"A father in New York state is fighting for his child to be allowed to grow up. The child's mother, the medical industry, and the court are pressing for the 11-year-old to [take puberty-blockers]"
Thanks, as always for putting these newsletters together. I have been waiting for them every night this week, now that I've discovered your SubStack. That said, I'm finding the last few pretty demoralizing. It feels like the issue is intensifying and that the TRAs are pushing even harder to ram through their agenda. Add to that, the large number of mainstream people who still naively think that this is just about trans rights and being inclusive, and all I see is the ideology becoming more intrenched.
Does anybody else reading see the situation more optimistically? Perhaps someone who has been at this a little longer than my 5 months has seen a broader shift that is hard for me to see? I would like to have more hope that we will right this ship!
Thank you for the kind words. This is a labor of love (and I do mean labor 😉), so I really appreciate it when I hear from readers that it's of value. My two co-editors are also dedicated volunteers and love to hear that their efforts are valued!
Regarding the state of the battle (and, as bodies are being cut up and lives are being destroyed, I don't think that's too strong a word) - my personal assessment is that the TRAs are in disarray and struggling to maintain the momentum of their attack on social sanity. By the way, to be absolutely clear about this, the many trans-identified and gender-distressed individuals are NOT the enemy in this battle. They are the ones most critically wounded by the assault. The TRAs are doing the work of Big Pharma and the medical establishment and, although most of them sincerely believe in the righteousness of their cause, they march in the service of one of the most horrific offences of modern corporate capitalism. Some of those who are sincere in the claim that they seek justice may be open to persuasion and I hope they will soon start to see that the facts are not on their side.
Reality is an unyielding adversary. They will eventually wear themselves down to irrelevance if they continue punching its granite face.
The question is not whether they will prevail, but how long before their defeat is publicly acknowledged, and how many lives are destroyed in the interim.
Quite agree on the newsletters - looks to be quite a bit of effort, but most appreciated. Though it might be nice if there was some updated index to all of the stories .... (hint, hint, 😉)
But likewise agree on the discouraging, though there definitely seems a change in the wind, a turning of the tide. Maybe not all that evident if, as you suggest, you're a bit new to the issue. But, in case you missed them, a couple of stories that Lee had archived that points to something of a major upset of the transgender apple-cart:
Hi--I'm Elizabeth, also a GC News volunteer. What I have found, being in this fight for a few years, is that my optimism waxes and wanes. I certainly see more reason for hope because of the recent disasters chronicled in the press about WPATH, as well as Mermaids and Stonewall in the UK. When I first became aware of GC issues, it wasn't even in the US press. There are more and more great writers posing GC points in clearer and clearer ways, and more organizations like Genspect popping up and becoming powerful. Entertainers like Bill Maher and Dave Chappell have stepped up and taken a stand, just in the past few months. We aren't so alone. Even the legacy press has had tiny cracks, the tone is less completely captured in some cases. Lia Thomas peaked a lot of folks.
But you are right--the entrenchment continues apace, and the indoctrination in schools is just ramping up. Most people (especially on the left, but also in the middle) still don't really understand much and that can feel depressing. I mean, it IS depressing, to know that every single day kids are being harmed in the name of affirmation. We have thrown a few important bricks into the well-oiled machine, but there is much work to be done. As Lee says, we just don't really know how long this is going to take. But probably awhile, so we need to also celebrate the good news as it happens and take care of ourselves physically and emotionally as well.
Thanks, Lee, @steersman and Elizabeth for your responses and perspectives. I am feeling a little more anchored today both hearing from you and in writing to a friend who is getting into the GC fray.
What worries me most, I think, is that this generation of kids are "trans-natives" and don't have any other frame of reference. These ideas have taken root in them, and even if we are able to stand our ground, a second wave might arrive as these kids come into adulthood. The folks who snuck these ideas into schools early were making an investment that might yet pay off.
I do hope that when this thing dies, it dies so gloriously, that our collective immune system can fight it for the long term.
I have had similar thoughts about whether it would be worthwhile to contact insurance companies about this issue. However, would they be able to say that the Biden administration is mandating this: the "just following orders" excuse? Maybe the medical malpractice angle would work better than the medical insurance angle, as some lawsuits against doctors are, I think, already in the works.
