My little write-up for the week became a big write-up, so I’ll send out headlines now and send the other in a bit. In the meantime, a legal case with the world’s greatest name is unfolding in Australia. Per the LGB Alliance Australia:
“Sall Grover is being sued by Roxanne Tickle, a biological male who identifies as a woman and alleges that he was discriminated against him when he was refused the right to join the female-only app Giggle for Girls.”
Many millions of thanks to Alejandra Q for these headlines and summaries. What would we do without her?
—LD
Summaries:
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers wrote a 32-page opinion piece expounding on a pending state bill which aims to restrict access to K-12 bathrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams based on sex. According to the opinion piece, the bill will likely withstand legal challenges because it “comports w/ the text and legislative purpose” of Title IX.
The state of Utah is being sued by Department of Justice for alleged discrimination against a trans-identified male inmate who castrated himself while in custody.
As expected, Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill on Tuesday which would have barred trans-identified male high school athletes from participating in female sports. Evers had previously stated: “I’ll keep my promise to veto any bill making Wisconsin less safe, less inclusive or e and less welcoming for LGBTQ people and kids — including this one.”
Idaho state senators passed two bills related to gender Tuesday night. The first bill aims to define male and female as the only two genders legally recognized by the state. The second bill aims to protect state workers who chose not to use preferred pronouns.
Tennessee state Rep. Bryan Richey proposed a bill (HB 2310) that would make it a felony to take trans-identified minors out of state for the purpose of receiving gender-affirming interventions without parental consent.
On a recent social media post, The National Organization for Women addressed the topic of trans-identified males in women’s sports with the following statement: “Repeat after us: Weaponizing womenhood against other women is white supremacist patriarchy at work. Making people believe there isn't enough space for trans women in sports is white supremacist patriarchy at work.’”
Korbin Albert, a 20-year old midfielder for the U.S. women's national team who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, shared a video on TikTok from a Christian sermon. The video described being gay and “feeling transgender” as wrong. Megan Rapinoe indirectly called out Albert on an Instagram post: "To the people who want to hide behind 'my beliefs' I would just ask one question, are you making any time of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better, bringing the best out of anyone?… because if you aren't all you believe in is hate…And Kids are literally killing themselves because of this hate. Wake TF up! Yours Truly, #15." As a response to this comment, Albert wrote on her own Instagram: “I want to sincerely apologize for my actions on social media…Liking and sharing posts that are offensive, insensitive and hurtful was immature and disrespectful which was never my intent."
A large percentage of this week’s headlines focused on the backlash and counter-backlash surrounding this year’s overlapping dates for Transgender Day of Visibility and Easter Sunday (including headlines from outlets like The New York Times). Conservative complaints included those from Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt who claimed that Biden should apologize to those who believe that Easter Sunday was “for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Similarly, House speaker Mike Johnson, stated that Biden had “betrayed the central tenet of Easter.” Charles Moran, president of Republican LGBT group The Log Cabin, expressed the following: "Yes - this Administration has been marking March 31st as Transgender Day of Visibility for several years now. And yes, Easter moves around. But I'm awe-struck that nobody in the White House thought that it might be prudent to possibly move the trans proclamation up or back a day, so it didn't directly conflict with the most important holiday in the Christian faith."
The response to the backlash included a statement by a White House spokesman saying that “As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American.” On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed criticisms, lambasting "cruel, hateful and dishonest rhetoric" from conservatives and stating that she was "surprised by the misinformation.” Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine called the controversy “manufactured outrage.”
The controversy was not limited to the US, with similar uproar reported in Australia and directed at its foreign minister. In addition, Australian Netball Swifts shooter Samantha Wallace-Joseph shared a headline addressing the controversy that included the caption “The disrespect is crazy. Don’t play with GOD.” Wallace-Joseph has since apologized for the social media post which she claims was “taken out of context.” However, Netball Australia is still investigating if Wallace-Joseph’s post breached the sport’s code of conduct.
