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Wednesday, May 4, 2022
This day in Herstory: Audrey Hepburn, born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 (died January 20, 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. (more)
Early transgender identity tends to endure, study suggests
From AP News (USA)
By LINDSEY TANNER
May 4, 2022
Children who begin identifying as transgender at a young age tend to retain that identity at least for several years, a study published Wednesday suggests.
The research involved 317 youngsters who were 3 to 12 years old when they were recruited to the study. Five years later, at the study’s end, 94% were living as transgender and almost two-thirds were using either puberty-blocking medication or sex hormones to medically transition. … read full article
Ed. note: The study does not address the long-term health consequences of medical transitions for children between 3 and 12 years old. The authors of the study assume that the results support their hypothesis that transitioning is a positive step for children, but they base that on the assumption that the small percentage of detransitioners within five years is evidence that transitioning was the right choice for them. The possible negative consequences of the puberty-blocking drugs used are not considered at all. Also ignored in this study is the question of what percentage of children would still wish to transition if they had NOT taken the path of medically transitioning. This study confirms that children who start down the path of medically transitioning rarely desist or detransition. That should be worrying, NOT reassuring, to anyone with concerns about the long-term effects.
How a Decade of Democratic Delusions Failed Women on Abortion
From Obama and the ACA to modern gender ideology, Democrats have repeatedly sold out women to the highest bidder
From 4W (USA)
By Natasha Chart
May 4, 2022
Last year, a personal situation unraveled badly, and a friend told me that while it was understandable that I was upset, what I was mourning was my delusion about what I thought I had. Just like when someone breaks up with you and you didn’t see it coming, if you thought the relationship was in good shape … delusion.
So it is with feminists and the left, and what looks to be a SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade and Casey. I’m sure others are preparing state by state maps about where it will still be possible to get an abortion and how much it will cost a woman in rural Texas, say, to get to the nearest clinic. I mainly want to assist with removing a few delusions some feminists may still harbor about how we got here.
… read full article
The end of Roe vs Wade will remake the sexual revolution
Both Left and Right will have to reconsider their decades-long assumptions
From The Post by UnHerd (UK)
By Mary Harrington
May 4, 2022
Yesterday a draft opinion was leaked from the US Supreme Court, concerning the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health case: one that has the potential to overturn the cornerstones of US abortion law, effectively ending the federal ‘right’ to legal abortion.
The news has caused pandemonium, and no wonder. In effect it would undo America’s national consensus — however contentious this has historically been — on the sexual revolution. If this happens, it will force a shake-up of entrenched views on both sides of America’s political aisle concerning both the social meaning of sex and difficult questions of ‘personal responsibility’ versus wider societal obligations to mothers and babies. … read full article
What Happens When Roe Ends
A preview of Day One in a post-Roe America
From Jill Filipovic (USA)
By Jill Filipovic
May 4, 2022
Overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents and the robed theocrats of the Supreme Court tell us, isn’t such a big deal. It will simply toss the question of abortion back to the states. The truth is that as soon as Roe goes, antifeminists will begin pushing for a nationwide ban, and since the Republican Party has stripped away so many democratic safeguards, there’s a non-zero chance they’ll get there.
But let’s talk about what happens the day the Supreme Court releases its opinion overturning Roe, assuming the Supreme Court overturns Roe. … read full article
Women-only jobs are allowed, says EHRC amid trans row in rape crisis centres
From The Times (UK)
By Mary Wright
May 4, 2022
Employers are to be reminded they may legally restrict some job vacancies to women only, following an intervention from the equalities watchdog.
Feminist campaigners have claimed that rape crisis centres have ignored schedule nine of the Equality Act by accepting applications from trans women who do not hold gender recognition certificates.
They argue the legal stipulation — which says a position may be restricted to women under certain circumstances — should be applied in facilities used by victims of male sexual violence. … read full article
Rape victim sues crisis centre after transgender woman allowed to join ‘female-only’ therapy group
The Survivors’ Network, which has received over £100,000 in government funding, says services are available to any ’self-identifying woman’
From The Telegraph (UK)
By Blathnaid Corless
May 3, 2022
A government-funded rape crisis centre is being sued by a sexual assault survivor for allowing a transgender woman to access its female-only support group.
The rape victim, who has been granted court anonymity but goes by the name Sarah, sought counselling from the Survivors’ Network in Brighton last year after she was sexually abused as a child and later raped in her twenties.
Sarah joined the organisation’s female-only peer support group in 2021, and said she initially felt “relieved” to be able to share her story among women with similar experiences. … read full article
Essay: The Seven Necessary Sins for Fighting Abortion Bans
Abortion is a human right, not a bonus or a reward we must earn
From Feminist Giant (USA)
By Mona Eltahawy
May 4, 2022
A leaked draft opinion suggests the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is about to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. The SCOTUS ruling, expected this summer, would leave people in 24 states subject to immediate abortion bans. My book The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls is a manifesto for destroying patriarchy through attributes we are not supposed to have, do, or want: anger, attention, profanity, ambition, power, violence, and lust. I believe they form a roadmap for the fight against abortion bans everywhere, with a specific focus on the United States. … read full article
GOP senator calls gender-affirming surgeries for minors ‘almost grotesque’ during hearing
From The Hill (USA)
By ARIS FOLLEY
May 4, 2022
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra over health care for transgender youth at a budget hearing on Wednesday, during which he characterized gender-affirming surgeries as “almost grotesque” in an exchange.
