Have you heard about the Southern Poverty Law Center? This is a group that spreads hatred about conservative Christians, and has even been connected to acts of domestic terrorism committed by left-wing activists. Somehow, they’ve always managed to escape legal consequences for their hateful smears of Christians and conservatives. But now they’ve been sued again.

Here’s the news from the Daily Signal:

The Southern Poverty Law Center routinely brands mainstream conservative and Christian organizations “hate groups,” placing them on a map with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, but most lawsuits aiming to hold the SPLC accountable for this alleged defamation have failed.

On Friday, however, a federal judge denied the SPLC’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.

The SPLC branded the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society an “anti-immigrant hate group” in February 2018 after the SPLC had previously stated in 2011 that it did not consider the society a “hate group.” The society, named after a 16-year-old Georgia boy killed in a 2000 car crash caused by an illegal immigrant, aims to combat illegal immigration.

The SPLC is apparently in favor of having Americans killed by illegal immigrants, so they brand anyone who disagrees as “a hate group”. But to me, if you aren’t siding with an innocent child against an illegal immigrant who commits crimes, then you are the real hater, and your organization is the real “hate group”.

So let’s find out more about the SPLC. The author of this Daily Signal post has actually written an entire book about them, and here is his summary:

As I explain in my book “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” the SPLC… [brands Christians and conservatives as] “hate groups” in an effort to raise money and demonize its ideological opponents. The SPLC has an endowment of more than $500 million and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. Amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal in 2019 that led the SPLC to fire its co-founder, a former employee came forward, calling the “hate” accusations a “highly profitable scam.”

And he even has a summary paragraph of the SPLC’s links to gay activists convicted of domestic terrorism against Christians:

The lawsuit cites the 2012 terrorist attack in which a man targeted the Family Research Council’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., after finding the council on the SPLC’s “hate map.” The man pleaded guilty to committing an act of terrorism and received a 25-year prison sentence. The SPLC condemned the attack, but has kept the Family Research Council on its hate map ever since.

This is not the only time that the SPLC has been involved with hateful violence against innocent people.

Here’s the story from Daily Wire:

An attorney with the far-left nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was arrested Sunday for allegedly committing domestic terrorism to stop a police facility from being built.

The Atlanta police department said Sunday night that Thomas Webb Jurgens was among the 23 people charged after a “group of violent agitators used the cover of a peaceful protest of the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center to conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers. They changed into black clothing and entered the construction area and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers.”

According to the State Bar of Georgia, Thomas Webb Jurgens is an attorney for the SPLC who was admitted to the bar in 2021.

The Daily Signal article notes that the SPLC has been sued successfully:

“Making Hate Pay” details multiple defamation lawsuits against the SPLC from organizations and individuals branded as “hate groups” or “extremists.” The SPLC paid $3.375 million to settle with Maajid Nawaz, a Muslim reformer it had branded an “anti-Islamic extremist.”

But they clearly haven’t learned their lesson. I hope that the next penalty is 10 times that amount. Maybe then, their hateful donors will learn to support organizations that actually help people, and do good in the world.

Previously, I had blogged about a small study published in 2018 by Brown University’s Dr. Lisa Littman. That study was controversial, because it falsified the narrative about transgenderism held by secular leftists. The new study, published in March 2023 in Archives of Sexual Behavior, confirms the Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria theory first advanced by Littman. Let’s take a look.

The study is here, on Springer Link.

Excerpt from the Abstract:

During the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in adolescents and young adults (AYA) complaining of gender dysphoria. One influential if controversial explanation is that the increase reflects a socially contagious syndrome: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD).

We report results from a survey of parents who contacted the website ParentsofROGDKids.com because they believed their AYA children had ROGD. Results focused on 1655 AYA children whose gender dysphoria reportedly began between ages 11 and 21 years, inclusive. These youths were disproportionately (75%) natal female. Natal males had later onset (by 1.9 years) than females, and they were much less likely to have taken steps toward social gender transition (65.7% for females versus 28.6% for males). Pre-existing mental health issues were common, and youths with these issues were more likely than those without them to have socially and medically transitioned.

Parents reported that they had often felt pressured by clinicians to affirm their AYA child’s new gender and support their transition. According to the parents, AYA children’s mental health deteriorated considerably after social transition.

Breitbart reported about the study and noted:

When asked if their child had friends who “came out as transgender around the same time,” 55.4 percent said “yes,” with that response being significantly higher for females, (60.9 percent) than it was for males (38.7 percent).

[…]The study also revealed that parents said they oftentimes felt pressured by clinicians to go along with their child’s new gender identity and support their transition. The parents added that their children’s “mental health deteriorated considerably after social transition.”

[…]Parents also estimated that before developing gender dysphoria, their child was spending an average of 4.5 hours per day “on the internet and social media.”

When asked whether a stressful event in their child’s life may have contributed to the onset of gender dysphoria, 72.6 percent of parents answered “yes.”

One of the differences between men and women, in my experience, is that the majority of men tend to generate their worldview by making plans that are likely to achieve goals, whereas the majority of women tend to get their goals from the culture, and pursue those goals by doing what feels good “in the moment”. I have been told this by women who were never like this, and by women who grew out of this once they experienced failure. That’s why transgenderism is especially problematic for girls, because if it is being spread by social cues and pressures, then girls are typically going to be more susceptible to that than boys.

Let’s talk about the previous study.

Here’s how the study was first reported by Science Daily:

This month, a Brown University researcher published the first study to empirically describe teens and young adults who did not have symptoms of gender dysphoria during childhood but who were observed by their parents to rapidly develop gender dysphoria symptoms over days, weeks or months during or after puberty.

