This And That In The News – Trans Issues

"This And That In The News" is about articles in the news that have caught my eye and I want to share or comment about. These are the articles that caught my attention last week.

The first article is about legal recognition being given to trans-people in Ireland…

Transgender legislation due within weeks
IrishTimes.com
By Kitty Holland
September 8, 2012

LEGISLATION TO provide for the legal recognition of transgender people will be put before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection in coming weeks, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has said.

Speaking at the opening session of the fourth European Transgender Council meeting in Dublin yesterday, she said enacting such legislation was a priority for her, although she was unable to give assurances on a number of key issues to transgender people.

However, there are some concerns,

Delegates voiced concerns that the legislation may include a compulsory medical examination before transgender people could access legal recognition and that married transgender people would have to divorce their spouses before accessing recognition. This is due to the constitutional protection of marriage.

Asked about the question of “forced divorce”, Ms Burton said the AG report “deals specifically with that issue and of course for the groups it is an issue but the Irish Constitution and its position on marriage is a matter of fact”.

So mixed in with the good is a lot of bad. It sounds like the protection will only be for transsexuals and not for gender identity and expression; therefore there will be no protect for crossdressers. Also the “forced divorce” is wrong, if to people are in love they shouldn’t be forced apart.

We not go half way around the world for my next story, Vietnam is also offer legal recognition for an intersex-person.

The first trans-gender legally recognized in Vietnam
Last update 08/09/2012

 VietNamNet Bridge – A man who has become a woman after a transgender surgery in Thailand has become the first transgender in Vietnam and has been recognized by the authorities as a woman.

But reading down in the article we find out that she is really intersex.

Tram said she was born in HCM City. Her family moved to Binh Phuoc when she was small. Tram was born as an intersex but she was defined at birth as a boy.

“At puberty, my body changed as a woman. My breast kept growing. I was very frightened and did not tell anyone. I tried to hide it by eating a lot to gain weight,” Tram said.
[…]
In mid-2008, after the sex organ surgery, she became a real woman. That year, seeing her white skin and pretty face, Thai doctors encouraged her to send her pictures to Tiffany Show, a beauty contest for transgenders in Thailand. Tram won the title “Miss Tiffany Photogenic.”

This shows the injustice that intersex people face not only here in the US but around the world, she should never had to fight to legally change gender and she should never have been forced in to a gender at birth. And you can’t help wonder if she wasn’t so beautiful would the authorities allowed her to change her gender.

Although the next article is not strictly about trans-news it caught my attention because of blood donations…

In Surprise Move, Poland’s Conservative Party to Introduce Civil Unions
The Edge on the Web
By Jason St. Amand
Friday Sep 7, 2012

Although it is not marriage equality, the announcement is seen as a move in the right direction by gay rights advocates, who were pleasantly surprised by the turnaround. The Central European country allows gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military and transgender people can change their legal gender. Additionally, gay men are allowed to donate blood (unlike in the United States). The country’s anti-discrimination laws guarantees equality based on "any reason," which has been argued to cover sexual orientation (again, ahead of the United States).

I know a trans-woman who went to give blood, she went through the uptake and gave the person the clerk her medical history and to the person that she is trans. She was being connected to the IV when the supervisor came out and in a loud voice say, “We do not allow transsexuals like you to give blood.” This I believe was a fragrant violation of HIPPA and in addition, I believe it is wrong to deny a person to give blood because they are gay or transgender. I should be based on their medical history not who they are.

The next article brings us back to the US and football,

Transgender athlete joins football team on field
The Tower Pulse
By Annabel Ames
September 4, 2012

Getting to play on South’s football team is something many boys dream. But this year, a transgender female student will be taking advantage of that opportunity.

Meredith Knop ’13, who prefers to be called “Seth” and referred to as “he,” says he wanted to try out for the team last year, but was too nervous. This year, he said he decided to go for something he wanted to do, and approached varsity coach Tim Brandon and junior varsity coach Brian Shelson about joining. Knop will be playing on the varsity team as a running back.

Go Team Go!

It is nice to see a school do the right thing without a court battle. It is also nice to see a school that knows the law and obeys the law (Michigan does not have a gender inclusive anti-discrimination law at this time; however, a number of cities in the state do have laws to protect trans-people.). In 2010, the US Dept. of Ed, Office of Civil Rights released a “Dear Colleague” letter the said, “Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination based solely on sexual orientation, Title IX does protect all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, from sex discrimination.” Therefore, the school is required to allow trans-athletes to play on the team of their gender identity.