Category: Children / Kids / Minors / Teens / Family
Another International Medical Org Rejects Cass Recommendations On Trans Youth
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/another-international-medical-org
The Cass report was a complete ideological bias hit job. Yes, it got great traction at first as the anti-trans haters ran with it. But like all hate driven junk science it withered on the vine. Hugs. Scottie
Many of the largest medical and psychological organizations have rejected the Cass Review’s recommendations on trans youth. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is the latest.
Two months ago, the Cass Review was released in the United Kingdom. This review, guided and advised by individuals with ties to SPLC-designated hate groups and who met with Governor Ron DeSantis’ medical board—handpicked to ban care in Florida—has led to severe restrictions in the U.K., including criminalizing the possession of puberty blockers. The response outside the U.K. has been much more critical, with numerous medical organizations and doctors worldwide rejecting its recommendations. The latest major medical body to speak out is the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), the leading organization for training psychiatrists in both countries.
The Cass Review, a highly criticized evaluation of transgender care, was developed in the United Kingdom by Dr. Hillary Cass, a pediatrician without direct experience in transgender care. Although it was presented as an unbiased and neutral review, intentionally excluding transgender individuals from the decision-making process, it was later revealed that advisors with ties to the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, an SPLC-designated hate group, were involved. Dr. Cass has since controversially blamed being trans on pornography and labeled the American Academy of Pediatrics as a “left-leaning organization” due to its support for the medical care of transgender youth.
Last month, a handful of members of the RANZCP, some of which are notable figures in anti-trans activism in the country, wrote a letter to the organization stating that they had “serious concerns” about gender affirming care for transgender youth. They pointed to the Cass Review as justification for their concerns. The top signature on the letter is that of Jillian Spencer, who stated in an interview that she was fired for “being a danger to trans and gender-diverse children.” Now, the college has responded.
In a response posted to the RANZCP website, the college announced that the Cass Review is one of “a number of reviews,” and that it rejects the call for a “government inquiry” into trans care in the countries it represents. It further states that transgender care should be “patient centered” and individualized to a patient’s needs. Lastly, it expresses a full support for transgender youth and rejects claims that being transgender is a “mental health condition”:
“The College is committed to respectful, sensitive and appropriate mental health care being provided to individuals who identify as LGBTIQ+. Being Trans or Gender Diverse is not a mental health condition, and the RANZCP unequivocally supports the rights of trans and gender diverse people to have equal access to safe and effective mental health care that is underpinned by dignity, empathy and respect.
…
The College emphasises that assessment and treatment should be patient centred, evidence-informed and responsive to and supportive of the child or young person’s needs and that psychiatrists have a responsibility to counter stigma and discrimination directed towards trans and gender diverse people.”
The statement from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is the latest in a series of rejections of the Cass Review’s findings by medical organizations worldwide. Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics responded to the review, disagreeing with many of its claims and asserting that the organization supports “individualized health care for each patient, in consultation with their family and health care team” when it comes to transgender youth. The Endocrine Society also dismissed the recommendations, stating, “Medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment decisions.”
In Canada, the Canadian Pediatric Society rejected the Cass Review’s recommendations, announcing that “current evidence shows puberty blockers to be safe when used appropriately, and they remain an option to be considered within a wider view of the patient’s mental and psychosocial health.” Children’s Healthcare Canada, which oversees the country’s children’s hospitals, concurred, stating, “Our position remains unchanged on the topic.”
Evidence continues to support the use of gender affirming care for transgender youth. A Cornell review of more than 51 studies found “gender transition is effective in treating gender dysphoria and can significantly improve the well-being of transgender individuals.” Numerous studies show lower suicidality, with as much as a 73% reduction in suicidality for trans youth who are allowed care. In a recent article that was not considered by the Cass Review in the Journal of Adolescent Health, puberty blockers reduced depression and anxiety significantly. In Germany, a recent review by over 27 medical organizations has judged that “not providing treatment can do harm” to transgender youth. Due to strong evidence around transgender care, the American Psychological Association released a historic policy resolution condemning bans on gender affirming care. Notably, they are the largest psychological association in the world, with representatives elected to represent 157,000 members.
