Government of Jamaica Committed to the Eradication of Gender Based Violence

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (CGES), the Honourable Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange shares a photo opportunity at the launch of The Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Project with (from left) Permanent Secretary, Ministry CGES, Alison McLean; Women’s Incorporated, Joyce Hewitt and Former Senator, Imani Duncan-Price. The event took place at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston on April 4, 2016.

Minister with responsibility for Gender Affairs, the Honourable Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, has said that the Government is committed to ensuring that gender-based violence is eradicated through the use of the National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence in Jamaica (NSAP-GBV).

But this sounds like a typical cisgender thrusted efforted on a heteronormative construct of gender, wherein April is observed on this blog and in the United States as Sexual Assault Awareness Month this news is not comforting at all as it is limiting.

Speaking at the launch of ‘The Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Project’ at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston yesterday (April 4, 2016), the Minister said, “I wish to re-iterate in the strongest and most unequivocal manner that the Government of Jamaica is committed to ensuring that the scourge of violence against women and other forms of gender based violence are once and for all eradicated from this society”.

She added that once this is done, “all Jamaicans will be able to live free from the fear of harm and hurt because of domestic violence, sexual violence and other forms of gender based crimes”.

Minister Grange also highlighted the fact that gender based violence remains a critical issue and therefore a collective effort is necessary, noting that it is important to work together in order to ensure change in this area. She said, “We are not going to be able to bring about meaningful change without the active and consistent engagement of ordinary citizens, government and non-governmental organizations”.

The Minister pointed out that the NSAP-GBV, though currently in draft format, will be used to tackle gender based violence in Jamaica. “We intend to have this Action Plan before the cabinet for approval by the end of May,” she stated.

The NSAP-GBV was crafted by the Bureau of Gender Affairs and other stakeholders and will serve as a monitoring and enforcement mechanism, which will facilitate a holistic approach towards the elimination of gender based violence in Jamaica.

Let us see what the final document or policy will look like to include 'third genders' and transgender persons and such if it is the government is clear on real inclusion here.

Also see from Loop News: ‘Bureau of Women’s Affairs’ out; ‘Bureau of Gender Affairs’ in

Peace & tolerance

H

Jamaican Intersex (ambiguous genitalia) baby case a cause for concern #learning moment

While I appreciate the highlighting of issues such as this that do get a lot of mainstream ventilation they have a way of misleading the public but showing up the arrears that need addressing.

Firstly Intersex people differ from transgender people as their status is not gender related but instead relates to their biological makeup (genetic, hormonal and physical features) which is neither exclusively male nor exclusively female, but is typical of both at once or not clearly defined as either. These features can manifest themselves in secondary sexual characteristics such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breasts and stature; primary sexual characteristics such as reproductive organs and genitalia; and/or in chromosomal structures and hormones. The term intersex has replaced the term ‘hermaphrodite’ which was used extensively by medical practitioners during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

At Least 30 or 40 Different variations are known to science; 10--‐80% Of cases are idiopathic, with no exact diagnosis.

Some Common intersex variations are diagnosed prenatally, others may be apparent at birth. Some Intersex traits become apparent at puberty, or when trying to conceive, or through random chance. However, most intersex characteristics are not pathological, but express healthy variation amongst human bodies.

Inspire Jamaica a positive feature aired on CVM TV had as its latest subject baby ‘Angel’ and her mother speaking to the issues surrounding ambiguous genitalia and or intersexuality (although the word was not used in the clip not even by the doctor interviewed) and that the mother had bought male clothing and related items only to be instructed by the gynaecologist to wait whilst also asking the Registrar General Department to amend the birth papers and such to female gender.

CMV TV's video on the subject (part 1)

I was a bit disturbed by that and then to be landed with the doctor’s encouragement to the mother go ahead the surgery to effectively select the baby’s gender as opposed to waiting until baby X reached possibly eighteen years of age seeing that is our age of adulthood in law; persons may not want to remain as forced on them by doctor through the mother and may have consequences in later years.

Despite the doctor who respectfully is the expert in this matter had indicated that there were no chromosomes suggesting a male and no descended testicles he thought it best to default the child to female at this early stage owing to the issues to do with gender in the brain versus sex; in other words gender is between the ears male brain versus female brain versus not matching what is between the legs which is why I would have thought the doctor should have waited; there are cases for example here in Jamaica from as early as 2009 where it was even discussed on radio with Emily Crooks and Clyde Williams when they hosted the morning show on Nationwide radio on September 11 2009 with Dr Peta Ann Baker, see a previous post: What if Semenya were a Jamaican? 2009 for Miss Baker's take on the issues then.

During puberty the genitalia can change alongside genes and internal characteristics with many variations of the combinations, with regards to chromozones, gonads etc. which is why the experts should have waited. There is new information as well and the push by intersex activists as well thanks to them for my own enlightenment. The rush to gender reassignment surgery is wrong especially for cosmetic reasons and the fears of the parents; early surgery can cause issues as such persons mature futuristically is problematic. Again I am not an expert in endocrinology by there is enough information out there and that gender is not binary. We should wait until the age of majority in Jamaica legally which is 18 and let them choose while educating them.

We do not do the best for our children in this rigid way. I am waiting to see the part 2 of what the doctor actual recommended in the series and I hope he didn't recommend surgery.

Difficulties presented by the binary gender model and gender stereotypes

Negative attitudes towards trans and intersex people are directly correlated to the importance that a determinate society places on the binary gender model and the level of gender stereotypes, sexism and gender inequalities that exist within it. The binary gender model classifies both sex and gender into two distinct and exclusive forms of masculine and feminine identities. This system is maintained through a cisnormativity system which legitimises and privileges those who are comfortable in the gender belonging to the sex assigned to them at birth through various practices and institutions.

