Category: Health / Healthcare / Illness / Vaccines
Belgium bans ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ people
https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/323548/belgium-bans-conversion-practices-for-lgbtq-people
I wish the US could do something like this. The entire idea behind conversion therapy is that if a person / kid is hurt enough they wont do that behavior anymore. That is the idea behind spankings and corporal punishment. Even the people still pushing this admit it won’t change the desire, just make the thought of it so painful, the feelings about it so adverse that the person is unable to go forward with the desire. Think of that. Say you are attracted to a set gender / sex and you are tortured to the point where every time you try to fulfill that desire the effects / memories of the torture kick in giving you a fresh taste of the torture. It doesn’t matter your sexual orientation or what gender you ID as, if your conditioned to hate it in yourself or hate it in anyway, you have just been programed to hate yourself forever, all of yourself. This is done to teens by religious parents who think their religion gives them the authority to claim such feelings either don’t exist or are from the devil and because of laws in most places the parents in that case have the unquestioned authority to force their teenager to go to these places and undergo the torture. That is why these bans on these conversion therapy places need to happen. Hugs
11th edition of the ‘Antwerp Pride’ parade. Credit: Nicolas MaeterlinckBelgium is banning conversion practices – a pseudoscientific practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms – for members of the LGBTQ community, announced State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunity and Diversity Sarah Schlitz.
Although Belgium is regularly regarded as a model of LGBTQ rights due to its extensive legislative arsenal, conversion practices – often referred to as “conversion therapy,” which is considered a misnomer by medical professionals as it does not constitute a legitimate form of therapy – were not yet officially banned in the country.
“Belgium is a pioneer in the field of LGBTQ rights. Numerous legislative reforms and social efforts bear witness to this, but a ban [on conversion practices] was sadly missing from our legislative arsenal,” Schlitz said in a press release.
While the phenomenon is better known abroad – especially in the United States where at least 700,000 cases of conversion practices are known – Belgium is not spared from it: a recent study by the ‘Centre Permanent pour la Citoyenneté et la Participation’ (CPCP) reveals the stories of LGBTQ people who have been victims of these so-called medical therapies or even forms of exorcisms.
Symbolic, psychological and physical violence
Conversion practices are “deceptive, ineffective and dangerous” practices that aim to change, suppress or eliminate the sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of LGBTQ people.
“The opportunity to be yourself and the freedom to live the way you want is a fundamental principle of our society that must not be compromised under any circumstances,” Schlitz said. “This prohibition is a powerful act to protect the victims from this symbolic, psychological and sometimes physical violence.”
Methods range from psychotherapy and electroshock therapy to beatings and even “corrective rape.” They can take place in religious, medical or sectarian environments, can be carried out by relatives or pseudo-professionals and have terrible consequences for the people who undergo them.
From now on, carrying out conversion practices will be punishable by imprisonment of one month to two years and/or a fine of €100 to €300.
The court will also take into account whether the offence was committed by a person in a recognised position of trust, authority or influence over the victim and whether the offence was committed against a minor or a person in a vulnerable situation.
Suggesting or inciting conversion practices, directly or indirectly, will also be penalised. The court will be able to prohibit people convicted of conversion practices from carrying out a professional or social activity related to the commission of these offences for a maximum period of five years.
Let’s talk about 50 million spent by the GOP….
Children’s hospital faces third bomb threat due to anti-trans conspiracy theories
Hate and anger has replaced common decency and reduced society to gang thug level. These people cannot accept the advancement in society. These people demand to have what they want and they don’t care if they have to break laws or hurt people to get it. This is their new abortion issue. just as they did everything to close abortion clinics (even clinics that did not perform abortion but had the hated name) and killed abortion providing doctors they are now doing that for trans care / treatment. This has to stop. Science has disproved the entire anti- trans conspiracy and all their misinformation has been debunked. First there is no sign kids are being rushed into socially transitioning, there is mental health exams and treatments at every step, 98% remain happy with their transitions and some of those that detransition so because of social pressure such as negative actions / treatment from family and former friends, sexual reassignment surgeries are not happing to kids. We know from studies that positive gender affirming treatment which the major medical associations support saves lives of trans kids and adult. Hugs
Boston Children’s HospitalBoston Children’s Hospital was the target of another bomb threat Wednesday, the third since August. The hospital serves transgender youth and has been the subject of a right-wing harassment campaign this past year.
