Vitale Letter #240, October 26, 2002

Anne Vitale PhD, Editor

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Notes on Gender Transition

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 LEAD STORY --

'They cut school Friday to buy long-stemmed red roses. They ironed

photographs of the young teen they now call Gwen onto white T-shirts and wrote ``R.I.P Gwen'' with soap on the windows of their cars.'

•  Eddie (sic) Araujo remembered by loved ones and hundreds of supportive strangers
• Transgender teen harassed at school, friends say 17-year-old killed Oct. 3 had stopped attending
• Community Buries Transgender Teen
• Teen's sad Tale, Troubled years preceded attack
• Man says he didn't kill teen after learning of gender 
• The Remembering Our Dead Project Mourns the loss of Gwen Araujo: 23rd Death in 2002, 25th since last Day of Remembrance
• Gwen Araujo Remembered, Rev. Penny Nixon Leads Services 10/20/02
• Bereavement Fund Created for Slain Transgender Teen.
• Also see --COMMENTARY Teen's death points to lack of tolerance

   

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

[1]USA: Oregon-- Event Announcement: Creating Change Conference
   [2] USA USA Gender March Committee to Meet at NGLTF's Creating Change in Portland Oregon.
   [3] CANADA AND USA--BENT ON CHANGE II CONFERENCE
   
   
   GENERAL INFORMATION
   [4] UNITED KINGDOM--NHS trust gives sex changes priority
   [5] United Kingdom--Transsexual Opens "Frock Shop" For Men In Brighton
   [6] USA: 7,500 show up for Outoberfest 'A chance to be comfortable'
   [7] USA New Jersey--Trial opens in slaying of transvestite
   [8] USA: Fly Life
   
   
   LEGISLATIVE ACTION
   [9] USA: Eugene Oregon--City hears testimony on human rights law
   [10a] USA Boston MA--Mayor set to approve transgender protection
   [10b] USA: Boston MA--Council OK's transgender bill --Vote would broaden rights protections
   
   
   BOOKS Etc....
   [11] Look both ways
   
   
   ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
   [12] Jazz singer, rappers, Iraq, French divas on today's menu
   
   
   COMMENTARY
   Teen's death points to lack of tolerance
   By Dennis Rockstroh
San Jose Mercury News

 

=========///============///========///======///======///==========///==========///==========

LEAD STORY

Eddie  (sic) Araujo remembered by loved ones and hundreds of supportive strangers   

Top

 Mercury News | 10/25/2002 | Eddie Araujo reme...
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/4370745.htm
 
Posted on Fri, Oct. 25, 2002
   
 
By Dana Hull
Mercury News
 
After the service, Eddie's mother, Sylvia Araujo, handed out 17 envelopes
with a live butterfly in each. The butterflies were released over the
casket.
 
They cut school Friday to buy long-stemmed red roses. They ironed
photographs of the young teen they now call Gwen onto white T-shirts and
wrote ``R.I.P Gwen'' with soap on the windows of their cars.
 
Hundreds of young people from around the Bay Area attended Eddie ``Gwen''
Araujo's funeral service in Newark on Friday afternoon -- and most of them
didn't know Araujo at all.
 
While close friends and family squeezed into St. Edward's Catholic Church
for the services, a spirited vigil took place outside and was so loud at one
point that people inside the church feared that a fundamentalist preacher
from Kansas had arrived to protest.
 
But Rev. Fred Phelps, who said he would picket the funeral, did not show up.
 
Three men are facing murder charges with a hate crime enhancement in
connection with Araujo's death: Jaron Nabors, 19, of Newark; Jose Merel, 24,
of Newark and Michael Magidson, 22, of Fremont.
 
The two other defendants, delayed entering pleas. They are facing the same
charges as Nabors. The three allegedly beat and then strangled Araujo, who
they believed was a girl, after they learned Araujo's biological sex at an
Oct. 3 party at Merel's home in Newark.
 
Contact Dana Hull at dhull@sjmercury.com or (510) 790-7311.
   Top

Transgender teen harassed at school, friends say 17-year-old killed Oct. 3 had stopped attending
   Top
   
   sunspot.net - nation/world
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.transgender27oct27,0,7451947.
story?coll=bal%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines
   
   
   
Knight Ridder/tribune
Originally published October 27, 2002
   
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Friends and relatives of Eddie Araujo say they understand
why the 17-year-old who often identified himself as Gwen, Lida or Wendy was
so uncomfortable at school that he stopped making an effort to attend.
   
Faced with a complex web of other problems, Araujo lost interest in school
and fell behind. By the start of this school year, which would have been his
senior year, he had stopped attending school entirely and had given up on
graduating in June. For years before his killing Oct. 3, friends said,
classmates taunted the transgender youth for the way he dressed and the way
he acted. 
   
"We used to walk home together in junior high," said Stephanie Baumann, a
close friend, adding that he was routinely subjected to anti-gay slurs. "He
had a lot of issues, and people always teased him."
   
Normally, Araujo would have attended Newark Memorial High School, the city's
main high school. The school has taken great pains to address the issues of
tolerance and sexual identity this year.
   
Newark Memorial Principal Jack Roach has announced over the school's
intercom that he will not tolerate anti-gay slurs. On Nov. 8, the school
will perform The Laramie Project, a play that chronicles the life of Matthew
Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming college student who was beaten to death
in October 1998. 
   
But the measures came too late for Araujo.
   
Some Newark Memorial students have told teachers this week that they can
relate to the suspects who are accused of beating Araujo to death.
   
"I've actually had students say that they might have done the same thing,"
said David Bible, a 1992 graduate of Newark Memorial who manages its
theater. "They've asked me, 'Wouldn't you have hit him too?'"
   
Stunned by the killing, Newark school officials are stepping up their
efforts to combat hate and at the same time comprehend a horrific crime that
allegedly involves former students.
   
Superintendent Ken Sherer said the school district will meet with city
officials tomorrow to plan a community forum on tolerance. The district will
also provide in-depth training on gender issues to teachers and students.
And school trustee Eileen McDonald plans to visit Jaron Nabors and Jose
Merel, two of the young men who are being charged with Araujo's death, in
jail. 
   
"I knew these boys," McDonald said. "They all went to Newark Memorial. I
want to ask them what we could have done to help, so that we can prevent
this from happening to other kids. Then I'll feel at ease."
   
By all accounts, Araujo was an at-risk student. He attended Snow Elementary
and Newark Junior High School, but by the eighth grade he was struggling
academically. He went to American High School in Fremont for the ninth
grade, then attended Bridgepoint, a small alternative high school in Newark,
for part of his sophomore year.
   
"Eddie bounced around quite a bit," said Kurt Carter, the Bridgepoint
principal. "He really wasn't involved in school. His attendance was always
against him. He came to school only half the time."
   
Araujo later transferred to Crossroads, the district's independent study
program. But he was so far behind in credits that it was clear he wouldn't
graduate on time. Teachers said that calls to Araujo's home were never
returned. 
   
The Newark Unified School District cannot release Araujo's cumulative
academic record because of confidentiality concerns.
   
Sylvia Guerrero, Araujo's mother, said: "There was no support here for my
son." 
   
"Eddie did not fall through the cracks," said Paul Clifford, a Newark
resident who is an active member of PFLAG, or Parents, Families, and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays. "He was forced into a crack. He was labeled as a kid
who obviously wasn't going to make it. The counselors are not only not
serving these kids, they are completely unaware of them."
   
END
   
© 2002 by The Baltimore Sun.
   Top
   

   Community Buries Transgender Teen
   Top

   Las Vegas SUN: Community Buries Transgender Teen
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/26/102608641.html
 
October 26, 2002 at 3:00:20 PDT
 
   
 
By MICHELLE LOCKE
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
NEWARK, Calif.- In a sunny parking lot outside St. Edward's Church, family
members released 17 butterflies, one for each year of Eddie "Gwen" Araujo's
life.
 
Araujo was buried in women's clothing and make-up Friday at a funeral
attended by hundreds of mourners. Araujo was beaten and strangled Oct. 3 at
a house party, where police allege three men attacked him after discovering
Araujo was a male.
 
"Angels don't have a gender and he's my angel now. I know that he's safe
somewhere where no one can hurt him," said Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero,
addressing the crowd.
 
Two weeks after the slaying, one of the suspects led officers to Araujo's
body in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills about 150 miles east of San
Francisco. One defendant has pleaded innocent while the other two have not
yet entered pleas. All three face charges of murder as a hate crime.
 
Activists in the often-ignored transgender community are marching and
holding vigils, saying they don't want Araujo's death to slip into the
shadows.
 
"We can't let one of our sisters' lives go unnoticed," said Rachael Janelle
Light, president of Transgender San Francisco.
 
But Araujo's family has shown a reluctance to see the name Eddie Araujo
added to the list of hate victims such as Matthew Shepard, the gay college
student beaten and left to die on a fence outside Laramie, Wyo., or Brandon
Teena, whose murder at the hands of men who discovered she was anatomically
female was the basis for the Oscar-winning movie "Boys Don't Cry."
 
