Friday, April 29, 2022
This day in Herstory: Joan of Arc arrived at Orléans on April 29, 1429, meeting the commander Jean de Dunois, acting head of the ducal family of Orléans on behalf of his captive half-brother. Because Orléans was not completely cut off, Dunois was able to get her into the city, where she was greeted with great enthusiasm. (more)
Assembly election: SDLP candidate Charlotte Carson breaks ranks to answer ‘No’ to trans question
An SDLP candidate has become the first would-be MLA from the any of the main non-unionist parties to respond to questions from feminist campaigners whether biological men dressed as women should be allowed to use changing rooms with teenage girls.
From Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland)
April 29, 2022
Charlotte Carson has said ‘No’ to the query from Standing For Women Northern Ireland (SFWNI), one of two feminist groups that have challenged local politicians over the protection of female-only spaces.
The school teacher, who introduced classes on feminism in schools, wrote yesterday on SFWNI’s Facebook page: “If you’re talking about someone who has been born a man and who has medically transitioned including surgery to identify as a woman then I would be comfortable with that person using female-only spaces.
“If you are talking about self ID where a fully functioning man with a fully functioning male body declares himself a woman and wants access to women only spaces then I would say no to this.” … read full article
I was an outcast, shunned like a criminal - just for wanting to keep my Girl Guides safe: We've all read stories of good people cancelled by woke warriors but Guide leader Katie Alcock's ordeal will make you despair
From Daily Mail (UK)
April 29, 2022
The reaction was so cruelly disproportionate and unjust, Dr Katie Alcock felt like a criminal.
She was interrogated as if by the 'secret police' then expelled from Girlguiding, an organisation to which she'd devoted ten years of loyal, unpaid service.
Friends shunned her in the street. Some called off her daughter's playdates. Katie, the sort of resourceful, intrepid, independent-minded person we'd entrust with our children's care on outdoorsy adventures long enjoyed by Brownies and Guides, became a social outcast.
'It was as if I'd been embezzling funds,' she says. 'I was afraid to speak to anyone in case I burst into tears. I was expelled from the Girlguiding unit I ran not long before my daughter was due to join it. … read full article
In a world gone mad, elites keep peddling untruths
From New York Post (USA)
April 29, 2022
Why does the world seem so mad right now? There are two reasons. The first is the injection of implausible claims into our society. The second is the speed and volume at which they come: mainly thanks to social media.
The reason why everybody is so excited about Twitter at the moment, and Elon Musk buying it, is that Twitter has helped fry the brains of our society. It doesn’t matter what subject you look at, Twitter will have deranged people more than they needed to be deranged by telling them things that are untrue at the highest possible pitch and speed.
It begins with the most basic building blocks of our world.
What is the first thing everybody knows about? I’d say it is probably whether they are a boy or a girl. What is the first thing everybody asks of new parents? “A boy or a girl?” But then we entered into the age of insanity. … read full article
Underwear flattening children's genitals? Just another example of gender ideology insanity
From Washington Examiner (USA)
April 29, 2022
An entire industry has been built around the concept of gender transition and "nonbinary" identity, one that has taken a particularly dark turn in the realm of marketing toward gender-variant children.
My readers are likely aware that there exist "packers" (also known as prosthetic penises) for parents to purchase if a female child voices a desire to live as a male. Parents can now also buy little boys, as young as age 4, underwear to flatten their genitals to create the illusion of a female profile. The garments are being sold by a transgender designer for "trans girls and non-binary children" alongside an activity pack that includes stickers and a child-friendly coloring book. … read full article
Lesbian barrister free speech battle with Stonewall resumes after she fell ill: Allison Bailey is suing LGBT charity over claims it induced her chambers to launch probe into her trans right views
Allison Bailey is suing Stonewall and Garden Court chambers for discrimination
She claims LGBT charity induced her chambers to probe gender-critical beliefs
Tribunal was due to begin on Wednesday, adjourned after Ms Bailey fell ill
It today heard evidence from the leaders of two gender-critical organisations
From Daily Mail (UK)
April 29, 2022
A free speech battle between a lesbian barrister and LGBT charity Stonewall over claims it induced her chambers to launch a probe into her trans rights views has resumed after she fell ill.
