Ben Appel
@benappel
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Writer in @newsweek , @thefp , @queermajority , @dcexaminer , @quillette , @spikedonline , @unherd . Memoir about Columbia and cults, w/ Post Hill Press, forthcoming.
New York, NY
Joined April 2009
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“I wanted to help create a world in which feminine boys and butch girls could exist peacefully in society. A world in which gender-nonconforming people were accepted as natural variations of their own sex.”
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I’ve been studying gender identity ideology for a few years now. Following the science, reading the studies, hearing the stories. I’m always questioning myself. But no matter which way I parse it, I always conclude that it’s a harmful and regressive pseudoscience.
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Praying for all of the Columbia students being misgendered by NYPD tonight.
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I've already gotten so many emails from gay men and women, thanking me for writing this piece, which was just published by
@dcexaminer
. Apparently I'm not alone.
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I am a gay man. I am not affiliated with any organization or political party. I am neither right-wing nor left-wing.
The experimental medicalization of so-called trans kids and confused teenagers is a horror.
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I was not all prepared for LGBT rights groups, activists, and so many others to start advocating for the transitioning of gays and lesbians and for the erasure of homosexuality.
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Imagine if white people started identifying as black, dressing stereotypically black, demanding inclusion in black spaces, and winning scholarships reserved for black people. Then imagine if white people ridiculed black people who objected, calling them trans-black exclusionary.
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Too angry to QT this. Just read it.
Every LGBT org leader should be hanging their head in shame.
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Parents of gender nonconforming boys, try enrolling your sons in drama clubs and art classes instead of gender clinics.
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I wrote about the medical scandal that is the transitioning of gay and lesbian youth.
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It's so awesome that college kids who don't know the difference between men and women have all become experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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It’s destroying lives. It’s in schools, institutions, everywhere. It’s demolishing all of the progress we’ve made for gay rights and women’s rights. Old tropes about homosexuality and pedophilia are back. Gays are being shamed by their own community for their same-sex attraction.
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Every valid criticism of the medical transition of minors gets painted as “far right” or “anti-LGBTQ” when so many critics are liberal, leftist, and gay. It goes to show how powerful the lobby is, how lucrative gender medicine is, and how fundamentalist gender ideologues are.
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It’s strange to see people cite things I’ve written as evidence that I’m genderqueer or non-binary. I’m a man, and I have the autonomy to dress and behave as femme or as masc as I desire. I don’t need a trendy label—one that replicates conformity—for permission.
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It is just so bizarre to see the party of oat milk, plastic straw bans, and socialism pushing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for kids.
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This person tweeted at me, saying something like Róisín Murphy is just paying the consequences for her poor choices. I asked this person for their thoughts on the affects of puberty blockers on males during Tanner Stage 2, how they will likely never experience orgasm if they…
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Blockers for precocious puberty don’t cause infertility because those kids end up GOING THROUGH THEIR NATURAL PUBERTY at a typical age and don’t go on to take exogenous hormones.
And yes, not all “trans kids” who take blockers will take hormones (which DO cause infertility). Only…
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“Australia’s biggest gender clinic…now admits that puberty blockers ‘might conceivably delay brain development’ and states in its June newsletter, ‘We do not know whether using puberty blockers affects development of the brain.’”
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This movement is not progressive. It’s dropkicking our society—a society we’ve painstakingly built through trial and error—into the dark ages.
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Every time I see a leftist journalist tweet to their gazillion followers about how we should be blindly supporting medical transition for kids and teens, I would love if they explained why they’re so confident we’re not actually just medicalizing gay kids.
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By expressing skepticism about “gender affirmative care” for kids and teens I’m seen by some as being against gender nonconformity. That’s literally the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m saying gender nonconformity is perfectly acceptable and shouldn’t need to be medicalized!
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I know this is a rant. But I think it’s important to speak up and be loud about it. It sucks sometimes, being a heretic, but I believe there is no greater freedom than the freedom to think for yourself and say out loud what you actually think. Especially when harm is being done.
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Róisín Murphy is right. Puberty blockers are “fucked.” And drug companies are profiting off the experimental medicalization of gender-nonconforming kids, just like they’ve profited off the medicalization of homosexuality since synthetic hormones were first developed.
When the…
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A boy struggles with being gay. Online, trans activists tell him he’s a straight boy trapped in a girl’s body. One sends him blockers and hormones. He becomes depressed and sex dysphoric.
This is not a left/right issue. This is antigay abuse.
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After speaking with a number of detransitioners it’s clear we’re not making space for and supporting gender-nonconforming children but rather validating everything the bullies are saying about them and then telling them that the solution is experimental medicine and surgery.
