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Controversial college swim star beaten by fellow transgender athlete
Parents and critics including Jordan Peterson have spoken out after the much-debated athlete lost to a rival who is transitioning from female to male
College swimming star Lia Thomas has lost to a fellow transgender competitor in her first competition since a record-breaking set of performances that led to outrage among some over fairness and rules.
Competing against rivals in the Ivy League from Dartmouth College and Yale, the Penn State youngster won her first two races by just two seconds and one second while being described by witnesses at the event as "barely trying", according to a report.
Thomas later met her match when she fifth in the 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay races. That meant there was no repeat of the two records Thomas smashed last month at the Zippy International in Ohio.
Thomas, who was born Will and previously competed for the men's team before the pandemic, was trounced in the first event by 20-year-old Californian Iszac Henig, whose time of 49.57 beat hers by more than three seconds.
Henig, who is transitioning from female to male, also won the 50-yard freestyle and is said to have shocked some parents afterwards by pulling down the top of his swimsuit to reveal a flat, scarred chest after having his breasts removed.
"I wasn't prepared for that," one Penn State parent was quoted to have told the Daily Mail while asking to remain anonymous, reportedly adding that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) "needs to do something about this."
"Everything is messed up. I can't wrap my head around this. They need to put science into the decision and discussion,"
"A man just crushed the women's team," remarked another.
Henig came out to his coaches and teammates in April 2021 and has claimed not to be taking hormones because he still wants to compete on the Yale women's team until the end of the season.
High-profile professor, psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, who has clashed with his critics over the correct use of pronouns, responded to the news by pithily telling his millions of social media followers: "Turns out pronouns matter."
Saturday's event was Penn's final home swim meet of the current season and took place behind closed doors to around 200 people who were members of the media or swimmers' families because of Covid concerns.
The Mail claim last weeks that some of Thomas' teammates were considering a boycott as a protest to her participation but had concerns about being dubbed transphobic and potentially banned from the Ivy League championship next month.
"How convenient that they have now avoided this potential conflict that they're now aware was going to take place," said a parent.
Prior to the weekend, the university and the league publicly emphasized their support for Thomas and pointed out that she is merely following NCAA rules after taking testosterone.
"As a member of the NCAA, Penn is governed by the policies of the national governing body," wrote Penn Athletics wrote on Twitter.
"Lia Thomas has met or exceeded all NCAA protocols over the past two years for a transgender male student-athlete to compete for a women's team. She will continue to represent the Penn women's swimming team in competition this season."
One group of parents responded to the saga by imploring the NCAA to revise its rules.
"At stake here is the integrity of women's sports," they said in a letter addressed to the NCAA and forwarded to league and university officials.
"The precedent being set – one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete – is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries?"
What becomes obvious from this story is that girls cannot compete with transgenders, regardless of their pronoun, without powerful drugs to make them something other than natural girls. It is also obvious that transgenders should have their own category for sports competition.
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Pedophilia is misunderstood, USA Today claims, then deletes tweets
The outlet has erased a controversial Twitter thread after major public outrage
One of America’s largest newspapers has deleted a social media discussion of pedophilia after stirring outrage by claiming growing scientific consensus that sexual attraction to children is “determined in the womb.”
USA Today posted a Twitter message on Tuesday to promote an article on pedophiles, titled ‘What the public keeps getting wrong about pedophilia’. The newspaper said in a series of posts that pedophiles are likely born with a predisposition to be attracted to children and don’t have control over their sexual desires.
“A pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to children, but not all pedophiles abuse kids, and some people who sexually abuse kids are not pedophiles,” USA Today wrote. It added that evidence suggests pedophilia is “inborn,” and better access to therapy can help pedophiles control their impulses.
We know that not all who abuse children are pedophiles, but often drunk or drugged and taking an opportunity they would never consider while sober.
Not all pedos abuse kids. This idea was presented to me many years ago when I first started this blog, but I am less convinced now than before. Many pedos think viewing child pornography is not sexually abusing children, but it is. Those children have to be sexually abused to make those videos and if you are viewing them, you are creating the market that results in children being abused.
The original tweet was quickly ratioed on Twitter, and USA Today later said it decided to pull down the entire thread because it allegedly lacked context that was provided by the article, which was behind a paywall. However, the newspaper later removed the paywall, allowing non-subscribers to access the article.
Is it just me, or does it seem like USA Today is favoring pedophiles over children? Of course, children have no voice and don't read newspapers. Is that too cynical?
