BROADview in Brief

Don't stop now!

Last week, about seventeen minutes after engaging with one of the fiercest defenders of gender-affirming care/childhood and adolescent “sex” changes—who claims that everyone else is wrong—I decided to take Twitter off my phone. It’s been liberating, especially because I’ve been away from my computer most of the week, communing (in person!) with other disaffected liberals (and non-liberals) by way of Meghan Daum’s Chicago Unspeakeasy. It can be exhausting, and deflating, to keep up with the gender news because it’s more tennis match (Pong game?) than debate, and because so much of it is in bad faith—part rabbit hole, part sewage pit. Some people have told me that these extensive headline lists overwhelm them, making them feel we will volley forever, rather than ever make progress.

I can’t profess to any certainty about where we’re going. I just know there’s been a slight opening in the Overton window; we’ve got to keep pushing to widen it. More debate. More information. More nuance. More complexity. Don’t give up! And as you peruse these headlines, don’t ignore that some young people who identify as trans are being bullied and harassed, just as you won’t ignore the horror that some women have been raped in prison by trans-identified males. So many different populations are hurt by the politicization of this issue (obviously, some more than others)—and by one side refusing to see objections as anything but bigoted.

As we’ve moved toward what some call “inclusivity,” we’ve been asked, or forced, to change our language or hide our beliefs to honor those who don’t share them, in the process centering the marginal, marginalizing the normal. Destigmatize reality! Destigmatize the truth! These are bad bumper stickers, but important missions.

And now to headlines and summaries from our beloved Alejandra Q.

SUMMARIES

National

·       Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed HB608 into law Wednesday. The new law, which will preclude trans-identified individuals from entering facilities based on their “gender identity’, will go into effect in August.

·       A Burleigh County judge denied Wednesday a request to halt the enforcement of North Dakota’s law barring pediatric gender transition. The law, which was passed and signed during the last legislative session, will stand while the case goes to trial.

·       65 House Republicans aim to reverse Biden’s changes to Title IX which are expected to go into effect in August. The group of Republican legislators signed onto a disapproval resolution Wednesday. The leader of the joint resolution, Rep. Mary Miller, explained, “This divergence is a blatant violation of the protections Title IX was meant to guarantee, and it undermines the very foundation of women’s rights and security in their private spaces.”

·       The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) claims to have documented “86 active anti-LGBTQ+ groups” as part of its ‘Year in Hate and Extremism’ report released Tuesday. This represents a 33% increase from last year’s report. Such increase is due to the decision to include state-based family policy councils and groups of doctors who stand against gender transition (including chapters of the group Gays Against Groomers along with Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine and Genspect) on this year’s list. 

·       A new pilot program aimed at LGBTQ youth in the foster system was approved by the LA County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Part of what LA Country describes as “life-saving resources for trans kids” include "resource closets" to provide free to clothes, shapewear and makeup for minors in the foster care system. According to the program’s supervisors, “ongoing efforts to tamp out gender affirming care nationwide highlight the need for resources to support gender identity and expression among particularly vulnerable populations.”

·       Missouri’s Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a former student of the Blue Springs School District in Missouri will receive more than $4 million in damages for discrimination. The former student, who identifies as a transgender man, was barred from using the school’s boy locker room as an adolescent. 

·       Arizona is now the first U.S. state to enact a detransitioner bill of rights. An Arizona Capitol Times article describes Arizona’s SB 1511, which it describes as guaranteeing “equality of care and coverage for overlooked, underserved people.”

·       Cobalt Sovereign, a trans identified male student from Hopkins High School in Minnesota, was attacked in a girl’s school bathroom and left with a broken jaw on May 30th. The student accused of the attack has been disciplined, and police are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Hundreds of students attended a rally in support of Sovereign, who was hospitalized 2 days following the attack.

