Home » Twit Awards for the Week 6/19/23

Twit Awards for the Week 6/19/23

ceciliab | Jun 19, 2023

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A man in British Columbia tried to prevent a 9-year-old with short hair from running in a track meet as a female. He asked the girl’s mother for a certificate to prove that her daughter was female, despite the fact that no such certificates are issued. For harassment and for overstepping his role as a spectator, the unidentified man gets a Twit Award. Newsweek has this story.

Megan and her children.

Robby Starbuck, a conservative political candidate who has never been elected to office, accused actress Megan Fox of making her “sons” wear dresses. For presuming the use of force where it is not present, and for presuming the gender identity of Megan Fox’s children, Robby Starbuck gets a Twit Award. This story comes from The Advocate.

As we mentioned in the news, the American Medical Association strengthened its support for gender-affirming care for transgender children. Fox News responded by running a piece in which they complained about the lack of balance in coverage of transgender issues on mainstream media outfits, citing a recent CBS News story as an example. As The Washington Post points out, much of the anti-trans arguments come from the American College of Pediatricians, whose statements are often said to be lacking in science. For complaining that mainstream media fail to give bad science equal time alongside good science, Fox News gets a Twit Award.

Donald Trump recently talked about how much more strongly conservatives respond to anti-transgender rhetoric, even to just the term “transgender,” than to talk of cutting taxes. The Advocate Channel says that he “gave away the game” with that statement. For playing to prejudice, and for lack of leadership, Donald Trump and other politicians who use anti-transgender views to gain support share a Twit Award. And they share that Twit Award with the people who respond to such blatant dog whistles.

Mandy Gunasekara, an official of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration, told the House Oversight Committee that the aim of an investment strategy that takes into account Environmental, Social, and Governance standards is “promoting gender transitions” in children, When Becca Balint (D-VT), a member of the committee, asked if she believes this “garbage,” Ms. Gunasekara replied, “It’s not about believing; it’s a matter of fact.” For tying together various far-right topics into a new conspiracy theory, and for labeling this new conspiracy theory as “fact”, Mandy Gunasekara gets a Twit Award. LGBTQ Nation has this story.

U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw declared at a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors “is the hill we’re going to die on.” In his posturing, he insisted that gender-affirming care produces “physical changes to a child’s physiology, permanently disfiguring them through either puberty blockers or even surgical modifications.” He implies that gender confirmation surgery is often performed on minors, and also implies that those minors will regret the changes. There is no evidence for either implication. For not listening to experts, and for standing by therapy which has been shown not to produce the best results, Representative Dan Crenshaw gets a Twit Award. This story comes from The Advocate.