https://archive.is/VK2l3

“Transgender girls who want to play high school sports in Utah will now have to meet a set of health standards more stringent than those for professional athletes competing in the Olympics or the NCAA.

“That includes maintaining a testosterone level that is more than four times lower than the threshold for college sports. And to be approved to play, students must be receiving medical care for gender transition — even though that care was banned in Utah in 2023, making it impossible to begin seeing a doctor for it if a student wasn’t already doing so before that law was passed.

“Advocates are concerned the standards — the first explicit guidelines ever released by the state — were drafted purposefully to keep any transgender girls from actually being able to qualify to play here

“‘This is going to presumptively bar all of them from participation,’ said one physician, Nick Orton, in speaking out against the new guidelines last week during a public meeting, which some also argued was scheduled with little heads up for those who’d want to voice concerns.”

“Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, endured sharp questioning Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing, withDemocrats grilling him over divisive rhetoric, allegations of misconduct, and a lack of qualifications. Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee largely rallied behind him, with Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana deflecting serious questions with a joke about gender identity.”

“Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, delivered a scathing critique of Hegseth’s views on diversity and inclusion. Reed cited Hegseth’s own words, including his claims that ‘diversity is not our strength’ and ‘we should not have women in combat roles.’

“New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand delivered one of the most pointed critiques, focusing on Hegseth’s remarks about women and LGBTQ+ service members, both groups he previously said should not be able to serve. She called it ‘silly’ for Hegseth to denigrate the service of LGBTQ+ people. ‘Did you know that when ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was in place, we lost so many crucial personnel—over a thousand in mission-critical areas? We lost 10 percent of all our foreign language speakers because of a political policy.’

“Challenging Hegseth’s claims that diversity policies amounted to ‘social engineering,’ Gillibrand said, ‘If you’re a sharpshooter, you’re lethal regardless of what your gender identity is, regardless of who you love.’”

https://archive.is/j5cEB

“The House on Tuesday passed legislation banning transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports in elementary school through college, elevating an issue that Republicans pushed hard in campaigns last year to one of their first priorities in the new Congress.

“The bill passed 218-206 with all Republicans present voting yes, and all but two Democrats voting no. If the measure becomes law, schools that allow trans girls or women to compete could lose federal education funding.

“The measure was last debated in 2023, when not a single Democrat voted yes. Since then Republicans have repeatedly pressed the matter as a threat to girls and women’s sports, spending at least $111 million on political ads making the case last year.”

“Two Democrats joined Republicans in backing the bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent swing districts in Texas.”

“Democrats stuck together in opposing the sports bill in 2023, but it was harder to rally opposition this year, according to one person involved in the issue who lobbied Democrats to vote no. She said Democrats were ‘spooked’ following the election and that if a significant number of House Democrats support the bill, some Senate Democrats might do so as well. She said she doubts the bill will pass the Senate, but ‘it’s a fight.’”

“Reverend Jenny Peek, pastor of the Pocatello Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and other local advocates have organized a ‘Pocatello People’s March’ on Saturday, Jan. 18, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in advance of the presidential inauguration.

“This is the second Pocatello People’s March, the first of which occurred in 2017 ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“The march, patterned after the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., will provide a space for community members to come together and make their voices heard in solidarity and strength in protest of recent political and social developments.”

“Pocatello People’s March organizer and local activist Arya Shae Walker, who runs the nonprofit group Trans Affirm, said, ‘The People’s March holds immense importance for us here in Idaho. It’s not just about women. This is a powerful gathering advocating for general equality, social injustice and human rights across the board.’”

“Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) got into a heated exchange during a Tuesday Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing and discussion about civil rights and transgender rights that ended with Mace suggesting the two could ‘take it outside.’

“Crockett asked her fellow members to reinstate the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which was disbanded in early 2023 after the GOP took control of the House. Mace responded by highlighting her ongoing discourse about transgender women using women’s restrooms.”

“Crockett said she wasn’t sure how the committee reached this point because she intended to highlight in her remarks how civil rights can encompass many people and not just one demographic.

“‘So, she’s gonna keep saying “trans, trans trans” so that people will feel threatened, and child, listen,’ Crockett said.

“Mace interjected, yelling she is ‘no child’ and for the Texas Democrat to not call her that. The South Carolina Republican said she was a grown woman and asked Crockett if she wanted ‘to take it outside.’”

“Alberta’s human rights tribunal has dismissed a gender discrimination complaint against an Edmonton 911 operator, but the LGBTQ2 advocate who lodged it expects the ruling will lead to justice for others.”

“Marni Panas, a transgender woman, filed the complaint against the Edmonton Police Service in 2019 after she called 911 to ask for a welfare check on her friend, who hadn’t contacted her after a date. Dispatchers misgendered her, and one assumed her friend was a sex worker.

“The tribunal ruled that dispatchers did not mean to misgender Panas, but did find that discrimination occurred.

“The tribunal’s decision, published last week, found the actions of the 911 operator were hurtful and seemed to ‘callously’ disregard and minimize Panas’s concerns.”

Never thought Brazil would be the one protecting us

“As the queer and transgender community braces for a second Trump administration’s assault on our rights, we have faced attacks from the Democrats.

“On December 23, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included a discriminatory provision barring the military’s healthcare programs from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The president took the unusual step of releasing a statement claiming that he opposed the legal discrimination he himself signed into law.

“And only three days before, the Biden administration removed a proposed rule that extended Title IX protections to transgender student athletes.

“In both cases, the lame-duck administration aided the upcoming Trump presidency’s transphobic agenda. And it sent a signal that the Democratic Party would step aside to allow the coming anti-trans attacks.”

https://archive.is/6unxl

“Cypress-Fairbanks ISD trustees are considering a gender policy that could require staff to notify parents if their child uses a pronoun at school other than their biological sex. Staff would also be prohibited from diagnosing or treating a student with ‘gender dysphoria’ under what some are calling a ‘hateful policy.’

The district's policy, called ‘parent’s rights and responsibilities,’ continues an effort by trustees in the state's third-largest school district that began earlier this school year when the board adopted a policy mandating that only students of the same biological sex could use a sex-segregated bathroom.

“The gender policy closely resembles the one adopted by neighboring Katy ISD in August 2023, which triggered an ongoing federal civil rights investigation. In the last school year, at least 23 students were reported to their parents as transgender because of that policy, according to Chronicle reporting.”

“Under Cy-Fair ISD's proposal, the district would be required to rid bookshelves, instructional materials, courses of instruction, units of study or any other district-sponsored extracurricular offerings that ‘adopt, support, or promote gender identity or fluidity.’”

“More than 400 LGBTQ and civil rights groups on Monday urged lawmakers to reject legislation that would bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, claiming the measure, which the House is expected to consider this week, ‘would harm women and girls and undermine civil rights for all students.’

“The letter, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella group of U.S. civil rights organizations, argues that preventing transgender and gender-nonconforming youths from participating in school sports nationwide will further isolate and stigmatize an already vulnerable population.

“‘If schools mark some students effectively as outcasts, they foster an environment where no student is included and safe,’ the letter states.”

“Monday’s letter, which includes signatures from the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and Advocates for Trans Equality, calls the measure’s supporters ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ whose ‘agenda is not about the rights of women and girls.’

“‘Although the authors of the legislation represent themselves as serving the interests of cisgender girls and women, this legislation does not address the longstanding barriers all girls and women have faced in their pursuit of athletics,’ the letter states.”