Despite the isolation trans people frequently face and headlines about people turning to chatbots for companionship or even therapeutic support, trans people appear to be turning to AI very rarely and proceeding cautiously when they do.

Trans users have cited various appealing features of chatbots. In one study, researchers from Harvard, Emory, Vanderbilt, and University of California Irvine interviewed 31 people, a mix of cisgender straight people and LGBTQ+ people, about their use of chatbots for mental health support. It quoted a trans individual—the only trans person interviewed—who experienced rejection from friends over their gender and sexuality, who found comfort in responses that indicate there was nothing wrong with them. (The study doesn’t specify their gender or pronouns beyond that they’re trans.)

This respondent told researchers they ask the chatbot “personal questions, like ‘I wanna know if there’s anything wrong with me.’”

I also spoke to Terry, a trans woman who requested we use a pseudonym so she could speak frankly, about her use of chatbots. She highlighted the ability to talk to someone without any judgement. She also said she uses it for sexual fantasies, although she has increasingly run into limits platforms have added around explicit content.

When neither respectable protest nor threats of violence stop anti-trans campaigning, what can the trans community do? S. Lamble’s debut book, Unsafe: The Carceral Roots of the Anti-Trans Backlash, unpacks this paradox of safety. Lamble, a professor of criminology and queer theory at Birkbeck, University of London, spent decades studying and working alongside people involved in difficult cases like Stock’s. When Stock’s case entered public discourse, it immediately sparked what Lamble describes in the book as an escalation of “carceral safety politics.” Trans activists called for harsher punishments against gender-critical campaigners, who, in turn, advocated for tougher measures against trans activists. This conversation is foregrounded in a culture that uplifts figures like Nigel Farage, who actively push for harsher punishments against both migrants and trans women in female spaces. The core idea behind these messages from both mainstream trans and anti-trans activists is that punishment will lead to safety.

In Unsafe, Lamble argues that this assumption, uniting the British left and right, actually encourages trans exclusion from the start. Increasing the state’s capacity to punish will result in greater capacity for it to punish trans people. But what options do activists have without punishment? Lamble first urges readers to pause for reflection whenever the concept of safety enters the discussion. Does this form of safety mean exclusion or imprisonment? Or does it foster care and social bonds?

This surge in discourse—like most other ongoing “debates” around trans people in politics and culture—is entirely manufactured, most recently sparked by Cunningham’s statements and egged on by a media ecosystem well versed in alienating trans people and stoking moral panic.

Let’s lay some facts out. There are currently no trans women athletes in any major women’s professional league or on track to enter the leagues any time soon. While research into human biology is always evolving, there is no “new” groundbreaking data that has broken open the conversation around hormones and physical advantage. And no, there is no trans woman dominating at professional—or any level, for that matter—women’s sports.

That’s all to say: There is no discernable reason for roughly half of the women’s sports stories on The Athletic to be related to trans people, as they were at one point last week, or for players, coaches, executives and owners to be expected to weigh in on how they feel about the prospect of a trans woman playing professional sports. And while some have met the moment with thoughtful shows of solidarity (see: Reeve’s shirt on the court) or clear statements of allyship (Valkyries player Gabby Williams, I see you), it’s frankly insulting to athletes and fans of all genders—trans and cis—that airtime continues to be devoted to this.

Hi! I'm straight, cis male, and white.

I had a bar that went out of business because we were hosting drag shows in a rural town and the mayor held a 2 year slander campaign. My business was vandalized, Nazis parked outside it. I had panic attacks during the worst of it and have since been diagnosed with PTSD surrounding the experience. At one point a friend/gay pastor told me that because I chose to continue supporting the queer community and creating a space for queerness to exist, and thrive, as opposed to taking the safe approach, that I am now a member of the queer community.

I genuinely feel safer in queer spaces, and even chose my dentist by searching "lgbt friendly dentists near me." A dentist office isn't a dedicated queer space though, so I have no qualms.

