Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell PC CC OBC QC, born March 10, 1947, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the final Progressive Conservative prime minister, she was also the first woman to serve as Minister of Justice in Canadian history and the first woman to become Minister of Defence in a NATO member state. (more)
Transgender rights row breaks out in Commons as Tory MP states 'a woman is an adult female'
From GBNews (UK)
By Jamie Micklethwaite
March 10, 2022
A row over transgender rights emerged in the Commons after a Tory MP called for legislators to be “clear and courageous about what a man is and what a woman is”.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, one of the few male MPs present in the chamber for the annual International Women’s Day debate, said the rights of women in women-only safe spaces, such as public toilets, women’s hospital wards and women’s prisons are “threatened”.
He claimed violence against women is nearly always committed by men but stressed “there is a new and growing category of violence against women by people who calls themselves women but are biologically male”.
Sir Bernard also insisted “we, as legislators must be clear and courageous about what a man is and what a woman is”, before criticising Labour shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds for being “unable or unwilling” to give a clear answer when asked to define a woman on BBC’s radio programme Woman’s Hour.
Ms Dodds, sitting on the Labour front bench, asked him to “provide evidence” for his statement, as she argued it is “quite easy” for her to define what a woman is, given she is one. … read full article
Nicola Sturgeon’s Potemkin parliament
From The Spectator (UK)
By Stephen Daisley
March 10, 2022
Is the word of a Scottish government minister worth anything? The question arises in the wake of the SNP’s Hate Crime Act which, among much else, creates the offence of ‘stirring up hatred’ against ‘transgender identity’. Feminist groups warned early on that the Bill’s language could see people who don't believe that men can become women (or vice versa) prosecuted for what had hitherto been treated in law as legitimate expression.
Prominent among these groups was MurrayBlackburnMackenzie (MBM), a policy analysis outfit whose principals boast extensive scholarship and years of experience inside the civil service. One of MBM’s principals, Lucy Hunter Blackburn, gave evidence to the Holyrood justice committee in February 2021 citing the ‘numerous ways in which, and examples of where, accusations of hate and abuse have been directed at women taking part in the debates around sex and gender identity’.
On the same day and before the same committee, the then Scottish government justice secretary Humza Yousaf said he was ‘making an offer to those who would like to see more specific detail in the bill’ that he would ‘continue to engage with stakeholders and members of the committee’. Yousaf proposed ‘that I engage with stakeholders to see where we might be able to give them some reassurance in the explanatory notes that sit alongside the bill’. He even dangled the possibility that ‘we might need to insert some more specific examples – perhaps some of the examples that Lucy Hunter Blackburn mentions about the belief of some people that sex is immutable and that people cannot transition from male to female and vice versa’.
… read full article
Cass Review Interim Report published
From Transgender Trend (UK)
By Transgender Trend
March 10, 2022
The Cass Review, led by Hilary Cass OBE, has published its Interim Report today. The report vindicates many of the points we have been making over the past six years regarding the right of children with gender-related distress to receive the same level of clinical care as any other child, especially in light of the poor evidence base and the changed cohort of young people accessing these services.
We welcome the recognition that today’s cohort of young people accessing NHS gender services is very different to those in the past, previous data cannot be used for the current adolescent group of girls, neurodiverse children and looked after children and we cannot predict outcomes of treatment. We agree that there needs to be a fundamentally different service model and a standardised approach in line with other paediatric services, which should be provided by regional hubs and local CAMHS services.
We agree that the current waiting list for GIDS is unacceptable and that children should receive specialist care from local services, including support for any other clinical conditions a child may present with.
We note the several references to clinicians’ concerns about the pressure to adopt an unquestioning ‘gender affirmative’ approach which is at odds with their professional training, and we welcome the recommendation for holistic care and developmentally-informed assessments. We agree that clinicians should remain open and explore the individual child’s experience and the range of support and treatment options available to them, and that specialised training needs to be developed to supplement paediatric professionals’ existing expertise. We agree that it is essential that these children receive the same level of psychological and social support as any other child or young person in distress, and that the same ethical, professional and scientific standards have to be applied as to any other clinical condition. … read full article
The full report can be downloaded here.
Article by Hilary Cass in the BMJ can be viewed here.
The Arc of Detransition
From Genspect (UK)
By Stella O'Malley
March 10, 2022
Even though it is probably the most important aspect of the new trans phenomenon, little is known about the process people go through on the way to detransition. By listening to detransitioners, we learn about the mistakes that were made; the opportunities lost; the sliding-door-decisions that were chosen. Through my practice as a psychotherapist who works with detransitioners, I’ve noticed that, although the experience can be vastly different, there can be a common path to detransition. As Angus Fox says, it doesn’t repeat but it always rhymes.
Each stage of this process can last weeks, months or years, and we don’t know how many people stay stuck at any stage. However, it can be helpful to see the arc of detransition outlined within a framework. We hope that this arc will provide a way forward for anyone who is lost in transition; along with the forthcoming webinar on Saturday March 12th at 8pm, this may well give heart to anyone who is in the midst of distress and can’t quite see a way out. Detransition might be heart-wrenching, harrowing and horrible, but it also offers a new way of being, and a way to emerge from the chrysalis as a more focused and authentic person, bloodied but unbowed, and determined never to feel so fragile again.
Stage 1: Distress
You turn to the internet for distraction from the pain; you ask some questions and you find some company. It relieves your pain to find other strung-out souls who feel as weird as you do, and are seeking companionship.
