Disney Rumoured To End Slave Leia Merchandise

Disney has always been a studio that has tried to create good representations of women over the years, and whilst some might argue that early Disney Princess' were little more than damsels in distress waiting for their handsome prince it's very much changed in recent decades.  Brave saw a capable and fierce princess, Mulan saw a woman who saved her entire country from invasion, and Frozen went on to say that sometimes the princess' can save themselves.

That same philosophy of good feminine role models has extended to the Marvel universe, as Disney are adding more and more female led books, and changing some traditionally skimpy outfits to more conservative ones, such as Captain Marvel and Spider Woman.  Now it would appear the same might be happening to the Star Wars universe.

After speaking to Interview Magazine, Carrie Fisher (known around the world as the gun toting space warrior Princess Leia) advised the 'Star War: The Force Awakens' actress Daisy Ridley to 'fight for your outfit.  Don't be a slave like I was'.  The comments came during a discussion of Fishers status as a 'sex symbol'.

Now Marvel artist J. Scott Campbell has spoken out to say that Disney is 'wiping out' the Slave Leia outfit from their future merchandising.

He went on to say in a Facebook post, 'Daisey Ridley won't have to fight against anything.  Disney is already well on its way to wiping out the 'slave' outfit from any future products period.  You will not see any future merchandising featuring the outfit ever again.  Trust me, I've heard from two sources.  We can't even draw Leia in a sexy pose at Marvel, let alone in that outfit!  We also had a 3-D statue killed at a major manufacturer because there will no longer be any Slave Leia merchandise.'

Disney have not yet commented on the claims and at the time of the writing of his article it is still just a rumour, though a solid one that news websites are reporting on.

Amy.
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France To End Ban On Gay & Bisexual Blood Donations

Marisol Touraine, the French Health Minister, has gone on record to state that France will be lifting its ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men in the spring of 2016, saying that it signals the end 'of taboo and discrimination.'

The ban, which exists in many countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland to name but a few, prohibits the donation of blood, and in some cases organ donation, from men who have had sexual relationships with other men, whether they class themselves as gay, bisexual or any other sexuality.

Many countries blood service defend the ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual donations by stating the statistically higher prevalence of HIV and hepatitis in gay relationships.

Despite these claims, many LGBT organisations view the restrictions as being based on homophobia and not based on any valid medical concerns, since blood donations are rigorously tested to rule out infections, wherever the blood may come from.

Despite these claims that gay and bisexual blood carry a higher risk of diseases France will be moving forward to lift the ban, stating that they will do so in stages in order to study if and how the risks of infections change.

The new system that they intend to introduce will not discriminate based on sexual orientation or sexual history, but will be judged on a case by case basis.  Initially donations will be open to men who have not been sexually active with another man for 12 months prior to giving blood.

It is important to note that the ban does not only effect me in sexual relationships with other men, but women too.  The ban also prevents women who are in relationships with me who have at one time been sexually active with men from donating blood.

Reports from people attempting to donate blood also indicate that the ban also extends to transgender women who are routinely turned away, even without their blood being tested for safety.

Amy.
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Gay Cure Therapies Still Not Banned In UK Despite Debate

Health Minister Jane Ellison says government has no plans to ban gay cure
therapies, despite claims from David Cameron and Nicky Morgan that it would

Despite debate in parliament and assurances from the government that so called 'gay cure' therapies would be banned in the UK many treatments are still readily available on the NHS.

Following a day of debates on gay cure therapies, where many ministers spoke out against the subject and condemned the practise as 'torture' Health Minister Jane Ellison ruled out legislation to ban it entirely.

A number of MP's, including Conservative Nick Herbert, Labour's Wes Streeting and Conservative Mike Free, spoke on the issue.  Mike Free said that the psychotherapy industry was thus far not regulated by statue and that the government needed to 'go further' to ensure that 'quack' therapies were rooted out.

'It remains possible for people within the UK  to be referred by an NHS professional to a psychotherapist for so called 'gay cure therapy'' he said during a debate on the subject in Parliaments Westminster Hall.  'Being gay is not a disaster, being gay is not an illness.  To suggest otherwise is not only demeaning, it is medically wrong.'

Health Minister Jane Ellison acknowledged the harms that gay cure therapies cause, and praised a Memorandum of Understanding banning referrals within the NHS.

However, she went on to say that the government would not be pressing ahead with legislation to ban these therapies.  She said, 'I fully understand the concerns about gay conversion therapy as they've been expressed, but the government has no current plans to ban or restrict via legislation.'

