Monday, 27 June 2016

Trans Person Attacked After Orlando Vigil



A Seattle trans advocate was attacked and beaten after leaving the 'Let Your Love Shine' fundraiser event for the victims of the Orlando Pulse Massacre.

Michael Volz, who uses the pronouns they and them, was returning to their vehicle when they were approached by a stranger.  The man reportedly said 'Happy Pride' before chocking and beating Michael to the floor before kicking them in the abdomen.

The attacker reportedly also said 'Show me your tits you tranny cunt' whilst he attacked them.

After the attacker left the scene Michael managed to drive themselves home, where friends insisted that they go to the ER.  Michael was treated for cuts, abrasions and bruising as well as having several stitches.  They are also reporting injured teeth and vision impairment due to the attack.

Seattle Police Department have spoken out about the incident and are treating it as a hate crime.  'I'm disgusted by this hateful attack,' Chief Kathleen O'Toole said.  'I want to assure the victim and the community that the SPD will leverage  every resource to identify the suspect and bring him to justice.'

Michael's friends set up a GoFundMe page to raise awareness and support.  'The emotional devastation and the injuries they have endured is so deep there are no words to describe,' the GoFundMe described.  'Michael wants us to attach pictures because this is what transphobia looks like.'  So far the page has raised over $35,000.


Michael has spoken out about the incident, saying 'This is not an isolated incident....this is something that happens in our community frequently, and we won't stand for it.'


Amy.
xx

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Friday, 24 June 2016

Canada's New Blood Policy Transphobic



Canada has introduced a new policy for blood donation that has come under heavy criticism for being transphobic.  The new policy will determine that if a transgender donor has not had genital surgery they will be treated as the sex they were assigned at birth.

This news comes just days after the Blood Services announced that they would be loosening restrictions on gay and bisexual men who donate blood.  They are planning to drop the wait time for men who have sex with men from five year to one, but have also announced that they are planning to introduce a 'new screening process for trans donors (will take) into consideration the assigned sex of the donor and whether they have had genital surgery.'

The Canadian Blood Service has said, 'We recognise their assigned birth sex may be different than the gender with which they identify', acknowledging the fact that they are aware that transgender people do not live their lives as the gender they were assigned at birth.

Dr Mindy Goldman spoke on behalf of the CBS, 'We felt that it would be better to have a standardised procedure that way an individual trying to donate in Vancouver would be treated the same way as someone in Newfoundland or Ontario.

'It would be more respectful of donors because they would not know what the policy was.

'Where this leaves us with trans donors is that they're not an easy population for us to screen because they're transitioning often, they don't fit neatly into a category.'

In addition to being described as not  being able to 'fit neatly into a category' over their gender, trans people are also being told that they are also going to be treated as homosexual individuals if they are straight.  Transgender women are being told that if they have not had genital surgery and have been intimate with a cisgender man they will be treated as being a gay man.

Whilst cisgender women who sleep with cisgender men are free to donate blood, transgender women who sleep cisgender men will have to have a period of 12 months abstinence before donating.  The CBS have not commented on how this new policy will affect gay trans men.

Not only are these new regulations horribly transphobic in the way that they reduce the notion of trans women to simply being gay men, but the fact that it comes from an official body sends a message of anti-trans sentiment to the general population.


Amy.
xx

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Farage Referendum Victory Speech Insults Memory of Jo Cox



As the EU Referendum results look to be finalised the leader of the right wing political party UKIP, Nigel Farage, took to the stage to make a speech to celebrate the UK's decision to leave the European Union, a speech that not only congratulated isolationist and xenophobic voters, but also insulted the memory of Jo Cox.

Speaking at a rally in central London Mr Farage said, 'This, if the predictions now are right, this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people.

'We have fought against multinationals, we have fought against big merchant banks, we have fought against big politics, we have fought against lies, corruption and deceit.  And today honesty, decency and belief in nation, I think is going to win.

'And we have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired, we'd have done it by damn hard work on the ground.'


Farage's comments about victory without having had a single bullet fired have come under a massive backlash as less than a week ago MP Jo Cox was brutally murdered in the street by a pro-Brexit supporter.

Whilst some have denied any connection between her killer and the Leave campaign Thomas Mair, the man who took Jo Cox's life, was witnessed shouting 'put Britain first' whilst performing the attack, and gave his name in court as 'Death to traitors, freedom for Britain'.  Leaving many to make the natural conclusion that the crime was motivated by politics.

Even if there turns out to be no connection between the debate over Britain leaving the EU and a pro-leave campaigner murdering a minister campaigning to stay in the EU the timing of the events and the comments made by the killer make Farage's speech incredibly insensitive and even downright insulting.

