Activists – TransOutLoud https://transoutloud.org Empowering the Trans Community Fri, 06 Sep 2024 19:51:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://transoutloud.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/favicon.png Activists – TransOutLoud https://transoutloud.org 32 32 Top 10 Most Influential Transgender People in the World Today https://transoutloud.org/top-10-most-influential-transgender-people-in-the-world-today/ https://transoutloud.org/top-10-most-influential-transgender-people-in-the-world-today/#respond Fri, 06 Sep 2024 17:11:03 +0000 https://transoutloud.org/?p=55510 Transgender leaders, activists, and artists are making huge strides in advocating for equality and visibility. These 10 individuals are changing the world, using their platforms to push for social justice, and helping to reshape the conversation around gender. Here’s a more personal look at some of the most influential transgender people today and the amazing work they’re doing.

1. Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox is a pioneer. She became a household name with her role as Sophia Burset on Orange Is the New Black, but it’s her tireless work as an advocate that makes her truly iconic. As the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Laverne has broken barriers and continues to inspire countless people. Whether she’s speaking out against anti-trans violence or fighting for better healthcare access, she’s always at the forefront of the movement.

2. Elliot Page

When Elliot Page came out as transgender in 2020, the world listened. Best known for his roles in Juno and The Umbrella Academy, Elliot’s announcement was a groundbreaking moment for trans representation in Hollywood. He’s used his platform to speak openly about the importance of mental health and trans visibility, and his courage has inspired countless others to live their truth.

3. Janet Mock

Janet Mock is a powerhouse in both activism and entertainment. A best-selling author and director for shows like Pose, she’s been one of the most visible trans women of color in media. Janet’s writing, including her memoir Redefining Realness, offers a raw and honest account of her life, making her a voice of empowerment for the trans community and beyond.

4. Indya Moore

Indya Moore, a star of FX’s Pose, is a force to be reckoned with. As a non-binary actor and model, Indya has used their fame to advocate for trans and non-binary people of color. Their openness about their own struggles, particularly around healthcare access and trans rights, has helped shine a light on issues that often go unnoticed. They were even named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

5. Rachel Levine

Dr. Rachel Levine made history as one of the highest-ranking openly transgender officials in U.S. government. As the Assistant Secretary for Health, she’s been a vital part of the country’s public health efforts, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rachel has spent her career advocating for LGBTQ+ healthcare and breaking down barriers in medicine and government.

6. Hunter Schafer

Hunter Schafer’s rise to fame came through her stunning portrayal of Jules Vaughn in Euphoria. But even before she was on screen, Hunter was an activist, fighting for trans youth rights in North Carolina. She continues to be a beacon of hope for young trans people, using her platform to advocate for a more inclusive and accepting world.

7. Geena Rocero

Geena Rocero’s TED Talk, where she shared her story of coming out as transgender, was a powerful moment in her life and for many others. As a Filipina-American model and activist, she founded Gender Proud to push for transgender rights worldwide. Her work brings attention to the legal challenges trans people face, and she’s a fearless advocate for acceptance and equality.

8. Munroe Bergdorf

Munroe Bergdorf is not afraid to speak her mind. This British model and activist has been vocal about racism, transgender rights, and mental health. Her public firing by L’Oréal for speaking out against racism in 2017 led to a huge public conversation about diversity and corporate responsibility. Munroe continues to use her platform to push for change, particularly for transgender and marginalized communities.

9. Alok Vaid-Menon

Alok Vaid-Menon, known simply as Alok, is a non-binary writer, performance artist, and activist. They challenge the binary views of gender with powerful performances and writing that explore identity, race, and self-expression. Alok’s work has a deep impact on the visibility of non-binary people, and they have become an advocate for self-love and breaking down societal norms.

10. Jazz Jennings

Jazz Jennings has been in the public eye since she was a child, and her reality show I Am Jazz has helped bring transgender youth stories into millions of homes. Jazz has been a fierce advocate for trans youth, talking about everything from healthcare challenges to mental health. She’s been an inspiration for so many young people and continues to use her platform to fight for trans rights.

These incredible individuals are not just influential; they’re changing the world. Their courage, advocacy, and commitment to equality inspire countless others and pave the way for a more inclusive future.

]]> https://transoutloud.org/top-10-most-influential-transgender-people-in-the-world-today/feed/ 0 I Am a Trans Texan https://transoutloud.org/i-am-a-trans-texan/ Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:25:40 +0000 https://transoutloud.com/?p=48487 It strikes me, and may strike you, as a bit crazy to come out as transgender in an essay like this. I’m publicly revealing myself to be a member of a marginalized community in the midst of a moral panic targeting our very existence. Ascribe it to my defiant streak, if you will.

I’m hardly an ideal spokesperson. I’m 43, and I’ve lived my entire life up to this point (with fleeting exceptions) in the gender assigned to me at birth, which is male. Think of my biography as a cautionary tale. It’s painful and messy, and I’m going to tell you some of it. You may find this unpleasant, but I have no other way to say what I need to say. Only bear in mind that my experiences, though common, are not normative. I don’t speak for anyone but myself.

