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Transgender teen settles landmark health case

This article includes a long discussion of Alex's life and transition. I'm not sure it quite passes muster as far as avoiding the frustrating cliches and tropes - the pictures definitely smack of before/after, and I think there may have been a pronoun slip or two amid all the "Michaela was, Alex is" - but I'm linking it mainly for this quote from Alex:

"I'm just as surprised as you that I'm transgender."

So it's a good bit of visibility for what we've been talking about - trans* people who spend a significant portion of their lives not knowing that they are trans* - and also for trans masculinity and for trans* people who identify as gay after transition, which seem to get talked about so much less.

ed: forgot some 'people's

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So, this is another food thread?

I had a friend who "accidentally" hooked up with a food porn model. But it was a hetero man-woman thing.

(Sorry to taint the thread with breeder talk...[ :P ])

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Sci,

Did a search and came up with this. LMAO.

Heheheh, I think the woman my friend hooked up with rolled around naked in pancakes or something. Gotta say I'd love that job. Pancakes seem like good bedding.

Oh, and he knew she did food porn. The accidental part was the hooking up.

=-=-=

Father Of Artificial Intelligence To Be Pardoned For Being Gay

Back in 1952, mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing was convicted for gross indecency — the standard criminal charge for homosexuality. After his chemical castration, he killed himself by eating an apple laced with cyanide. Now, over 60 years later, he's set to be pardoned.

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http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/jamaican-cross-dressing-teen-%E2%80%98chopped-and-stabbed%E2%80%99-death-mob230713

I really, really despise where I'm from sometimes. This makes me sick.

The few people I know who are out and still living in Jamaica are probably the bravest people I know. I fear for their safety though.

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When I read that story yesterday the first thing that jumped out at me was, despite the fact that what happened that night is well known there is still no mention of any charges.

It’s the telling of these stories, whether fictionalized like that of Sophia Burset or the true story of Shelley Hilliard, that bring us (and I specifically mean us woefully uninformed cisgender persons) closer to understanding the issues facing the trans* community so we can actively work toward change. It’s that lack of understanding and empathy that has CeCe McDonald locked behind bars for her defending herself.

Whatever my misgivings about “Orange is the New Black” as a whole, the potential it has for opening up dialogue among people who would otherwise act as if the existence of trans* people is no concern of their own is worth commending.

http://feministing.com/2013/07/24/orange-is-the-new-black-offers-new-opportunity-to-discuss-trans-issues/

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And following on from that depiction of a trans* woman who actually gets into the right gender prison at least, autostraddle have this piece on how trans women who haven't had surgery end up in mens prisons where they face heightened levels of assault and sexual assault, along with mistreatment by the guards and denial of their medical care. It really highlights just how shitty things are for black trans* people are in the US with nearly half having been incarcerated at some point. This stems from them being hit the hardest by all the different forms of discrimination that apply to them which makes it extremely difficult to get a job etc, along with being desperate to have money for the medical care they need.

Then for some better news, one of my local feminists had a nice piece on a camp in the US for young trans girls and gender non conforming boys, which touches nicely on intersectionality towards the end showing how she gets that so much of the negativity thrown at gender non conforming people who were assigned male at birth stems from sexism - that female and femininity is lesser.

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If true this from the comments in that first article is absolutely horrifying

and there are states like Idaho and Tennessee where even post-op women are still placed in men’s facilities
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And following on from that depiction of a trans* woman who actually gets into the right gender prison at least, autostraddle have this piece on how trans women who haven't had surgery end up in mens prisons where they face heightened levels of assault and sexual assault, along with mistreatment by the guards and denial of their medical care. It really highlights just how shitty things are for black trans* people are in the US with nearly half having been incarcerated at some point. This stems from them being hit the hardest by all the different forms of discrimination that apply to them which makes it extremely difficult to get a job etc, along with being desperate to have money for the medical care they need.

That's awful. I can't even imagine. Trans women are 13x more likely to get sexually assaulted in prison and they only get protective custody after!? Torture, plain and simple.

IIRC about 10 years ago here there was an trans woman incarcerated in a men's prison who successfully sued the government to for her surgery and transferred to a women's prison. You can imagine the comments from bigoted tax payers.

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That's awful. I can't even imagine. Trans women are 13x more likely to get sexually assaulted in prison and they only get protective custody after!? Torture, plain and simple.

IIRC about 10 years ago here there was an trans woman incarcerated in a men's prison who successfully sued the government to for her surgery and transferred to a women's prison. You can imagine the comments from bigoted tax payers.

I think in some respects the lack of concern about this stems back into rape culture in general and how society has decided that it's OK for inmates to be raped as part of their punishment. If they are in prison then they deserve it! Add in being trans* on top of it and I dare say that just convinces the bigots that it's even more deserved in that case. I'd love to see this attitude change, so that rape is never viewed as an acceptable punishment and all prisoners are protected from this kind of violence that does nothing but make things worse.

