Biden tells trans Americans he has their back as GOP governors sign more anti-trans bills

By Devan Cole, CNN

President Joe Biden pledged his support for transgender Americans during his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, telling members of the community he's standing by them at a time when they face a barrage of attacks by GOP-led state legislatures.

© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: U.S. President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of congress as Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Speaker of the House U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) look on in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. On the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden spoke about his plan to revive America's economy and health as it continues to recover from a devastating pandemic. He delivered his speech before 200 invited lawmakers and other government officials instead of the normal 1600 guests because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"I also hope Congress will get to my desk the Equality Act to protect LGBTQ Americans. To all transgender Americans watching at home -- especially young people, who are so brave -- I want you to know your president has your back," Biden said during his address.


The remark was met with applause by people in attendance at Biden's speech as well as trans advocates who say his comments are critically important for young trans people to hear during a year in which Republican-controlled legislatures around the country have been moving at a fast pace to impose restrictions on their lives.

So far this year, Alabama, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have enacted bans on trans girls and women competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, with West Virginia's Republican governor signing a similar ban hours before Biden delivered his remarks. Lawmakers in Florida also sent their Republican governor a bill containing an anti-trans sports ban on Wednesday. And earlier this month, Arkansas approved another measure that prohibits physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatments to trans youth.

According to data from the Human Rights Campaign, at least 117 bills have been introduced in various state legislature 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.

"With his heartfelt words, President Biden is giving hope to transgender Americans -- particularly transgender young people. He's sending a clear message that he sees them, that he understands their struggles, and that he's committed to making their lives better," said Mara Keisling, the executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, in a statement to CNN.

"At a time when some state legislators are targeting trans kids and trying to ban them from playing sports or deny them life-saving health care, the President is letting children know that they have a friend and ally in the White House, and that is so incredibly important," she added.

Rachel Crandall-Crocker, a Michigan-based transgender activist and founder of International Transgender Day of Visibility, told CNN that the remarks show "that our community is really making progress. It's a really wonderful indicator of that."

"I think that he's setting a tone here and it's a really groundbreaking tone," she said, adding that she hopes Biden's comments set a pattern for future presidents.

Biden made history last month when he issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of its kind in recognition of the Transgender Day of Visibility, which aims to celebrate the achievements of trans rights activists and increase awareness about ongoing challenges transgender and gender-nonconforming people ​face.

The President has also delivered on several key policy matters for trans Americans. Earlier this year, he nixed a Trump-era ban on most transgender Americans joining the military and an executive order he signed on his first day in office compels agencies to implement a recent Supreme Court decision prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace in laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.

He also helped bring a first to the community with his nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine to a key post in the Department of Health and Human Services. Levine later became the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

And among first lady Jill Biden's group of virtual guests for Biden's address was 16-year-old Stella Keating, the first transgender teen to testify before the US Senate, according to the White House, advocating for the Equality Act. The act amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect people from being discriminated against based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inducts eight women 'legends' in Class of 2021

Eight women, including five members of Canada's original 1986 women's team, are headed to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Class of 2021 inductees are Sue Brand, Annie Caron, Carla Chin Baker, Janet Lemieux, Luce Mongrain, Suzanne Muir, Cathy Ross and Sue Simon.

The eight "legends" represent Canada’s first decade in international soccer, from the original selections in 1986 through to Canada’s first participation at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1995.

Collectively, they won 18 national titles from 1982 to 1995, eight CONCACAF silver medals from 1991 and 1994, and the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in 1998. Six featured at either the 1988 FIFA Women’s Invitational Tournament or the 1995 Women’s World Cup.

Their induction marks the 35th anniversary of the Canada women’s team. The eight will be honoured May 6 on Canada Soccer’s digital channels.

“Canada Soccer congratulates this group of first-class athletes who have been honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame for their incredible impact on the game at both the national and international levels,” Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis said in a statement.