Allison Bailey claims that Stonewall convinced her employer Garden Court Chambers to investigate her support of gender-critical beliefs.
She is the founder of campaign group LGB Alliance, which has said there is a conflict between the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, and transgender people.
Gender-critical beliefs include that sex is biological and immutable, and that the word 'woman' is defined as 'adult human female'. … read full article
'There is no argument': Rachel Levine praises 'gender-affirming care' for adolescents
From The National Desk (USA)
April 29, 2022
WASHINGTON (TND) — Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate, said in an interview with NPR that “there is no argument” among pediatricians and adolescent-specialist doctors regarding “the value and the importance of gender-affirming care.”
“Gender-affirming care” includes sex reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers, hormone therapy and social affirmation, according to an FAQ from Levine’s own agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). … read full article
Barrister was discriminated against for gender-critical views, tribunal hears
Allison Bailey says Garden Court chambers and Stonewall wrongly treated her gender-critical views as transphobic
From The Guardian (UK)
April 29, 2022
A barrister was unlawfully discriminated against by her chambers, which, encouraged by Stonewall, wrongly treated her gender-critical views as transphobic and bigoted, an employment tribunal has been told.
Allison Bailey is suing Garden Court chambers and Stonewall after she was asked by her chambers to delete two tweets criticising the LGBTQ+ charity’s position on trans rights and which Stonewall had complained about.
Bailey, a lesbian and founder of the gender-critical group LGB Alliance, refused to delete the tweets and alleges unlawful discrimination and victimisation, claiming she suffered detriment at the hands of the chambers, including a reduction in work offered to her by clerks. People who are gender-critical disagree with the view that gender identity should be prioritised over biological sex. … read full article
Maryland advises teachers to hide gender identity issues from K-12 parents
From The Washington Times (USA)
April 29, 2022
Florida has recently banned sex education before fourth grade, but Maryland is a different world: For years, the state school system has directed teachers not to inform parents about gender-transitioning students.
Since 2015, Maryland State Department of Education guidelines have said public schools have no legal obligation to disclose a transgender or gender nonconforming student’s sexuality to parents. Those students have the right “to decide when, with whom, and how much private information” to share about changes in their gender identities.
In Montgomery County, parents are awaiting a federal ruling on their 2020 lawsuit to overturn a school district policy that requires teachers to hide how gender-transitioning students identify at school by reverting to “birth” names and pronouns with “unsupportive” caregivers. … read full article
Britain is accepting of trans people – but sceptical of the ideology
From The Spectator (UK)
April 29, 2022
Two things all journalists and all politicians should always remember. Britain is not Twitter. Britain is not America. The nasty division of social media is not reflective of the wider public. And the issues that are sometimes debated online are often on the agenda because of American, rather than British, concerns.
There is good evidence that Britain is a more cohesive and less divided society than many accounts suggest. Adding to that evidence is a nice report out this week from Global Future, a think-tank interested in social issues.
Based on a big YouGov poll, it finds that people are – surprise, surprise – more sophisticated and complicated than they appear online. Take British history, for example: 77 per cent of people say Britain has been a force for good in the world. And 67 per cent say it has also done harm. Simple ‘for or against’ debates don’t capture the reality of an electorate capable of accepting that things like history are complicated and that countries, like people, can do both good and bad things. … read full article
Florida Is Following Europe’s Lead On Gender-Dysphoria Guidelines
Trans activists, to the contrary, rely on a clinical consensus for ‘gender affirmation’ that does not exist.
From Independent Women’s Forum (USA)
Last week, Florida’s surgeon general released a memo on the “treatment of gender dysphoria for children and adolescents.” The document seeks to “clarify” assertions made in a Department of Health and Human Services “fact-sheet” about trans-identifying youth. Whereas the HHS document claimed that “early affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being,” Florida’s one-page summary warns of “low-quality evidence, small sample sizes, and medium to high risk of bias.”
