Today's Listen Up Girl covers six stories from Sunday, August 16, 2026. A federal judge dismissed Minnesota's lawsuit challenging the federal government's stance on trans kids in school sports, ruling the state hadn't yet shown concrete legal harm — though a separate federal lawsuit against Minnesota over the same issue continues elsewhere. In Europe, Slovakia is defying a European Court of Justice ruling by refusing to register the marriage of Ivan Novotný and Metod Špaček, a Slovak gay couple married in Austria, prompting a rebuke from the European Commission. Matrix director Lilly Wachowski revealed that her new $10 million film, The Hunted, has stalled in Hollywood funding despite being fully scripted and ready to shoot, because its cast is entirely trans — part of a broader industry pullback that saw zero trans characters across 225 major studio films this year. A Republican candidate faced backlash after telling a female opponent she seemed "more masculine" than a man. Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed New York City's new universal childcare plan would teach babies to change gender — a claim entirely disconnected from the actual policy, which simply expands free childcare access starting with two-year-olds this fall. And the episode closes with Rosie O'Donnell's candid, funny, and moving account of learning to consistently use her nonbinary child's pronouns — including the "they" tattoo she got on her wrist to help her remember.

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