The Trans Agenda #25

[18 April 2024]

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Publications known for taking an anti-trans stance are and will be referenced and linked. Often, these are the most comprehensive sources for these stories because of their obsession with trans people. I give a summary for those stories so you can make the choice if you want to click the link or seek out more information elsewhere.

As always, if you have any suggestions, I’m open to feedback and you can contact me using the links on this page near the bottom.

Transgender. How do you know? By Lee Hurley

The Trans Agenda

NEWS & POLITICS

Study reveals decline in happiness among Scotland’s trans community [Pink News]

A recent study reports a significant decline in happiness among Scotland’s transgender population. I wonder why that is…

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Yousaf rejects closure of Glasgow’s NHS gender-services clinic [Guardian – see PAPERS section]

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s First Minister, has rejected demands to shut down the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow, which is Scotland’s only facility offering treatment to gender-questioning young people. This comes in response to the discredited Cass review commissioned by NHS England, which questioned the effectiveness of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for treating gender incongruence after it threw out all research showing how effective they were.Despite cross-party calls for action, Yousaf defended the clinic’s work, emphasising the professional autonomy of clinicians over politicians in medical decisions. The Sandyford not only caters to transgender healthcare but also provides essential services such as emergency contraception, abortion, and support for sexual assault victims. With around 1,100 young people on its waiting list for gender services, the clinic is a critical resource for vulnerable groups.

Trans women will be protected by Scotland’s misogyny law [BBC]

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed that new misogyny laws will protect transgender women, emphasising that all affected by misogyny, regardless of biological sex, are included. This statement backs the Scottish government’s ongoing efforts to introduce a misogyny bill by 2026. Yousaf clarified that the law covers anyone perceived as a woman, addressing threats regardless of the victim’s actual gender identity. The Gender Critical Sex Realist Cult, as usual, have reacted with rage because they are unable to comprehend basic concepts.

Scottish Labour vow to implement the Cass review in full [Stats for Lefties]

Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie, speaking on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party, said: “The findings of the Cass Review must be implemented in Scotland.”

Minister calls for ban on transgender athletes in female-only sports [various]

Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, has called for a ban on transgender athletes competing in female-only sporting events. In a recent article in the Mail, Frazer urged sports governing bodies to establish clear and unambiguous guidelines concerning gender identity in sports. This move, which represents the government’s most assertive stance to date on the issue, underscores her bigoted belief that biological differences should not be overlooked in competitive sports. She emphasized the need for an explicit policy framework to address and resolve ongoing disputes over the participation of trans athletes in female-exclusive competitions.A recent study into trans athletes in sport found that her concerns are mostly all in her head [Trans Agenda #24].
As you can see in the PAPERS section below, to highlight this ‘problem’ in the UK, the Daily Mail had to use a picture of Lia Thomas, a college athlete from the US. Thomas came to the world’s attention after she won a race. She also lost others, something the anti-trans crew will tell you is impossible. After all, their entire ‘logic’ behind banning trans women is that cis women would never win another medal ever again if trans women are allowed to compete, despite trans women being allowed to compete for decades at the top level without winning any medals.

Lib Dems ‘disappointed’ in Cass review [Lib Dems]

Although short, this initial statement said, “We are very disappointed by the lack of evidence leading to a conclusion which infantilises autistic people and is undeniable transphobia towards young adults and people. The Gillick competency saves lives and should be protected, not just for trans people but all people. Everyone has medical rights which should be protected.“LGBT+ Liberal Democrats will continue to stand with trans people, young people, autistic people and women to defend their right to bodily and medical autonomy.”

Canadian doctors reject Cass [CBC]

Canadian doctors are challenging the findings of the UK‘s Cass Review, which led to NHS England restricting puberty blockers for transgender youth to clinical research settings due to “a lack of high-quality research.” Contrarily, Canadian physicians say, correctly, that substantial evidence supports the efficacy of puberty blockers in managing gender dysphoria, despite the absence of randomised clinical trials. They compare the situation to other medical practices, like pregnancy care, where clinical trials are also impractical or unethical. Canadian medical professionals emphasise the broader benefits of these treatments in improving the mental health and quality of life for transgender youth, advocating for continued access based on existing evidence and clinical guidelines.

UK’s first trans judge steps down [Times Law]

Britain’s first transgender judge, Victoria McCloud, was honoured warmly at the end of her final case last week. Tributes were read by lawyers from the specialist personal injury bar and LGBT groups as McCloud retired from the High Court bench after 18 years of service. McCloud has stepped down after telling The Times, “…that at times she has felt so threatened by ferocity around the debate over transgenderism [sic] that she was forced to hire a bodyguard.”

Manchester to unveil national trans monument [Pink News]

Manchester is set to unveil an historic national monument dedicated to celebrating the resilience of transgender people. This landmark will serve as a symbol of recognition and respect for the trans community, commemorating our struggles and contributions to society.

Liz Truss’s anti-trans bill is back

For the third time, Liz Truss will attempt to get a second reading of her anti-trans Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill. After already being filibustered by ferrets [Trans Agenda #11] both the Conservative Party and Labour have been working to keep this bill from the floor. Expect the same to happen on Friday.What does Liz Truss’s anti-trans bill actually say? Find out here

SNIPPETS

At PMQs, Rishi Sunak accused the SNP of ‘trying to lock up JK Rowling’.
Dawn French has defended JK Rowling (read more in PAPERS below). So, that’s both French and Saunders, with Jennifer having come out as a TERF some time ago.
Graham Linehan, on camera, actually said the words “One of the things Hitler [did], putting Jewish people into ghettos did was actually strengthened ties…” su. He also compared the Gender Critical Sex Realist Cult to Jewish people under the Nazis [source].
Maya Forstater had a tweet restricted in the EU for ‘illegal or harmful speech’ [source].

Keep an eye out for

Pressure being applied by the government, media and Gender Critical Sex Realist Cult on private clinics issuing puberty blockers and The FA to ban trans women from football.

MEDIA & PAPERS

BBC says omission of trans identity of murderer Scarlet Blake was breach of accuracy rules [Press Gazette]

The BBC has acknowledged a breach of its accuracy standards for not initially disclosing that Scarlet Blake, a convicted murderer, was a trans woman despite having absolutely no reason to do so. This omission, later corrected, was deemed material to understanding the case even though it wasn’t. Gender Critical believers, including JK Rowling, argued against describing Blake using female pronouns and the BBC buckled.Blake being trans was irrelevant to the story until the cult made it relevant.

Kathleen Stock nominated for National Press Award [Times]

A throwaway line in an article in Thursday’s Times that you can see below in the PAPERS section, it doesn’t mention what piece she is nominated for.

Dutch journalist calls out Telegraph [Marieke Kuypers]

When the Telegraph ran an article with the headline “Belgium and Netherlands call for puberty blocker restrictions following Cass Review”, Kuypers took to Twitter to explain how this just wasn’t true. She said, “The Netherlands has not called for puberty blocker restrictions. Conservative Dutch politicians who have wanted trans care to be restricted already, took the opportunity the Cass review gave them to ask in bad faith for more “investigation”” before going on to give a lot more information. She concludes, “this headline is completely false and I don’t think there is a plausible good faith explanation for writing such a completely misleading and false headline.”

Fox host calls trans kids coerced gay kids [LGBTQ Nation]

Fox news primetime host Jesse Watters has said that trans youth are merely gay children who were coerced into undergoing gender-affirming surgery.

Newsguard downgrades credibility scores for New York Times, GB News and Daily Star [Press Gazette]

Newsguard has downgraded the credibility scores of The New York Times, GB News, and the Daily Star. This shift follows a review of criteria on handling the difference between news and opinion, among others.

Editors unite in bid to stop anti-SLAPP bill being ‘ultimately redundant’ [Press Gazette]

Editors from major news outlets, including The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail, are pushing for amendments to the anti-SLAPP bill to prevent it from being ineffective. They argue that the bill’s current reliance on a subjective test for determining SLAPP cases introduces uncertainty and could undermine legal protections intended to shield journalists from vexatious lawsuits. They advocate for an objective test and a clearer definition of public interest to strengthen the bill.

Google trials removal of California news sites in response to proposed ‘link tax’ [Press Gazette]

Google is temporarily removing links to California news sites from its search results for some users. This is a test in response to proposed legislation that would require tech companies to pay news publishers for using their content.

THE PAPERS

Tuesday 16 April 2024 [Total: 16. Publications 4, positive 0, negative 15, neutral with negative intent 1, written by trans people 0]

The Guardian [0]

There were no articles about trans people in Tuesday’s edition of The Guardian

The Times [6, written by trans people: 0, negative: 6, positive: 0]

Dawn French: I can smell my cowardice in the culture wars Lara Wildenberg The comedian was told to “catch up” by a podcast host Dawn French has criticised cancel culture and defended JK Rowling after being told that she needed to “catch up” on transgender rights. The actress and comedian, 66, known for French and Saunders as well as The Vicar of Dibley, described the Harry Potter author as someone who had “made her mistakes but is also a good person”. Speaking to Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, French said that Rowling had “paid a huge price” and that robust debate was needed in the discussion of gender identity. “I genuinely think we’re being forced into corners where I can smell my own cowardice. I don’t like that — I’ve never been cowardly, I hope, but I’m starting to be that because I’m being circumspect about what I will support or not in case it causes trouble”. She added: “As women especially — that’s the last thing we should do is shut up.” She said she loved the idea of favouring difference and praised the power of saying “I don’t know” in culture wars. French was prompted to criticise such binary thinking after a recent discussion about Rowling’s gender-critical language. She said she had been reprimanded by another podcast host for asking why terminology used by the Harry Potter star was considered unacceptable. [She said] the podcast host had told her: “You need to catch up — people can’t be constantly teaching you how to be because this is not OK; you need to catch up.” Last week, Rowling, who French claimed to “know a bit”, condemned celebrities who “used their platforms to cheer on” the transitioning of children.

