Thursday, August 25, 2022
"Please do not let them erase these women. If you can’t relate, let me tell you something: she is you. You are her. You have no idea what tomorrow holds or if you’ll end up there one day."
This day in Herstory: Althea Neale Gibson, born August 25, 1927 (died September 28, 2003), was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments. Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived", said Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." In the early 1960s she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour. (more)
US - The Silencing of Any Woman in Prison Who Resists Being Locked Up with Men
By Elizabeth Hummel and Amy Ichikawa
August 25, 2022
Amie Ichikawa is the founder of Woman II Woman, a group of formerly incarcerated women speaking for the women still inside. Amie herself was incarcerated in the Central California Women's Facility state prison. This is Amie’s annotated tweet thread from 8/24/22. Annotations by GC News editor Elizabeth Hummel, who spoke with Amie more today.
In the first few threads, Amie refers to SB 132, a California state law that enables any convicted male prisoner to be housed in the women’s estate if he asserts a transgender, non-binary, or intersex identity. He is not required to have undergone genital surgery, or to have been on cross-sex hormones. He may apply for this right to be housed with women based on his assertion that he is in one of these categories. This is what Amie means by the “gender self-ID policy,” a policy that is being implemented in prisons throughout the world to the detriment of incarcerated women.
Amie: I have a friend I met when I lived in the honor dorm in prison. She’s a “model inmate”, no write ups, captain’s clerk kind of gal, a lifer. She was found suitable for parole recently. She also voiced concerns about the implementation of the gender self ID policy in a 602--the inmate appeals process that allows inmates to question policy when it adversely affects their welfare: A transfer under SB132 walked in on her in the restroom a few times-it bothered her.
The “transfer under SB 132” was a man who came from the men’s prison. Amie cannot say this frankly on Twitter without being kicked off for “misgendering” the individual. As many women would be, Amie’s friend was very uncomfortable with a man entering the restroom she was using, so she registered an appeal within the prison available to incarcerated women when their welfare is adversely affected. Amie’s friend is a model prisoner, which has given her the hard-won right to be housed in the “Honor Dorm.” When I asked Amie to tell me more about the Honor Dorm, she told me it is calmer, full of women trying to “run a good program” and go home. They do not get to stay there if they get any write-ups. They get to eat before other inmates and have other special privileges. When Amie herself lived in the Honor Dorm, there were trees and a garden. She told me, “It feels a lot less like prison.”
Amie: Her 602 stated that and was met with removal from the honor dorm after at least two decades of living there write-up free, to administrative segregation--the hole. She was released to another yard--with two write ups: harassment and falsifying a report. One was dropped. One stuck. There are four days left for her write up to be reheard or to be dropped. Four days for her parole suitability to be saved. Four days of living in the lowest level of purgatory knowing she cannot even use the proper avenues to voice a concern about her own physical safety and mental health.
Amie’s friend’s complaint resulted in this right to live in the honor dorm being rescinded. She was not only torn from her community of friends and a relatively peaceful existence, she was immediately punished.
“Administrative segregation,” or “the hole” as the women refer to it, is also solitary confinement. This recently happened to other women in the same facility when they complained about the trans-identified men bothering them. Sending women to the hole is supposedly done for the woman’s safety, but for the women who live in prison it is known to be a punishment. The women are removed from the only community they know—and all humans need community. It is a basic human right. The hole is extremely damaging to mental health.
A “yard” is another community with shared spaces, so after being in the hole, Amie’s friend did not go back to the Honor Dorm to be with her friends. A “write up” is serious because it goes on a woman’s permanent record. In this case, the write up means she may not be eligible for parole, after two decades of being a model prisoner. In four days (now three days) the chance for this write-up to be re-heard or dropped will be over. Amie clarified to me that the write-up for the “false report” was dropped, but the write-up for “harassment” remains. As Amie said to me, “Doesn’t make sense, because if the false report was dropped, then where was the harassment?”
Amie: This was the ultimate silencing tool. This was the death blow to what little hope these women were holding onto. No one will speak up now. I physically felt a huge hand over my mouth and another around my throat when I heard this happened. I have no ideas left and no more connections or favors to call in so I’m here on my knees begging anyone with a connection to the governor’s office to please message me. All it takes is a phone call to that office and for them to know someone cares about this woman.
