[Discussion] Trans Issues and Rights

This thread is for the discussion of current events relating to trans rights, for discussion of the lives of trans people and difficulties they face, and for basic questions about the lives and experiences of trans people. (If basic questions become dominant we'll look at making a Q&A thread at that time.)

Thank you for all of your support. Freyja has been struggling through this as well, and I'm glad she's by my side because she's doing a good job keeping me upright even while mourning herself.

I’m glad you have each other and very sorry for your loss.

I’m so sorry Hyp.

sh*t. I'm so sorry, Kat and Hannah. I'm glad you two are together to help each other through this.

Chelsea Manning is running for the US Senate in Maryland.

I heard her on NPR and she didn't impress. I'm probably still going to vote for her, though.

When challenged about being in a position that is meant to safeguard classified information:

I will protect you. I will protect employees, military personnel, who feel like they have no voice in the government. There’s an unspoken fear in speaking out. People in government are afraid of losing their jobs. They don’t speak out.

yyyyeahh....I'd be happier about that if she hadn't been caught socialising with Mike Cernovich. Sorry..."gathering intelligence against the far right" at an 'alt-right' love-in.

The Alt-Right party later photos showed she had a wrist band for, or the escape room she did with them, or the games of cards against humanity she played in one of their apartments.

She's apologized (The Daily Beast: Chelsea Manning on Her Alt-Right Partying: I Was a Spy, Not a Racist) but it's still really bad optics at best and not an effective way to use her platform.

She's human, not a saint. Which doesn't necessarily qualify her for the Senate, and she'd probably be more effective learning to use her symbolic status first, but this looks like "really bad judgement call" not "secret right-wing convert".

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA

Freyja wrote:

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA

Gremlin wrote:

She's apologized (The Daily Beast: Chelsea Manning on Her Alt-Right Partying: I Was a Spy, Not a Racist) but it's still really bad optics at best and not an effective way to use her platform.

She's human, not a saint. Which doesn't necessarily qualify her for the Senate, and she'd probably be more effective learning to use her symbolic status first, but this looks like "really bad judgement call" not "secret right-wing convert".

I’m aware of her apology, and I’m more than inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt, at least so far as to assume her actions aren’t malicious. However if you’re going to try and forward progressive causes and become a public advocate for them then not palling around with neo-nazis seems like a really low bar to expect someone to clear. It reinforces questions about her judgment at a minimum. If the person she was attempting to primary was a Tulsi Gabbar, far less progressive then the district they represented, I’d be more receptive to the attempt. As it stands between my misgivings over her judgement and how well matched her opponent is to his constituency I don’t find myself able to support her senate run.

Freyja wrote:

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA

No words

f*ck. Sorry for the swearing, but this has really upset me. Something just happened to one of my partners that I need to share with you all, because I think it illustrates just how f*cking evil some transphobic people can be.

CN: profanity, suicide, transphobia, terfs

Spoiler:

A: i literally just got a message on tinder from a cis woman named charlene.
A: the full text of this message is, and i quote
A: "Remind me what percent of trans commit suicide?"
H: WHAT THE f*ck.
H: WHAT. THE. f*ck.
A: "It's somewhere in here: {link to a report on trans suicide}"
H: Hello, waiter? I would like one serving of THE ABILITY TO TORCH PEOPLE WITH MY f*ckING MIND please. Thank you.
H: Jesus f*ck.
H: I just.
H: f*ck.
A: me: excuse me?
A: her: you read, right?
A: me: i do, and i'm very familiar with the frequency of suicide in my community.
A: me: what i'm wondering is why you sent me such a cruel, pointless, vapid message.
H: I am _so f*cking mad_ at this person right now.
A: her: for luls
H: If someone said that sh*t to me in person right now, I would in fact swing at them immediately and damn the consequences.
A: reported
A: me: a very good friend of mine completed suicide not a week ago.
A: her: your friend misses you. go visit.
P: what the actual f*ck
A: are. you. f*cking. kidding. me.
L: WOOOOOOWWWW
H: That's about what I expect from this piece of human garbage.
L: report again
L: jesus f*ck
P: "i hope some day you accept whatever childhood trauma or self-hate makes you think this is an acceptable use of energy. Until then, I hope you live a painful existence without love."
A: and she sent me a heart.
A: awwwwww
A: and a gif of someone choking.
A: and then she unmatched me

Jesus Christ. What the f*ck is wrong with that person.

I'm so sorry you got that sh*t thrown at you on top of everything else.

f*ckING HELL, Hyp.

Do you have screenshots? Call the cops.

Jesus, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

What the actual f*ck is wrong with people!?

I am so sorry Hyp.

I just want to throw in a little love and support to hopefully balance some of the hate. I don't know what more to do, other than to always stand up for the LGBTQ community every chance I get in meat space, and to try to foster understanding and empathy. To you, my internet friends, I can only send my love and support. I want you to know that you have that at least.

SillyRabbit wrote:

I just want to throw in a little love and support to hopefully balance some of the hate. I don't know what more to do, other than to always stand up for the LGBTQ community every chance I get in meat space, and to try to foster understanding and empathy. To you, my internet friends, I can only send my love and support. I want you to know that you have that at least.

