Sarah McBride Wins her Primary Posed to be the first Transgender US Senator

Sarah McBride / Instagram

Sarah McBride has won her primary and is posed to become the first transgender woman to be elected to the US Senate.

She was asked in an interview about her primary win, "How do you balance the work you want to do – which is broad, and covers a lot of different policies — with the demand to be a spokesperson for trans people?"

State Senator McBride answered, "Well, I’ve been a spokesperson for the movement, and there are people doing that work. To do right by the LGBTQ community, I need to simply be the best member of Congress that I can be, and show that when you elect trans people or LGBTQ people or people of any underrepresented background, they can do the job as well as anyone else.

Being the best that she can be means looking out for everyone. Sarah McBride did that in the video below by holding the author of an anti-trans bill accountable.

McBride won Tuesday’s primary over businessmen Earl Cooper and Elias Weir, AP Reports neither of whom reported raising any money for their campaigns. Cooper is a political newcomer, while Weir finished dead last in a 2016 congressional primary with less than 1% of the vote.

McBride, meanwhile, raised almost $3 million in contributions from around the country. McBride achieved national recognition at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States.

McBride will face Republican James Whalen IIII, a retired state police officer and construction company owner from Millsboro, who won the GOP primary race against Donyale Hall, a Dover businesswoman and a Gulf War-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Democrats have held the seat since 2010.

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A post shared by Sarah McBride (@sarahemcbride)

While serving as a Delaware State Senator Vote Right shows that McBride:

• Cosponsored a bill that requires all health benefit plans provided by medicaid to cover abortions and the termination of women's pregnancy in Delaware.
• Voted to pass a bill that authorizes the prescription of PREP and other preventative HIV medications in the state of Delaware.
• Voted to pass a bill that requires the state electoral college delegates go to the winner of the popular vote count.

 

I’m ready to be a bold changemaker in Congress, but I need your help. Can you help us make history by become a Founding Donor today?https://t.co/Dnj3FKQG4l

— Sen. Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) June 26, 2023

That Librarian: One Louisiana Librarian fights back against censorship

A school librarian who faced online harassment and death threats from conservatives for speaking out against book bans wrote her own book documenting her fight to defend herself. Louisiana librarian Amanda Jones, author of “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America,” joins Joy Reid with her story.

My take on Book Bans: I was ever so fortunate to have someone come into my life and spark my interest, wonder, and amazement. This person in my case was my English teacher who lifted me from failing to an A+ literature student. Thankfully this was long before books were being taken off shelves by right-wing extremists or it would never have happened. We owe Amanda Jones the same degree of gratitude for inspiring many others to take a similar stand against book bans.

Meanwhile in Florida.....

Unpacking Trump Debate Claim Kamala Harris will perform transgender operations on prisoners

Kamala Harris reacts to Trumps Transgender Surgery rant

Debate fact check: Trump says Harris wants to perform ‘transgender operations on illegal aliens’ in prison.

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“She did things that nobody would ever think of,” Trump claimed in the Sept. 10 debate. “Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. This is a radical left liberal that would do this. She wants to confiscate your guns, and she will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania. If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one.”

Harris, in 2015 as California Attorney General sought to deny a transgender woman who was incarcerated gender-affirming health care.

Kamala Harris as San Fransico District Attorney General opposed the decriminalization of sex work, which in 2015 many trans people resorted to to survive. Harris's presidential campaign website makes no mention of transgender rights.

Evidently, Kamala Harris has evolved.

Trump’s claim about “transgender operations” can likely be traced back to a 2019 survey from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which the organization says it sent to all presidential candidates that year, CNN’s KFILE reported on Monday. In that survey, candidates were asked if they would use presidential authority to ensure that all trans people, including incarcerated people and undocumented immigrants, received “comprehensive treatment” for their transition “including all necessary surgical care.” Harris said she would do so.

The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners.

Source: American Medical Association Journal of Ethics: As outlined in Estelle v Gamble (1976), the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution requires that states provide adequate care for people who are incarcerated—but what constitutes “acceptable” care under professional guidelines is frequently at odds with the standard of care used by clinicians outside of carceral facilities. Outright denial of standard care runs afoul of the Constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Trump keeps pushing anti-trans horror stories at his rallies #Project2025 #transgender https://t.co/EgVINfYeMo via @msnbc

— Planet Trans (@kellibusey) September 11, 2024

Evidently. Trump has devolved. He was once a uge transgender supporter.

