Activists respond to transphobic National Post advertisement [xtra.ca]

By Rob Selerno / Xtra.ca

Social media outlets lit up on Sept 29 after a transphobic ad from the Institute for Canadian Values ran in the National Post.

The ad revives the “StopCorruptingChildren.com” campaign that launched last year to protest proposed revisions to the physical and health education curriculum that would include more sex education for younger children.

Under a picture of a young girl, the ad asks “Please don’t confuse me. I’m a girl. Don’t teach me to question if I’m a boy, transexual [sic], transgendered, interesexed, or two spirited [sic].”

The ad calls on the leaders of the three major Ontario parties competing in the Oct 6 election to “stop teachers from confusing” the little girl, as she “face[s] enough in the world already.”

It then quotes extensively from a Toronto District School Board curriculum resource document called “Challenging Homophobia and Heterosexism,” presenting these optional lessons as mandatory.

Hundreds of tweets about the ad went out under the #canqueer hashtag on Twitter in less than 24 hours.

The National Post’s manager of advertising sales Enzo Loschiavo says the newspaper has received many complaints about the ad and he’s not sure how it ended up in the newspaper.

“The Post wouldn’t generally run this,” Loschiavo says. “We’ll probably take a stance on not running it again.”

Loschiavo says the Post is investigating how the ad got booked and printed without being stopped but he wouldn’t specify what the Post’s advertizing standards entailed.

“We obviously don’t want to offend anyone, but we also understand that everyone has a freedom of speech,” he says.

Trans activist Chase Joynt was quick to respond to the ad by creating a spoof of it with his own face in place of the little girl’s.

“I thought it was manipulative to use the face of a small child,” he says. “Where the ad is doing the most damage is in not only presenting trans identities in any form as invalid and shameful, but also to rely on the education system to disseminate these lies.”

The Canadian Values campaign is particularly disappointing given that the province has yet to restart consultations or reintroduce its new curriculum as it had promised when it postponed the launch last year.

At the time, the Progressive Conservatives wanted the curriculum scrapped and the New Democrats wanted it implemented. The Liberals have said that they would revise and reintroduce the curriculum following wider parent consultations. Former education minister Kathleen Wynne has told Xtra she expects the curriculum to survive consultations unchanged.

Joynt says the curriculum is necessary to help kids understand their own identities and how queer people fit into the community.

“What’s crucial about any curriculum in regard to identity politics is that it’s providing a breadth of options and potentially the inclusion of LGBT rights in any curriculum at any level is that it affords another opinion,” he says. “ While I think there is opportunity to speak to things such as when is age appropriate, the ability to learn about those identities is integral to our success as educators.”

Charles McVety, whose Canada Christian College houses the Institute for Canadian Values, says he doesn’t believe the add is homophobic or transphobic.

“We’re upset that the Ministry of Education would force our children to learn things that we don’t agree with and secondly that they will not allow us to withdraw our children [from the lessons],” McVety says. “Eight year olds are very impressionable and to confuse an eight year old is egregious.”

He also says the new curriculum is not an appropriate way to deal with homophobic bullying or the rash of gay teen suicides.

“If you are going to deal with the issue of bullying, which I think needs to be dealt with, you deal with bullying. You don’t deal with other topics in the name of bullying. My daughter has red hair, she gets bullied because of her red hair,” McVety says. “There’s so many reasons why a child can be bullied, you don’t teach every little aspect. That appears to be the wedge to get this indoctrination into our classrooms and we’re upset about it and I don’t think it’s civil I don’t think it’s respectful.“

The ad is not currently running in any other newspaper or magazine, but is viewable on the campaign’s web site. McVety says he is “not sure right now” if he’ll try to place the ad elsewhere in the future.

Joynt has created a Facebook page to organize critics of the ad to coordinate a response. More than 150 people have joined.

He says his hope is to raise enough money through the group to buy a full-page response ad in the Post.

Queer Ontario has also urged its members online to file complaints with Advertising Standards Canada, the national advertising self-regulating body.

In an open letter to the National Post, Cliks lead singer Lucas Silveira writes that he is asking the Ontario Human Rights Commission to pursue a hate propaganda investigation against the Post and the Institute for Canadian Values over the ad. Current interpretations of Canadian human rights legislation tends to exclude consideration of advertisements in the media, according to Silveira’s lawyer.

