NullTuples
NullTuples's JournalGov. Cox [Utah] signs high-profile bill on transgender surgeries
Source: KSL.com (KSL Broadcasting Salt Lake City, Utah)
Cox gave his approval to SB16, a bill banning transgender surgeries for Utah children and teens. SB216 also places an indefinite moratorium on treatments including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, a practicing family physician, and passed by the Utah Legislature on a final 20-8 vote by the Senate.
"Legislation that impacts our most vulnerable youth requires careful consideration and deliberation," Cox said in a statement about SB216. "While not a perfect bill, we are grateful for Sen. Kennedy's more nuanced and thoughtful approach to this terribly divisive issue. More and more experts, states and countries around the world are pausing these permanent and life-altering treatments for new patients until more and better research can help determine the long-term consequences.
"We will continue to push the Legislature for additional resources to organizations that work to help this important Utah community. While we understand our words will be of little comfort to those who disagree with us, we sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind these procedures."
Read more: https://www.ksl.com/article/50567331/gov-cox-signs-high-profile-bills-on-transgender-surgeries-school-choice-vouchers
Gov. Spencer Cox last year, when he vetoed a Republican bill barring transgender students from girls' sports in Utah:
In an emotional letter about his veto, Cox cited research about the high risk of suicide among trans youths and additional research that has found that acceptance reduces the risk of suicide.
"I don't understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live," he wrote. "And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly."
https://www.aol.com/news/utah-poised-first-state-pass-143333616.html
Gov. Spencer Cox in 2023:
The governor's approval of the bill was anticipated after he said last week that the bill banning trans teen health care was a "very reasonable approach." (from today's KSL.com article)
It should be noted that puberty blockers (which only pause puberty while administered) have been prescribed for trans teens since 1982 and continually studied since. The treatment normally involves a team consisting of the teen, their parents if they are a minor, their pediatrician, a pediatric endocrinologist and a psychologist/therapist. Along with regular check-ins, blood work and bone density tests, they are part of a medically managed puberty, not something that is done on a whim. There are hundreds of studies showing that for teens who need them, blockers and later, hormone replacement therapy, are safe and effective and greatly reduce suicides and increase quality of life for the rest of their life.
"What the Science on Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Kids Really Shows
Laws that ban gender-affirming treatment ignore the wealth of research demonstrating its benefits for trans people's health"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-science-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-really-shows/
The latest study results, as of this week:
"Mental health benefits of gender-affirming hormones for teens persist for two years in new study" (the study lasted two years)
https://www.statnews.com/2023/01/18/mental-health-benefits-of-gender-affirming-hormones-for-teens-persist-two-years/
Medical association statements supporting trans health care, including blockers & hrt when applicable, for teens:
https://transhealthproject.org/resources/medical-organization-statements/
Israel seems to moving hard right in real time...
Israel not so long ago was more LGBTQ accepting than most of their Arab / Islamic neighbors.
So I was disappointed to see this latest headline:
"Transgender boy to be removed from [state run] religious school against parents’ wishes"
"Parents of an 8-year-old transgender student said Tuesday that they had been informed by the Education Ministry that the boy would be forced to move from a religious school in central Israel midway through the academic year, and that they planned to appeal the decision.
[...]
In recent weeks, the parents of some 15 children had set up an alternative class for their children to protest the boy remaining at the school, stepping up pressure on the ministry. LGBTQ rights group Hoshen said in a statement that “the ministry decided that political and social considerations are more important than the safety and wellbeing of an 8-year-old boy.”
