Tasmanian transsexual cleared to play in women’s league


A 47-year-old post-operative transsexual will be able to continue her life-long love of playing soccer with the announcement by Soccer Tasmania that she will be able to compete in the women’s league. 

As Martin Delaney, she loved the beautiful game and competed in the male league for over 25 years. After the operation, Martine was shy about getting back on the pitch, but with the encouragement of some female friends she found the courage to play again. 

Her dazzling performances for Claremont United, in the women's division one competition, led other female players to question whether Martine had the right to play.


Soccer Tasmania confirmed that International Olympic Committee rules state that as Martine is legally now a woman, she has the right to compete. The state also has laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexuality. The Football Federation of Australia also advised that they would not condone discrimination.

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Transgender crew member criticises ship's “mob culture”


A transgender woman was quizzed about her “balls” and deliberately referred to as a “he,” an employment tribunal has been told.

Drusilla Philippa Marland, a P & O Ferries crew member claims she was forced out of her job after the company did not protect her from discrimination.

She told the hearing that she was ridiculed because of her gender reassignment and had to deal with jibes such as “we are all men here” on the Pride of Bilbao ship.


She said: “There was a mob culture in the engine crew which saw me as an outsider.”

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Gay couples ask for more time to consider challenge
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Lawyers for gay and lesbian couples will get two more weeks to possibly challenge the state Supreme Court's ruling upholding Washington's gay marriage ban.

Plaintiffs' attorneys still haven't decided whether to ask the high court to reconsider its 5-4 decision, which held that the state's law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples was constitutional.
The court has agreed to move the deadline for a reconsideration filing from Aug. 15 to Aug. 29, while the lawyers consider their next move.

"The longer we have to think about it, the better off we are," said Lisa Stone, director of the Northwest Women's Law center. "We are analyzing every conceivable option, and nothing's off the table at this point."

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Anti-Gay Billboard Suit Likely To Go To Supreme Court


(New York City) A conservative pastor who is battling Staten Island for ordering the removal of a billboard containing a Biblical condemnation of homosexuality says he is prepared to take the fight all the way to the US Supreme Court.  

A three judge federal appeals panel is hearing his appeal of a ruling last November dismissing his case.

The Rev. Kristopher Okwedy says the billboard message is protected under his constitutional right to practice his religion. He is being represented by a lawyer furnished by the American Family Association. 

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Judge denies lawmakers' request to intervene in gay marriage case


DES MOINES, Iowa A Polk County judge has denied a request by 25 lawmakers to intervene in a legal battle over the state's ban on gay marriages.

Judge Robert Hanson overruled several arguments made by the lawmakers, including how allowing gay marriages would have a sweeping impact on the state's budget and several other laws.

The lawmakers wanted to be included as defendants in a lawsuit filed by six gay and lesbian couples who contend the state's marriage laws are unconstitutional.