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Just one year ago, Megan Wallent's co-workers at Microsoft knew her as Michael. Then, in an e-mail sent to his entire staff, he announced that he no longer considered himself a male. The long-time executive, in charge of the Internet Explorer division for Microsoft, underwent major feminization surgery and legally changed his gender. Wallent's wife, like his co-workers, had no idea that this guy's guy was conflicted about his gender identity. ABC's Neal Karlinksy has the story from Seattle. Read more here and view a slideshow of the transition from Michael to Megan.

A couple at the "cross roads" of a "complicated" love story.  That's how Diane Sawyer set up the feature on a transgendered Microsoft executive, his/her wife, and their son in the 8:00 half-hour on "Good Morning America." The socially progressive bent of GMA was evident in the lack of context or perspective given to the family's story.  No consideration was given to the glaring social issues raised. It was reported as just another human-interest story.Video (2:00): Windows (7.31 MB), plus MP3 audio (917 kB)The five-minute feature, reported by Neal Karlinsky, explained the conflict Michael Wallent had with his identification as a male, his...

BOSTON (AP) -- A killer who sued to have a sex change claims her body is becoming more masculine again because she's being denied treatment in prison as she awaits a ruling in her bid for the surgery. Michelle Kosilek, formerly known as Robert, said that for months she has not been allowed to have court-approved hair-removal treatment or access to a specialist to discuss her testosterone levels. "My breasts have shrunk, genitals have regained previous size and function, facial hair is thicker and scalp hair is thinner, all related to an elevated testosterone level," Kosilek said in a handwritten...

Here's an example of how schools should be treating diversity in their schools. Perhaps this kind of example can help prevent incidents like the murder that happened in Oxnard, California. CNN interviews Kim Pearson of Trans Youth Family Advocates about an eight-year-old transgender-identified child who is returning to a school in Douglas County, Colorado that has adjusted its facilities and teaching environment to accommodate her. According to CNN, two unisex bathrooms have been provided for the student, teachers will call the student by her name, parents and teachers will get info on transgender people, and officials will be made available...

The parents of an 8-year-old boy who wants to live and be treated as a girl have been working with the Douglas County School District to allow their child to attend school as a girl. The child attended the unnamed school two years ago, and the family and the district have been talking since last fall about the child re-enrolling, said district spokeswoman Whei Wong. "The discussion has been how best to do it," Wong said Thursday. The goal, she said, is "to ensure the kid feels safe physically and emotionally and other kids don't feel threatened in any way."...

Colorado: HIGHLANDS RANCH – The issue of being transgender usually pops up with students in high school. However, a 2nd grade biological boy wants to dress as a girl and be addressed with a girl's name. < snip > Pearson says children as young as 5 years old are realizing their true gender identity and her group wants to help parents who may be resisting the acceptance of this.

An 8-year-old boy is preparing to return to his home school district in Colorado as a girl, so school officials are designating two school restrooms as unisex facilities, and preparing to counsel other students on the issue of transgenderism. The report comes from KUSA-Television in Denver, which did not identify the third-grade student or his family in the Castle Rock suburban district. But the report said the student had attended his home district several years ago, as a boy, and then had taken classes in another district for a time. One parent, identified by the television station as Dave M.,...

"What will prevent the 250-pound linebacker from deciding he wants to share the locker room with the cheerleaders?" Deconstructionist professors have been trying for years to convince us that gender is a social construct. Now, it seems, politicians and even employers are doing their best to put this theory into practice--2007 may go down in history as the year of the transgendered person. Take the announcement in October that, under a state law that takes effect in January, schools in California not only can't discriminate by sex but also can't take into account "a person's gender identity and gender related...

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.—High on prescription drugs and four days without sleep, Michael Berke raced his Harley to the megachurch where he'd found a home. He barged into the church office, cursing loudly and wearing a mesh shirt printed with profanity. In his hands he held a picture of a woman with long, red hair and pouty lips. "This is who I used to be," he said. "And this" — he gestured to his breastless chest, bald head and red goatee — "is who I've become." He was born a man. After a lifetime as a social misfit, he had transformed...

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — High on prescription painkillers and four days without sleep, Michael Berke raced his Harley to the megachurch where he’d found a home. He barged into the church office, cursing loudly and wearing a mesh shirt printed with profanity. In his hands he held a picture of a woman with long, red hair and pouty lips. “This is who I used to be,” he said. “And this” — he gestured to his breastless chest, bald head and red goatee — “is who I’ve become.” He was born a man. After a lifetime as a social misfit,...

