Thursday, October 6, 2022

"A violent sex offender has been awarded more than $2.5 million in legal fees after suing the state for withholding 'gender affirming care' while incarcerated for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy."

This day in Herstory: Fannie Lou Hamer (née Townsend), born October 6, 1917 (died March 14, 1977), was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hamer also organized Mississippi's Freedom Summer along with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was also a co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, an organization created to recruit, train, and support women of all races who wish to seek election to government office. (more)

---

Ed. Note: This article is a significant breakthrough in mainstream news coverage of the transgender tsunami. It is far from perfect, but it clearly states “Reuters interviewed parents of 39 minors who had sought gender-affirming care. Parents of 28 of those children said they felt pressured or rushed to proceed with treatment.” The article also honestly describes the concerns that have been raised in Europe and the U.K.: “Dr Annelou de Vries, a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, is one of the Dutch researchers whose early work established the importance of rigorous patient assessments before starting medical treatment. She said that while she worries about the growing number of children awaiting treatment, the graver sin is to move too fast when puberty blockers and hormones may not be appropriate.”

A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT

US - As more transgender children seek medical care, families confront many unknowns

Across the United States, thousands of youths are lining up for gender-affirming care. But when families decide to take the medical route, they must make decisions about life-altering treatments that have little scientific evidence of their long-term safety and efficacy.

From Reuters (USA)
By CHAD TERHUNE, ROBIN RESPAUT, and MICHELLE CONLIN
October 6, 2022

On the two-hour drive back from the hospital, Danielle Boyer kept replaying the doctor’s questions in her mind. Was her then-12-year-old child, Ryace, hearing voices? Was she using illegal drugs? Had she ever been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment? Had she ever harmed herself?

Danielle was still shaken when she and Ryace arrived home in this small town nestled in a bend of the Ohio River. Dinner would have to wait. She had to talk to her husband. “They were asking us these sad, terrible questions,” she told Steve Boyer as the two sat in their garage that August 2020 evening. “Do you know kids have tried to kill themselves?”

“I had no idea,” he said. …

But the initial consultation brought troubling new questions. The doctor at the Akron clinic told Danielle and Ryace that puberty blockers could weaken Ryace’s bones. The effects on her brain development and fertility weren’t well-understood. …

But families that go the medical route venture onto uncertain ground, where science has yet to catch up with practice. While the number of gender clinics treating children in the United States has grown from zero to more than 100 in the past 15 years – and waiting lists are long – strong evidence of the efficacy and possible long-term consequences of that treatment remains scant. … read full article

UK - Down with the cis-axial patriarchy

How to debate an evil right-winger (if you must)

From The Critic (UK)
By Titania McGrath
October 2022 (from the magazine)

Debate is a form of violence. This is why I support the policy of universities “de-platforming” speakers with problematic opinions. After all, impressionable students are hardly likely to be persuaded if there’s no one there to do the persuading. 

Conservatives will often try to blindside their opponents with “facts”

Conservatives will often try to blindside their opponents with “facts” and “logic”, slippery manoeuvres that end up making it look as though social justice activists like me don’t know what we are talking about. But for those of you who insist on engaging with these cretins, here are some foolproof techniques.  … read full article

---

UK - Mermaids: I don't feel vindicated

I feel violent

From Letters from Suzanne (UK)
By Suzanne Moore
October 6, 2022

I don’t know about you, but I can’t move for apologies. I’ve got that Emma Watson sobbing in one corner saying she didn’t know the CEO of Mermaids had transed her own son because her husband didn’t like him being gay.

There’s that Jameela knocking on the door saying she wasn’t to know that puberty blockers are not reversible because they kind of should be. There are the legions of boys who live in their Mum’s basement who have told me in public to “Die TERF” but in DMs say, “Perhaps you have a point: perhaps women sometimes do need single-sex spaces.” … read full article

---

UK - Transgender charity Mermaids closes its helpline and webchat service saying it has received 'intolerable abuse' after trustee quit in paedophile row and JK Rowling challenged them to sue her

Charity tweeted the decision 'to protect our dedicated staff and volunteer team'

JK Rowling said Mermaids had achieved 'unprecedented influence in the UK'

But India Willoughy said 'someone really needs to take legal action' against her 

Ms Rowling then responded that 'the first signature will be mine in any petition'

It comes after Dr Jacob Breslow sensationally quit as a trustee of Mermaids

From Daily Mail (UK)
By JONATHAN ROSE
October 6, 2022

Transgender charity Mermaids closed its helpline and webchat service today saying it has received 'intolerable abuse'.

It comes after a trustee quit over revelations he spoke at an 'academic' conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles. 

