USA – April 2022
Gender neutral passports are coming to the USA! Beginning April 11th, American citizens can now choose X as their gender designation. It is impossible to imagine something like that happening during the Trump presidency, and I’m sure it won’t go over well in the halls of government in rabid anti-trans states like Florida and Texas. Tough! The USA joins Canada, Australia, Germany, India, Nepal and New Zealand as nations that allow citizens to designate a gender other than male or female on their passports. Cheers to the Biden administration.
UK – April 2022
Meanwhile, the UK continues on its well-trodden path of transphobia. After declaring conversion practices “coercive and abhorrent” in May 2021, a briefing paper leaked this past week indicated the Boris Johnson Conservatives wouldn’t proceed with a ban. The paper suggested the government blame “pressures on the cost of living and the crisis in Ukraine.” Needless to say, the backlash was swift and furious, and so Johnson made a reversal. Now his government would introduce legislation in May, but it would only cover sexual orientation and not trans people.
The same dishonest arguments we heard in Canada prior to the ban here were trotted out in the UK: if we ban conversion practices then it will scare therapists away from talking to young people about complex identity issues. That kind of bullshit is only believable in a transphobic society. Conversion is coercion, not therapy.
The Peter Tatchell Foundation, which promotes and protects the human rights of individuals and communities, accused Johnson of “throwing trans people under the bus”. It said: “We feel conned and tricked. The prime minister has taken a decision to appease transphobes who oppose protection for trans people and who support attempts to turn them cisgender … It looks like a bid to stoke trans culture wars for political gain in the run-up to the next election.”
The Trans Memory Archive of Argentina
June 2021 – The Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT) is an archive started by Argentinian trans activists who imagined having a place in which they and their surviving companions could preserve their memories.
A dose of inspiration. The passing of 99 year old trans woman Robina Asti. When Asti was 92, she enlisted the aid of Lambda Legal’s Transgender Rights Project for help in securing survivor’s benefits that had been denied to her by the US Social Security Administration. Not only did she receive her benefits, her challenge prompted the Social Security Administration to change its policy regarding transgender spouses.
USA – January 2021
The detoxification of American life continues. “Transgender service members will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity,” the Biden White House said.
The White House also released its new contact form, which includes the option for users to select their pronouns of choice.
The revamped website allows users to select from a dropdown list of pronouns which include “he/him”, “she/her”, the gender-neutral “they/them” or “prefer not to share”.
The contact form has also been updated to include the gender-neutral prefix Mx, alongside the more traditional Mr, Mrs and Ms.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55814358
October 2020 – Trans activists in the USA
USA On Monday, June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled by a majority of six to three that to fire someone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity was a form of sex discrimination, and therefore illegal.
Queerphobia and the pandemic: LGBT communities around the world targeted
(May 2020) A survey of news from around the world.
Iceland (September, 2019)
The Spartacus Gay Travel Index rates Iceland as one of the most LGBTQ friendly places in the world. The index uses research from Human Rights Watch, the UN Free & Equal campaign, and information about human rights abuses against members of the LGBTQ+ community collected throughout the past year. This opinion piece from the Guardian shows how in Iceland women’s rights and trans rights are regarded as not just compatible, but complementary.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/09/feminism-trans-rights-iceland-uk-movements
Bangladesh (July 2019)
Historically, the Hijra occupied an almost mythical place in South Asian society. They belonged to their own holy caste and held a range of diverse and important ceremonial roles. These roles diminished as colonial influences took hold. Now with the rise of fundamentalism and weak political leadership, one of the oldest third gender communities in the world is harassed and oppressed.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hijra-transgender-bangladesh/
Armenia: Lilit Martirosyan (June 2019)
Argentina – Poland (in Books, July 2018)
Trans Ottawa 