The shoes, the beard... of course Will was a woman Giles Coren - Notebook Ahoo-ha has broken out at the London Library over what sounds to me like a very old-fashioned controversy: to wit, was Shakespeare a woman? The American critic Elizabeth Winkler is to propose this theory at the library in June, to promote a book she has written about it, and a number of members have written to protest. But it seems more the sort of row one used to have in college in the 1980s, not in 2024. These days, surely, we have only to look at the known facts about Shakespeare — that he had both a beard and a penis — to see that he was OBVIOUSLY a woman. Those little pointy shoes he wore were exactly the kind of thing Eddie Izzard puts on to “slip into girl mode” and, since the Bard famously shagged women as well as men, we can assert that he was not only a bird but a lesbian. I’ll be putting it all in my new book Love’s Lesbos Lost, and I’ll see you at the London Library for the knees-up. Gender-Z Staying with gender, I had a weird experience with Twitter/X over the weekend where, in order to watch some graphic content relating to the war in Gaza, I had to enter my age, couldn’t be bothered to scroll all the way down to 1969 (which is both boring and depressing), so put 2004, which was long enough ago and quicker. This caused X to close my account immediately on the basis that I was only four when I first signed up in 2008 and had thus joined fraudulently. After a frustrating 48 hours when, despite uploading passport scans, I was told it could go no further without my parents’ permission, it did finally let me back in, but with this 2004 birth date in my bio, which looked a bit silly under the haggard quinquagenarian photo. When I tried to change it to 1969, I was banned again for “lying”, so when they let me back a second time I did not try to change the date again. But I did notice that they allowed 120 characters for my gender. So in that box I wrote, “I was born a man in 1969 but misguidedly transitioned to one born in 2004, and would now like to detransition”. Surely, they dare not refuse me now that it’s a gender issue? Rubbish read Finding The Times sold out at King’s Cross station as I ran for a train to Hull on Saturday (to watch QPR lose 3-0), I grabbed a Guardian instead, opened it and soon fell asleep. I awoke three minutes from my final destination just as the nice lady with the bin bag was coming through. “Is this rubbish?” she asked, pointing at my unread newspaper. “From start to finish,” I replied, tossing it in the sack. “But it was all they had in Smith’s.” Good migrations ‘Britain may try to send migrants to Costa Rica,” I read on the front of yesterday’s Times, surprised to see the location of the Corens’ proposed big summer trip for 2025 mooted as a dumping ground for refugees. And I was even more surprised to see Botswana also suggested in the report, which is where we have just got back from. I suppose it is a cunning PR move though, to steer away from a country we bien-pensant north London commentators associate primarily with the word “genocide” towards ones where we dream of going on holiday. Were the government now to moot Tuscany, Whistler and St Barts, I’m sure a great many liberal minds would be put at rest. Vive le pub! Saturday’s Times reported the launch of Paris’s first English gastropub, The Public House in Opéra, “which is aiming to convince sceptical locals of the merits of pies, scotch eggs and sticky toffee pudding”. But will it, I wonder, have the defining ingredient of all new gastropubs, which is a gaggle of smelly old regulars in flat caps at the bar, saying “six quid for a Scotch egg?”, telling everyone what pubs were like in their day, and insisting it’ll never last?

Stonewall’s stance Sir, Following the release of the Cass review, Stonewall now says it supports Dr Hilary Cass’s recommendations of a cautious, evidence-based non-medicalised approach to children with gender distress. This is a stark contrast to its previous stance that children can identify an alternative gender identity from as young as two, that puberty blockers should be prescribed to teenagers and that warnings about the lack of clinical evidence to support paediatric transition should be ignored. In your report “Debate on trans rights ‘shut down by bullying’ ” (news, Apr 10), Dr Cass said: “There are few other areas of healthcare where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views.” Stonewall has played a significant role in creating this culture of fear. If it is going to try to fix the toxicity of the debate the first thing it should do is withdraw the allegations it has made about Baroness Falkner of Margravine, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She is under investigation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions because Stonewall reported that she took a “determinedly anti-trans stance” when she, just like Dr Cass, urged caution in legislating to ban “conversion therapy”. Stonewall should withdraw its complaint, apologise to Baroness Falkner and let the EHRC get on with its job. Maya Forstater, Sex Matters; Stephanie Davies-Arai, Transgender Trend; Kate Barker, LGB Alliance; Nic Williams, Fair Play for Women; Karen Varley, Conservatives for Women; Alice Bondi, Labour Women’s Declaration; Ali Morris, Merched Cymru Sir, In Lucy Bannerman’s article “Stonewall tried to silence warnings of weak evidence for trans healthcare” (Apr 13), Ruth Hunt, the former chief executive of Stonewall, denies all responsibility for schools promoting social, medical and surgical transition as a sensible lifestyle choice and instead asks “all sides” for “lots of listening and some forgiveness and some understanding in order to help us move on”. What she seems not to understand is that the prerequisite for forgiveness is an acknowledgement of what has gone wrong. For parents like me, whose children attended Stonewall Champion schools, received “care” from doctors scared of Stonewall, and were given Stonewall stats saying they were 48 per cent likely to attempt suicide, the apology must come first. Claire Landon London E17

Growing up I wanted to be a boy — I’m glad puberty blockers were not an option One woman describes how, from the age of 5 to 16, she longed to be male — and could have transitioned. She reflects on what it might have cost her Dr Hilary Cass calls it “gender-related distress”. The term, used in her landmark review into gender identity services for children and young people that arrived last week, has resonated. And I can’t think of any better way of describing my feelings growing up. I’m a thirtysomething lesbian and I know in my bones that, if I’d had a chance to pursue transition as a child, I would have gone for it. I was at primary school in Kent in the 1990s when I realised I was attracted to girls, female teachers, actresses and girl group singers. But I’d never really seen two women in a relationship together, and figured one way to resolve that conundrum was if I could become a boy. Plus, I liked what boys liked: Action Men, grisly cartoons, comics, video games and football. Enjoyment of what should be gender-neutral activities is no justification for wanting to be a boy. I know this now. But in recent years, every time I’ve read an article about a young girl transitioning to become a boy, they or their parents will cite these interests as justifications for why, say, young Amelia needed to become Adam. If that’s the criteria, I’d be trans too. Sometimes these testimonies further detail a child’s dysphoria, and I would still find myself scrolling and nodding, reminiscing over who I was as a child. They’ve got a new haircut, tick. They’ve chosen a new name, tick. They’ve expressed a desire for different genitals, tick. I remember, with lucidity, positioning a yellow Stickle Brick on my crotch as I pretended to do a wee into the fireplace at home. I so desperately wanted a willy. Surely, any trans activist would say, this is ultimate proof of a child simply not being the sex they were “assigned at birth” as the parlance goes. A child who rejects their own genitals is a child born in the wrong body, right? But I think it was more what it symbolised than what it was: boys were given freedoms I wasn’t, they could also stand up to wee, show off with their effluent. They had something that stuck out, that made them special. And I wanted that too. Later, at secondary school, I’d see penises scrawled on walls, desks, exercise books and lockers and think: it just gets so much attention, doesn’t it? For all the right reasons, too, idolised as this ultimate power tool. Meanwhile, when even the most timid growth of girls’ secondary sex characteristics was pored over, remarked upon and ogled at — by lascivious boys and judgy girls alike — I was repulsed, I couldn’t bear the thought of any bits of mine jutting out into that arena of speculation. And yet they did. More than a few boys were at best clumsy and at worst aggressive with me. From the age of 13 I was sexually assaulted on several occasions, sometimes in ways that are easy to recognise as nonconsensual, sometimes in more subtle ways, because I didn’t know me giving my go-ahead could ever be part of the deal. These boys’ clawing and grasping at alcopop-soaked house parties, which happened more times than I care to remember, were far more experimental play times for them than anything I had any say in. I don’t think I even had the worst of it. And the vicious reactions they displayed when I, with some strength, refused to comply showed that they held all the cards. At least, that’s how it felt. If girlhood, and impending womanhood, had done this to me, why wouldn’t I want to escape from it? It wasn’t just that I couldn’t abide by what femininity had in store for me in real life, but in perceptions shaped by the media too. Lesbians were barely seen and young women in the public eye were barely dressed. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera both sold sex with wide-mouthed allure, which has perhaps harmed them more than anyone else. Eminem was always on hand to insult any woman too big for her boots and created, in Stan, a No 1 song that chronicled domestic homicide. I loathed and felt utterly disconnected from my body I loathed and felt utterly disconnected from the body that, society told me, had invited boys’ jabs and insistences, and promised me no better for the future. I didn’t want to be part of a club full of hazing rituals, so I had tactics for detaching. I went on to online chatrooms adopting the persona of a boy so I could play out with other girls my fantasy of a happy relationship. I restricted my eating until I was left with a flat silhouette, a cheaper alternative to breast-binding that left me with irregular periods and stretch marks, rather than the inhibited breathing that young girls experience today while binding. I wore baggy clothes, I cut my own hair, I scratched my arms until they bled. My parents weren’t always sure of how to deal with it. When I was younger they played along with me pretending to be a boy, but set boundaries: not at school, and this saved me from some early years bullying, I’m sure. Later I was too closed off about the boys, the assaults, the self-harm to divulge my feelings, and I felt so ashamed of my secret adoration of women. My dad had a theory I was atrophying, retreating into a childlike state, and he wasn’t wrong. My mum, mostly worried about my eating, took me to a child psychologist. I came out to him, and he asked if this made me feel lonely — yes — and then proceeded to interrogate me about chatrooms, as that was perhaps the safeguarding issue du jour. By not helping me to discuss issues around my sexuality, by not guiding me to other support services, by not recognising that predators thrive as much in a student population as they do online, he let me down. And I worry for the children who have potentially been let down by gender identity services, not only those who wait for years for treatment, but those whose treatment is so narrowly defined to gender issues. Because, as trans people are happy to point out, gender is so much more than our sex. No wonder the Cass review notes that children presenting with gender dysphoria have comorbidities such as autism, eating disorders, and other mood and anxiety disorders. My parents trust doctors, like most people, so if that psychologist had recommended a gender clinic, it wouldn’t have been impossible for me to have ended up there. They also feared my turmoil; if I’d known about being able to transition, that route out of the iron maiden of womanhood, and begged them for it, I don’t know if they’d have had the heart to turn me down. It wasn’t until my twenties that I met women who were excited by us both being female. And that helped me to begin to understand that it’s OK to be me. More than a decade later and I’m not a womanly woman, whatever that means. But I know I’m a woman, most keenly in the fact that, in my thirties, I have a decision to make about children. If I’d gone on puberty blockers, which, one Mayo Clinic study says, can wither reproductive glands, the decision could have been set in motion when I was only a child myself. As it happens, my partner and I have not yet decided on having kids, and I like that the choice is still, just about, there. I’ve moved to a big city and I know lots of LGBT people. Many have transitioned, are on their way to transitioning or identify as non-binary. They have my sympathies and solidarity — they are up against people who can’t bear any straying from gender norms, whose intolerance is vengeful, violent and vindictive. They face inappropriate questioning, abuse and threats of violence out in public and febrile debate over who they are. However, trans people do not have the monopoly on having felt distressed about their gender. While I question the motives of a for-profit industry that has benefited from altering fully functional and healthy bodies, I don’t mind what trans adults do with their bodies, as I trust them to be steady-minded, with the intelligence and competence to make irreversible decisions. Children are not capable of making the same decisions, though. I don’t know if my parents would have had the heart to turn me down When I look back at myself, a vulnerable and isolated young girl whose strong will had been so dented by a world that said boys were simply tougher, more fun, smarter, better, I wonder what she would have done today to not only escape femininity but to pick the winning team. I understand why girls do it today — in 2021 adolescent girls represented two thirds of the intake at gender identity clinics. There’s been progress, but the ubiquity of online porn, the increasing casualness about and cheapening of cosmetic surgeries, and the nefarious beauty standards of TikTok and Instagram all rain down on the psyche of young girls today. They rarely see lesbians in the public eye who aren’t primed and pretty-pretty, reassuringly attractive to men. No wonder so many young girls want to just log off from such a restrictive, inhibiting view of pending womanhood. I want them to know that it’s OK to not be the woman that society wants you to be, that things can and will get better. Some identifying details have been changed

