First Transgender Presidential Appointee!

For all of Obama's faults, he does continue to make quiet, positive strides here and there. Just found this buried between posts on Feministing (Via HuffPo)!

President Obama has appointed Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Adviser to the Commerce Department.

"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me," Simpson said in a statement. "As one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others."

Bravo, Ms. Simpson and Mr. Obama for not allowing narrow mindedness to prevent you from picking the right person for the job.

An Iran You Might Not Know About...

I just added what looks like an incredible documentary. In the midst of the election crises in Iran at the moment (which I promise I will write something about as I realize I haven't, but I'm in need of time to do more research), I'm sure there are certain things about Iran and the Iranian people we don't know much about. Be Like Others is a documentary about Iranian transgendered men who are opting to undergo sex reassignment surgeries. Trans-folk in the Middle East? Yes, even in a place as conservative as Iran, apparently the Ayatollah made sex-change operations legal (under certain circumstances anyway), although it seems homosexuality is still punishable. Either way, it's an interesting look in to a minority group in Iran that is most likely being completely overlooked (much in the same way that it seems the transgendered and transexuals of the rest of the world also seem to go ignored in the mainstream media.) 

Read more about the documentary here or add it to your Netflix like I just did (so we can be the first to watch once it's available)!