By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

When Maddie Blaustein passed away suddenly this December few of her fans realized she’d gone. Like many voice actresses who disappear behind the scenes while their alter egos garner all the attention; Blaustein faced a certain level of obscurity, despite the fact that the characters she voiced are recognized on sight—especially a little beige cat named Meowth.

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

Tired of “watching trans movies where everybody dies or is really sad,” filmmaker Brooks Nelson felt compelled to film his own, Switch: A Community in Transition.

The documentray suggests that comunities shoulder much of the “responsibility” for their trans memebers’ gender transformations.

“I didn’t change,” Nelson insists. “I became more who I am—so really, the burden falls on everyone [else]. I peeled back stuff to reveal who I really am.”

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

In a world where stories like Thomas Beatie’s pregnancy can capture world-wide attention overnight, it’s difficult to foretell what the biggest transgender stories of 2009 will be. But here are a few of the stories—and trans folk—to watch next year.

Activism/Politics
Following our massive, community-wide sigh of relief after the 2008 Presidential elections some of us may think the hard work is over. But there’s still plenty to fight for nationally—like ENDA—and locally, as in Gainesville, Florida, where last year’s City Council authorized transgender individuals to use women’s bathrooms in the city’s businesses and public facilities. The ruling is at risk during March’s elections when a ballot measure may amend the city charter to eliminate accommodations for transgender individuals.

By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

Between the collapse of the economy, California’s same sex marriage flip-flops and Obama’s election it took a pregnant man to capture mainstream press’ attention. But while media outlets around the globe carried that trans story, most of the year’s transgender highlights received short shrift. Here’s some of what they missed:

ART
Utilizing the antiquated process of stereo card photography, Georgette Freeman’s Up From the Depths: Triggered exhibit addressed a thoroughly modern topic—her gender transition. Paintings by Chris Carraher (aka JackaDandy) were displayed at California’s Hi-Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley, and with the work of other trans artists as part of San Francisco’s 2008 Fresh Meat in the Gallery. Cartoonist Madison “Mek” Potts joined forces other trans women artists to serialize the graphic novel, Between the Lines (betweenthelines.sosdg.org).