Carmen, 75, died from kidney failure in Sydney in December last year.

A public memorial service will be held at St Matthew-in-the-City church on February 11, followed by a celebration of her life at DNA and Family bars on Karangahape Rd.

One of the organisers of the service, Jordan Harris, says it will give Carmen’s friends and family in New Zealand the chance to say goodbye.

“Many whanau and friends were able to farewell Carmen in Sydney and this is an opportunity for people in New Zealand to do the same,” he told Stuff.co.nz.

“Some of her close friends from Sydney are coming too and they will be bringing her portrait which was used at the tangi in Sydney.”

Born in Taumarunui in 1935 as Trevor Rupe, it was after a move to Sydney in the 1950s that Carmen took on the first name that would see her become an icon and heroine to the gay community.

The entrepreneur and entertainer made an unsuccessful bid for the Wellington mayoralty in 1977, on a platform promising gay marriage and legalised prostitution.

Carmen ran Wellington sex venues in the 1970s, where patrons met for coffee and sexual liaisons at a time when both homosexuality and prostitution were still illegal.

At her funeral in Sydney, Carmen was credited with paving the way for social reform.

Carmen was buried at Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery.

Poland's first transsexual lawmaker Anna Grodzka smiles during an interview with The Associated Press in Warsaw, Poland on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. Grodzka, says she wants to campaign for the rights of gender minorities and make predominantly Catholic Poland more receptive to transsexuals and homosexuals. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (Czarek Sokolowski)

(AP) WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s first transsexual lawmaker vowed Monday to campaign for the rights of gender minorities and make predominantly Catholic Poland more receptive to transsexuals and homosexuals.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Anna Grodzka said the time has come for sexual minority groups in Poland to enjoy the right to legal partnerships, job security and state funding for medical sex change procedures.

“Enough of this concealing of the truth,” Grodzka said. “This group of people, even if small, has its rights and they should be respected. They should not be pushed into oblivion.”

The 57-year-old Grodzka made history in Poland by becoming the first ever transsexual to win a seat in parliament in elections on Oct. 9. Her election underlines the profound social change taking place in this deeply conservative and mostly Catholic country.

When parliament meets for the first time, Poland will also have its first openly gay person, Robert Biedron, a leading gay rights activist, and two black lawmakers.

Before World War II, Poland was a multiethnic society inhabited by Jews, ethnic Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Germans and others. But it became a homogenous society of mostly Catholic Poles after the Holocaust and the redrawing of Poland’s borders after World War II.

Great social flux, however, has come in recent years, especially with European Union bringing greater contact with Western ideas. Many young Poles have lived for a time in places like Britain, returning home with reshaped views on sexual and other minorities.

Grodzka runs Trans-Fuzja, a foundation that supports some 1,000 transgender people in Poland, and decided to run for parliament to attract media attention to her mission. Founded in 2007, the foundation lobbies for legislation that would secure the rights of the group and offers direct help to its members.

Her group also tries to raise awareness of the plight of transgendered people — and her election so far has triggered numerous television shows in past days examining the issue.

So far, Grodzka has she has received many gestures of support from ordinary people since her election began making headlines.

During the interview at a Warsaw cafe, a young woman came up to Grodzka to shake her hand in a gesture of admiration and encouragement.

Grodzka also recalled how last week in Gdansk, a young mother showed her a thumbs-up and made her baby in a carriage also raise its thumbs.

She said that among hundreds of friendly gestures she has received only one hostile phone call, and believes that proportion testifies to growing a maturity and tolerance of the society in Poland.

She also noted the irony of being elected to parliament from a constituency in Krakow, a church stronghold where the Polish-born Pope John Paul II rose from priest to archbishop before he was elected pope. Today a church stands on nearly every street.

“But Krakow is also a university city with plenty of young people, of artists, of freethinkers,” she said. “It all added up and showed in the vote.”

She says the attention has detracted her temporarily from preparations to be one of the 460 lawmakers in the lower house, a role she will assume when it convenes Nov. 8. She was elected as a member of Palikot’s Movement, a new left-wing party that won representation for the first time as the country’s third largest party.

Grodzka had her sex change surgery in Thailand 18 months ago, the culmination of a lifetime of feeling that she was born the wrong sex. Before the change she was Krzysztof Grodzki, and had a wife and a son.

“I had a good life, filled with success and love, but this sense that I was not myself inside always accompanied me,” she said.

