n 2007, transsexual Ava Cordero was the sweetheart of the gossip pages -- and the gossip bloggers -- when her high-profile New York lawyer boyfriend William J. Unroch sued the even higher profile billionaire money manager Jeffrey Epstein alleging that he pressured the then-16-year-old into sex in exchange for promises that he would help her get modeling work.

Soon, Cordero was the plaintiff in a second lawsuit, this time for libel against the New York Post after it reported that she was a he. The gist of her suit was that the Post, by quoting a MySpace page in which Cordero "gives a graphic depiction of a masturbatory fantasy" in which she has sex with multiple men and women, implied she was a "promiscuous slut" and therefore committed libel per se.

Cordero's lawsuit against Epstein seemed to fade from the limelight last year after court papers were filed allegedly showing that she was not a minor at the time of the affair. Around the same time, she and her lawyer/boyfriend Unroch were reported to have broken off their relationship.

But her libel suit continued on in the New York courts. In the trial court, the Post sought to have the entire case dismissed. The Supreme Court (N.Y.'s trial court) granted the motion as to all Cordero's allegations except one -- that involving the implication that she was a promiscuous slut. The Post appealed the judge's refusal to dismiss the suit. This week, the Appellate Division issued an opinion ruling in the Post's favor.

Apparently it's easier than one thought to get "not opposite married" in New York City, even though gay marriage is not technically legal in the state.

The New York Post reports that last month a young couple, Hakim Nelson and Jason Stenson, were married by the City Clerk's Office on Worth Street. The civil servants at the office didn't seem to notice that both of the people wanting to get married were male and had male first names.

Due to a mistake/lucky break by another state worker, Nelson's EBT (food stamps) card, which he used as his identification, listed him as "F" for female. Nelson goes by the name "Kimah" and hopes to become fully female, through gender reassignment surgery, in the future. Apparently an orange dress and white leggings Nelson wore was proof enough that he was a woman.

Of course opponents of equal rights are claiming that the marriage is technically not legal, even though Nelson and his new spouse were married by the City of New York. According to The Post, the marriage bureau is "currently deciding what steps to take regarding the license or any others that may have been issued improperly, adding that Stenson's and Nelson's is not valid."

Hosts of a Sacramento-based radio show apologized Thursday for making offensive comments about transgender people.

“I hurt people,” Arnie States told listeners. “And that wasn't my goal.”

That apology came after gay rights groups decried a May 28 broadcast of the Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning radio show, which airs on KRXQ in Sacramento, where hosts Arnie States and Rob Williams called transgender people “freaks” and “weirdos” during a segment devoted to transgender children.

“If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes,” States told listeners. “I would throw a shoe at him. Because you know what? Boys don't wear high heels. And in my house, they definitely don't wear high heels.”

“[T]hey are freaks,” Williams said. “They are abnormal. Not because they're girls trapped in boys bodies but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them.”

“You got a boy saying, 'I wanna wear dresses.' I'm going to look at him and go, 'You know what? You're a little idiot! You little dumbass! Look, you are a boy! Boys don't wear dresses,'” States said. And about eight minutes later added, “You know, my favorite part about hearing these stories about the kids in high school, who the entire high school caters around, lets the boy wear the dress. I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down.”

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) demanded an apology, called the comments “cruel, dehumanizing and defamatory,” and said they promoted “child abuse.”

The apology issued on air Thursday didn't come easily, however. The radio station originally stood by the show's content. And in a follow up show, States defended his comments, called the hubbub that followed “a joke,” and insisted he never advocated child abuse: “I didn't do anything wrong.”

The station said it changed its mind after hearing from hundreds of listeners which mostly sided with GLAAD.

But a mass exodus of major advertisers was already underway when the station announced plans to apologize. According to a GLAAD blog post, eleven major advertisers – including fast food giant McDonald's and Bank of America – pulled out of the show.

