Thanks to Lisa for highlighting the Cohn piece. I commend it to all, if you haven’t yet read it, and well worth rereading, too. Cohn’s is among the voices that absolutely need to be heard: forthright, nuanced, intelligent, full of heart and courage. We can all learn from Cohn--I know I have.
On the issues of concern to us here, this is an easy action we can all take: https://who-decides.org/ Here is the purpose of the petition:
“We, the undersigned, strongly object to the World Health Organization's (WHO) biased panel tasked with creating new transgender health guidelines. Of the 21 panel members, over three-fourths are transgender activists. The few physicians either specialize in HIV or are “gender doctors.” There is currently a worldwide explosion of teenagers wishing to undergo a sex change; WHO’s stated plan to promote hormones and “legal recognition of self-identified gender” will harm innumerable gender-dysphoric youth, gays, lesbians and other women. WHO must cancel this group's first planned meeting in February and go back to the drawing board.”
(In my own sig, I specified myself as “woman” and my affiliation as “Democratic.” Both are optional, but may be useful to include, if desired.)
I am conflicted about legislative pediatric gender medicine bans and worry they are being used by the political right to gain power to do LOTS of things I disagree with. Hasn’t this been the Federalist Society playbook for the last 40 years?
Perhaps these legislative fights are the only way it works to influence broader cultural beliefs and the bizarre behavior of legacy institutions that represent health care providers and journalists in the U.S. I hope not.
I also thought the WaPo piece about Callahan seemed less than nuanced but am curious about her thinking. Lisa Selin Davis, has Callahan ever agreed to talk with you?
"I am conflicted about legislative pediatric gender medicine bans and worry they are being used by the political right to gain power to do LOTS of things I disagree with."
Then you'd better convince your Democrat representatives to back those bans as well, because the current practice of "pediatric gender medicine" (or "gender affirming care") is nothing less than a crime against humanity, one that this 68-year-old lifelong Democrat will no longer support. I will not vote for anyone, for any office, who does not support these bans. And yes, this WILL empower a bunch of right-wing stuff that I oppose. But I don't care as much about that as I do about protecting kids from the barbaric mutilation and sterilization that is "gender affirming care".
If you are in California, help us get a ban on the ballot:
What do you make of DeWine's actions? Is it possible the GOP is softening in this arena because the blowback from Dobbs was so intense? This gives them a certain degree of cover for the harshness that is enveloping the brand. It's odd that he's painting this as a move against government intrusion. I wonder where that logic takes him.
Politics. He's making calculations on what he can most likely win on. He's trying to play both sides of this by vetoing the bill but saying no surgery for minors, data collection and independent analysis of outcomes, and no more pop-up clinics for children and adults. At the end of November, Ohio resoundingly voted to constitutionally protect abortion rights. He's playing politics knowing how abortion rights and the "trans kids" issue go hand in hand with voters, especially democrats.
The key part of his statement is that his veto is about "life." I live in Ohio and know DeWine to be a committed, conservative Catholic. His religious convictions drive his highly-restrictive stance on abortion. Here, I think he took to heart the fears of parents that without pediatric transition, their children are likely to die.
DeWine needs to see the data on actual suicides. Flawed and incomplete thought that data may be, it absolutely does not indicate mass suicide. We also have troubling indicators that transition is not very protective against suicide, if at all - for example, Chen et al. in NEJM (2023) followed about 300 minor patients, and 2 of them died by suicide. Michael Biggs found a low rate of suicide in his analysis of children treated at the Tavistock, or awaiting treatment there. Leor Sapir has also written compassionately and realistically about the issue.
Parents and trans-identified children and young adults also need an off-ramp from the "transition or die" narrative. Instead, what they're getting is increasing overheated rhetoric about "trans genocide" accompanied by oddly saccharine assertions of "trans joy" and "gender euphoria." Activists are ever-more untethered from reality. This poisonous discourse is harming our kids, as Victoria Smith argued last week: https://thecritic.co.uk/stop-telling-children-the-world-hates-them/
Very interesting about Callahan. I suspect her views will consider to change over time, and nothing wrong with that. It’s got to be a lifelong journey for detransitioners to construct a narrative that fully explains their experiences and their feelings about them. As you say, more perspectives should be shared. As many as possible, and without some being privileged over others and others described negatively, i.e. describing support for bans on youth hormone/surgical transition as being “anti-trans”
How can a woman who visited a "gender clinic" know they are "practicing good medicine?" She can't be in there with the patients, have access to these youth or even know the rate of detransition after 5-10 years. I've seen (and as a trans widow, felt) the pressure put on individuals who've seen truth and called out the nonsense. She had the wool pulled over her eyes. I think this is why so few detransitioners speak out publicly. On a happy note, Finnish detransitioner, Veera Mirjam, originally of The Honesty Project, is now married to her girlfriend and appears to have climbed out of the dark deep rabbit hole to find wholeness and happiness after the mastectomies and hysterectomy she regretted. Her channel now goes by her name. Give her a "like" and positive comment for your first deed of the new year. I think they're already in 2024!
