(1) Eton teacher fired for disputing 'Toxic Masculinity'(2) Delingpole: Eton Sacks Teacher Who Dared Question 'Toxic Masculinity'(3) raising money to challenge my dismissal in the Employment Tribunal(4) Eton students defend brave teacher, push back against woke cancel culture(5) Will Knowland was dismissed after recording a lecture which questioned "current radical feminist orthodoxy"(6) Australian Authorities Seize Child After Parents Refuse Sex-Change Hormone Therapy For Her(7) UK High Court says minors must 'understand' treatment before starting gender transition, in 'devastating blow' to Trans activists(8) For They Know Not What They Do (2019)(9) "Mother/Father" to be removed from Israeli administrative forms, replaced by "Parent 1/Parent 2"(10) Russia law Protecting Children from non-Traditional Family Values(11) YouTube deletes Candace Owens' "men are not women and women are not men" podcast video(1) Eton teacher fired for disputing 'Toxic Masculinity'https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/26/exclusive-eton-college-dismisses-teacher-amid-free-speech-row/Exclusive: Eton College dismisses teacher amid free speech row prompted by lecture on masculinityThe £42,500-a-year boarding school has been accused of 'prioritising emotional safety over intellectual challenge'By Camilla Turner,  EDUCATION EDITOR26 November 2020 o 9:00pmThe £42,500-a-year boarding school has been accused of "prioritising emotional safety over intellectual challenge"Eton College has dismissed one of its masters amid a free speech row prompted by a lecture which questioned "current radical feminist orthodoxy".The £42,500-a-year boarding school has been accused of "prioritising emotional safety over intellectual challenge" after it allegedly banned a presentation on the theme of masculinity from being delivered to students.Will Knowland, who has taught English at Eton College for nine years, alleges that he has been dismissed for gross misconduct following a dispute over a lecture he was due to give pupils earlier this year.The lecture, titled "The Patriarchy Paradox" was part of the Perspectives course which is taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.But Mr Knowland's lecture, which he had prepared in video form and uploaded to the school's intranet due to Covid, was never given to students."The Head Master felt that some of the ideas put forward in my lecture – such as the view that men and women differ psychologically and not all of those differences are socially constructed – were too dangerous for the boys to be exposed to," Mr Knowland said."I explained to the Head Master that I wasn't endorsing all the ideas in my lecture, but I wanted the boys to be made aware of a different point of view to the current radical feminist orthodoxy, which insists that there's something fundamentally toxic about masculinity."In my lecture, I pointed out that, historically, masculine qualities like strength, courage and tenacity have often been as beneficial to women as they have been to men."Mr Knowland wrote a detailed letter setting out his view of events in a letter addressed to the Eton Community on Thursday which he said was to address the "rumours" about why he had been dismissed.In his letter, seen by The Telegraph, he explained that schools have a legal duty to offer a balanced curriculum adding that he believes the topic of masculinity currently "lacks balance" in the way it is taught at Eton College.He described how before his lecture was broadcast to students it was circulated among fellow teachers of the "Perspectives" course, one of whom complained about its content."The Head Master sided with the complainant and asked for the video to be removed, which it duly was," Mr Knowland claimed.He said that the dispute arose when he refused to remove the lecture from his personal YouTube channel "Knowland Knows" which has 746 subscribers."Because I believe passionately in free speech, I said I would only take it down if given a clear reason, which is how I ended up being dismissed," Mr Knowland alleged.He said he is appealing against his dismissal, and if this fails he intends to take the school to an employment tribunal if necessary.In a fundraising page he set up to raise money for legal fees for a possible tribunal he said: "I have been dismissed from my employment. My wife and I will be made homeless, along with our five children."An Eton College spokesman said: "As this matter is being appealed as part of the College's disciplinary process, it would not be appropriate to comment before a final decision is made."(2) Delingpole: Eton Sacks Teacher Who Dared Question 'Toxic Masculinity'https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/11/28/delingpole-eton-sacks-teacher-who-dared-question-toxic-masculinity/JAMES DELINGPOLE28 Nov 2020381Eton College — the elite school that has educated everyone from the Duke of Wellington and George Orwell to Princes William and Harry and the current Archbishop of Canterbury — has gone woke.Actually, it has been heading that way for quite some time under its grisly, new-ish Head Master Simon 'Trendy Hendy' Henderson — the dripping wet creature responsible for the rainbow flag now fluttering limply above the school's 15th-century buildings.But Henderson's latest move really is the final straw for this once mighty institution, which has been training the British elite since Henry VI founded it in 1440.The Telegraph