I went to a drag performance last night, to support a queen I knew. I went to a few shows a couple months ago and ran into some performers from my bar too.

I started realizing last night that I'm knowing fewer and fewer people from the bar days though. And resultantly I feel that means I have fewer people to vouch for me that I am a safe person, without that vouch I feel as though I may make real members of the community feel unsafe - and moreover a feeling of unsafeness is sometimes as unsafe as being unsafe.

For years I've been inspired by the craft of drag. I've had visions of outfits in my head but never had the time, a queen interested, and my pussy has never really been on fire.

With everything going on in the world...when I was at the show last night, my pussy started to quake, dare I even say, ignite? I dunno, I think it's gonna be time soon.

I know there are plenty of examples of famous straight men doing drag such as Rudy and his pedopal. But there's also plenty of real queens dedicated to the craft, such as Maddy Morphesus and .

I guess I'm wondering is it an invasion of space? Both in and out of drag for a straight guy to enter. What and where are the lines? And most importantly, what do I need to be doing to keep everyone in these precious spaces feeling and being safe? If the chat believes its cool for me to do drag, please feel free to hit me up with drag name ideas.

Lastly, am I allowed to say CUNT?

Thanks in advance! I'm not a perfect ally, nor will I ever get there, but I'm trying my best to get as close as I can.

Research undertaken by Daniel L. Metzger and colleagues is the latest in a long line of studies demonstrating that, far from not knowing who they are, trans youth have a very firm grasp of their gender identity. It builds on research by Kristina R. Olson finding very low rates of detransition among trans youth, and research by Michael Zaliznyak demonstrating that the decision to come out and begin medical transition is an extremely slow one that usually requires years of gradual processing and sustained effort.

Metzger and his team followed 445 trans adolescents for a median period of 2.4 years, finding that only 2.9% of them switched their gender identity back to one that aligned with their birth sex; the remaining 97.1% retained a trans identity. What’s more, of those who initiated gender-affirming medical care, only a miniscule 1.1% of them chose to discontinue it, and none for reasons of reidentifying with their birth sex. This research puts the lie to the idea that massive amounts of trans youth will regret their transitions.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/72750599

“A human rights crisis is unfolding in Puerto Rico — one that disproportionately affects LGBT+ people, particularly transgender and nonbinary Puerto Ricans,” said True Self Foundation Executive Director Miguel Vázquez-Rivera.

The True Self Foundation and LatinoJustice PRLDEF participated in the briefing that took place on July 15.

Vázquez-Rivera during the briefing highlighted several anti-LGBTQ laws and policies that have been implemented since Gov. Jenniffer González took office in January 2025. These include Law 63-2025, which prohibits gender-affirming healthcare for anyone under 21, and Law 26-2026, which prohibits the University of Puerto Rico and other “government facilities” from installing “mixed or gender-neutral multi-occupancy restrooms.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/72704202

With 30,627 trans participants from the EU27 (plus Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia), it is the largest survey of trans people in the EU to date. The survey results provide a crucial socio-demographic resource on the EU trans population, detailing their experiences in areas such as openness, healthcare, legal issues, discrimination, violence, and wellbeing.

These trans handypeople are going Tool 4 Tool.

A new home repair company, owned by two transgender construction professionals, has opened in Atlanta, per local LGBTQ+ publication Georgia Voice. The two professionals behind the nonprofit, who go by Nicky and Sam, formerly worked as part of the organization Queer Hands, a collective of queer people who provide home services. Per the Voice, Nicky and Sam requested that their last names not be used in the reporting.

While Queer Hands focused on help around the house, including painting, automotive care and cleaning, Nicky and Sam’s new venture, T4T Repairs will focus entirely on construction “to focus on workforce development for trans and gender non-conforming folks while continuing to provide reasonable priced carpentry, repair, design, demo, and general handy they work,” according to their website. Per the Voice, the T4T in the name of the nonprofit, which can often mean “trans 4 trans” in dating parlance, here means “Trans 4 the Trades.”

