Transgender / Transsexual

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a report detailing an alarming onslaught of legislation nationwide targeting transgender people, and particularly children. An unprecedented 44 anti-transgender bills are being considered in 16 states, and the quantity of these harmful bills is as striking as their diversity: some undercut the ability of transgender people to access gender-affirming health care; some create state-sanctioned avenues of anti-transgender discrimination; and others deny transgender people access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams consistent with their gender identity. The disturbing proliferation of anti-trans bills, including 23 that target children in schools and school sports, is part of a […]

  On the National Day of Action to End Trans Detention, Transgender Law Center, along with members of the #Not1More campaign, announced a new national initiative, Honor Trans Immigrant Lives, to build leadership and capacity within transgender immigrant communities. While there has been significant work to end the detention and abuse of transgender people being held in immigration custody, there have not been coordinated, national efforts to build trans immigrant leadership within this work or support trans immigrants post-detention. “For too long, transgender immigrants have been ignored and under-resourced by both LGBT and immigrant rights movements,” said Isa Noyola, Program Director at […]

Leo Soell came back to school with no hair, a new name and an announcement. The Hall Elementary School fifth grade teacher left to undergo cancer treatment last fall as Brina. A double mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy clarified a few things. For years, Soell had lived a double life. At home in Southeast Portland, friends knew Soell was transgender and used the gender-neutral pronoun “they.” At work in Gresham, coworkers called the 26-year-old “she.” But after treatment, Soell was ready to be known as “Leo” and “they” at school, too. “Because I was dealing with cancer, you think […]

The estimated 700,000 transgender people in the U.S. experience disproportionately high rates of poverty compared with the general population and others within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population, according to a new report by transgender advocacy groups. Their financial difficulties are linked to isolation that results from discrimination in the workplace, in the health care industry and in educational settings. Financial insecurity also was attributed to a lack of legal protections, according to the report, sponsored by eight public policy and transgender organizations including the Transgender Law Center, the Center for American Progress and the Movement Advancement Project. “Transgender […]

  Marichuy Leal Gamino is a 23-year-old transgender woman who has spent more than a year living in an immigration detention facility, housed with men. Though she spent most of her life growing up in Arizona, she was born a Mexican citizen, making her an undocumented immigrant. After repeatedly experiencing harassment and threats of abuse, she says she was sexually assaulted last week by her cellmate. When she reported the abuse to the staff of the for-profit facility, they allegedly responded by asking her to sign a statement claiming that she had consented. A number of LGBT and immigrant rights […]