Transgender actress Mimi Juareza wins best actor as Dorina in "Quick Change" at the Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Source Inquirer Entertainment:

MANILA, Philippines- The Best Actor wore a stunning violet gown. 

True to its maverick spirit, the 9th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival gave the best actor trophy to a transgender, Mimi Juareza, for his acting debut in Eduardo Roy Jr.’s “Quick Change.”
Asked if he had wanted to win best actress instead, Juareza told the Inquirer: “Best actor, best actress … whatever, for as long as they show their appreciation for my work, I don’t mind.” The jury cited Juarez for “his bold take on a gender-bending role.”
Roy said that for a first-timer, Juareza was a “natural.”“Luckily, he was a good actor to begin with. We only had a two-day workshop before the shoot,” Roy told the Inquirer.

Read more at Inquirer Entertainment

The 9th Cinemalaya Film Festival Awards Night was held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on August 4, 2013.



Quick Change trailer



SYNOPSIS: Dorina believes she is a lady incarcerated inside a male body. She's got herself a flourishing career, albeit in an illegal cosmetic surgery business. She is a mother figure to Hero. She acts as a devoted wife to Uno, Dorina feels that she is one lucky woman. Until his partner falls in love with another transgender.

Reviewed by Brun Philippines online:

Eduardo Roy Jr.’s “Quick Change” (Review): “The Unattainable Virgin”

Eduardo Roy Jr.’s “Quick Change” is one my favorite films in the festival.  The story is not an easy sell and moviegoers with an open mind may be the only ones to give this opus a second look.  Nevertheless, “Quick Change” is one of the must-see movies of the year. Many films have already tackled stories about transsexual individuals, but some films were more exploitative than revelatory. Roy’s “Quick Change” rises above the rest.  The movie tells the story of Dorina, a middle-aged transsexual living with a younger man and raising his young nephew. 

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What separates “Quick Change” from most gay-themed films is that it is not really about being a homosexual.  It is about living.  Dorina is flesh and blood.  He or she (whatever pronoun you may assign to Dorina) is a three-dimensional character solving personal and economic problems like most Filipinos.  Her conditions may be unique but the pain and complications in her life are not alien to most.  Dorina may not necessarily be the poster girl for the LGBT community but director Roy brings justice to Dorina’s humanity by making her a complex individual rather than a prototype.  Dorina, as a film protagonist, does more service to the community than non-threatening gay characters on television. In a way, by being flesh and blood, Dorina indirectly criticizes the community and the public at large.  You cannot really shove her in a convenient box with a label “immoral faggot.”

Read more at Braun Philippines online

Russian Officials Flip Again: Now say they WON'T beat up LGBT people at the Sochi Winter Olympics

Another turn around, yet another de facto acknowledgment by Russian officials regarding the immorality of the "Gay Propaganda Laws"

Originally, The Olympic committee (OIC) in a effort to stifle the worlds objection to sending there athletes in harms way at the 2014 Olympics claimed a unnamed Russian official  had given them assurances LGBT athletes would not be persecuted under the "Gay Propaganda Law". This was a optimal evasion by the OIC since it would have freed them of any moral obligation or claims of liability in the event the Russians didn't temporally suspend the law and beat people except.....

......that no sooner than that dog and pony show ended a cosponsor of the anti LGBT law, Vitaly Milonov, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, said "If a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn't have the authority." So the hate fest was back on....

....and if left at that Russia probably would have faced an all out boycott something they were not prepared to do. There is a lot of money to be made and prestige and ego to satisfy.
So today another in a series of  abrupt about faces, 100Wapi reports that "Russia said on Sunday that athletes and guests attending next year’s Winter Olympics will not be subject to the country’s stringent new anti-gay law."

“The Olympic Games is a major international event. We need to be as polite and tolerant as possible. That is why a decision has been made not to raise this issue during the Olympics,” Igor Ananskikh, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Physical Culture, Sport and Youth Policy Committee, told Interfax."

 “Russia plans to host large international competitions in the future. The atmosphere at them must be as safe and polite as possible,” he added.

"His comments came just a day after Russia’s sports minister warned that athletes and spectators would be accountable under the law."

