The U.S. Navy granted a waiver for a transgender service member to serve according to her gender identity last Friday, the first of its kind since the military enacted a ban on transgender troops. The waiver comes after the officer, publicly known only as Jane Doe, sued President Donald Trump over his ban on transgender […]
Historic Transgender Rights Supreme Court Case Plaintiff Aimee Stephens Has Died
Aimee Stephens died yesterday at age 59. She was unsure whether the Supreme Court will decide her case as planned on Thursday and if she would live to hear the decision. In 2013, Stephens told her employer that she was going to transition to female and was subsequently fired two weeks later from her job […]
Transgender Navy Officer Sues Pentagon Challenging Trump Transgender Military Ban
This week, a transgender Navy officer referred to as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon regarding the Trump administration’s transgender military ban. Doe is seeking emergency relief to continue to serve in the military on the same terms as her cisgender peers, faced with involuntary discharge on the basis of her gender identity. […]
Transgender Minors in NY Now Allowed to Change Their Gender Marker
Transgender individuals born in New York can now change their gender marker on their birth certificate before their 18th birthday thanks to a lawsuit by a 14-year-old trans boy, known only as M.H.W. “Effective immediately, transgender individuals born in New York will have the right to make this deeply personal decision without the government’s […]
British Political Party’s Divide Deepens Over Transgender Inclusion
Last week multiple senior members of Britain’s Labour party endorsed a “trans equality manifesto” that supports more inclusive party values and claimed that anyone with transphobic views should be thrown out of the party. Backlash from this controversial charter comes with a call to produce evidence for transphobia allegations. The two women in the center […]
Anti-Trans Bill Dies in Iowa State House
A proposed bill that would have removed gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act will not advance in the state legislature. Rep. Steven Holt, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called the bill “dead” after deciding not to send it into subcommittee. Iowa law has prohibited discrimination based on gender identity since […]
Transgender Cyclist Wins Cycling Championship, Gets Criticism from Competitors
Rachel McKinnon is dominating the women’s cycling field, yet is receiving backlash from her fellow competitors. This 37-year old Canadian woman won at the Masters Track World Cycling Championships in Manchester, England in the 35-39 age category 200-meter sprint. McKinnon is celebrating breaking a world record and her second consecutive world title. Her success was […]
Trans Woman Fired for Coming Out Awaits Supreme Court Judgement
Aimee Stephens was fired from RG and GR Harris Funeral Homes in 2013 for coming out as trans to her (now ex) boss, Thomas Rost. Rost testified in court documents that he fired Stephens because she “wanted to dress as a woman” which would be a “distraction not appropriate” for grieving families. Following her firing, […]
Funeral for Muhlaysia Booker Held Today at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas
Hundreds are expected to gather today for the funeral of Muhlaysia Booker, a 23-year-old transgender woman, who was brutally assaulted in a hate crime in April and murdered ten days ago. The funeral is being held at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas at 11 a.m. today. A month after the April assault on Booker, […]
New Jersey Providing Gender Neutral Option on Birth Certificates
Starting tomorrow, a New Jersey law, named after New Jersey resident Babs Siperstein who was the first transgender woman to join the Democratic National Committee, goes into effect, providing a gender neutral option on birth certificates. Previously, New Jersey law only allowed a person to change the gender on their birth certificate if they had […]
Japan’s Supreme Court Upholds Law Requiring Sterilization to Legally Change Gender
The Japanese Supreme Court unanimously upheld Law 111, which requires transgender people looking to officially change their gender to undergo sterilization by removing their original reproductive organs, causing human rights and LGBT activists to immediately denounce the ruling. The Supreme Court denied Takakito Usui, a transgender man, an appeal against the 2004 law, citing that […]
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Supreme Court Announces Trump Transgender Military Ban can Immediately take effect
The Supreme Court announced this morning that the Trump administrations’ ban on transgender military service can immediately take effect, impacting over 9,000 Service members, but the Supreme Court declined hear arguments regarding the ban’s constitutionality. Appeals to lower courts will continue but the Supreme Court issued a stay of lower courts’ injunctions which prevented the […]
Massachusetts Upholds a Law Protecting Transgender Residents
Massachusetts residents yesterday voted to uphold a law passed in 2016 that prohibited discrimination against gender identity in public spaces. This is the first state-wide vote to protect transgender individuals and the measure was upheld with over 67 percent of the vote. In 2016, an emergency law passed that immediately went into effect to outlaw […]
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113 Organizations Denounce Federal Proposals to Redefine Gender
Last week, 113 organizations that work with survivors of sexual violence and advocate for the rights of survivors wrote a letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor regarding a recent Trump administration proposal to define gender as an “immutable […]
DOJ Attacks Protections for Transgender Employees
This past Wednesday, The Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that the 1964 Civil Rights Act federal workplace protections do not apply to transgender employees, arguing it is legal to discriminate based on gender identity. The DOJ submitted this brief as the Supreme Court decides if it will hear […]
Trump Administration To Attack Protections for Transgender Individuals
“The Trump Administration is once again doing everything in its power to carry out a mean-spirited attack on transgender individuals who deserve and need civil rights protections,” read a statement by the Feminist Majority Foundation. “This overt attack on trans lives is at odds with scientific fact, multiple federal court rulings, and the lived experiences of millions of Americans.”
LGBTQ Protections Expanded to State Services in Virginia
This past Thursday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed off on an executive order prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity within state services and by state contractors.
White House Hires First Openly Transgender Official
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan has made history this morning when President Obama appointed her to serve as an official in the White House.
Moving Beyond Marriage: What Needs to Be Next for the LGBT Rights Movement
A marriage certificate is not a shield from discrimination.
The Obama Administration Has Come Out Against Anti-Gay “Conversion Therapy”
The statement was in response to a WhiteHouse.gov petition that was created after the suicide of transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, which gained more than 120,000 signatures.