Growing up at the edge of San Antonio’s south side in the 1980s, I learned the usual things about gender and sexuality: Boys are boys and girls are girls and all that. My dad was a biology teacher. I knew the differences. But something seemed to be awry in me for, as far back as I can remember, I felt that I ought to have been a girl, or that in some strange way, I really was a girl, even though everyone treated me as a boy.

Adults policed my gender expression conscientiously, and I inferred that my feelings were unnatural and shameful. Still, I would sit in the pew at church as my parents took communion—we were Catholic—and silently rank which of the women who passed me I would most like to grow up to be. As a small, less-than-masculine child who hated sports, I became the target of bullying once I went to school. But I would lie awake every night, imagining myself becoming a girl—my only refuge from my strange alien existence.

Environmental factors didn’t make me this way. My parents were present and involved; my mother a caring, feminine homemaker and my father, a loud, masculine teacher and artillery officer who was sometimes frustrated by my unmanliness. Expecting me to grow up and marry and follow the same pattern, they enforced the “natural” gender norms they espoused every day of my life. Far from becoming trans through exposure to modern “gender ideology,” I was, simply and naturally, a trans child, even though everything in my upbringing went toward imposing a gender binary that itself represented an unacknowledged ideology. There is no “real me” beneath my transgender self. I have learned to mask it, yes, but if I were somehow to remove it, there would be no me left behind. No more could you remove the flour from a loaf of bread.

As soon as I was old enough to be left home alone, I began secretly wearing my mother’s clothes. Experimenting with femininity launched me into a deep and pervasive calm tinged with a fear of being discovered. After some years, I was found out through a misplaced blouse. I lied my way out of the tribunal that ensued—standing, panicked and alone, before my father and mother. My parents’ eagerness to accept my lies made up for their implausibility. The alternative was believing me to be some kind of queer, which I suppose is what I am.

My junior high coach, a morose sadist who later got fired and went on to a career as a campus cop, compelled boys to shower together in a dimly-lit subterranean cell. A small, undeveloped sixth-grader, I was thrust in there with big, masculine eighth-graders, their eyes ever-roving for some weakling to abuse. My unboyishness and isolation made me easy prey. As a transgender person whose brain was telling me that my body should be female, it’s hard to describe just how traumatic such experiences were. What made them unbearable—to such an extent that I began to self-harm and eventually to plan my own death—was that I had no words or concepts to describe or understand what was going on with me. I was simply a freak of nature, an abomination who had to hide in plain sight, surviving from one morning to the next, hoping that no one would discover my secret, dying a little each day.

You may believe that the problem here was not my being forced into a simplistic gender binary that left me vulnerable to abuse and trauma, but rather my gender dissonance, and that I should have been made to feel at home in my assigned gender. In other words, I should have been coerced into being a normal boy. If you think that, survey the research: It shows, overwhelmingly, that attempts to “convert” gender nonconforming people into traditional gender identities and other forms of rejection are ineffective and traumatizing—in fact, the scientific consensus is that all forms of conversion therapy aimed at altering a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity result in long-term harm—while care that affirms gender identity results almost universally in positive outcomes. It’s also clear that what negative outcomes do occur owe largely to hostile environments.

But since we’re in the middle of a panic about transgender people “invading” sex-segregated spaces, let me add this: Far be it from me to make anyone feel uncomfortable or unsafe, but I have never felt comfortable or safe in any male space. Nor, I believe, would I have felt better in a female space. I prefer privacy for doing such things as defecating and stripping naked, and I find our regime of communal showers and toilets just a little weird and, yes, oppressive. Perhaps that’s one aspect of the problem we should be examining?

There hangs in my parents’ home a circle of my annual school portraits, which show me becoming progressively sadder from year to year. My body was turning into an alien thing with the onset of biological manhood. By the time I graduated, my mounting dysphoria and social problems—I also had an undiagnosed autism disorder—led me to begin planning suicide. In secret, I painted a picture of a girl cutting her wrists. I was the girl, you see. In recurring dreams, I was a young mother. Despair held sway over my waking life.

It was either leave home or die, so I moved across the state for college. My plan was to wait a few weeks and, if nothing changed, to kill myself in a shower stall. Something did change: I found love and acceptance in the woman who became my best friend and then my wife. Several years later, I was still alive, presenting as female in the privacy of our home and as male when I went out. This made me happy. For the first time in my life, I began to approach peace.

It was the turn of the millennium. I was a shelver at the university library, which often left me alone in the stacks at night. Sometimes, I would work in the gender and sexuality section and take down books to try to understand what I was. Many of the books were out of date for that time, and much has changed in our understanding of transgender people since. In them and on the nascent Internet, I encountered terms and categories that didn’t seem to apply to me, reflecting a time when researchers developed theories with little input from the trans community itself. So my gender confusion persisted.

My fragile peace was disturbed when someone to whom we’d entrusted our key entered our home without permission and went through our things. I felt certain that my secret self must have been detected. Mortified and afraid of being outed, I threw all evidence in the dumpster. I grew a beard as a bulwark against “temptation” and began two decades of self-contradiction and mounting desperation, which brings us to today.

