Paris Protests Against Nepal's Crown Prince Over 'Sexual Cleansing Drive' Against Transsexuals

March 27, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET (Paris)
Human rights protestors demonstrated against the visit to Paris by Nepal's Crown Prince demanding an end to what they called a "sexual cleansing drive" aimed at transsexuals.
Carrying black flags, gay rights and AIDS activists joined other human rights protestors and exiled Nepalese demonstrated at the Eiffel Tower.
Crown Prince Paras is reportedly on a private visit to Paris.
The protests come a week after Human Rights Watch reported that transsexuals and HIV/AIDS outreach workers in Nepal's capital Kathmandu are under increased scrutiny by police.
Human Rights Watch first raised the alarm in January after groups of transgendered women, called Metis in two separate incidents were attacked by police and the military.
Human Rights Watch says the situation has gotten increasingly worse. Earlier this month police rounded up 26 metis. According to the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepali organization working in the fields of sexual rights, sexual health and HIV prevention, they were taken to the Hanuman Dhoka central police station in Kathmandu.
Five were later moved to Kalimati police station. Human Rights Watch understands that as of March 16, they have still not been permitted to speak to a lawyer. All have reportedly been charged with committing a "public nuisance."
"This is the latest incident in a violent police campaign to 'cleanse' Kathmandu of those considered undesirable," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Police regularly assault and in some cases sexually abuse transgender people, all in the name of enforcing 'moral values.'"
Those arrested included two staff, two outreach workers, and two peer educators working for the Blue Diamond Society.

Photo: A Nepali Sister

Pic of the Day

Elizabeth Jeffords (TG Voices) with transgendered persons in Chennai.

Read article : Outsourcing, Tailored for Eunuchs

Dance like a woman - Narthaki Nataraj

A rechristening happened after the debut performance. Nataraj became Narthaki. Hailing from Madurai, Narthaki had her formal training in Bharatanatyam under the legendary guru K P Kittappa Pillai who has trained some of the great exponents like Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini and Yamini Krishnamurthy. From 1985 till his demise in 1999, Narthaki was trained in the rare compositions of her guru and of the Thanjavur Quartet apart from popular compositions. She has the rare distinction of having worked along with her guru in the Music Dept of the Thanjavur University as his assistant.

Narthaki, though not a natural born woman, specializes in depicting bhava laden nayaki roles and a lot of research goes into her productions. Narthaki established her dance school Narthaki Nrutya Kalalaya in Madurai in 1989 and recently in Chennai. More than 100 students including overseas students are being trained in her schools. Artistes who face the same identity crisis as her are treated kindly and welcomed.

I hope I have done justice in my English translation of what she expressed in beautiful Madurai Tamil.

(‘We’ in the interview refers to Narthaki and her childhood friend Shakti who shares the same gender problems).

When did you first realize you were different?
From the time I knew what life was, the only things I experienced were taunts and rebukes. I was about 7 then and did not know how to express myself the way I do now with courage and conviction. I could not understand in what way I was different from the other boys, only that I felt more safe and at home with girls. I knew I would be thrashed if I expressed my thoughts and remained silent.

We have come up the hard way, faced so much scorn and censure and lived in fear. People born like us generally take the easy way out and go into the oldest profession in the world. But we did not let the shame and rejection break our spirits. Our grit and determination to carve a name for ourselves as respected artistes has brought us where we are today. I have spent many a moment shedding tears in my house terrace or by a lonely pond, ruminating on why I was born like this, but the desire to overcome these hurdles and shine was uppermost in my mind.

We did not want to be like something on show. Maybe like some tidbit in Dina Thanthi that says, “He suddenly became a woman” or, “ Sita has become Ramu”. My case is nothing like that. If you could look into my heart, you will see the agony and scars. I am in no way inferior to a woman when I do my nayaki roles. Not every natural born woman is a successful dancer or leads a trouble free life. In no way have I spoilt my life by living life on my terms.

When did your interest in dance start?
As far back as I can remember I was always interested in dance, wanted to dance to an appreciative audience and excel in my art. I used to get opportunities to do 3 to 5 minute dances for functions and small events. I did not know formal dance as such, my imagination helped shape my movements. So, unknown to my family, I used to give performances and wipe all traces of makeup for fear of punishment before coming home, but they always managed to find out.

Since you had no formal training at that young age, who / what was your inspiration?
I used to see films, especially films that had dance in it. Vyjayanthimala in “Parthiban Kanavu’ was so inspiring, Padmini’s dances were classy, Kamala’s style was different. I used to imagine I was Padmini or Vyjayanthi. We would see the late show in Madurai Anapanadi and on the way back home, at 2am on the deserted Thennamara Road, I used to do my interpretations to my one-member audience, Shakti. Dogs belonging to the gypsy settlements by the roadside would chase me sometimes; I’ve even been bitten! How would they know I was dancing!! I could hardly tell my family and tended to my wounds myself.

The aftermath of the film dances used to be with me for a week and it irked my family to see me making eyes in the mirror! I would be spanked and the misery made me resolve many a time to try to be like any other student, study and go for a job. That would last only till the next offer to dance maybe in a temple and I would get back to it with renewed energy! My makeup stuff would be hidden in various secret places, so I would start gathering them in readiness, organize for a wig and so on. I used to get lots of prizes but gave them away as I could not bring them home.

Who was your first teacher?
Seeing my dance, many advised me to get a good teacher and learn dance the proper way. An elderly relative, who visited my house frequently and recognized my talent, could not bear to see me treated harshly and took responsibility to get me a good teacher. Unfortunately, for him dance and drama were same and he took me to a stage actress who used to act in all night plays and sleep through the day! I finally had to plead that I wanted to learn dance and not acting! She was kind enough to single out a teacher Namanur Jeyaraman from the Thanjavur bani to teach me, but we had to travel to Sivaganga to meet him. The meager funds provided by Shakti enabled only me to accompany the actress to Sivaganga. Shakti and I had started dance together but now, for the first time, Shakti’s ambitions took second place and she sacrificed everything for me from then on.

How old were you then?
About 12. I was thrilled to enter the hallowed halls of guru Jeyaraman’s house, and saw the photos of Kamalahasan’s sisters who had learnt from him. But the teacher was extremely ill and bed ridden and my heart sank. He asked me to pray to Goddess Meenakshi that he would recover enough to teach me when he came to Madurai for medical checkups.

Surprisingly, I got a card from him a month later to get a space ready for classes. But where? There was a school nearby which used to open very early for the Trustees’ children to play in and we used the opportunity till we were found out! After that it was in homes of known people who could not tolerate ‘the noise’ after a couple of classes. Finally, a good soul in a slum 8 km away offered his hut for my classes. That was a good 90 minutes walk from my house.

When was this?
Around 1982. My guru was skeptical when he saw the place, but he obliged on seeing our eagerness to learn. Shakti had left school after 9th class and the money she used to get from working in her family textile business went towards paying my guru for my dance classes which cost Rs.80 a month and Rs.20 for his conveyance. That was a lot of money for us at that time. I used to pretend I was going to the temple at 5am, Shakti used to come from her house and we used to rush all the way across town to class and despite walking for 90 minutes, I danced so vigorously that my guru used to get tired just watching me! On the way back, we used to bring vibuti and kumkum to substantiate our claim but our families had their suspicions all the same!!

