Links - 9th April 2020 (3) (Trans Mania)

Jesse Singal on Twitter (on "Neither male nor female: Why some nonbinary people are 'microdosing' hormones") - "Outlets have completely, completely given up on covering this like they would any other health or science subject. It's just astounding how radical the journalistic shift has been."
"It is a completely bizarre way to cover females taking steroids for essentially recreational reasons - given what we know from state-sponsored doping programmes."
"For those of us who see wanting to look more masculine or feminine as essentially fashion choices and don't accept trans metaphysics it does indeed look astonishing. Basically us oldies see wanting to look a particular way as essentially trivial. For many young people it's the very essence of their being. I blame post modernism, free market capitalism and the Internet."
"I blame shit music. Music used to be the centre of youth culture. Now it’s gender."
"For most people, taking hormones is very closely regulated."
"The testosterone is being prescribed for cosmetic reasons. I'm not in position to know whether or not this is a sanctioned use of such treatment and I feel like whoever wrote this piece ought to have delved into that seemingly glaring issue at least a little bit ya know."
"I read this and now believe we're redefining dysphoria."
"The only good thing is that these people cannot reproduce. The worst thing is that because they can't reproduce, they ideologically kidnap the young generation and brainwash to make them like them."
"Reporting on science & medicine ought to be balanced and thorough. This was one-sided and superficial.There is no discussion of the medical case against elective hormonal treatments. Or of the more serious side effects (like osteoporosis, thrombosis, some forms of cancer...) And that's not even addressing the elephant in the room: questions of when such treatments are elective versus therapeutic, what exactly they are treating if it's the latter, whether medical standards need any revision.Good exposition would acknowledge those questions exist."
"Whatever happened to "First do no harm?""
"They've been taken over by the TRA's. That and they can't ignore the cash machine this has created. Why else would the medical community give girls double mastectomies?"
"The use of “they” for a singular person makes teaching HS English difficult. Close reading a narrative with imprecise pronouns is not fun."

The document that reveals the remarkable tactics of trans lobbyists | Coffee House - "The document is the work of Dentons, which says it is the world’s biggest law firm; the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an arm of the old media giant that appears dedicated to identity politics of various sorts; and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO)...‘It is recognised that the requirement for parental consent or the consent of a legal guardian can be restrictive and problematic for minors.’
You might think that the very purpose of parenting is, in part, to ‘restrict’ the choices of children who cannot, by definition, make fully-informed adult choices on their own. But that is not the stance of the report. Indeed, it suggests that ‘states should take action against parents who are obstructing the free development of a young trans person’s identity in refusing to give parental authorisation when required.’  In short, this is a handbook for lobbying groups that want to remove parental consent over significant aspects of children’s lives. A handbook written by an international law firm and backed by one of the world’s biggest charitable foundations... This is an issue that is ‘difficult to win public support for’ and best hidden behind the ‘veil of protection’ provided by a popular issue such as gay rights. Again, anyone who has even glanced at the UK transgender debate will recognise this description.  Another recommendation is even more revealing: ‘Avoid excessive press coverage and exposure.’  According to the report, the countries that have moved most quickly to advance trans rights and remove parental consent have been those where the groups lobbying for those changes have succeeded in stopping the wider public learning about their proposals... Although it offers extensive advice about the need to keep the trans-rights agenda out of the public’s gaze, the report has rather less to say about the possibility that advocates might just try doing what everyone else in politics does and make a persuasive argument for their cause. Actually convincing people that this stuff is a good idea doesn’t feature much in the report... I started my first job as a researcher in the Commons in 1994. I’ve been studying and writing about politics and policy ever since. And in my experience of how changes in the law are brought about, the approach described in that report is simply not normal or usual. In a democracy, we are all free to argue for whatever policy or position we wish. But normally, anyone who wants to change the law accepts that to do so they need to win the support or, at least, the consent of the people whose authority ultimately gives the law its force. The approach outlined, in detail, in the Dentons report amounts to a very different way of lobbying to get the laws and policies you want. Even more notably, it suggests that in several countries people have been quite successful in lobbying behind a ‘veil’ and in a way that deliberately avoids the attention of the public. That, I think, should interest anyone who cares about how politics and policy are conducted, whether or not they care about the transgender issue... no policy made in the shadows can survive in sunlight."

Defining trans accurately now gets you banned from Twitter - The Post Millennial - "The trans debate on Twitter is basically insane. While Twitter claims that its “mission is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information, and to express their opinions and beliefs without barriers,” that’s only true if you toe the progressive party line on trans. If you don’t, you’re out, with barely an explanation. 4th Wave Now was banned... The tweet in question referenced an article by Pique Resilience Project founder Chiara Canaan, who came to believe she was trans after a bad break up at 15 years old. Now 22 and a lesbian, she has spoken out about her experience to help other girls from making the mistake she did. Apparently, tweeting about the biological reality of sex is a no-no, worthy of account suspension...
'People who have threatened me with death or violence have faced fewer disciplinary sanctions from Twitter than 4thWave is for referring to someone's natal sex. IT REALLY MAKES YOU THINK.'
“Parent-skeptics who question medicalising gender-atypical youth,” 4th Wave Now speaks out in favour of the “watchful waiting” approach to trans questioning kids, as opposed to the instant medical transitioning that many advocate for. .. how exactly is the term “natal male” hate speech?... Meanwhile, the person who was referred to as a “natal male,” calls the LGB Alliance a hate group for advocating for same-sex attracted persons’ rights. Claims that trans women are not male. And that sex is a social construct. It’s odd that making the claim that women don’t actually exist isn’t hate speech, but saying that they do exist, is. Twitter clearly has no idea what it’s doing, or how to establish standards. Either that, or they are making a distinct foray into misogyny."
No wonder liberals love Twitter so much

Michael Canup on Twitter - "Liberals: young people make poor, rash decisions. lets raise the smoking age to 21.
Also liberals: my 4 year old says he's a girl so we're transitioning him."

