Censorship Of A TERF

Wow! This is a very hot topic... is it censorship or protest. Can you have one or other, or both!

There is a LGBT award, 2025 Polari Prize, across the pond and there is a huge controversy over the author, a gay men about book called Earth by John Boyne. because he is a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist or a TERF!

John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’

Gender-critical novelist urges writers to re-enter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novella

The Guardian

Matthew Weaver

Thu 14 Aug 2025

The gender-critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors.

Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist.

In his first response to the row, Boyne urged new writers boycotting the prize to re-enter the award, saying they were either misguided or had been bullied or intimidated into withdrawing.

Boyne, who describes himself as a Terf – the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist – said that if the writers did re-enter the list, he would ask the judges not to consider Earth for the shortlist.

Okay, should he and the book be banned? That is the question.

Alice Oseman, the author of Heartstopper, along with the writers Nikesh Shukla, Julia Armfield, Naoise Dolan, Seán Hewitt and Kirsty Logan are among the hundreds to have signed the statement against Boyne’s inclusion on the list.

It said Boyne had “unequivocally associated himself with trans exclusionary sentiments” and that his inclusion on the list was “inappropriate and hurtful to the wider community of LGBTQ+ readers and writers”.

“In any year, the decision to include Mr Boyne on the longlist would be, in our view, inappropriate and hurtful to the wider community of LGBTQ+ readers and writers,” the statement read. “That the decision has been made this year – in the context of rising anti-trans hatred and systematic exclusion of trans people from public life in the UK and across the world – is inexcusable.”

The word censorship raises the hair on the back of my neck,,, but disrespecting a whole community says a lot toward banning him. But what about boycotting the book? Or is it combination of banning and boycotting?

Lets look at Banning, it is top down, someone imposes the ban. Top down.

While Boycotting , bottom up, the community imposes the sanctions.

Banning books takes the judgement away from the people and gives the power to another person to decide for you, while boycotting is by the people untied.

So back to the 2025 Polari Prize. It is an award, a recognition of their work by their own community, so really banning and boycotting do not fit in here because you are not banning the book... but the author. Boycotting mean you chose what to do, or as they say let your pocketbook do your talking.

What I take exception to is the nomination to begin with... the award is a community award. That means people voted for him in the selection process... that is where the banning should have happened. He never should have made it to this phase of the award selection.

To put it simply he does not represent the community.

Trump is in the running of the Nobel Peace Prize, if he wins the integrity of the Nobel Prize would be called into question... The whole world would immediately ignite a global conversation about the integrity of the Nobel Prize itself if he was given the prize.

Look at the Kennedy Center's honors. Trump has diluted the prestige of the awards and made it political. 

The fact that he was nominated doesn't bother me, but if he wins... then the integrity of the 2025 Polari Prize should be questioned for having someone who does not represent the whole LGBTQ+ community. 

Who’s A TERF?

Are you a TERF? Are they a TERF?

Well first off… TERF = Trans-Exclusive Radical Feminists

Just because they are transphoblic doesn’t make them a TERF. No, that title is reserved for the worst of the worst. It is reserved for those that deny our existence such as J.K. Rowling. And now they even have a class on TERF.

Feminists Against Women: the Politics of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism

Brooklyn Institute for Social Research

Instructor: Sophie Lewis

What makes TERFs tick? Today, there is a sometimes baffling confluence of forces waging a war on trans people (adults and children)—Christian fascists, nominal “secularists,” state powers, and self-appointed “radical feminists.” The latter, widely known as TERFs (Trans-Exclusive Radical Feminists), make common cause with reactionary politicians in advancing anti-trans legislation. Pitting trans people’s existence against the interests of “womanhood,” TERFs couch a rejection of transness and trans rights in the language of the political Left, even sometimes describing transness as a conspiracy of global patriarchal pharma-capitalist interests. In this course, a philosophical genealogy of trans-hostility, we’ll seek to come to grips with a movement and body of thought that, in sharing some of the predicates of leftists and trans advocates, presents an all-the-more vexing—and dangerous—challenge to transness and its recognition. How do TERFs appeal to feminist audiences? And how can we understand TERF concepts of work, capital, commodification, sexuality, nature, and the body?

Beginning with Gyn/Ecology (1978) by the American theologian Mary Daly and The Transsexual Empire (1979) by the Catholic nun turned lesbian separatist Janice Raymond, we will read a spread of excerpts from the past 45 years of transphobic feminism, including Material Girls by Kathleen Stock and Feminism for Women by Julie Bindel. We’ll also read critiques of TERFist philosophy by trans radicals, political theorists, and feminist scholars—e.g., Susan Stryker, Juliet Jacques, Cristan Williams, Brooke Beloso, Jules Joanne Gleeson. As we go, we’ll attend to a right-wing drift in the politics of identity more generally, examining how, with philosopher Wendy Brown, “certain well-intentioned contemporary political projects and theoretical postures inadvertently redraw the very configurations and effects of power that they seek to vanquish.” Together, we will consider Brown’s concept of “wounded attachments” as a lens through which to view TERFism. By engaging with a series of what are overall violent texts, we will equip ourselves with knowledge that can be of use to trans-liberation struggle. How can a critical study of TERFism, undertaken from an uncompromisingly trans-liberatory point of view, help us, in Susan Stryker’s words, “extract all of our bodies from the coloniality of gender, untether ourselves from the racializing biopolitical assemblages…and heal from the wounded attachments to identity categories through which we live but that can thwart our collective work”?