·       Tremaine "Tremayne" Deon Carroll, a trans-identified male inmate facing two charges of forcible rape plus one charge of  "dissuading a witness from testifying," has now been transferred out of a California woman’s prison. On Jan. 30 a female prisoner claimed Carroll attacked her and raped her in the shower at the Central California Women’s Facility. There is a second victim also listed in the complaint. In an interview for Fox News, Lauren Bone, legal director of the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) spoke about Carroll’s case and how it relates to California’s SB 132. In another California prison story, the National Review reports that the state’s prison policy that requires female prison guards to strip search trans-identified male individuals. According to the California Institution for Men policy adopted in 2021: “Incarcerated individuals who are transgender, non-binary, or intersex must be searched according to the gender designation of the institution where they are housed or based on the individual’s search preference.”

·       For her Substack, Christina Buttons criticizes an editorial from the journal Nature that discusses existing research looking into the biological basis of trans identity. The opinion article argues that such research could potentially “harm” or “pathologize” individuals who identify as transgender. According to Nature: "Our aim is not to halt scientific enquiry. But when it comes to transgender identity, knowledge cannot be pursued in isolation from the many societal factors that shape how that knowledge is received and acted on."

·       The "Take Back Title IX" tour, a nationwide bus tour comprised of female athletes and coaches from across the country, was in Lancaster County Pennsylvania Friday during the U.S. Women's Open. The group protested the potential participation of trans-identified male golfer, Hailey Davidson. The bus tour, which is part of the Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition, plans to make stops around the country throughout the month of June. A speaker with the tour is Paula Scanlan, Lia Thomas’ former University of Pennsylvania teammate.

·       Soren Stark-Chessa, a trans-identified male sophomore at Maine Coast Waldorf School, won the 800-meter title at the Maine Principals’ Association Class C girls’ outdoor track and field state championship. Stark-Chessa, won the race 10.12 seconds faster than the runner-up after transitioning from boys’ sports as a freshman. 

International

·       Claire Southey, director of Rainbow Rights Watch, an Australian trans advocacy group, pursued legal action against The Herald Sun only to have the case dismissed by a court this week. The Herald Sun, a publication based in Melbourne, had reported in 2022 on a petition made by inmates from Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre. The female inmates had requested that a trans-identified male inmate with a history of sexual violence be removed from the facility.  According to Southey, the article uncritically and repeatedly described how the male inmate made others at the facility feel "unsafe," "threatened," and "traumatized". The tribunal concluded, however, that the article in question did not vilify transgender people as a group. 

·       Australian heiress Gina Rinehart has stood in favor of parents from St. Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, an elite girls school in Perth, who have complained about the gender curriculum in the school. Rinehart is considered Australia’s richest person and attended St Hilda’s as a young student. 

·       UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to rewrite parts of the Equality Act if reelected. The new changes would define the term “sex” based on biology, blocking trans-identified males from entering female-only spaces and from participating in female sports. The 2010 Equality Act has been criticized for its ambiguity. For example, in reference to the Equality Act, Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said the following: “Whether it is rapists being housed in women’s prisons, or instances of men playing in women’s sports where they have an unfair advantage, it is clear that public authorities and regulatory bodies are confused about what the law says on sex and gender and when to act – often for fear of being accused of transphobia, or not being inclusive.” The Sunday announcement was followed by controversy, including within the conservative Tory party. While The Spectator describes Badenoch’s intentions as “honorable,” it also highlights potential problems with her stance, including how the Equality Act “already regards biological sex as primary.” The same article also points to issues regarding the legal definition of ‘woman’ as it relates to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. The article expounds on this topic: “That really is the issue here. Kemi Badenoch tried to bat the matter away saying that ‘it’s not about paperwork.’ She suggested the exclusion of transwomen would be done on the basis of appearance if they are ‘visibly of a different sex’ as she put it on Today. The problem here is that some transwomen look almost indistinguishable from women, especially if they have had genital surgery, while some women can to the untrained eye look very masculine.” A video of a heated exchange between GB News host Camilla Tominey and transgender campaigner Joanne Lockwood concerning the UK’s Equality Act was shared by multiple outlets. Kemi Badenoch was also interviewed by Sky News’s Kay Burley on the topic. In a separate interview with GB News, Tory MP Miriam Cates also elaborates on the repercussions of the proposed changes to the Equality Law.

·       The Good Law Project, a British non-profit legal organization, and TransActual, a trans advocacy group, have joined forces to challenge the UK’s ban on puberty blockers. An emergency ban on puberty blockers was put in place by health secretary Victoria Atkins before last week’s dissolution of parliament so that healthcare providers who prescribe the drugs could face up to two years’ imprisonment. The current ban applies to England, Wales and Scotland.

