No makeover is going to hide South African track star Caster Semenya's insides from on-lookers. Results from those "gender tests" show she has no ovaries, internal testes, no womb, and ultra-high levels of testosterone.
What does of any of this mean? That Semenya is intersexed — which, while a curious revelation for the media to pounce on (especially because they get to use the word "hermaphrodite"), is not all that abnormal.
Fascinating blog!No makeover is going to hide South African track star Caster Semenya's insides from... more
Dave Zirin tells it like it is, discussing gender identity, intersexed people, racism, sexism, and so on.Dave Zirin tells it like it is, discussing gender identity, intersexed people, racism,... more
When Adele was born they couldn't tell if she was a girl or a boy. A series of childhood genital operations 'corrected' her into a boy but as she grew up it became apparent a mistake had been made. Now at 29 Adele is trying to transition into a woman, only to find she belongs somewhere in between. 1 in 2000 babies are born like Adele and she asks if it isn't time to make room in our society for more than two genders.When Adele was born they couldn't tell if she was a girl or a boy. A series of... more
Here in Augusta, Ga. everyone seems to be in the CLOSET.
That means I do not get to meet many people of my kind.
Here the pass two and a half years from NEW YORK I felt lost,
so now I have put out a CALL TO ALL PEOPLE to start a massive
GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT-EACH ON TEACH ONE
with people from all walks of life to ORGANIZE.
The world is CHANGING RAPIDLY and we the people must come
together,help and learn from eachother before it is to late.
Hope to get some contacts and links so I can network.
I am 50+ woman, non drinker, sometime smoker,no transportation.
Contact grantmarlene@hotmail.com/706-434-8957 Here in Augusta, Ga. everyone seems to be in the CLOSET.
That means I do not get to... more
In a recent poll New Jersey residents favor marriage quality rather than civil unions. An overwhelming 56 to 36 percent New Jerseyans would be “fine with” public officials’ changing the civil union law to marriage equality.
“No one should doubt the meaning of these numbers,” said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. “New Jersey wants to end discrimination in marriage, and is ready for our public officials to do it right now. The civil union law is one the greatest civil rights failures of our time. New Jersey sees that, and understands that justice delayed is justice denied.” In a recent poll New Jersey residents favor marriage quality rather than civil unions.... more
A special laboratory is being built in Beijing; this one is not for drug testing, but will allow officials to determine the sex of athletes taking place in this year's Olympic Games.
According to Professor Tian Qinjie, "suspected athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination." The tests will not be conducted on every female athlete, but will be required if doubts have been raised about the sex of a competitor. "The aim is to protect fairness at the games while also protecting the rights of people with abnormal sexual development," Qinjie says.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced sex testing in 1968 at the Olympic games in Mexico City, after the masculine appearance of some 'female' competitors had started to raise questions about the sex of athletes in female events.
Sex-determination tests were seen as degrading, with female competitors having to submit to humiliating and invasive physical examinations by a series of doctors. Later, the IOC decided to use a supposedly more sophisticated genetic test, based on chromosomes. Women usually have two X chromosomes; men an X and a Y chromosome. So, only those athletes with two X chromosomes could be classed as women. However, many geneticists criticised the tests, saying that sex is not as simple as X and Y chromosomes and is not always simple to ascertain.
It is thought that around one in 1,000 babies are born with an "intersex" condition, the general term for people with chromosomal abnormalities. It may be physically obvious from birth - babies may have ambiguous reproductive organs, for instance - or it may remain unknown to people all their lives. At the Atlanta games in 1996, eight female athletes failed sex tests but were all cleared on appeal; seven were found to have an "intersex" condition. As a result, by the time of the Sydney games in 2000, the IOC had abolished universal sex testing but, as will happen in Beijing, some women still had to prove they really were women.
Transsexuals, who have had a sex change from male to female, on the other hand, can compete in women's events in the Olympics, as long two years have passed since their operation.
