crossdreamers
Transgender World
Transgender, Nonbinary and LGBTQ+ News and Resources.
History
Politics
Culture
Science
Health
All posts...
About us
Search our sites
Trans Dictionary
The Crossdream Life Forum
Reflections on Gender Variance
Follow us!
Twitter
Telegram
Flipboard
Mastodon
Email newsletter
4305 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
soyoungavengers
So... Young Avengers...
clairepopovich-blog
My knitting journey
aprendiendo-tuyyo
Sin título
lumenfreaks
LumenFreaks
Text
Rev. Andi Woodworth: The transgender minister representing trans rights in Georgia
Rev. Andi Woodworth, a transgender United Methodist minister in Georgia. Rev. Woodworth, who transitioned in 2018, has faced both acceptance and challenges within her church community, Advocate reports.
Despite the United Methodist Church's official stance against LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage, Woodworth has found support from her congregation and colleagues.
Advocate delves into Woodworth's journey of self-discovery, her decision to transition, and her commitment to advocating for LGBTQ rights within the church.
Overall, Woodworth's story serves as a testament to resilience and the ongoing fight for equality and acceptance within religious communities.
Advocate writes:
This year, on March 11, she became the first out trans clergy member to address the Georgia House of Representatives during its morning prayer. She had been invited by her state rep, Democrat Saira Draper.
“My hunch is just being there humanized me and humanized my community,” Woodworth says.
Georgia lawmakers had been considering several pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-trans legislation, mostly tacked on to other bills, she notes.
The most concerning ones included a trans athlete ban, restrictions on sex education, parental notification on library books children check out, and a ban on puberty blockers for trans minors (a Georgia law being challenged in court prohibits other gender-affirming treatment for youth). But the session closed March 28 with none of them passing.
“I want to say this had something to do with my presence at the capitol,” Woodworth says, but she gives primary credit to all the activists and citizens who worked against this legislation.
More here!
Photo from Advocate/Neighborhood Church
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Here are the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the world
The FTM prosthetics experts at Emisil have identified the top 10 friendliest cities in the world for queer and trans travelers.
Lisbon, Portugal
Copenhagen, Denmark
New York City, USA
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Taipei, Taiwan
Barcelona, Spain
Reykjavik, Iceland
Toronto, Canada
Tokyo, Japan
Paris, France
Photo from Copenhagen by Shutterstock
youtube
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Julia Serano looks at the Cass Review, the WPATH Files, and the Perpetual Debate over Gender-Affirming Care
In a new article transgender researcher, philosopher and activistJulia Serano discusses the evolution of the anti-trans backlash, particularly focusing on the scrutiny faced by gender-affirming care for trans youth.
She outlines three hypotheses put forward by opponents of gender-affirming care in 2015-16: rushed assessments, socially contagious dysphoria, and an impending wave of detransitioning. Despite these claims, research continues to demonstrate the efficacy of gender-affirming care, with low rates of regret or detransitioning.
Serano highlights various instances where opponents have manufactured controversy, such as the Jamie Reed whistleblower case and the "Finnish study."
The recent "WPATH Files" and the Cass review are also discussed, with the latter raising concerns about social transition, puberty delay, and gender-affirming hormone therapy. Serano critiques the Cass review's dismissal of studies supporting gender-affirming care and its speculation on "social contagion" without evidence.
She emphasizes the potential impact of the Cass review on the accessibility of gender-affirming care in the UK and addresses common misconceptions about gender-affirming care, aiming to counteract distrust and conspiracy theories surrounding it.
Serano concludes:
If we reject all the conspiracy theorists and social conservatives who are morally opposed to trans people’s very existence, then this debate has two clear sides: Those of us who believe that the gender affirmative model is the most efficacious way to enable children to be happy and healthy while minimizing unwanted irreversible changes, and those who believe that children should always be pushed toward cisgender outcomes, no matter how much harm and unwanted irreversible effects are inflicted on trans and gender-diverse youth in the process. Some trans-skeptical pundits may reject this framing, but it’s the only way to make sense of their convoluted arguments.
Read the whole article here.