·       The Lancet issued its new researcher guidance on language for sex and gender. The document suggests the use of “sex assigned at birth” (over terms “biological sex”, “birth sex” or “natal sex”) among its recommendations. It also criticizes the notion of sex and gender as binary concepts, claiming that both exist on a spectrum. The guidance additionally describes the term “sex” as having two definitions, one that is physical/physiological, and one described as a categorization “designated at birth”. Jerry Coyne criticizes the new document, calling the publication the “most woke” of all medical journals. Coyne elaborates on his disapproval: “Note that everything referred to here deals with HUMANS, as this is a medical journal. Note that the editors specify that ‘sex’ has multiple definitions, but in so doing mix up the way sex is determined in humans (chromosomes carrying sex-determining genes), the way it is observed at birth (usually via genitalia), and the way it is defined (whether an individual has the apparatus for producing big, immobile gametes (‘females’) or small, mobile gametes (‘males’).”

·       A new dating app, L C (for “Lesbian Community”), created by women’s rights campaigner Jenny Watson, was recently launched in the UK. The dating app will use A.I. technology to distinguish its user’s sex and plans to exclude trans identified males from its services. Critics believe the app’s A.I. technology “often misgenders women, especially people of color.”

·       An article for The Telegraph describes how the book Time to Think was once dropped by Bloomsbury, one of Britain’s largest publishing houses. According to the article, Bloomsbury had originally been enthusiastic about the book but halted its publication based on complains from younger members of the staff. Robin Baird-Smith, the editor who initially promoted the book, was subsequently fired from Bloomsbury. Worth noting is that this happened before the book’s 2023 publication by Swift Press.

·       The Scottish Government is accused of employing individuals affiliated with groups that have attempted to dismiss the findings of the Cass review with the purpose of setting up a new NHS gender service in Scotland. The Cass review prompted Scottish health boards to block the use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoric minors. Members of the National Gender Identity Healthcare Reference Group, however, established to “progress improvement in the provision of gender identity healthcare and to oversee the implementation of the commitments set out within the NHS Gender Identity Services Strategic Action Framework”, are accused of spreading misinformation on the Cass review. Trina Budge, director of For Women Scotland claims: "Members of this so-called healthcare group are being allowed to abuse their positions with attempts to rubbish the most comprehensive study of its kind ever carried out.”

HEADLINES

National

Jun 3: Former Daughters of the American Revolution member challenges organization’s inclusion of transgender women (International Family News)

Jun 2: Federal authorities are investigating attacks on transgender and Latino students in Virginia (The Advocate)

Jun 3: San Francisco Opera embraces transgender, nonbinary singers (San Francisco Examiner)

May 31: Texas Democrat who supported gender-affirming care ban loses to queer progressive candidate—Rep. Shawn Thierry broke with the Democratic Party to vote for a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Now she's lost her primary to Black queer woman Lauren Ashley Simmons (The Advocate)

Jun 2: East Valley teen is the first Washington transgender athlete to win a state high school track championship. But controversy followed “Verónica Garcia did not hear the boos when the race started last weekend.” (The Spokesman-Review)

May 31: In the Face of Unprecedented Discriminatory Attacks, Lambda Legal Unveils "Unstoppable Future," Largest Single Campaign to Advance LGBTQ+ Rights—Historic effort will invest $180 million to nearly double organization's litigation docket capacity and sustain organization's work for the fight ahead (PR Newswire)

Jun 4: 'Eternally grateful for the kindness they've been shown': Russian transgender refugee reunited with husband at MSP Airport—They are seeking asylum in the U.S. (Pioneer Press)

Jun 4: Jury selection for Milwaukee transgender woman homicide trial (Fox6 News Milwaukee) Milwaukee transgender woman homicide trial; opening statements, testimony (Fox6 News Milwaukee) 

