LGBT+ News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Agreed, there is still alot of division between the LGBTQ+ community and others who stand in its way, for example the rightwing.

[Powers]

Agreed, there is still alot of division between the LGBTQ+ community and others who stand in its way, for example the rightwing.

Aren't they divided about this?

[Powers]

Agreed, there is still alot of division between the LGBTQ+ community and others who stand in its way, for example the rightwing.

Aren't they themselves divided about this?

[caltrek]

...
Agreed, there is still alot of division between the LGBTQ+ community and others who stand in its way, for example the rightwing.

Aren't they themselves divided about this?

Not that AskBing should be taken as the final authority on this matter:

Me: Is there a lot of division within the LGBTQ+ community regarding the disputed right of lesbians to adopt children?

AskBing:

I’m not aware of any division within the LGBTQ+ community regarding the disputed right of lesbians to adopt children. However, until 2017, laws related to LGBTQ+ couples adopting children varied by state in the United States. Some states granted full adoption rights to same-sex couples, while others banned same-sex adoption or only allowed one partner in a same-sex relationship to adopt the biological child of the other1. Despite these rulings, same-sex couples and members of the LGBTQ+ community still face discrimination when attempting to foster children1.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_ ... ed_States

[Powers]

With divided I mean those that want more change and those that want for the most part the current status quo.

[caltrek]

With divided I mean those that want more change and those that want for the most part the current status quo.

Thank you for your clarification. I guess I should have asked more about what you meant. Even as I prepared my post, I wasn't sure that it was responsive to your particular question.

[caltrek]

Russia’s Gender-affirming Surgery Ban Clears First Hurdle
by Maya Bodie
July 19, 2023

Introduction:

(Alternet) A newly passed ban on gender-affirming care in Russia, if approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is expected to threaten many lives, The Daily Beast reports.

The Beast spoke with a handful of Russian citizens whose "health might be ruined" if the law moves forward.

Milana Romanova, 18, " who was in the process of transition" when the bill was passed, told the news outlet she has "no doubt Putin will pass the law. "This is Russia, and then none of us will have any access to professional medical help and society will know it's OK to eliminate us," she said.

The Beast reports:

Until recently, Russians wishing to legally change their gender had to interact with psychiatrists, municipal authorities, draft officers and sometimes judges. But there was a legal route to transition. On Monday, Russian transgender people’s closed chat on Telegram for over 1,000 Russian trans people was bubbling with updates on which psychiatrist to run to get the most-desirable F-64 certificate, a diagnose of 'transsexualism.' Then, based on that certificate, one could get a passport changed.

Romanova told the news outlet the new law will "only encourage more violence and more transgender people will attempt to commit suicide."

Read more here: https://www.alternet.org/new-law-trans ... iolence/

[weatheriscool]

Federal judge blocks Arizona’s transgender sports ban
https://www.azfamily.com/2023/07/20/fed ... ports-ban/
Published: Jul. 20, 2023 at 4:31 PM PDT|Updated: 4 hours ago

TUCSON, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A federal judge in Tucson gave the green light on Thursday to let transgender girls play on teams consistent with their gender identity.

U.S. district judge Jennifer Zipps blocked the Save Women’s Sports Act from being enforced. The transgender girls said because they haven’t undergone puberty for boys and don’t have a physical or physiological advantage, they should be allowed to play on girls’ teams. Zipps agreed. “(They) do not have a competitive advantage over other girls, and they do not pose a safety risk,” she wrote in the injunction.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, one of the defendants in the case, disagreed with the ruling and said he would appeal. “The Plaintiffs, in this case, claimed that this only involves pre-pubescent boys, but we presented peer-reviewed studies that show pre-pubescent boys have an advantage over girls in sports,” he said in a written statement. “The only expert presented by the Plaintiffs was a medical doctor who makes his money doing sex transition treatments on children and who has exactly zero peer-reviewed studies to support his opinion.”

