12/30/21

Amy Schneider wins $706,000 Becoming all time Female Jeopardy! Winner

Amy Schneider / People Magazine

Transgender woman Amy Schneider made history on the popular daytime game show “Jeopardy!” that aired on Wednesday, winning for the 21st time and breaking the record for most wins by a woman.

In Tuesday's episode, Today reports she tied the 2014 record set by Julia Collins.

Dawn Ennis interviews Amy Schneider for the Daily Beast and asks her about being a trans person in such a high profile situation.

“I really want to praise everybody on Jeopardy!” Schneider said. “Until I brought it up, they never mentioned or referred to me being trans. And had I not brought it up, it was clear that they wouldn’t. And it would never have been commented on if I didn’t want it to be. I really appreciated that about them. I never had one even mildly uncomfortable moment around that with anyone on the Jeopardy! staff, and that was really, really great.”

So why out herself at all?

“One of the motivations was, I don’t want people wondering, and I don’t want people getting weird about it,” explained Schneider. “I also didn’t want to give the impression that it was a secret, and that it was something I wanted to conceal or that I was ashamed of, in any way, or anything like that. So, I didn’t want to be, you know, ‘the trans person,’ but I also didn’t want pretend like that wasn’t true or it didn’t matter.”

The former title holder Larissa Kelly congradulated Amy on her win, "Well, it was fun to hold a Jeopardy record for a few years...but it's been even more fun to watch @Jeopardamy set new standards for excellence, on the show and off. Congratulations to Amy on becoming the woman with the highest overall earnings in the show's history!"

12/28/21

Indy Trans woman shot Christmas weekend dies next day

Ke’Yahonna Stone
Ke’Yahonna Stone

Black Trans woman, Ke’Yahonna Stone, 32,  was shot while attempting to break up a fight in front of a nightclub in Indianapolis, IN,. on 12/26/2021 at about 3 AM. Police responding to a call said that Stone was taken to a local hospital at 5:30am and put on life support.

Friends and family say she was out at the northeast-side nightclub Epic Ultra Lounge in the Castle Run Shopping Center for a night of fun when she tried to intervene in some kind of fight. That’s when someone started shooting, and she got hit according to Wish TV.

Ke’Yahonna Stone died on December 28 according to posts on social media made by family and friends.


Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Michael Wright by calling detective Michael Wright by calling the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or sending an email to Michael.Wright@Indy.Gov

Rest In Peace Ke’Yahonna Stone

12/26/21

Special Coverage: India's First National Transgender Awards 2021

On December 15, New Delhi hosted the First National Award for Transgender people, families and alles. The awards aim to build a more inclusive society where Transgender people find equal opportunities and are not discriminated against.

The awards honoured those who have been fighting for the rights of the Transgender community. NDTV spoke to some of the changemakers from the community and others who have been working for the betterment of the community in different capacities. Here's a special coverage.

 


12/24/21

Man arrested in connection with the 2019 murder of Bee Love Slater

Bee Love Slater (L) Marcus Lynell Thompson (R)

The Hendry County Sheriff's Office arrested Marcus Lynell Thompson in connection with the death of Transgender woman Bee Love Slater.

Investigators found the 23-year-old's body in a burned out vehicle on Sept. 4, 2019.

The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office said Marcus Lynell Thompson, 35, is charged with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and arson in the killing of 23-year-old Bee Love Slater.

Detectives did not reveal more details or the motive of the killing at a press conference but said they were confident they were going to solve the murder and there would be more arrests. It is not yet clear if Thompson knew Slater.

Sheriff Steve Whidden made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.

12/23/21

Transgender woman stabbed to death in São Luís, Brazil.

Transgender woman Lara Vinny, was stabbed to death last Saturday (18), in São Luís, Brazil. According to the police, she was killed near the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), in the Itaqui-Bacanga area.

Lara was found half-naked and with the murder weapon, a knife, still in her neck

On Twitter, [trans woman] @pepê_poetamarginal wrote about her friend's murder: “They killed my sister Lara viny in front of Ufma. Even when we are in prostitution, as it is the only way to survive for some, they kill us. I always took her down to the dancefloor. Several times we woke up on the ring road, taking care of each other. I love you black. Crying a lot”.

The [trans woman] also complained about the fact that Lara Vinny is being buried in men's attire.

“Damn, the cruel death that viny had is no longer enough, the family is covering her body with men's clothes, we are not respected at any time, not even in life and much less after death”, wrote @pepê_poetamarginal.

