Gwen Smith
1776-2026: The Moments That Defined Trans Rights in America
This story was originally published by Uncloseted Media, an LGBTQ focused investigative news outlet.Related read: 1776-2026: The Moments That Defined Lesbian, [...]Read more about 1776-2026: The Moments That Defined Trans Rights in America
An Open Letter to Gavin Newsom From a Former Trans Supporter Who Feels Betrayed
Say, Gavin:As I dug through my photo library on my phone the other day, I came across a photo from September of 2004. A friend of mine, Cecilia Chung, was being [...]Read more about An Open Letter to Gavin Newsom From a Former Trans Supporter Who Feels Betrayed
To Enact Real Changes for Trans People, We Must Center Trans Voices
There are three stories that have recently passed my desk, each of which are unrelated, but together paint a very descriptive image of what's wrong with [...]Read more about To Enact Real Changes for Trans People, We Must Center Trans Voices
8 Ways You Can Commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance
Saturday, Nov. 20, marks the annual commemoration of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). It's a day that nationally celebrates the lives of the transgender [...]Read more about 8 Ways You Can Commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance
Michigan Transgender Day of Visibility Founder Reacts to Biden's Recognition
Transgender Michigan Founder and Executive Director Rachel Crandall-Crocker was having coffee yesterday — an iced coffee with almond milk, to be exact — at her [...]Read more about Michigan Transgender Day of Visibility Founder Reacts to Biden's Recognition
Bravery
There comes a time when a non-binary or transgender person comes out when a friend of theirs will cast them as being inherently brave or courageous for doing [...]Read more about Bravery
Looking Ahead with Respair
We have reached the end of 2020, and I am sure my feelings about the year easily match anyone who happens upon this column. Good riddance to such a difficult [...]Read more about Looking Ahead with Respair
One Joke too Many
In the early 1980s, a friend of mine let me borrow a vinyl record of theirs: the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Monty Python's "Life of Brian." While [...]Read more about One Joke too Many
JK Rowling and the Outdated, Dangerous Trope
Over the last few months, "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling has developed from beloved children's author to the trans equivalent of reviled anti-gay crusader [...]Read more about JK Rowling and the Outdated, Dangerous Trope
The Wedge Issue
Allow me a moment to bellyache. I'm living in the middle of a heatwave, inundated with smoke, fighting an infection and I am just in general full of reasons to [...]Read more about The Wedge Issue
Cracking Eggs
Every so often, I like to step back a bit and discuss some of the bare basics of being trans. It is very easy to go deep into the issues of the day, especially [...]Read more about Cracking Eggs
Water in the Desert
Netflix has recently released "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen," a documentary created by Sam Feder, Amy Scholder and Laverne Cox. In it, a cast of [...]Read more about Water in the Desert
Trans care, Trans Rights and COVID-19
I'll admit: as I write this, I am quite out of sorts. Last week, a friend of mine died due to complications from COVID-19. Another friend's mom passed of the [...]Read more about Trans care, Trans Rights and COVID-19
A Hair-Raising Talk of Race, Sex and Gender
While I typically write about trans issues, this particular column will not start with a story about a transgender or nonbinary person. Rather, it begins with [...]Read more about A Hair-Raising Talk of Race, Sex and Gender
Free Mom Hugs Rally for Trans Equality at State Capitol Nov. 20
Begun in 1999 by transgender activist and author Gwendolyn Ann Smith, the Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn reminder every Nov. 20 of the continuing [...]Read more about Free Mom Hugs Rally for Trans Equality at State Capitol Nov. 20
Revealing, But Not What You Think
In 2008, a woman named Jenna Karvunidis sliced open a cake, revealing pink frosting within the layers. With her, the "gender reveal party" entered the popular [...]Read more about Revealing, But Not What You Think
She/Her/Hers
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)" – Walt Whitman "Song of Myself." I find myself grappling with [...]Read more about She/Her/Hers
On Being Trans at Halloween
Halloween is a time of magic and mystery. Traditionally, it once served as the end of the year, where autumn — and the abundance of the harvest — gave way to [...]Read more about On Being Trans at Halloween
The Time for Trans Pitches is Now
Every week, in my email, I receive dozens of story pitches. Some are quite good, connecting me with engaging people and interesting stories that I might [...]Read more about The Time for Trans Pitches is Now
Rapid Onset
I have always been intrigued by history. I love to look at how things came together over time, and how advances in knowledge, technology and society — for both [...]Read more about Rapid Onset
Transmissions: Emerging victorious
At long last, North Carolina's House Bill 2 is dead. For those few who are reading who may not know the significance, I'll explain: The Public Facilities [...]Read more about Transmissions: Emerging victorious
Transmissions: The Lines Blur
Caster Semenya is a South African middle-distance runner. She took home Olympic gold in both 2012 and 2016 and has won the world championships three times. She [...]Read more about Transmissions: The Lines Blur
As in a Mirror
So often when people who are not transgender speak of transgender people, there is one important thing that is gotten terribly wrong, and I think it's a core [...]Read more about As in a Mirror
Being Seen
I grew up in a Southern California suburb in the 1970s, a short distance from the smog-filled skies of Los Angeles. Right around the time of Fleetwood Mac's [...]Read more about Being Seen
