Transgender & Intersex: May 2010
Making Change One Story at a Time
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 30, 2010 | 1:00 PM |Editors' Note: Masen Davis is the Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center, a civil rights organization advocating for California's transgender communities. California has been a real leader in transgender civil rights. We have legal protections in employment, housing, schools,...Read More
Vintage Trans Book: Man Into Woman
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 30, 2010 | 11:30 AM |I found this intriguing old book listed among pulp fiction titles (what?!) on eBay. Despite the tacky cover, it is a serious biography about the sex change of Einar Wegener, husband of artist Gerda Wegener, whose work I blogged here...Read More
Incrementalism Shoe on the Other Foot on DADT
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 28, 2010 | 4:00 PM |John Aravosis of Americablog yesterday called out the liberal Center for American Progress (CAP). As he notes, CAP has been on a rather public campaign to take credit for the entire Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromise that has much of...Read More
Am I A Smug, Privileged Jerk?
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 28, 2010 | 1:00 PM |Recently, someone suggested to me that I am condescending and obtuse towards low-income transgender people of color. She noted that I insist on putting white wealthy trans women as the judges of what is legitimate, and worthy of further action....Read More
Darling Man Dance: Early 20th century gay/drag ball
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 28, 2010 | 10:30 AM |Another fabulous find, this vintage photo seems to be ca. 1920s-30s. I love everything about this precious piece of history -- except for not knowing the story behind it. A private event? A gay nightclub? US? Berlin? Agh! Any thoughts,...Read More
Open thread: positive trans blogs
Filed by Austen Crowder | May 27, 2010 | 4:00 PM |I'll be honest: sometimes, I need to see proof that others are being successful in transition. I need to see people happy, talking about their lives in their chosen gender, sharing stories. (Yes, I focus on the trans female spectrum,...Read More
(You Gotta) Fight For Our Right (To Potty)
Filed by Monica Roberts | May 27, 2010 | 12:00 PM |Projectors, been a while since I posted one of my infamous song rewrites here. It was originally triggered by an idea from Ethan St. Pierre and Bet Power, and I quickly came up with the remixed lyrics for it. The...Read More
WPATH Statement on Gender Identity Disorder
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 27, 2010 | 10:30 AM |There's been a lot of controversy in the trans community over whether "Gender Identity Disorder" should be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, and from the World Health Organization's psychiatric manuals as well. I've...Read More
Hindsight is 20/20: Vintage Cher poster
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 26, 2010 | 1:30 PM |With apologies to Chaz for dredging this up from the dusty closets of cinema history. But, seriously, how could one resist?...Read More
Smart, Sexy and Making A Difference: Transgender Legal Defense Fund Celebrates 5th Anniversary
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 26, 2010 | 10:30 AM |In my role as your fabulous celebrity style correspondent, I attended a benefit for the New York City-based Transgender Legal Defense Fund last night. This was smart, sexy and making a difference, but it was no empty, glitzy, shallow fund-raiser....Read More
The kind of girl I am
Filed by Cassandra Keenan | May 24, 2010 | 7:00 PM |A lot of guys, I make them abruptly blurt out, "What's your name?" after talking to me for a mere minute or two. They are overcome with excitement because I am a bubbly type and also naturally friendly to the...Read More
The VA has a New Directive on the Treatment of Transgender Veterans
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 24, 2010 | 1:00 PM |Editors' note: Monica F. Helms is the president of the Transgender Americans Veterans Association. The VA has a new directive on the treatment of Transgender Veterans, but they won't release it. This is becoming a theme with the Obama Administration....Read More
Nevada DMV debuts new form to change gender marker
Filed by Cassandra Keenan | May 23, 2010 | 5:30 PM |Transgender Nevadans had reason to celebrate recently as the state's motor vehicles department decided to no longer require documentation of genital reconstructive surgery in order to switch applicants' gender marker on their driver's licenses. Local activists hailed it as a...Read More
Bitch Pulled From Festival Lineup
Filed by Tobi Hill-Meyer | May 21, 2010 | 5:00 PM |After discovering her transphobic history, the musical performer Bitch, previously of Bitch & Animal, was unceremoniously told that she would not be performing at OUT/LOUD, a queer women's music festival which she had previously been set up to headline tonight....Read More
