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Tag: transphobia

  • Taylor Swift Fans Hit Back At MIND-BOGGLINGLY Bad Faith The Life Of A Showgirl Takes! – Perez Hilton

    It has been A WEEK!

    Just seven days after the midnight release of Taylor Swift‘s twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl has inexplicably become her most controversial. But are the lyrics really that offensive? Or is it the listeners who got… weird?

    Look, we’re not talking about the intentional spicy lines, like Actually Romantic seemingly igniting a feud with Charli XCX, letting everyone know she might have her more controversial friends’ backs on CANCELLED!, or getting dirtier than she’s ever gotten singing about Travis Kelce‘s Wood. All that we expected. No, these are takes we could never have anticipated because, well… frankly they’re such leaps in logic they defy reason!

    Tradwife Propaganda

    Listeners are interpreting her desire to get married and have children as… conservative tradwife propaganda. Um… WHAT?!?

    Y’all. The patriarchal tradwife thing is not about wanting a husband and kids. It’s actually the opposite! That’s about women being forced into the position of being a full-time wife and baby factory — because they’re seen as the property of men. Taylor saying she wants that stuff for herself is making a choice.

    Related: Taylor ‘Braced’ For ‘Drama’ As She Picks Bridesmaids For Travis Kelce Wedding!

    As this fan succinctly explains:

    “The whole point of feminism is that we want women to do whatever they want to do.”

    @mariaisalright

    genuinely the craziest take I’ve heard, go touch grass. #lifeofashowgirl #motherhood #marriage

    ♬ original sound – mariagabriela

    Taylor isn’t being anti-feminist here. She’s just telling everyone what she wants. Which we should all be fine with. LOVE IS LOVE, remember that? It works the other way, too!

    Also, let’s not forget, even if Tay retired right now she’d remain one of the most successful humans in their chosen field OF ALL TIME. That’s not what a tradwife is. Tradwives are basically teenagers drafted into marriage like chattel. Taylor looks great, but let’s not forget she’s 35 years old! And richer than her husband-to-be by A LOT. This ain’t that.

    Oh, and Tay herself said she’s NOT retiring just because she got married. And in fact she finds that assumption “shockingly offensive” by the way.

    Also from WI$H LI$T? Some “fans” somehow pulled the idea Taylor wants to propagate the white race like she’s Elon Musk. Why? Because she sang about wanting to:

    “Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you”

    See, Trav is a white man, so she clearly is saying she only wants everyone on the block to be white. And voila, the song about not being into modern materialistic desires is actually… promoting eugenics.

    Yeah. It’s all too real.

    You can see a lot more about that theory and the Swifties blasting it HERE. (Oh, and also take a listen to Kylie Kelce hilariously explaining why that’s much funnier if you know the Kelces and their frustratingly dominant genes.)

    Also, here’s a response we really love from Saints tight end Juwan Johnson and his wife Chanen…

    @juandchan

    And nothing like me???????? #juandchan

    ♬ original sound – songlyricss87

    So. Cute. Too bad Juwan is clearly a white supremacist, right? Y’all see how ridiculous you sound now??

    Homophobia

    In her track Actually Romantic, Tay takes a new tactic on the diss track. She likens someone’s nonstop, compulsive hatred of her to, well… a romantic obsession. She’s basically saying that Charli XCX — or whoever it’s about, more than one person in all likelihood — talking about her all the time doesn’t feel dangerous, it’s harmless. It’s even flattering, like a crush.

    But there’s a contingent who are just champing at the bit to call out Taylor for being homophobic, so they say it’s gay panic. They figure since she’s a woman and Charli is a woman, she’s basically calling someone gay as an insult…

    Forget the fact Taylor loves the LGBTQ community, was the first pop star to cast a trans actor as a love interest in a music video, and has been vocal politically mostly about this topic.

    She doesn’t speak about politics much, but she did tweet in 2021 that she had her “Fingers crossed and praying that the Senate will see trans and lgbtq rights as basic human rights.” In 2018, she also spoke out against the anti-LGBT legislation of Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, saying:

    “I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love.”

