Freedom of speech has won a decisive victory in Australia. On Tuesday, a Melbourne tribunal <a href="https://adfinternational.org/news/free-speech-victory-in-australia-for-billboard-chris-as-x-post-censorship-overturned">overturned</a> the Australian government’s censorship order against Canadian street advocate Chris “<a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=support+billboard+chris+adf+international&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8">Billboard Chris</a>” Elston for an X post critical of gender ideology.
Back in 2024, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner had ordered X to remove Chris’ post, claiming it constituted “adult cyber abuse” under the country’s Online Safety Act. The post linked to a Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13119521/Sex-secrets-trans-kinky-Australian-bondage-bestiality-nudism-drugs-sex-change.html">article</a> about a WHO appointee and referred to the individual using biologically accurate pronouns. No threats. No private information. Just public facts and an opinion the government didn’t like. X initially resisted, but eventually geo-blocked the post in the country while filing its own appeal.
Billboard Chris, who travels the world engaging in conversations exposing the truth about gender ideology prompted by his wearable signs, refused to bow down to the order. With legal support from ADF International and the Human Rights Law Alliance, he challenged the eSafety Commissioner, and won in a decisive victory not just for himself, but for everyone who values the right to speak freely.
The Administrative Review Tribunal found what should have been obvious from the beginning — the post wasn’t intended to cause harm, wasn’t likely to be seen by the complainant, and was consistent with Chris’s well-known public message — namely, that children are never born in the wrong body. It ruled clearly that this did not constitute a form of abuse and revoked the takedown order.
The Tribunal recognized what the eSafety Commissioner refused to acknowledge, which is that this isn’t about harassment of any kind. The protection of Chris’ expression is about upholding the basic right to participate in a public conversation, one that touches on some of the most urgent questions of our time. To silence that conversation under the guise of “cyber abuse” is both intellectually dishonest and dangerous.
The absurdity of the government’s case was exposed in the hearing itself. Chris had merely reposted a widely read article that included publicly available information about the transgender activist appointed to a WHO panel of “experts” — information the activist had willingly shared on social media. Instead of defending public transparency, the government claimed those details were irrelevant and demanded censorship.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a></h3>
The Tribunal’s written decision was clear: “The post, although phrased offensively, is consistent with views Mr Elston has expressed elsewhere in circumstances where the expression of the view had no malicious intent. For example, his statement placed on billboards that he is prepared to wear in public ‘children are never born in the wrong body’ expresses the same idea about the immutability of biology that he expresses, albeit much more provocatively, in the post”. Further, it held that, “an ordinary reasonable person would not conclude that that it is likely that the post was intended to have an effect of causing serious harm to Mr Cook”.
This case is about more than just one post or even one country’s speech laws. Not only will this decision likely shape future enforcement decisions, but also Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has just been <a href="https://x.com/k_mahlburg/status/1939872951895302531">named</a> in a U.S. congressional investigation for colluding with foreign governments and corporate cartels to suppress speech worldwide — including in the United States. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/2025-06/Exporting%20Censorship%20Final.pdf">released</a> a 100-page report detailing how Grant worked with GARM — a World Economic Forum-linked advertising consortium — to push platforms like X into silencing disfavored views. She demanded global takedowns of lawful content. She participated in pressure campaigns against X after Musk’s takeover. And she allowed so-called “brand safety” coalitions to influence her regulatory decisions.
This is coordinated censorship. The report lays out how GARM and other WEF-affiliated coalitions, working with officials like Grant, sought to blacklist voices they disagreed with under the pretense of maintaining a “safe” internet. In reality, they were constructing a global censorship machine — one that’s ideologically aligned, politically unaccountable, and willing to cross borders to silence dissent. Billboard Chris&#8217; case is living proof of what this looks like.
If the Tribunal had sided with the Commissioner, it would have emboldened this aggressive censorship campaign and reinforced the idea that a government can suppress the speech of any person on any platform, even beyond traditional jurisdictional boundaries. And make no mistake — that’s exactly what the eSafety Commissioner and its allies are trying to do.
Fortunately, Billboard Chris’ free speech victory is a warning to the censors. He stood up to a system designed to silence him, and he won. But the same people trying to censor speech in Australia are working to do the same everywhere else. 
On the same day of Chris’ victory, the European Union took a significant step toward strengthening online censorship, beefing up its censorial Digital Services Act by enforcing the accompanying &#8220;Code of Conduct on Disinformation&#8221;. The DSA enables Brussels bureaucrats to control online speech at scale — both in Europe and globally — under the guise of “safety” and “protecting democracy”. Platforms that fail to remove content ambiguously deemed “illegal” face massive financial penalties and even suspension. Coupled with the framework’s approach to “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “hate speech,” the DSA could lead to the sweeping removal of online content.
Threats to free speech online are evidently immense and growing, but Billboard Chris’ successful challenge shows that this tide can be turned. Courageous individuals, armed with principle and the law, can stand up to the censorship industrial complex — and win. And their victories protect not just their own speech, but those too who would come after them. Others must be emboldened by the lead of this Canadian father and vigilantly defend against censorship if we are to see free speech prevail.
* * *
Robert Clarke is a barrister and director of advocacy for ADF International, which coordinated the legal defense of Billboard Chris in Australia. Follow him on X at <a href="https://x.com/Rob_ADFIntl?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Rob_ADFIntl</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-07-Apr-2025-01-02-PM-8595