The lack of credibility given to the Cass Review outside the United Kingdom, especially in the United States, has frustrated its proponents. In a recent article published in The BMJ titled “Gender medicine in the US: how the Cass review failed to land,” anti-trans writer Jennifer Block laments that Erin Reed, the author of this article, highlighted the review’s anti-trans political ties with DeSantis’ picks, which hampered its acceptance. Although Block incorrectly claims that only a single meeting took place (Cass advisor Dr. Kaltiala attended several meetings and even advocated for the ban as a primary witness), she accurately demonstrates that the document’s political roots have been detrimental to its acceptance among credible scientific organizations. These political roots were recently confirmed when Conservative Women and Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, admitted that “gender critical” individuals were placed in health roles to facilitate the Cass Review—a mechanism remarkably similar to how Florida’s review led to the banning of care in the state, borrowing from DeSantis’ strategy.
Despite its lack of acceptance abroad, the Cass Review continues to do tremendous damage in places predisposed to targeting transgender healthcare. It has already been cited in the United States to ban care in South Carolina, a Republican-controlled state. In the United Kingdom, it has led to the criminalization of possessing puberty blockers. As more medical organizations reject its findings, politicians will undoubtedly use its conclusions to push forward with bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, despite having little evidence to justify such decisions.
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Buttigieg Defends Pride Flags: They Symbolize Love, Flag Flown By The Alitos Is “Insurrectionist Symbology”
What people don’t understand about these fundamentalist Christians is they don’t accept the rights and feelings of anyone else. They are the maximum in selfishness. They cry rivers about their feelings not being respected, such as Jordon Peterson claiming it hurt him to use a person’s preferred pronoun, but he couldn’t give a shit about the pain of the misgendered person he just insulted. The Alito’s are the same, their feelings are very important and must be respected. But not yours, not anyone who disagrees with them, those people are to be disregarded entirely. Hugs. Scottie
“I’m often reminded that the most important thing in my life – which is my marriage, and my family and the two beautiful children that my husband Chasten and I are raising – that that marriage only exists by the grace of the single vote on the United States Supreme Court. That expanded our rights and freedoms back in 2015 and made it possible for somebody like me to get married.
“And, you know, Supreme Court justices have an unbelievable amount of power and – by the nature in the structure, the Supreme Court – there’s no supervision over that power. They are entrusted with it literally for as long as they live. And part of that trust is we expect them to enter into those enormously consequential decisions that that shape our everyday lives with a sense of fairness.
“I also hope that most Americans can understand the difference between a flag that symbolizes you know, love and acceptance and signals to people who have sometimes feared for their safety that they’re going to be okay – and insurrectionists symbology, I’ll just leave it at that.” – Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, on Martha-Ann Alito’s condemnation of “shameful” Pride flags.
The cult is raging.
Moms For Liberty Chapter Convinces Florida County School Board To Ban Kids Book About Banning Books
Why are we letting a few off the rails people ruin everything for the rest of us normal people. Can anyone tell me why these people are making decisions for everyone else kids when they don’t have children on those schools, that go to those libraries, or are in public office? See how they act behind the scenes to get a law past to “protect the children” so they can then exploit them to push their fundamentalist extreme agenda on everyone. I hate this. We need to find a way to fight back. Hugs. Scottie
The Guardian reports:
A book about book bans has been banned in a Florida school district. Ban This Book, a children’s book written by Alan Gratz, will no longer be available in the Indian River county school district since the school board voted to remove the book last month.
Gratz’s book, which came out in 2017, follows fourth-grader Amy Anne Ollinger as she tries to check out her favorite book. Ollinger is told by the librarian she cannot, because it was banned after a classmate’s parent thought it was inappropriate.
