The bill aims to add gender identity to the list of grounds protected from discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act.”
The bill will go to a thrid reading in the Senate and will require royal assent to become law.
(via Nepal court orders passport change for transgender citizens | The Raw Story)
“Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to alter passports so that transgenders no longer have to describe themselves as male or female, a court spokesman said, a move welcomed by rights activists.
A 66-year-old who lived his whole life as a man was given a surprising diagnosis after visiting the doctor in Hong Kong with a swollen abdomen — he was a woman.
Doctors realised the patient was female after they found the swelling came from a large cyst on an ovary, the Hong Kong Medical Journal reported.
The condition was the result of two rare genetic disorders.
The subject had Turner syndrome, which affects girls and women and results from a problem with the chromosomes, with characteristics including infertility and short stature.
But he also had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, increasing male hormones and making the patient, who had a beard and a “micropenis”, appear like a man.
“Were it not due to the huge ovarian cyst, his intriguing medical condition might never have been exposed,” seven doctors from two of the city’s hospitals wrote in the study published Monday.
The 1.37 meters (4.5 feet) tall patient, who grew up as an orphan, was found to have no testes, a history of urinary leakage since childhood, and stopped growing after puberty at the age of 10.
The doctors said there have been only six cases where both genetic disorders have been reported in medical literature. Turner Syndrome on its own affects only one in 2,500 to 3,000 females.
The Vietnam-born Chinese patient decided to continue “perceiving himself as having a male gender with the possible need of testosterone replacement,” according to the journal.
Most men have a X and a Y chromosome and most women have a pair of X chromosomes. But people with Turner Syndrome tend to have only one X chromosome or are missing part of their second X chromosome.
When I turned 12, my father spoke to me really seriously about the way I was acting. He said he was disappointed, and had decided that the only way I would be able to change my ways [and stop acting like a girl] was to join the monkhood.”
Deer said the experience was “terrifying”.
“My parents took me to the local temple and forced me to join the monastery against my will. The minute my head was shaved I started to cry. I felt naked without my hair, as it was the only escape I had from being a boy.”
Deer was forced to spend six years as a monk, before leaving at age 18. Soon after, she moved to Bangkok where she has lived, as a woman, for the past 10 years.
“Leaving the monastery marked the end of my old life,” she said. “But I still have the scars.”
“I’m fully respecting this and myself by not walking and/or attending the ceremony at all,” Garcia said, in a post Wednesday on Facebook, in which he thanked his supporters and said the school refused to amend its decision.
…
The University of New Mexico’s LGBTQ Resource Center will host a graduation ceremony for Garcia on May 30o 7 p.m. May 30.
(via Transgender student skips graduation rather than wear female gown – LGBTQ Nation)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A transgender student at a Catholic high school in Albuquerque, N.M., says he is has been told he must wear female student gown at his graduation procession, or not walk at all.
Damian Garcia is a senior at St. Pius X High School, where at the graduation ceremony, the girls wear white gowns and the boys wear black.
Damian, who identifies as male and had a legal name change last year, said he’s been told by the school that he must wear the white gown reserved for females, or not participate in the ceremony.
The St. Pius Superintendent told KRQE-TV that that the school goes by what the student’s birth certificate says if there’s any question on what gender-color they wear at graduation.
“I just want to walk in my black robe, nice and proud and have that memory to look back on with my family and friends,” said Damian. “I would rather not walk than to embarrass myself by wearing a female robe.”
Watch a report from KRQE-TV:
Damian’s father calls the school’s decision heartbreaking.
“All you want in life is to see your kids happy and healthy. You never want to see them suffer or being ridiculed or be made fun of,” he said.
A petition at MoveOn.org is calling on the school to allow Damian to walk for graduation in the male cap and gown. There is also a Facebook page, “Let Damian Walk.”
(via Mother’s fight for transgender child who was born a boy to live as a girl | The Courier-Mail)
“She’s my girl,” the mother says. “I want her to be able to go to the girls’ toilets, like all the other girls.”
Another nail in the colonial coffin as fa’afafine is a traditionally recognized gender category in Samoan society that was almost wiped out by the 1961 Crimes Ordinance.
Q.
Fa’afafine, a third gender culture native to Samoa, are celebrating because a new law decriminalizes ‘impersonating a woman’.