Jaron Kanegson of the Youth Gender Project said activists sympathize with
the family.
 
"No one wants to be remembered because they got killed in a horrible way.
That's not what you want for your family member.
 
"I think one reason so many activists in this area are so sad and upset is
because they do know people who've been hurt or been killed," Kanegson said.
"I don't think that transgender activists are missing that this was a young
person who was a person."
 
For the funeral, there was a service for family and close friends Friday
morning, followed by an afternoon service open to the public.
 
Hundreds of people filed somberly past the open casket. The family said they
felt Araujo would want to be buried as a woman and they honored that.
 
Later, more than 700 people packed into St. Edward's for the funeral, many
standing outside when there was no more room.
 
"I believe that our lives are changed now," said Father Jeff Finley. "I
believe, I want to believe, that we will be able to say to each other, `I
appreciate who you are.'"
 
 
On the Net:
 
http://www.youthgenderproject.org
 Top
   

   
   Teen's sad Tale, Troubled years preceded attack
   Top
   
   Mercury News | 10/26/2002 | TEEN'S SAD TALE
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4374271.htm
 
Posted on Sat, Oct. 26, 2002
 
 
By Karen de Sá
Mercury News
 
Most who knew her in the town of Newark called her Gwen, a bubbly kid who
wore jeans and sneakers and spent long afternoons dancing to music videos
and painting her nails with friends. She was a sympathetic ear for teenage
moms, an expert on makeup application, a fun companion at the mall.
 
But Gwen was anything but a carefree 17-year-old. There was alcohol and drug
use. She had stopped going to school. She came home so late so often that
her mother moved some of her stuff into the garage.
 
And Gwen was a transgender teen, born a boy named Eddie Araujo, still with a
male body.
 
When that fact was revealed at a party on the night of Oct. 3, police say,
three men beat and strangled the youth to death.
 
Police say the men, who face murder charges with a hate-crime enhancement,
then took Araujo's body 150 miles away and buried it in a shallow grave on
an abandoned logging path near the Sierra foothills.
 
``He was willing to stand his ground and be who he wanted to be, and people
aren't used to that much confidence,'' said childhood friend Jennifer Woods,
16. ``Ultimately, I think his strength killed him.''
 
On Friday, Araujo was buried again, this time surrounded by the love and
compassion of people who knew him as Eddie and knew her as Gwen. In a casket
adorned with butterflies, Araujo's slight frame lay in a lace blouse and
padded bra, fingernails stunning in rainbow glitter.
 
``I wonder how many times Eddie cried in secret, wondering, where do I fit
in?'' the Rev. Jeff Finley told hundreds gathered at Araujo's funeral at St.
Edward's Catholic Church in Newark. ``Maybe we were not there enough for
you, because we did not understand.''
 
>From Eddie to Gwen
 
Maybe there were signs during boyhood, maybe not. Araujo was raised with
three siblings by his mom, Sylvia Guerrero, a legal secretary. His parents
divorced when he was 2, but 13 aunts and uncles and 32 cousins swirled
through his life.
 
A mischievous boy who hated oatmeal so much he would dump it under the
table, little Eddie learned to cook breakfast himself, at age 7. He climbed
trees and played in the neighborhood clubhouse. He had a guinea pig named
Snuca, and lots of girls had crushes on the skinny boy with a smile
stretching ear to ear.
 
Between the ages of 10 and 14, Araujo and the family attended the
Evangelical Free Church in Newark, which preaches a literal interpretation
of the Bible. Araujo joined Sunday school programs and a youth study group.
 
In middle school, he began wearing makeup. At age 14, he started wearing
girl's clothes -- not dresses or skirts, but ``just normal girl clothes,''
his friends said. He corrected people when they called him Eddie, shooting
back, ``It's Gwen,'' in encounters again and again to get others to
understand what he felt.
 
``When he was a him, he was a very cute guy,'' said Araujo's best friend
Julia Valenzuela, 15. ``When he was a her, he was really gorgeous. He looked
like he was going ballroom dancing every night. He caught the stare
everywhere we went.''
 
Paying a price
 
Courageous as it was to live as Araujo felt, it exacted a toll.
 
As his need to dress and act like a girl grew, the family left the church,
his mother said. And increasingly, they would distance themselves from
extended family. Uncles were too macho, Araujo told his therapist, and the
taunts from kids at school that he was effeminate, which began even in
elementary school, were growing unbearable.
 
``He was harassed all the time,'' said Tara Rodriguez, 16, ``especially by
boys,''
 
Araujo was already looking beyond Newark, reporting to friends and family
that he would go to Hollywood and be a makeup artist. He would make ``hella
money,'' he said, but meanwhile his school attendance was slipping. High
school was a patchwork of independent study and continuation programs.
 
This would have been Araujo's senior year at Crossroads High School, but he
never showed up. Araujo planned instead on a high school equivalency
diploma.
 
At home, the family struggled to sympathize, but Guerrero never turned her
son out. ``I wanted to love and protect him,'' she said. Then, using a term
of endearment for a boy, she said, ``I would say `Mijo, I'll call you Gwen
when you have a sex change.' ''
 
But in the meantime, Araujo's behavior grew more self-destructive, and his
mother concedes now that she ``never understood the magnitude of his pain.''
 
He wanted acceptance, but he found little, Guerrero said. Employers refused
Araujo because his legal name and physical appearance did not match.
 
People offered Eddie their help, including Linda Skerbec, a therapist
associated with the Focus on the Family ministry who had known the family
for years and saw Araujo between the ages of 14 and 16. She said she was on
the verge of persuading Araujo to ``move beyond the label'' of transgender
and ``claim the sexual identity that matched his anatomy.''
 
Focus on the Family is a Colorado-based ministry that sponsors ``National
Coming Out of Homosexuality Day'' and promotes ``reparative therapy'' to
change homosexuals into heterosexuals. The practice has been condemned by
the American Psychological Association.
 
``To me, Eddie was very much a male, a creative, sensitive male,'' Skerbec
said. ``But I worried some. I knew that kids like Eddie could be hurt.''
 
More pain, greater risks
 
Social researchers are only beginning to understand the hardships gay,
lesbian and bisexual youth suffer from and how lack of acceptance results in
self-destructive behavior. Studies show suicide rates and substance abuse at
two to four times that of the general population. Even less is known about
their transgender peers.
 
For Araujo, the perfect facade was often just that, not a safe place to
embrace a deeply felt identity. Guerrero said Araujo attempted suicide and
drank more frequently. He had no job and wasn't studying. Friends told
police he traded sex for beer and marijuana.
 
Last month, Araujo was found unconscious in front of St. Edward's, just up
the street from the modest duplex where he lived with his mother and two
siblings.
 
Guerrero collected her son, who had passed out after a night of drinking.
But it wasn't unusual. He often wouldn't come home at night.
 
Friends and family insist that she remained devoted through all the hard
times and that Araujo felt loved. But survival as Gwen required increasingly
complex calculations -- and as Araujo became sexually active, the risk also
increased.
 
On Oct. 3 Araujo went to a party with friends who knew him as Lida. Araujo,
who was wearing a skirt for the first time in public, had taken along jeans
as a precaution, thinking she might become too drunk and someone might look
up her skirt. But she never changed.
 
Police say Araujo was killed that night after someone at the party
discovered he was anatomically male and told the others.
 
Days later, investigators came to the Araujo home searching for clues to who
might have done it. Amid the teen's belongings, they found a Harry Potter
address book -- and the names that led to three arrests.
   
Mercury News Staff Writers Lisa Fernandez, Yomi S. Wronge, Dana Hull and
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila contributed to this report. Contact Karen de Sá at
kdesa@sjmercury.com or (408) 295-3984.
 Top
   
   

    Man says he didn't kill teen after learning of gender 
    Top
   
   Mercury News | 10/24/2002 | Man says he didn'...
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4356727.htm
 
Posted on Thu, Oct. 24, 2002
   
 
By Lisa Fernandez and Matthai Chakko Kuruvila
Mercury News
 
One of the defendants accused of killing 17-year-old Eddie Araujo said he
was angry when he learned the transgender teen was anatomically male, but
said he did not kill the Newark youth.
 
``I'm innocent,'' Jose Merel, 24, of Newark, told the Mercury News on
Wednesday evening during an interview at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.
 
``I'm sorry for what occurred,'' he said, ``but I had nothing to do with it.
I don't have a history of violence and I don't wish death on anybody.''
 
Merel, Michael Magidson and Jaron Nabors are each charged with murder and a
hate crime enhancement in connection with the death of Araujo, who police
say was beaten and stabbed at a party at Merel's home and then buried in a
shallow grave 150 miles away near Placerville.
 
According to the police, Araujo was killed because the men discovered that
Lida, as she was known to them, was anatomically male.
 
``Sure we were angry,'' Merel said. ``Obviously she led us on. No one knew
she was a man, but that's no excuse for anyone to hurt someone. I don't
believe two wrongs make a right.''
 