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This is one of the most disturbing interviews I’ve seen. It makes me wonder what it is about this issue that makes otherwise intelligent, morally grounded people think these human experiments are OK. Is it because they occur at reputable institutions? And people think…
Here's the interview w/ Dr. Blair Peters, in full. He & his interviewer admit--quite openly--how little gender docs know about the outcomes for medically-transitioned minors
"We'll know more in 5-10 years." It will be "fascinating" to see how these young people fare.
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I get the sense that a lot of gays and lesbians have just about fucking had it with regressive assholes telling gay kids they were born in the wrong body.
Goddamn, there will be a lot of news outlets that look back on their coverage of this issue with absolute horror.
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I just have to say IT IS SO WEIRD AND WILL NEVER NOT BE WEIRD to see U.S. institutions and mainstream media outlets and academic journals and leftists and Dems pushing for sex changes for kids and teenagers.
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Ana said she wanted to be called a woman, not a birthing person. Seven talking heads discuss the proper punishment for her transgression.
This is what leaders of fundamentalist religious groups do when one of their own strays.
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Just a reminder that there is nothing wrong with gender-nonconformity, gender-bending, androgyny, whatever. It’s fucking great.
But it doesn’t mean you’re not the sex that you are.
For the love of all that is holy, cut it out with this regressive, pseudoscientific bullshit.
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It’s sad that when I see a guy with painted fingernails I assume he identifies as something other than male. Which means that my brain is being trained to think that painted fingernails is incompatible with maleness. Just another reason why gender ideology is so regressive.
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It is the coolest thing to imagine
@jk_rowling
reading something I’ve written. Just totally surreal.
Happy Mother’s Day, Jo. ❤️
"For voicing my concerns about gender-affirming care for minors, I have been called a transphobic bigot. If that’s what speaking out against the medicalisation of homosexuality makes me, then so be it."
@benappel
, on the new homophobia.
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“According to 11 studies, the vast majority of children with gender dysphoria will overcome their angst by the end of puberty — if they don’t socially transition to adopt a different gender identity. A majority, in fact, will turn out to be gay,” writes
@LisaSelinDavis
.
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This is what I think about when I see men ridiculing women who object to males in female sports, prisons, rape shelters, and locker rooms and who say that being a woman is not about having long hair and wearing a dress.
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Three years ago, when I learned they were giving puberty blockers to gender-confused kids, I knew instantly that it was the most insane fucking thing I had ever heard.
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I am never more ready for a giant meteor to strike than when I hear someone say “we need more research” on whether males have an advantage over females in athletics.
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Rowling posts a link to a mandatory read. Please check it out.
@bishovasimp
@bumbeanbannana
@soniasodha
You’ve just said no trans person is saying this and were immediately shown evidence to the contrary.
Here’s an article written by a trans woman about the lesbophobia you deny exists.
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It is so weird to write online that I don’t think gender-nonconforming kids, who will likely grow up to be gay, should have their natural development compromised by experimental drugs, only to be called a Nazi.
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Just so I’m clear, Canada is having a meltdown because one of its premiers said kids can’t commence sex changes before they’re 16. Is that right?
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I don't know how people who identify as nonbinary can think they are abolishing gender. It is the opposite. They are erecting a gender prison. "Nonbinary" makes the categories of man and woman smaller and reifies antiquated gender norms. Nonbinary is at odds with progressivism.
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How clever of AOC to bring race into this issue, so that those who want to protect women’s sports are somehow transphobic AND racist. And what exactly is she implying by saying that black and brown women have always been unjustly held up against the white female norm? Is she…
Targeting trans children for playing sports makes all women, whether trans or cisgender, less safe. Sex testing is regressive, invasive, discriminatory, and a fundamental violation of our privacy as women and as Americans. This is shameful.
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There are gonna be so many kids who grow up to finally learn the truth about biological sex and suddenly everything will make sense and their minds will be blown. And boy, will they be angry.
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2023 Pride: “You cis gays are disgusting bigots! How dare you try and stand between gay adolescents and the medical industry looking to capitalize off their internalized homophobia! How dare you suggest that gender-nonconforming people don’t deserve to be chemically castrated!”
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I am a gay man. All of my adult life, I have found myself attracted to very masculine men, very feminine men, and all kinds of men in between.
Sexuality is not about gender. Sexuality is about sex.
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When there is a conspiracy to stunt the natural development of gender-nonconforming kids by feeding them experimental medications, it’s hard not to sound like a crazed conspiracy theorist when you publicly oppose it.
