We need more people and more organisations to stand up to the money and advancements offered by the trans movement. JL on the Glinner Update yesterday reported on possibilities of advancement at King’s College, London if you signed up to supporting Stonewall:
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/a-week-in-the-war-on-women-monday-65f
"Mac" MacIntyre is a typical 1980s hot-shot executive working for Knox Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. The company's eccentric head, Felix Happer, sends him (largely because his surname sounds Scottish) to acquire Ferness, a village in the Scottish Highlands, to make way for a refinery.
As time passes, Mac becomes more and more conflicted as he presses to close the deal that will end the quaint little village he has come to love. Unbeknownst to him, however, the villagers are tired of their hard life and are more than eager to sell, though they feign indifference to induce a larger offer.
As the deal nears completion, Gordon discovers that Ben Knox, an old beachcomber who lives in a driftwood shack on the shore, owns the beach through a grant from the Lord of the Isles to his ancestor. MacIntyre tries everything to entice Ben to sell, even offering enough money to buy any other beach in the world, but the owner is content with what he has.
Peter Riegert is Mac, Burt Lancaster is Happer and Fulton Mackay is Knox.
Sex Matters
Couple of excellent pieces from wonderful Sex Matters.
Putting remembrance in context ( 20 November)
Today, 20th November, is Trans Day of Remembrance, which has been marked annually since 2011 and is intended to commemorate the deaths of trans-identified people caused by transphobia. It has rapidly become a fixture in transactivists’ campaigning calendar. Unevidenced claims about the outsize risks faced by trans people, the necessity of “gender-affirming” healthcare and the risk of suicide are repeated widely and uncritically – including, this year, by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the UK’s equality-law watchdog.
Employers that are part of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index are encouraged to mark the day in their internal communications, and to allow employee network groups to hold themed events.
Where is the harm?
Barrister Anya Palmer writes in The Critic that employers should think about the risk of discrimination and harassment if LGBT staff networks and others organising Trans Day of Remembrance events are allowed to suggest that gender-critical speech is responsible for deaths.
Every untimely death is tragic and people can mark whichever days they choose. But marking Transgender Day of Remembrance at work creates the impression that trans people in the UK are at elevated risk of murder or other violence – a claim that is unsupported by the evidence.
An article by Jo Bartosch in Spiked takes an unsentimental look at the numbers. According to Karen Ingala Smith, who compiles the Femicide Census, a yearly list of women who have been murdered and where the prime suspect is a man, more than 2,000 women have been killed by men in the UK since 2009. Over the same period just ten people with trans identities died by violence. In an article in 2021 Ingala Smith looked at what is known about the murders of trans people, and concluded that the claim that “trans women are women” hinders the sort of analysis required to keep both women and trans-identified men safe from male violence. “Being abused and/or killed as or because you are a gender non-conforming man is not the same as being abused and/or killed as or because you are a woman,” she writes. “We help no one if we don’t acknowledge who is doing what to whom and why, or by falsely claiming that violence against trans people is the same as men’s violence against women.”
Claims that trans-identified people, especially youths, are at extremely high risk of suicide if not “affirmed” in their gender identities are also increasingly featured on Transgender Day of Remembrance. In The Critic, an anonymous psychiatrist looks at the harms to trans-identified youths caused by this rhetorical use of suicide to promote childhood transition by terrorising its opponents. A young person who hears repeatedly that they are at risk of self-harm or suicide if they are denied social transition, puberty-blockers and hormones may come to believe this claim – to the detriment of their mental health.
In 2018 Janice Turner wrote in The Times about the irresponsible use of suicide rhetoric as a political weapon. Helen Belcher, a trans-identified Liberal Democrat recently selected as the party’s candidate for a parliamentary seat in the next election, complained to the independent press regulator, IPSO, about the article. Turner was investigated and exonerated.
In February this year, transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death in Warrington. Two 15-year-olds have been charged with murder. Criminal proceedings are now under way. Police said there was no evidence that this was a transphobic attack and urged people not to speculate, as it is extremely important there should be no commentary that could prejudice a fair trial.
But the tragedy was followed by a wave of hostility towards gender-critical people. On social media and at vigils, JK Rowling was blamed for the teenager’s death. Media commentator India Willoughby tweeted: “British Media, The Government, JK Rowling, Ricky Gervais, and the whole hideous, stinking Gender Critical movement have blood on their hands.” A teacher had to apologise after telling an education conference that Rishi Sunak was “supporting the murder” by blocking gender self-ID in Scotland.
