Clipmarks | Transgender Clips

Iranian Gay Teen Faces Hanging In Iran As Britain Denies Asylum

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:42:20 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: "According to human rights organizations more than 4,000 gay men and women have been hanged in Iran since the revolution in 1979. Homosexuality is considered illegal in Iran."

Clip Source: www.scoop.co.nz

The flight that will take young Medhi Kazemi from Amsterdam to London, from where he will be deported to Iran, is booked for tuesday february 26th. Everyone Group is appealing to the European Union to overrule the British government's decision, and grant the 19-year-old political asylum.

Medhi is an Iranian homosexual who in November 2005 left Teheran to go and study in London. He was forced to apply for asylum to the British Home Office after the discovery, by the Iranian authorities of his homosexual relationship with another boy, who had already been sentenced to death and executed in April 2006.

"We invite civil society to express its indignation towards the actions of the British Government, aimed at undermining the values of freedom and dignity of the individual".

say the representatives of EveryOne

Clip Source: www.thewordofgeorge.com

Two gay men being executed in Iran

Picture courtesy of Homan, the Iranian Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Organization. Yeah, a blog from those people who don’t exist

A 'living library'

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:58:37 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.csmonitor.com

Borrow a Muslim? A 'living library' to prick stereotypes

In 12 countries, people check out people for a 30-minute conversation to challenge their own prejudices.

London - It works like a conventional library. Tables and chairs are set out for study. Librarians bustle purposefully, staffing the checkout desk.

Except these aren't books on loan. They're people.

Welcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.

At this east London library on a recent Saturday, there were 26 "books" available, including a Muslim, an immigrant, a transgender individual, a witch, and an Indian atheist.

Readers borrow them for half an hour, hear their narrative, question them, even pry a little, and – so the theory goes – break down some of their preconceptions and stop "judging the book by the cover."

Tags: library

'Transsexuality gene' makes women feel like men

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:46:38 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Complex behaviors are never the result of a single factor, or a single gene.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

A gene variant has been identified that appears to be associated with female-to-male transsexuality – the feeling some women have that they belong to the opposite sex.

While such complex behaviour is likely the result of multiple genes, environmental and cultural factors, the researchers say the discovery suggests that transsexuality does have a genetic component.

The variation is in the gene for an enzyme called cytochrome P17, which is involved in the metabolism of sex hormones.

Its presence leads to higher than average tissue concentrations of male and female sex hormones, which may in turn influence early brain development.

However, Janett Scott, former president of the Beaumont Society, a UK support group for transgender people, is concerned that positing a biological basis for transsexuality may encourage people to try and cure it

Tags: gender study, transexuality, genetics

Pro-bullying Christians

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:00:52 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

Why would conservative Christian groups in North Carolina be against a bill that would “require more detailed school policies about bullying” at school, protecting students from abuse and school violence?

Take a wild guess.

Yep… because gay students would be protected under this bill as well.

And we can’t have that now, can we…?

Mark Creech, executive director the Christian Action League of North Carolina, warns there is a “hidden agenda” behind the bill to negate what he describes as the “strongest voices of criticism” against homosexual, bisexual, and transgender behavior in society.

“The evil of the legislation,” says Creech, “is that it elevates sexual orientation and gender identity or expression on the same levels with the enumerations of race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, physical appearance, mental, physical or sensory disability — which are all immutable or unchangeable characteristics.”

Gay Couple Voted Homecoming Princes

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:44:42 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Congratulations guys!

Clip Source: www.montereyherald.com

Students vote gay couple homecoming princes

10/26/2007

For what appears to be the first time in school history, the Davis Senior High student body has elected a gay couple into homecoming royalty. With each boasting a white sash declaring his title as "Prince," the two 16-year-olds rode through the city of Davis on a recent Friday afternoon in the school's annual homecoming parade.

They stood in the back of a pickup truck, arm-in-arm, smiling warmly despite the rain.

"Is a liberal town," interrupts his boyfriend of four months, Raphael. "Go 10 miles in any other direction and you'll get some other feeling."

"It's a sign that LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender

and queer) people are getting recognized everywhere," she said. "LGBTQ are considered vital members of the school community and are able to participate in school events in the same full way that their straight fellow students are able to."

no public outcry — not by campus leaders, not by students and not by the community.

Tags: usa, homosexuality, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, tolerance

Thailand: Toilets for Transvestite Students

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:15:35 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Thai school introduces toilets for transvestite students

Clip Source: siliconium.net

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A school in north-east Thailand has introduced toilets for transvestites after a survey showed that more than 200 students saw themselves as transgender, a director said today.

Sitisak Sumontha said he believed the 2,600-student Kampang school, in north-eastern Thailand, was the first secondary to introduce unisex toilets.

Clip Source: www.photoatlas.com

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

"These students want to be able to go to the restroom in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped," he added.

The toilets are designated by a sign depicting a human figure split in half - part man in blue and part woman in red.