International
A Japanese publisher received threats over its plan to publish a translation of Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage. Threats included an email calling for arson against bookstores carrying the book if its publication is not canceled. The book-publishing imprint of the conservative newspaper Sankei Shimbun filed a police report alleging forcible obstruction of business.
Scotland's new hate crime law came into effect on April 1st. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 makes it a crime to "stir up hatred" based on “age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex” with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. The Scottish government claims that while the law will grant protection from hate it will not interfere with free speech. Yet, senior police officers in Scotland also said that they expected an increase in complaints about social media posts. In a challenge to the new law and using the hashtag “arrest me,” JK Rowling posted a list on X of trans-identified male criminals and activists stating that “every last one” is a man. According to Rowling, “Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to back Rowling’s stance claiming that “We should not be criminalizing people saying common sense things about biological sex, clearly that isn't right. We have a proud tradition of free speech." Whether Rowling will face any consequences based on her post remains uncertain. The BBC notes that the police force had received the expected increase in complaints but that no action would be taken. Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, while confirming that Rowling’s posts were not a hate crime and that no action would be taken against her, called the posts "offensive and upsetting.” According The Independent, the Scottish National Party’s community safety minister, Siobhian Brown, had previously claimed that misgendering would not count as a hate crime. On Monday, however, Brown told Radio 4’s that misgendering “could be reported and it could be investigated. Whether or not the police would think it was criminal is up to Police Scotland for that.”
Roz Adams, a support counsellor for the Scottish charity Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre alleges to have suffered discrimination based on her views on gender. This includes alleged discrimination coming from the center’s chief executive Mridul Wadhwa, who is a trans-identified male. Adam’s lawyer claimed in an Edinburgh employment tribunal this week that the rape charity hid the sex of its counselors.
With GIDS closed as of March 28th, Hannah Barnes writes for The Guardian about the clinic’s history of controversy and looks at the future of pediatric gender services in England: “Initially, the only children who will be seen by the new services will be those whose care is being transferred from Gids. But only 250 of them. According to Tavistock board minutes, 58 patients will require a face-to-face handover because of ‘complexity and/or risk’. Anyone already receiving puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, or who has been referred to endocrinology but not begun treatment, will not have their care overseen by the new services.” The London Times highlights the whistleblowers who question the preparedness of the hubs that will now replace the Gids, with one of the whistleblowers saying “It’s been shoddy, disorganized, messy and unclear. And at times, it’s felt unsafe.” SEGM published an article that summarizes relevant documents published by NHS England in the last month. These documents indicate that while cross-sex hormones will still be prescribed to minors at “around 16 years of age” this will also include a “new safeguarding element.” SEGM also notes that more changes are expected even after the publication of the final Cass report (due later this month).
Headlines:
Mar 28: The Biden Administration Benches Female Athletes—Don’t believe the spin that its proposed Title IX regulations won’t harm athletics for women and girls. (City Journal)
Apr 4: Priest says ‘trans’ people he has ministered to have deep wounds “The priest explained that among people who declare themselves ‘trans,’ he has always found in his pastoral experience that ‘there are deep wounds that have led to nonacceptance of their biological reality.’” (Catholic News Agency)