The first Canadian women's camp opened July 1, 1986, in Winnipeg, with Canada’s first two international “A” matches a week later against the U.S. in Blaine, Minn. Since then, the Canadian women’s team has played more than 400 international “A” matches while the program itself has featured more than 900 players from the youth to senior level.

The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours Canadian players who have played the game with excellence at the international and club level.

With the eight new selections for 2021, the Hall now features 202 honoured members: 137 players, 13 coaches/managers, 10 referees, and 42 builders. Players now make up two-thirds of the members.

The 2021 class is also a part of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame's priority to establish equity within the modern Canadian players category from both the men’s and women’s programs.

CANADA SOCCER HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2021

Sue Brand, fullback (Edmonton

A five-time national championship Jubilee Trophy winner, Brand was Canada’s top player at the FIFA Women’s Invitational Tournament in 1988 and won a silver medal at the 1991 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. She was the only player to feature in every Canada international minute from December 1987 to April 1991.

Annie Caron, attacking midfielder (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.)

Caron is one of six original members of the 1986 national team in 1986 that also represented Canada at the 1995 Women’s World in Sweden. She was Canada’s joint goal-scoring leader after the first six seasons of the women’s national team program..

Carla Chin Baker, goalkeeper (Aurora, Ont.)

A two-time runner-up at Canada Soccer’s national championship, Chin Baker was one of six original members from the 1986 national team who also represented Canada at the 1995 World Cup. She was Canada’s all-time goalkeeper leader in international “A” appearances from 1986 to 1997.

Janet Lemieux, sweeper (Edmonton)

A four-time Jubilee Trophy winner, Lemieux was an original member of the 1986 national team. She played for Canada in every international minute in 1986 and 1987 until she was forced out through injury.

Luce Mongrain, centre back (Trois-Rivieres, Que.)

A third-place finisher at the 1998 national championships, Mongrain was the Canadian women's youngest international at age 16 in 1987. She won two CONCACAF silver medals and featured for Canada at the 1995 World Cup.

Suzanne Muir, midfielder/fullback (Dartmouth, N.S.)

A Jubilee Trophy winner, Muir was one of seven Canadians to feature at both the 1995 and '99 World Cups. The first Nova Scotia player inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame, she helped Canada win the 1998 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Cathy Ross, centre back (Coquitlam, B.C.)

A Jubilee Trophy winner, Ross was one of the six original members from the 1986 team who also represented Canada at the 1995 World Cup. She was the only player to feature in every Canadian women’s international “A” match from 1986 to 1991.

Sue Simon, goalkeeper (Edmonton)

A joint-record six-time Jubilee Trophy winner, Simon was Canada's original starting goalkeeper in 1986, recording an MVP performance in Canada’s first international win against the U.S. on July 9, 1986, She once held Canada’s all-time record for clean sheets at the national championship.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2021

The Canadian Press

Canadian regulator allows oil pipeline Trans Mountain to keep insurers names private

© Reuters/Candace Elliott FILE PHOTO: The expansion of the Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline advances in Acheson

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) granted on Thursday a request of government-owned oil pipeline operator Trans Mountain to keep the names of its insurers confidential, to protect them from pressure by protesters.


Activists have stepped up pressure on banks and insurers to drop financing and insurance for fossil fuel companies, leading to European companies like AXA and Zurich pulling back from underwriting coal and oil sands projects.

Trans Mountain has said it incurred higher costs last year due to dwindling insurance options.

CER decided that sharing the names of Trans Mountain's insurers could make it harder to obtain insurance at a reasonable price, and that the names are commercial information. A Canadian government corporation owns and runs the pipeline.

Much of the oil Trans Mountain transports from Edmonton, Alberta to the British Columbia coast comes from Alberta's oil sands - a focus of protests due to their high carbon emissions.

The regulator's decision is troubling and makes it more difficult for indigenous groups to oppose such projects, said Charlene Aleck, spokesperson for Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce supported Trans Mountain's request, saying in a letter to the CER that disclosing insurers would otherwise jeopardize the pipeline's ability to secure affordable coverage for its required C$1 billion in liabilities.

