The Tennessee General Assembly sent two bills cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to Republican Governor Bill Lee&#8217;s desk on Tuesday as the legislative session came to a close.
One bill would ban publicly funded universities and state and local governments from maintaining DEI offices, while the other bill would prohibit those same entities from making hiring decisions based on race. Both bills passed with overwhelming Republican support.
&#8220;DEI violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson <a href="https://tnga.granicus.com/player/clip/31993?view_id=775&amp;meta_id=914498&amp;redirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday. “We don’t need DEI in our state, Mr. Speaker. We need to hire people and promote people based on their merit. Diversity is a wonderful thing and it will happen. But we’re not going to make diversity the number one objective when we’re trying to serve our constituents and hire good people to take care of our constituents. It will be based on qualifications and merit.”
Johnson was the prime Senate sponsor of both the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> DEI offices for publicly funded entities, and the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0622" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bans</a> public entities from making hiring decisions based on DEI.
“We want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to hiring people at all levels of government in the state of Tennessee. Similarly, we want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to delivering services to our constituents,&#8221; Johnson said from the Senate floor on Tuesday. 
The &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act&#8221; passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 72-25, while the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act&#8221; passed the Senate 27-6 and the House 73-24.
The Dismantling DEI Department Act would prohibit state government departments or agencies, county governments, city governments, and public universities &#8220;from maintaining or authorizing an office or department that promotes or requires discriminatory preferences in an effort to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion,&#8221; <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a summary of the bill.
Its companion bill, the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Act,&#8221; would prohibit those same entities from basing hiring decisions on characteristics like race and sex, &#8220;rather than on individual merit, qualifications, veteran status, or lawful eligibility criteria.&#8221;
DEI has been a hot topic in the state in recent weeks, especially at major universities like Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-hospital-ends-all-dei-programs-after-being-accused-of-cover-up?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Vanderbilt+Hospital+Ends+All+DEI+Programs+After+Being+Accused+Of+Cover-Up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of &#8220;concealing&#8221; its DEI programs in violation of President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order for universities that receive federal funding to eliminate DEI programs.
After pressure from Senator Marsha Blackburn, Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed that it would be continuing to take steps to get rid of DEI at the university.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Text on Wood Block

‘Don’t Need DEI In Our State’: Republicans Move To Close Government, University DEI Offices

Bill Lee

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Donald Trump

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University Medical Center gave in to a public pressure campaign to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on Wednesday afternoon, just a day after receiving a letter from Tennessee&#8217;s Republican senator, Marsha Blackburn, accusing the hospital of &#8220;concealing&#8221; the DEI work.
In a statement from the university hospital, it said it intends to fully comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order.
“Vanderbilt University Medical Center is eliminating all DEI programs and is fully complying with Executive Actions on DEI,&#8221; the statement <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2025/04/16/vanderbilt-university-medical-center-eliminating-all-dei-programs/">said</a>. &#8220;Shortly after the Executive Orders were issued, VUMC began removing related content on internal and external websites to reflect the termination of these programs. VUMC will continue to comply with federal mandates and directives.”
The announcement comes just one day after Blackburn wrote a <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/4387EAC3-4C5F-44F1-9FF2-45E995761DBB">letter to VUMC President Jeffrey Balser</a>, accusing the university of concealing its DEI efforts and urging him to comply with Trump’s executive orders against the ideology.
“VUMC has recently scrubbed its website of references to DEI initiatives at the institution, going so far as to password protect web pages tied to DEI and climate activism. Concerningly, though, offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active,” Blackburn wrote in her letter to Blaser. “President Trump has been clear on this issue. His recent executive orders correctly prohibited DEI programs at federally funded research institutions and ended the recognition of gender identity apart from biological sex.”
“As a beneficiary of federal funding, VUMC has a responsibility to align with the President’s executive orders,” Blackburn went on to add. “Instead of covering up VUMC’s DEI initiatives, I urge you to comply with President Trump’s effort to responsibility allocate taxpayer dollars and immediately cease all DEI initiatives.”
Vanderbilt&#8217;s hospital is perhaps best known for its transgender procedures on children, which were revealed by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. The hospital described the practice of so-called &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; care for children as a &#8220;big money-maker.&#8221;
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BREAKING: My team and I have been investigating the transgender clinic at Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Vanderbilt drugs, chemically castrates, and performs double mastectomies on minors. But it gets worse. Here is what we found. Let&#39;s start at the beginning.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313369528635392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The investigation by Matt Walsh led to Governor Bill Lee calling for an investigation, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tn-senate-leader-credits-daily-wire-investigation-for-inspiring-ban-on-gender-procedures-for-minors">ultimately resulted</a> in a Tennessee state law protecting children from medical interventions that seek to change their sex. That law was recently debated in the Supreme Court, where Walsh rallied activists against mutilating children.

MixCollage-04-Dec-2024-05-09-PM-1904

Vanderbilt Hospital Ends All DEI Programs After Being Accused Of Cover-Up

Marsha Blackburn

Jack Johnson, the Republican Tennessee state Senate majority leader, told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/us-news/gop-tennessee-leader-cautiously-optimistic-supreme-court-will-uphold-ban-on-trans-surgeries-for-minors-test-case-for-the-nation/">New York Post</a> that Matt Walsh&#8217;s investigation into Vanderbilt University Medical Center giving puberty blockers and hormones to children was the reason the state legislature passed a bill banning the life-altering procedures on minors.
The Tennessee law protecting children from puberty blockers and hormones is now before the Supreme Court with oral arguments beginning on Wednesday in the case United States v. Jonathan Skrmetti. Tennessee passed its ban on gender procedures on minors after Walsh revealed in 2022 that the pediatric transgender clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) performed double mastectomies and chemical castrations on gender-confused children.
Johnson said he&#8217;s &#8220;cautiously optimistic&#8221; that the Supreme Court will rule in the state&#8217;s favor after the Sixth Circuit of Appeals <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-devastating-ruling-for-the-trans-cult-matt-walsh-breaks-down-federal-courts-quashing-of-aclu-in-tn-trans-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upheld</a> Tennessee&#8217;s ban on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender procedures on minors.
&#8220;Tennessee’s law that I sponsored will effectively be the test case for the nation. So we’re very excited, humbled, and cautiously optimistic that the Supreme Court will see it as the Sixth Circuit did,&#8221; Johnson told the Post.
&#8220;By no means would I be so presumptuous as to predict what the Supreme Court will do. I have tremendous respect for the court,&#8221; he added. &#8220;What’s at stake is effectively the rights of states to regulate these types of medical procedures.&#8221;
Just before Tennessee&#8217;s law went into effect in July of 2023, the Biden administration secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, which blocked the law.
&#8220;The science is unproven, it’s unsettled. The long-term ramifications of these types of procedures on kids is very unsettled, and in many cases, leads to very bad outcomes and potentially a lifetime of medical complications,&#8221; Johnson said.
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Walsh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-walsh-to-speak-outside-scotus-as-court-hears-monumental-transgender-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will speak</a> outside of the Supreme Court at a rally put on by Do No Harm on Wednesday as justices hear arguments on the monumental case. The Daily Wire host, who has led a nationwide movement to protect children from gender procedures, said that a win at the Supreme Court would be another step toward a bigger goal.
“What gender ideology lacks in logic, science and morality, it makes up for in left wing money, violent activism, educational indoctrination, and legacy media support,” Walsh said Monday. “But we won’t stop working to protect children from this barbaric ideology. Once the Biden administration and trans activists are exposed at the Supreme Court, the next step is a nationwide ban on child sex-changes.”

