a beauty parlour for transgenders found favour and the initiative started as a self help group effort in April," says Yadavendra Singh, who heads the Pahal centre in Faridabad.

Hmmm..sound familiar?

Harriet Harman Ignores Tatchell's Letter About Equality Bill

http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=27678&catid=950

Harriet Harman

OutRage!'s Peter Tatchell issued a statement today revealing that Harriet Harman, minister for Women & Equalities, has ignored a letter he wrote to her protesting at the exclusion of LGBT people from the anti-harassment clauses of the Equality Bill. "The government is ignoring all requests to explain why its Equality Billexplicitly denies lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people protection against harassment," Tatchell writes. "Protection is offered on the grounds of race, gender and disibility, but not on the grounds of sexual orientation or transgender identity. Why are we excluded? It is time Labour gave us an explanation.........

Why must we hate? Why must there be violence?

Isn't he handsome? I was just watching him sleep and thought how perfect he is. There are four other dogs in the house and all of them are equally beautiful.

It seems to me all animals including humans are just that - beautiful.

Humans get ugly when they are selfish, self centered and greedy. They kill each other for no apparent reason.

Maybe if everyone saw the beauty in all creatures, we would have a better world.

Transgender Comic Ian Harvie Shares His Tales

http://www.digitalcity.com/2009/09/29/transgender-comic-ian-harvie-shares-his-tales/

Ian Harvie has been a stand up comic for seven years. He has a wealth of material as he is the first female-to-male transgendered comic. He is currently on tour with Margaret Cho. Someday, I hope to see him recreate "Who's on First?" withMurray Hill while sitting at a table with Buck Angel. Someday. Until then, check out my interview with this talented comic.........

Mona Rae Mason to Present Findings of the Transgender Project at Tiffany Club FE 2010

http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=58740

......The Transgender Project was a longitudinal study from 2004 – 2009 of the male to female transgender population of the greater New York City metropolitan area. This research project was conduced by National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. and funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R-01) from a grant proposal “HIV/STD’s In a High Risk Urban Population: Male to Female Transgender” To date, it is the most in depth and largest study of its kind. Dr. Larry Nuttbrock (NDRI) was the Principal investigator. Dr’s. Walter Boctking, Andrew Rosenblum, and Sel Hwahng were the co-investigators: Jeffrey Becker, MPH, MSW and Monica Macri, MPH, were the research associates. Five hundred fifty volunteer male to female transgender persons between the ages of 19 and 59 years of age from different social and cultural backgrounds and of all of the transgender community, as well as numerous stages of transition were interviewed. The study looked at a number of areas: mental health, suicide ideation, sexual identity, employment, income levels, education levels, HIV/STI prevalence, family relationships, hormone use and more.......

Bogus Ex-Gay Research Touted by Evangelicals

http://www.progressivepuppy.com/the_progressive_puppy/2009/08/bogus-exgay-research-touted-by-evangelicals.html

I attended a lecture last Friday by Dr. Yarhouse and Dr. Tan at Regent University. I have to give him credit that he does not tout a 53% success rate, the small sample number is problematic and the funding of the study by Exodus raises eyebrows

.

I have to admit I went there expecting the worse and was pleasantly surprised by the positive dialog and respect shown to the LGBT folks attending.

It is always good to see both sides of the coin.

.........Florida Baptist Witness crows over the meaningless data: In findings that directly contradict mainstream academic thought, 53 percent of subjects in a new seven-year study reported successfully leaving homosexuality and living happily as heterosexual or celibate persons. The study by psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University is a follow-up to one released two years ago in the form of a book, Ex-Gays? That study was called groundbreaking (by Christians who believe the earth is 6000 years old)and the latest set of data is no less significant, the researchers say. (FBW concedes that the researchers' salaries were paid by Exodus International, the largest ex-gay ministry in the country.)..........

Tyra Banks Show Features Story of Teen’s Alarming Attempt to Turn Straight

http://glaadblog.org/2009/09/28/tyra-banks-show-features-story-of-teens-alarming-attempt-to-turn-straight/

September 28, 2009 by Tania Torres, GLAAD's Religion, Faith & Values

Tyra Banks interviewed sixteen-year-old Jeffrey who was the subject of a dramatic video posted on YouTube by Manifested Glory Ministries in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where ministers targeted him for a “casting out of evil spirits.” The video shows Jeffrey flailing on the floor surrounded by several church members who call out for the “homosexual demon” to exit the boy’s body—and of him throwing up during the process.........

