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In Big Singing Contest
Dana International Wins It All!
Contributed by Jodie Miller
via Reuters
May 10, 1998
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Israel's glamorous transsexual Dana International beat all the odds Saturday to complete a triumphant
journey from drag club artiste to Eurovision song contest winner.
Dana International, a statuesque brunette with gleaming white teeth and masses of glittery eye make up, won the annual contest with a catchy
dance tune called "Diva."
Voting was tense right to the end, with first place shifting between Israel, Britain and Malta, until the final votes were cast by Macedonia, which
gave the coveted top 12 points to Croatia.
When Israel was pronounced winner, it was Dana International's backing singers and musicians who went to the podium to collect the prize.
The star herself was nowhere to be seen until she made a dramatic reappearance on stage, having made a costume change into a slinky, low cut,
black dress, with feather boa sleeves.
Dana International, who took her name from the apple-cheeked singer who won Eurovision for Ireland in 1970 and has now turned anti-abortion
campaigner, has provoked controversy in her homeland.
Orthodox Jews protested at her selection to represent their country in the year of its 50th anniversary, saying Israel was sending "a message of
darkness."
The singer was born Yaron Cohen and underwent a sex change operation in London four years ago.
She was discovered singing in a Tel Aviv drag show and believes the Eurovision contest will broaden her appeal.
British bookmakers hadn't rated Dana International's chances, giving her odds to win of 8-1.
Britain, determined to bring a hint of "Cool Britannia" to a contest that has long been berated as a celebration of mediocrity, was the favorite at
5-2.
Its entry, "Who Are You" sung by acid jazz star Imaani, came second while Malta's ballad, "The One That I Love," sung by Chiara, was third.
Around 100 million viewers from all the countries from Turkey to Estonia to Israel which count as European for the contest's purposes were
expected to have tuned in to the three-hour show, which was dreamed up in Lugano in 1956.
Televised Debate on Transsexual Medical Care
Contributed by Lori Buckwalter
May 4, 1998
PORTLAND, OR. – Portland ABC affiliate KATU-TV opened it's hour-long "Town Hall" program on Sunday, May 3, to the debate surrounding inclusion of transitional medical treatment for transsexuals under the Oregon Health Plan.
The Oregon Health Plan serves low-income Oregonians under a scheme which prioritizes treatment according to medical necessity, and limits provision of services by available funding. Transsexuals in Oregon have long advocated the re-examination of the low priority given to gender reassignment procedures, but only recently have taken the issue before the public.
The on-air debate centered around the questions of medical necessity
and whether those who were seeking publicly-funded reassignment
treatments were expressing a "personal choice" rather than resolving a
verifiable medical condition. In addition, a representative of the
Oregon Citizen’s Alliance, which has posed previous ballot measures to
limit sexual minority rights, expressed the position that "gender is
genetic and determined at conception".
Transsexuals who appeared before the TV cameras, recounted personal struggles to deal with their misunderstood gender identities, and cited numerous health problems which the lack of prior treatment
options had caused them. Their arguments were countered by speakers who were generally sympathetic, but skeptical of their need for treatment, or the state’s obligation to provide it.
Lori Buckwalter, Director of It’s Time, Oregon!, who sat in "the hot seat" to present trans community positions, spoke of the Oregon public’s "compassion, which is limited by their lack of understanding" of transsexual personal and medical issues. She characterized the program as "very positive", in its overall effect. "Finally, there was an opportunity for transsexual people to speak clearly and reasonably to the public, to address directly the arguments against the validity and necessity of medical care which they seek so desperately. Perhaps there is still a long way to go for the majority of Oregon’s citizens to fully understand our concerns, but this was an excellent start. I am especially glad that the discussion was very direct without becoming confrontational. I believe this allowed viewers to see that we were real people like them, struggling with an unfamiliar life circumstance."
For further information, please contact Lori Buckwalter
Gender Advocacy Internet News (GAIN), is a free Internet news service,
brought to you courtesy of American Educational Gender Information Service
and It's Time, America!
"Rolling Stone" Wins Award for Infant Genital Mutilation Story
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
via NewsPlanet
May 1, 1998
Rolling Stone gathered 3 "Ellies," including 1 for an article
on infant genital mutilation -- and in honor of the occasion, Steinem and
Hefner did *not* throw rocks at each other!
Among the 32nd annual National Magazine Awards (called "Ellies") handed out by the American Society of Magazine Editors in New York on April 29 was a best reporting nod for John Colapinto's article "The True Story of John/Joan," one of three awards received by Rolling Stone to lead the field. Colapinto's article went a long way in popularizing the discovery that what had been literally a "textbook case" supporting early gender researcher Dr. John Money's theory that gender identity is plastic rather than innate -- that an infant would adopt the gender s/he was raised in -- turned out in real life to indicate exactly the opposite. Colapinto went on to expose the shaky medical foundations for the intervention transgender activists refer to as "infant genital mutilation," generating the largest and most outraged e-mail response of any article "Rolling Stone" has ever published. Some thirty years ago, at age 8 months, "John" was badly mutilated by accident during surgery to repair a fused foreskin, so physicians performed transsexual surgery and had his parents raise him as "Joan." In 1973, Money reported "Joan" to be a model of acceptance of feminine gender role. But more recently, Drs. Milton Diamond and Keith Sigmundson tracked down the family, and reported last year (read the story) that "Joan" had in fact actively rejected femininity every step of the way, had ultimately undergone a second gender reassignment process, and is now a married man.
The distribution of the "Ellie" awards also demonstrated that publishing makes strange bedfellows, with Lifetime Achievement Awards/Hall of Fame inductions for both Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner and Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, who once went undercover as a Playboy Bunny to expose the inner workings of Hefner's empire of Playboy clubs. The two posed for photos together and even smiled -- but not at each other. Steinem was said to comment, "It's like a conservationist being given an award with a head of a timber company."
High Heel Wearers Risk Knee Arthritis
Contributed by Jodie Miller
via Reuters
NEW YORK - High heels may be more than just uncomfortable -- a
study suggests that shoes with 2 1/2-inch heels and higher may increase the
risk of developing arthritis of the knee.
"The altered forces at the knee caused by walking in high heels may predispose
(wearers) to degenerative changes in the joint," according to a report
published in the current issue of the British journal, The Lancet.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Spaulding Rehabilitation
Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, say orthopedic and arthritis specialists
have long known that arthritis of the knee is twice as common in women as in
men.
Suspecting that differences in footwear might contribute to this gender gap,
the investigators asked 20 women (averaging 34 years of age, 5' 6" in height,
and 136 pounds) to walk along a 60-foot platform. Each woman performed this
task while barefoot, and then while wearing shoes with 2 1/2-inch heels.
Pressure sensors embedded in the platform, along with videotapes of each test,
allowed the researchers to determine the forces borne by ankles, knees, and
hips during each exercise.
They discovered that "wearing high-heeled shoes significantly alters the
normal function of the ankle." This results in compensatory changes at the
knee and hip to maintain balance, but "most of the compensations (for this
change in walking dynamics) occur at the knee."
Specifically, they found that walking in high heels puts an extra strain on
the area between kneecap and thighbone, as well as on the inside of the knee
joint. The latter phenomenon might be especially linked to arthritis of the
knee, since "osteoarthritic changes at the knees of human beings are more
common in the medial (inner) aspect than the lateral (outside) aspect of the
knee," according to the study authors.
Still, they caution that the study findings only point to an association
between high heel use and later arthritis. The Boston experts believe further
research will determine whether or not there is an actual cause-and-effect
relationship between heel design and knee degeneration.
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