transgender

UK Court Demonstrates It Knows What a Woman Is, Clarifying British Law

The newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court infamously could not answer what a woman is, but the United Kingdon’s highest court declared today that it is very clear on the matter. The British Supreme Court stated, “The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.”

The defining statement in the U.K. court’s decision appears on page 3, stating,

The central question on this appeal is whether the EA 2010 treats a trans woman with a GRC [gender recognition certificate] as a woman for all purposes within the scope of its provisions, or when that Act speaks of a “woman” and “sex” it is referring to a biological woman and biological sex [emphasis added].

Members of the court all landed on the biological definition, rejecting the new elastic definition used by gender ideology.

This is a landmark decision for gender-realists who root their view of what it means to be human as male or female in objective biological reality. Politico explains, “The ruling could have far-reaching implications for the provision of single-sex spaces and other gender-specific public services across Scotland, England and Wales.”

The court explained, “The principal question which the court addresses on this appeal is the meaning of the words which Parliament has used in the EA 2010 in legislating to protect women and members of the trans community against discrimination.”

They further explain, saying, “Our task is to see if those words [to denote woman] can bear a coherent and predictable meaning” within British law.

This consequential decision resulted from a lengthy and detailed challenge from three bold Scottish women working with the organization For Women Scotland which defines itself as “a group of women from across Scotland working to protect and strengthen women and children’s rights.”

J.K. Rowling, a fearless defender of common sense for what a woman is, posted the following celebration of the decision, saying she is “so proud to know you” referring to the “three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women” who fought for this landmark decision.

One anonymous commenter to Rowling’s post summed up the consequences of this decision as well as anyone,

When Parliament fled, when media lied, when cowards hid behind slogans, three Scottish women stood their ground. And they won.

This wasn’t just a legal victory. It was a cultural exorcism. The spell is broken: a woman is an adult human female. Full stop.

Rowling’s right to be proud. The rest of the political class should be ashamed it ever came to this.

A cultural exorcism indeed. Now, if only other legal bodies across the globe would follow this common sense reasoning.

Related Articles and Resources

Advanced Stanford University Research Further Documents Fact of Male-Female Brain

What Are Male and Female in God’s Story?

Why Focus on the Family Cares About the Gender Issue?

Why Christians Can’t Avoid the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue

Yes, Sexuality and Gender Are Undeniable Gospel Issues

How the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

Even Hard-Boiled Evolutionists are Standing Strong Against Gender Madness

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

Common Spirit Denied Teen Boy Medical Care After Parents Objected to Doctor’s Bizarre Questions

Multi-state health conglomerate Common Spirit refused to serve a Colorado Springs family after parents objected to a doctor’s inappropriate and ideologically driven questions.

Melissa and her husband, Carlos, are no strangers to the medical system’s disregard for parent’s rights. The devout Christian couple shuttled their four children to doctor’s appointments in several different states during Carlos’ more than 20-year military career.

So, when thirteen-year-old Ricardo needed a physical to play football, the couple gave him a heads up.

“I just asked, ‘Hey, if they ask you if they want us to leave the room, are you comfortable with that?’” Melissa explained.

Years earlier, in Virginia, doctors had asked one of their daughters if she was sexually active or used drugs — after asking Melissa to leave the room.

“She didn’t really know what to say,” she recalled her daughter’s hesitance to answer questions alone. “[But] our children [are used] to respecting their elders, so she just said, ‘Okay.’”

When Ricardo said he would be uncomfortable talking to the doctor alone, Carlos and Melissa helped him prepare to say so. Forewarned and forearmed, they hoped their respectful, shy son would feel free to be honest in a way their daughter had not.  

Melissa and Carlos’ forethought paid off; the doctor, a Common Spirit employee, asked them to leave the room before she’d finished Ricardo’s physical. According to Melissa, it wasn’t much of a question:

She said, “Okay, at this point, I’m going to ask your parents to leave.” She didn’t even give him a choice, give us a choice. She made it sound like, “I’m telling you what to do.”

