You can draw your own conclusions. Speaking only for myself, I would never want to be associated with most of these people. But it's important to know who they are, and what they really believe, in their own words.
Apparently civil unions and gay marriage are to blame, who knew?
Yeah those children and their occupation of Parliament, blocking motorways, supporting vandals and other provocative moves the police get involved with but hey free country and all that…..for now.
The article felt like a scattergun hit piece against some high profile people rather than address the issues they and others are concerned about. Kinda the norm for reportage from that side of the fence.
The part of the story that interests me is the young woman who had a double mastectomy. This happened, presumably because the medical professionals are either incompetent, or most likely, concerned about their professional reputation and just went through the motions.
Any good journalist should have jumped on this story as a case of medical malpractice. Obviously this is not a concern with the news organisation he works for.
Dripping with biases (even “spoiled children” 'ave 'em ), and links (~14).
I try to keep an open mind, and am perhaps luckier than most to have two gender-nonconforming niblings. To my shame, there was a time when I didn’t consider it 'lucky', but over the years my biases and concerns have ebbed.
… there was a deeper story here …
Maybe more than one, but who will have the courage to tell them.
They may not be typical of people who have transitioned to another gender. And they are not a judgement on the decisions of other trans people, be they trans men, trans women or non-binary.
Both of these young people are conscious of how stories of detransition have been used by transphobic organisations and commentators to invalidate the experience of trans and non-binary people, and attack their hard-fought access to health care. Neither Ellie nor Nele deny the rights of trans people. They do, however, question whether transition is always the right solution.
But in an article we recently published in JAMA Surgery, we challenge the notion that transgender people often regret gender-affirming surgeries.
Evidence suggests that less than 1% of transgender people who undergo gender-affirming surgery report regret. That proportion is even more striking when compared to the fact that 14.4% of the broader population reports regret after similar surgeries.
It is not "gender affirming care". It affects the primary and secondary SEX characteristics by means of chemical castration with "off brand" medications, followed by sterilization and mutilation by the removal of healthy organs. Add in a lifetime dependency on artificial sex hormones.
And then they bleat and say that "gender is not sex".
This article looks at studies that show regret rates ranging from 1% to 30%.
They say this:
The issue here is that neither of these extremes are reliable estimates of regret. The 30 percent figure obviously does not map onto regret. Many people stop using their parent or partner’s health care for reasons completely unrelated to transition regret (i.e., divorce). And the studies of surgery in the review are mostly surgeons following up with their own patients, with quite high dropout rates. It’s not surprising that only 1 percent of people report to a surgeon who did an operation that they regret it!
…and…
Perhaps the most useful way to examine regret is to look at the proportion of people who cease their transition and go back to the gender they were originally. A large national study found that 13.1 percent of transgender people participating in the U.S. Transgender Survey reported detransitioning at some point in their lives. I think that’s a fairly reasonable estimate of the rate of people experiencing some measure of regret around their transition experience.
Ultimately, the question of what proportion of kids or adults regret their transition is only important to a select group: the people who want to transition, and their clinicians. At worst, the rate of regret is still better than other treatments which don’t require national debates over their use, which really begs the question of why anyone who isn’t directly involved with the treatment of transgender people is even weighing in on the topic at all.
Yep, it really begs the question. I received my answer(s) quiet and clear.
You might want to look again at the Cass Review report. It details very well why there is no good evidence base for the efficacy of "gender affirming care" for young people. Part of the reason is that any attempt to do good research about rates of regret – or the "complications" rate of the surgeries, is met with the usual resistance and abuse.
Fair enough, although I broadly agree with the concluding opinions expressed by the author (Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz) of the (imho balanced and well-researched) article you linked to and quoted from @4:08 pm – so thanks for that.
Ultimately, the question of what proportion of kids or adults regret their transition is only important to a select group: the people who want to transition, and their clinicians.
It absolutely has to be widely debated.
Of course; anyone can weigh in on the topic, but Meyerowitz-Katz makes an interesting point about to how much weight should be given to individual opinions. I had opinions about the wisdom of some of the choices my niblings have made over the last 3 or so years, and only some of those opinions have changed.
But I don't get to impose my sensibilities on my niblings, and I won't cut them off (perhaps an unfortunate phrase in context) for their choices, and hope that they won't cut me off, in spite of my 'I know what's best for you' attitude – which (fwiw) I still struggle with.
…Meyerowitz-Katz makes an interesting point about to how much weight should be given to individual opinions.
Actually their point is absurd.
Should the opinions of the wider medical fraternity be given weight? Should, for example, medical professionals be able to provide other treatment beside gender affirming treatment (GAT), or should providing any treatment other than GAT be illegal,as it is now in Canada? (Reckless Consent: Issues with Gender-Affirming Treatment | C2C Journal)
Should the opinions of parents of transitioning children be given weight? Or should the only approach offered by GAT practitioners in many Western jurisdictions be unconditional acceptance of the patient’s feelings? (Reckless Consent: Issues with Gender-Affirming Treatment | C2C Journal).
