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NEWS ITEM - Sex Change Police Officer Wins Law Suit......March 12 2003
A Cincinnati police officer who was demoted after undergoing a sex change has won a $320,000 judgment in a lawsuit against the city. Philecia Barnes said the decision struck a blow to discrimination in the police department and in the city.
Barnes, a 22-year officer, was promoted to sergeant in January 1999, when she was Phillip Barnes and in the process of her gender transformation. The city failed her on her probation in June 1999, and she filed suit in U.S. District Court in October 2000.
During trial, Barnes' attorneys argued that Article XII of the Cincinnati Charter encouraged police supervisors to discriminate against her based on her perceived sexual orientation.
"I'm just a normal person," she said, "but men have real issues with masculinity, and for some of them (male officers), I was some kind of threat, I think."
A jury ruled that the city intentionally discriminated against Barnes by failing her on probation Among components of the award were $30,511 in back pay and $150,000 in compensatory damages. U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott presided over the eight-day jury trial. Barnes, who took two weeks of vacation for the trial, will go back to duty as a patrol officer on Friday. "I'm very happy about the verdict," she said. "I enjoy what I do, and I can't wait to go back to work."
Barnes and her attorneys announced Thursday at City Hall the filing of a motion in federal court to enjoin the police department from discrimination under Article XII of the Cincinnati Charter and to order her reinstatement as sergeant. According to her attorneys, the city has implemented the article in a way that discriminates against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons.
NEWS ITEM - Transsexual man is legally male says Judge.... February 22, 2003
A judge granted child custody Friday to a transsexual man engaged in a bitter divorce case and ruled he is legally a male under Florida law, even though he was born female. The transgender custody case is the first in Florida courts. Gay rights groups say it is the first ruling of its kind nationally.
A judge granted child custody Friday to Michael Kantaras, a transsexual man engaged in a bitter divorce case, and ruled he is legally a male under Florida law, even though he was born female. The transgender custody case is the first in Florida courts and possibly the first in the nation.
Circuit Judge Gerard O'Brien said Michael Kantaras, who was born female, is the legal parent of the couple's two children, a teenage son whom he adopted at 3 months and a daughter conceived during their marriage with donated sperm.
Legal experts have said the ruling could provide a legal definition of gender in Florida, determine a transsexual person's child custody rights and give non-biological parents and stepparents a legal foundation to seek visitation or custody.
"This is an amazing decision, because the judge has overlooked the fact that he's a transsexual and looked at the best interests of the children," said Lynne Gold-Bikin, former chairwoman of the American Bar Association's family law section. "Every state decides their own cases, but let me tell you, this is going to be used in other states," she said. "This is a major victory for alternate lifestyles."
Florida law bans same-sex marriages and bars homosexuals from adopting children.
In his 809-page ruling and divorce decree, O'Brien wrote "the marriage law of Florida clearly provides that marriage shall take place between one man and one woman. It does not provide when such status of being a man or woman shall be determined." O'Brien reached his decision more than a year after the three-week custody trial, which began in late January 2002.
In a statement Friday, Michael Kantaras said: "I'm so relieved. Now my kids and I can get on with our lives in peace."
Claudia Jean Wheeler, Linda Kantaras' attorney, was in trial Friday and not immediately able to comment, an assistant said. Linda Kantaras' phone number was not immediately available and she could not be reached for comment. They have previously said they would appeal if they lost. The judge's ruling awards custody of Mathew Kantaras, 13, and Irina Kantaras, 11, to Michael Kantaras at their Holiday home with "liberal visitation rights" to their mother. No child support was awarded.
Michael Kantaras, a 43-year-old bakery manager, was born Margo Kantaras in 1959. He had a sex change operation in Texas in 1986 and legally changed his name there. His ex-wife, now 34, knew her husband had been a woman when they married in Florida in July 1989. Michael later left his wife for another woman. Linda Kantaras' attorneys claimed her husband wasn't legally a man when the two wed, when he adopted her child shortly after their marriage and when she bore a daughter two years later by artificial insemination. She knew he had formerly been a woman, but did not tell the children until late 1999 when the marriage failed.
Three expert witnesses testified that people like Michael Kantaras are defined as males in the medical community because they do not have female reproductive organs or female hormones.
The state approved a law prohibiting same-sex marriages after the Kantaras' wedding. Michael Kantaras' lawyer said that law and another banning homosexuals from adopting might be unconstitutional. O'Brien's ruling was hailed by national gay and lesbian advocacy groups as a groundbreaking decision in favor of transsexuals.
