The Trump administration has continued its revision of LGBTQ+ history by quietly removing references to bisexual individuals from the Stonewall National Monument’s official pages, Erin Reed reports.

Earlier this year, transgender people were digitally erased from the site’s descriptions. Now, mentions of bisexual people and broader LGBTQ+ language have been replaced with narrower terms like “gay and lesbian.”

These edits distort the historical significance of Stonewall, a protest led in part by transgender and bisexual activists such as Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Zazu Nova, and Brenda Howard.

More here.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, citing crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution.

The warrants allege targeted abuses against women, girls, LGBTQ+ individuals, and others who defy the Taliban’s rigid gender policies, including gender nonconforming people.

This landmark action—based on Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute—is the first ICC case to explicitly name LGBTQ+ people as victims in a gender persecution investigation.

In other words: The ICC is not buying into the TERF/MAGA idea that the oppression of cis women, trans women and nonbinary people are not related.

Since reclaiming power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has reportedly carried out assaults, detentions, public floggings, and surveillance targeting gay men and transgender women. Advocacy organizations, including OutRight International and the Afghanistan LGBTIQ Organization, provided supporting evidence and welcomed the ICC’s decision.

Read the story over at Washington Blade.

California rejects Trumps anti-trans sports policy

California has formally rejected the Trump administration’s demands for sweeping bans on transgender students’ participation in school sports and bathroom access, Erin Reed reports.

The federal government, through the Department of Education, claimed California violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete, despite earlier restrictions imposed by Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration.

The department proposed a series of punitive measures—including barring trans students from sports and facilities, stripping medals retroactively, and enforcing ideological definitions of gender—but California refused to comply.

California’s refusal may signal a potential shift after a period of concessions and mixed messaging on transgender policies.

Erin Reed writes:

The California Department of Education’s response offers a glimmer of hope that the state may finally push back after a string of capitulations and retreats on transgender rights.

• Erin in the Morning: California Rejects Trump’s Demands To Enact Full Trans Sports And Bathroom Bans
• Los Angeles Times: California refuses to comply with Trump administration demand to bar female trans athletes
• Go Mag: California Refuses Trump Admin’s Demand To Bar Trans Girls From School Sports

Photo: A transgender athlete is congratulated after a successful high jump attempt. (Tomas Ovalle for The Los Angeles Times)

Norwegian trans people cancel trips to the US out of fear of harassment

Norwegian politicians, trans people and human rights activists are deeply worried about what transgender travelers may experience when visiting the US.

Under President Donald Trump’s administration, federal agencies are instructed to only recognize gender assigned at birth (referred to as “biological sex”), making trans travelers worry.

Norwegian politician Alexander Papas of The Socialist Left Party (SV) is urging the Norwegian government to provide clearer and more up-to-date travel guidance for trans individuals heading to the United States.

The Norwegian LGBTQ magazine Blikk reports that Norway’s Foreign Ministry has updated its travel advice, but Papas believes it’s not enough. He emphasizes that trans people are left uncertain and fearful about how they’ll be treated at U.S. borders.

Model cancels trip to the US

The issue gained renewed attention following Norwegian model Emma Ellingsen expressing her anxiety about traveling to the U.S.

Photo of Norwegian transgender model Emma Ellingsen, Instagram.

Ellingsen told NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation:

“I am a woman. I live as a woman, have a female passport and a female social security number. But now I have to apply to enter the United States as a man.”

Ellingsen did not go to the US.

Dangerous to go to the US

Sindre Stranden Tollefsen, communication director in the human rights organization Amnesty International Norway, says that it has become more dangerous for queer and transgender people to travel to Norwegians’ favorite vacation destinations.

The LGBTQ organization FRI also asks for clearer official travel advisories. Stephen Adom, the leader of FRI, tells NRK:

“There are many who are concerned, and who are definitely not taking their summer vacation to the United States this year or in the near future.”

He adds that they are also concerned about the spread of this kind of rhetoric and hostility in Norway.

Our advice

Transgender World would urge any trans person who thinks about going to the USA consider the possible repercussions from doing so very carefully.

Keep in mind that even if you are lucky and are able to pass immigration without any harassment, the anxiety that follows from all the uncertainty will cause you a lot of stress. So unless you really have to go to the US, find a more civilized and welcoming destination.

Jack Molay

The Christopher Street Project is a newly launched political action committee (PAC) advocating for transgender rights within the US Democratic Party.

Founded by Tyler Hack, a trans and nonbinary activist, the PAC aims to equip pro-trans lawmakers with strategic tools to combat Republican-led anti-trans attacks ahead of the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential race.

The organization endorsed 16 Democratic politicians known for supporting trans rights, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sarah McBride, and Maxwell Frost.

Hack critiques the Democratic Party’s response during the 2024 election cycle and stresses the importance of confronting anti-trans narratives directly.

