Suchergebnisse

Transsexuality in Iran has gained much attention and media coverage in the past few years, particularly in its questionable depiction as a permitted loophole for homosexuality, which is prohibited under Iran's Islamic-inspired legal system. Of course, attention in the West is also encouraged by the "shock" that sex change is available in Iran, a country that Western media and society delights in portraying as monolithically repressive. As a result, Iranian filmmakers inevitably have their own agendas, which are unsurprisingly brought into the film making process—from a desire to sell a product that will appeal to the Western market, to films that endorse specific socio-political agendas. This paper is an attempt to situate sex change and representations of sex change in Iran within a wider theoretical framework than the frequently reiterated conflation with homosexuality, and to open and engage with a wider debate concerning transsexuality in Iran, as well as to specifically analyze the representation of transexuality, in view of its current prominent presence in media.

Männer, Frauen - und was noch? Transsexuelle, die von einem Geschlecht zum anderen wechseln, Transgenders, die zwischen den Geschlechtern leben, Intersexuelle, deren biologisches Geschlecht weder eindeutig Mann noch Frau entspricht: Robin Bauer stellt die Vielfalt von Transgender Identitäten und Lebensweisen vor und kritisiert die Vorstellung einer als natürlich aufgefassten Zweigeschlechtlichkeit. Es geht um das Wechselspiel von «Betroffenen», Medizin und Psychiatrie, um die Formierung der Transgender-Bewegung und das schwierige Verhältnis selbst zu politisch aktiven Schwulen und Lesben. Robin Bauer ist Lehrbeauftragter an den Universitäten Hamburg und Göttingen für Queer Studies und Gender Queer Science Studies (Naturwissenschaftskritik).

This article is a critical feminist analysis of the UK Gender Recognition Act of 2004. This Act is radical in enabling transgenders to gain certificates recognising their new 'acquired gender' without undergoing hormonal or surgical treatment. The Act has considerable implications for marriage, for motherhood and fatherhood, for women who are the partners of men or women who 'transition' and for 'women-only' spaces. It is based on confusing and contradictory notions of the difference between sex and gender. As such it should be of great interest to feminists but there has been a dearth of feminist commentary. The understandings of sex and gender and of the importance of the Act will be explored here through analysis of the parliamentary debates and public responses.

In view of the constant discrimination suffered by transsexuals and transgenders, the Mexican State has accepted a legal commitment to link with the international community for the purpose of upgrading its legislation in line with international standards on human rights. That's why actions are being taken at the different levels of government for the recognition of the fundamental rights of the "trans community" through the so called legal tridimensionalism of transsexuality. ; Ante la constante discriminación que sufren las personas transgenéricas y transexuales, el Estado Mexicano ha aceptado un compromiso jurídico que lo vincula con la comunidad internacional con el propósito de armonizar su legislación local con los instrumentos internacionales en materia de derechos humanos. Para ello, se llevan a cabo acciones tendientes al reconocimiento, goce y disfrute de los derechos fundamentales de la "comunidad trans" en los diferentes niveles de gobierno a través del llamado tridimensionalismo jurídico de la transexualidad.

Transgender theory is an emerging theoretical orientation on the nature of gender and gender identity in understanding the lived experiences of transgender and transsexual individuals. It is distinct in emphasizing the importance of physical embodiment in gender and sexual identity. Transgender theory integrates this embodiment with the self and socially constructed aspects of identity through the lived experiences of those with intersecting identities. Thus, it provides a theoretical basis for reconciling feminist and queer theoretical scholarship with social work practice and advocacy, with regard not only to issues of working with transgenders but also to larger issues of group identity and social oppression. This article describes the emergence of transgender theory from feminist and queer theories that used social constructivist approaches to challenge essentialist ideas that maintained the oppression of certain gender and sexual identities. Transgender theory is also applied to specific issues of understanding, working with, and empowering transgender persons and building coalitions between them and other socially oppressed groups.

