TAC: Thomas Jefferson Sought Congressional Approval Before Declaring War on the Barbary Pirates

 

DEBUNKED! Jefferson and War Powers May 14, 1801: WAR IS DECLARED on the United States. Despite all the lies and propaganda they constantly feed us - Thomas Jefferson didn't go to war with the Barbary pirates without getting approval from Congress. Learn the truth of this intentionally-hidden history.

People on both the left and the right claim the president possesses significant, unilateral power over military action, and they support this myth by perpetuating a big lie – that Thomas Jefferson did the same in response to the Barbary Pirates.  But like so many other myths about expansive federal power, historical truth doesn’t back up this commonly held narrative. In fact, Jefferson deferred to Congress throughout the Barbary conflict. THE POWER TO DECLARE WAR The Constitution vests the power to “declare war” in Congress. The founders understood this to mean changing the state of things from peace to war. This could occur through words or actions. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Congress alone is constitutionally invested with the power of changing our condition from peace to war.” Some argue that if another country declares war – whether in word or by deed – this action by the other country changes the state of things from peace to war, empowering the president to act with offensive measures without any congressional input. But Jefferson disagreed, leaving the decision of how to respond to such outside declarations of war to the representatives of the people and the states. We can see this by the way he responded to the Barbary pirates BACKGROUND By the time Jefferson took office, aggression against U.S. shipping off the coast of Africa had been going on for years, with pirates of the Barbary States preying on American ships. European countries had experienced much of the same, and negotiated peace with the states by paying tribute – sums of money that were effectively ransoms to protect their shipping.  Before his presidency, Jefferson had been involved in negotiating with the aggressors, and he did not support paying tribute. Jefferson expressed his sentiments in a letter to James Monroe on Nov. 11, 1784. “We have taken some pains to find out the sums which the nations of Europe give to the Barbary states to purchase their peace. They will not tell this; yet from some glimmerings it appears to be very considerable; and I do expect that they would tax us at one, two, or perhaps three hundred thousand dollars a year. Surely our people will not give this. Would it not be better to offer them an equal treaty? If they refuse, why not go to war with them?” [emphasis added] A month later, having learned that a small American brig had been seized by a Moroccan corsair in the Atlantic, Jefferson again emphasized the hard line in a letter to Horatio Gates: “Tribute or war is the usual alternative of these pirates. If we yield the former, it will require sums which our people will feel. Why not begin a navy then and decide on war?” Jefferson’s view notwithstanding, in the years to follow, President John Adams negotiated treaties with several Barbary states including Algiers and Tripoli, with the latter getting a payment of $18,000/year. But, as Jefferson warned in 1784, such a deal would never be enough, and Pasha Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli felt like he got the short end of the stick. Within a year of the deal with the Adams administration – and a full five months before Jefferson took office – the Pasha demanded significantly more money and began taking an increasingly aggressive stance against the U.S.

JOIN TAC -from just $2/mo Help us take a stand for the Constitution and liberty - whether the government likes it, or not. (they don't) Monthly, annual, 5 year and lifetime options available. Details Here