Palmer warns that following the case of Fahmy v Arts Council England, employers who allow similar rhetoric at work accusing gender-critical people of hatred and being responsible for murder risk harassment claims from employees. If there is a Transgender Day of Remembrance event at your workplace, it should not be compulsory to take part. Rather than get into unproductive arguments with the organisers, however, you might consider complaining through official workplace channels if you feel it creates a hostile environment or is irresponsible in the way it treats suicide. You can also tell us about it.
There are so many Trans Days (and weeks!) of this, that and the other that it is getting ridiculous. I think I will set up Trans Day of Risibility 😂
Timeline
Sex Matters have set up an amazing timeline of incidents of intimidation, threats and violence against women by trans activists:
https://sex-matters.org/resources/intimidation-threats-and-violence-by-trans-rights-activists/
Epoch Times
Very interesting piece in the Epoch Times about a recent speech by Professor Ian Pace.
Professor Ian Pace
Lee Hall and Owen Evans ( 'Decolonisation' Is Being Used Drive Classical Music out of the Curriculum 27 November) report:
An academic organisation is tackling 'censorious' gender identity ideology, decolonisation, and critical race theory in universities.
Decolonisation amounts to a radical attack on most forms of Western knowledge whose adherents see classical music as an expression of a colonial perspective, according to a professor of music.
Speaking to NTD’s “British Thought Leaders” programme, Professor Ian Pace from City, University of London, a renowned music academic, explained why he is taking on the woke beliefs that are hampering freedom of speech at universities.
Mr. Pace is a founding member of London Universities’ Council for Academic Freedom, Britain’s first council to support academic freedom in higher education.
He said the organisation was needed to "counter the effect of movements" such as gender identity ideology, decolonisation, and critical race theory, issues that have grown in the last five or six years.
The initiative came about earlier this year, when Mr. Pace joined with sociologist Alice Sullivan and mathematician John Armstrong, inspired by the example of the Council for Academic Freedom at Harvard University, which was also founded earlier this year devoted to expressive freedom.
He said that they were quickly joined by a range of other academics.
The full article is here:
Puberty Blockers
Shocking report about the situation in the UK in Gript.
Fatima Gunning ( NUMBER OF KIDS ON PUBERTY BLOCKERS DOUBLES DESPITE NHS POLICY 27 November) reports:
The number of children taking puberty blockers in the UK has doubled despite the NHS saying that the controversial drugs should only be used as part of clinical trials “due to the significant uncertainties surrounding the use of hormone treatments”.
The Telegraph reported that despite experts warning that puberty blockers can have “irreversible” effects on children’s health – including on brain chemistry, bone density, and heart health – at least 100 children have gone on the drugs since July 2022.
The decision to limit the use of puberty blockers to clinical trials came amid the shockwaves caused by a report compiled by former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr. Hilary Cass, which found that the now disgraced Tavistock clinic had adopted an ‘uncritical’ and ‘affirmative’ approach to fast tracking what are in many cases vulnerable children down a route of irreversible medical intervention.
Reacting to the figures, Stephanie Davies-Arai, director of Transgender Trend, said: “How many more children will be given blockers before they stop?”
Saying that 98% of children who go on puberty blockers end up on cross sex hormones she added, “I don’t understand how the NHS can sit back and let this continue when they know the harms that were described in Dr Cass’ interim report.”
Transgender Trend accused Tavistock clinicians of “openly flouting the findings of Dr Cass”.
Former UK health secretary MP Sajid Javid said that the use of puberty blockers “risks more vulnerable children being harmed” warning the NHS to be “extremely cautious”.
Reacting to the revelations, Irish psychotherapist and founder of Genspect, Stella O’Malley said the increase in numbers despite numerous safety warnings from experts “demonstrates that the culture war is more important than the medical war”
“While some focus on the medics is necessary, much more focus should be on the culture.” she said sharing a quote from the Telegraph article which said that as many as 2,000 teens aged 16 and 17 “have been told they will be sent straight to an adult clinic as delays and backlogs mean they won’t be seen by a children’s service before they turn 18.”
Despite the NHS accepting all the finding of the Cass report the Telegraph reports that in the 12 months to July 2023, “the number of children beginning puberty blockers on the NHS rose to 83, which is double the average of the previous two years.”
“Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to Leeds General Infirmary and University College London Hospital, which receive referrals from the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), revealed at least a further 17 children started blockers between July and October this year, bringing the total to at least 100 since last summer.” it said.
