The Week In Trans 2/15/21

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Trans women in the U.K. are excited about a new method, using a laser, to raise the pitch of their voices. One of the first to have the new procedure is British actress Nicole Gibson who transitioned ten years ago. She had a successful modeling career and moved into acting but felt that her deep voice was losing her parts on television and film. Learn more about her and laser vocal modification from the Daily Mail.

Recently, President Biden signed an executive order which seeks to build on the spirit of the Bostock decision. This week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development became the first to implement policy based on that executive action. The department, which had been ordered by the previous Secretary to enforce a policy that allowed homeless shelters to sort people by birth gender, announced that they will investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Washington Post has this story.

San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives announced a comprehensive wellness campaign. It will look at various things, including healthcare and housing. This story comes from The San Francisco Examiner.

Although President Trump has left the White House, transgender rights are still under attack at the state level. Iowa’s Senate has passed a new bathroom bill, specific to schools and obviously aimed at transgender students. The Des Moines Register has this story.

A bill to prohibit doctors from medically treating gender dysphoria in minors is in the news. Lawmakers heard from a police officer with a transgender daughters, who asked them to not make him arrest his daughter’s doctor. PinkNews has this story. Unfortunately, Al.com reports that the lawmakers also heard from Walt Heyer, and of course, many of the lawmakers paid more attention to him. In the end, the committee voted to send the bill to the full state Senate. The Alabama Political Reporter has this story.

KLM reports that several states are looking at bills to prohibit doctors from medically treating gender dysphoria in minors.

The Arkansas state Senate has passed a bill which would allow pharmacists and nursing homes to turn away transgender patients, as well as other LGBTQ individuals. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Bills which would prohibit transgender students from participating on girls’ sports teams have advanced in four state legislatures, according to The New York Post.

A mother with a transgender child told the Tennessee state legislature how it breaks her heart to see transgender students banned from playing sports. WBIR-TV has this story.

A new study by The Center for American Progress finds that discrimination is at the heart of these bans on transgender students participating in school sports.

The author of Mississippi’s “Fairness In Sports Act” says that she thinks the act will not pass. WLOX-TV has this story.

The ACLU has a list of four tired myths about transgender people in sports. You can read about this list at PinkNews.

All this talk about transgender women dominating sports reminded Sportskeeda of the time transgender athlete Fallon got knocked out by Ashlee Evans-Smith.

KOMO-TV reports that the executive orders from President Biden are giving transgender people hope for the future.

A petition to get the Michigan state legislature to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s anti-discrimination act currently has over half a million signatures. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

When asked to comment on backlash from various Republicans over President Biden’s executive order on gender identity, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied, “Trans rights are human rights.” The Independent has this story.

John Summalt wrote a column from a Christian perspective, saying that transgender children need love as they are, not as we wish they were. You can find the column here.

Join community activists, academics, artists, and allies from around the globe for the fourth Moving Trans History Forward conference LIVE ONLINE March 11-14 2021, among the largest of its kind in Canada. Learn more from the event website.

We are saddened to report the violent deaths of two Black transgender women, Fifty Bandz of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Alexus Braxton of Miami, Florida. The Advocate has more about them.

A transgender woman from Watertown, New York, has filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination during what she says was an improper arrest. She charges the police with harassment and sexual assault. This story comes from WWNY-TV.

Ashley Netzger is a Navy Seal, and she is transgender. She talked about her situation in the military, under the ban and after, on CNN.

USA Today has a profile of three people who fought the ban on transgender people in the military.

The Pentagon wants transgender people to know that they can join the military right now. PinkNews has this story.

In a sign of how much more work needs to be done on gender issues, two women were seen putting stickers that say “Trans women are men, and most have a penis” on public property around Manhattan.

An editorial in The Advocate says that President Biden’s efforts to help LGBTQ people have so far ignored intersex people.

The CDC issued a report which says that gay and bisexual men are at greater risk of having a severe case of COVID-19, should they get the virus. The report mentions that other members of sexual and gender minorities could be at enhanced risk, because of general health care problems. Another statement at the end of the story in The Advocate says, “We look forward to more research on the risks for transgender people and people living with HIV, who also share higher risk factors.”

The 19th looks at that report from the CDC and notes that just mentioning risks to any LGBTQ people is a departure from what happened under the Trump administration.

