This is a guest post from Randy. As most people here already know Randy is someone I admire greatly. Randy is my online brother and a member of our family. Randy is smart, funny, caring, kind, willing to reach out a hand to those in need while also willing to stand up to protect others. Randy is the kind of guy who if he knew a co-worker had no other way to get to a much needed job during a snow storm he would get up out of his warm bed and go take them to work. And not ask any for doing it. I have asked Randy if he would be a guest author as he has time. He has delighted me with the first two posts of what I hope will be many more. Thank you my brother, Hugs.
Why it Matters
In this era of Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, even All Lives Matter, the defining characteristic is that the authors, the progenitors of the movement, are trying to indicate to the public that there are folks who do not see the lives of some persons either being in jeopardy, being disenfranchised, being set upon as a second class, being abused. The irreparable loses for some came too early, like the Native Americans, and for others they somehow bought in to the larger idea, others still labor under a “lesser than” status that evidences in odd circumstances when people need someone to blame.
It is easy to use extremes to make points in writing, so I’ll use one now. In the late 1930’s an individual rose to power who realized that it was far far easier to capture the public’s anger and fear through hate and destructive rhetoric. Hate is bred from fear, and Germany recovering from WW1 was reeling through poverty, inflation, low productivity, and a miasma from losing a war. This individual captured that fear with not only an ideal he espoused upon the country but a scapegoat: otherwise said is “this is the ideal, but these are the people for whom to blame for our lot.” It should be noted that an erstwhile general failure in his other pursuits, this individual honed a craft of speaking what people begged to hear in a manner that was convincing enough to overpower the very voice of decency within them.
What did that individual do? He convinced people that it was ok to place a mark of second class on another human being. He convinced people that they should be “segregated” for the good of the countrymen. In time, it went from a fringe movement to the government’s position, and men, women, children were rounded up and “quarantined” for the safety of the citizenry. Some bought into this with a passion, others were put into a position of placing their own lives in peril to not go through with this new government program as their neighbors were taken, were abused, disenfranchised and even killed. Only a sociopath would look upon the truth of this matter with anything but horror, but it’s amazing what people can justify to themselves when their own comfort is on the line, when their own well-being is on the line. That individual, after committing war upon his own land, went on to view people in other countries as “lesser than”, as not worthy of existence as neighbors, and went to war with them. The irony learned by the very public this individual used and then abandoned in his bid for power is that they were now only worse off after his blame-game and were forced to face what had been done in their name.
So, why is that relevant today? Anytime, Anytime, Every time we accept a person to be cast as a second-class citizen for no other reason than their very being, we lose. We lost when we decided that Native American Cultures were lesser than. We lost when we decided that African lives, African American lives were lesser than. We lost when we decided that whoever was in power at the moment, however that power was expressed- be it by government, wealth, violence- was the correct arbitrator of a person’s worth as a citizen.
This blog clearly speaks up for those who have felt the abuse of those in power due to their being gay, being trans, being somehow different. Some have looked upon this championing as an acceptable forum for conversation and determination of another’s rights and status when said persons have harmed no one and sought only to be genuine to themselves. The false definition of reality seems a favorite of those who seek to justify abuse, and let it be understood that abuse of power is what it is! I see no debate as warranted or even allowed when we seek to determine how another person defines himself. That is their business, and though we may find it uncomfortable for ourselves we have no right to dictate to another who he or she or they express themselves.
I would like to harken back to the very extreme example used earlier in this writing: Declaring a person to be lower class and unworthy of their own personhood, their liberty, is not American, but damn if it isn’t what Americans seem to demand. Excusing and justifying abuses and horrors in the name of being free is antithetical to the very existence of the Constitution, and yet we do it. Over and over again, we accept abuses on others. You want examples? Ok, we accept a death knell of school children for the right to sell guns to near anyone. We accept the demand that drag shows be stopped because it violates our own religious beliefs. We are demanding that people exhibit who they are defined to be at birth despite who they genuinely feel themselves to be. We demand that children starve in our public schools so that the wealthiest don’t have to pay a fair tax rate. We demand that children go to school, then declare their well-educated instructors abusing them for allowing them to have an education. We demand that the sick seek to gamble their very lives as they balance eating and health care. And, we demand that the mother give birth to her child no matter how old she is, how she became pregnant, the viability of the fetus, the physical and psychological toll it will put on the mother, the financial devastation it will inflict upon her life, even the ability to feed, clothe, educate, and love the child do we still demand she bring it into the world, then we turn our back upon her.
We as a country seem to demand the right to make these decisions for others, to define them, to restrict them, to force them to conform to what we see as comfortable and proper for them, and yet in the near past, especially, have I seen excuse upon excuse for criminal and the worst examples of abuses inflicted upon others. These so-called Christians – and I place that lowercase as they seem to refuse to follow the example of the one written as Jesus Christ – refuse to use a common reality, hold themselves accountable, hold others in their politics driven values accountable, and as I mentioned, refuse to do as Christ demands, yet stomp their feet if someone were to live in defiance of those somehow “deeply held religious beliefs”. And, again, harkening back to the earlier extreme example: 1930’s Germany was a very religious country and look at what they allowed for their politics-driven morals and values.
