TERFs: Not Suitable For Work

TERFs: Not Suitable For Work

Alexa Faucher is a former chief of staff to a Communist mayor in a town in the Paris suburbs (Chevilly-Larue) who lost her job for sharing her gender-critical views online. A bleeding-heart lefty, an atheist, and a feminist — but none of that counted for anything, ultimately, because she also knows that humans come in two sexes, regardless of what anyone’s legal document says. Enjoy our mutual outpouring of woe. By the way, Alexa can’t get a job despite her decades of experience in politics. As you can hear, she is a brilliant, smart, hard-nosed b***h. If you need someone like that, please let me know and I will pass on the message. Send me your stories, I’m all (t)ears: roisinmichaux@gmail.com. I’m also on X/Twitter: https://x.com/RoisinMichaux [https://x.com/RoisinMichaux] Do you think it matters that sex is being replaced by self-declaration of something called ‘gender identity’? I do, and I was fired for it. I made a bet that other people care about it too. So this newsletter is my new job. If you think my work is important, please take out a paid subscription. Show notes (AI generated) Episode overview In this episode of Peaked, Róisín Michaux speaks with Alexa, a former chief of staff to a Communist mayor in the Paris suburbs who says she lost her political role following her public feminist and gender-critical views online. The conversation explores ideological conformity within left-wing political culture, institutional responses to gender-critical speech, tensions between feminism and gender identity ideology, and the psychological experience of becoming socially and professionally ostracized as a “TERF.” Drawing from experiences in French municipal politics, feminism, psychiatry, Covid-era social compliance, and online political culture, the discussion examines broader themes including class politics, secularism, postmodernism, collective rights versus individual identity, institutional capture, social conformity, and the cultural influence of American identity politics on Europe. Alexa also reflects on French republican secularism, anti-racism politics, feminism, social welfare, and the contradictions she sees within contemporary left-wing movements around religion, sex-based rights, and gender ideology. Key Topics Discussed * Alexa Faucher’s dismissal from Chevilly-Larue * Jérôme Martin’s online denunciation campaign * French public-sector contracts and “devoir de réserve” * “Fired TERFs” and institutional retaliation * Helen Joyce and UK legal developments * Covid-era conformity and institutional obedience * Didier Raoult and anti-establishment scientific dissent * Finland’s reassessment of youth gender medicine * Keira Bell and the Tavistock case * French secular feminism and laïcité * Planning Familial and “men can get pregnant” activism * Marguerite Stern, Dora Moutot, and French feminist fracture * Identity politics vs materialist feminism * “Women with penises” and compelled language * Surrogacy and commodification of women’s bodies * National gender-critical figures across Europe French Political & Institutional Context Stéphanie Daumin — PCF Mayor of Chevilly-Larue [https://www.ville-chevilly-larue.fr/trombinoscope/stephanie-daumin/] Website: ville-chevilly-larue.fr Alexa explains that she served as directrice de cabinet for Stéphanie Daumin, the Communist mayor of Chevilly-Larue, a historically left-wing suburb in the Paris “Red Belt.” The political context matters because the episode repeatedly contrasts: * older class-based Communist politics,with: * newer activist and identity-centered ideological frameworks inside the contemporary left. Jérôme Martin’s denunciation campaign against Alexa Faucher [https://x.com/Merome_Jardin/status/1949024611129327829] Website: x.com Referenced in relation to the activist campaign that followed Alexa Faucher’s tweet asserting the immutability of biological sex. Jérôme Martin publicly denounced Faucher online, helping escalate the controversy surrounding her employment. Follow-up thread: The episode repeatedly returns to: * online activist escalation, * public denunciation, * and institutional pressure campaigns following ideological dissent. Chevilly-Larue cabinet dismissal controversy [https://www.frontieresmedia.fr/societe/chevilly-larue-une-directrice-de-cabinet-a-la-mairie-licenciee-pour-avoir-affirme-qu-il-est-impo] Website: frontieresmedia.fr [https://www.frontieresmedia.fr/societe/chevilly-larue-une-directrice-de-cabinet-a-la-mairie-licenciee-pour-avoir-affirme-qu-il-est-impo] One of the primary French-language reports documenting the controversy surrounding Alexa Faucher’s dismissal after her tweet regarding biological sex. The Tweet Referenced in the Episode The controversy centered around Alexa Faucher’s reply concerning biological sex and legal identity changes: « Votre sexe n’a jamais été, n’est pas, et ne sera jamais féminin. Les stéréotypes de genre que vous choisissez, et qui nous sont imposés, si. Bisous. » The tweet became widely circulated in activist and political networks following Jérôme Martin’s denunciation campaign. UK Gender Politics & Institutional Conflict Helen Joyce discussing the UK Supreme Court ruling [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TPehe2DoPs] Website: youtube.com Referenced when Róisín discusses listening to Helen Joyce following the UK Supreme Court ruling on sex-based legal protections. The ruling is discussed less as a narrow legal issue and more as: * a test of institutional compliance, * ideological capture, * and whether public bodies will obey legal definitions of biological sex. Keira Bell and the Tavistock case [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_v_Tavistock] Website: wikipedia.org Referenced during discussion of safeguarding concerns surrounding youth medical transition. The Bell case became internationally significant because it challenged whether minors could meaningfully consent to puberty blockers and medical transition pathways. The Cass Review [https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/] Website: cass.independent-review.uk Referenced in broader discussion of: * evidence standards, * youth gender medicine, * and institutional reassessment of pediatric transition pathways. The review became internationally influential after concluding that the evidence base for pediatric medical transition remained weak and underdeveloped. Finnish study on psychiatric morbidity and youth gender services [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.70533] Website: onlinelibrary.wiley.com Referenced during discussion of the “Finnish study” mentioned by the