The Week In Trans 7/5/21

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On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it would not take up the Gavin Grimm case. The case was on the Supreme Court’s docket in 2016, but instead of having a hearing, the court sent it back to the circuit court with instructions. It made its way down and back up. Because the Supreme Court will not take up the case, the ruling of the Circuit Court stands, and that ruling was in Mr. Grimm’s favor. CNN has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link.

The State Department announced the introduction of a “X” gender as well as “M” and “F” on passports. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also announced that the department will not require proof of surgery to change a gender marker. This story can be found at The Guardian. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

The White House held a video conference on transgender equality. A recording of the conference was released on the last day of Pride month, and it outlined both the need for additional support for transgender rights, and the ways in which the Biden administration will try to expand transgender rights. Them has this story.

In addition to the conference on transgender equality, the White House had LGBTQ leaders, including Delaware state senator Sarah McBride and Virginia state legislator Danica Roem talk about their coming out moments. The Advocate has this story.

A 13-year-old transgender girl filed suit against Florida’s new transgender athlete law, and the Human Rights Campaign and the A.C.L.U. immediately joined the suit. This story comes from The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Florida is one of four states which will get legal challenges to their transgender athlete laws this week, according to them.

The Associated Press says a new challenge to Tennessee’s bathroom bill contends that it forces businesses to join in the state’s “discriminatory message,” and in so doing violates the free speech rights of the business owner.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine repeated his disapproval for a transgender athlete bill, and signed an executive order which made it unnecessary for the legislature to pass a bill with the transgender athlete amendment attached . Them reports that the amendment is stalled for now, but might be brought back.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the state will not pay for employees to travel to Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, or West Virginia, because of anti-transgender laws in those states. Twelve other states, including Texas and Tennessee, were already on the list. This report comes from Fox 13 News in Tampa Bay.

California laws use male pronouns when describing state officials. A new bill would update the code to make those laws language gender-neutral in one fell swoop. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Fair and Just Prosecution is a group of prosecutors who do not wish to enforce new laws that target transgender people. You can read about their effort in The Davis Vanguard.

An article in The Regulatory Review says that laws which exclude or regulate transgender youth are “morally wrong and unlawful.”

Arkansas’s Pride march took on the topic of anti-transgender legislation, as over 500 people marched through Fayetteville. It was said to be the biggest rally for transgender rights in the state’s history. This story comes from them.

Can a conservative minded person who comes to the realization that they are trans reconcile their transgender nature with their conservative beliefs? Michelle Rogers had to do just that. She has written a book about it. It’s the unusual tale of how an old and strongly conservative Southern male made the transition to living as female without giving up her previous beliefs. The book’s title is Trans Right and it’s available on Amazon.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He talked about how far acceptance of LGBTQ people has come since the 1950s, while also pointing out how anti-transgender laws show how far we have to go. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The Supreme Court also refused to take up the case of a florist who was fined for violating local anti-discrimination laws by not making a floral arrangement for a same-sex couple. The florist sited religious objections. This story comes from them.

A Minnesota student has won a $218,000 settlement with a school district, after the district tried to deny him the right to use the restroom that matched his gender identity. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has this story. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Cosmopolitan has an article about the epidemic of domestic violence targeted at Black and Latinx transgender women.

An article in The African Report says that Eurocentricity benefits no one in the Black transgender community.

Qween Jean is a Black transgender artist, and made the Now List from them.

Brent Johnson received his high school diploma in a private ceremony this week, and Keys Weekly profiled the transgender student.

Britton Hamilton wants to join the New Orleans Police Department, but is encountering resistance. Although he received a conditional job offer, he is suing the department for discrimination because of his gender identity. This story can be found in NBC News.

A group of students at Brigham Young University held the first Pride at that very conservative school. The university sent a tweet letting it be known they did not authorize the gathering. Out Traveler has this story.

An article about the need to make it easier for transgender people to go through the legal name change process appeared in City And State, which serves the state of Pennsylvania.

Them is taking a look at Real Queer America, and has an interview with author Samantha Allen about her book, which came out two years ago.

National Geographic reports that traveling presents challenges for many transgender people.

Them reports that pressure is building on the Biden administration to reform the way the government deals with transgender immigrants in ICE detention.

A profile of Gibran Cuevas, a transgender military veteran from Tennessee, appeared in WBIR-TV.

A profile of a transgender person who took 30 years to discover their gender identity is in The Washington Post.

The Today Show had a segment on how some transgender and non-binary people are using TikTok to create informative and educational messages.

The Advocate has an article about how technology can create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth.

Walmart made a big deal this week about a new health care plan that is LGBTQ-inclusive. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

A transgender employee of Netflix tells Out.com how important trans-inclusive health insurance is.

Some transgender astronomers have recently written an open letter to some astronomy journals, urging them to update their policy about changing the listed name of an author on a previously published piece. This story can be found at Space.com.