Legislation to strengthen protections for reproductive and transgender healthcare providers and patients is poised for Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s approval following party-line votes by New Jersey lawmakers Tuesday.

The state Assembly approved the Democratic-sponsored measure to create a new crime of interfering with reproductive healthcare, which under the bill includes care for people who are transgender, by a vote of 55 to 23. The Senate also approved minor changes made by the Assembly by 25 to 15.

Jennifer Williams, a city council member in Trenton who is transgender, said she “could not be happier” with the outcome, given the years of advocacy by LGBTQ+ supporters.

Kris Cravens-Hutton and her husband, Dave Hutton, made headlines with the “maximalist” Pride Month display in front of their Detroit home. The large, rainbow-colored display of allyship even gained the couple a visit from pro-LGBTQ+ Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D).

The straight couple’s display includes a 40-foot arch of rainbow-colored flowers stretching over their home’s entrance, a trans-inclusive Progress Pride flag, and large foam white letters covering three-fourths of the couple’s historic Detroit home, which spell out “Detroit, Pride, Peace, Love, Dance, Hugs, Resist!”

She even posted a video of Gov. Moore visiting the display. As he emerges from his car, he says, “Oh my goodness! I love it! … This is amazing! I need this in Maryland!” She explained that she typically puts the decorations up on Memorial Day weekend (at the end of May) and puts them away on July 4 weekend.

A trans teen withdrew from the girls’ division of an Irish Dance contest in Florida after the organizers were pressured by state officials to kick her out. However, it is unclear whether the girl’s participation in the competition would have actually violated any law.

“No young person should become the center of a political fight simply because they want to participate in the activities they love,” said Public Policy Manager for Equality Florida Quinn Diaz in a statement. “At a time when Florida is competing to attract visitors, talent, and major events from around the world, the question for our leaders is simple: will we send a message that our doors are closed, that ours is only a state for some? Or will we make it clear that everyone is welcome here?”

The Irish dance contest is governed by the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America (IDTANA). That organization has trans-inclusive policies that allow competitors to decide how they compete. They have previously defended those policies, and the community has supported that move, including by setting up a petition to the Dublin-based governing body, An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), to voice their unequivocal support for the inclusion of trans dancers.

In a win for trans people, their families, and healthcare providers in the state, California has passed a new budget that includes funds to protect gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare from federal funding interference. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the budget, which was the result of extensive lobbying from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, including TransFamily Support Services.

“This historic investment will help keep care accessible, support the providers doing this lifesaving work, and remind trans young people that California will not abandon them,” said Kathy Moehlig, director of TransFamily Support Services.

The 2026-27 budget sets aside $26 million to support gender-affirming care access in the state, as proposed by a coalition of LGBTQ+, healthcare, and civil rights organizations earlier this year. The fund will be disbursed through grants to ensure that providers have “meaningful resources” not only to continue providing gender-affirming care to existing patients but also to expand their offerings.

In the small town of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, a city council member accused staff at the public library of grooming kids with a Pride Month display in the children’s section, which librarians titled “Love is Love.”

The councilman may have broken the law in his crusade to have it removed.

On June 19, council member Bill Krut reposted a photo from the Monroeville Library’s Facebook page, showing the books on display, including “I Am Perfectly Designed” by Karamo Brown, “The GayBCs” by M.L. Webb, and “Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle” by Nina LeCour.

That’s the thing nobody tells you about these long fights. The arc doesn’t move in a straight line. The Boy Scouts changed, not because any court told them to, but because people came to understand how wrong it was to exclude a kid for who he was. That understanding built slowly, over the years, because people like you refused to disappear. Someday, I believe, America will understand with the same clarity why excluding transgender kids is wrong. When that day comes, it will be because of what you built. The record you made. The five years you actually competed and showed everyone watching that the sky did not fall.

A diplomatic event disrupted, drag artists detained and questioned, film screenings hindered or cancelled. Several LGBT+ events organised in China by foreign cultural centres or embassies have come under pressure, reflecting a tougher stance by the authorities.

