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London, Sep 13, 2007 / 09:55 am (CNA).- The bishops of England and Wales are asking for an exemption from new equality laws that could force them to ordain transsexuals as priests or allow them to become nuns.The bishops said proposals to ban “indirect discrimination” against people who have had gender reassignment operations would take away their right to check baptismal and confirmation certificates which would show if candidates for the priesthood, religious life or marriage had a hidden past, reports the London Times. “Many Christians believe, on strongly held religious grounds, that gender is given before birth and cannot...

SAUDI ARABIA: WOMAN CHANGES SEX, DREAMS OF DRIVER'S LICENCE (ANSAmed) - RIYADH, AUGUST 21 - A 19-year-old Saudi Arabian woman, Myriam, has undergone a successful sex-change operation in Jeddah and now, with her new name of Khaled, aspires for just one thing: a driving licence. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are banned from driving, added Okaz daily, reporting the news today. "The first idea that came to my mind a few hours before the operation, was to have a driving licence," Myriam/Khaled told the newspaper, adding she was encouraged by her family to have...

Orange County, Fla. -- A transgendered man, arrested for prostitution in Orange County, was booked into the jail as a woman, but his former roommate claims he stole her identity. Richard Phillips was booked into the Orange County Jail as Brittany Ossenfort. But a woman with that same name, said that's not who he is. According to Sheriff's investigators, he is Richard Phillips. The Holly Hill woman is outraged, that she's listed, as being arrested for prostitution. The real Brittany Ossenfort said she lived with Richard Phillips for more than a year, but thought he was a woman. She was...

A United Methodist minister in Baltimore informed the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church of a name change, along with a change of gender. The former Rev. Ann Gordon now reportedly adopted a male identity as Rev. Drew Phoenix. The issue will be discussed Thursday at a closed session during the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. The minister's name change is already reflected on her church's website, www.stjohnsbaltimore.org, Christian Newswire reported Tuesday. In 2002, the Baltimore-Washington Conference had a similar controversy, when Rev. Richard Zimostny had a sex change operation and became Rebecca...

New York City’s Board of Health unexpectedly withdrew a proposal yesterday that would have allowed people to alter the sex on their birth certificates without sex-change surgery. The plan, if passed, would have put New York at the forefront of a movement to eliminate anatomical considerations when defining gender. It had been lauded by some mental health professionals and transgender advocates who said it would reduce discrimination against men and women who lived as members of the opposite sex. But after the proposed change was widely publicized recently, board members and officials with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene...

FX and "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy have made a deal for a new drama called "4 oz." that will follow the metamorphosis of a married sportswriter who is a transsexual. Murphy will exec produce with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner as Pitt makes his first series foray. Murphy, who has begun writing a pilot episode he hopes to shoot early next year, told Daily Variety that he has mapped out a natural five-season arc for the series that also focuses on the gender-conflicted protag's teenage sons. FX prexy-general manager John Landgraf bought the project in the room after Murphy pitched...

This is the story of an American little girl. Let’s call her Jake. She was born deprived and poor like the majority of Americans and lived in a ghetto. She had evil, heterosexual Christian parents. But an amazing transformation took place when those wicked parents imposed a gender on little Jake by buying her a barbi doll. She was so severely traumatized by this untoward affront that she became a Pimping Gay Transexual Cowboy Suicide Bomber. This was no easy transformation, because she was poor. She had to move to California and commit a crime, pimping, so that she could...

A Thai prostitute escaped caning for drug dealing in Singapore after a doctor established that the accused, who was identified in a passport as a man, had undergone a sex change, the Straits Times reported on Friday.

Sony Music has launched the first major music label dedicated to nurturing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender artists. The label, Music with a Twist, is a joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company led by Matt Farber, who has founded MTV's new gay and lesbian channel LOGO. "It's an idea whose time has come," Mr Farber said. "Only now are media and entertainment brands being created for the gay and lesbian audience following the success of brands for other minorities," he said. Mr Farber says the success of brands dedicated to the African American and Hispanic audiences has...

A transsexual woman died four days after a melee with sheriff's deputies at the downtown jail. The medical examiner's office was awaiting toxicology results before announcing a cause of death. "There is nothing to indicate that the use of force caused this death," Sgt. Rick Empson said Monday. Vanessa Facen, 35, had fought with deputies and medical personnel numerous times since she was found naked and bleeding inside her neighbor's Spring Valley home on Nov. 17. Facen apparently climbed onto the balcony, dived through a neighbor's glass door and tumbled down a flight of stairs. Facen, who was "covered with...

