The BEST of Lifelube - "Transmen - body, sex, identity and more" From Tuesday, September 28, 2010

What are Transmen's HIV Prevention Needs?
via Youths 2gether Network (Nigeria)

Excerpt:

Accurate information about the diversity of transmen’s bodies is not widely available. Transmen have different types of bodies, depending on their use of testosterone and gender confirmation surgeries (which may include chest reconstruction, hysterectomy, metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, 1 etc.; seewww.ftmguide. org for further information) . Transmen use a broad range of terms and language to identify their sex/gender, describe their body parts, and disclose their trans status to others. For instance, some transmen are not comfortable with the terms ‘vagina’ and ‘vaginal sex’ and may prefer ‘front hole’ and ‘front sex’ or ‘front hole sex’, although this is not true for all transmen. This diversity creates unique needs and barriers for negotiating and adhering to safer sex practices that are not addressed by current HIV prevention programs.

Read more.

Great resource - check it:
Primed: The Back Pocket Guide for Transmen and the Men Who Dig Them

Conversation: Being Black and LGBT, Homophobia, and Transphobia

via HuffPost Gay Voices, by Janet Mock and Clay Cane

Our Voice To Voice conversation series began in January with a collection of interviews between LGBT authors discussing their work, queer life and some of the challenges of writing.

In February, celebrating Black History Month, we've asked some prominent and inspiring individuals to join the Voice To Voice series so we can get an window into some of the issues that define and challenge people who are both African-American and gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Last week we featured Laverne Cox and her twin brother M. Lamar and on Monday we offered a conversation between two Charlotte, North Carolina lesbian activists, LaWana Mayfield and Rhonda Watlington.

On Tuesday we shared Meshell Ndegeocello and Toshi Reagon's discussion.

Today we're featuring a conversation about identity between Clay Cane and Janet Mock.

Clay Cane is a radio personality and journalist who's contributed to numerous publications such as The Root, theGrio, The Advocate and BET.com, where he's the Entertainment Editor. Aspiring to be a James Baldwin with a pop culture twist, he spends his Thursday nights as host of Clay Cane Live on New York's WWRL 1600AM.

Janet Mock is a writer who earned a GLAAD Award nomination for her story about growing up transgender. She's also a Staff Editor at PEOPLE.com, hosts the relationships podcast "The Missing Piece" and is writing her memoir about her adolescent journey beyond gender.

In 2012, she was named one of theGrio's 100 most influential leaders making history today for "challenging the stigma surrounding gender identity."

Here, Cane and Mock discuss their decision to be out as journalists, the duality of being black and LGBT and dealing with homophobia and transphobia, respectively.

Janet Mock: So happy to finally meet you! I feel I already know you from reading your work and being a fan of your radio show.

Clay Cane: I feel the same way! I’ve wanted to interview you for a long time. I loved your article in Marie Claire because it created such a buzz in the community and sparked a dialogue I hadn't heard in a long time. And congratulations on the GLAAD Award nomination!

JM: Thank you. The outpouring of support is surreal to me. But I'm sure we can spend the hour fan-girling out. [Laughs]

CC: Yeah, I'm sure we could go on and on. Okay, I have a question for you: Having "come out" as trans in such a public way, when you think of gender identity, what does it mean to be a woman?

JM: I can only talk about what it means to be me. I intimately know what it means to be Janet, this young woman who comes from this evolutionary existence having grown up trans.

To be a woman means standing fully in your truth and owning the totality of your experiences -- things that have really nothing to do with gender.

That sense of owning who you are is what attracted me to you. You've talked about the duality of your experience as a black, gay man, quoting Zora Neale Hurston, saying, you're not tragically colored or tragically gay. Can you expand on that?

CC: For many people, they look at being LGBT as having a tragic life: living an existence of shame, rejection and anger. That's not my story and I will not let that be my story.

Actually, being gay saved my life. If I would've been straight, I would’ve more than likely been in jail or dead like the other boys in my neighborhood in West Philadelphia.

Because I was gay, I was introverted. I would stay home and study, listening to Madonna and Prince! [Laughs] I wouldn't be the writer that I am if I don’t fully accept all of the dimensions of myself.