Weka presents other examples below.
When we are discussing irreversible medical procedures being performed on highly vulnerable young people, the mere notion that only that young person and their medical practitioner should have a say is, IMHO, dangerous.
Imho, an article that an individual can selectively quote from in support of their views, while also stating that a point the author makes "is absurd", can't be all bad.
Believe it or not, I used to think very much like you on this topic, but personal experience is an excellent teacher, and so while my natural inclination still leans towards a conservative view (which is pretty unusual for me), I must (now) also acknowledge that not all young people who undergo gender-affirming treatments view these as harmful, let alone "mutilation".
And, tbh, the more this topic gets discussed on TS (and imho it gets discussed a lot), the more I learn and regret my earlier ham-fisted efforts to set my niblings on a path that would still be easier for me – with the benefit of hindsight those efforts did more harm than good.
Of course, I also recognise that not transitioning in the first place would have been a better decision for some young people, hence the link to Ellie's and Nele's stories @1.2.1.1.1.1.
"I must (now) also acknowledge that not all young people who undergo gender-affirming treatments view these as harmful, let alone "mutilation"."
Perhaps because a very great number are already vulnerable. Perhaps because they are too close to be objective? Which is a valid reason wider input and discussion is required.
Which is a valid reason wider input and discussion is required.
Yep, and that well-researched article you provided a link to, and quoted from to support your views, has faciliated discussion here.
Perhaps because a very great number are already vulnerable. Perhaps because they are too close to be objective?
Perhaps, perhaps – and perhaps because, for some, these treatments are beneficial? My initial judgements about the vulnerability of my niblings, and them being too close to be objective, were (I like to think) well-intentioned, but, with the benefit of hindsight, I made bad calls in my attempt to persuade them to make what I truly believed would be better choices for all concerned.
I (still) don't fully understand why my niblings made the choices they did, but they seem happy, and I'm trying to be content with that, even though some of the consequences still rankle.
And I'm still of the opinion that "on balance, it’s better to delay/withhold most/all irreversible [gender-affirming] interventions for as long as possible", but if I could do it all again then I wouldn't go in all guns blazing. Who knows what might have been.
which really begs the question of why anyone who isn’t directly involved with the treatment of transgender people is even weighing in on the topic at all.
I didn't read the article, but this is very, very weird.
1. women's sex based rights are at risk from males transitioning and insisting they are women. Women have a right to weigh in.
2. detrans people aren't getting the support and medical care they need because apparently only trans people deserve that. Detrans people have a right to weigh in.
3. there is a specific set of gender critical activists who are the parents of children that transition or want to transition and where those parents believe it is a very serious mistake. They have a right to weigh in.
4. It's very strange to see liberals making such a distinct libertarian argument, that extreme body modification is between the person and their doctor, especially after Cass. Those of us who see transhumanism as a threat to humans and nature, have the right to weigh in.
5. Some of the people who have transitioned turned out to be lesbian or gay and/or autistic and they were subject to medical malpractice. It's a kind of conversion therapy. LGB people have a right to weigh in as do neurodiverse people.
6. Society pays not only for transition, but life long medical costs. Society has a right to weigh in.
7. Transwidows have a right to weigh in.
8. regret about knee surgery is not like transition regret. Patient rights advocates have a right to weigh in.
9. whatever the issues around regret, there are also issues in the number of people who were transitioned by malpractice. Regret is not the right word for the feelings of detrans people who were put on a medical pathway as a young child, or got caught up in social contagion as a preteen or teen, or who grew up in a homophobic family/community society and hated their sex and were convinced that transitioning was the solution. Everyone who cares about children and young adults has a right to weigh in on that.
I did read the article and it was incredibly lazy and incurious. He makes eminently fair criticisms of Brian Tamaki and other fringe figures whose rhetoric tends towards unhinged violence.
But the reporter makes less than zero effort to understand the core arguments of the GC position – it is a literal smear job.
The media loves to platform the loonies and ignore the left wing GC feminists who stick to the science and human rights arguments. In this the Spinoff (and idpol left) is a mirror image of the emotive bullshit from Tamaki and Posie Parker.
And why is it always low-T millennial dudes taking these potshots?
Perhaps the most useful way to examine regret is to look at the proportion of people who cease their transition and go back to the gender they were originally. A large national study found that 13.1 percent of transgender people participating in the U.S. Transgender Survey reported detransitioning at some point in their lives. I think that’s a fairly reasonable estimate of the rate of people experiencing some measure of regret around their transition experience.
