Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 07:40:31 +0000 From: Clare Howell Subject: IYF14 MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Editor: Clare Howell, clare@gpac.org . TRANSACTIVIST JOANNA MCNAMERA IS DEAD . SEX REASSIGNMENT AFTER CIRCUMCISION ACCIDENT . MEDIA WATCH: SPEAKING OF TRANSGENDER... TRANSACTIVIST JOANNA MCNAMERA IS DEAD ===================================== [Oswego, OR: 9 Jul 98] TRANSACTIVIST JOANNA McNamera took her life on Tuesday, 7 July. She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was an attorney who co-founded I'ts Time, Oregon! and was instrumental in gaining protection from discrimination for transexuals under Oregon's disability law. Ms. McNamera is remembered as a generous friend and a tireless worker for the transgender community. Close friends say that she had recently become despondent. She suffered from depression and the after-effects of physical injuries she incurred as a young adult. She left a note that said, in part, "I have run out of hope... I am tired of hurting physcially and emotionally... I have fought and struggled to the best of my ability; I can struggle no more, the pain is too great." ### SEX REASSIGNMENT AFTER CIRCUMCISION ACCIDENT ============================================ [Chicago, IL: 10 Jun 98] IN A CASE THAT RESEMBLES the "John/Joan" study last year at Johns Hopkins, a Canadian male infant, whose penis was irreparably damaged during circumcision, was surgically reassigned as a female and has successfully adapted to life as a woman. Now 27, the unnamed woman describes herself as bisexual and, as of last summer, was in a relationship with a woman. The findings in this case, published in the July issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, seem to contradict those of the Hopkins study, in which a male was surgically reassigned as a female because of a similar circumcision accident, but could not adapt to life as a female. "John/Joan" rebelled against his female socialization and began living as a male at age 16, leading some observers to conclude that gender identity is set at birth. The significant difference between the two cases is when the sex reassignment was performed: at 21 months in John/Joan's case and at 7 months in this case. The results of this case have led researchers to speculate that there may be a "window of time" after birth before gender identity is realized. Said Kenneth Zucker, one of the authors of Canadian study, "When you think about the fact that this person was an entirely normal biological male prior to the circumcision accident, this case may shed insight on how malleable someone's gender identity is." John Bancroft, Director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, commented that the two studies show how "...we are very much in the dark" when it comes to understanding how gender identity and sexual orientation develop. ### MEDIA WATCH: SPEAKING OF TRANSGENDER... ======================================= The New York Times (29 Jun) coverage of NYC's Gay Pride parade featured a lesbian couple-- "We're lesbians and that's ok. We're just like anybody else," one of the women said. In the next paragraph-- "Transvestites clattered behind in clingy evening gowns and stiletto heels." The woman quoted above "...pointedly ignored the transvestites and turned to her partner, 'That's not us, is it?'" Another Times article (30 Jun) reported on the recent remarks of Republicans condemn- ing homosexuality. The article quotes Robert Black, spokesman for the Texas Republican Party, on why the gay Log Cabin Republicans were banned from the state convention-- "We don't allow pedophiles, transvestites, and cross-dressers either." From the New York Blade (26 Jun) article "The Transgender Craze" by lesbian Beren de Motier: -- "It's this merging of 'trans' with 'lesbian, gay, and besexual.' I hate it with greater fervor every day." -- "It's just that I don't think transsexual- ism... or being transgendered... is what Gay Pride is all about. And I wish I didn't have to see it on every banner, T-shirt, and poster for the entire month of June." -- "My skeptical side says that transgender activism is yet another attempt by extrem- ists (identified primarily as gay before this whole 'trans' deal became the latest thing) to shoot our movement in the foot-- for who knows what reason." ### Subscriptions. Please send: subscribe iyf-online or: unsubscribe iyf-online to: MajorDomo@apocalypse.org For prior press releases, check the GenderPAC website at: http://www.gpac.org (c) 1998 InYourFace Our online news-only service for gender activism.