The Week In Trans 2/28/22

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Jilliam Hanlon

Jilliam Hanlon, a former deputy who sued when she was let go for changing her gender, is running for sheriff in Dutchess County, New York. This story comes from The Times Union. That’s the good news.

It’s a week of bad news throughout the world though, and news for transgender people is no exception. However, we’ll start with a fairly happy story. North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction has updated its PowerSchool data system so that the sex of a student is not automatically visible. It is still in the system, and will be used for statistical purposes, but teachers do not get to see it by default. The Charlotte Observer has this story.

By a vote of 8-7, the General Laws and Technology Committee of the Virginia state Senate has rejected a bill, passed by the state House, which would have given broader religious exemptions from laws that forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Advocate has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

The state of Arizona saw 17 anti-LGBTQ bills filed, including 12 that specifically target transgender people. Most of them have been either amended or voted down. Local LGBTQ groups credit private individuals for the diminishing or defeat of these bills. This story comes from The 19th.

The Buckeye Flame has a list of 14 quotes from the debate on Ohio’s so-called Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) act. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this bill.

A graphics design firm in Colorado who claimed a religious objection to designing a website for a same-sex wedding. The case follows the baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. The decision could have legal ramifications beyond this one case. This story comes from them.

Christine Zuba

Past TGForum contributor Christine Zuba was interviewed by Associated Press about how the Catholic Church interacts with transgender Catholics. In some dioceses we are welcome and in others, not so much. 

In most states, a person requesting a legal name change is required to put an ad in a legal paper, announcing the name change. In some states, a judge can grant a transgender person an exemption from that requirement. JD Supra has the story of a transgender person who had to appeal the first legal decision before the records were sealed.

A transgender teacher in Ohio is suing on the allegation of discrimination at a preschool. However, Ohio laws do not protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity. WSYX-TV has this story.

Ju’Zema Goldring

Ju’Zema Goldring was awarded $1.5 million after she was falsely convicted on drug charges. She spent six months in jail in 2015, which shows how old this case is. Much of the money she was awarded will go to lawyer fees. This story comes from PinkNews. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

“Sex trading” occurs when people trade sex for money or goods. A new study from the University of Minnesota shows that transgender and gender-diverse students are more likely to engage in sex trading than are cisgender students.

The big news of the week is that Governor Greg Abbott of Texas wants state agencies to “investigate” parents and doctors who allow minors to have gender-affirming medical care. He wants them charged with “child abuse,” for following the form of care advised by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatry Association, and so on. This story can be found in them, and also under the TWITs.

The new law in Texas requires citizens to report any doctors who are giving gender-affirming care to transgender minors. However, many district attorneys have announced that they will not prosecute cases from these tips. This story comes from them.

The Endocrine Society issued a statement, saying that they are alarmed by Governor Abbot and Attorney General Ken Paton attempting to prosecute doctors and parents for treating gender dysphoria in minors with the treatment that works best. Newswire has this story.

The Conversation reminds us that yet another study found that gender-affirming care of minors reduces anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts in minors–the opposite of what the Governor and Attorney General of Texas say will happen.

Naomie Skinner was shot by her boyfriend, and died shortly after. Police in Highland Park, Michigan, have arrested the boyfriend. She was a 25-year-old Black transgender woman. The Advocate has this story.

Cypress Ramos

Cypress Ramos, a drag performer, was murdered in Lubbock, Texas. The victim was struck with a heavy object. A suspect has been arrested, according to KCBD-TV. Alyssa Washington submitted a link to this story, as well as links to several other stories.

A year after Jenna Franks was murdered in Jacksonville, Florida, the FBI issued an appeal for more information on the case. WCTI-TV has this story.

Steps taken to prevent COVID transmission have caused delays in transgender medical and mental health care, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

The U.S. National Women’s Team played a soccer game in Texas, and they wore a message on their wrists in support of transgender children. They also spoke about the issue in interviews. Deadspin has this story.

Elliot Page led a group of celebrities who spoke out in support of transgender children in Texas. This story comes from Out.com.

A journalist who was given an opportunity to interview author Margaret Atwood allowed her previously-admitted “gender-critical” views to seep into her questions. This could have been a TWIT moment but Ms. Atwood saved the day with her responses to the TERF-infused questions. PinkNews has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Harvey Fierstein in costume for Hairspray.

Harvey Fierstein wrote a new memoir, entitled I Was Better Last Night. In an interview with People magazine, he stated, “I’m still confused as to whether I’m a man or a woman.” There are a lot of other options, my friend. Heck, you can make your own gender, if you wish. Perhaps it’s time to apply your creativity to your gender.

In the new limited series State of the Union, a non-binary barista is a challenge for an older couple. The Advocate has more.

Apple is beta testing a new voice for Siri. This voice is supposedly gender-neutral. Apple says that the voice was supplied by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, according to LGBTQ Nation.

On The LGBTQ&A, John Cameron Mitchell, the creator and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, explains why he thinks that Hedwig is not transgender.