The decision applies only to the pipeline that is currently operating, not an expansion project under construction.

Trans Mountain is nearly tripling capacity of the pipeline to carry 890,000 barrels of crude and refined products per day.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Statues to hatchet-wielding colonist reconsidered

BOSTON — A pair of fierce monuments honour an English colonist who, legend has it, slaughtered her Native American captors after the gruesome killing of her baby.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

But historians and Native Americans say the monuments to Hannah Duston obscure a grim truth: most of the Indigenous people she killed and scalped likely weren’t warriors who killed her baby, but instead were children.

The statues -- one in Massachusetts where Duston grips a hatchet and another in New Hampshire where she clutches a bundle of scalps — are being reconsidered amid the nationwide reckoning on racism and controversial public monuments.

Historians, Native Americans and even some of Duston’s descendants argue Duston's 17th century tale became propaganda for European colonists as they decimated New England’s Indigenous population.

They say it served the same purpose generations later as the new nation expanded west. The Duston monuments were built in the late 1800s, as U.S. forces battled Indigenous peoples and forcibly removed them from their ancestral lands.

“The savages and this pioneer mother who stands up to them,” Craig Richardson, a Duston descendant who is on a committee reviewing the New Hampshire memorial, said Thursday. "That's really what they're trying to depict."

In Massachusetts this week, the Haverhill City Council voted to keep the city's memorial but remove Duston's hatchet and update the statue's inscription, which tells her tale and calls Native Americans “savages.”

Mayor James Fiorentini said Thursday he supports the council's recommendations, including adding a new memorial to Native Americans near the site. He's formed a commission headed up by members of the Native American community to pursue the idea.

But Peter Carbone, who chairs the city's historical commission, maintains the Duston monument should be moved to a museum or other place where more context could be provided, an idea some of her descendants supported during recent hearings.

In neighbouring New Hampshire, the advisory committee that Richardson serves on continues to weigh changes to a memorial on a small island in Boscawen, at the alleged site of Duston’s bloody revenge.

Native Americans on the committee say the 1874 memorial, which has been the subject of decades of debate, should reflect a fuller picture of the region's long Indigenous history and the conflicts with European colonists.

“We don’t want a statue that honours Hannah, but on the other hand, we need an outlet in order to share the true history of the region,” Denise Pouliot, a member of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People, told WBUR recently. “How many historical books have been written based on this false narrative?”

According to legend, Duston and another woman, Mary Neff, were taken captive in 1697 by Native Americans raiding the English settlement of Haverhill. Duston’s husband escaped with eight of the couple's children, but one of their babies died.

In the version popularized by Cotton Mather, the child's head was bashed against a tree, but historians have long wondered whether the influential Puritan minister, who also played a role in the infamous Salem witch trials, sensationalized those and other details.

What’s also often lost is that the Native American family that eventually took the women didn’t even keep them locked up or guarded, according to Barbara Cutter, a University of Northern Iowa professor who wrote about the Duston monuments and their controversial legacy for Smithsonian Magazine.

Still, Duston, Neff and another English captive set upon the sleeping family with hatchets, killing ten of them, including six children. They even removed their scalps to collect a reward in Massachusetts. At the time, English and French colonists and their Native American allies were embroiled in King William’s War, one of a number of conflicts between the rival settlers.

Cutter wonders if cosmetic changes, like removing the hatchet from Duston's Massachusetts monument, are enough.

“The message of two statues was that violence committed by the U.S. against Native Americans was innocent, defensive and justified violence,” she said Thursday. “Eliminating the hatchet doesn’t change that. It just makes Duston’s — and the country’s — violence a little less obvious.”

Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press

 CBS News

Black farmers at the crossroads of racial inequity and climate change

Duration: 04:32 1 day ago

Just 1.3% of farmers in the U.S. are Black. Over the last century, America's Black farmers have lost more than 90% of their land, because of systemic discrimination and a cycle of debt. "CBS This Morning: Saturday" co-host Michelle Miller spoke with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and visited a community of Black farmers in upstate New York.

 CLIMATE CHANGE 

 KameraOne Canada (EN)

Firefighters battle wildfire north of Los Angeles

Duration: 00:36 1 day ago

Canadian PPE manufacturers team up to lobby government to build industry standards

KELOWNA, B.C. — Some of Canada's largest medical mask manufacturers have joined forces to lobby government to establish industry standards for personal protective equipment.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Canadian Association of Medical Mask Manufacturers says it was founded earlier this month to support and enhance Canada’s mask manufacturing industry.

Its founding members include Breathe Medical Manufacturing Ltd. in Kelowna, B.C., The Canadian Shield in Waterloo, Ont., and Inno Lifecare in Vancouver.

The group says it plans to work with the federal and provincial governments, health experts and suppliers to deliver safe and accessible medical masks for local and export markets.

Last month, Health Canada issued a recall on disposable masks containing a potentially dangerous material called graphene.

The masks have been used by thousands of Canadians, mostly in Quebec schools and daycares.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Mi'kmaq artist captures life — and the changing coastlines — on P.E.I"

Leader 

ONE of the nomads: The amazing journey of Bob Wells

Mike Smyth 

When Bob Wells decided to ditch his former life as a grocery-store worker to head out on the road as a real-life nomad, he knew he was embarking on an unpredictable journey.

NOMADLAND, 2020. © Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

But he could never have guessed where he ended up Sunday night: Gathered with his fellow highway wanderers to watch the film Nomadland win the best-picture Oscar.


It's a movie in which Wells has a memorable role, playing himself alongside the celebrated Frances McDormand, who took home the Oscar for best actress.

"I was thrilled and happy," Wells told me in an interview from his specially equipped van somewhere in the Nevada desert.

"It will be etched in my memory forever."

Read more: ‘Nomadland’ review: Frances McDormand shines in emotional wallop of a movie

Wells came to the attention of filmmaker Chloe Zhao (who won best-director Oscar) after he was featured in the 2017 book Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century.

The book tells the story of the "van dwellers," a subculture of transient Americans living in their vehicles, trekking across the country in search of good weather, temporary jobs and free parking.

Many of these modern-day nomads are older, poor people seeking an affordable lifestyle on fixed incomes.

It's a description that fits Wells, 65, who quit his day job in Alaska after the failure of his marriage left him broke and miserable.

"I would drive into work every day past this old van that was for sale," he told me.

"I thought, 'I could live in that! It would solve all my problems. I wouldn't have to pay rent anymore.' So I bought it and moved in."

That was in 1995. Little did Wells know that he was on the cutting edge of a new social movement that's documented daily on social media under the #vanlife hashtag.

Sensing the growing interest, Wells started a YouTube channel called "Cheap RV Living" that has gathered half-a-million loyal followers.

He also started an annual gathering of nomads called the "Rubber Tramp Rendezvous" that has attracted thousands of fellow wanderers to the Arizona desert.

"You don't want a lonely life out here," Wells said.

"You want to live rich full life. And part of that is other people. So I've worked to build a community."

Read more: Oscars ratings hit all-time low as viewership plummets 58% from 2020

Along the way, he has come to embrace the nomad lifestyle, something that was originally a source of shame.

"Society tells us what life is supposed to look like," he said.

"We call it the American dream and I'm sure it's similar in Canada: Go to college, get an education, find a career, get married, have kids, get a house, work for the rest of your life and then retire in the golden years.

"But I was forced into a different choice. At first, there was a sense of shame attached to it. Then I discovered it was a choice that made me really happy."

His experience on the road has given him insight into America — and Canada, too.

"I've driven across Canada," he said. "British Columbia may be one of the most beautiful places in the world. And the Canadian Rockies are just breathtaking."