That led me to start following other Israel news links and this caught my eye:
"Netanyahu's Plan to Kill Israel's Media Enters Its Next Phase"
"The new communications minister plans to shut Israel's public broadcaster among other media authorities and supervisory bodies. The new government also aims to block publication of 'sensitive information'"
(paywall: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-24/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-next-phase-of-netanyahus-plan-to-kill-israeli-media/00000185-e344-d093-ada5-eb57536d0000 )
And then this one:
"Netanyahu Adds Supreme Court to His Thuggish Hit List"
"Just like the police, the AG's office, the prosecution, legal advisers, the left and the media - the court that disqualified Arye Dery is subversive and treacherous, Netanyahu believes"
(again, paywall: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-24/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-adds-supreme-court-to-his-thuggish-hit-list/00000185-e076-de01-a99d-fb7eb3c00000 )
That these are paywalled and don't seem to be reported elsewhere makes me question the sources, or at the very least, realize their headlines may be clickbait.
So what really *is* going on in Israel?
Another George Santos, this time in North Dakota.
This is starting to feel like a trend, or almost connected somehow...
"A residential address Prichard used while sponsoring a ballot measure last year wasn't in his legislative district. He instead used the address of a home owned by his girlfriend's parents. Prichard told The Bismarck Tribune that he was a student at the University of Minnesota's law school "on a part-time and virtual basis," but law school spokesman Marc Cohen told me, "We do not have that.""
https://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/columns/port-state-rep-brandon-prichard-still-refuses-to-provide-specifics-about-his-academic-claims
So then he tried to bargain with the reporter. At best it looks like he is a high school graduate with no job history. From the same source:
"My column was published in April . Months later, in August, Prichard sent me a text message expressing consternation about an article I'd written about bigoted and offensive messages posted in a group chat used by the North Dakota Young Republicans, an organization loosely affiliated with the North Dakota Republican Party and closely aligned with disgraced former President Donald Trump's political movement.
Since this was the first time Prichard, whose candidacy was endorsed by the Young Republicans , had ever communicated with me, I used the occasion to circle back to the questions surrounding his biography. I asked him if he'd provide documentation proving his claims about his academic career, or sign a release allowing the University of Minnesota to provide it.
Prichard tried to bargain with me, saying he'd provide it if I removed the names of his friends from my article about the Young Republicans. "I'd consider showing documentation if you remove the names of all the elected YRs in the chat as well as candidates running for office from your most recent article," he wrote. "It is greatly unfair to pursue a guilt-by-association tactic and expect me to give you evidence of my attendance.""
Trump federal judge could decide as soon as Feb 10th to yank abortion pill *nationwide*
Relatively long article/column, but well worth the read.
https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/01/23/federal-judge-could-decide-as-soon-as-february-to-yank-abortion-pill-nationwide/
[...]
"A Texas judge could decide as soon as next month whether to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull its two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill, which accounts for more than half of pregnancy terminations in the United States. A nationwide injunction in the case, as requested by anti-abortion groups, would deny abortion medication even in states where abortion is legal and affect millions of individuals’ reproductive rights decisions. The legal fight is viewed as likely to eventually make its way to the Supreme Court, which in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion rights."
[...]
"Kirsten Moore, director of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project, said “the idea that a drug approval infrastructure could be up to a single judge or that states would be able to recreate their own drug approval process is rash and downright dangerous.”
Jennifer Dalven, director of the Reproductive Freedom Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the case “would be laughed out of court if it were filed somewhere else” due to several procedural defects. But because of the federal district court and the judge, Dalven said, she is taking the case “quite seriously.”
“Mifepristone was approved over 20 years ago. It’s been used safely and effectively by millions of people for early abortion care and to treat miscarriages,” Dalven said. “But unfortunately, in the world we are living in today, we have to take this case seriously.”
Bil did it again...
(I have a love-hate relationship with some of Browning's editorial decisions & some of his stated opinions, and have since the Pam's House Blend days. It's mostly been love for the last 6 years or so, but then weird stuff like this pops up.)
LGBTQNation:
"Not too big and not too small: 5 mid-sized cities to retire in (plus one far-flung surprise)"
"These geographically diverse towns offer the best of all worlds: big city amenities with a small-town vibe, including price."
And where might these cities be?
- Texas
- Ohio
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Arizona
- Idaho
Not a mention of politics or religious based threats to Liberty, only weather and buying power for retirees.
