Vandalized UK National Trans Memorial Restored

We have some good news coming from across The Pond concerning the UK's National Transgender Memorial.    

Back during the UK's Sparkle Weekend last year, what is believed to be the world's first memorial built to commemorate the persons lost to anti-trans hate violence was dedicated in Manchester's Sackville Gardens.   But because some idiots didn't want the trans community to have nice things, the memorial was vandalized mere days after its dedication on or around August 6. 

Tony Cooper, Chair of The Friends of Sackville Gardens, said: “We worked closely with the Trans community to create a lasting memorial to those who have died because of prejudice and hate, and to then see that memorial vandalized within days was a true reflection of what many Trans people have to go through in daily life.

The vandals who desecrated the memorial haven't been brought to justice yet, but thanks to a police donation and SOCA funding secured by the City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT)., the damaged plaques were restored in advance of the 2014 edition of Sparkle Weekend, the national transgender celebration in the UK.  

The nearby Manchester College in addition to the Lesbian and Gay Foundation helped pay for lighting to illuminate the memorial and that section of the park to help reduce crime in the area. 

Glad to hear that the memorial has been restored and will be looking good when Sparkle Weekend happens.  Thanks to all the people who pulled together to make that a reality. 

Julie Burchill Is Hatin' Again.

There are just times when you just have to call somebody's azz out, and this is one of those times.

Got a little concerned when the TERF's got quiet for a minute and weren't engaged in their usual transphobic hate rants.  But like the conservative movement and the GOP here in the States, you can always count on them to show their asses sooner or later.

The latest eruption of TERF transphobic bigotry came from across The Pond. in Great Britain.

Julie Burchill opened mouth and inserted her foot in it when she said in reaction to a Paris Lees article that 'Transwomen are just big white blokes who have cut their cocks off.'.

That's mighty white of you Julie.  And TERF's like you are just vanillacentric privileged white women pissed off they weren't born conservative white men.   Because you and you fellow TERF's have a lot in common with them and our Republicans..  You all love to gleefully engage in oppressing and denigrating others.  

Burchill has a long deplorable history of anti-trans hate screeds our British trans cousins have called her butt out on and engaged in a lot of activism on their side of The Pond to combat.

But when Burchill once again attacked Lees and by extension the British trans community, she tried to have it both ways.  She tried to simultaneously cry White Women's Tears and bemoan the world of retaliatory hurt that was going to come her way in response to her transphobia by trying to claim she's a 'victim' of trans women 'bullying her.'  

Yeah, right.  Your jealous, pathetic behind needs to have a makeover, several sections of Wembley Stadium seats and a nice tall Earl Grey tea flavored mug of STFU.   

And I'll repeat what I said last January in response to Suzanne Moore's racist and transphobic comment. 

As an African-American transwoman, I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of your racist and transphobic hate speech that is stoking the white hot flames of anti-trans bigotry and discrimination.  It is not only getting transwomen of all ethnic backgrounds killed, but disproportionately ones that share my ethnic heritage.

If you and your TERF buddies don't want to get called out for saying transphobic crap, then don't say transphobic crap in the first place, because we trans women, and especially transwomen of color have zero tolerance for your mean girl schtick.    But Burchill and friends keep on doing it, and that's why she's considered a transphobic mean girl in Great Britain whose 15 minutes of fame is long since over. 

Her screed not only denies the existence of trans women (as usual) she took it to another level and erased the existence of trans women of color.  

So naw, I don't give a rat's anus about Burchill's delicate, precious nerves because if she's woman enough to say transphobic shyt and write in her multiple failed columns, then she needs to pull up the big girl panties, stop crying White Women's Tears and deal with the justified retaliatory fire that will swiftly and surely come from us calling her azz out for saying her transphobic shyt.

New century, new decade, new rules.    In case you haven't noticed, this ain't the 1970's and 80's where you TERF mean girls could say transphobic crap with impunity, write books, transphobic columns, do lecture tours and go cackling off to your corners unchallenged.