'We don't either have a plan to introduce statutory regulations for psychotherapies but I say that in the knowledge that it is a position that is challenged - and one to which I  will go away and reflect after the debate.'

It's worth noting that Ellison's statement that the government has 'no plans to ban or restrict' gay cure therapies is following on from a statement given by Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan last week that 'conversion therapies have no place in the UK and should be stamped out' and a pledge David Cameron made in April to end gay cure therapies.

Is it any surprise the Tory government would make these promises more than once, but when the time came to actually take action against it chose to turn it's back on the cause?

Amy.
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Chicago High School Guilty Of Violating Federal Law Over Transgender Student

Illinois largest high school district has been found guilty of violating federal law by barring a transgender student from using the correct locker rooms following a two year investigation into the incident.

The United States Department of Education's Office For Civil Rights investigated Palatine High School for two years following the accusations, and found 'a preponderance of evidence' that the school officials willingly went against Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

The young female student, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights  in late 2013 after the school refused to allow her access to the female changing room facilities.

After attempts were made to negotiate with the school to allow the young woman access the school agreed to put up a privacy curtain in the locker room.  However, the negotiations were forced to a halt when the school informed the student that she would have to use the private area, instead of offering it as a choice.

Although the student said that she intended to use the private area, John Knight, director of the LGBT and AIDS Project at ACLU of Illinois said that the stipulation of the private area constituted 'blatant discrimination'.

'It's not voluntary, it's mandatory for her' Knight went on to comment.  'It's one thing to say to all the girls, 'You can chose if you want some extra privacy', but it's another thing to say, 'You, and you alone, must use them'.  That sends a pretty strong signal to her that she's not accepted and the district doesn't see her as a girl.'

In the districts five high schools transgender students have in the past been allowed by staff to change their names, genders and pronouns on school records, as well as use the bathroom facilities and play on the sports teams of their gender identity, yet draw the line at locker rooms.

Education officials cited the privacy rights of the other 12,00 plus students in district 211 as the main concern for this barring of transgender students.

The school installed four privacy curtain inside the locker room, and one around a shower to try and sidestep the issue of privacy, however, because they gave the transgender student no choice in whether or not they would use them federal officials deemed this solution to be insufficient and grounds for discrimination.

According to a letter from the Office of Civil Rights '[the student] has not only received an unequal opportunity to benefit from the districts education program, but has also experienced an ongoing sense of isolation and ostracism throughout her high school enrolment.'

The young girl, who plays on one of the schools girls sports teams, told federal authorities in statements that she broke down in tears after her coaches reprimanded her for using the locker room to change, her coach telling her that fellow students and team mates were uncomfortable dressing in front of her.

Despite the ruling that the district was in violation of the students civil rights Superintendent Daniel Cates remained adamant that they were not in violation of the law and warned that the Obama administration were attempting a 'serious overreach with precedent-setting implications'.

'The students in our schools are teenagers, not adults, and ones gender is not the same as ones anatomy.  Boys and girls are in separate locker rooms - where there are open changing areas and open shower facilities - for a reason.'

Cates went on to try and emphasise that the districts position should not be seen as discriminatory by saying, 'we celebrate and honour difference among all student and we condemn any vitriolic messages that disparage transgender identity or transgender students in any way'.

Despite these claims that the district celebrate diversity and that their rules regarding separating their transgender students from the general population are not discriminatory federal officials have disagreed, giving the district 30 days in which to reach an agreement with authorities on how to move forward on the subject, or risk having their educational funding suspended or even terminated.

The student said in a statement that the federal ruling 'makes clear that what my school did was wrong'.  She goes on to say that 'This decision makes me extremely happy - because of what it means for me, personally, and for countless others.  The districts policy stigmatised me, often making me feel like I was not a 'normal person'.'

Department of Education report on District 211 Title IX violations.

Amy.
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Germaine Greer Continues To Insult Trans Women

Just days after coming under scrutiny for transphobic statements made on BBC Newsnight Germaine Greer has delivered yet another foul mouthed rant filled with transphobia and swearing.

Feminist author Germaine Greer was due to speak at Cardiff University next month, but chose to cancel her appearance herself (yes, despite what some extremist feminists are saying Greer cancelled the appearance by her own choice), after a number of people protested her appearance.

Protesters spoke out about her appearance following a history of transphobic statements, including denying transgender woman as 'man's delusion that he is female', saying that trans women are 'some kind of ghastly parody' and hat trans women will never know what it's like to have 'a big, hairy, smelly vagina'.

