Sunday, September 18, 2022
"Puberty-related hormones have wide ranging effects on brain structure, function, and connectivity. ... Hormonal suppression of puberty may permanently alter neurodevelopment."
This day in Herstory: María de la Cruz Toledo, born September 18, 1912 (died September 1, 1995), was a Chilean political activist for Women's suffrage, a journalist, a writer, and a political commentator. In 1953, she became the first woman ever elected to the Chilean Senate. (more)
US - Puberty blockers for gender dysphoric youth: A lack of sound science
From Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (USA)
By Sarah C. J. Jorgensen Pharm.D., MPH,Patrick K. Hunter M.D., M.Sc. Bioethics,Lori Regenstreif M.D., M.Sc.,Joanne Sinai M.D., M.Ed.,William J. Malone M.D.
September 15, 2022
Dear Editor,
The medical transition of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria remains highly debated and there is significant divergence in policy internationally. …
GnRH-analogs have been used for decades to successfully delay the early onset of puberty in children with precocious puberty.9 While generally considered safe for this indication, recent concern about impacts on polycystic ovarian disease, metabolic syndrome, and future bone density, have been raised.10 Even less is known about the use of GnRH-analogs to halt normally timed puberty in youth with gender dysphoria; no long-term, longitudinal studies of GnRH-analogs for this indication exist.
Puberty-related hormones have wide ranging effects on brain structure, function, and connectivity.11 Concerns have been raised that hormonal suppression of puberty may permanently alter neurodevelopment.2, 11-13 The possible impact of puberty blockade on a young person's cognition has important implications for the decision to initiate exogenous cross-sex hormones and the capacity to give informed consent.14 Moreover, it has been suggested that pubertal suppression may alter the course of gender identity development, essentially “locking in” a gender identity that may have reconciled with biological sex during the natural course of puberty.13 Over 95% of youth treated with GnRH-analogs go on to receive cross-sex hormones.15 By contrast, 61-98% of those managed with psychological support alone reconcile their gender identity with their biological sex during puberty.16-18 … read full letter
US - Florida considers banning medicalized gender transitions for children
The proposed petition would prohibit minors from receiving sex-reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking hormone treatments, and would also require that older patients sign a consent form and wait 24 hours before starting such treatments.
From The Post Millennial (Canada)
By Olivia Rondeau
September 18, 2022
A joint committee of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine is set to meet on September 30 to discuss a draft rule that would restrict doctors from performing medical gender transition procedures such as mastectomies, hysterectomies, penile inversions, and hormone therapy on children.
A notice published on Sept. 7 in the Florida Administrative Register said the joint committee "will conduct a rule workshop and meeting to receive and consider presentations from subject matter experts and comments from the public, and to discuss and develop draft rule language related to practice standards for the treatment of gender dysphoria."… read full article
Ed. Note: GC News included a template for submitting your written comment on the proposed legislation yesterday, (Saturday, September 17, 2022). Please note that the deadline for comments is SEPTEMBER 20.
US - Open letter to the Florida Board of Medicine
From you must be some kind of therapist (USA)
By Stephanie Winn LMFT
September 18, 2022
I am writing in regards to the proposed regulations on “gender-affirming” care currently under review in Florida. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Portland, Oregon. Over the past ten years, I have seen numerous people concerned with and affected by gender.
As a mental health professional, doing my job well requires adequate familiarity with how social norms, cultural trends, and popular narratives about issues of public concern, all intersect with the mental health issues that present in my office. It is also my job to “first do no harm,” and help mitigate loss of life to suicide, addiction, and other preventable tragedies.
A few years ago, I started to become increasingly concerned with the mental and behavioral health patterns I was witnessing in people who pursued “gender-affirming” medical care. I began intensively studying the issue of gender in conjunction with numerous important related factors, among them: suicide risk and self-harm; developmental psychology, especially in adolescence; autism, complex trauma, attachment, personality disorders, … read full article
US - Trans Authority Cites Pedophilic Forum, Reduces Age Restrictions for ‘Puberty Blockers’ and Genital Surgeries
From Reduxx (Canada)
By Genevieve Gluck
September 18, 2022
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has released a finalized version of their updated Standards of Care guidelines (SOC8). Among the recommendations include reducing the age at which children can receive “puberty-blocking” drugs and cross-sex hormones to 9 years old. Age restrictions on surgical interventions have also been relaxed.
In a change from previous protocols, no specific minimum age is recommended as a cut-off point.
WPATH had previously issued specific guidance on age. Hormone treatments were recommended from 14 years old and up, cosmetic mastectomies at 15+, breast augmentation and “facial feminization surgeries” at 16+, and 17+ for surgeries of the reproductive system, like hysterectomies. They had also recommended an age of 18+ for phalloplasties, the surgical creation of a non-functioning penis. … read full article
US - Glenn Youngkin stands up for parental rights and reverses trans ideology in Virginia schools
Democrats passed a law forcing schools to comply with the "Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools." Now, the law itself still remains in effect, but the policies it refers to have been replaced to support parental rights over gender ideology.
