Mastodawn

ab78702 May 21, 2023

A truly amazing and exhaustively cited act of investigative journalism by the phenomenal @zinnia

It turns out that virtually ALL of the sham "science" behind the anti-trans movement can be traced directly back to a very small number of purely ideologically driven "doctors" citing one another over and over again to try to give the impression that standard evidence based trans healthcare is controversial.

It's basically the scientific equivalent of writing a blog with nothing more than your own opinions, your friend writes an article citing your blog, another friend writes an article citing both of you, and then showing up in front of public health boards saying "see, here's 3 articles showing how I'm right!"

In any normal and reasonable political environment, these quacks would be laughed out of the room with such flimsy "evidence". Yet because the far right has captured statehouses across the country, they're laundering this junk science into "real" science.

https://genderanalysis.net/2023/05/the-far-right-law-firm-alliance-defending-freedom-offered-a-florida-anti-trans-hate-group-15000-to-refute-the-wpath-standards-of-care-for-use-in-litigation/

The far-right law firm Alliance Defending Freedom offered a Florida anti-trans hate group $15,000 to “refute” the WPATH Standards of Care “for use in litigation”

A wider lens on the American College of Pediatricians.

Gender Analysis

Martin Vermeer FCD May 20, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia Like with climate. And tobacco. And...

ChloePolitiCat May 21, 2023

@martinvermeer @JessTheUnstill @zinnia Exactly and probably funded by the same libertarian billionaires.

Florida Ted May 20, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia American College of Pediatricians and their ilk have no commitment to truth.

Florida Ted May 20, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia From www.splcenter.org/fighting-hat…

One of the names on the masthead of the ACPeds letter endorsing sexual orientation conversion therapy was George Rekers. Rekers was a married Baptist minister and clinical psychologist who vocally advocated “curing” homosexuality. Just two weeks after the ACPeds letter was distributed, Reker was caught returning from a European vacation with a 20-year-old male escort he’d met on Rentboy.com.

American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a fringe anti-LGBTQ hate group that masquerades as the premier U.S. association of pediatricians to push anti-LGBTQ junk science, primarily via far-right conservative media and filing amicus briefs in cases related to gay adoption and marriage equality.

Southern Poverty Law Center

ChuffMeister May 20, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia the extremist right owns the media

Spocko May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia Also, you have people "doing their own research" based on gamed ranking.

Texty the Bard May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia Same m.o. with climate change denial and anti-vax nonsense, among other things. Get a handful of fake/discredited experts, claim that the "establishment" science is being run by some shady cabal, and gullible people eat it right up.

Dark Matter Zine May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia If the Lancet won’t publish it, it’s not credible IMO. A blog post is one person’s opinion. Rigorous peer review is more likely to reflect current understandings.

Zinnia Jones May 21, 2023

@DarkMatterZine @JessTheUnstill Even then, sometimes it's dicey: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831678/

Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines

PubMed Central (PMC)

Dark Matter Zine May 21, 2023

@zinnia @JessTheUnstill True, there’s never a guarantee, but it’s reasonable to assume that publication in the Lancet implies a reasonable degree of support/agreement with academic understanding at the time of publication.

Kathy E. Gill 🇺🇦May 21, 2023

@DarkMatterZine @zinnia @JessTheUnstill

In defense of The Lancet’s original green light … peer reviewers could not know that Wakefield fabricated his nonsense. It was a more innocent time in science. The fraud and ethical breeches were unimaginable.

I know it was 1998, but even then a 12-person sample should not have made it past peer review.

That said, 12 years was far too long to wait for official mea culpa. Robert Kennedy, Jr is still riding this hobby horse.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136032/

The MMR vaccine and autism: Sensation, refutation, retraction, and fraud

PubMed Central (PMC)

Dark Matter Zine May 22, 2023

@kegill @zinnia @JessTheUnstill Mistakes were made and later acknowledged. It's interesting that the mistake was ... caused by bigotry and ableism. Not surprised.
My basic premise still stands: if it's in the Lancet, an article has more authority than on someone's personal blog.

Kathy E. Gill 🇺🇦May 22, 2023

@DarkMatterZine

Absolutely. The Lancet has more authority on heath-related science and research than most journals.

OhioCheryl May 21, 2023

@DarkMatterZine @JessTheUnstill @zinnia
Was it The Lancet or BMJ that published the Wakefield nonsense? Even good journals can make mistakes. Or people can use a toehold in a respectable journal to roll out a whole lot more than is justified by what they wrote.

Dark Matter Zine May 21, 2023

@CRSG @JessTheUnstill @zinnia True. But the example I was replying to was about people blogging BS because politics.

Jasmine May 21, 2023

@CRSG @DarkMatterZine @JessTheUnstill @zinnia

It was the Lancet. Never should have been published. Caused massive harm and death.

Σειληνός (Seilēnós)May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia Let's not forget that this scourge of the LGBT community is still drawing breath. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cameron

Paul Cameron - Wikipedia

Kathy E. Gill 🇺🇦May 21, 2023

I remember the hysteria of the 1980s. The fact that this man still has a platform is revolting. Thank you for the link.

Σειληνός (Seilēnós)May 21, 2023

@kegill His words brought misery to so many women and men. I'll drink a bottle of fine wine the day he breathes his last.

toxtethogrady May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia In other words, the right-wing echo chamber that got Trump elected in 2016...

tptigger May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia It's like Andrew Wakefield on steroids. Shameful!

Thaiis Thei 𓁟 May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia This phenomena is not limited to any particular group of academics. It happens everywhere.

Mad Dog Ace Run May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill
It doesn't surprise me at all that the right wing nuts use sham science and fake science to defend themselves. They live in an alternate reality where they are afraid of actual science and actual facts.

Joe ❌👑May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia There have always been mediocre academics who survive by forming cliques where they positively review and cite each other's papers. Usually these people are mostly harmless. Not in this case.

EVHaste May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia This looks fascinating. I can’t wait to read it in full. I’m gonna have to follow you both :) thanks for sharing!

@JessTheUnstill thx to @zinnia for releasing that stuff...

Paco Pérez May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia

dr bwinbwin May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia
they used the same strategy in the 80s and 90s with hucksters Paul Cameron and Joseph Nicolosi, who promoted the nonsensical "theory" that being gay was an invalid choice because it was a perversion of "one's true nature" as heterosexual, which was based on the religious dogma promoted by anita bryant and jerry falwell. same playbook. same absurdities seeking justification. sadly, their influence still lingers to harm lots of people.

Espinada May 21, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia
One thing I’ve learned in my 69 years on this earth is that when people start actively forcing things on other people, especially children, they’re not to be trusted. And as far as “ideology” goes, religion is a mental illness, this is a prime example of it.

Noah Cook May 22, 2023

@JessTheUnstill @zinnia The organization's name appears to have been deliberately chosen to create confusion with two very real medical specialty societies: the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians.

When I first heard someone mention that fake group, I only noticed the discrepancy because I'd previously worked with a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and his correspondance always had FACP.