AEGIS Internet News, December 1996

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Sun, 1 Dec 1996 11:43:33

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E40ey; Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: GenderQueer Arrested in TN Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9611282230.E40ey@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:36:37 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

The following has been spotted here and there on USENET. The reported source is News of the Weird, a column similar to National Lampoon’s “True Facts;” stories that strike the columnist (but not necessarily others) as humorous, incongruous (sp?), and bizarre. The following case sounds much like that of Sean O’Neill, who was recently convicted of a similar “crime” in Colorado.

— Dallas

For at least the fifth time in News of the Weird’s nine years, a girl or young woman has been convicted of dressing as a male for the purpose of improving her chances of dating another girl or young woman. A 17-year-old girl was convicted in Kingsport, Tenn., in September of three counts of sexual assault by fraud against another 17-year-old girl.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E47MA; Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Transgender in the (Straight) News Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9611282230.E47MA@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:36:40 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 00:08:02 -0500 From: Riki Anne Wilchins <riki@pipeline.com> Subject: TRANSGENDER IN THE (STRAIGHT) NEWS

TRANSGENDER IN THE (STRAIGHT) NEWS ===============================

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

[San Francisco, November 25, 1996] THE SF CHRONICLE TODAY carried an op- ed piece on transgender civil rights by noted gender activists Susan Stryker and James Green.

Entitled, “Recognizing Transgender Civil Rights,” Green and Stryker details the recent protest by Hermaphrodites With Attitude (HWA) against Intersexed Genital Mutilation (IGM), the November 11th protest outside the national offices of the American Psychiatric Association against the mental “disease” of “Gender Identity Disorder,” and the November 2nd formation of GenderPAC, a nationwide political advocacy coalition “dedicated to gender, affectional and racial equality.”

Stryker and Green discuss the enormous strides taking place in the burgeoning transgender movement, and close noting: “Transgender people, like all other members of society, deserve to be treated with respect. Media coverage and public sentiment should reflect the fact that the transgender civil rights movement embodies many of the same noble aspirations that have helped the African American, women’s and gay liberation movements to reshape the face of our nation for the better.”

Copyright (c) 1996 San Francisco Chronicle

LOS ANGELES

[Los Angeles – November 20, 1996] THE LA TIMES Metro Section today carried an article titled, “Suit Over Gender Confusion Settled.” Penned by staff writer Josh Meyer, it detailed the settlement of a particularly noxious case in which an apparently intersexed woman was arrested, mishandled and abused by transphobic officials.

Candice Sue Penn was allegedly “forced to remove all of her clothing in front of numerous sheriff’s deputies and inmates,. ridiculed, threatened, embarrassed, humiliated, [and then] forcibly incarcerated at the Men’s Central Jail in March 1995 — even though `it was clear and apparent’ that she was a woman.” The County Sheriff’s Dept. agreed to pay Penn $30,000 in an out-of-court settlement for “emotional distress,” after Penn filed suit in federal court.

County documents concluded that Penn was found to have “abnormalities” in her genital area, but she was “otherwise a normal female.” Penn had originally been sent to a women’s facility, where inmates complained that she was a man; she was then examined and transferred to the men’s facility, re-examined, and then transferred back to the women’s the following day. While at the men’s jail, Penn alleged she was “attacked, threatened and subjected to abuse” by other inmates.

Copyright (c) 1996 Times Mirror Company

### (c) 1996 InYourFace An on-line, news-only service for gender activism from GenderPAC. When re-posting, please credit InYourFace.

DISCLAIMER: InYourFace is intended as a public service and not an official publication; opinions expressed in press releases do *not* necessarily reflect those of any GenderPAC officials or member organizations.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E62eA; Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Media Wave Catches New Gender Activism Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9611282230.E62eA@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:37:33 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 12:12:56 -0500 From: Riki Anne Wilchins <riki@pipeline.com> Subject: Media Wave Catches New Gender Activism

TRANS-MEDIA EXPLOSION ========================= Media Wave Catches New Gender Activism

[New York, NY – November 26, 1996] Coverage of gender activism in the queer news reached new heights this week on multiple fronts. And all this comes close on the heels of already widespread queer coverage of the November 11th Creating Change demonstration at the offices of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), protesting their continued use of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) to diagnose transpeople and genderqueer gay teens.

Here’s what’s happening (in order of appearance):

1A) THE ADVOCATE weighs in big-time with an article titled “The Transgender Revolution.” Staff writer John Gallagher revisits — in his usual literate style — the many changes and developments in the gender movement since his original groundbreaking piece 2 years ago. Highlighted are the founding of GenderPAC and the rising controversy over the GID.

1A) THE ADVOCATE’s back page features a startling “Last Word” by Gabriel Rotello. Titled “Transgendered Like Me,” it opens: “..Do I look transgendered?… Yet I increasingly believe that I am transgendered. What’s more, I believe that if you are lesbian or gay or bisexual, your are too. And I believe that an emerging definition of all gay people as transgendered is the wave of the future.” **

2) THE BAY AREA REPORTER’s veteran columnist Bob Roehr, who syndicates to gay and lesbian media nationwide, spent a good chunk of his time at NGLTF’s Creating Change tracking the activities of gender activists. He weighs in this weei with a positive and thoughtful piece titled “Transgender Issues Prominent in Capital,” profiling the recent meeting between HRC and gender activists seeking trans-inclusion in ENDA. Bob’s column is extra noteworthy, since it’s currently picked up by 25 queer newspapers nationwide.

3) IN THE LIFE finds its stride on gender activism with its first piece on transactivists and the movement. The 8 minute piece features a number of interviews, and touches briefly on pivotal events such as the Brandon Teena Memorial Vigil, the 1st National Gender Lobby Day, and the founding of GenderPAC. “In The Life” is a nationwide PBS show carried by many local affiliates. The show airs this Sunday evening December 1, at 9:00 EST.

4) OUT MAGAZINE — not to be left behind — follows trans-author Susan Stryker’s GID piece last month by mentioning National Gender Lobby Day, GenderPAC, and Hermaphrodites With Attitude (HWA) in their latest list of the “OUT 100.”

(** Copywrite 1996, The Advocate, all rights reserved.)

### (c) 1996 InYourFace An on-line, news-only service for gender activism from GenderPAC. When re-posting, please credit InYourFace.

DISCLAIMER:InYourFace is intended as a public service and not an official publication; opinions expressed in press releases do *not* necessarily reflect those of any GenderPAC officials or member organizations.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:58 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E70by; Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:58 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Lexington TransGroup Forming Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:30:57 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9611282230.E70by@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:37:56 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 22:28:14 -0500 (EST) From: DWILS00@UKCC.UKY.EDU

Please Post Widely!!!

With the help of some hometown Transfolk, The Lexington trangendered community will be forming a group whose focus will be more toward enjoyment,life,and support. This group will be open to all and will feature the following:

Security

A Place To change

A Clothes Exchange

Fashion tips from Pro fessional speakers

A separate place for political and personal issues

movies, trips and much more!!

Our inital meeting will be the 3rd sat of this month at 7:00pm in Lexington Ky. We invite all to come join us if you are in the area at that time.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:58 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E88Ck; Thu 28 Nov 1996 22:30:58 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: AEGIS Gets Domain Name Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:30:58 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9611282230.E88Ck@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:41:59 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

For Immediate Release 29 November, 1996

The American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc., is proud to announce that it has registered the domain name GENDER.ORG. Our former e-mail address, aegis@mindspring.com, is still effective, but we can also receive mail to aegis@gender.org.

The domain name will provide aegis with easy-to-remember addresses for its FTP page and planned Web site.

Dallas Denny, M.A., Executive Director

American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc. A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Corporation P.O. Box 33724, Decatur, GA 30033-0724 (770) 939-2128 Business (770) 939-0244 Information & Referrals (770) 939-1770 FAX aegis@mindspring.com or aegis@gender.org E-Mail

Visit the AEGIS FTP Site: ftp://ftp.mindspring.com/users/aegis/ User ID: anonymous Password: (your email address)

We have several electronic mailing lists: AEGIS NEWS: Trans-related news, press releases, and items of interest GENDER HELP: Discussion of issues related to transition and personal growth (Send e-mail to listserv@xconn.com; on separate lines in the message, include the following: subscribe aegisnws subscribe gendhelp

If you’re on AOL, try the keyword AEGIS

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>. Original Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 22:41:34 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Several people have asked for info about unsubscribing from this list. Here’s how:

1. Send e-mail to listserv@xconn.com.

2. On the first line in the message area, type unsubscribe aegisnws That’ll do it. — Dallas ———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 04:05:55

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Sun 1 Dec 1996 22:57:45 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E44nt; Sun 1 Dec 1996 22:57:45 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Beneficial Reportage Date: Sun, 1 Dec 1996 22:57:45 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612012257.E44nt@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 23:47:40 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

From: PiafFan@aol.com Date: Sun, 1 Dec 1996 16:54:07 -0500 To: aegis@gender.org Subject: Beneficial Reportage

This week’s issue of St. Louis’s Riverfront Times offers and article, entitled The Fifth Sex, by the paper’s staff writer, Jeanette Batz. The piece shows an uncommon understanding of Intersex and TG issues, and it focuses on two primary interviewees. The first of these is Angela, a St. Louis woman of intersex experience, and the second is New Zealander Rev. Elder Wilhelmina Hein, a post-op whose title, in her Metropolitan Community Church, is equivalent to that of bishop in other denominations. Ms. Batz’s writing amply shows that she had studied her subject with interest, compassion, and perspicacity.

On 26 October last Rev. Elder Hein spoke, under the co-sponsorship of St. Louis’s Metropolitan Community Church and the St. Louis Gender Foundation, to a gathering of approximately sixty at the St. Louis Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Straight Allied Community Center.

Members of St. Louis’s transcommunity are trying to obtain a release in order to share with all of you The Fifth Sex. We of this community are pleased by the accurate and thorough reportage Ms. Batz offered in her article.

Jordynne Olivia Lobo St. Louis, Missouri

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 4 Dec 1996 07:00:31 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E81Ka; Wed 4 Dec 1996 07:00:31 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Same-Sex Marriage Upheld by Hawaiian Judge Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 07:00:31 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612040700.E81Ka@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 02:22:02 -0500

Same-Sex Marriage Upheld by Hawaiian Judge

December 3, 1996

HONOLULU (ONQ) — Five years after a same-sex couple filed suit against the state of Hawaii for denying them a marriage license, Judge Kevin Chang uphelp the right of same-sex couples to wed December 3rd, 1996.

This make Hawaii the first state in the union to recognize the right for same-sex couples to marry.

According to Dan Foley, a lawyer for the three same-sex couples who sued the state, Judge Chang found that the state government had failed to establish a “compelling state interest” to prohibit same-sex marriages.

All three couples were denied marriage licenses by Hawaii in 1991. They filed suit on the grounds that the state’s refusal to let them marry amounts to gender discrimination, violating the state constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment. A lower court ruling against the couples was appealed to the Hawaii state court, overturned the lower court’s ruling in 1993.

The case may set a landmark precedent throughout the nation. Thirty-seven states have taken up efforts to outlaw same-sex marriages, and sixteen have passed laws banning same-sex marriages.

Congress also got in the act, passing the Defense of Marriage Act in September. DOMA would not bar states from legalizing same-sex marriages, but they would also not be obligated to recognize such marriages if performed in another state.

The case is far from over since both sides promised to appeal if the verdict was against them.

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **And onQ (A Division of Q View) **Ask for permission to repost **Gwen Smith, onqgwen@aol.com

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:07 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E03Ld; Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:07 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: LGBT Age & Wisdom Conference Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:37:07 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612042037.E03Ld@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 22:41:30 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

From: TheCallan@aol.com Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 09:01:38 -0500 To: a.l@lng, aegis@mindspring.com, cyberqueen@cdspub.com Subject: LGBT Age & Wisdom Conference

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a trans presence here? We sure do have lots of people who come out in their golden years.

Callan

_______________________________________________________

Call for Presenters – Age and Wisdom Conference: Listen to the Elders sponsored by American Express Financial Advisors Inc.

The Age and Wisdom Conference: Listen to the Elders will by on May 10, 1996, in the Detroit, MI area. The purpose of the Conference is to hear from and learn about LGBT older adults and the life issues they experience. We are seeking 1-hour presentations in the following topic areas which present information, education, and suggestion:

health spirituality sexuality history art culture LGBT Retirement Centers/Opportunities others

If you wish to be considered as a presenter, please complete the following and email it to Bob Roberts at CRLVR@aol.com

presentation title: your name: mailing address: email address: telephone: co-presenter, if any: a/v equipment required, if any: 200 word maximum proposal:

We look forward to receiving your proposal!

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:08 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E55QI; Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:08 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Hawaii Court Legalizes Gay Marriage Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:37:07 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612042037.E55QI@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 22:41:24 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Tue, 03 Dec 96 17:36:02 EST From: ngltf@ngltf.org To: Multiple recipients of <presslist@list.ngltf.org> Subject: Hawaii Court Legalizes Marriage

******************************************************************************** PRESS RELEASE NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE Contact: Robert Bray 415-552-6448 Pager 800-757-6476 rbray@ngltf.org Tracey Conaty 202-332-6483, ext. 3303 tconaty@ngltf.org 2320 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 ********************************************************************************

HAWAII COURT HANDS DOWN HISTORIC DECISION

Case Marks a Crucial Step Forward on the Road to Same-Gender Marriage

In Hawaii today, First Circuit Court Judge Kevin Chang handed down a historic decision in Baehr v. Miike, the case of three same-gender couples who sued for the right to marry. In his decision, Judge Chang rejected the claims made by the state that such marriages should remain illegal. Instead, he declared the right of same-gender couples to marry as protected by the Hawaii state constitution.

“This decision is one small but crucial step forward in a long march toward civil equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people,” said Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “We seek the same rights and responsibilities of marriage that heterosexual people enjoy. Marriage is an important personal choice and a basic human right. Whether gay people decide to get married or not, it should be our choice,” added Lobel.

At a trial in September the state Attorney General’s office marshaled expert witnesses to demonstrate the state had a compelling reason to prohibit same- gender marriage. The state particularly focused on the needs of children, claiming two-parent couples of a man and a woman provided the best environment in which to raise children. “The Attorney General in Hawaii had three years to pull together the evidence to make his case, and the judge wasn’t convinced,” said Lobel. “It proves what our community has said all along: there are no intelligent reasons why same-gender couples should be denied the right to marry.”

The decision in Hawaii comes at the end of a long year in which the issue of same-gender marriage had been exploited by right-wing religious extremists for political purposes. Legislation to block recognition of same-gender marriages was introduced in 37 state legislatures. All told, 21 of the anti-gay measures were defeated and 16 passed. In addition, the Republican-dominated 104th Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to reject same- gender marriages recognized in other states and defines marriage as the union of a man and woman for the purposes of benefits and entitlements from federal programs. President Clinton signed DOMA into law in September.

Today’s decision by the court will most likely be appealed and stayed until the higher court makes it final judgment. Anti-marriage legislation is again expected to be introduced in many state legislatures in the coming year. NGLTF’s Lobel believes the decision and the state legislative battles will further the cause of equality:

This decision is an important step toward the right to marry, but we aren’t there yet. The radical right is again going to attack LGBT people with these marriage bills. These attacks, however, will ultimately backfire. These bills generate discussion, debate, and education. They help reveal the truth about our lives and our families. As this lower court trial showed, information and debate help, not hurt, the case for same-gender marriage. The public is learning that it is bigotry and intolerance they should fear, not same-gender marriage. We believe the American people will not stand idly by as our families are scapegoated in an effort by the Right to promote an extremist agenda.

