Tag: Gender Ideology

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Exposing the Underbelly of Gender Ideology

The Transgender Campaign Part 7

There has been a chorus of articles recently suggesting that “gender affirming care” for minors as recommended by the federal government and major medical institutions will soon be written off as one of the greatest medical malpractice events in human history.  This standard of care recommends minors who believe they have been “born in the wrong body” receive immediate social affirmation to the opposite sex, puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and surgery.  However, even though the public has begun to recognize the barbarity of “gender affirming care”, this will not be enough to stop this movement.  We must eliminate the source of the massive increase in kids who wish to change their sex. 

Gender ideology and those who push it are the culprits.  Until they are neutralized, those children who do not fall into traditional stereotypes such as our feminine sons and tomboy daughters plus those with mental illness will remain at risk. The drumbeat to find one’s “authentic self” via health destroying drugs and surgery will continue.  Vulnerable kids who have been spoon-fed this ideology both in school and social media will simply wait until they are 18 to harm their bodies. 

The Difference Between Gender Ideology and Gender Dsyphoria

To critically evaluate gender ideology, we must first decouple the ideology from gender dysphoria lest our compassion for those who suffer from this condition obstructs our view.  The two have been inexorably linked, purposely it appears, so that anyone who questions the ideology, or the money-making scheme behind it, is labeled a “transphobe” who wants to block treatments for those who have gender dysphoria.  Aside from being false, this approach has allowed a corrosive ideology to flourish that manipulates young people to believe that biologic reality can be overridden by desire. 

Gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder as it was called before the ideology influenced the medical institutions, is a condition in which a child experiences a marked incongruence with their sex and exhibits an intense persistent identification with the opposite sex. The standard of care used to be “watchful waiting” and psychotherapy not immediate affirmation, drugs, and surgery.  There is an excellent reason for this approach. After puberty most of these kids accept their sex and many are gay. While not the subject of this article, note that a very small percentage of adults, mostly male, also experience this condition. 

On the other hand, gender ideology is a belief structure.  It posits that sex and gender are distinct and may or may not match.  For example, a person can be born a boy but feel like a girl.  Those feelings are described as one’s “gender identity”. This individual may choose drugs and surgery to make their bodies more closely resemble their “gender identity”.  With or without medicalization the ideology dictates that a person’s “gender identity” defines their true sex and they should participate in society as such. “Gender identities” and therefore sex is fluid and can change at will.  Defying gametes and chromosomes, gender ideology also teaches that humans are not binary mammals.  Instead, there are multiple sexes any of which a person can choose and implement via desire, drugs and/or surgery. 

It’s Not About Compassion…

It is critical to grasp that gender ideologues declared that gender dysphoria was no longer a rare psychiatric disorder that required treatment but instead a normal human experience. Any human could and should embark on a “gender journey” to find their “authentic” self.  In other words, gender ideology used the plight of children with gender dysphoria to saturate our culture with a novel theory of human biology and sexuality. 

The launch of gender ideology into society would have been a miserable failure without attaching itself like a malignant tumor to gender dysphoria.  This was necessary to both garner compassion from the public and conceal the true nature of the ideology.  Otherwise folks would have likely recognized that “gender identities” were actually our personalities and preferences, human biology is reality and that the strict stereotypes pushed by the ideology were regressive. 

Gender ideology was the impetus for the “gender affirming care” model that encourages self-affirmation and on-demand drugs and surgery regardless of the presence of other mental health conditions.  Prescribing testosterone upon request to a young woman who decided last month she is male is not compassion. 

Marketing Gender Ideology

After gender ideology was declared a fact of life by the major medical institutions, the marketing began in earnest.  In the name of inclusion, language was changed to include phrases such as “gender assigned at birth”.  Youngsters were taught about “gender journeys” at school and that they could be a boy, a girl, both or neither. Preferred pronouns were added to one’s signature.  To the delight of Big Pharma, gender clinics mushroomed over the country pushing sex change drugs without psychological treatment.  The surgeons willing to cut breasts off and castrate healthy minors and young adults jumped on the bandwagon. Social media influencers also raked in the dollars.  Holidays were established.  The President declared those on gender journeys “brave”. Tampons were installed in boys’ bathrooms.

The marketing worked.  Many of our youth and their parents became true believers.

The General Public’s Reaction 

Sadly, as gender ideology and its proponents caught society in their web, the public remained largely ignorant of its teachings, its presence in many schools and social media, and the exponential growth of the on-demand sex change industry.  Society’s blind eye allowed a growing number of vulnerable minors and young adults influenced by the movement to be drugged and mutilated.  Media’s complicity is evident in its praise of “gender affirming care” coupled with silence on the considerable physical and psychological health consequences. Public figures who questioned “gender affirming care” or how the ideology impacted our culture were viciously labeled, canceled, and/or silenced. 

The WPATH Files Expose the Underbelly

Anyone who doubts the impact of gender ideology on the treatment protocols, should read the WPATH Files published by Environmental Progress.  It is a report that includes a compilation of leaked internal correspondence and videos from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health.  WPATH establishes the standard of care for gender dysphoria and our major medical institutions, federal government, many state governments and associated government schools have followed their lead on “gender affirming care”: immediate affirmation, drugs, and surgery in lieu of psychotherapy and “watchful waiting”. 

