Today we debate whether “gender-affirming care” is child abuse and discuss the concept of trans exceptionalism, and Jamie and Lisa tell us about a recent debate between Marci Bowers and Brianna Wu.

* ACLU sues Indiana

* Transphobic toddler

* Washington State blocks women’s sports proposal

* CA Dems block women’s sports and spaces bills

* Trans protester arrested in Florida bathroom

* Nevada reverses sports policy

* Maine hit with another funding block

* Fencing female takes the knee

* Politics and Prose talk with Jennifer Finney Boylan and Sarah McBride

* Brianna Wu/Marci Bowers debate

* Duke Symposium with Bowers

* Hostages doc

* Open Socrates

* BBC’s Don’t Tell the Bride

* Going Clear

* Remembering Satan

After going over the week’s gender-related news headlines, the gang discusses Tuesday’s “listening session” with New Hampshire Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D), hosted by the League of Women Voters. Jamie and Cori attended the listening session (i.e., struggle session), as did a lot of very angry New Hampshirites. It all made for some prime gender-culture-war podcast material.

* U.S. DoE investigates California DoE

* Ed. Sec. Linda McMahon’s letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom

* DoE’s Office for Civil Rights opens Title IX investigation into Portland Public Schools

* 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in Idaho

* U of Maine complies

* Maine school officials do not comply

* Maine poll on sports issue

* Cheek swabs in World Athletics

* Trump Admin denied by DC judge

* New Hampshire bills

* Jonah Wheeler testimony on House floor

* Zoom hacked

* listening session coverage

* Jamie’s livestream part 1

* Jamie’s livestream part 2

* Amos Oz memoir

* Phyllis Chesler memoir

* Adolescence on Netflix

This week, Lisa tells us about a surreal conversation she had with a NYC school principal. This leads us to a discussion on how to reach people who interpret all gender heresy as cruelty.

Lisa’s Substack

Eliza’s Substack

Ben’s Substack

Cori’s Substack

Jamie’s Substack

The White Lotus AGP scene

Lisa’s piece on The White Lotus for UnHerd

Delaware legislation

Cori’s encounter in Delaware

Cori’s Montana testimony

Lisa, Cori, and Ben talk to NYC school committee about gender ideology

New Hampshire HB148

This week, Jamie, Cori, and Ben discuss Detrans Awareness Day and view a recording of Jamie’s recent testimony in Wisconsin. That takes us down a long and winding path into politics, authoritarianism, postmodernism, queer theory, and anarchy.

* Detrans Awareness Day

* Jamie’s testimony

* Dutch protocol

* Citizens United

* Mahmoud Khalil

* Making misgendering a crime

* Derrick Jensen

* Queer theory jeopardy

* zines

* Patty Hearst

* VIP retweet

This week we chat about Trump’s address to Congress, Jamie’s and Cori’s testimonies in New Hampshire, and the tragic story of Sam Nordquist, whose murder has been compared by the press to Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998. We revisit that event and discuss how news outlets and activist organizations misrepresent the facts to fuel specific narratives. We plan to make this the first part of a series of “mythbusting” episodes.

* Trump address

* Al Green

* Payton McNabb story

* January Littlejohn

* transgender mice

* New Hampshire legislation

* The murder of Sam Nordquist

* The Book of Matt

* Common Man dip

* Ann Bauer tweet

* Noise

First, Jamie updates us on some West Virginia legislation, and we discuss the transgender military ban as well as Chris Rufo’s reporting on leaked discussions from an LGBTQ chatroom within the NSA. Then it’s on to the main topic of this week’s episode: pronouns.

