LGBTQ+ Issues

Chloe Cole was 15 years old when she agreed to let a “gender-affirming” surgeon remove her healthy breasts. Her “brutal” transition from female to male was anything but the romanticised “gender journey” that was portrayed. “They guilted my parents into allowing them to do this”. They said, “Either, you’ll have a dead daughter or an alive son”. She was convinced she would be happy and feel like a whole person. Now 18, it’s as if a nightmare is ending. Cole is one of a growing number of young “Detransitioners” who reject current trends in transgender ideology and oppose the “gender-affirming” model of care being pushed by progressive lawmakers at state and federal levels.

Source

The pro-transgender advocates do not want to know, said McHugh (psychiatrist), that studies show between 70% and 80% of children who express transgender feelings “spontaneously lose those feelings” over time. Also, for those who had sexual reassignment surgery, most said they were “satisfied” with the operation “but their subsequent psycho-social adjustments were no better than those who didn’t have the surgery…and so at Hopkins we stopped doing sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a ‘satisfied’ but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs,” said Dr. McHugh. Dr. McHugh also reported that there are “misguided doctors” who, working with very young children who seem to imitate the opposite sex, will administer “puberty-delaying hormones to render later sex-change surgeries less onerous – even though the drugs stunt the children’s growth and risk causing sterility.” Such action comes “close to child abuse,” said Dr. McHugh, given that close to 80% of those kids will “abandon their confusion and grow naturally into adult life if untreated ….”

Source

The Western Cape’s Education Department’s (WCED) contentious gender identity and sexual orientation policy will be signed and adopted before the end of this year.  Ground-breaking guidelines would make schools more inclusive and supportive for LGBTQ+ pupils. It allows pupils to dress in a uniform that matches their gender identity, makes provision for a unisex bathroom, also allows pupils to bring a same gender partner to school events (matric dances) and, “regardless of sexual orientation”, encourages pupils of all sexual orientations in school sports, free from bullying, harassment and discrimination. The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) welcomed the move. The guidelines are not formerly drafted as yet.

Source

The American College of Paediatricians was founded to protect the health and well-being of children. None of our member paediatricians or health care professionals support social, medical, and surgical interventions which attempt to change the persona of the child to appear as the opposite sex. Each one of these modalities are proven to do far more harm than good. Instead of relying on the breadth of established scientific research, HHS Assistant Secretary Levine has obviously chosen to only rely on the weakest of references while ignoring the most valid science.”

Source

Dr.Quentin Van Meter, a Board-Certified Pediatric Endocrinologist of 44 years and President of ACPeds, spoke at the meeting with HHS and released the following statement: “The American College of Pediatricians is very concerned about the effect of this anticipated rule on the rights of pediatricians to practice medicine in a way that is in the best interest of children. Children are in no place to make body-altering and life-altering decisions. We strongly oppose these anticipated rule changes because they will corrupt the practice of medicine and cause irreparable harm to kids.”

Source

LGBTQ+ Issues

Poland – Regional Council votes to remain LGBT-free zone

The Polish regional council has recently voted to remain a zone, which bans the promotion of homosexuality and other minority sexual identities, especially in schools. Poland’s conservative communities said it’s not that they have anything against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, they can live as they choose, they simply do not want to participate or be forced to accept what they do not agree with especially when it comes to children. As a result, the European Commission threatens to withdraw more than €2.5 billion of EU funds unless it revokes the declaration but Poland stands firm and rejected proposals to revoke their declaration. Poland denies being discriminatory towards LGBT persons and said, they are misunderstood. More

USA – Teachers sue Virginia State over transgender pronouns

Three teachers are challenging a school district policy forcing all teachers to refer to self-identified transgender students by their preferred pronouns. Recently, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the reinstatement of a gym teacher (Byron Tanner Cross) who got suspended for speaking out against the then-proposed transgender policy during a school board meeting. The school not only requiring teachers to use preferred pronouns, but also allowed students to use the school restroom of their choosing regardless of their biological sex. So far, six of Virginia’s 133 school boards have rejected the transgender policies. Opposition is growing in all states towards transgender pronoun and bathroom mandates, as well as permitting biological males who identify as females to compete in girls’ sports. Just last month Attorneys general from 20 states filed lawsuit against the Biden Admin for these transgender mandates. Push back is steadily gaining momentum. More, even more.

