Foxxjazell-Rapping Towards Success

"If people are ready for white rappers, then they are ready for me,"

22 year old Keva Jackson, AKA Foxxjazell is determined to prove that people are ready for a transgender rapper. She's part of an emerging GLBT hip-hop scene that has been around since the late 80s, but has only recently appeared on the radar screens of the larger GLBT community thanks to Alex Hinton's 2005 Pick Up The Mic documentary that was broadcast on LOGO last October.




The Birmingham, AL born mocha skinned beauty dreamed of stardom from an early age, but was advised by her hardworking parents to choose a more 'logical' career such as nursing or teaching. After graduating from high school at 17 with honors, she bought a one way bus ticket and headed west with less than $20 in her purse.

After arriving in Hollywood the 5'10" Foxxjazell modeled for a while. She became disenchanted with it and set her sights on achieving her life long dream.

Foxxjazell also has her sights set on a much higher goal as well. She wants to become a role model for other people struggling with the transgender issue. She also desires to be a voice for the transgender community.

She told LA Daily News reporter Phillip Zonkel in a February 2007 interview that the decision to be open about her transgender status wasn't an easy one.

"In the beginning, people didn't know what to make of me when I sang at nightclubs," she says. "You're more accepted if you stay in your box, a drag queen who lipsynchs.

"I'm not a drag performer. I rap with my own music."

Foxxjazell's style of blended dance music with hip-hop is increasingly getting her attention. She was recently interviewed on the Tyra Banks Show and has built a following in California. Since the thug-life genre of hip-hop is crashing and burning right now the time may be right for her and other GLBT rappers to push to fill that hip-hop void.

"I want to go mainstream," Foxxjazell says. "I have something strong to say that everyone can relate to - 'Be Yourself.' "

The Original Black Panthers

When people of my generation hear the words 'Black Panthers', images of Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Angela Davis come to mind along with brothers and sisters wearing Afros, black leather jackets and black berets.

But there was another group of Black Panthers back in the day that wore army fatigues. They were the men of the 761st Tank Battalion, one of the three all Black tank units (the 758th, and the 784th were the others) formed at Camp Claiborne, LA on April 1, 1942. Many generals, including Third Army commander George S. Patton were opposed to the idea of having African-American troops in tank units.

In addition to battling the racism of the Army, the men of the 761st had to confront Jim Crow segregation since many of the posts they trained at were in the Deep South. One young second ilieutenant ended up facing a court martial because of an incident that began over his refusal of a white bus driver's demand that he sit in the back of a bus.

It escalated into an ugly interaction with military police that led to a trial. Second Lt. Jackie Robinson was acquitted of the charges and honorably discharged in 1944. Just three years later he would integrate major league baseball.

It was a struggle just to get the 761st into battle. But after ferocious pressure was applied on the Army by First Lady (and AKA) Eleanor Roosevelt, prominent Black leaders, the Black press and increasing losses in frontline tank units the 761st was deployed to the European theater.

After doing nearly a year of final intensive training at Fort Hood, TX and being rated superior by Second Army commander Lt. Gen Ben Lear, they landed on Omaha Beach in France on October 10, 1944 in high spirits.

Ironically the reason they were in Europe was because Patton, who was initially opposed to having Black troops in tank units requested that the best available separate tank unit be sent to him. In a pre-battle speech to the 761st on November 2, 1944 at St. Nicholas, France he said,

“Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don’t care what color you are.... Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to you. Don’t let them down, and damn you, don’t let me down!”

And they didn't. From the moment they were committed to combat on November 7, 1944, the Black Panthers would prove they had formidable claws. They joined Patton's army rapidly racing across France and repeatedly tore up the veteran German and Waffen SS troops they faced in the 13th SS Panzer Division and other elite German units..

Over the next 183 days they valiantly fought in France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, and Austria. They played key roles in the Battle of the Bulge, blew a hole though the Siegfried Line that led to the breakout and rapid advance of Patton's 4th Armored Division across Germany, liberated the Buchenwald and Dachau death camps, and met up with a Soviet unit made up of Ukranian troops in Austria at the River Steyr.

In addition to receiving high praise from the War Department a total of almost 400 battle awards were bestowed upon the men of the 761st. Their excellence, along with the Tuskegee Airmen and the heroic exploits of other African-American soldiers led to President Truman desegregating the armed forces in 1947.

