The Week In Trans 9/2/19

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Paige Thompson

Paige Thompson, who is accused of hacking into the database of Capital One, has had her request to be housed in a women’s prison denied. The Seattle Times has an update on this case.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with the District Court’s ruling, which said that the state of Idaho must pay for gender confirmation surgery for inmate Adree Edmo. The state of Idaho will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, according to NPR.

CBS Chicago has an interview with John Knight, an attorney for the ACLU who will argue R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Aimee Stephens before the Supreme Court.

Last year, Lee Livengood, the assistant principal in West Virginia, asked a transgender student why he wasn’t using a urinal, then insulted the student. Although he was briefly punished, he soon had his old job back. Now, the parents have decided to sue the school district. The West Virginia Record has this story.

Naomi Ramirez Rosales was arrested on a light rail platform in Phoenix while she was getting a drink of water from a fountain, then was taken into custody by ICE. A group of activists are calling for her release, according to KPHO-TV.

Pro Publica and the Miami Herald cooperated on a lengthy piece about the problems with the TSA, especially with their handling of transgender people.

As divisions within the United States continue to deepen, the National Center for Transgender Equality has been the target of attacks, including bomb threats. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Mara Keisling

Mara Keisling, the founder of the National Center for Transgender Equality, is profiled in Forbes.

A suspect has been charged in the murder of Tracy Williams, whose body was found near a river in Houston. Police say that this was not a hate crime, because the suspect was aware that she was transgender, and did not kill her over that, but rather because she was seeking to end their relationship. KHOU-TV has this story.

Ruben Alvarado was indicted in the death of Chynal Lindsey. The indictment by a grand jury revealed several previously unknown details, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.

One year after the murder of Vontashia Bell, police have not arrested anyone, and do not have a person of interest. Michael Chisum has paid to have a sign put on the street where she was killed, asking people to come forward with any information. The Shreveport Times has this story.

We told you last week about the first batch of interviews with Democratic presidential candidates, getting them to talk about transgender issues. This week, Senator Amy Klobuchar sat down with Mara Keisling, the fourth candidate to interview with the National Center for Transgender Equality. LGBTQ Nation has highlights; the full interview can be found here.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out of the race for the presidency. The Advocate calls her an LGBTQ champion, and highlights the fact that she was among the first to fight President Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military. She was also one of the first three candidates to take time to do an interview with Mara Keisling on transgender rights.

Recently, the Trump administration passed a rule that denied Title X funds to clinics that refer patients to abortion providers. This was aimed at denying Planned Parenthood funds for services other than abortion counseling. As The Gazette notes, one of the services which Planned Parenthood provides in many places is medical counseling to transgender patients. So, transgender patients are getting caught in the crosshairs of a political fight.

Marsha P. Johnson

A petition to create a holiday for Marsha P. Johnson is available at change.org. You can find out about it at The Advocate.

More than half a century after the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, San Francisco’s chief of police, Bill Scott, publicly apologized for the department’s behavior in that incident. He promised, “We will atone for our past.” The San Francisco Examiner points out that this comes after arrests at the San Francisco Pride Parade this year.

Two officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department gave transgender prostitutes a choice: give the officers oral sex, or go to jail. They have been charged with paying a prostitute, but the charge will be dismissed if there are no additional incidents in the next six months, according to LGBTQ Nation.

Ashton Brooks, a local transgender male teen, was profiled by The Hanover Evening Sun.

Global News has one of those meetings of generations stories, this one involving transgender people born about 50 years apart.

Another study, this one from the University of Michigan, found that younger people are much more willing to allow transgender people to use the restroom associated with their gender identity than are older adults. Medical Xpress has this story.

Nearly 14% of transgender people report having been pressured by a counsellor to accept their birth sex as their gender. You can read about this survey result in Health Day.

June Eastwood

June Eastwood is a runner who will participate in cross-country meets for the University of Montana. She is the first transgender woman to participate in cross-country in the NCAA, and this has been met with controversy. Let’s Run has a list of five things to know about this.

In Denver, a fashion show of bridal gowns will feature transgender models, and will function as a fundraiser for the Colorado Historical Museum. State Representative Brianna Titone will be among the models, CBS Denver reports.

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Vice Studios and Canadian channel OUTtv are joining forces to create Clothes Minded, a new series aimed at helping a young transgender person who is about to face a key event. The series will debut sometime next year.

The director of Thor: Raganorak Taika Waititi is in preproduction for a film about the American Samoa soccer team titled Next Goal Wins. The film starts shooting in November of this year and they are looking for a Samoan trans woman who knows how to play soccer for a major role in the film. The character is Jaiyah who “giggles and flirts compulsively, even in the middle of a play.” She starts out playing for the “world’s worst” international soccer team and grows into an important player. Read more about the film on The Disinsider website. Next Goal Wins was inspired by the 2014 documentary about the team and the real Jaiyah, who is described as a willowy six foot woman. You can read about the documentary in The Telegraph.

Jazell Barbie Royal

Jazell Barbie Royal, who won the Miss International Queen pageant in Pattaya, Thailand, earlier this year, is using her crown to talk about HIV, according to The Advocate.