Merel, however, would not shed light on what took place the night of the
party, nor did he implicate anyone else. He said he could not talk about
specifics until he had spoken to his lawyer.
 
Merel also emphatically denied statements made by others to police that he
may have had a relationship with Araujo, and he said he does not believe
that Araujo had a crush on him. He also denied that anyone used drugs at the
Oct. 3 party.
 
Merel and Magidson, who gave separate interviews at the jail, both wore
jail-issued yellow jumpsuits and are being kept apart at the jail. These
were their first interviews since they were arrested last week.
 
Magidson, 22, from Fremont, also said he would not discuss what exactly
happened the night of the party or Araujo's death.
 
``I can't even say,'' he said, when asked if he was innocent, stressing that
he wouldn't talk on advice from attorneys he had spoken with.
 
Magidson did say, however, that it was a ``total surprise'' to see police
coming to his home Oct. 16 when he was arrested.
 
``I didn't even know why they were coming for me,'' said Magidson, who was
at the Oct. 3 party. Nabors, Merel's two brothers Emmanuel and Paul, Nicole
Brown and Araujo also were at the party.
 
According to police, Brown, who is Paul Merel's girlfriend, at some point
during the party entered the bathroom with Araujo and revealed to the others
that Araujo was anatomically male. Brown told police that Jose Merel threw
the first punch at Araujo.
 
Magidson, Jose Merel and Nabors, who was not available for an interview
Wednesday and whose family declined to comment at the jail, are scheduled to
appear in court today. No one else has been charged, and the district
attorney's office has indicated that no one else is likely to be charged.
 
Magidson, who was visibly despondent during the interview and at times
trembled, said he was scared -- but the feeling surfaced when he was
arrested, not before, because he had nothing to be scared about.
 
``After it's all over,'' he said, ``I'm sure I'll be ready to talk.''
 
He said that his family has been visiting him and bringing him reading
material.
 
``It's the only thing that's keeping me going,'' he said.
 
Merel said he also is scared.
 
``Yeah, I'm scared,'' he said. ``I might end up staying here for something I
didn't do.''
 
He said he longs to see his girlfriend and 1-year-old daughter, Kayla, who
live in Colorado.
 
``Before this happened, my life was straight,'' he said. ``I was on a good
path. This sucks. I hate it. I wish I could be with my family.''
 
--
 
Mercury News Staff Writer Putsata Reang contributed to this report. Contact
Lisa Fernandez at lfernandez@sjmercury.com or (510) 790-7313. Contact
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila at mkuruvila@ sjmercury.com or (510) 790-7316.

 Top

---

The Remembering Our Dead Project Mourns the loss of Gwen Araujo: 23rd Death in 2002, 25th since last Day of Remembrance
   Top
   From: Gwendolyn Ann Smith <gwen@gwensmith.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 02 22:06:47 -0800
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25th, 2002
 
 
Contact: Gwendolyn Ann Smith
gwen@gwensmith.com
 
 
The Remembering Our Dead Project Mourns the loss of Gwen Araujo:
23rd Death in 2002, 25th since last Day of Remembrance
 
17-year-old Gwen Araujo had lived largely as a woman since she was 14,
and had indicated that she did desire a sex change at some time in the
future. She admired singer Gwen Stefani, and took her first name as her
own. Others had known Araujo as Lida, or Wendy.
 
On October 3rd Gwen Araujo was beaten, dragged into a garage, and
strangled before her body was transported over 100 miles to a remote part
of Northern California. Why? Because her killers were upset after
discovering that Araujo was born male.
 
Gwen Araujo is one of 23 reported anti-transgender murders in 2002, and
one of 13 such cases in the United States this year. Like Gwen Araujo,
at least one person dies in this country at the hand of anti-transgender
violence.
 
As the case has developed, we have seen Gwen Araujo disrespected in
newspapers and on local television, her desire to be seen as a woman
forgotten in the desire to sell the news. This disrespect flies in the
face of established journalistic protocols set up by the Associated Press.
 
The Remembering Our Dead project calls for justice in the case of Gwen
Araujo, and the hope that her killers are tried and convicted for their
crime. We also call upon the press to again review their guidelines
towards the treatment of transgendered people.
 
We also call upon individuals to donate on behalf of Gwen Araujo through
the Gwen Araujo Bereavement Fund. 100% of the proceeds donated will go
directly to the family memorial fund. Information for donating by mail,
by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or for online contributions via
PayPal to the Gwen Araujo Bereavement Fund can be found at <
http://www.ntac.org/donation >. We would ask that all organizations that
serve the transgender community consider a donation to this cause.
 
We also encourage everyone to attend and participate in local Day of
Remembrance events in your area on November 20th. This event is dedicated
to Gwen Araujo and all those lost at the hand of Anti-Transgender
Violence and Prejudice. Details may be found at <
http://www.rememberingourdead.org >.
 
Remembering Our Dead is a project of Gender Education and Advocacy, Inc.
 Top
   
Gwen Araujo Remembered, Rev. Penny Nixon Leads Services 10/20/02
    Top 
 
Rev. Dr. G. Penny Nixon to Lead Services
Affirming All Gender Identities of God's Creation
 
Sunday, October 27th
11:00 AM
 
Metropolitan Community Church
150 Eureka Street
San Francisco
 
San Francisco &endash; Rev. Dr. G. Penny Nixon will lead services on Sunday, 
October 20th at The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco 
(MCC/SF), 150 Eureka Street, at 11:00 AM in memory of Gwen Araujo, the 
17-year-old transgender Californian who was murdered last week in what 
appears to be a hate crime.
   
During the 11:00 AM service, an altar will be created to affirm all gender 
identities as the glorious array of God's creation. The congregation will 
stand in solidarity with and in memory of Gwen Araujo. Rev. Nixon will read 
a statement about Gwen Araujo's death calling on religious institutions to 
"come out" in support of gender identities and to renounce any religious 
teachings that fuel prejudice against gender expression.
   
MEDIA: Media Representatives are Welcome &endash; Please Sign-in at Arrival
CONTACT: Rev. G. Penny Nixon: 415-269-2259 or e-mail: revgp@aol.com
   
"Find inspiration, hope and love in our community of acceptance," Nixon 
said. "This is a place, a house of prayer for all people, which honors all 
gender identifies and upholds people's authenticity in bringing their full 
selves forward." MCC San Francisco's congregation includes more than 550 
members from diverse Christian and other faith traditions. 
<http://www.mccsf.org>
   
*** BELOW IS A COMPILATION OF UPCOMING RELATED EVENTS ***
   
   
** FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25th **
   
(1) PRIDE March and Memorial, October 25
   
PRIDE!, a gay-straight alliance group formed by Fremont students in 
response to the murder of 17-year-old Newark transgender youth Gwen Araujo, 
has planned a March through Fremont and Newark on Friday in memory of Gwen 
Araujo.
   
Friday, October 25, 4 p.m.
The march/protest will begin at Fremont BART at 4 p.m.:
2000 BART Way, Fremont, CA 94536
The demonstration will be on the corner of Mowry and Alpsenross at 5 p.m.:
2086 NewPark Mall, Newark, CA 94560
   
BRING SIGNS, FLAGS, AND YOUR OPEN MINDS -STAY SAFE AND SMART!
   
*******************************************
   
(2) Press Conference & Vigil in San Francisco, Friday, October 25, at 6:00 p.m.
   
A press conference followed by a candlelight vigil will take place in
front of The LBGT Center in San Francisco, Friday, October 25 at 6:00PM.
   
The Center is located at: 1800 Market Street - San Francisco, CA
(415) 865-5555.
   
*********************************************
   
(3) Sharing Circle in Hayward, Friday, October 25, 7 p.m.
   
The Lighthouse LGBTQ Community Center will hold a Sharing Circle, in Memory 
of Eddie Gwen Araujo. All are welcome to express what this hate crime has 
stirred in them.
When: Friday, October 25, 7-10 p.m.
Where: The Lighthouse LGBTQ Community Center
1217 "A" Street (near corner of "A" and 2nd Sts., next to pink awning of 
"A" St. Cafe), Hayward
(park on street or in BOA parking lot across "A" Street)
For more information: Christina Cappelletti 510/247-8217
   
*********************************************
   
** SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26th **
   
   
(1) Candlelight Vigil in Palo Alto, Saturday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m.
   
There will be a candlelight vigil outside city hall in Palo Alto in honor 
of Gwen Araujo, a transgender person who was murdered in Newark on Oct. 3. 
Come and show your support. There will be speakers and some candles 
provided. Please bring extra candles if you can.
   
Date: Saturday, October 26
Where: 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Time: 6-7pm
What: speakers and candle vigil
What to bring: friends, relatives, yourselves and a sweater
   
for more information, email Elle Stacy at elle@gsanetwork.org, Gunn
High School GSA, Palo Alto
*********************************************
   
(2) CUAV Community United Against Violence Event - Oct.26
The night is dedicated to the memory of Gwen Araujo.
   
