Transgender woman hopes suit against former employer will help others


Her journey to her authentic self took a long and circuitous route that was neither pretty nor smooth.

Four days after Christmas 2003, she crashed the Dodge Intrepid she was driving into the rear of a Ford Explorer parked on North Main Street in downtown Washington, Pa.

Stressed and depressed, she'd fallen asleep at the wheel in a company rental car. Police found her partially ejected from the car.

About two months earlier, she'd told her employer that she had a gender-identity disorder and would be transitioning from being a man to a woman.

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Kiwi transgender inquiry a world-first    


The Human Rights Commission is currently holding an inquiry into discrimination and human rights issues for transgender people, believed to be the first of its kind worldwide.

Coordinator Jack Byrne says the inquiry is focusing on three key issues: transgender people's personal experiences of discrimination, their access to health services and ability to legally change their gender on identiy documents.

"The inquiry welcomes submissions from all parts of the transgender community, for example transgender and transsexual people, whakawâhine, takatâpui, fa'afafine, cross dressers, queens, akava'ine, fakaleiti and mahu,” explains Byrne.


"We would also like to hear from other individuals and groups that are aware of the discrimination and human rights issues faced by transgender people. This includes, for example, transgender people's partners and other family members, community organisations, unions, health professionals and government agencies.”

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Bankruptcy of a group aiding gay Latinos has wide reverberations


WASHINGTON - The financial collapse of a prominent organization that aids gay Latinos has left federal officials scrambling to reclaim hundreds of thousands of dollars in allegedly misspent government money.

Once active in California, Florida and other states with large Latino populations, the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization is mired in bankruptcy court. Its doors are shut and others are assuming its high-stakes health work while lawyers dissect a legacy of debt.