#transgender-rights

#transgender-rights

The headline on a lengthy piece in The New York Times late last month read: "Donald Trump's Big Gay Government." It profiled a certain type of gay man: white, successful, conservative, probably handsome (Trump and company dislike unattractive people), full of themselves, disdainful of most of the rainbow colors that represent the GLBT community beginning with women (although they love Melania), and absolutely indifferent to the civil rights movement that now allows them to be out and proud.

As Courthouse News reports, the scene at the Solano County Courthouse in Central California earlier this week was pandemonium as 30-year-old Alex "Somni" Leatham and 24-year-old Suri Dao awaited the official date for their trial, in which both are charged with the attempted murder of their former landlord, Curtis Lind, who was blinded during a 2022 katana attack over a rent dispute - an assault that ultimately became the first of six violent crimes associated with the loose group.

California is leading a multistate coalition in opposition to proposed federal changes that would halt the collection of data on bullying and harassment of transgender and nonbinary students. Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the multistate coalition this week in partnership with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

"These individuals were exercising their constitutional and civil rights when they were singled out and removed from the Iowa Capitol solely because of their identity and their affiliation with an LGBTQ+ organization," Devin C. Kelly, an attorney for the students, told the outlet. "At a time when LGBTQ+ Iowans and their families continue to face growing challenges, this settlement reaffirms a simple truth: all Iowans are equal under the law."

Over the last four years, LGBTQ+ people-especially transgender people-have been attacked from every angle: bans on healthcare, restrictions on bathrooms, even attempts to restrict driver's license gender markers. But one of the earliest and most revealing features of this backlash was the push to strip books about queer and trans lives from classrooms and libraries. At first, these bans cloaked themselves in neutrality, prohibiting vague "gender and sexuality" discussions-rules that always seemed to allow depictions of straight marriage while quietly targeting anything queer.

The cases the EEOC withdrew from included those brought on behalf of an Alabama hospitality group worker who alleged their manager said they needed to be "hidden" on the night shift before firing them outright; a transgender woman at an Illinois hog farm who said her coworker exposed his genitals to her and touched her breasts; and a transgender hotel worker in New York who said their supervisor referred to them as "transformer" and "it."

Such a move would represent a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration's fight against the rights of transgender Americans, CNN reported, especially since restricting gun rights in any capacity has long been a line in the sand for Republicans. The DOJ is reportedly looking at ways to designate transgender people as mentally ill and therefore ineligible to exercise their Second Amendment rights, one Justice official told CNN.

Johnson, appearing on America's Newsroom on Fox News Friday, was asked by host Dana Perino if "there has to be some sort of accountability on the transgender front." The shooter, Robin Westman, who killed two children and wounded 18 (some sources say 17) people at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis Wednesday, has been reported to be transgender. Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.

The Prep initiative was created in 2010 to help prevent teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Accountability is coming, said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of ACF, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas. The Trump administration will ensure that Prep reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.

For almost three years, a University of Wyoming sorority has been the unlikely epicenter of a national battle over belonging. U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson's 35-page ruling not only rejected the plaintiffs' claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract, but also declared that Kappa, as a private nonprofit, has the right to define "woman" on its own terms. "In short, we are required to leave Kappa alone," Johnson wrote.

In June 2019, according to Q News, SC was arrested while visiting Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, on charges of "impersonation". She was taken to a women's prison and strip searched. A court ordered that she be subjected to "gender determination," which included a genital examination, hormone testing, blood sampling and radiological testing. Her medical records were later leaked to journalists.

Amanda Vickers, a member of the Riverside Unified School District board, said: "There is a difference between biological girls and biological boys. And, tonight, the girls of Riverside Polly High School [are] not going to end up like Payton McNabb." Vickers' comment refers to a 2022 incident in which former high school volleyball player McNabb was struck in the head by a ball returned by a trans opponent, which she claims left her with permanent brain damage.

The latest character to enter the revolving door of President Donald Trump's federal staff is a well-known antagonist of transgender Americans. Andrew Bailey, former Missouri attorney general, has been appointed a co-deputy director of the FBI. The current official in the role, Dan Bongino, came under fire for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case, triggering rumors about his potential future-or lack thereof-at the bureau. This comes as legal attacks on gender-affirming care for trans people heat up at the Department of Justice.

The Department of Education has now followed through on that, denying any funding to those Virginia school districts that decline to change their policies.

The Independent is committed to providing on-the-ground reporting during critical moments in US history, focusing on diverse issues from reproductive rights to climate change and technology.

Victoria McCloud, the UK’s first transgender judge, is challenging the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex in a case at the European Court of Human Rights. McCloud argues the Supreme Court undermined her rights under Article 6 by not allowing her participation and failing to consider evidence from any transgender groups.

"This isn't just a fight for us," Technical Sgt. Alyx Anguiano told The Advocate. "It's a threat to every person who has served or is currently serving."

McCallister is one of 32 plaintiffs in Talbott v. United States, a federal lawsuit challenging the reinstated ban on military service by transgender people.

Five transgender plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Georgia corrections officials regarding a new law that prevents them from receiving gender-affirming medical care. The lawsuit claims this law violates the Eighth Amendment by constituting cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiffs represent nearly 300 incarcerated individuals in Georgia prisons, arguing that the law has catastrophic consequences and forces trans individuals to detransition against their will.

Transgender women will be banned from single-sex public spaces under new guidance to be published by the UK's equalities watchdog. The guidance will mean trans women will be banned from spaces such as women's toilets and changing rooms. It will apply to any organisation that provides a service to the public, including schools, shops, hospitals, prisons, leisure centres and government departments.

Hospitals worried that their federal funding for Medicaid and Medicare may be jeopardized are rapidly withdrawing support from this small, vulnerable group of young people.

The case was the first gender identity discrimination case to reach the federal court and centred on the definition of sex and what it means to be a woman.

I see this issue being used to divide. I see it being used to hurt people. It's especially hurtful for trans people and people with transgender members of their family who witness themselves or people they love being used as a political football.