theFeed that to her advantage, and I wasn’t having it.” While Cooper has gone viral for being the victim of a racist incident, he is notable in LGBTQ history for a number of reasons. Prior to his current role at Health Science Communications, Cooper was a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he made history by penning a character that later came out as gay. Cooper created the character Yoshi Mishima for comic Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, who became the first openly gay Star Trek character in the franchise’s history. Cooper told TVGEN in 1998 that he had written Mishima as “gay all along,” prior to his coming out, “but I just never came right out and said it.” In addition to making Trek history, Cooper also made Marvel history with the superhero Victoria Montesi, Marvel’s first openly lesbian lead character. Montesi debuted in 1992 in the comic Darkhold. Cooper is also a notable LGBTQ activist, having served as co-chair of the board of directors of media advocacy organization GLAAD in the late ’80s. He also created the New Yorkbased political action committee (PAC) No More REPublicans Toying with Your Life (No More REPTYLs), which aimed to elect Democratic state senators to Republican-held seats to stop the GOP from roadblocking pro-LGBTQ legislation.
SANDER VAN DER WEL
noting comparisons between similar videos and incidents of white people calling police officers to falsely accuse AfricanAmericans of threatening or illegal behavior. The fallout for Amy Cooper was swift. The head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton was placed on administrative leave and subsequently fired by her employer, which issued a statement saying, “We have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton.” She has also surrendered her dog to the shelter from which she adopted it, according to a Facebook post from Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue Inc. In comments to CNN, Cooper said she wanted to “publicly apologize to everyone,” and said she is “not a racist,” adding, “I did not mean to harm that man in any way.” Christian Cooper told CNN that if Cooper meant her apology and kept her dog leashed in future, “then we have no issues with each other.” “I videotaped [the incident] because I thought it was important to document things,” Christian Cooper added. “Unfortunately we live in an era with things like Ahmaud Arbery, where black men are seen as targets. This woman thought she could exploit
Vulnerable Youth Transgender youth more vulnerable to depression and suicidal feelings. By John Riley
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NEW PEER-REVIEWED STUDY FROM THE TREVOR Project’s research team finds that transgender and nonbinary youth are more at risk of depression and suicidal ideation than their cisgender peers. According to the study’s findings, which are set to be published in the Journal of Adolescent Health next month, transgender and nonbinary youth are two to 2.5 times as likely to experience depression and seriously consider, or even attempt, suicide, compared to their cisgender LGBQ peers. That finding holds up, even when controlling for age, family income, and race or ethnicity.
The article on the study, titled “Understanding the Mental Health of Transgender and Nonbinary Youth,” finds that trans and nonbinary youth report higher rates of perceived discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. They are also twice as likely as their cisgender peers to report having been physically threatened or harmed due to their identity. Transgender males were the most susceptible to depression and suicidal ideation, with 86% reporting feelings of depression, 62% having considered suicide, and more than 1 in 3, or 35%, having attempted suicide over the past year. Trans males, trans females, and nonbinary youth assigned female at birth were all MAY 28, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
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