transgender
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Janet Mock: Why Gender Pronouns Matter
What’s in a name? A hell of a lot when it comes to someone’s identity. Pose’s writer, director and producer Janet Mock speaks on the use of preferred gender pronouns, how they are building blocks in communication, and how they help people feel fully seen and heard. Watch the complete video above. Pose returns to…
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FX’s Pose Is Not Only Entertaining, But Saving Lives—One Episode at a Time
When I was a wee, young, gay whippersnapper, I didn’t have any representation of myself on television. With this lack of being seen, I instead found myself in the various black women that paraded themselves ever so elegantly across my screens. These women showed me the power of resilience and strength, but there was always…
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Activists Demand Justice for Layleen Polanco, a Black Trans Woman Found Dead in a Rikers Island Jail Cell
A 27-year-old black trans woman, Layleen Polanco, also known as Layleen Xtravaganza, was found dead in her jail cell on Rikers Island last week, and the LGBTQ community and her family plan to rally today to demand justice in her name. Polanco was arrested in mid-April for allegedly assaulting a cab driver in Harlem and…
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The 9th Black Trans Woman Has Been Killed This Year
On Wednesday, the body of Chanel Scurlock—a transgender black woman—was discovered in a field in Lumberton, N.C. shortly after midnight. She was 23. The Advocate reports that the victim was identified by friends and activists after suffering an unspecified number of fatal gunshot wounds. Scurlock lived 20 miles away in neighboring Lumber Bridge and became…
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‘I Can’t Stop’: With Ms. Blakk for President, Moonlight Writer Tarell Alvin McCraney Campaigns as an Unlikely Candidate
“The most transparent way is the truth.” Tarell Alvin McCraney is telling me about the circuitous journey that led him and longtime collaborator Tina Landau to the real-life character of Ms. Joan Jett Blakk. That’s “two t’s, two k’s,” as she reminds us during her run for president at Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre, where McCraney…
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RuPaul's Drag Race Contestant Honey Davenport Shares Why the Art of Drag Is Revolutionary
Members of the LGBTQ+ community have long used art as a form of expression to cope with certain situations that have happened to us because of the way we live our lives. We use art to tell stories, convey messages, entertain, and also to make you think. Honey Davenport, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 contestant,…
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Gillette Ad Features Black Trans Teen Shaving for the First Time
With Pride season soon upon us, we’ll soon be inundated with rainbow apparel and items from brands falling over themselves to remind us all how inclusive and woke they all are. Every once in a while, however, a brand gives us something genuinely heartwarming and good. In the latest ad from Gillette, posted to the…
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Transgender Patients Could be Stripped of Healthcare Protections by the Trump Administration
Over the course of his two-and-half-year tenure, our alleged President Donald Trump has either enacted or enforced policies that make no secret as to where he stands on transgender and LGBTQ issues. Barely a month after taking office, his administration rescinded guidelines that protected transgender students under federal Title IX law. In 2017, the Department…
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Trump Administration Wants Homeless Shelters to Deny Transgender People
Trump’s invalid administration is considering a rule change that would allow discrimination against homeless transgender people seeking shelter. Ben Carson, the world’s most hated Oreo lover, and secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is proposing changes to the 2012 Equal Access Rule, HuffPost reports. The original rule was meant to “to…
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A Pose for Pride: Indya Moore Gets Revealing in Calvin Klein’s Latest Underwear Campaign
Pose changed the landscape of television last year, debuting with the largest cast and crew of trans talent in television history, both on and behind the scenes. And it’s proven a game changer for breakout star Indya Moore (purported preferred pronouns they/them/their), who has not only won hearts with their portrayal of vulnerable ballroom beauty…