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Biden Official Lobbied to Remove Age Restrictions on Gender Care
For The Free Press, FAIR Advisor Lisa Selin Davis writes about how Dr. Rachel Levine was not following the science; she was acting ‘based on the rhetoric she is hearing in D.C.’
Levine, we learned this week from internal WPATH documents that are part of a civil suit, lobbied WPATH to eliminate age minimums for treatments—including surgeries. The documents, from a report by expert witness Dr. James Cantor, show that Levine’s chief of staff met with WPATH representatives, who reported that Levine was very concerned that “specific minimum ages for treatment” “based on the rhetoric she is hearing in D.C.” “will result in devastating legislation for trans care. She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out. . . ” (Cantor’s report also shows the American Academy of Pediatrics similarly pressured WPATH to remove minimum age recommendations.)
The Roots of Progressive Radicalism: Nellie Bowles vs. Musa al-Gharbi
For Quillette, FAIR Advisor Jonathan Kay writes about competing explanations for the extremist ideological tendencies within left-wing cultural, academic, activist, and political institutions.
Bowles’ personal experience within this world explains why she’s willing to extend a measure of sympathy and understanding to woke puritans—even the ones who tried to make her life miserable at The Times (and denounced her wife Bari, who is Jewish, as a “Nazi”). As Bowles notes in her book, many of these people are anxious, deeply insecure, status-obsessed souls who’ve truly convinced themselves that the social-justice movement is an urgent, even sacred, calling—one that supersedes not only their baseline liberal political and civic commitments, but also the ordinary forms of courtesy, affection, and loyalty that connect us all to friends and family, and which are necessary to maintain an atmosphere of trust and collegiality in our workplaces.
The self-deluded nature of these Slack-channel inquisitors doesn’t excuse their anti-social and often abusive treatment of non-believers, of course. But as Bowles would argue, it’s still worth making an effort to try to see the world through their eyes. If she’s willing to forgive them their cruelties, then maybe, in the fullness of time, the rest of us can, too.
Secular Stagnation
For Foreign Affairs, FAIR Advisor Shadi Hamid writes about how although it may have seemed as if religion were on the way out, a wider look at trends in religiosity reveals a more complex reality.
One might call this the paradox of secularization: that even if religion matters less for individuals, it can still matter more for society at large. Like love or friendship, religion can make its presence felt through its absence. The more secularized a society becomes, the more noticeable the holdouts, which is why outward displays of religiosity can seem so jarring in various European contexts. Across the globe, religion remains resonant in public life because it speaks to fundamental and foundational concerns that come to the fore in the messiness of political combat. For good or for ill, religion provides answers to the question of what it means to be a citizen. It can clarify the very purpose of politics. And it can offer citizens a deeper source and higher authority from which to derive their rights.
Lessons from Obergefell v. Hodges
For FAIR’s Substack, Reid Newton writes about how as support for gay marriage declines, we’d do well to remember the tenacious principles that afforded us the Obergefell v. Hodges win.
This aspect of the journey toward marriage equality illustrates why the LGBT community should remain a steadfast supporter of free speech, even—perhaps especially—when faced with opposing views. Recent polling shows that Americans’ support for gay marriage has dropped for the first time in a decade. Engaging with those we disagree with does not mean conceding our hard-won rights or tolerating discrimination. Rather, it is the only path toward understanding. Those of us within the lesbian community understand better than most how difficult—and necessary—it is to sit down across the table from people who believe your love is illegitimate, immoral, and (should be) illegal. It is only through difficult conversations that we might convince them otherwise.
The "LGBT Community" Fallacy
For FAIR’s Substack, Kevin Ray writes about why he believes there is no such thing as the “LGBT community.”
What about me? I happen to be a gay man; does that alone make me of this community? I used to go to gay bars, but I don’t anymore. I don’t attend events at the LGBT Center, and I don’t support it (or any LGBT organization) through monetary donations. I’ve never watched an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I don’t identify as “queer,” and I reject its political aspirations. Despite living in New York City for over thirty years, I’ve never set foot on the gay mecca known as Fire Island, and I haven’t been to a Pride parade since 2007. Am I to understand that, merely because I am romantically, intimately, and sexually attracted to other men, this makes me of a community? Do I decide what communities I belong to, or does someone else decide that for me?
Anything But Proud
For FAIR’s Substack, Lisa Gilbert writes about her family’s falling out with Pride as the movement has become increasingly ideological and extreme.
As feminists, we have taught our son that women, like his moms, can be gender non-conforming and still love being women. We have enjoyed and excelled at what were once traditionally considered to be male endeavors and accomplishments, including designing and building our custom home, maintaining a large, forested property with livestock, leading a nonprofit organization, writing and publishing a book and several articles, starting and managing a small business, and juggling a life full of work, school, travel, sports, and recreation. We’ve done all this on our own, thousands of miles from our hometowns, without any family assistance or support. Our son has always been proud of our family, our home, and our life, and his experience being raised by two mothers has allowed him to understand women to be self-directed and efficacious, able to love each other and create a family without needing to change their gender identities.
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