Polare 50

Issued February 2003

(The Gender Centre advise that this edition of Polare is not current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

Manager's Report

Report from the Gender Centre's Manager includes news about the Mardi Gras Festival anf the Transgender Anti-Violence Strategic Investigation, by Elizabeth Riley

Editorial

Stephen Whittle and his family are the subjects on the front cover of this issue. It would be hard to over-estimate the achievements of Whittle and his colleagues in the British transgender lobbying and support organisation Press For Change, by Katherine Cummings

Vagina Schmagina: The Fetishisation of the Vagina

The necessity (or not) for a penis to exist in order for a person to be a man and for a vagina to exist if a person were to claim to be female, by Clare Cahill

Book Review: Hidden In Plain Sight

Hidden in Plain Sight by Leslie Townsend is written in a clear prose with a hard edge to the comments as she passes from one town to the next, reviewed by Willow Arune

Stephen Whittle Wins 2002 Human Rights Award

Stephen Whittle wins 2002 Human Rights Award for commitment and dedication to ensuring the advancement of rights for transsexual people in the U.K., Europe and around the world through judicial means, by Christine Burns and Claire McNab

My Story: A Long and Winding Road

Peta describes her journey through life and coming to terms with her transsexualism, by Peta Bourne

Health Report:

Everything you wanted to know about a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy with Bilateral Salpingo Oopherectormy but were Afraid to Ask, by Kylie Scanlon

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.