Dear Webmaster,
This is a polite request for more likes. I'm gonna need, like, a million? Two million? What have you got?
All the likes.

Thanks,
Mix

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA
Tonya Harvey, 35, Buffalo, NY

Catherine Lhamon, who led the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights during the Obama administration, said the new school-restroom policy is legally dubious.

“Until now, the official position of the Department has been that Title IX protects all students and that they were evaluating how that protection applies to the issue of bathroom access,” she said in an email to BuzzFeed News. “This new categorical bar of civil rights protection for transgender children required to attend schools every day ignores the text of the law, courts' interpretation of the law, the stated position of the Department to date, and human decency.”

The Education Department’s stance conflicts with two federal appeals courts, which held that Title IX guarantees transgender students’ access to restrooms matching their gender identity. Lower courts have been divided on the matter.

Although Hill said “the law says” transgender student restroom complaints aren’t covered by Title IX, the law does not say that.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 says it bans discrimination "on the basis of sex" in publicly funded education settings. Does that exclude transgender restroom disputes? The plain text of the law, as some federal judges have noted, does not answer the question. It’s ambiguous, they say. The term "sex” — including in the law concerning separate restrooms — is not defined as referring to gender identity or a person’s sex as identified at birth.

But insofar as Title IX needs clarity, the highest courts in the United States to contemplate the law’s scope found it does, in fact, confer transgender students the right to use public school restrooms matching their gender identity.

Federal appeals courts for the 6th Circuit and 7th Circuit both suspended school restroom policies, ruling that transgender students were likely to prevail at trial using claims under Title IX.

Most recently, in May 2017, a unanimous three-judge panel for 7th Circuit wrote in Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District that a “policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender non‐conformance, which in turn violates Title IX."

The policy they're turning around was forced by the courts. The Obama administration didn't fabricate it out of whole cloth, they provided guidance because the courts ruled for trans rights again and again. This is just... ugh.

How many constitutional crises are we up to now? Department of Education is, in part, responsible for enforcing and overseeing Title IX. The courts have determined what that means and DeptEd is saying, naaaaaaah.

*headdesk*

I want to share a story here, because I figure we could all use some good news, some positive stories. This story has been showing up in several of my medical press reviews, which are in French, but I'll just link the abstract of the original case report in the medical journal Transgender Health.
In short, thanks to the wonders of science, a 30 year old transgender woman was able to successfully breastfeed her child (all the French papers have been reporting incorrectly that her partner gave birth to the child, but as I read the case report now, the child's adopt - all of that is immaterial though). She was the sole source of nourishment for her child for 6 weeks, and the kid is, of course, in very good health. The child is now six months, and she still BF's with some supplementation (which is pretty common). She wanted to breastfeed her child and she was able to, she had concerns she was able to express to healthcare professionals who met those, I just think that's nice.

The only note I'll give is to say that she's not at all the first. Lots of trans women have induced lactation, generally with the aid of domperidone. I've actually been through the induction protocol myself in an effort to aid breast development. I didn't induce lactation fully, but I did develop some additional fullness.

In fact, I got the idea from a friend who was doing the same thing, and did in fact induce lactation.

And that friend got the idea from another friend who induced lactation for the purposes of breastfeeding, which she did.

Lactating is one thing, and can happen as a side effect of some medication. In this case, she was exclusively breastfeeding her infant, which is no small feat, for any mother. You're absolutely right that she isn't the first one (I suspected as much but had no evidence), this is just the first published case report. Hopefully, it'll go a long way to counter the naysayers ("Nope, just can't be done" "um, it can and it has"). What can I say, I'm feeling optimistic today.

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA
Tonya Harvey, 35, Buffalo, NY
Celine Walker, 36, Jacksonville, FL
Phylicia Mitchell, 46, Cleveland, OH
Zakaria Fry, 28, Albuquerque, NM

Secret Little Haven

Alex Cole is a teenage trans girl in 1999 who has yet to figure herself out. She spends much of her free time on the internet, browsing a fan forum for her favorite magical girl show, and chatting with her friends… Join her on her story of self-discovery through friendship and media as she explores her computer for the treasures and curiosities of the early internet.

[CW: Parental conflict, gaslighting, flashing visuals]

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA
Tonya Harvey, 35, Buffalo, NY
Celine Walker, 36, Jacksonville, FL
Phylicia Mitchell, 46, Cleveland, OH
Zakaria Fry, 28, Albuquerque, NM
Hope Verbeeck, 17, Key Biscayne, FL

17....

f*ck.

Feels valuable that a fairly conservative business publication (Crain's) ran an article on the value of using correct preferred pronouns.

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, North Adams, MA
Viccky Gutierrez, 33, Los Angeles, CA
Amelia Perry, 26, Somerville, MA
Tonya Harvey, 35, Buffalo, NY
Celine Walker, 36, Jacksonville, FL
Phylicia Mitchell, 46, Cleveland, OH
Zakaria Fry, 28, Albuquerque, NM
Hope Verbeeck, 17, Key Biscayne, FL
Amia Tyrae Berryman, 28, Baton Rouge, LA