Reps. Jim Banks and Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke up for women when they posted their belief that Levine is a "man," and that saying Levine is the "first female" to attain this post is actually a detriment for the furtherance of women's equal rights. These two reps who took up the charge to defend women against erasure are Republicans.
Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana was suspended for his tweet saying that "the title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man." If he had said "biological male," it is likely that this would not have been censored by Twitter, but because the words "man" and "woman" are now considered to be more about feelings than biology, Banks was in violation.
The rule against "hateful conduct," for which Banks is in violation per Twitter, reads that
"You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease."Banks' violation was to call Rachel Levine, a biological male, a "man."
Feminist writer Meghan Murphy was notoriously banned from Twitter a few years ago for referring to a biological male who identifies as transgender and used female and male pronouns interchangeably as "him."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on Twitter that "A dude who lived the first 50 years of his life as a man isn't the first female anything," going on to say that "China is laughing at us."
This was censored by Twitter. Likes, retweets, and comments are not allowed, but the tweet stands, albeit with a warning from Twitter that
"This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."This censorship, but not removal, of Greene's tweet falls under Twitter's policy regarding public figures, that reads that they would allow a tweet that is in violation of their rules to stand if
"The account represents a current or potential member of a local, state, national, or supra-national governmental or legislative body: Current holders of an elected or appointed leadership position in a governmental or legislative body..."Greene is a prominent and vocal member of the GOP who never shies away from speaking her mind on issues controversial or otherwise. Banks is, too, but for some reason he was suspended rather than merely censored.
Levine was in her 40s when she transitioned from living as male to living as female. In a Washington Post profile in 2016, Levine said that "With very few exceptions my being transgender is not an issue."
When Levine was nominated to serve as physician general for the state of Pennsylvania by Governor Tom Wolfe in 2014, the confirmation vote in the Pennsylvania Senate was unanimous.
Levine was nominated for Assistant Health Secretary for Biden's Department of Health and Human Services, and was asked by some Senators about her feelings on pediatric gender transition, which Levine had supported.
Senator and doctor Rand Paul questioned Levine as to Levine's support for minors as young as three years old making decisions about gender transition. For simply asking these questions, one doctor to another, Paul was blasted by fellow senators who claimed that he had been disrespectful to Levine. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said:
"It is really critical to me that our nominees be treated with respect and that our questions focus on their qualifications and the work ahead of us, rather than on ideological and harmful misrepresentations like those we heard from Senator Paul earlier."Levine's confirmation passed along party lines, as have most of Biden's nominations, with a 52 to 48 vote in the Senate.
Many people believe biological sex to be an immutable condition, regardless of surgery or pharmaceutical treatment. These, such as Banks and Greene, found there to be a real disconnect in seeing an individual who lived to their 40s as a male and fathered being named the "first female" four star admiral in the Public Health Service.
The Biden administration has touted their commitment to diversity, and Levine, in accepting the admiralty, spoke to how wonderful and diverse her attaining this position was. Levine said:
"May this appointment today be the first of many more to come. Levine said. "Diversity makes us stronger. The time is now for our country to continue to move the bar forward for diversity. And I am proud to wear this uniform and answer that call."But for many, Levine, who spent the majority of her life as a white, biological male, with all of the privileges thereto, is not diverse at all, but more of the same. Levine's new achievement of "first female" is a hard pill for many to swallow, who are told not to trust their eyes, or science, but to simply believe what they are told to by officials who specialize in double-speak.
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Reader Comments
Quite frankly, I think most people would prefer it if "she" made a bit of effort, wore a decent wig and put on some make-up
Where does it end? What are the Freaks expecting from humanity, a sympathetic understanding, BOLLOCKS NO, not on my shift.
transneutersYou can cut that part off, and then you are basically a neuter.
You might have some brain/conscience issues, and then you are confused.
You might take hormon therapy to re-model your looks towards the other gender.
But none of this actions ever change your biological gender.
I used "you" in a general sense here of course, not referring to you personally ...
What anybody believes about himself is totally his business. Until he has to choose the restroom ...
Only, as it turned out, the opposite (men using women's restrooms) is usually not considered funny ... Not that I claim to fully understand the other gender - but I know women tend to visit the restroom in company. For talks, makeup refreshment, and whatnot. Occasionally also for taking a leak ...
In the first years, and the time before, my wife / soon-to-be-wife spent about 90 to 120 minutes in the bathroom to prepare for leaving the house. Over time, I could get her out of that habit ...
Married cats.
As such we cannot say she is the female anything ... many people in the past would have had to hidden their sexually or gender in order to maintain their position, that does not mean they were any less gay or any less female than someone who can openly be so nowadays
Who are we to say that Big Mike's wife isn't the first female president - we should not be harassing or intimidating people to be honest about their true nature
The emergence of variations on the themes of sexuality were introduced by the food we eat, GM Modified and the packaging it came in.
Of course this didn't happen accidentally, NO, the tortured minds of those mad few who drip in Gold and wealth had this curse unleashed upon us.
It was one of their agenda's to corrupt the natural order and introduce new beings who would then be given rights and change the balance of society, giving the pitiful few the greater voice.
Where are we now for embrassing these confused bunch, men and women and their identities are banished in case it offends these whatevers and which toilet can you use when you have a Penis?
All that was straight forward and normal is now as bent as a toilet U-bend.
So we'll done those of you who except this unnatural development, try explain that to your future generations, how you allow this sexual armageddon to ruin their tomorrows.