Massachusetts Education Department Accommodates Transgender Students

There is good news for in Massachusetts-based transgender students and and their parents.

Last week, the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education mandated that transgender students be allowed to use bathrooms and play on the sports teams that coincide with their gender identification, reports The Boston Globe.

“These students, because of widespread misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about their lives, are at a higher risk for peer ostracism, victimization, and bullying,"the new directives read, according to the Globe. "Some students may feel uncomfortable sharing those facilities, but this “discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender student."

The decree was put in place to help schools follow the state’s 2011 equal opportunity law that protects transgender residents. Similar policies in various states, advocacy groups, parents and students were also consulted by the Education Department, reports GLAAD.

“Research shows that transgender and gender non-conforming students suffer higher rates of verbal harassment, physical harassment, and physical assault in school,” Gunner Scott of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition said in a statementon his group's website, acknowledging that there "is a lot of misunderstanding about transgender students and that some schools may not have the internal expertise to address all issues of concern as they arise."

Scott salutes the effort, but acknowledges that there has been some opposition. The Massachusetts Family Institute has argued that the bathroom policy endangers other students and violates their privacy.

"Fundamentally, boys need to be use boys’ rooms and girls need to be using the girls’ rooms, and we base that on their anatomical sex, not some sort of internalized gender identity,” Andrew Beckwith, general counsel for the institute, is quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

- continue reading Huffington Post

Related articles

• Massachusetts Department Of Education Issues New Guidance For Respecting Transgender Students (thinkprogress.org)
• Students Who Refuse to Affirm Transgender Classmates Face Punishment (radio.foxnews.com)
• Mass. Ed Dept issues rules on transgender pupils (sfgate.com)
• Title IX and Transgender Students (bilerico.com)
• A Catholic Introduction to Transgender Issues " Bondings 2.0 (queerchurchnews.wordpress.com)

Kye Allums, Transgender Athlete

b. October 23, 1989

“I had to come out because it was too hard not being myself.”

Kye Allums is the first openly transgender athlete to play NCAA Division I college basketball. Allums was a star shooting guard on the George Washington University (GWU) women’s basketball team.

Born Kyler Kelcian Allums in Daytona Beach, Florida, he was the oldest of four children. Nicknamed Kay-Kay, Allums was a self-described tomboy, who identifed as male from childhood. “I’ve always felt most comfortable dressing like a boy, but my mom would take all of my clothes and force me to wear girl clothes,” he says. Allums would put boys’ clothes in his backpack and change before going to school, then change back before he got home. He says it was the only way he could go to school.

Allums received a basketball scholarship to GWU. In his freshman year, he played in 11 games for the Colonials and missed the final 20 due to injury. As a sophomore, he started 20 of 26 games.

That same year, Allums began to distance himself from Kay-Kay and opened up to some of his teammates. “I do not like being called a girl. I’m a guy in a girl’s body,” he said. Thereafter, he told his head coach Mike Bozeman. Allums says his teammates, coach and family have all been supportive. 

Allums was advised not to begin taking male hormones or undergo gender reassignment surgery while remaining on the women’s team. If he did, he would risk losing his scholarship and ending his college basketball career. Allums says he’s undecided about when he will continue his transition.

After suffering a total of eight concussions and not starting any games his junior year, Allums announced he would not be returning to the Colonials for his senior season. “I alone came to this decision and I thank the athletic department for respecting my wishes,” he said.                        

In 2011, Allums began telling his story at speaking engagements and other forums. “It meant a lot to me to help and affect others in a positive way,” he says about sharing his experience with young people struggling with similar issues.

As for his future, Allums says, “I’ll just be trying to make some kind of difference in the world and look forward to my life.”

LGBT History month

Bibliography

• "Allums to leave women's team - Sports." The GW Hatchet. 27 May 2011.
•  Associated Press. "YouTube - GW Transgender Player Deals With Wave of Publicity."  YouTube. 17 May 2011.
• Beiser, H. Darr, "Transgender Male Kye Allums on the Women's Team at GW” USATODAY.com. 17 May 2011.
• "Kye Allums, Transgender George Washington University Basketball Player, Takes The Court." The Huffington Post. 17 May 2011.
• "Kye Allums: First Transgender Man Playing NCAA Women's Basketball." Outsports.com. 17 May 2011.
• "Kye Allums, Division I Athlete, Tells Us How Being Transgender Feels” Lemondrop.com. 17 May 2011.
• "Player Bio: Kye Allums" GEORGE WASHINGTON OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE.  27 May 2011.
• "Transgender Player Leaving George Washington University Women's Basketball Team - by John Atchison." Helium.com. 27 May 2011.
• "Transgender Women's Basketball Player Kye Allums of George Washington Discusses Concussion-marred Season.”  ESPN. 17 May 2011.