To say that the WPATH Files are intensely disturbing is a gross understatement.  It is abundantly clear that the recommended standards of care that lead a girl with rapid onset gender dysphoria to self-harm and testosterone are based purely on the unproven everchanging landscape of gender theory without regard to evidence based science, ethics, or the long-term physical or psychological health of the patient.  They are making it up as they go along. 

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It is difficult to choose the most troubling excerpt from the WPATH files. A top contender, however, is that WPATH members understand that it is impossible to gain informed consent from their patients.  Yet they still proceed with treatments that, among other things, could sterilize them, block their ability to ever orgasm, impact sexual function, and result in a lifetime of drugs and surgery with serious physical and mental health side effects.  “Metzger reminded those assembled that gender doctors are “often explaining these sorts of things to people who haven’t even had biology in high school yet,” adding that even adult patients often have very little medical understanding of the effects of these interventions.”

It is incomprehensible.  But even more so is that any medical institution listened to these misguided ideologues whose judgement seems horribly twisted by their own psychological issues.  This is a testament to the power of marketing.  With the revelations and analysis included in the WPATH Files, some organizations will wake up and agree that WPATH members and associates are no different than the quacks who performed lobotomies and removed women’s ovaries to combat mental illness.  But others appear to be standing firm in support of gender ideology and its spawn, “gender affirming care”. 

Solutions

Even though folks are beginning to understand the threat, the sex change industry will not collapse until its market is eliminated.  The market will only dry up when gender ideology, which teaches kids to believe they might be “born in the wrong body”, is exposed and discarded as junk theory.  

To aid this effort, a comprehensive nationwide marketing campaign should be initiated to educate parents and children on the dangers of sex change drugs and surgeries.  Gender theory should be removed from schools and parents given tools to inoculate their children from sex change predators on social media. We should vote out politicians who support the drugging and mutilation of minors in the name of gender ideology and “Budlight” corporations who do the same. Equally important, for the safety, health, and healing of those with gender dysphoria, the condition should once again be recognized as a psychiatric disorder and treated as such. 

It is time to act.  It is our duty to protect both those with gender dysphoria and those who have fallen victim to the mass marketing of gender ideology and its barbaric, unethical treatments.  Let’s do what needs to be done.    

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DETAILS

As always, I include a details section to support positions above and provide avenues for additional research. 

·       The WPATH Files is essential reading for those who want to educate themselves and help protect minors and young adults from self-harm.  It was released by Michael Shellenberger’s Environmental Progress and authored by Mia Hughes.  I would recommend reading the raw files and watching the videos first and then read the report which provides a helpful history, commentary of the files and compares “gender affirming care” to other horrific medical procedures such as lobotomies and ovariotomies.  Note I have included several excerpts of the raw files in this article.

·       For those who do not have time to read but can listen, I recommend this Jordan Peterson podcast in which he discusses the WPATH files with Michael Shellenberger. 

·       Not long after the WPATH Files came out, England’s National Health Service banned the use of puberty blockers.  SEGM, The Society for Evidenced Based Gender Medicine discusses the action in this article.  The SEGM website is a wealth of information for those who would like to understand this subject in more depth.  “Our aim is to promote safe, compassionate, ethical and evidence-based healthcare for children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria.”

·       Colin Wright’s Reality’s Last Stand is an excellent publication for those who wish to examine the scientific aspects of gender ideology’s claims regarding sex and biology.  Here is a sample that discusses the sex binary.

·       A google search of “gender dysphoria” will reveal one source after another laden with the language of gender ideology.  This Psychology Today article is an example.  It establishes that there are more than two genders and that kids are assigned a “gender at birth”. 

·       Consider reading the definition of gender identity disorder/gender dysphoria in DSM 4 and DSM 5.  It is a major shift based on the influence of gender ideologues.

·       As the American Psychological Association states:  “The presence of gender variance is not the pathology but dysphoria is from the distress caused by the body and mind not aligning and/or societal marginalization of gender-variant people.”  This step to declare that gender dysphoria was no longer a psychological condition normalized the theory that gender identity was distinct from sex, provided a pathway for insurance to cover medicalization, and cast society at large as the oppressor. 

·       What is missing from the article above is a discussion of why gender ideology was plucked out of academia and thrust on society by the likes of Obama, Big Pharma, the Pritzkers and other big money bags.  Power and money are usually the goals.  I am not 100% clear on the twisted motives of this strategy but am perfectly clear that they have sacrificed children to achieve them. 

·       After much research on gender ideology and its impact on society, summarized in previous articles below, my thoughts have crystallized.  I do not believe in gender ideology.  I believe it is abhorrent to teach children they can change their sex and then encourage them to do so. 

The Transgender Campaign series:

Part 1 “Through the Looking Glass”

Part 2 “Snowballs”

Part 3 “The Marketeers”

Part 4 “Comment on Biden Administration’s Proposed Changes to Title IX”

Part 5 “Beliefs, Biases and Bad Ideas”

Part 6 “A Matter for Debate not Decree”

Part 7 “Exposing the Underbelly of Gender Ideology”

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A Matter for Debate not Decree

Transgender Campaign Part 6

The national debate on transgenderism is at a fever pitch.  Some states have banned the chemical and surgical transition of minors and others have declared themselves sanctuary states for these treatments.  A woman who identified as a man just killed 6 people at a Christian school.  Activists scheduled a “Trans Day of Vengeance”.  The White House declared the trans community was under attack.  Meanwhile a few staunch proponents of gender ideology question the rush to medicalize children and they are verbally attacked for their efforts.    