Her interview on Newsnight can be added to this history of transphobia and transmisogyny as she referred to Caitlyn Jenner as a 'he/she' who 'wanted the limelight that female members  of the family were enjoying' and that claiming that trans women do not 'look like, sound like, or behave like women'.

When approached by the Victoria Derbyshire Show to come onto the programme and speak about the incident she refused, stating that she was unable to do so due to 'travelling' and instead gave the following statement.

'Just because you lop off your dick and then wear a dress doesn't make you a fucking woman.  I've asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I'm going to wear a brown coat but that doesn't turn me into a fucking cocker spaniel.  I do understand that some people are born intersex and they deserve support in coming to terms with their gender but it's not the same thing.  A man who gets his dick chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.'

Victoria Derbyshire bravely read out the statement (minus the swear words and replacing dick with penis) to transgender actress Rebecca Root, star of the hit television show 'Boy Meets Girl'.

Root said 'That leaves me absolutely gobsmacked.  Beeping gobsmacked, in fact.  This is something that I would equate from the worst of the gutter press - not from somebody of such academic standing, a woman who should know better.  It's just ridiculous.'

Amy.
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Richard Dawkins Insults Transgender Community

Academic and author Richard Dawkins has spoken out following the petition to stop transphobic feminist Germaine Greer from speaking at Cardiff University.

Dawkins, who has expressed some extreme and insulting views in the past, took to twitter following the incident in which Germaine Greer appeared on BBC Newsnight to decry the petition.  He said, 'Students who suppress a distinguished scholar's lecture because they disagree with her have no place in a university.'

'Those who think it's nonsense are entitled to stay away.  Or come and argue.  They should not censor views they think are nonsense.'

'A university is not a 'safe space'.  If you need a safe space, leave, go home, hug your teddy & suck your thumb until ready for university.'

Following on from this Dawkins even went on to post a tweet questioning if trans women are women.  It stated 'Is a trans woman a woman?  Purely semantic.  If you define by chromosomes, no.  If by self-identification, yes.  I call her 'she' out of courtesy.'

Both series of tweets have been met with a number of complaints, prompting Dawkins to go on the defensive, even complaining that he was getting hate after stating that he 'wished to be courteous'.

The things that Dawkins fails to understand is this;

Yes, a university may not be a 'safe space', but to claim that people who disagree with a 'distinguished scholar' should not be at university is farcical.  At the best Dawkins is trying to say that there should be no room for any debate or differing opinions in a place of learning.  At worst Dawkins is completely blind to the idea that prejudice views can be harmful.

Because that's the thing, Germaine Greer isn't simply giving an alternative view to other people, she's spouting abusive words and statements designed to demonise and invalidate trans women.  She's using every platform she can to use slur words like he/she and claim that trans women are always and forever men, opposing the spread of such sentiments isn't censoring 'views they think are nonsense'.

If a university, or any establishment, booked a speaker who expressed deeply homophobic or racist views people would be praised for trying to stop the spread of that kind of hate speech, but as far a Dawkins seems to be concerned when it comes to trans women it's simply disagreeing with someone.

Something that can be seen as being supported by his follow up tweets, stating that trans women are not women because of their chromosomes.  Despite anything else said in that tweet, or in follow up tweets he did say that trans women are not women.

Turning around and saying that if it's down to self-identification then trans women are women, or that he calls trans women ''she' out of courtesy' means nothing after that first statement.  He's giving those who would argue against trans women's identity a clear cut statement that trans women are not women.

And to say he calls trans women ''she' out of courtesy' is downright insulting.  If you call a trans woman she 'out of courtesy' rather than because you believe she's a woman you're basically saying that she's not a woman.  I don't call people he to be courteous, I do it because that's who they are.

Once again though, this is a case of someone feeling that because they're 'famous' and because it's the transgender community they're completely immune to the consequences of the hate speech they spout, of the insults and disrespect they feel they're entitled to say.  He insulted the trans community and their supporters, but now that he's being called out on that he's 'getting hate'.

Well yes Richard, you are getting hate.  You're getting exactly what you deserve for spouting false, hateful opinions as fact and expecting to get away with it.  You are not a 'victim' in this, you are not the wronged party.  If you didn't want to have people complain about you and call you out on what you say, don't spout hate towards minority groups.