Matt Walsh

TN Senate Leader Credits Daily Wire Investigation For Inspiring Ban On Gender Procedures For Minors

Social Issues

Supreme Court

The Daily Wire

Transgender

U.S.

The United States appears to be entering a golden age, as signaled by President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection last week, according to Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro.
Shapiro spoke at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday evening on the significance of Trump’s election and what it means for the future of the United States. 
“For the first time in a long time, I really feel like we are entering the best days of America,” Shapiro began his speech. “It does feel like we are entering a new golden age for the country for three specific reasons, because there are three things that make a golden age for a country or a civilization or even an individual in their life: liberty, strength, virtue.”
While it may seem odd that the man leading the U.S. into its golden age is Trump, Shapiro said that the American people made the decision to pursue the “golden age” through liberty, strength, and virtue.
“I don’t think the election so much was about President Trump – obviously, he’s a singular figure in American history – as much as it was about the American people who were just done,” Shapiro said. “We were just done. We were done with the age of stagnation. We were done with the age of moral confusion. We were done with an age that suggested that weakness was a substitute for strength, and that foolishness was a substitute for virtue, or that regulation was a substitute for liberty.”
Shapiro said that the golden age will see an expansion of liberty that can be measured in economic terms. Liberty combined with property rights leads to innovation, and with Trump’s government cutting regulations, the U.S. will see a surge in investment and economic growth. Trump’s agenda will create an environment where the best innovators in the United States can succeed and thrive.
“Liberty means we have to let geniuses be geniuses. In fact, we should help geniuses achieve their very best,” Shapiro said.
“The world only has freedom and prosperity because of the United States of America. Only. Okay, it is the threat of military force, or the use of military force by the United States of America that keeps the world free safe and prosperous. It is simply that. That’s all. There is no one else. Okay, if the United States were to disappear tomorrow, the world would decay into darkness almost overnight.”
On American strength, the first four years under Trump were the best American foreign policy “in my lifetime,” Shapiro said. The Daily Wire host attributed that foreign policy success to what he defined as the four pillars of the “Trump doctrine.”
The first pillar of the Trump doctrine is that “America is governed by her interests.” The second pillar builds on the first and is a recognition that, because resources are scarce, the United States needs to calibrate its response wisely to global events to ensure its most critical interests are protected.
The third pillar concerns military conflict: “If you are going to go [to war], you use every means at your disposal to achieve your interests.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
During Trump’s first administration, the United States did not enter any new foreign conflicts, which could be attributed to what Shapiro defined as the fourth principle of the Trump doctrine: “The final principle is, you let everyone know the first three principles.”
“The credible threat of use of force is the basis for all solid foreign policy, and if you express all of that, then you barely ever have to use military force,” Shapiro said.
Finally, the third component of a U.S. golden age will be a resurgence of virtue, which Shapiro defined as “people acting like responsible human beings with actual real roles and duties in the world.” Virtue built on religion is a prerequisite for any society that wants to incentivize strong families.
“If you’re not building a civilization around successful families, the civilization falls down,” Shapiro said.
“These three things – liberty, strength, and virtue – these are what’s going to save Western civilization,” Shapiro concluded.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Ben Shapiro LIVE from Vanderbilt University" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pGG7x4uHUqg?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>

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro At Vanderbilt: America Is Entering A ‘Golden Age’ Under Trump

Education

Nashville

Politics

Vanderbilt University has expelled, suspended, or disciplined at least 27 students after an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unhinged-vanderbilt-protesters-call-911-for-one-to-change-her-tampon-resort-to-peeing-in-bottles-to-avoid-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-Israel sit-in protest</a> went off the wall last week.
Provost Cybele Raver said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/sfmcguire79/status/1776427584307220614" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> that the university&#8217;s Student Accountability, Community Standards, and Academic Integrity Staff reviewed the protest and conducted interviews with students before issuing &#8220;a range of findings and sanctions that took the individual circumstances of each student&#8217;s conduct into account.&#8221; The provost added that the review led to disciplinary probation, suspension, and even expulsion for some students.
It was unclear how many students were expelled, but student-run newspaper The Vanderbilt Hustler <a href="https://vanderbilthustler.com/2024/04/03/students-speak-out-against-suspension-of-kirkland-hall-sit-in-protesters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> earlier this week that 27 students had been suspended for their participation in the protest, which took place in Kirkland Hall, an administrative building on the Vanderbilt campus that was closed for construction. Three students were also arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault after they pushed past a Community Service Officer to enter the building, and a fourth student was charged with vandalism for allegedly breaking a window, WSMV <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2024/04/05/suspensions-expulsions-issued-after-vanderbilt-student-protest-turned-violent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Vanderbilt University posted footage from Kirkland Hall showing the large group of students overwhelming the officer as they charged into the building.
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&#8220;Students have 10 days to appeal their case to the university&#8217;s Appellate Review Board, a body consisting of faculty and students,&#8221; the provost&#8217;s statement added.
After making their way into the administrative building on March 26, students remained for around 21 hours to protest the administration&#8217;s decision to stop the student government from voting on an anti-Israel referendum. Videos posted to social media show some of the student protesters panicking as they worried they would be arrested if they left the building to use the bathroom.
Others complained that “Vanderbilt administration is starving protesters” after the officers monitoring the sit-in were brought food from Panera Bread for themselves.
“Vanderbilt administration prohibited students from receiving food from outside Kirkland and students are currently peeing in bottles,” one graphic posted by students about the sit-in claims.
<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>
Protesters also called emergency medical services for a woman who said that she was at risk of toxic shock because she was not able to change her tampon and cited concerns that she would be arrested if she left the building.
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UPDATE: some of the students seem to be panicking.
They called 9-1-1 because they’re worried one of them could go into toxic shock.
They’re also worried she’ll be arrested if she leaves the building. <a href="https://t.co/U08EzaYLG2">https://t.co/U08EzaYLG2</a> <a href="https://t.co/NrXAQvuxeu">pic.twitter.com/NrXAQvuxeu</a>
&mdash; Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfmcguire79/status/1772809758673629347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In her statement, Provost Raver said the university understands that students&#8217; choices come with &#8220;costly consequences.&#8221;
&#8220;The gravity of this situation and these outcomes weighs heavily on those of us charged with carrying out our responsibility as leaders; we fully understand that student choices and decisions can lead to serious and costly consequences,” said Raver.
Spencer Lindquist contributed to this report.

