Phony Phil
Giving new meaning to Good Lie
4/13/2006
BY VIVEK RAVISHANKER


.....Watching Mickelson calmly obliterate the field at the Masters last Sunday should have rankly offended to me, almost like watching a post-op transsexual beat a field of world-class female marathoners at the Boston Marathon. rest of article

please send letters to the editor of the Harvard Independent Online!.... there is no reason to use "transsexuals" as a cheap metaphor... this is wrong, and transphobic.
send all letters to:
ekman@fas.harvard.edu

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SU transgender students become fully covered in health insurance policy

College students rarely concern themselves with the topic of health insurance, often leaving the matter to parents. Most college students do not have to worry about not being covered by insurance companies.

While Suffolk prides itself on diversity, for a group of students, their differences were overlooked by the health insurance plans offered by Suffolk. The oversigh was corrected as of March.

Until recently, transgender students attending Suffolk were not covered for hormone treatment under Suffolk's health insurance plan. The university requires that all students use the health insurance plan that is offered, unless they have their own plan.

Coverage will become available starting August 15 for all transgender students.

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Bloomington votes on protections for transgendered people
Associated Press


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The City Council has given preliminary approval to adding protections for transgender people to the city's human rights ordinance.

Bloomington is a diverse community, said Councilman David Sabbaugh, a co-sponsor of the amendment. "I'm very happy to support this thing," he said.
Supporters of the change want to see city code treat "gender identity" as a category protected against discrimination, just like race, religion, disability or sex.


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Transvestites brave Islamic law in Indonesia's Aceh

 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, April 13, 2006 (AFP) - Her face heavily made-up, 'Bella Saphira' struts a darkened length of cement path along the Krueng Aceh river in Indonesia's Banda Aceh, wearing a loosely flowing dress but no Islamic veil. 

Elsewhere in the staunchly-Muslim province of Aceh, which has been gradually implementing Islamic sharia law, Muslim women are required to cover their heads -- but then, Saphira is not a woman. 

She belongs to Banda Aceh's small community of transvestites, who stake their claim on this riverside stretch every weekend after dark in an area where courting couples met before the December 2004 tsunami. 

Tonight about 30 "waria" -- Indonesian transvestites so named because they have the characteristics of a "wanita", or girl, but are born a boy or "pria" -- congregate and chat. Some are in full drag, others wear men's clothing but wear carefully applied make-up. 


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Greedy clubs tell gay players to keep quiet about sexuality

The Independent's survey of professional footballers in England reveals today that a majority of players believe their industry is homophobic, but the only openly gay man on the Football Association's Council says that the major hurdle for any player in coming out is concern over how t

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White House Easter: Gay Friendly?

 Hundreds of gay and lesbian parents hoping to take their families to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll plan to start lining up Friday evening to make sure they get tickets for the Monday event.