Sex Matters to Quakers 🕊️
@sexmatters2quakers.bsky.social
We are individual Quakers across the UK who hold that biological sex in humans, as in all mammals, is a biological, immutable reality and has societal consequence. For enquirers wishing to know more - sexmatterstoquakers@yahoo.com
Pinned
Fundamental truth #1: Children cannot be born in the wrong body.
The essential "you" emerges through the interaction of your whole being with the world.
Every child is perfect just as they are.
The essential "you" emerges through the interaction of your whole being with the world.
Every child is perfect just as they are.
Ten tips for parenting a gender questioning teen.
open.substack.com/pub/sashaaya...
open.substack.com/pub/sashaaya...
10 Principles for Parenting a Gender-Questioning Teen
How to lead with authority and connection when your child is focused on "IDENTITY"
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Ten tips for parenting a gender questioning teen.
open.substack.com/pub/sashaaya...
open.substack.com/pub/sashaaya...
One woman is killed every three days in the UK, simply for being a woman, on average.
Why isn't this a National focus?
Hauntingly, here are the faces of 200 women killed in Scotland over the last 16 years.
Why isn't this a National focus?
Hauntingly, here are the faces of 200 women killed in Scotland over the last 16 years.
February 14, 2026 at 9:11 PM
One woman is killed every three days in the UK, simply for being a woman, on average.
Why isn't this a National focus?
Hauntingly, here are the faces of 200 women killed in Scotland over the last 16 years.
Why isn't this a National focus?
Hauntingly, here are the faces of 200 women killed in Scotland over the last 16 years.
"Trans healthcare saves lives" and its variations mirror pharmaceutical marketing by using high-frequency slogans to frame care as a medical necessity, using 3 techniques:
1. Urgency and risk framing
2. Establishment of medical authority
3. Personalisation & emotive narrative.
1. Urgency and risk framing
2. Establishment of medical authority
3. Personalisation & emotive narrative.
February 14, 2026 at 5:54 PM
"Trans healthcare saves lives" and its variations mirror pharmaceutical marketing by using high-frequency slogans to frame care as a medical necessity, using 3 techniques:
1. Urgency and risk framing
2. Establishment of medical authority
3. Personalisation & emotive narrative.
1. Urgency and risk framing
2. Establishment of medical authority
3. Personalisation & emotive narrative.
Pharmaceutical marketing strategy.
1) Rename oestrogen HRT - hormone replacement therapy.
2) Tell women that 100% of them are defective.
3) Extend strategy to children.
1) Rename oestrogen HRT - hormone replacement therapy.
2) Tell women that 100% of them are defective.
3) Extend strategy to children.
February 14, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Pharmaceutical marketing strategy.
1) Rename oestrogen HRT - hormone replacement therapy.
2) Tell women that 100% of them are defective.
3) Extend strategy to children.
1) Rename oestrogen HRT - hormone replacement therapy.
2) Tell women that 100% of them are defective.
3) Extend strategy to children.
Stormont’s health minister Mike Nesbitt has suspended Northern Ireland’s participation in a UK-wide puberty blocker trial – until Kiera Bell's legal challenge to the scheme has concluded.
Exclusive: Mike Nesbitt pauses Northern Ireland's involvement in controversial UK puberty blocker trial
Stormont’s health minister Mike Nesbitt has suspended Northern Ireland’s participation in a UK-wide puberty blocker trial – until a legal challenge to the scheme has concluded, the News Letter can rev...
www.newsletter.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Stormont’s health minister Mike Nesbitt has suspended Northern Ireland’s participation in a UK-wide puberty blocker trial – until Kiera Bell's legal challenge to the scheme has concluded.
Hillary Cass - 9th Feb 2026 on Matt Forde.
For those very few with no other way of resolving gender incongruence, the side effects of life long medicalisation is a small price to pay.
For the rest, the side effects effects (like vaginal atrophy from testosterone) are a very high price to pay.
For those very few with no other way of resolving gender incongruence, the side effects of life long medicalisation is a small price to pay.
For the rest, the side effects effects (like vaginal atrophy from testosterone) are a very high price to pay.
Show 389. Hilary Cass | Matt Forde's Political Party
shows.acast.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Hillary Cass - 9th Feb 2026 on Matt Forde.
For those very few with no other way of resolving gender incongruence, the side effects of life long medicalisation is a small price to pay.
For the rest, the side effects effects (like vaginal atrophy from testosterone) are a very high price to pay.
For those very few with no other way of resolving gender incongruence, the side effects of life long medicalisation is a small price to pay.
