Free Republic

ISTANBUL — When Turkey's family affairs minister recently described homosexuality as a curable disease, she was roundly criticized for discrimination and flouting human rights. But for activists her remarks only underscore what they say is increasing prejudice, discrimination and violence -- even from police -- against homosexuals and transgender people in this Muslim-majority country stuck between its conservative roots and flourishing modernism. A total of 45 gays and transgender people were killed over three years in "hate murders", said Demet Demir, a transsexual and leading activist from Istanbul-LGBTT, a civic body promoting homosexual rights. "In February alone, five people were...

According to James Hirsen of Examiner.com, Susan Sarandon had an odd night recently: Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon has had a bad time of it lately. The actress recently separated from her long time partner, actor Tim Robbins. Sarandon attended the third anniversary of The Box in New York's Lower East Side. A transsexual cabaret performer named Rose Wood engaged in projectile vomiting on stage and hit Sarandon with it. Standing nearby were Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber. According to Wood it was not intended as an affront to the actress and she didn't take it that way. “Apparently [Sarandon]...

Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon has had a bad time of it lately. The actress recently separated from her long time partner, actor Tim Robbins. Sarandon attended the third anniversary of The Box in New York's Lower East Side.A A transsexual cabaret performer named Rose Wood engaged in projectile vomiting on stage and hit Sarandon with it . Standing nearby were Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber. According to Wood it was not intended as an affront to the actress and she didn't take it that way. “Apparently [Sarandon] got a big kick out of it. She squealed with surprise and...

Do counter-terrorism measures targeting bombers who dress as women offend the rights of transexuals? This is one of the pressing questions addressed in a new United Nations report on "Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism."

BEND, Oregon, April 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media pushed the story of Thomas Beatie this past week, billing the story as the 'miraculous' male pregnancy. The startling news headline took the media by storm on April 1 (was this date a coincidence?), following Beatie's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show and an interview in People magazine.If this story really were an instance of an unexplained pregnancy in a male, it might really be newsworthy. But it is actually a total non-story about a woman becoming pregnant. And yet, it has been turned into a giant media deception to...

[R]ecently, [Barney] Frank has been under siege by gay rights groups. They are angry because Mr. Frank has removed specific language about “gender identity” from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would protect gay men and lesbians in the workplace and that gay rights advocates say would now leave transsexuals and transgender individuals vulnerable. There is almost no chance that President Bush would ever sign the bill. But the bitter tug of war between gay groups and one of their best friends on Capitol Hill is the latest example of how Democrats in Congress, since regaining majority control this...

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...

A man serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife is asking a federal judge to order the state to pay for a sex-change operation for him, saying that denying him the surgery amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.A psychiatrist testified Tuesday that he believes Robert Kosilek will kill himself if state correction officials refuse to allow the surgery and Kosilek is unable to complete his transformation into a woman.

OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is having trouble coming to terms with its feelings about taxpayer-financed sex-change operations. Earlier this year lawmakers added a line to the budget to end the policy when reports based on a 2004 Medicaid audit revealed the state had paid for a sex-change operation and other questionable procedures such as penile implants. The amendment, which read "no funds ... shall be expended upon gender reassignment surgery or treatment," passed with broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate, and supporters thought the matter had been resolved. But as the Legislature adjourned last week, leading Democrats reversed...

Transsexuals can choose jails05/03/2006 18:29  - (SA)   Related Articles Transvestites change Thai army Queen does it for transsexuals Transsexuals get Olympic nod    Madrid - Transsexual inmates in Spain soon will be able to serve their sentences in facilities for men or women according to their "psycho-social identity", and not according to their original gender, reported the El Pais newspaper on Sunday. According to the centre-left daily, a directive is about to be published concerning the incarceration of individuals who have undergone a sex change. Transsexuals would be able to ask to serve their sentences in prisons corresponding to their new...

A leading human rights group has written to Nepal's government voicing concern over what it calls continuing police abuse of transsexuals. Human Rights Watch says there has been a pattern of arbitrary arrests and violence against "Metis", who identify themselves as women. The organisation has called for a full investigations of such abuse and appropriate punishments. Police in Nepal say they are taking the allegations very seriously. However, the head of a human rights cell in the police said many of the Metis were working as prostitutes and that as this was illegal in Nepal, raids on hotels were...

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) are pushing passage of a hate crimes bill that will include federal protection for cross-dressers, drag queens, transsexuals, and she-males (individuals who maintian both male and female sex organs for bizarre sex acts). This dangerous pro-homosexual bill is called the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2005 (S. 1145). ...The legislation is ostensibly designed to aid local law enforcement officials in prosecuting hate crimes. What it actually does is make "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" into federally-protected categories equal to race or ethnicity under federal law. Transgender activist groups have lobbied...

An anti-discrimination proposal before the Alameda County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors would allow men to go into women's bathrooms, a conservative group is warning. The Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a pro-family group, is urging concerned citizens to attend Tuesday morning's hearing, where the five supervisors are scheduled to vote on a resolution that says that transsexuals "shall have full and equal enjoyment of....dressing and bathroom facilities, consistent with the person's gender identity." CCF calls the resolution an invasion of privacy and an effort to "punish people who disagree with transsexuality, or sex change operations, or men wearing women's...

PlanetOut Network SUMMARY: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) signed a hate crimes bill on Wednesday that includes crimes motivated by a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a hate crimes bill on Wednesday that includes crimes motivated by a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. It was the second time this month that Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed legislation that protects the rights of LGBT residents in the state. He signed a law on Sept. 13 that required insurance companies to provide coverage to registered domestic partners. Known as the Omnibus Hate Crimes...

Scouts Canada ceased to serve any useful purpose the day they became all-inclusive, all-sensitive, and all-tolerant. Big Canadian real estate is on the market. A rather sizable chunk of Lord Robert Baden-Powell's Empire is available for investors, homebuilders, fishing resort prospectors, or blacktop barons. Scouts Canada is pounding in "for sale" signs at the entrances of a number of Scout camps across the country, including at least twenty camps in Ontario. But don't worry. No Boy Scouts will mourn the loss of their summer camps, for the Boy Scouts of Canada no longer exist. Thinking they could become more inclusive,...

AgapePress) - A former transsexual is telling the country about a life-changing decision that he says resulted in true healing and a peace that passes all understanding. Twenty-five years ago, Joseph Cluse had a sex change operation after five years of taking hormones to prepare for the transformation. However, he says the 1979 procedure did not end his struggles with sexuality issues and sexual sin -- far from it. "After that I did many things," Cluse says. "I was a prostitute, I was a female stripper, then I got married, divorced, and married again and divorced. But that was the...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Transsexuals were cleared Monday to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Under a proposal approved by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they have gone through a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy. SURVEY The decision, which covers both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in August. The IOC had put off a decision in February, saying more time was needed to consider all the medical issues. Some members...

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...

Organisers of an Australian lesbian festival have run into a politically correct storm after being accused of discriminating against transsexuals. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturned a ruling on Tuesday which had allowed organisers of “Lesfest” to be exempt of equal opportunities laws and allow only “female-born” lesbians to attend or work at the festival. The original complaint of the exemption came from a transsexual lobby group, the Australian WOMAN Network. Co-convenor of the group, Karen Gurney, said the exemption had caused “distress” among its members since it failed to recognise transsexuals as medically and legally women. But...