An opinion piece in Scientific American talks of some of the common problems transgender people face when visiting a doctor.

An article on Virginia Public Radio also took on the topic of ways to improve medical care for transgender people.

Dawn Ennis has an article about Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael, the transgender woman from the documentary The Lady And The Dale. The article appears in Forbes.

Last December, Mara Gomez made her debut for Argentina’s national women’s soccer team. She gave an interview to ESPN.

The Conversation points out that the way we talk of transgender athletes like Laurel Hubbard has real consequences for all transgender people.

Nikki Hiltz failed to make the Olympic team. She ran the 800-meter and the 1500-meter, but was unable to do well enough to qualify. KSBW has this story.

Two more African women were ruled ineligible to participate in the Olympics, because their natural testosterone levels were too high. That makes three cisgender women whose natural testosterone level exceeds the limits allowed by the Olympics. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Pose star Dominique Jackson declared the “queer agenda” in a video for Netflix. The first, and most important, point is: Black trans lives matter. (Of course they do. Everyone matters, but those who are most marginalized are extra important.) PinkNews has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this and other stories this week.

Furniture from the set of Pose was donated to the Ali Forney Center, a place for homeless transgender youth. This story comes from WPVI-TV.

Mj Rodriguez is featured in the documentary Visions of Us, about LGBTQ+ Latinx people. Them has a story about this Netflix series.

Manhas de Setembro is a series from Brazil about a Black trans woman who leaves her hometown and finds freedom in São Paulo, where she works as a motorbike courier. You can read about this series at The Advocate.

The Legend of the Underground is a documentary on HBO about how some young people in Nigeria find a place for themselves among the rigid gender norms of that country. The Advocate has this story.

An essay in them says that current LGBTQ representation in movies and on television is not enough.

Demi Lovato is getting a talk show on the Roku Channel starting on July 30. Out.com has more on this.

In a recent video, Demi Lovato talked about how coming out as non-binary is a continuing process for them. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Some people still have trouble remembering Demi Lovato’s pronouns. One paparazzo got corrected by no less than Lizzo. This story appears in them.

Kataluna Enriquez won the title Miss Nevada USA, and will be the first out transgender woman to compete at the Miss USA pageant. People magazine has this story. Alyssa Washington sent a link to this story.

A new zine called Tender looks at the queer movement within the fashion industry in London. It was put together by two non-binary people from the fashion industry, and they sat for an interview with them.

The South China Morning Post has a story about 13 transgender and non-binary models.

Nikita Dragun talks about makeup on YouTube. She recently talked to Yahoo about being a transgender person of color, and what advice she would give to other transgender people of color.

An 18-year-old transgender teen named Victor Langlois sold his 20-piece crypto art series at Christie’s, and the pieces brought in $2.16 million in total. This caught the attention of NBC News.

Asanni Armon is an artist, a community organizer, and now, a member of the Now List on them for her charity toward Black trans people.

Gotmilk is a drag performer who has appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race. He was the first trans masculine contestant on the show, and he displays trans joy. He talked with them after being named to the Now List.

Miss Peppermint talks about what needs to be done to counter the 30 bills aimed at transgender people in an editorial appearing on them.

RuPaul’s Drag Race announced a new international version, Drag Race Italia. Out.com has this announcement.

A drag queen who uses the stage name Kabuki Bukkake was arrested when a woman in the audience called the police and charged her with “unwanted sexual assault.” According to The Washington Blade, what happened was fairly typical of what happens at a drag show.

The High Court of the U.K. ruled against a suit by cisgender female prisoners who said that transgender females who are sentenced to prison should be housed with male prisoners. The judges felt that, while the presence of preoperative transgender females in a prison does present some risk for the women in that prison, but believe that the safeguards put in place are adequate to minimize the risks. The Telegraph has this story.

Maya Forstater is due to have another court hearing soon, one which will determine whether her employer failed to renew her contract due to her statements on transgender people, statements which a high court this year ruled were protected speech. Her former employer will dispute her version of why she was not retained at that court hearing, according to PinkNews.

Munroe Bergdorf delivered a moving speech at the conclusion of the Trans+ Pride in London last week. PinkNews has photos from the event.

Women’s Institute magazine put a transgender woman on its cover for the first time. Given the prevalence of “gender critical” attitudes in Britain, this is significant. This story caught the attention of the BBC.

Spain is reforming its legal stance on transgender rights. People as young as 14 will be able to change their legal gender. Medical declaration is no longer necessary. While there are still several steps to be taken before the bill becomes law, this is a preview of what the law is likely to look like. Al Dia reports that the bill has generated controversy both among those who think it goes too far and those who think it does not go far enough.

Some European countries, such as Hungary, have gone in the opposite direction, restricting transgender rights. Them wonders whether Poland or the Czech Republic might be about to go down that path.

At Easter time, Pope Francis invited some transgender people to come to the Vatican, to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Several of those invited are not covered by the Italian healthcare service. This story comes from Religion News Service.

