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Boys Need Female Hormones
Contributed by Rachelle Austin and Jami Ward
via Reuters
May 12, 1998
A new finding about how the body reacts to male and female hormones may
offer a better treatment for prostate cancer.
Researchers said Tuesday they found hormone regulators previously were
thought to respond only to male hormones also responded to the female hormone estrogen. They said their findings could
open better ways to treat prostate cancer, and could explain some of the processes behind male development in the womb. It also
serves to further blur the gender distinctions between so-called male hormones such as testosterone and female hormones
such as estrogen. In fact, all hormones are found in both sexes, only in differing amounts.
Researchers have known that the male hormone testosterone
activates the androgen receptor, which controls the
''expression' or activation of a male hormone gene.
The androgen receptor is also important in the development
of the male reproductive system.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, Chawnshang Chang and colleagues at the University of
Rochester said they found in tests that both natural estrogen
and testosterone acted on this receptor.
They found the receptor reacted to estrogen when a certain
co-activator was also added. This co-activator worked with
natural estrogen but not with synthetic estrogen.
They said their findings may explain why synthetic estrogens
work better to suppress prostate cancer, which has hormonal
causes, than natural estrogens.
They also noted that there was some evidence that estrogen
could in some way be responsible for the abnormal growth of
prostate cells in prostate cancer.
The findings could open better ways to treat prostate
cancer, the Rochester researchers said.
``Even after several decades, surgical or medical
castration, combined with the administration of anti-androgens,
remains as the major treatment for disseminated prostate
cancer,'' they wrote.
But estrogens were sometimes used instead to suppress the
effects of male hormones, and were cheaper. The finding that
natural estrogen works differently from synthetic estrogen could
be an important point.
``Further studies of this (estrogen to androgen receptor)
pathway may therefore allow us to develop new hormonal therapies
for the treatment of prostate cancer and other androgen-related
disorders,'' they concluded.
McDonald Bombs in Recent Show
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
Former "Saturday Night Live" regular Norm
MacDonald, who made a habit of telling transphobic jokes on national television is bombing in his solo career. The June issue of Esquire magazine, covering
MacDonald's appearance at the University of Iowa, reports
that his jokes about bestiality, masturbation and mass
murder sent audience members fleeing out the door.
Victoria TS Wants Bar Punished
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
via Reuters
May 5, 1998
VICTORIA, British Columbia - A Canadian
undergoing a sex change is asking authorities to cite a gay bar
for gender discrimination after being barred from using the
women's facilities.
Tawni Sheridan alleges she was eight months into hormone
treatments to change from male to female in 1995 when BJ's
Lounge in Victoria ordered Sheridan to stop using the women's
bathroom.
Sheridan claims the club, which caters to gay and lesbian
customers, aggravated the situation five months later when they
barred her altogether because she no longer matched the
appearance of the man on her old identification card.
The lounge said Sheridan was barred from the washroom after
female patrons complained they felt uncomfortable. Sheridan's
lawyer claims the club jumped to unfair conclusions -including
that gender is based on anatomy.
"He (the manager) never asked her to lift her skirt or
remove her shirt," said attorney Alison Sawyer, who is
representing Sheridan before the British Columbia Human Rights
Tribunal. They were scheduled to attend hearings on the case on
Wednesday.
The club originally offered to settle to avoid legal costs
but then decided to fight, and claims Sheridan said she wanted
to use any money she won from a lawsuit to pay for the
sex-change operation.
"We believe we have not discriminated. This is not a case
of us versus transgendered individuals...Our clientele are
predominantly gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual. We try to
be inclusive," manager Stephen Andrew told Reuters.
Andrew said the club has changed its rules to allow
transsexual patrons to use the women's room. Female patrons are
urged to be more tolerant and can use the staff bathroom if they
still feel uncomfortable.
Andrew said Sheridan was readmitted to the bar in 1997 after
she obtained a female identification card, but was barred again
when she continued to protest the washroom policy.
Sheridan's complaint cites discrimination based on gender
and physical and mental disability. The tribunal is not expected
to release its ruling for several weeks, but could order
Sheridan be paid compensation for loss of dignity.
Hoffman Sues Over Drag Photo
Contributed by Jodie Miller
via Associated Press
May 12, 1998
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A computer-altered photo of actor Dustin
Hoffman in a cute yellow dress is no laughing matter -- and isn't
protected by the Constitution, a federal judge said.
U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian on Monday gave the
green-light to Hoffman's lawsuit against Los Angeles Magazine for
violating his publicity rights by publishing a retouched photo of
Hoffman in drag.
The ad showed the Academy Award-winning actor in the dress next
to a caption that read: "Dustin Hoffman isn't a drag in a
butter-colored silk gown by Richard Tyler and Ralph Lauren heels."
The actor, who starred in the 1982 movie "Tootsie" about a man
who dresses as a woman to get an acting job, sued for $5 million in
April 1997 claiming the photograph was altered with a computer and
used without his permission.
Attorneys for the publishers -- Capital Cities/ABC Inc. and
Fairchild Publications Inc. -- had asked the judge to dismiss the
suit, claiming the photo was protected by the First Amendment.
A spokeswoman for ABC said the company would not comment because
the matter was still in litigation.
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