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Activists_respond_to_transphobic_National_Post_ad-10837.aspx

Want some free, anonymous health care? Try your local U.S. Health Department. [io9.com]

by Keith Veronese / io9.com

Don’t have a job with health insurance benefits? Lose your job and can’t afford a COBRA plan? Regardless of the situation (and even if you are insured), you can still get care, and you should. What you may not have realized is that your local health department provides a level of basic care for a nominal (or free) cost – let’s take a look at what is provided in many cases.

No Insurance and Not much Money? You can still get medical care.

If you fall in the gap of not qualifying for Medicaid or other tax payer finance health care initiatives, you can still receive medical care at minimal cost at your local health department. The cost, if any, is often determined on a sliding scale based on your annual income, and is considerably less than the minimum of $100-200 dollars it would take to visit a for-profit walk-in clinic. Health departments are typically organized on the state and county level, and operated with tax payer dollars. In addition to health departments, some members of your community may offer free or “donation” clinics (like the Hope Health Clinic in Georgia) available, private clinics that rely heavily on volunteer resources from medical personnel in the community and donations from individuals to operate. They also provide great volunteer opportunities if you are so inclined. Health departments are a valuable resource for students and international travelers as well, as they can often obtain copies of your birth certificate and provide immunizations necessary for school or foreign travel, and they often have translation services.

NOT for Emergency Care

I do want to point out before going further, that if you are in need of emergency medical treatment; go to your local emergency room. Regardless of your financial situation, the hospital is required to stabilize you, as a patient, before discharging you. This is a U.S. Federal standard provided by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.

Health Screenings, Mental Health, & STD Testing

Almost every health department provides general health screenings – so if you are concerned about a lump, a cut, the red striations along your back, or are just feeling under the weather, you can get checked out. Birth control and family planning services are also provided. In addition to general health screenings (and sometimes, full physicals), more specific care like cancer screenings are offered, either routinely or in certain parts of the year. Mental Health care has also become a major focus of many health departments in hopes of erasing the stigma attached to asking for help, and helping hundreds of thousands of individuals in the process.

One of your health department’s primary goals is preventing the transmission of communicable diseases, with sexually transmitted diseases being at the top of the list. If you are sexually active, you owe it to yourself and your partners to be tested at least once a year, and most health departments provide a battery of STD tests free of charge. This effort to curb communicable diseases extends into the world of vaccination as well, as many immunizations, including the battery of immunizations required for most schools, colleges, and some work environments are provided at little or no cost to the patient along with tuberculosis screenings.

Anonymity and Cost Efficiency

Most public health departments operate with a high degree of anonymity, as they routinely deal with more uncomfortable health issues. Waiting rooms are broken down by clinic, with more sensitive clinics often using an identification number instead of name. On-site pharmacies are also often present, with physicians taking cost into account in prescribing at times – a drug that is prescribed and taken by the patient that costs less and may be less efficacious is of superior value in comparison to an expensive pharmaceutical that is prescribed and never filled by a pharmacist.

Providing Less Routine Care Some community health departments offer dental care and eye exams along with general “wellness” classes on topics like smoking cessation and procedures like colonoscopies and ultrasounds. Local health departments often cater to children, and in some cases, even offer low cost insurance for children as well, regardless of the parent’s insurance status. This care often extends until the child is 19, taking them well into adolescence and the beginning of their college years.

Paid by your Taxes

If you are worried about the state of your body, it’s best to get it checked out, regardless of your financial situation. Check with your local health department, as the services offered provided can vary, and larger cities may have more beneficial programs. Your tax dollars pay for these opportunities, so if you need them, take use of them and keep yourself healthy. It is in their best interest to keep you healthy too – a healthy person is more likely to pay their taxes.

http://io9.com/5844718/want-some-free-anonymous-health-care-try-your-local-us-health-department

Refusing to Kill Daughter, Pakistani Family Defies Tradition, Draws Anger [theatlantic.com]

KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Kainat Soomro is a 17-year-old Pakistani girl who has become a local celebrity of sorts in her battle for justice in the Pakistani courts, a daring move for a woman of any age in this country, let alone a teenager.

She is fighting to get justice for a gang rape that she insists happened four years ago in Mehar, a small town in Pakistan.

We first met her in the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A colorful traditional Pakistani shawl covered her head. Her father sat next to her as she recounted the 2007 incident.

“I was walking home from my school and I went to the store to buy a toy for my niece,” she said, staring at the floor of the office. “While I was looking at things a guy pressed a handkerchief on my nose. I fainted and was kidnapped. Then four men gang raped me.”

As she shared details of her days in captivity and multiple rapes, she kept repeating, “I want justice, I will not stop until I get justice.” After three days, she was finally able to escape she said. As she spoke, her father gently tapped her head. He said he tried to get Kainat’s alleged rapists arrested, but instead he was rebuffed by the police.

