Here's the audio. The dude in question speaks at 28:35. This seems like a completely reasonable concern. soundcloud.com/user-381804527…
We keep getting this insane inversion where conservative students *file lawsuits* after facing mild pushback for their views and the media ends up telling them as stories of liberal oversensitivity. casetext.com/case/bhattacha…
Considering that like 9 out of 10 of these "woke libs are out of control!" stories end up breaking down under scrutiny, I really feel like we should be enforcing stricter journalistic standards on the initial reports.
Robby's original story doesn't include "UVA did not respond to requests for comment" or any other indication that he tried to confirm the story. As others have pointed out, the court filings are based solely on his own description of the facts.
It's important to note that "reasonable concerns" on this issue are based on the premise that large numbers of teenagers are receiving puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery without proper assessment. There's no evidence that's true.
It's a hard issue to talk about because a lot of the rhetoric sounds reasonable! "I have nothing against trans people, I just think everyone should receive proper assessment before they transition" — who could disagree with that?
The problem is that constantly invoking "proper assessment" implies that we have a problem in this country with people (especially children) transitioning without it. We don't.
No one denies the existence of detransitioners. However, the "just asking questions" crowd is trying to put them at the center of the debate over trans rights. "Some kids think they're trans but it turns out they're not!" Articles like this are key to entrenching that narrative.
When we say there's a direct line from polite centrist concern-trolling to the odious anti-trans laws sweeping the country, this is what we mean. How could a law banning puberty blockers for children *not* be the obvious recommendation to come from a paragraph like this?
Except Jesse didn't say there was "a link" between trauma and gender dysphoria. He specifically said that trauma "contributes to or exacerbates" dysphoria.
The article he posted (and underlined!) explicitly says the causation could run the other way.
I'm not going to pretend to be against this as a general principle. I've cited "anecdotal evidence" in my work too. But you can't claim your critics are slandering you when they point this out.
When I was in Salt Lake City for a story a few years ago I went to an LGBT youth services org. They had a makeup table and lights set up so trans teens could practice putting on makeup without their parents finding out. This law would make that illegal I guess.
Absolutely infuriating that we still have conservatives acting like transphobes are under attack from "cancel culture" when there's a nationwide wave of these laws.
Worth noting that this law is explicitly designed to prevent "social contagion," an absolutely dogshit theory that has been platformed in mainstream publications for years. I hope everyone who published those articles is doing some soul-searching today.
Anita Bryant shit. For decades they said gay people's elevated rates of suicide and depression were intrinsic to gayness rather than *a function of societal discrimination*.