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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 21, 2024

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The New York Times just published an article on a trans study not being published for ideological reasons (Archive)

U.S. Study on Puberty Blockers Goes Unpublished Because of Politics, Doctor Says

The leader of the long-running study said that the drugs did not improve mental health in children with gender distress and that the finding might be weaponized by opponents of the care.

Has anyone else noticed a clear "vibe shift" on trans issues recently? It would have been unimaginable for this article to be published in the New York Times just a few years ago, but now, it just seems like part of an overall trend away from trans ideologues.

I'm am curious where this trend continues. Is it going to go all the way? Will trans issues be seen as the weird 2010s, early 2020s political project that had ardent supporters, but eventually withered away and died like the desegregation bussing movement? Or will it just settle into a more moderate position of never using any medication on children, but allowing adults to do whatever? Or maybe it is just a temporary setback and the ideologues will eventually win out?

Also of note, trans issues are coming to SCOTUS again. The issue presented is

Issue: Whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1, which prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow “a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex” or to treat “purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity,” violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

I recommend reading Alabama's amicus curiae brief for an in depth critique of WPATH. SCOTUS is set to hear oral arguments on this case on the 4th of December, so this is lining up to be an interesting oral argument to listen to. SCOTUS usually releases the big controversial cases at the end of their term, so the opinion on this case will probably be released in the summer of '25.

Will trans issues be seen as the weird 2010s, early 2020s political project that had ardent supporters, but eventually withered away and died like the desegregation bussing movement?

As a non-American, can you please explain that example? Was it the bussing part that got unceremoniously dropped, or the desegregation part, or both?

The bussing part.

I see. So I've read the other replies and I wonder in what way desegregation even remained as a policy after that. Is it basically just a case of politicians and officials paying lip service to an ideal, or are there tangible measures in place?

It remains insofar as you can't have an explicitly segregated school any more. If some non-white families happen to move into a previously all-white school district, their kids are going to that previously all-white school.