Tuesday, October 25, 2022
"Last week, in a victory for child safeguarding, reality and common sense, the NHS rammed a stake into the heart of trans ideology."
This day in Herstory: Helen Maxine Reddy, born October 25, 1941 (died September 29, 2020), was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on radio and television and won a talent contest on the television program Bandstand[a] in 1966; her prize was a ticket to New York City and a record audition, which was unsuccessful. She pursued her international singing career by moving to Chicago, and subsequently, Los Angeles, where she made her debut singles "One Way Ticket" and "I Believe in Music" in 1968 and 1970, respectively. The B-side of the latter single, "I Don't Know How to Love Him", reached number eight on the pop chart of the Canadian magazine RPM. She was signed to Capitol Records a year later. (more)
UK - The NHS is pushing back against trans ideology
New guidelines for treating ‘trans kids’ are a much-needed blow for common sense.
From spiked (UK)
By Jo Bartosch
October 25, 2022
Last week, in a victory for child safeguarding, reality and common sense, the NHS rammed a stake into the heart of trans ideology.
On Thursday, NHS England published its ‘interim service specification’ for the treatment of children and young people with gender dysphoria. This proposed guidance sets the groundwork for a wholesale change in the NHS’s approach to gender identity, following the devastating findings of the interim Cass review earlier this year. There will be a public consultation before any of the new policies are adopted. These proposals will undoubtedly come as a huge relief to parents, trans-sceptical professionals and campaign groups across the country. … read full article
UK - Most trans children just going through a phase, advises NHS
From The Times (UK)
By Eleanor Hayward
October 25, 2022
Most children identifying as transgender are simply going through a “transient phase”, new NHS guidance states.
Doctors caring for youngsters distressed about their gender have been told that it is not a “neutral act” to help them transition socially by using their preferred new names or pronouns.
The draft guidelines say doctors should “carefully explore” all underlying health problems, including mental ill health, amid concerns that the NHS is rushing children on to irreversible puberty-blocker medication. … read full article
UK - The NHS finally sees sense on trans treatment for children
Medical professionals have admitted that they are going through a 'phase'
From The Post By UnHerd (UK)
By Joan Smith
October 25, 2022
It wouldn’t have happened even a couple of years ago. Until very recently, most of our institutions appeared to have been captured by an extreme ideology that insisted on the existence of something called a ‘trans child’. Now, in a welcome return to common sense, the NHS has acknowledged that this approach has scant clinical basis.
A report from NHS England says that most children who think they’re transgender are going through a ‘transient phase’ and will grow out of it. It recommends a ‘watchful approach’, rather than rushing into medical treatment, and suggests that doctors should consider the possibility of autism and other mental health conditions.
… read full text
UK - National Health Service ends “gender-affirming care,” replaces with “holistic and appropriate” care
From Why Evolution is True (USA)
By Jerry Coyne
October 25, 2022
The NHS has come to its senses and issued a whole new set of protocols for treating gender dysphoric youth. Previously, the Tavistock Clinic in London was the go-to place for these children, whose numbers have risen rapidly in the past few years, especially for females (graph below from here):
But there were complaints from patients, and a commissioned report on the Clinic by Dr. Hilary Cass damned the form of care practiced at Tavistock: “affirmative care,” which in practice meant affirming a child’s wishes about changing sex, which led to buttressing their wishes by giving puberty blockers to prepubescent youth, and ultimately adding hormone therapy and referring children for surgery to remove breasts and remodel genitals (the NHS never covered gender-transition surgery).
… read full article
UK - A dick move
Bog-standard sexism with a modern coat of paint
From The Critic (UK)
By Victoria Smith
October 24, 2022
The Emperor’s New Clothes” is the story of a man who gets his dick out in public whilst coercing observers into pretending it isn’t happening. Everyone can see said dick, but anyone who says so will be subject to social censure. It takes a child to speak the truth.
Almost two centuries after its publication, the message of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic is as powerful as ever. By this, I don’t mean the allegorical one about speaking truth to power. I mean the literal one: when a man has his dick out in public, don’t be gaslit into saying that you can’t see it. … read full article
UK - Sexist comedy is back
Jordan Gray is Bernard Manning for the woke set.
From spiked (UK)
By Brendan O’Neill
October 24, 2022
Let me get this right. When Jerry Sadowitz gets his knob out during a comedy routine it’s an outrage, a vile, misogynistic crime against decency. The beast must be cancelled. But when Jordan Gray gets his knob out during a comedy routine – I say comedy… – it’s ‘iconic’, deserving of ‘praise’, possibly the ‘TV MOMENT OF THE YEAR!’. What’s with the double standard? It’s simple: Gray is trans, and that means he can do whatever the fuck he wants.
