The Week In Trans 8/31/20
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Gavin Grimm finally had his case heard by an appeals court. Granted, this court has heard his case twice before; the first time, they sent it back to the district court, with the instruction that the court should put more weight on the Department of Education’s guidance that transgender students use the restroom and changing room of the gender with which they identify. Then, after the Supreme Court put the case on its docket before deciding to just send it back to the appeals court, the appeals court sent it back down to the district court, with instructions to hear arguments. This week, by a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel said “resoundingly yes” that the school district acted wrong in denying him access to the boy’s restroom. This decision comes five years after the case was first filed. Politico has this story.
Many transgender people want to vote, but have trouble. Those who were in the middle of a legal name change as far back as March have found themselves stuck at an in-between point. Some states require medical procedures, which cannot be performed at this time, due to COVID-19 restrictions. USA Today has this story.
WTKR-TV has the story of Tarena Williams, a trans woman who survived being shot, and is finally fulfilling her dream of opening a resource center to help other transgender people.
Marsha P. Johnson is getting more recognition. First, Out magazine reports that Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Brooklyn got its dedication ceremony this week. Then, CNN reports that Elizabeth, New Jersey (her hometown) will create a memorial to her.
Archbishop Robert Carlson sent out a pastoral letter, entitled “Compassion and Challenge,” on what he called “transgender ideology.” In the letter, the retiring archbishop says, “Catholic understanding of the human person holds that sex and gender cannot be separated, and that there are limits to how we should manipulate our bodies.” Yet, he called on the faithful to “lean in with compassion.” Some transgender Catholics tell The National Catholic Register that it is impossible to compassionately invalidate someone.
The U.S. Trans Survey has been used whenever someone wants statistics about transgender people in the U.S. The third edition was supposed to gather its data this year, but the pandemic got in the way. Many people wonder if the National Center for Transgender Equality had the right people on staff to do the survey, after mass resignations last year. This caught the attention of Ms Magazine.
Health magazine has an article which tries to tell people what the term “transgender” means.
A new study looked at the medical records of transgender patients in Ontario. It found that transgender people were more likely than other patients to have some sort of chronic disease, including asthma, diabetes, COPD, and HIV. Airdrie Today has this CanadianPress story.
Mj Rodriguez and Janet Mock will be a part of an HBO special which is being adapted from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book Between The World And Me. Variety has this story.
Jennifer Lopez went on Twitter this week to introduce the world to her “nibling,” a gender-neutral term for a niece or nephew. The family member is Brendon Scholl, the 19-year-old offspring of her sister. Brendon is non-binary. You can read about this in Insider.
Rachel Crowl is a transgender actress, photographer, and musician. She talks about how she got into acting in an interview in Out magazine.
Maxine Heron is a model, or at least she was. She transitioned before she started modeling, and found that she was no longer being booked after she revealed she had transitioned genders. She recently switched to an agency which exclusively handles transgender models. Pink News has this story.
Bill And Ted Face The Music is now available in theaters (if the theaters near you are open) or streaming. Non-binary actor Brigette Lundy-Paine plays the part of Ted’s child, Billie. Brigette plays the part with a genderlessness, as they tell The Advocate.
Sara Ramirez of Grey’s Anatomy admitted to being non-binary this week. Out magazine has this story.
The stars of the Netflix series Trinkets talk with The Advocate about the importance of non-binary visibility in movies and television.
Nonbinary and transgender artists often have trouble finding a space. One theatre company in Minnesota is devoting one-fifth of their time to transgender and non-binary material. Minnesota Public Radio has this story.
Kate Bornstein and Ryan Cassata play a therapist and a troubled teen in the film Two Eyes. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Outfest, and a clip can be seen at the Advocate.
Out.com has a photo story about Mexican drag queens.
We told you last week about Lingua Franca, a film about a Panamanian trans woman who works as a caregiver to a Russian Jewish woman in Brooklyn. This week, it got reviewed by Rolling Stone.
Trip Richards, a transgender man who does porn, talks about it in an interview with The Advocate.
Kerri Mullen is the mother of a transgender child, and wrote a children’s book featuring a transgender character. It’s called Eli’s New Clothes, and The Milford Daily News has this story.
World Rugby recently announced a draft policy which would forbid transgender women from playing in female rugby competitions. They cited a Swedish study, which showed less loss of muscle mass than was previously thought. However, Caroline Layt, a transgender woman who has played competitive rugby, notes that the study did not include transgender athletes in the medical data, and World rugby did not ask transgender athletes about their experiences. All of that information and more would be nice to have. Her opinion piece appears in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Kendall Stephens, a Black transgender woman living in the Philadelphia area, was attacked in her home. It started with a commotion outside, and when she went to tell the people involved to move along, they attacked her, pushing her into her home and calling her names. This story can be found in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this and many other stories.
WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reports in a video story that attacks on transgender people in the United States are on the rise.
In the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, a street mural contains the phrase, “Black Trans Lives Matter.” It includes portraits and the names of various transgender people of color who have been murdered violently. Block Club Chicago has this story.
The words, “Black Trans Lives Matter,” were painted onto the street in the Transgender District of San Francisco. The paint used included the colors of the transgender flag, according to a picture in The Advocate.
Transgender advocates in California are urging state legislators to pass SB132 by Sen. Scott Wiener, which would allow transgender, intersex and gender nonbinary inmates to decide whether to be housed in a men’s or women’s prison. Learn more for The San Francisco Chronicle.
