Transphobia

Jonathan Kay

Transphobe Jonathan Kay, the Canadian editor for Quillette, was formerly a blogger for the National Post. Transphobic collusion among { National Post | Quillette | Jonathan Kay } manifests in the following disingenuous "debate" - which somehow involves Jonathan Kay defending Meghan Murphy.

[NationalPost.com, 2019-12-02] Speaking of gender: A National Post debate about gender identity and free speech  |  local copy  |  Includes transwoman Mercedes Allen

Jordan Bernt Peterson

Likewise, this National Post "free speech" disinformation piece masquerading as a documentary features the notorious transphobic troll Jordan Peterson.

[2019-11-13] Beyond Jordan Peterson: Free Speech on Campus. [Source]

• COMMENT (Persagen).  The associated description [disinformation] - citing Trump - conflates limits on hate speech as state/institution-sponsored "attacks" on free speech ...

• Additional description here [CalgaryHerald.ca, 2019-11-13]:  Beyond Jordan Peterson: A National Post investigation into the state of free speech on campuses

Jordan Peterson's Wikipedia page includes the following statements, conveniently omitted from the descriptions for that transphobic National Post "documentary."

Jordan Peterson: Transphobia

"In 2016, Jordan Peterson released a series of YouTube videos criticizing the Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (Bill C-16), passed by the Parliament of Canada to introduce "gender identity and expression" as a prohibited grounds of discrimination. Jordan Peterson argued that the bill would make the use of certain gender pronouns into compelled speech, and related this argument to a general critique of political correctness and identity politics. He subsequently received significant media coverage, attracting both support and criticism."

Jordan Peterson: Transphobia: Bill C-16

[Wikipedia: Bill C-16]  On September 27, 2016, Jordan Peterson released the first installment of a three-part lecture video series, entitled "Professor against political correctness: Part I: Fear and the Law." In the video, he stated he would not use the preferred gender pronouns of students and faculty, saying it fell under compelled speech, and announced his objection to the Canadian government's Bill C-16, which proposed to add "gender identity or expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and to similarly expand the definitions of promoting genocide and publicly inciting hatred in the hate speech laws in Canada.

He stated his objection to the bill was based on potential free-speech implications if the Criminal Code is amended, claiming he could then be prosecuted under provincial human-rights laws if he refuses to call a transgender student or faculty member by the individual's preferred pronoun. Furthermore, he argued the new amendments, paired with section 46.3 of the Ontario Human Rights Code, would make it possible for employers and organizations to be subject to punishment under the code if any employee or associate says anything that can be construed "directly or indirectly" as offensive, "whether intentionally or unintentionally." According to law professor Brenda Cossman and others, this interpretation of C-16 is mistaken, and the law does not criminalize misuse of pronouns.

The series of videos drew criticism from transgender activists, faculty, and labour unions; critics accused Jordan Peterson of "helping to foster a climate for hate to thrive" and of "fundamentally mischaracterizing" the law. Protests erupted on campus, some including violence, and the controversy attracted international media attention. When asked in September 2016 if he would comply with the request of a student to use a preferred pronoun, Jordan Peterson said "it would depend on how they asked me. ... If I could detect that there was a chip on their shoulder, or that they were asking me with political motives, then I would probably say no.... If I could have a conversation like the one we're having now, I could probably meet them on an equal level." Two months later, the National Post published an op-ed by Jordan Peterson in which he elaborated on his opposition to the bill, saying that gender-neutral singular pronouns were "at the vanguard of a post-modern, radical leftist ideology that I detest, and which is, in my professional opinion, frighteningly similar to the Marxist doctrines that killed at least 100 million people in the 20th century."

In response to the controversy, academic administrators at the University of Toronto sent Jordan Peterson two letters of warning, one noting free speech had to be made in accordance with human rights legislation, and the other adding that his refusal to use the preferred personal pronouns of students and faculty upon request could constitute discrimination. Jordan Peterson speculated that these warning letters were leading up to formal disciplinary action against him, but in December the university assured him he would retain his professorship, and in January 2017 he returned to teach his psychology class at the University of Toronto.

In February 2017, Maxime Bernier, candidate for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, stated he shifted his position on Bill C-16, from support to opposition, after meeting with Jordan Peterson and discussing it. Jordan Peterson's analysis of the bill was also frequently cited by senators who were opposed to its passage. In April 2017, Jordan Peterson was denied a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant for the first time in his career, which he interpreted as retaliation for his statements regarding Bill C-16. However, a media-relations adviser for SSHRC said, "Committees assess only the information contained in the application." In response, Rebel News launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign on Jordan Peterson's behalf, raising C$195,000 by its end on May 6, equivalent to over two years of research funding. In May 2017, as one of 24 witnesses who were invited to speak about the bill, Jordan Peterson spoke against Bill C-16 at a Canadian Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs hearing.

In November 2017, Lindsay Shepherd, the teaching assistant of a Wilfrid Laurier University first-year communications course, was censured by her professors for showing, during a classroom discussion about pronouns, a segment of The Agenda in which Jordan Peterson debates Bill C-16 with another professor. The reasons given for the censure included the clip creating a "toxic climate," being compared to a "speech by Hitler," and being itself in violation of Bill C-16. The censure was later withdrawn and both the professors and the university formally apologized. The events were cited by Jordan Peterson, as well as several newspaper editorial boards and national newspaper columnists as illustrative of the suppression of free speech on university campuses. In June 2018, Jordan Peterson filed a $1.5-million lawsuit against Wilfrid Laurier University, arguing that three staff members of the university had maliciously defamed him by making negative comments about him behind closed doors. As of September 2018, Wilfrid Laurier had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it was ironic for a purported advocate of free speech to attempt to curtail free speech.

Meghan Murphy

Meghan Emily Murphy is a Canadian writer, journalist, and founder of Feminist Current, a feminist website and podcast. Her writing, speeches, and talks have criticized third-wave feminism, male feminists, the sex industry, exploitation of women in mass media, censorship, and gender identity legislation.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Meghan Murphy has written for CBC News,   The Globe and Mail, the National Post,   rabble.ca, the New Statesman, and Quillette, among other media outlets.

Regarding the publications publishing Meghan Murphy's vitriolic rhetoric, Quillette is an infamous disinformation site rife with homophobia, transphobia, anti-theism, misogyny, pseudo-science (including climate change denial); racism; ... [It is therefore not surprising, noting e.g., the following propaganda piece, that Quillette is also favored by the Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.]

Canadian transphobe Meghan Murphy is a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) with a long history of opposition to transgender activism.

CBC.ca, for example, has provided a platform for the notorious trans-exclusionary radical feminist  (TERF)  Meghan Murphy.

Despite numerous controversies and clashes between Megan Murphy and transgender rights and gender identity rights activists, the CBC.ca   continues [2021-10-12] to include a bio landing page for Murphy, and link to Murphy's trans-exclusionary radical feminist feminist website.

Meghan Murphy: Political Views

Meghan Murphy self-identifies as a socialist feminist.

Meghan Murphy: Opposition to Transgender Activism

Meghan Murphy contributed as an editor and writer for Canadian online magazine rabble.ca beginning in 2011. In 2015, Murphy challenged a photograph of Laverne Cox's nude body in a magazine as being "defined by a patriarchal/porn culture, through plastic surgery" and "a sexualized object for public consumption." In response, a Change.org petition was created in May 2015 by sex workers' lobby group Maggie's Toronto, accusing her of racism and using transphobic language, and demanding that rabble.ca end Murphy's association with the site. The petition was countered by a collective open letter in solidarity with Murphy signed by 22 international feminist organizations and over 215 individuals. The Change.org petition was rejected by rabble. However, in October 2016 Murphy quit rabble.ca after an article critical of the language Planned Parenthood had used to address women, referring to them as "menstruators",had been published and then removed without informing her. Editor Michael Stewart felt that it had used transphobic language and gone against rabble's journalistic policy. In an email to Murphy, rabble's publisher, Kim Elliott, stated that "the piece denied the gendered identity of trans men who menstruate by implying that if a person has ovaries and a uterus, they are by virtue of those biological markers, a woman."