Now your asses get called out by us and our allies and you don't like it.   Too damned bad.  

As we say on my side of The Pond, don't start none, won't be none.

British Transwoman Barred From Playing Women's Soccer By FA

Jazz spent two years fighting the US Soccer Federation for a policy that would allow her and other trans kids to play soccer in this country. 

Now come word from across The Pond of a British transwoman who is not being allowed to play on a women's team there despite having documentation confirming her gender identity, hormone levels in feminine range and her teammates and opposing players having no objections to her being in the league.

32 year old Aeris Houlihan is facing a two year wait to play competitive soccer because the FA policy is pegged to the FIFA rules and the IOC Stockholm Consensus, which mandates surgical intervention and two years of being on HRT before being allowed to play in the gender you present.   She's not due to have SRS until March.

'It's not like I want to play for Barcelona, I just want to play for my local club.' - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-woman-told-fa-she-can-only-play-mens-football101213#sthash.xzmMW90U.dpuf

The story starts in June, when Houlihan applied to the FA (The English Football Association) so she could play for her local team in Leeds, the Middleton Park Ladies FC.   She was asked to provide a doctor's letter verifying her feminine hormone levels which she complied with.

After providing that letter, she heard nothing from FA until October, and it was at that time she was informed that she couldn't play for her local team and would be unable to appeal the decision. 

'It's not like I want to play for Barcelona.   All I want to do is play for my local club," Houlihan said in an interview with the Daily Mail. "The FA didn't even bother to look at my hormones levels or my blood test results, which are the same as any other woman's.  They are blind and need to look at the results in front of them."

Houlihan's club is supporting her in her fight to play her favorite sport.

"We support the fact she would like to play on a Ladies team as she is now legally a woman, she has a British passport, and she should be allowed to compete as a woman just as she is allowed to live as a woman in her everyday life," the Middleton Park FC said in a statement.

The resistance that Houlihan is running into is in stark contrast to what the FA website states.

"An individual's sexual orientation or gender identity should never be a barrier to participating in, and enjoying, our national sport."

Looks like that is exactly what is happening in this case.  Her gender identity has become a barrier to her being able to participate in their national sport.

Paris Lees Tops Britain's 2013 Pink List!

If it seems like to the rest of the world 2013 has been British trans journalist, advocate and media presenter Paris Lees' breakout year in terms of getting British national and increasing international attention as a voice for the trans community across The Pond, actually it wasn't. 

Lees has been a rising personality in the British trans ranks for several years now as the founding editor of META magazine, Britain's first trans themed magazine, an It Gets Better video, winning a 2012 National Diversity Award , and being an instrumental player in the discussions the British trans community had with Channel 4 that has led to more positive portrayals of transpeople there.



Paris Lees rocky rise to prominence and status as one of the torchbearing voices in the British trans community has gained more cachet as she recently was named to the number one spot in the 2013 edition of The Independent Pink List of 101 influential British TBLG people

And her trans cousins on this side of The Pond couldn't be happier for her.

So what's next for this groundbreaking 25 year trans leader?  Stay tuned, because it's going to be interesting for transpeople on both sides of The Pond and internationally to watch.

April Ashley Museum Exhibit Opening September 27

April Ashley is one of our pioneering trans people and was honored last year with an MBE for her lifelong human rights advocacy. 

It's exiting and interesting to note that an exhibit about her life is opening Friday in her hometown of Liverpool.  

How cool is that? 

The Museum of Liverpool is hosting the exhibit entitled April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady that will run from September 27-September 14, 2014.

The year long exhibit is funded with a £78,000 ($125,371) grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and curated by Homotopia in partnership with National Museums Liverpool.   It draws upon April Ashley’s previously unseen photographic archive and personal documents to investigate the wider impact of changing social and legal conditions for all transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people from 1935 to today.

