UPDATE – May 1st, 2023, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo granted a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s emergency rule until at least May 15th following a lawsuit filed by ACLU Missouri and Lambda Legal. A hearing is scheduled for 1 PM on May 11th, which could halt enforcement of the emergency rule until after the completion of the lawsuit.

Effective April 27th, an emergency rule issued by MO Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, sets new restrictions for adults and minors seeking gender-affirming care in the state of Missouri. The emergency rule is to remain in effect until it expires on February 6th, 2024.

The emergency rule requires compliance with eleven guidelines from any person or health organization providing “Covered Gender Transition Intervention”, or simply “Intervention”, to patients. “Intervention” is defined in the emergency rule as the provision or prescription of any puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones or surgery for the purpose of transitioning gender, decreasing gender incongruence or treating gender dysphoria. “Intervention”, as defined within the document, excludes treatment for genetically or biochemically verifiable sex development disorders.

The restrictions set in place by the emergency rule require any person or health organization providing “Intervention” to (listed in order of appearance in the document):

A. Assess annually whether or not the patient continues to have gender dysphoria
B. Obtain informed consent after disclosing 23 specific risks (p. 3-5)
C. Ensure that the patient has exhibited a medically documented, long-lasting, persistent and intense pattern of gender dysphoria for at least the 3 most recent consecutive years
D. Ensure that the patient has received a full psychological or psychiatric assessment, consisting of at least 15 separate hourly sessions over the course of at least 18 months, with a single provider conducting at least 10 of the sessions
E. Ensure that any psychiatric symptoms from existing mental health comorbidities of the patient have been treated and resolved
F. Ensure that the patient has received a comprehensive screening to determine whether or not they have autism (It is unclear whether or not autism is a disqualifying condition. Footnote 34 suggests that, if allowed at all, rehabilitative interventions to address the patient’s autism must occur before providing gender-affirming care. At this time, The Attorney General’s Office has not responded to my inquiry into clarification on the matter.)
G. Ensure, in the case of a patient who is a minor, that the patient has received and will continue to receive, at minimum, an annual comprehensive screening for social media addiction or compulsion and that the patient has not suffered from either for at least six months prior to beginning any intervention
H. Ensure on at least an annual basis that the patient is not experiencing social contagion with respect to their gender identity
I. Adopt and follow a procedure for all patients to track all adverse effects, both expected and unexpected, that arise from any course of intervention for at least fifteen years
J. Maintain data about adverse effects in a form that can be accessed readily for systematic study
K. Keep informed written consent on file either from the patient or from all parents or guardians who have the authority to provide consent in the case of minors – Consent must be renewed quarterly for the first 3 years and then at least twice a year afterward.

The emergency rule is the first of its kind, most notably because the guidelines have not been passed by a legislator or signed by a governor but, rather, are a result of Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s power to enforce consumer protection laws. Bailey cited Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, which is typically used to prosecute fraudulent business practices, as reason to enforce new guidelines on providing gender-affirming care. 

Bailey defended the emergency bill in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, stating the guidelines are “intended to protect all patients and make sure that all patients have access to mental health services.” The American Medical Association stated in a press release that this kind of care is already tested, describing gender-affirming care as “medically-necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people.”

Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri issued a joint statement describing the rule as “a shocking attempt to exploit Missouri’s consumer protection laws in order to play politics with life-saving medical care.” They additionally asserted that “the Attorney General’s so-called emergency rule is based on distorted, misleading, and debunked claims and ignores the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care as well as the medical experts and doctors who work with transgender people every day.” 

In only the first few months of 2023 alone, the ACLU has tracked 469 anti-LGBT+ bills at the time of writing this article. Missouri is responsible for 48 of these, falling short in quantity only to Texas at 52 bills. The passing of anti-LGBT+ bills in 2023 is an exponential increase from the 278 bills tracked by the ACLU  in all of 2022.

Anti-trans legislation has especially been on the rise with 19 anti-trans bills introduced in state houses in 2018, 25 bills introduced in 2019, 60 bills introduced in 2020, 131 bills introduced in 2021 and 155 bills introduced by October of 2022. 

Those who wish to stand with the trans community and push back against the emergency rule can donate to the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and Lambda Legal to help challenge the actions of Attorney General Andrew Bailey. LGBT+ supporters can also donate to the general ACLU fund or to The Trevor Project to help combat the broader wave of anti-LGBT+ legislation. 

For further action, individuals can also plan a peaceful protest after learning about their rights as protestors, contact local representatives to voice concerns, contact the Missouri Attorney General’s Office directly, vote for political candidates who advocate for LGBT+ rights in the upcoming election or get involved locally by volunteering at community sites such as The Center Project.  

