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This is Trans News Tracker, a biweekly Autostraddle roundup and analysis of the biggest trans news stories.
The anti-trans losers in the U.S. government and beyond have been…a little quiet over the last couple of weeks. I can’t figure out if they’re losing steam or if they’re amping up to hit us with even harsher legislation actions. Either way, trans youth are experiencing an onslaught of major changes to their ability to access healthcare and are at higher risk of losing all access to gender-affirming, so we should be keeping our eyes on how that develops. As for the rest of this week’s news, there is an equal mix of good and bad here. Let’s not forget that witnessing resistance is important fuel in our continued efforts to ensure all trans people get the resources they need and deserve.
Nine More U.S. Hospitals Cut Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth
We have reported on this in piecemeal several times since Trans News Tracker was created, but the last couple of weeks specifically have seen the continued shut down of medical care for trans youth across the country. This is happening in states where trans healthcare is supposedly a priority, proving once again that in the face of fascism, “liberalism” rarely has the means or desire to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Since the middle of June, nine different hospitals in the U.S. — Stanford Medicine in California, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Rush Medical Center in Illinois, University of Chicago Medicine, Connecticut Children’s Hospital, Yale Medical, Yale New Haven Hospital, and Kaiser Permanente — have cut some or all of their programs that provide gender-affirming care to trans youth in order to capitulate to the Trump administration’s threats to cut funding and the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. vs Skrmetti. The changes in these medical facilities will primarily impact trans people under the age of 19 and include cuts in access to puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries.
What makes this story stranger, though, is that these hospitals seem to be rushing to comply with the Trump administration’s orders as the Attorneys General of 16 states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to challenge their attacks on trans healthcare. So far, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. have joined in on the complaint, which means that every hospital cutting off access is in a state listed on the lawsuit. It’s uncertain what that will mean in the coming months, but for right now, what is happening in the state legislature and on the ground are totally at odds.
Meanwhile, according to S. Baum at Erin in the Morning, “trans patients are applying pressure on lawmakers and health systems to hold the line on trans-affirming care” through staged protests and plan to continue until these decisions are reversed.
Some Good Trans News For Once
Team USA Olympics trans ban may violate Federal law. Considering how everything has been going, I’m not sure this will matter much, but at least it gives trans athletes and their allies an opportunity to make some kind of legal case against these new bans.
Native tribal leaders push back on gender-affirming care restrictions for their citizens. Although the legal specifics are somewhat complicated, Indigenous people do technically have sovereignty over their land and the laws that govern the members of their tribes. Since many Indigenous tribes recognize gender outside of the “Western” conception of the gender binary, they’re pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on trans people’s access to healthcare. According to this article, “the National Indian Health Board, which represents and advocates for federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native tribes, passed a resolution declaring tribal sovereignty over issues affecting the Native American community’s health, including access to gender-affirming care. The resolution calls on the federal government to preserve and expand programs that support the health and well-being of Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Native Americans.”
20 police raided a gay bar for a “compliance check.” Then the patrons did something surprising. In what feels like an event straight out of the 1960s, Pittsburgh police raided the P Town Bar while a drag show was going on to perform what the officers were calling a “compliance check.” Despite threats from the police and the overall violence of being kicked out of the bar, the drag performers and the bar patrons kept the party going right outside the bar’s doors.
International Good Trans News
UK: World’s biggest study of trans children to include toddlers treated by NHS. I’m counting this as good news because as we’ve seen over the years, studies about trans life and efficacy of gender-affirming treatment generally come out proving the anti-trans lobby wrong about us. Considering the UK is seeing just as much anti-trans backlash as we are in the U.S., I feel like this will only help build cases for trans youth to have more access to gender-affirming care rather than break them down.