    You can listen to what she’s explicitly saying about the matter… or you can infer that she secretly means whatever makes her look the worst. One of those choices respects her and gives her agency.

    Racism & Misogynoir

    Oof, OK, this is a big one.

    There’s a theory that Taylor is not only racist but specifically obsessed with Black women — as it relates to the men she dates. Travis Kelce’s most recent longterm relationship before her was with a woman named Kayla Nicole — and critics are pairing that with some lyrics and doing a hop, skip, and a jump to… misogynoir, the hatred of Black women.

    (c) MEGA/WENN/Kayla Nicole/Instagram

    The pop delight Opalite is pretty clearly about Tay’s new romance with Trav. She sings about why this is relationship feels so right in comparison with past ones. That means, yes, a bit of a swipe at Kayla. Tay sings:

    “You couldn’t understand it / Why you felt alone / You were in it for real / She was in her phone / And you were just a pose”

    Folks have taken this to be about Kayla not just because she was Trav’s most recent ex but also because of resurfaced video of the NFL star and his then-WAG living this exact scenario.

    That’s nothing wrong with a songwriter singing about their own relationship, and this is all personal stuff. We just know it because Taylor is the most scrutinized woman alive! But again, nothing about race at all.

    However, at the same time, the whole song uses the metaphor of opalite, a bright, glittery man-made gemstone, to represent happiness, while the black mineral onyx is used to represent difficult times. People are interpreting this to say dating Black women was what made Trav upset, now he’s with her and all is white in the world. It is SUCH a stretch.

    Darkness, night, stormy weather, all classic representations of sadness — ones which Tay also uses in the song. And sunshine and light represent safety, rescue, and hope. Why? Well, they pretty much always have throughout human history. Probably something to do with early man getting lost to predators and accidents in the scary dark, and being safer when it was brighter and everyone could see? In any case, it’s like all of culture, thousands of poems, songs, plays, films…

    But when Taylor does it it’s a sign she’s been secretly racist all this time?? Come on, now! Really??

    We’ll let some folks explain who have a little more expertise…

    @brookeg28

    Breaking news: words mean things. #taylorswift #swifttok #tloas #swiftie

    ♬ original sound – Brooke Giles

    But seriously, Taylor has ALWAYS, quite consistently been against racism. She had the courage to blast the President of the United States for “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism.” And she’s been reaping his wrath ever since.

    And when white nationalists tried to embrace her as an “Aryan goddess” in 2019, she did what Trump was never willing to do when they embraced him — she very clearly and explicitly denounced them, telling The Guardian:

    “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.”

    You can listen to what she says when she’s not being poetic, making her feelings on the matter clear! Or… You can listen to a song about finding happiness, in which she sings:

    “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite”

    And assume her secret intention is to take down Black women. Sigh.

    Not Political Enough??

    In addition to those who think the whole album is a MAGA dog whistle, there are others complaining about Taylor not getting political. For real! We’ve seen tons of posts where people are saying Tay isn’t speaking to the political moment.

    And this isn’t just TikTokers either, we’ve seen actual music critics write whole think pieces about this!

    We mean, at least it’s accurate? This album isn’t political. But Tay has never really made political music. It’s mostly been about her relationships, her feelings, what it’s like for a girl going through big life moments… It’s all really personal stuff. Interpretations of politics just aren’t her thing.

    There are plenty of folk and classic rock and punk bands to go to for that sort of thing. Like, if Green Day put out Dookie II right now? And completely ignored the rise of fascism? After American Idiot? We could see their fans being pretty disappointed in them. But this feels like ordering pizza and complaining there isn’t enough standup comedy on it.

    It’s OK to make something fun and cheerful if that’s your gift! And we’ll let this Swiftie give everyone an excellent explanation WHY!