In 2012 Trump advanced transgender rights immeasurably when he overruled the rejection of a transgender beauty queen. Businessman Donald Trump overturned a decision by the Miss Universe Organization, which he owned, to disqualify a Canadian transgender beauty pageant contestant because she was not a "naturally born" female. Jenna Talackova, a tall blonde who underwent gender-reassignment surgery at age 19 and holds legal documents affirming her identity as a woman, wants pageant organizers to go further and drop eligibility rules she calls discriminatory.

On the claim that Harris "wants to confiscate your guns,” fact-checking site, PolitiFact, which has partnered with PBS News this election season, says the claim is mostly false. In 2019, Harris said that she supports "a mandatory gun buyback program" for assault weapons. but not all weapons.

White supremacist Leaders charged with soliciting assassination of LGBT people and others

Screenshot / Reuters 

The Justice Department announced today that Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho — leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group — were charged with a 15-count indictment for soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Humber and Allison were arrested on Friday by law enforcement officials.

“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to attacking America’s critical infrastructure, targeting a hit list of our country’s public officials, and carrying out deadly hate crimes — all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a press release Monday.

“The defendants solicited murders and hate crimes based on the race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity of others,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. “They also doxed and solicited the murder of federal officials, conspired to provide material support to terrorists, and distributed information about explosives that they intended to be used in committing crimes of violence.

The Justice Department has charged two people in California who were alleged leaders of a white supremacist group that wanted to ignite a race war in the U.S.@PierreTABC reports, speaking exclusively with DOJ officials. pic.twitter.com/Iht2orNLFx

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) September 10, 2024

The indictment charges Humber and Allison with a total of 15 counts, including one count of conspiracy, four counts of soliciting hate crimes, three counts of soliciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, two counts of distributing bombmaking instructions, and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

If convicted of all charges, Humber and Allison each face a maximum penalty 220 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

View the indictment here.

UK Govt. Removes Affirming Trans Guidance from "Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024"

Photo: Steve Russell / Glamour UK

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth Student Organisation (IGLYO) has issued a statement condemning the UK government for removing affirming transgender guidence from the legally binding draft "Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024".

The IGLYO statement was drafted with input from UK Members and inclusive education experts, and was endorsed by ILGA-Europe and Transgender Europe (TGEU).

Takeaways from the IGLYO statement:

• The updated guidance refers to children and young people being LGB in affirming ways but has removed parallel references for trans children and young people.
• the UK government continuously refuses to recognise trans identities in young people as real, conflating such terminology with ‘gender questioning’ throughout its guidance. This rejects the idea that young people can be trans. 
• The UK government cross-references guidance that is in draft form and in consultation to reinforce its harmful messaging.
• The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance uses the Cass Review as an evidentiary basis for this policy change, despite its poor and inconsistent use of evidence, pathologising approaches, and exclusion of service users and trans healthcare experts. 
• The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance recommends that families are involved in social transition in schools, despite the potential safeguarding risks of outing students to their caregivers. Research by Galop (2022), UK’s LGBT+ anti-abuse charity, noted that 2 in 5 trans or non-binary people had experienced abuse at the hands of family members, with the majority experiencing this before they turned 18 and often in relation to their gender identity.
• The guidance as it stands now recommends that schools encourage parents to seek “clinical help and guidance”, which is not only dehumanising and pathologising, it is also virtually impossible due to the UK government’s restrictions on gender-affirming care.
• The guidance conflates being trans with mental illness and autism.

On the guidance, Alex Feis-Bryce (He/him), Executive Director of our UK Member Diversity Role Models noted: “I am very concerned about the lack of clarity this update provides teachers and school leaders on their return to school and the impact it could have on trans young people. The proposed changes, that remain under review, could strip young trans people of their agency. To keep children safe in education and ensure that their right to privacy is protected, any education policy should recognise the challenges young trans people currently face in education, including bullying on the basis of their real or perceived difference, not introduce additional barriers.”

The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance is just another step in the deeply worrying march toward the attack against trans people in the UK. We urge our members across the Council of Europe region to take note and prepare for similar attacks in their home nations.

Texas suddenly stops allowing gender maker updates on Birth Certificates

Texas is now the 8th state to have discriminatory policies or laws banning trans people from updating Birth Certificates. 

On Friday, August 30, 2024, the Texas Department of Vital Statistics without notice blocked trans people from updating their Birth Certificates.