At least three gender-transitioning children have been taken into care because of their parents' objections - "The cases raise fears that parents are powerless to act if they think their child is making a wrong decision. Social workers at one council — Hillingdon in west London — say they placed two children in foster homes over the rows.  Another — Ealing, also in west London — said it had done the same with “less than five” kids. It refused to say how many.  Not all councils responded to the Sun’s Freedom of Information request for figures. Tory MP Peter Bone said: “I’m very shocked. Often parents and children do not see eye-to-eye but that is not a reason to be placed into care.”  And Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend, which campaigns against kids transitioning, said: “Parents who see how their children are being sucked into this are being punished.”"

Transgender man gives birth to non-binary partner's baby with female sperm donor - "Proud dad Reuben Sharpe today tells how HE gave birth to a miracle baby in Britain’s most modern family.The 39-year-old transitioned to a man 12 years ago.But he still had maternal instincts and six years ago stopped taking testosterone in the hope of one day having a child.And that dream came true when he and partner Jay had a bouncing baby.Jay is non-binary – so does not identify as male or female.The sperm donor was a trans woman... and even the DOCTOR was transgender."
What a convoluted way of describing heterosexual reproduction

Melbourne youth gender clinic in data row - "Victoria’s Andrews government has been slammed for claiming it does not routinely collect basic data about risky medical treatment of vulnerable children and teens at Australia’s biggest youth transgender clinic in Melbourne... She asked for the data in August following reports in The Australian about the safety and ethics of medical treatment amid a worrying global spike in troubled teenage patients, mostly girls, sent to gender clinics. Last year at RCH there were 269 new referrals, 1394 per cent higher than in 2012, when Dr Telfer took charge. RCH has refused requests for interviews, data and comment... The clinic has trained these school GPs in “gender-affirming healthcare” or the pro-trans “affirmative model”, which views children as “experts” in their trans identity... In parliament, Ms Crozier raised the case of Melbourne mother “Clair”, featured on Neil Mitchell’s 3AW radio program this month, who said she had been called by a school counsellor “out of the blue” to be told her 14-year-old “socially awkward” daughter was a trans boy. The counsellor had been seeing the girl for three weeks without her mother knowing and had given her information about gender clinics and trans websites.  Clair said she had been advised to avoid the RCH clinic, where her daughter might be put on the path to trans medical treatment, and instead took her to a psychologist who diagnosed high-functioning Asperger’s syndrome. “Apparently Asperger’s children sometimes have gender confusion”"

Is the tide beginning to turn on trans lunacy? - "2019 may, with luck, go down as the year when the tide began to turn against the bizarre worldview of transgender activists. In the run-up to the General Election, Jo Swinson found herself flummoxed by the question ‘What is a woman?’. Days later, she was unceremoniously dumped by voters. Meanwhile, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was busy introducing himself to the crowd at the Pink News Awards: ‘My name is Jeremy Corbyn, pronouns he/him.’ That was met by a big fat ‘no’ from the electorate, too. Despite this recent pushback, 2019 has also shown what happens when senior members of the medical, educational and legal professions not only succumb to the demands of trans activists, but use transgender ideology to shore up their own moral authority. The victims are children... One in 50 prisoners – 1,500 inmates – now identifies as transgender. This is massively more than the number in the general population. Transgender prisoners not only get perks, such as being able to shower alone or have their own cell – crucially, they can also apply to switch between male and female jails. One woman prisoner – assaulted by a transgender inmate while incarcerated in the same institution – is now taking the government to court over this policy... Tragically, women are still prevented from freely discussing the impact of gender self-identification upon their lives. In universities, debates and conferences have been shut down following threats from transgender activists. Gender-critical professors have spoken out about the threats and abuse they have received for raising concerns that sex is being conflated with gender. Posie Parker, a women’s rights activist and leading critic of the transgender movement, was permanently banned from Facebook. The social-media giant cited ‘safety and security reasons’ for kicking her off the platform and, in the process, denying thousands of people an opportunity to discuss Posie’s views... despite all the attempts to curtail debate, common sense has – on occasion – won out in 2019. Two major BBC programmes, Newsnight and Radio 4’s File on 4, reported on the experiences of people who detransition, as well as raising serious questions about the treatment of children who question their gender identity and the dangers of doctors prescribing puberty-blocker hormones. Parents raised concerns about changes to school sex and relationships classes that will mean very young children are taught that gender is how they think and feel. To challenge this, author Rachel Rooney has written an excellent book, My Body is Me, which aims to teach children to be comfortable with their bodies as they are, rather than looking to change their bodies to bring them in line with their brains. Inevitably, this benign message has been labelled ‘anti‑trans extremism’. Elsewhere, the High Court ruled that a woman who gave birth could not be named as the father on her child’s birth certificate despite having transitioned to a man post-partum."
Apparently saying biological sex is real is hate speech and traumatising to trans people, but trans critics getting censored, death threats and being attacked is a good thing