At What Price?

Whether transgender, bi, gay or lesbian it is not as easy a choice as some would say to “come out”. Anyone who has followed any of my blogs, be it the current and popular Focus On The Rainbow at Hearst Newspapers or various LGBT blogs which I have published albeit which are no longer active in favor of concentrating on the Focus On The Rainbow blogs, know that one of my pet peeves in our community is those who fault others for not being out, anti-gay conservatives not withstanding.

More at: Focus On The Rainbow!

Pakistan’s Supreme Court OKs Third Sex

From Equal Ground:

Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered the government on Wednesday to allow transvestites and eunuchs to identify themselves as a distinct gender as part of a move to ensure their rights.

While hearing the case, the Chief Justice also advised the authorities to hire the services of the eunuchs to recover monies (Rs193 billion) loans from the bank loan defaulters – a practice, he said, already being followed in India!

Known by the term “Hijra” in Pakistan as well as in India and Bangladesh, transvestites, eunuchs and hermaphrodites are generally shunned by society nor do they enjoy any rights – legal, political human or even religious.

They often live together in slum communities and survive by begging and dancing at carnivals and weddings. Some are also involved in prostitution.

CJ Iftikhar ordered the authorities to issue national identity cards to members of the community showing their distinct gender and to take steps to ensure that they were not harassed.

“The government’s registration authority has been directed to include a separate column in national identity cards showing them as hijras,” Mohammad Aslam Khaki, a lawyer for hijras told Reuters.

“By doing so, they think they will get a distinct identity and it will help them get their rights.”

More here!

Playing Politics With Sexual Disorder

In mid-February, the American Psychiatric Association released the latest proposed changes to its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), considered the “Bible” used by mental health professionals in diagnosing patients. In addition to providing a guide for mental health diagnosis, the DSM is crucial in helping third-party payers (insurance companies) determine what they will cover under health insurance policies.

According to a report on Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink.com website, significant among the proposed changes to the fifth edition of the DSM is the re-labeling of Gender Identity Disorder (GID), also known as transsexualism, to “Gender Incongruity.” A diagnosis dictionary on the psychologytoday.com website explains that GID occurs “when a person feels as if their biological gender doesn’t accord with who they feel themselves to be,” and is defined by “strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one’s own assigned sex.”

The present DSM defines Gender Identity Disorder as a “strong and persistent cross-gender identification,” while the proposed change would remove the term “disorder” and define it as a “marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender.”

While to the layman’s mind the proposed change may seem like a “distinction without a difference,” some critics argue that the proposal is part of a strategy designed to normalize sexual behaviors that stable societies have traditionally considered aberrations. They note that in 1973, after intense pressure from homosexual activist groups, the APA voted to remove homosexuality from sexual disorders listed in the DSM. More recently, homosexual activists — who now prefer the moniker GLBT (for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) — insist that labeling transsexualism as a “disorder” is demeaning to a “transgendered” person, and possibly even a violation of his civil liberties.

More at: The New American!

Marriage? What About Jobs, Housing and Medical Care?

I know what you’re thinking after reading the title to this. You’re thinking I’m writing about stimulating the economy and universal healthcare. While I’m all for job growth and better healthcare, that’s not exactly what this article is about. So what am I talking about? I’m
talking about how bent and focused the LGBT community is on marriage equality, when there is still a sector of the LGBT that isn’t even
afforded basic protections for employment, housing and medical care.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy whenever I see any part of our community gain rights and acceptance. But I hesitate whenever I’m asked to participate in an event or a promotion that only benefits marriage. Why? Because we T’s have already been thrown under the bus at least once by the rest of the community and we’re a little weary of it. The phrase “don’t worry, we’ll come back for you” is a little worn out, especially here in NY where typically we have lobbied for three pieces of legislation; marriage, GENDA and Dignity For All Students, but after 15 years GENDA just barely made it through the Assembly.

More at: Gay Media and Press Network!

Michigan Rep Targets Transgener People

State Rep. Paul Scott, (R-Grand Blanc), announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State just five days ago, but he’s already caused a shock wave.

Scott, who just completed the first year of his first two-year term in the state House, is rankling feathers with a promise he made in his Jan. 15 announcement letter, which listed four top policy priorities, including:

· I will make it a priority to ensure transgender individuals will not be allowed to change the sex on their driver’s license in any circumstance

PaulScottIn an interview with Michigan Messenger, Scott said the issue was about “values.”

“It’s a social values issue. If you are born a male, you should be known as a male. Same as with a female, she should be known as a female,” he said.

When asked to explain how such a mandate from the Secretary of State would benefit Michigan, he said it was about “preventing people who are males genetically from dressing as a woman and going into female bathrooms.”

More at: Michigan Messenger!

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