9/2/24

Singapore's Pride Qatrisha Zairyah, advances in Miss Universe Pageant

Background Pixabay on Pixels/ Qatrisha Zairyah Instagram

Transgender woman Qatrisha Zairyah has advanced to the top 15 finalists who are vying for the title of  Miss Singapore. Once achieving this, the winner goes on to represent Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant.

Ms. Zairyah is endeavoring to be the first trans woman to represent Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant and after that, Miss Universe!
Because she is transgender Qatrisha Zairyah has additional obstacles to overcome, some physical, but often the most hurtful are verbal and written.

Contestants from Singapore must meet the qualifications set by Miss Universe one of which is to be legally recognized as a woman in their country. In an interview with The Straights Times, Ms. Zairyah confirmed that she had met that criteria by undergoing gender confirmation surgery, a condition set by Singapore, and underwent humiliating visits to doctors to verify her womanhood, so she could participate.

Ms Qatrisha credits her confidence and poise to having taken part in other pageants for transgender women. The 1.8m-tall stunner even clinched the first runner-up spot at the biggest and most prominent one – Miss International Queen 2023 held in Pattaya, Thailand.

“It’s about time I can represent my community on the MUS stage,” she says. “MUS is a good opportunity for me to share about my life, my struggles, failures, fears, fighting discrimination, and how I’m achieving my dreams to become a successful trans woman.”

8/31/24

Texas Democrat Loses Primary Runoff, Becomes a Republican and joins Anti-Trans Hate Group

Newly minted Republican Shawn Thierry (L) Anti-Trans politician Gov. Gregg Abbott (R)

It's been an awful year for one former Democrat, State Rep. Shawn Thierry.

She lost her seat to party-backed Democrat Lauren Ashley Simmons in the May runoff, subsequently switched parties after apparently just reading the democrats party platform, and topped it off by announcing she was the US political policy director for the hate group Genspect whose mission is to seduce left center politicians into a life of anti-trans extremism.

Thierry reposted on X as Anti-Trans activist Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Libs of Tic Toc, and Anti-goverment extremists Moms of Liberty welcomed her departure from sanity.

Chaya Raichik, founder of Libs of Tic Toc, has a history of making hateful posts targeting administrators and children's hospitals just before death and bomb threats were made. Raichik denied those accusations however SPLC substantiated their claims by retrieving 2859 deleted tweets by libsoftiktok

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said Thierry had “chosen to continue to betray the values and priorities of her constituents” and “once again put money and title above principle."

“If Thierry looks at a party taking away the freedom for women to control their bodies, cutting healthcare for millions, and led by a racist, petty convict and says I want in on that mess, I think that says more about Shawn Thierry than about the Democratic Party,” Martinez Fischer said in a statement. "Adios."

Ealier this month Thierry announced that she joined the SPLC designated Hate Group, Genspect, which promotes anti-transgender healthcare legislation and junk science.

The Texas Tribune reports that Thierry, who served four terms before losing her primary this year, was announced earlier this week as the director of political strategy for the U.S. wing of Genspect. Founded in 2021 by Irish psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, Genspect is part of a broader network of organizations that oppose gender-transitioning care for minors, and its members have testified in favor of bills across the world that would ban or limit the practice.

Genspect has also been accused by medical experts and organizations of relying on junk science to support their stance. O’Malley, for instance, has falsely claimed that there are links between peer pressure, pornography and gender dysphoria. Genspect has also partnered with groups such as the right-wing Alliance Defending Freedom, and argues that no one under the age of 25 should be allowed to transition because their brains “haven’t yet fully matured.”

At least one Genspect official has also privately said that they oppose gender transition for people of all ages, but focus on children as part of a broader strategy to court lawmakers.

“None of us would ever recommend transition for anyone,” Genspect’s vice director, Alasdair Gunn, reportedly wrote on a private server that was leaked to the Daily Dot in 2023. “On those over 25 we say little, because it’s not in YOUR interests to mention this. We have to break through to the policymakers who are left of center, and the way to do that is to focus relentlessly on the problem of transition for under 25s.”

Thierry and Genspect did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The company also recently hired Dr. Eithan Haim, a Dallas-area doctor who is currently charged with illegally obtaining information about transgender patients at Texas Children's Hospital who were not in his care. Haim then allegedly leaked the information, and has framed himself as a "whistleblower."

8/30/24

Australia to Include SO and exclude GI Questions from 2026 Census

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) House Image Courtesy: Bidgee, Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported | Wikimedia Commons

In lightening fast flip-flops the Australian Federal government went from apologizing for not including the LGBTQI community, to dropping all questions about Sexual Orientation (SO) and Gender identity (GI), to omitting questions about the transgender community from the upcoming 2026 Census.

On August 25, Lucy Martinez, an Australian blogger, wrote on Substack, "The Australian federal government has decided not to include questions on gender identity, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics in the 2026 Census. This decision follows ABS releasing a rare statement of regret in 2023 for excluding non-binary and other LGBTQI+ individuals from being properly counted in the 2021 Census and collaborating with the community to enhance inclusion in future Censuses.

"This is all despite the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recognizing the increasing need for accurate data representing transgender individuals in Australia. However, today’s decision by the federal government will render those efforts futile."

Just a day after his ministers explained the census change had been scrapped to avoid a "divisive debate", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Friday that a question about sexuality would in fact be included in the 2026 survey.

Read more at Transcend Australia.

When questioned about these changes on Friday Prime Minister Albanese told ABC that it was the first time that he had been asked about it and that it was "common sense" to exclude transgender people from the 2026 census and include a new, single question about sexual orientation.

