TS/TV/CD/LGBT News and opinion from around the world for day June th 2010

Beginning June 10, when a passport applicant presents a certification from an attending medical physician that the applicant has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition, the passport will reflect the new gender. The guidelines include detailed information about what information the certification must include. It is also possible to obtain a limited-validity passport if the physician’s statement shows the applicant is in the process of gender transition. No additional medical records are required. Sexual reassignment surgery is no longer a prerequisite for passport issuance. A Consular Report of Birth Abroad can also be amended with the new gender.

Following McMillan’s conviction and life sentence on Friday, Ms Waddell’s brother Nick said outside Lewes Crown Court: “We could never be truly happy with any outcome from this trial as nothing can bring back our beautiful Andrea, but we are relieved and satisfied Neil McMillan has been found guilty of her horrific murder. This verdict cannot take away the terrible sense of loss and pain that will be with us forever.”

Bill C-389 seeks to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to add gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.

Pax is a 26-year old grad student, who is bisexual. She thinks the famous smooches, along with Anna Paquin and Fergie being in the news lately for touting their bisexuality, heighten acceptance. Elizabeth Pax says, "People really look up to celebrities. They feel like they connect to them, that they like them, that maybe they're friends in a way. So when they see that there are bisexual celebrities it makes them feel like maybe that's okay. It makes them more accepting of other people who are bisexual."

Moral policing has its defenders and detractors. But what exactly happens during a raid, or an operation, from the perspective of the person getting caught? How is it possible to nab someone for a “moral crime” – such as sex before marriage or transvestism – as opposed to crimes stipulated under the Penal Code?

To answer these questions, The Nut Graph will run a series of interviews with individuals who have been affected by moral policing. These testimonies are by no means representative of the entire moral policing spectrum in Malaysia, but they nevertheless offer a perspective for the public to deliberate on.

Transvestite? He? Did the defendant have sex-reassignment surgery in 2000 or not? Is she legally male or female? Does it matter? The Associated Press guidelines state people are to be referred to according to their genders of presentation.

But that rule of thumb doesn't hold for the State Police. In an interview with me, Garcia repeats what he told the paper: “He wanted to be called a she."

If those who are supposed to uphold the law are biased against transgender people, what about the general public? Ugly caricatures of the defendant, some obscene, have appeared on the Internet. No wonder she wanted to avoid a jury trial.

The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is also monitoring the hearings. They say testing has greatly advanced since the 1980's and currently HIV can be detected in blood within about 10 days with minimal risk. The hearings will take place today and the FDA will make a final ruling.

Though it has long been an accepted and welcome celebration in Tel Aviv, the pride parade in Jerusalem has been a matter of fierce, often violent contention, with GLBT activists and supporters pitted against religious conservatives.

Examples: Why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination? What does it mean to have a "choice" in one's sexual orientation? If (a) moral point of view is not held and is disputed by a small but significant minority of the community, should not an effort to enact that moral point of view into a state constitution be deemed a violation of equal protection?