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And a double post to throw in another story on Intersex. An LA Radio Host came out as intersexed on the air, has talked about it on air several times and there hasn't been any reporting on it at all. Much like trans men, Intersex is a group that makes people uncomfortable in a way they don't want to talk about it, rather than a way they want to ridicule and marginalise it.

ETA: A caveat - there is a couple of things in there I find a bit problematic, most notably the idea that trans means a mistake has happened, where intersex is not. I think this is the sort of thing you run into when someone gets elevated to spokes person for a group simply by being a prominent figure who happens to be part of that group, but isn't involved in the research or politics of it. Yes I realise this is perhaps hypocritical of me given the role I play on here as a vocal trans woman :P but I'm trying to stay up on both the politics and science!

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That is an inevitable part of a social movement, imo. Back in the gay liberation days, we had similar issues. But as more people came out and spoke up, the diversity of opinions emerged and the more reasoned arguments rose to the top. It took time, but it will happen. When the movement is new there are so few who are visible that they became defacto leaders. With numbers of trans* people being more visible this will change. Just got to weather through it for now.

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And a double post to throw in another story on Intersex. An LA Radio Host came out as intersexed on the air, has talked about it on air several times and there hasn't been any reporting on it at all. Much like trans men, Intersex is a group that makes people uncomfortable in a way they don't want to talk about it, rather than a way they want to ridicule and marginalise it.

ETA: A caveat - there is a couple of things in there I find a bit problematic, most notably the idea that trans means a mistake has happened, where intersex is not. I think this is the sort of thing you run into when someone gets elevated to spokes person for a group simply by being a prominent figure who happens to be part of that group, but isn't involved in the research or politics of it. Yes I realise this is perhaps hypocritical of me given the role I play on here as a vocal trans woman :P but I'm trying to stay up on both the politics and science!

Woot, no mistake in the case of intersexed people? Well our existence throughout history has been one of being called freaks in the severest cases (very rare indeed) or denial in most others. In the denial people have gone to seek medical help, and it is with phenotype issues have been lived with all their life so there's a level of acceptance of that being who they are, medical help is only forth coming by maybe an enlightened GP but more often by the person being hit with severe dysphoria and breaking down, then getting referred to see a urologist or gynaecologist. Personally I transitioned while getting treatment, the only difference is some people don't. It is certainly true not everyone needs treatment, much like a transperson who doesn't desire genital surgery, it's a personal decision.

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Thank you for sharing IW. Do you mind me asking (because it's something I believe I asked about in the earlier thread). I've heard several different discussions and theories about how different experts suggest parents deal with an intersexed child. Of course a few decades ago, parents were encouraged to choose a sex immediately, and the surgeries would happen, and the child would be raised (often unknowingly) as one gender. A decade or two ago, it was becoming more common to hear advocacy of raising children as neutral as possible to allow them choice as they got older. Of course, at the time, that did pose difficulties in terms of social norms in public schools, etc.

For you personally, what experience are you willing to share on that matter? And, what would you recommend to parents based on your experience?

On a separate note, a feel good piece where it looks like 2 transgender teens found love in each other while transitioning at the same time!

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IW - Sorry I'm finding it hard to parse your tone and can't tell if you are annoyed at me, the interviewee or just the messed up history of how intersex people have been treated. I'd just like to clarify that the language I find problematic is the idea that there is a mistake with trans* or intersex - our identities are real and no mistake. There may be some body corrections needed, but that's a different thing to us being a mistake (and there are some for me).

Terra - Absolutely, and I do know that will go away. I just think when linking something that may have a problematic statement in it due to that, it doesn't hurt to throw a disclaimer on pointing that out so it's not reinforced.

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@Karaddin: I found the idea of trans* being a mistake problematic, though I don't know if the radio host meant that she thought it was a mistake. I think she was trying to say the "unnatural" argument that could be applied to trasn* doesn't apply to intersex persons.

Gay marriage in the year 100 AD

Gay marriage sounds like an ultra-contemporary idea. But almost twenty years ago, a Catholic scholar at Yale shocked the world by publishing a book packed with evidence that same-sex marriages were sanctioned by the early Christian Church during an era commonly called the Dark Ages.

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I think it was a language issue yes, but that doesn't mean it's not worth pointing it out and making sure there aren't any misunderstandings when linking it elsewhere.

Got a couple more links to drop, but on training this week and not had much time...will try get to them later.

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I think it was a language issue yes, but that doesn't mean it's not worth pointing it out and making sure there aren't any misunderstandings when linking it elsewhere.

Oh, definitely. It might be worth contacting the interviewee directly, if no one else has done so.

[i haven't looked to see if there's a comment section so I may have missed an extant dialogue.]

Got a couple more links to drop, but on training this week and not had much time...will try get to them later.

Looking forward to it, though I am a bit behind in catching up with this thread.

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