Lawyers for an 11-year-old transgender girl from the Kyrene School District in Tempe and a 15-year-old Tucson girl filed the lawsuit against Horne and the Arizona Interscholastic Association, among others, in April. Both are on puberty-blocking medications and want to play soccer and volleyball in their respective schools. The law banning transgender girls from playing in girls’ sports was signed last year.

[wjfox]

Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

Mon 24 Jul 2023 19.42 BST

Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The ban is said to stem from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”. Lawmakers say the legislation is to safeguard Russia against “western anti-family ideology”, with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism”.

Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when the president first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values”, supported by the Russian Orthodox church.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -in-russia

[wjfox]

Matty Healy: Malaysia LGBT community angry at 1975 'white saviour stunt'

3 hours ago

British pop singer Matty Healy's protest stunt at a concert in Malaysia has sparked fury from LGBT activists and allies in the country.

Many have described the 1975 singer's sweary rant at the Malaysian government - and kiss with a male bandmate - as an act of "performative activism" that would make their lives even harder.

Homosexuality remains a crime in Malaysia, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Conservative Islam remains the dominant political and cultural force in the country, restricting sexuality, alcohol and other perceived threats to traditional values and "public decency" standards.

In a statement after Friday's show, a source close to the band said Healy had wanted to stand up for the LGBT community.

But while many locals appreciated the intent, they say he crashed a precarious political environment for LGBT Malaysians and caused greater damage.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66286800

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Judge Blocks Montana Drag Ban Using Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell's Own Words
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order on a Montana law banning drag in public. In doing so, he turned to Representative Braxton Mitchell's own words to make his ruling.
Erin Reed
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/judg ... dium=email
Jul 28, 2023

A federal judge, Judge Brian Morris, blocked Montana House Bill 359, known as Montana’s “Drag Ban,” late Friday afternoon. This bill, enacted into law on May 22, 2023, forbids anyone from performing in public while wearing "exaggerated makeup" and "adopting a flamboyant or parodic [male or female] persona with glamorous exaggerated costumes and makeup." The judge used the words of the bill’s author, Representative Braxton Mitchell, to determine that the legislation was unmistakably crafted with discriminatory intent, constituting an unconstitutional breach of freedom of speech and imposing content-based restrictions.

[weatheriscool]

7th Circuit Affirms Bathroom Rights For Trans Youth, Reject "Gender Neutral Alternatives"
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that transgender youth can use the bathroom of their gender identity, reaffirming an earlier ruling.
Erin Reed
Aug 3, 2023
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/7th- ... dium=email

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that transgender youth can continue to use bathrooms in accordance with their good-faith gender identity in Indiana, and it has rejected an effort by school districts to overturn a lower court's preliminary injunction. This means transgender youth in the state continue to have the right to access bathroom facilities, and policies barring them are blocked in states within the circuit's jurisdiction. This places the 7th Circuit in agreement with the 4th Circuit but in opposition to the 11th Circuit on the bathroom access issue, something that likely will only be resolved with the case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, potentially in the near future.

The case in question centers on three transgender boys in the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville and the Vigo County School Corporation. The students were required to use the bathrooms corresponding to their sex at birth or gender-neutral restrooms that were far from their classes, often making them late and revealing their transgender status. One boy traveled across the school to the health office bathroom only to find it locked on numerous occasions, leading at times to embarrassing accidents. Some of the boys would hold their bladders to the point that it posed a health threat and aggravated existing health problems. Because of this, a lower court judge ruled that the policies were harmful to them and violated their civil rights under Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment's right to equal protection under the law.

[caltrek]

It’s 2023, and Coming Out Is, Well, Complicated
August 3, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) In an era of unprecedented LGBTQ2+ visibility coupled with incredible backlash, coming out as a sexual minority can be a deeply ambivalent experience, according to new research.

In a study published in Theory and Society, sociologists Dr. Amin Ghaziani and Andy Holmes conducted in-depth interviews with 52 adult Vancouverites about their experiences coming out over the last five years.

We spoke to Dr. Ghaziani (he/him), professor in the UBC department of sociology and Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities, about the findings.
Why were you interested in recent experiences of coming out?