    The WILDEST Takes

    Stuff gets crazier. The worst faith takes are actually saying Tay’s album is somehow celebrating the genocide in Gaza… Or that Taylor comparing a hater to “a toy Chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse” is racist against… can you guess? Asians! Yes, because apparently Chihuahua is a “slur to Asian or half Asian people” — ignoring the context that it’s a well-known dog breed, and she’s explicitly using the term in the context of the dog breed.

    But one of the most insulting? We’ve seen multiple hot takes from critics saying Taylor was about to become transphobic. Not that she’s currently transphobic, not that there’s any evidence of that at all. No, they’re going full Minority Report and saying they just feel in their gut that she’s going to go full JK Rowling any second.

    What’s the most epically far-reaching take YOU’VE seen about The Life of a Showgirl??

    [Image via Taylor Swift/Charli XCX/YouTube/Travis Kelce/Kayla Nicole/Instagram.]

    Perez Hilton

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  • Charlie Hunnam Is Going Psycho in Monster Season 3

    Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are returning to the true-crime well. After courting controversy with their takes on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, the pair are digging up one of the first true-crime sensations in America: Ed Gein. And would you believe there’s already a long history of problematic adaptations of the grim material? Below, the teaser trailer, release date, and everything else we know about Monster season three starring Charlie Hunnam, coming to Netflix on October 3.

    The third season of Monster will cover one of the most dramatized serial killers in history: Ed Gein. Gein is perhaps more famous for his DIY projects than for murder. He killed at least two people and was suspected of killing seven more. Police discovered several mutilated corpses in his house when he was arrested. “You’re the one who can’t look away,” Hunnam’s Gein ends the trailer dancing in a full skin suit and mask.

    In real life, Gein upholstered chairs and a trash can with human skin and made bowls out of skulls. He also made a corset out of a woman’s torso and a belt out of women’s nipples. “You’re working too fast!” his mother, played by Laurie Metcalf, yells into the dark work room where a bald Hunnam hammers away at a human face. “Just go slow and steady. Take your time, sweet boy.”

    The corset Gein made seemed to stick in certain authors’ minds, as the case has been fictionalized and used to demonize the trans community multiple times. Robert Bloch turned Gein into the crossdressing and mommy-obsessed Norman Bates in the original Psycho novel. Thomas Harris drew from Gein to create sewist serial killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Gein was also a reference point for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, House of 1000 Corpses, and even AHS: Asylum’s Bloody Face.

    Tom Hollander and Suzanna Son will star. This is also Metcalf’s second time she’s playing the mom of a serial killer.

    Monster: The Ed Gein Story comes to Netflix at the start of spooky season, dropping on October 3.

    Bethy Squires

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  • Moms For Liberty Goes All In On Transphobia

    Moms For Liberty Goes All In On Transphobia

    WASHINGTON ― Hundreds of mostly white women gathered at a swanky downtown hotel to hear prominent conservative speakers and strategize with other moms about how to spread their message across the country.

    Decked out in everything from stylish pantsuits, light-up American-flag jackets and, obviously, Donald Trump swag, the crowd at the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit cheered and hollered as speaker after speaker spewed hate about transgender people ― all under the guise of protecting children.

    Moms for Liberty, a far-right group that largely focuses on getting conservative parents elected to school boards, grew out of the pushback against pandemic school closures and masking requirements. It has since morphed into a so-called parental rights organization that rails against racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights, and takes up such causes as pushing schools to remove books that don’t embody the group’s conservative values.

    At the 2024 summit this week, the focus was on fearmongering about trans kids and criticizing school employees who support them.

    “There’s no such thing as a transgender child,” Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, told HuffPost in an interview.

    Her position is a common one among conservatives, who have taken to attacking trans rights around the country ― even as less than 1% of the U.S. population identifies as trans. The right wing has attacked gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” though the American Pediatrics Association says such care can be lifesaving by reducing the risk of suicidal ideation.