Vanderbilt University stadium

Vanderbilt Expels Students Who Participated In Anti-Israel Protest

Israel

Police

Protest

Student protesters at Vanderbilt University who were staging a sit-in protest against Israel fell into a state of panic over logistical mishaps, and ended up urinating into plastic bottles and calling 911 because a woman said she&#8217;d go into toxic shock if she couldn&#8217;t change her tampon.
The students rushed into Kirkland Hall, an administrative building on the Vanderbilt campus that was closed for construction, pushing past a Community Service Officer. Once inside the building, the demonstrators remained for about <a href="https://vanderbilthustler.com/2024/03/27/breaking-students-forcibly-leave-sit-in-three-arrested-and-16-suspended/">21.5 hours</a>, protesting the administration’s decision to halt a vote from the student government in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
The protest was derailed however when the students realized they couldn&#8217;t leave the hall to handle basic bodily functions without getting arrested for their protest. At one point in the protest, demonstrators <a href="https://twitter.com/kelsey_beyeler/status/1772772164250320949">gathered</a> in front of Kirkland Hall and clapped while chanting “Let them pee.”
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UPDATE: some of the students seem to be panicking.
They called 9-1-1 because they’re worried one of them could go into toxic shock.
They’re also worried she’ll be arrested if she leaves the building. <a href="https://t.co/U08EzaYLG2">https://t.co/U08EzaYLG2</a> <a href="https://t.co/NrXAQvuxeu">pic.twitter.com/NrXAQvuxeu</a>
&mdash; Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfmcguire79/status/1772809758673629347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Other protesters called emergency medical services for a woman who said that she was at risk of toxic shock because she was not able to change her tampon and cited concerns that she would be arrested if she left the building.
Protesters also complained that “Vanderbilt administration is starving protesters” after the officers monitoring the sit-in were brought food from Panera Bread for themselves. “Vanderbilt administration prohibited students from receiving food from outside Kirkland and students are currently peeing in bottles,” one graphic posted by students about the sit-in claims.
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Later in the evening, the students said the administration brought Panera Bread for security but was denying food and bathroom access to students.
They were peeing in bottles. <a href="https://t.co/NNEtcLtpiq">pic.twitter.com/NNEtcLtpiq</a>
&mdash; Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfmcguire79/status/1772960756939550803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Vanderbilt Spokeswoman Julia Jordan explained the reasons for the arrests in a statement, noting that three students pushed “a Community Service Officer and a staff member who offered to meet with them as they entered Kirkland Hall on Tuesday,” going on to add that “a fourth student has been charged with vandalism after breaking a window on the building’s exterior last evening.”
“All of the protest participants who breached the building will be placed on interim suspension,” Jordan went on to say. “Yesterday’s protest at Kirkland Hall was not a peaceful one. It began with the assault of a Vanderbilt community service officer and continued with protesters physically pushing Vanderbilt staff members with the hope of entering and occupying the chancellor’s office.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Kirkland Hall Footage - March 26, 2024" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6PjBenVwG98?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>
One journalist covering the event on behalf of the Nashville Scene was <a href="https://nashvillebanner.com/2024/03/26/vanderbilt-university-reporter-arrest/">arrested</a> by the Vanderbilt University Police Department after he allegedly attempted to enter an administrative building despite being told by authorities that he could not enter.
“The Nashville Scene reporter, after repeated attempts to enter the administration building through multiple locked doors with signs noting the building was closed and being told by officers it was off limits, was eventually detained, arrested and released without charges filed,” a statement from Jordan reads.
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Scene reporter Eli Motycka (<a href="https://twitter.com/ejmotycka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ejmotycka</a>) was arrested by Vanderbilt police while reporting on student protests. <a href="https://t.co/5HPcRHtI7H">pic.twitter.com/5HPcRHtI7H</a>
&mdash; Nashville Scene (@NashvilleScene) <a href="https://twitter.com/NashvilleScene/status/1772700392058454389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Unhinged Vanderbilt Protesters Call 911 For Help To Change Tampon, Resort To Peeing In Bottles To Avoid Arrest

