A Cure For HIV/AIDS?

The pandemic that has killed over 25 million people and another 33 million live with that includes members of the trans community in the HIV virus, if trials performed in Berlin hold up under upcoming scientific scrutiny, may finally have found a cure for it..

In the wake on another World AIDS Day observance, it was nice to read the article that suggests that a cure for the disease may have been found using stem cell transplants.

According to the Huff Po article, Timothy Ray Brown, AKA the 'Berlin Patient' underwent a 2007 stem cell transplant as part of a long treatment regimen to combat leukemia     His doctors published a report in the medical journal Blood that suggests Brown has no trace of the HIV virus after extensive testing and a cure for the virus may have been achieved.  

While much testing remains to be done and the research continues in nations around the globe to fund that elusive cure, it nevertheless is wonderful news and a beacon of hope for people who are living with HIV/AIDS.

And it makes it even more important that we get universal health care in this country.
 

Family Acceptance of TBLG Kids Leads To Better Self- Esteem- Duh!

 

"...our findings that family acceptance protects against suicidal thoughts and behaviors, depression and substance abuse offer a gateway to hope for LGBT youth and families that struggle with how to balance deeply held religious and personal values with love for their LGBT children..." Dr. Caitlin Ryan 

This survey states the obvious, but it's nice to have it down in academic black and white so we can bash our haters over the head with it.

The study was authored by Dr. Caitlin Ryan and her team from the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University.    It shows that accepting behaviors of parents and caregivers towards their LGBT children are protective against mental health risks -- including suicidal behaviors -- has critical implications for changing how families relate to their LGBT children and how LGBT youth are served by a wide range of providers across disciplines and systems of care, including custodial care systems such as foster care.

The study was funded by The California Endowment, a health foundation dedicated to expanding access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities.
Major Research Findings:

•     Family accepting behaviors towards LGBT youth during adolescence protect against suicide, depression and substance abuse.
•     LGBT young adults who reported high levels of family acceptance during adolescence had significantly higher levels of self-esteem, social support and general health, compared to peers with low levels of family acceptance.
•     LGBT young adults who reported low levels of family acceptance during adolescence were over three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to report suicide attempts, compared to those with high levels of family acceptance.
•     High religious involvement in families was strongly associated with low acceptance of LGBT children.

If you wish to read the full PR web article, click on the link to it here.

Gene Found That Triggers Gender Change In Embryos

The evidence continues to pile up that points to a medical cause for transsexuality and gets us closer to understanding how gender developmental disorders happen..

There was interesting news coming from researchers Down Under that the alteration of a single gene, called MAP3K1,  will cause some male embryos to develop as female.

Lead Melbourne researcher Prof.Andrew Sinclair, of Murdoch Children's Research Institute, said the breakthrough would improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with these disorders.

The MAP3K1 plays a role in switching on genes that direct the gonad to become testes.   Alteration of this gene caused male embryos to develop female characteristics, including genitalia and an overall feminine appearance.

It's also more evidence that the Human Genome Project, the Big Science effort of the 90's whose funding was fought by back in the day conservafools and was completed in 2003, is paying major dividends in terms of our understanding of which genes do what and how they affect the human body. 

Results of the collaborative effort study between researchers in Australia, France, the US and UK were published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

While some folks in the trans community may see this as unsettling news, I'm one of those peeps that has an inquiring mind and wants to know how we transpeople come to be..
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Do You Ciswomen Define Yourselves By Your Genitalia Only?

While searching for the latest news about the Andy Moreno saga, stumbled across this borderline transphobic Chick Talk Dallas post on the issue  

Of course I left a comment on it:

Andy has been transitioning since her freshman year and lives full time as such, so yes, she does have the right under DISD's own non discrimination policies to run as homecoming queen.


But my question to you and any other cis woman is this?   Do you define yourself strictly by your genitalia?   If you don't, use a combination of other factors to define your femininity and believe that it's unacceptable for you to be defined by your genitalia, then why do you and other cis women insist on that standard for Andy Moreno and any other transperson on the planet?     

Women are made, not born as the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir once stated.  Femininity is learned and constantly evolving behavior. .

Indeed, one of the tenets of feminism is that 'biology is not destiny'.    However, when it comes to transwomen, not only do radical feminists ignore that simple truth, many ciswomen of all stripes do so as well.

Some of our detractors are quick to throw in our faces the fact that transwomen cannot menstruate or give birth to children.   But there are ciswomen who have the plumbing and cannot give birth as well for various reasons up to and including those who go through menopause, and we don't see you haters to strip them of womanhood.  .    


Don't  even try to bring up the chromosome argument.

You know, the XX= female and XY= male one.   Better pick up a science book before you try to throw that shade.  There are women walking around on this planet who have XY chromosomes, and men with XX.   That's before I even start making your head spin with the 20 plus other combinations such as XXY,  XXYY,  XXXY and other chromosomal combinations such as Klinefelter's Syndrome and Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome

Medical science has discovered in various studies that  transwomen have biological similarities to women; they tended to have fewer somatostatin (growth regulating) neurons than the average man, for example, and the ratio of their index and ring fingers (also known as 2D:4D, a common proxy for androgen exposure in utero) was higher than it usually is in men, closer to the average female ratio, and gender identity is hard wired before birth.

It is increasingly becoming apparent that nature has other ideas that clash with the human crafted binary gender system.    What makes a man or woman in society's eyes is simply not defined by what's between our legs and that's it.   It's a combination of factors that includes socialization into male and female gender roles, personal perceptions, comfort with those gender roles and secondary gender characteristics. 

If that standard is good enough for you ciswomen in other situations, then why is that standard all of a sudden chucked to the side when it comes to us transwomen?