In a peculiar case of life imitating art, Jennifer Pippin, a parent in the coastal community, challenged the book. Pippin is also the chair of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, a far-right organization that has been behind many of the book bans that have swept across the US in recent years.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports:
Gratz, its author, called the Indian River County decision “incredibly ironic.” “They banned the book because it talks about the books that they have banned and because it talks about book banning,” he said in an interview. “It feels like they know exactly what they’re doing and they’re somewhat ashamed of what they’re doing and they don’t want a book on the shelves that calls them out.”
Board members Jacqueline Rosario and Gene Posca, who voted in the majority, were backed by Moms for Liberty during their campaigns, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers. The third “yes” vote came from Kevin McDonald, who was recently appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The title itself and the theme challenges our authority. And it even goes so far as to not only to mention books that are deemed inappropriate by school boards, including ours, it not only mentions them but it lists them,” McDonald said.
As you’ll see in the many tweets below, Ms. Pippin is as batshit crazy as you’d expect. She last appeared here in March 2023 when she successfully pressured the same school board to ban a book about a Holocaust survivor.
The laughable thing about all this is that they literally (see what I did there?) do not understand the IRONY of banning a book about banning books.
It’s true it’s ironic, to those of us on the outside. But according to the DeSantis appointee to the board, they felt the need to ban the book because it challenged their authority! So they have a completely political agenda, having nothing to do with religion or morality. One wonders if they will next ban the local newspaper that wrote about this incident.
And yet they shrug their shoulders if kids are mowed down with an assault rifle
Nope. They just blame liberals, gays, liberals, trans, liberals, Mexicans, liberals, atheists, liberals…
…..challenges our authority.
Yep. That’s it. That’s exactly it.
Fucking moronic 🤡
Example A in why books like these are necessary and appropriate for kids.
The idea of authority for its own sake deserves ridicule and disobedience.
Likewise, kids’ access to books and topics in school that make Christian nationalists and white supremacists uncomfortable, appropriate medical care including reproductive and gender-affirming care, and so on, and so forth, are not about parental rights. They’re about THE KIDS’ RIGHTS as people in their own right, whether or not their individual parents support them.
They all need to stop this nonsense and get part time jobs to pay for their Florida flood insurance.
In 10 years’ time, it’ll be a wonder if any child from the Florida education system can read or write.
Thats exactly what the 1% want. A permanent, uneducated underclass working slave labor wages
As Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza put it:
I don’t want an educated population. I want oxen.
It should come as no surprise that Alan Gratz, whose book on book banning Pippin wants banned, has won a National Jewish Book Award. So like Anne Frank and Holocaust survivors, he has “forsaken God.”
Had her two kids out of wedlock, yet considers herself a defender of virtue and family values.
So predictable.
“Do as I say, not as I do” – the conservative motto.
And then they had a little BBQ.
The title itself and the theme challenges our authority.
Politicians should not dictate school curricula or library content! Period!
Where TF are the so-called “Libertarians” on this?
Coincidentally, the seemingly well meaning Germans NAZIs started off by banning books too …
Peak anti-Jewish insanity wasn’t bad enough, that now they are claiming that Ann Frank’s diary is a Jewish plot and a threat the Christian children?
Let’s talk about Dems moving to stop Project 2025….
Israel CONFESSES Genocidal Intent
Exposing the Dangers of Anti-Trans Fascism | RE: The Cass Review & Labour’s Downfall
Judge Strikes Down FL Ban On Trans Youth Healthcare
I am watching a video by Ethel of Essence of Thought debunking the Cass report and showing how the fear of trans people assaulting women were actively created to cause as much hate and anger at trans women as possible despite there being no evidence it is real or happening. The people who fought to get the message in the media admitted in writing that they had no evidence such violence or attacks had happened or were happening, but they thought it was a wonder why to stop the acceptance of trans people. That is their goal, make trans people the villain’s before they can be accepted like gay people are. Again they admitted this in writing, they felt they needed to move against trans people / kids because they lost the fight against gay people because they started to late they thought. Hugs. Scottie
The New York Times reports:
Key parts of a Florida law that bans gender transition care for minors and imposes hurdles on adults seeking transition care are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. Judge Robert L. Hinkle of Federal District Court in Tallahassee sided with advocacy groups and three families who had said that the law stripped them of parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their transgender children.
