The Week In Trans 9/13/21

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Danica Roem

Danica Roem is running for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates later this year. Her opponent will be Christopher Stone, who describes the same-sex marriage decision of the Supreme Court as “legislating from the bench,” despite the fact that he is fine with them legislating when they are doing what he wants. He opposes allowing LGBTQ people to adopt children. That is the choice people in the district face, according to The Advocate.

The LGBTQIA Health Conference Committee has initiated a new award, to be given to a major advocate for the LGBTQIA community, and especially for the transgender community. The first recipient is Janelle Crossley, who has been a prominent transgender advocate in Pennsylvania. The new award is named for Keira Kristine DeSantis, a transgender advocate who died in 2019 from complications of gender confirmation surgery. Unfortunately, the headline in Your Erie refers to the new award as “the DeSantis Award,” which makes it seem like it was named for a different person, one who is not so kind to the LGBTQIA community.

The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center in Los Angeles had its grand opening ceremony last Friday. Business Wire had an announcement.

The Human Rights Campaign has fired Alfonso David, after conducting an investigation into his relationship with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. This story comes from them.

U.S. Representative Chris Pappas has introduced a bill which, if passed, would restore veteran status to those who were dismissed from the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This would include anyone who was discharged during the Trump administration due to his ban on transgender people in the military. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Nikki Kuhnhausen

We reported recently that a jury found David Bogdanov guilty of the murder of transgender teenager Nikki Kuhnhausen. Judge David Gregerson sentenced Bogdanov to twenty years in prison for this crime. CBS News has this story.

KATU-TV reports that there was a memorial service for Ms. Kuhnhausen on the evening of her murderer’s sentencing.

While Nikki Kuhnhausen was quickly identified as transgender and not deadnamed or misgendered in the press, not all transgender murder victims are treated that way. According to The Buckeye Flame, there is no uniform method of handling the name of a deceased person on a death certificate. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

A teenager named Maya Keen is missing. She had just come out as transgender before she disappeared. She was last seen at Liverpool Station in London on September 3. She is 16 years old. The Independent has this story.

A federal court ruled that a Catholic high school does not have the right to fire a teacher (or, in this case, a substitute teacher) for being LGBTQ. This ruling is likely to be appealed, and may be reversed by another court. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Scripps Media has a story about how the decision against Hobby Lobby’s restriction on a transgender person’s restroom use could have far-reaching effects.

Becky Pepper-Jackson

Kathleen Hartnett, who co-litigated the motion that got Becky Pepper-Jackson the right to try out for her school’s cross country team, was named Legal Action’s Pro Bono Hero for the month of August. Reuters has this story.

A new study found that almost half of LGBTQ people in the U.S. have experienced workplace discrimination, and this is especially common for transgender people. This story, based on research from the Williams Institute, comes from them.

Last Friday was World Suicide Prevention Day. LGBTQ Nation has an article which says that suicide is preventable.

An article in them points out that this year’s attacks on medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors allows non-consensual surgery on intersex children to continue.

Another medical aspect that isn’t thought about immediately is the connection between HRT and acne. A paper in Dermatology Times looks at the possible connection.

This week, VeryWell Health posted an article about how to prepare for gender confirmation surgery. VeryWell Health also had an article about what to expect on the day of gender confirmation surgery.

Many people feel that a desired outcome of the abortion law in Texas is to shut down Planned Parenthood. Among the many services that Planned Parenthood offers is gender-affirming care, often the only such care in parts of Texas. The 19th has this story.

Aubrey Dameron

Aubrey Dameron is a 25-year-old Native American who has been missing since March 9, 2019. Her aunt believes that she has been the victim of a hate crime because of her gender identity. This story comes from NBC News.

A new poll of West Virginia voters show that most want to limit transgender athletes to participating according to the gender assigned at birth. This poll was conducted by Metro News of West Virginia.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called a third special session of the Texas legislature. This one is focused primarily on redistricting, with the new census giving Texas an extra seat in Congress. However, the issue of transgender athletes is also on the governor’s agenda. Spectrum News has this story.

The first trailer for Matrix Resurrections has dropped. You can read about it at Out.com.

One of the first projects Demi Lovato is undertaking since coming out as non-binary is the new series Unidentified, in which they are on the look-out for UFOs. It premieres on September 30 on Peacock, according to Out.com.

The Trans March on Broadway happened, and it was covered by Variety.

Transgender artist Naja Rose Madder has been painting an abandoned bathhouse since June. Although many locals liked what she did, even buying paint for her, the city of New York is opposed to her work. The Bowery Boogie has this story.

Rosalynne Montoya

Ozy Studios has signed three transgender celebrities to development deal contracts. The three are Paxx Caraballo Moll, a chef from Puerto Rico; Dan Eggers, an activist from Alabama; and Rosalynne Montoya, a model. Deadline has this story.

It is fashion week, and many LGBTQ designers are quite prominent, according to them.

Out.com has the information on where and when you can watch Drag Race UK season 3.

The folks behind Drag Race barely take a break. One season finishes, and they are quickly preparing for the next season. PinkNews reports preparations are under way for Drag Race Down Under Season 2.

