Jan 5 - Jan 11, 2024: Scottish parents face jail if they refuse gender care to children, WHO plans to put women's safety & dignity at risk, Social worker wins case over gender-critical beliefs,
Boxing still allows adult men to compete in women's category, abortion laws are hurting women around the US, KKG says men can be women.
Call to Action
Open Letter Keep Women’s Sports Female
USA Climbing Transgender Athlete Participation Policy (TAP) Feedback
What You Need to Know About USA Climbing’s Transgender Athlete Participation Policy
Open call for evidence, Pornography regulation, legislation and enforcement
The Perfect Gift for Your State Legislator
WDI USA is urging signatories to take two actions: one local and one global.
The San Francisco Chronicle Should Hold a Town Hall in CA’s District 11
The WHO Needs to Go Back to the Drawing Board
A bipartisan group of Congressional members introduced the END Child Exploitation Act. This bill would require internet service providers (ISPs) to retain metadata on those who proliferate child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) for a full year. Under current law, they are free to delete this information after 90 days, which hampers law enforcement’s ability to prosecute these crimes.
Silencing Girls, Women, and Their Supporters by Threats and Cancellation
New Scottish transgender prison rules are grounded in 'institutional sexism' and worse than before, women's rights activists have claimed. Campaigners, who are calling on Scottish MSPs to block new guidelines that were set up after a trans rapist was sent to a women's prison, say that the rules make it even easier for dangerous men to exploit the system.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) plans to allow criminals even with a history of violence against women and girls to serve their sentences in female jails, as long as it judges them as having a 'low risk' of harming others. But in the most shocking element to the new regulations, those who identify as female - but are dangerous - may still be allowed to have day trips to women's jails to 'support their gender identity'.
Jan 8, 2024 - ‘All feminists are under attack’: ultra-right threat in Milei’s Argentina forces writer into exile
Female journalists who write about gender issues say they are having to deal with a toxic wave of threats against them in Argentina. Some are fighting back, others are lying low and one has gone into self-imposed exile for her safety. “We are facing a witch-hunt from the ultra-right,” said the author, journalist and activist Luciana Peker, who recently left Argentina for an undisclosed location due to the weight of threats against her.
Nurses and midwives could face being struck off for intentionally misgendering patients. Guidelines from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) regulator tells medics how they can 'express their beliefs appropriately' and when they run the risk of a sanction. Under its latest update, it includes one
example where a midwife who believes the Government is destroying the health service shares their opinion at a dinner.
Males in Female Sports
The Independent Women's Forum will march at the fourth 'Our Bodies, Our Sports' rally on Thursday at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix. Protestors hoping to 'save women's sports' plan to rally outside the NCAA's annual convention and demand an end to transgender athletes competing in female events. The majority of Americans are against transgender athletes competing against women. Critics claim transgender athletes have an unfair advantage over women in competition and at least 23 states have passed laws to protect women's sports. However, the Independent Women's Forum is among the groups who claim the NCAA is not doing anything to protect women under new president and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.
Jan 5, 2024 - USA Boxing has a new trans athlete policy and everybody is pissed off
USA Boxing alows adult males to compete in women’s category but set restrictions on which men can participate. Every athlete under 18 must compete in the category corresponding to their correct sex. Adult male boxers must have had gender reassignment surgery before being allowed to compete in the women’s category. There are also limitations on testoserone levels.
273 Male* Victories in Female Sports
Found on Women’s Sports Policy Working Group: This running tally was started in March 2023 in response to the argument, “But there aren’t very many of them, so what’s the harm?” Actually, there are many male athletes competing in women’s sports. Regardless of gender identity, males have performance advantages over females. Why should we ask any female athlete to relinquish her sports dream to make room for a male? Female athletes are still being treated less favorably than male athletes at every turn. We must not diminish females’ opportunities, placings, finals, podiums, prizes, or financial rewards, nor their right to fair, safe, sex-separated sports experiences.”
Erasing Women and Women’s Safe Spaces
Jan 10, 2024 - Police minister Chris Philp tells forces to stop allowing self-ID trans officers to strip-search women
The police minister has told forces to stop allowing biologically male officers who self-identify as females to strip-search women. Chris Philp said it is 'wrong, disrespectful and unsafe' to allow these officers to carry out intimate searches.