From The Post Millennial (Canada)
By Olivia Rondeau
September 18, 2022
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday reversed Virginia's school policies on gender put in place under the previous Democratic administration, which allowed children's gender transitions to be hidden from parents, for students to be placed in sex-segregated environments based on their gender identities instead of biology, and called for the end of "gender-based practices."
In 2020 when Democrats took control of the state legislature, they passed a law requiring that school districts adopt policies consistent with a state document called "Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools." Now, the law itself still remains in effect, but the policies it refers to have been replaced to support parental rights over gender ideology. … read full article
US - Linn-Mar’s gender policy remains in force. Parents remain concerned
The policy passed for the benefit of some could come at a cost for others
From The Gazette (USA)
By Althea Cole
September 18, 2022
I can’t say I didn’t see it coming when a federal judge denied a request by a group called Parents Defending Education to temporarily enjoin the Linn-Mar Community School District from enforcing its new policy related to gender identity last Tuesday. The writing was on the wall almost a week prior, when Judge CJ Williams expressed doubt that the plaintiff had successfully demonstrated “evidence of actual injury.” I also can’t say that the judge made the wrong decision in declining to block the policy from taking effect until the lawsuit to nullify it altogether is decided.
This might seem like a tremendous departure from my position when I first wrote about Linn-Mar’s new policy, titled “Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes,” back in May. It isn’t. I continue to assert as I did four months ago that the policy passed for the benefit of a very small minority of students could easily come at a grave cost for others. … read full article
US - Child Welfare Is Becoming a Joke
The field is mired in risible theory and impenetrable jargon, and increasingly divorced from concern with the welfare of children.
From Quillette (Australia)
By Naomi Schaefer Riley
September 16, 2022
Earlier this week, a Brooklyn mother named Erin Merdy allegedly drowned her three children—Zachary (seven), Lillyana (four), and Oliver (three months)—in the water near Coney Island. Merdy, who had apparently been suffering from mental illness and possibly postpartum depression, had been reported to authorities on multiple occasions. Not only was she the subject of two neglect allegations made to New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services, but the father of her oldest child also says he reported her to child protective services. His son told him he wasn’t being fed and that he was forced to urinate and defecate in a bowl while he lived with his mother in a homeless shelter. Too little is known about the investigations into these allegations, but it seems increasingly clear that warning signs were missed. …
Finding, training, and supporting qualified individuals to do this important work has become all but impossible. … read full article
US - Omaha Archdiocese's gender policies reflected popes' statements; that's the problem, advocate says
From Omaha World-Herald (USA)
By Joe Dejka
September 18, 2022
The Archdiocese of Omaha is not alone in attempting to tackle the gender identity issue in its schools, or in getting blowback for it.
Other bishops across the country — in Springfield, Illinois; Arlington, Virginia; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and in the state of Minnesota, to name a few — have penned similar policies anchored in church teaching to guide their schools and parishes. … read full article
US - Big Pharma, Big Tech, and Synthetic Sex Identities
(Speech given at Hillsdale College July 2022)
From Jennifer’s Newsletter
By Jennifer Bilek
September 18, 2022
Hi everyone, thank you for being here, and special thanks to Douglas Jeffrey and Matt Bell for inviting me to Hillsdale College to speak.
I hope to clarify what’s happening in the name of transgenderism — why it’s happening and who’s profiting from it.
I began researching this issue because of my alarm at the censorship experienced by those trying to critique it. That was nearly a decade ago. What has emerged for me is a clear indication that we’re being manipulated and groomed to accept radical changes to human evolution engineered by those at the highest echelons of society invested in the biotech, pharmaceutical, technological, and financial industries. … read full article
US - It’s Time to Roll Back Campus DEI Bureaucracies
From National Review (USA)
By Jay P. Greene & Frederick M. Hess
September 18, 2022
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are admirable things. We’re quite fond of diversity and inclusion, in principle, and equity sounds a lot like equality, which we rather like. Unfortunately, in higher education, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” has taken on an Orwellian aspect — becoming a tool of “groupthink, censorship, and exclusion.” At too many colleges and universities, DEI administrative units now pose a profound threat to free inquiry and academic integrity.
More than a few reputable observers have suggested that we’ve reached “peak woke” and that the stifling threat to free thought is no longer ascendant. But the status quo is not acceptable. Unless the DEI infrastructure is rolled back, it will continue to quietly distort higher education. … read full article
US - Superintendent election a 'battle' for future of Oklahoma public education
From The Oklahoman (USA)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
September 18, 2022
One of the most closely watched races of the 2022 election cycle, the campaign for state schools superintendent, has bucked its usual down-ballot status and seized widespread public interest, with many billing it a high-stakes contest for the future of Oklahoma public education.
