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Copyright © 1995-1999 PlanetOut Corporation.
NewsPlanet Staff (with thanks to Alejandra Sarda) March 10, 1999 Summary: As Prince Charles met with the Argentine president, lesbigay and transgender demonstrators brought a petition for asylum because of renewed discrimination in Buenos Aires.
According to a Reuters report, a dozen of the demonstrators yanked open the gates of the residence, alarming the staff enough that they called police. Baton-wielding officers forced the group back from the gates, pushing some to the ground, while others screamed, "Murderers! Murderers!" According to a report from Britain's Press Association, one transsexual was hospitalized as a result, when one of her breast implants exploded. The petition read, "As gay, lesbian, transvestite, transsexual, and bisexual people, we are systematically arrested, beaten and even killed by the police. We have come to seek political asylum because they deny us the right to work and live, and beat and repress us, as documented in the annual report of the Argentine Homosexual Community." Things had been looking up for the transgender sex workers and other marginalized classes in Buenos Aires when the city became politically autonomous in 1996. In constructing its constitution, the city had affirmed a "right to be different," and had repealed the Police Edicts which had allowed police to arrest and detain anyone at their own discretion, without intervention or review by any judicial authority. Under those edicts, many transgender sex workers experienced multiple arrests every week, and suffered abuse, violence and civil rights violations at the hands of police each time. However, the law-and-order card is being heavily played in this election year, and Menem reinstituted the police edicts on March 3. Not to be outdone, Buenos Aires Mayor and Presidential candidate Fernando de la Rua went on to win enactment of legislation which criminalized sex work in public places. Buenos Aires activist and International Lesbian and Gay Association officer Alejandra Sarda commented that, "It is still legal to do it in private apartments managed by police officers and other mafia thugs, in conditions of inhumane exploitation for workers." The same legislation authorized police to arrest "marauders," those whom police may presume are about to commit a crime; history has demonstrated that police most often make this presumption about street children and young people, those with darker skin, immigrants, the poor, and gays, transgenders and sex workers. As an example of the hostile climate created by media controlled by Menem allies, the beating and murder last month of a young Buenos Aires transvestite named Angela became a leading topic on the evening news of the Telefe TV channel -- not for condemnation of the perpetrator, but for condemnation of the victim. Lead journalist Franco Salomone called for the extermination of transvestites, saying that all of them were "AIDS carriers" and extremely dangerous to society. It took well over a week of complaints and demonstrations by activist groups to finally win the opportunity to present an on-air reply. Sex reassignment operations are criminal actions for both surgeons and patients in Argentina, punishable with incarceration. Those who are able to obtain the surgery outside the country are unable to have their identification amended, and as a result are no longer able to exercise civil or political rights or to continue in any prior profession they may have had. Sex work remains as almost the only option for survival. . . .[Ed note: Alejandra Sarda, escrita@arnet.com.ar, is with Escrita en el Cuerpo Lesbian, Bisexual and Different Women's Archives and Library Electronic News Service.] |
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From Press for Change. Their web site is at http://www.pfc.org.uk/. Their mailing address is Press For Change, BM Network, London WC1N 3XX.
