J.K. Rowling compares transgender activist to Death Eaters in latest anti-trans comments

On the podcast ironically called the Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, the staunchly anti-trans author equates transgender advocates to Death Eaters, the villains from the Harry Potter series. She says that, in her books, “The Death Eaters claimed, ‘We have been made to live in secret, and now is our time, and any who stand in our way must be destroyed. If you disagree with us, you must die.”

This is typical of the false statements and assertions by Rowling and the anti-trans movement that trans people are part of some movement to take away the rights and safety of women, with the most incendiary and egregious part of her quote insinuating that the trans community wants those against us to die. 

One of the issues many of us have with her statement is the phrase “disagree with us”. This is harmful because it perpetuates the myth that being transgender is a choice based on an ideology and doesn’t acknowledge the fact of our actual existence. There’s nothing to agree with. Trans people are here, we exist, we push back against harmful rhetoric and the people that spew it because it’s dangerous and we need it to stop. The problem in so many of these cases is the internet. The anonymity of the internet often leads to conflict and threats, which people like Rowling then take to be the public voice of the “movement” and evidence that the community is violent by nature and thus worthy of violence in return.

Sources: Inside the Magic

Proposed Florida bill would ban diversity and inclusion at universities

Florida representatives put forth a bill that would ban diversity and inclusion programs on university campuses. In an epic pendulum swing away from the affirmative action moves initiated in the 1960s under President Kennedy, HB 999 bars postsecondary educational institutions from funding “any programs or campus activities that espouse diversity, equity, or inclusion or Critical Race Theory rhetoric” either directly or “through a contract, grant, or agreement.” 

It also interestingly removes language from the state requiring that schools provide students with an opportunity to be politically active and civically engaged as well as removing non-profits and community organizations from the list of internship opportunities that should be provided to students. 

VaultedPolitics on Twitter stated in a tweet that students should plan ahead for this bill and the resulting removal of more than 15 fraternities and sororities that support diverse student inclusion, Jewish studies, feminist theory, and gender studies courses as well  as centers and programs for black, latinx, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ students.

Source: The Hill

Vermont bans school from future tournaments after forfeiting over trans opponent

Last month we reported on a Christian school in Vermont who forfeited a game in a girl’s out of state basketball tournament because the opposing team had a transgender player. Now the VPA, Vermont’s governing body for school sports has barred Mid Vermont Christian school from future tournaments claiming the rationale for forfeiting did “not meet the expectations” for a valid complaint.  

Lauren Thomes, assistant ED of the VPA said in a statement that “We already had the policy in place,” she said, later adding, “The policy is not new, it’s not reactionary. It’s been out there for a while. People are aware of it.” The policy, in effect since early 2021, prohibits discrimination “based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender.” 

The school is appealing this decision. 

None of the articles I found about this story cited anything about the transgender player including anything about their skill level or even if they are a starting player. Anti-trans folks claim that their stance is about fairness, but then have staunch reactions like this to the mere existence of a trans player with no regard as to any actual evidence. This is also another example of backlash against a trans person who is competing within the bounds of an established policy and following the rules correctly as set forth by that policy.

Source: Valley News

Allegations against non-binary TikToker spark violent clash online and vandalism IRL

A major clash broke out online this month in the national attack against trans people when a TikTok comedian made allegations that another TikTok creator was targeting kids. Shamirun Nessa put out videos alleging that Jeffrey Marsh was targeting children, playing up the false anti-trans narrative that trans people are after your children. Marsh’s content centers around embracing a positive self image, and dealing with and recovering from childhood trauma brought on by parental abuse or neglect. 

In her first video, Nessa stitched with a gritted teeth video from Marsh calling for people to “stop telling trans people they are inspirational” adding her comment “Stop telling kids to go on your Patreon and chat privately without their parents” as a way alarm parents and anti-trans folks alike.  One of her later posts picked out a few instances where Marsh started a video by saying “hey kids” and one where he said “I want to talk to the kids” as evidence that the creator was “targeting kids” with the assertion being that kids were being spoken to for some nefarious purpose. Later she points to definitions on Jeffrey’s own Patreon about the types of trauma that they deal with as evidence that the creator themselves are the groomer. 

Nessa’s videos attempt to paint Marsh as a predator and a pedophile to dog-whistle members of the anti-trans movement and turn them against the creator. This caused an online clash between the anti-trans movement and the trans community and their allies resulting in death threats to both creators. The worst offenders vandalized Nessa’s car and sent her terrifyingly detailed descriptions of her schedule and where her kids go to school. 

