BROADview in Brief

No regrets here

Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash

Parental notification of a new gender identity continues to be a hot topic in education across the United States. In California, Murietta Valley Unified became the latest school district to adopt a mandatory parental notification policy, even as the state continues to investigate whether it can intervene in these local decisions. Florida has taken even further steps, as it moves to not only require parental notification but also reopen bathroom debates that the Supreme Court has long avoided.

In Maryland, on the other hand, an attempt to roll back a school policy that deliberately hides new gender identities from parents was tossed out in federal appeals court because the plaintiffs lacked standing—none of the parents suing have children that identify as transgender. The judges didn’t seem to understand that that is the whole point. And two Republican state senators in New Jersey have called for a special legislative session to repeal new guidelines on gender approved by the State Board of Education before they go into effect, including those allowing children to attend sex ed classes by gender identity instead of sex, and the requirement to use the term “all sexes” instead of “both sexes” in all materials (oy vey, New Jersey…really??!). 

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a trans pro disc golfer is suing the Professional Disc Golf Association for its new rules barring late transitioning males from competing in the female category. And in Massachusetts, a Catholic couple is suing the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families for refusing to give them a foster care license due to their religious beliefs about gender and sexual orientation. What do you think about the social worker’s report and the license denial? Should couples from certain religious faiths such as conservative Christians, Muslims, and Orthodox Jews not be allowed to foster or adopt in the US? 

On the medical care front, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin refused to signal whether he’d support a moratorium on youth gender medicalization, and a judge in Nebraska tossed out a lawsuit challenging a newly signed Nebraska law that both bans abortion after 12 weeks and restricts access to gender surgeries for those under 19.

Australian journalist Bernard Lane reported that Denmark is following the rest of Scandinavia in pulling back on youth gender medicalization. He noted that a key difference is “that the call for an end to medical transition of minors is being spearheaded by a mainstream LGBT group, the Danish Rainbow Council, launched in 2022 under the leadership of transsexual Marcus Dib Jensen. The organisation is pledged to child safeguarding and recognition of gender dysphoria as a mental disorder, while opposing the extremes of gender ideology.” So how in the heck is the Danish Rainbow Council considered mainstream in Denmark, but the LGB Alliance and its affiliates get tagged as extremists in the UK and abroad?? Do a deep dive on that, Bernard, please! 

Speaking of Australia, there was news coverage of a true tragedy: a trans man went into hospital for a hysterectomy without realizing she was four months pregnant, the hospital did not follow routine pregnancy testing procedures, and the fetus was killed during surgery. The hiding of sex in favor of gender identity can put women/trans men at real risk of medical malfeasance. Similar cases have happened in the US, and I’m quite sure that the pronouns used in the news headlines were absolutely part of what played out in these hospitals. 

Also in health news, a small study reporting a zero regret rate for trans mastectomies got played up in the mainstream media. Not so fast, says the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine. There are too many flaws to list here, but SEGM observed that “the only intellectually honest commentary is that we do not have good knowledge of the likely rates of detransition and regret following chest masculinization mastectomy, nor do we know how many people experience regret but remain transitioned.”

It’s hard to be a female attracted to females in 2023, and that was certainly on display in the UK last week…No Homosexuality Please, We’re British, a farce for the 21st century? 

There are many downsides to being a parent in the middle of this gender maelstrom, but a real upside is connecting with honest, open, and raw fellow parents who are also stumbling through this storm. To that end, I want to note that Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans have published their first book Tales from the Home Front in the Fight to Save Our Kids. It’s a collection of top parent essays from the first two years of their Substack, and all proceeds benefit Genspect. And speaking of Genspect, both Lisa and I will be at their Denver conference in November. I’d love to meet you if you’re there! 

Until next week, a huge shoutout to readers who shared links and intriguing ideas in the comments and through this form, and most especially to Incognito Q, who is a news compiler par excellence. Many thanks, IQ!