For the rest, the side effects effects (like vaginal atrophy from testosterone) are a very high price to pay.
A child's distress is not their identity.
Once the distress is embedded as a concrete identity for that child (& those around them) it is not easy to change track. It locks in the distress.
This is deeply harmful to the developmental pathway of that child, as it reduces flexibility and growth.
Once the distress is embedded as a concrete identity for that child (& those around them) it is not easy to change track. It locks in the distress.
This is deeply harmful to the developmental pathway of that child, as it reduces flexibility and growth.
February 13, 2026 at 10:55 AM
A child's distress is not their identity.
Once the distress is embedded as a concrete identity for that child (& those around them) it is not easy to change track. It locks in the distress.
This is deeply harmful to the developmental pathway of that child, as it reduces flexibility and growth.
Once the distress is embedded as a concrete identity for that child (& those around them) it is not easy to change track. It locks in the distress.
This is deeply harmful to the developmental pathway of that child, as it reduces flexibility and growth.
For decades, Jeffrey Epstein operated within a system where rich and powerful men - shockingly - abused young girls with impunity.
Recent legal actions have focused on dismantling the "silence" that protected Epstein by increasing transparency & expanding victims' rights to sue.
Release the files.
Recent legal actions have focused on dismantling the "silence" that protected Epstein by increasing transparency & expanding victims' rights to sue.
Release the files.
February 12, 2026 at 11:17 PM
For decades, Jeffrey Epstein operated within a system where rich and powerful men - shockingly - abused young girls with impunity.
Recent legal actions have focused on dismantling the "silence" that protected Epstein by increasing transparency & expanding victims' rights to sue.
Release the files.
Recent legal actions have focused on dismantling the "silence" that protected Epstein by increasing transparency & expanding victims' rights to sue.
Release the files.
American medical associations are beginning to acknowledge the weak evidence base for the uncritical affirmatory lens on gender distress.
Sitting with uncertainty and looking towards roots of distress is more skilled, and ultimately more compassionate long term.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Sitting with uncertainty and looking towards roots of distress is more skilled, and ultimately more compassionate long term.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Tide Goes Out on Youth Gender Medicine
American doctors are no longer united on the wisdom of medicalizing gender dysphoria in minors.
www.theatlantic.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:54 PM
American medical associations are beginning to acknowledge the weak evidence base for the uncritical affirmatory lens on gender distress.
Sitting with uncertainty and looking towards roots of distress is more skilled, and ultimately more compassionate long term.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Sitting with uncertainty and looking towards roots of distress is more skilled, and ultimately more compassionate long term.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
We broadly welcome this guidance, which will give schools both more confidence in approach and flexibility to be compassionate to all.
Most pleasing is the transparency with parents. Parents are primary safeguarders.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Most pleasing is the transparency with parents. Parents are primary safeguarders.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Vast majority' of parents should be involved if children question gender, schools told
School leaders welcome the
www.bbc.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 PM
We broadly welcome this guidance, which will give schools both more confidence in approach and flexibility to be compassionate to all.
Most pleasing is the transparency with parents. Parents are primary safeguarders.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Most pleasing is the transparency with parents. Parents are primary safeguarders.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
If there were a drug that delivered the same dopamine hits, attention capture, mood swings, and dependency risks as digital media, it would be regulated or banned.
Is it time to rethink what ‘normal’ screen use means for children, young people and, perhaps, adults?
Is it time to rethink what ‘normal’ screen use means for children, young people and, perhaps, adults?
February 12, 2026 at 7:57 PM
If there were a drug that delivered the same dopamine hits, attention capture, mood swings, and dependency risks as digital media, it would be regulated or banned.
Is it time to rethink what ‘normal’ screen use means for children, young people and, perhaps, adults?
Is it time to rethink what ‘normal’ screen use means for children, young people and, perhaps, adults?
Might social affirmation, coupled with unfounded rhetoric about lack of acceptance, maintain a world view that causes harm? Could it encourage hypervigilance, fear, and paranoia?
If others won’t help orient you to community & love - what happens to feelings of grievance, isolation, and injustice?
If others won’t help orient you to community & love - what happens to feelings of grievance, isolation, and injustice?
February 12, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Might social affirmation, coupled with unfounded rhetoric about lack of acceptance, maintain a world view that causes harm? Could it encourage hypervigilance, fear, and paranoia?
If others won’t help orient you to community & love - what happens to feelings of grievance, isolation, and injustice?
If others won’t help orient you to community & love - what happens to feelings of grievance, isolation, and injustice?
Everyone deserves holistic, evidence-based care.