—

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a progressive organization that has supported grassroots organizing and pioneered in national advocacy since 1973. Since its inception, NGLTF has been at the forefront of virtually every major initiative for lesbian and gay rights. In all its efforts, NGLTF helps to strengthen the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement at the state level while connecting these activities to a national vision for change.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:08 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E78qB; Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:08 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Actual Text of Hawaii Decision: Part 1 of 2 Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:37:08 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612042037.E78qB@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 23:08:02 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Reprinted with permission of Mr. Wockner:

From: Rex Wockner <rwockner@netcom.com> Subject: NC2222: Entire Hawaii ruling/Judge Chang To: GLB-NEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM

Filed in the First Circuit Court, State of Hawaii 11:06 a.m., Dec. 3, 1996 R.S. Yamada, clerk

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT CIVIL NO. 91-1394 STATE OF HAWAII

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW NINIA BAEHR, GENORA DANCEL, TAMMY RODRIGUES, ANTOINETTE PREGIL, PAT LAGON, AND JOSEPH MELILLO, Plaintiffs, vs . LAWRENCE H. MIIKE, in his official capacity as Director of the Department of Health, State of Hawaii, Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This case came on for trial before the Honorable Kevin S.C. Chang on September 10, 1996. Plaintiffs Ninia Baehr, Genora Dancel, Tammy Rodrigues, Antoinette Pregil, Pat Lagon, and Joseph Melillo were represented by attorneys Daniel R. Foley, Evan Wolfson and Kirk H. Cashmere. Defendant Lawrence H. Miike was represented by Deputy Attorney Generals Rick J. Eichor and Lawrence Goya. The Court having reviewed all the evidence admitted at the trial and having considered the arguments and other written -l- submissions of counsel for the parties and the briefs filed by the amicus curiae, hereby makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACTS I. THE PARTIES

1. At all times relevant herein, Plaintiffs Ninia Baehr, Genora Dancel, Tammy Rodrigues, Antoinette Pregil, Pat Lagon and Joseph Melillo (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Plaintiffs”) were or are residents of the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii. 2. Defendant Lawrence H. Miike (“Defendant”) is a resident of the City and County of Honolulu. State of Hawaii. Defendant Miike is sued in his official capacity as Director of Department of Health, State of Hawaii. [When this lawsuit was commenced, John Lewin was the Director of Department of Health, State of Hawaii. Thereafter, pursuant to Rule 43(c) of the Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure, Defendant Miike was automatically substituted for Defendant Lewin when he assumed the position of the Director of Department of Health, State of Hawaii. A Notice of Substitution of Parties was also filed by defense counsel on April 23, 1996.]

II. RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY

3. Plaintiffs filed their Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief (“Complaint”) on May 1, 1991. 4. In pertinent part, Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges that on or about December 17, 1990, Defendant and his agent denied the applications for marriage licenses presented by Plaintiffs Baehr and Dancel, Plaintiffs Rodrigues and Pregil and Plaintiffs Lagon and Melillo, respectively, solely on the ground that the couples are of the same sex. Plaintiffs sought a judicial declaration that the construction and application of Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”) 572-1 to deny an application for a license to marry because an applicant couple is of the same sex is unconstitutional. 5. Defendant filed an Amended Answer to Complaint on June 7, 1991. In pertinent part, Defendant admitted that Plaintiffs Baehr and Dancel, Plaintiffs Rodrigues and Pregil and Plaintiffs Lagon and Melillo applied for marriage licenses on December 17, 1990, and that the couples applications for marriage licenses were denied by Defendant through his agent on the ground that the couples are of the same sex. 6. On July 9, 1991, Defendant filed a Motion For Judgement on the Pleading which sought a dismissal of the lawsuit. Defendant asserted, in pertinent part, that Plaintiffs in their Complaint had failed to state a claim against Defendant upon which relief could be granted. 7. A hearing was held on Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the

Pleadings on September 3, 1991. 8. An Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleading was filed on October 1, 1991. A Judgment in favor of Defendant and against Plaintiffs was also filed on October 1, 1991. 9. Plaintiffs filed their Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii on October 17, 1991. 10. In Baehr v. Lewin, 74 Haw. 530, 852 P.2d 44 (1993), the Hawaii Supreme Court vacated the circuit courts order and judgment in favor of Defendant and remanded the case to the circuit court for further proceedings. In pertinent part, the Hawaii Supreme Court directed the following. On remand, in accordance with the “strict scrutiny” standard, the burden will rest on [Defendant] to overcome the presumption that HRS 572-1 is unconstitutional by demonstrating that it furthers compelling state interests and is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights. Id., 74 Haw. at 583 (citations omitted). 11. On May 17, 1993, Defendant filed a motion for reconsideration or clarification to the Hawaii Supreme Court. 12. On May 27, 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court granted Defendant’s motion for reconsideration, or, in the alternative, for clarification in part, and clarified the mandate on remand as follows. Because, for the reasons stated in the plurality opinion filed in the above-captioned matter on May 5, 1993, the circuit court erroneously granted Lewin’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint, the circuit court’s order and judgment are vacated and the matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with the pluralitv opinion. On remand, in accordance with the “strict scrutiny” standard, the burden will rest on [Defendant] to overcome the presumption that HRS 572-1 is unconstitutional by demonstrating that it furthers compelling state interests and is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights. Baehr v. Lewin 74 Haw. 530, 852 P.2d 44 (1993), reconsideration and clarification granted in part, 74 Haw. 645, 852 P.2d 74 (1993) (citations omitted). 13. An Order of Early Assignment to Trial Judge was filed on May 5, 1995. 14. On July 13, 1995, Defendant Director of Health’s Motion for Reservation of Questions to the Supreme Court of Hawaii and for Stay Pending Appeal, or, in the alternative for Stay Pendinq the Action of The Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law and of The Eighteenth Legislature filed on July 5, 1995, was granted in part, and the trial in the above-captioned case was rescheduled from September 25, 1995 to July 15, 1996. See Order Denying Defendant Director of Health’s Motion for Reservation of Questions to the Supreme Court of Hawaii and for Stay Pending Appeal, and Granting Alternative Motion for Stay of Trial Pending the Action of The Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law and of The Eighteenth Legislature filed on September 7, 1995. 15. A Notice of Change of Responsible Deputy was filed on April 18, 1996, which stated that responsibility for handling of the case on behalf of the Defendant had been changed to Deputy Attorney General Rick J. Eichor. 16. Following a status conference with counsel on April 19, 1996, a Stipulation to Continue Trial Date and Order was filed on May 9, 1996. As a result, the trial in the above- captioned case was continued from the week of August 1, 1996 to September 10, 1996.

III. DEFENDANT’S POSITION

17. The directive of the Hawaii Supreme Court is clear. Pursuant to the mandate of the Supreme Court, Defendant has the burden of proof in this case. Id. 18. Defendant’s First Amended Pretrial Statement was filed on May 13, 1996. In pertinent part, Defendant stated the following. [A]ll that remains is for the State to show that there is a compelling State interest to deny Plaintiff marriage licenses because they are of the same sex and that this compelling interest is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights. The following substantial and compelling state interests will he shown: a. That the State has a compelling interest in protecting the health and welfare of children and other persons. . . . b. That the State has a compelling interest in fostering procreation within a marital setting. . . . c. That the State has a compelling interest in securing or assuring recognition of Hawaii marriages in other jurisdictions. . . . d. That the State has a compelling interest in protecting the State’s public fisc from the reasonably foreseeable effects of State approval of same-sex marriage in the laws of Hawaii. . . . e. That the State has a compelling state interest in protecting civil liberties, including the reasonably foreseeable effects of State approval of same-sex marriages, on its citizens.

Defendant’s First Amended Pretrial Statement at pages 2-4.

19. Defendant’s Pre-Trial Memorandum was filed on September 6, 1996. In pertinent part, Defendant asserted the following. The State of Hawaii has a compelling interest to promote the optimal development of children. . . . It is the State of Hawaii’s position that, all things being equal, it is best for a child that it be raised in a single home by its parents, or at least by a married male and female. . . . The marriage law furthers the compelling state interest of securing or assuring recognition of Hawaii marriages in other jurisdictions. . . . The marriage law furthers the compelling state interest in protecting the public fisc from the reasonably foreseeable effects of approval of same-sex marriage. Defendant’s Pre-Trial Memorandum at pages 1, 2 and 4. 20. Defense counsel acknowledged Defendant’s burden of proof and, in pertinent part, stated the following in his Opening Statement. “The State has a compelling interest in promoting the optimal development of children. . . . It is the State’s policy to pursue the optimal development of children, to unite children with their mothers and fathers, and to have mothers and fathers take responsibility for their children.” Trial Transcript (“Tr.”) 9/10/96. pages 4-5.

IV. DEFENDANT’S WITNESSES 21. Defendant presented testimony from the following expert witnesses: (1) Kyle D. Pruett, M.D.; (2) David Eggebeen, Ph.D.; (3) Richard Williams, Ph.D.: and (4) Thomas S. Merrill, Ph D. 22. Dr. Kyle Pruett is an expert in the field of psychiatry, specializing in child development. Beginning in 1981 and continuing for a ten-year period, Dr. Pruett conducted a longitudinal study of fifteen families with young children with regard to the developmental competence of children raised primarily by their fathers in intact families. At the end of his study, Dr. Pruett found that children raised by families with primarily paternal care in the early months and years of life are competent and robust in their development, and are not sources of clinical concern. 23. In pertinent part, Dr. Pruett found that there were unique paternal contributions made by a father which had a positive effect on the following: (1) a child’s self-esteem and feelings of being loved and important to the family; (2) a child’s ability to cope with frustration and discouragement; (3) a child’s interest in generative or creative matters; and (4) a child’s gender flexibility. 24. However, Dr. Pruett also stated that the unique or non-replicable contributions offered by a father (and the unique contributions offered by a mother) are “small”, in comparison to the contributions that parents make together to their children.

