While we wish it weren’t true, gender ideology has permeated nearly every cultural nook and cranny and gained a foothold in nearly every reputable mainstream institution. A few examples include the U.S. Naval Academy, the American Library Association, and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
When I joined National Review, Madeleine Kearns had already blazed the trail in documenting the gender craze — when it was still quite risky to do so. She diligently contrasted America’s misguided embrace of so-called gender affirming care with the more cautious approach taken by other countries, including her native U.K. Maddy’s bold and groundbreaking writing gave me the courage to join the fight.
Those who peddle the noxious idea that children should “treat” their gender confusion with transition surgeries and hormones are extremely aggressive in their approach. They steamroll critics unapologetically, ignoring the fact that the young patients on whom they’re pushing such invasive interventions lack the maturity and health literacy to give informed consent.
Effective coverage of this scandal must be tenacious, and National Review has led the way, though not without financial and emotional cost. We are running a webathon right now, and asking for our readers to consider supporting our work, so we can keep doing it.
My coverage of the detransitioner phenomenon has benefitted immensely from the groundwork Maddy laid. Before I arrived at NR, Maddy had already begun cultivating conversation about gender-industry victims who regret their medical transitions; I’ve since expanded NR’s approach to covering the topic, producing a limited-series podcast featuring detransitioners telling their chilling, crucial stories.
To move the needle on this issue, I believe we need to both disprove gender fanatics’ pseudo-science with good-faith arguments and expose the worst of their movement.
Last month, I uncovered that the Biden administration had punished a clinical psychologist after she publicly opposed a trans policy that allows transgender-identifying men into women’s medical spaces in the VA.
Ten days after publishing her critical op-ed, alongside two other VA psychologists who work with rape victims, Nina Silander was removed from her work as a psychologist and barred from contacting patients or colleagues. She was investigated on patient safety and care concerns, despite having never had a complaint before.
My report caught the attention of the DeSantis administration, including the governor himself who wrote on X: “There are many improvements needed to our federal VA to get veterans the care & help they need. But the Biden administration is choosing to fund so-called ‘gender transition’ surgeries instead with your tax dollars.”
Navy Seal and Newsmax host Carl Higbie dedicated the opening segment of his evening show, Frontline, to my story and invited me on to talk about the scandalous details.
With gender ideology, it’s like a game of whack-a-mole, with new incidents popping up each week. On Wednesday, Maddy again pointed out the intellectual bravery of J.K. Rowling, who refused to give in to online bullying demanding that she recognize a flashy male U.K. TV newscaster as female.
Maddy already mentioned the girl gang of gender writers here at NR; I’ll add one more. Haley Strack, a Buckley fellow, has been tackling the ongoing K-12 battles over gender policies. Last month, Haley reported that two Utah school districts encouraged staff to conceal students’ gender transitions from parents. She similarly called out Maryland’s largest school district in June for issuing a memo praising itself for operating LGBT “Rainbow” clubs open to students in kindergarten through third grade at five of its elementary schools.
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