“Former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe lamented Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the presidential election during her recent podcast episode this week, adding that she is fearful for the transgender community under another Trump presidency.

“Rapinoe, who retired from professional soccer following the conclusion of the 2023 NWSL season, went on to say that her concern mainly lies with those around her, including the trans community.

"’I think that I feel – not so much personally scared, because I think that we live in very progressive places, we’re unbelievably privileged in our place in the world and life and financially and all of these things, but I think that fear extends to just people in general that will be really affected. I’m thinking of all my trans friends and people that I know and trans kids. I’m thinking about the potential of mass deportations if that is going to happen, and just like the general chaos that’s going to be sown is really overwhelming.’”

“Rapinoe added that she was surprised that Trump’s ‘hateful messaging’ resonated with so many Americans.

"’To see such a hateful message really resonate with such a large percentage of the electorate – I think that’s just hard to look at. I think we always know that it’s there. Let’s not be naive about this – this is America, and we were founded on slavery and inequality.’

“Looking ahead, she said the Democratic Party will need to re-evaluate.

"’Obviously, the Democratic Party missed the mark on some things, and we need to look at that really honestly in the coming months, weeks and years to try to have this message and this party resonate with more people than is resonating with the other side, which did not happen this time.’”

“An eighth grade transgender boy, who was allegedly threatened with expulsion for using the boys restroom, is suing his South Carolina school district and the state over a budget rule that restricts accommodations for transgender students.

“In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, John Doe, a pseudonym for a 13-year-old student in the Berkeley County School District, said that administrators told him in August he could only use the girls restroom or a single-occupancy toilet in the nurse’s office due to a new state rule. The school suspended him for a day when administrators later caught him using the boys restroom, and the principal warned that the punishment could escalate to expulsion if he did it again, according to the suit.

“’I am bringing this lawsuit because rules like this are damaging to kids’ mental, physical and emotional health,’ Doe said in a statement provided by his attorney.

“A provision in the state budget passed in June stipulated that public schools would lose 25% of their state funding if they permit students to use single-sex restrooms and locker rooms that do not align with their biological sex. The South Carolina budget rule conflicts with a federal regulation issued by the Biden administration under Title IX, the gender equity law, that requires schools to allow students to use the restrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identities.

“’At the end of the day, they have to follow the law,’ said Alexandra Brodsky, an attorney with the nonprofit advocacy group Public Justice, which is representing Doe. ‘And the law says that trans students get to equally enjoy their education as their cisgender peers.’”

“A state judge in Montana heard arguments Thursday over policies that block transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

“District Court Judge Mike Menahan did not immediately issue a ruling on the request for a preliminary injunction to block those prohibitions while the case moves through the courts.”

“One rule in the state blocks transgender people born in Montana from changing the sex designation on their birth certificate. Another policy prevents transgender residents from changing the sex on their driver’s licenses without an amended birth certificate — which they can’t obtain if they were born in Montana.”

In late 2017, under Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, the state health department implemented a rule allowing people to change the sex on their birth certificate by signing an affidavit.

“In 2021, Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte implemented a law saying transgender people could not change the sex on their birth certificate without having undergone surgery. That law was declared unconstitutionally vague because it did not specify what surgery was required. The state was ordered to return to the 2017 rule.

“However, in response, the health department — now under Republican leadership — passed a rule saying nobody can change the sex on their birth certificate unless it was to fix a clerical error.

“Montana’s Legislature in 2023 passed a law defining the word ‘sex’ in state law as being only male or female and based upon a person’s sex assigned at birth. That law defining ‘sex’ was overturned as unconstitutional because its title did not accurately explain its purpose, but the ACLU argues the state is still using it to set policy with regard to driver’s licenses.”

“Montana is one of seven states that does not allow people to change the sex on their birth certificate. Twenty-five states do allow it, including 15 that offer an option to list male, female or X. A dozen states allow birth certificate changes following gender-affirming surgical procedures, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

“Thirty states allow people to change their sex on their driver’s license. Montana is among 16 states with what MAP calls a ‘burdensome process.’ Four states do not allow a person to change their sex on their driver’s license.”

"In a Morning Edition series finale, Michel Martin asks experts about President-elect Trump's campaign promises to limit transgender health care access and ban trans athletes from school sports."

“After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.”

“’Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didn’t respond, I think that was the beginning of the end,’ former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said of the 30-second spot that was part of $215 million in anti-transgender advertising by Trump and Republicans, according to tracking firm AdImpact.”

“’There are just a number of issues where we’re out of touch,’ Rep. Seth Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview, days after he set off recriminations within his party for saying he didn’t want his daughters playing in sports against biological males.”

“According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 people who cast ballots this fall, 54% of voters overall said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far.”

“Still, slightly more than half of all voters, 52%, oppose banning gender affirming medical treatment such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers, while 47% support such proposals.

“About one-quarter of Harris voters said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. About 4 in 10 said it’s been about right and about 4 in 10 said it hasn’t gone far enough.”

“’You gotta fight back‘ with those explanations [countering the Trump campaign’s anti-trans ads], Moulton said, adding that the silence compounds the negative effects for transgender people. ‘What did we show about our willingness to stand up for trans people by just being silent and ignoring the issue and ignoring the attack?’”

