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Trans News Now 1/30/23

ceciliab | Jan 30, 2023

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Allison Chris Myers

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has just appointed Allison Chris Myers acting chair and CEO of the state’s Civil Service Commission. She is the first transgender person to serve in that state’s cabinet. This story comes from North Jersey.

Jack Phillips, who won a Supreme Court case when he said that his “deeply-held religious beliefs” prevented him from baking a cake for a same-sex wedding, just lost his appeal in state court for his refusal to bake a cake for a gender transition celebration. Phillips and his lawyers had based the case on the idea that the cake was a form of expression, and his free speech rights allow him to reject that expression. The court did not see the cake as an extension of free speech. Politico has this story.

We regret to report that the murders of two and perhaps three trans women were in the news this week. Unique Banks and her mother were killed during a home invasion in Chicago. Three others were wounded. Police believe that the victims were targeted due to their gender identities. This story comes from Them.

KC Johnson has been missing and is presumed dead. She was last seen in Wilmington, North Carolina, on January 12 or 13. A body found in Savannah, Georgia, might be hers. The Advocate has this story.

Destiny Howard, who was found dead on December 9 of last year, was identified as transgender. She was shot to death in Macon, Georgia. She was misgendered for well over a month after her body was found, but her story is being pieced together by LGBTQ news sources. This story comes from Them.

Jakapong Jakrajutatip

Jakapong Jakrajutatip, a trans woman who produces Thailand’s versions of Project Runway and Shark Tank, and who now owns the Miss Universe pageant, gave a speech at the end of the pageant about overcoming the pain of her childhood. You can read about it in LGBTQ Nation.

The New York Times took note of the many laws being proposed which would affect the rights of transgender people, especially transgender youth.

More that 150 anti-LGBTQ bills have been proposed already this year, and it is still January. (Technically, some were pre-filed in November and December of last year.) Most of those bills target transgender youth, according to LGBTQ Nation.

The Utah House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly passed a bill to restrict gender-affirming care (both prescriptions and surgery) to minors. Fox 13 Salt Lake City has this story.

Missouri leads the nation in the number of anti-LGBTQ bills, according to The Advocate. This includes legislation to restrict transgender athletes, restrict gender-affirming care, restrict teachers from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation, and regulate who can attend a drag show.

Theatrical union Actors’ Equity, which represents actors and stage managers on Broadway and other professional stages across the country, has released a statement condemning recent political attacks aimed at trans and drag performers. Learn more from Playbill.

Indiana has introduced three anti-LGBTQ bills, including the state’s version of the “Don’t Say Gay” law, as well as one that requires schools to tell the parents if their child wants to change gender. This story comes from them.

Arkansas lawmakers are considering a bill which would classify drag shows as “adult-oriented businesses,” hence forbidding minors from attending. This bill has caused a problem for the Miss Gay America Pageant, which is supposed to be held in Little Rock. The pageant is not sure how the bill would affect them, but Out.com reports that they are looking to move the event, just to be safe.

Republicans in Congress have filed a bill to forbid U.S. embassies from flying the rainbow flag of LGBTQ pride. Actually, the bill requires that only the U.S. flag flies on flagpoles outside U.S. embassies. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The Virginia Senate decided to table three bills dealing with transgender athletes. They state House of Delegates also tabled a bill which would have required transgender students to get a legal name change before their student record would be updated. This story comes from PinkNews.

Democrats in the Florida state legislature have introduced a bill which would outlaw the gay and trans-panic legal defense. The bill is unlikely to pass, given that the majority int he legislature is Republican. The Advocate has this story.

Three circuit courts have ruled that a transgender student in a public school has a right to use a restroom which corresponds with the gender with which he or she identifies. However, the Eleventh Circuit recently reversed a decision, and now stands in opposition to those other decision. This gives the Supreme Court a reason to get involved, LGBTQ Nation reports.

A new study by The Trevor Project finds that all of the anti-transgender legislation is causing a decline in the mental health of transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming youth. PinkNews has this story.