In a 105-page order, Judge Hinkle said that “gender identity is real” and that a “widely accepted standard of care” includes puberty blockers and hormone treatments that Florida unlawfully banned. “The state of Florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny transgender individuals safe and effective medical treatment — treatment with medications routinely provided to others with the state’s full approval so long as the purpose is not to support the patient’s transgender identity,” Judge Hinkle wrote.
Read the full article.
Judge Robert Hinkle, a Clinton appointee, first appeared here in 2014 when he ruled that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
A small victory for our trans community, but we need to get to a place where trans rights aren’t up to the whims of legislatures, the courts, and the whims of despotic southern governors.
Rights should not be ZIP code dependent.
Not all south. NH is about to pass a shitload of anti-trans legislation, trying to get people to get to MA or elsewhere if they can.
And Eastern Washington would gladly join in the tomfoolery if they could get away with it. We always joke that the Cascade Curtain keeps out the riff raff.
You will soon have the haters screech about the Judge condoning “gender confusion”.
Hey, you so-called experts. Trans folks are not “confused”. They know exactly who they are and what they need to do. If you truly care you’d STFU and get out of the way.
I know. Bashing Trans people is good for building up your brand within the Republican party and the Christian Right.
It’s amazing how some cis people can claim to know more about trans people and gender identity than trans people themselves. I mean, the sheer arrogance of it!
Hell, with what we go through, we transgender people often know ourselves better than most cisgender people will ever know themselves.
The only thing the screechers care about is imposing their hate on everyone else. It is not and never has been about doing what is in a child’s best interest.
Thanks, again, Judge Hinkle!
This is a good thing, until SQOTUS says otherwise
Preaching to the choirpreachers here, but this is a far better way to do restrooms:
Or, a bit more seriously:
Spokane downtown Pride mural isn’t going anywhere, community vows
https://crosscut.com/news/2024/06/spokane-downtown-pride-mural-isnt-going-anywhere-community-vows
These kids were taught this intolerance and shown by adults that acting like a jerk, like a thug disregarding others feelings is acceptable. I wonder why they have that idea? Could it be they watch their parents watch right wing media where maga people shout fuck your feelings to others, and praise gangs of thugs attack libraries and drag queen events? The uncivil discourse being taught these young people are going to get worse unless the adults rise up to stop it, to put it back in the unacceptable place in society it was. See being LGBTQ+ was once unacceptable, but society progressed, now the right wing fundamentalist fanatics are trying hard to make it unacceptable again. And to me it looks like they are winning. Hugs. Scottie
The city-funded rainbow flag has been a frequent vandalism target, but allies have raised $15K to repaint it.
A bird’s-eye view of the new mural, taken atop the Wheatland Bank building. (Ben Tobin for RANGE Media)
This story was republished with permission from RANGE Media.
For 24 hours the intersection in front of Riverfront Park transformed into something akin to a block party as the Pride flag mural was restored to its original glory. The mural, which has been a frequent target of vandalism — as recently as last week — and even arson, was designed by queer Spokane artist Tiffany Patterson as part of the Asphalt Arts program run by Spokane Arts and funded by the city of Spokane.
As Patterson led four painters in restoring the mural last week, gay-associated pop hits like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor blasted from speakers placed around the intersection. Just off the mural, Matthew Danielson and Skyler Oberst, the executive directors of Spokane Pride and Spokane Arts, respectively, set up tents with refreshments and information about their organizations and fielded the frequent questions from the public and the media as folks walked by the art-in-progress.