JM: I find that to be fully you is amazing but it's a whole other thing when you do it in your profession as you've consciously done as an openly gay journalist.

CC: I got into the writing industry via other gay men who were closeted. They felt like it would hurt their careers if they were out. Well, from the start of my career I made the decision to be who I am because I didn't want anybody to say, "Well, he interviewed T.I., but he's a faggot!" Being out made me a better writer.

You can't sit down with a stranger and get the truth out of them when you're paranoid about somebody finding out your truth. The truth is, being who I am has never stopped me from getting a job.

I wouldn't have gotten my radio show on WWRL if I had been closeted. What about your coming out as a journalist?

JM: While making the decision to tell my story, I definitely took on other people's thoughts about me, internalizing other people's transphobia.

So when I came out publicly, I was armed for people to say awful things about me. Instead, I was overwhelmingly embraced.

I wasn't expecting the love and light that actually came my way, and the opportunities that arose as well because I chose to be open about my journey.


Read the rest

Illinois Amendment would add Gender Identity to Hate Crime Law

via Chicago Phoenix, by Tony Merevick

Illinois Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy (14th Dristrict) introduced an amendment to the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961, which would add protections for gender identity, military status and immigration status to the state’s hate crimes law.

HB4725, filed in the General Assembly Feb. 3, is the result of efforts among Illinois lawmakers and local LGBT activists, including members of The Civil Rights Agenda, who authored the bill.

“As a member organization of the LGBTQ Immigration Coalition and as an organization that works with many transgender individuals that have experienced crimes motivated by hate and discrimination, as well as an organization that fought for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and is committed to the needs of LGBT service members and veterans, we recognized that hate crimes protection in Illinois must be expanded,” said TCRA Executive Director, Anthony Martinez.

“One of my personal goals as an activist in the LGBT community is to ensure the expansion of trans rights in Illinois and throughout the nation,” Martinez told Chicago Phoenix.

Transgender women make up 44 percent of all LGBT murder victims, according to a July 2011 study by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

The study also found a 13 percent increase in anti-LGBT hate crimes in 2010, and suggests that many more go unreported. More than half of survivors of hate crimes did not report it to the police, said the same study.

“Many of the transgender folks who come to us, especially transgender women, say that they don’t feel comfortable reporting an assault because they think they are either going to face police harassment,” said Martinez.

“Or they are not going to be seen as a victim but as the person who brought on the attack.”
In addition, the NCAVP study found that over 60 percent of victims say they were met by “indifference, abusive or deterrent” when reporting a hate crime.

This response was most common among transgender people of color, according to the study.

If the amendment is passed, crimes against victims because of their gender identity, military status or immigration status will be, “accorded weight in favor of imposing a term of imprisonment or may be considered by the court as reasons to impose a more severe sentence,” according to the bill summary.

Rick Garcia, a longtime local activist, played a vital role in developing the new legislation. Months ago, Garcia approached June Latrobe, the public policy director at Illinois Gender Advocates, about whether or not gender idenity was included in the Illinois Hate Crimes Act.

After further discussions with Rocco Claps, the director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, they approached newly-appointed Rep. Cassidy with a plan for an amendment, according to Garcia.


Read the rest

Marriage Equality is a Trans Issue, Too

via Advocate, by Trudy Ring

When Nikki and Thomas Araguz were married in Texas in 2008, she had been married and divorced once before, and she had legal documentation identifying herself as a woman.

Although Nikki, born biologically male, didn't have her gender transition surgery until a few months after the ceremony, she had no reason to think their marriage wasn't legal.

In 2010, Thomas, a firefighter, died while battling a blaze. When Nikki tried to claim her share of his death benefits, a judge ruled their marriage invalid.

Though laws governing the marriage of trans men and women who've undergone gender-reassignment surgery vary from state to state, the ruling, now on appeal, is a rare instance of a transgender person's marriage being voided.

"In the vast majority of cases [involving marriages of transgender people], nobody has any problem," says Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who has handled many marriage-related cases.

"Nobody even questions the validity of the marriage. Now there have been a handful of cases in very conservative states that have come out badly."