JK Rowling then challenged transgender television presenter India Willoughby to sue her in a Twitter spat after she blasted celebrities for backing Mermaids. … read full article

---

UK - Celebrity supporters of controversial trans charity Mermaids gave it ‘unprecedented influence’

JK Rowling has criticised those who have promoted the charity after revelations that it appointed a ‘paedophilia apologist’ as a trustee

From The Telegraph (UK)
By Will Bolton
October 6, 2022

JK Rowling appears to have criticised celebrities, including Emma Watson, for helping trans charity Mermaids gain “unprecedented influence”.

The author made the remarks in the wake of revelations that a trustee, Dr Jacob Breslow, spoke at a conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services for paedophiles who need professional help.

Dr Breslow’s presentation appeared to be a critique of how paedophiles were understood. … read full article

---

UK - Mermaids on the rocks

A very fishy tale (except I didn't really want to say that)

From Denton Yoga-Carter (UK)
By Denton
October 6, 2022

Like many here in the UK, I couldn’t help but cheer at how Mermaids have so expertly shot themselves in their own tail, and are now being exposed as the dangerous bunch of ideologically-driven, life-denying cult enforcers they have turned into. Thanks to their attempts to expose @LGBAlliance in court as a so-called “hate group” that should therefore no longer remain a legitimate charity with charitable status and legitimate aims, they managed to expose themselves to the spotlight of scrutiny, and I can’t really see them lasting much longer. … read full article

---

UK - Whistleblowers Claim UK Book Charities Are Captured by Gender Ideology

From 4W (USA)
By Andreia Nobre
October 6, 2022

Attendees of Rhyme-Time, a sing-along session for parents (mostly mothers) and babies at UK libraries, are expressing concerns over the impact of “gender ideology indoctrination” on young children.

A health visitor claiming to be representing Bookbug — a Scottish charity which promotes literacy for young people — said that book charities have been “captured” by Stonewall.

Speaking anonymously to journalist Helen Joyce, the health visitor said to have noticed that “every email coming from Bookbug” was sent by someone who used “preferred pronouns” in their signature. … read full article

---

US - Child Rapist Awarded $2.5 Million in Legal Settlement Over “Gender Affirming Care” Access

From Reduxx (USA)
By Jennifer Gingrich
October 6, 2022

A violent sex offender has been awarded more than $2.5 million in legal fees after suing the state for withholding “gender affirming care” while he was incarcerated for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.

Adree Edmo, formerly known as Mason Edmo, first launched a lawsuit against the state of Idaho and the state department of correction’s medical provider, Corizon Correctional Healthcare, in 2017 after being denied “gender” surgeries.

In the suit, Edmo had sought access to a legal name change, “gender appropriate” clothing, and “gender affirming” surgeries. Edmo, who was housed in a male prison at the time, also demanded a transfer to a women’s facility. … read full article

NZ - New Zealand recognizes puberty blockers can be harmful, irreversible

This makes New Zealand the latest country to admit that puberty blockers are in fact not "fully reversible" and could in fact be harmful for extended use, which is how they are prescribed for the treatment of gender dysphoria.

From The Post Millennial (Canada)
By Sara Higdon
October 6, 2022

New Zealand's Ministry of Health in September changed the description of puberty blockers to say "Blockers are sometimes used from early puberty through to later adolescence to allow time to fully explore gender health options. This is done under the guidance of a clinician who specializes in their use."

They quietly removed "Safe and Reversible" from the description. This makes New Zealand the latest country to admit that puberty blockers are in fact not "fully reversible" and could in fact be harmful for extended use, which is how they are prescribed for the treatment of gender dysphoria. … read full article

---

UK - Real feminists don’t need strongmen

Not every critic of transactivism is an ally

From UnHerd (UK)
By KATHLEEN STOCK
October 7, 2022

Last week in Hungary, I experienced two very different sides to lesbian activism in the age of Orbán. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

First, I attended the “EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Conference (EL*C)”. It was international in its participant list, lavishly funded, and linguistically and aesthetically indistinguishable from any other modern LGBT event. There were pronoun declarations and safe space policies. There were wild dye-jobs and big specs. There were workshops on how to undermine women’s sport. There was the robotically impersonal ejection of a heretical wrongthinker on the eve of the conference. In other words, it was business as usual for Queer Inc. — albeit with some more local stuff about Roma and Ukrainian lesbians thrown in. … read full article

---

UK - Shakespeare’s Globe rushes to delete ‘derogatory’ poem on ‘transphobic Terfs’

Verse to promote play about non-binary Joan of Arc criticised as a ‘vicious attack on women’

From The Telegraph (UK)
By Craig Simpson
October 6, 2022

Shakespeare's Globe has been criticised for sharing a "derogatory" poem challenging "transphobic Terfs", as the theatre promoted a play about a non-binary Joan of Arc.