In the course of a year, I learnt a full margam and got ready for my arangetram in 1983. I presented ‘Mohamana’ in bairavi, a saveri Jathiswaram, husseini Padam, kanada Thillana in rupaka tala. ‘Mohamana’ is my favorite piece and I think I dance it quite nicely because I see people enchanted with my performance.

How did your arangetram go?
I actually had the audacity to personally go to the Madurai Mayor’s house and invite him to be chief guest. No one believed he actually would, even my family whom I finally informed, but the Mayor did keep his word and it was a great event at the Thamuka Maidan in Madurai where many important functions take place. Shakti and I had to cycle across town to collect the wig and we returned just in time for me to make up and start. From then till now, we do our own makeup. It rained heavily but I felt the heavens were blessing me. I was the talk of Madurai that evening.

What about the orchestra?
My guru had his own group. He sang and did the nattuvangam. He used to sing beautifully. Venu on the flute, Thyagarajan on the mridangam were all experienced vidwans who accompanied stalwarts like Sikkil Ramaswamy. My guru died a month later. It was as if God had kept him alive for a year just to teach me and conduct my arangetram. I started giving many performances after that.

How did you become Kittappa Pillai’s student?
Being a fan of Vyjayanthimala, I wanted to learn under her guru too. Kittappa Pillai had just received the Isai Perarignar Award and I knew from magazines that he was then at Thanjavur after returning from his travels abroad. So, we rushed off to Thanjavur to become his students, which was easier said than done. To become his student is nothing short of a miracle. He said he had heard about me but he had a hectic travel schedule in India and abroad. He would ask us to attend Vyjayanthimala’s performance in Bangalore or Sudharani’s performance in Chennai and on seeing us there, he would wonder why we were there! It was hard on us financially, but we persisted relentlessly for nearly a year and like a miracle, he one day announced, “Come tomorrow. We will start class”. We rushed back to Madurai and returned the following day with the flowers and fruits for guru dakshina.

It is the most unforgettable moment in my life. When I started my adavu classes under the great guru Kittappa Pillai in the fabulous hall of the Ponniah Natya School for the first time, I was brimming with happiness. It was like heaven. The more I danced, the more I felt I was nearing the treasure at a rainbow’s end. In a year, I learnt a full margam. He usually did not teach rare compositions to everybody on completing a margam, but he made an exception in my case. I felt so honored. However hungry I was, I danced on. His wife, such a kind lady, could always tell from my face and used to have food ready for me when class was over. She passed away barely 2 years after master did.

Where did you stay when you were his student?
I stayed at his house. He has a beautiful hall upstairs.

What kind of a guru was he?
I was always treated as a member of his family. He was so understanding and approachable, that one could go to him for advice on anything from dance to personal problems. After class, he would lay down his big bulk on the bench. I would sit beside him and ask his advice on dance, my fears, my gender problems, if I should continue dance. He always gave me affection and encouragement to pursue my goals. He had confidence in me that I would shine one day.

I have performed in this very same Mylapore Fine Arts in 1987 with Kittappa Pillai doing the nattuvangam. It was for Cosmos Club. He was foremost a great musician and mridanga vidwan, and only then a dance guru. When he got carried away with a student’s dance, he would burst into song himself and sing the raga in an innovative way that was all his own. Nobody could handle Shankarabaranam or Khamas the way he did and the vocalist unable to match his skills would keep quiet and let him sing. The bhavam he gave the ragas was like the gentle drizzle, like the soft wind blowing. His sangatis were out of this world; I have them on my tapes. Once during my performance, he just turned and said ‘Shabash’ (Well done) and that is still in one of my cassettes and I treasure it. I have many cassettes with compositions sung by him.

I think it’s my poorva janma punya (blessings of a past life) that I am blessed to have been his student in spite of the way I was born. To learn from him was a divine experience, I considered him a siddha purusha. Even in his 80’s, his memory power was so amazing; he had better memory than a computer. If I forgot a korvai, he would correct it to perfection. He remembered the smallest movement of an item done many years ago in such minute, exact detail. He was an amazing person. Even 4 days before he died, my guru clarified some doubts I had about a theermanam, which I was to perform in the Dussera Festival.

My guru was very interested in my welfare. He knew his end was nearing and gave me a testimonial in 1995 to help me in my career and that is my most prized possession. He was very appreciative of the nayaki roles I did and advised me to write a research paper on ‘nayaki bhavam’. He gave me lots of tips on that.

Can you elaborate on the ‘nayaki bhava’?
Many males do female roles in a beautiful manner, like Shivaji Ganesan did. Sometimes, the makeup man gets the credit. But I think there’s a difference in the way I do the female roles.
Whenever I start a project or have to interpret a song, I delve deep into the inner meanings, the emotions behind the words, the situation, so I can give the correct bhava interpretations. So, I do a lot of research, read a lot, dissect the pada artha and arrive at the final presentation. Artha should not become anartha!! So, along the way, I have collected some very rare books and scripts and these are my prized possessions, my little library.

What are some outstanding / cherished moments in your career?
It was a wonderful experience that my guru and I worked together as teachers in the Thanjavur University in the Music Dept between 1990 and 1994. I worked as his assistant. After a lapse of 20 years during which no performance had taken place in the Madurai Meenakshi temple, Shakti and I performed there to a massive gathering this year on January 16th.

Are you proficient in music too?
I have a basic knowledge of music. I am going to concentrate more now on learning music. I want to learn better English too, so I can express myself better!

How different is it to perform to a rural audience?
People who come for Sabha programs have a basic knowledge unlike the rural audience and that’s where the challenge lies. I always perform in the remote towns with trepidation and the greatest compliment is when someone comes up to me and cites some instance from my presentation and I know I’ve been understood. I am proud to say I’m a regular performer at these villages and towns.

What response did you get when you opened your dance school in Madurai?
I established Narthaki Nrutya Kalalaya in 1989 in Madurai. I had no problems in getting students, because it was well known that I was guru Kittappa Pillai’s disciple, so students came readily to me to learn. I always perform my guru’s compositions solo. Now I perform duets with Shakti and some group productions with my students.

Shakti has been a great support to you.
Yes, I won’t be what I am today if not for her sacrifices. We started learning together. Due to lack of money (I had none, she had some), she let me reap the benefits. She became Kittappa Pillai’s student much later, but guru passed away before she could finish learning a margam. Now I am teaching Shakti all that I know. Whenever we perform together, she’s Kannan to my Radha, Shiva to my Shakti, nayaka to my nayaki.

How do you see your future?
I feel I have come about half way along my journey, but I still have a long way to go. Shakti and I have made a systematic life for ourselves, a schedule. A time to eat, a time to sleep, a time to rehearse, a time to perform and so on.

Will you teach the rare compositions you know to others or you want to keep it to yourself?
What will I gain by keeping it to myself? I will teach anyone who’s genuinely interested but I must be convinced that this person will retain the purity of the composition. My guru preserved intact what his guru taught him, I want to do the same and I want my student to do likewise.
I have also done some novel interpretations of old themes from the works of Subramania Bharathi and Bharathidasan and some rare and little known pieces centering on heroine oriented themes from Thevaram, Thiruvachakam, Thirupugazh, Divya Prabandham and other religious epics.
I am looking for someone who will dance like me one day, with the same nayaki bhavam. Even after 200 years, I must live on in history as an outstanding dancer.