A Blow To Global Censorship: ‘Billboard Chris’ Wins In Australia

A Blow To Global Censorship: 'Billboard Chris' Wins In Australia

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Australia

Censorship

European Union

Free Speech

Gender

gender ideology

Puberty blockers

Social Media Censorship

transgender surgery

On December 4, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the case for Tennessee Senate Bill 1. Today, the highest court in the land has spoken — and it got it right.
In a decision that will now set precedent throughout the entire country, the Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s right to protect our children from irreversible and unproven medical procedures under the guise of “gender-affirming care.” This is not just a victory for Tennessee, but for every state in the country seeking to preserve its duty to protect minors.
In today’s political climate, it’s more clear than ever that the Left has resisted so much that they now champion the mutilation of children. In their America, biology and truth are optional and children are subject to permanent, life-changing procedures.
Back in 2023 after Matt Walsh and the team at the Daily Wire uncovered disturbing details about so-called “gender affirming” care in our state, we said enough is enough. Now, two years later, that law was just affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.
To allow children – who cannot vote, get a tattoo, or enlist in the military – to permanently alter their bodies in the name of &#8220;affirming them” is not compassion, it’s exploitation.
As a State Senator, I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect Tennesseans – that’s why my colleagues and I passed this legislation. With this historic ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States – with Tennessee right by their side – took a stand and made a bold statement: our country will not stand by while children are preyed upon for profit.
Tennessee has become a haven for families fleeing the Left-wing chaos in blue states. Families are moving here seeking common sense and stability that frankly does not exist anymore in areas of our country. With this Supreme Court ruling, Tennessee continues leading the nation and solidifying itself as a state with a backbone and the interest of children in mind.
This ruling is more than a legal win; it’s the start of a cultural shift in our country. The Supreme Court has decided that states can make decisions for the people through their duly elected representatives – especially on matters as serious as the health of our children.
A day like today wouldn’t be possible without the remarkable dedication and fight from our outstanding Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti. His conviction and commitment to the rule of law are why we are celebrating this milestone. While some Attorneys General chase headlines, General Skrmetti chases justice.
President Trump’s recent executive orders — protecting women’s sports and restoring a biologically based definition of sex across federal agencies — are major victories for conservatives and for common sense. Today’s Supreme Court decision is another powerful affirmation of truth and actual leadership. I’m deeply encouraged by President Trump’s bold stand on this issue and pray his administration continues to lead with courage and conviction.
This historic decision gives new found hope and strength to every state bold enough to push back on these policies that prioritize money over children’s safety. The Supreme Court has only affirmed what we know all along: Senate Bill 1 is lawful, necessary, and is now the law of the land. This is only the beginning, Tennessee.
***
Jack Johnson represents Senate District 27 which consists of Williamson County. Jack Johnson serves as the Tennessee Senate Majority Leader.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Supreme Court

SCOTUS Says Tennessee Can Protect Kids From Trans Procedures. Other States Should Follow Our Lead.

Children

gender-affirming care

Hospitals

Matt Walsh

minors

SCOTUS

Skrmetti

Tennessee

Transgender

As the human costs of selling “gender-affirming care” en masse continue to rack up, the zeitgeist has decidedly shifted against activist organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Only a few short years ago, the tenets of the HRC were considered an indispensable part of the conversation for any politician or corporation looking to claim the mantle of ‘inclusivity.’ 
“History will be brutal to those responsible [for gender ideology]. But almost certainly not brutal enough,” <a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/will-big-trans-be-held-to-account-3ad">wrote</a> Andrew Sullivan last year, in a withering assessment of how sharply the cultural tides turned on the extremes of the transgender movement. He’s right. Sullivan’s <a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/will-big-trans-be-held-to-account-3ad">assessment</a> of the HRC now seems far more descriptive of many Americans’ perspective: a “morally bankrupt institution … using the scarred bodies of gender-dysphoric children to fundraise.”
But what’s to be our tactical response to organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, who focus much of their efforts on pressuring private companies to adopt radical activist agendas to avoid being deemed bigoted? The significance of the gender ideology debate is only growing — and the tides have mercifully turned away from narratives like the HRC’s, and back toward sanity and normalcy, President Trump’s recent executive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-just-dealt-a-massive-death-blow-to-gender-ideology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> being one such example. It’s a huge win for the public sector — but how bad is it in the private sector, where activists have been hard at work implementing gender ideology for years?
It’s bad. The incursion of gender ideology into the workplace is perhaps most obvious in the healthcare sector. When it comes to the Human Rights Campaign, and their requirement that companies cover puberty blockers as part of their healthcare plans for a perfect score on their Corporate Equality Index, many of the biggest names in healthcare have bent the knee. <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporations/walgreen-co." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walgreens</a>, <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporations/unitedhealth-group-inc." target="_blank" rel="noopener">UnitedHealth Group</a>, <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporations/novo-nordisk-inc." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Novo Nordisk</a>, <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporations/mckesson-corp." target="_blank" rel="noopener">McKesson</a>, and many more have perfect scores on the Index — in the absence of any information to the contrary, they’ve complied with activist demands and allowed gender ideology into their corporate policies.
And that’s not even addressing companies like AbbVie (a company my firm’s currently engaging with), that dodge scrutiny regarding the off-label use of their products as puberty blockers. Dodging scrutiny is a common pattern when it comes to the extent of corporate participation in the radical demands of gender ideology — but it’s a pattern we have the ability to break.
There’s no solution aside from a full-court press when it comes to corporations that kowtowed to gender ideology. The notion of ‘gender-affirming care,’ be it hormone blockers, cosmetic procedures, or sex ‘reassignment’ surgeries, performed on literal children, many of whom were not properly informed about the irreversible risks of their choices, is no longer culturally in vogue — and it’s a damnable shame that it ever was. Now is the moment to retake culture ground for sanity and morality in corporate healthcare policy. Shareholders and customers alike need to leverage their various influences to push companies who are involved with the Human Rights Campaign, or accepted WPATH guidelines, for answers: now that the most radical narratives of gender ideology have crumbled in the face of scrutiny, isn’t it far past time for the biggest names in business to ditch such discredited activist groups?
We cannot, and will not, settle for half-answers or dodgy responses. The tragic and irreversible bodily damage done to generations of Americans in the name of inclusivity and affirmation will one day be viewed as one of the great moral stains of the past century. In the name of good governance, business success, and the basic morality of not mutilating children to appease activist demands, it’s time for companies to not merely right the course on ‘gender-affirming care,’ but recommit to the path of political neutrality and activist-free corporate policies to ensure that such widespread corporate complicity can never happen again.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN, and The Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dow Jones Average Falls Steeply, As Investors Doubt Future Interest Rate Cut After Surprise Jobs Report