There is still time to register for the class! If you are so inclined to.

My take on TERFs… they think in the binary. There is either male or female. Period.

But like all things in nature thing are not black and white there are all the shades of grey. They do not believes that trans women are women. TERFs however go bonkers when you talk about intersex women, there philosophy breaks down. (It blows their minds to learn that some woman that were labeled at birth have XY genes because of something called AIS (Androgen Insensitivity Syndrom))

TERFs are stuck in the 50s where it was thought that only chromosomes determine a person’s gender.

One of the comments to the video said it best...

"I cannot tell a lie" - George Washington

"I cannot tell the truth" - Donald Trump

"I cannot tell the difference" - MAGA

'I'm here for ALL of the witches'

She has our backs.

There is a big tussle at the British Academy Film Awards over what Emma Watson said at the podium, it was just seven words but oh did they stir up a flap. And those words never mentioned anyone in particular. 

Emma Watson ruled the BAFTAs with one sentence: 'I'm here for ALL of the witches'
Many people on Twitter took it to mean one thing.
Mashable
By Sam Haysom
March 14, 2022


There were plenty of big winners at this year's BAFTA Awards on Sunday, but the person who seemed to get most of Twitter talking wasn't even nominated.

Emma Watson, who made a cameo to present the award for Best Outstanding British Film (Kenneth Branaugh's Belfast won) during the ceremony, managed to do that with a single sentence.

"Our next presenter is Emma Watson," host Rebel Wilson said shortly before welcoming the Harry Potter star and U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador onstage to present. "She's proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she's a witch."

Watson's response as she stood in front of the podium? "I'm here for all of the witches."

BOOM! 

So what got them in the tizzy?

You see there is a bill that is the opposite of the Texas’s draconian bills but in Scotland.

GRA Reform Scotland: 'Delays cause hateful discourse fuelled by misinformation', says Scottish Young Greens Chair
Delays to amending the gender recognition process in Scotland have "opened up a space for hateful discourse fuelled by misinformation", the chair of the Scottish Young Greens has said.
The Scotsman
By Hannah Brown
20th February 2022


Gomersall, a 22-year-old trans woman, said she expected backlash as new legislation is debated in Holyrood, but insisted it is "pretty certain" the reform will be passed by MSPs.

In an SNP and Scottish Greens' power-sharing agreement last year, both parties agreed a Bill to reform the 2004 Gender Recognition Act (GRA) will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in the first year of the parliamentary session.

[…]

Yet despite push-back from groups and bodies, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Scottish Government has said it is “committed” to bringing forward the changes to “improve and simplify” the process for a trans person to gain legal recognition.

Pink News UK had this to say…

The majority of women in Scotland support reforming gender recognition laws to make life easier for trans people, yet another poll about “the transgender issue” has found.

One in four Scottish adults strongly supports making changes to the gender recognition process to make it easier for trans people to get a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which is the document that can then be used to update the gender marker on a birth certificate, according to a poll conducted by ComRes for the BBC.

Only one in 10 strongly oppose the changes.

And one of those opposing the bill is J.K. Rowling.

Therefore connecting the very widely scattered dots some people think what Emma Watson said was a a dig at Ms. Rowling. Take a look and tell me what you think?

online polls

Not All Have Our Backs.

There has always been a faction that did not think that the “T” belonged with the LGB and politicians are exploiting that gap.

Attacking Stonewall for defending trans rights is a slippery slope
The gender wars are being fuelled by a Tory government – don’t let infighting destroy the LGBTQ+ community’s greatest champion
The Guardian
By Finn Mackay
December 20, 2021


The UK’s national LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, has recently been accused of advocating for trans rights. Six years ago, there was another “Stonewall question”, but the issue wasn’t whether the organisation should be advocating for trans rights, but instead why it wasn’t.

For those of us who remember these fights, it’s discombobulating to witness a reframing of Stonewall as a sinister organisation that sneaked trans rights on to its agenda when nobody was looking. The very opposite was the case: it was hard won. Many petitions were circulated, letters written and debates had. The inclusion of trans men, trans women and all transgender people eventually followed in 2015.

Stonewall public campaigns, training, policy, work with employers and sports organisations, for example, included trans and transgender people. They could seek advice if they faced discrimination at work, in housing or health provision. For many people, this was an obvious broadening out of the title, to reflect the solidarity and diversity that already had long existed in LGBTQ+ communities, clubs, organisations and social groups.

There has always been TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist) and transphobic gays who didn’t want to be associated with us but now they are receiving political backing and they reinforced the conservatives in their attacks on us.

Then in 2018 the government announced its LGBT equality action plan and began a public consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act. Around this consultation, and the similar one launched by the Scottish government, many groups mobilised in favour, and just as many mobilised against. Opponents, such as the LGB Alliance, called this a “green light” for “predators” and some people felt it would mean that men intent on abuse could change all their sex markers on their official identification online one evening, access spaces for girls or vulnerable women the next day, then just change back again online. This was never what was suggested or offered in the consultation document though.