It is also worth noting, however, that Farage has in the build up to the EU Referendum advocated for people to turn to violence if they feel that the UK should leave the European Union, so forgetting to respect the memory of someone who lost their life to such violence is hardly beyond him.



With the value of the pound already plummeting to the lowest point it has ever been at since its inception and known homophobes, racists, sexists and xenophobes such as Nigel Farage celebrating the results of the vote, today is already proving to be an incredibly dark day for rational minded citizens of Britain.


Amy.
xx

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Wednesday, 22 June 2016

200,000 Hits!



After only reaching 100,000 hits three months ago I'm amazed and proud to report that Trans-Scribe has now reached 200,000 hits.

Thank you so, so much to everyone for your continued support and patronage.  I couldn't keep doing what I'm doing without you all.

Thank you all.


Amy.
xx

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Police Investigate Alleged Shooting At British Gay Bar



Police have locked down a street in Canterbury following an alleged shooting at a gay bar on Saturday night.

Limes bar reported an incident that occurred around 10pm on Saturday night, where a pair of youths were seen shooting in the LGBT+ bar.  The incident resulted in damage to the window of the bar, but thankfully no one was reported as being injured.

A representative of Kent Police, Sally Smith, has said 'No injuries were reported and the investigation into the incident continues.  A window was broken and the cause of damage remains under investigation.  No weapons were reported to have been seen.'

An 18-year-old man from Dover and a 17-year-old girl from Hythe have been arrested, but since released on bail.


Amy.
xx

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Tuesday, 21 June 2016

'Brexit Bad For Trans Rights' Says Young Trans Activist



A young transgender rights activist from the UK, Charlie Craggs, has warned that Britain choosing to leave the European Union during the 'Brexit' vote could lead to marginalised communities finding themselves in worse situations.

Charlie, who has become well known for her Nail Transphobia campaign where she travels around the UK advocating for trans rights, has urged students around the UK to vote to remain within the EU in Thursday's referendum or face the possibility of Boris Johnson as prime minister.

'If we leave, the ramifications on marginalised communities is going to be so great.'  She said when speaking on the subject.  'Boris Johnson could be our prime minister.  A man who has said things like 'tank-top wearing bum boys' and said gay marriage might lead to men marrying their dogs.

'People vote for him because the think he's a lol and a laugh, but he's dangerous.

'The EU has helped produce legislation to protect us but it also means we are all involved in social dialogue in the EU.  We are able to bring our voice to the table.  The UK is quite good at LGBT rights so I think it's important we remain in the EU so our voice remains prevalent in that conversation.

'Brexit would be bad for trans rights, gay rights, lesbian rights, bi rights, intersex, literally all of us.'


Amy.
xx

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Monday, 20 June 2016

Actor Anton Yelchin Dies In Accident Aged 27



The 27 year old actor, best known for playing Pavel Chekov in the recent Star Trek reboot films, has died after an accident at his Los Angeles home.

The actor was found struck by his own car that had reportedly rolled down his driveway and pinned him against a brick postbox pillar, killing the young man.

Despite being best known for his role in the new Star Trek films, the third of which is due for release next month, he has also appeared in a host of well received films, including Green Room, the Smurfs series, Terminator Salvation, Hearts in Atlantis and Fright Night.

Outpourings of condolences have already been made for the actor from colleagues and friends.

'You were kind.  You were funny as hell, and supremely talented.  And you weren't here nearly long enough.  Missing you.'  -  J.J. Abrams

'Still in shock.  Rest in peace, Anton.  Your passion and enthusiasm will live on with everyone that had the pleasure of knowing you.'  -  Justin Lin.

'Sad news for such a talented young man.'  -  William Shatner

'A rare and beautiful soul with his unstoppable passion for life.'  -  Jodie Foster

'I'm devastated.  A world without Anton is a lesser place.  He touched everyone he met with honesty and humanity.  We have lost a unique and powerful soul.'  -  Felicity Jones

'Our dear friend.  Our comrade.  Our Anton.  One of the most open and intellectually curious people I have ever had the pleasure to know.  So enormously talented and generous of heart, wise beyond his years, and gone before his time.  All love and strength to his family at this impossible time of grief.'  -  Zachary Quinto

'Anton Yelchin was one of my best friends.  I can't say anything that conveys what this feels like.'  -  Kat Dennings

'The sweetest, most humble, delightful, talented guy you'd ever meet.'  Guillermo del Toro



Amy.
xx

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Gay Actor Rupert Everett Urges Parents Not To Let Trans Children Receive Treatment



Openly gay actor Rupert Everett has spoken out to 'warn' parents against the dangers of allowing transgender children to seek help and treatment towards transitioning, claiming that parents who do so are 'wrong' during an interview with The Sunday Times.