The program went off the air for several days before returning Thursday with a show devoted to the topic and featured transgender advocate and Pam's House Blend contributor Autumn Sandeen and Executive Director of TransYouth Family Allies Kim Pearson.

“Our audience made it clear that we had actually made it seem as though we endorse or allow or encourage the harming and abuse of children, the bullying and vilifying of those who are different, and singling out of transgenders for harm,” Williams said.

“I want you to very clearly understand that I proudly and fully apologize for those comments completely,” he added.

“I didn't realize that my words could really affect and hurt as bad and as negatively as they did,” States said. “I hurt people. And that wasn't my goal. I stupidly tried to think that I was entertaining people by the things that I said and I hurt people in the process.”

“I think this is the way we make change – and we don't mean as individuals, but as a community,” Sandeen said after the program. “Humanity won the day. I think that's what worked – we all became humans in the same room instead of stereotypes.”

The Rob, Arnie & Dawn show is owned by co-host Rob Williams.

The 18^th Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted Bülent Ersoy, the famous transsexual singer of Turkey, of the accusation of alienating people from military service through her words during a TV program. She had said that if she had a son she would not send him to fight in the Northern Iraq operations.

The court ruled yesterday (December 18) that there was no intention of committing crime, she was using her freedom of expression. Ersoy did not come to the last hearing.

Prosecutor emphasized the freedom of expression

While one of the complainants Hayati Karata? demanded Ersoy’s punishment, the prosecutor said she was using her freedom of expression.

The court too said that the singer was expressing his personal opinions and had no intention of committing crime.

“I have the right to express my opinions freely”

Ersoy defended her position by saying that she was demanding solution rather than dying to solve the problem at hand and she also added that she had the right to express her opinions as an artist who was born and raised in Turkey and paid her taxes.

“If it is treason or alienating people from military service to ask for solution rather than death, then that is simply a matter of understanding. I am here because I was misunderstood.”

Ersoy is on trial for talking against deaths in the Northern Iraq operations during the TV program Popstar Alaturka on February 24, which was aired by Star TV.

The prosecutor had filed the lawsuit following complaints by ten people and based his arguments on the claim that every Turk was born a soldier and that Ersoy’s speech was quoted by the pro-Kurdish Roj TV.

According to article 318 of the Turkish Penal Code, “(1) Anyone caught encouraging or suggesting alienation of people from the military service or does propaganda towards this goal will be sentenced to prison from six months to two years. (2) If this act is done through media then the sentence will be doubled.”

The photos of David Carradine's body printed in a Thai tabloid show the actor wearing what appear to be fishnets and a wig, according to a report in ABCNews.com, raising new questions about the circumstances of his mysterious death.

The images – which apparently show the actor hanging from a bar in the closet of his Bangkok hotel room – also reveal what appears to be red women's lingerie on a nearby bed, ABC reports.

Carradine's remains were due to arrive in Los Angeles this week and New York's famed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden was scheduled to conduct an investigation.

"Baden is one of the most experienced forensic pathologists in the world. If there's something suspicious, he'll find it," his friend Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, chairman of the Department of Forensic Sciences at John Jay College of Criminal Justice told the Daily News Tuesday.

Thai authorities have ruled Carradine's June 4 death a"sex accident" due to autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. The"Kung Fu" actor, 72, was found with his wrists, neck and genitals bound by a rope.

Transvestite role-playing – as suggested by the presence of women's undergarments – is often part of autoerotic stimulation.

Images from the actor's autopsy in Thailand have also circulated.  A photograph from that autopsy viewed by the Daily News showed the actor's nude body laid out on a coroner's table with many visible tattoos.  Those images have not been published.

Carradine's family members have continued to question that conclusion, wondering how the actor could have bound his own wrists and saying the evidence suggests foul play.

Filmmaker Robert Dunlap – who made a documentary about people who engage in deviant sex practices – echoed those doubts to ABCNews.com "This doesn't look like a solo act at all," Dunlap told ABCNews.com. "In order to have an orgasm, his hands would have had to be free."