has the story:The £42,500-a-year boarding school has been accused of "prioritising emotional safety over intellectual challenge" after it allegedly banned a presentation on the theme of masculinity from being delivered to students.Will Knowland, who has taught English at Eton College for nine years, alleges that he has been dismissed for gross misconduct following a dispute over a lecture he was due to give pupils earlier this year.The lecture, titled "The Patriarchy Paradox" was part of the Perspectives course which is taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.But the school objected to this lecture, which was essentially a way of teaching the boys not to be ashamed of being male. You might not think that this was a message that needed emphasising in a school which has been educating the upper echelons of the patriarchy for nearly 600 years. However, the English public school system is not what it used to be: often, under the influence of "progressive" headmasters like Trendy Hendy, they have become just as obsessed with pushing SJW politics as any state school.I know this because one of my sons went to Eton. He was still there when Trendy Hendy arrived and began his woke purging. One of the first things Trendy Hendy did was to show how down he was with the kids by giving them high fives rather than shake their hands. But it got worse, much worse.More and more leftist politics were squeezed into the curriculum. On one occasion, the boys were forced to sit through a lecture from feminist Laura Bates, creator of the Everyday Sexism Project: essentially so they could be told about the perils of toxic masculinity.Knowland's lecture was a much-needed antidote to this relentless political correctness. As he said in a letter to the school, he felt the topical of "masculinity" in the school "lacked balance". Which is a polite way of saying that the boys were being force-fed feminist propaganda.Before delivering the lecture (which would have been for senior boys), he circulated it around the school — and one staff member objected.I understand that this staff member is one of the new intake of wokistas who hate Eton's traditional values and want to reshape it according to the politically correct values of the liberal left.Henderson could very easily have ignored this complaint simply by defending the school's long traditions of freedom of expression. Eton, as anyone familiar with it knows, offers — or used to offer — probably the best, most rounded, most intellectually challenging education of almost any school in the world. Though very traditional in its emphasis on rigour and hard work, it is also remarkably libertarian in the way that boys' eccentricities and personal interests are encouraged. Boys finish their five years at Eton having been exposed to all manner of intellectual ideas.This tradition is slowly being strangled by the new regime. Rather than stick up for Knowland, Henderson backed the staff member who wanted his lecture censored.Knowland put his Patriarchy Paradox lecture up on his YouTube channel Knowland Knows.His site's motto is taken from George Orwell: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear".One of the mildly contentious points he makes in his lecture concerns formerly male transgender athletes invading women's sport.He quotes a female fighter who'd had her skull fractured by a 'transgender' fighter in the ring."I am an abnormally strong woman in my own right. I have never felt the strength I felt in a fight like that night. I have never felt so dominated in my life. When it comes to a combat sport, I don't think it's fair."Apparently this was all too much for Eton's woke faction. (It has another, probably larger but less vocal faction which loathes all this left-wing nonsense).By Knowland's account, he was suspended after refusing to remove the video from his YouTube channel.The Telegraph reports:"Because I believe passionately in free speech, I said I would only take it down if given a clear reason, which is how I ended up being dismissed," Mr Knowland alleged.He said he is appealing against his dismissal, and if this fails he intends to take the school to an employment tribunal if necessary.In a fundraising page he set up to raise money for legal fees for a possible tribunal he said: "I have been dismissed from my employment. My wife and I will be made homeless, along with our five children."As one critic has asked:'How long can public schools survive if they're seen to go woke? Will parents be willing to pay £40,000 for their children to be indoctrinated in a way I cannot imagine they're delighted by?'Crikey. How long can public schools survive if they're seen to go woke? Will parents be willing to pay £40,000 for their children to be indoctrinated in a way I cannot imagine they're delighted by? https://t.co/kEofwDY8kl— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) November 26, 2020How indeed? Whatever you may think of Eton — and it does attract an awful lot of chippiness and hatred from people who don't really understand it — it used to be the acme of educational excellence; and it was just as capable of turning out radicals — Shelley and Orwell, say — as hapless Establishment stooges like David Cameron and Boris Johnson.Now, under the new regime it has become yet another once fine institution which has capitulated to the forces of woke. Eton is finished – or will be unless enough of its alumni complain and do something, fast, about Trendy Hendy…(3) raising money to challenge my dismissal in the Employment Tribunalhttps://donorbox.org/will-knowlandWill KnowlandI have been dismissed from my employment. My wife and I will be made homeless, along with our five children. I am raising money to challenge my dismissal in the Employment Tribunal if necessary.