Tiffany Patterson (right) and one of their painting assistants (left) repaint the Pride mural downtown. (Ben Tobin for RANGE Media)
For 24 hours the intersection in front of Riverfront Park transformed into something akin to a block party as the Pride flag mural was restored to its original glory. The mural, which has been a frequent target of vandalism — as recently as last week — and even arson, was designed by queer Spokane artist Tiffany Patterson as part of the Asphalt Arts program run by Spokane Arts and funded by the city of Spokane.
As Patterson led four painters in restoring the mural last week, gay-associated pop hits like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor blasted from speakers placed around the intersection. Just off the mural, Matthew Danielson and Skyler Oberst, the executive directors of Spokane Pride and Spokane Arts, respectively, set up tents with refreshments and information about their organizations and fielded the frequent questions from the public and the media as folks walked by the art-in-progress.
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Volunteers flitted in and out of the roped off intersection, rolling paint, bringing snacks or standing by with angel costumes to block from sight any anti-queer protesters, though few showed up.
The volunteers were mostly friends and family, Danielson said, and the artists who had agreed to donate their time on the first evening to lay down the coat of primer necessary for the paint to stick. Some government officials joined the paint party as well: Mayor Lisa Brown; Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane; State Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane; County Commissioner Chris Jordan and City Council Member Paul Dillon all stopped by to show their support, Oberst said.
“It feels really good to have the community come,” Patterson said. “The massive amount of outpouring of support that happened immediately following [the vandalism] was very rewarding and it showed how important it was.”
Patterson, a transgender artist, paints the stripes symbolizing the trans community in the Progress Pride flag design. (Ben Tobin for RANGE Media)
This is Patterson’s third time leading the repaint efforts, and according to them, “It gets easier every time because we’re learning so much.” Patterson is an experienced public artist with prior mural experience — including the Peaceful Valley basketball court paint job — under their belt, but the project has also created learning opportunities for artists to work under them as paid assistants.
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City funds covered the original cost of the project, but the repaint efforts were completely funded by a wave of donations that came after the vandalism. “We raised it in three days. I could not believe that,” Danielson said. “I kept texting [Oberst] to be like ‘Oh my God we have this much!’ It was great.”
Oberst celebrated too, but was more pragmatic. “Given where the city is at financially, it’s nice to provide this to the community without being a burden to the taxpayers,” he said. “Because we live in a city that is deserving of great art, we want to make sure that all vandalism is cleaned up quickly so we can all enjoy it.”
Additional surveillance was also installed around the intersection, including a high-resolution mobile camera system owned by the Downtown Spokane Partnership, which was moved to the intersection for Pride Month to deter further vandalism.
‘Not going anywhere’
Just a few hours after Patterson and their team finished painting and less than three hours before a new state law was passed making “bias-motivated” vandalism of public property a felony hate crime, four teenagers riding Lime scooters were observed by witnesses and cameras doing burnouts over the fresh paint. The suspects were observed yelling obscenities at witnesses as they vandalized the mural. According to a press release from the Spokane Police Department (SPD), the area is clearly marked to keep traffic away as it was just repainted to repair previous damage.
SPD arrested 19-year-old Ruslan Turko and two minors on the charge of first-degree Malicious Mischief. They were caught 34 minutes after the initial 911 call was placed just before 9 p.m. on June 5.
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Scuffs visible on the mural after the June 5 vandalism. (Courtesy of Spokane Police Department)
The scooter wheels left black scuff marks across the entire mural. Speaking to RANGE as he observed the new damage to the mural for the first time, Oberst said tire marks from Lime scooters are especially hard to clean.
“The wheels are actually made of a particular compound that is really, really terrible when they burn out on public art,” he said. “If you scrub it, it would take forever.”
Because of the nature of the damage and the cost of closing streets safely for repainting, Oberst and Danielson jointly decided to leave the damage intact, at least through Pride weekend, which was last weekend. “I wish I had a better answer for you, because I would love to have it right like yesterday,” Oberst said. “But it’s not going to be the case.”
