03 September 2019

lead story - Lebanon: End Systemic Violence Against Transgender Women

Press
Human Rights Watch


Beirut, Lebanon
Canaanean javelin (7000-5000 BCE)


please press:  www.hrw.org

VOTE!!!



ezs note:  Here in Connecticut, we have the luxury of waiting to register to vote until the very last day. So I can relax.  

But there are 49 other states.  And some of them have very, very early dates to register.

Unfair?  Yup, sure is.  But until they change their date, not a damn thing we can do about it.

That is, unless you register today.

Voting Day is November 5.

01 September 2019

Donald Trump - The Trump decision that pushed James Mattis to his breaking point

Kate Sullivan
CNN



please press:  www.cnn.com

Serbia - Lesbian PM Or Not, Serbia Blocks Gays' Path To Parenthood

Ron Synovitz, Gordana Cosic
RFE/RL


near Bukovik, Serbia


please press:  www.rferl.org

civil rights - TERFs Have Taught the Trump Administration Well

Louisiana - A sign to remember Vontashia Bell and a sign to find her killer

Emily Enfinger
Shreveport Times


Shreveport/Bossier City, LA
Allen Bridge


please press:  www.shreveporttimes.com

ezs note:  It's been a little over a year old, and Vontashia's case is getting cold.  But it's never too cold.  Make her friends happy and put this cretin in jail.  Call Crimestoppers at 318-673-7373.  Thanks. 

lead story - Mum arrested in front of her kids for calling transgender woman a man is hauled to court for trolling

Ellie Cambridge, Mark Hodge
The Sun


Hitchin, UK


please press:  www.thesun.co.uk

30 August 2019

Russia - Russian Authorities Drop Charges Against First Suspect, Detain Second In Killing Of Rights Activist Grigoryeva

Press
RFE/RL


Moscow, Russia


please press:  www.rferl.org

civil rights - Civil Rights Turned Topsy-Turvy

Linda Greenhouse
The New York Times


 former Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy


please press:  www.nytimes.com

Iowa - Title X rules hurt transgender people

Staff
The Gazette


Cedar Rapids, IA


please press:  www.thegazette.com

lead story - Transgender woman beaten in Newport, man charged

Joe English
KOMO News


Newport, OR (1937)


please press:  komonews.com  

27 August 2019

Donald Trump - Trump privately clashed with G7 leaders over reinviting Putin

Poland - Polish Court Rebukes “LGBT-Free Zone” Stickers

civil rights - Fired for Being Trans or for Violating Dress Code? Supreme Court Will Decide.

Jessica Mason Pieklo
Truthout.


Livonia, MI


please press:  truthout.org

Mississippi - MISSISSIPPI CHURCH VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO KICK OUT LESBIAN COUPLE. PASTOR TELLS THEM 'I HAD HOPED YOU WOULD REPENT'

Daniel Avery
Newsweek


Southaven, MS


please press:  www.newsweek.com

ezs note:  Y'know, churches do have the right to make whatever screwball letter they'd like.  But a couple has the right to leave.  And good riddance to you.  😆

lead story - When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side

Lucas Waldron, Brenda Medina
ProPublica


please press:  www.propublica.org

26 August 2019

review of Shishunki Bitter Change

author: Masayoshi


Shishunki Bitter Change

Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Shishunki_Bitter_Change_volume_1_cover.jpg

Before I get started on the main manga, there is a story to be told.  It originally started in Japan,  from Empress Koken.  (孝謙天皇, 713-770 CE)  It describes the tale of the cow-herder and the seamstress,  or Higoboshi and Orihime.  To keep things very short, they were very star-crossed lovers.  Due to her father's anger, they would only be allowed once a year.  In modern times, slips of paper would be handed out, with wishes for the future written on them.  They were then hung on a holiday tree.  (perhaps analogous to a Christmas tree)



Japanese woodblock of Tanabata, 1852
Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Tanabata_Festival_in_Edo_%28Hiroshige%2C_1852%29.jpg

Now to the manga.  Yui (大塚 結依) and Yuuta(木村 佑太) are, in the beginning, elementary school students at later grades.  (5th-6th grade?)  Supposedly, they were at an earlier grade, but this is where the drama takes place. The change takes place immediately, with Yuuta falling from the tree onto Yui.  Perhaps you don't see it (well, at this point you don't see at all, unless you're psychic) but the hint is starting to crop up; the cap is seen.  To  Masayoshi's credit, he puts in the tiniest detail, things that you won't see for detail, but things that are there - to which an uninformed public will pooh-pooh him for his (relatively) spare drawing. 