A British employment tribunal has ruled that an applicant to a Yorkshire police force cannot be turned down because she is a transsexual. The story has been closely followed by the lobbying group Press for Change, some of whose members provided supporting information to the tribunal. Clair McNab, of PFC, writes:
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From UKPFC-NEWS, of Press for Change, the UK's trans rights campaign. Info & online-archives: http://www.pfc.org.uk/pfclists/
Murderer To Get Sex Swap On The NHS The Independent, Friday 12th March 1999
The Prison Service has given the go-ahead for six prisoners, including a murderer, a kidnapper and an armed robber, to undergo sex changes on the National Health Service. The decision follows a legal challenge by one of the prisoners, who has been fighting an eight-year battle to change his gender. John Pilley, a kidnapper serving a life sentence, will become the first prisoner to undergo "gender reassignment surgery" when he has an orchidectomy in Leicester next month. Pilley, who is known as "Jane Anne", has had more than seven years of hormone-replacement treatment while in jail but took legal action after prison chiefs appeared to be blocking his demands for genital surgery. He argued that having given him treatment enabling him to develop breasts, it was unfair for the Prison Service to leave him in the limbo of being part-man and part-woman. The Independent has learned that Treasury solicitors, representing the Prison Service, have been instructed not to continue contesting the case. Instead, Michael Longfield, the service's head of healthcare, has told officials at Gartree Prison, near Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, that Pilley can have his operation. The orchidectomy, which costs around UKP11,000, is due to take place next month at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Following the operation, Pilley is likely to be transferred to Holloway women's prison in north London. The decision will create a precedent for at least five other prisoners seeking sex-change operations and pursuing legal cases against the Prison Service, including Philip Taplin, Matthew Richardspn, Douglas Wakefield and David Cross. The barrister and former Liberal Democrat MP Alex Carlile, who campaigned for transsexual rights in parliament, said the decision was an "important step towards giving transsexuals proper civil liberties". The Prison Service said yesterday that it was under an obligation to give prisoners the same access to medical care as other members of the public. It is now drawing up new guidelines for prison governors on how they should deal with transsexual inmates. A spokeswoman said: "The general approach is that the prisoner should wait for release. It's not really a suitable environment to take such an irrevocable decision. The problems arise with prisoners serving a long sentence." Pilley, 46, who was sentenced to life in jail for the kidnapping of a taxi-driver, Linda Charlesworth, in 1981, is allowed to wear women's clothing while he is locked in his cell. He has drawn up a charter in which he promises not to put on his female attire in front of other inmates. It reads: "With the exception of underwear, I will keep the articles in my room at all times (apart from laundry). I will not dress in female clothing except between lock-up at night and unlock in the morning." Pilley is a member of Gartree's therapeutic community, which includes other prisoners seeking sex changes, such as Philip Taplin and convicted killer Matthew Richardson, 42. Other transsexual prisoners are scattered around the jail system, often with little in the way of specialist support. Douglas Wakefield makes life in Channings Wood Prison, in Devon, more bearable by decorating his cell with lace curtains and flowers. The double murderer has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having "gender identity disorientation". In letters from prison he has said: "Maleness has always been nothing less than an abhorrence to me - something to be threatened and intimidated by. I have grown to detest the body I live in." Wakefield, who is allowed to wear women's ear-rings and has chosen to be called "Dee", was jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court in 1974 for murdering an uncle who had taunted him about his sexuality. Four years later he strangled fellow prisoner Brian Peake with a shoelace, then stabbed and beat him to death in the psychiatric wing of Parkhurst jail on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire. He spent a record 1,200 days in solitary confinement after twice taking prison officers hostage and trying to kill one of them. Now a model prisoner, he says that he could happily live the rest of his life behind bars, provided he was given a sex change and moved to a women's prison. At Parkhurst, David Cross - now known as Kelly Denise Richards - is taking Androcur, the hormone drug cyproterone acetate, which reduces levels of testosterone. Although transsexual prisoners such as Cross are terrified of stopping such treatment and reverting to men, they are aware that the prolonged use of such drugs carries a risk of liver failure. Cross, an armed robber serving 17 years, is anxiously awaiting his orchidectomy. Dr Russell Reid, a consultant psychiatrist who has advised Cross and other transsexual inmates, said that prison life made it very difficult for inmates to satisfy the necessary criteria before they could be given such a life-changing operation. He said: "They must adjust successfully and live and work in their female role for two years before they can be considered for surgery. It is very difficult, though not impossible for them to fulfil that." But Susan Marshall of Press for Change, a campaigning organisation which is seeking equal rights for people who have gender identity disorder, said that prisoners were entitled to medical help to change their sex. "They are supposed to lose their liberty but they should not be further punished by removal of treatment for a recognised medical condition from which they are suffering," she said. |
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From GAIN (http://www.gender.org) and Dale Altrows (tada@sympatico.ca)
From GAIN: Transman Wins Sex Change on Birth Certificate According to a March 24 Associated Press story (AP-NY-03-24-99 2154EST) with the above headline, a Montreal, Canada transsexual man has won a legal fight to have his sex designation on his birth certificate changed from female to male.