The Crimes Act 2012, which came into law yesterday, replaced the Crimes Ordinance 1961 which criminalized ‘the impersonation of a female’ by any male in Samoa. The law was used to persecute fa’afafine with fines or imprisonment as the penalty.
Although the law stopped being enforced by police in the early 1980s. The Samoa Fa’afaine Association (SFA) said the repeal of the law is ‘a huge celebration for the fa’afafine community and vindication for families who have lost members to acts of violence’.
President of SFA Roger Stanley said:
‘SFA is calling out to all fa’afafine of Samoa and fa’afafine of Samoan decent living overseas - come, lets celebrate! Today is when our fight to reform these laws has resulted in great success.
‘This means that you are now legally allowed to dress and act like a lady if it is your choice, and you will not be fined or imprisoned for your choices, ever!’
Stanley thanked Alex Su’a, Phineas Hartson-Matautia and Ymania Brown for spearheading the submission to the government arguing for a repeal of the law.
‘All those that came before us who suffered, and were imprisoned or fined and even died due to their choices, well they did not do so in vain,’ concluded Stanley.
‘We are happily living in harmony here in Samoa,’ said Stanley. ‘So we just don’t want to stir things up.’
Samoa, formerly known as Western Somoa, became independent from New Zealand in 1962. In the 2012 census a population of nearly 200,000 was recorded.
A high school mathematics teacher who openly talked to some of her students about being a transgender woman was summoned to a hearing for her dismissal.
Marina, who has been for the past three years an outstanding teacher and mentor, says Israel’s Center for Educational Technology (CET) wants her fired for merely discussing her gender identity.
She told her supervisor that on several occasions students asked her about her gender identity, and other issues such as a recent religious ruling that allowed a devout Jewish woman to undergo medically assisted procreation.
Marina was was shocked to get a hearing summons, which reads: ‘During classes to religious girls designated to to study of mathematics, you stimulated a discussion on religion, parenting and sexual orientation.
‘Discussions on social issues are not part your job description, and that is worse tenfold when it comes to adolescents – in which you lack the adequate training’.
A transgender student, denied the chance to run for prom king, was allegedly placed on the queen ballot by his principal.
Isaak Wolfe, 18, a senior at Red Lion Area Senior High School in Pennsylvania, says his school principal Mark Shue put his birth name on the ballot for prom queen.
‘If I would have known they would’ve done that, I probably would have opted out,’ Wolfe told the York Daily Record. ‘What bothers me the most if they never told me.
Wolfe says he was ‘humiliated’ because he had handed out prom king fliers campaigning for the title.
‘For a transgender person, it is degrading to have that, and I wasn’t even warned,’ Wolfe told The York Dispatch.
‘I wasn’t given a fair opportunity. I mean, if I don’t win, I don’t win but I’m not a queen.’
Wolfe says he has had nothing but positive interactions with the principal up until that point, but he said: ‘I just think he made a very, very bad decision.’
A Change.org petition now has over 2,000 signatures aiming to get Wolfe’s name on the prom king ballot as well as his chosen name read at graduation.
Gay Star News has reached out to Red Lion Area High School but has not yet received a response.
In a written statement, the superintendent Scott Deisley declined to comment saying it would be best for the safety and well being of Red Lion students to ‘respect our privacy in this matter’.
Voting for the prom has now ended, with the prom king and queen to be announced at the event on Saturday (27 April).
Mongolia was a Shamanistic country before the advent of Buddhism in the 17th century. And Shamanism is an incredible worship. The practitioners of Shamanism, the Shamans themselves, were very often known to get married to the people of their own gender. They used to live as cross gendered people.
So for example, if here’s a female Shaman, she would actually live as a man. She would go hunting with other men. She would go drinking vodka with other men. And live as a man. And, you know, marry a woman.
Here’s a male Shaman. He would live as a woman. Dress like a woman. He would stay in the women’s part of the ger (yurt), and who would actually take a husband, cook with other women, do women’s chores. And it was completely accepted.
Of course Shamanism has been such an ancient worship for Mongolians, that it was pretty much a normal thing in Mongolia pre-Buddhism to have these marriages and to have this life. But Shamans occupied a very special place in the society because they were the connectors of the spirit world and the human world. They were worshiped to a certain extent, they were revered. And anything they did was probably seen as holy or sacred.