Jun 4: Transgender Mobile teen's family calls on prosecutors to designate case as hate crime “A teenager's murder in Mobile last month is garnering nationwide attention, with the victims's family and civil rights groups claiming the homicide was motivated by the teen's gender identity. According to information released by family members, 17-year-old Tayy Dior Thomas was the victim of a May 7 homicide on Darwood Drive. Thomas is a transgender Black girl reportedly killed by a boyfriend who feared their relationship would become public.” (Lagniappe Weekly)

Jun 3: Fort Worth OKs event on ‘protecting kids’ from ‘LGBT ideology’ in city-owned center “The city of Fort Worth has given a green light for a conservative group to use a city community center for an event Saturday about how to ‘protect kids’ from ‘LGBT ideology’ and the ‘social contagion of transgenderism.’” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Jun 4: Lynchburg City Schools votes to adopt Gov. Youngkin's transgender policy “This policy says Lynchburg City Schools will refer to each student using the name and pronouns associated with the appropriate sex appearing on the student's official record - i.e. male pronouns for a student whose sex is male and female pronouns for a student whose sex is female.” (ABC13 News)

Jun 4: Mother of transgender Monarch High School student in jeopardy of losing job with school district “A mother of a transgender athlete is at risk of termination as new details emerge from the school district’s investigation. Jessica Norton’s job with Broward County Public Schools is in jeopardy.” (7News)

Jun 4: Debate continues over NH bill restricting transgender girls from girls' sports—Former college athlete meets with lawmakers in support of bill “A former college athlete joined lawmakers Tuesday in Concord to push Gov. Chris Sununu to sign a bill that would prevent transgender girls in middle and high school from playing on girls' teams. House Bill 1205, known as the ‘Fairness in Women's Sports Act,’ has passed in the House and

Jun 5: Political Notebook: Community leaders call on San Francisco to declare itself a transgender sanctuary city (Bay Area Reporter)

Jun 4: Out Nation: LGBTQ Pastor Reinstated 20 Years After Defrocked; South Carolina Gov Signed Ban on Gender-affirming Care for Minors “Beth Stroud was reinstated as a United Methodist Church pastor after being defrocked 20 years ago for a same-sex relationship, according to AP News. In a private meeting of UMC clergy from Eastern Pennsylvania, Stroud surpassed the two-thirds vote needed to be reinstated as a full member and pastor. Her reinstatement comes almost three weeks after the United Methodist Church overturned its anti-LGBTQ bans.” (Out South Florida)

Jun 5: ‘Gender inclusion’ policy in Minneapolis schools allows boys in girls’ restrooms, locker rooms (The Lion)

Jun 4: NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan Celebrates 200 Gender-Affirming Surgeries Milestone(Harlem World)

Jun 4: Biden threatens VA budget veto over abortion, gender-affirming care (Military Times)

Jun 5: SERVICES AND CARE OPTIONS TO SUPPORT LGBTQIA+ MEMBERS “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (‘Blue Cross’) today announced expanded access to LGBTQIA+ support and resources for members, including a gender-affirming care program and a partnership with FOLX Health.” (Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts) 

Jun 5: Suspect accused of brutally murdering stranger says she has no regrets and 'God saved' her “The video of the crime gained national attention because of its brutality. It shows Fisher running over a man twice before she jumped on top of him, kissed him, and repeatedly stabbed him in broad daylight.” (ABC 13)

Jun 4: Motion to Dismiss Denied in Transgender Worker’s Discrimination Case Against Turbocam, Inc., and Two Harvard Pilgrim Companies “The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire yesterday denied a motion to dismiss Bernier v. Turbocam, in which GLAD represents Lillian Bernier, who is suing her employer Turbocam, Inc. for denying her necessary healthcare coverage related to her gender transition.” (GLAD)

Jun 4: Transgender athlete complains about lack of sportsmanship from fellow runners after winning girls state title—Garcia won the 400 meter in Washington (Fox News)

Jun 5: Transgender Hermit Accepted by Catholic Bishop in Kentucky “She was born female and then changed sex, undergoing a medical process, and now brother Christian Matson has been formally accepted by the Catholic bishop as a hermit in the diocese of Lexington, Kentucky. He is the first transgender to make such a choice.” (Il Messaggero)

