The Week In Trans 10/14/19

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Aimee Stephens

Tuesday of this week saw the Supreme Court hear oral arguments in three cases regarding employment discrimination against LGBTQ people. This includes the case of Aimee Stephens, who was fired as a funeral director when she came out to her boss as transgender. Nonbinary journalist Masha Gessen covered this story for The New Yorker, while Katelyn Burns wrote in Vox that a lot of the talk was about bathroom usage. The Detroit News wrote about the people outside the court, and The Advocate has pictures from the demonstrations outside.

One of the lawyers who is part of the legal team arguing for Aimee Stephens in the Supreme Court wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post. Thanks to Jamie Roberts for calling it to our attention.

Teen Vogue reminds us that, in part, the case against Aimee Stephens involves a dress code that requires females to wear skirts, even though fashion has allowed women to wear pants to even fairly fancy occasions for decades.

This week, CNN and The Human Rights Campaign held a town hall on LGBTQ issues in Los Angeles, and several of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for president were there. The murders of transgender women of color was brought up, both inside the hall and outside. You can read about it in The New York Times.

Elizabeth Warren released a comprehensive policy platform on LGBTQ issues, just before the town hall. The Advocate has this story.

Itali Marlowe

Another black transgender woman has been murdered. (#20) Itali Marlowe was shot to death in Houston. Police are still searching for her roommate, who is a suspect in the shooting. She is mourned by The Human Rights Campaign. Alyssa Washington found an article about her on the Out website.

Daniela Calderon Rivera has given her first interview since surviving a shooting attempt in Dallas. She is still recovering in a hospital, and spoke to CNN.

Melina Rayna Swanhild Farley-Barrat is running for state Senate in Florida. She has been an activist for transgender organizations and legislative director for the National Organization for Women. The Advocate has a profile of her.

LGBTQ Nation has a series of tweets from National Coming Out Day, some of which include transgender people.

We mentioned the story of Yanna Awtrey, who was kicked out of a Christian college for having top surgery. The Tennessean did a follow-up interview with him.

If you are female-to-male and are considering bottom surgery, you might be interested in an article in Medical News Today, which explains how the surgery is performed.

Brynn Tannyhill writes in LGBTQ Nation about how the failures of conversion therapy for changing sexual orientation should show that the practice won’t work well on gender identity, either.

Samantha Boucher

Trans activist Samantha Boucher, 24, will be managing the campaign of Democratic candidate Kimberly Granham for the Iowa U.S. Senate seat of incumbent Joni Ernst. Boucher says taking on the campaign manager position for a Senate race is “equal parts exciting and terrifying.” She has previous experience as a campaign manager for another Democratic candidate who won their primary but lost the general election. Visit msn.com for the whole story.

How young is too young to understand about gender identity? Lindz Amer has found that three-year-olds can understand the concept if it is explained clearly. Refinery 29 has more on this.

A new study from the Yale School of Public Health shows that the likelihood of being treated for a mood or anxiety disorder diminishes by 8% for each year after gender-specific surgery. You can read about this at ABC News.

Women’s Wear Daily reports that Gigi Gorgeous has a new line of cosmetics, although the story requires a subscription to read.

Dolly Parton tells Elle Magazine that, if she wasn’t female, she would want to be a drag queen. She also said that she has signed a deal with IMG to design her own fashion line, including wigs, and there will be one based on her own iconic hair style.

Playwright Daniel Pearle talks with The Advocate about how A Kid Like Jake has only become more relevant since its off-Broadway premiere in 2013, and how it has had to be updated to incorporate changing language.

Trisha Paytras

YouTube content creator Trisha Paytas said that she is “one thousand per cent” certain that she is transgender, and “one thousand per cent” certain that she identifies with her birth gender. In an article for Flare, Katherine Singh talks of why this is problematic, and many of the false assumptions that are being made here.

During a recent concert in London, the singer Hozier picked up a transgender flag, which a fan had brought to the concert, and waved it on stage during the song Take Me to Church. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Family Guy brought back the transgender character Ida, but with the same sort of transphobic humor that has been its habit. Out.com has this story.

The Netflix series Big Mouth has apologized for a mischaracterization of the difference between pansexuality and bisexuality, claiming that pansexuals are “into boys, girls, and everyone in between.” You can read about this in The Advocate.

Thanks to Jamie Roberts for pointing us to an article in The Washington Post about how the concept of “coming out” has evolved for the LGBTQ community.

Dominique Jackson

Dominique Jackson has been cast as Ms. World, the female incarnation of Mr. World (played by Crispin Glover) on the new season of American Gods. The series appears on Starz. Out.com has this story.

Born To Be, a documentary about Dr. Jess Ting, who performs gender confirmation surgery, debuted at the New York Film Festival. It received a B+ in a review from Indie Wire.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was criticized for implying that transgender teens are dealing with “the pressures of identity politics.” This comes the week after the Australian Psychological Society expressed problems with the idea of “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphria,” the theory which he seems to be referencing. The Guardian has this story.

U.K. Equalities Minister Liz Truss says that there will be a reform of the Gender Recognition Act. Right now, that initiative is stalled, as is much other work, while the exit from the European Union takes up so much of the energy. This story comes from Metro.

May Simón Lifschitz

From mid-October, images of diverse bodies will adorn the Victoria’s Secret London home and its flagship store in the Big Apple. One of the images will be of transgender model May Simón Lifschitz. Learn more about the ad campaign and see several photos of the diverse models in The Daily Mail.

The City and County of San Francisco has awarded $1.15 million for each of the next two fiscal years to two nonprofits to provide direct rental subsidies to help keep transgender and gender-nonconforming people in their homes or find housing. Thanks to Ms. Bob Davis for pointing out the story in The Bay Area Reporter.

TWITs

Sky News and The Australian reported that Australian Psychological Society is promoting a policy whereby minors can change genders and get gender-confirmation without their parents’ permission, and without counseling. The Daily Mail and The Blaze repeated the claim. The problem is, that’s not what the Society said. Frances Mirabelli, the CEO of the APS, said, “To claim that we’ve proposed minors should be allowed to consent to surgery against the wishes of their parents and without mandatory counseling is simplistic, inaccurate, and damaging to transgender young people, their families, and the psychologists who work with them.” For failing to do journalistic due diligence, Sky News, The Australian, The Daily Mail, and The Blaze all get a TWIT Award. You can read the truth in Out In Perth.

Sky News reported that “hundreds” of people who have had gender-confirmation surgery wish that they hadn’t. This comes from Charlie Evans, who claims to have detransitioned after surgery, and also claims to have been contacted by these “hundreds” of regretters. Although this story has little to verify it, The Federalist and The Christian Broadcast Network repeated it with much gusto. For gobbling up and regurgitating garbage without examination, Sky News, The Federalist, and Christian Broadcast News share a TWIT Award.

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