"The case involves Norman Varner, a federal prisoner who pleaded guilty in 2012 to attempted receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, partly due to his previous conviction on child pornography and his failure to register as a sex offender. In 2015, he claimed to have transitioned to being female, and asked to be referred to as “Kathrine Nicole Jett.”
"A lower court had denied his motion and he appealed. The 5th Circuit panel ruled that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to consider the request because Varner’s motion was not authorized by any statute.
"The most salient part of the ruling deals with the requested use of personal pronouns.
“ 'Varner cites no legal authority supporting this request. Instead, Varner’s motion simply states that ‘I am a woman’ and argues that failure to refer to him with female pronouns ‘leads me to feel that I am being discriminated against based on my gender identity,'” the ruling explains.
"The panel made three key arguments against such a notion." More...
Trans Backlash: Lesbian Veteran Asks Elizabeth Warren to 'Stop With the Pronoun Silliness' (2019) . . . “ 'With civility and no ill-will: Please. Stop with the pronoun silliness,” Ben-Shalom wrote. “We know you are a woman. Perhaps a million trans-humans will not elect you. But common sense women could.”
"Ben-Shalom brought up real concerns that transgender activism is harming women across America." . . . More...