Killer to get sex swap (sic) on NHS
By Helen Gabriel, Sunday Mercury
 

FURY erupted last night after it was revealed that a convicted Midland murderer is having a £32,000 sex-change operation on the NHS.

Stephen Clarke, 38, is currently undergoing hormone treatment to grow breasts and is awaiting surgery to turn him fully into a woman.

He was jailed for life in 1992 for stabbing chef Christopher Vitel, 27, to death in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and dumping his body in a wheelie bin.

Clarke is currently at the all-male Springhill Open Prison at Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire.




number one, this article, keeps referring to this individual as he...

what good does that do, but to use shame as a control mechanism and reinforced gendercetricism.

granted, this person committed horrible acts, and the acts themselves are criminal and vile...

but are we to abandon the individual based upon past events, cast them into the sea and not proved medical or psychological treatment?..

and turly the bigger question is, what effect does it have on individuals living in a gendercentric, transphobic, homophobic world, enforced with the gun or the fist... what does it do to someone who has no voice...

should we not offer assistance to reduce suffering at every corner . . . or do we continue more of the same eye for an eye persecution, production?

can we say that there are no social pressures that would cause someone to break the social contract...?

if there none... if it can be proven, that there is no social connection between poverty and violence, if there is no case and effect on the victiums Darfur... so on and so forth... than the judgment would be easy... but its not...

so contact the people at icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk and let them know this kind of reporting serves no purpose but social control..and a bit of sex marketing outrage to sell its papers at the cost of humanity

take action now!

John Marsden
Editor
John_Marsden@mrn.co.uk
Tel: 0121 234 5209

icFeedback@mrn.co.uk



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Area organizations gearing for Transgender Youth Awareness Month
By SARAH QUELLAND
Sentinel correspondent


Gender-identity issues will be addressed in Santa Cruz throughout October as local organizations, including the Santa Cruz County Task Force for queer youth and youth organization STRANGE, work together to put on events in recognition of Transgender Youth Awareness Month.


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Transgenders caught in identity crisis(sic)
With state government no longer paying for hormone treatments, two Islanders fear they're losing their femininity
By LISA SCHNEIDER
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE


For more than 20 years, Cookie Capasso, a Tompkinsville transgender female, has received gender hormones that have been covered by Medicaid. But in the past few weeks, the government has not paid for her pills and patches, and the 41-year-old Social Security recipient can't afford them on her own.

"I feel my femininity in me is going," said Ms. Capasso, who also hasn't gotten her hormone shots for about a year. "I'm getting very edgy."
From Our Advertiser


The state policy changed in 1998 to stop funding gender-changing hormones, but the system didn't have strict oversight procedures in place and continued to pay some recipients for the drugs. Now the state Health Department has figured out a way to better screen for drugs being used for gender reassignment, said Rob Kenny, an agency spokesman.

"This is basically to ensure the integrity of the Medicaid system, to make sure the Medicaid dollars are being spent for those who most need those services," Kenny said.


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Prism Awards honor human rights efforts
Group recognizes work helping gay, lesbian, bisexual community
By James McCurtis Jr.
Lansing State Journal


EAST LANSING - Thirty years ago, Margy Lesher of Lansing and 11 other women used $865 to start Lesbian Connection, a magazine that created something the lesbian community was missing - a voice.

Circulation grew from 400 to 25,000, reaching women in 40 countries.

"Many said Lesbian Connection was a lifeline for them when it first came out," said Lesher, publisher and editor of the Lansing-produced magazine. "It still is, for lesbian women."

On Saturday, Lesher received a Prism Award, the highest local honor that recognizes contributions to the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered community.


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Gay dads adopt 3 kids
 

A gay couple from the West Midlands couple have adopted three children, the Sunday Mercury has revealed exclusively.

Chris and Mark had to battle the legal system to become dads to siblings Anna, four, Vicky, five, and eight-year-old Ben.

All the pair ever wanted was their own children, but they feared no local authority would ever consider them as adoptive parents.

They say they are providing a loving famiy home for the youngsters, who were previously in care


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Homophobic stars may face ban from
By Tom Wells, Sunday Mercury
 

Soul diva Beverley Knight has blasted the homophobic Jamaican reggae stars who almost wrecked the MOBO awards last week.

The Wolverhampton-born singer attacked controversial acts like Elephant Man and Vbyz Kartel, accusing them of 'gay-bashing'.

And the Sunday Mercury has learned that Birmingham City Council chiefs could ban homophobic stars from playing at venues by withdrawing Public Entertainment Licences.