Ricardo’s parents say they were proud and thankful when he politely declined to speak to the doctor alone, despite her obvious disapproval. 

“You could tell she was annoyed by that,” Melissa remembered. “But she said, ‘Okay, I’m going to proceed with my questions.’”

The doctor asked Ricardo, “What gender do you identify as?”

Melissa says she and her husband locked eyes, baffled:

We just kind of looked at each other like, “Wow, that was not a question we heard a few years ago with our daughter.” Things had clearly evolved.

Ricardo was similarly confused. How did his doctor, who had already begun his exam, not know his sex.

“I’m a boy,” he answered, half giggling.

So far, Melissa told the Daily Citizen, she had kept her cool. But then the doctor asked, “What gender are you attracted to?”

“I felt like this was the proper time to speak up. It’s totally inappropriate,” Melissa said. She asked the doctor what her questions had to do with Ricardo’s appointment.

I said, “I’m his mother and I’ve never even asked him these questions — why do you get to ask them?”

Carlos pressed the issue.

I just asked, “Okay, where is this going? [What’s the point?]”
She said, “Well, we want to know if there is sexual and physical abuse.”
Well, then wouldn’t that be the first question out of your mouth?

He believes the conversation could have proceeded much differently under different circumstances.

“If we weren’t in the room, and [Ricardo] were to say he was a member of the opposite sex, then what?” he argued. “What’s the next line of questioning? Are you going to offer [opposite-sex] hormone therapy?”

Common Spirit’s website does not clearly offer “gender-affirming” care. It does, however, financially support organizations that serve the “LGBTQIA+ community.” The website boasts several other phrases commonly associated with gender ideology, including “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and “social justice.”

After Melissa and Carlos’ vociferous objections, the doctor left the room, claiming a nurse would return to finish Ricardo’s physical. She soon reappeared, absent a nurse, and said,

I’m no longer comfortable with this appointment, and I don’t think we [Common Spirit] are the right fit for you.

She didn’t even finish Ricardo’s exam.

Melissa called the appointment violating.

“I just felt so violated as mother,” she said. “She violated my values. It was just so wrong in so many ways.”

She continued, heartfelt,

I didn’t have the luxury of a mom and dad. It’s so disheartening to me that, here I am, able to give that to my children, and it’s frowned upon. It’s really sad.

A Common Spirit patient advocate later told the family that the doctor’s line of questioning was unusual, particularly for a routine exam. After promising to bring their case to the higher-ups, she never contacted Melissa or Carlos again.

As far as Melissa knows, the doctor, a bilingual Spanish speaker, is still practicing. She worries about the power the doctor can exercise over Spanish-speaking Christians and their families.

“We’re Latino. In our culture, we have a high respect for doctors almost immediately,” she explained. “If a non-English speaker were to bring her son to a well check, like me, she would more then likely step out of the room if the doctor asked.”

The couple advises parents to prepare themselves, and their kids, to establish firm boundaries in the doctor’s office — because they may be pushed.

We don’t want parents to walk out of an appointment feeling violated, like we did. I’ve started letting a lot of parents know that if you have a son and are going in for a 12-year-old well check or physical, these are the kinds of questions you are going to be asked.

They suggest parents ask kids whether they feel comfortable talking to a doctor alone before heading to the appointment. Given time to prepare themselves, they are more likely to be honest about wanting parents in the room.

If a child says they don’t mind talking to a doctor alone, Melissa says parents should be ready to begin intentional conversations about sex and gender.

You want to be the one to have those conversations with them, instead of a school or a doctor telling them before you’ve even had the opportunity. It’s unfortunate that we have to have these conversations so young. But I think if you don’t tell them, someone will rob you of that and do it themselves.

Melissa and Carlos’ experience should inspire parents to proactively protect their kids from gender ideology. Focus on the Family and its allies have resources to help you do just that. Click on the links below to learn more.