According to the Kainat family’s account, the tribal elders declared her kari, (which literally means black female), for losing her virginity outside marriage.

In Pakistan, women and men who have illicit relationships or women who lose their virginity before marriage are at risk of paying with their lives.

“These are matters of honor and the leaders call a jirga and they declare that the woman or the couple should be killed,” said Abdul Hai, a veteran field officer for the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan. These acts of violence are most commonly labeled as “honor killings.”

The most recent report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan noted that in 2009 roughly 46 percent of all female murders in Pakistan that year were in the name of “honor.” The report noted that a total of 647 incidences of “honor killings” were reported by the Pakistani press. However, experts say that actual incidences of “honor killings” in Pakistan are much higher and never get reported to the police because they are passed off by the families as suicides.

Kainat said that despite the pressures her family refused to kill her.

“It is the tradition, but if the family doesn’t permit it, then it won’t happen. My father, my brother, my mom didn’t allow it,” she said.

And that defiance has left the family fearing for their lives. The family’s new home in Karachi has been attacked a number of times.

But, according to Abdul Hai, Kainat is lucky: “The woman or the girl usually gets killed and the man gets away,” he said. “Over 70 percent of the murdered victims are women and only 30 percent of victims of honor killings are male.”

In Karachi, Kainat and her family are now sharing one room in a run-down apartment block, and they have to rely on charities to help them pay for food.

“We go hungry many nights,” said Kainat’s older sister.

But their fight might never pay off. A local judge has already ruled against Kainat in the case. “There is no corroborative evidence available on record. The sole testimony of the alleged rape survivor is not sufficient,” the judge said in a written decision.

Another problem is that material evidence is usually not collected in rape cases in Pakistan since the police rarely believe rape victims and therefore don’t order rape kits in a timely manner.

Without medical tests to corroborate her story, it remains Kainat’s word against the alleged rapists. But even having lost her case at the local court, Kainat insists, “I am not giving up, I will take this all the way to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/pakistani-family-refuses-to-kill-daughter-who-was-raped-drawing-anger/245691/

Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are [cnn.com]

By Madison Park / CNN

Berkeley, California (CNN) – One of the first things Thomas Lobel told his parents was that they were wrong.

The 3-year-old had learned sign language because he had apraxia, a speech impediment that hindered his ability to talk. The toddler pointed to himself and signed, “I am a girl.”

“Oh look, he’s confused,” his parents said. Maybe he mixed up the signs for boy and girl. So they signed back. “No, no. Thomas is a boy.”

But the toddler shook his head. “I am a girl,” he signed back emphatically.

Regardless of the fact he was physically male, Thomas has always maintained that he is a girl. When teased at school about being quiet and liking dolls, Thomas would repeat his simple response, “I am a girl.”

Thomas, now 11, goes by the name of Tammy, wears dresses to school and lives as a girl.

Her parents have been accused by family, friends and others of being reckless, causing their youngest child permanent damage by allowing her to live as a girl.

When children insist that their gender doesn’t match their body, it can trigger a confusing, painful odyssey for the family. And most of the time, these families face isolating experiences trying to decide what is best for their kids, especially because transgender issues are viewed as mysterious, and loaded with stigma and judgment.

Click to read and view the rest of the story on CNN…

How to Look Amazing in Pictures: Secret Tips From a Supermodel [gizmodo.com]

by Brent Rose / Gizmodo.com

You know who doesn’t look good in pictures? You, probably. Me. Most of us. Sure, sometimes you’re Gerard Butler, but most of the time you’re Gerard Depardieu. You know who does know how to look good? Supermodel Shalom Harlow.

She hooked us up with some exclusive tips on looking as good as possible when the cameras come out. Now if only someone would actually take your picture…

Whether we have to pose for some work photo, or we’re just out with a group of friends, most of us aren’t comfortable in front of the camera, and even if we are, the results often don’t turn out like we want them to. There has to be a hack. Right? There have to be some secret rules that the majority of us—you know, non-supermodels—just don’t know. Well, who better to ask than someone who looks really good in photos for a living?

Shalom Harlow has graced the cover of damn near every fashion magazine you can name (and many you can’t). She’s been the face of everything from Coco Chanel and Ralph Lauren to Tiffany & Co and a gagillion others. It’s tough to find a model that’s more super, basically. These are her five real-world tips that anybody—like us!—can use.