* ‘Health committee targets loopholes in West Virginia’s gender affirming care ban’

* Clip from Jamie’s testimony

* Trans military ban update

* NSA sex chat

* Rufo’s interview with whistleblower

* $450,000 settlement for Ohio teacher who refused to use students’ pronouns

* Federal employees told to remove pronouns from email signatures by end of day

* Pronouns, free speech, and the First Amendment

* New Hampshire event, featuring Jamie and Cori

After discussing some recent developments in Kansas and Colorado (including a proposed law that would prohibit deadnaming dead people), we delve into last night’s event at Vermont’s Middlebury College. There, Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir and the activist Brianna Wu debated the question, “What is the right public policy approach to transgender medicine?” The debate had everything—Leor’s smarts, Brianna’s obfuscations, some sort of wind instrument, and some very angry nonbinary people.

* The debate

* WaPo’s coverage of the Kansas ban on pediatric sex-trait modification

* Colorado detrans bill of rights

* Colorado proposed legislation

* Leor’s work for City Journal

* Fleabag

* We Were the Lucky Ones

* Paris When It Sizzles

* Butterfield 8

This week, we break down The New York Times’ recent coverage of the trans debate, and the market and technological forces that transformed the journalism industry. We wonder and worry about which kids will continue to identify as trans after the trend has gone from cool to… whatever the complete opposite of cool is. Speaking of cool: Did you know that conservative is the new punk?

Also: a trip to a lesbian speed-dating comedy show! Guess how many of the lesbians were female?

Our recommendations this week:

Pretzel salt!The new Heterodorx episode on Emilia Perez!Needle felting! It’s the best!

New York Times articles:

How Trump Uses Language to Attack the Idea of Transgender Identity

Trump’s Shameful Campaign Against Transgender Americans

Trump Signs Order Barring Transgender Student-Athletes From Women’s Sports

N.C.A.A., Following Trump’s Order, Excludes Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

Transgender Americans Challenge Trump’s Passport Policy in Court

I’m a Transgender Woman. This Is Not the Metamorphosis I Was Expecting

Transgender Americans say Trump’s orders are even worse than feared

Trump Bars Transgender Women From U.S. Prisons for Female Inmates

N.Y. Attorney General Warns Hospitals Against Canceling Transgender Care

‘A Bounty on My Head’: Congress’s First Transgender Member Faces the Trump Era

New Hampshire High School Trans Athletes Take Their Fight to Trump

This week, Lisa, Eliza, Ben, and Cori discuss the current state of things, now that the American public has had some time to digest Trump’s executive orders on gender. We talk about the schools, the hospitals, the protests, and the media’s dogged insistence on reporting inaccurately about this topic. Finally, we brainstorm ways to talk to those who are dismayed and/or confused by recent developments.

* NYU Langone protest

* Cynthia Nixon’s speech

* Tiffany Cabán’s speech

* Sports executive order

* New York Times coverage of sports EO

* NYC Prop 1

* Leticia James ‘Dear Colleague’ letter

* Lisa’s Broadview piece on school curriculum

* Courage Coalition

* Ben’s piece on the suicide myth

* South Africa/USAID piece

* Mushroom therapy

* Informed Dissent’s Weekly News Roundup

This week, we discuss Jamie’s trip to Kansas, where she testified in support of ban on blockers, hormones, and surgeries for minors; and the implications of Trump’s executive order on “gender-affirming care”/“chemical and surgical mutilation”/pediatric sex trait modification.

* Jamie’s testimony

* Kansas Senate bill

* Kansas House bill

* Executive order “chemical and surgical mutilation”

* Executive order on “military excellence and readiness”

* Executive order on “radical indoctrination”

* Planned Parenthood video

* Amaze video

* Nonbinary mom video

* Trans prayer circle video

* Lisa’s Broadview piece

* Jennifer Block on Planned Parenthood

* Erin Reed’s Bluesky

* Some hospitals pause GAC

* Alex Capo/Charlton School

* Matthew McConaughey’s tuna salad

* The Magic Flute

* ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer

* The Diplomat on Netflix

* Informed Dissent’s weekly newsletter:

Thank you all for listening, reading, and subscribing!