    Seth Dillon, CEO of the conservative satire website Babylon Bee, talked about “gender madness” when he addressed the crowd. Actor Rob Schneider, who had a prime-time speaking slot on Thursday night, claimed that children were getting “mutilated.” Texas state Rep. Shawn Thierry, who lost her primary this spring, announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party in part because of members’ views on transgender youth. Maud Maron, a former New York City community education council member who was removed from her post for sending anti-transgender text messages, claimed men were playing in women’s sports.

    “I think the federal government pushing child abuse really concerns American parents,” Justice said when asked why there was so much focus on trans issues at the summit.

    “Cutting off the healthy body parts of children is pretty extreme, right?” she said. “We’re cutting off the healthy body parts of girls.” She was referring to gender-affirming surgeries such as mastectomies, which are very rarely performed on minors.

    Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice, shown here at a 2023 Republican event in Florida, said this week, “There’s no such thing as a transgender child.”

    Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

    At a panel on writing laws that protect parental rights, the session was laser-focused on transgender children. The speakers addressed the audience about how, through legislation, they can put a stop to “secret social transitions,” or schools transitioning children without telling their parents.

    “We’re getting calls from parents saying this is happening at our school,” claimed Matt Sharp, senior counselor at Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing legal group. (It is not uncommon for transgender children to be out at school but not at home if they don’t feel safe telling their parents.)

    And although many states have parental rights laws, which say parents have the fundamental right to raise their children the way they see fit, the panelists argued that most of them are too vague or don’t go far enough. “We need a legal remedy,” Sharp said.

    The panelists from Alliance Defending Freedom told attendees they should push their legislators to submit bills that would uphold parental rights and make it illegal for schools to affirm a child’s gender transition without parental consent — and that would allow parents whose rights were violated to sue schools and other government employees.

    Later, at a panel that was expressly about “secret social transitions,” two mothers talked about finding out that their children’s schools were letting them transition without notifying their parents. In both cases, however, their children actually told them that they were planning to transition.

    Tammy Fournier, a mother in Wisconsin, said that in May 2020 her daughter Autumn, who sat next to her on stage, told her parents that she believed she was transgender after confiding in a friend who then told a teacher’s aide. Fournier claims that the teacher’s aide told Autumn she could go to the office and change her pronouns, but the child declined and said she wanted to speak with her parents.

    Autumn didn’t return to that school. Fournier sued the school, saying it had violated her parental rights. In October 2023, a Wisconsin judge ruled that the school could not use a child’s preferred name or pronouns without parental consent.

    January Littlejohn, a Florida mom, had a similar story. She said her daughter wanted to transition after some of her friends did. The school held a meeting with the child, Littlejohn said, but refused to tell her the details of the meeting.

    Littlejohn had a warning to the parents in the room. “Parents of young children and grandparents, you need to be actively inoculating your children against this,” she said, claiming that “the faucet of gender ideology is free flowing” on social media.

    She also railed against allyship, claiming that children were being “indoctrinated” into being allies.

    “If you see buzzwords like ‘inclusivity’ and ‘safe and welcoming,’ that means gender ideology is alive and well in that school,” she warned.

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  • An Online Rant Against A Trans Counselor At The Space & Rocket Center Is All It Took To Unleash The Wolves

    An Online Rant Against A Trans Counselor At The Space & Rocket Center Is All It Took To Unleash The Wolves

    For LGBTQ+ employees at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, what used to be a haven now feels like a nightmare — and it only took one fearmongering rallying cry from a parent.

    In a Facebook post from March 9, Clay Yarbrough, the father of a child enrolled at Space Camp, urged parents to pull their children from the program and started a smear campaign against a camp counselor named Molly Bowman.

    Why? Because she’s trans.

    As a bisexual woman who has struggled with her identity for years, I’m pretty tired of rhetoric that not only makes queer people question our own worth, but frequently makes us, especially members of the trans community, feel unsafe. As I watched all of this play out in the news, I knew I had to get the story from those who hadn’t yet been included in the conversation.

    Though the post included no evidence or credible allegations of wrongdoing on Bowman’s part, the crux of Yarbrough’s argument hinged on the idea that Bowman could do something wrong — a possibility that, of course, isn’t exclusive to the LGBTQ+ community.