One of the most tragic rcent cases is that of Santhi Soundarajan, a 27-year-old Indian athlete. Soundarajan had to endure public humiliation after she lost her silver medal for the 800m at the Asian games in 2006. Soundarajan had lived her entire life as a woman, but failed a gender test and it is suspected that she has a condition called Androgen insensitivity syndrome, where a person looks like a female, but has the genetic make-up of a man. The embarrassment and humiliation combined with the prospect of having to end her career had a strong impact on Soundarajan who survived a suicide attempt according to Indian newspapers.A special laboratory is being built in Beijing; this one is not for drug testing, but... more
Facebook is asking every user to state their gender as a result of changes to the words available on the site to describe 'oneself'.
No longer will the words 'Jimmy has tagged themself in a photo' be readable anywhere on the time-sapping, rivalry-encouraging, confidence-battering phenomenon that is Facecrack; only 'himself' or 'herself' or nothing at all will be an option to describe your gender.
Picking whether you're male or female, and stating this fact, might seem to be no problem for many people, but for trans people, or those who prefer not to define their gender in narrow terms, Facebook will suddenly be one (more) big exclusion zone.
It's not that there won't be any options for those whose gender doesn't fall strictly within the 'male' or 'female' brackets: those who don't wish to pick M or F are invited to pick nothing at all. And that's the problem - gender is being presented as either male or female or nothing with Facebook's new terminology, and this totally overlooks gender complexity, and the perspectives of trans people for whom gender is most certainly not nothing.
Is this all a storm in a teacup? Do you care about gender disctinctions? Is it reasonable to expect that everyone's point of view is considered on a global social network that seeks to be popular, or should we just get on with what we're given? Facebook is asking every user to state their gender as a result of changes to the... more
Terry Wright, 60, is turning into a woman due to abnormally high levels of the female hormone oestrogen. Medical experts are intrigued by the unique case, but are unable to explain or reverse the sexual transformation.
About ten years ago, Wright, who has five children and works as a pub singer in Birmingham, noticed that he was losing his hair and beard. Since then, he has developed smooth skin and breasts and has complained about hot flushes. Wright, who has never doubted his male gender identity, has been wrongly suspected of secretly trying to change his sex and has been offered a sex change operation by his GP, which he refused.
Some intersex conditions are associated with involuntary and natural sexual transformations, but these changes usually take place during puberty. Mr Wright states: "Doctors call me an 'interesting case' and 'unique' but I just want to go back to being a proper man." Terry Wright, 60, is turning into a woman due to abnormally high levels of the female... more
1,120,801 homophobic citizens of California would like to write discrimination into the California state constitution. Their signatures successfully petitioned for a ballot measure in November's election that would limit marriage "to one man and one woman." If successful the California supreme our decision last month that legalized marriage equality, would be obsolete. Weather marriages performed between June 17th and the November election would remain legal would have to be decided by the courts.
And of course, if you live in California please vote to oppose the proposition. 1,120,801 homophobic citizens of California would like to write discrimination into... more
Despite objections from radical Christians, California will perform their first gay marriages on June 17. The only changes officials were told to make was to change the form from husband and wife to party A and party B.
Despite objections from radical Christians, California will perform their first gay... more
The Healthcare Eqaulity Index (HEI) was released by the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. The HEI has was created to help gay, lesbian and transgender citizens navigate through the often complicated and daunting medical field to find hospitals and doctors that will respect their rights and their humanity.
HRC hopes hospitals will strive to improve their annual rating, much like the way corporations responded to the Corporate Equality Index.
Response to the survey was voluntary. 88 hospitals responded nationwide. Only half the respondents received top marks.
The HEI focuses on five main policy criteria: patient non-discrimination, hospital visitation, decision making, cultural competency training and employment policies.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled, "public employers are barred from providing health care benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees."
The court ruling was based on an amendment approved by voters in 2004 banning same sex marriage. The 5-2 decision claimed the amendment also applied to employee benefits. At issue are the words "for any purpose" in the amendment. One can only wonder what other purposes the court can claim fall under the ban. Perhaps medical care? Hospital visitation rights? Inheritance rights? Adoption rights?
"Patrick Gillen, a professor at Ave Maria Law School ( http://www.avemarialaw.edu/ )and a coauthor of the amendment, said the court was correct to understand that same-sex benefit policies are an attempt to have "same-sex partners treated as spouses ... to redefine marriage and the family in a very radical way.
