Parker Purifoy

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Anti-transgender legislation fuels midterms ‘Rainbow Wave’

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In 2017, Danica Roem made history as the nation’s first out transgender representative elected to a state legislature and ran alongside a group of 20 other trans candidates. Now, five years later, the number of trans and nonbinary people running for office has nearly quadrupled to 72, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. 

Leigh Finke is among this historic group and if elected, she will become Minnesota’s first out trans person in the state legislature. She is running to represent District 66A in Minnesota, which encompasses part of Minneapolis. Finke is a journalist, and filmmaker who focuses largely on civil rights and LGBTQ issues. 

Finke said her desire to run for office built up steadily as she watched politicians around the country attack LGBTQ people through legislative proposals and harassment campaigns online. One of things that pushed her decision was the 2021 proposed bill that would ban trans girls in youth sports in her state. 

“I realized that we’re just one election away from having the whole legislature flip and this legislation becoming law,” Finke said in an interview with the Washington Blade. “That really scared me and made me nervous, not just for myself but for the community.”

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, at least 191 anti-LGBTQ bills have been proposed in state legislatures around the country in 2022. 168 of these bills specifically target trans people. 

Victory Fund spokesperson Albert Fujii said in an email that the political attacks have fueled a “record-breaking Rainbow Wave” for the midterms.

“These candidates showed tremendous grit in the face of unrelenting bigotry on the campaign trail from transphobic bigots like Ron DeSantis,” Fujii said. “While we are confident they will perform well on Tuesday, their impact is already visible — we are seeing a new wave of trans and nonbinary candidates considering a run for office themselves. Voters’ voices are loud and clear: enough is enough.”

Alicia Kozlowski, a two-spirit and nonbinary candidate for Minnesota state house district 8B, said they are standing on the backs of other history-making figures like Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.).

“When you elect queer folks and people of color to office, you change entire conversations, which leads to different results,” Kozlowski said in an email. “As a state representative, I won’t leave my powerful identities at any door to make others comfortable.”

Jessica Katzenmeyer, a candidate for the Wisconsin state Senate, said seeing trans people win elections creates a snowball effect, encouraging others to run. Roem’s 2017 victory inspired her own run for office.

“When you see other trans folks who are successful, it kind of makes you go ‘oh, maybe I can do this too’ and it just brings more encouragement to the rest of the community,” she said. “Even if I don’t win my race, I hope people see me and realize that they can do this too.”

Katzenmeyer, a longtime Wisconsin resident, Teamsters leader and LGBTQ activist ran in 2020 for the State Assembly but fell just short of winning. This time, she is running for state senate with the chance of becoming Wisconsin’s first out trans legislator and the nation’s second out trans person elected to a state senate.

“It’s been hard to really consider it because I’ve been so busy,” Katzenmeyer said of her historic run. “But to be the first trans person in the legislature would mean a lot to me and a lot to the community, not just in my district but also statewide. So, there’s a lot of responsibility with that.”

Another candidate who has been driven by the increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation is Emily Dievendorf, who is running to represent Michigan’s 77th House District. As attacks have ramped up from Republican politicians, Dievendorf said she has become increasingly frustrated at how members of her own party are responding. 

“In Michigan, trans and nonbinary people are the butt of the joke for Republicans. We are also the community that is taking the blame for supposed threats to children and the public,” Dievendorf said in an interview. “And we have the other party whose main strategy seems to be silence.”

If elected, Dievendorf would become the state’s first nonbinary state legislator and said she wants to be a voice to call out bigotry in both parties. 

“We’re seeing that Democrats in general want to stick to mild conversation to make sure that no one feels pushed out but what that actually does is condone extreme hate towards marginalized folks, making it easier to pass legislation that furthers the disposal of human lives,” she said. “So I’m excited — and a little scared — to be able to stand on the house floor and make my colleagues across the aisle see me be my authentic self.”

As an example of trans representation working to stop discriminatory legislation, Finke pointed to an anti-trans bill in Utah which was vetoed by the governor after he met with trans people and their families. 