A Holiday Wish
So, once again, we reach the closing of the year. For many of us, this is a time of trees festooned with tinsel and glass baubles, or nights filled with [...]Read more about A Holiday Wish
Wayne State Holds First Trans Day of Remembrance Service
A small crowd of about 20 came out Monday, Nov. 19 to the Wayne State University Student Center Ballroom for what organizers believe was the university's first [...]Read more about Wayne State Holds First Trans Day of Remembrance Service
Transgender Day of Remembrance 2018 Events
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on Nov. 20 that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender [...]Read more about Transgender Day of Remembrance 2018 Events
Flashing Back to the Past: the '90s
link to PDF page 1997 February – Addressing Anti-Gay Violence in Schools: The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network of Detroit released their report [...]Read more about Flashing Back to the Past: the '90s
Being and Becoming
There is a certain popular culture view of transgender people that cannot be easily shaken: transgender people are born as men or women, and choose to become [...]Read more about Being and Becoming
Striking gold
To be transgender in 2018 is to deal with challenging, difficult times. We face attacks from all sides, and the specter of death itself lays heavy upon our [...]Read more about Striking gold
Rollback
The Trump Administration has once again attempted to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. This time out, the ban was secretly drafted by [...]Read more about Rollback
The Curious Case of Joseph Roman
Criminals make up excuses for their crimes. We've heard so many bad excuses for crime, that many such stories have become the things of legend, like the [...]Read more about The Curious Case of Joseph Roman
2018: Stand Up
By the time this column reaches you, the confetti will be swept out of Times Square and the Rose Bowl parade floats will exist as only a memory. Nevertheless, [...]Read more about 2018: Stand Up
Transmission: The Return
The 21st of December is the Winter Solstice: that's the longest night of the year when light is at its scarcest. It is at this time of maximum axial tilt that [...]Read more about Transmission: The Return
Transmissions: What We Want
A week or two ago, a headline passed my eyes: "The transgender zealots are destroying truth itself," it seemed to scream, on an article by Peter Hitchens in [...]Read more about Transmissions: What We Want
Transmission: November Hope
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith The 7th of November was the 40th anniversary of Harvey Milk's historic victory in San Francisco, becoming the first out, gay elected [...]Read more about Transmission: November Hope
Community Memorializes 487 Transgender Lives Lost to Violence in the Past Year
The 17th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance service in Detroit took place Nov. 17 at Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. About 90 people came out for [...]Read more about Community Memorializes 487 Transgender Lives Lost to Violence in the Past Year
Who Gets Remembered
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH The 20th of November is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This year will be the 18th observance. It was my work with the Remembering [...]Read more about Who Gets Remembered
Michigan Communities Observe Transgender Day of Remembrance
BY BTL STAFF Photo courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on Nov. 20 that honors the memory of those [...]Read more about Michigan Communities Observe Transgender Day of Remembrance
Transmissions: The year of fear
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith 2006 is gone, and good riddance. It seems to me that 2006 was about one thing, and it has been a running issue for a few years now: [...]Read more about Transmissions: The year of fear
Transmissions: People behaving badly
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith Michelle Dumaresq is a bicycling champion hailing for Canada. She is also a transsexual. In the pursuit of her spot, she has faced touch [...]Read more about Transmissions: People behaving badly
Transmissions: We all have to go sometime
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith We do it every day, usually more than once. We go the restroom. It is a natural, human need. So why is it so hard to use a restroom when [...]Read more about Transmissions: We all have to go sometime
Transmissions: The transgender documentary drinking game
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith A few weeks back I had the pleasure of attending the viewing party of a new transgender documentary. As I watched, I noticed many of the [...]Read more about Transmissions: The transgender documentary drinking game
Transmissions: At War
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH Prior to the 2016 Election, I recall writing about how the election of a President is not simply the election of one person, but a [...]Read more about Transmissions: At War
Transmissions: Photographic Memory
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH In July of 2016, my father passed away. In his later years, he was primarily known for being a conductor on the Disneyland Railroad, as [...]Read more about Transmissions: Photographic Memory
Transmissions: Transition the Battlefield
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH No matter how I put this, it feels like an understatement: we are living in increasingly frightening and dangerous times. This is [...]Read more about Transmissions: Transition the Battlefield
Transmissions; Uniformly Bad
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH Since prior to the last election, many have warned of the precarious position transgender law was on the federal level. While great [...]Read more about Transmissions; Uniformly Bad