Amie is saying that for the write-up to be dropped or reheard, she believes it will take intervention from the Governor’s office. She is asking for help from anyone who has a connection to the Governor to message her. If you think you have a way to help, please contact GC news and we will put you in touch with Amie. As a previously incarcerated woman who cares about these very real women, Amie must face her own trauma every single day and relive the degradation and ACTUAL marginalization these women feel when they cannot even voice concerns about their safety and mental health.
Amie: This situation is about more than this one woman’s chance at parole being removed.
What happens with Amie’s friend matters greatly. But in the larger picture, this draconian punishment of snatching away the chance of parole will effectively silence all the women who object to being housed with men. It would silence me. It would probably silence you.
Amie: Please do not let them erase these women. If you can’t relate, let me tell you something: she is you. You are her. You have no idea what tomorrow holds or if you’ll end up there one day. To allow this to happen is contributing to your own erasure. Please help me.
Yes. She is you. You are her.
US - Missouri School district labeled gender a ‘universe’ in training-program
Christopher Rufo previously exposed Springfield Public Schools' equity training program
From Fox News (USA)
By Cortney O'Brien
August 25, 2022
Education activist Christopher Rufo sounded off on a gender theory training program once offered by Missouri's Springfield Public Schools in a lengthy Twitter thread Wednesday.
The program, which Springfield Public Schools told Fox News Digital hasn't been offered in over two years, reportedly urged teachers to identify their racial and sexual "privilege," promoted identities like "pansexual" and "polyamorous," and warned that "misgendering a trans person is an act of violence." … read full article
US - Gender Theory in Schools – Two Things the TERFs Get Right (Plus Two Things They Get Wrong)
Another dispatch from our undercover teacher correspondent
From Year Zero (USA)
By Wesley Yang
August 25, 2022
The following field report on How Gender is Being Lived in American Schools today is written by someone whose identity I have confirmed, who teaches in a Blue enclave somewhere in America, and who is indeed by all appearances the very epitome of an SJW soyboy in his appearance, mannerism, dress, and manner of speech — who just so happens to have secretly gone TERF, largely on male feminist grounds. … read full article
US - Minnesota teachers could face 'racial consciousness' standard in new teaching license requirements
Minnesota teachers may be required to incorporate 'racial consciousness and reflection' into their teacher licensing
From Fox News (USA)
By Kelsey Koberg
August 25, 2022
Teachers in Minnesota may be facing new licensing requirements, with an emphasis placed on racial consciousness.
The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board is considering new rules for teacher licensing for the first time in two decades, replacing the ten existing "Standards of Effective Practice" with eight new ones, including one standard on "Racial consciousness and reflection." …
A subsection under "learning environments" says teachers should foster "an environment that ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into learning." … read full article
US - ‘LGB, Drop The T’ Trends On Twitter As Many In Gay Community Reject Transgender Ideology
"We didn't sign on for this."
From The Daily Wire (USA)
By Mairead Elordi
August 25, 2022
Some gay activists are saying pump the breaks on transgender ideology.
Earlier this month, the hashtag #LGBdroptheT trended on Twitter. Users who said they identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual criticized progressive gender ideology and attempted to distance themselves from transgender activists.
Those tweeting under the hashtag expressed their frustration that, in their view, the transgender movement has co-opted the gay rights movement and turned it into something unrecognizable. … read full article
US - Mother Removed From Support Group After Trans Male Complaint
From Reduxx (USA)
By KV Lennard
August 24, 2022
A Reddit post describing a mother being removed from a support group for offending a trans-identified male is sparking outrage amongst feminists on social media as many women ask why a male was in the support group to begin with.
On August 22, Reddit user thats-so-raven- made a post on the r/MTF subreddit describing having had a woman removed from a support group because she was “transphobic.” The user, who has since been suspended from Reddit, stated he had been a participant in a trans-friendly motherhood support group and had pushed the center to bar a woman from attending anymore for suggesting motherhood was a female-exclusive experience. … read full article
US - City Officials Lead Hate Campaign Against Women
From Port Townsend Free Press (USA)
By Ana Wolpin
August 25, 2022
Until a few short weeks ago, I’d never heard the slur “TERF”.
Until the story of Julie Jaman’s ban from the YMCA pool broke, I had no idea that so much trans-activist venom and vitriol had infected our community. Or that people we have invested with positions of power in local government were promoting hatred towards a large swath of our community in deference to an extremist agenda.
