Ludwig joined the Lady Saints as a mid-season walk-on and quickly became one of the most valued members of the team. But it wasn’t all plane sailing for Ludwig, who underwent the procedure to transform her from male to female in 2007.

Prior to her appearance on the court, Coach Corey Cafferata had been worried about the outside noise his players were receiving – ESPN hosts laughed at her looks and referred to her as ‘it’, Ludwig and the team also received online threats and anonymous calls – which prompted him to assign two police and a Navy veteran as guards.

Also concerned about distractions, Ludwig gathered her 10 teammates at practice and offered to quit, but the other women said if she quit, they would too. Finally after jumping administrations hurdles by obtaining a new birth certificate, she only received conference clearance to compete on the last day of November.

Ludwig’s love for basketball started early as a tall 7th grade boy who played the high school team as Robert John Ludwig, and then one season at a community college on Long Island in New York. As Robert grew older and dropped out of college, appearances were limited to pick up games.

But the basketball bug returned 12 years ago, when her daughter from her second marriage, then 7, started playing she signed on as her coach. Ludwig continued coaching other people’s children when her daughter moved on to high school, and still works with hundreds of middle school girls each year.

Her decision to undergo transgender surgery 5 years ago did raise questions, but she says most parents came to accept her decision warmly.

Ludwig, who has been nicknamed ‘Big Sexy’ and ‘Princess’ by her team mates, got her chance to play after helping out coaching the Saints youth team at the beginning of the school year.

One day during a practice she ran in to Coach Cafferata and jokingly asked if he had space on his team for her. Surprisingly, he said he might. After conferring with the team, it was decided Ludwig would indeed join the women’s team.

One major concern was whether her height, muscle and bone structure would give her and unfair advantage over the other female players. However As someone living as a woman and taking female hormones since 2007,Ludwig was eligible to play, since a year of taking female hormones and medication to suppress testosterone cause reduced muscle mass and height.

Ludwig, 51, agrees and says that it’s clear that less muscle and height, and cannot move like the once 24-year-old male player, or 50-year old man.

Ludwig acknowledged that part of her motivation for playing women’s basketball was to be a role model for transgender youth. And her new position seems to be going well – she has already won the battle to play on the court, and can now also find gratitude in the temporary suspensions given to the ill-talking ESPN hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin.

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Step-counters, or pedometers, are portable devices that read the motion of a person’s hip to calculate how many steps they have taken. Pedometers are often used by running enthusiasts, to measure progress and motivate them to reach new targets. They are also particularly useful for those who are exercising in order to lose weight.

Pokewalker Step Counter

Lorraine Lanningham-Foster, an assistant professor of food science and nutrition, told The Gazette that there was much more to the device than simply being able to count steps:

“It’s very accurate and precise. So as a tool that can be used to actually change behavior and a child can use to truly understand and learn about how much they’re walking, it could be a good tool.”

Studies conducted by Dr. Yashiro Hatano in the 1960’s to 1980’s found that the optimal number of steps needed to balance daily caloric intake and physical expenditure is 10,000. By monitoring calorie intake and physical expenditure, scientists would be able further such research to look for modern patterns and trends that attribute to growth development in children.

Pedometers are increasingly being integrated into everyday mobile devices such as the Apple iPod Nano, Nike + system, Nokia 5500 Sports Phones, Sony Ericsson W170 and even handheld gaming console such as the Nintendo DS.

With so many devices sporting step counting technology, there’s probably little need to rush out buy a device solely for this purpose, nevertheless, the Pokémon theme could be a great motivator for the young who need to lose weight, or even for the younger generation who simply love to exercise.

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Most kathoeys integrate into society and easily fund work outside of the country’s red light district. Many kathoeys can be found working in salons, restaurants, clothing shops, and travel agencies.

But a dream oft-held by the most beautiful ladyboys, is to win the crown in the countries most prestigious ladyboy beauty pageant, Miss Tiffany Universe held ever year in May, just outside of tourist beach-town, Pattaya.