More here.

The University of Pennsylvania’s betrayal of trans people will live on in history

The University of Pennsylvania has sacrificed its academic freedom and integrity on the altar of political convenience. University president J. Larry Jameson will always be remembered for this shameful act.

The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has agreed to revise swimming records previously held by transgender athlete Lia Thomas and issue apology letters to female swimmers who were affected, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education.

The department argues that UPenn violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in women’s events during the 2021–22 season. While UPenn had followed NCAA rules at the time, it now says that some athletes experienced disadvantages.

The settlement requires UPenn to adopt pseudo-scientific biology-based definitions of sex and bar trans women from competing in female sports programs.

Updated records now credit other swimmers, and Thomas’s achievements are noted with an asterisk.

Selling the soul of the university to Trump

In other words: J. Larry Jameson and the university is now actively taking part in the systemic harassment and invalidation of trans people.

Moreover, it has also sacrificed its academic reputation and independence by agreeing to follow the anti-trans “gender is biological sex” narrative, which no serious specialist in the field of gender and gender incongruence believes in.

The effect of press coverage

Imagine how all these headlines about UPenn betraying trans athletes will affect transgender people. Then imagine what cis people who have not made up their minds about trans people may think.

This is what the fascists want: To create a constant cacophony of hate and invalidation, so that people stop caring.

By giving in to Trump the University of Pennsylvania has not only betrayed trans people. It has betrayed the very foundation sound, independent and critical research and higher education is built upon.

This name will live in infamy forever: President J. Larry Jameson of the University of Pennsylvania.

The rest of us will keep on fighting.

Jack Molay

See also CNN: UPenn reaches agreement with Trump administration on transgender athletes and erases Lia Thomas’ records

Are you looking for good transgender news?

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These are undoubtedly hard times for trans and queer people, but there is a lot of light in the darkness. That is why we list every positive article we can find.

Find the latest good transgender news headlines here!

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention condemns the British government for attacks against transgender and intersex people

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security has published a statement condemning “recent judicial and governmental developments in the United Kingdom, which attempt to harm transgender and intersex people in the UK by stripping them of privacy and segregating them as ‘others.’”

The institute argues that the UK Supreme Court ruling that redefines “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 to mean “biological sex,” is creating legal contradictions and undermining protections for trans people.

Following this, the government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued guidance that could exclude trans and intersex individuals from single-sex spaces and force disclosure of assigned-at-birth sex.

The Institute highlights the broader crisis, including bans on puberty blockers, inadequate access to gender-affirming care, lack of intersex protections, and increasing societal marginalization.

The statement warns of patterns consistent with genocide, specifically, “Denial and/or Prevention of Identity,” and urges urgent resistance to the erasure of trans and intersex lives from British public life.

The terror of TERFs

The statement explicitly denounces the role of transphobic “gender critical” TERFs in British politics:

‘In the current climate of rising hate against this vulnerable portion of the global population, the Lemkin Institute urges courts and governments to refrain from heeding the fearmongering of so-called “feminist” groups who seek to harm trans individuals in the name of “women’s rights.”

As we have previously affirmed, trans individuals pose exactly zero threat to the safety of cis women. Moreover, the existence of the trans and intersex community is not a new phenomenon.

This hostile environment is a subtle, pernicious and clear attempt to eradicate transgender and intersex people from British life because their existence causes ideological discomfort to some.

The anti-trans movement is a movement based solely on ignorance and bigotry, whether it is cloaked in religion or “feminism” or any other doctrinal or ideological belief system.’

Read the full statement here.

Erin Reed reports that the Trump administration is deliberately defying a federal court ruling that mandates the resumption of gender marker updates on passports for transgender individuals.

Though the court order was issued two weeks prior and declared the previous ban likely unconstitutional, passport offices across the U.S. are reportedly refusing to comply.

ACLU court filings state that the government has failed to provide timelines or meaningful responses about implementation.

Applicants have been told offices are under directives to ignore the ruling unless the Supreme Court intervenes, with one official allegedly stating, “We don’t answer to courts.”

This delay affects thousands of transgender people who cannot travel unless they accept inaccurate identity documents.

San Francisco bookstores pull Harry Potter books because of J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans funding

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that two San Francisco bookstores—Booksmith and Fabulosa Books—have stopped selling J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series in response to the author’s pledge to use franchise profits to fund efforts opposing transgender rights.

Rowling announced the launch of the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund, aimed at removing transgender protections in public and professional spaces.

Booksmith, a queer-run store, denounced the move and encouraged fans to buy used copies or explore alternative fantasy literature, offering a curated list of inclusive titles such as the Nevermoor series and His Dark Materials.

Fabulosa Books echoed the decision, criticizing Rowling’s statements and affirming its commitment to trans-inclusive values.

See also: A timeline of JK Rowling’s anti-trans shift