Monday, August 8, 2022
"Stories about drag queens in kindergarten, forcing students to use preferred pronouns, biological boys who say they are transgender using locker rooms and showers once reserved for girls ..."
This day in Herstory: Esther Hobart Morris, born August 8, 1812 (died April 2, 1902), was the first woman justice of the peace in the United States. She began her tenure as justice in South Pass City, Wyoming, on February 14, 1870. The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners appointed Morris as justice of the peace after the previous justice, R.S. Barr, resigned in protest of Wyoming Territory's passage of the women's suffrage amendment in December 1869. (more)
US - It’s back to school soon — but not to failing, woke public schools for many families
From New York Post (USA)
By Cal Thomas
August 8, 2022
As parents prepare to send their children back to school, many will have made decisions about their kids’ education that will not only put them on a different trajectory but also impact the public-education system, which is being used in too many districts to indoctrinate more than educate.
Stories about drag queens in kindergarten, forcing students to use preferred pronouns, biological boys who say they are transgender using locker rooms and showers once reserved for girls, along with the pandemic, which convinced growing numbers of parents that homeschooling worked better — all of these are prompting an exodus of parents and now teachers from public schools. … read full article
US - Christian school suing Biden administration for threatening to pull school lunches from low-income students
Grant Park Christian Academy said the Florida agriculture commissioner is threatening to pull school lunches from its low-income students over Biden's proposed Title IX changes
From Fox News
By Kelsey Koberg
August 8, 2022
A Christian grade school in Tampa, Florida is suing the Biden administration and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for threatening to pull school lunches for low-income students because of its religious affiliation, which does not agree with changes the administration made to Title IX.
All 56 students enrolled in Grant Park Christian Academy's elementary school this fall come from families below the federal poverty line; the school is applying for lunch funding for the 2022-2023 school year. According to a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the school, Fried is poised to reject its request for school lunch funding.
The Biden administration’s updated Title IX definitions included sexual orientation and gender identity in the definition of "sex," and adhering to such guidelines would violate Grant Park Christian Academy’s religious beliefs. … read full article
US - Democrats’ civics education bill is a scheme to federalize woke curricula
From Washington Examiner (USA)
By KATHY BARNETTE
August 8, 2022
Traveling around Pennsylvania during my U.S. Senate primary campaign, I talked to countless parents who, just like my husband and I, were outraged at the state of public education in our country. Instead of reading, writing, and arithmetic, our children are being taught the latest developments in “woke” studies. Critical race theory and gender ideology are just a couple of the radical dogmas being pushed on our children with devastating consequences.
A new coalition of parents, students, educators, and political leaders like myself are fighting this trend and demanding the restoration of integrity and accountability to our public education system. And while we have made a great deal of progress, one of the biggest threats to the parental rights movement today is the so-called “Civics Secures Democracy Act,” or CSDA, a $6 billion bill that would, in effect, federalize woke curricula and turn students into activists for left-wing causes. … read full article
US - MN school district policy bans teaching “divisive concepts”
From AP News (USA)
August 7, 2022
BECKER, Minn. (AP) — A central Minnesota school district is clashing with the teachers union and LGBTQ allies over a proposed policy that opponents say would undermine equity and inclusion.
The proposal by three Becker school board members prohibits “political indoctrination or the teaching of inherently divisive concepts,” in the district’s schools.
Policy opponents say the district is trying to stifle free speech, suppress LGBTQ students and advocates, and prohibit the accurate teaching of history and other subjects. And a few groups are threatening to sue the district if the policy is implemented, the Star Tribune reported. … read full article
US - Elections could shift ideology of Brevard County school board
3 or 5 seats on the board to be decided
From Click Orlando (USA)
By James Sparvero
August 8, 2022
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – One of the most tense Brevard County school board meetings in recent years, parents and family members demonstrated against the district’s transgender guidelines, which in 2021 read that all students were allowed to dress, access bathrooms and locker rooms and play sports consistent with their gender identity.
The district first passed a nondiscrimination policy in 2016 and in February, the board’s vote was split updating language the district says to be up to date with state and federal law.
“We had students displaying hate against their LGBTQ peers in the hallways of our schools,” board member Jennifer Jenkins said. … read full article
US - American flags OK, but LGBTQ pride flags? West Ada may pass ‘neutral’ classrooms policy
From Idaho Statesman (USA)
By BECCA SAVRANSKY
August 7, 2022
Teachers in the West Ada School District may soon have new rules on what they can display in their classrooms as the district seeks to create a “neutral” classroom environment.
