Here is a 2018 YouTube video (approx 17 minutes) of Professor Michele Moore (Univ of Essex), editor and chief of Disability & Society, a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of disability studies.
Moore has been a warrior for children and young people yet has been harshly denounced for disagreeing with Gender Identity activists who claim that self-identified “transkids” are always right and should always be “affirmed” in their belief that they are Transgender.
She touches on several topics discussed by this blog.
Social Contagion – teens identifying as trans in “friendship groups” offline and online
Schools Deceiving Parents About Social Transition
Social Services removing children from “non-affirming” parents.
4,500 percent increase in girls identifying as transgender over last decade in UK
“Conversion Therapy” Deception
2/3 of Self-ID “trans” teenagers previously identified with mental health disorders
35% of children referred to UK Tavistock Gender Clinic are on autistic spectrum
80% desistance rate once they go through puberty using “watchful waiting”
Normalizing dissociation from your natural body
Lifelong Medicalization of Identity
New kind of Homophobia
Experimentation on the bodies of our children
No child born in the wrong body
Self-ID of gender is illusory
This is about inclusion. Listen….
Here are some of her final words in the video….
I argue that self identity is brought on by the things people say. A backdrop of media, the internet, the increasing role of trans affirmative ideas in schools for children that affect our teachers and the parents....uncritical medical practice is recycling the idea that the cause of misaligned gender resides in the body. Even though medical interventions bring lifelong physical and psychological difficulties that will actually deepen gender-based dissatisfaction and never actually change a person's biological sex....
It's not coincidental that children's interests are being undermined by the idea of self-identification. There are a lot of stakeholders including Big Pharma who want them to identify as transgender and who don't want anybody to ask any sensible questions. Very conveniently puberty blockers and hormone therapy compounds gender confusion. First the child misses out on the puberty of their peers. Next an already confused girl has a vagina and a beard. The only way forward is more treatment, more treatment. Allegedly to relieve gender-dysphoria.
But the DeTransitioners that I'm working with and the people who regret transitioning tell us that gender-dysphoria doesn't go away with medical intervention because the problem doesn't reside in the body.My critique is not about exclusion. It's about inclusion. It's about allowing every girl to live her own kind of femininity without being excluded from her own bodyand without being excluded from a female sex class. And it's about inclusion so that any boy wants to wear pink dresses to school can do that and not be excluded from his own body. And his own sex class.
The idea that children are born in the wrong body, that gender is biological and sex isn't, and that children should be allowed to self-identify their sex and their gender, functions as a tool for adult self interest. Children are being confused in terrible ways...
Professor Moore puts her career and reputation on the line by saying what she says. She has “nerves of steel.”
Gender Ideologues animated by Queer Theory want to abolish the concepts of sex and sexuality. And they want to start teaching this to our kids at the earliest possible age. Please refer to the following “category” of posts: Schools and Gender Ideology for more information.
Individuals with a Gender Identity Disorder (Gender-Dysphoria) need Truth-filled Love. Please read this post for more details.
For anyone interested in an extended review of the Gender-Critical Pro-Creation argument presented on this blog, but without having to scroll through every post, please visit the Menu at the top of each page and click on the Top Posts link.
Michigan Democratic governor signs ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for minors
Let me see if I’ve gotten this right. If an adolescent seeks the care of a gender-affirming health professional offering permanent body-altering hormones and surgeries, that counsel should be encouraged & protected by law.
But if that same questioning adolescent encounters the care and counsel of a health professional offering advice on how to become comfortable with his/her body, that may be considered ‘conversion therapy’ which would result in disciplinary action against the health professional?
Did I get that right?
In the past ‘conversion therapy’ included treatments like electric shock-therapy. Nobody. NOBODY does this in the Western world today. Nobody. That disreputable treatment was considered a way of ‘getting the gay’ out. So using the term ‘conversion therapy’ conjures up those past horrors. It’s an effective rhetorical move.
And so today, ‘talk therapy’ could be considered ‘conversion therapy’ unless it goes in an affirming direction. Also, whereas ‘sexual orientation’ was the main concern, ‘gender identity’ is included in today’s legal language, something most people doubt they have.
The definitional goal-posts have been moved. And Michigan joins 22 other states that have banned so-called conversion therapy.
CNN reports on Michigan Law
One of the bills Whitmer signed into law Wednesday, House Bill 4616, prohibits mental health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy with minors. Under the bill, any violation will result in the mental health professional facing disciplinary action, which could include a suspended or revoked license.
House Bill 4617, meanwhile, adds the definition of conversion therapy to the state’s mental health code. It defines the term as “any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behavior or gender expression or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward an individual of the same gender.”