speakers. The April 2026 Finnish register study: Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adolescents and Young Adults Who Contacted Specialised Gender Identity Services in Finland in 1996–2019 was discussed as evidence of increasing institutional doubt emerging from inside youth gender medicine systems themselves. The speakers specifically emphasize that skepticism is now increasingly coming from: * clinicians, * researchers, * and medical systems previously aligned with affirmation-based treatment models. Covid, Conformity & Institutional Trust Didier Raoult and France’s Covid divide Website: france24.com [https://www.france24.com/en/] Referenced during discussion of: * conformity, * institutional trust, * and scientific dissent during Covid. For many French listeners, Didier Raoult became symbolic of: * anti-establishment scientific dissent, * distrust of centralized expertise, * and collapse of institutional legitimacy during the pandemic. The speakers use Covid primarily as: * a psychological analogy for ideological compliance. Retracted hydroxychloroquine study associated with Didier Raoult [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32205204/] Website: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Referenced indirectly during discussion of: * early contradictory Covid messaging, * institutional confusion, * and scientific authority. The Raoult controversy became one of France’s defining symbolic conflicts over: * expertise, * media trust, * and anti-establishment dissent. National Gender-Critical Figures Referenced The episode repeatedly returns to the idea that: “every country has one” meaning a nationally recognizable gender-critical feminist figure or activist. Ireland — Laoise de Brún/Countess [https://thecountess.ie/author/laoise/] Website: laoisedebrun [https://www.laoisedebrun.com/] UK — Kelly-Jay Keen / Standing For Women [https://x.com/StandingForXX] Website: x.com UK — J.K. Rowling [https://x.com/jk_rowling] Website: x.com Germany — Rona Duwe [https://www.ronalyze.de/] Website: ronalyze.de Austria — Faika El-Nagashi [https://faikaelnagashi.substack.com/] Website: substack.com France — Marguerite Stern [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Stern] Website: wikipedia.org France — Dora Moutot [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Moutot] Website: wikipedia.org These figures are discussed as examples of: * feminist opposition to gender ideology, * online harassment campaigns, * institutional retaliation, * and ideological fracture across Europe. Dora Moutot 🔗 X/Twitter: https://x.com/doramoutot [https://x.com/doramoutot] 🔗 Co-author page / Book: Search “Transmania” on Éditions Magnus or Amazon.fr 🔗 Femelliste YouTube (joint): https://www.youtube.com/@femelliste [https://www.youtube.com/@femelliste] Marguerite Stern 🔗 Personal website: https://www.margueritestern.com/ 🔗 X/Twitter: https://x.com/MargueriteStern [https://x.com/MargueriteStern] 🔗 English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Stern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Stern] 🔗 French Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Stern [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Stern] Joint Work 🔗 Femelliste official: https://www.femelliste.com/ 🔗 Transmania (book): Widely covered; see Wikipedia entry for details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmania [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmania] Organizations & Activism Act Up-Paris [https://www.actupparis.org/] Website: actupparis.org Referenced because Jérôme Martin previously served as president of Act Up-Paris between 2003 and 2006. The discussion repeatedly returns to: * activist pressure, * public denunciation, * direct-action political culture, * and ideological enforcement mechanisms. Planning Familial’s “inclusive sexual health” campaign [https://www.planning-familial.org/fr/acces-la-sante-et-aux-droits/campagne-de-sante-sexuelle-inclusive-trois-nouvelles-affiches-2671] Website: planning-familial.org Referenced during discussion of ideological changes inside French feminist and reproductive-rights organizations. The campaign became controversial among some French feminists because it adopted: * gender-neutral reproductive language, * “inclusive” terminology, * and messaging interpreted by critics as replacing sex-based language around women’s bodies. Alexa contrasts this with earlier feminist traditions centered on: * abortion rights, * material sex differences, * and secular feminism. Guest — Alexa Faucher 🔗 X (Twitter)https://x.com/alexafaucher [https://x.com/alexafaucher] 🔗 LinkedInhttps://fr.linkedin.com/in/alexafaucher [https://fr.linkedin.com/in/alexafaucher] 🔗 Novel — Puisqu’on a marché sur la lunehttps://www.amazon.fr/PUISQUON-MARCHE-LUNE-Alexa-Faucher/dp/2367951535 [https://www.amazon.fr/PUISQUON-MARCHE-LUNE-Alexa-Faucher/dp/2367951535] Alexa Faucher is a French law graduate, political communications professional, author, and materialist feminist. She served as directrice de cabinet for the Communist mayor of Chevilly-Larue until July 2025 following controversy surrounding her tweet about biological sex. The episode also references her: * public-sector communications background, * strategic political work, * feminist activism, * and experience inside French municipal political structures. (Her X/Twitter account was reportedly made private following the controversy.) Host — Róisín Michaux 🔗 Substack / Podcast Home 🔗 X (Twitter)https://x.com/RoisinMichaux [https://x.com/RoisinMichaux] 🔗 Apple Podcasts — Peaked 🔗 Newsletter Listen & Subscribe 🎧 Peaked is available on Substack and major podcast platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peaked.substack.com/subscribe [https://peaked.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

What a time to be a lesbian