Ireland – International Group: 80% of children with gender issues outgrow it.

Psychotherapist Stella O’Malley holds a B.A. in Counselling and Psychotherapy and a M.A. in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and is from Ireland. She says 80% of children who have “gender issues” grow out of them by the time they reach adulthood. “I did a film about this issue, called Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk,” she told Sky News Australia. “The premise of this film was to ask – could any of the kids that are part of this massive explosion, all around the world … grow out of it and be happy in their own skin? “We were shocked how much we were shut down.” Ms O’Malley is the founder of Genspect, an organisation which advocates for parents of gender-questioning children. more, study.

Netherlands – Study: Transgender mortality rate

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal published a report on the data that was compiled from medical records over five decades. Analysis of data compiled from the Netherlands reveals transgender individuals have a significantly higher mortality rate when compared to people without gender dysphoria, an outcome that suggests a need to closely examine the effects of hormone treatments. Researchers Martin den Heijer, Ph.D., of Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC) and colleagues found mortality risk among the transgender population did not decrease between 1972 and 2018.

The study included the data of 4,568 adult transgender individuals – 2927 transgender women (biological men) and 1641 transgender men (biological women). The mean age of the patient population at the start of hormone treatments was 30 years for transgender women and 23 years for transgender men. UMC operates a gender identity clinic, and, as the authors explain, data of transgender individuals who received hormone treatments between 1972 and 2018 were linked to Statistics Netherlands. “Cause-specific mortality in transgender women was high for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, HIV-related disease, and suicide,” the researchers wrote. However, transgender men were 3.3 times more likely to die as a result of “non-natural causes,” for example, suicide, than women without gender dysphoria. This observational study showed an increased mortality risk in transgender people using hormone treatment, regardless of treatment type. This increased mortality risk did not decrease over time. More

USA – Biological male identifying as a woman is registered sex offender

The transgender woman (biological male) who sparked a nationwide debate in June by entering the nude women’s section of a Korean spa in Los Angeles turns out to be a registered sex offender who is facing separate charges and is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. The incident led to months of sometimes-violent protests, with media outlets declaring it an example of bias against the transgendered, or even that it didn’t happen. The original controversy came to national attention when a woman posted video of herself confronting spa staff over the incident. The spa’s management said they could not remove the “trans woman” due to California anti-discrimination laws. More

USA – Group of clinicians filed amicus brief against Pediatric Endocrine Society

An international group of over 100 clinicians and researchers called The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) has filed an Amicus Brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging the position held by WPATH and and the Pediatric Endocrine Society that mastectomies for gender-dysphoric adolescents are evidence-based. SEGM is concerned about the lack of quality evidence for using hormonal and surgical interventions as first-line treatment for young people with gender-dysphoria. SEGM recognizes the right of mature adults to undergo “gender-affirming” interventions despite the low quality of evidence (i.e., small study samples, weak study designs, very limited long-term follow-up, etc.) on which these interventions are based. However, when it comes to vulnerable youth whose gender identity is still developing, experimental treatments such as this should not be an option. SEGM formed this conclusion after thorough evaluation of the evidence, and by direct experience working with this population. The Amicus Brief highlights the following:

• the rapid rise in numbers of gender dysphoric adolescent females with co-occurring mental health problems
• the brief history of pediatric medical transition, its questionable outcomes, and its lack of applicability to the currently presenting cases
• the low quality evidence underpinning the practice of providing mastectomies to gender-dysphoric minors
• the lack of an established standard of care, the poor quality of WPATH “Standards of Care,” and growing dissent from WPATH’s recommendations by leading gender clinics worldwide
• the emerging direction coming from pioneers in medical transition of minors that psychotherapy, rather than hormones and surgery, must be the first-line treatment for all gender-dysphoric youth.