WNYC public radio has a story about Ashley Moore, a transgender woman whose dead body was found in Newark, New Jersey, on April 1. Her mother only found out about Ashley’s death through an attempt to reach her on Facebook. Although the police have issued a new policy for dealing with LGBTQ people, the policy has not yet resulted in changes.
Back in May, Kristian Rouse was beaten so severely that he was left unable to move. He still is facing two years of rehabilitation to move his right leg and right arm. He gets depressed quite a bit. Out.com has information about how to send a note of encouragement.
Last week, we told you of the attack on three transgender women in Hollywood. It was caught on video, yet no one helped, or even called the police. (See The Advocate for this story.) Police arrested two suspects and were looking for a third. However, both of the suspects who were arrested have been released, as the District Attorney’s office asked the police to investigate more. NBC Los Angeles has this story.
Nikki Kuhnhausen was murdered last year. She had a mother who accepted her, but who was not really aware of the dangers that transgender people face in the U.S. at this time. Since Nikki was murdered, her mother, Lisa Woods, has become an advocate for transgender people, according to People magazine.
Pink News has the story of Billy Williams, a tattoo artist whose company, Tits 4 Tats, donates its profits to fund top surgery for transgender people.
Nine Members of the British Parliament from the Conservative Party have called upon Boris Johnson to reform the Gender Recognition Act as quickly as possible. Pink News has this story.
Michael Cashman, an actor who became one of the founders of Stonewall U.K., warns LGB people that they need to support trans people. “If you allow [defamation and misrepresentation] to happen to others, then your own history will repeat itself.” This story comes from Pink News.
Nora Mulready was a gender-critical feminist (otherwise known as a TERF). She has changed her views, and she now says, the change happened when she stopped reading about transgender children who detransitioned and instead talked to actual transgender children. This comes from an interview with The Independent.
To show the problems that transgender people face in jail, WUSF radio has the story of Karla Bello, a transgender woman who spent eleven days in jail because of some missed traffic tickets. Bello, 37, said the 11 days she spent in the Pinellas County Jail last year were a fight for her life.
Kerry Kennedy, one of the daughters of Robert F. Kennedy, said on the website of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Organization that she is deeply, deeply disappointed in the anti-transgender remarks of J.K. Rowling, who received the organization’s Ripple Of Hope Award last December. In response, Ms. Rowling tweeted that she is returning the reward. This story appears in Variety.
The Royal Mail reports having to dispose of a large number of “hateful” leaflets with anti-transgender messages. The messages go against the Royal Mail’s guidelines. Pink News has this story.
In India, an announcement says that the National Council for Transgender Persons has been formed. They will monitor the impact of policies and programs, and advise the government. The Hindustan Times has this story.
Also in India, the transgender community confronted the people whom they allege killed two transgender people, and also some people who were accessories in that crime. The alleged criminals have been turned over to the police. This story can be found in Out magazine.
In Pakistan, a trans man is wanted by the authorities because he married a woman. Pakistan does not recognize gender change, nor does it recognize same-sex marriage. Pink News has this story.
The transgender community in India is getting a dance academy in the state of North Paravoor, according to a story in The New Indian Express.
Foreign Policy has a story about the gender-based lockdown policy in Panama.
A trans woman, an activist and mother of three who did some survival sex work, has been murdered. She was hit in the head with a cement block, after being raped. This gruesome story comes from Pink News.
On the same night that Jenni told her husband that she is a lesbian, she found out that her husband is transgender. The couple are still together, and Sarah has transitioned. The Daily Mail has this story.
Ellie Anderson had her sperm frozen at the age of 14, before getting beginning hormone therapy. She hoped to someday become a parent. However, she suddenly died only two years later. Now, the BBC reports that her mother is hoping to combine that sperm with a donated egg and a surrogate to create a child for Ellie. A judge will have to decide the matter.
TWITs
It is said, “It is a pity that fools are full of certainty while wise people are full of doubt.” Nicole Russell of The Daily Signal has no doubt that the recent decision of a judge to put a temporary ban on enforcing Idaho’s new law on transgender athletes “puts biological women at a disadvantage” because it means that “Idaho may not ban biological males who identify as transgender from playing on girls or women’s sports teams with biological females.” For bringing up science to defend her position even though that science does not actually agree with her, Nicole Russell and The Daily Signal get a TWIT Award.
A headline in CBN says, “As California Lawmakers Push Transgender Bill, Doctors Oppose ‘Experimental Treatments’ on Children”. The only doctors whom they quote are from the American College of Pediatricians, a group whose name they mention. They fail to mention that the American College of Pediatricians is actually a small splinter group, and that the scale-of-magnitude-larger American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed the treatments that the doctors quoted in the article call “experimental.” For deliberate bias and for misrepresentation, CBN News gets a TWIT Award.
This week, Avanti West Coast unveiled the new Pride train, painted with the rainbow on the outside and with an all-LGBTQ staff. The train goes from London to Scotland, with stops in Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool. Piers Morgan tweeted a story about it, with the single-word question, “Why?” For being too fragile to miss the opportunity to diminish someone else in order to make himself feel better, Piers Morgan gets a TWIT. The Advocate has this story.
Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of the Reverend Billy Graham, spoke at the Republican convention, where she praised President Trump’s policies on transgender people. She even brought out the chestnut about sharing a restroom with a transgender person being an invitation for “biological males” to sexually assault females. There have been no reports of men pretending to be women in order to molest females, but there have been many reports of sexual assault from religious leaders. For picking on the innocent, Cissie Graham Lynch gets a TWIT Award. You can read about this in Buzzfeed News.
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.
Category: Transgender Community News