The Nov. 8 general election features a governor-backed Republican candidate with polarizing rhetoric and the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year running as a political newcomer on the Democratic ticket, who emerged with a narrow lead in a recent poll.
Democrat Jena Nelson and a cadre of supporters say the future of public schools is on the line in November, as the Oklahoma City English teacher faces GOP nominee Ryan Walters, who proposed rejecting federal education funding, using state dollars to send more children to private schools, and punishing teachers and districts over perceived liberal indoctrination. … read full article
UK - JK Rowling condemns masked pro trans mob after violent clashes in Brighton at 'Let Women Speak' event: Two people are arrested as activists throw smoke bombs and hurl abuse during demo by women's right's campaigners
Kellie-Jay Keen, founder of Standing For Women, was due to give talk in Brighton
She has frequently attracted ire of pro-trans activists over gender rights views
Her talk today was disrupted by protesters from Reclaim Pride Brighton group
JK Rowling slammed group for 'throwing smoke bombs and howling abuse'
From Daily Mail (UK)
By JAMIE PHILLIPS
September 18, 2022
JK Rowling has slammed pro-trans protesters for 'throwing smoke bombs' and 'howling abuse at lesbians' after police arrested two people over clashes at a 'Let Women Speak' event.
Kellie-Jay Keen, who founded women's rights group Standing For Women, was due to give a talk in Brighton today as part of her countrywide speaking tour.
Ms Keen, also known as Posie Parker, has frequently attracted the ire of pro-trans activists over her views on gender rights. … read full article
UK - Updated: Person arrested under suspicion of sexual assault in Brighton amid protests
From Sussex News (UK)
September 18, 2022
This afternoon the controversial speaker Posie Parker, visited Brighton and was met with a large counter protest. Sussex Police have said: “A woman and two men were arrested; one on suspicion of assault, one on suspicion of obstructing a police officer and one on suspicion of sexual assault by touching.” … see photos and video of event
UK - The need to defend childhood
Some things don’t need deconstructing
From The Critic (UK)
By Jake Scott
September 18, 2022
An increasingly stark dividing line in the culture wars between conservatives and progressives lies over the treatment of children. Specifically, the extent to which children ought to be exposed to otherwise “adult” topics of conversation, most notably of sex and sexuality.
Last year, during the Birmingham Pride Parade, I saw parents taking photographs of their children standing besides the innocuously flamboyant — men in fishnet shirts — and the downright disgusting — men in gimp suits, not to mention the increasingly common furries. The old argument of consenting adults being able to do what they like behind closed doors appears to have been blown apart, to the extent that not one part of the argument remains: the doors are no longer closed, the people involved are no longer adults only — and what of consent? … read full article
UK - The music industry is out-of-step on trans ideology
Two more musicians find themselves silenced for speaking out
From The Spectator (UK)
By Winston Marshall
September 18, 2022
If you want a glimpse of progressive authoritarianism, look no further than the music industry. Two musicians, in successive weeks, have spoken out against the excesses of trans ideology.
First of all Christian Henson, co-founder of Spitfire Audio, Britain’s leading sound library studio and software audio creator. Henson had the audacity to voice his concerns of what damage the trans ideology is doing to children. He tweeted: ‘As a parent I can no longer keep my mouth shut about this. I’m in full support of [Graham Linehan] and [J.K. Rowling]. Please look into this. If you have young children its in the post if you have autistic children its probably already on your doormat [sic].’
Henson’s support of women’s rights activists Linehan and Rowling, both of whom have been ostracised from the creative industries for their gender-critical opinions, was soon followed by a bluenose statement from Spitfire CEO Will Evans. … read full article
Scotland - Latest madcap SNP gender crackdown blasted as nurseries told to stop kids wearing superhero and princess costumes
Scottish Government quango the Care Inspectorate has released guidance for nurseries which includes avoiding using the 'boys and girls' greeting.
From Scottish Daily Express (Scotland)
By David Walker
September 18, 2022
New SNP plans to stop nursery children from wearing gendered costumes like superhero and princess ones have been slated by campaigners.
Scotland's Care Inspectorate, which is a Scottish Government quango, is reportedly asking nurseries to bring an end to kids dressing up like Batman or a Disney Princess.
There are also plans for teachers to stop greeting children as "boys and girls" as part of a drive to make the premises more gender friendly. … read full article
Iran - Protesting women take off hijabs after 22-year-old arrested for dress code violation dies
Viral social media videos showed women protestors removing their hijabs, a punishable crime in Iran, and chanting 'Death to Dictator' during the protests in Amini's hometown Saghez.
From The Indian Express (India)
By Express Web Desk
September 18, 2022
Several women hit the streets in Western Iran Saturday and took off their hijabs as a mark of protest over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who was reportedly arrested and beaten up by the country’s police for not properly following hijab regulations.
Viral social media videos showed women protesters removing their hijabs, a punishable crime in Iran, and chanting ‘Death to Dictator’ during the protests in Amini’s hometown Saghez.
viva la resistance