Trans surgery is really experimental sugery particularly related to creating a vagina in a male. Has anyone heard of successful surgery? I haven't seen reports on that and I have only heard about the lifelong pain and medical issues when a vaginoplasty is attempted. So why should insurance companies pay for this experimental surgery and why should our rates go up because of the long term care that is required because of the surgery?
I like your observation, RFM. None of it - not the operations - not the testosterone for girls and young women - none of it is based on science/studies of long term outcomes. But, because there's an insurance code for "gender dysphoria" and because there is a great deal of money to be made - on it goes! It is Big Business.
You made me think of Corinna Cohn (a guy):
“They are learning about best practices and then experimenting on us. However, as someone once pointed out to me, it's not an experiment. In an experiment, someone is collecting data.”
"After a period on hormone replacement therapy, boys are expected to follow a path that includes castration and the construction of a vagina-like orifice using the penis as material. Without testicles, the boy will become dependent on external hormones for the rest of his life. Girls on this path will experience vaginal atrophy from testosterone, and eventually her other sex organs will be destroyed by the testosterone. After hysterectomy, the girl will become dependent on external hormones for the rest of her life."
"The medical leash of hormone replacement therapy
Children who are medically transitioned become permanent medical patients."
What is RFK's position on self-diagnosis in general? We know that legitimizing self-diagnosis provides the leverage by which children and activists can bypass any guardrails that physicians are meant to provide and jump straight to medicalization. I am not denying that the medical and science communities have failed in their responsibilities to provide these guardrails, however, my concern is RFK espouses a style of self-determinism regarding healthcare that can be interpreted as endorsing self-diagnosis.
Zooming out a bit, his appointment to HHS squares up closer to the administration's broader goals of eliminating established institutions and implementing the subtractive instruments of bans and repeals, not the additive provision of resources and support.
Countering gender ideology by imposing an equally blunt but opposing ideology, despite coincidentally aligning with valid concerns held by everyone here, is still denying people the opportunity to arrive at the truth trough an honest process.
But back to transgender self-diagnosis. That was a tactical masterstroke because it exploits the broader public's reasonable assumption that there have been responsible adults in the room at some point in the process. Shine some light on that.
Invalidating self-diagnosis for being grounded in whimsy can disable a foundational pillar of gender ideology. But can RFK thread this needle if he undermines trust in evidence-based medical practice elsewhere?
“Torpedoing self-diagnosis can disable a foundational pillar of gender ideology.”
I hear you, but that won’t solve the real problem. It’s not enough.
When the science is fake or corrupt (or simply wrong) then it doesn’t matter who makes the diagnosis, it’ll always be suspicious. Right? Josef Mengele was a highly credentialed expert. Cotton Mather was a highly credentialed expert. And now Jack Turban is a highly credentialed expert. An expert can be as far from the truth as a layman, or even farther. (See footnotes 1, 4, and 11.)
There's only one way out: to get the underlying science right. There is no science behind the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” and its “treatments”. Currently, our medical institutions are following the direction of activist groups and profiteers. So the answer is to not care what “experts” or anyone else says (that's the motto of the first scientists) but to follow the data wherever it leads and meanwhile to do no harm. RFK says that’s what he’ll do.
In the notes we put some addresses that seem to work, and Cindy has actually gotten a useful reply from one. (But as Una-Jane pointed out, paper gets attention, and all the links are written out to make paper easy to do.)
Paper: Secretary Kennedy, HHS, 200 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC 20201
You have given me an idea. I will write to the major gender critical psychotherapy organisations here in the UK (Genspect, CAN-SG and Dr Az Hakeem) asking them to adapt the US letter's contents and references to target our National Health Service. I will ask them to prepare a finished letter.
We GC campaigners can then get our supporters to send it to Wes Streeting, the Sec of State for Health and Social Care: he is fairly new to the job, and has recently critized the NHS loudly for promoting "woke" policies and erasing women instead of supplying basic Emergency services and other essential medical care. Fingers crossed!
I have been told by an MP face to face (at the LGB Alliance conference in 2023) that a typed or handwritten letter receives far more attention than an e-mail. There are of course far fewer of them, but the MP also has more time to think as he/she handles this form of correspondence. Thank you for reminding me.