Another new study found that transgender females do not possess any advantage over cisgender women in elite sports, as long as existing rules are followed. This study is actually a meta-study, gathering information from all of the medical reports on trans women in sports published in English between 2011 and 2021. This story comes from PinkNews.

Kim Petras

The list of performers for the Grammy Awards next week is out, and Kim Petras and Sam Smith will be singing on the show. Out.com has this story.

The new video for Taylor Swift’s song Lavender Haze has arrived, and transgender model Laith Ashley plays the part of Taylor Swift’s love interest. You can read about it in LGBTQ Nation.

The film Mutt premiered at Sundance. It features a gay transgender male as the main character. You can read an interview with Lio Mehiel the actor who plays the gay trans male, in Them.

It seems that M&Ms got so much backlash from conservatives over the recent changes to their commercial characters that the company decided to give the spokescandies “an indefinite pause.” Now, that terminology does indicate at least the possibility that the characters will reappear in the future, but for now, the characters, including the new purple candy which is rumored to be trans, will not be seen. This story comes from Them.

A&W decided to have some fun with the M&Ms announcement this week. They quickly created a parody announcement, saying that their advertising character, Rooty, would start wearing pants. And, according to LGBTQ Nation, the folks at Fox Business failed to see the joke.

A group called the Trans-Cultural Mindfulness Alliance is upset at Aretha Franklin’s song (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman. If you have never heard of the group before, that’s because the group is new. Moreover, the group is specifically created for comedy. Nonetheless, some conservatives fell for it, bloviating about how “the libs” are out to rob them of everything. PinkNews has this story.

Dylan Mulvaney

Dylan Mulvaney showed off her new look after Facial Feminization Surgery. The video is “kind of a masterpiece, according to Them.

Mark Hammill recently liked a tweet from J.K. Rowling. He clarified what he liked about it. He also said, “I support human rights for EVERYONE, regardless of their gender identity, PERIOD.” Out.com has this story.

Vimeo recently removed a documentary called Dead Name, which looks at three families who were upset when their children identified as transgender. The parents in all three families concluded that their children identifying as transgender was the result of “outside influences.” The video has since found another home on the Internet. Fox News has this story, and as you might imagine, has more from the director than from the video service.

Jinkx Monsoon is now appearing on Broadway in the role of Matron “Mama” Morton in the show Chicago. Out.com has this story.

LGBTQ Nation has the story of a father who traveled hundreds of miles to see his son’s first drag show.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon felt it necessary to refute the old canard that allowing transgender women to self-identify would lead to “predatory men” identifying as women so that they could get into single-sex spaces and attack women. Apparently, this falsehood has been rearing its ugly head in the debate over the U.K. Parliament’s blocking of the Scottish Parliament’s reform of the Gender Recognition Act. PinkNews has this story.

There were concerns that a trans woman who has been convicted of rape (committed prior to transitioning genders) would get sent to a woman’s prison, due to the Scottish reform of the Gender Recognition Act. BBC News reports that Isla Bryson will not be housed with female prisoners.

The government of Jersey had to defend its recent campaign to promote screening trans men for cervical cancer, after some people complained that the campaign did not use specifically female language. PinkNews has this story.

A transgender boy in Israel was removed from a religious school, despite the wishes of his parents. This story comes from The Times of Israel.

Shakiro

Shakiro, a transgender activist from Cameroon, has arrived safely in Belgium, where she has received a promise of asylum. Infomigrants has this story.

The New York Times recently published a story about parents who oppose letting children socially transition at school without the parents knowing about it. The piece tries to present both sides, but folks like Chase Strangio criticized how much space they gave to the opponents of social transition, and how often their points were not refuted. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

We have heard of parents who are leaving Texas because of that state’s anti-LGBTQ and especially anti-transgender political stances. But now, a study by the Williams Institute shows that many LGBTQ parents in Florida are considering moving out of that state, due to its anti-LGBTQ policies, including the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The Advocate has this story.

A transgender hacker from Switzerland was able to get the 2019 version of the No-Fly List, and published it online. This story comes from Them.

Moving Trans History Forward is set for March 30 through April 2 at the University of Victoria in Canada. Learn more from the University’s website and register for the conference.

Trans News Now 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.