Trans activist debunks false claim that 80% of trans youth detransition

 

There are quite a few trans activists working against this outbreak of anti-trans legislation. They aren't as well known as they should be, but their work is outstanding.

One such person is Erin Reed, an independent reporter who has been following anti-trans legislation around the country via her substack and Twitter address. She also breaks down the deliberate inaccuracies pushed against the trans community by the anti-LGBTQ industry.

Such as the false claim that 80% of trans youth detransition:

One of the most common myths heard in anti-trans hearings is that most trans kids will desist if they are allowed to go through puberty. Sometimes specific numbers are given, such as 80% of trans kids desist. This statistic has been cited as low as 60% and as high as 99% in various legislatures. In Montana, a representative used this statistic to justify passing a medical ban. The Heritage Foundation has also pushed this myth. Nearly every hearing on this topic includes this myth. The desistance myth is one of the most persistent falsehoods and has been used against the trans community for decades. It is misleading and inaccurate as it comes from outdated DSM-4 criteria and decades-old data. Newer studies show that 97.5% of transgender youth are persistent in their gender identities. Let's examine how this falsehood originated, how it is misused, and what current research reveals about the rarity of desistence and detransition. 

 Erin not only examines the lie but also points out how those on the right amplify the claim by using old studies which use outdated standards. Her entire post is worth a read and a share:

Among trans youth, desistance and detransition rates are incredibly low. The most recent study in the prestigious journal Pediatrics, one of the only studies that use modern criteria, showed that 97.5% of trans youth continue to identify as trans on a 5 year follow-up. The sample size was also larger than all previous sample sizes of this population: 317 youth. Anti-trans gender affirming care bans often start off with a list of “legislative findings” that seek to “state the science” around gender affirming care. In this list of findings, you might be surprised to see that the later studies are nowhere to be found, but the claims from the former studies pop up and are presented as factual when they are over a decade old, are dramatically outdated, and use standards that are not even in use anymore.

'Florida, Kentucky becomes eighth and ninth state to restrict gender-affirming care for trans kids' & other Fri midday news briefs

Florida becomes eighth state to restrict transgender care for minors​ - And plans to sue are already in the works.

At 11th hour, Kentucky Republicans resurrect, expand and pass anti-trans bill - They snuck it in, but that's alright. It will be beaten down.

George Santos shares anti-LGBTQ+ video accusing teacher of “indoctrinating” kids into tolerance - What an immoral moron. 

Nonbinary N.C. Teen Wins $90k in National Science Competition - Outstanding!! 

'Not A Drag Queen' exposes how the far-right ignores actual child predators - My post from Thursday night. You can tell that I'm rather proud of it.

'Not A Drag Queen' exposes how the far-right ignores actual child predators

The far-right has gotten the country all up in arms with their attacks on drag queens. Just as they claimed about gays in the past, they are accusing drag queens and drag shows of 'sexualizing' kids. They also claim that drag queens are convincing kids that they are transgender.

It's ridiculous, being ridiculous has nothing to do with it. Nor does lack of truth. It's all about exploiting people's prejudices and religious beliefs in order to create a narrative justifying anti-LGBTQ laws, ordinances, and actions. And as we see, it has been fairly successful across the country with states like Tennessee and Kentucky attempting to pass laws falsely designating drag performances as adult-oriented and restricting them from being performed in public places and in front of kids.

But like with all fights against intolerant and powerful apparatuses, those being picked on develop ways of fighting which are cutting and to the point. On Twitter, folks have spread the hashtag Not A Drag Queen. The purpose is to point out that while the far right accuse drag queens of 'sexualizing' kids, they are ignoring the actual predators (yes I am talking to you Libs of TikTok and Gays Against Groomers). Even those who may be in their ranks. And they have a lot to work from.

Several tweets are as follows:

'Former detransitioner details how the far-right exploited her to harm the transgender community' & other Thur midday news briefs

The making of a detransitioner​ - The far-right exploited the 'ex-gay' movement to undermine gay rights and safety until they ran out of luck. Now they are exploiting 'detransititoners' to undermine transgender rights and safety.