“I don’t think [representation] is enough to change the trajectory of the country right now but it means something to have a voice in those rooms and make them at least have to look you in the eye when they say they’re taking away your healthcare or punishing your kids because they’re trans,” Finke said. 

The “Rainbow Wave” in the 2022 midterms will only be the beginning as communities push to change the demographic makeup of their leaders, Kozlowski said. If elected, they said they plan to fight for the civil rights of every community.

“Everything we do is interconnected — LGBTQ rights, climate justice, reproductive freedom, economic justice, racial justice — our liberation and sovereignty on all these issues are braided together,” they said. “This is more than one person stepping up to run for office, more than one election cycle, it’s about a movement about having a government that has our backs, it’s a movement for our shared future that’s at stake.”

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Federal Judge Rules Ohio Anti-trans Birth Certificate Policy is Unconstitutional

A federal court on Wednesday struck down an Ohio policy that prevented transgender people from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates, clearing the way for trans residents to alter their legal documentation to reflect their gender identity. 

The judge, Michael Watson, stated in his decision that Ohio had previously allowed people to change their birth certificates but the policy, which was instituted in 2016, violates the state’s constitution. 

The case, Ray v. McClous, was filed more than two years ago by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and Thompson Hine on behalf of plaintiffs Stacie Ray, Basil Argento, Ashley Breda and Jane Doe. The plaintiffs are all trans Ohio residents who were denied when they attempted to change their birth certificates to match their gender identities. 

Prior to Wednesday’s ruling, Ohio was one of just two states that prohibited alterations to residents’ gender markers. Tennessee is now the only state with this type of policy. 

Melanie Amato, press secretary for Ohio’s Department of Public Health, said in a statement that they were reviewing the decision but did not say whether the state would challenge the court’s decision. 

Watson ruled that the policy violated the 14th Amendment, which states that states must provide equal protection under the law for its citizens and cannot set “intentional and arbitrary” discriminatory policies. 

“At bottom, the court finds that defendants’ proffered justifications are nothing more than thinly veiled post-hoc rationales to deflect from the discriminatory impact of the policy,” he wrote in the ruling.

According to a 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey almost a third of trans people who showed an identity document with a gender marker that contradicted their perceived gender were harassed, assaulted or discriminated against. 

“[Birth certificates] are foundational to our ability to access a variety of benefits such as employment and housing, and to navigate the world freely and safely, as who we truly are,” Kara Ingelhart, one of the attorneys for Lambda Legal, said in a statement. “Courts across the country have overwhelmingly determined these archaic and harmful laws are unconstitutional and today we are closer than ever to eradicating them once and for all.”

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Dutch Government Apologies for Forcible Sterilizations of Trans, Intersex People

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The Dutch government on Tuesday issued a formal apology to transgender and intersex citizens who were required to undergo sterilization surgeries to legally change their gender and agreed to compensate some of those who underwent the procedures.

The law, which was in place from 1985 to 2014, mandated that trans and intersex people had to undergo sterilization surgeries to change their official gender registration. The government agreed to pay 5,000 euros to about 2,000 trans people who had the sterilization surgeries. 

This comes after years of work by activists who demanded the government acknowledge the harm caused by the law. 

The Dutch Cabinet — specifically Education, Culture and Science Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven and Law Minister Sander Dekker — issued the apology.

“The law turned out to be a symbol of social rejection for many, and dreams have been lost as a result of the irreversible sterilization,” van Engelshoven said in the apology. 

“Such a violation of physical integrity is no longer imaginable today,” Dekker added in a statement.

Annelies Tukker of the NNID Foundation, a Dutch intersex advocacy group, welcomed the apology. 

“Naturally, we are pleased that the Dutch government has recognized the importance of the right to bodily integrity and the harm this law caused,” Tukker told the Washington Blade in an emailed statement. “Transgender and intersex people deserve to be recognized by states for who they are, without the requirement to undergo unnecessary medical interventions. The inclusion of intersex people who were affected by this law is an important step.” 