(4) Eton students defend brave teacher, push back against woke cancel culturehttps://reclaimthenet.org/eton-woke-cancel-culture/December 1, 2020Students rush to defend brave teacher fired after refusing to remove "sexist" video from YouTubeBy Didi RankovicPosted 7:33 amEton students are pushing back against the cult of woke cancel culture invading education institutions.If you're tired of cancel culture and censorship subscribe to Reclaim The Net.A video an English teacher at Eton, UK's elite public school, had posted on YouTube as a lecture that he never managed to deliver to his students, has cost him his job amid accusations of sexism.The head of the college, Lord Waldegrave spoke in favor of the move despite a petition signed by 1,000 students who want the teacher, Will Knowland, reinstated.The row has turned into one about free speech and censorship and whether the decision to kick Knowland out because of his planned lecture actually means that Eton is suppressing voices deviating from what are pressured social norms.But the college maintains that free speech is not what's at stake here, and that they had no other way of dealing with the situation after Knowland, according to Waldegrave, refused six times to remove the lecture, The Patriarchy Paradox, where he wished to highlight "current radical feminist orthodoxy."In the end, the school removed him, a move that the teacher has appealed against, while Waldegrave has commented for the first time to defend Eton's free speech and free debate tradition, ironically declaring that it will "never cancel debate" and mentioning that in the past, the college hosted figures with very different political and ideological views.In a letter last week addressed to the Eton community, Knowland said that he didn't necessarily agree with all the points he made in the video, uploaded in September, but wanted to present a counterpoint to what he calls "radical feminism" for debate. Some of the arguments he makes is that women and men are different psychologically and that not all the differences between them are socially constructed, while men have virtues like strength and courage that benefits women.Eton, however, tried to say it was an issue of a violation of the Equality Act and the Education Regulations, and also the teacher's lack of discipline when he refused to temporarily take the video down.However, anonymous sources who spoke for the Daily Telegraph blamed new headmaster Simon Henderson of being behind the sacking, as he allegedly pushes an "aggressively woke" agenda and is working to change the image of Eton as a pillar of male elitism.(5) Will Knowland was dismissed after recording a lecture which questioned "current radical feminist orthodoxy"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/30/eton-provost-steps-sacking-appeal-panel/Eton provost will not rule on master's dismissal after backing headmaster in free speech rowBaron Waldegrave of North Hill claimed Will Knowland was dismissed for 'repeated refusal to follow reasonable instruction'ByCamilla Turner,  EDUCATION EDITOR1 December 2020 o 12:57amEton College's provost recused himself from the appeal panel considering the dismissal of a master embroiled in a free speech row after publicly backing the school's headmaster.Baron Waldegrave of North Hill announced on Monday night that he was standing down from his role as chair of the appeal panel, saying it was "inappropriate" for him to continue following his intervention.On Monday, he wrote to parents insisting that a teacher was sacked for his refusal to remove a video of his lecture from the internet rather than the contents of the lecture itself.Lord Waldegrave claimed Will Knowland was dismissed for his "repeated refusal to follow reasonable instruction".The life peer and former Tory Cabinet minister said the master's dismissal was "not about free speech within the law" but was a "matter of internal discipline".Last week, The Telegraph revealed that Mr Knowland was dismissed for gross misconduct after recording a lecture which questioned "current radical feminist orthodoxy". The lecture was part of the Perspectives course taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.Mr Knowland alleged that he was banned from delivering the lecture to pupils and then dismissed after he refused to remove a video of the lecture from his personal YouTube channel. He is appealing against the headmaster's decision to sack him, and the hearing is due to be held next week.On Monday, he insisted that he had been fired over the video's contents and claimed the head master said he was bringing the school into disrepute."By denying boys the opportunity to watch the video, and make up their own minds, the instruction seemed to be censorious," he said in a letter sent to the Eton community. "I made a stand for my freedom to express information but also for the boys' freedom to receive it."Lord Waldegrave stepped down from the appeal panel after members of the Old Etonian Association called for him to go. One member said it was "astonishing" that he had "so