Oberst said he and Danielson plan to propose a community service program for the young vandals to scrub graffiti on public art and public buildings as a “learning opportunity.”
“It sends a powerful message of who we are as a community. This is not punitive,” Oberst said. “Restorative justice is who we are. We would welcome an extra set of hands for graffiti abatement downtown.”
On Thursday, as he watched the final steps of the mural repainting, Danielson told RANGE that despite the repeated vandalism, he was proud of the community’s support for the project as a whole. “It’s clearly like a very small percentage of people that are not OK with Pride stuff,” he said. “The entire community spoke in raising all this money in three days.”
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As the painters worked, a few drivers and pedestrians had shouted obscenities at them from car windows or the sidewalk throughout the day, according to the painters.
But, Patterson said, “for all of the terrible people saying horrible things, there’s ten times more positive people. And the people that stop and thank us is so surprising. It’s people you wouldn’t expect. And people will drive by and roll down their window and scream ‘Thank you!’ … The community shows up and it’s very apparent that the people that are for it are greater [than those against it].”
Patterson smiles as they get back to painting. (Ben Tobin for RANGE Media)
Patterson had no way of knowing what would happen later that evening, but as they put some of the last touches on their work, they shrugged with a smile on their face. “If it happens again, we’ll paint it again,” they said. “We’re here. We’re not going anywhere.”
Erin Sellers
Erin moved to town from Idaho to attend Gonzaga University, fell in love with Spokane and hasn’t left yet. They are a queer storyteller, and when they’re not pounding Red Bulls (not sponsored) and typing frantically, you can find her on and off stage at a few of the theatres in town. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to public meetings, telling stories from underrepresented communities and pitching funny merch ideas.
Sorry to everyone, but not a productive day
After being up over 24 hours and barely able to function I had gone to bed yesterday about 6 pm. I stumbled through eating a grand supper Ron made me.
I ate as much as I could but I was so tired that I ate the potatoes and half the chicken with apple cinnamon dressing. I started by shaving off the edges and working towards the center. I used different sauces he offered me. But with the medications I had to take and being so tired … I finally handed the plate back to him. He is so grand he praised me for eating what I did and when I offered to help clean up he gave me a lot of hugs and love, and told me just to go to bed. Which I did. But I loved what I did eat.
Sadly the steroids have kicked into high gear and my blood sugars are very high while I only slept for a few hours. I woke at around midnight after hours of being in and out, but the first few hours I slept hard. Then by 1:30 I was a wake I was so awake I couldn’t lay in the bed, but was tossing and turning and bothering both Ron and the cat. So by 2 am I got out of bed. But to tell the truth I was unable to concentrate, I had 3 hours of sleep after 24 plus hours awake. But I struggled to read and do stuff.
So by passing the pity me stupidity of my whining, lets get to what I really want to say. I watched videos, I answered emails, and went on the MS survivors site I love and answered comments / replies to me and read a lot of posts and replied to them. I really appreciate the site. It has helped me deal and understand my own abuse and it is full of people like me, people who were also abused. Soon I am going to write about a punishment I was subjected to as a small child to make me compliant or just to see me in as much pain as possible. It involves rubbing alcohol. But I have to be in a safe mind set because it still triggers me after more 5 decades later. The cruelty of those that could think of and do to a 4 to 7 year old. Just think … rubbing alcohol and sensitive boy parts. And to make the coming pain more hurtful. For those that wonder yes the abuse, the memories never go away some fade but others get stronger and more vivid until I deal with them. This is becoming one of those. But now I am going to try to do the kitchen dishes, Ron has gone for his nap after he and I talked major structural changes on our bedroom and the hallway to it. I don’t know if I will get to the blog anymore today, but the last few days I caught up enough I shouldn’t lose any wonderful things you grand people left for me. Hugs, loves, Scottie