In the wake of this, much of the content from both creators regarding this incident has been removed and Nessa put out an emotional plea for the violence between both factions to stop. Many content creators have pushed back on this call saying essentially that she’s thrown gasoline on a fire and now wants to take no responsibility for her part. 

There is no news about any anti-defamation action taken by Marsh against Nessa, so for now this is just another case of irresponsible allegations against someone causing major controversy and violent threats.

Arsonist endangers lives over hateful ideology

A drive-by arsonist set fire to a pride flag in an act of hate in New York on Monday, February 20th. The rainbow flag adorned with the words “Make America Gay Again” was flying in front of The Little Prince restaurant in the SoHo area of the city. There’s good video of the perpetrator with straight, burgundy dyed hair pulled back into a ponytail, getting out of a white Honda CRV (2020-2022 model), walking over quickly and lighting the flag on fire before hopping back into the passenger seat of the SUV while the driver speeds off. The fire burned much of the facade of the restaurant as well as the fire escape for the apartments above.

The fire started shortly after 1:35 am at the building on Prince street. According to officials, 12 Fire Department units and 60 firefighters and emergency medical responders in total were called in for the incident. Luckily, they were able to extinguish the fire before anyone was hurt and only the outside of the building was damaged, including some cracked windows.

Fire burns the facade of The Little Prince restaurant as fire fighters work to put out the flames.

“What we saw in the video was a hate crime,” Councilmember Erik Bottcher said in a statement to the press. “Someone who intended to strike fear into our entire community…Our resolve is only strengthened when acts like this happen.” Botcher helped show the solidarity of the community by putting up an even larger pride flag in front of the restaurant. “We are standing up in the face of this hate and reasserting our pride in ourselves and our community. That’s why we hung the flag again.”

D and C Landscaping also stepped forward, donating their services and replacing the flowers hanging on the front of the restaurant. With the quick response of the community and workers getting the place back in shape, the restaurant was nearly ready to open later that same day.

The news of this incident is all over social media and with clear video of her face, the hateful arsonist will hopefully be caught and brought to justice fairly quickly.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.

Sources:
TizzyEnt

New York Times

ABC 7 News

Former TTS guest attacked and brutally beaten

A friend of The Transverse and former guest on season 2 of The Transgender show was attacked and brutally beaten on Thursday, January 26. Known on Instagram and Twitter under the account @Estrozeneca as “Lana eats pizza”, Lana was on her walk home in Brooklyn when the attack occurred. We’re still gathering details and will update this article soon, but as a result of the altercation Lana suffered a skull fracture, broken teeth, and lacerations on her face requiring many stitches.

She is currently off work while she recovers and like so many of us, is therefor in need of help paying for food and covering her bills. She is asking for support via her Venmo and Cashapp under her user name, Lanaeatspizza.

by Emily Michelle
1/30/23 10:00am

Transgender actress and model Livia Wolfe starts hunger strike for equality

Transgender actress and model Livia Wolfe is tired of what she and the community has to endure in the United States today. The 54 year old is going on a hunger strike in November of 2022 to protest the injustices, falsehoods, discrimination, hatred, and violence faced by herself and her trans siblings every day. 

She was the victim of domestic abuse from her partner, however it was her partner that filed abuse charges against her. In the ensuing legal battle, law enforcement and members of the court misgendered her throughout the case and the judge ignored Livia’s proof to the contrary of the claims and ruled in favor of the abusive partner. 

She had already began her hunger strike on November 5th but realized she had more writing and preparation to do to make her efforts the most effective. She plans on restarting the strike within the next few days. 

What is she asking for? Real change from politicians and schools. She is looking for people to report on her story and the aim is to get audience with politicians and school officials who will agree to implement policy changes to improve the lives of trans students and properly educate others with the truth about being transgender. 

She says “Public officials across the nation have chosen harm and death for us as individuals, and as a people…we have little meaningful equality in society. At the root of the solution to this problem is education.”

For her hunger strike she is following a guideline that the State of California produced in response to incarcerated prisoners who went on hunger strike. She will be ingesting only water and green tea with lemon and a crushed up multivitamin throughout the day. To limit her intake, she will stop taking her hormone replacement therapy medications. While the guidelines recommend regular doctor visits and blood/urine labs, she says that’s very unlikely to happen until she is hospitalized. 