For the USA at least. Other nations might have different rates – the difference may be based on the rates of transitioning (as per health care practice), or cultural factors.
there are too many people who cannot go back to the gender they were. Once your penis has been removed and you have a simulacrum of a vagina inserted in your body, there is little going back.
Some of the effects of artificial hormone treatment aren't reversible.
Puberty blockers aren't reversible depending on the age/stage they were starting and how long they were taken.
Anyone who has an opinion on transition needs to listen to the succinct and very clear 3min testimony of this young man,
I would hope that the real story is that surgeons are removing healthy appendages of young people who have not received the proper care and treatment from medical professionals.
Are you arguing that there should be no such surgical procedures for those under 18?
At the moment the focus has been on no use of puberty blockers (ignoring the fact that the original purpose to delay early onset puberty remains) and no hormone treatments under age 18.
We should have a moratorium on surgery, hormonal treatments, and PBs in people under 18, until as a society we get past No Debate and the issues can be looked at in valid ways. At the moment people in academia and medicine are too scare to speak. There is no ethical medical treatment under those conditions.
There should be no surgical and hormonal treatment for anyone until the needs of detrans people are acknowledge and medical and health system supports are put in place around detrans healthcare. Again, there is no ethical medical treatment until that happens.
In any other area of medicine, what I just said wouldn't be controversial.
No surgical or hormonal treatment for anyone (as per different to birth sex for gender dysphoria reasons) – including private and paid for … until there is support for “detrans healthcare”?
What detrans health care (not available now) would that be?
Medical (PB, hormonal, and/or surgical transition) means becoming a lifelong patient.
Sometimes after surgery, other surgeries are needed to fix the first one or the complications. People having simulacrum vaginas can end up with a wound that extends into the bowel. That means the shit leaks out. This can be life threatening if not treated properly.
Post-mastectomy pain is not unusual. Nor bladder issues and pain.
And so on. All of this should be known and support available to deal with it. Trans people seem to be getting follow up surgeries some of the time, I hear detrans people talking about how difficult it has been to get that follow up care once they say they are detrans.
Afaik there are no specialist services. So while trans people can get affirmation only care, detrans people can't get support around being detrans.
I've actually not seen a good write up on this, I just know from following a lot of detrans people on twitter and watching/listening to them speaking.
the state of what I am referring to is criminal imo. The problem is that the pro-transition medical community can't be honest about the situation because then they'd have to be honest about how experimental the surgeries are, and the failure rates.
But because of trans ideology, no-one will or is allowed to talk about it. There have been whistle blowers that have worked in clinics, so we know some of what is going on from them in addition to listening to detrans people.
Also, fuck all the people who have supported No Debate. I'd be writing about this on TS weekly if I could.
Given the woman decided to be a transgender man at age 18 and did not have the breast removal until age 26 – it is one separate from the campaign to end puberty blocking and transitioning support to those under age 18.
The issue there is that she was identifying as male for 8 years, apparently because of body dysmorphia.
The conference is about the transitioning of children and young people, it's not limited to PBs and medical transition (nor for many others).
it's unlikely that Mel Jeffries suddenly decided to be a man at 18. She would have been exposed to trans ideology before then. She also says she couldn't have given informed consent because she wasn't given the relevant information.
We are told less than 1% regret doing this. We are told the "informed consent" model works. But let me ask you, how can we give informed consent if we aren't given accurate information to base these permanent, life altering decisions off?
…
Let me ask you something: if you were told you have cancer, underwent chemo and had your breasts removed and later found out you never had cancer – how would you feel? This is analogous to our experiences as detrans people.
""They [Government] seem to be talking about the fact that because we built 13,000 additional houses, Kāinga Ora has more debt and they seem to be talking about that as if it's a terrible thing," he said."
"…the Board followed directives from the previous government to rapidly increase the number of additional social houses."
"…we consider that the imperative to increase the number of houses rapidly has resulted in a high-cost structure and poor financial discipline."
and
"Kāinga Ora is struggling to meet its delivery targets. In the absence of acquisitions, their build programme would not be meeting its annual targets. Over the last five years, it built on average 2,400 gross homes each year, growing the stock by on average 1,600 net homes each year. Kāinga Ora forecasts procuring on average
4,600 new build homes each year and are already not meeting this plan."
The conclusion to that so called report was most likely written prior to the so called report. It's SOP when you want to find things wrong in an organisation, and BE is hardly independent and surprise, surprise! He comes up with Social Housing.Now who was it that introduced that during the last Nat admin?
I suppose you do not care that National's focus on financial discipline is a cover for having no intent to increase social housing stock – just transfer some of Kainga Ora housing to other providers to provide a stronger social housing market.
This despite the fact that the numbers of disabled and those unable to work because of health problems is growing. And the number of people reaching retirement age without home ownership is growing.
One of the expectations of nations of the UN is The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – it does mention housing.