Date: October 25, 2002
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Mission High School
3750 18th Street, San Francisco
   
Description: "And the Movement Continues..."
CUAV event and fundraiser, with rock and hip hop performances,
including a special performance by Deborah Iyall.
Tickets available from CUAV at (415) 777-5500.
Contact: Tina D'Elia, (415) 777-5500 ex 304
   
*********************************************
   
** TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29th **
   
Date: October 29, 2002
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: The United Way Building, Room 105
1922 The Alameda, San Jose
Description: In response to the recent murder of Gwen Araujo, a local
young 17 year old transwoman, the DeFrank Center and others are
organizing a memorial/vigil and candlelight walk down The Alameda, and we
would like to invite you to become involved in the ceremony. After the
ceremony we will walk down The Alameda to the DeFrank Center carrying
candles and placards with the names of LGBT youth that have been murdered.
Contact: Rev Free, (408) 281-1284, mfree@sbcglobal.net
   
   
*********************************************
   
** FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1st **
   
Service of Lamentation and Dedication, Friday, November 1, at 7:30 p.m.
   
Date: November 1, 2002
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Proyecto ContraSIDA Por Vida (PCPV)
2973 16th Street, San Francisco
HRC is sending this alert to its members in California. Below is a list of 
community vigils in memory of Gwen Araujoa, a 17-year-old transgender 
Californian who was murdered last week in what appears to be a hate crime.
   
Araujo, from Newark, had been missing since Oct. 3, reportedly after 
getting attacked at a party when it was revealed that she was transgender. 
Media reports say that Araujo was found last Wednesday in a shallow grave 
near a campground in Placerville, 150 miles northeast of Newark, Calif., 
where the fatal assault occurred. Police officials have yet to determine 
the motive for the murder but believe it could be a hate crime.
   
Three men have been arrested and charged with murder by "special 
circumstance," which can carry the death penalty under California law. The 
men charged are: Michael Magidson, 22, Jose Merel, 22, and Jaron Nabors, 
19. A fourth suspect, Merel's brother Paul, 25, was released without being 
charged, according to USA Today.
   
"I'm going to bury him in the prettiest dress I can find," Sylvia Guerrero, 
Araujo's mother told USA Today. "With make-up. His tombstone will say 'Gwen'."
   
Seth Kilbourn, HRC's national field director, responded to the crime with 
the following remarks: "We would like to convey our tremendous grief to the 
family and friends of Gwen Araujo, who are dealing with this unspeakable 
and senseless act of violence. We are glad police have apprehended the 
suspects in what looks to be a hate crime of the most heinous magnitude. At 
HRC, we abhor the ignorance and hate that leads all too often to violence 
against transgender Americans."
   
Event: This event is an opportunity for the community to honor our
loved ones who have passed. Please feel free to bring **copies** of
photos and/or other articles of remembrance to add to the altar.
There will be food, warm beverages and sugar skulls to decorate as offerings.
There will be a special honoring of Gwen/Lida (Eddie) Araujo as part of the 
evenings' activities.
_____________________________________
   
** WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20th **
   
National Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20
   
Event: Transgender Day of Remembrance
Date: November 20, 2002
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Harvey Milk Plaza
Castro and Market Streets, San Francisco
   
Event: Starts at Harvey Milk Plaza with a candle light vigil and march to 
the LGBT Community Center, for a 7:30 pm speakout and memorial in the 
Rainbow Room.
   
Contact: Gwen Smith, gwen@gwensmith.com
Description: the fourth annual memorial for victims of anti-transgender 
murder, this year held in nearly 40 locations worldwide, and noting 25 
murders since last year's event, including that of Gwen Araujo.
   

   BEREAVEMENT FUND CREATED FOR SLAIN TRANSGENDER TEEN

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The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), partnering with Remembering Our Dead has re-established the Bereavement Fund to assist the family of Gwen "Lida" Araujo. Proceeds from the fund will be turned over to a Memorial Fund established by the family, in Araujo's male name: Eddie Araujo Jr.

 

Araujo had been attending an informal party on the night of October 3, when she was set upon by at least three males who discovered her true birth gender. She was beaten to death, taken to the garage and strangled, then with hands and feet bound and wrapped in a sheet, she was buried in a shallow grave in a remote area 150 miles from her home.

 

As always, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the family memorial fund. Information for donating by mail, by credit card (Visa or MasterCard) or for online contributions via PayPal to the Gwen Araujo Bereavement Fund can be found at http://www.ntac.org/donation/

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

[1]USA: Oregon-- Event Announcement: Creating Change Conference

 

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Via: Lisa Mottet, NGLTF and Gender Advocacy Internet News (GAIN),
   
Date: Oct. 4, 2002
   
Lisa Mottet writes:
   
 Greetings Trans Activists and Allies -
 
Creating Change is going to be great this year! There will be tons of
transgender and gender-related workshops, discussions, and caucuses on
top of our all day Pre-Conference Institute on November 7, Gender
Splendor, which will be focusing on issues important to and affecting
transgender people of color.
 
Creating Change is in Portland, Oregon, from November 7-10. The Gender
Splendor Pre-Conference Institute starts on Thursday, the 7th, at
9:00am. The Conference ends at 1:30 on Sunday, November 10th. (Monday,
the 11th, is Veteran's Day.)
 
For those of you who don't already know, this year we launch the
first-ever Creating Change Conference theme: Building An Anti-Racist
Movement. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is firmly committed to
addressing the impact of racism in this country and in our movement, and
to that end, much of the programming, workshops, discussions will be
oriented toward issues of racism both inside and outside of our communities.
 
Our slate of transgender-themed programming is extensive. Our Gender
Splendor day is coming together, with a planning committee including
about thirty transgender people of color from around the country. On
Friday night, there will be a gathering for transgender activists to get
to know each other and network. A tremendous performance piece, B4T, by
Imani Henry will also be performed on Friday, at 1:00 PM.
 
Transgender-related workshops and caucus discussions cover a full gamut
of topics including federal legislation, youth, healthcare access,
genderqueer identities, and sex. This year, the Transgender Civil
Rights Project has worked to create more opportunities to talk about the
federal agenda than ever before, with one workshop being a discussion of
the transgender federal agenda and another focusing on the best methods
for lobbying for transgender inclusion at the federal level.
 
NGLTF received over 300 workshop proposals for only 150+ available
workshop slots. Our schedule is completely full; our conference director
was unable to schedule many, many great proposals. In fact, we added
additional workshop time slots in order to accommodate more workshops
over our three days together.
 
I hope that everyone will come to this year's Creating Change so that we
may all learn about and from each other, as people, as activists, and as
sisters and brothers in the movement.
 
See you in Portland! (Complete registration and housing information for
the conferences is on our website at http://www.creatingchange.org
(including info about free community housing) and if you can't find
something on the web, call the NGLTF Creating Change information number
at (202) 639-6333.).
 
Lisa Mottet
Legislative Lawyer
Transgender Civil Rights Project
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
lmottet@ngltf.org (202) 639-6308
 
Read more about the Project at:
http://www.ngltf.org/statelocal/transgender.htm
 
Below is a listing of most of the programming relating specifically to
transgender, gender, and intersex issues. Please be aware that things
may change before the conference!
 
PRE-CONFERENCE INSTITUTE
 
Gender Splendor: Building an Anti-Racist and Diverse Movement for Gender
Freedom and Transgender Equality
 
This Institute explores the diversity of transgender experience, paying
particular attention to issues affecting and important to transgender
people of color. This Institute will focus on ways we can work together
across our many differences and will provide attendees with a better
understanding of the ways in which racism and transphobia intersect in
our lives. Topics include non-transsexual and gender-queer identities,
intersex issues, significant others, family, friends, and allies
(SOFFA), and the impact of age, ability, race, class and immigration
status. Innovative programs and projects that address these issues will
be discussed. All people are welcome and encouraged to attend.
 
GATHERING
 
*Gathering for Transgender Activists (Friday evening) This gathering is
for transgender activists and allies of every level - local, state,
federal - whether you are new to activism or have been working for
decades. Let's meet each other, learn about what others are doing, and
make connections to help each other and ourselves in our collective
fight for transgender equality.
 
PERFORMANCE B4T (before testosterone) written and performed by FTM
activist Imani Henry, is a multi-media theatre piece that intimately
explores race, sexuality and gender expression through the lives of
three Black, masculine female-bodied people. Through a series of
monologues and video clips, B4T (Before Testosterone) portrays the
realities of various gender and sexual identities-including "butch,"
"lesbian," and "transgender".
 
WORKSHOPS/CAUCUSES/DISCUSSIONS
 
*Marginalize No More: How to Incorporate the Needs of Transgender
Communities of Color Into HIV and Other Healthcare Services Despite
evidence of high HIV/AIDS infection rates among transgender persons,
comparatively few HIV care and prevention programs exist to meet their
needs. This interactive workshop will feature participants in a
discussion of the barriers and challenges to delivering effective HIV
and other healthcare services to transgender communities of color, and
will identify strategies for enhancing services to transgender
communities at the Federal, State and local levels.
 
