Major Alivia Stehlik, a transgender service member, shares her experiences and concerns about the impact of such a ban on her career and the military community. The article highlights the challenges faced by transgender troops, the political and social implications of the ban, and the broader context of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the United States. It also emphasizes the dedication and resilience of transgender service members like Stehlik, who continue to serve despite the uncertainty surrounding their future in the military.
Photo: Major Alivia Stehlik lives in Nashville with her partner and dog Mozzie. (Stacy Kranitz for The 19th)
Most teens (69%) say that whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth. Another 30% say a person’s gender can be different from their sex at birth. Similarly, 65% of adults say a person’s gender is determined by their sex at birth, while 33% say gender and sex can differ.
Our concern here is that the Review transgresses medical law, policy, and practice, which puts it at odds with all mainstream U.S. expert guidelines. The report deviates from pharmaceutical regulatory standards in the United Kingdom. And if it had been published in the United States, where it has been invoked frequently, it would have violated federal law because the authors failed to adhere to legal requirements protecting the integrity of the scientific process.
During the service, the Bishop directly asked Trump to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals who “fear for their lives” as he enters his next administration.
“There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families,” she continued. “Some, who fear for their lives.”
African-American couple. Black man and woman are standing side by side and look ahead. Portraits of people, side view, head and shoulders. Modern vector illustration for banner, cover, print, blogs.
Kiki never teased me when I chose female characters in Mortal Kombat or Mario Kart. And she never raised an eyebrow when I walked, talked, or gestured similarly. I was free to be myself, even when I didn’t have the words to describe how I felt inside.
“The definition further suggests that personhood begins at conception, which could have further implications for abortion rights. “It is clear that this executive order is, in many ways, just using transgender people as a pretext for taking control of other people’s bodies,” Kellan said. “This isn’t just about command and control over transgender people’s bodies and lives. This is about opening the door to police any woman who some stranger decides doesn’t look right.”
The Trump administration makes clear that it views transgender people as an enemy, framing their existence as an “attack” on women and institutions, much like opponents of gay marriage once framed it as an attack on the sanctity of marriage. On substance, the section makes its purpose clear: to remove transgender women from women’s spaces and to end federal recognition of transgender people broadly, while entirely ignoring the existence of transgender men and focusing its fear-mongering heavily on transgender women.
“Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government” is an executive order that claims to be defending women’s rights by defining “male” and “female” and related terms according to assigned sex at birth, and mandates the usage of “sex” instead of “gender” on all government forms and documentation. It also mandates that all “intimate spaces” (i.e. sexual assault shelters, and possibly even bathrooms or prison wards) are to be designated for biological sex and not gender identity.
Passports and Other Official Documents: By reinstating the binary options of “male” or “female” on official documentation, individuals who updated their documents under Biden-era policies could find themselves in a legal limbo regarding the validity of those changes.
Public Universities and Schools: The new executive order prohibits what it terms “forced recitation” of pronouns. Since public universities must adhere to federal regulations, administrators may be required to amend existing policies or face the potential loss of federal funding. This shift is likely to spark a wave of lawsuits.
Incarcerated Trans Individuals: One of the most pressing concerns is for incarcerated trans individuals—particularly trans women—who may now be placed in men’s facilities, raising significant safety and human rights issues.
315 youth aged 12–20 years (M = 16.1, SD = 1.87) were predominantly White (58.7%) and transmasculine (65%). Factor analysis of the NIHTB-EB measures yielded 4 emotional health dimensions, consistent with prior studies of other cohorts. Over the observation period, participants demonstrated significant improvements in AC, psychological well-being, social satisfaction and self-efficacy and significant reductions in negative affect and negative social perception. Significant associations between AC and different indicators of emotional functioning were observed at baseline and over time.
The survey also shows that 49 percent think that “Society has gone too far in accommodating transgender people,” 21 percent that “Society has not gone far enough in accommodating transgender people,” and 28 percent says that “Society has reached a reasonable balance when it comes to accommodating transgender people.”