.....GLAAD continues to provide resources to journalists about so-called “ex-gay” programs. When the exorcism video first came out in June, GLAAD directed The Associated Press to speak to the Rev. Roland Stringfellow, who spoke firsthand as an African American who had been subjected to exorcisms as a young gay man. He said he was put in front of the church as members shouted “demon of homosexuality come out of him” and said, “it caused nothing but shame and embarrassment.”

It is also important that media outlets who cover this topic know that the American Psychological Association recently concluded there is no scientific evidence that therapies to change orientation work—and these attempts can be harmful.

National Coming Out Day Billboard ‘Ripped to Shreds’ in Memphis

http://glaadblog.org/2009/09/28/national-coming-out-day-billboard-‘ripped-to-shreds’-in-memphis/

September 28, 2009 by Seth Adam, GLAAD's National News Fellow

Memphis Flyer reported on Monday that a billboard which depicted a U.S. Marine alongside the words “I’m gay and I protected your freedom” was “ripped to shreds” late Friday night. The billboard was sponsored by the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC) and was meant to highlight National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.

The marine featured on the billboard is Tim Smith, a Memphis local. Smith served from 2001-2004 and was discharged under the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy just 20 days before he was set to deploy to Iraq.

Sex columnist: Sex education valuable for every student

http://www.theorion.com/features/sex-columnist-sex-education-valuable-for-every-student-1.576166

....I remember hearing about transgender people in high school and thinking they were “freaks.” When I took a human sexuality course years ago at Folsom Lake College, the discussions on alterative lifestyles made me more understanding. Later, when I met a transgender person for the first time, it was no longer an issue in my mind.....

Freaks? Yikes. I replied that sexual orientation and gender identity are not lifestyles. We do not get to choose either.

Punished for being yourself

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/punished-for-being-yourself-20090929-gb0j.html

DENNIS ALTMAN

September 30, 2009

Image: Judy Green

Urgent action is needed to fight a rise in homophobia and hold governments accountable for human rights violations.

THE current president of the United Nations General Assembly, Libya's Ali Abdussalam Treki, has proclaimed that being gay ''is not acceptable''. Leave aside the bad joke that allows the representative of a nasty dictatorial regime to chair the assembly, Treki's comments echo a wave of homophobia that appears to be a strengthening theme in global politics.....

Tackling Bullying Based on Sexual Identity

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2009/09/tackling_the_bullying_of_glbt.html

School bullying is a serious issue almost everywhere. But there's a growing concern about bullying targeting a particular population of students.

Students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (or who other students assume are) experience not only taunting and ridicule, but physical violence from some of their peers....

Coming Out in Middle School

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27out-t.html?_r=1&em

By BENOIT DENIZET-LEWIS

Published: September 23, 2009

Austin didn’t know what to wear to his first gay dance last spring. It was bad enough that the gangly 13-year-old from Sand Springs, Okla., had to go without his boyfriend at the time, a 14-year-old star athlete at another middle school, but there were also laundry issues. “I don’t have any clean clothes!” he complained to me by text message, his favored method of communication......

Violence Against the Transgendered Only Getting Worse

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=96920

Nearly a month has passed since the Aug. 26 murder of Ty’lia "NaNa Boo" Mack, a 21-year-old transgender woman, in Washington, D.C. But the violent crime remains on the top of the minds of transgender advocates nationwide. In its wake, many are left wondering whether crimes like the one against Mack are given the sort of national media attention they should. While no one disputes the horror of a death like the one of Matthew Shepard the Wyoming college student left to die on a fence, some do question whether more societally "marginal" people--often transsexuals and the transgendered-- received less scrutiny by the media or sympathy from the general public.....

Transgender child, job are focus of complaint against TSC

http://www.jconline.com/article/20090929/NEWS02/909290323

Tippecanoe County's Human Relations Commission is investigating a discrimination complaint involving the Tippecanoe School Corp. and a transgender student. According to Mike Piggott, commission chairman, Trudy Paxton of Lafayette filed the complaint against the TSC on behalf on herself and her daughter last week during the commission's quarterly meeting.