Apr 4: Health Ministry praises transgender care guideline, but scraps it in political trade-off—Gender transition guideline already cancelled last November. “However, the minister argues that the standards, which she admits are a medical matter, have a significant ethical impact and affect all society. Dolinková then named administrative problems when a transgender person wants to change their name and birth number at the register office. However, LGBT+ organisations are questioning the reasoning and stressing that the decision comes several days before the presidential election. Meanwhile, the Slovak Psychiatric Association is considering ending cooperation with the ministry. Its members worked on the standards.” (The Slovak Spectator)
Apr 4: Transgender Inmate’s Strip-Search Suit Trimmed by 8th Circuit “Guards at a Missouri state prison must face a lawsuit filed by a transgender female inmate alleging mistreatment in connection with an aggressive and humiliating strip search, and retaliation after she filed grievances and a lawsuit over the incident.” (Bloomberg Law)
April 4: Judge denies New York county executive request to block AG order to rescind transgender athlete ban (The Hill)
Apr 4: Schools defy ministers to let children change gender behind their parents’ backs—Analysis of more than 600 school equality and trans policies reveals that up to three-quarters misrepresent laws protecting sex and gender (The Telegraph)
Apr 4: HAYLEY’S HOPE SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED, FIRST EVER ARIZONA-BASED SCHOLARSHIP FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS (EIN news)
Apr 4: Carnival Cruise Line addresses key transgender issue “The chain faced a backlash from conservative customers over its decision to allow shoppers to use the bathrooms that matched their gender identities rather than their birth genders.” (Jackson Progress Argus)
Apr 4: Bestiality references allegedly made during presentation at Renmark High School “The students said bestiality was then explained in detail and the presenter seemed to imply it was something practised by people who identified as LGBTQIA+. ‘They said [the queer community] just accepts all of it, even though … isn't it illegal’ Emelia said. As the talk went on multiple girls, including Courtney, began to feel uncomfortable and asked to leave the classroom to ‘go to the bathroom’. ‘We're all just sitting there like, 'What the hell? What are we doing here? Why are we learning about animals having sex with humans?’’she said.” (abc.net.au)
Apr 3: Lionel Shriver: ‘Transgenderism is a social mania’—The fearless author on the ‘disadvantage’ of being male, ‘evil’ hate speech laws and why universities are ‘destroying’ themselves (The Telegraph—Paywall)
Apr 3: British women should rally behind JK Rowling's 'brave stance' against the SNP's new hate crime laws, says the Mail's Sarah Vine (The Daily Mail)
Apr 3: Non-binary Canadian seeks public funding for surgery to create vagina while preserving penis“The 33-year-old Ontario resident, referred to as K.S. in court papers, was born male but identifies as non-binary and ‘literally a mix’ of genders, according to the National Post.” (the New York Post)
Apr 3: Doctors in trans refuge states fight for more resources as demand skyrockets—Wait times are off the charts, but legislation in Minnesota could provide funding to train more medical professionals in providing gender-affirming care. (LGBTQNation)
Apr 4: San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger laid out a plan to attack the scientific consensus behind gender-affirming care. Some mainstream outlets took the bait.—Newsweek, The Washington Post, and two of the largest TV station owners in the US fell prey to a PR campaign by anti-trans activists pushing to expand conservative states’ bans “Networks owned by the largest local TV station owners in the U.S., and mainstream outlets including The Washington Post and Newsweek, recently amplified a deeply flawed report by anti-trans activists. The outlets also failed to fact-check its misinformation or provide context for the extremists behind it. The report was covered widely by anti-trans figures and outlets, and some Republican state legislators are already using the report to call for expanding restrictions on gender-affirming care.“ (Media Matters)
Apr 4: Mother of Transgender Child Writes to Pope Francis: “Stop Putting Limits on God’s Love!” (New Ways Ministry)
Apr 4: Transgender High School Athlete Faces Backlash, Loses Scholarship After Being Targeted by Riley Gaines “The athlete, aged 17, had previously committed to attending the University of Washington (UW), where she was set to join the volleyball team.” (The Stock Dork)
Apr 4: 2024 Paris Olympics: Understanding IOC framework on transgender athlete participation—'Framework' replaced previous policy established in 2015 “The IOC released the ‘Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations,’ commonly referred to by the IOC as the ‘Framework,’ in November 2021 following a ‘two-year consultation process’ that included insight from more than 250 athletes, human rights, legal and medical experts.” (Fox News)