Unfortunately racism once again reared its ugly head It took decades for the soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion to receive the decorations they earned. A recommendation for a Presidential Unit Citation was submitted in 1945 but wasn't awarded until President Jimmy Carter did so in 1978. 761st Platoon Sergeant Ruben Rivers was one of 7 African-American soldiers (6 posthumously) who were awarded Medals of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 1997 after examining their war records.

Much respect and a deep debt of gratitude is owed to the original Black Panthers. They lived up to their motto 'Come Out Fighting'.

My Day At The Clinton Presidential Center

As a history junkie I've always loved presidential libraries. The Carter Center is on my must see list next time I drive down to the ATL. Next time I go back home I'm thinking about making the run up to Aggieland and checking out the George HW Bush one on the Texas A&M campus.

My grandmother Tama took me and my brother during the summer of 1977 on a bus trip with her church group to see the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, TX and the LBJ Presidential Library 30 miles to the east in Austin on the University of Texas campus. It was an all day excursion that I enjoyed, especially when the shuttle took us over a hill that gave us an awe inspiring view of the Texas Hill Country. I remember saying to my grandmother at the time, "No wonder LBJ loved this place."

I was even happier when we arrived at the library and I got a chance to check out the memorabilia from the LBJ presidency, take pictures on the museum grounds and see the nearby state capitol dome before we boarded the bus for the two hour run back to Houston.

In November 2006 I drove the 800 plus miles from Da Ville to Dallas so that I could attend my cousin William's November 11 wedding. My route took me through Little Rock and past the Clinton Presidential Center all lit up in its nighttime splendor and I resolved to check it out on the way back.

On the return trip as soon as I crossed the Arkansas-Texas border I stopped at the welcome center just outside of Texarkana. You pick up a red 'William J. Clinton Passport' that you get stamped at the various places you visit on the presidential tour. Three of the locations, his birthplace in Hope, the boyhood and teen home in Hot Springs and the museum in Little Rock were on or close to I-30. Fayetteville, (or as we called it when I was at UH in the old Southwest Conference days 'Fayettenam') was in the upper northwest corner of the state close to the Missouri line and not on the agenda.

Twenty five miles later I was exiting I-30 and heading toward downtown Hope, President Clinton's birthplace. There's an old Missouri Pacific railroad station that has been renovated into a museum. It has some memorabilia from the time he grew up there, the '92 and '96 presidential campaigns and his time as governor of Arkansas. It even has pictures of a concert that Elvis Presley did in Hope before he made it big and a large collection of railroad memorabilia.

After you see a short film on their favorite son's life, you start a self guided driving tour that takes you past his birth home on South Hervey Street, Brookwood Elementary school on South Spruce Street that he attended in 1952-1953, the home he lived in on East 13th Street until his family moved to Hot Springs in 1953 and the Rosehill Cemetery where his mother is buried. I spent an hour and a half taking pictures, spending time at the various tour stops and meandering through Hope before I pointed the car back in the direction of I-30 and headed toward Little Rock. I burned so much time in Hope that in order to get to the museum before it closed at 5 PM I reluctantly had to bypass Hot Springs.

I hit Little Rock around 1:15 PM and after jumping off Exit 140 parked on the large parklike site of the Clinton Presidential Center. It's a three story building right next to the Arkansas River that looks like a futuristic unfinished bridge, a play on the 'Bridge to the 21st Century' theme of his presidency. On the site is a renovated railroad station that serves as the repository for his presidential papers. The gift shop is a free shuttle trolley ride just up President Clinton Avenue in downtown Little Rock.

I noticed when I parked the car there was a convoy of TV trucks in the lot and parked close to the building along with two black limos. I found out why about thirty minutes later. The museum was packed with tour groups. Many of us there that day were still in post-2006 election euphoria. I gave a shout out to a group of my mom and sister's sorors who were touring that day along with other groups of African-Americans.

I spent most of my visit happily perusing the various interactive exhibits, the memorabilia and reflecting on just how jacked up this Bush presidency was compared to the Clinton one. I was on the third floor looking at a temporary exhibit of cowboy movie posters and a hand drawn picture of the 'High Noon' gunfight scene by a young Bill Clinton when a young woman excitedly shouted, "He's here!"
"Who's here?" I asked.
"The president is here!"

