Latest news with #nonBinary
Fox News
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Rosie O'Donnell reveals she was 'very depressed' and 'overdrinking' after first Trump win
Print Close By Marc Tamasco Published June 26, 2025 Rosie O'Donnell told former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo that she was "very depressed" and "overdrinking" following President Donald Trump's first election victory in 2016 on "The Chris Cuomo Project" podcast on Tuesday. O'Donnell revealed that she left the United States for Ireland out of a sense of "self-preservation" after Trump's second election victory, considering the difficulties she experienced after his first win in 2016. "During his first go-round, it was very difficult, and I got myself into some bad places. You know, I was very, very depressed. I was overeating. I was overdrinking … I was so depressed, Chris," she told the former cable host. ROSIE O'DONNELL WAS 'SHOCKED' THAT TRUMP'S ELECTION MADE ELLEN DEGENERES FLEE THE US She also shared that it hurt her heart to know that Americans "believed the lies" of Trump and, furthermore, that she worked in a business that "sells those lies for profit." Another reason O'Donnell listed for leaving the U.S. was to ensure that she could be a "good parent" to her 12-year-old child. "Coming to Ireland was totally a way to take care of myself and my non-binary autistic child, who's going to need services and help and counseling and all the things that he's [Trump is] threatening to cut in his horrible plan of the big, beautiful bill," she stated. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Later in their discussion, Cuomo recalled telling O'Donnell after Trump's first victory that "this is going to affect you a lot more than it's going to affect him," and asked how moving to Ireland has impacted her life. She told Cuomo that she enjoys the fact that people in Ireland typically don't approach celebrities the way they do in America, and also noted that she feels safe considering there's no "MAGA support" in the country. O'Donnell related an experience she had in Ireland where an older man bought her a pint of Guinness after she told him that she had left the U.S. because of Trump being elected. She contrasted this with a story from the U.S., where the entertainer and her child were allegedly mocked in a CVS store after Trump won the 2024 election. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "One cursed at us, and she's like, 'Why are they cursing at us?' And I'm like 'Honey you know the bad guy? They're all bad guys too,'" she detailed. Print Close URL
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
AFLW star Tilly Lucas-Rodd ‘so happy' after gender-affirming top surgery
AFLW star Tilly Lucas-Rodd has revealed they are 'so happy' and feel so much like themselves after having gender-affirming top surgery during the off-season. The 29-year-old Hawthorn star is the league's first current player to undergo the surgery - which removes breast tissue in a similar way to a double mastectomy - and said they feel so much more comfortable. 'People often have asked me, 'How do I feel now that I've had it' - post-surgery, seeing myself,' Lucas-Rodd, who identifies as non-binary, told ABC Sport. '... for me, it was like, 'this is how I've always looked when I saw myself' … This is what I've always thought and always seen internally.' Prior to the surgery, Lucas-Rodd was taping or binding their chest and wearing a guernsey multiple sizes too large in order to reduce dysphoria. This practice however, was causing issues, sometimes restricting breathing and movement, and creating back pain. Since returning to training, however, Lucas-Rodd said they are relishing the freedom of not needing a sports bra or chest bindings. 'Going out onto the track in our training guernseys or our singlets, I just feel so, so happy and so just like me,' they said. 'I had huge discomfort around my chest, huge dysphoria. It didn't match up with what I felt internally I should look like.' The halfback came out publicly as non-binary in 2023, saying at the time that they 'don't really identify strongly as my assigned gender at birth, which is female.' 'I don't really feel strongly that I fit into that label as a female, and at the same time I don't feel like I'm a male, either. I guess I'm in between that,' they said in a video shared on the Hawthorn website. 'So for me, the label 'non-binary' feels most comfortable about how I identify in terms of my gender.' Two other AFLW players, Carlton star Darcy Vescio and former Gold Coast player Tori Groves-Little, also identify as non-binary, and two former players have undergone gender-reaffirming top surgery since leaving the league. Lucas-Rodd spoke to their Hawthorn teammates about the surgery when returning to training and said they were met with 'such love and acceptance'. While opening themselves up to public commentary by sharing their story has been nerve-racking, Lucas-Rodd said they hope to help others in a similar position. 'It's also to show gender diverse and trans people that there is a place for them in sport,' they said. 'Coming out publicly with top surgery, people will say and do what they want, but I'm trying to show people that no matter what gender you are, no matter how you express that, no matter anything about you, that you belong in sport and you belong in sport at a professional and elite level. 'That's a big thing for me … being like regardless of your gender and how you express that, there is this place for you in sport.' Since sharing their ABC Sport interview on Instagram, Lucas-Rodd has recieved many messages of support, including from Aussie musician G Flip who said, 'Hells yeah Tilly,' and Wentworth star Zoe Terakes, who shared a series of strong arm and love heart emojis.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
My unexpected Pride icon: Link from the Zelda games, a non-binary hero who helped me work out who I was