April was born in Liverpool in 1935, joined the Merchant Marine at age 14 to escape her unhappy home life, and after two suicide attempts and electroshock therapy to 'cure' her moved to Paris, transitioned, worked at the famed Le Carrousel trans cabaret and was the first person in Europe (and Dr. Georges Bourou's ninth) to undergo genital surgery with Dr Bourou at his clinic in Casablanca, Morocco in 1960. 

She returned to Britain after the surgery and became a successful Vogue model and actress until she was outed in 1961.  She was a plaintiff in the 1970 Corbett v Corbett divorce case that has had international legal ramifications on trans marriages (and negatively impacted Christie Lee Littleton in 1999 among others) in addition to the status of trans people in Great Britain that wasn't rectified until the 2004 Gender Recognition Act was passed.

Ashley has had a major impact on us as a trans pioneer and it's wonderful that her life is being spotlighted

The Museum of Liverpool opened in July 2011 and is the first national museum in Great Britain devoted to the history of a regional city.   It showcases popular culture while tackling social, historical and contemporary issues and is a fantastic, free family day out. It has attracted more than two million visitors since it opened and was awarded the prestigious Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2013 for its commitment to human rights as well as its work with children and families from all backgrounds.

The April Ashley exhibit is just another example of that human rights commitment.  If you live in Great Britain or are here on our side of The Pond planning to visit Great Britain, hope you take the opportunity to travel to Liverpool and see the April Ashley exhibit while it's there.   

UK National Transgender Memorial Vandalized

Damn, why is it that some idiots take it upon themselves to destroy or vandalize the nice things we trans people manage to put together as a community? 

The trans community in Manchester, England and their allies are probably asking themselves that question right now.  

They coordinated the Transgender Remembrance Memorial Project spearheaded by Tony Cooper, the chair of the Sackville Park Friends Association to construct what is believed to be the world's first purpose built memorial to remember the victims of anti-trans violence. 

The Manchester community spent hundreds of hours putting together a memorial garden and brick laid path in the park to complement the nine foot tall wooden structure being carved by sculptor Shane Green. 

The dedication of the National Transgender Memorial in Manchester's Sackville Gardens happened during the UK's Sparkle Weekend trans celebration that occurred July 12-14. 

Unfortunately on or around the night of August 6 some wastes of DNA vandalized the memorial and the CCTV surveillance system that is prevalent in many UK cities as bad luck would have it didn't have cameras pointed toward that section of the gardens.  . 

The Greater Manchester Police have opened an investigation of the crime and are solicting information leading to the arrest, trial and conviction of the vandals.  

Here's hoping in the interim the damage done to this first ever memorial will quickly be repaired.

I also hope we see more communities around the world take the initiative to put together their own memorials to honor our fallen transsisters and transbrothers.

British Trans Woman Gets Justice For Sexual Assault After Her Death

(TRIGGER WARNING:  This post discusses a sexual assault) 

Anna Vincent finally got justice for what happened to her on a horrible January 23, 2001 night.  Too bad she wasn't alive to see this day happen.

She was 36 at the time and on her way home inebriated from attending a birthday party.  Just outside the Camden Town tube station she was snatched by Mohammed Salim at approximately 10 PM and dragged by him to a nearby alley.   He tried to force her to perform a oral sex act on him before forcing himself on her, anally raping the post operative trans woman, vomiting and running away from the scene.

At first Vincent wasn't going to report the sexual assault because she felt the police wouldn't care, take it seriously or do anything about it because of her transfeminine status.  She was persuaded to report it anyway and did so the next day.

Good thing she did.  Semen was found in that alleyway, but the case remained unsolved until a cold case review took place in 2011.  
   
With the ability to now do DNA testing on the semen sample, it came up as a billion to one match for the 43 year old Mohammed Salim, who was arrested and charged with her rape and two counts of indecent assault.  

The initial trial for Salim at Old Bailey in June resulted in a hung jury, but in the retrial that started July 8 Salem was convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail for the assault on Vincent. 

