politics

For the second election cycle in a row, the rights of transgender people have taken center stage politically, despite their accounting for only about 1% of the U.S. population and many voters identifying other issues as far more important — splitting Republicans and Democrats, but also Democrats among themselves and putting the party on the defensive.

The Roller Rebels, a Long Island roller derby league, will clash this fall with New York’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Bruce Blakeman, in a battle over transgender rights and the scope of federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly suggested a leading Arab American activist is a Hamas supporter when she testified Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes, and he told her she should hide her "head in a bag."