Letter to the Editor
A TGForum member from a southern state writes a letter to the editor stating why she will vote for the GOP in the upcoming presidential election.
Tag: politics
History Repeating
History is repeating here in the United States as we are fighting to keep the Evangelicals from taking control of our government, along with their stooge Donald Trump and his chosen running mate, the atrocious J.D. Vance. If Trump and Vance win the White House trans lives will be in more danger than ever.
Letter to Representative
Sophie Lynne decides to contact a state representative, who she met personally, after she gets an email from the representative all about Juneteenth, and LGBTQ+ rights. Expecting a form letter in response Sophie emails the rep asking what she has done to help transgender people. A few days later she gets the form letter. Therein lies one major problem.
Trans Spirituality – Passover 24 Edition
As trans people, we face a similar Exodus when we transition. We are in bondage in our birth sex, facing myriad forms of oppression, internally and externally. If we are fortunate enough to transition, and have adequate support, we can cast off many of the chains of that bondage and move “across the sea” to a new life of freedom as our true selves.
Dallas Denny’s Keynote, Paradise Conference 2024
Dallas Denny has kindly allowed us to publish her notes for the keynote address she delivered at the third Paradise Conference, which was held in Atlanta from April 18-21, 2024. Her speech explores why Americans can believe transgender people are a menace. Exposure to misinformation and disinformation. When many believe that vaccines are a way to get tiny tracking devices into people why wouldn’t they believe the lies about transgender people?
WCN
White Christian Nationalism is the current threat to transgender people and the USA. There. I said it. Yes, this is going to be political. The stakes are too high for otherwise. What is it? Whitehead and Perry (2020) define Christian nationalism as “a cultural framework—a collection of myths, traditions, symbols, narratives, and value systems—that idealizes […]
Watch Your Back Part 2, Dealing With the Hate
Being transgender hasn’t been easy. In the ‘80s and ‘90s though activism by the trans community and outreach to the general public made out existence a bit easier. But it is estimated that around forty percent of our citizens are close minded authoritarians who don’t deal well with change. It happens that many of these people are in state legislatures and even in Congress. While the general public has grown more accepting of LGBTQ people the super conservatives have decided to attack with anti-transgender legislation. Michelle L. Rogers is a conservative who is also a trans woman. She is frightened by what’s happening and urges everyone to watch their backs.
Four Years Since it All Changed
In January of 2020 the first case of Covid-19 was found on the west coast. The disease was ravaging China and without a pandemic plan here it wasn’t long until it was popping up all around the country. The administration spent way too long trying to minimize the danger, telling the nation that the disease would magically disappear. In the meantime bodies were being stored in makeshift morgues and refrigerated trucks. Sophie recalls 2020 and also recalls who was in charge at that time. The same administration that failed to act soon enough to the pandemic wants to return to power and they have made it clear that one of their major goals is to eliminate transgender people.
Religious Freedom or Oppression?
Right wing evangelicals are busy working to bring their idea of a Christian theocracy in our country to life. They want to impose their religious beliefs on everyone in the USA. The First Amendment of the Constitution says that “. . .Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . .”. Religion is not supposed to have control of our government yet the right wing evangelicals in the GOP who have been elected or appointed to Congress, state legislatures, and the judiciary, are working to make all of our citizens comply with their beliefs. It’s not a new movement either. This Retro Rerun, written in 1998 by TGF contributor Judy Osborne, tells us that the right wing theocrats were busy at the end of the 20th century working to realize their vision.
History Repeats
Sophie Lynne writes about Magnus Hirschfeld, the gay Jewish man who coined the word “transvestite” and became the first sex researcher in Weimar Germany. After Hitler came to power Hirschfeld’s research was burned by the Brown Shirts. Looking at recent news Sophie fears that history is repeating.
Patriarchy and Politics
Rabbah Rona Matlow believes that religious orthodoxy, Jewish and Christian, has corrupted biblical and other religious texts to defend the oppression of trans people. According to the Hebrew Bible and the rabbinic commentaries that follow it, sex and gender have ALWAYS been non-binary. Politicians use the cherry picked or corrupted text to make trans and nonbinary people into “the other” so they can stay in power. The lesson of the election on November 7 shows the people don’t support the right wing oppression of transgender people.
Hate on Campus
Sophie Lynne went to Penn State University to further her education. In just the last few years she’s been exposed to the hate of the Proud Boys, Nazis, right wing pundits speaking on campus, and others who find progress toward peace and love and diversity in our society to be intolerable. Today Sophie reports on what hate is doing to Happy Valley.