Why has this subject become so toxic?  Primarily because proponents believe they are helping kids and detractors believe kids are being sacrificed.  There is a another subtler yet very important reason.  Much of the transgender rhetoric has an underlying presumption that gender ideology is generally accepted science.  It is not.  This presumption coupled with federal legislation and mass marketing of the idea that kids can change their sex at will has resulted in a serious societal pushback.  In response, proponents of gender ideology either assume or strategically state that transgender people are under attack.  Because this makes it personal, it also heightens emotions and feeds divisiveness beautifully.  It is also false.  Transgender people are not under attack, it’s gender ideology that people don’t like.  

Yet those who seek to ban medicalization of youth do not properly address the core issues either.  Attempts to curtail the consequences of the ideology do not speak to the important question of why more kids and young adults are spontaneously deciding they are the opposite sex.  Without public debate and action on gender ideology and the mass marketing that causes social contagion, bans on medicalization could ultimately be ineffective.  Kids will continue to be influenced.  How many will just wait till they are 18 to destroy their health with cross sex hormones? 

Let’s review several core issues:

We need a serious debate about gender ideology.  Modern gender theory is a recent idea and like all ideas, it’s a matter for debate not decree.  For example, I believe that humans are binary (male and female), sex is immutable and that biology supports this view.  I believe women and men are beautifully unique and their traits and desires exist on a wide spectrum.  I strongly oppose male and female stereotypes and believe we should embrace and celebrate the differences found within each sex.  I vehemently disagree with gender theory’s attempt to describe these differences as unique “genders” or “gender identities”.  

Throughout known history, a very small proportion of people have experienced marked and persistent identification with the opposite sex.  Before 2013 this condition was referred to as “gender identity disorder”.  As modern gender theory took root, the name was changed to “gender dysphoria”.  Medical institutions proclaimed that gender dysphoria was no longer a mental condition requiring treatment.  Fast forward ten years and state governments that support gender ideology require children be taught gender theory.  Babies have a “gender assigned at birth” and sometimes the doctors get it right and sometimes they get it wrong. All children can be a boy, a girl, both or neither and drugs and surgery are available to help them transition to “their authentic self”.  Sex is changeable.  

There is a huge gap between my beliefs, which are shared by many, and the ideas embodied by gender ideology.  It is important to recognize that belief structures are the basis for public and institutional policy.  Public policy that stems from gender ideology hardens sex-based stereotypes, encourages children to believe they can choose one of many genders or gender identities and seeks to normalize and encourage transition to the opposite sex (or other gender) via social and medical interventions.    

Public policy based on views such as mine would focus on psychotherapy for children and adults who are emotionally unable to accept their own sex, severely limit medicalization of minors, discourage sex-based stereotypes, and encourage acceptance of those who choose to manage their condition via transition.  

On the state and local level, we should educate people on gender ideology, debate the concepts and vote upon the direction of public policy.  If gender ideology is rejected then teachers’ unions and other institutions who mandate it must be neutralized.   

If the Biden administration were serious about healing the divide, they would be silent on gender ideology since much of the country disagrees with it.  What is it called when national government shoves an unpopular idea down peoples’ collective throats…authoritarianism.  

We need a serious debate on why gender ideology and “gender affirming care” have been mass marketed.  Why is it that the Obama and Biden administrations, teachers’ unions, medical institutions, TQ+ lobbies, progressive donors and activists insist that kids be taught that sex is a choice especially since a large percentage of the population disagrees with this premise?  Why do they tell emotionally vulnerable kids they might be “born in the wrong body” and then promote “gender affirming care” which includes health destroying drugs?  It is disingenuous to suggest that all kids should be taught they can change their sex so they do not bully a child who is unable to accept their own.  

We need a serious debate on the consequences of mass marketing gender ideology and “gender affirming care”.   Social contagion is one of many consequences of marketing gender ideology and has resulted in a greater number of kids, especially girls, spontaneously declaring they are the opposite sex.  It’s cool to be transsexual.  How can emotionally vulnerable children be protected without addressing social contagion and what has caused it?  

Another consequence of the trans marketing campaign is the number of social media influencers, therapists and gender clinics ready and willing to put children on a “gender journey” to resolve their emotional issues. Who is waiting with open arms when they listen?  Big Pharma.  Do you want some candy little girl?  

The influencers, Big Pharma, gender clinics and gender surgeons market themselves which helps gender ideology self-perpetuate.  

What are the long-term impacts of puberty blockers and cross sex hormones on mental and physical health?  It is a lie that puberty blockers are reversible as the Biden administration has stated.  Even a cursory examination of the side effects of sex change drugs suggests extreme caution for adults and a measure of last resort for minors.  

Marketing works.  Kids aren’t the only ones who have been influenced to accept gender ideology. How about parents who are so taken with it they overlook the dangers of puberty blockers and cross sex hormones?  How about therapists who immediately affirm and prescribe these drugs without a serious psychological evaluation?  How about schools who think it’s a great idea to socially transition a kid without telling parents?  Even assuming a belief in gender ideology, none of this makes sense until we recognize that this decades long campaign has been wildly successful.  

The data reveals young adults are electing drugs and/or surgery at a greater rate than ever before.  Why is there excess demand for sex change drugs and surgery compared to ten years ago? Marketing works.  