In a nation obsessed with beauty pageants and famous for its sexual tolerance, this elaborate contest is taken every bit as seriously as the more traditional competitions.

This year Sorrawee Natte took the Miss Tiffany crown. For her looks and intelligent answers, Sorrawee received a small Honda car, and 100,000 baht ($AU3800).

“I’m very excited,” the willowy 20-year-old from Thailand’s southern Songkhla province said, touching the glimmering winner’s crown with disbelieving fingers.

But for those who don’t make it to the Miss Tiffany contest there are many other chances to flaunt their beauty. Below is a gallery of photos from other ladyboy beauty pageants held this year:

Miss Ladyboy of Songkran 2009

Miss G – Star Beauty Contest 2009

Miss 108

Miss Mandalay Chiangmai International 2009

Miss Lady Lady 2009

Miss Angel Queen 2009

Miss Queen Of Tawan 2009

Miss Mandalay 2009

Lip Zing Singing Contest

Miss Samila International Princess 2009

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Semenya rose from unknown teenage runner to the favorite in the 800m almost overnight. She took 1st place in the final beating the 2nd runner-up by a massive 2.45 seconds. But her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender.

Usually in this situation, a gender test would be conducted before the competition, but because of the speed at which Semenya rose to fame, there simply wasn’t enough time.

Medals were given out at the ceremony, but the race remains under a cloud.

Before the race, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies stressed this is a “medical issue, not an issue of cheating.” He said the “extremely complex” testing has begun. The process requires a physical medical evaluation and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.

Adding more injury to insult, the Sydney Daily Telegraph is now claiming the tests have shown that Semenya has internal testes and no womb, claims which have been rejected by the Athletics South Africa (ASA) president.

The athletics boss Leonard Chuene said:

“The IAAF has issued a statement that said the case will come before the executive council in November where it will be decided…

“They told us this week that the tests are inconclusive and they could not give us the results just yet. So I really do not know where the Australia media got this latest one from.”

The IAAF has responded by urging caution over the reports. A statement read:

“The IAAF can state that statements in the Australian press should be treated with caution as they are not official statements by the IAAF:

“We have received the results from Germany, but they now need to be examined by a group of experts and we will not be in a position to speak to the athlete about them for at least a few weeks…

“After that, depending on the results, we will meet privately with the athlete to discuss further action.”

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The school conducted the survey – which reveled that almost 10% of students considered themselves transgender – last term. The unisex bathrooms were built during school break and unveiled on the students return in May.

The transgender bathroom is represented by a symbol of a human figure split in two – one half is a man in blue, while the other half is women in red. Underneath the symbol are the words “Transvestite Toilet.”

Several transgender students praised the opening of the unisex bathroom, Vichai Sangsakul – a teenager with a pixie hairdo pulled back with a pink barrette – said,

“I’m so happy about this….It looks bad going to female restrooms. What would other people think?”

Most rural Thais are conservative in many ways however, country’s visible transgender community and the opening of the new transgender bathroom in the Kampang school, shows that homosexuality is largely tolerated.

The ‘transgender community’ is a term which refers to a wide range of identities including cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals and those born with the physical characteristics of both sexes.

Transvestites have become a part of everyday Thai life. They can regularly be seen competing in beauty pageants, working on TV soap operas, in movies, at restaurants, in the red-light districts and at various entertainment venues throughout the country.

School director Sitisak Sumontha said the concept of unisex bathrooms reflected a growing need at Thai schools and universities.

“These students want to be able to go to the restroom in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped,”

Kampang is not the only school to have setup unisex bathrooms. In 2003, a technical college with 1,500 attending students located in the northern province of Chiang Mai, set up a “Pink Lotus Bathroom” for its 15 transvestite students.

Deputy Education Minister Boonlue Prasertsopar recently said that the Ministry was not promoting transgender interests, “but if there are a lot of them in a university and it’s a problem, we may have to consider building toilets and dormitories for them.”

