LGBT activists not excited by Jenner's campaign for governor
MEMBER OF 1% TRANSISTIONS GENDER BUT NOT CLASS
Though Caitlyn Jenner is one of the most famous transgender people in America, the announcement of her candidacy for California governor was greeted hostilely by one of the state’s largest LGBTQ-rights groups and by many trans activists around the country.
“Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California,” tweeted the group, Equality California. “But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass.”
Jenner – the former Olympic gold medallist and reality TV personality -- is a Republican and supported Trump in 2016. She later criticized his administration for some discriminatory actions against transgender people, but has failed to convince many trans-rights advocates that she is a major asset to their cause.
“Caitlyn Jenner is a deeply unqualified hack who doesn’t care about anyone but herself,” tweeted trans activist Charlotte Clymer. “Her views are terrible. She is a horrible candidate.”
Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transgender writer and professor at Barnard College, appeared on multiple episodes of Jenner’s TV show, “I Am Cait” and considers her a friend. But she’s not an admirer of Jenner’s politics.
“I wish her well personally,” Boylan said via email. “But I can’t see how the conservative policies she is likely to embrace will help Californians.”
Wyatt Ronan of the Human Rights Campaign, a major national LGBTQ-rights organization, said Jenner “is not the leader California needs.”
“Her support of Donald Trump, the most virulent and vocal anti-LGBTQ president in American history, and her decision to hire Trump’s inner circle for her campaign are just two examples why,” he said.
David Badash, editor of an LGBTQ-oriented news and opinion site called The New Civil Rights Movement, noted that Jenner’s campaign website outlined no policy positions and offered two options to those visiting the site: “Shop” and “Donate.”
Badash questioned why Jenner would run as a Republican at a time when GOP legislators in more than 20 states have been pushing bills aimed at curtailing transgender youths’ ability to play school sports and receive gender-affirming medical care.
Some activists found reason to welcome Jenner’s announcement, saying it was further evidence that transgender Americans are running for office more frequently.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen of the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund noted that in the 2020 election, Sarah McBride of Maryland became the first openly trans person elected to a state Senate seat and Stephanie Byers of Kansas became the first openly trans Native American elected to a state legislature.
In Vermont, Christine Hallquist won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018, but lost the general election to incumbent Republican Phil Scott.
“Voters want leaders who will deliver results for their communities, no matter who they are,” Heng-Lehtinen said.
Attorney Sasha Buchert, co-director of the Transgender Rights Project at the LGBTQ-rights group Lambda Legal, said when the public sees transgender people in public life it “serves to expand public awareness of the reality and diversity of trans lives."
“It matters to us what policies candidates support — and what their track record might be — on a full range of issues, not just trans rights and inclusion,” Buchert added. "That is the lens one should always use in evaluating any candidate, including Caitlyn Jenner.”
David Crary, The Associated Press
JENNER'S PARTY
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs anti-trans sports bill
By Caroline Kelly and Kelsie Smith, CNN
4/23/2021
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill into law on Friday requiring all Alabama athletes in K-12 public school to compete in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth -- joining a growing trend among Republican-controlled legislatures around the country that have been moving in recent weeks to impose restrictions on the lives of transgender Americans.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill into law on Friday requiring all Alabama athletes in K-12 public school to compete in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth -- joining a growing trend among Republican-controlled legislatures around the country that have been moving in recent weeks to impose restrictions on the lives of transgender Americans.
© Jake Crandall/USA Today/Sipa USA Gov. Kay Ivey holds a sit down interview with reporters in the Governor's office at the Alabama State Capitol Building in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. (Photo by Jake Crandall/ Advertiser/USA Today Network/Sipa USA)
Ivey's office confirmed to CNN in an email that the governor signed the bill into law Friday afternoon.
The bill states that no K-12 public school is allowed to "participate in, sponsor, or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender, unless the event specifically includes both biological genders."
While proponents of the bill say sex-specific sports teams have given biological female athletes more equal opportunities to compete, those against it say the bill is discriminatory and harmful to transgender athletes.
Alphonso David -- president of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy groups -- slammed the legislation as "nothing more than a politically motivated bill designed to discriminate against an already vulnerable population."
"By signing this legislation, Gov. Ivey is forcefully excluding transgender children. Let's be clear here: Transgender children are children. They deserve the same opportunity to learn valuable skills of teamwork, sportsmanship, and healthy competition with their peers," David said in a statement. "Simply put, Alabamans deserve better than lawmakers who legislate against the health and safety of all kids for cheap political gain."
Alabama Republican Rep. Scott Stadthagen, who sponsored the bill, praised Ivey for her support.
"I want thank Governor Ivey for her leadership and for protecting the rights of Alabama's female athletes," he tweeted Friday. "Standing up for what is right is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do."
So far this year, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have enacted similar sports bans, with Arkansas also approving a measure earlier this month that prohibits physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatments to trans youth. At least 30 states have introduced similar bans this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union's anti-trans bill tracker.
According to data from the Human Rights Campaign, at least 117 bills have been introduced in the current legislative session that target the transgender community, the highest number the organization has recorded since it began tracking anti-LGBTQ legislation more than 15 years ago. The majority of bills would affect transgender youth, a group that researchers and medical professionals warn is already susceptible to high rates of suicide and depression.
Ivey's office confirmed to CNN in an email that the governor signed the bill into law Friday afternoon.
The bill states that no K-12 public school is allowed to "participate in, sponsor, or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender, unless the event specifically includes both biological genders."
While proponents of the bill say sex-specific sports teams have given biological female athletes more equal opportunities to compete, those against it say the bill is discriminatory and harmful to transgender athletes.
Alphonso David -- president of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy groups -- slammed the legislation as "nothing more than a politically motivated bill designed to discriminate against an already vulnerable population."
"By signing this legislation, Gov. Ivey is forcefully excluding transgender children. Let's be clear here: Transgender children are children. They deserve the same opportunity to learn valuable skills of teamwork, sportsmanship, and healthy competition with their peers," David said in a statement. "Simply put, Alabamans deserve better than lawmakers who legislate against the health and safety of all kids for cheap political gain."
Alabama Republican Rep. Scott Stadthagen, who sponsored the bill, praised Ivey for her support.
"I want thank Governor Ivey for her leadership and for protecting the rights of Alabama's female athletes," he tweeted Friday. "Standing up for what is right is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do."
So far this year, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have enacted similar sports bans, with Arkansas also approving a measure earlier this month that prohibits physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatments to trans youth. At least 30 states have introduced similar bans this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union's anti-trans bill tracker.
According to data from the Human Rights Campaign, at least 117 bills have been introduced in the current legislative session that target the transgender community, the highest number the organization has recorded since it began tracking anti-LGBTQ legislation more than 15 years ago. The majority of bills would affect transgender youth, a group that researchers and medical professionals warn is already susceptible to high rates of suicide and depression.
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