Tr. 9/10/96, page 84. Dr. Pruett conceded that the beneficial results described above are not essential to being a happy, healthy and well-adjusted child. Tr. 9/10/96, pages 86-87. 25. Dr. Pruett testified that biological parents have a predisposition which helps them in parenting children. The predisposition is based upon the following factors: (1) chromosomal or genetic contributions; (2) the parents’ choice and timing of conception or procreation; (3) the physical changes to the mother’s body and the father’s observations and interaction with those changes; (4) immediate bonding upon the child’s birth; and (5) a predisposition to sacrifice and make one’s self secondary to the needs of the child. 26. Dr. Pruett also expressed his belief that children which are adopted or are the result of assisted reproduction live in a “burden[ed] system.” Tr. 9/10/96, pages 58, 62. 27. Dr. Pruett stated that same-sex relationships do not provide the same type of learning model or experience for children as does male-female parenting, because there is an overabundance of information about one gender and little information about the other gender. Tr. 9/10/96, page 63. 28. Nevertheless, Dr. Pruett also stated that same-sex parents can, and do, produce children-with a clear sense of gender identity. Tr. 9/10/96, pages 106. 29. Dr. Pruett stated the following with respect to raising children in a same-sex marriage environment. Q. And in comparing same sex parenting with opposite sex parenting, which is more likely to pose greater developmental difficulties for children? A. In terms of probability, same-sex marriages are more likely to provide a more burdened nurturing domain. Tr. 9/10/96, page 63. 30. It is Dr. Pruett’s opinion that most children are more likely to reach their optimal development being raised in an intact family by their mother and father. According to Dr. Pruett, this family configuration presents the fewest burdens on child development. Tr. 9/10/96, page 63. 31. However, Dr. Pruett also stated that single parents, gay fathers, lesbian mothers and same-sex couples have the potential to, and often do, raise children that are happy, healthy and well-adjusted. Tr. 9/10/96, page 69. 32. Dr. Pruett testified that single parents, gay fathers, lesbian mothers, adoptive parents, foster parents and same-sex couples can be, and do become, good parents. Tr. 9/10/96, page 71. Significantly, Dr. Pruett knows the foregoing to be true based on his clinical experience. Tr. 9/10/96, page 72. 33. More specifically, Dr. Pruett stated that parents’ sexual orientation does not disqualify them from being good, fit, loving or successful parents. Tr. 9/10/96, page 72. 34. Dr. Pruett agreed that, in general, gay and lesbian parents are as fit and loving parents as non-gay persons and couples. Tr. 9/10/96, page 73. 35. Same-sex couples have the same capability as different-sex couples to manifest the qualities conducive to good parenting. Tr. 9/10/96, page 75. Dr. Pruett testified as follows. Q. And you’ve seen same-sex couples that have those qualities [to being good parents]? A. Yes. Q. And have made good parents? A. And have made good parents, yes. Q. And good parents as a couple? A. Yes. Tr. 9/10/96, page 75. 36. Dr. Pruett also agreed that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children, provide foster care and to take children in and raise and care for them. Tr. 9/10/96, page 73. 37. Importantly, Dr. Pruett testified that the quality of the nurturing relationship between parent and child could, and would, outweigh any limitation or burden imposed on the child as a result of having same-sex parents. Tr. 9/10/96, page 79. 38. Finally, when questioned regarding research performed by Charlotte Patterson regarding children raised by same- sex couples, Dr. Pruett expressed his agreement with the general conclusions reached by Dr. Patterson. Tr. 9/10/96, pages 132-133. More specifically, Dr. Pruett agreed with the following conclusions, that gay and lesbian parents “are doing a good job” and that “the kids are turning out just fine.” Tr. 9/10/96, pages 133-134. Dr. Pruett was not surprised by Dr. Patterson’s conclusions. In fact, they are what he expected to see, and although Dr. Pruett questions Dr. Patterson’s research methodology, he is not aware of any data, research or literature which disputes Dr. Patterson’s findings and conclusions. Tr. 9/10/96, pages 132-134. 39. Dr. David Eggebeen is an expert in the field of sociology with a special emphasis in demographics related to family and children. 40. In pertinent part, Dr. Eggebeen testified regarding changes or trends which have occurred in partnering, child bearing and labor force behavior in the United States. For example, Dr. Eggebeen testified regarding the following facts: (1) the marriage rate in the U.S. population has declined over the past twenty years; (2) the median age of marriage for women in the U.S. population has risen over the past twenty years; (3) the annual divorce rate in the U.S. population has increased over the past approximate thirty years; (4) the number of young adults currently cohabiting has increased over the past eight years; (5) the birth rate for women in the U.S. population has decreased over the past twenty years; (6) the number of proportionate births to non-married women in certain racial groups has increased over the past thirty years; and (7) the number of women in the labor force in the U.S. population and the number of working mothers with children under the age of six has increased dramatically over the past thirty years. 41. Based on his studies of the changes referred above, Dr. Eggebeen testified as follows. [C]hildren are going through fundamental changes in the structure of childhood and what we’re seeing today is children today are living in very different circumstances than was evident or the case in the past. It’s common today to find children in single parent families. It’s common today to find children in single parent families. It’s common today to find children living with a mother who never married. It’s common today to find children in remarried families. It’s common today to find children in dual earner families where both parents participate in the type of work. It is common or getting common to find children whose parents never married and thev’re cohabiting. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 32-33. 42. However, Dr. Eggebeen also testified that, as of 1990, almost six out of ten children in the United States are living in families where their parents are married and both of the parents are biological parents of the child. 43. Dr. Eggebeen explained further that “. . . children have gone through substantial changes in their lives. . . [T]here is greater diversity in living arrangements and family — in families that children live today in the ‘9Os. However, a substantial percentage of children remain or will spend their childhood in . . . traditional kinds of family structures.” Tr. 9/11/96, page 38. 44. Based on his research, Dr. Eggebeen concluded that marriage is a “gateway to becoming a parent,” and marriage is synonymous with having children. Tr. 9/11/96, page 42. 45. However, Dr. Eggebeen also testified that individuals get married without intending to have children, or marry and are biologically unable to have children. Further, the absence of the intent or the ability to have children does not weaken the institution of marriage. In fact, Dr. Eggebeen recognized that people marry and want to get married for reasons other than having children; that those reasons are valuable and important; and that regardless of children, it is beneficial to society for adults to marry. Dr. Eggebeen testified that individuals should not be prohibited from marriage simply because they cannot have children. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 55-57. 46. Dr. Eggebeen testified that children raised in a single parent home are at a “heightened risk”, as compared to children raised in a married couple family. Tr. 9/11/96, page 43. According to Dr. Eggebeen, children in a single parent family are at greater risk for the following: (1) poverty or economic hardship; (2) poor academic performance; (3) behavior problems and conduct disorders; and (4) premarital or teenage birth for girls. 47. Dr. Eggebeen stated that remarriage or cohabiting with a step-parent does not lessen or eliminate the risks to children from single parent families. “[C]hildren in a remarriage family. . . do not seem to perform any differently than children who remain in single parent families and therefore their performance or the risk of poor outcomes is about the same as is for children in single parent families.” Tr. 9/11/96, page 46. 48. Dr. Eggebeen suggested that the lack of improvement in risk factors in remarriage or step-parent families may be attributable to “the role ambiguity of step parent relationships,” characteristics which a step-parent brings to the family and which adversely affect the children or the absence of a biological relationship with the children. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 46-48. With respect to the latter, Dr. Eggebeen related the story of Cinderella and her evil stepmother. Tr. 9/11/96, page 48. 49. Dr. Eggebeen equates a same-sex couple with children to a step-parent situation with all of the above-described risk factors. Specifically, Dr. Eggebeen testified that “same-sex marriages where children [are] involved is by definition a step parent relationship,” because there is one parent who is not the biological parent of the child. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 49. 50. However, Dr. Eggebeen conceded that there are some situations involving a same-sex couple which would not fit the classic step-parent scenario. For example, a situation involving a same-sex couple that sought and received reproductive assistance and in which the non-biological parent was fully involved from the beginning of the planning process, was present throughout the nine month period and at birth, and thereafter, raised the child as though they were the biological parents of the child. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 114-115. 51. Dr. Eggebeen also testified that single parents, adoptive parents, lesbian mothers, gay fathers and same-sex couples can create stable family environments and raise healthy and well- adjusted children. Tr. 9/11/96, page 82. 52. It is Dr. Eggebeen’s opinion that gay and lesbian couples can, and do, make excellent parents and that they are capable of raising a healthy child. Tr. 9/11/96, page 83. 53. Dr. Eggebeen agrees that gay and lesbian parents should be allowed to adopt children and serve as foster parents. Tr. 9/11/96, page 85. 54. Dr. Eggebeen testified that cohabiting same-sex couples are less stable than married couples. However, the sole basis for Dr. Eggebeen’s conclusion is a chart taken from the book entitled American Couples, co-authored by Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D. The chart which summarizes approximately twenty year old information is Defendant’s Exhibit Q, and depicts a comparison of the percentages of married, gay and lesbian couples, respectively, which had stayed together or broken up over periods of time. Dr. Eggebeen testified that Exhibit Q is the best data that he could find which proves that gay and lesbian couples have substantially higher break up rates over time than married different sex couples. Tr. 9/11/96,-pages 73-74. Dr. Eggebeen admitted that he has done limited research on the subject of same sex couples and gay and lesbian parenting, and agrees that Charlotte Patterson and Pepper Schwartz are experts in the fields. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 131-132. 55. Finally, and importantly, Dr. Eggebeen stated that children of same-sex couples would be helped if their families had access to or were able to receive the following benefits of marriage: (1) state income tax advantages; (2) public assistance; (3) enforcement of child support, alimony or other support orders; (4) inheritance rights; and (5) the ability to prosecute wrongful death actions. Dr. Eggebeen also agreed that children of same-sex couples would be helped if their families received the social status derived from marriage. Tr. 9/11/96, pages 89-92. 56. Dr. Richard Williams is an expert in the field of psychology with special expertise in qualitative and quantitative research and research methods, statistical analysis and construction of research studies. 57. Dr. Williams was asked by defense counsel to review and analyze studies of children raised by gay and lesbian parents. He reviewed approximately twenty to thirty studies, and eventually selected nine studies to critique. 58. At trial, Dr. Williams presented commentary regarding nine research studies which defense counsel anticipated that Plaintiffs’ expert witnesses would rely upon for their testimony and opinions in this case. Dr. Williams’ general criticism of the nine studies included the following: (1) there was non-representative sampling of heterosexual, gay and lesbian parents; (2) inadequate sample size was employed; and (3) comparison groups used in the studies were not comparable in terms of household make up. Dr Williams also presented specific criticism as to each of the nine referenced studies . 59. The testimony of Dr. Williams is not persuasive or believable because of his expressed bias against the social sciences, which include the fields of psychology and sociology. For example, Dr. Williams believes that a majority of the studies in the social sciences have theoretical or methodological flaws. Tr. 9/12/96, pages 71-72. According to Dr. Williams, modern psychology is so flawed that no fix, reconciliation or overhaul can correct it. Tr. 9/12/96, page 70. 60. Further, even assuming that research studies are conducted properly, Dr. Williams still doubts the ultimate value of psychology and other social sciences. Tr. 9/12/96, page 73. 61. At times, Dr. Williams expressed severe views. For example, Dr. Williams believes that there is no scientific proof that evolution occurred. Tr. 9/12/96, page 80. 62. Finally, Dr. Williams admitted that his critique of studies regarding gay and lesbian parenting is a minority position. Tr. 9/12/96, pages 74-75. 63. Defendant’s last witness was Thomas Merrill, Ph.D. Dr. Merrill is an expert in the field of psychology, including the areas of human development, gender development and relationships relative to children and their development. 64. Dr. Merrill is a psychologist in private practice in Honolulu, Hawaii. His clinical experience with families involving one or two gay or lesbian parents is limited. Dr. Merrill has not testified as an expert in Family Court cases which involved the sexual orientation of a parent or a same-sex couple and the custody of a child. He has not participated in or conducted any study which focused on the children of gay and lesbian parents. Tr. 9/13/96, page 36. 65. Dr. Merrill examined the issue of same-sex versus opposite sex parent and child development for the first time as a result of his retention in this case. Tr. 9/13/96, page 35. 66. In pertinent part, Dr. Merrill testified that the parental relationship is an important learning model for children and that it is significant to have opposite sex parents for a child’s learning. Tr. 9/13/96, pages 12-13. 67. Dr. Merrill stated that different-sex parents are important because both parents serve as models and as objects for a child’s learning and development. Dr. Merrill explained as follows: We interact with — and when I say identify, we measure and develop ourself in relationship to our same gender parent. We also identify our relationship with our opposite sex parents and there are different developmental stages where that relationship with the opposite sex parent is equal to or more important than our development — our relationship at the moment with the same gender parent. Tr. 9/13/96, page 13. 68. According to Dr. Merrill, although replacement of a biological parent is certainly possible, as in the case of remarriage and adoption, it would result in the presence of a different influence on the child and the child’s developmental outcome may be different. Tr. 9/13/96, pages 20-21. 69. Dr. Merrill testified that same-sex parents do provide a learning experience for a child. However, Dr. Merrill stated that there is insufficient information regarding the effects of being raised by gay or lesbian parents on the development of a child. Tr. 9/13/96, page 22. As a result, Dr. Merrill has no opinion regarding the development of children in a family with same-sex parents. Specifically, he cannot say whether or not children raised in a same-sex family environment will develop to be healthy, well- adjusted adults. Tr. 9/13/96, page 38. 70. At the close of his direct examination, Dr. Merrill presented the following opinions. Q. In your opinion, to a reasonable degree of psychological probability, in what family structure are children most likely to reach their optimal development? A. Children are most apt to reach their optimal level of development as exhibited in terms of their adjustment as adults in a family in which there is a limited amount of strife, a maximum amount of nurturing, a maximum amount of support, a maximum amount of guidance, a maximum amount of leadership, and a very strong and intimate bond between parents and child. Q. And does the presence of the mother and father improve the likelihood that there will be a strong bond? A. That would be a significant part of the maximum optimum environment in which to raise a child, yes. Tr. 9/13/96, pages 32-33. 71. Dr. Merrill testified that the sexual orientation of a parent is not an indication of parental fitness. Tr. 9/13/96, page 46. 72. Dr. Merrill also agreed that gay and lesbian couples with children do have successful relationships. Tr. 9/13/96, page 46. 73. On one occasion, Dr. Merrill was retained by two attorneys to do a custody evaluation in a case involving a same-sex relationship on the mother’s side. In part, he was asked to address children’s development issues. Dr. Merrill testified that the fact that there was a same-sex relationship on the mother’s side was not an issue and did not affect his evaluation in the case. Tr. 9/13/96, page 34. 74. Finally, and in pertinent part, Dr. Merrill testified as follows. Q. Now, doctor, do you think the children, regardless of whether they have a mother and a father, male-female parents, single parents, adoptive parents, gay and lesbian parents, same gender parents, should have the same opportunity in society to reach their optimum development, each child? A. Yes, I do. Tr. 9/13/96, page 45. Dr. Merrill further stated that children should not be denied benefits, such as health care, education and housing based on the status of their parents. Opposite-sex, same-sex, single and adoptive parent status should not be a basis to deny benefits to children. Tr. 9/13/96, page 46.

V. PLAINTIFFS’ WITNESSES 75. Although Plaintiffs do not have the burden of proof in this case, they nevertheless presented testimony from the following expert witnesses: (1) Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D; (2) Charlotte Patterson, Ph.D.; (3) David Brodzinsky, Ph.D; and (4) Robert Bidwell, M.D. 76. The court found the testimony of Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Brodzinsky to be especially credible. Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Brodzinsky are well-qualified individuals. See Plaintiffs’ Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively. At trial, each of them testified in a knowledgeable, informative and straightforward manner worthy of belief. In general, the expert opinions of Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Brodzinsky appear to be well-founded based on their significant research and analysis, and their clinical and professional experience, respectively. 77. Dr. Schwartz is an expert in sociology and interdisciplinary studies of sexuality with a special expertise in gender and human sexuality, marriage and the family, and same-sex relations in parenting and research. She testified, in pertinent part, to the following. 78. Initially, Dr. Schwartz discussed her book, American Couples. Dr. Schwartz specifically addressed a chart taken from the book and relied upon by Defendant. According to Dr Schwartz, the data contained in Defendant’s Exhibit Q represents the following: (1) that there is a substantially higher break up rate for all three kinds of couples (gay men, lesbian and cohabitors) than there is for married couples; and (2) married couples have an advantage that keeps them together longer than other kinds of couples. Tr. 9/16/96, pages 47-48. 79. Dr. Schwartz noted that the data presented in American Couples was collected in the late ’70s and up until 1980 or 1981. Since that time, there have been significant changes in society. For example, the entry of AIDS into gay male life and society, has made people more cautious and less likely to have multiple partners and more desirous of settling down. Gay men, in particular, have been hardest hit by the disease and it has made monogomy and couplehood more attractive. Additionally, there is now a trend in which people contemplate and want to be more serious, to make families and to engage in long-term committed relationships. This is a large change from the attitudes of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Tr. 9/16/96, page 54-56. 80. Dr. Schwartz testified that heterosexual and homosexual people want to get married. Tr. 9/16/96, pages 58-59, 65. The doctor stated specifically: [T]hey want companionship, they want love, they want trust, they want someone who will be with them through thick and thin. They’re looking for a live and a love partner. . . . [I]n our own [culture] it’s an aspiration for — for intimacy and security. And that is the definition of marriage as people first and primarily think of it.” Tr. 9/16/96, page 59. 81. Dr. Schwartz stated that same-sex couples can, and do, have successful, loving and committed relationships. Tr. 9/16/96, page 129. 82. Dr. Schwartz also identified practical, economic, legal, social and psychological benefits of marriage and reasons for people to marry. Tr. 9/16/96, pages 59-65.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:09 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E94zV; Wed 4 Dec 1996 20:37:09 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Actual Text of Hawaii Ruling, Part 2 of 2 Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:37:09 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612042037.E94zV@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 23:10:02 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Reprinted with permission of Mr. Wockner.

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 12:58:36 -0800 From: Rex Wockner <rwockner@netcom.com> Subject: NC2222: Entire Hawaii ruling/Judge Chang

83. Dr. Schwartz testified that the sexual orientation of parents is not an indicator of parental fitness. Tr. 9/16/96, page 128. 84. Dr. Schwartz also testified that gay and lesbian parents and same-sex couples are as fit and loving parents, as non-gay persons and different-sex couples. Tr. 9/16/96, page 127. 85. Dr. Schwartz believes that the primary quality of parenting is not the parenting structure, or biology, but is the nurturing relationship between parent and child. Tr. 9/16/96, page 129. 86. Dr. Schwartz also believes that children should not be denied benefits and protections because of the status of their parents. Tr. 9/16/96, pages 129-130. 87. Dr. Schwartz has the following opinions. First, there is no reason related to the promotion of the optimal development of children why same-sex couples should not be permitted to marry. Tr. 9/16/96, page 130. Second, allowing same-sex couples to marry would not have a negative impact on society or the institution of marriage. Dr. Schwartz testified, “[T]here would be no dishonor and no ultimate fragility to the institution [of marriage] by including gays and lesbians.” Tr. 9/16/96, pages 130-131. Third, allowing same-sex couples to marry would have a positive impact on society and the institution of marriage. Dr. Schwartz stated the following. I think that marriage is really a high state of hope and effort for people. I think when we deny it to people we say that — that there’s some other location for love and raising children and that we’re not as concerned about these kids’ welfare or in some ways we don’t think it would be good for them to be in a married home. It’s not that those children don’t exist, it’s not that those families don’t exist, they do. To me, I think that most Americans believe in marriage strongly. I believe by taking other people into the fold and asking that they behave as responsible to their children to give them support to have both rituals to enter into their relationships and legal complications by exiting them, that we shore up how important we think marriage is. I think it — I think it in no way undermines it and I think it strengthens it by our insistence about how important it is and why we hope this will be available for all families. Tr. 9/16/96, pages 131-132. 88. Dr. Charlotte Patterson is an expert in the field of psychology of child development with a special expertise in lesbian and gay parenting and the development of children of lesbian and gay parents. She testified, in pertinent part, to the following. 89. Dr. Patterson is a professor at the University of Virginia. She has completed two studies regarding the children of lesbian and gay parents. 90. The first study is known as the Bay Area Family Study. The study involved thirty-seven families, all of which had at least one child between the ages of four and nine. In every case, the children had either been born to women who identified themselves as lesbian at the time of the study, or who adopted children early in life. Data in the Bay Area Family Study was collected in 1990 and 1991. 91. According to Dr. Patterson, the main result of the Bay Area Family Study was a conclusion that the particular group of children, when compared to available norms, appeared to be developing in a normal fashion. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 23-24. However, Dr. Patterson also noted a finding that the children of the lesbian mothers sample were more likely to express that they felt (within a normal range) symptoms of stress in their lives, as compared to children in the normal sample. The children who described symptoms of stress also said that they felt an overall sense of well-being about themselves in their lives. Although she has two plausible explanations, Dr. Patterson does not have a definitive interpretation or explanation for the above finding. Tr. 9/17/96, page 25. Dr. Patterson agreed that the sample group of lesbian mothers in the Bay Area Family Study, when considering ethnic background, education, income, and other socioeconomic factors is not representative of women and all mothers in America. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 81-84. 92. Dr. Patterson’s second study is known as the Contemporary Family Study. The study involved eighty families who conceived a child using the resources of the Sperm Bank of California. and all of which had at least one child that was at least five years old at the time of the study. Fifty-five of the families were headed by lesbian mothers. The remaining twenty-five families were headed by heterosexual parents. Most of the data for this study was collected in 1994 and 1995. 93. The three main conclusions of the Contemporary Family Study are as follows: (1) as a group, the children born as a result of donor insemination were developing normally; (2) sexual orientation of the parents was not a good predictor of how well children do in terms of a child’s well-being and adjustment; and (3) irrespective of their parents’ sexual orientation, children who live in a harmonious family environment had better reports from parents and teachers. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 36-37. 94. Based on her studies and review of other research, Dr. Patterson testified as follows. A biological relationship between parent and child is not essential to raising a healthy child. The quality of parenting which a child receives is more important than a biological connection or the gender of a parent. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 42-43. 95. According to Dr. Patterson, there is no data or research which establishes that gay fathers and lesbian mothers are less capable of being good parents than non-gay people and which supports denying gay people the ability to adopt and raise children. Tr. 9/17/96, page 52. 96. Dr. Patterson believes that gay and lesbian people and same-sex couples are as fit and loving parents as non-gay people and different-sex couples. Further, sexual orientation is not an indicator of parental fitness. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 53-54. 97. Dr. Patterson testified that same-sex couples can, and do, have successful, loving and committed relationships. Tr. 9/17/96, pages 54. 98. Dr. Patterson presented the following opinion. There is no reason related to the promotion of the development of children why same-sex couples should not be permitted to marry. Tr. 9/17/96, page 55. 99. Dr. David Brodzinsky is an expert in the fields of psychology and child development with a special expertise in adoption and other forms of nonbiological parenting and the development of children raised by nonbiological parents. 100. Dr. Brodzinsky counsels children and families in a clinical setting and also has an academic appointment at Rutgers University. In the academic setting, Dr. Brodzinsky does research, teaches, directs a program on counseling foster children and does clinical supervision. He has been at Rutgers University since 1974. Dr. Brodzinsky serves as a consultant to several adoption agencies in New Jersey and New York and is a founding director of the Adoption Institute, a newly formed nonprofit organization, whose mission is to provide information and education and promote research regarding adoption and adoption practices. In the past ten to fifteen years, he has conducted research and written extensively on the psychology of adoption, foster care, stress and coping in children. 101. In his clinical practice, Dr. Brodzinsky has worked with gay and lesbian parents. He has provided counseling over the years to approximately forty families headed by same-sex parents and same-sex couples. In pertinent part, Dr. Brodzinsky testified as follows. 102. Dr. Brodzinsky stated the following with respect to the following question: “Are there advantages to being raised by one’s biological parents?” The issue is not the structural variable, biological versus nonbiological, one parent versus two parent. Those are kind of — they hide, I think, really what is going on. The issue is really the process variables, how children are cared for, is the child provided warmth, is the child provided consistency of care, is the child provided a stimulated environment, is the child given support. Those are the factors we can call, for lack of a better way of saying it, sensitive care- giving which transcend whether you’re a single parent, two parent, biological, nonbiological. The research shows that — that those are the factors that carry the biggest weight. And when you take a look at structural variables, there’s not all that much support that structural variable in and of themselves are all that important. Tr. 9/18/96, page 42. 103. Dr. Brodzinsky noted that same-sex parent adoptions occur and it is his opinion that same-sex parent adoptions should be allowed. Tr. 9/18/96, page 49. Dr. Brodzinsky explained as follows. Q. As an expert in adoption and as a psychologist, do you believe that gay men and lesbians, same-sex couples, should be continue to be allowed to adopt children? A. Absolutely. Q. Why?

