The World Medical Association held is annual Assembly this past weekend in Moscow.

If you are like me, you've barely heard of the WMA, if at all. Established in 1947, the WMA's purpose is "to serve humanity by endeavoring to achieve the highest international standards in Medical Education, Medical Science, Medical Art and Medical Ethics, and Health Care for all people in the world." The organization had 106 constituent members and 1013 Associate members as of 2014.

Delegates from 60 national medical associations voted on Sunday to adopt new guidelines for physicians to increase their knowledge about, respect to and sensitivity towards "transgender people and the unique health issues they face."

The delegates from nearly 60 national medical associations adopted guidelines saying that being transgender is “not a disorder”, that “everyone has the right to determine their own gender, and that the WMA rejects “coercive treatment or forced behavior modification.”

Furthermore the WMA agreed that "every effort" should be undertaken to make available "individualized, multi-professional, interdisciplinary and affordable transgender healthcare."

The guidelines were proposed by the German Medical Association, which said they acknowledged the inequities faced by the transgender community and the crucial role played by physicians in advising transgender people and their families about treatment.

Delegates said they were aware of the cultural sensitivities in some parts of the world about this issue, but also said it was important for the WMA to stress that cultural, political or religious considerations must not take precedence over the rights, health and well-being of transgender people.

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues singer Lee "Shot" Williams. Enjoy!

Vanessa Baird, co-editor of the New Internationalist. has created a video intended to promote that magazine's October issue. I decided to bogart it for my own purposes, because the video provides a fairly good summary of where the transgender community stands at this particular time.

Of the many missed opportunities during the first Democratic Presidential debate, none were larger than the failure to challenge Hillary Clinton's description of her record regarding Libya.

Argentina President Cristina Fernandez has asked for the full involvement of of federal and Buenos Aires police in finding the person who killed transgender and LGBT activist Diana Sacayan.

Sacayan's body was found in an apartment in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. It is believed she had been stabbed to death.

Fernandez spoke from the city of Garin. She personally presented Sacayan with the first identification document in Argentina to indicate a gender change.

We have been pretty much movie free except for airline movies since we began our current Africa trip back in early August, so tonight we took advantage of the free wifi here at the guesthouse and watched someone's copy of "The Green Zone" posted up on YouTube. I won't provide the link to the youtube posting we watched but here's some info from the wikipedia entry in case you, like me, are unfamiliar with the flick.