Gender Clinic Workers Kept a Spreadsheet of Trans Patients’ Names. Here’s What Happened Next. - Remember the anti-trans 'whistleblower' Jamie Reed? Not only is her story of wrong doing at a trans center falling apart but it turns out that she may have violated the law. 

Prosecutor threatens to throw librarian in jail for stocking this book - And the librarian isn't scared one iota. She's like "bring it on." 

Clown Show: George Santos and the Funny Idea of LGBTQ+ Republicans - Brutal but accurate article by The Advocate.

Randy Rainbow calls out George Santos with a viciously funny parody song

 Consider the above video as sort of an entertainment break from fighting the anti-LGBTQ industry during this so-called culture war. In the old days, comedian Bob Hope used to travel overseas to entertain our fighting troops. While we don't have Bob Hope, we do have Randy Rainbow. He helped get us through the Trump years and while I hope we don't get into a situation in which we really need him (i.e. Ron DeSantis getting elected as president), there is still an endless stream of political hackery he can call out.

In this video he calls out perennial liar and gay Republican Congressman George Santos using songs 'Jolly Holiday' from movie Mary Poppins and 'Georgie Girl' by the Seekers.

Admit it. You knew this match was coming.

'DeSantis lies about his anti-LGBTQ book bans while escalating war on drag shows' & other Wed midday news briefs

FL Gov Ron DeSantis

DeSantis Engages In ‘Complete Gaslighting’ Over Florida Book Bans​ - On top of everything else, DeSantis is a liar. And he isn't even trying to hide his hand here. This man is an immoral SOB and him in the White House would be a disaster for everyone. If he can lie so freely about us, then he can lie about other Americans. We are all at risk from a DeSantis Administration

Another drag show showdown: Florida targets prominent Miami hotel’s liquor license - Case in point.

School that refused to play team with trans player is barred from tournaments - Prepare for hell to be raised, but bring it on. It's only one player and they haven't even played the team yet. They simply refused to play and made some ugly comments about her. 

Karine Jean-Pierre to LGBTQ+ Community: ‘President Has Their Back’ - I hope President Biden backs up her words with something. 

U.S. House committee debates federal ban on trans women in women’s sports - This was last week and it was not pretty. The fight for equality isn't supposed to be.

Man who claims that he doesn't want to eradicate trans people calls them 'demonic'

Michael Knowles

Daily Wire podcaster Michael Knowles claims that he was unfairly accused of calling for the "eradication" of trans people. Granted, he said "trangenderism" must be eradicated, but he also said that trans people aren't real.

I doubt his latest attack on the trans community will help his case. 

From Media Matters:

MICHAEL KNOWLES (HOST): This is demonic stuff. Really demonic stuff. And I made this point -- I got in trouble with our publicists over at Media Matters because I said that the -- the attacks on man's sexual nature and sexual difference and complementarity are demonic. And they are. And they go back throughout all of history, throughout some of the earliest depictions of demons. Even one of the most prominent depictions of demons comes from an artist Éliphas Lévi, who was an occultist who did a depiction of Baphomet. If you just think, what's a demon look like? You're probably thinking of this picture. And this picture is of a weird goat head with horns, and then one arm looks like a man's arm, and then one arm looks like a woman's arm. And it's got breasts, a female upper body, then a male lower body. And it's a trans depiction. It's a depiction of a man and a woman, kind of, blended together in this grotesque way.

 And what's written on the arms - two words, solve coagula, which means to break apart and to put back together. And this is a slogan that crops up frequently in the occult. Break everything down, put it back together in this really grotesque, weird, unnatural sort of way. It is no coincidence that these depictions are what we see in this highly, highly dangerous ideology. It is no coincidence that when you attack this ideology -- I've gone after so many different leftist views, leftist hobby horses, leftist ideologies -- and you get pushback. If you defend the Second Amendment, you get pushback. If you push back on critical race theory, you -- you get some angry people sending you messages. Nothing comes close to when you push back against the transgender agenda. The images that people send you, the threats that people make against you. It's exactly what that woman described. And it is demonic. The whole thing is demonic.