Apr 4: NSC to scupper transgender passport sex change legislation “Draft legislation allowing transgender people to change their sex in their passport more easily is likely to fail now Pieter Omtzigt is mobilising a majority of MPs to scrap the plan, the AD said on Thursday. The legislation had already been ruled controversial by the new influx of MPs, meaning it can only be discussed when there is a new government. And Omtzigt’s NSC argues that now there is no longer a majority in favour of the legislation, it should be withdrawn altogether. The draft bill, drawn up in 2022 by the liberal democratic party D66 and supported by most of the left-wing opposition, will give transgender people the right to change their sex to V (vrouw or woman) or M (man) but not X without the say-so of a doctor.” (Dutch News)
Apr 4: Transgender athlete allegedly kicked off women's rowing team for 'lewd comments' in 2022—Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player who was injured by a transgender athlete, joins 'Fox & Friends' to call out a transgender student for 'narcissism and misogyny' and says her life was 'changed forever' when she was injured. (Fox News)
Apr 4: Republicans couldn’t challenge candidacies of transgender opponents. Now, they want to change that: Capitol Letter “Two Ohio House Republicans who are facing transgender Democratic challengers want voters from either side of the political aisle to be able to challenge candidacies of those running in primary elections. Jeremy Pelzer reports that the proposal comes after a challenge to one of those candidates by the Mercer County GOP chair was thrown out because state law says only members of the same party can challenge a candidacy. Before the primary, one transgender candidate was removed from the ballot because they didn’t disclose their “deadname,” but two running in other districts were allowed to stay on even though they apparently ran afoul of a little-known state law that requires disclosure of former legal names.” (Cleveland.com)
Apr 4: Investigators examine prostate cancer incidence in transgender women “‘We ultimately found that trans women from between the ages of 50 and 65 who were on hormone therapy had a 2.5-fold decreased risk of prostate cancer compared with cis men,’ says Matthew Loria“ (Urology Times)
Apr 3: Ohio transgender candidates’ GOP opponents pitch cross-party attempts to disqualify office seekers “Voters from opposing political parties could challenge candidacies across the aisle under a legislative proposal from two Ohio House Republicans facing transgender Democratic opponents who didn’t list their “deadname” on campaign paperwork. The legislation, which doesn’t yet have a bill number, comes after elections officials threw out a challenge by Mercer County GOP Chair Robert Hibner against the candidacy of Arienne Childrey, an Auglaize County Democrat challenging Republican state Rep. Angela King of Celina.” (Cleveland.com)
Apr 3: Transgender Utah prisoner CASTRATES herself in protest after being denied hormone treatment for two years - as DOJ sues the state for discrimination “An inmate has castrated herself after being denied hormone treatment. The Department of Justice is suing the Utah Department of Corrections for blocking the inmate from her treatment, worsening her mental health.” (The Daily Mail)
Apr 3: The Problem With Saying 'Sex Assigned at Birth' “The shift to ‘sex assigned at birth’ may be well intentioned, but it is not progress. We are not against politeness or expressions of solidarity, but “sex assigned at birth” can confuse people and creates doubt about a biological fact when there shouldn’t be any. Nor is the phrase called for because our traditional understanding of sex needs correcting — it doesn’t. This matters because sex matters. Sex is a fundamental biological feature with significant consequences for our species, so there are costs to encouraging misconceptions about it.” (The New York Times)
Apr 1: Republicans may accidentally help kill Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming healthcar—Republicans pushed for a 2011 constitutional amendment regulating healthcare. It may come back to bite them. (LGBTQ Nation)
Apr 3: Kansas lawmakers try again to ban gender-affirming care (NPR)
Apr 3: The CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association on Gender-Affirming Care, Covid, and More—He represents children's hospitals around the country. “Recently, longtime hospital executive Matthew Cook moved to DC for a new job as CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association, the trade group for more than 200 of the nation’s pediatric hospitals. He spoke with us about what he wants to achieve. ‘Kids are the future of this country,” he says, ‘so we should be investing more in them, not less.’” (Washingtonian)
