Transgender

Jonas and Wyatt Maines were born identical twins, but from the start each had a distinct personality. Jonas was all boy. He loved Spiderman, action figures, pirates, and swords. Wyatt favored pink tutus and beads. At 4, he insisted on a Barbie birthday cake and had a thing for mermaids. On Halloween, Jonas was Buzz Lightyear. Wyatt wanted to be a princess; his mother compromised on a prince costume. Once, when Wyatt appeared in a sequin shirt and his mother's heels, his father said: "You don't want to wear that.

SAN FRANCISCO - The daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro brought her fight for gay rights to a US forum on Wednesday, stressing the need to secure social equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation. Speaking in Spanish through a translator, Mariela Castro addressed about 50 medical professionals and transgender advocates at San Francisco General Hospital. She has an international reputation as an outspoken gay-rights advocate and lobbied her father's government to cover sex reassignment surgery under the national health plan, which it has since 2008, and to legalize same-sex...

HARTFORD — Connecticut has moved closer to adding transgendered people to the list of classes of citizens protected from discrimination. Early yesterday morning, the Senate passed a gender identity protection bill on a 20-16 vote. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives, and Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy said he would sign it into law “This bill is another step forward in the fight for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens, and it’s the right thing to do,’’ he said in a written statement issued shortly after the vote was taken.

The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro is in San Francisco to meet with gay rights activists and to chair a panel at a prestigious academic conference. Mariela Castro is an outspoken gay rights advocate in Cuba, where she has pressed her father's government to legalize same-sex marriages and campaigned to have sex reassignment surgery covered under the national health plan. Castro started her San Francisco visit Tuesday attending meetings on transgender health care at the University of California, San Francisco.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is not fighting a court judgment of nearly $500,000 for a Library of Congress hire who lost the job while undergoing a gender change from a man to a woman. The Justice Department let the deadline to appeal the decision pass Tuesday, a day after President Obama hosted gay supporters at the White House and promised to be their champion. Some activists have complained he has not led on their causes, including ending the ban on gays in the military.

Transgender people are celebrating a new state law that prohibits discrimination against them in employment, housing, insurance and credit. Gov. Deval Patrick told a crowded Statehouse ceremony on Thursday that he was happy to approve the bill as a "matter of conscience" and to protect the rights and dignity of an estimated 33,000 transgender citizens in Massachusetts. The measure, approved by lawmakers in November, also extends the state's hate crime laws to cover transgender people.

NEW YORK - Transgender women will be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next year, officials announced Tuesday, a week after they ruled a trail-blazing 23-year-old could vie for the crown this year. Pageant officials said they are working on the language of the official policy change but expected final word to come soon. The move comes five days after the organization said that Jenna Talackova could compete in the Miss Universe pageant this year. Talackova, a Vancouver resident, underwent a sex change four years ago after being born a male.

The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro is in San Francisco to meet with gay rights activists and to chair a panel at a prestigious academic conference. Mariela Castro is an outspoken gay rights advocate in Cuba, where she has pressed her father's government to legalize same-sex marriages and campaigned to have sex reassignment surgery covered under the national health plan. Castro started her San Francisco visit Tuesday attending meetings on transgender health care at the University of California, San Francisco.

Jonas and Wyatt Maines were born identical twins, but from the start each had a distinct personality. Jonas was all boy. He loved Spiderman, action figures, pirates, and swords. Wyatt favored pink tutus and beads. At 4, he insisted on a Barbie birthday cake and had a thing for mermaids. On Halloween, Jonas was Buzz Lightyear. Wyatt wanted to be a princess; his mother compromised on a prince costume. Once, when Wyatt appeared in a sequin shirt and his mother's heels, his father said: "You don't want to wear that.

YOUR COVERAGE of a transgender child's treatment at Dr. Norman Spack's clinic was absorbing, but parents of kids who exhibit transgender behaviors need more comprehensive coverage ( "Led by the child who simply knew," Page A1). An excellent starting point is the 2008 "Report of the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance," which is available at the American Psychological Association website. Here are some points made by the report: Most young children who exhibit transgender behaviors do outgrow them later on;...

The first-ever transgender contestant to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant has lost her bid to win the title. Jenna Talackova, 23, competed with 61 contestants Saturday night. She was among the final 12 contestants. Talackova, who was born a male, underwent a sex change four years ago. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was initially denied entry to Canada's pageant because she was not a natural-born female. Donald Trump, who runs the Miss Universe Organization, subsequently overruled that decision.

Cuban first daughter Mariela Castro is planning to meet with San Francisco's lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community during a U.S. visit next week that is being opposed by some Cuban-American politicians. The San Francisco LGBT Center said Friday that it would host the meeting Wednesday night, the day before Castro is scheduled to lead a panel at a conference organized by the Latin American Studies Association. The 50-year-old daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro is a noted gay rights advocate in her country and head of Cuba's...

WASHINGTON - In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the government says transgender people are protected under federal employment discrimination laws. The decision from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission late last week says employers cannot discriminate on the basis of gender identity. The case involved a California woman who claimed she was denied a contractor job with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives after the contractor learned she had undergone a procedure to change her gender from a male to female.

NEW YORK - Transgender women will be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next year, officials announced Tuesday, a week after they ruled a trail-blazing 23-year-old could vie for the crown this year. Pageant officials said they are working on the language of the official policy change but expected final word to come soon. The move comes five days after the organization said that Jenna Talackova could compete in the Miss Universe pageant this year. Talackova, a Vancouver resident, underwent a sex change four years ago after being born a male.

LOS ANGELES - A boy who became a girl got her wish to try for title of the hottest woman on the planet after Donald Trump said she could compete for Canada's spot in the Miss Universe pageant. Trump, who runs the Miss Universe Organization, issued a statement Tuesday wishing Jenna Talackova "the best of luck in her quest for the crown. " The statement came the same day that Talackova and her lawyer Gloria Allred urged the organization to clarify its gender requirements. The organization said it actually made the decision Monday to let the 23-year-old Talackova compete in the 2012 competition...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - President Obama's former nanny, Evie, is overwhelmed by her jolt from transgender slum-dweller to local celebrity. TV crews troop in and out of her tiny concrete hovel. Estranged relatives finally want to meet. She even has a promising job offer. Evie, who was born male but considers herself a woman, decided after enduring years of abuse and ridicule she would be better off trying to just fit in. She stopped cross-dressing and has since eked out a living hand-washing clothes.

A ll Jessica wanted was a doctor who would treat her like everyone else. A doctor who was comfortable with her self-identification as queer - a term sometimes used as an umbrella for any variation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender orientation. But it wasn't until she moved to Boston, in her 30s, that she was ready to even try to look for one. Before that, "the only office I went to was the dentist," said the Jamaica Plain resident, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy.

By Evan Allen, Town Correspondent In what advocacy groups are hailing as a historic move, Newton Mayor Setti Warren has appointed the first transgender representative to the city's Human Rights Commission. Holly Ryan, a lifelong Newton resident and an activist for transgender rights, was named for a three-year term. "Holly has a terrific record of public service here in our community," said Warren. "She believes in equal rights for all people, transgender and otherwise, and she is going to be a great commissioner.