Photo of Serano from Wikipedia.
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
No, transgender kids are not trans because of "social contagion"
The journalist Michael Hobbs writes over at X-twitter, referring to an article in Canada's National Post. He has also tweeted some other interesting arguments we are republishing here. They are relevant to the discussion about the British Cass-report, which has already done tremendous damage to British transgender kids.
[Refers to tween on how "social contagion" could be driving youth to identify as transgender]
Not only is this implausible on its face, but we have no evidence that it's the case and mountainous evidence that it's not. Years of this panic have not produced a single confirmed case of a minor being rushed into transition.
Outlets like the Post focus on the narrow question of "social contagion" because it is plausible, but it's also irrelevant. Who cares if kids think they're trans for two weeks?
But if trans kids growing up into happy, healthy trans adults is a *bad outcome*, it’s best to brush surveys of 20,000 people indicating high satisfaction and low regret under the carpet, surely?
Link to tweet.
From an associated thread:
This is Polite Transphobe position on gender-affirming care: We should ignore dozens of large-scale surveys, comprehensive clinic audits and observational studies showing low regret rates. Instead, we should listen to *hypothetical* data showing high regret rates.
Link to tweet.
"We have no idea what happens to them in adulthood" is straightforwardly false. We have numerous clinic-based studies with up to 6 years of follow up. We have surveys of 20,000 adult trans people. They unanimously indicate high satisfaction and low regret.
When all of the data points in the same direction you can't just nitpick the methodology, you have to make an affirmative case for ignoring an entire body of research in favor of a hunch. You've had decades to produce evidence and you're still going, "Just you wait!"...
The entire trans panic is based on the allegation that large numbers of children are being rushed into irreversible treatments without assessment. The Cass Report, like *all other research on this topic,* finds that's straightforwardly false....
Link to tweet.
The Cass Report includes a comprehensive audit of every patient seen by the UK gender clinic from 2018 - 2020 but transphobes are demanding more data because it didn't find what they want.
We've been doing this for years. Study after study finds long wait times, comprehensive assessments and regret rates below 5%. And every time, transphobes assure us that the *next* batch of data will reveal rushed transitions and thousands of detransitioners.
Right now there is simply no evidence that large numbers of kids are being rushed into transitioning without assessment. Your entire case can't be "we don't know everything!" We don't, but we do know a lot and it consistently indicates that this is not a major problem.
Yet another comprehensive gender clinic audit finds miniscule regret/detransition rate. How many of these do we need before this asinine panic stops? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38436975/
See also:
Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Available
Q&A with Cass published by TheKiteTrust
When your transgender brain is fully formed (on the Cass-report)
On why the Cass Review is heteronormative and anti-transgender
The absurdities of the British Cass-report on transgender health care
38 notes
·
View notes
Text
What the treatment of menopause can learn from transgender healthcare
The Atlantic has a new article exploring the intersection of menopause and transgender care, focusing on the use of hormones like estrogen and testosterone.
It discusses how menopause, traditionally understood as a solely female experience, can also impact transgender men who are undergoing hormone therapy with testosterone.
Conversely, transgender women may face unique challenges as they age, such as managing the effects of estrogen therapy during menopause.
Rachel gross writes:
These days, providers such as Casperson, as well as menopause-trained gynecologists, might prescribe testosterone to menopausal women experiencing difficulty with libido, arousal, and orgasm. Many women see improvements in these areas after a few months.
But first, they have to get used to the idea of taking a hormone they’ve been told all their lives is for men, at just the time when their femininity can feel most tenuous
Women in Menopause Are Getting Short Shrift
Photo: angelp
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sweden makes it easier for young people to legally change their gender
In Sweden, lawmakers have recently voted to change the country's legal gender recognition law.
The new legislation allows individuals as young as 16 years old to legally change their gender identity with parental consent. Those over 18 do not need approval from a guardian, a doctor and the National Board of Health and Welfare.
Additionally, the new law removes the requirement for medical or psychological evaluation for gender recognition, making the process simpler and more accessible. A gender dysphoria diagnosis is no longer required.