In the complaint, Paxton claims that she lost her job and her daughter was forced to change schools because of discrimination against her daughter.....

New Sanctions Against Iran Seem More Likely

UNITED NATIONS -- The revelation of Iran's undeclared nuclear-enrichment plant has increased the likelihood of a new round of sanctions against Tehran, but numerous obstacles remain, including opposition from China, ambivalence from Russia and evidence that an array of existing sanctions have so far failed to have much effect.

In lieu of sanctions, copies of former US Vice President hopeful Sarah Palin's memoir "Going Rogue" will be air dropped over the entire country of Iran. The US State Department commented, "If we cannot starve them, we will bore them to death."

The Real March on Washington

http://www.seattlepi.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1992

Alam Speaks on Queer Muslim Issues

http://www.newuniversity.org/2005/10/news/alam_speaks_on_queer62/

To commemorate National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, Faisal Alam, the founder and former director of the gay Muslim support group Al-Fatiha, spoke about the lives of gay Muslims and his predictions for the future of the gay Muslim community......

......Although Oct. 11 is an important date for all in the LGBT community, it holds a special meaning for Alam, because it marks the date of the first meeting of Al-Fatiha, the group he founded with the purpose of ‘promot[ing] the progressive Islamic notions of peace, equality and justice’ and, more specifically, helping ‘Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their allies, families and friends.......’

PRIDE FESTIVAL DRAWS CROWD, PROTESTERS

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/09/28/News/Pride.Festival.Draws.Crowd.Protesters-3785088.shtml

.........Of the protesters at the festival, the most visible and prominent were the picketers

at the corner of West Main and Broad Streets. There, two men held signs that read "Jesus Saves From Hell........"

UNT to offer unisex bathrooms on campus or LET US PEE IN PEACE

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-regionalroundup_28met.ART.State.Edition1.4bcc88d.html

The University of North Texas plans to offer unisex bathrooms in the lobbies of most of its residence halls and dining rooms.

The decision came in a vote last week by the UNT Residence Hall Association's general assembly.

The private, single-stall unisex restrooms will help transgender or transitioning students feel more welcome on campus, said Hunter Nelson, president of the Residence Hall Association. The facilities are much like the family bathrooms seen in malls and movie theaters.

"I think this is one step toward fully accepting every person no matter what sex they are," Nelson said.

"This is one small thing the university can do to improve community on campus and for students not to have to worry about using the correct restroom."

Forum discusses LGBT meanings and modes

http://www.sltrib.com/Utah/ci_13434305

A transsexual who was a woman but is now a man is attracted to women. What is his sexual orientation?

After a small pause, one of the nearly two dozen people listening to Cynthia Martinez speak about the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement shouted "heterosexual."

"Right," said Martinez, the director of the University of Utah's LGBT Resource Center.........

Study: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender middle school students harassed more

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/09/study_lesbian_gay_bisexual_and.html

A national study

released last week shows middle school lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students face more hostile school climates, but have less school resources and support than high school students.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network surveyed about 6,200 secondary students for their 2007 National School Climate Survey. Their report is based on responses from 625 LGBT middle school students.

Findings include:

• Nine out of 10 students said were harassed in schools based on their sexual orientation.
• About 59 percent of students experienced physical harassment.
• Eight out of 10 students reported hearing homophobic epithets and 63 percent heard staff make homophobic remarks...............

Thomas Payne - a radical thinker

I view things as they are, without regard

to place or person; my country is the world,

and my religion is to do good.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. Thomas Paine

Memphis promotes National Coming Out Day

http://www.outandaboutnewspaper.com/article/3700

The Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center has launched a billboard campaign to celebrate National Coming Out Day and the center's 20-year-history.

A series of billboards will promote NCOD in Memphis, courtesy of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

"For our commemoration of National Coming Out Day (October 11), we decided that we must be more visible as an organization," said the organization in a release on its Web site. "We're using the phrase 'unafraid and unashamed' as our rallying cry. We are unafraid of living an open and honest life, and unashamed to be the people we were born to be. It's a strong message of confidence and self-assuredness that we believe will help others in our community who are not able to be live freely and openly. We are "coming out" as an organization because others cannot."