“You have to go the way your blood beats,” James Baldwin said in an interview. “If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.” Belatedly, I’m coming to grips with this. My attempts to cope with gender dissonance have consumed much of my life, taking hours away from each day, isolating me from loved ones, alienating me from my body, leading to bouts of depression, ideations of suicide, and alcohol abuse. It doesn’t go away. In middle age, I’m forced to recognize that nothing short of being who I am will resolve my profound inner conflict. The word “transition” is terrifying but, however catastrophic the process of coming out may be, I’ll not be much good to those I love if I’m burned out, incapacitated, or dead.

Knowledge is power. If I had simply known more, I would have been spared some suffering. The idea that I’ve been converted by the “gender cult” is preposterous. My starting point was my own experience, going back years before I could even articulate it. I simply was what I now call “transgender.” My brain and flesh and bones told me so. And peace could never be mine until I had uncovered its nature and found a way to live with it.

The many bills trying to prevent youth from learning about trans identity trouble me deeply. They seek to condemn another generation to the deathly dysphoria that has burdened me in the belief that people like me are misbegotten or perverted, and that state-imposed ignorance can prevent children from turning out like us.

Painful though it’s been, too much good has happened in my life for me to have regrets. Still, I can imagine meeting perhaps not my actual younger self, but a version of that self living today. What would I want for myself? I would want knowledge and understanding of gender variance. I would want to know that I’m not alone. I would want adults who could sympathize and offer real solutions. And I would want the ability to pursue gender-affirming care in accordance with research-backed practices.

A growing body of research supports the thesis that gender incongruence has a biological basis, though the causes are a matter of dispute in the scientific community. Studies also indicate that the only effective treatment is gender-affirming care. Opponents of gender-affirming care often call it “experimental.” But the first gender reassignment surgeries were performed over a century ago. The use of hormones in gender-affirming care began as early as 1918. To put that in perspective, recall that the first heart transplant was performed in 1967.

Gender-affirming care was pioneered by the German physician Magnus Hirschfeld. As recounted in Susan Stryker’s Transgender History, Hirschfeld became a target when the Nazis came to power—he was both Jewish and gay—and Hitler denounced him as “the most dangerous Jew in Germany.” His Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was sacked and its library burned by Nazis in 1933, setting the cause of liberation back a generation. He fled the country and died in 1935. But the physician Harry Benjamin, mentored by Hirschfeld, went on to champion gender-affirming care in the United States, and since 1979, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, now called the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, has issued the standards of care for transgender people.

The parallels between Nazi violence and the current trans panic are unmistakable. It’s easy enough to compare people whose politics you don’t like to Nazis. Still, if someone finds themselves following the Nazis’ footsteps and arguing that Hitler was clearly right about some things, it might be time for them to take stock of what they’re doing and why.

Julia Serano’s trans feminist manifesto, Whipping Girl, ascribes the perception of trans women as a public menace to the belief that masculinity is superior to femininity. In How Fascism Works, historian Jason Stanley cites numerous instances in which violence against the “other” in the name of protecting women and children has been used to cement the patriarchal fascist state. Quoting Serano, he notes that irrational fear of trans women in particular is a bellwether because of the threat we supposedly pose to the nation’s manhood. Anti-trans panic is the knifepoint of fascism protruding into the body politic. But as it slides in, the wound widens, cutting across other minorities.

Texas lawmakers, it doesn’t have to be this way. Trans people already live daily with the threat of violence and attempt suicide at far higher rates than the general population. You can’t “fix” us. You can only exclude or kill us. Protect children by all means. But educate yourselves on how interventions are actually made—in the vast majority of cases, they are tentative and reversible, and in all cases are pursued only under great scrutiny—and base your actions on valid evidence, not hyperbole or cherry-picked cases or cynical culture-war politics. Don’t tear families apart or force them to flee. Let them make well-informed decisions under the guidance of medical caregivers.

Trans people are not a threat. We just want to exist and be left alone. Our dignity cannot be taken. But the Texas Legislature is in danger of trading away its own. Sessions are short and come only once every two years. There are so many urgent issues that need your attention: fixing the power grid and the rest of our infrastructure, finding humane, secure solutions to the border crisis, and protecting our children from being murdered at school. Do the work you were elected to do. Don’t terrorize trans people.

I live in Uvalde. I used to have to describe where that was. I never will again. It’s hard to explain, but I doubt my egg would have cracked if I hadn’t witnessed the kind of things I’ve witnessed this past year. A whirlwind of grief. A spectacle of coverage. Incandescent anger of bereft families. Stultifying indifference of public officials. You’re not saving kids by going after gender-affirming care. You’re killing them. You’re killing them, and you’re leaving the ones who really do need your help exposed. It has got to stop.

We have always been here. We just haven’t always felt safe coming out. But there’s no turning back the clock. We’re going to win our liberation today or tomorrow. At most, those who wish us ill will succeed in causing pain and suffering on their way out. I call on their well-meaning allies not to help them.

But whether you do or don’t, I, for one, refuse to live in the dark any longer. You can hate me or kill me, but you can’t steal the joy that comes from knowing who I am.