They are pushing the conservative lies and fear. They are fighting diversity training that includes us, they want to roll back the clock and force us back in to the closet.

The current gender wars are not a fight against the binary roles that constrict our society, instead this particular manifestation of the culture wars is a battle against trans women in particular. Most of the debate concerns what services trans women should or should not be allowed to access, from public toilets to public services.

They are using us just like the Republicans are using their hate against us as a wedge issue…

It seems as if the Conservative government has purposely fuelled and exacerbated the gender wars in order to consolidate its base. We’ve seen Liz Truss bleating about centralised control of public toilets to keep out trans women, and the government has ditched most changes to the Gender Recognition Act, despite the majority of more than 100,000 respondents to the consultation supporting modernising reforms. At the same time, the government has stalled on its promise to end conversion practices. For Truss, free speech must be protected, and this means an assumed right for those who are LGBTQ+ to consent to anti-LGBTQ+ conversion practices.

Sound familiar?

It is the same tactic that is being used by conservatives around the world, because most people do not understand much about trans people the conservatives exploit that ignorance to generate hate and fear against us. The conservatives dream of a fascist state with them in control, to do that they need a boogeyman and we are “it.”

Let’s Stand Together

And be inclusive instead of being exclusive.

Some times we feel like the little Dutch boy with his finger in a leaking dike (no pun intended), but remember the vast majority of LG stand behind us.

Transgender People, “Gay Conversion,” and “Lesbian Extinction”: What the Data Show
By Julia Serano
December 29, 2020

A few days ago (on Christmas, in fact), The Telegraph ran a piece with the provocative title: “Lesbians facing ‘extinction’ as transgenderism becomes pervasive, campaigners warn.” The premise — which has been increasingly touted by anti-trans groups over the last few years — is that nowadays, young kids who are “really lesbian” are instead coming out as transgender and transitioning to male, thereby decimating the lesbian population.

This assertion bears resemblance to another claim favored by these same groups, namely, that when children and teens are allowed to socially transition, it’s actually a form of “gay conversion therapy.” According to this argument, sans transition these kids would have grown up to be gay men and lesbian women, but now they will instead turn out to be “straight” (i.e., heterosexual trans people).

Before addressing the veracity of these claims, it is useful to ask why anti-trans groups (many of whom are also anti-gay/lesbian) are making them. It turns out that conservative Christian activists have explicitly promoted a separate the T from the LGB tactic as part of a “divide and conquer” approach to undermining LGBTQ+ rights more generally. With the exception of rare splinter groups, this strategy has had little impact within LGBTQ+ communities, who largely see through it. However, these appeals can cause confusion or consternation among the queer-unaware straight majority, who may be misled into thinking that being “pro-trans” is tantamount to being “anti-gay” — such sentiments are precisely what these anti-trans groups are striving to elicit.

Their voices are amplified by the conservative press, conservative religious organizations, and conservative press.

You might remember some of these names; Zucker, Michael Bailey, and Bailey they all promoted their pet theory that trans people are just frustrated gay men. That we are really gay men who can’t accept being gay totally ignoring the fact that many trans women are sexually attracted to women and ignoring trans men completely.

In that same 2017 article, Gates stated that, “Reduced social stigma and accompanying advancements in legal equality are contributing to marked changes in the demographic composition of the visible LGBT community. Most notably, it is growing, and the growth is most pronounced among young people, women, and racial and ethnic minorities” (emphasis mine). So wow, the number of queer women has been steadily increasing (not decreasing) over the last decade — that sounds like the exact opposite of a “lesbian extinction,” doesn’t it?

The reduction in social stigma and the passage of non-discrimination laws was one of the reasons I came out in 1999 (little did I know that Trump twenty years later would set us back decades) and I think that many other LGBTQ+ people came out because they thought it safe to do so.

So a few Trans Radical Exclusionary Feminist like J.K. Rowling have come out of the woodwork with the support of groups like Federalist Society, the British newspaper Telegraph, and Fox News have pushed their agenda on us.

In Britain the conservatives won a victory in court banning puberty blockers for trans children but pro-trans groups are rallying to appeal the court decision.

When we were passing trans laws we had many, many lesbians and gays stand up for us. Yes, many “LG” organizations threw us under the bus but those organizations were run by the male equivalent of TERFs. When we were trying to pass the GI/GE non-discrimination nation a LG organization gave us funding to organize to pass the legislation.

I like to say that when we face violence and discrimination the perpetrators are not discriminating between gays, lesbians, trans people, or queer folk they see us all as “GAY.” They are just attacking a person who is different from them. Be it sexual orientation, gender identity, national origins, or race, they just see a person who doesn’t look like or act like them.

How do we bring about change?

Speak up!

Not just trans people but also lesbians and gays, need to speak up, let us take a lesson of our union friends… “United we Stand, Divided we Fall”

Kowtow To The Judge

Now we not only have to follow the SOC but in England they now need a judges permission.

Children will need court order before they can legally take puberty blockers, NHS confirms
The Telegraph
By Gabriella Swerling
December 1, 2020


Children suffering with gender dysphoria will now need a court order before they are legally allowed to take puberty blockers, the NHS has confirmed.

