Walt Heyer says that no one can really change their gender. He should know, too, because he's tried.

When he was only about five years old, Heyer's grandmother began to dress him as if he were a girl and even made a dress just for him. The result was a very confused little boy. "I look at it today as being pretty abusive. While it seemed very benign at the time, and maybe even playful, I can see today...that it was really abusive to my psyche," he told The Christian Post on Wednesday.

But his early struggles didn't end there. His father became angry and fearful of the influence of Heyer's grandmother on him, and began to treat his son differently as a result. His mother was young and immature – she had two boys of her own before the age of 20 – and she was heavy-handed with her discipline of them. Heyer's uncle viewed the situation with his grandmother as a joke, and sexually molested him when he was still young. more >>

Barry and Anne Watson were united nine years ago as husband and wife, but a lot has changed since then. After Barry began pursuing a sex change, the U.K. couple renewed their wedding vows last year and reaffirmed their commitment to one another, this time as wife and wife.

Barry, who now goes by the name of Jayne, told the Sunday Mirror that during a rough patch in their marriage, Anne actually thought he was cheating on her with another woman, when in fact he wanted to be a woman himself. Though Anne was “furious” to learn that Barry wanted to undergo a sex change at first, Jayne explained, she later conceded.

“Anne came to accept me for who I wanted to be and love me as Jayne. Renewing our vows seemed the perfect way to tell the world how happy we are with our new lives,” said Jayne. more >>

The 5th District Court of Appeal has overruled a circuit judge in Brevard County, Fla., and has determined that both partners of a newly separated lesbian couple have parental rights over their young daughter.

The two women, identified as Appellee and Appellant, have waged a legal war over who should raise the child. One woman, Appellant, donated her egg and is thus the biological mother. The other woman, Appellee, carried and gave birth to the child.

Court documents show that the women were in a committed relationship for 11 years. more >>

President Obama announced on Monday that he plans to sign an executive order rendering the country’s “first-ever national action plan on women, peace, and security.” The order serves to act as a way to include the perspectives of women in world and diplomatic strategies, he said in a statement.

The order is a blueprint for steps to be taken in order to include the female population in international peace efforts and to ensure that the women who do step up in peace efforts have more international support, particularly from the U.S.

“Deadly conflicts can be more effectively avoided, and peace can be best forged and sustained when women become equal partners in all aspects of peace-building and conflict prevention,” the White House said in a released document outlining the order. more >>

Three Girl Scout troops at a Christian school in Louisiana have disbanded in protest of a policy of inclusion for transgenders.

The incident began last month when a mother in Denver tried to get her 7-year-old son admitted into a local Girl Scout troop. The mother insisted that he lived like a little girl, but the transgendered child was initially not allowed into the troop.

Unhappy with the decision, the mother called a press conference to protest, causing the Colorado chapter to review its decision and emphasize its practice of inclusion. more >>

A recent study suggests women, including nuns, should begin using birth control to decrease their chances of ovarian, breast and endometrial cancers.

Australian doctors Kara Brit of Monash University and Roger Short of the University of Melbourne published their findings in The Lancet medical journal.

Along with the sacred vows of obedience and poverty taken by the 95,000 nuns in the world today, these servants of God also take the vow of chastity. more >>