Weekly roundup on transgender issues, including music stars’ clash, sports controversies, government guidelines, and activism across the globe.

As I mentioned in my previous round-up, it’s impossible to cover absolutely everything that it in the media about trans people, but I’ve done my best. For more updates on what’s been going on, check out What The Trans’s roundup.

Contents:

  • Sheryl Crow and Zach Bryan come out for trans rights
  • Bud Lite boss gets the jitters
  • Transgender athlete Lexi Rodgers barred from NBL1 competition
  • Transgender pupils can be rejected by single-sex schools, UK government guidelines to say
  • Kirstie Allsopp comes out in favour of trans rights
  • Posie Parker’s anti-trans rally in Belfast met with larger counter-protest and pub refusals
  • DUP support Posie Parker
  • Manila Gorio runs for Mayor of Bari with ‘Bari Free City’ civic list
  • Milan leads LGBTQ+ rights initiative for transgender ‘alias’ register
  • Tory MSP apologises for suggesting link between transgender people and learning difficulties
  • Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Program extends aid to transgender community
  • Historic surge in bills targeting transgender rights pass at record speed
  • Alaska high school sports association considers barring transgender girls from girls’ teams
  • Colorado becomes safehaven for abortion and transgender care
  • Kansas Anti-Transgender Bills may impact prisons and jails
  • DeSantis Calls transgender swimmer Lia Thomas a “Fraud,”
  • Florida lawmaker Randy Fine defends Drag Ban Bill, calls for LGBTQ+ eradication
  • Minnesota becomes refuge for trans youth as neighbouring states ban gender-affirming care
  • Missouri House passes ban on transgender care, setting up clash with Senate
  • South Western School District’s elected officials rejected a proposal requiring students to use bathrooms matching their birth certificate gender
  • A community drag show, “Expressions: A Celebration of Drag and Transgender Rights,” is scheduled on April 29 in Portland to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the US
  • Vermont school sports bill challenges state’s LGBTQ+-friendly image

Culture

Sheryl Crow and Zach Bryan come out for trans rights

Country music stars Zach Bryan and Travis Tritt have ‘clashed’ over Bud Light’s ad campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Tritt announced he was a snowflake who would be boycotting Anheuser-Busch products due to the partnership, while Bryan criticised Tritt’s stance, stating that insulting transgender people is wrong.

Other artists, such as Sheryl Crow, have shown support for Bryan’s viewpoint.

Anheuser-Busch’s stock has reportedly dropped around 4% since the partnership announcement, but the company continues to stand by the campaign. [NY Post]

Bud Lite boss gets the jitters

Perhaps feeling the pressure exerted by the anti-trans mob sending bomb threats to many of the Anheuser-Busch breweries in the States, their CEO has finally spoken out about a campaign that was only intended to target Mulvaney’s followers.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” said CEO Brendan Whitworth in a public statement issued on Friday.

“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”

Quite how he expects trans people, and those who would like to see trans people exterminated, to bond over a beer, he did not say.

Australia

Transgender athlete Lexi Rodgers barred from NBL1 competition

Basketball Australia’s expert panel has decided to prevent transgender basketball player Lexi Rodgers from participating in the NBL1 competition.

Despite the decision, Rodgers remains determined to continue her athletic journey, emphasising her belief in her rightful place in women’s basketball.

The panel, which included Basketball Australia director Suzy Batkovic, said  the complexity of balancing inclusivity, fairness, and competitiveness in sports.

While Rodgers’ application was not approved for elite competition, Basketball Australia continues to claim they encourage inclusivity at the community level. [source]

England

Transgender pupils can be rejected by single-sex schools, UK government guidelines to say

Transgender pupils can be rejected by single-sex schools, according to expected UK government guidelines. These guidelines would allow single-sex schools to reject transgender applicants of the ‘opposite biological sex’, ‘protecting girls’ schools that refuse entry to boys identifying as female’ and vice versa. Dog whistle ahoy from right-wing press!

The guidance will apparently apply to all state and independent schools and is intended to ‘provide clarity on how schools respond to gender dysphoria’ but, of course, it does nothing of the sort. Teachers will be able to ignore requests from children to be called by their preferred pronouns.

The guidance is expected to recommend that schools notify parents if children want to use different pronouns, unless there are safeguarding concerns, which there usually are if a child has not confided in their parents, and take a “case by case” approach to children experiencing “gender distress.”

The Labour MP Nadia Whittome said that a blanket ban was wrong and potentially unlawful. [source]

Kirstie Allsopp comes out in favour of trans rights

She naturally, got dogpiled for it by the anti-trans mob.

Ireland

North

Posie Parker’s anti-trans rally in Belfast met with larger counter-protest and pub refusals

Posie Parker, or Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, held an anti-trans rally in Belfast on 16 April 2023.