The new guidelines were announced following a landmark High Court ruling on Tuesday in which judges said trans children should not receive the controversial drugs unless they understand the "long-term risks and consequences" of them, amid warnings it is "highly unlikely" that most teenagers could consent to this process.

On Tuesday night, the NHS updated its guidance to reflect the judgment, meaning "no-one under the age of 16 can now be referred for puberty blockers unless a court rules it is in the child's best interests".

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK's only gender identity development service for children, immediately suspended new referrals for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the under-16s.

The ruling prompted lawyers to warn that the "floodgates could be opened" on retrospective claims of clinical negligence and hundreds of transgender children could sue, arguing that they were unable to consent to the transitioning process when they began taking puberty blockers.

The landmark case was brought against the Trust by Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who began taking puberty blockers before "de-transitioning". She said the clinic should have challenged her more over her decision to transition to a male when she was 16.

BBC reported that,

In a ruling, Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Mrs Justice Lieven, said: "It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers.

"It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers."

In England the climate is like it is here under conservative leadership, there is strong opposition to trans people that is lead by TERFs. At one time England was leading in human rights for trans people but with Prime Minster Boris Johnson they taking away our rights.

Blockers are totally reversible. GenderGP writes…

Medically speaking, Puberty Blockers are a medication in the group GnRHa (Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Agonists). They stop the hormone signals that go from the brain to the gonads (ovaries and testicles) that tell them to produce the hormones of puberty. When you give the blocker (by injection or nasal spray) the medication stops the signals. When the injection or spray wears off, the signals will restart and the hormones will be produced again. No medication lasts forever, when you stop taking it it wears off and stops working.
[…]
If any of these patient groups stop the puberty blocker, then it wears off and is no longer effective. This is obviously important for children with precocious puberty as they need need to, and must, go through puberty when the time is right. People with prostate cancer should stay on this medication for life. People with endometriosis can stop them to see how and if their symptoms re-develop, and start them again if they do. Transgender adolescents can stop them and allow their natural puberty to resume, if that is what they want.

So not only will trans children have to have a doctor’s okay to start hormone blockers but also will now need a judges permission. I wonder how many trans children will die because of this.

The First Amendment

People think that you can say anything to anyone, anywhere.

But it is only in limited circumstances but one thing is true First Amendment does not protect you from the consequences of what you said.

Rich, Famous Transphobes Ask You to Stop Being So Mean to Them in Terrible Harper’s Magazine Open Letter

The Mary Sue

By Vivian Kane

July 8th, 2020

J.K. Rowling, Bari Weiss, Margaret Atwood, and about 150 other prominent writers and public figures signed an open letter in Harper’s Magazine, published online yesterday, calling for “open debate and toleration of differences.” The letter decries cancel culture (though it never specifically uses that term) and claims that liberals are wrong for demanding “ideological conformity” from others on the left.

There might be a nugget of a valid conversation in there, but it’s buried under so many bad-faith specifics and anti-trans dog whistles that it’s impossible to take it seriously.

The letter, as a whole, is total garbage.

According to the letter, “it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought,” which sure sounds like code for “people got mad at me for using my giant platform to be awful.”

An open conversation.

James Baldwin said,

We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.

I think that we all can have an open conversion on whether we need a new baseball field, or a new library, or big government verses small government but when you deny me of my right to exists that is not an open conversation, that is oppression.

When those kinds of people are signing the letter—especially when we can’t know who its primary authors are!—it’s pretty difficult to dismiss the deliberately vague cancel culture scaremongering as being anything but anti-trans dog whistles. And it seems that some of the signatories have realized that, as at least a few are walking back their participation after seeing their name listed among such outspoken TERFs.

When I signed a letter like that I made sure that I agreed to the whole letter.

Allies & A Newly Out Trans Woman

Daniel Radcliffe speaks up for us, adding to cast who have said J.K. Rowling is just another trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Daniel Radcliffe responds to J.K. Rowling's tweets on gender identity: 'Transgender women are women'
By Saba Hamedy, CNN
Posted on June 8, 2020


(CNN) - Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the "Harry Potter" franchise, on Monday responded to franchise creator J.K. Rowling's controversial tweets about gender identity, directly addressing fans who may have felt pain reading the author's comments, which some labeled as transphobic.

Rowling, who has often come under fire by the large Potter fandom for her social media posts, sparked backlash over the weekend after mocking a headline about "people who menstruate."

"'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people," she tweeted on Saturday. "Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
[…]
"Hi @jk_rowling, using non-gendered language is about moving beyond the idea that woman = uterus," Clue, a period-tracking app, replied. "Feminists were once mocked for wanting to change sexist language, but it's now common to say firefighter instead of fireman."

He joins Emma Watson in supporting us.

---

Also this week a media star came out as trans, she is just one of many trans people who have stared in multi-media formats. Including Her Story which is a 6-episode new-media series on YouTube that the lives of trans & queer women as they navigate the intersections of desire & identity.

YouTube and X Factor Star Trevi Moran Comes Out as Transgender
E!
By Emily Belfior
June 8, 2020

Trevi Moran has come out as a transgender woman.

In a candid video titled "Coming Out. I Am Female," the YouTube star and former X Factor contestant declared that she is a transgender female and explained that this decision has been a long time coming.

