LGBTQ news and entertainment
Trans male model Laith Ashley killed at last week’s Marco Marco Fashion Show at LA Style 2016 in Los Angeles
The fashion show featured lots of transgender and drag models who worked the runway, but the one who stole the show was former Attitude Magazine cover model Laith Ashley.
Click below to watch Ashley strut his impressive stuff.
This simple but effective deodorant commercial explains the stress most transgender women experience every time they use a public bathroom.
Kudos to Secret for getting this right.
Most conversations about “bathroom rights” center on innocent young girls encountering a trans woman in a bathroom and not knowing how they’ll respond.
This spot gives us a peek from the other side of the encounter.
Small victory for transgender rights in North Carolina today as a federal judge has ruled that the University of North Carolina may not enforce HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill,” in regards to two students and a university employee.
From Buzzfeed‘s Chris Geidner:
In the ruling U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder noted, “Ultimately, the record reflects what counsel for Governor [Pat] McCrory candidly speculates was the status quo ante in North Carolina in recent years: some transgender individuals have been quietly using bathrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity, without public awareness or incident.”
The case was brought by the ACLU on behalf of several North Carolina residents, including professors and students at UNC schools.
After reviewing the record in the case and relevant case law, Schroeder concluded a preliminary injunction of part of the law was appropriate. Specifically, he pointed to a case (G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board) in which the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals — from which appeals from North Carolina are heard — held that the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX’s sex discrimination provision as including anti-transgender discrimination was permitted.
“Part I’s wholesale ban on access to facilities is inconsistent with DOE’s guidance on Title IX compliance under G.G.,” Schroeder concluded.
“Accordingly, the court will enjoin UNC from enforcing Part I against the individual transgender Plaintiffs until the court reaches a final decision on the merits in this case,” Schroeder concluded.
A federal judge has blocked President Obama’s guidelines which would allow transgender students to use the bathrooms which align with their gender identity.
From Buzzfeed:
U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth issued the order sought by Texas and 10 other states on Sunday. The states sued the Obama administration in May over its guidelines regarding accommodating transgender students in restrooms and facilities at public schools.
The 11 states had asked O’Connor to suspend Obama’s policies — largely an interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — in a hearing held on Aug. 12.
In his 38-page order, O’Connor ruled that the states had standing to bring their lawsuit because the administration’s “Guidelines are clearly designed to target [their] conduct.”
The court found that the Obama administration’s actions likely violate the Administrative Procedure Act for failing to follow proper notice and comment procedures under the law because, the court found, the policies are “legislative and substantive.” Additionally, the court found that, under the text of the law, the Obama administration’s interpretation is incorrect — a ruling that contradicts an earlier decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a related case challenging a Virginia school district’s policies.
In granting the states’ request, O’Connor issued a nationwide injunction of the guidance, writing that “while this injunction remains in place, [the Obama administration is] enjoined from initiating, continuing, or concluding any investigation based on [its] interpretation that the definition of sex includes gender identity in Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex.”
The Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:
“Judge O’Connor’s decision to bar the Department of Justice from enforcing this important guidance puts thousands of transgender students at even greater risk of marginalization, harassment, and discrimination as they return to school this fall,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.
“All students, regardless of their gender identity, deserve to be able to learn in an environment free from discrimination. Despite this judge’s decision, schools are not barred from following the federal guidance, and school administrators still have a responsibility to ensure that the civil rights of all students are respected and that transgender students have access to facilities consistent with their gender identity.
“As lawsuits on the scope of Title IX proceed, we believe that justice will prevail as courts continue to recognize that discrimination against transgender students is a form of sex discrimination.”
The U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow to transgender rights today as the high court voted 5-3 to allow a Virginia school to continue to block trans students from using the public bathroom the students gender identity aligned with while the case itself is being appealed.
The Court was responding to request from a Virginia school board to stay a lower court’s ruling which found its transgender bathroom ban to be discriminatory and illegal.
BREAKING: #SCOTUS grants temporary stay in Va school transgender case. For now, trans student must use restroom matching birth gender.— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) August 3, 2016
#SCOTUS steps into bathroom dispute, blocks district court order allowing transgender student to use boys’ bathroom— Amy Howe (@AHoweBlogger) August 3, 2016
Sarah McBride, currently the Human Rights Campaign’s National Press Secretary, became the first transgender woman to address a major political convention today.