Link to source website

XXIII IGLA

The next World Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, better known as ILGA, will be held in Geneva, from March 27 to April 3,2006. It will be organised by a coalition of Swiss LGBT groups.

The Conference will be held at the same time as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, an international forum which has failed to this day to recognise us and our rights. It will be another opportunity to remind the UN of the imperative necessity to explicitly declare that sexual orientation and the free expression of gender identity are human rights.

Alternatively, you can let us lead you through this short presentation to become more familiar with the role and importance of ILGA's conferences within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Movement worldwide.

Check the programme for two preconferences called Transgender Caucas and Transgender Issues

Link: http://www.ilga-world-conference-2006.ch/index.html

Indian eunuch says will “bare it all” in autobiography

19 March 2006 BANGALORE
From sexual abuse by drunken men to taunts from women and beatings from policemen, eunuch Jereena says she will “bare it all” in her autobiography, the first by a transgender The 128-page book titled “Autobiography of a Hijra (eunuch)” and written in Jereena’s mother tongue Malayalam, spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is slated for release by the end of March.“Nobody in India knows how we struggle for a living nor how we feel when people insult us,” said Jereena, dressed in an orange sari and a green blouse and wearing ear rings, glass bangles and a necklace.“I thought I will write a book to tell them about my life’s experiences. “People who read my book will know the pain we undergo every day, every moment of our lives,” Jereena, 46, told AFP in an interview at her “hamam,” or bath house, as the eunuchs’ brothel is referred to.
“I will bare it all in the book.” Jereena, who uses only one name, left Kerala aged 18 for the southern city of Chennai and shortly after moved again, to settle almost 20 years ago in India’s high-tech city of Bangalore.
“When I was in my fourth standard (grade) I came to know I had a liking for men. I had sex with the principal when I was only nine years. My brothers and parents started bothering me with threats when I told them I wanted to become a eunuch,” Jereena said.“I had to stop my education after passing tenth standard. I knew I have to leave my hometown if I want to become a eunuch. I left my village at the age of 18,” said Jereena.
“Soon I realised the life ahead (would not be) easy,” said Jereena, who heads the eunuch community in Bangalore. “I have to engage in prostitution and begging to eke out a living.”
Men, she says, throw eggs and rotten tomatoes at her and other eunuchs when they walk the streets of Bangalore, and women jeer and scream.
Drunken men often beat eunuchs after having sex with them, police beat them for soliciting customers, and customers sometimes refused to pay, Jereena said.
Doctors often refused the treatment, believing “we have HIV/AIDS,” and no one would give them jobs. “All this will feature in my book,” Jereena said.
“I sell myself to keep the pot boiling. There are eunuchs out here who survive as dancers in bars and by going from house to house in search of a new born baby,” Jereena said.
India’s estimated one million eunuchs are regulars at Indian festivities, entering homes uninvited to bless babies and regularly gatecrashing weddings.
Jereena, who was married to a man for six years but divorced under pressure from her in-laws, said she wanted her autobiography to be educational.
“The purpose of the book is to make others understand and accept us. For example do you know that I have an adopted son. He is not a eunuch and he works as a fruit vendor,” said Jereena.
“Do you know that I work with my colleagues to encourage them to use condoms?” Jereena said. “People think we are without a heart. My book is an attempt to change that and every other negative perception they have.”

Outsourcing, tailored for eunuchs

Calcutta, May 19: A business venture moving from China to India is giving the 3,000-strong eunuch community of Calcutta a chance to be counted. Sustenance through sewing will be their mantra in a somewhat curious case of outsourcing.

Representatives from Transgendered Voices, Inc., a Colorado-based non-profit corporation, are in town to encourage eunuchs to take up sewing and make clothing for not only the “heavily-built transgender Americans”, but “all kinds of special sizes” not available at readymade stores.

Elizabeth Jeffords and Florence Vanmalderen. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

In town since yesterday, Elizabeth Jeffords, executive director of Transgendered Voices, told The Telegraph: “We want the hijras from here and other parts of India to be self-dependent financially. Ninety-five per cent of hijras that I have met in this country are sex workers. They have not explored other options of sustenance. We are trying to assist them through creative and intellectual activities.”

The fact that there is no wearable option today for Americans “who are not of standard size” could open up a busy new world for a community languishing in bylanes.

“Even 50 to 70 years ago, you could have got tailors to make you specially-sized skirts for transgenders and other big and small people,” said Jeffords. “But now, you only get standard sizes off the racks at the malls. So we have been getting junk clothing made from the lowest levels in China and the Philippines. And now, we want to establish business with India, to get quality clothing at the same price, and help the hijras in the process.”

Having already established a base in Bangalore, Transgendered Voices is hopeful of the response from the Calcutta community. “Although it is not a political theme, I don’t feel a communist society like Calcutta should be any different from a capitalist society like Bangalore. I expect a greater support from the West Bengal government to help them be empowered individually.”

During her week-long stay in the city, Jeffords and her business manager Florence Vanmalderen will meet “important people” like police authorities, AIDS Council representatives and the secretary of the state women and child welfare department.

“To provide a platform for this project, we are having a special dinner at the new Salt Lake convention centre, Rotunda, on Saturday,” said Koushik Chatterjee, chief executive worker of The Bodhi, a local organisation helping out Transgendered Voices. “We want the eunuchs to meet Jeffords and feel comfortable about the proposal.”

But will it help wipe out the social stigma? “Once they start working, they will earn the respect they deserve and merge into the social fold,” said Jeffords, looking forward to seeing Shabnam Mausi (a film on India’s first eunuch MLA).

PRATIM D. GUPTA for The TELEGRAPH, Kolkata

So you want to be a girl?

I grew up in house full of men. My mom was the only women there. She would lament "I wish I had had a girl! So that I wouldn't feel so lonely.Someone who would share my burden" It was true, no one lifted a finger, she would have to do everything at home.