Protesters

Accusations of colonialism are used by leftists to smear &#8220;history’s victors,&#8221; or great men and civilizations, according to conservative commentator Michael Knowles.
Knowles, host of an eponymous podcast at The Daily Wire, delivered a speech in defense of colonists, colonialism, and settlements in a speech on Tuesday night at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The conservative Catholic host said that colonialism, seen as universally oppressive by leftists, has rid the world of some of the worst human rights abusers.
Knowles began his lecture with a modern and timely example, the modern state of Israel. The Israeli state, now at war with the terror group Hamas, dubbed “freedom fighters” and de-colonizers by some, was built largely through settlement and colonization during the early 20th century, Knowles said.
Defending Israel against charges of colonization is a bad strategy, he said, because every nation is open to accusations of colonialism if one looks back far enough in history. The anti-colonialist standard is one that no nation could survive if applied equally, according to Knowles. 
“All regimes in history have been established by settlers and colonizers of one kind or another. Not since Adam in the Garden of Eden have any people sprouted out of the ground, and Adam, you might recall, had a little bit of help in the process, as well,” Knowles said.
American history is full of colonialist endeavors, tracing as far back as the explorer Christopher Columbus’ voyages to the Americas. Knowles used the Black Hills of South Dakota as an example. The Black Hills is the site of Mount Rushmore and declared by the Supreme Court in 1980 to have been illegally taken by the U.S. from the Lakota Sioux tribe.
“The Lakota Sioux did not magically sprout out of the Black Hills of South Dakota. In fact, the Lakota Sioux only possessed the Black Hills for about 100 years – less time, in fact, than the United States has possessed it. The Lakota only acquired the Black Hills in 1776, and the way they acquired it was by moving in from Minnesota and conquering the Cheyenne. So, should the U.S. government pay a billion dollars to the Lakota because we took Lakota land? Or should we pay a billion dollars to the Cheyenne because the Lakota took Cheyenne land?” Knowles asked, pointing out the impractical and unrealistic expectations that come out of an extreme anti-colonialist mindset.
In many instances, acts of colonization and expansion conquered much worse cultures, such as the Aztec that used tens of thousands of people annually as human sacrifices. The best version of colonialism, Knowles said, is one that instilled Christian values.
“If there will be conquest, it seems preferable that such conquest be Christian rather than demonic; the kind of imperialism that builds Santa Croce rather than Tenochtitlan; the sort of conquest that teaches people to love their enemies rather than to rip their hearts out,” Knowles said.
“I sometimes tell critics of Christian nationalism that if they think Christian nationalism is bad, just wait until they see un-Christian nationalism. The same is true of settlement, colonialism, and conquest. If you believe that the Western kind of conquest is bad, just wait until you see all the other kinds,” he said.
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Michael Knowles Defends Colonialism At Vanderbilt: ‘History’s Victors’