publicly made his bias known" ahead of the appeal hearing.He admitted he had been wrong to claim that the contents of the lecture at the heart of the free speech row played no role at all in the master's sacking.Writing to parents on Sunday evening, Lord Waldegrave said Mr Knowland would not have lost his job "for the lesson content alone" but that it was his "repeated refusal" to follow the headmaster's instructions that led to him being fired.However, on Monday morning he wrote to parents again to apologise and say this was "incorrect". He added that in fact it "might well have been possible" for Mr Knowland to have been sanctioned rather than fully dismissed over the lecture's content.The £42,500-a-year school  has said it was left with "no choice" but to ask Mr Knowland to remove the video from the internet as it fell foul of equality laws.Supporters of Mr Knowland pointed out that the Equality Act contains a specific provision about its use in schools which states that "nothing in this chapter applies to anything done in connection with the content of the curriculum".The Equality and Human Rights Commission published a briefing note in 2019 about the Equality Act and its application in schools which says that they "are not restricted in the range of issues, ideas and materials you use in your syllabus and will have the academic freedom to expose students to a range of thoughts and ideas, however controversial".Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which is supporting Mr Knowland, said the case "is and always has been about free speech". He added that the dispute is over the purpose of a good education and whether it is to "equip children with the knowledge and skills to think through the big questions facing our society or to just teach them the 'correct' view".An Eton College spokesman said: "Given the Provost has publicly explained the school's position, he felt it inappropriate to stand as chair of the appeal panel. In line with our procedures, the vice provost will now take his place."In terms of the clarification letter, this was a drafting error, an apology was issued and it was corrected as soon as possible."(6) Australian Authorities Seize Child After Parents Refuse Sex-Change Hormone Therapy For Herhttp://www.fulcrum7.com/news/2020/11/30/australian-authorities-seize-child-after-parents-refuse-sex-change-hormone-therapy-for-herNovember 30, 2020An Australian couple whose child was reportedly seized by state authorities is appealing a magistrate's ruling finding them abusive and "dangerous" for resisting testosterone therapy for their daughter, who now identifies as male.Lawyers for the unidentified parents filed papers last week seeking to appeal a magistrate's October decision, setting up what appears to be the country's first test case on parental rights regarding gender dysphoria medicine, the Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Their child, then 15, was taken away from the family last year, after discussing suicide online."The authorities say we will not allow her to change gender, so it's dangerous for told her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her," the father told the Australian. "They want us to consent to testosterone treatment."The parents are seeking an independent psychological review of all possible causes of their child's depression, as well as consideration of non-invasive treatment options. The teen struggled after losing friends at 13, when the family relocated, and those difficulties were compounded by a difficult start to puberty and anxiety about eating and body image, the mother said.The family migrated to Australia a decade ago, the newspaper said, without identifying their native country. The magistrate found that the teen likely suffered verbal abuse over "his feelings and expression of gender identity," which the parents denied (notice that the magistrate has capitulated to the cultural demand to recognize biologically confused people's preferred pronouns as if they are a sacred viewpoint).Lawyers for the child earlier this month filed papers seeking approval to begin hormone therapy.A Twitter commenter who said her own daughter suffered from rapid onset gender dysphoria, said state interventions such as in the Australia case mark "the end of parenting as we knew it." Liberal, culture-loving governments are becoming evil, there is no better way to say it.As the debate on treatment for gender dysphoria heats up in Australia, some US states are creating exceptions to parental consent laws to enable children to get such treatments as hormone therapy and sex-change surgeries without parental consent. Starting this year, children as young as 13 in Washington state have been allowed to obtain confidential treatment for gender dysphoria, billed to their parents insurance plan. This is done without parental consent."[Its] hard to overstate how radical this is," Abigail Shrier, journalist and 'Irreversible Damage' author, tweeted. "States are intervening in a loving relationship between parent and minor child and declaring: 'We will physically transform the child against your wishes and behind your back.'"