According to police information, Lara Vinny was seen arguing with a man who allegedly fled the scene on a motorcycle after the murder. Police officers launched an investigation to try to identify and arrest the suspect.

According to the TransLivesMatter website Lara Vinny is the 19th Brazilian transgender person murdered since the last TDoR on November 20, 2021.

12/15/21

Jury awards $4 million to transgender student in discrimination lawsuit

Gavel - Pexels | Transgender Flag - Monica Helms

  A Kansas City Jury has awarded a Blue Springs transgender student four million dollars for denying him access to the boy's locker room and bathroom. 

The jury found on Monday that the Blue Springs school district was liable for sex discrimination after denying a male transgender student use of the boys' restrooms and locker rooms KSHB reports

The student had legally changed his name in 2010 and had successfully petitioned the Jackson County Circuit Court in 2014 to amend his birth certificate to reflect his gender and new name. 

 The student was denied use of the boys' restrooms and locker rooms at both Delta Woods Middle School and the Freshman Center. "Defendants again denied [the plaintiff] access to the boys' restrooms and locker rooms even though he is recognized as a boy under the laws of the state of Missouri," the court document said. "Defendants continue to deny [the plaintiff] access to the boys' restrooms and locker rooms as of the filing of this Petition." 

The student participated in boys' P.E. and athletics in middle school, including the eighth-grade boys' football team and track team, and he had to use a "separate, single person, unisex bathroom outside the boys' locker room because Defendants refused to give him access to the boys' locker rooms," according to court documents. 

The lawsuit was filed in 2015 after the defendant filed a charge of discrimination with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights in late 2014. 

 The lawsuit filed for the student states that the district's reason for denying him access was because he was transgender and "is alleged to have female genitalia." "Upon information and belief, Defendants do not speculate, inspect, or otherwise inquire as to the genitalia of other male students," the lawsuit said. 

"Defendants have discriminated and continue to discriminate against Plaintiff R.M.A. based on his sex." 

 A spokesman for the Blue Springs School District said that they will seek "appropriate relief from the trial court and court of appeals if necessary," KSHB 41 News reports.

12/12/21

First ever Indian Cis-trans rom-com Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui panned as a success

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui / youtube screen grab

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is a groundbreaking Hindi romantic comedy about a high-profile cisgender man and a beautiful transgender woman.

Except the official trailer makes no mention that the co-star is trans, just 'different', admittedly to interest and not to dissuade moviegoers from buying a ticket.

The star playing her opposite, Ayushmann Khurrana, calls her a transgender person (not woman, in the follow-up interview), and the actress who plays his romantic love interest, Vaani Kapoor, is a cisgender woman.

In an interview published by The Indian Express on the day the movie was released director Abhishek Kapoor came to the defense of Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.

The trailer of the film merely hinted at the larger subject of the film and Abhishek said that it was a conscious call so the audience feels curious. “What happens is the trailer is of 2 minutes. It has a certain tone. The subject and representation could be misunderstood and that could be very damaging to the film, and to the issue itself. Hence we just kind of hinted about it but did not go all out.
Well obviously any interest Abhishek Kapoor gained from the trailer is now negative and probably considered misleading by moviegoers, not to mention transgender people. 

 SATVIK a Trans man reviews the movie on The Quint.

"To give a glimpse, the movie is about Punjabi hunk Manu Munjal (Ayushmann), whose dream is to win an annual gym competition. Enter Zumba instructor Maanvi Brar (Vaani Kapoor) who joins his gym."

"There is instant attraction, and the couple are drawn to each other. Several steamy scenes later – Maanvi comes out as a trans woman. A slew of dysphoric, triggering, transphobic words and gestures follows."

"I must admit that it hurt me a lot when people in the movie theatre started sniggering and laughing when the transphobic slurs were hurled relentlessly. It even made me scared to use the washroom during the interval."

"Several transphobic comments and words are used like- 'Andar se Bahar se' or 'Thi ya tha' or ‘'Ladke ke sath sex, tu toh ladka bhi nahi hai' – are simply crass and reflects nothing educational about it. The constant stare of eyes from head to toe – sent the audience into hysterical laughs".

"But as someone who was feeling dysphoric, I felt there was nothing funny about it. I can say that this movie was not about empowering the community, it was used horribly as a twist in the rom-com. If you are saying that the movie is about empowering the community, it should be well-researched, and inclusive – and mostly importantly, you are accountable to the community," wrote SATVIK.