DEMANDS AND THREATS The U.S. consul in Tripoli James Cathcart wrote to the Secretary of State on Oct. 7, 1800, that the Pasha said “If you don’t give me a present I will forge a pretext to capture your defenseless merchantmen.”  Just a week later, Tripoli proved their intentions when they captured another American ship. But, possibly it was just a warning, as the crew was released immediately. By Feb. 21, 1801, Cathcart was warning that war was imminent. In a Circular to the Consuls and Agents of the United States, he wrote “I am convinced that the Bashaw of Tripoli will commence Hostilitys against the U. States of America in less than Sixty Days.” In the meantime, just before Jefferson’s inauguration in 1801, Congress passed “An Act Providing for a Naval Peace Establishment,” legislation providing for six frigates that “shall be officered and manned as the President of the United States may direct.” CABINET MEETING In a meeting on May 15, 1801, Jefferson and his cabinet discussed what options were available to them under the Constitution. In attendance were Attorney General Levi Lincoln, Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Secretary of State James Madison, and Acting Secretary of the Navy Samuel Smith. The entire cabinet agreed that ships should be sent out – and if war was declared, to use defensive measures. Lincoln’s position was the most reserved, “Our men of war may repel an attack on individual vessels, but after the repulse, may not proceed to destroy the enemy’s vessels generally.” Jefferson’s notes also included this: “Whether the captains may be authorized, if war exists, to search for & destroy the enemy’s vessels wherever they can find them?—all except mr L—agree they should; M. G. & S. think they may pursue into the harbours, but M. that they may not enter but in pursuit.” [emphasis in original] In short – only in a state of war, did anyone in the cabinet believe the Jefferson administration was authorized to respond with force. And even there, Lincoln held that an attack could be repelled, but they couldn’t search for the enemy, and Madison held they weren’t even authorized to enter into enemy harbors except in an active pursuit. By May 20, Smith sent orders from the President to Commodore Richard Dale to sail to Tripoli along with an offer of peace.  Jefferson’s letter to the Pasha opened with “Great and Respected Friend.” “The assurances of friendship which our Consul has given you, & of our sincere desire to cultivate peace & commerce with your subjects, are faithful expressions of our dispositions, and you will continue to find proofs of them in all those acts of respect & friendly intercourse which are due6 between nations standing as we do in the relations of peace & amity with each other” He also explained that he was sending this squadron to observe the situation and “superintend the safety of our commerce.” Jefferson also made clear that peace could be the order of the day and the squadron was given strict orders on these lines: “We have yet given them in strict command to conduct themselves towards all friendly powers with the most perfect respect & good order it being the first object of our sollicitude to cherish peace & friendship with all nations with whom it can be held on terms of equality & reciprocity.” At the same time, Commodore Dale was also given specific orders on how to proceed if he found that war had already been declared against the United States: “Should the bey of tripoli have declared war (as he has threatened) against the united states – you will then proceed direct to that Port, where you will lay your ships in such a position as effectually to prevent any of their vessels from going in or out. The essex and enterprise by cruising well on towards tunis will have it in their power to intercept any vessels which they may have captuers” WAR DECLARED That’s exactly what happened in the meantime, on May 14, 1801. The following day, Cathcart sent out a circular, to inform others that the Pasha of Tripoli declared war on the United States: “I am sorry to inform you that our Flagstaff was chop’d down upon Thursday the 14th instant and War was declared in form by the Bashaw of Tripoli against the United States of America” [emphasis added] When the squadron arrived in the area on July 1, Commodore Dale learned that the Pasha had already declared war, and proceeded to take the defensive actions per the instructions from Pres. Jefferson via Sec. Smith. Dale’s blockade of the port of Tripoli ran until early September, and during that time, Andrew Sterret, captain of the USS Enterprise, won the first American victory of the war, in its only battle of 1801. Because Congress had not yet responded to Tripoli’s declaration of war with one of their own, Sterret could not take the 14-gun corsair Tripoli as a prize. Instead, after winning the battle, he ordered the ship disarmed, throwing its guns overboard, and then released the crew and the ship.

PODCAST: The Big Lie: Jefferson and War with the Barbary States Both left and right have been more than happy to perpetuate a huge lie in order to justify unilateral executive war powers never delegated to the president in the Constitution. They do this by telling a false story of how Thomas Jefferson responded to the Barbary Pirates in 1801. Learn what really happened with a timeline of events. AUDIO AND VIDEO PODCAST HERE