Patrick Gillan can be reached at ptgillen@avemarialaw.edu or 734.827.8042 The Michigan Supreme Court ruled, "public employers are barred from providing health... more
Florida's Senate halted efforts to include sexual orientation in the State's Civil Rights Code. Florida's Senate halted efforts to include sexual orientation in the State's Civil... more
Moscow's mayer prevented it's LGBT citizens from celebrating Pride with a parade this year claiming the parade would cause widespread violence. "Mayor Yury Luzhkov has been an opponent of gay pride marches, once calling them "Satan's work." A spokesperson for the mayor told reporters that a permit for the parade is being denied because of Russian society's opposition to the "gay lifestyle and philosophy."
Moscow's Gay and Lesbian community celebrated the decriminalization of homosexuality in May of 2007 with a parade. There were several incidences involving "ultra nationalists" or more accurately neo-Nazis attacking gays.
Pictured here a group of demonstrators protest the 2007 Gay Pride Parade. Moscow's mayer prevented it's LGBT citizens from celebrating Pride with a parade this... more
As California's gay and lesbian citizens eagerly await the California Supreme Court decision that could finally give them equal rights in the nations most influential state, something amazing happened. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican Governor of California split with his party, which historically supports bans on marriage equality, and told a group of Log Cabin Republicans, "First of all, I think that (such a ban) would never happen in California because I think California people are much further along on that issue." He went on to say, "And, No. 2, I will always be there to fight against that -- because it should never happen."
Schwarzenegger received an overwhelming standing ovation.
Schwarzenegger vetoed two previous bills that would have legalized marriage equality. He claimed it was a decision for the courts.
The court will make it's decision by June.
If California does legalize marriage equality, John McCain will have to make a decision. He will either support the old homophobic mentality of the current administration, or he can take the higher road and support equality for gays and lesbians. Should he chose the former, he will have to campaign in a state where a Republican governor disagrees with him on one of the most important civil rights issues today. It would be awkward to say the least.
Or McCain could do the right thing, and support every voter in the most profoundly personal decision of their lives. He could take the government roadblocks out of our way, and let us live freely, as we were born to be.
It is your choice Mr. McCain. I hope you chose wisely. As California's gay and lesbian citizens eagerly await the California Supreme Court... more
Tax day is just another reminder that being gay in the United States means being treated differently under the law. While a partnered couple may live in one house, the federal government will see two homes, thereby taxing the couple at a higher rate.
For example, "One is the tax rate. Take two couples where one partner has a taxable income of $20,000 and the other makes $40,000. If they can file their federal taxes jointly, the tax bill would be $8,217.50. Filing separately, the combined bill would be $9,032.50 -- more than $800 higher."
Health Insurance issues pose another unfair financial burden. Heterosexual married couples do not have to claim their spouse's health insurance as income if they use their spouse's plan. If a gay or lesbian signs up under their partner's plan, they have to pay income tax based on the value of the insurance.
"For example, Dan Jessup is a project manager at JPMorgan Chase in Indiana. His partner, Bob Chenoweth, is self-employed, running two businesses out of the couple's Mooresville, Indiana, home. So Chenoweth gets health insurance through Chase.
But Jessup is required to count the company's cost of his partner's benefits as additional income for tax purposes.
State and federal taxes on those benefits cost about $1,800 per year, Jessup said."
So to be clear, gay and lesbian Americans pay more taxes, yet are treated as second class citizens. God Bless America and happy tax day!
Tax day is just another reminder that being gay in the United States means being... more
The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) released it's updated map of gay rights. The new data reports 7 countries that use the death penalty to prosecute homosexuals. Countries that issue the death penalty for acts of homosexuality include Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Mauritania. 76 countries imprison homosexuals for anywhere from 1 year to life.
Only 19 countries recognize homosexual unions through marriage or civil unions.
The map is color coded based on the level of protection offered in a given country. The map of the United States is mostly gray (meaning there is no specific legislation for or against LGBTs). There are small circles of color representing state or municipalities that do provide protections in the United States.
The ILGA will release a full length report on state promoted homophobia on May 17.
