The Week In Trans 5/27/19

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Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox delivered the commencement address at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. In her speech, she emphasized that transgender men need to be a part of the debate on abortion. She points out that the language of both sides often ignores transgender men, who can and sometimes do get pregnant. Gay Star News has this story.

On Tuesday, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson said that he did not anticipate any changes to the Equal Access Rule, a rule implemented during the Obama administration which says that homeless shelters should provide lodging for people regardless of their gender identity. One day later, his department said that it was considering a new rule which would allow homeless shelters to use “safety, practical concerns, and religious beliefs” as reasons to segregate facilities by sex, leaving no place for transgender people. The Hill has this story.

In a move that is almost an invitation to mistreat LGBT people, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed Friday to “substantially revise” language in the Affordable Care Act to eliminate protections against discrimination based on gender identity in health care. The rule change would permit health care workers, doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies that receive federal funding to refuse to provide or cover health care services critical to the health and wellbeing of LGBT people. Thanks to Ms. Bob Davis for pointing out the article in The Bay Area Reporter. Jamie Roberts found more coverage in The Washington Post.

While the federal government is rolling back protections for transgender people, some states are going in the opposite direction. Colorado is an example of that, as highlighted in The Colorado Sun.

Danica Roem

Two years ago, Danica Roem became the first out transgender person elected to a state legislature when she beat a long-term member of the Virginia legislature who was a leader in anti-LGBT legislation. She will run for re-election this year, and her opponent is another politician who would deny rights to LGBT people. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Muhlaysia Booker, who was in the news last month when an attack on her was captured on video, was found shot to death. The New York Times has this story.

Muhlaysia Booker was the second transgender woman shot to death in Dallas in the last seven months. Another transgender woman was stabbed several times, but survived. Dallas Police are investigating the possibility that these incidents could be related, according to CNN.

Michelle “Tamika” Washington

Michelle Washington, also known as Tamika, was shot to death in Philadelphia. She had been known as an advocate for transgender rights. Philly Voice reports that the Philadelphia Police Department has made an arrest in the case.

Claire Legato of Cleveland was also shot to death. A story about all three black transgender women who were shot appears in The New York Daily News.

Henry Sias was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected to a judgeship in Philadelphia. He would have been the first transgender male to become a judge. Gay Star News has this story.

Over a thousand parents and caregivers of transgender and non-binary youth signed a letter thanking medical people for their compassionate care. The letter is a project of The Human Rights Campaign.

David de Alba fans will be pleased to learn that there is now a YouTube video channel devoted to The Cuban Legend. It officially launched May 21 as a birthday present to David.

A study of 253 transgender patients in the Netherlands found that hormone therapy did not cause significant bone density loss. Healio has highlights of the study.

Drs. Helen and Mike Webberley have relocated their GenderGP clinic from Wales to Spain. Dr. Mike had been suspended by the General Medical Council on the grounds that his practice “fell below the standards expected.” Dr. Helen has been suspended for the last two years. You can read more at Pink News.

Lane Joslin

Fosters has a profile of Lane Joslin, a 14-year-old transgender girl who transitioned in fifth grade and who has become a vocal advocate for transgender rights.

Wales Equality Alliance has been complaining about delays in opening a gender clinic in Wales. One was supposed to open last month, but did not. Patients have to travel to London for care, as BBC News reports.

Candi Stratton, a transgender activist in the Quad Cities area (Iowa and Illinois) was interviewed as part of the “Breakfast With” series on morning television on WQAD-TV. They were joined by Viminda Shafer, who is Program Coordinator at The Project of the Quad Cities.

Journalist Rekha Basu of The Des Moines Register remembers Casey Gradischnig, a local trans man who helped to put a human face on transgender matters. He passed away recently, a victim of cancer.

Have you wished that you had access to better information about transitioning? Do you wish that you could find something or someone to help you plan your transition? Help is on the way, thanks to an app called Solace. Robbi Anthony and her team won a programming competition with this tool. KREM reports that it will soon be available.

East Idaho News tells us of a transgender man who was arrested and charged with forcible penetration. It appears to be a domestic dispute that became a police matter.

Transgender people have a rough time, and do not have a long life expectancy. The new film Thirty-Five tells of the struggle one transgender couple has in trying to live past that age, which is the life expectancy for transgender people in Brazil. The Advocate took note of this short film.

Leyna Bloom

At Cannes, the film Port Authority features Leyna Bloom as a trans woman in the ballroom scene. It is the first film in that festival’s history to star a transgender woman of color, according to Variety.