There is risk of organ damage at 15 days and by the 21st day, patients are typically provided with info regarding advance directives as patient care will start to get intensive at that point. She says at the 30-day point everything gets “really harsh” 

Follow along with her at LadyLiviaWolfe on Instagram and visit her LinkTree from there for all of her information and updates. 

by Emily Michelle
11/14/22 4:00 pm

Puberty Blockers

I’ve spent a lot of time (too much many would say) responding to YouTube comments from folks that support bans on puberty blockers, call them dangerous and even evil, and claim that there’s some wave or push for kids to start taking them. So, I went for a dive to find some information about what they are, how they are used, and what the side effects are, to make my responses more well-informed than just what I’ve gleaned from our Transistance coverage. I’ll eventually use this as a basis for a Puberty Blockers information page, but here’s what I found to start.

Puberty blockers are widely believed by the medical community to be safe and very helpful in the case of gender dysphoria, particularly in mitigating depression and suicidal ideation as patients grow into young adults. A quick google search on “Puberty Blockers” and reading the articles on the medical sites (like Mayo Clinic and Children’s Hospital St. Louis and many others) seems to provide decent evidence that they are safe when monitored regularly by doctors including bone density tests and supplements to ensure healthy bone development.

Lupron, a puberty blocker (that is commonly used in BC for gender dysphoria) was studied (and I assume has been used) as an alternative to surgical castration in male pedophiles because it blocks the release of testosterone. Hence the claims we hear that puberty blockers are used in chemical castration. However, it isn’t a one and done. It’s a shot administered every month and because of the decreased testosterone, patients reported significantly reduced pedophelic urges (as confirmed by polygraph tests). Info taken from the summary paragraph of this clinical trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00220350

I did find several spots saying there aren’t currently enough studies of long term affects, as well as the statement that drug companies are hesitant to submit data to the FDA due to the current political firestorm, which means there is more information out there that we don’t get to see because of this anti-trans wave.

I found this article of some females who took Lupron as a puberty blocker and had some nasty bone-related side effects. https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/02/lupron-puberty-children-health-problems/ But again, there isn’t evidence in this story that bone density was monitored and I suspect it’s cases like these that lead to the rigor around puberty blockers and bone density monitoring.

So, my conclusion:

  • Is it the “wild west” when it comes to puberty blockers? No
  • Do we know everything we need to know about long term affects? No
  • Is there enough evidence to label these drugs as “dangerous” (or “evil”)? No
  • Should these drugs be taken/administered with great care and regular monitoring and follow-up? Yes

Emily Kleckner
Founder & President
The Transverse

IncrediblyTrans Spotlight Dartti!

It started with The Go-Go’s. I was ten and their debut album “Beauty and the Beat” came out and hit the radio. I LOVED “Our Lips are Sealed” and the few others on the airwaves. I loved their music but, I never really got into the albums. I’m not much of a music lister and I never really got into buying albums. Funny thing was, every time I heard one of their songs I knew, I would get this little voice in my head saying things like “you’re a bigger fan than this” and “they deserve better from you”. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This never happened with anyone else I listened to.

So, I would answer back, “what the hell does that even mean?” and “where is this coming from?” Did I listen? No. For decades I put up with this guilt trip I played on myself. To be honest, I don’t come to new music easily. Whenever I’m listening to music, I’m drawing (im a cartoonist) or I’m driving and all I want is familiarity. But, one day I decided to finally give The Go-Go’s their due respect. So, I put on Beauty and the Beat. It started strong with Our Lips are Sealed and How Much Moore. Great! But then I got into unfamiliar territory with Tonight, Lust to Love, and This Town.

If you’re not familiar with The Go-Go’s, these songs have a DARK tone. I wasn’t ready to hear this from a group I had always perceived as just cotton candy. I turned it off. I didn’t like what I heard. And that BOTHERED me. But why? Had I let them down? This hung on for a week, all the while I asked why this is bothered me. Shortly after, I saw on YouTube a trailer for their new documentary. I still admired the hell out of them so I watched it. It’s in this Jane Weidlin says how at their heart, their music is punk. PUNK! I needed to hear this. So I go back and start over.