(7) UK High Court says minors must 'understand' treatment before starting gender transition, in 'devastating blow' to trans activistshttps://www.rt.com/uk/508328-children-transition-court-ruling-bell/UK High Court says minors must 'understand' treatment before starting gender transition, in 'devastating blow' to trans activists1 Dec, 2020 12:03The UK's High Court has ruled that minors can only consent to gender reassignment if they understand the treatment, after a 'detransitioning' woman filed suit against the NHS for enabling 'irreversible' biological changes.In a landmark ruling, the court said that children under 16 who want to undergo gender-changing procedures can only be given puberty blockers if they "understand the nature of the treatment."The panel of judges ruled that "long-term consequences," taken together with the "experimental" aspects of the treatment, should require court authorisation before children can proceed with gender reassignment.Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who began transitioning when she was 16 before reversing the procedure, had urged the court to make it unlawful for children to be prescribed hormone blockers without a court order stating that such treatment is in their "best interests." The legal action was brought against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK's only gender reassignment service for children.Mrs A, the mother of a 16-year-old autistic girl who is currently on the waiting list for treatment, was also a plaintiff in the case.More: "it is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers."It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of... puberty blockers."— Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables) December 1, 2020The court noted that it was "highly unlikely" that a child aged 13 or under would be able to give informed consent to begin taking puberty blockers, and expressed similar doubt that 14- or 15-year-olds could weigh up the long-term consequences of such a decision.The legal team representing Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust had argued the use of hormone blockers is "a safe and reversible treatment with a well-established history."Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust said it was "disappointed" by the outcome of the case and would appeal the ruling. Mermaid, a UK charity that supports transgender children, described the judges' decision as a "potentially devastating blow to trans under 16s seeking access to life-saving puberty blockers."BREAKING: High Court ruling deals a potentially devastating blow to trans under 16s seeking access to life-saving puberty blockers. We will respond in full and expect an appeal from GIDS. This is a betrayal of trans young people. The summary judgment in full: pic.twitter.com/0XMjc9M84k— Mermaids (@Mermaids_Gender) December 1, 2020The ruling, which could have far-reaching ramifications for the heated debate over trans-identifying children, came as "#istandwithkeirabell" trended on Twitter in the UK.(8) For They Know Not What They Do (2019)From: Eric Walberg <walberg2002@yahoo.com>Subject: For They Know Not What They Do (2019)hi peter,my thoughts on this film. worth seeing if you can strain out the trans/gay propaganda.the conversion therapy is stupid.For They Know Not What They Do (2019) following four families navigating issues of faith in relation to the sexual orientations and gender identities of their children. the intent of the filmmaker is to denounce the evangelical christians who try to make their kids str8. i feel sorry for the parents! one boy insisted he was really a girl a 'transwoman', and his parents finally said ok. he is now sarah mcbride. and s/he ended up marrying a transman andrew cray (who died a few days later of cancer).  sorry, but they look like a parody of husband and wife.sarah is now a state senator for delaware. i can't help thinking if you are transgender, who's going to be attracted to you? what kind of life is that? i'm sure 'sarah' did not have her balls cut off. just takes estrogen pills every day and had a breast enlargement. it looks to me like it's all about ego, selfish. sarah: society must change to accommodate ME.i think it is unhealthy to pump your body full of chemicals. maybe andrew's fatal cancer was result of getting pumped full of testosterone. it's all playing with god.one sad fellow in the film, ryan, knew he had gay uncle. so he told parents at age 12 he was gay. then he tried conversion therapy to please his parents (they cut relations with the gay uncle), and when it failed, he told his parents he wanted to see if drugs would cure him (STUPID). they said ok but he had to leave home. so he ended up a street guy and died.very sad. ryan was just as stupid as his parents. so much tragedy around gay.i think it was better when you just had to wait till you left home and then acted out and matured. that's what i did (though i'm hardly a good example of a happy gay!)one transwoman was accosted when s/he was taking a video on her cell phone of a women full of hate. the woman attacked her for taking a video. (i don't blame the attacker. very stupid move by trans.) an old man spat on one gay employee in an office and then had heart attack!!i wish people could just be discreet. i think US is full of freaks. people doing crazy things and getting away with it.ryan's poor mother found a pro-gay church now hosts gay guys. like sisyphus in hades, pushing a rock up a hill forever.