Tag: transgender

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International Transgender Day Of Visibility

International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual holiday occurring on March 31st dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide.

Folks took to social media all over the world to say “I’m here. And I count.”

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The Bold & The Beautiful Reveals Transgender Plot Twist

Soap operas have long relied on the “long lost secret” device in the daily twists and turns of daytime dramas.

Now, CBS’ long-running soap The Bold and the Beautiful has incorporated a transgender character by announcing that one of it’s characters – “Maya” – was actually born “Myron.”

Daytime actress Karla Mosley, 33, has played Maya for more than two years, is thrilled with the development. When she was told after Christmas that Maya had a secret, this wasn’t the first thing that popped into her head. “My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that’s truthful and not sensational,” Mosley says. “My second reaction was, ‘Thank you.’ It’s a gift it’s a privilege,” she says. “It’s a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world.”

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Why We Need Transgender Pronouns

I have friends – gay friends, even – who say they aren’t sure how to refer to someone who’s transgender.

The easiest answer is to refer to someone how they ‘present.’ If they present as a male, say “he.” If they present as female, say “she.’

And by the way – it’s “transgender,” not “transgendered.” It’s not a verb. It’s not something that “happened” to someone.

Quick, light-hearted video to explain a little for folks who are new to the idea of trans folks.

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Teen Transgender Activist Gets TLC Television Series

Fourteen year old Jazz Jennings has been a strong voice for the transgender community for years.

Diagnosed with gender dysphoria at the age of 5, she found the courage to live her life authentically early in life.

And now, Jazz will share her journey in a new docu-series for TLC network.

The unscripted, 11-part series will be produced by This Is Just A Test and is set for a premiere date of summer 2015.

Called “All That Jazz,” the show will document Jenning’s journey as she navigates life as a transgender teen.

“We know that families come in all shapes and sizes, but at their core, they are all about love, acceptance, and support. Only TLC can tell this family’s story in way that celebrates and demystifies difference in an effort to help create a world without prejudice,” Marjorie Kaplan, Group President, TLC & Animal Planet, said in a statement.

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Twitter: #WeJustNeedToPee Campaign For Transgender Bathroom Rights

Does this person look like they belong in the Ladies room?

In recent months, several “bathroom bills” have been filed in state legislatures in the attempt to keep transgender folks out of their gender-expressed bathrooms. This is all done, of course, with the scary premise that straight men would ‘dress up’ as women to achieve access to watching women use the facilities.

The hashtag #wejustneedtopee has been around for a while, having started in Canada. But it recently took a new turn as transgender activist Michael C. Hughes has begun a “selfie” component to the Twitter meme to show how silly the laws would be.

Take a look below at just a few of the tweets in the past few days. It makes it clear what the point is…

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GLEE: “I Know Where I’ve Been” Performed By Coach Beiste, Unique & 200 Transgender Singers

Dot-Marie Jones as “Coach Beiste” on GLEE

Last month it was revealed on the TV series GLEE (now in it’s final season) that the character of “Coach Beiste,” played by 3-time Emmy Award nominee Dot-Marie Jones, would transition as a man upon the revelation that he was transgender.

Last Friday saw the return of “Coach” where he encountered mixed reactions to transitioning. In the end, transgender character “Unique” welcomed “Beiste” back with a powerful rendition of the song “I Know Where I’ve Been” from the hit musical Hairspray – accompanied by a 200 member chorus of transgender singers.

Check out the very powerful performance below:

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Laverne Cox Cast In New CBS Pilot Doubt

Laverne Cox cast in new CBS pilot, Doubt

Transgender actress Laverne Cox continues breaking barriers as news arrives that she’s been cast in a new CBS network series, Doubt.

The Orange is the New Black actress will play a transgender Ivy League-educated attorney, described as “competitive as she is compassionate. She’s fierce, funny and the fact that she’s experienced injustice first hand makes her fight all the harder for her clients.”

The Doubt role was always conceived as a transgender character, and it’s tough to imagine a better catch for the part – Cox made the cover of Time magazine last year in a story about the transgender movement. While there have been plenty of transgender characters on broadcast TV shows in the past, they are often short-term parts or comedic roles.

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Trailer: Drunktown’s Finest

Independent feature film, Drunktown’s Finest, following an acclaimed run on the festival circuit, is coming to theaters this season. Presented by executive producer Robert Redford, the film will open in New York City at the Quad Cinema on February 20, in Los Angeles at the Arena Cinema on February 27 and follow in select markets over the coming weeks.

Drunktown’s Finest premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Narrative. In addition, the film was awarded HBO Best First Feature awards at Outfest 2014, as well as Best Film at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.

Synopsis: Drunktown’s Finest is the coming-of-age story of three young Native Americans – a college-bound Christian girl raised by white parents, a rebellious and lost father-to-be, and an aspiring transsexual model – as they struggle to escape the hardships of life on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

As the three find their lives becoming more complicated and their troubles growing, their paths begin to intersect. With little in common other than a shared heritage, they soon learn that the key to overcoming their obstacles may come from the most unlikely of sources, each other.

Check the trailer below and the official Facebook page here.

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Watch: “Coach Beiste” On GLEE Comes Out As Transgender

In this scene from GLEE’s 3rd episode of the season, three-time Emmy Award nominee Dot Marie Jones (“Coach Beiste”) comes out as transgender to Sam (Chord Overstreet) and principal Sue Sylvester (out actor Jane Lynch).

I applaud the show approaching a very important subject. Some fans of the show, however, point out that this story arc conflicts with who the character has professed to being in the past (“deep down I am still just a girl”).

I think the challenges transgender folk face are real, and very important, so I look forward to seeing how this is handled during the Fox series’ last season.

I think with Dot Marie Jones handling the acting duties, the arc is in great hands.

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Tumblr Account Of Leelah Alcorn Disappears From Tumblr

The Tumblr account of Leelah Alcorn, whose suicide this past week has galvanized the LGBT community, has disappeared.

Those searching for Leelah’s account are now greeted by a standard Tumblr ‘not found’ page, which states: ‘There’s nothing here. Whatever you were looking for doesn’t currently exist at this address. Unless you were looking for this error page, in which case: Congrats! You totally found it.’

However, an investigation last year revealed that Tumblr appeared to have banned a number of tags from its mobile app, including ‘gay,’ ‘lesbian,’ ‘bisexual’ and ‘transsexual.’

They had also banned ‘depression’ and ‘suicide.’

Leelah’s last posts may have been removed either because she claimed to be transgender – or because their content related to suicide. This would not, however, explain why her entire blog, including artwork and images that she created for her sisters, has now gone.

An alternative theory is that her Tumblr account has now been removed by her family: either they have requested this of Tumblr; or her password has been located and the account now closed down.

Especially sad is that Leelah’s last two posts to her Tumblr account were written and pre-scheduled to post after her death. She clearly wanted her posts to live on as her legacy for future trans people to find and hopefully realize they were not alone.

And now, they are gone.

Sad.