Those who live in safe states (3 or less anti-LGBT+ bills tracked by the ACLU) can also provide asylum or offer transportation through A Place for Marsha to trans adults fleeing hostile states (10 bills or more).

Earlier this month, the internet forum Kiwi Farms was dropped by its primary service provider, Cloudflare, after intense public pressure protesting the website’s encouragement of hate crimes. 

Since its inception nearly a decade ago, Kiwi Farms has been known to be a platform for harassment campaigns, particularly against members of the LGBTQ+ community. The forum has historically been used for attacks on individuals, such as by swatting—sending a false tip to authorities so that police will raid an individual’s home—and doxxing—publishing an individual’s private info on the internet with malicious intent.

A new Kiwi Farms site went online earlier this week, but was reported to have major security flaws in protecting user data. As the site owner of the new Kiwi Farms forum works to resolve the security issues, they warn that account usernames, passwords, emails and IP-address may have been leaked following a massive data breach on Sept.19.

The effort to get Kiwi Farms removed from Cloudfare reached its peak after Clara Sorrenti, a transgender Twitch streamer known as Keffals, was repeatedly doxxed by the forum. Last month, she was swatted and arrested in her own home by London police. Sorrenti fled to Ireland out of fear, where she was found and targeted again in a matter of days.

These attacks resulted in Sorrenti reaching out to multiple news outlets and posting on social media about the harassment she endured. She led a #DropKiwiFarms movement on Twitter that quickly picked up traction.

In the midst of the situation, Cloudflare was hit with widespread backlash. The service ultimately decided to take down Kiwi Farms after violent threats escalated on the forum. Following their decision, users were met with a statement when attempting to access the site: “Due to an imminent and emergency threat to human life, the content of this site is blocked from being accessed through Cloudflare’s infrastructure.” 

Opponents of the take-down argue that by dropping the website, Cloudfare is censoring free speech. Others counter that the harm done by Kiwi Farms far outweighed any semblance of free speech protections that it claimed to have.

Since the removal of the Kiwi Farms forum, an anonymous individual  bought the URL kiwifarms.info and redirected it to the Transgender Law Center website, where people can donate to “advance the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, defend our victories and ensure our movement’s strength.”

Cotton core wicks, high-quality fragrance oils, no parabens and plenty of activism. That’s the recipe EJ Wood uses for his candles. Wood started making candles as a 20 year-old college student. When he sold out of his first batch of candles at a local craft show, Wood decided to drop out of college and pursue the business full time. 

What began as a wholesale business, called Untamed Supply, turned into a brick-and-mortar store during COVID-19. Now you’ll find Untamed Supply at The Outpost just off the Liberty Square at 131 S Water St. 

Wood was never a fan of the typical 9-5 corporate lifestyle, which is one of the reasons he decided to start Untamed Supply. But operating out of a permanent storefront is surprisingly fulfilling for the maker, who loves being a part of the Liberty and Kansas City community. Using his customer’s support to promote other artisans is one of Wood’s favorite parts of owning a small business. 

“Being able to bring in all different artists and makers from all over the country, on a small scale has been really, really fun,” Wood said. “We look for stuff that’s small-batch made in the United States, or at least designed here. A lot of it aligns with a lot of our values too. Whether they’re queer-owned, women-owned, minority-owned, anything that we can do. The only way we’re going to make changes is if we support those that aren’t being supported otherwise. So we really seek that out first, and then environmental [causes]. I’m spending a lot of money with smaller businesses to bring in more merch, and that helps them. But I’m also having my coffees roasted here in Kansas City, all my labels are made in Kansas City. The labor is all from right here in the Liberty area. We really tried to be just as conscientious as our customer is with where our money is going and who we’re supporting because I think that’s being entrusted whenever you come and shop here.”

Wood’s customer base responded well to his business and the intentionally selected products sold alongside the candles at The Outpost. The store was immediately profitable.

Those customers continued to be supportive as Wood became more vocal about who he is. Wood is a trans man. Using his story to promote inclusivity and acceptance was a necessary, albeit scary, aspect of running an authentic and ethical business. So far, Wood says he’s received nothing but an outpouring of love and support from the community – a welcome surprise. 

When Wood decided to seek out gender-affirming care, the cost was nearly overwhelming. Gender-affirming surgeries, like the top surgery Wood was saving for, can cost upwards of $10,000. A cost that is not typically covered by insurance.

In an effort to help raise the funds and bring more visibility to trans issues, Wood decided to run a fundraiser through The Outpost. He created a “top-shelf” candle and t-shirts, with all the proceeds going to his gender-affirming care. The fundraiser gained traction immediately, and they sold out of the first 100 candles the day they were released. Soon, other Kansas City businesses also began to fundraise for Wood’s care. The results of this trial-run fundraiser were shocking.

