The Week In Trans 4/22/19

Links in TWIT will open in this window. To return to this page use the Back button on your browser. If the link opens in a new tab, close the tab to return to this page.

Tanwarin Sukkhapisit

Reuters has an interview with Tanwarin Sukkhapist, the first transgender member of parliament in Thailand.

Now that the Mattis Plan to separate transgender people from the military has gone into effect, the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy have announced that they will not allow transgender students to attend, starting next year. Since they cannot join the military after graduating, and thus are unable to fulfill their service commitment, the transgender students are likely to be leaving on their own, anyway. NBC has the Associated Press story. Jamie Roberts made us aware of another story on this in The Washington Post.

A student at the University of Texas-Austin had his ROTC scholarship revoked because he is transgender. Without the scholarship, he cannot afford that university, but because of the new policy, he cannot join the Army, so he won’t be able to fulfill his service requirement. Map Pesqueira’s story also comes from NBC News.

Major General Matthew Beevers has told transgender members of the California National Guard that their gender identities are not a huge concern to the service. “Anybody who is willing and able to serve the state [and the] nation should have the opportunity to serve. It’s unconscionable in my mind that we would fundamentally discriminate against a certain class of people based on their gender identity,” said the general. The Hill has this story.

Marsha P. Johnson

DC Brau, a beer company in Washington, D.C., has announced they will make a special brew named for Marsha P. Johnson, which will be available during pride month. You can read about it at LGBTQ Nation.

The American Medical Association let it be known on their website that they have urged an appeals court to rule that transgender students may use the restroom of the gender with which they identify. They argue that this is good for the physical and mental health of transgender students.

An online survey taken by the City of London found that 65% of respondents felt that transgender people should use the single-gender facility (including restrooms) which matches their gender identity, and only 29% thought that they should use such facilities according to their birth gender. Pink News has this story.

A transgender woman named Muhlaysia Booker was viciously beaten in Dallas, and ended up in the hospital because of her injuries. Dallas Police arrested Edward Thomas, who was caught on video beating Ms. Booker. However, the start of the video seems to indicate that Mr. Thomas had been paid $200 to attack her. The New York Times has this story.

Amanda Kerri was halfway through writing another piece about the problem of deadnaming, with the treatment of Chelsea Manning by members of the media reporting on Julian Assange as the impetus, when she heard about Muhlaysia Booker. Suddenly, deadnaming wasn’t the worst thing that happened to a transgender person in the news this week. She writes about that in The Advocate.

Candidate Kirsten Gillibrand primps with a drag performer.

Presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand was seen partying with some drag queens while in Iowa, according to LGBTQ Nation.

Morehouse College, the only all-male Historically Black College or University, has announced that they will accept all males as students, regardless of gender assigned at birth. Forbes thinks that the framing of this announcement as a continuation of their commitment to educating males, is important. Jamie Roberts found more on the story in Inside Higher Ed.

Kimberly Shappley, the mother of a transgender daughter, testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor regarding the Equality Bill. She brought her transgender daughter, Kai, with her, so that they could meet their representative.

In the same week that Kimberly and Kai Shappley went to Washington, the Texas Senate passed two bills to overturn the right of local governments to give rights that are not granted by the state. These are more specific bills, aimed at specific instances, while the general bill is still around and still has its adherents. LGBTQ Nation gave us this story.

Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has promised not to swear while campaigning, but he broke that promise recently while discussing transgender rights. “In Texas, we just debated a transgender bathroom bill. Seriously? After all the s*** that happened–ah, all the stuff that happened in North Carolina. . . ” This story comes from The Washington Examiner.

The Department of Health and Human Services has decided to stop collecting information on the sexual orientation and gender identity of foster children and those who adopt them. The information will still be kept when it is considered essential to the case, but not otherwise. Gay Star News has this story.

The New York Times had another piece about the difficulties that transgender and gender-nonconforming people have with the TSA.

When Ashanti Cameron’s body was found on March 30, she was discovered in Fairmont Heights, Maryland, a block away from Washington, D.C. Had she been shot in D.C. her family would have automatically received money to assist with her funeral. Because she was shot in Maryland, her family has to pay the cost of the funeral before applying for financial aid, according to The DCist.

A trans man in the Harry’s ad.

Harry’s Shaving Company has a new ad which includes a trans man. The ad never mentions that he is trans, but the scars from top surgery can be seen. Gay Star News has this story.

Gay Star News has an interview with the woman who created a lingerie line for transgender women. The lingerie sold out in days.

As prom season approaches, a group in Britain has created Queer Prom, a chance for LGBTQ people to have the prom that they could not have when they were in high school. Gay Star News reports, and also talks to some LGBTQ people about their high-school prom.