From that moment, it was like hearing them for the first time and I LOVED it!. I couldn’t get enough. How do you listen to something so wrong? I was elated and felt fulfilled in becoming the fan that little voice told me I was. At this time I’m deep-diving into all their music and I’m learning all the lyrics. I love to sing but I’m too shy to do it in front of anyone so, I sing in the car alone. I’m embarrassed to admit that when I do, I pretend to be on stage singing. So, doing this to The Go-Go’s was no different. I was having a blast. But something happened. Organically. At some point, I realized that in my little singing fantasy, I’m a woman. This never happened. Ever. So, I paused and said, “what the hell is going on?” I couldn’t think of an answer so I put it out of my head.

It happen again later. And again, I asked myself the same question. Now I feel I should mention I was never raised in an environment that taught me being “gay” was bad. Because of this, it was easy for me to push it out of my mind, guilt-free. No questions asked. No asking “what’s wrong with me?” I would later realize this was something I did all my life and got very good at. I decided to go with it. It was fun. It made me feel good. It was harmless. It was really nice to escape into this fantasy. But it didn’t take long for it to become a detriment. It started to HURT to turn off the music. That’s when I said “OK! WHAT’S GOING ON?! Why does seeing myself like this make me so… HAPPY?” So happy. And it was around here I had what I call The Dream.

In it I was in a boutique. My wife, her friend, and (to keep the go-go’s theme strong) Jane Wiedlin were bringing me shoes to try on. And if it’s not clear, women’s shoes. I couldn’t get over how these made me feel. How beautiful. How… right. None of the women spoke but, there was a sense of inclusion, belonging… sisterhood. That it was ok to feel this way. And I knew, inherently that it wasn’t a cross-dressing thing. (something i have never done) It wasn’t a feeling of “it’s ok for a man to wear women’s shoes and clothes”. No. It was “it’s ok to BE a woman. To finally be YOU.” I woke from this with the most beautiful, warm feeling I have EVER felt. It was so real, it was palpable. And all I had to do was close my eyes and just FEEL it and live in that moment. But the worst part was to lay there for a period of about an hour and have that feeling just fade away into memory. It was painful. And again, “what the hell was THAT all about?”

The next days I had this internal dialogue about whether or not I should tell my wife. About a DREAM! I felt like I did something wrong and I had to come clean. I actually had a tug-of-war with myself on this. Eventually, I did. Out of the blue, I said, “hey, haha, want to hear a funny dream I had?” She said that seemed sweet and was happy I had such a nice dream. I felt like a great weight had been lifted. But it didn’t stop the thoughts. At this time I’m also starting to experience a few disconnections. Things that were heading to the same point I didn’t see at the time. First was my connection to the only two things I contributed to my masculine identity. My mustache and my pipe smoking. These things made me feel masculine. The only things. And, I wanted them. I really did. But the things that centered me were now growing distant.

I started to hate the way my mustache felt, looked, acted. I started to have thoughts of shaving it. Something I NEVER thought of before. Hell, my wife had never even seen me without it. How could I even consider it? And my pipe? It was a source of Zen-like meditation. I LOVED to sit on my porch and enjoy a bowl. Now, I couldn’t even bring myself to do it. And when I did, it didn’t feel right. The time between smoking went from days to months. All the while I asked myself why is this happening and why I was feeling this way about something I loved for over twenty years. Something that DEFINED me.

The other weird thing was one day I was sitting on a bench, people-watching. It became obvious to me that I was only watching men and that I had this expression on my face. One of disgust. It shocked me when I realized it but thought, “I see NOTHING of myself in these people. At all.” I have never been the manliest of men but I always felt I was a member of the club, if, for nothing else, by association. Not any more. And now I’m starting to panic. Why am I feeling this way? What does this mean? Am I trans? No, I’m not trans… how could I be? I’ve never had a trans thought in my life… That’s when I said “Oooooo-kay… past things all of a sudden make a hell of a lot more sense now…” I realized that all my life, I would play this game where if I saw a girl that had something I wanted, something feminine, I would say “gee, I would wear my hair like that… if I were a girl.” Or “I would wear makeup like that… if I were a girl.

But I’m not” and push it away. Then I said “SHIT! I’m still doing that NOW!” When growing up (70’s, 80’s), I NEVER saw anyone like me. And the biggest factor was, I LIKED GIRLS! If I ever saw any kind of trans representation it was always a flamboyant gay man transvestite. (always gay) If someone just told me I could be a cat-glasses and mom-jean-wearing woman that LIKES WOMEN… This began self-analyzation as I have never done before. Remember what I said about how I felt about keeping that dream from my wife? I was now having that same tug-of-war about telling my wife about THIS. And it’s WAR! A war between my heart and my brain.