Czech Republic: Trans people in Czech Republic can now change gender without surgery. As we reported in the last Trans News Tracker, Cuba recently made it legal for trans people to change their gender marker on their identifying documents without undergoing any gender affirming medical interventions. Now, the Czech Republic has made it legal for citizens there to do the exact same thing.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong judge rules in favor of transgender bathroom access. Another win for trans people abroad here. A judge in Hong Kong ruled against any regulations that criminalize the use of trans people’s preferred bathrooms.
Trans News I Wish I Didn’t Have to Report
Austin police investigating assault of trans woman at Barton Springs as possible hate crime. This is a story that has been developing over the past week, and we do not have the names of the victims or suspects involved. However, the attack on a trans woman and her friends were caught on camera in Barton Springs last weekend, which resulted in a physical altercation that injured a “good samaritan” trying to step in to prevent the women’s harassment. Details are still coming out, and the police are seemingly trying to pursue a hate crime indictment against the suspects in the case.
Majority of Americans think gender transition ‘morally wrong’, poll suggests. I can’t even make a joke about this. Gallup just keeps proving we’re in the trenches as far as public perception goes: “In a survey from analytics firm Gallup, U.S. residents were asked to give their opinion on the ‘moral acceptability’ of 20 different behaviours, regardless of legality. It found that just 40 percent of respondents believe transitioning is ‘morally acceptable’, while 54 per cent believe it is ‘morally wrong’ and five percent have no opinion or believe it isn’t a morality issue.” All the more reason to make sure access to gender-affirming care is non-negotiable.
Sarah McBride’s first successful bill is a private equity law co-sponsored by an anti-trans Republican. Honestly, I don’t think a trans elected official is going to save us, and I’ve especially never thought Sarah McBride would be the one to change my beliefs on that. But I have to say, this sucks! Most of the time, bipartisanship isn’t worth the trouble, especially for a bill that experts say isn’t very good at all. Sometimes it really is your own people selling you out.
Pete Buttigieg stunningly agrees with Trump on trans athletes…but rejects president’s strategy on issue. As I was saying about it really being your own people sometimes: This guy is just constantly finding new reasons for me to dislike him.
Transgender pool player loses discrimination claim after being barred from women’s tournaments. The losers and cowards who make up the “no trans people in sports” lobby are even taking niche sports with small fan bases, like pool in this case. You might be thinking…how can anyone think there is even a semblance of a “fairness issue” in pool? And you’d be right for thinking that, because I seriously do not know how even the bad faith “fairness” arguments could even be work for this one. Seems like the judge knew exactly how they’d rule before this went to trial.
Last Bits
Suzy Izzard given honorary doctorate by the University of Sussex. I’ve loved Suzy Izzard ever since I saw her comedy specials re-running later at night on HBO when I was a teenager. It just made me happy to see her get some well-deserved flowers as the anti-trans backlash rages on in the UK.
RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Jinkx Monsoon roasts JK Rowling for ‘identifying’ as a male author. When my girlfriend and I first saw this video pop up on social media, we watched it five times back-to-back. Everything from the “Jake Hey Rowling” to the delivery to the laughter at the end makes this read so satisfying to watch.
Conservative influencer Candace Owens sued for defamation over claims that France’s first lady is a man. I’m thinking that maybe if Candace is forced to pay a bunch of money as a result of this lawsuit, she’ll finally shut up for once. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll be a lesson for all these other conservative social media slobs who continuously talk shit about people they don’t like for one reason or another.
Trans allies including Kate Nash and Alan Cumming criticise new UK schools sex education guidance. Following the UK’s Department for Education’s decision to change their relationship, sex, and health education (RSHE) guidance to stop including truthful instruction about trans identity, “Pride in Education, a grassroots LGBTQ+ activism group, published an open letter expressing ‘deep concern’ over the guidance and the risk it poses for trans, non-binary, intersex, asexual, and gender non-conforming pupils.” Many of the people who have signed the letter are British celebrities who are using their platforms to push back against the anti-trans attacks happening in British society and through regulation and legislation.
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