The Transgender Story of Coy Mathis is Edited Out of the Russian edition of "Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls"

This was reported last week in Huffington Post's Queer Voices by Daria Litvinova, LGBTQ People Erased From Books In Russia Under ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law: A story written by trans activist Coy Mathis is missing from the Russian edition of a new children’s book.

Image from this beautiful post about the original "Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls" on MommyShorts

According to the article,

Liza Lazerson, a feminist blogger who owns a copy, said she was surprised to see that while the cover promised 100 stories the book contained only 99 and one blank page - supposedly for the reader to add their own.

“But then a follower sent me a photo of Coy Mathis’s story from the French edition,” Lazerson, who is based in Moscow, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in written comments.

Mathis, an 11-year-old transgender girl from the United States, won a landmark victory in a 2013 case against her school allowing her to use the girl’s bathroom.

Bombora, which printed the book in Russia, did not immediately respond to requests for comment....

Francesca Cavallo, one of the authors of “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls,” said she was “deeply saddened that Coy’s story has been left out.”

It's sad and frustrating that children and their families in Russia won't have access to this empowering story of a young girl who was born with a boy's body, and how her parents (and ultimately, a judge) were so supportive of her being allowed to use whatever bathroom she felt most comfortable using at school.

In these times where governments create darkness, every bit of light becomes more important, and more powerful. 

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Magician and Comedian Justin Willman explains everything you need to know about Trans and Gender NonConforming people using bathrooms in under 2 minutes

This is brilliant.

It does have one sexual reference in it, so if that's off-putting for you, just read the article instead.

Having said that, the video is funny and, yeah - brilliant:




Justin, you have new fan!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

California's Governor Brown Signs the Transgender Student Success Bill

Good news!

On Monday of this week... well, let's let Ashton Lee, a 16-year-old transgender boy from Manteca, California, tell you in his own words:

"Breathless. I am breathless. Governor Brown just signed AB 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act, into law. Now, as school starts up again, I know that I can fully participate and just be myself."

The law "...is the first of its kind in the country, and requires that California public schools respect students’ gender identity and makes sure that students can fully participate in all school activities, sports teams, programs, and facilities that match their gender identity."


Read more about Ashton and this new law here.

Transgender People Undergoing Forced Sterilization in... Sweden? (And France, the Netherlands, Australia, and some U.S. States)!!!

It's shocking how gender non-conformity is so threatening.

I had no idea this was going on.  Check out this article at Huffington Post Gay Voices, about transgender actress Aleksa Lundberg and how she's fighting the laws that force transgender people like her to never be biological parents.

Wow.

Evidently, Italy and Germany just overturned similar laws.

There's lots of work still to do, and lots injustice still to fight.

Namaste,
Lee

p.s. - My thanks to Karol for sharing this with me, so I could share it with all of you.