What to call this thread?

Baylor U. got $643,401 to study how LGBTQ+ people are marginalized by churches.

Conservative Christians threw a tantrum.

So the university returned the money and canceled the project.

Spineless. Shameful. Predictable.

So much for trans men being a recent fad



LAURA MAUD DILLON / TRANSGENDER PIONEER

Laurence Michael Dillon, born Laura Maud Dillon (1915 – 1962), was a British physician and the first transgender man ever to undergo a phalloplasty (meaning, basically, a doctor constructed a penis for him from scratch, and grafted it onto his body).

Dillon had long been more comfortable in men's clothing and felt that he was not truly a woman. In 1939, he sought treatment from Dr. George Foss, who had been experimenting with testosterone to treat excessive menstrual bleeding; at the time, the hormone's masculinizing effects were poorly understood.

Foss provided Dillon with testosterone pills but insisted Dillon consult a psychiatrist first, who gossiped about Dillon's desire to become a man, and soon the story was all over town. Dillon fled to Bristol and took a job at a garage.

The hormones soon made it possible for him to pass as male, and eventually the garage manager insisted that other employees refer to Dillon as "he" in order to ....

CONTINUED

Shiftless2 said:

"So much for trans men being a recent fad" S2 #845

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This comment has me puzzling over these occasional mismatches between physical body, and emotional perspective.
Some of us are lucky to have both in accord.
What insight into evolution is provided by these minority mismatches?

Pete Buttigieg acknowledges 'fairness issues' with trans athletes in women's sports​

Buttigieg joins a growing list of Democrats speaking out on the controversial sports issue
By Jackson Thompson Fox News / Published July 29, 2025 6:03pm EDT
US Olympic and Paralympic Committee bars transgender women from competing in women's sports
Prominent Democrat and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg weighed in on the debate about transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

"Chess is different from weightlifting, and weightlifting is different from volleyball and middle school is different from the Olympics. So, that’s exactly why I think that we shouldn’t be grandstanding on this as politicians. We should be empowering communities and organizations and schools to make the right decisions."
"Around sports, … I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women’s sports," Buttigieg said.
The Democrat then agreed that parents who have complained about trans athletes competing against their daughters "have a case." However, Buttigieg also argued that politicians shouldn't be dictating policy to determine whether males can compete in women's and girls sports.
"And that’s why I think these decisions should be in the hands of sports leagues and school boards and not politicians … in Washington trying to use this as a political pawn," Buttigieg said.

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

- Oh Pete -

Fairness - always comes back to why isn't the podium completely dominated by trans athletes?

And if you want to argue that they have some sort of "unfair" advantage how do you address the cis woman whose natural testosterone levels are off the charts by female standards? Or someone like Michael Phelps (arms too long, hands and feet too big, joints overly flexible, a body that produces less than half the lactic acid that a normal person does)?

Face it, no matter how hard the average person trains they'll never win an Olympic medal.

Calm seas do not a skillful mariner make. English proverb

If we subjected all the nation's children to opulent pampering, after graduation would be baptism by fire, plunging them into the Trump inferno unprepared. BUT !
It wouldn't make sense to subject grammar school students to the adversities of Marine boot camp either. So where should we draw the line?

I favor the progressive gradient, pampered at birth (don't care much for the pun), but challenged enough in successive years from K - 12 to be adequately prepared for HS graduation, and the adult world beyond.
And in that case, does it make sense to exclude our young citizens from reality, leaving them to be shocked to learn Brian has two Dads? Or that Brian is transitioning to Bryanna?

Easy questions, easy answers?
The issues here aren't easy.
Secretary Buttigieg can hardly be deemed a bigot. His voice is one more in the chorus.

It's getting worse. Given RFK's position on vaccines polio vaccinations could be next.



In his first six months in office, President Donald Trump has launched a relentless campaign of fear and intimidation aimed at dismantling the network that provides health care to transgender adolescents.

