Melanie

@pagd_vic @PatsKarvelas What does it mean for a distressed teenager, possibly neurodivergent, if you tell them, through 'affirmation' that a likely temporary feeling or identity is in fact their true self? @PatMcGorry x.com/pagd_vic/statu…

Recent analysis of insurance data in Germany and the US, looking at thousands of records, indicate that for the majority of young people a transgender identification is temporary. Could @PatsKarvelas now engage with parents about their concerns that she, and the ABC, are dangerously promoting irreversible, unevidenced, medicalisation over therapy. nysun.com/article/new-ev…

@pagd_vic @insightSBS Not even mentioning detransition at this point in a program about gender medicine is more than oversight. Hard to understand.

Last night’s program on @insightSBS, ‘Trans Medicine’, was a significant step forward in giving a voice to those questioning medical intervention. It is unclear why, but one voice missing was that of ‘detransitioners’. On this, and other experiences, families in our group would be very happy to share our insights to @SBSNews and the @abcnews. @ABCmediawatch @PatsKarvelas @amapresident @RACGP @RCHMelbourne @Mark_Butler_MP @MaryAnneThomas @ama_media @bec_white @TimNichollsMP @Jilliantweeting @QldChildPsych @mbachelard @australiandr @JacintaAllanMP @BenCarrollMP @PatrickElligett @liammannix @rachelbaxendale

I know the producers spoke to people with direct experience of detransition, to not include this part of 'transition' means that the public will not have a complete understanding of this issue.

@insightSBS - Psychologist Olivia Donaghy: "There's nothing wrong with trans people". Trans people: "There's something wrong with me, I have a mental disorder". Dismissive, disrespectful & shows her real attitude to mental health issues.

@Slatzism This is incredible. Thank god Q and A has been cancelled.

@Nick_Decap Actually, I think with time, and without all this outside encouragement, the majority of the young people claiming 'dysphoria' now would probably be fine.

Let's breakdown this argument. It starts with a reasonable claim. Trans identification is often correlated with many mental illnesses, some of which are lifelong conditions which interfere with their ability to perceive reality and make healthy decisions. So yes, there is a good chance SOME of these kids will need lifelong help managing those conditions. This could be counseling, help with diet and exercise, medications, even periodic stays in psychiatric wards. This Dr somehow makes the logical leap that this potential need for lifelong help justifies creating a whole new set of medical problems. Sterilization. Inability to nurse babies. Removing organs that produce hormones. Drugs that disrupt the endocrine system and stop growth and development. Brittle bones. Micropenises and vaginal atrophy. The list goes on. This logic is insane. It piles hurt on top of hurt. It locks in delusions. And it ignores the many kids who identity as trans who aren't mentally ill and want to transition because it's trendy, or internalized homophobia, or to because of sexual abuse.

So it more closely resembles anorexia, which is how it should have been treated from the start.

@sleepy_devo So it more closely resembles anorexia, which is how it should have been treated from the start.

brain scans DO show differences between cis hetero men, cis homo men, and trans women. however, after controlling for sexual orientation, trans women brain scans are more aligned with male brain scans in all areas except self-perception (which is to be expected)

@RioVeradonir this is from 2023.

Note that the vast majority of every group has neutral or positive views of trans folk. The backlash is not against trans people, therefore. It is against the radical Critical approach to activism of all kinds. Wokeness backfired and is hurting those it supposedly champions.

@AdelaideBook @parnellpalme I think she's referring to the continuing popularity of Peter Malinauskas?

@parnellpalme What’s your logic here? If you’re talking about the people who voted for One Nation, I imagine none of them have ever even heard of Adelaide Writers’ Week. Which is what it’s called and has always been called, by the way.

I think it’s safe to say the people of South Australia are not voting for Randa to appear at the next Adelaide Writers Festival.

@MoiraDeemingMP x.com/SexIndustryRes…

This is the REAL Labor Party. #Shame #labor #politics #sexploitation #fyp

@realzoestrimpel revoltingly infantile

In Margate. My cheeks are red. I am shaking. I popped into an exhibition that turned out to be the insane fever dream of an artist called Matthew Collins: ‘Drawings Against Genocide.’ The exhibition is described as ‘drawings… raising consciousness about hell…. Israel is the pure encapsulation of it. Zionism is this terror state’s ruling ideology.’ Shocked by the use of Nazi imagery - the room is full of the Star of David pasted around figures meant to be Israelis and the Jewish ‘lobby’ spewing blood, to say nothing of blonde yummy mummies wearing ‘globalise the intifada’ shirts, I spoke to the artist to share my reaction as a Jewish person. He was instantly aggressive. As soon as I started to say I was shocked and threatened by what I was seeing because it was Nazi imagery, the artist started yelling at me that I didn’t mean anything I was saying. Anytime I tried to speak (calmly) he said: ‘you don’t mean any of what you said, you’re just repeating ‘hasbarah talking points’ because ‘you’re defending a genocide’. On and on he yelled, in my face. I said: ‘if I was a Black person…’ but couldn’t finish the sentence because: ‘you’re not are you?’ On the Nazi ideology point he said: ‘yeah. Why do you think it’s there. Israel are the Nazis’. His breath was disgusting. The crowd began booing and closing in around me, making to shoe me out. I said: ‘fine, get the Jew out’ and he yelled more across the room at me, ‘repeatedly jeering ‘call the police, go ahead, call the police’. I said I would, and the community security trust, which features as a devil in his exhibition. This was met with even more jeering. ‘Yeah, call the CST’ was the last I heard before leaving. Someone snapped pictures of me while I was being shouted at. Short video shows the artist. The longer video, of our final almost surreally disgusting exchange, didn’t record.

