The Week In Trans 3/1/21

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We have mentioned before how Cheyenne Doroshow and Kayla Gore have formed a cooperative to offer small homes to transgender women. This prompted a story on Good Morning America. The print version of the story is here.

The Jerusalem Post has a story about transgender people working on farms in Israel.

NPR has a story about a transgender woman forest ranger.

At a confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland, Senator Cory Booker asked about the large number of violent attacks against transgender people, especially transgender women of color. Judge Garland replied, “It’s clear to me that this kind of hateful activity has to stop, and yes, we need to put resources into it. These are hate crimes, and it is the job of the Justice Department to stop this.” LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Secretary Denis McDonough has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to do a thorough review of the policies regarding transgender veterans. There is a notice of this on the Department of Veterans Affairs website.

ABC News has a long story about transgender people who remained in the military despite the ban imposed by President Trump.

While President Biden has lifted the ban on transgender troops serving in the military, NPR reports that new recruits are finding it isn’t that easy to join when you are transgender. (At least, not yet–the Biden administration is working on it.)

This week, the White House sent members of Congress a message urging them to vote for the Equality Act. LGBTQ Nation has the message. A few days later, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act. The New York Times has that story. The Advocate reports that two members of Congress who previously voted for the Equality Act voted against it this time.

Unfortunately, once  the Equality Act is passed by Congress and signed by the President, it would still have to receive approval by the Supreme Court. The Advocate points out that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are almost certain to think that the act is unconstitutional. (The article mainly talks about how they want to overthrow marriage equality, but it does mention the bigger picture of equality.)

In response to a question, White House spokesperson Matt Hill said, “President Biden remains committed to advancing state and federal efforts that allow transgender and non-binary Americans to update their identification documents to accurately reflect their gender identity, especially as transgender and non-binary people continue to face harassment or are denied access to services because their identifications documents don’t affirm their identity.” Mr. Hill did not give a timetable for when to expect a non-binary marker on passports to be implemented, according to The 19th.

A month after President Biden took office, his administration has withdrawn from the case against transgender students participating in sports in Connecticut. This move has been widely expected, since the Department of Justice’s participation is a holdover from the Trump administration. NBC News has the AP’s story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

The Arkansas Republican Women’s Caucus has introduced its transgender athlete bill. KATV-TV has this story. LGBTQ Nation reports that the Arkansas bill might require cisgender girls who were adopted to get a court order to participate in school athletics, if their birth certificates were amended to hide the identity of their birth parents.

South Dakota’s state House of Representatives has passed their transgender athlete bill. It goes on to the state Senate. The Advocate.

In Utah, the transgender athlete bill seems to have stalled in the Senate, after Governor Spencer Cox  expressed his reservations about the bill last week. The Salt Lake Tribune has the story.

The Huffington Post has a story about all the transgender athlete bills now moving in state legislatures.

A story in The Deseret News apparently wants to look impartially at the topic of transgender athletes, but it ends up somewhat top-heavy with the idea that transgender athletes have an unfair natural advantage. An opinion piece in The Kansas City Star does not even try for balance, declaring that the transgender athlete bill “protects no one, but it would hurt vulnerable students.”

Eddie Mannis is a Republican in the Tennessee state House of Representatives. He said that, instead of banning transgender athletes, the state legislature should be working to reduce teen suicide. He is a Republican. WBIR-TV has this story.

In Montana, a new bill would make it harder for transgender people to amend their birth certificates. This story comes from the Montana Free Press.

The Los Angeles Blade has a story about the difficulties faced in fighting 48 (or more) bills at various state legislatures, all aimed at limiting the rights of transgender people.

Because the president has a great deal of latitude in promoting trade agreements, President Biden has the ability to promote LGBTQ rights in negotiating trade agreements. This is the jist of a story in The Advocate.

In western Pennsylvania, a mother shot and killed her daughter and her transgender son, then called police to turn herself in. Police described the scene in the house as “gruesome,” according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The murder of Jeffrey Brighty by his mother is the eighth time this calendar year that a transgender person has been a victim of fatal violence in the United States. Out.com has a list of all of them.

We are getting more information about Chyna Carillo, who was killed last week. LGBTQ Nation reports that she moved to Pennsylvania to help out with the pandemic. WHAM-TV reports that her killer spent eight years in jail for the murder of his wife. He had also deserted the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Point Foundation offers scholarships to LTBGQ+ students of color. Their initial recipients include at least one transgender student and several who use they/them pronouns. Each scholarship student has a brief profile at The Advocate.

It may seem odd that an article aimed at medical professionals should have to note that the term “transsexual” is considered outdated, but that appears in an article in Medical News Today.

Identical twins from a small town in Brazil underwent gender confirmation surgery at the same time. The New York Post reports that this seems to be a first.

