The Week In Trans 9/14/20

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Geo Sochtoma Neptune

Geo Sochtoma Neptune, of the Passamoquoddy Tribe, won an election to sit on the school board of Indian Township, Maine. This appears to make Neptune the first transgender person elected in Maine. Neptune is a Two-Spirit person. The Maine Beacon has this story.

Alejandra Caraballo is a civil rights lawyer who has been the first transgender person to do some things, such as being the first to sit on a Brooklyn community board. She now wants to be the first transgender person on the New York City Council. She is profiled in The New York Daily News.

We reported last week that a suspect had been arrested in the murder of Shakie Peter in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. This week, the Sheriff’s Office announced that a second suspect had been arrested. WBRZ-TV has this story.

We also reported last week that a court in the Philippines wanted to release Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton of the U.S. Marines, who was held for six years for the murder of a transgender woman. Another court ordered him to remain locked up. Now, the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has granted Lance Corporal Pemberton a pardon. There have been complaints in the Philippines about his release, according to NPR.

Stephanie Byers

Stephanie Byers, a teacher and activist, is running for the Kansas state House of Representatives. If elected, she would be the first transgender person to hold elective office in Kansas. Her campaign does not stress her transgender status, according to LGBTQ Nation.

We reported recently on a transgender person who was found dead on a beach in New York City. This week, the victim was identified as Elie Che, and it was revealed that the coroner determined it was an accidental drowning. Norwood News has this story. Ms. Che, originally from Atlanta, moved to London, where she became a model and trans activist. She left London for New York less than a month before her death, according to Pink News.

Although a panel of the Appeals Court ruled in favor of Gavin Grimm, his case continues. The Gloucester County School Board has asked the appeals court to review the case en banc. The Associated Press has this story.

The Los Angeles Times has a story about Trans Lifeline.

Trans Lifeline is also the subject of a podcast episode at Government CIO Media.

As if the problems that other voters face (going to a polling place during a epidemic or else hoping and praying that your mail-in ballot gets counted) aren’t enough, many transgender voters face problems when they do not have ID that matches their true gender. Business Insider has this story.

Shawn Skelly and Kayla William write in LGBTQ Nation that a Biden/Harris administration would mean equality for transgender veterans.

Shellea Allen and Gabe González, the co-presidents of Pride at Work, write in LGBTQ Nation tha labor unions have the ability to negotiate greater protections for LGBTQ people than are currently in the law.

Drian Juaraz

Drian Juaraz, Vice President of Trans Can Work, talked to KABC News in Los Angeles about why it is important for transgender people to fill out the census.

Human Rights Watch released a two-part look at the problem of rights and documentation for transgender, non-binary, and intersex people.

Mike Miller wrote about his experience as a transgender man who gave birth, and how coming out as transgender made him a better father. His story can be found at Yahoo Life.

Francene Jacques was older when she came out as transgender. She writes in Now to Love that for years, the only person who knew that she was transgender was herself.

Andy Waller, founder of Dayum Jam, used the profits from sales of their jam to fund their top surgery. Now, the company is donating some of its profits to help other transgender young people with similar needs. RVA magazine has this story.

The struggle for transgender recognition and rights in Canada is an evolving area of law. In a short zoom presentation on September 15 , Adrienne Smith, a Vancouver Social Justice Lawyer, will discuss recent legal victories for trans people, and the issues that may be next for transgender litigants. Register for the presentation here.

A pair of new letters from the Department of Education attempt to give some guidelines for how schools should handle transgender students, in light of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Title VII. However, the letters seem to try to carve out a space such that the decision does not apply to restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. ABC News has this story.

Rebecca Quinn

Rebecca Quinn, a member of the Canadian National Women’s Soccer Team, has come out as transgender. The 25-year-old, who was on Canada’s team at last year’s World Cup, made the announcement on Instagram. You can read about it in People magazine. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Valentina Petrillo, a transgender Paralympian from Italy, sees no unfair advantage that transgender athletes have over cisgender athletes, according to a story in Reuters.

Jacqueline Harper-Grubb wanted to be an athlete, but never got picked for a varsity or junior varsity team. If she couldn’t play, the next-best thing to her was to either officiate or broadcast. She has officiated five different sports, but is most likely to be found on the soccer pitch. Outsports has a profile.

World Athletics, the regulatory body for track and field, has ruled on the appeal by Caster Semenya, and has ruled that she must lower her testosterone level in order to compete in track and field. Her body produces more testosterone than is typical for a female, as the story in LGBTQ Nation points out.

Book Riot has a list of eight young-adult books with a transgender character.

Raven Wild is a new fairy tale with a transgender central character. It is aimed at ages five to ten, according to Pink News.

Sarah Savage

Sarah Savage has written two published children’s stories, but she was not always so successful. She spent significant time at a woman’s shelter earlier in her career, as she tells Pink News.

Nigella Lawson has developed a reputation as a transgender ally. This week, she apologized for a column she wrote 27 years ago, in which she spoke badly of a non-binary person for getting a double mastectomy. Pink News has this story.

Argentina is setting aside 1% of public sector jobs for transgender people. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this and other stories.

Dhiara Duarte, a 27-year-old sex worker in Brazil, died when she was stabbed and thrown out of a window. Police have a suspect, according to Pink News.

Transgender people in Mexico are concerned, after a brutal second murder is reported. Pink News has this story.

Liz Truss, the Women’s and Equality Minister, sent a letter to Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids, in which she stated that the current plans for reform of the Gender Recognition Act do not include a change to coverage of transgender medicine for those under 18. Back in April, Ms. Truss had said that one of the areas that the government would look to reform was access to transgender medicine for those under age 18. This letter was shown to Pink News.

