Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 09:15:27 +0000 From: Clare Howell Subject: IYF7 MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Editor: Clare Howell, clare@gpac.org . GPAC AND ITA! WEIGH IN ON BRANDON TEENA MOVIE . GENDER IDENTITY HATE CRIME BILL PASSES CA STATE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE . CT SCHOOL BOY WEARING DRESS SUSPENDED . AND NOW... GPAC AND ITA! WEIGH IN ON BRANDON TEENA MOVIE ============================================= [New York, NY: 17 Apr 98] GenderPAC and It's Time America! have written to the producers of 'All She Wanted' urging the filmmakers to portray accurately Brandon's transgender experience and offering their support as technical advisors in developing the screenplay. These letters echo GLAAD's letter of 5 Mar 98, written to the film's producers offering GLAAD's help as technical advisor. The film will be produced by, among others, Drew Barrymore and Diane Keaton, and based on the Aphrodite Jones book 'All She Wanted.' Transactivists have expressed concern that the film will reflect what they consider the book's inaccuracies and distortions about Brandon's life and death. Penni Ashe, Acting Media Dir. of It's Time America!, sent the film's producers a media primer on transgenderism. She states, "...it is likely that your film will be the first widely- released story about a female-to-male (FTM) transgendered person and thus will likely have a significant impact on the public's perception of transexual men. Hence the need for an accurate, sympathetic protrayal." Riki Wilchins, GenderPAC's Ex. Dir., wrote, "Brandon is only one of a number of transpeople who have been viciously murdered in the last 3 years... Hate crimes and gender murders happen because gender-nonconforming people face hate and oppression in today's culture. Portrayals in movies like yours are pivotal in shaping how people see us, and in making the next hate crime more--or less--likely to occur." ### Contact: Ellen McCormick, Legislative Advocate LIFE: California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and HIV/AIDS Lobby (916) 444-0424 GENDER IDENTITY HATE CRIME BILL PASSES CA STATE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ================================== [Sacramento, CA: 14 Apr 98] A VIOLENT CRIME committed against a transgender person because of their gender identity would be a hate crime based on gender under a bill passed today by the California Assembly Committee on Public Safety. Assembly Bill 1999 (AB 1999) clarifies a current CA law that provides penalty enhance- ments for violent crimes which are hate-based and motivated by a victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation. AB 1999 also standardizes California's hate crime statutes by adding 'gender' to the sections where it is missing. The bill now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. ### CT SCHOOL BOY WEARING DRESS SUSPENDED ===================================== [Middletown, CT: 2 Apr 98] BRYAN GILES, 17, a junior at Middletown High, wore a dress to school last week and was suspended because of it. "I feel comfortable wearing a dress," he said. "It's just something I like to do. I make sure it isn't trashy and looks cool." "We don't want a carnival-like atmosphere in our school," said Superintendent David Larson, who handed down the 3 day suspension, citing Giles with creating a disturbance by wearing a purple and yellow peasant dress with a plunging neckline. Giles returned from his suspension wearing a demin skirt. At least 8 other boys supported him by wearing dresses and skirts. A dozen girls wore business suits and ties. The boys who refused to change clothes were suspended for 3 days, Giles for 5 days. The suspensions caused an outcry in the city of 44,000 just south of Hartford. In response, school officials cut short the suspensions. Civil libertarians hailed the students' return to school as a small victory for freedom of expression. Those friends of Giles who wore dresses in his support do not see it as a new fashion craze. Said one boy, "I'm not going to wear it again, but a lot of girls told me I looked really good in it." ### AND NOW... A KICKASS TRANNY =========================== [Bangkok, Thailand: 4 Apr 98] PARINYA KIATBUSAGA, 16, is Thailand's best-known kick boxer, having won 20 of 22 matches, 18 by knockout. He's also a crossdresser who creates a feminine appearance in the ring with gesture and makeup. The contrast presented by his forthright femininity in a rough-and-tumble sport is causing a sensation in Thailand. "I have the body of a great fighter," he says. "But in my heart, I'm a woman. It is hard to fight beautiful men. I can easily knock them out. On the other hand, I want to hug and kiss them." Thailand is not a closeted country. Men dressed as women host talk shows, live in all-gay housing projects, and march in military parades. Though Thais on the whole are easygoing about crossdressing, in the rural area where Kiatbusaga grew up, his neighborhood fellows felt free to ridicule him. He was lured into fights as a child. He learned to fight early. He says, "A person would tease me only once." ### Subscriptions. Please send: subscribe iyf-online or: unsubscribe iyf-online to: MajorDomo@apocalypse.org For prior press releases, check the GenderPAC website at: http://www.gpac.org (c) 1996 InYourFace Our online news-only service for gender activism.