Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court may weigh in this week on gun control, an issue smoldering again following the June 12 Orlando massacre, with the justices due to decide whether to hear a challenge by gun rights advocates to assault weapon bans in two states.

The Connecticut and New York laws prohibit semiautomatic weapons like the one used by the gunman who fatally shot 49 people at a gay night club in Orlando in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The Supreme Court will announce as soon as Monday whether it will hear the challenge brought by gun rights groups and individual firearms owners asserting that the laws violate the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms.

The court has not decided a major gun case since 2010.

If they take up the matter, the justices would hear arguments in their next term, which begins in October. A decision not to hear the challenge would leave in place lower-court rulings upholding the laws.

The court’s action in another recent appeal indicated it may be disinclined to take up the matter. The justices in December opted not to hear a challenge to a Highland Park, Illinois ordinance banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.

A national assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Congressional Republicans, backed by the influential National Rifle Association gun rights lobby, beat back efforts to restore it. Some states and municipalities have enacted their own bans.

In their petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, those challenging the Connecticut law said the type of weapons banned by the state are used in self-defense, hunting and recreational shooting.

Connecticut said its law targets firearms disproportionately used in gun crime, “particularly the most heinous forms of gun violence.” It said people in Connecticut still can legally own more than 1,000 types of handguns, rifles and shotguns.

There is a longstanding legal debate over the scope of Second Amendment rights.

In the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case, the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual’s right to bear arms, but the ruling applied only to firearms kept in the home for self-defense. That ruling did not involve a state law, applying only to federal regulations.

Two years later, in the case McDonald v. City of Chicago, the court held that the Heller ruling covered individual gun rights in states. (Editing by Will Dunham)

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The 1990s were an odd little crossroads for gay entertainment. The dominant mainstream narrative — when it paid any attention at all — trended towards the AIDS crisis and tragedy. At the same time, far from the mainstream, the cottage industry of gay romantic comedies pitched itself to a greatly underserved market. These movies barely made it to a theatrical release, and it’s fair to say that most of them weren’t great films, but they were what passed for a niche genre back then, and that makes them important. Certainly, for a child of the ’90s, they were formative in ways both good and bad. With The Gay We Were, we’re going to examine this subgenre one film at a time and examine what they said about gay entertainment and the era that once was.

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This is the tenth feature in a series that aims to elevate some of the transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals who have played a significant role in the ongoing fight for trans and queer liberation. Check out the previous features with CeCe McDonald, Kate Bornstein, Laura Jane Grace, Buck Angel, Calpernia Addams, Ts Madison, Amos Mac, Candis Cayne and Tiq Milan.

Long before Laverne Cox, Caitlyn Jenner, or any of the trans women currently making waves in entertainment, fashion and culture, there was Caroline Cossey.

Born in England in the 1950s, Cossey came to live as her authentic self and rose to prominence in the fashion world at a time when it was extremely dangerous — and potentially career-ending — to be transgender. With roots as a showgirl and performer, Cossey went on to work as a model under the name “Tula.” Living full-time as a woman — and not openly transgender — she appeared in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only” and modeled for Playboy.

Following these two high-profile appearances, Cossey was outed by a tabloid as transgender and lost everything — in both her career and personal life. The years that followed the outing, in the words of Cossey, “propelled me into the realm of activism” as she engaged in a high-profile legal battle with the British government. “I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life feeling ashamed or apologizing for it and I didn’t think anyone else should either,” she says.

In this interview with The Huffington Post, Cosey shares the story of her early days as a trans woman and model, the effect the outing had on her life and her thoughts on life for transgender individuals — particularly transgender models — today.

The Huffington Post: Can you pinpoint the beginnings of your career and your journey to living as your authentic self? What were some of the first defining moments for you as a trans model, actress and entertainer?

Caroline Cossey: As early as four or five years old, I didn’t fit the classic role of a boy as my brother so easily did. Instead, I identified more with my younger sister and all things girly and girly games. I was also very timid and painfully shy, which made matters worse for me. It was too early in my life to question my sexual identify but everything about me and what I identified with was aligned on the female side and never along the male side.

When I was entering puberty, my sexual attraction was towards boys instead of girls, which was very confusing and also disturbing to me. To understand what it was like, one has to consider the context of growing up in the culture of those times. For the most part, gay people were living secret lives and were ostracized by society in general, even more so outside the big cities and I grew up in the country. The vast majority of people didn’t know what transsexual meant nor had ever heard the word. Even today, half a century later, most people think sex is binary and your sex is determined by the sex organs you came into the world with. Everything I learned in sex education class flew in the face of my own personal reality.

It got even worse as I got older. I came to the likely conclusion I must be gay but I wanted to express myself in a feminine way by wearing makeup and growing my hair long. It continued to spiral downwards as I was not accepted in the gay scene. I was also dissatisfied and felt unfulfilled by gay sex. The need and identity within me was for men to desire me as a woman and that put me into a seemingly impossible position. Not being able to fit into the heterosexual or homosexual worlds left me utterly lost and hopelessly lonely.

