Trans News/ Issues

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by theoddz

R. Kelly's child (born female) has come out as Trans.

http://roygbiv.jezebel.com/reporting...76454/+Kyosuke

I hope he finds love, support and acceptance in his family, amongst his friends and in his community. Best wishes to him for a successful and happy future.

~Theo~

Thanks for posting this, I also wish the best for another young person going through this.

As I read through the article I kept being struck yet again with just how much the english language needs a non-gendered pronoun for individuals. We as a culture adopt new words into the lexicon all the time, com'on "google" is now a common verb, it shouldn't be this hard. Other languages have them, why are we so stubborn on this? It would eliminate the whole argument entirely instead of this bizarre circle-the-drain debate that seems to overshadow the trans experience in favor of semantics.

Hmm, looks like a rant. Sorry, this bugs me to no end.

[Liam]

*Rev. Cameron Partridge Will Be First Openly Transgender Priest to Preach
at Washington National Cathedral*

Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge will make history on *Sunday, June 22*, as the first openly transgender priest to preach at the
historic Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in honor of
Pride Month. *The Rt. Rev Gene Robinson*, known as the first openly gay
priest to be elected a bishop, will preside at the service.*

"Cameron Partridge is a priest of great intellect, pastoral presence, and
possesses a deep passion for the Gospel. We are excited for him to preach
at the Cathedral," said The Very Rev. Gary Hall, the dean of Washington
National Cathedral. In a statement sent to The Huffington Post, he said:

"As an advocate both within the Church and wider community, Cameron's
presence in the pulpit, I hope, will also send a symbolic message in
support of greater equality for the transgender community, which suffers
from acts of violence, discrimination, unemployment, homelessness, and
financial inequality. We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to
send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer
daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. We want to
proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender
identity is good and your sexual orientation is good because that's the way
that God made you."

Partridge is *one of just seven openly trans clergy in the Episcopal Church*.
He became one of the first trans chaplains at a major university when he
was appointed Boston University's chaplain in 2011, according to Religion
and Politics' profile.
In 2012, the Episcopal Church officially voted to change its "nondiscrimination canons" to include "gender identity and expression" so that transgender people could not be barred from becoming priests, under law.

Partridge was in the process of being ordained as a priest when he told his
bishop, The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, that he was transitioning from female
to male in 2001. Shaw supported his decision and has gone on to become a
dedicated advocate for trans issues within the diocese of Massachusetts.
Boston's Cathedral Church of St. Paul now hosts a memorial on the annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance, to mourn those who have died because they were trans. Shaw told Religion and Politics, "I stand up in front of them each year and say
that the conception of God that judges you is not the conception of God in
this diocese."

Washington National Cathedral is one of the most high-profile Christian
advocates for LGBT equality. In 2013, Hall announced a policy of blessing
same-sex marriages, and held a service to celebrate the Supreme Court's
rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act.

However, policy does not always immediately translate into true acceptance,
which is one reason why Partridge's service at the Cathedral is so
important. Chris Paige, a transgender activist who runs Transfaith, a nonprofit focusing on faith and spirituality issues, told The Huffington Post in 2013 that
"The trans experience is still little-understood in the general community
and even more so at times in churches and spiritual spaces. Most of the
time when we go into a congregation, we have the experience of being the
first one. Even in congregations that say they accept transgender people,
it doesn't mean they have ever met a trans person."

The fact that Partridge is trans means that he has a wealth of experiences
and struggles to share with his congregations. "In one sense, my being
trans doesn't matter," he said to Religion and Politics about his role as
chaplain for Boston University.

"In another way, I'm able to have certain conversations about the
complexities of human identity with college students, who are figuring out
their own identities."

Paige also feels that trans people have a lot to offer religion, and vice
versa. "There is such an intersection between being trans and religious,"
Paige told The Huffington Post.

"Some of the fundamental religious questions -- 'Who am I? How do I fit
into the world?' -- those are very familiar questions that people ask on a
journey of gender exploration."

