Press Council rules against Miranda Devine’s ‘mutilating our children’ transgender column
Miranda Devine’s campaign against the “social fad” of “transgenderism in children” has been dealt a blow, with the watchdog ruling her article and podcast were inaccurate and misleading.
In 2017, Devine penned an article titled ‘What madness can justify mutilating our children?‘
Devine’s claims of ‘no evidence’ were not sufficient
This was followed up by a podcast in 2018 titled ‘Ryan T. Anderson joins Miranda Devine live on gender identity’.
Despite Devine’s column being classed as opinion, the Press Council noted it also contained material presented as facts, including claims such as: “[There is] no evidence that changing sex will reduce the incidence of self-harm or suicide to lessen the impact of other associated mental states such as depression or autism”.
The podcast included similar claims: “[There is] no evidence that these hormones are safe to be used on kids, no evidence of any reduction on self-harm or suicide”.
The press watchdog ruled that “no evidence” was inaccurate and misleading, and should have been qualified with further statements.
“The Council noted that the publication did not rely on any particular medical article as supporting a statement that there was ‘no evidence’,” said the ruling published in yesterday’s edition of The Daily Telegraph.
“The Council considered that, given the existence of medical guidelines which recommend various treatments and procedures to assist transitioning children and adolescents, the statement that there was ‘no evidence’ was made in such absolute terms that it was inaccurate and misleading.”
The Press Council ruled The Daily Telegraph had breached General Principles one and three.
The ruling as it appeared in The Daily Telegraph (Click to enlarge)
General Principle one falls under accuracy and clarity, and states publications must: “Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.”
General Principle three relates to fairness and balance and requires publications to: “Ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance, and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.”
Devine’s use of the phrases “mutilation”, “child surgical abuse” and “monstrous assault on their developing bodies”, however, were deemed okay by the press watchdog, which ruled that there is public interest in vigorous public debate about the issue.
Despite conceding Devine’s strong language could cause substantial distress, offence and prejudice, the watchdog ruled it was “justified” due to the public interest.
Incredible that Devine could be found to be inaccurate when she sources expert opinions from intellectual luminaries like Ryan T Anderson – a man who says gay people should be celibate, refuses to accept that same-sex marriage even exists, and thinks ‘conversion therapy’ is both effective and necessary.
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With all the good people being let go from News right now, how this creature manages to keep her job is a disgrace.
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The News Ltd right wing bias and hellbent destructive attitude to anything that doesn’t draw a profit or make someone rich is a disgrace.
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And also, not at all surprising
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This is a woman who publicly dismissed the testimonies of children who were abused by George Pell, so it’s a bit rich to think that she cares about the mental and physical health of children.
This is just another one of Miranda Devine’s Catholic agenda propaganda pieces. What a disgrace.
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Three insightful anagrams of ‘Miranda Devine’
– envied in drama
– remain invaded
– dreamed in vain
Says it all, really.
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I want to know why the Press Council believes causing transgender children and adults distress and prejudice is in the “public interest…” Do they somehow think their decision to allow this disgusting behaviour to continue will be somehow vindicated in the future? We will never forget these decisions, but they will never be held accountable, it’s of no consequence to any of them.
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I love it Pepsi Monster. How’s about …
– a driven maiden
– in envied drama
– me nirvana died
– dreamed in vain
– in madder naive
– diva in meander
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I write about kids with gender dysphoria quite frequently and I am constantly refuting (with evidence) the many false claims.
Science starts with an hypothesis which is subjected to tests. Conclusions are predicated on the results of those tests with the understanding that proving an hypothesis wrong has as much value as proving it right.
In contrast, Ryan T. Anderson starts with the teachings of the Catholic Church which are the work product of catechists and theologians. Then, through selective observation and invention, he constructs intellectually dishonest arguments in support of Church teachings with no concern for their accuracy or applicable logic. Anderson aims to impose these views on society and on public policy while posturing as a secular authority.
Anderson was a music major who obtained a PhD in philosophy. He is wholly unqualified to practice either medicine of psychology. Yet the faithful believe every dishonest and ignorant syllable. It can be very frustrating.
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Nepotism. Her father Frank Devine was [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] Unlike other jobs, you don’t need any qualifications or any hint of understanding the issues to work at News Corp. [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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Curiously, no outraged piece about FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) which can be performed on girls as young as 5 or 6, and is illegal in Australia, but some cases have slipped through under the excuse of “tradition”. Might be worth Miranda getting some facts on this.
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It is hard to believe that someone could have these kinds of ugly and erroneous opinions in this day and age, but then again Miranda Divine is a woman that like Andrew Bolt, seems to have some kind of vicious hatred for people who are transgender or part of the LGBTQIA community. Pity she can’t actually stop and think before she spits out her poison.