The fawning over Gray and his little pecker has been mad, even by the standards of today’s cult of genderfluidity. It was on Friday Night Live on Channel 4 that Gray whipped out his phallus. He was playing the piano and singing songs and cracking jokes that only someone with a degree in queer studies could find funny. Then he said: ‘You know the best thing about live TV is that I can do stupid stuff like this!’ He stood up, tore off his neon-pink pantsuit, and stood naked before the live studio audience. Fake boobs, real penis, the works. He then used his dick to carry on playing the piano, which was quite the stretch. … read full article
UK - Trans activists push off-prescription puberty blockers
Youngsters are being told to bypass the medical establishment for treatment
From The Post By UnHerd (UK)
By Rob Lownie
October 25, 2022
Friday’s LGB Alliance conference in Central London was picketed by a small but vocal group of trans rights activists, who made their feelings against the campaign group heard. Many chose to dress in all black, hoods and balaclavas to hide their identity should any repercussions arise from their chanting “Kill the TERFs [trans-exclusionary radical feminists]!”
Amid chants for “Revolution”, trans rights protestors later targeted prominent gender-critical activists Helen Joyce and Maya Forstater for their involvement with the conference. … read full article
Scotland - Scotland gender reform bill sacrifices right to safe spaces for inclusion
The misguided plans need a rethink to protect women
From The Times (UK)
By Gillian Bowditch
October 23, 2022
Chatting with a group of friends recently — all parents of daughters — the conversation turned to aspirations for our children’s careers. The fathers only wanted them to be happy. The mothers were much more ambitious on their girls’ behalf.
The pushy mother is a hackneyed stereotype. But her very invention is a cipher for the pervasiveness of women’s desire to protect their hard-won rights. When mothers think about their daughters’ careers, it is in the context of the workplace limitations placed on themselves, their mothers and grandmothers. … read full article
Scotland - Nicola Sturgeon’s crusade for gender self-ID
The more Scots learn about trans ideology, the more they are opposed to it.
From spiked (UK)
By Tim Black
October 25, 2022
Rarely has a piece of Nicola Sturgeon-era legislation been as divisive or as unpopular as the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which is to be debated at Holyrood this Thursday.
Under present UK-wide law, Scots seeking to change their ‘legal gender’ must be over 18, have a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and be able to show that they have lived in ‘their acquired gender for two years’. After that, a panel decides whether to grant a gender recognition certificate (GRC). The SNP wants to reduce the age at which one can change gender to 16, remove the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and reduce the period during which applicants live in their acquired gender to three months (plus a three-month reflection period). … read full article
Scotland - Consider the evidence on gender dysphoria - Dr Anthony Latham, Dr Anne Williams, Dr Calum MacKellar and Dr Angus McKellar
Unfortunately, the Stage 1 Report on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was published by the Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament on the 6 October 2022, has not sufficiently considered the evidence of mental disorders which are often present with gender dysphoria. As a result, the recommendations given by the majority of MSPs preparing the report are unsafe and should be rejected.
From The Scotsman (Scotland)
By Dr. Anthony Latham, Dr. Anne Williams (GP), Dr. Calum MacKellar (Biomedical Ethicist) and Dr. Angus McKellar
October 25, 2022
Up until now, transgender individuals were given the possibility of changing their birth gender under the UK Gender Recognition Act 2004. To do this, persons must obtain a certificate from a Gender Recognition Panel after having been medically diagnosed with significant dysphoria and lived successfully, for at least two years, in the opposite gender.
However, the majority view on the Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee is now proposing to change the present legislation by removing the requirement for applicants to provide a medical opinion stating that they are affected by gender dysphoria. In addition, it wants to reduce the minimum age of applicants from 18 to 16 years old as well as the period during which they must have lived in their acquired gender before applying from 2 years to 3 months. Finally, it wants to abolish the Gender Recognition Panel with applications just being sent to the Registrar General for Scotland. In other words, it would enable individuals to legally change their birth gender without any medical or other evidence whatsoever. … read full article
UK - Teacher sacked after refusing to call transgender pupil, 8, a boy's name takes case to High Court
The teacher claims it went against her Christian beliefs
From Yorkshire Live (UK)
By Sophie Watson & Victoria Scheer
October 25, 2022
A primary teacher who was sacked after refusing to call an eight-year-old transgender pupil by a boy's name has taken her case to the High Court in a UK legal first.