What the hell is he talking about?

I've known types like Michael Knowles while attending college. They like to hear themselves talk as a show of their so-called intellectual prowess.  But as time goes by, they sound less intelligent and more like the cartoon character Brainy Smurf.

Tenn Lt Gov McNally 'pausing' social media activity after 'gay thirst trap' controversy' & other Tue midday news briefs

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally

Lt. Gov. McNally ‘pausing’ social media activity after backlash​ - Mmmmm hmmmm. 

LGBTQ Writers Voice Outrage and Fear Over Right-Wing War of Terror - The quicker we realize that we are in a war, the quicker we can begin to kick ass. 

The 15 queerest and most iconic moments from the 2023 Oscars - Great night. 

Brendan Fraser Opens Up About His Gay, Oscar-Winning The Whale Performance - Hooo boy! Controversial on so many levels. 

When parents are the activists: PFLAG celebrates 50 years of LGBTQ advocacy - Congratulations PFLAG. You're needed today more than ever.

Oscar winner thanks parents for not freaking out when he dressed in drag as a kid. Says drag is a threat to nobody.

Oscar winners for 'Best Director,' Daniel Scheinert (left) and Daniel Kwan (right).

With all that happened at the Oscars on Sunday night (no comment), I am a little miffed that the following moment didn't catch as much attention as it should have.  The motion picture  Everything Everywhere All At Once was the huge winner with seven wins, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Picture. It also won Best Director for the duo of Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan. While accepting the award for Best Director, Scheinert snuck in this short but very valid comment about children and drag. It's a reminder of how the anti-drag hysteria perpetrated by conservatives and wannabe social media influencers is a lot nonsense over nothing.

“Specifically my mom and dad ... thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was ... dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to NOBODY.” - Daniel Scheinert, accepting the Best Director #Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All At Once”
pic.twitter.com/ccLZm0HoCl

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) March 13, 2023

'Celebrities are joining together to fight Tennessee's chilling anti-LGBTQ+ laws' & other Mon midday news briefs

Celebrities are joining together to fight Tennessee’s chilling anti-LGBTQ+ laws​ - A definite asset for us in this so-called 'culture war' is the fact that our opponents don't know how to dial it down. They ALWAYS go too far.

Ali Velshi and Transgender Journalist Agree Florida Road Testing Authoritarianism in U.S. ‘Just Like The Early 1930s’ in Germany - It needs to be said. Repeatedly. 

FL Bill Would Jail Parents Who Take Kids To Drag Shows - Like I said earlier, the opposition simply cannot help themselves. 

Transgender Teen’s Question on Bathrooms Stumps Va.'s Republican Governor - These "let kids be kids" and "protect the kids" folks can't even answer a simply question coming from one. 

Trans Students In Buffalo Tell Michael Knowles They Won’t Be ‘Eradicated’ - Damn skippy.

Anti-LGBTQ Lt Gov commented on the beauty of a trans woman in post as well as liking gay 'thirst trap' pics

From Vice: 

 One of Tennessee’s top GOP lawmakers has supported some of the red state’s most anti-LGBTQ bills—all while positively engaging with gay and trans content creators on Instagram. 

 On Wednesday, the Tennessee Holler broke news that Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally has used his verified Instagram account to comment on a young gay Tennessee man’s thirst traps. McNally responded to several posts from performer Franklyn McClur with heart, fire, and clap emojis, and left comments like “Super Look Finn” and “You need to be on dancing with the stars.” On one image of McClur’s butt, McNally’s account wrote, “Finn, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine!” 