Additionally, this norm systematically disadvantages and marginalizes all persons whose sex, gender identity and gender expression do not meet social expectations. This happens through the enforcement of wide boundaries between the two sexes (and their corresponding genders) to discourage people from crossing them or establishing alternative third sexes or third genders. Gender stereotypes also play a significant role in othering and marginalizing trans and intersex people. In fact, gender stereotypes that favour a particular form of ‘masculinity’ in relation to men and a particular form of ‘femininity’ in relation to women expose many trans and intersex people to institutionalized discrimination.

also see:

More on Intersexuality 2010

Caster Semenya or Buju Banton 2009

Jamaican Inter-phobia, lack of understanding Inter-sexuality 2010

A RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE ON THE CASTER SEMENYA ISSUE
FEMALE MASCULINITY: DISRUPTING STANDARDS OF BEAUTY AND REDEFINING WOMANHOOD

INTERSEXUALITY, AMBIGUOUS GENITALIA & PSYCHO-SOCIAL ISSUES DISCUSSION ON NATIONWIDE RADIO JAMAICA 11.09.09 

more entries from GLBTQ Jamaica Wordpress blog on intersex issues HERE

Peace & tolerance

H

Working towards gender equality

Owen Blakka Ellis

So massah Owen is back at it and bowls off with this piece today:

Contributed Blakka Ellis (second left) and Ava-Gail Gardner from Jamaica are flanked by Dr Tracie Rogers (left) and Mark Lawrence (right) from Trinidad & Tobago.

Howdy, peeps! What a gwaan with you? Or to be more pointed, what's currently popping in your box? Me, I'm here 'boxing' you from the beautiful Spice Isles Grenada in the Eastern Caribbean.

And although I'm admittedly having somewhat of an exhilarating time, I'm not on a vacation. In fact, now that I think about it, it's really interesting how many parts of th world I've visited in my over half-century of existence, and I have never ever really had a vacation. Vacation? I don't even know wah name so - but that is a different 'bickle' for a different box.

I'm really here for work. And I have often heard that if you work on the stuff you're really passionate about, then work won't feel like work. Frankly, that is true for me. This is still work, though - definitely difficult, but relevant and rewarding work around gender.

Yes, friends. I am here engaged in discussions and activities around one of my favourite topics, intellectually and emotionally grappling around in the old gender box. I'm enjoying a vibrant and vital learning experience as one of several participants in a training-of-trainers programme for Caribbean gender advocates.

The participants are diverse. We are men and women from a fairly wide range of ages, and from very different social, spiritual ,and professional backgrounds - artists, activists, attorneys, teachers, social workers, and more - from about nine different countries in the region. What we all share is a commitment to and a common interest in expanding our understanding of the complexities, contradictions, and manifestations that arise from the different gender boxes that we inherit and inhabit.

So, we are involved in some exciting interrogations and critical reflections on social justice, power, privilege, and subconscious biases. We are exploring key concepts related to gender and the idea of gender equality. We're also analysing ideas around masculinities and femininities. Yes, the pluralisation is deliberate because in case you never realized it, there is a range of different expressions of masculinity and femininity depending on generational, geographical, cultural, and other factors.

GENDER JUSTICE

The overarching purpose of our work, of course, is to contribute to the important objective of achieving gender justice and eradicating all forms of gender-based violence. And, as you and I [and all of us who're willing to admit the truth] know, gender-based violence is a serious problem all over the world. And whether it takes the form of bullying, harassment, domestic abuse, or rape, etc., the victims are mostly women and girls.

The four-day training workshop has been organised by United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women - also known as UN Women - in collaboration with the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives and is part of the 'HeForShe' initiative. What name so? Well, according to a handout on the initiative, HeForShe is a global solidarity movement for gender equality that engages men and boys to work in partnership with women and girls as advocates and stakeholders to break the silence, raise their voices, and take action for the achievement of gender equality.

The movement aims at enabling men to identify with the issues of gender equality and to recognize the important role we can play towards ending the persistent and pervasive inequality faced by women and girls worldwide.

Yeah, bro! Woman is our mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. So I'm definitely a 'he' who's proud to be standing in solidarity and working in harmony with 'she'. Wah yuh a say? Yuh nuh come join hands with 'we'?

box-mi-back@hotmail.com

Sex reassignment surgery may protect metabolic health of transgender women

Transgender women who undergo sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy may be less likely to develop metabolic disease than those who receive hormone therapy alone. This is according to new research recently presented at Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases: Physiology and Gender - a conference of the American Physiological Society, held in Annapolis, MD.

Sex reassignment surgery combined with female hormone therapy may protect the metabolic health of transgender women, researchers suggest.

Previous research has suggested that transgender women are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, compared with men and women among the general population.

Some studies have put this increased risk down to female hormone therapy; therapy with the female hormoneestrogen, for example, has been linked to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke and heart attack.

For this latest study, lead author Michael Nelson, PhD, of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, and colleagues set out to determine whether this metabolic risk varied depending on the type of therapy used make the male-to-female transition.

The team enrolled 12 transgender women to their study, four of whom were receiving female hormone therapy and eight of whom received a combination of female hormone therapy and bilateral orchiectomy - in which both testicles are surgically removed.

The researchers measured the insulin resistance and the accumulation of fat in the liver of each participant. They explain that insulin resistance is a key sign of poor metabolic health, and build-up of fat in the liver can cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - which studies have suggested can increase heart disease risk.

Bilateral orchiectomy may benefit metabolic health

Compared with transgender women who received female hormone therapy alone, those who received both female hormone therapy and bilateral orchiectomy were found to have better metabolic health.