Photo by The Associated Press Judi, left, and Mikayla Howden pose at their home in Concord on Dec. 12. The two married nealry four years ago before Mikayla, then Michael, underwent a sex change which transformed the couple into a legally married same-sex couple, despite a ban on such unions in 40 states, including New Hampshire. CONCORD - Judi Howden found happiness in her second marriage, but only after a struggle with issues that have destroyed other families and divided the nation. With Michael Howden, she had love, another child and a home. It took all three to keep...

ONTARIO NY-Wayne County investigators will consider an Ontario man's sex change as they search for a motive in the strangulation death of the man's wife. The Wayne County District Attorney's office confirmed Craig Musso, charged with the murder of his newlwed wife, Linda White, was born Wendy Musso. District Attorney Rick Healy said Musso underwent surgical procedures and hormone therapy over a number of years to become a man. The 44 year-old is accused of strangling his wife at their Ontario home November 12th, a month after the two were married. The couple had an eight-month online courtship. They met...

TEHRAN, Aug. 1 - Everything about Amir appears masculine: his broad chest, muscled arms, the dark full beard and deep voice. But, in fact, Amir was a woman until four years ago, when, at the age of 25, he underwent the first of a series of operations that would change his life. Since then he has had 20 surgical procedures and expects another 4. And Amir, who as a woman was married twice to men - his second husband helped with the transition and remains a good friend - is now engaged to marry a woman. "I love my life...

BANGKOK, Thailand - Snubbed by both men and women, transvestite students at the Chiang Mai Technology School just wanted a restroom to call their own — and were granted their wish. Dubbed the Pink Lotus Bathroom, the facility is exclusively for the school's 15 transvestite students and features four stalls, but no urinals. On the door hangs a sign with intertwined male and female symbols. "They would come in the morning and use the women's bathrooms, but the women were annoyed, didn't like it or played pranks on them," said Posaporn Promprakai, registrar of the school in Chiang Mai province,...

This is shocking but not surprising. If your a parent to a child in CA public schools this should alarm you.

As the culture continues to be flushed down the crapper, here is an apparently wonderful event that should provide an evening of nice entertainment. ======================================================= A Queer State of the UnionQueer issues have dominated the headlines recently and are also prominent in the current presidential campaign. Join us as we explore the latest developments. Same-Sex Marriage Gays & Religion Media Images of LGBT people Youth Issues We are extremely fortunate to have the following nationally-known speakers and activists on our panel: Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, 45th District, Los Angeles Rev. Troy Perry, Founder, Metropolitan Community Churches WorldwideStephen Macias, Entertainment Media Director,...

Plan to allow transsexuals into Games on back burner www.chinaview.cn 2004-02-29 11:27:33     ATHENS, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- A decision to allow transsexuals to take part in the Olympic Games was put off on Saturday as the IOC executive board failed to reach consensus.     The decision-making body of the International Olympic Committeehad discussed the emotive subject at a meeting in the Greek capital but had failed to make much progress.     "The discussion was a difficult discussion for (IOC medical director) Patrick Schamasch and myself who tried to explain a verydifficult medical problem," said IOC president Jacques Rogge.     The rule would...

California Gov. Gray Davis added fuel to his opponents' recall fire by signing a controversial bill that authorizes fines of up to $150,000 for companies or nonprofit groups, such as the Boy Scouts, that discriminate against cross-dressers, transsexuals or drag queens. The governor signed the measure Saturday along with the $71.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2003-4. The move fell under the radar screens of most California media outlets. The law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2004, adds "gender identity or expression" to the characteristics protected under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act and specifically protects residents whose "perceived...

MR MATRIX AND HIS DOMINATRIX May 23 2003 By David Edwards   EVEN by Hollywood's bizarre standards, it's a tale that for sheer weirdness, is right off the scale.The Matrix Reloaded may be wowing audiences with its spectacular special effects and technology but its director and mastermind is busy creating another set of fireworks.Larry Wachowski has abandoned his wife of nine years - childhood sweetheart Thea - to pursue a sado-masochistic relationship with a dominatrix.Now he's being sued by his estranged wife, who is furious after she was asked to help pay for a luxury lovenest for the couple. BESOTTED:...

<p>ROANOKE - A transsexual will be granted early release from prison so he can undergo the final surgery to become a woman.</p> <p>A Roanoke judge ruled Friday that Michelona Sierra De'Lonta, 27, can be released from the city jail one month shy of completing his six-month sentence for forgery if he pays about $1,200 in court costs by this afternoon.</p>