The district’s school board is expected to discuss and could take action Monday on an update to the district’s policy on duties and responsibilities of certified staff.
The revision lists examples of items teachers can display in their classrooms — including the Idaho state flag and banners connected with curriculum, achievements or student work — but clarifies that the policy doesn’t limit teachers’ displays to what is on that list. It also said the district believes the American flag should be displayed in every classroom. … read full article
US - Trans activists shout down women's free speech event, police called
"The event organizers had secured a permit, but the park police were completely unprepared for what happened," Kara Dansky told The Post Millennial.
From The Post Millennial (USA)
By Christina Buttons
August 7, 2022
A women’s free speech event on Sunday was interrupted by activists intent on preventing women from advocating for their sex-based rights.
Organizers and attendees of "Speaker’s Corner" gathered at Independence Park in Philadelphia in front of the Liberty Bell. Part of the event that streamed live on a YouTube channel hosted by Amy Sousa captured an altercation that resulted in heavy police presence. … read full article
US - Gender transitions on children: A tale of two governors
From The Christian Post (USA)
By Claire Gatzke
August 8, 2022
If you did a case study of our political and cultural polarization and how radically different the Democratic and Republican parties are, look no further than each party’s poster boy — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Earlier this week, GOP darling DeSantis held a press conference where he boldly stated the dangers of transgender medicine — particularly on children. “They are actually giving very young girls double mastectomies, they want to castrate these young boys. That’s wrong,” DeSantis said, “both from the health and children well-being perspective, you don’t disfigure 10, 12, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria.” … read full article
US - DEBUNKED: Researcher demolishes the transgender affirm-or-suicide myth
"There is no good evidence that failing to 'affirm' minors in their 'gender identity' will increase the likelihood of them committing suicide," said Leor Sapir.
From The Post Millennial (USA)
By Christina Buttons
August 7, 2022
The activist narrative that enforces the idea that preventing children from accessing drugs, hormones, and surgeries to "affirm" their transgender identities will cause them to commit suicide has been debunked, according to a data analysis of suicide rates.
Leor Sapir, a Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and researcher with a PhD in Political Science, calls it a "moral panic." In a piece published in Reality’s Last Stand, a popular Substack by evolutionary biologist Colin Wright, Sapir breaks down the data about suicide rates in trans-identifying youth, showing that the hyperbolic rhetoric about suicide rates may actually do more to increase suicide than prevent it. … read full article
US - American Denial
"Nothing to see here" is a dangerous and anti-scientific position
From BROADVIEW with Lisa Selin Davis (USA)
By Lisa Selin Davis
August 8, 2022
Last week, the medical journal Pediatrics published a paper which asserted that the demographic shift in young trans patients seen in much of the Western world was…not a thing here. The study looked at data from 2017 to 2019, suggesting there was not an increase in trans identification among natal females (not that we actually know the sex of survey respondents), and concluded that social contagion was not causing rapid-onset gender dysphoria and “should not be used to argue against the provision of gender-affirming medical care.” (Oddly enough, it didn’t argue that desistance or detransition was increasing among boys in those years.)
Two important detailed critiques of the study’s methodology, by Jesse Singal and Leor Sapir, followed, but those weren’t the only ones. Even a group of gender-affirming practitioners who also deny the existence of ROGD or social contagion published a critique they titled: “Science and Public Health as a Tool for Social Justice Requires Methodological Rigor.” On Twitter, Nathan Williams unspooled a thread about the study’s flaws. (All these people are better at “what’s wrong with the methodology” than I am, so please read their critiques.) … read full article
This next article is part of our occasional coverage from the GC News Gaslight Chronicles.
Whatever your assessment of Glenn Greenwald, calling him “post-left” and describing him as “drifting to the right” simply indicates Higgins’s refusal to acknowledge that the Left has staked the family farm on the wrong side of history. - Ed.
US - What happened to Glenn Greenwald? The former trans ally now sides with right wing transphobia
Once a defender of trans rights and friend of Chelsea Manning, Greenwald has drifted toward the culture-war right
From Salon (USA)
By Eoin Higgins
August 8, 2022
In 2022, Pride month — June — gave way to an explosion of invective against LGBTQ rights, helped along by allies in right-wing media, particularly Fox News. But there's also rising anti-trans sentiment in the liberal-left sphere, and it's being driven by some elements of what might be called the "post-left," onetime champions of progressive outlooks who have now tilted to the right. Former Intercept writer (and Salon columnist) Glenn Greenwald is one of those leading the charge, turning his audience on to fringe elements of a growing hate movement.