🚨BREAKING: The @HHSGov has just released its official updated statement defining sex for all federal agencies, external partners, and the public!
SEX is a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.
FEMALE is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).
MALE is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.
The new guidance also includes detailed clarifying remarks:
"There are only two sexes, female and male, because there are only two types of gametes. An individual human is either female or male based on whether the person is of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova) or sperm.
"The sex of a human, female or male, is determined genetically at conception (fertilization), and is observable before birth. Having the biological function to produce eggs or sperm does not require that eggs or sperm are ever produced. Some females or males may not or may no longer produce eggs or sperm due to factors such as age, congenital disorders or other developmental conditions, injury, or medical conditions that cause infertility.
"A person’s sex is unchangeable and determined by objective biology. The use of hormones or surgical interventions do not change a person’s sex because such actions do not change the type of gamete that the person’s reproductive system has the biological function to produce. Rare disorders of sexual development do not constitute a third sex because these disorders do not lead to the production of a third gamete. That is, the reproductive system of a person with such a disorder does not produce gametes other than eggs or sperm."
Jason - yes, this is a great development! But, now, how can HHS/we get insurance companies to stop paying for Testosterone for young women like it is a treatment/cure for something? (FAKE/Quack Medicine!) I don't think my daughter would be on the verge if it were not covered/paid for. I bet many would not take "T" if it came with a $$ cost. And, I think the stuff is expensive - just not to them.
100% Big Business. Take away the easy access and the covered cost, and many of these youth would not be pushed into sterilization and mutilation, and so called "affirmative CARE". The entire TransGender push by medical and educational institutions are constantly screaming they do Care for those "marginalized" - but what they don't say is that they Care for the Funding they used to get (no longer) to push their ideology and then, the "treatments." All of which are ultimately directed by those hidden elites who wrote the WHO's agenda of de-population and de-struction of the family. Transgenderism is the ultimate way to distort and destroy the potency and protective powers of a MAN and the Nurturing, Creative powers and reproductive powers of Woman.
IG Farben, Krupp, and Flick ran profitable big businesses in the day:
"The United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al., also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after the end of World War II. IG Farben was the private German chemicals company allied with the Nazis that manufactured the Zyklon B gas used to commit genocide against millions of European Jews, Roma, homosexuals, socialists and other innocent civilians in the Holocaust."
"The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al., commonly known as the Krupp trial, was the tenth of twelve trials for war crimes that U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone at Nuremberg, Germany, after the end of World War II. It concerned the forced labor enterprises of the Krupp Group and other crimes committed by the company."
"The United States of America vs. Friedrich Flick, et al. or Flick trial was the fifth of twelve Nazi war crimes trials held by United States authorities in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after World War II. It was the first of three trials of leading industrialists of Nazi Germany; the two others were the IG Farben Trial and the Krupp Trial."
I’ve sadly seen tik tok videos of youngsters sharing places to buy their hormones off label/off market pretty cheaply & saying it’s worth it because you don’t have to go through any insurance coverage hoops or questions
They share & find a way. This trend just needs to end
I believe this is just the first step and that the current administration is looking for all avenues to defund institutions that deal in gender ideology. I feel like for the first time in a long time there is some common sense coming out of government.
I'm no expert - but it seems to me that the wind would be taken out of "Gender Medicine" if insurance did not have these codes (influenced by the now discredited WPATH) to get all this whacky dangerous "treatment" stuff paid for. The flow of $$ would not be there for harming otherwise healthy, if confused (often purposefully confused), patients who were set on a course with the ideology.
I completely agree. I hope it won't be too late for our family.
The Universities are all on board with gender ideology and university "health" all performs gender on students. So, that would be a good place to address. Our universities are where this sickness began.
But, in addition to institutions, all the health plans now cover this bogus "treatment" for a malady young people come to mostly by social contagion and too much rumination. Like, Blue Sheild, Aetna,... That needs to nipped/stopped. Where is their science to support paying for cross sex hormones? For amputations?