Daily Mail [6, written by trans people: 0, negative: 6, positive: 0]

NOW BAN TRANS WOMEN FROM FEMALE SPORTS In impassioned article for the Mail, Culture Secretary calls on sports bodies to ringfence elite competitions Daily Mail16 Apr 2024By Claire Ellicott Whitehall Editor TRANSGENDER athletes should be banned from competing against women, the Culture Secretary told sporting chiefs yesterday. Lucy Frazer said officials had a duty to give female athletes a ‘sporting chance’ because male-born rivals have an ‘indisputable edge’. She summoned representatives of sports including cricket and football to a meeting yesterday to urge them to stop transgender athletes competing against women at the elite level. Her intervention follows a landmark review of NHS gender identity services for children and young people that raised major concerns about the country’s approach to transgender issues. Writing for the Mail, Ms Frazer says sports governing bodies need to set out an ‘unambiguous position’ on the subject. She insists that despite government guidance urging them to consider fairness and safety, some authorities are ‘not going far or fast enough’. ‘In competitive sport, biology matters. And where male strength, size and body shape gives athletes an indisputable edge, this should not be ignored,’ she writes. ‘By protecting the female category, they can keep women’s competitive sport safe and fair and keep the dream alive for the young girls who dream of one day being elite sportswomen. ‘We must get back to giving women a level playing field to compete. We need to give women a sporting chance.’ During the summit yesterday, Ms Frazer encouraged the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Football Association to ban trans athletes from competing against women at the elite level. She urged them to follow the lead of other sports, including swimming, cycling, rowing and athletics, which have put in place rules to protect biological women. The ECB and FA’s policies are under review but permit transgender women to compete in female competitions subject to certain conditions. Also present at yesterday’s meeting were representatives from the rugby Football Union, British Cycling and Swim England. The bodies updated Ms Frazer with their policies and the challenges they face in implementing them, sources said. In 2021, the Sports Council Equality Group published its transgender inclusion guidance for governing bodies, making clear that balancing transgender inclusion, safety and fairness where sex can have an impact on a result, is not always possible. The report concluded that there could be no ‘one size fits all’ approach across sport, and that ruling bodies define the best options for their sport. Ms Frazer’s intervention in the debate is the latest move by ministers to tackle the spread of radical gender ideology following the landmark Cass review. The review found that children experiencing gender distress and wanting to transition had been let down by a lack of research and ‘remarkably weak’ evidence on medical interventions such as puberty blockers. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has criticised a ‘culture of secrecy’ in gender treatment, while women and equalities minister kemi Badenoch attacked the ‘cowardice’ of public bodies. Mrs Badenoch said the Cass recommendations could not be implemented until the Government addressed the ‘underlying problem’ of ‘ideological capture’ in British institutions. A recent BBC survey found more than 100 elite sportswomen were uncomfortable with transgender women competing in female categories in their sport. Among them is olympic medallist Sharron Davies who has accused men of ‘stealing’ from women in sport by allowing trans athletes to compete against them. A report by Fair Play for Women earlier this year found women and girls were quitting sports after being injured and intimidated by transgender competitors. Last week, World Netball announced it would be banning transgender women from competing in the female category of international competition following an extensive consultation that concluded international women’s netball was a ‘gender affected activity’. Since April 2023, Swim England has moved to exclude transgender women from female competitions with a new ‘open’ category being created. British Cycling has similarly excluded transgender women from elite female competitions since December 2023. In July 2022, the rugby Football Union announced transgender women would be excluded from the female category from ages 12 and above. England Netball’s policy is still under review and allows transgender women to compete in what it calls ‘friendly and informal matches’. However, it says that the overriding sporting objective is ‘the guarantee of fair and safe competition’ and that participation can be restricted in domestic competition in order to uphold these priorities. SPORTING bodies love to trumpet their commitment to fairness and equality. Yet some still allow trans women to compete against biological women in major events – making them patently unfair and unequal. Biological men are generally stronger and faster, even after taking testosteronesuppressants. Swimming, cycling and athletics authorities have realised this and barred trans women from all- female competition. Other sports, including football and cricket, have yet to follow suit. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is right to say that their failure to act is discouraging women and girls from taking part. As she tells the Mail, it’s time they were given a ‘sporting chance’. Article Name:NOW BAN TRANS WOMEN FROM FEMALE SPORTS Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Claire Ellicott Whitehall Editor Start Page:1 End Page:1

Cancel culture has made me cowardly, says Dawn Daily Mail16 Apr 2024Daily Mail Reporter ‘In a corner’: Dawn French DAWN FRENCH has said cancel culture forces people into a corner where they choose to be cowards rather than say what they believe. ‘I genuinely think we’re being forced into corners where I can smell my own cowardice,’ the Vicar Of Dibley star said on the Happy Place podcast. ‘I don’t like that – I’ve never been cowardly, I hope. ‘But I’m starting to be that because I’m being circumspect about what I will support or not in case it causes trouble.’ She continued: ‘As women, especially, the last thing we should do is shut up. ‘We shouldn’t be back in the corner, and yet I am in the corner, and I really dislike it about myself and about this cultural malaise. ‘I am a massive advocate of robust debate that might change your mind – that’s the best thing in the world. ‘But it’s impossible if what we’ve got to do is hunker back into our positions, defend them by spitting and being furious, and then blaming and cancelling.’ The 66- year- old comedian added: ‘We’re all talking about inclusivity and favouring difference and all the rest of it. ‘And that’s all great, I love the idea of that, but that’s not how we’re living. ‘We’re living the opposite of that – we’re massively intolerant, quick to blame, litigation, trolling, and all of this dreadful stuff which has got nothing to do with understanding how other human beings operate. ‘It’s awful. How has it happened? How have people given their lives so we could vote, done so many things to push forward, and now we’re in this place. ‘It’s ludicrous. I don’t know how to unpick it.’ Ms French also revealed that she was recently told to ‘catch up’ in the trans controversy surrounding JK Rowling. She said she had recently done a podcast with somebody who told her after the recording that they weren’t talking about JK Rowling. Ms French said: ‘And I went, “Oh, OK”, because I know JK a bit. And she said, “Yeah, because she used this terminology and we’re not doing that, it’s unacceptable”. I said, “Oh, oh, I don’t even know that term. What is that?” And she went, “You need to catch up, Dawn”.’ The star also said that it was ‘very powerful’ to be able to use the phrase ‘I don’t know’. Article Name:Cancel culture has made me cowardly, says Dawn Publication:Daily Mail Author:Daily Mail Reporter Start Page:3 End Page:3

We have to move faster to give women a sporting chance Daily Mail16 Apr 2024CULTURE SECRETARY By Lucy Frazer FOR decades, women have been fighting for equality and fairness. Chaining themselves to railings, campaigning on the streets, continually showing their worth by getting on with the job, notwithstanding the prejudices. Like Yetta, my grandmother, who was the first female barrister in Leicester. She was expected to come into work after-hours so she did not disturb the man supervising her. Society has come a long way and there are few places where women have won more breakthroughs than in sport. It is hard to imagine, given its success now, that the FA banned women’s football from its grounds from 1921 until 1971. The first ever Women’s rugby World Cup was held in 1991 and described by a reporter at the time as being ‘run on a shoestring, with none of the trappings of the modern men’s game — no big sponsors, no back-up and limited accommodation’. As any sportswoman will testify, there is still much further to go in the battle for equality. But this struggle is now being made harder because of the debate raging over transgender women competing in women’s sport. While this is clearly a complex and sensitive subject, no one disputes that men and women are physically different. It follows, as night follows day, that transgender women, who experienced male puberty, are likely to enjoy a host of physical advantages when compared to biological women. They are often taller and stronger. And we know that testosterone suppression does not mitigate these inbuilt advantages. LOOK at swimming. Men are on average 11 per cent quicker than women. In a sport like boxing, the differences are even more stark. on average a man’s punch is 160 per cent more powerful. It is these differences that not only give transgender women an unfair competitive advantage but threaten the safety of female athletes in the sports arena. As a Government we recognise that these physical disparities threaten the integrity of women’s sport and set out in our sports strategy last year that ‘ when it comes to competitive sport, particularly women’s sport… fairness and safety have to be the primary considerations.’ However, many sporting bodies were slow off the mark in addressing the inherent unfairness in allowing those born as men to participate competitively in their sports. For years it was too loaded an issue to touch, despite the fact that it has the potential to make women’s playing fields far from level. That’s why this week I called together representatives from key sporting organisations, like the England and Wales Cricket Board and Football Association, to encourage them to follow the lead of other sports in not allowing trans athletes to compete against women at the elite level. A number of sports, including swimming, cycling, rowing and athletics, have now stepped up to protect biological women- only competition. Meanwhile sports councils have set out guidance which recognises that inclusion, fairness and safety cannot be balanced when it comes to transgender participation in gender-affected sports. But it is clear today that several sports authorities are not going far or fast enough. Among the many lessons of the Cass review, it has shown us that inaction and a failure to confront the issues at stake cannot be an option. THE need for clear action from all sports becomes more pressing with each passing week. Less than a month ago, more than 100 elite British sportswomen told the BBC they would be uncomfortable with transgender women competing in female categories in their sport. one responded to the questionnaire by saying that ‘your career is over’ if you speak out on the subject. None of this is to suggest inclusion is not important. of course we want everyone to get involved in sport for all its benefits. When it comes to finding possible solutions, individual sports like cycling and swimming have both made positive progress. By implementing an ‘open’ category for transgender athletes to compete against those with a birth sex of male, the ‘female’ category remains solely for those with a birth sex of female. Everyone can take part and nobody experiences an unfair advantage. Sporting bodies have a duty to women competing in sport to set out clear guidance and take an unambiguous position. In competitive sport, biology matters. And where male strength, size and body shape gives athletes an indisputable edge, this should not be ignored. By protecting the female category, they can keep women’s competitive sport safe and fair and encourage the young girls who dream of one day being elite sportswomen. We must get back to giving women a level playing field to compete. We need to give women a sporting chance. Article Name:We have to move faster to give women a sporting chance Publication:Daily Mail Author:CULTURE SECRETARY By Lucy Frazer Start Page:4 End Page:4

