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: Trump Covertly Dismantles Obama-Era LGBT Protections
http://www.advocate.com/politics/2017/3/29/trump-covertly-dismantles-obama-era-lgbt-protections

This is kind of a big deal for me, working for the federal government. It should be a big deal to everyone. Obama put in place 2 orders. The first offered protections to LGBT folks, and definitely included sexuality and gender in those protections. Trump removed the second one that required contracted businesses to prove they’re complying with federal laws and executive orders. His actions basically made it impossible to enforce the first, rendering those protections null.

Headline: Government-funded report calls care for LGBT people with dementia ‘a woeful failure
http://www.allgaynetwork.net/government-funded-report-calls-care-for-lgbt-people-with-dementia-a-woeful-failure/

This isn’t a new problem, but it’s a growing one as more and more LGBT folks that live out of the closet start aging into a system that isn’t ready for them. I worked as a geriatric psych nurse for years, and this is an issue that I’ve seen firsthand. It’s one of the reasons that I am getting bottom surgery. Many elderly LGBT folks are forced back into the closet, if they have the wherewithal to do that. However, those with dementia, end up treated as problematic, and inappropriate.

I actually had LGBT patients that were treated as inappropriate because they talked frankly about it with their dementia, and it bought them more medications that sedated them. This scares the pants off me.

Today is the International Transgender day of Visibility
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Transgender_Day_of_Visibility

As such, lets put some of this weeks more positive visibility news down here.

Headline: First Transgender Bride on Say Yes to the Dress: ‘I Wanted to Show That Trans People Can Love and Be Loved’
http://people.com/bodies/first-transgender-bride-say-yes-to-the-dress/

Headline: Alpha Chi accepts transgender members nationally
http://www.loyolamaroon.com/10013569/news/alpha-chi-accepts-transgender-members-nationally/

Headline: McGregor hopes to become 1st transgender person on Seattle City Council
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/mcgregor-hopes-to-become-first-transgender-candidate-elected-to-seattle-city-council/

Headline: ‘I WAS LIVING A LIE’ World War 2 hero comes out as transgender at the age of NINETY – and changes her name from Peter to Patricia
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3204144/world-war-2-hero-transgender-ninety/

Headline: Study links LGBT-accepting campuses with lower risk of sexual assault
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/03/29/study-links-lgbt-accepting-campuses-with-lower-risk-of-sexual-assault/

To be fair, I focus on those things that make me really angry here in Background Radiation, but we are moving forward. I see it weekly. I just feel it is always a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of motion, so I’m perpetually furious.