It was noted that this number “does not include patients given blockers privately or by a GP, while FoI exemption rules relating to small numbers potentially identifying individuals mean this is the most conservative estimate.”
Among the Tavistock clinic whistle blowers is consultant psychiatrist Dr David Bell who said puberty blockers cause “considerable damage” and challenged the position that the long term effects of their use is ‘unknown’.
The Telegraph quotes Bell saying, “It is not the case that the safety of puberty blockers is ‘unknown’” he said adding, “We know quite a lot. There are serious concerns about bone mineralisation and long-term cognitive effects,” he said, emphasising the potential effects on bone density, compromised brain development, and long term risks of heart disease.
“We know 98 per cent of children starting puberty blockers go on to take opposite-sex hormones, and a very significant proportion of those go on to have surgery,” he said adding,. “They are being started on a pathway which is highly likely to be irreversible. Once you start them on that path, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Bell said that the affirmative approach the Cass report flagged meant “autism, depression, family trauma or sexuality” are not considered as underlying causes for gender dysphoria among children and teenagers saying this was “very harmful and completely against the Cass recommendations”.
Last June Gript reported that the HSE was to undergo a review of the use of puberty blockers in Ireland in order to develop an updated model of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
Senator Sharon Keogan previously called for a “full inquiry” into the cases of the Irish children who were sent to the Tavistock clinic in the UK saying that she was “ignored” in the Seanad after raising the issue.
At that time Keogan said, “The HSE has sent 234 Irish children to the UK for treatment for gender dysphoria in response to the recent unexplained exponential rise in young people experiencing severe gender distress.”
“The clinic in question, run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, has been the subject of numerous serious allegations regarding the quality of care being given to the children and young adults in its care. The interim Cass report details that the standards of clinical care, assessment and treatment there do not match those enjoyed by children accessing other health services elsewhere,” she said.
Senator Keogan was interrupted by Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer who warned her that if she was “making allegations” about people “who are not in the Chamber to defend themselves”, she needed to be “very careful”.
The Senator responded by stating what had been reported in an independent inquiry.
How on earth has this happened when the NHS has banned the use of puberty blockers at present apart from in clinical trials!!??
Feminist Legal Clinic
Couple of pieces from the wonderful Feminist Legal Clinic.
Doctors, clinics sued for ‘misdiagnosis’ after sex-change treatments ( 28 November)
Medical professionals have cast aside the traditional guardrails of prudent clinical practice in their haste to put young patients confused about their sexual identity on the path for gender-changing treatment and surgery, according to two lawsuits recently filed against local health care clinics.
Now, July R. Carlan realizes that he was born a male homosexual. But in a medical malpractice suit filed on Oct. 12 in federal court in Massachusetts, Carlan claims he can never live the homosexual lifestyle he was meant to live because medical professionals at Fenway Community Health Center in Boston misdiagnosed him as transgender, recommending irreversible hormone therapy and surgery to make him a woman.
Rather than stating a claim of medical malpractice, Carlan’s suit is brought under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Carlan’s lawyer, Mitra N. Forouhar of San Francisco, grounds her client’s case on the theory that Section 1557 creates an implied private right of action by incorporating by reference the enforcement mechanism of other civil rights statutes that permit a private cause of action.
“The defendants took an apathetic attitude toward [my client’s] sexual orientation, which is a protected status,” the civil rights lawyer says. “That is what serves as the basis for filing a legal claim under [the Affordable Care Act’s] non discrimination provision.”
The plaintiff alleges that medical professionals at Fenway “willfully abandoned” established, evidence-based, and generally accepted clinical guidelines in providing transgender health care.
“In its decision to abandon evidence-based care, Defendant exclusively relied on those who are in distress and without medical knowledge and those who were satisfied with their transition, and overlooked the experience of regretters, thus knowingly disregarded a safety risk to its same sex attracted patients,” the plaintiff’s complaint states. “Exclusive consideration of positive outcomes in medical research is known as ‘survivorship bias’ and renders any resulting conclusion unreliable and erroneous.”
Doctors at Lifestyle Medical Group at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence face a similar lawsuit filed in Bristol Superior Court on Oct. 23.
In Ayala v. American Academy of Pediatrics, plaintiff Isabelle M. Ayala claims co-defendants Dr. Jason Rafferty and Dr. Michelle Forcier advised her to undergo testosterone therapy as a puberty blocker when her father took her to Lifestyle Medical Group in 2016 for treatment of depression and anxiety associated with a past sexual assault.