Could the Tumbler Ridge tragedy have been prevented if Jesse Strang received comprehensive mental health support beyond labelling?
Labels slice off fragments of human experience, which can't be addressed individually. This blunts practice.
Could the Tumbler Ridge tragedy have been prevented if Jesse Strang received comprehensive mental health support beyond labelling?
Labels slice off fragments of human experience, which can't be addressed individually. This blunts practice.
February 12, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Everyone deserves holistic, evidence-based care.
Could the Tumbler Ridge tragedy have been prevented if Jesse Strang received comprehensive mental health support beyond labelling?
Labels slice off fragments of human experience, which can't be addressed individually. This blunts practice.
Could the Tumbler Ridge tragedy have been prevented if Jesse Strang received comprehensive mental health support beyond labelling?
Labels slice off fragments of human experience, which can't be addressed individually. This blunts practice.
The Supreme Court judgement on "woman" is a stunning piece of reasoned judgement.
The law, at its best, seeks to balance everyone's needs.
Additionally - case law builds up, through testing, over time.
Michael Foran's analysis is a well worth read.
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/11/m...
The law, at its best, seeks to balance everyone's needs.
Additionally - case law builds up, through testing, over time.
Michael Foran's analysis is a well worth read.
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/11/m...
Michael Foran: Human Rights, Gender Recognition and Single-Sex Spaces
In For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court held that references to ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 pertained to biological sex. In doing so, it affirmed the default common law…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
February 11, 2026 at 10:50 PM
The Supreme Court judgement on "woman" is a stunning piece of reasoned judgement.
The law, at its best, seeks to balance everyone's needs.
Additionally - case law builds up, through testing, over time.
Michael Foran's analysis is a well worth read.
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/11/m...
The law, at its best, seeks to balance everyone's needs.
Additionally - case law builds up, through testing, over time.
Michael Foran's analysis is a well worth read.
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/11/m...
1/2 80 to 90% of new mums experience loneliness, with many spending up to 8 hours a day alone.
English Heritage has launched 'bonding benches' at its historic sites to help tackle parental isolation. These benches, are located in family-friendly areas - a sliding label indicates 'chat' or 'quiet'.
English Heritage has launched 'bonding benches' at its historic sites to help tackle parental isolation. These benches, are located in family-friendly areas - a sliding label indicates 'chat' or 'quiet'.
February 11, 2026 at 6:17 PM
1/2 80 to 90% of new mums experience loneliness, with many spending up to 8 hours a day alone.
English Heritage has launched 'bonding benches' at its historic sites to help tackle parental isolation. These benches, are located in family-friendly areas - a sliding label indicates 'chat' or 'quiet'.
English Heritage has launched 'bonding benches' at its historic sites to help tackle parental isolation. These benches, are located in family-friendly areas - a sliding label indicates 'chat' or 'quiet'.
Children & adolescents experience genuine distress related to their bodies, social roles, peer relationships, puberty, or expectations tied to sex. That distress deserves careful, compassionate clinical attention.
What is currently disputed is how that distress should be conceptualised & treated.
What is currently disputed is how that distress should be conceptualised & treated.
February 10, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Children & adolescents experience genuine distress related to their bodies, social roles, peer relationships, puberty, or expectations tied to sex. That distress deserves careful, compassionate clinical attention.
What is currently disputed is how that distress should be conceptualised & treated.
What is currently disputed is how that distress should be conceptualised & treated.
"Regret is rare" is often cited to justify pediatric transition.
This claim falters under scrutiny.
Studies suffer from short follow-up, high attrition rate, and weak tracking post patient disengagement.
Long-term outcome data is a better measure, which requires rigorous & sustained follow-up.
This claim falters under scrutiny.
Studies suffer from short follow-up, high attrition rate, and weak tracking post patient disengagement.
Long-term outcome data is a better measure, which requires rigorous & sustained follow-up.
February 9, 2026 at 10:29 PM
"Regret is rare" is often cited to justify pediatric transition.
This claim falters under scrutiny.
Studies suffer from short follow-up, high attrition rate, and weak tracking post patient disengagement.
Long-term outcome data is a better measure, which requires rigorous & sustained follow-up.
This claim falters under scrutiny.
Studies suffer from short follow-up, high attrition rate, and weak tracking post patient disengagement.
Long-term outcome data is a better measure, which requires rigorous & sustained follow-up.
"The AMA [American Medical Association] supports evidence-based treatment, including gender affirming care...Currently, the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement" - 5 Feb '26.
Looking to evidence is a positive step.
Looking to evidence is a positive step.