Website

• GW Sports Profile

Renée Richards, Transgender Athlete

Transgender Pioneer
b. August 19, 1934

I made the fateful decision to go and fight the legal battle to be able to play as a woman and stay in the public eye and become this symbol.

Dr. Renée Richards became a transgender icon in 1977 when she won a lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association. Richards sued the Association for its refusal to let her compete in the U.S. Open women's division following male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. In a landmark decision, the New York Supreme Court ruled in Richards's favor.

Richards started playing tennis at an early age. Ranked among the top-10 eastern national juniors, she won the Eastern Private Schools' Interscholastic singles title at age 15. She captained her high school tennis team at the Horace Mann School in New York City and Yale University's men's tennis team in 1954.

In 1959, Richards graduated from University of Rochester Medical School. After serving in the Navy as Lieutenant Commander, she pursued a career in ophthalmology and eye surgery while continuing to compete in tennis tournaments.

At the height of her tennis career, Richards ranked 20th in the nation. In her first tennis tournament as a female, she reached the semifinals in the U.S. Open women's doubles competition. Following retirement, Richards coached tennis star Martina Navratilova. In 2000, the U.S. Tennis Association inducted Richards into its Hall of Fame.

Richards has published two autobiographies: "Second Serve Renée" (1986), also a TV-movie, and "No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life" (2007). She is a renowned eye surgeon and professor of ophthalmology at the New York University School of Medicine.

Bibliography

“The Second Half of My Life.” NPR: Talk of the Nation. February 8, 2007

Fee, Elizabeth, Theodore M. Brown and Janet Taylor. "One Size Does Not Fit All in the Transgender Community." Journal of Public Health, 93.6. June 2003

Selected Works

No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life (2007)

Second Serve (1986)

"Led by the child who simply knew": (Boston Globe, on a Child's Transition)

For trans children, at just how young an age is it appropriate to begin the transitioning process?

That's just one of the questions raised by this thought-provoking story from the Boston Globe last month, on Nicole and her family. (The implied answer would seem to be, to prepare the way early, but delay anything permanent (and that includes delaying "natural" processes, like the onset of puberty) until the decision to transition is definite and irrevocable.

Jonas and Wyatt Maines were born identical twins, but from the start each had a distinct personality.

Jonas was all boy. He loved Spiderman, action figures, pirates, and swords.

Wyatt favored pink tutus and beads. At 4, he insisted on a Barbie birthday cake and had a thing for mermaids. On Halloween, Jonas was Buzz Lightyear. Wyatt wanted to be a princess; his mother compromised on a prince costume.

Once, when Wyatt appeared in a sequin shirt and his mother’s heels, his father said: “You don’t want to wear that.’’

“Yes, I do,’’ Wyatt replied.

“Dad, you might as well face it,’’ Wayne recalls Jonas saying. “You have a son and a daughter.’’

-Read the full article at The Boston Globe.

The article also highlights the importance of a supportive family and school community - and Nicole's own mental strength. There came a point in her journey when the family became involved in political lobbying. She had encountered difficulties at school over usage of the girls' bathroom, and filed court proceedings against the school district for discrimination. A Republican state legislator then introduced legislation that would have repealed Maine's protection for transgender people in public restroom.

Last spring Wayne and Nicole roamed the halls of the State House, button-holing legislators and testifying against the bill. “I’d be in more danger if I went into the boys bathroom,’’ Nicole told the lawmakers, who ultimately rejected the bill.

“She knows how to work a room,’’ her father says proudly. “She even convinced a cosponsor to vote the other way.’’

Nicole freely acknowledges the difficulties ahead - but described the political engagement as a "perk":

“Obviously my life is not going to be as easy as being gender-conforming, but there are perks like being able to get out there and do things that will benefit the [transgender] community,’’ she says. “I think everything’s going to turn out pretty well for me.’’

