The Trans Agenda #4

[7 March 2024]

Welcome to The Trans Agenda, a newsletter that will arrive in your inbox Monday to Friday at 10am if you are subscribed. You can also read it on Substack and on Trans Writes.

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.

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TRANS NEWS

WPATH leak

  • The biggest ‘story’ doing the rounds at the minute is that anti-trans activists have released a series of documents they call the “WPATH Files.” These documents contains leaked messages from a forum used by doctors and therapists specialising in transgender healthcare. The “WPATH Files” are presented as a scandalous leak, but they are mostly ordinary conversations where professionals discuss patient care. As usual, anti-trans groups have twisted the meaning of these messages to make them seem alarming or harmful. They use incorrect information, misunderstand what the leaked messages actually say, and purposely leave out important details in order to change the meaning of them.Kathleen Stock has already had her ridiculously uninformed say in The Telegraph [TTA #3] and the right-wing media show no sign of slowing down as they disseminate this latest batch of anti-trans propaganda, all of which seems to be part of a co-ordinated campaign. The sloppily delivered ‘leak’ conveniently confirms what they already believe as they gleefully gloat about the latest chapter in The GCs Big Book of Myths and Bullshit.Unlike those currently spreading the ‘leak’ as proof they are right about trans people, some trans journalists actually read the documents and found the story easy, if also time-consuming, to debunk. You can read Erin Reed’s analysis of the documents here and Evan Urquhart’s here and I would highly recommend that you do.In short, The “WPATH Files” report is as reliable as the “Twitter Files”. They are an attempt by anti-trans activists to discredit the healthcare that so many trans people depend on. The report is based on misinformation and is designed to mislead people. Sadly, many seem only too open to being misled due to pre-existing bigotries.

WPATH response [What The Trans] [Others]

  • A message from Blaine Vella, WPATH Executive Director, posted on an internal forum, was leaked online on Wednesday night. It said:
    ”    As many of you know, a report was released last night entitled The WPATH Files, in response, our President, Dr. Marci Bowers, has issued the following statement:”Statement from Marci Bowers, M.D., president of WPATH:””WPATH is and has always been a science- and evidence-based organization whose recommendations are widely endorsed by major medical organizations around the world. We are the professionals who best know the medical needs of trans and gender diverse individuals—and stand opposed to individuals who misrepresent and de-legitimize the diverse identities and complex needs of this population through scare tactics. The world is not flat. Gender, like genitalia, is represented by diversity. The small percentage of the population that is trans or gender diverse deserves healthcare and will never be a threat to the global gender binary.””This is and will continue to be our response to any media outreach.”If any of you receive inquiries from the media, we request that you do not respond send the request to us at [redacted email address] and our media partners will respond with the statement above.”

    Large GC accounts wasted no time in also sharing the full letter, without redacting the email address.

Police do not recognise anti-trans ‘Police group’ SEEN [Bedfordshire Police, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary]

  • Gender critical group Police SEEN UK, who claim to be a “voice for police officers and staff who believe in biological reality and support the safety, rights and dignity of women and children” are not formally recognised by Bedfordshire Police nor Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, according to recent FoI responses. Replies from other police forces are expected. As a result of not recognising the group, the police forces were unable to provide details on how many members might be part of their service.This particular SEEN branch have been getting a lot of coverage recently as anti-trans activists push to have a person’s biological sex recorded if they are arrested. You can read more about that in The Trans Agenda #1.

SEEN sets up Houses of Parliament group [Twitter]

Dundee Women’s Festival will provide a platform for ‘Women won’t Wheesht’ on Sunday 17 March [@grogipher]

MEDIA

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism trans project [TBIJ]

  • The TBIJ has launched “Trans+ Voices – a community-led investigation working directly with trans and non-binary communities. The project ‘will look into the experiences of these communities in the build up to the next UK election.” They are seeking trans people who want to be involved and you can find their contact details in the link above and on their thread on Twitter.