That news traveled through the museum with lightning speed and triggered a rush of museum patrons to the lower levels of the building. It was the reason the TV trucks were there. I discovered after I quickly ambled from the third floor of the building to standing outside the Great Hall and talking to one of the museum employees that Salon.com was having a luncheon event that day (November 13) in which Brother Bill was speaking. I stood outside along with the other museum patrons hoping that we'd get a chance to see him and shake his hand when he was done, but the Secret Service had other ideas.

After hopping the trolley and grabbing some souvenirs at the gift shop I headed back to Louisville. The next time I'm in the area I'm definitely stopping by there again. The museum was definitely worth the $7 I paid to get in and was a positive, uplifting way to spend a day. Many of the conversations I had with folks from all over the country that day expressed our common desire and resolve to bring that type of forward thinking leadership back to the White House and our country.

I can only hope and pray that next year the rest of the country is hungry for that type of leadership as well.

God Has A Sense of Humor

God has a sense of humor.

When I say that, I'm talking about the observation I made that while my prayers were being answered on God's time to become the woman I needed to be, I was being put in all these interesting ironic situations during the time I was struggling with the gender issue.

Some of those situations weren't so humorous or funny at the time they occured, but with the accumulation of wisdom and as the years go by I've learned to laugh at them.
It seems like during that time period in the late 70's and 80's the more I fought the gender issue during my 'imitation of a male life phase', the more I got hit with a situation where I was confronted with it.

One of my favorite cousins I grew up with is transgender. It was a fact that was kept away from me by my parents (that I'm still a little upset about). What they didn't know is that I found out anyway that something was up.

I got confronted during my junior year in a health class by a female sophomore student who'd gone to Johnston Jr. High with my cuz. When Dena asked me in class if John was my cousin and I acknowledged that he was, she called him the 'f' word that rhymes with maggot. I ripped her a new anus for dissing my cousin.

A few weeks later I dozed off in my chemistry class because I wasn't feeling well and I awoke just in time to avert an impromptu makeover about to be conducted by Brenda Hayes and Virginia Tucker. They and many of my female classmates had noted my long eyelashes and fairly androgynous features of my face. Many have told me since that they felt I was on the wrong team as well.

I kept running into transwomen when I was hitting the various clubs I was partying at in H-town during the 80's. There was one night that me and two friends were at Georgi-O's in 1984 and I was talking to a UH classmate working the door entrance. Two beautiful transsistahs walked in while I was standing there and showed their ID's to my friend to verify they were of legal drinking age. I noticed both ID's had 'M' in the gender code areas. Later that evening one of my friends decides to hit on one of the girls and disses me in the process, so I didn't bother telling him what I learned at the door. I was calmly eating my breakfast at Denny's with his cousin when he discovered her secret during his attempted romantic interlude at the nearby Mitchell Inn with her.

I had girls constantly remarking that talking to me was like talking to their homegirls. A few even slipped up during those phone conversations and used, "Girl, let me...."

Even distance from Houston couldn't keep me from bumping into transwomen. I spent July 1988 doing corporate training in Denver when I worked for CAL. Three days after I arrived I was in the hotel restaurant about to grab some breakfast before heading to class when I observed a guy and a transsistah walk into the restaurant holding hands.

I kept running into them at my various jobs. When I was working at the Dome, during a high school football doubleheader in 1981 I had three sistah drag queens strut by the concession stand I managed with a crowd of kids behind them. I noticed that two of them were on hormones. Just after they passed me and wandered toward the Dome's West exit one of those kids snatched the wig off one of the girls heads.

The business next door to the check cashing place I briefly worked at employed a transsistah for a while. I had a DJ party gig in which two drop dead gorgeous transsistahs came in the venue to enjoy the ambiance and house music me and my DJ partner Eric were throwing down. I had various flights over the years where I ran into various female illusionists, peeps on their way to compete in pageants, do out of town gigs or just traveling.

It took me a while, but I finally got the message. ;)

Queen of Nations Pageant

On July 27 eight contestants ranging in age from 19 to 26 years old representing Angola, India, East Africa, Japan, Panama, The United Kingdom, Mauritius, and two from the Philippines competed in the first annual Tranny Queen Of the World 'Queen of Nations' pageant held at London's Bloomsbury Theatre.