As an aside to gthe main themes, I was amused by the self-description of Nicole's father (note the emphasis I added):

“As a conventional dad, hunter, and former Republican, it took me longer to understand that I never had two sons,’’ he told them. “My children taught me who Nicole is and who she needed to be.’’

“T and Conversation”: Beyond Binary Pronouns

“T and Conversation”: Beyond Binary Pronouns

Massachusetts approves transgender rights bill

The Massachusetts Senate has joined the House in passing a bill that would prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals.

The measure was approved by the Senate Wednesday morning on a voice vote. No senator spoke against it.

Some House Republicans had argued that the measure was unnecessary and could hurt small businesses that have transgender workers.

Proponents of the bill agreed to drop a public accommodations section of the bill that critics warned would lead to a breakdown in privacy in bathrooms and other single-gender facilities.

The bill still needs routine final approval votes in both branches.

The House passed the bill Tuesday night but only after Democratic leaders moved to limit debate to one hour, cutting off many of the 50 or so amendments that had been filed by opponents."

- BostonHerald.com"

Feds revise transgender inmate rules to permit previously disallowed prison treatments

Transgender inmates who did not begin treatment prior to entering federal custody can now receive hormones, specialized mental health counseling and possibly gender reassignment surgery while they are in prison, according to new rules adopted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as part of a court settlement.

A May 31 memo issued to wardens at the nation’s 116 federal prisons and made public by gay rights groups in announcing the settlement Friday states, “current, accepted standards of care” will be applied to inmates who believe they are the wrong gender."

- The Washington Post

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• Judge apologizes to inmate seeking sex-change (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Incarcerated Trans Prisoners Entitled To Medical Care (bilerico.com)
• Courts Uphold Transgender Inmates' Rights. Still Sucks To Be In Prison. (queerty.com)

September 29: Mara Keisling, Transgender Activist

"What's important is that transgender people are respected as members of the community—that they are safe from discrimination and violence and disrespect."

b. September 29, 1959


Mara Keisling is a leading transgender activist. She is the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, the largest transgender rights organization.

Sex-free British passports to help transgenders mooted | Metro.co.uk

India and Pakistan now provide for "other" gender on a wide range of official documents, and Australia has introduced new regulations for passports that allow "X" for intersex, and for transpeople to select the gender they identify with - not necessarily their birth gender. Now, the British authorities are reported to be considering something similar, in co-operation with "with international partners".

The road to full LGBT equality is long and arduous, and for far too long trans rights have been left at the wayside, but there are encouraging signs that in some respects at least, officialdom is starting to move in the right direction.

 The Home Office is considering plans to allow transgender citizens to opt-out of identifying their sex on their passports.
Under the new proposals, passports would use a single box marked 'sex' that can be marked with an X.
The Home Office has now begun a period of consultation over the move, to assess what impact it may have on national security and the work of the UK Border Agency.
A spokeswoman for the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) confirmed that the organisation is looking at how gender needs to be reported on passports.
'We are exploring with international partners and relevant stakeholders the security implications of gender not being displayed in the passport,' she explained.

Read more at Metro

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• Australian PassportRegulations to Reflect Gender Complexities (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
• Gender-free UK passports mooted (independent.co.uk)
• 'Sex-free' passports for transgenders (telegraph.co.uk)

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ACLU steps in to aid transgender Ga. elementary student

 "Tommy Theollyn, the father of a seven-year old transgender son, is trying to get his son, D., access to the boy's restroom at Todd Grant Elementary school in Townsend, Ga., after being told by the district's superintendent that the child must use the girl's restroom. Theollyn presented his case before the McIntosh County School Board on Sept. 15, and also gained support from the ACLU last week.

Theollyn claims that before the new school year began last month, he met with D.'s teacher about his son's transgender status. Theollyn says that the teacher was understanding of his son's unique situation and offered support, but when the new school year began, Theollyn said he was told his son would be required to use the girl's restroom."