Apr 1: Colorado plans to create special housing units for transgender women in prisons (NPR)
Apr 2: Earth to Planet Fitness: Women Don’t Want to Share Locker Rooms With Faux Females (The Daily Signal)
Apr 2: TN bill would specifically criminalize people who take trans minors out-of-state for gender-affirming care without parental consent—The bill would make it a Class-C felony if a person takes a transgender minor outside Tennessee for gender-affirming care without parental consent. (10News)
Apr 3: Critics rage against NY’s proposed ‘Equal Rights Amendment’ they say curbs parents rights over kids’ transgender surgery “Critics are raging against New York’s proposed “Equal Rights Amendment,” claiming the Nov. 5 ballot measure could curb the rights of parents when it comes to allowing minors to undergo gender reassignment surgery. New York voters don’t yet know much about the particulars of the ERA, which could codify abortion rights in the state constitution — advanced by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats who run the state legislature.” (New York Post)
Apr 3: Justice Department sues Utah, saying it discriminated against incarcerated transgender woman—The lawsuit comes after the Utah Legislature passed two laws limiting transgender people from being assigned to housing units that align with their gender identity. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Apr 3: Whistleblowing Surgeon Targeted by DOJ, HHS for Exposing Trans Procedures in Texas Children’s Hospital “Last spring, a little-known surgeon exposed that Texas Children’s Hospital, despite announcing the end of its sex-change procedures, secretly continued performing transgender surgeries and treatments on minors. Now, he faces persecution by the federal government for telling the truth. After trying to keep his head down by anonymously leaking evidence of the procedures to a journalist, Dr. Eithan Haim, 33, decided to go public in January in an effort to protect himself from retaliation by Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services officials.” (National Review)
Apr 3: Nebraska AG provides legal opinion in favor of transgender bathroom, sports proposal In a 32-page opinion, Attorney General Mike Hilgers outlined why a pending bill to restrict K-12 bathrooms, locker rooms and sporting teams based on students’ sex at birth would be legal if passed into law (Nebraska Examiner)
Apr 3: Transgender people seeking refuge are moving to this California sanctuary city: 'It's better here' (San Francisco Chronicle)
Apr 3: Nex Benedict’s suicide coincides with a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws – and some people’s misunderstanding about transgender and nonbinary individuals (The Conversation)
Apr 3: Bearded trans athlete filmed injuring rival at school basketball game 'was suspended from rowing team for leering at topless girl in changing room' (The Daily Mail)
Apr 2: The Damage Caused by Trans ‘Inclusion’ In Female Athletics: a Massachusetts Case Study A single biologically male high-school student has invaded female categories in at least four different sports—negatively affecting hundreds of girls and women in the process. (Quilette)
Apr 2: Transgender community members, supporters make demands to IC City Councils—Many of the same speakers from the council’s March 19 meeting showed up again to express demands and share personal experiences with the council. (Daily Iowan)
Apr 2: DOJ sues Utah, state corrections department for discriminating against transgender woman “The woman had struggled with symptoms of gender dysphoria ‘for many years’ before entering the department’s custody in 2021, federal investigators said, and her psychological distress worsened while she was incarcerated in a men’s prison. In May, after nearly two years spent in custody without access to gender-affirming health care, the woman performed a dangerous self-surgery to remove her own testicles, resulting in hospitalization and additional surgery. ‘By not allowing me this opportunity to live my life as a woman, who I believe I am and have lived life for many years, the prison is causing me such mental stress,’ the woman wrote in her ADA complaint. (The Hill)
Apr 1: Nevada regent under fire for controversial comments on transgender athletes “‘How many or do we have any men masquerading as women playing in any of our teams and are hurting any of the women? Do we have that issue here in NSHE?’ Boylin asked three athletic directors during the March 1 board meeting.
The question created an uproar among some community members.
