The French senate has unanimously voted to prohibit discrimination against transgender people.
Art, music, fashion, cats, and whatever else that interests me.
Kate Bornstein has cancer. The good news, direct from the team of skilled doctors on her case, is that the cancer is curable. However, the treatment plan that gives Kate the best chance of beating cancer is incredibly expensive. Kate has spent the past thirty years helping the rest of us Stay Alive—now it’s our turn to give back.
Let’s HELP KATE BORNSTEIN BEAT CANCER AND STAY ALIVE!
I’m sure most of you know who Kate Bornstein is (and if you don’t, you should). Please take a moment to donate a buck or ten to save her life. I’m sure she will appreciate it, and it will mean a lot to her and the community.
(EDIT: there have been donation scams recently, so I want to point out this was cross-posted on Kate Bornstein’s official Facebook page, which means it’s for real. in case you were wondering.)
“The Administrative Court of Appeals in Stockholm, Sweden announced today, December 19th 2012 that the requirement in the Swedish Law on Legal Gender Recognition that a person wishing to change gender marker must undergo sterilization indeed violates the Swedish Constitution (Regeringsformen 2 kap 6 §) as well as the articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.”
Finally.
Transsexuals and eunuchs have finally won recognition following some three years of interest shown by the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry disposed of the case and ruled that eunuchs were entitled to all the rights guaranteed in the Constitution to all citizens including the right of inheritance.
The apex court order said that eunuchs should not be deprived of their legitimate rights — particularly the right of inheritance of all movable and immovable properties and the right to adopt any profession.
The court directed that the judgment be forwarded to the chief secretaries, as well as the inspectors general of all provinces, for their information and to ensure adherence of their fundamental rights.
The issue had surfaced back in 2009 after police arrested some eunuchs by raiding a party in Taxila.
Dr Mohammad Aslam Khaki, an Islamic jurist and human rights activist, stood up for their rights upon discovery that not a single human rights group or non-governmental organisation (NGO) was working for the rights of this community in the country.
Consequently, Dr Khaki had filed a petition seeking the establishment of a commission to safeguard the rights of the transgender community.
He contended that these people were denied the right of inheritance and other fundamental rights that citizens of Pakistan enjoy.
While concluding the proceedings, the bench appreciated the appointment of focal persons among the eunuch community in all the provinces to represent the community and help address issues being faced by them.
The chief justice also directed the interior secretary and provincial police officers (PPO) to appoint a focal person in every district and tehsil to look after security-related issues of the neglected community.
In addition, the court directed all federal and provincial health and education secretaries and the chief commissioner of Islamabad to coordinate with the representatives of the transgender community in order to provide free healthcare and education to them.
In November last year, the court directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to speed up the process of issuing CNICs to eunuchs and later directed the Election Commission to register eunuchs as voters as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2012.
Fernanda Milan doesn’t need a mask - she doesn’t need to hide. She is visible, a symbol of strength and tenacity, a woman to be admired and loved, a person worthy - like any of “saving.”
“I have a right to a safe space where I can develop as an activist & a human being,” Fernanda says in her demonstration video in Denmark where she’s fighting her deportation back to her native Guatemala where she fears for her life. “If I go back to Guatemala, I will get killed, get prosecuted, might get tortured.”
In this image, taken by Mette Kramer Kristensen, Fernanda is demonstrating to stop her deportation (scheduled for TODAY - I hear from activists that it’s been pushed back a few days) on August 25, 2012 in Copenhagen. The protest was organized by the T-louge Society with more than 200 people in solidarity with Fernanda.
Join Fernanda in solidarity. STOP her deportation by signing this petition. English translation here.
Fernanda Milan says, “I deserve a safe space to develop as a human being.”
Sign her petition to protect her from deportation to Guatemala, where she fears returning to a hostile country that offers her no protections as a trans activist.
Fernanda is a shining portrait of beauty, grace and intelligence under heaps and heaps of oppression and odds.
Signal boost!
Also, for those of you signing the petition that don’t speak Danish, the translation for the form is as follows:
- First/given name
- Last/family name
- City
- Country
- E-mail address
- Should your name be published? (yes/no)
You will then get a confirmation e-mail (may be delayed) - click the link that says “For at BEKRÆFTE din underskrift eller SLETTE denne, besøg venligst denne side:” to confirm your signature, otherwise it won’t be included.
