This And That In The News

"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.

I came across two articles today that I want to share; the first article comes from across the pond…

Coroner: ‘Shame on press’ who hounded dead trans teacher Lucy Meadows
Lucy Meadows committed suicide in her home. Coroner says press should be ashamed of their bigotry after they reported her transition
GayStarNews
28 May 2013
By Tris Reid-Smith

A coroner investigating the suicide of transgender British teacher Lucy Meadows has slammed the media for their ‘ill informed bigotry’.

Meadows killed herself on 19 March, aged 32 – and the hearing today confirmed it was of carbon monoxide poisoning.

She had been the subject of media reports, particularly in national newspaper the Daily Mail, where columnist Richard Littlejohn had criticized her for transition while still working in at St Mary Magdalen’s Primary School, in Accrington, Lancashire, north west England.

The press doesn’t care; all they are interesting in is selling papers. They don’t care if they tear a person life apart. We have seen this over and over again; do you remember sportswriter Mike Penner? When the news media sinks their teeth in a story they will just shred them to pieces.

The other article is in the Huffington Post, Gay Voices,

Increasing Transgender Acceptance One Family at a Time
Crystal Cheatham
Posted: 05/28/2013

All over the world, trans identity is perceived and accepted differently. From Hong Kong to Pakistan and down to Texas, transgender individuals are granted a range of treatment, from first-class citizenship to street murders where police label the body bags "possible hate crimes."

You never know what you will pull out of the transgender news bucket on a daily basis. Last week, Hong Kong was a favorite. After long battles in court, a trans woman known as W. was allowed to marry her boyfriend. W. stated, "I'm very glad that I can finally get married to my beloved boyfriend in Hong Kong."

A second favorite was the news about a trans politician in Pakistan running for office. Pakistan is already pretty far along in its evolution toward accepting gender-nonconforming people. Thanks to a 2009 vote, individuals can select "third-gender" on their personal identity cards.

Yes, but with more visibility comes more discrimination. Are the attacks in New York City against gays the result of all the rights that the LGBT won or are still lobbying for in New York State? As more states pass gender inclusive anti-discrimination laws the opposition gets stronger. They find what buttons to push that are most effected and the opposition get more entrench when their backs are to the wall.