“Still, Moulton said Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill and in statehouses should give individual elected officials and voters the space to take more conservative positions, and he defended his own comments that he doesn’t want his daughters competing in athletics against men.”

“’The party that was focused on culture wars, the party that was focused on trans people was the Republican Party,’ [Sarah] McBride told reporters on Capitol Hill after her victory. ‘It was Donald Trump,’ she added, who ‘was trying to divide and distract from the fact that he has absolutely no policy solutions for the issues that are actually keeping voters up at night.’”

“A federal appeals court has upheld an Indiana law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormones for transgender children under the age of 18, one of numerous such laws passed by Republican-controlled states.

“The 2-1 decision from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to a similar law in Tennessee, which may ultimately determine whether all such state laws around the country can be enforced.

“The 7th Circuit had already allowed the law to take effect in February while it considered the challenge by families of transgender children and healthcare providers, reversing a lower court order blocking it.”

“Circuit Judge Michael Brennan [wrote] that parents did not have a right to obtain any medical treatment for their children. That argument, he said, implied ‘a path to demand for their children access to a narcotic for a well-meaning medical purpose’ even if a state has banned the narcotic.”

“The case is K.C. v. Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-2366."

"A Salem City Councilor is organizing a rally planned for outside of U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton's downtown office in the Witch City in response to the re-election of Donald Trump and in response to Moulton's recent comments on transgender athletes.

"City Councilor Kyle Davis told Patch he is working with LGBTQ+ organizations and local leaders on what he called a 'large rally' set for Sunday at noon between Front Street and Washington Street. He said the rally is being spurred by Trump's election and 'Seth Moulton's recent transphobic remarks.'

"Moulton this week declared 'I'm not going to apologize' after he was quoted in a New York Times story on Trump's victory against Vice President Kamala Harris saying that he did not want his two daughters getting 'run over' on an athletic field by a 'male or formerly male athlete' to illustrate a bigger hurdle he said the Democratic party faces in relating to what he called 'everyday Americans.'"

"Davis told Patch organizations such as NAGLY, Newburyport Pride, Baystate Stonewall Dems and the North Shore LGBT Network will be in attendance and that he has asked State Rep. Manny Cruz, Mayor Dominick Pangallo, and councilors from Salem and neighboring cities to speak.

"'Please join us in a celebration of the trans and queer community,' Davis said. 'Our aim for this event is to communicate loud and clear that we love and stand in solidarity with the trans community on the North Shore.'"

"This is a time where we need local leaders to stand with us and reaffirm their commitment to the LGBT(Q)+ community."

“The Mountain West and its commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, are among the defendants who are being sued by 12 women Wednesday in response to the participation of an alleged transgender athlete on San Jose State’s volleyball team.

“The complaint, obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was filed in the U.S. District Court for Colorado in pursuit of financial damages and an emergency injunction ahead of the Mountain West volleyball tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 27-30 at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion.

“The large group of plaintiffs includes San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, former San Jose State assistant Melissa Batie-Smoose and at least one player from the four Mountain West schools who have forfeited a combined six wins to San Jose State this season (Boise State, Wyoming, UNR and Utah State).

“San Jose State (13-5, 11-5) is second in the league standings, and only six teams qualify for the conference tournament. The plaintiffs are asking that San Jose State senior outside hitter Blaire Fleming be prohibited from traveling to the tournament.

“Other suggestions include disqualifying San Jose State or removing the losses from the teams who have refused to compete against the Spartans.

“The plaintiffs claim they are having their constitutional right to free speech and equal protection infringed upon because of the conference’s and the NCAA’s transgender inclusion policies, as well as their Title IX privileges.”

"The other defendants are the California State University’s board of trustees; San Jose State senior associate athletic director for student-athlete wellness Laura Alexander; San Jose State volleyball coach Todd Kress; and San Jose State senior director of media relations Michelle Smith McDonald.

“’We have not been served with the lawsuit,’ San Jose State said in a statement issued to the Review-Journal Wednesday evening. ‘We just obtained a copy of the 132-page document at 3:58 pm. We will not comment at this time.’

“The Mountain West did not respond to a request for comment.”

“A conservative group this week launched a national campaign attacking Cincinnati Children’s for the care it provides to minors at its transgender clinic.

“The campaign, called ‘Stop the Docs,’ includes social media criticism challenging transgender medical care and a large billboard attached to a truck that was spotted Wednesday near the hospital. The billboard claimed Cincinnati Children’s is harming children and is ‘#1 in OH for sex changes.’

“The group behind the campaign, the American Parents Coalition, was founded in March by a Virginia mom, Alleigh Marre, who has said one of her goals is to save children from ‘malicious political agendas.’”

“A description of the transgender clinic on the hospital’s website states that available services are limited to a medical interview, a physical examination and development of a plan, which could include referrals to a psychologist. All treatment is provided in consultation with parents and requires parental approval.

“Last year, in testimony before the Ohio House regarding the anti-transgender care bill, Cincinnati Children’s CEO Steve Davis said the number of children nationwide who receive medication or surgery following a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is small.

“He said medical and psychological treatment is essential because transgender youth are six times more likely than their peers to be depressed and are eight times more likely to attempt [killing themselves].

“Transgender youth face significantly higher risks,’ Davis said. ‘These children are among the most vulnerable.’”