I had to get away from my environment and find myself. The big city offered me more hope than anywhere else, but that forced me to leave the only safe haven I had in the world — my family. My family and I didn’t understand what was wrong with me, only that I was always troubled and unable to fit in. My parents had taken me to specialists because of the dizzy spells and blackouts I was suffering, but they found nothing wrong with me and said I would eventually “grow out of it.”

In the end I headed to London and, by fantastic fortune, met a transsexual woman who lived in the same building and my life changed forever.

Like some other trans women, you worked as a showgirl and entertainer for part of your young life. What role has music, art and performance played in your journey to live as your authentic self?

My eventual career as a model, entertainer and actress was born from one of my early jobs in London as an usherette at a theatre. I was looking very androgynous at that point in my life and I was approached by a choreographer who suggested I audition as a showgirl in his new show. I got the job and, for the first time in my life, I was working and living as a woman — not perceived as trans or a man but simply as a woman. My life was far from simple at that time but it was a colossal turning point in my life. Dancing for three years allowed me to eventually save up enough money for full GRS. Modeling followed, which in turn bloomed into acting roles as well.

Personally, this was a defining moment for me. I found purpose and direction. I was living my true self. The world treated me as a regular woman. The playing field was level for the first time in my life and through perseverance and hard work, I had achieved personal and professional success.

What were your experiences like coming of age as a trans woman in the 1960s and 1970s? How did you cope? How did community function differently?

Unfortunately, during the 70s and 80s, there was so much stigma around transgender people. Success was only possible living in stealth. I was in a difficult position. I made my living on a highly visible platform. Modeling, acting and entertainment are judged on face value or by the performance. There is no guarantee the artist is revealed or represented by the performance or the finished product. Yet, for me, that wasn’t possible back then and the tabloids were able to destroy my professional career and even my personal life, fueled by the ignorant thinking about transgender people in mainstream society and the laws of those times.

Being outed propelled me into the realm of activism as I began a legal battle with the British government that culminated at the European Court of Human Rights. I wasn’t going to tolerate being openly and unfairly treated. I can’t help the way I was born. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life feeling ashamed or apologizing for it and I didn’t think anyone else should either.

I appeared in Playboy for the first time as a Bond Girl before I was outed and then again as part of my activism after being outed. It was incredibly gratifying to bring about awareness via my book, Playboy and talk show circuits in the 90s. Sadly, though, I was never able to salvage my career without feeling like a carnival act. Society hadn’t progressed enough at that time.

How does it feel to see a fashion world today that is beginning to openly embracing trans and gender-nonconforming models?

It’s absolutely great to see people are finally beginning to embrace transgender models today. Each and every one of us is wonderfully unique and we should always be proud of it. I’m proud that I did my part in helping advance transgender visibility, awareness and acceptance. As painful as it was to endure what I did in my life, it’s all worth it when you hear you’ve saved lives or helped people find direction in theirs.

What do you want your legacy as Caroline Cossey to be?

I would like the legacy of Caroline Cossey to be this: As a vulnerable young girl in rural Norfolk who was bullied, isolated, ridiculed and made to feel helpless, I was able to find my strength as a woman to stand tall, be counted and fight back. We all have the innate strength to face anything we endure in life and nobody can ever take it away. People or circumstances may, for a period of time, make you believe you don’t have it but it’s always there.

Caroline Cossey has detailed her journey in a book called My Story available on Amazon.

Check Huffington Post Queer Voices regularly for further conversations with other significant and historic trans and gender-nonconforming figures. Missed the first three interviews in this series? Check out the conversations with CeCe McDonald, Kate Bornstein, Laura Jane Grace, Buck Angel, Calpernia Addams, Ts Madison, Amos Mac, Candis Cayne and Tiq Milan.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Are your crayons your precious? Do you hold them close to you in your cave as you mumble? Well, that’s weird. It’s okay though. Different strokes for different folks. Here’s a cool Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Coloring Book so you can use those crayons to make colorful pictures.

This coloring book includes introductions to the major characters and also features stills right from the movies. Some of the images even span two pages. Color your way all the way to Mount Doom and then back again.

It’s like you are creating your own version of the movie. This coloring book makes a great gift for Tolkien fans of all ages. It’s only $15.99(USD) from ThinkGeek.

China is one of the most lucrative markets in the world and it’s no surprise that Apple pays extra attention to the People’s Republic. Working in the Chinese market can prove to be hard at times and Apple surely knows that. An intellectual property board has ruled that Apple must halt iPhone 6 sales in Beijing as the two devices infringe on design patents of Shenzhen Baili,

The ruling bans sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus only in Beijing, it does not apply to the entire country, but Apple isn’t going to go down without a fight. The company has said that it’s going to appeal this decision and that both models will continue to be sold until the court reviews the ruling.

Beijing’s intellectual property board has ruled that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus look too similar to the 100C smartphone by Shenzhen Baili which is why the company must stop selling them in the city. Analysts believe that the ruling is not likely to affect iPhone sales in China.

“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China,” Apple said in a statement, adding that “We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court.”

Apple Ordered To Stop iPhone 6 Sales In Beijing , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.