Growing up steeped in the aggressive gender stereotypes of the 1990s was a real trip for most queer millennials, but I think gamers had it especially hard. Almost all video game characters were hypermasculine military men, unrealistically curvaceous fantasy women wearing barely enough armour to cover their nipples, or cartoon animals. Most of these characters catered exclusively to straight teenage boys (or, I guess, furries); overt queer representation in games was pretty much nonexistent until the mid 2010s. Before that, we had to take what we could get. And what I had was Link, from The Legend of Zelda. Link is a boy, but he didn't really look like one. He wore a green tunic and a serious expression under a mop of blond hair. He is the adventurous, mostly silent hero of the Zelda games, unassuming and often vulnerable, but also resourceful, daring and handy with a sword. In most of the early Zelda games, he is a kid of about 10, but even when he grew into a teenager in 1998's Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64, he didn't become a furious lump of muscle. He stayed androgynous, in his tunic and tights. As a kid, I would dress up like him for Halloween, carefully centre-parting my blond fringe. Link may officially be a boy, but for me he has always been a non-binary icon. As time has gone on and game graphics have evolved, Link has stayed somewhat gender-ambiguous. Gay guys and gender-fluid types alike appreciate his ageless twink energy. And given the total lack of thought that most game developers gave to players who weren't straight and male, I felt vindicated when I found out that this was intentional. In 2016, the Zelda series' producer Eiji Aonuma told Time magazine that the development team had experimented a little with Link's gender presentation over the years, but that he felt that the character's androgyny was part of who he was. '[Even] back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral,' he said. 'I wanted the player to think: 'Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.' If you saw Link as a guy, he'd have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa … I've always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link.' As it turns out, Link appeals perhaps most of all to those of us somewhere in between. In 2023, the tech blog io9 spoke to many transgender and non-binary people who saw something of themselves in Link: he has acquired a reputation as an egg-cracker, a fictional character who prompts a realisation about your own gender identity. Despite their outdated reputation as a pursuit for adolescent boys, video games have always been playgrounds for gender experimentation and expression. There are legions of trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people who first started exploring their identity with customisable game characters in World of Warcraft, or gender-swapping themselves in The Sims – the digital equivalent of dressing up. Video games are the closest you can come to stepping into a new body for a bit and seeing how it feels. It is no surprise to me that a lot of queer people are drawn to video games. A 2024 survey by GLAAD found that 17% of gamers identify as LGBTQ+, a huge number compared with the general population. It may be because people who play games skew younger – 40 and below – but I also think it's because gender is all about play. What fun it is to mess with the rules, subvert people's expectations and create your own character. It is as empowering as any world-saving quest.
Finextra
09-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Beyond the binary: Fixing KYC for the LGBTQ+ economy
0 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. This Finextra long read series will focus on how the fintech industry can serve underrepresented LGBTQ+ customers during and after Pride Month – a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer culture. By recognising that many individuals within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender and non-binary individuals, may face challenges obtaining or updating official identification that accurately reflects their affirmed name and gender, financial services players can be supportive. Further, by removing legal barriers, complex procedures, and high costs associated with name and gender marker changes – and prioritising reconciliation of chosen names with legal names – financial institutions and fintech firms can work towards developing identity verification solutions that are inclusive of diverse gender identities and expressions. By addressing this challenge and others, organisations can create more inclusive and equitable experiences for LGBTQ+ individuals and families. Creating identity systems that respect chosen names and gender identity The biggest technical challenges in creating inclusive identity systems that respect chosen names and gender identity include ensuring system-wide consistency, updating existing systems and databases, and addressing potential biases in facial recognition and other technologies. In conversation with Meri Williams, CTO, Pleo, integrating these changes are 'just not that hard.' They continue to explain that 'technical issues should never get in the way of basic human dignity, and I genuinely think when people hide behind 'it's hard technically' they usually haven't even properly investigated how to do it. They are of course some archaic legacy systems with gender and names hard-coded, but those are just as likely to cause problems for international customers (e.g. not everyone in the world has a surname!) as they are for trans customers.' Williams also references how many cultures have different concepts of family names or preferred names – calling out how in South Africa, because of noemnaam, which means 'the name you are called', systems are accustomed to accommodating this. Pri Nagashima, VP of data, analytics and AI, Pleo, advises that data collection must also be respectful of users' gender identity and sexual orientation – while still enabling strong analytics. 