"Mom, where's my shirt? Mom where's my breakfast? Mom where's the chai?"
She would say she would have liked to be like a Hindu goddess with a thousand arms. So tht she could do all the thousand things at the same time. I would have liked to help my mom but I would not be allowed.
"Go away from the kitchen, you're a boy"
But so many times, I wanted to tell her, "Mom, I want to help you, please let me" But either I did not have the guts or the understanding as to why I felt like this.
And then one day, when everybody was away and I was alone at home. I dressed up in my mom's silk saree, put kajal in my eyes, put on a bindi, wore her glass bangles, her silver payals. I sat down on the bed and put on the TV, watched the TV serials that I would die to watch, the cookery programs, make-up help, fashion. I read her Woman's era and Femina. I felt like a woman, like somone I would have liked to be. This great day would become my routine for a few years. I would wait for days when the whole family went out and I would feign some imaginery fatigue or stomach ache. Now I was dressing three or four times a week. I became an expert on draping the saree. The gestures that I had studied watching my mother and other women became second nature. My hands automatically pulled the saree edge over my fake breasts, I would use the pullu to cover my shoulders, I would hold up my pleats when I went into the bathroom. I would tuck the pullu around me whn I made tea.
Then one day the inevitable happened. I fell asleep dressed in my finery and woke up to loud laughter. I opened my eyes and before me stood the whole family.
I frooze!
My brothers were laughing but were visibly embrassed, angry, disgusted. My father walked away mumuring something. My mother stood there, a smile on her face. She said " My god! You really know how to wear a saree. "
They all left me there on the bed. I did not know what I should do. Should I run to the bathroom and change or should I be brave.
My mom came back again into the room. She studid me and then sat down next to me.
"Why are you wearing my sarees?"
I thought for a while and then looked up at her and said " I want to be a girl!"
She got up. She said you think being a girl is dressing up in a saree?. I didn't say anything.
"So, you want to be a girl?"
She got up and opened the cupboard and took out a cotten sari and threw it next to me. "You can't wear a silk saree and do housework, my dear". She left the room. I sat there my heart racing, what do I do?
She came back a few minutes later "What are you doing? Change your saree and come into the kitchen, there is work to do".
I took the cue, I quickly took off the expensive silk saree and put on the 'house saree', an orange cotten one. I meekly walked into the kitchen.
My mom looked at me and laughed. Lets see if you can be a girl she said.

She handed me a tray with a teapot and cups. "Take this and serve them their tea!"

This was my mother's idea of womanhood.

I took the tray with shivering hands and went out into the sitting room. They sat there watching TV. They looked up at me, their mouths agape.
"Don't be shocked! 'She' wants to be a girl so she is going to be one, lets see how long 'her' desire lasts."
There was a howling round of laughter and sarcastic jokes.
But my mother was soon to be surprised by my resolve to be a girl.

Paintings by: Shuchi Krishnan

Godhuli & Spring

Guatemala: Transgender People Face Deadly Attacks

Victims Concerned That Police May Have Been Responsible for These Crimes

(New York, February 21, 2006)— The Guatemalan government must take immediate steps to stop a pattern of deadly attacks and possible police violence against transgender women and gay men, and end impunity for these crimes, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.

One transgender woman was murdered and another was critically wounded on December 17 when they were gunned down on a street in Guatemala City. Paulina (legal name Juan Pablo Méndez Cartagena) and Sulma (legal name Kevin Robles) were stopped by four men on motorcycles at an intersection in Guatemala City's Zone One, the center of the city.
(Photo: Twenty-one year old Melissa Simpson is a transvestite sex worker in Guatemala City. She is part of OASIS, a project to improve the lives of the sexual minority in Guatemala.)
Eyewitnesses reported that the assailants were wearing police uniforms and riding police motorcycles that identified them as members of the national police. The assailants shot Paulina twice in the head, killing her immediately. They shot Sulma three times, and she is still recuperating from her injuries.
Paulina, a former sex worker, worked for the Organización de Apoyo a una Sexualidad Integral frente al SIDA (OASIS), a nongovernmental organization that works to prevent HIV/AIDS and to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Sulma is a volunteer with OASIS and a sex worker.

Since the attack, Sulma and other transgender sex workers have reported being subject to undue police surveillance, causing them to fear for their lives. According to Sulma's report to OASIS, police warned her that, as witness to the attack, her life is in danger. OASIS said that its office and personnel have been under undue police surveillance. According to OASIS, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has made no further investigations into the attack since preliminary investigations in late December.

"These cold–blooded shootings are just the latest tragedy in Guatemala's pattern of deadly violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity," said Jessica Stern, researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "The police have not done enough to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and now there is concern that they may be responsible for someone's murder."

LGBT people in Guatemala regularly face attacks and threats. In 2005, at least 13 transgender women and gay men were murdered in Guatemala. On December 21, two men in an unmarked car with tinted windows robbed two gay male sex workers at gunpoint in Guatemala City.

In the space of a single month, three gay men were murdered in Guatemala City late last year. Luis Sicán was shot to death on November 6 in Guatemala City’s Zone One. Flavio José Morales was shot to death in Zone Three of on October 12. Héctor Osmín García was shot to death by a security guard on October 7 while distributing flyers for a beauty salon. According to OASIS, there have been no prosecutions in any of these cases.

In its letter to Guatemala's president, Human Rights Watch outlined several steps that the government should take to end the violence and intimidation targeting LGBT people in Guatemala.

First, the government must ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations of the December 17 shootings — as well as other similar attacks reported over the past year. The authorities must also ensure that those responsible for these crimes are brought to justice.

In addition, the Guatemalan government should end any undue police surveillance of Sulma and other transgender sex workers, of OASIS and other NGOs advocating for the rights of LGBT people in Guatemala.

Human Rights Watch recommended that national police work with representatives of LGBT and sex worker communities to introduce sensitivity training in accordance with human rights principles to end discrimination against LGBT people and sex workers.

"Sulma has good reason to fear that the people who attacked her could strike again,"said Stern. "Guatemalan authorities must take immediate steps to protect LGBT people and hold their assailants accountable."

Human Rights Watch sent letters today detailing these human rights abuses to President Oscar Berger, the Office of the Minister of the Interior, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the national police, the Solicitor for Human Rights, and the Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Drag queen says she's a serious politician

Italian will be Europe's first 'transgender' member of parliament if elected

ROME - Vladimir Luxuria will ditch the sequins, feather boas and bouffant wigs when she enters Italy’s parliament. The drag queen says she will be Europe’s first transgender member of parliament. and wants to be seen as a serious politician.Born Wladimiro Guadagno, the former organizer of Italy’s gay pride parades, considers herself neither male nor female but dresses as a woman and prefers to be referred to as "she."Luxuria has shot to national fame by running for parliament where she is practically guaranteed a seat at April’s general election by teaming up with the country’s main communist party.
“I’m going to be the first transgender to get into a parliament in Europe,” Luxuria, 40, told Reuters in an interview.
“It’s a way to say to people: don’t judge me by the way I look, don’t judge me by my sexual orientation. Please, judge me by my ideas.”
Reaching out to gay voters, Communist Refoundation has put her very near the top of its party list. With the party likely to get at least 6 percent of the vote, Luxuria’s place as a lawmaker is assured.But Luxuria, who stars in an upcoming film playing a Neopolitan transvestite who enters politics, is keen not to be considered a novelty candidate along the lines of porn star Ilona ’Cicciolina’ Staller who sat in the assembly in the 1980s and was famous for her impromptu stripteases.
'Parliament is not a theatre'
The drag queen dressed down for a recent news conference, wearing a trouser suit with a orange jacket and said she intended to attend parliament in similarly conservative but feminine clothes rather than her cabaret attire.“Parliament is not a theatre, it’s not a discotheque. It’s already revolutionary that a transgender gets into parliament. It wouldn’t be useful to provoke in such a stupid way.”
Luxuria’s political stand for gay rights contrasts sharply with Italy’s deep Catholic roots and the hostility to gays shown by many of its politicians.
The European Parliament rejected Italy’s choice for European Commissioner, Rocco Buttiglione, a member of the Catholic UDC party, because of his belief that homosexuality was a sin.
Despite attacks from government supporters, Luxuria jokes that she has something in common with image-conscious Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is lampooned in Italy for apparently wearing built-up shoes that make him look taller.“He wears make-up, like me, maybe a little bit less but he does. He wears heels, so sometimes, at least aesthetically we have more in common than he would think.”
A new view of Italy?
The center-left 'Union' coalition, led by former European Commission President Romano Prodi, has pledged to establish some form of civil union for homosexual couples, although gay groups say the wording is not clear enough.Luxuria said she will work in parliament to establish full legal recognition of such unions, but stressed that she is not pushing for adoption rights for gays, such as exist in Spain, because “Italian society isn’t ready to accept it.”While Berlusconi’s center-right coalition, campaigning on traditional family values, hopes that Italians will be put off by the sexually ambiguous Luxuria, the center left hopes her presence will demonstrate a modern, tolerant view of Italy.Last year an earring-wearing, openly gay man, Nichi Vendola, was voted governor of the southern region of Puglia, delivering victory for Refoundation and humiliation for Berlusconi’s party.“I think Italians are a bit more mature than many of the politicians who claim to represent them,” said Luxuria.
Three Cheers for Vladimir!

