In the News (with pictures & videos)

[Betty]

Billionaire Backer Of Open Transgender Military Service Comes Out

Pritzker, 63, reportedly released a statement to employees at the Pritzker Military Library and Tawani Enterprises that said:

 "As of Aug. 16, 2013, J.N. Pritzker will undergo an official legal name change, will now be known as Jennifer Natalya Pritzker. This change will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and will now share publicly. Pritzker now identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings."

The retired Army lieutenant colonel is president and CEO of Tawani, founder and chairman of the military library and on the board of Squadron Capitol LLC, a private-equity firm in Connecticut. Forbes lists Pritzker as having a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Col. Pritzker has invested millions of dollars in projects in and around Chicago. In the Rogers Park neighborhood, she spent $6 million to restore and preserve the Morse Theater.

A source mentioned that Col. Pritzker's announcement will not come as a surprise to those who know her best.

In July, Col. Pritzker's Tawani Foundation awarded a $1.5 million grant to the University of California's Palm Center to study the feasibility of service by transgender people in the military.

Pritzker was born in 1950 in the U.S.A. He attended the Loyola University Illinois where he completed his Bachelor of Arts/Science degree. Currently divorced, James Pritzker has three children.

I believe she will be the FIRST transgendered billionaire in the USA or the world.

Sorry, no pix as her as a woman yet. I guess being a billionaire, she was able to keep a low profile about it.


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[Betty]

The legal battle between Black Entertainment Television (BET) and gender non-conforming host B. Scott took a sour turn Thursday after leaked emails appeared to show that media company officials communicated internally over their disapproval of Scott "looking like a woman" on air.

It all started last summer when Scott was hired as a Style Stage Correspondent on the red carpet before the 2013 BET Awards in June. During the pre-show, BET reportedly "forced" Scott remove his makeup and heels. He changed his outfit but never reappeared on air.

The network later apologized for the "miscommunication," but in August, the media personality announced plans to sue BET for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

Prior to the event, BET music programming president allegedly wrote a message saying: "I don't want 'looking like a woman B Scott.' I want tempered B Scott." Afterward, BET executives reportedly wanted to spin the incident to avoid a public relations nightmare.

"The leaked email exchange between BET/Viacom personnel is both shocking, and hurtful," Scott said. "While Iā€™m disheartened by the blatant and intentional attempt to stifle my gender identity/expression way before the day of the event, Iā€™m also thankful that the truth is starting to surface."

"Itā€™s a shame that a company such as BET/Viacom would rather focus energy towards slandering my reputation in an attempt to further humiliate me instead of learning from their mistakes," he continued. "The time & energy spent creating a ā€˜spinā€™ could have more effectively been used to help create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ employees."

[Betty]

Pamela Raintree and her stone are being celebrated by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of Shreveport, Louisiana, for their incredible parts in sustaining the city's LGBT non-discrimination ordinance, which was under threat of repeal.

As Towleroad notes, the transgender woman recently confronted Councilman Ron Webb, the single dissenting vote against the ordinance, which passed in December, and the mastermind behind a repeal of the law.

Raintree brought the stone with her to the council meeting and stated, "Leviticus 20:13 states, 'If a man lie also with mankind as he lieth with a woman, they shall surely put him to death.' I brought the first stone Mr. Webb, in case that your Bible talk isn't just a smoke screen for personal prejudices."

[Betty]

Offbeat Movies

Best Crossdressing Performance: Jared Leto, ā€œDallas Buyers Clubā€
With his perfect cheekbones, sparkling doe eyes and slim, feminine physique, the Thirty Seconds to Mars singer was simply born to play this role. Not only did he talk the talk and walk the walk, but Leto played a better woman than some real actresses this year.

Jared Leto said he performed his civic duty by serving on jury duty yesterday, and today he woke up at 5 a.m. and heard about his Oscar nomination.

ā€œOnly in America can those two things happen like that, back to back,ā€ the actor said in a phone interview shortly after he received the news.

Leto won a Golden Globe Award Sunday night for his ā€œDallas Buyers Clubā€ performance as Rayon, a drug-addicted transvestite who partners with Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey) to start an alternative-treatment business for patients with HIV and AIDS.

The actor, 42, said heā€™s received support from the transgender community. ā€œI think everyone knows that I fought tooth and nail to make sure that the dignity and grace of this character was clear and present,ā€ he said, adding that heā€™s ā€œrelieved to get such a wonderful response from that community.ā€

[Betty]

The 9th Annual Otaku Senryu contest is on in Japan, and this means the open call for the contest mascot Nyako Shikibu is on as well!