TERF stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists. Apparently, when 80-year-old Julie Jaman objected to a man with a penis who “identified” as a transgender woman roaming the YMCA pool locker room where Jaman was naked in the shower, she joined the ranks of TERFs. … read full article
US - Third Time's a Charm?
A fruitful (yet agonizing) conversation between a mom and her ROGD daughter
From felice j. killer (USA)
By felice
August 25, 2022
For all the talking (and writing) I do about gender ideology, Jamie* and I barely discuss it.
It’s tactical.
The first time we talked about her trans-masc identity back in January, we both left the house sobbing and devastated. … read full article
US - Boston Children’s Hospital’s transgender insanity reveals how unhinged elites make money off our kids
From New York Post (USA)
By Mary Harrington
August 24, 2022
Recent events at Boston Children’s Hospital reveal the yawning gulf between the values of ordinary American parents and the decadent beliefs of a venal and increasingly unhinged elite.
When activist “Billboard” Chris Elston broke the story of videos promoting “gender affirmation” for kids as young as 2 at the hospital, the outcry was immediate and immense. The progressive press has retaliated by calling this “right-wing harassment,” and of course any actual threats should be condemned. … read full article
US - ACLU Fought Chemical Castration of Sex Offenders, Supports Use of Same Drugs on Trans Kids
From Breitbart (USA)
By Spencer Lindquist
August 25, 2022
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which previously opposed the administration of a drug to chemically castrate sex offenders, is now advocating for children to be able to take the chemically castrating drugs as puberty blockers.
Just one year ago, the ACLU was previously a vocal opponent of a law in Alabama that mandated chemical castration on certain convicted sex offenders. … read full article
US - PA's Education Department's gender ideology glossary resembles university language guides
Pennsylvania Department of Education hosts a glossary of transgender ideology terms on its website.
The state DOEd website suggests education providers be aware of gender-neutral pronouns such as ‘ne, ve, ze/zie and xe.’
From Campus Reform (USA)
By Kate Anderson
August 25, 2022
Orienting itself to an ever-evolving trend in American higher education, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (DOEd) adopted a glossary on its website. Under the section “Gender/Gender Identity,” visitors of the site will find a list titled “Words You Should Know.”
The list includes phrases such as “Binary Gender”, “Genderqueer”, and “Gender Expression/Gender Presentation,” recommending that teachers incorporate these phrases into their daily vocabulary. … read full article
US - How the transgender social contagion took over this Alaska town
From Washington Examiner (USA)
By Kelsey Bolar
August 25, 2022
On a small, unassuming cul-de-sac in Alaska, the mother of two young daughters came face-to-face with the growing phenomenon of adolescent girls identifying as the opposite sex due to a social desire to appear transgender. Critics call the social contagion theory “unfounded” and “absurd.” But for Susie, whose name I’ve changed to protect her family’s privacy, she watched it unfold in her own neighborhood, inside her own home.
After returning to the United States in 2020 from a four-year assignment abroad, Susie’s family settled into a house on a street where two out of the eight girls identified as boys. At the local high school where their daughter would soon attend, at least another 10 girls identified as the opposite sex. Shortly after moving there, Susie’s oldest daughter, who had just turned 15 years old, also said she felt like a boy. … read full article
US - True Believer
I thought my 4 year old was transgender. I was wrong.
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
August 25, 2022
I was a true believer.
I was a social justice organizer and facilitator before social justice overtook the world. I was on the forefront, introducing the concept of intersectionality to progressive organizations, and having people share their pronouns. My friends and I felt we were the cool kids, the vanguard of revolutionary work to change the world, to achieve what people in the social justice movement call "collective liberation." I was deeply committed to the work of creating another world that was possible. … read full article
UK - Edinburgh Fringe audience ‘harassed by venue employee’ in trans row
From The Times (UK)
By Mike Wade
August 25, 2022
Staff at a leading Fringe venue have been accused of harassment after a male worker challenged women attending a comedy show which he believed to be “transphobic”.
The Gilded Balloon employee is said to have tried to dissuade women with “Terf vibes”, an insult meaning trans exclusionary radical feminist, from attending a performance by an expert physiotherapist, whose stage routine focuses firmly on the female anatomy. … read full article
UK - What women coppers conceal
Britain's police forces still drip with misogyny
From UnHerd (UK)
By Julie Bindel
August 25, 2022
If a woman wanted to become a police officer in the Seventies, she joined the Women’s Police Department. Run separately from the mainstream service, its main purpose was to deal with “women’s issues” such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Female officers were considered suitable for consoling a woman who’d just had her handbag stolen, or making tea for rape complainants, but expected to stay well clear if a door needed bashing in or there were serious criminals to arrest. At one stage Jackie Malton, who joined up in Leicestershire in 1970, was put in charge of a spate of pram thefts. … read full article
UK - Let women swim!