So are the LGBTQ+ adults. DeathSantis and his maga sycophants have painted target signs on each of us and his violent gang thug enforcers along with the recharged up fundamentalist religious people who feel they have the right to oppress everyone into forcing them to live by the dictates of their religion are making the lives of queer people in Florida miserable. They keep pushing harder and harder to make their way the only way to live. What is acceptable to them is the only acceptable public expression. This is about not allowing any other social public expression than what their church allows them according to their outdated 1950s strict gender role model based on the idea that white Christian men are automatically in charge and women are subservient to them while minorities know their place and stay there. All according to the white males in charge who like it that way. And they use a set of mistranslated writings from 2,500 years ago to back up their demands. I want you to pay attention to what the student says is happening on high school campuses, where conserative right wing teachers / administrators design polices and punishments for queer kids while using those polices to protect themselves from repremand. The student says she has seen teachers mock and out gay kids to parents and laugh about it. Also kids who try to stand up for the queer kids have their own futures placed in jepardy as their transcripts get lost, documents they need lost, and even collage applications no longer approved, or loss recommendations made by the school if they don’t stop speaking out in support of queer kids. Think of that, the change from the days when kids were encouraged to be active in cuases, in socail movements. Hugs
Students who speak out for LGBTQ+ rights say they face retaliation from hostile school administrations determined to silence them.
By Jorge Martinez
Photo: Shutterstock
Under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Florida has become a closely-watched epicenter for anti-LGBTQ+ laws – and advocates say queer youth are feeling the impact.
With the passage of sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, such as the Don’t Say Gay law, gender-affirming care bans, and bathroom restrictions, Florida has become a battleground for queer rights. DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has continued to exacerbate the issue, leading to concerns among LGBTQ+ advocates that the state is becoming increasingly unwelcoming to queer youth.
————————————————————
RELATED STORIES
GOP wants to expand Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law to target teens & transgender kids
The bill would ban LGBTQ+ education up to 8th grade, ban students from changing their pronouns, and that’s not all…
—————————————————————————————-
“We’re terrified,” Christina Guiriba, a transgender youth advocate, told LGBTQ Nation. “As advocates for the community, we’re very torn. We want to continue this fight.”
Guiriba is the founder of Transcending Adolescence, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit aimed at empowering trans youth.
A trans woman and Florida native who has experienced bullying and physical violence during her childhood, she leads a summer camp called Resilience Retreat for around a dozen trans youth to build their courage and resilience. She wants every participant to leave camp having defined success on their own terms, whether that be finally finding a safe space for the first time or going through with top surgery.
“Seeing a staff full of gender-diverse people that are successful and still alive gave them hope,” she said. Through the power of the outdoors and physical recreation, she hopes to continue to be a voice for “those who are afraid.”
But Guiriba said that many advocates are afraid to continue their work as they find themselves the target of right-wing hate. Transcending Adolescence, in fact, was recently the victim of a doxing attack.
As a result, the organization was forced to adopt stricter security measures such as planning escape routes and installing surveillance cameras and panic buttons. They even hired a private security officer, unable to turn to the Jacksonville police due to their transphobic reputation, such as using deadnames in official police investigations, among other reasons.
But Guiriba isn’t stopping. Her work is becoming increasingly relevant as new research shows how ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks are starting to impact queer youth.
“The consequences are really more dire than even most people would imagine,” Caitlin Viccora, programs manager for healthy & supportive schools at Advocates for Youth, told LGBTQ Nation.
A recent CDC report on youth behavior over the past decade shows record-high levels of depression and suicide risk among teenagers in recent years. The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey reveals that more than half of LGBTQ+ students have recently experienced declining mental health and more than one in five had a suicide attempt within the past year. Queer female adolescents fared worse compared to males.
In Florida especially, Viccora said the priority for advocates is to set the record straight and clear the air of false information. Parents have a right to know what’s really happening in their child’s classroom without having to rely on the right-wing’s “targeted disinformation campaigns,” Viccora said.
“It’s not just Republicans who are failing to protect LGBTQ+ students,” she added, “A lot of folks are staying silent.”
She urged community members to speak publicly at local school board meetings and fight proposed regulations that impact queer youth. Submitting public comments, organizing to call local officials such as superintendents, or just showing up to the polls to vote are effective ways to protect queer youth.
Queer youth are learning to “shut up and keep their head low”
“Ron DeSantis is a terrifying man,” Iris, a high school senior in Clay County, Florida, who requested to use a different name out of fear of retaliation, told LGBTQ Nation. “[DeSantis] claims to be a Christian but at the basis of Christianity is acceptance and love. Yet he chooses violence and overall bigotry.”
Iris does not identify as queer, but her queer friends would not speak with LGBTQ Nation, citing safety concerns even if they remained anonymous. Instead, they spoke through Iris.
In her previous attempts to speak out, Iris said her school officials claimed to “lose” her documents, opening the possibility of preventing her from graduating high school. She said speaking out would even “jeopardize my college [applications].”
Iris said Gov. DeSantis has created a “hostile environment” for Florida students that enables hatred and punishes those who try speaking out. She recounts an instance where a close male friend dressed as a PowerPuff Girl for Halloween and was viciously bullied during school hours. The bully received no penalty while Iris’ friend was reprimanded for several infractions, one of them being a dress code violation.
In a second instance, she reports that her school principal outed numerous queer kids to their parents. She said the principal was even spotted laughing and mocking the list of students she outed with one of those students’ parents.
This practice is becoming increasingly common across Florida schools, with school administrators developing formal policies to punish or out queer kids to their families.
“Teachers are able to say and do things without consequence,” said Iris, noting that these types of policies serve to primarily protect conservative and right-wing educators.
She added that queer kids are learning that they need to “shut up and keep their head low” in order to survive.
Both Guiriba and Viccora emphasize the importance of remaining positive, continuing their fight to ensure a brighter future for queer youth across the country.
“It’s important for queer people to know they’re not alone,” said Guiriba, also stressing that advocates take the appropriate time to rest. “It’s not easy to find strength.”
“Living as a queer person in America is really scary when you’re looking at headlines,” Viccora said, especially when queer Americans face discrimination and violence at every corner. Despite this, Viccora urges queer youth to remember the “beauty and resiliency” in the simple fact of our existence.