*Building a Federal Transgender Agenda What should the transgender
movement be doing at the federal legislative level? Participants will
hear differing opinions and then will engage in a collective discussion
about the different options and priorities to achieve transgender
equality at the federal level. This session is for transgender activists
and committed transgender allies.
 
*Lobbying for Transgender Inclusion in Federal Legislation Participants
will first discuss and learn the most effective messages and stances to
take in advocating for transgender inclusion at the federal level.
Second, participants will practice a lobby visit with the goal of having
a Member of Congress agree to explicit inclusion of transgender people
in a piece of federal legislation. Whether you are a beginner or have
plenty of experience, you will learn something at this workshop!
 
*Transgender Victories and Challenges: The Policy Arena This year has
been a mixed bag for transgender people in the policy arena. Activists
have created great statewide victories like the New Jersey safe schools
bill and the Hawaii human rights commission decision. We've also seen
local anti-discrimination laws pushed to passage in large and/or diverse
localities such as Allentown, PA; Dallas,, TX; Multnomah County, OR; New
York City; and Tacoma, WA. But there have also been some setbacks, like
the Minnesota decision and the Kansas marriage case, to name a few.
We'll cover these things, and also take a sneak peek at bills that may
pass soon and cases on the cusp of decision.
 
*What Does the American Public Think About Transgender Issues? This
workshop will deliver the results of the groundbreaking Transgender
Polling Project conducted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) that was
completed earlier this year with the assistance of a diverse group of
Transgender activists from around the country. The results of this
project provide useful data that will help activists to develop
messaging to communicate the issues that face the transgender community
to legislators and mainstream America.
 
*Best Interests of the Child This workshop will present topics and
discussion on the issues a transgender parent may face. Topics include
custody and transition; what are the legal, social and/or psychological
issues for trans parents rights, custodial and non-custodial; who is the
mom?; who is the dad?; what about the children?. This workshop will
include video clips from the Court TV case of Kantaras v. Kantaras.
 
*Gender, Disability, and Medical Abuse This workshop investigates the
parallels between the experiences of trans people and that of intersex
people, but not through the lens of gender theory as they are commonly
addressed. Instead, it attempts to explore alternative approaches to
building a true intersex-trans alliance through drawing knowledge from
the critical disability theory and disability activism that problematize
the social construction of normalcy and criticize the abuse of power
inherent within the biomedical model.
 
*Gender Theory / Gender Politics (Part I and Part II) Are some genders
"real" and others boy-dykes, bio-girlz, trannie-boys and trykes
"artificial?" Is gender something we are, or something we do? Is
homosexuality a fact of bodies, or a way of politicizing their
pleasures? If Feminism is about women's political needs, then who counts
as women? Identity politics, genderqueers, and problem of knowledge --
join a lively, low-impact look at what theorists like Judith Butler are
saying and why it should matter to you.
 
*Supporting Trans Youth: Allies 101 This interactive session will
provide essential information for service providers and others who want
to support trans youth. Topics include relevant terms and concepts, the
transition process, the specific service needs of youth in transition,
differences between issues/needs of transitioning youth and adults,
messages from trans youth about what they want and need from us, and
challenges and rewards of supporting trans youth.
 
*First Stop the Harm: Intersex in the 21st Century A new medical
protocol is being prepared by intersex activists. The revolutionary
patient-centered protocol will dramatically alter the landscape for the
future intersex births and the way they are treated within the medical
community. The new protocol, already being adopted by progressive
hospitals, dramatically changes the way intersex children and their
families are treated within the medical community. It seeks to end early
surgical intervention by replacing it with treatment within the
psychological realm and with peer support. This workshop will introduce
this new patient -centered protocol being prepared by ISNA. A comparison
of the outdated concealment-based and the new, patient-centered protocol
will be included to give attendees a basis on which to speak about the
issues afterwards within their own organizations. Action items and a
plan for activists to work with towards the implementation and adoption
of the new protocol will be discussed.
 
*Beyond the Basics: Transgender Workers Building Solidarity A look at
contracts, internal union practices, and how the labor movement has
dealt with LGBT civil rights concerns. We will hear about recent
successes, do some concrete brainstorming, examine strategies for
working to change union non-discrimination policies and negotiating
transgender protections in the collective bargaining process.
 
*GenderQueer Across Generations: A Continuing Dialogue This is an
interactive session, for youth and adults to explore and create a space
to dialogue across generations of GenderQueer folks, trying to figure
out how we can work together to create a space for young people to lead
in the movement for change in our community understanding of gender.
What are the issues that gender questioning youth face and what are the
issues that transgender, transsexual youth, and differently gendered
youth face in our movement and our society, and how we can learn from
each other.
 
*GenderQueer Activism in the LGB Movement This roundtable will be a
community dialogue space to discuss GenderQueer identity, organizing in
the LGB movement, and looking at what some of our challenges and
successes are, and where we go from here.
 
*Playing Doctor: Renaming Desire - Trans/Non-Trans Sex The caucus will
focus on sex between trans and non-trans people, and the fears, desires
and assumptions about that sex. This will be an opportunity for people
to gather and talk honestly about sexual attraction between and among
trans and non-trans people and the political implication(s) of
manifesting that attraction. We will talk about identities and gender
roles and assumptions and the limitations of such. We will do all this
and more in an atmosphere of openness and clarity. ATTENDEES: Please be
aware that we will be using adult language in this caucus.
 
*Gender-izing and Racial-izing Desire: How Do We Get Who We Want and
What We Want? What does it mean to be queer, sexual and a person of
color? Which words are used to describe us? Which words are words we
would use versus what is attributed to us? In what ways have we been
acculturated to think about desire and to think about gender and race in
relation to desire? What purpose does that type of thinking serve? Who
does it serve? How does oppression fit into our notions about race,
gender, sexuality and desire? How do we reinvision a world where desire
transgresses the realms of memory and lived experience? How do we
redefine the language used to express desire? Please join us as we
engage in a lively discussion on the intersections of race, gender,
sexuality, desire and cultural oppression. ** People of color only **
 
*Breaking Down the Barriers Between the Transgendered and
Non-Transgendered Lesbian Issues of sexism, transphobia and
discrimination are occurring in the lesbian community toward the
transgender lesbians. In this workshop attendees will articulate and
weigh perceived issues, participate in discussion, and arrive at
potential solutions. The goal is to gain an understanding of each other
and determine an action plan to begin the process of improving
relationships within the lesbian sisterhood.
 
*Transgender College Students Transgender students are beginning to
demand more from their colleges and universities across the country. In
this networking session, we hope to bring together those people who are
researching the experiences of transgender college students. We hope to
share ideas, strategies, and findings that will enable participants to
return to their institutions with a network of people who are willing to
work together to make the lives of transgender students better.
    Top

---

 

[2] USA USA Gender March Committee to Meet at NGLTF's Creating Change in Portland Oregon.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

 

(Portland, OR) The Gender March on Washington Committee will hold its next planning meeting in conjunction with NGLTF's Creating Change 2002 Conference in Portland, OR November 8th & 9th. This will be the third planning meeting to organize the inaugural national march to be held in the fall of 2003 or the spring of 2004.

 

The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Jantzen Beach Hotel, the convention's headquarters, in the Pendleton Room on the lower level. In order to allow meeting participants the opportunity to take full advantage of the workshops, caucuses, and plenary sessions of the conference, the planning sessions will not begin until 9 PM each day. All conference participants and march supporters are welcome to attend.

 

For further information contact gendermarch@yahoo.com.

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---

[3] CANADA AND USA--BENT ON CHANGE II CONFERENCE

 Top

Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 10:05:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: "J. M. Goldberg" <jgoldber@uvic.ca> Via Rica Ashby Fredrickson <rica@netaxs.com>
   
From: LGBTQ Resources
To: j.tate@utoronto.ca
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002
   
 
 
PLEASE CIRCULATE!
 
Building upon the successes of Bent On Change 2000: Rethinking Queer
Issues on Campus and in Communities, the Bent On Change II Conference
Steering Committee is pleased to announce Beyond Tolerance:
Rethinking Queer Issues on Campus and in Communities for November 1 &
2, 2002.
 
With joint leadership from Ryerson University, York University and
the University of Toronto, Bent On Change II will explore the theme
of Beyond Tolerance on Campus and in Communities. Tolerance
continues to be the predominant response of the mainstream to
challenges from oppressed and marginalized communities. Bent On
Change II will explore problems associated with the politics of both
intolerance and tolerance and will generate ideas about how
LGBTQ-identified individuals, groups and allies can empower
universities and communities to move beyond tolerance.
 
 
Delegates from across Canada and the United States will gather to
hear many presenters and keynote speakers Zahra Dhanani,
Immigration/Human Rights lawyer and activist, and Queer theorist
Rinaldo Walcott from the University of Toronto. Amongst others topics
include:
*Sex In & Out of the Classroom;
*Risk, Representation & Resistance: Organizing in Black Queer Community;
*Students Dealing with Marginalization;
*Class Passing in the Queer Communities;
*(Trans) People of Colour and Two-Spirit People: Fighting Racism &
Transphobia & Homophobia In Our Community (open to People of Colour
and Two Spirit People only).
 
