Sanity in Tranada

[TheywontletmehavethenameIwant]

A statement made by Premier Smith of the province of Alberta, it's fair, reasonable, caring, it's something every one of our barnpot Labour MP should be made to watch.

Bump. A restrained and well-expressed statement. Six minutes of common sense. Perhaps worth sending the link to MPs?

That's such a sensible speech.

Am I the only one getting an ad on this thread reminding me to pay my TV licence and featuring sex clown, aka drag queen?

Good.

Excellent speech.

'Maturity and compassion' - yes, let's hope there's no dead rats nailed to doors or anything.

I had that yesterday. I expect it's just the BBC's new drag mascot.

Thanks for posting that link, it made for very interesting watching. Sensible proposals - I hope the adults can restrain themselves from overly-emotive language when discussing them.

I'm glad that sport was included but I wish the issue of single-sex spaces was addressed positively too.

is there a transcrapt, i CBA watching videos

Yes but I can't copy on here because it was massively long.

is it under the video or elsewhere?

That's really interesting! Common sense at last .

Yes under the video is the word More, click on that and it will expand, the transcript button is there.

Maturity and compassion, yes.

Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones from 16, no.

While there's lots of sensible stuff in this speech, and it's great that she's now delivering on everything she said she would previously, it's still missing the mark on protecting vulnerable children.

Yes, but they've got to start somewhere.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on protecting children; I would prefer a total ban as recommended by the Cass Review but it seems that some politicians feel the need to offer compromise on this issue and they pick the age of 16 for that. I think for Canada this is at least a beginning on rowing back from the extremely liberal attitude to medicalising gender confusion, we can only hope it’s the start of sense returning to public life and that momentum for total protection of children will be forthcoming in the future.

BTW, congrats on your question to Kemi Badenoch being asked on the livestream, I was interested in her answer which shows she’s really thought about this issue more than most other politicians I’ve seen interviewed in recent years.

Well done Premier Smith and thank you @TheywontletmehavethenameIwant. Agree I would prefer a ban but I was particularly impressed that she tackled the TRA habit of telling children that anything other than enthusiastic affirmation means that people want to kill them. This is nonsense and dangerous nonsense, particularly when vulnerable children and teenagers are on the receiving end. Who on earth would tell that to a child with any other mental health difficulties?

Yep, a fair summary. There are many different ways to skin this cat, as it were (which is what Arabella was saying too).

As for this bit...

BTW, congrats on your question to Kemi Badenoch being asked on the livestream, I was interested in her answer which shows she’s really thought about this issue more than most other politicians I’ve seen interviewed in recent years.

I was blown away by her answer. She's been impressive in parliament with her articulation and clear knowledge but this is another level IMO. She's not a single issue candidate and this is a window in to how she approaches difficult and important topics. I won't always share her politics, and I say this as a Guardian and BBC reading liberal (who also now reads the Mail and Telegraph etc... so that I'm getting the full picture), but I really hope she wins the leadership contest. She'd pack quite the metaphorical punch at the dispatch box. I'd almost feel sorry for Starmer having to face her if he wasn't so weasily and flip-floppy. Instead I'll be getting out the 🍿 if she wins and watching what I'd expect to be one of the most effective opposition parties in years.

⬆️ Edited to correct amusingly ironic typo... This is what I originally wrote 🤦‍♀️

I'd almost feel sorry for Starmer having to face him if he wasn't so weasily and flip-floppy.

That caught my attention as well, when I hear her say it I thought nice, she's tackling it head on, The whole address was about protecting the children and I think she clearly see's what the danger is to them, the adult's that are filling their heads with this utter stupidity.

I was very impressed with her, I'd vote for her.

> Anyone who claims that these rules were designed to target or somehow harm you in any way are mistaken. Although questioning or disagreeing with these new policies is any person's democratic right, adults who choose to tell children and youth that these policies were designed to hurt them or marginalize them, that kind of rhetoric is irresponsible and harmful to the young people involved and it is entirely false.

Very interested to see this, particularly the clear message to stop telling children that they're going to die if they don't get what they want. Of all the enraging things about this situation, that's the one that upsets me the most. Adults encouraging serious distress in children in such a cruel and irresponsible way. Imagine if we had a responsible trans rights movement, that said to kids, 'hey, we think it's bad news that you have to wait until you're an adult to transition, but we're here to support you, it gets better etc etc'. Instead, they're just inciting distress in vulnerable children to further an adult 'rights' agenda. It's despicable, and it's good to see it challenged in such a firm but compassionate way.

Do any of our Canadian vipers have a sense of how this is going down in Alberta, and in Canada more widely? The comments under the YouTube video seem overwhelmingly positive, from a quick scan.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/danielle-smith-1.7101595

It seems all the usual suspects are queuing up to attack it.

Stand strong Premier Smith, the science is on your side (as are the people). 👊

Well that was a breath of fresh air.

Good grief, these people are dangerous and really do not care about the harm they're doing to the children they're talking about. No wonder these kids' mental health is in the bin when these are the people who claim to be standing up for them.

"the group is likely to argue policies requiring parent permission for pronoun and name changes violate students' rights to be free from cruel and unusual treatment from the state and their right to equality... denying access to gender-affirming medications would be discriminatory denial of access to medically necessary health care"

Not referring to a child as zie/zim would be cruel and unusual treatment by the state?
(Tell that to the women of Afghanistan.)

What other 'medically necessary health care' takes a physically health child and puts them on a path to lifelong medical interventions and complications. One study showed 87% of women taking testosterone developed urinary incontinence.

So much trans joy.

Long-term testosterone use in females may induce early menopause, leading to pelvic dysfunction, increased mortality risk and many other challenges. - Stats For Gender