The Week In Trans! 2/14/22

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Lia Thomas can participate in the NCAA swimming championships, thanks to a decision not to changes the eligibility rules this late in the season. ABC Sports has this story.

Figure skating has agreed to stop calling the women’s competition categories “ladies’ figure skating.” It’s a leftover from a very gender-specific and very upper-class past, says The 19th.

Isabel Torres, the star of Veneno, has died at age 52. She had lung cancer, and had told her fans about it in a video. The Advocate has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Grace Laverny, who is an English professor at U.C. Berkeley, has written a new book, titled Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis. In the book, she deals with her addiction, her mental health problems and her transition. The book is recommended by them.

Out magazine has a cover story profile of Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander, the transgender and nonbinary actors who appear in Star Trek Discovery.

TikTok has announced that they will crack down on anti-transgender and misogynistic remarks. The new guidelines forbid deadnaming and misgendering transgender people. Changing America at The Hill has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to a version of this story.

Rubi Dominguez, who was killed last July 16 in a hit-and-run incident, has been added to the list of transgender people who were killed in 2021. This story comes from The Advocate. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

KPRC-TV reports that the family of Martina Caldera, who was killed in Houston in December, is still looking for answers to what happened. Although at first it appeared that she was hit by a car, further examination revealed that she had been shot several times.

Police are investigating a report of a transgender student being assaulted after a high school basketball game in the Boston area. While the student was not seriously hurt, the incident did involve a lot of name calling and assertions regarding the sexual orientation and gender identity of this student. The Sun Chronicle has this story.

In Brooklyn, police are looking for a young man who punched a transgender student in the face. The transgender student suffered minor injuries, but the incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime. This story comes from WABC-TV.

Latee Brockington has filed a lawsuit in which she says that she was sexually assaulted three times while at Rikers Island. She was housed with male prisoners, despite repeated requests to be housed with women prisoners. The Advocate has this story.

Anti-transgender legislation continues to advance in various legislatures. In Kentucky, the Senate Education Committee will take up a bill on transgender student athletes, after removing a similar bill from its schedule two weeks ago. This story comes from The Louisville Courier-Journal.

A similar bill advanced from a sub-committee to the House Education Committee in Iowa. The Des Moines Register has this story.

In Georgia, the student athlete bill has cleared the Senate Education and Youth Committee, and advances to the full Senate. This story comes from The Augusta Chronicle.

In Wyoming, state Senator Wendy Schuler has proposed a ban on transgender athletes. The head of the Wyoming High School Activities Association had to tell her that the state already requires transgender athletes to compete under the gender assigned at birth, according to LGBTQ Nation.

In Indiana, the transgender athlete bill is encountering resistance, despite a solid Republican majority in the legislature. WTOP-TV has the Associated Press story.

The Herald Times has the story of parents in Bloomington, Indiana, who are fighting for their transgender daughter to be allowed to play on the sports team.

Destinee LaShaee, the first transgender star on My 600-Pound Life, has died. She was 30 years old. She had lost over 500 pounds, but the large weight loss may have created some additional health concerns. Her cause of death was not revealed. People magazine has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

In Alabama, the state legislature is again taking up a proposal that would outlaw medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors. Alabama was the first state to have such a proposal, but the legislation was never passed. Meanwhile, Arkansas and Tennessee did pass similar legislation last year, so Alabama would now have some cover. This story comes from The Montgomery Advertiser.

Tennessee, which last year banned the prescription of hormone blockers and HRT for the relief of gender dysphoria in minors, has now proposed banning gender-confirming surgeries of various kinds for minors, even though those are rarely performed on minors. They have other proposed anti-transgender legislation as well, according to Mainstreet Nashville reports.

The ACLU reports that prominent transgender people have filed testimony against the Arkansas ban on doctors giving medical treatment for gender dysphoria in minors. Those briefs, which say that transgender people deserve to be happy at any age, are being used in an attempt to defeat the similar bill in Alabama.

It has been a year since musical artist SOPHIE passed away suddenly. Them has a memorial to her.

In Mississippi, a bill proposes to outlaw name changes for transgender inmates. The original draft of the bill also forbade transgender minors from changing their name legally, but that was removed from the bill. Changing America from The Hill reports that this bill has passed the state House. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

The Arizona Republic reports that a Republican, state Senator Tyler Pace from Mesa, joined the Democrats to stop a ban on medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors from passing. The bill failed in committee.

In Virginia, the legislature took up bills that would have allowed school districts to opt out of the guidelines for handling transgender students which were developed by the Virginia Department of Education. The bills failed in committee in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate. School districts have some latitude to not adopt the legislation, but some parts of the guidelines are governed by court decisions. WRIC-TV has this story.

In Florida, lawmakers have introduced bills in both the Senate and House to prevent teachers from discussing or even mentioning LGBTQ matters. President Biden tweeted, “I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community–especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill–to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are.. I have your back, and my Administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve.” The Advocate has this story.

There are a lot of anti-transgender bills out there, some of which have been defeated already, and others of which are still advancing. A story outlining all these bills can be found in them.

The U.S. Department of Education has dismissed a complaint against Brigham young University, which was charged with discriminating against LGBTQI+ students. The existing religious exemption permits this behavior, according to the ruling. The Advocate has this story.

Caitlyn Jenner tweeted her support of Joe Rogan. She made fun of musicians who asked Spotify to remove their music because of their support for Joe Rogan. Mr. Rogan has been known to allow guests to say nasty things about transgender people, and has also made some anti-transgender statements of his own. He has even made some nasty comments about her in particular. This story comes from The Advocate.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Global Respect Act. It aims at promoting human rights around the world. The Advocate reports on what this act would mean for LGBTQI+ rights, if the Senate were to pass it. (It may be filibustered.)