The well-funded gender marketing machine is entrenched in our schools, social media, institutions and federal government.  Those who disagree with gender ideology must offer a message that speaks to beliefs not just bans if want to protect the kids and young adults whose desire to transition is the result of influence.    

For the sake of the next troubled young girl who spontaneously decides she is a boy, sterilizes herself with drugs and cuts off her breasts, let’s please educate ourselves on gender ideology, focus the debate on the core issues and get serious about impacting public policy at the local level.  

Details 

  • The article above began as a response to Dr Erica Anderson’s recent article “Why We Need a Serious Debate About Healthcare for Transgender Youth”.  While I disagree with Dr. Anderson’s position on gender ideology, her article is thoughtful and worthwhile.  My reaction upon reading it was that a debate about treatment will be unsuccessful without a serious debate on gender ideology and the mass marketing that drives social contagion.  
  • “Missouri Senate Bill 49 is an Essential Step to Protect Missouri Children from “Sex Transition” Treatments is also a good article.  My reaction is that these efforts may not have the desired effect because they are silent on the underlying ideology that drives kids to the gender clinic in the first place.  
  • The photo above is from a book called “Being You: A First Conversation About Gender (First Conversations) by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli and Anne/Andy Passchier   
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Beliefs, Biases and Bad Ideas

The Transgender Campaign, Part 5

The success of the decades long campaign to normalize transgenderism is quite extraordinary.  When folks finally wake up and understand that gender ideology promotes the drugging and mutilation of minors, perhaps our society will thoroughly analyze how it was accomplished.  

While we wait for this to happen, however, we must sort this out ourselves so we can take effective action.  What strategies have convinced so many, including our preeminent medical institutions, to believe the following:  

  • Gender dysphoria is no longer a mental condition requiring psychological treatment.  
  • Anyone can be any gender on any given day.  
  • All kids should be taught they can be “born in the wrong body” and change their gender at will.  
  • Kids can actually become the opposite sex with social affirmation, drugs and/or surgery.
  • Parents who disagree with a child’s transition should be ignored.
  • There are many genders and the number grows daily.     
  • The skyrocketing number of transgender kids has nothing to do with the promotion of gender ideology in schools and social media.    

One strategy outlined in “Through the Looking Glass” is the manipulation of language. For example, ten years ago did anyone say “gender assigned at birth”?  When folks mindlessly repeat this phrase, they are really saying “I agree that gender is a social construct and not determined by biology”.  

As we learned in “Snowballs”, blinding people with their own compassion is also highly effective.  Folks certainly have compassion for children who suffer from gender dysphoria but when we give our own pronouns in solidarity with these kids, we offer our tacit agreement that human beings can change their sex. We signal our support for “gender affirming care” which is a pathway to medicalization, sterilization and serious health problems with no guarantee of an improved emotional outcome.  

We also learned in the “Marketeers” that the debates over women’s sports, locker rooms and prisons are the perfect chaff to deflect our attention from the actual tenets of gender ideology.  While society rages over the consequences, gender ideology has been quietly and methodically pushed into every facet of our society.  

Another powerful strategy used to manipulate people and hide the ugly reality of the transgender campaign is to label inconvenient beliefs as biases.  Mirriam Webster defines bias as “a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment: prejudice.”

For example, I believe that humans are binary, one’s gender is determined by biology, that a very small number of people suffer from gender incongruence, that men and women have an infinite number of personality traits that often overlap, and we should bust stereotypes not the reality of our biology. According to the current orthodoxy, my beliefs are considered biases suggesting I am prejudiced against transgender people or, simply, transphobic. Nonsense. There is absolutely nothing “unreasoned” about my belief that humans are and always have been binary nor do I hold prejudice for those who suffer from gender dysphoria.

Because people abhor being labeled prejudiced or transphobic, their belief structure wobbles as they are confronted with gender ideology and the vast power of the transgender lobby.  They accept rather than question.  Alternatively many are afraid to speak out.  They fear being canceled, fired or kicked out of school.  This phenomenon is occurring at every level of our society.  The marketeers have done a marvelous job silencing debate and dissent.

Meanwhile the marketeers’ media lapdogs are vicious labelers who attempt to delegitimize those who disagree with the narrative.  Mainstream publications are afraid of that wrath and do not publish dissenting opinions which relegates important work to the fringe. The media also keeps a lid on the consequences of saturating schools and social media with gender ideology.  As a result, many people remain blissfully unaware of the exponential increase in the number of “gender diverse” kids; the explosion of gender clinics that prescribe puberty blockers to minors; the cadre of social media influencers waiting to tell your daughter she was “born in the wrong body” because she is a tomboy and the growing number of surgeons who will perform “top”, “bottom” and “eunuch” surgery.  

The silence and inaction of the manipulated, fearful and uninformed have allowed gender ideology to infect every institution in our society.  

And then there are the true believers.  That is their right.  The broader question is why do the rest of us have to replace our beliefs with theirs?  We don’t.  The gender narrative is an idea, not a confirmed theory based on science.  It is therefore more akin to a “religion” and should be treated as such.  Teachers are not allowed to teach religion in public schools, why should they be allowed to teach gender religion?  It is a belief based on an idea not a fact.  