The contestants in the inaugural pageant were either current or former pageant titleholders, 1st-5th alternates, runner-ups, or prestigious award winners in pageants in their towns, regions or country in the preceding two years.

The pageant has some lofty goals. This pageant is not as the TQW organizers put it a 'one day glitz and glamour event'. The winner wil spend her reign doing a lot of charity work. The Queen of Nations organizers are planning to hold charity fund raising events for underprivileged t-girls in countries who unfortunately face discrimination and prejudice every day.

The TQW organizers also wish to start a development program in conjunction with other charity organizations that helps t-girls quit prostitution and escorting.

In addition to those goals as listed in their mission statement, the Queen of Nations pageant wishes to campaign against the negative views of transgender women as sex objects, and give beautiful, talented young transwomen a platform to express themselves as beautiful, intelligent, and creative individuals. Another goal is to celebrate the beauty, femininity and creativity of transgender women.

The TQW pageant organizers want this pageant to become a platform for transgender voices to be heard. They desire to promote acceptance, appreciation and respect for who we are. TQW also wishes for transwomen to be seen as positive examples for women all around the world and encourage transkids to be their true selves.

The TQW organizers are already at work searching for contestants and planning the 2008 pageant.

The winner of the inaugural 2007 Miss Queen of Nations title was Amanda De Leon, one of the two contestants representing the Philippines. Her thoughts are shared by transwomen all over the world when she stated, "I dream of a time and place where women like me would be accepted, respected and treated with fairness by the rest of humanity."

Let's hope that day comes sooner rather than later.

Ugandan GLBT People 'Let Us Live In Peace"

Press Release by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
Thursday, 16 August 2007

In a landmark case, we, Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people assembled at the High Court of Uganda two months ago to reinforce our right to privacy, dignity, and property. There were no charges against us. We had done nothing wrong.

It is the government who had to answer for illegal behaviour of its agents by discriminating against homosexual and transgender people. Government officials raided the home of Victor Juliet Mukasa, an LGBT Human Rights Defender, in 2005, and illegally arresting a guest they found in her home. They forced their way into Victor's home, stole many work documents, dragged her guest to Kireka police post, and forced the guest to strip naked in order to prove that she was a woman. The guest and Victor Juliet Mukasa were treated in a degrading and inhumane way. Many of us, as the Ugandan LGBTI community, have suffered similar injustice. We are here today to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable. We have had enough of the abuse, neglect, and violence.

No person should be deprived of their constitutional rights; and homosexuals and transgender people are no exception. All people are equal under the law.

Therefore, we step into the public today to give a face to the many who are discriminated against every day in our country. Some of us have brought our faces before you for you to know us. But many of us come before you today with masks to represent the fact that you see homosexuals and transgender people every day without realising that it is what we are. We do not harm anyone. We are your doctor, your
teacher, your best friend, your sister, maybe even your father or son.

As Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the umbrella organisation for Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex organisations, there are two urgent issues we would like you to consider.

HIV/AIDS is a concern for all of us in this country. And yet many people ignorantly turn a blind eye as we die of HIV/AIDS because we as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people do not have proper access to protection, care, and treatment. We cannot continue to ignore the people in this country who are most at risk because of unfair discrimination and stigma. To successfully stop HIV/AIDS, we must treat every person with the dignity and attention they deserve. No one can justify taking away a person's right to live, when protection and treatment should be readily available to all.

Secondly, as Sexual Minorities Uganda, we would like to publicly acknowledge the police for their leadership in reinforcing justice in this country by speaking out against hate crimes and discrimination of human beings because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Leaders in the police force have recently made great steps toward upholding the law in a just and fair manner, providing equal protection for all people against harm. Likewise, we also urge LDUs to help to end the persecution of minorities, particularly lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and intersex people, by acting in an upright and lawful manner in the course of their duties, respecting and protecting the dignity of all human beings.

Finally, to our communities, our schools, places of work, our families, we would like to end by passing on the wisdom of so many of our parents, who have known us and seen that we are born this way and are still their beloved children. Don't lay a hand on us, we are the homosexual and transgender children of God. God created us as this way as LGBTI, all we ask is Let Us Live In Peace.

My name is Larry. I am an LGBTI Human Rights Defender from Kenya.