Drag-tacular! Vintage photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 18, 2010 | 4:30 PM |No idea of the date or place or people, and I'm hoping perhaps at least one of these ladies look familiar to one of Bilerico's readers. Looks like quite a frolicsome affair, possibly 1950s?...Read More
Get the facts before you rant, or: ENDA will not exterminate trans women
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 15, 2010 | 2:00 PM |Editors' note: Ryan Blackhawke is a board member and the director of online communications at the Ingersoll Gender Center. Those of you who have ever met me can tell you that I can be impetuous and impulsive. I can be...Read More
Sacramento Activists Demand Employment Protections
Filed by Joe Mirabella | May 15, 2010 | 12:00 PM |Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists entered public bathrooms Friday afternoon at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, CA. They handed out fliers and engaged the public in conversation about the importance of employment nondiscrimination policies, like the ENDA. Organizer Sara...Read More
Dominic's YouTube video is back up
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 14, 2010 | 2:00 PM |Earlier this week I posted about Dominic Scaia, the transsexual man whose video was removed from YouTube for "nudity," even though he was only shirtless in it. I remarked that YouTube didn't seem to have a problem with male shirtlessness,...Read More
Trans teen's killer gets 99 years
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 13, 2010 | 1:30 PM |The man who pled guilty to killing Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado got sentenced to 99 years in prison: A man accused of decapitating a gay teenager and burning his body pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Wednesday and was sentenced...Read More
UPDATE: The Pres, the Prom, and the Alliance
Filed by Amy Hunter | May 10, 2010 | 3:00 PM |If you read my original post: "The President, the Promise and the Alliance" from last Thursday, then you know it was about the Kalamazoo Michigan high school where President Obama will be delivering the commencement address this June. That post's...Read More
History Repeating: Family Guy goes transphobic
Filed by Bil Browning | May 10, 2010 | 2:00 PM |After watching last night's extremely transphobic Family Guy episode, I'm reminded of the Propellerheads song that features Shirley Bassey. Once again, Seth McFarlane has resorted to transphobic "humor" in what seems to be an increasingly desperate grasp for ratings. After...Read More
The catch-22 of trans activism
Filed by Cassandra Keenan | May 10, 2010 | 12:00 PM |I'm guessing that there have been many transgender folks who have struggled with this dilemma at some point: they're mistreated because of who they are, they subsequently want to do something about it, but then they ultimately decide against it...Read More
Can men go shirtless on YouTube?
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 10, 2010 | 11:00 AM |Dominic Scaia, the Canadian transsexual man who was blocked from Facebook for showing his chest after top surgery a couple months ago, went and did it again and got a video blocked from YouTube for the same reason. He emailed...Read More
The Cosplay of our Mothers: vintage photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 10, 2010 | 10:30 AM |Another beautiful but enigmatic find, and appears to be turn-of-the century. Not sure if this is a scene from a play restaged into a photo or just a humorous postcard having fun with gender roles. Love that white satin suit!...Read More
Crossdressing Chinese reality show contestant gets rude treatment
Filed by Bil Browning | May 06, 2010 | 2:30 PM |China's Super Boy is a spinoff of their Super Girl reality show. The two hits, like American Idol, are based on England's popular Pop Idol franchise. Liu Zhu (??), a regional contestant from Nanchong, Sichuan province, didn't get a very...Read More
Texas considers another transsexual-cissexual marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 05, 2010 | 2:00 PM |Texas's AG, who recently stepped into a court case from a married, same-sex couple asking to divorce in Texas, is being asked to consider a marriage license for a cis woman and a trans woman. The trans woman, Sabrina Hill,...Read More
Current ENDA Language Regarding Transgender Workers Revealed, Concerns Mount
Filed by Rebecca Juro | May 04, 2010 | 4:00 PM |During his show Sunday night, TransFM founder and host Ethan St. Pierre received a call-in from International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) Executive Director Denise LeClair, who revealed for the first time what the current language regarding transgender workers and...Read More
Dada and Gender: Rrose Selavy
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 04, 2010 | 10:30 AM |I recently did a blog show about Man Ray, notoriously strange and sexually libertine Dadaist artist. For me, one of Ray's most interesting Dadaistic excursions was his collaboration with another famous Dadist, Marcel Duchamp. Together they created a portfolio of...Read More
