Tuesday, October 11, 2022
"Megyn Kelly compared transgender surgery to female genital mutilation that’s happening to young girls in radical Islamic communities, calling it a 'form of abuse.'"
This day in Herstory: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, born October 11, 1884 (died November 7, 1962), was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She served as the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest serving first lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements. (more)
US - Big Tech Is on the Wrong Side of History on Gender | Opinion
From Newsweek (USA)
By Kelsey Bolar
October 11, 2022
The number of transgender-identifying youth has nearly doubled in the last five years, with more than 300,000 children ages 13 to 17 identifying as a gender different from their biological sex. Among adults, the number has soared to 1.3 million, or 0.5 percent. Stories of these individuals have been spoon-fed to the public in cheerful, triumphant tones. From Disney Channel spinoffs to reality shows and even feature segments on Fox News, the idea of children changing their gender has been applauded, platformed, and promoted. On YouTube, videos celebrating child "gender transition" accumulate millions of views.
Yet these only tell part of the story about the phenomenon of youth flocking to trans identities in record numbers. Far from the public eye, dissenters from this movement have been relegated to websites such as Reddit, Substack, and the occasional right-leaning news outlet. Stories detailing the harms that gender ideology has inflicted on gender-confused children are essential to an honest conversation about how best to protect the long-term health and well-being of America's youth, but rarely are they featured in Hollywood or on the nightly news. … read full article
UK - Trans charity worker ‘posed as schoolgirl in explicit pictures’
From The Times (UK)
By Fariha Karim
October 11, 2022
Parents of children who have used the transgender youth charity Mermaids have complained to the watchdog after a worker posted explicit images and sexualised pictures “as a schoolgirl” online.
Darren Mew, digital engagement officer at the children’s charity and who identifies as “they/them”, posted an image of himself on Instagram with an upwards view through his short skirt with the words “Sorry I can’t hear you. I’m just out here living my fantasy” and the hashtag “nonbinaryfinery”.
Mew was also featured in a collage of six pictures of himself naked, holding his erect penis, from the rear and with pairs of breasts with penises protruding from them for a shot for Haus Magazine, an LGBT publication. … read full article
US - Naive Conservatives Praise Token Legislation That Won’t Really Stop Trans Surgeries On Oklahoma Kids
Oklahoma Republicans claim to have prevented their children’s hospital from using funds for trans procedures, but there is no enforcement or oversight.
From The Federalist (USA)
By Mark Ousley
October 11, 2022
Conservatives celebrated the news from Oklahoma last month that the legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill to stop funding for transgender surgeries on kids under 16. Tweet after tweet and article after article hailed this move as a shining example of red state culture war virtue.
My original investigation broke the story, and The Washington Post story about the Oklahoma bill featured my role, so many expected me to celebrate. But I’m not celebrating because the legislature’s bill was a façade. … read full article
UK - DfE removes trans charity Mermaids from school wellbeing resources
Department said move was precautionary amid ongoing investigation into safeguarding allegations
From Schools Week (UK)
By Samantha Booth
October 12, 2022
The Department for Education has removed transgender rights charity Mermaids from its mental health and wellbeing resources for schools.
It follows the Charity Commission launching a regulatory compliance probe after “concerns had been raised” about the charity’s “approach to safeguarding young people”.
The Telegraph reported the charity was “handing out potentially harmful breast binders to girls as young as 13 behind their parents’ backs”. … read full article
UK - Teachers’ union seeks to change definition of transphobia
The Trans and Non-Binary Network wants the term to go 'above and beyond legal compliance'
From The Post By UnHerd (UK)
By Debbie Hayton
October 11, 2022
I am a teacher but I am not, and I have never been, a member of the National Education Union. That’s just as well considering the extent to which transgender ideology has gripped the union. At their conference last year, delegates waved through a motion that instructed the Union’s National Executive to “work with the Trans and Non-Binary Network (TNBN) to develop a Union definition of transphobia that goes “above and beyond legal compliance”.