I have to ask: Would YOU feel save risking your retirement years in any of those states given the lock Republicans have on them and their promises to try to erase LGBTQ people from public life & revert reproductive liberty to the 1950's?
New W. Virginia bill equates trans people to "obscene", bans within 2500 ft of public schools
"The bills, introduced this week by state Sen. Michael Azinger, a Republican, would prohibit obscene and sexually explicit materials in or within 2,500 feet of the state’s schools and would bar children from being present for obscene performances or displays. The bills’ four-point definition of “obscene matter” is, for the most part, general, and includes material that appeals to the “prurient interest” or that is “patently offensive.”
But the fourth part of the definition specifically defines “indecent displays of a sexually explicit nature,” in part, as “any transvestite [sic] and/or transgender exposure, performances or display to any minor". No other group of people or specific type of performance is included.
https://news.yahoo.com/under-west-virginia-bills-exposing-013153206.html
We're getting dangerously close here in America to Republicans simply outlawing LGBTQ people from public life, starting with trans people because we can sometimes be more easily identified.
Microsoft lays off 10k due to biz being soft, holds expensive private Sting concert for top execs
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known as Sting, was paid by Microsoft to entertain an "intimate gathering of 50 or so people, including the company's top executives" at the Swiss resort during the annual World Economic Forum. Attendees must have been Walking On The Moon.
Artists with the clout of 71-year-old Sting, who once led '80s rock band the Police, can fetch a fee of six to seven figures for an evening's work, and yet the next morning Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent an SOS to the world saying that the company couldn't afford to pay 10,000 of its employees anymore.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/20/microsoft_sting_davos/
Parler's Parent Company Laid Off Nearly All of Its Employees, Only Has 20 Left
"Parlement Technologies, the parent company of the far-right social media site Parler, is working with a skeleton crew after laying off most of its employees, according to a new report by the Verge."
"Parler, a brief bastion of conservative social media, has been whittled away for months now, and it may not have much of a future. As reported by the Verge, Parlement began laying off people in November into the end December, when it let go of 75% of its total staff. The layoffs affected c-suite executives in charge of technology, operations, marketing, and more, leaving only 20 workers at Parlement and Parler as of today."
"Meanwhile, over on Parler itself, the company seemed to be living in a grandiose alternate reality. In an #OnThisDay post on Tuesday, the company celebrated its supposed return to glory after being kicked off the internet for its role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol in 2021."
“#OnThisDay two years ago, Parler was de-platformed by Amazon Web Services. After being #1 in the IOS store the day before, Google and Apple followed and removed the Parler app from their app stores,” the company wrote from @Parler. “Two years later, on our own cloud servers and back on the Apple and Google Play stores, #Parler has been rebuilt and better than ever.”
https://gizmodo.com/parler-layoffs-employee-20-left-kanye-west-donald-trump-1849975547
State asks for medical records of transgender youth in court case
Source: Alabama Political Reporter
A motion filed by the state Thursday asks the parents to produce the following records:
* All medical records in your possession of any child of yours which relates to treatment for gender dysphoria or a related condition.
* All documents in your possession of any mental health treatment provided to a child of yours who has been treated for gender dysphoria or a related condition.
* All documents between you and any medical provider or mental health professional who has treated a child of yours for gender dysphoria or a related condition.
* All calendars, notes, or other documents, reflecting the dates of any treatment of a child of yours for Gender Dysphoria or a Related Condition.
* All forms, disclosures, or other Documents provided to you by any Health Care Provider or mental health provider who has treated a child of yours for Gender Dysphoria or a Related Condition.
The plaintiffs responded that those records are confidential, and could lead to criminal charges under the new law.
The crux of the law makes it a felony for doctors to prescribe, or anyone, to provide puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children. The law also bans gender affirming surgeries on children, which have never been performed in the state.
Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2023/01/09/state-asks-for-medical-records-of-transgender-youth-in-court-case/
Alabama's new state law (SB 184) criminalizes the provision of medical care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. The law is currently enjoined in district court, which the state has appealed at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
SIX of the current eleven judges on the 11th Court were appointed by Donald Trump. One each are from Bush Jr and Clinton, Pres Obama appointed three, and for the remaining seat President Biden has nominated Nancy Gbana Abudu, but there has yet to be a confirmation hearing. So currently it's another Federalist Society packed court.
Case background:
"The suit, Boe v. Marshall, is brought by five parents on the grounds that it strips them of the right to make important decisions about their children’s healthcare. In its order blocking the law from taking effect, the district court agreed that plaintiffs are likely to prevail in their claim that SB 184 unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender minors and violates the fundamental right of parents, rather than the state, to make healthcare decisions for their children."
https://www.glad.org/post/parents-in-court-challenging-alabamas-criminal-ban-on-healthcare-for-trans-youth
The US justice dept has weighed in:
"S.B. 184 makes it a felony for any person to “engage in or cause” specified types of medical care for transgender minors. S.B. 184 thus discriminates against transgender youth by denying them access to certain forms of medically necessary care. It further discriminates against transgender youth by barring them from accessing particular procedures while allowing non-transgender minors to access the same or similar procedures. The penalties for violating the law include up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $15,000. S.B. 184 would force parents of transgender minors, medical professionals, and others to choose between forgoing medically necessary procedures and treatments, or facing criminal prosecution. The United States’ complaint alleges that S.B. 184 violates the Equal Protection Clause by discriminating on the basis of sex and transgender status."
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-challenges-alabama-law-criminalizes-medically-necessary-care-transgender
"The Supreme Court is manipulating its own calendar to lock GOP policies in place"
"In August 2021, a Trump-appointed judge named Matthew Kacsmaryk handed down a poorly reasoned opinion ordering the Biden administration to reinstate a program, known as “Remain in Mexico,” that required many asylum seekers to stay on the Mexican side of the US southern border while they awaited a hearing. Although the Supreme Court eventually reversed Kacsmaryk, it sat on the case for more than 10 months — effectively letting Kacsmaryk exercise the homeland security secretary’s authority over the border during that entire period.
Worse, when the Court did eventually decide this case, known as Biden v. Texas, it left one looming issue in the lawsuit unresolved and sent the case back to Kacsmaryk. The Supreme Court determined that Kacsmaryk misread federal immigration law to only give the federal government two alternatives when an asylum seeker arrives at the Mexican border, when in fact the government has many options. It left open the question of whether the Biden administration properly completed the appropriate paperwork when it terminated Remain in Mexico.
When the case returned to Kacsmaryk, a former Christian right activist with a record of granting legally dubious victories to conservative litigants, he handed down a second order indicating that the administration must reinstate the Remain in Mexico program. It could be a year or more before the Supreme Court gets around to reviewing Kacsmaryk’s new attempt to impose Trump’s immigration policies on the country.
Similarly, last July, a Trump judge named Drew Tipton effectively seized control of much of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s authority over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency that enforces immigration law within US borders. Tipton’s opinion is exceedingly weak and cannot be squared with more than a century of Supreme Court precedents, and a majority of the justices appeared likely to reverse Tipton during oral arguments on the case in November. But the Court has also sat on this case for months, rejecting the Justice Department’s request to immediately restore Secretary Mayorkas’s lawful authority over ICE in July. The Supreme Court may not rule on the case, known as United States v. Texas, until next June — at which point Tipton will have unlawfully usurped Mayorkas’s authority for 11 months."
The article goes on to discuss how this is not an isolated case, nor does the court restrict itself to immigration cases.
The gist of it is this:
The Federalist Society Supreme Court acted on Trump's requests to rule on Republican policies sometimes within days. Now that a Democrat is in the White House however, they are using their calendar - including sending cases back to lower courts - to ensure that Republican policies stay in effect for as along as a year...even when they eventually end up having to rule against it.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/29/23530842/supreme-court-arizona-mayorkas-title-42-mexican-border-immigration
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