Same Sex Attraction
South Africa – Transgender affirmation | what it means for the children of SA
In a democratic process initiated by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), stakeholders were invited to comment on the Draft Guidelines on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Guidelines). The Guidelines take the affirming approach which means gender confused youth will be encouraged to dress according to the gender they feel they are and use corresponding toilet & changing room facilities. Transgender activists were also present at this meeting and seem to be promoting this as the solution to beat bullying and discrimination. At the same event Dr Sybrand de Vaal, presented a medical viewpoint with evidence based on various international academic and medical research studies on the medical response to gender dysphoria specifically in children. Dr de Vaal’s facts are supported by published, peer-reviewed scientific studies which, as a result, questions the efficacy of gender affirming approach. Transgender activists, feeling threatened by the presented evidence, responded by spreading the false hype about Dr de Vaal that promoted dangerous and ineffective therapy for transgender children. It didn’t end there, transgender activists are now pressuring the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the University of Cape Town to bar Dr de Vaal from Psychiatric Practice. An online petition is also circulating titled “Protect Trans Kids” against the doctor. Media bodies like Cape Times didn’t help the situation much by uncritically publishing the same false narrative spread by transgender activists, the impoverished piece by Nicola Daniels said the Doctor was allegedly “promoting harmful psychiatric practices with respect to transgender children” without mentioning or describing to the readers why the views of the doctor were so-called dangerous. Dr de Vaal and his legal team are currently preparing to respond to the HPCSA.
Liesl Pretorius, a Legal Advisor & Parliamentary Liaison at Cause For Justice (CFJ), said in a radio interview in June this year that the guidelines put forth by the WCED were lacking and that the strategy of preventing discrimination & bullying would actually worsen the situation. CFJ’s main concern is that the guidelines seemed to sidestep the parents, and that public participation on community level, especially with the community it will effect, was not widespread enough and even doubtful to have been attempted. CFJ emphasized the importance of involving the community because involving the community is a protective mechanism that guards against ideological & other discriminatory interventions in schools as has happened in the past. It was also noted that the curriculum, in terms of the South African School Act, was unlawfully drafted since it falls within the purview of the National Department of Social Development and the Provincial department cannot interfere with curriculum. CFJ said that important stakeholders should also be included from backgrounds such as medical, psychology, education, social work etc.
Medical institutions abroad and now trending in South Africa, are accepting without question for fear of losing their position at work and reputation, the radical idea that gender and sexual orientation confused children must receive the affirming approach. The controversial talk therapy which aims to help an individual feel comfortable and accept their biological reality, is highly criticised by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) activists, to the point where they sensationalise the so-called dangers of the same therapy method used to treat people with problems like depression, and anorexia etc. There have been LGBT individuals with unwanted attractions and unwanted gender dysphoria who have achieved change due to talk therapy – one can understand why LGBT activists who vehemently resist talk therapy would find this offensive.
If we encourage and promote the idea that the youth are “born that way” and that being confused about their gender identity is normal, how would we help those who feel confused but don’t want to transition? Will these guidelines follow the same trend seen in the USA and UK where teens are surgically and chemically transitioning? Is the answer to gender dysphoria really found in surgical mutilation of healthy and functional body parts? Is the best solution for a transgender child to put them on a lifelong path of dependency on puberty blocking and hormones drugs?
