The Department of Defense has been claiming this is not actually a ban on transgender service members. But in effect, the Mattis Policy is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell II: This Time As Farce.”
“Presenting as male every day hurts. When the ship is in port, it’s not as bad; I grow to hate coming in to work, but once the day ends I can go home and be myself. When we’re underway, it’s worse. I’m stuck being ‘him’ all day, every day. Sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks… once, for months.”
Jessica Platt is the first out trans player in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Disney gal pal pairing you’ll freak out over, rare vintage photos of 18th and early 19th-century lesbians, 90-year-old lesbian veteran sues the U.S. Air Force, and lesbian herstory accounts you need in your life.
Today Trump signed an official directive that prohibits transgender people from joining the military, and additionally gives Defense Secretary Mattis a great deal of latitude in terms of deciding the fate of transgender people already enlisted.
There’s a cat at the end of this post, more on fingerquotes feminist white men, Arabelle Sicardi, the first out lesbian NFL coach, did I mention the cat is on a tampon box, Hillary Clinton’s upcoming book, Wildfang gets ripped off, and so much more!
These are stories of trans people who have served or are serving in the US military; their experiences range from the positive to the deeply traumatic and everywhere in between.
Donald Trump decided to switch up his morning Twitter time today, putting the breaks on his relentless 140-character lies that he and his campaign didn’t work with Russia to steal the White House, and moving ahead with a “plan” to ban all transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.
Chelsea Manning’s five-day hunger strike is over as the Army reportedly tells her she can access gender confirmation surgery — but questions remain on how quickly they’ll take action.
Start your weekend with some links!
A lesbian mom loses her lawsuit against a sperm bank, a new study finds a lot of Catholics are ok with gay parents, a Mexican trans woman receives asylum and more news stories.
“While I in no way want to distract from the important conversations going on about anti-Black racism in America, I think it’s also pertinent for us to deconstruct some of the tools and techniques being used by the police to maintain control. So today we’re going to talk about tear gas.”
This Veteran’s Day, let’s give back to the queer service men and women who have put their lives on the line to protect us.
Manning is in a tight spot. Not only does she have to deal with the military’s transphobia and transmisogyny, but she also has to deal with the same thing coming from prison industrial complex in which she is imprisoned.
United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview Sunday that the military’s ban on trans people is a complicated issue, but one that “continually should be reviewed.”
“I miss contraband, kumbayahs, and those very few and far between moments where I felt like there was nothing that could stop us.”
In a surprise turn of events, Guinness announced on Sunday that it will be pulling sponsorship from New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade on Monday, in support of LGBT groups. It joins Heineken and Sam Adams, who had earlier pulled their sponsorship from New York and Boston parades respectively.
Reading lesbian subtext in everything since World War I.
From prom to the Mormon Church, folks got a lotta ‘splainin to do.
From the OUT 100 to the first lady of Zambia to Michelle Tea’s marriage, it turns out there was a lot of queer shit going down while I was working late nights in the office.
“I start unbuttoning my shirt, but can’t really decide on a way to make getting undressed in this space any less uncomfortable, so I just drop my pants.”
“As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female… I hope that you will support me in this transition.”
