The Good News Supplement: Monday 15th April - Sunday 21st April
Yet another jam-packed edition just bulging at the seams with good news from the gender beat this week. Enjoy!
Cass In Parliament
The Cass Review remains very much in the news. This week it was discussed in The House of Commons with Health and Social Care Secretary, Victoria Atkins, making an incredibly powerful statement. “Fashionable cultural values have overtaken evidence, safety and biological reality. This must now stop.”
After thanking Dr Hilary Cass and her team, Ms Atkins went on to commend ‘those who raised the alarm’ and those who contributed to the review - clinicians, journalists, academics, activists, parents and detransitioners - despite the risk to their careers and despite being vilified as ‘bigots and transphobes’.
“It should concern every single member of this house that part of our public space, the NHS, was overtaken by a culture of secrecy and ideology that was allowed to trump evidence and safety. We say enough is enough. Our young people deserve better.”
Victoria Atkins stated unequivocally that she will root out gender ideology from the NHS in order to protect children and that every measure will be taken to prevent puberty blockers from being prescribed privately. Any clinic prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to the under-16’s, she said, will risk having its licence revoked and its clinicians struck off.
Talking about unlicensed private clinics, Atkins said, “It is morally and medically reprehensible that some online providers, not registered in the UK, have stated their intention to continue to issue prescription to children in this country”. She promised to close the loophole which allows them to do so, insisting “Nothing is off the table” in her crusade against them. Looks like days are numbered for the snake oil shysters at GenderGP.
Labour MP, Lloyd Russell Mole (who famously raged at, insulted and then tried to intimidate Miriam Cates MP during a debate on self-ID last year), tried to claim that there was toxicity, viciousness and nastiness on both sides of the debate. Victoria Atkins swatted him away like a headmistress dismissing a petulant schoolboy with the wave of her hand. It was a delight to watch.
“I'm sorry but there is, I think, a certain amount of disbelief in The Chamber. Because I cannot be the only one who remembers the debate of January 2023 where the member opposite not only tried to shout down female colleagues on his side of the house but felt so exorcised about the debate - which was to do with the Scottish Gender Recognition Act - he crossed the floor of The House to come and sit on the bench next to my honourable friend for Penistone and Stocksbridge… Setting a good example starts at home and I hope he won't ever behave as he did in the chamber that day.”
Brava, Ms Atkins.
Is Sense Returning To Scotland?
The ripples of the Cass Review continue to spread, even to Scotland where child gender clinic, The Sandyford in Glasgow, is to ‘pause’ the prescribing of puberty blockers to minors.
Furthermore, new patients will no longer receive any other forms of hormone treatments until they are 18.
Dr Emilia Crighton, director of public health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), said that “The findings informing the Cass review are important, and we have reviewed the impact on our clinical pathways. The next step from here is to work with the Scottish government and academic partners to generate evidence that enables us to deliver safe care for our patients”.
Stonewalls Come Tumbling Down
It seems that another effect of the Cass Review is the further decline in support for Stonewall, according to an article in The Times this week.
“A decade ago, as same-sex marriage became legal, Stonewall was riding high… Now, the NHS has distanced itself and other public bodies are reviewing their associations with the charity, as the fallout from a landmark report on gender identity shines a spotlight on the organisation.”
On the subject of Stonewall, its former CEO, Ruth Hunt, was in the news this week, too. Or at least the petition to have her stripped of her peerage was, featuring in an article in The Telegraph. Great to see it getting some press coverage.
Said petition is coming up on 17,000 signatures (at the time of going to press). Keep signing and sharing.
Supreme Decision
In big news from the US this week, the Supreme Court has upheld legislation in Idaho that criminalizes medical interventions for gender-distressed minors.
In May 2023, Idaho legislators passed the Idaho Vulnerable Child Protection Act which bans puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for minors struggling with gender issues with clinicians facing up to 10 years in prison should they provide such treatments. Shortly after the bill was signed into law, the families of two trans-identified teenagers sued the state and asked a judge to block the law while the case was making its way through the courts. US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted their motion and temporarily blocked the legislation from taking effect.
This week the US Supreme Court overturned that decision and has allowed the ban on medical interventions for dysphoric children to stand.
Pronoun Wankers
An Irish university has altered text in its gender identity policy which previously enforced the use of pronouns in its gender identity policy.
South East Technological University (SETU) published a gender identity policy in October which stated that staff or students refusing to use someone’s ‘preferred pronouns’ would amount to “Unlawful discrimination or harassment”.
In an updated policy released last week, SETU has altered this text and it now asks staff and students to avoid using a person’s pronouns “With which they do not identify”.
A step in the right direction.
The Body In The Library
A ‘trans exhibition’ at a Norfolk library has been closed down with the head of the county council apologising and launching an investigation.
To mark Transgender Day of Visibility, The Millennium Library in Norwich hosted an exhibition which had been organised by Norwich Trans Pride. It was blatant propaganda for gender ideology with exhibits including hypodermic needles for injecting testosterone and images of so-called ‘sex reassignment’ surgery.
The display attracted a great deal of criticism, especially from women’s rights groups. This prompted the leader of Norfolk County Council, Kay Mason Billig, to intervene personally. She not only closed down the exhibition, she issued a personal apology and has launched an investigation.
People power - keep it up!
A Level Playing Field
The Sports Minister has urged sporting bodies to implement a complete ban on trans-identified males from women’s competitions and is taking action on the issue.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer, said that, while some sports have already banned trans-identified males from women’s divisions, others, including football and cricket, “Are not going far or fast enough”.
Following a meeting with women’s rights and Olympic legend, Sharron Davies, Ms Frazer wrote a column in The Daily Mail in the defence of women’s sports.
Furthermore, she called together representatives from key sporting organisations - such the England and Wales Cricket Board and Football Association - to encourage them to ban trans-identified males from competing against women.
“The need for clear action from all sports becomes more pressing with each passing week… In competitive sport, biology matters. And where male strength, size and body shape gives athletes an indisputable edge, this should not be ignored… We must get back to giving women a level playing field to compete. We need to give women a sporting chance.”
In a similar story from The telegraph, elite athletes are also calling for biology to be prioritised over ‘gender identity’ in sport.
Researchers from Swansea University and the Manchester Metropolitan University surveyed almost 200 elite female athletes. The study found that most want sporting categories to be divided by sex, not ‘gender identity.
Glinner Down Under
Our Graham continues to have a busy time in Australia.
He’s still hanging out with the heroes and heroines of the Aussie resistance.
He was interviewed by podcaster, Melody Rachel.
And he also had a chat with Kit Kowalski and Edie Wyatt on their Welcome to the Dollhouse podcast.
Don’t forget that Graham’s memoir, Tough Crowd, is still available from Amazon, The Express shop, Lightning Eye, Waterstones, Blackwells and all other discerning outlets. (There are also audio versions available on Audible and Spotify too.
It is her. First page of Ecosia image search. It isn't flattering at all I know that. But I chose it because she was looking to her side, that is, at TOJ.
A breath of fresh air. It's so important to see the positive news after all the negative news gives you a punch in the guts. Small but important steps, I'm very much looking forward to the tsunami of backpedalling.