“This morning, the hospital was again the target of a bomb threat,” the Harvard-affiliated medical center said in a statement. Boston Children’s is “committed to ensuring the hospital is a safe and secure place for all who work here and come here.”
The previous two bomb threats were directed at the hospital’s Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the country.
Right-wing troll Matt Walsh, Chaya Raichik of LibsofTikTok, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson began whipping up outrage over the summer with false claims the hospital was mutilating children.
After staff and patients were evacuated Wednesday, police determined the latest threat to be a hoax.
In October, Catherine Leavy, 37, was indicted on one count of making a false bomb threat and one count of intentionally conveying false or misleading information that a bomb was on the way to Boston Children’s Hospital, in relation to the threat called in on August 30. A search of Leavy’s residence on September 15 turned up the phone allegedly used to make the call.
In August, Raichik spread the false story to her 1.5 million followers that Boston Children’s was performing hysterectomies “for young girls” as part of their gender-affirming care program. No such surgeries were or are available to trans boys under 18. The disinformation was amplified across right-wing media.
In September, Walsh targeted Vanderbilt University Medical Center with similarly false information, claiming the hospital’s Transgender Health Clinic “now castrate, sterilize, and mutilate minors as well as adults, while apparently taking steps to hide this activity from the public view.”
Walsh criticized the clinic’s Trans Buddy program – which offers peer support to patients – and repeatedly accused the medical staff of “drugging and sterilizing” kids for financial gain.
Soon after, Carlson shared the names and photos of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s board of directors, while ranting against hospitals that provide gender-affirming care. He urged the board, and by extension his viewers, to “do something to stop these crimes.”
Science Proves There are More than Two Human Sexes
As everyone knows I love science and learning. I also really enjoy watching this YouTube channel. I should have posted this before. It is very informative and it is broken into segments you can use the timeline bar at the bottom to find the segments you most want to learn about. Hugs
Anti-abortion activists busted saying they’re going after IVF & contraception rights in a few years
And we knew this was coming didn’t we! Hugs
Photo: ShutterstockLeaked audio from a meeting of anti-abortion activists in Tennessee – which currently has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country – has revealed that the anti-choice movement may start going after IVF and contraception in the next couple of years.
The audio, obtained by ProPublica, is from a webinar for GOP lawmakers held by Tennessee’s subset of the National Right to Life organization, as well as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
During the conversation, state Rep. Susan Lynn (R) – who sponsored Tennessee’s abortion ban – asked what to do about in vitro fertilization (IVF), which many have worried will be the anti-choice movement’s next target.
In response to Lynn, the speakers on the call suggested waiting a little while before attacking IVF.
“Maybe your caucus gets to a point next year, two years from now, three years from now, where you do want to talk about IVF, and how to regulate it in a more ethical way, or deal with some of those contraceptive issues,” said Stephen Billy, vice president for state affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “But I don’t think that that’s the conversation that you need to have now.”
During the IVF process – which is used by some same-sex couples to have children – it’s common to fertilize more than one egg to maximize the chances of IVF treatments being successful. Once the person receiving IVF is pregnant, any extra fertilized eggs are usually discarded. As such, those who believe life begins at fertilization are likely against IVF, a process that many LGBTQ couples rely on to have children.
As Elizabeth Constance, a doctor at Omaha’s Heartland Center for Reproductive Medicine told The Washington Post in May, “There are concerns about whether there will be repercussions related to embryos that don’t survive in the lab. What about those put in the uterus and don’t implant? That’s all in a gray area.”