Unfortunately Anna Vincent didn't see her attacker get brought to justice because she died in 2006. 

The London Metropolitan Police suspect that Salim was involved in other sexual assault cases and are asking for people to call their Serious and Complex Case Team on 0208 217 6526. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

When Brazilian Trans Women Are Being Murdered, That IS An Insulting Comment

"We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual."    Suzanne Moore


That was the line that started the whole international kerfluffle.   While Moore's piece was originally about sexism and the things that make pwomen angry, what made transwomen angry was the 'Brazilian transsexuals' line.  

Then her transphobic partners in crime Bindel and Burchill in their zeal to defend her poured more gasoline on the raging fire with their transphobic insults, with Burchill's bordering in hate speech territory.

There are far too many cis people saying that the trans community shouldn't have been offended by Moore's line.  Well, first of all it is not up to you cis people to decide for a marginalized group like trans people what is and isn't offensive to them.

Yes, Brazilian transsexuals going back to Roberta Close are some of the most beautiful women on the planet.  Lea T, Carol Marra and Felipa Tavares are continuing to walk in Roberta's pumps and rock fashion runways around the planet along with other trans models..  

But the reason that comment was considered insulting by many of us in the international trans community was for a dynamic we painfully know is not getting much mainstream news coverage.

When the memorial names lists were read during the 2012 TDOR events around the world, 100 of the names that were read of our transsisters who lost their lives due to anti-trans violence were from Brazil.   Judging by the early 2013 news blurbs I read concerning trans murders tracked by various trans bloggers around the world, seems like the trans haters down in Brazil are trying to exceed last year's total.

Cecilia Marahouse, the Brazilian trans woman I have pictured in this post was shot multiple times in Fortaleza, Brazil back on January 11 while these British feminists were ranting and disrespecting trans people justifiably upset about their stank comments.

It is over 40 years of anti-trans hate screeds that have created and stoked the climate of transphobic hate aimed at transwomen.   That hate greases the skids for these near genocidal level of murders.aimed at our trans sisters, and you cisprivileged whyte womyn don't care 

Thank God trans people around the world and our allies do.

So yes, when you make an out of context reference to Brazilian transwomen, it IS insulting.   And don't get an attitude or start crying white women's tears when transpeople around the world call you out on it.

Tipping Point On Radfem Transphobia?

The British Transphobic Feminist Troika unleashed their hate speech upon the world last week probably thinking they would get pushback from the trans community they and their acolytes could spin and demonize them with until it quickly blow over.

Not this time. 

This time it isn't just our British trans cousins who are pissed off about the transphobic scribblings.   They got reinforcements from various trans bloggers around the world and pushback from the surprising direction of feminists, allies and other justice minded folks tired of the radfem transphobia making them, their nation and their movement look bad.

All I can say is thanks and what took y'all so long?   

It also leads me to ask this question concerning the international kerfluffle that has been stirred up on the Net by the Transphobic Feminist Troika.   Is this a tipping point sign that like the trans community, feminists are also tired of the transhate speech that has been said in their names for over 40 years?

We transpeeps can only hope that's exactly what is happening, but only time will tell in that regard.  We still have radfems on this side of the Pond who revel in spouting hate speech on a regular basis 

Are we going to see this year and from now on serious efforts to root out the cancer of transphobia in feminism, or is feminism just going to go back to business as usual, decry it in private and allow the radical feminists around the world to continue pushing trans hatred in their name?

Transphobic British Feminist Troika Crying White Women's Tears

I've had several people blow up my e-mailbox and my Facebook page asking my opinion about the vile transphobic scribblings of the unholy trinity of British feminists Suzanne Moore, Julie Burchill and Julie Bindel.

Y'all sure about that?   Because you know I'm not going to hold my tongue about it.

This kind of passive-aggressive crap that white radical feminists have been aiming at transwomen and engaged in for over 40 years now with not a peep of complaint from major white feminist blogs is a prime reason why I can't stand and reject feminism. 