Multiple Twitter users took screenshots of the original messages, and the article failed to blunt their criticism of USA Today. The newspaper quoted Canadian sexologist Michael Seto as saying, “I think as a field, we’ve accepted the idea that this is not something that people choose.”
People don't choose it from the top, but people ease into it, often beginning with adult pornography and gradually moving toward younger and younger players and more and more violence. This is the principle that 'sin is progressive'! I have seen it several times in my blog stories on infant abusers.
The article also argued that there’s growing scientific support for views like those of Old Dominion University professor Allyn Walker, who has called for “destigmatizing pedophilia” and referring to pedophiles as “minor-attracted persons.”
The Virginia university announced Walker’s resignation last November, after the professor’s comments were inferred as defending pedophilia. Walker’s book on pedophilia was subtitled, ‘Minor-attracted people and their pursuit of dignity’.
Pedophiles are always in pursuit, but not for dignity. That's absurd!
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France to prohibit incest
The secretary of state for child protection has vowed to criminalize incestuous relationships
The French government has said it will move to ban incest for the first time since 1791, bringing it in line with most European nations which prohibit sexual relationships with blood relatives.
In an interview with AFP this week, Adrien Taquet, the secretary of state for children, said the government would ban incest for the first time in more than 200 years. Sexual relations with relatives are currently legal in France unless children are involved.
The new law would criminalize incest even if both parties are over the age of 18. While cousins would still be able to marry, the minister was unable to confirm whether stepfamilies would be included.
"Whatever the age, you don’t have sexual relations with your father, your son or your daughter,” the French lawmaker insisted, adding “It is not a question of age, it is not a question of consenting adults. We are fighting against incest. The signals must be clear.”
The minister said he was in favor of a “clear ban” which would bring France in line with most other European nations.
Incest, blasphemy, and sodomy were decriminalized in 1791 as French revolutionary forces sought to remove Christian-inspired morality entrenched by the monarchy.
The topic had largely been taboo for decades until 2021, when Olivier Duhamel, a prominent political commentator, was accused of sexually abusing his teen stepson in the 1980s.
Duhamel admitted the accusations were true but did not face charges, as incest with a youth was not then a crime. The government responded last year bringing in legislation making it a crime to have a sexual relationship with a close relative under 18.
Birthing is being trans-formed!
‘My job is to help women give birth, but I was banned
from using the word “mother”’
With gender-neutral language becoming obligatory for midwives, RT speaks to one home birthing attendant who has had enough of the "Orwellian trans takeover" and believes it’s time to confront it.
“Dissociating from your body and denying what it is, and then framing it as some kind of enlightened state… it’s really twisted.”
Strong words that will chime with many from home birth attendant Isabella Malbin, who is one of an increasing number of midwives, doulas, and nurses speaking out about what they see as a trans takeover of the birthing world.
A recently launched UK-based Twitter account, Sex Not Gender Nurses and Midwives, has provided a forum to get their point across. But the reality for many health professionals is that talking publicly is difficult, because of a fear of either being ostracised or going against their training.
To get an idea of the pressures they face, RT spoke to Isabella, who is a firm believer that trans ideology has to be countered. Ironically, her views have gone through quite a transformation since she began her doula training in 2016 in her home town, New York City.
She said, “Like most women getting into birth work and women’s health, I have a very sincere desire to improve the lives of women, girls and children. Not anyone goes into such a politicised space where there is so much work that needs to be done. I went into that space with the intention to make the lives of women and children better, starting at birth.”
Aged 24 and keen to embrace modernity, Malbin was unsurprised that the first part of her training was not focused on medical matters, and instead was called ‘Cultural Competency’. That meant she and her fellow students were taught to erase the words ‘mother’ and ‘woman’ from their professional vocabulary. The replacements were: ‘birthing bodies’, ‘birthing people’, ‘menstruater’, ‘people who bleed’, and ‘chestfeeder’.
OMG!
Malbin reflected, “I’m from New York City, I went to art school… you didn’t have to say much more; I was on board. I couldn’t at the time understand how it would hurt anyone. I really couldn’t come up with any reasoning or examples why it would take anything away from me as a woman or women [in general] to use that language.”
As she was so intent on trying to be as good a doula as possible, Malbin didn’t question these instructions. In fact, the tone made it clear how objections would be framed. “It was delivered as: ‘if you’re not on board, you have some inner work to do’,” she said. “Around that time some elder midwives wrote a letter about the danger of gender-neutral language. My trainer brought it up as this horrible, shameful thing that had gone on in the birth world, that there was this group of midwives opposing this ‘new speak’. Immediately I learned any opposition… was frowned upon.”
