10/28/08

India's police response to LGBT activists cries for mercy “Stop us if you can.”

According to the Human Rights Watch there is a crisis in India's Girinagar neighborhood of Bangalore. GLBT activists are being detained without being allowed to rest, access to food, water or the use of bathrooms. GLBT activists are being verbally, physically and sexually assaulted by police.

On October 20, 2008, police arrested five hijras (working-class, male-to-female, transgender people), detained representatives of a nongovernmental organization trying to negotiate their release, and subsequently attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators protesting the arrests. A total of 42 people were detained. The negotiators later informed Human Rights Watch that police officials told them higher-level authorities had ordered a campaign to arrest hijras on serious charges.

The response by police is "Stop us if you can"

We will stop you.
Girinagar Police Station phone 6721016

bangalore police stations

Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations
235 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017
Telephone: (212) 490-9660/9661/9662/9663/9664/9665
Telefax: (212) 490-9656/9658
E-mail: india@un.int, indiaun@prodigy.net

10/27/08

Soulforce at Southwestern Baptist - a conversation


By Kelli Busey
planetransgender
Monday Oct. 27, 2008

Ft. Worth Texas, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was the home to the latest in Soulforce's string of religious university stops in the deep south. It was a conversation that some locally doubted would ever happen and although the local media was not allowed inside Channel 11 TV filmed from the outdoors.



According to Anna Kirey, Soulforce stop coordinator, her religious activism was ignited by the changes she partook in with the collapse of the Soviet Union. While a student in her native Kyrgyzstan just speaking up was dangerous to her and her partner and this made her all the more dedicated to liberty and justice.



According the the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary press release "The one-hour dialogue was cordial and kind spirited as the two parties discussed their opposing viewpoints about faith and sexuality.."

10/26/08

Trans Activists Protest HRC Dinner

Edge Boston A group of thirty protestors marched outside the Human Rights Campaign’s annual New England Gala Dinner Saturday to show their disapproval of HRC’s position on transgender inclusion in ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act).

Outside the Sheraton Hotel where the dinner was held, the protesters shouted slogans such as: "The HRC doesn’t represent me. We want trans equality." The protestors, some trans, some supporters, marched on the sidewalk while clutching their signs: "HRC = Betrayal," "I May Be Trans But I’m Human Too."

The national office of HRC has been the subject of criticism lately due to their unpopular stance in support of an ENDA bill protecting only sexual orientation and omitting gender identity. Frank was instrumental in splitting the original, trans-inclusive ENDA bill into two bills, the second omitting gender identity.

"They abandoned us," said one protestor. "When Barney Frank split the bill and the HRC came out in support of it, they just left us behind. The HRC doesn’t represent me."

Read on Edge Boston






Genetics linked to transsexuality: study


Just in from Austrarlia's Prince Henry's Institute where the nature versus nurture debate rages on but a new study of transsexuals has shown genetics plays a key role in determining our sense of gender.

In the largest genetic study of its kind, 112 male-to-female transsexuals took part in a study involving several Melbourne research bodies and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Researchers measured the variation in the androgen receptor gene, which is involved in the functioning of the sex hormone testosterone.

DNA samples from the transsexuals were compared with the samples from 250 typical men.

Researchers discovered the transsexuals were more likely than non-transsexuals to have a longer form of the gene.

Read on......

California folks now is the time to spread the word "No on 8!"



Be One of 10,000 voters on the ground spreading the word! Picture it: 10,000 people from Eureka to San Diego--standing together, waving signs and talking to voters!

Join us, as we change lives, as we change the world!

Harvard Business Review to study gender transition

Over at the Bilerico project Dr. Jillian T. Weiss has a fascinating article addressing gender transition in the workplace. How did your employer react when you announced that you were planning a gender transition? How were you treated after you transition was well into effect. Do you beleive in hindsight that you respected co-employees sensitivities in a way that avoided causing turmoil? Are you being treated now consumerate with your expertise? Does your income reflect your value?