Stony Brook University will hold the Stony Brook Medicine Transgender Health Conference this week. The press release is at the university’s website.

A new non-profit, the Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group, is providing funding for both mental health care and hormone medication for 22 individuals. Spectrum 1 News has a story about them.

Plume is a new company offering gender-affirming care over the Internet. They have enough funding to finally offer their services to the public. MobilHealth News has this story.

In the movie Cowboys, a teenager tells his father that he does not want to wear a dress because he is transgender. You can watch the scene at The Advocate.

Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian, just found out that his sister is transgender and began HRT last July. The Wrap reports he is very supportive of his sister.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short list for potential nominees in the Best Documentary category. One of the biggest snubs was Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen. Out.com calls out this glaring omission.

Disclosure did get a nomination for a Dorian Award, the awards voted on by LGBTQ film critics. The entire list of nominations can be seen at The Advocate.

David Artavia, editor of Out.com, sees streaming services as a way to get more LGBTQ stories made. Yes, that includes more transgender stories.

In their version of “The Alphabet Song,” Blues Clues & You includes the line, “P is full of Pride.” As they sing that line, they show nine pride flags, including the “More Color More Pride” version of the rainbow flag, the transgender pride flag, the gender fluid pride flag, the non-binary pride flag, and the intersex pride flag, along with others. Out.com has this story.

A tweet from the BBC Archive included a link to a clip from a 1970 show in which Wendy Carlos showed off how the synthesizer works. She appeared in male clothing in the clip. She created the disguise herself, as PinkNews explains.

Seaford Head School in the U.K. had a student house named for J.K. Rowling, but has decided to rename it because of her transphobic remarks. They announced that they will go the extra step and rename all four of their student houses. Sorry, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, and Nelson Mandela. In a letter to parents, the school said, “As a school committed to stopping bullying and creating a safe environment, we no longer think that J.K. Rowling is a suitable representative, because of her recent words about the trans community.” LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for links to this story and several others this week.

Kylie Jenner still refers to Caitlyn as “Dad.” Kylie explained why she does this and Caitlyn tells how she feels about it. Get the story from PinkNews.

Gina Carano has been fired from The Mandalorian because of such anti-transgender remarks as saying that her pronouns are “boop/bop/beep”. She is not going to be inactive for too long, though; she has been hired for a new project with Ben Shapiro. We thought about giving both of them a TWIT, but we get the feeling that they might feel honored by the award. The project was announced by Deadline.

The Advocate has a profile of Tamisha Iman, from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13.

Six-year-old Aiden took the stage at a drag show to perform “This Is Me.” You can see it at GayCities.

Joanna Cherry who was thrown out of the front benches of the Scottish National Party’s delegation in Parliament, has been appointed as deputy chair of the Human Rights Joint Committee. The SNP cut ties with her in an effort to get rid of transphobia in their party. PinkNews has details of her views on transgender people.

Tim Farron was once the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the U.K. Parliament, has been urged to resign after he raised concerns about “single-sex spaces in women’s prisons.” He has survived several previous complaints about his anti-LGBTQ views, as PinkNews points out.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals released a series of gender-inclusive terms that they were encouraging their employees to use, including “pregnant women and people,” “breastfeeding and chestfeeding, and “mothers and birthing parents.” While they have listed these gender-neutral terms, they will not require that they be used in place of traditional terms when talking of those who identify as women, according to Fox 5 New York.

In Ireland, the service which has been used to provide gender dysphoria treatments to minors has stopped taking new patients. A new clinic is supposed to open up to accept new patients, but they are not yet open, and aren’t even at the point of having a date for opening other than “coming soon”. Nonetheless, the old service is telling patients and their parents to contact the new service. PinkNews has this story.

France24 has a video story about the fight for transgender rights in France.

Spain is proposing some changes to transgender law, including an easier way to change the gender listed on ID and a ban on conversion therapy. These moves are interesting for a very Catholic country. Out.com has this story.

Myanmar’s military has once more taken control of the country, and they are cracking down harshly on various activities. Neither the military junta nor the tradition-bound people are all that fond of LGBTQ people. Yet, LGBTQ people are in the forefront opposing the junta, and that is winning them some friends among their fellow citizens, according to Out Traveler. Among those at the front of the protests are drag queens.