Backlash over hospital’s woke f lags Daily Mail16 Apr 2024By Katherine Lawton NHS bosses have been accused of ‘woke pandering’ after bringing out a banner featuring flags for 21 genders or sexualities. The familiar gay pride ‘ rainbow’ flag appears on the Royal Stoke Hospital banner alongside designs representing some lesser-known identities, such as polysexual, demiromantic and genderqueer. The collection of flags is titled ‘Everyone is welcome here’. Patients at the hospital in Stokeon-Trent have expressed outrage at the banner, with one telling The Sun: ‘ People are waiting months and even years for treatment but the NHS is more interested in woke pandering than taking care of patients, it seems.’ University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – considered one of the country’s worst performing - said the flag enables patients to ‘be themselves’. The trust added that the banner, which was installed last year, was to show support for LGBTQ+ communities ahead of Pride month in June. Jane Haire, UHNM chief people officer, said: ‘We understand that different individuals may have varying views on symbols and flags used to represent different identities, but this banner symbolises our commitment to achieving a more inclusive organisation, where both colleagues and the people we care for are encouraged to be themselves.’ The banner comes after NHS England was criticised last year for including 18 gender options on a patient form. And in November last year, NHS doctors criticised a new ‘nonsensical’ form they were being asked to fill out that involved ticking a box on which genitalia patients had. Article Name:Backlash over hospital’s woke f lags Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Katherine Lawton Start Page:12 End Page:12

Telegraph [4, written by trans people: 0, negative: 3, positive: 0, neutral with negative intent: 1]

Hospital mocked for welcoming 21 genders and sexualities The Daily Telegraph16 Apr 2024By Alex Barton NHS BOSSES have been criticised after displaying a banner featuring 21 genders and sexualities in a hospital reception. The welcome banner at Royal Stoke Hospital with labelled flags includes representation for groups who identify as “Genderfluid”, someone who feels they have more than one gender; and “Genderqueer”, those who don’t follow gender norms. In 2022, a Telegraph NHS data tracker ranked the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust as one of the worst performing in the country, finding it ranked 102 out of 120 trusts in England for overall performance against “key duties of care for its patient”’. A patient at the hospital told The Sun: “Half of these flags and sexualities look like they were dreamt up on the back of a napkin. People are waiting months and even years for treatment but the NHS is more interested in woke pandering than taking care of patients it seems.” The Gay Pride rainbow flag is seen alongside several more obscure identities including “Agender”, a person who claims to have no gender. They appear under a slogan which proclaims: “Everyone is welcome”. The trust said the banner was a show of support to the LGBTQ+ community ahead of Pride month in June. In May last year, Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, was criticised after 18 gender options were listed on an NHS patient form. It comes after the NHS faces increasing calls to stop “promoting woke ideology” after it was revealed that more than £13 million was being spent on more than 330 diversity roles. Separately, Telegraph analysis from December revealed that NHS trusts are spending six-figure sums on “woke” diversity advisors only to see conditions worsen for the minority groups they were hired to help. Among them was London’s King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with 10 staff on combined salaries of £748,241. Politicians and campaigners have questioned whether the taxpayer funds would be better spent elsewhere such as addressing healthcare equalities among patients. University Hospitals of North Midlands was contacted for comment. ‘Half of these flags and sexualities look like they have been dreamt up on the back of a napkin’ Article Name:Hospital mocked for welcoming 21 genders and sexualities Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Alex Barton Start Page:3 End Page:3

Physical beauty exhibition finds a place for trans curator’s amputated breasts The Daily Telegraph16 Apr 2024By Craig Simpson The breasts of transgender man E-J Scott on display at the Wellcome Collection AN exhibition on physical beauty has displayed its transgender curator’s surgically removed breasts in a jar. The Cult of Beauty show at the Wellcome Collection in London seeks to explore aesthetics “beyond binaries of beautiful or ugly”. A display about “transness”, which charts the community’s “transcestors”, includes the breasts of E-J Scott, a transgender man. Trigger warnings for visitors entering the exhibit tell them to expect “nudity, images of surgery and human tissue”. Scott explains in a caption that “a cis gaze” falling on the breast tissue will “inevitably try to piece a body and the person back together”, but adds that this is wrong because “body modification in the radical pursuit of pleasure” is about “body autonomy”. Scott adds that curating and displaying objects relating to transgenderism helps to prove the historical existence of trans forebears, or “transcestors”. Scott, who also founded the Museum of Transology, the world’s largest collection of items representing the lives of transgender people, states in the caption: “We are securing our place in history, on our own terms, in our own words. We’re not only halting the erasure of transcestry, we’re literally saving ourselves. Collecting is connecting. It bonds us with each other today and with our transcestors tomorrow.” As well as trigger warnings for human tissue, visitors are also notified of “racist and misogynist materials”. Article Name:Physical beauty exhibition finds a place for trans curator’s amputated breasts Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Craig Simpson Start Page:3 End Page:3

The cowards of the trans debate have been exposed – now is the time for bravery The Daily Telegraph16 Apr 2024 “We simply do not know the long-term impacts.” How long we have waited for the words and wisdom of Dr Hilary Cass. Now that the world-renowned paediatrician and chairman of the independent review of gender identity services for children and young people has submitted her report to NHS England, we have 400 pages of them, and every sentence should feel like vindication; every recommendation providing us with the light-headed relief that only comes when someone finally states the obvious. When the child at the end of The Emperor’s New Clothes says: “But the emperor has nothing at all on!” When common sense finally cuts through the madness. “For most young people, a medical pathway” is not the best way to deal with gender-related issues, summarises Dr Cass. There is “no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage genderrelated distress”, and young people questioning their gender identity should be given “a holistic assessment”, including screening for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. Moving forward, “extreme caution” is advised. Other voices echo Dr Cass’s views. At dinner parties where the “wrong” opinion could once silence a room, people agree “we took our eye off the ball”; on panel shows where any “off message” assertion was once steeped in caveats, there’s a new stridency. Public figures are speaking out with renewed vigour. Teachers must no longer allow themselves to be “bullied” by transgender campaigners, the schools minister Damian Hinds told this paper on Sunday following a report that he said “draws a line in the sand”. Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, called this “a watershed moment” while Rishi Sunak insisted that “the wellbeing and health of children must come first”. The tragic truth is that for years it has come last – after the egoism of gender ideologists, agendapushing clinicians and virtuesignalling politicians. So while many of us welcome this moment of clarity, there is no sense of vindication or relief. How can there be, when we are only now beginning to assess how much damage has been done? Consumed by toxic debates, activists never stopped to consider the impact of their lofty ideologies on innocent children. Why? Because these gender warriors were too hopped up on the idea of their own bravery. They’d cast themselves as modern-day heroes. Now, history will judge the “brave” as being the most cowardly of all. This should never have been a trans debate, but a completely Activists never stopped to consider the impact of their lofty ideologies on innocent children separate conversation about the safeguarding of children, and there is nothing brave about complying with the accepted narrative – especially when that narrative involves highly vulnerable children being given irreversible drug treatments. Every “brave” teacher who failed to tell a parent that their child wanted to change their name, pronoun and gender was a coward. Every “responsible” adult who actively engaged in helping that child do so without consulting their parents demonstrated shocking cowardice, as did every “brave” BBC trailblazer who thought it right to put out video resources to middle-school children claiming there are “over 100 gender identities”, and all who ignored evidence that an alleged 97.5 per cent of children seeking sex changes at the scandal-ridden Tavistock clinic had autism, depression or other problems that might have explained their unhappiness. Cowardice is a revolting trait, especially where a child’s health is concerned. As Hinds said on Sunday, nobody working with children should be “vilified or called a transphobe” for making “difficult decisions” in their best interests. I’d go so far as to say that making “difficult decisions” is every responsible adult’s job. We may not be able to undo the damage done to thousands of children “let down by the NHS”, in the words of Dr Cass, but we can learn from our failings and show bravery wherever we have fallen asleep at the wheel. Two current threats to children made headlines on Sunday. The first involves social media and the Government’s proposed ban for the under-16s. The plan is at odds with the guidance of most tech platforms, who for purely cynical reasons (get them addicted young) largely have a minimum age limit of 13. But it’s a no-brainer. We know that social media is responsible for a wealth of ills in children, which is why the right thing to do is to ban it. The second is Rishi Sunak’s “controversial” smoking ban making it impossible for anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes and vapes. It could only be deemed controversial by people not realising that smoking kills and unaware that vapes – currently sold alongside toys to children – can permanently impact brain function. If you’re still on the fence with either of these issues, ask yourself whether, as with using children as guinea pigs in gender experimentation, you really want to wait for that “line in the sand” to be drawn – or whether you want to support the right decision, the brave decision, now. Article Name:The cowards of the trans debate have been exposed – now is the time for bravery Publication:The Daily Telegraph Start Page:7 End Page:7

Wednesday 17 April 2024 [Total: Publications 4, positive 0, negative 8, neutral 1, written by trans people 0]

The Guardian [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 1, positive: 0, neutral: 1]

Yousaf rejects calls to close NHS gender-services clinic in Glasgow The Guardian17 Apr 2024Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent There is no case for closing Scotland’s only clinic to offer treatment to gender-questioning young people, Humza Yousaf has said, amid calls to halt the service in response to the Cass review. The Sandyford clinic, based in Glasgow, offers a range of services including emergency contraception, abortion and support for sexual assault victims as well as transgender healthcare. This includes the Young People’s Gender Service that can refer under-18s to endocrine specialists for possible prescription of puberty blockers. About 1,100 young people are on the waiting list. Last week, a landmark review by the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass that was commissioned by NHS England found “weak evidence” for the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat young people experiencing gender incongruence and said that this vulnerable cohort had been “let down” by the “toxicity” of the debate surrounding their care. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland as the Holyrood parliament resumed after Easter recess, Yousaf said Scottish health boards would give the “utmost consideration” to Cass’s 388page report. But he added: “When it comes to the prescribing of medicine, clinicians are best placed – not politicians, government ministers or myself as first minister.” Yousaf said: “I don’t believe that there’s a case to close the Sandyford. The Sandyford provides some exceptional healthcare to some of those who are the most marginalised and vulnerable, not just young people, but right across the spectrum.” The Scottish government is facing cross-party pressure to respond to the review. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, on Monday called for the Scottish government “to quickly come forward and [say] how they’re going to respond”. The Scottish Tory deputy leader, Meghan Gallacher, accused Yousaf of “failing vulnerable young people” and called for him to pause the prescribing of puberty blockers while clinicians considered the report. The Cass review found there was no evidence that puberty blockers affected gender dysphoria but that they did compromise bone health and that they should only be offered in very limited circumstances as part of a wider research protocol. But on Monday, Holyrood’s minister for mental wellbeing, Maree Todd, said puberty blockers “were never routinely prescribed” in Scotland. It is understood that “a very small number” of under-18s have been referred by the Sandyford to endocrinology for puberty blockers in the last 12 months but that, given the numbers involved and patient confidentiality, the health board cannot disclose the exact figure. Clinicians at the Sandyford have previously told the Guardian that a referral there often allows confused young people, and anxious parents, the chance to reflect on what is really troubling them with a variety of professionals, who can often “inject a sense of reality” to believing that what patients have read online could be a quick fix for their problems. While critics have described the clinic as “the tartan Tavistock” (the London clinic that was closed after it was criticised in an independent review), the Guardian understands that the Sandyford does not follow a strictly affirmative model of care for young people, an approach that Cass called into question. Staff have also described the pressure of ongoing anti-abortion protests outside the clinic. Last year, members of the Scottish Family party carried out a mock “bricking up” of the entrance to the clinic. A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing our gender services. We are working with the Scottish government and NHS Scotland to consider the findings of this review.” Article Name:Yousaf rejects calls to close NHS gender-services clinic in Glasgow Publication:The Guardian Author:Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent Start Page:17 End Page:17