Slice of Life 1

Ding Dong Ding Dong

The alarm goes off next to me. I wake up and try to put it off but I can’t find it. Alex, my partner mumbles in his sleep “Mmmm!”

I find it finally and press the snooze button. He turns around and snuggles up to me. I feel the warmth of his body against mine.

“Wake up sleepy head” I say. He mumbles in his gruff morning voice and kisses my neck. We stay in bed under the quilt for another five minutes. The alarm goes off again.

“Wake up, sweetheart, you’ll be late”. He finally gets up and looks for his sweatshirt and pants. He mumbles again and goes out of the room. I look at him from the bed. He looks yummy, I think to myself.

I drag myself out of bed a few minutes later. I put on my dressing gown over my nightie. I can hear him singing under the shower. I enter the bathroom, and pull the shower curtain apart and look at him standing under the shower. He splashes water on me. I laugh and playfully admonish him.

In the kitchen, I put the water heater on and start washing the dishes from last night. The radio tells me of all the horrors that happened in the world.

“Baby, where are my blue socks?” I hear. I tell him where they are. This is a normal thing with him. Baby, where is my belt? Or where is this or that would follow. I don’t mind it. I find that cute.

I put out the plates and the cutlery, put the bread in the toaster, take out the muesli, the milk, the orange juice.

I go into the bedroom to check on him. He is standing there in his underwear. I look at him. He is a nice example of a manliness. Whenever I look at him, I wonder if I could have ever been like him. A man. I was born one, I was still a male biologically but I had never felt like one. I had always felt different to men. But did I feel like a woman?

What was it to feel like a woman. Some of my friends told me that just because I was socially living the life of ‘woman’ it did not make me one. After all for them, I was being the caricature of a woman. But to be frank, I feel like doing all the things I was doing for him. I feel a enormous ‘niceness’ inside me when I cook for him or iron his trousers and shirts, tend to the washing, clean the house. He isn’t very good at all this. He can manage but not as well as I could do these things. I do not think that I can do all this better because I was socially ‘trained’ to do these chores. I wasn’t… as I was born and raised like a ‘boy’. He in return would do all the things I was not good at doing. He was very good in fixing things, changing fuses, putting up shelves etc . I am not good at all these things, I never was or maybe I wasn’t as interested in honing these skills. I guess I was more interested in reading about recipes, more interested to chat about household chores and tricks. Cooking up a super meal gave me a better high than fixing a flat tyre. I prefer Desperate Housewives or Sex and the City to Alien or Star wars. I prefer a chiffon dress than a pair of chinos. When I see a woman, I find myself looking her nail colour, her ear rings, her hair-do, her purse than checking out her ass. I do check out her ass but in comparison to mine. I prefer looking at Fashion TV than the Live telecast of the Monte Carlo formula 1. Why? Because I think I am a woman. I am not a man. Not like the man in the bedroom strutting around in his underwear, smelling of his after shave. I don’t mind polishing his shoes . I feel an immense pleasure doing all those things.

I feel that he participates in our life in his way and I do my share. We are different but complimentary.

So he leaves for work, and before he leaves he holds me in his arms and whispers… “I love you baby” He pulls out a small gift wrapped packet and gives it to me.

I am thrilledddddd!!!

He leaves. I watch him from the window.

I sit down at the breakfast table and open the packet. Inside there is a diamond ring, a small note says “ Happy Woman’s Day”.

I wish all a Happy International Woman's Day!

Transsexual / Transgender Immigration

Canada has some of the most transsexual/transgender friendly immigration laws in the world. Transsexuals and transgender persons (from male to female or from female to male) can immigrate to Canada to enjoy improved civil rights, benefits, and the protections of a tolerant society.

There are two primary ways to immigrate to Canada - being sponsored by your Canadian partner or applying to immigrate based on your own merit to obtain permanent resident status.

Once you become a Canadian permanent resident (landed immigrant), you could apply for Canadian citizenship in three years.

Family Class:
If you have a Canadian partner (including a permanent resident of Canada), you may be able to get sponsored as a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner. Transsexual and transgender persons (persons who change their sex legally or at a pre-operation stage) can be sponsored as a spouse since both opposite and same sex marriage are legal in Canada. A common-law partner is similar to a domestic partner and is defined as a life partner who has been living together for at least one year. So if you have been living together with your Canadian partner continuously for at least one year, he/she could sponsor you as his/her common-law partner. A conjugal partner is like a common-law/domestic partner but no cohabitation is required. Conjugal partners can be a couple who maintain the life partner form of relationship for at least one year but are unable to live together. The separation may be due to visa requirements or restrictions, or fear of prosecution of homosexuality, common in some countries.

Please have your sponsor fill out Family Class Free Assessment to see if your partner is eligible to sponsor you as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner.

Skilled Worker (Independent), Entrepreneur, Investor, Self-employed:
If you are single or in a same-sex relationship but neither of you are Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents, you can immigrate to Canada based on your own merit if you qualify as a Skilled Worker (Independent), Entrepreneur, Investor, or Self-employed. As a same-sex couple, you can apply together by submitting one application. You can choose a principal applicant who qualifies under one of the categories and his/her partner can be included as a common-law partner in the same application.

The Skilled Worker (Independent) category is one of the most popular categories since you can apply based on your own merit without having a Canadian partner or Canadian company to sponsor you. You are assessed based on your education (PhD/master's, bachelor's, or trade/non-university certificates/diploma), work experience (1-4 years of work experience), language skills (English and French), age (21-49 gets the maximum points), adaptability (having a relative in Canada, previous study/work in Canada, and spouse/common-law partner's educational level), and arranged employment in Canada. If your points are more than the passing points that CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) sets, you can apply to immigrate as a skilled worker (independent).

The Entrepreneur category applies to those who have a business management experience and planning to manage a business in Canada. The Investor category is similar to the entrepreneur category in terms of requiring a business management experience in addition to investing $400,000(CAD) in the Canadian economy. The Self-employed category applies to those who are in cultural or athletic fields or farm management.

Please fill out Free Assessment and to see if you can immigrate to Canada.

