The Week In Trans 7/19/21

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Mj Rodriguez has been nominated for an Emmy Award in the Best Actress category. The Hollywood Reporter has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

GLAAD released its film report. Again they found no transgender characters in major studio film releases, but they did find more diversity and screen time for LGBTQ roles. Deadline has this story.

Luna La is the first transgender character on Gossip Girl. Played by Zión Moreno, she is Julien’s friend and stylist. She is trans, but her coming out and her transition are in the past, and they are not things that are planned as topics for the scripts. This story comes from Yahoo.

Non-binary actress Amandla Stenberg is the voice of Ozi, a teenage orangutan who is having problems because of deforestation. This story comes from them.

Nava Mau is an actress who makes quite an impression on HBO Max’s Genera+ion, according to Texas Monthly.

The new documentary Pieces Of Us is about to make the festival rounds. It looks at LGBTQ+ people who have survived hate crimes. The Advocate has this story.

Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum produced a documentary about conversion therapy, which focuses on Exodus International. It premieres August 3 on Netflix, according to them.

A federal judge in Indianapolis ruled against a teacher who addressed a transgender student by the student’s deadname, despite a policy of accepting each student’s gender identity. The teacher was fired, and tried to sue, claiming a “deeply-held religious belief” was behind the refusal to follow policy. WISH-TV has this story.

Last year, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a school must allow a transgender student to use the restroom consistent with that student’s gender identity. That court issued a new ruling this week, still agreeing that the transgender student can use the restroom, but with a stronger dissent from the chief judge of the circuit. This story comes from The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Tennessee’s law mandating that businesses post a public notice if people are allowed to use their restroom according to their gender identity has been put on hold by a federal judge. This means that the judge found substantial reason to assume that the state will lose the case when it is tried. CNN has this story.

The state of California will now recognize non-binary gender identity on death certificates. This story comes from them.

Although Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warned that a special session to override his veto would be expensive, the state legislature will come back for a special session in an attempt to override his veto. The state athletic commission has never allowed a transgender student to participate in school sports and seems to have no desire to allow such, but the legislature had enough votes to override when it passed the measure in the regular session. The last special session to override a governor’s veto was held five decades ago. The Huffington Post has this story.

Texas is in the middle of a special session of its legislature. Although the purpose of this special session is to pass a voting rights bill, another item that the governor put on the agenda was a ban on transgender athletes. As Democrats from the state House continue to not be present for the special session, the state Senate passed its version of a transgender athletes bill. The Hill has this story.

The Texas state Senate is still considering another 10 anti-transgender bills in the special session, including a ban on medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors, according to them.

The Guardian has a story about how families are fighting these new laws on behalf of their transgender children who want to participate in athletics.

The question of why lawmakers are proposing and passing bills to limit transgender athletes was examined in a story by WHAS-TV and in a separate story by The Economist.

An article on the Shipman & Goodwin website finds that support for transgender youth has not been universal in state legislatures.

In Arkansas, a Federal District Court Judge James Moody has scheduled a hearing on whether the state’s new ban on medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors is legal. The Arkansas Times has more. The Arkansas Times also found it interesting that the same people who insist that families know better than the state feel that families who support their transgender children need the state to tell them what to do. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

The ACLU published five things to know about the medical treatment of transgender children, in connection with the case in Arkansas.

The Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference will be a virtual event from July 22 through the 24th. For more information visit the conference website.

Police in Beaumont, Texas, are looking for a suspect in the murder of Aidelen Evans, a 24-year-old Black transgender woman whose body was found at Port Arthur Canal. Metro Weekly has this story.

Buffalo Valley Regional Police are looking into an apparent assault on a transgender student who attends Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. The incident is being treated as a possible hate crime, according to WKOK radio.

Two workers at Amazon quit over the company’s decision to sell the book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier. The book describes transgender people as mentally ill; mental health authorities feel that such a diagnosis is unwarranted. NBC News has this story.

The American Booksellers Association apologized for promoting Irreversible Damage, saying that its inclusion of the book in a mailing to booksellers was an oversight. This story was covered by The National Review. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this and other stories.

The EEOC has issued a new guidance on transgender workers. It says that intentional deadnaming can be considered the creation of a hostile work environment. JD Supra has more.

Transgender people have had trouble getting life insurance, but it’s getting better, according to Money magazine.

CBS Baltimore and The Charlotte Observer each have stories about local doctors who treat transgender patients.

Alaska’s Medicaid program will now cover transgender health, according to them.

A gender clinic in Australia found that reducing wait times for new patients made a dramatic improvement in the mental health of their patients. News Medical Life Sciences has this story.

There is a new transgender suicide hotline run by trans people. It’s called Trans Lifeline and you can call it at 877-565-8860. Visit the Trans Lifeline website for more information.

University of Michigan Health has a story about a transgender couple who have fulfilled their dream of becoming parents.