In addition to asserting claims for medical malpractice, Ayala states a claim for civil conspiracy involving the doctors at Lifestyle and co-defendant American Academy of Pediatrics. The plaintiff lays a large part of the blame for her injuries on gender transition guidelines issued by the AAP in 2018.
Jordan Campbell of Campbell, Miller, Payne in Dallas represents Ayala. Campbell says he foresees a “wave” of similar lawsuits being filed around the country.
“We’ve already brought four of these cases, and we have a lot more in the pipeline,” Campbell says.
Source: Doctors, clinics sued for ‘misdiagnosis’ after sex-change treatments – Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly
Extremely interesting different angle in the first claim as you will see. I have previously reported on the second claim which involves Dr Forcier, famous from Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman for saying ‘Does a chicken cry?’
Meanwhile Stonewall are trying another method to try and discredit the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We really could do with Stonewall having their funding removed !!
Britain faces UN blacklist after lobbying by trans rights groups ( 28 November)
Britain could be blacklisted at the UN’s human rights body over its defence of biological sex, The Telegraph can reveal.
The UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is facing a “special review” of its international accreditation after lobbying by trans rights groups led by Stonewall, the controversial LGBT charity [ Dusty - make that just T!!] .
[T]he ability of the UK to participate in UN discussions on human rights is under threat from a review by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (Ganhri).
Ganhri is an independent body whose accreditation grants access to the UN.
The inquiry was launched after the EHRC gave advice to ministers which suggested that changing the law to define sex as “biological sex” [ Dusty - Wow! What a radical statement, eh?] would bring clarity to contentious issues such as the provision of single-sex spaces, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, the watchdog’s chairman, has revealed.
Any change to the accreditation would put the EHRC behind similar watchdogs in countries which have a poor record on human rights including Iraq, Qatar, Colombia, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.
Just last year, in the face of complaints by Stonewall and other trans rights lobby groups including Mermaids and the Good Law Project, the EHRC had its A accreditation confirmed as part of a routine review.
Source: Britain faces UN blacklist after lobbying by trans rights groups
Bye Bye Glasgow Women’s Library
Tom Cotterill in The Mail Online ( Feminist fury after Glasgow Women's Library displays pro-trans placards from activist group who heckled JK Rowling at women's rights conference 28 November ) reports:
Feminists are in uproar after a library displayed pro-trans placards from an activist group which heckled JK Rowling during a women’s rights conference.
Glasgow Women's Library has been blasted for showing off the inflammatory posters, which allegedly include signs from Cabaret Against The Hate Speech.
The group sparked outrage after staging a protest outside the the FiLiA conference in Glasgow in October, hosted by Harry Potter author Rowling, with activists holding boards reading 'keep TERFs out' while chanting 'trans women are women'.
On Saturday, the library - which boasts of 'supporting thousands of women across Scotland every year' online - displayed placards, including 'trans women are women', 'trans people make Glasgow' and 'trans rights are women's rights'.
But the display, which is part of the venue's 16 Days of Activism exhibition, ignited fury from feminists, who are now demanding women boycott the Landressy Street institution.
Lashing out on X, formerly Twitter, one critic raged: 'I cancelled my membership. I've been a member for years but I cannot condone this. It's scandalous. And we marched for the suffragettes in 2018. I'm shocked, disgusted and downright appalled. Cancel their funding.'
In a video one person said the library was for 'women only' and blasted the site for giving out a 'free pass' to transwomen, adding: 'Tell me, where's the justice in that? So bye bye women's library, you don't have me as a member anymore. I have cancelled my membership, cancelled my donation. You're all absolutely disgraceful.
'Honestly, I hope other people like me pull their donations and watch you go under. You do not deserve to be here.'
A third furious feminist on X tweeted: 'The Glasgow Women's Library is now The Glasgow Trans Library,' before adding: 'They've lost all sense of being and completely forgotten why they were founded.'
The library says it is the 'only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women’s history'. The site also hosts a number of 'women-only' events and workshops that are 'inclusive of trans and intersex women, as well as non-binary and gender fluid people', its website adds.
But a critic on social media hit out and tweeted: 'It makes me feel a deep disappointment and anger that a women’s library in Glasgow would do this. I love libraries, books, women, and Glasgow and yet here is something I have come to despise. Awful.'
Endpiece
Mr Menno has produced an excellent video for Sex Matters 😊
I am getting a lot of paid work this week ( mustn’t complain 😊) and have more tomorrow!! Next update Thursday I hope.
Thanks for the update Dusty.
I'm glad Mr Menno is on our side!