Trans Etiquette: When is a Compliment Not a Compliment?
By Matt Kailey It’s not tough to compliment trans people. Like anyone else, we like to be told that we look nice, or that you love our new shirt, or that we did a good job on our…
Fact Checking

The TransAdvocate aims to improve the lives of transgender people through investigative news and nuanced commentary from a boots-on-the-ground trans advocate perspective. What sets the TransAdvocate apart is its commitment to publishing contextual pieces based on original investigative effort and research. In other words, we don’t simply repeat the news from other media sources, we report the news as discovered through actual investigative work and fact-checking. Specifically, the TransAdvocate focuses on watchdogging media tropes and misinformation that gains social currency, negatively affecting the material condition of trans and intersex people. We’re willing to do what it takes to expose hate — especially when hate is being peddled as reason, faith, or journalism.
In 2019, the United States Library of Congress selected the TransAdvocate for inclusion in its historic collection of Internet materials related to the LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive.
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By Matt Kailey It’s not tough to compliment trans people. Like anyone else, we like to be told that we look nice, or that you love our new shirt, or that we did a good job on our…
By Kat Haché @papierhache NOTE: Content warning below. Yesterday, I came across an article in the LA Times regarding the National Transgender Discrimination Survey’s study of the elevated risk of suicide in the transgender community. To briefly summarize,…
By Jennifer Lopez Suspects | Credit: DCPI On January 8th, 2014 a 30 year old transwoman whom wishes to remain anonymous for now, went to the Neptune Diner in Astoria Queens, New York City to eat an early…
On Saturday, January 4, 2014, the Toronto Star published an anti-trans hoax without first fact checking. The claim was that a 70 year old woman was undressing in a Toronto-area YMCA when a male-bodied individual “who was pre-everything”…
On Monday, January 13, I interviewed Judy Chiasson of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for a bit under an hour, and this post is the second segment posted of this interview. You may remember that Chiasson…
On Monday, January 13, I interviewed Judy Chiasson of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for a bit under an hour. You may remember that she was the LAUSD representative who gave testimony before the California Senate…
Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. Psalm 120:2 The Pacific Justice Institute (CRI) stated in their Letter to the principal of Florence High School (dated October 10, 2013 and posted with a press release…
Ex-gay groups are pounding their high chairs insisting that AB 1266 is not in effect. They claim that merely because they turned in signatures – valid or no – AB 1266, the California law codifying protections for trans…
By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Jewlyes Gutierrez, 16-year-old trans sophomore at Hercules High School On December 4, 2013 an investigative reporter, Jennifer Lopez interviewed the police department about a case against a trans Hercules High School student who had…
By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams In its landmark 2009 decision on responsible communication in the public interest, Canada’s highest court asserts this principle: “Freedom does not negate responsibility. It is vital that the media act responsibly in reporting facts…
Speech To Houston City Council January 7, 2014 By Monica Roberts Happy New Year and good afternoon to you Mayor Parker, distinguished members of City Council, and my fellow Houstonians. I am Monica Roberts, a proud native Houstonian…
By Matt Kailey A reader writes: “I am a gay man and have no doubts really about that. I was late in coming out after being married and having children. However, 15 months ago I started a relationship…