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]]> Transgender woman is verbally assaulted at San Francisco Cheesecake Factory in viral TikTok video https://transoutloud.org/transgender-woman-is-verbally-assaulted-at-san-francisco-cheesecake-factory-in-viral-tiktok-video/ Tue, 14 Mar 2023 13:44:07 +0000 https://transoutloud.com/?p=48388

A disturbing TikTok video has gone viral showing the moment a transgender woman was verbally assaulted at a restaurant in San Francisco.

Content creator Lilly Contino was dining with her dog at the Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco’s Union Square while live-streaming a conversation with her followers when an unidentified woman began harassing her.

In the footage, the woman is heard proudly describing herself as a TERF to Ms Contino – an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist meaning a person who sees themself as a feminist but who is transphobic.

“You know I’m a TERF right? Trans-eccentric radical feminist,” the woman is heard saying off-camera.

When Ms Contino asks if she is a TERF, the woman doubles down saying: “I am a TERF.”

She then asks Ms Contino if she wants her to move away, to which Ms Contino responds: “No, actually, you should tell me about being a TERF.”

At that point, the woman misgenders Ms Contino saying: “You’re a boy, right?”

She then begins to threaten Ms Contino with physical violence.

“Don’t f*** with me, ‘cause honestly I hit. I hit hard,” she says.

The incident continues with the woman telling Ms Contino not to “judge” her for being a TERF and telling her “I get to be who I want to be and you get to be who you want to be”.

@lillytino_

A self-identified TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) threatened me at the @cheesecake factory. I happened to be streaming at the time and caught the encounter on camera. This happened at the Union Square location in San francisco

♬ original sound – lillytino

She then tells Ms Contino to “take your stupid dog, eat your f***ing food and get the f*** out of my life” before saying she will “have to label you a white racist”.

Ms Contino then asks to speak to the manager of the restaurant who is heard off-camera apologising for the incident.

Ms Contino shared a clip of the encounter on her TikTok platform and, as of Monday morning, it had racked up 9.7 million views.

Ms Contino explained to KPIX that the harassment first began when the woman started telling jokes and then offered to show her a surgery scar on her stomach.

When she politely turned her down, the woman replied: “I’ll show you if I want to, son.”

“And, of course, as a trans person, I’m more sensitive to gender language,” Ms Contino said.

She said that she became more shocked as the incident went on, saying that nothing like that had ever happened to her before.

TikTok video captures transgender woman being harassed at Cheesecake Factory (TikTok/@lillytino)
TikTok video captures transgender woman being harassed at Cheesecake Factory (TikTok/@lillytino)

She was especially shocked, she said, given that she had moved from Georgia to the liberal city of San Francisco.

“I was just like flabbergasted. I’ve never been physically threatened in public. I’ve never been berated in public,” she said.

“Part of this was just shock and disbelief that this was happening. I live in San Francisco for a reason. I live here because it’s a liberal city, it’s one of the most queer-friendly cities in the world.

“To have it happen in such a public place and have nobody help.”

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]]> Greenville Library System advances restricting transgender themes https://transoutloud.org/greenville-library-system-advances-restricting-transgender-themes/ Mon, 13 Mar 2023 22:48:14 +0000 https://transoutloud.com/?p=48392

Despite public outcry both during and after its meeting, the Greenville County Library System’s Materials Committee voted Monday to advance a proposal limiting access to transgender-themed materials.

The full board of trustees will vote on the proposal later this month.

The committee debated changing the library system’s collections development and maintenance policy, which governs the type of books and materials that are included in the library.

The committee specifically proposed changes to the library’s juvenile and young adult collections, seeking to move materials with “gender transition ideologies” into other collections that require an adult-access library card to check out.

In its proposed policy changes, the committee also sought to limit access to materials containing explicit descriptions or depictions of sexual acts, incest, pedophilia and graphic depictions of violence or abuse.

Although the committee is only made up of five board members, all 10 Board of Trustee members were present at the meeting either in-person or virtually to debate the proposed changes.

Employees and advocates:Greenville County Library System has ‘toxic’ board leadership

The Greenville County Library System's Materials Committee held a meeting open to the public at the Hughes Main Library on March 13, 2023. The subject of the meeting was to decided the fate of how 24 books will be handled in the library system. Committee member Elizabeth Collins at the meeting.

Greenville County Library System’s Materials Committee reviews 24 books, chooses broader action

The committee was expected to make a decision regarding the fate the 24 books that have been under review since last November, but instead of issuing permanent bans on any of those books, the committee focused instead on the library’s larger collections policy.

The committee was initially tasked by the board last fall to review 24 books, many with LGBTQ+ themes, that were subject to scrutiny from the county GOP and board members themselves.

A single copy of each of the following books was removed from circulation pending that review:

  • “Adventures with My Daddies”
  • “Daddy & Dada”
  • “Feminist Baby Finds Her Voice”
  • “Generation Brave: The Gen Z Kids Who Are Changing the World”
  • “Heather Has Two Mommies”
  • “It’s Perfectly Normal”
  • “It’s So Amazing: A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families”
  • “Love, Violet”
  • “Pride Puppy”
  • “Sex Is A Funny Word”
  • “Stella Brings The Family”
  • “Teo’s Tutu”
  • “You Don’t Have To Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves”
  • “Gender Queer”
  • “Lawn Boy”
  • “All Boys Aren’t Blue”
  • “Out of Darkness”
  • “The Hate U Give”
  • “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”
  • “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
  • “The Bluest Eye”
  • “This Book is Gay”
  • “Beyond Magenta”

After its decision to review those books, the library system faced accusations of censorship from employees and local advocates.

