This day in Herstory: On March 4, 1933, Frances Perkins became the first woman in the U.S. appointed to a Presidential Cabinet, when she was sworn in as Secretary of Labor. (more)
The Trevor Project: Undercover Mom
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
March 4, 2022
Here is the original story of how I contacted Trevor Project about detransition and hormones and was subjected to their propaganda and activist agenda:
Why did I engage with the Trevor Project to see how they interact with minors?
The answer is simple: Because I had to. I am trying to keep my child safe from bad influences, peer pressure, and drug use.
I never imagined that the bad influences in my kid's life would be the mental health community; I never imagined the drug we were trying to shield her from would be testosterone.
History
My child spent a lot of time on The Trevor Project website when she first asserted a "transboy" gender identity around age 12. She also spent a lot of time on Tumblr, Discord, and other sites at the time. I had no idea they were actively grooming my child into ideology and a new belief system.
I remember how strange it was to see a post on TrevorSpace.org about a pre-pubescent boy stating that he is "asexual." Of course he is, I thought. You haven’t even gone through puberty! At the time, I thought it was harmless, maybe even charming. What didn’t occur to me to ask was why the site was encouraging young children to talk about their sexuality–especially with older adolescents and adults? Looking back, I feel even less comfortable with it. Especially since any user must state sexuality, gender, and gender identity to even start to chat with any of the therapists.
Fast forward three years
We have been affirming our child under the advice of our "highly credentialed" medical and mental health team, but transition was not therapeutic for our kid. After social transition, my child had three inpatient hospitalizations for self-harm and suiciality, including at least one suicide attempt. Yet in our state, due to a ban on so-called conversion therapy, affirmation is the only legal approach for dysphoric kids.
My child is doing much better now thankfully, and I think the gender dysphoria is almost resolved. However, I contacted the Trevor Project for information and resources for parents grappling with detransition and desistance. My kid had desisted once before but was told by other trans kids that it was just "internalized transphobia" (also repeated by the Trevor Project on my chat) and that things would get better as the transition went on. My kid went back to identifying as "trans" after that.
My chat with the Trevor Project - as a parent
As it became clear that my child might be exploring desistance and finding resolution from gender dysphoria, I wanted to make sure we had some social support. So I contacted the Trevor Project for resources on detransition. They had none. I kept asking them and saying surely they must have something. They finally sent me something from Stonewall, making it seem as though detransition is super rare, even though we actually have no idea how common or uncommon it is since most detransitioners do not return to their clinics to tell them. … read full article (and SUBSCRIBE to PITT!)
Trans women like swimmer Lia Thomas in female sport is 'just not fair' - and 'everyone needs to calm down' about J.K. Rowling: Trans celebrity Caitlyn Jenner offers a dose of common sense (PS She also hates cancel culture and all things woke)
From The Daily Mail (UK)
By Barbara McMahon
March 4, 2022
On the coveted cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, there is a striking image of the transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, ploughing her way through water, sleek and powerful.
The 22-year-old American is the most controversial athlete in the world at the moment, making waves amid a passionate and polarising debate about whether she should be allowed to compete against biological females.
'The very simple answer is that I am not a man,' she told the esteemed sports publication. 'I'm a woman — so I belong on the women's team.'
Yet while Lia has many supporters, she is also facing mounting criticism from her fellow swimmers and people inside and outside the sport, and the interview has fuelled the controversy.
Critics say because Lia was born a biological male, she has advantages in the pool that biological women don't have, and the precedent she is setting could be a direct threat to female athletes in every sport.
One of the most forthright critics of this fraught situation — though not of Lia herself — is Caitlyn Jenner.
Caitlyn, of course, was previously Bruce Jenner, the athlete who won gold in the Decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and who later blazed a reality TV trail as the father of a brood of glamorous step-daughters and daughters in Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Her gender transformation in 2015, aged 65 — announced by her posing in a satin bustier on the cover of Vanity Fair — made Caitlyn the most famous trans woman of the modern age. … read full article
Is an abusive man running the show at the Irish Times?
A guest post by Andrea (not her real name)
From The Glinner Update (UK)
March 4, 2022
Grace Lavery is a British man who pretends to be a woman. He is in a relationship with a woman who pretends to be a man. On social media, Grace famously posted pictures of his female partner with his fist in her mouth and other photos of her with clearly visible bruising and injuries. The subtext was that he, Grace Lavery, had inflicted these injuries. How progressive! Lavery recently had a book published. Despite the fact that, as per a recent article on this Substack, Lavery’s book has been either slammed or ignored by the world at large, the Irish Times gave a chunk of valuable space to a glowing review. That would be odd enough in itself but what made it really remarkable was the fact that the author was none other than Barry Pierce.
In January, 2021, the Sunday Independent, Ireland’s most widely read Sunday newspaper, published a review of ‘Irreversible Damage’ written by Abigail Shrier, an experienced journalist and well-respected author. A furore ensued. According to the Twitter mob, the publication of the review was tantamount to a crime of some sort. Firstly, the book itself (about the indisputable fact that ever-younger girls in ever-increasing numbers are being pushed through the wholly damaging trans industrial complex) should not have been published at all. Secondly, the Sunday Indo had no right to publish a review of it. Thirdly, the reviewer had no right to state either the findings of the book or that she found the arguments therein somewhat convincing. The Trans Writers Union (a ‘union’ co-founded by a young Irish woman who claims to be a gay man) made a laughable complaint to the Press Council, a complaint that was met with a polite but firm PFO. And all the usual suspects lost their shit on Twitter.
