Iwamoto is known for her progressive stance, having been recognized by former President Barack Obama for her work. She’s also been supported by groups mirroring U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) politics. She supports the Green New Deal, wants to increase funding of public education in the state, promotes mass reform of the criminal justice system, and aims to invest in affordable housing.
Mexico City, Mexico has passed a local law banning murders against transgender women, a practice referred to in the country as transfemicidio (transfemicide). Murderers convicted under the law would face between 35 to 70 years in prison. Nearly 600 trans people in Mexico have been murdered between 2008 and 2021. At least 10 trans women have been murdered this year in Mexico City alone.
San Francisco, California has become the largest city in the United States to declare itself a sanctuary city for transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and Two Spirit people to safely receive gender-affirming healthcare. The city’s Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to bar city officials from assisting any out-of-state investigations into individuals who obtain, provide, or help others access gender-affirming care.
For the first time in its 77-year history, the Cannes Film Festival’s jury bestowed the award for Best Actress on an out transgender woman. Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón received the award at Saturday night’s gala awards ceremony alongside Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez, her co-stars in French film-maker Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez.
Judges overseeing a high-profile human rights trial in Argentina have convicted 11 former officials of crimes against humanity, in the South American nation’s first case to focus on the former military dictatorship’s overlooked practice of committing sexual violence against transgender women.
Ninety-four percent of transgender people said that they were either a little or a lot more satisfied with their lives since they transitioned, the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) found. The study, which is the latest edition of the influential survey of transgender people, involved 92,329 transgender and nonbinary respondents answering questions about various aspects of their lives from October 19 to December 5, 2022.
A new law in Maryland requires Medicaid to cover “medically necessary” gender-affirming care for residents — including care well beyond hormones or surgery. The law went into effect on January 1. It requires coverage for “gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner.” Gender-affirming care is considered safe and essential to the well-being of trans people by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and other major U.S. and world health organizations.
The Vatican, which leads the Catholic Church, has said that transgender people and people in same-sex relationships can be baptized and serve as witnesses at weddings, and trans people can also be godparents as well.
In its decision, the court said that the requirement forces trans people to make the “cruel choice between accepting the sterilization surgery that causes intense bodily invasion and giving up important legal benefits of being treated according to their gender identity.”
The city’s Common Council unanimously approved a bill to emphasize existing anti-discrimination laws and protect access to gender-affirming care.
It also said the city would not work with out-of-state law enforcement officials looking to punish those who traveled to New York to receive legal healthcare.
