Fritella - I, Erin Friday am a co-lead of Our Duty-USA for the Western Region. There are a few of us on the Our Duty's Substack writing for it so another Our Duty co-lead responded through Our Duty's Substack. I have no interest in proving what I say is true. It is your right to believe me or not, but I have no interest in trying to convince as you migrate from issue to issue. Since I am sure you will continue to find fault in what I opine. You started with a comment that I should not have had a visceral reaction (a physical reaction to a non-physical experience, an emotion that comes naturally), to I was hyperbolic about monkey pox to my theory - and I said it was a theory about the money and that I have not quite figured it out yet - is a conspiracy.
Lisa Selin Davis is not a part of Our Duty. She writes Broadview. She interviewed me about the laws being passed in California and my opinion as to why there is an onslaught of harmful bills. Her opinions are her own, as are mine.
I invite you to read Our Duty's Substack and you can read about all of the bills being authored and co-authored by Scott Wiener. I would love to hear your opinion after you read the articles. They will be posted throughout the month. Until then . . .
Interesting conversation re: many gay men's true believer-ism. I've always noticed among my gay male friends that they think they have a special understanding of feminism because of their gayness, when in reality they are no wiser than straight men and even somewhat sexist (sorry, not all gay men!). These same guys are very smug and smarmy about trans issues. I think it's just a matter of male overconfidence and thinking they're an expert when they're not.
Note, that Scott poo poos HIV epidemic in that tweet too. "Fun" is more important than safety. Self-pleasure is tantamount = hedonist. Shortly after the sex party, he asked for and received a State of Emergency proclamation resulting from the Monkey Pox outbreak. Sincerely, Erin Friday
Make sure to read the guidance Scott Wiener shares. A visceral reaction to a man who placed men in women prisons, is proposing laws that define "health, safety and welfare" to require affirming a child's gender identity, who entices kids to runaway to California - if you have children and the man who wants to harm children was standing over you, you would feel ill too. I am confounded that there are comments seemingly defending this man.
Thank you and Erin Friday so much for exposing what's really happening. I just wish people who weren't already somewhat aware of the issue could hear all this because it is truly shocking. As a lawyer, I am very disgusted by how the law is being used to harm vulnerable young people. As a mother of an ROGD daughter, I am personally horrified at what's happening. My experience of my daughter secretly obtaining black market testosterone gel at age 16 (last year) over the internet, mailed to a friend's house, proved the ease of ability for young people to obtain these chemicals illegally, but people like Wiener (apt name) are trying to make it legal for teenagers to take these harmful drugs w/o parental consent. While I struggle with the one issue voting idea, I no longer see the Democratic party as the better choice. I cannot wait for this insanity to come to an end.
As a very liberal Democrat, I can understand the idea of voting Republican or non-Democratic Party in a situation like Scott Wiener, if you feel the way that Erin Friday does about him. Voting against specific reps in the State Assembly or State Senate make far more sense because those are the people making the state laws that are actually affecting this issue the most. I can understand voting against a state Democrat who is actively promoting legislation that you feel is harmful. There are no circumstances under which I could ever believe that as a liberal Democrat, voting Republican for President or Senate or Congress would make any meaningful difference even if I were a single-issue voter (and I'm not). Ron DeSantis is not the answer to this problem, and while I understand Erin's passion and pain over her terrible experience, I think promoting a Presidential candidate like Ron DeSantis as the way forward on this issue is ineffective on every level imaginable. And to any Republicans or conservatives on this thread, respect to you and your opinions and choices. Everything I am saying above is from my own POV about my own liberal politics and directed at other liberals who hold similar liberal politics.