Glasgow University Law Professor Michael Foran has written a good article about the complexities involved with passing this kind of bill. I don’t agree with everything he writes, but a thorough set of questions are being asked by Foran. His article is well worth your time.
He’s writing because the UK parliament is debating a “Conversion Therapy Bill” that attaches criminal offense to the practice. It will be more retributive than mere professional discipline or the loss of a license. (The Michigan Law)
He argues that the proposed legislation, aiming to criminalize conversion therapy, must be crafted with precision, clarity, and proportionality. He warns against the potential criminalization of essential support for those grappling with sexuality and gender identity.
Professor Foran emphasizes the need for clear definitions of terms like “sex,” “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity,” without which the legislation may lead to confusion and unintended consequences. The relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation must be carefully considered, and the bill must avoid inadvertently enabling conversion therapy through hasty affirmation of transitions. In an ironic twist, Foran says this looks like “internalized homophobia” and an effort to “trans away the gay.”
Furthermore, the legislation must not create a chilling effect on therapists and mental health professionals, who must be free to provide appropriate care without fear of criminalization. It must also respect human rights, including freedom of expression, association, and religion.
Here are a few paragraphs of his argument.
Intuitively, one would assume a ban on conversion therapy is an unqualified good. This is partially because talk of conversion therapy conjures images of gay people being strapped to tables and electrocuted. But if this legislation is not carefully drafted, it could criminalise the provision of vitally needed support for vulnerable children and adults struggling with sexuality and gender identity issues.
When and if the Government produce a draft, for legislation to deserve support, it must ensure that therapists are still able to do their jobs without committing crimes, and patients are able to receive appropriate care, tailored to them which keeps their physical and mental wellbeing in focus. ————- There is a real danger that this Bill could discourage clinicians or those working with LGBT people, including vulnerable minors, from providing appropriate care that is tailored to the individual in question…..Appropriate care must ensure that there is informed consent to any medical interventions, something which cannot be done if professionals cannot speak openly about the risks involved and the possibility of regret or even detransition. ————- Any legislation that criminalises speech must be cognisant of the human rights implications. The Bill must be carefully tailored to ensure that it does not criminalise the expression of truth about biological sex as someone sees it. It must not criminalise consensual prayer between adults.
Enshrining gender identity in law is as bad an idea as enshrining souls in law. I don't have either, & don't want one foisted on me by legislators. We can protect trans-identified people like religious people – without requiring the rest of us to endorse their beliefs. https://t.co/vyCmXiY6Vl
Of course, I think Helen is wrong about the “souls” bit (see below). She grew up Catholic, and considers herself an atheist now. But I take her point.
As I’ve done previously on this blog, I must ask, who is engaged in conversion therapy here?
Is it the one who is trying to help a person align their thoughts and feelings with the body they were given at birth or the professional who disregards the body and proposes irreversible surgeries combined with life-long hormone treatments in hopes of aligning the outer body with a patient’s inner desires?
Who is the conversion therapist?
Gender Identity Ideologues pin that label on those clinicians and pastors who try to help an individual become more comfortable with their immutable biological sex. These concerned professionals and pastors counsel them not to transition away from their sex. It’s called Talk Therapy. And it is very effective, especially for children with gender dysphoria. As Professor Foran accurately states in his article
…several studies have indicated that between 60 and 80% of gender distressed children will desist if not placed on a medical pathway and up to 80% of them will grow up to be homosexual or bisexual.
Trans Activists regard these Talk Therapy efforts as immoral and professional clinicians are forbidden in some states and other countries from steering individuals toward accepting their birth sex by using the “watchful waiting” approach instead of heading down the medicalization path of no return.
The Classic Christian Perspective
I’ve briefly written about Western philosopher Rene Descartes in a few posts. I’ve highlighted the idea of Cartesian Dualism, the idea that the mind and body are separate entities. This is a dualism that today’s Trans Activists develop into an extreme antagonism. Those entities, body and soul, are indeed different. But they are designed by God to be fully integrated. Because to put it plainly, fully separating body from soul (mind) is the definition of death.
It’s like trying to separate the wind from the air – they exist together, intertwined. The mind and body, are not two unrelated things, but two parts of a whole. It’s like a symphony, where the body and soul are different instruments playing in harmony to create the music of our identity.
The biblical witness teaches us that we are created in the image and likeness of God, both body and soul. Our bodies, are not just vessels for our souls, but an integral part of who we are. Our bodies, are part of our identity, not separate from it.
The idea that one’s gender identity can be different from one’s biological sex, is like trying to separate the sun from its light – they’re inherently linked. Classic Christianity teaches us that our biological sex is a gift from God, not something to be rejected and harmed. It’s a part of who we are, as much as our soul is. Yes, sadly, there will be a separation at death. But there will be reintegration at the Resurrection.