Several years before Lindsay Morris photographed the gender-fluid children featured in our recent cover story, the Dutch photographer Sarah Wong was documenting children in her country who said they felt they were born in the wrong body.
Wong’s ongoing project, which she began in 2003, led to “Inside Out: Portraits of Cross-Gender Children,” with text by the Dutch medical journalist Ellen de Visser. The book, which came out in the Netherlands in 2010, follows children who have changed or are in the process of changing their gender and includes multiple portraits of them over the course of seven years. The individual portraits shown below are of children who were born male; the group shots include two children who were born female and now present themselves as male.
Click here to read the full article.
While I was in Charlotte for the just concluded TransFaith In Color Conference, heard about another young African-American transwoman who has been killed in the Cincinnati suburb of Walnut Hills, OH.
And as usual, we have another case of an African-American transwoman being disrespectfully misgendered in the media, followed up by transphobic comments in the jacked up story on that media outlet’s website.
And what aggravates me even further about the developing story besides the pimping of the Black trans prostitute meme, is before I left for Charlotte had to report about another Chicago trans woman who had been killed.
WKRC-TV. read your AP Stylebook as to the proper way to report on trans persons. Umm, never mind, I’ll do it myself since you trained professional journalists can’t seem to get it right the first time.
Before I do your job for you, here’ the pertinent section of the AP Stylebook you need to pay fracking attention to since this probably won’t be the last time you end up reporting on trans personstransgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.
If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.
Shortly after 10:30 PM EDT Saturday night, police were called to the parking lot of a Dairy Mart on E. McMillan Street near Victory Parkway Drive where they found 26 year old Kendall L. Hampton suffering from a gunshot wound. She was rushed to University Hospital where she died
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Criminal Investigations Section at (513) 352-3542 or Crimestoppers at (513) 352-3040.
See WKRC-TV? That wasn’t so hard was it? So what’s your excuse for the piss-poor reporting in your story?
This is early info on the latest transwoman to die in 2012 Until I find out what Ms Hampton’s femme name was, I will refer to her in this and subsequent posts by her initials.
And if someone has some more flattering photos of her than this po-po mugshot or info about Ms Hampton, please e-mail it to me ASAP.
Please take a moment to remember Tiffany Gooden.
Let us support those who loved Tiffany in any way we can.
13 July 2012| By Dan LittauerThe French senate has unanimously voted to prohibit discrimination against transgender people.During a session of the Senate to adopt of a bill against sexual harassment, discrimination against transgender people was added to the French penal code.
Before the vote Michelle Miller, Socialist Party Senator pleaded: ‘Transgender people have alerted us to high frequency of harassment and assaults they experience, particularly during the transition period that can last several years. It seems necessary to me to complete the law on discrimination and to add recognition of transphobia’.
Several other senators from both right and left of the political spectrum made similarly impassioned appeals.
The criteria ‘sexual identity’ was inserted into the legislation that prohibits discrimination yesterday (12 July). Sexual orientation is already covered.
Inter-LGBT, France’s largest LGBT rights group welcomed the vote as the step in the right direction, although stating that legislation is ‘imperfect’.
In an interview with the French daily Liberation, Nicolas Gougain, spokesperson of Inter-LGBT said: ‘This is a very important decision.
‘Until now, Article 225-1 of the penal code, which defines the contexts of discrimination, did not include discrimination based on gender identity - a term used in European legislation.
‘The Senate amended the code using the term “sexual identity”, a term which is less satisfactory, but it is a first step.’
In a press release the French Transgender National Association protested against the use of term ‘sexual identity’ which it claims will leave the determination of discrimination entirely to the judge’s discretion as the concept is not defined by law.
This was echoed in the discussion during the Senate’s session where Senator Annie David (Communist Party) stated: ‘The debate needs to be opened.
‘Gender identity is not sexual identity: one can be born into male or female without a corresponding gender identity.’
In 2010 France became the first country in the world to delist transsexualism from the category of mental illness.
A recent poll of young transgender people in France found that 34% said they have attempted suicide, while 19% have been disowned by their family.
According to the US National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 2011, 26% of transgender people lose their jobs following an announcement of their transition. And 52% reported incidents of discrimination with 19% finding themselves homeless as a result.