(9) "Mother/Father" to be removed from Israeli administrative forms, replaced by "Parent 1/Parent 2"https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/11/israel-benny-gantz-tel-aviv-lgbtq-rights-ultra-orthodox.htmlIsrael's Gantz announces major step for LGBTQ rightsDefense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the "Name of Mother/Name of Father" section be stricken from all administrative forms, to be replaced by "Parent 1/Parent 2."Mazal Mualem @mazalm3Nov 23, 2020Israel's gay community recorded one of the greatest achievements of its long struggle for equal rights on Nov. 19 when Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz instructed that all official forms issued by his ministry replace the "mother" and "father" categories with the designations "parent 1" and "parent 2." Gantz presented the move as a "symbolic and important step on our part — the part of 'the State' to recognize the requests of families and their ways of life."Gantz also instructed other ministers of his Blue and White party to integrate the change in the agencies and offices under their purview, as Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn has already done. The change does not require special legislation since it is a ministerial directive, and it can be implemented immediately.This may be a symbolic act, but its historic significance and potential for generating change throughout Israeli society cannot be ignored. Service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is mandatory for all Israeli men and women when they turn 18. Except for ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens, almost every Israeli family has a relative in the military on active or reserve duty, and millions of adult Israelis have served in the army and have already or will in the future send a son or daughter to serve for two or three years.Given the widespread impact of military service on every facet of Israeli life, this supposedly minor bureaucratic amendment is in fact a powerful agent of social and educational change. Its importance also stems from Israel's political makeup, with ultra-Orthodox parties wielding significant influence and consistently torpedoing proposed legislation seeking equality between same-sex and heterosexual couples in recognizing their family status and eligibility for social and financial benefits. As expected, Gantz's decision prompted harsh reactions from ultra-Orthodox and conservative, right-wing circles.Gantz's move contradicts the position of the ultra-Orthodox partners in the governing coalition. In fact, on Oct. 28 the Knesset rejected a proposed bill making official state documents more inclusive of same-sex couples.On the other hand, the move has electoral implications for Gantz as he seeks to lure back the center-left voters who abandoned him after he joined the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May, and to reverse his party's plunge in the polls.Either way, the importance of this step cannot be overstated and work is underway at the Ministry of Defense with plans to issue the revised forms by the end of this year.Knesset member Ofir Sofer of the right-wing Yamina alliance accused his Blue and White colleagues of "progressive madness" designed to eradicate family values. "Exploiting the defense agencies and the IDF for this current madness is foolish and shameful," he tweeted. [...]Israeli attitudes toward the gay community are complex and ambivalent.On the one hand, two openly gay ministers live with their partners and raise children together — Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Itzik Shmuli of the Labor party and the Likud's popular Justice Minister Amir Ohana. Ohana enjoys excellent relations with the ultra-Orthodox members of the government and coalition, providing de facto recognition, albeit indirect, of the rights of gay men to partnership and parenthood. After blocking the career advancement of gay officers for years, arguing that they would be susceptible to blackmail, in 2015 the IDF appointed an openly gay officer, Sharon Afek, as military advocate general. He was promoted to the rank of major general, becoming the first gay Israeli soldier to hold that rank. ...(10) Russia law Protecting Children from non-Traditional Family Valueshttps://www.rt.com/op-ed/507217-us-russia-conservative-values/As an American who recently received Russian citizenship, the decision has made me cherish conservative values more than everRobert Bridge19 Nov, 2020 17:57As an American who recently received Russian citizenship, the decision has made me cherish conservative values more than everWith each passing year, the American people are forced to grapple with increasingly extreme liberal innovations amid an oppressive social climate known as 'cancel culture'. When will the experiment explode? In 1995, having just left a cushy cubicle job in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, out of mind-numbing boredom, I received an invitation to visit Russia. It was the dead of winter, so how could I refuse? When the wheels of that Air France flight touched down at Sheremetyevo Airport in the middle of a blinding snowstorm 25 years ago, Boris Yeltsin was the president of a country reeling from the birth pains of democratic upheaval. The capital of Moscow, struggling to find its way in a world turned dog-eat-dog capitalist overnight, was in a volatile state of constant flux and tumult. In other words, Russia was exactly the sort of place I was looking for at a time when my own life was so confused.Twenty-five years later, my roots are down; I am still based in Moscow, as is my family and my job. The only