Features

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Speakers Invited by Trump Administration Spread Disinformation at National Hearing On Medical Care for Transgender People

On July 9, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a workshop with the inaccurate and inflammatory title: “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.” The title, event, and invited speakers ignore the consensus of every major medical association and leading world health authority, which all support health care for transgender adults and youth. Intentional mischaracterizations of transgender health care being promoted include: Additional background on incendiary and baseless narratives targeting transgender health care is available here.  Background on FTC Speakers:  Speakers invited to the FTC’s hearing also have a long history of promoting harmful narratives to ban essential health care and restrict transgender people’s access to […]

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A Philosophy Professor Is the Only Known Author of Trump’s Big Trans Health Care Report. Why?

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In a family friend’s front yard at around 11 years old, Elle Setiya remembers listening in on her dad’s conversation with Alex Byrne, a philosophy professor at MIT. She recalls Byrne airing his grievances to her dad—who heads up the philosophy department—about the growing trans rights movement. “Can someone really just say they’re a woman and that’s it? Whatever happened to biological sex?” she remembers Byrne saying. “I felt it personally in a way that I wasn’t expecting to, because it brought up the feelings of discomfort around my presentation,” Setiya, now 18, told Uncloseted Media. “It did make [transitioning] […]

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Transgender bathroom bill added to Texas flood-relief special session

Texas lawmakers will convene next week for a special session to consider legislation addressing the deadly floods that devastated parts of the state earlier this month — and a bill regarding which restrooms transgender Texans can use.  When Gov. Greg Abbott initially called for a special session in June, it was to tackle six bills he had vetoed during the regular session, among them a contentious measure that would have banned hemp products containing THC. But after flash floods overwhelmed parts of central Texas on July 4 — resulting in at least 120 deaths with many more still missing — the intended […]

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Federal agency shifts stance on transgender discrimination complaints, but hurdles remain

The federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination will allow some complaints filed by transgender workers to move forward, shifting course from earlier guidance that indefinitely stalled all such cases, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. The email was sent earlier this month to leaders of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the subject line “Hot Topics,” in which Thomas Colclough, director of the agency’s Office of Field Programs, announced that if new transgender worker complaints involve “hiring, discharge or promotion, you are clear to continue processing these charges.” But even those cases will […]

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Trans girl housed in male unit has jaw broken at D.C. juvenile detention center

A transgender girl housed in a male unit of a Washington, D.C., juvenile detention center has been hospitalized after sustaining multiple injuries, including a broken jaw, officials said.  The girl, whose age was not disclosed, was one of two residents of the city’s Youth Services Center to be sent to the hospital on July 7 following violent incidents at the facility, Turnesha Fish, interim chief of staff at the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), confirmed Tuesday.  The two incidents were isolated, and a full review has been launched, according to officials. NBC Washington reported that five teens have been […]

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“I Won’t Change My Body to Fit Your Expectations”: Reflections From a Masculine Woman with PCOS

I knew something was off when I started growing facial hair at 12 years old. Small chin hairs, but still noticeable to everyone. I’d poke and prod them at first, not out of shame but curiosity and wonder. The more body hair I grew, the more intrigued I became. I thought it was neat that my body changed in this way! I soon found out not everyone would agree with me. My grandmother would tell me not to pick at it or I’d get spots and scars. Other girls in my class soon whispered about me being a man. I vividly remember a girl at my […]

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Black trans woman Dream Johnson killed in Washington, D.C.

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Police in Washington, D.C., are seeking the public’s help in finding the killer of a Black transgender woman who was shot to death about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Bystanders flagged police down to where Dream Johnson, 28, lay unconscious on a city street, having been shot multiple times, the Washington Blade reports. She was taken to a local hospital, “but all lifesaving efforts failed and the victim was pronounced dead,” says a police statement quoted by the Blade. The police did not identify Johnson as trans, but trans activists and her family said she was. She had planned to legally change her to Dream. Vanna Terrell, Johnson’s aunt, told […]

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Puerto Rico trans rights advocates prepare legal fight as GOP governor considers gender-affirming care ban

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Puerto Rico, long regarded as a leader on transgender rights in the Caribbean, is facing a potential rollback as lawmakers push forward legislation to ban gender-affirming care for youth. The measure could criminalize parents and doctors and cut off vital medical support for the island’s trans community. The bill, approved by both chambers of Puerto Rico’s legislature, is now awaiting action by Republican Gov. Jenniffer González Colón. Although she had proposed amendments to protect access to puberty blockers and allow minors already undergoing treatment to continue care, lawmakers did not adopt those changes. The governor now faces a decision to sign or veto the bill. The U.S. Supreme Court recently […]

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Louisiana Medicaid quietly stops reimbursing patients for gender-affirming care

Transgender Louisianians will no longer receive Medicaid reimbursement for any gender-affirming care prescriptions if their provider uses certain gender-related diagnosis codes, according to multiple LGBTQ+ organizations.  “Instead of making this change through the legislative process, the state instilled its anti-trans agenda through obscure, extralegal bureaucratic maneuvers,” the advocacy organization Trans Income Project wrote in a statement to the Illuminator. “Now, thousands of Louisianans are losing coverage for trans medicine and incurring unexpected out-of-pocket costs when attempting to pick up their regular prescriptions.”  Gender-affirming care is a catch-all term for medical treatments given to people to align their physical bodies with their identified gender. Such care […]

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DOJ subpoenas more than 20 doctors and clinics that provide trans care to minors

The Justice Department announced that it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in “performing transgender medical procedures on children.”  The department’s brief announcement Wednesday did not name any of the 20 doctors or clinics or say where they were. It also did not specify what constituted “transgender medical procedures” but said its investigations “include healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.” “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.  Also Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission […]

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