It would be safe to say the people who panned this movie as a revolutionary success are the investors and cisgender moviegoers who want to laugh at the transgender plot twist without taking accountability for their actions.

12/10/21

Parents of Transgender Students and ACLU sue the Hanover County School Board

Hanover County School Board

The ACLU of Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the Hanover County School Board over its vote last month to not adopt a transgender bathroom policy.

The Hanover School Board willfully broke the law by voting to deny transgender students protections as required by state law.

The lawsuit, CBS 6 wtvr reports was filed on behalf of five parents with transgender students in Hanover Schools, alleged the Hanover School Board broke two laws at its November 9 meeting. It was at that meeting when the board voted 4-to-3 to not adopt a policy to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

In March 2020, the General Assembly passed a law mandating that all public schools in Virginia adopt policies ensuring appropriate access to bathrooms and facilities in line with a student’s gender identity, among other protections for transgender students. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) created model policies, including use of facilities, correct pronoun and name usage, privacy and security, dress codes, and more. 

All school boards were required to adopt consistent policies by the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. In a public consultation during the November 9, 2021 school board meeting, the board’s own attorney advised them of the state mandate and standing case law from Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, yet the school board willfully voted to violate the law.

“The Hanover County School Board is denying transgender students a safe learning environment, even after understanding the risks it poses to the health and well-being of students, not to mention the legal liability that comes with breaking the law,” said Eden Heilman, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia. “There’s no ambiguity in the school board’s vote. The board members knew the board’s actions were discriminatory and outside the law, but they did it anyway. These students are compelled to attend school in a school system that refuses to protect them, and each weekday morning, our plaintiffs say goodbye to their kids while fearing for their safety. No parent should be forced into that position.”

Related:

Virginia Beach School Board adopts transgender policy

VB School Board approves amendments to district’s nondiscrimination policy

Newport News School Board narrowly votes to adopt more inclusive transgender policy

Loudoun Schools Adopt Transgender Student Policy Over Protests

12/9/21

Transgender woman Christynne Wood wins lawsuit against Crunch Fitness

Christynne Wood a transgender woman from El Cajon, California has won a settlement after Crunch Fitness denied her the use of the ladies' changing room.

Christynne valued her gym as she had undergone Angioplasty and was told by her doctor in order to never have that happen again she needed to adopt a healthy lifestyle.


Christynne, a member of Crunch Fitness began to take exercise seriously and lost 100 lbs. 

But nine years into her membership, when she informed the gym’s management that she was in the process of transitioning to female, Wood’s relationship with Crunch radically changed. Management refused to allow her use of the women’s locker room and restroom, even though that was clearly her right under California law. 

 “I feel elated and validated to finally reach resolution in this case,” Wood said. “I hope the settlement helps the owners of Crunch and other gyms appreciate the importance of respecting transgender people’s identities. It’s not only our legal right, but also could save a life.” 

 The discrimination Christynne experienced is not unusual; a study conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that nearly 70 percent of transgender people have experienced discrimination when trying to use public restrooms. And it’s against the law in California. 

The Unruh Civil Rights Act bans discrimination based on “a person’s gender identity and gender expression,” and goes on to define gender expression as “a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

12/4/21

Organist for Anaheim Ducks warm-up song thrills transgender Jeopardy! Champion

Lindsay Imber / Twitter

Amy Schneider thrilled us when she became the new Jeopardy! Champion on November 17th. She has now gone on to become the fifth highest winner during the regular season amassing a whopping $483,000 in winnings!

Shortly after, Jeopardy!’s official Instagram and Twitter accounts announced that Amy was now fifth in the show’s record books for the highest winnings for regular-season play. Ken ($2,520,700), James Holzhauer ($2,462,216), Matt Amodio ($1,518,601) and Jason Zuffranieri ($532,496) occupy the top four spots.

Amy Tweeted that she wouldn't be able to watch her last prerecorded match becuse it was being shown at 10:30 pm on Friday which is her date night. But she did have time to tweet about Lindsay Imbe, a newly out transgender woman. She simply said "Love This!" about the Anaheim Ducks organist pregame warm-up Jeopardy! rendition which she dedicated to the five-time champion.

Bay Area Transgender woman killed on Castro Street Friday Morning

Nikai David
Nikai David / KTVU 

Oakland Police responding to a report of shots fired at 4am Friday morning found transgender woman Nikai David, 33, on Castro Street suffering from a gunshot wound.