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To all the people who are somehow STILL advocating for puberty blockers for trans-identified kids:
The use of blockers for this population started specifically with gender-nonconforming, mostly homosexual boys in mind. The idea was that, if they went through puberty and…
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About a year ago I was talking with a very “progressive” friend. I said that if I was a kid today there is a good chance I would transition, since I was a very gender-nonconforming gay kid. She said, “So what? You don’t think you could be happy as a trans woman?”
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People ask me why I write so much about the gender issue. All I can say is that it’s hard to think about much else when a government-endorsed religious movement has created such a massive medical scandal. At times, the implications seem endless.
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I’m not in denial about the reality of my sex. I’m not in denial about the difference between sex and gender. But I do appreciate you stopping by and trying to sort me into one of your confining little categories that for some reason you need in order to make sense of the world.
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It’s insane how antigay LGBT orgs have become. We’ve all been aware of it, but to see it so blatantly argued during a tribunal (Mermaids v. LGBAlliance) is dystopian.
Sorry gays, you’re now bigots if you’re same-sex attracted. Oh, and piss off while we medicalize the young ones.
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If you think medical transition for minors and males in female sports are ‘left-wing’ versus ‘right-wing’ issues, you likely have a facile understanding of politics, are blinded by tribalism, and are terrified of thinking for yourself.
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Coworker just used the phrase “LGBTQIA plus community” in a conversation with me.
I responded by telling her about the findings of the systematic evidence reviews in Finland, Sweden, and the U.K.
She sits quietly, deep in thought.
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It royally sucks that we’ve arrived at a point where sticking up for gays and lesbians is interpreted by some as animus towards trans people.
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How does arresting a feminine male child’s natural development, feeding him synthetic estrogen so that he might pass as the opposite sex, and amputating his genitals contribute to the goal of liberating society from regressive gender norms?
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If a little boy says he’s a girl and you say “You’re right, sweetie!” and tell him his sex is inconsequential to his gender and get everyone in his life to lie to him, OF COURSE he’s going to suffer mental distress when he reaches puberty.
You don’t need to be an MD to know this.
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@AriDrennen
@Ansleigh_mma
@Riley_Gaines_
@joerogan
@Martina
@icons_women
@ReduxxMag
@Lea_Christina4
@JaydenScrappy
@DSgear
It’s not just about winning. It’s about women not having to compete against men. In this case, wrestle with them.
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The elevation of an entire class of people to sainthood has been a bizarre thing to watch. It’s no wonder that so many people who do not have gender dysphoria (but who have more than adequate persecution complexes) are identifying as trans.
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A boy behaving differently from other boys and more like the average girl doesn’t mean he’s not a boy. It means that boys can be feminine too. Same goes for girls.
Stop telling kids lies. Stop confusing them. Let them be who they are.
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Eleven-year-old says she’s trans. Mom says, “OK, whatever you say.” Mom puts kid on waitlist at SickKids gender clinic (it’s actually called this) so kid can decide if she wants “gender affirming medication.”
I am confident this is insane.
via
@torontostar
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I was a remarkably feminine little boy. I got the femininity bullied right out of me. I grew up wanting to be a gay activist, to help people understand that it’s OK for boys to be femme and for girls to be masc. I wasn’t prepared for other gay activists to be working against me.
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To the people who say, “they’re coming for gays and lesbians next” or “they won’t spare you when the time comes,” I say, yes, I fucking know this. Which is why I will continue to shout that gender zealots and queer and trans LARPers are making it fucking worse for all of us.
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To my knowledge, every major study has shown that gender dysphoric kids desist during or after puberty, and that the majority of them grow up to be gay. Why are we robbing kids of a natural remedy for a terrible condition by feeding them off-label drugs?
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Aside from the negative health consequences of puberty blockers and a dearth of evidence that they do any good whatsoever, it’s the theory behind their use that’s fucked. We should not be suppressing the natural development of kids who transgress gender norms. It’s barbaric.
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I just can’t imagine proudly supporting the practice of stunting gender-nonconforming kids’ natural development and then feeding them synthetic hormones in an attempt to engineer them into simulacra of the opposite sex so that they’ll better fit into society.
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Cuomo mentions the unknown health implications of medical transition for kids and adolescents. “I wouldn’t say a lot of it is unknown,” Dr. McNamara says. A blatant lie, made abundantly clear by what she says next, that it’s an “exciting phase in gender-affirming care where we’re…
Dr. McNamara, who holds a position as a Pediatrics professor at Yale, believes there should be no safeguards for children, because “children know who they are”.
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A few years ago a friend was telling me about her daughter’s classmate, a 12-year-old girl who had recently come out as trans. “But it totally makes sense,” said my friend. “[James] was clearly born in the wrong body…” Her voice trailed off. She was silent for a few moments. I…
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Huh. So we’ve gone from a Gay Liberation Day march in 1970 to this—a Grand Marshall that advocates for the medicalization of gender-nonconforming youth. Sterilization, loss of sexual function, experimental drugs… Doesn’t seem very liberating.