The Times [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 2, positive: 0]

Culture secretary calls for ban on trans women in all female sports Martyn Ziegler - Chief Sports Reporter The culture secretary has urged sports organisations to adopt a total ban on male transgender athletes from competing against women. Sports such as swimming, cycling and athletics have already brought in policies banning trans women who have gone through male puberty from taking part in women’s events. However, Lucy Frazer said that some sports, including football and cricket, were “not going far or fast enough”. En- glish football still follows Fifa’s regulations, which allow transgender women to compete at elite level with reduced testosterone. There are no transgender women in elite football in England, but there are about 60 at grassroots level. Although international cricket introduced a ban in November, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) policy still allows a trans woman to play in any female-only competition governed by the ECB and states that those individuals “should be accepted in the gender with which they identify”. The same principle applies at professional and England pathway level, subject to the trans woman being given written clearance to participate. Sharron Davies, who won an Olympic silver swimming medal for Britain in 1980, said that the government should withdraw public funding, distributed via Sport England, to sports that allow transgender women to compete in female competitions. Davies said: “I had a meeting with Lucy Frazer last week and urged her to take this action. I believe it is sex discrimination against people who are biologically female by sports such as football, cricket, hockey, tennis and golf — and if they continue to do this they should not get public funding. “The sports should have two categories — one for biological females and an open category that anyone can compete in so that nobody is banned from competition.” The International Olympic Committee’s recommendations for Olympic athletes remains that transgender women be allowed to compete in women’s competitions if they have had testosterone levels below 5nmol per litre for two years. Frazer said the independent review released last week by Dr Hilary Cass into gender identity services for minors had shown that a failure to confront the issues at stake was not an option. In a column for the Daily Mail, Frazer wrote: “In competitive sport, biology matters. And where male strength, size and body shape gives athletes an indisputable edge, this should not be ignored.”

Cass’s biggest gift is to resurrect free speech Dawn French spoke for many in saying she was tired of being lectured on the strictures of social justice vocabulary Joanna Williams - @JOWILLIAMS293 ‘Catch up!” No wonder Dawn French is cross. An order often delivered by those with purple hair and an abundance of moral virtue, “catch up” is chastisement for holding unfashionable views. Being told to “get with it” by someone half your age and with none of your life experience is to be deeply patronised. Like the equally annoying “do the work” and “educate yourself”, “catch up” tells you you’re wrong while refusing to explain why you have fallen short. French was told: “People can’t be constantly teaching you how to be because this is not okay, and you need to catch up.” Middle-aged women everywhere winced in sympathy. The truth is most people too old for TikTok do struggle to keep up with the ever-evolving vocabulary of social justice. This is especially so when it comes to sex and gender. In solidarity with French’s claim that saying “I don’t know” is “better than pretending you do know”, I’ll confess I have no idea what it means to be a polysexual demiboy. But admitting ignorance assumes those hectoring are prepared to engage in discussion. Too often “catch up” is just a way of silencing debate, especially if you want to talk about women’s rights. The censorious phrase comes with a dollop of sexism and ageism: two prejudices which have been morally rehabilitated under the guise of transgender rights. As the abuse hurled at JK Rowling shows, when middle-aged women transgress, no insult is too ugly and no threat too vile. For centrist celebrities like Dawn French, expressing even the mildest support for Rowling was all but unthinkable just days ago. What’s changed is the intervention of Dr Hilary Cass. In her review of gender identity services for children, Cass points out that allowing confused children to change their gender identity is likely to set them on a path to medical transition. There is, she notes, little evidence it is safe to dole out puberty blockers and crosssex hormones to teenagers. Allison Bailey lost her livelihood after she criticised Stonewall It may not have been her primary intention, but across almost 400 meticulously researched pages, Cass strikes a blow for free speech. She notes that “polarisation and stifling of debate do nothing to help the young people caught in the middle of a stormy social discourse”. I can’t help but think that Dawn French, a self-declared “massive advocate of robust debate”, agrees. Cass has made it safe to ask questions about the fate of genderconfused children after years in which many people experienced the “toxicity” to which she alludes. Sonia Appleby, David Bell and Sue Evans all worked at the Tavistock gender clinic and were discredited for raising concerns now echoed by Cass. Professors Jo Phoenix and Kathleen Stock were vilified by academic colleagues for expressing gender critical views. Barrister Allison Bailey lost her livelihood after she criticised Stonewall and, in retaliation, the charity prompted an investigation into her practice. Researcher Maya Forstater faced an employment tribunal for expressing gender critical views. “Toxic” hardly scratches the surface of what many feminists endured for speaking out in defence of women’s rights or to protect vulnerable children. Some who fostered this climate of toxicity now have the gall to deny all responsibility. Ruth Hunt, who led Stonewall from 2014 to 2019, now insists the charity always supported calls for evidence-based medicine, despite substantial clues to the contrary. Even Stonewall’s own founding members accuse it of taking an “extremist stance”. Others lament the hostility but blame feminists who stood up to transgender activism. Labour’s Yvette Cooper has chosen this line. Back in 2022, Cooper was unable to define “woman” without reference to “rabbit holes”. Now, she says, Labour accepts all the Cass recommendations but adds that what’s really important is “not having all this get caught up in culture wars”. It seems that those who argued being female was a state of mind were honest brokers while those who defended sex-based rights were mendacious culture warriors. When middle-aged women transgress, no insult is too ugly In the post-Cass world everyone, it seems, wants less toxicity and more open debate about sex and gender. As a long-time campaigner for free speech, I can only welcome this development. The exercise of free speech has been vital in exposing truths that transgender activists wished to deny. Puberty blockers are not a harmless “pause button” on biological development. Socially transitioning children can make medical interventions more likely. Self-identification compromises women’s sex-based rights. Stifling debate only prevented these facts emerging sooner. But forgive me just a little cynicism. Until my local MP, Rosie Duffield, receives an apology from the Labour Party members who have treated her so badly, and until Stonewall drops its accusation that Baroness Falkner, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, took an “anti-trans” stance on conversion therapy, I will remain sceptical of recent converts to open debate. One day, gender critical feminists will be invited to speak at universities without having to jump through more hoops than other guest lecturers. But we are not there yet. The capacity to speak freely about sex and gender has been curtailed by cultural hostility more than legal restrictions. As Kemi Badenoch said, too many people feel unable to query fashionable theories “if they are promoted under the banner of progressivism or social justice”. Too many hear “catch up” and fall in line, insisting others follow suit. Unfortunately for these moral cowards, as Hilary Cass and JK Rowling, Baroness Falkner and Maya Forstater show, middle-aged women are a force to be reckoned with.

Daily Mail [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 2, positive: 0]