The committee formally completed that review at its meeting on Monday, but it took no action to ban any of the books. Instead, the committee focused on making changes to the board’s broader collections policy.

The Greenville County Library System's Materials Committee held a meeting open to the public at the Hughes Main Library on March 13, 2023. The subject of the meeting was to decided the fate of how 24 books will be handled in the library system. Members of the public brought signs to express their views on the issues.

Committee debate focuses on limiting transgender themes

Most of Monday’s discussion centered around the policy’s limitations on materials with transgender themes.

Joe Poore, vice chair of the board of trustees but not a voting member of the materials committee, expressed concerns about the proposals vague language, asking if it would disproportionately target the LGBTQ+ community.

Other board members expressed similar concerns about vague language, prompting committee chair Elizabeth Collins to include a further definition that gender transition ideologies are “anything that affirms that a person’s gender is other than that person’s biological sex.”

Marcia Moston, a materials committee member, spoke in favor of the proposed changes. She called access to children’s books with transgender themes “life threatening for our youth.”

Members of the public are not allowed to speak at library committee meetings, but attendees still expressed their outrage at Moston’s remarks by rising from their seats and waving posters in support of access to books with LGBTQ+ themes.

The Greenville County Library System's Materials Committee held a meeting open to the public at the Hughes Main Library on March 13, 2023. The subject of the meeting was to decided the fate of how 24 books will be handled in the library system. Committee member Joe Poore talks his views on the books.

Tommy Hughes, a committee member, along with Kenneth Baxter and Brian Aufmuth, both board members who are not on the committee, all raised the point that librarians are already trained to ensure that content in each collection is age appropriate.

Later in the meeting, Aufmuth said the proposed policy changes were seeking to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist. His comment was met with snaps, claps and muffled support from the audience.

Poore said he fears the board could be overstepping its role with this policy. He said parents should be responsible for what their children read in the library, and the board should “empower and encourage that responsibility.”

After more than an hour of debate, the committee voted unanimously to advance its juvenile policy changes to the full board. One committee member, Tommy Hughes, abstained from voting on the young adult policy changes, but it still passed with four votes.

The full board of trustees will meet at noon on Monday, March 27, at Hughes Main Library to vote on the proposed policy changes.

− Tim Carlin covers county government, growth and development for The Greenville News. Follow him on Twitter@timcarlin_, and get in touch with him atTCarlin@gannett.com.

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]]> Parents stand up to ‘cult’ Loudoun County School board over transgender student policy https://transoutloud.org/parents-stand-up-to-cult-loudoun-county-school-board-over-transgender-student-policy/ Fri, 14 Oct 2022 16:08:30 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=44427

Virginia parents with differing viewpoints sounded off on school policies they say harmed children at Tuesday’s Loudoun County Public Schools board meeting.

One year ago, LCPS passed Policy 8040 to follow Virginia Department of Education guidelines put forth by the previous Democratic administration to protect transgender students. It requires employees to address students by their chosen “name and gender pronouns” and gives students access to the bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that match their gender identity. The decision sparked a backlash among parents, particularly because it did not require parents to be notified or approve of changes made to their child’s gender identity.

Several parents came to the meeting Tuesday to demand schools comply with new guidelines released last month by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R., which says parents must sign off on changes to their child’s gender identity and assures accommodations will be made. It also separates sports by biological sex.

“I implore you to adopt Gov. Youngkin’s new Model Policy in place of existing Policy 8040. The fact that parents have to advocate and fight for their parental right is absolutely absurd,” Michelle Warner, a mother of two Loudoun County students told the board. 

Parents and educators spoke out in support or against a transgender student policy at school board meeting

Parents and educators spoke out in support or against a transgender student policy at school board meeting
(Fox News Digital)

VIRGINIA GOV. YOUNGKIN DEFENDS TRANSGENDER POLICIES AFTER STUDENT PROTESTS: PARENTS WILL NOT BE ‘EXCLUDED’

“LCPS seems to think they are better equipped to discuss sexuality, feelings, body image, morals and such over their own parents,” she continued.

Another parent, Abbie Platt, urged the board to “honor” the new policies, after she tearfully shared how her young boys were forced to use the bathroom while “little girls” watched them last year. “There are obvious challenges with what happened last year… Do the right thing,” she told the board.

Amy Paul read an excerpt from a novel she said was currently in six public elementary schools called “It Feels Good to be Yourself.” She blasted the book as “propaganda” that “encourages” young children to question their gender.

Parents Clint and Erin Thomas likened the board to a “cult” who uses “disassociation from the family, love bombing and indoctrination” on children.

Signs in favor of Policy 8040 outside Loudoun County Public Schools.

Signs in favor of Policy 8040 outside Loudoun County Public Schools.
(Fox News Digital)

CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR ACCUSES LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD OF BEING ‘CHILD ABUSERS’

“This board thinks you’re part of the problem, which means they need to protect your child from you,” he warned fellow Loudoun County parents.