Mistranslations and Deliberate Inaccuracies
The Christian community in the U.S. reads their bibles in English, and they don’t care about the inaccuracies (many of them deliberate) that exist in those translations. They fiercely believe those translations come from God, so they must be right – no matter that there are many translations, and they often contradict each other. The danger to trans people comes from this evangelical right that believes the inaccurate translations and forget to love their neighbor.
Twit Awards for the Week 6/26/23
While assembling the stories for the news Cecilia Barzyk comes across silly fools who don’t understand transgender issues and just don’t care to. They bash us and introduce legislation against us. We call these people twits and in this post Cecilia tells you who they are and what they’ve said and done that makes them a twit.
Florida Thoughts
Recent anti-transgender legislation in the Sunshine State has considerably darkened people’s mood. Bills banning gender-affirming care for minors and restricting access to care for adults have been signed into law. One new law allows a parent who disapproves of their child’s gender identity to legally kidnap the child from the parent who accepts the child’s identity. These laws and others passed in red states are all based on lies told for political gain. But the laws have many transgender folks scared.
The Default; What it Means For You
If something has not been done about the debt ceiling that the GOP is holding hostage in just a few days the government will default on paying the debts that have already been authorized by Congress. What happens then to people, many of them members of the transgender community, who depend on government assistance to survive? Rabbah Rona has a preview.
Twit Awards for the Week 5/29/23
While assembling the stories for the news Cecilia Barzyk comes across silly fools who don’t understand transgender issues and just don’t care to. They bash us and introduce legislation against us. We call these people twits and in this post Cecilia tells you who they are and what they’ve said and done that makes them a twit.
“My wife is not a controversy!”
Amanita contributed to TGForum with an advice column titled Ask Amanita. She is a gender counselor and activist who advocates for the transgender community. Her spouse is a trans woman. This post is about how her wife’s transition, which Amanita fully supported, caused changes in their social standing in their community. How they had to make new friends when the old ones retreated, and how much the discrimination hurts. Share this post with any cisgender allies.
Why Does the GOP Attack Transgender People?
The right wing is displaying downright paranoia over transgender people. We continue to see record numbers of attacks against trans people in the US. As a result of this, some trans activists urge trans people to arm themselves for self-defense. Why do conservatives engage in attacks, both legislative and physical? Rabbah Rona feels that much of it has to do with their interpretation of Christianity.
News of the World
Some people think that there’s no such thing as transgenderism. Some people conflate drag performers with trans women. Some people respond to lies about the transgender community. Today Sophie Lynne responds to the attacks on a minority that some people want to obliterate.
Help the Haters?
Haters gonna hate. Hate based on lies and misinformation. The LGBTQ+ community doesn’t have an “agenda” that menaces straight white people. The existence of transgender people doesn’t take away things or threaten white, straight men. But lies spread to get votes cause real suffering. Rabbah Rona writes about the situation and suggests a possible path to rebuke the lies.
LGB Dumping Trans
Either by action or inaction the LGB part of GLBT is effectively dumping transgender people. The action part is currently most obvious in the UK but the inaction part is currently most obvious in the US. Dana Bevan takes a look at the situation and reports on what’s going on and suggests a solution to fix it.
Elections and Insanity
Sophie Lynne wishes everyone a peaceful holiday but wants you to know that the forces aligned against the trans community have already introduced serious anti-transgender bills. One such bill in Texas treats any attempt at helping a transgender child through gender-affirming care as child abuse and activates government forces to stop the “abuse”. See the text of the bill in Sophie’s post.
Twit Awards for the Week 11/21/22
While assembling the stories for the new Cecilia Barzyk comes across silly fools who don’t understand transgender issues and just don’t care to. They bash us and introduce legislation against us. We call these people twits and in this post Cecilia tells you who they are and what they’ve said and done that makes them a twit.
Trans Spirituality – Veterans Day Special Edition
In keeping with Veteran’s Day Rabbah Rona Matlow reflects on her time in the service and how she had a revelation that changed her destination in life. She knew that she was meant to rabbi. She also looks at the way the U.S. uses its military might around the world.
Trans Spirituality, Sukkot
Rabbah Rona Matlow writes about the Fall Festival of Sukkot. A celebration that requires Jews to make a temporary structure outside their homes. The structure is meant to remind the faithful of the image of God spreading a Sukkah or covering of Peace over them as they lay down to sleep.
