Transsexual disqualified for Miss Universe

China Daily ^ | February 28, 2004

[gitmo]

Chen Lili, a 24-year old transsexual from Sichuan Province, was shut out of the Miss Universe contest by organizers, saying she is an artificial woman.

In a fax to the Sichuan organizing committee, the Miss Universe headquarters says Chen is disqualified because she is a transsexual. It says there never has been any such case in the 53-year history of the contest.

Lili was granted permission early this week to participate in the international event by Miss Universe-China contest officials in New York.

"A sex-change woman registering for the Miss Universe contest is something that has never happened before," Miss Universe selection committee chairman Zhang Ruiling told reporters.

Cao Gang, a beauty contest expert in Shanghai, offered his support to Lili: "She has been granted the status as a woman, and is protected and recognized by law. There is no reason to kick her out."

"Another media circus. They just want to have fun," Netizens addressed the issue a sheer farce, "Even Chen herself has deliberately staged the cooperation media gimmick."

In order to reach the Miss Universe competition, to be held in Ecuador on June 1, Lili must first win a competition in the Sichuan Province, located in the southwest part of China.

"I hope to clinch the crown," Lili said, after learning she would be allowed to compete earlier this week.

A successful model, Lili made headlines earlier this month when she was allowed to change her identification card, a move recognizing her status as a woman. "I could not be happier now, as my female status has become protected by the law," she said, in a sina report.

Lili underwent transsexual surgery in November, and applied to have her status legally changed in January.

Earlier this week when Lili was allowed to participate in the contest, a lesbian and gay rights commission official applauded it.

"It's surprising that she was allowed for this competition," said Dusty Araujo, asylum coordinator at the International Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Commission. "The most egregious human rights violations around the world happen to transgender people, so I'm surprised that officials are open to this possibility."

Araujo believes other transsexuals in and outside China have paved the way for Lili to be as out and accepted as she is. Araujo cited Jin Xin, an award-winning Chinese choreographer and dancer who has used her success as a platform to speak out about being transsexual, and Dana International, the transsexual Israeli pop star who made worldwide news when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998.

"Dana was the first one to break into a public, international event," Araujo told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network. "She broke the barriers for others."

"Once the transgender community gets news of Chen Lili, we could see more and more transgender people entering these competitions," Araujo said.

[gitmo]

XY = male XX = female

[billorites]

Bummer.

[Dante3]

Makes sense. A transsexual is usually nothing more than a mutilated male.

[ShandaLear]

Placing a call to Mayor Newsom now.

[Khurkris]

I am glad to see all of that Chinese technology is going to a good use.

MARS NEEDS WOMEN!

[Khurkris]

[gitmo]

I hadn't thought about it till your post, but isn't there a huge shortage of females in China because of their abortion policies and the cultural preference of male offspring? Maybe the only way the Chineese can get girls is to surgically make them. Sheesh.

[AgThorn]

So, if a transexual gets all the hormones and everything biologically done, the DNA would still show her as a male?

What about the "she males" and those that are born with "botched genetalia" - what is their DNA?

Definitely against transsexuals that go through this butchering of their body for stupid mental reasons, but I am wondering if there is a purpose for those extremely few that really need something one way or another.

Interesting read on the DNA though, wondering what Rosy O'Donnell's is! ;-)

[gcruse]

Interesting read on the DNA though, wondering what Rosy O'Donnell's is! ;-)

According to Fred Reed, Rosy is five hundreds pounds of bear liver in a plastic bag. No, wait. That was Oprah. Never mind.

[isthisnickcool]

Of course "she" is a woman. "She" has ovaries and a uterus and will bear a child someday, right? Since "she" is a woman.

[COURAGE]

We are winning. To make sure that China will never become a super power, we are exporting liberalism! Make our enemies like San Francisco, they will be DOOMED!

[Paul C. Jesup]

There are way to many 'Jerry Springer Show' fans on this thread.

[steve in DC]

It's discrimination, I tell ya!

If this woman...er...man..er...female...er..

Well anyway, if this person were from Massachussets, or San Francisco, you can bet your...well select your own suggested piece of anatommy...that this individual's rights to be the best ....woman...er...man..er...female...er.. whatever this individual selects to identify his or her or his-her (or her-his, for that matter) self to be.

The provincial, last-century-thinking bastards running this sham of a beauty pagent need to be dragged (if you will excuse the use of that term) down a peg or two.

[Tacis]

Hey, you're not supposed to discriminate against freaks!! After the Mass. Supreme Court gets through with this this guy wil get extra credit.

[JoJo Gunn]

There are some things so perverted, so strange, so anathema to common sense and logic, that only an "intellectual" could accept them.

Michael miserable failureMoore

[punster]

"XY = male XX = female"

It is actually a lot more complicated than that.

XX is genotypic female and XY is genotypic male.

However, that does not always agree with the phenotypic sex.

Example: Androgen insensitivity syndrome.

The typical case is a young girl, who fails to start menstruating. Finally, in an effort to discover why, what the physical problem is, her parents take her to see a doctor. Physical examination reveals she has a short vagina, but no uterus. A chromosome count reveals she is XY.

Genetics has identified the problem, there is a defect in the biochemical recepter for testosterone. Hence, testosterone has no effect on the individual, and they develop as a girl. The condition is irreversible. The current treatment is to remove the testes, because they have a tendency to become cancerous and then administer hormone replacement therapy (premarin).

The condition also manifests itself in a partial form, where there are varying degrees of feminization of the genitalia. Gender assignment it these cases is questionable, because of the intermediate development of the genitals. But, in these case, medical science has come to the conclusion that the best approach is to let the child decide which gender is more appropriate for them.

Example: Gonadal Agenesis. The case presents itself as a young girl, who fails to menstruate or show the typical signs of puberty. Again, her parents take her to see a doctor. The physical presentation is a girl with a vagina and uterus, but no gonads. A chromosome count will reveal the girl to be XY.

I did see a report in a medical journal about a young woman in India who had this condition, but was able to bear a child. How? Artificial insemination of a donor ova, plus some judicious use of hormone replacement therapy to provide a good environment for the fertilized ova to implant in the uteral wall. However, they did not want to continue HRT during pregnancy, because of the danger of causing birth defects (including genital malformations of the infant, or possible effects on development of the fetal brain).

[punster]

The young woman in the pictures could well be a case of partial androgen insensitivity syndrome. Some evidence to suggest it is the bone structure in the face. There are no supraorbital ridges over the eyes, and the chin and jaw angles appear to be more typically feminine in appearance.

There are differences in bone structure between men and women. The action of testosterone is what makes the difference.

[Siamese Princess]

We are winning. To make sure that China will never become a super power, we are exporting liberalism! Make our enemies like San Francisco, they will be DOOMED!

China (and the rest of east Asia) is following in the footsteps of the US (and the rest of the Western world). In other words, they're going down the toilet, too. Some months ago there was a thread about a proposal in the Taiwanese parliament to permit gay marriage and adoption. I don't know if it passed, but it's incredible that it was even proposed!

Confucious would definitely not approve.