‘There's something known as the First Amendment. And it's the freedom of speech,’ he said later on in the meeting following a public comment by a student.” (3News)
Apr 2: The Kansas GOP is all about parental rights — unless we’re talking about trans kids | Opinion (Kansas City Star)
Apr 2: Fox Host Shuts Down Republican's Transgender Comment “Fox Business News host Maria Bartiromo interrupted a Republican congressman live on air after he said being transgender was a "mental illness."
Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee appeared on Mornings with Maria Bartiromo on Monday, where he was asked about the backlash against Joe Biden's celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday.” (Newsweek)
Apr 1: Transgender militia leader serving 53 years for plot to blow up Minnesota mosque demands transfer to women's prison amid 'relentless sexual harassment' in men's facility “Michael Hari, who now identifies as Emily Claire Hari, 53, has demanded to be moved from a men's facility to a women's prison threatening to cut off her penis. Hari was convicted by a jury in December 2020 on several civil rights and hate-crime charges stemming from the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque. Hari is renewing her demands to be transferred to a female prison while also suing the Bureau of Prisons in a lawsuit filed in late 2022.” (The Daily Mail)
Apr 1: Adm. Levine celebrates trans joy on Transgender Day of Visibility “‘Trans joy means authenticity and being comfortable in your own skin and being able to be who you are,’ said Levine, who is the highest-ranking transgender official in U.S. history.” (Washington Blade)
Apr 1: White House Leaves ‘Transgender Day Of Visibility’ Off Spanish-Language Accounts On Easter (Daily Caller)
Apr 1: Two men charged with distributing illicit drugs in death of transgender activist—Cecilia Gentili, an activist, actor and author, died in February due to the combined effect of fentanyl, heroin and other drugs, authorities said Monday. (NBC News)
Apr 1: Transgender activist who fought to abolish ICE honored with 2024 RFK Human Rights award—Arely Westley is the first transgender woman to receive the award (Fox News)
Mar 28: Biden Title IX rules on trans athletes set for election-year delay—Proposed regulations would outlaw state bans on transgender athletes but allow some targeted restrictions (The Washington Post)
Mar 30: Mayo Clinic's transgender care clinic patients face longer waits, as demand grows for gender-affirming care—As many states enforce laws that restrict or ban gender-affirming care, particularly for youth, providers in Minnesota are facing higher patient loads. The downstream effect: longer wait times for patients (postbulletin.com)
Apr 1: Texas appeals court blocks state from investigating families seeking gender-affirming care for trans youth (CNN)
Mar 31: GOP lawmakers pushing bad-faith, anti-transgender bill “Republicans in the Arizona Legislature are pushing a bad-faith bill aimed at one thing: further restricting access to health care for transgender Arizonans. SB1511 is designed to harass insurers and providers with fear-mongering about future ‘liability’ for having provided gender-affirming care and create new and unnecessary obstacles for transgender people to receive the same types of care that cisgender people do.” (AZ Capitol Times)
International Headlines
Mar 27: Brighton GP is using loophole to prescribe hormones to kids, book claims (Brighton and Hove News)
Apr 1: New NHS gender clinics for young people understaffed and not ready, say sources
EXCLUSIVEAs the controversial GIDS clinic at the Tavistock closes, two new hubs are replacing it - but insiders reveal their fears for patients (inews)
Apr 2: Court to decide if Ontario must pay for surgery to make vagina if patient also wants to keep penis—A non-binary Ontario resident is locked in a legal battle over public funding for surgery to create a vagina while leaving the penis intact (National Post)
Mar 31: Hundreds of Canadian artists denounce 'alarming' anti-trans legislation in open letter—Policies 'present a clear risk to the mental and physical well-being of trans individuals,' letter says (CBC)
Apr 3: Hunter Schafer: Euphoria star says she no longer wants to play trans characters (BBC)
Mar 30: Bizarre moment Rutgers gender study professor tells seminar that it's 'homophobic and violent' to flag how badly LGBT people are treated in Gaza (Daily Mail)
Mar 26: Medical body sparks uproar with claims trans rules for schools 'pose a risk to children' “The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says the proposed rules - which advise teachers against letting pupils identify as the opposite sex - will 'cause distress' and create a 'negative environment' as pupils will not be 'supported to be themselves'.” (Daily Mail)
Mar 31: Why are three biologically male trans murderers being held with female prisoners in women-only jails? “Three murderers who were born male continue to live among vulnerable women inmates despite the Scottish Prison Service's new transgender guidance. The 'female-identifying' killers have not been moved from women-only custody units because, feminist campaigners say, 'they murdered men' rather than women.” (The Daily Mail)
Mar 28: Second teenager, 16, charged with attempted murder of trans girl who was 'stabbed 14 times and subjected to slurs at rollerskating party' (The Daily Mail)
Apr 1: Support group for transgender civil servants that likened women's rights campaigners to the Ku Klux Klan is handed £190,000 of taxpayers' money “A support group for transgender civil servants that has likened women's rights campaigners to the Ku Klux Klan has been handed tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money.