Other parents and educators pushed back against these claims and urged the board to continue with Policy 8040.

Brenda Bengston, who taught in the Loudoun County Public School district for 31 years, said the parent movement was “all political” and had become a “training ground” for attracting media attention.

She defended the transgender policy to Fox News Digital, saying teachers had the students’ best interest at heart. “We need to be interested in our students and not what we have as a bias, to bring it in with us,” she said. The former teacher said her role was to “welcome” students, not question them. 

Parents protesting in Loudoun County, Virginia, on June 22, 2021. 

Parents protesting in Loudoun County, Virginia, on June 22, 2021. 
(Reuters)

MARYLAND STATE SENATOR SPEAKS OUT AFTER STUDENT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT MIXED-GENDER LOCKER ROOMS

Bengston said the rules were necessary because some students “don’t feel like they can talk to their parents.”

Fellow supporter and longtime Loudoun County resident Tammy Cummins agreed that not informing parents was the right move because “Some homes are not safe. Unfortunately some people feel that every parent is a good parent. But we know that is not true.”

She shared about seeing abused children in her practice and recounted how she observed many homeless youth in the area were LGBTQ. 

Cummins praised students for being “way ahead of their parents in accepting that transgender students are here to stay.” She compared the treatment of transgender-identifying students to how “lesbian, bisexual and gay” students were treated “20, 30 years ago.”

Protestors in support of transgender rights rally outside the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

Protestors in support of transgender rights rally outside the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.
(Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

LOUDOUN COUNTY PARENTS HAMMER SCHOOL BOARD, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AS CONTROVERSIES CASCADE

Kerry Kidwell, a parent of two teenagers told the board that children are “young individuals not our property.” She said Youngkin’s guidelines would make school “less safe.”

She warned about transgender kids being “emotionally abused” by their parents. “It’s normal for parents to want their children to share with them, I certainly do, but let’s trust the children who tell us that it’s not safe to do so.”

Loudoun County parent and executive director of Fight for Schools Ian Prior argued it wasn’t the school’s job to socially transition kids. 

Speaking to Fox News Digital, he warned the next steps after socially transitioning were puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, mastectomies, surgery and other health issues. “For them to take parents out of that discussion, its extremely concerning and the government should not be in that role.”

Canadian activist and father Chris Elston, better known as “Billboard Chris” because he travels across North America wearing signs protesting gender-affirming surgeries and puberty blockers for minors, also showed up at the LCPS meeting. He told Fox News Digital that this wasn’t a political issue and that parents on both sides he speaks to don’t want their kids “sterilized.” He condemned the school board for trying to “hide” the issue from parents.

“We have to put a stop to this,” Elston said. “What do we say to our kids when an adult wants to keep something secret from their mom and dad? For all of history we’ve known this as wrong. But now the schools are pushing this as policy? It’s totally insane.”

Loudoun County Public Schools Board

Loudoun County Public Schools Board
(Fox News Digital)

FLORIDA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MAY REVISE POLICY AFTER TEACHER CLAIMS OVER 100 BOOKS VIOLATED STATE LAW

Elston argued that schools were pushing this “social contagion” on kids to not accept the body they were born in and likened it to abuse.

“What an abusive thing to say to a child, that they might be born in the wrong body because they might feel like a misfit right now… They are beautiful and perfect the way they are. That’s the message of true acceptance,” he said.

The school board has not indicated if they will follow the governor’s guidance. When reached for comment, the LCPS board referred Fox News Digital to a statement on their website that read in part “LCPS is carefully considering the model policies and whether they require any changes to LCPS policies in order to comply with Federal and State law. LCPS wants to assure our families that we will continue to provide a learning environment that is safe, welcoming, affirming, and academically rigorous for all students, regardless of the impact of the 2022 Model Policies.”

The school board has previously defied the Republican governor’s orders when it came to mask mandates.

LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS HIT WITH LAWSUIT FOR ‘MORAL CORRUPTION OF CHILDREN,’  PARENTAL ‘VIOLATIONS’

Parents against Policy 8040 were doubtful the board would comply with the governor’s order.

“Governor Youngkin just passed new guidance telling the entire state of Virginia to stop doing this, but they’re ignoring it, and they’re going to keep hiding this from parents.” Elston added, “They’re not going to follow it.” 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, right, signs HB473 sponsored by Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, left, in the conference room at the Capitol Wednesday March 2, 2022, in Richmond, Va. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, right, signs HB473 sponsored by Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, left, in the conference room at the Capitol Wednesday March 2, 2022, in Richmond, Va. 
((AP Photo/Steve Helber))

Clint Thomas stated, “I suspect this is going to be a continued board that rejects the governor’s mandate. I suspect most counties in Virginia will actually comply with that just like they complied with Northam’s guidelines earlier. So we’re hoping that takes place.”

He added, “But I’m expecting more lawsuits and more battle in that area.”

Thomas, along with 11 other parents, are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit by America First Legal against the school board last June that demands transparency about how the transgender policy came to be.

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The Northern Virginia suburb about 30 miles outside Washington D.C. has been the home to several controversies in the past two years, including accusations they covered up a sexual assault by a boy wearing a skirt.