Meghan Murphy: Opposition to Gender Identity Legislation

Meghan Murphy is critical of gender identity legislation. In May 2017, Murphy appeared before the Canadian Senate, together with Hilla Kerner of the Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter, to oppose Bill C-16, which encoded gender identity and gender expression into Canadian law. Meghan Murphy told the Canadian Senate: "Treating gender as though it is either internal or a personal choice is dangerous and completely misunderstands how and why women are oppressed under patriarchy as a class of people ... The rights of women and girls are being pushed aside to accommodate a trend."

In 2019, Meghan Murphy was invited to speak before the Scottish Parliament regarding gender identity laws and their impact on women's rights. At their public meeting in London, she told Woman's Place UK, "I see no empathy for women and girls on the part of trans activists, that is to say, those pushing gender identity ideology and legislation. What I see is bullying, threats, ostracization, and a misogynist backlash against the feminist movement and much of the work it's accomplished over years." In an interview with The Scotsman regarding her views about transgender rights legislation, Murphy stated the following.

I'm not interested in stopping anyone having surgery or hormones if they feel that's making their lives better, and certainly people should be able to wear what they want and express themselves in ways that make them feel fulfilled and living authentic lives. But once it became about laws and legislation and gender replacing sex it became clear to me that this would have a real impact on women's rights and spaces.

Meghan Murphy has faced criticism due to her opposition to the establishment of transgender rights legislation, which has led to her being called "anti-transgender" by her opponents.

Meghan Murphy: Twitter Ban and Lawsuit

In late 2018, Twitter changed its policy on hateful conduct and harassment to officially prohibit intentionally calling a trans person by the wrong pronouns or using their pre-transition names. Beginning in August 2018, Murphy stated that her Twitter account was locked more than once after she tweeted about issues involving transwomen. Twitter permanently suspended Murphy's account in late November 2018, after she referred to Jessica Yaniv, a transwoman, as "him." On February 11, 2019, Murphy filed a lawsuit against Twitter in response to her banning. The suit was dismissed in early June 2019, but Murphy stated that she intended to file an appeal.

Meghan Murphy: Public Appearances and Protests

Meghan Murphy's public appearances have been subject to protests in Canada, notably in Vancouver and Toronto. In both cities, LGBTQ organizations have also criticized public libraries for allowing Murphy to book space for public appearances. Mayor of Toronto John Tory announced that he was "disappointed" in the library's decision to host Murphy's event, and said that the "highest of standards" should be set to ensure that "offensive commentary" is not hosted in city facilities. Official Opposition Culture Critic Jill Andrew,  a queer-identifying member of the Ontario New Democratic Party Black Caucus, also objected to the event, saying "As a proud member of Toronto's queer community, I stand in solidarity with LGBTQ folks, as well as with local writers and members of the literary community who are standing up to oppose the Toronto Public Library's decision" to host "a person who publicly espouses hate speech."

Tory asked City Librarian Vickery Bowles to reconsider the decision to permit Murphy's appearance. In response to the statements by the mayor, Murphy said, "It is unconscionable that the mayor of Toronto would attempt to pressure the Toronto Public Library to cancel this event...What I am saying is not controversial, and certainly is not hateful ... We deserve space for this conversation and our concerns deserve respect." Bowles defended the approval to host the event, noting that "Murphy has never been charged with or convicted of hate speech."

... On January 21, 2020, Joe Rogan said he would "probably" vote for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic primary, adding, "He's been insanely consistent his entire life." Sanders was criticized by fellow Democrats for touting Rogan's endorsement during the 2020 presidential campaign, including by MoveOn, which referred to Rogan as "someone known for promoting transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and misogyny." The Human Rights Campaign called on Bernie Sanders to reject Rogan's endorsement. ...

... Rogan has been an outspoken critic of transwomen fighting cisgender women in MMA matches. ...

J.K. Rowling

Joanne K. "J.K." Rowling CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (/ˈroʊlɪŋ/ ROH-ling; born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, television producer, and screenwriter. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

J.K. Rowling: Transphobia

In December 2019, J.K. Rowling tweeted her support for , a British woman who initially lost her employment tribunal case (Maya Forstater v Centre for Global Development) but won on appeal against her former employer, the Center for Global Development, after her contract was not renewed due to her comments about transgender people.

On 6 June 2020, Rowling tweeted criticism of the phrase "people who menstruate", and stated "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives." Rowling's tweets were criticised by GLAAD, who called them "cruel" and "anti-trans." Some members of the cast of the Harry Potter film series criticised Rowling's views or spoke out in support of trans rights, including Daniel Radcliffe,   Emma Watson,   Rupert Grint,   Bonnie Wright, and Katie Leung, as did Fantastic Beasts lead actor Eddie Redmayne and the fansites MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron. Actress Noma Dumezweni (who played Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) initially expressed support for Rowling but backtracked following backlash.

On 10 June 2020, Rowling published a 3,600-word essay on her website in response to the criticism. Rowling again wrote that many women consider terms like "people who menstruate" to be demeaning. She said that she was a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault, and stated that "When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman ... then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside" [Comment: classic transphobic "Bathroom Predator Myth" / meme], while stating that most trans people were vulnerable and deserved protection. Following up into who is at risk in women's toilets, Reuters stated that it was transwomen who were more vulnerable, and that 200 municipalities which allowed trans people to use women's shelters reported no rise in any violence as a result. Rowling's essay was criticised by, among others, the children's charity Mermaids (who support transgender and gender non-conforming children and their parents) and the feminist gender theorist   Judith Butler. Rowling has been referred to as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) on multiple occasions, though she rejects the label. Rowling has received support from actors Robbie Coltrane and Brian Cox, and some feminists, such as activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali and radical feminist   Julie Bindel. The essay was nominated by the BBC for their annual Russell Prize for best writing.

In August 2020, Rowling returned her Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award after Kerry Kennedy released a statement expressing her "profound disappointment" in Rowling's "attacks upon the transgender community", which Kennedy called "inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and ... a repudiation of my father's vision." Rowling stated that she was "deeply saddened" by Kennedy's statement, but maintained that no award would encourage her to "forfeit the right to follow the dictates" of her conscience.

Daniel Radcliffe: Response to J.K. Rowling

Additional Reading: J.K. Rowling's Transphobia

Transphobic Persons - Canadian Politics

Robert J. Anders

• MP Rob Anders Criticized Over "Bathroom Bill" Comments.  Transgender community not happy with Calgary politician.

• [Vice.com, 2017-05-29] Andrew Scheer Will Oppose Transgender Rights, Fight Gun Regulations, Fund Homeschooling.  Everything You Want To Know About Where the New Conservative Party Leader Stands on the Issues.

Transphobia in the Trump Administration

Transphobia in U.S. State Governments

Idaho

[ ... snip ... ]

The Alliance Defending Freedom in part helped kick off the trend of anti-trans legislation. In Idaho - which in 2020 became the first state to enact a ban on trans kids' sports participation - the lawmaker who spearheaded the bill said the group played a pivotal role in reframing and advancing the legislation. Idaho State Representative Barbara Ehardt (R-ID) told Imara Jones  [Wikipedia: Imara Jones] of TransLash Media that when she [Barbara Ehardt] felt she hit a dead-end when trying to draft the bill, she reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom. "Then they decided that they were going to get more serious about this legislation. And then we completely changed it. And this is where you see what, of course, many are using now in these other states," Barbara Ehardt said. The law was blocked by a federal judge and never went into effect, but Ehardt - a Republican - has said that it provided a model. "I've been pleased to see how many other states this year have followed and many of them using the exact legislation or maybe slight deviations of what we did here in Idaho," Barbara Ehardt told NPR in 2021-05.

[ ... snip ... ]

Iowa

North Carolina

Texas

• Greg Abbott  (48th Governor of Texas)

In 2017, Texas' failed bathroom bill  [see also: bathroom bills  |  Discrediting the Transphobic "Bathroom Predator" Myth] did not actually reference transgender people anywhere in the text, though the legislation aimed to keep trans people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. North Carolina's infamous 2016 bathroom bill [Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act], which was passed and subsequently repealed after The Associated Press   predicted it would cost the state more than $3.76 billion in boycotts, also never used the word transgender.