The Ga Voice

Related articles

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• ACLU Says Schools Can't Deny Students Access To Gay Websites (alan.com)
• Sex-free British passports to help transgenders mooted (metro.co.uk)
• State Ordered To Issue New Birth Certificates To Trans Residents (huffingtonpost.com)

Sex-change op in new (UK) TV documentary

(UK) Viewers will see "graphic" footage of sex-change surgery in a new documentary series about the lives of transgender people.Channel 4 show Girls Will Be Boys And Boys Will Be Girls will follow seven people in their everyday lives and also as they gather at a rural retreat to talk through the problems they face. Among the stars of the four-part series are a 52-year-old former police officer called Karen who is about to undergo surgery and Max, from north London, who wants to become the first transgender rabbi.

They are followed by the cameras as they meet other people who have had surgery and go out together to pubs and shops and deal with people's reactions.

-more at  Belfast Telegraph

Thai army told to halt transgender slur - Asia, World - The Independent

There was a time when "homosexuality" was seen as a form of mental illness. (The word itself is of medical origin, just as "heterosexual" is, and is one reason why I and many others prefer to use alternative terms). Thankfully, those days are gone for most of us, and same-sex attraction is now more appropriately seen as a regularly occurring, non-pathological minority condition, rather like left-handedness. Only the lunatic fringe continues to see homoerotic orientation as requiring any kind of cure or healing.

That is not the case for gender minorities. Gender dysphoria is still listed as a psychiatric disorder, which contributes to continuning public prejudice. In Thailand however, a recent court decision will begin to change that, at least for the military, which up to now has gone beyond the "mental disorder", slur, and labelled all transwomen as "permanently insane."As all Thai males are subject to military conscription and the medical examination that goes with it, and these decisions enter the public records, there have been major negative implications for people's daily lives of males identifying as female .

Draft-age transgender Thais rejoice: your military will no longer deem you "permanently insane."
Thailand's military, which forces all young men into a conscription lottery, has traditionally dismissed as "insane" any would-be conscript who shows up with long hair and hormone-enhanced breasts.
This is a dilemma somewhat unique to Thailand, known for its large number of transgender females or "katoeys": those born as males who live as women.

The issue was explored at length in "The Lovely Conscripts," published by GlobalPost last year.

But kathoeys have now successfully pressured the military to drop its "insanity" label. This designation is more than just insulting, they say. It goes on a permanent record that all potential employers expect of applicants. As you might imagine, it's harder to find a job when you're labeled by the state as a total psycho.

-more at Global Post 

Australian Passport Regulations to Reflect Gender Complexities

Gender and biological sex are not simple matters of binary opposites. It is simply not true that we are all either male or female. A small but significant proportion of people are born with one or other intersex condition (although the deviance from male or female norms may be so small, they may not even be aware of it). Others   may experience a disconnect between their biological sex and their experienced gender identity, leading them to a journey of gender transitioning. For all these, myopic bureaucracies that attempt to force everybody into simple "male" or "female" categories consistent with birth certificates create real problems. 

Now, in a welcome move, Australia is introducing changes to its passport procedures that move towards greater recognition and accommodation for the complexities of gender in the real world. For intersexed people, there will in future be a provision for a "neither" category, in addition to the usual "male" and "female". For those who are undergoing gender transition, regulations permit applicants to identify themselves either by birth sex, or by the new gender identity - according to choice.

Australia to Allow Third Gender on Passports  

"In an effort to boost sexual and gender equality, Australia will make it easier for its citizens to apply for passports that reflect a third gender that is neither male nor female, or a gender different from the one on their birth certificate.

Transgender people who haven't had sex-reassignment surgery will now be able to select their new gender on the passport application, and the process of applying for a passport designating the holder as intersex—neither male or female—will be simpler, the government said." 

WSJ.com 

Related articles

• New Australian Guidelines Remove One Form of Discrimination Against Transgender and Intersex People (onebluestocking.wordpress.com)
• Australian PassportRegulations to Reflect Gender Complexities (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
• Australian passports now offer gender option 'X' for intersex people (news.blogs.cnn.com)
• Australia Creates Third Gender Option For Citizens on Passports (jonathanturley.org)
• Australia Admits Third Sex (socyberty.com)

(Extra)Ordinary Family: Inside the Transgender World

 "Young boys who say they are really little girls, girls who say they want to become men and their families who help cope with their children's extraordinary decisions are the people profiled in this week's edition of "Primetime Nightline."