You could express an opinion on the point … rather than not …
Until the Government has received and approved the turnaround plan demanded of the refreshed board, no further funding will be budgeted for the organisation to deliver additional social housing places.
There is as yet no known commitment to increase Kainga Ora housing stock numbers – new homes at a rate to replace demolished stock or higher or higher …and a suggestion of transferring to other social housing providers to strengthen that market.
Fun question – is there any evidence of social housing stock increasing under a National led government in the past 40 years?
All we have is 1500 places over * 3 years to other social housing providers instead of supporting people into first homes.
One might well compare that to the rate that Kainga Ora has being buying (and or leasing) on the market to let at income related rent.
“”The National Party insists there has been no conflict of interest in David Macleod’s chairing the committee considering the contentious fast-track bill.
“”The New Plymouth MP received $10,000 from a donor with shares in a company hoping to benefit from the legislation.
Corruption in the open , national knows nothing will happen so don’t even try cover it up
“The Big Oil Reality Check data illustrates these companies’ dangerous commitment to profit at all cost,” said Tong.
UN expert attacks ‘exploitative’ world economy in fight to save planet [7 May 2024]
Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is’
…
This article was amended on 8 May 2024. An earlier version said that [annual] fossil fuels subsidies had reached $7tn with a rise of “$2m” since 2021. The rise was in fact $2tn.
"Throw is some cognitive dissonance, craven greenwashing and faux concern and here we are. Profit before planet."
Wonder if any of MacLeod's big donors will be concerned that he may be prone to making 'errors' of an "inadvertent" kind. Probably not, as long as he ums and errs in their favour.
Yes Peter and he lets Luxon carry out long election rants but seldom answers the question. Pointless having QT really. And much harder to run the On Demand and then not till the following day.
The House is in decline and so is coverage of it at the parliament site.
It is part of the lowering of standards across "government" since the election – if Transparency International does not do a downgrade we can resume they are not paying close attention (elsewhere either?).
They ended a programme to support people into housing ownership they began in 2017 and say they will transfer the money to providing social housing places instead.
The language is sort of implying payments to providers on a per person basis, same way as the word "places" is used in tertiary education funding or social programs.
Maybe, but they are framing it as enabling other social housing providers to have some guarantee of funding for new supply (even if it is merely $600 a week for each new place, rather than the cost of the new building supply up front).
“The Government’s new investment in 1,500 social housing places will start to become available from July 2025 onwards, giving the community housing sector much-needed certainty about the social housing pipeline, allowing them to plan for the future, and scale-up their build programmes.
I think they are still pushing that "short term help", not considering how disruptive being moved on from temporary places truly is to schooling work and community.
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Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.” ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Granta, $28) Han Kang’s astounding novel was based on an ...
This new docuseries about two single comedians looking for love is also a joyful celebration of female friendship. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. “How many people do you think are boning right now?” Kura Forrester asks Brynley Stent as the bright ...
A new poem by Freya Turnbull. Hunger Song – After Kaveh Akbar (Untitled With Hunger And Matcheads) I hold my age in ripped fishnet hold an empty vessel oldyoung body cracks like gunshot like killa i was a father ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominik Koll, Honorary Lecturer, Australian National University View of the Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station.NASA Earth must have experienced something exceptional 10 million years ago. Our study of rock samples from the floor of the Pacific Ocean has found ...
Troy Rawhiti-Connell reviews Kia Tupu Te Ara, a documentary chronicling the meteoric rise of Aotearoa’s groundbreaking metal band. “Two brothers attempt to storm the world of thrash metal with the Māori language, despite the fact they’re both still teenagers,” reads the synopsis of Kent Belcher’s documentary, Kia Tupu Te Ara. ...
Three freelance writers have been awarded grants to work on their ambitious journalism projects. In January, The Spinoff announced the Vince Geddes In-Depth Journalism Fund, supported by the Auckland Radio Trust (ART). The fund was established to provide much-needed financial and editorial support to talented freelance journalists, empowering them to ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga China has confirmed details of its meeting with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown for the first time, saying Beijing “stands ready to have an in-depth exchange” with the island nation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters during his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ 2023 strategic foreign policy assessment, “Navigating a shifting world”, accurately foresaw a more uncertain and complex time ahead for New Zealand. But already it feels out of date. The ...
Our parliamentary throuple may be the longest running in the country, but cracks are showing. Gabi Lardies wonders if differing attachment styles may be to blame. Though no one ever anticipated happiness or roses in the three-way coalition, the relationship has wobbled on for over a year without breaking up. ...
As Mike White’s dark satire returns for a third season, we look back on some of The White Lotus’s most memorable characters. The White Lotus looks like a dream holiday, but this resort is anything but paradise. Set in an exclusive five star hotel resort, HBO’s award-winning series is a ...
