Looks like 2012 is kicking off to be the year of “shit people say” videos of every color of the rainbow. Here’s the latest by Hugh Jasoll and Black Dahlia Parton, two fab trans folks from TransFix! in the SF/Bay Area.

The article is in Portuguese but you can understand it by the pics and the video (in English)  at the end.

I’m sure coming out for a trams person full time is a cause for celebration, but this self portrait just makes me think of Alien monsters popping out of people’s bodies.

Did you know two of the characters in the original alien movie were written into the script as trans? They changed the script after the actors managers protested.

From the article:

PUMPERS and their desperate transgender clients operate in an underground world rarely glimpsed by most New Yorkers. But the practice is commonplace, especially among immigrant and poor women, according to dozens of transgender women, social-service providers and doctors interviewed in recent months. Although there are no reliable statistics on the number of transgender people in the city, a recent study prepared by the health department estimated it at 12,500. And according to the same study, 22 percent of transgender women have had silicone injections.

For these women, yearning to appear more feminine, and unable to afford gender reassignment surgery, pumping can seem like a relatively cheap and easy shortcut. The names of pumpers travel by word of mouth, handed down from older women to younger ones just beginning the process of transition. Some operate in teams, renting a hotel room and holding a pumping party to inject 10 or 20 women at a time.

Here’s a gem Marc found, Kacey CD, a systems administrator who really knows how to work the color gold.

You are gold, always believe in your soul.

CHIANG KHONG, Thailand — The 15-year-old aspiring “ladyboy” delicately applied a puff of talcum powder to his nose — an act of rebellion at the Thai Buddhist temple where he is learning to “be a man”.

“They have rules here that novice monks cannot use powder, make-up, or perfume, cannot run around and be girlish,” said Pipop Thanajindawong, who was sent to Wat Kreung Tai Wittaya, in Chiang Khong on the Thai-Laos border, to tame his more feminine traits.

But the monks running the temple’s programme to teach masculinity to boys who are “katoeys”, the Thai term for transsexuals or ladyboys, have their controversial work cut out.

“Sometimes we give them money to buy snacks but he saved it up to buy mascara,” headteacher Phra Pitsanu Witcharato said of Pipop.

Read the rest of the article here.

Forum organizaer Pete Subkoviak and and speaker Jamison Green - photo: Fausto Fernós

Here’s a photo gallery of the event:

Far from a dirty word, “lesbian folk music” is a term that has the power to pique my interest and make me run to check out the woman holding the title. While the stalwarts like Amy Ray and Jill Sobule are still around doing great work, a new generation has emerged to carry the torch. To the likes of Chris Pureka and An Horse comes Nicole Reynolds. The Pittsburgh native (and former attendant of local Goucher College) has a tiny, heartwrenching voice that is the perfect medium for some big ideas.
She busted out her powerful track “Like an Ocean” at the DC-are Iota Club for us back in January. It’s has a great message about persecution and self-reliance that should make sense for anyone who was told that they grew up wrong. Check it out!

From left to right: Lara Brooks, Marc Felion, Jamison Green, Fausto Fernós and Alexandra Billings

Today we present our live podcast with Project Crysp from the Center on Halsted in Chicago, Illinois: Trans-Body Politics, The Original T-Party.

Join us for an extraordinary conversation with three groundbreaking people involved in the forefront of the trans rights movement-

Actor Alexandra Billings- the first trans woman to play a trans woman on television, you’ve seen her on such TV shows as ER, Greys Ananotmy and Bones.

Author and activist Jamison Green, a policy specialist on the staff of the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California.,

And Lara Brooks, who for over nine years has worked at Chicago’s Broadway Youth Center with street-based young people, many of which identify as trans.

Come feel the love and dive into our version of the state of the union of the trans rights movement and what it means for everyone.

Plus- live questions from you, the audience in person.

NOTE: Here’s a link to Jamison Green’s survey on Respectful Language mentioned during the taping of the show. Check out the huge list of terms used in medical literature to describe trans. Some of my favorite are: “gender gifted, genderforked, transbian, tranny and two-spirit.” We prefer to use “transtastic.” Read more about the study’s 10 year history here.