I really enjoy this author / sub stack writer. I leave in all her requests for support because she deserves it for her work and I am simply borrowing her voice to spread the information she writes about. If you want to know the true that the republican leglisatures are trying to hide to push their agenda on their states, read the article. Hugs
This is one of the most common arguments brought up in anti-trans hearings. The idea that 80% of trans people “will desist” is a complete lie that is easy to debunk.
Please support my independent reporting and activism on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed.
One of the most common myths heard in anti-trans hearings is that most trans kids will desist if they are allowed to go through puberty. Sometimes specific numbers are given, such as 80% of trans kids desist. This statistic has been cited as low as 60% and as high as 99% in various legislatures. In Montana, a representative used this statistic to justify passing a medical ban. The Heritage Foundation has also pushed this myth. Nearly every hearing on this topic includes this myth. The desistance myth is one of the most persistent falsehoods and has been used against the trans community for decades. It is misleading and inaccurate as it comes from outdated DSM-4 criteria and decades-old data. Newer studies show that 97.5% of transgender youth are persistent in their gender identities. Let’s examine how this falsehood originated, how it is misused, and what current research reveals about the rarity of desistence and detransition.
See an example of this claim being used on Fox News:
Conservative lawyer Harmeet Dhillon just said trans teens who transition "desist from transition at an 80-90% rate." This is false. pic.twitter.com/0jfiq0b7r9
The DSM-IV, released in 1994, spelled out how to diagnose mental health conditions including “Gender Identity Disorder” (no longer a disorder). In this manual, clinicians made their first attempt to diagnose transgender youth. These first diagnostic criteria were an admiral early attempt, but contained a fatal flaw in how transgender youth were diagnosed: the diagnosis bafflingly did not require a youth to identify as another gender. Instead, it focused on factors such as “preference for cross-sex games and activities” and “preference for friends of the other sex.”
Problems with this diagnostic criteria should be immediately recognizable today: a cisgender tomboy with absolutely no identification as a boy would be diagnosed with gender identity disorder under these definitions. A cisgender boy who likes to put on an Elsa costume and play with girls could be diagnosed with gender identity disorder under these definitions. They were woefully inadequate for judging if youth were transgender. They also came during a time when youth transition did not exist as a medical practice, and so there were no real clinical guidelines on their treatment – thus, little effort was made to change the criteria which were primarily used for discussion in therapist offices and not to support or deny medical transition care.
In 2013, the DSM-V was published and in it, many corrections were made on how gender dysphoric youth are diagnosed. The most important correction was the requirement that a transgender youth demonstrate an insistent, persistent, and consistent desire or identification as the gender that the patient believes they are. The individual factors were also changed and adjusted. These diagnostic criteria were much more stringent, and are the diagnostic criteria used today.
Please support my independent reporting and activism on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed.
There is one problem though: until recently, all of the studies that came out used the old criteria. They included several people with no identification with another gender as meeting the criteria for “gender identity disorder,” which is itself no longer a disorder. These studies have a ton of other other problems as well, such as tiny sample sizes, very high dropout rates, old data from a time when youth transition was impossible, and even issues around conversion therapy practiced on trans patients. There are two pieces that are commonly cited. The first is numerous pieces of research by Ken Zucker, including a famous book published in 1995 that serves as the genesis of most “80% detransition” myths. The second is a series of studies from Thomas Steensma, usually centering around his 2011 or 2013 studies. Both of these studies contain the same core methodological flaw above, and both contain their own unique flaws that make them even more inaccurate.
Ken Zucker’s research on transgender youth was performed in 1995, a time when youth could not legally or medically transition. In fact, trans youth in that time likely all “desisted” for some time because of bullying, lack of access to care, and severe repression. I myself grew up as a transgender youth in that time period and I “desisted,” one of the many reasons I am writing this article.
Zucker is the genesis of the number that is most often cited, “80% desist from being trans.” Upon review of Ken Zucker’s research, half of Zucker’s patients did not even meet the definition of diagnostic criteria for transgender youth. His main research consisted of only 45 youth utilizing the old diagnostic criteria. A review of his clinic yielded much darker results, however: Zucker was engaging in conversion therapy practices that sought to push trans youth to identify as cisgender. His clinic was promptly shut down in 2015 as a result of a Canadian anti-conversion therapy law. Although Zucker denies the allegations that he engaged in conversion therapy, his practices and history paint a different picture. In the 1990s, he stated support for gay conversion therapy with the rationale, “a homosexual lifestyle in a basically unaccepting culture simply creates unnecessary social difficulties.”
In shutting down his clinic, a Canadian GIC review was conduced and a report was produced. From the report:
Parents state they were encouraged “not to give into” allowing their youth to wear clothes not of their assigned sex at birth.
Parents state they were told to avoid wrongly-gendered toys.
Parents state they were told to ensure their children would play with children of their assigned sex at birth.
Patients state they were asked intrusive questions about their sexual orientations as early as 9 years old.
Transgender youth were pathologized and correlational mental health issues were interpreted as causative.
Some patients reported pictures of them taken without their consent using cell-phones.
Parental lack of acceptance and desire for the child to identify as cisgender guided treatment.
Because of a tiny sample size, outdated data, the impossibility of youth transition, and Zucker’s clear ideological motivations, his 80% detransition rate clearly should be viewed as false and useless in current research on gender affirming care, especially considering modern data, criteria, and research exists.
Steensma’s 2011 and 2013 studies had similar issues in his research, which in some ways had even worse methodological flaws. Steensma used the old criteria, which is not the way that gender dysphoria is diagnosed today. Worse, the two studies classified every youth who did not return to the clinic as having “desisted” or “detransitioned” with no long term follow-up. Half of the participants in the studies did not return and all were classified as having “desisted.” The sample sizes were tiny at the getgo – only 53 people were in the first study and 127 in the second study. Given the fact that a large portion if not the majority of Steensma’s patients were classified under decades old criteria and assumed permanently detransitioned simply for refusing to follow up, these studies cannot be used to make any reasonable claim of desistance rates.
