IGF CultureWatch

I’ve published in my Substack a longer version of my July 30 IGF CultureWatch post. I’ll leave the original post up but recommended clicking on the extended Substack version, linked to below.

One of the additions in the Substack version is a discussion of the Log Cabin Republicans announcement that they will now label themselves as an advocacy organization for LGB Republicans and conservatives, dropping the “T” they added to their self-description in 2015, and the reasons behind this decision.

And this: “Why Progressive Activists Are BIG MAD That Log Cabin Republicans Dropped the “T” And Why Gays Are Happy About It.”

And now this!

Matthew Vines, in a Substack follow-up to his controversial New York Times op-ed arguing against “Queer” as an identity designation, tries to make the case for an “LGBT” identity coalition, without the anti-normative “Q+” that simply seeks to elevate transgressiveness.
What Vines doesn’t want to grapple with, however, is how transgenderism, or gender-identity ideology, itself undermines the concept of same-sex attraction as well as gay/lesbian and women’s rights.
Encouraging gender-nonconforming children to consider whether they were “born in the wrong body,” as many progressive school districts now do (with or without parental consent) followed by social transitioning that puts proto-gay or just gender-confused kids on the road to medicalization; allowing biological males who identify as female (often with limited or even without various medicalizations) to participate in girls’/women’s sports and have access to female-only spaces; and demanding that sexual attraction be defined by gender identity, not biological sex, are now all fundamental tenets of the “T” advocacy embedded in “LGBT.”
Which is why the growing LGB counter-movement goes its own way, without T and Q+.

Gay community and gay rights activism/politics were once intricately bound together. Now, what passes for gay community and LGBTQ+ activism/politics seem to be worlds apart, although many older gay men still heavily fund LGBTQ+ activist organizations, apparently unaware of the agenda these groups now support, such as transing gender-nonconforming gay and proto-gay kids and putting physically intact males who self-identify as female into girl’s and women’s locker rooms and sports.

From the Down Under, “Battle Lines Drawn as Gay, Trans Camps Square Off.”

But trans vs. gay may be the future generally. Via LGB Alliance Australia:

“Let’s be clear. ‘LGBTQIA+ no longer represents us. It now encompasses institutions that oppose the rights of lesbians, gay man and bisexual people, erasing our language, distorting our reality and mischaracterizing our rights as hate.”

A new Finnish report on the aftermath of medical transitioning of minors and young adults is making waves. Here, from Any Ngo:

A new academic study published in Acta Paediatrica followed over 2,000 trans teens and young people who received “gender-affirming” care.
After treatment, mental health problems became more common, not less, and these trans people remained several times more likely to need psychiatric care than their non-trans peers. Psychiatric morbidity surged especially among those who transitioned medically through surgeries and/or cross-sex hormones.
The study’s findings are part of a growing body of research showing no improvements or even worse outcomes for people who transition, contradicting the claims from the ACLU, GLAAD, and leftist trans activists.

A new academic study published in Acta Paediatrica followed over 2,000 trans teens and young people who received "gender-affirming" care.

After treatment, mental health problems became more common, not less, and these trans people remained several times more likely to need…

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 7, 2026

Rich Guggenheim points out that:

Finland has some of the best national health records in the world. Every specialist psychiatric visit, diagnosis, medication purchase, and procedure is logged. There is no loss to follow up. Researchers followed these young people for an average of 5.5 years after their first clinic visit (up to 25 years for the earliest cases).

Guggenheim adds:

Major LGBTIQA+ organizations have abandoned their original mission. Groups like GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, and GLSEN once fought for basic rights for gays and lesbians: decriminalization, marriage equality, and protection from discrimination. Today they have shifted almost entirely to pragmatic outreach that targets children and pushes the radical trans queer agenda.

Plus:

The entire basis for medically "transitioning" minors was that this was the only way to relieve their "distress," said to be "gender dysphoria." If we didn't give them these hormones and surgeries they would suffer from mental health struggles for life and probably kill… https://t.co/xEFEdCQf3k

— Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) April 8, 2026

And what the truth is up against:

And this:

Here’s my latest at Substack: May the Truth About Trans Treatments for Kids Set Them Free:

Call it “medical gender reassignment,” “sex-trait-altering procedures,” or “transgender medical interventions.” Just don’t call it “gender-affirming care.”

But of course:

University of California, Riverside associate professor Brandon Robinson argued that a sexual identity label like “gay” or “lesbian” “harms trans people” and called for abolishing sexual identities altogether. …
Robinson, who uses they/them pronouns, explained the importance of moving beyond “gender essentialism” from sexual identities, which the professor claims can be built around gender “stereotypes.”
“If being ‘gay’ means being a man attracted to men, it assumes ‘man’ is a stable, inherent category, when history shows the definition of manhood is constantly changing,” Robinson said. “Gender essentialism also harms trans people, who often complicate those binary boundaries.”
Robinson included traditional labels like “gay” or “lesbian” as ones to abolish, wanting readers to question “why we privilege gender and genitals above all other attributes” in our desires.

For those who discount conservative-leaning news sources, here’s the UC Riverside press release.

Similarly:

🚨ALERT: Top-ranking ecology journal Ecology Letters has published a "Viewpoint" paper titled "There is No Consensus on Biological Sex."

The authors call the "sex binary" a "simplistic and harmful ideolog[y]."

Yet they then claim that no view of sex (gamete-based, multivariate,… pic.twitter.com/3V7ksTgA9h

— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) March 10, 2026