The editor's opinion from learned experience:

Excluding transgender people from the census is paramount to disappearing the gender-diverse community. Transgender people are fighting off attacks daily sometimes dying from a lack of basic human rights. The core reason for this inhumanity is a government's denial that we exist.

It's not "common sense" to cave to TERFs, and Hate Groups, it is androcide, it is femicide, it is gendercide.

As a leader of a major Western country with influence way past your borders, Prime Minister, the world expects that at a bare minimum acknowledge that trans people exist and live in Australia.

8/29/24

Kamala Harris Promise to End Rent Price Fixing is Winning Voters Over

Photo / AP Susan Walsh

Kamala Harris is surging ahead in the polls in crucial demographics after promising to take on corporate Rent Price Fixing and ending taxes on tips.

Her promise to end rent price fixing is especially credible since the DOJ under US Attorney General Merrick Garland is currently suing Realpage, the website that fueled the latest rent increases.

Democrat Kamala Harris has surged ahead of Republican Donald Trump, 48%-43%, in a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found.

The vice president's small lead was fueled by big shifts among some key demographic groups traditionally crucial for Democrats, including Hispanic and Black voters and young people, USA Today Reported. Among those with annual incomes of less than $20,000, in the biggest change, a three-point Trump edge over Biden in June has become a 23-point Harris advantage over Trump in August.

Mine is but one story but it may be representative of many lower-income people, especially minorities.

The representative of the corporation that manages my apartment complex asked if I had heard of the "rent website" meaning Realpage when I questioned the one hundred dollar rent increase last year. Her answer was "well, everybody is doing it".

As much as I didn't like it I couldn't move as nearby rents had similarly skyrocketed. This year I found rents hundreds of dollars less during a search of my area, but it didn't make sense to move within Texas because of Paxton's unrelenting war on Trans rights.

So much to the corporate representative delight I decided to forgo fleeing to a state with trans rights protected by law and extended my stay to 13 years by signing another lease. I knew it was price fixing but last year's rent increase had drained my bank account and left me able to save enough to move out of Texas.

Unmentioned is the broader economic impact. The car dealership where I have bought my last two new vehicles desperately wants my car as a trade-in for a new car. It seems too few people are trading in for new cars leaving dealerships with empty lots.

Apparently, I along with many others would gladly trade our cars in especially given the very generous terms offered, but I can't for all of the reasons above.

While the poll is indeed good news proving people are paying attention we know what happens when we lift our foot off the accelerator. 


#Understandtheassignment Visit KamalaHarris.com and click the volunteer tab to see how you can help in your locality and nationaly.

And lastly, Vote as if your country would be destroyed if you didn't because surely it will.

8/27/24

Transgender suicides in the UK have doubled since Bell v. Tavistock

Alice Litman, 20, Brighton, Sussex (United Kingdom) died of Suicide on 26 May 2022 after enduring 1000 days on NHS waitlist / photo: Gofundme by her Sister

Ignored, dismissed as irreverent and inconsequential, and after a purported coverup by the NHS and Cass, Transgender suicides in the UK have risen exponentially since Bell v. Tavistock.

On Friday 13th October 2023, after a special inquiry spanning 17 months, the coroner concluded that lengthy waiting lists and significant barriers that prevent transgender people from accessing gender-affirming care in the UK contributed to a decline in Alice's mental health, and raised concerns about delays accessing gender-affirming healthcare and a lack of clarity for clinicians.

Source: TransLivesMatter, the only global compilation of transgender wrongful deaths that includes death by suicide.

There have been 36 unnatural trans deaths in the UK since Jan 2020. Of those, one was reported as a custodial death, one unknown, two by violence, and 32 suicides.

Sixteen of those suicides were on NHS waitlists and according to two whislblowers who came forward to the Good Law Project those deaths were predicted by staff at the Tavistock clinic but their efforts to inform the public was denied with warnings of displinary action should they attempt again.

The age of those who committed suicide ranged from 44, to 12, with the vast preponderance of those being under 21 years old.

In comparison, the TDOR Project reports that there were a total of 18 unnatural trans deaths in the three years before NHS stopped treating trans people. Of those deaths two were custodial, two deaths were by violence, and 14 by suicide. I can remember looking at those numbers back then and feeling wonder, sadness, and even jealousy as the USA typically experiences hundreds of trans murders yearly.

One thing that leaps off the page is how many transgender people in the UK commit suicide compared to other causes of unnatural death and how many of them were but children when they ended their lives.

Another shocking thing is how these deaths are under and misreported by British media and ignored by the Cass Review, a political hitjob on trans health care by the conservative Torys and condoned by labour.

Fact: A person does not need to be on a "waitlist" to feel the hopelessness wrought by gender dysphoria left untreated.

British Medical Association calls for the NHS to resume treating Trans Patients of All Ages

Source: Erin in the Morning Trans Youth Suicides Covered Up By NHS, Cass After Restrictions, Say Whistleblowers

"On Thursday, Jo Maugham - director of the United Kingdom legal advocacy organization The Good Law Project - wrote a detailed thread on X/Twitter in which he alleges that there has been a substantial increase in the number of suicides for young trans people on the National Health Service (NHS) waitlist, and that the NHS has been suppressing the evidence. Maugham says that this occurred after the infamous 2020 Bell v. Tavistock ruling that restricted care for those under 16. While this ruling has since been overturned, the damage from it is still being felt today."

"Maugham, who first announced some of these claims in a Good Law Project fundraiser opposing the British puberty blocker ban, says that he spoke with two whistleblowers. “I have seen their staff IDs and each has provided me with some internal Tavistock documents. There is no doubt they are who they say they are.”