 This comes on heels of the resurfacing of Tennessee Gov Bill Lee's picture in drag as a minor during the time in which he was signing bill categorizing drag as adult entertainment, thus banning it from being shown to minors and in public areas. Lee also signed a bill outlawing gender-affirming care for trans kids. 

 When it comes to McNally though, there is a new angle in the story. Apparently he also follows -  and "likes" -  the post of  a transgender woman:

 

Again: As the @TNGOP attempts to legislate trans people out of existence, a collage of @ltgovmcnally *liking* posts by a trans woman, commenting on how beautiful she is, etc… it wasn’t just Franklyn. #RandyRandy #SlateOfHate 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ pic.twitter.com/Y9BYgjVTnJ

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 9, 2023

McNally's office was defiant when asked about him like the gay man's pictures: 

 . . . McNally’s team spoke of the lieutenant governor’s love of social media. “As anyone in Tennessee politics knows, Lt. Governor McNally is a prolific social media commenter,” McNally spokesperson Adam Kleinheider told VICE News in a statement. “He takes great pains to view every post he can and frequently posts encouraging things to many of his followers. Does he always use the proper emoji at the proper time? Maybe not. But he enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds, and orientations on social media. He has no intention of stopping.” 

 “Trying to imply something sinister or inappropriate about a great-grandfather’s use of social media says more about the mind of the left-wing operative making the implication than it does about Randy McNally,” Kleinheider added about the 79-year-old politician. 

 I wonder what his office will say about the new revelation regarding the transgender woman. As juicy as this story is, let's not forget what it's actually about. It's not about what Gov Lee looked like in drag or what Lt Gov McNally's sexual orientation may or may not be.

It is all about the hypocrisy of Lee and McNally. They create laws designating LGBTQ people and culture as something to be afraid of.  But their actions tell an opposite story.

'Leaked emails reveal the right-wing work group helping to push anti-trans laws across the country' & other Thur midday news

Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country​ - It was NEVER about protecting kids. Just about simple bigotry. And the leaked emails which led to this story will probably lead to more revelations.

Michigan Lawmakers OK LGBTQ+ Rights Bill; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to Sign - THIS is why voting matters. 

Arkansas Senate OKs transgender bathroom bill that critics call extreme - The bill would criminalize transgender people who use public restrooms or changing facilities that align with their gender identity. 

Man accusing conservative bigwig Matt Schlapp of groping him comes forward - Turns out he has a racist past, which Schlapp's lawyer wanted to reveal which is why he pushed for him to be revealed. It looks like it's backfiring against Schlapp. 

12 Black Lesbians & Bi Women From History You Need to Know - And you'd BETTER know them, too.

2021 Flashback - USA Today article says transgender athlete bans based on lies, misrepresentations

 Editor's note - Republicans in Congress are going to introduce a national ban on trans athletes. No doubt it's their way of introducing other anti-trans legislation. And of course the Democrats will be fighting against them every step of the way. I am reposting this piece I published in 2021 about how USA Today article pointed out that arguments pushed to ban trans athletes are based upon lies and mischaracterizations. It underscores not only how the anti-LGBTQ industry lies but also how short memories are very detrimental to the fight for LGBTQ equality.

From 2021:

In an exceptional piece of journalism, The USA Today took a look at the efforts and groups behind statewide attempts to ban trans athletes and found a lot of lies and misrepresentation. 

It shouldn't surprise those of us in the know because every effort by religious right groups to denigrate LGBTQ people or deny us rights has been a smorgasbord of cherry-pickings, distortions, and out-and-out lies.  Exposing the anti-LGBTQ industry and calling out their history of lies is how this blog made a name for itself since 2006. 

In the spirit of all of that, I simply have to say that The USA Today article,  Conservatives want to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. Their evidence is shaky by Rachel Axon and Brent Schrotenboer is a goddamn masterpiece worthy of a Pulitzer.  

Yes, it's that good. I'm going to post snippets of it and highly suggest that folks read and share the entire article.