Chaz Bono, left, and Lacey Schwimmer practice dance steps while rehearsing for the upcoming season of "Dancing of the Stars" in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. The new season of "Dancing with the Stars" premieres Sept. 19 on ABC. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chaz Bono isn’t thinking about the controversy surrounding his casting on “Dancing With the Stars.” He says he’s been flooded with fan support and is focused on the cha-cha.

Bono is the show’s first transgender contestant, and some viewers and conservative media groups have responded to his casting with hateful blog posts and calls for a boycott of the hit ABC show.

But at a Wednesday rehearsal in Los Angeles, the 42-year-old author and activist said he hasn’t looked at the negative posts on the network’s website and has received loads of support from fans on Twitter.

Bono, who began learning dance moves last week, says the controversy “hasn’t taken any type of negative toll on me at all” and that he remains intent on perfecting the dance routine he’ll perform in front of millions of viewers when the show premieres later this month.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By SANDY COHEN, AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “”Dancing With the Stars” executive producer Conrad Green says despite controversy over the casting of its first transgender contestant, “Dancing” remains a family show and viewers should check out the new season before passing judgment.

Chaz Bono, who was born female but underwent surgery to become a man, is among the cast of 12 celebrities set to appear on the ABC hit when it premieres later this month — a decision that’s drawn ire from some “Dancing” fans and conservative media groups.

Dan Gainor of the Culture and Media Institute calls Bono’s casting “a ridiculous, agenda-driven move by ‘Dancing With the Stars.’”

“This is the latest example of the networks trying to push a sexual agenda on American families,” he said Thursday.

The organization is not calling for a boycott of the show, but online group OneMillionMoms.com is. It says on its website that the casting of Bono and openly-gay reality star Carson Kressley “is completely unacceptable and Christians should not watch the show, no excuses!”

Besides Bono and Kressley, the new cast includes basketball star Ron Artest; World Cup soccer player Hope Solo; reality stars Robert Kardashian and Kristin Cavallari; TV personalities Nancy Grace and Ricki Lake; singer-actress Chynna Phillips; actors David Arquette and J.R. Martinez; and Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, who may be better known in the United States for being George Clooney’s ex-girlfriend.

Green says the show has no agenda other than entertainment and always seeks to represent a range of people.

“I think we’ve had three gay or transgender contestants out of about 120 on the show, so what we’re really doing is reflecting some of the makeup of this vast array of people that make up American society,” he said in an interview Thursday.

The show remains family friendly, he said, adding that he has young children of his own.

“We’re not going to be dwelling on Chaz’s sexuality any more than we dwell on anyone’s sexuality on the show,” he said. “We’re not going to be going into things that are going to make it difficult for you to watch with your children at all.”

Bono wasn’t cast to stir controversy, but because he’s “a great guy and he’s got a really interesting story,” Green said. “He comes from Hollywood royalty as a family and is familiar to loads of our audience throughout his life.”

Green said no sponsors of the show have expressed concern over Bono’s casting and he doesn’t expect that any will. He noted that Bono has been “on every talk show in the country,” including “Oprah,” without backlash.

Bono is the only child of Cher and Sonny Bono.

Cher has taken to Twitter this week to blast the “stupid bigots” who she says have “viciously attacked” her son since the “Dancing” cast was announced on Monday. She praised his courage for appearing on the show and wrote: “bet VAST MAJORITY of People will LOVE CHAZ on DWTS !”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the network and “Dancing” producers for casting Bono. Spokeswoman Sharda Sekaran said that despite some negative response, his appearance on the show may help foster better understanding about transgender people.

“This community faces a lot of misunderstanding, fear and hatred, and all too often, violence,” she said. “But these are people just like anybody else, who are part of everyday things as normal as entertaining audiences on a dancing show.

“Even with the negative reaction, it gives people exposure and access to the story of a real-life transgender person.”

Bono said on his Twitter page Thursday that he is “overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I received from everyone.”

“I don’t listen to the haters, but embrace the love,” he wrote.

Green said Bono’s casting and the resulting conversation has boosted awareness of the show, but he hopes dancing supplants controversy when the show premieres on Sept. 19: “I hope that a lot of the people who appear to be upset at the moment will give him a chance and maybe realize it’s not quite as bad as they think.”