From a 10-year-old who has felt trapped in the wrong body for years to a "trans-regret," a man who is one of the few people in the world to have changed his gender from a man to a woman and back again, "Primetime Nightline" looks at the issues surrounding transgender:

• At 10 years old, with tears in his eyes, Jackie told his parents "I'm a girl and I can't do this anymore." Within months, with his parents help, Jack becomes Jackie.
• Vanessa is 19 years old living and working in New York City. Vanessa was born as Pierry. At first, her immigrant family had a difficult time accepting their son as their daughter, but now that she has decided on surgery, they have come to support her.
• Five year old Dyson Kilodavis is just like any other little boy except he has loved to wear dresses since he was 2: beach dresses, wedding dresses, disco dresses, cheerleader outfits and especially princess dresses. 
• Kim Petras, a 19-year-old aspiring teen pop sensation from Cologne, Germany, was born as Tim Petras. Once a boy, Kim started living as a girl with long hair by age 10, and was tormented at school. By the time she was 11 she had found a sympathetic doctor who put her on blocker drugs that suppressed her male puberty.
• Charles Kane has what's been called "trans-regret" -- a product of his own extraordinary choices. He is one of the few people in the world to have changed his gender from a man to a woman and back again.

Read the full report at - ABC News

Companies are changing to support transgender employees

When workers undergo a change in gender, their employers need to address new needs

"IT specialist Brad Sensabaugh can't help but wonder how some of his colleagues at the TD Bank Group in London, Ont., will react when the story of his private life hits the media spotlight.

That he is anything more than the bright, tech savvy 33-yearold man they've come to know and respect in the months since he joined the bank has likely never crossed their minds.Even among those who know his past - that he was once a 'she' - there can be confusion.

'I think I pass very well,' he said in a recent telephone interview about his gender transition.

So unless you get into the nuances of saying, 'I was born female', they don't necessarily know which direction you are going or where you've come from."

Companies in Canada have come a long way in recent years in welcoming diversity into the workplace.



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Companies+changing+support+transgender+employees/5250992/story.html#ixzz1V2bVuNDe

Read the full analysis at Vancouver Sun

Nepal introduces transgender census category

KATHMANDU — Nepal's national census will include a new category for transgender people when counting begins in May, the government said Sunday, in a move welcomed by equality activists.

"Earlier, we had only two categories, men and women. But in the upcoming census, we are including a 'third gender' category," said Bikash Bista, director of the Central Bureau of Statistics in Kathmandu.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court in Nepal ordered the government to enact laws to guarantee the rights of transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

Bista said the court's ruling prompted the new category, though Nepal remains a deeply conservative country.

"We will send supervisors to each household and get the figures of the household, its members and their gender. This is when we count the number of transgenders," he said.

Sunil Babu Panta, Nepal's first openly gay parliamentarian, who runs the Blue Diamond Society pressure group, said that the transgender community was delighted by the decision.

"This shows that the government has started to recognise them. I hope this will help to ensure their rights," he said.

"But challenges remain for the community as they have often been forced to leave their villages and taken refuge in cities due to discrimination."

Nepal plans to complete the census, which takes place every ten years, in two months. About 28 million people live in the mountainous country.

India will also have a transgender category in its 2011 census, the domestic Press Trust of India news agency reported on Sunday, though no government spokesman was able to confirm the plan.

from AFP

Australian military embraces transgender soldiers

Australia has had gay men and lesbians in the military since 1992, and has recognised their families for spousal benefits since 2008. Now it is going a step further, and will also accept transgender people in the armed forces.

The head of the Australian Defence Force has announced that transgender people will no longer be barred from serving in the nation's military.
The move comes 18 years after the ADF repealed its ban on gay and lesbian service members, and two years after it started recognising same-sex relationships for family entitlements.

The chief of the ADF, Air Chief MarshallAngus Houston, has instructed his commanders to “manage ADF transgender personnel with fairness, respect and dignity … and existing medical review provisions; and ensure all personnel are not subject to unacceptable behavior.”
Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, Spain and Thailand are amongst nations which are inclusive of transgenders. GayNZ.com is making enquiries of the NZ Defence Force regarding its policies in this area.

gay NZ .com

How much longer before the US catches up?

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