Additional Articles and Resources

Equipping Parents for Back to School

Enfoque a la Familia

FOTF: Transgender Resources

Parent Resource Guide: Responding to the Transgender Issue

Protect Your Kids from ‘Trans’ Activism — Look for These Red Flags

Child’s Online Medical Records Hidden from Virginia Mom

‘Art Club’ Documentary — One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary

USA Fencing Explicitly Prioritizes Men’s Feelings Over Women’s Safety and Athletic Achievement

USA Fencing (USAF) disqualified Stephanie Turner from a fencing tournament last month after she refused to compete against a male athlete.

Her sacrifice has blown the lid off USAF policies prioritizing transgender-identified men’s feelings over biological women’s safety and achievement.

Stephanie Turner spent time and money training for a regional USAF tournament in March, only to learn Redmond Sullivan, a man, would also be competing.

“As a woman fencing in a women’s tournaments, I do not believe men should fence in my category,” Turner told ABC News yesterday. She continued:

I was not aware Mr. Sullivan was registered until the night before the tournament. I prayed about it and decided if Mr. Sullivan and I were to fence face-to-face, then I would peaceably protest by taking a knee.

Turner followed through, earning a black card (disqualification) for her trouble.

When the story gained national attention this week, Turner told ABC simply:

I want to thank God for trusting me with this mission to fight for female-exclusive sports and putting me in an effective place to protest.

What an admirable, godly response to such injustice. And trust me — “unjust” is the kindest word I can use to describe USAF’s actions.

The organization told news outlets Turner’s disqualification was nothing personal. Fencers that refuse to face “eligible opponents” must be disqualified, it told ABC.

But Sullivan is only an “eligible opponent” in the women’s category because of USAF’s 2023 policy allowing athletes to “participate in USA Fencing sanctioned events in a manner consistent with their gender identity/expression.”

The policy’s introduction reads, in part:

USA Fencing is committed to ensuring athletes have the opportunity to participate in USA Fencing sanctioned events on a fair, inclusive and safe basis without discrimination.
We recognize not all individuals’ gender identities are binary, and a gender binary default for participation could potentially cause harm — leaving some individuals to feel excluded and unsafe.

Far be it from USAF to make anyone feel “excluded or unsafe” — oh, except for women.

Predictably, USAF’s “Transgender and Nonbinary Policy” triggered a substantial increase of male athletes competing in women’s fencing competitions. Fox News reports:

By September 2023, four biological male fencers, who previously competed in the men’s category, achieved USA Fencing podium finishes in the women’s category.

One of these competitors was Redmond Sullivan.

USAF lauded the influx of trans competitors in a press release on the 2023-2024 fencing season’s “impact.” Under “Expanded Representation,” the release reads:

Year-over-year data show an upward trend in membership, with more women, and more non-binary athletes, trying fencing through local clubs and developmental programs.

By “women,” of course, USAF also means “men who identify as women.”

Turner is not the only member of the fencing enraged over USAF’s mistreatment of women. A non-profit called the Fair Fencing Organization (FFO) has written two open letters to USAF, one in December and one in February, asking it to reconsider its Transgender and Nonbinary Policy.

“It is disappointing that USA Fencing has intentionally been confusing … who should fence in what category with the nonexistent issue that [“transgender” fencers] should be allowed to fence,” FFO wrote in its most recent letter.

“It was never a question that all cisgender and transgender fencers should be allowed to fence, in the category of their birth sex.”

USAF’s board members voted 8-3 against revising or changing the contested policy in December. It’s unlikely this latest uproar will make any difference.

Consider this August 2023 blogpost from the board’s director at-large, Damien Lehfeldt.

