The Week In Trans 8/24/20

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AJ Nesbitt

A.J. Nesbit of Toronto has overcome bullies, and she is publishing her own story. She is 11 years old. Pink News has the article.

Last week, a federal district judge ruled against Idaho’s ban on changing the gender listed on birth certificates and a three-judge appeals court panel ruled for a transgender student’s access to the restroom of the gender with which the student identifies. This week, two more decisions sided with transgender people, although both are temporary.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block agreed to suspend the imposition of the Department of Health and Human Services’ new interpretation of a clause in the Affordable Care Act, an interpretation which would allow heath care professionals to refuse to treat people because of their “deeply-held religious beliefs.” While the ruling does indicate that the judge feels it is quite likely that the final decision will be against the new rule, this is a preliminary motion, and there will be a full trial before a final ruling is issued. NBC News has this story.

A federal judge in Idaho put a temporary ban on implementation of that state’s new law which would prevent transgender females from participating in women’s sports. The judge said that the state had not shown sufficient need for such a law. This story comes from CNN.

Dawn Ennis wrote about both of those decisions at Forbes.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the meaning of “discrimination on account of sex” in Title VII was cited in those two rulings. KURL-TV reports that it also was used to settle a discrimination claim, in which a Yellowstone County, Montana, employee said she was treated differently because she is transgender.

An editorial in The Cincinnati Enquirer tells the story of how the word “sex” was added to Title VII.

Delegate Shannon Cuttle.

The Democratic Party held its convention, and for the first time, a transgender person who holds elected office was a delegate. Shannon Cuttle, a school board member from New Jersey, was a delegate. Tap Into Soma has this story.

Meanwhile in Virginia, Bob Good is running for the House of Representatives with a very anti-transgender campaign. He asks, “What happens when a male member of your congregation leaves for a vacation, and comes back four weeks later as a female?” The New York Times has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

There was a memorial service in Las Vegas for the transgender people who were killed this year. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the story.

People magazine has a profile of Marilyn Cazares, who was murdered in an abandoned house in Brawley, California. Although her body was burned, it was soon discovered that she had been stabbed to death.

The victims, Joslyn Jaslene and Eden.

A group of transgender women were attacked and robbed on Hollywood Boulevard this week. This story is reported by KTLA. In updates, KCAL reports that there was a demonstration in support of the women, and The Los Angeles Times reports that two arrests have been made, and the suspects are charged with hate crimes. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this and other stories.

Medical practitioners are aware of differences between males and females in what levels of certain substances their bodies should have, how their bodies should react to medicine or anesthesia, and so forth. However, less research has been done on how transgender people do in these areas. The BBC has this story.

A new case study showed that the level of estrogen used in male-to-female hormone therapy can lead to an increased risk of porphyria. The results of this study can be found in Porphyria News.

A new study shows that 28% of “men who have sex with men” get tested for possible HIV exposure. It is said that transgender people are especially likely to not be tested. AIDSmap has this story.

Filmmaker Raymond Rea spent a year interviewing transgender people in rural Minnesota. Still without a distributor, and with the project mostly done, he shared the soundtrack of the film with Prairie Public radio. The uncompleted film is titled Put the Brights On, and you can find a link to the audio at Inforum.

Isabel Sandoval

Lingua Franca tells the story of an immigrant from the Philippines who works as a caregiver to a Russian woman in Brooklyn. Isabel Sandoval’s film will come to Netflix soon. You can read about it at The Advocate.

Two alumni of the University of North Carolina came up with Our Offering, a “virtual play” about Black, queer people. One of those people, Sis, served as co-writer, director, and performer. The Daily Tarheel has this story.

Stasie Huff and Leah Skye attended a party held by TikTok star Bryce Hall, and say that they were kicked out of the party because they are transgender. The party was eventually shut down by Los Angeles Police, not because of this incident, but because it violated local restrictions designed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Insider has this story.

The Australian television series First Day, about a transgender student’s first day at school after transitioning, aired its first episode on Children’s BBC. The film stars transgender actress Evie Macdonald in the lead role. Information about the series, and some initial reaction, can be found at The Daily Mail.

A BBC radio presenter named Shivani Dave was hosting BBC Wiltshire’s Pride show, when suddenly they announced they are non-binary. The Advocate has this story.

Trans actress Stav Strashko.

The movie Flawless, whose Hebrew title, HaNeshef, really refers to the prom, is about three teenage girls getting ready for the big social event at a high school in Jerusalem. One of the three is a transgender female. The film is reviewed by The Atlanta Jewish Times.

Cidny Bullens released his first new album in ten years, and his first since coming out as a transgender male. The theme of being transgender is found in many of the songs, according to Nashville Scene.

Drag queen Chi Chi DeVayne has died at age 34. Out.com has this story.