He said the lack of universal health care in the United States is one of the most glaring differences he has noticed.

Unexpected health-care crises — especially for under-insured Americans — are among the many stark aspects of life he sees up close in a nomad community he will never leave.

"We're living an alternative to a failing society," he said.

"I would never go back to my old life. It's my goal to never live in a house again."

Mike Smyth is host of ‘The Mike Smyth Show’ on Global News Radio 980 CKNW in Vancouver and a commentator for Global News. You can reach him at mike@cknw.com and follow him on Twitter at @MikeSmythNews​.

Magic & Demons Aside, Yasuke Is Historically Accurate

Ineye Komonibo 

REFINERY29  30/4/2021

Over the past few years, Netflix has been ramping up its anime vaults with old classics for fans of the beloved Japanese animation style; subscribers can watch anything from Naruto to Hunter x Hunter at any moment. Yasuke, the newest original anime offering from Netflix, will tackle the genre from a fascinating new perspective, blending fantasy and history to tell the story of Japan’s first Black samurai.

© Provided by Refinery29

Yasuke follows the extraordinary redemption story of Yasuke (voiced by Lakeith Stanfield), a lonely and wandering samurai who discovers his purpose when he crosses paths with a young girl gifted with supernatural powers. Together, he and his powerful mentee encounter frightening enemies, each new fight unlocking a level of strength neither of them knew they had.

It’s your standard anime fare — an Odyssean journey, epic fight sequences, and lots of bloodshed — but told through a unique vantage point because Yasuke is Black. His experience in 16th century feudal Japan is shaped by his Blackness, marked by microaggressions (“Did you tattoo your whole body?”) and blatant, in your face racism (“A person like you will never be anything more than a servant!”).

The plot of Yasuke is actually inspired by and loosely based on the true story of Yasuke, the first Black samurai in Japan. Historical accounts of his life (laid out in detail in Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Giraud’s African Samurai: The True Story of a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan) reveal that Yasuke was born somewhere in East Africa (possibly Mozambique or Sudan) in the early 1500s before being trafficked and forced into slavery in India. There, he be trained to become a soldier and expert fighter until being hired to serve as a bodyguard for Jesuit missionaries.

In 1579, Yasuke arrived on the shores of Japan’s former capital Kyoto with the missionaries, stunning locals who had never seen a Black person before. Warlord Nobunaga Oda was impressed by Yasuke, believing him to be a god among men, and quickly took a liking to the new arrival; he became a member of Oda’s exclusive entourage of soldiers and would fight on behalf of the warlord in local military campaigns for power. As one of Oda’s samurai and the first Black samurai, Yasuke gained notoriety and status.

Unfortunately, Yasuke’s comfortable position within Oda’s ranks wouldn’t last long. When the warlord’s efforts to increase his power in came to a sudden end in the Battle of Honno-ji Temple, Oda decided to end his own life rather than admit his defeat, invoking the ancient samurai code of honor and impaling himself with his own sword. The death of Oda left Yasuke without a master and a leader, leaving him to wander the country as a ronin. Little to nothing is known of the samurai’s last days.

For people who aren’t already fans of anime, the idea of diving into the genre might be intimidating. However, creator LeSean Thomas hopes that the fact that Yasuke is based on a real person with a rich, but little-known, legacy will be the draw. Sure, it’s a cartoon full of demons, bloodshed, and explorations of the astral plane, but at its core, Yasuke is just a story about a Black man trying to find his own path as an outsider.

“We love fish-out-of-water stories,” Thomas explained in conversation with AnimeNewsNetwork.com. “And we just don’t really get to see that from a particularly Black lens because of the history of cinema, the history of animation, and where African-Americans were positioned at the beginning of that event at that time, historically.”

“I hope that people experience Yasuke as their first anime,” Thomas continued. “I want someone to say, ‘Yasuke was the first anime I watched. It had the Black Samurai, and it was entertaining! Are there more anime like this?'”

Yasuke is now available for streaming, only on Netflix.