The Week In Trans 12/30/19

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Yahira Nesby

We told you last week about a woman found shot to death in Brooklyn. She has been identified as Yahira Nesby, and she was a transgender woman. Police have a suspect in custody in the hospital, but they have not made an arrest, as they try to figure out the motive for the crime. You can read about this at LGBTQ Nation.

The Hill ran an end-of-year story on the transgender people who were murdered in the United States this year.

News accounts have gotten better at mentioning that a victim was transgender, but there are cold cases in which a transgender murder victim is identified as “a man in a dress.” The Trans Doe Task Force, and its more technical counterpart, the DNA Doe Project, try to identify some unidentified transgender victims. The Atlantic has their story.

Just this year in Kansas City, a missing 14-year-old transgender male was misgendered by police, who only used the legal name in the missing persons report, despite being told by the mother that the missing person was transgender. This story can be found in The Kansas City Star.

Julie Berman

Two years ago at a Transgender Day of Remembrance service in Toronto, Julie Berman spoke up about a transgender friend who was murdered. Last week, Ms. Berman was murdered. The story of this transgender activist can be found in The Toronto Globe and Mail. Thanks to reader Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Alice Carter, a homeless transgender woman in Washington, D.C., was found unconscious. She was taken to the hospital, where she passed away the next day. She indicates the problems with homelessness among transgender people. The Washington Blade has this story.

The first bridge home for young transgender people, a place for the homeless to stay for a little while, as they try to get a place of their own, has opened in Los Angeles County. A story on this appears in Spectrum News.

We reported last week that a state lawmaker in Georgia has pre-filed a bill to make K-12 students participate in sports according to their “birth sex.” Metro Weekly reports that similar bills have been introduced in Tennessee and Washington.

CeCé Telfer

Outsports named CeCé Telfer as their Female Athlete Of The Year. She is the first transgender athlete to to win an NCAA track and field championship. You can read about this in Outsports.

Outsports also created a new category, Non-Binary Person Of The Year. The winner is Dominique McLean, who competes in e-sports under the name SonicFox. Pink News took notice of this.

North Carolina is the state that tried to use the law to regulate transgender people in restrooms. Now, two transgender candidates have announced that they are running for state Senate in North Carolina. They are profiled in The Raleigh News and Observer.

In Utah, a judge recently refused to update the sex listed on two birth certificates. The case went before the state’s Supreme Court, where the Attorney General did not join the discussion–that is, the Attorney General did not defend the judge who refused to issue the order. The state Supreme Court has now asked the Attorney General, as well as the lawyer for the plaintiffs, to answer a specific question regarding the constitutionality of the law about updating the sex listed on a birth certificate. Fox 13 Salt Lake City has this story.

A law school professor in Arizona is suing because his health insurance, which he gets through the school, does not cover gender reassignment surgery. This week, a judge ruled against a motion to dismiss. You can read about in in Bloomberg Law.

In its look back at the last ten years in the state of Connecticut, The Hartford Courant noted transgender athletes in high school and “bathroom debates” as two of the top stories in politics.

Katelyn Burns

In another look back at the past decade, Katelyn Burns finds that transgender people became more visible, and more targeted, in the 2010s. Her observations appear in Vox.

Looking ahead to next year’s election, The Washington Post lists transgender rights alongside abortion and voting access as polarizing issues that could affect how some states vote in 2020.

The third annual LGBT Spirituality Mini-Series will be held January 6 through 13 at the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This seminar was announced in The Morning Call.

Two advice columns talked about transgender people. Dear Abby says that a transgender family member is “not confused,” and recommends that people invited to a family function treat her “with compassion and common courtesy.” Ask Amy recommends a transgender college student talk with his parents who still introduce him as “our daughter.”

In Pink News, Dr. Meg-John Barker talks with Vic Parsons about how transgender and non-binary people should deal with several situations, often involving family members.

A recent study showed that transgender children form their gender identities at the same age as their cisgender peers, and that they are as confident in their gender identities as are their cisgender peers. Although the study was published earlier this month, Reuters just ran their story on this, which you can find at CBC News.

Alexandria Holder

The New York Times has an article by Alexandria Holder, in which she describes changing genders while in the military.

Researchers at Cornell did a meta-study, reviewing studies that had looked at the effects of discrimination on LGBTQ people. Not surprisingly, the results show that discrimination has a negative impact on LGBTQ people’s health. You can read the abstract here, and LGBTQ Nation has an article about the study.