The staff network, known as a:gender, received £110,000 from the Home Office last year and another £80,000 from the Cabinet Office. It is also thought to have received funding from the Ministry of Defence, Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs.” (The Daily Mail)
Apr 1: Transgender woman who flew to Turkey for £8,000 gender reassignment surgery suffered serious internal injuries after being made to walk two miles with a dilator inside her following her vaginoplasty (The Daily Mail)
Apr 3: Elon Musk sues eSafety commissioner after transgender take-down order—Global tech titan Elon Musk is pursuing legal action over a post on his social media platform that was allegedly harmful to a transgender activist. “Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk is taking legal action against the Australian government after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant forced his tech platform X to remove a post allegedly harmful to a transgender activist. The furore kicked off in late February when Canadian man Chris Elston slammed the proposed appointment of Australian trans activist Teddy Cook to a World Health Organisation panel on healthcare delivery.” (news.com.au)
Apr 3: Hong Kong Amends Its Surgery Requirements to Change Gender Markers on IDs “Hong Kong no longer requires transgender people to undergo full gender-affirming surgery to change their legal gender markers in their IDs, more than a year after the Chinese enclave’s top court called the requirement unconstitutional. The government announced the change on Wednesday, “having prudently considered the objective of the policy, relevant legal and medical advice, as well as drawing reference from the relevant practices overseas.” (Time Magazine)
Apr 2: EXCLUSIVE: 24 Women Drop Out of Australian Football Division After FIVE Trans-Identified Males Dominate Women’s League, Leave Female Players Injured “In the audio clip, Parisi can be heard describing an incident that took place ‘a couple of years’ prior in which a female player was so severely injured by a trans-identified male player that she was no longer able to participate in the sport.
‘A couple of year ago, one of the Flying Bats players broke one of our players’ legs in a game. It was a clumsy tackle from behind. Our player had her leg broken in two places and she’s no longer playing football. It was a direct result of a real bad, tall player… he didn’t get a red card. Accidents happen, but this could have been avoided,’ Parisi said at the meeting. (Reduxx)
Apr 2: Record-breaking transgender athlete speaks about his story, overcoming challenges at AfterHours (Hunt News)
Apr 2: Sport Ireland Publishes Transgender Guidance “We acknowledge that this is a complex issue and by the very nature of sport there is no one-size fits all approach that can be applied across the board. Equally it is an area that is constantly evolving, and as such we at Sport Ireland will evolve our support to the sector through a suite of resources which are regularly updated.” (Sport for Business) New Irish transgender sport guidance: Guidance for Transgender and Non-Binary Inclusion in Sport (Sport Ireland)
New Studies and Opinion Pieces
Apr 3: How the Transgender Movement Fuels Conspiracy Theories—No conspiracy theory is as far-fetched as the idea that there are 72 genders. (The European Conservative)
Apr 1: A large amount of transgender treatment is ‘medicalising homosexuality’—“Writer Ben Appel says a large amount of transgender treatment on children is about ‘medicalising kids who are same-sex attracted’.” (Sky News Australia)
Study: Development of Gender Non-Contentedness During Adolescence and Early Adulthood (journal: Archives of Sexual Behavior)
Apr 1: New long-term study finds desire to be the opposite sex in adolescence is common, temporary, and declines with age—A recent Dutch study has found that the majority of adolescents who expressed a desire to be the opposite sex no longer felt that way in adulthood. (Substack Buttonslives)
Understanding Gender Identity—Experts explain what it means to identify as transgender and the diversity of gender identity. (Health Matters)
Study: Taryn versus Taryn (she/her) versus Taryn (they/them): A Field Experiment on Pronoun Disclosure and Hiring Discrimination (SSRN)
