Transgender / Transsexual

Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, released Promising Practices for Serving Transgender & Non-Binary Foster & Adoptive Parents, a groundbreaking new guide designed to help foster care and adoption agencies recruit, certify and support qualified transgender and non-binary adults to become resource parents for young people who need safe, welcoming homes. “With more than 100,000 young people awaiting adoption across the country, it is urgent for all prospective foster and adoptive parents, including trans and non-binary adults, to feel safe and welcomed in our nation’s foster care system,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Programs, Research, […]

In response to significant attacks on the rights of LGBTQ people, an unprecedented number of parents of transgender young people have come together to sign a declaration of rights seeking protections for their children and all transgender people from discrimination, violence and harassment. The declaration, signed by 1,400-plus parents and organized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, comes as the nation marks Transgender Awareness Week, and one year after HRC launched its groundbreaking national Parents for Transgender Equality Council in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. “What started as […]

A second transgender candidate has won a spot on the Minneapolis City Council. Phillipe Cunningham narrowly won a northwestern Minneapolis ward by defeating longtime incumbent and council president Barb Johnson. His victory wasn’t announced until Wednesday afternoon, due to the instant-runoff voting system Minneapolis uses. Cunningham is a 29-year-old transgender man. His victory follows one by Andrea Jenkins, a transgender woman who easily won a seat on the City Council Tuesday night. It adds to a banner night for transgender people in public office. Danica Roem became the nation’s first openly transgender state lawmaker by winning a Virginia Statehouse seat. […]

Transgender candidates across the nation won historic races Tuesday night – including Danica Roem, who will become the first openly trans person to win and serve in a state legislature. Four trans candidates won their state and local elections, with one more possible as results trickle in, almost doubling the number of trans elected officials in the country and solidifying 2017 as the year of the trans candidate. “Hostile political forces at every level of government are targeting the trans community with legislation and policies that deny their equality,” said Aisha C. Moodie-Mills, President & CEO of Victory Fund. “Tonight […]

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed a response today in the Equality California case Stockman v. Trump challenging Trump’s transgender military ban in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Today’s court filing is the first in Stockman since Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling last week in NCLR and GLAD’s other case Doe v. Trump, finding Trump’s ban to be unconstitutional and issuing a nationwide injunction against the ban. “California has the highest number of service members and LGBT people of any state in the country. Trump’s ban is a baseless, malicious attack on our own,” […]

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion today to defend a Maryland school board’s policies that prevent discrimination, harassment, and stigmatization of transgender and gender nonconforming students in the school system. The policies ensure that transgender students can, among other things, use school facilities in accordance with their gender identity. A federal lawsuit against the Frederick County School Board was filed anonymously by a non-transgender student and her mother, who claim that allowing transgender students restroom and locker room access infringes upon student privacy rights. However, the only privacy violation alleged in the plaintiff’s complaint was an incident that […]

Friday, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect currently-serving transgender service members from being discharged due to President Trump’s transgender military ban. The legislation was introduced by Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Adam Smith (D-WA), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). “Transgender troops serve this nation with distinction and honor, and President Trump’s unpatriotic attack on their service is unconscionable,” said Stephen Peters, HRC National Press Secretary and Marine Corps veteran. “Qualified Americans who are willing to put their lives on the line for their fellow citizens should be allowed […]

In a sign of growing acceptance for transgender children, a new survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association finds 53% of American adults would support their teenage child’s request to transition to another gender. Early intervention and family support are shown to improve mental, physical and emotional outcomes for children with gender dysphoria, broadly defined as a conflict between a person’s anatomy and the gender with which they identify. The importance of family “Parents have a significant role in raising transgender kids,” says Laura Arrowsmith, DO, who practices at a transgender clinic in Oklahoma. […]