Specifically, the team found that transgender women only receiving hormone therapy had greater insulin resistance and greater accumulation of fat in the liver than those who received both surgery and female hormone therapy.

Transgender women who had the highest levels of testosterone were found to have the poorest metabolic health, according to the researchers.

In addition, the team found that the amount of fat build-up in the liver was linked to the level of insulin resistance; whether the two are associated is an ongoing subject of debate in the medical world.

Overall, the researchers say their findings indicate transgender women who undergo bilateral orchiectomy may be protected against insulin resistance and fat build-up in the liver, while the two conditions are more likely to develop among those who receive hormone therapy alone.

Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study that found transgender children do not have a hormone imbalance. - udy published in the Journal of Adolescent Health has revealed that the hormone levels of transgender youth are consistent with the gender they were assigned at birth.


A transgender symbol.

The term transgender is typically used to describe individuals whose gender self-identification does not match their birth-assigned gender.

"We've now put to rest the residual belief that transgender experience is a result of a hormone imbalance," says study author Dr. Johanna Olson of Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). "It's not."

The study conducted by Dr. Olson and colleagues is concerned with assessing the safety and effectiveness of treatments to help transgender patients bring their bodies closer in alignment to their gender identity.

Children who have reached puberty can be treated with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs - synthetic hormones that suppress those produced by the body during puberty in order to delay physical changes to the body.

Such treatment is sought following the development of gender dysphoria - a sense of distress and anxiety that can occur when an individual feels dissonance between their gender identity and the sex they were assigned at birth. More and more young people are seeking treatment for this condition every year.

"Although transgender youth are known to be at high risk for depression, anxiety, and suicidality, there are no data available describing the physical and psychosocial characteristics of transgender adolescents seeking sex reassignment in the United States," the authors of the study write.

To amend this, the researchers have enrolled 101 transgender participants aged 12-24 years old for their prospective study. Of these, 51.5% were assigned "male" at birth and identify as transfeminine and 48.5% were assigned "female" at birth and identify as transmasculine.

After measuring a number of physiological parameters, the researchers discovered that the participants' hormone levels were in line with the normal ranges of the same assigned sex nontransgender youth population. Transmasculine participants had the same average hormone ranges as cisgender females and transfeminine participants had the same as cisgender males.

The researchers noted that many of the participants were overweight or obese, leading them to hypothesize that transgender individuals might use increased body fat to hide undesirable physical features.

Transgender youth aware of gender identity at early age

On average, the participants identified a discrepancy with their assigned gender at the age of 8. They did not tell their families until reaching, on average, the age of 17 years.

Alongside this, the researchers found that 35% of the participants reported symptoms of depression and that more than half had thoughts about suicide - significantly higher than the prevalence among general youth.

"Considering that transgender youth in this sample did not disclose their authentic gender to their families until 10 years after discovery on average, it might not be surprising that many are using maladaptive coping mechanisms to manage such a profound undisclosed element of their core selves," the authors write.

The prevalence of these mental health problems among transgender youth indicates that timely and appropriate intervention could be hugely beneficial to this group.

Having now established the baseline characteristics of the transgender participants, the researchers will continue to assess them over time, tracking the safety and efficacy of any medical interventions they receive as well as their impact on quality of life.

"My goal is to move kids who are having a gender-atypical experience from survive to thrive," Dr. Olson states. "With this study we hope to identify the best way to accomplish that."

The researchers will continue to publish follow-up data as they collect it, and they recommend that other medical centers providing care to transgender should consider collecting information and publishing their experiences as well.

A study published earlier this year demonstrated that the gender identity of transgender children is deeply held and consistent rather than the result of confusion as many people have previously maintained.

Finally Published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the study of more than 100 transgender youths found that their hormone levels between the ages of 12-24 were consistent with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Oxford Dictionary adds ‘cisgender’ along with ‘twerk’

Yeah! it has happened at last.

The word “cisgender” to denote someone whose gender identity matches the gender they were assigned at birth, has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. 

The word is one of 500 new entries into the dictionary, alongside the word “twerk”, a dance move synonymous with singer Miley Cyrus. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “cisgender”, is a word : “Designating a person whose sense of personal identity matches their gender at birth”. A word has to have been in popular use for ten consecutive years in order to qualify for the Oxford English Dictionary. 

It is understood an entry from Hansard, where former Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert used the term in Parliament during a discussion of trans issues, was submitted as evidence to the OED. Other words such as “meh”, “Twitterati”, “hot mess” and “Fo’ shizzle” were also added to the dictionary. The definition of “twerk” means to dance “in a sexually provocative manner, using thrusting movements of the bottom and hips while in a low, squatting stance”. It was dated back to 1820, when it was spelt “twirk”, and some have speculated that it may have been mixed with the word “jerk” to form the modern day version.

Last month, OED staff also "flagged" gender-neutral honorific "Mx" (pronounced "mux" or "mix") for possible inclusion in the dictionary, and are still deliberating. The term, used among some gender-nonconforming people and their allies, has gained the most traction in the U.K.

Despite being listed by media alongside pop culture references, "cisgender" is an important word politically, say trans activists. As LGBT activist group Basic Rights Oregon explains on their website:

"Referring to cisgender people as 'non trans' implies that cisgender people are the default and that being trans is abnormal. ... [W]hen we say 'cisgender' and 'transgender' neither is implied as more normal than the other.

"Using the word 'cisgender' is also an educational tool. To simply define people as 'non-trans' implies that only transgender people have a gender identity. But that's not true. Like sexual orientation, race, class, and many other identities, all of us have a gender identity."