Tip 1: Know Your Light and Face It

If you are being shot without a flash, know where the main light source is and turn toward it. Embrace it. Light hitting you at side-angles will create shadows on your face, making your features look harsher and more severe. Fine for film noir or Instagram photos, but not the best for day-to-day stuff. Shadows will also emphasize lines in your face and bags under your eyes, making you look older, more tired, and possibly more drunk. Go toward the light, my child.

Tip 2: Facilitate a Spontaneous Moment

Photos are about the memory of a moment. The moment you’re trying to capture is not “that time you gawked at a camera.” If it isn’t happening organically, Shalom will create a more fun, interesting moment before the camera clicks. She’ll pinch the other people she’s posing with (watch out with this one), or if she’s alone, she’s been known to do a pratt-fall or crack a joke to try to make the photog break (even for “serious” photos). Unexpected things like that break people out of their heads and pave the way for a more natural, spontaneous moment. It makes people seem like real people in a real moment—which is exactly what you’re trying to capture.

Tip 3: Mug the Mirror

As awkward as it sounds, spend some time making faces in the mirror. Seriously, do it. Every face is different, and as such, every face looks good doing different things. Find your angles. Do you look better straight on, or turned just a few degrees to the side? Do you look better with a full-toothed smile, or with a smug little smirk? Practice and get comfortable making these faces. Learn how they feel to your face, and then your muscle memory will help you recreate them. Think Blue Steel from Zoolander.

Side note: I recently read about a guy who thought he looked good in the mirror when he put his hair to one side, but he never got much attention. Then one day, he realized that people were seeing the reverse of that, so he tried switching sides. It looked weird to him but suddenly everyone was telling him how great he looked. So, maybe consider mugging in front of a digital camera instead.

Tip 4: Move the Photographer’s Eyes to the Lens

Looking into a camera lens is weird. It’s like a giant, vacuous, dead eye. It’s like trying to see into HAL’s soul. Trying to connect with that is a losing battle unless you’ve got a robot’s soul, and it’ll make you feel stiff and awkward. Instead, engage in a real conversation with the photographer. Talk about something other than being photographed. Look at the photographer’s eyes while you converse, and then “transfer” his/her eyes to the camera lens. (With your gaze, weirdo.) Continue the conversation as if you’re still looking into his/her eyes, but you just happen to be looking at the lens itself. Go back and forth when you need to. To people who view the picture, it will seem that you’re looking at them, engaged in a relationship, and not just staring in their direction, like one of those creepy paintings where the eyes follow you everywhere.

Tip 5: Relive the Good Times

Some people absolutely hate being photographed. It can be a very uncomfortable, unpleasant experience for some, like being in the middle seat on airplane between Rosie O’Donnell and a wheel of cheese, and if that’s how you’re feeling, it’ll show in the photos. The photographer won’t always be able to help you through that. Instead, you can trick your body into relaxing by pulling from your personal collection of good memories. Think about that time you and your husband (or wife) swam with dolphins in the Caribbean as the sun was setting. Really try to go there in your mind. Focus on the individual things your senses perceived. What did it sound like? What did the water taste like? What did the air smell like? Silly as it sounds, this can trick your body into thinking it’s in a safe, comfortable place and it will relax your fight or flight mechanism.

So, now you’ve got the secrets of the pros, so get out there and be really, really, really, ridiculously good looking. Just don’t get into any gasoline fight accidents.

http://gizmodo.com/5844316/how-to-look-amazing-in-pictures-secret-tips-from-a-supermodel

How Psychology Solved A WWII Shipwreck Mystery [npr.org]

by ALIX SPIEGEL / npr.org

In November 1941, two ships crossed paths off the coast of Australia. One was the German raider HSK Kormoran. The other: an Australian warship called the HMAS Sydney. Guns were fired, the ships were damaged, and both sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The loss of the Sydney in World War II was a national tragedy for the Australians, particularly because none of the 645 men onboard survived. In the years that followed, there was intense interest in finding the wrecks, particularly the wreck of the Sydney. The idea was that doing this might give the families of the lost sailors some measure of peace, a sense of closure and certainty.

The problem was that the only witnesses to the battle and the sinking were about 300 German sailors who had abandoned their ship after it had been hit. They were eventually picked up by the Australian military.

After their capture, most of these Germans were interrogated and asked to identify where the ships had gone down. But the Germans seemed quite fuzzy on this point.

Bob Trotter, a former director of the Finding Sydney Foundation, a nonprofit group established to help find the Sydney, says their ignorance isn’t all that surprising.