thing I needed to complete this picture of domestic bliss was a Russian passport. Thus, earlier this year, with the invaluable help of colleagues, I began the daunting task of applying for citizenship. Finally, after waiting weeks for a pile of documents to clear various desks, I was handed a Russian passport by a friendly female clerk at a migration office on the outskirts of the city; a somewhat anticlimactic ending to the whole ordeal, yet an unforgettable one nonetheless.But that was not the end of the story. What began as a largely practical move – getting Russian citizenship to avoid the hassle of applying for a visa every year – has turned into an inevitable bit of soul searching. The question began to nag at me: what else could prompt a staunch American conservative to seek citizenship in Russia, of all places?First, Russia is not the same country that I visited for the first time many years ago, nor is the United States the same country that I left. Radical changes have occurred in both places in that short period of time. For Russia, many of the changes have been 'cosmetic' as modern urban areas have arisen out of the ruins of a vanquished Soviet past. I've witnessed those material changes firsthand and still find it hard to believe they occurred as rapidly as they did (and not just in Moscow, as the perennial detractors like to say). Equally important, I would argue, is that amid this dizzying Russian renaissance the country has maintained a firm commitment to conservative values.By way of example, I will just mention one: Russia's passage of a federal law entitled, 'For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values'. Approved unanimously by the Duma on June 11, 2013, and accepted overwhelmingly by the Russian people, the legislation imposes stiff fines for businesses or persons who are found guilty of distributing "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors.Contrary to what was written in the Western media about this so-called 'anti-gay' law, it does not infringe on the rights of any person due to their particular sexual orientation. The law 'only' serves to protect the most vulnerable members of any society, the children.It is the opinion here (although I look forward to reading any intelligent comments below) that many Americans would welcome such a law without hesitation if given half a choice in the matter. What they have received instead, however, was exactly the opposite. Over the span of several years, the United States has been visited by an array of extremely radical liberal experiments, one of them being the transgender movement.For the uninitiated, this idea postulates the unscientific claim that gender is a fluid concept not determined by biology, but rather by the feelings and orientations of each individual person. This has led to numerous turf battles over questions with regards to the use of pronouns, whether or not it is acceptable for adolescents to undergo irreversible sex-change operations, and should biological males who 'identify' as females be allowed to use the women's bathroom.In other words, yet more battle lines being carved across the country, dividing Americans further against each other. To complicate matters even more, transgender lessons are being taught to elementary grade children in the public school system. Needless to say, this is an unmitigated nightmare for any person of strong conservative convictions, of which there are millions in the US.(11) YouTube deletes Candace Owens' "men are not women and women are not men" podcast videohttps://reclaimthenet.org/youtube-censorship-candace-owens-men-women-podcast/November 21, 2020YouTube deletes Candace Owens' "men are not women and women are not men" podcast videoBy Cindy HarperPosted 3:46 pmThe video had been on the platform for 16 months before it was deleted.If you're tired of cancel culture and censorship subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Political commentator Candace Owens accused YouTube of being "batshit woke" after it removed her podcast about gender identity. It is not clear why YouTube suddenly found the video offensive after being on the platform for a year.On Friday, Owens tweeted that YouTube had removed her video because she said "men are not women and women are not men." According to her remarks in the video are not so-called "hate speech" but the truth."I honestly cannot even believe how absolutely batshit woke you have to be to believe basic truth to be "hate speech," she wrote.In the podcast, which aired on July 14, 2019, Owens discussed gender identity and sex with Michael Knowles. The two conservative political commentators stated they do not believe there are any other gender identities aside from female and male."What the left wants to do is break down structure, and what it creates is mass confusion. And I genuinely believe that mass confusion, and when you have a society that does not have structure, that leads directly to depression," Owens said.Knowles said that those who refuse to accept that males and females are intrinsically different are denying "objective reality."According to YouTube, the language Owens and Knowles used in the video violates its policy on hate speech."We rigorously enforce this policy, which prohibits claims that LGBTQ+ individuals are mentally diseased based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," a YouTube rep said when asked about the censorship.