[…]The study was published on Aug. 16 in PLOS ONE.

Peer pressure / The Internet:

The pattern of clusters of teens in friend groups becoming transgender-identified, the group dynamics of these friend groups and the types of advice viewed online led her to the hypothesis that friends and online sources could spread certain beliefs.

[….]”Of the parents who provided information about their child’s friendship group, about a third responded that more than half of the kids in the friendship group became transgender-identified,” Littman said. “A group with 50 percent of its members becoming transgender-identified represents a rate that is more 70 times the expected prevalence for young adults.”

Mental disorders / traumatic events:

Additionally, 62 percent of parents reported their teen or young adult had one or more diagnoses of a psychiatric disorder or neurodevelopmental disability before the onset of gender dysphoria. Forty-eight percent reported that their child had experienced a traumatic or stressful event prior to the onset of their gender dysphoria, including being bullied, sexually assaulted or having their parents get divorced.

This article at The Federalist had a few examples to illustrate the conclusion of the study. I’ll pick two.

The study includes other eye-opening information, such as case studies of several children’s stories.

• “A 14-year-old natal female and three of her natal female friends were taking group lessons together with a very popular coach. The coach came out as transgender, and, within one year, all four students announced they were also transgender.”

• “A 14-year-old natal female and three of her natal female friends are part of a larger friend group that spends much of their time talking about gender and sexuality. The three natal female friends all announced they were trans boys and chose similar masculine names. After spending time with these three friends, the 14-year-old natal female announced that she was also a trans boy.”

I thought this quote from that article was interesting as well, given the culture’s obsession with “bullying”, which is a nebulous term that can mean actual bullying, or mere disagreement.

The study also may indicate that school “anti-bullying” programs typically created by LGBT activist organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign may help accelerate children identifying as transgender by pushing peers and authority figures to profusely express their support.

Coming out as transgender means instant fame and popularity, because you’re a victim, and everyone has to be nice to you… or else:

“Great increase in popularity among the student body at large. Being trans is a gold star in the eyes of other teens,” wrote one parent on the study response form. Another wrote, “not so much ‘popularity’ increasing as ‘status’ … also she became untouchable in terms of bullying in school as teachers who ignored homophobic bullying …are now all at pains to be hot on the heels of any trans bullying.”

So becoming transgender has social rewards, especially for people who are being bullied. White girls are constantly being bullied for their race in public schools, so identifying as transgender is a quick and easy way for them to get out of the oppressor class and into the victim class

I’m watching Republican candidates for president closely to see whether they are performing any actions to oppose the secular left. One person who is building up a nice resume is Florida governor Ron DeSantis. In this post, I’ll look at his latest achievement, then look at how Tennessee Republican leaders are responding to the recent murder of Christians by secular leftists in Nashville.

First, Ron DeSantis, reported by Focus on the Family:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a historic school choice bill into law earlier this week, making Florida the largest state in the union to give parents universal school choice for their children.

The bill (HB 1) promotes school choice in multiple ways. Among other benefits, the bill:

• Eliminates financial eligibility restrictions and allows any student who is a resident of Florida and is eligible to enroll in K-12 to participate.
• Eliminates the enrollment cap on students who can participate in the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options.
• Requires the development of a new online portal for parents that shows every educational option available for their student.
• Expands the number of scholarships for students with unique abilities by tripling the annual increase from 1% to 3%.

[…]“Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today’s bill signing represents the largest expansion of education choice in the history of these United States,” said Gov. DeSantis.

“When you combine private scholarships, charter schools, and district choice programs, Florida already has 1.3 million students attending a school of their choosing,” the governor added. “These programs have been instrumental in elevating student achievement over the past twenty years.”

The article goes on to point out education freedom successes in other Republican-run states; Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa and Utah. You’re not going to see wins for parents in blue states like New York and California, because these states are not pro-child.

Add this action to the list of previous DeSantis actions:

• making collection of union dues optional for teachers
• flying illegal immigrants to Massachusetts
• elect conservatives to school boards
• teach students about the historical record of communism
• ban grooming of young children
• protect wildlife
• banning biological males from women’s sports

• punishing Big Tech social media companies for censoring conservatives

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee has proposed a new law to protect children from violence.

Daily Wire:

Every Tennessee private and public school will have the resources necessary to hire an armed guard if Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) gets his plan through a Republican-led legislature.

Next week, Lee will propose a plan to funnel millions of dollars to public and private schools to beef up security following the mass shooting at a Nashville Christian elementary school on Monday. Lee’s plan would place an armed school resource officer (SRO) in every public school and provide funding for private schools to hire armed guards with the same level of training as those in public schools. Private schools would not be forced to join in on the program…

[…]The governor also addressed “mental health concerns,” adding that his new plan will seek more mental health support through school-based behavioral health liaisons…

You might be wondering if Tennessee can afford this, but don’t worry. They had a massive surplus last fiscal year, as conservative business owners are fleeing blue states to come to Tennessee.

The Tennessee senators are also busy looking out for kids:

Earlier this week, Tennessee Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty announced that they will introduce The SAFE School Act at the federal level. The legislation seeks to establish “a $900 million grant program that will allow both public and private schools to train and hire veterans and former law enforcement officers to serve as school safety officers, hire off duty law enforcement officers, and provide funding to harden schools and increase physical security.”

I saw last week that Democrats were howling for Republicans to “do something”. Well, Republicans are doing something. But the something they’re doing is not banning all gun ownership and self-defense for law abiding people. Democrats created this crisis, by manufacturing a generation of mentally ill children in their government-run public schools. Well, Republicans have a solution, although it’s not the one that the Democrats want.