In order to capture what it’s been like for female homosexuals in the era of gendercultism, Tonje Gjevjon (Norway) and Alison Ellis (UK) collected the stories of 19 lesbians from around the world and not only is their book, Kindred in Chaos [https://www.samlivsrevolusjonen.no/kindred-in-chaos/], an insightful read, it’s also extremely valuable as receipts, which we TERFs never tire of collecting. Here’s one of the women describing what it’s been like watching young butches try to turn themselves into men: “I have seen many handsome butch women destroy their bodies with levels of testosterone their system was never meant to accommodate. These changes cannot be undone. I have watched healthy young women decimate their cardiac systems with these drugs… all in pursuit of something impossible.” Another one writes: “Because (lesbian spaces) don’t exist, it's much harder for lesbians today to accept their homosexuality. Many force themselves to date trans-identifying males and don’t call themselves lesbians because it’s a «TERF dog whistle». The trans movement has been incredibly effective in erasing women and lesbians, making us believe who we are is wrong and needs changing. It is wide spread conversion therapy essentially.” And another one describes the moment the AGP penny dropped: “…I connected one idea after another: cross-dressing serial killers, exhibitionism, true crime, paraphiliacs, autogynephilia, men who harass lesbians with the «I’m a lesbian in a man’s body» joke, men who deliberately try to get lesbians to talk about sex for their sexual titillation, men who harass lesbians by talking about porn... I peaked in rage and disgust… every major gay rights organisation had betrayed homosexual people. It was like the world was collapsing.” You can read all the stories by buying the book here [https://www.samlivsrevolusjonen.no/kindred-in-chaos/] Professional lesbianswithanasterisk-ism Meanwhile, if you’re a European taxpayer, you should know that you are paying a lot of money for a big party currently taking place on the Greek island of Lesbos, organised by the professional LGTBIQ+ class to celebrate a group of people called lesbians-with-an-asterisk. The word “lesbian” has a meaning. It means women who are sexually attracted to other women. The Official Meaning of lesbian*, however, has evolved to include straight men who wish they could be lesbians. It also includes women who claim to be men, and women who claim to be something called “non-binary”. I strongly suspect that most of the women working for EL*C (Eurocentralasian Lesbian Community), the ones hosting this week’s island get-together, and who claim to represent European lesbianswithanasterisk, know that it’s all nonsense. But it’s lucrative nonsense. They get more and more money each year from the EU to keep the charade in perpetual motion. “LBQ women”, we’re told, are under attack by the “anti-gender movement” (it me, and proudly so) but what’s really under attack is the ability to name reality. Lesbians, meanwhile, the TERFY ones, are completely unmoored from the money machine, and the parades, and the DEI panels, and the projects, and the boards, etc. And they are monstered. If you’re a young woman who is attracted to women, the current scene — the one that women fought hard to build — is an absolute landmine. If you say you don’t like “girldick”, or that you don’t identify as a woman (but that you just are one) you’ll quickly find yourself on the wrong side of the aggressive autogynephilic men who the EL*C now represent. You can follow the asteriskas and their publicly-funded jolly by going to their Facebook account (link in caption) where I’m sure they’ll be posting about their hard work on Lesbos. It’s not easy stroking your master’s balls in the hot sun all day. Show notes (AI generated) Tonje Gjevjon is a Norwegian lesbian activist and artist and Alison Ellis is a British lesbian commentator. Kindred in Chaos is a collection of first-person testimonies from 19 young lesbians navigating contemporary gender identity politics. The discussion explores lesbian identity, youth alienation, puberty, online trans-identification, institutional LGBT culture, social conformity, detransition narratives, online radicalization, lesbian erasure, activist networks, puberty dysphoria, and the broader political and psychological dynamics surrounding gender identity ideology in Europe. Drawing from personal experience, online activism, lesbian organizing, Scandinavian politics, youth LGBT groups, social media culture, feminism, and gender-critical organizing, the conversation examines why some young lesbians resist trans-identification pathways while others become absorbed into them. The episode also situates Kindred in Chaos within a wider international network of lesbian, feminist, and gender-critical activism across the UK and Europe. Julie Bindel Tonje Gjevjon references feminist writer and activist Julie Bindel as one of the earliest figures who alerted her to ideological shifts inside progressive politics. 🔗 Official Website 🔗 X/Twitterhttps://x.com/bindelj [https://x.com/bindelj] 🔗 Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Bindel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Bindel] Magdalen Berns 🔗 YouTube Archivehttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=magdalen+berns [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=magdalen+berns] 🔗 Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalen_Berns [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalen_Berns] Magdalen Berns is repeatedly referenced as a major influence on Alison Ellis. Ellis describes discovering Berns’ videos after searching online for the term “TERF” and realizing: * she was not alone in her views * other lesbians shared similar concerns * factual/direct language resonated more strongly than identity-centered discourse The episode frames Berns as an important early online gender-critical voice, particularly among young lesbians. Organizations & Activist Networks LGB Alliance 🔗 Official Website https://lgballiance.org.uk/ 🔗 Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGB_Alliance [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGB_Alliance] Women’s Declaration International 🔗 Official Website https://www.womensdeclaration.com/ Let Women Speak 🔗 Standing For Women / Let Women Speak https://www.standingforwomen.com/ Norway Legal Gender Recognition 🔗 Norwegian Government Informationhttps://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/families-and-children/equality-and-social-inclusion/innsiktsartikler/legal-gender-recognition/id2481746/ [https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/families-and-children/equality-and-social-inclusion/innsiktsartikler/legal-gender-recognition/id2481746/] Norway’s legal gender recognition framework allows individuals to legally change gender without surgical sterilization requirements. The law became an important reference point in broader European debates surrounding: * self-identification * youth transition * administrative gender policy * legal sex classification Gender-Neutral Pronouns & Inclusive Language 🔗 Gender-Neutral Language Overviewhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_language [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_language] 🔗 Norwegian Language / “Hen” Pronoun Contexthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language] The discussion references institutional language shifts including: * gender-neutral