Michael Knowles

It used to be that if you wanted someone to publish an over-the-top, flattering portrayal of your life&#8217;s work, you had to pay for it. Unless it&#8217;s your obituary, you had one choice, which was to hire an ad agency to create some marketing materials or get a publicist to send some emails or something like that. I’m not sure how the process works exactly.
But anyway, none of that is true anymore. Now, if you&#8217;re looking for unfettered, fawning adulation on the cheap, there is another option. You can always wait for a Left-wing digital media outlet to write a hit piece about you. Years ago, when the slightest hint of nonconformity got people fired, these hit pieces were effective. Now they read more like press releases from the person being targeted. This has been true for a while, but yesterday, the trend officially hit its apex at something called &#8220;HuffPost,&#8221; formerly known as The Huffington Post.
Without charging me a dime, HuffPost has just <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-walsh-anti-trans-push-tennessee_n_653fd5e8e4b032ae1c9c0497" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> probably the most complimentary profile anyone has ever written about me. That’s not a high bar to get over, granted, given that there has never been a complimentary profile written about me. But still, this one is pretty great. That was not their intent, as far as I can tell. They obviously spent a lot of time on this thing. They interviewed a bunch of people to put together this lengthy diatribe in an apparent attempt to make me seem mean and bad and scary. But in the end, they produced an article that essentially accuses me of single-handedly shutting down &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; in Tennessee while chasing trans activists out of the state altogether. They were trying to embarrass me, but in the process made me out to be some sort of superhero.
To be clear, I don&#8217;t deserve nearly as much credit as they give me, but I appreciate the thought. And of course, it’s the thought that counts. And it&#8217;s worth talking about this article in some detail because it reveals something significant, which is that the Left knows it&#8217;s losing on this issue. Even the writers at HuffPost and the few people who still read HuffPost understand that very well. This is probably the best confirmation on this point that we’ve seen, and I’ll show you why.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1254-the-left-admits-defeat-in-their-latest-hit-piece-against-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
The <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-walsh-anti-trans-push-tennessee_n_653fd5e8e4b032ae1c9c0497">piece</a> I&#8217;m talking about is entitled &#8220;This State Tried To Pass Anti-Trans Laws For Years. Then A Right-Wing Media Star Got Involved.&#8221; The sub-headline reads, &#8220;The Daily Wire&#8217;s Matt Walsh has set his sights on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth — and an attack on Vanderbilt&#8217;s transgender health clinic shows he&#8217;s succeeding.&#8221;
All I have to say to that is, damn right and amen. Now, the writer of this profile is a former Buzzfeed reporter who goes by the name &#8220;Lil Kalish&#8221; and uses they/them pronouns, so you know you&#8217;re in for something good. You also know, of course, that Lil Kalish, they/them, is going into this investigation with all of the conclusions already drawn. There isn’t even any pretense of objectivity. That’s journalism for you. Lil Kalish begins by describing an interview with &#8220;Riley,&#8221; who&#8217;s supposedly a health care worker at Vanderbilt and who also uses they/them pronouns, apparently. The article makes clear that &#8220;Riley&#8221; is a pseudonym. So, right away, we have a hit piece written by an author with a fake name talking to someone with a fake name, and both of them have third-person pronouns.  Already, the credibility is off the charts.
According to Riley, one day in September, the idyllic serenity of the Vanderbilt gender clinic was shattered when I posted my investigation into Vanderbilt on Twitter. As Riley put it, people at the clinic: 
<blockquote>&#8230;whispered about the social media posts by right-wing blogger Matt Walsh, which had gone viral the day before for claiming that doctors at Vanderbilt’s transgender health clinic &#8216;castrate&#8217; and &#8216;sterilize&#8217; children.</blockquote>
I need to pause for a second to note one of the many ironies of this piece, which is that it accuses me of spreading disinformation while constantly getting basic facts wrong. Throughout the piece, I&#8217;m called a &#8220;right-wing blogger,&#8221; even though I haven&#8217;t blogged in roughly ten years. It&#8217;s a small detail, admittedly, but it stands out in a piece that&#8217;s supposed to be accusing me of spreading disinformation. Our friend Lil Kalish dedicated a 5,000 word hit piece to me, but apparently never even bothered to Google me beforehand. Which, you would think, would be the first step.
But to Lil Kalish&#8217;s credit, the article does offer a somewhat accurate portrayal of what I wrote on social media. Here&#8217;s the HuffPost summary: 
<blockquote>Walsh posted a video of one Vanderbilt doctor ― Dr. Shayne Taylor, who founded the clinic in 2018 ― discussing how gender-affirming surgeries, like double mastectomies and genital surgeries, could bring in &#8216;a lot of money&#8217; for the medical center.</blockquote>
And indeed, that&#8217;s exactly what I posted, because it’s true. The article goes on to correctly characterize some of my other tweets: 
<blockquote>In another video Walsh posted, a different doctor cautions that employees who don’t want to treat transgender patients on the grounds of religious objections &#8216;probably shouldn’t work at Vanderbilt.&#8217; At the end of the thread, Walsh wrote that the clinic’s peer support group, Trans Buddy Program, was in fact a &#8216;gang of trans activists&#8217; acting as &#8216;surveillance in order to force compliance.&#8217;</blockquote>
What&#8217;s the problem with any of this? you might ask. Eventually, Lil Kalish gets around to making something of a point: 
<blockquote>Puberty blockers, which stop the body from making sex hormones, help slow unwanted secondary sex characteristics. They do not, as Walsh suggested, &#8216;sterilize&#8217; or &#8216;castrate&#8217; children, though the medication could pose some risks to fertility if they are administered too early in puberty.</blockquote>
This is what&#8217;s called a self-refuting sentence. Lil Kalish begins by saying it&#8217;s wrong to suggest that puberty blockers castrate kids and then proceeds to admit that these drugs castrate kids.
You should know that the definition of “chemical castration,” according to the Webster dictionary, is the use of a drug to block the production of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sex%20hormone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sex hormones</a>. So HuffPost is claiming that puberty blockers don’t castrate, they only block the production of sex hormones. Which is to say that they don’t block the production of sex hormones, they only block the production of sex hormones. Just as, you might argue, that object over there isn’t a square, it’s only a geometric shape with four equal straight sides and four right angles. If it feels like you’re having a stroke while you listen to this line of logic, that makes two of us.
As for sterility, the data have been clear on this for a long time. Here&#8217;s a direct quote from the peer-reviewed journal of Translational Andrology and Urology, from back in 2019: 
<blockquote>Transgender individuals who undergo gender-affirming medical or surgical therapies are at risk for infertility. Suppression of puberty .. in the pediatric transgender patient can pause the maturation of germ cells, and thus, affect fertility potential.</blockquote>
By the way, not that facts matter here, but in my tweet thread, I wasn&#8217;t only talking about puberty blockers. I was mainly talking about cross-sex hormones, which also have a well-documented sterilizing effect on children. Vanderbilt admitted to giving those to children as young as 13:
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But they must have forgot to delete a video from Vanderbilt Psychiatry’s Youtube channel back in 2020 which admits explicitly that they will give and have given irreversible hormone drugs to children as young as 13. <a href="https://t.co/Qn48zWoJ1N">pic.twitter.com/Qn48zWoJ1N</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313670075518978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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To be clear, the drugs they&#8217;re talking about don&#8217;t simply reduce fertility. In many cases, they eliminate it entirely and permanently. It is simply an indisputable fact that cross sex hormones — which Vanderbilt did give to gender confused children, and which are given to gender confused children all over the country — can and very often do sterilize. This is not my theory or my assumption, it is a fact. That’s why many hospitals engaging in this so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; tell patients to store their eggs and sperm. UCSF, for example, advises that its gender doctors will: 
<blockquote>&#8230;oversee services for people with testicles, including sperm storage and specialized techniques to produce and retrieve sperm in those with a history of hormone use.</blockquote>
So HuffPost caught me saying something true, which they&#8217;re pretending is false. But let&#8217;s just move on because it gets even worse. Lil Kalish also takes issue with my reporting that Vanderbilt was performing double mastectomies on minors.
<blockquote>[Vanderbilt] performed fewer than a dozen top surgeries, or double mastectomies, each year for transmasculine patients in their late teens, according to Riley. Such surgeries require patients to undergo months of therapy beforehand, and a study published this summer showed that top surgery patients had little to no regrets decades after the operation. Both Riley and a [Vanderbilt] executive, C. Wright Pinson, said that the hospital never performed &#8216;genital procedures&#8217; on minors.</blockquote>
There are at least three significant problems with this paragraph. The first is that it uses the term &#8220;late teens,&#8221; which is obviously ambiguous. A 19-year-old adult woman is in her &#8220;late teens.&#8221; Someone who&#8217;s 17-years-old could also be considered to be in their &#8220;late teens.&#8221; A 16-year-old might qualify as “late teens,” if by “late teens” you just mean someone on the back half of their teenage years. They’re relying on this ambiguity because, in fact, Vanderbilt did perform double mastectomies on patients under the age of 18. They&#8217;ve admitted that. This is why they suspended so-called &#8220;gender-affirming surgeries&#8221; for patients under the age of 18 after my reporting. It’s kind of hard to suspend something you weren’t doing in the first place.
Another problem with that paragraph is that it implies Vanderbilt didn&#8217;t act unethically because they only performed &#8220;fewer than a dozen top surgeries” each year for teenagers. So they only mutilated a few kids. What&#8217;s the big deal? Imagine being one of the young girls who no longer has her breasts because of these charlatans and then reading that paragraph. Enraging does not begin to describe it. In fact, if you are a person with a brain and a soul, you will hear that they mutilated a dozen kids a year and be shocked by how high that number is. A dozen a year? A dozen girls a year had their body parts removed for no valid medical reason? That is shocking and horrifying, to those of us with a conscience, anyway. You notice how they’ve moved the goal posts. They went from saying “We don’t mutilate kids at all, don’t be ridiculous,” to “We only mutilate kids every once in a while, don’t overreact.” That’s a very different argument, isn’t it?
The third issue here is the study they cite. They claim that &#8220;a study published this summer showed that top surgery patients had little to no regrets decades after the operation.&#8221; If you have common sense you will already find this claim highly dubious, given that almost all surgeries have regret rates at least over zero. The idea that nobody ever regrets a cosmetic double mastectomy is simply ludicrous on its face. That’s why I did what HuffPost hopes you won’t do and I clicked the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/2808129?guestAccessKey=43a62af8-3042-4678-b29d-3430c3ff98c1&amp;utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_content=tfl&amp;utm_term=080923" target="_blank" rel="noopener">link HuffPost provided</a>. It took me to a report that I’ve actually already debunked on this show, and it begins with this: 
<blockquote>Question: What is the rate of regret and satisfaction with [the] decision after 2 years or more following gender-affirming mastectomy?</blockquote>
They&#8217;re clearly not tracking results from &#8220;decades&#8221; after the surgery, at least not in every case. Two years suffices, apparently. And then I looked at the response rate: 
<blockquote>A total of 235 patients were deemed eligible for the study, and 139 responded.</blockquote>
Right there, you have a useless study. If nearly half of the patients don&#8217;t respond — maybe because they&#8217;re dead, depressed or unhappy — then you have no business citing the very small number of people who responded — fewer than 140 in this case — as evidence of anything. We see this kind of statistical manipulation constantly in this field. This is yet another instance of it. We should also note that the median age at the time of surgery for those who did respond was 27. So this was not a study that focused on minors who had top surgery. In other words, it’s a totally irrelevant study because it is not even attempting to measure the thing that we’re actually talking about. 
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Finally, a number of respondents actually did report high levels of dissatisfaction, but their answers were thrown out because the researchers judged the answers to be contradictory or confusing. This is just a brief list of the problems with this absolutely ridiculous and scientifically illegitimate study, which HuffPost is citing uncritically and without acknowledging any of its myriad limitations.
I could go on here. The rest of the piece is an extended attack on Vanderbilt, believe it or not, for daring to comply with the Tennessee attorney general&#8217;s investigation into this barbarism. They also suggest it&#8217;s improper for Tennessee officials to act on my concerns, even though this is precisely how democracy is supposed to work: Citizens bring an issue to the attention of their government, and the government responds.
The upshot is that this writer repeatedly insists that I misinformed the public about Vanderbilt&#8217;s trans program and about &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; generally. But there is no explanation as to what part I was wrong about, or how exactly I was wrong. What little this writer does say is clearly wrong or misleading. This is what passes for a fact check. This is how a &#8220;hit piece&#8221; works in the year 2023.
As gratifying as it was for me to read this, there&#8217;s a bigger point to be made here. Ultimately the article is a lamentation over a battle that the Left knows it has lost. The child gender transition racket has suffered one defeat after another in state legislatures, and then the courts followed. Most importantly, it has lost completely on a cultural level. 
Look at the comments on this HuffPost hit piece. The most popular comments — on this extremely Left-wing website — all support my point of view. As of today, the top comment on the article reads: 
<blockquote>Why is this being made into a Left-Right issue by the media, it&#8217;s NOT. I&#8217;m liberal, everyone I know is liberal, NO ONE I know supports trans treatments for children.</blockquote>
The next highest-rated comment reads: 
<blockquote>They keep telling us that no surgical procedures are being done on minors, yet here it seems to be occurring.</blockquote>
Right below that, is this comment: 
<blockquote>I just can&#8217;t understand how any adult would be ok with this in their children..</blockquote>
The public sees &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; butchery for what it is, and once they&#8217;ve seen it, the genie can&#8217;t go back in the bottle. The voices of sanity are winning. They&#8217;re winning with laws against child castration, which are being passed all over the country. They&#8217;re winning in the courts, especially after the ruling from the Sixth Circuit just a few weeks ago, upholding the ban on &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; butchery in Tennessee. And now, with this desperate, overwritten and incoherent hit piece, the Left has admitted their defeat as clearly as they possibly can.