    Yarbrough misgendered and used slurs against Bowman online, his post amassing comments that made unfounded accusations that she and the rest of the LGBTQ+ counselors had behaved inappropriately. The group dissected Bowman’s personal social media pages, and even her Amazon wish list, in their attempts to pull something from nothing.

    Yarbrough’s post blew up with over 6,000 shares, garnering the attention of right-wing groups and politicians. Moms For Liberty Alabama tweeted Yarbrough’s Facebook post with the comment: “Do not send your children to Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. The entire program has gone woke! Girls as young as 7 attend Space Camp and this is what they are exposed to! Protect your kids!!!!”

    Given that the age range for the camp begins at 9, the group was already off to a rocky start.

    Meanwhile, the right-wing account Libs of TikTok misgendered Bowman and repeated the baseless claim that Bowman “went into the girl’s showers while they were changing.”

    Bowman’s supporters began researching Yarbrough. Commenters on his Facebook post raised questions about Yarbrough’s own alleged criminal past, which he dismissed on March 11 as irrelevant. After the backlash, Yarbrough wrote on Facebook: “Oh and because I have a mug shot on the internet and have been arrested before then I am a axe murdered with 12 criminal records, in a place I haven’t been since I was 23, IM ALSO ARMED AND DANGEROUS.”

    He also posted a comment that read: “The crap is hitting the fan and I just spoiled the devils plans to hurt some kids!!! Major change is coming and the GOD I worship is still in charge and still more powerful than anything they can throw at me!!”

    The Facebook conversation caused so many ripples that local conservative officials quickly weighed in.

    “I call on the Center to immediately remove this individual and open a safety review to consider the potential harm and damages they have inadvertently caused children,” Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.) wrote in a statement.

    Rep. Gary Palmer, another Alabama Republican, posted a similar sentiment on March 11, writing on social media: “The situation currently unfolding at @SpaceCampUSA is unacceptable. When parents send their kids to Space Camp in Alabama, they should be confident they are going to a safe, educational environment.”

    The Space & Rocket Center said in a statement that the organization conducts extensive background checks on prospective employees, so Bowman wouldn’t have landed the job to begin with if she had a criminal record. The space center said in the statement that she has not been reported for misconduct.

    On March 20, Alabama state Rep. Mark Gidley (R) attempted to amend House Bill 130, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in public school classrooms through grade 12. (Under current law, discussion of those topics is only forbidden through fifth grade.) The amendment, which would have specified that Space Camp is subject to those same rules, died in committee, and HB 130 was likewise killed in mid-May.

    On March 15, Rocket Center CEO Kimberly Robinson sent an internal memo to staff, which an employee shared with me. The memo described how employees had been harassed and how “people on our staff have also received threats over email and phone.”

    Patricia Ammons, senior director of public and media relations at the Center, told me over email that Robinson “wanted to send a message expressing her care and concern for our employees’ safety and well-being.”

    Following an investigation, the Rocket Center said in a March 29 public statement that “there is no evidence of inappropriate behavior or malfeasance between any Space Camp staff and student campers.” The statement said the Rocket Center provides private areas for campers to change, shower and use the restroom, and no staffers had been in those areas.

    Four Rocket Center employees told me that the center fostered an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees, but that it has soured somewhat since the incidents of harassment.

    “It seemed like a very queer-positive place, especially for Alabama,” said one. “My department has a ton of LGBTQ+ people in it and most of us feel a bit hung out to dry by higher-ups.”

    Another employee said they’d feel better if the center made a “definitive statement” against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, instead of the “HR bullshit we always get at jobs.”

    When asked about its support for LGBTQ+ workers, a Rocket Center representative said: “Space Camp is and will remain an equal-opportunity employer adhering to all state and federal laws regulating hiring practices. We are an apolitical organization with no social agenda. Our singular mission is to inspire and educate.”

