Chloe Sevigny Cries Over Wearing Prosthetic Penis

EDGE:

The Australian newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, reported that Sevigny “cried every day” when she had to wear a prosthetic penis for her new television series, “Hit & Miss.”

The “Big Love” star will play a pre-op transgender hit man named Mia. But she admitted the fake penis greatly upset her as she started to worry that men would no longer find her attractive.

“I cried every day when they put it on. You know, I’m ample-chested and I have this on,” Sevigny said. “I felt very exposed, and it was hard, very hard, having people so close to your personal parts anyway – who you’re not sleeping with – for an hour-and-a-half each day, to put it on.”

“Then looking in the mirror… it was weird. I was lonely and I felt really unattractive,” the 37-year-old actress added. “I was confused about my desirability – was I desirable? – in having put that on, and having men see me with that on.”

The “Gummo” actress went on to say that playing the transgender hit man was one of the most challenging roles she has ever done.

“I think it might be one of the most extreme roles I’ve done, yes. I’ve never really worked with prosthetics. I’ve never done any fantasy or anything weird. Then again, if people can believe what’s her-name in ’Avatar’, hopefully they can believe me as a pre-op,” she said.

Sevigny, who has a large gay following, has played in a number of “interesting” characters in the past, including a backwoods teen in “Gummo,” and a polygamist in the HBO series “Big Love.” She is also known for the controversial scene in Vincent Gallo’s “Brown Bunny” where she performs oral sex on him.

18th-century Painting Appears to Portray Trans Person

TheAdvocate: The “Chevalier D’Eon,” a 18th-century painting of a cross-dressing man, who may have identified as female at one point, recently sold to a British gallery.

The painting, by Thomas Stewart, depicts Chevalier D’Eon, who apparently lived quite a life of intrigue as a British-based employee of King Louis XV’s secret service. It’s believed D’Eon began dressing as a woman to evade capture after betraying the French government, eventually identifying as a woman until dying in 1810.

It was only recently revealed, thanks to restoration, that the Stewart painting portrayed a biological man in women’s clothing, instead of simply a biological woman. Ever since the British National Portraits Gallery purchased the painting from a New York dealer, the portrait has attracted much curiosity. It’s believed to be the earliest found painting of a gender-ambiguous person. Read more here.

First trans teen in Miss England competition leads heat

PinkNews: The first transgender teenager to enter the Miss England competition is leading in her heat of the pageant.

The public vote is open for the heat 4 of the Miss Fresh Photographic competition, which Jackie Green, 18, currently leads with 189 votes.

Green, an aspiring model from Leeds, was the first trans woman to enter the competition, after she was approached by talent scouts at the Next Top Model show in London.

Speaking to the Sun, she said, “Miss England is a prestigious competition. I’d love to win. I’ve as good a chance as anyone.”

She had gender reassignment surgery at 16, after attending school as a girl from the age of 10, but knew she wanted to change gender from the age of four.

She hopes to use the exposure of the competition to raise awareness of bullying and issues surrounding trans people.

Because of bullying, Green attempted suicide five times when she was younger, but is grateful for the support of her mother. She said, “I can never thank my mum enough, she saved my life.”

Voting is open until 6 February, and the winner of each heat will go on to the semi-finals of the Miss England competition later this year.

Jeez. Even celebrity transgenders can’t agree

HuffingtonPost: The transgender son of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening has lashed out at Chaz Bono on his blog, accusing the recently departed “Dancing with the Stars” contestant of being misogynous.

Nineteen-year-old Stephen Ira Beatty, who was born Kathlyn, accused Bono, 42, of being unqualified to speak about gender reassignment. “Chaz has appointed himself as the representative of a group of people who are not all like him,” Stephen writes. “He has said misogynistic and prescriptivist things about gender. I take particular issue with his comments on trans embodiment and on women.”

Stephen takes particular issue with Bono’s assertion in The New York Times, in which he likened being transgender to having a birth defect. “There’s a gender in your brain and a gender in your body. For 99 percent of people, those things are in alignment,” Bono said in May. “For transgender people, they’re mismatched. That’s all it is. It’s not complicated, it’s not a neurosis. It’s a mix-up. It’s a birth defect, like a cleft palate.”

Stephen responded, “Chaz is a misogynist…This man doesn’t represent our community. He especially does not represent those of us who are non-binary, non-op, women, or feminist men. Chaz needs to do some hard thinking about what it means to appoint oneself representative of a whole group without considering the desires of all the group’s members.”

He later followed the original post up with a second blog dated Nov. 17, presumably as an effort to clarify his views. “I would be more than happy to sit down with Chaz, have a drink, and talk with him about how he can think and talk about gender in a way that’s more inclusive,” he wrote. “He seems like an all right guy, his questionable views aside. And from what I’ve seen, he’s really remarkably good at the cha cha.”

Stephen, who is reportedly attending college as a man, was said in 2010 to be planning to undergo gender reassignment surgery. According to the National Enquirer, his famous father was “beside himself over the situation.”

 

Good for the Girl Scouts

EdgeMiami: The Boy Scouts of America is well known as an anti-gay organization that will not allow GLBTs or atheists into its ranks. Now, the Girl Scouts has courted controversy by initially refusing membership to a transgender child, though that stance was later reversed.

Archuleta indicated that Bobby’s family has dealt with the child’s gender expression by doing what medical authorities recommend: Allowing Bobby a choice of clothing, among other gender identity markers.

“Bobby identifies as a girl, and he’s a boy,” Archuleta told the media. “He’s been doing this since he was about 2 years old. He’s loved girl stuff, so we just let him dress how he wants, as long as he’s happy.”

The issue of transgender kids is a complicated one, as Archuleta discovered when she took Bobby to join the Girl Scouts. Bobby ’s older sister had already joined up, and Bobby was excited to follow suit.

The individual with whom Archuleta interacted refused Bobby membership in the Girl Scouts.

But the Girl Scouts quickly issued a statement to indicate that Bobby’s rejection was not a reflection on the organization as a whole–and to announce that the child would be welcomed into the fold after all.

“Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members,” the Girl Scouts of Colorado told the media in its statement.

“If a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout,” the statement continued. “Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them.

“In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach,” added the statement. “She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we’re better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers.”