-Skilled Worker (Independent) Free Assessment
-Entrepreneur & Investor Free Assessment
-Self-employed Free Assessment

Read Austin's article from Advocate.com "Gay? No Prob. Welcome to Canada!"

If you have additional questions regarding transsexual/transgender immigration to Canada, please check FAQ for more information.

For same-sex immigration, please check Same-Sex Immigration for Gay and Lesbian.

I Choose To Be A Woman

A confused identity. A quest to find herself. A woman trapped inside a man’s body. It has taken incredible courage for Hirak Subhra alias Sohini Bagchi to be what she has always desired to be... a woman. She tells us her story.

The Early Years
Even as a child, I preferred playing with dolls and kitchen toys rather than being outdoors. My father was a vigilance officer and my mother taught psychology at Victoria College in Kolkata.

At the time, they brushed aside fears of my effeminate behaviour as harmless. It was only in the seventh standard that I became further aware of my confused sexuality, when I preferred to have girls as friends, instead of boys, and my female mannerisms made me the butt of quite a few jokes.

You know, I feel happy for those who say that their days at school were their best years, because for me it was sheer torment, fear and mental agony. I dreaded going to school and many times my parents intervened and complained to the principal, so that boys wouldn’t tease me or rag me, but the complaints only made it worse. They would come after me more fiercely after each complaint.

The First Signs
I was in class six when I first wore my mother’s sari. I also frequented the neighbour’s house to smear lipstick and kohl and to colour my nails. Our neighbours overlooked the whole thing as they treated it as a childish prank.

My mother, who was my best friend, did not gauge the extent of my confused sexuality, where I felt like a woman, but had to live life as a man. She would react strongly when relatives introduced me as the only girl in our clan, or egged me to dance like a woman at get-togethers. She felt they were trying to make fun of my effeminate ways. She would even ask me to behave like a boy.

Coming Out Of The Closet
During my college years at the Maulana Azad College and the Government Arts College in Kolkata, I made a tremendous effort to be a man. I stayed away from the canteen and other hang-outs at colleges to save myself from all the jeering I had experienced in school.

However, my girlfriends at the art college were very protective of me and made sure that I was never harassed. It was here that I became physically and emotionally involved with a male student. But the affair was short-lived and when I broke up, it left me depressed and suicidal.
It was out of frustration, then, that I told my parents the truth about my sexuality, my transsexual life and my continuous effort to keep up pretences. I urged them to take me for a sex-change treatment that I had read about in a magazine. We met quite a few doctors and psychologists to identify my problem so they could determine if I was a passive gay or a transsexual.

I went to several psychologists, many of whom refused to recommend me for a sex-change operation as one of their earlier patients, unable to cope with the change, committed suicide.

The Battle Begins
Once my parents passed away, I was left to fight my own battle. I found a soulmate in the manager at the textile-printing firm, where I was employed as a textile designer. In sharp contrast to my youth, I faced no harassment here. People were friendly and the staff, co-operative. In fact, they stood by me during the transformation process.

Surprisingly, help also came from the illiterate household help, Malati Giri, who instead of fleeing the scene, stood by me throughout, encouraging me to go through whatever was necessary to realise my true sexuality and self-identity.

Finally, I met Dr Sheila Rohatgi, a plastic surgeon, who, on the basis of my past medical and psychological records, and in consulatation with another psychologist, finally agreed that I was not a man, but a transsexual and recommended the sex-change operation as a possible cure.

The Transformation
The process began with hormonal injections in Kolkata and laser treatment for facial hair removal in Delhi. Let me tell you that the supposedly ‘painless’ laser treatment was unbearably painful.

But I went through it keeping the end in mind. It meant I had to travel 13 times between the two cities and ignore the stares of fellow passengers. I knew they were curious about me, but I continued to be reserved and unfriendly.

At the first sex-change operation, breasts were implanted. I had my reservations about this at first, but Dr Rohatgi pointed out that without breasts I would never be able to feel like a woman. Then, after a gap of 15 days, the second operation was performed, where a vagina was created.

The previous night, as I lay alone in the nursing home bed, it did cross my mind to run away from it all. Not because I was afraid of the operation, but I was suddenly confused, about whether I actually wanted to see myself as a woman. But then, I realised it was, in fact, all I wanted from life and went for it.

The first time I urinated after the operation, I was really happy. It seemed to me that a foreign body was removed and I had finally found my true identity — that of a woman.

Life Goes On...
Well, the man who had fought my battle with me disappeared, afraid to marry the transformed ‘man’. The factory where I worked became unbearable without him, so I quit and took on jobs at two different factories as a freelancer.

I now earn a cool Rs 30,000 per month and repay the loan I incurred for the operation. The sum of Rs 4,50,000 came from my savings and an office loan.

Today, life is a lot different; looking at men is like a legal right, the done thing. Earlier, whenever I looked at men, my interest in them was misread and women with whom I became too friendly thought I was making a pass at them. Really, if only they knew!”

As told to Jeena Mitra-Banik
Appeared in the FEMINA magazine

Good Point!

Kaaya Beyond Gender

“Transgender communities have existed in our society despite continued marginalisation they face from mainstream society. They have created a world of their own comprising of relationships, unusual means of livelihood and importantly an identity which constantly underlines their exclusion.”

An exhibition of photographs by the transgender community of Delhi ran from May 5th to 23rd 2005 at Max Mueller Bhawan's Siddartha Hall in New Delhi.

This collection images you are about to see will hopefully motivate you to shed your fears, anxieties and insecurities about hijras, or transgender people.

"As a photographer, I always find it challenging to work with marginalised communities. One of the reasons they are marginalised is due to the way they get represented in society. Whether it is the transgender community, sex workers, the diasporic community, tribal groups or religious minorities, they all face similar problems. Living on the periphery of mainstream society not only a physical reality but also invades their psyche. And due to little or no information about them they are regarded “Exotica”. Things that are unknown often romanticised. This then is an issue of identity, pushed outside of the normative - the parameters of which are determined by the mainstream society.

Transgender communities are a part of our society and have created a world of their own. They have their own kinds of relationships, unusual means of livelihood and importantly an identity which constantly underlines their exclusion. For many years now the community has been subjugated to roving eye of anthropologists, photographers and their ilk who made them subject of their study and represented them most of the time in a context which is not theirs. A single photograph projects an image of a person/ situation mostly out of context. Even a small article with few images cannot in most instances do justice to this community.

Hijras or the transgender community enjoys the mystery which surrounds them. This helps them in their business of cruising in zones created by them for themselves. They not only like to appear different in the body sense but also their mannerisms are idiosyncratic. They use this performance/act to iterate the identity that mainstream society has cast them in. To represent the true character of such a group for an outsider is a humongous task. They might allow you to help them in their territory on their terms and conditions for a purpose which they have no control over. In other words they might seek an outsider’s help for lets say health care, education or even legal advice but they never are sure about how they would like the world at large to look at them.