This past Wednesday was International Non-Binary Persons Day, and a number of articles about non-binary people appeared as a result. This is especially so because The Trevor Project released new data about non-binary people, including the fact that 26% of people ages 18-24 describe themselves as non-binary. Forbes has this story.

Vic Parsons of PinkNews writes a first-person account of how, as a non-binary person, top surgery made him feel better about himself.

Oscar Health, an insurance provider, is proud of their new digital tool “MyIdentity,” which connects their transgender and non-binary clients with the help that they need, and tells providers such things as preferred names. This story appears in Fierce Healthcare.

The Transgender Legal Defense Fund & Education Fund has won a case which makes Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) amend its policies to now include coverage for facial feminization surgery and voice therapy as medically necessary care. Learn more on the TLDEF website.

Every year, the residents of the L.A. LGBT Center apartments for seniors get all dressed up for a party known as the Prom. It is the subject of Senior Prom, a short documentary film on PBS. You can read about it in LGBTQ Nation.

A new set of trading cards is coming out. They feature transgender athletes, and are printed on recycled paper from anti-transgender legislation that was proposed this year. They are called Stack the Deck Against Hate, and are a project of Lambda Legal and Athlete Ally. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Laurel Hubbard has been cleared to compete in the Olympics. The IOC looked at the data on her, and found that she meets the current qualifications for competition. This story can be found in Reuters.

Out.com has a list of eight celebrities who came out as non-binary this year, while PinkNews has a list of 28 non-binary people who are making headlines.

Demi Lovato does not get upset with people who use the wrong pronoun for them, so long as the people keep trying to use the right pronoun. This story can be found in PinkNews.

Bux Dhyne, a non-binary drag performer from Grand Rapids, is trying to crowdfund the money to start Joule’s Molly House, a sober place for LGBTQ+ people, especially young people. Them has this story.

One of the biggest acts on America’s Got Talent this year is a drag queen who is also a contortionist. Scarlett Business was a Cirque de Soleil performer who also did make-up for the company. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

At a recent Pink Table discussion, drag queen A’keira Davenport talked about why she transitioned and why she “retransitioned” to being a guy again. It sounds like she’s actually in a gender all her own, and it’s rather private, according to Out.com.

Caitlyn Jenner went to CPAC, and got a lot of deadnaming and misgendering. Caitlyn still thinks she will get through to these people, even though they show no signs of even starting to question their set attitudes. MSNBC has this story.

Caitlyn Jenner has a film crew following her as she campaigns for governor of California, and some are speculating that she will turn the campaign into a film or perhaps a reality show for cable television. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

J.K. Rowling is at it again. She reports that she received “a tsunami of supportive emails and letters” from women who feel that they were told to “sid down and shut up” regarding transgender people. While she obviously has not changed her mind (and likely had deepened her commitment to her previously-expressed positions), we are not giving her another TWIT. For one thing, we feel that her supporters would see it as rewarding her bad behavior. We feel that these people are expressing their feelings, even if those feelings are misguided. You can find this story in LGBTQ Nation.

Sian Berry, a co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has announced that she will leave the party’s leadership this fall, due to an “inconsistency” regarding the rights of transgender people. She supports self-determination of legal gender, but some other party higher-ups have other positions on reform of the Gender Recognition Act. BBC News has this report.

The BBC has been accused of “deep-rooted transphobia” as they “unpublished” an article from last December. In the article, doctors, young transgender people, and parents of transgender youth express concerns about the possibility of suicide as a result of the Keira Bell verdict. The BBC felt that the article stressed the suicide angle too much, and for that reason, the article was removed. This story comes from PinkNews.

The Supreme Court of the U.K. heard testimony both for and against requiring an “X” gender marker on passports. On Monday, they heard that the inclusion of a third gender marker on passports was “nothing controversial,” and that, “The appellant has a right to live as a non-binary, or more particularly a non-gendered, person.” PinkNews has that story. On Tuesday, the government argued that making the change would be “extremely difficult.” The decision will come at an unspecified future date, according to PinkNews.

The leading HIV and sexual health charities in the U.K. joined to promote protecting transgender lives. This story can be found in PinkNews.

LGBTQ activists in Slovenia welcomed the prime ministers of Hungary and Poland with a rainbow protest. PinkNews has this story.

Them reports that Hungary and Poland are facing charges in the EU court because of their anti-LGBTQ laws.

In the country of Georgia, the Pride parade was interrupted by violence. This week, a cameraman who was beaten during the Pride parade died. LGBTQ Nation has this story. The TV networks cancelled scheduled programming, and instead ran a list of injured journalists and camera operators, according to them.

As the Taliban regains control of more and more of Afghanistan, they promise to reintroduce Sharia law, including the stoning of gay people. They consider transgender people to be gay people. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation/a>.

Two transgender women who were jailed in Cameroon on charges of “attempted homosexuality” were set free, pending a trial. Reuters has this story.

Maura, a 41-year-old woman from Nicaragua, has been given her freedom, after two years in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. She has been the subject of a massive public information campaign, as Amnesty International reports.

