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20 arrested at protest against lockdowns & ‘LGBTQ+
propaganda’ in Lithuania
11 Sep, 2021 02:55
Police in Vilnius have detained 20 people after a thousands-strong rally against Covid-19 restrictions and what protesters criticized as “LGTBQ+ propaganda” ended in a standoff with law enforcement.
Around 5,000 people flocked to the center of the Lithuanian capital on Friday for an event organized by the traditionalist Lithuanian Family Movement. The protesters, who gathered at Cathedral Square north of the city’s Old Town, were seen waving Lithuania’s national flags and holding placards that read: “George Soros out of Lithuania!” and “No to animal passports” – a reference to the introduction of immunity passports and other Covid-19 restrictions that are to come into force on Monday.
The protesters demanded the government scrap the policy, which will bar access to some shops, services and indoor public events for those without immunity certificates. The documents are provided to those who are fully vaccinated, have recently recovered from Covid-19 or anybody who has tested negative for the virus within the last 48 hours.
The protest proceeded largely incident-free until the end, when a group of demonstrators set off towards Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, defying police orders and the Family Movement’s leader, Raimondas Grinevicius, who urged supporters to stay on the square and avoid provocations before the rally.
Videos posted on social media showed police officers in riot gear breaking up the crowd and arresting several people.
Out of the about two dozen people who were detained, the majority were nabbed for disobeying police orders, including walking on the roadway, police said. Two people were arrested as part of an investigation into earlier clashes outside the parliament, while one was detained for illegal possession of drugs.
No one was injured during the brief standoff and no property was damaged, the police said.
In addition to airing their grievances over the government’s handling of the pandemic, the gathered also opposed a bill to legalize same-sex civil partnerships and a proposal to ratify the Istanbul Convention – a human rights treaty aimed at combating violence against women and domestic violence in general – which was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2011.
The treaty is perceived by several nations, including Bulgaria, Slovakia and Poland, as championing the LGBTQ+ cause and harming traditional family values. Lithuania signed the convention in 2013 but has never ratified it.
A pre-recorded video greeting from representatives of Fidesz, the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was played during the rally, which was also attended by members of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
TikTok & Twitter trolls in France’s crosshairs as education minister intervenes in bizarre high school cyberbullying campaign
17 Sep, 2021 16:50
French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has urged schools to “reinforce vigilance” against a cyberbullying campaign high-school seniors are waging against incoming juniors on TikTok and Twitter under the hashtag #Anti2010.
Some French sixth-graders born in 2010 will start secondary school this autumn, and they’ve reportedly been bombarded in recent weeks with abusive posts on TikTok and Twitter under the hashtag #Anti2010. Some 40 million posts used this hashtag until it was removed, AFP reported.
Minister Blanquer got involved this week. “A new phenomenon that has recently appeared on the social networks TikTok and Twitter encourages insults and threats by older peers towards children born in 2010,” he wrote in a letter to headteachers across the country.
Blanquer encouraged schools to “be very attentive” and “reinforce vigilance” against the bullying campaign, and to discipline students caught participating in it. In a tweet on Thursday evening, Blanquer reminded concerned students and parents that they could report cyberbullying via dedicated phone numbers, telling them “Don’t let anything go.”
The minister’s concerns were shared by the main French parents’ federation, which stated that “while many children do not use the platforms, for those who do, it is clear that their mental and psychological health is in real danger.”
However, the country’s largest head teachers’ union, SNPDEN, reckons the minister and the parents are exaggerating. “We have not seen any incidents of this type in the schools,” SNPDEN Secretary-General Bruno Bobkiewicz told AFP. “None of the 70 heads of schools who met at a national conference this week had heard about this movement on social networks.”
Hmmm. 40 million posts and nobody is aware of them?
The media attention on the #Anti2010 campaign prompted calls for tighter control of social networks. One commenter on Twitter wrote that “age verification and mandatory biometric identification” would “solve a lot of problems.” Others called for boycotts, with one commenter declaring that “everyone should close their account in support of child victims of this harassment.”
Whether the problem is as severe as Blanquer and the commenters make out, or as minor as the head teachers insist, the advent of social media has brought with it a rise in mental health disorders and cyberbullying among teens. In France earlier this year, 11 people were convicted of the online harassment and bullying of a teenage girl who posted an anti-Islam video to Instagram and TikTok. The girl described the threats from outraged Muslims as so severe that she had to change school and seek police protection.
Appeals court overturns controversial ruling on child gender treatment
in UK; doctors CAN prescribe puberty blockers to under-16s
17 Sep, 2021 15:47
(FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
The Court of Appeal has ruled that under-16s do not lack the capacity to give informed consent concerning medical treatment which delays the onset of puberty, overturning a controversial ruling from last year.
On Friday, the court overturned a 2020 ruling by a divisional court which stated that under-16s lacked capacity to give informed consent to treatment concerning transitioning gender. The original case had been brought forward by Keira Bell, who claimed doctors should have challenged her more when she requested puberty blockers at a young age.
However, on Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the appellant, the Tavistock Trust, which runs the UK’s only gender identity clinic for young Britons, and overruled the 2020 decision.
Friday’s ruling noted that the divisional court “had made no findings of illegality”. Judges at the Court of Appeal said they understood “the difficulties and complexities” of the issue, but insisted “it is for the clinicians to exercise their judgement knowing how important it is that consent is properly obtained according to the particular individual circumstances.”
In its written conclusions, the court acknowledged that clinicians will inevitably take great care before recommending treatment to a young patient and ensuring that both the parent and child are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed treatment.
The court also contended that doctors are subject to professional regulation and oversight, and while some may have fallen short of standards in the past, it did not impact the lawfulness of the practice.
The NHS prescribes gender identity treatment, including the use of puberty blockers, to some children who are experiencing gender dysphoria. The blockers are drugs which pause the process of puberty by suppressing the body’s release of hormones.
In December 2020, the divisional court ruled that children under 13 were “highly unlikely” to be able to give informed consent, adding that it was “very doubtful” that those aged 14 and 15 would have the requisite understanding to make the life-changing decision.
Bell, now 24, started taking puberty blockers at 16. She has said she now regrets her “brash” decision.
This is PC Madness! It seems they did not consider the fact that more than 50% of girls who transition in their teens attempt suicide. Stupid, Stupid ruling by the Appeals Court!
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