Furthermore, transgender youth could not meaningfully transition until recently. Medical care for trans youth was highly gatekept if not barred entirely. Transgender youth were rarely, if ever, afforded any form of treatment. Many such youth lost hope in ever being able to transition as puberty took its toll and they were forced to repress over bullying and a dangerous public environment.
Modern studies show a much higher persistence rate as well as important factors behind detransition. In 2015, a study was done on thousands of transgender people, including detransitioners. Only 8% of people reported ever detransitioning – ten times lower than the 80% often cited. Of these 2,000 detransitioners, the largest sample size of any study, 62% of them reported that they only detransitioned temporarily. Among the remaining detransitioners, the most common reason for detransitioning given was parental pressure and discrimination. Only 0.4% of people reported detransitioning because they were no longer trans.
Among trans youth, desistance and detransition rates are incredibly low. The most recent study in the prestigious journal Pediatrics, one of the only studies that use modern criteria, showed that 97.5% of trans youth continue to identify as trans on a 5 year follow-up. The sample size was also larger than all previous sample sizes of this population: 317 youth.
Anti-trans gender affirming care bans often start off with a list of “legislative findings” that seek to “state the science” around gender affirming care. In this list of findings, you might be surprised to see that the later studies are nowhere to be found, but the claims from the former studies pop up and are presented as factual when they are over a decade old, are dramatically outdated, and use standards that are not even in use anymore.
See Georgia’s “legislative findings” section of HB653, which would ban gender affirming care for trans youth
This statistic will continue to be misused to justify anti-trans bans all over the United States. Legislators will state that “80% of people detransition,” even when detransitioning is a statistical rarity. The same dozen detransitioners, like the “ex gays” of the 1990s, will be flown from state to state to justify bans, raising the question as to why they seem to only be able to find a small handful to testify. Meanwhile, actual trans kids who will grow up to still identify as trans, if they can make it to adulthood following these legislative onslaughts, are left to bear the damage of this misinformation.
Please support my independent reporting and activism on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed.
This is a web site I really enjoy. Especially when I don’t feel well as it gives the facts and clear information in easy to digest segments. Randy introduced me to it years ago. Here is a sample of the author’s work. Hugs
The enforcement arm of the republican party shows how rabid the right wing has become. They are there to “protect the children” by screaming white supremacy slogans and saluting Hitler to those same children. The thugs are scaring they claim are harmed by people dressing up peacefully reading to the kids instead of the angry shouts about how they will harm these people and displays of violence and firearms. How much does it harm a child to be part of a situation where they and their parents are harassed while walking to an event by people screaming horrible abuse at those same parents?
This has nothing to do with the children. Nothing. It is about controlling the public and what is visible in society. It is about threatening the public so much that these no one will attend these events, no venue will put on the attractions. It is about making everyone in the country / state / area do as this small violent minority demand people do, act as these thugs demand you act, control what can be seen / heard in public. Most of these people are regressive Christian nationalists who demand you follow their moral ideas based on something from 2,500 years ago with the current upgrade to 1855. They want the right to force you to act in accordance with their loose collection of fundamentalist church doctrines. It is not about the children as these enforcers bosses cut child food assistance, cut school lunch programs, slash the age at which little girls can be married off to fully grown adults, refuse to curb guns used in schools shootings, and so much more, but instead they are banning learning because education increases the chance a child moves beyond the fundamentalist conspiracy ideology and move into the modern reality that these people are fighting against. Hugs
Multiple white supremacist groups, including armed protesters, clashed with LGBTQ+ allies.
In a scene that is becoming all too common around the U.S., white supremacist and far-right anti-LGBTQ+ protesters descended on an Ohio park where a drag queen story hour event was taking place over the weekend, clashing with supporters and descending into chaos and violence.
According to documentarian Ford Fischer, who attended the event and posted video online, extremist groups including Proud Boys, Patriot Front, III Percenters, White Lives Matter of Ohio, and Neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe joined local conservatives to protest a family-friendly “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour” at Wadsworth Memorial Park in Wadsworth, Ohio on Saturday. The groups clashed with supporters of the event, including Parasol Patrol, a Colorado-based group that uses rainbow umbrellas to shield children from anti-LGBTQ+ protesters at similar events.
Protesters shouted neo-Nazi slogans as well as racial and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs. One man with a megaphone led the crowd in a call-and-response chant of “Sieg heil,” and another waved a flag bearing a swastika. At least one man, later identified as Blood Tribe founder Chris Pohlhaus, was armed.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, protesters followed parents and children who attended into and out of the event. Police said that the crowd included at least 200 people, with protesters outnumbering supporters and many vehicles bearing out-of-state license plates.
A Black journalist with the Beacon Journal left the scene after being targeted with racist slurs.
Kristopher Anderson, a local Republican who helped organize about 90 people to protest the event, claimed that the white supremacist and white nationalist groups were not affiliated with his group’s protest. Anderson said his group was there to protest the supposed “grooming” of children and called the racist messaging a “distraction.” Another protester said he was shocked by what the white supremacist groups were saying.
According to local newspaper The Gazette, Christian conservative protesters chanted “18-plus gets rid of us.” Some claimed they were not anti-LGBTQ+ but merely wanted to ban children from drag events.
At one point, a protester with Anderson’s group pulled what appeared to be a gun and pointed it at counter-protesters. The same man was later arrested for hitting a counter-protester with a flagpole, and police later confirmed that the object was not a firearm, but a device designed to deploy pepper spray.
A counter-protester was also arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
While no one was injured, paramedics treated one person for a seizure and another for a twisted knee.
