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The Pentagon revealed the specifics of its new transgender troop policy in a court filing Wednesday that says any service member or recruit who has been diagnosed with or treated for gender dysphoria is disqualified from serving unless they can prove they meet a specific warfighting need and adhere to severe restrictions on their day-to-day behavior. The policy memo was included in the latest court filing in a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order against transgender military service, one of many hot-button issues the president made a priority to address on his first days in office. Like the executive order, the policy filed Wednesday suggests that the lethality and integrity of the military is inconsistent with what transgender personnel go through as they transition to the gender they identify with, and issues an edict that gender is immutable, unchanging during a person's life." The policy provides two exceptions if transgender personnel who seek to enlis
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's recent executive order aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. The judge's ruling came after a lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children who allege their health care has already been compromised by the president's order. A national group for family of LGBTQ+ people and a doctors organisation are also plaintiffs in the court challenge, one of many lawsuits opposing a slew of executive orders Trump has issued as he seeks to reverse the policies of former President Joe Biden. Judge Brendan Hurson, who was nominated by Biden, granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order following a hearing in federal court in Baltimore. The ruling essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Trump's executive order "seems to deny that this population even exists, or deserves to exist," .
The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden. Her family wants Mellow to be able to leave the country if things became unbearable for transgender people in the US as the federal government increasingly moves not to recognise them. If the worst was to come to worst and things were to threaten my life, she said, I would have some way out. Trump's Jan. 20 order, which questions th
President Donald Trump is ready to take his fight against transgender athletes to the International Olympic Committee. Trump said Wednesday during a signing ceremony for an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from women's sports that his administration wants the IOC to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject" ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The order empowers the Secretary of State's office to pressure the IOC to amend standards governing Olympic sporting events to promote fairness, safety and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women's sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction. The order also calls for the secretary of state and the Department of Homeland Security to review and adjust, as needed, policies permitting admission to the United States of males seeking to participate i
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for gender-affirming care treatment for young people. In a letter, James told health care facilities that refusing to provide the treatments would violate New York's anti-discrimination laws. "Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws," her letter reads. Trump last week signed an executive order that directed agencies to take steps to make sure that hospitals receiving federal research and education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children. The language in the order using words such as maiming, sterilising and mutilation contradicts what is typical for gender-affirming care in the United States. James' message came as some hospitals in Colorado, Virginia and ...
From seeking alms on city roads to managing traffic at the same places, it has been an incredible journey of empowerment for 39 transgenders in Hyderabad who have been inducted as traffic assistants to help the city police. The transgenders, who have been appointed on a pilot basis, say they now get respect from citizens in contrast to the severe discrimination and insults they faced in the past. "It is wonderful that we manage traffic at places where we used to beg in the past," Nisha, a transgender traffic assistant, told PTI on Friday. Nisha, who works at Patny Centre here, thanked Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for the opportunity given to the transgender community. Nisha, who studied up to Intermediate, recalled facing discrimination from society at large, in college, with friends and even parents. "My parents did not accept me. But, they accepted me now. My friends used to avoid me. But, now they message me and keep in touch. After I got the job, my relations and .
With her appointment to Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, 27-year-old K N Renuka Pujar has likely become the first transgender person to be appointed as a guest lecturer at a university in Karnataka. Pujar, who completed her post-graduation in Kannada at the University, joined its Kannada department at the Nandihalli campus (PG centre) earlier this month as a guest lecturer, varsity officials said. "I'm very happy. After a lot of struggle, I have reached this stage. The university has helped me a lot. I completed my degree in 2018 and became transgender in 2017 when I was in my second year. I completed my MA in 2022 and am working as a guest lecturer," the resident of Kurugodu in Ballari district, told PTI. Noting that she received support from her parents, which helped her reach this stage, Pujar said her family comes from an agricultural background, and her parents educated her to achieve in life. "The faculty at the university also supported me when I was admitted and
Ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir polls, members of the transgender community held a rally here on Saturday, demanding reservation for them in the legislative assembly. The rally, which started from Vikram Chowk and culminated at Hari Singh Park in the heart of the city, saw participants carrying placards and raising slogans in support of their demand. "We have 90 seats in the assembly but not one is reserved for us. We want at least one seat each to be reserved in the two divisions of Jammu and Kashmir for us so that our issues can be resolved," Raveena Mahant, who was leading the rally, told reporters. She said the rally was organised to voice the transgender community's demand for reservation and representation in the electoral process which has long been denied by the political parties in the region. "Without such reservation, the community remains under-represented and is unable to influence decisions which directly impact the lives of transgender persons," she added. Mahant sai
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that a 'certificate of identity' issued by the district magistrate under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 will be treated as valid documentation for applying for a PAN card. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the Union of India has in principle accepted this request and the Union government may consider incorporating it in the rules as well in order to bring clarity. "During the pendency of this petition, we sought a reply from Union of India, who has been very supportive in this matter and by and large has accepted all the demands which have been raised in the present petition including the one, that the certificate to be issued under Section 6/7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 will be acceptable, if it is given by the district magistrate," the bench noted. Sections 6 and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 deal with the issue of ...
