Trans News/ Issues

Thinker · 05-24-2011, 05:34 PM

Nevada's employment non-discrimination bill has been signed into law by the governor (he broke ranks with the Republicans on this one). Good job, Gov. Sandoval!

http://www.lvrj.com/news/sandoval-si...122529078.html

EnderD_503 · 05-25-2011, 07:46 AM

Read an awesome article in the Mirror today that told the story and experiences of a British transman. It was cool to see that the article just told it like he said and like it was instead of making assumptions, insults or falling into the usual stereotypes.

Quote:

The man who was born a girl
by Becky Dickinson, Daily Mirror 25/05/2011

As Jack Chapman walked into his old school for the first time since he’d left 20 years earlier, former pupils and teachers glanced over and then away again, not recognising him.

It’s to be expected at a reunion but Jack had changed more than most – when he’d been there as a teenager in the 80s he was a girl called Julie.

“We all had to collect name badges when we went in and of course mine said Julie on it,” he says. “People kept looking at me and asking each other who I was. Then someone came up to me and said: ‘Sorry, I think you’re in the wrong place’.

“We had to sit on long tables from the 1960s to 1990s,” Jack, now 40, says. “It was like being invisible. I could see and recognise people but they had no idea who I was.”

Most people assumed Jack had been in sixth form, as the all-girls’ school later took boys. “But they looked at the dates on my badge and saw that couldn’t have been the case,” he says.

Other people thought he must have been someone’s partner, but Jack explained he was once a girl.

Then he met his form teacher. “I pulled out an old school photo with the yellow wall background and said: ‘Look, here I am.’ She stared and said ‘That’s nice, dear’.”

But, as Jack looks at an old school photo of himself, even he has trouble recognising the 16-year-old in the picture. The eyes are still the same shade of green, but everything else has changed. The jaw is thicker, the hair has receded, the shoulders are muscular.

Looking at himself as a small child is even stranger – the long hair and delicate features are gone. He’s even had his ears pinned back.

In fact, it’s hard to believe he’s looking at the same person. That’s because Jack was born a girl and, for the first 30 years of his life, was Julie.

From as early as he remembers, Jack knew he was different. He says: “My parents used to put me in dresses but I never felt happy. I loved it when I got hand-me-downs from my older male cousins.”

More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-23154617/

blackboot · 05-27-2011, 07:09 AM

Transgender rights victory in Vermont
May 25, 2011
by taskforceblog

Congratulations to advocates in Vermont, and a special thank you to Rep. Bill Lippert and state health officials, who worked on tremendously important legislation relating to gender changes on birth certificates.

Although some other states allow gender changes without proof of surgery in their policies, Vermont becomes the very first to have clear language in its statute that makes clear surgery is not necessary to update one’s birth certificate.

It was our pleasure to provide consultation, along with GLAD, on state-of-the-art language in the statute so Vermont could modernize this law.

The trend against requiring surgery for identity documents is growing, with many states abandoning old-fashioned surgery requirements. The Department of State modernized its policy on passports in 2009. And, the policy for “Consular Reports of Birth Abroad,” which are federal birth certificates for U.S. citizens born outside of the U.S., also no longer requires proof of surgery.

A similar bill is being considered in California and advocates are working in other states as well. For many years, gender on driver’s licenses in many states has not been dependent on showing medical treatments.

Thinker · 05-27-2011, 07:32 AM

What a great piece! Thanks for sharing it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Read an awesome article in the Mirror today that told the story and experiences of a British transman. It was cool to see that the article just told it like he said and like it was instead of making assumptions, insults or falling into the usual stereotypes.

More: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-23154617/

Jess · 07-11-2011, 02:58 PM

from: http://glaadblog.org/2011/07/11/conn...mination-bill/

On July 5, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) signed legislation that will prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations based on gender identity or expression. The law (“An Act Concerning Discrimination,” or HB 6599) was passed by the House of Representatives (77-62) on May 19 and the Senate (20-16) on June 4. It will go into effect on October 1, 2011, at which time Connecticut will become the 15th state (along with the District of Columbia) with a law that protects transgender people from discrimination.
Immediately following the Senate vote in June, Gov. Malloy called the bill’s passage a step forward “for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Gov. Malloy in a written statement released shortly after the Senate vote was taken. “It’s difficult enough for people who are grappling with the issue of their gender identity, and discrimination against them has no place in our society.”
In the lead-up to the Senate vote back in June – the bill’s final hurdle – GLAAD worked closely with Dr. Jerimarie Leisegang, the director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, to ensure that journalists throughout Connecticut reported on the bill in a fair, accurate and inclusive manner.
Gov. Malloy signing the Connecticut bill into law is but the latest in a string of remarkable gains on transgender issues across the country.
GLAAD thanks Gov. Malloy for signing this important bill into law, and we congratulate all of our colleagues in Connecticut, many of whom have worked tirelessly for seven years to see the passage of this bill come to fruition. We look forward to October 1, when the law goes into effect, and to the day when it is illegal to discriminate against transgender people in all 50 states. In the meantime, we strongly encourage the media to report on the significance of what passing this non-discrimination bill will mean for transgender people in Connecticut. For more information on the prevalence of discrimination within the transgender community, please see the report “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey,” released earlier this year by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).