NEWS ITEM - Court says Transexual Marriage Is Legitimate......09 March 2003
A transsexual man who has successfully fought two court cases against the Federal Government to have his marriage recognised may now face a High Court challenge to his relationship.
Kevin was born Kimberly in 1965, but he told the court he had always perceived himself to be male and his family had treated him that way. He underwent sexual realignment surgery in 1995, including hormone therapy, breast reduction through liposuction and a hysterectomy. He elected not to have further surgery or the construction of a penis.
The decision yesterday by three judges upholding the marriage arose from the Attorney-General's appeal to the full bench of the Family Court.
Mr Williams is now considering whether to appeal to the High Court, saying the decision raises serious concerns about the role of Parliament in determining the meaning of marriage. The couple's solicitor, Rachel Wallbank, herself a transsexual, said the decision meant Australia led the way in embracing people with differences and put pressure on the British Government to introduce laws on the rights of married couples.
Macquarie University law lecturer Andrew Sharpe said the judgement was a bold decision. "The Kevin decision is also a first in global terms because Kevin had not undergone phalloplastic surgery [where a penis is constructed]," he said. "In that sense it ... puts Australia at the forefront of judicial law reform," he said.
NEWS ITEM - Transsexual begins process to run for ward assembly - 29 March 2003
A transsexual presented candidacy documents Tuesday to an election administration committee for a preliminary check, a major hurdle in her bid to run for the assembly in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.
Aya Kamikawa, 35, who has gender identity disorder and now considers herself a woman, left blank the application entry for gender, although she is registered as male in her official family registry. She is on a hospital waiting list to undergo a sex-change operation this year.
Committee officials who checked Kamikawa's documents said they will refer the case to the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, which oversees elections.
"This is the first step," Kamikawa told reporters outside the Setagaya Ward Office after submitting the documents. "First of all, I would like to question whether it is necessary to have the gender entry in the application.
"Perhaps not many people are aware of this, but (Japanese) driver's licenses do not indicate the holder's gender."
Kamikawa decided to run in the election hoping to raise public awareness about patients with the disorder and transsexuals, including the inconveniences and humiliation they face in their daily lives caused by documents that reveal the gender they were born with.
Under the Family Registration Law, registers can only be corrected when "mistakes" are found. Kamikawa was allowed to change her name to a female one in October 1999 after she was diagnosed with the disorder the previous year, but she was prohibited from changing her registered gender.
The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology introduced guidelines for sex-change operations in May 1997. Experts estimate there are anywhere from 7,000 to 70,000 people with gender identity disorder in Japan.
NEWS ITEM -TG War Protester Abused By Police - 27 March 2003
A transgendered female participating in an anti-war protest was singled out, arrested and abused early Friday morning in Portland, Oregon. Local transgenders are upset, and demanding explanations in response to the treatment by the Portland Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Dept.
According to eyewitness reports, when police arrived at the Burnside Bridge near downtown Portland on Friday, March 21, they surrounded the crowd in full riot gear. Once in place, they announced over a loud speaker that everyone could leave, and that anyone who chose to remain would be arrested for disorderly conduct. One male-to-female transgender was singled out by authorities for what was called "unwarranted verbal and physical abuse" on multiple occasions, and in front of several witnesses.
Ms. Doe was then forced to strip down to long underwear and a small tank top unlike the other women detainees. On at least two occasions, her genitals were touched to "verify" the police officer's suspicions that she was really "a male."
"I am terribly disappointed in the alleged actions by members of the Portland Police Department," said NTAC Media Director, Robyn Walters. "I have long looked on Portland as an enlightened city." Portland and Multnomah County, in which it sits, both have strong legislation protecting various classes against discrimination. One of the protected categories is "gender identity" - or transgenders.
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"To our knowledge, this is the first transgender marriage case in the U.S. in which extensive medical evidence was presented, giving the court a full and fair opportunity to really understand the contemporary medical consensus about transsexual people," said Karen Doering, one of Michael Kantaras' lawyers and a staff attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "This is not only a victory for the transgender community, it's a victory for the Kantaras children who deserve to have their loving father remain a part of their life," said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. "We all benefit when gender stereotypes and bigotry are defeated."