That came just days after the state removed a single line from the drivers license policy blocking court ordered gender marker changes on Driver Licence.

The archived webpage shows how the policy used to read before August 30.

Texas law permits changes to birth certificates if proven “by satisfactory evidence to be inaccurate.” However, it doesn’t allow state agencies to make substantive policy changes without 30 days’ notice and a public comment period.

Johnathan Gooch with Equality Texas, an LGBTQ rights organization, said that this change will affect transgender Texans' ability to carry out everyday, necessary tasks like opening a bank account.

"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has bullied state agencies into denying the specific types of updates that transgender Texans need," Gooch added. "Ironically, that means the state’s top legal officer has instructed state agencies to deny court orders from state judges. So, what should be a simple administrative task has now become a nightmare."

Non-Binary Trans Person Speaks against Book Banning as Huge Man Lunges forward threateningly

JoJo, a queer non-binary person speaks at a book ban (rally/hearing?) against banning books in a video shared on Reddit as first reported on by Detroit Free Press.

This person's bravery cannot be understated but becomes more evident in a picture shared on Riddit of JoJo while making their presentation.

Unbeknownst to JoJo, a huge man seated behind them stood up threateningly as if to attack them and had to be restrained by police. This is bravery exemplified.

Thank you Jojo for taking such a couragous stand against bigotry and ignorance.

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A post shared by Kelli Anne Busey (@planet_trans)

Transgender Massachusetts Teen Beaten in Possible Hate Crime

Jayden Tkaczyk / NBC video screenshot

“One second, I was having fun, the next second, I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” Jayden Tkaczyk, 16, said. His mother said the attack was her worst fear and described the attack as a hate crime.

Trigger warning. Vivid descriptions of violence.

The Gloucester Police Department said in a press release that the "parties involved in this incident are known to one another."

A detective trained in civil rights investigations had been assigned to lead the case, police said, and a spokesperson for the department confirmed to ABC News the incident is "being investigated as a possible hate crime."

"The investigation remains ongoing and no determination has been made at this stage," the police spokesperson said.

The teen has previously faced bullying for being trans, Rourke said.

Jayden, who attends a local vocational high school, joined the Gloucester High School football team last year but quit after only a few practices because the "bullying got so severe," according to Rourke.

Trump tells moms for liberty that schools are performing sex change operations on children

Screenshot / Erin in the morning

Trump in an address with Moms for Liberty lied implying that children under the Biden administration were undergoing sex change operations at schools without their parent's knowledge.

The nativist former president is aware he is losing badly in the polls and has resorted once again to telling outright lies hoping to enrage his base.

It is truly disgusting that Trump said this it is equally appalling that he told this lie at a meeting of the Moms of Liberty a group designated by the SPLC as right wing extremist anti-goverment for its words and deeds.

Related: A nonpartisan voter registration group saw a 700% surge in young voter registrations in key battleground states. Young voters overwhelmingly vote Democratic. 

Singapore's Pride Qatrisha Zairyah, advances in Miss Universe Pageant

Background Pixabay on Pixels/ Qatrisha Zairyah Instagram

Transgender woman Qatrisha Zairyah has advanced to the top 15 finalists who are vying for the title of  Miss Singapore. Once achieving this, the winner goes on to represent Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant.

Ms. Zairyah is endeavoring to be the first trans woman to represent Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant and after that, Miss Universe!

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Qatrisha Zairyah 🇸🇬 (@qatrisha_zairyah) • Instagram photos and videos

Because she is transgender Qatrisha Zairyah has additional obstacles to overcome, some physical, but often the most hurtful are verbal and written.

Contestants from Singapore must meet the qualifications set by Miss Universe one of which is to be legally recognized as a woman in their country. In an interview with The Straights Times, Ms. Zairyah confirmed that she had met that criteria by undergoing gender confirmation surgery, a condition set by Singapore, and underwent humiliating visits to doctors to verify her womanhood, so she could participate.

Ms Qatrisha credits her confidence and poise to having taken part in other pageants for transgender women. The 1.8m-tall stunner even clinched the first runner-up spot at the biggest and most prominent one – Miss International Queen 2023 held in Pattaya, Thailand.

“It’s about time I can represent my community on the MUS stage,” she says. “MUS is a good opportunity for me to share about my life, my struggles, failures, fears, fighting discrimination, and how I’m achieving my dreams to become a successful trans woman.”