And while I'm on that subject, do not ever refer to me as a feminist.   I am a proud womanist, thank you very much.  I consider it an insult to be called a feminist since it is painfully obvious feminism is of, by and for white cis women only.

If you think I'm overreacting or off target with my assessment, peep what Renee of Womanist Musings wrote back in October 2009, 

It comes down to the fact that many self labelled White feminists aren't really interested in equality for all, they are interested in equality with White men.  It's never about tearing down the system, but assuring that they have the power to oppress others.

And when it comes to oppressing transwomen, you have shown that you will gleefully engage in that nekulturny behavior.  When you get called on it, you climb back onto the pedestal of white womanhood, shed those tears, try to play the harmless victim who wouldn't hurt a fly role and assert these people you disrespected and oppressed are being mean to you when you know in your soulless hearts you threw the first sucker punch.

That crap is getting old.  You need to pull up the big girl panties, practice what you screech at others and take responsibility for your reprehensible words and actions.  But then again, you're white women reeking of vanillacentric privilege and will never apologize for the stank shyt you do, so why am I wasting mine and the international trans community's time demanding an apology that will never come?.      

But back to riffing on these across the Pond jerkettes.   This troika of transphobia has some nerve to think that just because they were born white, British and with a vagina they could just write their transphobic screeds and think British transpeople and their allies here in the States and around the world weren't going to justifiably call them out on it.  

But then again, they're white women reeking of vanillacentric privilege, so that level of arrogance shouldn't surprise me.    


News flash for your flat arses, we transwomen could, should, can, and will push back just as hard rhetorically and not give a rat's anus whether your feelings were hurt or we plucked your delicate, precious nerves, because you and your like minded ilk haven't cared about our feelings or our humanity since the 70's. 


We'd be justified in playing the dozens on your behinds being that as usual, you started it.  We're fed up with you radical or whatever kind of feminists you call yourselves disrespecting us and then crying white women's tears when we trans women call your arses out about the stank stuff you do .

But as tempting and temporarily ego satisfying as that would be, then we'd be stooping to your sophomoric WWE level of discourse and I don't feel like going there today. 

The bottom line in case you haven't noticed is this is January 2013, the second decade of the 21st century, not the 1970's.  You can no longer say or write whatever in the hell insulting comments you wish about girls like us as y'all could during the disco era and not think we aren't going to respond to it.   Your vanillacentric privilege will not shield you from the consequences of your transphobic hate speech that you proudly unveiled to the world..


As an African-American transwoman, I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of your racist and transphobic hate speech that is stoking the white hot flames of anti-trans bigotry and discrimination.  It is not only getting transwomen of all ethnic backgrounds killed, but disproportionately ones that share my ethnic heritage.

Note that despite all your jacked up rhetoric, the world is moving rapidly towards acceptance and integration of transwomen in nations all over the world including Great Britain. 

April Ashley was recently awarded an MBE for her human rights work.  Other transwomen do everything from compete in beauty pageants, walk fashion runways and raise kids to being doctors, lawyers and serving in their nation's parliaments. 

Despite your rhetoric, to paraphrase Maya Angelou's words, and still we trans women rise.

Almost 60 years to the February 13, 1953 day that Christine Jorgensen stepped off her flight from Denmark in New York to the glare of camera flashbulbs and massive publicity, the cold reality is that despite your rhetoric, we're winning the trans human rights battle in Great Britain and around the world.

The wonderful part about that is there's nothing that you three can do or say to stop the inevitability of the arc of the moral universe from bending toward justice and human rights coverage for transpeople. 


TransGriot Update: Surprise, surprise.  Suzanne Moore has apologized for her transphobic remarks and the Observer's editor has taken down the transphobic Julie Burchill piece that she still has not apologized for.  Our British trans cousins were putting together a protest march planned to end at the Guardian and Observer's shared HQ building, which may still happen because of the perception of increased levels of transphobia in the British media 

Stay tuned, the fun is just getting started across The Pond.