Ian Alexander of The OA, on Netflix, told Ellen DeGeneres that the show has helped his family to understand that he can be happy and successful as a trans person. The Hollywood Reporter has this story.

When writing a headline, it’s good to be clear. New Now Next had the headline “‘To Wong Foo...’ Being Re-Released With Deleted Scenes for Pride Month,” which may give the wrong impression that some scenes were omitted in the new version. No, in the new version, scenes that had previously been deleted are restored.

A group of parents who fought to keep transgender students out of locker rooms and bathrooms that match their gender identity abruptly dropped their lawsuit against a Chicago-area school district, ending a four-year legal battle that drew national attention. Thanks to Jamie Roberts for letting us know about the story in The Washington Post.

Earlier this year, Charlize Theron dropped a hint that her adopted child, Jackson, might be transgender. This week, Charlize Theron announced that 7-year-old Jackson is, indeed, transgender. The Daily Mail has this story.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has removed Barry Humphries’s name from its top award. Formerly called The Barry Award, it will now be called the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award. Transgender comedian Cassie Workman has been nominated for this prize, which makes it awkward that it’s named for someone who has uttered anti-transgender remarks. The Guardian has this story.

Mj Rodriguez

Gay Star News reports that three cast members from Pose will be grand marshals at the New York City Pride Parade. Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore and Mj Rodriguez will march at WorldPride 2019.

The British television series Emmerdale has been getting praise from its fans for the way that it has handled a transgender character, according to Metro.

Liz Harrington has just been named as the new national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. She has a horrible record on transgender issues, including outright lies about the cost of “transgender surgery” (which would have to include much more than just gender confirmation surgery for the price to be that high). In addition to the cost, she has argued that military members who undergo “transgender surgery” would be unable to deploy for much longer than is commonly assumed. You can read more about her record at LGBTQ Nation.

Alaska is about to hold the Drag Queen Of The Year competition, and New Now Next has a list of the contestants.

Following the recent comments about trans athletes from Martina Navratilova a university in the U.K. is conducting research on sex and gender classification in sports. They would like our readers to complete an online survey to hear their views surrounding this topic from the transgender community. The survey is completely anonymous and you can find it here.

Business Insider notes that in the sixteen years since the International Olympic Committee has allowed transgender athletes to compete, not one of the 50,000 athletes to compete has been transgender. The standards are not as easy as “say he’s a woman, compete against women, win a bunch of money, then” detransition. It isn’t as easy as critics seem to think it is.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been asked to state clearly the position of the Scottish National Party regarding the rights of transgender people. This comes after three members of her party have been heard disagreeing with her on the matter. The Guardian has this story.

Dr. Robin Dundas, who last year won the British Psychological Society’s annual award in the Division of Counseling Psychology for carer and service user involvement, sat for an interview with the British Psychological Society’s journal, The Psychologist. In the interview, Dr. Dundas, who is a gender specialist, points out that “we are not at a place of acceptance or equality for trans people.”

Zoella Zayce sought refuge in Canada.

A transgender teenager from Brunei, where the government has approved executing gay people by stoning, has asked for asylum in Canada, according to NBC News.

A transgender woman in Thailand was fined and given a stern warning when she was seen wearing a dress that was too transparent to wear in public, according to Khaosod English.

A police officer in Pakistan was suspended for beating up guests at the birthday party for a transgender person. Planet Transgender has this reminder that not everywhere is safe for transgender people.

Zac Kostopoulos was a drag queen in Greece, who performed under the name Zackie Oh. He died from injuries received when he was beaten by the owner of a jewelry store, in which he had been trapped. A surveillance video shows a possible witness to the incident. Gay Star News has this story.

The idea of diversity programs in libraries is to some, controversial. Members of the LGBTQ community told the board of the Anne Arundel library in Annapolis, Maryland that programs on diversity could save lives. Thanks to Jamie Roberts for pointing out the story in the Capital Gazette.

Nomi Ruiz wrote an article inn The Advocate about the joy of sex after gender-confirmation surgery.

TWITs

A transgender teen in Israel, Osher Band, had not attended school for half a year, since she was attacked and threatened with further violence. The school sent a letter which mentioned the possibility of a criminal complaint if she missed more school, so she returned. She was attacked by a classmate and ended up in the hospital with a brain injury. Haaretz has this story. Her school wins a TWIT Award.

In North Pole, Alaska, a group of high-school boys didn’t like it when a transgender boy took a selfie in the boy’s room, and so they hatched a plan to invade the girls’ restroom on the false claim that they are transgender. The girls didn’t like this, for obvious reasons. One girl kicked the leader between his legs as he blocked the door. The girl who kicked the leader was expelled. For false use of the transgender label, the group of boys get a TWIT Award. And for expelling the girl who kicked the leader, the school board gets a TWIT victim shaming. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has 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.

Tags: featured, news, Transgender, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News