Matt Walsh 5 (1)

The Left Admits Defeat In Their Latest Hit Piece Against Me

Huffington Post

Readers Pass

transgender surgery

Federal health officials have launched a civil rights investigation into Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) after the hospital turned over trans-identifying clinic patients’ medical records to the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. The AG&#8217;s office is investigating the Nashville-based center for potential medical billing fraud connected to transgender medical treatments for minors.
VUMC chief communications officer John Howser <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-transgender-vanderbilt-e524f08f8324c46b106cbe3a054724ff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Associated Press last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights contacted the medical center just weeks after two patients sued the hospital system, claiming they were among more than 100 current and former patients whose records were turned over to Tennessee state authorities.
“We have no further comment since this is an ongoing investigation,” Howser said.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office confirmed in June that it was investigating the medical center over potential billing fraud. The center <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-pediatric-transgender-clinic-terminates-gender-affirming-care-before-tennessee-law-takes-effect-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently</a> ceased providing cross-sex hormones and performing sex-change surgeries on minors in compliance with a new Tennessee law that took effect earlier this year.
Brandon Smith, chief of staff for the state attorney general, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-gives-tennessee-ag-gender-clinic-patient-records-under-investigation-for-billing-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the investigation is purely about Vanderbilt’s billing practices and not about the patients themselves, saying the AG’s office was “surprised that VUMC has deliberately chosen to frighten its patients like this.”
“The Office does not publicize fraud investigations to preserve the integrity of the investigative process. The Office maintains patient records in the strictest confidence, as required by law,” Smith added. “The investigation is focused solely on VUMC and certain related providers, not patients, as VUMC is well aware.”
Howser <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/us/tennessee-vanderbilt-university-medical-center-investigation-transgender-reaj/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN that the medical center “received valid requests” from state authorities as part of its investigation, which sought information about transgender care at VUMC.
“The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to that investigation, and VUMC was obligated to do so,” Howser said. “VUMC complies with all health care privacy and security requirements established under both Federal and Tennessee law, including but not limited to HIPAA.”
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The investigation into VUMC from the Biden administration comes after a heated legislative session earlier this year when Tennessee Republicans moved to prevent sex change procedures and hormones from being prescribed to minors, legislation prompted by The Daily Wire’s investigation into VUMC’s gender clinic.
Daily Wire host Matt Walsh published a bombshell report last year that prompted Tennessee lawmakers to prohibit doctors from performing sex-change treatments and surgeries on minors.
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BREAKING: My team and I have been investigating the transgender clinic at Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Vanderbilt drugs, chemically castrates, and performs double mastectomies on minors. But it gets worse. Here is what we found. Let&#39;s start at the beginning.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313369528635392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Walsh uncovered shocking videos that showed a doctor calling certain sex-change surgeries “huge money makers” and a health law expert saying conscientious objections to the surgeries are “problematic.”
Anthony Cash contributed to this report.

