6th Annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance Honors Victims


While news of this year's election and the conflict in Iraq has dominated the media, anti-transgender violence has continued to occur at the same levels set more than a decade ago. The 6th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance will be held on November 20th, 2004, to honor those who might otherwise have been missed by the media, as well as to draw attention to this continuing problem.


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Transmissions: For President? No option
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith


The air has turned crisp, heavy clouds hang on the horizon, and the barest hint of Winter's promise is in the air. This can only mean one thing: election time. Unfortunately, there seems so few options that I, as a transgendered woman and a voter, can really get excited about.

You see, both presidential candidates have been less-than-thrilling when it comes to transgender rights, and the presidential race lies at the heart of this election.
George W. Bush has made no public statements that I know of, supportive or otherwise. About as close as we've seen was when a former classmate met him at the White House after her transition. Bush was indeed cordial, even supportive of her -- but it is unlikely that his support for her is any better than it is for his running mate's daughter when it comes to the political arena.

John Kerry, meanwhile, did go on record during the primaries. He was the only one of the candidates to go on record as not supporting a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This is in line with his Massachusetts contemporaries on Capitol Hill -- Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy -- who have opposed the inclusion of transgender language for some time, and still seem resistant to the concept.



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Gay marriage foes who won before California high court seek fees
Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO -The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian advocacy law group from Arizona, asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to award it $229,000 in fees and costs to reimburse the litigation efforts that led to the blocking of San Francisco's gay marriages.

The group was the first party to request the justices block San Francisco from issuing any more same-sex marriage licenses. The court halted the wedding spree in March, after 4,000 licenses were issued.


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Jamison Green speaks
Internationally-known trans activist talks about the history of transgender, current trans issues and the future of organizing
By Dawn Wolfe


I think identity politics are somewhat like an adolescent phase in life, where you're trying to figure out who you are, and you need that space. Which you might need to retreat to every now and then, you know, that's why we have clubs for, you know, Blues lovers, and clubs for gay people, and we do this and that, but we don't live in that club.


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Germany Expands Gay Couple Rights
by The Associated Press


(Berlin) German lawmakers expanded the rights of same-sex couples Friday, allowing registered domestic partners to adopt each other's children and making rules on splitting up and alimony similar to those for heterosexual marriages.

Parliament's lower house passed the changes drafted by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left government over the objections of opposition conservatives

"This is a good day for gays and lesbians," Green Party lawmaker Volker Beck told his colleagues. "We are making another step on the long road to equal rights."


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Chicago mayor backpedals on marriage petition


Chicago mayor Richard Daley said he didn't read a pro-gay marriage petition before signing it at a gay event on Wednesday evening and now says he doesn't fully back what the petition calls for. The petition, presented to Daley by the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network as he made his way through the crowd during the annual Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame celebration at the Cultural Center, demanded that Cook County clerk David Orr defy state law and "immediately issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." Daley says he signed the petition without reading the fine print.
The Chicago Anti-Bashing Network then faxed press releases to media outlets touting the mayor's apparent position, which would have been broader than previously stated.


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Lesbian opposes mother's effort to pass gay marriage ban


Tess Fields, the lesbian daughter of Georgia Christian Coalition leader Sadie Fields, is speaking out against her mother's campaign to amend the Georgia state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Just days before Tuesday's referendum, Tess Fields sent a letter to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's editorial page, criticizing what she called her mother's "bigotry" and "abject hostility toward gay and lesbian people." Tess Fields, a 35-year-old mother who lives in Oregon, said in an interview with the newspaper that she was speaking out partly to answer an opinion piece her mother previously wrote in the newspaper.
She also wanted to offer encouragement to people


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Homosexuality lectures popular on campus
(eastday.com)


"Homosexuality and Sociology", a postgraduate course offerred by the Medical School at Fudan University, drew an unexpectedly large audience, Youth Daily reported.

While only five students are actually enrolled in the course, the real attendance figure ranges from 60 to more than 100.