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In the News
Bill would require schools to report kids' gender identity, orientation
A state lawmaker wants to require public schools to reveal certain details of how children express their gender identity and orientation in the classroom. SB 354, authored by Sen. Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond), would make teachers tell parents if a student expresses changes in certain aspects of their name, attire or pronouns.
Minnesota poised to require teachers to affirm student gender identity, sexual orientation
Minnesota public school teachers may soon be required to affirm and incorporate students' gender identities and sexual orientations in their classrooms. Minnesota's Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) is in the process of adopting new requirements for aspiring educators. The state's goal is to ensure that all licensed teachers are committed to diverse perspectives on race, culture, language, sexual identity, religion and more.
Forgotten figures who challenged gender expression and identity centuries ago
Non-binary and trans people have always been here, not least in every recorded society from the ancient world onwards. Why is it then that they’re often absent from the tales and lists of historical figures we hear about? The answer lies, in part, with how history is recorded and who records it.
Iowa lawmakers vote to ban gender-affirming care for trans kids. Here's the impact:
Martha, 27, felt symptoms of gender dysphoria when she was very young, but didn’t recognize those feelings for what they were until she was 16. Growing up in a conservative Mormon household, she says that she always felt there was something wrong with her genitalia, although she couldn't put those feelings into words at first. Martha (who asked that we use a pseudonym to protect her privacy) says her family has been largely unsupportive ever since she came out to them as trans. She began her transition journey alone at 19.
Nonbinary Actors and the Challenges of the Trade
Nonbinary people are being represented onscreen more than ever before, both as actors and characters. The past few years have seen more stars who identify as nonbinary come to the fore, from “House of the Dragon” star Emma D’Arcy to “Our Flag Means Death” breakout Vico Ortiz to “Hacks” Emmy nominee Carl Clemons-Hopkins. Here’s a rundown of the issues nonbinary actors face in the industry, including insights from theater professionals and nonbinary performers themselves.
Ireland has had trans self-ID laws for years. The simple reality is there’s no risk for women
In 2018, Aoife Martin received her Gender Recognition Certificate after self-declaring her gender. That’s because, in the Republic of Ireland, self-identification has been a reality since the country passed its Gender Recognition Act (GRA) in 2015. Self-identification for trans people shouldn’t be a big deal, but that hasn’t stopped an all-out war from brewing in the UK and other jurisdictions over the issue. Theresa May’s Conservative government promised to introduce self-declaration in 2018, but those plans were quickly dropped under Boris Johnson.
'Stand up for kids like me,' trans student tells Iowa senators, but LGBTQ school bills advance
With a rainbow bow in her hair and her mother beside her, 9-year-old Odin SmallCarter stood before a Capitol crowd and pleaded her case to the Republican senators sitting before her. "You should stand up for kids like me," said Odin, who is transgender. "Because I always get bullied at school … and I'm trying my best to make them understand, but there's nothing I can do."
Lessons in Preferred Pronouns Should Start in Pre-K, Largest Teachers Union Says
The nation’s largest teachers union recommends that educators begin teaching the concepts of preferred personal pronouns and gender identity starting in pre-kindergarten. “When you look at elementary school students, many people think they are too young to talk about pronouns,” said panelist Matthew Powell, a member of the National Education Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee, during a webinar last summer.
Pope criticizes anti-gay laws, says being gay is a sin but ‘not a crime’
Pope Francis condemned “unjust” legislation criminalizing same-sex relationships around the world, saying “being homosexual is not a crime” in an interview published Wednesday. He said the church must work to end such laws, while Catholic bishops who support them “have to have a process of conversion.” Instead, the clergy should offer “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us,” the pontiff told the Associated Press.
Opinion: The right-wing approach to ‘parents’ rights’ puts kids at risk
Some of the most contentious debates in American education – among them what kinds of stories are (and are not) allowed in the classroom, how teachers should teach US history and navigate LGBTQ issues (when there are states that seek to bar them from discussion) – have led to the resurgence of talk about “parents’ rights.”
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