Within a week Wood raised enough for his surgery, post-operative care and pay for his employees while he’s recovering.

“Coming out is a very vulnerable thing to do. Now that I’ve had to do it twice in a lifetime you would think I would have it down,” said Wood, who first came out as a lesbian as a teenager before accepting his masculine identity in his 30s. “It’s terrifying. I think owning a business and still being in the Midwest, there always seems like there’s an inherent risk to be that vulnerable and authentic. It’s been far better than I could have anticipated. I’ve gained a lot of customers because other people are sharing it and spreading it. Which is really overwhelming. I’m more of an introverted personality. I don’t even like my photo being taken, let alone telling my whole story. So even though it’s been overwhelmingly a positive experience, I still have to retreat in and take time for me to process all of it. [In the first] four days I don’t think I stopped crying – happy crying.”

Despite all of the support Wood is receiving for his business and in his personal life, there is still the constant threat of discrimination. Recent bills proposed all over the country, including Missouri, would bar transgender children from playing on the sports team of their true gender. 

Forcing transgender youth to play on the team corresponding with the gender they were assigned at birth is just another way Wood notices the normalization of discrimination and violence against transgender people. Transgender youth have a bravery and a certainty that Wood admires and says should not be rejected. 

“I think you have to know who you are to take a deep dive within yourself to come to the conclusion that the gender you were told at birth is not your correct gender. I think young people, children probably know themselves better,” said Wood. “Being told that you can’t do something that everybody else gets to do, I can’t imagine what kind of trauma that can bring in. It does long-term damage to an already vulnerable population. I have a lot of empathy for these kids. It’s more of a reason to stay in front of it. Because discrimination has no place. No matter what the discrimination is, it shouldn’t have a place here.”

In the face of ever-present intolerance, Wood still has hope for a more equitable and tolerant future. The support he’s received from the Kansas City community reaffirms that hope. The painful measures are bringing transgender issues to the forefront. When discriminatory measures are met with the LGBTQ+ community and allies, Wood says there’s an opportunity for change.

“I think that was my whole thing – trying to be more visible and putting everything out there to create more conversations. Because once we start with conversations, things start to change, even if it’s harder now,” Wood said. “I mean, we already know that as transgender people we are already discriminated against. So to make it lawful, that seems like a huge step backward. I think there’s fear around it. I think there’s sadness. I also think there’s a lot of hope. Looking back at same-sex marriage, how many times did we have to step backward before we really got to take a big step forward? And I think that’s where we’re at. I think we’re in the midst of a lot of change.”

Wood is committed to being a part of that change and making his business a tool for acceptance and activism as well. Following the success of his fundraiser, Wood plans to continue the top-shelf campaign to bring gender-affirming care to other transgender people in the area. 

Since Untamed Supply began, a portion of every candle sale was donated to the National Parks. Wood estimates that they’ve donated over $10,000 to the cause. 

While National Parks are a worthy cause, Wood thinks he can have more of an impact using those proceeds to support initiatives in the Kansas City area. After he recovers from top surgery, Wood says that Untamed Supply will go through a bit of a rebrand to more fully partner with and promote worthy local causes. 

But you don’t have to wait until then to shop at The Outpost. The store has cocktail mixes, stickers, t-shirts, socks, wall art, greeting cards and plenty of other finds. Of course, there is also a plethora of candles.

Whiskey smoke, Glacier and Desert are Wood’s favorite scents, but there’s plenty of variety to choose from. Untamed Supply uses the maximum amount of oil that the all-natural soy wax will absorb in their candles. That means that your candle will have a long-lasting, present scent. 

The high-quality candles are made in their liberty shop. They offer various sizes of candles in tins or glass, which you can bring back to the shop to have refilled once they burn out. You can even have a candle poured into a container you bring it. Nearly every scent is blended in-house at The Outpost, so you’re getting a unique product each time.

The Outpost is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sundays. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook for updates. You can also buy candles through Untamed Supply’s website.

Gender dysphoria and transgenderism are recorded as having existed in the world since 1503 BCE, but it was not until 1930 that Lili Elbe became the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Before this time, most transgendered individuals dressed as the gender they identified as, but they had no access to hormone treatments or other procedures.

In the US, trans* people have been at the forefront of the LGBTQA* movement but have seen the least amount of progress. The gay rights movement started with the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in New York City. Many people do not realize that the riots, which were vital to the visibility of LGBTQA* people, were started and led by black drag queens and trans* women of color. The riots, which took place at the Stonewall Inn, were instigated when Sylvia Rivera, a trans woman of Puerto Rican heritage, hit a police officer with her high heel during a routine raid on the inn. Officers would regularly enter the building and arrest people for dressing as the opposite sex and harass patrons physically and verbally. For several days, the LGBTQA* community fought violently for the right to exist without police interference. Afterwards the Gay Liberation Front was formed, which worked to affirm the right to be gay with protests and sometimes violent actions. With the formation of this group, the trans* individuals who led the riots were silenced and forgotten.

