Her 11th Birthday Was The First Time She Said She Didn't Want To Live. She Left On His 21st.

http://www.upworthy.com/her-11th-birthday-was-the-first-time-she-said-she-didnt-want-to-live-she-left-on-his-21st?c=reccon1

When Ethan was 11 years old, he struggled with understanding why he was unhappy. He knew something about his body wasn't quite as it should be, and his unhappiness manifested itself in suicidal thoughts and depression. As he got older, he came to realize he was struggling with the fact that his gender identity didn't match his gender and began the long transition to becoming a man. This is his story.

At 1:30, he talks about the children he'll never know. At 2:26, he gets me right in the feels.

When Ethan was 11 years old, he struggled with understanding why he was unhappy. He knew something about his body wasn't quite as it should be, and his unhappiness manifested itself in suicidal thoughts and depression. As he got older, he came to realize he was struggling with the fact that his gender identity didn't match his gender and began the long transition to becoming a man. This is his story.

At 1:30, he talks about the children he'll never know. At 2:26, he gets me right in the feels.

Here's the thing: 4.6% of the general population on average attempts suicide. For gay people, that number ranges up to 20% — over 4x higher. And for transgender people, it's 42% to 46% — about 10x higher. With numbers like these, it's pretty difficult to ignore how hard their lives get over time. And if more of us were aware and understood their struggles, we could start putting a dent in that number. Walk a mile in Ethan's shoes. If you really take a moment to see if they fit, you'll be surprised what sharing his story with others can do. It can help. Little by little, day by day, the more we talk about it, the less chance future kids will think to take their own lives.

Same sex marriages in jeopardy

The agony and anxiety that these couples must be facing due to the inconsistency of the law, must be truly excrutiating.

Liberal California shuts door on same sex marriages

Shalaka Paradkar in Los Angeles
A proposed ban on same-sex marriage in
California -- widely seen as the most momentous of the 153 ballot
measures at stake across the United States on November 4 -- has been
passed, with 52 per cent of the voters saying 'yes' and 48 per cent
saying 'no'.
For the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community which fought
long and hard for the right to get married, the vote has come as a
heartbreaking defeat.

Rashmi Choksey, president of Satrang, the South Asian queer
organisation based in Southern California, says, "It's been a
bitter-sweet election. On one hand, a liberal Democrat was elected
with overwhelming support and on the other, California, which is known
for its liberal views and ideals, has let its queer people down.
Satrang members who got married and those who hope to get married in
the future are quite sad at this turn of events."

Sapana Doshi, 34, who got married just two weeks ago to her partner
Tracy Osborne, 38, is on her way to her honeymoon in the Caribbean. .

Speaking to rediff.com, she said, "It doesn't mean that our effort
against Prop 8 (the initiative to ban same sex marriages) was a
complete failure. We spread so much awareness. It has forever changed
the way people think about same sex couples. For example, our family
has been transformed. And so many families in California agree that we
are denied our fundamental right. The verdict is a sad setback but not
a defeat."

Sapana, who got married in an Indian ceremony attended by 150 people
at the Sonoma County park in California, said, "We are each other's
soul-mates. For a long time we wanted to get married but were denied
our fundamental right. We were in fact planning to go to Canada
[Images] to get married. But when the state supreme court approved
same sex marriages, it gave us hope. It made a big difference in our
lives. So we moved fast to ensure we can get married soon."

However, Like Sapana, some 18,000 same sex couples who tied the knot
during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the court ruling
now face uncertainty about their legal status as a married couple.

Rashmi Choksey explains, "The fact that Prop 8 was passed with such a
small margin shows that we've made some strides into illuminating the
homophobia and discrimination we face. However, there's much more work
to be done, especially addressing the scare tactics and misinformation
that the religious right has used to its advantage. Basically, those
who got married will be in some sort of limbo, no one knows how it
will play out. I have a feeling there will be several lawsuits filed
for one thing or another, the biggest already being filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union."