Marketwatch has a list of the cost of transgender medications, and a story about how much Medicare will cover.

Healio reports that many transgender people with HIV are not getting tested for STIs.

New York City will have a Pride festival this year, but most of it will not be open to the public. Out.com has this story.

The reboot of MacGyver has added Alexandra Grey in a recurring role as a transgender engineer. This story comes from Out.com.

Sasha Knight, the ten-year-old who stars in Cowboys, is profiled in Out.com.

Ace Stiles was a fan favorite during the tryouts for American Idol. The 16-year-old performed his own song. The Advocate has this story.

Transgender people showed up to bless certain contestants on Indian Idol 12. MSN has this story.

Trans In Trumpland is a documentary series about, well, transgender people who are caught in the atmosphere created by Donald Trump and the people who voted for him. Asbury Park Press  has a preview story.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy was at Stonewall in 1969, and she is still around. She sat for the most recent LGBTQ&A interview.

The Advocate bids farewell to Jan Morris.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars was supposed to move to Showtime last year, but instead, it remained on VH1. This year, it is supposed to move to the new Paramount + streaming service, according to Out.com.

Drag Race Espana is the latest series in the Drag Race franchise. This week, it announced Supremme de Luxe as the host. She is the first drag queen to host a Drag Race series, other than RuPaul. Out.com has this story.

Rose Jackson, a member of the Australian Parliament, rose to complain about the fact that Drag Race Australia did not begin, but instead, contestants from Australia went to New Zealand to compete in Drag Race Down Under. You can read about this at Out.com.

Kate Rayner, one of the developers behind the video game Gears of War, came out as a transgender woman. PinkNews has this story.

Thanks to the pandemic, Dungeons and Dragons has become big online. Some of the online games feature queer and trans characters, played by queer and trans people, according to The Advocate.

Online streamer Robin Torkar came out as transgender this week. Although he will still use he/him pronouns for now, he has received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and will begin medical treatments appropriate for a transgender woman. PinkNews has this story.

Apple came out with some new emojis this week, and among them are females with facial hair, according to Out.com.

A judge ruled this week that the Miss United States pageant could exclude a transgender woman. Willamette Week has this story.

The Maternity Bill came up in Britain’s House of Lords, and some members wondered about the inclusive language. Isn’t pregnancy reserved for females? Baroness Barker set them straight on the importance of inclusion. PinkNews has this story.

The effort to drive a wedge between gender identity and sexual orientation has introduced the idea that early on, people who promoted rights based on sexual orientation had no interest in rights based on gender identity. That is certainly untrue, as PinkNews explains.

Virgin Australia is offering a flight to Sydney Mardi Gras, which will take place on March 5. Penny Tration, a drag queen, will be the hostess for the high-end flight, according to The Advocate.

A transgender woman in Brazil died while on the operating table, when the clinic caught fire. Lorena Muniz was 25 years old. PinkNews has this story.

The latest tragic “gender reveal” incident prompted a long comment about gender reveals from Demi Lovato, who said, “Gender reveals are based on the illusion that genitals = gender and that there are only two options ‘boy or girl’.” Out.com has this story.

Dear Abby answered a question from a grandmother who is not on board with the fact that her only grandchild is transgender. The Oregonian has this letter and response.

A mother in New Jersey wrote a book about her transgender son. Renee Masterson-Carr titled the book, I Suck At Pronouns. The book is designed to show support for transgender people and to help parents get behind their transgender children. This story comes from North Jersey.

LGBTQ Nation has a profile of transgender rights advocate Cecilia Gentili.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a story about the fight between U.S. Representative Marie Newman and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In the midst of the dispute between the two members of the House of Representatives, Facebook took down a video of Representative Marie Newman placing a transgender flag outside her office. The social media giant later restored the video, and apologized for taking it down. Newsweek has this story.

Sister Luisa Doreun is a Dominican Sister of Peace. She works with transgender people, and she writes about how she finds the courage of transgender people inspirational. Her latest writing on the topic appears in America magazine,

Hasbro has announced that their half-century-old toy, Mr. Potato Head, is now gender-neutral. The toy will simply be known as “Potato Head,” without the “Mr.” The Advocate has this story.

Oreo cookies tweeted that transgender people exist, for which they received a lot of varied reaction. The reaction is chronicled in PinkNews. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

A new Gallup poll reveals that the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ is growing. Part of this seems to be that younger people are more comfortable with the label  “LGBTQ”. Results can be found on Gallup’s website.