The current state of scientific knowledge does not support the assertion that “gender-affirming” surgical interventions for minors are safe, effective, and medically necessary. SEGM’s concern is reinforced by a recent surge of minors with post-pubertal emergence of transgender identity, complicated by multiple mental health issues. This further amplifies the risks of applying irreversible interventions not based on quality, reliable scientific evidence. Amicus brief, reporting article.

LGBTQ+ Issues

USA – Court rules mandatory pronouns overreach

A California appellate court upended SB 219, which in part forced nursing home workers to use preferred transgender pronouns and names for patients. The pronoun provision, the court said, is a “content-based restriction of speech that does not survive strict scrutiny” and “burdens speech more than is required.” “The pronoun provision at issue here tests the limits of the government’s authority to restrict pure speech that, while potentially offensive or harassing to the listener, does not necessarily create a hostile environment.” Refusing to use preferred transgender pronouns “may be disrespectful, discourteous, and insulting,” said Judge Duarte, but it allows others “to express an ideological disagreement with another person’s expressed gender identity.” More

USA – Medical group Rebuked for removal of birth certificate sex markers

“Due to genetics, males are different from females at the cellular level from fertilization. Biological sex differences due to genetics and sex hormones affect the tendency to develop certain diseases, change responses to drugs, toxins and pain, and also cause important physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural differences between the two sexes.” Explained Dr Michael Artigues, of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) in a statement. This responds to the recent resolution made by the American Medical Association (AMA) after its board of trustees called for the removal of biological sex markers from birth certificates. They reason that marking an infant’s gender at birth could impede a later decision to identify with another gender. In other words, to remove sex markers on birth certificates could lead to problems for such individuals, confusion, and even more issues.

In August 2020, a transgender man – biological woman – as brought to the emergency department reporting to have lower abdominal pain and high blood pressure. The nurse noted Sam was a man (even the medical records stated Sam is male) and evaluated the situation as being an obese man who forgot to take blood pressure tablets. Several hours later it turns out that, the transgender man was actually a pregnant woman in reality and unfortunately gave birth to a stillborn. When physicians disagree with transgender ideology, it’s not that they’re being hateful or oppressive, but instead they are thinking of the complications that could impact the life of such an individual and what it could mean going forward. This is a sad price to pay due to unnecessary caused confusion. Article, A 32-Year-Old Man with Abdominal Pain.

Texas – Declares sex reassignment surgeries on minors child abuse

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has recently declared that performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors with gender dysphoria constitutes child abuse. In a letter the department asserted that, “genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse.” Legal requirements for professionals such as teachers, nurses, day-care employees, doctors and other state employees that work with children who have “cause to believe” that a child has experienced any form of abuse, including genital mutilation, are outlined and provided as well. Specifically, they must report that belief to DFPS within 48 hours of first suspecting the abuse. Failure to do so could result in a prison sentence of up to one year or a fine of up to $4,000.

According to the American College of Pediatricians, additional side effects of puberty blockers include “osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility.” Others who regretted undergoing gender transitions testified on a recent episode of the CBS newsmagazine program “60 Minutes” that the operations they underwent made their mental health worse, not better. 

Many medical organizations around the world, including the Australian College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom, and the Swedish National Council for Medical Ethics have characterized these interventions in children as experimental and dangerous. World-renowned Swedish psychiatrist Dr Christopher Gillberg has said that paediatric transition is “possibly one of the greatest scandals in medical history” and called for “an immediate moratorium on the use of puberty blocker drugs because of their unknown long-term effects.”