The Otaku Senryu contest collects witty otaku slice-of-life moments in the form of Japanese poetry from public, and the contest is also hosting open calls for the character mascot of the contest with cat ears and a calligraphy brush for both the illustration and model category. Cat ears and a brush sound like a great addition to any cute female model, but we should always remember the other demographic. The 6th annual contest is limited to male models and crossdressing is encouraged!

[Betty]

Leslie Cochran's health improved enough to move him out of the hospital and into a private hospice. On one hand that's great news for his legions of friends and fans. Still, he remains critically ill, and moving to hospice care, well... lets not read anything more into that.

He has remained alert and conscious since awaking from a two week coma last week.

"Consciousness, however, is not a sign of improvement in his overall health," said his friend Debbie Russell in an email. "He has challenges beyond his brain injuries, and Leslie is making his own choices right now about his future."

On February 16th Leslie ended up in an ambulance after being found unconscious in a parking lot of South First. His health deteriorated and doctors performed brain surgery, Leslie's fourth in the last three years. After nearly two weeks in a coma, he awoke last week.

 If comments on CultureMap are any indication, Leslie is the most cared for homeless man in history:

    Here's to you Leslie for keeping it weird."

    "It was two weeks after I moved here that I met Leslie while checking out Eeyore's Birthday Bash. I always dreaded meeting him in person cause I though he must be nuts, but he shook my hand and we talked about what was going on with politics, school, and the economy. He's one of the strangest people Austin has to offer and I think the most curious thing about him is how not strange he can be."

    "Sad to hear the best crossdressing Mayoral candidate Austin has ever had is gravely ill. He gave ATX major personality."

    "I used to see Leslie all time in college on 6th. However, I was working at Lucy's in Disguise one fall and he sat right next to me while I was outside on South Congress having lunch. He was really nice and had some good stories to tell. I got a chance to know the guy a little bit and I hope that he recovers and gets the send off that he deserves. The saying "Keep Austin Weird" just seems ironic now, but Leslie was the embodiment of that saying."

    "Hey everyone please be sure to keep Leslie in your prayers!"

    "Leslie told me the trapper story one time and he's been planning to go back to Colorado for a while now... When I lived on Soco at 2020, he would come by for a beer every night a 10 sharp and hang out with my friends as he moved onward to Trophy's .... Such a good soul that Leslie! In my prayers!"

    "PRAYERS GOING TO YOU LESLIE STAY STRONG WE LOVE YA!! GOD BLESS!"

[Betty]

A MARRIED man from Dorking has spoken of the inner torment he has been caused by telling family and friends of his cross-dressing lifestyle.

For years, Fiona Jane Edwards has dressed as a woman in secret, but has now gained the courage to talk openly about making such a revelation.

Speaking to the Advertiser in her female persona, the 64-year-old said: "There used to be a huge stigma around dressing as the opposite sex, but things have changed and it is more accepted.

"Talking openly about this is hard, but it needs to be done so people know that there is nothing wrong with it.

"It is not something to be ashamed or scared of, but something to be embraced."

She added: "There are more transvestites in Dorking than you might think.

"I would do anything to publicise what we are and what we are like."

Fiona, whose real name is Francis, said she felt a lot more comfortable when dressed as a woman.

"It feels more natural to me sometimes," she said. "It gives me a confidence boost.

"Children are more likely to spot that I am a man than adults. Adults seem to take things more on face value, at a glimpse, but children are more likely to see beyond the make-up and clothes to the real person."

Fiona first started dressing as a woman as a teenager in Portsmouth, where her mother and father ran a pharmaceutical shop.

She said: "I tried some female clothes on and I kind of liked it and it was from then on that I did it more and more.

"It is in the last 20 years that I gave the female a name, Fiona, and in more recent years I have been going out as her. To begin with it was really scary but, after a while, you grow in confidence and it makes such a difference.

"Some months I dress up lots and then others, hardly ever. It takes a lot of time and effort to create Fiona, and sometimes life gets in the way and I can't."

Fiona has been married for nearly 30 years and said her cross-dressing had not always been easy for her wife to deal with.

She said: "It is not something that she necessarily agrees with, but as long as I don't do it in front of her or parade around in front of her then she is OK with it. I would never say she is happy about it.

"I am a heterosexual man and I love my wife, but this is something that makes me feel good about myself."

