The 3 - March 24, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a bold move by government officials in the United Kingdom, announcing a ban on puberty blockers for minor children.  Also, a Texas church, after initially being refused twice, has been allowed to run ads for a church service on a major streaming platform.  And, a group of former college swimmers have sued the NCAA on Title IX violations as the result of allowing a male athlete to compete against females. 

Puberty blockers for minors banned by UK officials

While U.S. lawmakers are waking up to the danger of treatments and surgeries that proponents claim will enable someone to change his or her gender, authorities in the United Kingdom seem to be a few steps ahead.  Worthy News reports that:

England’s National Health Service (NHS) has announced that children suffering from gender dysphoria will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, Sky News reports. Puberty blockers will now only be available to children as part of clinical research trials.

The article notes that, "The decision to halt the prescription of puberty blockers follows a massive surge in the number of referrals of children to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS): more than 5,000 in 2021/22 compared to just under 250 ten years earlier, Sky News said."

Lead reviewer Dr. Hillary Cass is quoted as saying, that it was “not possible to accurately track the outcomes and pathways that children and young people take through the service,” due to lack of "consistent data" from GIDS, based on that Sky News report.

The Washington Stand reported that, "Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, director of the Center for Family Studies at Family Research Council, said on “Washington Watch” ...that while 'we wish [it] would be a full ban,' this decision 'is a huge step towards seeing these terrible practices no longer be available at least in one country.'"  The article said:

Jody Hice, senior vice president at FRC, added, “[W]e have all watched globally as the push for these transgender puberty blockers and surgeries” have been pushed into the limelight, “And now we’re watching … some European countries beginning to pull back on this.” Hice posed the question, “Why the reversed course?”

TX church ad initially banned by Hulu allowed to run

A church in Texas, Hulen Street Church in Fort Worth, in order to announce a new Thursday night service, placed a 22-second ad on multiple streaming platforms, including Facebook, Google, and Instagram, according to First Liberty Institute.  But, when attempting to put the ad on Hulu, the service rejected the church's request - twice.

The website says that Pastor Wes Hamilton "...asked for the reason behind Hulu’s rejection of the ad..." Hulu "...said that the ad violated policies against 'Religious Indoctrination due to asking viewer to attend Thursday services.'" The site notes, "The words 'Religious Indoctrination" appear nowhere in Hulu’s published ad policy."

First Liberty sent a "demand letter" to Hulu and it reconsidered, allowing the ad. Senior Counsel for First Liberty, Jeremy Dys, said, "“We are grateful to Hulu for its quick response to our demand letter and for accepting Hulen Street Church’s ad,” adding, “In the future, Hulu—and others in Big Tech—could avoid these kinds of conflicts by adopting advertising policies that do not discriminate against religious organizations, being transparent about its advertising policy, and applying it fairly.”

Former college swimmers join lawsuit against the NCAA

Even though you are seeing some sporting organizations allowing male athletes to compete in female sports, there is pushback that is occurring.  On the legislative level, numerous states have passed legislation that would protect the integrity and privacy of females. 

And, now comes the news that a group of female athletes has filed suit against the supervisory body, the NCAA, according to The Free Press which reports:

Over a dozen female athletes are suing the National Collegiate Athletics Association for letting transgender athletes compete against them and use female locker rooms in college sports.

At the center of the class-action lawsuit is Lia Thomas, the trans athlete who dominated the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships while a student at the University of Pennsylvania. The suit states that both the NCAA and Georgia Tech, which hosted the event, knowingly violated Title IX, the federal statute that guarantees equal opportunity for men and women in college education and sports.

One of the plaintiffs is former North Carolina State swimmer Kylee Alons.  The Concerned Women for America website states:

In 2022 at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, Kylee was forced to share a locker room with University of Pennsylvania swimmer and biological male Lia Thomas. After feeling tense and exposed in the locker room, she discovered a utility closet behind the bleachers where she would change in for the remainder of the competition in order to avoid having to undress in front of a male.

FoxNews.com reports:

The NCAA, University System of Georgia, Georgia Tech University, University of Georgia, University of North Georgia and members of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia were named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The athletes alleged the NCAA and those involved in the University System of Georgia of denying them the promises of Title IX and pointed to the NCAA’s transgender participation policy as the catalyst. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of multiple Title IX violations and the right to bodily privacy.