Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 16h

With Harvard (not on this particular list but under other Trump admin attacks) reportedly considering a deal, perhaps this will stiffen their spines and other top schools.

MIT rejects Trump's compact, saying it 'would restrict freedom of expression'

MIT has rejected President Donald Trump's “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” saying it "includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of e...

www.nbcboston.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 16h

MIT becomes first of 9 top schools to reject Trump admin “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a bribe promising increased funding & less trouble if it agrees to agrees to ban DEI & make trans students use wrong bathrooms, sports teams & locker rooms. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 16h

DOJ files against renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for fraudulent billing over use of GAMT drugs off-label. Off-label uses are common, particularly in pediatrics. CHOP is one of largest GAC providers but has announced it is closing its program. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

CHOP transgender care under scrutiny for ‘fraudulent billing practices,’ DOJ says

Federal officials are looking into whether doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh lied to get insurance companies to cover gender dysphoria treatments.

www.inquirer.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 16h

Trump crudely mocks transgender people in front of Canadian Prime Minister, one of whose children is nonbinary. Keep it classy, America. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social www.advocate.com/news/trump-t...

Donald Trump mocks transgender people in Oval Office meeting with Canadian PM, whose child is nonbinary

Mark Carney sat silently as the U.S. president went on an anti-trans diatribe.

www.advocate.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 16h

Elon Musk, together with LibsOfTikTok, calls for a nationwide boycott of Netflix and mass cancellations over a single cartoon character coming out as trans. This is picked up and massively promoted by a host of right-wing influencers, As a result, Netflix stock... is up 2%. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Netflix Stock Up As Elon Musk's Anti-Trans Boycott Fails To Materialize

Last week, conservatives tried to cancel Netflix to force the carrier to remove transgender characters.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 2d

So harsh :-{ (and yet so true!)

Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 2d

8 Oct 2025 -- Along with KY, LA, MI, & NJ, Virginia among a handful of states w/ off-year election & signs that voters maybe tiring of Reps flogging trans issues in a state where this was so successful just 4 yrs ago will be widely analyzed by both parties for 2026. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 2d

8 Oct 2025 - ALong with KY

Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 2d

8 Oct 2025 -- VA voters prefer Dem Rep Abigail Spanberger over Rep Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears even as she replicates outgoing Rep Gov Glenn Youngkin's 2021 campaign attacks on trans rights. But poll shows VA voters prefer Spanberger even on trans issues by 50–37. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

New Poll: Voters Prefer Spanberger For Virginia Governor On Transgender Issues By Wide Margin, Despite Anti-Trans Ads

The issue also ranked lowest among issues polled. The CNU poll is the second poll showing Spanberger pulling ahead.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 2d

8 Oct 2025 -- AZ Judge strikes down state policy requiring trans people to get surgery before they can update their legal ID changed to their correct sex. Reps passed a law banning such changes this year but it was vetoed by Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Judge ends Arizona's "irrational" policy requiring surgery for updating gender markers - LGBTQ Nation

The requirement forced trans people into unnecessary surgeries or risked outing themselves in potentially dangerous situations.

www.lgbtqnation.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

7 Oct 2025 - CA Gov Newsom, still moving right on trans issues, vetoes a measure attacked by Reps as "gender ideology" that would have allowed teaching that reproductive anatomy does not necessarily determine a person’s gender @rikiwilchins.bsky.social.

Gavin Newsom vetoes gender education bill, hasn't signed other trans protections - LGBTQ Nation

The California governor left at least 10 pro-LGBTQ+ measures on the table.

www.lgbtqnation.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

7 Oct 2025 - No surprise the Supremes seem predisposed to strike down laws banning anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Supreme Court sharply questions law banning conversion therapy

Supreme Court sharpy questions Colorado law that bans efforts to changing minors’ sexual identity, suggesting it violates free speech rights of therapists.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

8 Oct 2025 -- Trans people back before Supreme Court asking that a fed judge's order that the State Dept must issue passports with the correct gender on them be upheld after Trump admin appealed the ruling. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Transgender Americans ask Supreme Court to leave order in place allowing them to choose sex markers on passports