The reason? "Courts in these states have been so homophobic," says Minter. "They don't want to even come close to recognizing a same-sex marriage."

Cases that have ended badly include that of Christie Littleton in Texas, where an appeals court ruled in 1999 that she could not bring a wrongful death suit after her husband, Jonathon, died; even though she had undergone gender-reassignment surgery, the court deemed Littleton male and her marriage invalid.

In Kansas in 2002 came the only such ruling at a state supreme court level, in which J'Noel Gardiner, another transgender woman who had been widowed, was denied inheritance rights because the court did not recognize her marriage.

Several years ago, Minter represented Floridian Michael Kantaras, a transgender man who sought custody of his children when his marriage ended.

The trial court ruled that Kantaras was male and his marriage valid, and awarded him custody, but the verdict was reversed on appeal.

However, the Dr. Phil show then paid for mediation for Kantaras and his ex-wife, resulting in shared custody. "So that was good," Minter says.

There was encouraging news last year in Texas, one of the last states to allow proof of gender reassignment to get a marriage license.

A Republican-backed bill that decreed that, for the purpose of marriage, gender is assigned at birth and cannot be changed even after gender-reassignment surgery, died in the legislature.

And in November a Dallas County judge refused to invalidate trans man James Allan Scott's marriage to Rebecca Robertson, allowing the dissolution of their marriage to proceed as a divorce and giving Scott a chance at a share of the couple's property, says his lawyer, Eric Gormly.

Though Scott had transitioned before their marriage, Robertson sought to nullify the union on grounds that he was born female.


Read the rest

VIDEO: Little Boy Wants To Be A Girl Scout Gets Rejected

HIV/AIDS Organizations Tell FDA and Gilead Sciences: Don’t Delay HIV Prevention for Gay and Bisexual Men and Transgender Women

[Press Release - October 18, 2011]

Thirteen prominent U.S. HIV/AIDS organizations have issued an open letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Gilead Sciences calling for prompt regulatory review of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention in gay and bisexual men and transgender women (men who have sex with men, or MSM). The letter urges FDA and Gilead to start the review process that could allow safe and appropriate approved PrEP use as a public health intervention, and not to delay review because of distinct questions about the safety and efficacy of PrEP in heterosexual populations.

[The letter is available online here. LifeLube's mother - AIDS Foundation of Chicago - is a signatory.]

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a new HIV prevention method in which an uninfected person takes a daily HIV medication to reduce HIV infection risk. Data from an international study released in November, 2010 called iPrEx found that men and transgender women who have sex with men who received a daily single-tablet dose of the HIV drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine along with condoms and safe sex counseling had an average of 42% fewer HIV infections than those who received condoms and counseling alone.

Advocates assert that the need for new HIV prevention strategies for MSM is urgent. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that MSM account for more than half of all new HIV infections in the United States. CDC logged an estimated 34% increase in HIV infections in young gay men between 2006 and 2009, and a 48% HIV increase among young black/African American gay men over the same period.

“We desperately need new strategies and tools to reduce the rapidly increasing rates of HIV infection in black gay and bisexual men,” said Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute. “We’ve had evidence of PrEP’s effectiveness in MSM for almost a year now. It’s time to use every tool at our disposal to reduce the 50,000 new HIV infections that occur each year in this country. Prompt FDA review will help ensure that appropriate guidelines for PrEP use are established that can reduce HIV infections and safeguard public health.”

Data on PrEP in heterosexuals raise important but unique questions that may require further study. Two major trials in Africa found that PrEP reduces HIV infection risk in heterosexual men and women substantially. But two other studies present conflicting information about how PrEP works in heterosexuals. Critical and necessary efforts to understand how PrEP interacts with hormonal contraception, or how PrEP may impact pregnancy, however, should not delay access to a potentially lifesaving form of HIV prevention for MSM.

Before the results of the heterosexual PrEP studies were announced, the FDA and Gilead Sciences, the maker of the drugs, were reported to be ready to move quickly to consider approval of PrEP for those MSM who could benefit from the approach. Recent signs indicate, however, that FDA review of PrEP for this population may not start until the agency acquires more data on PrEP among heterosexuals—despite the urgent need for new HIV prevention strategies for MSM, and the fact that PrEP data in MSM were announced nearly one year ago.