Friends, just a quick update: this very same day, RFK and HHS announced they are on our side.
“HHS is taking steps to implement policies protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation”
HHS replied to Cindy asking for specifics: "If you have submitted a brief policy idea, please also indicate a clear path to implementation. Specifying which agencies should be involved (such as the White House, HHS Office of the Secretary, CDC, FDA, USDA, or NIH et al) and what type of action will be needed (executive order, regulatory change, congressional funding, etc.) helps us to properly prioritize and categorize your proposal."
Doctors, public health people, lawyers, etc: we have their ear, what do we suggest as the clear path to implementation?
Who can yank this out of insurance for people over 18? Who can get these drugs and procedures banned (or at least not covered)?
"MAHA" should be spelled out the first time it is used. I personally have no idea what this acronym means, although the writer presumes that Secretary Kennedy does.
I just learned something:
11% of the trans population works in K-12 education (UCLA Williams Institute https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/dei-schools-eo-impact/)
5.2% of normies are employed in K-12 (BLS)
Why the 2X over-representation in K-12 schools?
Hmm…
I may have a better email for Nicole Shanahan:
team@nicoleshanahan.me
(Source her X feed)
Trans surgery is really experimental sugery particularly related to creating a vagina in a male. Has anyone heard of successful surgery? I haven't seen reports on that and I have only heard about the lifelong pain and medical issues when a vaginoplasty is attempted. So why should insurance companies pay for this experimental surgery and why should our rates go up because of the long term care that is required because of the surgery?
Excellent point: why SHOULD insurance companies pay for experimental surgery?
Why should insurance companies pay for cosmetic surgery?
I like your observation, RFM. None of it - not the operations - not the testosterone for girls and young women - none of it is based on science/studies of long term outcomes. But, because there's an insurance code for "gender dysphoria" and because there is a great deal of money to be made - on it goes! It is Big Business.
You made me think of Corinna Cohn (a guy):
“They are learning about best practices and then experimenting on us. However, as someone once pointed out to me, it's not an experiment. In an experiment, someone is collecting data.”
"After a period on hormone replacement therapy, boys are expected to follow a path that includes castration and the construction of a vagina-like orifice using the penis as material. Without testicles, the boy will become dependent on external hormones for the rest of his life. Girls on this path will experience vaginal atrophy from testosterone, and eventually her other sex organs will be destroyed by the testosterone. After hysterectomy, the girl will become dependent on external hormones for the rest of her life."
"The medical leash of hormone replacement therapy
Children who are medically transitioned become permanent medical patients."
by Corinna Cohn Sep 21, 2022
See also https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/heres-the-bottom-lineit-is-going?r=57dgq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web#details
Insurance companies should not pay for it. It is a terrible scam.
What is RFK's position on self-diagnosis in general? We know that legitimizing self-diagnosis provides the leverage by which children and activists can bypass any guardrails that physicians are meant to provide and jump straight to medicalization. I am not denying that the medical and science communities have failed in their responsibilities to provide these guardrails, however, my concern is RFK espouses a style of self-determinism regarding healthcare that can be interpreted as endorsing self-diagnosis.
Zooming out a bit, his appointment to HHS squares up closer to the administration's broader goals of eliminating established institutions and implementing the subtractive instruments of bans and repeals, not the additive provision of resources and support.
Countering gender ideology by imposing an equally blunt but opposing ideology, despite coincidentally aligning with valid concerns held by everyone here, is still denying people the opportunity to arrive at the truth trough an honest process.
But back to transgender self-diagnosis. That was a tactical masterstroke because it exploits the broader public's reasonable assumption that there have been responsible adults in the room at some point in the process. Shine some light on that.
Invalidating self-diagnosis for being grounded in whimsy can disable a foundational pillar of gender ideology. But can RFK thread this needle if he undermines trust in evidence-based medical practice elsewhere?
“Torpedoing self-diagnosis can disable a foundational pillar of gender ideology.”
I hear you, but that won’t solve the real problem. It’s not enough.