Jun 5: This Elite Transgender Rock Climber Is Making His Sport More Accessible to All “After winning the reality show "The Climb," Cat Runner is using his platform to advocate for equal representation for queer climbers” (Sierra Club Magazine)

Jun 5: With ban on gender-affirming care now law in SC, LGBTQ+ community responds with resources “Today, Sims is the founder and executive director of The Ladies Room, a nonprofit in the Upstate that provides resources for health care access, including endocrinology, as well as food and housing support exclusively to BIPOC transgender and nonbinary people.” (Post and Courier)

Jun 4: Amazon EDI training compelling staff to use preferred pronouns “at work and in your personal life” “Since its creation in 2020, the FSU has handled over 2,500 individual cases and queries relating to free speech. Of our free speech cases, 46% are in some way associated with the workplace and, among these, approximately one fifth concern EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) training (approximately 230).” (Free Speech Union)

Jun 5: Rally to be held at Hopkins High School after attack on transgender student—Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. (Bring Me the News)

Jun 6: APA Introduces Revolutionary Support Measures for Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals “In a move that has made landmark history in the world of gender politics, the American Psychological Association has adopted changes to policy, introducing a variety of new support measures for members of the gender-diverse community, including children and adolescents. The change in policy makes several key statements regarding the nature of not just individuals of non-binary gender identities, but outlining their medical right to care and support. The changes to policy mean that shortly, courses such as an online post-master's PMHNP program could be gender-affirming and that information regarding the gender spectrum and gender identities is not withheld or misrepresented.” (DevDiscourse)

Jun 5: Vermont Christian parents say they were punished by foster system over transgender stance (Straight Arrow News)

Jun 5: What Utah’s auditor found so far while investigating 5 trans bathroom ban complaints—Out of more than 12,000 complaints, the five cases were identified as the only allegations that “might reflect a good-faith effort to attempt to make plausible allegations.” (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Jun 5: Conservative dad who launched war on Maine school districts over transgender bathroom policies, CRT lessons and LGBT books kills himself aged 53 (The Daily Mail)

Jun 5: Transgender and gender-diverse advocates call on CT schools to protect students from bullying (CT Insider)

Jun 5: RSU40 School Board on verge of deleting policy protecting transgender students— Vote will be at June 6 Board Meeting “On Thursday, June 6, Regional School Unit 40’s regular school board meeting agenda includes the possible deletion of Policy ACAAA, Transgender and Gender Expansive Student Policy.” (PenBay Pilot)

Jun 5: 'Trans people empowering other trans people' | Trans People are Magic helps raise money for name changes in East Tennessee—Joslynn Fish, who helped start the Trans People are Magic Cabaret, said she started it after hiring her first employee at South Press. (10News)

Jun 5: Neil deGrasse Tyson FURIOUS as host destroys his pro-transgender athlete narrative (Blaze Media)

Jun 5: Indiana joins lawsuit challenging protections for transgender care (Inside Indiana Business)

Jun 5: CDC Recommends Doxycycline PEP for Gay Men, Transgender Women—Men who have sex with men and transgender women should be offered a prescription for doxy PEP for preventing STIs. (Health Day)

Jun 6: Covenant Shooter Cited Transgender ‘Rights’ In Shooting Spree Manifesto, Contradicting Official Claims “Portions of the so-called manifesto of the school shooter who targeted The Covenant School last year show that contrary to claims by police, the shooter appears to have been motivated by gender ideology and other political issues. ‘So now in America, it makes one a criminal to have a gun or, be transgender, or non-binary,’ the shooter wrote in documents that were in her car at the time of the shooting, according to the Tennessee Star, which obtained copies of dozens of handwritten diaries. ‘God I hate those s—head politicians,’ the entry continued.”  (The Daily Wire)

Jun 6: EXCLUSIVE: Air Force Slapped With Lawsuit After Stonewalling Release Of Transgender Health Unit Records “A recently filed lawsuit from a national security think tank is alleging that the U.S. Air Force is wrongfully withholding records related to its transgender care services. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August 2023 seeking materials related to the Air Force’s Transgender Health Medical Evaluation Unit (THEMU), according to a copy of the suit obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Air Force initially acknowledged the FOIA request but then failed to provide further updates to CASA, prompting the think tank to file a lawsuit in late May against the branch in a Washington, D.C., district court for the records.” (Daily Caller Monitor)