Dr Michelle Cretella from the American College of Paediatricians, a national organization of paediatricians and other healthcare professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children, opposes the idea of affirming children into Transgenderism. For example, Lupron (the puberty blocking drug which transgender activists in the US are promoting) has neuropsychological effects that can worsen the condition of the transgender child. The drug label warns users about side-effects such as emotional lability, mood changes, nervousness, anxiety, agitation, confusion, delusion, insomnia, and depression. And says to “Monitor for development or worsening of psychiatric symptoms.” Tavistock Gender clinic for children in the UK documented that children who were on Lupron reported greater self-harm and that Girls exhibited more behavioral & emotional problems, & greater dissatisfaction with their body while on blockers. A study last year by Kaiser 2019 conducted a review of medical records of thousands of transgender identified youth and it found, that compared to their peers who are not trans-identified, transgender youth were seven times more likely to have had psychological disorders before identifying as transgender. Shouldn’t these findings cause us to pause, test and examine the best possible solutions for children? Would it not be better to suggest underlying causes be examined first, if it means that it could help the child accept and feel comfortable with their biological body, before encouraging them to transition? more at: CFJ Radio interview, Cape Times, FOR SA, Dr Cretella presentation
USA – Transgender kids often reject parents, and not the other way around
LGBT activists and the media have accepted the narrative that kids are living with parents who reject them based on morality or intolerance. A piece in Psychology Today revealed that often it is LGBT kids who reject their parents for not cheering or agreeing with their cross-dressing, name-changing, hormone-treatment and life-altering surgeries. Children often parrot what they’ve learned from activists by calling their parents transphobes and treating them like the enemy for being concerned. Yes, some trans children have suffered abuses at the hands of their families, but trans kids have also use the “I was abused” phrase to describe a home life where their gender choice was simply not embraced. more
USA – Federal Court of Appeals strike down ban on reparative therapy
The Federal Court of Appeals have struck down laws that ban counsellors from providing minor clients with help to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviours, or gender confusion. The case of Otto, et al v. City of Boca Raton, FL et al, found that the laws were both content and viewpoint based and violate the First Amendment right to free speech. Under the laws that were struck down, a counselor could encourage a client to take life-altering hormone drugs or even undergo invasive surgery to remove healthy body parts, but could not help a client who seeks to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior, or confusion.
Judge Grant wrote: “The First Amendment does not protect the right to speak about banned speech; it protects speech itself, no matter how disagreeable that speech might be to the government. And what good would it do for a therapist whose client sought SOCE [sexual orientation change efforts] therapy to tell the client that she thought the therapy could be helpful, but could not offer it? It only matters that some words about sexuality and gender are allowed, and others are not… But speech does not need to be popular in order to be allowed. The First Amendment exists precisely so that speakers with unpopular ideas do not have to lobby the government for permission before they speak,”
The court also said, “The local governments are not entirely wrong when they characterize speech-based SOCE as a course of conduct. SOCE, after all, is a therapy, and plaintiffs say they want to ‘engage’ in it. But plaintiffs have the better of the argument. What the governments call a ‘medical procedure’ consists—entirely—of words. As the district court itself recognized, plaintiffs’ therapy ‘is not just carried out in part through speech: the treatment provided by Drs. Otto and Hamilton is entirely speech.’ If SOCE is conduct, the same could be said of teaching or protesting—both are activities, after all. Debating? Also an activity. Book clubs? Same answer. But the law does not require us to flip back and forth between perspectives until our eyes hurt.” more
UK – Government admits that allowing men into women’s toilets places them at a disadvantage
The UK government has admitted that it places “women at a significant disadvantage” when permitting gender neutral toilets – as if there actually were a thing as being gender neutral – you’ll always have either men or women using the same toilet, and this reality will never change. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick is investigating the recent and harmful trend of swapping female-only facilities for ‘gender neutral’ toilets. The review will also challenge the myth that equality legislation requires the removal of sex-specific toilets. Jenrick’s focus is to maintain the safety and security of women. LGBT lobby group Stonewall has been campaigning for gender neutral toilets and signage for a number of years. However, opposition is growing. In a debate in the House of Lords earlier this year, Lord Lucas questioned whether ending sex-specific facilities was “desirable”. He asked: “Has there been research into why this is a good idea? Have needs been identified? Have women been consulted?” The Peer called upon the Government to “get a grip” and for Stonewall to “settle down to the idea that maybe it needs to modify its rather extreme views.” Read more
USA – New poll shows vast majority of Americans oppose gender transition for kids
Spry Strategies in a new poll found that a majority of likely voters in the 2020 election, regardless of their political affiliation, object to “gender identity” policies, and support the preservation of single-sex spaces and women’s sports as female-only. Sampled nationally from all 50 states, the 3,500 likely voters were comprised of different races, ethnicities, and political affiliations. Regarding transgender-identifying males being allowed to compete in girls’ and women’s sports, nearly 67% of respondents indicated that they either disagreed or strongly disagreed with it. Just under 60% of likely voters opposed allowing males to enter women’s restrooms and changing facilities. The poll showed that the wealthiest American are the most likely to support these policies which are largely unpopular with middle-class voters. Read more