April 24, 2012

Sex and Gender News
By Jennifer Gann

- According to Advocates for Informed Choice (AIC), an estimated one and 2,000 babies are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that does not fit typical definitions of male or female. These gender variant conditions are called "intersex" or "DSD" (differences of sex development).
http://www.aiclegal.org

- On May 1, 2012, Ms. Magazine's Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles, California will commemorate its 40 years of feminist reporting, and the Feminist Majority Foundation's 25 years of advancing women's rights.
http://www.msmagazine.com

- The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has sworn in Phyliss J. Anderson as their first woman chief.

- Recent rulings by the conservative dominated Supreme Court have weakened federal employment discrimination laws, such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protect women's rights. Additionally, a combination of administrative budget cuts, regulations, private school voucher scheme and pressure from congressional opponents threatens to weaken enforcement of women student's rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments (1972). - Ms. Fall 2011, p.14.

- Amelia Roskin-Frazee, a 15 year old Lesbian from San Francisco, was the first openly gay student at her school, started a Gay-Straight Alliance, and later became a Student Ambassador for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). When she founded the Make It Safe Project in 2011, she was listed on The Advocate's Top 40 Under 40 LGBT Activists of 2012 List. THe Make It Safe Project donates book bundles relating to sexual orientation and gender expression to K-12 schools, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and LGBT-inclusive youth homeless shelters. The website (make it safe project.org) is also a resource for youth to share their stories of creating, leading, and joining a GSA club to help inspire confidence in LGBT students. http://www.curvemag.com.

- The Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) have filed a details complaint with the international criminal court (ICC) in the Hague, along with thousand of pages of supporting documents against the Vatican and Pope Benedict CVI for crimes against humanity. The church has for decades used its enormous power to facilitate the systematic sexual abuse of children by pedophile priests.
http://www.msmagazine.com

- Lyralisa Stevens, a 42 year old transgender woman in California state prison, has lost her two-year legal battle to force the state to provide medically necessary sex reassignment surgery. The surgery is recommended by medical and mental health professionals, in accordance with the World Professoinal Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders. Stevens had argued that the surgery was the only adequate medical care for sever gender dysforia, and that it was the only way ensure her safety against the constant threat of sexual assault in a men's prison because corrections authorities would be compelled to transfer her to a women's facility. The First District Court of appeal in San Francisco has denied these legal claims, and Stevens' attorney, Allison Hardy, was considering whether to appeal to the California Supreme Court. -
T.I.P. Journal, Vol 11, Issue 2, Summer / Fall 2011. http://www.gicofcolo.org.

- A federal appeals court has overruled a Wisconsin state law, the Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act of 2005, intended to deprive transgender prisoners of hormone therapy and standard medical care treatments for gender identity disorder.