From the November-December 2021 issue of News & Letters
by Elise
The Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQ+ advocacy group La Sombrilla Cuir agree that Trans people in Puerto Rico are ignored in the U.S. territory. Even though LGBTQ+ people are covered by the same laws that protect Queer people in all 50 states, six Trans people of color were murdered in 2020. Puerto Rican society and police harass, misgender and assault Trans people. Police command acknowledges that they are not concerned about officers who assault Trans people. Government entities do not keep statistics on violence against Trans people. Few murders of Trans people have led to indictments, others do not get investigated or drag on indefinitely.
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Rainbow Coalition, a protector of Trans children in Canada’s unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, organized a counter-protest against anti-Trans activist Chris Elston outside two public schools in Ottawa, Ontario. Elston is travelling across Canada denying that Trans children exist, saying that healthcare for Trans children should be banned, and that gender identity should not be taught in schools. Counter-protesters carried signs saying, “Trans Youth Matter,” “Trans Healthcare is a Human Right,” and “Protect Trans Kids.”
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Students and teachers at Chicago’s Benet Academy protested the firing of soccer coach Amanda Kammes because she is married to a woman. Many students walked out of class wearing Rainbow Pride facemasks, about 3,000 alumni and other supporters of Kammes signed a letter of protest, and many parents threatened to move their children to other schools. Benet Academy then decided to hire Kammes as a lacrosse coach. The abbot overseeing the parochial school then raged against the school’s decision.