Jess · 07-15-2011, 10:51 AM

from: http://www.gayrva.com/2011/07/15/tra...nts-recruited/

In January, 2011, the newly formed Thai airline company, called PC Air, hired six transgender women to be flight attendants. Over 100 transgender women applied for the job with more to be hired in the future.

As reported by the Daily Telegram, PC Airline president said, “I think these people can have many careers – not just in the entertainment business – and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess. I just made their dream come true. Our society has changed. It’s evolution. I’m a pioneer and I’m sure there will be other organizations following my idea.”

Oddly, the transgender air hostesses will be required to wear special gold name badges, that will identify them to passenge.

This last bit, I agree, seems "odd". I'm not sure why they are asked to wear a different color name tag and I wonder if the author of the article contacted the airline owner to ask.

Jess · 07-15-2011, 11:03 AM

Curiosity got the best of me, so I found a couple more articles regarding this. I am also writing the airline and asking them about the "gold" name tags.

This article was a little more in depth:
from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...i-airline.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come fly with us! P.C. Air launches as the world's first 'ladyboy' airline

A new Thai airline is hiring transsexuals as flight attendants, aiming at a unique identity to set itself apart from competitors as it sets out for the skies.

Known as 'katoeys' or 'ladyboys,' transgenders and transsexuals have greater visibility in Thailand than in many other nations, holding mainstream jobs in a variety of fields.

They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant.

PC Air, a charter airline set to start operations on Asian routes in April, originally planned only to hire male and female flight attendants.

But it changed its mind after receiving more than 100 job applications from transvestites and transsexuals.

Four were chosen, along with 19 female and 7 male flight attendants.

While the airline strives for equality, PC Air president Peter Chan, who chooses the transsexual cabin crew himself, said he needed to spend longer with interviews for such applicants.

'For male flight attendants, if I don't want to hire them, it's because of their attitude or their characters, like the way they walk and smile.

'When I knew that I got this job, I burst into tears because I'm very happy,' said 24-year-old Chayathisa Nakmai.

'I had sent many applications to different airlines.'

The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude.

Though there is very little discrimination against ladyboys in Thailand, they are not officially recognised as women and their identification cards will always say 'male'.

'For female flight attendants, if they have no patience and their character does not qualify, we won't hire them,' he added.

'For transsexuals, we can't just spend five or 10 minutes with them, we have to spend the whole day with them to make sure they have feminine characters.'

The airline said it may hire more flight attendants from the 'third gender' in the future since the Department of Civil Aviation has no objections.

Though excited by the opportunity, the transsexual flight attendants said they were aware they needed to prove themselves.

'People will keep their eyes on us... There will be more pressure,' said Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 23, who was crowned as Thailand's most beautiful transvestite in 2007.

'We have to prepare ourselves more than the women.'

The airline is initially set to fly to South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Based on the comments from the airline, while they are willing to hire transsexuals and transvestites, I would be willing to bet my beautiful old beast of a truck that they would NOT hire effeminate men or butch women. So, I'm not so sure PC Air really is PC. Moreover, I think they may well be very misogynistic, in their intense "need" for women to be beautiful and "feminine".

Wolf/ sheeps clothing?

EnderD_503 · 07-24-2011, 07:43 PM

I think it's very important to look at the transphobia related to hiring only katoeys, in particular. I say transphobia especially, because I firmly believe that it's important for trans rights to recognise the differences/uniqueness between transphobia vs. misogyny or homophobia. It's important for trans visibility to recognise transphobia as distinct and within its own right. I think it's important to discuss that when it comes to an article or topic relating to trans issues.

I do think the airline in question is being extremely transphobic as it is intent on using katoeys as commodities. Katoeys may have achieved a higher level of visibility within Thai culture, but they have not necessarily reached a higher level of respect, given that most katoeys are employed in sex work, the beauty industry or other similar industries. They have a difficult time finding work outside those industries in Thailand, and so I think it's rather telling that this airline is intent on hiring katoeys and using them for publicity.

It's also interesting to note that transmen are pretty much entirely invisible in Thai culture, so when you say (or the article says) that the airline is now hiring transfolks, they are actually only hiring katoeys who are distinct from a number of others along the trans spectrum. Why? Because of the "notoriety" and "image" of katoeys specifically.