Jasmine Kennedie

Recently, Bosco, one of the queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race, revealed that she is transgender. This week, another of the queens, Jasmine Kennedie, revealed that she, too, is transgender. After she said it on Untucked, she talked to Entertainment Weekly about her gender and her gender awareness. This revelation means that there are now four transgender drag queens among the contestants this season.

The drag queens from Drag Race Espana season 2 and profiled in Out.com.

Pattie Gonia is an environmentalist, an outdoors enthusiast, a traveler, and–a drag performer. She combines it by bringing drag to the great outdoors. Out Traveler has a profile of her.

While hiking has traditionally attracted white, heterosexual, cisgender individuals, some are trying to change that. You can read about it in Out Traveler.

During a debate on reform of the Gender Recognition Act, some members of parliament used the time to criticize the misinformation that other members have brought to the debate, as well as misinformation in the press. This story comes from PinkNews. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Amy Schneider

Amy Schneider and her girlfriend Genevieve Davis are now engaged. Them has this story.

Equalities Minister Liz Truss wrote a letter to Baroness Falkner, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, saying that the government “has no interest” in keeping transgender people out of single-sex spaces. This comes as a surprise to everyone who has been following the recent actions of the British government. PinkNews has this story.

The Scottish government announced this week that it will ignore the (dubious) advice of the Equality and Human Rights commission, and will pursue a reform to the Gender Recognition Act. This story comes from PinkNews.

Daniel France, a 17-year-old from Cambridgeshire, committed suicide in April of 2020. At the time of his suicide, he was in a queue, waiting for his first appointment with a gender identity clinic, and also in another queue, waiting for help with mental health. The coroner noted that the deceased “was repeatedly assessed as not meeting the criteria for urgent intervention.” PinkNews has this story.

Australian Prime Minister has backed a bill that would exclude transgender students from school sports. The Guardian reports that there is significant opposition to the bill. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Andrew Adams with his mother.

The Biden Administration has asked a federal appeals court in Atlanta to strike down a  school’s policy forbidding transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities. This could have a major bearing on Andrew Adams’ 2017 lawsuit against his high school. The story is in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Get more on this story from WLRN-TV.

This week, Russia invaded Ukraine. Several outlets, including The Advocate, report that the U.S. State Department believes that LGBTQ+ Ukrainians are among those on a “kill list.” Religious and ethnic minorities may also be targeted.

We reported recently on a Kurdish transgender woman who was shot to death by her brother in an “honor killing.” The Guardian reports that she had been hiding from her family before her death.

Gabbi Mattos, a teenager in Sergipe, Brazil, was shot in the head. Her death shows that Brazil remains the deadliest country for transgender people, according to PinkNews.

Transgender and non-binary people tend to have problems with travel. Out Traveler has some tips for making travel less problematic.

Melanie WIllingham-Jaggers, the new executive director of GLSEN, wants to put a priority on LGBTQ+ youth. Part of this is because politicians are aiming at youth, especially transgender youth, in new laws. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Zaya Wade

Zaya Wade and Amy Schneider did a team video interview for Teen Vogue. In it, they talked about the new laws, such as the one in Texas, among other topics. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

The Human Rights Campaign is teaming up with the NEA and the American Association of School Librarians to sponsor readings in support of transgender and non-binary students. The HRC has a press release about this on their web site.

Gillian Branstetter of the National Women’s Law Center and other activists posed some awful scenarios about how the interpretation of gender-affirming care as “child abuse” in Texas could affect everyday life. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

PinkNews has a story about how transgender Texans are standing up to the bullying from their Governor and state Attorney General.

A pastor wrote a touching letter of support for transgender children in Baptist News Global.

TWITs

As we mentioned, Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that the medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors is “child abuse.” They called on citizens to report instances of transgender children receiving gender-affirming medical care to the authorities. In his interpretation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed that puberty blockers interfere with a child’s “constitutional right to procreate.” (see Slate.) So, apparently, natural sterility is now illegal in Texas. Moreover, Ken Paxton would likely be the first to recommend to a court that a minor who was guilty of sexual assault should be given chemical castration, even though that can cause permanent sterility. For learning nothing from the hospitality of parents such as Amber Briggle (who feels something of a personal insult and is done trying to talk to him, according to WFAA-TV) and for putting politics ahead of the actual best interest of transgender children as determined by medical and mental health statistics, Ken Paxton gets a TWIT Award.

For jumping at the opportunity to use his new power (from the Attorney General’s interpretation of the law) to declare the medical treatment of gender dysphoria in children “child abuse,” for failing to listen to parents who have seen the effects of this treatment on their children’s psychological health in favor of crackpot theories from people with no personal experience, and for ignoring every major medical association, Governor Greg Abbott also gets a TWIT Award. KXAN-TV has this story.

According to them, the habit of journalists to “tell both sides” and the elevation of “just asking questions” led to people who have statistical evidence having to fight those with singular stories with atypical results, and those who have nothing but their own opinion based on little-to-no good science. Such journalists get a TWIT Award as well.

