Free Republic

New York City lawmakers are weighing making it easier for transgender people to change the sex on their birth certificates. […] The City Council’s Health Committee […] would eliminate a requirement for people to have gender-reassignment surgery in order to change the documents. Instead, a health professional would be able to affirm that the change would more accurately reflect the person’s gender. …

People say America is one of the most religious countries in the world. But is it religious in the way that you think it is? You’re bound to learn something new in this list:

The Democrats’ “war on women” strategy has always been frivolous and intellectually dishonest, and it is now being revealed as ineffective, too. Let us call the roll: Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state hoping to oust Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is trailing in the polls in spite of being a cause célèbre for the Hollywood Left — Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Katzenberg have lavished Manhattan and Beverly Hills money upon her race — even after having engaged in such questionable shenanigans as attempting to portray Senator McConnell, an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, as...

Via Katherine Timpf of NRO, I’m 90 percent sure this is a hoax. No, wait, let me rephrase: I would be 90 percent sure this is a hoax, if not for the fact that the school superintendent confirmed on a local radio show that these materials were handed out to teachers at one Lincoln-area middle school. Repeat: Middle school.Oh well. High time America’s 10-year-olds started considering whether they’re cis or trans.The recommendations about intervening when an androgynous child is being bullied are fine, but c’mon. This isn’t real, is it?I can’t read those italicized parts without hearing Mike Judge...

I probably would have missed this story were it not for Maggie Gallagher at The Corner. It seems that the good people on the appeal board considering a case at Atherton High School (part of the Jefferson County public school system) have determined that you can use the girls’ bathrooms, locker room and showers if you say you’re a girl. No physical required. A transgender teenager, who was born male but identifies as a female, can continue to use a women’s restroom and locker room at a Jefferson County Public School. In a 5-to-1 vote, an appeal board upheld...

In her speech to the United Nations last week, first lady Michelle Obama chose to highlight some of the negative things that women face in the United States today. "Women are still woefully underrepresented in our government and in the senior ranks of our corporations," Obama said at the Global Education First Initiative event. "We still struggle with violence against women and harmful cultural norms that tell women how they are expected to look and act." The first lady, meanwhile, made no mention of women who are regularly raped and beaten in Afghanistan, forced to kill their female babies in...

Who runs the world? In these six societies: Girls. By standard definition, a matriarchy is a “family, group or state governed by a matriarch (a woman who is head of a family or tribe).” Anthropologists and feminists have since created more specific classifications for female societies, including the matrilineal system. Matrilineality refers not only to tracing one’s lineage through maternal ancestry, it can also refer to a civil system in which one inherits property through the female line. While the legendary Amazons (probably the most widely known matriarchy) are relegated to mythology, there are a handful of female-led societies...

Starting this year, applicants to Northwestern University's graduate school will be asked about their sexual orientation.. The optional question asks whether applicants consider themselves to be members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community. The aim of the question, The Graduate School stated in announcing it, is to gain a clearer understanding of the school's community to better serve all in the school.

In the genetic history of our species, the mamas outnumber the papas. A new study in Investigative Genetics reports that females have made a bigger contribution than men. By studying the DNA of 623 males from 51 populations, the researchers found more genetic diversity in the DNA inherited from mothers than they did in the DNA inherited from fathers. At first glance, these results could be taken to mean that there used to be more women than men. But if you know anything about history, it makes more sense to blame reproductive habits: In many cultures, more women reproduced than...

Last Friday, the White House announced its “It’s On Us” initiative aimed at combating sexual assaults on college campuses. I’m all in favor of combating sexual assault, but the first priority in combating a problem is understanding it. That’s not the White House’s first priority. Roughly six weeks before Election Day, its chief concern is to translate an exciting social-media campaign into a get-out-the-vote operation. Accurate statistics are of limited use in that regard because rape and sexual assault have been declining for decades. So the Obama administration and its allied activist groups trot out the claim that there is...

The American Sociological Association, the leading professional organization for American sociologists, is now granting its members much greater leeway in how to define their gender identities. Previously, the ASA’s membership surveys only allowed three choices of gender: “male,” “female” and “prefer not to answer.” Now, as reported at Inside Higher Ed, members will have no fewer than seven options for their gender choice, with the added ability to select “all that apply.” The added options include “transgender male/transgender man,” “transgender female/transgender woman,” “genderqueer/gender non-conforming,” or another “preferred identity” of their choice not explicitly named. “Genderqueer” is defined by the Gender...