Corporations That Pushed Gender Ideology Owe America An Explanation

Corporations

Human Rights Campaign

Opinion

The question of ‘how America’s biggest brands caved to political activists’ is one with a thousand different answers, from specific turning points like the post-George Floyd <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fate-of-the-racially-furious" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DEI-ification</a> of the Fortune 250 to the gradual, institutional, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/09/business-roundtables-failure-to-redefine-corporations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">redefinition</a> of business purpose via the term ‘stakeholder capitalism.’ Yet, as companies from Black &amp; Decker to Tractor Supply are saying no to corporate politicization, there are several major actors standing in their way, well-funded and properly entrenched organizations who’ve made destroying fiduciary duty their full-time mission. Perhaps the most effective of these actors? The Human Rights Campaign.
Formed in 1980, the HRC is one of the most prominent LGBTQ activist organizations in the country, and currently serves to advance a partisan, progressive agenda through the corporate policies of America’s most prominent brands. It does so through what’s called the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a list of criteria that determine how worthy a corporation is of the ever-changing vacuous label of inclusive. What does a company have to do in 2024 to be considered perfectly inclusive? As per a recent HRC <a href="https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2023-CEI-Criteria-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criteria list</a>, the truly inclusive company provides employees with features such as: 
<ul>
<li>Health coverage for ‘medically necessary’ care for hormone replacement therapy, reconstructive gender reassignment surgeries </li>
<li>Puberty blockers for youth</li>
<li>Executive performance measures that include LGBTQ+ diversity metrics</li>
<li>Supplier diversity programs with special emphasis on LGBTQ+ suppliers</li>
</ul>
You’ll notice all of these have very little to do with confronting any real workplace bias, and even less to do with creating value for businesses and their shareholders, unless you truly believe that any business that doesn’t provide puberty blockers for children is actually transphobic. The increasing radicalism of the Human Rights Campaign’s business-scoring index, combined with the rhetoric of its leaders, increased media scrutiny, and pushback from the pro-shareholder side of the corporate world, led many brands to reevaluate their partnership with the activist organization. As the HRC declared 2023 a “state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people,” it would actually be the year that several big names decided to turn the page on the Index and the organization’s divisive, partisan, and non-business goals.
Fast forward to the present day, and the number of companies that have made public statements denouncing wokeness is only increasing: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tractor-supply-reverses-course-backs-out-of-woke-initiatives-following-conservative-backlash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tractor Supply</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-deere-is-latest-company-to-diminish-dei-says-it-wont-join-social-or-cultural-awareness-parades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Deere</a>, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/08/28/dei-backlash-hits-ford/74982898007/">Ford</a>, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/09/16/stanley-black-decker-nukes-corporate-diversity-robby-starbuck-craftsman-dewalt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stanley Black &amp; Decker</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/04/molson-coors-pumps-the-brakes-on-dei-practices.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Molson Coors</a>, and the list goes on. From a certain POV, this is an absolute conservative win: discriminatory DEI policies gone, a renewed focus on business purpose instead of employee groups based on racial/gendered characteristics, and in many cases a severing of ties with the Human Rights Campaign (Tractor Supply, Ford, and Black &amp; Decker, for example, explicitly said they would no longer partner with the group). Victory lap time?
Not so fast—corporate wokeness didn’t come about overnight, and it’d be naive to assume that it’d go away that quickly. Nor did the Human Rights Campaign take this slight lying down. HRC president Kelley Robinson slammed the decision as “short-sighted,” and the group made a very public show of <a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/hrc-foundation-announces-record-participation-in-upcoming-2025-corporate-equality-index-docks-scores-of-seven-companies-in-current-ranking-following-their-pullback-from-workplace-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demoting</a> the Index scores of 7 companies (Ford, Molson Coors, Tractor Supply Co., John Deere, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and Brown-Forman).
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
But then the HRC rolled out their next strategy, setting up anonymous tip lines for employees to document (1) experiences of discrimination and (2) what internal “inclusive” policies still existed at companies who’d ditched their partnership with the HRC. It’s a clever tactic—take inclusive policies behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes and meddlesome hands of shareholders and customers radical enough to believe that providing puberty blockers is not, in fact, an essential business function. But it also accomplishes a second objective that, for those of us combatting corporate bias, is similarly concerning: it allows companies to publicly back away from DEI to appease the anti-woke voices at their front door, whilst smuggling the same policies through the backdoor.
The HRC’s open scolding of companies that ditch wokeism highlights a final tactical lesson in the fight against business politicization: When ESG activists stop getting what they want from businesses, they stop pretending to be pro-business. As I <a href="https://x.com/IsaacWillour/status/1842022380643688486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X several weeks ago, “People who actually care about businesses succeeding don&#8217;t solicit anonymous, non-verifiable &#8216;tips&#8217; on them. But the HRC does &#8211; they&#8217;re activists… with no incentive to preserve actual business function.” 
As someone in the trenches of the fight against ESG, the organizations and people pushing for political neutrality in business are doing it from a pro-business perspective. Of course they are — they’re investors and shareholders, who see the mavericks of the free enterprise system as good things, not convenient stepping stones for achieving radical social goals. The battle for political neutrality, shareholder primacy, and business success is one that extends beyond the election cycle. It behooves us, whether shareholders or investors or customers, to fight that battle with a realistic sense of scope. The activists we’re up against have spent years and countless sums of money to pressure businesses away from their fiduciary goals. We’re not getting rid of them overnight.
* * *
Isaac Willour is a corporate analyst at Bowyer Research, the leading shareholder-first proxy consulting firm. He is an award-winning journalist and political commentator, with work in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, C-SPAN, RealClearMarkets and the Daily Wire. He can be found on X at <a href="https://x.com/IsaacWillour">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Tractor Supply Co.

How Left-Wing Activists Are Trying To Save Corporate Wokeness

Business

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

LGBTQ

Woke Culture

Chicago Public Schools push kids toward “hardcore queer theory” in health <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">education</a> classes, according to a new report on the district from parental rights group Parents Defending Education.
With all eyes on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chicago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago</a> for the Democratic National Convention, Parents Defending Education released a <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/chicago-public-schools-health-education-scope-and-sequence-includes-teaching-pre-kindergarteners-to-correctly-identify-body-parts-typically-considered-private-including-nipples-penis-anus-an/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on Wednesday showing that first graders are taught about “gender identity” while fifth graders are instructed about “puberty blocker medications that transgender young people may use.”
Parents Defending Education researcher Rhyen Staley told The Daily Wire on Thursday that Chicago Public Schools&#8217; “Personal Health and Safety Education &amp; Sexual Health Education Scope and Sequence” <a href="https://www.ray.cps.edu/ourpages/auto/2024/3/3/28410632/Scope%20_%20Sequence%20of%20Sexual%20Health%20Education%20SY24.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">curriculum</a> appears to be designed toward pushing kids to question their gender.
&#8220;You can start to see the process where they just slowly inch the kids and nudge the kids in the direction of hardcore queer theory,” he said. “That’s why by the time you get to fifth grade, you see that they are starting to teach the kids about transgenderism and puberty blockers.”
When looking at the curriculum as a whole, Staley said that it was a “generative process that slowly moves” the students toward queer theory.
For example, pre-K students are taught to “name at least three different types of family structures” and explain “why no one type of family is better than another.”
First graders are then taught to “define gender, gender identity and gender role stereotypes” and “name at least two things they’ve been taught about gender role stereotypes, and how those things may limit people of all genders.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-L2DitSaIUj5wz8v0bgxx">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
In third grade, students are told to “explain the difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity.” Students are also told to “expand their understanding of what it can mean to be transgender and the concept of gender expression.”
The curriculum defines “transgender” as “when a person’s gender identity (how they feel) is different from what doctors/midwives assigned to them when they were born (sex assigned at birth).”
The gender ideology is turned up a notch in fourth grade, where men are referred to as a “body with penis and testicles” while women are referred to as a “body with ovaries.”
They are taught the concepts of “gender identity, sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, and gender expression” and given a handout on the “gender snowperson&#8221; to teach them about &#8220;gender expression&#8221; and &#8220;gender identity.&#8221;
By fifth grade, students in the system began to be taught about “puberty blockers,” which have been linked to myriad health issues, including fertility problems, lack of bone development, and heart issues. They are taught about the “connection between puberty and gender identity&#8221; and are &#8220;introduced to puberty blocker medications that transgender young people may use.”
The focus on gender ideology comes as only 31% of elementary students in the district are proficient in reading and 19% in math.
&#8220;When we talk about developmentally inappropriate content soaked in left wing ideology, Chicago Public Schools provides the perfect example,” said Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach for Parents Defending Education. &#8220;No one, regardless of their grade level, should be taught that sex is assigned at birth because that is pseudoscience. And talking to fifth graders — also known as ten- and eleven-year-olds — about puberty blockers? What exactly is the goal here? All of it is reckless and indefensible.&#8221;