"Hi. My name is Trevi Moran. I am a transgender female," she began the emotional vlog. "It's a good start. I can't believe I just said that out loud. I've dealt with this feeling my entire life, and I know that I'm a woman deep down inside. It's just a feeling you know."

As she continued, Moran, who first came out as gay in 2015, shared that her journey towards coming out as transgender has been rocky, starting when she began questioning identifying as a cisgender male nearly three years ago.
[…]
Leaving her followers with some uplifting words, she concluded, "If you're ever lost, just don't go out, go in. Go in and find yourself because going out and distracting yourself defeats the purpose."

I think every trans person who has transitioned knows that, we have to find ourselves first before we can show the world our real selves.

A Broad Brush

[Rant]
We (including myself) tend to paint with a board brush but really it is more like painting the trim. Most religions are indifferent to us and there are a number of churches that are affirming. It is just a radical fringe that hate us.

There are many Republicans that don’t hate us and want equal rights for us.

It is the squeaky wheel that gets the attention.

The vast majority of Americans do not like the hate they is being focused at us. But the media doesn’t report about them, instead the media focuses on the radical left and right. The media knows that discord  sells and bring in the revenue. Everyone siting around a table singing kumbaya doesn’t attract viewers but to people yelling at each other and pounding their fits does bring in the viewers.

Did you ever notice when marriage equality was being heard in the Supreme Court that the talking heads on the Sunday morning news shows always had far right or far left pundits on never anyone from the middle?

Our Facebook pages become an echo chamber of our views (I’m including myself, but I have been trying to cut down the political rhetoric but it is hard). Facebook has become a venue where we can find like souls who believe what we believe.

There are news outlets where we can find people that shares our views both on the right and left while the mainstream news outlets are called “fake news.”

I consider my blog to be moderate left leaning.

I follow what James Baldwin said…

We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.

You want to debate bigger government verses small government, Medicare for all, or taxes fine we can debate that, but when you deny us are right to exist or the right to control our own bodies that is when you cross the line.

An example is what former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore said what he wants to do is “criminalize gay sex and abortion, just like they did in the good old days.”

If you are a TERT (Trans Exclusionary Radical Trans) who espouses a trans pecking order or a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) you won’t find any support here.

In yesterday’s post I wrote about the hate here in Connecticut. In the past those radicals would have had  little contact between each other but now their hate is shared globally. A terrorist who was planning on attacking a synagogue here took his clue from the New Zealand terrorist attack. Another man came up from Tennessee to attack a pro-LGBTQ church. As the director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security said “That discourse leads to people feeling disenfranchised and on the fringe and again, empowered, maybe, to make their voices heard about the hate that they kind of espouse and believe in.”and now they can connect to others who feel the same.

We had a revolution here that very few have noticed, it is called “social media” it has changed the way we socialize, how we get our news, and how we view one another.

The bottom-line is that I think that our country has made a right turn but we will get back to a more civil politics.
[/Rant]

Have You Heard The One About…

Isn’t that how jokes begin? Well this is no joking matter, this is how the opposition sees us.

The Origins of the Transgender Movement
The National Review
By Madeleine Kearns
October 14, 2019

Editor’s Note: This article has been adapted from remarks delivered at a Heritage Foundation summit.

I’ve been asked to talk about the origins of transgenderism and how it relates to children and their exploitation. But first, I would like to start with a little story.
[…]
I’ve been asked to get to the origins of this movement, and I’m going to try to do that. Of course, as you know, it’s just one stripe of the rainbow, and I couldn’t possibly do it justice in ten minutes, but I’ll do my absolute best. There are three things that I think have been changing since the mid-20th century. The first is in medicine, the second is what I like to call an ontology of desire, and the third is what I and others call the politicization of everything.

So what does she think started the trans movement?

She starts off with the movie “The Danish Girl and our favorite doctor Paul McHugh and then goes on from there to Ray Blanchard and Anne Lawrence and their debunked theory of autogynophilia. Then she blames it on the internet…

The third point is the massive cultural and political tidal wave. The thing is, in the 1990s people might have been forgiven for thinking, “This will never catch on. This is so outrageous. This is absurd.” They would obviously be right, but the thing was the Internet and all these other things came into play. Society had just gotten used to defining whole sections of the population by their desires with regards to homosexuality, which was trying to correct genuine injustices that gay people faced in this country and still face across the world. They overcorrected and they became obsessed with identity. We moved further and further away from the sort of vision that Martin Luther King set out. We started to lose sight of all these different intricacies with regard to sexuality. Then, trans piggybacked onto gay rights, which had piggybacked onto civil rights.

Gee she must have never heard of Stonewall? Or the Cooper’s Donuts Uprising of 1959, or the 1965 Dewey’s Lunch Counter Protest or even the Compton Cafeteria Uprising in 66?

Of course she interviewed a Drag Queen…

Davis yesterday was agreeing with me. While he was saying that for him it’s about performance, he recognizes that when he’s in bars and other public places, people come up to him at the end, and it’s all about sex for them. As an adult, who knows that and understands that, he can deal with it. He can say whether he wants to get involved or not — after all, it’s a free country — but why would we put children in that situation? Why would we invite salacious interest in children by dressing them up in drag? We shouldn’t do that, and I’m referring here to a whole new phenomenon called “drag kids.”