In the 1990’s I conducted a workshop with children in Mangolpuri, a resettlement colony in outskirts of Delhi. In that workshop I had given aim and shoot cameras to participants who were in the age group 9 to 15. The participants - all children, had not taken a photograph or even held a camera in their lives. It was my first attempt to understand how children look at things through a camera, how they frame their subject and how they perceive things. The results were astounding. We first printed and exhibited their prints in a Baarat ghar (Community Centre) where they proudly invited their parents for the inauguration. The exhibition traveled to one of the most prestigious galleries in India at the Centre for photography as an art form at NCPA, Mumbai. I am not sure how much my participants from the workshop learnt about photography but they sure had lot of fun exploring the world of looking and telling! For me - I discovered a new vision - a vision that was beyond my own.

When I started on this project I had imagined that the Mangolpuri experience would give me some directions in working with the transgender community. But that was clearly not the case. As I started out I discovered that there have been many attempts to showcase transgender community through photographs, documentaries, books and exhibitions by outsiders. It took several discussions to explore the idea that they are perhaps in a better position to communicate to the world outside of theirs the many facets of their existence. Unfolding the layers of misinformation, exposing and showcasing their lives would perhaps be the best way to bridge the disconnect. In the process they got involved thoroughly and had one goal in mind that they should be seen as human beings and no less or more.For the first meeting when I entered the SAHARA clinic at Yamuna Pushta, the largest slum of Delhi, with Anjalee and Shantanu from SAHARA we heard lot of music and laughter. Not knowing what to expect, I found we were greeted by a room full of hijras. They were as anxious as we were. As I greeted them I realized in this project there are going to be no directors, no experts, no subjects and no underdogs. To break the ice I had taken few books which I shared with them. As they started looking at images they got interested in the costumes and makeup of people in those images, the situation in which it was taken and started laughing and sometimes even quarreling. After some discussion they told me that they would like to do this project. They were very willing to participate but will have to take permissions from their respective Gurus.

I took this to be a good sign as they were all willing and excited about this newfound activity. This was not just to be an experience of clicking photographs and looking at themselves only, but also about meeting new people like us. In next meeting we discussed further about how to proceed. We discussed some themes which would allow them to look at things around them. The group of participants was never the same. They would come and go. I realized that this is going to be pattern and I will have to accept the situation. The good rapport that Sahara had with the community facilitated the discussions on many instances. The Hijra community lives all across Delhi and they have their areas marked for their business/work. It became easy for us to distribute cameras according the area they stayed. We made pairs of two and they took their first film rolls with great excitement. Two weeks later I received about 10 film rolls, each one labeled with names. When I saw prints I was amazed with the results, also because I did not know what to expect! I took these prints for our next rendezvous and I shared them with both the groups the one who shot these images and the next group who would be shooting. They were really excited and wanted to shoot more. They talked about each of these images they had selected and why. This was then recorded and translated for the catalogue and exhibition. They were asked to select two to three photographs, which they would like to exhibit. They also created the narration for each of the photographs that they selected.

When I see these images which are photographed, modeled and selected by Hijra’s themselves I feel reassured that our decision to make them part of this entire process was completely valid. These images work at many levels. For one in it allows you to journey into their lives from their point of view. It is clear from the pictures that they want to share, want others to know how they live - that this is how they eat, bathe, dance, feel sad, and survive. I kept my role as minimal as possible as I wanted very little outside influence in this venture. This visual journey defines their very identity. The transgender community in this project has unveiled their lives into the public space. This is one of those rare instances where they have modeled, photographed and written about themselves for a book and exhibition which is meant for a world outside their own. I personally believe that this effort will contribute to doing away with stigmas. An increased understanding of their lives, will foster the realization that they are people first and transgender afterward."

Imaging Self,
by Parthiv Shah
Director
Centre for Media and Altrernative Communciation (CMAC)
Delhi, India

Only a few of his works are featured here.

Nepal accused of 'sexual cleansing'

An international human rights organization has joined local LGBT activists in accusing the government of Nepal of trying to wipe out gays and transsexuals.

In a harshly worded letter to the Home Ministry, Human Rights Watch calls on the government " to intervene to ensure that allegations of police abuse are fully investigated."

"Human Rights Watch is gravely concerned by a continuing pattern of arbitrary arrest and police violence against metis (men by birth who identify as women, and might in different cultural circumstances be called transgender people), men who have sex with men, and activists for sexual rights in Kathmandu," the letter signed by Scott Long, the director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program.

The latest reported incident occurred on January 3 when four police officers reportedly spotteda group of metis on the street in Katmandu.and shouted, "Metis! Kill them!"

One woman was beaten with a baton. A police officer pulled his gun and pointed it at her, threatening that "These [transsexuals] pollute the society and must be cleaned out". The two other metis also were beaten severely.

Last month, in another incident, soldiers were accused of threatening metis and lesbians in the capital. The women are all members of a support group organized by Nepal's LGBT rights organization Blue Diamond Society.


The women have been running a small grocery store in an affluent area of the city, not far from the home of the Prime Minister and other government leaders.

Most of the women have been disowned by their families once it became known they are lesbians. Because of their sexuality many businesses refuse to hire them. The women say the tiny store is their only means of support.

They say that men claiming to be soldiers of the Royal Nepalese Army routinely harass and threaten them. The men identify themselves as "RNA soldiers stationed at the Baluwatar base".

In 2004 police in Kathmandu rushed a peaceful demonstration of gays seeking equal rights beating the protestors and dispersing the crowd.

The demonstration, in front of the Himalayan nation's Parliament, the Singha Durbar, had been organized by the Blue Diamond Society. The protestors had gathered to submit a petition to the Prime Minister calling for an end to laws against gay sex and for civil rights.

Last April, police in Kathmandu attacked a group of transgender people.

Human Rights Watch detailed the all of the allegations in its letter and called for swift action.

It calls on the government to release any sexual minorities being held in jail, that persons found responsible for abuse are punished, and that police and other criminal-justice officials "are trained in respect for all people's human rights, including the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people."

The government has refused to comment.



These pictures are from various sources taken during the "Nepal Gay jatra" (Nepal Gay Pride) organised by the Blue Diamond Society.

Site:http://www.bds.org.np/
This site is down... gouvernment pressure tactics??

TRANSAMERICA - A film by Duncan Tucker

Complex Metamorphosis of the Most Fundamental Sort
A. O. SCOTT
Excerpted from a review published: New York Times December 2, 2005

Felicity Huffman's performance in "Transamerica" persuasive would be an understatement, as well as somewhat misleading. Her character, Bree (short for Sabrina), is a pre-operative transsexual who lives in a modest bungalow in Los Angeles and in a condition she refers to as "stealth." In other words, though still technically male, Bree passes for a woman, though there is nothing very stealthy about her elaborate, almost theatrical displays of femininity. In her tasteful pink outfits and meticulously applied makeup, she presents an image of womanliness that harks back to an earlier era. Her voice soft and breathy, she avoids cursing and peppers her conversation with Latinate words and foreign phrases.