School Bus Driver Shortage Complicates Beginning Of School Year

Report Shows Chicago Public Schools Pushing Kids Toward ‘Hardcore Queer Theory’

Chicago

Democratic National Convention

Education

Public Schools

U.S.

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-kingdom">British</a> high court on Monday upheld Britain&#8217;s ban on puberty blockers, hormonal drugs frequently given to pubescent children who express discomfort with their biological gender.
The judge noted puberty blockers were found to have “very substantial risks and very narrow benefits” by the Cass review, the landmark <a href="https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> commissioned by England&#8217;s National Health Service (NHS).
Transgender medical interventions on children are based on “remarkably weak evidence,” and young people have been caught up in a “stormy social discourse,” Justice Beverley Lang said in her ruling.
Last summer, the NHS issued an emergency ban on puberty blockers after the Cass review recommended halting the powerful drugs due to their effects on brain development and bone health.
“Outside of a research setting, puberty-suppressing hormones should not be routinely commissioned for children and adolescents,” the NHS said at the time.
A group called TransActual, along with an unnamed youth, sued over the government&#8217;s decision, <a href="https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2024/03/12/transactual-statement-on-nhs-englands-decision-to-stop-commissioning-puberty-blockers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> it a &#8220;cruel new element of the war on trans youth.&#8221;
With Monday&#8217;s decision, however, the ban will remain in place.
“Children’s healthcare must be evidence-led,” said Health Secretary Wes Streeting, welcoming the ruling. “We must therefore act cautiously and with care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people.”
However, Streeting added that he is setting up a clinical trial to establish the evidence on puberty blockers.
&#8220;I want trans people in our country to feel safe, accepted, and able to live with freedom and dignity,&#8221; he said.
Both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones come with serious health risks. Puberty blockers can <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075">affect</a> bone growth and density and cause sexual dysfunction, voice damage, and infertility, among other issues. Cross-sex hormones, which can be estrogen or testosterone can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-young-people-in-u-s-have-nearly-doubled-recently-report-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cause</a> infertility, deadly blood clots, heart attacks, increased cancer risks of the breasts and ovaries, liver dysfunction, worsening psychological illness, and other serious conditions.
The Cass review also warned that children who are referred to gender services come with high rates of abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse and parental substance abuse.
England and several other European countries, such as Finland and Sweden, have pumped the brakes on transgender medical interventions for children.
In April, the Tavistock clinic, England’s only youth gender identity clinic, officially closed its doors after being dogged by controversy for years.
The clinic, the biggest in the world, <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2024/03/inside-the-collapse-of-the-tavistock-centre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> thousands of children for puberty blockers. In its last years, Tavistock began to see an increasing flood of young girls with gender-related distress asking for drugs despite having other mental issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and histories of abuse.
At least 25 U.S. states have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nebraska-supreme-court-upholds-bans-on-abortion-transgender-surgeries-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> restrictions on transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors.

Pediatrician doing development medical exam with little girl, checking posture.