"The first whistleblower reportedly said that prior to the 2020 Bell ruling, only one young trans person died from suicide in seven years and that since the ruling, there have been sixteen deaths. This data is reported to come from an anonymous doctor referred to as “Named Doctor for Safeguarding Children.”

Read the rest at Erin in the Morning.

8/24/24

Texas DPS Gender Marker Policy Change To Be Addressed at Webinar

Equality Texas will be hosting a Zoom info meeting on Wednesday, August 28 @ 6:00PM to address the changes to the state policy according to a updated Instagram post .

Six legal experts and community advocates will discuss the unannounced driver's license and state ID gender marker policy changes.

Those prensenting are Shelly Skeen from @lambdalegal, Rachel Gonzales from @HumanRightsCampaign @HRC_Texas Petey Makopoulos-Senftleber from @translegalaidtx, Sofia Sepulveda (@sofia_in_texas) from @equalitytexas, and Ash Hall (@ashoftexas) from @aclutx.

Those who wish to attend will be reaquired to register in advance and can do so at linktr.ee/equalitytexas.

8/21/24

Texas is no longer accepting Court Ordered Gender Updates For Driver Licenses

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

On Tuesday the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) stopped recognizing court-ordered gender updates on driver licenses and state IDs. The policy change came without warning or public notice leaving nearly 100,000 transgender Texans in legal, emotional, and physical jeopardy.

UPDATE: Texas DPS Gender Marker Policy Change To Be Addressed at Webinar on Sept 28 6 pm central

There is no legal or legislative mandate for this draconian directive, only hate. Listen to a recording by special investigative reporter Steven Monacelli when Gregg Abbott addresses young Conservatives and promises to "end" transgender and non-binary people living in Texas.

Taking away our identification that we must have to work, use public accomidations and vote is the first step.

The ACLU said in a statement "The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) ordered employees Tuesday to no longer allow transgender Texans to change the gender markers on their driver’s licenses or state IDs. The new policy allegedly would block updates even when the agency is required to make them by court order."

"In an internal email, DPS also instructs employees to report any attempt by Texans to update the gender listed on their documents. The policy change reflects the latest attempt by members of the state government to target and discriminate against transgender Texans."

Under previous DPS rules, people were able to change the sex on their driver's license if there was a clerical error, or if they presented an amended birth certificate or an original certified court record, the Texas Tribune reports.

Transgender Texans are now effectively barred from obtaining an accurate foundational government document and could become especially vulnerable to discrimination and harassment, said Ian Pittman, an Austin attorney who works with transgender Texans. The change has also raised privacy concerns from advocates of transgender people who worry their personal information will be used with malicious intent.

The internal email directs driver license employees to send the names and identification numbers of people seeking to change their sex on their license to a particular email address with the subject line “Sex Change Court Order.”

Employees are also instructed to “scan into the record” court orders or other documentation relating to the sex change request.

It is not clear how that information will be used. Two years ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton directed employees at DPS to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on their Texas driver’s licenses and other department records.

8/20/24

Transgender people are more Likely to vote than Cisgender Americans: USTS

The transgender community is more actively engaged politically during presidential elections than any other segment of society. This is according to the largest survey of trans people ever conducted over the last decade.

The results of the study shed new light on why the GOP known for voter suppression, have prioritized their attacks on trans and non-binary people. It's actually empowering to know that MAGA is so scared of trans trans people, a tiny minority of the US population that they would devout that much energy to disenfranchise us. But why target us and what can we do about it? That will become clear after we read the boring details which I have surmised.

The United States Transgender Survey (USTS) was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (now Advocates for Trans Equality Education Fund, “A4TE”) in partnership with the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, and TransLatin@ Coalition.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of U.S. citizens of voting age in the sample (“voting eligible respondents”) reported that they were registered to vote in the 2020 presidential election, compared to 73% in the U.S. population. The percentage of registered voters has been trending upwards since the first survey was conducted in 2015 USTS in which 76% of voting eligible respondents reported that they were registered to vote in the November 2014 midterm election, compared to 65% in the U.S. population.

Three-quarters (75%) of voting eligible respondents reported that they had voted in the 2020 presidential election, compared to 67% in the U.S. population.10 USTS respondents also appear more likely to have voted compared to the U.S. population when looking across age groups.

The trend of higher voter engagement among 2022 USTS respondents is consistent with the trend observed in the 2015 USTS in which 54% of voting eligible respondents reported that they had voted in the midterm election, compared to 42% in the U.S. population.

Here's where we can do better!

During the 2020 presidential election cycle, respondents reported donating money to a presidential campaign (13%) or another political candidate, issue, or cause (19%). They also volunteered or worked for a presidential campaign (3%) or another political candidate, issue, or cause (9%).

Only 3% of us volunteered during the last presidential election! I get why and I'm not putting anyone down for it. I voted for Biden but I didn't participate in getting the vote out!

We're politically and morally opposite but why eradicate us?

MAGA saw how just a few dozen of us with signs and boom boxes educated and persuaded HRC members to question Joe Solomnese about trans exclusion from their advocacy. They saw how in Texas when Abbott proposed a bathroom bill, ALL of Texas went to Austin to defend us! 

They view us as the most vulnerable of Democrats and said clearly in PROJECT 2025 that the next far-right federal government was going to "eradicate transgenderism."

They are wrong. But we must roll up our sleeves once again and participate.

If you are like me, living on a shoestring, skip past the opening page of Kamala Harris' web page where it asks for donations, and click the "Participate" link at the top and learn how you can help at kamalaharris.com

We're not going back! Let's send these fascists packing!