However, to his demerits, are the supporting cast.  One of the earliest is Haruki (木村 春樹) one of the kindest, most thoughtful little boys around.  Yeah, he's a bit of a squirt, but that's the exception rather than the rule.  However, in his last scene (and absolutely the most important one)  neither Yui nor Yuuta mentions his name at all.  Not once.  If taken alone, he might as well be a stick figure.  Granted, Yui and Yuuta are involved in one of the most intense conversations of their lives... but still, Haruki deserves better.

One other problematic person is that of Tachibana (橘 隼人).  He doesn't show up until chapter 20, and when he does appear, you might think that he's little more than a street punk.  However, he does appear far more greatly.  When he does (finally, at last) decide to attend high school, he has grown to such an extent that he qualifies as a minor/major character.  Shortly after the kiss he plants on Yuuta, however, he becomes strangely silent.  It's not nearly as irksome as what happened to Haruki, but it left me wanting nevertheless.

The singular problem facing Yui and Yuuta is not, strictly speaking, "transgender".  For example, in the earlier sections, both Yui and Yuuta desperately want to change back to their "normal" skin.  But what is "normal", after all?  Neither Yui nor Yuuta can dodge the complexities of life.  They can't escape that this is normal.

In the final chapter,  Kazuma (高岡 和馬) one of the other minor characters, nevertheless gets to utter one of the more intriguing passages. He says, "I... think it's (Yui and Yuuta) been decided ages ago."

We - all of us who follow a different path - are descendants of the cow-herders and seamstresses.

21 August 2019

Donald Trump - Yes, Donald Trump really believes he is 'the chosen one'

Palestine - Palestine Authority police ban Palestinian LGBT group from holding activities in West Bank

Adam Rasgon
The Times Of Israel


Nablus, Palestine
(old Palestinian passport)


please press:  www.timesofisrael.com

civil rights - N.H. AG Pursues Civil Rights Case On Behalf of Transgender Woman in Nashua

Arizona - If he runs, Curt Schilling says he would take on Rep. Tom O'Halleran

Ronald J. Hansen
azcentral.


Sedona, AZ


please press:  www.azcentral.com

ezs note:  1st district (federal) in Arizona - Hey, if Curt Schilling wants to make his name as a ballplayer,  hey, have at it.  But he would be a lousy legislator.  Talk to some neighbors, lick some stamps, do what it takes to keep his skills as a ballplayer - and that's all.

lead story - Trans woman googles every news story containing the word 'transgender' in a year

Rachel Thompson
Mashable


London, UK
London City Hall


please press:  mashable.com

16 August 2019

Donald Trump - “OH MY GOD, THIS JACKASS”: THE MOOCH EXPLAINS WHY HE THINKS TRUMP IS “CRAZY,” “NARCISSISTIC,” AND A “PAPER TIGER” WHO WILL DROP OUT BY MARCH 2020

New Zealand - Weightlifter Hubbard becomes lightning rod for criticism of transgender policy

Ian Ransom
Reuters


Wellington, New Zealand


please press:  www.reuters.com 

civil liberties - North Carolina transgender inmate moved to women's prison

California - California Lawmakers Approve Bill To Update Transgender School Records

lead story - Coming Out As Transgender When There Was No Language To Describe It

15 August 2019

civil rights - GENDER ROLES SHAPE PUBLIC ATTITUDES ABOUT TRANSGENDER MILITARY SERVICE, STUDY FINDS

Idaho - Republican Idaho House leaders defend attacks on Boise State diversity efforts

lead story - Beyond Androgyny: Nonbinary Teenage Fashion

Hayley Krischer
The New York Times



please press:  www.nytimes.com