The Week In Trans 12/21/20

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Kate Freeman

Kate Freeman became the first out transgender person to win on Jeopardy when she won the December 11 show. Her reign was short-lived, as she lost the next game. She wore a small transgender pride flag lapel pin during her run on the show. The Hill has this story.

This week, U.S. District Judge Michael Watson ruled that Ohio’s policy against allowing transgender people to update the gender marker on their birth certificates is unconstitutional. He writes in his opinion, “This policy resembles the sort of discrimination-based legislation struck down under the equal protection clause in Romer v. Evans as nothing more than ‘born out of animosity towards the class of person affected’ that has ‘no rational relation to a legitimate government purpose.” CNN has this story.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a legal name change no longer requires an ad in a legal paper. This story comes from NorthJersey.com.

The Daily Beast reports that transgender people in the military and potential recruits are excited about President-Elect Joe Biden’s promise to reverse the ban on transgender troops on day one of his presidency.

Chae’Meshia Simms

U.S. Marshals arrested Reyjon Lee in connection with the November 22 murder of transgender woman Chae-Meshia Simms in Richmond, Virginia. WTVR-TV has this report. Her father had said that the family would not stop looking for the killer.

It’s an odd time to be launching a new non-profit for transgender people, although such a group is certainly needed and welcome. NJ.com reports on a new group called Trans Affirming Alliance, which is operating in New Jersey.

Delaware state Senator Sarah McBride talks of how her parents were “incredibly loving, but they were scared” when she came out as transgender. This interview comes from People magazine.

The New England Journal of Medicine has an article about the problems transgender people encounter in both getting and affording health care. The article recommends that the incoming Biden administration insists on an inclusive interpretation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

An article in VeryWell talks of the need for transgender health centers, and looks at the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai as an example.

While medical science is increasingly recommending a combined approach involving mental health and medical treatment for gender dysphoria, more than 17 states have proposed legislation to block these treatments, especially in minors. The Endocrine Society and the Pediatric Endocrine Society sent out a press release decrying the attempt to legislate against treatment for gender dysphoria in minors. News-Medical.net has their press release.

A model represented by Slay.

Slay Model Management calls itself “the world’s first all-trans modeling agency.” They are the subject of a story in Spectrum News.

A study by the Terrence Higgins Trust found that 52 percent of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people struggle with their sex life, and even more had feelings of negativity, low mood, and depression. Nearly all participants report a lack of sexual health information targeted to transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people. You can read about it at Pink News.

A study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine finds that even after one year on hormones, transgender women do better than cisgender women at specific exercises. The authors of that study talked about their findings with Healio.

Transgender triathlete Chris Mosier sat down for a podcast interview with Triathlete magazine.

The play Overflow opened at the Bush Theatre in London. It stars Reece Lyons as Rosie, who talks to the audience about her experiences as a transgender woman in a public women’s restroom. Pink News has highlights.

A list of the Best LGBTQ+ Films of 2020 in The Advocate includes Bill And Ted Face the Music, especially for Brigette Lundy-Paine as Ted’s genderless child, Billie.

Drag Race U.K.’s Tia Kofi.

Last week, the contestants for RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 were introduced. This week, the contestants for the new season of Drag Race U.K. were introduced. You can find them at Out.com.

Eleven drag queens pay tribute to Meryl Streep in Night of 1000 Meryls. The Advocate has this story.

Drag performers also appeared in a video sponsored by Bubly, who donated $25,000 to SAGE, a non-profit dedicated to serving LGBTQ elders. This story comes from The Advocate.

A pro-Trump drag queen named Lady Maga performed her act at the Million MAGA March in Washington, D.C. last week. The crowd was not impressed. In fact, several people chanted “shame” at the performer. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Kalidas Jayaram plays a transgender character in Paava Kadhaigal, a new movie on Netflix. He talks about the experience on NDTV.

An editorial in Foreign Policy magazine talks of how the recent decision by Britain’s High Court puts transgender people everywhere at risk of losing their rights.

Thousands of people have signed a petition asking media in the United Kingdom to stop giving the LGB Alliance a voice without a counter-voice. Pink News has this story.

Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee was told that it is unfair of the BBC to insist that any presentation about transgender people be “balanced” with a gender-critical point of view. Pink News has this story.

Eddie Izzard

Comedian Eddie Izzard has asked the world to  use she/her pronouns when talking about her. British media reports that she is being called “brave” for asking to be recognized in her preferred gender. Read one article in Pink News.

Not only is the media in the U.K. giving the LGB Alliance the opportunity to spread its message without opposition, but they are spending so much time on transgender issues that Jane Garvey, host of The Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, worries that other issues are not getting the coverage they deserve, so that more coverage can be given to transgender issues. This story comes from Pink News.

Six experts told Parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee that the repeated consultations on trans rights has left the transgender community “exhausted.” Pink News has this story.

An English court found that freedom of speech is quite broad, and includes a “right to offend” and the right to “abuse another.” Those are obviously not unlimited rights, but the fact that one is offended or feels abused does not by itself mean that the person whose speech caused these feelings has necessarily violated free speech laws. Pink News has this story.

Police have a reputation for being old, white, male, cisgender, and heterosexual, and for not being particularly friendly to those who do not share those qualities. One transgender police officer in Britain is trying to get beyond that reputation, according to Pink News.