Amnesty International guide for NI Journalists [Amnesty International NI]

  • If you want to know what it’s like for journalists in Northern Ireland trying to cover the police, Amnesty International have just released a helpful guide for those who think the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are spying on them after it was revealed that the police secretly searched journalists’ phones. They also have a guide, linked on the same page, to protecting yourself from police surveillance.

Telegraph sale [Telegraph]

  • Ministers are in talks about supporting an amendment that would grant the Commons and Lords the power to veto the UAE-backed acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group.

EHRC report to be released

  • The compromised Equality and Human Rights Commission calls on the government to improve women and girls’ safety by tackling violence by the police while also widening access to domestic abuse refuges. It’s not clear at the time of writing how many of their recommendations will involve excluding trans people as the main ‘risk’.

TODAY’S PAPERS

Due to budget coverage, the papers are pretty quiet this morning when it comes to trans people but that doesn’t mean Maya Forstater of Sex Matters didn’t find a way to get into the Daily Mail:

Woke upon a time! Pupils now write Lefty stories Daily Mail7 Mar 2024By Eleanor Harding Education Editor PRINCESSES, dragons and knights in shining armour usually take centre stage in stories written by children. But youngsters are increasingly turning to ‘woke’ themes such as gender fluidity and Gaza in their creative writing, according to a report. Analysis of writing by under12s found a surge in tales about fashionable Left-wing issues such as climate change and transgender people, compared with three years ago. Maya Forstater, of campaign group Sex Matters, warned: ‘Gender dysphoria is being promoted to children as an adventure. It is a safeguarding risk for children to be taught adult concepts.’ The researchers from Oxford University Press looked at submissions to a BBC writing competition for children. Article Name:Woke upon a time! Pupils now write Lefty stories Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Eleanor Harding Education Editor Start Page:21 End Page:21

They also have a double-page feature with some of the worst anti-trans activists around:

The women who refuse to be SILENCED She’s had death threats, been ‘cancelled’ on TV and shunned by fellow MPs. In a rousing call to arms against those who want to erase women, ROSIE DUFFIELD unites a battle-hardened group of campaigners... Daily Mail7 Mar 2024AS TOLD TO JILL FOSTER Picture: LEZLI+ROSE, JOHN NEED. Hair: SIMON IZZARD. Hair and make-up: AMANDA CLARE at JOY GOODMAN. Make-up: JULIE READ at CAROL HAYES/OONAGH CONNOR and ARIANNE YOUNG at JOY GOODMAN/NIKI MARK. Styling: CAMILLA RIDLEY-DAY, LIZ HEMMINGS, EMMA MESQUITA For over a century, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated across the globe to highlight the extraordinary achievements of ordinary women. Held annually on March 8, I used to think it was a positive day. This year, however, I just feel angry. Although proud of the progress we’ve made, we find ourselves fighting on a new front — and in the unimaginable position of seeing hard-won rights being rolled back. Incredibly, we’re at a point when even the word ‘woman’ is controversial. We’ve become ‘cervix-havers’, ‘uterus-owners’ and in extreme cases ‘non-men’. Politicians, meanwhile, flounder when asked: ‘What is a woman?’ As an MP as well as a mother, it makes me despair. The reluctance to defend women and girls is due to a small but very vocal group of trans activists, determined to let men self-identify as women, under the guise of ‘gender ideology’. What started as an attempt to ensure that a very small minority of people with ‘gender dysphoria’ (those who feel there’s a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity) were not discriminated against has morphed into a powerful global movement which allows men to claim to be women. By uttering the magic words ‘I am a woman’ or ‘I identify as a woman’, suddenly men can enter female-only spaces such as refuges for the victims of rape or domestic abuse. This is without any commitment to have gender reassignment surgery or take hormones — not that that would make them women anyway. It was inevitable that predatory men would take advantage of this. It is why we are seeing male abusers, rapists and murderers being called ‘she’ and ‘her’ in court and in many countries gaining access to women’s prisons. I am proud to stand with a group of courageous women who are fighting back. We have taken part in this Mail photoshoot to raise awareness on the eve of International Women’s Day. Known as ‘gender criticals’ or ‘sex realists’, we believe in some — not all — circumstances, the sex of a person really matters. THIs might sound like common sense, but we have all faced a backlash for saying as much. Labelled ‘Nazis’ and ‘bigots’, many of us have received rape and death threats. some have been victims of doxxing (where names and addresses are published online), stalked and, in the worst cases, suffered physical abuse. I’ve had death threats and each week some man or other emails saying he would like to ‘re- educate’ me. Although MPs are used to hostility in Westminster, sometimes I feel not a soul is on my side. Even some Labour MP colleagues are hostile towards me in the chamber. It’s also obvious I’ve been ‘softly cancelled’ from television and radio debates. I used to be invited onto political TV panel shows every few weeks with colleagues such as Jess Phillips. Jess is still asked, but it is years since I was. sometimes I feel utterly exhausted by it all. What gives me hope and strength is this army of women who stubbornly refuse to ‘budge up and make way’ for men who claim to represent us. We will not hand over our rights easily. We’ve had enough. We are fighting to preserve the right to female- only spaces — from refuges to prisons — and wish to protect the safety, dignity and privacy of women too vulnerable to speak up themselves. Every day my inbox is filled with messages from UK women who are frightened, furious, or both. They are unsure if they can ask for a female carer for their elderly mother’s intimate care. They despair that single-sex changing rooms are vanishing. Their daughters tell them that a boy who is identifying as a girl has joined the girls’ sports team at school and they’re scared to speak out. Happily, we are gaining ground in this battle, albeit slowly. Maya Forstater lost her job at a think tank for expressing ‘gendercritical’ views — but won a landmark employment case. Now we can no longer be discriminated against over our views on sex and gender in a democratic society. The Civil service, once wholly captured by ‘gender ideology’, was the first to set up a sex Equality and Equity Network (sEEN) to ensure that discrimination against women could not prevail. These networks are now cropping up in the police, Hr organisations and the City. It is a different matter in the NHs, however. Women who work in it tell me they’re scared to speak up when terms describing women’s bodies are being changed and corrupted. Yet social politics should be nowhere near public health. The NHs is there to cure people, and if women need a female doctor for an intimate examination, they should be allowed to ask for one without being labelled a bigot. As for schools, I’ve had emails from headteachers begging for help in handling more and more children identifying out of their own sex. recent guidance was of help but didn’t go far enough. CHILDrEN struggling with their identities need mental health support, compassionate care and to be treated on a case-by-case basis. In sport, boys and men worldwide are entering female categories as they ‘identify’ as girls and women — surprise, surprise, they go on to smash female records. some are even insisting on dressing in female changing rooms, which can be incredibly distressing for many women and girls. And it’s not limited to highprofile sporting events. Just this week, Kenwood Ladies’ Pond members voted to continue to allow male bathers in if they identified as women. This was despite opposition from many women who feel uncomfortable or threatened by ‘women’ with male genitalia in their space. Yet thanks to women such as Fiona McAnena, who until recently headed up Fair Play For Women, there are now rules to protect female categories in sports such as swimming and cycling, which are now banning males. I applaud sporting legends such as tennis ace Martina Navratilova and olympic swimmer sharron Davies who have spoken about the dangers and injustice to women. Hockey, tennis, basketball and squash, however, are still allowing men to be women. We might even see male players in the female categories in archery, weightlifting, rowing and skateboarding at this summer’s Paris olympics. It’s not fair on the women losing out at elite level but it’s also not fair on the young girls who may be deterred from competing at all. In politics, speaking up for women is becoming harder. I’ve been labelled a ‘transphobe’ for simply liking a tweet that says only a woman can have a cervix. In 2019 I gave an account of my experience of domestic abuse to the House of Commons, detailing the months of verbal abuse, humiliation and financial control I’d kept secret from friends and family. Although it brought some members of the Commons to tears, I was still vilified in other quarters. I’ve also been lied about, betrayed and abused with numerous complaints about my ‘behaviour’. Even my ‘liking’ of certain tweets has been utilised by those who want to see me ousted from politics. Some colleagues have supported my views privately, then gone on television and criticised me. They’re cowards, but it still makes me feel very isolated. I can’t pretend the criticism and abuse does not take its toll both emotionally and psychologically. I sometimes wonder how much more I can take. But again, I find strength and solace in knowing I am not alone. I’m lucky to have author J. K. Rowling as a friend. Famously, she has received a barrage of vile abuse and death threats for speaking out, and yet every time she does she helps more of us be braver. Kind and funny, she has often leapt to my defence on social media. Another group under attack are same-sex-attracted women. There was much derision when I spoke out about how lesbians are being ‘ pressurised into dating so-called lesbians with a penis’, but it’s true. A barrister friend who is currently dating will send me screenshots of the people on her dating apps, many of them heterosexual men who are simply calling themselves ‘lesbian’. This is grossly offensive to her and other lesbians. But if women complain, they are called all sorts of names and are thrown off the dating app themselves. Violence against women is another issue I feel passionately about, due to my own experiences. Every year around the time of International Women’s Day, in the House of Commons, my colleague Jess Phillips reads out the names of women murdered by men. LAST week her list included the names of 98 women, at least half of whom, she said, could have been saved. It makes grim listening but is necessary to highlight that men’s violence against women is not abating. Today, we are asking women everywhere to help us stand up for the most vulnerable women and girls. Trans extremism might not affect you personally but it does affect those in prison, those in care, those who are too scared to speak out about their experiences. Being ‘gender- critical’ does not mean you are ‘anti-trans’, whatever the activists may tell you. I’ve always fully supported the rights of all trans people to live freely as they choose. But women’s rights are sacred, too, and sometimes the sex of a person really matters. Write to your local politicians in support of female- only rape refuges or domestic abuse shelters. If your child is at school or plays sports, ask about singlesex changing facilities. And if you find out that a brand or retailer is helping to erode women’s rights, take your money elsewhere. Join our irrepressible army of women and let’s stand together with a common goal. They can threaten us, ghost us, cancel us. But we will march on. Article Name:The women who refuse to be SILENCED Publication:Daily Mail Author:AS TOLD TO JILL FOSTER Start Page:32 End Page:32