In central Beijing on 28 May, around twenty diplomats are preparing to set off on a run of a few kilometres along the Liangma River. Some are wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘love is love’, whilst others are wearing rainbow-coloured bracelets or earrings. As it has done every year since 2024, the Finnish Embassy is organising a ‘Rainbow Run’ through the streets of the Chinese capital. The event – exclusively for diplomats – is taking place as part of Beijing Diversity Week (25 to 31 May), an initiative of the European Union Delegation in Beijing, with the aim of promoting inclusion and diversity.

However, the day before the event, the Finnish embassy received warnings: one of its diplomats posted in the capital and a local Chinese staff member were contacted. The tone on the phone was threatening. The caller identified himself as a member of the Public Security Bureau (PSB). He warned them that the run was contrary to Chinese culture.

The following day, on the day of the race, participants noticed an unusual police presence around the embassy. Large numbers of police officers were stationed in the area. Barriers blocked access to part of the route. The Chinese authorities demanded that the event be cancelled, citing complaints from parents concerned about the potential impact on their children.

Despite this pressure, around fifteen diplomats set off. Along the route, some were followed by plainclothes police officers and photographed. Others were physically prevented from leaving the embassy for a time. “Even though there was no violence, this constitutes a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunities,” said a European diplomat posted in Beijing. The incident led to the Chinese chargé d’affaires being summoned to Helsinki.

“Detained for nearly 7 hours”

The following day, another incident occurred, this time involving two drag queens who were in China at the invitation of the European Union delegation for Beijing Diversity Week.

“The week had gone rather well so far,” says one of them, the Spanish-British artist Choriza May, a well-known figure on the drag scene. “But on the night of 29–30 May, as we were returning from a night out, I received a call from the hotel reception telling me that the police were downstairs. ”

The two drag queens were taken to a room, questioned and had their passports confiscated. “They held us for nearly seven hours,” says Choriza May. “I was given two options: pay a fine or leave China.”

According to the artist, the authorities cited a visa issue, arguing that their presence in the country did not constitute a tourist activity. A justification she disputes. “I told them we were in China as part of a cultural exchange organised by embassies, and that as such, we were exempt from work visas. They wanted the name of the person who had invited us to a nightclub, but I didn’t have that information.”

According to her account, the police were primarily seeking to identify those who had invited them a few days earlier to ‘Destination’, one of the most renowned gay clubs in the Chinese capital, which had been forced to close suddenly over the weekend following a decision by the authorities.

The two performers were eventually released in the early hours of the morning. In a handwritten letter dictated by the police, they undertook to “refrain from any activity contrary to Chinese law” and to “respect the culture and customs” of the country.

One of the two drag queens, the Belgian Edna Sorgelsen, missed her flight but was able to leave for Hong Kong on 30 May. As for Choriza May, she remained in China for two extra days, as planned, during which she said she felt “constantly under surveillance”.

“Overall, the week was a great success,” said the European diplomat in Beijing, “but this year’s Beijing Diversity Week was also marked by an unusual level of pressure and scrutiny surrounding the most visible expressions of LGBT+ diversity, particularly rainbow symbols and drag performances.”

A sharp increase in pressure

According to European diplomats, these incidents are part of a broader trend of a sharp increase in pressure on foreign cultural centres affiliated with embassies in China – a development not seen since the Covid period – particularly regarding events relating to sexual and gender diversity.

This is because other events organised as part of Pride Month have also come under pressure. On 6 June, the French Institute in Beijing was forced to cancel the screening of two films featuring LGBT+ characters – Enzo de Laurent Cantet, directed by Robin Campillo, and Eat the Night by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel – after police officers arrived to check the identities of Chinese audience members.

On 10 June, in Guangzhou, another screening organised by the Institut français in collaboration with the Canadian Consulate at the latter’s premises had encountered similar difficulties. The authorities had obtained the list of registered attendees in advance. Some Chinese participants, and even their employers, had been contacted in an attempt to dissuade them from attending the event. At the venue, police officers carried out identity checks and questioned several members of the audience.

