KCAVP Condemns Prosecution of Transsexual by Leavenworth

Kansas City, MO – The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP), Kansas City’s only nonprofit organization solely dedicated to providing emergency and ongoing services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and bias crimes in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, condemns the arrest of Sandy Gast in Leavenworth County, Kansas. Ms. Gast is a transsexual. She was arrested in March and charged by the Leavenworth county attorney for swearing falsely in an application for marriage.

Ms. Gast produced a driver’s license, a Social Security card, and an amended birth certificate during the application process. Additionally, she provided a letter from a Kansas City psychotherapist showing treatment for transgender issues. Even though this is a misdemeanor, bond was set at five times the rate of the maximum fine, or $2500. Additionally, both the Leavenworth County sheriff’s office and County attorneys did not refer to Sandy using the correct gender identification of female. Finally, the need for an alleged strip search for a misdemeanor charge of falsely swearing for a marriage license is harassment.

“It is clear that law enforcement and the local courts are ignorant of transgender and transsexual issues,” said Doug Riley, executive director of KCAVP. “Clearly there was no interest to defraud Leavenworth County or the State of Kansas in regard to Sandy’s gender. It appears Leavenworth County is out to degrade a minority and hold them up to public ridicule. Considering the financial condition of the State of Kansas, it amazes me that taxpayer dollars are being spent to prosecute this case.” Riley adds, “In this heated environment, it is treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks like this that causes hate violence and murders to happen. It is in this spirit that we as an organization must work to stop harassing treatment of all LGBT people.”

Jamie Tyroler, KCAVP board member and friend of Sandy and Georgi, stated “Sandy Gast's case demonstrates one of the legal quandaries that transsexuals can be in - one gender for some legal documents, such as passports, driver's licenses, and birth certificates, but the opposite gender when it pertains to marriage.”


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Conservative leader blames gays for Iraqi prison abuse
Knight decries ‘decadence’ of gay weddings
By ADRIAN BRUNE

A conservative leader has pinned blame for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the subsequent beheading of businessman Nick Berg on gays getting married and serving in the military, among other acts of American “decadence.”

Writing for WorldNetDaily.com, a site for religious conservatives, Robert Knight of the Culture & Family Institute said the United States has arrived at the “perfect storm” of cultural depravity, which has come to a “deadly nexus in Iraq.”

He specifically targeted the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the recent enactment of gay marriage and the promotion of homosexuality in schools as policies that are putting Americans all over the world at risk for terrorism, along with the presence of women in combat roles in the military.

The comments by Knight, a longtime foe of gay rights, hearken back to the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, when Rev. Jerry Falwell ascribed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center to “the pagans, the abortionists, and the feminists and the gays and lesbians.” Falwell also frequently contributes to WorldNetDaily.com.



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Newspaper regrets gay marriage photo

Spooked by reader complaints and canceled subscriptions, The [Lowell, Mass.] Sun apologized to its readers Thursday for publishing a photo of two men kissing at Cambridge Hall on Monday, the day same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.

In an editorial, newspaper officials said the image represented shock value, something the paper tries to avoid. "To some readers, the photograph pushed the envelope too far," the Sun editorial said. "Those contacted by the Sun said it represented an unnecessary, in-your-face intrusion, especially for parents with young children."

The editorial also stated that if the staff had the opportunity again, it would most likely choose a different, less intrusive photograph that would fit the "go-slow approach we've endorsed for a better understanding of this sensitive issue."


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Popular Taiwanese TV host comes out as transgendered

Famous Taiwanese auction host Liching, known to her fans as Queen of Auction, confessed Wednesday that 20 years ago she was a man, reports the China Post. Liching, who boasts that she sold $200 million worth of products in an hour, said she was a male for the first 20 years of her life.

Born Wu Chung-ming in Chingshui in 1962, Liching underwent surgery at the age of 22 and then had her domestic registration changed to reflect that she is female. She acquired a new identification card and registered her name with the government. The TV host did not release her registered name to the press.

Liching worked as a model after she lost her melodic voice in a traffic accident. It was her voice, which is now husky, that gave her the opportunity to become a star on the Eastern TV Auction Channel.

Little Dragon, her agent, said Liching's husky voice attracted thousands of buyers and made her the top seller for the Eastern TV group. The sales records Liching achieved, according to her agent, included 100,000 pairs of underwear in an hour, 700 notebook PCs in 85 minutes, 380 one-carat diamonds in 80 minutes, and 265 vanettes in 65 minutes.