The Week In Trans 1/11/21

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Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox, Meryl Streep, and Rashida Jones are executive producers of a new documentary looking at the sex industry through the prisms of race, power, and feminism. The title of the documentary is Sell/Buy/Date. The Hollywood Reporter has this story. Update: Cox has dropped out of the production citing complaints from sex workers about the film.

While Hollywood seems to be getting the memo that it’s a good idea to hire transgender actors and actresses to play transgender characters (and also good to have some behind the cameras as well), Bollywood seems not have gotten the message yet. The hit TV show Shakti-Astiva Ke Ehsaas Ki is trying to bring awareness of how Indian society treats transgender people, which is good. However, they keep hiring cisgender actors to play the transgender women. This story can be found in Yahoo style.

In happier news from India, the fashion designer formerly known as Swapnil Shinde, who has designed for Bollywood actresses, has announced that she is a transgender woman named Saisha. NDTV has this story.

Many people have hopes for the new year. Some just hope that it is better than last year, while others have more specific hopes. Dr. Sherman Leis, a surgeon who has many transgender patients, has seven areas in which he hopes to see continuing progress for the transgender community. Edge Media Network has this story.

Addison Perry-Franks

Addison Perry-Franks, a Texas filmmaker with political ambitions, died at the too-young age of 39. PinkNews has this story.

The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted the use of gender-neutral terms in its official rules. The person in charge of a committee will no longer be referred to as “chairman” or “chairwoman,” but simply as “chair.” Family relationships, such as “father,” “mother,” “son,” or “daughter,” will become “parent” or “child.” While the gender-neutral language is in the rules, it is not required in debate or other verbal communications. Some are complaining that this is a form of censorship, as well as evidence of “political correctness gone too far,” as LGBTQ Nation points out. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

We all saw the events held in Washington, D.C., on January 6. There were some spontaneous, peaceful counter demonstrations in various places well away from the U.S. Capitol. At a protest outside Trump Tower, a 19-year-old transgender woman, Nikki Stone, was arrested for “walking in the roadway” while carrying a banner opposing the attempt to challenge the certification of the election. PinkNews has this story.

Although 2020 is finished, at least one more name must be added to the list of transgender women of color who died violently in that year. Alexandria Winchester was a homeless Latinx woman, who was killed on December 26. Hers is the 44th known violent death of a transgender woman of color in 2020, as Out.com notes.

A funeral was held for Courtney “Eshay” Key, a Black transgender woman who was murdered on Christmas day. CBS 2 Chicago has this story.

Queasha Hardy

Baton Rouge Police again asked the public for any information they may have into the murder of “Kevin Hardy Jr., also known as Queasha Hardy.” She was shot to death on July 27 f last year. BR Proud has this story.

Sky News reports on transgender people who are waiting for their opportunity to serve in the military.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development appears to be giving up on implementing its new proposed rule on transgender people at homeless shelters. It seems as though the desire is still there, but time is running out, according to The Washington Blade.

Another rule change, which would allow adoption agencies to refuse to put children with LGBTQ people, is being implemented. It goes into effect next month, despite the change in administration. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned this week, following the events on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Outlets such as The Advocate remind readers that she did not oppose the Trump administration’s guidance regarding which restroom transgender students could use, and her willingness to go along with plans to withhold money from schools and school districts that allow transgender female students to compete in female athletics.

The state of Georgia held two run-off elections for U.S. Senate this week. The Advocate reports that two of the contestants from the current season of RuPaul’s Drag Race participated in the effort to get people to vote in the election.

A poll commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign shows that there has been an increase in the number of voters who feel that equality is important to them. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

With the failure to pass the Equality Act at the federal level, state laws determine how what protections transgender people have. The Dothan Eagle has a list of what protections exist for transgender people in each state and the District of Columbia.

Dr. Ronx Ikharia

Dr. Ronx Ikharia is an accident and emergency doctor in Britain who has recently been appearing on the news as a medical expert. Dr. Ronx is also non-binary and identifies as transgender. Dr. Ronx is profiled in PinkNews.