“Before you dive in, it’s best to call out my beliefs up front before you waste your time reading this and find yourself throwing up your hands in a tizzy,” Lehfeldt writes, continuing:

  • Transgender women are women and gender is not sex.
  • Transgender fencers deserve the right to compete with the gender they identify with, and those of adult age should comply with the competition guidelines and regulations outlined by USA Fencing and the IOC—even if the science of those IOC guidelines might be imperfect.
  • A separate division denies them their truth to compete as their authentic selves and is antithetical to USA Fencing’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) vision.
  • There is a possibility that transgender women have a physical advantage over their cisgender opponents after transitioning. There is also a possibility they do not. In Fencing, there is no data to support either viewpoint.
  • Giving athletes a sense of belonging a will to live is more powerful than medals and competitive glory.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll touch only on Lehfeldt’s last point, where he explicitly states that the feelings of transgender-identified men are more important than women’s athletic success.

His descriptions are particularly telling. The men’s feelings, Lehfeldt implies, are so important that their “will to live” will desert them if they cannot compete against women. He trivializes women’s athletic ambitions, in comparison, minimizing them to the mere collection of medals or the vain pursuit of “glory.”

Taken together, Lehfeldt comments not only erase women as a biological category, but suggest they are selfish to ask transgender-identified men to compete in a separate category.

As a woman, and a former competitive athlete, I feel qualified to say — what a joke.

If Lehfeldt’s beliefs are representative of other USAF board members, than Stephanie Turner and her compatriots are facing down a proverbial goliath.

Happily, our God is in the business of toppling giants. Please pray for His intervention on behalf of female athletes in USAF.

Additional Articles and Resources

Girls Sports Coaches are Incentivized to Recruit Men — Parents Shouldn’t Let Them

Girls Just Wanna Have Privacy: Mom Files Complain About Male in Girl’s Locker Room

Maine School Violated Title IX, Must Apologize, Feds Say

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces            

Yet Another man Steals Women’s Trophies

Olympic Women’s Boxing Champ is Officially a Man

San Jose Coach Suspended for Filing Discrimination Complaint Against Transgender Player

Victory for Girls Sports: Court Halts DOE Redefinition of Sex

Shoving Girls Off the Podium: More Male Athletes Participating in Girls Sports

Olympic Privilege? Officials Protect Women’s Sports — But Only at the Highest Level

Male and Female Biology Matters

New Study: Testosterone Blockers and Female Hormones Don’t Erase Male-Female Athletic Differences

Radical Colorado ‘Transgender’ Bill Threatens Parents’ Rights and Free Speech

A radical bill in Colorado, under the guise of providing “legal protections for transgender individuals,” is being rushed through the General Assembly by activist legislators. They are the same ones who call opponents of the bill “hate groups,” equating them with the KKK, and said such group echo “hateful rhetoric … against the trans community.” 

While supporters claimed the bill is about “civil rights,” it directly threatens parent-child relationships, schools and businesses. The proposed legislation unconstitutionally limits free speech, religious freedom, and parents’ rights to provide for the care, nurturing, and moral and religious upbringing of their children.

Real civil rights don’t take away rights from others.

HB 1312, “Concerning Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals,” actually gives special rights to those with a psychiatric condition listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), as “gender dysphoria.”

The bill was introduced late in the day on Friday, March 28. On Monday a committee hearing was scheduled for the next day, April 2, giving opponents little time to rally opposition. While more than 100 people testified against the legislation, the vote passed out of committee with a 7-4 vote along party lines.

The legislation seeks to force parents, schools and businesses to kowtow to false and harmful transgender ideology.

One of those who rallied the troops against the bill was Erin Lee, who began exposing the gender cult in Colorado schools after a middle school encouraged her daughter to embrace sexual identity confusion.

Typically, Colorado legislators talk about proposed measures with stakeholders – those who have an interest in the legislation. Witnesses testified the bill had “been worked on for over a year,” but state Representative Jarvis Caldwell said he had just learned about the legislation on Monday, April 1.

Jarvis asked if other stakeholders, “like parent groups that are not a part of the LGBT community,” were consulted.

Representative Yara Zokaie, a former community organizer, responded with contempt for conservatives and Christians, saying:

“A well stakeholdered [sic] bill does not need to be discussed with hate groups. And we don’t ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion.”