From Huffington Post. 6/6/14

[EnderD_503]

Just read this today. Another news story about Wren (a young trans boy out west who has been in the news a few times in the past), apparently he has now been granted an amended birth certificate. To my knowledge he's the first trans kid who has managed to get his birth certificate changed in Canada (since laws were recently changed so that you don't need to have had surgery anymore).

Somehow even after all these years, though, I still make the mistake of reading the comments and they still make me fume. At least I don't allow myself to get pulled into signing up and responding to the ignorant assholes anymore, though

EDMONTON – A 12-year-old transgender Alberta boy has been granted a new birth certificate that recognizes him as male.

Wren Kauffman was presented with the new document on Sunday in Edmonton during a Pride festival brunch hosted by the city’s mayor.

The province’s culture minister, Heather Klimchuk, made the presentation.

A spokesperson for the minister says the new certificate simply has a “M” instead of an “F.”

Kauffman had filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission over the inability to change the sex on his birth certificate.

READ MORE: Does gender no longer work on birth certificates

Alberta law states that transgender persons must have reassignment surgery before they can change the sex on their birth certificates, but Premier Dave Hancock said in April that the surgery requirement will be dropped.

Wren, who was born a girl, had said it was stressful being listed as female.

A week after Hancock made the announcement, a judge ruled that the Alberta law dealing with birth certificates violates the rights of transgender people.

READ MORE: 10-year-old transgender child fights to have gender removed from birth certificate

In the 1970s, most provinces changed their laws so people could change their birth certificates after sex reassignment surgery. The revision left out transgender children, because people must be at least 18 to be eligible for the surgery.

Ontario revised its law following a human rights tribunal ruling in 2012 that declared it discriminatory to require an actual sex-change operation for a transgender woman who wanted to switch to female from male on her birth certificate.

It now allows a change with a note from a doctor or psychologist testifying to a person’s “gender identity,” but the province set an age limit of 18 and over and said it needed more time to consider the issue.

READ MORE: 2 transgender children struggle to be themselves

Other human rights complaints have also been filed in at least three other provinces: British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1395508/al...s-born-a-girl/

[Corkey]

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/06/16...ampaign=buffer

[*Anya*]

New York State Sued Because Trans-Exclusionary Medicaid Regulation Has Got To Go

Posted by Maddie on June 27, 2014 at 5:00am PDT

Last week, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Legal Aid Society and the law firm of Willkie, Farr and Gallagher filed a class action lawsuit against the state of New York, which has discriminated against transgender people seeking healthcare since 1998 with a regulation that categorically denies Medicaid coverage for gender affirming healthcare. SRLP has been working to reverse this regulation since they opened in 2002.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women, Angie Milan-Cruz and I.H., who have both been denied medically necessary healthcare by New York State Medicaid because of the discriminatory regulation. While Milan-Cruz and I.H.’s names are on the suit, Sylvia Rivera Law Project staff attorney Elana Redfield said, “Class action is the right avenue for this case, because so many people are impacted by the issue. We estimate that as many as 8,000 people could be affected by this regulation — too many to represent on a case-by-case basis.”

In a press release on the SRLP website, SRLP Staff Attorney Pooja Gehi said, “This regulation aggravates discrimination against a community that is already struggling to survive… When our clients cannot access healthcare they need, they have a harder time getting identity documents such as state ID, or getting jobs, housing, and basic social services.” The release also described the legal case they are making against the regulation:

“The lawsuit challenges the regulation on three main legal points:

>>> New York State’s Medicaid regulation conflicts with the federal Medicaid Act, which prohibits certain forms of discrimination in state Medicaid programs. Medicaid discriminates because it provides most of the healthcare transgender people need to others who are not transgender.

>>>> New York State’s Medicaid regulation conflicts with the Affordable Care Act, section 1557, which prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of gender identity expression amongst an entity that receives federal funding.

>>> The New York State Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sex stereotyping. Denial of necessary medical care solely on the basis of assigned birth sex is discrimination on the basis of sex stereotyping.”

