Tag Archives: Transgender

Seattle’s 18th Trans Film Fest Is Coming to Columbia City

by Neve Mazique-Bianco

The 2023 TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival, produced by Three Dollar Bill Cinema, turns 18 this year! To celebrate the fest’s young adulthood, the producers, programmers, jury, and artists have cooked up a wondrous weekend of in-person and online screenings, events, and parties, including two brand-new elements — a new location and a new award! One, TRANSlations is coming to Columbia City! In-person screenings and events will take place at Ark Lodge Cinemas and Beacon Cinema on May 5 and 6, with an after-screening opening night party on May 5 at The Royal Room. Two, earlier that evening, Three Dollar Bill Cinema will present the inaugural TRANSlations Trailblazer Award to filmmaker, actor, and director, Isabel Sandoval.

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Community

Resisting State-Sanctioned Violence by Uplifting Black Trans Movements

March 31, 2023 Editor

What Trans Visibility Means to Lavender Rights Project

by Lavender Rights Project

On this Trans Day of Visibility, we are in the midst of a rapidly changing political environment that is growing more and more terrifying for trans and non-binary Communities of Color across Washington State. Every week, gender-diverse loved ones throughout the country are strategically being stripped of their civil rights, primarily by radical white supremacist fascists who believe that we should not exist. While much of the legislation is targeted squarely at children (and mostly transgender girls), the policies being implemented are designed to prevent trans communities across the board from accessing lifesaving gender-affirming care, any kind of safety in public spaces, and the right to be — and live as — our authentic selves. Even in the Pacific Northwest, which people believe is a safe haven for trans people, we are seeing a significant increase in violence aimed primarily at trans femmes. Our heightened visibility in this hostile climate is becoming more dangerous by the day, and it is directly affecting our lives in alarming tangible ways.

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Community

UTOPIA to Host Community Events for Transgender Awareness Week

November 9, 2022 Editor

by Jadenne Radoc Cabahug

To honor transgender people and educate communities about transgender issues, United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance (UTOPIA) Washington is hosting a series of in-person and hybrid community events, including workshops and health clinics, for Transgender Awareness Week from Nov. 14 to 18.

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Arts & Culture

Artists O’Leary and Vaughan at King Street Station — Feminine Power

June 9, 2022 Editor

by Duncan Gibbs

The timing could not be more relevant for the current show at King Street Station. Political forces across the U.S. are criminalizing reproductive health care and gender-affirming support for trans youth. This year already, according to NBC News in March, state legislators around the U.S. have introduced a record 238 bills limiting the rights of LGBTQI people and 500 measures restricting abortion have been introduced in 40 states. In times like this, art can inspire the hope and community we need.

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Features

Weekend Reads: Are Children ‘Re-Transitioning’ Later in Life After a Social Transition?

May 21, 2022 Editor

by Kevin Schofield

This week, we’re reading an article from the journal Pediatrics: a longitudinal study by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Washington looking at children’s gender identity five years after making a social transition.

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Arts & Culture

TRANSlations Film Fest Features Films By and About Trans and Nonbinary Communities

May 5, 2022 Editor

by Patheresa Wells

This year’s TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Fest will take place May 5–8. It is a hybrid event with virtual and in-person screenings. TRANSlations Mxxtape, the in-person event, will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Northwest Film Forum.

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Voices

OPINION: The Ubiquity of Transmisogyny in Seattle

January 25, 2022 Editor

by William Lau

Content Warning: transphobic hate crimes, anti-Blackness, murder, incarceration

In the spring of 2021, I moved to Columbia City. I found the neighborhood to be welcoming and exciting. It’s close to bookstores and Asian grocery stores, and I spent much time going on walks around my home. On my walks, I paid close attention to public boards and postings. I found posters advertising community events and marches, as well as stickers declaring various points of view about the pandemic.

One day, I was surprised to come across a red sticker on a street pole that said “protect children from gender clinics.” I’d heard this phrase before. As a transgender man, I’m very familiar with the various right-wing dog whistles used to deny health care to my community. The claim that clinics that offer transgender health care prey upon children is a blatant lie, even as bills passed in the U.S. make it increasingly harder for transgender youth to receive care.

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Features

The ‘Lavender Rights Project’ Clarifies Their Community Calling

September 24, 2021 Editor

by Jasmine M. Pulido

Black trans women and nonbinary femmes are the most underserved population within the LGBTQIA+ community.

This is the reality that the Lavender Rights Project (LRP) knew but did not yet know how to effectively address after serving as a grassroots nonprofit law firm for the last five years. This September, on their five-year anniversary, after bringing Black trans women and femmes into new leadership to inform LRP’s strategy, they’re changing their mission to better hone in on this problem. While they still intend to be inclusive and serve the larger LGBTQIA+ community, they will center their work around Black trans women and nonbinary femmes moving forward.

“We are hoping to be inclusive of all LGBTQ in our services, but we see focusing in on Black trans women as a method to address all needs of the entire community. When we get it right for Black trans women, we get it right for everyone who reaches out to us for help,” Jaelynn Scott (she/her) said. As LRP’s executive director, Scott exuded a mix of fierce compassion that also somehow felt like a calming balm as she spoke about LRP’s future.

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Features

Social Justice Journalism From Mercer Middle School Students

June 2, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Mercer Middle School

(This article was previously published by International Examiner and has been reprinted with permission)

It is a pleasure to present essays from Mercer Middle School. These students took a journalism class and want to learn more about social justice causes and ways they can make a difference, which comes through in their writing. When they wrote these articles, they were learning about why journalism matters and why it’s important.

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Community

Current and Former Staff Call Out Anti-Blackness at Ingersoll Gender Center

April 17, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Mark Van Streefkerk

Ingersoll Gender Center is one of the oldest organizations by and for transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming communities in the U.S. Founded in 1977, Ingersoll provides support groups, resources, help with navigating healthcare, employment, and other services, all under the vision of self-determination and collective liberation for transgender people. However, current and former staff members claim the nonprofit has fallen far short of this vision, alleging Ingersoll Directors have demonstrated “intentional, calculated abuse, and anti-Blackness.”

On March 15, about 12 Black, POC, trans, and disabled current and former staff — known as Ingersoll Collective Action — released an Action Network petition, calling out the nonprofit for abusive workplace dynamics, exploiting the labor and social capital of Black staff, and other instances of harm.

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