Gay Pride in Guam: TOUCHE'

Ok guys and gals, Mike from Guam gave me the word. Gay Pride in Guam this Saturday, June 28, 2008, at Club Euphoria, starting at 9 pm til almost the break of dawn. Sorry for such short notice.

EUPHORIA... Located @ Crown Intl. Plaza Iso N.Marine DriveParty Reservations or Advance Tickets AvailableCall: 671.646.7786 Email: Fredricklg@impulseblackberry.com

I googled our neighbor islands gay bar and found they have a "My Space" site. So direct from their site here is the history of "Touche'":

"For those unfamiliar with Touche'... ... It all started 10 years ago as a social club event for Guam's gay & lesbian community & their friends. It was a very successful gay pride club/dance party that occurred every last Saturday of the month from 1998 thru 2003. It was held at different venues throughout the Island, namely: G-Spot Ballroom, Planet Hollywood, Buddies, Denial, Reef Hotel Ballroom, Carmen's Cha Cha Cha, Mad Cow, Midnight Special, Kool World, to name a few. It was well anticipated & well attended by everyone - both young and old, gay, lesbian and straight. Part of the event usually included a drag show and a costume contest... This will be the last Touche'!!! " Reference link: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=229954492

We are so excited for our neighbors! Wish we could all be there.

Photo's from our Pride coming soon!

Cheers,
Island Dyke

CNMI's 2008 Gay Pride: Hard Candy

Ok, if you are having difficulty reading: The PLACE: Club V in the Saipan Grand Hotel
The DAY: Wednesday, JUNE 25, 2008
The TIME: 9 pm to 2 am
THEME: Madonna night, celebrating "Hard Candy"

Is society knowledgable about Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood?

An interesting situation is going on in the state of Maine. Judy Harrison (2008) tells a story of a 13 y/o boy who identifies as a girl and wishes to use the girl's bathroom at school. This story is the topic of much debate and possible lawsuits. After reading this article there were many posts of people giving their two cents worth of mostly, in my opinion, uneducated opinions on the topic. There was one individual's comments that stood out in my mind and worthy of sharing with all of you. Devin of Bangor, ME shares these words:

"While over sixty years of research has been unable to determine what causes gender identity disorder, certain findings have been established by the medical/scientific community: (1) gender identity disorder is an indisputable phenomenon affecting from 1% to as much as 5% of the population (uncertainty is due to the number who choose not to be identified); (2) gender identity disorder has nothing to do with chromosomal makeup, and chromosomal makeup includes xxy and xyy anomalies often resulting in intersexed conditions such as ambiguous genitalia and transsexualism; (3) gender identity disorder has nothing whatsoever to do with sexual preference; (4) gender identity disorder cannot be alleviated through psychotherapy; (5) gender identity disorder can be alleviated through corrective surgery; (6) suicide among transsexuals is believed to have been as high as 50% as recently as 1980. (That percentage has begun to decline dramatically with increasing cultural acceptance.) Translation: gender identity disorder isn?t a choice or a hoax or a perversion, and those who are born with it can find relief by assimilating into the gender with which they identify. Considering that anywhere from 3 million to 15 million Americans are transgendered and many are inclined to suicide, what responsibility do we assume for our fellow human beings when we castigate them for their differences and deny them the opportunity for self-actualization?" (Devin, 2008)

On the page with this article is a poll that asks "Should a 12-year-old boy who identifies as a girl be allowed to use the girls' bathroom at school?". I responded to the poll with a yes answer only to find that only 19.06% of individuals responded yes. The majority, at 80.94%, of responses said no. I find this disturbing. There is a general lack of knowledge in the general population to this topic.

Wikipedia identifies the following four criteria for Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood:

• "The individual is persistently and intensely distressed about being a girl/boy, and desires (or claims) to be of the opposite gender.
• The individual is preoccupied with the clothing, roles or anatomy of the opposite sex/gender, or rejects the clothing, roles, or anatomy of his/her birth sex/gender.
• The individual has not yet reached puberty.
• The disorder must have been present for at least 6 months. " (Wikipedia, 2008)

For those of you that are aware of children that may have this condition, please offer support to those in that childs life. For those that are aware of adults with Gender Identity Disorder, please be remindful that they are just like everyone else in that we all live and die and yearn to be loved. Be respectful of others despite our differences.

Ok, so I'll get off of the soap box, now I'm curious as to what you all think. Do you know of anyone in Saipan that is transgendered? How is life on this island for them?

Island Dyke

Reference:

Devin (June 11, 2008) Reader Comments on Grandfather plans rights suit over boy using girls bathroom. Retrieved on June 12, 2008, from http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=165460&zoneid=183

Harrison, J. (June 10, 2008) Grandfather plans rights suit over boy using girls bathroom. Retrieved on June 12, 2008, from http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=165460&zoneid=183

Wikipedia (2008) Gender Identity Disorder. Retrieved on June 12, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder

Do you know where to report hate crimes?

I was surfing the net looking for GLBT connections to Saipan and stumbled on a little finding. The U.S. Department of Justice offers a internet page for "Office of Victims of Crime" and their "Resources for Responding to Hate Crimes". And there you have it, when you scroll down about 3/4's of the page:

"N. Mariana Islands
Attorney General of N. Mariana Islands
Office of the Attorney General
Commonwealth-of the Northern
Mariana Islands
Saipan, MP 96950
(670) 322-4311 "

LINK: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/help/hbcfts.htm

I have not heard of any recent hate crimes, however there have been some in the past and it is always good to know where to report these crimes. We need to feel we can report hate crimes and feel like we will be taken serious.

Tell me if you think the AG's office will be able to process these crimes appropriately. Does anyone have a story they can share?

Island Dyke

June Mainland Pride: west coast

This weekend, Saturday June 7, is Pride in Fresno, California. Have you been to Fresno? My parents live there during the summer and fall months and go south during the cold weather seasons. (Not for long though as they are moving here in one month.) Fresno is farming country and one of the last places I would think of a Pride festival, however, the last time we were visiting my parents there several years ago, we read that the PSS Commissioner was an "out" lesbian and that Fresno had a fairly large gay community. LINK: http://www.fresnorainbowpride.com/newindexPride.html

Also this weekend, June 6-8, is West Hollywood's finest Pride event! LINK: http://www.lapride.org/

Portland, Oregon is the following weekend, June 14-15. LINK: http://www.pridenw.org/

Island Dyke : keeping you in the loop