A new law in Argentina sets aside some public service jobs for transgender people. The same bill gives incentives to private companies which hire transgender people. Them has this story.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that the government of Honduras was responsible for the killing of Vicky Hernández, a transgender sex worker and activist. The government will pay reparations to the family of the decedent. PinkNews has this story.

A former Chinese policeman writes, “All discrimination comes from ignorance,” in an essay that appears in Time.

The country of Malawi saw its first Pride parade, and it was a protest as well. Parade goers urged the country to stop persecuting transgender people, according to them.

Around the world, in countries with spotty records on human rights and in countries which are improving their human rights records, Pride celebrations took place. Them has a look at some of the festivities.

As if to show that some nations need to keep working on their response to human rights, police in Turkey shot rubber bullets and tear gas at participants in a Pride parade in Istanbul. This story comes from The Advocate.

U.S., Canadian, and U.K. embassies in Moscow flew the rainbow flag in defiance of Russia’s “gay propaganda” law. The Gaily Grind has this story.

The State Department raised the Progress Pride Flag over its headquarters in Washington, D.C. This report comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Samantha Allen writes in them that the rainbow flag will always mean Pride.

TWITs

During a discussion of Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ law on CNN Prime News, Milos Zeman, the President of the Czech Republic, described transgender people as “intrinsically disgusting to me”. He claimed that those undergoing transgender surgery were committing self-harm. For such a lack of logic in his argument, and for practicing medicine and psychology without a license for either, Czech President Zuman gets a TWIT Award. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin called the LGBTQ+ community “worse than COVID.” The remarks came as a new bill in Parliament attempts to raise the penalties for same-sex relations. He said, “Ghanaians have spoken with one voice, and we don’t want to do anything that has to do with LGBTQ activities. I will always do what is right, because good will always triumph over evil.” While the bill nominally has to do with “homosexuality,” it certainly treats gender identity as a part of homosexuality. For failing to understand what he is regulating, and for over-the-top rhetoric playing to the prejudices of the people, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin gets a TWIT Award. Out.com has this story.

U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted a picture of the newly-crowned Miss Nevada USA, and wrote the caption, “When boys start to play dress up.” In the same tweet, she added a picture of the current Miss Colorado America, in her military uniform. Many people pointed out that women were barred from combat until recently, so the picture she praised was until recently a woman who was challenging gender roles. For deliberately misgendering Kataluna Enriquez, and for feeling proud of herself for expressing that prejudice, Lauren Boebert gets a TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation. Alyssa Washington sent us a link to this story.

In a new tweet, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “teaching racism and promoting sex, homosexuality, & normalizing transgender to children is mental/emotional child abuse.” It’s a little hard to get over the use of “transgender” as a noun, let alone a noun that refers not to a human being but refers to an idea. That said, she is promoting a lack of tolerance towards people with a sexual orientation or gender identity that is not shared by the majority of people. For expressing such prejudice with hyperbole, Marjorie Taylor Greene gets a TWIT Award. The Advocate has this story.

In a hearing on a motion to stop the state of West Virginia from enacting its new law on transgender athletes, the state argued that it does not discriminate because the same law applies to “all biological males.” For conflating gender and sex, and for claiming that the term “biological males” shows no prejudice when in fact it shows a prejudice against biologists (who acknowledge that the gender binary is outdated), the West Virginia Attorney General’s office gets a TWIT Award. WV Metro News has this story.

Pastor Jonathan Shelley of Stedfast Bible Church in Hurst, Texas, says that he does not hate LGBTQ people, but “I hope they all die.” He cites the Old Testament as saying that they deserve death, oblivious of the fact that every human being fails the Old Testament law in one way or another. New Testament law tells us not to judge others, but obviously, that’s not much fun. Oh, and the one group that Jesus criticized was not gay or transgender people, but people who claim their religion makes them better than others. For displaying exactly the attitude that Jesus disapproved of, while claiming that someone else deserves to go to Hell, Pastor Jonathan Shelley gets a TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

In an editorial for The Scotsman, MP Kenny MacAskill says he will feel that Laurel Hubbard cheated if she gets a medal at the Olympics, just as he felt that certain other athletes cheated when it was discovered that they took performance-enhancing substances. For having no idea what the effects of HRT on the body are, and for listening to other ignorant people who agree with him instead of trying to find someone who has studied the subject, Kenny MacAskill gets a TWIT Award.

The Heritage Foundation claims that they will tell us what 60 Minutes would not. What they end up telling us is that detransitioners exist, which no one denied. Those detransitioners either lied to gatekeepers about how they felt, or else they deliberately avoided the gatekeepers. And yet, the Heritage Foundation claims that there is insufficient gatekeeping, and that in the case of minors, no amount of gatekeeping is sufficient. For finding the problem in the wrong place and applying a wrong solution, the Heritage Foundation 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