Study: Puberty Suppression for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria and the Child’s Right to an Open Future from the abstract: “We evaluate claims that puberty blockers are reversible, discuss the scientific uncertainty about long-term benefits and harms, summarize international developments, and examine how suicide has been used to frame puberty suppression as a medically necessary, lifesaving treatment. In discussing these issues, we include relevant empirical evidence and raise questions for clinicians and researchers. We conclude that treatment pathways that delay decisions about medical transition until the child has had the chance to grow and mature into an autonomous adulthood would be most consistent with the open future principle.” (Achieves of Sexual Behavior, Apr 2024)
Study: Development of Gender Non-Contentedness During Adolescence and Early Adulthood from the abstract: “Individuals with an increasing gender non-contentedness more often were female and both an increasing and decreasing trajectory were associated with a lower global self-worth, more behavioral and emotional problems, and a non-heterosexual sexual orientation. Gender non-contentedness, while being relatively common during early adolescence, in general decreases with age and appears to be associated with a poorer self-concept and mental health throughout development.” (Archives of Sexual Behavior, Feb 2024)
Study: Laboratory Changes During Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy in Transgender Adolescentsfrom abstract’s conclusions: “Abnormal laboratory results are rare in TGD adolescents prescribed GAHT and, if present, occur within 6 months of GAHT initiation. Future guidelines may not require routine screening of these laboratory parameters beyond 6 months of GAHT in otherwise healthy TGD adolescents.” (AAP Publications, Apr 2024)
Lisa’s generosity shines through with this lovely remark: “Many millions of thanks to Alejandra Q for these headlines and summaries. What would we do without her?” I would add, “Many millions of thanks to you, too, Lisa. We would be much the poorer without your hard and good work.
These round-ups clearly take astounding amount of work and also demonstrate in a uniquely powerful way what a huge mess we are in.
I want to lift up a couple things, both of which I learned first from this round-up.
First, the item in the Catholic Weekly quoting a priest. I am deeply secular and suspect I would disagree with this priest on many things, yet I was quite moved by the priest’s compassionate words, including these:
“The priest explained that among people who declare themselves “trans,” he has always found in his pastoral experience that “there are deep wounds that have led to nonacceptance of their biological reality.”
[The priest] asks himself: “What truly heals wounds?” His response is clear: “Affection and security. True love. What was missing could be given to them. Without escapes or ideologies. Teaching through true human love what the unconditional love that God has for us is.”
Second, as a New Yorker, I was interested to learn of the “Vote No” initiative relating to the proposed “Equal Rights” Amendment that will be on our ballots this fall. I will be voting no, and here is why:
The amendment is being touted as protecting abortion rights—but these rights re already protected under state law. A critical problem with the proposed amendment (as is also the case with the proposed federal Equality Act) is the redefinition of “sex” to include “gender identity or expression,” which, in cases of conflicting rights, would almost assuredly mean that “gender identity or expression” would prevail over sex-based rights and protections. What makes this so dismaying is that the problem could have been avoided if “gender identity or expression” had been made a separate protected category, rather than redefining sex include it.
Below, FYI, is the text of the proposed NYS amendment:
Provides that no person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof; provides no person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state.
I really like the summary of news around the world and in different states. It's so helpful to see what's going on all in one place.