A. Because they are able to provide, like heterosexual couples or single parents, warm and loving environments. They’re — they’re adopting children now. They’re doing a good job of it. Obviously, you know, when we — when a person seeks to adopt, there is an evaluation. It would be the same kind of an evaluation. We would exclude a gay or lesbian individual for the same reason that we would exclude a heterosexual individual. That is, if they had a significant emotional problems or some other kind of factor that we felt, as — as, you know, agency consultants, you know, would not — would not predict well to a child’s well-being. Tr. 9/18/96, pages 56-57. 104. Dr. Brodzinsky testified that the research shows that same-sex couples and different-sex couples can be highly competent care-givers. The sexual orientation of parents is not an indicator of parental fitness. Tr. 9/18/96, page 50. 105. According to Dr. Brodzinsky, the primary quality of good parenting is not the particular structure of the family or biology, but is the nurturing relationship between parent and child. Tr. 9/18/96, page 63. 106. Dr. Brodzinsky believes that children adopted by same-sex couples are not at any increased risk for behavioral or psychological problems. Tr. 9/18/96, page 50. 107. Dr. Brodzinsky expressed his strong view regarding the issue of whether there is a best family environment to raise children. Q. Now, the State’s arguments seem to suggest that we somehow need to identify a best family for children, or as between mothers and fathers, we have to pick a best parent. What’s your position on that? A. I find that offensive truthfully. I find it offensive because it tends to suggest that there’s only one way of being a parent. It excludes all nonbiological parenting which would be adoptive parenting, stepparenting, foster parenting, parenting by gay and lesbians. It suggests that if there are some additional issues that come with some of these nontraditional families that should be reason for excluding rather than taking that information and using it not in a punitive way but in a proactive, kind of supportive way to help families deal with the inevitable issues that come up in life. And there are going to be some unique issues in varying forms of family. But to talk about one form of family that is best, I find that, you know, truthfully offensive and a distortion of the research literature. And that’s really why I’m here, you know, to make sure that message comes across. Tr. 9/18/96, pages 58-59. 108. Finally, it is Dr. Brodzinsky’s opinion that there is no reason related to the promotion of the development of children why same-sex couples should not be permitted to marry. Tr. 9/18/96, page 63. 109. Dr. Robert Bidwell is an expert in pediatrics with a subspecialty in adolescent medicine. Dr. Bidwell is the Director of Adolescent Medicine at Kapiolani Medical Center and is also employed at the University of Hawaii Department of Pediatrics with the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Bidwell teaches medical students and pediatric residents in training, provides patient care, and practices adolescent medicine and general pediatrics at Kapiolani Medical Center. 110. In his clinical practice, Dr. Bidwell has treated children of same-sex parents. He has provided medical services to hundreds of children with families which included a single gay or lesbian parent or same-sex parents. In pertinent part, Dr. Bidwell testified as follows. 111. Dr. Bidwell described the best environment to raise a healthy, well-adjusted child or adolescent as being one in which “there’s all those things that we associate with family, which is love and nurturance and guidance, protection, safety.” Tr. 9/19/96, pages 27-28. 112. According to Dr. Bidwell, gay and lesbian parents ———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 03:25:16

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 6 Dec 1996 20:33:33 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E18aW; Fri 6 Dec 1996 20:33:33 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: St. Louis Riverfront Times Article on WWW Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 20:33:33 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612062033.E18aW@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 06 Dec 1996 22:39:27 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 08:25:12 -0800 To: aegis@gender.org From: Cheryl Chase <cchase@isna.org> Subject: Re: AEGIS-NEWS Digest

> This week’s issue of St. Louis’s Riverfront Times offers and article, >entitled The Fifth Sex, by the paper’s staff writer, Jeanette Batz. The

Please distribute the URL: it’s available on the web, with nice photos.

http://www.rftstl.com/features/fifth_sex.html

November 27th, 1996 (No. 947) St Louis, Mo., Riverfront Times Feature,

By: Jeanette Batz, Staff Writer

THE FIFTH SEX

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 9 Dec 1996 20:27:53 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E22mG; Mon 9 Dec 1996 20:27:53 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Draft Treaty, European Union on Non-Discrimination Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 20:27:53 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612092027.E22mG@xconn.com>

Original Date: Mon, 09 Dec 1996 22:42:46 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 12:01:43 -0500 Reply-To: Hein Verkerk <heinv@xs4all.nl> From: Hein Verkerk <heinv@xs4all.nl> Subject: draft treaty European Union on non-discrimination To: GLB-NEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM

>Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 22:14:27 +0100 >To: ilgamailinglist >From: Hein Verkerk <heinv@xs4all.nl> >Subject: draft treaty European Union on non-discrimination > >The Irish Presidency of the European Union on December 5 send a draft text for the revision of the Treaty on the European Union to European Parliament. >The text was sent confidentially to the Institutional Committee of the European Parliament. The document number is CONF 2500/96 LIMITE Or.en. >On page 15(dutch version) under the heading Non-Discrimination the text contains a proposal for a new article 6 A TEC (treaty on the European Community) >It reads: >(be aware this is a non official translation and for sure not really correct !) > >”Within the scope of this Treaty and irrespective of the special provisions it contains, The Council may, with consensus, after a proposal by the Commission and after consultation of the European Parliament, take appropriate measures to prohibit any discrimination based on gender,racial, ethnic or social descent, religious convictions, disability, age or sexual orientation.” > >There are two remarks added.: > >”1. With regards to the categories of discrimination, where the Community could take measures, further detailed talks by the Conferene (Intergovernmental Conference IGC heinv) are required , in order to agree on a final list and accurate descriptions. >2. It has been suggested to eventually to include a regulation taking specifically into account disabled persons. This could be done e.g. in article 127 of 100 A TEC” > > >Some provisional remarks by the European Secretariat of IL GA: > >1. This is a major step forward in the discussion on gay and lesbian rights in the European Union, however it is not at all sure that it will eventually end up with a non-discrimination clause including sexual orientation. >2. The proposal is not enabling the Court of Justice to rule directly in cases of discrimination. Before it is so far it would need further legislation, but if adopted it may form a basis for legislation in the future. >3. The text produced by the Irish is a draft proposal, nothing is agreed yet, but it should serve as a base for further negotiations. >We should be aware that there are a whole lot of other problems to be solved in order to have a revised treaty at all, this issue is a minor one compared to the institutional questions, the flexibility debate, the common foreign policy. >4. On the ILGA conference in Madrid ILGA will extensively discuss a stategy on this issue. > >I will find the offical english text on short notice and mail it on this list. >Other language versions may be found with your MEP’s in Brussels or Strasbourg > ======================================== Hein Verkerk |tel ++ 31 20 6818632 |http://www.xs4all.nl/~heinv van Bossestraat 86 ‘|fax++ 31 20 6846860 |The Ultimate Gaylinks ! 1051 KC Amsterdam |e mail heinv@xs4all.nl|Dutch Queer Directory

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 04:08:20

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E86ei; Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: M.A.C. Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612122130.E86ei@xconn.com>

Original Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:35:34 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

In an article in an unidentified glamour magazine (we were sent a single page), the extracurricular activities of various cosmetic companies were discussed. Most interesting was the section on M.A.C. and their spokespersons, RuPaul and k.d. lang:

In M.A.C.’s modern tale of corporate sensitivity, change means much, much more than a new shade of lipstick or checks written to charities. “We’ve managed to change the face of makeup as it existed ten years ago,” says co-founder Frank Toskan. “The beauty industry had perpetuated a narrow definition of beauty, and I felt a responsibility to break down that myth.” Hence the signing of antiestablishment faces like RuPaul and K.D. Lang, and the implementation of M.A.C.’s open employment policy, by which men can wear makeup and come to work in drag, and women can dress in hot pants, fishnets,or whatever (as long as it’s black). (Drag queen Lady Bunny was long a star employee at M.A.C.’s New York City shop on Christopher Street). “We allow our makeup artists a lot of freedom,” continues Toskan. “Maybe it’s intimidating to some customers, but at least it is honest. These makeup artists are representing who they really are.”

“We thought the industry needed a slap in the face,” says the other co-owner, Frank Angelo. “We would never hire a spokesmodel to be beautiful. We signed RuPaul, and now k.d. to attract attention to the M.A.C. AIDS Fund. We said, “Let’s raise as much money as we can.”

The article goes on to discuss the charitable work of M.A.C. and the spokesmodels.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E41Ts; Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: LGBT Support Group for Disabled Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612122130.E41Ts@xconn.com>

Original Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:38:04 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

I found this in the December ’96 issue of Virginia’s Secrets newsletter. I don’t remember posting it. Please forgive me if I already have.

— Dallas

Les, Bi, Gay, Trans People With Disabilities Support Group Forms

Ablied Queer is a non-for-profit support group for lesbians, transgender, bisexual, gay, and gay-friendly persons who have mental and/or physical disability and their companions. Ablied Queer seeks to help break down the barriers within the community- – inaccurate ideas that some people may or may not have about persons with a disability.

At this time we are working on:

1. Setting up support groups to help disabled persons and their companions understand each other and each others’ problems in their day-to-day relationships.

2. Working to help all persons understand that we are no different– that we like to go out and have fun without being treated as special or different, or that our disabilities are something that they can “catch.”

3. Working with local computer bulletin boards to carry a message-net for us so that we can help persons who cannot get out.

4. Setting up and maintaining a web page.

5. Setting up and maintaining a worldwide database (by city and area) of gay-owned and gay-friendly doctors, health care providers, support groups, business, night clubs.

6. Putting out new info each and every day.

7. Helping to get old computers for persons who cannot afford them so they can get online.

Ablied Queer 1517 B. Missouri Houston, TX 77006 713-523-1332 james_e@iah.com

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E64hj; Thu 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Dr. Mary Walker Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 21:30:26 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612122130.E64hj@xconn.com>

Original Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:39:41 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

>From the Ladies Home Journal, 1883

Most of our city readers may have heard of Mrs. Dr. Mary E. Walker, who was arrested for attracting crowds by her strange attire: our out-of-town subscribers may be interested in a more detailed account. She appeared last week before the Police Commissioners against Officer Pickett, who arrested her in the street. Mrs. Walker, who is an attractive woman, and may have seen thirty summers, was dressed in black broadcloth, her coat, from the shoulders to the waist, closely resembling a woman’s ordinary attire; but from the waist downward, the cut of both coat and pantaloons is masculine. Her hat is the merest chip of straw trimmed as the milliners usually trim that indescribable article of dress. Her dainty parasol, her bijoutry, indeed everything but the ample pantaloons, and coat, terminating at the knees, betokened the moderately fashionable woman. The substance of Mrs. Dr. Walker’s charge against Policeman Pickett is that he arrested her for wearing male attire. Her testimony was as follows: “I dwell at No. 13 Laight Street, and am a practicing physician and surgeon; I graduated as such in 1855, and as such have been in both civil and military service; I have worn this style of dress for many years, as many female medical students and practitioners have done; have been respectfully entertained at the mansions of gentlemen of

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E07eD; Fri 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Dr. Mary Walker Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612132339.E07eD@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 01:49:40 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

I apologize; somehow the first transmission of this article was truncated. Here’s the entire article.

— Dallas

>From the Ladies Home Journal, 1883

Most of our city readers may have heard of Mrs. Dr. Mary E. Walker, who was arrested for attracting crowds by her strange attire: our out-of-town subscribers may be interested in a more detailed account. She appeared last week before the Police Commissioners against Officer Pickett, who arrested her in the street. Mrs. Walker, who is an attractive woman, and may have seen thirty summers, was dressed in black broadcloth, her coat, from the shoulders to the waist, closely resembling a woman’s ordinary attire; but from the waist downward, the cut of both coat and pantaloons is masculine. Her hat is the merest chip of straw trimmed as the milliners usually trim that indescribable article of dress. Her dainty parasol, her bijoutry, indeed everything but the ample pantaloons, and coat, terminating at the knees, betokened the moderately fashionable woman. The substance of Mrs. Dr. Walker’s charge against Policeman Pickett is that he arrested her for wearing male attire. Her testimony was as follows: “I dwell at No. 13 Laight Street, and am a practicing physician and surgeon; I graduated as such in 1855, and as such have been in both civil and military service; I have worn this style of dress for many years, as many female medical students and practitioners have done; have been respectfully entertained at the mansions of gentlemen of distinction in every walk of industry or of art and science, among the number I mention the chief jurist of the land and the President of the United States, and it has been reserved for a Metropolitan policeman, whose province it is to protect all law- abiding citizens, to be the first to offer me indignity. I wear this dress from high moral principle; the fashionable dress of the day is not such as any physiologist can defend, nor any economist wear; it sweeps the filth from your sidewalks; it fastens the lungs as within a coffin, and encased within its iron bands, n woman can venture out into a high wind, or attempt to climb a staircase, without the immodest exposure of the limbs; it is an abomination, invented by the prostitutes of Paris, and as such unfit to be worn by a modest American woman. Between five and six o’clock P.M., on the fifth instant, I entered a millinery store, in Canal Street, and a gaping crowd gathered at the door; the lady of the shop invited me to stay until the unmannerly multitude had gone; presently, a policeman approached me in the store, and took me to the Wooster Street Police Station, and there the sergeant in command, after keeping me standing at his desk until he had disposed of a female who had been arrested for a crime, demanded my name, and inquired whether I could read and write. Regarding the sergeant’s inquiries as impertinent, I told him to find my name on this medal, exhibiting the medal of ‘Congress to Major Mary E. Walker.'” After considerable argument on both sides, President Acton dismissed the complaint, saying “This lady was taken from the mob, and, in making the arrest for such cause, the officer was not guilty of wrong, because he did not know her abode and could not take her there; but, if the arrest had been made because of her peculiar attire, he would have been in error. The police have no more right apprehend a woman in such dress as hers than they have to arrest me.” To Officer Pickett: “Let her go; she is smart enough to take care of herself; never arrest her again.” Mrs. Walker departed under a storm of applause.