The ACLU and other opponents of the ban have filed a challenge with
the state supreme court arguing that California's ballot cannot be
used to undermine one group's access to rights enjoyed by other
citizens.

The amendment, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, overrides the
original court ruling by defining marriage as the union of one man and
one woman. Thirty states have now adopted such measures, but the
California vote marks the first time a state took away the right after
it had been legalised.

In a landmark judgment on May 16, the California supreme court had
struck down the state's ban on same sex marriage.

Rakesh Modi, chariman of Trikone, a support group for LGBT people of
South Asian descent, said he has not lost hope. "I am very
disappointed with the unfavourable verdict on Prop 8, but I am not
disheartened. This just means that there is more work to be done, even
in the seemingly liberal state of California, to educate people. I
still have faith that Californians are broad-minded enough to accept
same sex marriage. We lost Prop 8 because of the scary tactics of our
opposition in spreading lies."

According to the 2000 census, total number of same sex couples in
California is 92,138. According to analysis of data from the 2000 US
census, there are over 13,000 Asian and Pacific Islanders in same
couples in California, more than in any other state.

According to Satrang's comprehensive survey in 2005 in collaboration
with the largest SA community based partner organisation, the South
Asian Network, over 3,869 of them are South Asians. The California
Center for Population Research says there were four per cent Asian
Indian same sex couples and 0.2 per cent Pakistani same sex couples in
California.

The number of South Asians has grown in the eight years since the
census. Moreover, the data doesn't include those who were counted
under 'unmarried partner household' category or single gays, lesbians,
bi and trans South Asians.

Gay marriage bans were also passed on Tuesday in Arizona and Florida
[Images], with 57 percent and 62 percent support, respectively, while
Arkansas voters approved a measure aimed at gays that bars unmarried
couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.

Massachusetts and Connecticut are now the only American states to
allow same sex marriage.

Suicide effects everyone.Article 377,decriminalisation and suicide

Decriminalising Gay Sex in India

By Craig Young - 31st October 2008
Is India finally about to decriminalise male homosexuality?

Under its colonial era Section 377 of the Penal Code, sexual
acts 'against the order of nature' are still theoretically illegal in
India. However, New Delhi government doesn't usually prosecute adults
engaging in private consensual homosexual acts. Unfortunately, this
de facto descriminalisation doesn't mean that homophobic harassment
and blackmail of gay men and women are therefore rare.

Some estimate that over fifty lesbian couples have committed suicide
over the last five years. These young women have done so because of
disapproval from their parents and / or society.

To counter the above, the campaign to decriminalize homosexuality has
strengthened. As in New Zealand in the mid-eighties when our turn
came, LGBT rights campaigners have concentrated their efforts on
education and lobbying related human rights and health issues,
especially information and public policy needed to combatthe spread
of HIV/AIDS in the subcontinent. These include organisations like the
Naz Foundation (India), National AIDS Control Organisation, Law
Commission of India, National Human Rights Commission and The
Planning Commission of India.

India must embrace decriminalisation of male homosexuality, as well
as an end to discrimination against Indian LGBTs, according to these
NGO and governmental organisations, especially the Naz Foundation. As
with New Zealand's AIDS Foundation, the Naz Foundation is a
particularly supportive group.

The Naz Foundation is a New Delhi NGO, which operates as a registered
charitable trust and has worked on HIV/AIDS and sexual health related
issues since 1994. Anjali Gopalan founded this organisation to fight
HIV/AIDS and support efforts for decriminalisation of male
homosexuality in India. Anjali began his HIV/AIDS activism in the
United States. After she returned to India during the early nineties,
she was frustrated at the neglect that surrounded HIV/AIDS in the
subcontinent. She founded Naz India to support marginalised Indian
sexual and gender minorities as well.

