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Transitioning later in life can feel isolating. One social group wants to change that
(From left to right) Portrait of Nicole Brownstein, Bernie Wagenblast, and Patrick Buenaventura at Wagenblast’s home in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Gabby Jones for NPR
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(From left to right) Portrait of Nicole Brownstein, Bernie Wagenblast, and Patrick Buenaventura at Wagenblast’s home in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Gabby Jones for NPR
When Bernie Wagenblast went to her first PROUDLY Me! meeting, she had no plans to transition.
She was in her late 50s, working as a radio announcer and using what she calls her “guy voice.” Then, she found the New Jersey-based support group for trans and nonbinary people of all ages. “I started it with the hope that it would be enough,” says Wagenblast, “and I wouldn’t have to go any further.”
At the time, her biggest fear with fully, publicly coming out was losing her life partner.
It’s a big fear for many older trans people who aren’t out, says Leigh Mann, a gender-affirming voice therapist and the former co-facilitator of PROUDLY Me!. Mann says that when people weigh the risks of coming out, “there’s a calculus that happens – and it’s unique for every person.” Personal safety, for example, is part of everyone’s calculus. When you pair that with the jeopardy of losing your spouse, contact with your children, or even your job, “it just gets exponentially more complicated.”
A night she calls ‘her Cinderella Story’
Wagenblast’s personal calculus shifted the night of the PROUDLY Me! semi-formal annual award ceremony. “In years past, I had always gone in a jacket and tie, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that this time.” So she reached out to her older trans mentor, another PROUDLY Me! member.
Her mentor instructed her to stop by a Halloween store and buy a cheap wig and a pair of heels. “You come down to my house with the wig and the heels, I’ve got a dress for you, I’ll do your makeup, and you’ll go to this event as your true self.”
Nicole Brownstein adds a necklace to Bernie’s Wagenblast’s outfit.
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Nicole Brownstein adds a necklace to Bernie’s Wagenblast’s outfit.
Gabby Jones for NPR
Mentor Nicole Brownstein has done many of these makeovers for other trans women who’ve come to her in the same position. She’s helped all of them. “It’s like a big movie production,” says Brownstein. “I have them sit in a chair facing away from the mirror and then have them turn around.” In that moment when they first look at themselves, Brownstein sees the same expression that she saw in herself all those years ago: “to finally be able to see yourself as you’ve always envisioned yourself.”
That night, Wagenblast decided that she could and would socially transition. In the process, her greatest fear came true. Her marriage of 42 years came to an end.
“This person who was and is my best friend is no longer part of my daily life. That’s terribly difficult,” she says. “But friendships have become far more important in my life.”
Friendships like the one she has with Brownstein, who’s 77. Wagenblast and Brownstein belong to a close group of trans women who will regularly get together for dinner and drinks. “Just a group of girls going out to spend a nice evening together,” says Brownstein.
A chance for intergenerational friendships
While the PROUDLY Me! support group does have members of all ages, many love it specifically because of Wagenblast and Brownstein – and the others navigating this later in life.
This is especially true for Patrick Buenaventura. When they went to their first meeting, they lamented starting their journey at the age of 53. Until Brownstein shared that she began transitioning in her 60s – and then other members followed suit.
Portrait of Patrick Buenaventura wearing their award ceremony attire at Bernie’s house in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
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Portrait of Patrick Buenaventura wearing their award ceremony attire at Bernie’s house in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Gabby Jones for NPR
That’s when it clicked for Buenaventura. “We all have our own journeys and we have our own timelines. This just happens to be mine – and I’m right on time. When I was supposed to transition is now.”
PROUDLY Me! also creates a space for younger and older trans people to come together in unexpected ways. Buenaventura remembers one college-aged person who came up to them and said that it was nice to see older trans folks, “because they couldn’t imagine their life when they were older.”
On the flipside, they’ve also learned from younger members to be less concerned with passing. “They’re like, ‘I will dress how I want. If I want to be a trans man or transmasculine, it doesn’t mean I have to wear a suit and tie. If I want to wear a skirt, I’ll wear a skirt.’ They’re defining themselves, and not letting the world tell them who to be or how to be.”
Without a community like PROUDLY Me!, it’s easier to feel isolated at any age. Kristi, who’s 65, requested anonymity since she’s not out as trans to friends and family.
She longs for closer connections to other trans women, but says she hesitates to join support groups since she hasn’t taken certain steps – like socially transitioning, starting hormone therapy or getting gender-affirming surgery. “I don’t present myself fully as a woman,” says Kristi. “And I don’t want people to say, ‘well, let’s ignore her. She’s not part of us, really.’ “
Currently, Kristi has no plans to socially transition. And she wishes there was a stronger community for people like her – people who don’t know when they’ll take those steps, or if they’ll ever take them. “Am I not going far enough? Am I not courageous enough to come out and be a woman?” Kristi routinely asks herself these questions. But then she’ll tell herself: “there are people who don’t feel compelled to do that. And that doesn’t make the journey any less real.”
