Free Republic

You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “That’s an idea so ridiculous only an academic could believe it.” It kept coming to mind as I read Professor John Staddon’s new book Inevitable Differences: An Inquiry into Human Variation. That individuals vary enormously in their talents and desires is an obvious fact, and yet many academics have become famous by declaring that individuals and especially groups must be treated as though they were equal. Staddon, an emeritus professor of biology at Duke University, takes a critical look at the obsession among “progressives” for engineering equality, particularly with regard to race. Why, he...

Lawmakers say the Medi-Cal program needs $10 million to pay for gender-affirming care for minors after the Trump administration cut funding. Parents of transgender children say the state should have prepared sooner to prevent gaps in care.

Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom, who is trying to make his way into women’s basketball, was escorted out of Wintrust Arena during the third quarter Sunday after a heated shouting match with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud

Florida is doing what no blue-state classroom dares: forcing students to confront the actual body count of communism instead of romanticizing it. Starting this fall, every public school student from sixth grade onward will receive mandatory instruction on the history and evils of communism under standards signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The curriculum covers the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Revolution, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and the recent capture of Nicolás Maduro. It details the mass deaths under Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, the failure of collectivism, and the superiority of free enterprise and private property....

Sal Grover and Kirralee Smith, both recently fined ($100k and $95k) for misgendering men imposing on womens spaces, have received death threats from a range of transactivist organisations. Sal Grover, a single Mum, has pulled out. I don't blame her one bit. It is sickening that women exercising free speech in this country are subject to this bull sh*t. Kirralee has decided to proceed and both are Warriors. Let Women Speak events in Australia require (and tbf, receive) considerable police presence in order to defend these (usually middle-aged) women from the "be kind" crowd, who have in the past been...

Where sex is concerned, human reproductive biology is pretty standard: Humans are sexually bipolar, with two sexes, male and female. This is determined genetically at conception; barring a few rare and usually debilitating genetic disorders, an XX chromosome pair results in a female, and an XY pair, a male. That's just how it is. These are facts. And another fact is that the XY pairing gives the resulting child and, in time, adult, a significant advantage in sports. Now, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) doesn't seem to understand that, especially with regards to "trans-women" - men - playing in...

Who knew a first-grade science question could so thoroughly upend a $5.5 billion enterprise? And yet the WNBA, whose first letter stands for women, can’t seem to shake the media firestorm over the meaning of sex. Now, weeks into what should have been a non-controversy — Sophie Cunningham’s declaration of support for men playing in their own league and not in hers — the leadership of the league is convening an emergency meeting to debate what should be the most obvious data point in the sport: who’s eligible to play in the WNBA.Of course, the league, under the spineless leadership...

US hospitals and clinics have billed out nearly $120 million in gender-related medical treatments to minors since 2019, putting thousands of children on an expensive and irreversible treadmill requiring lifelong upkeep — with the blessing of doctors and lefty politicians.

US hospitals and clinics have billed out nearly $120 million in gender-related medical treatments to minors since 2019, putting thousands of children on an expensive and irreversible treadmill requiring lifelong upkeep — with the blessing of doctors and lefty politicians. The bombshell report from President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services also claims insurance fraud is rampant, with evidence suggesting pediatric gender clinics and children’s hospitals are creatively cooking the books to get young patients treatment. Those with the highest billings — which encompassed more than 5,500 surgical procedures and 8,500 courses of hormone treatments — were some of...

Critics of the WNBA calling out its transgender policies – or lack therefore – were slammed Wednesday for their hurtful “bad faith” in criticizing men claiming to be women so they can play in the league. A league spokesperson said in a statement everything is fine at the WNBA and there is nothing for anyone to worry about, going public with a call for calm hours after an anti-hate task force met virtually and canvassed a variety of topics including social media vitriol and transgender athletes. Discussions, meetings, “hard conversations” and committees are working at the WNBA to determine what...

For over two years, a 16-year-old transgender girl says she was bullied, excluded and discriminated against by her teammates and coaches at the Capital Crew youth rowing program housed at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center.

Assemblyman Matt Haney (D- San Francisco) led the California Legislature in celebrating Transgender History Month Monday, “as transgender people continue to face escalating attacks on their rights and freedoms across the country.”

An American transgender refugee is back in the United States after spending a period inside a dangerous Islamic asylum center in the Netherlands, but she's still not happy with the US. Jane-Michelle Arc, 48, fled to Ter Apel, the Netherlands' largest refugee camp, after Trump was re-elected in 2024 - saying that she feared for her safety as a trans woman living in America. She claimed asylum in the European country - and while she endured tough conditions in the sqaulid camp where stabbings and attacks are commonplace, she came to the realization that she actually wanted to return to...

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in supporting a federal lawsuit challenging Idaho's law that bars transgender students from using school restrooms and other sex-separated facilities that align with their gender identity. The coalition filed an amicus brief urging a federal judge in Idaho to block enforcement of the law while the lawsuit moves forward, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional and undermines the rights and safety of transgender students. Idaho's House Bill 264 prohibits transgender people from using restrooms and other sex-separated facilities consistent with their gender identity in certain public educational...

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has sent a memo to teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women’s basketball. “I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention,” Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and obtained by The Associated Press. “I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism.”...

A North Carolina elementary school is facing backlash after parents discovered a transgender music teacher was educating students while wearing a dress, causing a bitter divide. Middle Creek Elementary School in Apex, near Raleigh, went back to school on July 30, where students were met with a new music teacher, who is a 'transgender biological male, who dresses as a woman,' State Representative Erin Paré said in a statement. At a school board meeting on Tuesday, many parents said they were unaware of the new hire, with many finding out via social media, after popular creators, such as Libs of...

Texas Children's Hospital has just a few months to create the nation's first "detransition clinic" to reverse gender transition care, according to a settlement finalized with the attorney general's office. Under the terms of the agreement, the clinic must be opened within 90 days and its services must be provided for free. The settlement was first announced in May. The hospital will also pay $10 million, with more than $8 million going to the state, to resolve claims they billed Texas Medicaid for illegal "gender-transition" interventions. They will also pay $1.7 million to whistleblower Vanessa Sivadge. What they're saying: "This...

Supreme Court of Australia's most populous province says Kirralie Smith and her women's rights group Binary committed "transgender vilification." If you refer to transgender people by their sex online, Australia might pass on compelling the platform to censor your speech, at least if posted from abroad. Say it Down Under, though, and you risk fines approaching six figures and a digital scarlet letter. The New South Wales Supreme Court upheld fines of $95,000 Australian – roughly $66,000 U.S. – against women's sports activist Kirralie Smith and her group Binary Australia, as well as a court-written statement to be posted on...

All OutKick founder Clay Travis did was challenge the WNBA and “the Science” cult to put their money where their mouth is and prove that biological males don't have an unfair physical advantage over women in sports, and the alphabet soup mafia in the media are already losing their collective mind. Travis pledged $10 million August 3 for the WNBA to put their defending champion Las Vegas Aces up against a boys’ high school basketball team of his choosing, with the apparent intent of showcasing the idiocy of biological males competing in women’s sports. Jana Shortal, an anchor of Twin...

Boltinhouse has yet to speak out about the decision, but Brodeur emphasized her statement will be made publicly available soon. She has been described as, “a proud Latina woman with Honduran roots, entrepreneur, and community advocate.”