She died at the scene.

"Nikai was really sweet. She was a happy, fun person,"

Ashlee Banks told KTVU that she is saddened that Nikai David of Hayward, a friend she considered to be a sister, was shot and killed.

"I was really devastated when I found out, when I got the news," said Banks.

Police said at this point there is no evidence of a hate crime and do not have a suspect in custody.

The Remebering our dead project reports that a record high 74 US trans deaths were mourned during the 2021 TDoR and 12 deaths have been reported to date for the 2022 TDoR.

The TDoR, a transgender-led initiative began record-keeping in 1999 by a small group, including Gwendolyn Ann Smith, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. By 2010, TDoR was observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries.

Media Resources:

Trans Lives Matter Info.

Transgender Europe(TGEU) TDoR project

Rest In Peace Nikai David

12/2/21

Canada's House of Commons Unanimously Passes LGBT Conversion Therapy Ban

Canada's House of Commons unanimously agreed to pass Bill C-4, the legislation to ban conversion therapy, through all stages without study or amendment after a Conservative motion, making it the first bill to pass the House in the 44th Parliament.

OTTAWA -(CP24 Reports) Canada's House of Commons erupted into a scene of cheers and cross-party hugs Wednesday as MPs unanimously adopted a motion presented by a Conservative MP to fast-track the passage of a Liberal government bill banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ Canadians.

That legislation, introduced earlier in the week, will now proceed to the Senate, as no MP spoke out against the move to skip the routine legislative debate.

The lightning-fast speed at which it unfolded was initiated in the House by Conservative justice critic Rob Moore, who presented the motion during Wednesday's sitting after the Tory caucus met earlier in the day.

12/1/21

19-year-old transgender teen Haley Gabriella Feldmann ends her Life

Haley Gabriella Feldmann
Haley Gabriella Feldmann / Family

Haley Gabriella Feldmann grew up surrounded by a loving and accepting family, But tragically this hateful world was too much for her. Haley at the age of 19 ended her life on November 12, 2021.

According to the The TDoR project there have been 12 deaths not counting the suicide of Haley Gabriella Feldmann since the begining of the the 2022 reporting period.

On the November 20, 2021at the TDoR vigil we mourned a record 74 deaths in the United states. A full list can be found here.

Obituary for Haley Gabriella Feldmann

Haley Gabriella Feldmann was born on November 18, 2002. She was called boy and so we gave her a boy name—now a dead name. We gave her boy clothes, boy toys, boy things. We didn’t know she was our daughter and so we called her son and brother. Haley spent the first several years of her life content, within and without. She knew nothing of judgment or ridicule. She knew nothing but the love of her family, which she gave back in abundance.

During her adolescent years she retreated into herself and we lost her. She became silent . . . distant. She built formidable walls that became impossible to breach, and she stubbornly refused to grant us passage. She had begun to grow afraid of the world as she began to understand herself and who she was, and the reality of her situation became apparent. The more she learned of how the world would judge her for not being who it thought she should be, the more she withdrew. She was an atheist, unable to believe in any religion or deity that taught condemnation of her for not submitting to its beliefs of who she should be. She was a child of God, made perfectly in his image, her body only a vessel for the beautiful soul He created and with which He graced us. She laughed and she loved, and though her humor was dark, her nature was light. Her kindness, her empathy, her hope for others, and her desire to help anyone in need was a blinding light she shone on everyone but herself.

Haley gave us the gift of her truth, trusted us to see beyond her body to her soul, to believe her, and to love her. We will always be grateful for the chance to have her as she was and not who we had thought her to be. Now we call her daughter and sister and we closed ranks around her to protect her and to keep her safe from the willful ignorance that surrounds her.

Our daughter Haley spent most days wreaking havoc on the universe, her time spent being “Imperial Empress of the Galaxies, Conqueror of Solar Systems, Creator of Planets and Nations, Destroyer of Stars”, and loving and adoring Lucy, her best friend and the Best Dog Ever, who loved and adored her in equal measure. She created her own language with a full alphabet and rules, spending years revising and perfecting it, and, in typical Haley fashion, did not leave a key. She created her own maps, detailed in geography, and her own countries, rich in their histories. She dropped out of school and then graduated before her peers, which made her immensely proud. She taught herself history, geography, politics, and never hesitated to school anyone on the finer points of each. And she was usually correct.