terminology * pronoun normalization * “parent 1 / parent 2” style frameworks * avoidance of sexed language in some institutional settings The speakers frame these changes as examples of top-down ideological restructuring. The European Lesbian Conference (EL*C) 🔗 Official Website https://europeanlesbianconference.org/ Phalloplasty & Metoidioplasty Cleveland Clinic — Phalloplasty https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/21585-phalloplasty [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/21585-phalloplasty] UCSF Gender Care https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/phalloplasty [https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/phalloplasty] Johns Hopkins — Metoidioplasty https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/metoidioplasty-for-gender-affirming-care [https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/metoidioplasty-for-gender-affirming-care] The speakers reference two forms of gender-affirming genital surgery: Phalloplasty Construction of a penis using tissue grafts, often from the forearm, thigh, or abdomen. Metoidioplasty A procedure using hormonally enlarged clitoral tissue to construct male genitalia. Róisín Michaux specifically references observing extensive discussion around these surgeries inside online trans-masc communities, particularly in Belgium. The conversation frames breast removal as a central fixation among many young female transitioners. Belgium & European Gender Clinics Ghent University Hospital Gender Team https://www.uzgent.be/patient/zoek-een-arts-of-dienst/centrum-voor-seksuologie-en-gender [https://www.uzgent.be/patient/zoek-een-arts-of-dienst/centrum-voor-seksuologie-en-gender] Ghent University Hospital is one of Europe’s most recognized gender clinics and research centers. The speakers reference Belgium as an example of broader European gender medicine infrastructure. The Swedish Documentary — The Trans Train Genspect Overview https://genspect.org/swedish-documentary-stopping-the-trans-train/ [https://genspect.org/swedish-documentary-stopping-the-trans-train/] YouTube Playlist / Documentary Uploads https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvATEhXWd8uF7dT3g-jXBmYY7PPfSQZSs [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvATEhXWd8uF7dT3g-jXBmYY7PPfSQZSs] GB News Appearance GB News https://www.gbnews.com/ Tonje Gjevjon and Alison Ellis reference appearing on GB News to discuss Kindred in Chaos following their appearance at the LGB Alliance conference. Guests Tonje Gjevjon 🔗 X/Twitter: https://x.com/tonjegjevjon [https://x.com/tonjegjevjon]🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonjegjevjon/ [https://www.instagram.com/tonjegjevjon/]🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kjendisgjevjon [https://www.facebook.com/kjendisgjevjon] Alison Ellis 🔗 TikTok: Alison Ellis [https://www.tiktok.com/@alison.ellis.6.0] Listen & Subscribe 🎧 Peaked is available on Substack and major podcast platforms. 🔗 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peaked.substack.com/subscribe [https://peaked.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Where gender therapy is a crime

For legal/safety reasons, it wasn’t possible to release this recorded interview before last week’s EU announcement about banning ‘conversion therapy’ in the EU. It’s an interview with an anon paediatric psychiatrist who practices/practiced in Belgium, a country that has already enacted a ban on conversion therapy — despite having found almost no evidence it is happening. Conversion therapy bans make it legally risky to try to talk a kid out of their wrong-body distress. At the very least, it makes doctors scared to try it. But some therapists, like ‘Sarah’, are braving it anyway. Unfortunately they are few and far between. While activists — across Europe — failed to find much evidence of pray-away-the-gay type torture (which is the image your brain is intended to conjure up when it hears the term ‘conversion therapy’) there is plenty of trans skepticism about, and criminalising this skepticism is the intended effect of conversion therapy bans. Such legislation essentially performs the same function as hate speech laws that make it very legally dangerous to refute transgender core beliefs. However, this one has a particularly chilling influence on the psycho-medical profession. Conversion therapy bans are about coercion, because transgender wrongbodyism does not have popular support. Making non-compliance illegal is how its advocates get around the unpopularity problem. The soft-power machinery non-ban ban I had been hoping to get this doctor’s experience out there before the decision was made by the EU as to whether or not to make a law against conversion therapy enforceable in all EU countries, but she is under (stalled) criminal investigation for conversion therapy herself (she refuses to affirm the gender delusions of her young patients) and as we spoke, she was literally trying to keep a low cover as she escaped the country. Ultimately, last week, the European Commission decided not to issue a legally binding directive telling EU countries to ban conversion therapy. But the outcome was hard to decipher based on the mixed reactions to the announcement. Messaging from activists was schizophrenically lopsided. At first, both sides — the activists making demands of the legislature, and the legislature itself — seemed to be celebrating their joint victory. But then a lot of people on the activist side decided that, in fact, there was nothing to celebrate, and that they had lost the fight. That’s because the EU’s self-trumpeted proposal, in the end, was non-binding. It was just vibes. Or soft power machinery, as Athena Forum called it [https://gript.ie/eu-is-captured-by-transgender-ideology-group-says/]. Things got weird online: on the one hand, members of the NGO that had organised the campaign — which amassed 1 million citizen signatures [https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000001_en] — were filmed smiling and laughing in photos with EU officials. At the same time, their allies were posting Instagram reels about how disappointed they were. So what happened? The EU concluded that it can’t legislate in this area. But the fact that the petition even happened in the first place is evidence that they were chancing their arm, as we say back home. Getting caught mid mission-creep It’s not an ‘EU competence’ to get involved in criminalising talk therapy for genderfeelz. However, what is considered an EU competence has been subject to extreme mission creep in recent years*, and issues that you would imagine should remain national have become