Collin Vause, Michael Kantaras' Clearwater-based attorney, called the ruling "a great day" for his client. "He's been involved in litigation on this for four years, basically sitting on pins and needles on whether or not he's going to be deprived of his right to be a father to his children," Vause said. O'Brien gave Michael Kantaras permanent custody of the children six months ago, so their lives won't be changed dramatically by the ruling, Vause said.
"The kids have been well aware of what's been going on, so for them it's the end of a long mess," he said.
Kevin, who was born a woman, and his wife, Jennifer, were elated yesterday when the Full Bench of the Family Court ruled their marriage was valid because Kevin was considered a man in the everyday sense. Law experts said the judgement put Australia at the forefront of judicial reform.
But the western Sydney couple's joy was dampened when the federal Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, said he would consider an appeal to the High Court.If he goes ahead, it will be the third time since the couple married in 1999 that the Federal Government has attempted to quash legal recognition of their union.
"Our marriage has been described as a transsexual marriage, but in fact it is just an ordinary marriage, a mix of challenges, triumphs and joy as other marriages are," Kevin said yesterday. "We are a typical Australian couple, an average man and woman, raising our precious children responsibly in a loving home."
Jennifer knew about his transsexuality from the time they met, but she considered that he looked, sounded and acted like a man and they became a defacto couple.The couple, who have children through IVF, held a "commitment ceremony" in December 1997. A year later, Kevin was given a new birth certificate recognising him as a male.
But when the couple had a marriage certificate issued by a celebrant in 1999, its validity was disputed in the Family Court by the Attorney-General, who questioned whether Kevin was a man at the time of the wedding.
In October 2001, Family Court Justice Richard Chisholm found Kevin was a man, in the ordinary everyday meaning of the word. He said that a person's sex for the purpose of marriage in Australia should not be limited to one set of characteristics, but should have regard to other characteristics - including brain sex.
Kamikawa said she hopes her election application will be accepted with the gender entry left blank. But if she is told she must fill it in, she will choose female and insist she is not a man.
According to the ministry's election management department, the Election Law does not stipulate any obligation for candidates to fill in their gender. The department is now considering how to handle the unprecedented case, an official said.
The head of the ward's election committee will make a final decision after hearing the ministry's views because the Election Law is national legislation.
A conclusion is expected before April 20, the official registration day, said Shinichi Ishihama, chief of Setagaya Ward's administration committee's secretariat. The election will be held April 27.
"Nothing will change if I remain silent," she said. , adding she wants to make Setagaya a psychologically barrier-free community.
Her platform will include calling for a review of unnecessary indications of gender in official documents and bringing attention to discrimination and prejudice against minorities across the country.
"I will be glad if this can be an opportunity to get the public to contemplate these issues," Kamikawa said.
In addition, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) has expressed deep concern at the initial reports of this incident. NTAC's chair, Vanessa Edwards Foster, called the news "especially troubling" and worthy of deeper investigation.
As the transgendered female protester, identified only as Jane Doe, was before being arrested, police grabbed her as she walked away and
arrested her. Other members of the crowd were able to stand and leave without harassment.
After being detained, she was continually harassed both verbally and physically by the Portland police and sheriff's deputies. Those arrested
were then transported to an isolated location below a bridge where the arrestees were separated into groups. During this phase, the transgendered female was mocked by the police and locked in a cage by herself.
Once back at the police station, one of the officers commented that her voice was too deep to be a female and informed her that she would have to use the toilet in a cell full of men. She was eventually allowed to use a separate bathroom, as were the other females.
The male officers taunted her and continued to use the pronoun "he". When Ms. Doe informed them that they were not respecting her pronouns, and referred to the Oregon Transgendered Act, the unnamed officer in charge told her "this is not English class and I'll use whatever pronouns I want". Her arm was then twisted behind her back and she was thrown facedown onto the jail floor.
After being instructed to take out her facial piercings, and after Ms. Doe verbally agreed, they again threw her to the floor and repeated the request, saying, "don't say you will do it, just do it." At least six police officers witnessed the incident without. According to the witness at the scene, several of the officers laughed throughout the procedure.
After removal of her piercings, and more of the singularly rough treatment, she was placed in solitary confinement and denied opportunity to call an attorney. The jailer in charge at that point said that the right to a phone call and to speak with an attorney were "television rights" and didn't have any validity in their jail.
"Laws don't erase all bigotry," Walters added "but they can help to expose it and punish it." Several witnesses plan to file official complaints, and the transgender victim may consider further options against the public officials in question.
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