“Most intersex people identify with the gender in which they grew up. However, this is not the case for all, and they have been affected by this law,” added Tukker. “For the future, more legal changes are necessary to protect intersex children. Throughout the world, intersex children are still subjected to unnecessary medical interventions to change their sex characteristics when they are too young to decide for themselves. For the future, it is crucial that their right to bodily integrity and to make their own choices will also be recognized.”

Cianán Russell, senior policy advisor for ILGA Europe, also applauded the apology. 

“Another state not only acknowledging that forced sterilization for legal gender recognition is torture, but being responsible for the past,” they said on Wednesday in a series of tweets. “All trans people deserve access to justice which must always mean #LGR based on self-determination AND reparations for those who were not trusted by governments in the past to know who we are. This is the future.”

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World AIDS Day Arrives Amid Another Pandemic

With COVID-19 cases continuing to spike around the world, most events for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 have been moved to virtual formats to continue bringing awareness to the AIDS epidemic. 

The World AIDS Day organization has scheduled a virtual panel discussion for 9 a.m. on Tuesday with professionals in the field of HIV prevention and treatment to share how communities can reduce the stigma and impact of the disease. On the panel will be Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Richelle Joe, Community Liaison for Janssen Scientific Affairs Samuel Quintero, and Adam Troy, prevention manager at an Orlando-based nonprofit, Hope and Help. 

CAMP Rehoboth is slated to hold one of the only in-person events in the region with a World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil and Service of Remembrance and Hope in Rehoboth Beach. 

“This event has been a December tradition in Rehoboth Beach since the mid-1990s and no way is COVID going to stop us from remembering this important day,” the organization said in a statement on its website.

The vigil will start at 7 p.m. and attendees can participate in the candlelight drive-up vigil to watch from the safety of their cars. The service and reading of the names will be held under the outdoor portico at Epworth Methodist Church on Holland Glade Road in Rehoboth. The entire event will also be live streamed on CAMP Rehoboth’s Facebook page. If participants would like to add a name to be read during the service, the organization asks that they call them at 302-227-5620. 

Several chapters of Delta Sigma Theta are banding together to host a “Rock the Ribbon” virtual panel presentation on Tuesday to commemorate World AIDS Day. Those who wish to attend can register for the 6:30 p.m. event online. 

Youth Stop AIDS — a U.K.-based nonprofit — has scheduled a screening of “After 82: The Untold Story of the AIDS Crisis in the UK,” a documentary focusing on personal stories of the AIDS crisis in the UK. The film features interviews with actor Jonathan Blake who lived with AIDS for more than 30 years. The screening is scheduled for Nov. 29 starting at 12:30 p.m. EST. 

AIDS Delaware will stage a free, virtual panel discussion on Dec. 5 with panelists who are currently living with HIV/AIDS and can speak on how the virus has impacted their lives. The panel, which starts at 1 p.m., will feature activist and author Tez Anderson, activist and motivational speaker Hydeia Broadbent, and Emmy Award-winning author Marvelyn Brown. 

Anderson coined the term AIDS Survivor Syndrome—ASS—to describe the effects of living with HIV/AIDS in the long term. He also founded Let’s Kick ASS, a San Francisco-based group designed to empower long-term HIV survivors and help them connect with one another. He also coined the term AIDS Survivor Syndrome to describe the effects of living with HIV/AIDS in the long term. 

Broadbent was diagnosed with AIDS at age three and now spends her time raising awareness of the virus by promoting safe-sex practices. She became a public speaker at age six and over the next thirty years, she’s appeared in the New York Times, People, the Oprah Show, and Teen People. Ebony Magazine named Broadbent one of the most influential African Americans in 2008 and 2011. 

Brown has spoken at hundreds of colleges, universities, and conferences around the world to spread her story of contracting HIV when she was 19. She’s been featured on CNN’s Black America, Frontline’s Endgame, and America’s Next Top Model. In 2007, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding National Public Service Announcement.