REQUESTING MORE Despite this battle, the previous attacks, and the formal declaration of war by Tripoli against the United States, Jefferson was firm in his position that he was still “unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.” In his First Annual Message to Congress, he continued, requesting authorization from Congress to go further. “The Legislature will doubtless consider whether, by authorizing measures of offense also, they will place our force on an equal footing with that of its adversaries. I communicate all material information on this subject, that in the exercise of this important function confided by the Constitution to the Legislature exclusively their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstances of weight.” Less than 2 months later, Congress did just that. On Feb. 6, 1802, Congress passed an “Act for the Protection of American Commerce and Seamen,” authorizing some limited offensive measures against Tripoli: “It shall be lawful for the President of the United States to instruct the commanders of the respective public vessels aforesaid, to subdue, seize and make prize of all vessels, goods, and effects, belonging to the Bey of Tripoli, or to his subjects, and to bring or send the same into port, to be proceeded against, and distributed according to the law; and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify, and may, in his opinion, require.” Only after requesting, and eventually receiving, this authorization for offensive war measures from Congress, did President Jefferson order the Navy to take such actions. On Feb 18, 1802, Jefferson sent a “Circular to Naval Commanders” with instructions on what they were authorized to do. “THEREFORE, And in pursuance of the said statute, you are hereby authorized and directed to subdue, seize, and make prize, of all vessels, goods, and effects, belonging to the Bey of Tripoli, or to his subjects, and to bring or send the same into port, to be proceeded against and distributed according to law. “ In his Second Annual Message to Congress, Jefferson discussed the situation in Tripoli once again, clearly noting that “warfare” was ongoing. Yet, he still took a very restrained and limited approach. “There was reason not long since to apprehend that the warfare in which we were engaged with Tripoli might be taken up by some other of the Barbary Powers. A reenforcement, therefore, was immediately ordered to the vessels already there. Subsequent information, however, has removed these apprehensions for the present. To secure our commerce in that sea with the smallest force competent, we have supposed it best to watch strictly the harbor of Tripoli. Still, however, the shallowness of their coast and the want of smaller vessels on our part has permitted some cruisers to escape unobserved, and to one of these an American vessel unfortunately fell prey. The captain, one American sea man, and two others of color remain prisoners with them unless exchanged under an agreement formerly made with the Bashaw, to whom, on the faith of that, some of his captive subjects had been restored.” In the following years, Congress passed multiple statutes to authorize additional actions, including a March 26, 1804 “Act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary powers,” which gave explicit support for “warlike operations against the regency of Tripoli, or any other of the Barbary powers.”  THE JEFFERSONIAN VIEW Note that these narrow congressional authorizations were explicit and described specific actions the president could take. They guided his decision-making and gave him very little discretion. They didn’t authorize Jefferson to take whatever steps he deemed necessary or to decide when and if he wanted to go to war. Congress engaged in the decision-making and Jefferson executed its will. The historical events reveal Thomas Jefferson’s true view on war powers under the Constitution. Congress “exclusively” decides whether or not the country will engage in war. Not the president. The President can use the military to respond to attacks, but can not go “beyond the line of defense” Even if a war is declared by a nation against the United States, the president cannot go “beyond the line of defense” – and must get authorization from Congress to engage in “measures of offense.” This is the kind of essential, foundational information we work to advance every single day of the year. Nothing - absolutely nothing - helps us roll up our sleeves and get the job done more than the financial faith and support of our members.  Please consider joining us today - for as little as $2/month here: https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/members/ Help us take a stand for the Constitution and liberty - whether the government wants us to, or not. (they don't) If you prefer a one-time donation, you can pitch in online at this link: https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/donate/ You can also mail a check to: Tenth Amendment Center 16755 Von Karman Avenue Suite 200 PMB 705 Irvine, CA 92606 THANK YOU for reading - and for your support! --Michael Boldin, TAC.

LGBT Activists Harass Torrance Mayor, Lie to Public About their Privileges/Entitlement

 The LGBT hate groups are growing more brazen every day.

In Torrance, they insist on being celebrated, even though they claim that they were "born that way," and th

The way that they harassed Mayor Chen was quite disturbing.

