[Gay] Gay News from Around the Gay World That is Gay

[Josephus]

Yeah, Playboy was on the vanguard of many so-called progressive things (gay rights, womens rights, minority rights, drug decriminalization, etc.and they were decidedly anti-Vietnam at this time) which is why that word through me off, but I guess the reviewer was some old dude using old dude language in an extremely pre-woke era.

But to your point, BB, yeah though it was highly progressive, it didn't see an issue with glorifying the female form. I think there is a fascinating debate between Hefner and some feminist about this from the 50s or 60s. It did try to stay away from out and out pornography though until competition from less idealistic magazines in the mid-to late 70s forced its hand. And even then it was pretty softcore stuff.

[The Larch]

And Russia keeps descending into a fascist wonderland.

Russia passes law banning 'LGBT propaganda' among adults
Bill criminalises promotion of 'non-traditional sexual relations' as Moscow pushes conservative values

Russia's parliament has passed the third and final reading of a law banning "LGBT propaganda" among all adults, as Moscow ramps up its conservative push at home amid the war in Ukraine that passed the nine-month mark on Thursday.

The bill criminalises any act regarded as an attempt to promote what Russia calls "non-traditional sexual relations" – in film, online, advertising or in public – and expands on a notorious 2013 law that banned "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" among minors and was used to detain gay rights activists.

Under the new law, individuals can be fined up to 400,000 roubles (£5,400) and organisations 5m roubles (£68,500) for "propagandising nontraditional sexual relations", while foreigners could face up to 15 days' arrest and expulsion from Russia.

Human rights groups and LGBTQ+ activists say the extension of the law means any act or public mention of same-sex relationships is functionally being outlawed.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has launched a fresh effort to promote "traditional values", with the Russian leader making anti-gay rhetoric one of the cornerstones of his political agenda.

In a recent speech, Putin accused the west of "moving towards open satanism", citing the promotion of gay and transgender rights in Europe as an example.

Alexander Khinshtein, a senior lawmaker and one of the bill's designers, said the war in Ukraine had given the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ law "new relevance".

"The special military operation takes place not only on the battlefield but also in the minds and souls of people," Khinshtein said, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

In an earlier discussion of the bill, Khinshtein targeted the popular children's cartoon Peppa Pig, after a lesbian couple joined its cast of characters in an episode titled Families.

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church and a close ally of Putin, also backed the new law. In an earlier sermon, Kirill bizarrely blamed the country's invasion of Ukraine on gay pride parades.

Human rights activists on Thursday condemned the bill. Igor Kochetkov, the head of the rights group Russian LGBT Network, said the bill was an "absurd" government attempt to further discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

"This law is part of an ongoing homophobic government campaign against LGBTQ rights," said Kochetkov, who recently left Russia. "This is part of a broader attack on anything the government deems 'western and progressive'."

Kochetkov said the bill was also an attempt by the Kremlin to look for internal enemies and distract attention from battlefield losses.

Human rights critics fear the law will be used to close down independent film and book festivals, making the topic of gay sexual orientation essentially taboo in Russia.

Kochetkov said the vague wording of the bill made it difficult to gauge just how restrictive the law would be. "Officials don't explain what they mean under 'LGBT propaganda'. At this point, it is hard to know how this will affect the community," he said. "But the situation of the LGBTQ community was already very dire before this bill."

Over the past few years, Russia has banned a number of prominent LGBTQ+ rights groups, including the Sphere Foundation, an organisation that shed light on violent anti-gay purges in Chechnya.

Kochetkov's LGBT Network, with a number of other human rights groups, has also received the "foreign agent" label, a Soviet-era tag designed to target groups the authorities say receive "foreign funding" and engage in "political activity".

But while the Russian government has expanded its attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, recent polling has indicated parts of Russian society are becoming more tolerant towards the gay community, with a 2019 poll showing that 68% of younger Russians view the LGBTQ+ community as "normal".

And in July, Daria Kasatkina, Russia's highest-ranked female tennis player, came out as gay, a move applauded by fellow athletes and parts of the Russian public.

Pointing to these reactions, Kochetkov said the new law would not drastically change the way Russians viewed lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. "Many in the country are becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ community and a new law will not buck this trend," he said.

[Josquius]

They're still insisting Ukraine are the nazis right? 

[The Larch]

They're still insisting Ukraine are the nazis right? 

Yup, but now they also do "denazification" of the mind and the soul. 

"The special military operation takes place not only on the battlefield but also in the minds and souls of people,"

[Tamas]

It is such a vile and evil system - pick on a minority relatively small enough that they cannot pose a risk to the regime, channel hate toward them. In Hungary I don't think it has worked as much as the government wanted to, but definitely have made things worse for the LGBTQ+ community. And of course the Hungarian government is limited by the EU in how far they can go - they can talk about kindergartens wanting to force gender-change operations on kids but cannot do blatantly discriminative legislation.

[Tamas]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity

I know I am likely having obsolete views but I don't think it should be that difficult: society (its laws) regularly restrict what decisions minors are allowed to make, in things with significantly less permanent effects than hormone treatments.

So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

[Josquius]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity

I know I am likely having obsolete views but I don't think it should be that difficult: society (its laws) regularly restrict what decisions minors are allowed to make, in things with significantly less permanent effects than hormone treatments.

So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

Yes. I don't think anyone would disagree there?
The usual attack line from transphobes I see is on hormone blockers- trying to misrepresent these as exactly the same thing as taking active treatments.

[Admiral Yi]

The usual attack line from transphobes I see is on hormone blockers- trying to misrepresent these as exactly the same thing as taking active treatments.

Don't these affect fertility?

[The Brain]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity

I know I am likely having obsolete views but I don't think it should be that difficult: society (its laws) regularly restrict what decisions minors are allowed to make, in things with significantly less permanent effects than hormone treatments.