TransGriot Note: photos in order from top to bottom are Suzanne Moore, Julie Burchill,  Julie Bindel and April Ashley MBE

Trans Teen, Beauty Queen

I posted in the wake of Jenna Talackova's attempt to win Miss Canada Universe and make it to Miss Universe 2012 the story of Jackie Green's attempt to win Miss England. 

Documentary cameras were following her quest to do so, and here it is.

Trans Pioneer April Ashley Receives Her MBE

I wrote about this when it happened back in June, and in a morning investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace last Thursday, trans pioneer April Ashley was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) as part of the annual Queen Birthday Honors list.

The now 77 year old Ashley  was one of the first persons from Great Britain who underwent SRS back in 1960, became a successful actress and model, appeared in the Road To Hong Kong movie with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and became a trans human rights advocate..

She was also one of the parties in the horrible 1970 Corbet v Corbett divorce case that set a grossly negative marriage precedent for transpeople in Great Britain by not allowing them to get married until it was reversed in 2004 by the British Gender Recognition Act.

Ashley received the Member of the British Empire in the investiture ceremony from Prince Charles for her long time work as a British trans human rights advocate, and congratulations to her for a well deserved honor.

Ashley said that for over half a century she had "been writing to people and helping people and I've written thousands and thousands of letters".

"Strangely enough although it was transgender, it was also gay and lesbian [people writing to me] and women desperate for divorces," she said.

About her gender reassignment surgery in 1960 and being awarded the MBE Ashley said, "To me it was just a normal thing to do - I never thought I was doing anything special quite frankly, so to be suddenly awarded this is astonishing."

Bella Jay, who organizes the annual Sparkle event in Manchester, UK said the former model had "faced many struggles in life, which perhaps people don't really understand in the more tolerant and open society in which we live today".

"Achieving real transgender equality is a big issue for many people in modern Britain, but all too often it either fails to gain any real publicity or is misunderstood," said Jay in a BBC interview.

"I congratulate April on the award which recognizes her achievements and again helps bring the issues facing the trans-community into the public eye.

Ashley's trans cousins across the Pond and around the world that she was an inspiration and beacon of hope to in the 60's and beyond also join our British cousins in recognizing April Ashley, MBE as well.

2012 Olympic Watch-See You In Rio

After 17 days of exhilarating competition filled with highs, lows, drama, controversy and upsets, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London came to a close last night as the torch was extinguished and the Antwerp Olympic flag was passed on to the mayor of Rio de Janeiro.

There were probably some eye rolls occurring all over Chicago when that part of the closing ceremony happened. 

Team USA won 104 total medals, 46 of them gold in what I'm calling the 'Title IX Olympics'.   27 of the 46 golds earned by the United States were courtesy of female athletes on a 2012 USA Olympic team that had for the first time more female than male athletes.   Our female team athletes did quite well in winning a fifth consecutive gold in basketball, the first ever in water polo, and repeating in soccer (stop hatin' Renee).

There was an upset in the volleyball final as our number one ranked women had to settle for silver and the field hockey team didn't get out of pool play.  

This was also the first Olympic Games ever in which all the competing nations entered had at least one female athlete as part of their delegations.

We Olympic junkies will now have to wait until August 5, 2016 for the opening ceremonies of the 31st Olympiad of the modern era.   And thank God for American viewers Rio is only one hour ahead of the eastern time zone and NBC won't have any excuse to not broadcast more events live.

We hope.

Goodbye, London.  You did a wonderful job hosting the Games for the third time.  The torch has been passed to you now Rio.  Looking forward to seeing how y'all handle it in 2016  

2012 Olympics Watch-Great Day For The Williams Sisters

It was a great day at the All England Club for the Williams Sisters in the London Olympic tennis tournament and a bad one for their haters.  

Venus Williams got her quest for a fourth overall Olympic tennis gold medal started properly by taking only 63 minutes to beat ninth seeded Sara Errani of Italy in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in her first round match that was postponed a day due to Sunday's heavy rain. 