Shelbi Day, Chief Policy Officer at the nonprofit organization Family Equality, told LGBTQ Nation in June that “without the protections of Roe v. Wade, it is possible that state lawmakers may feel empowered to create barriers for people to access medical procedures like IVF – which is deeply troubling for LGBTQ+ people and anyone who needs access to IVF to expand their family.”
And as Cathryn Oakley, an attorney with the Human Rights Campaign, told NBC News, “If the law believes that human life begins at conception, that means those embryos in the petri dish are legally people. That would make IVF impossible to really function.”
And while the timeline is unclear, it seems IVF is definitely on the radar of anti-choice activists.
In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Tennessee has essentially completely outlawed abortion. The law focuses on consequences for doctors who perform abortions and will not prosecute pregnant people who seek them out. Its severe language makes performing an abortion a felony and has no exceptions for rape, incest, or even the life of the pregnant person.
The text states that doctors are allowed to violate the law and perform an abortion to save the parent’s life, but afterward the burden is on them to prove it was medically necessary to do so.
“The law will make the doctor second guess their medical training and expertise when choosing a treatment plan or risk a felony criminal conviction,” said Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO Ashley Coffield when the law took effect. “Now, hospitals and lawyers will be weighing in on life and death scenarios.”
How a Texas woman almost died after being denied an abortion
Marriage date removed from gay couple’s tombstone at Christian cemetery
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/11/marriage-date-removed-gay-couples-tombstone-christian-cemetery/
This story has a good ending even though it starts with bigotry. For those that claim they shouldn’t have used a Catholic cemetery the surviving spouse asked if it would be a problem and was told no it was acceptable and fine, it would be no problem. First the cemetery tried to ignore and avoid the spouse after they defaced his memorial stone. But a law suit where they were looking at having to pay a big damage award brought them right around to not only apologizing to offering to replace the stone with the wording the spouse wishes.
The headstone, before it was changed Photo: ScreenshotDarrell Frye of Dayton, Ohio is speaking out after he says a Christian cemetery “purposefully” removed the date of their marriage from his late husband’s headstone, which originally had both of their names and the date they were married.
“Somebody just decided that that doesn’t count,” Frye said about his marriage with Jason Neto, who passed away in 2020.
Frye and Neto met in 2006 and got married in 2016, about a year after marriage equality was legalized in Ohio.
In 2020, tragedy struck when Neto died of a heart attack. Frye purchased a plot in the Catholic Calvary Cemetery because Neto was raised Catholic.
“I chose the St. Kateri preserve because that was very much in the spirit of what Jason was as a person,” he told WHIO. “I knew this was a Catholic cemetery, and I point-blank asked, ‘Is this going to be a problem that we’re a gay couple and buying a plot here?’”
He said that he was told that it wasn’t a problem, so he bought an engraved memorial boulder to honor Neto. He decided to “keep it simple” when deciding what to write on the boulder because of a 30-character limit, and he chose to include the line “Married 23 July 2016.”
The boulder was installed a year later and it said what it was supposed to at first. But then Frye went to visit the plot in mid-October and he didn’t see the boulder.
“I came out here and it was gone, just gone,” he said.
He went to ask Cavalry Cemetery about what happened and he was told that it was taken in for maintenance. But when it was brought back, the text had been altered.
“The line about our marriage was just erased. They dug into rock to erase our relationship.”
Frye tried to talk to the cemetery staff about it, but he couldn’t get ahold of anyone. So he hired a lawyer and now he’s coming forward with his story.
“It’s just part of life as a gay man in America in 2022,” he said.
WHIO tried contacting Cavalry Cemetery by email, phone, and with a visit to their office, and they finally got a statement: “In consideration of the family we will communicate directly with them, and release a statement at the appropriate time.”
Frye said that he met with them in early November.