In this debut feature by Duncan Tucker, who wrote and directed it, "Transamerica" sets out to affirm Bree's dignity, to liberate her and others like her from any association with camp or freakishness. That the film succeeds without slipping too far into sentimentality or didacticism is in no small measure the result of Ms. Huffman's wit and grace. (She may also be the first film actor of either sex to do frontal nudity, in a single movie, as both.) Her work on "Desperate Housewives," for which she won an Emmy earlier this year, suggests a knack for gender parody, since that series is in essence a drag show that happens to star real women. The challenge Ms. Huffman faces here is more complicated: she must convey the layers of Bree's identity and the spaces between those layers. It is not just that the actress must play a man who is playing a woman - that much is a matter of technique (with some prosthetic assistance, to be sure) - but also that she must impersonate a performer in the midst of learning a complicated role. Her performance is a complex metamorphosis, and it is thrilling to watch.
A week before her gender-reassignment surgery, Bree, formerly and reluctantly known as Stanley, discovers that a long-ago relationship has produced a previously unknown son named Toby (Kevin Zegers), who is now a teenage street hustler living in New York. Told by her therapist (Elizabeth Peña) that this is a loose end that must be tied up, Bree flies East to help the boy, who has run away from home after his mother's suicide. Allowing him to think that she is a Christian missionary - her upright, churchly bearing makes it easy to believe - she decides to take him back to rural Kentucky, where his stepfather lives.

Mr. Tucker is a subtle and conscientious writer; he takes care to treat Bree as a person rather than a case study…. Ms. Huffman carries herself with such sensitivity and authority that you never doubt Bree for an instant.


http://www.transamerica-movie.com/

Bobby Darling wins Monaco film festival award

Bobby Darling can't believe his luck after winning the best supporting actor award at the Monaco International Film Festival for his performance in "Navarasa".

"And to think that I almost didn't do Santosh Sivan's 'Navarasa'. Look at the kind of recognition it has got me!" Bobby told IANS.

The film is based on the life of eunuchs.

"I had to do my own makeup, wear my own clothes and even the dialogues were improvised. I had to dig a lot into my own life to make the character feasible. But finally it's all come together. I feel so elated.

"I couldn't be in Monaco to collect my award. But my producer Sunil Doshi has collected it on my behalf. I'm excited because it's my first award, and that too at an international venue."

Bobby says there's no regret about not getting the awarded as an actress.

"Yes, I do like to think of myself as a woman. Unfortunately in our country the gay community is looked on as only male. But I'm going for a sex-change operation in 2007. The process towards gender reversal has already started. I'm very optimistic about my future."

Bobby feels he has come a long way since his arrival in Bollywood six years ago.

"I started my career with a small role in Subhash Ghai's 'Taal'. And now he has given me a really fabulous role in his new production 'Apna Sapna Money Money'."

Bobby has also patched up with his father in Delhi who had disowned him for "the way I am".

"But now we're in touch every day. He's very proud of what I've achieved. I've struggled hard to be given a place of dignity. And I think I've achieved that."

Thai avoids caning due to new sex

A prostitute who has had a sex change has escaped caning for drug dealing in Singapore after a doctor confirmed her new gender, the Straits Times reports.

The confusion arose because Mongkon Pusuwan, from Thailand, was identified as a man - her original gender - in her passport, the paper reported.

A man could have faced up to 15 strokes of the cane, but women are exempt.

Mongkon Pusuwan pleaded guilty to charges including cocaine trafficking was sentenced to six years in jail.

She underwent a sex change from man to woman 10 years ago, the Straits Times said.

But her fate had been uncertain for weeks while the court waited for a medical report confirming her new gender.

She was arrested in December and charged with trafficking 1.52 grams of cocaine and 2.5 grams of ketamine.

A larger amount of drugs in her possession could have earned her the death penalty.

source: www.bbc.co.uk

Brand New Policy

"Brand New Policy" screamed the headlines of the first page of a Indian Daily newspaper. I though they had announced the minimum wage policy, finally or they were going to introduce a public health insurance scheme. No! it was a flashy LUXURY CONFERENCE on Friday 13 Jan.

The commerce minister Kamal Nath said “ Luxury Brands do not pose a threat. You will not have to wait for long to see this happen”, referring to foreign direct investment in high end retailing.

Luxury brand hawker, Ginaluca Brozetti, CEO Asprey & Garrard said “India belongs to the world of luxury.. It has extreme potential but is a difficult market”.

“We sell dreams, not handbags” says Robert Polet, CEO Gucci group.

But what’s up down on the street, the Gen X and the luxury hawkers have forgotten the common man. 80% of the Indian population cannot access this luxury market and are fighting to survive with rising prices and inflation.

“Today, Luxury and necessity go hand in hand and the gap between them is being bridged fast” says P.R.S Oberoi, Chairman & CEO Oberoi group.

But how Mr. Oberoi can you say that? Do you really think that in the slums of Bombay, that they prefer a Gucci handbag to eating a decent meal. Do you think that the people of India need a ‘American’ style Shopping Mall selling luxury goods or a hospital? Do you think we need Chanel perfumes or do we need water on the tap? Do you think we need to buy an Ipod or just have electricity without power cuts?

Then you says this is going to create jobs! But for whom dear ladies and gentlemen of the India Inc, because I don’t see the common people in your offices, or if they are they are your cleaners and office boys and drivers, underpaid slaves to your luxurious life style.

You try hard to believe that India is becoming like any other western state… but just because you live in your air-conditioned houses and ride your air-conditioned cars and shop at the air-conditioned shopping Malls.
We don’t, India doesn’t… and they will not… because they cannot afford it… because you don’t pay the salaries… you don’t participate in the development of infrastructure… you don’t care about the people of India…

But beware… don’t push them more than they can bear… It has happened before and it can happen again. And it is your head that will roll… BEWARE the wrath of the people!

Asian transgender woman livens up marriages

Asian weddings are big business in Britain, much as they are in any country amongst the middle and upper classes. And no such wedding would be complete without entertainment of one kind or another. One particular act, which is becoming more and more popular, is dancing queen Kiran Rani, and what makes this particular dancing queen stand out, is that under the makeup and the glamorous frocks, is a 24-year-old British Asian man, born and raised partly in Leeds and partly in Lahore by a Pakistani Muslim father and a Christian mother.

Even as a child Rani felt different. As he/she explained in an interview with the Eastern Eye newspaper: "Ever since I was little, I’ve been into fashion and hair and when my family watched a film, I’d be in a corner copying the actions and dance moves of divas like Rekha and Meena Kumari. I was fascinated by them".

Rani took up dancing professionally some three years ago and specialises in a dance form called mujra, which was performed by courtesans in the Mughal era. It’s an act that is now in great demand, not only at weddings, but also at private parties.

But, as you may imagine, such a way of life cannot be easy, as Rani explained: "I don’t deny it’s been a big struggle, more so in Britain than it would have been in Pakistan where it’s common to see people like me walking around and dancing at weddings. The more educated or open- minded Asians accept who I am and what I do but it’s mainly the younger generation that will dish out negative comments or insults. For example, sometimes if I walk past a group of Asian men, they will call me names like khusra or hijra. But I have learned to shrug such things off and I know what kind of positive response I get when I walk through the centre of Leeds or when I perform, people are just hypnotised by me".

British Asian male dancers are a rare breed; British Asian male dancers who dress and perform as women rarer still. Kiran Rani has had a difficult life and has worked very hard to convince people that he/she is a serious artist determined to keep an old tradition alive. With a certain amount of understanding and tolerance within the British Asian community, this person who is physically a male but psychologically a female should be able to have a successful career and a happy life.

Kiran Rani's Website

Source: Tribune India