• Ken Paxton  (Attorney General of Texas)

On 2022-02-22, in the final days before crowded Republican primaries, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that affirming a transgender young person's gender identity could be considered "child abuse" under Texas law. In essence, Texas is trying to criminalize the love of devoted parents and eradicate the survival opportunities of Texas young people.  [Documents: Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 2022-02-22 letter to DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters, with appended letter from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to Texas State Representative Matt Krause.  |  local copy]

In response to an inquiry from Texas House of Representatives   Matt Krause, Ken Paxton issued a nonbinding opinion from the Office of the Attorney General  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Attorney_General] that gender-affirming medical treatment, "when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse." Greg Abbott then issued a directive to the commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to launch investigations into any instances of what he refers to as "these abusive procedures." Under threat of criminal prosecution, he called on any licensed professionals - including doctors, nurses, and teachers - to report families who affirm their transgender children for potential investigation.

These opinions from Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton set off a wave of panic among transgender youth, their families, their medical providers, and allied communities across the country. Even though neither document is binding on either the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or the courts, the Texas political leadership has made parents terrified to send their children to school, to take them to the doctor, and to remain in the state. And even if no legitimate investigation can be born of these political acts by Abbott and Paxton, they have already transformed life for transgender Texans and their families. There is a precariousness that comes with knowing you are being surveilled and that your care and love for your child can be the very thing that leads to government efforts to remove them from your home.

[ ... snip ... ]

This latest escalation from Texas' leading lawmakers comes in the middle of a national crisis of legislative attacks on transgender young people. So far in 2022, over 100 bills have been introduced across the country, many of them similarly targeting health care for transgender minors. Just 24 hours after Ken PaxtonPaxton and Greg Abbott's announcements in Texas, the Alabama House passed a bill that would make treating a transgender adolescent with gender-affirming medical care a felony. Similar bills are pending in Ohio, Oklahoma, Idaho, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Tennessee. Last year [2021], the Arkansas General Assembly passed a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors, overriding Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson's veto within 24 hours. Thankfully, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the law before it could go into effect, but the case is on appeal, and young people and their families are worried about their futures in their home state. When Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who signed many other pieces of anti-trans legislation that year [2021], vetoed the bill that would ultimately become law, he explained in a subsequent The Washington Post editorial.

It is undisputed that the number of minors who struggle with gender incongruity or gender dysphoria is extremely small. But they, too, deserve the guiding hand of their parents and the counseling of medical specialists in making the best decisions for their individual needs. >

H.B. 1570  [Arkansas House Bill 1570 (2021)] puts Arkansas as the definitive oracle of medical care - overriding parents, patients and health-care experts. While in some instances the state must act to protect life, the state should not presume to jump into the middle of every medical, human and ethical issue. This would be - and is - a vast government overreach.

The same politicians touting small government and parental rights are now advancing severe intrusions into the family. Because ultimately this is not about small government or parental rights, but about control - control over people's bodies, autonomy, families, and survival. There is a long history in this country of separating families. It was not an aberrant policy of the Trump administration but a central legacy of this country [United States] that continues in multiple forms today. From deliberately ripping apart enslaved families to forcibly removing Indigenous children to separating immigrant families at the border to removing transgender children from their homes, this is a long, interconnected, and enduring practice. It is incumbent upon us not to be swayed by rhetoric of safety, care, and protection and to instead rise up in solidarity with those feeling the cruel physical and emotional impacts of being terrorized by the state.

[ ... snip ... ]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday [2021-10-25] signed a bill that would ban K-12 transgender students from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity - the first such bill to become law in the state, after dozens of similar bills were introduced and debated over three special legislative sessions. The bill is the first piece of anti-trans legislation in Texas to actually become law in recent years. The state's effort to restrict trans Texans' bathroom usage failed to reach the governor's desk in 2017 after a similarly intense special session. Texas is now the ninth state this year to pass legislation restricting how trans athletes can join school sports. LGBTQ+ advocates are worried about the direct aftermath of the bill, which could subject trans students in interscholastic sports to scrutiny and harassment, as well as the potential for similar bills targeting trans youth to become law in Texas if another special session is called.

[ ... snip ... ]

Even before the passage of Texas' law targeting K-12 sports, the debate over anti-trans bills has caused increased bullying and mental health crises across the state, advocates say. ... Advocates have repeatedly warned that rhetoric surrounding the bills, which characterizes trans girls as boys and in Texas has devolved into arguments over what "transgender" and "cisgender" mean, could also spur violent and potentially deadly attacks against trans people - although more research is needed to understand a direct link. ...

[ ... snip ... ]

In a statement that could also signal the future of anti-trans bills in Texas, Abbott supporters at a Kingwood Tea Party meeting on Tuesday night [2021-10-26] that laws targeting trans youth will be advanced in "every single session that we have." The governor's office declined to comment and Abbott's campaign office did not respond to a request for comment.

Other bills previously introduced in Texas across this year's special sessions have aimed to classify gender-affirming treatments like hormones and surgeries as child abuse and ban puberty blockers provided by a physician. Some of those bills died in the House or were reintroduced in the third special session but did not move forward.

Two issues are top of mind for advocates if the governor again lists bills targeting trans youth as a priority: efforts to restrict people's ability to update gender markers on birth certificates and bans on gender-affirming care for minors. "We have also seen that his supporters have expressed desire for the sports ban to also begin to encroach into collegiate level sports," Schelling said via text, referencing a reported Q&A during the Kingwood Tea Party meeting. "I wouldn't rule anything out."

Although many states have introduced bills targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth, nearly every anti-trans bill that has actually made it into law this year has been about sports. Arkansas' law criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors was temporarily blocked by a judge in July and is still working through the courts, as the state appealed the injunction in September 2021. In contrast, birth certificates have been at the core of debate surrounding the new law on K-12 sports in Texas - and some lawmakers, like Republican state Sen. Charles Perry, have previously introduced bills that would keep minors from updating their birth certificates to match their gender identity.

[ ... snip ... ]

Texas has appealed a judge's order that blocked Texas from investigating the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl for providing her with gender-affirming medical treatments that Governor Greg Abbott  [Travis County, Texas] to halt Texas' probe of the family. Greg Abbott last month [2022-01] directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to conduct such investigations, citing a non-binding legal opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that concluded some medical treatments used to help transgender youth transition away from their birth gender could constitute child abuse.

[ ... snip ... ]

Greg Abbott, a Republican running this year [2022] for a third term in office, is named as a defendant in the court challenge - along with DFPS and its Commissioner, Jaime Masters  [local copy].

[ ... snip ... ]

Anti-trans rhetoric in Texas has grown louder in the past few weeks. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton - who broke bread with Amber Briggle's family years back - issued an opinion that likened gender-affirming surgery - a procedure that gives transgender people a body that aligns with their gender identity - to child abuse. Days later, Texas Governor Greg Abbott doubled down with a letter calling on professionals, including teachers and doctors, to report parents who give their children gender-affirming care. The letter added that there would be similar reporting requirements for the general public, and consequences for those who don't report those parents.

The letter and the opinion don't hold legal ground, ACLU says

But Adri Pérez  [local copy], a Policy and Advocacy Strategist at the ACLU of Texas  [American Civil Liberties Union  |  LGBT rights in Texas], emphasized that neither Texas Governor Greg Abbott's letter nor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opinion are legally binding. No one has a legal duty to report someone receiving gender-affirming care, they added. "They have no legal effect, and they cannot curtail anyone's constitutional rights," Adri Pérez told NPR. "The attorney general and the governor can share their opinions, but it is just their partisan opinion that have been created to target transgender kids and their families." But the message is clear, said Emmett Schelling  [local copy  |  ACLU of Texas profile  |  local copy], the executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas. "The state leadership has said, 'We would rather see dead children ... instead of happy, loved, supported, thriving trans kids that are alive and well,'" Emmett Schelling told NPR.