A year ago, the Finnish Health Authority issued new guidelines, which back psychotherapy, rather than puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, as the first-line of treatment. It took this step after a systematic review of the evidence, which found the evidence for paediatric gender reassignment and treatment “inconclusive”. The Finnish guidelines also warn of the uncertainty of providing any irreversible “gender-affirming” interventions for those 25 and under, due to the lack of neurological maturity. Reporting Article, Texas Gov Statement, ACpeds side-effects, Finland Guidelines.

USA – Three court cases that struck down counselling bans

In 2019, the city of Tampa, Florida lost in court in Vazzo v Tampa case. The ruling permanently struck down the ordinance that prohibited licensed counsellors from providing voluntary talk therapy to willing minors seeking help to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviours, or identity. The 41-page ruling said that the talk therapy ban interferes with this intimate, private and sensitive moment for a growing young man or woman who talks to a mental health therapist about sex, gender, preferences, and conflicting feelings. The ruling also explained that privacy rights of an individual to refuse or accept therapy already exists but the ban on therapy ordinance ignores this and “Florida’s Constitution privacy amendment suggests that government should stay out of the therapy room.” The ban was struck down, and said to want to occupy a very private space contrary to the constitution policy.

In 2020, the 11th U.S, Circuit Court of Appeals struck down two state laws prohibiting licensed therapists from recommending conversion therapy for children struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity in the Otto v. City of Boca Raton case. In 2019, New York City Council withdrew its therapy ban fearing that if a federal lawsuit challenging the ban were to reach the Supreme Court, the panel could issue a ruling that protected the practice. Other cases are underway. The monstrous attacks on constitutional rights of willing minors to seek help with unwanted same-sex attraction and identity problems, seem to be losing the power they once yielded. 2019 Vazzo v Tampa case, 2020 Otto v. City of Boca Raton case, 2019 New York City Council withdraws therapy ban.

South Africa – Con court of SA rules hurtful speech does not equal hate speech

On 30 July 2021, the Constitutional Court handed down a unanimous judgment in the controversial and long-awaited case of Jon Qwelane versus the SA Human Rights Commission. The judgment settles the definition of hate speech in Importantly, in the Qwelane judgment, the Constitutional Court emphasised “that the expression of unpopular or even offensive beliefs does not constitute hate speech“, and defined hate speech as expression (i.e. speech, writing and/or conduct) which “travels beyond mere offensive expression and can be understood as “extreme detestation and vilification which risks provoking discriminatory activities against that group’“. On the question of whether Qwelane’s statements in fact amounted to hate speech, the Court found that Qwelane’s statements against the LGBT community were indeed harmful, incited harm and propagated hatred, and therefore amounted to hate speech.

Having regard to the judgment, however, it is clear that statements such as (but not limited to) the following, could amount to hate speech:

– An accusation that the LGBT community is responsible for the rapid decay of societal values;
– The insinuation that their sexual choices are against the natural order of things or akin to bestiality;
– The claim that the LGBT community should be denied the right to marry (i.e. arguing for “law reform” in favour of the removal of legal protection for same-sex marriages); and
– The insinuation that they are not worthy of the protection of the law.

More

USA – Court vacates ruling favouring trans student, will rehear school bathroom case

The appeals court issued an order on Monday in the case of Drew Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida, granting a full court hearing before the 12-member court, vacating a three-judge panel’s earlier decision. Born in 2000 as a female but presently identifying as male, Initially, Adams was permitted to use the boy’s restrooms for six weeks in ninth grade. However, eventually, officials barred Adams from doing so. Instead, officials gave Adams the alternative of using a gender-neutral, single-stall bathroom, the student filed a lawsuit against the school district on the grounds of discrimination. The earlier decision that favoured the trans student to use boy’s restroom was dissented by a Judge who concluded that the 2020 panel majority opinion “distorts the policy, misunderstands the legal claims asserted, and rewrites well-established precedent.” “By failing to address head-on the lawfulness of sex-separated bathrooms in schools, the majority recasts the school policy as classifying students on the basis of transgender status,” “And based on this recasting, it reaches the remarkable conclusion that schoolchildren have no sex-specific privacy interests when using the bathroom.” Court Order, Reporting Article.

