The Week In Trans 7/29/19

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Emily Tressa

The New York Daily News and Inside Edition both did stories about Emily Tressa, who just released a YouTube video about her gender confirmation surgery. At age 17, she is one of the younger patients to receive this surgery. [Editor’s Note: Pop star Kim Petras had her surgery at 16.]

A federal judge has approved a settlement in which the state of North Carolina agreed to not enforce several provisions of HB142 in exchange for dropping a lawsuit over the content of the bill. The settlement means that transgender people may use the restroom that matches their gender identity in public buildings. The Charlotte Observer has this story.

Gavin Grimm is finally going to court as his case is finally going to trial. After years of pre-trial motions, a federal court will finally hear the case itself. NBC News has the AP story.

A billboard in Detroit carries the message, “Trans People Are Sacred.” It is part of a project called “Signs Of The Times,” which puts designs from local artists on billboards. You can read about it in the The Detroit Free Press.

When a person requests a legal name change, a notice is posted publicly, so that anyone who has a legal claim against the person knows the new name. However, when one is also changing gender, a legal notice can invite danger. A judge in Indiana waived the requirement of public notice for two transgender women, agreeing with their claim of potential harm. Here And Now has this story.

Trixie Mattel

Drag queens previously seen on RuPaul’s Drag Race have new shows. Trixie Mattel will appear in the first episode of a series in which various drag queens will get to do pretty much their entire act. Although it is made for Canadian cable television, it will be available on streaming services in the U.S. Also, a documentary movie called The Queens will take a look at several drag queens, both on and off stage. NewNowNext has this story.

In Indianapolis, a new program aims to help homeless transgender people to get into housing. This story comes from WFYI public radio.

Three candidates for the office of President of the U.S. have added their pronouns to their official profiles. Elizabeth Warren, Juliàn Castro, and Bill DeBlasio took this step. Pink News has this story.

Medical journals continue to have articles about how to make transgender patients feel comfortable at the doctor’s office, including such things as recording name changes and pronouns. The American Association of Family Physicians has the latest of these articles.

The National Health Service in Britain is reviewing the use of puberty blockers. While this could lead to a new policy on the use of puberty blockers, it is more likely that there will be a few new warnings not to overprescribe. The Times of London has this story behind a paywall.

Isis King

Isis King, who gained fame as a contestant on America’s Next Top Model, has turned to acting. She plays the transgender sibling of one of the Central Park Five in the movie When They See Us. She is also the subject of the cover story in The Advocate.

Dr. Joshua Safer, the executive director of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, will do a Facebook Live interview on Monday, July 29, at 4:00 p.m. The announcement can be found at Medpage.

A team of researchers at Tel Aviv University have engineered a new uterus for use in humans. They hope that this new uterus will allow embryos to implant and grow on the uterine wall. Gay Star News notes, “Additionally, this technology has the potential to be a game-changer for transgender women looking to reproduce.”

Jenna Karvunidis blogs about her family, and she is often credited with “inventing” the gender reveal party. It turns out that the child who was the subject of that gender reveal party is now an 11-year-old “girl who wears suits.” You can read about this development at Pink News.

Caitriona Reed is a transgender woman who teaches Buddhism and also writes about it. She was the subject of a profile in Tricycle.

Rogue Fatale

When a gay couple in Halifax, Nova Scotia, found homophobic statements on their house, it was Drag Queen Rogue Fatale To The Rescue. She quickly organized a Pride Stroll in a nearby park to show support for the victims. You can read about it at Gay Star News.

InsightLA is creating a residential retreat for transgender people. The retreat will be conducted according to Buddhist principles. It will be held September 12 through 16. The Lion’s Roar has more on this.

Pink News has a long article about coming out at work. The legal advice from Melanie Morton, an employment solicitor, is specific to the laws of the Britain, but other advice is applicable internationally.

Canadian researcher Joanna Harper is working on a study to help determine what advantage, if any, transgender women have when competing against cisgender women. You can read about it at CBC News.

Denali Berries Stuckey is the twelfth known transgender person to be murdered in the United States this year. The 29-year-old was found in North Charleston, South Carolina. All twelve victims have been black transgender women. You can read about this in Buzzfeed.

There has been an arrest in the pepper spray attack on two transgender people who were making a film. The New York Post has more on the alleged perpetrator David Gonzalez.

Sessi Huwabhara Blanchard

Sessi Huwabhara Blanchard writes in Vice about what it is like to be transgender and able to pass, at least visually.

A recent exhibit in London recalled a drag performance group from the ’70s and ’80s known as Bloolips which practiced what it called “radical drag.” Gay Star News has this story.