“The FDA and Gilead Sciences should move quickly to ensure a thorough review of PrEP for MSM now, while they both work simultaneously and swiftly to thoroughly address questions and concerns about PrEP among heterosexual populations,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC “Prompt FDA review of PrEP in MSM is the right thing to do for public health. In the midst of a growing HIV epidemic, HIV prevention delayed is HIV prevention denied.”

When It Comes to Trans Kids, It's Us Who Are Confused

via Advocate, by Diane Ehrensaft

During the past few months, the media has been replete with accounts of both children and adults who do not fit neatly into conventional gender roles: a Canadian baby, Storm, whose parents kept the baby’s gender secret; the child of a prominent celebrity, Chaz Bono, who attracted controversy as a trangender man on primetime television; and two children, Tammy and Mario, who announced to their parents that they were not their biological gender and began living as they wanted to be. 

As a developmental psychologist who spends my days working with both children and young adults who are transgender, gender fluid, gender nonconforming, gender queer, and more, none of these stories has been a surprise to me.

They simply reinforce my observation, made in my book Gender Born, Gender Made, that it is increasingly difficult to define gender as a strict biological binary.  

What took me more by surprise was the ensuing tsunami of hostile, antagonistic, and hateful responses toward both these individuals and, in the children’s cases, their parents. 

In response to Bono’s casting on Dancing With the Stars, Dr. Keith Ablow, psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-team, offered these words of wisdom: "The last thing vulnerable children and adolescents need, as they wrestle with the normal process of establishing their identities, is to watch a captive crowd in a studio audience applaud on cue for someone whose search for an identity culminated with the removal of her breasts, the injection of steroids.”

For this comment, Albow received 33,000 Facebook recommends. In the eyes of thousands of Americans, it is as though transgender people are a disease that could contaminate and pervert our “normal” children.



Read the rest

iPrEx OLE to Build on News that PrEP Slows HIV Infections Significantly in Both Men Who Have Sex with Men and Heterosexual Women and Men

 via iPrEx News

The iPrEx Open-Label Extension Study (iPrEx OLE), the next phase of the first human study to report efficacy results on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection, has begun at clinical trial sites around the world. Approximately 2,000 men and transgender women who have sex with men are expected to participate in the 72-week iPrEx OLE study. Study sites in the United States and South Africa are enrolling participants now, as other study sites finalize the regulatory approval process.

In PrEP, antiretroviral medications that are usually used to treat HIV are taken by uninfected people to reduce their risk of infection. The iPrEx study found that men and transgender women who have sex with men (MSM) who took a single daily tablet containing the HIV medications emtricitabine and tenofovir (FTC/TDF), known commercially as Truvada®, experienced an average of 44% fewer HIV infections than those who received a placebo (blank pill).

HIV infection rates in the iPrEx study dropped by 90% among those who used PrEP consistently enough to have detectable drug in the body. The HIV risk reduction benefits of PrEP were in addition to those provided by safer sex counseling, condoms, HIV testing and the detection and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. iPrEx study results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November, 2010.

The news of the start of iPrEx OLE follows the announcements by two other major PrEP studies, Partners PrEP and the CDC study in Botswana, known as TDF2, which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of PrEP in heterosexual women and men.

AdvertisementiPrEx OLE is a continuation of the iPrEx study that will collect additional data on PrEP efficacy, safety and adherence. All HIV-negative participants who took part in the original iPrEx study and who wish to participate will receive FTC/TDF for HIV prevention for 72 weeks through iPrEx OLE. No placebo will be used in the Open Label Extension.

"We are in a critical moment in HIV prevention research," said iPrEx Protocol Chair Robert Grant, MD, MPH of the Gladstone Institutes and the University of California at San Francisco. "iPrEx provided the first proof of an important new method of HIV prevention that can help slow the global toll of 2.6 million new HIV infections each year. Partners PrEP and the TDF2 study have now expanded that finding by demonstrating the effectiveness of PrEP in heterosexual women and men.