The woman, known as Hannah to avoid identifying the child, has begun a judicial review against her local council after she was dismissed earlier this year. The teacher was told at the start of the school year that she had a child in her class who wanted to change gender.
But Hannah, from the East Midlands, refused to call the pupil by a boy's name, or refer to them with male pronouns, saying it "went against her Christian beliefs". She was originally suspended and later dismissed on the ground of gross misconduct after arguing that the school's "transgender affirming" policies could harm children. … read full article
UK - Teacher vs a Primary School and a County Council
From Open Justice with Tribunal Tweets (UK)
By Tribunal Tweets
October 24, 2022
A primary school teacher, known as ‘Hannah’ (a pseudonym - she cannot be named for legal reasons) is pursuing a judicial review over the refusal of a local authority and governing body of a school to address safeguarding concerns regarding a child being supported by Mermaids through gender transition. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the case is believed to be the first time that a teacher has taken legal action over safeguarding concerns of a socially transitioning primary school aged child.
Hannah was told by the school that she had ‘no choice’ but to affirm ‘Child X’ through gender transition or face the consequences. The school was supported by the local authority and the local Church of England diocese. Child X was being supported in their gender transition by Mermaids, which this week the Department for Education stopped recommending as a mental health and wellbeing resource for schools.
… read full article
US - Transgender Biden interviewer called to ‘normalize’ trans women having visible ‘bulge’
Biden told far-left outlet he was against states banning 'gender-affirming' health care for young people
From Fox News (USA)
By Brian Flood
October 25, 2022
Critics of President Joe Biden raised their eyebrows Monday night when they learned that he sat down with a trans activist who wants to "normalize" women having visible "bulges" in their crotch area, following months of infrequent Biden sit-down interviews with journalists.
Biden is regularly dinged by the right for a lack of tough interviews. He spoke to "60 Minutes" last month after going more than 200 days without being interviewed by an American TV journalist; he has since spoken to CNN, MSNBC and left-wing outlet NowThis News as the White House attempts to rally the left ahead of the midterms.
… read full article
UK - Cambridge University cancels Homerton College's annual Harry Potter-themed dinner as furious students claim event was scrapped in 'woke' protest at JK Rowling's views on trans issues
EXCLUSIVE: Homerton College has cancelled its annual Harry Potter dinner
Students say the student union has scrapped it due to feelings about JK Rowling
Homerton Union of Students president Robin Webber has posted critical tweets
Wrote of Harry Potter author: 'F*** transphobia f*** jk Rowling f*** that energy'
From Daily Mail (UK)
By NICK CRAVEN
October 24, 2022
A Cambridge University college's student union has banned a popular annual Harry Potter-themed dinner in a 'woke' protest at JK Rowling's views on trans issues, it is claimed.
For several years, Homerton College has held the Hogwarts 'formal' dinners in its iconic wood-panelled Great Hall, with students and staff in costume, house banners for Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and even real owls from a local sanctuary swooping over the long tables.
But this year the event – usually a sell-out – has been scrapped to be replaced with a scaled-down Harry Potter film night. … read full article
UK - Feminist Arrested At Bar After Confronting Male In Women’s Washroom
From Reduxx (Canada)
By Shay Woulahan
October 25, 2022
A woman who was arrested after confronting a man using the women’s restrooms in a bar in Cardiff, Wales has come forward to speak with Reduxx about her experience.
Kate, whose name has been changed at her request to protect her anonymity, had been at attendance during the day at FiLiA 2022, an annual feminist conference held to address issues related to women’s sex-based rights. In the evening after the conference, Kate visited Heidi’s Bier Bar on Mill Lane with her friend, Dr EM, a well-known feminist writer and advocate for disabled women. A few other women from the conference had also joined them. … read full article
UK - Police called to Cardiff bar after group of women made 'transphobic comments and threats'
A 54-year-old woman was arrested for a public order offence following an incident in a bar in Cardiff's Mill Lane
From Wales Online (UK)
By Ben Summer
October 25, 2022
Police were called to a bar in Cardiff city centre over alleged "transphobic" comments and threats made by several women to another member of the public. The women had been removed by door staff but refused to leave the bar.
South Wales Police were called at 2am on Monday, October 24, to a bar in the city's Mill Lane. Inspector Darren Grady said they had received reports that "a number of females were refusing to leave the premises after making transphobic comments and threats to a member of public inside". A woman aged 54 was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence but was later de-arrested following the input of the alleged victim. … read full article
UK - The trans movement has a problem with women
Why did trans activists spend their weekend attacking a women’s rights conference?