At the end of March, the Goethe-Institut had also faced a heavy police presence during screenings organised with the British Council. Around thirty officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, had been deployed around the building. Checks were carried out at the entrance, whilst some police officers had taken up positions in the auditorium to take photographs of the audience.

A narrowing of spaces for freedom

These incidents are causing concern amongst European diplomatic missions, which see them as a sign of a more general hardening of the climate surrounding LGBT+ issues in China.

“We are seeing an increasingly restrictive environment for civil society, community spaces and forms of identity expression that do not fit with the official narrative,” says a diplomatic source.

Homosexuality has not been a criminal offence in China since 1997, and several community spaces do exist. However, LGBT+ social venues remain few and far between and are regularly subject to administrative closures or police pressure.

“There has always been a significant underground community enabling LGBT+ people to meet,” explains Ashley Jiang, creator of the first lesbian dating programme produced by and for a Chinese audience. “But queer people remain largely marginalised, and state control has tightened considerably in recent years. ”

Chinese activists report a collapse of the LGBT+ ecosystem. Online content is censored and groups are regularly shut down as soon as they gain too much visibility. Within universities, LGBT+ societies can no longer be officially registered.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to discuss these issues openly or to create spaces for dialogue,” says Ashley Jiang, who now lives in the United States.

“Visibility matters,” emphasises the European diplomat, who assures us that Beijing Diversity Week will return next year. “Seeing artists or people speaking openly about diversity is important. It sends a message: you exist, you are not alone.”

Caroline "Tula" Cossey appeared as an extra in the 1981 James Bond Movie For Your Eyes Only. Following the movie, she was outed by a british tabloid as transgender. She became the first trans woman to pose for Playboy in 1991.

I stumbled upon this interview through a YT video about it by Ashley Barron and found it remarkablehow Mr. Donahue, the host, conducts the interview and moderates the audience's questions. It does feel like futuristic and not like from 36 years ago.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/66545506

This is gonna be a long haul. TW: Childhood abuse, systemic trauma TL;DR: I have gender dysphoria and don't understand what to do with it. Therefore I'm going to drawing boards again using psychoanalysis to try to get a better answer as to why.

Alright, so I grew up in a slightly broken household with strict gender norms externally enforced upon me. My parents themselves were not entirely strict about what girls or boys should be doing, but nonetheless raised me according to our gender assigned at birth. The problem was that I grew up in a Slavic immigrant community. A lot of babushkas there, including my grandparents, were very traditional with their raising. So I probably was influenced to adopt more traditionally feminine roles like the caretaker or the manager or the healer or whatever just because of that. I was also raised around boys (all of my cousins and godbrothers were male). This created an interesting environment. I learned to simultaneously be in masculine spaces without being allowed to be masculine. But more on that later.

My father was an abusive drunkard; my mother was a rock holding us all together. I always witnessed the abuse. I wasn't the one who was ever it was inflicted upon, and the fights happened little enough as to be able to be "ignored" with an IPad and a trip to grandparents. I'm 16, if you were curious. I learned early on to live walking on eggshells. Straight A's/B's, advanced elementary school class, never broke a rule in the slightest, etc.... and whenever there was a problem, it was to be hidden.

The problem first came knocking on my door in 2019, when I moved from the city to god-knows-where. I had already been dealing with social issues, but a stable friend group in 3rd grade made my life relatively okay. I still felt like there was inherently something off about the way that I acted to be subconsciously excluded in the way that I was, but it was what it was. Being in a rural area made that much worse. I had trouble fitting in at school, had acquaintances but not friends, and felt a lot more powerless in my loneliness. Now I couldn't even see my godbrothers—they were hours away. Then the pandemic came.