Fiona said she had never been tempted to undergo surgery to become a woman permanently.

She said: "I have considered it briefly in the past, but there are a couple of things stopping me. It is expensive, there could be huge complications and I like being able to be a man as well."

[Betty]

There's more controversy over the state's Pono Choices sex education program. This time it involves one of the controversial curriculum's critics.

Tito Montes, president of the Hawaii Republican Assembly, is under fire for calling a respected Hawaiian leader and cultural practicioner a "transvestite" and a "drag queen."

Hina Wong-Kalu -- who considers herself a transgendered female -- says the name calling borders on hate speech.

"To utilize words transvestite and drag queen in any political debate is taking a cheap shot," Wong-Kalu said.

Montes remarks were part of his criticism of the state's Pono Choices sex education program. Montes and other Republicans say the program is too graphic for middle school students and is not medically accurate.

Wong-Kalu appeared in Pono Choices skit about HIV risk and here's how Montes described her:

"'Kumu' is the video short story of a transvestite drag queen who wears lipstick, eye liner, a dress, a padded bra and earrings," Montes wrote.

Wong-Kalu, who is the chair of the Oahu Burial Council, shot back:

"A transvestite is someone who puts on clothes, a man who puts on women's clothes in the middle of the night for once in a while but this is not temporary for me. This is an everyday element of my life," she said.

The latest controversy over the Pono Choices program comes as state Rep. Robert McDermott called on the Department of Education to pull the curriculum or revise it.

[Betty]

Benidorm - ITV, 9pm

Whether you like your breaks in 5-star luxury, or like to keep things a little bit more down to earth, with organised fun, cross-dressing hotel staff, and the unfortunately placed loud-mouthed couple who you spend all week trying to avoid, itā€™s time for a little bit of sun. Or perhaps youā€™d rather give the latter a miss and watch somebody else suffer, from the safety of your armchair instead.

Yep, the show that promises sun, sea and sangria serves up another bumper helping of laughs tonight, as Liam bumps into Bianca and immediately falls in love. But itā€™s not all good news in the resort, as Donald and Jacqueline receive sad news about their friend Big Donna.

Meanwhile, the grand reopening of Blow nā€™Go is interrupted by a rowdy stag party, and a familiar face returns - old Solana regular Martin Weedon (Nicholas Burns) is the best man with said stag party.

And Madge is keen to stir things up with the Dyke family, so Janice, Mick, Tonya and Clive decide the best course of action is to ignore her.

Benidorm has been entertaining the masses for just shy of seven years, collecting a couple of National Television Awards along the way. Itā€™s certainly found its place in the publicā€™s heart, and Tim Healy, who plays transvestite Lesley, thinks he knows why.

The actor says: ā€œIt has the same appeal as Carry On movies. All the characters are larger?than-life, colourful and great fun to play. Iā€™ve been an actor for 40 years, and itā€™s wonderful to come to work and have a laugh.ā€

Laugh being the operative word because Tim admits playing Lesley can be hard work at times.

ā€œIt is [fun], although it doesnā€™t always seem that way when Iā€™m wearing a wig, a bra and full make-up and Iā€™m skating round on roller blades in the 90-degree heat! It can be very uncomfortable. In the Christmas special, they dressed me as Santa in thigh-high leather boots and put me on the top of the Benidorm Palace. It was 42 degrees! Iā€™m not allowed to go into the pool at lunchtime because of the make-up. My make up takes as long as any of the glamorous female characters!ā€

Yet Tim is adamant he wouldnā€™t be anywhere else, especially enjoying the reaction he gets from fans.

ā€œThey come up to me and say, ā€œI didnā€™t recognise you without your wig or your dress!ā€ he smiles.

[Betty]

Transsexual Tries for Miss World Crown

A Bangladeshi transgender woman is setting her sights on joining Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra in winning the Miss World title, reports the tabloid Daily Mail.

Born Adesh Maltepe and now called Amelia Maltepe, the young woman said she always felt trapped in a manā€™s body, so she spent $13,000 on hormone therapy and breast implants and $4,500 on laser hair reduction to make her dream a reality. She identifies as a woman, but has not yet undergone the full gender reassignment surgery.

The 23-year-old business student moved from Bangladesh to Toronto, Canada, in 2009 to study, and while there became aware of her options.

Being in Canada, she said, ā€œIt was the first time I realized you could use surgery and medicine to change your birth gender. It was an amazing moment and I felt like I could finally be the person I always was.ā€