Texas, among other states, has seen lawmakers propose dozens of anti-LGBTQ bills.  More than 40 proposed anti-LGBT bills in Texas targeted trans and nonbinary youth in 2021. As states pushed to criminalize gender-affirming care, the American Medical Association  [Wikipedia: American Medical Association] sent a letter to governors in 2021-04 urging them to oppose state laws that would ban gender transition-related care. The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement Thursday [2022-02-24] expressing its ongoing support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Anti-LGBT bills take a toll on the mental health of trans kids

In 2022-11, the Texas Legislature   passed a bill barring transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams and barring transgender boys from playing on boys sports teams. The law went into effect in 2022-01, making Texas the 10th state to enact similar legislation. And as conversations mounted, The Trevor Project  [Wikipedia: The Trevor Project] - an organization dedicated to suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth - received more than 10,800 total crisis calls, texts and chats from LGBTQ youth in Texas looking for support between 2021-01-01 and 2021-08-30. More than a third of those crisis contacts came from transgender or nonbinary youth.

[ ... snip ... ]

The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill that bans transgender women and girls from participating in female school sports after three previous attempts failed, all but assuring Republican Governor Greg Abbott will sign it into law. Texas is now poised to join seven other states that passed similar laws this year, part of a national campaign in which Republican legislators introduced such bills in 32 states. Conservatives say the law, which applies to public school teams through high school, are protecting fair competition. "We need a statewide level playing field," bill sponsor Texas State Representative Valoree Swanson (R-TX) said during the debate.

Equal rights activists have said there is no evidence that transwomen and girls are dominating sports. Ricardo Martinez, chief executive of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Texas, called passage of the bill a "hateful, targeted attack on transgender people." Political analysts say the campaign is meant to animate hard-core Republican supporters. "There's no evidence that there's a problem. This is red meat for the base," said Robert Stein, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.

While the Texas Senate passed a companion bill, three previous House versions of the legislation stalled in the public education committee, which has a Democratic chairman. Republicans then created a new version of the bill and sent it through a select committee they control, enabling it to pass the full House late Thursday. The bill has gone back to the Senate for procedural approval and is expected to reach Greg Abbott's desk.

Texas Republicans have passed a very conservative agenda this year, including new laws that make it more difficult to vote, all but ban abortion, and do away with the need for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. "Like a lot of other things in Texas politics right now, this is selling mainly to very ideologically driven voters in the Republican Party. These are the voters that show up for Republican primaries," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas.

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia have passed similar transgender sports legislation, and South Dakota's governor signed an executive order. Some of these face legal challenges. Idaho passed a similar law last year that has been blocked by a federal court, and a federal court in July ruled that an 11-year-old West Virginia trans girl must be allowed to try out for the girls' track and cross-country teams at her school.

"Erasure" Anti-Transgender Tactic

Over three special legislative sessions this year [2021], Texas legislators introduced 47 proposed bills that aimed to restrict transgender kids' access to sports or gender-affirming care, plus three bills that would block birth certificate updates for minors. The word "transgender" didn't appear in any of them.

Proponents of the bills in Texas, which brought triple the number of anti-trans bills this year of any other state, also rarely reference trans people during debate, even though the legislation is about what trans kids can and cannot do. Instead, they use language that categorizes trans girls as boys by using sex assigned at birth to define gender identity.

More anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2021 than in any previous year on record.   The 19th reviewed the text of 102 bills in seven states that were primarily designed to restrict access to sports or gender-affirming care for trans youth, like hormones and puberty blockers, and only seven bills mentioned the word "transgender." Only eight passed, primarily those focused on sports, although legal battles in several states have barred most from going into effect.

While Texas introduced the most anti-trans legislation in 2021, six other states considered at least seven bills. In Iowa (10 bills) and Montana (seven bills), the word transgender is not mentioned. In Tennessee, 12 bills were introduced, and only one - which would block state-approved textbooks that mention LGBTQ+ people - acknowledges trans people.

In West Virginia (seven bills) and Arkansas (seven bills), the only reference to transgender people is to cite a 2019 study on how gender-affirming treatment affects muscle mass in sports competitions. Missouri is a notable exception: Two failed bills, out of nine in that state, referenced trans men and women.

Lawmakers' arguments in support of these bills stress that girls must be protected from losing opportunities in sports against "biological men." That idea displays deep-seated assumptions about gender, as transwomen are portrayed as a threat to cisgender girls' academic and economic opportunities. As this argument has been repeated across the country, trans people and LGBTQ+ advocates tell The 19th that their existence is being called into question.

This approach isn't new, but advocates say it has evolved in recent years.

In 2017, Texas' failed bathroom bill  [see also: bathroom bills  |  Discrediting the Transphobic "Bathroom Predator" Myth] did not actually reference transgender people anywhere in the text, though the legislation aimed to keep trans people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. North Carolina's infamous 2016 bathroom bill [Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act], which was passed and subsequently repealed after The Associated Press   predicted it would cost the state more than $3.76 billion in boycotts, also never used the word transgender.

In 2018, residents in Anchorage, Alaska, weighed a similar measure  [2018 Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, Proposition 1] to restrict bathroom access. The question needed 2,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, and the American Civil Liberties Union circulated a competing "decline to sign" in support of trans people.

The ACLU discovered that 150 voters signed both petitions, many unwittingly, they told reporters at LGBTQ+ outlet INTO. That was in part because canvassers for the ballot measure asked questions like: "Do you want men in your little girl's bathrooms in elementary schools?"

LGBTQ+ advocates say the decision to exclude the word "transgender" in policies that directly shape trans lives has been intentional and strategic.

Scott McCoy, the interim deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, believes that the decision to avoid the word "transgender" as it was done in Alaska's bathroom bill is partially a tactic to deceive voters. "They're totally mixing the issues. When a transwomen uses the women's room, that's not a man going into the women's room," he said.

"I think it's a lot more simple than we want to admit," said Emmett Schelling, executive director for the Transgender Education Network of Texas  [TENT;  website]. "If we refuse to name, or even recognize the existence of something, then ... understanding is negated." By not acknowledging transgender people's existence in legislation or rhetoric that affects them, Schelling said, proponents of these bills make it impossible for them to also acknowledge potential harms. "Like, 'I'm not saying that they're not happening, I'm actually going a step further and I'm saying, 'You don't exist, so it can't happen.' There is something deeply disturbing about that," he said.

While most of the bills in Texas didn't advance, one that became law, House Bill 25, bans K-12 trans kids from playing in sports that match their gender identity. Republican Texas State Representative Valoree Swanson introduced the bill, and when she was pressed by lawmakers about negative effects the bill could have, she denied that the bill had anything to do with trans youth. It was, she said, not about gender at all but about "biological sex."

Swanson referred to transgender women as "biological men" in committee hearings and debates throughout the year's special sessions. She said in an 2021-10-14hearing that Texas' regulatory body for high school athletics was unable to provide lawmakers with a current count of trans athletes in the state. During that hearing on the athletic ban, Texas State Representative Mary González (D-TX), a Democrat, asked Swanson: "So you're okay with creating an invisibility which we know creates mental harm of people of different gender identities?"

[ ... snip ... ]

Within that right-leaning content, words like "biological male," "women's sports," "biological men" and "gender identity" are frequently used to describe trans people - instead of the word transgender. Advocates fear this kind of language drives violent and potentially deadly attacks against transwomen of color.

[ ... snip ... ]

Gillian Branstetter  [Press Secretary, National Women's Law Center] believes the language truly took hold during the Trump administration, when the United States Department of Health and Human Services in 2018 led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to define gender "as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth," The New York Times   reported at the time.

[ ... snip ... ]

"I think they've just really effectively reframed their argument in a way that allows people to have these kinds of transphobic perspectives because they've removed the word transgender from all of this, so they're like, oh, no, but it's really about boys playing girls."

In 2014, the Alliance Defending Freedom released an internal style guide  [local copy] advising against the use of the word "transgender" - according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which republished the document in 2018, and labels Alliance Defending Freedom an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group. Alliance Defending Freedom spokesperson Ellie Wittman  [local copy] said Alliance Defending Freedom no longer uses that style, but did not comment further.

Still, current actions by Alliance Defending Freedom suggests it has not changed policy with regards to use of "transgender." A website sponsored by Alliance Defending Freedom and other groups to generate anti-trans legislation offers "model policy " that avoids the word "transgencer."