Naz India focuses on prevention and treatment. It emphasises the
prevalence of HIV, as well as human rights and civil liberties issues
that arerelated to sexuality and sexual health. It also works
alongside human rights groups and agencies such as India's Lawyers
Collective, Human Right Law Network, Amnesty International,
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. It has
addressed cases of such cases and often runs workshops forNew Delhi
Police. It also sensitises others to sexuality and gender-
relatedissues of discrimination, physical harassment, corruption and
human rights.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (an 'Anti-sodomy Law')
criminalises same sex sexual behavior irrespective of the age and
consent of the people involved, posing one of the most significant
challenges in effective HIV/AIDS projects within Indian gay and
transgendered communities. The litigation has been going on since
December 2002, when Naz filed Public Interest Litigation, with the
intention of challenging Section 377 in Delhi's High Court.

Unfortunately, the Delhi High Court refused to consider their
petition against Section 377. They argued that the Naz Foundation had
no locus standi in the matter. Since nobody has been prosecutedfor
the last twenty yearsunder Section 377, the Delhi High Courtmay not
strike out the offending moribund in the absence of a petitioner with
standing. However, there may be another High Court ruling on this
section or evenIndia's Supreme Court, under the heading of "Public
Interest Litigation (PIL).

Naz Foundation won its appeal in the Supreme Court against the High
Court decision to dismiss the petition on technicalities. The Supreme
Court decided that Naz Foundation did have relevant standing to
contest a PIL in this case and sent the case back to the Delhi High
Court to further review the case, which it did fromOctober 2006 to
May 2008.

In the interim period, there was strong support for decriminalisation
from a Delhi-based coalition of LGBT, women's and human rights
activists, 'Voices Against 377'. Voices has supported the demand
to 'read down' section 377 and exclude adult consensual sex from any
further criminal prosecution. Furthermore, the movement for change
has strong and influential backing from India's cultural elite. In
September 2006, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and acclaimed writer
Vikram Seth united with other prominent Indians in public life and
demanded the abolition of Section 377 in an open letter. This
document demands that 'In the name of humanity and of our
Constitution, this cruel and discriminatory law should be struck
down.'

In May 2008, the Delhi High Court finally heard the case. However,
there is division within the governing federal Congress Party Cabinet
over the issue. The Ministry of Home Affairs has adopted a
contradictory position to that of India's federal Ministry of Health
when it comes to enforcement of Section 377 with respect to gay male
sex.

At present, Section 377 continues to exist. Some homophobes use it to
threaten and blackmail closeted lesbians and gay men. It has been
abused in the past to harass people involved in safe sex work, such
as condom distribution amongst Indian gay men. Police have also used
itwheninvestigating complaints lodged by parents of the parties
involved.

For instance, an Uttar Pradesh lesbian couple that eloped with one
another were arrested and handed back to their parents, despite the
fact that both women were over the age of consent. The police used
Section 377as the legal basis for their arrest.

The debate continues to be waged. Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan have
recently produced an impressive collection of academic articles and
personal stories entitled Because I have a Voice: Queer Politics in
India, which documents current Indian LGBT political concerns.

Since May 2008, events have continued apace. On June 29th, 2008,
Delhi held its first ever gay pride march. Bangalore and Calcutta
held similar events. On June 30, 2008, Indian Labour Minister Oscar
Fernandes stated that he supported decriminalisation of consensual
gay sex. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also seems supportive.

On July 4, 2008, at the Delhi High Court supported the right of
Indian LGBT activists to hold a gay rally. Finally, on July 23, 2008,
Bombay High Court Judge Bilal Nazki also argued that Section 377
should be reviewed. And that is where the matter has to be left.

However, I imagine that pro-reform activists are heartened by the
lack of organised public opposition to their reform initiatives,
although apparently, it seems to still be an issue of contention
within India's federal Cabinet, with Prime Minister Singh asking the
feuding Ministers of Health and Home Affairs to sort the issue out
once and for all, recently.

Strongly Recommended:

Arvind Narain and Bhan(ed) Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in
India. New Delhi: Yoda Press: 2006

Open Letter on Section 377: http://www.openletter377.com/

Naz Foundation: http://www.nazindia.org/