“Particularly in a wartime situation, the position of the ship is really kept in the bridge area,” Trotter says. “It would not be normal that the rest of the ship’s company would be told.”

Still, in the course of their interrogations, about 70 Germans did come up with a location. But those locations, taken together, didn’t make much sense — the positions were spread out, smeared over hundreds of miles. One survivor even placed the sinking almost halfway to Antarctica.

So most Australians concluded that the Germans must be lying, their conflicting accounts part of a ploy to throw the Australians off the scent. When Sydney hunters went out looking for the boat — and many did — they either completely disregarded the accounts from the Germans, or, in a couple of cases, focused exclusively on the captain’s version of the story.

Then came psychologists Kim Kirsner and John Dunn.

Kirsner, a cognitive psychologist from the University of Western Australia, first became interested in finding the Sydney in the 1990s. After attempting some different approaches to solving the problem, he brought in his friend and frequent collaborator, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Adelaide.

By the time Dunn entered the picture in the mid- to late 1990s, all kinds of people with all kinds of theories had already attempted to find the ships.

“If you didn’t believe the Germans,” says Trotter of the Finding Sydney Foundation, “the number of possibilities were endless as to what might have happened and where the ships might be. Lots of theories had been expounded, and lots of areas had been suggested.”

The cycle was always the same: Some treasure hunter with a theory would propose a site; people would rush off to look; there would be excitement, then disappointment.

How We Remember Stories

As cognitive psychologists, Kirsner and Dunn took a very different view of the German accounts. To them, the spread of the reports looked like the kind of data they saw in memory experiments. So they set out to prove scientifically that the Germans were probably telling the truth.

“We wanted to make the case — show that the characteristics of these reports were the right kind of characteristics,” says Dunn. That is, that the inconsistencies in the reports were precisely the kind of inconsistencies that occur naturally from failures of memory and the vagaries of transmitting information from person to person.

To make this case, Dunn says, they turned to the work of the British psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett.

Click to read the rest of the story…

The Top 10 Things Trans People Sould Know About the New Standards of Care [transgenderequality.wordpress.com]

The blog of the National Center for Transgender Equality has an excellent summary of the new WPATH Standards of Care:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) today released a newly-revised seventh edition of its Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People. The revised Standards of Care are a critical resource for providers, healthcare consumers, and advocates, and are a step forward in ensuring that transgender and gender non-conforming people receive high quality care individualized for their needs.

Significant features of the new edition include:

• Recognition that gender nonconformity in and of itself is not a disorder.
• Strong affirmation that attempts to change a person’s gender identity through “reparative” therapy are ineffective and unethical.
• Strong affirmation that transition-related treatments such as hormone therapy and surgery are medically necessary for many individuals and should be covered by insurance.
• Continued emphasis on the individual nature of transition-related care and the flexibility of treatment guidelines.
• Additional guidance on the treatment of adolescents and children, including guidelines for puberty-delaying treatment.
• Near elimination of the “real-life experience” requirement as a prerequisite criteria for medical transition in adults, with the exception of some genital surgeries.
• Discussion of a wider range of treatment options, including voice and communication therapy.
• Discussion of the preventive care needs of transgender people.
• Clarification that the Standards of Care should be applied in their entirety to those who are incarcerated or otherwise living in an institutionalized setting.
• A call for health professionals to advocate not only for their patients – for example by helping them obtain updated identity documents – but also for larger policy and legal reform promoting tolerance and equality.

The revised Standards of Care represent a step forward in ensuring that all transgender and gender nonconforming people have access to high-quality, respectful care responsive to their individual needs.

http://transgenderequality.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/the-top-10-things-trans-people-should-know-about-the-new-standards-of-care/

Download the WPATH Standards of Care

Bill to expand access to HPV vaccine for Calif. minors reaches Gov. Brown’s desk [sacbee.com]

By TOREY VAN OOT / McClatchy Newspapers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Days before Republican candidates began sparring over a vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer, a bill aimed at expanding access to the shot for California minors made its way to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk with little fanfare.

Assembly Bill 499, by Democratic Assemblywoman Toni Atkins would allow those 12 and older to seek medical care to prevent sexually transmitted infections without parental consent.

A coalition of parental rights advocates, vaccination opponents and conservative and religious groups is now rallying against the bill, characterizing it as an affront to parents’ rights.

The presidential debates have called new attention to the issue, providing new ammunition for supporters and opponents of the shot.

They’ve flooded Brown’s office with phone calls – so many that Californians calling the governor’s public line can select a voicemail box reserved just for feedback on this one measure.