Representative Javier Mabrey concurred, saying, “But I agree, there’s no reason to go to the table with people who are echoing the hateful rhetoric going around about the trans community.”

So only transgender activists and ideologues were consulted about the bill.

Here are explanations of several sections of HB 1312, which is really eight bills rolled into one, noting how different provisions negatively affect basic constitutional rights.

Section 2: When a parent is involved in a custody case before a court, and their child insists he or she is a different “gender” or sex, the bill declares that it is “coercive control” – child abuse – if the parent does not affirm the child’s mental, psychological and emotional confusion. The measure’s summary of this section says:

When making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control.

A court shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the child.

According to HB 1312:

“Deadname” means to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual’s gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual by their birth name rather than their chosen name. …

“Misgender” means to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual’s gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual using an honorific or pronoun that conflicts with the individual’s gender identity or gender expression.

Parents, who knew their child’s sex from birth and named their child, are forced to use the new name and pronouns chosen by their child.

The bill violates parental rights and infringes on their First Amendment rights to free speech and religious liberty.

Section 3: HB 1312 prohibits Colorado courts with complying with “another state’s law that authorizes a state agency to remove a child from the child’s parent or guardian because the parent or guardian allowed the child to receive gender-affirming health-care services.”

In other words, Colorado will now be a destination state for a parent who wants to harm his or her child with irreversible, body-damaging drugs, hormones and surgeries. Colorado courts may not cooperate with the parent’s home state – even if that state has taken custody away from that parent.

Sections 4, 5 and 6: Public schools with dress codes “must not create or enforce any rules based on gender and must allow each student to abide by any variation of the dress code,” the bill’s summary states. Schools must also allow students to change their names from their given, legal name. The new law applies to charter schools.

Finally, Sections 8 and 9 add “deadnaming” and “misgendering” to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, “prohibiting these discriminatory acts in places of public accommodation.”

The bill forces people to support false and damaging gender ideology. It requires employees and businesses to agree that it is possible to change one’s sex, violating the religious freedom of many.

All of Colorado must now “collaborate with a mental disorder,” as Psychiatrist Paul McHugh wrote.

HB 25-1312, “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals,” is likely to pass the full House. One it has been assigned to a Senate committee, concerned citizens may learn about how to participate in Colorado’s legislative process and sign up to testify.

Related Articles and Resources

Erin Lee tells the story of fighting gender ideology in her daughter’s school.  

American College of Pediatricians: No Benefits From ‘Gender-Affirming’ Interventions

Are Sex and Gender Different Things?

Mom Files Lawsuit Against School District for ‘Transitioning’ Daughter Without Her Consent

A Singularly Christian View of the Transgender Problem

‘Trust the Science’ About ‘Gender-Affirming Care.’ What Science?

What Are Male and Female in God’s Story?

Why a Trans Woman is a Not a Woman

‘The WPATH Files’ Exposes ‘Surgical and Hormonal Experiments on Children’

The WPATH Files – Transgender Interventions Are ‘Unethical Medical Experiments’

Fairfax County High School: ‘A Is for Abortion’ – A Cautionary Tale for Parents

A high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, celebrated Women’s History Month with a hallway decorated by “school administrators and teachers … with a special, leftist rendition of the alphabet” that included the phrase, “A is for Abortion,” The Daily Signal reported.

The incident at West Springfield High School highlights the need for parental involvement in their children’s education – not just in Northern Virginia, but across the country.

Parents are responsible for their children’s education, and they must be engaged in order to counteract and protect children from indoctrination in woke ideologies.

The “ABCs to ME” display at West Springfield also included uplifting sayings for students like “Q is for Queer,” “M is for Mansplain” and “F is for Femicide,”

That last sign directly contradicts the “A is for Abortion” poster, given that more than 63 million infants have been killed in the U.S. since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, and more than half of these are female.

Millions of preborn girls aborted – that is real femicide.

That’s not even mentioning the spiritual, physical, mental and emotional harms to women who abort their preborn children.

