British transgender activists frustrated by a lack of online representation are claiming Maine’s beloved new lobster emoji as their own. The group, Lobsters Against Transphobia, launched an online petition last month to push Unicode, a nonprofit consortium that signs off on new pictograms, for a pink-and-blue flag emoji. Until they get their own flag, the group […]
transgender
Posted inMaine, News
Nicole Maines lands role as transgender superhero on network TV series
Nicole Maines, the Maine schoolgirl who won a landmark court case in 2014 for transgender rights, broke another barrier this weekend when it was announced that she will be the first person to star as a transgender superhero on a network TV series. “I haven’t quite taken it all in yet,” Maines, now 20, said […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Transgender activist hopes to win U.S. House seat
Danielle VanHelsing hopes to become the first transgender member of Congress. The 35-year-old group home worker from Sangerville said it would benefit the entire country if voters tapped a transgender politician for a position as highly visible as a U.S. House seat. “Change doesn’t happen sitting in the dark,” VanHelsing said. “Seeing we can be […]
Posted inNation / World
U.S. military to allow transgender people to enlist
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is allowing transgender people to enlist in the military beginning Jan. 1, despite President Donald Trump’s opposition. The new policy reflects growing legal pressure on the issue, and the difficult hurdles the federal government would have to cross to enforce Trump’s demand to ban transgender individuals from the military. Two […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine transgender teen says he was kicked out of Christian school
SOMERSWORTH, N.H. (AP) — A high school senior says the private Christian school in New Hampshire that he attended since kindergarten told him he was no longer welcome because of his gender identity and suggested he get counseling. Stiles Zuschlag, of Lebanon, Maine, told Seacoast Media Group he had excelled academically and in sports and […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine joins 17 states seeking military transgender protections
HONOLULU (AP) — The top legal officers in 18 states and the District of Columbia have asked Congress to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender service members. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin sent the letter dated Thursday in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement, via Twitter a day earlier, that he would ban transgender people […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Donald Trump to bar transgender individuals from military
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is barring transgender people from serving in the military “in any capacity,” citing “tremendous medical costs and disruption.” Trump’s announcement Wednesday morning on Twitter did not say what would happen to transgender people already in the military. The president tweeted that after consulting with “Generals and military experts,” the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Supreme Court sends back case on transgender bathroom rights
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is returning a transgender teen’s case to a lower court without reaching a decision. The justices said Monday they have opted not to decide whether federal anti-discrimination law gives high school senior Gavin Grimm the right to use the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia school. The case had been scheduled […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
End of transgender bathroom rule gets conservative praise
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservatives are praising the Trump administration’s rollback of public school bathroom requirements for transgender students, saying the move corrects a legal overreach by the Obama administration that is best left for states to decide. Transgender rights advocates, meanwhile, are vowing to overcome a major setback. “We’re not discouraged. And we’re going to […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Transgender in Maine
“We’ve always been open and open to truth, because that’s going to lead to more strength and understanding than fighting back, retaliating and being fearful,” Knight said. There are likely thousands of transgender Mainers. They’re your neighbors, co-workers, family. Their reality is much more than the bathroom thing. Today, they tell their stories. No one […]