US-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-HEALTH

Biden Administration Investigates Vanderbilt University Over Release Of Transgender Clinic Patient Records

Daily Wire host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-walsh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Walsh</a> excoriated a district judge on Friday for a decision blocking a ban on injecting minors with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria.
“This week, federal Judge Eli Richardson declined to halt Tennessee’s ban on child mutilation surgeries. But he issued an injunction against the state’s ban on chemically castrating &amp; sterilizing minors. The opinion is astonishingly bad &amp; the state AG has already appealed,” Walsh said in the first tweet of a lengthy thread posted to Twitter.
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1/ This week, federal Judge Eli Richardson declined to halt Tennessee’s ban on child mutilation surgeries. But he issued an injunction against the state’s ban on chemically castrating &amp; sterilizing minors. The opinion is astonishingly bad &amp; the state AG has already appealed.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908142813970432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Tennessee enacted legislation banning sex-change treatments and surgeries on minors after an undercover investigation by Walsh and his team found that Vanderbilt University Medical Center was providing so-called “puberty blocking” drugs, cross-sex hormones, and mastectomies to underage teens.
In his opinion blocking the Tennessee state law, Richardson cited two other court cases that have “nothing to do with transgenderism,” Walsh said. Richardson also took into account data provided by two pro-transgender organizations, disregarding objections that the data was “low quality.”
“[T]he Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system permits conclusions to be drawn based on what is considered ‘low-quality evidence,’” Richardson wrote.
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4/ How does the judge make the leap and determine that it&#39;s &quot;medical care&quot; to castrate &amp; sterilize a child? He disregards the state’s experts and cites &quot;evidence&quot; that he admits is &quot;low quality&quot; from two main sources: the trans activist group WPATH and the Endocrine Society. <a href="https://t.co/Wgko0kl4bm">pic.twitter.com/Wgko0kl4bm</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908146622423040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Richardson dismissed professional testimony from clinical psychologist Dr. James Cantor pointing out flaws in the data, which came from WPATH and the Endocrine Society. The judge said that Cantor’s testimony was meaningless unless he possessed experience “administer[ing] the medical procedures banned by SB1.”
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“In other words, the judge only values the opinions of doctors who are already making money by castrating children,” Walsh wrote.
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8/ In other words, the judge only values the opinions of doctors who are already making money by castrating children. That could be why he completely ignores sworn declarations from doctors like Sven Roman, who explained to him why minors should not receive cross-sex hormones. <a href="https://t.co/AFZA4RNzug">pic.twitter.com/AFZA4RNzug</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908151634591744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The judge also disregarded concerns from the state that administering cross-sex hormones to minors could “lead to a lifetime dependence on certain medications” because “[d]efendants do not explain why such dependence should itself be considered a negative side effect.”
Richardson accepted expert testimony from physicians who supported transgender treatments for minors, however. He cited Duke Health’s Dr. Deanna Adkins “extensively” throughout the opinion, despite Adkins&#8217; own lack of citations for her work, according to Walsh.
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10/ Judge Richardson doesn’t ignore every declaration in the case, however. He extensively cites this declaration from Duke “trans” specialist Dr. Deanna Adkins, who offers this rundown of gender theory without providing citations. <a href="https://t.co/vLVqUnbVEG">pic.twitter.com/vLVqUnbVEG</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908154126114820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Judge Richardson said Dr. Adkins’ declaration is credible. Meanwhile, he disregards evidence that cross-sex hormones sterilize children, because ‘not all individuals will experience this negative side effect,’” Walsh wrote.
Walsh blasted the judge for giving little treatment to the risks associated with cross-sex hormone treatments and, when writing of the procedures and their effects, using euphemisms that disguise the real impact.
“Even one of the doctors that Judge Richardson’s opinion relies on – Dr. Adkins – admits in her declaration that patients must be informed of ‘irreversible’ risks of cross-sex hormones, including sterilization,” Walsh writes.
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14/ Even one of the doctors that Judge Richardson’s opinion relies on – Dr. Adkins – admits in her declaration that patients must be informed of &quot;irreversible&quot; risks of cross-sex hormones, including sterilization. <a href="https://t.co/cuhmoLIlTq">pic.twitter.com/cuhmoLIlTq</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908158903349250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Richardson also cited the lack of evidence as to whether such sex-change treatments are “safe” as an argument supporting their further use.
“The practical effects of the judge’s decision are clear. Vanderbilt’s deputy CEO told Judge Richardson that the moment he issues an injunction, sterilizing hormone therapies will resume – including on minor children,” Walsh writes.
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16/ The practical effects of the judge’s decision are clear. Vanderbilt’s deputy CEO told Judge Richardson that the moment he issues an injunction, sterilizing hormone therapies will resume – including on minor children. <a href="https://t.co/OyFqlAzbWt">pic.twitter.com/OyFqlAzbWt</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908161411543044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Walsh went on to spotlight two of Richardson’s former clerks, one who has posted her pronouns in her bio and works for a lesbian activist group and another who wrote in support of nuisance environmental lawsuits against the meat industry.
“Is Judge Richardson surrounding himself with left-wing activists? Why did he decide to override the will of the overwhelming majority of Tennesseans in order to allow child castration? Maybe those two questions are related. The good news is the appeal is already underway,” Walsh concluded.
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20/ Is Judge Richardson surrounding himself with left-wing activists? Why did he decide to override the will of the overwhelming majority of Tennesseans in order to allow child castration? Maybe those two questions are related. The good news is the appeal is already underway.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674908166293712897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Editor&#8217;s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly labeled Judge Eli Richardson a Tennessee state judge.

Matt Walsh Deconstructs ‘Astonishingly Bad’ Ruling Blocking Ban On Minor Sex-Change Procedures

