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GLAAD pushes Big Tech to censor trans ‘disinformation’

GLAAD wants to censor discussion surrounding gender-affirming care. Credit: Getty

June 29, 2023 - 4:30pm

This week, GLAAD called on social media companies to censor open discussion of “gender-affirming care” under the guise of banishing “disinformation”. In an open letter signed by over 250 celebrities and influencers, GLAAD condemned Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok for spreading “anti-trans hate and malicious disinformation about trans healthcare”.

This disinformation and hate, inadequately moderated on your platforms, plays an outsized role in the sharp increase in real-world anti-transgender targeting and violence,” GLAAD claims, citing last year’s deadly shooting at a gay club in Colorado Springs. (The shooter’s non-binary identity, which threatens to throw a wrench in this particular narrative, doesn’t warrant a mention).

But as reporter Jesse Singal points out, if this censorship policy “were enacted, it would mean that users could get suspended or banned for e.g. publishing the Swedish health authority’s view that ‘the risks of [youth gender medicine] currently outweigh the possible benefits.’” 

There’s also an interesting definition of “disinformation” at work here. “Disinformation”, in this case, refers to information that is accurate but which may lead readers to the “wrong” conclusions. In other words, information that leads readers to question the “safety and necessity” of “gender-affirming healthcare” for youth, such as clear descriptions of what that neat little euphemism actually entails — specifically, experimental suppression of normal human development and double mastectomies for troubled 14-year-olds. 

Thus, Twitter accounts that share unedited promotional videos from children’s gender clinics describing the hormonal and surgical interventions they provide to underage patients become purveyors of “inflammatory disinformation falsely asserting that this healthcare is dangerous”. 

This inconsistency is most evident in the contradictory statements issued by defenders of pharmaceutical and surgical interventions for gender-questioning youth. On the one hand, activists celebrate “top surgery” for “transmasculine boys”, or “TGNB AYA DFAB” (transgender and gender non-binary adolescents and young adults designated female at birth). But on the other hand, breast amputations for adolescent females with psychiatric comorbidities is plain “disinformation”. 

Never mind that these are two ways of describing the same surgical interventions on the same patient population. But the first is ideologically compliant (the reader may or may not understand what “top surgery” for TGNB AYA DFABs means, but they’re likely to conclude it’s safe and necessary), while the second formulation risks leading readers to the “wrong” conclusions. 

GLAAD is more honest about its mission than it is about the controversy over “gender-affirming healthcare” for minors. The organisation describes itself as “changing the culture”, as well as “tackling issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change”. Sometimes, though, “shaping the narrative” means intervening to remove inconvenient facts from the picture. 

GLAAD’s approach — the shameless exertion of peer pressure in defiance of open dialogue and evidence — is transparent in the press release’s subject line, which is light on substance and packed with endorsements from celebrities and influencers ranging from Laverne Cox and Jamie Lee Curtis to noted trans healthcare experts like Amy Schumer and Ocean Vuong. 

What we see here is a consensus theory of truth that operates across the captured institutions of Genderland. Gender-affirming care is “safe” and “necessary” if enough people insist it is, even if the research suggests otherwise. Anyone who takes a more evidence-based approach risks arriving at the wrong conclusions, and may find herself guilty of spreading “disinformation” and fanning the flames of “anti-trans hate”. 

Every movement must decide what will best serve the cause: sunlight or censorship? Does free and open dialogue help the cause or hinder it? Does informing the public about an issue build support or demolish it? It’s telling that GLAAD has opted for censorship. 


Eliza Mondegreen is a graduate student in psychiatry and the author of Writing Behavior on Substack.

elizamondegreen

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Lennon Ó Náraigh
Lennon Ó Náraigh
10 months ago

Generally, anything with “care” in the name is a red flag. Gender-affirming care (mutilation), care homes (Covid death-traps), care in the community (making mentally ill people homeless), children in care (handing vulnerable kids over to grooming gangs). If something really is care it doesn’t have to be spelled out. Time maybe for someone to “take care” of GLAAD.

Last edited 10 months ago by Lennon Ó Náraigh
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
10 months ago

I’ve just taken the train into Manchester (UK) and passed what was once a major “engine shed” where steam locos were maintained.

There’s a huge sign (at some expense) and it’s now called “Traincare”.

It doesn’t make me feel confident in the service.

Steve Murray
Steve Murray
10 months ago

I’ve just taken the train into Manchester (UK) and passed what was once a major “engine shed” where steam locos were maintained.

There’s a huge sign (at some expense) and it’s now called “Traincare”.

It doesn’t make me feel confident in the service.

Lennon Ó Náraigh
Lennon Ó Náraigh
10 months ago

Generally, anything with “care” in the name is a red flag. Gender-affirming care (mutilation), care homes (Covid death-traps), care in the community (making mentally ill people homeless), children in care (handing vulnerable kids over to grooming gangs). If something really is care it doesn’t have to be spelled out. Time maybe for someone to “take care” of GLAAD.

Last edited 10 months ago by Lennon Ó Náraigh
Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
10 months ago

Seriously. WTF is wrong with these people!!’ Leave the frickin kids alone. I think celebrity trans activist Jazz Jennings is working on her fourth surgery now. She’s still a kid – one who will be medicalized her entire life.

