Retired lawyer from Canada with interest in human rights and medical ethics. Women have a right to same sex spaces and sterilizing children is unethical. 🇨🇦
The British Medical Association has now published its detailed to response to the Cass Review. It supports the main conclusions of the Review but differences remain as to its implementation. Link in next post. ⬇️
@chester_fence@segm_ebm 4/ The original article received wide coverage. Altimetric shows that is has 10k article accesses, 133 citations in peer reviewed journals and 381 references in news outlets. The commentary is unlikely to receive the same attention.
1/ The commentary I co-authored on the problems with the Trevor Project study on the impact of state level "anti-trans" laws on suicidality is currently behind a paywall but you can read this thread from when the article was first published.
https://t.co/8omZBzrn0N
1/ The Trevor Project study which claims that "anti-transgender" laws caused increases in suicide attempts among trans and non-binary youth is a flawed study that is being presented in a misleading and irresponsible way.
@chester_fence 3/ If you have a subscription to Nature, you can access the commentary at this link. https://t.co/6kPP9kGtU9 @segm_ebm has posted a thread with a summary of the commentary. https://t.co/rhsM7hIKbH
🚨A widely cited Trevor Project paper from 2 yrs ago concluded that state restrictions on youth gender transition increase youth suicide risk. But a new peer-reviewed reanalysis shows the signal came from a single state, Idaho—which had no such restrictions during the study. /1
🚨A widely cited Trevor Project paper from 2 yrs ago concluded that state restrictions on youth gender transition increase youth suicide risk. But a new peer-reviewed reanalysis shows the signal came from a single state, Idaho—which had no such restrictions during the study. /1
The Canadian Paediatric Society just appointed a DEI pro-transing-kids activist as its incoming president.
The total refusal in the medical world here to face up to this scandal is an astonishing thing to witness.
Just an army of True Believers steadfastly marching forward on their ideological quest, convinced that the rest of the world will catch up.
Total certainty that Canada is superior and we just need to carry on being the world leaders and eventually everyone else will get over their transphobic bigotry and realise chopping body parts off healthy kids is ethical and progressive.
I’m truly in awe of their total ignorance. And frankly disgusted.
@LeorSapir@JosieHolford The Democrats assume that trans issues aren't going to change many votes. The Kamala is for they/them ads had bite because Harris was already in trouble. It is not worth the risk of conflict with key supporters that a change in position would require.
@ShannonBDouglas@CanPaedSociety The evidence on pediatric medical transition has already been reviewed many times. The @CanPaedSociety just needs to act by immediately withdrawing their badly flawed position statement and creating a genuinely evidence-based guideline.
Useful thread regarding recent UK tribunal.
The claimant is a Muslim woman with PTSD (a disability) whose workplace allowed men to use female facilties.
Her claim for discrimination was successful *on the basis of her being a woman.*
Her being Muslim (assumed modesty) and disabled (potential trauma) were unsuccessful claims.
That is (IANAL), neither of those characteristics were judged to have placed her at a specific disadvantage over and above the baseline of *being a woman*.
Many women have been weaponised in the general debate. Women have felt pressured to reveal sexual trauma to justify why they want safe, female-only spaces. Religiously modest women have been held up as rhetorical shields.
No more.
Being a woman is sufficient.
@Famar_famar Overdiagnosis and overmedication is a growing concern in mental health. I assume you are not a health care professional. If you were, you would know that it is irresponsible to propose a medical diagnosis based on a few short media appearances. https://t.co/VJfj5sj2ZN
A few days ago I said having a mental illness was increasingly trendy. Rather than engaging with an argument many said they were upset I was stigmatizing their condition.
Here's my argument (Have at it, I'd prefer more counter points than different variations of i'm offended.)
1) Mental illness is overdiagnosed due to a rushed healthcare system that makes it easier to diagnose and give a pill than actually understand the reason for peoples problems
2) Social media/ Popular TV shows/ Celebrities have been increasingly airing content about mental health and psychiatric medications. Sure some of this may help people who are having problems go get help. But an dangerous biproduct of this is that it has contributed to impressionable and unhappy kids, thinking they have "mood disorders" rather than understandable life stressors. With a broken mental health system, many just end up poorly managed on meds and are needlessly hurt
Before you get offended that I'm out to get your specific mental illness, try to remember that even if you have a diagnosis that is true and given by a competent doc, you should care if people out there are getting incorrect diagnoses and being needless harmed by medications.
Also longer criticisms and replies are welcomed here: https://t.co/ajo6Z0WXLQ
If you keep it civil so will I
Voicemails will be answered in depth and aired over on Youtube!
I appreciate the engagement on these important topics
@pissnixon Was he an only child? I've heard stories of eldest sons working the family farm for 40 years and then having to split it with their non-farmer siblings when the parents die.
11/ The debate in the UK should go better. There is more research available and genuine debate in the press. The UK has well organized feminist and LGB organizations. Nevertheless, the fact that a trans-inclusive law is even being considered at this stage is concerning.
1/ The news that a trans-inclusive conversion therapy bill will be introduced in the UK Parliament brought back painful memories of the non-debate on the Canadian law, six years ago.
https://t.co/ShYUePf0EE
We are deeply concerned by the announcement in the King’s Speech that the UK Government is to draft a bill to ban what it calls “abusive conversion practices.”
We oppose coercive and abusive practices. But there is already a robust legal framework in place to deal with assault, coercion, harassment, abuse and safeguarding failures.
The question Parliament must answer is why new legislation is needed when existing laws already protect people from abusive conduct.
Our concern is that this legislation is increasingly being used to pursue a more nefarious objective - creating an affirmation-only framework regarding “gender identity” in which lawful therapeutic exploration is effectively shut down.
That would leave same-sex attracted people, vulnerable young people and those struggling with trauma, identity or mental health issues with fewer options for support.
Same-sex attracted people should not lose access to lawful counselling because therapeutic neutrality has become politically unacceptable.
Poorly drafted legislation could also create wider consequences for families, clinicians, employers and safeguarding professionals.
We do not believe new legislation is necessary and we will continue to make the case that existing laws already protect people from genuine abuse — without creating further risks for vulnerable individuals, families and professionals.
Please make these points - with personal examples if possible - to your MP, MSP or MA.
10/ To the best of my knowledge, there have been no charges under the Canadian law. But the vagueness of the law keeps clinicians who question the gender affirming model in a state of anxiety. https://t.co/F6XHFDnTj3