Asian American Journalists Association Hosts Sex Gender Bender Panel Discussion; Special Panel to Discuss News Coverage of Controversial Transgendered People.

Business Editors/News Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2001

Reporters aren't known to be at a loss for words but what words do you use in your stories to describe gender? "She" or "he", "gay" or "lesbian" do not necessarily apply to a growing group of people in the San Francisco area. These gender-benders are the Asian Pacific Islander (API) transgendered people. Transgendered people include transsexuals, cross-dressers, transvestites, post-operative transsexuals, as well as gays and straights; and they are challenging the "accepted" view of gender.

The term "transgender" first appeared over a decade ago, identifying a diverse community of individuals who are similar only in defying the conventional sex gender norms of "male" and "female". In pre-modern Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, individuals whom today we would identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersexual, might have identified themselves as bakla (in Tagalog), shamakhami (in Bengali), waria (in Javanese), paksu mudang (in Korean), or mahu (in Hawaiian). Before European colonization, these individuals were accepted and even revered in their communities.

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) will be hosting a special panel discussion on gender identity during its 14th annual national convention. The panel "Gender-Bending Stories: Transgender APIs, the Invisible Minority" will be held Thursday, August 2nd at 4pm PT in the Marina Room -- Bay Level at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. The panel is open to the public.

Part of AAJA's mission is to promote fair and accurate media coverage of Asian Americans and issues as well as advocate for diversity in the news media. According to Rene Astudillo, AAJA executive director, the transgender issue is certainly one of the issues that need to be addressed in the APA community as well as in the mainstream media. We will be remiss in our efforts to advocate for diversity in the news media if we continue to move along as if the transgender issue does not exist in the API community. What better way to create a greater understanding of the issue than by educating our own journalists through a panel such as this.

Panelists will talk about how they came to understand their own gender identity, the options they pursued, and how they are organizing the APA transgender community. They will also discuss media coverage of transgendered people and the impact of the gendered word choice.

John Manzon-Santos, executive director of the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center will be moderating this special panel discussion. Panelists include Melenie M. Eleneke, health educator at the University of California-San Francisco and male-to-female transgender Pacific Islander; Tamika Gonzalez, transgender program coordinator for the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center and male-to-female transgender Filipina; Dan Levy, reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle; and Willy Wilkinson, female-to-male third gendered writer, performer and public health consultant.

AAJA is a non-profit educational association based in San Francisco, devoted to training and developing Asian American journalists and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of the Asian American community. It has 1,800 members in 18 chapters across the United States and Asia. For more information about AAJA or the national convention, call 415-346-2051 or visit www.aaja.org.