The argument we’re supposed to accept rather unthinkingly is that, “Oh you’re just being bigoted, and you’re just prejudiced, because this about self-expression.” And I’m thinking well no, because yes children dress up, but again, it’s context dependent.

The author totally ignores the fact that autogynophilia and Rapid Onset of Gender Dysphoria is based on junk science. That there has been zero research done on them, they are based on flawed inquiries and psychologist J. Michael Bailey admitted that in his book that it was all anecdotal. But that doesn’t stop the conservatives from using it, after all they have initials after their name so it must be true.

This article would be a joke if it was for the fact that conservatives believe it.

Sometimes We Get Lost…

In Pride Parades with a thousand gay and lesbians marching a couple of hundred of trans people marching gets lost in the crowd and sometimes we don't feel welcomed, so now there are Trans Pride in some cities.

London to host its first Transgender Pride festival this year
The Independent By Katie O'Malley and Joseph Cowell
26 April 2019

London is set to host its first ever Transgender Pride festival.

Earlier this week, performers Lucia Blake and Finn Love posted a Facebook event to announce the festival, which is scheduled to take place in the capital on Saturday 14 April in Hackney, east London.

According to the social media page, the festival will include “live music, performances, a series of stalls from LGBTQIA+ organisations, panels/talks from inspirational trans people, artwork that explores our identity and much more”.

Organisers state that festival – which is known as London Trans Pride 2019 – is specifically aimed at trans, non-binary, intersex and gender nonconforming people “as well as all gender identities”.

“It is for people that think they might be trans+, but maybe aren’t sure,” a segment from the page reads. “It is for anyone who needs to escape the transphobic hegemony of cis-patriarchy.”

The festival’s organisers said they felt inspired to create the event following the “hijacking” of Pride in London 2018 by anti-trans campaigners.

At last year’s event, a group of campaigners carried banners and flyers stating “transactivism erases lesbians” and describing the trans movement as “anti-lesbianism”.

“Last year’s transphobic protests and the all too familiar centring of cis-white gay-male narratives at Pride in London certainly informed our decision,” London Trans Pride 2019 told PinkNews.

My only comment is that I hope that even though we make up only a same percentage of the marchers I hope that trans people march in both parades because we cannot surrender to the Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERF).

---

Some of our history has died, remembering the founder of PFLAG. It was foundered as a LG organization but later on it also included the gender and sexual orientation spectrum including trans people.

Remembering Jeanne Manford: 'The mother of the LGBTQ ally movement'
Manford, who famously marched with her son in the 1972 NYC pride march, has inspired countless moms since founding LGBTQ rights group PFLAG four decades ago.
NBC Out News
By Julie Compton
May 11, 2019

In 1972, a petite but determined mother from Queens, New York, marched alongside her gay son in the New York City pride parade. She hoisted a sign that read “"Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children.”

Before a roaring crowd, Jeanne Manford, an elementary school teacher, became the first mom to publicly support her gay child, according to Liz Owen, director of the communications for PFLAG, the nation's first and largest organization for LGBTQ people and their families and friends.

“She really is the mother of the LGBTQ ally movement,” Owen told NBC News. “She is the mom who made it OK to love your LGBTQ kid.”

In 1973, Manford went on to found PFLAG, which originally stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The first meeting, held in the basement of a New York City church, welcomed 20 people, according to Owen. Word began to spread, and parents whose children had come out to them were coming to meetings desperate for support. The organization would eventually grow to over 400 chapters and 200,000 members nationally.
[…]
In January 2013, Swan sat by her mother's hospital bed and told her that then-President Barack Obama had awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal.

“She squeezed my hand,” Swan remembered, “and I think she understood that she was getting it.”
[…]
Days later, on Jan. 8, 2013, Manford died. Swan accepted the award two months later on her mother’s behalf.

Swan, who lives in Daly City, California, said her mom kept families together and fought for LGBTQ people during a time when no one else would.

“She was the bridge,” Swan said.

As our leaders die out it is important to remember our history.

Support From High Places

We have a prince on our side, how cool is that!

Prince Harry throws support behind transgender youth charity
The Duke of Sussex's mental health charity invited Mermaids, an organization for trans and gender variant children, to join its wellness efforts.
NBC Out News
By Tim Fitzsimons
April 24, 2019

Prince Harry’s mental health charity, Heads Together, has invited a U.K.-based transgender youth charity to join its wellness efforts, according to The Telegraph.

The charity, Mermaids, participated in a roundtable this month at a YMCA outside of London that was organized by the Royal Foundation, Prince William and Prince Harry's umbrella charity. A Royal Foundation spokesperson told the newspaper that Heads Together meets with groups like Mermaids "to best understand the issues young people are dealing with today, and gain a clear understanding of what support is being made available."

Mermaids tweeted its thanks Tuesday to the Duke of Sussex “for his unwavering support of young people and promotion of positive mental health and well-being.”

The conservatives on the other side of the pond have taken a lesson from their compadre here in the U.S.

"While the U.K. has made significant progress in expanding and protecting the rights of transgender people, they are currently engaged in a fierce debate about improving policies for transgender people to have their gender identities affirmed on government documents," said Sarah McBride, a transgender activist and national press secretary at Human Rights Campaign.

