Friday, July 15, 2022
"The World Health Organization recently announced it will be updating its gender mainstreaming manual 'in light of new scientific evidence and conceptual progress.'"
This day in Herstory: Emmeline Pankhurst (née Goulden), born July 15, 1858 (died June 1928), was an English political activist. She is best remembered for organising the UK suffragette movement and helping women win the right to vote. In 1999, Time named her as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating that "she shaped an idea of objects for our time" and "shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back". She was widely criticised for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. (more)
EU - Trans-Identified Male Killed Dog Before Murdering Female Patient At Psych Ward
From REDUXX (USA)
By Genevieve Gluck
July 15, 2022
New details have emerged in the disturbing case of a trans-identified male who brutally murdered a woman in a psychiatric ward in Haar, Germany.
The 32-year old male suspect had slaughtered his pet dog the day he was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Isar-Amper-Klinikum in Haar, Germany, where he would go on to murder a female patient less than 24 hours later. ... read full article
UK - JK Rowling backs parents told disabled daughter did not have right to female-only care
Harry Potter author warns that special school’s cross-gender policy on intimate assistance endangers 'extremely vulnerable girls'
From The Telegraph (UK)
By Louisa Clarence-Smith
July 15, 2022
The family of a disabled girl told she didn’t have the right to women-only care in the school toilets has been backed by JK Rowling.
They had accused the school of putting their child at risk of assault in order to “celebrate staff diversity”. ... read full article
US - What is a TERF, and why does it matter in today's political climate?
From Washington Examiner (USA)
By Kara Dansky
July 15, 2022
After several years of fighting behind the scenes, largely ignored by politicians and media outlets that have steadfastly shut their eyes to the fact that there is a leftist feminist critique of “gender identity,” TERFs finally have entered the public debate about whether there is such a thing as “gender identity” and whether it deserves the same legal protections as those granted to biological sex.
But what is a TERF? I want to clear up some misconceptions about what the term means and about who we actually are as a political movement. ... read full article
US - D.C.-area schools see spike in teacher resignations
From The Washington Post (USA)
By Hannah Natanson, Perry Stein and Nicole Asbury
July 15, 2022
Teachers in parts of the D.C. area resigned in unusually high numbers at the end of the most recent school year, according to data obtained from school districts and analyzed by The Washington Post.
Resignations spiked enormously at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year in D.C. Public Schools and in several Northern Virginia districts, including Fairfax County, the state’s largest school system. But the numbers of teachers resigning held fairly steady in Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools and in Maryland’s Montgomery County and Prince George’s County school systems. ... read full article
US - Florida Gov. DeSantis focuses on efforts to win school board races
From CBS News Miami (USA)
By CBS MIAMI TEAM
July 15, 2022
TALLAHASSEE - Emphasizing that school-board elections have a "significant impact" on families, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday focused heavily on his support for candidates who align with his education agenda as he helped kick off an event held by the conservative group Moms for Liberty.
Moms For Liberty, founded by two former Florida school-board members, gained prominence by railing against school-board policies such as mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. ... read full article
US - Protesters rally as Fairfax school board further debates combining genders for sex ed
From WJLA News (USA)
by Carl Willis
July 14th, 2022
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — The discussion on combining genders in Family Life Education (FLE), or sex ed, may have been delayed by the Fairfax County School Board, but protesters shouted to bring the issue back into focus Thursday.
Students with the Pride Liberation Project, a student-led LGBTQIA+ advocacy group in Fairfax County, rallied ahead of the FCPS board meeting. ... read full article
US - A New Jersey School Board will Endorse Parental Rights in Sex Ed
From TAP into Rahway (USA)
By Fred J. Aun
July 15, 2022
ROXBURY, NJ — The Roxbury School Board will push back against parts of a state law that relates to exposing young students to material related to gender identity, sexuality, and other topics deemed inappropriate by some parents.