8/14/24

Trans Democrats of America Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Kamala Harris for President
Photo/Kamala Harris.com

(pr)Trans Democrats of America (TDA), a national transgender political group, participated in a forum Tuesday and unanimously voted to endorse the Harris/Walz presidential team.

"By now most of us know about Project 2025 and Trump's toxic intentions for America," said host Gabriel Haaland. "However, the consequences of this election are global. We must elect the Democrats Persumtive Nominee Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to preserve NATO, the sovereignty of European States, not to mention Ukraine. We must elect Kamala Harris to save humanity!"

Trans Democrats of America find abhorrent Trump's threat of a "bloodbath" should he lose once again. Trans Democrats of America stands firmly with our Republic, and a peaceful and lawful transition of power based on our democratic processes.

"With less than two months until the election, there's no time to hesitate!" said Trans Democrat Kelli Busey, quoting Kamala Harris "We must roll up our sleeves and participate." Talk to your friends and family about the importance of this election, register to vote and confirm your voter registration status"

How to confirm your voter registration status

8/12/24

Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos

Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos

by Andy Kroll, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, Documented

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Reporting Highlights

  • Deep State Battle: Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could fight the so-called deep state on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track.
  • New Videos: Dozens of never-before-published videos created for Project 2025 were provided to ProPublica and Documented by a person who had access to them.
  • Advice Given: “If the American people elect a conservative president, his administration will have to eradicate climate change references from absolutely everywhere.”

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

Project 2025, the controversial playbook and policy agenda for a right-wing presidential administration, has lost its director and faced scathing criticism from both Democratic groups and former President Donald Trump. But Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track.

One centerpiece of that program is dozens of never-before-published videos created for Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy. The vast majority of these videos — 23 in all, totaling more than 14 hours of content — were provided to ProPublica and Documented by a person who had access to them.

The Project 2025 videos coach future appointees on everything from the nuts and bolts of governing to how to outwit bureaucrats. There are strategies for avoiding embarrassing Freedom of Information Act disclosures and ensuring that conservative policies aren’t struck down by “left-wing judges.” Some of the content is routine advice that any incoming political appointee might be told. Other segments of the training offer guidance on radically changing how the federal government works and what it does.

In one video, Bethany Kozma, a conservative activist and former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Trump administration, downplays the seriousness of climate change and says the movement to combat it is really part of a ploy to “control people.”

“If the American people elect a conservative president, his administration will have to eradicate climate change references from absolutely everywhere,” Kozma says.

In the same video, Kozma calls the idea of gender fluidity “evil.” Another speaker, Katie Sullivan, who was an acting assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice under Trump, takes aim at executive actions by the administration of President Joe Biden that created gender adviser positions throughout the federal government. The goal, Biden wrote in one order, was to “advance equal rights and opportunities, regardless of gender or gender identity.”

Sullivan says, “That position has to be eradicated, as well as all the task forces, the removal of all the equity plans from all the websites, and a complete rework of the language in internal and external policy documents and grant applications.”

Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, falsely saying that he knew nothing about it and had “no idea who is behind it.” In fact, he flew on a private jet with Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, which leads Project 2025. And in a 2022 speech at a Heritage Foundation event, Trump said, “This is a great group and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America.”

A review of the training videos shows that 29 of the 36 speakers have worked for Trump in some capacity — on his 2016-17 transition team, in the administration or on his 2024 reelection campaign. The videos appear to have been recorded before the resignation two weeks ago of Paul Dans, the leader of the 2025 project, and they are referenced on the project’s website. The Heritage Foundation said in a statement at the time of Dans’ resignation that it would end Project 2025’s policy-related work, but that its “collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels — federal, state, and local — will continue.”

The Heritage Foundation and most of the people who appear in the videos cited in this story did not respond to ProPublica’s repeated requests for comment. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign who features in one of the videos, said, “As our campaign leadership and President Trump have repeatedly stated, Agenda 47 is the only official policy agenda from our campaign.”

Project 2025’s 887-page “Mandate for Leadership” document lays out a vast array of policy and governance proposals, including eliminating the Department of Education, slashing Medicaid, reclassifying tens of thousands of career civil servants so they could be more easily fired and replaced, giving the president greater power to control the DOJ and further restricting abortion access.

Democrats and liberal groups have criticized the project’s policy agenda as “extreme” and “authoritarian” while pointing out the many connections between Trump and the hundreds of people who contributed to the project.

“Trump’s attempts to distance himself from Project 2025 have always been disingenuous,” said Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “The discovery that the vast majority of speakers in Project 2025 training videos are alumni of the Trump administration or have other close ties to Trump’s political operation is unsurprising further evidence of the close connection there.”

Several speakers in the videos acknowledge that the Trump administration was slowed by staffing challenges and the inexperience of its political appointees, and they offer lessons learned from their stumbles. Some of the advice appears at odds with conservative dogma, including a suggestion that the next administration may need to expand key government agencies to achieve the larger goal of slashing federal regulations.

Rick Dearborn, who helped lead Trump’s 2016 transition team and later served in the Trump White House as deputy chief of staff, recalled in one video how “tough” it was to find people to fill all of the key positions in the early days of the administration.

The personnel part of Project 2025 is “so important to the next president,” Dearborn says. “Establishing all of this, providing the expertise, looking at a database of folks that can be part of the administration, talking to you like we are right now about what is a transition about, why do I want to be engaged in it, what would my role be — that’s a luxury that we didn’t have,” referring to a database of potential political appointees.

Dan Huff, a former legal adviser in the White House Presidential Personnel Office under Trump, says in another video that future appointees should be prepared to enact significant changes in American government and be ready to face blowback when they do.