Each letter of the alphabet in the display included two signs with different words or phrases representing each letter. So, for example, another A sign said, “A is for Athletes,” showing pictures of female athletes.

Without any apparent awareness of the irony, a different sign said, “T is for Trans Women.” So the school applauds female athletes – but also the boys who claim to be women who rob real teen girls of athletic opportunities, victories and scholarships, as well as assaulting their safety and privacy in girls restrooms, showers and locker rooms.

Other objectionable posters had slogans like “P is for Patriarchy,” “P is for Persecution,” “O is for Objectification” and “Z is for male gaZe.” In addition to playing fast and loose with the alphabet, the sloganeering paints all men as the enemy.

What a treat it must’ve been for high school boys to walk down the school hallway and seen posters denigrating them. The educators who posted the sign might as well have had pictures of teen boys with a sign that said, “E is for Enemy.”

The alphabet portrays a huge problem with “progressive” ideology – it separates humans into identity groups and pits them against each other. Why not simply celebrate the accomplishments of women during Women’s History Month, instead of attacking boys and men?

The dogmatic, simplistic little sayings also spread confusion. Are women victors – “L is for Limitless,” “O is for Olympian” and “T is for Triumph,” or are they victims – “G is for Gaslight” and “P is for Persecution”?

This is the latest in a list of incidents where the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) District has implemented policies that sexualize, confuse and harm children, as the Daily Citizen has previously reported:

  • In 2021, Stacy Langton, a mother of six, with the two oldest attending Fairfax High School. She made headlines for reading aloud portions of sexually explicit books from the school library at a school board meeting. The books, including Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, include explicit illustrations of oral sex and masturbation, as well as graphic descriptions of sex between men and children. The school banned her from entering the library.
  • That same year, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced it was removing the two books from school libraries. At the time, Lawn Boy was available in 11 FCPS high schools, while Gender Queer was available at 7 schools. But after reviewing the books, the district placed the sexually explicit materials back on school library shelves.
  • In March 2024, as part of its celebration of “Neurodiversity Affirmation Week,” district staff designed posters that were “were ‘hung in each of our schools as a constant reminder of the uniqueness of human thought,’” reported Parents Defending Education, a parental rights advocacy group. “Neurodiversity” is not a medical term, but it is used by activists to portray brain functioning issues as “normal variations.” It usually encompasses issues like autism, dyslexia and obsessive compulsive disorder. “However,” the group added, “the district’s poster that students saw also attempts to extend the meaning of neurodiversity to include ‘gender,’ ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘ethnicity,’ ‘race,’ and ‘religion/spirituality.’”
  • FCPS chose to ignore parents opposition to teaching children about “gender identity” in its Family Live Education program. More than 80% of parents responded to a district survey saying they did not support this teaching. But as one parent said, when the district wants to do something, ““they appoint a committee filled with people with viewpoints to get the outcome they want, ask for community feedback, then ignore and manipulate the feedback.”

It’s clear that Fairfax schools have embraced radical, sexualized ideology. Again, this spotlights the great need for parents to be involved in their local schools.

The woke alphabet posters also exemplify why educational freedom for all students is desperately needed in every state. Children should be able to attend schools that support their family’s values and avoid schools that inculcate them into harmful, false ideologies.

Related Articles and Resources

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, critical race theory, sexual education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

Department of Education Blew $1 Billion on DEI – Here’s Why It Matters

Department of Education: Schools Embracing DEI Will Lose Funding

Fairfax County Puts Obscene Books Back in School Libraries

Fairfax School Board Votes to Suspend Students for ‘Maliciously Misgendering’ Other Students

Indoctrination Station: New York State Education Department Pushes Critical Theory on Students

Parents Support Core Subjects, Keeping Males out of Female Sports

Teachers are Invaluable, But They Aren’t Our Children’s Parents

Trump Ends Radical Indoctrination, Promotes Education Freedom

Virginia School District Ignore Parents Opposition, Implements ‘Gender Identity’ Lessons

Image from Shutterstock.