At its meeting Monday, the board created an “ad-hoc committee” that will draft a resolution documenting its position on the matter. The resolution, to be presented in August, is likely to be similar to one adopted last month by the Sussex Wantage Regional School Board, said board members. ... read full article
US - A Berkeley professor’s Senate testimony didn’t go how the left thinks it did
From The Washington Post (USA)
By Megan McArdle
July 14, 2022
Everyone agrees it was an epic own. There’s much less agreement about who got owned.
In Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) asked University of California at Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges whether she thought a baby that is not yet born has value. This ensued:
“I believe a person with the capacity for pregnancy has value,” she answered. “They have intelligence. They have agency —” ... read full article
US - No one seems to know what a woman is
From Washington Examiner (USA)
By Debra Soh
July 15, 2022
The World Health Organization recently announced it will be updating its gender mainstreaming manual "in light of new scientific evidence and conceptual progress." The guidance addresses how gender inequality affects health outcomes. Going forward, it will place an emphasis on "intersectionality," "equity," and the idea that gender is "a continuum" and biological sex is "not limited to male or female."
The desire to remove discriminatory barriers to healthcare is admirable, but importing an extreme-left framework isn’t the way to do it. How can anyone advocate the well-being of women and girls without an accurate understanding of who among us are female? ... read full article
US - California Weighs Gender-Transition Bill for Youths Beyond Its Borders. A Former ‘Trans Kid’ Explains.
From The Daily Signal (USA)
By Virginia Allen
July 15, 2022
California is moving ahead with a bill that would offer gender-transition medical treatment not just to in-state children, but also to kids across America.
If passed, California’s “trans refuge” bill would allow young people from other states to visit California to receive sex hormones, puberty blockers, and sex-reassignment surgeries. ... read full article
US - Case Study: A Mother Rushes To Get Her 15-Year Old Daughter’s Breasts Removed
‘Time is of the essence’ for this mom eager to get her daughter a double mastectomy.
From Reality's Last Stand (USA)
By Christina Buttons and Colin Wright
July 15, 2022
On October 13, 2021, in a private Facebook group with nearly 13 thousand members called “Parents Supporting Parents of Trans Children,” a mother made a post about her daughter’s long history of mental health issues that has ultimately resulted in her pursuing a transition from a girl to a boy. In the post, the mother tells the group to “follow your child’s lead,” “even if you think it’s crazy.”
She goes on to describe the intense struggles her daughter—who she now refers to as her “son”—has experienced for many years before finally coming out as transgender. She reveals that seven years ago they began family therapy due to her daughter’s “emotional disturbance and psych diagnoses,” and says the daughter has been going to individual therapy sessions ever since. ... read full article
US - UPenn Nominates Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year Award
From National Review (USA)
By Isaac Schorr
July 15, 2022
Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who dominated the 2021-2022 NCAA women’s swimming and diving season, has been nominated by the University of Pennsylvania to receive the NCAA’s Woman of the Year award. Up to two female athletes can be nominated by eligible schools and this year, there is a total of 577 nominees.
The award is designed to recognize “female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.” ... read full article
US - TSA announces 'additional gender marker' option for PreCheck applications
Since April, applicants have been able to select their gender based on "self-attestation," regardless of their biological sex.
From The Post Millennial (Canada)
By Jarryd Jaeger
July 14, 2022
On Thursday, the Transportation Security Administration announced that they would be implementing an additional gender option for applicants to the TSA PreCheck program.
Since April, applicants have been able to select their gender based on "self-attestation," regardless of their biological sex. ... read full article
US - How Universities Weaponize Freshman Orientation
Instead of simply informing students about the resources on campus, orientation can amount to an ideological hazing.
From National Review (USA)
By Abigail Anthony
July 15, 2022
I arrived at Princeton University in September 2019. I had looked at Princeton online and thought, “one day . . .” Suddenly, I was experiencing day one. My eager arrival on campus was emotionally amplified by bright smiles, copious pamphlets, and dormitory supervisors dancing in tiger suits. Orientation innocently began with introductions of names and hometowns — then descended into divisive lectures and panels. The intention of these programs was not to assimilate us into our new (and intimidating) surroundings, but rather to coerce students into accepting and affirming a resident orthodoxy.