Dear Mr. Igor Ananskikh what of the mobs, the bullies the orthodox 'christian' criminals who always show up whenever one or more LGBT person gather to beat them up? YOUR country not only encourages this violence but turns a blind eye when it happens. Mr. Igor Ananskikh your country needs to change those laws and start enforcing laws that protect all tour citizens now.

Russian officials assurances may seem creditable enough to allow corporations, the IOC and politicians to ignore the  brutal treatment of intellectuals, LGBT and opposition parties which will undoubtedly resume immediately following the "international competitions". So Putin will have his games.

EXCEPT Putin has not taken into account the worlds population which can see through his facade, his pretensions and faux humanity. That is why transaction Convergence sponsored the petition No Pussies No Games: Boycott / Demonstrate at The Russian Winter Olympics.

We're not petitioning politicians, corporations or the IOC. Its understood who they are, they don't care.

This is the voice of the people who you beat.

The voice of the people you brutally oppress.

This is the voice of the people calling out to one another to make a moral commitment to force Putin to lead Russia away from the path he has put her on. This will work regardless if athletes and attendees decide to boycott or demonstrate at Sochi because the reality is that many athletes and guests feel that there attendance is a more valuable form dissension.

And with this temporary suspension of a legally enacted Russian law by a bureaucrat for the temporary safety of LGBT visitors and artists, Putin has ONCE again shown how righteous any protest might be.

Balaclavas for everyone. Free Pussy Riot 

Sarah Baker's unofficial guide to transitioning for Life while in prison

Life Imprisonment An Unofficial Guide
£9.95 Waterside Press

By now everyone has read the sensationalistic mail online article "Violent inmate who tortured his step-mother's brother then boasted about freebies in prison is given £10,000 sex change on the NHS" about Sarah Baker, a transgender prisoner serving life for resisting a child rapist who was preying on her behind bars.

In all fairness the article does make a effort to properly inform but not before repeatably misgendering her despite acknowledging her desire to be called Sarah, positioning her medically mandated surgery as a frivolous unwarranted expense and calling her a "Violent violin playing thug". All of which has garnered Mail on line hundreds of shares comments as of this posting.

Can you say pandering to violence prone right wing thugs?

So lets for the sake of it, take a less condemning look at Sarah. She was originally jailed at age 19 after spending her youth incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. It's not all Rosy. She escaped open prison in 2007, spent 100 days on the lamb and fathered a child with a former pen pal during that time.

The daily mail makes a point to mention Baker said prison was agreeable to her in a 2009 Telegraph article. This sort of bravado in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity is the same thing that I, like many other trans people displayed when we used hyper masculinity to mask our true selves while serving in the military.

For a inside look I read another article about Sarah's current Pen pal. It was published today sans the sensationalistic headlines and unsurprisingly has receive few shares or comments as of this posting.

"Mrs Stockwell, 74, started writing to Baker when she was volunteering with probation more than 20 years ago and now feels like she is "a second son". She feels that she is a new person and deserves chance." Mrs Stockwell helped Sarah publish her first book and is helping with the next one and feels she is a changed person who deserves a chance.

So who is Sarah, a undeserving inhuman thug as the Mail online would have us to believe?  This Is Croydon today.co.uk shows us her human side in a interview let her speak about the conditions she is facing now:

Social skills are not taught. If you're chucked out at 40 with barely anything in your pocket, how are you going to survive?
"The thought of being released terrifies me and I would find it easier to be left here.
"At least we know what to expect here – what will I do, die alone in a bedsit?
"However, 25 years is enough. I have hurt people but I want to do something positive." 

The violin player added: "The London Chamber Orchestra have said I can work for them if I am released."
Her next opportunity to appear before a panel will be in October this year

Two Brazilian Trans woman Murdered in Two Days

TransMusePlanet reported that transgender woman Vougue Savannah, 30 was shot and died July 28th. It was later learned that the shots were not for Savannah but for a friend, India, purportedly becuse of a money dispute. According to a post on transfofa  Anchieta Bridges, of the 4th Police District, said José da Silva, 37, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and injury followed by death.

On the 31 another Brazilian trans woman was murdered. In this instance her authentic name was not used by the press.

Ms. Tavares, 21, was found dead with six bullet wounds in her butocks on a plot in the Baixada Fluminense near Rio. 
Ms. Tavares' murder is being investigated as a hate crime.