This article explores the social and political implications of transgenderism for women's groups and organisations. One aim of transgender support groups such as, The Gender Centre Inc. and others, is the right of male to female transgenders (MTFs) to enter what were previously understood to be women-only spaces such as women's health centres, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centres. MTFs whether pre or post-operative, claim the right to enter these spaces as both clients and workers. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers of gendered spaces and a small number of workers. Discussions centred around their values and policies about gendered spaces and the advantages and disadvantages of having women-only spaces, as well as their experience of trans-inclusion when it had occurred and the impact on staff and clients of inclusion. The majority of interviewees supported women-only space and employed only female staff in their centres. Their policy and practices around the employment of MTFs, or accepting MTFs as clients, depended on whether or not they considered MTFs to be women, a point upon which there was significant disagreement. Those who believed MTFs to be women supported their inclusion. Those who did not consider MTFs to be women felt that their presence would compromise women's feelings of safety and threaten not only the very existence of women-only spaces, but also they services they provide. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Indian government provides free antiretroviral treatment (ART) for people living with HIV. To assist in developing policies and programs to advance equity in ART access, we explored barriers to ART access among kothis (men who have sex with men whose gender expression is feminine) and aravanis (transgender women, also known as hijras) living with HIV in Chennai. In the last quarter of 2007, we conducted six focus groups and four key-informant interviews. Data were explored using framework analysis to identify categories and derive themes. We identified barriers to ART access at the family/social-level, healthcare system-level, and individual-level; however we found these barriers to be highly interrelated. The primary individual-level barrier was integrally linked to the family/social and healthcare levels: many kothis and aravanis feared serious adverse consequences if their HIV-positive status were revealed to others. Strong motivations to keep one's HIV-positive status and same-sex attraction secret were interconnected with sexual prejudice against MSM and transgenders, and HIV stigma prevalent in families, the healthcare system, and the larger society. HIV stigma was present within kothi and aravani communities as well. Consequences of disclosure, including rejection by family, eviction from home, social isolation, loss of subsistence income, and maltreatment (although improving) within the healthcare system, presented powerful disincentives to accessing ART. Given the multi-level barriers to ART access related to stigma and discrimination, interventions to facilitate ART uptake should address multiple constituencies: the general public, healthcare providers, and the kothi and aravani communities. India needs a national policy and action plan to address barriers to ART access at family/social, healthcare system, and individual levels for aravanis, kothis, other subgroups of men who have sex with men and other marginalized groups.

Transgenderism has recently become a political matter that has entered the Spanish political agenda. We are witnessing a socio-political scenario of growing inclusion of LGTB rights (lesbians, gays, transgenders and bisexuals) in the political debate, including key events such as the approval of same sex marriage (law 13/2005) and the right of transgender people to change their name in the register without having to go through compulsory surgery (Law 3/2007). The study of the discourses on transgenderism is relevant, as it shows the transformations in the sex/gender notions. Therefore, the political problem no longer lies in punishing criminal subjects who are breaking the law (as it was phrased in the 1970 Law on Persons Representing a Social Danger and their Social Rehabilitation), or subjects constructed as transvestites. In the eighties a disclosure of the taboo of transgenderism starts to emerge (Garaizabal 1998:60); in the nineties transgender people become subjects of social mobilization and lastly in our decade, they succeed in achieving legal rights. Using a policy frame analysis, the article arguments that despite the successful history of achievement of rights, the binary inscription of heteronormativity remains unquestioned. ; La transexualidad se ha convertido recientemente en un asunto político con cabida en la agenda política del Estado español. Somos testigos de un panorama sociohistórico de creciente inclusión de los derechos LGTB (lesbianas, gays, transexuales y bisexuales) en el debate político, con eventos clave como ha sido la aprobación del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo (Ley 13/2005) y el derecho de las personas transexuales a cambiar la mención del sexo en el Registro Civil sin tener que pasar obligatoriamente por la cirugía (Ley 3/2007). Es relevante estudiar los discursos alrededor de la transexualidad porque desvela las transformaciones de los conceptos de sexo y género. Así, ya no se trata de un problema público que consiste en el castigo de unos sujetos delectivos (tal y como aparece en la Ley de Peligrosidad y Rehabilitación Social), sujetos que se construyen como travestis. En los ochenta, se comienza a desvelar el tabú de la transexualidad (Garaizabal.1998:60); en los noventa las personas transexuales se convierten en sujetos de la movilización política para finalmente, en nuestra década, conseguir algunos derechos legales. A través de un análisis de marcos interpretativos de política, este artículo argumenta que a pesar de narrar una historia exitosa en la consecución de derechos, estos avances no cuestionan la construcción binaria inscrita en la hetenormatividad.