HRC has become biased against anything that they decide is not supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.
How HRC makes that decision is unknown. I have suggested the HRC poll the LGBTQ+ community to get the goals they should pursue. They continue to send emails to me to give them money without responding to my questions and suggestions on their strategies and goals.
HRC has effectively divided the LGBTQ+ community. They will not engage the new LGB organization that has emerged in the UK. Just as the vocal trans left refuses to engage J.K. Rowling.
HRC is no longer a functional representative of the whole LGBTQ+ community. They are just pursuing the goals of the people who staff HRC. As a result, HRC is splitting the community.
They like the vocal left refuse to engage in thoughtful and fact based discussion on the trans issues and other issues. They are now controlled by the vocal left.
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine will go down in history as a major hurdle for justice.
What we need is a truly objective and thorough follow-up study of a large cohort of those undergoing gender affirming care before age 18. The endocrinologists who run these services are defensive and really do not want to know the truth. Indeed, they are at risk of huge lawsuits which will be coming. However, they should be committed to the truth with an unbiased system of follow-up. It is not going to happen, to the disappointment of all of us interested in the truth.
Thanks to Lisa for highlighting the Cohn piece. I commend it to all, if you haven’t yet read it, and well worth rereading, too. Cohn’s is among the voices that absolutely need to be heard: forthright, nuanced, intelligent, full of heart and courage. We can all learn from Cohn--I know I have.
On the issues of concern to us here, this is an easy action we can all take: https://who-decides.org/ Here is the purpose of the petition:
“We, the undersigned, strongly object to the World Health Organization's (WHO) biased panel tasked with creating new transgender health guidelines. Of the 21 panel members, over three-fourths are transgender activists. The few physicians either specialize in HIV or are “gender doctors.” There is currently a worldwide explosion of teenagers wishing to undergo a sex change; WHO’s stated plan to promote hormones and “legal recognition of self-identified gender” will harm innumerable gender-dysphoric youth, gays, lesbians and other women. WHO must cancel this group's first planned meeting in February and go back to the drawing board.”
(In my own sig, I specified myself as “woman” and my affiliation as “Democratic.” Both are optional, but may be useful to include, if desired.)
SEGM has an excellent explainer on the WHO Guideline plans here: https://segm.org/world-health-organization-transgender-guidelines. As you’ll see, absolutely everything is wrong with WHOs process, short timeframe for comment, and over the holidays, closing 1/8; composition of the advisory panel (one activist member’s pronouns are “they/them/that bitch”--see this thread from Leor Sapir on that: https://twitter.com/LeorSapir/status/1741210385108136119)
Share it like crazy! I did!
Thanks Susan. I’ve signed the petition.
I am conflicted about legislative pediatric gender medicine bans and worry they are being used by the political right to gain power to do LOTS of things I disagree with. Hasn’t this been the Federalist Society playbook for the last 40 years?
Perhaps these legislative fights are the only way it works to influence broader cultural beliefs and the bizarre behavior of legacy institutions that represent health care providers and journalists in the U.S. I hope not.
I also thought the WaPo piece about Callahan seemed less than nuanced but am curious about her thinking. Lisa Selin Davis, has Callahan ever agreed to talk with you?
"I am conflicted about legislative pediatric gender medicine bans and worry they are being used by the political right to gain power to do LOTS of things I disagree with."
Then you'd better convince your Democrat representatives to back those bans as well, because the current practice of "pediatric gender medicine" (or "gender affirming care") is nothing less than a crime against humanity, one that this 68-year-old lifelong Democrat will no longer support. I will not vote for anyone, for any office, who does not support these bans. And yes, this WILL empower a bunch of right-wing stuff that I oppose. But I don't care as much about that as I do about protecting kids from the barbaric mutilation and sterilization that is "gender affirming care".
If you are in California, help us get a ban on the ballot:
https://protectkidsca.com
“I am conflicted about legislative pediatric gender medicine bans”
Google Gay Translate
“I don’t understand that gay kids are undergoing barbaric chemical and surgical castration and mastectomies because their parents are homophobic.”
Thank you, Lisa.
Corinna Cohn is an essential voice in the debate about medicalizing identities in youth.
As for Carrie Callahan, I have followed her for several years. In my opinion, she is unbalanced.