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen can be reached at www.twitter.com/APSandy .
On the Net:

www.onemillionmoms.com: http://www.mrc.org/cmi/
www.glaad.org: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, right, receives congratulations from Assemblyman Richard Pan. D-Sacramento, after the measure he was carrying requiring public schools to teach the historical contributions of gay Americans, was approved by the Assembly in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, July 5, 2011. The bill, which had passed the Senate, was approved 49-25 on a party line vote and sent to the Governor.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Tuesday sent the governor a bill that would make the state the first requiring public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum.

The bill, passed on a party-line vote, adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as people with disabilities to the list of groups that schools must include in the lessons. It also would prohibit material that reflects adversely on gays.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco says SB48 is crucial because of the bullying that happens to gay students. Republicans called it a well-intentioned but ill-conceived bill and raised concerns that it would indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality.

“This bill will require California schools to present a more accurate and nuanced view of American history in our social science curriculum by recognizing the accomplishments of groups that are not often recognized,” said Assembly Speaker John Perez, the first openly gay speaker of the California Assembly.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, who has not said whether he would sign it. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill in 2006.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican from Twin Peaks, said he was offended as a Christian that the bill was being used to promote a “homosexual agenda” in public schools.

“I think it’s one thing to say that we should be tolerant,” Donnelly said. “It is something else altogether to say that my children are going to be taught that this lifestyle is good.”

California law already requires schools to teach about women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, entrepreneurs, Asian Americans, European Americans, American Indians and labor. The Legislature over the years also has prescribed specific lessons about the Irish potato famine and the Holocaust, among other topics.

SB48 would require, as soon as the 2013-2014 school year, the California Board of Education and local school districts to adopt textbooks and other teaching materials that cover the contributions and roles of sexual minorities.

The legislation leaves it to local school boards to decide how to implement the requirement. It does not specify a grade level for the instruction to begin.

Opponents argued that such instruction would further burden an already crowded curriculum and expose students to a subject that some parents find objectionable. Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, said the bill micromanages the classroom.

“Our founding fathers are turning over in their graves,” Donnelly said.

The bill’s author, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he hopes Brown will sign his bill. He dismissed arguments that the bill promotes certain sexual behaviors and said it removes censorship in textbooks.

“Bottom line, it’s only beneficial to share with students the broad diversity of the human experience and that our democracy protects everyone,” he said.

Before the Assembly vote, Perez pointed to a few contributions of gay people, including Friedrich von Steuben, one of George Washington’s military advisers who fled Prussia after he was hounded as a homosexual.

Von Steuben is credited with being one of the fathers of the Continental Army and teaching essential military drills.

He also cited Alan Turing, a mathematician who helped crack Nazi Germany’s secret codes by creating the “Turing bombe,” a forerunner of modern computers.

Some churches and conservative family groups warned the bill will drive more parents to take their children out of public schools.

“This sexual brainwashing bill would mandate that children as young as 6 years old be told falsehoods — that homosexuality is biological, when it isn’t, or healthy, when it’s not,” said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com.

The Assembly passed the bill on a 49-25 vote.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

by Associated Press

DILLWYN, Va. – Crouched in her cell, Ophelia De’lonta hoped three green disposable razors from the prison commissary would give her what the Virginia Department of Corrections will not — a sex change.

It had been several years since she had felt the urges, but she had been fighting them for weeks. But like numerous other times, she failed to get rid of what she calls “that thing” between her legs, the last evidence she was born a male.

Months after the October castration attempt, De’lonta filed a federal lawsuit Friday claiming the state has failed its duty to provide adequate medical care because it won’t give her the operation. She says the surgery is needed to treat her gender identity disorder, a mental illness in which people believe they were born the wrong gender.

If she wins, De’lonta would be the nation’s first inmate to receive a state-funded sex change operation. Similar lawsuits have failed in a handful of other states, and lawmakers in some states are trying to ban the use of taxpayer money for the operations.

If she loses, she says she will continue to try self-surgery — acknowledging another attempt could kill her.

“That’s a possibility,” the 50-year-old said during a recent prison interview, pausing then smiling contently. “But at the end I would have peace.”

Some physical changes have already taken place. Hormones won under a 2004 court order have caused her to develop noticeable breasts. Her eyebrows are perfectly plucked, and makeup accentuates her smooth cocoa complexion.

Still, special allowances such as feminine clothing and psychotherapy aren’t enough to keep her mind off wanting to become the woman she says she was born. She longs for permission to grow out her short salt and pepper hair like female inmates, even though she’s housed in the all-male Buckingham Correctional Center.