Excerpt 1

Grace Waggoner told lawmakers in February 2020 that her team had lost the first state tournament game it had played in decades to an opponent with a transgender player. She blamed an “unfair” Arizona Interscholastic Association policy that allows students to join teams consistent with their gender identity after going through a review. Waggoner offered few details on the athlete’s impact on the game, but bill sponsor Rep. Nancy Barto accepted it as evidence of a problem in her state.

 . . The game Waggoner referenced in her testimony turned out to be a state tournament play-in game in 2019 that Scottsdale Christian Academy lost to Heritage Academy, 16-6. Heritage Academy coach Steve LaDrigue said his team did not have a transgender player. What Waggoner didn’t say is that she’s the daughter of Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom – a conservative, legal nonprofit that has pushed transgender sports bans in states across the nation. When pressed for details about the game, an ADF spokesperson said in an email, “The widespread understanding on the team – including the coach, parents, and players – was that the athlete was male.” LaDrigue guesses the suspicion fell on the team’s catcher, his daughter, because she has short hair.

Editor's note - The Alliance Defending Freedom is the group behind efforts to ban trans athletes

Excerpt 2

Across the nation, state lawmakers supporting transgender athlete bans have painted a picture that girls sports teams will be overrun by athletes with insurmountable physical advantages. But a USA TODAY investigation of the lobbying effort shows that narrative has been built on vague examples that have been overstated or are untrue, and lawmakers have accepted them as fact with little effort to verify their accuracy. The more than 70 bills lawmakers have offered in at least 36 states would suggest a bigger problem facing girls sports, but that didn’t check out either. 

Instead, USA TODAY could find few transgender athletes participating and even fewer complaints about them. In South Dakota, the sponsor of a bill said a transgender girl who played basketball was “consistently scoring 25 points above females” in high school and that the Sioux Falls district alone had three transgender athletes competing in 2019. But the state association responsible for approving participation of transgender athletes says only one transgender girl has competed since 2013, and she was an average athlete who didn’t live in Sioux Falls.

Editor's note - That's just one of the cases the USA Today article revealed that those attempting to ban trans athletes misrepresented.

Excerpt 3

During a discussion at the influential Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Milstead joined former Southern Utah University runner Linnea Saltz to speak about the issue – and Saltz referred to a transgender athlete who has gained mythic status among supporters of these bills. June Eastwood, a University of Montana runner, became the first openly transgender cross-country runner in major college sports in 2019-20 after undergoing hormone therapy for a year to suppress testosterone, as required by NCAA rules. But bill proponents often exaggerate Eastwood’s accomplishments or take them out of context.

Those are three examples of religious right distortions and misrepresentations made against trans athletes in an article filled with examples. This is the type of article I hoped to write when I began this blog - the one I wish was published during the time I was attempting to come out. 

Please read and share it.

'GOP pushing national anti-trans sports bill' & other Wed midday news briefs

Fury, Condemnation as House Debate Begins on Anti-Trans Sports Bill - Even if it passes, it won't get anywhere in the Senate. And if by a miracle it does, President Biden will veto it.

Anti-LGBTQ Bills Filed in States This Year Rapidly Approaching 400 – Already More Than in All of 2022: ACLU​ - Ah yes. "Kitchen table issues."

LGBTQ+ Celebs Speak Out Against Transphobic & Anti-Drag Laws Being Pushed - More of this! 

Advocates rally nationwide for LGBTQ+ rights: We “have had enough.” - And more of this too. 

Apple and Google are not enforcing their stated terms of service as the Daily Wire App spreads violent anti-LGBTQ hate - Money talks. Always.

Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks 'gyrating drag queens' are 'sexualizing' kids into thinking that they are transgender

Marjorie Taylor Greene obsesses about 'gyrating drag queens'

"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made a fool out of herself in the halls of Congress" is an evergreen statement. This particular time, however, is extra special. On Tuesday, she proposed a nationwide ban on gender-affirming therapy for trans kids (don't worry cause it's not going anywhere for now).