Barry Pierce, a freelance book critic who had had several reviews published in the Irish Times (one of them infamously nasty about Dolly Alderton’s debut novel) entered the fray when he, publicly on Twitter, announced to the world that that egregious review must have been commissioned by the female Literary Editor of the Sunday Independent. He named her and offered her private contact details to all comers who wanted to complain directly to her. Basically, he invited any loon to harass a woman who is apparently well-liked and respected in the profession, for merely doing her job as a literary editor. … read full article (and SUBSCRIBE to The Glinner Update!)
Texas state House candidate fighting child gender-affirming care is shouted down at a college campus event
From CNN (USA)
By Andy Rose and Caroll Alvarado
March 3, 2022
(CNN)A candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, who is campaigning against gender-affirming treatments for children, was shouted down by protesters while speaking at an event Wednesday organized by a conservative campus group.
Social media videos show demonstrators banging on desks and chanting "fascist" as Republican candidate Jeff Younger mockingly claps and repeatedly misgenders protesters.
"The police believe a small group of protestors not affiliated with the university contributed to escalating the overall protest from peaceful to an aggressive encounter," University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk said in a written statement on Thursday.
"These actions culminated with a group of protestors swarming police, who were working to safely escort both the guest speaker and student organizers off campus."
The event was hosted by the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at UNT, which is located about 40 miles north of Dallas. … read full article
Idaho House committee approves bill to prohibit gender-confirmation medical treatment
Should Skaug’s bill pass, any person convicted of a violation of the law would be guilty of a felony, punishable by up to life in prison
From Idaho Capital Sun (USA)
By Ruth Brown
March 4, 2022
This story was originally published on March 4, 2022, on the Idaho Reports blog.
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee passed a bill that would prohibit gender-confirmation surgery from being performed on children, even if they had parental consent.
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, introduced the bill that would add to the existing law for “female genital mutilation” under Idaho Code 18-1506B.
The Legislature initially established that law in 2019, targeting ritual genital mutilation conducted against girls by some faiths. The law also added an enforcement mechanism to align with a federal law that passed in 1996 outlawing female genital mutilation.
But Skaug’s bill, HB 675, would change the law to apply to both male and female children and would prohibit surgery “if it is for the sole purpose of attempting to change or affirm the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex.”
Some transgender people choose to undergo a gender-confirmation surgery.
Should Skaug’s bill pass, any person convicted of a violation of the law would be guilty of a felony, punishable by up to life in prison.
Skaug stressed that some of the procedures can cause children to develop sterility or stunt their growth. He also believes that sometimes children with gender dysphoria “grow out” of it, comparing the issue to children who grow out of disorders such as anorexia. … read full article
Scotland’s shame
Stonewall’s grip on Holyrood has been strengthened — to the detriment of women
From The Critic (UK)
By Stephanie Davies-Arai
March 4, 2022
Stonewall’s grip on the Scottish Government is now complete after the announcement of the Gender Recognition Act reform bill in Scotland yesterday. This was the final aim: to reduce biological sex to such irrelevance in law and public policy that anyone can choose to have the sex marker changed on their birth certificate by simple self-declaration. If this bill is passed it will effectively legislate the Stonewall mantra “trans women are women”.
The Scottish Government’s slavish obedience to the dictates of Stonewall has resulted in a legislative muddle when it comes to sex and gender. The outcomes of two recent court cases in Scotland have left the government in an embarrassing predicament entirely of its own making.
While sex (according to this bill) is now a matter of self-identity and will be recorded as such in the census, in the case of the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act the court ruled against self-ID as this would change the nature of the protected characteristic of “sex” — a reserved matter under the Equality Act 2010.
The appeal court ruling in the census case reinforced this point. Despite ruling against the appeal brought by Fair Play for Women, important case law was upheld, maintaining biological sex must be recorded in prescribed circumstances involving status, proof of identity or other important rights. … read full article
SNP MP says party could be breaking law by discriminating against 'gender critical' activists
From Holyrood (Scotland)
March 4, 2022
The SNP has been accused of acting in a discriminatory manner after suspending a prominent activist known for her criticism of plans to reform Scotland's gender recognition law.
Former Aberdeen branch convenor Serena Arif had her membership of the party frozen at the end of last month after a complaint “from several sources” alleging that she had breached the party’s code of conduct.
However, in the email notifying her of the suspension, the SNP National Secretary, Lorna Finn, didn’t say what those complaints were or which of the rules had been broken.
Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry has now taken up Arif’s case. In a letter, seen by Holyrood, Cherry has asked Finn for more detail about the suspension and also suggested that the party is “ignoring complaints made by gender critical women about breaches of the party’s code of conduct whilst pursuing complaints against gender critical women”. … read full article
Justice system in England and Wales ‘risks causing fresh trauma to girls’
Up to 90% of girls in contact with youth justice system previously abused by trusted person, says report
From The Guardian (UK)
By Haroon Siddique
March 4, 2022
The vast majority of vulnerable young women and girls in the criminal justice system in England and Wales have previously suffered abuse and violence and are in danger of being retraumatised by the experience, charities say.
The Young Women’s Justice Project report, published on Friday, urges the Ministry of Justice to act to break the “cycle of abuse, inequality and offending”.
The report, the culmination of two years’ work, brings together existing data and research and shows that up to 90% of girls in contact with the youth justice system have experienced abuse from a family member or someone they trusted, and 63% of girls and young women aged 16-24 serving community sentences have experienced rape or domestic abuse.
Indy Cross, the chief executive of Agenda, which produced the report with the Alliance for Youth Justice, said: “It’s shocking that most girls and young women in the criminal justice system have experienced trauma, and yet their specific needs are ignored in favour of punishment and exclusion. It’s time that the criminal justice system stopped retraumatising vulnerable people and listened to what they are telling us.
“We need girls and young women to be heard instead of harmed. Young women are being punished for their responses to trauma and the survival strategies they rely upon.” … read full article