LGBTQ+ Issues

USA – 17 states defend Arkansas’ ban on child ‘sex changes’

Seventeen states are backing an Arkansas law that bans experimental, life-threatening transgender procedures for children and adolescents. A coalition of state attorneys general, led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, filed an amicus brief last week in the U.S. District Court. Arkansas lawmakers enacted the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act in April, prohibiting medical professionals from providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or “sex change” surgeries to gender-confused minors. The far-left nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Arkansas the following month to block the law. The brief describes the concern about the surge in recent years of children suffering from gender dysphoria and other forms of gender-related psychological distress.

The question is how to help theses children. The Republican attorneys general noted that while the vast majority of minors grow out of gender dysphoria naturally, research indicates that virtually all those who start puberty blockers advance to cross-sex hormones and other irreversible interventions, like mutilating surgeries.  Complications from the practices include “infertility, loss of sexual function, increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, bone-density problems, risk of altered brain development, social risks from delayed puberty, and mental health concerns,” the amicus brief said.  The brief also pointed to recent decisions by hospitals in United Kingdom, Finland, and Sweden to side-line transgender drugs and surgeries for minors, amid growing awareness of the lack of evidence for the practices. 

Council for Choices in Healthcare in Finland acknowledged, “As far as minors are concerned, there are no medical treatment[s] that can be considered evidence-based,” They stressed that a minor subjected to “gender transitioning” must understand “the reality of a lifelong commitment to medical therapy” and “the permanence of the effects” of the procedures. “Although patients may experience regret, after reassignment treatments, there is no going back to the non-reassigned body and its normal functions.” “There is very little reason to think that a child in early adolescence can properly weigh these lifetime risks,” They highlighted the “heart-breaking” stories of detransitioners – individuals who come to regret their “transitions” – like testimony included in a lawsuit that led the U.K.’s High Court of Justice to ban transgender drugs for most minors last year. More

USA – Questionable “evidence” used to restrict professional therapy

The Williams Institute’s Generations Survey is often cited as a basis for legal prohibitions on therapies that allow clients to pursue a self-determined goal to explore their potential for change in unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviours, and gender identities. A closer look at the presented “evidence” in their survey shows questionable results. For one, the survey is but a pilot study with serious methodological limitations and simply cannot be generalized beyond their samples. Secondly, they quote the American Psychological Association techniques for conversion therapy, used in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The aversion treatments of that time included inducing nausea, vomiting, or paralysis; providing electric shocks; or having the individual snap an elastic band around the wrist when the individual became aroused to same-sex erotic images or thoughts. These methods have not been used for decades!

Thirdly, 72.5% of the LGBT participants were deemed ineligible for inclusion in the survey. It is simply not reasonable for such a high level of participant exclusion to have occurred solely because of the inclusion criteria described. Moreover, having nearly half of the eligible participants not finish the survey raises serious questions about the possibility of non-random, systematic differences between completer and non-completers that might affect the results and seriously limit the researchers’ ability to generalize their findings. This briefly summarizes some key errors in the survey but a more in-depth analysis can be examined in the link below. More

South Africa – High School refused female to wear male uniform

Strand High School, in the Western Cape, made headlines this week when it refused a 16-year old biological female learner who identifies as a transgender male (only available in Afrikaans), to wear the male school uniform. The school also refused the learner to use the male bathroom facilities at the school. In response, the Western Cape Education Department informed the public that they are aware of the matter and they are in discussion with the school. Bronagh Hammond of the Western Cape Education Department explained that the situation crosses borders because never before had there been any guidelines or policy in the country to show schools for example how to support transgender students. More