"I'm so happy about this," student Vichai Sangsakul told Thailand's PBS news channel. "It looks bad going to female restrooms. What would other people think?"

Clip Source: www.wingtv.net

Clip Source: www.jamd.com

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Transgenders are often seen on TV soap operas in Thailand and are common in the capital, Bangkok, although rural areas are more conservative.

Clip Source: www.virtual-cozumel.com

Clip Source: i.current.com

Clip Source: img173.imageshack.us

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

the ministry planned to count the number of transgender university students.

Clip Source: images.google.ie

Tags: thailand, sex

Kids "get it!"

Mon, 07 May 2007 23:58:34 GMT

clipped by: zasel
clipper's remarks: Bravo teenagers. It seems, unlike so many of your parents, YOU are beginning to understand that homophobia is ugly. You give us hope that your generation will make the big changes necessary for society's acceptance of diversity in life.

Clip Source: www.durhamregion.com

Kids gather to defeat homophobia
Teenagers less judgemental than in the past

On April 18, more than 350 Ajax High School students took a vow to remain silent in support of ending harassment and bullying against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In addition, 270 students wore a sticker supporting the cause.

It's good to see teenagers are making sure social change is happening. When it comes to issues such as race and sexuality, today's youth are much more accepting than those of the past, a good sign considering racism and homophobia are still pretty prevalent among older generations.

What was especially good about the Day of Silence was how many students were brave enough to support an event that would cause some people to persecute them, regardless of their sexuality.

Statistics indicate 20 per cent of LGBT students will miss school because they feel unsafe or harassed, Ms. Crawford said.

Tags: gay, teens, bigotry

Thai school offers transsexual toilet

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:28:51 GMT

clipped by: haraya
clipper's remarks:

Thailand is well known for its tolerance of transgender men, and they are very visible in everyday life. Sex-change surgery has become a speciality of the Thai health industry, and it is relatively inexpensive; patients come here from all over the world for the operation.

Despite their high profile in Thailand, transsexuals complain that they are still stereotyped - they can find work easily enough as entertainers, in the beauty industry, the media, or as prostitutes, but it is much harder to become a transgender lawyer or investment banker.

And their biggest complaint is that they cannot change their legal status.

Despite a proposal during the drafting of a new constitution last year, to allow them to change the gender on their identity cards, this has not yet been approved.

What the third toilet looks like [video].

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Kampang is proud of its toilets. Spotless, and surrounded by flowering tropical plants, they have won national awards for cleanliness.

But there is something else about them too. Between the girls' toilet and the boys', there is one signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red.

The headteacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender - boys who would rather be girls.

"They used to be teased every time they used the boys' toilets," he said, "so they started using the girls' toilets instead. But that made the girls feel uncomfortable. It made these boys unhappy, and started to affect their work."

So the school offered to build the transgender boys their own facility, and they welcomed it.

The pupils have to wear boys' uniforms, but use feminine accessories

Tolerance, said Suttirat, is not the same thing as acceptance.

Tags: gender, society, asia, thailand, discrimination, news, toilets, school, transsexuals, culture

'Yo' is the word when 'he' or 'she' won't do

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:47 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: The lack of gender-neutral substitutes for "he"/"she" and "his"/"her" has bothered people for at least two centuries, and "zie" and "hir" are just two of many invented words, including "ter", "ip" and "thon". If such words are not familiar, it is because they - like all attempts to coin a gender-neutral personal pronoun - have failed miserably.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

ADRIAN QUINTERO is a transgender person with strong feelings about pronouns. "Our language really needs words to acknowledge folks who do not feel included in the gender binary," says Quintero, who uses the pronouns "ze" (or "zie") and "hir", because "they have the freedom to mean something other than, or in addition to, male and female".

Quintero's mother, Elaine Stotko, shares this interest. A linguistics expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, she was fascinated when in 2004 a teacher in her Linguistics for Teachers class asked, "Have you ever heard kids using 'yo' when they mean he or she?"

They found that from at least 2004 to the present day, middle-school and high-school students in Baltimore have been using "yo" as a gender-neutral personal pronoun in sentences such as: "Yo put his foot up" and "Yo looks like a freak".

Tags: gender, neutrality

Beauty Queen Of A Different Sort

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:04:09 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: OK!

Clip Source: www.brandweeknrx.com

Tanyarat Jirapatpakon was named Miss International Queen 2007 yesterday, besting 23 stunning transsexuals who had come to the Thai beach resort of Pattaya from as far as Germany and Puerto Rico for a shot at the diamond crown. Known in Thailand as "kathoey", or the third gender, Thai transsexuals have slowly been leaving cabarets for mainstream success in music and other endeavours, helped in part by the popularity of beauty contests.

Tags: trans, transgender, gender

Michigan student suspended for wearing 'I'm straight' sticker

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:41:01 GMT

clipped by: joaaron2468
clipper's remarks: Hey! PC police in Michigan, I am straight too.

