A transgender student at Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy in Texas received an 18th birthday surprise from fellow students who raised the money he needed to legally change his name. “They’ve been planning it for a month and I’m surprised none of them slipped up or even hinted at it happening,” the young man (identified…
Texas-Bred Dragon Lady Tiamat Medusa Takes Body Modification to the Extreme
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. On a late-night YouTube binge, I unexpectedly met Tiamat Medusa, a trans woman from Bruni, Texas, who’s shed her human skin to become a dragon. But it wasn’t the tattooed scales that cover her face and body or the reptilian horns implanted in her head that inspired me…
Family Had Been Searching for Trans Victim of Laredo Serial Killer
The family of a transgender woman had been searching for her in the hours before they learned of her murder at the hands of a Border Patrol agent who is accused of killing three other women in Laredo, Texas. Janelle Ortiz (identified in news reports as Humberto Ortiz and who was also known as Nikki…
Senators Ask Trump to Reconsider Nominating Anti-Trans Texan to Federal Court
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. The confirmation of a Texas federal judge nominee who’s said transgender kids are part of “Satan’s plan” has been put on hold by the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee. According to committee chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican, the committee told the Trump administration that “they ought to reconsider”…
Body Talk: An Argument for Trans Inclusion
Twitter is a cesspool of meme culture that one must immerse oneself in to fully understand. And I, like millions of others, have spent way too much time on the social media site taking in the online scenery. Something in particular that has been plaguing my feed as of late has been the “Fellas, is…
The Pursuit of Love: Navigating Sexuality Through a Transgender Lens
The first time I ever “came out” as anything was in seventh grade. I had let a very, very small handful of friends know that I thought I was bisexual, as I had found myself developing crushes on people regardless of their gender. However, since these so-called friends coded me as a gay boy, most…
SA Politicians Speak Out Against Proposed Anti-Trans Bill
Updated on Jan. 7 at 10:00 a.m. to include a statement by District 1 City Councilman Roberto Treviño. Four San Antonio politicians issued statements on January 6 opposing a bill (SB6) introduced by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst that would require Texas transgender citizens to use public bathrooms that correspond with…
Texas Judge Halts Federal Transgender Protections
A federal judge in Texas issued a temporary injunction on December 31 against efforts by the Obama administration intended to ban transgender discrimination by hospitals, the Texas Tribune reports. U.S District Judge Reed O’Connor sided with Texas, along with the religious hospital network Franciscan Alliance and four other Republican-led states, in a lawsuit that claimed…
‘Daily Show’ Host Trevor Noah Brings Live Comedy Tour to SA
Perhaps no other late night comic has articulated the absurdity of the so-called “trans panic epidemic” better than The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah. In an episode that aired earlier this year, Noah lambasted supporters of the many anti-LGBT “bathroom bills” being proposed around the country. “If you replace ‘transgender’ with any other group in society,…
A Look at Graciela Iturbide’s Iconic Photo ‘Magnolia’
As part of this year’s Fotoseptiembre, Ruiz-Healy Art will present “A Lens to See,” a solo exhibition of photography by Graciela Iturbide which runs through October 15. The selections are gathered from the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, one of the largest archives of contemporary Mexican photography, and span a period from the early 1970s…