Farce of Iraqi sex offender stuck in Britain... even though he’s happy to pay for a flight home! Daily Mail17 Apr 2024By Martin Beckford Policy Editor A FOREIGN criminal has been stuck in Britain for three years even though he wants to be deported, ministers have been told. The convicted sex offender has even offered to pay for his air fare back to his native Iraq – but the Home Office has failed to put him on a plane. He claims he cannot leave the country of his own accord because he is on the sex offenders register and needs permission from the authorities. The farcical case was raised by his local MP in Newport, Labour’s Jessica Morden, in the House of Commons on Monday. She said: ‘The man lied about his name and country of origin and is a convicted sex offender who has breached the terms of his licence? ‘The courts want him returned home. He wants to return home and will even pay for his flight, but for some unfathomable reason, the Home Office seems incapable of authorising or allowing that. It has been three years. Why?’ Home Office minister Michael Tomlinson said: ‘It is interesting to note that ‘He wants to go home, it’s been three years’ opposition members, including the leader of the Labour Party, have campaigned to ensure they are preventing the deportation of foreign criminals. ‘Those on the Government benches are determined to see foreign criminals removed and there was an increase in removals of 74 per cent last year.’ The Daily Mail has been told that the foreign criminal in question arrived in the UK as a child more than a decade ago. He lied about his name, age and nationality and was granted leave to remain. Then five years ago, he was convicted of sex and drug offences, and served with a deportation order while in prison and taken to an Immigration Removal Centre, where he admitted his true identity. He was issued with a one-way travel document by the Iraqi embassy but was never put on a deportation flight because they were grounded by Covid. He has been released on bail and has told the Home Office he wants to go home before his travel document expires in May this year. The man, whose name has not been made public, said he needs the police, probation and Home Office to give him permission to leave the country because he is on the sex offenders register. But sources claimed the account given of the foreign criminal’s plight was not correct – and the Government said it was a ‘longstanding policy’ not to comment. Latest figures showed that 3,926 foreign national offenders were returned from the UK in 2023. Rates have increased since the pandemic ended but are still 41 per cent lower than a peak of 6,628 in 2017. And as of September 2022, there were still 11,769 foreign criminals living in the community in the UK while subject to deportation action. Last year former immigration watchdog chief David Neal – since sacked by ministers for blowing the whistle on glaring border security lapses – said the Home Office performance in removing foreign criminals was ‘not efficient’. LAST week, while on a train across Europe — my first proper holiday with my partner in four years — I couldn’t resist the urge to switch on my phone and log back into X, formerly known as Twitter. It was the day that the longawaited Cass report was finally published. I’d already read it — a copy of the four-year independent investigation into gender identity clinics in England had landed in my inbox hours earlier — and I still felt a gnawing sense of sadness about the thousands of struggling children who had been badly let down. Insidious On X, I noticed my colleague Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, was taking the report very seriously. ‘ The Cass Review must be a watershed moment for the NHS’s gender identity services,’ he wrote. ‘Children’s healthcare should always be led by evidence and children’s welfare, free from culture wars. Clinicians and parents alike want the best for children at this crucial development stage. ‘ This report provides an evidence-based framework to deliver that.’ He went on to urge the Government to act and thanked Dr Hilary Cass and her team for their work, adding: ‘I am committed to working constructively with the Health Secretary to put children’s health and wellbeing above the political fray.’ It was a mature, sober response and I felt relieved that members of my own party were starting to wake up to the damage being done by this insidious ideology. But there was also another emotion: anger. Because where had the Labour Party been? At the forefront of my mind was the old cartoon of the lone woman sitting in a boardroom surrounded by men and one of them says: ‘That’s an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it.’ The fact is, many women have been shouting from the rooftops about what is happening to gender-confused children and we have been ignored. Worse, we have been abused by strangers and colleagues for simply expressing the view that children need safeguarding when it comes to life-changing medication. Usually, my policy is to never tweet anything in anger. But as I scrolled through X to see that another man — this time a political editor — was describing Wes as ‘the only politician to say anything sensible about this issue’, the dam burst. I typed out a series of incandescent tweets. ‘ To the many women, blanked, sidelined, dismissed by male leaders when exposing this for years... As male leaders take applause, praise and credit for simply listening to an expert and finally reading the room... Perhaps less moral cowardice now? No apologies to those “investigated”, reprimanded, passed over, bullied, deselected...’ I was furious. Furious that so many children had been harmed, furious for women — and men — who had tried in vain to get people to listen and, yes, furious for myself. Outspoken I must be clear, I feel no sense of victory and other women have lost far more in this gender storm. But for the past five years I’ve been in its epicentre and the bullying within the Labour Party has been intense. As a woman and politician who is openly ‘gender critical’ — meaning I believe in biology over gender and in women’s absolute right to single- sex spaces and sports — I’ve been shunned in Westminster and excluded from meetings. I’ve had ‘ anonymous’ complainants instigate investigations into me. ‘That’s politics!’ some will cry. Maybe so. But to see a man come along and say the same things I’ve been saying, and suddenly the whole party wakes up, is infuriating. This is not a personal dig at Wes. Of all my colleagues, he has been most outspoken about the fact I was right and should receive an apology. In interviews, Keir Starmer has ranged from saying how it ‘wasn’t right’ (for me to say only women can have a cervix) on the Andrew Marr show in September 2021 to, in more recent years, how much he ‘respects’ me. Yet have I heard a word from him? Or from senior colleagues? No! When asked on political panel shows, one or two have lied about having spoken to me ‘behind the scenes’. Not one of them wants to discuss with me policies to ensure Dr Cass’s recommendations are implemented. Earlier this week when we had the debate in the Commons on Cass, we heard new lines from the Labour front bench, who now appear willing to accept the report’s recommendations. But not one senior Shadow Cabinet member has yet approached me. I believe the Labour Party thinks ‘ the gender issue’ doesn’t matter to the voting public. For them it’s a ‘culture war’. At the heart of this attitude is, I believe, a deep- seated misogyny within the party. I joined politics to put the needs of my constituents first. When Keir became leader, he promised we would always be able to approach him. But nothing could be further from the truth. The leader of the Labour Party has almost no personal contact with his backbenchers. The last message I sent to Keir, practically begging for support, was ignored. Keir is bundled in and out of meetings before you even have a chance to say: ‘Have you heard about this major medical scandal at the Tavistock clinic?’ The truth is I have as much access to the Leader of the Opposition as any of you. Of course, it’s not only male colleagues who have been hostile. There’s a group of female MPs, some of whom have behaved appallingly. Some have ‘ whispered’ loudly about ‘f****** terfs’ as I walk past. Then, as our official policy appears to change, I’ll see them on television saying: ‘It’s terribly concerning that women haven’t been able to talk about this issue.’ Their hypocrisy is monumental. Anyone with a modicum of safeguarding knowledge should have been saying: ‘What? We’re asking for children’s puberty to be stopped at 11 or 12? We’re telling schools to go along with this and even promote it as a positive choice? ‘Hang on, are these Labour MPs forcing through debates where we make it illegal to question those children, or offer them talking therapy, when they are not even old enough to buy a vape?’ Apology Of course, there is no going back for the thousands of children pushed, by the NHS, down unevidenced and untested medical pathways. As Cass says, we will never know what happened to many of them because all but one of the adult gender clinics refused to cooperate in a data analysis project that would have allowed tracking of longerterm outcomes of 9,000 gender dysphoric young people. There is no ‘prize’ for those of us who were ‘ right’. Journalists such as Suzanne Moore and Julie Bindel will not be invited to write for the Guardian again, because they spoke up. The cast of Harry Potter are never going to say: ‘Sorry J. K. Rowling, we were wrong — but thanks for making us millionaires.’ And that apology from the Labour Party isn’t likely to be in the post any time soon. Personally, I don’t want a ‘reward’. What we want is acknowledgement. A nod to say these women were warning of these dangers. And that it was those men who are now claiming moral ‘ victory’ who chose not to listen. Article Name:Farce of Iraqi sex offender stuck in Britain... even though he’s happy to pay for a flight home! Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Martin Beckford Policy Editor Start Page:14 End Page:14

Grassroots sport needs trans ban too, says Sharron Daily Mail17 Apr 2024By Claire Ellicott Whitehall Editor OLYMPIC medallist Sharron Davies yesterday said a ban on transgender athletes competing against women should apply at all levels of sport. The champion swimmer spoke out after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer demanded in yesterday’s Daily Mail that sports bodies stop male-born athletes and players competing at the elite level. But Ms Davies, 61, argued that trans competitors represented a danger to women at the grassroots level too. Her views were echoed by Downing Street, which said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wanted to see trans athletes excluded from competitive women’s sport. Ms Davies posted on X: ‘Stop sex discrimination in sport… but this must be for ALL women, not just elite. All women are worthy of fair sport.’ Yesterday, the PM’s official spokesman pointed out that some sports, such as cycling and rowing, have barred trans athletes from women’s categories. Article Name:Grassroots sport needs trans ban too, says Sharron Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Claire Ellicott Whitehall Editor Start Page:21 End Page:21

Telegraph [3, written by trans people: 0, negative: 3, positive: 0]

Calls for ex Stonewall chief to lose peerage over Cass report The Daily Telegraph17 Apr 2024By Steve Bird CAMPAIGNERS are calling for the former chief executive of Stonewall to be stripped of her peerage following the Cass report. More than 10,000 people have signed a petition on change.org calling for Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green to be expelled from the House of Lords for her “deeply damaging conduct” in the transgender “scandal”. The petition, launched on Saturday, said: “Stonewall’s irresponsible, deceitful and self-interested behaviour … has caused untold havoc. We believe its chief executive at the time, Ruth Hunt, should take responsibility for her charity’s deeply damaging conduct, which played a key role in the scandal now unfolding. It is deeply insulting to the families she has harmed that, instead, Hunt was awarded a peerage.” The petition refers to Stonewall’s decision to oppose a research pack sent to schools warning children identifying as trans how there were possible risks to puberty blockers and untested drugs often being used as a “medical pathway” for transition. “The packs contained sound advice, and removing them was dangerous,” it said. The report, by Dr Hilary Cass, a paediatric consultant, warned how treatment with puberty blockers “may change the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development” but critically did not change a patient’s body dissatisfaction or gender dysphoria. It also called for “unhurried” care of those under-25s who think they may be transgender and found that gender care had been largely based on “remarkably weak evidence”. Shortly after the review’s publication, JK Rowling criticised Stonewall for promoting the transgender narrative. The author wrote: “In 2018, Stonewall literally told schools to shred a research pack saying there were risks to puberty blockers. In 2022 Stonewall said that ‘research’ suggests two-yearolds can be trans. It advocated for nurseries to start teaching kids that there are more genders than boy and girl.” Baroness Hunt took over Stonewall in 2014 shortly after the first same-sex marriages took place. She pushed to include transgender campaigns, possibly in response to a feeling that a void had been created by key advances in lesbian and gay equality. Following a consultation with 700 transgender people, Stonewall accepted a donation to “integrate trans-specific work” into its campaigns. It promoted the notion of “gender identity” which might not align with sex, including ideas that lesbians can have penises and gay men can have vulvas. Many lesbians and gay men vehemently opposed that ideology. Baroness Hunt was later accused of running “a militant trans agenda” by the writer Maureen Chadwick, creator of Bad Girls and Footballers’ Wives. In 2019 Baroness Hunt left Stonewall and accepted her peerage. She did not respond to a request for a comment. Article Name:Calls for ex Stonewall chief to lose peerage over Cass report Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Steve Bird Start Page:10 End Page:10

Transgender debate has become too vitriolic, says Whitty The Daily Telegraph17 Apr 2024By Dominic Penna THE Cass Review into gender identity services for children should be a warning about “running ahead of the evidence”, Prof Sir Chris Whitty has said. In his first intervention on the topic, the Chief Medical Officer warned the debate around transgender issues had become “too vitriolic”. In her report last week, Dr Hillary Cass, a paediatrician, found the evidence for allowing young people and children to change gender was built on weak foundations and that there was no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of treatments such as puberty blockers that are given to children. The review also warned of pressure on families, including parents who felt forced to allow children to transition for fear of being labelled transphobic. Sir Chris told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Dr Cass pointed out the evidence base here was very weak, and I think it is a very clear corrective to any area of medicine in fact where people are running ahead of the evidence, particularly where there are potential significant side effects or long-term effects from treatment … I think this is really an opportunity to rethink that completely. “One of the reasons why the research has been so thin in this area is because of the vitriolic nature of the debate on both extremes of it. And I think we do need to calm this debate right down. “This is to help children who are often going through difficult times and we need to start with that rather than these very strong debates.” Article Name:Transgender debate has become too vitriolic, says Whitty Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Dominic Penna Start Page:10 End Page:10

Pestered by boys for porn-style sex, it’s no wonder girls want to be non-binary The Daily Telegraph17 Apr 2024Eleanor Mills Allison Pearson is away

Thursday 17 April 2024 [Total: Publications 4, positive 6, negative 0, neutral 1, written by trans people 0]

The Guardian [1, written by trans people: 0, negative: 0, positive: 0, neutral: 1]

Sweden to make it easier for people to change their legal gender The Guardian18 Apr 2024Agence France-Press Stockholm Sweden’s parliament passed a law yesterday lowering the minimum age to legally change gender from 18 to 16 and making it easier to get access to surgical interventions. The law passed by 234 votes to 94 in Sweden’s 349-seat parliament. While the country was the first to introduce legal gender reassignment in 1972, the new proposal, aimed at allowing self-identification and simplifying the procedure, sparked an intense debate. The centre-right coalition of the conservative prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has been split on the issue, with his own Moderates and the Liberals largely supporting the law while the smaller Christian Democrats were against it. The Sweden Democrats, the populist party with far-right roots, also opposed it. “The great majority of Swedes will never notice that the law has changed, but for a number of transgender people the new law makes an important difference,” Johan Hultberg, an MP representing the ruling conservative Moderate party, told parliament. Beyond lowering the age, the new legislation will make it simpler for a person to change their legal gender, which can take up to seven years. Two new laws will go into force on 1 July 2025: one regulating surgical procedures, and one regulating the administrative procedure to change legal gender in the official register. People will be able to change their legal gender at 16, though those under 18 will need the approval of their parents, a doctor and the National Board of Health and Welfare. A diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” – where a person may experience distress as a result of a mismatch between their biological sex and the gender they identify as – will no longer be required. Surgical procedures to transition would be allowed from 18, but would no longer require the board’s approval. The removal of ovaries or testes will only be allowed from the age of 23, unchanged from today. Denmark, Norway, Finland and Spain already have similar laws. Article Name:Sweden to make it easier for people to change their legal gender Publication:The Guardian Author:Agence France-Press Stockholm Start Page:23 End Page:23

