feature image photo by Joe Maher / Stringer via Getty Images

This is the first edition of Trans News Tracker, a bi-weekly round-up of the most important news — good and bad — impacting trans and queer people in the U.S. (and abroad).

Maine and Minnesota Lead Charge Against Trump Administration’s Attacks on Trans Children and Adults

Late last month, Maine Department of Education officials — as well as the Maine Principals’ Association, and many other faculty members from Maine schools — stood up against the Trump administration by refusing to follow the executive order that aims to keep young trans people from participating in school-sponsored sports programs. According to statements given by Maine’s Governor Janet Mills, following the administration’s new guidelines would go directly against the Maine Human Rights Act and other state laws designed to protect trans people and their rights as residents of the state.

During a meeting of governors at the White House following Maine’s decision, Trump threatened to pull federal funding from the state should an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services find the state is in “violation” of Title IX, the law that was created and ratified to protect people of all genders from discrimination in school-sponsored activities. In response to this, Governor Mills told the Trump administration: “We’ll see you in court,” which feels like the only appropriate thing to say in this situation.

Similarly, the Attorney General of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, took a bold step this week in becoming the first Attorney General in the country to sue the administration over their anti-trans executive orders. After watching what is happening in Maine unfold, Ellison filed a preemptive lawsuit to prevent the administration from coming after the state of Minnesota for its refusal to comply with the administration’s new guidelines regarding the participation of trans children and adults in school-sponsored sports programs.

Similar to Maine, Ellison and his team are citing the Minnesota Human Rights Act — in addition to Minnesota’s transgender refuge law — as protections that override the administration’s new orders. Ellison said: “Sometimes countries face a moment like this — faced with a leader bent on destroying entire communities and instilling fear in those who protect them. The lessons of history tell us a leader like that doesn’t stop at one community — after he’s destroyed one, he goes after another, and another, and another.”

Related: Maine’s resistance doesn’t stop there, as the Maine Department of Education, with the support of Governor Mills, is also refusing to sign a Trump administration letter that would force them to remove DEI programs in schools.

Some Good News For Once

The New York City Council approved sweeping protections for trans and gender-diverse communities. This decision is one of the largest and most comprehensive local packages put together and passed that protects both trans civil rights protections and trans healthcare access in the nation.

Invisible Histories is establishing a permanent archive for Southern LGBTQ+ history in Charlotte, North Carolina. After admiring their work from afar, I had the privilege of profiling Invisible Histories’ leadership and their work last year, and I can tell you this archive will be essential to our continued resistance.

Federal judge blocks Trump’s passport policy affecting transgender Americans. Of course, the injunction doesn’t necessarily mean this mess will be cleaned up anytime soon, but it’s a step towards making it so they can’t push these changes anymore.

News I Wish I Didn’t Have to Report

A Chicago hospital bows to federal pressure on trans care for teens. Despite local pressure and ongoing resistance from the families of trans children being treated at the hospital, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital has paused gender-affirming treatments for its young patients.

Meta Oversight Board rules anti-transgender videos don’t violate hate speech rules. Our tech overlords want people to be able to make fun of us without any consequences or backlash from the platforms, so I think it’s time we start developing our own ways to fight back.

Wisconsin’s name-change law has transgender people worried. Technically, the name change law isn’t new, but doing what the law requires could put trans people at even greater risk of violence right now.

LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline among proposed HHS budget cuts. Yet another reminder that the administration’s whole goal is to continue sowing chaos and discord while hurting as many people as they can in the process. We don’t have to let them.

Florida House passes bill targeting ‘clearly pornographic’ books on school shelves. Listen, y’all, this really isn’t good, and news outlets should be reporting on what is happening with this a lot more than they are.

From across the pond: U.K. Minister says trans women should use bathrooms that correspond to their “biological sex,” and trans women candidates expected to be excluded from all-women shortlists. These decisions come after the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that trans women “aren’t” women, efforts which were significantly funded by J.K. Rowling.

News That Is Important Even Though I’m Against the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex as a Whole

Defense Department reinstates gender-affirming care for trans troops.

Trump’s DOJ struggles defending trans military ban during D.C. appeals court hearing.

Last Bits

How the war over trans athletes tore a volleyball team apart. Despite being in the New York Times Magazine, this profile of Blaire Fleming, a student and volleyball player at San Jose State University who was involuntarily outed as trans, is incredibly detailed, well-reported, and features a lot of input from Fleming herself.

Pedro Pascal calls J.K. Rowling a “heinous loser” for latest trans comments. As someone who has been calling transphobes and fascists “losers” for years now, I’m happy to see this being put on record by someone with a tremendous following.

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