The parent protests across the nation over critical race theory, mask mandates, low academic standards, and equity and inclusion curriculum in schools, has garnered attention at the federal level. 

Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. 



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]]> Trans activist, LCC coach Layne Ingram to appear on Dr. Phil https://transoutloud.org/trans-activist-lcc-coach-layne-ingram-to-appear-on-dr-phil/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 16:20:16 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=44166

Transgender activist and trans man Layne Ingram is scheduled to appear on Dr. Phil Oct. 7 for an episode surrounding trans athletes.

Layne Ingram’s advocacy for Greater Lansing’s transgender community has landed him a spot on national television.

Ingram is scheduled to be on the Dr. Phil TV show at 4 p.m. Friday on CBS with Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Harvard University human evolutionary biology professor Carole Hooven and swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed against trans woman Lia Thomas.

The Lansing Community College’s women’s basketball coach said a producer contacted him in the summer after reading his excerpt in a 2021 USA Today article exploring the political discourse surrounding transgender youth in sports.

“I hope that (the audience members) get an understanding that sports do so much for people and that we’re talking about kids,” Ingram said. “All kids deserve the opportunity to belong and interact with their peers. I hope they see a person who’s just like anyone they’ve met — a Black guy who’s smart and being a good citizen.”





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]]> New Study for Gender-Diverse Parents Needs Your Help https://transoutloud.org/study-gender-diverse-parents/ https://transoutloud.org/study-gender-diverse-parents/#respond Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:02:21 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=9292 We were recently contacted by Dr. Samantha Tornello, from Pennsylvania State University at Altoona. She is the Assistant Professor of Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is looking for gender-diverse parents that might be willing to take a survey online. It’s part of a study on non-cisgender parenting, and will only take about 20-40 minutes of your time. It’s open to any gender-diverse (non-cisgender) person who is a parent of at least one child. This is for parents of all kinds.

So if you can spare a moment, please help out by taking this survey. Anything that helps to better inform the public about us and paints a clearer picture of us as people is a great thing.

All the info is below.

Are you a gender diverse (non-cisgender) parent? Would you be willing to answer some confidential questions about your life and about your family? The purpose of this study is to examine the many ways families headed by gender diverse parents have been created, explore how families function, and learn about the relationship between partners.

The study consists of an online survey and will take approximately 20-40 minutes of your time. To qualify for the study you have to identify as non-cisgender/trans*/gender non-conforming/gender diverse parent and have a least one child of any age, this child can be biological, adopted, foster, step, etc. This study has been approved by the Pennsylvania State University IRB #00005115.

If you and/or your partner are interested in participating or want further information please contact Samantha Tornello (Principal Investigator) via email GenderDiverseParents@gmail.com. She will send you a web link that you can use to access the study.

Thank you for your interest and I hope to hear about your family soon!

Sincerely,

​​Samantha Tornello, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology &
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Pennsylvania State University-Altoona
slt35@psu.edu
Office: (814) 949-5351
Fax: (814) 949-5161
www.GenderDiverseParents.com
GenderDiverseParents@gmail.com

]]> https://transoutloud.org/study-gender-diverse-parents/feed/ 0 Sarah McBride Makes History as first Transgender Political Convention Speaker https://transoutloud.org/sarah-mcbride-first-transgender-political-convention-speaker/ https://transoutloud.org/sarah-mcbride-first-transgender-political-convention-speaker/#respond Fri, 29 Jul 2016 16:02:41 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=9064
It’s a groundbreaking development for the transgender community, as we finally heard our first transgender speaker at a major political convention. Last night Sarah McBride made history as she took the stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). She spoke to the delegates and audience about the importance of LGBTQ rights in this election, and how vital it is to take action now.

Who is Sarah McBride?

Ms. McBride is a former intern in the White House, under President Obama. She now works for the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that works to protect and advance the LGBTQ community. On Thursday she spoke out about the discrimination faced by transgender people in our country, and from its people.

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Risking Her Dreams

“Four years ago, I came out as transgender while serving as student body president in college. At the time I was scared. I worried my dreams and my identity were mutually exclusive.”

In her remarks, McBride urged Americans to be more accepting of people’s differences.

“Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, one way to look, one way to live?”

In advance of her speech, McBride said she wanted to make other transgender Americans proud to be who they are.

“I’m certainly excited to have this opportunity … I just hope I do my community proud,” she told NBC News earlier. “I really want to use this moment to reinforce and underscore that behind this debate on trans equality, there are real people who are seeking dignity and fairness throughout their lives, people who hurt when we are ridiculed and mocked and discriminated against, people who are facing violence … I want to make sure that people realize the humanity behind the conversation.”

McBride was joined onstage by Rep. Sean Maloney, D-N.Y., the chair of the congressional LGBTQ caucus and the first openly-gay person elected to Congress from the Empire State, who also urged Democrats to remember the hard-fought victory for same-sex marriage enshrined by the Supreme Court last year.

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In his remarks, Maloney recounted calling his husband, Randy, after news broke of the Supreme Court’s decision on June 26, 2015.