I listened to this a few days ago and it really has stayed with me. I am the mother of an ROGD girl. We are 2 plus years in (from New Jersey). My daughter first heard of this ideology in school. She was affirmed and cheered on by teachers, doctors and therapists. We sold our home, put her in a small private school and now live in a city where we can be more anonymous. We no longer use the pediatrician our family had for 20 years. We don't trust a single clinician with our child. We are afraid of the school. our teen doesn't have a therapist. We are afraid anyone might be some glitter person who might steer our child away. We know SO MANY other teen girls going through this now too. We also know those who have desisted. Someone provided syringes and testosterone to our 15 year old last year - I thankfully found it. My daughter's friend ran away to Portland Oregon twice last year with the help of some transmen all associated with the effective altruism cult. Erin is spot on here. Scott Weiner is hurting children, women, and families. The part that stayed with me the most was when Erin said, "fuck the NY Times" (I spoke with them too- at length) and when she went off on the democrats. I feel exactly the same. I will vote with anyone who is against this horrific harm.
I am so glad to hear that your daughter is doing well. People have no idea of the lengths we parents must go to safeguard our children. We swim upstream alone with everyone throwing hooks in our way, telling us we are wrong, judging us, and lying to us. I say this often because it is true I will never forgive those who turned a blind eye or promoted this barbaric time in our history. Children - any one will to harm children or mentally unwell young adults - have no morals.
Gay men in some ways have been natural allies and friends to women, and vice versa. But Erin mistakes a sincere lack of interest/attention to evil when she says Scott Weiner is evil.
Andrew Sullivan, for instance, is attuned to the issue of gender identity, full-throatedly, and yet he constantly, inadvertently showcases his lack of understanding for how women feel about any of this. He’s not evil, he just doesn’t get it.
As easy as it is to attribute evil to so many of these actors, the obvious and simpler explanation is that they are blind to what they don’t know. They believe they are on the right side of history, that they are expanding rights for a vulnerable minority, that they are “obviously” supporting a righteous cause.
I can almost guarantee you that every center or left of center woman here started out ten years ago thinking this was just an extension of gay rights--until we learned something that sparked questions, or reservations.
People like Weiner are the same, except they are by disposition or choice unwilling to have that mind-changing conversation or experience.
But what the bell does he care? It’s never going to collide with his life.
If you haven’t already read TFP article today about Mom’s For Liberty, here is a link. They are taking up issues in K-12 schools which include teaching Gender Identity. This may be the group you were looking for to help stop the state legislation spoken about on this podcast.
Thank you - looking forward to listening. Just seeing in this morning’s NYT that “defeating bans on gender-affirming care” seems to be part of new efforts (Kirsten Gillibrand) to pass the ERA. Untangling that from women’s rights, as understood pre-transactivism, is essential and, I think, worth a letter to your reps.
I am like Hippiesq - an attorney with an ROGD daughter who has been down the rabbit hole for over 4 years now. I WISH I could be public about this issue and how it is tearing apart the very fabric of society. I had to live in fear of CPS knocking at our door for three years because of the narrative my daughter learned in order to get love-bombed for being her authentic self. I had to put up with affirming therapist after affirming therapist, and the medical providers who pulled that emotional blackmail bullshit of "dead daughter or living son". I am grateful to Erin Friday for her voice and for not letting up. She bravely calls out the forces that are harming the most vulnerable of populations - children. I too am a homeless Democrat. I have never believed in being a one issue voter, but when I step back and look at the bigger picture, it is more than one issue. It is big pharma colluding with healthcare providers, plastic surgeons, Planned Parenthood, legislators and universities' medical centers. That's just for starters. I'm seeing some handmaidens in the comments here and it's really mind-blowing how self-destructive some people can be. I hope and pray for the day when my daughter desists so I can be public about my outrage. She is finally receiving the much needed mental health care and we see vast improvements in her condition, even if she remains entrenched in an ideology that is pure delusion. Don't let up, Erin! We need your voice!
Thank you for your comment. As a mother who could have lost custody of her daughter and then watched as the state paid for her to have her body altered and pumped with dangerous hormones, I certainly have a right to have a visceral reaction to the man making that happen in my state. Until you walk a block in the shoes of a mother whose child is being lured to runway, emancipate to harm herself, you cannot understand. Do you know all of the bills he has authored that harm women and children? Unfortunately, I do. Here is an article of how his repeal of the loitering law is hurting children.
