Transsexual prepares lawsuit against Thai army


Bangkok- A Thai transsexual man is preparing to file a lawsuit against the army for rejecting him for conscription on the grounds of his "mental disorder," news reports said Thursday. Samart Meehcharoen, 22, said that the army's rejection statement, issued two years ago, had deprived him of career opportunities, as a private firm had recently turned down his job application citing his "mental disorder," the Bangkok Post reported. 

"I cannot accept it, because I don't have a mental problem. I'm a normal guy who feels like a woman," said Samart, who wears his hair long and has undergone breast-enhancement surgery, though he has stopped short of a sex change. 

If the Administrative Court accepts Samart's case, it will set a legal precedent in Thailand, which still practices conscription to fill its armed forces.

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Four convicted in St. Maarten attack on gays


Four French nationals were convicted Thursday of beating two gay American tourists in this Dutch Caribbean island and given prison sentences of six months to six years.

The tire iron attack seriously damaged the brain of one of the victims, an employee of the CBS News show "48 Hours."
Three citizens of the island's French half -- Glen Cockly, Micheline Delaney and Allan Daniel -- and a man from the nearby French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Michel Javois, were found guilty of public violence and grievous bodily harm by Judge Jan Bosch.