Tag Archives: trans issues

The New York Times reports: A fight over a draft order that would rescind protections for transgender students in public schools has erupted inside the Trump administration, pitting Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. Ms. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to …

The Austin Statesman reports: Hundreds of people have signed up to protest outside the Texas governor’s mansion on Thursday against bills that they say threaten the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Their resistance of choice? Dancing. The mansion is “a Greek revival building and is the oldest continuously occupied home in Austin,” said Jeremy von Stilb, an …

Politico reports: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that the Trump administration will be issuing “further guidance” on a former Obama directive aimed at protecting the rights of transgender students. “The president has maintained for a long time that this is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,” Spicer said. “So while we have …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Despite pleas from parents of transgender children and LGBT employees, the Trump administration is set Tuesday to rescind Obama-era guidance to schools barring discrimination against transgender students and ensuring they have access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity. Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the …

The Austin Statesman reports: A web-based ad, shot by Austin film director Richard Linklater, uses humor to attack arguments that the transgender bathroom bill is needed to protect privacy. The digital ad, which will appear in targeted buys on Facebook, includes a diverse cast — including two transgender Texans — to argue that Senate Bill 6 is about discrimination, not …

The New York Daily News reports: He couldn’t take it anymore. Comedian Larry Wilmore became visibly angry, but remained composed, after alt-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos went on a five-minute rant against transgender people during Bill Maher’s “Overtime” on Friday night. But when Yiannopoulos called a decorated counterterrorism official on the late night show’s panel “stupid,” Wilmore couldn’t hold himself back …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Put the NBA on the growing list of sports organizations warning Texas over its proposed transgender bathroom bill. In a statement to the Houston Chronicle last week, Spokesman Mike Bass said the NBA weighs a number of factors before choosing where to hold major events, including how fans and athletes will be treated. “We consider …

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper writes for the Charlotte Observer: North Carolinians are tired of hearing about this. As I travel across the state, people from Murphy to Manteo tell me that they want their elected officials to come together to solve this problem before HB2 does even more damage. We came close to repealing it in December. The Republican …

Sports Illustrated reports: Texas governor Greg Abbott mocked the NFL’s “decision makers” on Twitter after the league issued veiled criticism of a proposed “bathroom bill” in the state. Abbott’s tweet came after a league spokesman told the AP that prejudicial legislation could be a factor when the NFL chooses where to host events like the Super Bowl. “If a proposal …

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: The Justice Department took a step back Friday from its prior position of advancing transgender people’s rights under existing civil rights laws. On just the second day of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tenure at the helm of the Justice Department, the federal government filed a notice in the lawsuit Texas and other states had brought …

The Associated Press reports: The NFL sharpened its warning to Texas on Friday about a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people, suggesting for the first time that the football-crazed state could miss out on hosting another Super Bowl if the proposal is enacted. “If a proposal that is discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law there, that would …

The Nation reports: A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination. The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The Boy Scouts of America announced Monday that it would allow transgender boys to join the organization, based on their gender identity, shifting away from a policy that determined eligibility based on the sex listed on a child’s birth certificate. “Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs …

I don’t know how much longer we’ll get press releases like this one, which is from the Navy Office of Community Outreach. Here is their photo caption: Capt. Jeffrey Ward, commanding officer of amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), facilitates transgender training with chiefs and officers in the ship’s wardroom. The training was conducted to provide command leadership …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Legislators won’t be moving quickly to change House Bill 2 this year, and an “outright repeal” doesn’t have enough support, N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger said this week. Berger spoke in detail about the controversial LGBT law in an interview with Tim Boyum of Time Warner Cable News that aired Thursday night. During a …

Talking Points Memo reports: Donald Trump has tapped lawyer John Gore, who defended the University of North Carolina system in a legal challenge over the state’s anti-LGBT law, to be the deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Gore is a partner at Jones Day, the Trump campaign’s law firm. Jones Day announced that Gore and …

The Virginia House Of Delegates is about hear the “bathroom bill” proposed by lunatic Del. Bob “Sideshow” Marshall, who has denounced as “fake news” reports that a similar bill has cost North Carolina’s economy hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. (Video below.) There are three separate anti-LGBT bills on today’s agenda. Watch live here.

From the New York Post: President-elect Donald Trump is being urged by some advisers to save at least one dance, as he celebrates his inauguration on Friday night, for a very special Republican lady — Caitlyn Jenner. “It’s a brilliant idea,” a member of the incoming administration told me. Besides mollifying the LGBTQ community — wary of conservative Republicans in …

US Weekly reports: Caitlyn Jenner has accepted an invitation to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, a source confirms to Us Weekly. The transgender star, who is a conservative Republican and was vocal about her dislike of Hillary Clinton on her E! show I Am Cait, has in the past said she wants to use her celebrity to benefit …

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: If Texas thought it had seen the end of the transgender bathroom agenda, they were mistaken! After the overwhelming defeat voters delivered to the Houston mayor and city council for its gender-free, anti-religious liberty ordinance, conservatives are ready for the next chapter: more permanent protections against this dangerous and unpopular crusade …