“I have met with the leadership team at Calvary,” he said on November 3. “They have offered a full and unconditional apology for their mistake and expressed a sincere interest in making amends and in restoring the memorial boulder to its original state or an acceptable equivalent.”
Cavalry then told WHIO that Frye’s statement was “accurate and much appreciated.”
“We will be working with the engraver to restore the memorial immediately,” they said.
Christian conservatives say same-sex marriage bill will lead to “pedophilic marriages”
They are doing the same thing with the don’t say gay bills. Linking being gay or trans with child sex abuse. And it works on the uninformed or those that don’t care about the truth. Teachers are groomers, acceptance by others and tolerance programs are pushing kids in to being gay or forcing them to transition to a different gender. And people buy into it because the truth is harder to accept, that there have always been gay and trans kids they just feel more comfortable being open and themselves now. Hugs
Photo: ShutterstockWith reports that the Senate could be voting on the Respect for Marriage Act as early as this week, anti-LGBTQ activists are pulling out all the stops.
Mat Staver, chair of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Liberty Counsel, is warning his organization’s followers that the bill to codify same-sex and interracial marriage will lead to “pedophilic marriages.”
“Because this bill also forces same-sex marriage on every state, Senate Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer is bowing to the powerful LGBTQ lobby to pass this bill by THIS WEEK—no matter the consequences, or the pedophilic marriages that will result,” Staver wrote in an email.
“Texas law protecting minor children from pedophilic ‘marriages’ will not matter if Chuck Schumer passes H.R. 8404,” he continued. Texas allows child marriage. “This bill would require every state to honor and obey the marriage laws of any other state—no matter how crazy. California, for instance, has no age limit for marriage.”
The Respect for Marriage Act (or H.R. 8404) would require every state and the federal government to recognize marriages performed in other states. Proponents of the law argue that it’s necessary in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which shared some of the same legal reasoning as the Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Justice Clarence Thomas also urged the Supreme Court to reconsider Obergefell now that Roe has been overturned, a sign that the Court may be coming for same-sex marriage rights as well.
Staver is referring to the many states that allow minors to marry, usually with parental consent, consent of a judge, or if the minor is pregnant or emancipated. Texas, for example, allows emancipated 16- and 17-year-olds to get married. California allows minors to get married with parental consent and if a judge rules out abuse or coercion.
Democrats in several states have tried to change these laws in recent years, but it’s usually conservative Republicans who block raising the marriage age to 18 for everyone.
Staver – who used to be the dean of the evangelical Liberty University’s law school – implied in his email that 16-year-olds being told to marry 40-year-olds doesn’t count as child marriage – even though 16-year-olds are minors – showing the lenient attitude many Christian conservatives have toward child marriage.
In Idaho in 2019, for example, Democrats tried to pass a law to ban marrying someone under the age of 16, but the bill ultimately failed to pass the state house. One Republican lawmaker said that banning child marriage would endanger the “sanctity of family.”
Conservative activists have been using this fact to point out that other states will be required to recognize child marriages performed out of state, even though many already do now. Meanwhile, the threat of states not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states is very real; many states were refusing to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states less than a decade ago.
The point, though, is to link LGBTQ people to child sex abuse, one of the most common tactics hate groups use to turn people against LGBTQ equality.
In a tweet, Liberty Counsel Action wrote, “U.S. senators are working to pass HR 8404, which will force all states to recognize and honor horrific, abusive child ‘marriages’ with zero age limits! Radicals are ‘OK’ pushing it because some homosexuals could then wed, including child-brides!”
Despite the organization’s newfound concern with child marriage, it is not listed as one of the issues Liberty Counsel supports on their website. They do not appear to have any active lobbying campaigns to end child marriage at the state level.
Earlier this month, the anti-LGBTQ organization NOM made similar statements about the Respect for Marriage Act. Since the Respect for Marriage Act will not immediately change anything – marriage equality is currently legal in all 50 states – NOM also accused the bill of “forcing every state to accept polygamous marriages, men marrying child brides and every other perverse type of ‘marriage.’”
