The Week In Trans 12/27/21

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Lisa Middleton

Lisa Middleton, a transgender woman who is the mayor of Palm Springs this year, has decided not to run for state Senate next year. She did not rule out the possibility of running for state Senate in 2024. The Bay Area Reporter has this story.

Police have arrested a suspect in the slaying of Bee Love Slater. Her body was found in a burning car two years ago. WEAR-TV has the Associated Press story.

In Montana, arguments were heard on the constitutionality of that state’s recently-passed restrictions on changing the gender on a birth certificate. The law requires proof of surgery, which may hurt individual privacy, due process, or equal protection. This story comes from The Montana Free Press.

A group of high school students in Indiana wanted to form a gay-straight alliance, but their school refused to give them permission. They sued, and this week, a court granted them permission to form the club. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Rebecca Juro

Rebecca Juro has passed away. She was a writer and radio/podcast host. Her personal motto was, “The T is not silent.” LGBTQ Nation has a profile.

A 19-year-old transgender student at Capital University in Ohio, who serves on the Student Senate, proposed a resolution that restrooms which were slated for renovation should be gender-neutral, and should comply with the Americans with Disability Act. This story comes from The Buckeye Flame Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

The United States Air Force has adopted a new policy on the use of pronouns. The policy permits the use of pronouns in the signature block of communications, but still forbids “slogans, quotes, or other personalization.” The Washington Times has this story.

A transgender man who gave birth this week complained about being referred to as “mother” on the birth certificate. While much of conservative media quickly used this story to make socially-conservative points, The Daily Mail at least made an attempt to be fair to the transgender man.

Lopez-Cabrera

In Oaxaca, Mexico a Muxe woman has been elected to public office. Bulmaro López Cabrera, 35, better known as Carisia, will be municipal agent of Santiago Ixtaltepec. Thanks to TGF subscriber Dana Bourne for the story link.

The new abortion law in Texas reduces the time during pregnancy that an abortion can be performed. The Texas Tribune reports that the shorter time for ending a pregnancy can especially affect transgender men, whose menstruation is often irregular.

Testosterone seems to be among the reasons why men have a shorter life expectancy than women, so it stands to reason that transgender men may be susceptible to cardiovascular risks as they age. Everyday Health has a review of the current state of research.

A scene from the television show And Just Like That prompted The Today Show to post an article telling parents what to do if their child comes out as transgender or non-binary.

Hailey Davidson

Hailey Davidson has returned to golf, playing on a developmental tour for the LPGA. She writes about her experiences at NBC Sports.

A fan was ejected from an AEW event for displaying a sign with an anti-transgender statement on it. The sign was aimed at Nyla Rose, a transgender wrestler who was appearing at the event. TMZ has this story.

The Matrix Resurrections was released this week. PinkNews reminds us that co-creator Lilly Wachowski confirmed that the original film is an allegory about being transgender, and highlights six points which show this reading.

Katelyn Burns writes at MSNBC that The Matrix Resurrections gives transgender filmmakers a greater presence in Hollywood.

Lana Wachowski gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter during the premiere of The Matrix Resurrections.

A real-life quidditch league and the governing body of quidditch have decided to change the name of the sport, so as to distance themselves from J.K. Rowling. They mentioned the author’s transphobia as a reason for the move. Out.com has this story.

Revry is streaming Hedwig And The Angry Inch for free, from now through the end of January. Details can be found at Out Traveler.

Aja

RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Aja talked about her gender transition with PinkNews. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

A Bible museum in Germany has been presenting a play with a transgender female Jesus. The museum also has a special exhibit regarding gender identities of Biblical times compared to modern times. Metro Weekly has this story.

A Parliamentary inquiry says that the ruling Conservative party badly failed the attempt at reforming the Gender Recognition Act, and recommends moving towards self-declaration of gender. You can read more recommendations from the committee in the story at PinkNews.

New legal proceedings will look into the reasons why there is such a long waiting list for gender-related health care in Britain. PinkNews has this story.

A court in Britain ruled that a police officer should not have been charged with a hate crime when he made “gender-critical” comments on Twitter. To be clear, it should have been classified as a “non-crime hate incident.” This story comes from PinkNews.

Germany’s new government is still in the process of announcing its legislative priorities. Newsweek reports that one such priority may be the elimination of a psychiatric examination prior to a change of legal gender.

Brigitte Macron

Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French President, has announced plans to sue over claims that she is transgender. The rumor started in a far-right publication, but has been taken up on social media almost ceaselessly. The New York Post has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link.

A hair salon run by transgender men has opened in India. This appears to be a first for the nation, and it is getting good reviews, according to The Guardian.

A mother in India paid people to murder her transgender daughter. This terrible story comes from News Minute.