We often hear about how college students are indoctrinated in the classroom. But the brainwashing begins on move-in day. ... read full article
UK - The Tories are right to debate the trans question – it’s not a distraction
Labour is dodging an essential issue.
From The New Statesman (UK)
By Joan Smith
July 15, 2022
The Conservative leadership contest had barely started when a single issue – where the candidates stand on the definition of a woman – sprang to the top of the agenda. Some commentators were surprised or disapproving, arguing that it’s a marginal issue compared with the soaring cost of living, inflation or the war in Ukraine. Of course there are wider issues that matter, but to say other issues loom large does not mean we cannot debate gender at all.
Indeed, unlike the Labour leadership, leading Tories clearly sense widespread discomfort about changes to language and public facilities that have happened with next to no consultation. And the prominence of the issue in the current contest suggests it is going to be one of the defining fights of the next general election.
Far from being a distraction, however, it’s a smart move by the Tories to have their debate now. ... read full article
UK - How Right is Kemi Badenoch?
It's not just Tories who support the 'war on woke'
From UnHerd (UK)
By ANDREW DOYLE
July 15, 2022
The deposal of King Boris was just the first act of the Tory leadership saga. Politicos and hacks are now dabbling in their amateur clairvoyance, trying to predict whether the new prime minister will move the party further to the Right. An opinion piece in the Guardian, for instance, argues that this has been the trajectory for years, and that Boris Johnson was simply “a culmination” of a shift to “the populist radical Right” that began with Thatcher.
Many of the fears of a “populist” or “Right-wing” drift appear to have been accelerated by a focus on identity politics, or what has become known as the “war on woke”. A piece in the Metro laments the missed opportunity for candidates to move away from the “shameless baiting” around “wedge issues” such as structural racism and trans rights. … read full article
UK - Trans row continues to plague Penny Mordaunt's bid for top job as she is accused of changing her views to win support
Mordaunt said Westminster was tying itself in knots about the trans row issue
She once called for 'complete solidarity' with the transgender community
But asked yesterday, she went back on statement that trans women were women
From Daily Mail (UK)
By CLAIRE ELLICOTT
July 15, 2022
The trans row continued to dog Penny Mordaunt’s leadership campaign yesterday, as she dismissed criticism of her ‘woke’ views by insisting her position was ‘simple and straightforward’.
Miss Mordaunt said Westminster was ‘tying itself in knots’ about the issue – while she has been accused of changing her views to win support.
It emerged that Miss Mordaunt once called for ‘complete solidarity’ with the transgender community – comments that jar with her stance now. ... read full article
UK - Penny Mordaunt could have a big problem with the sex and gender debate
From The National (UK)
By Joanna Cherry
July 15, 2022
THE week at Westminster has, of course, been dominated by the Tory Party leadership election. While the Tories have indulged themselves in what is (superficially at least) a pleasing exercise in internal party democracy and debate, at Westminster, democracy and debate have been further debased.
The “caretaker government” hastily assembled under lame-duck Prime Minister Johnson is busy pulling legislation from the parliamentary programme and refusing to submit itself to scrutiny. ... read full article
UK - Alison Moyet wants single-sex toilets kept to protect women from men who 'choose to intimidate'
From Daily Mail (UK)
By EMMA POWELL
July 15, 2022
Alison Moyet has called for single-sex facilities to be maintained after detailing her own experience of a man who ‘deliberately’ urinated in front of her with the cubicle door open.
The 61-year-old singer, pictured, complained women are ‘unable’ to tell men to leave female-only toilets.
‘In rehearsals washing my hands a bloke... took the stall one foot from me,’ she tweeted. ... read full article
UK - Can feminists please drop the Handmaid habit?