Lawyers for a group of transgender and nonbinary Americans urged the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon to leave in place a mandate by a federal judge in Massachusetts that temporarily […]

www.scotusblog.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

8 Oct 2025 -- Trans people back before Supreme Court asking that a fed judge's order that the State Dept must issue passports with the correct gender on them be upheld after Trump admin appealed the ruling. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Transgender Americans ask Supreme Court to leave order in place allowing them to choose sex markers on passports

Lawyers for a group of transgender and nonbinary Americans urged the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon to leave in place a mandate by a federal judge in Massachusetts that temporarily […]

www.scotusblog.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

7 Oct 2025 -- More than 48,000 adult in UK are now waiting for their first NHS gender clinic appointment as of March 2025-- 12.5% increase over 2024. (No word on the wait times for cis adults seeking HRT from NHS but it can prbly be counted in minutes.) @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Some people in Scotland will never get gender clinic appointment on 224-year waitlist

Revealed waiting times of all GICs in UK: Most Trans+ people in the UK will wait more than a third of their adult life to get an appointment, and some will never receive care

www.wearequeeraf.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

7 Oct 2025 -- Waits vary widely across UK's 15 gender clinics: England's avg is 12 years; Wales 2 years; No. Ireland 41 years (down from 151 years); & Scotland 58 years w/ Glasgow a staggering 224 years. For every 1 person who gets an intake appt, ~4 more are being added. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 3d

7 Oct 2025 -- After shutting down GAC for kids, dozens of FOIs filed by QueerAF & TransLucent reveal that adult care is going as well. Avg estimated wait for intake for trans adults is now 25 years (not a misprint). NHS recommends 18 weeks. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

The waiting times for every gender identity clinic in the UK revealed in new investigation

TL;DR: Most Trans+ people in the UK will wait more than a third of their adult life to get their first appointment at an NHS gender clinic…

medium.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

Interesting dete on ADF conversion therapy case in front of the Supremes: Colorado's law has a specific carve-out for “assistance to a person undergoing gender transition.”

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

Dobbie the House Elf suggests new name for Lady Voldemort:
"They K Rowling."

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

6 Oct 2025 -- Dobby the House Elf makes appearance on SNL pushing back on JK Rowling's transphobia. Hilarious! "Master sent Dobby on the telly to define ONCE AND FOR ALL what woman is, Sir....House elves are ALWAYS the problem even tho they're just 1% of the population.
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Bowen Yang dresses as Dobby and roasts JK Rowling in trans rights SNL sketch

Saturday Night Live's Bowen Yang has roasted JK Rowling by dressing as Dobby the House Elf and skewering the author's views on trans rights.

www.thepinknews.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

6 Oct 2025 -- ADF at Supreme Court seeking to overturn bans on harmful "conversion" therapy for gay/trans kids in the 30 states that have passed them, but academics they cite in support of their lawsuit say ADF has profoundly misrepresented their research and views. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

So Kash Patel fires an FBI agent trainee with an outstanding service record in non-agent positions while he's mid-course at Quantico for the alleged "offense" of having a rainbow flag on his desk.

Anyone notice that Republicans no longer complain about "Cancel Culture" any more???

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 4d

6 Oct 2025 -- 16-person Aussie team publish a killer take-down of The Cass Review in the prestigious Australian Medical Journal titled, Cass Review Does Not Guide Care for Trans Young People ("lacking expertise & compromised by implicit stigma & misinformation..." @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Cass Review does not guide care for trans young people

Good medicine is guided by the values of the patient, not those of a clinician, politician or commentator. The Cass Review, lacking expertise and compromised by implicit stigma and misinformation, doe...

www.mja.com.au

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 6d

Can't overstress what a line in the sand was crossed with committed trans-phobe & alt-right jorno Bari Weiss taking over CBS . This is a product of the consolidation of media under a handful of billionaires (in this case David Ellison) aligned with Trump. It's the 1st legacy media network to fall.

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Riki Wilchins @rikiwilchins.bsky.social · 6d

3 Oct 2025 - FBI Director Kash Patel fires trainee at Quantico for wearing a gay pride flag. He has previously won awards from the FBI as a field office diversity program coordinator and displayed a Pride flag at his workstation.
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social

Kash Patel fires FBI agent trainee for displaying gay pride flag

The FBI employee was fired on the first day of the government shutdown as President Trump threatened more terminations.

www.msnbc.com

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