Single sex swimming is essential for many
From The Critic (UK)
By Helen Saxby
August 25, 2022
Recently, I saw an old friend after several years. While catching up on all our news, she told me a story which involved an experience she had had at her local swimming pool in Leicester. Sylvia (not her real name) had been swimming regularly at her local pool since she was in her thirties. In her fifties, after breast cancer left her with a mastectomy, she was less keen to be in a public swimming environment. As she explained to me, although mastectomies are remarkably common, they are not actually seen very often, and so they provoke more interest than is comfortable, especially from children. The general public swim became impossible for her, but an answer lay in the weekly hour-long women-only swimming session, which she began to attend regularly. … read full article
UK - NHS Confederation draw up 'trans ally' guide to encourage hospital trusts to adopt 'inclusive' language... and woke strategy could cost public £20,000
NHS lobby group is seeking a research partner for a £20,000 on 'trans allyship'
It will be for senior NHS leaders and include a segment on 'inclusive language'
Also asks for a battle-plan for the the NHS should deal with anti-trans groups
Critics of 'woke' NHS policies fear it could silence those trying to protect women
From Daily Mail (UK)
By JOHN ELY
August 2022
NHS leaders are drawing up a trans guide for hospitals that will include how to fight 'anti-trans' groups and use 'inclusive language'.
NHS Confederation — a charity representing health service bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — is advertising a £20,000 contract to create a practical guide to being a 'trans and non-binary ally'. … read full article
UK - Graphic leaflet on compulsory sex lessons in Wales 'spreading panic and alarm'
Some parents are threatening to withdraw their children from school but the Welsh Government has accused the campaigners behind it of circulating 'misinformation'
From North Wales Live (UK)
August 25, 2022
A sex education leaflet being circulated among parents is causing widespread panic and alarm as their children prepare for the start of a new school year. The Welsh Government has moved to quash the leaflet’s “misinformation”, saying it risks causing “real damage” to youngsters’ education.
The leaflet, by campaign group Public Child Protection Wales (PCPW), claims the country’s new Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) curriculum could introduce young children to “self-stimulation, masturbation, bondage and anal sex”. Its allegations are also accompanied by suggestive images on the leaflet. … read full article
UK - Marks and Spencer confirm changing spaces are 'gender neutral' dividing opinion
Marks and Spencer reminded people about its rule to allow "customers to choose their fitting room", which has been in place for the past three years, prompting calls to "boycott" the shop from some while others praised the "inclusive" message
From Mirror (UK)
By Charlie Jones
August 25, 2022
M&S have confirmed their changing spaces are 'gender neutral' sparking a furore including messages of support and even talk of a boycott.
A spokesperson for the nationwide retailer has said that "as an inclusive retailer" when shopping for clothes, customers can choose the fitting room right for them.
… read full article
Scotland - M&S in single-sex gender changing rooms row as Scots mum says she won't be back
Scots have left furious after a mother stormed out of the supermarket when her 10-year-old daughter went to try a new school skirt on to be left stunned that there were no single-sex changing rooms.
From Scottish Daily Express (Scotland)
By Tasha Hall
August 25, 2022
Supermarket giant Marks and Spencer has found itself at the centre of the ongoing trans debate after members of the public lashed out at their 'other' changing rooms.
A Scots mum took to Twitter to vent her anger when she had taken her 10-year-old daughter to one of the retail outlets in Braehead, near Glasgow, to be left shocked that they do not offer single-sex changing rooms and that all were unisex. … read full article
Australia - Classrooms: an ideological battleground
From Spectator | Australia
By Sarah Mclellan
August 26, 2022
The effects of leftist ideology that has infiltrated classrooms is damaging and should be of concern to every parent.
Much has been written about the flaws of the new National Curriculum set to be rolled out next year and the radical teachings of left-wing primary and secondary educators, but little do we hear of the realities experienced by parents who are now grappling with this monumental battle. … read full article
Thank you. Thank you for genuinely caring about my friends, about my people. This woman was taken to administrative segregation the same time Tomiekia and Sagal were removed. Everything is connected.