The first stage of the process involves the person being vulnerable in some manner, and wishing to transition as a way to relieve their mental pain. The level of distress the individual is feeling can vary. Many detransitioners report that they felt lost, lonely, mixed up and isolated. Indeed, a therapeutic understanding of all mental health challenges can be framed within the very basic survival instinct to avoid pain and pursue pleasure. The alcoholic is motivated to avoid immediate mental pain by having a couple of drinks to take the edge off their stressed mind; the anorexic avoids pain by losing some weight and feeling a short-term charge of satisfaction that they are in control of things. Similarly, the gender-dysphoric individual wishes to escape by becoming a different person, and feels a heady charge of satisfaction every time they believe they are making in-roads in this endeavour. … read full article
Trans Serial Killer Arrested in New York City After Woman's Body Parts Found
From REDUXX (USA)
By REDUXX Team
March 10, 2022
A serial killer has been apprehended in New York City in connection to a grisly murder in which a woman's body parts were dumped across a Brooklyn neighborhood.
Harvey Marcelin, a biological male who identifies as a woman, was arrested late last week on a charge of concealing a body, and could soon face additional charges after he was caught on CCTV disposing of a body near his apartment.
The victim has been identified as 68-year-old Susan Leyden, who apparently knew Marcelin and had last been seen alive entering his apartment in Cypress Hills on February 27.
Leyden's body was found in pieces scattered across the neighborhood, with parts being found on two separate days. Her leg was found on March 7, poking out of a discarded tire, and her headless torso was found in a shopping cart blocks away on March 9, along with a number of electric saws.
Marcelin, 83, was arrested after witnesses reported seeing him leaving his apartment with Leyden's floral shopping bag and CCTV footage was reviewed confirming Leyden had never left the apartment building, but he was already well-known to police.
Leyden's murder is the third Marcelin has been arrested in connection to, having being previously convicted in the deaths of two other women. … read full article (and SUPPORT REDUXX!)
Racist Anti-Semitic Child-Porn-Advocate and Sexual Harasser Tells Beloved Children's Author JK Rowling to "Shut the Fuck Up"
The streamer known as Vaush has a history of sexually harassing women, advocating for lowering the age of consent, spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric, defending child porn and calling blacks subhuman.
From Telling On Myself
By Mandy Stadtmiller
March 10, 2022
Lately JK Rowling has been on fire on Twitter defending the sex-based rights of women. In response, one streamer told her that she needed to shut the fuck up to which she took him down handily.
But who in the hell is this nightmare person known as Vaush?
And who on earth would talk to any woman like this—let alone one who is standing up for women’s dignity and rights to have safe spaces in prisons, sports, changing rooms, hospitals and support groups free from men who spout the most disgusting rhetoric imaginable?
Vaush. That’s who. This guy is the poster child for who is attacking women and advocating for their boundary destruction. … read full article (and SUBSCRIBE to Telling On Myself!)
NASA's latest giant leap: Preferred pronouns for employees
From The Washington Examiner (USA)
by Greg Wilson
March 10, 2022
NASA has taken yet another giant leap for personkind.
The space agency announced that it has completed an IT project at its Goddard Space Flight Center in which it allowed 125 of the employees tested to have the option of including their gender pronouns in NASA’s email display fields. Soon, all NASA employees will be able to "show allyship to the LGBTQIA+ community" by including their preferred pronouns in their agency emails.
"NASA is fully committed to supporting every employee's right to be addressed by their correct name and pronouns," NASA Associate Administrator for Diversity and Equal Opportunity Steve Shih said. "All NASA employees currently have the option and flexibility to include their gender pronouns in their customized email signature blocks."
We're committed to supporting the right of every employee at NASA to be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns.
Click here to read a statement from our Office of Diversity & Equal Opportunity in regards to a recent gender pronouns IT project: https://t.co/Z8Q1H0WIND pic.twitter.com/MlHDJWCrhL— NASA (@NASA) March 10, 2022
The 18,000-worker agency has an annual budget of over $23 billion, but it has been criticized for a lack of historic breakthroughs and dependence on Russia to get to and from the International Space Station. The new emphasis on social science drew mockery from the Twitterverse. … read full article
Doctors treating gender dysphoria feel ‘pressured to adopt unquestioning approach’
Medics feel unable to query young patients’ choices, even when this is at odds with their clinical assessment and diagnosis
From The Telegraph (UK)
By Gabriella Swerling
March 10, 2022
Doctors feel “pressured to adopt an unquestioning approach” when treating children with gender dysphoria, an independent review has found.
The Cass Review is an independent report being led by Dr Hilary Cass, a consultant paediatrician and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
It was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement to make recommendations on the services provided to children and young people exploring their gender identity.
There is currently just one specialist service providing gender identity services for children and young people: the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
In recent years, GIDS has experienced a significant increase in referrals which has contributed to long waiting lists and mounting concern about how the NHS should most appropriately assess, diagnose and care for these children and young people.
On Thursday, an interim report was published and found that while the staff working within the specialist service “demonstrate a high level of commitment” to their patients, “the waiting list pressure and lack of consensus development on the clinical approach” - combined with “criticism of the service” - have resulted in rapid turnover of staff as well as “inadequate capacity” to deal with increasing workloads.
It continued: “Our initial work has indicated that many professionals working at primary and secondary level feel that they have the transferable skills and the commitment to offer more robust support to this group of children and young people, but are nervous about doing so, partly because of the lack of formal clinical guidance, and partly due to the broader societal context.” ... read full article (paywall)