AP Exclusive: Obama's transgender ex-nanny outcast

[rug]

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/cH3PxGdLCf5N1dQFHkjbOg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NDI5O2NyPTE7Y3c9NjMwO2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD00Mjk7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/

By NINIEK KARMINI | Associated Press – 2 hrs 51 mins ago.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Once, long ago, Evie looked after "Barry" Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world's most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia's streets.

Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. She describes how soldiers once shaved her long, black hair to the scalp and smashed out glowing cigarettes onto her hands and arms.

The turning point came when she found a transgender friend's bloated body floating in a backed-up sewage canal two decades ago. She grabbed all her girlie clothes in her arms and stuffed them into two big boxes. Half-used lipstick, powder, eye makeup — she gave them all away.

"I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn't want to die like that," says Evie, now 66, her lips trembling slightly as the memories flood back. "So I decided to just accept it. ... I've been living like this, a man, ever since."

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-obamas-transgender-ex-nanny-outcast-070907242.html

What will it take to end this?

[nolabear]

1. Quite the life our president's lived.

[rug]

2. Never mind him, what about Evie?

Although this story wouldn't have seen the light of day without the association.

[nolabear]

6. Honestly, I don't know quite what to say.

Evie's had a hard life in a terrible situation and I don't know anything about her desires for her life. I worry that she and Obama will be objects of derision by the kinds of people (yes, Rush) who do that kind of thing. I don't know what Obama could do or what would help. So I'll just limit my comments until I know more.

[joeybee12]

3. Well that sucks...

It's terrible what some people have to endure...knr

[dkf]

4. It just occurred to me that being transgendered is about embracing societal gender roles

Why would a person have a craving to wear a bra after all? Do men have a hankering to wear a jock strap? In the end all the trappings aren't things that women instinctively need are they?

[REP]

5. Maybe some need them to 'escape' a body that does not conform to their gender identity

I'm a woman, and rarely if ever wear makeup, and skirts/dresses only slightly more often. Then again, there is no mistaking my body for anything other than a woman's body even in jeans, t-shirt and engineer boots; but other people may feel the need for those societal clues and find comfort in them. This is only my guess; at first glance, it does seem makeup, heels, dresses, etc are the most superficial and least important aspects of being a woman, but as I said, upon further thought I can see why it might be important to some.

[virgogal]

8. It will take time to end this. When I was a kid in the 40's homosexuality was something to

laugh and snicker about. It was the same in the 50's and then oh-so-gradually started to change,

In 2004 I attended the marriage of 2 women my age. What a pleasure. Their relationship lasted longer than my marriage.

Time is needed for all sexual differences to be better understood.

I double posted so deleted my 1st reply.