The BBC has a video story which busts some myths about transgender people.

NBA All-Star Dwayne Wade has been receiving some flack for his acceptance of his child Zion, whose appearance in a recent family photo brought him some comments that he interpreted as anti-LGBTQ. You can read about it in People magazine. Thanks to contributor Alyssa Washington for this link.

We reported that Dame Judi Dench said of her role in Cats, “I kind of call it ‘trans Deuteronomy.'” She was referring to the fact that the role is typically played by a male. Some people have taken her to task for this, as nothing within the script says that the character is transgender. LGBTQ Nation points out that giving a role traditionally assigned to one gender to a performer of a different gender is called “gender-swapped casting,” and does not make the character transgender. (That is true, but let’s recall that she is making a joke, not a social comment.)

Jeanette Winterson’s new novel, Frankisstein, blends the Frankenstein story with the story of Mary Shelley creating the novel. It updates doctor-creates-monster to the near future, and brings in new elements, including gender. There is a review in The Advocate.

Pink News has a list of five new books by transgender or non-binary authors.

Eva Echo

Eva Echo of England tried to kill herself five times, but is no longer suicidal since transitioning. She works in a tattoo parlor, which she co-owns. You can read about her in The Mirror.

People are still talking about J.K. Rowling’s transgender-insensitive tweet. In Vox, Katelyn Burns points out that Ms. Rowling’s attitude is fairly common in Britain. She also points out that Emma Watson disagrees with Ms. Rowling on this issue. Daniel Mazzacane writes in The Los Angeles Times that the spirit of Harry Potter lives on in its readers, even when its creator’s tweets don’t seem to match that spirit.

People are also talking about Ricky Gervais’s reaction, which seems to be more to J.K. Rowling’s tweet than to the original story. As Pink News points out, Mr. Gervais tweeted “Trans women are women,” in a rather unconvincing way, after some people called for him to be fired as host of the Golden Globe Awards.

A transgender woman who teaches physics in Britain is facing a disciplinary hearing for wearing a shirt which said that she is still “biologically male.” She could be expelled from the LGBT committee of the Trades Union Congress because of the shirt, according to The Telegraph.

The Mirror has the story of a transgender man who sent over 4,000 Christmas cards to LGBTQ people, many of whom have been disowned by family and do not receive other cards.

A guitarist with a punk band from Bristol refused to play a gig in England when a manager asked her a lot of personal questions about her transition, then told her not to use the ladies’ restroom. You can read about this in The Andover Advertiser.

María Castillo de Lima

María Castillo de Lima has been wowing audiences at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. The opera singer, originally from Brazil, transitioned genders, and also transitioned from a tenor to a soprano. The Buenos Aires Times has a profile.

The charity Skipping Stone helps transgender people in Alberta to get the medical help that they need. The charity nearly went bankrupt, but hen word got around, they received over $120,000 in donations. Global News has this story.

The European budget airlines EasyJet was scolded on social media for using the line, “Ladies and Gentlemen,” which reinforces the gender binary. After some review, they have decided that they will now say, “Welcome, everyone.” You can read about this in Pink News.

The South China Morning Post has a story about how difficult it can be for a transgender college graduate in China to get a new copy of the degree with their new name on it.

BB Gandanghari

In the Philippines, BB Gandanghari, who came out as transgender while competing on Piony Big Brother, asked people to check in on transgender friends and family at Christmas time. You can find this story on ABS-CBN News.

Last year, Avanthika went to pray at the Sabarimala shrine in India, but needed a court order to allow her to pray there. She plans to make the trip again soon, and hopes that this time will be less interesting. Edex Live has her story.

The Monastery of St. Athonasios on Mount Athos in Greece has been an all-male preserve since it was founded. Even female animals are not allowed, with the exception of cats. And yet, when the bones under the floor of the chapel were examined, some clearly appeared to be from a female. Speculation is that this could be the remains of a transgender man. The Guardian has this story.

TWITs

City Journal claims that Ricky Gervais and J.K. Rowling are being criticized for having told the truth about transgender people. This so-called truth is the old gender=sex=chromosomes, which is oversimplified science taught in grade schools. Again, real scientists disagree with this. For assuming that real scientists don’t know the truth about science, City Journal gets 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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