Gotta love Marjorie!

Marjorie Taylor Greene: "We have had enough with drag queen shows in elementary schools & middle schools and high schools. We have had enough of drag queens gyrating.. God made all of us. Male & female, in his image.. And god doesn't make mistakes." pic.twitter.com/8SDp2WHotT

— Stranger Than Fiction News (@justnotthenews) March 7, 2023

From Raw Story

While proposing a new nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for minors, the conspiracy theory-promoting Georgia congresswoman accused transgender Americans of being part of a sinister plot to sexualize American children. "We have had enough with drag queen shows in elementary schools and middle schools and high schools!" she raged. "We have had enough of drag queens gyrating in front of children and the public square! These groomers and child predators must be stopped because they are sexualizing children for profit in a multibillion dollar medical industry that looks to grow and grow!" Greene then claimed that the entire concept of being transgender went against the Bible on the grounds that God's design of human beings was purportedly infallible.

So, if I were to follow Greene's bizarre and psychotically warped implication, "gyrating drag queens" are part of a  plot to "sexualize kids" into thinking that they are transgender. After the "sexualizing," they are then ripe to be victimized via irreparable surgeries by a soulless and greedy medical industry for billions.

I would make a wisecrack about getting a cut of the proceeds, but instead I can't help wondering what the f@k were those people in Georgia smoking when they voted Greene into office?

Seriously though,  we should ask ourselves how many other folks on her side of the aisle have the same mindset even if they aren't voicing it as vigorously or as insanely as Greene.

'Far right activist Charlie Kirk calls LGBT identification a 'social contagion'' & other Tue midday news briefs

Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk calls LGBT identification a “social contagion” - The field has just opened, folks. It's not just the trans community they are going after. 

 CPAC endorses eliminationist rhetoric as speaker Michael Knowles says “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely” - ​ Oh I KNOW Mr. Matt Schlapp who is being sued for sexual harassment by a male Republican operative isn't co-signing THIS mess.

Florida bill seeks to take trans kids away from affirming parents - These folks are tapdancing in the middle of tornado season.

As Tennessee, others target drag shows, many wonder: Why? - Cause bigotry in any form is always in season.

Under the Tennessee anti-drag law, this pro wrestling segment is now a felony

Just something short to put things in perspective. How ridiculous is the new Tennessee law which bans drag in the presence of minors and public places?  If this the pro wrestling segment below, taped in 1992 in Tennessee took place today,  Jerry Lawler (a pro wrestling legend in the state) could be charged with a felony

'Tennessee issues trans healthcare and drag show bans. Now come the lawsuits' & other Mon midday news briefs

Tennessee issues trans healthcare ban & nation’s first drag ban. Now come the lawsuits​ - And you better believe it. We're coming for that mess. 

Students switch up college plans as states pass anti-LGBTQ laws - The fallout continues. Some states are going to have to learn the hard way. 

CPAC Speaker Michael Knowles: ‘Transgenderism Must Be Eradicated’ - The controversy which raged the entire weekend. Let Knowles and his "friends" complain. We all KNOW what he actually meant. 

10 years after “Kill the Gays,” Uganda introduces a new rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ bill - Here we go again.

Lawsuit by 'willing patsy' is latest attempt by conservatives to undermine trans health and safety

Chloe Cole is the anti-LGBTQ industry's latest willing patsy against LGBTQ equality and safety.

 Earlier last week, I posted about the now refuted claim of "whistleblower" Jamie Reed against a St. Louis transgender center. On the heels of that comes a "lawsuit" whose goal seems to be not winning but creating an incentive to justify more anti-trans laws across the country. 

From The Los Angeles Times:

California teenager Chloe Cole has become something of a star in the movement to deny treatments to transgender youth. She has given testimony or made public statements in support of anti-treatment bills in Florida, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Idaho and North Dakota; appeared on Fox News; and shared a Washington platform with right-wing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). That’s useful for you to know in assessing Cole’s latest moment in the spotlight: her filing of a lawsuit against the giant Kaiser Permanente healthcare system. 