Cisgender — sometimes abbreviated to "cis" — is a neutral descriptor akin to gay people labelling non-gay people as "straight," say trans advocates, and can be applied whether a cisgender person personally uses the word to describe themself or not.

Some cisgender people have argued against this assertion saying, as gay writer J. Nelson Aviance did last year, it "imposes" an identity on others, implies that all cisgender people are "normatively gendered," and is used with hostility. But while the term remains fraught for some, many trans advocates maintain that it is simply a practical classification aimed at making language more inclusive.

African American transgender blogger Monica Roberts said via her blog:

Our TERF haters love to flap their gums and claim cisgender not only isn't a word, but weakly try to claim the word is a slur. 

As we say in the Lone Star State, that dog won't hunt,

Because the English language is one that is constantly evolving, the Oxford English Dictionary adds words to it every year, This year, one of the words added to the volume that is considered the definitive and authoritative volume when it comes to English in addition to twerk was cisgender. 

That sound you just heard was TERF heads exploding, 

Yep, cisgender is now officially an English language word, so you can stop telling that lie that it isn't. It will be not only included in the 2015 edition of the Oxford dictionary, but will soon be included in other online and offline dictionaries tat look to the Oxford one as their standard for deciding what words do and don't get included.

Another one for public awareness.

Peace and tolerance

H

Impossible for Intersex People to be Cisgender?

Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello

"Is it impossible for intersex people to be cisgender because it is impossible in society to live completely as in intersex person with no male or female legal checkbox?"

In my experience, what you find when speaking with intersex people about this is an interesting split based upon gender identity. Intersex people who do not identify with the binary sex they were coercively assigned at birth tend to see all intersex people as forced to live trans lives. Intersex people who do identify with the binary sex label they were given at birth instead generally see themselves as cis people, and only frame as trans gender those intersex people who gender transition or who assert a nonbinary gender identity.

Personally, as an intersex gender transitioner, I fall into the camp that does not view intersex people living in our society as cis gender, even if their gender identity matches their assigned sex. Intersex children are born neither male nor female, but are forced into a binary sex category by a contemporary social ideology that says this is mandatory. Many are then subjected to infant sex assignment surgery to try to make their bodies conform to their assigned sex. What is that other than a forced sex change? Just because a person grows up to identify with the sex they were assigned at birth does not mean they will feel surgeries they were subjected to were appropriate. Loss of potential fertility and loss of capacity for sexual sensation are prices that they may not consider worth the result of a somewhat-more-sex-conforming body--note that many people who gender transition by choice choose not to get genital surgery. Thus, I believe, framing medical interventions into the reproductive organs and genitals of intersex people as trans interventions, not "corrections," is important, as it will force doctors to give us agency over what is done to our bodies, and prevent them from removing the very sexual features we may most identify with.

The problem with my framework politically is that a majority of intersex people today do live in their assigned binary sexes, growing up as we do in a society in which that is the norm. The percentage of us who mature to gender transition or assert a nonbinary gender identity is much higher than is the case for nonintersex people, although we don't know the exact degree of the difference because doctors are emphatically not collecting data on us, their sex-assignment "failures." Still, a majority do live their lives in their assigned sexes (often completely in the closet about being born sex-variant, as doctors have urged parents to train their children to be). And most such people do not identify at all as "forced to live a transgender life." That is, they identify as cis gender.

If someone says, "I was assigned female (or male) at birth, and I identify as female (or male)," then we usually call such a person cis gender. So intersex people who understand themselves as cis gender have a very valid basis for framing themselves that way. Certainly this is the way the medical field treats the situation, in claiming to assign us to what they used to call our "true" sex, and now call our "best" sex. Doctors view themselves not as imposing sex changes upon unconsenting infants, but as revealing our "real" binary (cis) sex.

I feel that understanding all intersex people who have been assigned a binary sex (which, in the US today, is all of us) as trans is useful, because it gives us a way to oppose unconsented-to infant genital surgeries. I view those intersex people who are happy in their assigned sexes as no different from people who are not intersex, but gender transition by choice and are happy as a result.

At the same time, I don't feel I have a right to tell an intersex person who identifies as cis gender that they can't do that. After all, as trans gender advocates note, every person is coercively assigned to a binary sex at birth. A person who grows up to identify as genderqueer, or with the binary sex they were not assigned, is forced to struggle with medical and legal and social forces to have their identity recognized, whether sex variant by birth or born with a body considered normative. So, viewing all cis people as coercively assigned to the sex with which they identify makes calling intersex people who identify with the sex they were assigned "cis gender" reasonable, from a trans-affirming perspective. (Of course, many people are not trans-affirming, and transphobia can motivate rejection of being labeled trans gender. But I do not believe it is either charitable or necessary to assume that an intersex person who identifies with their birth-assigned sex and rejects being labeled as trans is motivated by bigotry.)

I just feel that labeling anyone who is medically altered to change the sex characteristics of their body as trans makes the most sense, and is useful from an advocacy standpoint.

UPDATE:

I've done some additional thinking about this topic, and would like to have people consider approaching gender identity in intersex people by acknowledging that we can never address intersex experience well through binary terminology. What we may really need to do is to introduce another term.

what I would suggest doing is adding to the terms "cis" and "trans" another term often used in scientific terminology. In chemistry, which gives us the language of cis and trans isomers, there are chemicals based upon a ring structure, called arene rings. When a chemical substitution is made in the same place on the ring, this is referred to as "ipso" substitution.

If we were to add the term "ipso gender" to trans and cis gender, we could perhaps describe intersex experience more accurately. A cis gender intersex person would be one with an intermediate gender identity, since that "matches" their birth sex. An ipso gender intersex person would identify with the binary sex they were medically assigned (the social sex substituted for their intersex birth status being the same as their identified sex). And a trans gender intersex person would be one who identifies with the binary sex other than the one they were assigned by doctors.