— end

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E56aR; Fri 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: New AIS Newsletter issued Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 23:39:15 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612132339.E56aR@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 01:49:51 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 15:09:01 -0800 To: Recipient List Suppressed:; From: Cheryl Chase <cchase@isna.org> Subject: New AIS newsletter issued

A new number of ALIAS, the AIS Support Group’s newsletter, is now available. Write directly to them for a copy, which is priced at $4 in the US (addresses at end of this email).

This issue (Autumn/Winter 1996) contains reviews of and letters inspired by “Dark Secret,” a recent BBS television series which presented two women with AIS. Many viewers wrote to the support group to relate that they learned from the program that the name of their own “dark secret” was AIS, and for the first time spoke openly about that which their own care-providers had so long endeavored to keep unspoken.

The BBC program presented AIS as a tragedy, not of biology but of the embarassed secrecy which surrounds it. A woman in her 40s who was treated to the standard medical program of silence and dissembling was willing to be pictured only in silhouette. In contrast, a 17 year old girl who had been told about her condition early in life came across as well-adjusted and confident.

Australian physician Garry Warne wrote to say that his AIS Study Group had watched the program on tape, and were amazed that there were two AIS women prepared to talk about it on TV. Even after seeing the video, and communicating with the AIS Support Group (which now has a chapter in Australia, as well as five other countries), the medical professionals in Warne’s AIS Study Group “still cannot agree that all XY women should be told about their XY chromosomes if they have shown no sign of wanting to know such things.”

The issue reproduces letters to the editor of the Can Med Assoc J from AIS women and one partner who were outraged by Anita Natarajan’s cash prize-winning medical ethics essay which encourages practitioners to lie to their AIS patients. Sherri Groveman, an attorney who is a woman with AIS, advised physicians that following Natarajan’s advice involved breaches of medical ethics and legal duty which would render them vulnerable to lawsuit.

There are articles on the variability of pubic and axillary hair, on low bone density, and on the benefits of adding progesterone to hormone replacement therapy.

Several letters criticize physicians’ refusal to consider vaginal depth as a problem. One institution produced a guidebook for parents of girls with complete AIS which emphasized, “the only major problem these patients face is therefore the relatively common one of infertility.” In fact, an AIS specialist who spoke at a recent AIS Support Group meeting assured the AIS women and their families that —

“Patients with CAIS are not intersexed.”

Intersexuality seems to be like the Cheshire cat where physicians are concerned. They find the subject fascinating, the patients most interesting, the presentations bizarre.. But whenever a physician addresses an intersexual or a family, he will assert that the person addressed is *not* intersexed. We’ve seen this done by Durbach and Szasz, of the Children’s Hospital of British Columbia, in a published response (Letters, Toronto Globe and Mail) to Natalie Angier’s NY Times article “Intersexual Healing”. His definition supports our impression that medical definitions of intersexuality are constructed with the specific purpose of defining it away.

“Of the one in 2,000 babies born with ambiguous genitalia, very few have the condition that might be termed hermaphrodite-having both male and female chromosomal arrangements in their body cells and parts of both ovaries and testes.”

One ISNA member with Klinefelter Syndrome reports that he tried to talk about his own gender issues at last year’s KS & Associates national meeting. A Hopkins medical professional short circuited his attempt by announcing,

“Oh no, you have male chromosomes; you are all male.”

There are encouraging articles about vaginal dilation to increase vaginal depth, and quotes from articles by mental health professionals about the harm of keeping secrets or minimizing painful facts.

One writer recounts the moment that she discovered the address of the Support Group, in a letter to the editor of BMJ.

“If I’d had a choice between winning $10 million in the lottery or finding the letter in the British Medical Journal listing the phone number for the support group, there is no doubt which I’d choose. … Nothing has, or probably ever will have, such a profound influence on my life.”

References

Angier, Natalie. “Intersexual Healing: An Anomaly Finds a Group,” New York Times, February 4, 1996, Week in Review p. 14.

Natarajan, A. “Medical ethics and truth-telling in the case of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.” Can Med Assoc J Feb 15, 1996; 154 (4): 568-570.

Letters, Can Med Assoc J Jun 15, 1996; 154 (12): 1829-1833.

Anon. “Once a dark secret” BMJ 308, 19 Feb 1994, p. 542.

Letters: “Gender identity and testicular feminization” and “Be honest and open with sufferers,” BMJ 308, 16 April 1994, p 1042.

Addresses

AIS Support Group c/o Sherri Groveman 4203 Genessee Avenue #103-436 San Diego CA 92117-4950 <aissg@aol.com>

AIS Support Group 2 Shirburn Avenue Mansfield, Notts., NG18 2BY, UK <100572.2376@compuserve.com>

Patricia Flora PO Box 425 Postal Station C 1117 Queen Street West Toronto M6J 3P5 CANADA

The Netherlands (038) 269845 (fluent English, Dutch)

AIS Selbsthilfegruppe Postfach 7 71201 Rottenburg am Neckar GERMANY (fluent English, German)

Mary Russell PO Box 3371 Logan Hyperdrome Loganholme Queensland 4129 AUSTRALIA

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 03:56:28

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Sun 15 Dec 1996 14:07:36 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E83uB; Sun 15 Dec 1996 14:07:36 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Lefty Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:07:36 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612151407.E83uB@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 16:35:28 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Originally published in the Rose, Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex CD Club.

My Brother is Left Handed

by Tammy C.

My brother is a left-handed person. Yes. It’s true. He does everything with his left hand. He writes, eats, and does all of his other daily activities while favoring his left hand. It all started when he was very young. I was two years older than him, so I remember how my parents tried at first to discourage this behavior. They loved him and were very concerned about it. They appreciated how difficult life would be for a left-handed person in a predominantly right-handed culture. No matter what they did, however, it was still his preference to use his left hand.

Finally they accepted it and began to accommodate it. They bought him special scissors designed to be used by left-handed people. They positioned him at the table so he was on my left so that when we ate we wouldn’t be bumping elbows. They began treating him as perfectly normal even though he couldn’t use his right hand the way the rest of us did.

Now some people claim he was born this way, but I know otherwise. He got a lot of special attention for being left-handed. He chose this behavior and my parents let him get away with it. In fact, at times, they flaunted it. I remember once when we went out to eat, my parents had my brother sit at the corner of the table. They explained to the waitress that he was left-handed. I failed to see why it was so important to them to shock the waitress with this information. it not only was none of her business what my brother’s lifestyle was, but she probably would rather not know about it anyway.

Most people do not care if you are that way, they just don’t want to see it. There were many times that we went to a restaurant and the other patrons were subjected to seeing my brother using a fork or spoon with his left hand. It was rather embarrassing.

The interesting thing was, on the outside, he looked normal. Other than his orientation as to hand preference, he was a nice, likeable guy. In a million years, you would never guess this abnormality about him unless you were observant when he opened a door, hammered a nail, or signed his name. Then it was very apparent that he was a southpaw.

As nice as my brother was, it was apparent that he was unconcerned about his behavior. He must have known that he could chance if he really wanted to, but he seemed to be totally unconcerned about his preferring his left hand. This perverse course did not seem to bother his conscience in the least. We came from a strict religious background, so the opportunity was always available for him to rid himself of these practices. With prayer to God he could have overcome these desires and started using his right hand like everyone else. But he was weak.

His obvious indifference to his conduct and how it affected others is something to be concerned about. I have noticed this same apathy in other left-handed people. They are very blatantly left-handed and they don’t care who they expose to their lifestyle. They flaunt themselves, proudly parading around without concern. I have seen it in banks, supermarkets, and workplaces.

Yes, this attitude is getting worse and more widespread. I suspect it already exists in our schools and our children are being subjected to these flagrant acts. Our children, most of all, need protection. I am wondering why they have not passed a law to require people to be right-handed before they are allowed to be teachers.

Left-handed people have even started putting their propaganda on the Internet, where anyone, including children, can have access to their twisted message. At one Internet site, I found the quotation, “It has been proven that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of he brain controls the left side of the body, so from this we can conclude that left-handed people are the only ones in their right minds.” This teaching implies that it is alright to be left- handed, which is clearly contrary to what the Bible says where it glorifies Christ for being at God’s right hand. Yes, the audacity of these people is alarming.

I am concerned about how far this attitude will go. Will left- handed people start asking for tax cuts and employment protection next? The issues are shocking, but we need to face them no matter how disgusting and repulsive they are. If you feel as strongly about this as I do, then get involved. You may want to write your state senator or legislative representative. You may even want to form a coalition to pass a ballot measure that would change our state constitution to prevent these kind of things. Don’t get me wrong, I am not espousing hate of these people. We should show charity toward all our fellow men, but we should hate the bad that they practice. If they repent and turn around from these perverse and sinful ways and learn to use their right hands like normal, decent people, then we should be willing to show them love and make an effort to treat them just like anyone else.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 16 Dec 1996 17:16:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E25Vg; Mon 16 Dec 1996 17:16:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Howard Rollins Deat at 46 Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 17:16:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612161716.E25Vg@xconn.com>

Original Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 19:03:43 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Howard Rollins, the actor who played detective Virgil Tibbs on the television program “In The Head of the Night” (which was filmed near Atlanta), is dead of AIDS-related illness at age 46.

Several years ago, rumors were flying that Rollins was wearing dresses and other items of women’s clothing around the small Goergia town where “Heat of the Night.” was filmed. He was dismissed from the program in 1993.

Rollins, who also appeared in “Ragtime” and “A Soldier’s Story,” was bitter because he did not get work after Heat.

In his last months (according to that authoritative source, The Globe), he crossdressed nearly full-time in his New York neighborhood, using the name Tooraloora Goldfarb.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E87uO; Mon 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Tony Curtis Goes Wild Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612161917.E87uO@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 21:19:38 -0500

.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Certainly, no lady would dance on top of a honky-tonk’s bar and it was certainly no lady who did so this weekend at a Manhattan saloon. It was Tony Curtis.

The 72-year-old actor jumped up on the bar of Hogs & Heifers and danced with some female bartenders Saturday night while swinging a red lace bra over his head, the New York Post reported Monday.

“This is great. I love this!” a heavily made-up Curtis shouted.

Dancing on the bar is a tradition for female customers. Curtis apparently is the first male to participate.

Curtis, fetching in female attire in the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot,” is in town to film a movie in which he has a dream about being a drag queen, the Post said.

After dancing to Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It,” Curtis added the bra to a collection of bras left by such celebrities as Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore and Daryl Hannah, the paper said.

No word on who owned the undergarment.

AP-NY-12-16-96 2040EST

Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **On America Online (Keyword: TCF) **TCF Info: http://members.aol.com/onqgwen

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E06sX; Mon 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Tony Curtis Goes Wild Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 19:17:39 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612161917.E06sX@xconn.com>

Original Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 22:11:24 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 13:39:30 -0500 To: RIKI@pipeline.com From: Riki Anne Wilchins <riki@pipeline.com> Subject: NGLTF ISSUES HISTORIC STATEMENT ON GID

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: ——— IYF : Riki@Pipeline.Com Coalition : GIDReform@aol.com NGLTF : tconaty@ngltf.org

NGLTF ISSUES HISTORIC STATEMENT: CALLS FOR GENDER DISORDER REFORM ====================================

Washington, DC – [December 12, 1996] ONE KIND OF HISTORY was made and another called to mind, as Kerry Lobel, head of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) today sent a statement to the head of the American Psychiatric Association urging that gender difference be eliminated as a mental disorder. NGLTF statement also went out to the APA’s Gay & Lesbian Issues Committee. Ms. Lobel’s letter also requests meetings between NGLTF, gender activists and APA officials. [Text follows.]

The action immediately calls to mind NGLTF’s courageous struggle with the APA 25 years ago to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder. Many believe it was the de-pathologizing of homosexuality which enabled the modern gay civil rights movement to emerge and move into the American mainstream. The question now is whether such an initiatives by NGLTF can help the burgeoning transgender movement do likewise.

The disorder in question – Gender Identity Disorder (GID) — has come under increasing fire from a number of quarters. Many gender activists decry how GID pathologizes gender-variance, and make the desire for Sex-Reassignment Surgery or hormones into a “mental disease.” The direct action group Transexual Menace demonstrated at APA’s last two national conventions, and — in a landmark action jointly sponsored by the Menace, NGLTF, Bi-Net USA, the Int’l Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Center, and Hermaphrodites With Attitude — also picketed the APA’s national offices in downtown Washington, DC. In fact, the landmark activist group Transgender Nation demonstrated over GID as early as 1993.

Fueling the controversy is the outrage of gay and lesbian activists who see the way GID is also used as a “backdoor” diagnosis to pathologize and treat so-called “pre-homosexual” or genderqueer children. In fact, Phyllis Burke’s new book, GENDER SHOCK, details how psychiatrists and even the US government have worked to located, study, diagnose and treat “sissy boys” and “butchy girls” simply on the basis that they are gender-different. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) has been particularly concerned with this practice.

To bring together organizations and individuals concerned about such issues, a National Coalition for GID Reform has recently been formed by gender activists Riki Anne Wilchins, Jacob Hale, and Susan Stryker. The Coalition is using the NGLTF statement as a guide — which itself draws heavily on a position developed by NCLR and the International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy.

Said NCGR co-founder Jacob Hale, “We are calling for the APA and psychiatry in general to get out of the business of policing bodies, gender, and desire. Without doubt these diagnostic categories fail to meet the most minimal criteria for any sort of mental disease. This is because they are fundamentally about imposing hetero-normativity on all people, by stigmatizing some behaviors and identities as `disorders’ in dire need of `treatment.'”

Some gender activists have expressed concern that removing GID will cause them to lose insurance reimbursement for Sex-Reassignment Surgery (SRS) and related procedures. However, Dr. Wynelle Snow, co-chair of Psychiatrists and Other Physicians for GID Reform, a Coalition subcommittee, recently noted that their position calls for GID’s reform — not removal — and its replacement with a non-stigmatizing physical condition like pregnancy for individuals seeking SRS. Notes Snow, a psychiatrist and APA member, “I see no reason to continue with a psychiatric diagnosis for which there is no known psychiatric treatment.”

NGLTF’s outgoing Communications Director, Robert Bray, who has been instrumental in the GID reform initiative declared, “Next to NCLR, the Task Force is one of the first major national US gay/lesbian organizations to take a stand on this critical subject. I must add that I’m proud to state, that, after 9 years and at least 2,000 statements, releases, and advisories, — the very last release I wrote was on transgender people and GID reform.”

### (c) 1996 InYourFace An on-line, news-only service for gender activism. When re-posting, please credit InYourFace. [PRESS RELEASE ENDS]

[STATEMENT BEGINS] Contacts: Tracey Conaty 202/332-6483 x3303 tconaty@ngltf.org Kerry Lobel 202/332-6483 x3307 klobel@ngltf.org

NGLTF STATEMENT ON GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER AND TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ================================

Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 1996…The following statement on Gender Identify Disorder and transgender people by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) was prepared by Robert Bray, NGLTF communications director. The statement itself is attributable to Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director. Prior to the statement is background information and additional resources.

Background

The subject of Gender Identify Disorder (GID) has emerged in the media and within the gay and lesbian movement as transgender visibility and activism continues to grow. GID is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

While some transgender people use a GID diagnosis to qualify for hormone treatment, surgery and, in limited cases, anti-discrimination protections based on disability, the diagnosis can be used to pathologize transgender people and “gender-variant” youth — i.e., those children who exhibit behavior that may be viewed as “pre- homosexual” or “pre-transsexual.” GID is a controversial subject that deserves sensitive treatment. It has broad implications for the civil rights, health and well-being of transgender people.

NGLTF has worked in conjunction with Transexual Menace, International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment (ICTLEP), National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, FTM (Female-To-Male) International, Intersex Society of North America (“Hermaphrodites With Attitude”), International Foundation For Gender Education, GenderPAC, BiNet USA, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and other gay/lesbian/bi/transgender organizations and individuals on the subject of transgenderism, transgender visibility in our society, and GID.