Mr Philp called on the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) to resolve the issue, just days after concerns were raised by a women's rights group. Yesterday, he told MPs strip searches must be carried out by officers of the same sex, as set out by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Jan 9, 2024 - WHO trans plans put women’s ‘dignity, safety and security’ at risk, says UN expert
The United Nations’ most senior expert on violence against women has accused the World Health Organization of putting women’s “dignity, safety and security” at risk after it emerged it is set to call for people to have the right to self-identify as the opposite sex. It comes after WHO, which is an agency of the UN, was accused of choosing a group of “blatantly biased” activists and medics to develop its first global guide to transgender care.
Jan 9, 2024 - NHS nurse sexually assaulted 85-year-old woman he cared for in her home after she suffered a fall, court hears
A court hears a case about an NHS nurse accused of sexually assaulting an 85-year-old woman in her home after suffering a fall. The victim lived alone. She complained about the assault to her family. The details of the assault are in the article.
Jan 5, 2024 - Firefighters taught biological sex is ‘just a label’ and may ‘run along a spectrum’
Firefighters have been taught that sex is “just a label” and may run along a spectrum.
Training material for emergency service staff at West Sussex Fire and Rescue, seen by the Telegraph, shows that they have received instruction in “transgender & non-binary” inclusion. A bitesize guide for staff at the fire service makes a series of claims, including a section asking “what is the gender binary?”, in which firefighters have been informed that “in white Western cultures, gender is seen as being an either/or choice, also known as a binary”.
Jan 5, 2024 - Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority Argues Trans Women Are Women
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority argued before an appeals court Wednesday that transgender women are women in defending an appeal by six members challenging the University of Wyoming chapter for admitting a transgender member. Arguing Wednesday in a legal appeal against it, the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority asserted that inducting transgender members is reasonable, that it’s the norm among nationally recognized sororities and that it's supported by the dictionary. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson ruled that it’s not the court’s place to define the word “woman” for a private organization.
Sex Discrimination
Jan 11, 2024 - Trumbull County grand jury chooses not to indict woman charged after miscarriage
A Trumbull County grand jury Thursday declined to indict a woman charged with abuse of a corpse after she said she had a miscarriage.
The grand jury issued a no bill in the case of Brittany Watts, 34, who was facing a fifth-degree felony abuse of a corpse charge following a miscarriage she had in September.
The case sparked outrage from abortion rights and women’s rights groups.
Jan 9, 2024 - Social worker wins discrimination case over gender-critical beliefs
A social worker who was suspended after sharing gender-critical beliefs online has won her claim against her employer for discrimination. A tribunal panel found that Westminster City Council and Social Work England had discriminated against Rachel Meade on the basis of her protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010.
Jan 8, 2024 - 'State-sanctioned sexual assault': UK police allowing trans-identifying officers to strip-search women
In the United Kingdom, a majority of police forces allow trans-identifying, which means biologically male officers can strip-search women. This, as per the Women's Rights Network, would lead to "state-sanctioned sexual assault". A report titled 'State Sanctioned Sexual Assault' by the Women's Rights Network found that of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, at least 34 have either already implemented such a policy or they intend to.
Jan 5, 2024 - Tennessee rep introduces new abortion bill, argues state cannot interfere with procedures
A new abortion bill seeks to amend Tennessee's current law which bans the procedure in early stages of pregnancy. House Bill 1626 enacts the "Fundamental Right to Reproductive Health Care Act," meaning the state cannot interfere with abortion services because it falls under an individual's "fundamental right." The bill states every person has a right to make decisions about their reproductive health care, including "the fundamental right to use or refuse contraceptive procedures or contraceptive supplies as defined in 68-34-102." It adds a pregnant woman has a right to continue a pregnancy or to terminate it.
Jan 5, 2024 - With most abortions illegal in Missouri, few expect new bills will get traction this year
One bill would allow homicide charges for women who have abortions, while another seeks to punish companies that assist employees in obtaining the procedure. Nearly every abortion is illegal in Missouri. But that hasn’t slowed the pace of anti-abortion legislation in the Missouri statehouse. As lawmakers return to the Capitol for the 2024 legislation session, Republican lawmakers have already filed numerous bills seeking further restrictions on abortion and abortion providers.
Jan 5, 2024 - Taliban arrests women for ‘bad hijab’ in first dress code crackdown since returning to power
The Taliban have arrested women in Afghanistan for wearing “bad hijab” for the first time since coming to power, according to voice notes received Thursday by the AP from a spokesperson from the Taliban government’s Vice and Virtue Ministry. A year after they took power in 2021, the Taliban issued a strict dress code.