(From left to right) Portrait of Patrick Buenaventura, Bernie Wagenblast, and Nicole Brownstein, wearing their award ceremony attire at Wagenblast’s house in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Gabby Jones for NPR
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Gabby Jones for NPR
(From left to right) Portrait of Patrick Buenaventura, Bernie Wagenblast, and Nicole Brownstein, wearing their award ceremony attire at Wagenblast’s house in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
Gabby Jones for NPR
It’s been about a year since Bernie Wagenblast socially transitioned. And she’s still reveling in her new life. “To finally be living it for the first four or five months, it was like, ‘Pinch me. I’m afraid this is a dream, and that I’m going to wake up.’ “
Wagenblast is 67 now. Sometimes, she thinks about what it would’ve been like to come out earlier. To be a teenage girl, or a woman in her 20s.
But mostly, she’s just glad to be out now.
News
Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.
Casper rejected the Republican administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be put in place. Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers.
The Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” wrote Casper.
Among other proposed changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then, and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money.
In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump’s “unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections” and would continue to defend voting rights in this year’s midterm elections.
“Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote, and we honor their legacy by protecting that right against anyone who tries to undermine it,” said James, a Democrat.
A voter casts a ballot during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was the lead plaintiff in the case, said the ruling reaffirmed the constitutional principle that it s up to the states and Congress to set election rules.
“While we are proud of this result, we are clear-eyed that President Trump’s attacks on voting rights and our elections show no signs of slowing down,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement. “So let me be clear: we will keep fighting back every step of the way.”
Requests for comment sent to the White House and he U.S. Department of Justice were not immediately returned.
The ruling was the latest in a series against the elections executive order Trump signed just months after taking office for his second term. The Republican president has since signed another executive order on elections that seeks to create a national voter list and limit mail balloting. That directive also faces multiple legal challenges.
Last fall, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., overseeing a separate challenge to the first election executive order by civil rights and Democratic Party-aligned groups blocked the government from taking steps to include the proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form. That judge later barred Trump’s defense secretary from requiring documentary proof of citizenship when military personnel register to vote or request ballots.
In an apparent nod to the difficulty of implementing a proof-of-citizen requirement by executive order, Trump is pushing legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress to create such a mandate. The SAVE America Act has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate, leading Trump to advocate for eliminating the filibuster that is blocking the legislation.
On Wednesday, he abruptly canceled the expected signing of a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would not sign legislation until Congress passes his proof of citizenship requirement for voting.
The president and many of his Republican allies have been promoting the narrative that voting by noncitizens is a major problem, when in fact it’s quite rare. The federal voter registration form already requires people to attest that they are U.S. citizens. Violating that is punishable as a felony that can lead to prison or deportation.
In another major voting case, the U.S. Supreme Court is due to issue an opinion soon on whether mail ballots must arrive by Election Day. That could immediately change the rules in 14 states that allow grace periods ranging from days to weeks if the ballots are postmarked by Election Day.
Casper, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
News
Video: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries
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Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive coalition had a big night on Tuesday. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their Democratic House primaries.
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“I see a New York that we can all afford. I see a New York that truly invests in its babies, not bombs.” Reporter: “What’s the first thing you’re looking forward to doing in Congress?” “Well, tomorrow — thank you — I mean, tomorrow morning, you know, I’m going to be back at 26 Federal Plaza doing court watching, and we want to carry that into Congress as well.”
By Julie Yoon
June 24, 2026
News
Appeals court allows Trump administration expanded use of speedy deportations
A massive 826,780-square-foot warehouse sits illuminated Feb. 12, 2026, in the El Paso suburb of Socorro, Texas, that was recently purchased by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $122.8 million.
Morgan Lee/AP
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Morgan Lee/AP
A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.
Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.
In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.
“The Trump administration’s push for fast-track deportations will subject people to an unfair and error-prone system,” Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.
Balakrishnan represented plaintiffs in arguments before the appellate panel and said its ruling “undermines the fundamental principle that people receive due process when the government seeks to deport them.”

DC Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker, one of the judges on the panel, said the plaintiffs had not shown the expanded use of expedited removal violated due process rights. Immigrants received notice of removal proceedings and were given a chance to respond, he wrote in his opinion.
Walker and the second judge in the majority, Neomi Rao, were appointed by Trump. The third judge on the panel was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
Walker said there was no requirement that the administration inform immigrants that they can avoid expedited removal if they can show they have been in the United States for more than two years.
“The constitutional requirement is notice of the action the government is taking and the grounds for it, plus an opportunity to respond,” he wrote, adding that the plaintiffs’ “contrary reasoning would require immigration officers to provide what amounts to legal advice.”
Walker and Rao vacated an order by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb that put the expanded use of expedited removal on hold. Cobb, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ruled in August that the administration had not developed procedures to ensure migrants were not wrongly deported under the expedited process.

The plaintiffs had put forward “substantial evidence” that the expedited removal process, on the contrary, carried a high risk of error when applied more broadly, Cobb said. The ruling cited examples of people who had lived in the U.S. for far longer than two years but were still ordered to be removed in expedited proceedings.
In his opinion, Walker acknowledged evidence of such errors, but said they resulted from “individual officers’ failure to follow the law — not defects in the written directives under review or the procedures they incorporate.”
The Trump administration has argued that its expansion of expedited removal includes protections to prevent arbitrary removal. In a court filing in October, Justice Department attorneys said Cobb’s ruling was an “egregious error” that was depriving the administration of an “essential tool to combat the unprecedented surge of illegal immigration over the past few years” and efficiently deport potentially millions of people.
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