Just like the thread I started a while back about Pakistani transwomen in particular being targeted by the government to be hired as tax collectors, it's obvious trans people are once more being used by people who really couldn't care less about them, and non-trans society's curiosities and fears regarding trans people being played up in order for the role/publicity to be successful.

Edit: Also about your comments about not hiring effeminate men (who can also be considered katoey) or butch women. I'm not sure how correct you are there, unless you've read something I've not. Thai society interacts with these identities differently than Western society.

05-24-2011, 05:34 PM	#1
Thinker Senior Member How Do You Identify?: transman Preferred Pronoun?: male Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 1,868 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 710 Thanked 4,133 Times in 1,079 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	Nevada's employment non-discrimination bill has been signed into law by the governor (he broke ranks with the Republicans on this one). Good job, Gov. Sandoval! http://www.lvrj.com/news/sandoval-si...122529078.html __________________ Practice humility and kindness.

07-11-2011, 02:58 PM	#5
Jess Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: decidedly indifferent Preferred Pronoun?: other Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Patrick Springs, VA Posts: 2,812 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,247 Thanked 5,700 Times in 1,682 Posts Rep Power: 0	Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy Signs Transgender Non-Discrimination Bill from: http://glaadblog.org/2011/07/11/conn...mination-bill/ On July 5, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) signed legislation that will prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations based on gender identity or expression. The law (“An Act Concerning Discrimination,” or HB 6599) was passed by the House of Representatives (77-62) on May 19 and the Senate (20-16) on June 4. It will go into effect on October 1, 2011, at which time Connecticut will become the 15th state (along with the District of Columbia) with a law that protects transgender people from discrimination. Immediately following the Senate vote in June, Gov. Malloy called the bill’s passage a step forward “for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens.” “It’s the right thing to do,” said Gov. Malloy in a written statement released shortly after the Senate vote was taken. “It’s difficult enough for people who are grappling with the issue of their gender identity, and discrimination against them has no place in our society.” In the lead-up to the Senate vote back in June – the bill’s final hurdle – GLAAD worked closely with Dr. Jerimarie Leisegang, the director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, to ensure that journalists throughout Connecticut reported on the bill in a fair, accurate and inclusive manner. Gov. Malloy signing the Connecticut bill into law is but the latest in a string of remarkable gains on transgender issues across the country. GLAAD thanks Gov. Malloy for signing this important bill into law, and we congratulate all of our colleagues in Connecticut, many of whom have worked tirelessly for seven years to see the passage of this bill come to fruition. We look forward to October 1, when the law goes into effect, and to the day when it is illegal to discriminate against transgender people in all 50 states. In the meantime, we strongly encourage the media to report on the significance of what passing this non-discrimination bill will mean for transgender people in Connecticut. For more information on the prevalence of discrimination within the transgender community, please see the report “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey,” released earlier this year by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).

07-15-2011, 10:51 AM	#6
Jess Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: decidedly indifferent Preferred Pronoun?: other Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Patrick Springs, VA Posts: 2,812 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,247 Thanked 5,700 Times in 1,682 Posts Rep Power: 0	Transgender Flight Attendants Recruited from: http://www.gayrva.com/2011/07/15/tra...nts-recruited/ In January, 2011, the newly formed Thai airline company, called PC Air, hired six transgender women to be flight attendants. Over 100 transgender women applied for the job with more to be hired in the future. As reported by the Daily Telegram, PC Airline president said, “I think these people can have many careers – not just in the entertainment business – and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess. I just made their dream come true. Our society has changed. It’s evolution. I’m a pioneer and I’m sure there will be other organizations following my idea.” Oddly, the transgender air hostesses will be required to wear special gold name badges, that will identify them to passenge. This last bit, I agree, seems "odd". I'm not sure why they are asked to wear a different color name tag and I wonder if the author of the article contacted the airline owner to ask.

05-27-2011, 07:09 AM	#3
blackboot Member How Do You Identify?: TransgenderMasculineQueer Preferred Pronoun?: H with a y Relationship Status: fluxing the solder. Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 484 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,964 Thanked 835 Times in 184 Posts Rep Power: 7482394	Transgender rights victory in Vermont May 25, 2011 by taskforceblog Congratulations to advocates in Vermont, and a special thank you to Rep. Bill Lippert and state health officials, who worked on tremendously important legislation relating to gender changes on birth certificates. Although some other states allow gender changes without proof of surgery in their policies, Vermont becomes the very first to have clear language in its statute that makes clear surgery is not necessary to update one’s birth certificate. It was our pleasure to provide consultation, along with GLAD, on state-of-the-art language in the statute so Vermont could modernize this law. The trend against requiring surgery for identity documents is growing, with many states abandoning old-fashioned surgery requirements. The Department of State modernized its policy on passports in 2009. And, the policy for “Consular Reports of Birth Abroad,” which are federal birth certificates for U.S. citizens born outside of the U.S., also no longer requires proof of surgery. A similar bill is being considered in California and advocates are working in other states as well. For many years, gender on driver’s licenses in many states has not been dependent on showing medical treatments.