Why Do Wise Grown Men Long For To Wear Womens Clothes

http://www.in2town.co.uk/Erotic-Stories-Online/Why-Do-Wise-Grown-Men-Long-For-To-Wear-Womens-Clothes/menu-id-4979

What do the words cross-dresser or cross dressing conjure up in your mind. For greater, it's practicably Dame Edna Everage, weird sexual fetishes, or men who don't know what or whom they want to be. It's strange how the very mention of cross-dressers or cross-dressing seems to be solely associated with men. Men are not the only populace who cross clothe, and cross dressers are not just men with weird sexual fetishes. To help you understand further, let us prime look at the meaning of the phrase gender identity.......

'Partners often bear the brunt of transition'

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Partners_often_bear_the_brunt_of_transition-7423.aspx

“We’ve had an overwhelming number of people contact us — some in total desperation, suicidal in some cases — and they have nowhere, absolutely nowhere to turn,” says Frances Mahon, one of the four-person team of facilitators for the new Trans Partner Network (TPN).....

....She says partners of trans people often feel invisible during their partner’s transition. “While we support our partners through their transition our own concerns are often put aside and actually it’s partners who often bear the brunt of the transition,” she says.

“When you have questions about the process of transition you can’t really turn to your partner during that time, because it’s such a stressful time for them. Then there are further isolation questions with class concerns or disability or other issues that affect people.”

What We Want, and How We Are Going to Get It

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20090909004826682

By Jake Carman BAAM Issue #25 (Boston)

The most common and valid criticism of anarchism is that it appears to lack a concrete and cohesive vision for the future. This criticism is valid not because such a vision doesn’t exist, but because the modern anarchist movement has thus far failed to present one penetrating enough to be endorsed by the majority of anarchists and like-minded people and to present it in such a way as to be widely understood and accepted......

Sneak preview Sunday: Riot Acts Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance

http://www.examiner.com/x-21725-NY-GLBT-Events-Examiner~y2009m9d1-Sneak-preview-Sunday-Riot-Acts-Flaunting-Gender-Deviance-in-Music-Performance

It's an old and tired story: mainstream media are willing--thrilled even--to talk about trans and gender variant people, as long as the discussion is about their victim status. But trans created art is turning the mainstream media world on its gender binary lovin' head.

Viewpoint: Flyers left hanging on Kalamazoo doors cause confusion

Interesting and spot on.

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/09/viewpoint_flyers_left_hanging.html

......Curiously, they ask if you want your wife, girlfriend or daughter in that bathroom, but they never just address female voters directly and say “Do you want to be in there?” This is because they are trying to scare a specific group of people and are not asking the general population to just think rationally. I guarantee that 60 years ago very similar groups were passing out very similar flyers.......

Massive police presence in Pittsburgh takes fight out of protesters

All capitalist states are police states. Governments control by force whether it be the military or it's natural extension the police. The United States is no different.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/09/26/2009-09-26_massive_police_presence_in_pittsburgh_takes_fight_out_of_protesters.html

BY MICHAEL SAUL DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Saturday, September 26th 2009, 4:00 AM

Loeb/Getty

Police and protesters in Pittsburgh face off as world leaders meet at the G20 summit.

RELATED NEWS

• ARTICLES
• 17 to 19 protesters arrested in Pittsburgh at G20 summit

PITTSBURGH - Police in riot gear lined the streets of the Group of 20 host city in an overwhelming show of force Friday as thousands of protesters chanted, waved signs and blew bubbles.

Unlike Thursday, when police tossed tear gas and fired rubber bullets to rout protesters who threw rocks and smashed store windows, Friday's "People's March" through the hilly streets of Pittsburgh produced no serious clashes.

The presence of hundreds of police sparked outrage among the demonstrators, who never got closer than half a mile to the G20 meeting site.............

Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/09/26/2009-09-26_massive_police_presence_in_pittsburgh_takes_fight_out_of_protesters.html#ixzz0SEJFqOob

BANTON HATE CANCELLED IN DETROIT

Jennifer Elisabeth Trinidad-Mendez September 25 at 6:35pm

Thanks for stopping the Murder Music You said NO and the Majestic Theatre group listened! Triangle Foundation is pleased to announce that the Buju Banton performance scheduled for next week at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit has been canceled. Thank you to all those who contacted the Majestic Theatre group expressing your disdain over Banton’s Detroit pending performance. The Majestic has been friendly to the LGBT community for many years, and they expressed that they wanted to do the right thing. The owners have given us their ear and now we’d like to help them. The late notice cancellation of Banton’s performance left the Majestic with large fees and an open evening.