“If you’re not on board with helping implement a dramatic course correction because you’re afraid it’ll damage your future employment prospects, it’ll harm you socially — look, I get it,” Huff says. “That’s a real danger. It’s a real thing. But please: Do us all a favor and sit this one out.”

“Eradicate Climate Change References”

The project’s experts outline regulatory and policy changes that future political appointees should prepare for in a Republican administration.

One video, titled “Hidden Meanings: The Monsters in the Attic,” is a 50-minute discussion of supposed left-wing code words and biased language that future appointees should be aware of and root out. In that video, Kozma says that U.S. intelligence agencies have named climate change as an increasingly dire threat to global stability, which, she says, illustrates how the issue “has infiltrated every part of the federal government.”

She then tells viewers that she sees climate change as merely a cover to engage in population control. “I think about the people who don’t want you to have children because of the” — here she makes air-quotes — “impact on the environment.” She adds, “This is part of their ultimate goal to control people.”

Later in the video, Katie Sullivan, the former acting assistant attorney general under Trump, advocates for removing so-called critical race theory from public education without saying how the federal government would accomplish that. (Elementary and secondary education curricula are typically set at the state and local level, not by the federal government.)

“The noxious tenets of critical race theory and gender ideology should be excised from curriculum in every single public school in this country,” Sullivan says. (Reached by phone, Sullivan told ProPublica to contact her press representative and hung up. A representative did not respond.)

In a different video, David Burton, an economic policy expert at the Heritage Foundation, discusses the importance of an obscure yet influential agency called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The Trump administration used OIRA to help roll back regulations on economic, fiscal and environmental issues. Under Biden, OIRA took a more aggressive stance in helping review and shape new regulations, which included efforts to combat housing discrimination, ban the sale of so-called ghost guns and set new renewable fuel targets.

Burton, in the Project 2025 video, urges future political appointees to work in OIRA and argues that the office should “increase its staffing levels considerably” in service of the conservative goal of reining in the so-called administrative state, namely the federal agencies that craft and issue new regulations.

“Fifty people are not enough to adequately police the regulatory actions of the entire federal government,” Burton says. “OIRA is one of the few government agencies that limits the regulatory ambitions of other agencies.” (Burton confirmed in a brief interview that he appeared in the video and endorsed expanding OIRA’s staffing levels.)

Expanding the federal workforce — even an office tasked with scrutinizing regulations — would seem to cut against the conservative movement’s long-standing goal of shrinking government. For anyone confused by Project 2025’s insistence that a conservative president should fill all appointee slots and potentially grow certain functions, Spencer Chretien, a former Trump White House aide who is now Project 2025’s associate director, addresses the tension in one video.

“Some on the right even say that we, because we believe in small government, should just lead by example and not fill certain political positions,” Chretien says. “I suggest that it would be almost impossible to bring any conservative change to America if the president did that.”

A Trump Government-in-Waiting

The speakers in the Project 2025 videos are careful not to explicitly side with Trump or talk about what a future Trump administration might do. They instead refer to a future “conservative president” or “conservative administration.”

But the links between the speakers in the videos and Trump are many. Most of those served Trump during his administration, working at the White House, the National Security Council, NASA, the Office of Management and Budget, USAID and the departments of Justice, Interior, State, Homeland Security, Transportation and Health and Human Services. Another speaker has worked in the Senate office of J.D. Vance, Trump’s 2024 running mate.

Sullivan, the former DOJ acting assistant attorney general in charge of the department’s Office of Justice Programs, which oversees billions in grant funding, appears in three different videos. Leavitt, who is in a training video titled “The Art of Professionalism,” worked in the White House press office during Trump’s first presidency and is now the national press secretary for his reelection campaign.

A consistent theme in the advice and testimonials offered by these Trump alums is that Project 2025 trainees should expect a hostile reception if they go to work in the federal government. Kozma, the former USAID deputy chief of staff, says in one video that “many” of her fellow Trump appointees experienced “persecution” during their time in government.

In a video titled “The Political Appointee’s Survival Guide,” Max Primorac, a former deputy administrator at USAID during the Trump administration, warns viewers that Washington is a place that “does not share your conservative values,” and that new hires will find that “there’s so much hostility to basic traditional values.”

In the same video, Kristen Eichamer, a former deputy press secretary at the Trump-era NASA, says that the media pushed false narratives about then-President Trump and people who worked in his administration. “Being defamed on Twitter is almost a badge of honor in the Trump administration,” she says.

Outthinking “the Left”

The videos also offer less overtly political tutorials for future appointees, covering everything from how a regulation gets made to working with the media, the mechanics of a presidential transition process to obtaining a security clearance, and best practices for time management.

One recurring theme in the videos is how the next Republican administration can avoid the mistakes of the first Trump presidency. In one video, Roger Severino, the former director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Trump-era Department of Health and Human Services, explains that failure to meticulously follow federal procedure led to courts delaying or throwing out certain regulatory efforts on technical grounds.

Severino, who is also a longtime leader in the anti-abortion movement, goes on to walk viewers through the ins and outs of procedural law and says that they should prepare for “the left” to use every tool possible to derail the next conservative president. “This is a game of 3D chess,” Severino says. “You have to be always anticipating what the left is going to do to try to throw sand in the gears and trip you up and block your rule.” (In an email, Severino said he would forward ProPublica’s interview request to Heritage’s spokespeople, who did not respond.)

Operating under the assumption that some career employees might seek to thwart a future conservative president’s agenda, some of the advice pertains to how political appointees can avoid being derailed or bogged down by the government bureaucrats who work with them.

Sullivan urges viewers to “empower your political staff,” limit access to appointees’ calendars and leave out career staff from early meetings with more senior agency officials. “You are making it clear to career staff that your political appointees are in charge,” Sullivan says.

