The Presidency of Telecommunication (TIB) had blocked access “trans men data bank” Sick-o (www.transsicko.blogspot.com) on 7 October 2013 through “administrative measure” on the grounds of TIB Decision No: 5651. Transsick-o is an online blog that aims to inform readers on female to male transition and answers questions about trans men. A written petition requesting information on which No: 5651 article the blog violated went unanswered and access to the blog was re-granted on 24 October 2013 as arbitrarily and as quietly as the moment of closure.
Trans man
Ali Arıkan: The Hospital’s Exam on Trans
Voltrans Transmen Initiative founding member Ali Arıkan passed away last night after battling cancer.
Source: Ali Arıkan, “Hastanenin Trans’la İmtihanı,” (“The Hospital’s Exam on Trans,”) Kaos GL, 4 September 2013, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=14750
I have been in the hospital for about a month and a half now; my bowels do not function because of the pressure from cancerous cells in the peritoneum. I am getting chemo, they give me lots of drugs so that I can shit. I spent a month in a small room on the third floor with limited air; sleeping, feeling suffocated but I did not lose my mind. My friends did their best to make the room look like my room at home and to find distractions to help me pass time. Then my doctor took me to the 1st floor, which is where the oncology department is. When I was in a brighter and larger room, I felt better.
A “Trans Manners 101” course had to be given to people from various hierarchies on both floors. Fortunately I did not have to do it. Because of the efforts of my cousin Kemal, who has been thinking about getting me a blue identification card, and my friends, who are my family bound by love, the issues of my gender identity, how I expected to be treated, and how I should be addressed were explained. And the following dialogues and interventions took place: