A Week in the War on Women Monday 25th July - Sunday 31st July
Monday 25th July - Leave Them Kids Alone
THE POST MILLENNIAL: America’s Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning over a serious risk associated with puberty blockers.
The FDA has warned of a serious side effect in children taking ‘gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists’ ie puberty blockers.
These drugs may cause a dangerous surge of spinal fluid pressure in the brain. The condition is known as pseudotumor cerebri (which translates literally as ‘false brain tumour’) or idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It occurs when the pressure inside the skull spontaneously increases and can cause brain swelling, severe headaches, nausea, double vision and even permanent loss of sight.
The FDA identified six cases that supported a plausible association between GnRH agonist use and pseudotumor cerebri. All subjects were females aged between 5 and 12 years. Five were undergoing treatment for central precocious puberty and one for ‘transgender care’. The onset of pseudotumor cerebri symptoms ranged from just three to 240 days after the start of their GnRH agonist treatment.
An FDA spokesperson told Formulary Watch, “This potential serious risk associated with GnRH agonists justifies inclusion in product labelling”.
This warning seems at odds with Rachel Levine’s recent claim that “There is no argument among medical professionals… about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care”.
The Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency and part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel Levine is the Assistant Secretary for Health. Only a few weeks after an agency of his own department issued such a serious warning about the use of puberty blockers, he called for legislation to ‘support and empower’ children by prescribing these very drugs.
The FDA are several months behind Canada on this research; Health Canada issued a warning over the labelling over Lupron in December 2021 to reflect the risk of pseudotumor cerebri/idiopathic intracranial hypertension in pediatric patients.
Tuesday 26th July - Witch Burning in Salisbury
A woman has been barred from selling her home-made soaps at a fayre in her home town for expressing gender critical opinions on a wholly unrelated forum.
Fiona is a disabled mother of three children who operates a small business called Salisbury Soaps. She produces exquisite hand-made soap which is environmentally friendly and plastic-free. I spoke to her this week, not only about her wonderful products, but about them being banned from sale at a community event thanks to a man who disapproved of her pro-women views.
Fiona heard about an event being held in Salisbury called People in the Park, “A community event that consists of a mix of community group stallholders, performers, local environmentally friendly businesses, live music across 2 stages and guest speakers”.
The event is being organised by Transition Salisbury, a group which describes itself as “A catalyst and partner to inspire, encourage and enable those who want to develop a plan for a sustainable Salisbury”.
In March this year Transition Salisbury received National Lottery funding for its community climate action project. With this funding the group is developing a ‘Green Business Accreditation’ in Salisbury to celebrate local businesses, just like Fiona’s, that are ‘doing good things for the environment’.
Of course, Fiona was very interested in attending People in the Park as she runs a ‘local environmentally friendly business’. She began a conversation with someone called Meredith on the event’s official Facebook page. She understood Meredith to be a People in the Park representative and their conversation continued over several weeks. Fiona believed that she had applied for and been assigned a stall at the event and handed over £40 for her pitch. She subsequently spent over £300 on licencing for her vegan products in anticipation of being involved.
Sadly, Fiona had paid her money to a scammer. ‘Meredith’ was using the event’s Facebook page to quite openly mislead and scam people, something the admins appear to have missed for a number of weeks. Nevertheless, Fiona has had no apology or offer of reparation despite it being evident that both People in the Park and Transition Salisbury are aware of ‘Meredith’ using the page to operate her deception.
However, Fiona was soon to be delivered a far worse and more shocking blow over her attendance at People in the Park.
Several weeks earlier, she had been involved in a conversation on NextDoor, a social media site for local neighbourhoods. She mentioned Penny Mordaunt’s candidacy for leader of the Conservative Party, expressing her disagreement with Mordaunt’s views on self ID legislation. The discussion moved on to the Green Party and its adherence to gender identity ideology. A man called Andy became involved in the conversation and challenged Fiona’s views, accusing her of being a bigot and a transphobe.
Fiona explained to Andy that she does not believe it is possible to change sex. She said that people have every right to identify however they choose but that law and policy should be based on biological sex. Using Keira Bell’s case as an example, she said that she feels it is very cruel to encourage the belief - especially in children - that it is possible to identify into or out of one’s biological sex. Fiona also explained to Andy why it is unfair and even dangerous for women to share prisons, sports, NHS wards etc with males and that her concern is for the safety and wellbeing of females.
Andy continued to call Fiona a bigot and described her concern for the safety of women and girls as ‘transphobia’.
Fiona told Andy that she does not believe people on either side of the debate come from a place of harm and she asked him to extend her that same courtesy. The conversation ended there. At the time, she did not know that Andy had any involvement with People in the Park or Transition Salisbury.
The following day, Fiona was banned from NextDoor, her account having been reported by another user. 25 days after being barred from NextDoor and only the day after she believed she had booked a pitch at People in the Park, Fiona received an email from Andy.
Andy’s email explained that he is ‘in charge’ of assigning pitches to local businesses at People in the Park. He told Fiona that she would not be allowed a stall at the event. He claimed that her recent posts on the NextDoor site ‘showed strong views against the LGBT community’ which, he stated, do not ‘fit’ with the event’s community theme. This is how Fiona replied to Andy’s email:
She never received a response.
Transition Salisbury states on its website, “We are not politically affiliated to any party or movement; the issues are too large and important for that, because we are a grassroots movement, the drive for change will come from the community”. Unless, it seems, members of that community are arbitrarily deemed to be wrong-thinkers by Andy.
When challenged by numerous people over this issue on Facebook, Transition Salisbury chose to double down and claimed that they had excluded Fiona because of ‘her actions, not her beliefs’ and alleged that she had made ‘discriminatory posts’.
Of course, when asked to provide receipts detailing just what Fiona had done or said that was ‘discriminatory’, they declined to do so. Instead they made yet further unsubstantiated claims about Fiona’s comments.
When I spoke to Fiona she told me how incredibly disappointed she was to be excluded from People in the Park. “Were the shoe on the other foot, I would never dream of banning someone from an event just because their views differ from mine”. She said that she had never had any response from Transition Salisbury. “I don’t know how long my ban extends for, if it’s permanent or whether I can ever attend these events again.”
Fiona went on to say that, though she has lost out financially, her concerns are not about money. She is determined that her business has as low a carbon impact as possible and is passionate about creating and sharing products which are plastic-free and environmentally friendly. “Of course I can sell products online”, she said. “But, when I have to send products by post, that affects the carbon impact. Now I’ve been robbed of a chance to sell my products in a way that is as environmentally friendly as possible at a venue less than a mile from my house!”
“I feel like I’ve been bullied out of an opportunity”, she told me. “This is cruel and this is bigotry to someone who simply believes differently.”
Fiona makes some amazing products (all available on her website) - goats milk soaps (brilliant for sensitive skin), vegan items, shampoo and conditioner bars and even merchandise for dogs, all plastic and palm oil free and all environmentally friendly. What a pity the People in the Park have been robbed of an opportunity to enjoy them.
Wednesday 27th July - Sex Matters
THE INDEPENDENT: A trans-identified female who deceived women into having sex with her has been jailed for 10 years.
Tarjit Singh (formerly Hannah Walters) deceived three women into pursuing a physical relationship with her by convincing them that she is a man. She used a prosthetic penis and various devious strategies to trick her victims. When they became suspicious, she was aggressive and abusive.
In May this year she was convicted of three counts of assault by penetration, six counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of making a threat to kill. Melissa Garner of the CPS said, “These victims have been deceived, betrayed and lied to in the most disturbing and traumatic of ways”.
Walters was sentenced this week. She will serve 10 years in prison with a further three years on licence and a sexual harm prevention order has also been imposed.