This terminology solution is not without its drawbacks. Usually people who are genderqueer in identity are considered to fall under the trans umbrella, but in the case of intersex people, they'd fall under the cis heading, which could prove confusing. But it's also possible that confusion would itself prove productive.

It's certainly worth considering.

Dr Costello is an academic and scaler of boundary walls, intersex by birth, female-reared, legally transitioned to male status, and says he is pleased with his trajectory

A most uneasy discussion on Transgenderism in Jamaica......stigmatizing terms repeatedly used

Listen To Lifestyle Internet Radio Stations with Talk Jamaica on BlogTalkRadio

A BIG thanks to the co-founder of Aphrodite's PRIDE Jamaica of which I am part for saving this shaky attempt to have a discussion on transgenderism in Jamaica as Satiba from her first words in the interview helped the obviously nervous folks involved.

Dangerous words such as "She-male" as recently used on Rupaul's drag race and that landed her in some backlash from fans, transgender activists and sexual health experts as well and the erroneous adding of the "ed" at the end of transgender. While I appreciate the attempt it was clear the research was not done by the hosts and the discussion seems to commodify the issue, at one point one of the host described the matter as a lifestyle. Even the guest described as some doctor made the error repeatedly through the discussion.

see: 5 Things It's Important To Consider Regarding Transphobia and 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

Then also the clear lack of understanding of sex and sexuality issues but I won't fault them altogether I do wish though that Satiba and Tiana must insist the the word "transgender" is an adjective and NOT a verb hence no need 

Tiana Miller 

Other guests were a student from some university and Tiana Miller who was also involved with APJ's recent project on Entrepreneurship Training.

The rest of the lengthy exchange however was ok in some sense although the theological intervention did not make much sense to me as the speaker was not having a full grasp of what transgenderism is and thought it was an anomaly towards sex change against God's word. The speaker representing the Christian perspective obviously conflates cosmetic surgery or ses change as fun more so than a needed activity for transgender persons to fulfill their cisgender imperative.

I was pleased at the point where the host wanted to get the gender description correct for Satiba in asking is she should be addressed as "she" which was a good pointer in the show.

The learning curve on this is happening but late as when the visibility issue was a cause for concern it was not addressed by the likes JFLAG and now when it matters in terms on public knowledge especially owing to the legal matters of a buggery review/conscience vote suggested or promised by the Prime Minister person ought to have been on the up and up on these issues.

also hear Satiba on her recent appearance on BBC where she spoke to the Indian Supreme Court decision to name transgender as a third sex. CLICK HERE and also on a radio program Everywoman on Nationwide Radio 90FM March 20th 2014 with Dr Karen Carpenter as stand-in host with a transgender activist and co-founder of Aphrodite's P.R.I.D.E Jamaica and a gender non conforming/lesbian guest as well on the matters of identity, sex reassignment surgery and transexuality.

CLICK HERE for a recording of the show.

also see previous contributed posts and appearances by Satiba/Laura:

A WARNING FOR THOSE CONSIDERING Male to Female SRS

Transgender/transexual discourse ...... Open Mic Open Soul 22.06.11

Radio program "Love & Sex" on Sexual Identities & Transgenderism (Were you born in the wrong body?) 2010

Transgender: What does it mean revisited

Coming Out for a Transgender person

Share the information folks.

Peace and tolerance

H

Female cisgender imperative thwarted: 17y/o trans-woman murdered

Condolences to the family and friends of Dwayne, firstly;

IRIE FM reported on Monday the following:

Cross dressing teen killed by mob

A teenager was set upon by a mob and killed at a party in St. James overnight.

Reports are that between a 10:00 p-m and 3:00 this morning (July 22), there was river party being held in the Irwin community.

It's reported that the 17-year-old was dressed as a female and was dancing with a male, when a woman at the party recognized him and told other patrons that he was not a female, but a male.

It's understood that one of the men at the party, held on to the teen, searched him and discovered that he was in fact, male.

Some of the patrons reportedly set up on the teen, and chopped and stabbed him to death.

His body was then dumped in bushes along the Orange Main Road.

Police discovered the body about 5:00 this morning.

The police have said they will be increasing their presence in the Irwin community, as two brothers were also murdered there just over a week ago.

ENDS

JFLAG now jumps on it with the following:

Violence is an Affront to Democracy

J-FLAG is appealing to Jamaicans to be more respectful of persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) and encourages all persons to stand up for justice.

J-FLAG notes with deep concern the recent mob killing of Dwayne Jones, a teenager in St James who is gender non-conforming; the recent murder of two gay men at an anti-gay religious rally organized by a coalition of evangelical churches in Haiti; and the continued misuse of medical data by some members of the faith-based community to fuel anti-gay animus in society.

We send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the teenager who was slain as well as to our friends in Haiti. We call for a thorough investigation into the murder of the teenager in Montego Bay and hope that the family and loved ones of the slained teen will find the justice they deserve. We encourage persons in the Irwin community of St. James to support the police with any information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators .

It is time that these murders, beatings, and evictions are seen and treated as an affront to democracy, peace, justice, harmony, and freedom of our society.

Jamaica cannot become the place of choice to raise families if we continue killing our children, expelling our most productive, and perpetuating a divisive atmosphere through the skewing of objective truth to suit subjective prejudices.

In response to the mob killing of two gay men on the weekend, the Haitian Government issued a release which is most instructive to us in Jamaica: “The country is in effect at a stage where it needs the energies of all its citizens to undertake great and true battles: the battle against extreme poverty, against illiteracy, against hunger and malnutrition, against ignorance and intolerance. In such a context, tolerance, being a necessary virtue for the establishment of a just and democratic society, becomes a patriotic duty to the extent that a society that is not just cannot progress, and there can be no justice without tolerance.”

