January 16 - 30: Dylan Mulvaney and the Taliban rekindling the glory days of the Middle Ages
And, terfy wins in schools, hospitals and sports...
Efforts to Silence Girls, Women, and Their Supporters
Jan. 20 - Suit between retired teacher, Waterloo Region's public board settled
Four years ago, on Jan.17, 2022, Ontario elementary teacher, Carolyn Burjoski spoke up at an online school board trustees meeting about books in the school library that she felt were innappropriate for children because of sexual content. Her presentation cited two books specifically; one about a transgender teenager and the other discussed asexuality. Burjoski told trustees at the meeting that “some of the books make it seem simple, even cool, to take puberty blockers and opposite sex hormones.”
She was cut-off mid-speech and ejected from the meeting. Subsequently, she was ordered to stay home from school and was barred from speaking to colleagues or students, and then the Board launched a disciplinary investigation.
Burjoski countered with a defamation law suit, seeking $1.5 million. The school board asked the court to decline to hear the case, but on Nov. 23, 2023 the Ontario Court of Justice declined to decline it, with Justice James Ramsay ordering the school board to pay $30,000 of Burjoski’s legal fees and lamenting that the school board had tried to shut down debate, “… the Human Rights Code does not prohibit public discussion of issues related to transgenderism or minors and transgenderism. It does not prohibit public discussion of anything.”
Now Burjoski and the school board have confirmed that a settlement has been reached. Neither party is able to discuss the contents of the settlement, but Burjoski is celebrating:
“Four years ago today, I was silenced for asking questions that I believed every parent and educator should be asking,” Burjoski wrote in the release. “The lawsuit has now been settled, and I have released a video completing the presentation I was prevented from finishing.”
Jan. 20 - Nurse in pronoun row reinstated in job after disciplinary hearing
In May 2024, NHS nurse Jennifer Melle addressed a male patient as “Mr.” and wouldn’t correct herself so he then responded by hurling racist slurs at her.
"(He) began to yell the 'N word' several times and lunged out … nearly headbutted me," Melle said.
The patient was restrained and Melle thought the ordeal was over. But she was stunned to learn that the patient filed a complaint against her for misgendering him, and she was given a written warning. When Melle spoke to the press about the matter, the trust suspended her from work for sharing details about the patient (even though there was no evidence the sharing made the patient identifiable).
An internal disciplinary meeting cleared Melle of further action and reinstated her work. An NHS spokesperson said they were pleased a member of staff who was previously suspended on full pay was being reinstated to clinical duties: “Racial abuse of our staff will never be tolerated and we are sorry that she had this experience.”
Melle says she is “deeply relieved and grateful” because of the decision, following an “incredibly long and painful journey”, but is still taking the trust to an employment tribunal in April claiming harassment, direct and indirect discrimination linked to her gender‑critical and evangelical Christian beliefs.
Bonus: On Jan. 23, BBC had to issue a clarification to this story, perhaps because normie readers don’t speak gender-wang:
This article was updated on 21 January to make clear that the transgender patient was a transgender woman who was born a biological male.
Save Women’s Sports
Jan. 24 - USA Hockey Bans Transgender Athletes From Many Teams And Programs
USA Hockey says that “the vast majority of USA Hockey’s programs are co-ed and not restricted by sex, and therefore all hockey players are eligible without regard to their sex, gender identity, transgender, non-binary or other status or forms of gender expression.” But it recently overturn its 2019 policy on transgender athlete eligibility, adopting instead a new return-to-normalcy policy that restricts single-sex programs to participants who were assigned are that sex.
Women’s spaces
Jan. 27 - Darlington hospital 'regrets' trans nurse row distress
The trust spokesperson said:
“We acknowledge and respect the employment tribunal’s decision… We have a responsibility to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment for everyone and the tribunal’s findings make clear that we did not get this right for all our colleagues, for which we apologise… We know that this has been a difficult and distressing experience for all those involved which we regret.”
(See, below, for unabating lack of safe, respectful and inclusive working environments for women.)
Jan. 26 - Darlington hospital violated trans complaint nurses' dignity, tribunal rules
When a Darlington doctor began announcing himself a woman and using the women’s changing room at the hospital, more than 26 nurses signed a letter complaining of the man’s presence in their space and his inappropriate conduct.
An employment tribunal has now found that the hospital trust “violated the dignity” of the female nurses.