Thursday 28th July - ‘Both Sides’
REDUXX: A trans-identified male musician has openly promoted violence against women with the release of his latest video.
The name Precious Child may be familiar to you; he is the trans identified male who was initially thought to be the naked man at the centre of the now infamous Wi Spa story. In an Instagram post which has since been deleted, he appeared to take responsibility for the incident.
Precious Child was then the subject of a fawning article in The Guardian. The article vilified the woman who had initially complained about there being a naked man in the female spa area, implying her story was untrue. The incident was framed as some sort of anti-trans campaign, rather than an egregious attack on women’s safety and privacy.
The so-called transwoman eventually charged over the Wi Spa story is a convicted male sex offender. 52-year-old Darren Agee Merager was charged with five felony counts of indecent exposure. Four women and came forward to give evidence, saying they witnessed Merager’s partially erect penis in the female-only hot tub. He’s a registered sex offender with two prior convictions of indecent exposure for offences which took place in 2002 and 2003 and was accused of exposing himself to women and children at a swimming pool in December 2018.
Around the time Merager was charged, Precious Child released a music video called Tear Up in which he attacks naked women in a spa sauna with a phallic weapon. The track was an advance release from his album, AR-15s for Transgender Teens.
Earlier this month Precious Child released a track called TERF Killer “In honour of the Wi Spa anniversary” and with a “Special dedication to JK Rowling and gender critical fuqs”.
The entire video is comprised of a flashing screen on which images of knives and bullets are interspersed with the words “KILL A TERF TODAY”.
But ‘both sides’, right?
Friday 29th July - First Do No Harm
THE TELEGRAPH: Charlie Bentley-Astor writes about her experience of gender dysphoria and her realisation that medical transition would have killed her.
At school Charlie was a ‘tomboy’ at school. After puberty she continued to reject stereotypical femininity and had no interest in pursuing romantic relationships. She later had issues coming to terms with her bisexuality, becoming depressed and even contemplating suicide. She was influenced by friends and peers into believing her gender identity was the cause of her anxiety and unhappiness.
“This is when gender ideology came onto the scene. It was a slow creep from wanting to be “not woman” to “not female” to “gender non-conforming” to “gender non-binary” to “man”. With each step the promise grew of freedom from the social-sexual tyranny in which my womanly body had me trapped… I was only too happy to do and say whatever was asked of me by those offering the way out.”
Charlie saw several NHS therapists, all enthusiastic to affirm, rather than interrogate, her ‘gender identity’. And those around her continued to convince her that she was trans. Over the next few years she cut off her hair, adopted they/them pronouns and bound her breasts. She was more depressed than ever.
“And when I looked round at friends, also ‘living their most authentic lives’, they were as unhappy as I was. They smiled, as I did, and revelled in how free and just and authentic it all was. But it is no exaggeration to say that every one of them had at least one major unmanaged mental-health issue – panic, suicidal-depression, self-harm, and eating disorders among the most common manifestations of something being not being right.”
When Charlie sought surgery to remove her female organs, her GP refused to refer her. At the time Charlie was angry and resentful but now realises that doctor probably saved her life. Eventually Charlie came to understand that her physical appearance - baggy clothes, buzz cut hair, thin frame etc - was not a manifestation of her ‘gender identity’ but an attempt to escape the sexual interest of males.
“I was punishing myself – my body – for having gone through puberty without my permission. I was disgusted by my own nature. I felt betrayed by it. And the betrayal was total. I wanted to escape it, kill it, obliterate it, so that it could never betray me again… But I am that body. It is not other than me. It is me. And I can’t escape the make-up of my cells – no matter what any gender theorist tries to convince me of.”
Following her detransition, Charlie began seeing a new therapist. She was diagnosed with PMDD (a hormonal intolerance about which little is known) and several learning disorders, including autism. She lost all of her friends and even her career but says she has never been happier. She finally has confidence, a sense of self and, for the first time she can remember, she is not gender dysphoric or suicidal.
