The Week In Trans 7/6/20

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On June 30, Google ended Pride Month with a Google doodle of Marsha P. Johnson. In addition, Google made a generous donation to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute in support of Black transgender women. You can read about this at the Advocate.

Some parents of transgender students are reporting a very good outcome from distance learning. With no complaints from other students about appearance, these transgender students can concentrate on studying the material, and it shows in improved performance. The Today Show has this story.

Spectrum News profiles D D Decor, a transgender woman who brings the message Black Trans Lives Matter to protests.

The protest for Black transgender lives in Chicago is reported by Block Club Chicago.

Even BBC News took notice of the Black Trans Lives Matter protests in the U.S.

There also was a Black Trans Lives Matter protest in the U.K., as Pink News reports.

Imara Jones

Imara Jones tells NPR about the similar histories of Black and LGBTQ rights movements.

In a move demonstrating how transgender rights are still at risk, the Trump administration has announced a policy which would allow shelters for the homeless to segregate people according to “birth sex,” thus housing transgender women with cisgender men. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Penduto led an effort to get his city’s officials to tell the Trump administration that they disagree with this policy, as KDKA-TV reports. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Although the Supreme Court recently held that firing employees for their gender identity or sexual orientation is a form of discrimination on account of sex, the Department of Justice has not rescinded a memorandum that interprets Title VII as not protecting workers fired for sexual orientation or gender identity. Senators Kamala Harris and Patty Murray circulated a letter among U.S. Senators, protesting this memorandum. 25 other senators signed onto the letter. Yuba Net has this story.

Trans Lifeline just expanded their service, adding a new line for people whose primary language is Spanish. NBC News has this story.

Three prison officers and one captain have been suspended, and thirteen other corrections officers face possible penalties for their involvement in the death of transgender inmate Layleen Polanco at Ryker’s Island. This story appears in LGBTQ Nation.

Merci Mack, a 33-year-old Black transgender woman, was shot to death in Dallas. Her body was found in a parking lot. Police are looking for information. USA Today has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Brayla Stone

Last week, Brayla Stone, a 17-year-old Black transgender female, was killed in Arkansas. Police are investigating her death as a homicide. Her death was announced by The Human rights Campaign. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

CBS News reports that there have been at least 18 transgender people murdered in the United States in the first half of 2020.

In Detroit, Devon Robinson was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison, for the murders of three people, one of whom was a transgender woman. NBC News has the AP story.

A Black transgender woman was found shot but still alive in downtown Los Angeles. Police are investigating her shooting, while she is being treated at a nearby hospital, according to The Advocate.

A transgender teen in Bakersfield, California, was badly beaten and left for dead. Kristian Rouse, 18, is on a ventilator at a local hospital, according to his mother. KGET-TV has this story.

The Palm Center criticized the U.S. Department of Defense for celebrating Pride Month while still banning transgender people from enlisting. Metro Weekly has this story.

Reddit just disbanded the subreddit/r/GenderCritical/, with 64,400 members. This was among 2,000 subreddits that were removed, including subreddits from across the political spectrum. The site also issued eight new rules, one of which bans discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, according to Pink News.

New research from Tinder shows that nearly 80% of transgender people in Generation Z, ages 18 to 25, have not yet come out beyond their online identities. Pink News has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

While it is far too early for the Supreme Court’s recent Title VII decision to have a measurable effect in hiring decisions, Crains Detroit Business paints a picture of rampant unemployment among transgender people.

Monét X Change

Monét X Change has released a new protest song titled March. No, it’s not about the month, but rather, it’s about political activism. You can find out about the song, and see the video, at LGBTQ Nation.

We reported recently on Plume, a tele-health start-up for transgender patients. Although this start-up is based in Colorado, it is seeking to expand to other markets in the U.S. The Raleigh News & Observer reports on bringing this app to North Carolina.

When patients cannot find medical professionals with a knowledge of transgender health issues, or when high costs or long waiting times make such health care unavailable, transgender patients often resort to self-medicating. These do-it-yourself treatments have dangers. Undark magazine reports this story.

Sports Illustrated has a lengthy profile of Lindsay Hecox, a transgender athlete who is fighting Idaho’s ban on transgender athletes in girls’ athletics.

Margo and Maddie Whitley

Margo and Maddie Whitley are identical twins who are now models. The Houston Chronicle has a story about them and other transgender models.

Jari Jones is a Black, transgender, plus-size model. She has a contract with Calvin Klein. Pink News has a profile of her.

Owl and Fox Fisher made a list of five cartoons with transgender characters. The list appears in The Guardian.