The head of the station of Niagara Falls (65th SD), Robson da Costa Ferreira da Silva, heard three witnesses and did not rule out that the crime may have been motivated by revenge or homophobia.

According to relatives of the victim, Ms. Tavares had no enemies and her gender has always been respected by family and friends.

Fa'afafine: An antinomy of gender roles not understood outside of Samoa

Shared by Trans Health Australia on planetransgender's facebook page a revealing look at what it means to be a Fa'afafine in Samoa.

There are up to 3000 Fa'afafine – men raised as girls – currently living in Samoa. The Feed's Patrick Abboud investigates this complex and often misunderstood cultural phenomenon.

While it is not widely known in Australia, there is a third gender of people who make up an important and accepted part of Samoan culture.

Samoan Fa'afafine – or “Fafa” – are men who are raised as females and identify with that gender.

They mostly have relationships with heterosexual men and are generally not gay.

In Samoa, gender identity is largely based on a person’s role in the family and if one family has numerous sons and no daughters, it's not uncommon to raise one of the boys as a girl.

 

Phineas Hartson 2 weeks ago

As one of the "Fa'afafine" I was not raised to be Fa'afafine I just WAS and simply left to be ME. My family did try to direct me towards more masculine pursuits but never forced me to be anything other than myself. They definately never pushed me to be more feminine or female. Defining "Fa'afafine" is neither black or white, which is the whole point. I'm greatfull that Leo, Ymania and I were able to share our stories and that to be truly happy you must standup and be true to yourself.

Published on Jul 16, 2013

Not really a boy, not really a girl, not traditionally 'trans' of any kind. Somewhere between all those identities exists a third gender. We're talking about the Samoan Fa'afafine or 'Fafa'.

Fafa have the body of a man but identify as female. They have relationships with heterosexual men mostly and are generally not gay.

Confusing?

Well not for the Samoan community - it's part and parcel of their culture. Gender identity for Samoans is about the role you play in the family not so much which anatomical bits you have. So when you've got 7 or 8 sons - no girls in the family, it's quite the norm to simply raise one of your boys as a girl.

The Feed airs weeknights at 19:30 on SBS 2. You can also follow us on Twitter at @TheFeedSBS2, or 'LIKE' us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SBS2Australia) to stay in the loop

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Only a Few Pay What You Can Tickets Left For Namoli Brennet's On Line Show Sunday 8-4-13

Here we are smack dab in the middle of summer, and I can finally engage in one of my favorite pastimes of the season: a little something I call "looking for shade". A close second is a little game I nicknamed "hiding from the sun." At the moment I'm house-sitting in Northern Wisconsin, so things are a little milder than usual - although I should let you know that it *did* heat up to a blazing 72 degrees today. It's probably one of the few places where you can take up needlework during summer, as I did this past week. In case I start a knitting group, I already have the name picked out: Purl Jam©. I'm doing a live-streaming show from Trego, WI tomorrow (Sunday) via StageIt starting at 4 pm CST. As with the other StageIt shows, it's pay-what-you-want and it's pretty darned simple to sign up. Have you been missing my weirdness? Because I still have PLENTY OF IT to spare, tune in and see. Maybe I'll even show you my knitting while I snack on cheese curds, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. Coming up next weekend on Saturday, August 10th, something I am super-excited about: Out In The Woods, an LGBTQ music festival in Greenwich, NY, just a little ways from Albany. The lineup is pretty incredible and features some of my own personal heroes: John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Shortbus), as well as John Kelly, Rachel Sage, Freddy Freeman and an incredible lineup of artists. Tickets and info are available at outinthewoodsmusicfestival.org and proceeds benefit LGBTQ youth programs at Easton Mountain. Coming up this fall, starting to book some dates on the East Coast! A few shows on the books already including Chicago, Knoxville, Connecticut, Massachussetts and Maine, more to be announced at the end of the month. As always, if anyone is interested in hosting a House Concert feel free to drop me a line, it's super easy and one of my favorite things to do.  I'll be in and around New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and finishing up in the Midwest in late October. Trying *real* hard to make it back to the Southwest in either November or December - miss you all and haven't forgotten about you, I promise. Off to rock some knitting in the shade, see you soon! xoxo namoli