The Alliance Defending Freedom in part helped kick off the trend of anti-trans legislation. In Idaho - which in 2020 became the first state to enact a ban on trans kids' sports participation - the lawmaker who spearheaded the bill said the group played a pivotal role in reframing and advancing the legislation. Idaho State Representative Barbara Ehardt (R-ID) told Imara Jones  [Wikipedia: Imara Jones] of TransLash Media that when she [Barbara Ehardt] felt she hit a dead-end when trying to draft the bill, she reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom. "Then they decided that they were going to get more serious about this legislation. And then we completely changed it. And this is where you see what, of course, many are using now in these other states," Barbara Ehardt said. The law was blocked by a federal judge and never went into effect, but Ehardt - a Republican - has said that it provided a model. "I've been pleased to see how many other states this year have followed and many of them using the exact legislation or maybe slight deviations of what we did here in Idaho," Barbara Ehardt told NPR in 2021-05.

Although advocates say the rhetoric surrounding these bills has ramped up this year, they also stress that trans people have always been up against erasure. Kasey Suffredini, CEO for the LGBTQ+ coalition Freedom for All Americans, said anti-LGBTQ+ activists have used the same tactic against lesbian and gay people. "This isn't a new tactic," Suffredini said in a statement. "During the freedom to marry fight, opponents of marriage for same-sex couples would avoid referring to lesbian, gay and bisexual people as just that, instead describing them as 'people with same-sex attraction.'"

Johnson reflected that beyond legislation, trans people have long faced erasure within their relationships - a nearly universal experience that many trans people face even as that same erasure is being codified by the state. "None of this is new," Johnson said. "How many of us are erased, attempted to be erased by our family and our friends and our co-workers and the societies in which we live in? This is a thing that we all face day to day."

Additional Reading

Florida's Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill Tuesday [2022-03-08] to forbid instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, rejecting a wave of criticism from Democrats that it marginalizes LGBTQ people. The proposal, which opponents have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, now moves to the desk of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law. Since its inception, the measure has drawn intense opposition from LGBTQ advocates, students, national Democrats, the White House, and the entertainment industry. The proposal came amid increased attention on Florida as Republicans push culture war legislation and Ron DeSantis ascends in the GOP as a potential 2024 presidential candidate  [2024 United States presidential election]. "This bill, from its introduction, has been used as vehicle to marginalize and attack LGTBQ people," said Florida Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay. Smith said it "sends a terrible message to our youth that there is something wrong with LGBTQ people, that there is something so dangerous or inappropriate about us that we have to be prohibited and censored from the classroom."

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics in schools

The "Don't Say Gay" bill states: "Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." Parents would be able to sue districts over violations. Republican Florida Representative Joe Harding - who sponsored the measure - and other GOP lawmakers in Florida have argued that parents should be broaching these subjects with their children, rather than educators. It would not bar spontaneous discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools but instead is intended to prevent districts from integrating the subjects into official curriculum, Joe Harding and supporters have said. "I know how important it is to empower parents in this relationship. I want to encourage parents across Florida to own it," said Florida Senator Dennis Baxley, a Republican who carried the bill in the Florida Senate. "They're your kids, and it is tough - it's tough to figure out what influences will be on them and what kinds of decisions they will make and how that all comes out."




Republican Florida Senator Dennis Baxley, right, sponsor of a bill, during a legislative session at the Florida State Capitol before it was passed.  [Source]

Bill sparks protests

Democrats have often said the "Don't Say Gay" bill's language - particularly the phrases "classroom instruction" and "age appropriate" - could be interpreted broadly enough that discussion in any grade could trigger lawsuits from parents and therefore could create a classroom atmosphere where teachers would avoid the subjects. Statewide, the bill has sparked a swell of protests and student walkouts. Dozens of students and advocates flooded committee rooms during the proposal's early stages and then packed into the halls of the Florida Legislature as it moved toward final passage - often with chants of "We say gay!" "We have failed as a legislature if hundreds of kids stand outside screaming for their rights and you can't explain to fifth graders and sixth graders and eighth graders simple definitions of your bill. You've failed," said Florida Senator Jason Pizzo, a Democrat. In the bill's early stages, Florida Representative Joe Harding filed an amendment that would have effectively required a school to inform parents if a student came out as LGBTQ to a teacher, renewing widespread condemnation of the measure. Joe Harding withdrew the amendment as it picked up attention in media and online. "Nothing in the amendment was about outing a student. Rather than battle misinformation related to the amendment, I decided to focus on the primary bill that empowers parents to be engaged in their children's lives," Harding said in a statement.

Ron DeSantis has chafed at calling the proposal the "Don't Say Gay" bill because DeSantis said it would apply to instruction on any gender identity or sexual orientation. DeSantis said it was inappropriate for teachers to discuss those issues with children in kindergarten through third grade. "We're going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum," the governor said Monday [2022-03-07]. The White House - which has sparred frequently with DeSantis over a wide range of policy - had previously criticized the measure and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has called it "hateful." On Tuesday [2022-03-08], shortly after the measure passed the Florida statehouse, United States Secretary of Education   Miguel Cardona issued a statement that read "leaders in Florida are prioritizing hateful bills that hurt some of the students most in need." "The [U.S.] Department of Education has made clear that all schools receiving federal funding must follow federal civil rights law, including Title IX's protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity," Cardona wrote. "We stand with our LGBTQ+ students in Florida and across the country, and urge Florida leaders to make sure all their students are protected and supported."




On Tuesday [2022-03-08], Republican members of the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill - dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill  [Florida House Bill 1557 (2022)  |  Florida HB 1557 (2022)  |  local copy  |  Florida Senate Bill 1834 (2022)  |  Florida SB 1834 (2022)  |  local copy] - to forbid discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Demonstrators opposed to the bill gathered near the Florida state capitol on Monday [2022-03-07], in Tallahassee, Florida.  [Source]

---

Disney employees  [The Walt Disney Company] are showing their outrage over the entertainment company's decision not to denounce Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would limit discussion of sexuality and gender in Florida schools. The Florida Senate passed the bill Tuesday [2022-03-08], and it now goes to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' (R-FL) desk. It's the latest effort by Republican lawmakers to remove the teaching of LGBTQ issues from schools.  Florida Senate Bill 1834 (2022)  [Florida SB 1834 (2022)  |  local copy  |  see also: Florida House Bill 1557 (2022)  |  Florida HB 1557 (2022)  |  local copy] reads, "A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels," according to the text.

[ ... snip ... ]

According to the accountability news site Popular Information - [2022-03-08] The inside story of how Disney turned its back on the LGBTQ community - "in the last two years, The Walt Disney Company has donated $197,162 to members of the Florida Legislature that have already voted for the "Don't Say Gay"' legislation," including to sponsors of the bill, Florida Representative Joe Harding (R-FL) and Florida Senator Dennis Baxley (R-FL).

[ ... snip ... ]

On Monday [2022-03-07], Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek wrote in a memo to employees, "I believe the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce and the diverse organizations we support."

[ ... snip ... ]

In 2019-08 - six weeks after Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen joined the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as Deputy Executive Director - news broke that the United States Department of Justice, under President Donald Trump, had asked the Supreme Court of the United States to legalize firing transgender workers on the basis of their gender identity  []. But at one of the moments it was needed most, the nation's premier transgender policy nonprofit organization, which had word shoulder-to-shoulder with presidential administrations, sat empty. Earlier that same day [2019-08], NCTE staff had walked out over the way NCTE treated its employees of color. The incident would prelude the effective dissolution of the storied organization.

By 2019-11, even as states across the country were gearing up to introduce a barrage of anti-transgender bills, NCTE staff were leaving en masse. Facing allegations of racism and union-busting, Mara Keisling - the Executive Director at the time of the walkout - presented employees with a choice: align with leadership (staff had called for their resignation), or take a buyout. Nearly every one of the top trans policy minds in the country severed ties and left. NCTE, the organization that helped secure protections for transgender people in health care, that gave them IDs that reflected who they were, was at risk of folding. As a senior leader, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen was party to the dismissals, which whittled a staff of more than 20 down to just seven. Today, only three people remain from that time, including Heng-Lehtinen, who spoke with The 19th at length about NCTE's efforts to rebuild and re-engage on national policy goals spearheaded by former staff .