The actor has said that when he was a child he wanted to be a girl, and whilst growing up dressed in female clothing often.  'I really wanted to be a girl.  Thank God the world of now wasn't then, because I'd be on hormones and I'd be a woman.  After I was 15 I never wanted to be a woman again'.  

Projecting his single cisgender viewpoint onto the entire transgender and gender variant community he has said that it is wrong for parents of transgender children to 'get medical'.  

'It's nice to be allowed to express yourself,' he said, 'but the hormone thing, very young, is a big step.  I think a lot of children have an ambivalence when they're very young to what sex they are or what they feel about everyone.  And there should be a way of embracing it'.

Everett also went on to say that he went on to suggest that Caitlyn Jenner had made a mistake in her decision to transition, claiming that she has 'no clue what being a trassexual involved' as well as saying 'I don't think she's a woman.  She's a cross-dressing man'.

In the past Everett has 'advised' LGBT+ actors to keep their sexual orientation a secret in order to help their careers, as well as saying he couldn't imagine 'anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads'.

Whilst I'm sure as a cisgender man who has never had to experience being trans his viewpoint is a valid one on this topic (actually, it's not!) it's worth noting that dozens of experts on transgender youth have repeatedly stated that not allowing trans children to receive help is massively harmful to their physical and emotional well being.  

In some extreme cases where parents refuse to help their transgender children lives have been lost to suicide, most famously in recent memory with Leelah Alcorn, whose parents refusal to help her led to her taking her own life.

The comments being made by Rupert Everett are not only massively misinformed and based on no physical evidence or studies at all but purely his own experience as a cisgender person, but lead to an environment where it becomes harder and harder for vulnerable transgender children to receive the help they desperately need.


Amy.
xx

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Sunday, 19 June 2016

Florida State Attorney Suspended For Anti-Orlando Rant



Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis has been suspended from his position following an anti-Orlando rant posted to his social media feed less than 24 hours after the Pulse massacre that claimed 49 lives just a week ago today.

Lewis posted to his Facebook page, 'Downtown Orlando has no bottom.  The entire city should be levelled.  It is void of a single redeeming quality.

'It is a melting pot of 3rd world miscreants and ghetto thugs.  It is void of culture.  If you live down there you do it at your own risk and your own peril.  If you go down there after dark there is something seriously wrong with you.  Disney does everything that it can to shield visitors of Disney from its northern blight.

'That does not change reality.  Disney may be the happiest place on earth but Orlando is a national embarrassment.  If this is an act of domestic terrorism it is so important that we do not publish the religion, name , or motive of the terrorist as not to offend anyone.'

In a second post Lewis wrote, 'All Orlando night clubs should be permanently closed.  Without or without gunmen they are zoo's, utter cesspools of debauchery.'

The announcement of his suspension came on Friday 17th June, along with the following statement;

'Kenneth Lewis, an Assistant State Attorney in the Office of State Attorney Ninth Judicial Circuit, was suspended today pending further review.  Mr Lewis violated the SA09 social media policy.  The social media policy was adopted and implemented on February 2015, as part of SA09's code of conduct.  Every employee is required to sign the policy.  Failure to comply can result in discipline up to and including termination.'

It is currently unclear if Mr Lewis will be facing termination at this point, though it is not the first time he has been found in breach of the social media policy, having previously been reassigned after writing a post about 'crack hoes'.



Amy.
xx

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Wednesday, 15 June 2016

British Protesters Call For Trans Bathroom Ban



As a parliamentary equalities conference gathered today to discuss trans issues protesters gathered outside, carrying signs calling for a ban on transgender women using public bathrooms in a similar manner to many of the anti-trans protests taking place in America.

The meeting today at the Westminster Social Policy Forum building in London was hosted by Labour MP Ruth Cadbury and Lib Dem peer Baroness Barker and came together to discuss 'how transgender equality issues are dealt with by Whitehall departments and agencies, as well as how they are treated by schools, the NHS and the criminal justice system'.  The meeting was also designed to discuss 'steps for achieving transgender equality, and how legislation - including the Gender Recognition Act, the Equality Act 2010 and the Marriage Act - is working for trans people'.

Despite this meeting being called to try to establish how the UK can be made safer and fairer for transgender people, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the building.

The protesters carried signs that read 'No trans in women's toilets', 'no trans in women's changing rooms', 'you cannot change your biological sex, fact!' and 'lesbian rights are women's rights.  We are not trans'.

Whilst those involved have said that the event went well, and that they discussed many issues that may affect trans and non binary people the fact that some people chose to try to disrupt the event with hateful anti-trans rhetoric highlights the fact that whilst the UK seems to be further ahead in the fight for trans rights than other countries there is still a great deal of hatred towards the trans community.  Something that most trans people are fully aware of.



Amy.
xx

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