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Grown men screaming at female athletes who just want female sports to still be a thing in 10 years. It’s really something to behold.
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When once-reputable institutions have been captured by an incoherent, regressive, and pseudoscientific ideology, to the point where you can’t believe otherwise smart people can behave so stupidly, it’s hard not to sound like a conspiracy theorist when you publicly oppose it.
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Most of these kids will grow up to be gay if they're allowed to proceed through puberty unharmed. In fact, of the first 70 young people who got blockers in the Netherlands in the 2000s, 62 were homosexual. Why are artists advocating for a new form of gay conversion therapy?
Today on
#TransgenderDayofVisibility
, the
@teganandsarafdn
announces an Open Letter: Artists Against Anti-Trans Legislation in Canada, signed by more than 400 artists living in or hailing from Canada.
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@RepAOC
How clever of AOC to bring race into this issue, so that those who want to protect women’s sports are somehow transphobic AND racist. And what exactly is she implying by saying that black and brown women have always been unjustly held up against the white female norm? Is she…
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So Neo-Nazis, who just so happen to spout the same talking points as many pro-Palestine protesters, are “hijacking” the protests, but Neo-Nazis who show up at Let Women Speak protests are there because the women’s rights activists are also Neo-Nazis?
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Disco icon Sylvester, on what gay liberation meant to him: “I could be the queen that I really was without having a sex change or being on hormones.”
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Me: The president of USPATH, who is trans, says she’s concerned we might be transitioning gay kids. And GIDS gender clinicians compared GIDS practices to “conversion therapy for gay children”.
Activists: Shut the fuck up, you disgusting cis gay terf transphobe bigot.
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I desperately need “progressive” straight “allies”, especially in mainstream media, to stop speaking for and about the lesbian, gay, and transsexual population—or, as you like to call us, the “LGBTQIA+ community.” We are not a monolith. And your reductive takes are stupid.
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Meanwhile, puberty blockers are experimental, non-FDA approved to treat gender dysphoria, and other countries have discontinued use. PBs and cross-sex hormones cause infertility and potentially a myriad other health issues, and in boys especially, lack of proper sexual function.
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@VeronikaSimms
There is no such thing as the wrong puberty. This is newspeak, which shrouds medical malpractice in euphemism. I’m sorry you’ve been lied to.
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Maybe the scariest thing about all of this is that U.S. clinics and medical and activist orgs have gone all in on harming kids. To backtrack now would mean to admit they were wrong. Which could mean that the only choice they think they have is to double down.
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I wrote about my childhood in religious fundamentalism, and about the new fundamentalism I encountered when I attended an Ivy League undergraduate university in my thirties.
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Especially when we see adults—20- and 30-something’s—detransitioning and staying openly (including to me, in the many interviews I’ve done) that they were escaping homophobia in transition.
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It’s no wonder that people think
@HJoyceGender
is dangerous. It’s because she unabashedly speaks the truth.
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Maybe this will get people’s attention?: There are probably going to be a lot of medical malpractice lawsuits in the near future, so therapists and doctors might want to heed the warnings of the rapidly growing contingent of people who have been and are being harmed.
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In 50 years, if we still have history books, this tweet will be printed in them.
Reminder: The majority of gender dysphoric kids desist during puberty. Statistics tell us that, if given the chance to develop naturally, Jazz would’ve probably grown up to be a gay man.
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@nytopinion
@michelleinbklyn
I am fearful that we are medically transitioning gay and lesbian youth and I am baffled that news outlets and LGBT rights organizations ignore the whistleblowers, the multiple clinical studies, and the myriad detransitioner testimonies that show this is in fact what is happening.
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It’s just amazing to me that people come along and say “sex isn’t real” and “gay men should be able to have sex with females” and “lesbians with males” and gender stereotypes define sex and we should stop confused kids’ puberty and expect everyone to just be chill about it.
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“No, child, society doesn’t need to change. YOU need to change.”
I understand that revelations about this medical scandal are going to really threaten a lot of people’s worldviews. Which means they will double down on the pseudoscience. It’s already happening.
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Former Tavistock clinicians and even the former president of USPATH (who is trans) have voiced concerns that with ‘affirmative care’ for minors, doctors are performing a new kind of conversion therapy on gay kids. What do trans activists expect gays to do with that information?
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To the gays and lesbians who have been afraid to speak up: the time has come. The organizations that once advocated for us are lost. Countless gays and lesbians are being irrevocably harmed. Say something.
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