Organizers of the “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour” obtained a permit from the city to host the event in the park earlier this month. But the event was controversial. A private venue previously declined to host it, and Wadsworth City Council President Bob Thurber promised to ask the city council to “consider legislation that would ban adult-oriented performances held on city property with minors in attendance.” Tennessee recently became the first state in the nation to pass similar legislation.
Despite the chaos surrounding the picnic shelter where the event took place on Saturday, the “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour” proceeded as planned. According to The Gazette, drag performer River Rose read to about 15 children and later sang and danced. Aaron Reed, a Wadsworth resident who promoted the event, said that the attire and music were appropriate for children.
In 1 minute, a senate committee in Kansas will be holding a hearing to ban gender affirming care up to the age of 21.
It is one of the most cruel anti-trans bans in the country.
I will be covering it live. Follow along.
🧵
As always, I rely on people like you to do my work. Please consider subscribing to support me at my newsletter, where you'll get over 200 articles focusing on trans news around legislation and life moving across the United States per year.
"I have to remove my hair with laser hair removal"
(advocates for a bill that will force hundreds of trans amab youth through a male puberty which will result in them having to go through laser hair removal and expensive surgeries as adults)
This guy is testifying from "Mass Resistance."
This organization is responsible for a book called "The Hazards of Homosexuality," a pro-conversion therapy outlet that calls gay people's existance a "public health issue"
Dr. Gaylyn Perry is speaking not on behalf of any medical organization.
She’s a pulmonologist, not an endocrinologist.
She’s a sleep therapist.
Also she's stating that Europe is "closing its clinics."
Not a single country she is referring to has categorically banned gender affirming care.
From the Alabama lawsuit, relying on Europe helped sink that bill in court:
"No country in Europe has categorically banned gender affirming care"
Now a retired doctor is testifying.
“I’m here to speak the truth about natural law and the truth given to us by our savior.”
This is not medically oriented testimony and his belief in god should have no bearing on the right of parents to make decisions for their kids.
This doctor is using the old 2011 study of "19x suicide rates" among trans people.
This is an inaccurate reading of the Dhejne study, who has specifically come out against people reading it that way:
Essentially, they are comparing a specific high risk group trans people to the general public, and not to trans people with no interventions, and it was also looking at a 30 year retrospective during some of the worst acceptance of trans people in history. (1980s)
A representative of the Kansas American Academy of Pediatrics with 450 physicians in Kansas.
She’s saying that this decision should be between doctors and patients and families.
The ACLU of KS representative is speaking.
"This bill violates the constitutional rights of children, parents, and doctors"
“It places politicians feelings against medical advice of hundreds of thousands of doctors”
"Every state attempting to defend these bills has lost"
“People will die. Families will suffer. The practice of medicine will be compromised.”
“The very care this bill attacks is responsible for my life.”
Another trans person, a trans man, is speaking.
He was on puberty blockers til 17, and took testosterone.
“College was much easier after I had my medical interventions to be my true self.”
“I can’t imagine such a life without them.”
A WPATH Doctor is speaking.
“This bill will directly impact the lives of transgender youth, directly impacting lives. Their blood will be on your hands. This is unethical.”
"For a minor to access gender affirming care, I ensure in collaboration with mental health experts assess the consistent, insistent, and persistent presence of gender dysphoria and require consent from parents" and she talks about all of the hoops patients have to jump through.
Reverend Kayla Simons Wood is speaking on behalf of Kansas Interaction.
Submits testimony from 10 clergy opposing this bill.
“I and many other Christians believe trans people are created in Gods image.”
Beth Oller:
“I provide full spectrum care from babies to end of life and I provide gender affirming care. I am an actual practicing Kansas physician.”
“The majority of people detransition not because they are not trans, but because of violence and difficulties with family”
"We need to listen to their perspective rather than the curated presentation in front of you"
Senator Stephen is asking Dr. Hubbard, a WPATH doctor, a question.
"Ms. Hubbard, Are you telling me the AAP unwaiveringly supports surgical interventions"
Dr. Hubbard: “I would appreciate it if you refer to me as Dr. Hubbard, please.”
Then points out that the treatments are tailored to the individuals.
Questioner: "Can you tell me where from Kansas you received your gender affirming care?"
"I'm not from Kansas…"
Questioner: "Is this the first time you've testified?"
"No…"
Asking Dr Crabs:
"Your testimony was from the 1980s about transgender suicides. So not current. Can I ask you where you practiced?"
"I did not practice here"
"can you verify you had a license in kansas?"
The chair cut her off.
Now a Senator is asking Dr. Beth Oller where she works (one of the people against the bill):
The doctor responds she works in Kansas.
Strongly pointing out that all of the people in support of the bill are coming from out of state.
Now a Senator is asking one of the trans man transitioners if he was given all of the info around his transition.
He answers in the affirmative.
Now they are asking a question of one of the detransitioners,
"Do you believe you were groomed into the decision to transition?"
“I don’t believe in using that word… it’s too divisive…”
This hearing isn't going super well for them.
(They'll probably still vote it through)
ACLU witness:
“I am referring to the 1.3 million doctors that are represented by the medical organizations that support this care.”
This Senator is claiming puberty blockers and HRT are causing early onset cancer.
There’s no evidence of any sort of outbreak of early onset cancer in trans youth.
Asked of the AAP representative if the majority supports gender affirming care in their chapter.
She testifies yes, most of the 450 do.
Now she is asking about the Missouri whistleblower.
“A radical supporter of the far left has blown the whistle”
“Are there other areas of medical practice where the child directs their health care?”
The doctor: “Everything the child is involved in, but the child themselves does not direct gender diverse issues. It’s parents, doctors”
The doctor in the zoom call wanted to jump in and answer, but the chair cut the committee short and immediately adjourned.
I guess we're done for the day?
That was abrupt.
I have never seen such a rushed hearing with so few witnesses called forward… what the heck did I just see?
