Didn't someone say something about theater being "the last refuge of nonconformists"?Texas School Will Allow Trans Student In Musical After Major Backlash
Parents say they're still worried about the right-leaning school board and the influence of conservative politics and religion in local public schools.
... The unanimous decision from the Sherman Independent School District’s board of trustees, a reversal of a controversial decision that Sherman High School made earlier this month, is a rare win for LGBTQ+ youth in the town. But many residents say they are still concerned about the influence that conservative politics and religion have on public schools.
... Dozens of people, including parents, local college students and current and former Sherman High students, packed into the district office Monday to voice their disappointment. For over two hours, they shared their experiences of being queer and trans in Sherman, described the home they’d found in theater programs, and emphasized the need for better protections for LGBTQ+ students.
... “We want to apologize to our students, parents and our community regarding the circumstances that they have had to go through to this date,” the board wrote in a statement. “We understand that our decision does not erase the impact this has had on our community, but we hope that we will reinforce to everyone, particularly our students, that we do embrace all of our Board goals, to include addressing the diverse needs of our students and empowering them for success in a diverse and complex world.”
The decision came as a surprise to many in an overwhelmingly red town, and in a state that has passed seven bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth and where the attorney general has investigated families of transgender youth.
Many people in Sherman say the commotion over transgender actors and casting in the school musical is a symptom of larger, longstanding battles about conservative Christian priorities and their rise in public education.
“This is not just about Max losing his role. This is not just about ‘Oklahoma,’” Espinoza told HuffPost. “This is about the intolerance of an older generation and the fact that they wish to not just deny, but actively prohibit kids from having safe spaces where they can be themselves, where they can have fun and where they can feel joy.” ...
I Grew Up Gay In A Small Town. I Had 1 Safe Place — And Now It’s Under Attack.
“Maybe being gay — something I’d always, on some level, known about myself — wasn’t as wrong, bad and shameful as I’d taught at home.”
Spoiler:
Many people in conservative states are having to make a difficult choice after facing harassment and anti-trans laws.
New Zealand, Uruguay, Costa Rica, etc
Help, I'm trapped in an ugly algorithm.
O Tennessee!
This State Tried To Pass Anti-Trans Laws For Years. Then A Right-Wing Media Star Got Involved.
The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh has set his sights on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth — and an attack on Vanderbilt's transgender health clinic shows he's succeeding.
LYING, child-abusing, Catholic, Nashville resident, hateful swine Matt Walsh:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Wals ... mmentator)
I'm sorry, NC and America.... “It may sound extreme to you when I say that we’re living in a totalitarian state,” Democratic state Sen. Heidi Campbell told HuffPost. “Before I became a state senator I don’t think those words would have come out of my mouth. But it’s really just the truth. There are no checks and balances in this government anymore. We’re seeing that with (AG) Skrmetti, who is hired by us to protect the people who live in this state, and is actively attacking our own citizens.”
... By the end of the session in April, Tennessee had also become the first state to pass a ban on drag performances, in addition to enacting laws that defined sex as a person’s “immutable biological sex,” and allowed teachers to misgender students.
Since 2015, Tennessee has enacted 19 anti-LGBTQ+ laws, more than any other state in the country.
... A self-described “theocratic fascist,” Walsh has also argued that trans people are “groomers” and part of a cult, and made posts mocking immigrants and Black people....
At the end of 2022, the Tennessee Republican Caucus sent out a survey, asking constituents for their opinions about a number of issues including abortion and parental rights in schools. In a section called “protecting children,” the survey asks conservatives if they favor policies preventing “minors from cutting off healthy body parts in order to change their gender identity.” There weren’t any questions about guns or firearm reform in the survey, even though the Tennessee Department of Health found that the leading cause of death for children in the state was homicide, 86% of which were due to gun violence....
One hate-filled fat cat's astroturf:Transgender Boy's Family Sues North Carolina Officials Over Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors
The ban went into effect after Republican legislators overrode a veto from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in August.
The family of a transgender boy in North Carolina is suing state health officials to block implementation of gender-affirming care restrictions that they say will force their son to undergo a traumatic wrong-gender puberty.
A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court alleges the new state law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by denying treatment access to transgender youths and undercuts parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children....
Gender-affirming care is considered safe and medically necessary by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Endocrine Society. While trans minors very rarely receive surgical interventions, they are commonly prescribed drugs to delay puberty and sometimes begin taking hormones before reaching adulthood.
Supporting young patients through gender-affirming treatments is “the most incredible, challenging, beautiful, gut-wrenching and heartwarming part of my job,” Smith said. “When I say that gender-affirming care can be lifesaving, that is not hyperbole. And the politicians who voted for this law have no idea what it means to take that care away.”
Sigh. I used to be proud of Montana.This Billionaire Hedge Funder Is Quietly Financing Anti-Trans Advocacy Across The U.S.
Joseph Edelman isn't known for donating to conservative causes, but HuffPost uncovered major donations to groups opposing trans rights.
... “We saw many people coming from out of state to say they felt this was important for Montana,” said Dr. Lauren Wilson, the president of the Montana chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which fought against SB 99. “This isn’t something that Montanans ever identified as an issue.”
Although the law is blocked, Saffer, the mother of two trans children, and her husband are still thinking of leaving the state. Her kids are being bullied in school. And in the event the law survives a legal challenge, the nearest out-of-state gender clinic is a five-hour drive.
“This is our home,” she said. “But if they’re going to push laws that harm our family and make it impossible to just live as a normal family, what are we doing here?”