Jan 5, 2024 - Women Still Underrepresented in Bangladesh Politics
Although two women — Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia — served as prime ministers of Bangladesh for 31 out of 33 years since 1991, the representation of women in national politics is still negligible. According to the Election Commission, 92 contestants out of 1,891 vying for 300 seats are women. That's 4.86%. In the last general election held in 2018, women accounted for 3.67% of the candidates. Women leaders and political analysts think the lack of political muscle and monetary power, religious-social prejudices and a patriarchal society are the main obstacles to Bangla women's advancement in politics.
News Impacting Society and Children
Jan 11, 2024 - S.C. Republicans fast-track ban on gender procedures for minors
A ban on gender-affirming care for kids and teens in South Carolina is moving quickly at the State House. Just hours after lawmakers gaveled in to begin their 2024 legislative session Tuesday, the newly filed bill, H.4624, drew hours of criticism from parents and pediatricians during an afternoon hearing. By Wednesday afternoon, the Republican-dominated House 3-M (Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs) Committee had already advanced the legislation to the House of Representatives floor to await a debate.
Jan 11, 2024 - Kansas has changed more than 500 gender markers since 2011
Since 2011, Kansas Department of Revenue policy had allowed gender marker changes on driver's licenses. That stopped after the July 10 temporary restraining order. Before the order, the state had approved 552 gender marker changes since 2011. Gender and sex are generally used interchangeably for driver's license purposes, as SB 180 uses "sex," the driver's license statute uses "gender," the physical ID card says "sex" and national standardization for driver's licenses use "sex."
Jan 11, 2024 - Ohio lawmaker compares gender dysphoria in kids to thoughts of being a bird
An Ohio Republican on Wednesday compared gender dysphoria in children to delusions about being a bird as lawmakers debated legislation that would protect exclusive single-sex restrooms. The committee hearing came hours before the House was set to override Gov. Mike DeWine's veto of House Bill 68, which would restrict gender-affirming medical care for minors and block boys and men from female sports. The bathroom bill, House Bill 183, would require K-12 and college students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex. The bill also prohibits schools from letting students share overnight accommodations with the opposite biological sex. The restrictions don't apply to small children being assisted by a family member, or to someone helping a person with a disability
Jan 10, 2024 - Program aims to provide cash for pregnant women and families with newborns in Flint, Michigan
A program aimed at helping remove families and infants in Flint, Michigan, from deep poverty will give $1,500 to women during mid-pregnancy and $500 each month throughout the first year after the birth.
Enrollment opened Wednesday for Rx Kids, lauded by officials as the first of its kind in the United States.
The program has no restrictions on income and empowers "parents with the freedom and choice to make the decisions that best fit their families' needs," officials said in a release.
The $1,500 can be used on food, prenatal care, rent, cribs or other needs. The $500 monthly stipend can be spent on formula, diapers or childcare.
Jan 10, 2024 - Ohio House overrides DeWine veto of transgender health care, athlete bill
The Ohio House voted Wednesday to override Gov. Mike DeWine's veto of legislation that would restrict gender-affirming medical care for minors and block boys from female sports. House Bill 68, which DeWine struck down last month, would prevent doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers or gender transition surgery before patients turn 18. It also would prohibit boys and men from playing on female sports teams in high school and college.
Jan 10, 2024 - A whistleblower at Texas Children's exposed the hospital's secret child sex-change program.
Video interview with Dr. Eitan Haim describing the secret child gender medicine clinic at the Texas Children’s Hospital.
Jan 9, 2024 - Children now ‘biggest perpetrators of sexual abuse against children’
Boys are watching violent porn on their smartphones then going on to attack girls, police have said, as new data showed children are now the biggest perpetrators of sexual abuse against other children. Police data shows there has been a quadrupling of sexual offences against children, in what officers say is the most authoritative analysis of offending against youngsters.
Jan 9, 2024 - ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Is Increasingly Being Recognized as Unscientific
New studies raise more red flags on pediatric gender medicine. Several studies published in recent weeks bring the tragic and profound risks of gender-affirming care into sharper focus. A 2021 study found that prescriptions for psychotropic medications increased after kids initiated medical transition. A 2011 study from Sweden meanwhile found that those who underwent sex-reassignment surgery had an appreciably lower life expectancy than the general population, in part due to an increased incidence of suicide.
Lower life expectancy among those who medically transition is also likely attributable to the regimen of cross-sex hormones that transitioners take. Previous research has documented that cross-sex hormone therapy is associated with increased risk of heart disease and obesity.