Other tips from the videos include scrubbing personal social media accounts of any content that’s “damaging, vulgar or contradict the policies you are there to implement” well before the new administration begins, as Kozma put it.

Alexei Woltornist, a former assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, encourages future appointees to bypass mainstream news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Instead, they should focus on conservative media outlets because those are the only outlets conservative voters trust.

“The American people who vote for a conservative presidential administration, they’re not reading The New York Times, they’re not reading The Washington Post,” Woltornist says. “To the contrary, if those outlets publish something, they’re going to assume it’s false. So the only way to reach them with any voice of credibility is through working with conservative media outlets.”

And in a video about oversight and investigations, a group of conservative investigators advise future appointees on how to avoid creating a paper trail of sensitive communications that could be obtained by congressional committees or outside groups under the Freedom of Information Act.

“If you need to resolve something, if you can do it, it’s probably better to walk down the hall, buttonhole a guy and say, ‘Hey, what are we going to do here?’ Talk through the decision,” says Tom Jones, a former Senate investigator who now runs the American Accountability Foundation.

Jones adds that it’s possible that agency lawyers could cite exemptions in the public-records law to prevent the release of certain documents. But appointees are best served, he argues, if they don’t put important communications in writing in the first place.

“You’re probably better off,” Jones says, “going down to the canteen, getting a cup of coffee, talking it through and making the decision, as opposed to sending him an email and creating a thread that Accountable.US or one of those other groups is going to come back and seek.”

Do you have any information about Project 2025 that we should know? Andy Kroll can be reached by email at andy.kroll@propublica.org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 202-215-6203.

Videos prepared by Lisa Riordan Seville and Chris Morran. Mariam Elba contributed research.

8/9/24

British Medical Association calls for the NHS to resume treating Trans Patients of All Ages

Archibald Tuttle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The British Medical Association(BMA) has passed a resolution calling on the National Health Service(NHS) to resume medically treating patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria of all ages, Erin Reed first reported.

For those who don't know the NHS stopped treating trans patients in the UK without allowing public comment when the Cass Review was made public.

Why this matters:
  • The BMA the trade union that advocates for doctors in the UK is calling for a pause on the implementation of the Cass review while a evidence-based review can be completed.
  • The BMA position aligns with major medical associations in the US, Canada, and Australia that subscribe to a medically affirming SOC and have identified the Cass Review as politics and not science.
  • Most importantly the BMA recognizes that discontinuing medical care of patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria needlessly puts their health and welfare at risk.

The Cass review commissioned by the conservative government ignored "poor quality" studies that weren't "double-blind" according to the Cambridge Student because there were none.

A double-blind study requires a baseline, meaning some of the patients would be unknowingly administered a placebo and others given hormone blockers. The patients receiving a placebo diagnosed with gender dysphoria would continue to suffer and as studies have shown would be more likely to have suicidal ideation. 



The Cass review didn't recommend conducting a double-blind study. Instead, the Cass review recommended a "holistic" approach which in effect further pathologizes youth and at best offers conversion therapy to those diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Studies show that youth who receive gender-affirming medications, like puberty blockers and hormones, have a lower risk of depression and suicidal thoughts. One Stanford University study found that transgender people who received hormones as teenagers had better mental health outcomes than those who received them as adults. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that transgender youth who started gender-affirming hormones reported higher life satisfaction and lower depression and anxiety after two years.

A study conducted at Western Australian Pediatric Gender Clinic of 552 youth treated for gender dysphoria indicates that only 5% reidentifed to the sex of birth.

8/4/24

Federal Judge Rules Florida Law Banning Trans Medical Care Unconstitutional

On Thursday Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled on appeal from the state that Florida's ban violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, AP Reports.

Many believe that Desantis is a Facist, but is he? Professor Tom Huckin Checks 14 characteristics of fascism against the Florida governor’s actions.

This follows the June district court ruling permanently blocking Florida from enforcing a law that bans medical care for transgender adolescents and restricts it for transgender adults. The ruling in Doe v. Ladapo found that Florida SB 254 and the related Boards of Medicine (BOM) rules were motivated by disapproval of transgender people and violate the equal protection rights of transgender individuals and parents of transgender minors in Florida. Florida was the first state to pass a law restricting access to health care for transgender adults. Today’s ruling permanently blocks those restrictions as well as the ban on care for adolescents, which the Court preliminarily blocked last June.

Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) said in a statement:

“Today’s ruling is a huge win for transgender people and their families. It confirms that health care access must be based on principles of good medicine, not politics. The court today found there is no legitimate purpose for the extraordinary restrictions Florida has put on transgender people’s ability to obtain needed medical care. The decision will no doubt bring huge sighs of relief across Florida by transgender people and those who love them.”

The so-called "Stop Woke" Act, DeSantis's centerpiece discriminatory law violated the First Amendment a court ruled.

In March a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Florida federal judge’s August 2022 ruling that the so-called “Stop WOKE” act violates the First Amendment as it applies to businesses and is impermissibly vague, AP reports.

“By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive, the Act targets speech based on its content. And by barring only speech that endorses any of those ideas, it penalizes certain viewpoints — the greatest First Amendment sin,” Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant wrote for the court.

DeSantis and his political medical appointees keep losing but they aren't finished yet.

March 1, 2024, the Florida House passed House Bill 1639 (HB 1639), which seeks to deny the legal existence of transgender individuals by requiring individuals to identify as their sex assigned at birth instead of their gender on their driver’s licenses and ID cards. The bill also requires health plans to cover the widely discredited practice of conversion therapy and creates additional obstacles for health plans to cover gender-affirming care.