USA – Transgender Survey misrepresented to ban talk therapy

Gaining rapid traction in political and academic circles is the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, which the Williams Institute study derived their data from. This survey is used to assert harms from change-allowing talk therapies are widespread and sufficient for professional and religious engagement in such efforts to be deemed a serious health hazard. The survey attempts to link gender identity change efforts (GICE) to psychological distress and are now appearing in professional journals. Errors in the survey include the following:

1. For any definitive statement to be made regarding cause and effect (change efforts causing psychological distress), longitudinal data is necessary. This survey was a cross sectional meaning data collected from respondents where done only once at one point in time therefore rendering an obvious limitation.
2. Although this survey employed a multitude of people in their outreach, there is a concern of “narrowness of inbreeding” whereby people who know people who know others alike participate in the same survey. For example excluding former transgender persons. The survey is thus seriously limited by it’s reliance on respondents who identify as transgender, rather than all persons with a history of gender dysphoria.

More detailed analysis of the report (Page 6) can be found by clicking the link below. More

USA – Why rush children into surgical transgender intervention

Despite countless transgender regret stories that never make their way to mainstream media, and despite the fact that children are not mature or developed enough to understand the long term impact of transgender surgery on their lives, doctors are still split on this issue of whether a child should be permitted to undergo life altering surgery or not. According to an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics, governments should now exclude parents who oppose the hormonal and surgical transformation of their children. Dr Michelle Cretella of American College of Pediatricians gave a presentation discussing the medical implications and impact of transgender lifestyle among other things in which she highlights the lifelong side effects such children will have to put up with. Article, Presentation.

South Africa – DA MP published intention to ban talk therapy for minors

Recently, a Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament (MP) published her intention to introduce a bill that would amend the current Children’s Act so as to include prohibiting “conversion therapy” in children (which is not defined other than saying it is a “pseudo-science approach to ‘curing’ children of homosexuality”). The bill is open for public comment until 4 August 2021 and comments can be emailed to [email protected] . It is important to take note that this is a mere intention to introduce a bill and not yet a bill itself. Similar bills have gone around the USA persuading policy makers that conversion therapy is harmful and ineffective but they have based these claims on methods used in the 1960’s and 1970’s. These methods are no longer used today. Talk therapy is the method used. Just as any other therapy offered today, success depends on the willingness and participation of the patient. More

Uganda – Journalist goes after hospital for offering change therapy

A receptionist at an HIV clinic for marginalised and ‘most at risk’ populations, including homosexual people, is harassed because she offered change therapy to an undercover reporter’s 17-year-old homosexual brother. Emphasis on the fact that all she did was make the offer, she did not force or insult anyone. “Whoever wants to quit homosexuality, we connect them,” she said – to external counsellors. It is also noteworthy that she is a receptionist at a clinic for ‘most at risk’ people, so her offer stems from compassion. The homosexual population is known to be at higher risk for various Sexually Transmitted Infections and this receptionist probably witnesses heart-breaking incidents regularly and felt she wanted to make a difference. OpenDemocracy journalists on the other hand feel it necessary to make a mountain out of a mole heap. Article, Medical Publication of health issues LGBT population faces.

LGBTQ+ Issues

Sweden – Swedish Hospital bans experimental drugs used on transgender minors

The most politically and socially liberal countries in the world has nonetheless issued new guidelines on how to care for gender dysphoric minors and their mental, emotional, and physical well-being under age 16. The guidelines contradict many assertions of the transgender lobby, which encourage parents and children to accept, without hesitation, treating their children with cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers as normal and healthy treatment. Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital—an arm of the one of the most renowned hospitals in Sweden, the Karolinska University Hospital has reported that the current treatment option for transgender children are “potentially fraught with extensive and irreversible adverse consequences, such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, infertility, increased cancer risk, and thrombosis.”