The event was met with a significantly larger counter-protest consisting of various groups, including feminists and LGBTQ+ organisations.

Parker has a history of making inflammatory statements at her rallies, leading to criticism and attracting neo-Nazis and ‘gender-critical’ supporters.

The anti-trans group faced difficulties in Belfast pubs after the event, as they were refused service in multiple establishments due to their offensive behaviour and attire.

You can read more about the event here, including about the trouble they encountered after.

DUP support Posie Parker

It came as a surprise to absolutely no-one when the DUP’s Edwin Poots spoke out in defence of Posie Parker.

The DUP single-handedly delayed the introduction of marriage equality for years, ran an historic ‘Ulster says no to sodomy’ campaign, and are the reason the UK government had to go over the head of the devolved Northern Ireland parliament to allow abortion in the country.

Defenders of women they most certainly are not.

Many of their members also believe the world is only 6,000 years old.

Before Parker’s fishy rally, Poots tweeted, “I support the rights of women to their space sports [sic] and to be free from all forms of abuse. Women have the right to protest in order to highlight these rights being infringed and should not be bullied when doing so. #letwomanspeak”

Italy

Manila Gorio runs for Mayor of Bari with ‘Bari Free City’ civic list

TV journalist and president of Transgender Italia, Manila Gorio, has announced her candidacy for Mayor of Bari with the civic list “Bari Free City.”

The announcement took place at Palazzo Romano – Gioia del Colle, where Gorio expressed her desire to directly address and resolve the issues faced by the city’s weakest.

Gorio has been talking about politics and supporting vulnerable communities for the past four years, and now seeks to make a more significant impact in the upcoming 2024 administrative elections. [source]

Milan leads LGBTQ+ rights initiative for transgender ‘alias’ register

Milan takes the lead in creating a network of municipalities for the establishment of an ‘alias register’ for transgender people, aiming to launch the registry office during Milano Pride on June 24th. There is every chance that ‘alias register’ is a google translate issue, but you can read the original in Italian in the link below.

The initiative starts with partnerships in Lecce and Bologna, with plans to expand to other cities, including Livorno, Taranto, Reggio Emilia, San Lazzaro di Savena, Ravenna, and Messina. This alliance of cities is committed to promoting transgender rights and recognising chosen gender identities. [source]

Scotland

Tory MSP apologises for suggesting link between transgender people and learning difficulties

A Tory Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Stephen Kerr, has apologised for a tweet suggesting a link between transgender people and learning difficulties.

Kerr deleted the tweet and stated that it was written by a staff member and does not reflect his views.

Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman criticized Kerr’s language, saying it contributes to the tripling of transphobic hate crimes in recent years. [source]

Pakistan

Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Program extends aid to transgender community

The Pakistani government has expanded the Benazir Income Support Program to include the transgender community, providing financial assistance to those in need. However, questions have been raised about the implementation plan and whether those with old ID cards will be eligible.

The program aims to provide financial aid to low-income women and now also the transgender community, distributing Rs 7,000 every three months to those registered.

Activists and community members appreciate the government’s initiative, but they emphasise the need for education and skill development programs to make transgender people more financially independent. [source]

USA

Overview

Historic surge in bills targeting transgender rights pass at record speed

A record number of bills targeting transgender rights have been introduced and passed into law in the United States within the first four months of 2023.

According to a Washington Post analysis, at least 29 bills targeting transgender rights have become law in 14 states so far this year.

All were signed into law by Republican governors or enacted by GOP legislatures that overrode Democratic governors’ vetoes.

This year’s successful bills are among at least 408 similar bills introduced in 45 states, compared to 156 in 35 states last year.

This trend is part of a clear and identifiable national effort targeting LGBTQ individuals, with conservative lawmakers falsely claiming the bills protect children or correct overly broad protections. [source]

Alaska

Alaska high school sports association considers barring transgender girls from girls’ teams

Alaska’s high school sports association is set to review an amendment to its bylaws that could limit transgender girls’ participation in girls’ school sports teams.

The proposed policy, based on a non-binding resolution approved by the Alaska Education Board, would create two sports divisions: one exclusively for students whose sex assigned at birth is female, and another open to all genders.

The association’s board will take public comment on the policy and discuss its approval at a May meeting. This topic has been debated across the U.S., with 21 states signing such bans into law. [source]

Colorado

Colorado becomes safehaven for abortion and transgender care

Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a series of health care bills to protect access to abortion and gender-affirming treatments, making Colorado a safe haven for those seeking care.

The legislation aims to ensure people from neighbouring states and beyond can access abortion, puberty blockers, or gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Wyoming and Oklahoma have introduced abortion bans, and Utah has significantly limited transgender care for minors.