@JulietVelleman @helenlewis I think it's more equivalent to questioning Islam now, or questioning hijabs or burkas. When I was at high school in the 80s I debated someone about abortion. Can you imagine schools allowing debates on these topics now?

@helenlewis This isn’t a good analogy. During the fatwa, there was widespread media debate between those who believed in Rushdie’s absolute right to free speech (Chris Hitchens) and those who thought he had been too reckless re: Islam (Le Carré). Neither side was threatened or no platformed

I’ve never thought about it like this before, but the TERF wars of the late 2010s were as radicalising for a cohort of feminists as the Salman Rushdie fatwa was for the liberals of a generation earlier. People that you assumed cared about free speech just … backed away.

@jo_bartosch I don't want to know about this.

This is why freedom of speech must not be used to excuse hurting the vulnerable. It’s a gross distortion of a noble principle

@JonniSkinner I really hope you and your mum get some justice.

I've seen a lot of comments specifically in reference to me having had hematuria on the blocker and I just want to say that this is a rare to uncommon side effect with puberty blockers. I was started on Spiro first as I believe my insurance did not cover the puberty blocker at first. Spiro works as a diuretic so it makes you pee more, and then when I had puberty blockers at 14 is when I had started developing ulcers and peeing blood and they had found no pathology when a biopsy was taken of these ulcers so no one really knew what was causing them at the time. If you go on the supprelin la website they state that side effects are not all known and on mayo clinic the side effect of urinating blood (hematuria) is one of them under rare, other websites will have it under uncommon side effects. Meaning it doesn't happen to everyone but it is a known side effect that can occur from puberty blockers, and in that instance it's supposed to be removed immediately but my mom had to fight for it to be removed. I think that's the difference is everyone's bodies will react a little bit differently so I see a lot of people getting mad at me because their bodies didn't react like this to the medication. But just because I had one reaction doesn't mean that every single person will it just means that these are reactions that can occur that these doctors are not warning people about or are denying that they could be connected to the medication. When it's actually stated on the medications website that there could be numerous potential side effects and other websites such as drugs.com or Mayo clinic do state hematuria as a possible side effect. mayoclinic.org/drugs-suppleme… I see a lot of people saying I didn't understand my own medical Care and well of course I was a young teenager and did not understand and when my mom or myself had asked these questions my doctor had brushed them off and said it couldn't be related. But when the blocker was finally removed these ulcers cleared up I've never had an incident since and never had an incidents before the blocker and there was no sign of a UTI infection as there was no pathology or bacteria found. So I did genuinely have this reaction to the blockers I'm not saying every single person will have that same exact reaction, however this does occur. I hope that clears up some people's confusion/criticism to my story / testimonies.

@BriannaWu @LilithLovett What do you think is the huge difference between Jonni or Hunter Schaffer, or Naomi Watt's son?

@LilithLovett If you believe he suppressed puberty you are literally ret

Yeeeeeah no, I don’t think he was placed on estrogen and puberty blockers at all. Documents or it didn’t happen. Also literally no doctors will tell you this, who is paying him to say these things? The Heritage Foundation?

@realLainey @thomaschattwill you might have a point.

@thomaschattwill That's a super nasty comment, obv., but why do you paint the whole site with that brush? Do you imagine there aren't similarly nasty and wrongheaded comments here on Twitter?

It’s honestly hard to overstate how sinister Bluesky is. Consider one of the first comments to appear under the piece:

@dilanesper @wesyang (or cruel) to not use them makes it that much harder for them. So people will continue to call you out on this, I hope that you start listening.

@dilanesper @wesyang I think 'gender transition' reflects something real as well, I just believe it's something cruel and horrible. Parents all over the world are desperately trying to hold their children connected to their own bodies and perpetuating 'preferred pronouns' and claiming that it's rude

If I do a thread about a trans woman and call her "her", and you come in my thread and "correct" me and say "you mean him", I'm probably going to block you. Beyond expressing prejudice, you are being immature and uninteresting. It adds nothing to go into threads and say that.