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Bathrooms just became less safe for trans students. Here’s what to do now.

Transgender kids desperately need our help.

By

Robbie Couch

The path toward justice for transgender people in America is not a straight one.

Since the Trump administration seized the steering wheel in the White House, setbacks have halted — and even reversed — progress for transgender Americans when it comes to accessing safe bathrooms. There’s no sign these setbacks will stop in the months and years ahead.

Photo by Arno Burgi/AFP/Getty Images.

If you believe in transgender rights, don’t feel helpless. The transgender community needs us now more than ever.

Here are 15 ways to show trans people you’re in their corner:

1. Know the facts.

On one hand, research finds many transgender people are harassed or physically assaulted while being forced to use a restroom that doesn’t correspond with their gender. On the other hand, the idea that ensuring trans people equal bathroom access will somehow legalize the right for a predator to wander into a women’s bathroom is a classic case of fear-mongering born from a myth.

Use the facts to make your case when discussing trans rights with those who want to learn more.

2. Know what policies are in place in your own community’s school district.

Trump’s reversal on trans students’ bathroom rights will likely leave schools making more decisions about restroom regulations. Find out what (if any) policies are in place at the schools near you and advocate for trans students who need you in your own backyard.

Image via iStock.

3. Become a Trevor ambassador for the Trevor Project, the nation’s leading LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization.

As calls to their 24/7 hotline surged in the aftermath of the election, the Trevor Project was one of the critical groups providing aid to young people in desperate need.

Many young trans people will rely on them in the months ahead, and volunteers will be crucial. You can become a Trevor ambassador in a city near you and spare some time to help the group do its life-changing work.

4. If you know a transgender kid, reach out to their parents to see if it’s OK for you to send your love.

A sweet card, a warm hug, or a trip to the ice cream parlor — just to say “You are loved” — can make all the difference. If you know a transgender adult, reach out to them and see how you, as an ally, can best help efforts toward equality in your own community.

Image via iStock.

5. Fund the resistance through Lambda Legal, a group using the law to help protect trans kids from Trump’s policies.

“While the Trump-Pence administration wages its war on children, we at Lambda Legal will redouble our efforts to protect transgender and other vulnerable kids,” the group said in a statement. “We are already in court fighting for transgender students, and we are prepared to sue any school district that discriminates in the wake of the Trump administration’s actions.”

6. Write a reassuring message to trans students online using the #ProtectTransKids hashtag.

The hashtag, which began trending Feb. 22, is being used to send notes of love and solidarity to anyone who could use it.

7. And while you’re on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, share this image to let everyone know where you stand.

1 in 3 transgender youth has tried to commit suicide. These kids need more protection, not less. #ProtectTransKids

A post shared by Liz Plank (@feministabulous) on

8. If it’s the right fit for you, become a member of Fierce, or tell someone else about the opportunity.

A New York City-based group, Fierce runs youth-led campaigns and leadership development programs so more young, queer people of color feel empowered to influence the world around them today and in the years ahead.

9. Get involved with the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC is the nation’s leading political advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, and equal bathroom access is one of its most important issues.

10. Find out if the schools in your community have a Gay-Straight Alliance.

Again, Trump’s decision will give state and local school districts more room to discriminate when it comes to bathroom access. This makes it even more crucial that you know what’s happening in the schools in your own neighborhood.

The Gay-Straight Alliance is one group that operates at the local level, helping build bridges between straight, cisgender students and their LGBTQ peers.

Find out if there’s a GSA program in your own school district. If there’s not, help start one.

11. Take part in a local or national event held by GLSEN, a group committed to making sure every grade school in America is safe for LGBTQ students.

Among many services, the nonprofit does extensive research on how and why schools are failing queer kids and provides resources to educators to help fix the problems.

“While the Trump administration may abandon transgender students, GLSEN won’t,” the group’s executive director, Dr. Eliza Byard, said in a statement.

12. Buy a shirt from Trans Lifeline and help save lives.

Similarly to the Trevor Project, Trans Lifeline runs a hotline for any transgender person in need. Trans Lifeline, however, is operated solely by trans staffers for trans people, which can make a difference to those seeking help.

If you purchase a shirt from their online store, proceeds go toward helping the group fulfill and expand its mission of saving and bettering lives.

13. Learn more about the causes of LGBTQ youth homelessness, and fight for change.

It’s vital we fight for transgender rights when it comes to bathrooms, but we also can’t forget about the thousands of trans youth across the country made homeless simply because of their gender identity. Groups like the Ali Forney Center, the Happy Hippie Foundation, My Friend’s Place, and the True Colors Fund are fighting every day to help homeless LGBTQ youth access stable housing, employment, and an education.

14. Watch and share this powerful video featuring a trans girl and her loving family on Facebook.

The more people see it, the more hearts and minds will open.

15. Donate to the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

The nonprofit, which began as a grassroots effort in 1979, now provides social programs — like arts and culture, job readiness, and health and wellness initiatives — for LGBTQ people ages 13-24 in and around New York City. It does great work, but it needs your help.

Transgender people have always needed our love and support, but this is a particularly critical moment when each one of us can make a difference.

