Ziya Jones

These Supreme Court oral arguments on conversion therapy are going to be painful. No matter what is said, know that trying to force someone to be what they're not is psychological torture with measurable negative consequences, and anyone trying to defend such efforts is a bigoted monster.

RIP Business Insider

If you’re shy you can also DM me but fr no pitches right now please lol

Just looking to make connections atm! If you know of someone who fits the bill feel free to pass this along. Content will primarily be created in English, but solid understanding of French is a must, as is LGBTQ2S+ knowledge + competency.

Hi! I'll soon be looking to work with bilingual (Fr/Eng) freelance writers, editors, FCers + copy editors on content related to LGBTQ2S+ health. Is this you? If so, say hi below and tell me what you do. A call for pitches coming later (please don't pitch for now!) and work would start around fall

'They chained me to the ground': Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz allege harsh punishment by guards While the new Everglades migrant detention center fends off complaints about its living conditions, some detainees claim guards are also doling out discipline for questioning rules — including standing in the hot Florida sun for extended periods. Officials deny the charge.

Some detainees claim guards are doling out discipline for questioning rules — including standing in the hot Florida sun for extended periods. Officials deny the charge. (reporting via WLRN)

Quebec’s new anti-trans policy will not make prison safer for women | Xtra Magazine OPINION: The new policy announced by Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel is political posturing

Wrote about why Quebec's new prison policy isn't what we need to keep incarcerated women safe in the province, the state of QC provincial prisons and what this policy tells us about the nature of anti-trans discourse in the province, too.
xtramagazine.com/health/quebe...

Trans people are not on that list. Imagine the province cared about incarcerated people's safety, health or well-being. They would be focussing their energy elsewhere.

Quebec prison deaths rise by 87 per cent: study Deaths in Quebec prisons have risen by 87 per cent in 13 years, according to a research report published by a team from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

The idea that this is about safety is farcical. A recent study found that prison deaths in QC are up by 87% over the past 13 years. Contributing factors? Dilapidated facilities, excessive use of isolation, overcrowding, lack of mental/physical health care montreal.citynews.ca/2024/02/22/q...

Allegedly prison staff will be given training, a "best practises guide." But we know from extensive documentation by journalists, activists and incarcerated ppl that LGBTQ2S+ ppl in prisons rarely receive a shred of dignity. We can't DEI workshop our way out of the mistreatment that will arise

We're about to enter a provincial election period here. So far the current government has focussed largely on drumming up panic about the french language and immigration. I hope this is not a sign that trans issues are about to be added to that list.

Transgender prisoners will be detained according to their sex at birth in Quebec Transgender prisoners will now be detained in provincial prisons according to their sex assigned at birth, Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel announced on Wednesday.

There are six trans people incarcerated in QC provincial prisons. Six. That's 0.1 % of the incarcerated population. This is a highly politicized move that will have an outsize impact on a tiny # of people. This doesn't bode well for other comité des sages "findings." www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...

Superbe résumé d’un enjeu perpétuellement frustrant: le gouvernement canadien refuse de décriminaliser le VIH. merci @ziyajones.bsky.social ! youtube.com/shorts/a2XzI... and
admirably concise 2min20seconds on a topic that has concerned and frustrated activists for over 25 years! @xtramagazine.com

YouTube video by TVO Today What is gender-affirming care? | Unravelled

What is often misunderstood and misrepresented, gender-affirming care is not exclusive to transgender people; it encompasses a variety of actions that many people engage in daily, explain @xtramagazine.com editors @melwoods.me and @ziyajones.bsky.social on Unravelled.

Here it is xtramagazine.com/culture/musi...

From the New York Times, a 5 part podcast ignoring their own role in fomenting a moral panic targeting trans youth.

Yeah, totally. It's also a bit interesting that despite all this the suggestion was to maintain self-determination in the carceral context. Not that we want a governmental panic over prisons—but there's just a clear lack of throughline or thought in a bunch of places

And it as, it does break my brain that so much money was spent on this report, when that time and those resources could have gone towards anything that would have benefited the lives of LGBTQ2S+ people in the province.

The introduction paragraph of the comite des sages report

Anyways, there's some concerning stuff in here, but I personally had been bracing myself for worse. The TLDR is that the report begins literally being like "to start off we just want to remind you that we're not experts in gender identity" lol so. What was produced reflects that entirely.

I also mean that it privileges an intensely bureaucratic approach, studying concepts and passing them through a million steps ad nauseam, hah

When I say this report is very Quebec I mean that it is clearly informed by the wish for "social consensus." That can be for better (you don't have the inflammatory language you see used in political spheres elsewhere) and for worse (there's a clear push to maintain the status quo).

In another muddy moment, the committee suggests that shelters that choose to bar trans women should be respected—but also that trans women and non-binary people should have ample access to shelter when they face violence. There are lots of other instances like this

The committee also recommends that more research be done into why young people—esp teen girls— are experiencing gender dysphoria at higher rates. But they stop short of recommending any action other than, "someone should look into this🤔"

There's language and ideas in here that could be interpreted as dog whistles. For ex. the concept of "biological sex" and "biological males and females" as distinct from trans and non-binary ppl comes up a lot. It's hard to say whether this is the result of the lack of LGBTQ2S+ groups consultation

Like, I'm not even joking one of the highlighted suggestions is that we explore more deeply how to follow the official recommendations on how to use gender neutral language set by the office quebecois de la langue francaise lol

I’m still making my way through the report, which I’m sure many journalists will go through with a fine tooth comb in the coming hours. So far, what I can say is that for better and certainly also for worse it’s very, very Quebec.

The Québec government’s “comité des sages” report about gender identity is out. Xtra did some analysis about the formation of the committee back in the day: vm.tiktok.com/ZMSMvLBdF/

Canadian Medical Association to file legal challenge over Alberta law limiting access to treatment for transgender youth Bill 26, enacted in December, prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapies to those under 16

CMA launches legal challenge to Alberta law limiting access to treatment for #transgender youth. Bill 26 bars docs from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapies to those under 16, by @kkirkup.bsky.social @alannasmith.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... @theglobeandmail.com

Utah lawmakers’ own study found gender-affirming care benefits trans youth. Will they lift the treatment ban? The Utah Legislature's own newly-released study found that gender-affirming care benefits trans youth. Now, will lawmakers lift the treatment ban?

Republicans in Utah commissioned an investigation into gender-affirming care for trans youth after banning it in 2023.

They're now rejecting the findings of that investigation which showed access to care reduced suicides and improved "positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes."

The biggest mistake I see in discussions of trans people's healthcare is the idea that hormones and the like are some special service just for us when really all kinds of people access the same health care for all kinds of reasons but they are *withheld* from us because we are trans