On 1^st December 2020, the UK High Court in the Keira Bell case ruled that it was “highly unlikely, if at all possible, for an individual under the age of 16 to give informed consent to this treatment.” There were also “overarching problems associated with puberty-blocking treatment,” This move make Sweden the first country to deviate from World Professional Association for Transgender Health guidance, which continues to promote puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on children under age 16. In April 2021, Arkansas became the first state to ban cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for minors. Other states should follow suit. More

USA – New Research may upend efforts to ban change therapy

Currently Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) provided by licensed therapists have been legally prohibited for minors in 20 states and numerous municipalities in the United States. Efforts to expand the scope of these bans to include adult consumers and non-licensed religious providers are currently underway.

The Universally flawed studies by the psychology profession, conducted over the last couple of decades which have led to overwhelming negative attitudes toward SOCE share a universal commonality: They draw their data exclusively from LGBT-identifying populations. In fact, LGBT-identity is among the “inclusion criteria” for the studies. So anyone with same-sex attraction who does not identify as LGBT would likely be excluded, and yet there is a significant minority of individuals with SSA who do not identify as LGBT, but instead prioritize their religious identity.

A new study published in the Spring 2021 Issues in Law & Medicine, by a socio-politically diverse team of psychologists, found that participants who rejected an LGB identity did not have worse levels of depression, anxiety, and psychosocial flourishing than those who were LGB identified. André Van Mol, M.D., in a summary of the study published by Christian Medical & Dental Association cautioned against using studies derived from, or dominated by LGB identified individuals who reject or alienate traditional faith communities for crafting laws or advocacy that affect sexual minorities in traditional religious communities. Issues in Law & Medicine, CMDA article.

Switzerland – Redefines discrimination of LGBT group

63.1% of Swiss voters recently agreed to penalize public discrimination of individuals belonging to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) group. This amendment adds sexual orientation as an extension to Switzerland’s racism statutes that penalized discrimination based on race, ethnicity and religion. This law would essentially put an end to things said such as ‘Burn the gay’ or ‘Lesbians must be raped’. Opponents argued that this was counter to freedom of expression, and that they should be able to express their views on homosexuality publicly. Experts on the other hand explained that the law does not penalize arguments and that there is a big difference between discussing a different view respectfully, and insulting someone and promoting hatred. More

USA – The Supreme Court ruled in favour of religious freedom

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a Catholic social services agency in Philadelphia could defy city rules and refuse to work with same-sex couples who apply to take in foster children. The decision, in the latest clash between antidiscrimination principles and claims of conscience, was a setback for gay rights and further evidence that religious groups almost always prevail in the current court. The Catholic agency, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.” More

Hungary – Lawmakers ban portrayals of homosexuality to minors

Recently Hungary’s parliament passed a bill that bans homosexuality in any content portraying or “promoting” homosexuality or sex reassignment to anyone under 18. The bill passed on a 157-1 vote. Under the law, any educational programs, advertisements, books, movies or television programs depicting homosexuality or other gender minorities in a positive light will no longer be allowed. The bill is experiencing backlash calling it propaganda against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. On the other hand, based on reports from medical experts in the UK who fear that children are being rushed into life altering surgeries, plus the Keira Bell case of the transgender regret she and many teens like her face, Hungary is acting in the best interest of minors who are emotionally and physiologically underdeveloped. More

LGBTQ+ Issues

UK – Research Review is sceptical of medical treatment for gender dysphoria

The biggest controversy in medicine at the moment is the appropriate treatment of children with gender dysphoria. Transgender advocates claim that puberty blockers are important for their mental health and that the treatment effects are reversible. However, a preliminary study by the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has found that the science supporting this view is of low quality. The reason the low quality was because All of the studies in the review of the literature were flawed. They were all uncontrolled observational studies, which are subject to bias and confounding; they had relatively short follow-up; most of them did not report comorbidities (physical or mental health); most of the studies were poorly reported and used a confusing variety of scoring tools and methods.

