President Obama’s inauguration speech was beautiful: “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths—that all of us are created equal—is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk along; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.”
He is a brilliant speaker, and his willingness to bring Stonewall into the spotlight—the first time a president has acknowledged this uprising—was a validation of all of the hard work of groups such as the HRC. But one eleven-year-old girl, Sadie, questioned President Obama’s exception of trans* individuals in his speech. Thank you, Sophie, for this elegant letter.
Now, President Obama has done a lot for the trans* community, but Sophie is right. The main thing the community needs right now is visibility and support. The President’s choice to mention Stonewall was a major victory, and hopefully in the future his vocal support for the trans* community will stretch into the public arena so visibility will help promote good works, such as this story out of Oregon, which I hope reaches Sophie and makes her smile.
Trans* kids do not have the same access to healthcare as many other individuals, but Oregon is becoming the first state to cover treatments for gender dysphoria in children and teens under Medicaid. Beginning in October 2014, coverage will extend to cover counseling, medication to suppress puberty, and other procedures and care to help trans* kids to handle dysphoria or to transition. Medication to suppress puberty can cost in excess of $1000 a month. Oregon’s steps to help trans* children and their parents will hopefully be followed by other states.
I appreciate Barbara Walters covering transgender youth. Her coverage helps parents understand that they are not negligent or harming their children. Hearing stories of families and transgender youth helps us all recognize that these kids are kids, and when we let them teach us who they are, instead of us telling them who they should be and how they should act, we have truly authentic relationships.
2012 has been a year of great news for the community. Four states voted for marriage equality in November. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled gender identity is covered under Title VII protections. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced their new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will list gender dysphoria instead of gender identity disorder and also put out a release in support of the trans* community. But what were your favorite Exploring Gender articles of this year? (via Exploring Gender: 2012 in Review)
“2012 has been a year of great news for the community. Four states voted for marriage equality in November. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled gender identity is covered under Title VII protections. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced their new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will list gender dysphoria instead of gender identity disorder and also put out a release in support of the trans* community. But what were your favorite Exploring Gender articles of this year?”
LGBTQ* Statistics And Graphs You Should See
Transgender Statistics (2012)
“Being trans* and trying to pursue any career in sports is incredibly hard. Most associations consider hormones to be performance enhancers, so when you try to transition and be an athlete, the road can be rough or even impossible. One woman at Mission College in Santa Clara is breaking those barriers.”
(TW: Some trans-insensitive language in the original article.)
Mission College in California has a new star basketball player: Gabrielle Ludwig, a 50-year-old transgender woman.
This AP profile on Ludwig talks about how she made it onto a college basketball team and the path that led her there. Her body has changed since she played as an adolescent, particularly after taking hormones, but that doesn’t stop her. Her team is completely behind her, in spite of some transphobic harassment she has faced.
Ludwig, who turns 51 this month, acknowledged that part of her motivation for playing women’s basketball was to be a role-model for transgender youth. She finds hope, if not gratification in the temporary suspensions ESPN radio hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin received this week because of the remarks they made about her. But she wants her court accomplishments — not her gender change — to draw comments.
“If men think that women’s basketball is easy, let them spend a day out here and get their butt kicked,” she said.
Mission College Athletic Director Mike Perez was all for Ludwig playing. He admires her for working a fulltime professional job — as a systems engineer for a pharmaceutical company — while carrying a full course load in computer administration. He also has seen the way her young teammates look up to Ludwig “and not just because she’s tall.”
“I could tell that one, she was a person of substance and two, somebody who was really sincere about what they were trying to do,” Perez said. “Many people have different views, but the most important view is she … has a right to be on this basketball team.”
Pretty cool story. We need more inspirational people like her.
“Privilege is a status conferred to certain groups by society, not taken by individuals. In this way, privilege is not something of which we are generally aware, but there are inherent advantages and disadvantages to being a part of certain groups. How does being a part of the trans* community affect privilege?”
“Procedural dramas allow audiences into the world of detectives, cops, FBI agents. Some follow a simple formula like CSI, Law and Order, and Cold Case, others are more character-driven like Castle, Bones, and White Collar. How are trans* individuals characterized in this formula?”