Bobrisky

In Nigeria women who western culture might call golddiggers or material girls are referred to as “runs girls.” They are always living a lavish lifestyle with no visible means of support. Except what they get from adoring men. Also in Nigeria trans women are labeled “crossdressers” and one of the most famous ones, known as Bobrisky, has proclaimed herself the “…the most paid runs girl presently in” the country. Learn more about her from the Miss Petite website.

In a recent advice column, a woman said that her new partner seems not to be accepting her son’s gender transition. Richard Madeley, who writes the column, responded that the transgender teen “deserves support and unconditional love.” Pink News. has this story.

A 42-year-old transgender man gave birth to twins in Belfast, and he and his wife tell Pink News how happy they are to be parents.

When a French transgender student committed suicide, her classmates protested the way that their school had treated her for wearing a skirt. The AP has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Switzerland just changed the rules for transgender and intersex people to change their names and legal genders. The new rules allow self-declaration at a civil registry office, and cut the fees from thousands of Swiss francs to a mere 75 Swiss francs. The catch is, those under 16 have to get permission from their parents before they can self-declare a new gender. This story can be found in Pink News.

Byun Hee-soo

South Korea’s major human rights agency, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, is fighting for an appeal of a verdict against the transgender soldier who had surgery with the military’s permission. The Korea Herald has this story.

A transgender woman named Alejandra Salazar was strangled in Buenos Aires. Her death brings to 106 the number of transgender people who have been murdered in Argentina this year, according to Pink News. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Argentina is hoping to combat the rampant transphobia in that country with a plan to bring more transgender people into the workforce. ABC News has the AP’s story. Our contributor Shelley Anne found the story at NBC, also.

Redbrick has a comment about the need for transgender representation, and the hope that Elliot Page will provide some of that.

At the Pink News Awards, a new category called LGBT+ Friend of the Year recognizd Samantha Howard, who created T&Coffee to create a space for people to find and give support. Pink News has this story.

LGBTQ Nation reports that the fastest-growing hashtag this year was #transrightsarehumanrights.

Roxanne Reid

British cage fighter Alex Reid was outed as a transvestite by his ex-wife back in 2011. Reid’s femme name is Roxanne and for years he identified privately as gender fluid. When his then wife outed him to the world it had the unexpected side effect of him being forced out into the open. Now he can be open to the world about his crossdressing. But his ex-wife keeps lying about their sex life and the extent of his crossdressing. Learn more from an updated article in The Sun.

Although the Catholic Church is not the friendliest of places for transgender people, there actually is a history of saints who were not content to live within the binary. The Advocate has this story.

A rabbi and a Methodist pastor combine to remind us that the holiday season is a season for inclusion. MinnPost has their editorial.

TWITs

Elon Musk again made a comment denigrating the idea of declaring one’s pronouns. He compared it to an imperial British soldier smearing the blood of an enemy on his face. This raises the question, why is this so hard for him? It does not require much energy or much data space, and it shows that one cares for others. For finding simple compassion too much to express (or perhaps too difficult to comprehend), Elon Musk gets a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Chris Stigall is a right-wing radio host in Philadelphia. He went into a ten-minute rant against Dr. Rachel Levine, calling her a “man in a dress,” and referring to her as “Cousin Itt.” His tirade was long on name-calling, and very short on reasons why her pandemic policy is wrong. Given that Pennsylvania is seeing a sharp increase in the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations, and the number of deaths from COVID-19, it would seem that her recommendations are too lenient, rather than too strong. For cruelty and for presuming himself an expert on a subject he knows nothing about, Chris Stigall gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from Pink News. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to the story.

Justice Gaines

Michael Correia is a member of the Providence, Rhode Island, City Council. He was heard on a tape recording saying of a local transgender activist, Justice Gaines, “He’s still working on developing his breasts and everything.” When confronted with the evidence of his negative attitude towards transgender people, he responded by complaining about the presence of the recording device. For blaming an inanimate object for the problems caused by his own bad attitude, Michael Correia gets a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

CBN has an article entitled “Activists Call for Book Ban as Politically Incorrect Look at Transgender Teens Shakes Up Marketplace.” The book is Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage, and the actual complaint is not that the book is politically incorrect, but that it is scientifically incorrect. For ignoring all the complaints about bad science, CBN gets a TWIT.

An article in The Washington Examiner claims that a transgender activist is recommending that all children be put on puberty blockers. Actually, the quote, which is included in the article, says, “An inability to offer informed consent or understand the long-term consequences is actually an argument for putting every single cis and trans person on puberty blockers until they acquire that ability.” This argument is not saying that every child should be put on puberty blockers; it’s a reductio-ad-absurdum argument against the U.K. High Court decision that children can’t give informed consent. If children who think they are transgender could be wrong, so too could children who think that they are cisgender be wrong. It’s not a great argument, as it ignores the argument that the medication has side-effects (an argument which the justices found convincing, despite medical experts disagreeing with it). For failing to understand what they were arguing against, The Washington Examiner gets a TWIT.

TWIT is assembled by Cecilia Barzyk with additional content and editing by Angela Gardner. Care to make a comment on this post? Login here and use the comment area below.

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Category: Transgender Community News