Clip Source: www.onenewsnow.com

Michigan student suspended for wearing 'I'm straight' sticker

A Christian student has been punished by his Michigan high school for demonstrating opposition to a school event celebrating the homosexual lifestyle. The boy's father, a pastor, says he's frustrated the rights of Christian students are being constantly trampled on campus.

Oakridge High School in Muskegon, Michigan, is one of many schools across the U.S. that took part in Wednesday's "National Day of Silence" -- an event promoted heavily by homosexual activist groups, which view it as a day to protest alleged discrimination faced by students who identify as "gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT)." At Oakridge High, duct tape was passed out for students to wear over their lips as a way to show solidarity with homosexual students who are purportedly suffering in silence.

Tags: war, science, religion, politics, news, internet, education

gay rights activists arrested trying to go to college chapel

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:12:04 GMT

clipped by: quickstar
clipper's remarks: cont: “Our plan was to walk silently with our Bibles to the morning chapel service and attend the service quietly before leaving campus,” Genth said.

The group walked down a public street that runs through the campus. When they approached the chapel, the administration greeted them with armed police officers and handcuffs, according to Genth.

“Each rider was read a statement stating that we were not welcome on campus and that setting one more foot toward chapel would subject us to arrest,” he said.

The first five group members who were read the statement stepped toward the chapel and were arrested.

The rest of the group stayed outside the chapel, singing and reading Scripture.

“Later in the day a student named Heather came to us for dialogue and brought us some sunshine of hope by telling us that the current generation of students understand more about homosexuality and that in the future, as leaders, they would not display the inhospitality that we encountered today,” G

Clip Source: www.globegazette.com

SHAWNEE, Okla. — Dean Genth of Mason City helped post bail for five young gay rights activists who were arrested Thursday for trespassing on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University when they attempted to attend a chapel service.

The five individuals and Genth were at the college as part of the Soulforce Equality Ride, a nationwide journey of 50 young adults visiting conservative Christian colleges to challenge policies that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

“We were all made to feel like strangers,” Genth stated in a journal entry he e-mailed to the Globe Gazette. “Never before this morning have I ever been denied the ability to enter into worship or any house of worship.”

Before coming to OBU the group was told they could be on campus but could not attend classes or be at the student union, according to Genth.

However, he said when they arrived they were notified they would not be allowed on campus at all.

Tags: gay, lesbian, gay rights, oklahoma, baptist, university, homophobia, civil rights

Sore losers want redo because winner is transgender

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:18:17 GMT

clipped by: ljsdesign

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Two unsuccessful city council candidates in Riverdale say a fellow candidate committed fraud when she ran as a woman

Georgia Fuller and Stanley Harris — who lost bids for council seats — filed petitions in Clayton County Superior Court last week asking the judge to stop the upcoming runoff election. The lawsuit alleges that incumbent Michelle Bruce — who identifies herself as transgendered and goes by Michelle Mickey Bruce — misled voters by identifying herself as a female during the Nov. 6 election.

The suit, which identifies her as "Michael Bruce," asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election

Bruce's voter registration, notice of candidacy and driver's license identify her as Michelle Bruce, a white female. She told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she was born transgendered but declined to say if she had surgery to change her gender.

"The people don't care about it.

There were no problems with the election,"

Tags: civil rights, news, transgender, redo, just wrong, stupid

Teen's boyfriend was really a woman, 30, police say

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:53:30 GMT

clipped by: laurafries

Clip Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com

The 30-year-old woman even conned her 14-year-old "girlfriend's" family into believing she was a 17-year-old boy named Mark Villanueva, according to paperwork filed in Everett District Court. She lived with the Everett family on and off over the past two years and formed a relationship with the 14-year-old girl.

It wasn't until Monday, when the woman was arrested for child rape, that her real identity came out, according to court papers. She is being held at the Snohomish County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.

The girl told police that the couple had a sexual relationship, but that she never saw her boyfriend's genitals, court papers said. The girl also said that her boyfriend was abusive — she was bitten on the back twice and struck weekly.

When a Lynnwood police officer stopped Mark Villanueva in February for improperly displaying a temporary license plate, the driver's gender was not called into question.

Tags: teen, sex, transgender

Transgendered Actress Breaks Hollywood Barriers

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 04:12:35 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Actress Candis Cayne heats up primetime TV in her role as Carmelita in the hit show drama "Dirty Sexy Money."

The sultry actress, who plays the transgendered mistress of a New York attorney general and senatorial candidate on the show, has made headlines as one of the few transgendered characters on television. She is also transgendered in real life.

Long before her groundbreaking role, Cayne was born Brendan McDaniel, half of a fraternal twin set. Her twin brother's name is Dylan and he is not transgendered.

Cayne began her transition process during her early 20s and at first questioned how it would impact her career.

"I spent years [wondering] 'Is it ever going to work out?' This is my dream to act," she said.

Today she has reached her goal and shares her life with her fiance, Marco McDermott.

Tags: hollywood, actor, tv, transgender, sex, medical, image