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Entertainment

- Glinda Actress Billie Burke and Director Dorothy Arzner, a Secret History of Their Relationship

- Dolly Parton Announces Open Casting Call to Play Her in Origin Story Broadway Musical

- Todd Haynes Finally Speaks Out About Joaquin Phoenix Exiting His Gay Romance Movie Last Minute

- Hayley Kiyoko's "Girls Like Girls" Will Be a Feature Film. Tumblr Gays, This One's For You

- Alex Consani Is the First Out Trans Woman Named Model of the Year at The Fashion Awards

- 'Wicked' Actress Marissa Bode Speaks Out Against Ableist Jokes: "Disability Is Not Fictional"

Entertainment

The Original Glinda Was Queer? A Secret History of Billie Burke and Dorothy Arzner's Relationship

SAMANTHA RIEDEL | DEC 6, 2024, 6:15 PM EST

Meet the lesbian power couple of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Warner Bros.; Getty Images

Amid the fresh bout of Wicked fever we’re experiencing right now, fans are rediscovering exactly how queer-coded Elphaba and Glinda really are — and the film’s stars agree.

But even longtime Wicked stans and “Gelphie” shippers may not know that Glinda’s sapphic history stretches all the way back to The Wizard of Oz book series itself, as well as the actress who originated “the Good Witch” for the silver screen adaptation, Billie Burke who reportedly had a relationship with trailblazing lesbian director.

Already a lauded Broadway star by her early 20s, Burke married producer Florenz Ziegfeld in 1914, and made her silent film debut in 1916 as the title character in the comedy Peggy. Although she soon became one of the highest-paid female actors in Hollywood, her marriage to the frequently-unfaithful Ziegfeld was perpetually on the rocks. As the New York Times later noted in Burke’s obituary, things worsened when Ziegfeld fell victim to the “Black Monday” stock market crash of 1929 that launched the Great Depression. Burke had previously contemplated retirement, but the crash — and Ziegfeld’s debts passed to her after he died of pleurisy in 1932 — pushed her to continue performing in film, theater, and radio.

No longer attached to Ziegfeld, Burke was free to seek other romantic opportunities, and although she never remarried, she was intimately linked to the legendary Dorothy Arzner. Referred to as the “mother goddess of women’s film-making” by the British Film Institute, Arzner’s accolades are countless: she was the first woman to direct a sound film with the early “talkie” The Wild Party, pioneering the first ever “boom mic” during production by attaching a microphone to a fishing pole. She is also credited with launching Katharine Hepburn’s film career, and was the first woman to become a member of the Director’s Guild of America, among myriad other accomplishments.

Arzner — whose films frequently explored the repression of women through heterosexual marriage — was also in a long-term relationship with a woman somewhat openly, at a time when doing so was very uncommon. She remained in a relationship with choreographer and screenwriter Marion Morgan for more than 40 years, until Morgan’s death in 1971. Though the two were deeply committed, historian William J. Mann noted in his book Behind the Screen, “that didn’t mean [their relationship] couldn’t be flexible,” with Morgan frequently traveling for work; over the years, Arzner was rumored to have had affairs with several women including Joan Crawford, Hepburne, and Burke, who was reportedly one of her favorite actors.

In 1936, several years after she directed Hepburne and Burke together in Christopher Strong, Arzner was reported to be staying with Burke while her house was being “remodeled.” The relationship between the two was never confirmed by either party, but it is historically considered an open secret in Hollywood (Burke’s profile on Turner Classic Movies lists Arzner as a “companion”). A few years later, in 1939, Burke would go down in cinema history for her best-known role: Glinda the Good Witch.

Even before Burke brought Glinda to movie theaters, though, L. Frank Baum’s original novels already portrayed Glinda with a (pink) glimmer of sapphism. The books — which, lest we forget, gave LGBTQ+ communities the enduring euphemism “friends of Dorothy” and U.S. history’s funniest witch hunt — end with the posthumously published Glinda of Oz, in which we learn in the first line that Glinda lives in a palace “surrounded by her maids of honor — a hundred of the most beautiful girls of the Fairyland of Oz.” Other books established that Glinda has an army of similarly beautiful warrior women, and we challenge you to name a more lesbian fantasy than all that.

Naturally, Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande already know what’s up. Grande recently affirmed during an interview that she feels Glinda is “a little bit in the closet,” while Erivo separately commented that Elphaba and Glinda’s relationship is “true love.” In response, Kristen Chenowith — who originated Wicked’s Glinda for Broadway — commented on a social media post about Grande’s interview to say she “thought so too way back when…”

All we’re saying is that in Wicked Part Two, Glinda should start recruiting some of those maids of honor. Think about it, Jon M. Chu. That one’s free.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/billie-burke-glinda-dorothy-arzner-relationship on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Entertainment

Are You the Next Dolly Parton?

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 6, 2024, 4:51 PM EST

The country music legend has announced an open casting call to play her in an origin story Broadway musical.

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Grab your tallest blonde wigs and your most voluptuous padding, because you — yes, you reading this! — could be the next Dolly Parton. Or at least, you could play a version of her on Broadway.

On Thursday, the country legend posted a video to her YouTube channel announcing an open casting call for her forthcoming autobiographical Broadway musical, Dolly: An Original Musical.

“Whether you’re chasing your dreams from a small town, or you’ve spent years performing on stages across the country, I wanna give you the chance to help me bring my story to Broadway, and maybe even play me,” Parton said in the video.

The musical was initially announced back in June, alongside her plans to open a hotel and a museum in Nashville. Back then the musical, set to open in 2026, was called Hello, I’m Dolly: An Original Musical., which she referred to as “a Grand Ole Opera.” In addition to her biggest hits, the musical will also feature original songs that Parton will write specifically for the production.

In the video, Parton described the show as “a celebration of my music, my life and all the amazing people who’ve been with me along the way.”

“Now we’re looking for talented performers who can capture my journey whether you’re an experienced theater professional, or an undiscovered gem with that little special something,” she said. Considering that Parton was raised in rural poverty in Appalachia before skyrocketing to country fame, her repeated emphasis on “undiscovered gems” seems close to home. And what could be more poetic than a small-town girl being picked to portray the ultimate small-town girl turned beloved music titan?

If you’re interested in being considered, Dolly hopefuls can submit videos of themselves singing their favorite song by the country star at DollyMusical.com. From those submissions, a select few will be chosen to audition in person for the show’s casting director. We can certainly think of at least one certain drag queen who we’d love to see audition.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/dolly-parton-open-casting-musical on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Entertainment

Todd Haynes Finally Speaks on Joaquin Phoenix Exiting His Gay Romance Film Days Before Shooting

NONE | DEC 6, 2024, 1:15 PM EST

Phoenix’s involvement in the unnamed project was initially announced this past summer. Since dropping out in September, his reasoning has been a mystery.

December 6, 2024

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

After Joaquin Phoenix dropped out of Todd Haynes’ gay romance film in September, just days before filming started, Haynes has spoken out for the first time about the controversy.

Phoenix’s involvement in the unnamed project was initially announced this past summer, with the actor set to star alongside The Last of Us actor Danny Ramirez. In an interview with IndieWire in May 2023, Haynes said that the film would be rated NC-17 and that it was “a gay love story set in 1930s LA” that he had written partially based on a story that Phoenix himself brought to the director. He further elaborated in a September 2023 interview with Variety that Ramirez would play a Native American character and Phoenix would play a cop in Los Angeles who escapes to Mexico. But Phoenix dropped out of the production days before it was set to begin filming, with sets already built and distribution secured.

At the Marrakech Film Festival on Friday, someone asked a question about the project, which Haynes has not previously discussed in public, per Variety. The director said, “What happened this summer was tough. But the film itself and the script itself may resurrect in a different form someday.”

Phoenix reportedly got “cold feet,” per a source close to the production, as Variety reported in August. The actor spoke about his departure from the project at the Venice International Film Festival in September, at a press conference for Joker: Folie à Deux. Like Haynes, Phoenix’s words about the situation were brief. In response to being asked to comment on his sudden exit, the actor said, “If I do, I’ll just be sharing my opinion from my perspective, and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece, and it just doesn’t feel like that would be right.”

“I am not sure how that would be helpful. I don’t think I will,” he continued.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/todd-haynes-joaquin-phoenix-gay-movie-drop-out-comments on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Entertainment

Tumblr Gays, This One's For You. Hayley Kiyoko's "Girls Like Girls" Will Be a Feature Film

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 4, 2024, 4:31 PM EST

The movie will mark the singer’s feature directing and screenwriting debut.

Gilbert Flores/Getty Images

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POV: It’s June 2015, you log onto Tumblr dot com, and your entire dashboard is filled with people losing their minds over Hayley Kiyoko’s music video for “Girls Like Girls.” “Damn,” you think to yourself, “someone should make this into a full-length movie.” Nearly 10 years later, that dream of thousands of Tumblr gays is finally coming true: Kiyoko is set to adapt the music video into a feature-length film.

Deadline announced the news on Wednesday, noting that it was acquired by Focus Features. The film will mark the singer’s feature directing and screenwriting debut (she made her general directorial debut with the “Girls Like Girls” music video). If you’re unfamiliar with the original, it tells the story of two female friends who slowly fall in love with each other, even as one of them is in a relationship with a man. When they get caught almost kissing at a pool party, the girl’s boyfriend yanks her away by the hair and screams at the both of them, only for the first girl to start beating him up. The video begins and ends with a shot of the girl riding a bike away from the scene of the crime, visible injuries on her face, wearing a tattoo choker and a denim jacket — and yes, the rest of the video is that Tumblrcore as well.

Kiyoko posted to Instagram on Wednesday to announce the news, alongside a heartfelt caption. Noting that she’s “dreamt of this moment for nine years,” the singer said, “I have never fought so hard for anything in my life.”

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She added that since releasing “Girls Like Girls,” she “made a vow to myself and to you all to do everything in my power to create hopeful queer content at the largest scale possible.” That’s clearly been working: in 2023, Kiyoko published her debut young adult novel of the same title, based on the characters from the music video. Per Deadline, the book debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list for Young Adult Hardcover, and remained in the top 10 for seven consecutive weeks.

“The road map has never been clear, I’ve just kept believing that if I kept trying, that one day a road could be paved,” she continued. “We will continue to create space and ignite hope.”

We will absolutely be holding space for Kiyoko’s Girls Like Girls, which we’re hoping will be the sapphic Tumblr romantic dramedy of our dreams.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/hayley-kiyoko-girls-like-girls-song-video-book-movie on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Entertainment

Alex Consani Is the First Out Trans Woman Named Model of the Year at The Fashion Awards

ALYSSA HARDY | DEC 2, 2024, 5:55 PM EST

Making history once again.

Alex Consani walks the runway during the Lacoste Paris Womenswear Spring-Summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 01, 2024 in Paris, France.Francois Durand/Getty Images

This post originally appeared on Teen Vogue.

Alex Consani is making history again. The model and Teen Vogue cover star was just named Model of the Year at the British Fashion Council's 2024 Fashion Awards, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

“I'm the first transwoman to win this award!" she exclaimed in her speech. "But I can't accept this award without thanking those who came before me, specifically the Black trans women who really fought for the space I'm in today–Dominique Jackson, Connie Fleming, Aaron Rose Phillips and countless more who fought for the space that allowed me to flourish today." She also thanked her parents for supporting her and encouraged other parents of trans-kids to support them. “Change is more than possible; it's needed," she concluded to roaring applause.

For the event, Consani wore a corseted dress featuring a Union Jack draping designed by Dilara Findikoglu. (According to Vogue, the look came about via DM).

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 02: Alex Consani attends The Fashion Awards 2024 presented by Pandora at Royal Albert Hall on December 2, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images)Dave Benett/Getty Images

The model is no stranger to breaking barriers in the fashion industry. Not only was she the first transwoman nominated in the category at the BFC, but in October, she became one of the first two trans women to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show red carpet. At the Teen Vogue Summit in November, she talked about how she's navigated an industry that is still far behind when it comes to real inclusion. “The more I work, the more I see the lack of representation we need. It pushes me to work harder," she said. “I’m friends with a lot of women who are amazing at their job, but they’re pushed to the side.”

Additional reporting on Alex Consani's historic win was done by Sandy Aziz.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/alex-consani-first-out-trans-woman-named-model-of-the-year-fashion-awards on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Entertainment

"Disability Is Not Fictional." Actress Marissa Bode Speaks Out Against Ableist Wicked Jokes

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 2, 2024, 2:35 PM EST

Though Bode clarified it's “absolutely okay to not like a fictional character,” she addressed online hate as the first wheelchair-using actress to play Elphaba's sister in a TikTok Saturday.

Instagram/Marissa Bode

Marissa Bode, the actress who plays Elphaba’s sister Nessarose in the Wicked movie, is offering some nuance on the “jokes” about her character’s disability.

The actor posted to TikTok on Saturday to express her discomfort with certain comments about Nessarose. In the five minute video, Bode first referred to the many memes and sentiment online throwing shade at her character saying it is “absolutely okay to not like a fictional character” and that she loves “a little jokey joke.”

And though Bode affirms fans’ right to jab at an unsavory fictional character, she offers that “aggressive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability itself” she found “deeply uncomfortable, because disability is not fictional.”

“At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair,” Bode said. “It is simply a low hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”

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Even though Wicked opened on Broadway in 2003, Bode is the first actor who actually uses a wheelchair to portray Nessa, according to Today. Nessa using a wheelchair, and the alienation she experiences as a result, is an essential aspect of her character and the musical’s storyline. According to Today, Bode started using a wheelchair at age 11 after a car accident, and she relates strongly to Nessa’s desire to assert her independence. The role marks her film debut and she was cast only one year after graduating college.

In the first installment of the two-film Wicked story, which has broken box office records and taken over the internet since its release November 22, Bode’s portrayal of Nessa arguably tees up the character's complex villainy for the second installment. In the second half of the musical adaptation the film is based on, Nessa becomes a cruel dictator, hailing over Munchkinland as the canon “Wicked Witch of the East.”

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But “jokes” about the character, Bode claims, are a bridge too far when they are “aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she deserves her disability.” She called those sentiments “gross and harmful,” and said that she herself had received such comments in real life.

The actor also admitted that she was “literally shaking a little bit” because of how scared she was to speak out about these “jokes.”

“I have seen firsthand what has happened to my disabled peers who are outspoken online when it comes to calling out ableism,” Bode said. “When speaking on ableism, they're told to just take a joke and that they're asking for too much and to stop complaining, to the point where some of my disabled peers… have needed to take a break online for their own mental well being.”

Bode said that she can now “recognize these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance,” but that she was looking out for those in the next generation. “I'm worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments,” she said.

The actor concluded by pointing out that “one of the major themes within Wicked is having the ability to listen and to understand one another,” and she expressed a hope that viewers would learn from that and put it into practice.

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In addition to Bode’s casting marking a historic (long overdue) first for authentic disability representation in Wicked, she’s also openly gay. She’s been in a relationship with her partner, Lauren Brooks, since September 2023, according to People. Bode posted adorable pictures of herself with Brooks during October on Instagram, with the couple dressed as — what else? — Chappell Roan and the siren from the “Casual” video.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/wicked-marissa-bode-actress-nessarose-ableism-disability-wheelchair on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Answers & Advice

- What is Soaking? Everything You Need to Know About the Mormon Sex Loophole

- Trans Egg 101: What You Need to Know About the Iconic Piece of Trans Internet Slang

- Which Country Has the Most Fem Tops? Hung Bottoms? Foot Play? New Grindr Data Has the Answers

- What Is Scissoring? Everything You Need to Know About the Iconic Sex Position

Sex And Relationships

What is Soaking? Everything You Need to Know About the Mormon Sex Loophole

QUISPE LÓPEZ | DEC 6, 2024, 1:17 PM EST

As RHOSLC star Heather Gay put it, soaking is “like a hot dog in a bun, just sitting there.”