    The Rocket Center conducted an internal investigation and a review of on-campus footage, and concluded that Bowman had done nothing wrong. But she was still transferred to a new department — something that the first employee claims amounted to “punish[ing] a trans employee for online weirdos being mad she’s trans.”

    As these trolls have gotten more boisterous and bold, Bowman and her peers have grown concerned for their physical safety.

    “As LGBTQ+ folks, we are just trying to do a job that we are underpaid for,” an employee told me. “We’re not indoctrinating your kids or being inappropriate.”

    Recently, there have been “many comments from guests regarding our looks and religion,” another said. “It’s a mix of hate and love, but more hate lately.”

    “Many [employees] have left because they are scared for their lives, regardless if they are trans or not,” this employee said. “I would feel safer with metal detectors. It’s reasonable for a place that is part of the [NASA] arsenal and that has kids to have metal detectors.”

    When I asked what safety precautions the center has taken to protect employees and keep them in the loop about any developing safety issues, a representative told me: “We take the safety of our campers, visitors, and staff extremely seriously. As reported [in the center’s post-investigation statement], we worked with the Huntsville Police Department to increase patrols through our campus and engaged a private security firm in the days and weeks following the social media post with accusations against an employee.”

    The employees told me they hadn’t seen much change, beyond noticing police cars on patrol every so often.

    The most concerning safety risk, multiple employees told me, was when someone shot a BB gun at the windshield of an employee’s car toward the end of March. The queer employees said the incident spurred fear for themselves and the kids who visit the center — the very children whom all these agitated conservatives are ostensibly trying to protect.

    The Huntsville Police Department would neither confirm nor deny that a police report was filed, citing confidentiality restrictions. The Rocket Center said it couldn’t confirm that an employee’s car had been shot at. One of my sources speculated that the center’s leadership is worried about losing funding, and is therefore opting not to confirm any specific threats or violence.

    The employees I spoke to don’t feel like management is showing up for them when they feel particularly vulnerable. One employee told me that a recent policy change prohibits employees from wearing any pins other than those provided by NASA. Many of the non-NASA pins that employees wore were Pride- and pronoun-related.

    “Regarding pins staffers may wear, it has been a long-standing policy that pins and other embellishments focus on and don’t distract from our mission,” a Rocket Center representative said. According to the workers I talked to, their pins weren’t previously policed.

    All in all, I believe that the center missed an opportunity to really stand up for Bowman and queer employees as a whole. Staff there are limited in what they’re allowed to say, and the political pressure brought against them has been significant. Still, the higher-ups have a duty to protect all employees, especially given the widely held attitudes about queer people in the state of Alabama.

    “Shame on the transphobic politicians that want to kick out the LGBTQ+ [employees],” one employee I spoke to said. In my opinion, calling for someone’s termination without any facts to back up that action is irresponsible at best and blatant discrimination at worst.

    If the politicians who are so up in arms about a trans person working at the Space & Rocket Center want to protect children ― as they claim ― then they need to protect all children. Keep religion-based ideology out of the classroom and out of integral programs like Space Camp. Allow for safe spaces for queer kids to feel seen and worthy of education and love. The separation of church and state exists for a reason, and dismantling that freedom is inherently un-American. It’s about time that political leaders in this country stop weaponizing religion to justify agendas based on personal bigotry.

    If one person’s hateful comments hadn’t snowballed, and politicians and hate groups hadn’t bullied Bowman, maybe she wouldn’t now feel like she needs to pack up and leave her state — along with her job, friends and family — to feel safe. But that’s what she feels she has to do.

    “Due to recent events and media coverage I no longer feel safe living in Alabama,” she wrote in a note on a GoFundMe drive. “This move is not just a change of scenery; it’s a crucial step towards rebuilding my life and securing a stable future.”

    Queer people should be allowed to live, work and thrive in every single state. What will it take to get us there?

