hormones

New study links combined hormone therapy with increased risk of breast cancer death.

Hey ladies, did you know September is Menopause Awareness Month? Neither did we, but since the big M is something all women will go through sooner or later, it’s good to know Shmirshky: The Pursuit of Hormone Happiness is out there so women needn’t shrink from this topic ever again. Since the big M is something all women will go through sooner or later, it’s good to know Shmirshky is out there so women needn’t shrink from this topic ever again.

A federal court in Wisconsin Friday overturned a state law barring access to hormone therapy for transgender inmates. Three male-to-female transgender inmates, each diagnosed with gender identity disorder, challenged the law in 2006.

Kye Allums, believed to be the first transgender athlete to play NCAA Division 1 basketball, sat down with the press in advance of making his debut on the court for George Washington University later this month. Coaches for the team talked with NCAA officials, who said that as long as Kye doesn’t take hormones or undergo sex reassignment surgery while playing, he will be allowed to continue. Watch the video here.

Advocates want an apology for a Saturday Night Live skit that mocks the transition of transgender women. The piece, which aired over the weekend, represented a fake ad for “Estro-Maxx,” a hormone replacement therapy. It featured men with facial hair wearing dresses. The skit has drawn denunciations from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual and Transgender People (MAGNET) and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which called for an apology from Comcast and NBC and the piece’s removal.

The governing body of college sports has clarified its stance on allowing student athletes to undergo medical gender transition procedures while remaining eligible to play. The decision comes after George Washington University's Kye Allums came out as the first openly transgender college hoops player. Allums said that while he identifies as male, he will avoid hormone treatment or surgeries to remain on the women's team. Still, a GWU spokeswoman told Allums that he could undergo gender-reassignment surgery while maintaining his NCAA eligibility.

Whenever I speak at an event specifically for lesbians, this is the first question I am inevitably asked to answer: Is it true that lesbians are at greater risk of getting breast cancer? Renowned breast cancer expert Dr. Susan Love discusses risk factors for lesbians and for trans men and women.

This past summer SheWired contributor and our friend Tatum de Roeck was diagnosed with breast cancer. The co-host of Cherry Bomb and of her own interview style show on SheWired T-Time With Tatum began blogging about her experience shortly after her diagnosis. Via her writing, she shares the intimate details of taking breast cancer one step at a time in a blog that is incredibly emotional and moving but always infused with Tatum's lightning-quick wit and her ability to remain positive.

While the medical world knows that lesbian and bisexual women tend to have high levels of breast cancer occurrences, doctors want to know more about this growing problem. Susan Love, MD, one of the leading experts on breast health in the U.S., and an openly lesbian doctor, said that while studying breast cancer on the general population is important, identifying the unifying risk factors and exposures among lesbian and bisexual women will help refine our greater knowledge of cancer.

With a new show on the Oprah Winfrey Network debuting on Oct. 10, and a hot new girlfriend Rosie O’Donnell is on top of the world, and she’s not holding back on talking about how over-the-top happy she is.

Tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams are in final negotiations to become co-owners of the Miami Dolphins. Now there are a couple of names even the most sports-deficient lesbian can remember! Plus, and update on Caster Semenya and her preliminary tests.