A new study published by the University of California, Davis, researchers also hints at greater cancer risk. Specifically, the researchers observe that natal male veterans who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and/or prescribed estrogen or estradiol have almost double the incidence of thyroid cancer compared with other male veterans. The researchers note that “estrogen probably has a role in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer,” a good indication that the higher incidence is not simply correlational or coincidental but a direct result of hormone therapy.
A study in PLOS One features interviews with Canadian detransitioners. Canada, like the United States, has remarkably low guardrails around “gender-affirming care.” Interviews with 28 detransitioners reveal a consistent theme that they were not properly informed of the risks, complications, and limitations of the treatments. “Reflecting back, they felt they lacked insights such as the extent to which their sexual orientation, mental illness, or neurodivergence may have intersected with dysphoria or desire to transition and many said they would have benefitted from ‘neutral’ therapy.”
Jan 9, 2024 - Parents who refuse children gender change face seven years in jail in Scotland
Parents who refuse to allow their children to change gender would face up to seven years in jail under SNP plans to ban “conversion therapy”. Proposals published on Tuesday state that actions designed to “change or suppress” another individual’s gender identity, causing them physical or psychological harm, would become illegal under the radical law.
Jan 6, 2024 - Civil servant given warning after ‘inappropriately’ saying there are two sides to the trans debate
A civil servant was told by a Whitehall investigator that it was inappropriate to say there are two sides to the trans debate. An official in the Department for Work and Pensions was reprimanded over a series of comments made during a discussion around transgender issues, including for saying “I think it’s useful to hear both sides of a subject”.
Among the remarks made by the civil servant, and branded as “inappropriate comments relating to trans women” by a DWP investigator, were the comments: “One of the things I struggle to understand as a lesbian myself is, how can trans women be lesbian as lesbian is same-sex attracted, not gender?”, “I find the term cis very offensive”, “Sport is segregated because there is a difference” and “What if you don’t believe in gender? I don’t”.
Jan 5, 2024 - NH House passes bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors, sending bill to Senate
New Hampshire’s state House of Representatives passed a ban on gender-affirming care for anyone under age 18 on January 4, 2024. Proponents of bans assert that such surgeries should be forestalled until one has reached the age of majority. The bill passed 199-175 with 14 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 184 Republicans voting in favor of the bill.
Jan 5, 2024 - Women Blazing the Trail in Renewable Energy
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields have been filled with male workers for centuries. While the female demographic is rising overall, women account for only 25% of the engineering workforce.
The clean energy sector has gained steam in recent years amid growing concerns about climate change. Still, just 32% of renewable energy workers are women, with a mere 25 sitting as board members for the 200 largest utility companies worldwide.
Jan 5, 2024 - "Disturbing": Doctors Call For Withdrawal Of Psychiatry Textbook Promoting 'Gender-Affirming' Care
Nearly 170 health professionals have signed an open letter to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) condemning its new “gender-affirming” care textbook as “unacceptable, unethical and unsafe.” The letter calls for the APA to suspend publication of the textbook, “Gender-Affirming Psychiatric Care,” released on Nov. 8. The textbook is intended to be used as a teaching tool for doctors in training. Their open letter to the organization appears on the website of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, a free speech and civil liberties watchdog group. The signatories demand that the APA “explain why it glaringly ignored many scientific developments in gender-related care and to consider its responsibility to promote and protect patients’ safety, mental and physical health.”
Jan 5, 2024 - Researcher corrects Higgs's 'misinterpretation' of gender-affirming care data
"In Canada, it's about over 60 percent, after one visit, can be put on the puberty blockers," Higgs said. He was also quoted by The Canadian Press saying 60 percent of kids "are given automatic affirmation and put on some sort of hormone therapy" at a first appointment.
Researcher and medical doctor Greta Bauer said her study, published in 2021, specifies that 60 percent of young patients were prescribed medication at their first hormone specialist appointment.
To get that appointment, youth had to see an average of 2.7 other healthcare professionals, and the average wait time for that first appointment was 269 days from the date of referral. Before any prescriptions were written, kids needed a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, she said.
Op-Eds of Interest
Very human problems in the field of gender medicine
The right to be gender critical
Social Media
An elderly Woman in NZ was banned from 1 of town’s 2 grocery stores for wearing a GC t-shirt
A comprehensive round up. Thank you. Will post on X.
The Scotland thing shocked me. I told a guy about it a work and he didn’t believe me. Looked it up during lunch, and was just as me.