Tag Archives: trans issues

The New York Times reports: New York City has reached the largest settlement recorded over an inmate’s death at the Rikers Island jail complex, agreeing to pay $5.9 million to the family of a 27-year-old transgender woman who died there last year while in solitary confinement. Layleen Polanco was found unresponsive in her cell in June 2019 after having an …

The Hill reports: A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that would scrap ObamaCare’s nondiscrimination protections for sex and gender identity, one day before it was set to take effect. According to Judge Frederick Block of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, the Trump administration’s rule is contrary to a recent Supreme Court ruling that outlawed …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Department of Justice today filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court defending Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act against a challenge under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. “Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Under the Constitution, …

NBC News reports: Protesters packed the courtyard of the Brooklyn Museum and surrounding parkway in New York City on Sunday in support of Black trans lives, merging the fight to protect two deeply marginalized groups. The rally began about 1 p.m. in front of the museum, just a short walk east of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, as activists made speeches …

NBC News reports: Aimee Stephens, the Detroit-area funeral home worker whose firing led to a Supreme Court case that could decide the employment rights of millions of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, died Tuesday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which was working on her case. She was 59. Stephens had kidney disease for several years and required lengthy dialysis …

Courthouse News reports: Idaho Governor Brad Little Monday evening signed into law two bills that place new restrictions on transgender individuals in the state. The first of the two bills the Republican governor signed targets a transgender person’s ability to request a birth certificate change. Under the new law, transgender individuals will no longer be able to change their listed …

ABC News reports: A measure prohibiting homicide defendants from claiming a defense that panic brought on by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity has been passed by lawmakers in Washington state. Nine states — California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey New York and Rhode Island — have legislatively banned the use of gay or transgender panic as …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: A newly uncovered video shows Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg in 2019 describing transgender people as “he, she, or it” and “some guy in a dress” who enters girls locker rooms — invoking a conservative cliché as he argued that transgender rights are toxic for presidential candidates trying to reach Middle America. And yet, …

The Associated Press reports: A bill proposed by a group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday that would have amended the Iowa Civil Rights Act by removing protections against discrimination for transgender people is dead, a powerful committee chairman said. Nine Republican House members sponsoring the bill introduced it Wednesday morning but by evening Republican Rep. Steven Holt, chairman of the …

CNN reports: A Georgia school district has reversed its transgender-friendly bathroom policy after board members, staff and students were threatened, the school board said in a news release. Pickens County School Board changed its policy this week, citing “death threats, student harassment and vandalism of school property” in the news release. The policy had allowed transgender students to use restrooms …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Protesters demanding attention to ongoing violence against transgender women momentarily disrupted Thursday night the CNN town hall on LGBT issues as several Democratic candidate were on stage. The first time protesters came on the stage just as an audience member was about to ask the first question of Pete Buttigieg. Their numbers were …

NBC News reports: Exposure to “conversion therapy” — efforts by a secular or religious professional to change a transgender person’s gender identity — is associated with thoughts of and attempts at suicide, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Dr. Jack Turban, the study’s lead author and a resident physician in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: The Trump administration on Friday took one of its most aggressive steps yet to legalize anti-transgender discrimination by telling the Supreme Court that federal law allows firing workers solely for being transgender, arguing a Michigan funeral home could fire a transgender woman because she wanted to wear women’s clothing on the job. Although the …

Just in from the ACLU: The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled in favor of ACLU client Gavin Grimm, in his request for summary judgement in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the Gloucester County School Board. Statement from Gavin Grimm: “It is such a relief to achieve this closure and vindication from the court after …

People Magazine reports: Mario Lopez is facing backlash over comments he made in a recent interview that suggested it was “dangerous” for parents to label their kids transgender. In a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Lopez apologized for his remarks. “The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” …

Newsweek reports: Mario Lopez is being criticized for claiming it’s “dangerous” for parents to support children who identify as transgender. The 45-year-old television personality made his comments in June during an appearance on The Candace Owens Show, a video series on the PragerU YouTube channel, but they sparked blowback on social media this week. Owens compared a child expressing a …

Reuters reports: The House on Thursday approved an amendment to the annual defense policy bill aimed at reversing President Trump’s policy banning most transgender people from serving in the military. The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would enshrine in law that any person who meets gender-neutral occupational standards can serve in the military regardless of race, color, …

Predictable furor from the far-right Federalist: Oreo cookies, a division of international foods giant Nabisco, announced yesterday a “special” LGBT edition that includes lectures about how to use transgender pronouns. “We’re proud to celebrate inclusivity for all gender identities and expressions,” the company wrote in its Facebook post announcing the change. “In partnership with NCTE, we’re giving away special edition …

Just in from Gallup: As President Donald Trump’s ban on most transgender military servicemembers continues to face legal challenges, 71% of Americans support allowing openly transgender men and women to serve in the military. These data are from a May 15-30 Gallup poll, which was conducted prior to a recent U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allows the ban …

USA Today reports: In its first statement on gender identity, the Vatican on Monday rejected the idea that transgender people can change their gender identity in a document meant to instruct Catholic teachers and students on sexuality and gender. The document, titled “Male and Female He Created Them,” suggests only men and women are sexually complementary, and that changing norms …