Trans News Now 2/13/23

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At the Grammys: Kim Petras Sam Smith, Violet Chachki and Gottmik.

Kim Petras and Sam Smith won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group for the song Unholy. Out.com has this story.

In the State of the Union address, President Biden briefly mentioned the need to expand federal protection for LGBTQ people, and especially for transgender youth. He asked Congress to pass the Equality Act, but failed to call out directly the many state bills and laws attacking the rights of transgender youth. Yahoo News has this story.

Zachee Imanitwitaho, a Black transgender woman who immigrated from Rwanda, was shot to death outside her workplace in Louisville. She was 26 years old. A co-worker has been arrested in connection with her murder. WAVE-TV has a story of a vigil for her.

South Dakota is set to become the next state to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. The bill has passed both houses of the state legislature, and is awaiting the signature of Governor Kristi Noem. This story comes from Them.

The Wyoming state Senate just passed a bill which would classify gender-affirming medical care as “child abuse.” The bill now goes to the House of Representatives. The Advocate has this disturbing story.

The Attorney General of Missouri has announced an investigation into the practices of some gender clinics for youth in that state. While the charges made by a whistleblower seem to be very overblown, some are at least possible.

While some other states are looking to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors (and, in some cases, for some adults), Vermont’s state House of Representatives passed a bill to make their state a sanctuary state for transgender youth. They promise the government will not interfere with such medical care, and the bill also adds new measures to protect patient confidentiality. GLAD has this story.

A review by the American Civil Liberties Union found at least 85 bills to restrict gender-affirming care, especially for transgender youth. There is a review of these bills at Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Montana state House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at protecting the right of health care providers to refuse certain services on account of “ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles.” This would hold even in the event of an emergency. LGBTQ Nation/a> has this story.

In Oklahoma, about 150 people came to the state capitol to protest a bill aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care in the state. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is heading a “grassroots campaign” which aims to expand parents’ rights in education. The group. “Advancing American Freedom,” is looking to restrict the rights of transgender students in schools, according to The Hill.

The state of Montana had proposed a bill which would protect people who misgendered a transgender student or used the student’s deadname. When it was pointed out that this would protect very bad behavior indeed, the bill was amended so that schools could punish someone for misgendering a trans student or using that student’s deadname when the behavior rose to the point of bullying. The Seattle Times has the Associated Press story.

The North Carolina state Senate has passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill which would reveal the identity of a transgender student to parents. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Republican state legislators are also pushing bills to restrict drag shows. The Advocate has this story.

The state of Utah recently passed its bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. A Democratic state Senator then read a letter from his intern, who happens to be transgender. A staffer who stood with that intern, and other interns, was fired. This story comes from The Salt Lake Tribune.

A story in Them reports that more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed this year already, and we are only halfway through February. These include 91 bills to ban gender-affirming care, 39 bills to restrict LGBTQ participation in sports, and 12 attempts to define transgender people out of existence.

While there are a lot of anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures, more than 90% of those bills do not become law. Still, even the few that do pass are too many. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

An editorial in The New York Times says that, “The Relentless Attack on Trans People Is an Attack on All of Us.”

At the House Oversight Committee hearing into Twitter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised the question of why Twitter has not yet banned Libs of TikTok for “inciting violence against transgender people.” Needless to say, this was not what the House majority expected the hearings to be about. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

A new study by Business.com showed a blatant bias against nonbinary job applicants. Moreover, they found that hiring managers admit to the bias. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

A new study from the University of Cambridge shows that transgender and non-binary people are more likely than average to have long-term mental-health problems such as dementia and autism. Transgender and non-binary people were three times more likely than average to have a long-term mental-health issue than cisgender people. This story comes from PinkNews.

It was not all good news for transgender and non-binary people at the Grammy awards. Dave Chappelle won the award for Best Comedy Album for his transphobic special, The Closer. This story comes from The Advocate.

Wendy Carlos in 1979.

Some people are saying that Kim Petras is the first transgender person to win a Grammy. She is the first out transgender person to win, but Wendy Carlos won three Grammy awards for Switched On Bach. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Pedro Pascal is getting recognition for his work on The Last Of Us, but he has been acting for some time. He also has been a good brother and “fierce ally” to his transgender sister, Lux. PinkNews has this story.

90 Day Fiancé, The Other Way is airing a its first episode with a transgender storyline. Cheat Sheet has this story.

DC Comics is introducing a new superhero who is described as both transgender and non-binary. This story comes from Them.

Hogwarts Legacy is out, and the game features the first transgender character in the Harry Potter fantasy world, Sirona Ryan. She is a barkeeper at the Three Broomsticks, a non-playable character. It appears that the character was added after controversy over J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender people caused concerns for the developer. She does not say outright that she is trans, but says, “It took [classmates] a second to realize that I’m a witch, not a wizard.” CNN Wire has this story.

Welcome To St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure is nominated for an award by Waterstones. As one might suspect, there has been a backlash to the news of the nomination, as PinkNews reports.

Shakina Nayfack

Quantum Leap aired an episode about a transgender student athlete. Shakina Nayfack, who wrote and directed the episode, says that NBC agreed to the episode with “no hesitation.” This story comes from Cinema Blend.

A debate over trans rights on the BBC current-affairs show Question Time devolved into a shouting match. Two members of the Scottish Parliament have said that they will challenge the BBC over the incident. PinkNews has this story.

A trans woman described the current system for getting a Gender Recognition Certificate to PinkNews, and it is tough to navigate.

The U.K. government has already shot down the new plan by the government of Wales for reforming its Gender Recognition Act, even before the bill could be introduced. PinkNews has this story.

Posie Parker, who is famous for being a TERF, tried to hold an anti-transgender rally in Glasgow, but found counter protestors singing YMCA and Time Warp drowned out her people. This story comes from LGBTQ Nation.

Doctors warn that the “NHS is failing young trans people” as it closes the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. The GIDS is supposed to be replaced by two regional clinics, but those plans have been delayed for at least half a year. PinkNews has this story.

Hungary’s Constitutional Court has issued a ruling which will make it impossible for transgender people to get their genders legally recognized from now on. The ruling backs a 2020 law that bans legal gender recognition. This story comes from Human Rights Watch.

In India, a transgender couple announced the birth of their first child. The baby is the first child born to a transgender couple in India. Reuters has this story.

Thanks to a court ruling, transgender people in Hong Kong can get their genders recognized legally without having to be surgically sterilized. This story comes from South China Morning Post.

The Conversation has a list of transgender people in history whose stories you might not have heard.

Surfing is not a sport known to give males a huge genetic advantage, although no transgender female has yet appeared in a competitive surfing event. Nonetheless, when the World Surfing League announced that it would follow the World Athletics guidelines for allowing transgender females to compete Bethany Hamilton announced that she would quit rather than compete against a transgender female. CNN has this story.

The Church of England is considering the use of gender neutral pronouns in reference to God. It probably won’t happen, as the common gender neutral pronoun is “they,” which is easily seen as plural. Still, just the thought is interesting, theologically. This story comes from Them.

A mother of a transgender teen daughter recounts to PinkNews how anti-transgender media pieces have been creating uncertainty about the topic.

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.

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Category: Transgender Community News