Loren Bouchard announced that Kristen Bell would be recast as a new character in the show Central Park, so that the multi-racial character she plays can be voiced by a multi-racial or Black performer. In response to the announcement on Twitter, someone suggested, “now do the same for our girl Marshmallow,” referring to a Black transgender sex worker on Bob’s Burgers, who is voiced by the white, cisgender, heterosexual David Herman. Mr. Bouchard replied, “Yes. On it.” This appears to confirm a recasting of the character, who only appears in 11 episodes during the show’s first 10 seasons. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

When the monster Godzilla (known as Gojira) arrived in Tokyo for the first time he had no fixed gender and was referred to as “it.” In the American release of the film, and subsequent American versions of the franchise, Godzilla was identified as a male. Being a 400 foot tale reptilian makes it hard to raise a family but in the course of the franchise’s films he has had progeny and even an adopted son. Now, the creators of Godzilla have released a short film in which Godzilla notices his son is acting oddly; staying in his room and watching Sailor Moon anime. They have a cup of tea and Godzilla’s child comes out as a trans female kaiju. Learn more about the film, Coming Out,  from LGBTQ Nation.

Taylor Swift appeared on Pride Live’s Stonewall Day event, and during her time on the livestream event, she criticized the U.S. Census for having only two choices for gender. Good of you to notice, Taylor. However, for clarification, those responses were put on there by politicians, not by the Census Bureau. Deadline has this story.

Tina Burner

Drag queen Tina Burner looks back at Divine as an inspiration for political activism in an interview with Out magazine.

RuPaul wiped out his Instagram account, according to Out magazine.

Drag Race contestant Courtney Act complained about how bad J.K. Rowling’s essay was, given that she is “someone whose tools are language.” She specifically called the misinformation “offensive.” Her comments can be found in an interview with Bang Showbiz.

Two of the biggest Harry Potter fan websites, Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron, have announced that they will not use J.K. Rowling’s photo or links to her website, and will not write about her outside of her role as creator of the Harry Potter fantasy world, in response to her comments on transgender people. Deadline has this story.

The fan websites are not alone. People working on the latest Harry Potter video games are uneasy about their work, knowing her views on transgender people. Bloomberg has this story.

J.K. Rowling recently sent a series of tweets, and Stephen King retweeted one of those tweets. Ms. Rowling thanked him for agreeing with her. Then, someone asked if this meant that he disagreed with her views on transgender people, and he replied, “Yes, trans women are women.” Ms. Rowling then deleted her tweet praising him. You can read about this in The Bangor Daily News.

Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox tells The LGBTQ&A podcast that she is done with debating whether trans women are women.

Kier Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party of the U.K., said that the way forward for transgender rights was for everyone to “stop chucking bricks at each other, have a mature conversation and not treat it as a political football.” Asked his opinion on trans rights, he said, “I think the trans community deserves more protection than they’ve got.” Pink News has this story.

The U.K. Government wants to reform how transgender people can access single-sex spaces as part of their reform of the Gender Recognition Act, even though that is not a part of the Gender Recognition Act. Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said that the government is willing to consider such changes, even though the public was not asked for comments on such changes. You can read about this in Pink News.

A transgender woman was attacked while walking a dog, and police in Britain are investigating whether this is a hate crime. Pink News has this story.

The Korean Army again rejected a soldier’s request to continue serving after a gender confirmation operation last year. The Korean Times has this story.

India is thinking of adding transgender officers to the police force, according to The Indian Express.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has a first-hand story of what it is like to be a transgender female prisoner incarcerated with males.

The Bishop of Liverpool, Right Reverend Paul Bayes, and Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism, released a joint statement supporting transgender people and condemning the phrase “transgender ideology.” Their statement can be found in Pink News.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has a story of what it is like to be a transgender Jewish woman and be married to a rabbi.

Aiyana Gonzalez

Aiyana Angeni Gonzalez tells The Miami Herald that she was not born in the wrong body.

Jenna Karvunidis says that she is sorry she invented the gender reveal party. She also reports that the child whose gender she revealed as “female” is gender non-conforming, and loves to wear male suits. Pink News has this story.

Parents had a gender reveal party for their six-year-old, identified as male at birth but self-identified as female. You can find photos in Pop Sugar.

TWITs

Some people on Mumsnet issued threats to crucify drag queens if they participate in Drag Queen Story Hour in the U.K. Seriously, people. Children realize that drag queens are playing a character, just as they realize that a clown is playing a character. The children are not out of touch with reality; opponents of Drag Queen Story Hour are the ones who are out of touch with reality. For threats of violence over something that is not a threat to public safety, those issuing these threats get a TWIT Award. Pink News has this report.

Trans man Kye Hubbard contends he was called transphobic slurs by co-workers at Dunkin’ Donuts and  demoted from his shift leader position after complaining to management. He was fired about a week after he told management that he had reported the harassment to the Maine Human Rights commission. Dunkin’ Donuts in Scarborough, Maine gets a TWIT Award. Read about it in SF Gate.

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