Colorado now joins Illinois in offering reproductive rights to residents of conservative states. California and New York are also considering similar bills. [source]

Kansas

Kansas Anti-Transgender Bills may impact prisons and jails

Kansas lawmakers have approved a series of anti-transgender bills that could potentially impact the state’s prison and jail systems.

The bills may require that sexes be kept in separate cells, with sex defined in a way that could mean transgender inmates would be held with inmates of their sex assigned at birth.

This change will likely put transgender inmates at risk and jeopardise the state’s compliance with federal law.

Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) is assessing the potential impact of the bills on state prisons.

Experts warn that a return to housing prisoners based on their sex assigned at birth could bring the state out of alignment with federal law, which could cost millions in lost grant funding each year. [source]

Florida

DeSantis Calls transgender swimmer Lia Thomas a “Fraud,”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has caused controversy by calling transgender swimmer Lia Thomas a “fraud” during a speech at Liberty University.

He argued that Thomas’s participation in women’s sports is unfair due to her male body parts and declared Florida native Emma Weyant, who lost to Thomas in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, the true winner.

DeSantis’s comments have been both praised for defending women’s rights and criticized as transphobic. He also highlighted Florida’s ban on puberty blockers and sex-change surgeries for minors, emphasising the need to protect the integrity of women’s sports. [source]

Florida lawmaker Randy Fine defends Drag Ban Bill, calls for LGBTQ+ eradication

Florida Republican lawmaker Randy Fine has callrf for the eradication of the LGBTQ+ community while defending his bill, HB 1423, which aims to ban drag performances in public.

Fine, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, argued that the bill is not anti-drag but is about protecting children from exposure to sexual conduct or lewd behaviour.

Fine said: “If it means erasing a community because you [LGBTQ people] have to target children, then damn right we ought to do it.”

The bill does not explicitly mention drag but targets venues that allow children to attend performances containing such content.

If passed, the legislation would give officials the authority to revoke or suspend the license of establishments violating the rules.

Similar legislation in Tennessee was blocked by a federal judge due to its broad scope. [source]

Minnesota

Minnesota becomes refuge for trans youth as neighbouring states ban gender-affirming care

Minnesota is set to become a refuge for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care as neighbouring states like South Dakota and Iowa impose bans on such treatments for minors.

With an executive order from Governor Tim Walz protecting access to gender-affirming care and the state’s House of Representatives passing the trans refuge bill HF 146, Minnesota is taking an opposite stance to the bans implemented by other states.

Medical providers like Mayo Clinic and Planned Parenthood anticipate an increase in patients traveling to Minnesota for care, while volunteer pilots are preparing to offer no-cost flights for those in need.

The state has a history of providing health care for transgender children, with experts emphasising the importance of family involvement and parental consent for minors receiving care. [source]

Missouri

Missouri House passes ban on transgender care, setting up clash with Senate

The Missouri House has passed a ban on certain transgender health care, potentially leading to a clash with the Senate over the strictness of the ban.

The Senate’s version, passed last month, allows transgender minors currently receiving care to continue treatments and includes an expiration date for the ban on hormone therapy. Both provisions were included to end a Democratic filibuster.

However, the House version omits the compromise language. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden has urged the House to pass the Senate’s version for the bill to have a chance this year.

It is the most far-reaching ban on trans health care yet and would effectively bar the majority of trans people of all ages from accessing care. [source]

New Hampshire

South Western School District’s elected officials rejected a proposal requiring students to use bathrooms matching their birth certificate gender.

The board voted 8-to-1 against the proposal but agreed to consult its attorney and possibly reconsider a similar proposal later. The meeting attracted dozens of parents and community members with differing opinions on the matter.

The proposal resembled one passed by the Red Lion Area School Board, which faced allegations of discrimination. Transgender students’ accommodations and allegations of bullying have emerged as concerns in various districts. [source]

Oregon

A community drag show, “Expressions: A Celebration of Drag and Transgender Rights,” is scheduled on April 29 in Portland to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the US.

The event will also fundraise for OutMemphis, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ individuals. [source]

Vermont

Vermont school sports bill challenges state’s LGBTQ+-friendly image

Vermont, known for its LGBTQ+-friendly reputation, has seen a bill introduced by four Republican lawmakers that proposes to bar transgender girls and women from competing in school sports.

Titled “An act relating to protecting the competitive integrity and safety of girls and women in sports,” the bill aims to prohibit individuals assigned male at birth from participating in schools’ girls athletics programs.

While it is unlikely to pass due to opposition from Republican Governor Phil Scott and current Vermont policy, the bill’s introduction highlights that the state is not immune to transphobia. [source]

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