Analysis: Would the last scientist to leave the building please turn out the lights? Because the confirmation of Robert F Kennedy Jr as US Secretary of Health suggests we’re heading back to the dark ages.It’s a sad irony that President John F Kennedy propelled America into the space age; now his nephew ...
The crux of my message today is that New Zealand needs to bend two curves. One is the long-term economic growth trajectory, which needs to bend upwards to expand our productive capacity and national real incomes. The second is our net public debt ...
Away from the tense scenes on the paepae, under a closely guarded canvas tent, te iwi Māori do the real work of Waitangi: talking. We were invited inside to listen. ...
The Jono & Ben star is self-aware and surrounded by extraordinary women in Three’s latest local comedy series. The first episode of Vince, written by and starring Jono Pryor, opens with intrigue, a loincloth and a man in the middle of some kind of breakdown. As the titular character, a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Barclay, ARC Future Fellow and Professor, Macquarie University Wikimedia “1,000 Letters and 15,000 Kisses” screamed the headline in an 1898 edition of the English newspaper, the Halifax Evening Courier. Harriet Ann McLean, a 32-year-old laundry maid, was suing Francis ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lena Wang, Associate Professor in Management, RMIT University Supplied/AppleTV+ The highly anticipated season two of Severance, released in weekly instalments, has continued to draw interest among viewers around the world. A gripping psychological thriller, this TV series provides an extreme ...
So this happened at the weekend in Wellington.
You can draw your own conclusions. Speaking only for myself, I would never want to be associated with most of these people. But it's important to know who they are, and what they really believe, in their own words.
Apparently civil unions and gay marriage are to blame, who knew?
Fear, hate and a putrid stench: Inside the Unsilenced anti-trans event | The Spinoff
Ironically and perhaps prophetically the putrid stench was attributed to the protestors outside the venue.
You mean the ones who threw the shit on the steps of the venue?
Spoiled children unhappy at not getting their own way.
Yeah those children and their occupation of Parliament, blocking motorways, supporting vandals and other provocative moves the police get involved with but hey free country and all that…..for now.
Yes.
The article felt like a scattergun hit piece against some high profile people rather than address the issues they and others are concerned about. Kinda the norm for reportage from that side of the fence.
The part of the story that interests me is the young woman who had a double mastectomy. This happened, presumably because the medical professionals are either incompetent, or most likely, concerned about their professional reputation and just went through the motions.
Any good journalist should have jumped on this story as a case of medical malpractice. Obviously this is not a concern with the news organisation he works for.
It's far easier to sit in a room for 5 hours and write snide remarks about people you don't like than do any actual investigative journalism.
And far easier to make snide remarks on a blog than follow the links provided for you by that journalist.
I read the article. It was dripping with bias. I agree with David, there was a deeper story here, but clearly it flew straight over the journo's head.
Dripping with biases (even “spoiled children” 'ave 'em
), and links (~14).
I try to keep an open mind, and am perhaps luckier than most to have two gender-nonconforming niblings. To my shame, there was a time when I didn’t consider it 'lucky', but over the years my biases and concerns have ebbed.
Maybe more than one, but who will have the courage to tell them.
It is not "gender affirming care". It affects the primary and secondary SEX characteristics by means of chemical castration with "off brand" medications, followed by sterilization and mutilation by the removal of healthy organs. Add in a lifetime dependency on artificial sex hormones.
And then they bleat and say that "gender is not sex".
I tried to remonstrate with my niblings, Visubversa, I really did, but went about it wrong and did much more harm than good to the relationships.
Fortunately they are both thriving, and the damage done by my clumsy approach has been repaired somewhat (a joint effort) – family is family.
Transgender youth: Here’s what the data says about regret rates. (slate.com)
This article looks at studies that show regret rates ranging from 1% to 30%.
They say this:
The issue here is that neither of these extremes are reliable estimates of regret. The 30 percent figure obviously does not map onto regret. Many people stop using their parent or partner’s health care for reasons completely unrelated to transition regret (i.e., divorce). And the studies of surgery in the review are mostly surgeons following up with their own patients, with quite high dropout rates. It’s not surprising that only 1 percent of people report to a surgeon who did an operation that they regret it!
…and…
Perhaps the most useful way to examine regret is to look at the proportion of people who cease their transition and go back to the gender they were originally. A large national study found that 13.1 percent of transgender people participating in the U.S. Transgender Survey reported detransitioning at some point in their lives. I think that’s a fairly reasonable estimate of the rate of people experiencing some measure of regret around their transition experience.
Yep, it really begs the question. I received my answer(s) quiet and clear.
You might want to look again at the Cass Review report. It details very well why there is no good evidence base for the efficacy of "gender affirming care" for young people. Part of the reason is that any attempt to do good research about rates of regret – or the "complications" rate of the surgeries, is met with the usual resistance and abuse.