 . . .The context of Cole’s lawsuit bears close scrutiny. It’s part of a concerted right-wing attack on LGBTQ rights, in which the health of transgender youth is exploited as a pretext for bans on gender-affirming care. It resembles the right-wing attack on abortion rights, another movement that cynically masquerades as an effort to improve healthcare but actually exposes millions of Americans to injury and death for strictly partisan purposes. 

 . . . Cole is one of a handful of self-described detransitioners who have been flown around the country by anti-transgender activists to speak in favor of treatment bans. Their presentations aim to convince legislators that second thoughts are common among transgender patients, as though to suggest that gender-affirming treatment is a sham. 

 The Los Angeles Times piece further points out how Cole aligns herself with anti-trans groups while going from state to state giving lawmakers the false impression that 'destransitioning' is a large facet of the trans community when it is only one to two percent motivated by discrimination and societal pressures. The piece also points several errors in her complaint: 

 Cole’s legal complaint incorporates what seem to be misleading or inaccurate descriptions of developments in the gender dysphoria treatment field. The complaint states that “negative results” from the use of puberty blockers and hormones “caused” the shutdowns of a transgender clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1979 and Britain’s Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service more recently. 

Neither assertion is quite accurate. 

 The Johns Hopkins clinic was closed by the hospital’s chief of psychiatry, Paul R. McHugh, on ideological and religious grounds; a devout Catholic, McHugh opposed gender reassignment treatments in principle and maintained, as he put it in a 2016 Wall Street Journal opinion piece, that “‘sex change’ is biologically impossible.” Johns Hopkins shed McHugh’s four-decades-old judgments and reestablished its gender identity clinic in 2017. 

 Tavistock has not been shut down, though it is slated for closure by Britain’s National Health Service later this year. Its problems were not related to the medical issues with the treatments themselves, but rather with its being overwhemed, as Britain’s lone treatment center, by a torrent of new gender dysphoria cases. The NHS plans to replace Tavistock with several regional centers to improve access for all such patients. 

 Cole’s complaint also describes the conclusion of a 2011 Swedish study it cites as having found that “transition treatment does not improve long-term mental health for transgender individuals.” That’s not what the study concluded, however. 

 In propping up Cole, the anti-LGBTQ industry is following the same playbook used when it propped up the "ex-gay" movement and the narratives against marriage equality and LGBTQ people raising children.  They manufacture false theories and then use a willing patsy give those theories credibility when they don't stand up under scrutiny. Instead of having spokesperson spew cherry-picked and false data which demonizes LGBTQ people, it's easier to prop up a willing patsy to give "personal narratives" supposedly proving the accuracy of this data. 

That person will then be taken on speaking tours in front of conservative groups and particularly in front of legislative bodies looking to justify their anti-LGBTQ bills. And while that person gets praise, scrutiny seems to always be missing when it comes to their story. Cole is no different. To this day, there are several holes in  her story (such as the actions of her parents when the situation was alleged to have happened) which have not been sufficiently addressed.

This use of a willing patsy is a consistently successful endeavor for the anti-LGBTQ industry because there seems to always be one ready to jump into the spotlight.  In the past, there was Michael Johnston, Dawn Stefanowicz, Robert Oscar Lopez, as well as so many others.

This time, it's Chloe Cole's turn.

'Anti-LGBTQ+ Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik does bizarre CPAC talk ' & other Fri midday news briefs

Chaya Raichik

Anti-LGBTQ+ Libs of TikTok Creator Chaya Raichik Does Bizarre CPAC Talk​ - Trash is as trash does.

Black Trans and Nonbinary Youth at High Risk of Suicide - We simply have to do better by our kids.

Bisexuals are the ‘invisible majority’ in LGBTQ America - The article makes a good point. 

LGBTQ+ museum attacked, damaged by gunfire - Sickening.