Supporters of the law argue that it is a step forward in recognizing and respecting the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals.
The law gained support from most of the parties, including the conservatives and the liberals. The Christian Democrats and the right wing populist Sweden Democrats opposed the bill.
AP has more.
Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images
54 notes
·
View notes
Text
From the history of transgender women
Ine Harsten writes over at Blusky:
"In light of JKR and my pointing out that we trans women have been on this earth longer than JKR has been, here is a picture that was a frustrating inspiration for us trans girls growing up in the fifties and sixties.
The stars at the nightclub La Carrousel in Paris sometime in the mid-fifties, minus perhaps the biggest of them all: Coccinelle, or Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy.
Not all of these ladies identified as transgender. Two in the middle definitely did: #4 from the left in the middle row: April Ashley from Liverpool, and the blonde to her right, Bambi, or Marie Pierre Pruvot.
Bambi has later described this time in Paris as one where hormones were freely available over the counter at pharmacies, without a prescription. Just to be safe, she used to occasionally consume an entire pack at once, not willing to take any chances. This notion of safe and careful hormone treatment only works until one doesn’t care anymore.
Bambi later became a lecturer in the French education system, after completing a thesis at Sorbonne on Marcel Proust. She is eight years older than I am, and lives and is healthy in Paris."
"Since Coccinelle, or Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, wasn't included in this group photo from La Carrousel, she deserves a picture too. Here's a studio portrait from sometime in the fifties. Or 'a man in a dress,' as JKR has a way of putting it."
This version of the photo session is annotated by Marie-Pierre Pruvot.
150 notes
·
View notes
Text
Female transgender athletes at a disadvantage study claims
A study funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has revealed that transgender female athletes face physical disadvantages compared to cisgender women across various measures.
This research indicates that physically active transgender women exhibit poorer performance in specific cardiovascular tests and possess less lower-body strength than their cisgender counterparts.
Contrary to earlier assertions, the study conducted by researchers at the University of Brighton also concludes that the bone density of transgender women is comparable to that of cisgender women, a factor closely linked to muscle strength.
The research paper says that :
"While longitudinal transitioning studies of transgender athletes are urgently needed, these results should caution against precautionary bans and sport eligibility exclusions that are not based on sport-specific (or sport-relevant) research."
Yahoo! Sports has more.
The study can be found here: Yannis P. Pitsiladis et al: Strength, power and aerobic capacity of transgender athletes: a cross-sectional study
Photo by Gabriel Sanchez on Unsplash.
#transgender#trans#lgbt#lgbtqa#queer#nonbinary#transgender athletes#transgender sports#sports#health#transphobia
113 notes
·
View notes
Text
When your transgender brain is fully formed
One of the most bizarre proposals in the UK Cass-report on transgender health services is that everyone under 25 is to be treated as kids.
The minimum age for enlisting in the UK armed forces is 16. The voting age is 18 on polling day. You can come out with your sexual orientation at any age.
So what is the point with this proposal? To "protect" trans people against themselves? That is only half the story. The real point is to make cis people think that trans people are emotionally and intellectually immature, and that you can therefore dismiss their gender dysphoria as some kind of ideological infestation.
In this way you can uphold the idea that transgender identities are fake, while cis identities (which are never questioned) are natural and real.
I am sure Cass will admit that there are "real" transgender people out there, i.e. transgender people who are really suffering from gender dysphoria. But by infantilizing trans youth, she and her allies are able to keep the power to accept or dismiss such an incongruence in the hands of cisgender "experts".
Imagine the uproar if cis people could not get their gender identity formally accepted without a psychiatric examination.
Make no mistake about it. The Cass report is just one of many ways an oppressive culture tries to protect their idea of "normalcy" keep gender variant people in check.
Jack Molay
See also:
On why the Cass Review is heteronormative and anti-transgender
The absurdities of the British Cass-report on transgender health care
Illustration by Sophie Labelle. Follow her on tumblr!
