Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: SCOTUS Takes on Sex Changes for Kids While LPGA Scratches Trans Golfers

Transgender rights supporters and opponents rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during arguments in a case on transgender health rights on December 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.

By Al Perrotta Published on December 5, 2024

Happy Thursday!

So glad to be back pouring for you today.

SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments on Whether to Ban “Gender-Affirming Care” for Minors

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments over the question: “Is it okay for states to ban the mutilation of children under the guise of ‘gender affirming care’?” It’s a question Oliver Wendell Holmes in his worst nightmares could not have imagined having to rule on. Heck, even Sherlock Holmes could never deduce that society would fall into such a depraved state.

Yet, there was the ACLU’s transgender lawyer arguing, with the backing of the Biden administration in U.S. v. Skrmetti that states (in this particular case, Tennessee) do not have the right to protect minors from sex-change surgeries and chemical treatments.

And there was Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — who can’t even define what a woman is — actually comparing a ban on sex changes for little kids to old laws banning interracial marriage.

Jackson also declared that transgender drugs act on male and female bodies in the same way. Tennessee Solicitor General Matthew Rice was forced to school the justice on the facts that, among other things, giving testosterone to a boy helps him catch up on his development, while giving it to a girl renders her infertile.

Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor compared the life-altering side effects of hormones and other treatments to the occasional side effects of aspirin. Asked Rice: “How many minors have to have their bodies irreparably harmed for unproven benefits?”

Replied Sotomayor, “Every medical treatment has risk. Even taking aspirin.”

Fortunately, the conservative justices had a better grasp on reality, and appear to be leaning toward affirming the Tennessee law. For example, Justice Samuel Alito noted that the Cass Report debunked the widespread talking point that providing “gender-affirming” drugs and surgeries prevents youth suicide. The point being: Why can’t a state prohibit such a permanent and potentially dangerous treatment for minors when there’s scant proof of the benefit?

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh insisted that the matter belongs to the states. Said Kavanaugh, “Why isn’t it best to leave it to the democratic process?”

U.S. v. Skmretti marks the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on restrictions for puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and transgender surgery for minors, which is why the case is getting so much attention and the trans activists were out in force Wednesday in front of the court. A decision is expected in July.

LPGA Bans Transgender Golfers

The LPGA landed a shot dead center in the middle of the fairway Wednesday, announcing a virtual ban on biological men competing in women’s events.

The governing body for women’s golf declared that

athletes who are assigned female at birth are eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and in all other elite LPGA competitions. Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events.

This would leave boys who “transition” before puberty eligible to play later.

The LGPA says it trusted the science in reaching this decision.

The policy — informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law — was developed with input from a broad array of stakeholders and prioritizes the competitive integrity of women’s professional tournaments and elite amateur competitions.

Woke Battle: Is Washington NFL Franchise Considering Changing Its Name Back to “Redskins”?

Is the land currently being retaken from the woke going to include the gridiron as well as the golf courses? Newsweek reports that the Washington Commanders are (finally) considering changing their name back to the “Redskins.” The team was pressured by woke white liberals to dump the name in 2020 … and in the process its long history of honoring Native Americans.

New Managing Partner Josh Harris announced last week his commitment to returning the iconic Native American imagery and history to its proper place with the franchise. However, in the past he has said a name change wasn’t in the trading cards.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) vowed to block a bill to return the Redskins’ old RFK Stadium and surrounding land to the city — thus paving the way for a new stadium — until the team agreed to restore its Native American legacy. “The censorship of the former Commanders logo was a classic case of woke gone wrong,” he said. Agreement in hand, the bill is now expected to pass.

But pressure has been building for the name to be changed as well. In September, the family of the Blackfeet Nation chief whose portrait became the Redskins logo joined the fight to change the name back.

Harris hasn’t commented on the Newsweek story that a name change is in the works. But one can hope.

Besides being a massive victory over wokeness, and a victory for Native Americans — a vast majority of whom never had a problem with the name and were ticked to see it changed — it would also be a victory for Washington fans. For most of us, the current name is “Red … uh … Commanders” and the old Redskin swag is still looking good.

Fight on, fight on, sons and daughters of Washington!

Pete Hegseth Fights On Against Smears

Also fighting on? Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth. The decorated military vet and former Fox News host has been slammed with all manner of smears involving anonymous allegations of past drunken behavior and financial improprieties. The key word here is “anonymous.”

Hegseth spent the day talking to the senators who will determine his confirmation fate, as well as podcast host Megyn Kelly, denying the allegations.

“It is the classic art of the smear,” Hegseth told Kelly. “Take whatever tiny kernels of truth — and there are tiny, tiny ones in there — and blow them up into a masquerade of a narrative about somebody that I am definitely not.”

Even Hegseth’s mother was on Fox News Wednesday, arguing that her son is a “changed man.” She got dragged into it after an old email she sent Hegseth during the middle of his messy divorce became public — an email she says she immediately regretted.

While President-Elect Donald Trump encouraged Hegseth to “keep fighting,” the two are now scheduled to meet today amid a Wall Street Journal report that Trump wants to nominate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Secretary of Defense job if Hegseth’s nomination fails.

A Republican source tells Bulwark that Trump and DeSantis have personally discussed the possibility. But the source is anonymous, and DeSantis hasn’t made a peep about it.

While DeSantis would make an excellent addition to Trump’s Cabinet, the question remains: Why would people be okay with a commander-in-chief who showered with his young daughter, whose family pocketed millions from our nation’s enemies, and a Defense Secretary who vanished during a military crisis for an unannounced medical procedure be so keen to take Hegseth down over old, anonymous allegations?

It’s not his past that bothers the military-industrial-political complex. It’s what he’s planning to do in the near future.

Along The Stream …

Environmental scientist Vijay Jayaraj puts our “Faith in Perspective: Our Children, Climate, and the Future.”

Also up, “‘Abundant Life’ Means a Life Filled with the Holy Spirit: Samuel Rodriguez Discusses New Book with James Robison.”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.