Whether it’s donating what you can, sharing a note online, or simply giving a warm hug, you might be the person a student — maybe in your own community — needs this very moment. Show them you care.

This article was updated on March 6, 2017.

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    She’s giving birth to a puppy. – Photo credit: Photo via Carrie Jensen/Imgur, used with permission.
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    One couple’s perfect response to people asking when they’re going to have kids

    Choosing to have kids or not have kids is no one else’s decision but yours.

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    “When are you guys going to start having kids?”

    Like many couples, Carrie Jansen and her husband Nic had heard this question a million different ways, a million different times.

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    Carrie wanted to tell her family that they don’t plan on having kids but knew if she did, they’d say something like, “Oh you’ll change your mind one day!” and that pesky question would keep rearing its ugly head.

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    Rather than continue to deflect the question over and over, Carrie decided to do something a little bit different.

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    “My husband and I have been married 3 years and everyone is bugging us about having a baby. Close enough right?” she captioned the photos.

    Her pictures went insanely viral, with many of the commenters giving her props for hilariously addressing the dreaded “kids ” question.

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    Carrie is hardly alone in not wanting to have kids — in fact, a record number of women are choosing not to have kids today.

    In 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey found 47.6% of women between age 15 and 44 had never had children, which is the highest percentage on record. Despite the numbers, however, because we still live in a patriarchally-driven society, women regularly face the expectation that they should be mothers, and they often are judged if they decide not to be.

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    No one else has the right to put pressure on you to change your body and life in a drastic way. Thankfully, because of women like Carrie — and partners like Nic — who aren’t afraid to bring the subject out in the open, the expectations are slowly but surely changing.

    This article originally appeared nine years ago.

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    Mom rips into husbands who expect their wives to do housework in crazy viral Facebook post

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    It’s the 21st century, and as a civilization, we’ve come a long way. No, there are no flying cars (yet), but we all carry tiny supercomputers in our pockets, can own drones, and can argue with strangers from all around the world as long as they have Internet access.

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    Recently while bitching about the fact that I do absolutely everything around my house with a bunch of friends all singing “preach Queen”, someone said to me “if you want help you need to be specific… ask for it. People need lists, they aren’t mind readers.”

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    NOTHING. Again.

    And so I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not your job to ask for help, it’s not my job to write fucking lists.

    We have enough god dam jobs and teaching someone how to consider me and my ridiculous work load is not one of them. Just do it. Just think about each other, what it takes to run the god dam house.

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    That’s your job. Just do the fucking dishes without being asked once in a while mother fuckers.

    Hall’s post touches on the concept of emotional labor, which can be defined as “the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job.”

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    Women in the comments section seemed to overwhelmingly agree with Hall’s post.

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    This article originally appeared seven years ago.

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    Earlier in the week, Stephen Callaghan’s daughter Ruby came home from school. When he asked her how her day was, her answer made him raise an eyebrow. Ruby, who’s in the sixth grade at her school in Australia, told her dad that the boys would soon be taken on a field trip to Bunnings (a hardware chain in the area) to learn about construction.

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    Dear Principal

    I must draw your attention to a serious incident which occurred yesterday at your school where my daughter Ruby is a Year 6 student.

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    When Callaghan posted the letter to Twitter, it quickly went viral and inspired hundreds of supportive responses.

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    “At 12 years of age my daughter is starting to notice there are plenty of people prepared to tell her what she can and can’t do based solely on the fact she is female,” he wrote.

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    This article originally appeared eight years ago.

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    Around 1 a.m. on April 24 2018, semi-truck drivers in the Oak Park area of Michigan received a distress call from area police: An unidentified man was standing on the edge of a local bridge, apparently ready to jump onto the freeway below.

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    This article originally appeared eleven years ago.

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    Even though he was born “Katherine Elizabeth,” Skylar lived like a regular little boy for most of his childhood.

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    Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody has been covered dozens of different ways. But you’ve never seen it performed like this.

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    The group Hātea Kapa Haka performed the song on February 21 at New Zealand’s national kapa haka festival, Te Matatini, in Wellington. The festival brings 46 kapa haka (Māori performing arts) groups together to compete against one another.

    Newshub reports that Hātea Kapa Haka collaborated with musical artist William Waiirua to create a “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover in the Māori language, both as a tribute to Freddie Mercury and to celebrate the Oscar-nominated movie about his life.

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    This kind of cultural mashup reminds us how small our world has become.

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    Watch the live performance here:

    And if you want more, check out the music video too:

    William Waiirua got more help from Hātea Kapa Haka than he bargained for when his car broke down… For more Queen, check out this playlist: https://umusicNZ…


    This article originally appeared on 03.01.19

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Kat Hong
motherhood, survival, courage, house fire, human resilience
Family

Hero Mom repeatedly runs into burning house to save her 6 kids from devastating fire

Adam Albright-Hanna
bravery, rescue, Romania, firefighters, youth
Heroes

After 11 hours, rescuers gave up on the boy in the well. Then a 14-year-old hero stepped in.

Adam Albright-Hanna