Bravo

If you’re a The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City stan, you definitely watched Heather Gay explain soaking last week. But now you might be wondering, “what is soaking?” And if you didn’t grow up Mormon — or religiously watch RHOSLC — there’s a high chance you also don’t know what exactly makes it so controversial.

At its simplest definition, soaking is sex act that involves someone putting their penis in someone’s vagina and then not moving. The lack of movement means that while it’s penetrative sex, there is no hip thrusting or grinding. “Like a hot dog in a bun, just sitting there,” Gay put it on RHOSLC as she explained it to co-star Meredith Marks' kids Chloe and Brooks (also known as the show’s resident gay son).

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Because pre-marital sex goes against the Church of Latter Day Saints code of chastity, soaking is seen by some young Mormons as a loophole to its teachings. The idea is that soaking is a “hack” to pre-marital sex because it doesn’t involve movement or orgasm, similar to the idea that anal penetrative sex doesn’t “really count.”

Soaking has long captured the attention of non-Mormons, periodically going viral because of the salacious nature of a sex loophole that exposes some of the hidden lives of Church of Latter Day Saints members and involves, well, sex. The last time the term went viral was in 2020 when an ex-Mormon TikToker made a video explaining how young sexually suppressed freshmen at Mormon-owned and -operated Brigham Young University (BYU) supposedly soak and jump-hump (when a third person jumps on the bed to create motion for the people soaking) in lieu of having sex. It’s entirely fitting that Bravo’s stand out Real Housewives franchise — known for its rich Mormon stars breaking bad, so to speak, and showing audiences the interior lives of church members — would be the catalyst to reignite the public’s ongoing fascination with soaking.

That’s why we deep dived into the phenomenon: What it is, why people soak, and if it’s actually a common practice among Mormons or a myth conjured up to poke fun at the church’s sex negative morals.

What is soaking?

Soaking, sometimes referred to as docking, is a penetrative sex act that involves someone with a penis penetrating someone with a vagina and staying perfectly still. Mormons and soaking tend to go hand-in-hand in media representation of the loophole, and though some people consider it a myth, there have been notable Mormons who have admitted they’ve soaked, including Gay herself. “I’ve hot dogged and I’ve soaked,” she said after explaining what the sex act entails during the episode that aired on November 27.

What is jump-humping?

Soaking is often spoken about in tandem with jump-humping, but if you’re like Chloe in the episode and are wondering, “what the hell is jump-humping,” allow us to explain. Jump-humping refers to a third person joining the soakers and jumping on the bed to create motion without the soakers themselves technically moving. The job of the jump-humper is to make the soakers shake as much as possible.

“Jump-humping is a myth though,” Gay adds in her explanation. “That is something that I’ve never really heard or seen or participated in.” However, a safe rule of thumb about sex is that if you can imagine it, people have likely done it.

Do people actually do it?

The short answer is, yes.

The question that remains is how common the practice really is. While soaking and jump-humping are some of the most salacious tidbits leaked about Mormon private lives in recent years, with videos about the matter garnering millions of views on TikTok, they’re likely not as common as they’re purported to be. (It’s highly unlikely that every single freshman at BYU is soaking and jump-humping.)

Because there is no large study on the prevalence of soaking in the Church of Latter Day Saints community (or even small batch study on the sex act), we chatted with Ana Osorno, an ex-Mormon and Them social media manager, to give us some insight. Because she left the church as a senior in high school, Osorno wasn’t familiar with the term soaking until later in her adult life. That being said, she was familiar with some of the sex acts people were doing to get around the church’s strict chastity guidelines, including blow jobs, anal sex (i.e. “the poophole loophole”), and soaking.

“A lot of Mormons I was going to school with were excusing what they were doing because it wasn’t full penetrative sex,” Osorno says. “But I have talked to Mormons since who have also left the church and have talked about soaking, specifically at BYU, and people using that as an excuse of, ‘Well, I’m still a virgin.’”

To get why young Mormons would feel like they might have to jump through semantic hoops to explore their sexuality, it’s important to understand the strict code of abstinence they are expected to follow in order to get into heaven.

“Mormons have such specific strict rules, and I think that they’re very well-known: There’s no alcohol, there’s no coffee, there’s no tea, there’s no literally anything,” Osorno says. “From a really young age, they’re taught virginity is the pinnacle of holiness. Then, when they go to school and they want to have fun and don’t want to wait until marriage but they feel really bad about it so they find excuses for what they think is the maximum they can get away with without hell.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/what-is-soaking-everything-you-need-to-know-about-mormon-sex-loophole on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Gender And Identity

Cracking The History of The Trans “Egg”

EVELYN BAUER | DEC 5, 2024, 5:34 PM EST

Slang for a trans person who has yet to come into themselves, the exact origins of “egg” are a mystery.

Chances are if you’re trans and online — or just looking at trans content for some reason — you may have encountered the term “egg.” No, not the one that refers to the boiled or scrambled variety. Within trans and gender nonconforming circles, egg refers to a trans person who has yet to realize their own identity.

All across TikTok, trans folks are sharing pictures from before and after their “egg” cracked, set to music from I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s critically-acclaimed 2024 film about teen dysphoria and coming into your transness. While its jump in popularity across TikTok has reinvigorated conversations about the term, the trans use of “egg” isn’t new.

Popping up around the mid-2010s, “egg” became shorthand online lingo to refer to a trans person who has yet to realize or accept they are trans, or “crack their shell,” so to speak. The metaphor is simple: like an egg, a trans person has to break through their exterior wall with a journey of self-discovery and acceptance before they come into their transness. From The Matrix to Midsommar, trans people have quickly taken to the term to describe eggs in television, films, and beyond.

The trouble is, like many queer intracommunal terms that came about during the digital age with histories scattered across the internet, historians have had trouble tracing its exact origins. Even Susan Stryker, one of the foremost scholars of transgender history who appeared in the seminal documentary Disclosure, tells Them that she couldn’t quite recall when she first heard the term. That’s why we did some digging into what we could find out about the term’s history, meaning, and significance to trans people now.

What is an “egg,” in trans terms?

The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center at Michigan State University defines the term “egg” as a “slang term for someone who is trans but doesn’t know it yet. Someone who is an ‘embryo’ of the trans person they will eventually ‘hatch’ into.” At other times this self-discovery is called “cracking.” This verbiage is more often used as an action: to crack someone’s egg is to help them discover that they are trans.

“Egg” is often a designation given to someone else, like if one of your cisgender friends shows frequent signs of questioning their gender, or if you find someone who you think is on the brink of questioning their gender, you might describe them as an egg. It’s often somewhat used in a humorous manner: I’ve had friends who described their exes as a long string of eggs, for instance.

But the term is also often used as an ironic self-descriptor. People who are trans but don’t feel comfortable considering themselves as such might refer to themselves as eggs. There’s a whole subReddit (r/egg_irl) devoted to “memes about trans people in denial.” Or, essentially, trans people who aren’t ready to be out.

Where did “egg” originate?

As with many slang words, the origin of “egg” is hard to place. The earliest document of the term Them tracked down was an Urban Dictionary definition for “egg mode,” written by user bitplane7 on August 23, 2016: “someone who is trans but doesn’t know it yet.” The subReddit (r/egg_irl) was created on July 26, 2017, and the first non-deleted post on the subReddit was posted the following day. So, while the exact first time “egg” was used to indicate a closeted trans person might be lost to time, the term appears to have entered the internet zeitgeist in the mid-2010s.

Susan Stryker tells Them that she doesn’t have a clear idea of when she first heard the term “egg,” however, she does remember publishing a piece in Transgender Studies Quarterly (TSQ) by Grace Lavery in 2020 called “Egg Theory's Early Style,” “about how queer theory in the 1980s and 90s didn't know it was already trans.” The piece would have been written in 2019, and Stryker is pretty sure she heard Lavery use the term at the 2019 National Women’s Studies Annual Conference, where the two sat on a panel together. Though there’s a chance she’s “inventing that memory retroactively” because they were already working on the piece that would later be published in TSQ.

“I do remember at that time that ‘egg’ seemed intuitively obvious as a term to me, something whose meaning I understood and felt familiar with even if it wasn't a term that I used myself, like it was already in the ether, part of the zeitgeist,” Stryker says. “Anecdotally, based on my own social media usage, I noted a big uptick in prevalence during the COVID lockdown among the pandemic transitioners.”

And hey, that makes sense — online activity increased across the board, which means a greater number of people came into contact with niche online terminology and the communities that come with them. Take a look at the statistics for the previously mentioned subReddit (r/egg_irl) for a glance into this increase. There were many trans people who also cracked their eggs and transitioned during the early days of the pandemic, so it also makes sense that the term would grow exponentially from 2020 onward.

Is it okay to call someone an “egg?”

By calling someone an egg, it might imply that you’re waiting for them to either understand or accept their own latent trans identity. This can be done in positive and negative ways. To name fictional characters or inanimate objects as “eggs” can be merely playful and facetious intracommunal banter. To talk about an actual person as an “egg” is more precarious. In some cases, it could be out of care or interest in helping the person discover their transness, but if done in a gossipy, pejorative, or confrontational way, especially if directly to them, this may only push that person more into the trans closet.

Sometimes, hearing the term just in and of itself can be transformative to a prospective egg. Once an egg is cracked it can never return to its original form — the gooey inside has been unleashed into the world. Once an egg realizes that they are trans, and feels comfortable being trans, that’s it. The baby bird is ready to grow up.

As Lavery mentions in her aforementioned 2020 essay, the metaphor also makes reference to the idea that the trans person, before realizing their identity, is merely a shell. The interior life is tucked away until that person is able to break out — sometimes just naming it can do that.

What does “egg” mean culturally for trans people now?

If we consider the term egg to represent that nebulous period before recognizing yourself as trans, where everything feels a little strange, or different, or off, we can see the appeal of art that speaks to that feeling. The cultural influence of Lavery’s “egg theory,” the logic trans people use prior to transition to internally prove “the impossibility of transition,” provides a way for trans people to engage and connect with art that is not explicitly trans, but rather feels “eggy.”

This can range from art that seems more explicitly trans-coded, like I Saw the TV Glow, where Owen’s characterization is a near explicit exploration of the feeling of egg-dom, to works that connect with trans people’s experiences more implicitly, perhaps most famously the Wachowski sisters’ The Matrix, which gives a science fiction spin to the feeling of alienation from the world, and the feeling that there is more to existence than you’re able to feel and perceive now.

“It is a trans allegory in that it was written by two closeted trans women,” Lilly Wachowski told Them in 2023. “And so all of the things that are in it are super-duper trans. The idea of transformation, even the whole ‘My name is Neo, Mr. Anderson’ — that idea of claiming identity, it’s undeniable.”

The concept of the egg provides a means of advancing trans cultural production in ways that are both funny and serious. The term lets trans people connect with media on their own terms, and provides a path for outsiders looking to better grasp the trans experience — of which egg-dom might be a critical step.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/cracking-the-history-of-the-trans-egg on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Sex And Relationships

On Grindr, "Trans" Was the Second-Most Searched Profile Tag in the World This Year

QUISPE LÓPEZ | DEC 5, 2024, 10:00 AM EST

New data from the app also uncovered which country has the most fem tops, hung bottoms, and foot lovers.

Getty Images

Spotify Wrapped didn’t even include gay cities this year. Lame. But lucky for us, Grindr is here to give us the hornier year-in-review we all deserve in order to uncover vital community learnings like which country is most likely to suck toes.

The dating app released these findings in Grindr Unwrapped Thursday morning, a yearly collection of insights from Grindr users all over the world about pop culture, sex, dating, and more that defined 2024. Using data gathered from Grindr’s user base, along with in-app surveys, the review covers horny tidbits from what is the largest “social networking” app in the world for LGBTQ+ people.

"Each year, Unwrapped is our love letter to the queer community," says Tristan Pineiro, SVP of Brand Marketing and Communications. “It’s our way of celebrating the voices and moments that make our community so vibrant and swoon-worthy while honoring the trends and perspectives that unite us globally.”

And swoon-worthy is certainly an accurate description of the sex and dating findings summarized in the report. The end-of-year review shed some light on what exactly Grindr users like the most in the bedroom — or locker room, or club, etc.

The year-in-review also revealed who people were searching for using Grindr. Most interesting to this website in particular: according to profile information and search history gathered from Grindr users, “trans” was the second-most searched tag in the world, beaten only by the tag “hung.”

In-app surveys of thousands of Grindr users found that missionary, a classic, reigned supreme as the “sex position of the year” and that another classic, kissing, was the “favorite foreplay activity” of 2024. A bit vanilla, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Yet, the “top five” lists for each country yielded the most delicious findings:

Which country is the most into feet? Italy was the country with the highest percentage of foot lovers, according to reviews of how all Grindr users self-IDed, as well as searched on the app. The runner-up was Germany, and if you've ever been to Berghain, this makes total sense.

Which country most-loves nudes? The U.S. took the crown as the country that most-loved exchanging nudes, and on the opposite end, South Africa was the most nude-averse, according to the data.

Which country has the most open relationships? Where should an ethical slut, so to speak, travel if they wanted to be among other nonmonogamous types? According to Grindr’s data, it’s South Korea, with Switzerland as a runner-up.

Which country has the most sides? Singapore had the highest percentage of sides, the data revealed, if you’re more into outercourse or non-penetrative sex acts.

Which country has the most tops? For those who were lamenting about the top shortage in 2024, fear not. By analyzing profile information from all of Grindr’s global users, the year-in-review found that Jordan was the country with the highest percentage of tops all around, with Greece coming in second.

Which country has the most femme tops? If you’re looking to bring Fem Top Fall into Fem Top Winter, the U.K. has the highest percentage of fem tops, according to Grindr data.

Which country has the most bottoms? If you have the opposite problem, you might want to consider planning your next trip to South Africa, the country with the most bottoms when it comes to Grindr users.

Which country has the most hung bottoms? Or, maybe you want well-endowed bottoms specifically, in which case you’ll want to check out France, the country with Grindr’s highest percentage, and Canada of all places coming in second.

Which country is the most vers? If you’re looking for someone who enjoys it all. Finland is home to the highest percentage of vers Grindr users.

Which country has the most bears? For those who want to travel to find the bear of your dreams, you’re in luck. The year-in-review found Greece had the highest percentage of bears of any country Who doesn’t love a hairy chest and a crystal blue ocean?

Which country has the most twinks? If Troye Sivan is more your vibe, the Netherlands had the highest percent of twinks of any country, and to no one's surprise, Switzerland came in second in this data's category.

Which country has the most daddies? If daddies are who you want to find, look no further than the U.S., which had the highest percentage of any country in 2024, and Australia was the runner-up.

Grindr’s Unwrapped has a little something for everyone, and some possible travel inspiration for 2025. Kidding! Unless…?

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/grindr-unwrapped-trans-fem-tops-hung-bottoms-feet on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Answers & Advice

What Is Scissoring? Everything You Need to Know About the Iconic Sex Position

ADEJOKE MASON | DEC 3, 2024, 1:43 PM EST

Queer sexperts answer your most commonly asked questions about scissoring.

Scissoring might just be one of the most mythical sex acts of them all, one that is as iconic as it is controversial.

For those who are unfamiliar, scissoring is a way of having sex that’s commonly associated with cis lesbians, where partners rub their genitals together to achieve pleasure or an orgasm. While partaking in the sex act itself isn’t contentious, the lore around scissoring is.

Critics have pointed out that scissoring seems to more often appear in porn specifically catering to straight men than actual sex between queer women, which has created confusion surrounding whether or not the sex act is even real, leading some to believe things like “real lesbians don’t actually scissor.” On the other hand, there are some who think that scissoring is the main or only way queer women have sex, another myth perpetuated by porn.