From spiked (UK)
By Lauren Smith
October 24, 2022
If you were ever in any doubt that trans activists have a problem with women, then take a look at their reaction over the weekend to the FiLiA women’s rights conference in Cardiff and the LGB Alliance conference in London.
Almost 2,000 people attended FiLiA this weekend to hear high-profile speakers – such as Samira Ahmed, Rosie Duffield and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – deliver talks on the challenges faced by women and girls across the world. It was a space to discuss important women’s issues like female genital mutilation, prostitution and domestic violence. And, of course, to discuss the threat posed by trans ideology to women’s single-sex spaces. … read full article
US - This ‘Authentic Self’ Which Is Not One
Some thoughts on artificiality
From The Distance (USA)
By Donovan Cleckley
October 25, 2022
Hearing the phrase “the authentic self” has always led me to cringe—at least, if not raise an eyebrow at it. Who uses it? And why? These questions matter. I cannot think of an instance where this phrase has referred to anything even remotely authentic. Authenticity should go without saying and should not require imposition upon others. Forcing others to play along makes the authenticity questionable, since “playing along” should not be required. It also cannot be purchased as medical treatment and cannot be made possible by cosmetics. It all seems very common sense—but not really, apparently. … read full article
US - Public Service Announcement to the Mama Bears
Defend Your Children
From Natural Selections (USA)
By Heather Heying
October 25, 2022
This week, the President of the United States sat down with a young gay man who has risen to fame cosplaying as a girl. During more than 220 days of “being a girl,” Dylan Mulvaney has embodied and embraced an array of regressive stereotypes of femininity—proudly wearing ridiculous shoes, learning how to be catty, flouncing down a fashion runway. He even, famously, referred to the genitalia he does not have as a “barbie pocket.”
During his audience with the President, Mulvaney talked about “gender-affirming health care,” which includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery. All of these medical interventions cause irreversible harm2, being both invasive and dangerous, especially to children and adolescents. But in a short video from Biden’s sit-down with Mulvaney, Biden pronounces that he doesn’t think that “any state or anybody has the right” to ban gender-affirming health care. Of banning such interventions, the president says, “I just think it’s wrong.” … read full article
UK - Why is the New Scientist denying biological reality?
Gender ideology should have no place in a science magazine.
From spiked (UK)
By Candice Holdsworth
October 24, 2022
Is anywhere safe from the dubious claims of gender ideology? Now even the well-respected science magazine, the New Scientist, seems to have capitulated to trans dogma.
Last week, the New Scientist sparked controversy over an article it published online about ‘people who menstruate’. Its author writes as if there is some mysterious group of human beings experiencing menstrual cycles who we have yet to identify – instead of simply calling them ‘women’. … read full article
UK - The wilful erasure of hard-fought, desperately needed sex-based rights
Professor Alan Johnson on the intense response to a rabbi being accused of transphobia over a tweet about genderfluid comedy star Eddie Izzard.
From Jewish News (UK)
By Professor Alan Johnson
October 25, 2022
I am not on Twitter and I do not comment here on the rabbi, other than note he wrote the hardly-hateful comment: ‘We have to treat transgender people with the utmost kindness and respect, and accommodate them legally, but they must not be allowed to displace women’s rights.’
Rather, I would like to suggest there is an alternative approach to gender identity ideology than instant and uncritical celebration and unthinking denunciation of anyone who dissents as ‘shameful’ and ‘hateful’. … read full article
US - Parents raise concerns about gender support policy at New Prairie schools
From CBS Chicago (USA)
By CBS Chicago Team
October 25, 2022
A new support plan for students who identify as transgender or nonbinary is creating an uproar for many parents in LaPorte County, Indiana.
Emotions were high at a recent school board meeting for the New Prairie United School Corporation.
Under the district's gender support plan, students in kindergarten through 12th grade who identify as transgender or nonbinary can sign documents informing their school of their preferred identity, which would not have to be disclosed to parents or guardians.
The policy also allows students to access to restrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity. … read full article
US - Tea with my daughter
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
October 25, 2022
Yesterday I had tea with my daughter.
I swallowed my pain with my drink and pretended to nibble on some cake.
She gobbled hers as if she were starving.
I took my glasses off to stay blind to the stubble on her chin, the acne on her cheeks.
I listened for her sweet voice through the gravelly sounds in her throat as she laughed about the scars on her flat chest and watched me blink away my tears.
Crass words and profanities spewed from my beautiful, sensitive child, mocking the once loving bond between us.
Yesterday I had tea with my daughter
But my daughter wasn't there.