Place for Transgendered Youth

Yesterday I read an article on the New York Times websites which dealt with the problem of the transgendered youth in New York.

The worshipers - Princess, Kelly, Michelle, Skye, Gianni and Terry are all teenagers or in their early 20s. They are slender, stylish and soft of voice and will smack anyone who questions their femininity or asserts that, biologically, they are still males.

The only place which they call home and where the term transgender is tolerated is the homeless shelter in New York specifically for transgender youth. This shelter is called Carmens´s Place and is named after the missionary Carmen Solis who started a youth outreach program at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Astoria. Father Braxton wast the pastor of this church and after its closing he rented a two-bedroom apartment and opened this for transgender people. He and a small staff of volunteers prepare the meals and try to turn the residents away from prostitution and persuade them to go to school or to find jobs. Father Braxton says that this shelter is the last hope for the transgenders because they had been kicked out of the other gay youth shelters by breaking rules and curfews. Father Braxton does have rules. No sex with customers within five blocks of the shelter. Sex with shelter workers is forbidden, and sex with other residents is strongly discouraged.

In my opinion this is a very interesting article and on the website there is also an interview with one of the people who live there and a video.

If you are interested in it, have a look on the New York Times website.

Almost French

Today I read the passage from the book "Almost French" we have to prepare for Thursday. It is about a cocktail party where Sarah and Frederic were invited to. Sarah was really shocked about the atmosphere at this so-called party. The guests were totally quiet and everyone seems strangely inhibited.
As Sarah decided to break the ice she introduced herself and tried to start a conversation but her attempt failed. Then she offered champagne to everyone but the guests seemed to be torn between a desire to accept and some sense of duty not to.
As soon as they were out the door she exclaimed that it wasn´t a party, it was another planet.
Later on Frederic told her that her action had appeared shockingly forward. Especially for a woman, because in France, apparently, serving alcohol is very much a male domain, so her champagne gaffe had been far too assertive.


Finally, Sarah talked about her difficulties to click with anyone and that she needs some friends who are around her age.

In my opinion this passage was quite easy to read although there were some new and difficult words which I want to share with you:

• 
  inhibit --> to take an action that makes (something) less likely to happen, or that discourages (someone) from doing something --> hemmen


• incredulous --> not wanting or not able to believe, and usually showing this --> unglaubhaft


• ease --> freedom from difficulty, effort, or pain --> Leichtigkeit


• scud --> move quickly and without stopping in a straight line --> eilen


• inane --> extremely silly or lacking real meaning or importance --> albern


• surreptitiously --> done secretly, without anyone seeing or knowing --> heimlich


• incongruous --> unusual or different from the surroundings or from what is generally happening --> unangebracht


• disincentive --> something that discourages people from doing something or working hard --> Abschreckmittel


• gaffe --> a remark or action that is a social mistake and not considered polite --> Ausrutscher


• intrusion --> unwanted involvement --> Einmischung


• to defy --> to refuse to obey, or to act or be against, a person, decision, law, situation --> sich einer Sache widersetzen


• to mingle --> to mix or combine, or be mixed or combined --> sich unter Leute mischen


• bumpy --> not smooth --> uneben