Developing and deploying proven HIV prevention methods -- including PrEP, microbicides, vaginal gels, clean needles, medical male circumcision, early treatment, counseling, testing, condoms and suppressive therapy for pregnant women will all be key to slowing the global epidemic."

Read more.

Transtastic! Feast of Fun podcasts LifeLube forum on Trans-Body Politics - LISTEN

[one of LifeLube's best forums, ever!]

via Feast of Fun

Today we present our live podcast with LifeLube from the Center on Halsted in Chicago, Illinois: Trans-Body Politics, The Original T-Party. The forum was held last week - May 19.

Join us for an extraordinary conversation with three groundbreaking people involved in the forefront of the trans rights movement-

Actor Alexandra Billings- the first trans woman to play a trans woman on television, you’ve seen her on such TV shows as ER, Greys Ananotmy and Bones.

Author and activist Jamison Green, a policy specialist on the staff of the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California.,

And Lara Brooks, who for over nine years has worked at Chicago’s Broadway Youth Center with street-based young people, many of which identify as trans.
Come feel the love and dive into our version of the state of the union of the trans rights movement and what it means for everyone.

Plus- live questions from you, the audience in person.

NOTE: Here’s a link to Jamison Green’s survey on Respectful Language mentioned during the taping of the show. Check out the huge list of terms used in medical literature to describe trans. Some of my favorite are: “gender gifted, genderforked, transbian, tranny and two-spirit.” We prefer to use “transtastic.” Read more about the study’s 10 year history here.

Click for the podcast.

Why are we different? And does it matter?

Opening remarks at the Trans Actions conference taking place today in Chicago, delivered this morning by Pete Subkoviak, AIDS Foundation of Chicago Policy Coordinator.

Gotta love Oprah. I mean really, if there is one person over the past decade who has helped out the trans community, it's Oprah. She’s done some ten or so shows dealing with transgender issues in an intelligent way.

And after 20 years of Jerry Springer completely assaulting this community, we needed it.

So Oprah’s new channel – OWN – recently had a special on transgender lives, and interviewed a seven-year old girl, who had been born a boy, named Haley. Haley and her family live in a small community, she was diagnosed when she was five, and her family was advised to let her live as female.

I can’t tell you how lucky this little girl is to live in the post-Oprah world of 2011.

I won’t go into my entire life story, I’m not going to pull out old family photos, but let me give you the Cliff Notes to make my point, and I’ll qualify this by saying that every transgender individual’s experience is different:

• I was born into an idyllic family: two loving, religiously-devout parents. I suffered no physical, emotional or sexual trauma
• I was born physically female. I began telling my parents I was a boy at the age of three. This in not uncommon among gender variant people
• Because of my vocalizations, my parents brought me to numerous mental health professionals, all of who instructed them to encourage more feminine behavior – total fail
• By the age of 11 I was suicidal
• It wasn’t until the age of 17 when a therapist suggested I was transgender and could transition i.e. change my body and live as male.
• I began the process at 18, and I am certain it saved my life.
• To this day my only regret is that it didn’t happen sooner.

Haley is lucky because she won’t have to wait until she’s 18 and has struggled with depression and suicidality.

She lives in a day and age where there is a name for her difference, and more importantly, many medical and mental health professionals are aware what it is and how best to deal with it. Thus, her parents were educated by her doctors, and instructed to embrace their child for who she is.

Haley will still have a tough road ahead, but no doubt that her chances for a happy and healthy life have been greatly improved because of the knowledge and cultural competence of her health providers.

Why are we different?

We don’t have a definitive answer to that; there have been a few small-scale studies showing brain differences in transgender people, but as you can imagine, governments and private funders aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to support research on this issue. What we do know is that while everyone’s story is different, gender variant individuals have a strong and persistent sense of self from a very early age, and to one degree or another, that identity does not match the body we were born with.

But the bigger fact is this: The origins of this difference are immaterial.

Transgender people are who they are and have always been, and the world needs to come to terms with that fact.

Transgender individuals are not confused, disturbed or troubled, but our society is certainly confused, disturbed and trouble by our existence. If supported by their friends, families and employers and allowed to live as our true selves, transgender people can have happy, fulfilling lives.