The Mail’s piece has Labour MP Rosie Duffield front and centre, more on that below. Also featured (along with the Daily Mail’s job titles) are: Heather Binning, a former diplomat and businesswoman, founded the Women’s Rights Network in 2021, Maya Forstater, Executive Director of Sex Matters, Cathy Larkman, a retired superintendent from South Wales Police and the national policing lead and Wales coordinator for the Women’s Rights Network, Emma Bateman, formerly co-chair of Green Party Women, is challenging her expulsion from the party over her gender-critical views, Sonya Douglas, an artist and advisor for Freedom In The Arts and Sex Matters, Sally Wainwright, co-editor of Women’s Rights, Gender Wrongs and an activist for [some] Scottish lesbians, Dr. Karen Ingala Smith, co-founder of the Femicide Census, Fiona McAnena, Campaign Director at Sex Matters, and Helen Joyce, Advocacy Director for Sex Matters and erotic Harry Potter fan fiction fan.

Almost 50% of the women featured in the sidebar are connected directly with Sex Matters.

POLITICS

Labour MPs support Labour’s Women’s Declaration [LWD]

  • A number of prominent Labour figures, including Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, turned up to support the Labour Women’s Declaration at an event they held over the weekend. LWD were set up, by their own description to hold “Labour to account on women’s sex-based rights.” [Hat-tip @grogipher again, give them a follow]
Sadiq Khan and a member of the Labour Women's Declaration
Sadiq Khan and a member of the Labour Women’s Declaration via Labour Women’s Declaration Twitter
Wes Streeting and a member of the Labour Women's Declaration
Wes Streeting and a member of the Labour Women’s Declaration via Labour Women’s Declaration Twitter

Rosie Duffield lies about lesbians [Mail Online]

  • Labour MP and anti-trans activist Rosie Duffield has written a piece for Mail Online (tied in with the piece above) in which she writes about being friends with JK Rowling and how ‘Another group under attack are same-sex-attracted women. There was much derision when I spoke out about how lesbians are being ‘pressurised into dating so-called lesbians with a penis’, but it’s true.” It isn’t. 85% of lesbians say they support and accept  trans people.

