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Sex change hormone treatment injured Swedish children – media
25 Nov, 2021 14:56
© REUTERS/Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency
As many as 13 children have suffered side effects from hormone therapy while receiving treatment for gender dysmorphia in Sweden, according to national broadcaster SVT.
In a report published on Wednesday, Swedish broadcaster SVT revealed that doctors at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm stopped new hormone treatments for children suffering from gender dysmorphia in May amid concerns of “potential side effects.”
The hospital noted in new guidelines that the treatments are controversial and that there is a lack of scientific support for it. Data concerning the extent of the side effects and the number of children impacted was not made public.
After an internal review by the hospital, SVT conducted its own investigation. They say that a total of 13 children have been in some way injured by the treatments they received at the hospital. One child, Leo, had started a treatment of hormone blockers at the age of just 11. Almost five years later, Leo has been diagnosed with osteoporosis and doctors have recorded changes within his vertebrae. His growth has also been severely stunted.
“Injuries that have been caused by treatment with us, we obviously have a responsibility for,” Svante Norgren, head of Astrid Lindgren's children's hospital at Karolinska University Hospital told the national broadcaster.
Other injuries incurred as a result of the treatment include suspected liver damage and a severe deterioration of mental wellness. One child was also diagnosed with reduced bone density after two years of receiving the hormone blockers.
The hospital said it was unaware that 13 children had been injured by their treatment. “We are two different units. The children's hospital handles the pediatric part - the investigation and psychiatric follow-up is on the KID team [Gender Identity Investigations of Children and Adolescents],” Norgren stated.
Gay Santa Claus ad causes controversy
24 Nov, 2021 17:23
Norway’s postal service has released a lavishy-produced advert depicting a homosexual relationship between Santa Claus and a man named Harry. The LGBT love affair, which ends in a kiss, has been met with mixed reactions online.
Produced to mark 50 years since Norway decriminalized homosexuality, ‘When Harry Met Santa’ depicts the blossoming love affair between a Norwegian man and Father Christmas himself. Over several years, Santa visits ‘Harry,’ and the pair fall for each other. The advert ends with a passionate kiss between the two men, as Posten, the country’s postal service, handles Santa’s deliveries for the night.
If I had accidentally taken poison and had to throw-up, this ad would accomplish that in no time.
Gay rights groups and LGBT advocates raved about the ad and its “strong and moving message of inclusion,” to quote Canadian Member of Parliament Randall Garrison.
Others were less enthusiastic. “Leave Santa alone!” one person tweeted. “Sexualisation of him is just wrong...whether gay or straight. I find this ad creepy and disturbing!”
Christmas is a bitterly-contested battleground in the ongoing culture war, with Santa Claus reimagined every year to suit woke causes, from his climate activism to his interracial gay marriage. Father Christmas isn’t the only festive tradition that conservatives accuse the woke of assailing. Famous Christmas songs have been attacked for supposedly sexist lyrics, and the holiday season’s religious roots have been described as a celebration of “Christian privilege.”
Professor who seeks to ‘destigmatize’ pedophilia resigns
25 Nov, 2021 05:15
An American university professor whose research on pedophilia kicked off a firestorm of controversy, including threats of violence and charges that the academic defended child abuse, is set to resign their position at the school.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Virginia’s Old Dominion University said that sociology professor Allyn Walker would step down when their contract expires next May, and that they would remain on leave until that time. The professor, who identifies as transgender, also defended their research in the joint missive, insisting it had been misconstrued by the public.
“My scholarship aims to prevent child sexual abuse,” Walker said, claiming that their work was “mischaracterized by some in the media and online, partly on the basis of my trans identity.”
As a result, multiple threats were made against me and the campus community generally.
Walker kicked off a major public scandal earlier this year after publishing a book entitled ‘A Long, Dark Shadow.’ Parts of the work attempted to distinguish predators and child sex offenders from so-called “minor-attracted persons” (or MAPs) who do not act on (what Walker posits are) inborn sexual tendencies.
However, in addition to that controversial premise, the book also argued for the need to ‘destigmatize’ MAPs, and discussed their “pursuit for dignity” – a line that appears in the work’s subtitle – creating a massive backlash, including accusations that Walker had defended pedophilia.
The professor was placed on leave earlier this month amid the outrage, with the university stating that “the controversy over Dr. Walker's research has disrupted the campus and community environment and is interfering with the institution’s mission of teaching and learning.”
Though Walker has found a veritable army of detractors online, some fellow academics have come to their defense, with more than 70 researchers and professors signing a joint letter in support of their work. The cosigners argued that understanding complex issues like sexual abuse “requires [the] dissemination of research findings even when they contradict popular assumptions,” and even echoed Walker’s claim that “Not everyone who is attracted to children abuses children.”
A petition to reinstate the professor was also launched online earlier this month, garnering just shy of 2,500 signatures so far.
UK cracks down on teen plastic surgery
But not the most dangerous kind
25 Nov, 2021 16:13
In an apparent bid to enhance teenagers’ and children’s self-esteem, a UK regulator has announced it will soon ban the promotion of body upgrades to these age groups.
Promotion of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures will be barred from billboards, print media, radio and television programmes where under-18s can be affected by them, the UK’s advertising watchdog, the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP), ruled on Thursday.
Starting from May next year, advertisements of such procedures as breast augmentation or reduction, liposuction, facelifts and nose jobs will be effectively blocked in all media sources aimed at young people or likely to appeal to them. Clinics will also not be able to advertise peels, fillers and teeth whitening products.
Popular social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, often used by influencers to promote all kinds of body enhancement procedures and beauty products among younger followers, also fall under the new ban. However, it is not clear how the proportion of such age groups among their audiences will be defined.
The move comes in response to concerns that advertising of this kind may be harmful to teenagers, not only due to the risk of medical complications after the procedures, but also because of its negative influence on their mental wellbeing.
And, yet, this is relatively insignificant compared to gender altering treatments, puberty suppressants, and sex change surgeries, which are known to result in extremely high rates of suicide attempts.
Earlier this year, the British government announced it would fight child obesity and try to wean younger consumers off junk food. From 2023, restrictions will come into force banning online promotion and TV adverts for foods high in fat and sugar before 9pm.
Does the government actually think children go to bed at 9 p.m. anymore? Most, when they do go to bed, have their phones with them.
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