Tyler Kingkade

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Groups that combat sexual violence clash over how to handle Trump’s LGBTQ orders

For the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the choice was impossible: erase mentions of transgender people from its website or risk the ire of the Trump administration, which has required that groups receiving federal funding end diversity, equity and inclusion programs and recognize only two sexes.   So the group reluctantly took down references to transgender people from its website, including mentions of services for transgender veterans and LGBTQ-focused book recommendations.  It did so just as the nation’s largest group fighting sexual violence, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), also pulled down pages referring to transgender people.   The backlash was swift. Local […]

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A transgender teen wanted to update his school records. Oklahoma created a rule to stop him.

Sitting on his living room couch, a 16-year-old high school student described all the reasons he’s fighting to change his gender identity on official documents. He doesn’t want his classmates to know he’s trans. He worries about the disrespectful comments he hears from people who don’t realize he transitioned years ago, the ugly rhetoric on social media that prompts him to put down his phone, and the alarming data and stories about harassment and violence.  But mostly, J. Doe — as the teen is referred to in a lawsuit his family filed last month against the Oklahoma State Board of Education — just wants to be […]