Even though public and legal opinion about gay people changed in the 1970s, transgendered individuals still faced more prejudice and invisibility than gay males. In October 1979, the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights took place, where 75,000 to 125,000 gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and straight allies marched for equal civil rights and protection laws for LGBT individuals (I use LGBT because the all inclusive LGBTQA* was not yet coined). The platform for the march included five demands: pass a comprehensive lesbian/gay rights bill in Congress; issue a presidential executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal government, the military and federally contracted private employment; repeal all anti-lesbian/gay laws; end discrimination in lesbian-mother and gay-father custody cases; and protect lesbian and gay youths from any laws which are used to discriminate, oppress and/or harass them in their homes, schools, jobs and social environments. There is no mention of trans* rights or protections in these demands, but the program did state that the term “gay” was meant as an “inclusive term meaning lesbians, gay men and gay transpeople.” Furthermore, Ray Hill, the organizer of the march, was a significant supporter of trans* rights and visibility. Trans* individuals have a history of supporting and marching with the gay rights movement, though before 2002 they were not technically recognized as a part of the queer community. Visibility is one of the biggest hurdles for the trans* community, for it has been repeatedly ignored for their contributions to the movement and have not been included in legislation due to public opinion. Perhaps it is easier to pass a bill for lesbian, gay and bisexual peoples because public opinion of gay people is more favorable than that of trans* people. It is important to note that Minneapolis became the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection in 1975.

Feminism, and especially radical feminism, has a poor history with transwomen. As always, social movements adapt and change over time for the voices of the oppressed, but some people still hold the view that transwomen are not women. The history of transwomen and feminism goes back to the 1970s and 1980s, when feminism was becoming more radicalized and the gay movement was in full swing. Gloria Steinem, feminist icon of the 1970s, once stated that she did not see transwomen as real women and that “feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism.” When one of the forefront speakers of feminism criticizes transwomen and bars them from the movement, those listening begin to conform to these same ideas. This leads to major harm for transwomen, who feel like they do not fit into the LGBTQA* movement, the feminist movement or their own homes. Gloria Steinem later apologized for her transphobic comments, but there are still people within the feminist community who use her publications to justify their transphobia.

In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association ruled that trans* people were indeed legitimately different from cisgendered individuals, calling transgenderism “gender identity disorder.” It has since been renamed “gender dysphoria” to disclude the term “disorder.” Other major advances occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, including the founding of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), led by a group of experienced transgender lobbyists, who discovered after lobbying Congress in May 1999 that other organizations not seemed to be supportive of rights for transgender people had actually been lobbying against the interests of the transgender community. Even though transgendered individuals had support from the LGBTQA* community, it was not supporting them in legislation. Now the transgender community works as a separate entity from the LGBTQA* movement in order to focus solely on trans* rights. Groups focused on trans* activism include the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, founded in 2002, and the Trans People of Color Coalition.

With the turn of the century came another series of changes for trans* people. In 2002, transgender became an officially recognized identification within the queer community. Also during this time, trans* people began seeking political positions. For example, Theresa Sparks was a transwoman who worked as police commissioner and CEO. Sparks was named Woman of the Year by the California State Assembly in 2003, making her the the first transgender woman ever to receive the honor. When trans* individuals hold positions of power and influence, the trans* community becomes more visible to the rest of the world. It is vital to any social movement that it receive exposure in order to advocate for the cause. Because trans* individuals still face workplace discrimination, violence and high suicide rates, it is extraordinarily important that successful trans* people receive due credit when they achieve goals. Famous trans* people from the early 2000s include Kye Allums, the first trans* NCAA Division 1 college athlete and Laverne Cox, whose portrayal of Sofia Burset on “Orange is the New Black” normalized trans* characters on television as full characters, not just token minorities. Cox also became the first African American transwoman to appear on the cover of TIME magazine in 2014.

While the transgender movement has made monumental strides over the past 50 years, there is still much to be done. Though transgendered people now have some protections against  prejudice in public schools and universities, these protections are not nationwide. Furthermore, trans* people face three times more police violence than non-transgender people, and 63 percent of trans* individuals have had a personal experience with serious discrimination.

Public reaction to Bruce Jenner’s coming out provides a snapshot of how America views transgendered people and shows that, while there are many trans* allies, there are still many transphobic people who hold positions of power and continue to stall progress for equality in the nation.

There is no right way to be trans*, and if you or someone you know identifies as trans* please find resources available here.