A useful resource on GID and its use against children is the in-depth “Information Sheet” produced by National Center For Lesbian Rights staff attorney Shannon Minter, 415-392-6257, shanminter@aol.com. A copy of the joint NCLR and International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (ICTLEP) statement on GID may also be obtained from Shannon Minter at NCLR. The City of San Francisco Human Rights Commission recently passed a proclamation opposing the use of GID against children by the APA. For a copy, contact the Commission at (415)252-2500. Transexual Menace has background information, a Q&A and other facts about GID and transgenders; contact Riki Anne Wilchins, (212)645-1753, riki@pipeline.com.

As NCLR and ICTLEP point out, there is a growing number of jurisdictions with civil rights policies that prohibit discrimination against transgendered people without reference to GID. These include the state of Minnesota and well as its cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul; San Francisco and Santa Cruz, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In addition, the European Court of Justice recently held that employment discrimination against transsexual people violates the fundamental human right to be free of discrimination based on sex. Many transgender activists believe these laws represent the beginning of a new era in transgender liberation — a time in which they can attain equality and health care not through a diagnosis of “mental illness,” but through a progressive and comprehensive civil rights agenda.

NGLTF Statement

The following statement is attributable to Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director.

“NGLTF is sensitive to the differences of opinion within the transgender community on GID and the implications of GID on insurance payments, civil rights and other issues of concern to transgender people. Thus, instead of supporting wholesale GID eradication, we support GID reform. Reform means another diagnosis — possibly medical — that does not pathologize transgender people or gender-variant youth and children. Reform also means increased funding for research on transgenderism and full participation by transgender people in policy decisions that affect their lives.

“We are particularly concerned with the use of GID against children. Gender-variant youth, whether they grow up to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or not, should not be stigmatized or mistreated because of a GID diagnosis.

“The struggle for transgender people in 1996 invokes the struggle of gay and lesbian people in the early Seventies when the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) was successful in helping remove homosexuality as a mental disease. We are aware that transsexual people have unique concerns in their lives, including medical treatments such as hormones and surgery, that are different from being gay or lesbian. However, we believe no one — whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex (hermaphrodite) — should have to accept being pathologized as mentally ill in order to attain wholeness, completeness and civil equality.

“NGLTF strongly supports civil rights protections and affordable health care for transgenders. We loathe discrimination and violence perpetrated against transgenders and stand in solidarity with transgender people in their struggle for visibility, inclusion, equality and justice.” ###

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a progressive organization that has supported grassroots organizing and pioneered in national advocacy since 1973. Since its inception, NGLTF has been at the forefront of virtually every major initiative for lesbian and gay rights. In all its efforts, NGLTF helps to strengthen the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement at the state level while connecting these activities to a national vision for change. [STATEMENT ENDS]

-###-

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 18 Dec 1996 14:04:02 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E09ZY; Wed 18 Dec 1996 14:04:02 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Drag Queens Balk at Birmingham License Proposal Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 14:04:02 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612181404.E09ZY@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 16:49:04 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Reprinted with permission from Southern Voice, 5 December, 1996

Drag Queens Balk at Birmingham License Proposal

Since 1980, Birmingham, AL adult entertainers, including stripers, go-go dancers, and female impersonators, have been required to obtain a $20 dance permite, good throughout the city. In September, City Councilman Byron Davis proposed raising the fee to $100 and making each license good for working at only one establishment. Birmingham is the only city in Alabama to require such licenses, and 500 entertainers are currently registered. A petition is circulating to combat the proposal

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 18 Dec 1996 20:11:46 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E14yP; Wed 18 Dec 1996 20:11:46 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: transgender class at university of new mexico (fwd) Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:11:46 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612182011.E14yP@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 18:51:21 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Dear Dallas: I was wondering whether you would be willing to publish the following item in an upcoming edition of Chrysalis Quarterly, Chrysalis News, or post it on your internet site. It should be a very interesting class. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakkah, or enjoyable Winter Solstace!

Marsha Rupe (An equal opportunity well wisher)

P.S. You can publish my e-mail address if you like. People may wish to contract ME for information. (Gordene can be tough to reach sometimes.)

Dr. Gordene MacKenzie, author of the book “Transgender Nation” and a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico, has scheduled course titled “Transgender Identity, Politics, and Representation” for the spring 1997 semester. The course will be offered as an elective in the Women Studies program. Dr. MacKenzie, who once facilitated a support group for transgendered persons in the Albuquerque area, says the course will be the first, or one of the first, college courses specifically covering the subject of transgendered persons. Dr. MacKenzie is attempting to raise money to hire a California female-to-male transsexual to served as a teacher’s assistant for the class. I have signed up for the course, and plan to discuss my personal experience and observations as a male-to-female transsexual. Another student who has signed up for the class lives an androgynous lifestyle. Anyone wishing to contribute to the effort to raise funds to pay a teacher’s assistant can make a tax-deductible check out to “Women Studies TG Course.” The check would be deposited in a University of New Mexico Foundation account. Checks can be sent to Dr. MacKenzie at the University of New Mexico, 2134 Mesa Vista Hall, Albuquerque, N.M. 87131. Anyone wishing to discuss the course or contributions can reach Dr. MacKenzie at the above address, by voice mail at (505) 277-3818, or via e-mail (your best bet–she’s a busy woman!) at <gordene@unm.edu>.

Marsha Rupe mrupe@unm.edu

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>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 18 Dec 1996 20:11:47 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E89Gq; Wed 18 Dec 1996 20:11:47 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: UPDATE: Report from Lambda Istanbul Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:11:47 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612182011.E89Gq@xconn.com>

Original Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 18:51:11 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

NOTE: At the end of this mail you will find instructions for participating in the current ILGA action #96:6 in support of gay and transgender rights=20 in Turkey.

LAMBDA ISTANBUL December, 18th, 1996

The harassment and the pressure against the transvestite (TS) and=20 transexual (TV) community has always been present in Turkey, but for the last 12 months the intensity and the frequency of it has been increasing.

A 65-year old woman has moved to the Ulker Street a year ago, called Ms. G=FCng=F6r (Guengoer) Gider, has been provoking all actions against TV/TS community. She has big support from the police and extremist right wing party members or organizations; radical Islamists and Nationalists.

For the couple of first months she was very friendly to and with the girls who have been living in the area for more than 20 years. She has bought=20 some flats for very cheap prices and rented them to the girls with the normal rates. After a while she started to demand enormous amounts like increasing the rents from 20 million to 100 million TL. The girls refused=20 to pay these rates as it is stated in the contract law that the owners are only permitted to increase the rent 60% maximum. This is the point where everything started to go down for the girls.

She has initiated a campaign of “cleaning operation”. She with her neighbours placed a desk to the street with patrols in charge to control=20 the area day and night. She covered her head to gain support from extremist Islamists and from their organizations. She was not satisfied with the results. A few months ago she started a campaign of labelling called=20 “Hang a Turkish Flag if you are not homosexual”. She aimed to gain support from the extremist Nationalists and she did. The organizations called “=DClk= =FC (Uelkue) Ocaklari”, the youth branches of extremist right wing party MHP, took part on her side. They joined the harassment process with the premise that the homosexuals are not excepted as Turkish. They don’t belong to the race since they represent a lower form of human beings. This was told to a university student who was making a market research for an assignment.

One of the biggest support came from Mr. S=FCleyman (Sueleyman) Ulusoy who= =20 was chief of the Beyoglu Police Department until 1991. He came back to duty just before UN Human Settling Conference, Habitat II. Not only he fights against homosexuals but against street children, street peddlers and=20 gypsies as well.

Before the above mentioned conference, the police warned the TV/TS=20 community to leave the conference area. They were warned that if they remained to stay in their houses they would be in danger. To pretend to=20 keep the area clean, a massive cleaning operation was started before the conference. Lots of stray dogs and cats, street children and peddlers were forced to move on to the different areas.

Then the cleaning operation started to get serious. A house, which belongs to one of the transsexuals who lives in the street, was set on fire, allegedly, by the police. She applied to the Attorney Generalship for a legal action but she couldn’t get any response for two months. She has started a petition but Mr. Ulusoy didn’t give any official statement. The Damage Commission affirmed the damage as 300 million TL. Though it was 2 months ago there is no result at the moment. Meanwhile, Ms. Demet Demir and other TV/TS started several petitions but couldn’t get any response neither. Moreover, another four houses has been set on fire since, in another district of Beyoglu, but nobody applied for any legal action since they=20 were scared and they knew through the previous example that their attempts would have been futile even if they had tried. Ilhami Kaya is another TV=20 who lives in the street who has a similar experience in which the windows=20 of her house smashed down with stones thrown. Ms. Demet Demir’s front door has been broken for 3 times and the telephone cables were cut to prevent=20 her from informing the solicitors and/or the press.

At this point I feel the urge to state that homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey. There is no law in force in the constitution against homosexual acts. On the other hand, torture is illegal. The current situation is ironically ridiculous when these points are highlighted. Though this is the case Ms. Demet Demir got a criminal record which states illegal demonstration. She stayed in the jail for 8 months. After 10 years all criminal records are normally deleted. Her record still exists after 14 years to everybody’s surprise.

The police are breaking the doors with hammers and axes, forcing their way in to the houses to cause the most damage that they can. At times if they find occupancy in the house they take the person to the station to keep=20 them under detention. A person can be kept under detention only for=20 48 hours the most. The police’s practical solution for this is to transfer the person to another station so that they can keep somebody for more than= =20 a week if they want to do so. The police raid the houses and the clubs to arrest. You show your ID but it is not sufficient enough. There are lots of means to an arrest in Turkey and the police forces are well prepared to teach you these means.

TV/TS community are continously accused of prostitution and ramping young boys. They are seen as potential criminals. In the year 1994 and 1995, just before the World AIDS Day the clubs were raided to bash the TV/TSs since they are believed to be the cause for AIDS. This is a very vicious cycle. Since they are seen as potential danger, criminal and always as immoral they are forced out of the society. They don’t have any means to live properly. They end up on the streets as prostitutes as this is the only thing they are permitted. If they can do this it means that there is demand as well. Then everybody becomes ethical activists when it is time to blame them, but they never talk about whom they slept with the night before.

The current situation is that the TV/TS community in this area is reduced=20 to 7 from 70. They are left with only one solution as a consequence: to move. The clean water supplier on the street was closed down with the=20 reason that it didn’t have any license. You start to ask how it was permitted in the first place then. The newsagent was closed down with threats as well. The hair-dresser was closed down because it was,=20 allegedly, used as a whorehouse. All these closing downs were done by the local council of Beyoglu. Any clever person can not deny the question:=20 “Were these places closed down because they were serving to the TV/TS community living in the area?”.

Everything that is going on around the street has to be done in secret as a result. For example, during Habitat Conference a foreign TV channel was having an interview with Ms. Demet Demir in her house. It is at this point the police broke into her house. The reporter hid the tapes and cameras otherwise they would have been taken away. Police was so determined to take them to the station but couldn’t have done it because Mr. Tugrul Erbaydar from Fighting With AIDS Association told this group of policemen that they were having a meeting about AIDS:

In the beginning of December one of the transexuals named Ece was beaten up by the police because she couldn’t manage to be secret enough. Although she has a house in the street she can not live there. She comes in secret to feed her dog. The last time her neighbour heard her coming and phoned the police. She was caught in her apartment. She was beaten up first in the street and then in the police station. She was beaten up so badly that her legs was bruised even after a week.

Mr. S=FCleyman Ulusoy has a nickname which is “Hose S=FCleyman”. He likes to beat, especially to the head, with plastic hose pipes and this is where his nickname comes from. There are several files in the Human Rights=20 Association regarding these tortures. Cutting the hair, pumping pressurized cold water, beating bullocks are the most common of these tortures in the police stations.

Forwarded from GLBT-NEWS. This report was typed from a fax by Bjoern Skolander <skolander@bahnhof.se>

ILGA Email Action #96:6 – TURKEY: Police Violence Against Gays

HOW TO JOIN THE EASY-TO-PARTICIPATE EMAIL/FAX ACTION:

1. Address your mail to: actions@ilga.org

2. Write your NAME, ADDRESS (snailmail), etc in the body of the message.

3. The letters of protest with all signatures will be faxed on December 23, 1996. Please post your participation before that date.

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 13:54:43

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 19 Dec 1996 15:47:21 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E79mJ; Thu 19 Dec 1996 15:47:21 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Trans Activists, HRC at Odds Over Ends Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 15:47:21 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612191547.E79mJ@xconn.com>

Original Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 17:56:55 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Reprinted from Etc., 13 December, 1996

Trans Activists, HRC at Odds Over Ends

Transgender activists are decidedly not pleased about statements by Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Political Director Daniel Zingale that new language covering transgendered people should not be added to the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Speaking at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change Conference in early November, Zingale (who is leaving his HRC post to take over as AIDS Action Council executive director) said that to amend ENDA in any way would damage its chances of passage in the 105th Congress. The measure, which bars employmenet discrimination based on sexual orientation, missed passing the Senate in September by one vote. This isn’t the first time HRC has angered the transgender community over the issue. But in an article in the Advocate, December 10, HRC Executive Director ElizabethBirch said it was unfair for activists to direct their rage at her organization, since the legislation was a product of a broad coalition involving a number of gruops. “This neatly allowed her to sidestep the fact that HRC does not currently support our inclusion in ENDA, that the coalition is primarily their creature and that they are primarily responsible for ENDA lobbying,” retorted Transexual Menace founder Riki Anne Wilchins. Questioning HRC’s “disingenious” reasoning, Wilchins noted that when support for ENDA was still doubtful, transgender inclusion was risky, but that after a close vote, it is still considered a strategic mistake. “If it’s raining, we can’t be included because the weather’s not too good. If it’s sunny, we’re not included because the weather might turn bad. If it’s overcast, our timing’s not good, and anyway, we shouldn’t blame HRC for the weather,” Wilchins quipped. “Apparently, there is no good time for inclusion.”

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 20 Dec 1996 11:37:48 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E28YT; Fri 20 Dec 1996 11:37:48 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Woman Sues When Husband Turns Out To Be Woman Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 11:37:48 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612201137.E28YT@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 14:20:53 -0500

December 19, 1996

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (AP) — A Virginia woman has filed a $575,000 fraud lawsuit against her spouse after she discovered that her husband is a woman.

Margaret Anne Hunter, who met her spouse over the Internet, is seeking damages against Holly Anne Groves, 26, of Bryan, Texas, who posed as husband Thorne Wesley Jameson.

Throughout their courtship and marriage, Groves pretended to be a man dying of AIDS to avoid sex, Hunter says in the lawsuit. Groves’ breasts were covered with heavy bandages, which she said were needed because of rib injuries from a car wreck, the suit said.

Hunter, 24, of Alexandria, wants reimbursement for money she spent on food, transportation and telephone calls during the relationship. She also wants an annulment of their marriage.

Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **On America Online (Keyword: TCF) **TCF Info: http://members.aol.com/onqgwen

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 21 Dec 1996 17:39:52 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E36OQ; Sat 21 Dec 1996 17:39:52 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: S.C. Transsexual Charged with Manslaughter Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 17:39:52 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612211739.E36OQ@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 19:49:03 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Reprinted with permission from Southern Voice, 5 December, 1996

S.C. Transsexual Charged With Manslaughter

A transsexual jailed since July in Gafafney, SC on17-year-old murder charges has been indicted on a lesser charge of manslaughter. Police say Valerie Nicole Taylor, formerly Freddie Lee Turner, fled after Billy Marshall Posey was shot dead at a local motel in 1979. Following a tip to police, Taylor was arrested in California and extradited to Gaffney. She will make her first court appearancein January and could face up to 30 years in prison.

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 03:50:13

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 23 Dec 1996 19:22:52 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E18Fr; Mon 23 Dec 1996 19:22:52 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: WOCKNER/QUOTE UNQUOTE #79 Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 19:22:52 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612231922.E18Fr@xconn.com>

Original Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 22:09:50 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

======================================= = (FROM) QUOTE UNQUOTE #79 – Nov 26, 1996 = = by Rex Wockner = =======================================

Reprinted with Permission

“I’m always suspicious of anybody who claims that his or her oppression is so severe that all of society must be completely altered before that oppression can be lifted and the perversely proud mantel of victimhood can finally be relinquished. A recent example is the claim among transgendered activists that gender itself is just a social construct, never mind the fairly clear physical differences between the sexes that most of us have no problem distinguishing. This argument holds that the rest of the world’s very perception of reality must shift in order for this tiny minority to feel comfortable, wishful thinking of the highest order.”