Kylie Solique Love talked about becoming the first trans person to win RuPaul’s Drag Race. She gave an interview to them.

Fabian as Naysha.

Fabian Rodriguez won the Mister Continental pageant. He has competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 8, under the name Naysha Lopez. A double threat, obviously. Out.com has this story.

In a recent poll, Caitlyn Jenner got one percent of the vote in the California gubernatorial recall, which is coming up this Tuesday. Nonetheless, she was granted an interview by CNN, on New Day. She tried to say that she is pro-choice, and yet is fine with the new abortion law in Texas. She also delivered hyperbolic talk on other issues. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Crispin Blunt, a member of the Conservative Party bloc in Parliament, has condemned the way that the NIH has handled health care for transgender patients, and has called on the government to pay for transgender patients to go overseas for medical care, rather than have to wait for years to receive it in Britain. PinkNews has this story.

A police commissioner was condemned for using TERF-like language such as “biological male” in a statement on transgender people and toilets. This story appears in The Independent.

Eduardo Leite is a gay man who is running for president of Brazil. He is trying to position himself as a centrist, and for that reason, he says that LGBTQ rights is not an important issue for him. That’s a shame, because Brazil needs someone to oppose the rampant anti-transgender sentiments. LGBTQ Nation has a profile of him.

The Daily Star reminds us that transgender people are being left out of vaccination and testing drives in India.

An ad for a jewelry store in India tells a transgender story. The BBC took notice of the ad.

Bishop Rohrer

The Reverend Doctor Megan Rohrer has been installed as Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She is the first out transgender person to become a bishop in that church. This story comes from The Advocate.

Financial Times has a review of Shon Faye’s new book The Transgender Issue, but they insist on also covering an anti-transgender book, Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, in the same review.

A review of Shon Faye’s book also appears in The Evening Standard, which does not mention anti-transgender material until the last paragraph.

The Guardian has a story about “female husbands” of the 18th Century.

KNOE-TV has a story about transgender people in Arkansas who are looking for acceptance.

A story about local transgender people also appeared on CBS Miami.

Mary L. Bonauto, who litigated the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in front of the Supreme Court, feels that transgender rights are coming. They may not be here yet, but they will come, she says. She also says that the American people are on the side of transgender rights. PinkNews has this story.

One person who is ready to fight the fight for transgender rights is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her latest shout for transgender rights caught the attention of them.

With the growing visibility of gender-nonconforming and transgender people, the scope of feminism is fast evolving. Curators at two California museums have organized independent exhibitions that, taken together, reflect what feminist art today looks like — and the most urgent issues it looks at. Get the story from The New York Times.

TWITs

We just mentioned Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her statement supporting transgender rights. J.D. Vance, a candidate for U.S. Senate from Ohio, tweeted, “I’m sorry, but what the hell is two-spirit? Would love if progressives just stopped inventing words.” Two-Spirit individuals are an historic fact, and as someone pointed out, all words and phrases are “invented” at some point. For not doing research before expressing his bigoted, uninformed opinion, J.D. Vance gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Harold A. Black writes an opinion piece in The Knoxville Focus in which he asks if he is a bigot. He repeats such unfounded ideas as “Males who identify as women who were mediocre athletes now find themselves as champions.” He never substantiates this claim with even one instance, but instead his next sentence reads, “Track and field records have fallen to such ex-males.” Not one women’s record is held by a transgender person, and yet, without evidence, he tells us otherwise. For insisting that predictions have come true when they have not, and for not bothering to look up evidence to support his claim Harold A. Black gets a TWIT Award.

The Spectator Australia has an anti-transgender opinion piece by Edie Wyatt which goes so far as to mention the “big swinging dicks of the transgender movement” in his headline, making the piece obviously not family-friendly. It also contains any number of the usual falsehoods, such as the idea that transgender rights pose a danger for women. For bad research, and for fanning the flames of unnecessary fights, author Edie Wyatt and Spectator Australia get a TWIT.

Groups of TERFs who pose as women’s rights groups have flooded the public consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland with anti-transgender comments. The comments are often of the cut-and-paste variety, showing obvious signs of a coordinated campaign. For a lack of originality, for being disconnected to reality, and for being unconcerned about other people’s rights, the folks who participated in this campaign get a TWIT. PinkNews has this story.

A teacher was arrested for having sex with her underage students. A group of self-styled feminists (actually TERFs) claims that the accused is transgender and belongs in a men’s prison. They claim that a woman cannot rape a man, despite much evidence to the contrary, and insist that the fact that she did not wear makeup in her mugshot proves that she is transgender. For advancing an argument without proof, and for insisting that whatever you made up counts as proof, these TERFs get a TWIT. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Judith Butler compared TERFs to fascists in an interview with The Independent. It was not just name-calling, but a listing of where the TERFs are in agreement with fascists, and not with current thinkers, according to PinkNews. Nonetheless, the piece was edited after its Internet appearance, to remove the reference to fascists. For bending to TERFs and for not standing up for the integrity of the subject of an interview and the interviewer, The Independent gets a TWIT. This story comes from them.

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