The California bill differs substantially from the executive order signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is now under fire for the action from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.

Perry’s order, ultimately overturned by the Texas Legislature, mandated the shot for sixth grade girls, offering an “opt out” provision for parents who objected.

The California measure now awaiting action from Brown doesn’t make prevention measures mandatory. It allows minors 12 and older to receive prevention services for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent.

Such prevention services would include two vaccinations approved to protect against strains of Human papillomavirus, a virus that can cause cervical cancer. Hepatitis vaccinations and medication to reduce risk of HIV infection after exposure would also be covered.

Supporters cast the bill as a logical, and potentially life-saving, step to promote public health, pointing out that those as young as 12 have for decades been able to consent on their own to be diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted diseases.

“What this adds is them being able to receive prevention … which is obviously a very important part of health care,” said Dr. Dorothy Furgerson, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. “If you can prevent a cancer with a vaccine, shouldn’t you do that?”

The bill sets the minimum age for the preventative services at 12 to align with existing law on treatment and conform with federal recommendations that the shot be administered around that age to maximize effectiveness and ensure protection prior to exposure.

But supporters say they don’t expect many young teens to take advantage of the change if signed into law, in part due to the high cost of the shot, more than $300, and need for multiple injections over several months.

“There probably is a little bit of an overblown fear that suddenly there will be a lot of younger teens coming in, when in reality it will probably be some of the older teens who are more aware of these issues, aware of these prevention measures,” said Dr. Susan Philip, president of the California STD Controllers Association, the group of public health officials that sponsored the bill.

The possibility that middle school students could obtain the vaccine on their own has riled critics who worry youth will be pressured to get the shots without fully understanding the reason or potential side effects.

“It’s just a matter of how can a 12-year-old possibly assess risk-versus-benefit information and make a medical decision for themselves without the knowledge or consent of their parent,” said anti-vaccine activist Dawn Winkler. “As a parent myself, I would want my child to have to have my consent and I would want the knowledge of any medical procedure.”

Supporters counter that parental involvement isn’t always an option, arguing that ensuring greater access to preventive care is necessary to combat rising STD rates in teens.

“I don’t disagree with how they would like the world to be,” said Atkins, who previously worked at community reproductive health clinics. “I think it would be a wonderful thing if our kids talked to us and we were able to do these things together, but that’s not always the reality.”

Other critics say STD prevention is best addressed through abstinence-based education that starts with the parents. They take issue with the idea that the state could help pick up the tab for teens eligible for state-aided health care coverage.

“You don’t give tax-funded, bullet-proof vests to gang members and say, ‘Hey this will protect you.’ You deal with the behavior,” said Randy Thomasson, founder of SaveCalifornia.com. “A young girl is not a female dog in heat. A young girl is influenced by what she is taught.”

Federal regulators have approved two shots, Gardasil and Cervarix, intended to prevent HPV, which is the country’s most widespread sexually transmitted infection. Supporters have praised the shots as an important tool in combating cervical cancer, which affects roughly 12,000 women a year.

While claims that the shots are unsafe have been disputed by experts in the medical community, GOP candidate Michele Bachmann’s recent attacks on Perry put the debate back in the headlines.

The Minnesota congresswoman went after Perry for the 2007 executive order, saying “little girls who have a negative reaction to this potentially dangerous drug don’t get a mulligan.”

In later interviews, Bachmann cited a conversation with a woman who said her daughter “suffered from mental retardation” after receiving the shot.

Medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have denounced that claim as false, saying there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine causes such developmental issues.

Dr. Gary Leiserowitz, professor and chief at the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, said while legitimate questions of whether the shots are necessary exist due to HPV’s life cycle, evidence shows the vaccine is safe and has “remarkably few side effects.”

“It is unfortunate that this vaccine has become mired in deeply moral and ethical values related to sexual behavior, although I suppose that it was inevitable because of the nature of the transmission,” he said. “If you look at it strictly from the standpoint of trying to prevent diseases, it seems like it’s actually a pretty remarkable breakthrough.”

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/23/3933728/bill-to-expand-access-to-hpv-vaccine.html#ixzz1Z5msF4EI

WPATH announces new standards of care for transgender and gender nonconforming people [thegavoice.com]

By Diana Bagby / thegavoice.com

There were champagne toasts and rounds of applause as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health released on Sunday its newest Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People  at a symposium at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta.

WPATH revision committee chair Eli Coleman launched the 7th version of the standards of care to some 300 people who attended the symposium as part of a partnership with the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association and the Southern Comfort Conference, the largest transgender conference in the nation that takes place annually in Atlanta.