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The homosexual movement is not a civil rights movement in Australia but a moral revolution to legalise both the practice and the public manifestations of homosexuality, while relentlessly assailing those who defend traditional morals. Australia’s roots has always been Christian. This overhaul of straight Australia has been cleverly architected to implement a complete inversion of public morality. By ‘normalising homosexuality’, it is convincing themselves and Australian society that homosexuality is good and moral and thus, it must create its own manmade pseudo-morality. Pseudo-morality must be swept away by the real thing. The immoral is being made into moral and the moral is being made into the immoral.
The strategy to deceive the Australian public while demonising the opponents is well underway. The desensitising of the Australian public to view homosexuality with indifference instead of keen emotion. The method is not based on solid intellectual arguments but on emotion manipulation of the Australian public. For example:
-Talk about gays and homosexuality as loudly and as often as possible
– Portray gays as victims, not aggressive challengers (To win, gays must be cast as victims in need of protection so that the straights will be inclined to assume the role of protector)
– Give the protectors a just cause
– Make gays look good
– Make victimisers look bad (Christians who refuse a harmful way of life -make anti-gays look so nasty so that average Australians will want to dissociate themselves from them)
-Solicit Funds and influence Education, Law, Media etc (including familiarisation and positive associations (Australian celebrities), victim sympathy (portraying gays as innocent, vulnerable, misunderstood not menacing), villification for victimisers )
By convincing people that homosexuality is ‘fully moral’, then all their inclination to discriminate, engage in gay-opposition disappears and the attack is placed on Christianity. Those opposed to homosexuality are isolated and silenced, while the undecided middle class Australia are desensitised, blocked and converted while mobilising those ‘friendly’ to homosexual movement.
By ‘conversion’ of Australian nation’s mind, will, and emotions through a planned psychological attack, in the form of words and propaganda fed to the nation, it is threatening the Australian Way of Life and future generations, preparing society to accept and follow ever more promiscuous and abnormal forms of behaviour. As the homosexual ideology makes inroads into Australian culture, androgynous trends are becoming more noticeable in society. There was a Drag Queen Story Hour at the Library encouraging children to accept Transgenderism and confusing them by normalising this unnatural lifestyle. How does an Australian child fight this ? Sexualising and corrupting children’s innocence is always abusive and wrong. According to the American College of Pediatricians “Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse”.https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children
How can promoting gender confusion help “develop” Australian children. Moreover, how can promoting Transgenderism sin strengthen families? It is the exact opposite of that. If men dressing in ‘drag’ and having access to toddlers is not shocking enough, one self described drag queen said publicly ‘This is gonna be the grooming of the next generation.’ Reading pro homosexual/other stories to Australian kids _captures the imagination and play of gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive and unabashedly queer role models. Australian children are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine an Australia where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.
We need Australians to fight this new revolution effectively, by voting with the party who stands with Christianity, and by clearly seeing the link between the sexual and homosexual revolutions. Thus, we must also struggle all the more against pornography and promiscuity in Australia. Recently, a single Australian mother encouraged her quiet, teenage daughter to make friends and a female friend visited her daughter at their house, and they would play sport together. Her daughter told her she is not keen sport but her mother encouraged her, only to find out later that her Christian daughter had her first sexual relationship and with this female. The mother is guilty and blames herself. By weakening the family and friendship in Australian society, the homosexual offensive destroys the foundations of society and leads it towards disintegration and anarchy. We must wage a spiritual crusade and purify Australia and there is only one way to do that, to install Christian moral principles as dominant.
MORAL REVOLUTION MUST BE ON CHRISTIANITY – The homosexual movement’s victories, lies not in its strength, but in our weakness. This weakness is the result of a gradual decades long effort to blur the distinction between good and evil, or right and wrong. This effort has led to a generalized loss of the sense of sin, and, consequently, declining standards of public morality.
We reject Judeo-Christian oppression, to implement a neopagan Australia as it is diametrically opposed to Christianity. More than a Cultural War, Australia is immersed in an authentic and disguised RELIGIOUS WAR__the effort to supplant Christianity with a Gnostic erotic mysticism which must be counteracted, for the future of Australia and its generations.
An effective reaction to the homosexual offensive must strive to reverse this underlying moral problem. We must reinvigorate Australian society’s moral foundations, which must be firmly based on unchanging natural law.
To the measure that Christian morality is restored in individuals and Australian society as a whole, the homosexual offensive will weaken and suffocate. God will reign in the hearts of men, and our country can expect from God’s bounty every blessing and grace. Then, whatever Australian courts may rule, Australia will in fact be a nation under God.
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Sick of people who know sweet ba about
Psychology and immature chidren and gender diificuties each to their own opinion mine is miranda is a fantastic responsible down to earth realist
There are people marrying dolls
Next it will be there animals
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What has “Christian” got to do with biology?
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Good on you Amanda Devine. Biology determines gender. It’s a matter of science not philosophy
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