Homophobe and hate monger Buju Banton under fire

http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=37807

I wonder why there have been no, nada, zippo protests in Hampton Roads, Virginia. This maniac is performing here this weekend

http://cancelbujubanton.wetpaint.com/

Cancel Buju Banton "Rasta Got Hate" Home

Open letter to Buju Banton’s manager Tracii McGregor 3 RICHMOND, VA SHOWS CANCELED! UPDATE: Show added at Skateland Of Richmond CANCELS! ORLANDO & TAMPA SHOWS CANCELED! SALT LAKE CITY SHOW CANCELED! Buju Banton concert canceled over anti-gay message, company says CINCINNATI & COLUMBUS CANCELED! Buju Banton Columbus OH show cancelled by promoter HE'S BACK - Keep Buju Banton out of Ohio!!! facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132859954071 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA CANCELED! First Avenue cancels appearance by anti-gay reggae artist

Endocrine Guidelines Developed for Transsexuals

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Endocrine-Guidelines-Developed-for-Transsexuals/ArticleNewsFeed/Article/detail/629314?contextCategoryId=40126

FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new clinical practice guideline offers advice for the endocrine treatment of transsexuals, according to a special article published in the September Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Wylie C. Hembree, M.D., of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues developed a practice guideline and used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to assess the strength of recommendations and the quality of supporting evidence, which they describe as low or very low.

The researchers write that transsexual people seeking to develop physical characteristics of the desired gender need a safe, effective hormone regimen. They advise against endocrine treatments for pre-pubertal children, and say that endocrine treatments for adolescents and adults should be based on a recommendation from mental health professionals whose diagnostic criteria are confirmed by the endocrinologist. In transsexual adolescents, they recommend puberty-suppressing treatment with GnRH analogues until the age of 16 years, possibly followed by the use of cross-sex hormones. In adults, they recommend the suppression of endogenous sex hormones, maintenance of gender-appropriate sex-hormone levels, and monitoring for known risks.

"When a transsexual individual decides to have sex reassignment surgery, both the endocrinologist and the mental health professional must certify that he or she satisfies the eligibility and readiness criteria of the standards of care," the authors write. "There is some concern that estrogen therapy may cause an increased risk for venous thrombosis during or after surgery. For this reason, the surgeon and the endocrinologist should collaborate in making a decision about the use of hormones during the month before surgery."

Be it G8 or G20, activists say protests to continue

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2551464520090925

By Mark Egan

PITTSBURGH, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Group of 8 rich nations may have become the Group of 20 to be more inclusive of emerging economies, but activists vow to go on decrying capitalism no matter how many leaders attend the summits.

At its summit here, the G20 said it will become the forum for global economic management, giving rising powers such as China more clout and including countries such as Mexico, Indonesia and South Africa who are not in the G8......

SPEAK OUT: Transgender bill unfair to majority

http://www.patriotledger.com/opinions/x765653558/SPEAK-OUT-Transgender-bill-unfair-to-majority

Would anyone care to wager the writter of this letter has never felt the sting of discrimination? Furthermore, I will pay double or nothing that he is white and middle class. Put your money

where your mouth is, please!

The writers of a recent letter on transgender rights use the phrase “common sense

dictates the passage of an act relative to gender-based

discrimination and hate crimes.”

They also seem to reference “equal protection under the law” and often reference hate crimes.

I am sick of hearing two phrases in this country: Hate crimes and racism.

If there is something one group does not like, it is referred to as a hate crime or a racist crime.

Equal justice under the law means the same penalty for the same crime................

G-20 leaders declare summit a success, but for whom?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hKIeHbuH8L_gXQTGEVgONspx19FwD9AUEJEG2

PITTSBURGH — Major world leaders formed themselves into a new board of directors for the

global economy Friday, vowing to overhaul lax financial regulations and work harder to control dangerous imbalances that contributed

to a financial meltdown.

President Barack Obama and the other leaders declared that going forward, their meetings of the Group of 20 nations would be the primary way of coordinating global economic policy. That group will take over the job that had been done for more than three decades by a smaller group of the wealthiest countries known as the G-8......