Coming out is about sharing your identity with someone, and it’s an ongoing process that happens at different times with different people.

In the 1980s and 1990s, coming out was a transformative act, although still very much a struggle, in a homophobic society. In the 2000s and 2010s, the narrative changed from what we might call “struggle and success” to “emancipation” as people in the West generally found more acceptance in society. Coming out became less formal and less fraught.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/997528

caltrek’s comment: Coming out as a difficult transformative act also applies to at least the late 1970s. I remember a close friend of mine who came out at that time. I learned a lot from him about the challenges involved in that process. As a society, we have made a lot of progress in making that process easier. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reactionaries around who would like to go back to the bad old days.

[caltrek]

Drag Show Limits Cropping Up In Texas Spur Suit From ACLU
August 3, 2023

Introduction:

HOUSTON (Courthouse News) — A Texas law targeting drag shows is so vague it could be construed to prohibit any hugging and kissing in musical theater or other shows, the ACLU Foundation of Texas says in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the statute from taking effect.

Going into this year’s legislative session, Republican lawmakers in the Lone Star State said they wanted to protect children from “disgusting” and “hyper-sexualized drag performances,” including “Drag Story Hours” at public libraries meant for audiences of all ages.

But critics say the sweeping obscenity bill that resulted from these efforts regulates a vast range of “sexually oriented performances,” even if they are held on private property for audiences who are all adults.

Set to take effect Sept. 1, Senate Bill 12 imposes criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and fines of $4,000 and $10,000 for allowing sexual oriented performances with anyone under age 18 in the audience.

It also gives prosecutors, municipalities, counties and the Texas attorney general discretion to cancel events that they believe will feature performers engaging in prohibited sexual conduct.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/drag-sh ... from-aclu/

[weatheriscool]

Pediatrician group reaffirms support for gender-related care for minors
Source: UPI

A leading U.S. pediatric organization has reaffirmed its support for gender-related treatments in minors, but it also plans a systematic review of the medical research.

The move by the American Academy of Pediatrics to examine research on the treatments is similar to recent moves in England and Sweden. Both limited access to the treatments after their reviews found uncertain evidence for their effectiveness in adolescents, the New York Times reported.

"The board has confidence that the existing evidence is such that the current policy is appropriate," said Mark Del Monte, chief executive of the AAP, which represents 67,000 pediatricians. "At the same time, the board recognized that additional detail would be helpful here."

Asked about the policy changes in European countries, Del Monte said, "they engaged in their process, we're engaging in our process." A systematic review of the evidence is considered the gold standard. The AAP issued a statement on gender-related treatments in 2018, and it's customary for the group to reevaluate position statements after five years, the Times reported.

Read more: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/08 ... 691190241/

[weatheriscool]

Judge tells anti-trans parents to go sit down & leave the kids alone
Excellent!!! He basically tells them STFU!

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/08/jud ... d=sidebar9

A federal judge has told a group of anti-trans parents to mind their own business after the group filed a lawsuit challenging an Ohio school district’s bathroom policy.

The attempts to meddle do not “pass legal muster,” he wrote in his ruling, saying that the group has no reason to sue.

“Not every contentious debate concerning matters of public importance presents a cognizable federal lawsuit,” Judge Michael Newman wrote, denying their petition to stop the Bethel Local School District’s policy that allows a single transgender middle school student to use the restroom that aligns with her gender identity.

7

[weatheriscool]

Leading Medical Group Backs Gender-Affirming Care
Posted on August 9, 2023 by Lauren Mulvey
https://globalcocktails.com/leading-med ... ming-care/

Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) voiced their support for gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth in the face of years of legislative attacks on the trans community.

AAP represents 67,000 pediatricians throughout the U.S. and has been voicing their support for transgender medical care for years, also voting in 2018 to support transgender medical treatments. A release from the group on Aug. 4 with statements from the organization’s CEO and Executive Director Mark Del Monte reads “As part of its mission, the AAP will continue to ‘ensure young people get the reproductive and gender-affirming care they need, and are seen, heard, and valued as they are.’”

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]