The Week In Trans 8/30/21

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Caitlyn Jenner is continuing her campaign to be the next governor of California. She was recently taken to task for her inconsistent wearing of a face mask while meeting the public. LGBTQ Nation has this story. LGBTQ Nation also reports that she is self-financing her campaign, as donations have dried up.

The Wiggles just added a non-binary unicorn to their cast of characters. PinkNews reports that many social conservatives are not happy.

London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, declared August to be Transgender History Month. The declaration came on August 24, which seems to be a bit late, but the sentiment is nice. August was chosen to commemorate the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots, which took place in August of 1966. KTVU-TV has this story.

A transgender man is suing the Virginia Department of Corrections, saying that he is being denied a double mastectomy to treat his gender dysphoria. Jason Yoakam is one of the first transgender men to sue a prison for treatment of gender dysphoria, according to NBC News.

We reported recently that various officials in West Virginia have asked to be removed from the lawsuit attempting to overturn the ban on transgender athletes, saying that they were only following the law the legislature and governor made. This week, lawyers for litigant Becky Pepper-Jackson argued against removing them from the suit. West Virginia Metro News has this story.

Earlier this month, the Newport News School Board declined to set a new policy to support the rights of transgender students. This week, the Newport News School Board met to reconsider, and ended up adopting the policy which supports the rights of transgender students. The big difference is that the first meeting featured the public, after being announced well in advance, while the second meeting was called hastily and not as publicized. Gavin Grimm also spoke at that meeting, as WAVY-TV noted.

These stories reflect a disagreement of whether or not a school board must follow a new law which they feel is immoral. Conservatives are especially asking the school boards to do what they want, even when the law supports the rights of transgender students. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Last year, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Drew Adams, a transgender student who was suing to use the boy’s restroom at his school. The decision was re-written last month, watering down one point in the hope that the decision would not be reviewed en banc. This week, it was announced that the decision would indeed be reviewed en banc, with all judges of the court allowed to vote. This story comes from Click On Orlando.

The Supreme Court at one point agreed to hear the case of Gavin Grimm, then just before they were to hear arguments, sent the case back to the Court of Appeals, with instructions to take the new administration’s views in mind. The case spent more time in lower courts, and earlier this summer, the Supreme Court declined to take up the case. However, if the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals comes out with a decision in which they deny the right of a transgender student to use the restroom of the sex with which the student identifies, then there will be circuits with very different views on the matter, and the Supreme Court may have to take up the issue. NBC News has this story.

Speaking of Gavin Grimm, the Gloucester County School Board has agreed to pay $1.28 million to Gavin Grimm, much of which will go to lawyers’ fees. This story comes from Courthouse News.

In an ongoing legal dispute over Florida’s new ban on transgender athletes, the state this week asked that the suit be dismissed. The Orlando Sentinel has this story.

True Life Crime on MTV recently aired an episode dedicated to the killing of Muhlaysia Booker, a transgender woman who was shot to death in Dallas in 2019. The Dallas Morning News has this story.

Damion Campbell is being charged with the killing of a transgender woman in San Antonio, Texas in May of last year. His legal proceedings are being covered by KSAT-TV even before the trial starts.

Fullerton, California, is the latest spot to get a transgender clothing exchange. This one is called Gender Affirming Closet, and it has free clothes for transgender people. Spectrum News has this story.

An article in them focuses on four Southeast Asian fashion designers who are transgender.

The idea of a guaranteed minimum income is growing across the country. An opinion piece in The Advocate says that this issue is very important to LGBTQ people, because they often do not have good incomes.

Last week, the Center for American Progress released a study of health care for transgender people. This week, they released a fact sheet which summarizes the study and its findings. It is found on The Center for American Progress’s web site.

An article in Science News summarizes the findings that transgender youth are better able to adjust when they get gender-affirming care.

An article in PsyPost shows that transgender youth who are able to socially transition fare better psychologically than those who do not socially transition.

Kim Petras just signed a new deal with Republic Records, and released a new song. Out.com has this story. Affirming care at an early age worked well for her.

Another new study comes to the well-documented conclusion that transgender people are far more given to suicide and suicide ideation than are cisgender people. PinkNews has this story.

The University of Michigan Health Lab has created a series of videos to teach health care practitioners how to handle transgender patients.

Transgender patients are reminded of the need for cancer screenings in the gender they were assigned at birth. Even post operative transgender women usually have a prostate, and can get prostate cancer. This reminder comes from Verywell Health.

