The Laxdæla Saga on Gender Variance

Extract from the Laxdæla (Laksdøla, Laksdæla or Laxardale) Saga, written on Iceland between 1230 and 1260. Some transphobic accusations document that the Medieval Scandinavians had clear ideas about crossdressing and gender variance.

The story takes place around 1000.

This sidebar is in support of this article: Were There Transgender Vikings? The Laxdæla Saga Says So.

The Intrigue of Thord and Gudrun 

'In the western part of Saurbær, on the farm Hol, lived the brothers Thorkel Hvalp and Knud, along with their brother-in-law Thord Ingunssøn. Thord was a handsome and brave man, skilled and adept in legal matters. His wife, Aud, was the sister of the aforementioned brothers. She was neither beautiful nor remarkable, and Thord did not care much for her. He had married her for her wealth.

Thord Ingunssøn became good friends with Thorvald and Gudrun and spent much time with them, leading to much gossip about a romantic relationship between Thord and Gudrun. One time, when Gudrun demanded jewelry from her husband, he slapped her and said that her extravagance had gone far enough. Gudrun retorted, "You have given me, by your standards, a great adornment—a good complexion. Rest assured, I will trouble you no further."

On the connection between fascism and transphobia

Fascists and the far right are using transphobia as a tool for political manipulation.

(Sidebar to "Today's anti-trans activism is about so much more than transgender people").

Transphobia and Far-Right Politics

Historically, transphobia has been a recurring theme in far-right politics, often used as a tool for propaganda and violence. This is seen in the American far-right's use of transphobic narratives as part of their broader political strategies. 

The resurgence of anti-trans sentiment is linked to crises within liberal democratic systems. The systems are not able to provide the social, economic and cultural stability many seek. The fascists and the right wing extremists pretend they represent the "common man" in their struggle against "the elite" or "the deep state".

Transphobia is used by fascist movements as a radicalizing recruitment tool. This involves mobilizing trans-exclusionary feminist rhetoric, which appeals to concepts like "human nature" and "biological reality" to legitimize anti-trans positions. 

Such rhetoric simplifies complex issues and denies nuance, making it easier to radicalize individuals towards fascist ideologies.

The Cass Report: The Good, The Bad, The Critical

 

Dr Max Davie and Dr Lorna Hobbs (photos above) have written a thorough and critical review of the British Cass report on transgender health care for youth. We are taking the liberty of republishing it here.

The original can be found here.

Dr Max Davie - Consultant Paediatrician and former Education Lead for the new child and adolescent gender services at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Dr Lorna Hobbs - Clinical Psychologist and former clinician at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) / former Education Lead for the new child and adolescent gender services at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Note from Max Davie: I have co-authored this post with my colleague Dr Lorna Hobbs. We have been dismayed at the uncritical way in which the deeply flawed Cass report has been accepted both professionally and in the wider political conversation. We wanted an alternative view, from experienced clinicians, to be out there in the public conversation. We have chosen to publish this on a blog, rather than in a journal or other publication, so that we can publish in a timely way and maximise access for people who might find our writing helpful.

The Cass review - the most comprehensive review of gender-related care for children and adolescents to date^[1] - was published four months ago now, and its impact on the world of youth gender healthcare is becoming clearer,  with the review findings already being used to justify a legal ban on any new puberty-pausing prescriptions for gender diverse young people, under 18, in England, Scotland and Wales (outside of a research protocol); and further afield, in the US, it is being used in at least ten states to support legal bans on gender-affirming care for young people (McNamara et al., 2024^[2]). At the same time, a new UK government is taking office, with an opportunity to take their own perspective on the document.

What does transgender mean?

Transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of  gender variant people, i.e. people who in some way or the other do not follow the traditional and stereotypical norms of what it means to a man or a woman, given the gender they were assigned at birth. Indeed, some transgender people do not feel at home in terms like "male" or "female" at all.

We can identify several categories of transgender people.

1. Transgender as a mismatch between assigned and experienced gender.

Transgender may refer to individuals whose gender identity differs from the gender they were assigned at birth.

This means that a person's internal sense of being male, female, or another gender does not align with  the gender assigned to them when they were born. 

For example, a transgender woman is someone who was assigned male at birth but identifies as female. Conversely, a transgender man was assigned female at birth but identifies as male. 

2. Transgender as being outside the gender binary of male and female.

Some transgender people may not identify exclusively as male or female, instead falling under nonbinary or genderqueer identities.

A spotlight on transgender and queer issues from the Crossdream Life forum

Crossdream Life is a forum for discussion of gender variance where members can explore their own identities, discuss transgender and queer issues and in general take a look at whatever it is that interests them.

This sometimes leads to very interesting discussions that will also be of interest to others. Here are some topics from the last 12 months or so.

Should you be offended if someone calls you trans?
Brigitte Macron sues people who call her trans. Is that transphobia?

Sampling and Blanchardianism
Ray Blanchard and the followers of his "autogynephilia" theory do some wild statistical acrobatics in order to find the facts fit a misleading theory. See also: Bailey on autogynephilia and AGP as a zombie theory.

Strong American support for the LGBTQ-community, but trans people do not get as much love as the rest
A debate on the mixed signals from American surveys of attitudes towards trans people.

The Cass Review heralds how all trans medicine will die
The British Cass review on transgender health care is a mess. See also the thread Cass Says Transition Should Be Measured By “Employment," Not Satisfaction

The Crossdreamer Newsletter for transgender content

The Crossdreamer blog and the Transgender World site have a common newsletter which can be found over at Substack.

All the separate newsletters are published over at Substack, and the Crossdreamer Newsletter site therefore serves as a separate gateway into our transgender and nonbinary content.

This is a slow tempo news-service, as we do not send out a email newsletter more than some 10 times a year. The point is to present you only with the most important content from our sites.

We include content related to gender variance, transgender and nonbinary issues and on people's understanding of gender.

You can sign up for the newsletter here! It is free.

If low frequency is not what you are looking for, we also have daily updated channels for transgender news. You can follow them here:

• X-twitter Transgender News Curation
• The Transgender World Telegram Channel
• Bluesky Trans News
• Transgender World on Mastodon

More selected discussions from the Crossdream Life forum on gender variance and trans issues

Over at Crossdreamers we presented some selected discussions from the Crossdream Life forum for gender questioning, queer and trans people. 

In this post we are sharing some more discussions of general interest, for you to read and the search engines to find.

Thanks to Terrie for making this list.

SELECTED DISCUSSIONS ON GENDER, TRANS AND QUEER ISSUES

Porn is not addictive, Psychology Today argues.
porn-is-not-addictive-psychology-today-argues-t247.html

Are men who are attracted to trans women with penises gay?
are-men-who-are-attracted-to-trans-wome ... i-t14.html

A review of Felix' new ebook on crossdreaming and the art of transgender erotica
a-review-of-felix-new-ebook-on-crossdre ... -t360.html

"How Blanchard nearly killed me"
how-blanchard-nearly-killed-me-t843.html

Anne Lawrence rises from the dead
anne-lawrence-rises-from-the-dead-t913.html