Jun 6: Oregon teachers appeal lawsuit against school district over transgender policies and free speech rights “Two Oregon teachers have appealed a lawsuit against their school district, following a 2023 district court ruling that their termination over their opposition to school transgender policies did not violate their right to free speech. Rachel Sager and Katie Medart launched a grassroots movement called “I Resolve” in 2021 to offer “reasonable, loving, and tolerant” solutions to the school districts’ transgender policies, which they argued violated teachers’ consciences and infringed on parental rights.” (Catholic Vote)

Jun 6: Connecticut Transgender Shot Putter Takes Bronze At Girls’ State Championship Meet (New Boston Post)

Jun 6: EXCLUSIVE: Doctors Urge Top US Medical Orgs to Stop Harming Kids With Transgender Surgeries, Hormones “Members of the American College of Pediatricians, also known as ACPeds, and other medical professionals will announce their signing of the “Doctors Protecting Children Declaration” on Thursday during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, The Daily Signal has learned.” (The Daily Signal)

Jun 6: Why Tennessee ranks as high risk for gay and transgender people (The Tennessean) 

Jun 6: Americans approve of LGBTQ+ people living as they wish, but their support drops for trans people, poll shows “The survey also found deep divisions on questions related to queer youth, such as whether children should have access to gender-affirming medical care. The poll, done for The Times by NORC at the University of Chicago and paid for by the California Endowment, was designed in part to re-ask questions from a groundbreaking survey on American perceptions of gay and lesbian people that The Times conducted in 1985.” (Los Angeles Times)

Jun 6: Exclusive: Anti-LGBTQ+ legislative agenda momentum slows in U.S. “Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation faced headwind in this year's legislative sessions following a boom last year, per data analysis from the Human Rights Campaign shared exclusively with Axios. The big picture: About 500 anti-LGBTQ+ billswere proposed in both 2023 and 2024 — but significantly fewer passed this year.” (Axios)

International

Canada

Jun 3: Trudeau says transgender youth being targeted for political gain—During the raising of the pride flag on Parliament Hill on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused some politicians of denying certain youth of 'the freedom to seek life-saving gender affirming care, all for narrow political gain.' Trudeau also made reference to 2016 when he became the first prime minister to march in a pride parade. (CBC)

Jun 3: Trudeau condemns ‘rising hate’ as Pride flag raised in Ottawa—Feds set aside $1.5 million to cover security and insurance costs of Pride events this summer (Cranbrook Daily Townsman)

Jun 3: Ontario tennis coach worries new transgender athlete policy unfair to girls5—Under the Ontario Tennis Association's new 'honour-based' trans policy, players may participate without restrictions in the gender category in which they self-identify (National Post)

Jun 1: Tories run for cover when it comes to transgender rights “Where does the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party stand on the issue of the rights of LGBTTQ+ youth? After a raucous week in the legislature, the party’s position remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma.” (Winnipeg Free Press)

Jun 4: New study finds women and transgender artists underrepresented in Canadian radio (Capital Current)

UK

Jun 3: Female Great West Run winner accused of being transgender and called 'revolting' “A doctor was cruelly trolled and called ‘revolting’ and ‘twisted’ among a slew of disgusting names after a proud race win. The avid runner has now slammed those behind the awful name-calling. Anna Harrold, a GP from Truro, took part in Exeter-based The Great West Run, coming in first place. The proud mother of four, however, was soon met with a barrage of hate including hurtful comments telling her she looked like a man.” (MSM)

Jun 1–Parents concerned about 'dangerous' risk posed by transgender ice hockey players—Fear is that female players as young as 14 are being put in danger by the admission of male-born trans competitors to their games (The Telegraph)

Jun 2: Father Ted creator Graham Linehan blasts 'satirists' for 'not being brave enough to lance the trans boil' - as he insists his gender-critical views have been 'proved f***ing right'(The Daily Mail)

Jun 5: Devon's first transgender mayor appointed—At the age of 73 years old, Rachel Clarke is proud to call herself the first transgender mayor in the westcountry and only the second in the UK (Devon Live)