What do you make of DeWine's actions? Is it possible the GOP is softening in this arena because the blowback from Dobbs was so intense? This gives them a certain degree of cover for the harshness that is enveloping the brand. It's odd that he's painting this as a move against government intrusion. I wonder where that logic takes him.
Jamie Reed has a very interesting, nuanced take on the veto, as it pertains to GAC, here: https://twitter.com/JamieWhistle/status/1740812411031126306 her basic point is:
“I think today could actually be a win if your goals are these:
Ending medical transitions in pediatrics
AND
Adult care that is careful, regulated and requires mental health oversight.”
I agree with Jamie's analysis and hope it bears out.
Imo, a large part of the GOP supports sex-stereotype conformity, and sees cross-sex interventions as a way to “cure” homosexuality.
Politics. He's making calculations on what he can most likely win on. He's trying to play both sides of this by vetoing the bill but saying no surgery for minors, data collection and independent analysis of outcomes, and no more pop-up clinics for children and adults. At the end of November, Ohio resoundingly voted to constitutionally protect abortion rights. He's playing politics knowing how abortion rights and the "trans kids" issue go hand in hand with voters, especially democrats.
https://twitter.com/JamieWhistle/status/1740761356595548466
The key part of his statement is that his veto is about "life." I live in Ohio and know DeWine to be a committed, conservative Catholic. His religious convictions drive his highly-restrictive stance on abortion. Here, I think he took to heart the fears of parents that without pediatric transition, their children are likely to die.
DeWine needs to see the data on actual suicides. Flawed and incomplete thought that data may be, it absolutely does not indicate mass suicide. We also have troubling indicators that transition is not very protective against suicide, if at all - for example, Chen et al. in NEJM (2023) followed about 300 minor patients, and 2 of them died by suicide. Michael Biggs found a low rate of suicide in his analysis of children treated at the Tavistock, or awaiting treatment there. Leor Sapir has also written compassionately and realistically about the issue.
Parents and trans-identified children and young adults also need an off-ramp from the "transition or die" narrative. Instead, what they're getting is increasing overheated rhetoric about "trans genocide" accompanied by oddly saccharine assertions of "trans joy" and "gender euphoria." Activists are ever-more untethered from reality. This poisonous discourse is harming our kids, as Victoria Smith argued last week: https://thecritic.co.uk/stop-telling-children-the-world-hates-them/
Very interesting about Callahan. I suspect her views will consider to change over time, and nothing wrong with that. It’s got to be a lifelong journey for detransitioners to construct a narrative that fully explains their experiences and their feelings about them. As you say, more perspectives should be shared. As many as possible, and without some being privileged over others and others described negatively, i.e. describing support for bans on youth hormone/surgical transition as being “anti-trans”
There may be a sort of celebrity math going on here. Callahan can claim a larger voice now because of the scarcity of storylines like hers.
Thanks for your work, Lisa. Happy New Year.
Thank you for this and for highlighting the bizarre portrayal of Corinna Cohn. Did the reporter try to talk with Corinna?
How can a woman who visited a "gender clinic" know they are "practicing good medicine?" She can't be in there with the patients, have access to these youth or even know the rate of detransition after 5-10 years. I've seen (and as a trans widow, felt) the pressure put on individuals who've seen truth and called out the nonsense. She had the wool pulled over her eyes. I think this is why so few detransitioners speak out publicly. On a happy note, Finnish detransitioner, Veera Mirjam, originally of The Honesty Project, is now married to her girlfriend and appears to have climbed out of the dark deep rabbit hole to find wholeness and happiness after the mastectomies and hysterectomy she regretted. Her channel now goes by her name. Give her a "like" and positive comment for your first deed of the new year. I think they're already in 2024!
HRC has become biased against anything that they decide is not supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.
How HRC makes that decision is unknown. I have suggested the HRC poll the LGBTQ+ community to get the goals they should pursue. They continue to send emails to me to give them money without responding to my questions and suggestions on their strategies and goals.
HRC has effectively divided the LGBTQ+ community. They will not engage the new LGB organization that has emerged in the UK. Just as the vocal trans left refuses to engage J.K. Rowling.
HRC is no longer a functional representative of the whole LGBTQ+ community. They are just pursuing the goals of the people who staff HRC. As a result, HRC is splitting the community.
They like the vocal left refuse to engage in thoughtful and fact based discussion on the trans issues and other issues. They are now controlled by the vocal left.
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine will go down in history as a major hurdle for justice.
What we need is a truly objective and thorough follow-up study of a large cohort of those undergoing gender affirming care before age 18. The endocrinologists who run these services are defensive and really do not want to know the truth. Indeed, they are at risk of huge lawsuits which will be coming. However, they should be committed to the truth with an unbiased system of follow-up. It is not going to happen, to the disappointment of all of us interested in the truth.