The moment came as Becerra testified before members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies about President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Braun, a member of the subcommittee, began his line of questioning by raising concerns about the use of “puberty blocking and hormone therapy drugs for gender transition.” … read full article
A trans-rights culture war is overshadowing the Scottish independence debate
Alex Salmond's Alba party sees itself as the champion of sex-based rights
From JOE (UK)
By Ava Evans
May 4, 2022
It’s a grey morning on the outskirts of Dundee, and Alex Salmond is meeting a youth kickboxing champion. It’s pouring with rain and there’s no other media anywhere to be seen on this campaign stop. …
Beyond Scottish independence, the greatest challenge facing Nicola Sturgeon’s government is the delivery of the Gender Recognition Act - which would make it easier for trans people to legally certify their identity. The bill has split the SNP into entrenched pro and anti camps: gender-critical feminists believe it threatens women’s spaces, while those who support it say their opponents are depriving trans people of their human rights. … read full article
Academic Exile, Two Years On
Academia has become an intellectual prison, and many incarcerated professors are compelled to live a dual existence.
From Quillette (Australia)
By Bo Winegard
May 4, 2022
Two years ago, I was fired from my job as a professor at a small mid-western college. I was not fired because of poor teacher ratings, student complaints, data fraud, or any other job-related shortcomings. I was fired because I spoke and wrote openly about human psychological variation, and because I maintained that I would continue to speak and write candidly about that subject and about other potentially controversial topics. … read full article
Not A Desistance Story
From Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) (USA)
May 4, 2022
This is a not a desistance story—this is a middle of the road story. Or, maybe this is just a journey story, as there is no road and there is no end.
My son is 17. It’s been almost a year since my son announced, at the age of 16, that he was transgender.
“Are you shocked?” he asked, almost cheerfully. … read full article
Allison Bailey: Barrister labelled transphobic, tribunal hears
The views of a barrister were labelled "transphobic" in a colleague's email, a tribunal has been told.
From BBC News (UK)
May 4, 2022
Allison Bailey is suing her chambers and LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, arguing she was unlawfully discriminated against due to her view that sex is biological and cannot change.
Ms Bailey, who is a lesbian, argues her employer wrongly treated her views as transphobic.
Her law firm, Garden Court Chambers (GCC), rejects the claims she makes.
The tribunal heard that on 14 December 2018, GCC family law barrister Stephen Lue sent an email to employees to let them know the firm was becoming a "Stonewall Diversity Champion". … read full article
Fox News Poll: Majority favors ban on sex, gender discussions for young children in schools
From Fox News (USA)
By Victoria Balara
May 4, 2022
Over half of registered voters would support a law that bans teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation with students before fourth grade.
That’s according to the latest Fox News poll, released Wednesday.
Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial "Parental Rights in Education" bill (referred to by detractors as the "Don’t Say Gay" bill) in late March, banning public school teachers from giving sexual orientation or gender identity instruction to students in kindergarten through third grade. … read full article
Children are priority one for parents
From Union-Bulletin (USA)
By Carrie Lukas
May 4, 2022
Parents assumed that better times would be ahead once concerns about COVID-19 waned. But they aren’t here yet.
Runaway inflation is taxing family budgets today and creating tremendous concerns about what economic crisis might be around the corner.
Violent crime has spiked; people are pouring in, unchecked, over our southern border. The war in Ukraine and an increasingly aggressive China make the world seem dangerous and, worse, the United States unprepared to handle coming challenges.
Parents feel helpless. Worse, we feel responsible for how terribly we have let our children down. … read full article
Transphobia row at Radio ‘Oscars’ over Nolan Investigates: Stonewall podcast
Calls for boycott of Aria Awards after BBC production outlining influence of the LGBT charity on UK institutions is nominated for prizes
From The Telegraph (UK)
By Craig Simpson
May 3, 2022
The Oscars of the radio industry faces a boycott in a transgender row after a BBC expose of Stonewall was nominated for four awards.
BBC podcast Nolan Investigates: Stonewall outlined the influence of the LGBT charity over UK institutions and was nominated in four categories at the annual Audio and Radio Industry Awards (Arias) for excellence in radio – but some in the industry have called the programme “openly transphobic”. … read full article
Transgender inmate celebrates historic ruling mandating gender-affirming surgery: ‘I am hopeful’
From Yahoo! News (USA)
By Marquise Francis
May 4, 2022
After an intense three-year legal battle, Cristina Nichole Iglesias, a transgender female inmate, is now set to become the first federal prisoner in U.S. history to receive gender-affirming surgery, after a federal judge in Illinois last month ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had to find a qualified surgeon immediately to perform the procedure. … read full article
GHSA votes to ban transgender athletes from competing based on gender ID
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (USA)
By Todd Holcomb and Ty Tagami
May 4, 2022
The Georgia High School Association’s executive committee voted 62-0 on Wednesday to require that athletes compete based on gender assigned at birth, effectively banning transgender athletes from participating based on gender identification.
The ruling restores the GHSA policy that existed before 2016, when the GHSA began allowing individual member schools to set their own policies. The organization oversees sports for the state’s public high schools. … read full article