2020 was my curse and my cure. I had already been using the internet to cope with reality excessively, but that had amplified by the time pandemic society adjusted my way of life. 2020 reminded me of the power of make-believe, of roleplaying (I used to heavily enjoy playing social games on Roblox and trying to win the appeal of others by looking cool or e-dating with other kids). 2020 also introduced me to the idea that gender wasn't irrefutable. There was a large spike in gender identities, in activism, in cultural knowledge, and in that frenzy, I learned something new.

After the pandemic hit, my years became hard. I recognize now that I was plausibly depressed each and every school year from fifth grade up until the current day (rising junior). I coped by make-believe. I coped by being a boy. It seems like society forgets so much more of your mistakes as a man. Everyone seems to give you more attention and space. For the first time in my life, I was popular. Sure, on a random game on a random video game, but it felt liberating by all means. I also became part of the in-group, part of the drama, part of the relationships, everything. It felt genuinely great. But it came with a cost. I had to relearn everything from the start in order to believably be a boy. It felt like a trap that drained me of my creative freedom and will. That's why I tried to keep my two lives separate—one in the real world, a girl, and one in the digital world, a boy. But the lines seemed to always blur, and my masculinity eventually consumed me whole. That's when I get fed up with being restricted and rebel by being fully feminine. Then I get reminded of why I steered away from femininity, and turned to masculinity, and the cycle repeats, and would repeat all throughout middle school and the beginning of high school.

Over time, the roleplaying became much easier, and it was very easy to convince people of my "manhood" because I replicated so many mannerisms I saw. I had a lot of feed, after all: Korean mangas (manhwa). I read a lot of books about relationships between two men, and still do now. I like the sense of equality of same-sex relationships (yes, I read wlw too) and I also watched anime, obsessively. Most shonen are patriarchal and had masculine leads, so I guess I absorbed some of the undertones of that as well.

And here I am, 16 years old and lost. Being masculine has almost become my home, but I do genuinely enjoy being feminine from time to time. I don't know who I am or where I'm going. I don't know what I can stably identify as. I, from freshman year to now, have identified as non binary for the sake of allowing the swings between the two gender spectrums, but more things have been leading me to believe I might be most stable as a demiboy or some other masculine-leading identity. I just shy away from experimenting in real life (even though that will give me the best answer, rather than performing for popularity online) because my mom (badass bitch divorced that mofo hehehee) doesn't know what I've gone through and is somewhat invalidating, and I don't want to do anything too permanent.

What are your guys' thoughts?

FAQ's: Yes I am getting a therapist, just wanted input from here too. Yes I know I'm supposed to come out of the closet since it's June, don't wanna do it w/o therapist approval. No, I am not happy being cis. The pandora's box of gender has been opened and cannot be closed. I am trans in some way or some form. Please don't push God on me, He is not someone I follow. Yes, the psychiatrist thinks I'm autistic, will be getting a formal evaluation in July. No, will not be identifying as autistic until I get a good answer. Goodbye.

An exhaustive analysis of over 3,242 articles by the New York Times covering transgender issues from 2014-2026 revealed a stark shift towards hostile framing in 2022.

In January 2015, the New York Times’ only trans opinion columnist Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote an op-ed titled “How to Save Your Life”. The piece was written in the aftermath of the suicide of Leelah Alcorn. The piece was a powerful reminder of the difficulties that transgender people face in society and that transgender young people are among the most vulnerable. The piece ended with a quote from Alcorn’s suicide note stating: “Fix society. Please.”

This was a poignant article and an incredibly important piece of writing that allowed an openly trans opinion columnist at the most prestigious newspaper in the United States to share the last words of a transgender youth with the world as she pleaded for people to make society better. What was remarkable about this is that there was no issue at the time with a transgender opinion columnist doing so. By early 2022, this would no longer be the case.

In early 2022, the New York Times declined to renew Boylan’s contributing writer contract and thus left the paper of record. This left the Times without a highly visible trans voice. This was just one of the major changes that shifted how the New York Times would cover transgender issues starting in 2022 and would result in the reputation of the New York Times being tarnished with the transgender community.