Marcy, 28, is local photographer, artist and writer. (Courtesy of Marcy)

Transgender individuals still face discrimination despite growing acceptance

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EL PASO— Jenna Talackova, a 32-year-old Canadian model and television personality, was one of Miss Universe Canada 2012’s finalists, but she was disqualified from the competition when it was discovered that the beautiful blonde was born a boy. The contest organizers said that contestants must be ‘naturally born females’ and since Talackova had undergone surgery to become a woman, she could not compete. This is an example of the problems that transgender individuals face throughout their lives. These individuals also endure discrimination and harassment at school and in the workplace. Marcy, a 28-year-old woman who says she just happened to be born into a male body, realized from a very young age that she did not relate to the male gender.

“I grew up with a family that had dreams of their own" said Nino. (Jorge Castanon/Borderzine.com)

Hispanic actor loves living a double life – His own and the one he portrays on stage

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EL PASO  – Ivan Niño may be able to portray someone else every day in the career path he has chosen, but at the end of the day he is just himself – a gay Hispanic struggling to become a successful actor. Niño, 20, has already been featured in a few films, is teaching an acting class for other aspiring actors and is currently filming a pilot for a children’s TV show. “I’ve done everything, a lot more than just acting. I’ve done the ‘dirty jobs.’ The people that I’ve met or have worked with are often of different ethnicities, but are usually more often than not Caucasian. It can be a little intimidating,” he said.

Bordering on Acceptance: Growing Up Gay on the Border

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EL PASO, Texas — To live in a border city is to live between contrasting jurisdictions and beliefs. It is to delicately walk the line that divides cultures – never falling to either side – balanced by an ability to sustain contradictions. For the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual community of El Paso, the city they call home is riddled both in tradition and progressive thought. The line the GLBT community walks is an interminable border that hovers between acceptance and condemnation. “People from both sides of the border … all we’re doing is just tolerating each other, coping with each other, instead of mastering our differences,” said Rosio De Leon, student at the University of Texas at El Paso.