But that’s a big “if”. Unfortunately, too many transgender people continue to be disowned by their communities, fired, legally, from their jobs and subjected to verbal and physical violence. It is this rejection, and not the gender variance itself, that leads to the maladies of depression, suicide, substance abuse and HIV amongst transgender people.

Thankfully, there is an emerging awareness of and response to the needs of transgender individuals. Our community is lucky enough to have wonderful trans-specific programming at places like Howard Brown, the Broadway Youth Center, Center on Halsted, the Chicago Women’s Health Center, Transactions, Affinity Social Services, the Transformative Justice Law Project and the Young Women’s Empowerment Project, just to name a few.My hope for this conference is that with greater consciousness and education this audience can help lead change here in Chicago.

***This evening, join LifeLube and friends for The [other] T-Party - Trans Body Politics, a free forum at the Center on Halsted. Doors open at 6pm.

Trans Actions Transgender Conference May 19th - CHICAGO

Increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population is an important way to stop discrimination. You are invited to the Service Providers Council’s Transgender Conference to be held Thursday, May 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University Center, 525 S. State Street in Chicago. The conference is entitled “Trans Actions;” its theme is “Increasing Access to Care.” The 2011 conference is organized by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago Service Providers’ Council (SPC) Prevention & Care Committees and the ad-hoc host committee.

It will bring together local, state and national leaders to discuss “best practice,” cultural competency, employment issues, research-based programs and HIV/STI prevention for and with transgendered populations.

Featured Speakers are:

* Joanne Herman author of “Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not”
* Jamison Green, PhD, an international leader in transgender, health, policy, law and education from the University of California, San Francisco
* Amanda Simpson a political and transgender trailblazer

Who should attend? The conference will appeal to anyone interested in providing services to and increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population. It will be of particular value to professional educators; service providers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, prevention education, treatment and adherence education (i.e., health care providers, prevention and community health workers, nurses, health educators, program directors, social workers, case managers) as well as resource managers, labor and diversity specialists.

Register today!

RSVP Today for Trans-Body Politics Featuring Alexandra Billings!

The (other) T-Party; Trans-Body Politics

There is a transgender emergence happening in Chicago. After generations of struggle, transgender men and women are becoming more visible, integrated and finding new admirers gay, straight and everywhere in between. And yet the struggle continues.

What are the positive and negative repercussions of increased trans visibility and integration? How and why do different bodies and identities provoke the fear, violence and injustice this community continues to face in the midst of progress? What can the LGBT and allied communities do to change the story?

Featured panelists include Alexandra Billings, performer and community leader, Jamison Green, PhD, University of California, San Francisco Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, and Lara Brooks, manager of the Broadway Youth Center. Moderated by Fausto Fernos and Marc Felion of the Feast of Fun.

This event is being sponsored by the University of Illinois – Chicago Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement. Please join LifeLube, Project CRYSP, and the Feast of Fun for an invigorating, LIVE, podcast forum.

Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Center on Halsted
3656 North Halsted
Hoover Leppen Theatre
Doors open at 6 p.m. for light nibbles and schmoozing.
Taping begins at 7 p.m.

This event is free but YOU MUST RSVP as space is limited!

Trans Actions Transgender Conference May 19th - CHICAGO

Increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population is an important way to stop discrimination. You are invited to the Service Providers Council’s Transgender Conference to be held Thursday, May 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University Center, 525 S. State Street in Chicago. The conference is entitled “Trans Actions;” its theme is “Increasing Access to Care.” The 2011 conference is organized by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago Service Providers’ Council (SPC) Prevention & Care Committees and the ad-hoc host committee.

It will bring together local, state and national leaders to discuss “best practice,” cultural competency, employment issues, research-based programs and HIV/STI prevention for and with transgendered populations.

Featured Speakers are:

* Joanne Herman author of “Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not”
* Jamison Green, PhD, an international leader in transgender, health, policy, law and education from the University of California, San Francisco
* Amanda Simpson a political and transgender trailblazer

Who should attend? The conference will appeal to anyone interested in providing services to and increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population. It will be of particular value to professional educators; service providers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, prevention education, treatment and adherence education (i.e., health care providers, prevention and community health workers, nurses, health educators, program directors, social workers, case managers) as well as resource managers, labor and diversity specialists.