The ACLU of Florida opposes HB 1639.

7/31/24

Project 2025 is bad, but really, how bad can it be?

In short, Project 2025 is a dystopian plan to end social liberties, destroy our republic, and erase minority history. It's a manifesto to reinstitute all of the things Trump did while president that have since been corrected by Biden. It's a plan written by the former president's inner circle so he may act in a focused manner to destroy our democracy.

Regardless of what Trump says, he intends to crown himself a defacto dictator from day one and begin initiating Project 2025's directives. And this time he will not hesitate or fear repercussions since being granted absolute immunity by the judges he appointed to the Supreme Court.

Yes, it's that bad. Bad enough for Trump to falsely claim that he doesn't know anything about Project 2025 or who wrote it. You know when he does that he is simply deflecting.

HRC has read all 922 pages and this is what they found.

"The ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,’ more commonly known as “Project 2025,” is a dangerous, 922-page blueprint led by two former Trump administration officials, Paul Dans and Spencer Chretien, that proposes a radical takeover of our federal government by Trump, Vance and MAGA loyalists. The Heritage Foundation spearheads this project, which includes an advisory board consisting of conservative and extremist hate groups, including Alliance Defending Freedom, American Family Association, Family Research Council and Moms for Liberty."

"Project 2025 demonstrates what four years of a Trump-Vance administration would look like. It is a wrecking ball aimed at the very foundations of civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, health care access, voting rights, and environmental protections. With 100 days to go until election day, we’ve highlighted 100 alarming excerpts from this dangerous plan."

Page... Text

1 “Children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries.”

1 “low-income communities are drowning in addiction and government dependence.”

4 “Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.”

4 “Today the Left is threatening the tax-exempt status of churches and charities that reject woke progressivism.”

4 “It’s time for policymakers to elevate family authority, formation, and cohesion as their top priority and even use government power, including through the tax code, to restore the American family.

4 “The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors.”

4/5 “Deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (‘SOGI’), diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.”

5 “Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology…”

5 “The noxious tenets of “critical race theory” and “gender ideology” should be excised from curricula in every public school in the country.”

16 “This book, this agenda, the entire Project 2025 is a plan to unite the conservative movement and the American people against elite rule and woke culture warriors.”

19 “...the Left’s steady stream of insanity appears to be never-ending.”

43 “The modern conservative President’s task is to limit, control, and direct the executive branch on behalf of the American people.”

60 “...unwinding policies and procedures that are used to advance radical gender, racial, and equity initiatives under the banner of science.”

62 “Abolishing the Gender Policy Council…”

72 “This doctrine of disparate impact could be ended legislatively or at least narrowed through the regulatory process by a future Administration.”

80 “The Trump Administration issued Executive Order 1395724 to make career professionals in positions that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition but who discharge significant duties and exercise significant discretion in formulating and implementing executive branch policy and programs an exception to the competitive hiring rules and examinations for career positions under a new Schedule F.”

89 “Divisive symbols such as the rainbow flag or the Black Lives Matter flag have no place next to the Stars and Stripes at our embassies.

104 “Entrance criteria for military service and specific occupational career fields should be based on the needs of those positions. Exceptions for individuals who are already predisposed to require medical treatment (for example, HIV positive or suffering from gender dysphoria) should be removed, and those with gender dysphoria should be expelled from military service.” pg. 103

104 “Reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military.”

104 “...the use of public monies for transgender surgeries or to facilitate abortion for service members should be ended.”

146 “At least until USCIS is caught up on all case backlogs, all applicants rejected for any benefit or status adjudication should be required to leave the U.S. immediately.”

246/247 “All Republican Presidents have recognized that public funding of domestic broadcasts is a mistake. … Conservatives will thus reward a President who eliminates this tyrannical situation.”

258 “...issue a directive to cease promotion of the DEI agenda”

259 “The Left has commandeered the term “gender,” which used to mean either “male” or “female,” to include a spectrum of others who are seeking to alter biological and societal sexual norms.”

259 "...the progressive Left has so misused and altered the definition of what a “woman” is…”

259 “It should remove all references, examples, definitions, photos, and language on USAID websites, in agency publications and policies, and in all agency contracts and grants that include the following terms: “gender,” “gender equality,” “gender equity,” “gender diverse individuals,” “gender aware,” “gender sensitive,” etc.”

259 “It should also remove references to “abortion,” “reproductive health,” and “sexual and reproductive rights” and controversial sexual education materials.”

260 “USAID’s priority of funding the global abortion industry negates programs that promote life, women’s health, and the family.”

284 The next HHS secretary should immediately put an end to the department’s foray into woke transgender activism.”

284 “...uphold bodily integrity rooted in biological realities”

284 “...reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs”

284 “The next secretary should also reverse the Biden Administration’s focus on “‘LGBTQ+ equity,’ subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage,” replacing such policies with those encouraging marriage, work, motherhood, fatherhood, and nuclear families.”

285 “Schools should be responsive to parents, rather than to leftist advocates intent on indoctrination…”

319 “Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.”

322 “Enforcement of civil rights should be based on a proper understanding of those laws, rejecting gender ideology and critical race theory.”

333 “There is no scientific or legal basis for redefining “sex” to “sexual orientation and gender identity” in Title IX.”

334 “The next Administration should abandon this change redefining “sex” to mean “sexual orientation and gender identity” in Title IX immediately across all departments.”

334 “On its first day in office, the next Administration should signal its intent to enter the rulemaking process to restore the Trump Administration’s Title IX regulation, with the additional insistence that “sex” is properly understood as a fixed biological fact.”