Last year’s major studio films featured exactly zero transgender characters, according to the GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index. New Now Next has a story on this, and the report is on GLAAD’s website.

Tales Of The City is returning, with new episodes on Netflix. Olympia Ducakis is back as Anna Madrigal, the transgender character. The same character is played in flashbacks to younger days by Jen Richards. The Advocate has this story.

The reboot of The L Word has a new title: The L Word: Generation Q. You can read about it at Deadline.

Imagine being a drag queen in San Antonio, and seeing Ariana Grande in the audience. You would do well not to get too star-struck, as she tipped the performers quite well, giving at least one a $100 bill. Some others got $20s, according to LGBTQ Nation.

Drag Queen Nina West has a new music video, entitled Drag Is Magic. You can read about it at Gay Star News.

Some bars in Hartford County, Maryland, have cancelled drag shows after receiving a warning letter that said they could lose their liquor licenses for featuring “adult entertainment.” It turns out that they were being warned, not threatened; the letter meant to say that the drag shows have to be careful not to go too far, according to LGBTQ Nation.

A transgender woman went to a drag show in San Francisco, and when she asked for directions to the restroom, she was directed to the men’s room, which she says did not even have a stall. Pink News has this story.

Michael D. Cohen

Michael D. Cohen of the Nickelodeon series Henry Danger revealed that he is transgender. The Daily Mail has this story.

Last week, we reported on how some people reacted quite negatively when a drag queen did a plug for Chips Ahoy cookies. In spite of that, advertising industry guide Tubular Insight recommends that companies be seen as welcoming of transgender people, or at least not be seen as unwelcoming.

One company which is including transgender people in its ad is Gillette. Recently, they hired Jazz Jennings to pitch their Venus razor for women. This week, they debuted a new ad which features a trans man shaving for the first time. LGBTQ Nation has the story.

A 23-year-old man who was convicted in an attack on a transgender woman in Paris received a ten month sentence and a fine, according to France 24.

Theresa May announced her resignation as Prime Minister of Great Britain this week. The Conservative Party will need to choose a new leader. Pink News takes a look at how potential replacements stack up on LGBTQ issues. One of the things the next Prime Minister will have to deal with is the reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

Mr Menno as May.

One person who will miss the resigning Prime Minister is the drag queen who plays her, Mr Menno. He and some other drag performers did their version of the PM and friends watching the Eurovision song contest. Gay Star News has this story.

A judge has upheld the right of transgender women to use the women-only swimming pond at Hampstead Heath in northern London, reports BBC News.

Canadian anti-transgender feminist Meghan Murphy spoke to the Scottish National Parliament on Wednesday, and was met with a protest, according to Pink News.

The Independent Press Standards Organization, a group which regulates newspapers that belong to the group, is looking into the way that papers have handled transgender matters lately. A blog post at the group’s web site tells of their thoughts on the matter, while Pink News has some examples of what some newspapers have been doing.

Ruth Hunt is stepping down as the CEO of the British charity Stonewall, and tells The Guardian that she has no regrets about including transgender people in the charity’s advocacy.

British mobile phone operator O2 has created a pamphlet for employees who are undergoing a gender transition. You can find out about this great resource at Pink News.

Nicholas Bluman and his date Kalyani Clarke.

A male trans teen who came out and transitioned last summer was crowned prom king at high school prom. Nicholas Bulman said that all his friends gave him a hug and congratulations. Learn more from the Cape Cod Times. For an added bonus of fun, his date was crowned prom queen.

Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a ruling this week which directs that country’s legislature to make attacks on people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation a crime. The legislature has refused to discuss such matters for the last 18 years, but this ruling appears to force them to take up the matter. The Rio Times has this story.

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots later this year, artist Brian Kenny has painted a mural on the side of a building in Dallas. It features the trans women fought back when police raided The Stonewall Inn. NBC Dallas-Fort Worth has this story.

TGForum featured the first 24 chapters of Raquel Swann’s book Metamorphosis last year. Raquel has let us know that you can now pre-order a copy of the book from Amazon and it will be available in June. If you want to learn how the story ends go to Amazon now to place your order.

TWIT

The Daily Caller claims that articles about transgender athletes fail to include quotes from the cisgender athletes who lost to the transgender athletes. Many of the stories we see here do have quotes from either the cisgender athletes or their family or coaches. For making a complaint from quite incomplete evidence, The Daily Caller gets a TWIT.

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