February 9, 2026 at 9:54 PM
"The AMA [American Medical Association] supports evidence-based treatment, including gender affirming care...Currently, the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement" - 5 Feb '26.
Looking to evidence is a positive step.
Looking to evidence is a positive step.
"You can reason with almost anyone, and the moment you come to believe you cannot, you have become what you hate." - Peter Boghossian.
February 9, 2026 at 1:22 PM
"You can reason with almost anyone, and the moment you come to believe you cannot, you have become what you hate." - Peter Boghossian.
“puberty blockers initiate a highly predictable cascade of medicalisation, making it ethically inappropriate to treat them as separable from downstream interventions” - Stella O'Malley
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Re: Puberty blockers: Growing calls to pause controversial trial from medics, lawyers, and public
www.bmj.com
February 8, 2026 at 8:17 PM
“puberty blockers initiate a highly predictable cascade of medicalisation, making it ethically inappropriate to treat them as separable from downstream interventions” - Stella O'Malley
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
"When pediatric gender transition has no credible benefits but carries potential for serious harm - and the patients are vulnerable youth - is it still ethical to provide it?" - SEGM
Read this important bioethics discussion and debate in Stat News -
www.statnews.com/2026/02/07/h...
Read this important bioethics discussion and debate in Stat News -
www.statnews.com/2026/02/07/h...
STAT readers respond on the ethics of gender-affirming care for minors, the new food pyramid, and more
Authors of HHS report criticize recent STAT op-ed on gender-affirming care for minors for using “scare tactics.”
www.statnews.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:10 PM
"When pediatric gender transition has no credible benefits but carries potential for serious harm - and the patients are vulnerable youth - is it still ethical to provide it?" - SEGM
Read this important bioethics discussion and debate in Stat News -
www.statnews.com/2026/02/07/h...
Read this important bioethics discussion and debate in Stat News -
www.statnews.com/2026/02/07/h...
"97.5% of children attending GIDS had autism, depression or other co-occurring challenges" - Stella O'Malley.
February 8, 2026 at 1:49 PM
"97.5% of children attending GIDS had autism, depression or other co-occurring challenges" - Stella O'Malley.
Reposted by Sex Matters to Quakers 🕊️
This week, we crossed a dangerous threshold into a world without nuclear arms control.
This moment must be a wake up call that spurs a renewed commitment to cooperation over catastrophe.
There is no time to lose. The stakes are far too high for inaction.
This moment must be a wake up call that spurs a renewed commitment to cooperation over catastrophe.
There is no time to lose. The stakes are far too high for inaction.
This Week in the World: We Must not Accept a World Without Nuclear Arms Control | Friends Committee On National Legislation
Alex Pretti was killed this past weekend by an out-of-control immigration enforcement apparatus. His death, along with that of Renee Good, and at least 53 other deaths in Immigration and Customs…
buff.ly
February 8, 2026 at 1:22 PM
This week, we crossed a dangerous threshold into a world without nuclear arms control.
This moment must be a wake up call that spurs a renewed commitment to cooperation over catastrophe.
There is no time to lose. The stakes are far too high for inaction.
This moment must be a wake up call that spurs a renewed commitment to cooperation over catastrophe.
There is no time to lose. The stakes are far too high for inaction.
Three drivers underpin all human relationships. Power and control (whose priorities matter), care and closeness (trust), and respect and recognition - Esther Perel.
Diagnoses loosely map observations to a list of crude criteria, peeling away fragments of human experience.
Understand the human.
Diagnoses loosely map observations to a list of crude criteria, peeling away fragments of human experience.
Understand the human.
February 8, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Three drivers underpin all human relationships. Power and control (whose priorities matter), care and closeness (trust), and respect and recognition - Esther Perel.
Diagnoses loosely map observations to a list of crude criteria, peeling away fragments of human experience.
Understand the human.
Diagnoses loosely map observations to a list of crude criteria, peeling away fragments of human experience.
Understand the human.
The claim that exploratory talking therapy for gender-distressed children is “conversion therapy” is cynical & harmful.
Conversion therapy is the coercive attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or suppress identity through shame, threat or force.
Ethical psychotherapy does none of these.
Conversion therapy is the coercive attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or suppress identity through shame, threat or force.
Ethical psychotherapy does none of these.
February 7, 2026 at 3:31 PM
The claim that exploratory talking therapy for gender-distressed children is “conversion therapy” is cynical & harmful.
Conversion therapy is the coercive attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or suppress identity through shame, threat or force.
Ethical psychotherapy does none of these.
Conversion therapy is the coercive attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or suppress identity through shame, threat or force.
Ethical psychotherapy does none of these.