14K notes
·
View notes
Text
The importance of Strands for Trans and a good transgender haircut
The New York Times reports on Xavier Cruz and JP Gomez, who - together with the Terri & Sandy ad agency has set up set up Strands for Trans, a nonprofit group that maps salons and barbershops that have explicitly pledged their support for transgender clients.
Hairstyling holds significant importance for transgender individuals seeking comfort in their appearance.
Kareem Khubchandani, an associate professor at Tufts University exploring gender, sexuality, and aesthetics, highlights the impact of trans- and queer-affirming salons.
These spaces offer a sense of safety often lacking in public environments for those with diverse gender identities. The gendered nature of salon practices, including pricing discrepancies and limited gender options, can alienate transgender and nonbinary individuals.
Strands For Trans is bringing gays, straights, women, men, anyone, together to create more trans-friendly barbershops and hair salons.
Find your Strands for Trans saloon here.
Photos by Erica Dischino.
Archived (outside paywall) version of NYT article here.
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
On why the Cass Review is heteronormative and anti-transgender
On 10th April 2024, the British Cass Review published its Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People: Final Report. Gender GP has published an article that documents that many of the claims and recommendations of report are inaccurate, empirically unsupported, ethically unacceptable, and grounded in prejudice.
Read the whole article here!
Here are a few important paragraphs from the article:
//This brings us to a worrying assumption underpinning the aims of the Cass Review:“Taking account of all of the above issues, a follow-through service continuing up to age 25 would remove the need for transition at this vulnerable time and benefit both this younger population and the adult population.” (p. 224, emphasis added)
This passage reveals the cisheteronormative agenda motivating the Cass Review. The desired outcome, “remove the need for transition”, indicates the assumption that being trans is something wrong that would be better to fix.
Here, the implications are that cisgender lives are judged to be more valuable or desirable than transgender lives and that healthcare services should prioritise encouraging youth to assume cisgender lives, regardless of the suffering that this causes (Horton, 2024).
Through its cisheteronormative agenda, the Cass Review is enacting the prejudice that trans people suffer in the United Kingdom. Instead of acknowledging and respecting trans identities as being legitimate and valuable identities in their own rights, it presupposes that cisgender outcomes are preferable to transgender outcomes and uses this to recommend the withholding of gender affirming medical treatment from trans youth.
This prejudice manifests in two further features of the Cass Review.
First, the recommendations of the Cass Review would impose even more obstacles to access to gender affirming medical treatment for trans people aged under 25, which amounts to a double standard between treatment for trans people and treatment for cis people. Cis people are not required to endure these obstacles when they seek interventions that aim to align their bodies to their gendered goals, such as testosterone for cis men diagnosed with hypogonadism, cis women who seek breast augmentation or reduction surgery, and puberty blockers for children who are deemed to be undergoing precocious puberty. To require trans people to endure these obstacles comprises an injustice.
Second, the Cass Review excluded any involvement from trans people, whether they are clinicians, academics, or service users (Kennedy, 2024). This is a serious omission, as it neglects the important viewpoints of people who have experienced the challenges of navigating a healthcare system that is set up for cis people. By including only cis people in the process, the Cass Review only serves to reinforce the cisheteronormative bias that permeates the healthcare system in the United Kingdom, rather than attending to the needs and values of trans community.
//
Read the whole article here!
Illustration from Assigned Male
35 notes
·
View notes
Text
Trans woman: Am I a woman or is it just a fetish?
Over at Crossdreamers Jack Molay responds to a transgender woman who is afraid her gender incongruence and gender dysphoria may have been caused by feminization fantasies.
The article offers a straightforward interpretation rooted in cultural taboos and the natural desire for sexual expression. It suggests that these fantasies arise as a way for individuals, particularly those assigned male at birth, to navigate societal norms that ridicule the desire to become a woman.
By incorporating elements of force and domination, the fantasies provide a narrative where the individual is not responsible for their desire to feminize.
Molay contrasts this perspective with the experiences of transgender women from more tolerant backgrounds, who may not feel the need to engage in such fantasies as they view being transgender positively.
Additionally, the article discusses the prevalence of submission fantasies among people of all genders and suggests that these fantasies are a natural trait, found among both cisgender (non-transgender) and transgender individuals.