In relation to body image and psychosocial impact, says NICE, the results “are of very low certainty”. “Studies that found differences in outcomes could represent changes that are either of questionable clinical value, or the studies themselves are not reliable and changes could be due to confounding, bias or chance.” The NICE study also found that certainty of the impact to improve mental health and quality of life by using gender-affirming hormones on depression, on anxiety, on quality of life, on suicidality and self-injury was all “very low”. BBC, Bioedge, NHS Evidence 1, NHS Evidence 2

UK – Fundamentally flawed report by LGBT used to ban talk therapy dismissed

The 2020 Conversion Therapy & Gender Identity Survey was produced by Stonewall, Mermaids, GIRES, LGBT Foundation and the Ozanne Foundation. These LGBT lobby groups are trying to put pressure on the Government to ban so-called conversion therapy but the report has been dismissed as “fundamentally flawed”. Michael Biggs, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oxford, said the report lacks credibility. Prof Biggs pointed out that the 20-page report was produced without the involvement of any credible social scientist, and that the study’s cohort was “not sampled from a defined population, as in a proper scientific survey”.

He continued: “Out of a total 1504 responses to the survey, only 51 respondents had undergone ‘gender identity conversion therapy’. Of these, 8 ‘felt it worked completely’. Therefore, the survey identified only 43 people who reported negative experiences. This number is surely a slender basis on which to propose new legislation.” Respondents were recruited online by the same organizations that are campaigning for legislation and the pamphlet does not provide the questionnaire completed by the respondents, as is standard in scientific research. Prof Biggs said: “No objective criteria are provided to define transphobia; the epithet apparently serves to exclude responses that contradicted the legislative agenda of the organizations funding the research.” The report’s definition of conversion therapy is extremely broad and covers everything from “‘severe physical and sexual violence’ including rape”, to “voluntary counselling by an NHS psychotherapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist”. Prof Biggs pointed out that acts of sexual violence are “abhorrent”, but are “already serious crimes, and so legislation is not required to outlaw them”. Prof Biggs concluded: “In sum, then, the research reported in the pamphlet has little, if any, scientific value. It reinforces the impression that the proposed legislation is motivated by the desire to further institutionalize gender ideology rather than the need to address a real social problem.” More

UK – Doctors risk patient safety by confusing sex and gender

In a new study published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that Doctors who deliberately confuse sex and gender could be putting patients at risk of being given “ineffective” or “inappropriate” treatments. Senior medical researchers from the University of St Andrews say the significance of biological sex is being ignored by some medical practitioners, which can result in male or female-specific treatments being offered to the wrong people.

Dr Margaret McCartney, of the University’s medical school, said: “There are many instances of sex and gender being confused by the research community and society more broadly. “Unless we identify and count categories correctly, we will end up with errors which serve all populations poorly, including minority populations.” The warnings come as the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said the evidence of clinical effectiveness and safety of giving cross-sex hormones to people who wish to ‘change sex’ is of “very low” quality. More

South Africa – Home Affairs adds third gender to Identity Documents

Gender activists have welcomed a move by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to take into account the wishes of transgender, non-binary (neither male or female) and intersex people in allocating identity numbers. According to the draft, the DHA aims to introduce a National Identity System (NIS), in order to guard against identity theft and to digitise identity management. All information about the identity of citizens and non-citizens in South Africa will be stored on the NIS. Included in the draft policy are options for ID numbers to take into account transgender, non-binary and intersex people. The DHA, which is responsible for these changes, plans to consult with LGBTQ+ communities on its proposal. It will take a few years for any changes to take place, as recommendations move through the consultation towards legislation and implementation. But, “the identity number will change to accommodate the LGBTIQ community,” confirms Sihle Mthiyane, the Department of Home Affairs head of policy and strategy who is responsible for planning the new system. QZcom, Businesstech