Sorry to those of you who showed up to testify who didn't get to.
Well… thanks for following along. We'll watch to see how they vote. Please support my independent reporting and activism by subscribing.
Over the last 50 years while the democrats pursued only the highest offices in the land the republicans were pushing hard to take over state government and the churches rushed to take over the school boards. I remember that in the 1990s in Palm Beach Conty that the big churches were fielding stealth candidates to take over the boards and change what was being taught. It was underway back then! Now the right wing /maga republicans are using their complete control over the levers of state power to end right, roll back protections, to take the states back to a time of strict gender roles for the sexes and a time when minorities were second class citizens who either knew their place or they were not allowed in society in any way. In fact they are not just trying to return society where gays were a shame to the family but they want a time when gays could be arrested along with denied working for any level of government being banned from security clearances. They are driving hard for this. Look at the red states trying hard to bring back banned conversion therapy that has been well and full debunked as not only something that doesn’t work but was found to be very harmful to those subjected to it. They again want to deny the medical science because it shows their ideology is wrong. Being gay or trans is not a choice, it is not a disease needing to change or cured. People are born gay / trans and while some manage to hide it, they should have to. They should be able to live their lives freely as they really are. Plus now they want to set up secret hidden police where neighbor spys on each other and reports to hotlines those not following the party rule. Hugs
From the Arizona Department of Education:
Arizona schools chief Tom Horne has launched the Department of Education “Empower Hotline” so that Arizonans can report inappropriate public school lessons that detract from teaching academic standards.
These include those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content.
The hotline provides the opportunity for constituents to provide feedback, concerns or complaints, which is a standard service offered by multiple government agencies and private-sector businesses.
It is available at 602-771-3500, or through email at empower@azed.gov. The phone line will be staffed during normal business hours, but after-hours phone calls as well as emails will be accepted at any time and followed up appropriately.
Horne explained, “Some say critical race theory (CRT) is a graduate study, not taught in K-12 schools. The evidence is to the contrary. I have a list of 250 Arizona teachers who signed a shocking statement promoted by the national teachers’ union, that if critical race theory were banned, they would defy the law.
“They would not have signed if they were not already teaching it. They come from 25 school districts, including the largest ones. Teachers must teach academics, not use their power over a captive audience, to promote their personal ideology. That is unprofessional conduct.”
Horne added, “I promised to establish this hotline so that anyone could report the teaching of inappropriate lessons that rob students of precious minutes of instruction time in core academic subjects such as reading, math, science, history and the arts. That promise is being kept.”
While Arizona state attorney general, Horne threatened to sue cities that recognized out-of-state same-sex marriages. That same year he proposed legislation allowing public school teachers to carry guns. Horne has faced multiple allegations of campaign finance crimes and has a lifetime trading ban by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to an investment firm he founded before running for public office. As you can see below, he is a supporter of QAnon freak show Vaseline Woman.
Superintendent Horne said, "There’s nothing more outrageous than religious prejudice…The person who raised this on the school board describes herself as a ‘neuro-divergent queer.’ And when she says that, she expects you to be tolerant of her."https://t.co/yzR4OWxkzA
— Arizona Department of Education (@azedschools) March 14, 2023
.@electtomhorne: “When @KariLake becomes Governor, and I become Superintendent of Schools and the other Republicans are elected, we’re gonna get CRT out of our schools.” pic.twitter.com/cl1WzWmFEX
Isn’t it odd that they think that they can actually change someone from being gay to being straight after months or years of therapy, but they also think an entire classroom of children will become gay after hearing a guy in a dress read them a story. Fuck these people and their hatred of the LGBTQ community. They want to exterminate us. Ain’t gonna happen.
Granted, I went to Catholic school, but half of my report card was based on behavior. So it’s wrong to teach children social skills like how to behave in class and with each other?
I hope that students flood the call line with reports of teachers talking about their heterosexual spouses, or wearing crosses and talking about their faith.
Horne explained, “Some say critical race theory (CRT) is a graduate study, not taught in K-12 schools. The evidence is to the contrary. I have a list of 250 Arizona teachers who signed a shocking statement promoted by the national teachers’ union, that if critical race theory were banned, they would defy the law.
He missed a great opportunity to use the phrase “I have here in my hand…”
So he has a definition of what CRT is? I wish he would share it with the rest of us. Is it that white treated black people bad, killed them, and kept them as slaves for decades in this country? That’s not a theory, that’s true….. This is just what Arizona needs for their teacher supply. It is a common belief among teachers around her that two places you don’t want to go teach is Colorado and Arizona. The pay and benefits are very low. This won’t help the state find teachers.
Arizona Republican Gestapo thinks kids are too stupid to hear anything non-negative about LGBT people, but does think they’re qualified to tell the state to fire their teachers over ‘not meeting the academic program’ before they even learn the material, never mind what the vaguely-worded ‘standards’ are supposed to be?
Umm, the thing is, education on history and racism is not what ‘Critical Race Theory’ is, but you use it as a buzzword to ban or silence any mention of actual things in the laws.
This Canadian immigrant, son of Polish immigrants, cost Arizona millions of dollars when as Attorney General he got the Republican-run legislature to ban Mexican studies here in Tucson. Went all the way to the Supremes, who told this old fuck to fuck the fuck off. The bill he promoted banned well-known history books because they mentioned discrimination against Mexican-Americans. Always interesting to see immigrants coming to the US and promoting hatred towards other immigrants (e.g., Rupert Murdoch).