Insofar as the guidelines caution against gender-transitioning drugs and surgeries for minors, Florida is following Europe’s lead. The Florida memo does go further in its explicit caution against social transitions, however. … read full article
Permission to speak freely: Is free speech under threat?
From Stuff (New Zealand)
April 29, 2022
The cancellation was both bizarre and completely predictable. Even those who were cancelled didn’t look entirely surprised by it.
This happened in Auckland on Tuesday. Activist Daphna Whitmore hoped to present a public talk at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) on the subject of “feminism, advocacy and free speech”.
Those on campus would have heard Whitmore lead “a discussion about free speech in the context of often polarising transgender-gender-critical feminism debate”, according to a Facebook post. … read full article
Illinois School District to Teach Preschoolers About ‘Sexual Orientation’ and ‘Gender Identity’
From The Daily Citizen (USA)
April 29, 2022
An Illinois school district will require schools to teach preschoolers about “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 (D65) is providing specific curriculum to help indoctrinators (er … teachers) teach the equity lessons as a part of its LGBTQ+ Equity Month during the month of April.
The district also has a “Latinx Heritage Month” from September 15 to October 15 as well as “Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action” during the month of February.
For preschoolers, D65’s curriculum states that they must learn about “the purpose of the flags and will learn about the Pride Flag.” Students are encouraged to participate in “Rainbow day” and wear the “color of the day.” … read full article
'Are trans men, men, yes or no?' Teenagers put Anthony Albanese on the spot over gender debate - and the answer will divide Australia
The opposition leader followed Scott Morrison is giving interview to 6News
The Youtube news outfit was founded by Year 9 student Leonardo Puglisi
Mr Puglisi asked Mr Albanese a 'yes or no' question: 'Are trans men, men?'
The question appeared in a teaser clip for longer interview released next week
From Daily Mail (UK)
Anthony Albanese has been interrogated over his opinion of trans men in an interview with two teenage journalists - who demanded to know: 'Are trans men, men, yes or no?'
The Opposition Leader submitted to an interview with Year 9 student Leonardo Puglisi and his political reporter Roman Mackinnon following on from Prime Minister Scott Morrison's interview with the teens in early April. … read full article
Biology teacher says it’s more 'inclusive' to say that eggs come from ovaries rather than women
"It's not women that produce eggs. It’s ovaries that produce eggs."
From The Post Millennial (USA)
April 29, 2022
A transgender biology teacher has been revealed telling other colleagues that they want to distance students from the idea that women produce eggs. Instead, he says, they should rather refer to their body part of origin, which are ovaries.
This comes from an undated clip that Libs of TikTok posted on Tuesday night. The educator's method for achieving their goals is by policing the language used in the classroom. … read full article
Learning from the Detransitioners
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
April 29, 2022
Recently our parent group had the chance to speak with and listen to a small number of very impressive men who once identified as transgender, but no longer do—aka detransitioners. We were eager to hear from them, as each of the attending parents has a son swept up in the gender cult. These men present a possible path out of the ideology that we hoped to learn from.
Parents and children affected by gender ideology are told that detransition is incredibly rare. If you say you are trans, you are trans—it’s something that you can just know, with certainty. This “understanding” of the innate nature of trans is what allows self-identification as trans (the only possibility as it cannot be medically defined or tested) to be viewed as appropriate and valid. … read full article
Can apes prove that gender is not all ‘in the mind’?
Evolutionary biologists used to take flak for endorsing the patriarchy. Now they’ve found an unexpected ally – in radical feminists
From The Telegraph (UK)
April 29, 2022
Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender by Frans de Waal (Granta, £20) ★★★★☆
Gender-Critical Feminism by Holly Lawford-Smith (OUP, £30) ★★★★☆
While the Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal was studying at Utrecht University in the 1970s, two male chimpanzees were kept on the top floor of one of the buildings. Each, whenever a woman came anywhere near them, would sport “a prominent erection”. Yet “they barely looked up” when de Waal and a fellow male student approached wearing dresses and wigs. How did they discern femaleness, wondered de Waal – he ruled out their sense of smell, which is shown to be no more acute in chimps than in humans.… read full article