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Featured Music:
Alexandra Billings – Being Alive – My Simple Christmas Wish: iTunes

Tracy Tyler and Victoria Lamarr meet each other for the first time.

Judgement day came and went without a hitch, and if you’re listening to this show and didn’t jump off a cliff, you might be wondering, what happened? Are we in hell, or was Belinda Carlisle right all along- oooh heaven is a place on earth.

The doomsday prediction by Harold Camping, The San Francisco Christian fundamentalist broadcaster, who blamed Armageddon on gay people, hasn’t said a word yet, leaving people to wonder if he’s off somewhere in a casino surrounded by hookers and cocktails.

Today we’re introducing two of our favorite tranny gal pals to each other for the first time- Victoria Lamarr and Tracy Tyler. We rarely have more than one guest on at a time, but we simply couldn’t resist bringing these two ladies together, who have up to now, occupied different spaces in our lives.

Join us as Tracy takes the newly hatched t-girl Victoria under her wing and teaches her how to fly high and how to pick up guys in unusual places.

Plus–

Sadly, the state of Tennessee Senate passes it’s notorious “Don’t Say Gay Bill” banning anyone in the public school system from even discussing any form of human sexuality except heterosexuality at a critical time in most LGBT teen’s lives.

George Takei lends his name as an alternative to the word Gay.

Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake’s stellar performance on the season finale of Saturday Night Live- and their digital short: It’s not gay, it it’s a three way.

Hollywood studs Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfur to appear in a stripper movie.

and Lisa Lampanelli pledges 44,000 to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in response to to Westboro Baptists protests.

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Featured Music:
Wanted – Denise LaSalle: iTunes

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Man-hungry Tracy Tyler has satiated her appetite. As a trans woman, Tracy’s now looking for deeper relationships and new way to connect to other men and the world around her.

Could it be possible that Tracy has really limited her appetite to just one or maybe three men?

Today Tracy Tyler talks about her forecast for summer fashion and joining a bisexual support group which has led her to question everything, including bisexual men.

Join us for this and a whole lot more–

Boystown, the reality TV show based on Chicago’s gay neighborhood seems to be canceled before it even started. Where people scared off by the producer’s litigious and sex offender past?

Are any of the judges on the TV show “The Voice” straight?”

The heart wrenching truth behind the Navy Seal dogs with titanium teeth.

The Australian man who threw eggs at Justin Beiber is arrested.

Our review of the movie Thor.

And rumors are circling that Madonna pressured her ex- husband Guy Ritchie to get circumcised.

Visit our sponsors:

The (other) T-Party- Trans Body Politics
Join us for a public forum on the positive and negative repercussions of increased trans visibility and integration.
Thursday May 19, 2011 – Space is limited so please RSVP

Featured Music:
Ellen Once Again – Chasing Rainbows: iTunes | Amazon

A lot of our long term listeners will appreciate hearing from Victoria Lamarr, one of our favorite early guests on the show when we started podcasting in 2005.

Before there was YouTube and video podcasts on iTunes, Victoria Lamarr was one of the first drag queen and to our knowledge the first person living with full blown AIDS to video blog.

Over the years, Victoria has come in and out of our lives as she struggled with depression and HIV. But right now, she’s back and she has a new lease on life.

Victoria’s got a secret! Want to know what it is? For the past month she’s been transitioning to living full-time as a woman.

For V-Marr, this is a new a new chapter in her life. For us, it’s having a friend we’ve known for years come to the realization that they are happier as a woman. This doesn’t happen every day.

Listen as we find out if it easier for Victoria to come out twenty years ago as gay and HIV or is it easier to come out as trans woman today.

Join us for this and all the hot news;

We can really hear you now.

Dolly Parton wants to do a duet with Lady Gaga.

Robocop Glasses.

Daytime Soap Operas hear the death knell, ABC cancels All My Children and One life to Live.

And the Verizon Guy, Paul Marcarelli wraps up a nine year stint as the company’s “Can you Hear Me Now” Spokesperson, and speaks up about being gay.

Featured Music:
Seth&Zakk – Snakk Pakk: iTunes

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Victoria Lamarr comes out once again as a trans woman. Tomorrow on the podcast you’ll hear the entire story.

Transgendered people and bodybuilders share a lot in common- they both work very hard for the body they want to have. In many ways, enhancing gender characteristics on either side of the male or female spectrum is a difficult transition.