Nicholas Allen selected for the Tories to fight the South Yorkshire mayoral election in May [Nicholas Allen]

  • Conservative councillor Nicholas Allen, who sports a rainbow flag in his Twitter handle (along with a Ukraine one) will stand for election as South Yorkshire Mayor after a change in the role meant a new election needs to take place. The government has confirmed that the Mayor will now take on police and crime commissioner responsibilities. The election is likely to take place on 2 May, although this has not been confirmed at the time of writing. A quick search of his account shows no tweets mentioning the word ‘gay’, ‘lgbtq’, ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’ and he has mentioned ‘women’ once. He also doesn’t seem to follow the usual anti-trans accounts, beyond some of his fellow Tories.

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has been picked as the Labour candidate for Mid Sussex [Michael Crick]

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami will hold a roundtable in Downing Street this morning [Politico]

  • The meeting is for female business leaders to look at how to improve the situation for women in business, ahead of International Women’s Day on Friday. 24 hours should sort it.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  • MPs sit from 9.30am with business and trade questions followed by the business statement.

WESTMINSTER HALL

  • Debate from 1.30pm on LGBTQ+ History Month which will be led by Tory MP Elliot Colburn and Labour’s Angela Eagle.

HOUSE OF LORDS

  • Sits from 11am with oral questions on military service, through traffic from Old Palace Yard and the Environment Agency. The main business is two debates on higher education and regenerating former industrial areas.

SPORT

  • Lucy Clark, the first trans referee who has just become the manager of Sutton United Women, talks to the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast [BBC]

AROUND THE WORLD

North Dakota Court rules that doctors can refuse gender-affirmation care for religious reasons [Pink News]

Groundbreaking study shows extremely low detransition rates with no loss to follow-up [Erin Reed]

Florida bans transgender residents from changing gender marker on IDs [Prism]

  • Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has banned trans people from changing their gender markers on driver’s licenses, in line with House Bill 1639, which could lead to fraud charges. This has triggered statewide protests and heightened fear among the trans community further. Rising anti-trans legislation has led many to leave Florida due to safety concerns. National surveys show significant threats and discrimination against transgender and nonbinary youth. PRISM FL activists have organised demonstrations, including die-ins, to protest the policy and its impact on transgender residents’ safety and legal recognition. FOLX Health is pushing for change and federal intervention while continuing to support the LGBTQIA+ community.

Search for missing trans man suspended without reason [Daily Voice]

  • The search for Elliot Ganiel, a 32-year-old trans man from Northfield, has been suspended by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as of Tuesday, March 5. Ganiel went missing early Sunday, 3 March, after his car was discovered at the Mullica River canoe launch in Wharton State Forest. Despite extensive search efforts by various law enforcement agencies, including K-9 units, drones, and dive teams, covering wooded and water areas around the launch site, no sign of Ganiel has been found. The reasons for halting the search were not disclosed by the time this was written. The Northfield Police Department is leading the investigation into Ganiel’s disappearance.

Maryland Senate passes transgender sanctuary bill [Washington Blade]

  • The Maryland Senate recently passed a bill aimed at designating Maryland as a sanctuary for individuals seeking gender-affirming healthcare and the medical professionals providing such services. The bill, known as Senate Bill 119, was approved with a vote of 33-13. Introduced by State Senators Clarence Lam, Shelly Hettleman, and Jeff Waldstreicher, the legislation aligns with Maryland’s existing law, effective from January 1, which mandates that the state’s Medicaid program includes coverage for gender-affirming treatments. An identical proposal is also currently under consideration in the Maryland House of Delegates.