Jun 2: Ladies' Pond in Hampstead Heath is engulfed in trans row after men who identify as women are allowed to swim there... as a feminist activist is expelled for criticising the choice (The Daily Mail)

Jun 3: Parents warned of trans 'endemic' in Scottish schools with shocking new report: 'Should be worried!' (GB News)

May 31: Trans woman, 70, appears in court accused of murdering her husband with a samurai sword (The Daily Mail)

Jun 5: Cass Review slammed by transgender youth associations “The Cass Review on transgender healthcare will leave young transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people with little opportunity to obtain transgender care, breaching their rights to medically necessary care. This is the argument by World Professional Association for Transgender Youth (WPATH) and the US Professional Association for Transgender Youth (USPATH) in response to the review and a report in MedicalBrief last week, ‘Medical community at a crossroads on child gender-affirming care’.” (Juta Medical Brief)

June 3: First transgender judge hits out at ‘trans-hostile’ conspiracy theories—Victoria McCloud calls on employers to do more to combat workplace prejudice (The Telegraph) 

Jun 5: TRAINSPHOBIA ‘Pride train’ rainbow slammed by campaigners after missing out new colours for transgender people—Some social media users have others dismissed the complaints, with one person writing: 'Stop moaning, jog on' “Campaigners are angry after saying the train's new livery did not adopt the Progress Pride colours which also represent marginalised and transsexual people.” (The Sun UK)

Jun 3: Miss Universe's transgender co-owner is caught saying 'trans women, married women and divorced women' can compete in beauty pageant but CANNOT win, in bombshell leaked video (The Daily Mail)

Other International

Jun 6: Shut down—The flagship gender clinic in Chile calls a halt to puberty blockers and hormones following intense media scrutiny (Gender Clinic News)

Jun 6: Swim Ireland's transgender policy bans transgender women competing against biological women—Swim Ireland have introduced a Transgender and Non-Binary Participation and Competition Policy that bars transgender athletes from competing against women (The Irish Star)

Jun 5: Late transgender soldier to be laid to rest at nat'l cemetery (The Korea Herald)

Jun 5: 'Emilia Pérez' review: An incendiary transgender cartel musical—Jacques Audiard's gaudy, star-studded Cannes winner is stirring, and surprisingly philosophical. (Mashable)

May 30: GERMANY: Women’s Gym Fined €1,000 After Denying Balding Trans-Identified Male Access to Showers (Reduxx)

Jun 3: Knesset allows transgender people to remove 'dead name' from IDs—"This is another significant step on the way to equal rights for the trans community." (The Jerusalem Post)

Jun 1: With his transgender identity public, skier Jay Riccomini finds success on and off the slopes—Riccomini kept his identity a secret for years. He broke his silence at age 17 in an Instagram post in 2021. “One of freestyle skier Jay Riccomini's priceless life moments came this year in Switzerland, when he was recognized on the podium for a third-place finish in a major global competition. It was a breakthrough performance — and the announcer used his correct pronouns.” (NBC Connecticut)

Opinion Pieces

Jun 3: For gay and transgender people, these are the most (and least) welcoming states (USA Today)

May 31: Eager to ‘Affirm,’ Yet Unwilling to Debate—A prominent South Carolina doctor and transgender rights activist has made a great show of calling England’s Cass Review “a sham at best”—but now refuses to say why. (Quillette)

May 31: As a transgender person, what brings you joy? (CNN)

Jun 4: Adults care about gender politics way more than kids, doctor says. So why is it such a big deal? “When you were born, someone likely told you that you're a boy or that you're a girl. And while your reproductive organs, yes, revealed the sex you were born as, your gender identity was far from predetermined, says child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Jack Turban. Turban is the founding director of the Gender Psychiatry Program at the University of California, San Francisco, who regularly speaks out about gender-affirming care in media. His new book, "Free to Be," is out Tuesday.” (USA TODAY)

Jun 4: Perspective | Trans people belong in high school sports that reflect their identities (EdNC)

Jun 4: How does being transgender affect your personal and family finances? (CNN)