Last July [2021-07], Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen was appointed as Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (). Since that time, Heng-Lehtinen has been slowly trying to rebuild NCTE into the policy powerhouse it once was, while breaking the organization of habits that drove out staff members of color, he said. Heng-Lehtinen can hardly afford time, not in terms of anti-trans bills, and not in rebuilding the brand of the organization he now helms. NCTE has historically not only been the largest transgender policy organization in the United States, but in many ways, it is the only one that consistently tackles federal policy. NCTE also publishes the U.S. Transgender Survey - the only comprehensive study of transgender life in the country. Though it does not collect its own robust data on trans people, the U.S. federal government relied on the survey to make policy decisions like issuing gender-affirming passports, protecting transgender people in shelters, and crafting healthcare rules that cover trans people.

After the staff dissolution at the National Center for Transgender Equality, a Monica Roberts accused Mara Keisling of racism against her dating back years. The fallout - which fractured the movement for transgender equality in the United States - hit major media. Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen and his 15-person staff now face the unenviable task of restoring community trust at time when transgender kids are facing unprecedented attacks in state legislatures. In two years, 11 bills banning transgender kids from playing sports have been signed into law, as well as a bill barring doctors from providing trans kids the gender-affirming care recommended by all major medical associations. Yet Heng-Lehtinen is hopeful for the future of NCTE and the future of transgender rights.

[ ... snip ... ]

At its peak, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) laid the groundwork for the most substantial advancements for transgender people in the country's history. NCTE had a hand in nearly every major gain under the Obama administration - from housing to health care to workplace protections to schools. Under the Trump administration, NCTE served as the first line of defense against a blitz of anti-transgender policy moves. When The New York Times reported that the United States Department of Health and Human Services was preparing to legally define trans people out of existence in 2018-10, NCTE launched the now-ubiquitous #WontBeErased campaign to demonstrate the transgender community's resilience.

But allegations of racism against NCTE have eroded community trust. In 2022-01, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen put out a statement conceding what NCTE had long denied: NCTE drove out employees of color. "NCTE - like many nonprofits - was using a totally White-dominant style and not even noticing," Heng-Lehtinen told The 19th. Heng-Lehtinen said past leadership struggled to delegate, leaving junior staffers of color feeling untrusted in their roles. He also said NCTE failed to operate with transparency. In this, Heng-Lehtinen tries to distance himself from Mara Keisling and his predecessors. Mara Keisling did not respond to a request to comment for this article.

While NCTE is working to staff back to full capacity, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen has prioritized diversifying its roster: nine of its 15 staffers are people of color. NCTE has formally recognized its employees union. NCTE is actively partnering with smaller transgender organizations that serve people of color, especially in relaunching its now two-year delayed U.S. Transgender Survey. It's unclear what former staff make of the changes. Seven former employees declined to be interviewed for this piece, some citing a need to continue to seek employment in LGBTQ+ advocacy. Heng-Lehtinen said he has not been in touch with past staff. "I don't want to intrude on someone," he said. "But my door is open."

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a law that bans transgender girls and women in the state from competing in sports according to their gender identity. The measure applies to public schools and private K-12 schools and community colleges as well as colleges and universities affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The law's backers say it's intended to ensure fair competition among girls and women. But opponents call it a discriminatory attempt to sideline transgender students who they say make up a small fraction of athletes in the state and do not pose the competitive threat that supporters claim.

Kimberly Reynolds signed the bill - Iowa House File 2416 (2022)  [local copy] - in the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol, surrounded by young women and fellow Republican lawmakers who support the discriminatory legislation. Reynolds repeated the claim that transgender girls hold a fundamental advantage in female sports. "It worries me that this bill is needed at all. It's hard to imagine how anyone who cares about the rights of women and girls could support anything less," said Reynolds. "No amount of talent, training or effort on their part can make up for the natural, physical advantages males have over females."

Under the law - which takes effect immediately - only cisgender female athletes are allowed to compete in female sports. Transgender girls and women would be forced to play against boys and men. The bill does not address the eligibility of transgender boys, who would be free to compete in male athletics. Ainsley Erzen - a high school track star from Carlisle, Iowa - has been an outspoken proponent of removing transgender girls from girls' sports. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ainsley Erzen said putting the new law into effect sends a message to female athletes.

[ ... snip ... ]

• [RightWingWatch.org, 2022-03-02] Terry Schilling Claims Credit for Texas Gov. Abbott's Anti-Trans Directive.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week [2022-01] directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate gender-affirming health care as "child abuse" and the parents of children who receive such care as perpetrating it. The directive, which was met with alarm by LGBTQ groups, was applauded by Terry Schilling of the American Principles Project, who took credit for Greg Abbott's directive on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast last Thursday [2021-02-24] and thanked the War Room for aiding its pressure campaign on Abbott. "We put together a $750,000 grassroots advocacy campaign with the War Room support, and we put pressure on Greg Abbott right before the election," Terry Schilling said. "It wasn't a coincidence that he did this. And Abbott basically instructed all of his state agencies to treat this as child abuse, and it's now criminal to do this."

Greg Abbott, a champion of the conservative movement, has been accused of not being right-wing enough by the Republican Party's extreme fringes. Such attacks escalated ahead of Tuesday [2022-03-01]'s Republican gubernatorial primary, which Abbott easily won. In Terry Schilling's telling, Greg Abbott has been insufficiently harsh on the LGBTQ community. Under Schilling's leadership, American Principles Project - a religious-right organization that has made discriminating against trans kids its main endeavor - launched a Texas state chapter of American Principles Project last year [2021] and targeted Greg Abbott and other Republicans for not going far enough with the anti-trans legislation they passed. In 2022-02 American Principles Project released two   ads attacking Greg Abbott for failing to "protect our children." "Governor Greg Abbott promised to protect our children from dangerous sex-change procedures and hormone therapies," a voice narrates in one ad released 2022-02-04. "Given the opportunity to protect Texas children, Greg Abbott chose not to bring up legislation."

The Texas legislation in question was an extreme bill from the Texas State Legislature that would have criminalized gender-affirming health care for trans youth, redefining "child abuse" to include puberty suppression drugs, hormone replacement therapy, or surgical or medical procedures "for gender transitioning purposes". (It's worth noting that trans youth rarely, if ever, undergo surgery, and medical professionals say puberty blockers - which provide trans youth time to better understand their gender identity - are reversible.)

[ ... snip ... ]




Terry Schilling, President of the American Principles Project.  [Source]

---

• [NewRepublic.com, 2022-03-01] The ACLU Is Suing Texas to Block the Worst Anti-Trans Program in the Country.  A Texas family investigated under a "child abuse" directive targeting trans youth is taking the state to court.

• [19thNews.org, 2022-03-01] As families of trans kids fear state investigation, advocacy groups are suing Texas.  As some families in Texas prepare for worst-case scenarios, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal have sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott to prevent the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from investigating parents seeking gender-affirming care for their children.

Two weeks after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem   signed a law banning transgender students from joining sports teams that match their gender identity, the Republican came under fire Thursday [2022-02-17] for her apparent ignorance of difficulties faced by many LGBTQ+ peopleLGBTLGBTQLGBTQ+. During a press briefing, reporter Kyle Ireland asked Kristi Noem: "There's a statistic circling around right now that 90% of South Dakota's LGBTQ community is diagnosed with either anxiety or depression. Why do you think that is?" Governor Kristi Noemresponded: "I don't know. That makes me sad and we should figure it out."

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) shared a video of the exchange on Twitter and noted that discriminatory policies like the one Kristi Noem approved earlier this month [2022-02] "can be directly correlated to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation" in LGBTQ+ youth. The NCLR also highlighted that similar measures are being considered and enacted in several other states, and reiterated that such policies "will have LONG-TERM and SERIOUS ramifications for the mental health and well-being" of the young people targeted.

Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-IL) - who has a trans daughter - also responded to Kristi Noem's comments on Twitter. "Really? Last year was the deadliest on record for transgender Americans. You just passed a discriminatory bill that attacks trans kids who just want be themselves and play sports," Newman said. "Want to figure out why LGBTQ+ youth are more prone to depression? It's because of people like you."

After Kristi Noem - who is widely considered a leading candidate for the GOP's 2024 presidential primary race  [2024 United States presidential election] - signed the anti-trans measure, Cathryn Oakley  [local copy] of Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said Kristi Noem's "eagerness to pass a bill attacking transgender kids reveals that her national political aspirations override any sense of responsibility she has to fulfill her oath to protect South Dakotans." "Governor Noem and South Dakota legislators need to stop playing games with vulnerable children," added HRC's State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel, Cathryn Oakley. "Transgender children are children. They deserve the ability to play with their friends. This legislation isn't solving an actual problem that South Dakota was facing: It is discrimination, plain and simple. Shame on Governor Noem."

Last year [2021], according to HRC, legislators introduced more than 250 anti-LGBTQ+ measures in 31 states and enacted 17 laws in 10 states. As Common Dreams   reported last week [2022-02], Republican lawmakers continue to pursue such policies, despite warnings about the impact. Polling published in 2020-08 by Morning Consult and The Trevor Project found that LGBTQ+ youth "are significantly more likely than straight/cis youth to exhibit symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or both." Of the 600 LGBTQ+ people ages 13-24 who were surveyed, 55% reported symptoms of anxiety, 53% reported symptoms of depression, and 43% reported symptoms of both in the two weeks preceding the survey. The figures were even higher for trans youth and nonbinary youth, at 69%, 66%, and 61%, respectively.

Amit Paley  [local copy] - CEO and Executive Director of The Trevor Project - said at the time that "we've known that LGBTQ youth have faced unique challenges because of the countless heartbreaking stories we've heard on our 24/7 phone lifeline, text, and chat crisis services; but these findings illuminate the existence of alarming mental health disparities that must be addressed through public policy."

What we have is a situation where our opponents are fixated on us and our allies are leaving us behind," says trans attorney and activist Chase Strangio. Republicans have made attacks on trans youth a signature policy item at the state level . In this episode of the "Movement Memos podcast," Kelly Hayes  [local copy] and Chase Strangio talk about the avalanche of transphobic legislation Republicans have generated, the role of fascist politics in this onslaught, and why trans students are not getting the support they need from liberals or the Left. ...

Many LGBTQ+ youth reported high stress, anger, sadness and fear for the future at the end of 2021, and reported struggling to access basic needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new online poll published Monday [2022-01-10] by Morning Consult [a global, privately held data intelligence company,] and LGBTQ+ youth crisis organization the The Trevor Project [an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998 focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth]. Much of the stress and sadness was caused by the record number of anti-transgender bills introduced last year aiming to restrict transgender kids' ability to play sports at school or access gender-affirming care. Two-thirds of the surveyed LGBTQ+ youth, all aged 13 to 24, said debates surrounding anti-trans bills last year [2021] negatively impacted their mental health. Among the trans and nonbinary youth surveyed, 85 percent said their mental health suffered, with 37 percent saying the effect was severe. "To have two-thirds of kids say that is shocking and something we should really pay attention to," said Ryan J. Watson, associate professor at the University of Connecticut  [local copy] who has researched the experiences and health risks facing LGBTQ+ teenagers.

Experts, as well as advocacy groups PFLAG and The Trevor Project, are worried that the mental health consequences for LGBTQ+ kids and young adults - especially trans youth - will continue or get worse as more anti-transgender bills are introduced in 2022 and as policies start playing out in schools. At least 12 new anti-trans bills have been filed across seven states this month as 2022 legislative sessions kick off, not counting states like Arizona and Hawaii, where 2021 anti-trans bills are being carried into the new year's session. The anti-trans bills, introduced in states that pursued the same efforts last year, again aim to restrict trans kids' access to gender-affirming care and their ability to play on school sports teams that align with their gender.

Several anti-transgender bills also propose additional restrictive steps not seen in 2021. Oklahoma and New Hampshire are pursuing new efforts this year to restrict bathroom use or add stipulations about biological sex to state birth certificate laws. "What we are concerned about is that, having achieved a measure of success with these anti-trans sports bills and anti-trans health care bills, that the advocates of those anti-trans legislation are now seeing an opportunity to build on that," said Casey Pick,  [local copy], The Trevor Project's Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Government Affairs.

South Dakota Republicans have introduced a bathroom bill that goes further than the state's 2016 bathroom bill by allowing any student to sue a school district if they encounter a member of the opposite sex - as determined by biological sex instead of gender identity - in any changing room or bathroom, or if the school allows students of another gender to use the same sleeping accommodations. Multiple states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Montana and Florida, that successfully passed anti-trans bills to restrict trans kids' sports access in school last year [2021] included a similar clause to allow students to take legal action against their school if they feel they are being deprived of athletic opportunities due to competing against a trans person. Lawmakers in many states have failed to provide evidence of trans competitors posing an issue.

In addition to a bill that would ban physicians from prescribing hormone therapy and puberty blockers to trans minors as part of gender-affirming care, Indiana has also brought an additional bill this month [2022-01] that would require physicians to tell the state how many of their patients are receiving gender-affirming care.

Abbie Goldberg  [local copy], a clinical psychology professor at Clark University who has interviewed trans and nonbinary college students as well as LGBTQ+ families, said that trans youth grappling with a global COVID-19 pandemic [COVID-19 pandemic] and legislation targeting their lives are navigating personal threats on top of broader anxiety. "They're experiencing an undue amount of stress," she said. " ... 'What are people thinking of me, how do my neighbors feel about me?'"

Diego Miguel Sanchez  [local copy], Director of Advocacy, Policy & Partnerships at PFLAG National, said that he worries about poor mental health effects of anti-trans bills combining with other stressors caused by the pandemic. Issues already faced by LGBTQ+ people, like youth homelessness and food scarcity, have only   gotten worse during the pandemic.

Half of LGBTQ+ youth told Morning Consult and The Trevor Project that not having enough money causes them stress or anxiety very often - and 35 percent struggled to afford the things they needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nineteen percent said they had experienced not having enough food during the pandemic. The margin of error for the survey is ± 3 percentage points. Transgender kids and young adults reported significant challenges to accessing mental and physical health care last fall [2021] - as the United States rode out the Delta surge of the coronavirus pandemic - compared to their cisgender LGBTQ+ peers. Fifty-three percent of trans youth reported having trouble getting mental health care during the pandemic, and 30 percent struggled to access physical care. Twenty-eight percent of the surveyed 820 LGBTQ+ youth polled from 2021-09-14 to 2021-11-05 (last year) said that they were very stressed about losing their housing, plus 26 percent who felt stressed about losing their health care.

Studies have shown that discrimination, health care costs and a lack of access to finacial resources combine to keep many trans and nonbinary people in poverty long term - and for many LGBTQ+ people, it can be hard to even expect to have a future when you're younger. Trans youth experiencing poor mental health due to legislative debates over their rights could be facing a higher risk of self harm and suicidality, Abbie Goldberg said. "That's the unspoken but pretty obvious thing here, is that if you're feeling not great about yourself, and you're feeling angry, and you're feeling pessimistic about the future, you don't feel like you have a future," Goldberg said. "No one has your back." "These bills have incredibly significant material consequences for individual human lives," she added.

Measures against LGBTQ+ youth at the local level are also taking their toll. PFLAG and The Trevor Project are worried about potential negative mental health effects caused by school districts across multiple states banning Pride flags as a political symbol, or banning books by LGBTQ+ authors - especially those that depict trans characters. What's happening inside school districts is a top priority for PFLAG in 2022, Diego Sanchez said. School districts in states including Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Utah instituted Pride flag bans as early as last fall [2021], around the start of the school year. "We know this is coming up everywhere," he said.