El Salvador will hold its election on February 28, and one of the most promising candidates is Alejandra Menjívar Guadrón, a transgender woman. The Washington Blade has this story.

Three transgender women who recently won election in Brazil have received death threats. This is not too surprising, given the general anti-LGBTQ nature of the country. This story comes from PinkNews.

Doctors in Rio de Janeiro say that 19-year-old twins who both have had gender reassignment surgery are the first twins to go through the procedure. There have been stories of twins in the past, in which both transitioned, but it is unclear if they both had gender confirmation surgery. Rio Times has this story.

Amanda Kerri, a transgender woman who is also a veteran, writes that to her, being a “patriot” is about loving the country despite its flaws. This article appears in The Advocate.

Amna is a deaf transgender man, and did not know until November that top surgery was a thing. PinkNews has this story.

Some critics of gender theory feel that the existence of detransitioners points to a very serious problem with transgender people. And indeed, there are several detransitioners who are quite critical of changing genders. However, Slate found an ex-detransitioner, one who is upset about the lies that detransitioners tell about transgender people.

TWITs

Florida state Representative Anthony Sabatini filed bills to outlaw medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors and to forbid those assigned male at birth from playing in girls’ sports. However, he goofed on the latter bill; it would prohibit “trans men from competing in girls sport”. For bigotry so obvious it overcomes the intent of his proposed legislation, Anthony Sabatini gets a TWIT Award. PinkNews has this story.

Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signaled his support for a bill that aims to keep transgender females out of girls’ sports. He said, “I do believe that transgenders [sic] participating in women’s sports will destroy women’s sports.” For imagining that people would change genders just to win at sports (a situation that does not happen) and for overstating the advantage that transgender athletes would have (as well as for refusing to listen to anyone telling him otherwise), Governor Bill Lee gets a TWIT Award. His comments can be found in The Tennessean.

Roy Exum of The Chattanoogan has an even more over-the-top take on transgender females in sports. It refers to “the Democratic President and his liberal advisors,” refusing to so much as utter the name of President Biden. For obvious bias, and for spreading bad information, Roy Exum gets a TWIT Award.

Nikki Haley also stepped into the mess, claiming that girls “can’t possibly be good enough” to compete against “biological boys.” For presuming that anyone would transition gender in order for so frivolous a reason as to win at sports, for presuming that cisgender girls cannot beat transgender females even though that has already happened, and for reducing biology to what she learned in grade school, Nikki Haley gets a TWIT. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Also chiming in to oppose transgender females in girls sports is Tate Reeves, the Governor of Mississippi. For failing to learn from his state’s sorry record on civil rights (captured in this Phil Ochs tune. Governor Tate Reeves gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Parents in Utah complained that a book about a transgender boy was read to their children at school without their permission. Mind you, these parents don’t mind it when books that actively promote Christianity are read to non-Christian children at school, but they don’t want their children exposed to “gender ideology.” For thinking that informing children about gender theory somehow makes them turn transgender, these parents get a TWIT Award. The Salt Lake Tribune has this story.

A group of Republicans in Iowa have introduced a bill which, if passed, would prohibit teachers from “instruction relating to gender identity.” For thinking that ignorance makes something go away, these lawmakers get a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story and several others.

Marcellus Wiley is a former NFL player who suggests that the way to solve the matter of transgender females in women’s sports is to have a separate category for transgender athletes. For solving the matter of transgender inclusion by bringing back the concept of “separate but equal” (the same concept which gave us the Negro Leagues in baseball), Marcellus Wiley gets a TWIT. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

During a virtual meeting seeking public input on laws which, if passed, would limit genders on state documents to either “male” or “female”, the mother of a transgender child tried to point out the lack of humanity behind the proposal. In response, state Representative John Fillmore responded, “What’s going to happen when someday someone wakes up and they want to go to a far extreme and identify as a chicken or something for crying out loud. Where do we draw the line?” For giving a reductio ad absurdum that is itself the absurd thing, Arizona state Representative John Fillmore gets a TWIT. KPNX News has this story.

It seems like Qanon is almost too easy a target, but that won’t stop us from giving them an award. Their latest theory is that COVID vaccines will turn you gay or transgender. Millions of doses of the vaccine have been injected into people so far, and none have reported any change to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Apparently, the fact that this does not happen does not change their theory. For a total disregard of science or common sense, the followers of Qanon get a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

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