They tell us violence on trans people is on the rise. No numbers of course, but plenty of celebrity endorsements.

This is the type of nonsensical, dangerous garbage that makes me feel like we’re doomed.

Dominic A
Dominic A
10 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

It’s a lot to do with narcissism – people latching on to a cause that makes them feel heroic; the outsized influence a clever narcissist can have is a thing to behold (and t’was ever thus). We surely live in an age of narcissism. Here’s an adaption of a comment originally about conspiracy theorists (who are perhaps just another form of narcissist) –

Narcissism can supply certainty, in response to overwhelming anxiety (a sure path when one feels lost); prestige, where there are self-esteem problems (‘I possess specialness most people do not have) & ability (‘I have the power to reject “experts” and expose hidden cabals’); vindication when one feels besieged (my ‘enemies’ are wrong, morally, scientifically)’; connection when one feels alone; and liberation:, ‘If I imagine my foes are completely malevolent, then I can use any tactic I want’.

Nancy G
Nancy G
10 months ago
Reply to  Dominic A

We also live in an age where (the claim of) victimhood (“trans are the most oppressed and marginalised people in the world”) confers much of the above, especially prestige.

Nancy G
Nancy G
10 months ago
Reply to  Dominic A

We also live in an age where (the claim of) victimhood (“trans are the most oppressed and marginalised people in the world”) confers much of the above, especially prestige.

Dominic A
Dominic A
10 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

It’s a lot to do with narcissism – people latching on to a cause that makes them feel heroic; the outsized influence a clever narcissist can have is a thing to behold (and t’was ever thus). We surely live in an age of narcissism. Here’s an adaption of a comment originally about conspiracy theorists (who are perhaps just another form of narcissist) –

Narcissism can supply certainty, in response to overwhelming anxiety (a sure path when one feels lost); prestige, where there are self-esteem problems (‘I possess specialness most people do not have) & ability (‘I have the power to reject “experts” and expose hidden cabals’); vindication when one feels besieged (my ‘enemies’ are wrong, morally, scientifically)’; connection when one feels alone; and liberation:, ‘If I imagine my foes are completely malevolent, then I can use any tactic I want’.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
10 months ago

Seriously. WTF is wrong with these people!!’ Leave the frickin kids alone. I think celebrity trans activist Jazz Jennings is working on her fourth surgery now. She’s still a kid – one who will be medicalized her entire life.

They tell us violence on trans people is on the rise. No numbers of course, but plenty of celebrity endorsements.

This is the type of nonsensical, dangerous garbage that makes me feel like we’re doomed.

R Wright
R Wright
10 months ago

GLAAD is a textbook astroturf organisation and can be ignored. It receives virtually none of its funding from individuals, and the bulk of its funding (as from its latest financial report) comes from, among others:
Anheuser-Busch Inc
Arcus Foundation
Absolut Vodka
Gill Foundation
Gilead Sciences, Inc
Netflix
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Wells Fargo Ban
This is not a resistance fighter. It is a corporate shill.

R Wright
R Wright
10 months ago

GLAAD is a textbook astroturf organisation and can be ignored. It receives virtually none of its funding from individuals, and the bulk of its funding (as from its latest financial report) comes from, among others:
Anheuser-Busch Inc
Arcus Foundation
Absolut Vodka
Gill Foundation
Gilead Sciences, Inc
Netflix
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Wells Fargo Ban
This is not a resistance fighter. It is a corporate shill.

Gerald Arcuri
Gerald Arcuri
10 months ago

Take a page from the Communist Manifesto, add in some propaganda about “disinformation” from the KGB book of double-speak ( lies ) and you have the formula for the gender-perverting totalitarian movement know as GLAAD. These people aren’t interested in the truth; they are interested in power. Does that sound vaguely familiar?

Gerald Arcuri
Gerald Arcuri
10 months ago

Take a page from the Communist Manifesto, add in some propaganda about “disinformation” from the KGB book of double-speak ( lies ) and you have the formula for the gender-perverting totalitarian movement know as GLAAD. These people aren’t interested in the truth; they are interested in power. Does that sound vaguely familiar?

William Shaw
William Shaw
10 months ago

It’s ironic that on the GLAAD website at the side of the article are links to other GLAAD articles, one of which is “Organizing to Defeat Book Bans in Your Community.”
Apparently, only some things should be banned, some bans must be defeated.
Luckily GLAAD will tell us which is which.

William Shaw
William Shaw
10 months ago

It’s ironic that on the GLAAD website at the side of the article are links to other GLAAD articles, one of which is “Organizing to Defeat Book Bans in Your Community.”
Apparently, only some things should be banned, some bans must be defeated.
Luckily GLAAD will tell us which is which.

Matt M
Matt M
10 months ago

I looked through the whole list of 200 “celebs” who signed this letter from Abby Wambach to Zooey Deschanel and I had only heard of two of them – Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Stewart.
Can you do better than me?

