Free Republic

Women having sex changes on the NHS are being given free fertility treatment so they can have babies after they become men. At least three British men who were born female are ‘on the brink’ of becoming parents using IVF techniques, according to a top doctor. And dozens more are now having their eggs frozen at NHS clinics before undergoing surgery or hormone therapy to switch sex.

Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee, left, listened during a conference call at the Village in Hollywood, with Christopher Brown, director of health and mental health services at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, in glasses on the right.California's health insurance exchange is targeting uninsured LGBT residents with a new marketing campaign aimed at signing them up for coverage. The billboards, ads in LGBT newspapers and on bus shelters in gay neighborhoods throughout the state began appearing this week. The advertisements from Covered California feature either a male or female same-sex couple with the tagline "Welcome to health insurance...

The Social Security Administration is implementing a policy change to make it easier for the transgender community to change the update their gender designation in records kept by the agency. Transgender people can make the modification by submitting government-issued documents reflecting the new sex, or by presenting the SSA with “a medical certification of appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition,” according to the new rules. Previously, the SSA required documentation of specific surgeries. "Most people may not see this as a big deal, but transgender people know that this seemingly small technical change will protect their privacy and give them...

For the first time since 1981, when it dubbed sex-change operations "experimental," Medicare has opened the door to covering transexual operations, adding to the growing list of operations that would be allowed under Obamacare. Acting on a new request, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it is starting a new analysis that could lift the spending ban for sex-change operations with a goal of making a decision two days after Christmas and on the eve of Obamacare kicking in Jan. 1. A 30-day public comment period just opened on the proposed "National Coverage Determination." "Surgical Treatment for Gender...

Transgender illegal immigrants would in some cases receive taxpayer-funded hormone therapy while in federal custody, under new guidelines put out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The transgender provision was one of many in the latest "national detention standards" manual released by ICE. It has already drawn complaints from one Republican congressman, who described it as a "hospitality guideline for illegal immigrants." The 2011 manual calls for detainees to be screened shortly after their arrival. That screening is supposed to examine everything from dental history to tobacco history to infections -- the last item on the checklist urges officers to ask...

While many people, especially in the LBGT community, have lauded the addition of Chaz Bono to the "Dancing with the Stars" cast, others are concerned, disappointed, and just plain angry – and they went to the show’s online message board to let producers know how they feel. One of the main concerns was that transgendered contestants will be confusing to children and inappropriate for a family program. “I personally do not mind watching Chaz,” wrote Callisandria2. “The problem is that I watch this show with my 10 year old daughter. I am sure the show will talk about Chaz and...

Children as young as 12 are to be allowed drugs to block puberty while they decide whether to have a sex change, it has been revealed. The monthly injection suspends the onset of adulthood so that young people confused about their gender can be sure of any decision before they take on too many masculine or feminine features. Supporters say that the "window" prevents a great deal of mental and physical anguish caused by the maturing of sex organs, facial hair growth and changes in the voice. But critics argue it only prolongs the agony and can prevent people "growing...

After making its way through the state Senate's Judiciary and Education Committees over the last month, a bill that would require schools to incorporate information on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Americans into their curricula passed by 23-14 on the Senate floor Thursday. The measure, which goes to the Assembly next, addresses high bullying rates of LGBT youth and the absence of LGBT Americans from official accounts of history in school curricula. It would expand on existing laws that require instructional materials to include accurate portrayals of the role and contribution of culturally and racially diverse groups. That list,...

<p>Breaking: Elena Kagan demanded sex-change operation benefit for Harvard students.</p> <p>Kagan's team forced Blue-Cross, Blue-Shield to pay for sex-change operations as a benefit for students as Dean of Harvard Law.</p> <p>Our breaking news report by Amy Contrada and Peter LaBarbera, just published this morning at MassResistance.org, contains links to 2006 and 2008 articles from the Harvard Crimson newspaper, proving Elena Kagan teamed up with the Lambda "Trans-gender Task Force" as Harvard Law Dean overseeing the administrative team that forced Blue-Cross, Blue-Shield to provide sex-change operations as a paid benefit, including breast enhancement or breast-removal (but not yet genital mutilation) for students or faculty who suffer from "gender identity disorder." The partial sex-change operations must be fully covered by insurance premiums, as Kagan's administrators demanded they be funded as an "equal right."</p>

Chaz Bono is now a man ... legally and otherwise. Cher's newly-minted son showed up to court today in Santa Monica, where a judge granted Chaz' petition for a gender and name change. According to documents filed in March, Chaz underwent an "irreversible surgery" on September 23, 2009 to change his "sex characteristics from female to male." In the docs, Chaz's doctor said, "Chaz Bono has completed his gender reassignment surgery." It's like a transgender Bar Mitzvah!

Without a vote from shareholders, one of America's largest corporations has decided to grant its transgender employees special protected status. Memphis-based FedEx has agreed to implement a shareholder resolution proposed by Huffington Post blogger Sara Whitman that would add "gender identity" to the company's non-discrimination policy. Whitman is a self-proclaimed "married lesbian mother of three boys" in Massachusetts.

It was late on a rainy fall day, and a college freshman named Rey was showing me the new tattoo on his arm. It commemorated his 500-mile hike through Europe the previous summer, which happened also to be, he said, the last time he was happy. We sat together for a while in his room talking, his tattoo of a piece with his spiky brown hair, oversize tribal earrings and very baggy jeans. He showed me a photo of himself and his girlfriend kissing, pointed out his small drum kit, a bass guitar that lay next to his rumpled clothes...

Hello, fellow white people! Yeeeeeehaawwwwww! What in tarnation is all this jibber jabber I hear about the Iraqi war going anything but one hundred percent perfectly?! I tell ya what that is: COMMIE talk! These Un-American libs (which include minorities, women, and other minorities, such as blacks and homosexual gay queers!) the war has turned into a black hole with no "forseeable" (whatever in tarnation that big word means) end in sight. To this I say, shut your damn mouth! The only opinions that should be expressed are those that are in total agreement with our distinguished president, Dick Cheney,...

You people are a genuine menace. I think I'll be calling my congressman to see what can be done to shut this place down.

Male athletes aiming to win Olympic medals without resorting to banned drugs could soon have a new, legal way of gaining an advantage over their rivals - wear a dress for two years and then compete as a woman. This week the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the leading body of world sport, will decide whether to amend its rules to allow transsexuals who have undergone a sex change to compete under their new gender. That proposal is controversial enough, since most sex changes are man-to-woman and critics say those transsexuals will retain unfair advantages of height and strength over female...