If we are kind we can say that the US is split 49/49 when it comes to how they see trans people.
Regardless, it is clear that the LGBTQ community has not managed to make people see that trans women in women sports is not a question about fairness in sports, but an attempt at stigmatizing trans women.
In anticipation of Dave Chappelle hosting the first 2025 episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL), a group of trans comedians from the “Here To Pee” comedy tour have shared satirical advice for Chappelle, addressing his past controversial remarks about the trans community.
“I really respect Dave Chappelle for trying to understand trans people. The first step to success is failure — so we’re clearly on the right track.”
Erin Reed refers to Nebraska goevrnor Jim Pillen and Senator Kathleen Kauth who have announced a sweeping anti-trans bill that targets trans people in bathrooms and on sports teams across the state. Their main arguments are from right wing Christian fundamentalism, not science or any insight into transgender lives.
Allick’s speech celebrated the bill while accusing the LGBTQ+ community of promoting hate. She claimed that trans women are “in the world and not in God.” Allick went further, suggesting that trans people are “confused” and aligned with “the devil,” likening their experiences to Adam and Eve questioning sex and gender roles. Her speech culminated in claims that trans women are rejecting God and facing condemnation. The crowd, including Pillen and Kauth, responded with applause.
Jesus’ message about love and the support for those excluded from society is lost in all of this.
“Nobody believes in “nature versus nurture” anymore—that debate is long over. The answer is it’s obviously both. We may have shared biology, but we also exhibit lots of individual biological variation; we may be socialized in similar ways, but we also have highly individualized personal experiences. These various factors all come together in an unfathomably complex manner to help create the gender and sexual diversity that we see all around us.”
In her essay “Transgender People, Bathrooms, and Sexual Predators: What the Data Say” from 2021 Julia Serano examined the unfounded fears linking transgender individuals to sexual predation in public restrooms. She presented studies indicating that transgender people are more often victims than perpetrators of harassment in these spaces.
Serano traced the origins of the “bathroom predator” myth to Religious Right campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s, which falsely labeled homosexuals as child molesters. As societal acceptance of gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals grew, these groups shifted their focus to transgender people, perpetuating similar baseless accusations.
The essay also highlighted how anti-transgender activists falsely portray transgender individuals as predators aiming to “groom” children.
By debunking these myths, Serano aimed to provide a resource for countering anti-transgender propaganda and to raise awareness about the broader tactic of using the “sexual predator” trope to stigmatize marginalized communities.
She has now made an updated video based on that article.
“So many Americans have moved on from being outraged about same-sex marriage — and I always joke that, you know, everyone’s been to a lesbian wedding at this point — so they decided, okay, well, we’ve lost that battle. Essentially, what is the issue — and I’m going to use their own words against them — like, what issue is going to trigger them? And it was trans kids…
I’ve had enough that there’s no bottom. I’ve had enough that they will stop at nothing to turn Americans against each other. Every American, every child, deserves health care that is appropriate for them, and the fact that they have no qualms about making life more difficult for children is disgusting. And so it was a culmination of everything that I had seen. And, of course, this was the meanest, most dehumanizing, demonizing campaign a Republican ticket has ever run. And I think we need to call it for what it is, which is hate and fear-mongering.”
After starting his transition process, the student changed his documents and asked the university for the data to be updated. However, in later documents and communications, the student was referred to by his previous name.
On January 14, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” aiming to prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female sports teams at federally funded educational institutions. The bill redefines sex under Title IX to be based solely on reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The vote concluded with 218 in favor and 206 against, with two Democrats supporting the measure. The bill now advances to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.
“Only a few Republicans spoke in favor of the bill, including Representative Jedediah Hinkle, who argued that it was necessary to prevent people from “getting off” on bathroom sounds. Hinkle also pointed out that some transgender women are attracted to other women, raising questions about whether the same logic could be used to target lesbians as well.”