Feminists’ adoption of Margaret Atwood’s red cape serves only to obscure the complex real-life issues around women’s rights
From The Critic (UK)
By Victoria Smith
July 2022 (magazine issue)
In may this year, Penguin Random House released an “unburnable” edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. To celebrate, Atwood was filmed taking a blowtorch to the copy, later sold for $40,000, with proceeds going to PEN America. The performance felt surprisingly anti-climactic. What exactly was being non-burned? The novel itself — dark, brilliant, politically slippery — or what it has come to symbolise? A red cape, a TV series, a feminist movement losing its grip on reality. Is anyone really scared of those?
The past five years have seen the clothing styles of Atwood’s 1985 novel achieve iconic status. The election of Donald Trump, followed by the release of the TV adaptation, combined to make the handmaid’s cape, in the words of the Guardian, “one of the most powerful current symbols of feminist protest”. ... read full article
UK - Self ID in Secure Children’s Homes
From Women’s Rights Network (UK)
July 15, 2022
The Ministry of Justice Youth Custody Service (YCS) confirms it will introduce a policy in the autumn that would allow children aged 10 to 18 in secure children’s homes and secure training centres to declare themselves transgender and be placed in the “unit of acquired gender” so that they can “feel more comfortable expressing their transgender identity in a mixed environment rather than in a secure setting where they are only mixing with one gender.”
Boys aged 16 or 17 could declare themselves “transgender girls” and be placed on the same units as girls aged 13 and over.
Concerned members of the public have written to their MPs explaining why this presents a particular risk to children known to be especially troubled, impulsive and vulnerable - especially girls. ... read full article
UK - How to spread Gender Ideology
From Gender Critical Woman (UK)
July 14, 2022
This post should give you a flavour of a co-ordinated campaign to spread Gender Identity Ideology throughout continental Africa. The document below is the report of a gathering of trans activists; which preceded a conference on strengthening Trans Activists. For those of you who read the work of Jennifer Bilek this will be familiar territory.
You can follow 11th hour blog here
The conference is the brain child of the International Trans Fund. (ITF) They are backed by The Arcus Foundation, among others, which I wrote about here:
ARCUS FOUNDATION GRANTS ... read full article
Peru - Peru's Congress declines OAS summit over gender neutral bathroom rule
From Reuters (USA)
July 15, 2022
LIMA, July 15 (Reuters) - The Peruvian government on Friday said the country runs the risk of being unable to host the Organization of American States (OAS) annual General Assembly this year because of a congressional decision opposing gender neutral bathrooms.
Peru's Congress, controlled by socially conservative parties, rejected on Thursday the government's request to host the regional body's assembly in October over a requirement it offer gender neutral bathrooms at the event. ... read full article
International - Transgenderism: The New Religion of La Leche League?
From Mothers for Mother
July 15, 2022
Becoming a Leader for La Leche League is not something that anyone can do. The most important criteria for leadership are simple: a woman must have had a baby and breastfed him or her for an extended period of time, demonstrating by her lived experience that even in the face of mother/baby separation (due to, for example returning to paid employment), she has prioritized her baby’s need for her presence.
This has been the key to La Leche League’s global success. By maintaining its focus on just these two key elements, LLL can be found in many countries, which follow differing cultural and social practices. ... read full article
Canada - Woke philosophy bro emails, part two
In which Contrapoints is highly recommended and I have "occasional irenic moments"
From gender:hacked by Eliza Mondegreen (Canada)
By Eliza Mondegreen
July 15, 2022
You can find part one here!
If I were writing these responses today, I think I’d just say: Sex matters. You know it. I know it. Let’s stop pretending. As far as ‘transwomen are women’ goes—that thing you think is so “correct and important” to say—let’s put it into practice: That means that we either treat some males as though they were female in settings where sex matters, which undermines women’s rights, or else we’re treating some males as though they were female in settings where sex doesn’t matter, in which case why are we treating men and women differently to begin with?
But this was the first time I’d ever written any of this down and I hadn’t thought about it long enough to be so concise. As far as his emails go… enjoy. ... read full article