Malbin gained her qualification and began delivering training sessions to couples expecting children, using the language that she had been told to use. Her website and professional materials didn’t contain the words ‘mother’ or ‘woman’.
Now she reflects upon what her clients must have felt as she avoided those words in the classes. “I would be in a room with 12 couples coming to me for childbirth education and not a single woman in the room thought she was a man – yet I would continue to use language like ‘birthing people’. It was really unbelievable and I did that for three years,” she explained.
“If they felt it was strange – as I am sure most of them did – no one ever said anything to me. I imagine if they did think this was weird, they didn’t want to offend me or create a discord within the relationship.”
Finally, there was a crack in the dam and Malbin questioned the language politics when a Caesarean section was referred to as a ‘belly birth’.
She said, “It’s Orwellian and it doesn’t make sense; everybody knows a C-section is not just a belly birth. Who are we trying to protect here? That is a marketing thing that I see only benefits the hospitals who are selling these belly births."
“Any women who has had a C-section knows it is a major abdominal surgery, and any women who has gone to have a vaginal birth after a C-section knows they are not the same. So why are we pretending that they are? Who does it serve to constantly make these concessions with our language?”
From then on, Malbin decided to revert to using the language that she personally felt was right and abandoned the ‘Cultural Competency’ of her training. That has come at a cost, as at a later training course she was kicked out for refusing to ignore the terms ‘mother’ and ‘woman’, despite explaining that she accepted if other students felt differently.
She said, “I was reported as ‘unsafe' to the leader of a program who called for a gender forum. [Then] A psychologist did a role-play of a man who thinks he is a woman begging me to let him into my women’s circle."
“I said, ‘I’m really sorry to hear you’re dealing with all these things, but you are not a woman and this is a ‘women only’ space, so get the help you need but you are not welcome here’. That sounds very harsh to a lot of people and it’s insane that is the case.”
According to Malbin, this is a common situation – where female health professionals involved in births can’t voice an opinion that disagrees with trans ideology. Colleagues and others online describe it as like having nowhere to turn.
“They are not free to speak, they are not given an open forum, they are plucked out quicker than you can say ‘trans ideology’,” said Malbin.
“I get messages and emails from women all over the world regularly telling me that they can’t speak out or they were ostracised. There is no kind of democratic space or nuanced space where women can talk about these issues. This ideology is authoritarian and if you even question one part, you are instantly deemed transphobic.”
Alongside the midwives, doulas, and home birth attendants, mothers (and fathers) are also impacted by the use of gender-neutral language. Most arrive at hospitals or birthing centres happy to take their lead from the professionals. So it is likely to cause an issue if they are struck by being referred as to as a ‘menstruater’ or ‘chestfeeder’.
“I’ve had women come to me and say, ‘I don’t feel a connection with my midwife because she believes in this ideology’,” said Malbin.
“What we are already dealing with in birth is a very deindividualised experience where the woman is one of many. It’s like a conveyor belt… she comes in, she comes out. Then you are unable to name your parts or to feel embarrassed or hesitant to claim your body as a woman out of fear of triggering someone.”
There’s also the reality that some women may feel uncomfortable being examined by a man.
They may be surprised when someone with a female name arrives at their bedside but is in a fact a man identifying as a woman.
Malbin continued, “l also think it’s an issue to have medical professionals who are male pretending to be women, inserting themselves literally into the inside of women’s bodies.
“I already take issue with male OB-GYNs and men who call themselves midwives and doulas, but on top of that if you add a man who is convinced he is a woman and has breast implants and has been on estrogen for 10 years, that is a whole other level.
“I have had women who’ve shown up to gynecological and obstetric appointments thinking they are going to see a woman and it’s a man. Imagine being in a room alone with this man, and you don’t want to offend, and you’ve already taken off your pants. This is happening.”
The momentum is definitely with those who subscribe to trans ideology. And Malbin believes that is a concern for any future midwives or doulas, as they have to swallow any opposing personal views or potentially find a new career.
She said, “If you want to learn from a college of midwives and they’re pretending to not know what a woman is, is that really someone you want to learn from? What else are they promoting? Chances are they are also promoting double speak in other ways.
“Ask yourself: Do you want to be part of an organisation that is being bullied? Whether they believe in what they are doing or not, do you want to be led by someone who has succumbed to bullying by the mob? There are a couple of programs still out there that have stayed strong and refused to comply with this nonsense, but they are far and few between.
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