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TG News From Around the World

Courtesy Aegis Online News


200 MARCH IN EL SALVADOR

Two hundred gays and transvestites marched through San Salvador, El Salvador, last month to celebrate gay pride.

The event was organized by Entre Amigos (Between Friends), an "Association for the Integral Development of Sexual Minorities."

A transvestite dance show followed in a central plaza. "Homosexuals are ... productive beings who don't want to cause harm to anyone," said Entre Amigos President William Hernandez.

BRITISH TRANSSEXUALS WIN RIGHT TO SUE FOR BIAS

British transsexuals July 15 won the right to sue employers for harassment and discrimination brought on by a sex-change operation.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal said such bias violates the Sex Discrimination Act.

"This bold and far-reaching decision finally recognizes that transsexuals need legal protection against the considerable discrimination they face," said Kamlesh Bahl, chair of Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission.

JAILED TURKISH TG LEADER RELEASED

Turkish transsexual gay leader Demet Demir is out of jail after yet another run-in with local police.

Demir, a winner of this year's International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission award for outstanding contributions to the movement, was taken into custody by Istanbul police July 12 as she tried to stop them from beating another transsexual. Police said they were beating the woman because she was Kurdish.

"They started to hit me and I was bruised on several parts of my body," Demir said via e-mail. "They took me to the police station and wrote a report that I was accepting that I insulted the police, and they wanted me to sign it. But I insisted that I wouldn't sign anything before my lawyer came. They were angry at me and they opened my purse. My passport was in the purse and they saw the American visa on the passport. ... They asked me why I went to US and I told them for a human rights award. Then they were a little bit worried and changed their attitude into an apologetic one. They started to address me as 'Miss Demet.' I stayed in jail for the night and the day after I was taken to the court. The judge ... decided that I should be set free."

Demet then filed suit over the arrest.

"[Now] their eyes are over me all the time," she said. "[Beyoglu- area Police Chief] Suleyman Ulusoy, who is nicknamed as Suleyman- the-Hose, famous for beating the transvestites with hose pipes, comes to my door and tries to provoke me and my friends by staring in our windows. They have also sued me for insulting the police. ... They went to the shop owners around the area and wanted them to talk as witnesses to the court that I really insulted the police. [The owners] did not accept to do that but they neither accept to talk as witnesses on my side because they are afraid of the police."

SYDNEY 'TRANY BALL' A SUCCESS

Sydney, Australia's Trany Pride Ball last month was a social and financial success, organizers said. Six hundred fifty dollars raised at the event will go toward construction of a Trany Pride float for next year's Mardi Gras Parade, Capital Q reported.