Verses that begin by using the word “bitch” to descibe feminists who are critical of gender ideology were shared on the Globe's website and the venue’s Twitter feed to promote I, Joan, a play about the French heroine.

It was shared with a message urging people to “share your truth”, adding: “We are all beautiful. We are all powerful.”

But the poem, titled “Terfs stop being transphobic challenge”, has been criticised as a “vicious attack on women” by campaigners concerned about gender theory, with the Globe rushing to delete the piece. … read full article

---

US - San Francisco school district teaches kids how to keep transgender ‘identity’ a secret from parents

Every parent should know what is going on

From California Catholic Daily (USA)
October 6, 2022

In his latest viral report, Christopher Rufo published a guidebook released by the San Francisco Unified School District “encouraging teachers to facilitate secret child transitions and to affirm students who use the gender pronoun ‘it’ at school – which, the district says, is the gender-identity version of the ‘n-word.’”

Rufo, as usual, presents his receipts in a Twitter thread replete with screenshots that prove his allegations. “The district teaches students that they can diverge from ‘vanilla sexuality’ and become part of the ‘bisexual umbrella,’ with sexual identity options including ‘fluid,’ ‘pansexual,’ ‘omnisexual,’ ‘homo-curious,’ and ‘hetero-flexible.,” Rufo noted. “The district also released a guide on ‘affirm[ing]’ students who use ‘it’ pronouns, explaining that it ‘has a long history being used as a slur to dehumanize trans and gender non-conforming folks,’ but can be ‘reclaimed,’ as African-Americans have done with the ‘n-word.’” … read full article

---

US - How To Do No Harm (Part 2)

The most dangerous doctors in America, questions to ask your doctor, and a campaign against Plume Health

From How To with Yuri Bezmenov (USA)
By Yuri Bezmenov
October 6, 2022

Comrades: Teachers and doctors were once known as the noble professions, but the past few years have destroyed whatever faith the public once had in them.

In Part 1 of How To Do No Harm, I shared my professional experiences with the healthcare system and personal experiences with doctors I know. How To Spot a Sociopath Part 2 covered the infamous public health “doctors” we all loathe, who have caused immense damage at a population level. How To Fire a Commissar featured a DIE administrator who is draining the scarce resources of a hospital that serves the vulnerable. … read full article

---

Scotland - JK Rowling calls Nicola Sturgeon a ‘destroyer of women’s rights’

Comments came shortly after the author appeared to criticise Emma Watson for helping trans charity Mermaids gain 'unprecedented influence'

From The Telegraph (UK)
By Max Stephens
October 6, 2022

JK Rowling has called Nicola Sturgeon a "destroyer of women's rights" amid a row over her plans to allow people to self-identify their legal gender.

Proposals which would allow children as young as 16 to apply to legally change their gender without a medical diagnosis were given a green light by MSPs on Thursday, prompting outrage from campaigners.

The Harry Potter author took to Twitter on Thursday to give her support to hundreds of protesters, many from the campaign group For Women Scotland, who gathered outside Holyrood to protest against the reforms. … read full article

---

Scotland - Holyrood committee backs self-declaration for transgender people

Report on Scotland’s gender recognition reform bill supports removing need for psychiatric diagnosis

From The Guardian (UK)
By Libby Brooks
October 6, 2022

A Holyrood committee tasked with scrutinising the Scottish government’s gender recognition reform bill has given its support to the key principles for simplifying how transgender people can update their birth certificates – including the introduction of self-declaration.

The report comes a day after the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in its second public intervention on the bill, detailed concerns about the cross-border impact of the legislation and raised the prospect the Westminster government may not recognise the new Scottish certificates in the rest of the UK.

Thursday’s report by Holyrood’s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee recommends, by a majority of five to two, the move to statutory self-declaration before the registrar general for legal gender recognition, thus removing the need for a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria. … read full article

---

Scotland - Self-ID plan may cause cross-border problems

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said difficulties were likely in “cross-border situations” if the self-identification of trans people goes ahead

From The Times (UK)
By Mike Wade
October 6, 2022

A trans person who changes gender under reforms planned for Scotland could not be certain of their legal status and rights in the rest of Britain, the equalities watchdog has warned.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said difficulties were likely in “cross-border situations” if the SNP pressed ahead with a bill enabling people to self-identify, a policy at odds with the rest of the UK. It also questioned a proposal to allow 16-year-olds to alter their legal sex.