'We really do keep data collection to what's absolutely essential, always giving people clear choices and respecting their privacy. If we do need something related to identity for a legitimate business reason, we make it optional and are crystal clear about why we're asking. We want to empower users, removing needless stress to set teams free, so it's about helping them visualise a better way to work, rather than just hammering them with information,' Nagashima explores. Balancing KYC/AML with the need for inclusion in identity verification processes A risk-based approach that prioritises user experience requires careful consideration of the specific context and the needs of the individuals being verified, while also ensuring that compliance obligation are met. Financial players, even in these circumstances, must implement more stringent verification processes for higher value transactions, allowing for more streamlined processes for lower risk cases. Alongside this, leveraging automation and technology can simplify the verification process, providing options, protecting customer data and remaining compliant with KYC and AML regulations. As Monzo CTO, Williams explains that the early engineering team happened to have a number of trans engineers and 'they were brave enough to share how it felt to have their 'deadnames' used by official systems and banks and similar. So a couple of our most senior engineers in Security and FinCrime took it on as a challenge: how could we respect people's gender and accommodate the fact we needed government-issued ID that often didn't reflect it accurately? 'The answer was a combination of technical and training. For instance, Customer Operations were trained to never ask what someone's 'real gender' was but instead to be clear when we needed to know what gender was on their ID documents. And we made the systems ensure that people were never called by their ID document name, but always by the name they told us they wanted to be known as. This can seem small, but like so many acts of inclusion, it benefits people far beyond the initial group, even if you're just like me and used to your full name only being used when your grandma is angry! (I'm Meri to everyone, only Meredith if I'm in trouble!!).' Embedding inclusivity into the product development lifecycle In their current role at Pleo, Williams explains that user research with diverse participants must be prioritised in order to foster a culture of belonging within the team, and embrace accessibility-first design principles. 'First of all, we try to have a team that is as representative as possible. If we reflect our customers, we are more likely to be able to understand and meet their needs. We supplement that with a real focus on user research and understanding – what we don't immediately know from our own experiences we have to get from well-designed research. We also have a Product Development Lifecycle which defines how we go from assessing opportunities → discovery → development → testing → deployment, and have peppered this with reminders to consider different needs and users, not just from an LGBTQ+ point of view, but also e.g. accessibility for disabled users,' Williams says. Being aware of individual and group biases and actively working to mitigate their impact on the design process can encourage organisations to embrace human-centred design, accessibility-first design and one that regularly assesses and iterates. Also, employee resource groups (ERGs) being involved in the product development process and help to gain diverse perspectives. Rethinking data policies to avoid reinforcing exclusion Fintech firms must take the time to audit for bias in AI models too, particularly where identity data intersects with risk scoring or onboarding decisions. Nagashima mentions that Pleo are 'big believers in speaking the truth and not hiding things. For AI, that means rigorous, ongoing audits and a strong emphasis on transparency and accountability. We're constantly checking our models with diverse datasets, looking for any hidden biases that might creep in from historical data.' Data collection also requires a fine balance. Nagashima adds: 'Over-collecting can alienate people, raise privacy concerns, and just add unnecessary complexity. Under-collecting, on the other hand, means you might miss important insights needed to build truly inclusive products or might not meet regulatory requirements.' In the context of KYC/AML, financial institutions must rethink their data policies to avoid reinforcing exclusion, particularly for transgender and nonbinary users. 'We talk to our customers the way we talk to each other, and that means being genuine and empathetic. For KYC/AML, it's about being flexible and understanding, especially when dealing with identity. We need to ensure our policies accommodate diverse identity documents and names, rather than forcing people into restrictive categories. This means often collaborating with regulators to establish frameworks that guide ethical and responsible AI use, ensuring transparency and inclusivity. Our focus is on removing needless stress to set teams free, making the process as smooth and inclusive as possible,' Nagashima says. Williams adds that CTOs can help normalise the integration of inclusive UX practices across the fintech ecosystem by making it 'part of the 'definition of done' i.e. a feature or product is not complete or ready for production usage until it meets ALL user needs, not just a subset of able-bodied people.'
Vogue
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Women by Women: A Shared Vision: Foto Femme United.
As part of the column 'Women by Women: A Shared Vision,' created to expand and develop the theme chosen for our Global open call, we had a conversation with April Wiser, curator and founder of Foto Femme United, a startup fostering diversity, equity and inclusion of female and non-binary photographers. Their organise open calls and exhibitions, provide news and educational content on their website and social media and support women and non-binary photographers in their artistic path. We discussed about feminist practices, the power of photography in creating change and the fundamental role of solidarity and cooperation between creatives. April Wiser by Lou Denim How did Foto Femme United come to life? Foto Femme United (FFU) was founded in 2019 as a deliberate and organised response to the need for greater transparency and inclusivity within the photography industry. Prompted by research findings that revealed significant disparities and systemic biases, FFU emerged as a platform committed to challenging the status quo and amplifying underrepresented voices. Our mission is to provide meaningful exposure and support to female and non-binary photographers whose work too often goes unseen or unacknowledged in mainstream spaces. Through curated features, exhibitions, and community engagement, we strive to foster a more equitable and diverse visual landscape.