She faces Canada's Aleksandra Wozniack in a second round match that will determine whether she joins Serena in the round of 16.

Just to remind y'all, Big Sis was the 2000 Olympic singles champ at the Sydney Games in addition to capturing the Olympic doubles titles with Little Sis in 2000 and 2008.

Speaking of Little Sis, Serena Williams took only one hour and 13 minutes to win in straight sets her second round match with Poland's Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-3.   Fourth seeded  Little Sis wasn't playing with Agnieszka's baby sis in this match.  She served up 8 aces and hit 26 winners to complete to her July sweep of the Radwanska sisters and move on to play Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the Round of 16. 

Serena beat Zvonareva for the 2010 Wimbledon ladies' singles title, just you give you haters something else to chew on. .

My fave tennis playing siblings then headed to Court 2 a few hours later and successfully got their quest for a third Olympic doubles title off to a winning start.   They opened the defense of the Beijing doubles title by beating the Romanian duo of Sorana Cirstea and Simona Halep 6-3, 6-2 to advance to their second round doubles match versus fifth seeded Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

TransGriot Update: Venus Beat Wozniack 6-1, 6-3 to move to the round of 16 and face Angelique Kerber of Germany.

more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4674900/williams-sisters-win-opening-olympic.html#storylink=cpy

2012 Williams Watch-'Willliams'-don First Round Mixed Results

'The Championships' is what they call this tennis Grand Slam tournament on the other side of The Pond, and I call it 'Williams-don' for the way that my fave tennis playing siblings have dominated it.

Wimbledon started Monday with five time Wimbledon champion Big Sis playing a first round match against 79th ranked Russian Elena Vesnina.   Venus hadn't lost a match in the first round in any Grand Slam tournament in six and a half years or at the All-England Club since her debut season in 1997, but she fell to Vesnina 1-6, 2-6 as the 32 year old continues her recovery from Sjogren's Syndrome.

"I am a great player. Unfortunately, I had to deal with circumstances that people don't normally have to deal with in this sport. But I can't be discouraged by that. .. There's no way I'm just going to sit down and give up just because I have a hard time the first five or six freakin' tournaments back."

Venus did  make the Olympic team and plans to be back for the London Games tournament that will be played at the All England Club.  
Meanwhile sixth seeded Little Sis' first round got off to a better start after her shocking first round upset loss at the French Open last month. 

Serena kicked off her quest for her 4th 'Williams'don title and her first major title in two years by dispatching the Czech Republic's Barbora Zahlavova Strycova  6-2, 6-4 in a match that took her only 1 hour and 20 minutes to play with the first set taking only 29 minutes. 

Serena faces Hungary's Melinda Czink in the second round..

April Ashley, MBE!

April Ashley was one of the first people in Great Britain to have SRS in 1960 when she did so with Dr Georges Bourou  in Casablanca, Morocco.  She led an exciting life as a Vogue fashion model, worked at the famed LeCarrousel trans club in Paris in which she rubbed elbows with Ernest Hemingway, Jean Paul Sartre and Bob Hope, was an actress, a lover to actors Omar Sharif and Peter O’Toole and attracted the romantic attentions of painters Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.

She was outed when her so called 'friend' sold her story to the British tabloids, but it didn't stop her from marrying aristocrat Arthur Corbett and setting up another interesting chapter in her life when he filed for divorce in 1969.  .

She was the defendant in the 1970 Corbett v Corbett marriage case that had negative consequences for the identities of British transpeople until the passage of the 2004 Gender Recognition Act Act.   That case has been deleteriously used on our side of The Pond against Christie Lee Littleton, J'Noel Gardiner, and most recently Nikki Araguz and Ms W in Hong Kong as a weapon against trans marriages.

She has worked tirelessly to advance the human rights of transpeople in Britain as is noted as well for her charity work. 