If you have ever wanted to cook like a drag queen, or perhaps to make a meal with a drag queen’s attitude, then Drag Queen Brunch is for you. It’s by Poppy Tooker, who hosts the NPR-affiliated radio show Louisiana Cooks. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Mile High Comics in Denver holds a drag show every month, called Drag For All Ages. Money from the event goes into a scholarship fund. However, The Proud Boys have been organizing a protest outside on drag show days. LGBTQ Nation reports that some folks are using rainbow umbrellas and banners as a barrier between patrons and protestors.

Teddy Quinlivan

Teddy Quinlivan is a transgender model who has been hired for a new Chanel Beauty campaign. You can read about it at In Style.

One Million Moms is angry with the American Library Association, because the ALA has instructions on its website for hosting Drag Queen Story Hour. The hate group says that the purpose of Drag Queen Story Hour is “solely to indoctrinate children into transgenderism and homosexuality.” You can read and laugh at them at LGBTQ Nation. (We thought about giving them a TWIT, but they seem to be looking for publicity, and we refuse to assist in that.)

Dave Chappelle has a new Netflix special, and once more, he makes fun of transgender people. He admits that transgender people “hate my f***ing guts, and I don’t blame them,” but added that he can’t stop making jokes about transgender people. Pink News has this story.

Brynn Tannehill

If you’ve been wondering what Brynn Tannehill is up to, as we have, the answer is, she has been working on a book. Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Trans But Were Afraid To Ask is the title, and she sat down to discuss it with The Advocate.

The University of New Mexico has an exhibit of photographs and interviews of transgender people, titled To Survive On This Shore. The Daily Lobo has a story about this exhibit.

A hair removal business in Nova Scotia which charges half price for transgender clients caught the attention of CBC News.

In Britain, the Leeds City Council refused to run an ad for a lesbian march that excludes transgender women. Leeds Live has this story.

Last year, Pride in London was led by a group of anti-transgender lesbians. This year, a group of anti-transgender lesbians led Manchester Pride. In both cases, event organizers were surprised by the anti-transgender leaning of the group. This story comes from Pink News.

In July, iNews of Britain reported that a shortage of estrogen was causing problems for postmenopausal women, who were prescribed the medication. Now, iNews reports that the shortage is affecting transgender women.

Georgie Stone

Georgie Stone’s first appearance on the soap opera Neighbours aired this week. She has been working with the producers for eight months, to help them tell a transgender story. Buzz had a preview.

In an attempt to help reduce wait times for new patients at gender identity clinics in Britain, patients will soon be able to do their appointments over Skype. Pink News gave us this story. (You can find a more sensationalized version of the story in The Daily Mail.

Nine years ago, Bangalore University set aside a quota for transgender students in the graduate school, but no body showed up–until this year. The Deccan Herald has this story.

In Israel, Chen Arieli, a lesbian, has become the deputy mayor of Tel Aviv. She told the podcast LGBTQ&A that Israel’s treatment of transgender people is an “urgent problem.” Pink News has some highlights.

A program to collect used saris and hand them out to transgender and gender non-conforming people in India was featured in Live Mint.

Allie Crew won a Portrait of Britain photography award for her portrait “Grace.” The subject is a transgender woman who is currently a student in med school. Pink News noted this award.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission in the U.K. has come out with a draft of a new guidance, which would have single-sex schools admit transgender students on “a case-by-case approach.” This is only a draft, and the final guidance will come out “in due course,” according to the agency. The Telegraph has this story.

Zackary Drucker

The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview with Zackary Drucker, a transgender artist who is also a producer for Transparent.

Chick-fil-A is known to donate to groups which practice and promote homophobia and transphobia. This corporate giving has caused some people to turn away from them. Popeye’s has now introduced their own chicken sandwich, to compete with Chick-fil-A. Some Popeye’s locations have had long lines, and some have run out of the chicken sandwich. LGBTQ Nation covered this.

Modesto, California, held its Straight Pride parade. Twenty people marched in the parade, while 200 protested, according to LGBTQ Nation.

TWITs

A shelter for women who were sexually assaulted that has refused to help transgender women who are sexually assaulted has been a target of protests, including a dead rat on the door and various messages on their windows and walls. They also have lost funding, because the British Columbia shelter was not abiding by the law. While some people are going over the top with their protest of the shelter, if the shelter accepted transgender women–as the law in Canada says it must–these protests would stop. For siding with illegal behavior, The National Review gets a TWIT Award.

According to Pink News Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, responded to a recent incident in which a transgender woman was illegally prevented from using the ladies’ room, by saying that there should be a third bathroom, for LGBT+ people. For making a proposal from nothing but prejudice and hate, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte gets a TWIT Award.

Martin County High School in Kentucky allows students to wear Confederate flags on their shirts and other clothing, but forced students to change when they came to school wearing pro-LGBTQ tee shirts. (For those of you who forgot your history, Kentucky did not leave the Union during the Civil War, although some Kentuckians did fight for the Confederacy.) For siding with discrimination, the administration of Martin County High School gets a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The Federalist has a story about Walt Heyer and some other “ex-transgenders,” who have told the Supreme Court that anyone can be an “ex-transgender” if they try hard enough. They also say that there is no such thing as gender fluidity, and that “becoming transgender” hurts more than it helps. For spreading bad science, and for insisting that what may have been wrong for them is absolutely wrong for everyone, the people who signed this brief get a TWIT.

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.

Tags: featured, news, Transgender, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News