The Week In Transgenderism 11/24/15
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Grace
We all have one thing to face — we’re all getting older. No matter what your gender identity is you will be an older version of yourself as every day passes. That’s what goes with being human. Are there special considerations for trans people while aging? Do they have wisdom to impart to the young? A writer and photographer decided to do a project together interviewing and photographing older trans people. You can find an article about the project in Slate. Thanks to TGF user Cecilia for pointing us to the article.
Apparently actress Rose McGowan can’t appreciate a joke. At least not when it’s made Caitlyn Jenner in her Woman of the Year acceptance speech. Caitlyn quipped that “the hardest thing about being a woman is having to decide what to wear each day.” McGown attacked her on Facebook for being insensitive to the real problems faced by women everyday. But come on, it was a joke. Learn more and see what you think. The story is in the Yahoo News.
Police in Mississippi underwent training sessions on how to interact with trans people. Officers from across the state learned about transgenderism and were made aware that trans people are often the victims of hate crimes. Get more info on the WLOX website.
Tru Wilson
Vancouver Magazine has a yearly list of the most powerful people in that western Canadian city. Usually it’s all business people, chefs, politicians and other men and women in suits. This year the list includes a 12-year-old trans girl. Tru Wilson made number 12 for filing a complaint against her Catholic school after the school refused to treat her as a girl. Her suit resulted in all the Catholic schools changing their policies to accommodate trans students. Read the story and view a video interview with Wilson in The Province.
The Kansas woman who hoped to get the nomination to fill the house seat of a retiring state representative did not get the nomination. But she is not expressing any negativity over not getting it. Read her thoughts on The Huffington Post.
Squeaky clean Wayne Brady, host of TV games shows, is stepping into high heels and the role of Lola in the musical Kinky Boots. He took over from Billy Porter last weekend and will be wearing those boots for a four month run. He’s already learned that he was mean to his female companions when he kept urging them to hurry up while they walked with him. Now he knows that stilettos are not as easy to walk in as men’s shoes. Get the whole story on Brady as Lola in The New York Times.
Abby Stein
Here’s one from the “Proof That Trans People are Everywhere” file. Conservatives like to brand trans people as some kind of immoral troublemakers. They say we’re not “normal” whatever that means. But trans people are very normal and they crop up in many places you wouldn’t expect to find them if you subscribe to the conservative belief system. One example is Ms. Abby Stein who was born into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family and came out as trans. Read her story in the Times of Israel.
Manitoba, Canada is flying the transgender flag across from their legislative building. The flag was raised to recognize the Transgender Day of Remembrance and to show the world that Manitoba is “a peaceful, tolerant and welcoming place.” Learn more on the CBC website.
A section of Interstate 71 in Ohio has been designated “In Memory of Leelah Alcorn.” Community members in the area where the teen took her own life by stepping into traffic when she could not take being mis-gendered any longer came together to adopt the two mile stretch of roadway as part of the Adopt-A-Highway Litter Program. For more information check out the WLWT website.
Augustine Ramirez
The waters of the transgender sea are murky from time to time and various identities swim along with different labels attaching and un-attaching. Proof that labels can change comes to us in the story of a person in Texas who first identified as gay and was asked to do drag for a charity show. She found she liked it. Dressing up brought out a new personality that she enjoyed. So for several years she has identified as a drag queen. But she now feels that she should transition and be a woman all the time. Read Augustine Ramirez’s story and view a video on the Fox San Antonio website.
Now that the anti-HERO campaign in Houston has been successful for those opposed to “men in the lady’s room” the bigots are busy making plans to export their discrimination against trans people to other cities in Texas. Read about their plans in The New York Times.
TGF reader Jozy sent us a link to another opinion article that looks at the reasons people are so susceptible to fear that men are being allowed into the ladies room when anti-discrimination laws are enacted. You can find it in The Daily Beast.
If you have been considering gender reassignment surgery here’s another reason it might be a good idea. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have found that undergoing GRS have a lower risk of metabolic disease than women who are undergoing hormone therapy but have not had surgery. Get the story from Inquisitr.
Cumberbatch in Zoolander 2.
The Zoolander sequel has released a trailer for Zoolander 2 and it’s causing some people to complain about the depiction of an androgynous supermodel by Benedict Cumberbatch. The character is named All. People are upset that All was not portrayed by a real androgynous model. There is a tasteless joke made at All’s expense but this is a Zoolander movie. No doubt you can find plenty of things to be upset about. Read about it and view the trailer on the New York Daily News website.
The ACLU has won a battle with Sound Health & Wellness Trust, a health insurer in Washington state. The company has agreed to drop an exclusion that prevented trans people from getting medically necessary health care. Thanks to TGF reader Cecilia for letting us know about the article on the ACLU website.