Haley lived most comfortably in a Discord community of just under six hundred people from all over the world, each of whom loved and adored her. We are just beginning to learn of her profound impact within the community and we are grateful they had her and she was loved by them. Her soul was radiant there, unhindered by its physical representation here which had become a prison, freeing her to breathe and be.

Haley ended her life on November 12, 2021, her pain being too great. She had grown weary of the knowledge of her reality, knowing this country and this world would never stop trying to force her to submit to its ignorance, and her family rages for her. We would’ve burned the whole world down if we’d thought it would keep her safe, and our fury and outrage is eclipsed only by our grief. We struggle against the currents that try to carry us away from love, for those currents only take us further from her. And she is far enough, already.

Haley is survived by her devastated parents, David and Christina Feldmann; her siblings, Jacob Fruge, Joshua Smith, Ian Feldmann, Matthew Kostelecky, Tristan Smith, Alex Feldmann, Zethan Feldmann, Jazlyn Feldmann, and Sam Curtiss; her grandparents; several aunts, uncles, and cousins; and Lucy, all of whom are inconsolable in the loss of her brilliance, consumed with a grief that has buried us in moments of silence, rage, and sorrow—a void that will never be filled, and a loss that will never be eased. The world is less without her and we will never be the same.

There will be no formal services for Haley. She considered money spent on the dead to be frivolous and of better use elsewhere. Any donations to her family should be sent to The Jim Collins Foundation in hope that a life might be saved. In lieu of thoughts and prayers, her family asks that you be kind to the living and generous with what you have, be it your love, hope, or wealth. Do better unto others as you would have done to you, and reach back to those in need, lift them up, raise them higher, and love love love thy neighbor. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www.silhafuneralhomes.com

To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Haley Gabriella Feldmann please visit our Sympathy Store.


Rest In Peace Haley Gabriella Feldmann

11/29/21

Transgender newscaster Tashnuva Anan Shishir featured among Time's top 100 photos for 2021

Time featured her, flanked by co-workers during the monumental moment. 

Tashnuva Anan Shishir made history as Bangladesh's first transgender television news anchor by reading a three-minute news segment in Dhaka on March 8, International Women’s Day




 


To give you an idea about the importance of the unranked photos...

The photo preceding Shishir's is of the Gold Spa near Acworth, Ga., where a gunman killed eight people—including six women of Asian descent. The photo after her's is of President Joe Biden at the White House during a celebration of his inauguration.

Tashnuva Anan Shishir, a rights activist who previously worked with NGOs supporting transgender people and migrants became Bangladesh's first transgender news anchor. She read her first daily news bulletin for a private television channel on International Women’s Day.

The government, in 2013, allowed trans people to be recognized as a separate gender. They were allowed to register to vote as a third gender five years later.

11/26/21

India removes critical Teacher-Training Manual On Transgender-Inclusive School Education From Website

Photo by NEOSiAM 2021 from Pexels

Of the 2 million students taking their high school finals in India, only 25 are transgender.

2,097,128 Indian sophomore students registered for end-of-year exams, called class X exams, and 112,896 for the senior exams, called class XII in India.

The 2011 census, the first that included a category for Male, Female, and Other, found that there should be approximately 54,854 transgender children attending school this year.

According to the wire.in., only 19 and six transgender students registered respectively for class X and class XII exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2020.

The 2011 Census also revealed that cisgender males had the highest literacy rate of 54%. Cisgender women had the lowest literacy rate at 25.5% and "others" (a broad swath of gender nonbinary people) was found to be at 34%.

Recognising the urgency to address gender disparities in education, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in Delhi released a new publication titled Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap. It was available for anyone to download freely from the NCERT website. The project was coordinated by Dr Poonam Agrawal, Professor and former Head, Department of Gender Studies, NCERT.

The training material explained concepts such as gender identity, gender incongruence, gender dysphoria, gender affirmation, gender expression, gender conformity, gender variance, heterosexuality, homosexuality, asexuality, bisexuality, transnegativity, among various others, through a detailed glossary. It also provides definitions of terms that people use to identify themselves; some of these are gender fluid, agender, transfeminine, and transmasculine, according to First Post.

Dr Agrawal said, “The inclusion of all children is part of our mandate as an institution, so we decided to prepare training material that would sensitise teachers and teacher educators about the lived experiences, achievements, struggles, and aspirations of transgender and gender-nonconforming children. To make this happen, it was important to partner with people who belong to these communities, and are in close contact with grassroot-level realities.”

