Italian Actor To Become An Actress

I keep making the point that not only are we ethnically diverse transpeople everywhere on the planet and in every profession, we are part of the diverse mosaic of human life. 

The latest example of this is coming from Italy in the person of 30 year old actor Guiseppe Schisano.

Schisano announced in a recent press conference that he is about to undergo a gender transition and when she comes out on the other side of it will take the feminine name Vittoria.

Schiasano noted during the press conference feeling "a strong feminine side that was hidden for years".  When he went to the doctor to do his initial baseline blood work to assess hormone levels, there was an interesting surprise. 

"When I went to the doctor to start the hormone therapy that precedes the operation, the doctor was surprised that I wasn't already taking the hormones. My levels showed that my female hormones were higher than my male ones," Schisano said.

Not surprising to me.  Had the same issue going on when I did my initial blood work in preparation to begin HRT.

It will be interesting to watch Vittoria's evolution into her outside body as currently configured matching the person on the inside and wish her the best of luck in her feminine journey..

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Indian Trans Ceremony Turns Deadly

Indian transpeople who were gathering in New Delhi for an event ended up experiencing a horrific tragedy instead.  

The early on the scene reporting hasn't confirmed whether it was a TDOR, but is reporting it as a three day festival 

The community hall where the event was being held experienced a fire at 7 PM local time that started in the kitchen area and quickly spread through the crowded venue.  There were estimates ranging between 1000-2000 people in attendance at the time the fire started.

Sadly, 14 people were killed with another 40 hospitalized and medical officials expect the death toll will rise because many of the hospitalized people have been admitted with severe burns.   Speculation is faulty wiring caused it, but the fire is being investigated by local officials

Pray for our people there who lost friends, family and loved ones in this tragedy and for the swift recovery of those who suffered injuries during that event.

Prayer For TDOR

Heavenly Father,

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance.  We humbly ask that you lift up the people who are mourning the loss of a friend, a loved one, or a family member to anti-trans violence on this day.  Give us the strength and determination to make this world better than when we first encountered it for your trans children.  

Help society, our own trans people, our rainbow community and the world to see that transpeople are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.  

Continue to lift us transpeople up in love and truth and help us realize that we are your beautifully made children. Give us the strength to make it through this day and every other subsequent one that we are blessed with and never forget the people who died just for being their true selves.

Bless our friends and those inside and outside our community who curse us.  Move their hearts so that justice and peace will reign and we can live the lives and the exalted name that you promised us we would have if we kept your commandments.   

Give us the fortitude and strength to create a better world for your transgender children and all who dwell in it.

We ask this in Jesus' name,  Amen.

Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties 2011

The finals of the 9th annual Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties trans pageant are happening November 19 (today on our side of the International Date line)  as they determine which of the 25 beauties enyered in this year's contest will walk away with the crown, title and prizes.

The pre-pageant competition was held on November 12 and the finals will be taking place at the Manila Film Center

While the Amazing Philippine Beauties pageant since its inception has only been open to transpinays, the mounting frustrations harbored by transpinays over the Thai-run Miss International Queen pageant and the questionable fairness of it boiled over this year.

Rumors are flying that an international trans pageant based in Manila is about to be inaugurated and that transpinay contestants will boycott the MIQ one in 2012..  

I'll keep you pageant fans posted on those developments and as soon as I discover who won Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties, I'll post the info.

Good luck to all the ladies entered in the 2011 edition of the Miss Amamzing Philippine Beauties competition, and may the best one win.

Jamie Clayton Interview

I talked about Jamie getting the role of Kyla on the HBO series Hung in a June 19 post, and now she's starting to do interviews.about it and being a trans actress in Hollywood.

Here's Jamie discussing it on The Insider. 

Miss International Queen 2011 Ends In Controversy

Miss International Queen has become the defacto must win international title in the trans pageant world over its seven year history because it was held in Thailand and gained the cachet through years of major international media coverage.

Even I write a post about who wins it every year and this year is no exception. 

But there is discontent brewing this year over the 2011 edition of the Thailand based international trans pageant.

In the Asia-Pacific Rim, there are no two more pageant-loving nations than Thailand and the Philippines.  Both have international reputations for the beauty of their transwomen and also are homes to the world's best known trans revue shows in Tiffany's in Pattaya and the Amazing Philippine Show in Manila.

Both revue shows also sponsor major internationally renowned trans pageants in their respective countries such as the Miss Tiffany's one in Thailand and the upcoming Amazing Philippine Beauties one on November 19.  

Transpinays have been fuming for some time now and charging that the Miss International Queen pageant is rigged in favor of the homestanding Thai girls.  The Thai transwomen who compete in it further charge that it is rigged in favor of the Miss Tiffany's Universe winners or ones who work for the Tiffany's show. 

That sentiment is now beginning to be echoed by transwomen from other parts of the world as well.  I've also noticed over the pageant's history that I've been observing and documenting since 2006 that an African Diaspora trans woman has NEVER won it and there were three entered this year.. 

So when Thai homegirl Sirapassorn 'Sammy' Atthayakorn (who was the 2011 winner of the all-Thai transwomen Miss Tiffany's Universe title) won the 2011 Miss International Queen title over SaHHara, who represented Nigeria (thus continuing the sorry history of the Miss International Queen pageant in never selecting a winner from the African Diaspora) and Margaret, a transpinay who was representing Lebanon, the commentary in the wake of the results exploded in disapproval on the Miss International Queen FB page with even some Thai viewers of the pageant, which was televised live in that nation questioning the judges decision.

And Alisa Phanthusak, as Assistant Managing Director of Tiffany's and by extension the Miss International Queen pageant they sponsor, you have an emerging PR headache and credibility problem in that regard. 

Nobody likes rigged pageants or ones suspected of being rigged, especially when it costs money for people to enter them (the entry fee for MIQ was $400 US).

It also costs money to buy gowns, makeup, outfits for the preliminary events, pay for international air travel, passport if you don't have one, food, transportation and lodging in the host city, put in the time and effort to assemble a talent routine and get hair, nails and whatever other work done to make yourself look flawless in the process. 

If you're going to commit that time, money, sweat equity and energy into becoming a winning pageant contestant, you want to believe after you invested the effort into it that whether you won, placed or lost, you had a fair shot at winning a title.  Right now that's not what contestants are feeling when it comes to the Miss International Queen pageant.

Transpinays are so pissed right now they are not only considering a boycott of next year's event, they are seriously contemplating starting a rival Manila based international trans pageant with the international judging panel I've suggested.   

It didn't help there were charges that some comments critical of the decision got mysteriously chopped off the MIQ Facebook page.  For a moment I went off on that page because I presumed my comment calling for an international panel of judges was one of those deleted as well but I found it when I scrolled down on the page.

I said this on the MIQ FB page and I will repeat it   If the Miss International Queen Pageant is going to claim it's an international trans pageant and wants to have ANY international credibility in the trans pageant world as a fair pageant, from this point forward it is imperative that an international panel of judges be assembled to determine the winner and make sure that any Thai judges that are part of the panel have no ties to Tiffany's show or are severely limited.

If they don't handle that credibility problem they have in an expeditious manner, they may find themselves in the Land of Smiles being speedily eclipsed by international trans pageants who do value fairness and a clean competition without questionable ties to the sponsor of the event or home nation bias.