When the science is fake or corrupt (or simply wrong) then it doesn’t matter who makes the diagnosis, it’ll always be suspicious. Right? Josef Mengele was a highly credentialed expert. Cotton Mather was a highly credentialed expert. And now Jack Turban is a highly credentialed expert. An expert can be as far from the truth as a layman, or even farther. (See footnotes 1, 4, and 11.)
There's only one way out: to get the underlying science right. There is no science behind the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” and its “treatments”. Currently, our medical institutions are following the direction of activist groups and profiteers. So the answer is to not care what “experts” or anyone else says (that's the motto of the first scientists) but to follow the data wherever it leads and meanwhile to do no harm. RFK says that’s what he’ll do.
Yes, what is the best way to send this - is there an email address so the links will work?
In the notes we put some addresses that seem to work, and Cindy has actually gotten a useful reply from one. (But as Una-Jane pointed out, paper gets attention, and all the links are written out to make paper easy to do.)
Paper: Secretary Kennedy, HHS, 200 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC 20201
Toll-free phone: (877) 696-6775
Email: policy@mahatransition.org ; NShanahan@biaecho.org ; info@TeamKennedy.com
X: @RobertKennedyJr ; @NicoleShanahan
Fantastic! I'll write a letter too.
I am sending today!!!
Yes. In my opinion, Action is the best cure for Sorrow...
You have given me an idea. I will write to the major gender critical psychotherapy organisations here in the UK (Genspect, CAN-SG and Dr Az Hakeem) asking them to adapt the US letter's contents and references to target our National Health Service. I will ask them to prepare a finished letter.
We GC campaigners can then get our supporters to send it to Wes Streeting, the Sec of State for Health and Social Care: he is fairly new to the job, and has recently critized the NHS loudly for promoting "woke" policies and erasing women instead of supplying basic Emergency services and other essential medical care. Fingers crossed!
..just a point of detail. When you write, do you send emails or handwritten letters, I’m never sure about the impact, who reads them. Thanks, curious.
I have been told by an MP face to face (at the LGB Alliance conference in 2023) that a typed or handwritten letter receives far more attention than an e-mail. There are of course far fewer of them, but the MP also has more time to think as he/she handles this form of correspondence. Thank you for reminding me.
More than happy to do this if it makes a difference. Thanks for the feedback & I will do the same
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2025/02/19/hhs-takes-action-president-trumps-executive-orders-defending-women-children.html
I have re-tweeted this for the UK market to our politicians and others. I am @STranswidows
I’ll ride the wave of optimism & go with bonkers. Nothing to lose imo, already lost my kids, nothing else is more important
🚨BREAKING: The @HHSGov has just released its official updated statement defining sex for all federal agencies, external partners, and the public!
SEX is a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.
FEMALE is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).
MALE is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.
The new guidance also includes detailed clarifying remarks:
"There are only two sexes, female and male, because there are only two types of gametes. An individual human is either female or male based on whether the person is of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova) or sperm.
"The sex of a human, female or male, is determined genetically at conception (fertilization), and is observable before birth. Having the biological function to produce eggs or sperm does not require that eggs or sperm are ever produced. Some females or males may not or may no longer produce eggs or sperm due to factors such as age, congenital disorders or other developmental conditions, injury, or medical conditions that cause infertility.
"A person’s sex is unchangeable and determined by objective biology. The use of hormones or surgical interventions do not change a person’s sex because such actions do not change the type of gamete that the person’s reproductive system has the biological function to produce. Rare disorders of sexual development do not constitute a third sex because these disorders do not lead to the production of a third gamete. That is, the reproductive system of a person with such a disorder does not produce gametes other than eggs or sperm."
Jason - yes, this is a great development! But, now, how can HHS/we get insurance companies to stop paying for Testosterone for young women like it is a treatment/cure for something? (FAKE/Quack Medicine!) I don't think my daughter would be on the verge if it were not covered/paid for. I bet many would not take "T" if it came with a $$ cost. And, I think the stuff is expensive - just not to them.
This is such a racket.