Brussels’ business. The whole conversion therapy thing was born out of a petition launched in 2024 that was actually an EU-branded, EU-supported ‘citizens initiative’. This bit is important: this petition would not have been possible — it would not have been allowed to go ahead — if what it was asking for was not considered part of the EU’s mandate. So why did it go ahead? How did it get this far? A few years ago when I noticed the petition campaign getting off the ground, I wanted to know how the organisers — a couple of skinny young gay chaps from France — were paying for the legal advice that they would need to determine whether or not what they were asking for was even something the EU can legislate on. So I contacted the official EU petition people to ask about their funding declarations, but there were none. So how did they pay for the legal advice? Surely they got legal advice? These details are boring and finnicky but they’re kind of important: it turns out that the legal experts in the EU Commission [https://citizens-initiative-forum.europa.eu/ask-expert_en]itself [https://citizens-initiative-forum.europa.eu/ask-expert_en] have to decide [https://citizens-initiative-forum.europa.eu/ask-expert_en] whether or not the subject of your demand is something the EU can make binding legislation on, before anything else can happen. (No doubt the vast EU network of NGOs are ready to help out with free legal consults, but it’s the Commission that decides on the legal basis for your request, if there is one). Let me spell it out: the EU told the activists they could make a binding law banning conversion therapy. They said: go ahead and get your signatures, we can legislate on this. But they have since decided that they cannot make such a law. What changed between 2024 and now? (Awaiting a response from the press contact, will update). I suspect that the EU bureaucracy was creeping the mission, and got caught mid-creep. Time was, anything gender-y was waved through the EU bodies — because who cares amiright — but those days are over. The reality is that everyone’s on high alert for social issues in a way they might not have been before. Turns out people do care about what constitutes reality and about keeping their kids out of the hands of state-mandated ideologues. Shocking. A legally-binding ban on sex-swap talk therapy would never “get past the Council” which is eurospeak for “it would fail to be approved by the more conservative countries’ leaders”, who are growing wiser and wiser to the social engineering schtick by the day. This is none of your business, the heads of state would have told the Commission, and they would have been right. I’m not a specialist so I’m just spitballing here, but I think that something that has been until now a bit of a grey area has just been shoved firmly into the black. So the Commission came out and told the gathering of disappointed youngsters last week that nope sorry, no law, we can’t actually do that, but here’s a non-binding vibes-setting document instead (I don’t think the lads should worry, it still looks great on their CVs. I’m proud of them in a twisted maternal way). The NGOcracy and their buds in-state just got too brazen, got some backlash full-force in the face, and knew such a law would never get anywhere. Officials were forced to (sort of) concede: nobody wants this, so it’s shelved. One of the ILGA-Europe enbies was clear-eyed about it. She said the decision “accounts for the limitations of the EU legislative process’“ [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7460321436340015104/]. She also described the setup as a “tyranny of the majority”, which is apparently not the same thing as a democracy? I also think ILGA-Europe, who astro-turfed the whole petition thing in the first place, lost interest, and have shifted their energy and focus towards rule-of-law stuff. Enforcing case law is where it’s at, because nobody can do much about stopping that. There’s always the possibility that Commissioner Hadja Lahbib (with whom the conversion therapy buck stopped) and her friends realised that they will one day be the hook for the inevitable fallout of the trans scandal. I guess we’ll find out eventually, whether it be via tell-alls or tribunals. Looking forward to it. *(I am trying hard to ignore the fact that the EU now wants to govern that extremely intimate part of a sexual encounter where you and someone else decide whether or not you want to shag each other. The EU parliament wants you to make a contractual agreement before you f**k [https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260423IPR41832/rape-must-be-defined-based-on-the-absence-of-consent-in-all-eu-countries], and if the deal’s not inked in the way the EU wants it inked by the f*****s, one of the two fuckees could go to jail. Yeah I know that rape is a problem. Yeah I know consent is important. That doesn’t mean either will be fixed by making sexual foreplay sessions subject to EU legislation. I mean what the everloving christ? The Heavy Petting Regulation? The Sustainable Dry Humping Act? The Third Base Protection Directive? I oppose this solution to the problem. I do not deny there is a problem — just to make it clear for the anti-gender movement academitards out there compiling lists of my crimes against the Borg.) If you appreciate my work, please take out a paid subscription or share this newsletter with your contacts. Please get in touch if you have any feedback, or corrections, or if you just want to call me a c**t. roisinmichaux at gmail dot com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peaked.substack.com/subscribe [https://peaked.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ideological garbage in, ideological garbage out