For Conference Registration and more information:
 
Visit the Website and Register: http://bentonchange.tripod.com
or
Email: bentonchange@lycos.com
    Top
    

GENERAL INFORMATION

[4] UNITED KINGDOM--NHS trust gives sex changes priority

Top

icWales - NHS trust gives sex changes priority
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/page.cfm?objectid=12313954
&method=full&siteid=50082
 
 Wales
 
 Oct 26 2002
 
Darren Devine, The Western Mail
 
AN NHS trust that has refused to take on any new couples for fertility
treatment has declared sex change operations one of its top priorities.
 
Sex changes, or gender reassignments, have been named as a "waiting list
initiative" by the Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust for the next five
months, giving them priority over other forms of treatment.
 
The trust made the decision because consultant urologist Christine Evans is
due to retire next spring and the trust wants her to complete her existing
sex-change workload before she leaves.
 
Trust chief executive Gren Kershaw said the treatment at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd,
in Bodelwyddan, includes counselling and hormone replacement therapy over
many months, and during this period the patient builds up a relationship
with Miss Evans.
 
He said it would not be in the best interests of the patient to allow
another surgeon at a different hospital to perform the operation after such
a relationship had been established.
 
The trust also maintains those on the waiting list are suffering from a
distressing medical condition and the operation is as valid as any other
surgery.
 
Mr Kershaw said, "Miss Evans only undertakes approximately five gender
reassignments per year compared to almost 2,000 other urological procedures.
 
"Miss Christine Evans is retiring in the spring. In order to ensure that all
her patients, including gender reassignments are seen within the 12-month
government requirement, we have arranged extra theatre time for her. This
does not affect any other surgery within the trust where we are on target to
treat all inpatients within 12 months.
 
"Waiting list initiatives are commonly undertaken when demand outstrips the
capacity of the hospital. These are extra funded lists."
 
He said only the four people left on the waiting list for gender
reassignment would be treated and no new patients would be taken on.
 
But childless couples yesterday said they too suffer great distress, and
since 1997 the North Wales Health Authority has refused to take on any more
women for fertility treatment.
 
Some couples who were receiving infertility treatment before the policy was
introduced in 1997 are still having their treatment paid for by the North
Wales Health Authority.
 
Alex Jolly and her husband Simon, from Llanbedrog, near Pwllheli, were
forced to pay for two courses of private fertility treatment costing £6,000
because the North Wales Health Authority would not fund the treatment.
 
She said, "People who want a sex change will argue that it's a medical thing
for them. But I don't see it as the same thing."
 
Mrs Jolly, 34, who is a member of the infertility support network Child,
added, "Some women are infertile through cancer.
 
"And that is a medical condition and any form of infertility to a point is a
medical condition.
 
"Infertility has a massive effect on a woman psychologically.
 
"But you don't get anything for it - there is not even any counselling.
 
"I can't understand how they can say just because this surgeon only has a
year left we will get everybody through.
 
"That's great, but equally there are a lot of people that have been waiting
many years for fertility treatment and they are no nearer getting it."
 
Hospital insiders have complained that Miss Evans is being treated as a
special case. They say that when other surgeons leave their workloads do not
usually become "waiting list initiatives".
 
Three of the four people waiting for a sex change are English, with NHS
trusts from outside Wales paying for the operation at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.
 
Critics have suggested the trust is keen to protect the money it will earn
from the operations and that this is the reason for prioritising Miss
Evans's workload.
 
But Mr Kershaw rejected this, saying money did not come into the equation
and said Miss Evans is one of only a handful of UK surgeons able to perform
the operation.
   Top
   

   [5] United Kingdom--Transsexual Opens "Frock Shop" For Men In Brighton
   Top
   Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002
From: "Claire Ashton" <claire@c-ashton.fsnet.co.uk>
   
From: Anon.
http://uk.gay.com/news/7167
   
for Gay.com UK
24 October 2002
 
 
PROMOTION
A transsexual is opening up a 'frock shop' for men in the city of Brighton
and Hove. 'Lacies' opens in Hove next week, and promises an array of
outrageous outfits aimed at the city's transsexual and gay community. The
shop also expects to attract clubbers and people looking for fancy dress
outfits.
 
Transsexual Sue Sheppard, who owns the store, told the Argus: "Brighton and
Hove is buzzing at the moment. There is a gay and a transsexual community
and we want to capture that market. Lacies is about being outrageous and
providing items you can't get anywhere else".
 
Clothes on sale will include extravagant gowns, maids' outfits, Victorian
basques and body-hugging PVC outfits. There will also be artificial breasts,
wigs of all colours and shoes up to size 15. The shop will also stock sex
aids.
   
 Top
   

   [6] USA: 7,500 show up for Outoberfest 'A chance to be comfortable'
   Top
   
   [thanks to Chris Purdom via religion] via Rica Ashby Fredrickson <rica@netaxs.com>
 
Arizona Daily Star, October 13, 2002
P. O. Box 26887, Tucson, AZ, 85726
(Fax: 602-573-4141 ) (E-Mail: letters@azstarnet.com )
( http://www.azstarnet.com/ )
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/21013OUTOBERFEST.html
   
By Arek Sarkissian II, Arizona Daily Star
In a day dedicated to simple things, families pitched blankets on the
lawn, couples cuddled and old friends sipped a beer together Saturday at
Reid Park.
   
But the attendance of about 7,500 showed there's nothing simple about
the success of Outoberfest, a community event for people gay and straight,
which has grown from just 50 participants when it was first held 26 years
ago.
   
For Suzie Fisher, who attended with her two children and girlfriend
Linda Brez, Saturday was a day to feel free.
"We'll still walk down Fourth Avenue and have people say stuff,"
Fisher said. "This is a chance for us to be comfortable and see people we
haven't seen in a while."
   
The event has become such a tradition for Fisher's children that they
counted down the days. "It's fun to see the drag queens and just be here,"
said daughter Chelsea Verde, 10. It's also fun, she added, to hang out with
her mother's friends.
   
Outoberfest is more families than drag queens these days - much
tamer, Brez said, than it used to be.
   
Some concerns about harassment after the first-ever radio promotion
this year never materialized.
   
"I know a lot of people were worried when they heard it," Brez said.
"It might attract the wrong kind of people."
Instead, organizers got what they wanted - one of the biggest
Outoberfests ever.
   
"We really tried to open it up for families," said Wendy Bailey,
president of Tucson Pride Inc. "We want everyone to come out and have fun."
For a donation of $5 per person, people got live music, beer at $3 a
cup, free soda and plenty of choice in food, as well as 40 booths where
political candidates and nonprofit organizations made their pitches.
The Arizona Dust Devils Cycling team raised money to get to the Gay
Games in Sydney, Australia.
   
"Who else is going to work this hard at this event as I am?" team
member Jeff Ofstedahl asked while pedaling a stationary bicycle.
Valerie Lopez, who came to meet a gay friend from work, said the
event provided some exposure to a lifestyle she believes is becoming more
accepted. She attended with her two children.
   
"They have so many questions that I can't answer," Lopez said.
"And I work with them, but I was never friends with one like I am
now," Lopez said. "This is a chance for everyone to learn."
Bette Arnold attended the event with her daughter Lisa, Lisa's
girlfriend and their child, 11-month-old, Shelby. Arnold has seen changes
in Outoberfest through the years.
   
"As more people have become more accepting, there isn't any more of
that tension they had when I went in the past," Arnold said.
   
. Contact reporter Arek Sarkissian II at 629-9412 or
asarkiss@azstarnet.com.
 
 Top
   
[7] USA New Jersey--Trial opens in slaying of transvestite
   Top
    
NorthJersey.com - Paterson
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=57&page=5396587    
 
   
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
 
By JENNIFER V. HUGHES
Staff Writer
 
After a woman on the street offered him $20 for sex, Carlos Camacho says he
accompanied her home, took off his clothes, and waited for her to emerge
from the bathroom at her Paterson apartment.
 
But when she came out naked, Camacho said he learned that she was a he.
 
"Do you think that would be a shocking development?" defense lawyer Greg
Aprile said to jurors during his opening statement Tuesday in Camacho's
murder trial. "Could you imagine the disgust a person who is not a
homosexual might have? Do you think there would be some reason to have fear
as well as anger? ... What other perversions might he be subjected to?"
 
Camacho, 20, is charged with murder for allegedly beating, stabbing,
slashing, and strangling Victor Pachas, a 43-year-old transvestite, about 4
a.m. on Feb. 25, 2001. Camacho, of Paterson, admits he killed Pachas, but
Aprile said his client is not guilty of knowing and purposeful murder.
 
Instead, Aprile said, his client was "driven by revulsion and fear." The
attorney pointed jurors toward a finding of passion provocation manslaughter
- saying the crime was committed in the heat of passion resulting from a
reasonable provocation.
 
Murder carries at least a 30-year prison term, whereas the sentencing range
for the manslaughter charge is five to 10 years.
 
