Transgender

Gender “confirmation” surgeries are becoming more popular in the United States, according to a May 22 report. However, based on media coverage of the news, you wouldn’t know that the procedures are medically controversial. On Monday, the American Society for Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reported 3,200 facial, chest and genital reassignment surgeries in 2016 – a nearly 20 percent jump from 2015. This…

Buried among the louder news stories of Wednesday evening was the release of the United States’ most infamous intelligence leaker, Army Private Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning). “Manning was released from a military prison in Kansas today. The transgender soldier served seven years of a 35-year sentence for giving government secrets to WikiLeaks,” touted Anchor Scott Pelley in a news…

On Saturday's AM Joy on MSNBC, liberal comedian John Fugelsang mocked "right-wing Christians" as people who have "rejected the teachings of Jesus," and, by voting for Donald Trump, were voting for "Caligula, Judas, and the Golden Calf all in one convenient package." A bit later, after right-leaning guest Kirsten Haglund recalled that evangelical Christian pastors have been under pressure from…

The 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards televised on May 7th was hosted by comedian Adam DeVine and spotlighted some changes from past years. This year was all about embracing gender neutral acting and genre neutral media by including men and women in the same category and television shows and movies in the same category. Apparently nothing matters enough anymore to honor distinctly female or male…

It’s an irony the late liberal comic might appreciate. “George Carlin’s infamous comedy routine about the seven words you can’t say on television is still an unofficial guideline the FCC uses to determine whether language is in violation of Federal Indecency laws,” according to Parents Television Council President Tim Winter.

It’s prom season, and BuzzFeed is throwing a party of its own – a queer celebration to promote the concept that “normal is relative.” For the website’s video producer and development partner Eugene Yang, the crowning dance was just another “night of normativity.” That’s because, as a gay teen, he felt the weight of heteronormative convention demanding that he take a girl to the big night.  

Former Olympian and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner was on The View Wednesday to talk about their new book and how they felt about Donald Trump. While criticizing Trump’s record on transgender issues, Jenner said they still identified as a conservative for issues like national security. Jenner’s answer prompted one host to excitedly ask Jenner to run for political office.

Caitlyn Jenner might be a Republican, but the transgender icon is certainly moving leftward on the political spectrum. In clips from a 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer that will air tonight, the former Olympian dished about a new memoir, shifting views on gay marriage and a golf invite from Donald Trump. Although still identifying with the Republican Party, Jenner articulated some concerns.

Transgender conservatives are rare. Transgender conservatives featured in Cosmo (Caitlyn Jenner aside) are rarer. In an April 17 piece published on cosmopolitan.com, senior political writer Rebecca Nelson interviewed three members of the niche community on topics ranging from President Trump to bathrooms. Some of their responses were surprising.

The Evancho siblings have earned lots of news coverage this year. Sixteen-year-old Jackie was criticized by the LGBT community for singing the national anthem at Donald Trump’s inauguration, largely because her older sibling Juliet is transgender. 

Not even the fictional world is safe from the transgender trend. TVLand’s Lopez is one of the latest shows to bring up the ongoing fight for representing less than 1 percent of the population, but it may also be one of the few to take an honest look at how ridiculous it is for a change. 

Wednesday night’s episode of Survivor: Game Changers, “What Happened on Exile, Stays on Exile,” featured a shocking tribal council that saw gay man Jeff Varner out his fellow competitor Zeke Smith, who everyone knew as a gay man from the previous season Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen-X, as being transgender.

Just like entertainment media, advertisements have the power to both shape and reflect the culture. While capitalizing on social trends, brand experts are pushing to mainstream controversial themes – and Dove soap is the latest to participate with a transgender star. Earlier this month, Dove released an ad with a transgender “mother” as part of its new #RealMoms campaign celebrating motherhood.  

ABC’s Imaginary Mary is…well, you can just judge by the title and the concept of a grown woman with a cartoon imaginary friend how dumb it is. The show is about Alice (Jenna Elfman) trying to adapt to a relationship with a man, Ben (Stephen Schneider), who has kids. What has so far been a lame late-season blended family sitcom sunk even further with one of everyone’s least favorite modern…