This is life changing, irreversible surgery (some would say mutilation) on young, vulnerable people. It absolutely has to be widely debated.
Fair enough, although I broadly agree with the concluding opinions expressed by the author (Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz) of the (imho balanced and well-researched) article you linked to and quoted from @4:08 pm – so thanks for that.
Of course; anyone can weigh in on the topic, but Meyerowitz-Katz makes an interesting point about to how much weight should be given to individual opinions. I had opinions about the wisdom of some of the choices my niblings have made over the last 3 or so years, and only some of those opinions have changed.
But I don't get to impose my sensibilities on my niblings, and I won't cut them off (perhaps an unfortunate phrase in context) for their choices, and hope that they won't cut me off, in spite of my 'I know what's best for you' attitude – which (fwiw) I still struggle with.
…Meyerowitz-Katz makes an interesting point about to how much weight should be given to individual opinions.
Actually their point is absurd.
Should the opinions of the wider medical fraternity be given weight? Should, for example, medical professionals be able to provide other treatment beside gender affirming treatment (GAT), or should providing any treatment other than GAT be illegal, as it is now in Canada? (Reckless Consent: Issues with Gender-Affirming Treatment | C2C Journal)
Should the opinions of parents of transitioning children be given weight? Or should the only approach offered by GAT practitioners in many Western jurisdictions be unconditional acceptance of the patient’s feelings? (Reckless Consent: Issues with Gender-Affirming Treatment | C2C Journal).
Weka presents other examples below.
When we are discussing irreversible medical procedures being performed on highly vulnerable young people, the mere notion that only that young person and their medical practitioner should have a say is, IMHO, dangerous.
And again, I thank you for providing a link to Meyerowitz-Katz's article, and quoting from it to support your views.
Imho, an article that an individual can selectively quote from in support of their views, while also stating that a point the author makes "is absurd", can't be all bad.
Believe it or not, I used to think very much like you on this topic, but personal experience is an excellent teacher, and so while my natural inclination still leans towards a conservative view (which is pretty unusual for me), I must (now) also acknowledge that not all young people who undergo gender-affirming treatments view these as harmful, let alone "mutilation".
And, tbh, the more this topic gets discussed on TS (and imho it gets discussed a lot), the more I learn and regret my earlier ham-fisted efforts to set my niblings on a path that would still be easier for me – with the benefit of hindsight those efforts did more harm than good.
Of course, I also recognise that not transitioning in the first place would have been a better decision for some young people, hence the link to Ellie's and Nele's stories @1.2.1.1.1.1.
@ Drowsy
"I must (now) also acknowledge that not all young people who undergo gender-affirming treatments view these as harmful, let alone "mutilation"."
Perhaps because a very great number are already vulnerable. Perhaps because they are too close to be objective? Which is a valid reason wider input and discussion is required.
Yep, and that well-researched article you provided a link to, and quoted from to support your views, has faciliated discussion here.
Perhaps, perhaps – and perhaps because, for some, these treatments are beneficial? My initial judgements about the vulnerability of my niblings, and them being too close to be objective, were (I like to think) well-intentioned, but, with the benefit of hindsight, I made bad calls in my attempt to persuade them to make what I truly believed would be better choices for all concerned.
I (still) don't fully understand why my niblings made the choices they did, but they seem happy, and I'm trying to be content with that, even though some of the consequences still rankle.
And I'm still of the opinion that "on balance, it’s better to delay/withhold most/all irreversible [gender-affirming] interventions for as long as possible", but if I could do it all again then I wouldn't go in all guns blazing. Who knows what might have been.
I didn't read the article, but this is very, very weird.
1. women's sex based rights are at risk from males transitioning and insisting they are women. Women have a right to weigh in.
2. detrans people aren't getting the support and medical care they need because apparently only trans people deserve that. Detrans people have a right to weigh in.
3. there is a specific set of gender critical activists who are the parents of children that transition or want to transition and where those parents believe it is a very serious mistake. They have a right to weigh in.
4. It's very strange to see liberals making such a distinct libertarian argument, that extreme body modification is between the person and their doctor, especially after Cass. Those of us who see transhumanism as a threat to humans and nature, have the right to weigh in.
5. Some of the people who have transitioned turned out to be lesbian or gay and/or autistic and they were subject to medical malpractice. It's a kind of conversion therapy. LGB people have a right to weigh in as do neurodiverse people.
6. Society pays not only for transition, but life long medical costs. Society has a right to weigh in.
7. Transwidows have a right to weigh in.
8. regret about knee surgery is not like transition regret. Patient rights advocates have a right to weigh in.