The bill passed the House last July with all Democrats voting for it, 47 Republicans voting for it, and 157 Republican representatives voting against it. Out Sen. Baldwin initially said she thought 10 Republican senators would vote for it. However, she and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decided to delay the bill’s introduction until after the midterm elections.
The bill was delayed, in part, to address Republican senators’ concerns and to give them the freedom to vote in favor of it without having to worry about upsetting their base of Republican voters before the November 8 midterm elections.
Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider to testify against trans youth health care ban
What have I been trying to tell everyone? This has nothing to do with school kids or with parent’s rights, it is about making the LGBTQ+ / gay / trans kids / people disappear from society so these asshole religious and conservative types can feel comfortable and happy
Amy Schneider Photo: YouTube screenshotTransgender Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider will testify Wednesday morning in the Ohio legislature against a bill that would block transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care and require teachers to out trans kids to their unaccepting parents.
“It’s so important that LGBTQ+ Ohioans and those who love them fight to protect the children whose health and safety would be endangered by this misguided legislation,” Schneider, said in a statement released by Equality Ohio, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Schneider, an Ohio native who gained national fame after winning 40 consecutive games on the quiz show. She has since shared details of her romantic life, high-profile appearances, and even her time addressing the White House press room ever since.
The bill — H.B. 454 or the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” — would outlaw the use of puberty blockers, hormones, and gender-reassignment surgical procedures on children under 18. It would forbid government funds or health insurance coverage from going toward individuals or organizations facilitating such care. It would also allow medical providers to be sued or face professional discipline for providing such care.
Additionally, the bill forbids teachers from withholding “from a minor’s parent or legal guardian information related to [a] minor’s perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex,” forcing teachers to out students they suspect of being trans or non-binary.
Like most similar legislation, the bill’s actual text contains falsehoods, misrepresentations, and claims not backed up by any supporting evidence.
It claims that the “vast majority” of trans kids “identify with their biological sex in adolescence or adulthood” but provides no evidence for this claim. It says trans kids should pursue mental health care services before getting “extreme” hormonal and surgical interventions. (Most do. Genital surgeries aren’t performed on trans minors, and most hormone treatments are reversible.)
The legislation says doctors don’t understand the long-term effects of puberty blockers, even though such medications have been used for decades for kids with certain types of cancer. The legislation also lists the risks and side effects of gender-affirming medications and surgeries, even though all medical treatments and procedures have risks and side effects.
The bill is based on the idea that medical professionals are pushing transitional treatments upon gender non-conforming kids who’ve been peer-pressured into so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” But no studies indicate that this is happening, and there’s a big difference between gender non-conforming kids and trans ones. Namely, trans kids consistently and persistently insist that they are trans.
“The risks of gender transition procedures far outweigh any benefit,” the legislation claims, even though numerous studies have shown that gender-affirming care reduces suicides and mental distress among trans youth.
Transgender young people who spoke with The Columbus Dispatch reported feeling frustrated over waiting for puberty blockers while their bodies change in undesirable ways. Even if a trans teen sees a mental health professional and is diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and gender dysphoria, this proposed law would force them to wait before receiving any gender-affirming treatment.
All major American medical associations recommend gender-affirming care for trans youth.
If Ohio passes its ban, it’ll be the third state to pass such a law. At least 15 other states have introduced similar legislation. Only Arkansas and Alabama have passed a ban so far, and a federal judge quickly blocked Arkansas’s from going into effect, and another judge blocked part of Alabama’s. Other states have blocked various insurers from funding such care, and Florida passed a ban through two state medical boards but not the legislature.
Olivia Hunt, policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, told The 19th the real goal of these bills is “to force trans people out of public life and restrict gender-affirming care access for all trans people, regardless of age.”
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