Puberty Blockers Ban Upheld By British Court

Britain

Courts

England

World

Dr. Richard Ogden Roberts III is a pediatric endocrinologist at the Texas Children’s Hospital who’s administered puberty blocking and cross-sex hormone medications to young patients suffering from gender dysphoria. He was also one of the <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Exh.-8-Affidavit-of-Richard-Ogden-Roberts-III-MD.pdf">plaintiffs</a> in a <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/case/loe-v-texas/">lawsuit</a> that sought to halt a ban against child sex changes, leveraging his medical credentials as he worked alongside radical activist organizations.
Now he’s found himself at the center of a new scandal at the hospital, which has been enveloped in criticism after one whistleblower exposed the hospital for lying to the public about their offerings of transgender medical interventions to children and was then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-doctor-blew-the-whistle-on-his-hospitals-transgender-clinic-now-the-feds-are-trying-to-ruin-his-life">targeted by the federal government</a> as a result.
New <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-childrens-hospital-may-have-committed-fraud-as-it-provided-child-sex-changes-whistleblower">allegations</a> that Roberts committed Medicaid fraud have cast further doubt on his so-called “gender-affirming care” operation, with a whistleblower claiming that the hospital “is illegally billing Medicaid for transgender procedures” with the help of Roberts, who is now being <a href="https://christopherrufo.com/p/texas-childrens-hospital-now-under">investigated</a> by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton since the state <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/24/texas-transgender-kids-transition-related-health-care/">bars the use</a> of Medicaid funds for any and all medical interventions that seek to change people’s sex.
Roberts embodies the partnership between radical transgender ideologues and the medical establishment. A closer look at Robert’s effort to halt Texas’ ban on child sex changes indicates that the doctor formed an alliance with far-left ideologues and activist groups, many of which enjoy the backing of the pharmaceutical companies that stand to profit from transgenderism in the process.
Roberts himself has clearly adopted the core tenets of leftwing gender ideology. In one presentation on behalf of the Texas Children’s Hospital, Roberts repeated the line that child sex change procedures are “life saving and medically necessary” care, and even explained that he uses the preferred names and pronouns of “gender diverse” children behind the backs of parents.
“I will often ask patients by themselves if there’s a name that they use privately and that they would like me to use around them, and if they are comfortable with me using that name and their pronouns with parents,” the pediatric doctor told the audience.
It was fitting, then, when Roberts, a doctor ensnared by gender ideology, teamed up with professional transgender activists to try and stop the Texas bill.
One of the organizations <a href="https://glma.org/news_manager.php?page=27415">listed</a> alongside Roberts in the lawsuit against Texas’ bill in defense of children is <a href="https://www.glma.org/">GLMA</a>: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality. The organization advocates for the use of sex change operations on children and maintains what it calls an “<a href="https://www.glma.org/equality_maps_bans_on_trans_y.php">equality map</a>” that documents legislation that allegedly harms transgender youth “by blocking their access to best-practice medical care.” GLMA counts Roberts as one of its members, indicating that the embattled doctor <a href="https://www.memberleap.com/members/newmem/new-mem-reg.php?org_id=GLMA">pays annual membership dues</a> to the transgender activist organization.
PFLAG, one of the most powerful pro-transgender organizations in the country, was also a plaintiff alongside Roberts. The extreme organization directly promotes gender ideology to children and published a “<a href="https://pflag.org/resource/transgender-reading-list-for-children/">transgender reading list for children</a>.” The list includes “I Am Jazz,” a story about “a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings,” as well as the “Gender Now Coloring Book,” which is “meant to provide reflection and support unity by showing multiple genders standing together.” There’s also “What Makes a Baby,” described as a “children’s book that takes gender out of making a baby.”
GLMA is backed by the pharmaceutical industry. Its website notes that it counts perhaps the single most powerful pharmaceutical lobbying organization, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), as a sponsor. PhRMA <a href="https://phrma.org/-/media/Project/PhRMA/PhRMA-Org/PhRMA-Org/PDF/A-C/About-PhRMA2.pdf">represents</a> several different companies that produce drugs used by those attempting to modify their sex, including Abbvie, Bayer, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, Teva US Speciality Medicines, and Eli Lilly.
The companies under its umbrella collectively produce drugs that are used to block puberty, as well as estrogen and testosterone drugs. PhRMA is no stranger to backing the transgender movement, which many of the companies it represents have a financial stake in. Together with Pfizer, the lobbying organization previously <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/how-left-wing-activist-group-teamed-up-with-big-pharma-to-push-radical-gender-ideology-on-american-hospitals/">bankrolled a project</a> from the Human Rights Coalition, an influential LGBT activist group, as it pushed gender ideology into hospitals across the country.
Novo Nordisk, another pharmaceutical company with financial interests in transgenderism, backs the organization that Roberts is a member of and that sued Texas alongside the doctor. The company <a href="https://www.novonordisk.com/our-products/our-medicines.html">produces</a> six different estrogen drugs classified as estradiol, which can be used off-label in men who identify as women.
GLMA is also <a href="https://www.canva.com/design/DAFT6AS0c8A/o-gzEtDQaLRUcbctZMf8Tg/view?utm_content=DAFT6AS0c8A&amp;utm_campaign=designshare&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_source=publishsharelink#8">sponsored</a> by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pfizer-sponsored-group-pushing-child-transgenderism-profits-from-puberty-blockers-hormone-therapy">Pfizer Rx Pathways</a>, a project of the infamous pharmaceutical titan that produces drugs used by those who are attempting to change their sex. Pfizer, for example, has <a href="https://www.pfizermedicalinformation.com/en-us/aldactone#:~:text=ALDACTONE%C2%AE(spironolactone)%20%7C%20Pfizer%20Medical%20Information%20%2D%20US">Aldactone</a>, a product that has been called “the most commonly used <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/feminizing-hormone-therapy">androgen blocker</a> in the U.S.,” by the University of California San Francisco Gender Affirming Health Program. There’s also <a href="https://www.pfizermedicalinformation.com/en-us/depo-provera">Depo-Provera</a>, a Pfizer product <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/feminizing-hormone-therapy">used</a> to feminize men who identify as women, and <a href="https://www.pfizermedicalinformation.com/en-us/depo-testosterone/description">Depo-Testosterone</a>, an injection <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/masculinizing-therapy">used by</a> women who are attempting to become men. The pharmaceutical titan also makes <a href="https://www.pfizermedicalinformation.com/en-us/synarel/indications-usage">Synarel</a>, a drug that can <a href="https://transhealthproject.org/resources/health-insurance-medical-policies/views/youth-services/">block puberty</a>. Synarel is a nasal spray and has been <a href="https://www.gendergp.com/help-centre/injection-alternatives-hormone-blockers-nasal-spray-suprafect/">suggested</a> as an alternative to injections.
GLMA isn’t the only transgender activist organization that receives funding from pharmaceutical interests and attempted to stop Texas’ bill, however.
Like GLMA, PFLAG too has taken money from pharmaceutical interests that stand to gain from child sex change attempts. Abbvie Pharmaceuticals, the company behind a puberty blocking drug called Lupron Depot that has been successfully used to <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00220350">chemically castrate sex offenders</a>, previously <a href="https://www.abbvie.com/who-we-are/our-stories/love-is-love-is-love.html">indicated</a> that it financially supported PFLAG, among other organizations that push child transgenderism.
Pharmaceutical companies had a role in funding both the plaintiffs in the case as well as the activist law firms that represented them.
The Transgender Law Center, which was among the organizations that represented Roberts and the other plaintiffs, also <a href="https://transgenderlawcenter.org/2022-donors/">boasts big pharmaceutical backers</a>. Nestled between the names of individual donors is Pfizer, which creates the aforementioned litany of drugs used in gender transition attempts, and Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the company behind an anti-androgen drug <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6612061/">used</a> to feminize men who identify as women. Lambda Legal, yet another pro-transgender organization that represented the plaintiffs, <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/national-sponsorships/">took money</a> from Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the testosterone therapy drug Axiron.
As connections between activists and medical interests have become increasingly apparent, some have warned that an unholy alliance between the two was being formed.
“These medical interventions are costly, and they must be maintained for the lifetime of the user, generating significant profits for Big Pharma,” January Littlejohn, a Parent Advocate with Do No Harm, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pfizer-sponsored-group-pushing-child-transgenderism-profits-from-puberty-blockers-hormone-therapy">told The Daily Wire</a> last year. “It is not surprising that big pharma would partner with an organization aiming to normalize a mental health issue from which they would profit immensely.”