CULT WATCH

What are they angry about today?

Emojis [again]

  • Apple have released their latest set of emojis and, according to Mail Online, they contain ‘gender neutral children’. Despite claiming to be concerned about ‘women’s rights,’ the Mail turn to self-confessed ‘not a feminist’ Kellie-Jay Keen for comment as the leader of the Party of Women. The CPAC-funded, neo-Nazi-supported Keen doesn’t disappoint. “I think Apple are part of the technocratic authoritarian push of transgender ideology. To what end who knows.”

Would you like to see these ‘gender neutral children’ as featured in the Mail’s article?

New Apple emojis as published by the Daily Mail featuring a row of four circled. The four circled contained figures with no features in various family combinations of 1 or 2 adults with 1 or 2 children
screenshot from Mail Online

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The budget [Office for Budget Responsibility]

  • After Jeremey Hunt delivered his budget on Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility reports that the tax burden is still set to rise to its highest level since 1948.Budget headlines [Via Politico Playbook]:
  • £1 million for a memorial to Muslim service personnel.
  • An extension to the household support fund.
  • An increase in repayment periods for new loans.
  • Scrapping the £90 charge for debt relief orders.
  • Extending the freeze on alcohol duty and fuel duty.
  • £200 million to extend the Recovery Loan Scheme for small businesses.
  • £100 million for North-East devolution deals.
  • £650 million for a new vaccine manufacturing hub.
  • £120 million more to the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
  • A new Great British ISA.
  • Guaranteeing rates for childcare providers.
  • £45 million investment into medical research.
  • £4.2 billion of investment into public services.
  • Extra taxes on vaping products and a one-off increase in tobacco duty from October 2026.
  • Abolishing furnished holidays letting tax breaks.
  • Scrapping multiple dwellings relief.
  • £188 million for house building projects in Sheffield, Blackpool, and Liverpool.
  • £242 million for new homes in Barking Riverside and Canary Wharf.
  • A 4% reduction in the higher rate of capital gains tax.
  • Ending non-dom tax status.
  • Increasing the VAT registration threshold for businesses from £85,000 to £90,000.
  • Cutting national insurance by 2p.
  • Increasing the threshold for paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge by £10,000.
  • The windfall tax on oil and gas companies to be extended until March 2029.

Nikki Hayley ends Presidential campaign [WSJ]

  • After losing all but one of the primaries on Super Tuesday, Nikki Hayley suspended her Presidential campaign, clearing the way for Donald Trump to receive the Republican nomination. Although Hayley’s campaign is ‘suspended’, this is the same language Ron DeSantis used when he dropped out due to being a loser. This means the US Presidential election in November is set to be the first ‘rematch’ since 1956 and the first time two Presidents have went head-to-head on the same ballot since 1912.

Iran confiscates cars from women as punishment for removing headscarves [The Times]

  • Iran’s morality police continue their harsh crackdown on women who don’t comply with the strict Islamic dress code, even in the wake of protests after the death of Mahsa Amini. A recent Amnesty International report reveals the severe punishments used to enforce these laws, including car confiscations where authorities have seized tens of thousands of vehicles belonging to women who violate hijab rules. Other punishments include fines, floggings, imprisonment, or forced attendance at “morality” classes.

COMING UP

  • Joe Biden will deliver his ‘State of the Union’ address to Congress today. According to Politico, “Both Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska and Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya turned down an invitation to attend.”

AND FINALLY

…It’s Helen Joyce again.

TRANS WRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

RECOMMENDED READING

  • Denied care: Trans men struggle for inclusive gynaecologic healthcare [Fierce Healthcare]

RECOMMENDED WATCHING

Moms for Liberty embarrassed on 60 Minutes [60 Minutes]

  • What happens when members of the cult face a serious journalist? They fall apart. Every time.

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CALL FOR STORIES

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