From fit to fabulous! Chris Tina Bruce Foxx as a male bodybuilder.

In a world that has a hard time accepting people who are different, some trans people and bodybuilders are driven underground and put themselves at risk to get the drugs they need to be the person they want to be.

In Chris Tina Foxx Bruce‘s case, she’s transitioned twice- from fit to fabulous! First, she became a 230 lb male bodybuilder and now she’s a 180 lb female fitness guru, 6’4″ in heels!

Listen as Chris from Discover Health and Fitness, talks with us about her extraordinary journey and people struggle understanding steroids, hormones, plastic surgery and body modification.

Plus, trans fitness tips for everyone, her reality TV show in the works, and is the word tranny really a trans taboo word or are we ignoring something much bigger than this

[Originally posted on 11.18.10]

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Featured Music:
Fun Girls – Jessica 6: iTunes

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La Cueva is an LGBTQ historic site — it is known as the oldest Latino drag bar in the country. This is a bit of a misnomer, as the performers are women — trans male to female. La Cueva has been around for 30 years, providing a place for trans Latinas to work and gay Latinos to belong. But the bar has recently been the center of controversy: in September, Little Village residents began protesting for La Cueva to close. Opponents say the bar has become a site for drug dealing and “transgender prostitution.”

–Read the rest on Gaper’s Block

Here’s some of the talent at La Cueva

In a study due to be published next month, the team ran MRI scans on the brains of 18 female-to-male transsexual people who’d had no treatment and compared them with those of 24 males and 19 females.

They found significant differences between male and female brains in four regions of white matter – and the female-to-male transsexual people had white matter in these regions that resembled a male brain. “It’s the first time it has been shown that the brains of female-to-male transsexual people are masculinised,” Guillamon says.

In a separate study, the team used the same technique to compare white matter in 18 male-to-female transsexual people with that in 19 males and 19 females. Surprisingly, in each transsexual person’s brain the structure of the white matter in the four regions was halfway between that of the males and females. “Their brains are not completely masculinised and not completely feminised, but they still feel female,” says Guillamon.

–read more

Kate Bornstein - photo of Kate on the left by Maxwell Ander, Toronto. Montage by Fausto Fernós

Every year in the U.S., thousands of teens commit suicide due to bullying over being perceived as LBGT or as outsiders. The holidays, with all its pressures and unrealistic expectations can leave many with feelings of isolation and despair. What’s the best way to get through it all?

Joining us today is Kate Bornstein, author of the groundbreaking book “Gender Outlaw” as well as “My Gender Workbook” and most recently “Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws” which is also available as an iPhone app so you can get the bite sized words of wisdom right when you need it.

Kate’s writing bridges the gap between people from all sexual and gender walks of life, between man and woman, between old and young and between popular culture and academia.

What's a girl trapped in a cybernetic, sentient robot hellbent on destroying humanity supposed to do?

Most recently Kate has gotten into an intense discussion with other bloggers about the controversy over the word “Tranny.” On top of all that, ze (that’s Kate’s preferred pronoun) has also been trying to save the SyFy Network’s canceled TV series “Caprica” which portrays the digital consciousness of a teenage girl trapped in a hulking robotic body living in a world where gay couples are gangsters and religious fundamentalists live in poly-sexual group marriages.

Listen as we talk about the appeal of avatars to trans people, the dangers of wanting to fit in, becoming straight but not heterosexual, how to bring peace and joy into your holiday season and for the rest of your life, and are you a war mongering hater-homo? Take our quiz and find out!

Bonus Question:

Now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been repealed, besides marriage equality, what is the future of the LGBTQ movement? What challenges do we face in the future? What do we need to pay more attention to? Post it in the comments below, the best ones get read on tomorrow’s show.

Featured Books:
Kate Bornstein:
Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws
My Gender Workbook
Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us

Featured Music:
Do You Take It? – The Wet Spots: iTunes | Site

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Tyjanae Moore is the transgendered woman who was cited and thrown behind bars by a Houston police officer because she was caught using the ladies restroom. “I felt so belittled going to a jail over something so simple and stupid,” says Moore.

