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2SLGBTQ+ community in Windsor, Ont., worries about rise in hatred in wake of Trump order | CBC News

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2SLGBTQ+ community in Windsor, Ont., worries about rise in hatred in wake of Trump order | CBC News

Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.

Trump, on his first day in office, ordered an end to a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and protecting rights for 2SLGBTQ+ people.

During his speech, Trump also said it is now “the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”

The executive order requires the government to use the term “sex” rather than “gender,” while mandating that identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on what it described as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”

“This is quite ridiculous,” said Mulaisho, the founder and managing director of Queer and Trans Migrant Advocacy Alliance of Windsor-Essex. 

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“What do you call me now? How do you perceive me to be? It’s a human rights violation.”

‘What affects the U.S. eventually also affects us here in Canada:’ Intersex advocate

Mulaisho said this will elicit and legitimize hatred against the larger 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“What affects the U.S. eventually also affects us here in Canada,” they said.

“There are so many problems going on right now in the world, let them focus on those that are actual problems instead of making sexuality, which is not a problem, a huge thing.”

They said they are also receiving “quite a lot of calls from the U.S.” where people are concerned for their safety. 

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In Windsor-Essex, Mulaisho said they are hearing growing concerns about potential increase of hatred and violence.

Trans woman says order will cause more bigotry, hate 

Akshat Virmani moved from India to Windsor to feel comfortable in her skin as a trans woman.

“In my high school, I was bullied a lot,” Virmani said with tears in her eyes. “But there is hate and bigotry which is still prevailing in this society too.

“It is quite disgusting…The order will be causing even more division and more bigotry and hate.”

Akshat Virmani is a trans woman who says she moved from India to Canada and says she is feeling anxious in the wake of President Trump’s comments. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)

Virmani said she is feeling “anxious” in the wake of the order. 

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“I’m definitely worried about my own safety… Our existence will be questioned, but it will not be eradicated,” she said.

“Transgender people’s lives are already at a risk because they are not accepted everywhere. That’s our reality, sadly.”

“It’s just bad. It sucks,” said Windsor author and trans woman Casey Plett, who now lives in Athens, Ohio. 

“It’s awful and also there is no point or rationale. You’ll notice that there’s no reason for this. No one has ever been hurt by being allowed to change gender markers on their identity documents.”

Plett said trans people in the U.S. and Canada are at risk of facing transphobia and hatred and says she worries that hatred will worsen now. 

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2SLGBTQ+ organizations urge hope, not despair

Derrick Carl Biso, the team lead for administration and education at Trans Wellness Ontario, says Trump’s statements are false and warrant more education and awareness. 

“If we look at history, we have always existed,” said Biso, who identifies as a non-binary gender fluid person who uses he/they/she pronouns. “No one can dictate that away or speak it away or executive order that away.”

A person in front of a Trans Wellness Ontario banner
Derrick Carl Biso is the team lead for administration and education with Trans Wellness Ontario and uses he/they/she pronouns. They say they worry about the impact of Trump’s comments in Canada. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)

Like others, Biso anticipates more threats and violence and hardship in Canada in the wake of Trump’s order. 

“I feel very threatened in a way I haven’t maybe in the last five to 10 years,” Biso said, referencing comments made by Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre and policies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

Being a small part of the population, Biso said trans and gender diverse people are “not the problem.” 

“I encourage each other not to lose hope, not to despair or get depressed even though it’s pretty cold out there.”

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Canada shouldn’t follow lead: National 2SLBTQ+ charity

Omid Razavi is the executive director at It Gets Better Canada, a national charity that focuses on uplifting and empowering 2SLGBTQ+ youth.

He said Trump’s order will pave the way for more discrimination in “one of the most polarizing moments in recent history.”

“We have been seeing an increase in policies and legislation that really are working against the 2SLGBTQ+. We have absolutely seen it in provinces across Canada. That’s the ripple effect,” he said.

He urges Canadian politicians not to follow pursuit as the transphobia and homophobia in Canada is “incredibly troubling.”

“The ignorance and discomfort of a few should not deny the existence or validation of many. The hope is that as we invite new leadership in Canada, that they will continue to honour what has made us proud as Canadians.”

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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