The Times [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 2, positive: 0]

News website ‘blacklisted’ over columnists on gender Alex Farber - Media Correspondent The editor in chief of a news website has raised concerns about Foreign Office investment in a ratings agency that has blacklisted it for featuring gendercritical columnists. Freddie Sayers said Unherd, which “challenges conventional thinking”, had been wrongly penalised by the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). The independent body, which received £2.6 million from the government over three years from 2019, relegated Unherd to its “exclusion list” of publications that promote disinformation and should be boycotted by brands. The decision has cost Unherd thousands in lost advertising income after it received as little as 2 per cent of the revenue it would otherwise have expected. In response to an appeal, Unherd was told that it had been penalised for publishing articles by columnists including Kathleen Stock, who is nominated for a National Press award, Julie Bindel, an anti-violence campaigner, and Debbie Hayton, a transgender writer. Giving evidence to a Lords inquiry into the future of news on Tuesday, Sayers said: “The GDI equates ‘gendercritical’ beliefs, or maintaining that biological sex differences exist, with ‘disinformation’, despite the fact that those beliefs are protected in British law.” He criticised its “intellectualised definitional creep” since it was founded in 2018, adding: “They have broadened the definition to encompass anything that deploys an adversarial narrative: stories that may be factually true, but pit people against each other.” The GDI has previously said it does not assess content based on “political, religious or ideological orientation”.

Getting help from the NHS is like going to war Janice Turner - Notebook Of all the weeks to get ill. What began with my 60th birthday ended in me hosting a party for 90, with digesting the dense, long-awaited 380-page Cass report sandwiched between. So the only option was denial. Oh, it’s nothing, this cough so violent it’s put my shoulder out, I’ll take paracetamol and inhale steam. It was only when I was kept awake by a sinister rattling in my lungs that I realised it wasn’t going away. This wasn’t Covid but one of those prosaic yet vicious chest infections that carried away Victorian heroines after they caught a chill on a damp walk. I gird myself for war, which is what it takes to get a GP appointment: primary care in my ’hood is a Darwinian struggle against hostile NHS systems when you’re most vulnerable. At 8am I download a new app and by the time it has scraped my health data all appointments are gone. So I ring the surgery — where a recorded message scolds me for doing so — and eventually a doctor calls back to prescribe antibiotics over the phone. Shouldn’t you actually examine me, I’m really ill? After a kerfuffle an appointment is found — at a deserted surgery, with more staff than patients. What is going on? Vivid thread On my birthday itself my husband surprised me with tickets to the Tower of London which, assuming it would be a naff tourist trap like Madame Tussauds, we’ve never visited. In fact it is wonderful; you get to see ravens up close, so thickly feathered they’re almost furry, and the displays are richly informative rather than dumbed down. Nor does it ham up its gruesome legacy into a Horrible Histories panto. There’s a display of torture equipment including the “scavenger’s daughter”, where you bend someone double and squeeze them with a metal clamp until blood spurts from their ears. But the spot where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded is marked with the lovely words: “Here jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life.” Cass hypocrisy The moment the Cass report was published the Overton window lurched: everything Tavistock whistleblowers and journalists had been ostracised for saying was suddenly mainstream. It’s tempting to list the cowards, fools, liberal sheep, airhead celebrities who shilled for Mermaids; atheists, humanists, blow-hard podcasters and “fearless” radio stars, right-on male comics who relished the chance to scream at women and spineless Labour politicians, all now claiming that Cass is what they believed all along. I’ll allow myself the luxury of two names. First Ed Miliband, who in November 2017 devoted his Reasons to be Cheerful podcast to trans issues. Not only did he scorn all opponents of self-ID as “bonkers” but he invited on Dr Helen Webberley, the child hormone-prescribing doctor who ran a private clinic with her husband (who has been struck off the medical register). I wrote to Miliband privately, linking to articles explaining the effect of her drug regime. “Of course I don’t believe in sterilising children!” thundered this condescending know-all. The second is Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green, desperate to deepclean her reputation post-Cass. “I’ve always been deeply concerned,” she said last week, “about the internalised homophobia that is going on for young women that means they think they can’t be a dyke, and they’ve got to be a boy.” I met Hunt for lunch in 2019 just as she was leaving Stonewall, where she was chief executive. Hunt is slippery smart. At the end, I implored her as a butch lesbian who loves men’s tailoring to make a speech saying that you can look how you like and still be a woman. “It would be so powerful,” I said. But she never did: because it would have enraged the trans lobby on whose campaign funds she depended. Hunt is a Christian who must know the ninth commandment, so I hope she’s squared her duplicity with God.

Daily Mail [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 2, positive: 0]

Why, despite two welcome victories, I fear we’ll NEVER beat the woke nightmare. And the next generation will be even MORE intolerant Daily Mail18 Apr 2024by Daniel Hannan Lord Hannan is International Secretary of the Conservative Party and serves on the Board of Trade. Could the woke nightmare be coming to an end? Might Britain be stirring, shaking off its bad dream, and returning to common sense? There are glimmers of hope. This week, the Michaela community school in Brent, north-west london — the strictest and one of the most successful secondary schools in the land — won a court case allowing it to ban public religious rituals, which it argued were against the spirit of cohesiveness that underpins its academic achievements. And last week, the Cass report confirmed what almost everyone knew, though many were too frightened to say, that it was far too easy for children to be given puberty blocking drugs. And in Tuesday’s Mail the Culture Secretary, lucy Frazer, urged sporting authorities to ban biologically male competitors from women’s sports. Outrage Are we finally seeing a backlash against the identity politics that has rendered our country ill- tempered, intimidated and inane? Yes and no. Before we get carried away, we should note that there has been no let-up in the anti-white bias that is widespread in our public sector and in universities. Preposterous demands for reparations from the only country that devoted itself to stamping out slavery get louder. Campaigners for social change, caught up in their own moral outrage, sometimes over-reach. When they do, there is a limited and localised backlash. But the dial never quite moves back to where it was. let’s consider the cases separately, starting with Michaela. I used to wonder whether Katharine Birbalsingh, its famously strict headmistress, could really live up to all she was cracked up to be. Then I spent a day in her classrooms. The teaching was better than I had had at my feepaying school. The atmosphere was disciplined — the kids were not allowed to talk in the corridors or look around in class — but palpably happy. Michaela does not just outperform private schools in terms of raising the accomplishments of its children, a quarter of whom qualify for free school meals; it also outperforms them in absolute terms, with better GCSE and A-level results. A lot of its success lies in Birbalsingh’s commitment to integration. Many of her children come from difficult home environments, but she never allows that as an excuse for sloppy homework. Knowing that her pupils between them speak dozens of languages, she stresses what they have in common. As they come to lunch, for example, they belt out lines of patriotic poetry. Then a child on each table serves their friends a vegetarian meal, so Hindu kids don’t need to worry about beef, nor Muslims about pork. It is this togetherness that Birbalsingh wants to preserve. She worries that, in a school where half the children are Muslims, public prayer rituals would divide the community. It was this policy that prompted one Muslim student to launch a legal challenge. The extraordinary thing is not that Birbalsingh won the case, but that it could be brought in the first place — and, indeed, funded by legal aid to the tune of £150,000. It would recently have gone without saying that, provided national standards on child welfare and the curriculum were being met, heads could set whatever policies they thought best. Parents are free to choose Islamic schools. If they instead choose Michaela, they are accepting its philosophy. It is a pity that this principle was ever subjected to legal challenge. The issue of trans is slightly different. Here we see the terrifying over-reach that can happen when a cause is fuelled by both fashion and self-righteousness. The idea that children should make irreversible decisions about their sexual development is, when stated baldly, so absurd that hardly anyone would countenance it. But its exponents are angry, energised and ready to destroy the reputations and job prospects of anyone who disagrees. For a few demented years, the denial of biological reality has been adopted by swathes of society — publishing, broadcasting, the performing arts, universities, the civil service. Some kept their heads down for fear of criticism. others rationalised their cowardice by genuinely convincing themselves of what was being proposed. The publication of the Cass report was like the breaking of a spell. Many of those who had been outraged at the suggestion that women had wombs have shaken off their enchantment and, indeed, forgotten that they ever held their previous opinions. Should we expect a wider pushback against some of the dottier woke doctrines? on past evidence, we shouldn’t hold our breath. The vilification of those who insisted on the primacy of biology was a moral panic. The essence of a moral panic is that people act in ways that look absurd and shameful when the panic passes. Panic For example, during the 1980s and 1990s, many journalists, social workers and childcare professionals believed children were being used in Satanic rituals. Hundreds of children were taken from their families on the basis of bogus evidence. Today, it is hard to believe it happened. Go back further and we find something even creepier, a serious and organised campaign to legalise paedophilia. In the early 1970s, an organisation called the Paedophile Information Exchange demanded the abolition of the age of consent. Now here’s the thing. That campaign was backed by many of the same sorts of people as the ones who later backed the more extreme trans nonsense. Among those who gave it a measure of support were the future labour MPs Harriet Harman and Patricia Hewitt — both of whom have since apologised. I don’t mean to point the finger. I have always admired both women, and their apologies were sincere. No, my point is precisely that, when bad ideas become fashionable, well-meaning people can end up backing them. Just as with puberty-blockers, the country as a whole was solidly against abolishing the age of consent. And, just as with puberty-blockers, most of those who got caught up in the fad eventually came to their senses. Absurd The disquieting truth is almost every civilisation has been based on a measure of identity politics, meaning some groups are favoured over others. In the West, around 300 years ago, we did something quite exceptional. We decided freedom trumped birth, caste or tradition. That achievement was more precarious than we realised. The liberal ideal, that every able-minded adult is equal before the law and that personal autonomy should be paramount, has given way many times before to the fierce appeal of authoritarianism. That’s the terrifying thing about identity politics — not that it is absurd, but that it is dangerously seductive. These recent victories don’t mean we have fought it off. Indeed, we will never definitively fight it off, for it appeals to a part of human nature. The best thing we can do is to educate our children, to teach them that open societies are happier, fairer and richer than collectivist societies where the cancel culture trumps freedom of expression. Michaela, at least, is a school where that still happens. Sadly, it is in the minority, and there is every sign that today’s children will be an even more illiberal generation. We take freedom for granted. But, by Heaven, we’ll miss it when it has gone. Article Name:Why, despite two welcome victories, I fear we’ll NEVER beat the woke nightmare. And the next generation will be even MORE intolerant Publication:Daily Mail Author:by Daniel Hannan Lord Hannan is International Secretary of the Conservative Party and serves on the Board of Trade. Start Page:14 End Page:14

NOW locking horns with JK Rowling – they disagree on trans issues – fruity broadcaster Kirstie Allsopp huffs: ‘i understood that she had received unacceptable abuse... latterly i felt she could have been calmer and kinder given her position of enormous influence and insulating wealth, but i never expressed that view.’ Well not until now, Kirstie!