Not to have the women feel too empowered, the tribunal asserted that the women had not been victimized and dismissed their complaints about inappropriate changing room behaviour as “not well founded”. Apparently having one’s dignity violated does not count as victimization, and even in 2026 it still takes more than 26 women to be believed.
Society and Children
Jan. 27 - Pornhub to restrict access for UK users from February
In 2025, the UK Online Safety Act gave porn sites a choice: either require age verification from UK users, or block UK users. Pornhub, along with many other sites, first chose to implement age verifications. But Pornhub says the age verifications caused traffic to the website to fall by 77%, so it is now simply going to block UK users.
However, VPN’s will make it possible for users to hide their UK location. Indeed, after the age requirement change was made in July, sales of VPN’s in the UK soared — meaning that Pornhub really can’t know how much UK traffic was affected.
Jan. 22 - Department rejects ICCL claim schools are obliged to use trans students’ preferred pronouns
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) published a guide asserting that schools are legally obliged to use the preferred pronouns of trans students, and that trans-identifying people are legally entitled access to single-sex bathrooms, services, etc. But the Department of Education has called BS on the guide that is driven by ideology, not legal reality.
The ICCL guide, funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), cited “Department of Education guidelines” when advising that students had a legal right for schools to use their preferred pronouns.
But The so-called guide is more wishful-thinking than legal reasoning, making grandoise assertions of rights. The Department of Education has confirmed that “No guidelines have been issued,” and that no obligation to use preferred pronouns, as presented in the ICCL guide, exists.
In addition, campaigners who wish to preserve women-only spaces and opponents of gender transition for children have opposed the guide, citing that it was written by lobby groups and cannot be considered independent advice.
Beyond the West
The victories are The Taliban ushered in a new Criminal Procedure Code on January 4 that has been condemned as “the legalisation of brutality” and “far worse than the Middle Ages”.
Three parts of the Code stand out as particularly heinous:
Article 9 explicitly divides Afghan citizens into four unequal legal classes, determining punishment not by the gravity of the offence but by the social status of the accused. Religious scholars (mullahs) are the top of the hierarchy and are largely granted immunity from criminal prosecution (they can receive counselling, advice and warnings instead). Elites (including tribal elders and military) are also generally immune from imprisonment. Middle-class citizens can face prison sentences. And at the bottom are the lower-class citizens, who face the “full force of discretionary punishment”, including imprisonment and corporal punishment (such as public flogging).
Article 4 further institutionalizes and encourages domestic violence. Husbands (or “masters”) are given broad authority to determine and carry out punishments for “crimes” that have discretionary punishment. Only physical violence that results in “bone fractures” or “tearing of the skin” is banned, meaning many forms of physical punishment remain legally permissible.
Article 15 implicitly recognizes slavery as a legal category, stating that discretionary punishment applies “whether the criminal is free or a slave”.
In addition, the Code relies heavily on confessions and testimony for proof, provides no safeguards for defence lawyers, and does not recognise the right to remain silent.
Entertainment News
Jan. 27 - Dylan Mulvaney cast in Broadway musical 'SIX' - The Post
We thought “Days of Girlhood” was bad enough, but grifter Dylan Mulvaney wasn’t done with minimizing what it is to be a woman. He has now taken on the lead role of Anne Boleyn in Broadway’s newest performance of SIX, about the very unfortunate wives of Henry the XIII. Forget that the cast is full of returning members and that Abigail Barlow is a Grammy winner best known for producing “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” and songs in “Moana 2” — Dylan has that certain something that makes him a most desirable lead woman… he’s a man.
Oh, the irony that the performance of a story about women holding no status in society and being dominated by a narcissistic male with no regard for women’s worth except in how it can be titilating for him is itself being dominated by a narcissistic male with no regard for women’s worth except in how it can be titilating to him…
Op-Eds of Interest
Julie Bindel: The Ugly Face of Sex Work Ideology
Presumably SIX is now panto (with a male "dame"). Wasn't history supposed to be tragedy first but repeated as farce? Perhaps drama is following the same course.
The Carolyn Burjoski settlement is significant beacuse it reinforces that questioning institutional policies is not the same as discrimination. Courts pushing back on attempts to shut down public debate matters, especially when the stakes involve children. I've watched similiar patterns in corporate settings where raising concerns gets reframed as hostility rather than legitimate discourse.