I love the term ‘Department of Conclusions’, and I apologise to whoever I forget I stole it from. It describes perfectly my cynical view of the cargo-cultish academic and policy departments involved in creating the data that legitimises already-made government decisions. This pantomime involves a lot of cogs and props, and transmogrifying ideology into The Evidence is not easy. There’s a lot of effort involved in reaching a conclusion and then leading raw numbers and survey responses, gently by the hand, in the direction of that conclusion, all while pretending to be a neutral conduit for the truth. One of the foregone conclusions that I come across a lot in my research is the claim that the situation for LGBTIQ+ people is so bad that More Must Be Done, in particular, done by the EU, such as clamping down on hurty words, criminalising TERFs, and forcing more queer theory garbage down the necks of European children. There is reason to believe that gay or gender-non-conforming people have it rougher than many others in society. After all, many people with immigrant backgrounds in Europe absolutely detest gays and lesbians. There has been a sharp rise in the number of honey pot Grindr traps, at least in Belgium and France [https://www.rtbf.be/article/l-enquete-guets-apens-homophobes-le-phenomene-qui-inquiete-11492377], whereby North African lads trick gay men into meeting in secluded spots for sex, and then rob them, beat the s**t out of them, or even kill [https://www.fugues.com/2021/03/09/vive-emotion-apres-un-meurtre-homophobe-a-anvers-en-belgique/] them. And things aren’t going so well for male transvestite gooners either. They have been destroying women’s rights to sport, dignity, and privacy for more than a decade now. What’s not to hate? And what about all the green-haired freaks piling into your kids’ classrooms, telling autistic loners that the cause of all their problems is their ‘wrong body’? And the gaudy rainbow bunting absolutely f*****g everywhere, all year round? I’m filling up with hate just thinking about it. But the issues that are really causing problems for the LGBTIQ+ ‘community’ (not a real thing) are never hinted at in any official datasets. That would involve admitting to activist overreach, or violating the sacred lib code never to notice the unique quandaries caused by the mass immigration of men from patriarchal shitdumps into gay-friendly cultures. By far the most-cited data that EU government and NGOs use to justify things like hate speech laws, digital censorship, and trans-queer-themed comprehensive sexuality education, is the 2023 LGBTIQ Survey III from the Fundamental Rights Agency [https://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2022/eu-lgbtiq-survey-iii]. The FRA is basically a factory for churning out evidence that just-so-happens to justify the decisions of the European Commission and all the similarly-minded political actors in that entourage. If the Fundamental Rights Agency didn’t produce the required facts and figures, it wouldn’t exist. But it does, so it does. The Commission drives the policy and political direction, and then requests backup from the arm’s-length FRA. The data is then put to work to justify the new policies. The setup should raise alarm bells, but without hard evidence that the Commission is actually instructing the FRA on what the data should ‘reveal’, the least we can do is examine the quality of the study design. I’m not a expert myself, but I knew there was a problem when I saw that they had managed to find nearly 2,000 people claiming the ‘intersex’ label, even though I know it has been very difficult to do intersex activist movement-building based on how few people actually use that label for themselves. How exactly was this cohort being defined? So I farmed the job out to some TERFs who know about research practices and standards, and they told me that the survey contained a considerable amount of what could reasonably be described as pure garbage. In the survey we find that ‘trans’ and ‘intersex’ people are disproportionately affected by violence, discrimination, and victimisation. But what is ‘trans’? And what is intersex? Does the survey at least attempt to define gender? Yes. Is it a circular definition? Also yes. Are crossdressers and transvestites, who don’t claim to be trans women, included in the definition of ‘trans’? Is it considered discriminatory to get the ick from them because everyone knows it’s a fetish? Yes and yes. Does the survey contain data on the number of natal males who claim to have had a cervical smear test in the past five years? Uhh, yes. As consumers of this official data, I guess we are just as much to blame for gobbling up the numbers we find on official glossy factsheets. Surely in the internet age we’d be better at spotting elite misinformation? The phrase “According to figures from the…(INSERT ACRONYM)” should not fool anyone anymore. But whatever about normies, journalists, surely, should be doing their due diligence and checking the stats to make sure they’re not rehashing activist or government propaganda. But I have never seen anyone examine the quality of these numbers or analysis that justify so much of the EU’s policies and laws related to LGBTIQ rights, as a whole, and sex erasure in particular. Every instance I have found where the FRA survey is cited in the media, it is cited as though it was sent from God herself. So I invited a lovely TERF and retired science communicator, Ruth Parry, to give me her expert opinion on the survey design. She’s got a background in clinical research, and she talked to me about the recruitment methods, self-reporting, and ambiguous definitions that likely affected the outcomes. We chatted about the clinically-sound DSD Life study, also funded by the EU in parallel, and how it contrasts with the FRA activist-driven one, and how embedding “inclusive gender” into research grant criteria will flub scientific processes, to the benefit of no-one. Enjoy. Take out a paid subscription if you think it’s worth it. And please get in touch with feedback/comments if you’re so inclined. roisinmichaux@gmail.com Show notes (AI generated) Guest: Ruth Parry Twitter/X: https://x.com/CACEnotes Key Topics Discussed * EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) LGBTIQ Survey III * Survey design: sampling, self-reporting, and recruitment bias * Activist involvement in data collection * Intersex vs DSD (Differences of Sex Development) * Clinical vs identity-based classification * DSD Life study and evidence-based research * Medical ethics in early-life interventions * Use of statistics in policy and law * EU funding frameworks and gender equality requirements * Ideological influence in academia and institutions * Interpretation of discrimination and violence data * Feminist and scientific critiques of gender identity frameworks Core dataset European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights https://fra.europa.eu/en [https://fra.europa.eu/en] EU LGBTIQ Survey III https://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2022/eu-lgbtiq-survey-iii [https://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2022/eu-lgbtiq-survey-iii] * Large-scale online survey across Europe * Used in EU policy frameworks, national strategies, and legal contexts Scientific benchmark DSD Life Study (EU Project) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/305373 [https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/305373] * Clinical research with medically verified participants * Focus: long-term outcomes, quality