John Latoracca, Passaic County chief assistant prosecutor, told jurors they
can't let discomfort with Pachas' lifestyle color their view.
 
"Victor Pachas was a human being and he did not deserve to die," Latoracca
said. Pachas' lifestyle "is not an excuse, it's not a defense, it's not a
legitimate basis to call this case anything other than what it is: murder."
 
Latoracca pointed to the brutality of the attack as proof the crime was
murder, noting that the apartment was literally drenched with the victim's
blood. He also told jurors about a portion of Camacho's police statement,
where he said, "'I couldn't control myself because he was screaming, and I
knew if people heard the screaming I would get in trouble.'"
 
On Tuesday, jurors also heard from one of Pachas' friends, who was with him
at a nightclub before he met Camacho. On the stand, Alejandro Fernandez said
he did not recall whether Pachas talked that night about hooking up with a
stranger for sex.
 
In cross-examination, Aprile pointed out that Fernandez had told that to
police the day after the killing.
 
Jurors also heard from other tenants in Pachas' Genessee Avenue apartment
building, who said they heard loud noises and cries for help that night.
 
Camacho was arrested six weeks after the killing when authorities found him
in Puerto Rico, where he had fled the day after the crime. His sister turned
him in, Latoracca said.
 
Camacho told police he had been walking home that night, and heard someone
call him over to a car, Latoracca said.
 
The driver was Pachas, who wore a skirt, heels, and a wig, and was on a
block of Slater Street that is known for male prostitution, Latoracca said.
Once back at Pachas' apartment, and after Pachas came out of the bathroom,
Camacho told police he got up to get his clothing, but Pachas "went" for his
knife.
 
Camacho told police he punched Pachas and then stabbed him. When the knife
blade broke from the handle, Camacho pulled the bare blade out from Pachas'
back and started stabbing and slashing him in the face, Latoracca said.
 
Aprile also told jurors that once Camacho was confronted with the truth
about Pachas, he initially got up to leave.
 
"Is Mr. Pachas going to try to convince him to stay? Or is he going to try
to force himself on my client?" Aprile told jurors. Latoracca said that some
parts of Camacho's statement were self-serving.
 
Camacho, who appeared in court in a buzz cut and sporting tattoos on his
cheek and neck, is being held in the Passaic County Jail on $500,000 bail.
The case, in state Superior Court in Paterson, is set to continue today.
 
Jennifer V. Hughes' e-mail address is hughesj@northjersey.com
 
END
 
© 2002 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
   Top
    
   

 
The Village Voice: NY Mirror: Fly Life: I'm (...
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0243/romano.php
 
   [8] USA: Fly Life
   Top
   by Tricia Romano
   
 
October 23 - 29, 2002
   
 A nurse in a latex dress, a dirty old man wearing a sailor's cap, several
well-endowed women with nothing on but tittie tassels, and a male go-go boy
wearing black hot pants, sheer hose, and stiletto heels&emdash;this was the motley
crew assembled last week at the Slipper Room for a benefit performance on
behalf of transgender drag king Antonio Caputo.
 
Caputo was traveling with New York drag king Mo B. Dick as part of the Men
of Club Casanova 2002 tour. When the troupe tried to cross the Canadian
border&emdash;without work visas&emdash;they were sent packing to the U.S., but Caputo,
who is German, was taken to jail in Cavalier, North Dakota, and put in
solitary confinement for 10 days. He says that during his imprisonment, he
was refused blankets and caught bronchitis. He was then transferred to an
immigration detention center in Elk River, Minnesota, where he was jailed
with female prisoners and referred to by his female (and legal) name.
 
Caputo's supporters&emdash;including Dirty Martini, the World Famous *BOB*, DJ
Adam, Dee Finley, Amber Ray, and the Dazzle Dancers&emdash;helped raise money for
his legal fees and other expenses. Caputo was sent back to Germany on
October 11; it is unclear when he will be allowed back into the country. In
a recorded message from Berlin, Caputo said, "I'm glad this terrible
vacation is over now."
 

---

LEGISLATIVE ACTION
   
   [9] USA: Eugene Oregon--City hears testimony on human rights law
   Top
   
   via Rica Ashby Fredrickson   <rica@netaxs.com>
   
Daily Emerald, October 15, 2002
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
(Fax: 541-346-5821 ) (E-Mail:   ode@oregon.uoregon.edu )
http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/10/15/3dac29a883967
   
Speakers testified for and against a proposed domestic partner registry and
changes offering protection for transgender people
Jacquelyn Lewis and Helen Schumacher, Staff Writers
   
       Community members had a chance to voice their opinions to the Eugene
City Council about proposed changes to Eugene's Human Rights Ordinance
during Monday's public hearing at City Hall.  Fifty-eight people signed up
to speak at the hearing, and both supporters and opponents gave emotional
testimony.
   
       The proposed changes include the creation of a domestic partnership
registry for gay and unmarried heterosexual couples, as well as measures
creating protections for transgender people.  The new language contains
guidelines allowing transgender individuals to use the restroom facilities
of the gender with which they identify.
   
       Three complaints of discrimination regarding gender identity have
been received by the City of Eugene since 1998, but city staff and
commissioners say most complaints of this nature are not reported.
   
       Former University employee Dick Romm said the city should approve the
registry.
   
       "It's the right thing to do," he said.  "It really can't affect
anyone negatively that doesn't want to be affected negatively."  He said
that all partners - gay or straight - should have the same privilege of
"getting it in writing."
   
       The domestic partnership registry would allow couples who meet
certain criteria to register with the city and obtain a certificate
recognizing their relationship.  To be eligible for registration, both
people would have to be at least 18 years old, be unmarried and "live as a
family."  Couples must also not be related by blood kinship.
   
       Portland and Ashland already have similar registries.
   
       Eugene resident Bob Pearson said he hopes the city won't approve the
Human Rights Commission's recommendations.
   
       "The Human Rights Commission wants to force its ideas of morality on
the community of Eugene," he said.
   
       Jennifer Self, a 32-year-old psychotherapist, said both changes
should be approved.
   
       "It creates safety for those who have a gender identification outside
of male or female," Self said.
   
       Self said the proposal regarding restroom use was the most important
aspect of the hearing and that the registry is purely symbolic.
   
       "It reflects the values of our city of human dignity and respect for
all," Self said.  "It's amazing how this comes down to a restroom, isn't it?
We're talking about dignity."
   
       City Council will vote on the proposed amendments 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28.
   
   Top
   

   [10a] USA Boston MA--Mayor set to approve transgender protection
   Top
   
   From Brenda Lana Smith R.af D.
   
Mayor set to approve transgender protection
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/gend10242002.htm
   
by Ellen J. Silberman
   
Thursday, October 24, 2002
   
Boston city councilors yesterday cleared the way for new civil rights for
transgenders and cross-dressers, overwhelmingly approving a proposed new law
banning discrimination in the workplace, housing and even public bathrooms.
   
Transgender activists applauded the measure - expected to be signed into law
by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
   
``This is the first step in awareness that there is a transgender community,
that transgender people should be treated with the same respect and dignity
as everyone else,'' said Gunner Scott, a member of the Massachusetts
Transgender Political Coalition, the group that drafted the legislation.
   
``People like myself, my friends, my community will have a fair chance to
make something of themselves,'' said Scott, who was born as a female but is
in the process of a ``transition'' to male and prefers to be called ``he.''
   
An administration source said Menino, a longtime champion of civil rights,
will probably sign the ordinance, unless city lawyers find technical
problems.
   
The ordinance, sponsored by District 7 Councilor Chuck Turner of Roxbury,
bans discrimination based on ``gender identity or expression'' in
employment, housing, credit and public facilities.
   
``Gender identity,'' according to the committee report recommending that
councilors pass the ordinance, ``is an individual's internal sense of self
(man/woman) and `gender expression' is the external manifestation of that
identity (masculine/feminine).''
   
The Boston Human Rights Commission would handle discrimination complaints
under the new law.
   
Turner called the ordinance the next logical step in ``establishing a
society of human respect and decency.'' District 3 Councilor Maureen E.
Feeney of Dorchester, who championed the measure as chairwoman of the
Government Operations Committee, said the ordinance would clarify a
confusing situation.
   
``If your expression is male then you should be using the men's room. If
your expression is female then you should be using the ladies' room,'' she
said. ``This is not frivolous. We are addressing something that already
exists in our city.''
   
But opponents say the council opened an unnecessary can of worms, creating
an opportunity for thrill-seekers and sex offenders to make their way into
bathrooms and other public venues traditionally segregated by gender.
   
``I think it was a mistake to put it in the code,'' said Councilor at large
Stephen J. Murphy, who had a meeting out of City Hall and missed the vote.
``I have concerns that people that may not be transgender but now that it's
in the Boston City Code would use it to hang out in a restroom with the
opposite sex.''
   
``If I put on a dress and heels and lipstick, am I a woman?'' asked District
2 Councilor James M. Kelly of South Boston, the only member to vote against
the measure.
   