It seems that their wish has been granted. Proposals apparently written by the TNBN — and seen by UnHerd — suggest that “transphobia comes from a rejection of trans identity and a refusal to acknowledge that those identities are real or valid.” But what does that mean in practice? read full article
UK - Teachers need help in the transgender debate
From The Spectator (UK)
By Debbie Hayton
October 11, 2022
Which toilet should a trans pupil be allowed to use? Teachers like me have enough on our plates with the day job, but we must also face questions like this. Whatever our answer, we are bound to annoy someone. Yet for too long, ministers have shied away from offering a helping hand in this toxic debate. Unfortunately, it looks as though Liz Truss's government is going to continue that unhelpful approach.
Schools are in desperate need of clear guidance for helping include transgender pupils without compromising the rights of others. Activist groups have held sway for too long, and – as a teacher – it was a relief to hear the Department for Education had called on both the Equality and Human Rights Commission and doctors to produce an 'evidence-based guide'. But listening to some of the language emanating from the Government, another failure of leadership appears to be on the cards. … read full article
US - Controversy over transgender educational document in New Prairie School Corporation
From ABC 57 (USA)
By Jordan Hatfield
October 11, 2022
NEW CARLISLE, Ind. – A picture of a document posted on Facebook, meant to provide education on gender—including being transgender—caused parents and community members to express their concern and—in some cases—outrage.
“Kids don’t need to learn this at school. It’s rather revolting,” one person commented.
Another summed it up as “Nothing short of ridiculous.” … read full article
US - School officials to testify on “out of control” requests for public records from parents
From The Maine Wire (USA)
By The Maine Wire
October 11, 2022
The number of parents submitting Freedom of Access Act requests to Maine’s government-run schools is “out of control,” according to Maine School Management Association Vicki Wallack.
“I am on the Right to Know Committee for MSMA and a strong defender of Right to Know, but requests are out of control,” Wallack said in an email to school officials inviting them to testify at a meeting of the committee on Thursday, October 13. …
Gender ideology and Critical Race Theory have become flashpoints across America as parents, teachers, politicians, and school officials debate what role, if any, the progressive theories about human sexuality and race should have in government-run schools. … read full article
UK - Why have so many students given up on free speech?
An alarming proportion of students now think ‘offensive’ academics should be sacked.
From spiked (UK)
By Arif Ahmed
October 11, 2022
The Policy Institute at King’s College London recently released a study of student perceptions of free speech on campus. It makes for grim reading.
The study reveals that 41 per cent of students agree that academics who teach material that offends students should be fired, while 39 per cent agree that students’ unions should ban speakers who cause offence.
It’s not difficult to work out what this 41 per cent of students might deem to be offensive. It will be the usual litany of heresies – from criticising Islam or abortion too harshly to defending Israel or the British Empire too vigorously. Gender-critical feminists are also considered beyond the pale on British campuses. Indeed, the Cambridge Students’ Union website even advises students to stay clear of these ‘TERFs’ because they apparently harbour a ‘deep hatred of transwomen’. … read full article
US - Planned Parenthood is under fire for cartoon ad that encourages children to get on puberty blockers if they think they're transgender and tells them the drugs 'work like a stop sign'
Planned Parenthood first shared the cartoon ad on their YouTube account in January, with ways teenagers can delay puberty
One of those ways is through the use of puberty blockers, which can halt voice deepening, facial hair growth, and menstrual cycles
The organization is getting backlash for the video after it resurfaced last week by Twitter account Eye Inside the Classroom
From Daily Mail (UK)
By ANDREA CAVALLIER
October 10, 2022
Planned Parenthood is receiving backlash for a cartoon ad that teaches teenagers different ways of delaying puberty, some of which they claim 'work like a stop sign.'
One of those ways is through the use of puberty blockers, which can halt voice deepening, facial hair growth, and menstrual cycles.
The organization posted the video to its YouTube account in January, but it has recently resurfaced on the Eye Inside the Classroom (EITC) twitter account. … read full article
US - Megyn Kelly Compares Gender Surgery To Female Genital Mutilation Happening In ‘Radical Islamic Population’
From The Daily Wire (USA)
By Katie Jerkovich
October 11, 2022
Megyn Kelly compared transgender surgery to female genital mutilation that’s happening to young girls in radical Islamic communities, calling it a “form of abuse.”