Amy.
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Some Feminists Are More Harmful To The Trans Community Than Any Other Group

I'm sure many of you will be aware of the commotion on the Internet being caused around the feminist icon Germaine Greer at the moment, where some people are calling for her to be banned from speaking due to transphobic statements she's made in the past.  The arguments exploded further after Greer appeared on BBC Newsnight and went on a spree of outdated transphobic views that tried to argue that trans women are men and have no right to be called women.

Whilst some people are saying that Greer is an ageing second wave feminist whose views are becoming less and less relevant in modern feminism and society, despite all of the good things she accomplished in the past, it does highlight some very real and dangerous views held by not only her, but a large number of feminists.

If Germaine Greer was alone in her opinions it would be one thing, but unfortunately she's not.  Whether by listening to her views, or the views of others who share the same sentiment there are large portions of the feminist community who seem to be incredibly comfortable in insulting, excluding, demonising and harassing the transgender community.

Whether or not they class themselves as TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist) or even a radical feminist, there are women who go out of their way to cause harm to this incredibly marginalised group of women.

Trans women are shunned by so many groups for breaking the taboo of 'giving up their masculinity' and 'becoming women' that a great deal of trans women are drawn to the feminist movement.  Whether that is from having a greater understanding of misogyny and the difference in the way women are treated since the loss of male privilege, or the simple desire to see equality, trans women will often fight not just for their right to be seen and accepted as women, but for all women and womanhood to be seen as valid and just as capable as their male counterparts.

Tran women join the feminist community hoping for acceptance and a sense of community, after all, we're all women fighting for equality right?  No, unfortunately not.  Trans women get shunned in the feminist community.  Not every feminist engages in this behaviour, some are full respecting of trans women's identities, but enough harass and abuse trans women within the feminist community to make this a serious problem.

I have literally just come from such an encounter to write this article.  I shared a tweet about the Germaine Greer argument and was met with what can only be described as harassment from a member of the feminist community.  This woman refused to acknowledge that trans women are women, calling me a 'man who is harassing real women' for sharing a single tweet, and calling for me to 'leave women alone'.

Rather than jump down this woman's throat and start a fight I tried to engage into a reasoned discussion with her, and simply tried to explain how opinions such as hers are harmful to the trans community.  Instead of a reasoned argument though I was met with a wall of hostility.  She continually called me a man and used male pronouns after my asking her not to multiple times.  She suggested that me 'thinking' I am female is a delusion and that 'it's a fact' that I'm male.

I was told multiple times that my believing myself to be female has no basis in reality and that it's a 'fact' that trans women are never men.  I was told that my belief in that, and my refusal to listen to a 'real' woman telling me I'm not female is a threat to all women.  She told me that by not listening to her I was a danger and a threat and that she would 'continue to show others this'.

At one point she even told me that she would 'definitely not take a white man's word' that trans women are female.  This shocked me, as she was not only engaging in transphobia, but appeared to be beginning to start using racist arguments too.  I was shocked by this, and even more surprised when she said that a I was displaying white supremacy, claiming 'white supremacy is belief that your race is superior.  And you're showing that by expecting a black person to take you at your word.'

I was not only being told repeatedly that I was not a woman after explaining how damaging that is, but was then being called racist because the person I was talking was black.

I couldn't win, I couldn't even get this woman to see that what she was doing might be hurtful, no matter what I was in the wrong.  My views were flat out ignored because I was trans, and that automatically made me the enemy.

Part of the problem is that there are no laws protecting trans women from hate speech.  Things that would be considered deplorable if they were directed at people of colour, people of religion or peoples sexuality are acceptable because there are no negative consequences for saying them about trans people.

Trans women are women, that's not something that needs other to accept to be true, it's just as is.  But continuing to deny that and harass trans women because you disagree, and using feminism as a shield to do so is damaging not only to the trans community, but the feminist movement too.

Amy.
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Bestselling UK Author James Dawson Comes Out As Transgender

British young adult author James Dawson has come out as transgender during a recent interview with the website Buzzfeed.

Dawson, who has stated that for the moment he still wishes to be referred to with male pronouns, has written a whole host of award winning books for teenagers, including 'Say Her Name', 'Hollow Pike' and the international bestselling 'This Book is Gay'.

He told interviewers that he felt 'different' as a child and would often wish that he would 'wake up a girl'.  With little to no knowledge of transgender issues during his younger years and the things society were telling him James grew up believing that his attraction to men must mean he was gay.

'Given that I had been told I was a boy and I knew that if you are a boy that fancies boys that makes you gay, that was the only alternative I could see.'  He told Buzzfeed in a recent interview.