Experts say that De’lonta’s behavior is an unusual — but not surprising — manifestation of her disorder. At least 12 other inmates in Idaho, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Oregon, Kentucky and North Carolina have castrated themselves over the past 14 years, and several others have tried, said psychiatry professor George R. Brown at East Tennessee State University.

“This is not a choice. Transsexuals are born and not made,” said Brown, an expert in gender identity disorder. “If you didn’t have this condition, why would you want to have your genitals removed, if not by a competent surgeon but by your own hand?”

While many with gender identity disorder wish to get rid of their genitals, the majority never act — often because hormones and other treatments help make them feel more comfortable, Brown said.

According to research by Brown, about 27,000 people nationwide have gender identity disorder. Experts estimate 500 to 750 Americans undergo the surgery each year, with hundreds more seeking the procedure abroad.

Treatment is more readily available outside prison, though dozens of other inmates nationwide have won the right to hormones and psychotherapy. Based on counts of inmates with gender identity disorder in a half dozen states and personal correspondence with inmates during his research, Brown estimates that at least 750 of the more than 2 million prisoners nationwide had gender identity disorder in 2007, his latest count.

Inmates in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Colorado, California and Idaho also have sued to try to get the surgery, making arguments similar to De’lonta’s that denying treatment violates the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. All but one of those have failed; a decision in the decade-old Massachusetts lawsuit by convicted killer Michelle — born Robert — Kosilek is still pending.

Kosilek says that for her, sex reassignment surgery is a medical necessity, not a frivolous desire to change her appearance.

“Everybody has the right to have their health care needs met, whether they are in prison or out on the streets. People in the prisons who have bad hearts, hips or knees have surgery to repair those things,” Kosilek told The Associated Press in a recent phone interview from a state prison in Norfolk, Mass.

“My medical needs are no less important or more important than the person in the cell next to me.”

Federal courts have said prisons must provide adequate medical care, and that they must protect inmates from themselves. But correctional officials and lawmakers balk at using taxpayer money for sex-change operations that can cost up to $20,000.

A Massachusetts bill to ban the use of public funds for sex change procedures, hormones and other treatments has been before a joint committee since January. Wisconsin lawmakers passed the Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act in 2006, but a federal judge declared it unconstitutional last year. The state appealed, and a decision is expected soon.

Republican Virginia Del. Todd Gilbert says he would seek state legislation if De’lonta’s lawsuit is successful.

“The notion that taxpayers are going to fund a sex change is just ridiculous,” says Gilbert.

Harold Clarke, who became Virginia’s corrections director last year, says it would be a security risk to allow the surgeries because Virginia’s inmates are housed according to their gender at birth, not anatomy. While De’lonta sleeps and showers alone, she is not segregated from male inmates. Her lawsuit also asks that she be moved to a women’s prison.

Federal courts have said mental health professionals — not prison officials — should dictate treatment.

But Rudolph Alexander, an Ohio State University professor who has studied the treatment of inmates with gender identity disorder, believes mental health providers are reluctant to say the surgery is medically necessary because they fear for their jobs. Almost always, the deciding physician is a state employee or has a contract with it.

Advocates argue that treating repeated self-mutilations costs more than the surgeries. De’lonta, for example, has needed expensive airlifts three times for self-inflicted wounds.

The hormones and other treatments had kept her urges in check for years. She snapped Oct. 8 when an officer used a male pronoun toward her, despite a court order that prison workers refer to her as a woman.

“I screamed `She, damnit!’ becoming so overwhelmed it was hard to breathe,” De’lonta said.

Looking down, she felt repulsed and helpless. She cried herself to sleep, then hours later she prepared for her surgery attempt by covering her cell door’s window with paper and putting towels around the commode.

Using knowledge gained from mail-order anatomy books, De’lonta cut on and off for three hours before she passed out. It took 21 stitches to repair the damage.

“It’s like if this doesn’t exist, then I won’t have any more problems,” she said.

Born Michael Stokes, she didn’t understand from an early age why other girls’ names were different from hers, or why she felt no connection to the boys in her gym class.

She constantly looked in mirrors and couldn’t understand why the reflection was so unlike how she envisioned herself.

Years ago she legally changed her name. Ophelia was chosen for the Shakespearean woman who died for love; De’lonta because it was the last name of a slain friend; middle name Azriel for the angel who helps one cross over.

De’lonta first tried to cut herself when she was 12. By 17, she was robbing banks with the hopes of getting enough money to have a sex change operation. By 18, she was in prison, sentenced to more than 70 years for robbery, drugs, weapons and other charges.

