TWIT 11/8/21

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Lost among the election news was the fact that Danica Roem won her third term in the Virginia House of Delegates. She and fellow Democrats will be in the minority for the next two years. This story comes from The Advocate.

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from a Catholic hospital in California, which was ordered to pay because they would not provide an elective hysterectomy to a transgender man. KTLA-TV has this story.

Devin Avshalom-Smith is the first transgender man to be elected to the city council in New Haven. In fact, he is the first transgender person elected to office in Connecticut. The New Haven Independent has this story.

Ohio elected its first transgender person. Dion Manley was elected to the Gahanna-Jefferson School Board in the Columbus area. The 65-year-old trans man was inspired to run by his teenage daughter. This story comes from Metro Weekly.

Xander Orenstein was elected to Allegheny County Magisterial Court, the first time a non-binary individual has been elected as a judge in the United States. The Victory Fund has this story.

The Advocate reports that there are now over 1000 out LGBTQ people who are serving or will soon serve in elective office in the United States.

The dominant story of this week’s election was the triumph of the Republican party. Many members of the religious right are claiming victory over “woke ideology.” They claim that the election, especially the election of Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, shows the displeasure of voters with rights for transgender people. LGBTQ Nation has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the Principal Deputy Press Secretary at the White House, reports that Republicans are lying about critical race theory and about transgender rights at school, in order to win elections. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

The state of Michigan announced that they will start issuing identification cards and driver’s licenses with an “X” gender marker as of this Wednesday. Twenty states and the District of Columbia now allow “X” as a gender on drivers’ licenses and identification cards, according to M Live.

Fairness and Equality Michigan tried to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s civil rights statutes by means of a public referendum, but the Elections Commission would not accept electronic signatures on petitions. The Michigan Supreme Court agreed with the Elections Commission this week. LGBTQ Nation has this story..

Rikkey Outumurrow, who performed under the drag name Tru Starlet, died of five gunshot wounds in Centralia, Washington. The Chronicle reports that a suspect, her boyfriend, is being held without bail in connection with the murder. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.

Them reports there have been 44 reported murders of transgender people this year, tying the record for the most transgender people killed in a year.

Aubrey Dameron disappeared two years ago. She is a transgender woman and a member of the Cherokee Nation. She is profiled in People magazine.

A transgender woman working the overnight shift at a 7-Eleven in Corvallis, Oregon, was attacked and needed to spend a couple of days in the hospital. Three men have been arrested for the attack. Oregon Live has this story.

Jessica Phoenix Sylvia tells about her experiences a transgender woman in a men’s prison in them.

A transgender prisoner in North Carolina, Kanautica Zayre-Brown, has asked the courts to order the state to pay for her gender confirmation surgery. North Carolina Policy Watch has this story.

Them has an update on Maura Martinez, the transgender woman who was detained by ICE for two years, despite having received permanent resident status.

A new report from GLAAD shows that discrimination against LGBTQ people, and especially transgender people, is on the rise. Now, part of this may be that people are more willing to identify as transgender, and part might be that transgender people are more willing to report such incidents. This story comes from them.

The National Center for Transgender Equality recognized a unionization drive among its employees. This marks a turn in the history of the organization, as Gay City News reports.

The Transgender Law Center released a pair of media guides, to help journalists report transgender stories. One guide covers athletic bills, while the other covers bans on transgender medicine. This story comes from them.

The Keystone Conference is looking for speakers, presenters and workshop moderators to cover a diverse range of topics that appeal to the spectrum of transgender individuals, their families and friends. The ‘deadline’ to submit is January 15th, 2022. They begin to select and schedule workshops starting in mid-December. To submit a proposal go to their website.

Them has a list of several top transgender, non-binary, and queer climate activists. 

Transgender people on the police force often find they have problems with some co-workers after transition on the job. Insider has this story.

Helena Roderick talks of how facial feminization surgery can improve the mental health of her transgender female patients. Her writing can be found in Stat News.

Luc Esquivel, a transgender boy, has filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s ban on transgender athletes. He wants to try out for his school’s golf team as a male. Sports Illustrated has this story. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to the story.

Transgender soccer player Kumi Yokoyama proposed to their girlfriend on the field during a Washington Spirit game. This story comes from Out.com.

The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival returns this week. This year’s festival will be online again. The San Francisco Bay Times has a schedule.

Although the last episode of I Am Jazz seemed to wrap up the series, the series will return. Season 7 starts on November 30. Jazz has gained weight, with a lot of binge eating due to stress during the pandemic. You can read more at CNN.

E.R. Fightmaster has been cast to play the first non-binary doctor on Grey’s Anatomy. This story comes from them.

A new television series will tell the story of Ewan Forbes, a Scottish transgender man and doctor, who got his birth certificate corrected back in 1952. The series is based on the book The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes, which is due out this week. PinkNews has this story.

Valentina Sampaio has signed on as a spokesperson for Armani Beauty. Her first ad will be for lipstick, according to The Daily Mail.

Episode 13 of Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween series features a nanny who helps a non-binary child feel more comfortable about wearing a princess dress, and puts some bullies in their place. Of course some social conservatives got upset by the concept of a non-binary child finding acceptance. Out.com has this story.

Both LGBTQ Nation and Out.com has galleries of celebrities who got into costume for Halloween.

Gucci had its anniversary show, “Love Parade,” on Hollywood Boulevard. Janaya Future Khan was a part of the show, and they wore a binder. Them has an interview with Janaya Future Khan.

John Waters was on hand as the Baltimore Museum of Art opened the gender-neutral restrooms that are named for him. Although Waters is known for comedy, he got serious during the opening reception, making a statement about transgender rights. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Christine Burns reviewed Shon Faye’s book The Transgender Issue for Open Democracy.