He says that despite this he always felt that his life as a gay man 'felt like role-play' and that this caused him to often struggle to maintain relationships due to intense insecurities.  'I could never understand how they could love me, because I felt like a sham, the worst specimen of manhood going.'

'I didn't understand what they found attractive.  There was always this thought; 'what do they even see in you?  You're not a man'.'

James went on to say that meeting a young trans girl  called Charlie led him to realise that he was actually a transgender woman, not a gay man.

James will begin touring the country in just under four months time as part of World Book Day celebrations, and hope that this will coincide with the start of his hormone treatment.

'I hope that in a year or so I will be considered a woman and can go out as a hetrosexual woman and date men and not have to dwell in specialist underground lairs,' he said.  'I want to be able to walk in the sun as a woman.'

Amy.
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Trans Activist Diana Sacayan Killed in Her Home

Renowned transgender activist and LGBT+ community supporter Diana Sacayan was found murdered in her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 13th.  According to reports from the local news network, The Buenos Aires Herald, it is being reported that Diana was stabbed multiple times by someone that she allowed into her apartment, suggesting the killer was known to her.

Despite initially believing the murder to be as a result of a robbery attempt, Buenos Aires police are now entertaining the possibility that Diana could have been targeted due to being transgender, or her work within the LGBT+ community.

Diana was well respected within the LGBT+ community in her home country, having worked with the LGBT+ rights group Movimento Antidiscriminatorio de Liberacion as well as acting as Trans Secretariat on the board of ILGA, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

It was initially due to Dianas lack of appearance at the 30th National Women's Meeting, held in Mar del Plata on the weekend of the 10th of October, that made her friends concerned for her whereabouts and safety.

Following Diana's death the charity Amnesty International is calling for action to tackle the shocking level of deaths within the trans community in South America as the murder rate has risen dramatically.

The charity have issued a strongly worded statement to the Argentinian government demanding that better steps be taken to document and investigate the murder of trans people.  In the last month three trans women have been murdered in Argentina, Marcela Chocobar, Coty Olmos and Diana Sacayan.  All three women were heavily involved in transgender equality and activism causes.

According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project, South America has the highest number of recorded murders for trans people in the world, having documented 1356 cases since 2008.

Amy.
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Transgender Man Convicted Of Revenge Porn

23 year old Jesse Hawthorne has become the first transgender person in the UK to be convicted for posting 'revenge porn' images on the internet.  Jesse reportedly posted the explicit images of his ex-girlfriend online after the couple split following his transition.

Jesse admitted to uploading the explicit images to Facebook with the intent to cause distress, and was subsequently issued with a restraining order.

District Judge Smith-Jones told the court, 'This was a very serious matter.  It was more than just payback, it was revenge.  You carried this out without regard to the thoughts and feelings of the victim.'

Reports state that Jesse fell out with his girlfriend, and eventually broke off their relationship, when she told Jesse, who was then identifying as female, that she dis not want him to transition to male.  Following the break-up of their relationship Jesse returned to his ex-girlfriends home to retrieve a puppy that he had given her as a gift.

Newport Magistrates Court heard how when Jesse tried to take the puppy his ex-lover's new partner threw him against a wall.  the following day he uploaded the two images to Facebook as an act of revenge.

Prosecutor Jamie Dewar told the court, 'He did it out of anger.  The victim said she had sent the extremely intimate images to Jesse while they were in a relationship together.  She felt distressed, alarmed, humiliated, and embarrassed by what she and all her Facebook friends saw.'

Jesse Hawthorne has been sentenced to 16 weeks in prison suspended for a year.  He was also given a 25-day rehabilitation requirement and must do 150 hours unpaid work.

Siobhan Blake, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service Wales, said, 'I hope that this case serves as a further reminder that this type of vindictive behaviour is against the law and will not be tolerated.  The distress caused by offenses of this nature is considerable.  Those who engage in this type of activity should be in doubt that they can expect to find themselves in court.'

Even though Jesse did break the law and engage in the horrible act of revenge porn, it may be worth noting that he did so following his girlfriend leaving him following her not wanting him to transition, a physical assault by his ex-girlfriends new lover, and a campaign against him on social media where his ex and her friends tormented him by calling him a 'fucking freak', 'fucking Frankenstein' and a 'dyke on roids'.

Perhaps Jesse would not have engaged in such terrible behaviour is their were actually laws in place in Britain protecting transgender people from abuse, and that he felt any complaint raised against his treatment would have been taken seriously.

Amy.
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