The happy couple.
Many trans people assume that they will have to divorce in order to transition. With the rise of same-sex marriage that doesn’t have to be true as long as some agreement can be reached by the partners to remain together. Here’s the story of one couple who got through transition and are now happier than ever. The story is in The Daily Mail.
Claire Green
A young trans woman from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Claire Green, who documented her transition on YouTube decided to move out of her rural area and move to the big city of Richmond to look for love. Her small town was beginning to bother her as she was so well known there that she could meet any men who weren’t transphobic. Will she have more luck in the big city? You can find out, if you live in Britain, by watching the BBC documentary Young, Trans and Looking for Love. Learn more in Metro Weekly.
TWITs
Tennessee State Representative Bud Hulsey has introduced a bill to make trans kids use the restroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificates. The representative was inspired to introduce his bill by a right wing radio talkers named George West. With Hulsey’s help West’s quest for higher ratings will result in more oppression for trans students in Tennessee. A TWIT Award to both of them. Gay rights activists in the state have started a petition against the legislation but the Republican dominated legislature is unlikely to pay attention. Get the story on the Nashville Scene website.
In Wisconsin Republican legislators have introduced a bill to prohibit trans public school students from using the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. Their justification for the legislation is the need to create a unified standard. Their standard would be to discriminate against trans students. Get more on this TWIT Award winning move from the Fox 11 website. Thanks to Cecilia for pointing the story out.
There was a protest demonstration in Washington, D.C. last week that caused officers of the Metropolitan Police Department to shove one of the organizers of the protest, drag her away and handcuff her. The protest was going on to call attentions to mistreatment of trans people by law enforcement. Jes Grobman was the woman who was arrested. A TWIT Award goes to the overly enthusiastic officer who pushed her. Read about the incident and view a video in the Metro Weekly.
A trans woman attorney in the Philadelphia, Pa. area was slated to do an educational event titled Transforming Love during Pope Francis’ visit to that city. Julie Chovanes told the media that when the local Archbishop saw the brochure with her photo on it he promptly withdrew permission for the event to be held in a Catholic church. A TWIT Award goes to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput. Learn more in the Chestnut Hill Local.
2015 has so far featured the murder of 22 trans women, the majority being black or Latina. The Transgender Day of Remembrance was last week and these victims as well as the previous victims were honored in demonstrations around the country. Not all of the 22 2015 murders were “hate crimes.” Some were domestic violence or just plain armed robbery that went wrong. But murder on any kind for any reason is not to be tolerated. While it is a weak response we issue a TWIT Award to anyone contemplating violence against any woman and ask for everyone to be careful, stay safe, don’t get involved with a rough crowd, and avoid risky behavior. Read about the 22 victims on the Penn Live website.
During the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on New York City a female police officer saved hundreds of lives. She dies while doing her duty and saving those people. She was named by Glamour Magazine as one of their Women of the Year for 2001. When Caitlyn Jenner was also awarded that honor this year the officer’s husband decided this was an insult to his wife’s memory calling it a “slap in the face” and he sent his wife’s award back to the magazine. Here’s another slap then. We give officer James Smith a TWIT Award for not recognizing the courage it took for Jenner to be true to herself. Thanks to TGF reader Naomi for pointing us to the article on the ITV website.
Category: Transgender Community News
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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Regarding the item in “The Province” about Tru Wilson. What an absolutely delightful young lady she is! (And I don’t just say that because we share a surname!) She’s beautifully spoken, has a terrific vocabulary and knows how to use it. She is also wonderfully aware of who she is. I’d love to wish her every success and happiness in her future life. Bless you, Tru, you cheered my day!
I have seen a few references to the new Zoolander movie, a sequel. I wasn’t that impressed with the first one to be honest but that’s just me.
I can’t help wondering about this storm that is brewing over Benedict Comberbatch playing an androgynous person.
There have been movies recently with trans characters who are played by genuine trans actors, “Orange is the New Black”. ‘Sens8’ being another. There are also the movies where the male to female character is portrayed by a female, not transgendered woman, eg. Transamerica with Felicity Huffman. Now I personally think she did a good portrayal although I would have thought it would have been better with a genuine trans woman and been just as good.
But, is the trans community being too precious about this? Would we have to get a genuine hunch backed man to portray, “Richard the 3rd”? Is it not within the rights of the company who make the movie to pick who they think are the best actors which will bring the the best coverage, Cumberbatch is a great actor. He portrayed a gay brilliant mathematician who was OCD. Should the studio have looked for an actual gay mathematician who is OC. to portray the character?
Just a thought.