of life, treatment impact Medical context Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000411.htm [https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000411.htm] Hypospadias https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001286.htm [https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001286.htm] * Referenced in discussion of early intervention, functional vs cosmetic treatment, and long-term outcomes Clinical framework Chicago Consensus (2006) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16882788/ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16882788/] * Established modern classification of DSD John Money https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money] * Early theorist influencing gender identity models Legal Reference Bell v Tavistock https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Bell-v-Tavistock-Judgment.pdf [https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Bell-v-Tavistock-Judgment.pdf] Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust * Case concerning medical transition of minors and consent EU Policy & Funding Context Horizon Europe https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en [https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en] Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/ Erasmus+ https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/ * EU funding programs requiring Gender Equality Plans, including “inclusive gender” frameworks Academic & intellectual References Helen Joyce https://sex-matters.org/ Kathleen Stock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Stock [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Stock] Book: Material Girls [https://www.amazon.com/Material-Girls-Reality-Matters-Feminism/dp/0349726620/ref=sr_1_2?crid=XPUET8T46JOR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._vK6_KM3PyfLMb2WarCnf66LCz3E2hLATJK4vlN3fj-s9xL2QurKsZDGVlS4S3tLJSDuG7BvBYj9EzxVfWoFdAiFGI0wUwKJMXwVRbPfukpKWPVx8Zkr_PNaBYCT4GRMOvP1Of_7QmnoA_qPNONLr0I62Fm-vL1xAYHp7BXX8OGLcdbPWHQzf8IYEcmBEmyFCn9WAXh3-9lsh9hurdE2yGCMVf3BX9LjnYEZtYX9uJA.Xjv0yMOfIkBFIpR8DCZ7cQhC2mA0GWzf6mADNH-FUSw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Material+Girls&qid=1777527715&sprefix=material+girls%2Caps%2C383&sr=8-2] Alice Dreger https://alicedreger.com/ Book: Galileo’s Middle Finger [https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00LFZ8OLQ?ref=KC_GS_GB_IN] J. Michael Bailey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Bailey [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Bailey] Louis Gooren https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Louis+Gooren Historical Reference Ian Huntley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Huntley [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Huntley] * Referenced as an example of how awareness of risk develops only after exposure to real cases Related Discussion Referenced in Episode Stephanie Winn — Intersex / DSD Discussion * Referenced by Róisín as a prior discussion covering: * intersex conditions * surgical ethics * clinical vs activist perspectives Research Methods Reference Randomised Controlled Trials https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1706053/ [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1706053/] * Gold standard in clinical research Cultural Reference Turf Rocks * Grassroots activist example mentioned in discussion X (Twitter): https://x.com/RoisinMichaux [https://x.com/RoisinMichaux] This is a public episode. 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'Peace money' and Northern Ireland's Be-Kind elite

You may disagree with my claim that Sara Morrison’s was the most vicious TERF witchhunt [https://genspect.org/when-the-witch-theyre-hunting-is-you/] of them all — but it’s definitely among the gnarliest. I called Sara up to swap notes about our professional houndings. Like so many women, I too was unceremoniously removed my duties because of my non-belief in gendershite. But the behaviour of Sara’s hounders — the crème de la crème of the Northern Irish cultural elite — gave me goosebumps for its sheer psychopathy. I was unpersonned like a princess, in comparison. The people who targetted Sara are the #Kindest people in society: the publicly-funded ‘non-government’als involved in woke civil society charities. These are the people who are paid to ‘foster’ the warm-and-fuzzies: inclusivity, diversity, acceptance, tolerance, empathy, openness, fairness, equality, and equity, via public-facing cultural, advocacy and media organisations. In return, they get multi-annual operational grants. But the temporary nature of the arrangement means that Kindsters are permanently only precariously employed, a destabilising and competitive setup that creates perverse incentives (not just in Northern Ireland — the business model is the same everywhere and it’s terrible). It pushes people to exaggerate a problem that needs to be solved, while simultaneously pretending to be solving it. This leads to some crazy hijinks, a perfect example of which we saw this week with the story of the Southern Poverty Law Centre’s self-generated racism [https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/21/splc-southern-poverty-justice-department-investigation/] problem that they pretended to donors to be fixing. It also produces only a small pool of jobs, and the prestige that goes with these jobs serves to amp up the stakes for everyone involved. The model is the same everywhere, as I said, but Northern Ireland is …different … from other places, to put it mildly. In terms of vibes, the place always felt to me a bit like if Bosnia married and divorced Scotland, and they got shared custody of 1.93 million fearful-avoidant kids. The country has a higher-than-average number of charities working on community projects because, you know, which is typical in post-conflict places. Many of them started out thanks to 'peace money’ that came from the EU, the UK and Irish governments and the Americans. And while a lot of them do very good and vital work (especially in the form of providing essential services), there’s also the usual parasitic gay-race-communism NGOs staffed by people who have to aggressively advertise their virtue in order to stay ideologically kosher in the tight-knit non-profit circle. The trans issue is an extremely touchy subject at the best of times, but throw that grenade into an already fraught and fearful crew of purity-spirallers, and you’ve got the ingredients for the most violent non-violent hate mob I think I’ve ever heard of. Northern Ireland is full of things that are unsayable. Sara’s bold assertions about our