Across East Africa, we are many who were born like this. We are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and intersex Africans who come from villages that are very far, who come from trading centers, and some who even come from large cities like Kampala, Dar Es Salaam, and Nairobi.

But our traditions of loving each other come from very far back in our African history, before the colonialists ever entered our land. Many of our ancestors in our tribes across East Africa were the way we are. They were born like this. We were accepted in our communities before the colonialists came, and we come before you today to ask you for that same acceptance that was part of our African culture before
we were destroyed by laws from the West. Because of the prejudice brought by the West, we have been threatened, intimidated, and harassed.

I stand today from Kenya in solidarity with the LGBTI people in East Africa to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable. We have had way much enough of the abuse, neglect, and violence. In fact, our leaders have recognized this and made our East African countries signatories of international agreements to end such discrimination.

There is need for liberation in East Africa as a whole. Just as if people were starving in Kenya, but had plenty to eat here, we would still fight against poverty in our region.

This can be seen as in the LGBTI court case where Victor's guest who is a Kenyan was treated in a degrading and inhumane way and is standing in solidarity to hold the Ugandan government officials accountable in court for violations of our rights.

It is a very clear case. Government agents violated the rights of Victor Juliet Mukasa and her guest in the following ways:

* First, illegal search of the home of Victor Juliet Mukasa without a search warrant and unauthorized seizure of items from the house amounting to trespass and theft
* Secondly, illegal arrest of the guest found in the home at the time of the raid
* And then, there was also inhuman and degrading treatment of Victor and the guest amounting to sexual harassment and indecent assault

The basic rights enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda protect all persons, regardless of sexual orientation:

These Constitutional Rights include:

* Article 23 is about protection of personal liberty
o (1) No person shall be deprived of personal liberty . . .
* Article 24 talks about respect for human dignity and protection
from inhuman treatment
o It states that no person shall be subjected to any form of torture,
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
* Article 27 talks about the right to privacy of person, home and
other property
o (1) states that No person shall be subjected to-
+ (a) unlawful search of the person, home or other property of that
person;
+ (b) Unlawful entry by others of the premises of that person.
Property.
o (2) No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy
of that person's home, correspondence, communication or other
property.

There have been two hearings of the case; we are waiting for the next hearing soon, where the government is to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they did not violate these rights. We hope the judgment will be free from any prejudice and that justice will prevail. I am a tax payer, I am your doctor, I am your brother, and I am your mother. Does this make me a lesser being? Why would we choose to go through such pain and suffering if we had a choice? LGBTI rights are not special rights, but are fundamental Human Rights for heavens sake,

CAN'T you Let Us Live in Peace?

The Summer of My (Sports) Discontent

This has been a tough summer for this Houston sports fan.

My 'Stros are languishing in fourth place and trailing the Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals. My Comets never recovered from the 0-10 hole they put themselves in to start the 2007 WNBA season and missed the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history. They finish the season against the LA Sparks tonight. Rice made it to the College World Series again but got eliminated. My high school alma mater Jones is coming off an 0-10 2006 football season and the Rockets once again made a quick exit out of the NBA playoffs.


There hasn't been a lot for me to cheer about on the sports home front. I've gotten spoiled over the last decade with WNBA championship runs, the Astros making runs to the postseason and eventually the World Series in 2005, my Falcons winning the 4A boys state title in basketball and making deep playoff runs on the girls side. Even the Dynamo got into the act by moving to H-town from San Jose and promptly winning the MLS championship last year in Dallas.

Oh well, at least the Texans are starting to show some improvement, the Dynamo are on track to make the MLS playoffs and my Coogs are the defending C-USA football champs.

But it hasn't been all bad this summer. U of L made the CWS which was great and caused a lot of excitement here in Da Ville. They are the defending Big East champs in football and have a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in Brian Brohm. UK fans are actually looking forward to an SEC season that doesn't involve playing home games at Rupp Arena. While I root for Kentucky teams since I live here and stay mostly neutral in the war between UK and U of L fans, my sports loyalties however, are in the Lone Star State.

But a fact of life is that sports teams have rises and falls for a variety of reasons. Bad drafting decisions, key players leaving due to free agency, perennial powerhouses breaking up thanks to salary cap trouble, players retiring, et cetera. Looks like my favorite teams are about to go into rebuilding mode for a while.