During the Sirius XM “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast Monday, the host spoke with political commentator Andrew Sullivan about the extremes of so-called “gender affirming care” promoted by leftist groups. The two talked about surgeries on minors, including breast removal, mastectomies, and “genital surgeries” on children in their early teens. … read full article
US - Chest binding: A Modern Day Version of Foot Binding?
Harming your body to support an ideology
From Bodies get in the way… (USA)
By Lucy Leader
October 11, 2022
I recently read a study entitled “Health impact of chest binding among transgender adults: a community-engaged, cross-sectional study” Health impact of chest binding among transgender adults: a community-engaged, cross-sectional study: Culture, Health & Sexuality: Vol 19, No 1 (tandfonline.com)
But the study isn’t actually about “chest” binding and it’s not about “transgender adults” either. … read full article
US - It's never been about transgender people — it's about respecting reality
From Washington Examiner (USA)
By Dan Hannan
October 10, 2022
Until this week, the debate over gender fluidity left me completely cold. It was possible, I felt, to treat transgender people with respect while at the same time holding the view that only women could have babies.
I know two transgender people, and they are about as different from each other as you could get. One is 80 years old and identifies as a woman, the other 20 and identifies as a man. But one thing they have in common is that neither is remotely interested in who qualifies as a female athlete. Those furious arguments over bathrooms and pronouns struck me as, if not exactly concocted, certainly niche.
Then it suddenly struck me that the row is not really about transgender people at all — who account, after all, for only a quarter of 1% of the population. No, what we are seeing is an attempt to deny biological sex completely: to assert, in other words, that boys and girls are born identical and that any differences in their interests, abilities, and choices are the just result of social conditioning. … read full article
UK - Harry Potter star Tom Felton is branded a 'crawling little snake' by trans rights activists after saying JK Rowling should be 'celebrated' for 'bringing generations together' as author faces 'transphobia' row
Actor Tom Felton, 35, praised JK Rowling for creating Harry Potter
He said he did not feel the need to shun her over her views on women's rights
Instead he declared that Potter had brought more people together
But he was trolled by activists for not criticising Miss Rowling on BBC Radio 4
Read more: JK Rowling sarcastically brands Nicola Sturgeon 'the First Feminist'
From Daily Mail (UK)
By DAN SALES
October 11, 2022
Harry Potter star Tom Felton has been trolled by trans rights activists today after saying JK Rowling's work should be celebrated.
The 35-year-old, who portrayed Draco Malfoy in the wizarding series, said the author's creations had brought people and generations together.
But Miss Rowling is frequently attacked on Twitter over her views on women's rights, which has seen some stars of the Potter films attack her opinions. … read full article
US - Incarcerated Drag Queen Who Sex Trafficked Teens Now a Trans Activist
From Reduxx (Canada)
By Bryndís Blackadder
October 10, 2022
An incarcerated drag queen jailed for his role in a child sex trafficking operation is now a regular contributor to a “harm reduction” magazine and is crowdfunding for transition surgeries on social media.
Christopher Thomas Lynch was handed a 14-year prison sentence in 2012 for forcing a teenage boy into prostitution. The male youth, who identified as transgender, was plied with cocaine and used to make child sexual abuse materials in addition to being forced to have sex with men up to four times per day for money. … read full article
UK - Midwifery students to be told how to look after 'pregnant people' and 'birthing parents' rather than 'women' as degree courses adopt more 'inclusive' language
Several university courses starting this year have used 'inclusive' language
Critics say that it is risking dehumanising' woman and reducing them to 'bodies'
University of Bradford midwifery course says 'childbearing people' four times
At Cumbria University, 'mothers' have been changed to 'birthing parents'
From Daily Mail (UK)
By ELEANOR HARDING
October 10, 2022
Midwifery degrees starting this month will teach students how to look after ‘pregnant people’ and ‘birthing parents’, rather than ‘women’.