When the Queen's Birthday Honours List was announced yesterday, April Ashley received an MBE for her trans human rights advocacy.

Congratulations to one of our pioneering iconic transpeople    Getting an MBE is a huge honor in Britain and Ms Ashley deserves it.

Transphobic RadFem 2012 Hatemongers Booted From London's Conway Hall

The transphobic RadFem 2012 hatefest may take place in another double secret location (or on The Land in Hart, MI) but it ain't happening at London's Conway Hall

In consultation with the organisers of RadFem 2012 and our legal advisors, Conway Hall has decided not to allow the booking in July 2012 to proceed. This is because it does not conform to our Terms and Conditions for hiring rooms at Conway Hall. In addition, we are not satisfied it conforms with the Equality Act (2010), or reflects our ethos regarding issues of discrimination.


We had sought assurances that the organisers would allow access to all, in order to enable the event to proceed at the venue. We also expressed concern that particular speakers would need to be made aware that whilst welcoming progressive thinking and debate, Conway Hall seeks to uphold inclusivity in respect of both legal obligations and as a principle.

In the absence of the assurances we sought, the event in its proposed form could not proceed at Conway Hall.

The July 2012 conference ran into trouble because it specifically sought to exclude transwomen from the venue in violation of Britain's Equality Act and is featuring longtime transphobic hatemonger Sheila Jeffreys as a keynote speaker. 

RadFem2012 has stirred up not only trans people, womanists, cis allies and trans feminists in opposition to it, but cis feminists tired of the over four decades of rampant transphobia pimped by the radfems are finally calling them out about it and pushing back against the madness. 

So naw, don't blame 'the trans conspiracy' for y'all losing your venue, your out of control transphobia did.

If you're looking for someone to blame, take a long look in the fracking mirror.  

Good Luck Jackie!

Jenna Talackova isn't the only transwoman competing to wear a pageant crown this month.   So is Britain's Jackie Green.

If her name sounds familiar to you, it's because two years ago Jackie was in the news as the youngest person ever in Britain to undergo sex reassignment surgery.  While it is covered under Britain's National Health Service, the minimum age is 18.  

Jackie flew to Thailand because at the time minors were allowed to have SRS until the Medical Council of Thailand enacted changes in 2009 that pushed the minimum age to 18, required HRT and living in the desired gender for a year.

Jackie underwent SRS on her 16th birthday and happily started living her life. 




The now 18 year old Jackie was spotted by talent scouts at Britain's Next Top Model  in London that  encouraged her to enter the Miss England pageant and were unaware of her trans history.

She wowed the judges and got enough public support to make the semifinals of the Miss England pageant that will take place on May 30.   If she wins it, she would represent England at the 63rd Miss World pageant in China and be poised to make some trans history in the process.   

However, at this point and time the Miss World pageant officials have yet to announce whether they would follow the example of the Miss Universe system and allow transwomen to compete.

But good luck to Jackie and hope she does end up with the crown.

Miss Sahhara's New Year's Message-Bring On 2012

2011 is rapidly coming to a close and Miss Sahhara has a video message from across The Pond for everyone

Verdict In The Sonia Burgess Murder Trial

I posted about the tragic death of Sonia Burgess, the British human rights attorney who was pushed to her death in a London subway station in October 2010 by Nina Kanagasingham.

Kanagasingham since that day has expressed a preference of a male gender identity, but at the time was known as Nina.   On the day of Burgess' death according to the Pink News story,  Ms. Burgess had accompanied Kanagasingham to a GP appointment, where she had raised concerns about the mental health of Nina.

The court heard that Ms Burgess, who allowed the defendant to visit her apartment to shower and discuss personal problems, feared that Kanagasingham was becoming psychotic.

The 35 year old Kanagasingham pushed Ms. Burgess from the platform in front of an oncoming train at the Kings Cross Station and immediately surrendered after doing so.  

The verdict has just come down in the murder trial.  Guilty of manslaughter and Kanagasingham is facing life imprisonment for the crime.