A new survey by GLAAD finds that a majority of Americans say they would be uncomfortable with a doctor who was HIV-positive. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

There is a program giving away 5,000 at-home HIV tests to Black and Latinx people. This story comes from them.

People who are HIV-positive have bad days sometimes. HIV-Plus has a story on how to handle those days when you’re not okay.

The Texas state legislature is considering a bill that would restrict transgender students to participation in athletics according to the gender assigned at birth. This is unnecessary, as the state athletic commission already requires transgender students to compete in the gender assigned at birth. KXAN-TV has this story.

Brad Stuver, who plays soccer professionally for Austin FC, wrote an editorial in favor of allowing transgender athletes to play sports in the gender that matches their identity. It appears in The Austin American-Statesman.

Tommy Dorfman will appear in the new miniseries Fracture, for Channel 4 in the U.K. This story comes from Variety.

This year, American Horror Story will have Double Feature, two stories each of which is half the length of a typical AHS season. Angelica Ross will be in both stories, according to Out.com.

Non-binary actor Jesse James Keitel has joined the cast of the reboot of Queer As Folk. This story comes from them.

Geena Rocero just signed with a high-power agency to represent her. Deadline has this story.

Out.com has a list of the most powerful transgender and non-binary creators in Hollywood.

Lilly Wachowski talked about queer storytelling in an interview with them about Work In Progress.

Elliot Page reports that that the anti-conversion-therapy film But I’m A Cheerleader helped him to see himself on screen. This story comes from them.

Kacy Boccumini, who once appeared on The Real L Word, is in the middle of a transition of gender. The Advocate has this story.

Demi Lovato says their gender is a lifelong journey, and they might identify as transgender one day. This story comes from them.

Out.com has a list of fifteen celebrities who use multiple pronouns.

The San Francisco Bay Times tells us that there is a series of historical crime novels with a transgender protagonist.

A gallery in Split, Croatia, is currently hosting an exhibition of photographs by Rafael Medina entitled Transbrasil. As the title suggests, the exhibition features pictures of transgender women from Brazil. This story comes from The Advocate.

The 19th reports that racist, misogynistic, and anti-LGBTQ content can easily be found on TikTok. This includes anti-transgender material.

The ban on sexually-explicit content on OnlyFans will hurt sex workers, including transgender sex workers, especially hard, according to them. Them also reports that OnlyFans quickly reversed their ban on sexually explicit content.

British comedian Nish Kumar has some advice for comedians who do some variant on the one-joke about transgender people, based on “I identify as. . . .” (He specifically calls out Ricky Gervais, whom he says ran out of ideas.) Mr. Kumar asks, “Why don’t you identify as a good comedian?” PinkNews.

Laverne Cox is among nine people LGBTQ Nation nominates to be the next host of Jeopardy. (This is a fan list, with no connection to who the show is actually talking to about hosting.)

RuPaul sat in as a guest host for Jimmy Kimmel. The late-night guest host noted that Jeopardy was also using guest hosts. “Sources say the show is looking for someone with poise, authority, and natural intelligence. In gayer news, I’m right here, bitch.” Entertainment Weekly has this story.

Out.com reports there’s more coming our way from the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise.

Ofcom, the group which watches the media in Britain, has cut ties with Stonewall, in an attempt to stifle complaints that the two groups are so close that there is a perceived bias. Several people who support LGBTQ rights think this separation is not a good idea. This story comes from PinkNews.

The Green Party of the U.K. continues to try to mend its reputation, after reports of some prominent members siding with TERFs. Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay who are hoping to be the co-leaders of the party, write in PinkNews that they feel that there is no room for transphobia in the party.

The manager of Doctors, a pub in Edinburgh, is transgender. Staff asked a TERF group to leave after their booked time was up, but instead, they became abusive, Police eventually had to be called in, according to Edinburgh Live. While the police restored order, online abuse of the pub followed.

Peter Tatchell, who has represented a pro-LGBTQ-rights stance in previous public debates, agreed to debate Kathleen Stock, a professor with well-known TERF views, However, he dropped out of the debate later in the week, after some people online expressed the view that a transgender woman should have been invited to express the pro-transgender view. PinkNews has this story.

Poland continues to have problems with “LGBT-Free Zones.” (Of course, the name is a joke. The zones are really just places where anti-LGBTQ sentiment is allowed to be expressed freely.) Two Pride marches, one in the northern city of Gdansk and the other in the religious city of Czestochowa, took on the job of opposing the anti-LGBTQ sentiments. This story comes from them.

Anya Marino and Alejandra Carballo are the first transgender women of color to teach at Harvard Law School. Ms. Marino talked to The 19th about the new job.