Tolerance underpins democracy. Tolerance protects justice. Tolerance promotes harmony.

Our National Anthem beseeches ‘true respect for all’ and our National Pledge urges us all to ‘stand up for justice, brotherhood and peace’.

J-FLAG therefore urges the government, churches, and other stakeholders to join with us in our ongoing commitment to be faithful to these principles for the future of our nation.

Editors Note:

“Gender non-conforming” refers to people who do not follow other people’s ideas or stereotypes about how they should look or act based on the female or male sex they were assigned at birth (Silva Rivera Law Project).

ENDS

Also more dishonest reporting by overseas LGBT outfits that seem to want to capitalize on the homo-negaitve situation here by hopping on an old perception of Jamaica being the most homophobic place on earth as done by Queerty: Jamaica Still “Most Homophobic Place On Earth” As Cross-Dressing Teen “Chopped And Stabbed” To Death but I am not surprised as some of our advocates have prodded them to do so hence it continues.

Frankly speaking young cross dressers or indeed pre-operative transwomen in their quest for the female cisgender imperative to live their truths need to be careful of the spaces they choose to do so especially in Jamaica with a general population not yet educated or sensitized enough about such issues, if deception was the deal here where the deceased was with a man who did not know "she" was a cross dresser or pre-operative transwoman that perceived deception is used as justification to attack such persons. If the partner knew he could may have to pretend he didn't in order to avoid attack on himself as well as has happened before. Older cross dressers or pre-op transwomen know all too well this business of passing or operating in stealth and know how to do so based on experience, this young one was not so lucky.

This also shows the lack of interventions towards the groups of pre-opertaive trans and cross dressers and understanding how to use stealth or passing in a public place, there are consequences (sadly death) in this case, this is not the first time in Montego Bay there has been such an incident but we always have to wait until something goes horribly wrong then the knee-jerk reaction comes. 

To ask for the public here in this case the perpetrators to stop as such awful acts are indeed not needed without the necessary interventions towards the young transwomen and cross dressers about navigating public spaces presenting themselves as they see fit is ridiculous in my view. Taking it on a wing and a prayer and hoping that one survives in the end is not the way to go here; we must teach our younger peeps to pass easily in open spaces but be weary of enclosed spaces and events especially where one may be identifies easily by others who know such persons. We have too many examples of abuse, attacks and ghastly outcomes by attempts at passing in public spaces and places of entertainment; it is yet to be seen if proactivism and the relevant forumatic response towards younger pre-opertive transwomen and crossdressers/drag queens to avoid entertainment spots that one is not sure of and if one chooses to go to them they do so at their own risk.

One cannot be foolish and give away ones life so easily. Where are the older more experienced voices in this department to bring some enlightenment on this issue of feminine aesthetics in public? besides effeminacy in men is not proof of them being homosexual.

Justice Minister condemns killing of St James cross-dresser on  so late in the day Monday, July 29, 2013 

KINGSTON, Jamaica- Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding has condemns the brutal slaying of 17-year-old Dwayne Jones by a mob at a dance in St James on July 22.

"Given our country's history of brutality and the pluralistic nature of our society, all well-thinking Jamaicans must embrace the principle of respect for the basic human rights of all persons," Golding said.

"This principle requires tolerance towards minority groups, and non-violence in our dealings with those who manifest a lifestyle that differs from the majority of us".

It was reported that Jones was beaten to death by the mob after it was discovered that he was dancing with a man while wearing women's clothing.

"Depraved acts of violence against individuals such as Dwayne Jones have to cease. The police must spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice, so that any persons who may be inclined to indulge in such vile brutality will know that they cannot do so with impunity," the Justice Minister added.

The United Nations Jamaica Office issued a statement:

UN Jamaica Statement on the Murder of Dwayne Jones

The United Nations in Jamaica condemns the brutal murder of 17-year-old Dwayne Jones by patrons gathered at a dance party in St. James in the early hours of 22 July 2013.

Dwayne was reportedly chased and attacked by a crowd of assailants after it became known that he was male and dressed in women’s clothing.

We welcome the statement issued by the Minister of Justice, Senator Mark Golding, denouncing the killing and calling on the police to spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The Government should ensure that the investigation proceeds without delay and is conducted in an independent and thorough manner. Those responsible for this heinous crime must be held to account for their actions.

Dwayne Jones is, sadly, only the latest in a long line of individuals in Jamaica assaulted and killed apparently because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

Tolerance, acceptance of diversity and respect for others are all underpinnings of any free and equal society. They are also essential for everyone to enjoy their human rights on an equal footing. The need to ensure human rights for all and to respect the principles of non-discrimination, including for people belonging to sexual minorities has been consistently underscored by the United Nations Secretary General.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has launched the Free & Equal campaign designed to raise awareness of homophobic violence and discrimination, and promote greater respect for the rights of for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

Here is the last video of Dwayne Jones aka Gully Queen inadvertently done by a television crew when they came across the homeless youths at an abandoned housing scheme in Western Jamaica, little did we know in death he would make such international headlines. He was laid to rest on August 25, 2013. May his soul rest in peace

Peace and tolerance

UPDATE July 2014:

One year review television special

A recent television special one year since the murder shows up the carelessness frankly of Gully Queen herself and friends that faithful night but who is going to say it openly? that in a sense she gave her own life away in a sense as they clearly thought they understood how to "pass" in public which clearly they didn't. See that documentary HERE or HERE ........ Host Dionne Jackson Miller takes a look at the issues of the murder of Dwayne Jones aka Gully Queen one year ago and some other related issues to do with homelessness, displacements and forced evictions of LGBT youths with guests, issues to do with passing in public, honesty & integrity about one's real gender scream for attention in this presentation which warrants better programs from LGBTQ advocacies & interventions specific to transgender individuals navigating public life in Jamaica as misdirected homophobic violence can lead to more incidents such as the tragic murder of Gully Queen,

H

The difficult task of separating drag culture from transgender identity .......