Superintendent Horne said, “There’s nothing more outrageous than religious prejudice…”
Nothing? I can think of a few things:
– pastors who sexually abuse children – revivals – evangelical parents who brainwash their children – “ex-gay” torture – Anti-Semitism – racism – rape – laws that dehumanize and persecute LGBTQ people – Republicans – Trumpvangelicals – QAnon cultists – White/Christian Nationalists – book bans – the dissemination of far-right propaganda – everyone who works at Fox
Posting it mostly because this picture has been making the rounds in transphobe twitter as an example of why trans women shouldn’t be allowed to play womens’ sports… but this is actually a trans man, not a trans woman.
Ultimately the attempts to ban certain women from sports is stupid, it’s the same logic that leads the Olympics to banning all three medalists in the 800 meter race from participating unless they take feminizing drugs.
These medalists were all AFAB and identify as women.
The Ohio legislature is contemplating banning trans folks from high school sports.
The Ohio schools athletic association said there are 4 trans students (didn’t identify male or female) in the high school sport system. But only 2 would be playing any sport this year. Out of almost 500,000 high school students, the legislature is all about 2 of them. Wasting time about 2 students.
You need to read the article. As it states this is a blatant attack on the LGBTQ+ community. With adults checking out the books and taking them to the police. At the same time the librarian notes that these same people including the prosecutor attack books with LGBTQ+ themes don’t care at all about the many more books for teens that deal with heterosexual sex or pictures and noted the library has the straight Joy of Sex book that I remember well had many depictions of sex, how to have sex, sex organs, and sex positions. They don’t care about that at all, because that reenforces their world view that sex between boys and girls is great / normal but anything not that is a horrible evil sin against gods ways done by degenerate evil people that want to corrupt the country. Notice that Lauren Boebert who attacks the gay / trans community nonstop and calls teachers who support equality for the LGBTQ+ community groomers while attacking any and all sex education in any level of public schools announced her 17 year old son got a girl who is now 14 (somewhat sketchy under the laws in that state) pregnant and Boebert couldn’t be happier. She left school because she was pregnant at 16 and because her son got no education to even use a condom when he had sex he got a minor girl pregnant. He is also know for driving his four wheelers at breakneck dangerous speed in the local streets endangering small kids and pets along with being an asshole.
Some quotes from the article:
“I have heard, if he could, he’d arrest me. He’s trying to intimidate us,” she told Bridge.
Churchill told Bridge that the library purchased a copy of “Gender Queer” in the fall of 2022 at the request of a patron.
One resident checked the book out and took it to the police, Churchill said. The police returned the book to the library.
Miller is a Republican who won election as prosecutor in November. In January, four weeks after taking office, Miller filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the library, seeking records connected to the consideration, approval and purchase of “Gender Queer,” which he misidentified as “Gender Queen.” The public records also asked for a record of “who voted for and against the addition of the book” to the library.
But most telling was this set of quotes from the article.
Miller said the book’s target audience is teenagers, and that, to him, the drawings of sex acts appeared to involve “prepubescent boys.”
To the prosecutor, the book’s availability to youth could meet the bar for a crime in Michigan because, to him, the book “entices” underage teens to engage in sex acts.
“While I hope not to prosecute someone over this book, I feel it’s part of the community’s decision,” Miller said. “This isn’t about LGBTQ, this is about the exploitation of children.”
Churchill countered that Miller and other conservatives in the community are only objecting to an LGBTQ book with illustrations of sex acts, but not to books like “The Joy of Sex,” which depict sex acts by heterosexual couples, which is also housed at the library.
“If anything, we have an underrepresentation of books about marginalized communities,” including LGBTQ community, Churchill said.
“Gender Queer” is normally shelved in the adult section of the Lapeer library. To Miller, that doesn’t matter because teens could wander over and find it.
The article is below and includes so much more bigotry and hate from the right in it. Hugs
Amy Churchill, director of the Lapeer District Library, is facing the possibility of criminal charges from a conservative county prosecutor in a fight over an LGBTQ-themed book. (Bridge courtesy photo)
A Michigan county prosecutor is raising the specter of criminal charges over a controversial book
‘Gender Queer: A Memoir’ is an LGBTQ-themed graphic novel
The book will be discussed at what is expected to be a heated meeting Thursday
Lapeer County Prosecutor John Miller says he may file criminal charges against employees or officials of the Lapeer District Library if an LGBTQ-themed graphic novel isn’t removed from the shelves.
“I hope that is not the outcome of this,” Miller said. “I want this to come to a conclusion” that the community agrees on that would “remove the book from the library.”
The threat of criminal charges against librarians is believed to be a first in the state, and is an escalation of cultural wars that have spread across public and school libraries in Michigan over the past year.
The book, an LGBTQ-themed graphic novel with illustrations of sex acts, has caused controversy in libraries in Michigan and across the country, and Miller’s threat follows a controversy over the book that has brewed since fall in this rural county in Michigan’s Thumb.
Miller cited the specific criminal code — 750.145a — he believed the book’s presence in a public library could violate.
The law is often associated with police sting operations of adults who prey on minors, barring enticing anyone under 16 “to commit an immoral act, to submit to an act of sexual intercourse or an act of gross indecency or to any other act of depravity or delinquency.”
Amy Churchill, director of the library, said she’s undeterred by Miller’s threat.
“I have heard, if he could, he’d arrest me. He’s trying to intimidate us,” she told Bridge.
“I am not hard to find,” she added. “If Mr. Miller wishes to arrest me, I am in my office working for the patrons and staff of the Lapeer District Library Monday through Friday.”
Miller said he, “along with other county officials,” will urge the library to remove the book at a Lapeer District Library board meeting Thursday evening. Library officials are considering a patron request to remove “Gender Queer” from the library’s collection.
The graphic novel is the story of author Maia Kobabe’s coming-of-age as nonbinary, and includes illustrations of sex acts.
“Gender Queer” was one of the books that caused an uproar in Ottawa County last fall, when voters defunded the Patmos Library. That library is operating on donations for now but officials do not believe they can stay open indefinitely without taxpayer support.