9. whatever the issues around regret, there are also issues in the number of people who were transitioned by malpractice. Regret is not the right word for the feelings of detrans people who were put on a medical pathway as a young child, or got caught up in social contagion as a preteen or teen, or who grew up in a homophobic family/community society and hated their sex and were convinced that transitioning was the solution. Everyone who cares about children and young adults has a right to weigh in on that.
I did read the article and it was incredibly lazy and incurious. He makes eminently fair criticisms of Brian Tamaki and other fringe figures whose rhetoric tends towards unhinged violence.
But the reporter makes less than zero effort to understand the core arguments of the GC position – it is a literal smear job.
The media loves to platform the loonies and ignore the left wing GC feminists who stick to the science and human rights arguments. In this the Spinoff (and idpol left) is a mirror image of the emotive bullshit from Tamaki and Posie Parker.
And why is it always low-T millennial dudes taking these potshots?
For the USA at least. Other nations might have different rates – the difference may be based on the rates of transitioning (as per health care practice), or cultural factors.
there are too many people who cannot go back to the gender they were. Once your penis has been removed and you have a simulacrum of a vagina inserted in your body, there is little going back.
Some of the effects of artificial hormone treatment aren't reversible.
Puberty blockers aren't reversible depending on the age/stage they were starting and how long they were taken.
Anyone who has an opinion on transition needs to listen to the succinct and very clear 3min testimony of this young man,
https://youtu.be/Ko_MJln6c_4?si=ta5Hky1xzYWsNfa0
Thanks Weka. Heart wrenching. And incredibly brave.
I would hope that the real story is that surgeons are removing healthy appendages of young people who have not received the proper care and treatment from medical professionals.
Are you arguing that there should be no such surgical procedures for those under 18?
At the moment the focus has been on no use of puberty blockers (ignoring the fact that the original purpose to delay early onset puberty remains) and no hormone treatments under age 18.
The number of surgery cases being much lower.
Or does proper care have another meaning?
We should have a moratorium on surgery, hormonal treatments, and PBs in people under 18, until as a society we get past No Debate and the issues can be looked at in valid ways. At the moment people in academia and medicine are too scare to speak. There is no ethical medical treatment under those conditions.
There should be no surgical and hormonal treatment for anyone until the needs of detrans people are acknowledge and medical and health system supports are put in place around detrans healthcare. Again, there is no ethical medical treatment until that happens.
In any other area of medicine, what I just said wouldn't be controversial.
No surgical or hormonal treatment for anyone (as per different to birth sex for gender dysphoria reasons) – including private and paid for … until there is support for “detrans healthcare”?
What detrans health care (not available now) would that be?
Medical (PB, hormonal, and/or surgical transition) means becoming a lifelong patient.
Sometimes after surgery, other surgeries are needed to fix the first one or the complications. People having simulacrum vaginas can end up with a wound that extends into the bowel. That means the shit leaks out. This can be life threatening if not treated properly.
Post-mastectomy pain is not unusual. Nor bladder issues and pain.
And so on. All of this should be known and support available to deal with it. Trans people seem to be getting follow up surgeries some of the time, I hear detrans people talking about how difficult it has been to get that follow up care once they say they are detrans.
Afaik there are no specialist services. So while trans people can get affirmation only care, detrans people can't get support around being detrans.
I've actually not seen a good write up on this, I just know from following a lot of detrans people on twitter and watching/listening to them speaking.
the state of what I am referring to is criminal imo. The problem is that the pro-transition medical community can't be honest about the situation because then they'd have to be honest about how experimental the surgeries are, and the failure rates.
But because of trans ideology, no-one will or is allowed to talk about it. There have been whistle blowers that have worked in clinics, so we know some of what is going on from them in addition to listening to detrans people.
Also, fuck all the people who have supported No Debate. I'd be writing about this on TS weekly if I could.
Given the woman decided to be a transgender man at age 18 and did not have the breast removal until age 26 – it is one separate from the campaign to end puberty blocking and transitioning support to those under age 18.
The issue there is that she was identifying as male for 8 years, apparently because of body dysmorphia.
The conference is about the transitioning of children and young people, it's not limited to PBs and medical transition (nor for many others).
it's unlikely that Mel Jeffries suddenly decided to be a man at 18. She would have been exposed to trans ideology before then. She also says she couldn't have given informed consent because she wasn't given the relevant information.
https://x.com/xmjefferies/status/1786711839663067561
""They [Government] seem to be talking about the fact that because we built 13,000 additional houses, Kāinga Ora has more debt and they seem to be talking about that as if it's a terrible thing," he said."
Chris Hipkins defends Kāinga Ora after scathing review, lashing from Christopher Luxon | Newshub
Chris Hipkins still doesn't get it.
"…the Board followed directives from the previous government to rapidly increase the number of additional social houses."
