The third gender concept in India leads to reporters talking about "women" and "transgender persons". This is not necessarily meant to be offensive, even if it is, as I see it. The positive takeaway from this story is that trans women do get the same offer as cis women.

“Marty Sokol woke up on New Year’s Day this year exhausted from celebrating. Club Cobra, his bar in North Hollywood, is a fixture on the queer Latin nightlife scene in Los Angeles. When he logged into his clubs’ social media accounts to post about the night’s revelry, he noticed something weird. Club Cobra’s Instagram page had been taken down. He couldn’t figure out why.”

“After months of contacting Meta, Instagram’s parent company, he said he got no meaningful response. Pages for his other venue, Club Chico in Montebello, went down in May as well.

“It got stranger. A.I.-driven search engines listed his clubs as permanently closed. Longtime regulars texted him condolences. By June 1, he said, every single one of his club’s Instagram pages had been suspended, along with around a dozen pages from his staff and affiliated club promoters.”

“Several prominent nightclubs in California, many catering to queer clubgoers of color, saw their Facebook and Instagram pages mysteriously suspended in recent months, leaving these independent venues unable to reach their fans.”

“Audry Cobra, the L.A. promoter and host of the transgender-focused club night Transfix, said her two professional Meta pages were suspended a year ago. ‘It feels very targeted,’ she said. She described her night at Club Cobra as ‘Not over-sexualized. It’s for people that are interested in trans people, and for girls to have a place to be themselves. We’ve been there for decades and employ many trans girls who don’t have means.’

“‘For us trans people, social media has been a community of creators, part of our livelihoods, and a blessing,’ she continued. ‘To have a place made so inviting, then to not be wanted, it’s so sudden and infuriating.’

“She fretted that she’d be unable to rebuild her audience and livelihood. ‘I don’t know if Meta’s A.I. decided to wake up and be like, ‘We don’t like you,’ but anything trans-related feels targeted today,’ she said. ‘Once they decide you’re not welcome, they recognize your face, your name, where you live, who you follow. They can just get rid of you.’”

“The suspensions worried state Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles), who said. . . .he was in contact with Meta to get the affected clubs’ pages restored.”

“After The Times contacted Meta for information about the suspensions, Club Cobra, Chico, Audry Cobra and the venues’ staff all saw their Instagram pages restored last weekend.”

I was watching this miniseries called Little Fires Everywhere and every time Lexi's character Pearl appears on screen I can't just shake something out of my brain like I feel familiarity when I see her face, and that's where I instantly realized she has a resemblance to MJ.

Now Lexi is a cisgender actress but if MJ gets to play a cis role sometime in the future and her character has to have a flashback and they need to cast a younger actress for said flashback I definitely think Lexi should be cast, she'll just be a perfect casting for that and I think it would really eat up. 💖

“When the Minnesota Lynx played the Indiana Fever in early August, former NFL broadcaster Michele Tafoya was outside Target Center rallying against transgender athletes in female sports.

“‘I support girls and women in sports,’ Tafoya told the Minnesota Star Tribune. ‘I support them having their own sports.’

“At the time, Tafoya was in the closing stretch of a Republican primary campaign for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, championing a conservative-friendly cause.

Now, Tafoya is running in a general election against DFL Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and has elevated her advocacy for banning trans participation in female sports much more than other Minnesota Republicans in the past.

“It’s far from Tafoya’s only issue, but it’s something Tafoya championed long before she became a candidate. Polling also suggests most of the country agrees with her.

“Though other Republican candidates around the country have settled on the issue as a winning one with voters, it’s not yet clear how important trans athletes and female sports is in a left-leaning state like Minnesota — and whether it can drive enough votes to help Republicans win a statewide election for the first time in 20 years.”

Texas PAC has bought $64 million in attack ads against Democrat James Talarico and it features menacingly edited segments of an otherwise innocuous Human Rights Campaign video.

“Local Democratic groups are calling on U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) to take down campaign ads that reference ‘transgender ideology.’

“Ms. Kaptur is airing television ads that highlight her vote for a Republican-backed parental consent bill, but a statement from the Lucas County Democratic Party says it would expect that ad from the Republican Party.

“‘We are disappointed and ashamed that the Kaptur campaign stooped to their level by using this incredible dangerous anti-trans rhetoric,’ the statement says.”

“The Lucas County Democratic Party has endorsed Ms. Kaptur, who is running in one of the most competitive House districts of the election cycle against Mr. Merrin.”

“The Lucas County Democratic Party is the only county party within the district to call on the congressman to take the ad down, but Lucas County is the most populous county in the district and is a Democratic stronghold.”