In a recent episode of the long-standing American Idol series, viewers were captivated by Amari, a vivacious 28-year-old transgender woman from Richmond, Indiana, who works as a waitress.
Amari’s performance of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” wowed the star judges—Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie.
Her rendition showcased not only her remarkable vocal range but also her surprising talent for mimicking a trumpet with her voice during an improvised horn section.
How JK Rowling and her supporters try to get people forget the Nazi persecution of trans people
Over at YouTube Caelan Conrad talks about the recent controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling and her soft denial of a nazi war crime. Caelan takes a closer look at the Twitter feud and the impact it has on Rowling’s reputation.
It seems to us that what JK Rowling and her supporters try to achieve by belittling the Nazi persecution of trans people is that they fear that this fact will make people associate trans people with gay people, Jewish people and others persecuted by the German Nazis.
This will lead people to sympathize with trans people and find transphobes - who repeat arguments made by Nazis - less likable. We would guess that JK and the TERFs fear this truth as it negates their narrative about trans women being oppressors of women and not victims of hate activism themselves.
If you want to learn more about the amazing Berlin queer and transgender culture and the trans research done by Magnus Hirschfeld, read out articles:
Magnus Hirschfeld and his queer friends in Berlin. Hirschfeld is No. 2 from the right.
The Trans DesistanceMyth Debunked
«The Desistance Myth is the debunked idea that 80–85% of youth experiencing gender dysphoria will no longer experience it in adulthood. It is often used in anti-trans arguments, from reducing healthcare access to justifying conversion therapy.»
This video above documents why there is no data that supports this. Quite the opposite: Only 1 percent regret transitioning.
The “transphobic "gender critical” feminists, also known as trans-exclusionary radical feminists or TERFs, have become increasingly focused on gametes (sperm and eggs) to determine biological sex.
Given that they deny the existence of gender identity, gametes therefore also becomes the cause of legal and cultural gender identity. In this way they think they can deny trans women the right to call themselves women, and trans men the right to be seen as men.
In a new article transgender philosopher and activist Julia Serano points out that to decide whether a man is a man and a woman is a woman on the basis of gametes is a social and cultural dead end. We never ask people to see their gametes when we interact with them.
Moreover, as any real feminist will tell you, to divide people into men and women on the basis of gametes, is an old fashioned and patriarchal approach to gender. According to this approach women are women only by nature, and throughout history men have been allowed to deny women any rights that do not fit the traditional concepts of natural gender abilities and behavior.
So why do TERFs find this dichotomy so appealing?
ALT
Julia Serano explains:
There seems to be two main reasons why gender-critical activists have gravitated toward gametes. The first is that most other sex characteristics—whether they be chromosomes, genitals, other reproductive organs, and so-called secondary sex characteristics (e.g., facial hair, breasts, muscle/fat distribution)—do not fall into a strict dichotomy.
There are XX people who exhibit certain male sex characteristics and XY people who exhibit certain female ones. Some intersex people have chromosome combinations that fall outside of XX and XY, and/or sex characteristics that fall “in between” what is considered “standard” for male and female.
In addition to this, trans people often change our sex characteristics via gender-affirming hormones (which alter our secondary sex characteristics) and surgeries (which may reconfigure our genitals and other reproductive organs).
Ultimately it all boils down to this: “There must be a strict binary because that would define trans people out of existence.”
The scientist Julia Serano then goes on to describe what science really says about gametes, biological sex and gender.
She points out that trans people are “a pancultural and transhistorical phenomenon”. Trans people arise “as a part of natural variation rather than being mere products of any specific culture.” Trans people are “the inevitable outliers that exist in every complex biological system”.
The conclusion?
In other words, much to gender-critical activists’ chagrin, gametes are actually a part of natural variation and sex diversity, rather than the antithesis of it.
Daily Beast reports on comedian Will Ferrell’s new movie, Will & Harper, where he drives across the US together with his transgender friend Harper.
Harper Steele and Ferrell had been working together for many years, creating - for instance - sketches for Saturday Night Live and Ferrells Eurovision contest comedy.
