On Thursday, a federal court overturned a ruling that would have required that Oregon inmates be housed based on gender identity rather than assigned sex at birth. Back in April, an Oregon court ruled that requiring trans women to be housed in men’s prisons was discriminatory and dangerous.
Following the ruling, the case was brought before three Trump appointed judges in an appeals court. These judges decided that there was no evidence of discrimination against trans women, all while referring to trans women as “male inmates who claim to be female,” throughout the proceedings.
Studies have shown that trans women are over twelve times as likely to experience sexual violence in prison than the average inmate.
Parents of a trans child in Massachusetts have taken to right wing media outlets to falsely claim the Department of Children and Families took their child away from them because they wouldn’t support their gender affirming care. Their story has made the rounds on major outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post, framing them as the victims of a state run transgender ideology.
However, as has been revealed by court records, the parents had a long history of alleged threats and physical violence directed at their child, including death threats. In addition to the abuse, court documents also show that the mother had been charged with witness intimidation relating to the case of abuse.
While these charges did not result in conviction, settlements in each case have resulted in restraining orders for each of the parents, and the child has filed for an additional restraining order against their parents that is still pending.
NYU Langone and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have each reached settlements with the DoJ that would end their provision of gender affirming care for trans youth. The settlements come as the result of an extended probe by the DoJ into the hospitals’ gender affirming care practices.
In statements released by the hospitals, each characterize the settlement as a way of protecting the privacy of trans youth, with the NYU Langone statement making no mention of their concession to end gender affirming care for youth.
In some more positive news, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger quietly killed anti-trans regulations introduced under the state’s previous Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin. Youngkin, who made anti-trans politics central to his brand, served one term as governor and is now widely considered to have failed to launch himself into a national political career. These regulations would have barred trans women from any single sex space meant for women statewide.
