This is my weekly roundup of the background radiation I am exposed to. It’s usually the bad and ugly of how the world treats LGBT folks, with a heavier emphasis on the T’s. I like to leave the full links exposed because then you can see where the article is.

I am a big news consumer, and these are just a small sampling of what’s been going down in the past week.

This week is heartbreaking, and we have some transgender deaths. It’s a sad state of affairs that this isn’t shocking.

Here are the four deaths from the news. I used Pink News for all of these because there are not a lot of news sources that specifically report transgender deaths at all, or without misgendering the dead.

Mesha Caldwell age 41, Died 1/4/17
Headline: Transgender make-up artist shot dead
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/06/transgender-make-up-artist-shot-dead/amp/

India Monroe age 29, Died 12/21/16, but was misgendered, reported on 1/7/17
Headline: Trans woman shot to death in Virginia misgendered in early reports
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/07/trans-woman-shot-to-death-in-virginia-misgendered-in-early-reports/amp/

Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow age 28, Found on 1/6/17
Headline: Two-spirit transgender woman in South Dakota is the second victim of trans murder in 2017
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/08/two-spirit-transgender-woman-in-south-dakota-is-the-second-victim-of-trans-murder-in-2017/

Sean Ryan Hake age 23, Died 1/6/17
Headline: A trans man has been killed in a police shooting
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/09/a-trans-man-has-been-killed-in-a-police-shooting/

Here’s a few other links that are horrible, but I wanted to give respect to the dead first.

Headline: Senate Takes Major Step Toward Repealing Obamacare
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/senate-takes-major-step-toward-repealing-obamacare

This is a major deal for transgender people. The ACA (Obamacare) provided unequivocal protections for transgender people. By dismantling the ACA, some of those protections will not be in place.

So many of us got legitimate insurance covered care in 2015 and onward. I saw people that had waited decades, suddenly get top surgery and hysterectomies, fully covered. Testosterone covered by insurance?! Amazing. Now that is in jeopardy.

Headline: NO GOOD, VERY BAD BIGOTS DO EXACTLY WHAT THEY PROMISED THEY WOULD DO, FILE ANTI-TRANS BATHROOM BALLOT INITIATIVE
http://seattlish.com/post/155637990966/no-good-very-bad-bigots-do-exactly-what-they

Finding good local blogs are so necessary these days, when big media coverage doesn’t often even touch on local initiatives and ballot issues. This blog is all about Washington State, with a focus on Seattle. I have no idea how they do it, but they are always ahead of the news on these things.

This in particular is how bigots in my state want to file another anti-transgender ballot initiative. if you are in Washington state, keep an eye on this shit. Washington has a good history of bouncing these, but we have to be vigilant because these people never stop trying.

The last two weeks have been filled with bad news above and beyond what I normally get, so I’m out. I’m going to schedule this post, go read the next Whyborne & Griffin gay romance Lovecraftian detective novel, and pretend tomorrow is going to be better.