Kevin Fallon reports on the movie:
In many places where one might think Steele would be ostracized, she’s accepted, in fact often with such grace that you might question your own prejudices. (Once you’re done crying at the beautiful scenes and exchanges.)
In other places—when Ferrell and Steele sit in court seats at Indiana Pacers game, or when they have dinner at a raucous Texas steak house—the reception is so hateful they can feel it…
Revealing that spectrum of experiences, though, is in some ways the point of the whole exercise. What was unexpected, at least for me, was how powerful the conversations between Ferrell and Steele would be.
Steele gave Ferrell permission to ask her anything he wanted to know about transitioning, with no concerns for propriety or offense. The result is that Will & Harper, because of those discussions, serves as a bit of Trans 101.
Why I Stay Married To My Transgender Partner
Amanda Scott explains why she decided to stay with her transgender partner, Shaye.
In the video above she makes some very interesting observations about sex, gender identity and gender roles.
Dylan Mulvaney has recorded a country Elvis song capturing the sadness felt by many trans people in this year of transphobia.
Dylan Mulvaney is an American TikTok star who has presented her gender transition through videos since early 2022.
“I knew I wanted to make something special for Christmas,” Mulvaney told Them, “but it had been such a turbulent year that I didn’t feel inclined to create something toxically positive or campy.”
“The creative for the video stemmed from this past summer of walking into a dive bar, finding a hot human to have a dance floor make out with, and then heading home on my own,“ Mulvaney said. “I think the video shows my followers that I’m growing up and my confidence is evolving.”
One of the main characters, Jordan Li, is a bigender shapeshifting superhero:
Jordan has the ability to shift between male and female presenting versions of themselves, each with their own power. And while there have been instances of shapeshifting powers being used as a metaphor for transness in TV before, what makes Jordan’s character truly unique is the fact that they openly identify as bigender.
Bigender refers to a person who has two gender identities or a combination of two gender identities and who may switch between the two.
The series manage to give a pretty good picture of how a modern social media-driven culture can treat people who do not live up to the traditional gender binary.
Daily Dot reports on Imagine Dragons who is flagging their support, for instance by bassist Ben McKee appeared onstage with a bass guitar painted with the transgender pride flag.
She could always hear every word they say Everybody walks like they just know the way Every single day, holdin’ back the tears She’d never say a word ‘cause there’s nobody that hears It’s okay to be not okay It’s just fine to be out of your mind Breathe in deep, just a day at a time (ooh, ooh) 'Cause it’s okay to be out of your mind, mind Mine is broken, how is yours? Sure it helps to hear the news and political discourse Fear, that is what he felt Every single day, 'cause all the boys would play Don’t you dare be weak, emasculated freak Last up on the fence, tell me where’s the sense? It’s okay to be not okay It’s just fine to be out of your mind Breathe in deep, just a day at a time (ooh, ooh) 'Cause it’s okay to be out of your mind I don’t want this body, I don’t want this voice I don’t wanna be here but I guess I have no choice Just let me live my truth, that’s all I wanna do Baby, you’re not broken, just a little bit confused
Pink News reports that the BBC has doubled down on playing a queer punk song with “kick TERFs” lyrics.
London DIY punk/riot grrl band Dream Nails’ track “They/Them” features lyrics including “my gender’s not your business”, “non-binary resistance” and “kick TERFs all day / don’t break a sweat”.
A TERF is a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, also knows as a “gender critical” transphobe. Most feminists are pro-trans.
According to WAToday the BBC has dismissed criticism, suggesting that the lyrics are ambiguous: “People will interpret songs with any element of nuance or ambiguity differently.”
Here are the lyrics:
Call me a girl again Not asking for the hell of it Call me a girl again My gender’s not your business Call me a girl again Not asking for the hell of it Call me a girl again Non-binary resistance!
Woah-oh They them, they them! x 3 Not asking for a friend Woah-oh They them, they them! x 3 Not asking for a friend
Call me a girl again Kick terfs all day, don’t break a sweat Call me a girl again Trans power is forever Call me a girl again My gender’s not your business Call me a girl again Non-binary resistance!