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Controversial topics OK'd for student debate


ROCK HILL--School officials now say Fort Mill High School students can discuss stem cell research, abortion and gay marriage at a debate, days after school administrators restricted topics.

The student-run debate scheduled for Oct. 19 is intended to mirror the presidential debates between President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry.

A list of topics was approved by school Principal David Damm, but some expressed concern that the issues of stem cell research, abortion and gay marriage were too sensitive and could be offensive.

School officials said there was a misunderstanding about a state law that prohibits discussion of homosexual sex and abortion in sex education class. They feared the rule would extend to student events.


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Layton criticizes same-sex stalling
Cabinet papers suggest delay
Draft legislation before top court
SUSAN DELACOURT
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF


OTTAWA—NDP Leader Jack Layton calls it "appalling" that the Liberal government is reportedly planning to delay same-sex legislation until the fall of 2005, saying it's proof that Prime Minister Paul Martin is trying to duck the controversy until after another election.

The Star, citing leaked cabinet-planning documents, reported yesterday that Martin's minority government does not plan to introduce same-sex marriage legislation to the Commons until a year from now, even though it is counting on a swift decision from Supreme Court of Canada hearings that start this week.

That means it could take until 2006 for the Commons to pass a law on same-sex marriage — almost three years since Martin's predecessor, Jean Chrétien, announced that the federal government was moving to change the law to recognize the rights of gays and lesbians to wed.

The Prime Minister's Office would not confirm or comment on the cabinet leak yesterday, but Scott Reid, Martin's communications director, did say: "Regardless of the speculation, the government is committed to moving quickly on this issue."


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Montana's homosexuals fight an uphill battle to legally marry
By ALLISON FARRELL of the Missoulian State Bureau


HELENA - Marriage is more than a few vows and two gold bands. It's also 1,138 legal rights, the Human Rights Campaign says.

From Social Security benefits to health insurance options to parenting rights, committed gay couples deserve these same protections under the law as their heterosexual counterparts, advocates for gay marriage say.

But Montanans opposed to gay marriage are working hard this election season to preserve "traditional marriage" here.

Constitutional Initiative 96, which will be before voters in the Nov. 2 general election, seeks to amend the constitution and limit marriage to heterosexual unions between one man and one woman.


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Canada Stalls On Gay Marriage
by Jan Prout
365Gay.com Newscenter
Toronto Bureau


(Toronto, Ontario)  The Canadian government has decided to delay bringing in its gay marriage legislation for at least a year according to documents obtained by a Toronto newspaper.

A draft of the bill is before the Supreme Court with a decision likely this year, but the Toronto Star quoting a leaked cabinet document says that Justice Minister Irwin Cotler would seek cabinet authorization this coming spring to introduce the bill next fall.  That would mean passage would not come before 2006.

"As the issue of marriage between same-sex couples carries with it a certain polarization, it is likely that the media will continue to highlight every example of diverging opinions within the Liberal caucus and in cabinet over what approach to adopt," the document -- marked "secret" -- reportedly said.


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Homophobic stars may face ban from
By Tom Wells, Sunday Mercury
 

Soul diva Beverley Knight has blasted the homophobic Jamaican reggae stars who almost wrecked the MOBO awards last week.

The Wolverhampton-born singer attacked controversial acts like Elephant Man and Vbyz Kartel, accusing them of 'gay-bashing'.

And the Sunday Mercury has learned that Birmingham City Council chiefs could ban homophobic stars from playing at venues by withdrawing Public Entertainment Licences.

While no official policy decision hasyetbeen made,itisunderstood that the move has been given serious consideration.



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Small district finds it has same-sex benefits
By Dave Murray
The Grand Rapids Press


Being on the cutting edge of gay rights issues wasn't a goal of Tri County Area Schools, a 2,350-student district on Kent County's rural north border.

But that's where district leaders suddenly find themselves.

The district for four years has allowed benefits to same sex partners of employees -- one of the first in the state to do so.
 
Problem is, the current superintendent and board members didn't know employee contract language put the schools in the company of bigger, ground-breaking districts.


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Parade in Durham brings out 8,500 for march, games, speakers, music
 BY SHAUN LOCKHART : The Herald-Sun


DURHAM -- Marie Miller, wearing a T-shirt with the words "dyke," "hag," "spinster" and "lesbian" bordering the phrase "Women loving women in a world that hates women," might elicit comments or odd looks from people in most social settings -- but not at the N.C. Pride parade.