Features

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Scotland pauses prescriptions of puberty blockers for transgender minors

Scotland’s sole clinic for treating transgender youths announced Thursday that it is pausing new prescriptions of puberty blockers for minors. Sandyford, a health clinic in Glasgow operated by Scotland’s National Health Service, said in a statement that it is indefinitely pausing new prescriptions of the medication for people under 18 who are experiencing “gender incongruence.” Patients who are already undergoing treatment will not be affected.  “We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understand the distress that gender incongruence can cause,” the clinic said. “While this pause is in place, we will continue to give […]

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Evidence around youth gender care ‘remarkably weak’, major English review says

Medical evidence underlying gender care for adolescents is “remarkably weak” and provides little clarity on long-term outcomes, according to an in-depth review of care commissioned by England’s state-funded National Health Service. Gender care can include anything from counselling to medications related to gender issues, including drugs that can pause puberty. The final report of the Cass Review, led by prominent pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass and which includes research from independent academics at the University of York as well as input from families and clinicians was released on Wednesday. The report concludes that young people with gender dysphoria — the distress of identifying […]

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New research helps explain why lesbians report more orgasms than straight women

Research over the last decade has found that lesbians have more orgasms than straight women, but questions remained as to why.  A new study published this month in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that these differences when it comes to pleasure could be in part due to sexual scripts — or what people expect to happen during sex based on what they’ve seen in movies, television or even pornography. Cisgender women’s expectations for those sexual scripts and for orgasms can vary based on the gender of their partner, the study found.  Past research has found that men have more orgasms than […]

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Mexico: Guanajuato Should Legally Recognize Trans Identities

Trans people in the Mexican state of Guanajuato suffer economic, medical, and labor discrimination, as well as other onerous legal impediments, because the state has no process for issuing identity documents consistent with their gender, Human Rights Watch said in a documentaryreleased today. Guanajuato’s authorities should urgently create an administrative procedure to allow trans people to reflect their self-declared gender identity on official documents. The Keys to My Freedom, produced in collaboration with Amicus DH, is released on the heels of International Transgender Day of Visibility. It follows the stories of two transgender women, Ivanna Tovar and Kassandra Mendoza, who have fought to have their gender and […]

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Planet Fitness hit with 17 bomb threats amid trans inclusion backlash

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Over a dozen Planet Fitness locations have been hit with bomb threats after the fitness chain reaffirmed its commitment to trans inclusion last month. The gym franchise, which is primarily based in North America, has been the victim of at least 17 bomb hoaxes after it became the subject of right-wing backlash last month. Planet Fitness found itself in the headlines in early March after the notorious anti-LGBTQ+ social media account, Libs of TikTok, shared a video of a customer complaining that a trans woman was using the women’s bathroom. The customer then shared an email exchange with Planet Fitness regarding the […]

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The North Face faces boycott calls over support of LGBTQ+ summer camps

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Popular outdoor clothing brand The North Face is the latest brand to face boycott calls – in this case, over its long-established sponsorship LGBTQ+ summer camps. Brave Trials is a leadership summer camp, located in California and Maryland, for LGBTQ+ youth and allies between the ages of 12-18. Its focus is on helping “LGBTQ+ youth find what they need most to thrive: their people, their place, and their passion,” according to its website.  The California and New York-based Camp Brave Trials – which have caused outrage among conservatives – are designed for for LGBTQ+ teenagers aged 12-17, and aim help teens improve their leadership.  On […]

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Federal judge temporarily blocks teacher pronoun restriction in Florida

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a law in Florida that barred a transgender teacher from using pronouns that don’t align with her birth sex. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker granted transgender teacher Katie Wood a temporary injunction against the law, writing in a strongly worded opinion that it violates her First Amendment rights. “Once again, the State of Florida has a First Amendment problem,” Walker wrote. “Of late, it has happened so frequently, some might say you can set your clock by it.” “This time,” Walker continued, “the State of Florida declares that it has the absolute authority to […]

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Vatican declares surrogacy & gender-affirming care violations of human dignity

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The Vatican has issued a declaration listing “gender theory,” gender-affirming care, and even surrogacy as “violations of human dignity” alongside war, poverty, human trafficking, and other actual atrocities. On Monday, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department in charge of religious discipline for the Catholic Church, released its “Dignitas Infinita.” The 20-page document has been in the works for the past five years and was approved by Pope Francis in March, according to the Associated Press. It calls for unconditional respect for human dignity regardless of “the person’s ability to understand and act freely,” reiterating Catholic teachings opposing abortion […]

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U.N. rights body adopts first resolution to protect rights of intersex people

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday voted to adopt a resolution designed to protect the rights of intersex people, the first initiative of its kind that diplomats and rights groups described as an landmark moment for human rights. Twenty-four countries voted in favor, twenty-three abstained and none voted against the resolution, which was spearheaded by Finland, South Africa, Chile and Australia. The U.N. has cited experts as saying that 1.7% of babies are born intersex, defined as having sex characteristics that do not fit binary notions of male or female. The resolution calls on states to “combat discrimination, […]

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Victory! Lambda Legal Announces Settlement of Case on Behalf of Former Military Cadet and Midshipman Living with HIV

Lambda Legal and co-counsel Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkowski Legal, PC, and Scott Schoettes today announced they have reached a settlement with the Department of Defense (DoD) in a lawsuit filed in 2018 on behalf of a former Navy midshipman, Kevin Deese, and a former Air Force cadet, John Doe (a pseudonym), who were denied commissions after graduating from their respective service academies because they are living with HIV. The settlement provides for Deese and Doe to be commissioned as officers in recognition of the status and military careers they qualified for and earned years ago.  “We are gratified that our […]

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