If radical drag, with its feminist and far-left political overtones, is not your style, then maybe you would prefer alternative drag. A part of the idea here is to keep the act safer for families. It still has its political message, but gets it across more subtly. It is also featured in Gay Star News.

Not that long ago, operas were almost always period pieces with elaborate costume and sets. These days, a lot of operas play with the setting, transposing it to another place and time. And, at the Glyndebourne Festival, in a production of Massenet’s Cendrillon (the story of Cinderella), the role of Prince Charming has been change to a princess. Kate Lindsey, who often performs “trouser roles,” portrays the royal love interest. You can read about it in Gay Star News.

Brazilian refugee Flavio Alves has directed a new film called The Garden Left Behind. It is about the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color. It recently played at Outfest Los Angeles, and The Advocate recommends it highly.

A more controversial film which played at Outfest Los Angeles is Adam. The plot involves a cisgender male teenager pretending to be  a transgender male, in order to date a lesbian. The director, Rhys Ernst, addressed the controversy and decried a “war on nuance” after a screening. The Advocate has this story.

New York-based Filipina filmmaker Isabel Sandoval’s Lingua Franca, about a transgender immigrant, is among 11 competition entries, all world premieres, that will launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section. The fest runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 7. Learn more from Variety.

There is a new documentary about the beginnings of the New York City drag scene in the ’80s and the history of Wigstock. It’s called Wig and it’s available on HBO, HBO Now and HBO Go. The show features footage taken “back in the day” at venues like the Pyramid Club. Here is the trailer:

Now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Government Equalities Office says that it needs more time to process all of the responses to the public consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act. Pink News says that the new timetable calls for proposals by the end of the year, perhaps.

Trans Pride of Brighton expected a crowd of 6,000 people for their parade. 8,000 participated. You can read about it in Pink News.

A shop in London, Ontario, is offering a binder exchange program. Any patron can donate a binder to Spot of Delight, and get a $10 gift certificate. The binder is then donated to someone on their waiting list. CBC took notice of the program.

Seyhan Arman

Turkey has been ranked first in transgender murders over the past 10 years in Europe, with approximately 60 transgender people killed over the last decade. Despite the danger drag performer and trans activist Seyhan Arman has an active career performing on stage and on screen and is a visible advocate for the trans community in Turkey. Learn more from The Independent.

Cuba just recognized a transgender person’s marriage for the first time. It helped that this was the marriage of a transgender man to a transgender woman. This story comes from Pink News.

Although the proposed transgender rights bill in India allows transgender people to beg for money, LGBTQ Nation reports that a transgender woman was stoned to death by a crowd while begging.

A cafe in India is staffed by transgender people. Gay Star News has a look at this place.

It is the middle of a hot summer in Europe and in North America. A new product has been introduced for these hot days: freezable bra inserts. This product caught the attention of The Sun.

TWITs

Annmarie Colgaro sued to prevent her daughter from emancipating herself in order to start a gender transition. Although she lost the case, she is continuing her fight, now taking her case to the Supreme Court. Since her child is no longer a minor, the mother has no parental authority even if she wins the case. For refusing to accept the verdict, Annmarie Colgaro gets a TWIT Award. CNBC has this story.

The First Congregational Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, was about to hold a candlelight vigil to commemorate transgender women when someone put a homemade cross at the door with the word “repent” and a nasty slur for transgender people. For showing exactly the nastiness that causes transgender people to be killed, whoever did this gets a TWIT. This story comes from The Battle Creek Enquirer.

The BBC has a program on news and current affairs titled Newsnight. Recently, they had a discussion of the use of puberty blockers in transgender youth. The “expert” whom they brought in was Michael Biggs, and assistant professor of sociology at Oxford, and someone who is known to oppose transgender people in general. For stacking the deck against transgender people, the producers of Newsnight get a TWIT Award. Pink News covered this story.

Over at Christian News Service, John Horvat II wrote a column entitled, “What Will Come After The Transgender Revolution.” He starts by telling us that the “transgender revolution” is a part of the “sexual revolution,” tying gender to sex once again. He then goes on about how any sex other than monogamous heterosexual sex (one-man, one-woman) is an affront to the values of family and property which will lead to anarchy. For rehashing the usual phrases without proof, John Horvat II gets a TWIT.

Sebastian Gorka is a former advisor to President Trump, who currently hosts a radio show. On this show, he made the usual sorts of comments about how being transgender is not natural, and then claimed that the “whole trans thing started with the Teletubbies.” As Spectrum Outfitters pointed out in a quick look at some famous transgender people in history, being transgender is not a new phenomenon. For bad history, Sebastian Gorka gets a TWIT Award. You can read this story on LGBTQ Nation.

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