My heart is saying “TELL HER!’ and my brain, “DON’T TELL HER!” Do I say something? How can I? How can I not? It all came to a bursting point on Father’s Day (and yes, im a father) of 2021. It’ was a little after midnight and I and my older son are still up. I say “I’m… I’m feeling restless. I think I’m going for a drive.” I NEVER do this. So, I got into my car, got out on the freeway, blasted my Go’Go’s playlist, and SANG! For over three hours, back and forth on the freeway. I have NEVER felt my heart breaking like that. I had resigned to burying this deep and I was dying for the woman I realized I was but could never be.

I was singing my swan song. I limped home, throat raw, and unable to keep my eyes open. I climbed into bed but I didn’t sleep. At all. It was about 7 am and I couldn’t take the war inside of me and the stomach knots. I got up and sat in the quiet. My wife got up about an hour later and immediately knew something’s wrong. She sat and asked if everything was ok. I squeaked out the most pathetic “yeah” I have ever said. Now she REALLY knows something is wrong. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Again, I squeaked “nothing.” If ever there was a time to tell a convincing lie, this was it. Then, after what HAD to be 30 of the most awkward seconds of silence, I had THE MOST out-of-body experience in my life.

I started to feel words come up my throat and they’re not the words I wanted. Again, my heart was saying “TELL HER!’ and my brain, “DON’T TELL HER! YOU’LL RUIN EVERYTHING!” I literally watched myself, totally on autopilot, say “I want to be a woman…” I looked over at her and her response was, “really?” I just spilled everything. And for an hour she listened. There is more nuance to this but, that’s when I, when Dartti began. And it all started with The Go-Go’s. Those five women allowed me to see me as MYSELF when it seems all other avenues from my sub-conscience to my conscience were blocked. It saw its “in” and took it.

They mean EVERYTHING to me. They’re like oxygen. I often wonder what I would say to them but, what does a captive say to their liberators? For nearly twenty years, I was slowly dying inside and couldn’t figure out why. I pushed people away and isolated myself. My emotions died as well. Except for anger, of course. I mastered being an island in a sea of people. I never fit. I never spent a single day comfortable in my clothes, my skin. Until now. Now, I’m Dartti. And I have never been happier.

My advice to you is don’t ignore the little voice in your head. And stop gas-lighting yourself. This is you we’re talking about. You really do know who you are.

✨ If you’d like to become one of the next spotlight’s please send us a message and we’ll send you a form for you to fill out x

📜 < Tags: #lgbtq🌈 #lgbt #lgbtqia #pride#transvengers #trans #transgender #transvisibility#transition #transisbeautiful #gendereuphoria#transwomen #transgirl #transfem #girlslikeus#wontbeerased

IncrediblyTrans Spotlight Valerie!

I realized I was trans just a few years ago when I was 37; before then, I had no idea that that was the cause of my life long depression and restlessness. It was only through viewing some of the stories of other trans and non-binary people that realized what they were later in life that it all finally clicked into place and this is a major reason I try to share as much as I can.

I’m a big proponent of all of us sharing our unique stories, even if that doesn’t play into the neat narrative that we sometimes get boxed into. The more we all share, the more of a full picture gets painted of the entire community.

For me as a teen, I was heavily involved in the local music scenes, which was great in letting me play with androgynous presentation, but also led me to think that that’s all it was – a presentation. Challenging perception of my gender was never really considered in my youth. As such, a lot of my habits around that were kind of played off as me being ‘quirky’ vs actually being something deeper.

The concept of being non-binary (the label androgyne specifically resonates with me) was also incredibly freeing and an important step in my journey. I feel completely able to be open about who I am and what I like and that I do not fit neatly into a binary gender.

In just a few short years, I’ve been able to start HRT, complete a legal name change, complete one gender affirming surgery and I have FFS scheduled for next month. I also have become far more connected with the local, national and worldwide trans communities and been able to meet amazing people.

My advice is to listen to yourself over all others. Other community members can be a fantastic resource, but at the end of the day, only you truly know you. Also, you can realize that you’re trans and come out at any age; it’s never too late!

🏳️‍⚧️ Use our hashtag #IncrediblyTrans today! it really helps us out. Let’s celebrate each other TOGETHER! ✨ If you’d like to become one of the next spotlight’s please send us a message and we’ll send you a form for you to fill out!