Bernard Lane
@Bernard_Lane
Journalist covering the international debate over youth gender clinics | genderclinics@gmail.com | genderclinicnews.com | May contain traces of poetry
Fairness & safety in female sport
Asked about the fairness of trans women, biological males, in women's sport, Australia's prime minister Anthony Albanese says "My view is the sporting organisations should deal with that issue... and they have." Really? #AusPol #Sport
twitter.com/msediewyatt/status/1653557871169384448?s=20
Controversial Laws in Victoria, Australia
In @DanielAndrewsMP's state of Victoria, you can perform the feat of changing your sex (or your child's sex) in official records every 12 months. If that sounds extreme, best to keep quiet. If you speak out, you'll be the one smeared as an "extremist".
bdm.vic.gov.au/changes-and-corrections/change-your-recorded-sex
If you as a parent oppose advice that your child be given puberty blockers -- risky drugs that interfere with natural development -- you may have broken the law against "conversion therapy". If you think this extraordinary, you'll be tarred as "far right".
humanrights.vic.gov.au/change-or-suppression-practices/have-you-experienced-a-change-or-suppression-practice/#Have-you-experienced-these-illegal-practices
🧵 Thread
"All children who have been treated for gender dysphoria in the past decade [by the UK Tavistock clinic] will have their medical records scrutinised in an effort to find out whether NHS services are harming vulnerable adolescents." 1/ THREAD
thetimes.co.uk/article/gender-change-data-to-be-scrutinised-tcbjnv7w3
Data - or rather, lack of adequate data - is a recurring theme with youth gender clinics internationally. There are headline figures showing unexplained exponential growth in case numbers but often there is scant detail on patients, treatment patterns & outcomes including regret.
🧵 Thread
"Why do we care so much? The vast majority of teens effectively being sterilised [by transgender hormonal treatments within the UK's National Health Service] are lesbian, gay or bisexual." @AllianceLGB #AusPol #GenderClinics 1/
youtu.be/oTf1gPZaBWg
"A child that takes puberty blockers at Tanner Stage 2 [roughly age 9-12] & follows this with cross-sex hormones at 16 is effectively sterilised as their gametes [sperm or eggs] will miss the window to mature." #Health #Medical #Safeguarding
🧵 Thread
"There's a great irony in that the same people chanting 'protect trans kids' are advocating for [puberty blocker drugs] that could permanently impair [kids'] ability to enjoy sex as adults before they're even able to comprehend what that means." US journo Katie Herzog #AusPol 1/
Herzog, who wrote one of the earliest articles on detransition, used to believe that puberty blockers, which interrupt natural sex hormones, may be beneficial in strictly limited cases. She has changed her mind after an admission by top US transgender doctor Marci Bowers.
🧵 Thread
The Sydney seat of Warringah has two female candidates who an observer might expect to have strong opinions about the integrity of female sport. One is Katherine Deves of @SWS_australasia, the other is Zali Steggall, our first female medalist in the Winter Olympics. #AusPol
🧵 Thread
What is the definition of a woman? That's the question put to Dr Brendan Murphy, who runs Australia's Department of Health.
twitter.com/ellymelly/status/1511652474259914760?s=20&t=MDLJVNa48lcZ8b85vUP0oA
Who's got it right on teenage gender change?
The US administration has issued a series of statements endorsing medicalised gender change for minors, & claims that puberty blocker drugs & cross-sex hormones are "evidence-based".
In other countries, there's a shift to caution about these interventions. Who's got it right? 1/
Sweden: "The National Board of Health & Welfare in Sweden has urged 'restraint' in the use of hormonal drug treatments for medicalised gender change with minors, warning that the risks appear to outweigh the benefits."
genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/sweden-transitions-to-caution?r=130uly&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
🧵 Thread
“I will not allow Big Pharma to misleadingly promote these [puberty blocker] drugs that may pose a high risk of serious physical & psychological damage to Texas children who cannot yet fathom or consent to the potential long-term effects of such use.”
texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-investigates-potential-violations-state-law-puberty-blocking-drug-manufacturers 1/
.@TXAG has issued "Civil Investigative Demands" to [pharma companies] AbbVie & Endo as part of an investigation into off-label use of hormone suppression drugs for medicalised gender change with minors. Approved uses for these drugs include precocious puberty & prostate cancer.