
This week brings equal parts party and bullshit in gender politics news.Happily, 12-year-old Wren Kauffman, a young trans* man from Alberta, is working to destroy Alberta’s discriminatory laws against him, and this week, he successfully had the sex on his birth certificate changed to reflect who he is—a boy.But also, mainstream media organizations are still publishing horrifically misogynist epistles, and white male internet trolls are creating fake Twitter accounts to “divide and conquer” feminists of colour.
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Alberta Recognizes Little Boy As Little Boy On His Birth CertificateLet’s all take a second to recognize Wren Kauffman, a 12-year-old Alberta boy making huge strides for the country’s trans* community. Wren is trans*, and he received a new birth certificate this week recognizing that he is a boy, not a girl, as he was labeled at birth.Parents have been fighting for their trans* children’s rights for a long time in Canada. Kauffman decided he was done with being mislabeled, and requested to have the sex on his birth certificate changed. He was denied, so he filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. In a precedent-setting case, his rights were recognized during a Pride brunch on Sunday.The case is precedent-setting because Alberta law states that in order for a person to change the sex on their birth certificates, they must first undergo reassignment surgery. In April, premier Dave Hancock said that requirement would be dropped. It’s a good thing, because this law has not been updated since the 1970s. Happily, a judge ruled that Alberta’s laws surrounding birth certificates violates trans* people’s rights shortly after Hancock’s announcement.Wren Kauffman’s story is an inspiration, and it’s kicking the government’s ass into gear. That’s especially important in a country so transsexist that it that refuses trans* people access to the healthcare they need, and doctors largely deny hormone therapy.
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Beware 4chan Trolls Posing as Women of Colour and Trying To Dismantle Social Justice Efforts OnlineWell, this is some serious bullshit. 4chan trolls are impersonating feminists women of colour through fake Twitter accounts that attempt to hijack hashtags and try to turn social justice activists against one another. The goal is, apparently, to “infiltrate feminists movements.”
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Get bell hooks to Expel That Creeper in the BarA few weeks ago, I was out celebrating a friend’s new job with a group of girls. We were having an intimate conversation when a tall, lanky personage, complete with too-tight polo and military haircut, inserted himself to the right of our group. “Hi!” he shouted. “I’m Ben!”“Not interested, Ben,” I said. He kept on prattling so I (having years of practice spurning unwanted male advances) put my hand up, in his actual face, and said, again, “Not interested.”My friends chimed in and said they had boyfriends. Because you know, if another dude appears to own you, creepers will generally step off. I said I was married and held up my left hand ring finger.
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Dear Ladies, Please Stop Waiting So Long To Have Babies, and Refusing To Marry Your Baby Daddy Once You Finally Do SoLast week, I read two perfectly wretched columns, and I feel compelled to share them with you as pointers on how not to write about women’s bodies and choices:Dr. Beth Taylor wrote in the Globe and Mail the earth shattering news that if a woman plans to have a baby, it might be—ahem—a tad difficult the later in life she decides to wait. Dr. Taylor advises thusly:“If you are in a relationship, do not delay trying to conceive. Many of us want to wait until we have a house, ideal job or all of our debts paid off before having a child. Unfortunately, the wait to achieve most of those goals is years and usually covers peak reproductive years.”And, regarding women in law school, she says by the time a woman is through articling and lands a job in her mid-to-late thirties, and “may feel ready to try and conceive,” there is a one in four chance she’ll be infertile.
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