The conclusion drawn is that gender incongruence leads to a variety of crossdreaming experiences, influenced by individual personality and experiences.
Molay argues against the notion that feminization fantasies and what some call "autogynephilia" cause gender dysphoria, highlighting the lack of evidence and the failure of such fantasies to diminish with hormone therapy. Instead, these fantasies are e a reflection of underlying gender variance.
Read the whole article here.
Photo: Adobe
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
The absurdities of the British Cass-report on transgender health care
Via Sophe Labelle AKA Assigned Male.
Wildest things that came out of the Cass report on trans healthcare
It considered 98% of studies on trans healthcare produced in the past decades to be invalid because they weren't "double-blinded", which means the report's author wanted a test group of trans kids to be forced not to transition alongside the ones who did for these studies.
However, research that supported the report's anti-care conclusions were all accepted despite not being double-blinded and having obvious methodological flaws.
Trans people under 25 shouldn't be trusted to make decisions about their bodies.
Conversion therapy should be first considered before allowing someone to transition.
The report says social transition shouldn't be allowed without clinical involvement. so you should see a doctor before deciding which clothes to wear.
Every trans youth testimony were discarded for being "biased".
Neurodivergent people shouldn't be allowed to transition.
Toy preferences in childhood are biological and caused by hormones.
See also Erin Reed: Hilary Cass' NHS report is rife with debunked theories and falsehoods
Over at Advocate Erin Reed points out that the report inaccurately suggests there's insufficient evidence to support transgender care and proposes limitations for those under 18, without proposing a complete ban.
The report implies that being transgender could be linked to anxiety, depression, and OCD, despite the American Psychological Association debunking this.
It also suggests that individuals can be influenced into being transgender, echoing a discredited theory rejected by over 60 mental health organizations. Additionally, it hints at restrictions for transgender individuals under 25, suggesting they shouldn't access adult care clinics.
More here.
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
Gender philosopher Judith Butler on transphobia and TERFs
Them has interviewed world leading feminist Judith Butler on the "anti-gender" backlash and the nature of trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs)
The interview is a follow up on the publication of Butler's latest book: Who's Afraid of Gender?
Them asks Butler what are the more effective modes of meaningfully engaging "gender critical feminists" or TERFs.
Butler replies:
Well, I think it’s harder for feminists to be phobic about trans issues if they know people personally who are in transition, or who are changing pronouns, or who are in love with people who are, or whose intimate worlds — kids, cousins, friends — are filled with that.
I have seen them give [their hateful views] up, and I also have seen them get it that the right wing is the biggest force of transphobia right now; they are the ones who are threatening trans people with elimination, denying them rights of self-definition, legally and medically denying kids trans-affirmative care.
So if you think you’re a progressive liberal feminist and you see what the right wing is doing, you have to ask yourself, “What side are you on?”
So I constantly bring them back to that, or I ask them, “How would you feel if this was your kid, or your friend, or your cousin, and you’re speaking this way?"
Butler also gives a wonderful response to JK Rowling's mockery of gender and transgender activists and comments on the horror of anti-trans legislation in the US.
This and more in the Them interview: "Judith Butler Knows What Makes Transphobes Tick"
See also:
Feminist philosopher Judith Butler is crystal clear in her condemnation of transphobic feminists
Feminist philosopher Judith Butler goes up against anti-trans and anti-gender feminists and conservatives
Renowned Feminist Philosopher Judith Butler Tears Transphobic Feminism Apart
Photo: Centre Pompidou
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopts a resolution designed to protect the rights of intersex people
On Thursday, the United Nations Human Rights Council made history by approving a resolution aimed at safeguarding the rights of intersex individuals.
The resolution calls on states to "combat discrimination, violence and harmful practices against persons with innate variations in sex characteristics and address their root causes," as well as help intersex people "realize the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."
With twenty-four countries voting in favor, twenty-three abstaining, and none opposing, the resolution—led by Finland, South Africa, Chile, and Australia—represents an important recognition of the challenges facing intersex people.