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The characteristic pitch or fundamental frequency (F0) of the male voice ranges from about 100 to 150 Hz; for the female voice, F0 ranges from 170 to 220 Hz. By reducing the voice box, these procedures can increase the pitch of the voice. Another distinctive characteristic of the voice is resonance. The timbre or resonance of the male voice is deeper than females, this is due to the greater length of the male upper airway. Currently there is no procedure to help modify the resonant character of the voice, however altering the fundamental frequency is the more important factor.

CRT – Crico-Thyroid Approximation

The most common formed operation to increase the F0 is CRT. In this technique, the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple) is pushed against the cricoid cartilage that lies below it. The two cartilages are then sutured together with nylon sutures, usually placed over bolsters

The approximation of the thyroid and cricoid cartilages increases the tension of the vocal cords by stretching them. This raises the pitch at which the cords will vibrate.

CTA is performed through a small incision in the neck. The incision is placed within a natural skin fold so the resulting scar will either be invisible or at least easily concealed. Either local or general anesthesia can be used and because there is no actually surgery on the vocal cords themselves, patients can have the procedure reversed if unsatisfied.

Larynogoplasty

This minimally invasive technique involves removing the front of the voice box to make the voice box smaller. First an incision is made in a skin crease of your neck, over the Adam’s Apple.

The front of the voice box is removed making the voice box smaller.The vocal cords are then stretched and a third of them removed. A tiny metal plate maybe used to over the voice box to help maintain tension. This plate stays in place, even once everything is healed.

This procedure reduces the projection of the Adam’s Apple, making it unnecessary to have a separate “trach shave” procedure. CTA may also be performed to help correct a previous voice feminization procedure.

The surgery is performed in an outpatient setting under general anesthesia.

Laser Assisted Voice Adjustment

Laser Assisted Voice Adjustment is an endoscopic technique in which a CO2 laser is used to scar and stiffen the area surrounding the vocal cords. The surgery aims to alter the pitch of the voice by increasing the tension of the vocal cords. Surgery is performed under general anesthesia, and with this type of endoscopic procedure, there is no incision to the neck.

Vocal Cord Shortening (Anterior Web Creation)

Another technique to increase F0 is to shorten the vibrating length of the cords by suturing them together. This creates what is called an anterior vocal web. Depending on the specific technique used, a piece of the thyroid cartilage maybe also be removed to aid the creation of the anterior vocal web.

This technique can produce long lasting results without the need for neck incisions and is done under general anesthetic.

Thyroid Cartilage and Vocal Cord Reduction

This procedure combines the open resection of a central strip of the thyroid cartilage, about 8 mm wide, along with resection of the anterior one-third of the vocal cords to reconstruct the anterior commissure (where the vocal cord meet anteriorly).This aggressive procedure has been proven to effectively increase the pitch of the voice (perhaps too much).

The results from six Thai patients showed the surgery to increse pitch by an average of 147hz. This can leave the voice sounding oddly high even by female standards.

Although the procedure requires a neck incision, previous result suggest long term effectiveness.

Best Candidate for Voice Feminization

Voice feminization surgery is for patients whose still conscious of their distinctive male voice. If voice training or speech therapy has not produced noticeable results, you may want to consider having surgery.

The typical patient will be a male who has or is undergoing transgender surgeries and wishes to change the voice pitch and potentially other qualities of the voice as well.

Pre-Surgery

Before the surgery your surgeon will evaluate your larynx with a video-endoscopy.

They will then hold a PARQ (Procedures, Alternatives, Risks and Questions) conference with you.The evaluation and examination of your voice box is essential. You will also be shown important preparation and recovery guidelines which you must follow strictly.

A number of your vocal parameters will be recorded, and your vocal cords will be filmed in motion.

You will be asked about allergies you may have, and smokers will also be advised to stop around two weeks prior to the operation.