Tata Steel aims at having a minimum of 25 per cent of its workforce made up of diverse groups, including gender minorities, marginalised communities, persons with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ individuals, within the next few years, a company official said. It is one of the first companies in the country to roll out a special recruitment drive for transgender talent, having recruited over 100 members from the community for various roles across different locations, the official claimed. "Continuing this drive, we aim to have 25 per cent of our workforce from diverse groups in the next couple of years," the official said. A total of 113 transgender individuals have been onboarded and posted at various locations, including manufacturing, operations and maintenance, mining, and services. These employees are stationed in Noamundi, West Bokaro, Kolkata, Kharagpur, Kalinganagar, and Jamshedpur. Some of these employees work all three shifts and operate Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) at th
Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) added 16.47 lakh new members in April as per payroll data released on Wednesday. "Through the data, it is noticeable that more jobs have been generated for the youth of the nation as out of the total 16.47 lakh employees added during the month, 7.84 lakh employees amounting to around 47.60 per cent of the total registrations belong to the age group of up to 25 years," a labour ministry statement said. According to the statement the provisional payroll data of ESIC reveals that 16.47 lakh new employees have been added in April 2024. Also, it stated that the gender-wise analysis of the payroll data indicates that net enrolment of female members was 3.38 lakh in April. Besides, 53 transgender employees also got registered under the ESI Scheme in the April, attesting to ESIC's commitment to deliver its benefits to every section of society. Around 18,490 new establishments have been brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme
The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgender persons in all public employment in the state. Noting that the state government adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment to transgenders, the court said the reservation has, however, not yet been made for them. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the chief secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgenders in all public employment. The high court order was passed on a petition by a transgender person, who succeeded in the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and also in the TET 2022, but was not called for counseling or interview. In the order passed on Friday, Justice Mantha noted that the Supreme Court had declared in a 2014 case that hijras' and eunuchs, apart from binary genders, be treated as "third gender" for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution. The apex court had also uph
About 50 people from the transgender community have been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and the new cabinet of ministers to them give blessings. Before the ceremony, BJP MP and former Social Justice and Empowerment minister Virendra Kumar felicitated the community members at his residence. "This is a part of Prime Minister Modi's call of 'sabka saath sabka vishwas and sabha prayas'. Including people from transgenders in the ceremony is to enhance the inclusivity message of the PM," Kumar told media. This is the first time that people from the transgender community are formally invited for the swearing-in ceremony, he said. These participants have made contribution in the empowerment of the transgender community, Kumar added. Sonam Kinnar from the UP BJP unit said she along with 50 members of the community have come here to give blessings to the new government. "We are saddened that PM Modi did not receive the number of seats a
President Joe Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump's campaign and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 which corresponds with Easter Sunday this year as Transgender Day of Visibility. The Democratic president issued the proclamation on Friday, calling on all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity. But in 2024, the March 31 designation overlaps with Easter, one of Christianity's holiest celebrations. Trump's campaign accused Biden, a Roman Catholic, of being insensitive to religion, and fellow Republicans piled on. "We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only the resurrection of Jesus Christ," said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's press secretary. She assailed what she called