Referencing the apparent presence of women's lingerie, he added,"You don't dress just for yourself … Usually there is some sort of show and someone else is involved. It probably went horribly bad and they left."

Two of Carradine's ex-wives have spoken publicly on his unusual sexual preferences.

His third wife Gail Jensen said he liked to tie himself up at home and ride horses bareback wearing nothing by a Speedo in an interview with RadarOnline.com.

His fourth wife Marina Anderson alleged in 2003 divorce papers obtained by theSmokingGun.com that Carradine practiced "deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly" and said he engaged in an "incestuous relationship with a very close family member."

In a separate interview with TMZ.com , Jensen – who divorced Carradine in 1997 – said the actor was able to tie himself up without assistance and did so at home.

"He spent days planning a different feature. He would go to a hardware store and buy the stuff," Jensen said.

No plans for a funeral for the actor have been announced.

A group of teens beat a transgender person and threatened to kill her Saturday on Rainier Avenue, according to Seattle police.

The person, who told police she is in the process of changing her name and appearance to a woman, reported she was attacked by a group of teens at the bus stop at Rainier and South Mount Baker Boulevard.

A teenage boy was arrested and booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of robbery and felony malicious harassment, the state's hate crime law, according to police.

The teen told police he and his "homies" did not bother the victim until she solicited him for sex.

The assault happened about 4:40 p.m. Saturday. When police arrived, several witnessed flagged them down, saying the suspects fled on a Metro bus.

Police stopped the coach near Rainier and South Andover Street. When the bus stopped, the teen who was arrested fled and was identified by a witness, police said.

The victim, in her 30s, told police "that as soon as the suspects got to him, they started hitting and kicking him at the same time one of the (suspects) was attempting to take his backpack," according to a police report.

The victim held onto her backpack and briefly got away. But she told police they charged again, knocking her to the ground. She said she heard a homophobic term said when she was being beaten, and one of the boys stated they were going to kill her.

"He also stated that he sometimes wears a skirt and he stated that he believes he was attacked because of this," according to the heavily redacted report.

The victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries and declined medical attention at the scene.

The boy arrested, either 13 or 14, "was uncooperative in providing information regarding the identities of the other suspects involved in the incident," Officer Wayne Johnson wrote in his report.

In the current economic climate, finding (or keeping) a steady job can be a daunting task for just about anyone, but especially for transgender people.A study from 2006 showed that even in progressive San Francisco 35% of transgender people were unemployed due to discrimination and fear from employers.

In response to the challenges transgender people face, last weekend the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center held a transgender friendly job fair as part of the center's annual Trans-Unity Pride celebration.The fair featured 17 employers actively seeking out the transgender community and included a seminar educating employers on the legal rights of transgender employees.

In California it is illegal to discriminate against LGBT people in employment, housing and many other areas, thanks to legislation sponsored by EQCA.  However, in reality the high standards set by our laws are not always met in the job market.  That’s why programs like the Center’s job fair are critical to seeing real change.

While the LAGLC’s program can help on a micro level, there is still more we can do in the legislature. One obstacle that can prevent transgender individuals from finding employment is that an employee background check does not match their identity.

That challenge is one reason why EQCA has sponsored the Equal ID Act. The legislation, which is awaiting a California State Senate vote, would allow qualified transgender people born in California to obtain a new birth certificate reflecting the correct gender and possible name change.

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Transgender advocates Kim Pearson and Autumn Sandeen will appear on KRXQ's "Rob, Arnie & Dawn" show Thursday morning to "further educate the hosts," according to a news release from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The trio's morning show is off the air because of remarks made during a broadcast but will return at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

"KRXQ appears to be taking this matter very seriously following widespread response from community members and advertisers," said Rashad Robinson, spokesman for GLAAD.

GLAAD first contacted KRXQ after a listener complained about remarks made by co-hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States in a May 28 broadcast.