It is productive to take a quick step back and examine where the idea came from.  John Money, who introduced gender as a social construct, is often credited with being the “father” of modern-day gender ideology.  He is also called a pedophile due to his sexual experiments on twin boys in the 1960s.  Regardless of Money’s proclamation that his experiments proved that gender is learned not inherent, it was a dismal failure.  The twin who was raised as a girl committed suicide and the other twin died of an overdose.  Most have probably never heard of John Money.  No surprise there.  Pedophiles and perverts generally do not make great figureheads when the manipulation of millions is the goal.  

How did we get from John Money’s sexual experiments on twins in the 1960s to the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) recommending “chest masculinizing surgery” of teenage girls in 2022?  Dr. Quentin Van Meter who worked at John Hopkins with Money provides an excellent historical overview in this 2017 speech.  He does not address the huge money that pushed transgenderism mainstream.  This article by Jennifer Bilek aids in that portion of the history.  Since 2017, gender ideology has only become more entrenched.  This is especially true since 2020 when the Biden administration began to legislate biology out of existence.  

Why?  This is not a grassroots movement.  A coordinated well-funded progressive coalition has pushed the idea of “gender diversity” on society.  While I cannot provide a definitive answer to “why”, the fact that the marketeers have had to use fraud and force belies their initial stated goal – to educate kids so they don’t bully those with gender dysphoria.  If it were not so sad, it would be laughable.  To keep kids from bullying other kids with gender issues, we had to teach the rest they too could be “born in the wrong body”?  How gullible are we? 

Perhaps we can examine a handful of consequences to determine the goals.  

  • This movement has divided society on yet another fault line.  
  • Detaching our youth from reality seems certain to destabilize them mentally.  
  • “Gender affirming care” can lead to a lifetime on drugs supplied by Big Pharma.  
  • There is a ton of money to be made in “gender affirming” surgeries.  
  • The movement creates a growing number of “marginalized” victims making it another head of the “victim/oppressor” hydra.  
  • Transgender legislation is driving a wedge between parents and children. 
  • Unabated this movement will disrupt the traditional family structure, a foundational element of society.  (Note eliminating the family is a foundational goal of Marxism).  
  • It sterilizes children who are medicalized early.  
  • It infringes on women’s rights and privacy.  
  • While subtle, we cannot underestimate the negative impacts of turning children’s attention inward on a mythical “gender journey” rather than towards the broader world of ideas and big dreams.  

Several potential goals come to mind based on the above.  Discontentment + Unrest +  Destabilization + Greed + Division = Conquer.  As horrific as it is that children are being sacrificed in a quest for money and power, I suspect this might be the low hanging fruit.  It feels as though there are far deeper motives as well. Is this an effort to dehumanize us? 

Regardless of the nefarious motives of the marketeers, there is one thing I am 100% certain of.  We have been conned.  What easy marks we humans are.  

For those who see the dystopian future the transgender campaign promises, silence is not an option.  We cannot wait for the lawsuits that are sure to come for change.  We must fight the marketeers’ strategies with our own.  Here are a few suggestions:  

  • Refuse to use language designed to change your beliefs such as “gender assigned at birth”.  
  • Communicate firmly that it is unnecessary to believe gender ideology to offer compassion and assistance to those who suffer from gender dysphoria.  
  • Who cares if someone calls us transphobic.  It’s a lie designed to manipulate.  Feel free to speak and stand firmly by your beliefs.  Loudly and often.  Gender dysphoria is not a normal state to be encouraged as this religion would have us believe.  
  • Whenever a debate arises about women’s sports steer the conversation to the basic tenets of gender ideology.  We are more than happy to support an individual who transitions to seek relief from their emotional anguish but that person will never be the opposite sex.  Biology is immutable.  Sadly this precludes transgender men from playing in women’s sports.  We can’t always get what we want.  
  • What is happening in your child’s school? How many kids claim to be trans?  Are they teaching gender religion? Does the school’s policy require teachers hide a child’s social transition from parents?  If so, build your own coalition of parents and demand change.  This parent’s story might propel you to action.  The San Francisco school board has lost their minds over gender religion as this article describes.  Parents must get involved so the drugging of children is not encouraged at a school near you.    
  • Even if your school is silent on gender religion, social media is not.  Be aware of the social media sites your child visits.  This parent’s description of what she found on her daughter’s accounts is incredibly disturbing.  This child became addicted to trans anime via social media and lost 7 years of his life.  
  • For those without children in school, it is still essential to educate yourself.  Politicians and school board members have played an outsized role in promoting transgenderism.  We voted these people into office and now our kids are being indoctrinated.  We can vote them out.  Research every candidate in depth. For example, how many children will be sterilized unnecessarily because Biden has pushed “gender affirming care” on society.  What will be the long term impact of Biden’s proposed amendments to Title IX?
  • Spread the word.  I recently posted a video shown to school kids in California and a friend said this was a fringe issue and people who focus on it are only doing so “to stir derision in our political system to divide us” aka a right wing talking point.  Like so many other folks, he does not realize what is happening.  It was a fringe issue when Obama pushed it mainstream in 2008.  It isn’t anymore.  Who knows where we will be in ten years if reality does not make a comeback.  Right now, there are school kids walking on all fours who identify as cats.  And worse, schools tolerate it.  What’s next? 

Stand firm.  