But Feeney said, ``We have people today who are not transgender who are out
today molesting people in men's rooms and in ladies' rooms.''
   
Kelly said he didn't understand how you could protect what someone
``thinks'' about their gender.
   
``We're solving a problem that doesn't exist,'' he said, explaining that he
was confused by a public hearing last month at which ``I could not tell who
was a man and who was a woman. Where should they go (to the bathroom)? I
don't know.''
   
If Menino signs the measure, Boston would become the 41st city to pass a
transgender anti-discrimination measure. New York, Philadelphia, Dallas and
San Francisco already have such civil rights laws on the books, as do the
states of Minnesota and Rhode Island.
   
END        
   
© Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems,
Inc.
   Top
   

   [10b] USA: Boston MA--Council OK's transgender bill --Vote would broaden rights protections
   Top
   
   Boston Globe Online / Metro | Region / Counci...
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/297/metro/Council_OK_s_transgender_bill+.s
html
   
   
By Alice Gomstyn 
Globe Correspondent
   
10/24/2002
   
he Boston City Council yesterday approved a measure to protect transgendered
persons from discrimination, passing it over the vehement objections of
Councilor James Kelly of South Boston.
   
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Chuck Turner of Roxbury, would expand
city antidiscrimination laws covering race, religion, sex, and sexual
preference to include ''gender identity or expression.'' It now goes to
Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
   
While nine of the council's 12 members supported the move, Kelly argued that
transgendered persons don't face discrimination in Boston.
   
''I don't know why we should be voting to prohibit something where there is
no evidence that it exists,'' Kelly told the council during an indignant
speech against the measure. He was the only councilor to vote against the
resolution. Councilor at Large Mickey Roache abstained, and Councilor at
Large Stephen J. Murphy wasn't present.
   
Other councilors argued that the ordinance served a higher purpose - to
raise awareness of the struggles faced by transgendered individuals.
   
''If this ordinance protects just one of those people, then we've done
something right,'' said Councilor Maureen Feeney of Dorchester, chair of the
council's committee on government operations, which supported the measure.
   
Grace Sterling Stowell, executive director of the Boston Alliance of Gay,
Lesbian, and Transgender Youth, praised the council's vote.
   
''I think this is groundbreaking and courageous on their part,'' she said.
''It sends the message to everyone in the city of Boston and beyond that
discrimination against anyone based on who they are is wrong.''
   
This story ran on page B6 of the Boston Globe on 10/24/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
   Top
   
   
BOOKS Etc....
   Top
   [11] Look both ways
   
   Boston Globe Online / Living | Arts / Look bo...
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/297/living/Look_both_ways+.shtml
   
GO! THURSDAY
   
Look both ways
By Hayley Kaufman, Globe Staff, 10/24/2002
   
ere's a line you haven't stumbled across in Go! before: Hermaphrodites are
hot these days. Truly, you can't open a newspaper or turn on talk radio of
late without running into Jeffrey Eugenides, the author of ''Middlesex,'' an
intergenerational saga revolving around inbreeding, cultural assimilation,
and the games recessive genes play. Eugenides, however, isn't the only
scribe exploring the dynamics of blurred gender, that dark, mysterious place
where sex and socialization mingle and, finally, meld. Novelist Amy Bloom,
nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award for ''A Blind Man Can See
How Much I Love You,'' also examines the ambiguities of gender and
sexuality, in her first work of nonfiction, ''Normal: Transsexual CEOs,
Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites With Attitude.'' Bloom reads from and
discusses her new book tonight at 7 at Simmons College Alumnae Hall.
   
321 Brookline Ave. For more information, call 617-876-5310. 
   Top
   

   ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
   
   [12] Jazz singer, rappers, Iraq, French divas on today's menu
   Top
   
   Around Town - Vancouver - canada.com network
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/aroundtown/story.asp?id={242230FB-8B01-4E58-
969A-2104C49C7CE1}
   
AROUND TOWN
   
Katherine Monk and Marke Andrews
Vancouver Sun
   
Thursday, September 26, 2002
   
(SNIP)
   
FLYING WITH ONE WING
(Tani Tatuwen Piyabanna)
   
Directed by Asoka Handagama. Starring Anoma Janadari, Gayani Sudharshani.
   
If the measure of a given society's humanity is the way it treats its
minorities, then Sri Lanka has a lot of work to do, according to director
Asoka Handagama. Granted, this is hardly a news flash in light of the recent
political turmoil, but Flying With One Wing represents the first time in the
history of Sri Lankan cinema that issues of human rights and tolerance have
been grafted on to a narrative about homosexuality. In this sophomore effort
from Handagama, we enter the world of a young, butch, female-to-male
transsexual who faces constant harassment in both her personal and
professional life. When she-he finds spiritual comfort in the arms of a
woman -- who is also suffering the slings and arrows of sexism -- the world
closes in around them both. While the entire feeling of the film borders on
sappy melodrama, there is an edginess to the whole exercise that keeps you
guessing about what Handagama is really trying to say. This is clearly not
just about two sexual outsiders, it's a subversive comment on Sri Lankan
society in general -- its chauvinistic attitudes, conservative intolerance
and repression of alternative perspectives. The fact the film was made at
all -- and survived a censor board review intact -- means things are
changing for the better already.
   
Today, 2:30 p.m. Granville 2, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. Granville 2; Wednesday,
6:15 p.m. Granville 1, Oct. 8, 7:15 p.m. Granville 5.
   
Katherine Monk
   Top
   

   COMMENTARY
   
   Mercury News | 10/26/2002 | Teen's death poin...
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4374314.htm
   
Posted on Sat, Oct. 26, 2002
  
   Teen's death points to lack of tolerance
    Top
   
   By Dennis Rockstroh
Mercury News
   
The brutal death of Eddie ``Gwen''  Araujo, a girl trapped in a boy's body,
is more than just another slaying.
   
It's a sad commentary on who we are.
   
Araujo is dead because of who ``she'' was.
   
I call it a hate crime.
   
And the killers weren't born filled with hatred for someone who is
different.
   
Some among us taught them to hate.
   
You know who you are.
   
You're the letter writer who called Araujo's death a ``seedy freak show
murder.''
   
You're the Christian who hates.
   
You're the Boy Scouts of America who make intolerance official policy.
   
I could go on with this list, but taking on Christianity and the Boy Scouts
is about all I can handle today.
   
Christians who hate
   
And I'm doing it because I am a Christian and a longtime Boy Scout and adult
leader. I was trained in Christianity for 13 years including five in a
seminary. I am a trained Boy Scout adult leader.
   
I admire Christians and Boy Scouts and all the good they do.
   
But they are institutions run by humans. And they have flaws.
   
In our midst are Christians who hate. They are, in fact, anti-Christs
because they preach the opposite of what Jesus Christ taught us some 2,000
years ago.
   
The message of Jesus Christ was a simple one. A scribe once asked Christ
what was the greatest commandment. He responded that they are to love God
and one another.
   
This is not complex. We do not need the writings and sayings of learned
people to tell us what this means.
   
Love one another.
   
It is a principle of most religions.
   
Shortly after the news of Araujo's death moved across the nation, the Web
site of a Christian church in Topeka, Kan., issued these words in bold print
in a press release:
   
``WBC (Westboro Baptist Church) to picket funeral of cross-dressing teen
pervert Eddie Araujo -- aka Lida, Gwen and/or Milner Araujo -- in religious
protest and warning: God is not mocked. God hates fags and fag-enablers.
Ergo, God hates Eddie Araujo''
   
Love God and one another.
   
The Boy Scouts are more subtle.
   
But the message they send the world from Scouting headquarters in Irving,
Texas, is one of intolerance.
   
As I said before, I respect the Boy Scouts and would join and send my son
again. But I would work within Scouting to end this intolerance.
   
Boy Scouts stance
   
Earlier this year, in response to many in Scouting who have sought a change,
the Boy Scouts national leaders issued this press release:
   
``The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America has reaffirmed
its traditional leadership standards, as recommended by its appropriate
committees.
   
``The board received three resolutions suggesting changes in leadership
standards in order to permit avowed homosexuals to serve as Boy Scout
leaders.
   
``The BSA reaffirmed its view that an avowed homosexual cannot serve as a
role model for the traditional moral values espoused in the Scout Oath and
Law and that these values cannot be subject to local option choices.''
   
BSA is one of the largest youth organizations in America serving more than 5
million young people ages 7 to 20.
   
As I said, the Boy Scouts are more subtle.
   
But the messages from WBC and BSA are the same.
   
Intolerance.
   
The death of a 17-year-old Newark girl trapped in the body of a boy will not
be forgotten.
   
There are enough enlightened people around to explain much better than I can
what a transgender youth goes through. I just know that Gwen did not intend
to be that way. It was something she struggled with much of her life. It was
the way she was. And it led to her death.
   
If we don't learn from incidents like this, one thing is sure.
It will happen again
   
   
Contact Dennis Rockstroh at drockstroh@sjmercury.com.

 Top

---

 

-----------------------------------------*****----------------------------------------------

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