All of these misconceptions have taken away from scissoring being exactly what it is — one of the many ways that anyone can have sex if they choose. And scissoring itself is more nuanced than the assumed idea of “lesbian scissoring” — it can span various genders, genitals, and sexualities.

This makes scissoring that much more important as an intracommunal anomaly. It allows us to challenge the idea that penetrative sex is the only valid form of sex and allows everyone to rethink what pleasure feels like for them. Most importantly, the confusion surrounding scissoring can remind us that there is no one-size-fits-all statement we can make about queer sex.

Scissoring can be pleasurable, it can be fun, it can be a little silly, and it can also not be your thing. Exploring what works for you and what doesn’t is something every queer person should do, but experimenting with scissoring may feel daunting. What does scissoring really mean? How does scissoring work, and who can do it? We consulted queer sexperts and educators Irma Garcia and Mx. Sizzle to answer those questions and more below.

What is scissoring?

“Scissoring refers to a sexual position where two people, usually with vulvas, are facing each other and interlock their legs in a scissor-like position while rubbing their genitalia together,” says Irma Garcia, a certified sex educator. For many folks with vulvas, this can allow for direct clitoral stimulation. Mx. Sizzle, also a sex educator, notes that anyone, of any gender and with any genitals, can scissor. At its base definition, scissoring is just about genital-to-genital stimulation, so anyone interested in doing so can scissor.

What is the difference between scissoring and tribbing?

Like scissoring, tribbing was initially associated with lesbians and sapphics, but its definition has expanded over the years to include people with all types of genitals. Though you might be unfamiliar with the term tribadism (another word for tribbing), it might even be something you already do. Mx. Sizzle defines tribbing as the “act of rubbing genitals on any part of another person’s body to stimulate arousal or orgasm.”

You can think of it as another form of grinding, explains Garcia; a common example is when someone rubs their genitals on another person’s thigh for pleasure. Tribbing is an umbrella term, while scissoring is a type of tribadism that specifically refers to when genitals make contact with each other. This can range from genital-to-leg contact, genital-to-arm contact, genital-to-genital contact, and so on.

If you want to read more about tribbing and how to do it, check out Them’s existing guide.

What are some common myths about scissoring?

It's no surprise that misconceptions and confusion are rife when it comes to scissoring, including about whether scissoring is real, who does it, and more. There are even entire podcasts named after the allegation that “scissoring isn’t a thing.” Let’s bust some of those myths below:

“Scissoring is only for lesbians”

As Mx. Sizzle highlighted above, there are a lot of assumptions around who can scissor. The act is heavily associated with cis lesbians, but in reality, “anyone of any gender who enjoys genital to genital friction can scissor and find enjoyment from doing so,” as Mx. Sizzle says. Genital-to-genital contact can be incredibly sensual and intimate for anybody.

“Cis men can scissor, trans men can scissor, cis women can scissor, trans women can scissor — the entire spectrum of non-binary and abinary folks can scissor too,” they tell Them.

“Scissoring isn’t real”

Scissoring is often misconstrued as a myth, or something that queer people don’t actually do. That’s false. Many queer people enjoy scissoring, and it is indeed real sex. “Any sex act, regardless of penetration, is sex,” as Mx. Sizzle puts it, and it’s important that we refute a definition of sex that only centers on penetration. Scissoring is very much real, is a legitimate sex act, and something many queer people actively enjoy.

“Scissoring is STI risk free”

Many may assume that due to a lack of penetration, scissoring is free from the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) — but both of our sexperts say that’s untrue. “Just like any sexual activity, there are potential risks associated with scissoring, such as the risk of skin irritation or the transmission of STIs,” Garcia says. Genital contact with another person always runs the risk of STI transmission. Using barriers like dental dams or latex undies, as well as regular STI testing and discussing your STI status, can be a great way to incorporate safer sex practices into scissoring.

“It’s easy”

While videos of scissoring may make it appear easy or effortless, this isn’t necessarily the case. “Scissoring, like any sexual activity, requires experimentation, communication, and finding the right positions to make it pleasurable. What's pleasurable can vary greatly from person to person,” Garcia says.

Mx. Sizzle says that because people vary in terms of shape, size, and ability level, acts should be modified to what works for you and your partner(s). There are a variety of scissoring positions that work best for different people: the classic facing away from each other and crossing legs (like a pair of scissors), one person straddling their partner while the other person lays down, sitting in each other's laps with your legs crossed, and so on. Scissoring can even involve some simultaneous penetration whether it’s with a toy, finger, or even your partner’s genitals. The point is, it isn’t easy because there are so many ways to scissor, all of which require different skill levels and positions.

Ultimately, having pleasurable experiences requires discussing safety, desires, boundaries, preferences, and more. Remember, having good sex is all about trial and error so if it isn’t perfect on the first go, that is totally ok and to be expected.

How do you scissor?

Like all sex, scissoring takes communication with your partner(s), finding a position that works for you, and some planning. Not all scissoring methods are going to work for you — and that’s ok! If you need some inspiration to get you started, both of our sexperts compiled a list of quick tips on how to scissor with someone.

1. Consent is key. Make sure you start by obtaining enthusiastic consent and having conversations around desires and boundaries

2. Remember to use protection. Unless you are fluid bound with your partner or have otherwise talked about it, using protection is always a good rule of thumb. Dental dams can also be used for scissoring.

3. Find your position. Overall, you are trying to find a comfortable position that creates pleasurable genital-to-genital contact. That can vary from person to person. Finding what works with a given partner may also take time. For some, one partner lying on their back with their legs bent and spread while the other sits sideways works best. Others say lying side-by-side with their legs bent at the knee as they grind feels best. People can also try facing each other comfortably while sitting, or even laying feet-to-feet and moving down until genitals meet — there are plenty of positions to explore.

4. Explore what feels good. And have fun with it! Try to find a rhythm and motion that is pleasurable for both parties while remembering to let yourself fall into the sensation, relax, and enjoy.

5. Incorporate toys. Magic wands, suction toys, and other kinds of vibrators can be a great way to add in an extra element of pleasure once you get the hang of the basic position.

6. It isn’t about the orgasm. Like any sex act, the point of scissoring shouldn’t fully focus on cumming. That can create too much pressure or limit the potential of sex within a diversity of people’s abilities to achieve climax. Instead, it should be about the pleasurable journey of exploring each other’s bodies and what feels good.

7. Try out lube. Lube can also be a great way to enhance comfort and reduce skin irritation, Garcia says.

8. It’s ok if scissoring doesn’t work for you. Whether it doesn’t feel good, isn’t optimal for your body, or just isn’t sexy to you, that’s totally valid. Just because scissoring can technically be for anyone, doesn’t mean it has to be for everyone.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/what-is-scissoring-sex-position on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

News

- Nancy Mace, a Sitting Congresswoman, Is Openly Using Slurs Online

- Meet Nick Dumont: the 'Oppenheimer' Actor Comes Out as Trans, Updates Pronouns

- 8 Takeaways From the First Day of SCOTUS’ Historic Trans Rights Case

- Raquel Willis, Chelsea Manning, Others Arrested in Trans Solidarity Capitol Bathroom “Sit-In”

- Jaycee Cooper, Trans Powerlifter Barred From Competing, Takes on Minnesota Supreme Court

- Justices’ Questions Suggest Supreme Court May Uphold Tennessee’s Gender-Affirming Care Ban

- The Trans Teen at the Center of 'U.S. v. Skrmetti' Speaks Out About the Case

- Montana Lawmakers Tried to Block Zooey Zephyr From Using Capitol Bathrooms. Here's Why It Didn't Work

- The Fight for Trans Rights and Abortion Are Inextricably Linked. Cis Women Should Act Like It

- LGBTQ+ Population More Than Twice As Likely to Vape, New Report Finds

- How Bathroom Bans on Federal Property Would Impact Trans Americans

- Biden Promised to Pardon Gay Veterans. Why Is Steve Marose Still Waiting for His?

- Trans Teens Stage “Die-In” to Protest the UK's Puberty Blocker Ban

- Village People Songwriter Threatens to Sue Anyone That Calls “Y.M.C.A.” a Gay Anthem

- Apollo Moon, Beloved Trans Porn Creator and Friend, Has Died

- Quanesha “Cocoa” Shantel, a "Radiant" Black Trans Ballroom Performer and Aspiring Nurse, Killed at 26

News

Nancy Mace, a Sitting Congresswoman, Is Openly Using Slurs Online

SAMANTHA RIEDEL | DEC 6, 2024, 12:34 PM EST

In recent history, Capitol Hill has had little tolerance for racial or homophobic slurs. But the self-identified "TERF" seems to get a free pass.

Getty Images; X.com

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Note: this article contains discussion of transphobic, homophobic, gendered, and racial slurs.

As if grandstanding on anti-trans legislation in Congress wasn’t enough, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace has a new hobby: saying the t-slur, often, and preferably in front of a camera.

Mace, who introduced a proposal to ban trans women from Capitol Hill women’s bathrooms last month shortly after the election of Rep. Sarah McBride, conspicuously deployed the slur no less than three times in posts on X this week. Her first post was made on the evening of December 4, following public demonstrations outside the Supreme Court that morning. In the video, a Mace staffer hands the representative a book, saying it is the office sign-in book, which activists allegedly defaced. “Oh, this is the trannies,” Mace remarked in the video.

The following Thursday, Mace doubled down on using the slur in another video, after trans activists including Raquel Willis and Chelsea Manning staged a bathroom sit-in protest and were arrested. Mace — who earlier that day had reportedly sent her staff in search of a bullhorn — traveled to the jail where the activists were being held and read the Miranda warning aloud from her phone. Mace led the video off by calling the activists “tranny protesters,” sarcastically called them “poor things” for being arrested, and made a peculiar aside about public defenders, apparently mocking those arrested who cannot afford a lawyer. In a subsequent post later that afternoon, Mace tripled down, writing “[t]he trannies came, they saw, and they did not conquer during their protest.” Soon after, she posted a fundraising request.

All of Mace’s posts were still live on X as of Friday morning. The latter two now contain a moderation warning noting that Mace had “violated the X Rules about hateful conduct” but that moderators had “determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Post to remain accessible.” Mace appeared hopping mad, complaining late Thursday that the platform had “censored” her by limiting the posts’ visibility and tagging X owner Elon Musk (who has previously declared the term “cis” or “cisgender” to be a slur on the site).

Mace is certainly not the first sitting member of Congress to use a derogatory slur in public, but her repeated, gleeful use of the term sets her apart from many previous such incidents as far back as the 1990s, in which those on Capitol Hill have typically been expected to express remorse for doing so.

Earlier this year, Maryland Democrat David Trone lost his primary race for Senate after using a racial slur during a hearing, for which he apologized, saying his usage was accidental and that he had meant to use the word “bugaboo.” Last year, Arizona Republican Eli Crane said he “misspoke” when referring to Black people as “colored people” during floor debate on an amendment. Florida Republican Ted Yoho apologized in 2020 for calling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch.” In 2013, Alaska Republican Don Young used the slur “wetbacks” during a radio interview, at first saying he “meant no disrespect” but later apologizing after then-House Speaker John Boehner demanded he do so. And back in 1995, then-Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas referred to Democrat Barney Frank as “Barney Fag” during an interview, later apologizing and claiming that he had mispronounced Frank’s last name.

In all those cases, politicians either apologized for or otherwise walked back their statements — but in Mace’s case, being offensive is clearly the point, as the representative continues her plunge down the far-right rabbit hole. As Media Matters’ Ari Drennen observed on X, Mace is currently contemplating a bid for South Carolina governor or Senate in 2026, which could lead her to clash with longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who has been labeled as a “RINO” (“Republican in Name Only”) on the far right for opposing the Trump/MAGA movement.

Mace has so far received little pushback from her Capitol Hill colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, for her repeated use of slurs this week; few sitting members of Congress have publicly commented, and no statements referencing Mace’s remarks have yet been made by the Progressive or Equality Caucuses. For some, this raises the question of whether slurs and demeaning remarks against trans people are being held to a different standard than other offensive statements, as transphobia has become a pillar of the modern GOP; the lack of immediate response could also be related to Rep. McBride’s reported comments to Democratic colleagues last month, in which she said actions like Mace’s bathroom ban — which would affect other trans people more than McBride herself — were a “distraction” and should largely be ignored.

One exception was Florida Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who called Mace’s language “disgusting and bigoted” in a post on his personal account Thursday evening.

“People who use this type of despicable language should not be leading anyone,” Frost wrote.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/nancy-mace-transphobic-t-slur-video-tweet on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

News

Meet Nick Dumont: the Oppenheimer Actor Comes Out as Trans, Updates Pronouns

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 6, 2024, 11:06 AM EST

The actor shared the new name and pronouns in a major gender update to TMZ.

Instagram

Nick Dumont, the actor who played Jackie Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer, has come out as transmasculine and nonbinary.

As first reported by TMZ on Thursday, the actor recently changed their pronouns and name on their Instagram bio. Though their handle is still @emmadumont, their name is now listed as Nick Dumont on their profile, and their pronouns are listed as “they/them.” Their bio includes a collection of heart emojis that appear to correspond to the lesbian and nonbinary flags, as well as the phrases “Carmy coded,” as in the main character from The Bear, and “McCutcheon apologist,” as in the polarizing anti-hero Shane from the original L Word. Now that’s a transmasculine nonbinary Instagram bio if ever we’ve seen one.

Though Dumont has changed their pronouns and name on their Instagram profile, they have not yet directly posted about their coming out to social media. A representative for the actor told TMZ that they identify “as a transmasculine nonbinary person.” “Their work name is still going to be Emma Dumont, but they will go by Nick with friends and family,” the rep said.

Even before officially confirming their identity to TMZ, the actor definitely appeared to be dropping hints on social media. Dumont first posted a picture of themself with short cropped hair on May 26 of this year, with the caption “your favorite sweetheart’s favorite sweetheart.” (And yes, they confirmed in the comments that it was a Chappell Roan reference.) They’ve also made several other posts since then of them rocking short hair and more androgynous clothing, often with a huge smile on their face. And, truly committing to the “McCutcheon apologist” bit, Dumont dressed as Shane for Halloween this year.

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In addition to their role in Oppenheimer as the titular character’s sister-in-law, Dumont has also appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza (as Brenda), and also previously collaborated with the director in 2014’s Inherent Vice (as Zinnia). They also starred as Polaris a.k.a. Lorna Dane in the Fox TV series The Gifted, based on an alternate imagining of the X-Men film series.

Their next project, aptly titled New Me, is an upcoming horror thriller starring Dumont. New Me does not yet have a release date.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/nick-dumont-oppenheimer-comes-out-trans-nonbinary-pronouns on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

News

8 Takeaways From the First Day of SCOTUS’ Historic Trans Rights Case

SAMANTHA RIEDEL | DEC 5, 2024, 6:13 PM EST

Key moments from the first day of the case that could determine the future of trans rights in the U.S.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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The first day of oral arguments in the landmark transgender healthcare case U.S. v. Skrmetti was eventful, to say the least, as myriad arguments in favor of gender-affirming medical care mingled with inaccurate statements about trans people, some of which verged on the bizarre.

U.S. v. Skrmetti could determine the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, SB 1, which became law in 2023. The case hinges specifically on whether Tennessee’s ban violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as the Justice Department claims. A decision upholding the ban could be devastating for bodily autonomy in the U.S., advocates have warned.

It’s too early to know how the court will decide this early, of course, though the Court’s conservative majority appeared keen to find reasons to uphold the ban. Initial oral arguments on Wednesday already felt like a roller coaster, as the justices and attorneys on either side sparred over numerous aspects of the case. At certain points, wild inaccuracies and strange arguments were floated about trans people — many from Tennessee Solicitor General J. Matthew Rice, but even once by U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing for the plaintiffs.

Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most significant moments in the first day of oral arguments, which you can also listen to in full via PBS (or read the official transcript).

Chase Strangio makes history, and says the appeals court “got it wrong”

On Wednesday, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project Chase Strangio became the first trans person in U.S. history to argue before the Supreme Court. Strangio made the case that Tennessee’s ban is unconstitutional on multiple grounds and “is so discontinuous with the asserted interests in protecting children” that it should fail under any legal standard of review.

Strangio also argued that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard when reviewing the case last year. The appeals court applied the least rigorous legal standard for a law’s constitutionality, while Strangio argued that a stricter scrutiny test should have been used. Strangio asked the Court to vacate the lower court’s decision and remand it, with instructions to reevaluate the text of SB 1. “[T]here's a world of difference between rational basis and heightened scrutiny. And we think the Sixth Circuit got it wrong” by using the less stringent test, Strangio said.

For the first time, the rights of intersex kids are discussed at the Supreme Court

Prelogar, representing the Department of Justice, repeatedly made the case that SB 1 discriminates against trans youth by denying medical procedures based on their assigned sex at birth. Professed fears about infertility as a result of hormone therapy are understandable, Prelogar allowed — but, she added, bans like Tennessee’s undermine their own interest in protecting a child’s future fertility by also explicitly allowing nonconsensual surgeries on intersex youth. (Similar or identical carveouts have been made in numerous other proposed state bans since 2021, allowing surgeons to continue operating on intersex infants. Such surgeries are frequently cosmetic rather than medically necessary, and carry a myriad of medical risks including chronic pain, but were still banned in only six countries worldwide as of December 2023.)

“There are other treatments for adolescents that likewise affect fertility, including some of those that SB1 expressly permits, like on intersex individuals, who often have surgeries as infants that might permanently affect their fertility,” Prelogar noted during her testimony.

Prelogar’s comments were historic, even in an already history-making case like U.S. v. Skrmetti. “I believe this is the first mention of intersex kids at SCOTUS, ever,” ACLU attorney Shana Knizhnik noted on X Wednesday morning.

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Neither Justice Amy Coney Barrett nor the U.S. Solicitor General seem to know about historic trans discrimination

One of the day’s more peculiar exchanges occurred when Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Prelogar whether the U.S. has any history of de jure discrimination — i.e., discrimination enforced by federal or state law — against trans people. Barrett, attempting to determine whether trans people constitute a “suspect class” (a group of people who have historically been discriminated against), commented that “as far as I can think of, we don’t have a history of [...] de jure discrimination against trans people.” Prelogar, responding, pointed to “a broad history” of transphobia and discrimination in the private sector, but conceded that “historical discrimination against transgender people may not have been reflected in the laws.”

It fell to Strangio in his own testimony to point out that actually, trans people have faced legal discrimination in the U.S. for over 150 years — at least since the mid-1800s, when “cross-dressing” was a criminal act. By the 1960s, such laws were widespread throughout the U.S.

“I would also point, if I could, to the history of discrimination, and there are many examples of in law discrimination, exclusions from the military, criminal bans on cross-dressing, and others,” Strangio said during a response to Chief Justice John Roberts. Barrett later told Strangio she “didn't know about the statutes prohibiting cross-dressing.”

Justice Kavanaugh fixates on trans athletes and school sports

Throughout the day, Justice Brett Kavanaugh returned again and again to questions about trans students in school sports leagues, asking whether a victory for the plaintiffs would establish a “constitutional right [...] to play in women’s and girls’ sports.” Kavanaugh also referenced “competitive fairness and safety issues that have been vocally raised by some female athletes,” citing an amicus brief submitted to the court. (Kavanaugh’s status as a basketball coach for his daughters’ school team is well documented by Kavanaugh himself.)

Setting aside the fact that such claims are suspect at best, Prelogar pointed out in her answer that a victory in U.S. v. Skrmetti would have no effect on the current state of trans athletic inclusion, in large part because matters of sports and bathroom access are already subject to “heightened scrutiny” under the law (another term for “intermediate” scrutiny). “So it's actually not the question teed up here about how to classify the law in the first place or how to identify whether it's a sex classification,” Prelogar said.

Alito draws legal comparisons between trans identity and schizophrenia

In questioning Strangio, Justice Samuel Alito appeared eager to disqualify trans identity as a suspect class, grilling him about whether trans identity is “immutable,” then specifically asking if genderfluid people have “immutable” trans identity. He also brought up detransitioners multiple times against Strangio's answer that yes, trans identity is immutable.

Alito then compared transgender identity to schizophrenia, citing the 1985 precedent in City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, which disability advocates have said was wrongfully decided as it upheld that people with disabilities are not automatically part of a suspect class. Throughout his questions, Alito seemed to be looking for evidence that trans people as a whole do not meet the legal thresholds necessary to apply stricter scrutiny to any discrimination claims.

“I'm not suggesting that gender dysphoria is a disease, a mental illness. I'm not suggesting that at all. I'm just saying, how could we justify the different treatment?” Alito asked Strangio, who countered by describing the much different context of the Cleburne decision (in which the Court declined to treat people with intellectual disabilities as a protected class, because they are a “large and diversified group” with a wide variety of different diagnoses and needs).

Tennessee Solicitor General implies that gender-affirming care is analogous to lobotomies and eugenics

There were too many bizarre moments in the Tennessee Solicitor General’s remarks to count, but perhaps the most concerning was when Rice drew comparisons between the wide acceptance of gender-affirming care and the early 20th-century use of lobotomies to treat mental illnesses.

“I think our position is that there are certain times in medicine, history has shown, where the states in their traditional role as regulators have had to intervene,” Rice told Kavanaugh. “[O]f course the parents are trying to do the best they can and get the best treatment for their kids, but we've had multiple instances in somewhat recent history where we have stuff like lobotomy, eugenics, that had widespread acceptance among the medical community, and the state had to intervene as a regulator to protect the children.”

Rice’s description of lobotomies was, in a word, false. Although lobotomies were once common in the U.S., many of them nonconsensual, the American Medical Association denounced the practice as early as 1941 — barely half a decade after Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz invented the procedure. (Today, the AMA is one of many U.S. medical organizations that have repeatedly endorsed gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.) The infamous “lobotomy boom” of the mid-1900s was not reigned in by the U.S. government, but rather prolonged by politicians; unlike the Soviet Union, lobotomies were never officially outlawed in the U.S., though a federal review in 1977 discouraged their use.

Justice Jackson says arguments to ban gender-affirming care are similar to those once used against interracial marriage

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, addressing Prelogar, observed similarities between Tennessee's arguments for its ban and those once used to defend anti-Black statutes throughout the U.S., specifically citing the Loving v. Virginia case, which struck down laws banning interracial marriages.

“[S]ome of these questions about sort of who decides and the concerns and legislative prerogatives, et cetera, sound very familiar to me. They sound [like] the same kinds of arguments that were made back in the day, '50s, '60s, with respect to racial classifications and inconsistencies,” Jackson said.

Moreover, Jackson added, the overall goal of the statutes themselves were also eerily similar. “[W]hen you look at the structure of that law, it looks in terms of — you know, you can't do something that is inconsistent with your own characteristics. It's sort of the same thing,” Jackson said. “So it's interesting to me that we now have this different argument, and I wonder whether Virginia could have gotten away with what they did here by just making a classification argument the way that Tennessee is in this case.”

“I think that's exactly right,” Prelogar agreed — “there is absolutely a parallel between any law that says you can't act inconsistent with a protected characteristic.”

Justice Gorsuch is silent

One of the day’s most notable aspects wasn’t a single moment, but rather Justice Neil Gorsuch’s pervasive silence. Gorsuch declined to question Prelogar, Strangio, or Rice when prompted by Roberts, and did not make any other statements — including when Strangio referenced Gorsuch’s opinion in a 2021 case to bolster his argument for applying heightened scrutiny.

It’s not clear what Gorsuch’s silence on the first day of oral arguments could mean for his final vote — whether he’s already made up his mind, leaned one direction, or hasn’t decided at all. Gorsuch, a Trump nominee, did author the 2020 Bostock decision that established trans-specific protections under Title VII, but reportedly rubber-stamped the 2022 decision which removed the right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade. As MSNBC noted, should the Court’s five other conservatives decide for Tennessee, Gorsuch’s vote alone would not be enough to turn the tide.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/key-takeaways-first-day-skrmetti-scotus-historic-trans-rights-case on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Raquel Willis, Chelsea Manning, Others Arrested in Trans Solidarity Capitol Bathroom “Sit-In”

LEX MCMENAMIN | DEC 5, 2024, 2:57 PM EST

Arrestees chanted “Speaker Johnson, Nancy Mace, our bodies are not a debate!”

Alexa B Wilkinson

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This article originally appeared on Teen Vogue.

Two weeks after Capitol Hill exploded over Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pushing to ban trans people from using the correct bathrooms on federal property, approximately 15 activists were arrested for protesting the policy by “sitting-in” in a women’s bathroom across from Johnson’s Congressional office, according to organizers of the civil disobedience.

Teen Vogue reports that organizers set up banners on the ground in front of Johnson’s front door and another in the bathroom right across from it, and as they were quickly carried off under arrest, wrists in zip ties. They were threatened by Capitol police with potential sexual misconduct charges over the bathroom occupation, according to the 19th. According to an organizer, they were also threatened with felony charges.

The arrestees were released later in the day without charges.

Arrestees – organizers from LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive justice organizations, as well as individuals like whistleblower Chelsea Manning – chanted “Speaker Johnson, Nancy Mace, our bodies are not a debate!” (The activists are currently detained and any potential charges are pending.) In response, in a video posted to Mace's Twitter/X account, she was recorded speaking into a megaphone outside the Capitol police precinct where the protesters were being held. In it, she refers to them using a transphobic slur and read the Miranda rule.

The action, organized by the Gender Liberation Movement (GLM), “demand[ed] elected officials block the proposed expanded bill H. RES. 1579 that would ban bathroom access for trans people in all federal buildings and could extend to educational institutions, museums, and other public landmarks,” per the press release. It notes that while the policy was intended to target Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride (D), it would impact “trans people at every level of government and in every sector of society,” as well as “cisgender people who are perceived as gender nonconforming.”

One 25-year-old protester, who goes by Butch Molly, told Teen Vogue before the action, “I'm pretty androgynous, so no matter what bathroom, what locker room I'm in, someone thinks I'm in the wrong room no matter where I am. It's like, how do I piss in public? How do I go outside and live a life? What if I have to go to the bathroom and I'm out doing my errands or whatever? That sh*t really sucks.” Butch Molly was arrested with the other 15 protesters.

Chants also called out the Democratic Party for what trans advocates see as inaction in responding to the well-funded anti-trans propaganda being pushed by conservatives, chanting, “Democrats grow a spine, trans lives are on the line!”

“In the 2024 election, trans folks were left to fend for ourselves after nearly $200 million of attack ads were disseminated across the United States,” journalist and GLM co-founder Raquel Willis, among those arrested, said. “Now, as Republican politicians, try to remove us from public life, Democratic leaders are silent as hell. But we can’t transform bigotry and hate with inaction. We must confront it head on. Democrats must rise up, filibuster, and block this bill.”

This story has been updated by Teen Vogue to include the video posted to Rep. Mace's X account.

This story has been updated the Them to include the release of the detainees.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/raquel-willis-chelsea-manning-others-arrested-trans-solidarity-capitol-bathroom-sit-in on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Jaycee Cooper, Trans Powerlifter Barred From Competing, Takes on Minnesota Supreme Court

MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | DEC 5, 2024, 12:29 PM EST

USA Powerlifting denies the discrimination allegations, saying it works to “welcome all kinds of people to come in" after barring Cooper from entry into two women’s competitions in 2018.

Courtesy of Gender Justice

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On Tuesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard the case of a trans woman who was barred from competing against cisgender women in the championships organized by USA Powerlifting, the organization that oversees the sport in the United States.

Powerlifter Jaycee Cooper is accusing USA Powerlifting of discriminating against her when it denied her entry into two women’s competitions in 2018, according to CBS News.

"It's just basic discrimination law that you can't pick out people based on who they are, based on averages, generalizations, and stereotypes about what their bodies are like," Jess Braverman, one of Cooper's attorneys, told CBS News. "That's true for cis-gendered women, it's true for transgender women, and we want to make sure that law is enforced."

Braverman, legal director of Mineesota-based legal advocacy organization Gender Justice is arguing that, in denying Cooper a spot in a women’s competition, USA Powerlifting violated Minnesota’s Human Rights Act.

However, USA Powerlifting denies the allegations of discrimination, saying it works to “welcome all kinds of people to come in.”

"We take no position on pronouns and people's names,” USA Powerlifting president Larry Maile told CBS News. “We invite people to be who they want to be as long as we can preserve fairness for all of our categories of competitors."

Cooper began powerlifting in 2018 and was informed that year by the governing body that she would not be eligible to compete in the Minnesota Women’s State Championship because she is trans. Aside from barring her, USA Powerlifting also revoked her competition card, meaning she would be unable to take part in future events, as well. After banning Cooper, USA Powerlifting banned trans women from competition and created an open MX division in 2021 to serve all gender identities, including trans and nonbinary athletes.

Courtesy of Gender Justice

Maile says his organization created an open MX division in 2021 to serve athletes of all gender identities, including transgender and nonbinary members. Representatives of Gender Justice say the added division doesn't solve the problem of the exclusion of transgender women.

Cooper first filed suit in 2021. “I don't want anyone to experience what I and other trans athletes have and continue to experience: having our basic human dignity questioned and opportunities denied because we are trans,” she said at the time. “I believe in the power of sports to bring people together and build strong communities. Women should be able to participate and succeed at every level — including trans women.”

Cooper won her case against USA Powerlifting in a lower court in 2023, with the Ramsey County District Court ruling that, though the powerlifting body was barring Cooper in the name of fairness, it failed to take into account “any competitive disadvantage a transgender athlete might face from, for example, increased risk of depression and suicide, lack of access to coaching and practice facilities, or other performance suppression common to transgender persons.” The court went on to say that USA Powerlifting had an “extraordinarily narrow view of ‘fairness’ for an organization allegedly seeking broad membership and promotion of powerlifting as a beneficial activity, including at the non-elite level.”

No ruling has yet been made in the case, but Cooper’s attorney emphasized that the decision will make an impact not only for trans people in Minnesota, but all Minnesotans.

“It's important for all of us to make sure there's no discrimination in Minnesota," Braverman said.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/jaycee-cooper-trans-powerlifter-minnesota-supreme-court on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Justices’ Questions Suggest Supreme Court May Uphold Tennessee’s Gender-Affirming Care Ban

ORION RUMMLER AND SHEFALI LUTHRA, THE 19TH | DEC 4, 2024, 3:41 PM EST

Conservative justices seemed wary of the potential domino effects of weighing in on one state's ban amid 25 other states banning gender-affirming care across the country.

Transgender rights supporters and opponent rally outside of the Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in the United States v. Skrmetti case, on December 3, 2024,Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

This post originally appeared on The 19th.

A majority of justices appeared inclined to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors — as the conservative members of the Supreme Court debated Wednesday what role, if any, they should take to intervene when a state wants to halt access to gender-affirming care.

The issue at the core of United States v. Skrmetti is whether banning a certain kind of health care for just one group — transgender youth — violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause by discriminating based on sex. Laws that make sex-based classifications are subject to a more rigorous legal review to determine their constitutionality, and it would be difficult for Tennessee’s law to survive that scrutiny. The Biden administration, alongside attorneys for the ACLU and Lambda Legal representing trans youth and their families, want the Supreme Court to vacate an appeals court decision that allowed Tennessee’s ban to take hold.