–Read more

Where’s the transgendered person who can speak on this topic on the news? Why go out of your way to find some conservative pastor to talk about 5,000 years of “knowing what a man or woman is?”

Transgendered people and bodybuilders share a lot in common- they both work very hard for the body they want to have. In many ways, enhancing gender characteristics on either side of the male or female spectrum is a difficult transition.

From fit to fabulous! Chris Tina Bruce Foxx as a male bodybuilder.

In a world that has a hard time accepting people who are different, some trans people and bodybuilders are driven underground and put themselves at risk to get the drugs they need to be the person they want to be.

In Chris Tina Foxx Bruce‘s case, she’s transitioned twice- from fit to fabulous! First, she became a 230 lb male bodybuilder and now she’s a 180 lb female fitness guru, 6’4″ in heels!

Listen as Chris from Discover Health and Fitness, talks with us about her extraordinary journey and people struggle understanding steroids, hormones, plastic surgery and body modification.

Plus, trans fitness tips for everyone, her reality TV show in the works, and is the word tranny really a trans taboo word or are we ignoring something much bigger than this

Featured Music:
Fun Girls – Jessica 6: iTunes

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

The 41-year-old, who was born Chastity Sun Bono, now wants to be known as Chaz Salvatore, according to a petition filed earlier this week.

–Read the rest

“Spurred by the forceful chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was restored after countrywide protests last year, normally moribund authorities have been ordered to ensure hijras enjoy the same rights as other Pakistanis, in matters of inheritance, employment and election registration.

“Police have been warned to cease harassment and intimidation. Pakistan’s national database and registration authority, which issues ID cards, has been told to research a third option under the ‘sex’ column.

“‘Times are changing,’ said Almas Bobby, leader of one of the largest group of hijras in Rawalpindi. ‘Our community feels good for the first time in 60 years.’

“The changes have triggered a heady sense of possibility.

“In October hijras in the southern city of Sukkur fielded the country’s first hijras cricket team. After winning their inaugural match, the captain thanked the chief justice.

“The exuberance is spreading. Earlier this month about 100 hijras from across Punjab crammed into a tented rooftop area for a raucous dance party.

“Showers of rose petals filled the air as hijras of all ages, draped in sequined dresses and bedecked in costume jewellery, danced into the small hours – whirling and swinging their hips in the manner of Bollywood movie stars.”

Read the entire article here including an audio slideshow. And here is an earlier article regarding registration of a “third sex” in Pakistan. It’s interesting how trans people are valued in different cultures.  However, the article refers to hijras as transgender men when I think its correct to call them transgender women.

It’s a big day for trans folks as the International Olympic Committee met with the research scientists at Anacin and they’ve decided to allow for nuance with sexually ambiguous athletes and to treat their gender variance as a medical issue and not one of fairness in competition.

Move over Thomas Beatie, the bears having babies! Trans man Scott Moore announces he’s pregnant! (Check out a web cam of a recent live bear birth- the animal bear, not the man)

Meanwhile, San Antonio native Ruben Valerio may be blind but that doesn’t stop him from putting on a show as drag queen Alexis Nicole Whitney from the House of Whitney.

Hot news:

Apple is rumored to announce today a new tablet computer, new iPhones and a new version of their iLife software suite that may revolutionize the publishing industry. Will gay newspapers take advantage of the new platform or simply ignore it like the rest of new media?

Lukewarm anti-gay testimonies at the Proposition 8 trial.

Pope tells priests to go forth and blog.

And our review of the touring production of Dreamgirls, now in Chicago, plus backstage gossip!

Featured Music:
Rena Riffel – Trasharella (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): iTunes | Amazon | Site

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The ruling comes after controversy surrounding Caster Semenya of South Africa who won a gold medal at last summers World Athletics Championships as a woman then challenged by competitors who insisted she was a man baby!

I’m proud of the I.O.C. taking a measured and approriate response to the issue. 
–Read more here

The case is similar to that of Thomas Beatie, from Oregon, who made headlines in 2008 when he gave birth to a girl.

I’m all for it, but doesn’t this look like a hoax? I can’t tell you how many times we all have pulled out our bellies and said “here’s my baby.” Now it’s all come true! Will they name their newborn “baby bear”?

– Read the whole story here: Dailymailonline