Marjorie Taylor Greene told Alex Jones that violence in standing up to transgender and non-binary people is acceptable. She complained about not only the “natural advantage” transgender people have in sporting events, but also the fact that some transgender and non-binary people have been camp counselors. For advocating violence, and for not realizing that a resort to violence is a sign of being unable to refute with logic, not to mention an obvious violation of the Golden Rule, Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT. has this story.

In a tweet, Representative Lauren Boebert said, “I pray someone in our country’s ‘leadership’ is more concerned about Putin than pronouns.” This came at a time when President Biden had already announced steps to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine, which means that her “prayer” was answered before she even tweeted it. For failing to acknowledge what had already happened, and for unnecessarily picking on transgender and non-binary people, Representative Lauren Boebert gets yet another TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

J.D. Vance is a candidate for U.S. Senate from Ohio. He said on Steve Bannon’s podcast that Joe Biden was pressuring Vladimir Putin because the Russian president does not “believe in transgender rights.” He downplayed the disagreement over the massing of Russian military units on the boarder with Ukraine, a move that seems to indicate a desire to invade the country. He even said that he does not “really care what happens to Ukraine, one way or the other.” Not that long ago, Republicans stood up to naked aggression, especially by Russians. Today, a prospective U.S. Senator does not care if Russia takes over a country which, after disposing of a president who aligned with Putin, has been attempting to ally with the U.S. For assuming that something isn’t a problem between nations just because he doesn’t care, and for insisting on playing up transgender rights where they are literally not an issue, J.D. Vance gets a TWIT Award. Politifact has this story.

Louisiana state Representative Joe Stagni is facing a recall election. The people behind the recall say that he has become “at odds with the views of most of the residents of his district.” One of the specific items mentioned is that he voted against a ban on transgender student athletes. For elevating their displeasure with transgender people into a reason to remove a politician from office, the people behind the recall of state Representative Joe Stagni get a TWIT. The Advocate of Baton Rouge has this story.

Piers Morgan was interviewed for 20 minutes on Fox & Friends, because, you know, there is so little going on that needs to be covered as news. For some reason, the topic turned to transgender rights, because, again, there is so little else happening in the world these days. Mr. Morgan said, “You can support trans rights — as I do — and you can believe that trans people can have full equality and fairness, right to the point where it creates inequality.” Please pardon us for pausing the interview while we are laughing so hard we cannot hear what he is saying. Piers Morgan has been the recipient of several TWIT awards, yet here he is, calling himself a proponent of transgender rights and equality for transgender people. And yet, he insisted that allowing Lia Thomas to compete in women’s swimming is “obviously, grotesquely unfair.” What is actually obvious is that Lia Thomas is a winner, and opponents of transgender rights feel that it is “obviously, grotesquely unfair” to allow a transgender person to win at anything. While there is a serious debate to be had about how much advantage, if any, transgender females have over cisgender females in athletics, that debate currently suffers from too little data, making it hard to see what part is due to being transgender. For rushing to a conclusion, and for denying his own anti-transgender stances from the past, Piers Morgan gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from The Wrap. Alyssa Washington submitted a link to this story.

Steve Bannon, who left the White House in order to give Donald Trump some amount of shelter from him while still staying in touch, praised Vladimir Putin on his podcast as Russia was about to begin its invasion of Ukraine. Of course, he could not praise the Russian president for his aggression towards Ukraine. Instead, he praised Putin by saying, “he’s anti-woke.” “Woke,” of course, is a reference to any move that sees culturally minimized people as worthy of being treated like human beings, with human rights. Mr. Bannon asked rhetorically, “How many genders are there in Russia? Two.” For praising someone for practicing discrimination, and for turning a blind eye to aggression and bullying, Steve Bannon gets a TWIT. has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Senator Rick Scott issued what he called an “eleven-point plan to rescue America” from the “militant left.” Perhaps Mr. Scott did not notice that the “militant left” did not storm the Capitol when Donald Trump was being confirmed as winner of the 2016 election, even though he lost the popular vote by the biggest margin of any electoral “winner”. The document is really a wish list of Republican social conservatives. One of his points is, “Men and women are biologically different, ‘male and female He created them.” The last half of that statement is a quote of a translation of a Hebrew text, a text which native speakers of Hebrew tend to recognize is a story, not a scientific truth. Yet, Senator Scott continues, “Facts are facts, the earth is round, the sun is hot, there are two genders, and abortion stops a beating heart. To say otherwise is to deny science.” (Actually, the phrase “Abortion stops a beating heart” is not always true, as some abortions occur before the heart is even formed enough to beat.) Assuming that “two genders” refers to chromosomes, he is inaccurate, as there are literally millions of people who do not have either XX or XY sex chromosomes. This comes separate from a debate on whether chromosomes actually are that good at determining gender anyway. For presenting bad science as real science, and for using the bad science as an excuse to discriminate, Senator Rick Scott gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from NBC News.

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