right to our own rape crisis centres free from crossdressing blokes seems to have provoked a repressed frustration around the trigger theme of identity that exploded with bizarre ferocity. It’s not good, folks. But you’ll be happy to hear that Sara's really doing well, finally. Perhaps her employment tribunal case [https://genderblog.net/morrison-written-closings/], the result of which is out in the next few weeks, should give her former colleagues, friends, and tattoo artist (who also denounced her) pause for some self-reflection. But we should probably not hold our breaths for any peace and reconciliation talks. As Sara said in the speech that caused all her problems [https://genderblog.net/sara-morrisons-speech/]: “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business and eventually degenerates into a racket.” You are here. Read this excellent story by Rosie Kay on Sara’s intervention at a recent event on censorship in the arts in Belfast. [https://substack.com/home/post/p-192763136] Here’s Sara on Substack [https://substack.com/@sarawildtimmy] and here she is on Twitter [https://x.com/SeeRedWoman1] Show notes (AI generated) In this episode of Peaked, Róisín Michaux is joined by Sara Morrison to explore the social, political, and cultural landscape of Northern Ireland in the post-conflict era. The discussion examines how the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement shaped a funding-dependent NGO ecosystem, particularly in the arts and voluntary sectors. Through Sara’s firsthand experience working in these sectors, the episode explores how economic structures, institutional incentives, and cultural pressures contribute to ideological conformity and risk-averse environments. The conversation also moves into feminist politics, gender policy conflicts, and Sara’s personal experience of workplace cancellation following her participation in a public event, leading to an ongoing employment tribunal. Topics discussed: · Post-conflict Northern Ireland economy and society· NGO funding and “peace money” dependency· Arts and charity sector employment structures· Public sector dominance vs private industry· Violence against women and policy failures· Gender ideology and feminist conflict· Workplace cancellation and tribunal case· Protest culture and ideological enforcement· “Militant kindness” and social conformity· Cross-community identity vs modern inclusion frameworks Historical & Political Context The Good Friday Agreement (1998) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement] · Ended major violence during The Troubles· Led to significant international funding and NGO expansion The Troubles (Background Context) https://www.britannica.com/event/The-Troubles-Northern-Ireland-history [https://www.britannica.com/event/The-Troubles-Northern-Ireland-history] · Sectarian conflict shaping modern Northern Ireland· Long-term impact on identity, politics, and economy Post-Conflict Funding & NGO Economy PEACE PLUS Programme https://www.seupb.eu/peaceplus [https://www.seupb.eu/peaceplus] · Cross-border EU, UK, and Irish government funding programme· Supports community, reconciliation, and economic projects Invest Northern Ireland https://www.investni.com/ · Economic development agency focused on business growth Arts Council of Northern Ireland https://artscouncil-ni.org/ · Primary funding body for arts and cultural sector Belfast City Council https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ · Referenced in building-use controversy and policy criteria Political Landscape Sinn Féin https://www.sinnfein.ie/ Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) https://mydup.com/ Alliance Party https://www.allianceparty.org/ Social Issues & Policy Violence Against Women Strategy (Northern Ireland) https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/publications/stopping-domestic-and-sexual-violence-and-abuse-strategy Sexual Violence & Support Services Nexus NI https://nexusni.org/ Women’s Aid NI https://www.womensaidni.org/ The Rowan Sexual Assault Referral Centre https://www.southerntrust.hscni.net/services/the-rowan/ [https://therowan.hscni.net/] Sara Morrison — Case & Context BBC Coverage https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0gj42l4zeo [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0gj42l4zeo] Case Briefing https://sex-matters.org/case-briefings/sara-morrison-v-belfast-film-festival/ [https://sex-matters.org/case-briefings/sara-morrison-v-belfast-film-festival/] Let Women Speak Event https://www.standingforwomen.com/ J. K. Rowling Support Context https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/trans-child-women-only-spaces-skdtl3bcx [https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/trans-child-women-only-spaces-skdtl3bcx] · Public support and financial contribution to Morrison’s case Feminism, Gender & Policy Nordic Model (Sex Work Policy) https://nordicmodelnow.org/what-is-the-nordic-model/ [https://nordicmodelnow.org/what-is-the-nordic-model/] Repeal the 8th Amendment (Ireland) https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/civil-law/repeal-of-the-8th-amendment/ Emma Watson https://www.unwomen.org/en/goodwill-ambassadors/emma-watson · Referenced in context of funding support for services Arts, Culture & Institutions Imagine Belfast Festival https://imaginebelfast.com/ Northern Ireland Screen https://www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk/ Media & Cultural References Elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_(1989_film) Van Morrison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Morrison [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Morrison] Protest Culture & “Militant Kindness” Northern Ireland Protest Coverage (Context Referenced in Episode) https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ [https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/] · Referenced discussion of protests and counter-protests· Highlights tension between grassroots groups and activist responses Gay Not Queer (Referenced by Sara) https://x.com/gaynotqueer · Referenced directly in episode· Source of “militant kindness” framing· Critiques contradictions within activist culture Organizations & Networks NIPSA (Trade Union) https://nipsa.org.uk/ Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) https://www.flac.ie/ Key Figures Mentioned Jim Gamble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Gamble [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Gamble] 🔗 X (Twitter)https://x.com/RoisinMichaux [https://x.com/RoisinMichaux] 🔗 Apple Podcasts — Peaked This is a public episode. 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