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that a clothing exchange for transgender people was opened in South Dakota.

A proposal that would ensure that health insurance policies do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity of the policy holder. This provision was part of the original Affordable Care Act, but was removed by the Trump administration. The Biden administration proposes to restore it, but it is meeting some political opposition. Roll Call has this story.

Brigham Young University has cancelled voice therapy for transgender patients. The Mormon Church, which operates the university, made the decision, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Out.com has a list of five series with LGBTQ characters which have been renewed. At least two have transgender characters.

Them has a list of designers and models to watch during New York Fashion Week.

The cover story of The Advocate is about Asian-American social media stars who are also in the cosmetics industry.

Bosco, a star of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, just came out as transgender. There are now three transgender queens in the competition. Billboard has this story.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission of the United Kingdom supports the exclusion of transgender people from single-sex spaces. This is the same human rights watchdog of the government which should be watching out for groups whose rights are under attack, and they are siding with the people who want to deny us our rights. PinkNews has this story

PinkNews also reports that every major LGBTQI+ group has called out the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and called for the group to be reformed or downgraded.

A French court in Toulouse has ruled that a transgender woman should be considered the mother of the child which was conceived while she was with her partner before she transitioned. This story comes from RFI.

Mexico has decided to allow transgender people to update the gender listed on their birth certificates. KGBS-TV says that transgender Mexicans living in the U.S. can update their birth certificates at a Mexican consulate in the U.S.

For the first time, a transgender couple in India were able to register to get married in the genders with which they identify. This story comes from India Times.

This week, five Liberal MPs in Australia voted to protect transgender students. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had proposed in a religious rights bills to protect students at religious schools from being expelled because of their sexual orientation, leaving gender identity unprotected. But, when five members of the ruling party crossed over, the proposed amendment to protect gender identity passed. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has this story.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that battles over the rights of transgender people will not go away any time soon.

The Rev. Kalie Hargrove was kicked out of Lincoln Christian University because of her gender identity. She has joined a lawsuit which aims to protect the rights of transgender students. The 19th has her story.

Several letters to the editors of The National Catholic Register disagree with the Bishop of Milwaukee’s hardline stance on transgender Catholics.

The Crime Report asks whether the federal government and the states can agree on how to handle transgender inmates. The question could be broadened to ask if the states and the federal government can agree on any transgender policy.

Bans on queer books are not about queer books themselves, says an article in them.

An environmental fight over a lithium mine in Nevada turns out to have transgender overtones, because of the political view of the heads of the protest movement. Politico has this story.

The first openly transgender police detective in New York City shared his story with WABC-TV.

Andrea Jenkins, the president of the Minneapolis City Council, shared her thoughts on the power of Black trans resilience with LGBTQ Nation. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

The Harvard Gazette notes a letter from a Harvard grad student, calling for greater awareness of the rights of transgender people in science journals.

Riley Rogers has been bullied at his school in Tameside, U.K., because of his gender identity. His mother says that the school has been of little help in the incidents. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Lui Asquith, a lawyer, explained to PinkNews why the latest draft guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, on access to single-sex spaces, is illegal.

When Amy Schneider appears in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, she will apparently be introduced as a “former engineering manager.” She quit her job, CNBC reports. She has become a public figure, at least for the time being. (She had trouble at work due to all the time off she took to appear on Jeopardy!.)

TWITs

Matt Walsh was unmasked as the man behind a filmmaking group called the Gender Unity Project. They asked transgender people to talk to them about their experiences, but the plan was to make an anti-transgender documentary. For entrapment, and for feeling the need to deceive, Matt Walsh and his associates get a TWIT Award. Buzzfeed News has this story.

We mentioned Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill above, but legislators in several other states have proposed bills which would limit teachers from discussing gay or transgender people in class. It’s not like cisgender heterosexual teenagers are suddenly changing their sexual orientation or gender identity because they hear about LGBTQ people, any more than people quit being able to fly because they learn about gravity. For sheer silliness, and for outright discrimination, the lawmakers behind these bills get a TWIT Award. The 19th has this story.

Shelly Luther, a Republican running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, is upset that people are no longer allowed to laugh at transgender people. Really, that is what she said. For asking for the right to harass and mock others, and for taking pride in her unwillingness to stop discriminating, Shelly Luther gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Eli Bremer, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Colorado, complained that President Biden is “more interested in transgender than the Taliban.” His wording is awkward, as it can be misinterpreted to be comparing President Biden’s interest in transgender people to the Taliban’s interest in transgender people. Of course, he really means to complain that the President’s interest in transgender rights is taking up time he should be spending on other issues, such as the Taliban. In reality, there is little that President Biden can do about the Taliban, short of re-invading Afghanistan. For discriminating against transgender people and encouraging others to do the same, and for recommending that the United States spend unlimited money and unlimited lives of its military on the un-winnable goal of stopping the Taliban, Eli Bremer gets a TWIT Award. The Colorado Times Reporter has this story.

Students at a public high school in Huntington, West Virginia, were made to attend a Christian revival assembly hosted by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a group known for its anti-LGBTQ views. For promotion of a religion which does not even follow the precepts of its scripture, and for indirect promotion of discrimination, the school administrators get a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

An article in The National Review complains about a bioethicist who, they claim, says that transgender children should decide whether to transition genders. Of course, the article leaves out the role of parents, who the ethicist feels should determine if their child has genuine gender dysphoria or just a passing curiosity. The bioethicist does encourage parents to accept transition and medical treatment as the best way to deal with gender dysphoria. For practicing medicine without a license, and for promoting “Judeo/Christian beliefs” ahead of medical evidence, Wesley J. Smith, the author of this article, gets a TWIT Award, which he shares with the National Review.

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