Monday, June 20, 2022
This day in Herstory: Nicole Mary Kidman AC, born June 20, 1967, is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has continuously remained one of the world's highest-paid actresses. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards. (more)
Teen Gender Transition and Suicide: A New Study Complicates the Debate
From National Review (USA)
By Ryan Mills
June 20, 2022
When a leading transgender-health organization revealed last week that it is now recommending young teens be allowed to begin cross-sex hormone therapy and gender-transition surgeries, its alleged reasoning was hard to argue with: to improve those kids’ psychological well-being and to reduce suicides. …
The problem: That scientific evidence is mostly bunk, according to Jay Greene, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation.
Greene — an advocate for slowing the rush toward irreversible medical treatments for children with gender dysphoria — says existing research on the topic of transgender treatments and their impacts on the mental health of teenagers is “so deficient as to be worthless.” ... read full article
A mob threatening women is not a ‘protest’ – and police in Bristol should have known that
The police's pious statement belies a totally inadequate response to events in Bristol
From CapX (UK)
By Ian Acheson
June 20, 2022
Back in the noughties, before Police and Crime Commissioners existed, I was the senior Home Office official in South West England holding Chief Constables to account on behalf of the Home Secretary.
My patch included Avon and Somerset, where I had many entertaining conversations with the then Chief Constable Colin Port about the vagaries of central government targets. Nonetheless, unlike his current successor, Colin understood the centrality of one of those targets – public confidence. ... read full article
There is no transgender debate
It has descended into a shouting match
From The Spectator (UK)
By Debbie Hayton
June 20, 2022
Anyone still talking about ‘two sides in the transgender debate’ needs to look at the footage from Bristol yesterday. Actually, there was no debate. What happened was one group of people (mainly men) intimidating a second group of people (mainly women). The video is terrifying.
If you couldn’t catch what was said through their masks, here is my transcript:
“Go, get in the sea. Die out. You’re dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. Fossils. You’re going to die out (x5). You are ancient history. You are fossils. You are dinosaurs. You have failed (x2). Your ideas have failed. Get in the sea. Get in the sea like Colston. Go home. Get in the sea. … read full article
Sharron Davies: ‘The trans debate is toxic. It’s made my life hell. But female athletes must speak up’
The former swimmer, still driven by the injustice of not winning 1980 Olympic gold, wants an uprising from athletes to ensure swimming’s transgender ban extends to all sports
From The Times (UK)
By Owen Slot
June 20, 2022
It is 42 years since Sharron Davies won a silver medal in the Moscow Olympic swimming pool, yet she is still driven by the injustice that she did not get the gold. She had the option thereafter of making peace with her past and putting it behind her, but has elected instead to raise her voice louder than ever. Even the death threats will not silence her.
This is where the transgender debate in sport has got to. Davies has campaigned vociferously for transgender women to be prevented from joining female competition. You might have thought on Sunday when Fina, swimming’s world governing body, banned transgender athletes from women’s elite events that her argument was won and her job was done. Far from it. … read full article
Violent Trans-Identified Male In Washington Women’s Prison Given Breast Implants
From REDUXX (USA)
By Anna Slatz
June 20, 2022
A trans-identified male inmate with a history of violence against women has been given ‘gender affirming’ breast implants while imprisoned in a women’s prison in Washington.
Nonnie Lotusflower, born Nathan Goninan, is currently serving a 10-year sentence for the brutal murder of 17-year-old Jessica Franklin.
Goninan murdered Franklin by strangulation just hours after being released from prison in 2007. Her body was found beneath an underpass in Bellingham, Washington, and a forensic examination revealed signs she had been sexually assaulted. Goninan was convicted on second-degree manslaughter charges. ... read full article
Parents blocked from viewing school sex education material which 'denies biological sex'
Sex education providers are "actively seeking" to block parents from viewing material being taught to their children which teaches children that "gender identity that should take priority over biological sex".
From LBC (UK)
By Megan Hinton
20 June 2022
Some providers are preventing access to teaching resources by citing commercial confidentiality, according to former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald of River Glaven.
To tackle this "obfuscation", the independent crossbencher is among a number of peers backing a proposed change to the law that will give parents a legal right to review curriculum materials. ... read full article
Is a school LGBT club a good idea?
Guest post from a teacher who now questions his decision to set up an LGBT club at his school.
From Transgender Trend
June 20, 2022
I am choosing to remain anonymous because I am still a teacher and don’t have the strength or energy to withstand the inevitable criticism that will be made about this article. I also do not want the school I worked in or the children I looked after to be identified for obvious reasons. I have decided to write this because I feel it incumbent on me to describe my own experiences as a teacher of gender dysphoric teenagers. …
Before I reflect on my experiences creating and running an LGBT club at school, I want first of all to say that most teachers are out of their depth in this area specifically, and mental health generally. The main concern for teachers is (and should be) teaching kids a particular subject, be it history, art or physics. Their job is not (and should not be) counselling them through mental health crises. However any good teacher will unavoidably find themselves dealing with a teenager who is struggling with their mental health. ... read full article
Respect, recognition, and social movements
From Writing behavior by Eliza Mondegreen (Canada)
By Eliza Mondegreen
June 20, 2022
Respect is rooted in recognition: recognition of what’s shared and recognition of differences, where these differences matter.