Thanks, as always for putting these newsletters together. I have been waiting for them every night this week, now that I've discovered your SubStack. That said, I'm finding the last few pretty demoralizing. It feels like the issue is intensifying and that the TRAs are pushing even harder to ram through their agenda. Add to that, the large number of mainstream people who still naively think that this is just about trans rights and being inclusive, and all I see is the ideology becoming more intrenched.
Does anybody else reading see the situation more optimistically? Perhaps someone who has been at this a little longer than my 5 months has seen a broader shift that is hard for me to see? I would like to have more hope that we will right this ship!
Thank you for the kind words. This is a labor of love (and I do mean labor 😉), so I really appreciate it when I hear from readers that it's of value. My two co-editors are also dedicated volunteers and love to hear that their efforts are valued!
Regarding the state of the battle (and, as bodies are being cut up and lives are being destroyed, I don't think that's too strong a word) - my personal assessment is that the TRAs are in disarray and struggling to maintain the momentum of their attack on social sanity. By the way, to be absolutely clear about this, the many trans-identified and gender-distressed individuals are NOT the enemy in this battle. They are the ones most critically wounded by the assault. The TRAs are doing the work of Big Pharma and the medical establishment and, although most of them sincerely believe in the righteousness of their cause, they march in the service of one of the most horrific offences of modern corporate capitalism. Some of those who are sincere in the claim that they seek justice may be open to persuasion and I hope they will soon start to see that the facts are not on their side.
Reality is an unyielding adversary. They will eventually wear themselves down to irrelevance if they continue punching its granite face.
The question is not whether they will prevail, but how long before their defeat is publicly acknowledged, and how many lives are destroyed in the interim.
Quite agree on the newsletters - looks to be quite a bit of effort, but most appreciated. Though it might be nice if there was some updated index to all of the stories .... (hint, hint, 😉)
But likewise agree on the discouraging, though there definitely seems a change in the wind, a turning of the tide. Maybe not all that evident if, as you suggest, you're a bit new to the issue. But, in case you missed them, a couple of stories that Lee had archived that points to something of a major upset of the transgender apple-cart:
https://archive.ph/2022.07.30-172911/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-tavistock-scandal-shows-the-dangers-of-civil-service-groupthink-5bj2z26c7
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2022%2F07%2F28%2Ftavistock-transgender-clinic-shut-nhs-review-finds-not-safe%2F
Hi--I'm Elizabeth, also a GC News volunteer. What I have found, being in this fight for a few years, is that my optimism waxes and wanes. I certainly see more reason for hope because of the recent disasters chronicled in the press about WPATH, as well as Mermaids and Stonewall in the UK. When I first became aware of GC issues, it wasn't even in the US press. There are more and more great writers posing GC points in clearer and clearer ways, and more organizations like Genspect popping up and becoming powerful. Entertainers like Bill Maher and Dave Chappell have stepped up and taken a stand, just in the past few months. We aren't so alone. Even the legacy press has had tiny cracks, the tone is less completely captured in some cases. Lia Thomas peaked a lot of folks.
But you are right--the entrenchment continues apace, and the indoctrination in schools is just ramping up. Most people (especially on the left, but also in the middle) still don't really understand much and that can feel depressing. I mean, it IS depressing, to know that every single day kids are being harmed in the name of affirmation. We have thrown a few important bricks into the well-oiled machine, but there is much work to be done. As Lee says, we just don't really know how long this is going to take. But probably awhile, so we need to also celebrate the good news as it happens and take care of ourselves physically and emotionally as well.
Thanks, Lee, @steersman and Elizabeth for your responses and perspectives. I am feeling a little more anchored today both hearing from you and in writing to a friend who is getting into the GC fray.
What worries me most, I think, is that this generation of kids are "trans-natives" and don't have any other frame of reference. These ideas have taken root in them, and even if we are able to stand our ground, a second wave might arrive as these kids come into adulthood. The folks who snuck these ideas into schools early were making an investment that might yet pay off.
I do hope that when this thing dies, it dies so gloriously, that our collective immune system can fight it for the long term.
I have had similar thoughts about whether it would be worthwhile to contact insurance companies about this issue. However, would they be able to say that the Biden administration is mandating this: the "just following orders" excuse? Maybe the medical malpractice angle would work better than the medical insurance angle, as some lawsuits against doctors are, I think, already in the works.