But I'm not gonna abandon them either. My teams will be back and better than ever. With a little luck I may even get to add some more Houston sports championship t-shirts to my collection.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T My Womanhood

TransGriot Note: From a May 2004 TransGriot Column
Copyright 2004, THE LETTER

Aretha Franklin sang about, and I expect it.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I'm glad that there are other transsistas that feel the same way that I do and are willing to speak out about the disrespectful attitudes that we encounter while operating in the world around us.

Here's some advice to the 'gentlemen' that try to rap to us. If you wish to get to know me or any transwoman, just treat us as you would any other sista that you meet for the first time. Unzipping your pants and asking "How big is your d**k is a real turnoff. It's one of the things that annoys me on the occasions that I do go out to GLBT clubs.

Another thing that upsets me is to have some guy walk up me, grab his crotch and ask, "How much?" If you did that with a genetic sista, she'd slap you, and my reaction to that insulting query won't be as nice either. Just because some of my T-sistas may partake in paid extracurricular sexual activity doens't mean that you can assume I'm sitting in a GLBT club for the same reason. Nor can you speculate what genitalia I may or may not possess between my legs because I happen to be in a gay patronized establishment. The fact that I spent my formative years in a male body doesn't give anyone the right to disrespect me. You may not like me, but you will respect me as a human being. I expect nothing less.

I grew up in a male body, but I'm not a man. I am a woman. I'm deliriously happy to finally be able to say that. The way that I look at life, love and interact with people on this planet is filtered through a feminine perspective. I like going out on dates, getting flowers, and hanging out with brothers as much as my genetic sisters. I can talk about what happened this week on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS just as easily as I discuss politics, sports or various other topics that pique my interest.

I went through a lot of drama to make my external appearance match the way I've felt internally since childhood. I did not travel down this pothole filled road to become someone's sex toy. I'm finally comfortable with my body and I'm ready to take my place in this society as an African-American woman. I want to contribute my talents to uplift my people while being cognizant and proud of the fact that I am transgendered.

Diana Ross said it best in an October 1989 Essence magazine interview. 'I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can do anything we set our minds to.'

Well, I set my mind on becoming the beautiful Black woman that I am today. I didn't have the advantage of being taught from birth what genetic women learned about femininity from their mothers or grandmothers. My femininity has been acquired by observing my mother, gradmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and various women that I
admire. I also have the examples of myriad transgendered and non-transgendered ladies to inspire me to greater heights.

All that I and my transgendered sisters are doing is striving to become the best women that we can be. If we happen to turn some of you on in the process, then that's all good, too.

Brazil To Provide Free SRS Operations

photos-surgery, Brazilian transwoman Roberta Close







Brazil to provide free sex-change operations

Court rules the surgery is a constitutional right for residents

Updated: 4:47 p.m. ET
Aug 17, 2007
From MSNBC.com

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazil's public health system will begin providing free sex-change operations in compliance with a court order, the Health Ministry said Friday.

Ministry spokesman Edmilson Oliveira da Silva said the government would not appeal Wednesday's ruling by a panel of federal judges giving the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face fines of $5,000 a day.

"The health minister was prompted by the judges' decision," Silva said. "But we already had a technical group studying the procedure with the idea of including it among the procedures that are covered."

Federal prosecutors from Rio Grande do Sul state had argued that sexual reassignment surgery is covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.

On Wednesday the 4th Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that "from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide."

The Health Ministry said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery and what priority it will be given compared with other operations within the public health system.

Patients must be at least 21 years old and diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years, the ministry said.

Gay activists applauded the decision.

"Transsexuals represent about 0.001 percent of the Brazilian population, but for this minority, sexual reassignment surgery is a question of life and death," said Luiz Mott, founder of the Bahia Gay Group. "It is unjust and cruel to argue that the health system should concern itself with other priorities."

So far the measure has not prompted any opposition.

Brazil's public health system offers free care to all Brazilians, including a variety of surgeries and free AIDS medication. But long lines and poorly equipped facilities mean that those who can afford it usually choose to pay for private hospitals and clinics.

The health ministry said that since 2000, about 250 sexual reassignment surgeries considered experimental have been performed at three university hospitals.

Brazil is generally more tolerant of homosexuality than other Latin American countries, with transvestites featured prominently in celebrations like carnival, but discrimination still exists.