“The news hit like a thunderclap. Many of us wept. … I called Randy, I could barely speak,” he said. “Yes, our family’s a little different, but we read bedtime stories the same. Until that day, we weren’t really the same, not according to the law.”

See the entire speech below. And let us know what you think in the comments.

]]> https://transoutloud.org/sarah-mcbride-first-transgender-political-convention-speaker/feed/ 0 Powerful Pro-Trans Ad to Air During Republican National Convention Coverage https://transoutloud.org/powerful-pro-trans-ad-air-republican-national-convention-coverage/ https://transoutloud.org/powerful-pro-trans-ad-air-republican-national-convention-coverage/#respond Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:12:18 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=8530 A new ad featuring a transgender woman trying to use the restroom and being rebuffed by a restaurant owner will air during Donald Trump‘s speech at the Republican National Convention. Created and paid for by the Movement Advancement Project, Freedom for All Americans Education Fund and the Equality Ohio Education Fund, the piece features Alaina Kupec, a transgender woman from North Carolina.

While dining out with friends, Kupec is depicted being denied access to the correct restroom until two women intervene. The minute-long ad dramatizes the predicament faced by many transgender people across the nation in the face of heated rhetoric in places like North Carolina and Mississippi as they pass discriminatory laws aimed at curbing transgender civil rights.

“Most Americans want to do the right thing, but they have never met a transgender person, so they have misconceptions,” said Ineke Mushovic, Executive Director of the Movement Advancement Project. “This ad cuts through the political rhetoric and simply asks people to consider the serious challenges and discrimination faced by transgender people—discrimination that is still legal in most states.”

“Transgender people desperately need laws that protect us from being unfairly fired from our jobs, kicked out of our homes, and denied access to public bathrooms, just because of who we are,” said Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

“Our newly released survey data shows that 59 percent of transgender people avoided bathrooms in the last year out of fear of harassment. A shocking one in ten (12%) transgender people reported being harassed, attacked, or sexually assaulted in a bathroom, and one third avoided drinking or eating so that they did not need to use the restroom. Eight percent have had medical problems like urinary or kidney infections from avoiding the restroom.”

The North Carolina legislature recently adjourned without repealing the state’s odious HB2, which nullified LGBT nondiscrimination protections statewide and requires transgender people to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender listed on their birth certificate. The fate of the law is currently in the hands of the federal courts, but activists and Democratic lawmakers say the Governor will be forced to call a special legislative session to take action. The NCAA recently doubled down on their pledge to move the 2017 All-Stars Game from Charlotte if the law isn’t repealed.

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]]> https://transoutloud.org/powerful-pro-trans-ad-air-republican-national-convention-coverage/feed/ 0 Chelsea Manning Hospitalized After Attempting Suicide https://transoutloud.org/chelsea-manning-hospitalized-suicide-attempt/ https://transoutloud.org/chelsea-manning-hospitalized-suicide-attempt/#respond Thu, 07 Jul 2016 18:10:05 +0000 http://transoutloud.com/?p=8396

Chelsea Manning, the soldier imprisoned for sending classified information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks was briefly hospitalized this week, the U.S. Army confirmed Wednesday without providing details.

Chelsea Manning was taken to a hospital near Fort Leavenworth early Tuesday and returned to the Kansas military base’s prison later in the day, Army spokesman Wayne Hall said. He said the 28-year-old transgender soldier, who is appealing her 2013 conviction and 35-year prison sentence, was being monitored.

Hall and other Pentagon officials declined to say why the Army private was hospitalized. Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman Denise Haeussler said federal privacy laws precluded her from commenting without Manning’s consent.

CNN said that it was believed that the 28-year-old had tried to kill herself.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of this. A spokesman for the US Army told The Independent he was waiting for an approved statement before being able to comment. TheWashington Post reported that the military said Manning had since been returned to her cell but provided no other details.

Leaks to media outlets about the hospitalization angered Manning’s appellate attorneys, who said they weren’t apprised of the hospitalization. Manning’s sister, Casey Major, said she also was unaware of the matter until reached Wednesday by the AP.

Manning’s lawyer, Nancy Hollander, said in a statement that she was “shocked and outraged” that an official at Fort Leavenworth provided “confidential medical information” about Manning to the media but had not shared anything with her team. She said she had been due to speak with her client at 2pm on Monday but was told she could not be connected.

“Despite the fact that they have reached out to the media, and that any other prison will connect an emergency call, the army has told her lawyers that the earliest time that they will accommodate a call between her lawyers and Chelsea is Friday morning,” she said.

“We call on the army to immediately connect Chelsea Manning to her lawyers and friends who care deeply about her well-being and are profoundly distressed by the complete lack of official communication about Chelsea’s current situation.”

The base declined the AP’s request Wednesday for a telephone interview with Manning.

Manning, arrested as Bradley Manning, was convicted in military court of six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents, plus some battlefield video. Manning, who was an intelligence analyst in Iraq at the time, later filed a transgender prisoner rights lawsuit.

Manning has appealed the criminal case, arguing that her sentence was “grossly unfair” and that her actions were those of a naive, troubled soldier who aimed to reveal the toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The appeal contends Manning’s disclosures harmed no one, but prosecutors have said the leaked material damaged U.S. security and identified informants who helped U.S. forces.

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