A federal judge in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> has put a partial block on a law intended to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irreversible-infertility-listed-as-risk-of-hormone-therapy-on-trans-clinic-waiver" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shield children from life-altering transgender procedures</a>, following other federal judges who blocked similar protective laws in other states.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson placed a temporary injunction against the ban on giving children cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, which have been shown to have life-altering impacts on children. Richardson did not block the provision of Tennessee’s law banning double mastectomies on girls identifying as boys or other genital procedures.
“If Tennessee wishes to regulate access to certain medical procedures, it must do so in a manner that does not infringe on the rights conferred by the United States Constitution, which is of course supreme to all other laws of the land. With regard to SB1, Tennessee has likely failed to do just this,” Richardson <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/28/tennessee-gender-affirming-care-ban-halted-judge-eli-richardson/70340063007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in his ruling.
Richardson&#8217;s ruling just places temporarily blocks the law, which was set to go into effect on July 1, but will now be held while a suit against the law is adjudicated. The judge’s ruling was widely condemned by Republicans in the state, who promised to continue the fight.
“It is a sad day in Tennessee when, in place of protecting innocent children, our courts normalize a dangerous ideology that promotes the abuse and chemical castration of healthy young people. I am grateful for the wisdom of the General Assembly in recognizing and passing legislation that, despite today’s disappointing ruling, will protect children from gender-mutilating surgeries beginning July 1st.  Tennessee Republicans will vigorously fight this decision to the highest court in the nation,” <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamLamberth/status/1674215065531056128" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the author of the law.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who sponsored the bill in the state Senate, thanked Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti for his “commitment” to appeal the decision.
“I have complete faith that the legislation we passed is constitutional,” Johnson <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnson/status/1674211851817611271" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “This is a critical part of our efforts to protect Tennessee children, and we are going to continue to fight to protect these kids from permanent, irreversible mutilation of their bodies.”
Tennessee’s law was passed after an investigation from Daily Wire host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-pediatric-transgender-clinic-terminates-gender-affirming-care-before-tennessee-law-takes-effect-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Walsh revealed</a> that transgender procedures were being performed on children at Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic.
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“It’s not a surprise that an activist judge has once again stepped in to defend child butchery. We expected this would happen. This fight will end up in the Supreme Court. I’m confident we’ll win there,” Walsh said on Twitter.
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It’s not a surprise that an activist judge has once again stepped in to defend child butchery. We expected this would happen. This fight will end up in the Supreme Court. I’m confident we’ll win there. <a href="https://t.co/PDmx7fHMcK">https://t.co/PDmx7fHMcK</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1674214521693523970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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In response to Walsh’s tweet, Lamberth said he wished Richardson would watch Walsh’s groundbreaking documentary, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What is a Woman?</a>” or speak with Chloe Cole, a young woman who &#8220;transitioned&#8221; but now has detransitioned and speaks out against the harmful impact of transgender procedures.
“I wish this judge would spend just 10 minutes with brave young people like [Chloe Cole] or watch<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhatIsAWoman?src=hashtag_click"> #WhatIsAWoman</a> No way this decision on medication assisted abuse is handed down after that. Look at the facts. It isn&#8217;t gender affirming care, it is gender destroying care. Thank you @MattWalshBlog for your fierce advocacy on this important issue.”
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I wish this judge would spend just 10 minutes with brave young people like <a href="https://twitter.com/ChoooCole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChoooCole</a> or watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhatIsAWoman?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhatIsAWoman</a> No way this decision on medication assisted abuse is handed down after that. Look at the facts. It isn&#39;t gender affirming care, it is gender destroying care. Thank you… <a href="https://t.co/MH3hCfwmJp">https://t.co/MH3hCfwmJp</a>
&mdash; William Lamberth (@WilliamLamberth) <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamLamberth/status/1674219328130916353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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A federal judge in Kentucky also blocked a ban on giving children cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers on Wednesday, joining other judges in Florida, Indiana, and Arkansas who have made similar rulings.

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‘A Sad Day’: Federal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law Protecting Children From Life-Altering Transgender Procedures

'A Sad Day': Federal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law Protecting Children From Life-Altering Transgender Procedures

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vanderbilt-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vanderbilt University Medical Center</a> (VUMC) has turned over gender clinic patients’ medical records to the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, which confirmed on Tuesday it is investigating the hospital for potential medical billing fraud.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office confirmed on Tuesday that it was investigating the embattled medical center that recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-pediatric-transgender-clinic-terminates-gender-affirming-care-before-tennessee-law-takes-effect-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ceased</a> providing cross sex hormones to and performing sex-change surgeries on minors in compliance with a new Tennessee law set to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-isnt-backing-down-from-trans-surgery-ban-even-if-a-federal-judge-imposes-an-injunction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take effect</a> on July 1.
&#8220;VUMC received requests from the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General as part of its investigation seeking information about transgender care at VUMC,” John Howser, a spokesman for VUMC, told <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2023/06/20/vanderbilt-university-m-turns-over-transgender-patient-medical-records-to-tennessee-attorney-general/70338356007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Tennessean</a> in a statement. “The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so.&#8221;
Generally, Tennessee law mandates that medical records be kept confidential, but because Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is conducting an investigation into the medical center’s practices, he has the legal authority to pursue the records, according to Paul Hales, an attorney who specializes in health privacy.
VUMC informed families of their turning over medical records to the state, prompting concern among families over their children’s privacy. Chris Sanders, executive director of the <a href="https://www.tnep.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee Equality Project</a>, a far-Left LGBTQ interest group whose Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/tnequality?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slogan</a> is “Taking on Tennessee’s Slate of Hate,” said several parents of trans-identifying children called him in a panic since they received the notification from VUMC on Monday.
“They’re terrified,” he said. “They don’t know what’s next, they don’t know how this will be used or whether they will be targeted in some way. They feel like their privacy has been violated.” Sanders went on to say that many are upset at VUMC for “not fight[ing] harder” against the state.
Despite the fear Sanders reports, VUMC clearly informs patients that the center may share their information with law enforcement and “other officials … as authorized or required by law” or for “lawsuits and disputes.”
Tennessee AG Chief of Staff Brandon Smith told The Tennessean that the investigation is purely about Vanderbilt’s billing practices and not about the patients themselves, saying the AG’s office was “surprised that VUMC has deliberately chosen to frighten its patients like this.”
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&#8220;The Office does not publicize fraud investigations to preserve the integrity of the investigative process. The Office maintains patient records in the strictest confidence, as required by law,” Smith added. “The investigation is focused solely on VUMC and certain related providers, not patients, as VUMC is well aware.”
The investigation into VUMC comes after a heated legislative session earlier this year when Tennessee Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-tennessee-introduces-legislation-to-ban-trans-treatments-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moved</a> to prevent sex change procedures and hormones from being prescribed to minors, legislation prompted by The Daily Wire’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/huge-money-maker-video-reveals-vanderbilts-shocking-gender-care-threats-against-dissenting-doctors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> into VUMC’s gender clinic.

Lady Justice before a flag of Tennessee

Vanderbilt Gives Tennessee AG Gender Clinic Patient Records, Under Investigation For Billing Fraud

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