from the associated press

[cal333.livejournal.com]

Found this on the AP wire - apologies if it's been posted already.

New York City seeks to ease rules for official documents reflecting
gender change

By DAVID B. CARUSO
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The city wants to make it easier for transgender New
Yorkers to switch the sex listed on their birth certificate even
without undergoing sex-change surgery, putting the city at the
forefront of efforts to redefine gender.

Under present city rules, only people who can show proof of surgery
qualify for getting a revised birth certificate. Even then, the only
change made is the elimination of any reference to gender on the
document.

The new plan, unveiled in September, would let birth records reflect
the new gender. It would also allow changes for people who hadn’t had
genital surgery, but could show substantial proof that they have
undertaken other steps to irrevocably alter their gender-identity —
like undergoing hormone therapy.

The policy change is one that advocates for New York’s sizable
transgender community have requested for years, but which has taken
on greater significance in a post-Sept. 11 world of increased
security.

New Yorkers need to show picture ID to enter office towers, air
terminals, public monuments and all sorts of government buildings.
They need them to apply for a job too, or buy beer at a neighborhood
deli.

The trouble comes when someone inspects those documents, and notices
that a person’s listed gender doesn’t appear to match the way they
look and dress.

“That can be a very dangerous situation for a transgender person,”
said Cole Thaler, transgender rights attorney for the national legal
aid group Lambda Legal.

Thaler said having a birth certificate with a gender that matches a
person’s appearance will ease the way to getting other government
records, including passports, drivers’ licenses and Social Security
records.

Lorna Thorpe, Deputy Commissioner of New York’s Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, called the current system “outdated.”
“A lot of transgender persons use different techniques to switch
genders,” she said. Some try hormones. A smaller number undergo
surgery — in part because not everyone is medically capable of
undergoing the procedure.

All but three states now allow people who have had a sex change to
get a new birth certificate and New York City has done so since 1971.
The city now issues about a dozen of the revised birth certificates a
year.

Of the states that allow similar changes of birth certificates,
almost all currently require proof of a gender-reassignment surgery.
Tennessee has a law expressly prohibiting a change of gender on a
birth certificate. Ohio and Idaho also won’t allow the change because
of court rulings or as a matter of administrative policy.

Mississippi Resources

[tntransguy.livejournal.com]

Hey, folks, 

Some of my friends in Mississippi have confirmed and provided me with a couple of resources in the state and I thought I'd share with you all.

( Read more... )

A funny thing happened on the way to..Dr. Kim's

[ecwelch.livejournal.com]

cross-posted to my own journal

---

As I was headed into my counselor's office yesterday I noticed someone else ahead of me on the stairs (her office is on the 3rd floor and most take the elevator). I had my standard "secluded spot, alone with stranger(s)" reaction - I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket and held onto my pepperspray.

Turns out I catch up with the people - it's a girl (maybe 9-10 years old - I suck at estimating kids' ages) and her father. They were going slow because she's counting the stairs (apparently 46, btw)and lost count for a second. They get to the top first and her dad holds the door for me. I follow them down the hall and into Dr. Kim's office.

Now, I'm wearing jeans, a grey paisley on black button down shirt undone a couple buttons over a grey tank, and sneakers. My hair is fairly long and loose (see user pic - but that is 2 months ago). I'm wearing eyeliner. Plain ("masculine") silver hoop earrings. On a scale of my "butchest" to "femmiest" (jessi's terms, but they work) I'm about middle of the road. I'm not trying, but I'm not in guy mode either.

The dad goes and talks to the office manager in her office, leaving me with a little kid in the waiting room. I sit down and look around for a magazine (Time, normally). The kid is staring at me, but that's fairly standard. But then:

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

As I said, I'm definitely in between, appearance wise, and this kid is vocalizing what a lot of people are noticing and guessing at. Could have knocked me over with a feather. Anyways, I answered "Good question. I'm a boy."

"But you look like a girl with long hair and everything".

"Thank you." thank you, you just made my day.

"I have a friend at school, he has long hair. I thought he was a girl at first, but he's a boy too."

As she is saying this last part her counselor comes out to get her and looks me in the eye and smiles. She overheard the last sentence as she approached. I wave "bye" and wait for Dr. Kim (who is out in less than 15 seconds).

If her dad had been there, she wouldn't have talked to me or he would have shooshed her (most likely). I make grown ups nervous and kids curious.

I wanted to answer differently, but educating strangers' children about gender variance didn't seem like the best idea.

Anyways, that's it - my first direct "WTF?" about my appearance. Really little kids (3-4) have always asked why I haveboth ears pierced, but that's more of a noticeing something that doesn't compute. This girl thought about it and was confused enought to ask.

---

Tranny-bashing in Religion: The Next Generation

[demi-dysphoria.livejournal.com]

I rarely post links to news blogs, but this came up whilst I was searching for Trans-Positive material to obsorb...

A Google headline saying something about a "Transsexual Priest" caught my eye, and my first thought was, "You dumbass, that would properly be Transsexual Priestess in this situation..." Then I hit the link and, fuck. There are some awefully dumb psuedo logic users in the Christian Religious world...

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/evangelical.alliance.condemns.church.ordination.of.transsexual.priest/4096.htm

'Don Horrocks, EA spokesperson, said the Bible made it “absolutely clear that God created human beings as male and female.

“Therefore there is absolutely no Christian acknowledgement of the 21st century human idea that it’s possible somehow for a person to take charge of their own destiny and to decide what their own sexuality is,” he added.

The ordination of the Rev Sarah Jones, who used to be a man, at Hereford Cathedral…has big implications for the Church.

Don Horrocks, Head of Public Affairs EAUK'
( Read more... )