More than 30 members of Congress have signed their names to a demand that ICE release all transgender people in their custody, along with all people living with HIV. Them has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

A story on the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch in Reuters tells us that they moved from northern Colorado to a new farm in southern Colorado.

As we mentioned above, Wednesday was International Non-Binary Persons Day. PinkNews has six non-binary people tell them what being non-binary means to them.

PinkNews also has a review of the top stories about non-binary people from the bast year.

Another story in PinkNews talks of how important it is to non-binary people that they be seen.

Boston Pride shut down after 50 years of operation, saying that the LGBTQ community wants change. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Among the new emojis to come out by Emojipedia was a pregnant man. You can imagine how that was received by the usual opponents of transgender rights. Out.com has this story.

KX News has a three part series on raising a transgender child in North Dakota. Here are Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

An editorial in The Pilot says that transgender children need love and respect.

Out.com has the story of an 87-year-old woman expressing her support for her transgender granddaughter, and urging others to support transgender people.

TWITS

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) appeared on Fox News Primetime, where he complained about how “nauseously woke” the media was as some outlets posted a story of a transgender woman attempting to breastfeed a baby. Medical science says that it can be done, in some cases, if the transgender woman has undergone preparation for giving milk. In fact, despite what the Senator says, some men who never underwent HRT can breastfeed, though the preparation is more extensive, and not all who try get good results. For passing along misinformation based on biased opinion, Senator Kennedy gets a TWIT Award. And for not bothering to print the truth as they promoted the video, Fox News shares the TWIT.

Marjorie Taylor Greene went into a fit about a story of a transgender couple raising their baby. The child is being bottle fed because neither parent has been able to produce milk yet. She insisted that the child had to be taken away from the parents. For over-the-top reacting and for a lack of understanding of medical science, Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT Award. The Advocate has this story. (By the way, Marjorie Taylor Greene also called Caitlyn Jenner “a man in a dress,” as part of the misgendering and deadnaming that was mentioned above. That story appears in LGBtQ Nation.) Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Conservatives across Virginia are interrupting school board meetings, objecting to policies that support transgender students. Between the ruling from the Circuit Court which the Supreme Court refused to examine, to policies from the U.S. Department of Education and policies from the state government, the boards have little choice but to support transgender students, and yet, these parents insist the school board should ignore the law and guidance, as well as expert medical opinion. For failing civics, and for insisting on putting their prejudices into law, these parents get a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Mikayla Oz, a magician who happens to be a transgender woman, had to cancel shows in Wyoming due to death threats to her and to the library staff who booked her. For turning prejudice into an excuse for violence, the person or people behind these death threats gets a TWIT. Newsweek has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Police in Huntington Beach, California, botched the collection of evidence in an assault case in which a transgender woman was the victim. They instead focused on the transgender woman’s part in the incident, blaming her for striking back after a physical attack. The police also insulted the transgender woman. Even so, during the preliminary hearing, the judge ordered the women to stand trial, despite the admittedly bad evidence. For mishandling the case, and for hurling the t****y insult at the victim, these police officers get a TWIT Award. This story comes from The East Bay Times. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

An article in The National Review claims to tell “the real story of men in women’s sports.” What the article actually discusses is why the authors think that “biological men” need to be kept out of women’s sports. It is interesting to note that, on one side of the debate we find people with research, first into the difference between the performances of cisgender males and cisgender women, then the performances of transgender athletes before and after transitioning. From this, they draw conclusions. On the other side of the debate, we find people who say that this does not conform to their “common sense” findings, or to grade school biology. Articles such as this listen to the people with no data and little understanding, while not even mentioning the existence of such data. For opposing the scientific study of the topic, the National Review and the author of this article (Christina Holcomb, who not surprisingly is a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom) get a TWIT Award.

17 Republican Attorneys General filed a brief claiming that a ban on tue use of puberty blockers is not discrimination. It most certainly is the state interceding to place itself between a doctor and a patient, which hardly sounds like the “small, limited government” that Republicans say that they want. For hypocrisy, for opposing science, as well as reliance on an old study that does not reach the conclusion that they say (they claim it shows that 80% of “transgender” children grow out of their gender identity, when in fact, those children never identified with a gender other than the one assigned at birth), these Republican Attorneys General get a TWIT. Fox News has this story.

Fox News gets an additional TWIT. In a headline, it states, “Indiana joins Arkansas in banning experimental youth transgender procedures”. The sub-headline says, “Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita explains why the state is banning it, say it’s ‘child abuse'”. This treatment is not experimental, but that is besides the point. Indiana did not pass a law, nor did the governor sign an executive order, banning any for of medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors much less all forms of such treatment. What happened is that the Attorney General of Indiana came onto a Fox News show to say why he agreed to sign onto the defense of Arkansas’s law, along with 16 other attorneys general. For a headline so misleading it is actually a lie, Fox News 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