Register today!

Announcing LifeLube's Next Live Podcast Forum,The (other) T-Party, Trans-Body Politics, Featuring Alexandra Billings

This event is free, but you must RSVP to attend.

What are the positive and negative repercussions of increased trans visibility and integration? How and why do different bodies and identities provoke the fear, violence and injustice this community continues to face in the midst of progress? What can the LGBT and allied communities do to change the story?

Featured panelists include Alexandra Billings, performer and community leader, Jamison Green, PhD, University of California, San Francisco Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, and Lara Brooks, manager of the Broadway Youth Center. Moderated by Fausto Fernos and Marc Felion of the Feast of Fun. This event is being sponsored by the University of Illinois – Chicago Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement.

Please join LifeLube, Project CRYSP, and the Feast of Fun for an invigorating, LIVE, podcast forum.

Thursday, May 19th, 2011 Center on Halsted 3656 North Halsted Hoover Leppen Theatre

Doors open at 6 p.m. for light nibbles and schmoozing. Taping begins at 7 p.m.

This event is free, but you must RSVP to attend.


Please also consider attending the AIDS Foundation of Chicago/Service Provider's Council Trans Actions Wellness Conference from 9:00-3:30 that day.

Trans Actions Transgender Conference May 19th - CHICAGO

Increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population is an important way to stop discrimination.You are invited to the Service Providers Council’s Transgender Conference to be held Thursday, May 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University Center, 525 S. State Street in Chicago. The conference is entitled “Trans Actions;” its theme is “Increasing Access to Care.” The 2011 conference is organized by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago Service Providers’ Council (SPC) Prevention & Care Committees and the ad-hoc host committee.

It will bring together local, state and national leaders to discuss “best practice,” cultural competency, employment issues, research-based programs and HIV/STI prevention for and with transgendered populations.

Featured Speakers are:

* Joanne Herman author of “Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not”
* Jamison Green, PhD, an international leader in transgender, health, policy, law and education from the University of California, San Francisco
* Amanda Simpson a political and transgender trailblazer

Who should attend? The conference will appeal to anyone interested in providing services to and increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population. It will be of particular value to professional educators; service providers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, prevention education, treatment and adherence education (i.e., health care providers, prevention and community health workers, nurses, health educators, program directors, social workers, case managers) as well as resource managers, labor and diversity specialists.

Register today!

Highlights from the U.S. National Transgender Health Summit

"Transgender people experience significant health disparities in this country. In fact, regardless of socioeconomic status, transgender people are the most medically underserved population in the U.S."
- JoAnne Keatley, Director of the CoE for Transgender Health and the lead conference organizer (pictured)

via AIDS.gov, by Jennie Anderson and Mindy Nichamin

What do empowerment, discrimination, data, and health have in common? They are several of the many themes we heard throughout the National Transgender Health Summit that took place in San Francisco earlier this month. The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health (CoE) organized this groundbreaking two-day Summit that brought together healthcare providers, health profession students, researchers, and other health leaders. In past posts we've discussed the disproportionate impact of the HIV epidemic on the transgender community, and so this Summit was an important opportunity for us to learn from and engage with experts on this topic. As the White House National HIV/AIDS Strategy states, "Some studies have found that as many as 30 percent of transgender individuals are HIV-positive. Yet, historically, efforts targeting this specific population have been minimal."

Read the rest.

Trans Actions Transgender Conference May 19th - CHICAGO

You are invited to the Service Providers Council’s Transgender Conference to be held Thursday, May 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University Center, 525 S. State Street in Chicago. The conference is entitled “Trans Actions”; its theme is “Increasing Access to Care.” The 2011 conference is organized by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago Service Providers’ Council (SPC) Prevention & Care Committees and the ad-hoc host committee.

It will bring together local, state and national leaders to discuss “best practice,” cultural competency, employment issues, research-based programs and HIV/STI prevention for and with transgendered populations.