PFLAG Marchers

How The Doctor At The Center Of Latest Texas Children’s Hospital Scandal Built An Alliance With Transgender Activists

LGBT

Texas

trans

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down major parts of Florida&#8217;s ban on transgender medical interventions for children.
Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee ruled that “gender identity is real” and that a “widely accepted standard of care” includes puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
In May of last year, Florida banned these hormonal transgender medical treatments for children.
“The state of Florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny transgender individuals safe and effective medical treatment — treatment with medications routinely provided to others with the state’s full approval so long as the purpose is not to support the patient’s transgender identity,” Hinkle wrote in his order.
Hinkle also nixed two parts of the ban applying to adults. The law required adults to see a doctor in person before starting cross-sex hormones and stated that hormone treatments for adults “may not be prescribed, administered, or performed except by a physician.”
Three families along with LGBT groups sued over Florida&#8217;s ban, claiming the law denied the parents their right to make medical decisions for their trans-identifying children.
Governor Ron DeSantis&#8217; (R) office plans to appeal the ruling.
&#8220;We disagree with the court’s erroneous rulings on the law, on the facts, and on the science,” Julia Friedland, the governor’s deputy press secretary, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/us/florida-transgender-law.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
“As we’ve seen here in Florida, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, there is no quality evidence to support the chemical and physical mutilation of children. These procedures do permanent, life-altering damage to children, and history will look back on this fad in horror,” she said.
A number of European countries have pumped the brakes on transgender medical interventions for children including England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
Several other U.S. states have also passed bans on transgender medical interventions for children, including genital surgeries, double mastectomies for girls seeking a more male appearance, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.
Last week, more than 100 health care professionals and groups <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/over-100-health-care-professionals-groups-sign-declaration-calling-for-halt-to-child-transgender-medical-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> onto a declaration calling on major medical organizations to halt dangerous transgender medical interventions for children.
Hinkle has weighed in on several other notable cases including, a 2014 ruling declaring Florida&#8217;s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, a 2020 ruling declaring a law requiring felons to pay legal fees before they could vote again unconstitutional (that decision was overturned), and a 2021 preliminary injunction against a law penalizing social media platforms that censored content from political candidates and media organizations.

Judge Strikes Down Florida’s Ban On Transgender Medical Services For Children

Florida

Boys who take puberty blockers may suffer atrophied testes and fertility issues, a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers has found, causing the authors to cast doubt about the common claim that puberty blockers are &#8220;reversible.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.23.586441v1.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>, authored by 11 researchers at Mayo Clinic&#8217;s <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest</a> campus south of Minneapolis, looked at the effects of puberty blockers on testicular cells and function.
&#8220;We provide unprecedented histological evidence revealing detrimental pediatric testicular sex gland responses to [puberty blockers],&#8221; the study reads.
Mild to severe sex gland atrophy is one of the negative effects the researchers found.
In the case of one 12-year-old boy who was treated with puberty blockers for 14 months, nearly 60% of his sex glands became &#8220;fully atrophied,&#8221; and small clusters of calcium formed in his testicles, according to the study.
These calcium clusters are linked to cancer, several studies have <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/testicular-cancer-care/expert-answers/microlithiasis/faq-20058074#:~:text=Testicular%20microlithiasis%20(tes%2DTIK%2D,testicular%20microlithiasis%20and%20testicular%20cancer." target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a>, although it is not clear whether they are a risk factor by themselves.
Potentially permanent effects on fertility were another concern for boys who were treated with puberty blockers, the researchers found.
In the case of a 14-year-old boy who had been puberty blockers for more than four years, more than 90 % of his cells that were supposed to eventually produce sperm were developmentally arrested.
The findings &#8220;raise a potential concern regarding the complete &#8216;reversibility&#8217; and reproductive fitness&#8221; of the sperm germ cells, the researchers said.
The study examined 87 boys, 16 of whom were gender dysphoric boys between ages 10 and 16. Nine of those boys were already on puberty blockers, although all of the boys would eventually be put on the drugs. The boys began identifying as transgender girls between ages 2 and 15.
The researchers noted that there are no long-term studies on puberty blockers for gender dysphoric children, meaning many of the drugs&#8217; effects such as impacts on fertility are still unknown.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed but was published on BioRxiv, a website hosted by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that sees two-thirds of its papers later published in peer-reviewed journals.
Mayo Clinic&#8217;s <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075">website page</a> on puberty blockers does not yet warn about the extent of the side effects found in the study. The page says the drugs &#8220;don&#8217;t cause permanent physical changes&#8221; and when a child stops taking them, &#8220;puberty starts again.&#8221;
&#8220;[T]hey pause puberty,&#8221; the page says. &#8220;That offers a chance to explore gender identity. It also gives youth and their families time to plan for the psychological, medical, developmental, social and legal issues that may lie ahead.&#8221;

Back-to-School Confidence

Mayo Clinic Study Says Puberty Blockers Cause Atrophied Testes, Fertility Issues, Casts Doubt On ‘Reversibility’

Mayo Clinic Study Says Puberty Blockers Cause Atrophied Testes, Fertility Issues, Casts Doubt On 'Reversibility'

Health Care

England&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Health Service</a> (NHS) announced this week that children will no longer be given puberty blocker prescriptions after experts concluded that there were serious safety concerns.
The NHS&#8217; decision comes after it commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review the published evidence on Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Analogues (GnRHa), also known as puberty blockers, which prevent the body from making sex hormones that are needed for an individual to grow and develop into a healthy adult.
&#8220;NHS England has carefully considered the evidence review conducted by NICE (2020) and has identified and reviewed any further published evidence available to date,&#8221; said an NHS England policy document released on Tuesday. &#8220;We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of PSH to make the treatment routinely available at this time.&#8221;
The investigation was launched after there was a massive uptick in the number of children who were being referred to the Gender Identity Development Service, a national health clinic in the U.K. The number went from 250 children in 2012 to more than 5,000 in 2022 as the transgender movement gained steam as a social trend and experts warned that it was having a contagion effect.
Fewer than 100 children in the U.K. who are already on puberty blockers — and are being monitored by endocrinologists at Leeds and University College London Hospital — will be allowed to continue to have access to the drugs through NHS. Moving forward, however, no children will be prescribed puberty blockers through NHS.
Last June, the NHS <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/920056/uk-national-health-service-bans-puberty-blockers-for-gender-transitions-for-minors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that it was planning on blocking puberty blockers for minors because there was a significant correlation between gender dysphoria and other developmental issues, according to the Washington Examiner.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“A significant proportion of children and young people who are concerned about, or distressed by, issues of gender incongruence experience coexisting mental health, neuro-developmental and/or personal, family or social complexities in their lives,” according to the June policy guidance. “The relationship between these presentations and gender incongruence may not be readily apparent and will often require careful exploration.”

Transgender Pride Flag In London

NHS England Permanently Bans Puberty Blockers From Being Prescribed To Minors

Social Issues

U.K.

