Planet Fitness, a successful fitness chain and home of the trademarked ‘Judgment Free Zone,’ has banned a woman who repeatedly complained that a man was using the women’s room. According to a report on MassLive.com, Yvette Cormier of Midland County said this week that corporate officials told her she was no longer welcome after she…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Army announced today it is elevating authority to discharge transgender service members to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), the highest level at which that authority has ever been reserved. Prior to today’s announcement, local unit commanders were authorized to approve transgender soldiers’ separation orders. This…
Recently, Department of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter addressed the issue of military service by transgender people – who are currently prohibited from serving openly – in a town hall in Kandahar, Afghanistan. When asked about transgender service members serving in “austere environments” like Afghanistan, Secretary Carter ended his response by saying, “And I don’t think…
Last Friday night, 52-year-old Kevin Golec fatally stabbed his child – a 22-year-old who appears to have gone by both Brian Golec and Bri Golec – during a domestic dispute, writes Beth Sherouse on the HRC Blog. Local media identified the slain youth as male, but LGBT news outlets have offered conflicting reports – based on…
During Michael Jackson’s multiple facial surgeries and skin whitening procedures, armchair psychologists said his intent was clear, if troubling. The most commonly expressed reason given for the ever changing face and complexion of Jackson was he wanted to be less black. Longtime late night TV host and author Dick Cavett once told me he had…
For months supermarket tabloids have speculated on Bruce Jenner’s appearance with one even publishing a crudely Photoshopped picture of Jenner as a woman. Now in an interview with AP Bruce Jenner’s mother, Esther Jenner, 88, has confirmed her son’s transition to a woman. Pink News reported that when asked whether Bruce had raised their gender…
Taja Gabrielle DeJesus, a transgender woman living in San Francisco who volunteered at a shelter for transgender people, was brutally murdered on Sunday morning. Her death and the deaths of three other trans women of color this month are a stark and horrifying reminder that for trans people, discrimination, violence and prejudice are all too…
Now that President Obama has enacted new guidelines to help protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees working for private businesses holding government contracts valued at $10,000 or more as of April 15, many others have begun to expand their own policies without waiting for an act of Congress. Reporting for BusinessInsurance.com, Matt Dunning also…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, in partnership with Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC), has released an issue brief detailing the violence facing transgender people, and solutions that can be pursued by policymakers and public and private sector leaders to address the national crisis. “The level of violence targeting transgender people, particularly…
Transgender Law Center (TLC) Legal Director Ilona Turner confirmed today that TLC has agreed to represent transgender graduate student A.T. Furuya over the Jan. 14 incident at the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztec Recreation Center (ARC). Furuya used the men’s locker room at the ARC gym at SDSU on that date, and was allegedly…