The Procedure

Your chosen procedure will likely take place in an outpatient ward and will be performed under local or general anesthesia. The duration of the operation varies depending on which technique is being used.

After the surgery and once you have recovered from the anesthesia, your surgeon will discuss with you the outcome of the surgery and remind you once again of the important guidelines during recovery.

Depending on the specific technique of voice feminization and the outcome of your surgery, you may be asked to stay in hospital, however in most cases and overnight stay will not be necessary.

Recovery Period

After one or two days you will be required to go for a post-operative exam, you will also be advised to stay in the area for up to a week so the doctor can monitor your progress.

Complete voice rest is mandatory for one to two weeks after the procedure (all forms of verbal communication are not allowed, including whispering), until your body’s own scar tissue helps support the procedure. You should also refrain from strenuous activities for a at least three weeks.

In the initial post-surgery weeks, it is possible that your voice may sound lower than before surgery. This is perfectly normal may happen because the surgery opens the voice box and/or creates a lot of swelling.

Your voice will often seem quite soft, tight or effortful to use. It will likely get worse before it gets better

There will be initial pain or discomfort from the procedure. patients have describe symptoms such as a sore throat sensation and difficulty swallowing.

Other symptoms which are considered normal include swelling and bruising, discomfort and pain, crusting along the incision line(if any), numbness and visible scars.

After three week you may begin aerobic activity and finally after the 6th week, your voice will begin to approach its new pitch.

Risks

As with any surgical procedure, voice feminization carries significant risks, these include:

• Allergic Reaction From Anesthesia
• Hematoma Inflammation and infection
• Thick, wide or depressed scars
• Wound separation or delayed healing
• Sensitivity or allergy to dressings or tape
• Injury to blood vessels, nerves or muscles

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The Thai inspired Amazing Philippine Theatre was established in 2001 to produce the “Amazing Philippine Show,” a theatrical variety show that features Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean folk dances, song numbers, comedy acts, among others, performed by the most beautiful transvestites in the Philippines.Thailand pioneered the variety shows featuring transvestites with Alcazar and Tiffany in Pattaya and Calypso and Mambo in Bangkok. These shows have and will continue to attracted large numbers of tourists from all over the world.Lee Jong Hyun, the theatre’s chairman hopes that the Amazing Philippines Beauties Pageant will grow into the international scene rivaling Thailand, and in turn help bring more tourism to the country.

“One of the objectives of the pageant is to uplift the way people look at gay beauty pageants. We want society to accept transvestites and transgender people as productive individuals.

The company now employs 147 workers in various departments within the Manila Film Center and in the past year they have seen more than 280,000 customers through the doors. Koreans are biggest fans at 80 percent with Chinese, Japanese and local tourists also watching the shows.

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Sony BMG signed the band, whose members are all lady boys, earlier last and hope to have the debut album out before the 15th Dec 2007. Their music is described as a mix of digital, European pop, techno-house and electro, most of the lyrics are in Thai however there will be at least one song on the album that is English.

The band was formed in a project by Sony BMG to create an all lady boy pop group, this will be only the second group in history to consist of lady boys and have major record label backing, the first being a Korean quartet named Lady. Venus Fly Trap hopes to break the boundaries of social prejudice and bring acknowledgment to their special gender.

In a recent interview Cool Venus Taya said,

We want people to see that we can do the same as any real woman can.

Most of Thailand’s lady boys earn money through the entertainment industry performing in beauty competitions or cabaret shows as singers or dancers. The band hopes to widen the opportunities available to lady boys, Gina who poses as Naughty Venus said,

There are a lot of lady boys that are not beautiful, but they have their own skills. It’s not up to the look but up to the talent.

Thailand has always been renowned for their indiscriminative views on lady boys. Bangkok has some of the best surgeries in the world providing high quality services. The band may stand for Lady Boy Power but whether they are aware or not, they will certainly also represent the high quality of surgery in Thailand.

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