N Satori
N Satori
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Yep! All very much C list celebs though.
Sam Smith (transgender pop singer)
Padma Lakshmi (Salman Rushdie’s ex)
Mandy Patinkin (that’s a bloke)
Haley Baldwin Bieber (wife of Justin)
Dakota Fanning (minor actress)
Bebe Rexha (minor pop singer)
Amy Schumer (minor comedienne)
Allison Goldfrapp (pop singer of fading glory)
The rest must be small time YouTubers, Instagramers, TikTokers with some sort of cult following. In all cases I dare say their moral compass will be iinfluenced by their career prospects. 

Last edited 10 months ago by N Satori
Matt M
Matt M
10 months ago
Reply to  N Satori

Nicely done. Your knowledge of pop culture is pretty impressive.

N Satori
N Satori
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Nothing I’m proud of!

N Satori
N Satori
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Nothing I’m proud of!

Matt M
Matt M
10 months ago
Reply to  N Satori

Nicely done. Your knowledge of pop culture is pretty impressive.

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Sad to see see Patrick Stewart on there. I always thought Captain Picard would fight against this nonsense.

Russell Sharpe
Russell Sharpe
10 months ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

There must be thousands of people named Patrick Stewart. There is no indication which one signed.

Russell Sharpe
Russell Sharpe
10 months ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

There must be thousands of people named Patrick Stewart. There is no indication which one signed.

N Satori
N Satori
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Yep! All very much C list celebs though.
Sam Smith (transgender pop singer)
Padma Lakshmi (Salman Rushdie’s ex)
Mandy Patinkin (that’s a bloke)
Haley Baldwin Bieber (wife of Justin)
Dakota Fanning (minor actress)
Bebe Rexha (minor pop singer)
Amy Schumer (minor comedienne)
Allison Goldfrapp (pop singer of fading glory)
The rest must be small time YouTubers, Instagramers, TikTokers with some sort of cult following. In all cases I dare say their moral compass will be iinfluenced by their career prospects. 

Last edited 10 months ago by N Satori
Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
10 months ago
Reply to  Matt M

Sad to see see Patrick Stewart on there. I always thought Captain Picard would fight against this nonsense.

Matt M
Matt M
10 months ago

I looked through the whole list of 200 “celebs” who signed this letter from Abby Wambach to Zooey Deschanel and I had only heard of two of them – Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Stewart.
Can you do better than me?

David McKee
David McKee
10 months ago

I suspect these are the ‘slebs’ who would turn up for the opening of the proverbial envelope.
As so it will continue, until they register that signing round robins like this will harm rather than help their careers. I don’t imagine they care tuppence one way or the other. It’s just free publicity, innit?

David McKee
David McKee
10 months ago

I suspect these are the ‘slebs’ who would turn up for the opening of the proverbial envelope.
As so it will continue, until they register that signing round robins like this will harm rather than help their careers. I don’t imagine they care tuppence one way or the other. It’s just free publicity, innit?

Sandra Currie
Sandra Currie
10 months ago

Ever notice how the left is acting just like the right and still think they are progressive?

Sandra Currie
Sandra Currie
10 months ago

Ever notice how the left is acting just like the right and still think they are progressive?

Benjamin Greco
Benjamin Greco
10 months ago

Calling for something and getting it are two different things. I can’t see the new regime at Twitter acquiescing to GLAAD’s request. I’m not so sure about the others but let’s wait and see if GLAAD gets what it wants before panicking.
We need to keep pointing out the insanity, but a more practical approach would be an organization that helps parents find caregivers who can treat their children without a gender affirming approach that entails irreversible medical interventions. I hope they exist, and I just haven’t heard about them. Organizing to offer an alternative is part of living in a free society.
This and other woke nonsense will end, it is too stupid to stand for very long. Sadly, in the meantime a small percentage of children will do serious damage to their lives. Still the decisions about their children’s care should be left to parents. A world without injustice will never exist, and the state shouldn’t intervene in things best left to individuals. That’s also called freedom. 

Lisa Duval
Lisa Duval
9 months ago
Reply to  Benjamin Greco

https://www.genderexploratory.com/
GETA is a group of gender critical therapists with a nationwide and even international database of non-affirming clinicians.

Lisa Duval
Lisa Duval
9 months ago
Reply to  Benjamin Greco

https://www.genderexploratory.com/
GETA is a group of gender critical therapists with a nationwide and even international database of non-affirming clinicians.

Benjamin Greco
Benjamin Greco
10 months ago

Calling for something and getting it are two different things. I can’t see the new regime at Twitter acquiescing to GLAAD’s request. I’m not so sure about the others but let’s wait and see if GLAAD gets what it wants before panicking.
We need to keep pointing out the insanity, but a more practical approach would be an organization that helps parents find caregivers who can treat their children without a gender affirming approach that entails irreversible medical interventions. I hope they exist, and I just haven’t heard about them. Organizing to offer an alternative is part of living in a free society.
This and other woke nonsense will end, it is too stupid to stand for very long. Sadly, in the meantime a small percentage of children will do serious damage to their lives. Still the decisions about their children’s care should be left to parents. A world without injustice will never exist, and the state shouldn’t intervene in things best left to individuals. That’s also called freedom.