A new poll found that over half of people age 18-23 think that the gender binary is outdated. The Advocate has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

TWITs

Jessica Watkins, a former Army Ranger and a member of the Oath Keepers, is facing jail time for participating in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. She is asking for clemency, in part because she is transgender and would be “at risk” in jail. For attempting to use her transgender status as a “get out of jail free” card, Jessica Watkins gets a TWIT. Out.com has this story. (Note that we are not commenting on other arguments in her defense, including the argument that her group did not break or take anything.)

As various states try to pass transgender athlete bills, a meme showing a very tall transgender woman named Gabrielle Ludwig has made the rounds. Ms. Ludwig, who is 6’8″, did briefly play women’s basketball for an NCAA Division III school, but that happened almost a decade ago. Snopes rated the post as “outdated”. The post was written to mock the argument against transgender athletes, but somehow, it was circulated by the very people whose political view it was meant to mock. Those who circulated this post get a TWIT Award.

Ryan Anderson’s book When Harry Became Sally has been removed from Amazon. The anti-transgender book can still be obtained from other sources, but even so, U.S. Senators and others complained about the delisting. He was referred to as a “scholar,” and an article in National Catholic Register refers to “professors of psychiatry, psychology, and medical ethics” siding with Ryan Anderson. In point of fact, the vast majority of people with those titles think that Ryan Anderson’s views are simplistic and outdated, and not based on good science. The few professors who agree with him are often retired, and are still steeped in old thinking on the topic. For one-sided reporting, media outlets like the National Catholic Register get a TWIT Award, which they share with people who complain about one online store refusing to sell the book.

Former comedy writer and professional transphobe Graham Linehan joined a dating site for lesbians with a profile claiming he was a lesbian woman, and complained about transgender women who had joined the site saying they were not women. If that’s not TWIT Award worthy we don’t know what is. The site announced once more that transgender women are welcome. This story appears in PinkNews.

Baroness Emma Nicholson, a member of the House of Lords, responded to a tweet from the National Health Service about misgendering with the comment, “The Maternity Bill misgenders Women through calling them People.” For that amazing insight, Baroness Nicholson gets a TWIT Award. PinkNews has this tory.

The BBC defended not having any transgender people on a panel discussion about transgender issues, saying that people such as Susie Green expressed the viewpoint of transgender people. For not inviting transgender people to speak for themselves, the BBC gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from PinkNews.

A campground for gay men, Camp Boomerang, has clarified that trans men are not men in their view. For outright discrimination, camp Boomerang gets a TWIT Award. Pride Source has this story.

This week marked CPAC, the gathering of political conservatives. Angela Stanton King spoke to the group. She issued a series of tweets this month, opposing her transgender child. One such comment says, “Just for him to grow up and decide he wants to be a woman. Seriously wtf.” For not even trying to understand her child, Angela Stanton King gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Ted Cruz included a transgender joke in his act for CPAC. He noted that The New York Times reported 60% of women named Karen voted for Joe Biden, then said, “And I’m willing to believe that 80% of the men named Karen voted for Joe Biden.” For displaying his prejudice as though it is a virtue, Ted Cruz gets a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the Heritage Foundation, and the Family Policy Alliance, with the support of other social conservative groups, have joint together to form a new group, The Promise to America’s Children. This group is formed to fight the Equality Act. For literally defending the right to discriminate, and for twisting bits of the Bible to make it seem as if God wants us to discriminate, all the groups participating in this effort get a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link.

Representative Chris Stewart of Utah introduced an alternative to the Equality Act. His version provides several exemptions that allow discrimination in the name of religion. The bill even allows organizations to keep getting taxpayer money while they discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. For proposing that it’s all right to treat others as second-class citizens, Representative Chris Stewart and the co-sponsors of the Fairness For All Act get a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene gave several bad reasons for voting against the Equality Act. She claimed that the act would “destroy women,” and that it would “protect pedophiles.” For spreading laughable lies, and for trying to forestall passage of the act by calling for adjournment, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT Award. The Advocate has this story.

Representative Ralph Norman requested a half-minute of silence for Rush Limbaugh during the debate on the Equality Act. This request came more than a week after Rush Limbaugh passed away. For an obvious stalling tactic, and for un-ironically calling for silence to honor Rush Limbaugh, Representative Ralph Norman gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

During a confirmation hearing for Dr. Rachel Levine Senator Rand Paul went on an attack against transgender people and the medicine which helps them. He showed little understanding of the medical procedures, but a lot of prejudice. For obvious reasons, Senator Rand Paul gets a TWIT Award. CNN has this story. StatNews corrects the misinformation that Senator Paul gave. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene earned a second TWIT Award this week. She put a sign in the hall outside her Congressional office which says, “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. Trust The Science.” It is hard to find any biologist or genetics expert who believes that chromosomes determine gender. The sign negates non-binary people explicitly and intersex people implicitly. For prejudice against transgender, non-binary, and intersex people, and for using bad science, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT. 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