Many of Randy Rainbow’s early tweets came to light this week, despite the fact that he deleted them long ago. They include jokes about transgender people which are not kind, including lots of use of the “t****y” slur. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Earlier this month, Lilly Wachowski admitted that The Matrix has a subtext about being transgender. This week, Keanu Reeves said that he did not realize the subtext was there, but he feels that it’s “cool” that it is there. You can read about it in Insider.

Scotland’s justice secretary has said that J.K. Rowling will not be prosecuted for a hate crime under the new law. Pink News has this story.

Amid the long waits for an appointment with a gender identity clinic under the NHS, some trans youths in Britain are engaging in self-harm, according to a story in Pink News.

The new leader of Stonewall U.K., Nancy Kelley, gave an exclusive interview to Pink News. In it, she said that she wants to avoid a debate about “the nature of sex and gender,” noting that “the majority of the Great British Public think transphobia is wrong.”

Gavina Vagina

A drag queen named Gavina Vagina (also known as James Cowper) painted a rainbow flag on a crosswalk in Birmingham, England. Out magazine has this story.

Transgender cyclists in Britain can compete in a new event, the Tour de Trans. It goes from Land’s End in Cornwall up to John O’Groats in Scotland, it covers Britain from the south to the north. You can read about it in Pink News.

Two trans women in Mexico, Julie Torres and Sam Rosales, were found murdered within hours of each other. Pink News has this story.

India continues to update laws to include transgender people. The latest, in one state, is a reform of inheritance law, so that transgender people could inherit ancestral farm land. This story comes from Swarajya magazine.

Three years ago, archaeologists found a Viking burial in which the person buried was a warrior, but the skeleton was of a female. A new hypothesis says that this may have been a transgender man who distinguished himself in battle. Pink News has this story.

Pope Francis has told Sister Monica Astorga Cremona, who works with impoverished transgender people in Argentina, that “God will reward you” for this work. This story is found in Crux.

Kielan Meddick

Andy Meddick is a Member of the Australian Parliament who has been on the forefront of the movement for transgender rights. He published a Birth Announcement for his 25-year-old transgender daughter on social media, according to a story in Pink News,

TWITs

Baptist Press reports that Luna Younger is about to undergo Christian counseling. They say that a judge has now given sole custody of the child to the father, despite the fact that a jury awarded sole custody to the mother. If this is true, then the judge has to get a TWIT. If it is not true then both Baptist Press and Decision Magazine, which reported it, get a TWIT Award. (It should be noted that mainstream press do not report this change in status, and Jeffrey Younger is known to lie.)

We mentioned above that there were some very negative responses to the limited series First Day. The Daily Express has one such response from Paul Baldwin, with the usual over-the-top denunciations of gender theory. For certainty in something which science does not agree with, Paul Baldwin and The Daily Express get a TWIT Award.

A mother got into her transgender child’s social media accounts and blasted out at the child’s followers, “She is my daughter,” refusing to call her child “Alex,” but instead insisting of the birth name “Danika.” This mother gets a TWIT. This story comes from The Daily Mail.

Robert Kabel, the chairman of the board of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote an editorial for USA Today in which he called Donald Trump the “most pro-gay” president in history. Donald Trump acknowledged the editorial on Twitter, but shortly thereafter, his administration submitted a draft of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, a draft which eliminates all mention of gender identity and sexual orientation. For giving praise that is unearned, and for accepting praise that he never earned, the Log Cabin Republicans and President Donald Trump get a TWIT Award. Pro Publica has the story of the Gender Policy.

National Review picked up on Robert Kabal’s praise of President Trump as the “most pro-gay” president ever, and used it to attack transgender rights advocates, calling equal rights “transgender extremism.” For demanding the right to discriminate against others, Madeleine Kearns and National Review get a TWIT Award.

The Daily Signal heaps more praise on Abigail Shrier’s book Irreversible Damage, a book whose very title is itself a repeat of a lie abut transgender medicine. They once again attack “transgender ideology,” insisting that parents should not accept their transgender children, despite evidence and common sense saying that such a policy will lead to problems for the child. For insisting on a policy which is known to produce harm, The Daily Signal gets a TWIT Award.

Christian Headlines gets the TWIT Award for Hyperbole Of The Week. “California Legislators Approve Taxpayer-Funded Sterilization Of Transgender Children.” First off, these are adolescents, as no doctors prescribe puberty-blockers for children who are not yet at puberty. Secondly, few minors get any surgery for their gender. Thirdly any medications or surgery come with a diagnosis from a doctor. It’s hard to be this factually inaccurate.

For the laugh of the week, DeAnna Lorraine, the QAnon conspiracy theorist who lost a congressional primary, repeated to Alex Jones the never-substantiated theory that Michelle Obama is transgender. She referred to Mrs. Obama as “Big Mike.” There is nothing wrong with being transgender, but Michelle Obama isn’t. People, when someone accuses you of “going low,” you need to refrain from proving that person to be correct. For a statement which is both factually inaccurate and a show of bad character on her part, DeAnna Lorraine gets a TWIT. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

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