Indian eunuch says will 'bare it all' in autobiography

BANGALORE, India (AFP) - The 128-page book titled "Autobiography of a Hijra (eunuch)" and written in Jereena's mother tongue Malayalam, spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is slated for release by the end of March.

"Nobody in India knows how we struggle for a living nor how we feel when people insult us," said Jereena, dressed in an orange sari and a green blouse and wearing ear rings, glass bangles and a necklace.

"I thought I will write a book to tell them about my life's experiences.

"People who read my book will know the pain we undergo every day, every moment of our lives," Jereena,46, told AFP in an interview at her "hamam," or bath house, as the eunuchs' brothel is referred to.

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Gender identity ordinance stirs debate at Common Council 
By Roy Maurer  | Indiana Daily Student

The Sabbagh-Sturbaum sponsored ordinance to amend the Bloomington Municipal Code so that it recognizes gender identity as a protected class met with ardent arguments both in favor and against at Wednesday's Common Council meeting.



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(for every step we make, something stupid like this happens.. and there are six step backwards... )


Bedford schools cancel speech by transsexual
By DAVID MCKAY WILSON
DMWILSON@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS

BEDFORD — Town school officials canceled the appearance of noted transsexual Kate Bornstein at next week's Wellness Day at Fox Lane High following a businessman's complaint that it was inappropriate for teens to hear her message.


Bornstein was expected to talk to students in a workshop based on her upcoming book, "Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Teen Suicide." Bornstein, who was born male and became a woman through surgery in the late 1970s, today considers herself neither man nor woman.

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D.C. bus driver fired over anti-gay poster


A bus driver for one of the city’s new Circulator tourist buses was fired last month for telling a passenger to move to the back of the bus after the passenger complained about a message hanging behind the driver’s seat that equated homosexuality with murder. 

“Those comments were completely unacceptable,” said Karen Meachman, a spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Transportation, which created the Circulator bus system.
“We don’t know if he posted these signs,” she said. “But the fact that he told the passenger to go to the back of the bus was completely unacceptable.”

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Police Investigate Gay Beatings In Fort Lauderdale

(Fort Lauderdale, Florida) The beatings of two gay men in separate attacks in Fort Lauderdale has the LGBT community on guard and the tourist industry worried.
Both attacks occurred in the gay-friendly Northeast area and one involved a tourist.
Police say they are not ready to say the two attacks were the work of the same person but note there are similarities.


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Nigeria broadens anti-gay bill

A far-reaching Nigerian legislative proposal criminalizing same-sex marriages and LGBT organizations has been expanded to include punishing people who support or celebrate same-sex unions.

According to the Vanguard newspaper, the bill imposes a five-year jail sentence for those who violate the proposed law, including those who "witness, celebrate with or support couples involved in homosexual relationship." It als

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Gay activists plan rally in Williamsburg


The University of the Cumberlands -- which has drawn national attention for expelling a gay student -- is under attack simply for upholding scriptural teachings on homosexuality, Kentucky Baptist Convention President Paul Chitwood said today.

The overwhelming majority of the convention's 790,030 members back the Southern Baptist school's decision to expel 20-year-old Jason Johnson, Chitwood said. "I personally am 100 percent supportive," he said.


The Louisville-area preacher spoke out on the same day that gay rights activists announced plans for a protest rally near the school's Williamsburg campus next week.