A study in the journal Pediatrics finds that early gender-affirming medical therapy leads to improved psychological well-being and body acceptance. Contemporary OB/GYN has this story.

A study found that increased parent connectedness is good for sexual health in transgender teens. The abstract and a short version of the results of this study appear in Doc Wire News.

Transgender people have been the subject of much academic study lately. This has led to “research fatigue” among some transgender people, who are tired of being interviewed by graduate students, and who are growing to see the research as not leading to tangible results. Wired.com has this story.

CBS News has a profile of transgender athlete Chris Mosier.

Saira Khan is one of the stars of the British television panel show Loose Women. She said that she wants to be replaced with a “gay, transgender or non-binary host.” She is leaving the show after five years, as Pink News points out.

Eddie Izzard says that Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner tackled “toxic” transphobia, and in so doing, made it “easier” for her to come out as transgender. The Wrap has this story.

Sir Ian McKellen is happy for Elliot Page, now that he has come out as transgender. When the two first appeared in an X-Men movie, Sir Ian noticed something which made him think that Elliot was withholding something. This story comes from Attitude magazine.

Birdie Leigh

Actress Busy Philips says that her eldest child, Birdie Leigh, now 12 years old, is gay and uses they/them pronouns. PinkNews has this story.

Nikkie De Jager, also known as NikkieTutorials, has released a new YouTube video, in which she talks about things that happened to her last year. PinkNews has a link.

We reported last week that comedian Frankie Boyle called transphobic jokes “lazy,” and specifically called out Ricky Gervais for his jokes about transgender people. This week, stand-up comedian James Acaster complained about comedians who feel that jokes in which transgender people are the punchline are “edgy.” You can find the punchline of his routine at PinkNews.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is early in the new season. USA Today has a story profiling Gottmik, who also stopped by The Today Show.

Out.com reports that Gottmik has their own YouTube channel.

RuPaul admits that the contestants this year have been challenging her idea of what drag is. This came in an interview with Stephen Colbert. Queerty has a link to the video, as well as a story.

If you are wondering which of this year’s contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race has the most Instagram followers, Out.com has the answer.

RuPaul has flown to New Zealand, apparently with the intention of hosting Drag Race Australia. Out.com has this story.

Season 1 winner Priyanka.

Canada’s Drag Race will return for a second season, Out.com reports.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has become such a phenomenon that some celebrities ask to appear on the show. Other stars have to be approached, but are willing to appear when asked. Still others turn down the opportunity to appear. Dolly Parton has been saying no to the show for a decade now. Huffington Post U.K. has this story, straight from Michelle Visage.

Feminist author Judith Butler sat for an hour-long interview, and the question of J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender people had to come up. Let’s just say that Judith Butler is much friendlier to transgender people than Ms. Rowling is. PinkNews has this story.

PinkNews has a profile of Caroline Cossey, who was known as Tula in her modeling days. She was briefly in a James Bond movie, and was something of a transgender celebrity a while ago. And yes, she is still alive.

The British charity Mermaids has found that many parents of transgender children have not yet told them about the High Court’s ruling regarding puberty blockers. Almost all of the families that participated report that the ruling has had a negative impact on their transgender child’s mental health. PinkNews has this story.

Suzie Green, the CEO of Mermaids, wrote a piece about the impact of this decision. It appears in The Independent.

The High Court decision in Bell v Tavistock applies to England and Wales. Scotland does not plan to implement a similar ban on puberty blockers. PinkNews has this story.

Rosie Duffield, an M.P. with the Labour party, has gone on another round of liking anti-transgender activists. LGBT+ Labour, a group affiliated with the party, are urging that she be disciplined somehow. This situation is covered in a story by Pink News.

Laura Weinstein

Laura Weinstein, a prominent transgender rights activist in Colombia, passed away from respiratory difficulties. PrideSource has this story.