It's hard to let go of what you thought was a good party. I was true blue. I trusted the teachers and my democratic party. I believed it was all hyperbole what the GOP was saying. It's painful to admit I was wrong, and worse I was part of the problem. I listened to only liberal news programs, read their papers and never questioned what I was told. It's extremely disconcerting to admit being hood winked. The ability to trust dissipates. This is why I read the studies myself. I will never blindly trust again - any party. Erin Friday
I used to think the clinicians, teachers, and legislators on some level had misguided good intentions. I don't think that anymore. There's something wrong with him. I feel the same repulsion Erin F. does. You can look at every independent thing and they can all maybe be justified, but when they all point in the same direction, it's naive to ignore it.
This fight takes efforts from all angles. I'm not sure what you're doing as far as activism or where you're located, but Erin is moving the needle in CA and across the US, and doing it in her own name, which is almost unheard of for parents. There is no roadmap for how to reach people, no guide to stopping the delusion, incurious, ignorant thinking amongst the Dems. I don't always agree with the focus or methods of some working to end this, but I save my criticisms for those who are harming our kids. There is no shortage of worthy targets.
I assist Our Duty with tech support occasionally and log in with their account. Forgot to log out.
My point was that we don't have to agree with everyone's approach or their assessment. You can argue the assessment without focusing on the individual, which is what I saw in your initial comment.
I've been thinking about this too, and while I was looking into it online, Erin's offered some more of the background about Scott Wiener and the Folsom Street Fair. I think it's worth revisiting before dismissing her - if mostly because that is, in my interpretation, Lisa's really important point: exactly when it "feels" like a Republican talking point, don't look away - keep looking, keep digging. Something I really appreciated about Lisa and Erin's discussion was the urgency they share to look at/research/fight "gender affirming care" - including, for example, social transition at school as well as medicalization - and that they were able to identify some of the differences in their perspectives, as well as to find their common cause.
Fritella - I, Erin Friday am a co-lead of Our Duty-USA for the Western Region. There are a few of us on the Our Duty's Substack writing for it so another Our Duty co-lead responded through Our Duty's Substack. I have no interest in proving what I say is true. It is your right to believe me or not, but I have no interest in trying to convince as you migrate from issue to issue. Since I am sure you will continue to find fault in what I opine. You started with a comment that I should not have had a visceral reaction (a physical reaction to a non-physical experience, an emotion that comes naturally), to I was hyperbolic about monkey pox to my theory - and I said it was a theory about the money and that I have not quite figured it out yet - is a conspiracy.
Lisa Selin Davis is not a part of Our Duty. She writes Broadview. She interviewed me about the laws being passed in California and my opinion as to why there is an onslaught of harmful bills. Her opinions are her own, as are mine.
I invite you to read Our Duty's Substack and you can read about all of the bills being authored and co-authored by Scott Wiener. I would love to hear your opinion after you read the articles. They will be posted throughout the month. Until then . . .
Well, if you make claims like this you're going to get asked for evidence. Cheers
Interesting conversation re: many gay men's true believer-ism. I've always noticed among my gay male friends that they think they have a special understanding of feminism because of their gayness, when in reality they are no wiser than straight men and even somewhat sexist (sorry, not all gay men!). These same guys are very smug and smarmy about trans issues. I think it's just a matter of male overconfidence and thinking they're an expert when they're not.
Note, that Scott poo poos HIV epidemic in that tweet too. "Fun" is more important than safety. Self-pleasure is tantamount = hedonist. Shortly after the sex party, he asked for and received a State of Emergency proclamation resulting from the Monkey Pox outbreak. Sincerely, Erin Friday
Here you go - Monkey Pox. https://twitter.com/SandNSurf17/status/1632195637172396033?s=20
Make sure to read the guidance Scott Wiener shares. A visceral reaction to a man who placed men in women prisons, is proposing laws that define "health, safety and welfare" to require affirming a child's gender identity, who entices kids to runaway to California - if you have children and the man who wants to harm children was standing over you, you would feel ill too. I am confounded that there are comments seemingly defending this man.