The women’s rights movement argues that women deserve full and equal participation in society, and that achieving this requires addressing the barriers that have held women back. For example, in developing countries where menstruation cuts millions of girls off from education, helping girls stay in school may mean helping girls manage their periods and combatting period stigma. ... read full article
How my Pussy Hat Led to Glenn Loury Publishing Me on His Substack
What a long, strange trip it's been
From Elizabeth Hummel (USA)
By Elizabeth Hummel
June 20, 2022
How did a liberal, feminist singer-songwriter from the “left coast” come to write a letter about gender ideology to Glenn Loury, conservative intellectual giant and host of The Glenn Show?
It all began with the pink pussy hat my sister knit for me to attend the first International Women’s March, the day after Donald Trump took office in 2017. I took my mother Betty to the March in Olympia. Mom wanted to join in the pussy hat fun, so she sewed a little hat out of a pink washcloth. … read full article
I took my teen to a gender clinic. This is what happened
From Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (USA)
June 20, 2022
Last November, the Washington Post published an opinion piece with the provocative title “The mental health establishment is failing trans kids.” In the piece, authors Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper and Dr. Erica Anderson note that “A study of 10 pediatric gender clinics [in Canada] found that half do not require psychological assessment before initiating puberty blockers or hormones.” This is exactly what happened to my family when my child (I’ll call her “Jane”) sought help in 2016.
I brought Jane to our family doctor when she was sixteen because I was concerned about depressive symptoms and changes in her behavior. Jane had told me she was beginning to realize she "liked it when people thought she was a boy,” and that she thought she would make a better boy than girl. ... read full article
Department for Work and Pensions abandons Stonewall diversity plan
From The Times (UK)
By Jo Bartosch
June 20, 2022
The Department for Work and Pensions has become the latest government department to withdraw from the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme.
Under the scheme, launched in 2001, public bodies and private companies pay subscription fees to the charity in return for support and advice on diversity.
However, the level of influence the charity had on shaping organisations’ internal policies sparked independence concerns. ... read full article
Transgender athletes: Lord Coe hints athletics could follow swimming in banning trans women - BBC Sport
World Athletics president Lord Coe has hinted the sport could follow swimming in banning transgender women from elite female competitions, insisting "fairness is non-negotiable".
From BBC (UK)
By Dan Roan
June 20, 2022
Swimming's world governing body Fina voted on Sunday to stop trans athletes from competing in women's elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty. …
But Lord Coe has now revealed that World Athletics is set to discuss adopting a new eligibility policy and welcomed Fina's move. …
"This is as it should be. We have always believed that biology trumps gender and we will continue to review our regulations in line with this. We will follow the science.
… read full article
Transgender athletes in elite women’s sport: Football and athletics likely to follow swimming’s ban
Nadine Dorries says the Fina ruling reflects the government’s policy
From The Times (UK)
By Matt Lawton and Martyn Ziegler
June 20, 2022
World Athletics is likely to follow swimming in imposing a ban on transgender athletes from elite women’s races, with its president, Lord Coe, stressing that “biology trumps gender” when it comes to fairness in competition.
Football’s world governing body, Fifa, is also considering following the international swimming federation Fina’s new policy, which states that anyone who has gone through male puberty cannot take part in female competitions regardless of whether they have transitioned to become a woman. … read full article
Stonewall ‘malicious’ in legal fight against Allison Bailey, tribunal hears
Barrister involved in employment tribunal with her chambers and leading LGBTQ+ charity
From The Guardian (UK)
By Harry Taylor
June 20, 2022
Stonewall has been “high-handed and malicious” in its ongoing legal fight against a gender critical barrister, her lawyer has told the final day of an employment tribunal.
The barrister Allison Bailey is suing her chambers, Garden Court, and the LGBTQ+ charity. She claims she was offered lower-quality work after she voiced her opposition to the nationwide Stonewall diversity champion scheme when it was announced at her chambers in December 2018. Stonewall’s programme provides advice and assessments for inclusive workplaces. ... read full article
NHS reinstates the word ‘women’ in its miscarriage advice online following backlash over passage referring to ‘people who know they are pregnant’
NHS guidance on miscarriages referred to pregnant 'people' instead of 'women'
Female activists reacted with fury, saying it 'excludes women from the narrative'
One said: 'I am sure there is a word for that, woo man... wom en, oh yes, woman!''
NHS Digital has amended one of the sentences on its webpage after backlash
From Daily Mail (UK)
By STEWART CARR
June 20, 2022
The NHS has reinstated the word 'women' in its latest guidance on miscarriages after it received a barrage of criticism for referring to 'people' who miscarry.
The overview guidance provoked fury online when it described 'people who know they are pregnant...' and ended with a note that miscarriage 'only affects about one in 100 people'.
Feminist activists argued that the plural wording 'excludes women from the narrative' of what can be a severely traumatic experience. ... read full article
There are no rules for “trans identifying” teens
To all the parents whose kids are graduating and feel their high school or college years were taken from your kids
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
June 20, 2022
My son started identifying as “trans” two and half years ago. For him, this opened up a new world. A world where he got everything his way and everything he thought he wanted—especially from educators. A world where his parents' suggestions or demands were trumped by affirming teachers and counselors. Why would he ever want to leave this cult?
In school he was the only one who did not have to abide by a dress code. When the dress code was formal attire for performances at school, he wore a sweatshirt with writing on it. He claimed no one cared. His parents cared. ... read full article