Gen Z much more accepting of non-binary identities and orientations.

Recognition and acceptance of LGBT(QIA) identities and rights have come a long way in the last few decades. Each newer generation is more accepting than the previous, and as such, younger generations have very different perspectives than older generations.

Researchers from The Innovation Group, a "creative think tank," (i.e., non-academic), asked Gen Zers about sexuality and gender. The results were recently reported online and presented at SXSW.

From Broadly:

Teens These Days Are Queer AF, New Study Says
by Zing Tsjeng

A new survey of young Americans aged 13 to 20 years old (also known, in marketing-speak, as "Generation Z") has found that they are far more open-minded and permissive than their older millennial counterparts when it comes to issues of gender and sexuality.

According to a report by trend forecasting agency J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group, only 48 percent of Gen Zs identify as exclusively heterosexual, compared to 65 percent of millennials aged 21 to 34.

On a scale of zero to six, where zero signified "completely straight" and six meant "completely homosexual," more than a third of the young demographic chose a number between one and five, indicating that they were bisexual to some degree. Only 24 percent of their older counterparts identified this way.

Fifty-six percent of 13-to-20-year-olds said that they knew someone who went by gender neutral pronouns such as "they," "them," or "ze," compared to 43 percent of people aged 28 to 34 years old. Over a third of Gen Z respondents also strongly agreed that gender did not define a person as much as it used to. This figure dropped to 23 percent among millennials who were 28 and up.

Read the rest here: link.

And some infographics:

More infographics here: link. 

Animation of MtF sex reassignment (corrective) surgery.

Passed along by Afrooz (thanks!).

While many people have heard of sex reassignment/corrective surgery (i.e., surgically changing someone's genitals to match their experienced sex), most have no idea of what the surgery involves. It's a tricky process, and one that is constantly being refined to produce more optimal results for the patient in terms of both appearance and functioning.

Surgery typically follows after sex hormone therapy has begun. Sex hormones are required for the person's lifetime. For someone who transitions physiologically from male to female, female sex hormones are necessary as the body does not produce its own, even after surgery (i.e., we're not at a point where ovaries, which are the primary source of female sex hormones, can be transplanted).

The video below depicts the surgical procedure required for transition from male to female. Keep in mind that it was produced in 2009, and there have been major advancements since. Nonetheless, it gives you a good idea of how complicated the procedure can be.

OP-Verfahren zur Geschlechtsumwandlung von Mann zu Frau

Trans (porn) superstar Buck Angel.

This is Buck Angel. He's a porn superstar, educator, advocate and supposedly all-around awesome dude. He describes himself as "the man with a pussy."

He was interviewed and photographed a while by Dirty Magazine:

BUCK WILD By Kirsten Matthew

Buck Angel has lived through several lifetimes. Born a girl in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, he made a living as a model (and developed a serious crack habit) before deciding to become a man, 18 years ago. As the "Man with a Pussy" he went on to marry a woman, and make award-winning porn. Now, he's keen to mainstream, by becoming an author, educator and lecturer.

DIRTY: DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU REALIZED YOU WANTED TO BE A BOY RATHER THAN A GIRL?

BUCK ANGEL: I always felt like a man. It wasn’t ‘I think’; it was ‘I am’. My parents treated me very much like a boy. They called me Buck. They didn’t treat my sisters like that. My sisters are both butch too; they have that masculine energy. But mine was male energy. That’s not really normal but it felt normal to me. Going through puberty at 15, things started changing. That was a breaking point for me. I got into drinking and smoking pot; had a psychological breakdown. I was extremely shy. I always wore a baseball cap. I couldn’t make eye contact, start up a conversation.

[…]

D: HOW DID YOU MOVE INTO THE ADULT FILM INDUSTRY?

BA: I think it was over 10 years ago or so that I made my first fetish film. It was for my own company, The Pro Dominatrix, that I started with my wife at the time. We made dominatrix and fetish (foot, smoking, bondage) films in our dungeon in downtown Los Angeles. I taught myself to use a camera and edit. We put them on VHS and sold them through the website. Then I started trying the Buck stuff. I have done 15 Buck films; most under my own label, Buck Angel Entertainment. I control my image. I only release one or two movies a year because I do not want to over-saturate the market with my product. I really love all my films. I have seen such a growth with my work and also with the talent that I am able to cast now. In the beginning it was very hard for me to cast, as people were scared to be in a film with me because they had no idea how this would reflect on their career. The adult entertainment business is very conservative in a sense that you can not really do crossover gay, straight work. But, I did it. And one more film and then I think I’m done with making adult films.

His commercial website can be found here (NSFW!).

Buck did a talk a while back at Idea City. He discussed his experiences growing up, his rise to stardom in both the adult movie industry and the popular media, and the politics and culture surrounding transgenderism. The clip of his talk is long, but worth every minute.

About this talk: "Either I'm going to kill myself, or I'm going to have a sex change." Transsexual adult filmmaker and educator Buck Angel talks about the limitations and effects of current socially constructed gender roles, his personal struggles with sexuality, and how what's between your legs does not define you.