McBride said a "small, but vocal" group of anti-trans activists have targeted Mermaids for their work.

"To have Prince Harry so publicly and clearly embrace the lifesaving work of Mermaids sends a powerful message to trans youth across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth that they are seen and valued," she added.

This is really fantastic; right now trans people in England need all the help they can get. The conservative press there have been hounding trans children and they been supported by TERF.

How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans
A surprisingly mainstream movement of feminists known as TERFs oppose transgender rights as a symptom of “female erasure.”
The New York Times
By Sophie Lewis, Dr. Lewis is a feminist theorist and geographer.
Feb. 7, 2019

Last week, two British women stormed onto Capitol Hill in Washington for the purposes of ambushing Sarah McBride, the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.

Ms. McBride, a trans woman, had just been part of a meeting between the Parents for Transgender Equality National Council and members of Congress when the Britons — Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who goes by the name Posie Parker, and Julia Long — barged in. Heckling and misgendering Ms. McBride, the two inveighed against her supposed “hatred of lesbians” and accused her of championing “the rights of men to access women in women’s prison.”
[…]
If the idea that transphobic harassment could be “feminist” bewilders you, you are not alone. In the United States, my adoptive home, the most visible contemporary opponents of transgender rights are right-wing evangelicals, who have little good to say about feminism. In Britain, where I used to live, the situation is different.
[…]
The split between the American and British center-left on this issue was thrown into sharp relief last year, when The Guardian published an editorial on potential changes to a law called the Gender Recognition Act, which would allow people in Britain to self-define their gender. The editorial was headlined “Where Rights Collide,” and argued that “women’s concerns about sharing dormitories or changing rooms with ‘male-bodied’ people must be taken seriously.” Some of The Guardian’s United States-based journalists published a disavowal, arguing that the editorial’s points “echo the position of anti-trans legislators who have pushed overtly transphobic bathroom bills.”

So with this background you can understand why it was so important that Prince Harry spoke up in our defense. So how did Prince Harry and his brother Prince William become supporter of trans rights?

Well it might have started when the princes attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and one of their instructors was a trans woman.

According to Earn the Necklace…

The American-born historian has reportedly taught Prince William and Prince Harry at the prestigious Sandhurst. Sources say it was while she was there that she made the change from man to woman.

At the time, the top order had reportedly demanded that everybody treat her with full respect and call her “Ma’am” from that point forward.

And Sandhurst’s Major General, Peter Pearson, had also reportedly declared that any snide comments or remarks on Lynette Nusbacher would be treated with severe punishment.

So it could very well be because of an out and proud trans woman that Prince Harry came out in support of trans children.

Imported From Britain

Probably many of you have seen or heard about the Trans-exclusionary radical feminists panel on Wednesday well there is more to the story. It now appears that at least one of the panel members was flown in from Britain by the Heritage Foundation a libertarian think tank that is funded in part by the Koch brothers.

Anti-trans activists “from the Left” joined right-wing Heritage Foundation to rail against trans people
Trans-exclusionary radical feminists, or TERFs, use a veneer of progressivism and feminism to advocate against trans equality
Media Matters
By Brianna
January 31, 2019

On January 28, the vehemently anti-LGBTQ advocate Ryan T. Anderson hosted a panel attacking the Equality Act, a bill that would add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to existing nondiscrimination laws, and the talk featured several “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” or TERFs. TERFs claim trans identities threaten women’s safety and equality and actively work to deny their existence and rights. During the event, the panelists, who were identified as "from the Left," demeaned transgender people and used anti-trans language, with one saying, “It’s not a fucking ‘she’” in reference to transgender women.

The event was held at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has railed against LGBTQ equality for decades. The New York Times has written that the group is “stocking Trump’s government,” including by recommending “some of the most prominent members of Trump’s cabinet.” Anderson, a senior research fellow, is one of the group’s most vocal anti-LGBTQ figures. He wrote an entire book dedicated to denying trans identities and reportedly helped craft the Trump-Pence trans military ban.

So the question is why now? Why did they hold the panel at this time?

NewNowNext reported…

Nancy Pelosi has reaffirmed her commitment to LGBTQ equality as newly elected Speaker of the House, promising federal protections for LGBTQ people.

During her gavel acceptance speech this week, addressing the U.S. House of Representatives, Pelosi announced that she is prioritizing the passage of the Equality Act.

The Equality Act, previously introduced in the House by gay Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, explicitly outlawing discrimination against LGBTQ citizens.

Hence all the anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric coming from the right.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) had a lobbying day for trans parents (Hello NCTE, are you just going to let the HRC run the show?) the other day.

Parents of Transgender Children Call on Congress to Pass the Equality Act
By Sarah McBride
January 30, 2019

Today, HRC's  Parents for Transgender Equality National Council, a group of the nation’s leading parent-advocates in the fight for transgender equality, met with members of Congress to discuss their families’ moving journeys and the urgent need for Congress to pass the Equality Act. The Equality Act is a comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights bill which is a priority for the U.S. House’s new pro-equality leadership and is expected to be re-introduced soon

U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy, III (D-MA), chair of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force, hosted the convening of parents of transgender and gender expansive young people. Representative Kennedy was joined by U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Gil Cisneros (D-CA).