Finally, Classic Christianity warns us that the thoughts or desires of our inner and outer being may lead us astray. The mind, for example, can be a tricky thing. It may be convinced of things that aren’t true.
In the end, we must respect and accept the bodies we’ve been given, not try to change them to fit an obvious delusion.
I haven’t blogged about Abigail Shrier in a while. Here is a YouTube interview (30 minutes) where she discusses her reporting on the insanity that is seducing our daughters, sons, and far too many adults in the Western World.
Partial Transcript
(2:06) [Why Target canceled her book]. Twitter activists complained. They [target.com] removed the book. There was an outcry. I sold a lot of books. It sold out everywhere. They put the book back up for sale and then the second no one was watching they quietly deleted it again. So it’s not available and has not been for months and months and months has not been available on target.com.
And you you see this testing going on at all over the place. I mean i got a letter the other day from a man in Vermont who had offered to donate it to his library and the library refused to take it. This is a book that people are on waiting lists to read and um you know libraries won’t, you know, very often won’t carry it. They just refuse um and and we’re seeing that you know in Halifax, Nova scotia there was, there are 150 people on the list to read the book and Pride tried to shut it down and have it removed on the grounds that in a library of literally over a million volumes this one book made them unsafe.
THEIR REASON?
Anything from oh she’s not a medical doctor which of course you know no journalist who writes about any medical scandal is ever a medical doctor….that’s why we interview experts.
….there is no consensus view [among medical experts]. That’s the problem. There’s a lot of disagreement within the medical community how this should be handled unfortunately what’s going on right now is a real medical scandal and the few doctors you know who are willing to speak up really risk losing their license.
…with regard to this you know transgender health care I just pointed out you know I did an exploration of the the sudden rise out of nowhere of teenage girls deciding they were transgender I looked at why why are they suddenly the leading demographic. We have a hundred year diagnostic history of this thing called gender dysphoria, the severe discomfort with one’s biological sex, and it was always boys and men and now overwhelmingly the leading demographic is teenage girls across the west and and I wanted to look at why, why that might be and I explored you know I talked to a lot of experts who offer a lot of different reasons and uh that’s what I explored in the book.
(5:15). Why are girls so susceptible? Could you summarize?
Teenage girls in mental health distress anxiety depression and other you know anything from borderline personality disorder to other, you know, psychological struggles have always been susceptible to pure contagion they’ve always been susceptible to the idea that there’s something really wrong with them and that if they just lose enough weight or, you know, if they get control these multiple personalities or I mean there’s a you know they they come up with these explanations. Sometimes they’re introduced from by therapists in this case it’s all over the culture and the and social media and the ideas. They look to the culture to figure out what’s wrong with them and today the answer that they’re landing on is…oh I know what the problem is I’m supposed to be a boy. And the moment a young person says that a young woman says that she goes from a lonely teenager who may struggle to find friends to someone who is celebrated in her school congratulated by her therapist and whose doctor can’t wait to start her on a course of hormones.
(6:40). So this is kind of uh we’re taking these universal feelings that that all teenagers experience especially girls and what we have now is a they’re being presented with a with a handy kind of framework for understanding those feelings and that’s what brings them to transgenderism.
Basically that’s right. I mean imagine you know a young woman who you know prior era would have who would be anorexic and be convinced that if she just lost enough weight everything would be better it’s very you know they they latch on to the because they are in real pain this does not discount their pain. We know that rates are very high of anxiety depression self-harm for this generation and they’re in they’re in a lot of pain and they looked you know psychological pain is very hard to explain to someone in a way that gets you noticed and in a way that gets you you know interest and help. And what they want they want they want the affection they want the celebration and they want the attention and one way to frame it so that they get those things um which which i think they do need they do need attention they do need compassion but the way that they’re framing it is is not necessarily accurate in fact very often i think it’s inaccurate that what they what they have is not real typical gender dysphoria.
(9:04) on social media these young women are constantly coached in you know gender ideology and told that oh if you feel uncomfortable, (every woman goes through a period around puberty of feeling uncomfortable in her body) and she’s taught and they spend tremendous amount of times social time on social media they’re taught that that feeling means you’re transgender at a time when it’s very uncool to be a straight girl who is “cisgender” you know comfortable in her body at all. So the number of forces pushing on her to declare this identity are a lot and as soon as she declares a trans identity or non-binary identity she’s celebrated.
She goes on to discuss job insecurity within the medical profession if you disagree with “gender affirmative care” & then discusses the REAL CONVERSION THERAPY.