DETAILS

  • I began the transgender series because, of the con jobs being foisted on society, it seemed the easiest to see.  Then I discovered it wasn’t easy to see at all.  Most people had no idea of the basic tenets of gender ideology, how it started and how far it had progressed.  As much as I read, I did not fully understand the implications of “gender affirming care” until spending hours upon hours researching the subject.  My mission then changed to inform and now a call to action.  This is the fifth article in the series. Previous articles include background information that will clarify my sense of urgency.  Part 1 “Through the Looking Glass”, Part 2 “Snowballs”, Part 3 “The Marketeers”, Part 4 “Comment on Biden Administration’s Proposed Amendment to Title IX”.
  • Dr. Quentin Van Meter provides the history of John Money in his 2017 speech.  For those who wish to understand the early days of this movement, it is much watch TV.  This article summarizes John Money’s experiments on the twin boys referenced above.  
  • It is important to remember that most western countries are dealing with an increase in those claiming to be transgender or nonbinary.  The Netherlands was instrumental in promoting the use of puberty blockers on children.  Even they have raised the alarm.  Other European countries have banned their use on minors.  
  • I highly recommend PITT on substack, Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans.  One of the more impactful articles is True Believer.  Knowing what I now know about this movement, reading this article brought tears to my eyes.
  • SEGM, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine has excellent reference material.  They recently posted this article from the Economist “Questioning Americas Approach to Transgender Healthcare”.
  • As more kids decide it’s trendy to be trans “A Dangerous Subculture” on PITT’s substack is a timely read.  
  • Jennifer Bilek has done an enormous amount of research on the money behind the transgender movement.  Her most recent article is “The Billionaire Family Pushing Synthetic Sex Identities (SSI)”.  Her earlier 2018 article “Who are the Rich, White, Men Institutionalizing Transgender Ideology” and updated here, is also worthwhile.  
  • For the scientists, this article defends the binary nature of humans.  This interview with Dr. Michele Cretella addresses this topic in laymen’s terms.  
  • Dr. Miriam Grossman has been warning us about gender ideology for a decade.  Hopefully people begin to listen. 
  • Brenda Lebseck is a teacher and author in California who also has a wealth of information on her site.  
  • For those who don’t know what “top”, “bottom” and “eunuch” surgery are, here is a surgeon’s center that describes the procedures. 

Please feel free to visit BayBuddha Travels for articles on a wide range of subjects.

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Through the Looking Glass

American on Shaky Ground, Part 7

The Transgender Campaign, Part 1

A byproduct of the “gender is a feeling” movement is that people who pee sitting down must share public restrooms with people who pee standing up.  This is unacceptable.  Their restrooms tend to get that not so fresh smell from pee landing in places it does not belong.  Logic also dictates that crouchers who pee all over the toilet seat should be relegated to the standers’ bathroom.  In fact, restroom usage should be divided not on how one feels but on who can keep their pee in the toilet bowl.  Laws must be enacted and enforced.  If absurdity is the norm let’s at least be practical.  

Is the above any more absurd than men who wish they were women competing in sports with actual women?  Or that anyone would ask a potential supreme court justice what the definition of a woman was and equally bizarre, the judge would refuse to answer?  No.    

Let’s take a step back and examine the gender and transgender narrative that’s dumped us all in the same restroom.  

A narrative is often accompanied by the manipulation of language.  “Prior to the 1950s, gender meant male or female, but applied only to grammar not persons. Latin based languages categorize nouns and their modifiers as masculine or feminine and for this reason are still referred to as having a gender.”  Source.  

Now definitions like this proliferate: “Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people. It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, and the distribution of power and resources in society. Gender identity is not confined to a binary (girl/woman, boy/man) nor is it static,” etc. 

The word gender itself has been transitioned.  

The word “Intersex” describes an old phenomenon.  In rare instances, people are born with abnormal chromosome combinations that result in both male and female characteristics.  The first sex change operation on an intersex individual occurred in the early 1900s. While there is disagreement on the prevalence of intersex people, one calculation states they represent approximately .018% of US population. 

Gender Identity Disorder is not new either although this condition is now referred to as Gender Dysphoria. “Gender dysphoria (GD) in children describes a psychological condition in which they experience marked incongruence between their experienced gender and the gender associated with their biological sex.” Source.  “Children represent a small number of individuals with gender dysphoria and in only 10-20% of the children, gender dysphoria will continue to manifest in adolescence”.  Source.  These folks and intersex individuals deserve our compassion and hope for a fulfilling life.  For perspective, a rough estimate of the number of GD individuals seeking sex reassignment surgery can be found in the Details section.  

The label “gender nonconforming” is new but the concept is old.  Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person’s gender identity, role, or expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex.

What is new is the idea that we should teach children gender is fluid so they will accept and be compassionate towards those who suffer from gender identity disorder.    

What is also new is the increased volume of GD diagnoses over baseline (referred to as excess demand in this article) and the willingness to treat GD chemically and surgically at younger and younger ages ignoring the data that at least 80% of GD cases resolve with psychotherapy alone by late adolescence.  Unbelievably, in some clinics, chemical transition is initiated in the absence of comprehensive psychological evaluation.  

It appears the increase in referrals to gender clinics has not been quantified although we can look at the explosion of clinics and surmise demand has grown significantly.  The first US clinic to pioneer puberty blockers for children opened in 2007.  According to one study, there are approximately 200 clinics and growing.  This number does not appear to include Planned Parenthood clinics which have embraced puberty blockers and cross sex hormones.  GD drugs and surgery have become big business.  

