This is my Friday round up of the news stories that really stuck with me. Don’t go thinking these are the only stories that hid my feeds this week. There are always dozens every single week.
Headline: Lawmakers filed more than 200 anti-LGBT bills in US states this year
These include the ever popular “religious freedom” bills, where the concept of religious freedom seems to go against all of our basic tenants as Americans, to my way of thinking. Although, if you look at our country historically, maybe that’s not true. We are a country that has used laws to disenfranchise minorities pretty regularly. You only have to look at the legal history of Jim Crow laws, and how we dealt (and deal) with native American populations to see this has a huge precedent. Most of these anti-LGBT laws are in the same vein. It’s a way to create a body of laws to hide behind when you try to prevent LGBT people from getting basic goods and services, such as using a bathroom.
Headline: Major survey of transgender Americans finds pervasive bias
https://www.yahoo.com/news/major-survey-transgender-americans-finds-pervasive-bias-151751899.html
This isn’t a shocker to those of us in the transgender community. While this is a total no brainer, it’s good that these studies are being done. We are a slippery community because so many of us go stealth when we can, or go back in the closet when things get dangerously difficult. That doesn’t even count when we are gendered wrongly by authorities when things go wrong. To have some good concrete studies done, gives us a baby step in the right direction. I know I mentioned these surveys in an article last week, but I am happy they are still newsworthy.
Headline: Unerased: Counting Transgender Lives
This one is heartbreaking. It’s a look at the murder of transgender people since 2010. The article points out the how the number of murders is rising, and we probably don’t even have a good handle on the numbers for a variety of reasons.
Headline: Oakland Fire Exposes Rift Over Naming Transgender Victims
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oakland-fire-exposes-rift-naming-transgender-victims-44096031
It is a tragedy that people died. It’s even worse for transgender people that lost their lives because their families sometimes force them back into the closet after death. I’ve heard of transgender women having their hair cut off, and dressed in suits for family burials after a lifetime of living as their real selves.
I really do feel it’s the most terrible violence that a family can do. To come in and remove all traces of an individuals life like that. If you are a Sandman comic fan, you’ll remember this was dealt with in regards to Wanda after her death. (It’s decades old, so spoilers?) Barbie writes the name Wanda on the headstone with Wanda’s favorite lipstick. That scene stuck with me for decades, and I think about it every time I hear of a transgender person that dies, whose family do this to them.
Headline: Transgender woman was a virgin until 25 due to feeling too scared to have sex in case she was attacked
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/transgender-woman-virgin-until-25-9442655
I feel this article was okay. I don’t think they really focused on the fact that her fears are pretty realistic, and cis gendered straight dudes can be a trial to cis gendered women in the dating scene, but that gets far worse for transgender women.
Headline: The state of transgender health care
http://www.benefitspro.com/2016/12/12/the-state-of-transgender-health-care?page_all=1
I think most of us in the transgender community know all this, but it’s a good round up for the uninitiated. I was pleased they discussed what would happen if Trump repealed the ACA. It’s nice to see trans specific medical coverage get love in an article.
Accidently Gay 