Jun 4: A Medical Negligence Cartel—The WPATH files offer a disturbing look into the group’s decision-making process for “gender-affirming” care. “My primary takeaway after reading the files was to note the stark contrast between the group’s fraught internal exchanges and their outward assertions of confidence and authority. Indeed, if you read transcripts of some of the leaked videos without knowing the source, you might think that the speakers were ardent critics of transgender ideology and “gender-affirming” care.“ (City Journal)

Jun 3: The Impact of the ACA 1557 Final Regulations on Gender-Affirming Care “Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is receiving federal financial assistance.” (JDSupra)

Jun 3: Opinion: Lifesaving Gender-Affirming Care Is in Danger. How Can We Save It? (Rewire News Group)

Jun 1: 'Years Of Waiting For Gender Affirming Healthcare On The NHS Pushed Me To Crisis Point'—"Without support...we are forced to find more dangerous means of meeting our needs." (HuffPost)

Jun 2: The Endocrine Society's last chance to protect children “It’s not too late to turn back. That’s what the Endocrine Society, one of North America’s most powerful medical institutions, must remember as its annual meeting occurs in Boston this week. The society is one of the foremost advocates of aggressive, invasive, and irreversible “gender-affirming” treatments for children. For years, it has played a major role in lawsuits that have struck down state laws protecting children, and judges, politicians, physicians, and patients look to it for guidance. Yet recent developments should cause the Endocrine Society to reconsider its stance for the sake of children.” (Washington Examiner)

Jun 6: Pediatric Transgender Care and the Contentious Rise of SEGM—The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine is praised by some and vilified by others. Either way, it’s making waves. “The Endocrine Society told Undark that its 18,000 members were given the opportunity to comment on its guidelines and that the process leading up to their publication was no different than usual. Nevertheless, in the past few years, a gulf has opened up among physicians over fundamental questions about how best to respond to young people who seek medical treatment related to their gender identity.” (Good Men Project)

Jun 5: Transgender and Gender-Diverse Mental Health—How gender-affirming therapy, transition-related medical care and support from loved ones may help (Christiana Care News)

Jun 6: A New Medical Coalition Rebuts the Propriety of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ (National Review)

Jun 5: Transgender people often face hurdles in getting health care (8WGAL)

Jun 5: Get better informed when discussing transgender issues “We need to separate activism from medicine so our doctors can use science based approaches driven by rigorous research, in order to better care for the transgender population. Three documents, The CASS Review, Johns Hopkins Systematic Review for WPATH and the WPATH FILES need to be reviewed by educators and counselors promoting transgender services if they are actively encouraging students in school settings and in social services to be fully educated. All should be part of a larger curriculum for students and families to understand and discuss medical processes, as well as long-term impacts related to transitioning.” (Polk County Itemizer Observer)

Jun 6: “I honestly couldn’t be happier”: Anacapa Surgical’s transgender surgery program is making positive changes in the lives of patients (VC Reporter)

May 31: AFTER CASS, WE MUST PRESS PAUSE ON THE NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN ORDER TO PROTECT CHILDREN—A curriculum is a powerful tool that allows policymakers to determine what should be taught and how. The Irish primary school curriculum is being redrafted by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment, NCCA, for the first time in 25 years. The public have until June 7th to make submissions about the content. (RIPT)

Jun 3: Understanding How Hormones Influence Gender Dysphoria—More research is necessary to fully understand how our hormones affect our gender identity and expression. However, some research shows that hormones may influence gender dysphoria in some people. (Healthline)

Jun 3: Transgender people have become a scapegoat to hide the real problem (The Independent)

Jun 3: Dr. Tamara Hinz on barriers to transgender care: ‘It pushes more kids further into the closet’ (Canadian Medical Association)

Jun 3: After decades of fear, some transgender elders celebrate freedom and progress—"If I present myself as somebody I'm not, they've already killed me." (ABC News)

Jun 2: If your kid just told you they’re trans, here’s what you should know (CNN)

Jun 2: Science alone can’t solve fairness debate on transgender athletes, says expert endocrinologist and UW professor (The Spokesman Review)

Jun 2: Your child has come out as transgender. How should you respond? (Globe Echo)

Study

Study: Gender identity disorders among young people in Germany: prevalence and trends, 2013–2022. An analysis of nationwide routine insurance data