During oral arguments on Wednesday, however, the justices frequently turned the conversation to broader subjects, like the benefits and risks of gender-affirming care overall, and whether transgender people should be considered a protected class under the 14th Amendment. Several of the conservative justices seemed wary of the potential domino effects of weighing in on one state’s ban amid 25 other states banning gender-affirming care across the country.

The justices also differed in how they described transgender people and, to varying degrees, often misgendered trans people and equated them to their sex assigned at birth. Those differing descriptions came into play as the justices asked questions regarding whether the law draws any sex-based lines.

Tennessee’s solicitor general defended the state’s ban by arguing that it does not prohibit medical care based on sex, and instead prohibits medical care based on use — namely, if it is being used to assist in a gender transition. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan pushed back on this line of argument.

“The whole thing is imbued with sex. It’s based on sex. You might have reasons for thinking it’s an appropriate regulation and those reasons should be tested and respect given to them, but it’s a dodge to say ‘this is not based on sex, it’s based on medical purpose,’ when the medical purpose is utterly and entirely about sex,” Kagan said.

Matthew Rice, the state’s solicitor general, maintained that although Tennessee’s law portrays gender-affirming care as a treatment “that might encourage minors to become disdainful of their sex” — and says that banning such care will “encourage minors to appreciate their sex” — the ban does not draw sex-based lines.

As conservative justices on the court asked how European countries have regulated gender-affirming care and whether it should be the role of the Supreme Court to overrule state medical regulations, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, reminded the justices that they are not asking the court to decide the merits of gender-affirming care or even to prevent Tennessee from regulating the care. But banning such care outright for only one group of people is not regulating it, Prelogar said.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that the medical nuances of gender-affirming care are too complex for the court to directly address, adding: “we’re not best situated to address issues like that.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/supreme-court-gender-affirming-care-oral-arguments on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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The Trans Teen at the Center of U.S. v. Skrmetti Speaks Out About the Case

SAMANTHA RIEDEL | DEC 4, 2024, 1:09 PM EST

L.W., the anonymous teen plaintiff, expressed hope that the Court would affirm her right to seek healthcare.

By Samantha Riedel

December 4, 2024

William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images

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Oral arguments in the landmark transgender healthcare case U.S. v Skrmetti begin today at the U.S. Supreme Court — and the teen plaintiff at the center of it all says she’s hopeful the court will rule in favor of trans youth.

For the first time, the Supreme Court will rule on whether bans on gender-affirming care are constitutional, specifically Tennessee’s ban, which was enacted in March 2023. The state ban outlaws any “medical procedure [...] for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex,” including puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy. Last year, Samantha and Brian Williams of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the ban on behalf of their trans child L.W., but an appeals court ruled in favor of the state. The Biden administration intervened to bring the case before the Supreme Court, arguing that the ban violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

In an interview with ABC News this week, L.W. expressed hope that the Court would affirm her right to seek healthcare. “The court has definitely ruled in ways that would make me think that they don't exactly value bodily autonomy,” L.W. said, likely referring to the Court’s reversal on abortion rights in 2022, “but I have heard that they've been a little bit better about trans cases than people would think.” (In 2020, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion in the landmark case Bostock v Clayton County, which established that trans people are protected from workplace discrimination under the Civil Rights Act.)

“When you do end up getting on gender-affirming care and all that, not just are you going to feel better, you’re going to enjoy it,” L.W. told ABC when asked what her message is for other trans teens. “It’s worth it.”

L.W.’s parents also expressed strong support for their daughter and defended access to gender-affirming care in the interview. “She’s not suicidal, but she shouldn’t have to be suicidal to get the care she needs,” Samantha Williams explained, noting that Tennessee Republicans previously claimed to support parents’ medical rights in order to push against COVID-19 masking and vaccine mandates. “Our state legislature had made such a big deal out of parents' rights during COVID [...] and then they made this medical decision for our child,” Williams told ABC.

The Court could strike down gender-affirming care bans in its decision, which have passed in 22 states so far, affecting more than 100,000 trans young people — but lawyers and advocates warn the case could also set back bodily autonomy rights across the board. And while U.S. v Skrmetti is focused on gender-affirming care rights for minors, the GOP has transparently set its sights on outlawing such care for adults as well. Lawyers for Tennessee have already submitted testimony for review from several doctors with lengthy histories of anti-trans bias.

In an editorial for the New York Times on Tuesday, Chase Strangio — attorney and co-director at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, and now the first out trans person to argue a case before the Supreme Court — argued passionately for protecting trans healthcare, writing that receiving such care saved his life.

“Will our sex assigned at birth dictate how we can live and identify? Must biology be destiny? Or will the court see that this argument over health care for transgender people is the next phase in a long struggle to shed ourselves of constraining sex stereotypes?” wrote Strangio. “This week, I will not just be presenting legal arguments to the justices. I will also be embodying them.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/us-v-skrmetti-lw-trans-teen-scotus-speaks-out on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Montana Lawmakers Tried to Block Zooey Zephyr From Capitol Bathrooms. Here's Why It Didn't Work

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 4, 2024, 12:10 PM EST

Zephyr was not directly named in Rep. Jerry Schillinger's measure, but she is the only member of the legislature to whom the rule would apply.

Paul Christian Gordon / Alamy Live News

An attempt to ban Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr and other trans women from using the women’s restroom in State Capitol buildings has failed, with several Republicans voting against the measure.

According to the New York Times, the Montana legislature’s joint rules committee voted against the measure on Tuesday. It was unilaterally opposed by Democrats, who were also joined in opposition by some Republican representatives. Although Zephyr was not directly named in the measure, introduced by Republican state Representative Jerry Schillinger, she is the only member of the legislature to whom the rule would apply, since it would have required lawmakers to use the restrooms pertaining to the sex they were assigned at birth, per CNN. She is also Montana’s first out trans woman to serve as a state legislator.

In a post to Bluesky on Tuesday, Zephyr said, “I’m happy to see that this proposed ban failed and am grateful for my colleagues, particularly my Republican colleagues, who recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do.” She additionally told the New York Times via email that she’ll be focusing on “housing and health care” in her legislative work.

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According to the Times, Republican Rep. David Bedey said during the committee meeting that such a rule would “have the effect of making people famous in the national news, and will not contribute to the effective conduct of our business.” Prior attempts to bar Zephyr from the legislature have certainly drawn national attention. In April 2023, Montana Republicans voted to censure Zephyr after she spoke out passionately against a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for youth. This meant that she was barred from speaking in the legislature for the remainder of the session, though she was still able to cast votes. Zephyr sued the state of Montana days after the censure vote, but a judge rejected her petition to overturn the censure ruling, stating that he did not have the authority to overturn the vote.

Even despite Republican attempts at censorship, Zephyr was re-elected to the legislature in November, winning 80% of the vote in her district. When she returns to the capitol in 2025, Zephyr will finally be allowed to speak during floor debates for the first time in nearly two years.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/montana-zooey-zephyr-bathrooms on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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The Fight for Trans Rights and Abortion Are Inextricably Linked. Cis Women Should Act Like It

COLLEEN HAMILTON | DEC 4, 2024, 11:48 AM EST

Today's historic Supreme Court case on bodily autonomy should be garnering the same attention as Roe v. Wade.

Photos via Getty Images; photo-illustration by Them

In this op-ed, writer Colleen Hamilton argues that the tie between the fights reproductive and trans rights should not be ignored.

Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could have wide-ranging implications for the right to make decisions about one’s own body and restrict access to lifesaving healthcare for millions of vulnerable people. If that sounds like a form of nightmarish déjà vu, that’s because we’ve been here before. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion with their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Now, employing a similar strategy, right-wing organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Heritage Foundation have systematically undermined access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth, resulting in another high-stakes case at the court.

United States v. Skrmetti will decide whether bans on gender-affirming care for minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Dobbs also hinged on this question, with the court ultimately writing that rights not “deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions” are not protected.) The outcome of Skrmetti could decide if young people, in consultation with their doctors, can access care that has been safely available for decades and is supported by every major medical association and many global health authorities, as evidenced by several amicus briefs filed in this case. Beyond that, Skrmetti could pave the way for a broader rollback of trans rights, including bills that could restrict access to gender-affirming care for adults, prohibit insurance providers from covering gender-affirming care, and impose waiting periods before accessing treatment. With both Dobbs and Skremetti, the conservative goal is as obvious as it is disturbing: to entrench rigid gender hierarchies and make it exceedingly difficult for people to make life-affirming choices about their own bodies.

Yet, while right-wing groups have united in their efforts to ban abortion and restrict trans rights, too many Democrats and cis women have failed — or lacked the courage — to acknowledge the connection. Instead, after running an unsuccessful Presidential campaign that promised to restore the already inadequate protections of Roe, they are trapped in a cycle of blame while abortion funds dry up and trans young people stare into a potentially terrifying future without care.

This tension has become increasingly evident since Donald Trump’s re-election. Democrats have argued that the party has focused too much on “cultural issues” like queer and trans rights and not enough on "kitchen-table" policies like the economy. However, this analysis fails to understand that access to healthcare is an economic issue, for trans people and cis people alike. By failing to draw these connections and offer a dynamic vision of bodily autonomy for all, they cede ground to a unified conservative assault on human rights and quietly capitulate to the newest conservative talking point: your body, my choice.

The same networks, legal precedents, and ideological tools used to overturn Roe are now being leveraged to erode trans rights.

The Democratic Party’s failure is particularly maddening given that right-wing groups have consistently recognized and weaponized the connection between movements for bodily autonomy. The parallels between their attacks on reproductive rights and gender-affirming care are striking and deliberate. Since Roe was decided in 1973, groups like the National Right to Life have taken a twofold approach: pass incrementalist state laws while reshaping the judiciary. Conservative groups have spent decades identifying and promoting judges with originalist interpretations of the Constitution, developing legal precedents (like Planned Parenthood v. Casey), and exploiting judicial vacancies — most notably through Mitch McConnell’s block of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court and subsequent judicial-appointment blitz during Trump’s presidency. These efforts culminated in a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, bolstered by a flood of restrictive state-level bills ready and waiting to land on their desks.

United States v. Skrmetti is not distinct from these fights over reproductive rights — it’s their next phase. Before 2020, there was not a single law that banned access to gender-affirming care for trans people. Since then, nearly 36 states have attempted to restrict trans rights. This is not a coincidence. Recognizing the conservative turn of the courts, the Alliance Defending Freedom has drafted and promoted bills that restrict access to gender-affirming care. These model bills have been introduced in various state legislatures, contributing to a coordinated and successful strategy to limit transgender healthcare. These laws “are the result of an openly political effort to wage war on a marginalized group and our most fundamental freedoms,” writes Chase Strangio, Co-Director of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project.

The same networks, legal precedents, and ideological tools used to overturn Roe are now being leveraged to erode trans rights. As Jules Gill-Peterson, a Professor at Johns Hopkins, writes, “Anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation are products of the same political coalition, using the same scripts and tactics.” The goal isn’t only to deny care to trans youth, though that is one potentially inevitable and devastating outcome. It is to reinforce a rigid gender ideology. As demonstrated by the millions spent on anti-trans political ads during the Presidential election, the goal is “to re-entrench old notions of what is the proper role of men and women in society,” says Strangio. This has sweeping implications for both trans and cis people alike who dream of a world where we all have the freedom to decide what happens to our own bodies.

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The consequences of these laws and Supreme Court decisions are already tangible in people’s lives. Beyond the courts, conservatives are using the same strategies to enforce new laws. In Texas, people who need abortions face criminalization, and at least three women have died as doctors fear performing even routine miscarriage treatment. This mirrors a reality similar to what parents of trans children endured in 2022 when Texas officials labeled gender-affirming care as “child abuse” and were threatened with investigations by child protective services. While conservative legislative attacks have so far been concentrated at the state level, LGBTQ+ advocates fear that Trump could make good on his promise to restrict trans rights at the federal level. A recent study by the Trevor Project found that state-level anti-trans laws have resulted in an increase in suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary young people across the United States. Conservative groups do not only want to restrict access to abortions and gender-affirming care — they want to weaponize state services and political discourse, making it impossible for people to survive.

By failing to connect these dots, many Democrats and reproductive rights groups have missed a crucial opportunity to prepare for this shared threat, and to support the many people who are suffering and need support at this precise moment. Trans activists have been sounding this alarm for years — disturbed by cis women’s silence, which has set the stage for the collective rollback of bodily autonomy we are currently witnessing.

We are entering a perilous moment for our collective future, and as we enter the next Trump era, we will need to learn all that we can from each other in order to survive. As Strangio has written, cis women have much to learn from trans people, who have spent decades learning to self-administer medication and navigate openly hostile medical institutions, both within and beyond the law. Moreover, many trans people need abortions. Recognizing these connections and organizing around them doesn’t weaken our cause. The movement for bodily autonomy is stronger when it reflects the breadth of those it seeks to defend.

A robust defense of bodily autonomy isn’t just morally right. It’s politically savvy.

Failing to articulate this shared vision leaves us vulnerable, as demonstrated by recent Democratic missteps, like failing to discuss trans rights when advocating for “bodily freedom” on the campaign trail or promising that people wouldn’t die in hospital rooms trying to access abortions — but not that all people have a human right to live whole, free, liberatory lives. Instead of presenting a bold vision for the future, the party has doubled down on sending weapons to Israel, cruel immigration policies, and full-throated support of fracking. Meanwhile, public support for progressive values remains robust: 60% of Americans support protecting transgender people from discrimination, and most oppose government bans on gender-affirming care for minors, according to recent surveys by Pew Research and Gallup.

Public support exists, but we need to practice deeper forms of political courage and solidarity. Rather than capitulating to the right and abandoning the most vulnerable among us, we can demand a comprehensive vision of the world that protects everyone. Universal healthcare, for example, is widely popular and would materially improve millions of lives while ensuring access to gender-affirming care and abortion. According to a Pew study, 63% of Americans believe the federal government has a responsibility to provide healthcare for all. A robust defense of bodily autonomy isn’t just morally right. It’s politically savvy. Indeed, universal healthcare would also protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, who could see premiums spike if the incoming Trump administration repeals the Affordable Care Act. This is not just about trans youth or people seeking abortions—these fights shape a broader vision of a world where anyone, regardless of their gender or circumstances, can make decisions about their own lives. Restricting one group’s rights ultimately sets the stage for restricting everyone’s. Defending one group’s right to make decisions about their own bodies defends us all.

To start, the least we can do is show up for each other. Today, activists will gather outside of the Supreme Court during oral arguments for U.S. v. Skrmetti and make it clear that the fight for bodily autonomy cannot be divided. “Courts don’t operate in a vacuum. Social movements impact the ways decisions are made,” writes the journalist Cora Currier. To paraphrase an old proverb, the best time to connect the fights for trans and reproductive rights was decades ago. The second-best time is now.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/skrmetti-scotus-gender-affirming-care-abortion-bodily-autonomy on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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The LGBTQ+ Population Is More Than Twice As Likely to Vape, New Report Finds

MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | DEC 3, 2024, 2:44 PM EST

The surgeon general’s 837-page report emphasizes how e-cigarettes are a “singular health threat” to the queer community.

By Mathew Rodriguez

December 3, 2024

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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LGBTQ+ people are far more orally fixated — on vaping, that is — than straight people, according to a new report.

Using data from 2019 to 2021, the surgeon general’s 837-page report shows that 37.8% of LGBTQ+ people have vaped, compared to just 16.5% of straight people. For the purposes of the report, “electronic cigarettes” also include e-cigars, e-pipes, e-hookahs, vaping pens, and hookah pens. The report also found that, among members of the LGBTQ+ community, about 32% of gay men have vaped at one point in their lives, compared with 27% of lesbians and 47% of bisexual people.

In a statement, Kristy Marynak, a senior science adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and a co-editor of the report, called tobacco use a “singular health threat” to queer and trans people, per NBC News. “This report finds that nearly 1 in 5 of all deaths in the United States are caused by tobacco,” she said. “And it shines a light on the disproportionate burden borne by certain communities, including LGBTQAI+ communities.”

