The Week In Trans 9/27/21

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Schuyler Bailar

Schuyler Bailar, who became the first openly transgender swimmer in the NCAA Division 1 when he swam for Harvard, has written a book. It’s for middle-school readers, and its main character is a transgender man. He talked about his book in an interview with Boston.com.

The Guardian has a review of Shon Faye’s book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice.

California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis has formed a panel to advise on transgender matters. There are nine members on the panel, but surprisingly, none are from San Francisco, according to The Bay Area Reporter.

Brianna Hamilton was shot to death in Chicago. She is at least the 37th transgender person to be murdered in the U.S. this year. She was 25 years old. Them has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link to the story.

The Georgia Department of Corrections is being sued by parents of a transgender person who committed suicide while in prison. The parents claim their child’s suicide resulted from violent attacks which the department did little to prevent. The suit refers to the decedent as “Jenna,” though the Department of Corrections referred to the prisoner as a male named “Caleb.” This story comes from WALB-TV.

Texas has filed a lawsuit attempting to claim the right to deny transgender people the use of the restroom corresponding to the person’s gender identity and also attempting to claim the right to misgender and deadname a person. The defendants include the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Texas Tribune has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link.

Mj Rodriguez

The Emmys were held this week, and Pose was among the shows that failed to win. Them has the speech Steven Canals would have given if Pose had won.

Them reports that more schools across the country are banning Black Lives Matter flags and Pride flags.

The Human Rights Campaign is having a rough time. Its president, Alfonso David, was named in connection with attempts to cover up Governor Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment charges, and resultant infighting within the group has become public knowledge. This has damaged the group’s reputation, according to LGBTQ Nation.

A Muslim inmate in Wisconsin has filed a suit, in which he claims that he sees a transgender male guard as a female, which makes it unlawful according to his religion for this guard to perform a strip search on him. Courthouse News has this story.

A set of seven pointers for lawyers who are about to represent transgender clients appears in JD Supra.

The Human Rights Campaign and TransCanWork held a virtual career fair for transgender and nonbinary workers in Los Angeles. This is the first in a series of efforts to find jobs for transgender and nonbinary people, according to HRC.

Jared Letto as Rayon.

Out.com has a list of 11 straight actors who won awards for playing LGBTQ characters. Two of them won for trans characters.

NBC News has a story about the difficulties transgender people face in getting health insurance coverage. This story comes from a video segment on NBC News.

The Washington state Insurance Commissioner has fined Aetna for denying a client breast augmentation as part of gender-affirming treatment. Insurance Journal has this story.

Medical News Today has an article on sexual health for transgender women, trans feminine people, and nonbinary people who were assigned male at birth.

Medical News Today also has an article about transgender terminology.

Although the High Court of Appeals ruled in March that parents could consent to puberty blockers for their children, no transgender patient under the age of 17 was referred to an endocrinologist for hormone treatment this year. The story is in PinkNews.

Peyton Thomas writes about how he came to terms with his acne in an article for The Advocate.

The International Olympic Committee has postponed its new guidelines on transgender athletes, due to “conflicting opinions” on the matter. The new guidelines will likely not be ready before the Winter Olympics scheduled for next February. Previously, it was said that the IOC would only have a broad guideline on the matter, and that the governing bodies of individual sports would issue more detailed regulations. The Guardian has this story.

The Texas Legislature is in its third special session. Although the purpose of this session is to create new legislative districts, the subject of transgender athletes has come up again. Equality Texas urged witnesses who oppose the legislation to boycott the hearings, both because they are tired of repeating the same evidence, and because of the way they are treated by the legislature. This story comes from them.

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Dade Phelan, said that the House has the votes to pass legislation on transgender athletes. The Texas Tribune has this story.

An article in NJ.com looks at why New Jersey state Senator Mike Testa proposed a ban on transgender athletes when the state legislature is so heavily Democratic.

You can find a guide to “the queerest moments” from the Emmy Awards at them.

Theo Germaine has agreed to star in a new horror film set in a conversion therapy camp. Them has this story.

Sasha Allen

Sasha Allen passed his blind audition for The Voice, shortly after revealing to the audience at home that he is transgender. Both Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande wanted to coach him; he chose Ariana Grande as his coach. Them has this story.

The New Yorker has a review of Little Girl, a new documentary about a French transgender girl.