"…we consider that the imperative to increase the number of houses rapidly has resulted in a high-cost structure and poor financial discipline."
and
"Kāinga Ora is struggling to meet its delivery targets. In the absence of acquisitions, their build programme would not be meeting its annual targets. Over the last five years, it built on average 2,400 gross homes each year, growing the stock by on average 1,600 net homes each year. Kāinga Ora forecasts procuring on average
4,600 new build homes each year and are already not meeting this plan."
Independent Review of Kainga Ora.pdf (beehive.govt.nz)
It's not about whether or not they built extra houses. It's about organisational incompetence.
Na it's about national being on the campaign trail 24/7, 365 days if the year, just trowing constant shit, is all the have.
The quotes are from an independent review. If you have a problem with any of the content, take it up with the review panel.
An "independent" review conducted by failed Nat PM. So independent.Yeah Right. 🙄
The review was prepared by a panel of three. But again, run a critique.
The conclusion to that so called report was most likely written prior to the so called report. It's SOP when you want to find things wrong in an organisation, and BE is hardly independent and surprise, surprise! He comes up with Social Housing.Now who was it that introduced that during the last Nat admin?
Did you just describe Traveller?
I suppose you do not care that National's focus on financial discipline is a cover for having no intent to increase social housing stock – just transfer some of Kainga Ora housing to other providers to provide a stronger social housing market.
This despite the fact that the numbers of disabled and those unable to work because of health problems is growing. And the number of people reaching retirement age without home ownership is growing.
One of the expectations of nations of the UN is The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – it does mention housing.
If you could provide any evidence of those claims, I'd certainly be interested.
You could express an opinion on the point … rather than not …
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-invests-1500-more-social-homes
There is as yet no known commitment to increase Kainga Ora housing stock numbers – new homes at a rate to replace demolished stock or higher or higher …and a suggestion of transferring to other social housing providers to strengthen that market.
Fun question – is there any evidence of social housing stock increasing under a National led government in the past 40 years?
All we have is 1500 places over * 3 years to other social housing providers instead of supporting people into first homes.
One might well compare that to the rate that Kainga Ora has being buying (and or leasing) on the market to let at income related rent.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350285938/fast-track-committee-not-undermined-mps-donation-national
“”The National Party insists there has been no conflict of interest in David Macleod’s chairing the committee considering the contentious fast-track bill.
“”The New Plymouth MP received $10,000 from a donor with shares in a company hoping to benefit from the legislation.
Corruption in the open , national knows nothing will happen so don’t even try cover it up
Follow(ing) the (lovely) money (at all costs)
"Throw is some cognitive dissonance, craven greenwashing and faux concern and here we are. Profit before planet."
Kiri Allan decided to change her plea to "Guilty" at the last minute to refusing to accompanying police.
I guess she decided that grey area in the law wasn't so important to test or wasn't so grey after all.
Kiri Allan crash: Former Justice Minister convicted for drink-driving crash, refusing to go with police – NZ Herald
Keep guessing Jimmy, that's all you will ever do.
You don't actually know anything, you just guess.
You'll be be filled with joy that Kiri decided to save the poor old tax payer some money!!
Wonder if any of MacLeod's big donors will be concerned that he may be prone to making 'errors' of an "inadvertent" kind. Probably not, as long as he ums and errs in their favour.
My feeling is that Parliament today is a disordered rabble. My feeling is that the Speaker very easily becomes a flippant boofhead.
Yes Peter and he lets Luxon carry out long election rants but seldom answers the question. Pointless having QT really. And much harder to run the On Demand and then not till the following day.
The House is in decline and so is coverage of it at the parliament site.
It is part of the lowering of standards across "government" since the election – if Transparency International does not do a downgrade we can resume they are not paying close attention (elsewhere either?).
Is that people or houses? Luxon uses it repeatedly.
They ended a programme to support people into housing ownership they began in 2017 and say they will transfer the money to providing social housing places instead.
Yes SPC but is places = houses?
They have allocated $140M (over 3 years) from July 2025 for 1500 places.
It is under $100,000 per house.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-invests-1500-more-social-homes
Hate to bang on but if they meant houses surely they would call them houses, but to me, calling them places might be a sleight of hand.
The language is sort of implying payments to providers on a per person basis, same way as the word "places" is used in tertiary education funding or social programs.
At $100,000 a place … it will inspire some interesting bed sit designs.
My take is they are paying for 1500 rentals at $600 / week for 3 years.
Either that, or they're getting someone other than Kāinga Ora to build internment camps.
Maybe, but they are framing it as enabling other social housing providers to have some guarantee of funding for new supply (even if it is merely $600 a week for each new place, rather than the cost of the new building supply up front).
I heard the tail end of Bishop this morning on NRadio talking about houses. I will keep listening.
I think they are still pushing that "short term help", not considering how disruptive being moved on from temporary places truly is to schooling work and community.