Author: patrick

Stonewall Scotland statement on Scottish GRA reform

Posted by | Jun 21, 2019 |

Published 20 June 19 Colin Macfarlane, Director, Stonewall Scotland said: ‘We are pleased to see the Scottish Government’s commitment to introducing a system of self-determination to our country’s gender recognition laws. The proposals outline the Government’s intention to replace the current outdated, intrusive and medicalised process in favour of one that ensures trans people are respected. When delivered, the new system will demonstrate that the Scottish Government recognises trans people for who they are, marking an important step towards trans equality.’ ‘It’s important the second round of public consultation doesn’t delay legislative progress and instead focuses on making the system of self-determination work effectively for trans communities in Scotland. The Scottish Government has already done a full comprehensive public consultation on the principles of reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) that ended in March 2018. The original consultation received over 15,000 responses with nearly two-thirds of Scottish people (65 per cent) supporting a system of self-determination. This shows clear public support for reform and bringing Scotland’s gender recognition laws in line with international best practice. ‘While it’s great the Scottish Government plans to simplify the process of getting a Gender Recognition Certificate, it is disappointing to see that recognition for under 18s is not included in this bill. For a government that has prided itself on empowering 16- and 17-year-olds to exercise their judgment in areas like voting, it’s...

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How to Tell If My Child’s Genitals Are Your Business

How to Tell If My Child’s Genitals Are Your Business

Posted by | Jun 7, 2019 |

Hint: Unless you are my child’s doctor, they are not   Heather Ashman May 15 Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash In case you missed it, people can be appallingly ignorant. I’ve known this my child’s entire life. He was adopted and I’ve lost count of the number of people who have referred to the drug addict who birthed him with meth already in his system as his “real mom.” I guess all those years I showed up every single day to take care of him were fake. These days the ignorance is centered on the fact that he is transgender....

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“Mommy, you know I’m only a boy because of my parts… right?”

“Mommy, you know I’m only a boy because of my parts… right?”

Posted by | May 28, 2019 | ,

“Mommy, you know I’m only a boy because of my parts… right?” How I learned I was the one who needed to “transition;” my child simply needed to evolve into who they were always meant to be Before anyone asks, no, I’m not some sort of new age, millennial, hipster chic parent living in a commune, attempting to raise genderless, nameless offspring who will one day grow up and decide these things independent of their father and me. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s just not my style.) My husband and I learned all three of our kids’ sexes...

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Armenian MPs call for trans activist to be burned alive after historic speech

Posted by | May 3, 2019 | |

Saeed Kamali Dehghan Fri 26 Apr 2019 Play Video 2:07  Speech that led to death threats against an Armenian trans activist – video Armenia’s first registered transgender woman has received death threats after making a historic speech in her country’s national assembly. Lilit Martirosyan became the first member of her country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community to take to the parliamentary podium, speaking out against discrimination at a session of its committee on human rights. A video of the speech has been shared around the world. Martirosyan expressed solidarity with a community that has been “tortured, raped, kidnapped, subjected to physical violence, burned, immolated, knifed, subjected to murder attempt, killed, emigrated, and robbed”. She said transgender people in Armenia are subjected “to stigma and discrimination in social, medical, legal, economic areas, and … [are left] unemployed, poor and morally abandoned”. The speech, two weeks ago, has since sparked a backlash in Armenia, where homosexuality has been decriminalised but discrimination against LGBTI people is rife. There have been anti-LGBTI protests in front of the national assembly and verbal attacks made by some parliamentarians have included calls for her to be burned alive.  Lilit Martirosyan. Photograph: Courtesy of Lilit Martirosyan The prime minister and the main opposition have tried to blame each other for allowing Martirosyan’s speech. “This was the first time in Armenia when a transgender woman spoke from a...

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Gender Bias? A transgender perspective!

Gender Bias? A transgender perspective!

Posted by | Apr 16, 2019 | |

Daniela Petruzalek   Jan 17, 2018 I’ve been looking forward to writing an article about my personal views on the gender bias for a long time now. After countless drafts that have never seen the light of the day, I think I’ve finally found the missing piece. If you are in a hurry for an answer, I must say that this XKCD comic entitled “How it Works”, summarizes it all: From someone who lived on both sides: this comic is the perfect representation of reality. I am a transgender woman, which means at some point in my life I used to be...

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