BROADview in Brief
He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself...
I love these dragons, although given the wide range of positions feminists take, I’d probably choose a many-headed hydra for the image these days. Still, it reminds me that some feminists approach modern concepts of gender with fangs, some with rolling eyes, and others will happily pass the lipstick. I’ve seen all that and more in play in online conversations this week. Swedish writer August Strindberg said, “He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself,” and that has also felt timely. Ah, well, it was almost a quiet week in Lake Genderbegone…if you discount the AGPGate dramas, the Ladies Champion of Champions pool tournament flame-out, and the British police calling a lesbian in for questioning for tweeting that transwomen are men. One of these weeks, there will be nothing to report, but not today!
What’s been going on across our not-so-United States?
Remember that district in Sherman, Texas, that banned a production of Oklahoma! for indecency and cross-sex casting? Well, the students took the issue to the school board, made their case, and the school board voted in their favor! Yay, students!
A Georgia prison officer is suing his employer for failing to stop workplace harassment, and the case is currently before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Tyler Copeland is a transman/trans-identified female whose underlings used terms like “ma’am” and “baby girl” when addressing Copeland. The 11th Circuit is apparently skeptical, but it sounds like harassment to me. What do you think?
In Minnesota, prominent physician Dr. Michael Joyner is suing his employer, the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, for stifling his academic freedom and freedom of speech. Mayo had disciplined him for speaking out against some NIH Covid-19 policies during the pandemic and for stating in 2022 that males have a competitive advantage in swimming after puberty due to the impact of testosterone: “According to the lawsuit, Mayo in a disciplinary letter said that Joyner's comments "reflect poorly on Mayo Clinic's brand and reputation" and that in the future he must "discuss approved topics only.””
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York is stirring up drama with right-wingers who have their knickers in a knot because two gender non-conforming Broadway performers, Justin David Sullivan and Alex Newell, are participating in the parade. Calm down, folx.
They can roll their outrage right on over to the new picture book In My Daddy’s Belly, the Story of a Transgender Dad Giving Birth. Reviewers seem to love it or hate it.
In California, a Navy SEAL who’s been vehemently protesting transgender school policies under a pseudonym was doxxed and is being investigated by the military for possible connections to the alt-right, neo-fascist Proud Boys.
In show biz news, comedian Marlon Wayans announced that his daughter, Amai is now his son, Kai, and naturally, he’ll be featuring his story in an upcoming comedy special. “I talk about the transition — not their transition, but my transition — as a parent going from ignorance and denial to complete, unconditional love and acceptance.” Hmm.
And in global news:
In one of the more bizarre twists of the New Gender Order, a British endometriosis charity asked a transwoman/trans-identified male, Steph Richards, to become its CEO, kicking up quite the row over in the UK. It even got the BBC Woman’s Hour riled up--they normally avoid, obfuscate, or mislead about all things trans but had Richards and Endometriosis South Coast founder Jodie Hughes on the show this week to talk about the appointment. You can listen to the discussion here, but the Daily Mail called the interview a “car crash.” Host Emma Barnett had to press Richards to even say ‘woman.’ 'I’m happy to use the word woman, I realize the vast majority of endometriosis affects women. You’ll also know there’s 29 cases of endometriosis found in men,” retorted Richards. I’ll note that Richards means biological males here, not transmen, in case you’re confused. If you want to know how insane it’s gotten in the world of women’s healthcare, Healthline, a mid-rank American health information website, shares on its endometriosis page that “anyone can have endometriosis” and laments that all the studies on endometriosis use outdated terms like male and female. But it also goes on to state that the global sex ratio is 20 men vs 190 million women. Does it raise or lower awareness of endometriosis in the subgroup it most affects if you imply in your opening statement that it meaningfully affects everyone?
If you thought things were looking up for youth gender care in England, journalist Hannah Barnes says not so fast. The new youth services are greatly delayed and have “not been helped by a seeming reluctance to break fully from the past and follow a completely new model.” Her report also provides an excellent overview of the SEGM conference in New York.
In Canada, the head of the Canadian Powerlifting Union quit one week after suspending power lifter April Hutchison for publicly stating that males have physical advantages over females in competition. No, it doesn’t appear to be in protest of the suspension but rather because he’s fed up with the direction his job has taken (ie getting yelled at for suspending April Hutchison).
Bernard Lane reports that two French clinicians, Dr. Céline Masson and Dr. Caroline Eliacheff, have been awarded a prestigious psychology prize for their work investigating the rapid medicalization of trans-identified children and adolescents in France. If you read French, you can sign up for the newsletter from their organization, L’Observatoire La Petite Sirène, here. Just remember that mermaids are gender-credulous in England and gender-skeptical in France, and you’ll be able to keep it all straight.
The Vatican made some first steps towards allowing transgender people to be baptized in the Catholic Church and to serve as godparents.
In India, the military is mulling over whether to admit transgender soldiers, and in Bulgaria, a transactivist has gone on hunger strike to protest the lack of legal recognition for transgender people in that country.
It feels wrong to juxtapose hunger strikes with Thanksgiving, but here we are. I’ll be taking time off from work and writing to go visit my sons in Oregon next week, so there will be no In Brief (anyone in Portland want to grab a glass of wine?). I hope you’re also able to gather with friends and family! I’ll see you on the flip side, and in the meantime, please share your thoughts below and in this form.
With Thanksgiving gratitude for the research assistance of Alejandra Q.
"Baby girl" was harassment, "ma'am" was not.
Excellent round-up, Kate. And the Stepford reference is so apt.