“This is a momentous occasion,” Coleman said before he conducted a brief outline of the standards of care.

“This was a very, very important task. Just the title is a fundamental change — you do not see Gender Identity Disorder,” Coleman said to a warm round of applause from transgender people and physicians and psychotherapists who work with transgender individuals.

“We’ve made a clear statement that gender nonconformity is not pathological,” a pronouncement greeted with another round of applause from attendees.

“We’ve set a whole different tone. It’s more about what the professionals have to do” and not about transgender people having to prove their health needs to the professionals, he explained.

And when Coleman announced that the new standards of care state in no uncertain terms that “reparative therapy is unethical,” there was even more applause.

“This is no longer about hormones and surgery — it’s about health in a holistic sense,” Coleman said.

Walter Bockting, the outgoing president of WPATH, said in an interview before the launch that theversion 7 of the standards of care represents a significant departure from the past six versions — the original version was published in 1979 with revisions made in 1980, 1981, 1990, 1998 and 2001.

“Some of the changes we’ve made really incorporate the latest science,” Bockting said. “Research in this area is really increasing so it is still a growing area but there has been a boom in research publications. Our standards of care are more evidence based.”

Some key revisions:

• Psychotherapy is no longer a requirement to receive hormones and surgery, although it is suggested.

“It used to be a minimum amount of psychotherapy was needed. An assessment is still required but that can be done by the prescribing hormone provider,” Bockting explained.

• A number of community health centers in the U.S. have developed protocols for providing hormone therapy based an approach known as the Informed Consent Model. These protocols are consistent with version 7 revisions of WPATH’s standards of care.

“The SOC are flexible clinical guidelines; they allow for tailoring of interventions to the needs of the individual receiving services and for tailoring of protocols to the approach and setting in which these services are provided,” Coleman explained.

“Access is more open and acknowledges transgender care is being provided in community health centers. This certainly makes it easier to access hormones,” Bockting added.

• There are now different standards for surgery, as well. For example, a transgender man who wants a hysterectomy no longer has to live one year as a male in order to receive the surgery. Likewise, a transgender woman who wants her testicles removed does not have to live one year as a female.

For people who want genital reconstructive surgery, however, the standards of care recommend living a year in the role of the gender they are transitioning.

• Another major change, Bockting explained, is that the standards “allow for a broader spectrum of identities – they are no longer so binary.”

“There is no one way of being transgender and it doesn’t have to mirror the idea of a change of their sex,” Bockting explained.

“These standards allow for a gender queer person to have breasts removed without ever taking hormones,” he said.

The WPATH conference in Atlanta, along with the Southern Comfort Conference and the conference of the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, was a joint effort to show the world what is being done in the area of LGBT health.

But, Bockting added, the new WPATH standards of care also show the tremendous effort that transgender people themselves are doing to ensure their access to healthcare.

“Oftentimes the standards of care were perceived as a barrier even though they were meant as access to care for hormone therapy and surgery,” he said.

“The new standards showcase the important role [transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people] have played in changing the landscape of transgender health in the U.S.,” Bockting added.

A PDF version of the Standards of Care can be viewed by click on this link: http://www.thisishow.org/Files/soc7.pdf

http://www.thegavoice.com/index.php/news/national-news/3497-wpath-announces-new-standards-of-care-for-transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-people

Trails End Farmer’s Market Removes Transgendered Employee [am980.ca]

AM980 News  9/22/2011

A human rights complaint is in the process of being filed against the Trails End Farmer’s Market on Dundas Street because of an ultimatum issued to a vendor to remove a transgendered employee from the premises.

The vendor in question is “True 2 You”, a local company that sells candles, incense, oils, and air fresheners. Market officials were concerned transgendered individuals compromised their “family friendly atmosphere.”

Karen Clarke, the owner and proprietor of True 2 You of London, says nearly two weeks ago – on September 10th – she was told she could not set up a booth the following week if she planned on having a transgendered employee running it.

After working the morning shift, she left her attendant Dani – who’s transgendered – in charge so she could prepare for their work day in the Pinery the next day.

“Everything was fine when I left and it wasn’t until five to 8 on Saturday night that I got a call from the management at Trails End. Basically they said if I was going to have those people there anymore I’m invited to take my business elsewhere.”

The call was made by one of the market’s managers, she said.

