Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 13:33:56 GMT
Subject: InYourFace - News Roundup
From: riki@nyc.pipeline.com (Riki Anne Wilchins)


-- Court Holds Korean Transexuals Cannot Be Raped 
-- Transgender Murder in Cleveland 
-- CT Gov: No Pride for Transpeople 
-- LA TransPeople on the March 
 
 
 
============================================== 
Court Holds Korean Transexuals Cannot Be Raped 
============================================== 
 
[SEOUL, SO KOR - June 143, 1996] 
from Reuters News Service 
 
     South Korea's highest court has ruled that  
two men who sexually assaulted a female  
transsexual cannot be convicted of rape. 
 
     The decision by the Supreme Court on  
Wednesday hinged on whether a man who has had  
a sex-change operation is legally a woman.  
South Korean law recognises rape only against women. 
 
     "Though the victim in this case behaves  
as a female the person cannot be recognised as  
one because, among other things, his chromosomes  
remain unchanged and he cannot get pregnant,"  
Justice Chong Kwi-ho told the court. 
 
      Chong upheld a lesser charge of sexual  
assault against the men who attacked the  
37-year-old transsexual in April, a court 
official said on Thursday. 
 
     The two were each jailed for 2 and 1/2 yrs. 
 
 
 
 
=============================== 
Transgender Murder in Cleveland 
=============================== 
 
[June 13, 1996 - CLEVELAND, OH] 
 
	On Thursday, June 13th, the body  
of Janice Ricks was found near E. 105th St.  
and St. Lukes Hospital.  Janice had been shot  
twice, once in the neck, and again in her abdomen.   
While there are reports that she was seen with  
someone earlier that morning, there are no  
suspects at this time.  No motive for the  
shooting has been disclosed.  Notably, the  
location where her body was found is not a  
safe area.   
 
	Police have so far neglected to return  
calls from local gender activists seeking details  
about the Ricks killing.  Local newsmedia have  
carried little coverage of her murder, one station  
briefly mentioning that a man who went about in  
women's clothing had been killed, although  
Janice Ricks was reportedly living full or nearly  
fulltime as a woman. 
 
	Said Emilia Lombardi, a spokestrans for  
Transexual Menace Cleveland/Akron: "Janice's death  
reminds us how many people there on the margins of  
society, often overlooked and forgotten.  Many of  
these are people who are isolated and alone, having  
little or no contact with trans and queer communities  
which could help and support them.  How many others  
must die alone, or suffer in silence?  We must  
continue to reach out to *everyone* in need." 
 
Contact: Emilia Lombardi - CherRed@en.com 
 
 
 
 
================================ 
CT Gov: No Pride for Transpeople 
================================ 
 
[HARTFORD, CT - June 20, 1997] 
from the Hartford Courant 
 
     Governor John Rowland has turned down a  
request by Connecticut PRIDE '96 to have  
the month of June declared as "Gay Pride" 
month. 
 
     The proposed proclamation include references  
to lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, as well as  
"people who do drag and transgender people." 
 
 
Protecting Second-Graders 
------------------------- 
 
     Nuala Forde, spokeswoman for the governor  
said the governor will not sign any proclomation  
that he would have trouble reading to a second-grade  
class. 
 
     "This proclomation is not a question of equal  
protection.  It's a question of endorsing drag  
queens and transsexuals, and he simply won't do it",  
Forde said. 
 
 
 
 
============================ 
LA TransPeople on the March 
============================ 
 
     For the first time, on June 23, 1996, an openly  
transgender contingent marched in the Los Angeles Gay Pride  
Parade, which annual draws over 300,00 participants and 
spectators. 
 
     The Transgender Menace - Southern California contingent  
included 15 marchers (most in black "Menace" t-shirts) and 
one sun-bonneted (and possibly genderqueer) dog. 
 
 
It's About Freedom, Mary! 
------------------------- 
 
     Carrying placards reading "TS SM Queen," "Dyke2Fag,"  
"Freedom to Vary," and "Freedom to Be Mary" (tweaking the  
thousands of "Freedom to Marry" signs) Menacers received  
a variety of reactions including blank stares, wild cheers,  
obvious confusion, and kisses from the Sisters of Perpetual  
Indulgence. 
 
      "My personal favorites were the leathermen who took  
a few moments to figure out who we were, and then applauded  
quietly," said Jacob Hale, who organized the contingent  
along with Shirley Bushnell. "I think that they realized 
that transfolk and leatherqueers are queers among 
queers, marginalized and stigmatized by more 'respectable'  
gays and lesbians, and felt kinship with us."  
 
Contacts: Shirley Bushnell - shirley@earthlink.net 
Jacob Hale  - jacob.hale@email.csun.edu