Thank you and Erin Friday so much for exposing what's really happening. I just wish people who weren't already somewhat aware of the issue could hear all this because it is truly shocking. As a lawyer, I am very disgusted by how the law is being used to harm vulnerable young people. As a mother of an ROGD daughter, I am personally horrified at what's happening. My experience of my daughter secretly obtaining black market testosterone gel at age 16 (last year) over the internet, mailed to a friend's house, proved the ease of ability for young people to obtain these chemicals illegally, but people like Wiener (apt name) are trying to make it legal for teenagers to take these harmful drugs w/o parental consent. While I struggle with the one issue voting idea, I no longer see the Democratic party as the better choice. I cannot wait for this insanity to come to an end.
As a very liberal Democrat, I can understand the idea of voting Republican or non-Democratic Party in a situation like Scott Wiener, if you feel the way that Erin Friday does about him. Voting against specific reps in the State Assembly or State Senate make far more sense because those are the people making the state laws that are actually affecting this issue the most. I can understand voting against a state Democrat who is actively promoting legislation that you feel is harmful. There are no circumstances under which I could ever believe that as a liberal Democrat, voting Republican for President or Senate or Congress would make any meaningful difference even if I were a single-issue voter (and I'm not). Ron DeSantis is not the answer to this problem, and while I understand Erin's passion and pain over her terrible experience, I think promoting a Presidential candidate like Ron DeSantis as the way forward on this issue is ineffective on every level imaginable. And to any Republicans or conservatives on this thread, respect to you and your opinions and choices. Everything I am saying above is from my own POV about my own liberal politics and directed at other liberals who hold similar liberal politics.
I listened to this a few days ago and it really has stayed with me. I am the mother of an ROGD girl. We are 2 plus years in (from New Jersey). My daughter first heard of this ideology in school. She was affirmed and cheered on by teachers, doctors and therapists. We sold our home, put her in a small private school and now live in a city where we can be more anonymous. We no longer use the pediatrician our family had for 20 years. We don't trust a single clinician with our child. We are afraid of the school. our teen doesn't have a therapist. We are afraid anyone might be some glitter person who might steer our child away. We know SO MANY other teen girls going through this now too. We also know those who have desisted. Someone provided syringes and testosterone to our 15 year old last year - I thankfully found it. My daughter's friend ran away to Portland Oregon twice last year with the help of some transmen all associated with the effective altruism cult. Erin is spot on here. Scott Weiner is hurting children, women, and families. The part that stayed with me the most was when Erin said, "fuck the NY Times" (I spoke with them too- at length) and when she went off on the democrats. I feel exactly the same. I will vote with anyone who is against this horrific harm.
I am so glad to hear that your daughter is doing well. People have no idea of the lengths we parents must go to safeguard our children. We swim upstream alone with everyone throwing hooks in our way, telling us we are wrong, judging us, and lying to us. I say this often because it is true I will never forgive those who turned a blind eye or promoted this barbaric time in our history. Children - any one will to harm children or mentally unwell young adults - have no morals.
Gay men in some ways have been natural allies and friends to women, and vice versa. But Erin mistakes a sincere lack of interest/attention to evil when she says Scott Weiner is evil.
Andrew Sullivan, for instance, is attuned to the issue of gender identity, full-throatedly, and yet he constantly, inadvertently showcases his lack of understanding for how women feel about any of this. He’s not evil, he just doesn’t get it.
As easy as it is to attribute evil to so many of these actors, the obvious and simpler explanation is that they are blind to what they don’t know. They believe they are on the right side of history, that they are expanding rights for a vulnerable minority, that they are “obviously” supporting a righteous cause.
I can almost guarantee you that every center or left of center woman here started out ten years ago thinking this was just an extension of gay rights--until we learned something that sparked questions, or reservations.
People like Weiner are the same, except they are by disposition or choice unwilling to have that mind-changing conversation or experience.
But what the bell does he care? It’s never going to collide with his life.