E-cigarettes pose a number of health risks to users, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). Some of the chemicals in e-cigarettes — including acetaldehyde, acrolein and formaldehyde — can cause lung and heart disease. Acrolein can also cause acute lung injury and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The ALA also noted that both the U.S. Surgeon General and the National Academies of Science have warned against the dangers of secondhand e-cigarette smoke.

E-cigarettes also contain nicotine which, aside from being addictive, could impair brain development in people under 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report also explores the reasons that tobacco, whether through traditional cigarettes or vaping, is so prevalent in LGBTQ+ communities. For instance, the report points to a 2014 survey that found that LGBTQ+ youth in states with “substantial structural stigma” — which includes fewer protective policies for LGBTQ+ people and less school-level social support — were more likely to smoke than LGBTQ+ people in less stigmatized environments.

“Residing in a state with a higher structural stigma score was a unique risk factor for smoking among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth; their heterosexual counterparts residing in states with high levels of structural stigma were no more likely to smoke than those living in states with low levels of structural stigma,” the study found, according to the report.

The report also pointed to operations like Project SCUM a 1990s-era marketing initiative aimed at enticing San Francisco's LGBTQ+ population and those experiencing homelessness to smoke. (“SCUM” stood for Subculture Urban Marketing).

Though there was no data specifically about vaping use among trans people, the report did include data from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which showed that trans youth used tobacco at a higher rate than their cisgender counterparts: 37.9% to 23.4%.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-twice-likely-vaping-e-cigarettes on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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How Bathroom Bans on Federal Property Would Impact Trans Americans

ORION RUMMLER AND GRACE PANETTA, THE 19TH | DEC 3, 2024, 2:39 PM EST

A proposed bill in Congress would ban trans people from bathrooms in museums, national parks and other federal property. How would it be enforced, and what are the consequences?

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This post originally appeared on The 19th.

Congress has a long list of pressing priorities — including funding the federal government to prevent a shutdown — that it is likely to put off until 2025. One new item packed on that to-do list: legislation introduced by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms, and transgender men from men’s restrooms, on any federal property.

The South Carolina lawmaker proposed this bill after launching a campaign to remove newly-elected Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware from women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. After House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a rule that effectively matched her initial proposal, Mace expanded her proposed bill to restrict the ability of all trans Americans to use restrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms on federal property across the country.

If passed into law, how would such a bill be enforced, and what would be the consequences? And what is the atmosphere like right now for transgender lobbyists and advocates who work on the Hill? The 19th spoke with multiple experts to find out.

Where would such a law apply?

Such a far-reaching law would mean widespread discrimination against all transgender people, experts say, although Mace’s rhetoric has singled out trans women. It would have the potential to expose trans and nonbinary people to harassment and discrimination at national parks, courthouses, IRS buildings like taxpayer assistance centers, Social Security Administration offices, and some post offices and Native American lands.

If enforceable, this federal ban would exclude trans people from spaces that are meant to be among the most accessible to Americans, said Kelly Dittmar, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden University and the director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

“I would assume in this case, we’re talking about Smithsonians and other federal buildings, museums, landmarks, things that should be accessible to the population in part because they are government funded or run,” she said.

The language in Mace’s proposed bill would restrict bathroom access in “any building, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States (including the Department of Defense and the United States Postal Service), or any other instrumentality wholly owned by the United States, or by any department or agency of the District of Columbia or any territory or possession of the United States.”

As the Washington Post reports, this proposal would likely impact the public libraries, recreation centers, and public schools of Washington, D.C. — which is home to a large population of LGBTQ+ residents and is slated to host World Pride in 2025.

How likely is it that this ban will become law?

Mace’s bill is unlikely to advance until the new Congress is sworn in this January, as the Senate is currently adjourned until December 2, and members are preoccupied with major defense and agricultural measures. When and if this bill does come into play, it would have to overcome a potential filibuster by Senate Democrats, despite Republicans holding a majority in each chamber. It is also unclear how much support Mace holds for this bill among Republicans.

How would this law be enforced?

There are no details in Mace’s proposal about how nationwide restrictions on trans Americans’ bathroom use would be enforced, and her office did not respond to a request for comment. To understand what such a ban would look like in practice, experts point to state bathroom bans that have percolated, and largely failed to become law, since 2015.

These state bathroom bans provide few, if any details about how they would be enforced because they don’t need to — private citizens are often meant to be the enforcers, said Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ+ legislation.

“The way that the laws are de facto enforced is often through the emboldening of private individuals to police other people’s bathroom use,” he said. “There’s no written enforcement because the proponents of these bills know that just by talking about this, let alone enacting these laws, that they are emboldening individual people themselves to enforce these bathroom bans.”

A recent example that takes this formula to an extreme can be seen in Odessa, Texas. A new expansion of the West Texas town’s ordinance allows individual citizens to sue transgender people caught using bathrooms that match their gender identity and seek “no less than $10,000 in damages,” per the Texas Tribune.

Deputizing private citizens to enforce this kind of law enables high rates of harassment and violence against transgender people as well as cisgender people, Casey said, particularly women who do not conform to traditional ideas of femininity.

What’s going on at Capitol Hill? Are trans people banned from bathrooms there?

“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said in a statement on Wednesday. The policy appears to apply to all transgender people working at the Hill or simply visiting the building complex. Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment confirming this.

Johnson’s statement also does not explain how the new policy will be enforced. Mace’s original bill proposed that the House sergeant-at-arms would enforce a bathroom ban, but Johnson’s announcement made no such reference. His office did not respond to a request for comment on the new rule.

Without any clarity on enforcement, trans lobbyists and advocates like Caius Willingham, a senior policy analyst at Advocates for Trans Equality, are forced to wait and see whether they will be policed for trying to do their jobs and what the consequences of noncompliance could be. Unlike members of Congress, these employees don’t have access to private facilities — and when working on the Hill, alternative options are few and far between.

“The Capitol grounds are massive. Some buildings don’t even have a single, single-occupancy bathroom. So practically, if I’m going to spend the day on the Hill meeting with legislators and staff, which is core to my job, I may have to be strategic about what bathrooms I use,” he said. “I might have to run outside, to find a restroom outside the Capitol building.”

The broader implications of a federal bathroom ban would essentially extend this ban to all of D.C., he said, considering how many people work in federal buildings.

Is this legal?

Within the courts, there has been a split in opinions: Last year, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Florida policy banning transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. However, in 2021, the Supreme Court handed a win to trans advocates by keeping in place a 4th U.S. Circuit Court decision that found a Virginia bathroom ban unconstitutional.

Across the country, two states — Utah and Florida — ban trans people from using bathrooms and facilities that match their gender identity in all government-owned buildings, K-12 schools, and colleges, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Breaking that law is a criminal offense in Utah and Florida. Seven other states have passed laws restricting trans Americans’ bathroom usage only in K-12 schools.

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress broad jurisdiction over its own internal rules and procedures. But Mace’s proposed federal bathroom ban could run afoul of recent Supreme Court precedent, said Barbara Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia. The majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock vs. Clayton County, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender identity constitutes unconstitutional sex discrimination.

“I don’t think they’ve looked at this in light of the law whatsoever,” Comstock said. “So I think this is just an embarrassing stunt — which does raise attention to the challenges and discrimination faced by transgender Americans.”

Who is actually endangered by trans people using the bathroom?

Research shows that trans people, not cisgender people, are actually the ones who experience violence and discrimination when using the restroom.

The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that many trans people avoid public restrooms out of fear of how they may be treated. 26 percent of over 27,000 respondents said that in the previous year, they had been denied access to restrooms, had their presence in a restroom questioned, or were verbally harassed, physically attacked or sexually assaulted in a restroom.

Research from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, in 2018 found that expanding non-discrimination laws to include transgender people does not affect the number or frequency of criminal incidents in restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms. While Mace and other Republican lawmakers have claimed that banning trans women from women’s restrooms will protect women, empirical evidence does not show that including trans people actually leads to safety or privacy incidents.

Willingham said that when he worked in the House as a legislative assistant to Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington from 2021 to 2023, his identity as a transgender person was never made an issue. He watched as members of Congress would share transphobic rhetoric at hearings and floor debates and then treat him, an actual trans person, with respect. It was a jarring experience.

“It’s really frustrating to see things go backwards in Congress,” he said. “My experience working even across the aisle was extremely positive.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/trans-americans-impact-bathroom-bans-federal-property on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Biden Promised to Pardon Gay Veterans. Why Is Steve Marose Still Waiting for His?

ABBY MONTEIL | DEC 3, 2024, 2:29 PM EST

After the President pardoned his son Hunter, an air force veteran who served 18 months in prison for being gay is awaiting an arduous and invasive process.

By Abby Monteil

December 3, 2024

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As the world reacts to news that President Biden issued a pardon for his son Hunter, a former Air Force officer who served 18 months in federal prison for “consensual sodomy” is opening up about the arduous process of applying for a pardon of his own from the Biden administration.

Back in June, President Joe Biden announced a mass pardon for LGBTQ+ veterans who were discharged for violating Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which barred service members from engaging in “unnatural carnal copulation” with anyone of the same sex. The ban was repealed in 2013. Biden’s pardon applies to anyone convicted under Article 125, as long as their charges were for “consensual, private conduct between individuals 18 and older that do not involve any aggravating factor.”

According to the Seattle Times, the application itself is extensive, requiring an explanation of why an applicant is seeking a pardon, letters of support, a list of existing debts, a description of the applicant’s community activities, and more.

In September, the military affairs publication The War Horse reported that only eight veterans have applied for pardons — six from the Air Force, two from the Army, and none from the Coast Guard, Marines, or Navy.

Steve Marose, 58, is one of the six former Air Force members to apply for a pardon. In 1990, he was serving as an Air Force second lieutenant in Louisiana when he was court-martialed for having sex with other men. In a November interview with the Seattle Times, Marose recalled investigators asking him invasive questions like what kind of sex he engaged in and what other service members were part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“They were going on a witch hunt,” he said. “And I remember the commander said, ‘If you don’t cooperate, there could be more charges for you.’”

Eventually, Marose was charged with three counts of sodomy and two counts of unbecoming conduct — one for letting an enlisted airman stay in his apartment and another for entering an off-limits establishment, a gay bar in the nearby town of Alexandria, Louisiana. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, most of which he served at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

Although Marose has worked consistently since being released from prison, he told the Seattle Times that having a criminal conviction on his record has affected his career. He says his record once disqualified him from a job as a police dispatcher. When Biden announced a mass pardon for veterans affected by Article 125, he applied almost immediately.

However, speaking to The War Horse in September, Marose said that the pardon process wasn’t necessarily as all-encompassing as it seemed.

“It sounds like it’s very broad, that thousands of people will be positively impacted,” he said. However, “when you look under the hood,” Marose added that it seems unlikely that this move will be a general remedy for LGBTQ+ veterans. For instance, the pardon only applies to people convicted under Article 125’s sexual conduct provisions and not to any LGBTQ+ veterans who left the military under threat of court-martial.

Rachel VanLadingham, an associate dean at Southwestern Law School, theorized to the Times that so few veterans have applied for pardons because the Biden administration required that veterans prove themselves eligible, rather than identifying eligible veterans themselves.

“The military has the record,” VanLadingham said. “They have the human resources to do it. They have the money. I mean, give me a break.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/biden-pardon-gay-veterans-lgbt-military-steve-marose on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Trans Teens Stage “Die-In” to Protest the UK's Puberty Blocker Ban

MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | DEC 3, 2024, 12:36 PM EST

The demonstration started at a metro station, and protestors then made their way to the Department for Health and Social Care.

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Last week, 16 young trans activists staged a die-in at London’s Victoria station, located near the Department for Health and Social Care, to protest the UK’s recent extension of its puberty blocker ban, according to a press release.

The activists were led by Trans Kids Deserve Better, a network of trans youth who carry out direct actions in support of trans rights, including access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Demonstrators carried cardboard headstones bearing personal details about each of the youth involved; for instance, one headstone read, “Here Lies Spades, Who Loved Public Transport.” After the display at the train station, according to the press release, the protest moved toward the Department for Health and Social Care, where the cadre of activists deposited the headstones outside the government building.

Speaking to the crowd gathered, one of the activists spoke about what they called the “cruel decision” to extend the ban, which was implemented after health secretary Wes Streeting met with trans youth.

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“Trans kids are being bullied by our government under the guise of the flawed and biased Cass Review, but we continue to resist through our very existence,” the activist said during the speech, according to the press release, which did not name the speaker or other activists present. “We are standing out here today because we should not have to die for people to start listening. We are standing out here today as a reminder of the strength and hope that flows through our community. We are standing here today because bans on gender-affirming care are not ‘letting kids be kids’ — they’re killing them.”

The UK government extended the ban on the sale and supply of puberty blockers on November 6, according to its website. The ban, originally introduced in May, was then upheld by a high court in July. The ban was first implemented in response to the release of the controversial UK study about trans health care known as the Cass Report, which LGBTQ+ advocates have called “fundamentally flawed.”

In April, secretary Streeting tweeted that the findings must become a “watershed moment” in how the government approaches trans health care.

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Speaking to The Sun the day after his tweet, Streeting said that he no longer agreed that trans women were women.

“If you'd asked me a few years ago, on this topic, I would have said trans men are men, trans women are women,” he said. “Some people are trans, get over it. Let's move on. This is all blown out of proportion. And now I sort of sit and reflect and think actually, there are lots of complexities.”

Trans Kids Deserve Better’s subway action is the latest in a string of protests that the group has staged in response to the puberty blocker ban. In October, the group released thousands of crickets at the annual conference for the LGB Alliance, an anti-trans advocacy group. The event featured opening remarks by author J.K. Rowling.

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Village People Songwriter Threatens to Sue Anyone That Calls “Y.M.C.A.” a Gay Anthem

ABBY MONTEIL | DEC 3, 2024, 12:08 PM EST

This assertion is in stark contrast to the song’s documented history as an *alleged* gay anthem.

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Village People member Victor Willis recently took to Facebook to defend Donald Trump’s use of the band’s iconic song “Y.M.C.A.” and in a stunning assertion, denies that the track was ever meant to be a “gay anthem.”

In a lengthy December 2 post, Willis shared that, since 2020, he has received over a thousand complaints about Trump using “Y.M.C.A.” For context, the president-elect often ends campaign rallies by dancing to the song. But in stark contrast to the song’s widely-accepted association with gay culture, Willis stated that such an association “is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.”

People should get their “minds out of the gutter,” he said.

In the post, the singer-songwriter said he’d initially asked Trump to cease use of the song, but then changed his mind after noticing that “Trump seems to genuinely like Y.M.C.A. and he’s having a lot of fun with it.”

It’s possible that Trump’s use of the song has benefited Willis personally as a recently adjudicated writer of the song in a U.S. district court case in 2015. The song climbed the Billboard dance/electronic sales chart leading up to this year’s election, hitting number one following Trump’s victory, grossing “several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song,” Willis says. The musician went so far as to thank Trump for choosing to use the song.

Despite insisting that he doesn’t “mind that gays think of the song as their anthem,” Willis argued that suggesting that the song is an LGBTQ+ anthem is “defamatory and damaging to the song,” which could lead some to infer that to Willis, being gay is inherently defamatory or damaging.

In fact, Willis threatens that beginning in 2025, he and his wife intend to sue news organizations that describe the track as such. So for clarity, the “Y.M.C.A” is an alleged gay anthem.

Though Willis’ maintains his affection for the Project 2025 darling, it certainly doesn’t extend to much of the LGBTQ+ community whose history with “Y.M.C.A.” is documented long before Trump’s.

