feature image photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images for USOPC
This is Trans News Tracker, a biweekly Autostraddle roundup and analysis of the biggest trans news stories.
I’m writing this week’s Trans News Tracker after returning from a week-long writer’s workshop where Palestinian writers were centered; where queer and trans people got to live, breathe, and share their work without concern over their safety; and where we could have frank discussions about what art can do in the face of the oppression we’re up against. It’s hard to come back from a place like that into the “real world” where devastating decisions are being made in our names and institutions are trying to destroy us. But I know the most important thing we can do right now is keep these kinds of places alive wherever we are and however we can. This isn’t easy work, but what is when we’re constantly facing down the barrels of so many different guns? There’s some hard hitters in the news this week, and yet, there is also always resistance. Try to hold the latter as closely as you can.
The Olympics Officially Ban Trans Women From Women’s Sports
After years of deliberation by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee over how to craft appropriate policy that would allow trans athletes to compete in Olympic and Paralympic sports, the cowards and losers over at the USOPC voted this week to exclude trans women from women’s sports at all Olympic and Paralympic levels. The move was made “in order to be compliant” with the Trump administration’s (non-binding) anti-trans executive order banning trans women in the U.S. from competing in women’s sports at any institutions that receive Federal funding in any amount and at any funding level.
In the new 27-page “Athlete Safety Policy” document released on Monday, there are no mentions of the stipulations for trans athletes who wish to compete in women’s sports in the USOPC’s policies. Instead, there’s this disclaimer from the USOPC in Section 3, Article 3 of the document: “The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport. The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201.”
A letter sent by USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes and the national governing bodies of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic sports on Monday made their position patently clear: “As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations, Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”
Of course, none of the statements put out by the USOPC or any of the copy on their website discuss whether or not this will impact female athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), so beyond the already twisted nature of these exclusive policies, they have the potential to further complicate participation for elite female athletes in almost every single sport.
The change comes just a couple months after the NCAA changed their policies to exclude trans women in women’s sports and will effectively stop any further deliberation and consideration the USOPC was conducting around best practices for including trans athletes. It is also likely to impact larger governing bodies in charge of Olympic sports, such as the International Olympics Committee, which is already hotly debating inclusion with its members.
Like the NCAA’s decision before this one, it seems like many sports organizing bodies are simply using the Trump administration’s (non-binding) executive order as a way to bow down to a leader they feel threatened by and halt all conversations regarding the inclusions of trans athletes because they have been increasingly contentious. Whatever their intentions here, it’s as obvious as ever that some of our biggest institutions are always willing to fail us to protect themselves, and that’s something we should be thinking about as we choose to govern how we engage with them.
Some Good News For Once
New study shows that sports help transgender teen’s mental health. Speaking of sports, did you know that playing sports can actually help trans kids fight depression and anxiety? This new study shows it’s true. I don’t think this study will change the hearts and minds of anyone who is against trans inclusion in sports, but I do think it’s important that it exists for us to use in our fight against this onslaught of anti-trans policies.
U.S. government restores $6.2 million in cut funding to LGBTQ+/HIV organizations after Lambda Legal win. After a surprisingly short legal battle, the Trump administration is legally obligated to reverse its decision to defund a variety of LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS organizations. According to reports, this win will keep nine different nonprofits across the U.S. from having to shutter their doors.
California to provide LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline after Trump administration axes it. Following the Trump administration’s decision to end the LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention hotline at the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, the state of California and The Trevor Project are teaming up to create a new LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention hotline. California state government representatives have explained that, “12 national call centers are currently staffed across California with counselors trained to respond to callers needing support during suicide and behavioral health crises.”
Cuba will now allow trans people to change gender markers without bottom surgery. Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power (NAPP) passed a law last week that will give trans people the power to self-identify on their identification documents without having to provide any proof of gender-affirming treatment. Although gender-affirming care has been a guaranteed right in Cuba since 2008, getting that treatment has been incredibly difficult due to the amount of economic sanctions placed on the nation by the U.S. This new law allows the trans community in Cuba to at least have access to social and political transition, even if they are still waiting for medical interventions.
From across the pond:
Patsy Stevenson on re-allocating legal funds to trans cases: ‘Women’s and transgender rights are not mutually exclusive’. Gender equality organizer and Harper’s Bazaar 2023 Woman of the Year Patsy Stevenson has taken the funds she originally planned to use in her own legal case following an arrest at a protest and given them to The Good Law Project, which helps fight legal battles for trans people in the UK.
Lesbians disrupt ‘gender critical’ event: ‘You’re not feminists, you’re all clowns’. In response to a late-June gathering of the TERF and gender-critical organizing group The Lesbian Project, a group called The Dyke Project dressed as clowns and walked into the meeting chanting in order to derail the meeting and bring attention to The Lesbian Project’s anti-trans work.
News I Wish I Didn’t Have to Report
Trump administration takes all-of-government approach to target transgender community. Although the headline states the obvious (and we’re covering this twice a month here in the Trans News Tracker), this article does a great job of quickly summarizing what the Trump administration is doing, and the analysis of what is happening in regards to trans rights in the U.S. is useful as we plan to keep pushing against the administration’s actions.
Puerto Rico Criminalizes Trans Health Care For People Under 21. This is devastating, man. And the worst part of this is that it puts into place heavy punishments for those who “violate” the ban through whisper networks or other means of getting gender-affirming care: “The law, which was passed into effect late Wednesday night, calls for up to 15 years in prison, a $50,000 fine, and the revocation of medical licenses and permits for any providers who violate the ban.”
Hospitals Are Limiting Gender Treatment for Trans Minors, Even in Blue States. I hate to link to this awful news outlet and encourage creative approaches to accessing it, but this is an important overview of what is currently happening in hospitals and care centers around the country right now. As the article reports: “The Trump administration has succeeded in thwarting transgender treatment for minors in some of the most heavily Democratic places in the country by adopting an aggressive approach, threatening to eliminate federal funding at individual hospitals and sending providers subpoenas seeking confidential patient information.”
In a landmark move, Children’s Hospital LA closes its gender-affirming care center. Speaking of hospitals and care centers feeling the pressure to shut down because of the Trump administration, Children’s Hospital LA decided to give up on its fight to keep its gender-affirming care clinic open despite protests from local LGBTQ+ organizations and upset parents and children. The clinic has thousands of trans patients under 21 who will now be forced to find alternative care (somehow).
Last Bits
‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Slams Gavin Newsom Over Trans Rights. In response to the possibility that Gavin Newsom might be the 2028 Democratic Presidential nominee, Jennings wrote on BlueSky: “Any candidate cynically ‘triangulating’ on trans kids is a non-starter, and now is the time to say so. There’s still so much time to advance candidates that DON’T suck.” Get his ass, Ken.
‘I am the news:’ As lawmakers pass legislation targeting trans people, four West Virginians share their stories. Four short, wonderful profiles of four beautiful people in the South that you should read immediately.
Someone needs to manufacture a Trans Pride themed keyboard with an ‘UGH’ key.