337 “The next Administration should prohibit the USDA or any other federal agency from withholding services from federal or state agencies—including but not limited to K–12 schools—that choose not to replace “sex” with “SOGI” in that agency’s administration of Title IX.”

342 “Critical race theory disrupts America’s Founding ideals of freedom and opportunity.”

346 “No public education employee or contractor shall use a name to address a student other than the name listed on a student’s birth certificate, without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians.”

346 “No public education employee or contractor shall use a pronoun in addressing a student that is different from that student’s biological sex without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians.”

346 “No public institution may require an education employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match a person’s biological sex if contrary to the employee’s or contractor’s religious or moral convictions.”

354 “Eliminate Grad PLUS loans (for graduate students) and Parent PLUS loans (for parents of undergraduates).”

361 “End time-based and occupation-based student loan forgiveness.”

377 “Eliminate FECM (The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management).”

378 “Eliminate energy efficiency standards for appliances.”

386 “Eliminate the Clean Energy Corps by revoking funding and eliminating all positions and personnel hired under the program.”

433 “Eliminate the Office of Emergency Management and reassign its functions.”

451 “Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society.”

451 “...to be raised by the biological fathers and mothers who conceive them”

451 “...support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families”

451 “...experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children’s futures”

454/455 “The CDC should eliminate programs and projects that do not respect human life and conscience rights and that undermine family formation.”

455 “...should ensure that it is not promoting abortion as health care.”

455 “Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, HHS should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place…”

456 “The CDC should immediately end its collection of data on gender identity…”

458 “Stop promoting or approving mail-order abortions in violation of long-standing federal laws that prohibit the mailing and interstate carriage of abortion drugs.”

462 “NIH has been at the forefront in pushing junk gender science.”

462 “Under Francis Collins, NIH became so focused on the #MeToo movement that it refused to sponsor scientific conferences unless there were a certain number of women panelists, which violates federal civil rights law against sex discrimination. This quota practice should be ended, and the NIH Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which pushes such unlawful actions, should be abolished.”

471 “Prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.”

471 “Policymakers should end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and all other abortion providers…”

472 “Issue guidance reemphasizing that states are free to defund Planned Parenthood in their state Medicaid plans.”

475 “The redefinition of sex to cover gender identity and sexual orientation and pregnancy to cover abortion should be reversed in all HHS and CMS programs as was done under the Trump Administration.”

478 “Additionally, Congress should pass the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act to ensure that providers and organizations cannot be subjected to discrimination for providing adoption and foster care services based on their beliefs about marriage.”

479 “...encourage unmarried couples to commit to marriage”

480 “Allow child welfare funding to be used for marriage and relationship education.”

481 “maintain a biblically based, social science–reinforced definition of marriage and family.”

482 “Eliminate the Head Start program.”

482/483 “Programs should affirm and teach fathers based on a biological and sociological understanding of what it means to be a father—not a genderneutral parent—from social science, psychology, personal testimonies, etc.”

483 “Restore Trump religious and moral exemptions to the contraceptive.”

485 “Eliminate men’s preventive services from the women’s preventive services mandate.”

485 “Eliminate the week-after-pill from the contraceptive mandate as a potential abortifacient.”

489 “Married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them.”

490 “The OASH should withdraw all recommendations of and support for cross-sex medical interventions and ‘gender-affirming care.’”

490 “In dealing with sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, the OASH should focus on root-cause analysis with a focus on strengthening marriage and sexual risk avoidance.”

495 “Remove all guidance issued under the Biden Administration concerning sexual orientation and gender identity under Section 1557…”

495 “Issue a general statement of policy specifying that it will not enforce any prohibition on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the Section 1557 regulation…

496 “...explicitly interpreting the law not to include sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination based on the textual approach to male and female biology taken by Congress in the ACA…”

554 “Enforce the death penalty where appropriate and applicable”

582 “Issue an executive order banning, and Congress should pass a law prohibiting the federal government from using taxpayer dollars to fund all critical race theory (CRT) training.”

582 “Reverse the DEI Revolution in Labor Policy.”

582/583 “to enforce Title VII to prohibit racial classifications and quotas, Department of Labor and Related Agencies including human-resources classifications and DEI trainings that promote critical race theory.”

583 “Eliminate EEO-1 data collection.”

583 “...amend Title VII to prohibit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from collecting EEO-1 data and any other racial classifications in employment for both private and public workplaces.”

584 “Rescind regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.”

584 “The new Administration should restrict Bostock’s application of sex discrimination protections to sexual orientation and transgender status in the context of hiring and firing.”

585 “Keep anti-life “benefits” out of benefit plans.”

585 “Provide robust protections for religious employers.”

586 “Issue an executive order protecting religious employers and employees.”

586 “Clarify Title VII’s religious organization exemptions to make it more explicit that those employers may make employment decisions based on religion regardless of nondiscrimination laws.”

586 “Provide Robust Accommodations for Religious Employees.”

589 “Sabbath Rest. God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest, and until very recently the Judeo-Christian tradition sought to honor that mandate by moral and legal regulation of work on that day.”

595 “With parental consent and proper training, certain young adults should be allowed to learn and work in more dangerous occupations.”

644 “Rescind all departmental clinical policy directives that are contrary to principles of conservative governance starting with abortion services and gender reassignment surgery.”

661 “proposing legislation that would ‘effectively abolish’ the Federal Reserve and replace it with ‘free banking.'”

675 “Climate-change research should be disbanded.”

676 “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be broken up and downsized.”

682 “The Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations (NAC) should immediately be abolished by the incoming Administration.”

708 “Treat the participation in any critical race theory or DEI initiative, without objecting on constitutional or moral grounds, as per se grounds for termination of employment.