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From its release, the Village People profited off their associations with gay culture. The band’s 1977 eponymous album was largely marketed toward the LGBTQ+ community, with songs like “Fire Island” and “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)” nodding to iconic gaycation destinations, as observed by historian Eric Cervini. Their 1978 single “Macho Man” — which extolls the virtues of men’s bodies — broke into the mainstream, bringing more connotations that resonated widely with gay men. The group and its members have performed at countless LGBTQ+ events, with bandmember Randy Jones performing “Y.M.C.A.” among other Village People hits at Hudson River Park Pride as recently as this year.

The song pays homage to a gym chain that was known throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s as a popular gay cruising site. In his Facebook post, Willis maintained that he had no idea about the gym’s gay reputation when he wrote the song, despite the fact that the song debuted on an album called Cruisin’. The lyrics describing the Y.M.C.A. as a place to “get yourself clean” and “do whatever you feel” have been interpreted as a euphemism for sexual exploration, and that perceived subtext even led the song to be condemned by conservative groups and banned or censored on radio stations and TV networks throughout its popularity.

As for the song’s famous line “You can hang out with all the boys”? According to Willis, “that is simply 1970s Black slang for Black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling, or whatever.”

In 2020, the Library of Congress inducted the song into its National Recording Registry, noting its cultural and historical significance specific to gay culture. The song’s music writer, Jacques Morali, died of AIDS-related illness in 1991.

Regardless of Willis’ original intentions, there’s no denying that “Y.M.C.A.” has taken on a queer life of its own, propped up by Village People marketing directly to the community that helped them make it big. At the end of the day, that’s something that not even the most rhythm-less MAGA dancing can take away.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/village-people-victor-willis-sue-ymca-gay-anthem on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Apollo Moon, Beloved Friend and Trans Porn Creator, Has Died

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 2, 2024, 5:03 PM EST

“Being trans brought me so much joy and there was nothing in this world that made me happier than sharing that experience with my community,” Moon wrote on X days before he passed.

Instagram/@apollomoon999

The beloved transmasc adult content creator Apollo Moon, known to his friends and family as Forest Harader, has died in Los Angeles on Monday, his loved ones confirmed to Them. He was 26 years old.

Though his cause of death is not yet confirmed, the Harader family learned that he was hospitalized in the ICU and on life support on Nov. 27, according to their post on MealTrain, a website used to coordinate community meal delivery for those temporarily in need of care. The site is also used to raise general funds; as of Dec. 2, the Haraders’ campaign had exceeded its initial goal of $5,000, with a total of $9,590 donated at the time of writing, in order to help with the family’s living expenses while his parents take an extended leave from work.

As Apollo Moon, he was a prominent and beloved adult content creator within the trans community, which was especially notable as a person of color in a predominantly white space. Community members began circulating the news of Moon's death on X on Monday. Austin King, writer and founder of the adult industry news site PornCrush, confirmed his death in a post on X.

Moon's peers and friends posted plenty of tributes to him on the site as well, with performer Gwen Adora writing that she was “devastated” to hear the news of his passing. “You will be remembered as a trailblazer, a kind and beautiful force in this hard world and industry,” Adora wrote.

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Fellow transmasc performer Cher Mii wrote about “all the silly audio messages we used to leave each other.”

“your memory is a blessing,” Mii wrote. He also reposted a behind the scenes video (warning: link is NSFW) featuring himself and Moon filming a scene together, while director Nikki Sequoia cried and expressed pride in the transmasc performers for having “come so far in a year.”

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A creator known as Dani wrote that there were “no words to express the devastation of losing such an incredible person.”

“he was a pillar in the community & a huge inspiration for me,” Dani wrote in a post on X. “he was always kind & i considered him a friend. trans brotherhood is important. check in on your friends if you can”

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Sex Worker Action Alliance posted to X on Monday, offering support via DMs “for anyone who needs to vent today.”

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Moon's friends told Them that he loved nature, camping, and hiking. He was also a participant and winner in the viral T-boy wrestling event this year in Los Angeles. But among his greatest passions was his own trans community and the experience of being trans, as he often expressed on his social media.

On Nov. 25, he posted, “Being trans brought me so much joy and there was nothing in this world that made me happier than sharing that experience with my community.”

That same night, he wrote, “I hope all trans people are extra gentle with themselves tonight” and “I wish I could hug every trans person in the world right now and tell them I love them.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/apollo-moon-trans-porn-onlyfans-death-died on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

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Quanesha “Cocoa” Shantel, a "Radiant" Ballroom Performer and Aspiring Nurse, Killed at 26

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 2, 2024, 3:18 PM EST

Shantel was “a loving and caring person,” according to her drag father Ira Owens a.k.a. BigBaby, who said nursing was the perfect profession for her.

Instagram/@oshabadazz6017

This article contains descriptions of fatal gun violence against a Black trans woman.

Quanesha “Cocoa” Shantel, a 26-year-old ballroom performer and drag artist whose friends described her as “radiant” and “stunning,” was killed in North Carolina on November 10.

She was reportedly breaking up with her boyfriend, 31-year-old Jeremy Reynolds, outside of his apartment when he allegedly shot and killed her through the driver’s side window of her car, according to the Greensboro News and Record. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Shantel in a crashed vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds, and she was pronounced dead at the scene per WFMY News (Note: this news outlet misgenders and deadnames Shantel, as is the case with much local reporting about trans deaths.)

Reynolds was arrested and charged with first degree murder and discharging a barreled firearm into an occupied dwelling or vehicle. According to the News and Record, the killing is being investigated as a domestic-related incident, and Reynolds was being held at the Guilford County Detention Center without bond as of November 15.

Shantel’s mother, Toi Ni’Cole Ratliff, told the News and Record that her daughter knew who she was at an early age. “She came to me at age 11 and said, ‘Mama, I want to transition over,” Ratliff told the newspaper. “You wouldn’t imagine that a young person would know it at that age but she did.” Ratliff told her daughter that she’d support her through it, adding, “‘But if you do it, do it right.’ And she had it from there!” According to the Human Rights Campaign, Shantel began transitioning when she was 11.

Under the name “Quanesha Shantel,” she had recently been involved in the ballroom and drag scenes in Chicago and across the southern U.S., per the News and Record. She had also recently enrolled in nursing school, which her drag father, Ira Owens a.k.a. BigBaby, said was “the perfect profession for her” since “she was a loving and caring person.”

Tori Cooper, the Human Rights Campaign Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, expressed grief over Cocoa’s death within the epidemic of violence against Black trans people. In a statement on behalf of the organization Cooper said, “Like so many of our trans siblings, Cocoa should be with her loved ones today, and I pray that Cocoa’s friends and family find some measure of peace and joy in the memories of her during this extremely difficult time.”

“She was just pretty as hell, and a bougie little thing,” Owens said, with her mother Ratliff additionally describing her as “happy and full of joy.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/quanesha-cocoa-shantel-ballroom-performer-drag-nurse-killed-shot-north-carolina on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Community

- Inside Marwan Kaabour's Queer Arab Glossary, a Searching Expression of LGBTQ+ Arab History

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Inside Marwan Kaabour's “Queer Arab Glossary,” a Searching Expression of LGBTQ+ Arab History

GEORGE ABRAHAM | DEC 5, 2024, 1:16 PM EST

Kaabour has curated a necessary intervention in understanding queer Arabness on — and through — our own terms.

Hao Nguyen

There is no direct translation for “queer” in the Arabic language. But there are words like “nagafa,” which in Egyptian dialect translates to “chandelier,” but actually means “flamboyant;” or the Maghrebi term “qāyiso-l-mā,” which translates to “touched by water,” but really describes an effeminate man. The more one pays attention, and looks beyond the obvious or more derogatory language, the clearer it is that Arabic is more than capable of holding possibility for queer life, in many of its forms and expressions.

Yet despite Arabic’s long history, queer Arab bodies are too often willfully mistranslated by imperial and Western gazes — regimes that see us as savage, hypersexual, and deviant, on one hand, and as exceptionally homophobic on the other. How might we understand the queer Arab body through our own language, our own Arabic? This is the focus of author and graphic designer Marwan Kaabour’s latest project, The Queer Arab Glossary, which gathers queer slang from across the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region, from Levantine and Maghrebi dialects as well as Iraqi, Sudanese, Egyptian Arabic, and more. Accompanying the glossary words are glorious, raunchy, and often hilarious illustrations from Palestinian artist Haitham Haddad, which Kaabour described as attempts at reclaiming the mythologies behind these terms while exploring new forms of queer expression in Arabic.

I was first introduced to Kaabour through Takweer, an online platform that archives and uplifts queer narratives in Arab history and pop culture, which he launched in 2019. The glossary began as a compilation of crowd-sourced queer slang terms from the page’s thousands of followers across the Arab world, with contributions ranging from more widespread terms like “mukhannath” (someone considered effeminate, sissy), to embodied words like “laḥḥāsa” (licker, coded for lesbian), and phrases I’ve never heard before such as “awlād mīkī,” or “Mickey-Mouse kids,” which is a Sudanese dialect term that refers to men who do not conform to traditional masculine norms.

Courtesy of Marwan Kaabour, Saqi Books

To highlight the communal nature of this project, the lexicon is accompanied by a series of essays from various intellectuals and community members, reacting to the glossary and adding their own historical and personal insights. One essay by the iconic musician Hamed Sinno, for example, is a personal reclamation of the word “mukhannath,” a slur against queer men that was, Sinno writes, “initially intended to be a slur against musicians” in its religious origins.

Taking the glossary alongside the illustrations and essays, Kaabour has curated a necessary intervention in understanding queer Arabness on our own terms, instead of those imported into the region. As a queer Palestinian, the closeted version of myself, who was raised in the U.S. South, in a context estranged from the Arabic language, could never have imagined having access to a project as capacious and possibility-generating as The Queer Arab Glossary. As Zionists escalate both a genocide in Gaza and an assault on Lebanon that had recently targeted high density residential areas of Beirut, Kaabour and I gathered to discuss queer SWANA politics, the community behind this glossary, and dreams for our collective futures.

Adam Hajyahya’s incredible essay in the book, “Are You a Pan-Arab Nationalist or Just a Man Who Sleeps With Men?” discusses the ways racist, orientalist imaginings of Arab sexuality are central to understanding the Zionist colonization of Palestine. You also spoke about growing up in a household that embraced the cause of Palestinian liberation. In what ways did what’s happening in Palestine currently inform the preparation of this text?

I grew up in a leftist, socialist, communist, arty household in Lebanon. Both my parents are artists, and my father actually is a musician. A big chunk of his body of work is dedicated to Palestine and the Palestinian cause. This is something I grew up with and is just part of the norm. I'm never doing an extra step to take into consideration the perspective of Palestine and the liberation of our people in Palestine.

For context, the book was developed and researched prior to the beginning of the genocide. Nonetheless, even though I refuse to acknowledge the lazy pink-washers, the book undermines their ludicrous views about Arabs — or, specifically, Palestinians, because they need a scapegoat for their racism — are incapable of embracing queers. The book shows that not only are we part of every community and of every country and of every group throughout the region, but we've been speaking about it in a literary way since before Islam. We have always been here. We are going through our challenges. We have a lot of work to do, but this has nothing to do with a parachuted white savior coming to save us. This has to do with the ways that we resolve issues with our communities.

Courtesy of Marwan Kaabour, Saqi Books

The book doesn’t strain to confront pinkwashing head-on, but rather seeks to undermine the conditions that produce it.

Exactly. That’s why I refuse to engage with it. I will only engage with my own people.

And that’s something that I love about this book, too. It's so rare to feel like a book about Arab queerness is written for us, especially when we are up against these layers of ethnographic gazes. With some of the academic, almost scientific works out there, it’s like they’re studying us projecting their own mythologies and orientalist fetishes onto us. Instead, your book offers something so valuable, because it undoes many of the assumptions we’ve internalized about queer Arabs.

Last week, I was in Bern, Switzerland doing an event as part of my book tour. During the Q&A, a young Iraqi man told me that he’d come out to his father a while ago, and that their relationship hadn’t been great since. The man went on to tell me how my book has been instrumental in mending the relationship between him and his father, because it allowed the father an access point to his son’s sense of self — but in a way that is rooted in our shared culture. Then, after the Q&A, a young queer Palestinian man asked me to dedicate the book to his father, as he planned to give it to him once he eventually comes out. I did not expect the book to have that kind of power, but I think it is my dream for a project that I created to be able to empower the bonds that we have with our families and with our communities.

Are there other dreams for this text?

I also hope it just can become a conversation-starter for us to take a step back and look at the dominant queer discourse and to acknowledge that pride — that queerness as an identity — has become so commodified, so commercialized that it’s become one big marketing campaign for financial gain and nothing more. Queer discourse in the West has run out of steam. Everything that made queerness revolutionary and radical has been wiped out. That spirit has been sucked out. And what I hope my book does, as well as many other projects that are coming from the global South, is challenge queer discourse and tell them, “We have a lot more work to do. You're getting lazy.”

One of the many things that lingered with me was the way this project names and confronts the male-centric nature of a lot of these terms. Especially drawing on Mejdulene Bernard Shomali, who has done a lot of thinking on ambivalence as a major emotional reality for queer femme Arabs. In her essay from the book “Living in the Ellipses,” she writes: “the failure of language for me is not exclusively a failure. I am drawn to what cannot be named.” Can you say more about how this project worked with, and against, these ellipses, failures, and silences?

The intention with the glossary was to be as comprehensive, as representative as possible. But the reality is that the queer Arab community, like most, is still riddled with its own misogyny, even when it comes to the language of describing the experience of women, or of anyone who exists outside of the binary. We can look at this two ways: one which lavishes in absence, that sees the lack as an opportunity for more freedom of movement and imagination. Then there’s another perspective, which strives to imagine a world where this language did exist — and what would that sound like?

Courtesy of Marwan Kaabour, Saqi Books

I hope the book begins conversations that generate new lexicons that better represent the experiences that are not currently reflected in the book, but in a way that is rooted in our culture — and is not simply a translation of an English term, or a Latin term. I would like [these new terminologies] to begin a reflection on our language, which is criticized for being very gendered. And it is a gendered language, just like many other languages are. But there’s something beautiful about Arabic and the way it plays with gender. For instance, the word for homeland is masculine. But when you switch to the plural, “homelands,” it’s feminine. The most important thing that I want with this book is to have these conversations with Arabic in mind, and not just wanting to translate what the West offers us.

That's why I don't use “humma” pronouns in Arabic. “They/them” in English doesn’t translate. I use “huwa” because it has always contained nonbinary potential as a pronoun, grammatically. And, of course, there's lovely divergences of opinion on this among other genderqueer folks.

But even if the plural in Arabic is gendered, I don't know what they're talking about. We can agree on this collectively, but the logic doesn't stand… It's because we're trying to fit a circle in a square. How about we find our own square?

Exactly! And maybe this is a beautiful place to end on. Since you're hoping that this anthology is a conversation-starter for folks, what’s next for you personally Marwan?

Marwan needs a fucking break. [Laughs] No, no, no. I'm good. I'm good. I’m about to conclude the two month book tour that has taken me all around the world, including a month-long tour around the states. And I have had countless encounters with people that have been wildly inspiring for me. There's nothing in the works just yet, but I'm very interested in developing a podcast series that can bring together queer Arab history, personal oral histories, and then just maybe some personal anecdotes from my own life. That's something I'm very interested in right now.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/marwan-kaabour-queer-arab-glossary-interview on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Style

- 22 Actually Cool Carabiners to Make Sure Everyone Knows You're Gay

Style

22 Actually Cool Carabiners to Make Sure Everyone Knows You’re Gay

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 5, 2024, 1:13 PM EST

Whether you’re a handy dyke, a high femme, an outdoorsy gay, or a riot grrrl of any gender, there’s a carabiner for you.