“We recognise that 16 is the legal age of majority in Scotland in other areas and support in principle the rights of young people to explore their gender identity freely and safely,” the EHCR said. “However . . . we note that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines anyone under 18 as a child.” … read full article

---

UK - New Study: Scientists Find Transgender Women Retain Physical Benefits Long After Transitioning

From Swimming World (USA)
By Swimming World Editorial Staff
October 5, 2022

A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, conducted by Brazilian scientists, states that transgender women maintain their strength and other cardio-pulmonary benefits from their male birth despite the use of hormone therapy such as testosterone suppression. The study indicated that even 14 years after transitioning, transgender women were, on average, 20 percent stronger and had 20 percent greater heart and lung capacity than females.

The topic of transgender participation in female sports has been discussed in a variety of sports over the past several years, primarily due to its effect on fairness. Researchers who conducted the study noted that estrogen use and testosterone suppression did not fully change trans women to the level of females. … read full article

---

US - Trauma that leads to more trauma

From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
October 6, 2022

Who would have thought that a huge tragedy where I almost lost my son would lead to actually losing him?

My son was hit by a car when he was two and a half. He was strapped into his stroller, on the way back from a walk through the park with his babysitter, when a car turned right on red and struck the two of them in a crosswalk. The babysitter broke a few ribs and her arm. My son, still in his stroller, slid across the asphalt, skinning his face. It was a close call and, at the hospital, the doctors confirmed he had escaped with no physical harm beyond the face lacerations. But the experience left us all traumatized, especially him. He never left my lap that night, and he wouldn’t sleep in his own bed for a year, and I have always sensed that that trauma stuck with him, deep in his psyche. … read full article

---

UK - Award-winning novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who was cancelled for saying 'transwomen are transwomen' insists she will continue to 'say what she thinks' and is happy to 'accept the consequences'

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recalled being 'cancelled' over trans comments

She said some movements intended to do good are now 'authoritarian'

Acclaimed author said 'transwomen are transwomen' in an interview in 2017 

From Daily Mail (UK)
By JESSICA TAYLOR
October 6, 2022

Award-winning novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she will continue to speak her mind regardless of the consequences after she faced online backlash for saying 'transwomen are transwomen' in a 2017 interview.

The Half of a Yellow Sun author, who has won several awards for her works, recalled coming under fire last year for the comments made in a Channel 4 interview four years earlier.

The author, 45, who supports transwomen and has campaigned for LGBT rights in Nigeria, was criticised by fellow Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi, who is non-binary, who labelled her 'transphobic'.  … read full article

US - Pa. teacher reinstated after refusing to use transgender student’s preferred pronouns

From Patriot-News (USA)
By Chris Mautner
October 06, 2022

A school teacher in Beaver County that had been suspended for refusing to recognize a student’s preferred pronouns was reinstated during a school board meeting, according to a story from WPXI.

Biology and anatomy teacher Daren Cusato was suspended last week after not referring to transgender students by their requested pronouns, citing religious beliefs.

More than 400 people were in attendance at Wednesday’s South Side Area School District board meeting, and many of the ones that spoke were in support of Cusato’s reinstatement. … read full article

---

Canada - Exalting an ‘Anti-Colonial’ Gender Identity

In a new report, Canadian educators are instructed about a Two-Spirit LGBT subcategory that, even the authors admit, lacks any real definition.

From Quillette (Australia)
By Jonathan Kay
October 3, 2022

On August 28th, Justin Trudeau’s government announced “Canada’s first federal 2SLGBTQI+ action plan: Building Our Future With Pride,” which was described as “a whole-of-government approach to achieve a future where everyone in Canada is truly free to be who they are and love who they love.” One aim of the $100-million plan, the government explained, is to convince Canadians to adopt the term “2SLGBTQI+” in place of “LGBT”—on the basis that 2SLGBTQI+ “is more inclusive and places the experiences of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities at the foreground as the first 2SLGBTQI+ peoples in North America.”

The two characters given pride of place, “2S,” signify “Two-Spirit,” a term that’s been a form of self-identification among Indigenous North Americans since the 1990s. But the descriptor doesn’t appear to be in wide everyday use outside Canada. And so non-Canadian readers will sometimes ask me to explain its meaning—at which point, I have to admit that I can’t. And I’m hardly alone: While most Canadians know that the “Two-Spirit” category is connected to Indigenous identity in some way, there’s an unspoken rule against requesting more specific information. … read full article

---

Canada - Almswomen of the Trans Cult: Canada Conference

From Gender Dissent (Canada)
By felicia rembrandt
October 6, 2022

With the recent creation of the International Trans Fund headed by Torontonian Broden Giambrone, it is becoming clear that the massive American Medical Industrial complex is using Canada as a staging point in its drive to push synthetic sex identities into every country on the planet -- and using women as the principal almsgivers.

GenderDissent has already profiled Aaron Devor of the University of Victoria, recipient of millions in funding from the Pritzker’s Tawani Foundation, and Kim Vance Mubanga, of the Arcus-funded Arc International. … read full article