She is eligible for parole this year, but a wide range of prison infractions mean it’s unlikely she’ll be released any time soon. Asked why she can’t just wait until she’s free to get the surgery, De’lonta says she would if she could.

“This is not something that I have any control over,” she says. “This is just how I was born.”

Cher is still adjusting to the reality of her daughter becoming a man.

Source: nzherald.co.nz

Cher was “traumatised” when she realised she would never hear her daughter’s voice again.

The 64-year-old singer begged her son Chaz Bono – who was born a female named Chastity and began gender reassignment surgery around three years ago – for a copy of his old female answering machine message after becoming “hysterical” when she called and reached his new voicemail.

She said: “I was hysterical one day because I was calling Chaz’s answering machine and I realized it was her old voice, and then I said, ‘Chaz is there a way I can save it because I will never hear that voice again?’ And there wasn’t, it was gone.

“That’s the most traumatic thing that has happened to me in this whole thing – hearing her voice and knowing I’ll never hear it again.

The Believe hitmaker also admitted she avoided seeing Chaz – whose father is the singer’s late husband Sonny Bono – for a long time after he began treatment because she was so nervous.

She admitted in new documentary Becoming Chaz, she said: “I was so nervous.

I hadn’t seen her and I was putting it off.

“My boyfriend finally said, ‘This is crazy, just do it.’ I said, ‘I’m so terrified of what will happen. If I don’t recognize her, what will happen?”

Cher also admitted she still doesn’t feel “comfortable” referring to her offspring as “him” rather than “her”.

She added: “At some point, I’m gonna have to start calling her ‘him’. It doesn’t seem comfortable to me yet. Actually I just can’t remember and I guess I’ll start forcing myself but I’m not sure she cares.

Transgendered pageant competitors take part in a talent competition in Kathmandu

(AFP)

KATHMANDU — Nepal’s transgender community has sent blessings to Prince William and Kate Middleton ahead of their wedding and offered to send someone to the ceremony.

Transgender people in Nepal, mostly men living as women who are known as “hijras” or eunuchs, are considered auspicious at weddings in South Asia, where they are often paid to sing, dance and give blessings to the couple.

“Following this tradition, we are offering blessings to Prince William and Kate Middleton for their happy conjugal life,” said Pradeep Khadka, programme officer of the gay rights group Blue Diamond Society.

The group has sent a letter to the British embassy in Kathmandu proposing to send someone for the April 29 extravaganza that will be one of the biggest royal occasions in 30 years.

“The UK government has been very supportive of our cause. And the royal family is reported to have expressed its support for gay rights,” Khadka said.

Nepal, which has an openly gay parliamentarian, has made large strides on gender and gay issues in recent years to guarantee the rights of transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

In January, the country announced that the national census, which begins in May, will include a new category for transgender people.

Despite being accepted as part of weddings and other ceremonies, transgender people and eunuchs — men who have been castrated — live on the extreme fringes of South Asian society.

With the jobs market closed to them because of discrimination, many resort to prostitution and begging.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved

More and more large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup and Walt Disney, are covering surgery for transgender employees as part of their health plans.

The trend follows a concerted push by transgender rights advocates to get employers and insurers to see sex reassignment the way the American Medical Association does – as a medically indicated rather than an optional procedure.

The number is expected to go up dramatically this year, when the nation’s largest gay rights lobbying group adds availability of surgery-inclusive medical benefits to the criteria in its annual corporate diversity report card.

Kraft Foods, AT&T, Yahoo!, Eastman Kodak, Sears and State Farm are among 85 large businesses and law firms that cover the cost of at least one surgery.

Ricky Martin said he was "very blessed" to be "a fortunate homosexual man"

Source: BBC News

Pop singer Ricky Martin is to receive an award from a leading US gay and lesbian organisation after coming out as gay last year.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (Glaad) gives the Vito Russo Award to openly gay entertainers who promote equal rights.

“Ricky coming out was a game changer for many gay and transgender Latino children,” Glaad said.

“For too long, [they] did not have many out gay people to look up to.”

Martin will receive the honour at a ceremony in New York next month.

Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth will also be honoured after criticising a Newsweek article that said gay actors could not convincingly play straight roles.

“When allies like Kristin take such powerful stands against anti-gay sentiments in the media, it sends an important message of equality,” Glaad president Jarrett Barrios said.