A long standing tense relationship between transgender activists and some popular cross dressing or drag queen icons continue and with an egregious error made recently by a JFLAG representative at a symposium on identity where they lumped transgender individuals as drag queens, the invisibility issue with local transgender persons has been an issue for me as LGBT is conveniently used as the call letters for the struggle but the actual inclusion is far from happening just yet in all the years of pressing on-wards.

I thought it appropriate to post this entry from leading African American trans blogger Monica Roberts, where she wrote:

Trans Womanhood does not equal drag

TransGriot Note: My guest post that is up at the NBJC blog commenting on Monica Beverly Hillz's recent trans coming out announcement

With Monica Beverly Hillz coming out as trans onRuPaul's Drag Race on February 4, it was seen as a good news, bad news moment by much of the trans community.

While we celebrate our trans sister taking such a huge step in her life, the irony of the moment wasn't lost on many of us in the trans community.

She was coming out as trans on a show in which its creator has a contentious relationship with the trans community, and has repeatedly uttered problematic transphobic comments..

The trans community also has a love-hate relationship with the drag community as well for the rampant transphobia and misogny in elements of that world.

That's why many of us in the trans community (myself included) refuse to watch or support Drag Race. But I also realize there are enough people who do regularly tune in to the show to where it has now survived on LOGO for five seasons.

So taking it into account Drag Race has a large viewership who could use a little Trans 101 education, it's time for the trans community and our allies to take this opportunity Monica's coming out presents us to put a major dent into the long held myth that drag queens and trans women are exactly the same and far too often conflate the two..

So lets start with the major difference between an trans woman and a drag queen.

A trans woman is someone born in a masculine body at birth with a feminine gender identity and expression that lives full time in the feminine gender role. They may seek gender realignment surgery, counseling, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other medical procedures to facilitate the process.

That is light years difference from a drag artist who generally loves everything about being in the masculine gender role, blanches at the thought of genital realignment surgery and have no desire to present as female except on stage.

There are and have long been trans women like Monica who perform in the drag world for various reasons. Some do so because they simply enjoy the experience of being on stage and the confidence boost it provides. Some do so because it's a job that helps them earn the money to pay for their hormones, other medical procedures to perfect their feminine presentation and eventually get to the point where they can have genital surgery.

Trans women who are on that drag stage when the performance is over wipe the excess stage makeup off their faces, hang up the beaded gowns and gaudy costumes and head outside the club in their regular clothes and stripped down makeup to live their everyday feminine lives in a world that is indifferent and in many cases hostile to them. And far too often some of that hostility directed at trans women comes from people in the same gender loving (SGL) and cis communities. It also manifests itself in terms of discrimination and off the charts levels of violence and death aimed at us. 

image not included in original article

It has long been an irritant to African-American trans women that cis people will easily let the 'she' pronoun slide off their lips for a RuPaul, Madea or any assorted drag queen but can't bring themselves to do the same for a transwoman in their midst who is living her everyday life in the female gender role.

Trans woman does not equal drag queen. It's past time for people to get that fundamental point and give trans women the love, respect and codified human rights as members of the community they deserve.

Transphobia: Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant rep says no to transgender entrant in Canada beauty contest

prepared by Davina Henry of the Star News,

The original headline read:

Jamaicans against sex change contestant - Won't support Miss Universe Canada entrant who was a man

Several Jamaicans, including the organisers of the Miss Jamaica Universe are displeased with the possibility of a transgender contestant being allowed back into the Miss Universe Canada competition.

a recent press conference with her attorney

A transgender contestant, who entered the contest and was disqualified, may now be allowed back into the competition. According to BBC News, the Miss Universe Organisation might reverse its earlier decision and allow Jenna Talackova, 23, who was born a male to compete.

Although the Donald Trump-run competition specifies that entrants must be "naturally born" females, Talackova may be afforded the opportunity to re-enter the competition "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions," the organisation said.

hormone therapy

After being disqualified, Talackova had announced that she would hold a press conference in Los Angeles with lawyer Gloria Allred. It was after making this announcement that the Miss Universe organisers began considering allowing her back into the contest.

This is not the first pageant that Talackova has entered. She competed in the 2010 Tiffany Miss International Queen Competition for transgendered and transsexual women in Pattaya, Thailand. Talackova has said that she realised she was a woman at age four, began hormone therapy at age 14 and changed her sex at age 19.

But Tessa-Marie Leon, public relations director of the Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant, is not in agreement with the possibility of Talackova entering the competition.

"We have to agree with the international organisers requirements, it says that you have to be born a female. Having changed your organs to become a female should automatically disqualify you," she said.

When pressed as to what would happen if the transgendered competitor was allowed back into the competition, Leon stated that this would "be a revolution that will question the other requirements."

too far

Several Jamaicans who were yesterday asked to comment on the possible move to allow transgender persons to enter beauty pageants were against it.

"Me don't even want to hear dat, what you are saying is really low and I think these men especially are taking this sex change thing too far. The organisers should make up their minds if the competition is a sex change competition or what," James Richards, from Kingston told THE STAR yesterday.

