The Largest Ever Survey of Trans Americans Shows Massive Improvements in Life Satisfaction After Transitioning

Friday, February 9th, 2024

Today’s newsletter is: 920 words; 4 min.

KNEAD TO KNOW

A special counsel report found President Joe Biden mishandled classified information – the vast majority of which are Biden’s own notes – after he left office, but concluded criminal charges weren’t warranted. The report from Robert Hur, a Republican and Trump appointee, made several harsh characterizations about Biden’s memory and age, including using stunningly strong language about common occurrences with witnesses, like a lack of recall of prior events.

SCOTUS appears poised to overturn the Colorado decision removing Trump from the 2024 ballot. Justices on both sides of the ideological aisle voiced concerns about letting states decide whether to disqualify candidates.

The FCC officially declared AI-generated robocalls are illegal. The unanimous ruling, which garnered bipartisan support from 26 state attorneys general, comes weeks after AI-generated audio of President Biden was used in a robocall scam. 

Two studies cited by the Texas judge who ruled to suspend access to the abortion drug mifepristone have been retracted. The retractions by Sage Publications come a month before the Supreme Court hears an appeal from the Biden administration in the case, which could impact nationwide access to the drug.

QUICK BITES

The World Just Experienced Its First Full Year Above 1.5°C of Warming

A new report by the E.U.’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found the global mean temperature for the past 12 months (February 2023 through January 2024) was the highest on record at 1.52°C above pre-industrial levels. It’s the first time the global mean temperature has exceeded 1.5°C for a 12-month period.

• Also this: The report also found last month was the hottest January on record, marking eight consecutive months that are the warmest on record for the respective month. 

Americans Want to Make Voting Easier

A new survey by the Pew Research Center found strong bipartisan support for certain policies that would make it easier to vote, including making early, in-person voting available for at least two weeks prior to Election Day (88% of Democrats; 64% of Republicans) and making Election Day a national holiday (78% of Democrats; 68% of Republicans).

• Some divisions: Majorities of Americans – albeit with wide partisan divisions – also support allowing anyone to vote by mail (57%), automatically registering all eligible citizens (57%), and allowing same-day registration on Election Day (57%).

How a City Is Organized Can Make Its Citizens More or Less Racially Biased

A new study by researchers at the Sante Fe Institute examined the organization of cities and the psychology of how individuals develop unconscious or implicit racial biases, finding large, diverse, less segregated cities create less biased citizens. 

• Why it matters: The study found the most pronounced structural reason why cities may make citizens more or less racist is the segregation of different racial groups into different neighborhoods, which often leads to fewer interactions between individuals of different backgrounds.

‘HOLE LOT OF GOOD

The Largest Ever Survey of Trans Americans Shows Massive Improvements in Life Satisfaction After Transitioning

You couldn’t tell by watching right-wing media today, but transgender people represent less than 1% of Americans ages 13 and older.

• Despite the small population and correspondingly small amount of problems trans people create, right-wing pundits and social media losers are quick to blame them for seemingly all of society’s problems, with one Daily Wire commentator going so extreme as to call for their “eradication.”

For the sake of brevity, we’ll set aside how Nazi-like the notion of “eradicating” a small group of people is and focus on one of the main false claims by right wingers about trans people: that it’s common for them to regret transitioning.

• Well, the largest ever survey of trans Americans (92,000 respondents) is here to put that to rest, finding nearly all trans people are more satisfied with life after their transition.

The good:

The survey found 94% of respondents report being more satisfied with life after transitioning, including 79% who said they’re “a lot more satisfied.”

• Nearly all respondents who received hormone treatment (98%) also reported being more satisfied with life after treatment, as did nearly all (97%) respondents who received at least one form of surgery during their transition.

Why it matters:

While the findings should be celebrated and it’s nice to believe that such a large, detailed survey would change the minds of the groups and legislators targeting trans people today, we all know it won’t.

• Right-wing media and lawmakers have trans people in their crosshairs, so they’ll ignore the findings and obvious benefits of gender affirming care, and they’ll continue pushing their hateful narrative, disregarding the danger they create for trans and cisgender people alike.

• It’s clear they have their sights set on harming trans people, and it’s clear we don’t really know how bad it could get. 

Here’s to hoping we never find out.

OVEN-FRESH STATS

• 6x - How much more likely Black women in the U.S. are to be murdered than white women, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University.

• 47% - The drop in Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal in January ($428 million) compared to the same month last year ($804 million), according to the Suez Canal Authority.

• 1+ trillion - The number of cicadas likely to appear across the U.S. Midwest and Southeast this spring as the emergence schedules of two distinct broods overlap for the first time since 1803, according to scientists at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

• 1.45 billion - The number of chicken wings Americans are expected to eat during the Super Bowl this Sunday, roughly four wings for every American, according to the National Chicken Council (which is a real thing).

EXTRA SCHMEAR

Long Video. Learn about the questionable engineering of the Boeing 737 MAX. (13 min) 

Short Video. Why is Tokyo’s subway profitable but New York City’s isn’t? (6 min) 

Fun Video. Learn why Dutch people are so direct. (6 min)

Good Read. Could flag football eventually overtake tackle football? (1,206 words; 5 min)

Neat List. WalletHub released its list of the most “sinful” states in America.

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Written by Ryan Wittler