It wasn't always like this. Greenwald was once a stalwart defender of trans rights — perhaps in connection with his advocacy for U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning and his friendship with since-assassinated Brazilian politician and activist Marielle Franco. "If you want to get a taste for how widespread warped & creepy hostility against trans people is, mention Chelsea Manning & survey the bile," Greenwald tweeted on Sept. 10, 2016. … read full article
US - 4-year-old announces ‘I’m a boy!’ in transgender gender reveal at parade
From New York Post (USA)
By Emily Lefroy
August 8, 2022
A 4-year-old child has captured hearts — and sparked a heated online debate — after announcing he was a boy via a rainbow-fueled gender reveal at the Vancouver Pride Parade.
Charlie Danger Lloyd of Canada was assigned female at birth — but from a young age expressed he was a boy, his mom said.
Now-viral footage and photos captured the moment young Charlie — with his grandmother by his side — released a confetti canon that filled the area with blue smoke. … read full article
UK - Why the Tavistock won’t talk to me
Ideology was more important than patient care
From UnHerd (UK)
By HADLEY FREEMAN
August 9, 2022
For my day job, I interview celebrities, and here’s what you do if you want to interview a celebrity: you call up their press officer and pitch the piece you have in mind. The press officer checks if you have ever written anything negative about that celebrity. If you have, you are firmly rejected, and usually given a telling off to boot. If you haven’t, you are granted an interview. This is because celebrity interviews are largely seen as a form of advertising: you are advertising the celebrity’s brand. (Although obviously, that is not how I do it. I write searing, incisive takes that will be studied by future generations. Pulitzer to the usual address, please.) … read full article
UK - Wickes sparks backlash over 'No LGB without the T' Pride poster as critics accuse DIY store of discriminating against gay customers
Wickes is facing a backlash over controversial trans rights poster at Pride
Activist Allison Bailey said the firm had encouraged 'unlawful discrimination'
LGB alliance accused Wickes of 'parroting catchphrases from lobby groups'
Supporters praised hardware giant for its inclusive motto on show in East Sussex
From Daily Mail (UK)
By TOM SCOTSON
August 8, 2022
DIY store Wickes is facing a backlash over a controversial float at Brighton Pride promoting trans rights.
The hardware company took part in the parade through the seaside resort with a float featuring a poster reading, 'no LGB without the T' at the weekend. … read full article
UK - Why Labour is losing women
A party that cannot define the word ‘woman’ does not deserve women’s votes.
From Spiked (UK)
By Jo Bartosch
August 8, 2022
After the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 victory just over a week ago, the cheering had hardly subsided before the game of political piggybacking was on. And for once, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was on the ball, swiftly tweeting in support of England’s women footballers: ‘The Lionesses, you have inspired a generation of women and girls. My daughter and her friends have strong, successful role models in sport because of you.’
But coming from a man who has struggled to even define what a woman is, this talk of inspirational females feels flaccid. Starmer leads a party that is committed to gender self-identification, which would abolish women’s single-sex spaces. … read full article
New Zealand - 'Woman Pumps while Man Feeds:' Breastfeeding e-cards Spark Backlash
Campaign by New Zealand charity features a “transgender papa”
From 4W (USA)
By Andreia Nobre
Aug 8, 2022
Women’s Health Action (WHA), a New Zealand breastfeeding charity, is being criticized by women’s rights campaigners for creating a series of e-cards with what was deemed as “racist” content. One of the cards seems to be showing a white man bottle-feeding a baby, while an indigenous woman, presumably Māori, is shown pumping breast milk.
According to WHA, the campaign “Step Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support,” created eight cards for World Breastfeeding Week in 2022, containing images of women in several stages of breastfeeding. … read full article
Germany - Germany succumbs to trans ideology
The country plans to allow gender self-ID at 14
From The Post by UnHerd (UK)
By Debbie Hayton
August 8, 2022
Germany’s plans to allow children as young as 14 to change their legal gender should ring alarm bells across Europe. The proposed self-identification reform abandons any need for medical evidence or assessment, while parental consent was only added during the drafting of the bill.
If biological sex is an important characteristic to record and protect — and I think it is — then children will be left vulnerable. Those drafting the bill might have convinced themselves that they were de-medicalising the process, but instead they are replacing fact with fantasy. … read full article