Why are there so many more gender confused kids?  Why has the number of young girls seeking transgender care surged?  The chicken and egg debate rages but it is important to understand these questions have not been evaluated as outlined in this Dutch article.  Without this essential data the federal government has issued official support for “gender affirming care” which can include social transition (name and pronoun), puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, surgery and psychotherapy.  The federal government has also warned states they could be in violation of civil rights laws if they block minors from receiving “gender affirming care” even though the long term impact of puberty blockers on children has not been adequately studied.  

Even without studies, it stands to reason that excess demand is driven by the relentless gender narrative of social media influencers, politicians, educators and the media coupled with the censorship of critics.  The rhetoric resembles a well-executed marketing campaign.  Gender drug pushers and surgeons welcome the new target market with open arms.  

Another likely driver of excess demand is the age at which gender ideology is introduced. Is it wise to tell little kids that boys can be girls and girls can be boys?  Imagine a prepubescent child’s reaction when presented with the Gingerbread Person or the Gender Unicorn, images that are clearly designed for a young audience.  Once these concepts are in a child’s mind, will they confuse common body image concerns, normal identity questions and insecurities with GD?  According to Erikson’s Psychological Stage Summary Chart, an important factor for adolescents is their search for personal identity.  Is it possible the relentless gender messaging from teachers, children’s programming and social media will misdirect children in their search?  

Like Alice, it feels like we have entered a fantastical world, where we find that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic.  Did our society take a wrong turn through the looking glass?  

It certainly appears so.  Any human who has been around for a while witnessed the negative impacts of strict gender stereotypes and the existence of “gender noncomformists”.  In the 1970s things visibly started to change.  By the turn of the century expectations and assumptions had loosened to such a degree that those who march to their own drummer were celebrated.   

The gender movement is regressive however and strict stereotypes are back.  How can a 10 year old girl casually tell her parents she is not a girl unless society has narrowly defined how a girl behaves, how she thinks and what is expected of her?  This is obvious “elephant in the living room” logic and is the crux of society’s wrong turn. We should bust the stereotypes not the reality of our biology.  

Are there any other elephants that deserve our attention?  Yes, big ones.  

  • “Also, some experts noticed that a clear majority of children on GnRH therapy (puberty blockers) will decide to pursue cross-sex hormonal therapy.” Source.  Other sources suggest this number is close to 100%.  We have already learned that 80%-90% of GD resolves without drug intervention plus there has been a notable increase in children, particularly girls, seeking transgender care.  Do the math.  If we start children on puberty blockers whose GD would have otherwise resolved, we will increase the number of transgender adults who are also dependent on cross sex hormones.  No doubt the pharmaceutical companies support “gender affirming care”. 
  • Consider the distinctive manifestations of women and men in your own circles.  How can gender labels and pronouns possibly encompass the depth of our uniqueness?  They can’t.  That is why the number of genders/pronouns has grown to ridiculous proportions, 64 by one count.  Yet what is the endgame of gender transition?  Male and female genitalia.  A full circle of absurdity.  
  • How can equal opportunity laws conceivably address the expanding number of genders?
  • When I was in grade school, the kids viciously teased an overweight girl because she was different. Imagine her isolation and trauma.  Did the government issue a directive on “fat affirming care”?  Of course not.  Why would we force society at large to declare their pronouns and abandon biologic reality rather than teaching kids to be kind and accept the differences of others?  Does anyone really believe “gender affirming care” will result in kids being nicer to those who are different?  For example, a group of kids in a Maryland junior high bullied another group of kids because they were not bisexual. Junior high. Will the law of unintended consequences rear its ugly head as people are divided into small angry victim groups and kids turn on each other?
  • No amount of compassion for a gender confused individual supports a biological man playing on a women’s sports team.  Note the Biden Administration is scheduled to release a revision to Title IX April 2022.  Consider what that report will do to the polarization in this country.  
  • A man who wants to be a woman can change his name and pronouns, elect chemical and physical castration, get breast implants and other feminine features but he will never be a woman with the ability to give birth and nurse her child.  A woman who wants to be a man can select one of 78 pronouns, pursue hormone therapy, have a double mastectomy and radical hysterectomy.  She will have a clitoris with penis clothing and will never be a man with the ability to impregnate a woman.  The bottom line?  Sex reassignment surgery is cosmetic and pronouns are superficial.  Quite a sad reality for GD folks but it is a reality none the less.  
  • Transgender individuals who pursue full chemical and surgical transition will be sterile, yet “a clear majority of them express the desire for reproductive potential after transition”.  In a society that caters to the smallest minority, where will the transgender desire to maintain fertility lead our nation legally and ethically?  The future is emerging already.  Some states do not require surgical transition to change gender on birth certificates.  
  • How will our unique, gifted or troubled children fare in this new environment.  Will an influencer suggest their uniqueness is a sign of GD and recommend “gender affirming care”?  Will one of the sleazy gender clinics put them on drugs without comprehensive psychological evaluation?  Is it possible the side effects of these drugs will derail the natural development of their gifts or enflame underlying psychological conditions?  Do we undermine our society by undermining our children?  
  • Societal trajectories matter.  In addition to ignoring the long-term impacts of transgender drugs, we are also ignoring the potential progression when reality is supplanted with desire.  The furry movement comes to mind as does research into uterine transplants in men.  What’s next? 

How do we get back on track?  Let’s apply common sense.  

