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 here’s what got my drawers in a knot this week.

Headline: Man charged in attack against trans woman
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/crime/article/Man-charged-in-attack-against-trans-woman-11005026.php

This is practically in my backyard, and it highlights this sentiment of entitlement to know someone’s status as transgender. Transgender women are always stuck in a catch 22 when dating. They are perfectly fine to hit on, and sleep with, but once a guy figures out they are trans, they attack. This is part of the whole “gay panic defense” where a violent criminal can claim they can be excused from attacking a transgender woman because they were scared of the whole gay thing. It’s inexcusable.

Every transgender person deals with this differently. Me personally, I don’t think you should have to disclose for one night stands, or overnight trysts. I would disclose for dating long term, because I don’t want to spend my time with an asshole that would hate me because how how I was born. Cisgender folks often get really riled up about this, and talk about “right to know”. My theory is if they found a transgender person attractive, and slept with them, what does it matter what the history is? It’s far more dangerous to a transgender persons to disclose, than whatever socially instilled bigotry the cis partner is dealing with.

Headline: Eighth trans woman shot and killed in the US this year
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/03/22/eighth-trans-woman-shot-and-killed-in-the-us-this-year/

Pink News is really up on this subject, so that’s why I keep linking to them. I find they seem to really care about the kinds of horrific crime that transgender people, usually women of color, face. I don’t even know what to say, because it’s just so mind numbingly awful how many transgender women have been killed so far this year.

Headline: New Kentucky Law Allows Student Groups to Discriminate Against LGBT Students
http://theslot.jezebel.com/new-kentucky-law-legalizes-discrimination-against-lgbt-1793451056/amp

The laws legalizing bigotry against LGBT folks keep coming in. This one allows public school student groups to discriminate against lesbian, gay, and transgender people, and other minority students. It also allows teachers to use the Bible as an educational text.

It is also big on preventing any repercussions from the above discrimination.

Headline: Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoes anti-LGBTI bills
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/virginia-governor-terry-mcauliffe-vetoes-anti-lgbti-bills/

This is nice. We actually got this discriminatory bill vetoed. It’s still pending in the court of appeals, though.

Headline: Bus with anti-transgender message is vandalized in NYC
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/23/bus-anti-transgender-message-vandalized-nyc/99560530/

Okay, there are these bigots, Washington based Organization for Marriage, that put probably close to $2 million dollars into buying a tour bus, and painting it with inflammatory anti-transgender messages. The call it the “free speech bus.”

The whole point of the bus is to try and help put the focus on legislating bathroom bills, and any other legislation they can get through that make transgender people isolated, and without protection.

Then two heroes emerged, and vandalized the bus with graffiti that said, “Trans liberation” amongst other things. They fought off a bus participant trying to stop them, and escaped in what I can only imagine as a Laurel and Hardy style adventure.

The agenda that the Organization for Marriage has is deplorable, and I am grateful for the people that risked incarceration to make sure everyone knew these bigots didn’t speak for everyone. I’m sure they will repaint the bus with their seemingly endless supply of cash from scared hateful people, but for it’s still comforting to know it happened.

Although I do not agree with violence, it’s awfully hard not to smile when people are spending millions on this hate, and a tiny amount of spray paint can sometimes seems like the only dissent.