Telegraph [2, written by trans people: 0, negative: 2, positive: 0]

Scottish primary schools will have pupils as LGBT champions The Daily Telegraph18 Apr 2024By Daniel Sanderson and Daniel Martin SCOTTISH primary schools are appointing children as “LGBT champions” and are being urged to ask pupils as young as four if they are gay, lesbian or trans, The Telegraph can reveal. Documents show that schools are setting up LGBT clubs and “gender and sexual orientation alliance groups” for pupils as part of their membership of a scheme run by the charity LGBT Youth Scotland. The charity, which received nearly £1 million of taxpayers’ money last year, also urges head teachers to install gender neutral lavatories and mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, an event critics say is designed to reinforce myths spread by trans activists. It comes after the Cass review into NHS gender identity services last week raised fears that the evidence for allowing children to change gender was built on weak foundations. Dr Hillary Cass, a paediatrician, said allowing “social transitioning” for young people – when they are treated as the opposite gender – could “change their trajectory” and lead to them pursuing a potentially damaging medical pathway in later life. The SNP Government was urged to address concerns over the promotion of ideology in classrooms in the wake of the revelations and the Cass review. It also follows a major row about the introduction of new hate crimes law in Scotland which introduced legal protections for trans people. Miriam Cates, the co-chairman of the New Conservatives group of MPS, said: “We have seen from the Cass Review the appalling results of using children as pawns in adult political battles. Indoctrinating small children with sexualised ideologies is deeply unethical and breaks all established safeguarding principles.” Carolyn Brown, an educational psychologist, said: “Children of primary school age are very suggestible and are still at a very early stage of their psychological and emotional development. What we are seeing here is the product placement of gender ideology in schools which is potentially very harmful. “Kids in primary school cannot possibly know if they are LGBT because biologically, psychologically and emotionally they will not yet have the capacity.” LGBT Youth Scotland in 2022-23 received almost £450,000 in taxpayer funding from the SNP Government and a further £340,000 from local authorities. NHS organisations handed over a further £154,000. It claims that more than 200 Scottish secondaries, more than half the total, and over 40 primary schools, have joined its LGBT Charter for Education. The fees it charges to join range from £850 to £2,000. As part of membership, staff must be trained by the organisation, which provides an online guide and letter templates for children wishing to change their gender at school. Each school joining the scheme is told it must appoint at least two pupils and two staff members as “LGBT Champions” and those hoping to obtain “gold” status are told to consider a survey of pupils to ask if they are “part of the LGBT community in order to discern whether bullying affects those pupils proportionally within the school”. One primary school tweeted about its group of champions with a picture of five young children. Among 10 annual events which Scottish schools are being urged to “celebrate” are “National Coming Out Day” and “Transgender Day of Visibility”. Schools hoping to obtain a gold award are also told to provide evidence of their “LGBT safe spaces” such as gender neutral toilets and PE classes. LGBT Youth Scotland states that it has trained more than 5,000 teachers since 2021 and that its scheme means it is “reaching a minimum of 30,000 young people”. To achieve its gold award, schools are told they must “undertake at least one activity which specifically addresses the needs of transgender young people”. A Scottish government spokesman said: “We are committed to doing everything we can to make Scotland the best place to grow up for LGBTQI+ young people. This includes funding LGBT Youth Scotland.” Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Tory Common Sense Group, said: “Those responsible for the outrage of approaching four-year-olds in this way should be rounded up and charged with child abuse.” LGBT Youth Scotland has been approached for comment. Article Name:Scottish primary schools will have pupils as LGBT champions Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Sanderson and Daniel Martin Start Page:1 End Page:1

Atkins accused of hypocrisy over Stonewall Meeting with LGBT charity emerges after she criticised Humza Yousaf over puberty blockers The Daily Telegraph18 Apr 2024By Daniel Martin DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Victoria Atkins met with the Stonewall charity in 2018 when she was equalities minister ‘The role played by Stonewall in this utterly shameful situation is unequivocal’ VICTORIA ATKINS, the Health Secretary, risks accusations of hypocrisy for meeting Stonewall in the past despite criticising the charity over its role in the puberty blockers scandal, it has been suggested. The Health Secretary met the LGBT rights charity in 2018, when she was equalities minister – and her team met them four times. But earlier this week, she criticised the charity, saying those who refused to follow all the recommendations of the Cass review into trans medicine were “following Stonewall”. She tweeted: “Humza Yousaf only wants some of the Cass Review’s recommendations implemented: which ones? “Rather than follow the detailed and damning evidence the review cites, he’s following Stonewall. The same Stonewall that wanted to “shred” the evidence in 2018.” The Cass review found that there was little evidence in favour of the use of puberty blockers in the treatment of children questioning their gender. Stonewall was a keen supporter of the use of the drugs on young people who want to change gender, and even told schools to shred a research pack from another charity pointing out the risks of using puberty blockers. However, The Telegraph can disclose that Ms Atkins previously cited Stonewall’s research in the Commons and said she was working “closely” with them when she was a minister in the Home Office. Her team also held a meeting with Mermaids, a charity accused of pushing puberty blockers on children. She said: “We are pleased to support a number of community projects focused on tackling LGBT+ hate crimes, including working with Barnardo’s, Stop Hate UK and the football initiative Kick It Out. We continue to take that and other work forward, working closely with the Government Equalities Office and a range of stakeholders, including Galop and Stonewall.” The minister also previously referred to Stonewall research when discussing the prevalence of homophobia. She referenced two MPS who had quoted stark statistics “including the terrible one highlighted in the Stonewall research that showed one in 10 people surveyed had experienced online homophobic, biphobic or transphobic abuse or behaviour in the past month”. Kate Coleman, of the campaign group Keep Prisons Single Sex, said: “I would say that those who are attacking Stonewall now, whilst not examining their prior relationship with them, risk the charge of hypocrisy.” She added: “However, transparency and accountability must include critical examination of the role played by previous government inquiries, departments, ministers and MPS and must extend to all sectors where gender identity ideology has become embedded. “The role played by Stonewall in this utterly shameful and frankly catastrophic situation is unequivocal.” A spokesman for Ms Atkins said: “It is routine for government ministers to have introductory meetings with organisations related to their new departmental brief.” Article Name:Atkins accused of hypocrisy over Stonewall Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Martin DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Start Page:4 End Page:4

THIS WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

House of Commons

Thursday 18 April 2024
- No business that fits the concerns of this newsletter
Friday 19 April 2024
- Private Members’ Bills inc:
  - Autism (Early Identification) Bill: Second Reading
  - Liz Truss’s Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill: Second Reading

Westminster Hall

Thursday 18 April 2024
- No business that fits the concerns of this newsletter
Friday 19 April 2024
- No business today

House of Lords

Thursday 18 April 2024
- Debate – Long-term sustainability of the NHS and delivery of comprehensive, timely and affordable health care [more details here]
- Debate – Number of children and young people being committed into the care of local authorities [more details here]
Friday 19 April 2024
- Debates – None of which fit the concerns of this newsletter

Committees

Thursday 18 April 2024
- No business that fits the concerns of this newsletter
Friday 19 April 2024
- No committees are meeting today

AROUND THE WORLD

Sweden’s parliament passes a law to make it easier for young people to legally change their gender [AP]

Sweden‘s parliament has passed a law lowering the legal age for gender change from 18 to 16. Minors still require approval from a guardian, a doctor, and the National Board of Health and Welfare. The law, which also removes the need for a gender dysphoria diagnosis, aligns Sweden with countries like Denmark and Norway in supporting transgender rights.

Bomb threats at Planet Fitness linked to ‘Libs of TikTok’ [The Guardian]

Planet Fitness locations across the U.S. have received bomb threats after being targeted by the ‘Libs of TikTok’ account, which accused the gym chain of allowing men into women’s locker rooms.

West Virginia court overturns transgender care ban [The Advocate]

A court in West Virginia has successfully overturned a ban on transgender care, marking a significant legal win for transgender rights in the state.

Appeals court overturns West Virginia’s transgender sports ban [LGBTQ Nation]

An appeals court has overturned West Virginia‘s ban on trans athletes participating in sports that match their gender identity.

Ohio court blocks transgender care law [The Advocate]

In Ohio, a recent court decision has blocked the enforcement of a law that restricted transgender care, safeguarding healthcare access for transgender people.

Idaho’s trans care ban remains unenforced [The Advocate]

Idaho‘s ban on transgender care continues to go unenforced, following judicial interventions. The state’s attempts to restrict healthcare access for transgender people have not taken effect, allowing for the continued provision of necessary medical treatments.

Judge supports Letitia James in defending transgender athletes [LGBTQ Nation]

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that tried to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from defending the rights of transgender athletes.

Kentucky’s anti-LGBTQ bills fail to pass [LGBTQ Nation]

All proposed anti-LGBTQ bills in Kentucky have failed to pass.

Transgender individuals in Florida face harassment under bathroom law [LGBTQ Nation]

Trans people in Florida are resorting to extreme measures like avoiding water and using bottles to urinate due to harassment stemming from the state’s bathroom law.

Maine lawmakers advance bill to protect gender-affirming care despite threats [LGBTQ Nation]

In Maine, lawmakers are advancing a bill to protect gender-affirming care for trans people, despite facing death threats.

Right-wing snowflakes complain of unfair advantage for trans women in eating contests [LGBTQ Nation]

Right-wing commentators have claimed that trans women have an unfair advantage in hot dog eating contests.

Family discusses challenges and support for transgender child in Moldova [Global Voices.]

In Moldova, the family of a transgender child shares their journey of navigating societal challenges and finding support within their community. They discuss the difficulties in accessing proper healthcare and education, as well as the social stigma they face.

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ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Guide to major Pride events in 2024 [The Gay UK]

The Gay UK has published a comprehensive guide to all major Pride events scheduled for 2024 around the world. The guide includes dates and locations for festivals and parades providing a valuable resource for those looking to participate in or support Pride activities.

Misconduct proven against former officer [Met Police]

A former officer who acted inappropriately towards a female colleague has had misconduct proven against him.

Italy’s prime minister condemns surrogacy [The Advocate]

Italy’s Prime Minister has publicly condemned the practice of surrogacy, aligning with conservative viewpoints in the country.

TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

The 32 things The Cass Review recommends and why they are concerning, by Gemma Stone.
NHS & puberty blockers: Former GIDS patients reflect on long wait times, invasive assessments, by Sasha Baker.
What does Liz Truss’s anti-trans bill actually say? By Lee Hurley.
The Cass Review: A government-sanctioned attack on trans lives, by Lee Hurley.

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