–Windy City Times Editor Dan Perreten in a November column.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 23 Dec 1996 20:01:22 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E35We; Mon 23 Dec 1996 20:01:22 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Laser Electrolysis Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 20:01:22 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612232001.E35We@xconn.com>

Original Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 22:58:50 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Originally published in Rosebuds (Newsletter of the Tiffany Club of New England), Vol. 8, No. 10, November, 1996.

Hair Removal Choices:

Laser or Electrolysis

by Linda DeFruscio, R.E., R.I., P.M.E.

Owner, A & A Electrolysis & Skin Care Associates, Newton, MA

There is little or no data yet available on laser hair removal showing the result of permanent hair removal.

As you may or may not know, I am a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Electrologists. I try hard to get first-hand information to share with you.

We are looking for that “miracle laser” to permanently remove all our unwanted hairs. When laser light hits human tissue, it produces heat, similar to our own thermolysis method of electrolysis. Where a laser produces heat depends solely on which tissue absorbs its particular light.

There are three techniques for light-induced hair removal:

1) Thermolase: Hairs are waxed, then carbon-based lotion is massaged into the hair follicle and the lotion is preferentially absorbed by the hair follicle and the laser light is absorbed by the lotion, thus presumably killing the hair follicle. This year, Thermolase, Inc. began laser hair removal services at Spa Thira in La Jolla, California. This salon represents the first of a series of company-owned and operated day spas which offer hair removal and other beauty services. Thermolase is the only laser device with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s permission to market and therefore may be used on the public. Thermolase is presently contracting only medical doctors.

2) Epilaser: Epilaser was developed by Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc., which is setting up sites around the U.S. and Canada. It consists of a normal mode ruby laser with a special hand-piece delivery system. Epilaser doesn’t require prior waxing or application of a lotion. Shaving is preferred before the laser treatment. Recently, the FDA denied Palomar’s Epilaser permission to market the device as a hair-removal system. However, the FDA approved the company’s new laser for fixing skin discoloration, tattoo removal, spider vein treatments, and skin resurfacing, which is the machine’s main purpose. Palomar’s laser work is based on research at Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine Laser Center at Boston’s Massachusetts’s General Hospital, led by Dr. R. Rox Anderson, Dermatologist and Director. A four-year study, which began in 1959, is being conducted by Anderson.

3) ALA: A third technique of laser hair removal is with ALA cream and red light. Not much is known about this technique, except that the pharmaceutical company that makes the ALA cream is DUSA.

Laser treatments performed on a 2″ x 4″ area of a man’s back takes approximately five minutes, as Anderson reported at the last MAE meeting in September, 1996 in Boston. A whole back could take up to one-and-one-half hours. The laser company’s information cites that laser hair removal of mustache hair on a woman could take 10 minutes, whole legs could be done in 60-90 minutes, and hair-free in six months.

About three months after a single treatment, 10-20 percent of the man’s back had permanent hair loss. After two treatments, the figure rose to only 40 percent. So there appears to be a one in six chance of getting permanent hair loss in one treatment. No single laser hair removal treatment, it seems, is yet available for permanent removal.

There are several side effects of laser hair removal:

* Occasional blisters * Hypopigmentation (skin lightening) * Permanent freckle removal * Swelling * Moderate pain * Hyperpigmentation (skin darkening) * Folliculitis (ingrown hairs) * Redness

So, who will do hair removal with the Softlight system?

* Dermatologists * MDs * Electrologists * Cosmetologists * Other medical professionals

I question the validity of these risky experiments and convention come-ons, especially since it has been made clear by the FDA or the manufacturers into whose hands these devices should be delivered and whether the long-term safety issues have been appropriately addressed.

In comparing electrolysis to lasers, each electrolysis treatment removes about one-third of the treated hairs permanently. The remaining two-thirds of hair, which could be undergrowth, may return finer and softer approximately four to six weeks later.

There are three states of hair growth: anagen (growing stage), catagen (transitional stage), and telogen (resting stage). All the hairs on the body are in three stages of growth. If we properly treat an anagen hair, that hair is 80-100 percent permanently gone. If the hair is in the catagen or telogen state it is 50-60 percent permanently gone. The lower percentage is due to another hair that could be growing beneath the hair root. As the new hair rises to the skin surface, by continuing treatments, the electrologists has a higher success rate of permanent hair removal.

As the research still continues, this is what we have so far. With laser hair removal, only 20 percent of treated hair will be permanently removed on the first treatment. Subsequent treatment will remove only another 20 percent.

Needle electrolysis is here to stay and will always have a place. On the other hand, lasers are not the ideal solution for every problem. Devices and hair removal systems have to be carefully designed for specific applications. Laser epilation will likely evolve as another modality for both permanent and temporary hair removal.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Tue 24 Dec 1996 14:01:55 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E21Sf; Tue 24 Dec 1996 14:01:55 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Rudolph and NID Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:01:55 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612241401.E21Sf@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 15:23:09 -0500

(Oh well, so it’s a day later than it probably should be 🙂

Rudolph and NID How a Reindeer Overcame the Psychiatric Diagnosis

Once upon a time, near Santa’s North Pole workshop, there was born a reindeer. A beautiful baby reindeer, with a cute little pink nose. His parents named him Rudolph. At first, it seemed that Rudolph was destined for great things, perhaps even a spot on Santa’s Team. Then trouble arose. Rudolph’s nose, instead of maturing to a deep black color, became a brighter and brighter red. So bright, in fact, that you could even say it glowed.

Now the Santa Claus Colony is a very conservative community, with a firm commitment to traditional family values. So the residents, elves and reindeer alike, were very concerned about Rudolph’s deviant tendencies. “Unnatural and perverted!” cried some. “Possessed of the Grinch!” said others. They laughed at Rudolph, and called him names. They refused to include him in any reindeer games.

When Rudolph started school, the taunts increased; some of the older reindeer children started abusing him physically, stealing his lunch, and beating him up. The school principal called Rudolph’s parents in for consultation. “Your son is causing a disruption at school, and interfering with the educational process,” he said. “We’re going to have to transfer him to our alternative learning center.”

“But Rudolph isn’t doing anything wrong,” replied his father. “It’s the other children who are doing the disrupting. Why punish Rudolph for their misbehavior?”

“It doesn’t matter. We didn’t have this problem before he came, and we don’t have it on days he stays home sick. Rudolph is the problem, and you really ought to have him cured.” The principal would not be swayed.

So Rudolph’s parents went to see a doctor. “This is a very unusual condition; I’ve never seen a case myself,” he said. “There have been several cases reported in the Scandinavian countries, however, and we have a name for it. It’s called Nasal Intensity Dysphoria, or NID.”

He consulted a reference book on mental disorders. “Psychiatric treatment helps patients suppress their condition, so they can fit better into society. If that doesn’t work, there’s the possibility of Nostril Reconstruction Surgery.”

“Can you tell us more about those treatments, Doctor?” asked Rudolph’s mother.

“Specific therapeutic modalities and prognoses should be discussed with the attending professional,” he harrumphed. “I’ll refer you to an expert in Finland, if you’re interested. I must warn you, though, that insurance won’t cover it. Santa’s group-insurance carrier specifically excludes any services related to NID or similar conditions. In fact, you’ll have to pay for this consultation. Please stop at the cashier’s window on your way out.”

When Rudolph’s parents looked into the treatment options, they found that they all were terribly expensive, and none of them worked very well. The most popular solution for NID-afflicted reindeer was to use black shoe polish to cover up the red nose, and then hope nobody found out (or remembered) what their noses really looked like. They tried this, and it worked. Rudolph was even able to go back to ordinary school, although the family had to move to another community where nobody knew them.

Rudolph grew up to be a fine young reindeer. But when he tried to get a job, he was disappointed. Santa’s Director of Employee Relations explained the situation. “You’re unusually intelligent, and the best flying reindeer we’ve seen in years. Ordinarily, we’d hire you in a heartbeat. But you have a record of being a disruptive influence at school, and you have been treated for a psychiatric disorder, NID. I don’t know what that means, but it can’t be good. I’m sorry, but Santa can’t take the chance of placing you in a high-profile position. Your academic record qualifies you for an entry-level clerical job in our Making a List and Checking It Twice Division, but you type only 44 words per minute, instead of the required 45. I’m sorry, Rudolph, but we just don’t have any openings you’re qualified for.”

Rudolph returned home that day very depressed. He cried so hard, and so long, that his tears washed away all the shoe polish on his nose. When Jennifer, his best friend, came over to cheer him up, she saw his red nose for the first time. “Eeewww,” she exclaimed, “that’s like, totally gross. I’m outta here.”

But instead of becoming embittered, Rudolph decided to come out of the closet. Life had dealt him a lemon, so he’d make lemonade. He wouldn’t hide his light any longer. Besides, he was tired of explaining to store clerks why a reindeer was buying shoe polish. He resolved to get whatever work he could, so that eventually he might become capable of supporting himself. He delivered pizzas for a while, and discovered that his bright nose enabled him to get through when the weather was too bad for other delivery reindeer to fly. Unfortunately, many customers refused to open their doors and accept their pizzas from a freak. He carried advertising signs, and learned how to make his nose flash to attract attention. But the novelty soon faded. He practiced real hard, and got his typing speed up, but by then, Santa, Inc. had converted to using Polar Word Version 4.2, and he only knew 4.1. He still couldn’t qualify for that clerical job.

Then one Christmas Eve, Santa Claus himself called. “There’s a major fog over most of the world tonight, and I’m concerned that I won’t be able to reach all the boys and girls. There’s a lot more air traffic these days, especially in the cities, and our old-fashioned way of finding houses just isn’t safe any more. I guess what I’m asking, Rudolph, is would you, with your nose so bright, guide my sleigh tonight?”

Rudolph accepted the assignment, of course, partly because of a sense of duty, but mostly because he needed the work. And it paid well, what with double time for the holiday. The next day, word of his success spread quickly. Then how the reindeer loved him! They shouted out with glee, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll go down in history!”

The End

–Contributed By Dee McKeller (deemckellr@aol.com)

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **On America Online (Keyword: TCF) **TCF Info: http://members.aol.com/onqgwen

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>From listserv@xconn.com Tue 24 Dec 1996 14:01:56 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E36LU; Tue 24 Dec 1996 14:01:56 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: “Tuesdays With Gianna” Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:01:56 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612241401.E36LU@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 15:23:16 -0500

“Tuesdays With Gianna”

The TCF is proud to announce that gender-specializing counselor (and author) Gianna E. Israel (gianna@wco.com) will be hosting regular chats in the Gazebo chat room beginning January 14th.

Each chat will have a specific theme or topic for the first hour, and will follow-up with an open topic hour. These chats will be held in protocol, with the protocol queue handled by a staff member. These will be held from 6-8 pm, on the second Tuesday of the month.

The topics and their dates are as follows: January 14 – “Coming Out” March 11 – “Romantic Relationships” May 13 – “Employment” July 8 – “Dealing With Prejudices” September 9 – “Experiences Being Closeted” November 11 – “Family”

The Transgender Community Forum (Keyword: TCF) is available during all America Online operating hours, and there is no screening process used to limit access to the area. As always, the forum area includes two 48-person conference/chat rooms, several file libraries with topics ranging from informational texts and newsletters to subscribers pictures and crossdressing fiction stories, five message boards, a news area for the latest media on the T* community, and over 1000 resource files regularly updated and including most organizations, newsmagazines, gender therapists, weblinks, and Internet sites. As always, there is *no additional fee* above AOL’s standard user fees to utilize the Transgender Community Forum, or any of it’s services.

For more information, send E-Mail to “onqgwen@aol.com”, the TCF Area Coordinator.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Tue 24 Dec 1996 17:21:54 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E03GB; Tue 24 Dec 1996 17:21:54 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: WOCKNER/INT’L NEWS #136 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 17:21:54 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612241721.E03GB@xconn.com>

Original Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 19:47:23 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

============================================= = INTERNATIONAL NEWS #136 – Dec 04, 1996 = = (c) Rex Wockner = =============================================

Reprinted with permission.

>> QUEER MONKS SCANDALIZE GREECE

Greece is up in arms over reports that three monks and a priest at the Osios Theodoros monastery on the Aegean island of Kithira hosted gay orgies for men and boys and staged beauty pageants where they flounced around in flowing cocktail gowns, Associated Press reported Nov. 28. The four men were ordered to face trial before a religious court by Kithira Bishop Iakovos who accused them of “breaching a series of religious canons” and causing a “rude televised scandalizing of the flock.” The alleged misconduct was uncovered by a popular TV news program whose expos[ACCENT]e included an interview with a transvestite who claimed to have participated in one monastic orgy that included a 9-year-old boy.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 26 Dec 1996 01:17:24 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E31Ao; Thu 26 Dec 1996 01:17:24 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Killer Seeks New Trial Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 01:17:24 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612260117.E31Ao@xconn.com>

Original Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 02:50:46 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

>From Etc., 20 December, 1996

Killer Seeks New Trial in Transsexual’s Murder

Tom Nissen, one of two Nebraska men convincted in the 1993 murder of a transsexual man, is seeking a new trial, according to a report in the Omaha World-Herald, Dec. 2. Nissen and John Lotter were found guilty ofkilling Brandon Teena (born Teena Brandon) and two friends after Teena reported being raped by the men a couple of weeks earlier. In briefs filed with the state Supreme Court, Nissen argued that authorities lacked probable cause to arrest him without warrant shortly after the bodies were discovered. During the trials, Nissen testified against Lotter and is now serving a life sentence forhispart in the crime. But transgender activists say the murders could have been prevented if Richardson County Sheriff Charles Laux had followed up on Teena’s sexual assault complaint. “In my opnion, Charles Laux is guilty of criminal culpable negligence,” said Tonye Barareto-Neto, executive director of Transgender Officers Protect and Serve, and organization for transgender law enforcement officials. “There is no question that this sheriff had probably cause to… take the perpetrators into custody before they carried out their thtreat tokills Brandon.” During investigations ofthe case, Laux, who was re-elected in November, referred to Teena by saying, “You can call it ‘it’ as far as I’m concerned.”

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For listserv assistance, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>.

Originally From: aegisnws-digest@xconn.com Original Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 03:57:51

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 27 Dec 1996 16:26:08 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E87wU; Fri 27 Dec 1996 16:26:08 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: RuPaul Shares Beauty Tips Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 16:26:08 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612271626.E87wU@xconn.com>

Originally From: OnQGwen@aol.com Original Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 18:45:35 -0500

RuPaul Shares Beauty Tips

.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — So how long does it take RuPaul to become a woman?

“If I’m on the road, and I don’t have a goatee or eyebrows, I can do it in an hour and a half,” the drag queen says in January’s issue of Interview magazine.

“But I like to take three hours, not because I’m a man, but because it takes that long to do all that stuff — the lashes, the hair, lining the lips, contouring my nose.”

The singer and host of a weekly talk show says he’s managed to make drag acceptable by not focusing on sexuality. “Drag is still very taboo in our culture because it’s associated with sexuality, and we don’t like to talk about sex. … My drag is pure Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.”

AP-NY-12-26-96 0312EST

Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E32ZA; Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Mobs in Cameroon Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612272134.E32ZA@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 22:57:17 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

>From AP Aug. 1996 & Fortean Times Jan. 1997

Mobs in Cameroon have hanged three men accused of using evil powers to cause male genitals to disapper merely by shaking hands. Several other “penis-snatchers” were hospital after being badly beaten, according to the Cameroon Post. The incidents were reported in the towns of Limbe, Tiko, Muea and Batoke, all on the Atlantic sea route between Cameroon and neighbouring Nigeria; most of the alleged snachers were Nigerian. An 18 year old student said that, when he shook hands with a Nigerian friend, “he felt an electric-like current run through him, and a feeling that his manhood had retreated into his stomach.” Doctors said that all the “missing” genitals were unharmed and normal. An earlier wave of missing tackle rumours swept through Nigeria in 1990 and a similar story from Uganda. these rumours bear some resemblance to the shrinking penis panic known as koro in Malaysia and shook yang in China.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E59dh; Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Greece/Phaedra Kelly Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612272134.E59dh@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 22:57:21 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

For those who may not know, Phaedra Kelly tours the third world and reports on it in her highly unorthodox style. Here is her recent posting on the situation for transpeople in Greece.