Richard Dawkins said, “Race is very much of a spectrum. . .Sex on the other hand is pretty damn binary.” While this does ignore intersex people (and genetic testing shows intersex people to be more common than was previously thought), that part could be all right. However, he went on to conflate sex and gender in subsequent comments. This story comes from PinkNews. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link.

Trixie Mattel and Nikkie De Jager were among the big winners at the American Influencer Awards. You can find a list at Out.com.

The 19th reports that before Dave Chappelle’s special The Closer came to Netflix, the company’s Trans Employee Resource Group was making other employees aware of things like pronoun usage and other issues that make life more bearable for transgender people. This is usually a job for the Human Resources Department.

At least two employees of Netflix allege that the company retaliated against them after then spoke out about the recent Dave Chappelle special. The employees have filed a lawsuit, according to them.

RuPaul is making a holiday drag movie for VH1. It is entitled The B**** Who Stole Christmas. Them has this story.

Alison Rumfitt has used Britain’s current transphobia as the basis for a horror novel entitled Tell Me I’m Worthless. The author sat for an interview with PinkNew.

Chrissy Stroop wrote for Open Democracy on why she, as a transgender woman, feels it would be unsafe to travel to Britain.

Oxfam released a Wonder Woman Bingo game, which featured some “of the greatest women in history.” The game was removed from sale recently, and rumor had it that they were hoping to replace J.K. Rowling, who has since fallen out of favor for her “gender critical” views. In fact, they wanted to remove Elliot Page, who was included under his deadname. PinkNews has this story.

The Taliban supposedly has a “kill list” of LGBTQ Afghans. The only foreign LGBTQ organization still in Afghanistan is Rainbow Road, a Canadian group. This story comes from them.

China has opened its first medical clinic for transgender children and adolescents. It is located in Shanghai. Global Times has this story.

In Canada, a First Nations family with a Two-Spirit member showed up on Canada’s Family Feud. The Lynxleg family showed their understanding and acceptance while on the show. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

Google featured a doodle this week honoring a Two-Spirit member of the Zuni people. We:wa was a spiritual leader known for popularizing indigenous arts and for standing up against the U.S. government. This story comes from The Advocate.

PinkNews has the story of a family which is moving out of Texas because of the harm being done to their transgender son.

An entry in The Guardian‘s A New Start After 60 series profiles Petra Wenham, who transitioned at age 68.

As North America debates such inclusive language as “pregnant people,” the rest of the world is watching and listening to that debate. While the rest of the world isn’t ready to get that inclusive, at least they are at paying attention, according to an article in LGBTQ Nation.

Dolores Huerta talked about how interrelated the fights for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights are. This message is important, as election losses this week have caused some Democrats to suggest that support for “woke causes” is costing them votes. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

TWITs

Last week, we gave the BBC a TWIT Award for a very transphobic article. This week, the BBC defended the article, even as one of the women prominently quoted, Lily Cade, called for lynching transgender women. (See Newsweek.) The article has since been amended to remove Ms. Cade’s contribution. For obvious reasons, we hereby issue a TWIT Award to Lily Cade. Thanks to Alyssa Washington for the link to this story.

The government of the U.K. has started a consultation for a ban on conversion therapy. Their ban has a specific exclusion for religious organizations, which can still use conversion therapy under this law. But, the research that they provided shows that religious organizations pressure their members to undergo conversion therapy. For ignoring evidence which shows that they gave exemptions to the worst offenders, the U.K. government gets a TWIT Award. PinkNews has this story.

Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that a private, for-profit company has the right to reject LGBTQ job applicants due to “deeply-held religious rights.” For rendering the Bostock decision meaningless, and for believing that a non-human entity can have deeply-held religious rights, Judge Reed O’Connor gets a TWIT. This story comes from The Advocate.

The state of Mississippi said that they would allow residents to change the gender on their driver’s licenses and identification cards without having to show proof of sterilization surgery. This week, the state decided that sterilization was indeed required. For going back on a promise, and for reverting to an ancient requirement, the state of Mississippi gets a TWIT Award. The Biloxi Sun has this story.

Gad Saad wrote on Twitter about an incident in which he and his wife were at a restaurant, and their server was “possibly transgender.” He says that his wife was terrified to speak, afraid that she would use the wrong pronoun. Now, the situation did not call for the use of any pronoun, though it is possible that they might address the server as “sir” or “madam.” (Listening carefully when the server first spoke, they could have learnt the server’s preferred name, and used that.) He then complained that people have “cancelled” him and forced him into hiding, because of this tweet. In fact, what people are doing is pointing out to him that he is worrying over nothing, or at least, very little. For using the pretense of wanting to be polite as an excuse to not even attempt to be polite, Gad Saad gets a TWIT Award. This story comes from them.

The U.S. Department of Defense has been routinely rejecting requests for exemptions from COVID vaccinations on the grounds of religious beliefs. Basically, the Department of Defense does not believe that mainline Christianity provides an excuse for not getting vaccinated. This nonetheless causes some conservatives to complain that unvaccinated members of the military are being treated worse than transgender people in the military were under President Trump. While it could be argued that unvaccinated members of the military are being treated the same as transgender people were under President Trump’s ban, the argument of worse treatment indicates a persecution complex. For always pretending that they are getting treated worse than others, and for supporting insubordination in the military, the promoters of this comparison get a TWIT Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

U.K. Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch jumped to defend Kathleen Stock, after she resigned her position as a professor because of complaints about her anti-transgender positions. She said that Professor Stock’s beliefs are “probably in step with the majority of the population.” Popular belief does not make something moral. For attempting to defend discrimination because a lot of people agree with the idea, Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch gets a TWIT. This story comes from PinkNews.

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