“For transgender young people, passing the Equality Act would be life-affirming and, in some cases, lifesaving,” said Jay Brown, Acting Senior Vice President, HRC Programs, Research & Training. “These parents’ children need and deserve clear protections from discrimination throughout daily life, from welcoming schools to inclusive health care. The unique stories and voices of these parents have already changed countless minds, and they will be critical in continuing to push equality forward alongside allies like Representative Kennedy and the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force.”

Well while this was happening there was a British invasion,

Shocking video shows women barging into meeting and harassing trans woman
Sarah McBride, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, was specfically targeted
Gay Star News
By Anya Crittenton
30 January 2019

A shocking video posted on Facebook shows two women barging into a meeting in Washington, DC, and harassing a transgender woman.

Posie Parker began streaming the live video on Wednesday (30 January) morning. The video depicts her and Julia Long spewing transphobic harassment toward Sarah McBride.

McBride is the National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.

In the video, both Parker and Long continuously misgender McBride.

At one point, Parker states: ‘This is Sarah McBride, he gets paid probably quite a lot of money to lobby the government to try and make sure that women and girls have no right to any space anymore.’

The pair also refers to transgender women as men over the course of their time harassing McBride.
[…]
HRC responds
‘It is disturbing but not at all surprising that anti-transgender extremists brought to the United States at the behest of the Heritage Foundation would stoop to harassing a transgender woman and parents of transgender youth,’ Olivia Dalton, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Communications and Marketing told GSN.

If Posie Parker and Julia Long names sound familiar you might remember them from the London Pride march, Pink News reported that,

Anti-trans group allowed to lead Pride in London march after hijack
By Hazel Southwell
7th July 2018

Pride in London has been “hijacked” by a group of anti-transgender campaigners who forced their way to the front of the march.

The annual Pride march today was set to be led by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and NHS staff, but has been disrupted as an anti-trans group forced their way to the front of the parade.

A PinkNews reporter filmed live from the scene and witnessed the group of about ten women take the lead spot of Pride, with security and police doing nothing to remove them.

The group carried signs with anti-trans slogans, such as “transactivists erase lesbians”, while they distributed leaflets opposing trans-friendly reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, and calling for trans women to be banned from women’s spaces.

So that is the backstory.

It appears that the Heritage Foundation brought them in for the hate panel and whether on their own or with the blessing of the foundation the two women disrupted the meeting between congressmen and their constituents.

Another TERF Crawls Out

She says she is sorry but the hurtful words have been spoken.

Martina Navratilova deletes tweet about trans athletes after being called transphobic
Yahoo Sports
By Chris Cwik
December 21, 2018

Martina Navratilova is not having a good week on Twitter. The tennis star drew plenty of criticism Tuesday after sending out a negative tweet about trans athletes.

The tweet — which has now been deleted — read:

“Clearly that can’t be right. You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women. There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard…”

Navratilova’s view on the issue came as a surprise to fans. The 62-year-old Navratilova has been a prominent LGBTQIA activist. After being accused of being transphobic, Navratilova deleted the tweet, and vowed to educate herself on the issue.

Hmm… maybe she is just a LGB activist?

She said afterward,

I am sorry if I said anything anywhere near transphobic- certainly I meant no harm - I will educate myself better on this issue but meantime I will be quiet about it. Thank you

Okay, I am willing to see what she does in the future. To see if this is a onetime even or if is a beginning of a pattern but I wouldn’t doubt that the TERF radicals use her statement against us.

But I will say this… we have to be prepared for another probe by anti-trans conservatives and their Republican cohorts on trans athletes. They are attacking us in the sports arena; here in Connecticut we have already seen the opening blitz. A number of sore losers parents have been pressuring their state legislatures to force trans athletes to play on teams of their birth gender, they point to two trans athletes who competed in the state championship.

Connecticut parents petition to ban transgender track athletes
USA TODAY High School Sports
By: Cam Smith
June 6, 2018

For the second straight year, a small group of transgender athletes dominated their respective events at the girls track and field state championships in Connecticut. Apparently, the second time through the ringer for some fellow competitors was too much, with parents of those athletes now stepping forward to try to ban those transgender athletes from competing as females.

As reported by the Hartford Courant, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference allows athletes to compete as members of the gender with which they identify. That means that transgender teenagers can compete alongside cisgender opponents, creating what some feel is an uneven playing field.

Supporters of two petitions to eliminate the transgender regulations claim that their efforts aren’t aimed at the individual athletes who will be most directly impacted by the regulations. Still, it’s impossible to overlook the success of Andraya Yearwood, who first spoke about her transition to being a transgender female with the Courant a year ago. In the time since then, Yearwood has captured back-to-back 100-meter State Open titles as a freshman and sophomore. After Yearwood broke out as a freshman she inspired multiple other transgender entrants, according to the Courant.

But there are dozens more trans athletes who do not win and as the article says,

While parents of opposing runners may deny their petitions have anything to do with the chosen gender identity of the teens in question, it’s hard to debate the impact such rules and regulations could have on transgender athletes themselves.

There are probably less than a hundred people who signed the petition they have caught the ear of Republican legislators and we expect them to enter a bill forcing trans athletes to compete in their birth gender.