From Dale Altrows:
. . .Dale Altrows completed his gender transition at the Gender Programme of the Montreal General Hospital, one of three Gender Clinics in Canada. He has had hormone therapy, a mastectomy, and a complete hysterectomy: the interventions required by the Director of Civil Status prior to this whole affair. In December 1996, D.A. applied for a change of designation of sex status. After months of bureaucratic wrangling, the Name Change Bureau informed Dale Altrows that a vaginectomy would be required before a gender change could be legally recognised. Several experts and surgeons in the field of transsexuality intervened, and the Bureau withdrew this demand - only to insist upon the need for the « construction of male sex organs » a full ten months later! On March 24th, 25th and 26th, the hearing of D.A. vs. Guy Lavigne was to take place at the Superior Court of Quebec in Montreal. For the first time a decision of the Director of Civil Status concerning the change of designation of sex was being challenged. Mr.Altrows was being opposed by the Attorney General of Quebec, which had intervened to represent the Director of Civil Status, Mr. Guy Lavigne. On March 3rd, the Director of Civil Status had decided to revise his previous refusal and to accord the change of designation of sex. This decision therefore clarifies a law that was wrongly being interpreted, disabling the transphobic attitudes of the bureaucrat who arbitrarily imposed such unreasonable demands, as well as preventing such happenings in the future. The interventions which are therefore now legally required to change one's name and sex status are: hormonal therapy, mastectomy, and a complete hysterectomy. These were the interventions that were required prior to this nightmare began! Thanks to all who gave their support! This is a victory for us all! |
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From Gender Advocacy Internet News(GAIN), a free Internet news service, brought to you courtesty of American Educational Gender Information Service and It's Time, America! at http://www.gender.org
Teen Can Wear Gown to Prom In a March 24 Associated Press story (AP-NY-03-24-99 0826EST) with the above headline, it was reported that Pierson, Florida school officials will allow a young man to attend his high school prom "in drag." According to the article, Charles Rice intends to wear a "red, floor-length evening gown, red satin shoes, gloves and matching rhinestone jewelry" to the prom on Saturday. The decision comes after Peter Oatman, the Taylor High School Principal, said he would bar the youth from the prom if he appeared in drag. According to the story, the officials made their decision because the principal had previously allowed Rice to sport skirts and dresses to special school events. |
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[ROCHESTER, MN 1 Apr 99] The decision by the Mayo Clinic to remove BLTs from their cafeteria menu has drawn protests from all over. An advisory from GLUUM (Gender Lookouts Uncovering Unfriendly Menus) states in part:
. . .A release from WipeYourFace, the on-line news service of GenderSnacks. It came to us (in a bad dream) from LOSS (Lots Of Savory Stories). |
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Send news stories or comments to the editor at iphge@hotmail.com. Contact the IFGE office with general questions at info@ifge.org
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Page prepared by Beth Lewis
Britain's Prince Charles isn't making the first royal visit to Argentina since the Falklands/Malvinas War to advance the civil rights of transgender sex workers, but his arrival served to bring attention to their plight, as it coincided with Buenos Aires' reinstatement of restrictive laws that threaten to put their lives in the hands of abusive police. Some 70 demonstrators from lesbian/bi/gay/trans groups turned up March 9 at the British embassy residence, where Charles is staying during his visit, although at the time he was meeting with Argentina's President Carlos Menem (and being the target of a far more violent anti-British protest). They ultimately succeeded in passing on to embassy staff a petition signed by 67 people requesting "political asylum because of discrimination," but only after they had an altercation with police.
The decision, in Quebec's Superior Court, clarifies what medical procedures are required in order for the province to recognize a female-to-male sex change. The transman, known only by the pseudonym Daniel Aranoff, has been on hormones and surgical procedures, including the removal of breasts and ovaries.