The UN notes that approximately 1.7% of newborns are intersex, characterized by traits that defy conventional male or female classifications.
Yahoo News has more.
Intersex flag.
27 notes
·
View notes
Text
The draft of the new German law for gender self-identification is not as pro transgender as it might seem
Over at YouTube Unruly Juli reports on how anti-trans activists are trying to introduce transphobic policies in the German new self-identification law.
The new law, which will get rid of the old requirement for two psychological assessments before you can have your legal gender changed in official documents, makes it easier for trans, intersex, and non-binary people to legally change name and gender.
So far, so good.
But as Juliana points out in the video:
The Selbstbestimmungsgesetz [self-determination law] proves that letting people assert their identity in a more self-determined way can be combined with undermining that assertion at every turn and [with] increasing state repression against the people using that possibility in the same law.
Some trans people, like asylum seekers and refugees, may lose their residence permit if they make use of the opportunity given by the law, Juliana explains.
Trans women may also be drafted into the military as men if there is an emergency:
If a return to a compulsory military service was to actually happen and if it was to take the form in which it is laid down in the German constitution, everyone over 18 who has the registered gender male would be eligible to be drafted.
The draft bill says that if someone assigned male at birth tries to change legal gender in "a case of tension or defense" they would still be considered male for the purposes of military conscription.
Moreover, the law does not fully protect trans women from harassment in women's spaces. Business owners can deny trans women access to women's bathrooms on their premises.
Children are not properly protected, either. Minors aged 14 or older can make use the new process, but they need their parents to agree to it, or they need to go in front of a family court and let that court decide on the change.
Juliana puts it this way:
Meaning, for instance, if a 16 years old trans boy happens to have unsupportive parents, he'll also have to deal with all the invalidation and abuse in school stemming from having a female name and a female ID registered on his documents.
Or he'll have to take the burden of going in front of a family court and basically win a case against the people under whose roof he has to live with.
You can watch Juliana's video here:
youtube
Photo: Alvaro Moreno Perez
The draft law can be found here (in German): Selbstbestimmungsgesetz 2.0: Entwurf eines Gesetzes
über die Selbstbestimmung in Bezug auf die Geschlechtszugehörigkeit und zur Änderung weiterer Vorschriften
22 notes
·
View notes
Text
Transgender influencers on YouTube
Stephanie Magister shares a list of her favorite transgender and nonbinary vloggers on YouTube.
She writes:
"My goal is to create a resource for people who are trans, trans-adjacent, or otherwise genderfluid or nonconforming but haven’t discovered many (or any) genderqueer content creators on YouTube."
Stephanie includes presentations, selected videos, as well as an extensive list of accounts that are no longer active, but available.
You can see the complete list here. (Requires Medium membership, which is free).
Here are links to the main active influencers listed:
Kat Blaque
Mia Mulder
Lily Alexandre
ContraPoints
Philosophy Tube
Sophie From Mars
verilybitchie
let’s talk about stuff.
Jessie Gender
Jammidodger
Samantha Lux
Victoria Rose
Maya Henry
Stephanie Lynnette
Jasmine Vine
Robin Jaspers
Lilah Gibney
Rinoa Leonhart
Ruby Price
Dylan Mulvaney (TikTok)
JoJo75
Nikki Beauty Tutorials
Stef Sanjati
realisticallysaying
Laura K Buzz
BEYOND TRANS w/ Mardi and Friends
TsMadisonHinton
Katy Montgomerie
The Transverse
Bad With Money & Just Between Us w/ Gaby Dunn
Ashley Adamson
Autumn Asphodel
Seattle Voice Lab (Claire Michelle)
TransVoiceLessons (Zhea Erose/Voice Mom)
Sumi
Zoey Alexandria
Nicole Gress
Gabe Cole
Milo Stewart
Queries, Qualms & Quirks w/ Sarah Nicolas
Kim Petras
Ryan Cassata
Ty Turner
Sam Collins
FinnTheInfinncible
VandomVincent
Jammidodger
ChandlerNWilson
Luxander
Jake Edwards
Kaz Rowe
59 notes
·
View notes