Michigan transgender professor dismissed By STEVEN HEPKER   Julie Marie Nemecek — the former John Nemecek — applies mascara as she prepares for Sunday morning church service. (Photo by Erik Holladay)     SPRING ARBOR, MI — Spring Arbor University fired a transgender professor Monday, three days after she changed her name from male to female. "I think they decided to terminate me rather than call me Julie,'' the former John Nemecek said.Nemecek had been a professor at the Christian-based college for 16 years. When she announced she was transgender and would transition into a woman, officials docked her pay...

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Demand of "Transsexuals" for Special Rights DENVER, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal appeals court has issued a significant ruling saying that an employer's concern over the use of restrooms by "transsexual" employees is legitimate, according to Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum.  Raum explained further that the court ruled that "transsexuals" do not qualify as a protected class under Title VII. "The court delivered a significant legal punch to political special interest groups who are demanding that persons with Gender Identity Disorder be treated as though they were members of the opposite...

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a bus driver who was fired while preparing to undergo a sex-change operation. Krystal Etsitty was fired after she began using women's restrooms on her route. She sued alleging she was fired because she was a transsexual and because she didn't conform to expectations of stereotypical male behavior. According to the ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Etsitty had been undergoing hormone therapy to prepare for the operation and presenting herself as a woman but still had male genitalia when she was fired....

The Idaho Values Alliance (IVA) is blasting a ruling that requires taxpayers to foot the bill for hormone injections for a male inmate who wants a sex-change operation. The prisoner, who identifies himself as a woman, mutilated his own body in an effort to rid his body of testosterone. The inmate survived and doctors prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. But the inmate wanted estrogen injections, and sued the state. A judge later ordered the injections, but the Department of Correction's mental health experts objected. Now, the same judge has reaffirmed the original ruling, which, according to Bryan Fischer of the IVA,...

BALTIMORE — The Rev. Ann Gordon stood in front of her United Methodist congregation last fall and announced that she was now he. Surgery and testosterone had transformed Ann into the Rev. Drew Phoenix -- still as liberal and laid-back as always, but now legally male. Most in the small congregation accepted their pastor's transition; they even threw him a renaming party, complete with birthday cake. But when Phoenix, 48, was reappointed to another year of ministry this spring by his bishop, it sparked a protest in the United Methodist Church. The denomination's highest authority, the Judicial Council, will take...

EVANSTON, Illinois, August 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Academics and transsexual activists turned on a psychology professor after he published a highly controversial explanation that transsexual desires are eroticism based on the "idea of being a woman". In his book "The Man Who Would be Queen," Professor J. Michael Bailey of Northwestern University explained that a man's desire to be a woman is based on a sexual desire called "autogynephilia," which he describes as "sexual arousal at the idea of being a woman." He also explained that the term "women trapped in men's bodies" is a misleading way of explaining the...

Title of Choice Urged for Transsexuals http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=456&sid=1216831 August 12, 2007 - 8:17pm BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Mr., Mrs. or Ms.? Thailand may soon let people who have had a sex change officially alter their title, too. A proposal which would allow transgender men or women to choose how they are addressed is being considered by the country's National Legislative Assembly to support an anti-discrimination provision in the draft constitution, Thai newspapers reported. Wiroon Tangcharoen, an assembly member who is also rector of Srinakharinwirot University, said he supported the move and did not believe it would affect room assignments in university...

It seemed like a comedy sketch meant to parody the unique Larry King interviewing style but last night satire met reality when King interviewed several transgendered people on his show. Because Larry didn't change his typical interview style a bit, the show came off as both extremely surreal as well as unintentionally hilarious. Here is a portion of the transcript from King's August 10 show which melodramatically begins with this introduction: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She took away our father, but in return she gave me another parent, a better parent. Our love is unconditional.(END VIDEO CLIP)KING: An 18-year-old in transition from male...

Excerpt: ...This is not a choice," he said Friday. "It's something you try to deny and hide, but as time goes on, as you become more miserable in your own skin, you just can't take it anymore." Cummings said he was 3 when he realized he was born in the wrong body. His parents didn't understand. After they came to South Florida from Cuba, Maritza gravitated to boys' activities, like weightlifting, and she joined the Army. It didn't help. She abused drugs and alcohol, attempted suicide in her 20s. Then she found out that there was a medical explanation and...

LCC may yank SAU contract Tuesday, March 06, 2007 By Chad Livengood clivengood@citpat.com -- 768-4918 Lansing Community College may sever contractual ties with Spring Arbor University over its decision to fire a transgender professor. LCC officials say Spring Arbor's treatment of Julie Nemecek violates their nondiscrimination policy, which applies to students, faculty and organizations LCC contracts with. Spring Arbor is under contract to begin offering classes at LCC's new University Center in summer 2008. An LCC spokeswoman said the college would wait to render a decision against Spring Arbor after the outcome of a mediation session today between the local...