Angel Peterson created a short film which, although it is a work of fiction, is loosely based on a true story. She thought her youngest child was happy as a girl, and was surprised when, at age 14, that child came out as transgender. The Red Deer Advocate has this story.

Tracy E. Gilchrist writes in The Advocate how telling stories with LGBTQ characters changes the narrative for those who follow.

Melissa Etheridge tells The Advocate that she has always written genderless music.

A new graphic novel is a prequel to Blade Runner. The graphic novel has transgender themes, according to The Advocate.

In March of 2020, the University of Colorado Boulder was going to host a photo exhibition of Rae Senarghi’s pictures of transgender people, from the Transcend portrait series. Those photos will be displayed in the campus library. The Daily Camera has this story.

Zaya Wade

Gabrielle Union tells the story of taking Zaya Wade to her first Pride event. They rode on a Bring It On float. This story comes from them.

Jeff Probst is giving up the phrase, “Come on in, guys,” in an attempt to be more inclusive. Out.com has this story.

You can meet the winner of Drag Race Holland, and this year’s other winners, at Out.com.

Victoria Scone, the first cisgender woman to compete on Drag Race U.K., says that she has no time for misogynists . Them has this story.

Many legends of drag came out to celebrate Barracuda Bar’s 25th anniversary. This story comes from Out.com.

Justin Trudeau won re-election at Prime Minister, but he had some trouble saying the acronym “LGBTQ2+.” He tried to nonchalant it, but it didn’t come out clearly, according to Out.com.

Rosie Duffield had a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party in Parliament. He made clear to her the party’s position on transgender rights, which certainly differs from her own. He also made clear that everyone should feel welcome to attend the party’s annual conference. She has said that she will not attend, as she has been receiving threats. The BBC has this story.

Scotland now requires that LGBTQ subjects be taught in schools. This story comes from them.

The legislature of the region of Swietokrzyskie in Poland passed a resolution which affirms that parents have a right to raise their children as they see fit but also reaffirms that the Polish constitution guarantees “equality and fair treatment for all.” The measure contradicts the “LGBT-Free Zones” in the region. Euronews has this story.

Turkey’s Supreme Court came out with a ruling which declared that rejecting a name change request by a transgender person is an abuse of legal rights. This comes from a case in which the name change was denied because the applicant had not gone through gender reassignment surgery. This story comes from The Hurriyet Daily News.

Dr VS Priya

Dr. VS Priya is the first transgender doctor in the Kerala state of India. She is profiled by DNA India.

Malaysia wants Thailand to deport Nur Sajat, a Malay national who owns a cosmetics company. Malaysia has convicted her of “insulting Islam” by wearing women’s clothing to a religious event. A court in Thailand has found her guilty of illegal entry into that country. Reuters has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link.

“Megan Rohrer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s First Trans Bishop, Wants to Get Messy.” is the title of an article in them.

The Denver Channel says that Bishop Rohrer “sends a message of hope and love.”

In connection with Hispanic Heritage Month, LGBTQ Nation created a list of 11 Hispanic people who impacted LGBTQ rights. They include Sylvia Rivera and Lady Catiria Reyes.

An editorial in The Advocate decries the misinformation about transgender people that is commonly repeated as Black trans women continue to die in Texas.

An editorial in The New York Daily News says that women’s rights and transgender rights can co-exist.

An editorial in The Daily Aztec urges people to stop infantilizing transgender people.

TWITs

An article on KROD radio asks the public for their view on legislation to ban transgender females from participating in women’s sports. The article never mentions that the state athletic commission already has a rule requiring athletes to compete in the sex assigned at birth. For creating a false impression by withholding that information, KROD radio gets a TWIT Award.

The Scotsman has an editorial by Meghan Gallacher, a Member of the Scottish Parliament from the Scottish Conservative party. She claims that women’s rights activists are not being heard in the debate over transgender rights. In fact, women’s rights activists are being heard, but what they are saying is being rejected. For failing to understand the difference between being heard and having a winning logical argument, Meghan Gallacher gets a TWIT Award.

A school district in Minnesota asked students to participate in some role-playing exercises, with the intention of getting them to see life through eyes other than their own. In one of these situations, the student plays the part of a transgender girl, who has to determine whether or not to come out to her crush. A group of parents are objecting to this and a few other situations from this same exercise. For objecting to students even discussing transgender people, as though we should only be allowed to exist if we are silent about who we are, these parents share a TWIT. This story comes from The Daily Mail.

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