The courses, which train midwives for the NHS, have replaced references to mothers with ‘gender neutral’ language to accommodate trans people.
Several degree courses starting this autumn have used the ‘inclusive’ language on their websites or in course materials. However, critics said it risked dehumanising women and reducing them to ‘bodies’ which give birth. … read full article
UK - Hate crime and hate slime
There’s a difference between violence and criticism
From The Critic (UK)
By Joan Smith
October 11, 2022
Just in case you’ve missed it, we’re in the middle of “national hate crime awareness week”. This Orwellian-sounding event is popular with police forces up and down the country, prompting some of them to publish photographs of their unfortunately-named “hate crime officers”. I initially assumed that the job involved deterring hate crimes, although I’m now wondering whether it is actually about driving numbers up.
The Crown Prosecution Service is certainly keen to do that, claiming to know that “more than half of all hate crime incidents aren’t reported to the police”. It reflects a widespread assumption that increasing the number of recorded incidents is a good thing, even though the very notion of “hate crime” is mired in confusion. What constitutes a hate crime? Is it different from a “hate crime incident”, which does not necessarily result in the police or CPS identifying an actual criminal offence? … read full article
UK - Ministers seek compromise on transgender advice for schools
From The Times (UK)
By Chris Smyth
October 10, 2022
Schools will be encouraged to accommodate transgender pupils in “common sense” guidance that will risk opening up a cabinet split over access to changing rooms and lavatories.
Senior ministers are pushing for a compromise approach to defuse a “culture war” over gender identity, despite demands from some in government to hold a hard line on biological sex.
Providing gender-neutral lavatories alongside those for boys and girls or letting trans pupils use changing rooms before others are among options being looked at as officials draw up guidance. … read full article
UK - Justice Secretary signals policy reforms on transgender prisoners
From Jersey Evening Post (UK)
By UK News
October 11, 2022
Transgender prisoners with male genitalia should no longer be held in women’s jails, according to the Justice Secretary.
The reforms to policies on where to house inmates will also apply to transgender women who have been convicted of a sex offence, Brandon Lewis said.
It comes after he told delegates at the Conservative Party conference last week: “It cannot be right that transgender prisoners, when convicted of serious sexual offences or those who have not had reassignment surgery, are housed in a general women’s estate. … read full article
US - Montgomery County Schools Saw 582% Increase In Reported Gender Nonconforming Students Over Two Years, Data Shows
From Daily Caller (USA)
By Chrissy Clark
October 11, 2022
Maryland’s largest public school district saw a 582% increase the number of students identifying as gender nonconforming in just two years, according to internal data posted to an educator’s Twitter page.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) gathered this data from forms school counselors fill out when students approach them to talk about gender identity issues. Because the numbers rely on self-reporting, the near-sevenfold increase from 2019 to 2022 could indicate a massive increase in the number of gender-diverse students, an environment that encourages those students to be more open with counselors or both.
The data — which is not publicly available to parents or taxpayers — was posted to Twitter on Oct. 6 when educator Elicia Eberhart-Bliss shared an image of a slide show presented at a meeting of the district’s “Pride ALLiance.” … read full article
US - Loudoun Co. School Board candidate Tiffany Polifko blasts LCPS' curriculum, superintendent
From ABC 7 News (USA)
By Nick Minock
October 11, 2022
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (7News) — The November general election is less than one month away and early voting has already begun.
There are several local races on the ballot this year, including two seats on the Loudoun County School Board. There are three candidates running in each race. 7News invited all six candidates for school boards to participate in interviews to discuss the issues on the minds of voters. … read or watch the full interview
US - Dead Name
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
October 11, 2022
He told me he’s a girl.
He told me he has a new name.
He told me that
the baby boy I cherished, loved, protected… is gone.
The replacement is alien to me… mean, disconnected, punitive.
He told me the name I chose for him is his deadname. … read full poem
I don't normally say so, but please accept my sincere thanks for all your hard work compiling these news reports.
It's a valuable resource and much appreciated.