Rapid response: Live coverage of Florida Board of Medicine 28 October 2022 anti-trans rulemaking meeting (raw)

On October 28, 2022, the Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine held a joint meeting to advance a politically-motivated ban on any medical transition treatment for youth under 18, including puberty blockers, HRT or surgeries, outside of yet-to-be-defined exceptions for “clinical trials”. This illegitimate process, featuring invited far-right experts with religious precommitments to transphobia and a DeSantis appointee on the Board working in secret with anti-trans groups SEGM and Genspect, is also the first time this medical transition care for youth has been banned at the state level by executive action rather than a legislative act.

Harris faces member vote on Society of Authors role amid call for free speech review

Joanne Harris is facing a vote by Society of Authors members on whether she should stand down as chair alongside demands for a review of how the organisation protects free speech.

A group of 10 members from the 12,000-member organisation, including Julie Bindel and Amanda Craig, have proposed a resolution for the society’s upcoming annual general meeting (a.g.m.), stating Harris’ comments and behaviour are “not compatible with the society’s goals of protecting free expression and their policy of dignity and respect” and she should leave her post.

Harris faced criticism earlier this year for a “flippant” poll she posted on Twitter after Salman Rushdie was stabbed. She later deleted it and admitted getting the tone wrong but it led to criticism of her position and views, including from J K Rowling.

10/28/22

Dealing with family issues, I’ll post something tomorrow.

~Kira

Scotland: Gender law reforms pass first vote with ‘overwhelming’ Holyrood support

A bill to streamline the laborious process on how trans people can change their gender on legal documents in Scotland has passed its first vote.

TheWashington Examiner Really Seems to Loathe Trans People. Why Did It Run This Story?

Only a certain kind of subject, and a certain kind of writer, could slip through this front of the culture wars.

The Washington Examiner Really Seems to Loathe Trans People. Why Did It Run This Story?

The Washington Examiner is a right-wing, tabloid-style news outlet with a particular nasty streak when it comes to coverage of transgender issues. “Trans women must sign up for military draft,” one recent news story read, explaining that the same policy that has governed the draft all my life—one that doesn’t take trans lives into account—continues to be in effect. It’s not news, but it’s mean to trans people, so it runs. There are many, many examples. “Your four-year-old child is not transgender,” reads a commentary one day. “A religious freedom lawsuit against transgender orthodoxy,” goes another opinion piece. And on and on. I’ve been following right-leaning coverage of transgender topics as part of an accountability project—Assigned Media—that I recently launched. And one recent item in the Examiner’s opinion section struck me as being quite different from the rest of the pack.

The religious right is now targeting sexless marriages as “selfishness.” They want to ban those too

In July, the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled in a landmark case that a relationship doesn’t have to involve sex to be considered significant. In a case involving an asexual couple in which one of the two parties is deceased, the court emphasized that a relationship should be characterized by a close community in personal terms that normally occurs between married people and that sex doesn’t have to be involved for that to happen. It was a significant win for asexual people in Sweden.

However, in America, a darker reality exists for asexuals even on this Ace Week, as religious nationalist groups are actively trying to block the Respect for Marriage Act from passing in the Senate. Not only is the religious right seeking to ban gay marriage once again, but they have also signaled a future attack against asexual marriages.

As obtained by Politico, some 83 Christian nationalist groups (led by the Alliance Defending Freedom) released a letter in July imploring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to block the Respect for Marriage Act, because marriage equality somehow opens the door to further immorality, like platonic marriages.

10/24/22

Not having a very good day, been in and out of pain thanks to a busted tooth.

NASHVILLE: Thousands rally near State Capitol to end medical care for transgender kids

Two rallies surrounding gender-affirming care

Two rallies surrounding gender-affirming care merged into one in downtown Nashville on Friday evening.

This all comes after conservative blogger Matt Walsh took issue with gender-affirmation care procedures at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Walsh — a Daily Wire conservative commentator, who questions LGBTQ rights — said he considered the care to be that of castration and mutilation to minors and adults.

Teen activist Harleigh Walker spoke out for her rights & is an LGBTQ Nation 2022 Hometown Hero

Alabama native Jeff Walker gets emotional when he talks about his 15-year-old trans daughter, Harleigh. “It brings me to tears that someone so young has had to reach inside themselves and do the things she has had to do.”