“I have no doubt that, if I’d have gone through with the surgical transition, I would have committed suicide not long after… I am not claiming that transition isn’t a legitimate treatment for those rare few with persistent gender dysphoria. I’m saying it is just that – rare. Transition – particularly surgical – should be a last resort... And we, as a society, need to dispense with this calamity of an idea that transitioning is for everyone who struggles with their identity and body. It isn’t.”
Saturday 30th July - Yes, Minister
THE TIMES: Kemi Badenoch writes about the ‘groupthink’ at the Civil Service and its dogged adherence to gender ideology.
We have written previously about the influence of the trans lobby over the civil servants. Now former equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, wants “To give an insight into the numerous obstacles that slow down even the most determined minister from finding out the truth and making the right decisions”.
When Badenoch became equalities minister in early 2020, the NHS gender identity service (GIDS) was discussed by government officials in purely positive terms and, despite there already being a number of clinicians sounding the alarm about the damage being done to children, she was assured there was ‘nothing to see here’.
She says that civil servants seemed to be consulting only a narrow group of advisors and the LGBT advisory panel assembled by previous ministers was clearly suffering from groupthink. When she insisted on wider consultation, officials were horrified by her speaking with the LGB Alliance and repeatedly warned her against talking to Keira Bell, claiming that doing so would be ‘inappropriate’.
“The government machine wants to be comfortable and consensual and campaigners and activists know how to take advantage of this. A minister asking tricky questions can be stopped in their tracks… A small minority of activist officials are the tail wagging the dog, often to the dismay of their colleagues and the hand-wringing of far more senior officials.”
There is, says Badenoch, a wider problem of activist groups creating a toxic atmosphere on social media where many MPs engage with their constituents. Fellow MPs, from both sides of the house, have confided in her their fears of discussing this matter publicly and of standing up to the online lobbyists.
“The reason it took this long for the Tavistock to be shut down is that activists succeeded in creating an environment in which critics and journalists felt unable to interrogate the dogma that youngsters should be able to medically transition in the way overseen by Tavistock… Ministers must see through the courage of their convictions, ignore Twitter storms and face down vested interests who are profiting from scandals such as the Tavistock that ruined so many lives.”
Sunday 31st July - Bob’s Your Auntie
THE TELEGRAPH: The BBC has been accused of ‘disappearing women’ by allowing its 50:50 female quotas to include trans-identified males.
In 2017 the BBC founded its 50:50 equality project. The intention was to monitor contributors to BBC programmes, gathering data and setting diversity benchmarks, with the aim of at least half being women.
According to the website, “50:50 The Equality Project is committed to inspiring and supporting the BBC and organisations around the globe to consistently create journalism and media content that fairly represents our world. The initiative, born in the BBC’s London newsroom, uses a methodology that is rooted in data, creativity, practicality and passion to fundamentally shift representation within the media”.
It has expanded to include 145 partner organisations in 30 countries, spanning media, law and finance. It has won a fistful of awards.
The scheme produces an annual BBC report. In the most recent 2021 report, BBC director general, Tim Davie, boasted that no BBC team taking part involved fewer than 40 per cent women after three years of monitoring.
However, The Telegraph has reported that the 50:50 female quotas can now include trans-identified males. The methodology states, “Content-makers monitor the gender identity of their contributors with the aim of featuring at least 50 per cent women – they do not monitor whether a contributor’s gender differs from their sex registered at birth”.
The Telegraph understands that BBC staff have protested internally about the change. One senior BBC insider told the paper that the broadcaster has redefined the word woman without any public debate. “The BBC has now ‘disappeared’ women as a sex class”.
See you next week.
Well, JK will no doubt prove capable of looking after herself yet again. But Fiona…..let’s all buy Fiona’s soap. I feel a bit of very early Christmas shopping coming on, and somebody in power will hopefully take up her case for discrimination. . I will donate to it when they do! .
It's just dawned on me that I am all out of goats milk soap!