Emily Claire Hari was convicted of domestic terrorism, for planting a pipe bomb in a mosque. Since being sentenced to jail, the prisoner has changed names, and is now asking the court to accept that they have a female gender identity. The story is rather complicated, and there is a possibility that it is all a bid to gain sympathy and to get a lighter sentence, according to LGBTQ Nation.

Polly Fuhrmeister has the motto, “Never say never.” Although she told herself years ago that she would never take hormones, never change her name, and never have surgery, during her transition, she ended up doing all of those things. She is profiled in the Day.

An editorial in The San Diego Union-Tribune suggests it is time to merge transgender rights with civil rights. That is easier said than done.

LGBTQ Nation has some ideas on how to make schools a more welcoming place for LGBTQ students.

In response to some stories of teachers quitting instead of accepting new guidelines designed to give LGBTQ and especially transgender students more respect, The Los Angeles Times suggests that teachers should put aside their own feelings for the sake of helping their students.

Shon Faye has written a new book titled The Transgender Issue: An Argument For Justice. It attempts to counter the transphobic views found far too often in the media, as well as showing things that a lot of anti-transgender people don’t often think about, but which result from anti-transgender views that are too rampant in society. PinkNews has more on this book.

An editorial in LGBTQ Nation urges the passing of the Equality Act, not only because it is needed right away, but also because the political situation indicates that it may be now or never.

A statue of Marsha P. Johnson was dedicated in New York City, on what would have been her 76th birthday. It stands in Christopher Park, near the site of the Stonewall Inn. Them has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

TWITs

Jamii Erway was strip searched at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, because of a “false positive” report by a security scanner. She was told that she must submit to the search, despite being only 15 years old, and despite the fact that the TSA’s own statements insist that no one has to submit to a strip search. For suspending a passenger’s constitutional rights, and for not following the agency’s own guidelines, the agents involved in this strip search get a TWIT Award. This story comes from ABC News. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

In the trial of David Bogdanov, who is accused of murdering transgender woman Nikki Kuhnhausen, the attorney for the accused tried to argue it was self-defense, bringing up once again the “trans panic defense.” For blaming the deceased for her own murder, and for arguing that hunting transgender people should be legal, defense lawyers and the defendant in this case get a TWIT. KXL-TV has this story. KCBY-TV reports that the jury took little time in finding the defendant guilty.

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a group of bullies harassed a transgender boy in a school restroom. Rather than punishing the bullies for their aggressive behavior, the school seems anxious to punish the transgender boy, for using the “wrong” restroom. For sending a grossly wrong message, and for perversion of justice, those who punish the victim while letting the bullies get away with it, the school administration gets a TWIT Award. News Channel 5 has this story.

Several conservative pundits are coming out with statements blaming transgender people for the Taliban’s gains in Afghanistan, according to an article in them. There is plenty of blame to go around, to much more direct causes, such as an Afghan military which went home in fear rather than fight the Taliban, and agreements made between the Trump administration and the Taliban, agreements which President Biden and his administration agreed to abide by. For rushing to blame a very remote cause which has been a familiar target for them, these conservative pundits get a TWIT Award.

Derrick Van Orden is a candidate for Congress who has been endorsed by Donald Trump. According to a local library, he checked out all the LGBTQ books he could find, with the intention of keeping others from getting those books. We mention this because it illustrates a problem with schools that may have only a few one-person restrooms here and there–some opponents of LGBTQ students can deliberately occupy those restrooms, making them unavailable to those who need them. Derrick Van Orden gets a TWIT. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Lt. Governor Mark Robinson of North Carolina was asked why his task force, which was supposed to be looking into “critical race theory” ended up with the recommendation to remove a lot of transgender-inclusive material from schools. In response, he walked out of the capitol. The final report of the committee alleges that the book George by Alex Gino features a “biological boy” who “talks about cutting off male genitals and hormone therapy.” For this and other mischaracterizations, and for the deliberate slander of others and their reputations, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson gets a TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

One of Tucker Carlson’s guests claimed that the agenda of civil rights and economic equality which is pushed by progressives is “in direct objection to God.” Perhaps this guest should read the Bible–the idea of helping the poor and the oppressed is a recurring theme, and is often said to be what God wants. In response, Tucker Carlson narrowed the focus to transgender rights, and referred to transgender people as “satanic.” If so, then when the Apostles accepted an Ethiopian eunuch, they were accepting a satanist into their Church. For over-the-top bigotry, and for not knowing what he’s talking about, Tucker Carlson gets another 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