So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

Isn't a diagnosed medical condition required to get access to treatments and surgery?

[Josquius]

The usual attack line from transphobes I see is on hormone blockers- trying to misrepresent these as exactly the same thing as taking active treatments.

Don't these affect fertility?

Not that I've heard. A google suggests they're commonly confused with hormone treatment which does.

[Sheilbh]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity

I know I am likely having obsolete views but I don't think it should be that difficult: society (its laws) regularly restrict what decisions minors are allowed to make, in things with significantly less permanent effects than hormone treatments.

So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

I think this is conflating medical consent with legal restrictions though.

In the UK (I think it's also been adopted in some other common law jurisdictions) the question is when is a (legal) child able to consent to certain medical treatments or advice. From understanding the basic principle is that parents have a right to decide medical treatment until the point that a (legal) child is able to understand that treatment and its consequences at which point they meet the conditions to consent/determine their own medical treatment.

For example with covid vaccines the default position in the UK was that children aged 12-15 should "Gillick competent" to determine whether or not they want a vaccine. They can't be forced to get one by their parents and their parents can't block them from getting one. It applies to contraception, abortion access and gender dysphoria too (it was held the High Court got this wrong when they said the presumption for competence should be that a child isn't competent).

That question of when is someone competent to make decisions about their own treatment is entirely separate from age-based legal restrictions - and like age-based restrictions on smoking or voting, I suppose it could be overridden by parliament. I'm not sure there's any justification for parliament passing the law like that, or for treating this as any different from any other medical decision. I think it's a question for medical authorities to provide guidance on - as they do with contraception, or any other medical decision.

As the article says that issue of how the treatment is used in practice in the NHS/what is the guidance given to doctors - my understanding is that the interim Cass Report isn't convinced there's enough evidence yet and this is also reflected in, I think, Finland and Sweden who've recently paused this treatment pending further evidence.

[Legbiter]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity


So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

Yeah, here there's been this extremely weird uptick as well in girls self-reporting gender dysphoria. Norway as well. The explosion started in 2016 after it seems, Bruce Jenner became a celebrity. Reminds me of the explosion in anorexia and bulimia in young women here in the late 90's. Suddenly every women's mag for years was filled with these stories for a few years. The transgender craze is just the latest medieval dancing plague in that regard. The protocol for dealing with it is standard mental health care by professionals. Not surgery or puberty blockers.

And in other news the most public and vocal trans activist here is under police investigation for raping small children. For this to happen in such a tiny, close-knit nation, I think it is safe to say the bloom is off the rose for that particular progressive cause.

[The Larch]

I don't think you could have written something more reactionary if you tried, Leg.

[Josquius]

Re. this article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/24/an-explosion-what-is-behind-the-rise-in-girls-questioning-their-gender-identity


So, if a 11-12 years old wants to change genders, they should be supported in terms of pronouns, names, etc. in everything short of requiring medication/medical procedures. If we are comfortable disallowing sexual intercourse and consuming alcohol, we should be comfortable with forbidding hormone treatments and body-altering operations.

Yeah, here there's been this extremely weird uptick as well in girls self-reporting gender dysphoria. Norway as well. The explosion started in 2016 after it seems, Bruce Jenner became a celebrity. Reminds me of the explosion in anorexia and bulimia in young women here in the late 90's. Suddenly every women's mag for years was filled with these stories for a few years. The transgender craze is just the latest medieval dancing plague in that regard. The protocol for dealing with it is standard mental health care by professionals. Not surgery or puberty blockers.

And in other news the most public and vocal trans activist here is under police investigation for raping small children. For this to happen in such a tiny, close-knit nation, I think it is safe to say the bloom is off the rose for that particular progressive cause.
/frettin.is/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/thorhildur.jpg?resize=962%2C641&ssl=1[/img]

I do believe its fair to say there's more kids these days 'dabbling' in non-default gender identities and sexualities.
Kids that age have no clue who or what they are. Its definitely within the realm of reason that many who aren't trans in the slightest nonetheless think they might be or potentially even it'd be cool to be trans. With all those hormones and changes going on you can understand why many might reach for this, and in an age where we are reaching a high level of acceptance and visibility for trans people, a lot more of them will be open about this than when I was a kid.

However...
1: Yes. Treatment by a mental health professional is a big part of being recognised as trans and getting help. Its odd to say this should be the process as it already is.
2: Can we please stop mixing up puberty blockers, something which exist and are promoted for trans kids specifically so permanent decisions are not made whilst they're too young as their effects are easily reversible, unlike more permanent changes like hormones and surgery.

I have no doubt there are a bunch of confused 13 year olds who wrongly decide they're trans because they've read about it somewhere and think it perfectly explains their inadequacies. The existence of such people is the core reason why puberty blockers and speaking with a psychologist are the recommended courses of action for trans kids.
Sure, puberty blockers delay actual trans kids becoming who they want to be for a while with all the attached mental health issues, but it also stops mistaken kids from making a drastic error.

Puberty blockers are the compromise option that mean we don't just hand out surgery and hormones to trans kids; it perfectly displays the bad faith coming from hard right culture warriors that they present all 3 as the same thing. Its sad how they seem to have had a lot of success with this misinformation campaign.

As to a trans person being a rapist- really?
What the hell has this got to do with anything?
We might as well point to a black murderer as proof why we shouldn't have equal rights for black people.
Men and cisgender women do get into positions of authority and abuse kids too.

[viper37]

Aren't puberty blockers more & more questionned by medical science?
I'm pretty sure I read something about this last summer, also about the whole transitionning for teenager too.  It's a flawed process, infested by activists, rather than guided by science.

Didn't Sweden banned puberty blockers, btw?