Can we return to simplicity, reality and acceptance?  Let’s celebrate the beautiful diversity of being human, embrace our woman and manhood, reject gender stereotypes and revel in our differences.  Let’s extend our understanding and acceptance to those with persistent GD without forcing society to participate in gender ideology.  Let kids be kids, educate them on the basics, encourage them to be kind, turn off the gender marketing machine and cancel the drug pushers.  This isn’t complicated.  Common sense rarely is.  

Wouldn’t the above actions be preferrable to splintering our society into an infinite number of angry victim groups who take offense at being called the wrong pronoun?  To eliminating a key bedrock of human experience, our biology?  To the gender wars developing between parents, schools, states and the federal government? To the manipulation of compassion which results in the incremental acceptance of senseless legislation?  To the weaponization of greed to advance an agenda?  To subjugate parents’ belief structures to the will of government?  

Yes, reality grounded in common sense, compassion and pragmatism will unite us.  The absurdity of modern gender ideology and associated legislation will rip this country apart, undermine our children and put this nation on dangerously shaky ground.  We should reject it and equally important, determine why the government and their corporate cronies are hellbent on drugging our kids and splintering society.    

SHAKY GROUND SUMMARY

Below is a summary of destabilizing factors addressed in this and previous articles in the America on Shaky Ground series.  

  • Part 1 – Division and distrust caused by the prohibition of gathering.
  • Part 2 – Division and distrust caused by categorizing women and men into victims and oppressors.  
  • Part 3 – Division and distrust caused by racial segregation via victim/oppressor ideology.
  • Part 4 – Destabilize the populace by undermining the constitutional right of self-defense. 
  • Part 5 – Propagation of false narratives designed to destabilize the populace and consolidate power.  
  • Part 6 – Destabilize US economic and national security with unsound energy policies.
  • Part 7 – Division via the splintering of society into an ever increasing number of “marginalized” victim groups. Destabilization caused by teaching kids to reject reality which will ultimately undermine children.

DETAILS

  • Gender ideology is complicated.  The above only scratches the surface.  For those who want a deeper dive, there are many resources above and below to get you started.  My plan is to examine gender transition drugs in a future article.  Regardless of the rhetoric to the contrary side effects of long-term use of puberty blockers and cross sex hormones have not been adequately studied.  In addition, once the Biden Administration releases their proposed Title IX update, an article on the illogical outcomes of gender legislation will likely be in order. 
  • Update 4.8.22 – New Jersey has updated their education standards. Gender ideology will be introduced in the 2nd grade. “Discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how gender- role stereotypes may limit behavior.“
  • How many transgender kids were referred for treatment prior to this movement (baseline)?  Was this number consistent over the years?  What is the number of kids claiming to be transgender now?  I don’t know.  I wonder if anyone does.  This is important information, however.  In search of a baseline estimate, it was suggested I review the 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.  While modern transgender narrative began prior to 2013, the Obama administration gave it a hefty push around then.  “There are no recent epidemiological studies to provide data on prevalence of Gender Identity Disorder.  Data from smaller countries in Europe with access to total population statistics and referrals suggest that roughly 1 per 30,000 adult males and 1 per 100,000 adult females seek sex reassignment surgery.”  Census data reveals there were approximately 154,650,000 men and 161,610,000 women in 2013.  Therefore approximately .003% of men and .001% of women sought sex change surgery in 2013.  Did this number justify foisting fringe academic gender theory into mainstream culture?  
  • Update 4.8.22 – After publishing this article, I became aware of the Gallup poll which seeks to measure the number of people who identify as LGBT. This is not surprising.
  • The reader will note that I did not touch on sexual orientation above.  While that may be inexact because many of the new genders speak to orientation, I did not want to complicate the article further.  
  • Upon the release of the above documents which endorse the use of puberty blockers and cross sex hormones, President Biden said among other things: “To transgender Americans of all ages, I want you to know you are so brave.  You belong.  I have your back.”  With everything we have learned about a child’s need to belong, their search for personal identity and the fire hose of gender messaging, this statement is disturbing. 
  • While the US government has embraced transgender drugs, Sweden’s top children’s hospital suspended puberty blockers.  Note Sweden instituted their version of gender affirming care prior to the US and they are not the only country putting the brakes on drugging kids.  https://segm.org/Sweden_ends_use_of_Dutch_protocol
  • The Gingerbread Person is a tool to teach gender ideology.  https://go2tutors.com/what-is-the-genderbread-person-and-how-is-it-being-used-in-schools/  The Safe Zone Project, creates gender curriculums utilizing the gingerbread person.  Sam Killerman, who is a gender and sexuality consultant, had a hand in creating both. Reading this material is recommended.  Much of it seems fine until one realizes that these lessons teach kids they can be any gender “they know themselves to be”. I have been unable to confirm at what age this is introduced but have seen references as young as 4th grade and up.  https://thesafezoneproject.com
  • Because some LGBTQ folks don’t agree with how gender is depicted on the Gingerbread Person, the TSER (Trans Student Educational Resources) created the Gender Unicorn which is also being taught in some schools.  https://transstudent.org/graphics/  Studying the mission and message of TSER is highly recommended.  
  • The American College of Pediatricians is opposed to the current transgender treatment protocol.  They have been vilified and labeled as a hate group.  For two vastly different perspectives read the releases of the Biden Administration “Gender Affirming Care” documents above and this ACP article.  In a takedown of this article, an author suggested ACP misrepresented the twin study.  I have reached out to ACP for clarification. https://acpeds.org/position-statements/gender-dysphoria-in-children  
TSER Graphic for Students

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