Brazil is hardly a friendly place for transgender people, despite the fact that there are quite a few transgender people in that nation. Even so, some transgender people are starting to win local elections, as PinkNews notes. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

The United Arab Emirates is so opposed to LGBTQ rights, they have even outlawed crossdressing. Yet, the International Conference on Gender Identity and LGBT Rights will be held there in May. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The Director General of India’s National Cadet Corps says that their rules do not permit them to have transgender cadets. He says that they would need “numbers” and other “dynamics” in order to admit transgender youth into the Cadet Corps. Big News Network has this story.

A decision from India’s High Court holds that transgender people can run for elected government positions that are reserved for women. This story comes from The Hindu.

A new calendar in India shows pictures of successful transgender people, along with some indication of their success. The Hindu has this story.

Jamaica’s national health care system has no idea of how to treat transgender people. TransWave Jamaica, with help from UNAIDS and the United Nations Population Fund, is working to change that. This story comes from UNAIDS.

A lot of cisgender people, who have always been happy enough with their gender, have no idea what gender dysphoria is like. A Reddit user came up with a novel analogy. Pink News has this story.

Zoey Villa

The Daily Mail introduces us to Zoey Villa, a 12-year-old transgender girl in New York, and her supportive mother, Sally Homer.

The headline of the story in The 19th is “Meet the transgender men teaching all men to be better.”

TWITs

The state legislature of Alabama begins its new session on February 2. Representative Wes Allen has announced that he will sponsor the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, legislation which aims to forbid doctors from treating gender dysphoria in minors with either medicine or surgery. This would include the use of puberty blockers. For imposing political limitations on the practice of medicine, Alabama state Representative Wes Allen gets a TWIT Award. AL.com has this story.

A court in Ontario, Canada, has not only ruled against a transgender woman keeping custody of her children, but further ordered that the transgender woman pay the costs for her children to travel to live with their mother. Since the biological mother is now married to a man who works for Microsoft, the children will be living in the state of Washington. For cruelty in making a person pay travel costs incurred by losing their children, Justice David Broad gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from The Ottawa Sun.

We mentioned above that the House of Representatives now requires certain gender-neutral terms in certain formal situations. One person who disagrees with the gender-neutral language is former Representative Tulsi Gabbard. She appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, where she said, “It’s the height of hypocrisy for people who claim to be champions of rights for women to deny the very biological existence of women.” The use of gender-neutral language does not deny the “biological existence of women.” At most, it says that those women are humans of equal worth. For hyperbole and for bad logic, Tulsi Gabbard gets a TWIT Award. You can read about it at Out.com.

The new budget for the state of Virginia calls for the state’s Medicaid program to potentially cover gender dysphoria treatments, including treatments for minors. Those treatments typically are puberty blockers and, later, hormone replacement therapy. It is rare for any minors to get approved for gender confirmation surgery. Yet, James Bacon not only disapproves of the use of taxpayer money for a medical procedure of which he disapproves (as opposed to using taxpayer money to pay for a weapons system that even the Pentagon thinks is unnecessary, but which is tied to an important Congressional district), but he makes an extra point of writing, “Doubly reprehensible: Using taxpayer dollars to pay for children to receive disfiguring transgender treatments.” For practicing medicine without a license and for hyping up the language, James Bacon gets a TWIT.

Kimberly Ells writes in Mercatornet that “The Endgame Of Transgender Ideology Is To Dismantle The Family.” The endgame of “transgender ideology” is for transgender people to be treated as human beings, entitled to the same treatment as any other human being. The dismantling of the family is the endgame of divorce. For bad logic and for defending the dehumanization of a group she disagrees with, Kimberly Ells gets a TWIT Award.

Just before the mob walked to the Capitol building on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. addressed their rally. In his remarks, he mentioned transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, and made a bigger point of it than any Democrat has so far. He refers to these transgender females as “men,” and he acts as though no “biological female” will ever defeat a “biological male” at sports. Tell that to Bobby Riggs. For obvious reasons, Donald Trump Jr. gets a TWIT. NBC News has this story.

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