Bergen (NJ) PFLAG Events & News

Argentina becomes the first Latin American country to enact same-sex
marriage and same-sex adoption:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128536587

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_argentina_gay_marriage

by Hannah Devlin

Scientists have identified the gene that keeps females female. An  international team found that the action of a single gene is all that stops females from developing male physical traits, including testes  and facial hair.

When this gene was artificially “switched off” in adult female mice  their ovaries began to turn into testes and they started to produce a  level of testosterone found in healthy male mice.

The discovery could eventually revolutionise gender reassignment  therapy and improve treatments for babies who are born with a mixed gender.

The research, published today in the journal Cell, challenges a  common perception that gender is determined purely by the X- chromosomes and Y-chromosomes. The gene that was switched off, known  as FOXL2, lies on a non-sex chromosome that is shared by males and  females.

“We take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with,  including whether we have testes or ovaries. But this work shows that  the activity of a single gene, FOXL2, is all that prevents adult  ovary cells turning into cells found in testes,” said Robin Lovell- Badge, from the National Institute for Medical Research, a co-author  of the paper.

The gene appears to have a “see-saw” relationship with another gene, SOX9, which is normally active only in males. When one is on, the  other is automatically off. In the first few days of male development  SOX9 is turned on, and this stops FOXL2 from becoming active for the  rest of the man’s life. The reverse occurs in females, with FOXL2  being switched on first.

The discovery that gender depends, at least in part, on the competing action of genes that are shared by both sexes suggests that gender  can be more easily manipulated than previously thought.

FOXL2 was already known to be important for the growth of ovaries  during development and for their maintenance during a woman’s life. However, scientists did not anticipate that egg-producing cells in  the ovary could be co-opted by a competing male gene to carry out the  male reproductive functions.

“We expected the mice to stop producing eggs, but what happened was  much more dramatic,” said Mathias Treier, of the European Molecular  Biology Laboratory, who led the study.

Using genetic engineering techniques, the FOXL2 gene was switched off  in adult female mice. Any developed eggs in the ovary died.  Follicles, which eventually grow into eggs, slowly transformed into  cells that looked like Sertoli cells, which produce sperm in the testes.

After the genetic therapy, the female mice also developed  testosterone-producing cells, and their levels of testosterone surged.

The physical effects of this were harder to assess as male and female mice have fewer distinctive traits — there is no difference in  hairiness, for instance, and little difference in size. However, the  scientists anticipate that in humans the effect would be similar to  when testosterone is given in tablet form. In gender reassignment  therapy this causes females to lose developed breasts and grow  beards. Their voices deepen too.

Apart from the changes to their reproductive organs, the mice showed  no signs of adverse effects and had a normal lifespan.

The researchers anticipate that temporarily suppressing SOX9 in males would have the opposite effect. Turning it off would automatically trigger the ovary development gene to come on, leading to cells in  the testes turning into follicles and ceasing the production of  testosterone.

Applying the therapy in humans is a long way off, but the researchers  say that it could dramatically improve clinicians’ ability to change  a person’s gender. Rather than be placed on medication for the rest  of their life, only a short course of gene therapy would be required.

We had lots of new visitors at the chapter meeting tuesday evening, and many of them checked out items from our library cart. Which got me on a roll to tidy and update the Library info!

We have an amazing number of items in our chapter library, but it is terribly UNDER-used normally.

I have updated the library inventory and posted it on the website… you can find the link for the list sorted by title, and another link sorted by ‘category’ under the “FindQwik” column at the left of the main website… OR…

you can get to the Category listing directly using

http://library.BergenPFLAG.org

With the category listing, you can browse titles in the specific area of your interest. You will find a link in the first column which ’should’ create an email to me reserving the item for you at the next chapter meeting (or via other arrangements if necessary).

Jim C

This is a must-read!  The son of the general manager of the 2010 U.S. Olympic hockey team comes out to his family and his college teammates!!!
Long, but well worth it.

Chris

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=4685761

Date sent:    Tue, 08 Dec 2009
From:        GLBT Research Team <glbtresearch.uofm@gmail.com>
Subject:    GLBT-affirmative study

This follow-up is to let you know The University of Memphis’ GLBT Research Team is still accepting participants for our GLBT-affirmative study on Same-Sex Parenting.  We appreciate your help in getting the word out.
———-
The University of Memphis’ GLBT Research Team is conducting a GLBT-affirmative study on Same-Sex Parenting, and we are looking for participants.  The purpose of this study is to learn about the experiences of same-sex parents in relationship to legal parenting rights.  We believe this research is important in advocating for parents to be fully recognized in their family role and to not be discriminated against in family concerns.

Participants must be 18 years or older, currently be in a relationship with the same-sex partner with whom they have planned and created a family, and have at least one child under the age of 18 living in their home. The study should take approximately 20 minutes to complete online and meets human subjects approval by our university Institutional Review Board (E10-43).

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jVp53YOXI6 tNs1dgubIk_2bg_3d_3d

If you wish to see our past work, please read about our research on the effects of anti-GLBT amendments on GLBT individuals and their families, which is available on the American Psychological Association’s website at http://www.apa.org/releases/glbt-stress-1108.html .

An overview of our research areas can be found on our school webpage at http://www.memphis.edu/cepr/glbt-research.htm.

Thank you for your consideration in supporting our advocacy for same-sex parents and their families.

– Sincerely,

Sharon Horne, Ph.D. & Heidi Levitt, Ph.D.,
Directors GLBT Research Team
The University of Memphis

Date sent:    Mon, 07 Dec 2009
From:    “Spear, Julia B” <Julia123@live.missouristate.edu>
Subject:    Coming Out Research Study

Due to the large response, I have extended the deadline for this survey to January 1, 2010.  I hope to get as many responses as possible, as I will be publishing the results of this study.

I am a graduate student in the Social Work program at Missouri State University.  I am looking for gay or lesbian individuals ages 18-28 who have come out to one or more parents in the past five years who are willing to participate in a confidential research study.  No identifiable information will be collected.

The purpose of this project is to learn how education of parents and the boundary setting of their gay or lesbian children facilitate a more positive adjustment to the “coming out” process over time.  The goal is to study what factors facilitate parents who initially respond negatively to changing their attitudes and responding more positively after time since the initial disclosure has passed.

The gay and lesbian community stands to benefit from more research on this topic.  Gay and lesbian youth and young adults will be better prepared about what to expect when coming out to parents, and what factors may facilitate a smoother adjustment of parents.

The following web-link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wFd9sG9HAzX  V1qqAjd2Mnw_3d_3d

will direct you to the informed consent and 15 minute survey.  If you have trouble accessing the survey, try pasting the link in a new window.  After reading the informed consent, you will have the option of opting out if you decide.

Please consider forwarding this survey to anyone meeting this criteria who you think would be willing to participate.

Please contact me directly:    J.spear@rocketmail.com
if you have any additional concerns or questions.

Clay Gemmill is supervising this study and can be reached at
Walden.Gemmill@coxhealth.com

Julia Spear, BSW

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At the direct request of state legislators who support marriage equality, Garden State Equality and our organizational allies did another lobby day — on Thursday, December 3rd in Trenton beginning at 8:00 am.  Here are some photos from the day:

For more such photos, visit http://BergenPFLAG.shutterfly.com

visit  http://www.smartbrief.com/latestissue.jsp?i=80051

Photos from Sunday’s Pride Parade in NYC are posted at:

 http://Parade2009.BergenPFLAG.org

If you have photos from the parade that you would like to have included in the slideshow, contact   webmaster@BergenPFLAG.org