The Canadian psychology association clashing with Dr Jordan B Peterson over his social media statements has embraced radical gender theory in recent years, even hosting a speaker who told members it is a “microaggression” to offer counseling to clients seeking sex changes.
The College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) called out Peterson for his political views on a range of issues and demanded he complete “social media communications retraining” or face a suspension of his license to operate as a clinical psychologist. The best-selling author and Daily Wire+ host has 3.6 million followers on Twitter and millions more on Instagram and YouTube and frequently weighs in on politics and cultural issues.
“What exactly have I done that is so seriously unprofessional that I am now a danger not only to any new potential clients but to the public itself?” Peterson asked in an article for Canada’s National Post.
The disciplinary threat may have more to do with Peterson’s opinions than his methods of communication, given that its embrace of radical gender and race theories runs counter to Peterson’s decidedly non-woke beliefs.
In July 2020, the college established an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group and published “A Commitment to Anti-Racism,” presumably in response to the “call to action” from protesters during the George Floyd riots for businesses to adopt Social Justice doctrine. In April 2021, CPO announced a “gender neutral language” update and an acknowledgment of “gender identity,” a set of ideological beliefs unsupported by empirical evidence.
In June 2021, the Canadian regulatory body introduced Allison Kirschbaum, a self-identified “queer” psychologist whose“approach is informed by feminist social justice scholarship and is rooted in values of diversity, inclusion, and anti-oppression,” to give a presentation on “Ethical Practice in the Context of Sexual and Gender Diversity.”
According to Dr. Michael Grand, the former CPO president, and current Discipline Committee member, over half of the college’s membership participated in the seminar.
The presentation included a lesson on the “Gender Unicorn,” a graphic intended for children to introduce them to the pseudoscientific concept of “gender identity,” created by the activist-led organization Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER). TSER was founded by Eli Erlick, a transgender activist best known for advertising a potentially illegal drug trafficking scheme on social media that would ship prescription drugs to people, including minors.
The materials in the presentation include concepts like “assigned sex,” the idea that doctors arbitrarily dictate a person’s biological sex rather than observe and record it.
Kirschbaum recommended to participants the booklet “A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns” by Archie Bongiovanni, an activist known for selling explicit merchandise like the “demystify fisting” patch and a sticker promoting public sex.
The education materials included guides on how to use gender-neutral and neopronouns (like “ze,” “hir,” and “they”) or even “no pronouns.” An example of how to subvert the English language to use neopronouns is provided: “The book is hirs. Ze identifies outside a gender binary.”
In part of her presentation, Kirschbaum listed “common therapist microaggressions,” which included “gatekeeping,” the idea that conducting a proper evaluation of patients and assessing their individual needs might hinder their ability to easily access hormones and surgeries.
Exploratory psychotherapy, an approach to explore possible underlying factors that might cause distressed youth to experience gender dysphoria, may have spared Chloe Cole the pain of detransition.
Cole, 18, was recently interviewed by Peterson on his podcast. Her story documents how she was introduced to gender ideology online at 11 years old, which led to her self-identification as a transgender boy at 12 years old. Cole was prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone at 13, and received a double mastectomy to remove her breasts at 15, all at the behest of “gender affirming” medical professionals who she says emotionally blackmailed her parents into giving their consent.
Cole had no history of suicidal ideation, but her parents were given the ultimatum: “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?”
“It’s corrupt to the point of malevolence what the medical professionals are doing on this front,” Peterson said of the affirm-or-suicide narrative deployed by proponents of “gender-affirming” care. Cole is now suing the hospital and affiliated medical group that facilitated her medical transition as a minor.
Canada enacted a law last year banning any form of therapy that does not affirm a child’s chosen transgender identity by labeling it as “conversion therapy.” They succeeded in the ban by equating “watchful waiting,” which is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on exploring underlying causes of dysphoria and delaying medical interventions, with the controversial practice of trying to get gays and lesbians to “convert” to heterosexuality.
“It’s actually mandatory by law, in many jurisdictions,” Peterson said on his podcast. “Because of standards of ‘gender-affirming care,’ if you’re a girl and say something like ‘I’m a boy,’ the therapist is now required to agree with you.”
Over 20 states in the United States have also passed laws in recent years banning “conversion therapy” for both homosexuality and “gender identity.”
While science has been able to definitively demonstrate a biological basis for same-sex attraction, there is “zero point zero zero” evidence that the concept of “gender identity” has any scientific basis, according to pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Quentin Van Meter.
According to an international group of over 100 clinicians and researchers, there is currently no biological evidence for “gender identity” and no laboratory test that can distinguish a trans-identified person from a non-trans-identified person. Despite this, the belief in “gender identity,” determined by sex-based stereotypes and behaviors, is used as the basis for medically transitioning thousands of children and adolescents.
As their source of purportedly authoritative information, CPO references the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an organization denounced internationally by medical and mental health professionals for its “adherence to ideological views unsupported by evidence, its exclusion of ethical concerns, and its mischaracterization of basic science.”
Peterson filed an application for judicial review with the Ontario Divisional Court and said he will refuse to comply with the regulatory body’s findings.
© https://www.dailywire.com