It’s working. Hospitals — worried that their federal funding for Medicaid and Medicare may be jeopardized — are rapidly withdrawing support from this small, vulnerable group of young people. With each passing month of Trump’s presidency, families find the future of care for their transgender children increasingly uncertain.

This is not only cruel — it’s also a chilling sign of how easily this administration can target any form of health care it opposes.

In recent weeks, the tone of the administration’s attacks has become darker. A daylong event this month organized by the Federal Trade Commission, titled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors,” was clearly intended to send a message to the medical community that supports these kids and their families. At the workshop, Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to US Attorney General Pam Bondi, highlighted the “civil and criminal tools” at the FTC’s disposal to “root out fraud.”

Mizelle revealed that his office has issued nearly 20 subpoenas to clinics that offer gender-affirming care. He didn’t provide details about who was under investigation, but he said the scope spanned health care fraud related to Medicaid billing and false statements and manufacturers of certain drugs. The New York Times later reported that those subpoenas sought confidential patient information from doctors and hospitals.

The FTC was an unusual and arguably inappropriate venue for the event, and panelists appeared intent on rationalizing the agency’s creep into regulating this ....

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From the article

"The New York Times later reported that those subpoenas sought confidential patient information from doctors and hospitals." (So much for HIPPA)

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I know that I've posted this before but what is a "gender-nonconforming" haircut?

Federal agency sued for failing to enforce employment protections for transgender workers​

by Brooke Migdon

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination, has refused since January to fully enforce employment protections for transgender workers, two left-leaning legal organizations argue in a new lawsuit.

A complaint filed Tuesday by Democracy Forward and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) on behalf of FreeState Justice, a Maryland nonprofit, alleges the EEOC and its acting chair, Andrea Lucas, are violating federal civil rights law, the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent by declining to process certain discrimination complaints raised by transgender workers.

The EEOC first halted the charge-investigation process for charges tied to sexual orientation or gender identity in January, the lawsuit alleges, following an executive order from President Trump declaring that the U.S. recognizes only two unchangeable sexes, male and female. In April, the agency directed staff to classify charges of gender identity discrimination as meritless and put them on hold, the Associated Press reported at the time.

In a July email to staff that was first reported by the Washington Post, Thomas Colclough, director of the EEOC’s field operations, said the agency would only process cases that “fall squarely” under the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that firing transgender workers because of their gender identity violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The agency would process standalone hiring, dismissal and promotion charges brought by transgender workers, Colclough wrote, but would not ....

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Shiftless2 said:

"beloved" #857

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Mark Twain / Sam Clemens was not the first. But he was a prominent champion of civil rights, using entertainment literature as a vehicle for his message.
Twain fans might prefer to think Star Trek a lesser literary standard. Probably so. BUT !
In "melting pot" America such bigotry is literally anti-American.
This reality can be dismissed as "woke". But that's not legitimate validation of bigotry.
Instead it's a refusal to engage by labeling with contemptuous slang.

“Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” Leviticus 19:18

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Oh how lovely an alternate universe it would be if the pseudo-Christian bigots elevated their conduct to that taught by their lord & savior. BUT !
That would involve more than merely seeking the prestige. It would involve faithfully applying Christ's teachings to their own conduct.

Not every person claiming to be Christian actually is.
Not every person claiming to be Christian actually isn't.
It's determined not by unsubstantiated claim, but by consistent personal conduct. My reverent appreciation to those in my life that have lived by Christian principle, rather than groundless claim.

14 years ago, we sought help from experts to understand our transgender child.

11 years ago, I gave a speech about that experience that went viral because so few people were talking about trans kids. That same year, I testified against the first bathroom ban proposed in our area — only a local ordinance.

10 years ago, I started hearing from trans adults who had received care as children and teens … something that gave me great comfort about what might be a part of my family’s future. Again, a decade ago, I met ....

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From a trans friend commenting on #859

Get out now, if you can. Passports are being denied.