interesting article and slideshow

mexico isn't all drug war deaths after all

A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico
By MARC LACEY
Mexico City — Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages.

But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

“Muxe” is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community..............

photo: Katie Orlinsky for The New York Times AT THE DEBUT Carmelo López Bernal, 13, at the recent annual town-wide muxe celebration, the occasion for his first appearance in the identity of a girl.

wow

this is quite an unusal story (shout out to boing boing). at first i was taken aback. men don't get pregnant. then i thought to myself, our bodies, our selves. they are OUR bodies, we can choose what we do with and to them. it would not be my choice but that's me. i have very strong feelings about adoption (as in if we can love a child, why does she or he have to come from OUR loins. why can't she or he come from another's loins? as in why do people go through the torture and expense of fertility treatments. i don't mean to offend, but i never understood WHY it's so damn important a child has to have YOUR genes)

Labor of Love
Is society ready for this pregnant husband?

By Thomas Beatie

To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual. To those in the quiet Oregon community where we live, we are viewed just as we are -- a happy couple deeply in love. Our desire to work hard, buy our first home, and start a family was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until we decided that I would carry our child.
I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire. .................

................Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns. We have only begun experiencing opposition from people who are upset by our situation. Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs. Health care professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognize Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy’s family doesn’t even know I’m transgender. ..............

sour grapes

and jealousy? some people were born in the WRONG BODIES. why would ANYONE chose to be transgender on a lark? there is hate and ridicule and misunderstand and even violence. a person is a person (no matter how small - hey i LOVE horton hears a who) and should be judged on their INDIVIDUAL merits not if they have a penis or don't have a penis or HAD a penis or want a penis.

Transgender pol fights fraud claims
Transgender Politician Fights Claims of Fraud Because She Ran As a Female
GREG BLUESTEIN
Four years after she won a City Council seat, making her what is believed to be Georgia's first transgender politician, Michelle Bruce is battling a lawsuit launched by an unsuccessful opponent who claims she misled voters by running as a female.
Bruce, a tall woman with shoulder-length graying hair, said she has always identified herself as transgender.
"I've always been Michelle," she said. "If someone has a problem with that, I can't help them. It's a personal issue."
Bruce, 46, who runs an auto repossession business, launched her political campaign in 2003. Running unopposed, she landed one of four council seats and pledged to attract more jobs and residents to Riverdale, a gritty town of 12,000 about 12 miles south of Atlanta, lined with rundown strip malls and used car shops.
Three rivals ran against her in the Nov. 6 election. She captured 312 votes, not enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff against second-place finisher Wayne Hall, who earned 202 votes.
Then the third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.........