If you haven’t already read TFP article today about Mom’s For Liberty, here is a link. They are taking up issues in K-12 schools which include teaching Gender Identity. This may be the group you were looking for to help stop the state legislation spoken about on this podcast.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bariweiss/p/whos-afraid-of-moms-for-liberty?r=ub7jx&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Thank you - looking forward to listening. Just seeing in this morning’s NYT that “defeating bans on gender-affirming care” seems to be part of new efforts (Kirsten Gillibrand) to pass the ERA. Untangling that from women’s rights, as understood pre-transactivism, is essential and, I think, worth a letter to your reps.
I am like Hippiesq - an attorney with an ROGD daughter who has been down the rabbit hole for over 4 years now. I WISH I could be public about this issue and how it is tearing apart the very fabric of society. I had to live in fear of CPS knocking at our door for three years because of the narrative my daughter learned in order to get love-bombed for being her authentic self. I had to put up with affirming therapist after affirming therapist, and the medical providers who pulled that emotional blackmail bullshit of "dead daughter or living son". I am grateful to Erin Friday for her voice and for not letting up. She bravely calls out the forces that are harming the most vulnerable of populations - children. I too am a homeless Democrat. I have never believed in being a one issue voter, but when I step back and look at the bigger picture, it is more than one issue. It is big pharma colluding with healthcare providers, plastic surgeons, Planned Parenthood, legislators and universities' medical centers. That's just for starters. I'm seeing some handmaidens in the comments here and it's really mind-blowing how self-destructive some people can be. I hope and pray for the day when my daughter desists so I can be public about my outrage. She is finally receiving the much needed mental health care and we see vast improvements in her condition, even if she remains entrenched in an ideology that is pure delusion. Don't let up, Erin! We need your voice!
So chilling.
Thank you for your comment. As a mother who could have lost custody of her daughter and then watched as the state paid for her to have her body altered and pumped with dangerous hormones, I certainly have a right to have a visceral reaction to the man making that happen in my state. Until you walk a block in the shoes of a mother whose child is being lured to runway, emancipate to harm herself, you cannot understand. Do you know all of the bills he has authored that harm women and children? Unfortunately, I do. Here is an article of how his repeal of the loitering law is hurting children.
It's hard to let go of what you thought was a good party. I was true blue. I trusted the teachers and my democratic party. I believed it was all hyperbole what the GOP was saying. It's painful to admit I was wrong, and worse I was part of the problem. I listened to only liberal news programs, read their papers and never questioned what I was told. It's extremely disconcerting to admit being hood winked. The ability to trust dissipates. This is why I read the studies myself. I will never blindly trust again - any party. Erin Friday
https://www.city-journal.org/article/predators-paradise
I used to think the clinicians, teachers, and legislators on some level had misguided good intentions. I don't think that anymore. There's something wrong with him. I feel the same repulsion Erin F. does. You can look at every independent thing and they can all maybe be justified, but when they all point in the same direction, it's naive to ignore it.
This fight takes efforts from all angles. I'm not sure what you're doing as far as activism or where you're located, but Erin is moving the needle in CA and across the US, and doing it in her own name, which is almost unheard of for parents. There is no roadmap for how to reach people, no guide to stopping the delusion, incurious, ignorant thinking amongst the Dems. I don't always agree with the focus or methods of some working to end this, but I save my criticisms for those who are harming our kids. There is no shortage of worthy targets.
I assist Our Duty with tech support occasionally and log in with their account. Forgot to log out.
My point was that we don't have to agree with everyone's approach or their assessment. You can argue the assessment without focusing on the individual, which is what I saw in your initial comment.
I've been thinking about this too, and while I was looking into it online, Erin's offered some more of the background about Scott Wiener and the Folsom Street Fair. I think it's worth revisiting before dismissing her - if mostly because that is, in my interpretation, Lisa's really important point: exactly when it "feels" like a Republican talking point, don't look away - keep looking, keep digging. Something I really appreciated about Lisa and Erin's discussion was the urgency they share to look at/research/fight "gender affirming care" - including, for example, social transition at school as well as medicalization - and that they were able to identify some of the differences in their perspectives, as well as to find their common cause.