A complaint from Sanjay Vinayak Joshi, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist alledged that that the manual was a “criminal conspiracy...to psychologically traumatise school students under the name of gender sensitisation”. This spawned multiple vitriolic social media comments which combined resulted in the removal of the all-important teachers manual.

As a result of the complaint, the open letter claims, two of the three senior-most faculty members from the NCERT’s Department of Gender Studies who helped design the first-of-its-kind manual were transferred to other departments.

Over 700 LGBT groups, teachers, and individuals have signed an open letter decrying the removal of the manual and in support of those who were transferred from positions of leadership following its publication.

The manual, titled ‘Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap’, was produced by a group involving Poonam Agrawal, professor and former Head of the NCERT’s Department of Gender Studies; Mona Yadav, professor and Head of the Department of Gender Studies; Mily Roy Anand, Professor in the Department of Gender Studies of the NCERT; Rajesh, who is a professor in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Extension at the University of Delhi; L. Ramakrishnan, Vice-President of Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India (SAATHII); Bittu Rajaraman-Kondaiah, Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology at Ashoka University; Manvi Arora, independent researcher; Priya Babu, Managing Trustee at Transgender Resource Centre, Madurai; Vikramaditya Sahai, Associate at the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR), Bengaluru; Astha Priyadarshini, Junior Project Fellow; and Pawan Kumar, Desktop Publishing operator.

The document is the outcome of the NCERT’s engagement with gender and sexuality-related questions following the Supreme Court’s NALSA judgment in 2014. The manual, formulated by the Department of Gender Studies of the NCERT, was meant to sensitize teachers and teacher educators to the needs of transgender or gender non-conforming students in schools, focusing on helping them integrate so as to improve their access to education.

11/25/21

Dave Chappelle tells students "I'm better than all of you" during surprise visit to his old high school

 

Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle / Instagram


A NOT-SO WELCOME HOMECOMING — DAVE CHAPPELLE made a surprise stop by D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts on Tuesday in the latest chapter of the running saga with his alma mater.


A NOT-SO WELCOME HOMECOMING — DAVE CHAPPELLE made a surprise stop by D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts on Tuesday in the latest chapter of the running saga with his alma mater, as retold by Politico Playbook

But if the self-proclaimed GOAT hoped to smooth things over amid the backlash over his jokes about transgender people, he was in for a surprise of his own.

Some 580 students packed into an auditorium to hear their school’s most famous alumnus discuss the uproar triggered by his Netflix special “The Closer.” With a camera crew in tow, Chappelle took the stage to a raucous reception of cheers and some boos — and the hourlong session went south from there, we’re told.

During a Q&A session, one student stepped to the mic and called Chappelle a “bigot,” adding, “I’m 16 and I think you’re childish, you handled it like a child,” according to two students present. The comments were confirmed by Chappelle’s spokesperson CARLA SIMS.

NO APOLOGIES: Chappelle responded, as recalled the next day by the students, “My friend, with all due respect, I don’t believe you could make one of the decisions I have to make on a given day.” That peeved some students who were hoping for an apology or some semblance of one from Chappelle.

In response to another antagonistic question, Chappelle roughly told the student body of artists: “I’m better than every instrumentalist, artist, no matter what art you do in this school, right now, I’m better than all of you. I’m sure that will change. I’m sure you’ll be household names soon.”

The students recalled that another student in the audience shouted at him, “Your comedy kills,” and Chappelle shot back, “N------ are killed every day.” He then asked, “The media’s not here, right?”

ONE DISTURBED PARENT: The two students we spoke to declined to go on the record out of fear of retribution from the school. The father of one of the students, who also declined to speak publicly to protect the identity of his daughter, said, “As a parent, I have to say I have a real problem. … He was being dead serious and using the n-word on the record. What kind of judgment is the school showing to allow that?”

Sims, the Chappelle spokesperson, responded: “They are complaining that he talked and said the n-word. If anything, Dave is putting the school on the map.” Chappelle has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Duke Ellington and brought A-list celebrities such as BRADLEY COOPER and CHRIS TUCKER to its campus.

The two students who spoke to Playbook said they were afraid to speak up at the assembly because Chappelle often laughed at students’ questions or responded with jokes. At one point, after a student left the assembly room, Chappelle singled her out by saying, “Of course she left early.”

Sims said that person “couldn’t even entertain the idea of a conversation.”

Some students were equally put off by Chappelle.