When he was nominated to be the Assistant Secretary for Health three years ago, Richard Levine (who, in his 50s, began using the name Rachel Levine) was asked a series of questions by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul wanted to know why Levine, as a medical professional, wouldn&#8217;t reject the idea of mutilating the genitals of minors in the name of &#8220;gender affirming care.&#8221; 
Here&#8217;s how the conversation went:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rand Paul questions Rachel Levine on gender-affirming care for minors" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Krf0Cm-FKro?start=156&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That&#8217;s just a portion of the whole exchange. In the full clip, Levine evades the question multiple times. He just repeats the same rehearsed answer: He says that he&#8217;s more than happy to stop by Paul&#8217;s office at some later date to explain the &#8220;complex&#8221; science behind mutilating children. They go back and forth until Paul finally has to give up. And then at the end of it, as you saw, Democratic Senator Patty Murray from Washington congratulates Levine on his &#8220;thoughtful and medical informed&#8221; answers to Paul.
Ten years ago, this would&#8217;ve been a scene from a dark comedy sketch about a dystopia that&#8217;s just too far-fetched to imagine in real life. This should have been the moment that Levine was disqualified from ever holding public office, much less becoming a senior official in the Department of Health and Human Services. But Democrats and even some Republicans — including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — didn&#8217;t see a problem with Levine&#8217;s answer. They voted to confirm Levine after hearing this. These are sitting U.S. senators who, evidently, have no problem with the fact that Levine supports the physical castration of children — even though he could present no evidence that it&#8217;s medically appropriate.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1310-the-government-accidentally-confirms-that-it-has-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-so-called-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
To be clear, Senator Paul was not misrepresenting Levine&#8217;s position in any way. This was not a &#8220;gotcha&#8221; question. Emails unearthed by Megan Brock show that in 2017, when he was the Secretary of Health in Pennsylvania, Levine went looking for data to justify so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; for minors. 
Levine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1310-the-government-accidentally-confirms-that-it-has-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-so-called-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> to Nadia Dowshen, the co-founder of the gender clinic at the Children&#8217;s Hospital of Philadelphia, that he was seeking information concerning, &#8220;the possibility of gender confirmation surgery for young people under 18 years of age.&#8221; Levine added that, &#8220;This could include top surgery for trans young men and top and bottom surgery for trans young women. Is there any literature to support this protocol? Please let me know if you have any references.&#8221;
In response, Dowshen wrote, “Hi Rachel, I&#8217;m not aware of existing literature but it is certainly happening. I think we&#8217;ve had more than 10 patients who have had chest surgery under 18 (as young as 15) and 1 bottom surgery (17).&#8221;
Needless to say, after reading that response, Levine did not put an end to these surgeries in Pennsylvania, even when he was told there was no medical evidence to justify them. Instead, Levine continued to hide behind the consensus of various self-appointed medical experts, including the several medical associations that have endorsed this butchery. That&#8217;s what Levine did at the hearing with Rand Paul. And it&#8217;s what he&#8217;s done ever since he assumed office.
A little over a year ago, for example, Levine commented on a viral clip featuring Jon Stewart and the attorney general of Arkansas. I&#8217;ll play a little bit of it to provide some context for what Levine said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jon interviewed Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General, about why her state banned gender-affirming care for minors &#8211; ignoring the guidelines of major medical organizations and taking the decision out of parents’ hands. Watch the full interview on @AppleTVPlus <a href="https://t.co/4SoH3orWa6">pic.twitter.com/4SoH3orWa6</a>
&mdash; The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheProblem/status/1578414849083654144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
You can see in that clip why the &#8220;appeal to experts&#8221; is so effective. Even people who are on the right side of this issue, like the Arkansas attorney general, don&#8217;t know how to respond to it. The best she can do is say, &#8220;well, my experts disagree with your experts.&#8221; But of course that&#8217;s the wrong response. The right response is that you don&#8217;t need to be an &#8220;expert&#8221; in anything to know that mutilating the genitals of children is wrong. And if anyone claims to be an expert and defends that butchery, then they lose &#8220;expert status&#8221; immediately. It&#8217;s that simple. But for some reason, many on the Right can&#8217;t bring themselves to say that, even as the &#8220;experts&#8221; lie to them about pretty much everything — from COVID to foreign affairs to climate change and even to the mutilation of children.
In any event, Levine saw that clip, and decided it was yet another opportunity to promote these all-knowing medical associations and experts. Here&#8217;s what Levine <a href="https://x.com/HHS_ASH/status/1580277406820012032?s=20">wrote</a> on Twitter: &#8220;Accredited medical professional groups agree that gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth. States should translate this knowledge into more compassionate policies that protect rather than undermine youth mental health.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Accredited medical professional groups agree that gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth. States should translate this knowledge into more compassionate policies that protect rather than undermine youth mental health. <a href="https://t.co/FCgy88o47x">https://t.co/FCgy88o47x</a>
&mdash; ADM Rachel Levine (@HHS_ASH) <a href="https://twitter.com/HHS_ASH/status/1580277406820012032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a bluff that Levine has made over and over again, throughout his career. He repeatedly states that there&#8217;s a vast body of &#8220;knowledge&#8221; that justifies these surgeries and procedures. But this time, after that tweet, someone decided to call Levine out on it.
A nonprofit watchdog group called &#8220;Protect the Public&#8217;s Trust,&#8221; or PPT, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-says-it-has-only-two-pages-of-scientific-evidence-backing-its-support-for-gender-affirming-care">filed</a> a Freedom of Information Act request in response to Levine&#8217;s tweet. The request sought &#8220;records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data to support the Assistant Secretary’s claim that ‘gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth,&#8217;” as well as “records of surveys of medical professionals regarding the value and importance of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minor children.&#8221;
This week, more than a year after Levine&#8217;s tweet, the results are in. We finally have access to this data that Levine promised to show Rand Paul in his office, and which he talks about constantly. In response to the Freedom of Information Act Request, HHS produced a grand total of just one document. And it&#8217;s not a long, well-researched study that proves convincingly why we need to mutilate children. Instead, it&#8217;s a <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/gender-affirming-care-young-people.pdf">two-page</a> brochure called “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People.” This is all they could produce a year later to support their position.
And the brochure itself isn&#8217;t exactly the most compelling document. The brochure states, as a matter of fact, that puberty blockers are always reversible. But that&#8217;s not true. As even the New York Times <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1310-the-government-accidentally-confirms-that-it-has-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-so-called-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> recently, &#8220;A transgender adolescent in Sweden who took the drugs from age 11 to 14 with no bone scans until the last year of treatment developed osteoporosis and sustained a compression fracture in his spine, an X-ray showed in 2021. &#8230; &#8216;The patient now suffers from continued back pain,&#8217; medical records note, describing a &#8216;permanent disability&#8217; caused by the blockers.”
And that&#8217;s not even getting into potential <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1310-the-government-accidentally-confirms-that-it-has-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-so-called-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issues</a> with fertility. There are documented cases in medical literature of these drugs having permanent effects, and they&#8217;ve only been in use for a few years.
So the claim in the brochure, which has no citation, is completely false. As more and more children are put on these &#8220;puberty blockers,&#8221; and as time passes, that will be obvious to everyone.
But the brochure provided by the Biden administration doesn&#8217;t stop there. It also claims that, “research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse children.” And as evidence of that claim, the brochure cites one study in a footnote.
This <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1310-the-government-accidentally-confirms-that-it-has-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-so-called-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">single study</a>, The Daily Wire&#8217;s Luke Rosiak reported yesterday, supposedly &#8220;showed that transgender-identifying young people were slightly less suicidal when receiving treatment.&#8221; Specifically, the researchers say that they found in a survey group that 51% of trans-identifying young people who were receiving cross-sex hormones were suicidal, compared to 62% who weren’t receiving hormones but wanted them. But even the authors of this study admit that it doesn&#8217;t prove anything about causation. They write, &#8220;causation cannot be inferred due to the study’s cross-sectional design. It is possible that those who historically have higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors are also less able to seek or obtain [cross-sex hormones].&#8221;
This also says absolutely nothing about the long term psychological effects of this “treatment.” They offer no evidence, no research, on that question. None at all. This is the sum total of the evidence that the Biden administration was able to present to justify the castration of children. It&#8217;s a two-page pamphlet that links to a study from three years ago, in which the authors admit that their study doesn&#8217;t even mean anything. This is definitive proof — as if we needed it — that the Biden administration and the medical establishment, along with the entire American Left, jumped on board the &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; racket without any solid evidentiary basis for doing so.
That is a major problem, obviously, because they are harming children in horrific, unthinkable ways. But also because the burden of proof, for the people in favor of child castration, is especially high. Like I’ve explained many times, the burden of proof is on the people who came along claiming that we can turn boys into girls and vice versa. As they are the ones making an extraordinary claim that contradicts what everyone in the history of the world has always known to be true, they needed to have extraordinary evidence to support their position. Instead they had no evidence at all. Nothing. 
Yet they were believed automatically, while the sane side was required to produce evidence refuting them. Suddenly the burden of proof was on us to prove that you shouldn’t mutilate and castrate children. Of course, we can prove our case a million times over, and we have, but the game was rigged against us from the start. The pro-child castraters wanted documented research showing the actual real world harm of these procedures on kids. But obviously we couldn’t immediately provide very much of that because we didn&#8217;t yet have real world data showing the harm that these drugs would do to kids, for the simple reason that nobody had ever done this to kids before. So they turned a whole generation of kids into lab rats. The kids themselves would become the data.
The only way to explain how anyone fell for this scam is that trans activists are good at one thing, which is emotional manipulation. They perfected the art of emotional blackmail to the point that weak people have allowed this to go on for the better part of a decade. But the ruse isn&#8217;t working anymore. Now people are asking to see the evidence, and there isn&#8217;t any. All trans activists can do is screech as loudly as they can about &#8220;genocide,&#8221; even though no one&#8217;s buying it anymore. We saw this phenomenon play out to a comical degree this week in Florida, which is preparing to pass a bill that would <a href="https://flvoicenews.com/bill-requiring-biological-sex-on-drivers-licenses-pushes-forward-this-is-about-biology/">prevent</a> people from changing their gender on their driver&#8217;s license. Watch how the completely calm and rational local trans activists and concerned citizens responded to this legislation:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: Activists outraged over Florida bill that requires biological sex on drivers licenses
&quot;The only thing that this period of Florida history will be remembered for is the trail of body bags left behind.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/uo5595HYjC">pic.twitter.com/uo5595HYjC</a>
&mdash; Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/1754566206462275593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
No matter what the proposal is — whether it&#8217;s mutilating the genitals of children, or changing the gender on their driver&#8217;s license — the response is always the same. They claim you&#8217;re leaving a &#8220;trail of dead bodies&#8221; if you dare to disagree with their delusions.
Trans activists wield their emotional fragility like a bludgeon. We see it constantly, which leads to the conclusion that one of two things is possible. Either it&#8217;s an act and they&#8217;re really just manipulative liars and therefore shouldn&#8217;t be taken seriously, or they actually are this insanely unstable and weak and immature and therefore shouldn’t be taken seriously. Whichever is the case, or if it’s a combination of the two, the conclusion is the same: we cannot take these people seriously. And we never should have.