07-15-2011, 11:03 AM	#7
Jess Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: decidedly indifferent Preferred Pronoun?: other Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Patrick Springs, VA Posts: 2,812 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,247 Thanked 5,700 Times in 1,682 Posts Rep Power: 0	Curiosity got the best of me, so I found a couple more articles regarding this. I am also writing the airline and asking them about the "gold" name tags. This article was a little more in depth: from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...i-airline.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Come fly with us! P.C. Air launches as the world's first 'ladyboy' airline A new Thai airline is hiring transsexuals as flight attendants, aiming at a unique identity to set itself apart from competitors as it sets out for the skies. Known as 'katoeys' or 'ladyboys,' transgenders and transsexuals have greater visibility in Thailand than in many other nations, holding mainstream jobs in a variety of fields. They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant. PC Air, a charter airline set to start operations on Asian routes in April, originally planned only to hire male and female flight attendants. But it changed its mind after receiving more than 100 job applications from transvestites and transsexuals. Four were chosen, along with 19 female and 7 male flight attendants. While the airline strives for equality, PC Air president Peter Chan, who chooses the transsexual cabin crew himself, said he needed to spend longer with interviews for such applicants. 'For male flight attendants, if I don't want to hire them, it's because of their attitude or their characters, like the way they walk and smile. 'When I knew that I got this job, I burst into tears because I'm very happy,' said 24-year-old Chayathisa Nakmai. 'I had sent many applications to different airlines.' The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude. Though there is very little discrimination against ladyboys in Thailand, they are not officially recognised as women and their identification cards will always say 'male'. 'For female flight attendants, if they have no patience and their character does not qualify, we won't hire them,' he added. 'For transsexuals, we can't just spend five or 10 minutes with them, we have to spend the whole day with them to make sure they have feminine characters.' The airline said it may hire more flight attendants from the 'third gender' in the future since the Department of Civil Aviation has no objections. Though excited by the opportunity, the transsexual flight attendants said they were aware they needed to prove themselves. 'People will keep their eyes on us... There will be more pressure,' said Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 23, who was crowned as Thailand's most beautiful transvestite in 2007. 'We have to prepare ourselves more than the women.' The airline is initially set to fly to South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Based on the comments from the airline, while they are willing to hire transsexuals and transvestites, I would be willing to bet my beautiful old beast of a truck that they would NOT hire effeminate men or butch women. So, I'm not so sure PC Air really is PC. Moreover, I think they may well be very misogynistic, in their intense "need" for women to be beautiful and "feminine". Wolf/ sheeps clothing?

07-24-2011, 07:43 PM	#8
EnderD_503 Member How Do You Identify?: Queer, trans guy, butch Preferred Pronoun?: Male pronouns Relationship Status: Relationship Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 1,329 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,090 Thanked 3,878 Times in 1,022 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	I think it's very important to look at the transphobia related to hiring only katoeys, in particular. I say transphobia especially, because I firmly believe that it's important for trans rights to recognise the differences/uniqueness between transphobia vs. misogyny or homophobia. It's important for trans visibility to recognise transphobia as distinct and within its own right. I think it's important to discuss that when it comes to an article or topic relating to trans issues. I do think the airline in question is being extremely transphobic as it is intent on using katoeys as commodities. Katoeys may have achieved a higher level of visibility within Thai culture, but they have not necessarily reached a higher level of respect, given that most katoeys are employed in sex work, the beauty industry or other similar industries. They have a difficult time finding work outside those industries in Thailand, and so I think it's rather telling that this airline is intent on hiring katoeys and using them for publicity. It's also interesting to note that transmen are pretty much entirely invisible in Thai culture, so when you say (or the article says) that the airline is now hiring transfolks, they are actually only hiring katoeys who are distinct from a number of others along the trans spectrum. Why? Because of the "notoriety" and "image" of katoeys specifically. Just like the thread I started a while back about Pakistani transwomen in particular being targeted by the government to be hired as tax collectors, it's obvious trans people are once more being used by people who really couldn't care less about them, and non-trans society's curiosities and fears regarding trans people being played up in order for the role/publicity to be successful. Edit: Also about your comments about not hiring effeminate men (who can also be considered katoey) or butch women. I'm not sure how correct you are there, unless you've read something I've not. Thai society interacts with these identities differently than Western society.