“He could tell we were nervous,” said one of the students we spoke with. “It was a huge power imbalance of this grown man and his camera crew — and these 14- to 18 year-olds without their phones, just high school kids.” Students had to lock their phones in special pouches beforehand to prevent recordings.

A spokesperson for the school said that about eight students came forward to ask questions.

“During the conversation with students and staff, Chappelle specifically invited the voices of discontent to ask questions, however as a result, the supporters of Chappelle became the silent majority,” said Duke Ellington spokesperson SAVANNAH OVERTON.

“Our principal was approached by several students after the assembly who were disappointed that they were not able to voice their support for Chappelle in this forum.”

NO HARD FEELINGS: According to the students, Chappelle seemed to soften up as he wound down. Turning to the camera, he spoke out against death threats some students have received since protesting him. The school has responded by increasing security and barring students from leaving campus for lunch.

“His whole tone changed,” one of the students said. “He said, ‘This is my family and whether they know it or not I love these kids. … I don’t want to hear about any threats to these kids. These kids don’t deserve that.’”

“He was really kind,” the student added. “If [only] he [had] acted that way the whole time. … There was no reason to be mean to us. He was just laughing at kids.”

A PARTING GIFT: Sims said Chappelle was expecting forgiveness from students, not to offer an apology of his own. The school postponed an event to name its theater after him amid concern about student reactions to his special.

“He said these kids deserve an F for forgiveness,” Sims said. But, “Give them some space to grow. They are going to say things that are immature.”

On his way out, Chappelle gave three tickets to each of the students for the screening of his documentary “Untitled” at Capital One Arena that night and 600 Thanksgiving meals for students and staff.

Correction: This item has been updated to reflect new information regarding the status of an event for Duke Ellington with Chappelle to raise money and rename the school’s theater.

11/23/21

Eddie Redmayne regrets playing Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl

Lili Elbe in 1926. She was one of the first known people to have undergone gender alignment surgery. Lili died at the age of 49 after a failed uterus transplant.
 

Eddie Redmayne told the Sunday Times that taking the role of Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl was a "mistake".

In the interview (behind a paywall) he lamented:

“No, I wouldn’t take it on now. I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake."


 “The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table. There must be a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”

Not an apology. A personal regret.

Redmayne did not express regret for the unnecessary pain, frustration that he caused the transgender community.

He did not acknowledge the schism that he widened within the transgender community. Some trans people welcomed him playing a transgender character insisting that cultural acceptance is incremental and not a sprint.

Some like myself hate it when high-profile roles like that are doled out to sucessfull cisgender actors without so much as a casting call for transgender actors.

In my opinion, a transgender person can bring a tangible substance to the part because of their life experiences, where it was painfully obvious that Redmayne failed to do that in The Danish Girl. But in all honesty you need to be trans to notice that.

Trans lives matter and that is not up for debate. That being said we welcome him acknowledging that taking a transgender role, hopefully, any transgender part by a cisgender actor is a mistake.

Chile just elected its first transgender woman to Congress

Emilia Schneider
Emilia Schneider / Facebook

Transgender woman Emilia Schneider was elected on Sunday to the Chamber of Deputies making her the first trans person to hold office in the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress.

Born in 1996 in Santiago de Chile, Emilia Schneider is the great-granddaughter of General René Schneider, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army between 1969 and 1970, the year in which he was assassinated for his defense of the Constitution, known as the Schneider Doctrine

.

She completed her primary and secondary studies at the Latin American Integration College, an educational establishment close to the Chilean political left. Upon graduating from high school, she entered the Law degree at the University of Chile. She was a spokesperson for the Feminist Taking of the Faculty of Law during the feminist demonstrations in Chile in 2018, being the first trans woman to be a spokesperson for the 8M Feminist Assembly.

"This is a day of mixed feelings." Schneider tweeted, "On the one hand, hate advances On the other, there is hope. I want to thank you for all your support, and today I am humbled and honored to be the first trans deputy of Chile. This is a step thanks to years of feminist and dissident struggle"

The strongest finisher in the priliminary elections for president, José Antonio Kast, is a vocal opponent of the femimist movement and most importantly for the trans community, the gender idenity law which allows trans people 14 and older to change their identification documents without first undergoing surgery.

“Our dignity as women and as sexual diversities is at risk. Kast's program, even if he says otherwise, says to go back on issues such as the gender identity law, so that trans people stop having the rights to our identity and repeal the abortion law on three grounds ”, she added.