Senate Health Committee Considers Nominees For HHS Appointments

The Government Accidentally Confirms It Has No Real Evidence To Support So-Called ‘Gender Affirming Care’ For Minors

The Government Accidentally Confirms It Has No Real Evidence To Support So-Called 'Gender Affirming Care' For Minors

Biden Administration

Rachel Levine

Readers Pass

A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alabama" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alabama</a> can start enforcing its ban on giving children life-altering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones if they identify as transgender. 
The decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/alabama-can-enforce-ban-gender-affirming-care-trans-minors-appeals-cou-rcna133572" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed</a> a previous delay on the full enforcement of the law during the appeal process of the law. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alabama-allowed-to-enforce-ban-on-puberty-blockers-cross-sex-hormones-for-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">court had ruled</a> in favor of Alabama in August, keeping the law in place but enforcement had been paused as those suing tried to get the court’s decision reversed. 
“The physical and psychological safety of our children can now be better protected from these untested and life-altering chemical and surgical procedures through the implementation of the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” <a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/alabama-attorney-general-marshall-eleventh-circuit-order-clears-way-for-enforcement-of-law-protecting-children-from-experimental-sex-modification-procedures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. “This is a significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.”
The law, signed in 2022 by Republican Governor Kay Ivey, banned transgender surgeries as well as non-surgical transgender procedures on children. The ban on surgeries was allowed to take effect, but a federal judge blocked implementation of the prohibition on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have irreversible effects and have been linked to heart problems, fertility issues, and poor bone development. 
The 11th Circuit sided with Alabama in August over a group of parents with transgender-identifying children who challenged the law. 
“The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Trump appointee, <a href="https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202211707.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in her opinion.
“Absent a constitutional mandate to the contrary, these types of issues are quintessentially the sort that our system of government reserves to legislative, not judicial, action,” Lagoa added.
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Lawyers for the parents who had sued Alabama <a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/statement-on-11th-circuit-order-allowing-alabama-transgender-adolescent-medical-ban-to-take-effect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that thousands of kids across Alabama would be hurt by Thursday’s decision. 
“Today’s ruling will hurt parents and children in the state. We will continue to challenge this unlawful ban and to support parents and their kids in pushing back against the dangerous reality of being denied access to necessary, best practice medical care,” they said in a statement. 
Over 20 states have banned transgender procedures on minors as gender dysphoria diagnosis skyrocket across the United States.

Alabama State Capitol Building

Alabama Allowed To Start Enforcing Ban On Puberty Blockers, Cross-Sex Hormones For Children

Alabama

Kay Ivey

Politics

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