Munroe Bergdorf

Munroe Bergdorf is on one of the two covers of Teen Vogue. She wrote on Twitter about what a joy it is to rep the brand, and how she enjoys being back with L’Oreal Paris as a diversity consultant, after being dropped as a spokesperson. This story comes to us from Pink News.

Although there is still a pandemic going on, London Trans Pride took place last Saturday. There were displays of concern about the rights of transgender, non-binary, and intersex people, as well as concerns about violence against transgender people, mixed in among the displays of pride in identity. Pink News has this story.

“Adverse Childhood Experiences and Utilization of Preventive Care Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Mediating Model through Patient Trust in Nurses” is a study underway at Rutgers University. The purpose of the study is to examine if exposure to adverse events in childhood affect how lesbian women, gay men, bisexual people, transgender people and people who may be questioning utilize preventive healthcare such as screening tests. If you would like to participate you can learn more and register here.

Savanna Galloway

Savanna Galloway went to a bar in Glasgow, but the bartenders refused to serve her because she did not look like the picture on her passport. The picture was taken before she transitioned. This story of the dangers of passing too well can be found in BBC Scotland.

The victims of a data breach at the Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic last year will get £30,000 each in compensation. Pink News has this report.

Louise Anderson, who is fighting to keep her late transgender daughter’s sperm, has received some good news–the NHS has agreed to keep the sperm sample until November 30, to allow more time for the case to proceed in court. While a spouse or romantic partner can ask for sperm to be saved, there is no provision for a parent to make that request, according to the story in Pink News.

Jacob Edward, the first non-binary presenter in the history of BBC Radio, complained to Pink News about the institutional transphobia in the radio industry in Britain.

A transgender man in Australia is the first person outside of China to give birth while testing positive for COVID-19. The birth took place is March, but is now being reported by the news media, according to Pink News.

An Australian family court approved a 16-year-old to begin medical treatments for gender dysphoria, despite the objections of the child’s mother. The Sydney Morning Herald has this story.

Wynne Nowland

In May of 2017 Wynne Nowland, just weeks after her 56th birthday hit “send” on a memo to her staff at Bradley and Parker. The CEO was letting people know that their boss was now a woman. You can read the story in The Wall Street Journal if you are a subscriber.

Some anti-transgender activists in Vancouver put up a billboard showing support for J.K. Rowling. Within 24 hours, the billboard was attacked with paint, and the company that owns the billboard heard plenty of complaints about the message. The message was soon covered over with plain black paper, according to CTV News.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports on a transgender man in Pakistan who was murdered by his 14-year-old brother.

A school in Calgary, Alberta, gave out face masks to the students. Parents were soon complaining that the girls got different face masks from the boys. However, the complaint was not that the masks were distributed according to gender, but rather that the boys got plain blue masks, while the masks for the girls had lipstick kisses on them. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

An out-of-control stunt at a gender reveal party is responsible for sparking a wildfire in California, according to LGBTQ Nation. They also have a suggestion from a professor that a safer gender reveal would be a wallet, which contains one dollar if it’s a boy, and 72 cents if it’s a girl.

Fans of famed female impersonator David de Alba will be happy to learn there is another interview with David available on YouTube.

TWITs

A new proposed law in Russia, named Muzulina’s Law after a conservative lawmaker who proposed it, would make it illegal in that country for transgender people to change their legal gender. For targeting a vulnerable population, the lawmakers behind this new law get a TWIT Award. Metro Weekly has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to the story.

CNS News reported on the Munroe Bergdorf cover of Teen Vogue, but they did so in a deliberately anti-transgender way. They referred to the model with male pronouns, and with a condescending attitude. For displaying a most un-Christ-like attitude, CNS News gets a TWIT Award.

Although a thorough study by the Pentagon with the help of outside agencies showed that there was no valid reason why the ban on transgender people in the military needs to remain, nevertheless, when President Trump tweeted that he would reinstate the ban, the military was willing to do as he ordered. Now, The Palm Center reports that a new instruction from the Pentagon implements the ban on transgender people with additional force. For failing to stand up to an immoral command (something the Nuremberg trials said that the military should do) and for ignoring the findings of their own study, the Pentagon gets a TWIT.

Cayman Compass, a group of Christians in the Cayman Islands, has sent messages threatening to “hang one or two” gay people “in a loving way.” There is a term for a group of people hanging a member of a group on their own initiative; it’s called a “lynching.” For failing to observe the law and for threatening to lynch others, Cayman Compass gets a TWIT Award. Pink News. has this story.

Michele Bachmann, once a member of the House of Representatives and a Republican presidential candidate, was a guest on Kenneth Copeland’s Victory Channel, where she said of “Antifa”, “Just like Black Lives Matter, this is not a new movement, either. On their website, these are transgender Marxists, transgender Black Marxists who are seeking the overthrow of the United States and the dissolution of the traditional family.” For hyperbole, for not realizing that what she said is hyperbole, and for casually throwing the term “transgender” into the hyperbole as a way to drum up additional fear, Michele Bachmann gets a TWIT. You can read more at Salon.com. Alyssa Washington also pointed us to the story in LGBTQ Nation.

Not willing to let Michele Bachmann grab the spotlight from her, Candace Owens described the acceptance of transgender people as “satanic.” She said, “Satan is the authors of lies and deception, and when I look at the face of this trans movement, this trans agenda, and confusing kids. . .I think this is actually satanic.” This is not the first time she has castigated the idea of accepting transgender people (see a previous story here). For hyperbole and for believing her own propaganda, Candace Owens gets a TWIT Award. Media Matters for America has this quote. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to 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