 

11/22/21

Denton Transgender storytime Book reading a huge success despite 6 protesters across the street

Having never gone to a children's storytime book reading I was curious as to why republican Texas Gov. Abbott, would be so offended by them.

The reading on Saturday took place at a local establishment instead of the library as they normally do three times a year. This came after the library staff said they noticed threats of violence posted in comments by out-of-state and local extremists.

Texas Republicans threatening violence forces the cancelation of "story time" a TDoR event at a Denton Library

About 150 people attended according to the facebook event page. I would estimate more that that since so many were children brought by their parents.

It was a simple joyous affair. I felt welcomed and safe as I entered the cafe, a feeling that has become very rare in Texas.

Outside a man holding a megaphone was blasting prerecorded random religious messages. And at the very end of that block far away from the the eyes and ears of the children, 3 people were holding signs accusing the Denton library of promoting pedophilia.

A huge thank you to the Denton Police Department. Officers outnumbered the right wing extremists 10 to 1 and allowed the book reading to be what it was meant to be, an event for children.

11/21/21

Meet Max Appenroth the first trans person to compete for the title of Mr Gay Germany

Mr. Gay Germany
Max Appenroth / Instagram

Meet Max Appenroth, they/them/theirs, the first trans person to successfully reach the preliminary round of the Mr. Gay Germany Competition.

Max Appenroth is a trans activist and diversity consultant from Berlin. They are currently enrolled in a doctorate program at the Institute for Public Health of the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Last Sunday Max wrote on Facebook:

On Sunday, I want to share some good news with you: I made it the first trans person among the last 12 in the race to choose Mr Gay Germany! 🥳🏳️ ⚧️🌈👍🏽 It is a great honor for me to represent my community here at this contest. Mr Gay Germany is about way more than just looking good. All candidates need to start a community campaign and present it to a jury. The whole thing then falls down the biggest weight even when the decision at the end. With my #ProudToBeAlive campaign, I want to draw attention to the enormous high suicide rate among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, inter & asexual (LSBTQIA+) youth and young adults. It makes me terribly sad to see how many LSBTQIA+ kids seem to see no other way out than death. I have concrete ideas on how to improve the situation here and support the next generations Queers. But please read more in my interview with queer.de 🥰

Max wrote on the Instgram below:  "In the year we remember the victims of violence in my community. 375 trans people died violently worldwide in the past year. The number has never been higher and most of the murdered were trans women of color. 
The actual number of murder cases is likely to be significantly higher, since many of the acts of violence are never discovered or adequately recorded. The violence against trans people must come to an end! 
We are people who deserve love, respect and recognition and have a right to our life in freedom. To experience love and protection is unfortunately not a matter of course for us trans people. That's why I'm so incredibly grateful for the support I have from my family, friends, community and my husband Idàn. They give me the strength to keep fighting for equality in my community every day."

Max understands from personal experience that their competing for the title of Mr. Gay German would be received well by most of the LGBTQI community, but would be seen as an affront by others.

Trans people overwhelmingly welcome their advocacy. We understand that sexual orientation and gender expression are two different things entirely.

queer.de spoke to Max about their participation, hostility in the scene, and his #ProudToBeAlive campaign.

As a trans applicant, did you experience hostility?

As a trans person, I experience discrimination every day. In fact, unfortunately, again and again from the (cis) gay community. To some, my identity doesn't seem entirely tangible. That is completely ok, but no reason to isolate myself, to hostile me or to threaten me with violence. Even if someone doesn't understand my identity, that doesn't make my feelings about it any less real. I don't always understand everything either, but I generally accept it as long as no one else is harmed. I would like that from society too, because through my being and my identity I simply do not take anything away from anyone.

Which community project are you going into the Mr. Gay Germany preliminary round from November 26th to 28th?
With my campaign #ProudToBeAlive I want to draw attention to the enormously high suicide rates among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, inter and asexual adolescents and young adults. It makes me terribly sad to see how many LGBTQIA + kids seem to see no other way out than death. As some studies have already shown, suicidality is extremely high, especially in LGBTQIA + 13-17 year olds, and trans people are even more affected by it. Since I'm currently doing a trans-empowering children's book anywaypublish, on the one hand I would like to achieve more visibility of queer ways of life in books for children and young people, so that queer children and young people can find themselves there and simply see that they are not alone. On the other hand, I would like to do active suicide prevention work by creating a professional and continuous crisis hotline for LGBTQIA + adolescents and young adults in order to give the coming generations of our community support, strength and hope for a better future.