http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/mar/01/its-me-in-a-different-way/

'It's me in a different way'
By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Photos by Matt McClain, Rocky Mountain News

Originally published 12:30 a.m., March 1, 2008
Updated 03:13 a.m., March 1, 2008

On the first day of eighth grade, Melaina Marquez wore a polo shirt, wedge shoes and denim skirt with ruffles.

The year before, that outfit would have been out of the question. At that point, Melaina was a boy known as Manuel.

Melaina, now 15, is considered to be transgender: a person who does not identify with the sex based on his or her genitalia. She decided to tell her story after news reports last month about a 7-year-old Douglas County girl who attended school last year as a boy.

At age 2, Melaina recalls playing with Barbies and her favorite toy, a kitchenette. When she played house in pre-school, "I would always want to be the mom."

Melaina says she never struggled with her identity. But her mother, Michelle Benzor-Marquez, cannot say the same.
( Read more... )

NATIONAL NEWS | http://washingtonblade.com/

Transgender activists turn on one of their own
Once lauded, Stanton denounced as traitor after interview with FL newspaper
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Jan. 11, 2008

Less than one year after being fired from her job as city manager of Largo, Fla., because of her status as a transgender woman, Susan Stanton has come under fire from transgender activists, who have called her a sell-out to their cause.

In a series of developments that would have been unthinkable just months ago, Stanton’s perceived status as a positive role model for the transgender community has soured, with transgender activists expressing outrage over a recent newspaper article quoting her as calling trans people “men in dresses.” Stanton says the article misrepresented her views.

But Stanton remains firm in her support for gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and the Human Rights Campaign, over their controversial decision to back an employment non-discrimination bill (ENDA) for gays that excludes protections for trans people. Frank and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have said there weren’t enough votes to pass a trans-inclusive bill and that moving ahead with a gay-only version would make it easier to pass a trans-inclusive bill sometime later.

“I think we need to do a whole lot more educating before we’re going to be able to realistically have the support on the national level to get this passed,” Stanton said of a trans-inclusive measure. “I personally don’t feel denying the rights of one group should be perpetuated unless everybody has those rights,” she told the Blade.
( Read more... )