BBC News has a profile of Iman Le Caire, a trans woman originally from Egypt, who has helped other transgender women escape countries where they are deemed to be illegal.

If you are looking to help a young transgender person this holiday season, Transsanta can provide you with a list of gifts. PinkNews has this story.

Charlie Middleton, a young transgender man, passes along some simple self-care tips for the holiday season. His tips appear in PinkNews.

Ten LGBTQ+ elders pass along their wisdom in an article at The Advocate. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Aaron Musser

Aaron Musser, a Lutheran minister in Chicago, is getting noticed for delivering a sermon in drag. It came during “rejoice Sunday” of Advent. The event was advertised as a chance for the congregation to wear their best drag outfits as well. You can read about it in The Advocate. Of course, many conservatives are objecting, as LGBTQ Nation notes.

Point Scholars, LGBTQ+ students who are noted for both academic achievement and leadership, give their tips for taking care of mental health during the holiday season. The Advocate has this story.

TWITs

Madeleine Kearns of The National Review asks, “Is transgender surgery empowering,” a rhetorical question which she answers in the negative. She ignores all the studies which show that transgender surgery can keep people from suicide, and focuses on smaller health risks. Also in The National Review is an article by Wesley J. Smith about how Lia Thomas is dominating swimming (a questionable premise) is proof that transgender athletes have advantages. The fact that other transgender athletes have competed and have not dominated cisgender females seems to be lost on him. For bad logic, and for ignoring or not digging deep enough to discover evidence contrary to presumptions (and for continuing to use the phrase “biological gender,” despite biologists saying that gender is much deeper than chromosomes), the authors get a TWIT Award. And for choosing to include their writing, The National Review gets a TWIT Award itself.

The National Review is far from the only publication to jump on the success of Lia Thomas as “proof” of the dominance of transgender athletes. It started with an editorial in Swimming World which argued that allowing Lia Thomas to swim in the NCAA championships would create an “unfair setting.” The article was by an editor of the magazine, not a doctor or a biologist. But, of course, The Daily Mail, Fox News, and others write vitriolic articles based on that nonsense, claiming allowing her to compete is unfair. The articles make it seem as if cisgender females cannot beat transgender athletes, when results show that to not be the case. For ignoring evidence, and for hyperbolic writing, these authors and their sources get a TWIT.

Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York known for speaking before she thinks, wrote an essay for The New York Post entitled, “How Public Schools Brainwash Young Kids With Harmful Transgender Ideology.” Her article begins with the sentence, “Militant transgender advocates are imposing their agenda with uncompromising zeal on schoolchildren.” You’d think that schools were ignoring the basics, such as writing and arithmetic, to instead have lessons in “wokeness”. (Since when is compassion for others a bad thing?) Her first example of this in action is the fact that the Biden administration supports the right of transgender students to use the restroom or locker room of the gender with which they identify. That hardly even comes up in classes. For showing the zeal which she claims is a negative thing, and for shoving facts to fit her preconceived notions even when they are very different from what she says, Betsy McCaughey gets a TWIT Award.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has been known to promote several questionable medical treatments, came out in support of J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender people. He also came out against transgender athletes competing against cisgender women. He is running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. (A state he does not live in.) For promoting positions which the medical community finds to be dubious at best, and for claiming that others are harmed by respecting a minority group, Dr. Oz gets a TWIT. Changing America at The Hill has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Donald Trump Jr. spoke at Americafest, a far-right gathering in Phoenix. In his speech, he said a lot of nasty things about transgender people, blaming us for so much of what is wrong with the nation. He claimed that China is laughing at transgender pilots in the U.S. Air Force. Mind you, the Chinese laugh at his father. For picking on a target which has little to no ability to fight back, and for exhibiting prejudice, Donald Trump Jr. gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from The Advocate.

Vladimir Putin delivered a four-hour speech to Russia, sounding a lot like Donald Trump and his elder son. He made many questionable statements, including taking credit for his handling of the COVID crisis. (Russia has been hit hard by COVID, and Russian vaccines are significantly less effective than Western vaccines.) He used a part of his speech to rail against transgender people, even comparing us to the Coronavirus pandemic. He said, “New strains appear, we can’t escape it. It’s necessary to find effective countermeasures.” Yes, he said that new strains of transgender acceptance are appearing, and need new countermeasures. For a lack of concern for transgender people, and for using us to score political points, Vladimir Putin gets a TWIT Award. PinkNews has this story.

A library in Texas had to close in order to find and remove LGBTQ+ books. This follows several politicians insisting that LGBTQ+ books in libraries are a danger. For shutting down entire libraries to hunt for and remove information that opposes their preset notions, these politicians get a TWIT. This story comes from The Advocate.

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