It's almost time for the Friday Night Huddle, and the best high school teams in the region are gearing up for kickoff. News 5 found a special player in Chilhowie, who is breaking barriers and a few face masks. Rachel Poston spends an hour each day in U.S. History with the school's head football coach, but it's what she is doing outside of that classroom that's making history -- she's the first female to earn a starting position on the Warriors' special team....

Swedish football coach Pia Sundhage has spoken out, the coaches concerned are under review and gender experts have warned that prejudice remains after two young players were accused of being boys. "Traditional gender roles are in many areas deeply entrenched," Sofia B. Karlsson, who is involved in the Football for All project, told The Local. Football for All (Fotboll för Alla) is a cooperation between Stockholm professional club AIK and Amphi Produktion and aims to develop training materials and methods to tackle racism, homophobia and sexism within the game at all levels. "We want to develop tools so that everyone...

No, your eyes do not deceive you and thankfully this is no joke — Marvel has given an upgrade to one of its biggest superheroes. And by that we mean: there’s a new superlady in town and she’s wielding the hammer of Thor! As announced on “The View,” and confirmed by Marvel, a new comic written by Jason Aaron, with art by Russell Dauterman will launch ongoing this Fall, after the original God of Thunder loses the ability to wield his signature hammer. Thor doesn’t just look like a lady with those long and luscious Norse locks of his —...

SAN JOSE -- The Sharks are not backing down from their plan to recruit "ice girls" to help clean the playing surface during each game despite a backlash from a segment of their fan base. "Fans take pride in the Sharks not objectifying women. Please keep the Tank a family environment," SharksFanTX wrote on Twitter. Another ended her Twitter complaint with an "#icegirlsareadealbreaker" hashtag, vowing to cancel season tickets if the team sticks with its plan. And with little publicity, a "Say NO to Sharks Ice Girls" page on Facebook, as well as a similar petition at change.org, attracted more...

In response to a petition that reportedly garnered over 50,000 signatories, the mayor of Houston has pledged to defend an antidiscrimination ordinance that critics say will allow transgendered men to use women's bathrooms. Mayor Annise Parker, supporter of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, has stated that the ordinance will not be repealed. "The Houston I know does not discriminate, treats everyone equally and allows full participation by everyone in civic and business life," said Parker, in a statement shared with The Christian Post. "We don't care where you come from, the color of your skin, your age, gender, what physical...

As a very young man, your humble author thought to experiment around with psychedelic drugs. The utter lack of connection to reality was very profound, and very scary. However, when the drugs wore off, reality returned. These days, American reality is so bizarre as to be similar to the psychedelic unreality experienced so many decades ago. In many ways, it is very similar to Alice in Wonderland, and her journey down the rabbit hole. "Curiouser and curiouser," we observe, as America spirals into a state of being in full flight from reality. The example I am focusing on, today, is...

Medical science is making bold new leaps every day. Not only is there a new medication out that is just like the old medication, except it costs 10 times as much, but the American Medical Association has decided that gender is purely imaginary.For thousands of years, human ignorance convinced us that there were two genders. Now the AMA says that gender is imaginary. You can be any gender you want. Change gender every week. Or every day. We’re in Hopechangeistan now. Biology, like economics and military science, are purely imaginary fields. “Science” says so. In other action Monday, the AMA...

British Columbia teachers have been at war with the province for more than a decade, and are set to walk out on strike just days before the end of the school year. Normally I would question the wisdom of a strike that takes place over the summer holidays (who’s going to notice?) and is related to unreasonable pay demands. But not in this case. B.C., it is clear, does not view schools as a place in which children are taught the basic tools necessary to navigate life – math, science, geography – but as petri dishes for social experimentation in...

Catholic sociologist Gabriele Kuby meets Pope Benedict in November 2012. VATICAN – Pope Francis strongly condemned “gender ideology” in a private conversation with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun earlier this year, the bishop related in a recent essay. In doing so, the pope follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Nearing the end of his pontificate, the pope emeritus spoke twice about gender ideology as “a negative trend for humankind,” and a “profound falsehood,” which “it is the duty of pastors of the Church” to put the faithful “on guard against.” Bishop Laun, auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, wrote...