Featured Speakers are:

* Joanne Herman author of “Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not”
* Jamison Green, PhD, an international leader in transgender, health, policy, law and education from the University of California, San Francisco
* Amanda Simpson a political and transgender trailblazer

Who should attend? The conference will appeal to anyone interested in providing services to and increasing workplace opportunities for the transgendered population. It will be of particular value to professional educators; service providers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, prevention education, treatment and adherence education (i.e., health care providers, prevention and community health workers, nurses, health educators, program directors, social workers, case managers) as well as resource managers, labor and diversity specialists.

 Register today!

Monday Morning Perk-Up [Thailand's Got Talent]

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Report: Study of gay, transgender health needed

Scientists only recently learned how certain diseases affect women differently than men, and blacks differently than whites. Now a major new report says it's time to study the unique health needs of gay and transgender people, too.

Stigma often keeps lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from seeking health care — and when they do, there's little research to guide doctors in their treatment, the Institute of Medicine reported Thursday.

Changing that starts with a seemingly simple step: Researchers should start asking people about their sexual orientation and gender identity, just as they routinely ask about race and ethnicity, in all government-funded health studies, the panel concluded.

The report is intended as technical advice to the National Institutes of Health.

But to the gay-rights community, the recommendations from such a prestigious scientific group promise to legitimize a quest for greater health equality.

"This community is just ignored," said Brian Moulton of the Human Rights Campaign, which has long pushed for the government to collect the kind of health data the new report calls for. "This is really going to spark a long-term commitment to dealing with these issues."

While the report says it also is an opportunity to educate the general public about health barriers for the self-named LGBT community, its chairman anticipates some political criticism.

"This is a scientific report, not an advocacy report," said Dr. Robert Graham, professor of family medicine at the University of Cincinnati. "Whatever your politics, as long as you accept the premise that every American ought to have the opportunity for the same health status and the same degree of health, then you really have to understand what the different influences are that may keep certain populations away from having that opportunity."

The IOM panel couldn't even find a good estimate of how many people identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It stressed that these are separate populations that require separate assessments of their health needs at different ages.

Numerous surveys, done by phone or sometimes in person, track Americans' health patterns by a variety of demographics, and the report recommends adding questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to those surveys as a necessary starting point. It also urged particular attention to the impact of stress on LGBT people who may also be part of a racial or ethnic minority group.

California is one of the few states where researchers collect data on LGBT health issues. This week, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research reported that older gay, lesbian and bisexual Californians are more prone to some problems of aging — including high blood pressure and psychological distress — than their heterosexual counterparts. Moreover, they are more likely to live alone in their senior years, without children or partners to provide care and support.

Nationally, what is known? The AIDS virus remains a threat to young men, particularly black men, who have sex with men, the report noted. But the IOM panel also identified far broader issues: Increased risks of depression, suicide attempts, homelessness and being victims of violence. Possibly higher rates of smoking and substance use. Lesbians and bisexual women may get less preventive care to stay healthy, and have higher rates of obesity and breast cancer.

In addition, laws barring same-sex marriage often limit access to health insurance, and there are few health providers trained to treat transgender patients in particular in a culturally competent manner, the report said.

Read more from AP

Who's That Queer? [Nomi]

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Nomi Ruiz is a Nu-disco and Hip hop singer from New York City who is most famous for being among the cast of vocalists that contributed to Hercules and Love Affair's debut album. Ruiz has also collaborated with dance music trio The Ones.




Nomi Ruiz was featured on the songs "You Belong", "Hercules Theme", and "I'm Telling You" for album Hercules and Love Affair. Pitchfork Media placed "Hercules Theme" at #21 on The 100 Best Tracks of 2008. She toured extensively with the band in support of the album, singing her song contributions as well as those of Antony Hegarty. The Guardian described Ruiz as "boasting the spookily effortless air of a future pop icon."

Nomi Ruiz released her debut album Lost In Lust on her own independent label Park Side Records. The album is a song-oriented downbeat electronic album steeped in the grittier ends of early-'90s hip-hop and R&B production. Since its debut, she had been able to tour with other artists such as Debbie Harry and CocoRosie. She also toured with Antony & The Johnsons and has been apart of their "Turning" project.


Read more about Nomi here.