It was also very interesting to know that in Shamanism, future Shamans were recognized by other Shamans right at the time when they would hit puberty. When they were 10, 11, 12. And then they would be trained from that time on. So to me, it seems like – and I’m obviously just talking out of my head – but to me it seems as if Shamans were looking for people who had a different way of expressing themselves. And who would see ‘girly boys’ or ‘boyish girls’ and say, ‘Okay, yeah. They would be perfect for getting trained as Shamans.’
Campaigners have welcomed a decision to allow a transgender woman in Malta the right to marry.
Joanne Cassar, a 31-year-old hairdresser, began legal proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2011 after she was prevented from marrying on the island.
Although the case is still pending in Strasbourg, on Wednesday, the Maltese Government dropped its objection to Ms Cassar’s claim.
In a statement, Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) and the Aditus Foundation said: “The right of transgender persons to marry was firmly established in a preceding case dating back to 2002 – Christine Goodwin vs. the United Kingdom – where the ECHR held that it ‘finds no justification for barring the transsexual from enjoying the right to marry under any circumstances.’
“We also welcome the (Malta) government’s pledge to promptly enact the required changes to the Civil Code to ensure recognition of transgender persons as persons of the acquired sex for all intents and purposes, including marriage.”
The statement added: “In addition we reiterate the need for a comprehensive Gender Identity Bill, as proposed by MGRM in 2010 – that would facilitate the gender recognition of transgender persons and safeguard their fundamental human rights, including the right to respect for privacy and family life as established in Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.”
March 20, 2013 reaction to C-279 vote (by Robert Chisholm)
Watch the reation to the passage of C-279 which adds “gender identity and gender expression” protection to the Canadian Human Rights Acts and the Criminal Code.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper voted against the bill although 18 Conservative Party members voted in favour.
Having passed third reading in parliment, it will now go to the Senate which is usually a rubber stamp but, with a conservative majority, who knows what tricks they may try to pull.
Q.
[Edit: 18 Tories voted in favour, rather than 16 as was previous reported]
OTTAWA — A bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against transgender Canadians was approved by the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The Opposition private member’s legislation passed by a vote of 149-137, with the crucial support of 18 Conservatives, including four cabinet ministers.
It was one of the first tests of the Conservative caucus’ resolve on lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) rights in Canada at a time when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has been mounting a strong defence of such rights abroad.
Baird, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt and Heritage Minister James Moore were among the Conservatives who supported the bill. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, most of his front bench and the vast majority of his backbenchers opposed it.
Opposition parties were united in their support for the bill, sponsored by New Democrat Randall Garrison.
MPs are generally free to vote as they see fit on private members’ bills.
“Today, New Democrats are proud to have contributed to ensuring equal protection under the law from discrimination and hatred based on gender identity,” Garrison said in a statement after the vote.
“Transgender and transsexual citizens are among the most marginalized and are too often victims of harassment and acts of violence.”
The bill had triggered vigorous, sometimes emotional debate in the Commons.
After passing at second reading — with the support of 15 Tories and another nine abstaining — the bill’s momentum seemed to falter as some Conservatives began to express reservations about its impact and effectiveness.
There were complaints that the language in the bill was confusing and vague, including the term “gender expression” and “gender identity.”
Garrison tried to strike a compromise by removing the term “gender expression.”
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel teared up in the Commons earlier this month as she spoke about the discrimination that transgender Canadians face, even as she questioned the bill’s effectiveness.
“Both sides of this debate should agree that equality and protection against harm are two fundamental values that all Canadians of any gender, any age, any background are entitled to,” Rempel said.
“However, as legislators we are also tasked with deciding if the proposed legislation is sound. Given the lack of clarity that I found in the bill, I do have concern about its viability.”
Other Conservative MPs opposed the bill on other grounds, such as the argument that pedophiles would be protected when they lurked in public bathrooms.
Shortly before Wednesday’s vote, Calgary MP Rob Anders tabled a petition “on behalf of thousands” of Canadians opposed to what he called “the bathroom bill.”
“These constituents feel that it is the duty of the House of Commons to protect and safeguard our children from any exposure and harm that would come from giving a man access to women’s public washroom facilities,” Anders said.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal had supported adding transgender identity to federal anti-discrimination and anti-hate legislation, saying it would promote acceptance and send a message about tolerance.
While some MPs argued that the transgendered were already protected on the basis of sex and disability, the tribunal said it would be better to have explicit protection so that the question is not perpetually challenged.
Agence France Presse | By Posted: 06/04/2013 7:47 am EDT