Here’s the full text of McBride’s speech via the HRC:
My name is Sarah McBride, and I am a proud transgender American. Four years ago, I came out as transgender while serving as student body president in college. At the time, I was scared. I worried that my dreams and my identity were mutually exclusive.
Since then though, I have seen that change is possible. I witnessed history while interning in the White House and helping my home state of Delaware pass protections for transgender people. Today, I see this change in the work of the LGBT Caucus and in my own job at the Human Rights Campaign.
But despite our progress, so much work remains. Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, one way to look, one way to live? Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally? A nation that’s stronger together? That is the question in this election.
For me, this struggle for equality became all the more urgent when I learned that my future husband, Andrew, was battling cancer. I met Andy, who was a transgender man, fighting for equality and we fell in love. And yet even in the face of his terminal illness … this 28 year old … he never wavered in his commitment to our cause and his belief that this country can change. We married in 2014 and just four days after our wedding, he passed away.
Knowing Andy left me profoundly changed. More than anything, his passing taught me that every day matters when it comes to building a world where every person can live their life to the fullest.
Hillary Clinton understands the urgency of our fight. She will work with us to pass the Equality Act, to combat violence against transgender women of color, and to end the HIV and AIDS epidemic once and for all.
Today in America, LGBTQ people are targeted by hate that lives in both laws and hearts. Many still struggle just to get by. But I believe tomorrow can be different. Tomorrow, we can be respected and protected. Especially if Hillary Clinton is our president. And that’s why I’m proud to say that I’m with her.
The Democratic National Committee has released a preliminary list of speakers at this weeks’ Democratic National Convention.
You’ll note the vast diversity of speakers, including Congressman Keith Ellison (first Muslim American elected to Congress), Chad Griffin (president of the Human Rights Campaign), and Sarah McBride (transgender LGBT activist).
Via press release:
Monday, July 25 – “United Together”
Congressman Keith Ellison (Minnesota)
National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia
Congressman Raul Grijalva (Arizona)
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (Iowa) and candidates of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee
SEIU President Mary Kay Henry
Congressman Joe Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Chair of the Democratic Governors Association Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy
Building Trades President Sean McGarvey
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (California) and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
AFSCME President Lee Saunders
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten
Senator Bernie Sanders
First Lady Michelle Obama
Tuesday, July 26 – “A Lifetime of Fighting For Children and Families”
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation Donna Brazile
Former State Senator Jason Carter (Georgia)
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) and the Democratic Women of the House
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards
Wednesday, July 27 – “Working Together”
Congressman GK Butterfield and members of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congresswoman Judy Chu (California) and members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
NARAL President Ilyse Hogue
Rear Admiral John Hutson (Ret. USN)
Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson
Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and candidates of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey
EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock
Center for American Progress Action Fund President Neera Tanden
Vice-President Joe Biden
President Barack Obama
Thursday, July 28 – “Stronger Together”
General John Allen (ret. USMC), former Commander, International Security Assistance Forces, and Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan
Candidates of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
President of the Human Rights Campaign Chad Griffin
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski
Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (New York) and LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride
U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (Maryland) and the Democratic Women of the Senate
According to the Williams Institute, approximately 0.6% of adults in the United States, or 1.4 million individuals, identify as transgender.
The figure comes from crunching the numbers available from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
The research goes even deeper, looking at state-level estimates of the number and percentage of adults who identify as transgender for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The state by state results rank the lowest to highest percentage of trans citizens, from 0.3% in North Dakota to 0.8% in Hawaii.
Not surprisingly, younger adults are more likely to identify as transgender than older adults.
Those who identify as transgender broken down along age differences:
• 0.7% of adults ages 18 to 24
• 0.6% of adults ages 25 to 64
• 0.5% of adults ages 65 and older identify as transgender.
Caitlyn Jenner, in this month’s Sports Illustrated, has this to say about her former gender identity, Bruce Jenner:
“I loved Bruce. I still love him today. I like what he did and the way he set an example for hard work and dedication. I’m proud of that part of my life. But this woman was living inside me, all my life, and it reached the point where I had to let her live and put Bruce inside. And I am happier, these last 12 months, than I’ve ever been in my life.”