The suit comes shortly after the Obama administration’s recent announcement that gender affirming healthcare will no longer be excluded from federal Medicare coverage. While this announcement still leaves state Medicaid programs like the one in New York free to keep regulations like the trans exclusionary one intact, Redfield is hopeful states to follow the federal government’s lead:

“Since the Medicare decision, we have also seen Massachusetts reverse its exclusion, and Washington state declare that transgender discrimination is illegal in private healthcare. I think it’s only a matter of time before other jurisdictions follow suit.”


http://www.autostraddle.com/new-york...-to-go-242956/

[LeftWriteFemme]

Man Crush Monday: Jaden Remy Introduces You to Philly’s Hottest Trans Bachelors



http://www.phillymag.com/g-philly/20...t=#gallery-1-1

[LeftWriteFemme]

'Trans Bodies, Trans Selves': A Modern Manual By And For Trans People



http://www.npr.org/2014/07/17/332051...r-trans-people

[ProfPacker]

I heard the interview on NPR yesterday it was really meaningful

[JDeere]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...ef=transgender

[MsTinkerbelly]

Bill AB1577 the "respect after death" law was signed into effect by Governor Jerry Brown, allowing a person to have their gender identity of choice listed on their death certificate.

The person "closest" to the deceased will be allowed to say what the gender is, and people may sue to be that person or bring forth documentation from the deceased if it looks like someone is not using what the deceased would say was their identity.

[Linus]

I've been making it my goal to find happier stories on Trans individuals and ran across this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/1...n_5948248.html

[JDeere]

http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/...ly-understand/


Good read!

[Nadeest]

That is a VERY good read, to my mind.

[JDeere]

I hope it will help and folks understand.

[LeftWriteFemme]

Ugandan Transgender Web Series ‘The Pearl of Africa’ Releases Episode 3



http://www.okayafrica.com/news/the-p...ies-episode-3/

[cricket26]

India has elected a transgender mayor.
Madhu Bai Kinnar – an independent candidate – defeated her opponent from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) by more than 4,500 votes to be elected mayor of Raigarh, in the central state of Chhattisgarh, on Sunday.
Kinnar, 35, is a member of the lowly Dalit caste, once known as ‘untouchables’. Before running for mayor, she earned a living by singing and dancing on Howrah to Mumbai trains, collecting money for her performances. She only stopped when asked to represent her community.
“People have shown faith in me. I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I’ll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams,” said Kinnar after her win.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/wom...ted-mayor.html

[DapperButch]

http://www.eonline.com/news/612713/a...rss_topstories

Originally Posted by cricket26

India has elected a transgender mayor.
Madhu Bai Kinnar – an independent candidate – defeated her opponent from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) by more than 4,500 votes to be elected mayor of Raigarh, in the central state of Chhattisgarh, on Sunday.
Kinnar, 35, is a member of the lowly Dalit caste, once known as ‘untouchables’. Before running for mayor, she earned a living by singing and dancing on Howrah to Mumbai trains, collecting money for her performances. She only stopped when asked to represent her community.
“People have shown faith in me. I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I’ll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams,” said Kinnar after her win.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/wom...ted-mayor.html

Awesome, thanks for posting this!

[Gemme]

Russia Bans Drivers with Gender Disorders

Russia says those with what it calls "disorders" of sexual preference or gender identity can no longer hold driver's licenses.

A list came down from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's office last month that disqualifies those with certain mental or behavioral disorders from driving.

The order references certain subsections of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases: mental, gender or sexual identity disorders including transsexualism, fetishism, exhibitionism, compulsive theft or pathological gambling.

The government explains the new driving rules are intended to reduce deaths from road traffic accidents, but the announcement generated fierce and immediate criticism from civil rights advocates. Human Rights First called it "an alarming violation of the rights of the transgender community."

A representative from the Russian Psychiatric Association voiced concern to the BBC that some people "would avoid seeking psychiatric help, fearing a driving ban."

The new rules come as Russia has clamped down on the rights of gays and others practicing what it considers "non-traditional lifestyles." Human Rights Watch reports a marked escalation of homophobia in the country starting in late 2012.

USA Today reports human rights lawyers in Russia plan to demand clarification of the new rules from the country's Constitutional Court.

[Rockinonahigh]

On the golden globs award show tonight, Transparent won two awards,check it out.

[JDeere]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robi-l...ar,transgender

I love reading stories like this, more trans men having positive news articles.