A documentary about Buck was released last year. Here's the trailer:

It's morning in Mexico. Buck is feeding his 7 dogs. Trailed by the pack, he picks up photos & reveals his past. Buck was born female yet always knew he was male. Even his parents raised him as a boy until puberty. That's when the conflict began escalating to drug addiction and suicide attempts.

http://www.thegayuk.com/magazine/4574334751/SEXING-THE-TRANSMAN-The-Buck-Angel-Interview/9298703

Documentary: Intersexion.

From the CBC:

The first question any new parent asks… “Is it a boy or a girl?”

What if it’s neither? 1 in 2,000 babies is born with genitalia so ambiguous that the doctors cannot easily answer this question.

In this groundbreaking documentary, intersex individuals reveal the secrets of their unconventional lives – and how they have navigated their way through this strictly male/female world, when they fit somewhere in between.

Watch the full documentary here.

Trailer:

Trailer for documentary feature Intersexion. An award winning exploration into the world of intersex people. The 1 in 2000 of us who don't fit neatly into the male or female categories.

Man cooks and serves his own genitals at public banquet.

From the Huffington Post:

This chef's got balls.

Mao Sugiyama, a self-described "asexual" from Tokyo, cooked up, seasoned and served his own genitalia to five diners at a swanky banquet in Japan last month, Calorie Lab reported.

In most cases, "asexual" is a word used to describe a person who is non-sexual. Sugiyama, however, embraces it as a way to show that he does not affiliate with either gender.

Sugiyama sparked a firestorm of interest on April 8 with one tweet:

"[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location."

Just days after Sugiyama's 22nd birthday, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery, divvied up the severed penis shaft, testicles, and scrotal skin between five people, and garnished it with button mushrooms and Italian parsley.

On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.

The next day, an organizer posted a blog -- subsequently deleted -- containing pictures of the event. Images showed dozens of people who attended the event just to catch a glimpse of the rare treat.

The extra diners were served crocodile-based dishes while Sugiyama cooked up the exclusive meal.

The story went viral in Japan. Some showed even more interest, while others complained. But Calorie Lab called Japanese authorities, who deemed the banquet legal because there is no law against cannibalism in the country.

To see more photos, click here.

Man has baby.

From The Mail Online:

Britain's first 'male mother': Man born a woman is first in UK to give birth despite having sex change

* The man had hormone treatment to reactivate his womb * He is one of only five 'male mums' in the world * The baby is thought to have been delivered by cesarean section

A British man is believed to have given birth, causing an ethical controversy.

The ‘male mother’ started life as a woman but underwent a sex change. He is thought to have had the baby last year, while living as a man.

Medical experts said that if the womb is not removed in sex change surgery, there is nothing to stop a woman who becomes a man from having a child.

Read the rest of the amazing story here.

The following photos are of another man, mentioned in the article, who also became pregnant. His name is Thomas Beatie. He decided to become pregnant after his wife had a hysterectomy.

Jesslyn.

Steve, a student from last year, passed this along last night, completely coincidentally (thanks!). The video collage below follows Jesslyn's two-year transition. She's documented and shared the entire process on her YouTube channel. Her videos have had over 2,000,000 views, she has almost 8000 followers, and there are thousands of supportive comments - and that's only since she started posting videos in March of 2010. Check out her YouTube channel for much more: link here.

My Princess Boy.

As mentioned in class by Brooklyn yesterday:

From Jezebel:

"I like to dress up in different kinda clothes, and jewelry," says Dyson, age 5. He especially likes to dress up like a princess.

Luckily for Dyson, his mom, dad and brother all just want him to be happy — so they don't care that he's into pink, sequins and things that sparkle.

The problem, of course, is at school and at stores. When Dyson goes shopping with his mom, people often laugh when he likes dresses and pink heels. Before Halloween, Dyson's teacher called everyone in the school and informed them all that Dyson would be a Princess Boy. Some of the most "macho" employees at school dressed as ballet dancers, in a show of support for Dyson.

With all the terrible teen suicides and gay bullying around us right now, it's so nice to hear a happy, positive spin on a boy who is different. In the words of Dyson's older brother:"If he's happy, I'm happy."

His mother wrote a book, My Princess Boy, about Dyson. The book, which encourages acceptance and understanding, has gone global. You can find out much more about it, and see other clips of Dyson, here.

Dyson and his mother have made many media appearances, including the following:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/

Australian passports now include option for third gender.

From the BBC:

New Australian passports allow third gender option.

Australians have been given a third choice when describing their gender on passport applications, under new guidelines aimed at removing discrimination.

Transgender people and those of ambiguous sex will be able to list their gender as indeterminate, which will be shown on passports as an X.

People whose gender was different from that of their birth were previously required to have reassignment surgery before they could change their passport to their preferred sex.

An Australian senator, Louise Pratt - whose partner was born female and is now identified as a man - said the reform was a huge step forward.

"There have been very many cases of people being detained at airports by immigration in foreign countries simply because their passports don't reflect what they look like," she told Australian radio.

"It's very distressing, highly inconvenient and frankly sometimes dangerous."