“He said it made everyone uncomfortable and it just wasn’t right. This is a family place, a family market and this just isn’t right. I just kept insisting what happened that was wrong and he said you walk up to the person and they’re dressed like a woman and they’ve got big hands, a deep voice and tattoos and it’s just not right. It’s just not a family place he kept repeating that over and over again. And I kept trying to get from him what was wrong, what was so not right, what was it that people were complaining about and there was no details forthcoming that way. He called them ‘those people’ several times.”

Michelle Boyce is now providing counsel to the vendor and says this is a case of blatant discrimination and a complaint will be filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

“We’re in the process of filing human rights against Trails End Market, its blatant discrimination of what they’ve done. I’ve never seen a case so obvious.”

Boyce says if the commission rules in their favor, the fall out could be significant.

“There’s pain and suffering, dollars that are in play and that can total up to $30,000 or $40,000, it depends on each case. Then there’s the public interest piece where the public interest is at play and they’re going to have to get training and develop programs that include transpeople, LGBT communities and make it a safe place for all of the public.”

Ed Kikkert has owned the Trails End Farmer’s Market for nearly 30 years and says he was alerted to the presence of the transgendered individuals through employees and customers. He confirms Clarke was given the opportunity to take her business elsewhere.

“She was asked if she could not look after her booth, if she was not able, then she was asked to leave it because of the people she had running it,” Kikkert said. “The issue was there was three men in that booth dressed up as women.”

He doesn’t believe this is a case of discrimination.

“Why would I be discriminating? I’m not discriminating at all. I’m just asking which washroom would they use? How can you go into a men’s washroom dressed as a lady, how can you go into ladies washroom when you’re a man. That’s the difficulty I have. It’s not discriminating at all. The issue is at hand.”

Kikkert also didn’t have much of a reaction when he was informed the human rights complaint was being filed.

“Everybody has to do what they have to do.”

The employee in question, according to the business owner, is one of her best employees and has worked without issue at the Children’s Festival, Rib Fest, and Food Fest this past summer. In addition to working for Clarke, Dani also lives with her as part of a rent-for-work agreement.

Clarke has had a booth at the Trails End Farmer’s market for three years and says she’s never had any issues.

Kikkert acknowledges there was no “inappropriate behavior” on the part of the transgendered employee, saying the individual’s mere presence made customers uncomfortable.

“Basically, we run a family farmers market. I have two washrooms, a washroom for men and a washroom for women. My question would be, if they had to go to the washroom which washroom would they go to. If they go to the women’s washroom, they’re men so the women would get excited. If they go the men’s washroom the men would get excited because they’re dressed as women so which washroom would they use in my market? That’s what I have difficulty with. So would I have to have a third washroom?”

The incident has left Clarke and Dani hurt.

“I’ve never experienced this before because frankly I’m from Oakridge. Born and raised in London and haven’t had a lot of experiences with biases one way or another. To have it affect my business so directly for not being biased, I’m being punished for not being a bigot.” said Clarke.

Dani says she’s devastated by what’s happened.

“This has destroyed me, it’s pushed me back in my shell. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been depressed.” she said, adding she feels especially bad at the situation her employer now finds herself in.

“I feel responsible for this. It hits home and for everything she’s done for me, and to have this happen to her. It just rips me apart. Because of this, having me work for her has pretty much destroyed the business she had there. This is her busy time, this is her survival.”

When asked if Clarke would be welcomed back to Trail’s End, Kikkert said “absolutely” on the condition she “look after it.”

“That’s exactly what she was told on the phone that evening,” Kikkert said. “It wasn’t one; there were three in one small 10×10 booth. So that’s an issue too. If there’s one it wouldn’t have stuck out that bad but there’s three.”

Clarke questions that, saying a campaign has already started to smear her name.

“This is hearsay but from all the other vendors that I talked to this Sunday (the 18th), now I’m being defamed. I’m apparently several months in arrears in my rent and ever since my husband left me, which is not what happened, I’ve fallen into a bad crowd. That I’m going downhill and this is the story that is being put out to the other vendors at Trail’s End.”

She says she’ll never return to the Market as a vendor.

“I’m not comfortable there. If they [market officials] can turn on somebody who’s been so dedicated, and I’ve been there through the last several years and have always run a very low-key and steady business, if they can turn on you that quickly – the trust is gone.”

In the meantime, a petition to boycott the market has already been created with hundreds of signatures in less than 24 hours.

“The support has been outstanding,” said Dani. ” It’s unbelievable. We never expected it, and we’re just happy that there is the support and they’re backing us – because we did nothing wrong, and we’re happy the community sees that.”

http://www.am980.ca/Channels/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1543775