100% Big Business. Take away the easy access and the covered cost, and many of these youth would not be pushed into sterilization and mutilation, and so called "affirmative CARE". The entire TransGender push by medical and educational institutions are constantly screaming they do Care for those "marginalized" - but what they don't say is that they Care for the Funding they used to get (no longer) to push their ideology and then, the "treatments." All of which are ultimately directed by those hidden elites who wrote the WHO's agenda of de-population and de-struction of the family. Transgenderism is the ultimate way to distort and destroy the potency and protective powers of a MAN and the Nurturing, Creative powers and reproductive powers of Woman.
IG Farben, Krupp, and Flick ran profitable big businesses in the day:
"The United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al., also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after the end of World War II. IG Farben was the private German chemicals company allied with the Nazis that manufactured the Zyklon B gas used to commit genocide against millions of European Jews, Roma, homosexuals, socialists and other innocent civilians in the Holocaust."
"The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al., commonly known as the Krupp trial, was the tenth of twelve trials for war crimes that U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone at Nuremberg, Germany, after the end of World War II. It concerned the forced labor enterprises of the Krupp Group and other crimes committed by the company."
"The United States of America vs. Friedrich Flick, et al. or Flick trial was the fifth of twelve Nazi war crimes trials held by United States authorities in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after World War II. It was the first of three trials of leading industrialists of Nazi Germany; the two others were the IG Farben Trial and the Krupp Trial."
The above is from Wiki.
Pedro Gonazales sets it out for the here and now: https://pitt.substack.com/p/lets-read-the-transgender-leviathan
Clear and well stated, Momma Bear.
I’ve sadly seen tik tok videos of youngsters sharing places to buy their hormones off label/off market pretty cheaply & saying it’s worth it because you don’t have to go through any insurance coverage hoops or questions
They share & find a way. This trend just needs to end
It's all of the above. Sure, there are youngsters who do that - but where is the big MONEY being made on cross sex hormones?
The trend does need to end, for sure.
💯
I believe this is just the first step and that the current administration is looking for all avenues to defund institutions that deal in gender ideology. I feel like for the first time in a long time there is some common sense coming out of government.
I'm no expert - but it seems to me that the wind would be taken out of "Gender Medicine" if insurance did not have these codes (influenced by the now discredited WPATH) to get all this whacky dangerous "treatment" stuff paid for. The flow of $$ would not be there for harming otherwise healthy, if confused (often purposefully confused), patients who were set on a course with the ideology.
It's basically fraud.
I completely agree. I hope it won't be too late for our family.
The Universities are all on board with gender ideology and university "health" all performs gender on students. So, that would be a good place to address. Our universities are where this sickness began.
But, in addition to institutions, all the health plans now cover this bogus "treatment" for a malady young people come to mostly by social contagion and too much rumination. Like, Blue Sheild, Aetna,... That needs to nipped/stopped. Where is their science to support paying for cross sex hormones? For amputations?
It’s extreme but perhaps cut off your daughter’s access to college funding until the colleges are safe again?
She's a college graduate with a job now. So, she has insurance of her own.
Friends, just a quick update: this very same day, RFK and HHS announced they are on our side.
“HHS is taking steps to implement policies protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation”
HHS replied to Cindy asking for specifics: "If you have submitted a brief policy idea, please also indicate a clear path to implementation. Specifying which agencies should be involved (such as the White House, HHS Office of the Secretary, CDC, FDA, USDA, or NIH et al) and what type of action will be needed (executive order, regulatory change, congressional funding, etc.) helps us to properly prioritize and categorize your proposal."
Doctors, public health people, lawyers, etc: we have their ear, what do we suggest as the clear path to implementation?
Who can yank this out of insurance for people over 18? Who can get these drugs and procedures banned (or at least not covered)?
Again, here's today's HHS press release:
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2025/02/19/hhs-takes-action-president-trumps-executive-orders-defending-women-children.html
Done
Excellent letter. Thanks for sharing
I'm sorry but this sounds like asking for help from the insane. Even if he could help I don't want his help. It helps legitimize this insane person.
Like vote for Hitler to get better roads. The Germans would have been better off with no Autobahn.
"MAHA" should be spelled out the first time it is used. I personally have no idea what this acronym means, although the writer presumes that Secretary Kennedy does.
"Make America Healthy Again".