Courtesy of the vendors

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Carabiners might be having a “moment” in the fashion world, but as LGBTQ+ people (especially lesbians) know, the tool has long been a staple of queer style. As Cassie Doney wrote for Refinery29, the carabiner likely emerged as a lesbian signifier during World War II, when women were widely encouraged to enter the workforce to make up for the men who were off at war. This included butch lesbians, who were often drawn to blue-collar jobs for which key rings were essential, such as being a custodian, a postal worker, or a mechanic, according to Slate.

Nowadays, the carabiner has come far from its working-class origins — every fashion girl you know likely covets a Chopova Lowena carabiner skirt, and even Carrie Bradshaw has worn a carabiner necklace in recent years. But even as the mainstream catches onto carabiners, they remain an essential queer accessory. And the good news is, because they’re trendy now, that means there are carabiners out there for pretty much every type of queer person. And what could be a better gift than a slightly (or very) elevated carabiner — practical and functional yet stylish. Below, read on for our curated selection of some of the best carabiners you can buy on the internet.

By the way, these are all for fashion, not for use in climbing!

For the flannel-wearing ’90s rock lovers

Liam Gallagher Logo Carabiner

$9

LiamGallagher.com

Nearly every other music merch carabiner might be sold out, but good news for the type of gay person who nearly had a heart attack on August 27, when Oasis announced they were reuniting: the official Liam Gallagher carabiner is here for you.

For the gaymers

Final Fantasy XIV Fat Chocobo Carabiner

$7

Square Enix Store

The official Square Enix store has not just one, not just two, but eight different carabiners shaped like various creatures and objects from Final Fantasy XIV.

For the handy dykes

Engraved Carabiner

$12

Etsy

Not only does this carabiner come with a knife, a screwdriver, a bottle opener and more, but you can also get it custom engraved. (The product image, notably, features a carabiner that’s engraved with the word “Daddy,” and you can also get various symbols, including the zodiac.)

For the queers who love camp more than camping

Reawakened Carabiner Le Mousqueton

$161

Kitesy Martin Studio

It’s already pretty funny and ironic that carabiners are trending as a luxury accessory. These ones from French jewelry designer Kitesy Martin go a step further, playfully repurposing a paracord as an additional adornment, along with various charms, baubles, and chains, and offering some comically large sizes.

For those who spend all year waiting for the SSENSE sale

Vivienne Westwood Silver Penis Carabiner Keychain

$165 $130

Ssense

Let’s be real: If you’re the kind of person who would wear a Westwood penis shaped silver keychain, you’re likely not too concerned about subtlety. But the shape of this carabiner, while identifiably phallic, is also “lowkey” enough to wear in public — as lowkey as a Westwood penis carabiner can be, anyway.

For queers who identify first and foremost as a threat

Spike Carabiner

$29

Etsy

This stainless steel carabiner, which kind of looks like it could be used as a weapon, screams “do not fuck with me.” As the description notes, it’s meant more as a solo accessory, so if you want to put keys on it you’ll need a longer keychain attachment so yours keys don’t get stuck on the spikes.

For queers who doodle on everything

The S Thing Carabiner/Keychain

$20

S Thing

This S-thing shaped carabiner is a sick-looking accessory in and of itself, with a dose of childhood nostalgia (and a built-in conversation starter) to boot.

For the high femmes

Rope Carabiner Bag Charm

$28

Anthropologie

This dainty gold Anthropologie bag charm comes wrapped in either pink, red, or grey paracord, with an additional ring of pearls. We imagine it’s the perfect kind of accessory for femme flagging.

For those who are fruity in more ways than one

Banana Carabiner

$18

Strawberry Western

These adorable keychains from alternative activewear brand Strawberry Western are available in the shape of a banana and, of course, a strawberry.

For the vaporwave lovers and/or Ariens

Column Carabiner

$24

Aries

These carabiners by luxury streetwear brand Aries just happen to be engraved with the brand’s name, so they’re perfect for any proud Ariens in your life. But with its gold column, and pink and iridescent multicolor options, they’d also be perfect for those who still remember what “vaporwave” is.

For the reptile enthusiasts

3D Lizard Carabiner

$6

Ace Camp

And yes, we all know “reptile enthusiast” is absolutely a type of queer person. This lizard-shaped carabiner comes in five colors, but as the description notes, the color you receive will be random.

For the decolonial baddies

Beaded Carabiner

$35

Lenape Reserve

These gorgeous beaded carabiners are available in a number of colorways. Additionally, Lenape Reserve is owned and operated by the Delaware Tribe of Indians, so it’s a great place to poke around for gifts in general if you’re looking to put your money where it matters.

For the angelic queers

Dykes Run Heaven Carabiner

$7

Etsy

It’s a carabiner engraved with the words “dykes run heaven,” in case you needed a reminder of the truth.

For the Chappell Roan stans

Chappell Roan Core Keychains

$25

Camp Wonderland

Independent queer accessory creator Camp Wonderland has a whole collection of adorable, trinket-laden carabiners inspired by the discography of your favorite artist’s favorite artist. Bonus: Chappell herself has worn a Camp Wonderland necklace.

For the tree-hugging trans people

Upcycled Carabiner

$10

Everyday Humans

Obviously anyone of any gender can hug a tree, but in this house we just love alliteration. These carabiners by skincare brand Everyday Humans are made with recycled materials from their production samples.

For the riot grrrls of all genders

Le Tigre Carabiner

$3

KF Merch

It’s a Le Tigre carabiner and it’s literally three dollars. I mean, come on.

For the lover girls of all genders

Loving Someone Is Never A Waste Carabiner

$8

Just Peachy

These silver carabiners are engraved with the words “loving someone is never a waste,” which honestly, is the kind of reminder we all could use.

For the foodies

Magic Link Carabiner

$4

Lil’ Deb’s Oasis

Beloved queer restaurant Lil’ Deb’s Oasis, based in Hudson, New York, has these adorable carabiners printed with moon symbols, flowers, butterflies, and mushrooms — befittingly, it’s called the Magic Link Carabiner.

For the pun lovers

Silly Gay Carabiner

$10

Simply Gay Apparel

These “silly gay carabiners” (like, that’s literally the product name), by Simple Gay Apparel, are exactly what they say on the tin. With silver and green options, they come engraved with your choice of a number of fun words and phrases — including “theirabiner” and “cara delebiner.”

For the whimsical queers

Multi Enamel Carabiner

$41

Etsy

These adorable enameled carabiners from Indian jewelry manufacturer Silver Jewelry King come in a number of color combinations, and a number of shapes to boot. (At the time of writing, the heart shaped carabiners are about to sell out.)

For the ocean queers

Octopus Carabiner

$75

Etsy

This handcrafted brass carabiner features intricate embossments in the shape of various creatures of the deep, including an octopus, a nautilus, and an anglerfish.

For the artsy queers

Guts Carabiners

$7

Guts Gallery

The London-based Guts Gallery, founded by self-described “queer, working class northerner” Ellie Pennick, is devoted to challenging the elitism that has historically characterized the art world, championing the work of underrepresented artists. If that sounds like a message you can get behind, they also sell carabiners engraved with the gallery’s name, explicitly intended as a nod to the history of the carabiner as a queer symbol.

And as a bonus, some carabiner themed accessories/clothing:

For those who want to wear their carabiners on their sleeves

Long Sleeve Carabiner

$47

Hey Colanda

Like, literally. These stylish longsleeve tees come in black and cream, and feature a design with linked carabiners running down the arms.

For the silver chain wearing gays

Carabiner Charm Necklace

$36

Etsy

Every gay person, present company included, needs an emotional support chain. This one comes with an additional emotional support carabiner charm, and you can customize the length and type of chain too.

For the quirky earring enthusiasts

Solid Silver Carabiner Earring with Keys

$72

Etsy

Funky earrings are already a crucial Gen Z lesbian accessory; why not go all the way with these carabiner earrings?

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/best-carabiners-stylish-gay-keychains on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

TV and Movies

- Netflix's 'Squid Game 2' Casts Cisgender Actor Park Sung-hoon a as Transgender Woman Competing for Surgery

- 'Wicked' Reportedly Banned From Theaters in Kuwait Over LGBTQ+ Themes

TV and Movies

Cis Actor Park Sung-hoon Cast as Trans Woman in Netflix's Squid Game 2 — But Why?

MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | DEC 5, 2024, 10:49 AM EST

The internet is already in flames over the retro casting decision.

Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images

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South Korean actor Park Sung-hoon has confirmed that his character in the upcoming second season of Squid Game is a trans woman who has entered the deadly gauntlet to pay for gender-affirming surgery.

The actor confirmed the character’s backstory in a featurette about the show that has since gone viral.

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In the interview, he says that his character, Hyun-Ju, is a former special forces soldier and a trans woman who joins the game to earn money specifically for her transition. He also said that she will face prejudice during the game.

“She shows incredible strength, decisiveness and natural leadership,” he said. “Through her resilience, she breaks down stereotypes and shines as an inspiring character.”

Squid Game season 2’s trailer debuted in November and featured Sung-hoon in a wig, which garnered headlines at the time for the actor’s transformation, as well as some internet speculation regarding the nature of his role.

After viral entertainment news account Pop Base tweeted the news, several users on the social media site X lambasting, as well as contesting, the casting decision, with many saying that the part should’ve been played by a trans actress.

Trans artists have long decried the casting of cis men in trans roles, and this is not a first for Netflix (or the industry, for that matter). The streaming service’s other most-watched non-English series, La Casa De Papel (or Money Heist), featured a trans character named Manila, played by the cis actress Belén Cuesta in 2020 — to public outcry then as well.

After Matt Bomer accepted the role of a trans woman in the film Anything in 2016, actress Jen Richards authored a viral Twitter thread explaining why casting cis men to play these roles often leads to actual physical violence against trans women. “Cis men play trans women in the media with the furthest reach, are rewarded for it, & tell the world trans women are ‘really’ men,” she wrote. “When Jared Leto plays Rayon and accepts his Oscar with a full beard, the world sees that being a trans woman is just a man performing.”

This explanation was also expanded in her appearance on the Netflix documentary Disclosure.

“Having cis men play trans women, in my mind, is a direct link to the violence against trans women,” she says in the documentary. “And in my mind, part of the reason that men end up killing trans women out of fear that other men will think that they’re gay for having been with trans women, is that the friends – the men whose judgement they fear of – only know trans women from media, and the people who are playing trans women are the men that they know. This doesn’t happen when a trans woman plays a trans woman.”

Squid Game’s second season debuts on December 26 on Netflix.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/netflix-squid-game-park-sung-hoon-transgender-cisgender-casting on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

TV and Movies

Wicked Reportedly Banned in Kuwait for… Gay Subtext?

JAMES FACTORA | DEC 4, 2024, 2:59 PM EST

Though Kuwait’s Information Ministry has yet to release an official statement, local media speculate that the reported ban is on account of an unnamed gay character.

Universal Pictures

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Wicked was removed from local cinema listings in Kuwait the day before it was set to premiere in the region, sparking speculation from local media and online that the movie is being censored there due to its LGBTQ+ cast or themes.

On Wednesday, Variety reported on the film’s disappearance, though Kuwait’s Information Ministry has yet to release an official statement on what local news outlets are already calling a “ban.”

There is precedent for Kuwait's banning of American films; last summer, the Kuwaiti government banned Greta Gerwig’s Barbie from being shown in movie theaters, claiming that the film promotes “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order” in a statement published by the state-run KUNA news agency, per the Associated Press. Although the statement did not elaborate further, media outlets including the AP speculated that the ban might be a consequence of the movie’s general flamboyant aesthetics and tone, even though Barbie doesn’t explicitly mention LGBTQ+ people. (Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Kuwait.) An analysis from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, however, attributed Kuwait’s censorship of the film to a hostility toward Western feminism, rather than LGBTQ+ aesthetics or casting. Last year, Kuwait also banned the A24 horror film Talk To Me, specifically citing the inclusion of nonbinary transmasculine actor Zoe Terakes.

Local media outlets have speculated that the reported ban on Wicked might be due to the inclusion of an unnamed gay character. While the movie itself is beloved by gay people, and is certainly laden with queer subtext and loud, aesthetic splendor, there is no character whose queerness is explicitly named in the film.

The unnamed character could be Glinda’s friend Pfannee (Bowen Yang) who, in a brief scene, swoons and appears flustered by the charm and attractiveness of an (arguably bisexual-coded) Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).

The cast itself also contains a number of openly LGBTQ+ actors. Cynthia Erivo, who plays the lead Elphaba, came out as bisexual in British Vogue in 2022, and is currently in a relationship with Lena Waithe. Bailey and Yang are also both out as gay, as well as Marissa Bode, who plays Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/wicked-banned-kuwait-gay-lgbtq-cast-characters on Dec 9, 2024 at 2:28 AM EST.

Table of Contents

Them.: 2024 Dec 6

Entertainment

Glinda Actress Billie Burke and Director Dorothy Arzner, a Secret History of Their Relationship

Dolly Parton Announces Open Casting Call to Play Her in Origin Story Broadway Musical

Todd Haynes Finally Speaks Out About Joaquin Phoenix Exiting His Gay Romance Movie Last Minute

Hayley Kiyoko's "Girls Like Girls" Will Be a Feature Film. Tumblr Gays, This One's For You

Alex Consani Is the First Out Trans Woman Named Model of the Year at The Fashion Awards

'Wicked' Actress Marissa Bode Speaks Out Against Ableist Jokes: "Disability Is Not Fictional"

Answers & Advice

What is Soaking? Everything You Need to Know About the Mormon Sex Loophole

Trans Egg 101: What You Need to Know About the Iconic Piece of Trans Internet Slang

Which Country Has the Most Fem Tops? Hung Bottoms? Foot Play? New Grindr Data Has the Answers

What Is Scissoring? Everything You Need to Know About the Iconic Sex Position

News

Nancy Mace, a Sitting Congresswoman, Is Openly Using Slurs Online

Meet Nick Dumont: the 'Oppenheimer' Actor Comes Out as Trans, Updates Pronouns

8 Takeaways From the First Day of SCOTUS’ Historic Trans Rights Case

Raquel Willis, Chelsea Manning, Others Arrested in Trans Solidarity Capitol Bathroom “Sit-In”

Jaycee Cooper, Trans Powerlifter Barred From Competing, Takes on Minnesota Supreme Court

Justices’ Questions Suggest Supreme Court May Uphold Tennessee’s Gender-Affirming Care Ban

The Trans Teen at the Center of 'U.S. v. Skrmetti' Speaks Out About the Case

Montana Lawmakers Tried to Block Zooey Zephyr From Using Capitol Bathrooms. Here's Why It Didn't Work

The Fight for Trans Rights and Abortion Are Inextricably Linked. Cis Women Should Act Like It

LGBTQ+ Population More Than Twice As Likely to Vape, New Report Finds

How Bathroom Bans on Federal Property Would Impact Trans Americans

Biden Promised to Pardon Gay Veterans. Why Is Steve Marose Still Waiting for His?

Trans Teens Stage “Die-In” to Protest the UK's Puberty Blocker Ban

Village People Songwriter Threatens to Sue Anyone That Calls “Y.M.C.A.” a Gay Anthem

Apollo Moon, Beloved Trans Porn Creator and Friend, Has Died

Quanesha “Cocoa” Shantel, a "Radiant" Black Trans Ballroom Performer and Aspiring Nurse, Killed at 26

Community

Inside Marwan Kaabour's Queer Arab Glossary, a Searching Expression of LGBTQ+ Arab History

Style

22 Actually Cool Carabiners to Make Sure Everyone Knows You're Gay

TV and Movies

Netflix's 'Squid Game 2' Casts Cisgender Actor Park Sung-hoon a as Transgender Woman Competing for Surgery

'Wicked' Reportedly Banned From Theaters in Kuwait Over LGBTQ+ Themes