The Week In Trans 2/8/21

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Jen Richards

CBS has a new series called Clarice, which features stories of FBI agent Clarice Starling after the events of Silence Of The Lambs. Jen Richards will appear as a transgender character who discusses the character of Buffalo Bill, a point which has been rather sticky for a lot of transgender people. The Advocate has this story.

In another departure from the previous administration, President Biden urged his State Department to promote LGBTQ rights worldwide. The Daily Beast points out that this comes at a time when LGBTQ rights have taken a hit both in the U.S. and around the world.

An editorial in The Hill praises President Biden for his leadership on transgender issues, which the writers feel is an important thing. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

The emphasis on LGBTQ rights comes in contrast to the bills proposed by Republicans in state legislatures. 20 states are looking at bills which specifically target transgender school children, with 31 bills proposed. School sports and medically treating gender dysphoria in minors are the recurrent topics, according to LGBTQ Nation. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story and other stories.

The state of New York has repealed its anti-loitering law which has been used to criminalize “walking while trans.” While the law was designed to curb soliciting by sex workers, it has been used frequently against transgender women of color. NPR has this story.

Bonnaire “Bobbie” Black

Bonnaire “Bobbie” Black was found dead in Atlanta on December 31. Although police say that there were no signs of foul play, friends suspect that the 19-year-old was murdered. This story comes from Out.com.

Dominique Jackson was found murdered in Jackson, Mississippi. She was shot in the head, after which her car crashed into a utility pole. WJTV-TV News reports that friends of the deceased are pushing to have her murder declared a hate crime. Police point out that Mississippi’s hate crime statute does not specifically mention gender identity or sexual orientation.

A suspect has been arrested in the murder of Alexandria Winchester in the Bronx last December 26. The New York Daily News has this story.

Vanessa Warri is a Black transgender woman, and she says that her existence is itself a form of resistance against society. This story is in the form of a video from KURL-TV.

The Augusta Free Press has a short story about the creation of the rainbow pride flag and the transgender pride flag.

Chaplain Rebecca A. Ammons, who holds the rank of major in the U.S. Army, wrote to Army Times to say that not all chaplains disapprove of transgender troops.

Dr. Ketil Slagstad wrote a long article entitled “The Political Nature of Sex — Transgender in the History of Medicine.” It appears in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Miss Erica Sommers

In 1996 Myrtle Beach drag queen Miss Erica Sommers was beaten and left in a dumpster to die. All because she and a friend bumped into another bar patron. That beating left Sommers with severe head trauma and memory problems. That did not stop her from becoming a drag legend in Myrtle Beach and an advocate for LGBTQ people nationally. Erica passed away on January 16. Learn more about her life from The Charlotte Observer.

A new study found that, in young patients with gender dysphoria, puberty blockers did not create “irreversible damage.” From a psychological point of view, the puberty blockers made the majority of patients in the study happier, more comfortable with themselves, and better able to socialize with others. Plos One has the full study, and PinkNews has an article about the results. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

An article by the University of California at San Francisco Department of Radiology discusses the role of radiology in planning facial feminization surgery.

The University of Maine at Augusta will host a webinar entitled Healthcare & Health Equity in Transgender Communities. You can read about it in the Sun Journal.

Researchers at UCLA stopped a study which had the potential to harm transgender people. The study was designed to trigger gender dysphoria and then use MRI technology to study the effect in the brain. Transgender people who were asked to be in the study group pointed out that if the researchers can trigger an attack of gender dysphoria, so can others, for less scientific reasons. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The idea of transgender females in girls school sports continues to be a huge topic of discussion. Martina Navratilova suggested that there be an exception for “elite sports.” Perhaps she does not realize that, with current school budgets, most schools do not have teams for non-elite sports. This story comes from Reuters.

When the U.S. Senate held a hearing for Secretary of Education nominee Miguel Cardona, the subject of transgender females in school sports came up. the Hartford Courant has this story.

Gabbi Tuft

Former WWE star Gabbi Tuft has just announced that she is a transgender woman. You can read about it in TooFab.

WNBA player Layshia Clarendon talked of how excited they were when they first saw their self “free of breasts.” PinkNews has this story.

Laverne Cox is part of a team which is producing a new documentary entitled Amend: The Fight For America. It is about the effort to adopt the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It will be available on February 17 on Netflix. You can read about it in The Advocate.

Trace Lysette discusses why she feels that transgender actors and actresses should be thought of to play transgender roles. You can read about it at Yahoo.

Electronic pop music artist Sophie Xenon has died. She slipped after climbing to watch the full moon, according to her record label. PinkNews has this story. Meanwhile, Out.com reports that there is a petition calling on NASA to name an exoplanet for her. The artist’s rendering of the exoplanet looks like the cover of one of Sophie’s albums.

YouTube star Abigail Thorn has come out as trans. She says that her inner circle of friends knew long ago, but she has just now decided to tell her YouTube followers. This story comes from PinkNews.