"They should really charge that man, he represents a lie. It is a female competition. He is a shame to the human race, me nuh believe inna dem ting, dem fi charge him," Orlando Grant from Harbour View said.

Also, Kishanie Whyte, who works as a media manager in the Corporate Area reasoned, "really really, my take is no, this person should not be allowed in this pageant. This pageant is for females.

She further said, "What kind of rubbish is that, what is this world coming to, that is nonsense, I have nothing more to say."

Jamaica has always had entrants in the Miss Universe competition, with the most successful being Yendi Phillipps who placed second in 2010. The contestants for this year's competition were recently unveiled and the competition is slated to take place in a few months.

ENDS

Would you consider this response from the local Miss Universe representative a transphobic one?


A perfect opportunity has presented itself again to look at transgenderism and ethics in one go but given how the issue is being reported we may miss this golden period to use it of better understanding.

Originally when this story broke I had issues about the ethical position of Jenna as the rules for the competition stated entrants had to be born female and rules are rules in my book despite the exclusionary position it presents, she also according to reports lied on her application that she was born female. But now that the organizers have bowed and allowed her to re-enter or remain due to some public pressure she has been thrusted into the limelight as a transgender activist now, now she handles herself even if she loses the race she will be remembered for breaking the ice, speaking the truth is also of the utmost importance, advocacy in any form requires a strong ethical base to be effective. 

Will this change other similarly typed competition around the world especially states like Venezuela, Thailand and others where transexualism and transgenderism are part of their cultures and the cisgender battle with some transgender activists may heat up long after this furor has died as concepts of beauty are rigorously applied to transexuals as they are not readily accepted as such when compared to cis women. These circumstances are to be closely watched. 

In speaking to local transgender personalities they seem pleased with the inclusion on Jenna in the Canadian contest as it represents inclusion on transgender persons.

Finally I am a bit perturbed at the use of the word "transgender(ed)" How can someone by a past tense of themselves when in being transgender is there existence as a human being? Common mistakes made by not so enlightened journalists or tabloid writers and even LGBT activists make the error as well.

Peace and tolerance

H


also see a post on sister blog GLBTQ JA on Wordpress: 

What needs to be done to help Transsexuals In Jamaica

The Cisgender Privilege Checklist

Thanks to Queers United for this

Cisgender (pronounced /ˈsɪsdʒɛndər/) is an adjective used in the context of gender issues and counselling to refer to a class of gender identities formed by a match between an individual's gender identity and the behavior or role considered appropriate for one's sex.

Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook defined "cisgender" as a label for "individuals who have a match between the gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and their personal identity", complementing "transgender". A more popular term is "gender normative". However, unlike "cisgender", this term suggests that there is a single, agreed-upon system of gender norms.

There are many derivatives of the term in use including cismale, cisfemale, and cissexual.

"There appears to be little in the way of a comprehensive cisgender (non transgender) privilege list. These lists are generally written in the first person relative to having the privilege. Number #1 speaks to both heterosexual and cisgender privilege. The remainder of the list focuses on cisgender privilege."

Please read and re-post this list to make people aware of the hardships often faced by transgender individuals that cisgender people take for granted on a daily basis.

1. It is unlikely that I will be ostracized by my family and friends, fired from my job, evicted from my home, given substandard medical care, suffer violent or sexual abuse, ridiculed by the media, or preached against by religious organizations simply because of my professed identity or perceived incongruent gendered behaviors or characteristics.

2. I can be confident that people will not call me by a different name or use improper pronouns.

3. I never suffered the indignation of "holding it", when both functional and unoccupied public restrooms are available. In fact, I don't need to be concerned about public facilities segregated by sex.

4. If I am institutionalized, I don't have to worry about being housed in the wrong section of a facility segregated by sex.
5. I am not denied entrance to appropriate services or events that are segregated by sex.

6. My childhood innocence was not interrupted with desperate prayers to a divinity begging to wake up the opposite sex.
7. I never grieve about my lost childhood and adolescence because I was born the opposite sex.

8. I will only experience puberty once.

9. I never worry about potential lovers shifting instantly from amorous to disdain and even violence because of my genitals.

10. I am unlikely to be questioned about my genitals, even less likely to be touched inappropriately or asked to see them.

11. It is unlikely that I would risk my health by avoiding the medical profession for fear of discovery.

12. I never considered hiding my body parts by binding or tucking.

13. It is unlikely that I would consider changing my voice.

14. If I have a professionally recognized and diagnosed condition, I am unlikely to be excluded from medical insurance coverage.

15. As a man, I am more likely to look my age, and have a body similar in size and shape to other men.

16. As a man, I am more likely to be satisfied with the functionality of my genitals.

17. As a man, I am more likely able to father children .

18. As a woman, I am more likely to have a body similar in size and shape to other women.

19. As a woman, I am unlikely to lose my hair before middle age.

20. As a woman, I am more likely able to conceive and bear children.

21. As a woman, I don't have to dilate the rest of my life.

22. I am more likely able to achieving orgasm.

23. I will likely have $50,000 or more to spend or save for retirement.

24. I can't imagine spending months and $1000s of dollars on a therapist so they can tell me something I already knew.

25. If I am physically healthy, I don't think about having a hysterectomy, a mastectomy, massive hair removal, contra hormone therapy, vocal surgery, facial reassignment surgery, or genital reassignment surgery.

26. I have a better chance of reaching old age without taking my own life.

27. At my funeral, it is unlikely that my family would present me crossdressed against my living wishes.

28. I never worry about passing gender wise. I am oblivious to the consequences of someone failing to do so, and consequently loosing my cisgender (non transgender) privilege. In fact, I have the privilege of being completely unaware of my own cisgender privilege.

Crossposted from The Transgender Boards