While the Morning Consult / Trevor Project poll did not ask how LGBTQ+ youth felt about book bans or flag bans, experts previously told   The 19th that flag bans could have dire mental health effects for LGBTQ+ students as they look for signs of acceptance from adults while navigating their identities. Amid what advocates see as a state-level attack on trans youth, there are opportunities for local decision-makers to take action. Casey Pick said that she would like to see health care providers and school counselors have access to competency training to understand challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people, she said, and school districts should help equip educators to respond to suicidality among students. Mental healthcare providers should, at the very least, be knowledgeable about support systems in their immediate area to refer trans youth and adults to, and respect their trans patients' pronouns and identity, Goldberg said.

For LGBTQ+ youth who are grappling with COVID-19 pandemic-related stress on top of legislation that targets them or people they know, especially trans youth, self-care should be a priority, Abbie Goldberg added. "It's really important to recognize when you're approaching a burnout or emotional exhaustion threshold," Goldberg said, especially as trans and LGBTQ+ youth engage in activism and stay on top of news that affects them. For parents trying to support their kids, Goldberg recommends reaffirming their value and helping them find resources if traditional mental health avenues aren't available - like mental health apps that can help them regulate their mood, searching for online support groups. Whether or not anti-trans bills introduced and debated in 2022 actually pass, they still present a mental health stressor, Goldberg said - and people in the lives of trans youth should do what they can to support them.

Quidditch is getting ditched. The sport started growing beyond the Harry Potter books years ago, when college students first translated it into a real-world game. But now two large leagues plan to drop the famous name, citing author J.K. Rowling's "anti-trans positions." A new name hasn't been chosen yet. Both U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch (MLQ) say they'll use a series of surveys in the next few months to reach a decision.

The two leagues put out a joint statement this week announcing the looming name change. "For the last year or so, both leagues have been quietly collecting research to prepare for the move and been in extensive discussions with each other and trademark lawyers regarding how we can work together to make the name change as seamless as possible," Major League Quidditch (MLQ) Commissioner Amanda Dallas  [see also] said in the statement.

Removing the quidditch name could also open up opportunities like sponsorships and broadcast deals that aren't currently feasible because of the trademark Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. holds on "quidditch." The leagues hope the change will also bring more expansion opportunities. "I believe quidditch is at a turning point. We can continue the status quo and stay relatively small, or we can make big moves and really propel this sport forward into its next phase," US Quidditch (USQ  |  Wikipedia: US Quidditch) Executive Director Mary Kimball said. "Renaming the sport opens up so many more revenue opportunities for both organizations, which is crucial to expansion."

While growing the sport and its revenue are big factors in the name change, the leagues say they want to move away from any association the sport has with J.K. Rowling. In recent years, J.K. Rowling has made comments that many saw as transphobic and anti-transgender. In 2020, Rowlings came under heavy criticism after tweeting a link to an article about access to menstrual hygiene products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article referenced "people who menstruate" - a framing Rowling seemed to take issue with because it did not refer to "women."

"'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" J.K. Rowling tweeted. The author elaborated on her views, via Twitter and on her own website.

After J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender comments, many of the movie franchise's biggest stars made statements in support of trans people, including Daniel Radcliffe,   Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

The quidditch leagues say J.K. Rowling's controversial opinions about trans people are not welcome in their ranks. "Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the most   progressive   sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time," the leagues said. "Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations, and believe this move is a step in that direction."

Members of transgender and non-binary communities say they're seeing concerning signs that transphobic ideology is worsening in Canada. Anti-trans sentiments are not new to the country, but several factors make this moment in time fraught, say activists and educators. That's despite the fact that the federal government moved to protect the rights of transgender people in 2017 with the passing of Bill C-16, which made gender identity and expression a protected human rights category. "The climate for trans people has improved in the last decade very considerably, but we're definitely starting to feel some of those waves of anti-trans activism that have really taken hold in the United Kingdom and in the United States in recent years," said Travers, a professor of sociology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C, who goes by one name.

Recent media coverage, including a story by the CTV News investigative program W5 and opinion columns published by the Toronto Star and CBC, have been criticized by some members of the transgender community for pushing transphobic ideas and misrepresenting the dangers they face daily, which, according to Statistics Canada, include violence and poor mental health due to discrimination.

Among the concerning messages, say critics, are assertions that trans people who have not undergone transition-related surgery are not real men or women or that falsely paint transwomen as dangerous men. Similar ideas have been spreading in the U.K. for years. British author J.K. Rowling, for example, has made comments blurring sex (biological characteristics) and gender (personal identity) to push back against inclusive terms such as "people who menstruate," which Rowling sees as an erosion of women's rights.

Last month, American comedian Dave Chappelle in his Netflix special defended Rowling's comments, prompting a walkout by the streaming company's transgender staff and their allies. In the special, Chappelle declares, "I'm team TERF," referring to the term trans-exclusionary radical feminists, which is used to describe people who see trans rights as not aligned with women's rights.

[ ... snip ... ]

Civil rights groups sued on Thursday [2021-11-04] to challenge a law in Tennessee that restricts transgender students' participation in school sports, arguing that it is unconstitutional and discriminatory. "Today, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Tennessee filed a lawsuit challenging a Tennessee law excluding transgender youth from participating in school sports," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

Earlier this year [2021], Tennessee Governor Bill Lee  [William Byron Lee: Bill Lee: LGBT Issues] signed into law SB 228, which requires public middle and high school students to play sports based on the sex listed on their original birth certificates. Lee's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Supporters of such legislation say it is aimed at protecting fairness in school sports by eliminating what they see as an inherent physical competitive advantage of transgender athletes playing on female teams.

The lawsuit is on behalf of a student in the state who says the law prevents him from trying out for the boys' golf team at his school. "SB 228 was passed not to protect female athletes but to marginalize transgender people. The law amounts to a bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group, which is an impermissible government purpose and fails any level of equal protection scrutiny," said the lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

At least 35 bills to exclude transgender youth from athletics have been introduced in 31 states this year, up from 29 in 2020 and two in 2019, according to a tally earlier this year by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Equal rights advocates decry such restrictions as discriminatory and whose real purpose is to energize social conservatives. "The emotional cost of this law to transgender student athletes is tremendous," said Hedy Weinberg  [Tennessee Bar Association profile], Executive Director of ACLU of Tennessee [ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union].

This week, the Biden Administration made history by tapping Dr. Rachel Levine as the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Levine is a transgender woman; the job comes with a uniform, four stars, and a somewhat unexpected title: Admiral. The appointment makes her the first woman to lead a uniformed service branch, and confirms her place as a LGBTQ pathbreaker. The move was quickly greeted by transphobic remarks from conservatives, including Fox News'   Tucker Carlson, and GOP [Republican Party] representatives Jim Banks of Indiana, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

---

Jim Banks: LGBT Rights

Banks opposes same-sex marriage. Banks describes banning transgender people from serving in the military as an "emotional issue." He opposes the military paying for sex reassignment surgery, saying that "I don't think taxpayers should be on the hook for that." [Source; Wikipedia, 2021-10-23.]

[ ... snip ... ]

• [APNews.com, 2021-10-21] Chapelle special spurs Netflix walkout; 'Trans lives matter'.

• [CBC.ca, 2021-10-20] Netflix workers stage walk-out over Dave Chappelle's transgender comments.  Group of employees planning to present CEO Ted Sarandos with "list of asks."

• [NPR.org, 2021-10-20] Netflix employees are staging a walkout as a fired organizer speaks out.

• [Thomson Reuters Foundation News: news.Trust.org, 2021-10-21] Protesters denounce Netflix over Chappelle transgender comments.  Public figures, trans activists and supporters joined 'Team Trans' Netflix employees in protest against decision to release Dave Chappelle comedy special.

• [MSNBC.com, 2021-10-11] Dave Chappelle finds that mocking transgender people can revive a career.  In the last four of his Netflix specials, the comedian has mocked transgender people. Dave Chappelle has released three Netflix comedy specials over the previous three years, and each featured a lengthy segment of commentary about transgender people. Another Netflix special was released 2021-10-05, and, again, it features a lengthy bit mocking trans people. ...

• [theVerge.com, 2021-10-11] Netflix suspends trans employee who tweeted about Dave Chappelle special.  Internally, Netflix' trans employees and allies are asking executives tough questions about the line between commentary and hate.

Return to Persagen.com