If you know of individuals who have been in a correctional/prison facility in Nevada who were/are transgender and subjected to any sort of problematic treatment (particularly being segregated from the rest of the inmates in a solitary-confinement situation) please contact me as soon as possible. The ACLU is doing some important research and documentation on this issue, and we need to get in touch with folks quickly for potential interviews or written reports. Please spread the word far and wide, and contact me directly with any leads at the information below:
Phil Hooper
ACLU of Nevada
702.366.1536 x204
hooper@aclunv.orgTHE NEVADA ACLU IS STARTING A CASE THAT WILL END TRANSGENDER CIVIL RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN PRISONS. IT IS BEGINNING HERE IN NEVADA BUT THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INCITE MAJOR CHANGE
I CARE NOT WHERE YOU LIVE< WHAT CITY< WHAT STATE< WHAT COUNTRY PLEASE REBLOG
this will help trans women be housed where we should be housed, this has the potential to help persons like CeCe McDonald
PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG
THIS WORD NEEDS TO GET OUT THROUGH EVERY MEDIUM WE CAN
PLEASE
SIGNED
Jillian James
satanmermaid reblogged your quote: I believe that men as a class know that…
oh my god shut up this has ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING TO DO WITH TRANS PEOPLE. was it even mentioned? no. the guy wasn’t even…
The point of bringing up trans* and genderqueer people is because reproductive rights concern them too. A man can have a vagina and become pregnant, just as a woman can have a penis and make someone pregnant. There’s absolutely no reason to erase them from the discussion. In fact, it’s wrong.
TW - rape, rape culture, racism, trans*misogyny, general anti-Trans* hate
for a while i hadn’t been wanting to talk about rape discourse within mainstream feminism. one might say i was afraid.
rape is such a sensitive topic. & i felt i would be trivializing it if i talked about what had been on my mind since i came out with the fact that i myself was raped.
which is, that mainstream feminism does a fucking sucky job at examining the politics of rape with in [T]Woc communities and men also.
i was scared to tell white rape survivors, that [T]WoC need space in the survivor conversation as well. that they are dominating it. that they need to recognize [T]WoC are raped at higher rates. that they cannot claim to have survivor solidarity with [T]WoC if they continue to ignore that mainstream feminism is shitty. but as Woc rape survivor, I can no longer worry about white fee fees. i can no longer worry about those who get the most attention, the most services, the most comfort.
yes, i know, rape culture affects EVERYONE. & makes it so survivors’ experiences aren’t affirmed and we are blamed for our own violation. we all deal with triggers. we all deal with trying to get our lives back.
but WoC aren’t even seen as victims. ever. we’re always impure. always dirty. always hypersexual. always hoes. white womyn dont have to deal with that. we’re starting from scratch.
[T]WoC’s suffering from sexual violence will never be accurately recognized until we are recognized throughly as human beings with basic needs & emotions. & mainstream feminism refuses to do that. we will continue to be murdered, raped, and beaten because it is profitable for the US. Mainstream feminism has shown that they side with US imperialism and politics, therefore, white feminists and others who engage in mainstream feminism as is are complicit within [T]WoC’s death and suffering. they are NOT in solidarity with [T]WoC survivors and I can no longer be in solidarity with those who refuse to criticize and complicate mainstream feminism. This is why this blog is crucial, it is important for us to connect with each other, to create spaces where we are resist in our existence, where can talk about the failings of mainstream feminism, where we carve out our own space based on recognizing and affirming each other’s experiences, humanity, and identities.
with that being sad, i’d just like to say what a rewarding experience for me (& I’m sure all of the other admins) to facilitate this space. thank you all for following. please continue to spread the word. if you feel comfortable, please submit suggestions, critiques, pictures of yourself doing self-care, tips, or stories, and send us questions! You may submit or ask anonymously.
sending love and encouragement to you all.
K. pauses on 34th Street while on her way to the Village. August 2006.
Transgender people comprise the highest proportion of homeless LGBT youth. In particular, they are often denied access to shelter services, particularly in shelters that segregate clients based on birth sex. Discrimination and lack of identification that reflects their chosen name and gender makes it hard for many young transwomen to find a legal job, leaving sex work as one of the few options available to them.
Photographer Samantha Box spent six years documenting Sylvia’s Place, NYC’s only emergency shelter for LGBT youth. See the photos here.