Francisco Franco is still dead, and Eddie Izzard still wants to be the first transgender person to be elected to the British Parliament. To that end, she just announced her latest political campaign. The Sunday Mirror has this story.

Eddie Izzard also appeared on the Life, Interrupted podcast with Simon Thomas. She said that she knew she was trans before the age of six, and described the experience a bit. PinkNews has this story.

Hannah and Jake Graf want a second baby, and they have made arrangements with the surrogate who brought them their first child, Millie, in April. This story comes from WalesOnline.

Love Bailey

Love Bailey, a transgender stylist, is one of several women who are accusing Marilyn Manson of abuse. She describes the singer holding a gun to her head and telling her, “I don’t like f****ts.” She tells The Daily Beast that she thought she was going to die.

Nikita Dragun’s birthday party featured a lot of people, but little social distancing and few face masks. PinkNews has this story.

The pandemic has been tough on restaurants and bars. For some people, that is an opportunity to buy. Trixie Mattel is now the co-owner of the oldest LGBT bar in Wisconsin. This story comes from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Out Traveler introduces us to the drag queens of Cork in Ireland. Too bad we can’t go there for a while.

Labour Trans Equality is stepping up right away to demand that party leader Keir Starmer take “urgent action” to oppose transphobia in the party. PinkNews has this story.

Joanna Cherry, a Member of Parliament, was removed from the Scottish National Party’s leadership in Parliament because of her anti-transgender views, according to a report in PinkNews.

Scotland’s Justice Minister has announced that the government has withdrawn an amendment which would have made “criticism of transgender identity” exempt from the hate speech law. Moreover, he apologized for “any hurt” the proposed measure may have caused. This story comes from PinkNews.

Lawrence Chaney

Also from Scotland, Lawrence Chaney has done Scotland proud once again with another win on the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Learn more from the Daily Record. The Glasgow-based queen was praised for her role as an “agony aunt” during the show’s weekly challenge.

National Geographic has the story of some transgender people who are seeking asylum in the U.S., who are currently stranded in Mexico.

A mother of a transgender child in Britain voices her agreement with Labour Trans Equality, saying that party leadership must step up to fight transphobia within the party. Her comments on the matter can be found at PinkNews.

History Extra from the BBC has an excerpt from Jen Manion’s new book Female Husbands: A Trans History.

A commentary in LGBTQ Nation tells us that, “The Gender Binary is Old News,” while reminding us that transgender people have been around for a long time.

Podcaster and mother of a transgender child Marlo Mack writes in PinkNews that puberty blockers helped her child grow up with less anxiety and have a “remarkably typical girlhood.”

Eva

We have all heard a transgender female described as “a guy in a dress.” A transgender woman named Eva made a video to rebut that remark and posted it on Twitter. PinkNews has this story.

TWITs

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been trying to defend herself by saying that she no longer believes some of the things that she was criticized for saying. And yet, she recently complained that Twitter will allow pornography on their site, but won’t let her complain about transgender people. For defending bias as acceptable, Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Rand Paul was one of three Republican senators who spoke out in opposition to transgender women participating in school sports for girls. Rand Paul in particular used the concept of “hulking six-foot-four guys” playing girls’ sports. For bringing up an example that just does not happen, and for missing the fact that the point of girls’ athletics is friendship, not winning, Rand Paul gets a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to the story.

An associate professor at the University of Dallas wrote a Facebook post denouncing President Biden’s nominee for assistant health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine. If that post had complained about her qualifications as a doctor, that would be one thing. However, his complaint seems to have been largely a rant against transgender people in general. The University of Dallas, which is a Catholic school, has defended the instructor, and brought up some selected portions of Catholic teaching. A similar incident is happening at Baylor, a Baptist school. For thinking that discrimination is defended in the Bible, these universities, and the teachers in the controversies, get a TWIT Award. This story comes from The Texan.

Innocent is the name of a brand of smoothies. They recently stopped following an individual on Twitter, because that individual made a remark which seemed obviously transphobic. Innocent Drinks then tweeted, “we stand against discrimination,” and added a transgender pride flag emoji. Although over 20,000 Twitter users liked the anti-discrimination post, there were a few people who voiced a different opinion. Some are even saying that they will boycott the brand. Those people who are taking a stand in favor of discrimination get a TWIT Award. Pinknews  has this story.

Kevin Whitt is a Texas Republican staffer who describes himself as “ex-gay” and “ex-transgender.” He appeared in an ad last year, saying that Joe Biden approves of “sex change surgeries at 15 years old” and called supporting a transgender child “legal child abuse.” He was recently fired, after he was arrested for participating in the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. For taking part in an attempted coup of the United States, Kevin Whitt gets a TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

On Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update anchor Michael Che said, “President Biden signed an executive order repealing Trump’s ban on transgender people from serving in the military. It’s good news, except Biden is calling the policy, ‘Don’t ask, don’t tuck.'” For using a joke which makes fun of transgender people, Michael Che and the writers for Saturday Night Live get a TWIT award. You can read about this at Them. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

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