(c) 2007 The Associated Press.

The Trouble With Harry

By Dr. Sylvia Rhue
August 9, 2007

Bishop Harry Jackson, of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, is back in the news with attacks on Barack Obama, calling him a "dangerous man" and a "junior or infant Christian."

Barack Obama appeared on LOGO and HRC's presidential debate Thursday August 9. All of the candidates were asked about marriage equality for LGBT people. Although he is for full civil union rights, Obama feels he cannot open the door of equality all the way with full marriage rights for LGBT people. But even his moderate stance gets a
berating from Bishop Jackson.

When speaking to a group of Black ministers at a forum in Tennessee, Barack stated:

"I specifically pointed out that if there's any pastor here who can point out a marriage that has been broken up as a consequence of seeing two men or two women holding hands, then we—you should tell me, because I haven't seen any evidence of it…And there are some folks who, coming out of the church, have, you know, elevated one line in Romans above the Sermon on the Mount."

Jackson's response: "He's dead wrong concerning what the scriptures say, and more importantly, he's dead wrong in terms of the Scriptures, and in terms of reading culture. The culture has gone in a different direction, and the devaluation of marriage is a major problem, and I believe that he's a very dangerous man because he sounds reasonable, he sounds engaging, but he's misinformed." Jackson goes on to call Obama a "junior or infant Christian."

He states that "I think what most African-Americans buy is that there should be justice for all, in terms of the outworking of civil law. What they do not buy is that we should not rename sin as something righteous and holy."

Bishop Jackson is dead wrong. It is Jackson who has an infantile understanding of human sexuality and a wrong headed theology regarding Christ's message of inclusion. Jackson does not understand, or refuses to understand the concept of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is morally neutral.

One of the definitions of the word "sin" is "to miss the mark". Jackson misses the mark of the Love ethic for his gay and lesbian neighbors, which is central to Christian theology. When Bishop Jackson came to NBJC's Black Church Summit this past Spring, he had the opportunity to look LGBT people in the eye and hear their stories of love, commitment, devotion, honor and duty. He nodded his head acting as if he understood. He acted as if he had learned something. Unfortunately, from his behavior and statements since that day, it was all just an act.

We should defer to an authentic Biblical scholar, Rev. Peter Gomes the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University, who writes: "No credible case against homosexuality or homosexuals can be made from the Bible unless one chooses to read scripture in a way that simply sustains the existing prejudice against homosexuality and homosexuals. The combination of ignorance and prejudice under the
guise of morality makes the religious community, and its abuse of scripture in this regard, itself morally culpable."

If Bishop Jackson ever thought he might be a drum major for justice, he has missed he mark.

Dr. Sylvia Rhue is Director of NBJC Religious Affairs. She can be reached directly at shrue@nbjc.org

The Death Of Venus

Images from Dee Chhin's The Death of Venus

Philly Transgender Mural Stays

Dee Chhin can breathe a litle easier. It took the Philadelphia Board of Licenses and Inspection Review just eight minutes to unanimously decide that her mural The Death of Venus gets to stay where she painted it six years ago.

"I'm just happy it's over," said Chhin. "Finally, I can focus on something else that's not so controversial."

"I'm shocked. This has been six years in the fighting. I am just amazed," said Michael Sher, a Center City real estate broker who commissioned the emigre Cambodian transwoman and aspiring artist to paint the mural in 2001 to dissuade graffitists from tagging the building's wall. He also funded the legal fight to keep it there.

The controversy started when officials at nearby Peirce College, whose campus is across the street, learned that the mural did not have a permit and complained to the Historical Commission.

The commission then cited Sher because the 1850 brick townhouse that the mural is painted on is in the Rittenhouse-Fitler Residential Historic District. That designation meant that owners can't alter building exteriors without obtaining Historical Commission approval.

The mural was granted interim approval due to the complexities of Philadelphia's permit laws. It allowed the mural to remain undisturbed for four years before Sher had to apply for an extension. During that time the mural became a popular and promoted stop on Philly's murals tour.

When those four years passed the Philadelphia Historical Commission in January voted twice to remove the mural, setting the stage for the August 14 hearing.

City officials stated that it would be up to the Historical Commission to decide whether they wished to appeal the ruling to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.