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  • Gov. Greg Abbott Says Texas Education Agency Will Ignore Title IX Revisions

    Gov. Greg Abbott Says Texas Education Agency Will Ignore Title IX Revisions

    Dear HuffPost Reader

    Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

    The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

    Dear HuffPost Reader

    Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

    The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

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  • Peoria teacher says school district targeted them for being transgender

    Peoria teacher says school district targeted them for being transgender

    A Peoria schoolteacher’s email to fellow staff about supporting transgender students led to a campaign of harassment and discrimination against the teacher, according to a new lawsuit. River Chunnui is a trans and nonbinary special education teacher at Desert Harbor Elementary School…

    TJ L’Heureux

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  • AOC Calls Out Trans Sports Bans That Promote Predatory 'Genital Examinations'

    AOC Calls Out Trans Sports Bans That Promote Predatory 'Genital Examinations'

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tore into Republican lawmakers during a congressional hearing regarding bans on transgender athletes in sports. AOC acknowledged the proposed sports bans as being discriminatory and transphobic, which they undoubtedly are. Then she went on to unpack the horrifying ramifications of these kinds of bills, which affect not only trans athletes but cisgender ones as well.

    “I think about this all the time because trans people in the United States doesn’t even exceed one percent of our population and yet, there are so many resources, energy, and time dedicated to figuring out how we can more finely exclude them from our sports.” AOC continued, “I started to realize that a lot of these proposals here involve invasions of privacy of all women.”

    AOC then asked Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, what “sex testing” entails. The answer is horrifying. Goss Graves said, “In some states, it requires actual genital verification, which is shocking.”

    If you’re appalled by the above statement, you’re not alone. Ocasio-Cortez responded, “In Ohio, there was a proposed ban on trans athletes that originally allowed for genital examinations on minors in order to quote-unquote protect women.” She added, “And so we’re seeing here, in this guise, under this guise, of not only trying to further marginalize trans women and girls, we’re opening up all women and girls to genital examinations when they are underage.”

    She added, “Per usual, I don’t believe we’re sitting here in a panel of men that has actually thought about the biology and privacy consequences of all women, trans or cisgender, here.” AOC then discussed the groups more likely to face this kind of horrific discrimination, namely Black women and girls. Goss Graves noted, “We have seen examples of Black women who are even professional athletes whose bodies have been more examined and demonized.”

    We have, of course, seen Black women athletes and their bodies scrutinized, such as South African Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya. Even international athletic superstars like Simone Biles and Serena Williams have been subject to intense criticism and discrimination.

    You know, for a political party that accuses everyone else of grooming, Republicans are awfully desperate to inspect childrens’ genitals.

    (featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

    Chelsea Steiner

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  • 1 Of America’s Largest LGBTQ+ Youth Orgs Is Leaving Twitter

    1 Of America’s Largest LGBTQ+ Youth Orgs Is Leaving Twitter

    One of the largest mental health organizations serving LGBTQ+ youth is leaving X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter.

    The Trevor Project announced Thursday that the nonprofit is closing its account on X, citing “increasing hate and vitriol… targeting the LGBTQ community.”

    “LGBTQ young people are regularly victimized at the expense of their mental health, and X’s removal of certain moderation functions makes it more difficult for us to create a welcoming space for them on this platform,” the nonprofit said in a statement on the platform.

    The Trevor Project noted that it will maintain a presence on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn.

    Over the past two decades, the Trevor Project has provided a 24-hour crisis line and a social network for LGBTQ+ people between the ages of 13 and 24.

    Stakes are “just too high” for the group to continue its relationship with X, a spokesperson for the organization told HuffPost. The spokesperson noted that 41% of LGBTQ+ young people have seriously considered suicide, and that the figures are even higher for trans and nonbinary youth, as well as youth of color.

    “The content we share on social media is intended to uplift and affirm LGBTQ young people, shedding light on stories to deepen public understanding of their experiences,” the spokesperson wrote. “In response to mental health resources and messages of hope and support, we’ve seen anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and commentary on our posts that can negatively impact LGBTQ young people.”

    Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought the social media company, at the time known as Twitter, and claimed the platform would prioritize “free speech.” He has since received heavy criticism from watchdog groups for failing to moderate hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community, as well as racist, antisemitic and other “extreme hate speech,” according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

    The platform has become a haven for accounts promoting hateful content and false information about queer and trans communities. In April, Musk quietly removed parts of X’s hateful conduct policy that protected users against misgendering or deadnaming. The billionaire has also promoted “What is a Woman?” ― a documentary by Daily Wire contributor Matt Walsh that attempts to cast doubt on the existence of trans people.

    More recently, the conservative advocacy group Prager University Foundation spent $1 million on a day-long takeover of X to promote its film “Detrans: The Dangers of Gender Affirming Care,” which has been criticized as a misleading treatment of the subject (and which Ian Kumamoto, writing for HuffPost’s opinion section, called “pure anti-trans propaganda”).

    The Trevor Project said that the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ+ content on X, as well as the rise of legislation targeting queer and trans youths’ access to gender-affirming health care and participation in school activities, has made the platform an unwelcoming environment for LGBTQ+ young people. Statehouses across the country have introduced a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, prompting the Human Right Campaign to declare a “state of emergency” for the LGBTQ+ community this summer.

    The Trevor Project is one of dozens of organizations, including multiple groups focused on the LGBTQ+ community, that have left the platform under Musk’s leadership.

    This past spring, 29 LGBTQ+ community centers across the country deactivated their X accounts, calling on the social media network to do more to protect its users from hate speech.

    “Twitter has become increasingly unsafe in recent months for LGBTQ and BIPOC people with anti-LGBTQ, anti-trans, anti-Black and anti-semitic tweets on the rise,” Denise Spivak, the CEO of CenterLink, an international nonprofit network of hundreds of LGBTQ+ organizations, told Mashable at the time.

    If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

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  • In Florida, More Than 300 Books Have Been Removed From School Shelves

    In Florida, More Than 300 Books Have Been Removed From School Shelves

    Last month, the Florida Department of Education revealed that more than 300 books had been removed from public school shelves in the state during the 2022-2023 school year.

    Under the pretense of keeping kids safe and preserving “parental rights,” Florida officials and conservative activists have spread misinformation about teachers and school libraries, claiming that any and all books that deal with gender or sexuality are inappropriate or pornographic.

    Fueled by a surge in conservative culture wars and a package of education laws targeting instruction on gender and sexuality, there have been a deluge of book challenges from parents and residents in Florida.

    The list of books no longer available to Florida students, which according to NBC News was quietly released late last month, is broken down by county, and tallies the number of book challenges as well as the books that were ultimately removed.

    The vast majority of books are concentrated in Clay County, in the northeastern part of the state, where 177 titles were removed. There, infamous right-wing activist Bruce Freidman has led the charge in getting books pulled from the shelves.

    Behind Clay was Martin County, in southeastern Florida, which had 98 books removed.

    Within the list of hundreds of books declared no longer acceptable, there are some familiar targets, such as “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson, a guidebook for young LGBTQ+ people, and “Gender Queer,” a memoir by Maia Kobabe. These have been under fire for years from conservative groups waging a campaign against the LGBTQ+ community and smearing them as child abusers and predators.

    But there were some unexpected bans as well. “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” by Ari Folman, was removed from a high school in Indian River County after a parent complained about the book’s sexual content.

    In Wakulla County, the only book removed was “Little Rock Nine” by Marshall Poe. Poe’s novel is about two boys, one Black and one white, who are best friends in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 ― the year the city was forced to desegregate its schools and President Dwight Eisenhower sent in federal troops to do so.

    Though the novel depicts an event of monumental significance in American history, a parent complained to her child’s elementary school because the book has profanity in it.

    These types of parents are actually rare. Polling has shown that parents are largely against banning books. But the challenges keep coming, and Florida shows no signs of slowing down.

    Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis ― who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination on a platform to “Make America Florida” ― signed into law HB 1069, a measure that restricts sexual and health education in the classroom and expands book ban policies even further. The law is in effect for this school year.

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