Tag Archives: Gender Recognition

MTV Celebrates Diversity With ‘It’s Our Prom: A Night To De-Gender’

Just last week, a prom proposal went viral when Jacob Lescenski asked his best friend Anthony Martinez to prom. The two were featured on Ellen, where they talked about how grateful they are to go to a high school that supports anyone who wants to go to prom, no matter who they bring as a date.

However, not everyone is this supported. For people who do not fit into the gender binary, prom can be a difficult experience. Students are often given restrictions on what they can wear, who they can bring as their dates, and sometimes are rejected from prom all together.

Enter MTV News, who wanted to send the message that prom is for everyone, so they asked 12 young adults with diverse gender identities to help create a series of looks that celebrate the fashion and true joy that’s possible when no one is excluded – It’s Our Prom: A Night To De-Gender.

Among the models for this shoot was Tiq Milan, who works with media outlets to ensure accurate and fair reporting for trans people.

It’s important for young people to see examples of LGBT and gender non-conforming folks having fun and showing love to one another. I would love for schools all across the country to allow students to come to prom in whatever makes them feel good and with the date of their choosing.”

This story highlights the importance of inclusion and support for the LGBT community in high schools. Every student should have the opportunity to attend and enjoy their prom, no matter their gender identity or sexuality.
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It is important to promote messages of acceptance and authenticity among high school communities, and to let all LGBT people know that you can be your true self at prom, and we’ve #GotYourBack.

Taiwan’s Trans Citizens No Longer Have to Undergo Surgery for Gender Recognition

The topic of reproductive organs in relation to gender has long been a thorny one. So to speak, your sex is defined by what’s between your legs and your gender is defined by what’s between your ears and the two are not mutually exclusive.

However, for many people this does not make sense. In part the belief that those with vaginas are female or that those with penises are male (and you cannot be those genders without the ‘appropriate’ parts) are fuelled by centuries of misunderstanding, along with modern uses of phrases like ‘lady parts’ or ‘man parts’ along with ‘comedy’ videos like this.

But gender and sex are more than just an ideological issues as they provide challenges for those looking to have their gender recognised. Taiwan is one of several recent countries to acknowledge these problems and have now overturned a 2008 administrative order in which trans citizens had to undergo an evaluation by two psychiatrists and have sex reassignment surgery to remove organs deemed by the order as “gender specific”.

The decision comes after pressure from Taiwanese advocates to allow all citizens to self-identity when it comes to their gender. In December 2013, the Ministry of Health and Welfare agreed with their argument and recommended to the Ministry of the Interior that trans* citizens shouldn’t have to jump through surgical hoops just to have their gender identity recognised.

This is a huge stepping stone not just because sex reassignment surgery can be both dangerous and expensive but because having your gender legally recognised is also massively important in terms of administration. For example, trans people can have difficulty in finding housing or employment and often face discrimination, violence and harassment too.

From now on, gender reassignments will be processed by a team of people that includes gender specialists, psychiatrists and and transgender representatives. The ideal goal for many people would just be ‘being granted gender recognition without requiring a committee to approve it first’ but this is a good step in the right direction regardless.

Watch Animated Short About Gender Recognition

A short film, released by the Open Society Foundation, presenting the hurdles many transgender people face every day. The film explains how trans people around the globe are unable to obtain proper official documents that reflect their personal identity.

“No one should determine your identity except you. Yet this is an obstacle transgender people face every day. The majority of trans people around the world cannot obtain official documents that match their identity. And without these documents, it’s nearly impossible to do basic things like enroll in school, get a job, see a doctor, travel, or vote.”

In conjunction with animation, a global guide on gender recognition laws was also released – License to Be Yourself. This report documents the best and worst laws around the world, and also features case studies from Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Ukraine, and the United States