No criminal charges against librarians have been publicly contemplated there, but library officials have received several threats of violence.
Keeping books some consider inappropriate away from children is drawing attention among some in Lansing as well. House Bill 4136, sponsored by Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, would require public libraries to keep “obscene” books in an area where children do not have access.
Most public libraries are not designed in a way that would allow a restricted book area, Deb Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association, told MLive.
Lapeer District Library serves about two-thirds of Lapeer County, east of Flint. There are seven small branch libraries in the district, with a main library in the city of Lapeer.
Churchill told Bridge that the library purchased a copy of “Gender Queer” in the fall of 2022 at the request of a patron. Soon afterward, some residents began objecting to the book.
One resident checked the book out and took it to the police, Churchill said. The police returned the book to the library.
Miller is a Republican who won election as prosecutor in November. In January, four weeks after taking office, Miller filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the library, seeking records connected to the consideration, approval and purchase of “Gender Queer,” which he misidentified as “Gender Queen.”
The public records also asked for a record of “who voted for and against the addition of the book” to the library.
Lapeer’s library board doesn’t approve individual book purchases, Churchill said. According to the library’s policies, Churchill, as director, has final approval of purchases.
Churchill said she was shocked by the FOIA, sent on official stationery of the Lapeer County prosecutor’s office, since she had never spoken to Miller or anyone in his office, and the information could have been gleaned with a phone call.
The FOIA letter stated Miller would “pay personally” for any charges incurred by the library in fulfilling the request.
“A FOIA is an extremely aggressive way to communicate with someone,” Churchill said. “Usually you’d try to talk to them first.”
Miller said he became involved when several county commissioners approached him with copies of books that had been checked out from the Lapeer library.
He said he dismissed concerns about two of the books – one with LGBTQ themes but no illustrations, and a second that had to do with race relations.
The third was “Gender Queer,” with illustrations that Miller said shocked him, “and that takes a lot for a prosecutor,” he said. “I’m an attorney, I’ve studied the constitution, I’ve passed the bar exam. My job is to take a position that protects our innocent and our youth. And if this isn’t child sexual abusive material, … it borders on it.”
Miller said the book’s target audience is teenagers, and that, to him, the drawings of sex acts appeared to involve “prepubescent boys.”
To the prosecutor, the book’s availability to youth could meet the bar for a crime in Michigan because, to him, the book “entices” underage teens to engage in sex acts.
“While I hope not to prosecute someone over this book, I feel it’s part of the community’s decision,” Miller said. “This isn’t about LGBTQ, this is about the exploitation of children.”
Churchill countered that Miller and other conservatives in the community are only objecting to an LGBTQ book with illustrations of sex acts, but not to books like “The Joy of Sex,” which depict sex acts by heterosexual couples, which is also housed at the library.
“If anything, we have an underrepresentation of books about marginalized communities,” including LGBTQ community, Churchill said.
“Gender Queer” is normally shelved in the adult section of the Lapeer library. To Miller, that doesn’t matter because teens could wander over and find it.
Miller declined to say who he would consider charging — Churchill as the director, library board members or the author of the book.
“I’m waiting for the community to chime in (before deciding whether to file criminal charges), to say this is something that should or should not be in the library,” Miller said. “The majority of the voices I’ve heard think it shouldn’t.”
What did that individual do? He convinced people that it was ok to place a mark of second class on another human being. He convinced people that they should be “segregated” for the good of the countrymen. In time, it went from a fringe movement to the government’s position, and men, women, children were rounded up and “quarantined” for the safety of the citizenry. Some bought into this with a passion, others were put into a position of placing their own lives in peril to not go through with this new government program as their neighbors were taken, were abused, disenfranchised and even killed. Only a sociopath would look upon the truth of this matter with anything but horror, but it’s amazing what people can justify to themselves when their own comfort is on the line, when their own well-being is on the line. That individual, after committing war 
upon his own land, went on to view people in other countries as “lesser than”, as not worthy of existence as neighbors, and went to war with them. The irony learned by the very public this individual used and then abandoned in his bid for power is that they were now only worse off after his blame-game and were forced to face what had been done in their name.
of another’s rights and status when said persons have harmed no one and sought only to be genuine to themselves. The false definition of reality seems a favorite of those who seek to justify abuse, and let it be understood that abuse of power is what it is! I see no debate as warranted or even allowed when we seek to determine how another person defines himself. That is their business, and though we may find it uncomfortable for ourselves we have no right to dictate to another who he or she or they express themselves.
Ok, we accept a death knell of school children for the right to sell guns to near anyone. We accept the demand that drag shows be stopped because it violates our own religious beliefs. We are demanding that people exhibit who they are defined to be at birth despite who they genuinely feel themselves to be. We demand that children starve in our public schools so that the wealthiest don’t have to pay a fair tax rate. We demand that children go to school, then declare their well-educated instructors abusing them for allowing them to have an education. We demand that the sick seek to gamble their very lives as they balance eating and health care. And, we demand that the mother give birth to her child no matter how old she is, 
how she became pregnant, the viability of the fetus, the physical and psychological toll it will put on the mother, the financial devastation it will inflict upon her life, even the ability to feed, clothe, educate, and love the child do we still demand she bring it into the world, then we turn our back upon her.
These so-called Christians – and I place that lowercase as they seem to refuse to follow the example of the one written as Jesus Christ – refuse to use a common reality, hold themselves accountable, hold others in their politics driven values accountable, and as I mentioned, refuse to do as Christ demands, yet stomp their feet if someone were to live in defiance of those somehow “deeply held religious beliefs”. And, again, harkening back to the earlier extreme example: 1930’s Germany was a very religious country and look at what they allowed for their politics-driven morals and values.
Photo: Shutterstock
Chris Pohlhaus Photo: Screenshot
Scottie's Playtime 