— Dallas

From: clare steen <steen@barnes.globalnet.co.uk> Subject: Hypocrisy

FROM THE HOME OF HYPOCRISY Resulting from a mission by Phaedra Kelly IGTA B3 101, from 17.9.95. to 16.10.95.

Contents;

From the home of Hypocrisy – two page report

For Further Information – Greek groups/authorities

A Letter of Support – Issued by Aloma, Larisa prison.

News clipping/Medical report Greek/English

All photographic material was supplied by Aloma Haralambos from source and brought out of Larisa prison by P.Kelly, the photo of Aloma’s chest was taken by P.Kelly 22.9.95 at Larisa prison.

PLEASE PUBLISH

INTERNATIONAL GENDER TRANSIENT AFFINITY, 1, Bank Buildings, School Green Road, Freshwater PO40 9AJ Isle of Wight, U.K.

FROM THE HOME OF HYPOCRISY

The images show the results of a young travestis body after she was only just found in time and saved from being necklaced in a car tyre doused in blazing petrol. Her body was deeply scarred and burned all round.

In another photograph a group of sisters smile weakly into the camera in stoic powerlessness, as they cradle in their arms one travesti girl whose face is smashed to a pulp by police riot batons. She was part of a peaceful demonstration against the fascist party assaults and “cleansing’ that went unaddressed by the police, until the police themselves turned the demo into a riot. Later, her face smashed and life, fortune and future ruined, she turned to drugs of which she died.

Where was this? Some third world corner? No. Athens, Greece, an EEC country which likes to call itself the “cultural capitol of Europe, and home of democracy’. A place which in two world wars was the back door to the east and the linchpin in Allied plans, and is still a sensitive and powerful political centre for western powers.

Last in the series of photos is of Aloma Haralambos, showing the results of her botched mastectomy for breast cancer, which has now moved as a tumour to her spine. This study was taken in Larisa prison, a special unit housing many Travesti and Transexual inmates, where Aloma has suffered for three years, without pain killers, with many police beatings, hidden from the world and facing 37 years in prison.

Her crime? Forming the organisations in the 1990s which fought against the hate crimes, and total lack of equal due process of law depicted in the first set of pictures.

Aloma actually did very much to change the situation for the better for Greek sisters. She frequently ran to the call of sisters who needed her help, to force police to act for them, and she threatened police with individual law suits until they did so. Often she and other sisters spent their weekends doing the detective work for police before the authorities would accept to prosecute a case; the three men who burnt the sister in the photograph are now serving sentences in jail, directly because of Aloma’s brave and tireless work.

She began the 90s by running for Parliament, and would have polled a lot more votes had her party not been cheated by beaurocracy at the last moment out of the necessary ballot papers at a time when their funds were too low to make up the balance.

Many times Aloma’s group stood up for other minorities, using their strength to protect woman sex workers as well from pimps and corrupt officials, abuse on the streets, and doing much to reduce the threat of Aids and other viruses, drug and alcohol abuse, and the corruption of minors by the vice trade, among other good and necassary works that any thinking, caring government ought to have ministered to itself.

It was Aloma’s groups, and their income from the street, which built the now powerful and media connected gay and lesbian groups of Greece. She also embarrassed them, since not only did she work more effectively, but she is Travesti, and since they have undertaken a “straight gay” stance they have come out as openly, loudly, verbaly anti Transgender.

That, along with the creeping fascism of the government and police, was enough to get her framed.

A Nazi boy hurling abuse at Travesti was accidentally hit by a stone, but died from a fall off his motorbike some time later. Aloma was hauled in and accused of “dangerous assault occasioning manslaughter”.

Although she proved that she was not even in the area at the time, and it was clear that this was so, she still got three years for that and while in prison, was further charged with a handbag theft.

Two woman witnesses were instructed by police to say that Aloma, identified from an 18 year old photograph, was the guilty party. No identity parade was done (or would have been possible). Later, after Aloma was hospitalised from a severe police beating one witness came to see her, knew she was not the one and so changed her story. But police forced her to change it back. Aloma got 8 years.

Frustrated and angry, she accused judges of corruption and was awarded a further two and a half years for libel. En mission in Larisa with the members of AKOE group, the remnant of her original organisation, we were able only to get the half a year taken off by appealing to the court.

Despite the fact I was sworn in as a character and expert witness, prosecution still attempted to challenge my gender identity and right to be there, but the bench threw that out. After my speech and exchanges with the bench, prosecution then tried to cite an old and repealed law, protecting government officials from any “defamation” by the public; this same law is still in effect in Turkey and was used against group leader Demet Demir in 1992, and went with physical torture. It is a relic in Greece of military rule.

Recently a further sentence of eighteen years was added, when some Travesti were rumoured to have said that Aloma blackmailed them. It was merely one of those catfight comments that girls sometimes come out with, not serious, but police leapt on it. The girls refused to swear out a complaint and they were not in any sense afraid of Aloma, and had more to lose by not obeying police pressure. When later they were brought in on another matter, the district attourney for Athens came down to add his own pressure, but still they would not agree to complain, so he, the DA, swore out the complaint himself and prosecuted it in court, bringing her total up to 37 years, and proving how terrified the Greek government and law are of one old and ill Travesti.

At time of writing, and previous to completion of this report in finished form, a report came from AKOE that Aloma had lost yet another case against her by the courts, and gained yet more years added to her already ridiculously long sentence. The present exact total is not yet known.

Quite by chance and accident, I came to meet the famously brilliant woman journalist, who three years previously had written articles attempting to reveal the true story and in favour of Aloma, the multitude of evidences for whos innocence are yet to be seen and heard in court.

POLICE CENSORS CUT HER STORIES, AND BANNED THEM FROM PUBLICATION, AS A RESULT, THE WOMAN QUIT FOREVER HER CAREER AS A JOURNALIST.

There is at this time, no Transgender group or organisation in Greece, although AKOE which broke down due to inner battles, was taken over by gays and broke down again, has now reformed with a lot of new, pro Transgendered gays and lesbians, keen to encourage Travesti membership. AKOE is fronting a campaign for Aloma, who fears she may well die in prison, and possibly under supicious circumstances.

Worldwide pressure and attention to this case is all that will resolve it.

To date, Aloma has been cheated by every lawyer she had and her first took a large portion of her money before turning the case against her, and abandoning her. A Mr D Clety of Brussels, an international lawyer, whom she was advised by ILGA (International Lesbian & Gay Association the homosexual human rights team) to contact, took a three thousand pound retainer and sent a receipt, knowing full well that until all local law is exhausted he can not act in international law, and since then she has not heard from him.

Amnesty International has to date not agreed to act, (although they remain open to reviewing the case) and it was reported by Spanish TV/TS group sources that ILGA has recently come out as anti TV/TS, and they have declined to comment so far.

This is a Transgender case demanding Transgender attention, but it being so close to anybody’s so-called democratic home, it would be pure folly to ignore it: it ought to be treated worldwide as a test case in the interests of all Transgender rights, particularly those of Greece.

After I attended their offices on a one week mission, the |stanbul human rights team agreed to mount a campaign in the form of a complaint to the Greek government and courts.

Petitions and letters of protest are solicited openly from all interested parties, the organisations of TVs and TSs of the world, their friends and families and any other sources willing to help.

For further information; MANTHOS PEPONAS, AKOE, PO BOX 4165, ATHENS 10210 GREECE, or e mail; manthos PHAEDRA KELLY, IGTA (UK)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

AKOE (Greek Gay Group. English understood) Manthos Peponas, PO Box 4165 Athens, 10210 Greece. Phone; 1 5230171 e mail; manthos@iis.forthnet.gr.

For protest;

President of Greece, Kostas Stefanopoules. Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou, Greek Syndagma (Parliament), Syndagma Sq, Athens.

Phone numbers;

Presidential press office – 7215932/ 72831/ 252, 7248. 721.

President – 3640382, 3228646.

Parliament press office – 323.9413

Journalist room – 360.0817

Prime Minister- Deputy Minister of PM – 361 9823, 3238882

Director General Political Office – 3238794

Diplomatic Office – 3237407, 3248966.

Director of PMs personal office – 3221206, 3242713.

Press office- 3600818, 3234286.

Secretary Gen of Press & Information – 364 0202, 363 0050, 363 5819.

Gneral Secretariate for Equality – 3215824. 3218044.

Ministry of Interior – 3243422, 3230700, 3223521, 3243442.

Press Office, – 323 1282.

Minisyry of Public Order – 6927503

Minsitry of Justice – 5225930, 5225903, 7709660, 7705186, 7708961.

Ministry of Tourism – 3222885.

General Secretary of National Tourist Office of Greece – 3238960 (Greece needs tourists!)

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>From listserv@xconn.com Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E20NW; Fri 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: True Spirit: Call for Panelists Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 21:34:13 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612272134.E20NW@xconn.com>

Original Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 23:02:37 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

Please repost to interested forums. Please drop a line to <transman@netgsi.com> to let us know where you reposted it. If you received this announcement, you will receive other announcements about the conference. If you do not wish to receive further announcements, please let us know and we will be happy to remove your name from our mailing list.

* * * * * * * * * *

PRESS RELEASE TRUE SPIRIT CONFERENCE: CALL FOR PANELISTS

If you identify as a f2m, mtm, transman, butch, tomboy, masculine female, drag king, or crossdresser, or are you a significant other, friend, family member, or ally (soffa) this conference is for you.

All gender variant people categorized at birth as female but feel that is not a complete description of their total selves are welcome to come and join others in exploring our true spirit within.

Keynote speaker: Leslie Feinberg author of Transgender Warriors and Stone Butch Blues. Feinberg came of age during the 1960s as a young drag king in the factories and gay bars of Buffalo, New York. Since then s/he has been a grass roots activist, journalist, and lecturer on behalf of the lesbian/gay/bi and transgender movements.

Currently True Spirit is seeking panelists for the following panels and round tables. If you are able to attend the True Spirit Conference, which is directly preceding the National Transgender Lobbying Days in February, please contact Programming Director Stephanie Prete at: sprete@ngs.org. Please indicate which of the following panels you would like to participate in.

Every effort will be made to provide representation for diverse communities, regardless of race, ethnic background, creed, sex, gender identity, or political orientation. Spanish language and Deaf interpretation are available. Please contact Special Services Director Jon Banks at: moojuu@erols.com for Spanish, Dead, childcare, scholarships, or any other accessibility issues.

The Transgendered Body (2 fifty minute sessions) First session will deal with definition of masculinity and the influence of genetics, hormones, culture, environment, behavior and attitude. Do these definitions differ across race, class, region, sexual orientation and/or national origin? How have people celebrated their changing selves? Second session will be a discussion of medical issues by medical experts, F2Ms, and SOFFAs including hormones and surgery.

Get the Word Out! Reaching hard to reach communities. How is the transgendered community reaching and working with communities currently underrepresented, i.e. deaf community, youth, minority communities, non on-liners.

Transitioning the Academy A discussion of work currently being done to incorporate F2M issues into the academy. Students, instructors, professors share their work.

Running the Gauntlet: Legal Issues What transgendered persons and their families need to know to stay sane while changing legal documents. Will also include a discussion of what to do if you or your loved one is unexpectedly arrested or hospitalized.

The Body Politic: Political Issues What’s happening politically that affects our community? Who is doing what? Where are the key pressure points and what should be done next? Activists will address these questions during this panel.

What a Long, Strange Trip its Been: Living long-term A panel of long-term FTMs, butches, crossdressers, and others assigned female gender at birth who later adopted a more expansive identity, along with long-term SOFFAs, discuss their experiences.

Kiss and Tell: Transgender and the Media What outlets do we have in the media? How is the general community educated? Are talk shows beneficial? What other options are there to educate the public and who is willing to do it?

Exploring Options Are hormones and/or surgery not an option for you at this time? Meet with panelists to discuss other alternatives.Survival of the Fittest: Maintaining intimate relationships through transition This panel will be a discussion of the affects transition can have on relationships and how couples have dealt with them.

Coming Out and Coping F2Ms and SOFFAs discuss coming out to friends, family, co-workers, and community. How has it been done? In families and partnered relationships, who controls who gets told what? Dealing with ignorance and bigotry.

An Apple a Day: General health maintenance Visiting a family doctor can be stressful for transgendered persons. This panel will discuss education the medical community in general and approaching your doctor in particular so that you may comfortably seek general health care.

Lunch-time roundtable discussions:

FTM.MTF Dialog Discussion of FTM/MTF issues. Connections, intersections and the future of the transgender movement.

SOFFAS Issues SOFFAs discuss issues, support groups, and resources.

Informal Caucuses

In addition to the formal programming, the True Spirit Conference will also help participants network with other participants with shared issues. Suggested caucuses so far include SOFFA, music & art, and spirituality.

Transgendered Authors True Spirit is seeking transgendered authors to read and sign autographs.

Conference chairperson Gary Bowen, who is Apache-Welsh descent, explains the Native American conference theme: “We must be true to the Spirit within. The Spirit moves in each of us, granting us visions of who we are and how we are supposed to be, and our duty as human beings is to manifest our spirit in the material world as fully as we are able, by whatever means enables others to see who we really are.”

The Conference will take place February 22 – 23, 1997, at the Best Western Hotel in Laurel, Maryland (near Washington DC). Conference registrations are $15.00 before January 1, 1997, and $25.00 after. Deaf intrepretation, child care, scholarships, and other services are available on a first come, first serve basis.

Conference registrations to: True Spirit Conference Registrations, 26-A Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770-1759. Make checks payable to the American Boyz. Hotel reservations at: 301-776-5300 ask for the True Spirit Conference to get the special room rate: $65.00 for single or double occupancy.

Vendors and/or educational organizations with items or information of interest to the conference membership are welcome to advertise in the program book and/or to rent tables in the exhibit. Prepaid, camera-ready copy only, please. For more information, contact: True Spirit Conference Vendors, Catherine M Gross, 1951 68th St #2R, Brooklyn, NY, 11204; (718) 232-6311; email: notnilla@aol.com.

Volunteers and input are appreciated. Pitch in to help make this a conference that addresses your needs. Liasons are available for people of color, soffas and differently-abled. The general contact eddress is: transman@netgsi.com; the paper mail address is: True Spirit Conference, c/o The American Boyz, POBox 1118, Elkton, MD, 21922-1118.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 28 Dec 1996 13:34:06 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E42Vs; Sat 28 Dec 1996 13:34:06 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: WOCKNER/QUOTE UNQUOTE #80/10 Dec 96 Date: Sat, 28 Dec 1996 13:34:06 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.01 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9612281334.E42Vs@xconn.com>

Original Date: Sat, 28 Dec 1996 15:26:28 -0500 Originally From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org>

======================================= = QUOTE UNQUOTE #80 – Dec 10, 1996 = = by Rex Wockner = =======================================

Reprinted with permission.

<><><5><><>

“Hey, whatever floats your boat.”

–The-artist-formerly-known-as-Prince when Oprah asked him Nov. 20: “People thought you were weird or gay. Did that bother you?” (The-artist-formerly-known-as-Prince’s new name is an unpronounceable symbol.)

<><><9><><>

“I’m a natural-born blabbermouth, so it’s easy for me to do that part of the show. But it was hard getting the lighting people to understand that I am a _queen_ and I need my lighting to be _perfect_.”

–RuPaul to Atlanta’s Etcetera magazine on her VH-1 talk show.

<><><10><><>

“I knew I was in trouble as soon as I sat down. He didn’t have a damn thing to say.”

–RuPaul on her talk-show interview with guest Dennis Rodman, the crossdressing Chicago Bulls star player, to Boston’s Bay Windows Nov. 7.

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