Last year, he hosted a public forum to allow residents to hear about ongoing safety and business issues, but a number of LGBT activists insisted on harassing him because he would not approve a "pride" resolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_f3VIKifg

The level of entitlement is quite disturbing.

LGBT activists insist on pushing this lie that they are "born that way." There is no evidence for this. And now they are crying and whining about how everyone should celebrate them, and if you don't want to go along with their coercive demands, they label you a hater, a bigot, a homophobe, etc.

This is true bullying, and it's quite ironic that one of the most abusive activists in the room, RG Wong, shamed Mayor Chen about his Asian-American heritage to justify their demands for a pride resolution.

Do these people really take themselves seriously at this point?

Also, does anyone notice the number of people who left the city council chambers while the LGBT activists were whining and complaining about a pride resolution.

The people of Torrance don't want this trash forced on them. They are tired of the woke, broke, joke of regressive leftism.

It's great to see Torrance, a Balanced City, is not interested in tipping the scale in favor of any one interest group.

Wyoming MassResistance forces County Commission to threaten Library Board chairman to clean Up Library

 

Wyoming MassResistance forces County Commission to threaten Library Board chairman: Clean up your act or face removal!

Fighting back against degenerate library officials and RINO politicians in conservative state.

RINO County Commissioner drops out of upcoming election over the pressure.

And more!

May 13, 2024

 A Wyoming MassResistance activist (lower right) describes the horrible material in the library to the County Commissioners. They aren't even paying attention. (See video clip below.) But we forced them to take action!

When taking on the Left in your area, it’s important to find a way to get things done!

Last year, a state legislator in Wyoming reached out to MassResistance for help. The legislator had been working with local activists in Fremont County on a number of issues. But the obscenity and pornography in the library (as well as in the schools) was a vexing problem.

Fremont County is one of the largest counties in the state and is solidly Republican. The Republican primaries basically decide the elections. It is also home to the Wind River Reservation (the only Indian reservation in Wyoming) which unfortunately has become a center for leftist politics and the LGBT agenda.

But the bigger problem is that leftists get elected as Republicans for many important local offices. And they appoint other horrible leftists for governing boards. People usually don’t realize what has happened until it’s too late.

As in many places, the library purposefully has brought in numerous sexually obscene books, particularly in the young adult section. Also, the son of one of our activists saw another patron looking at hardcore pornography on the library computers – but the library has refused to install porn filters.

We gathered a MassResistance chapter in Fremont County to push back. The leftists didn’t like it at all!

Confronting the Library Board

The activists began attending Library Board meetings and confronting them about these problems. It was shocking how condescending, hostile, and detached the Board members acted. For example, in the video clip below a group of activists look on while a mother reads from one of the extremely graphic sex books. The Board members looked uninterested and irritated that their time was being wasted, and simply told the mother to file a bureaucratic “book challenge.”

VIDEO: Library Board shows no reaction to sickening testimony about their books for kids (2 min 34 sec)

Confronting the County Commission

The Library Board members are appointed by the Fremont County Commission. The County Commission is made up of appalling RINOS with seemingly no moral compass except to stay in power.

Our MassResistance activists came and testified at their meetings. They would describe in horrible detail what’s in the children’s sections of the library. But the Commissioners simply sat stone-faced, hoping the citizens would finish quickly and not come back. This video clip is an example:

VIDEO: County Commissioners sit stone-faced as mother describes obscene content for kids in library (2 min 1 sec)

At one point, the County Commission decided they’d had enough “information” and began putting severe restrictions on public comment.

Violating its procedures to exclude conservatives from Library Board

Last June, two pro-family citizens applied to fill a vacating position on the Library Board. But the leftist Library Director labeled them “ultra-conservative” and told the Commissioners that they were not appropriate to be members.

According to emails that our activists received through a Freedom of Information request, the Library Director claimed that people who are (in her opinion) “ultra-conservative” would oppose “intellectual freedom” – i.e., obscenity and pornography for children – and that this would be a violation of the First Amendment. It’s the argument that pornographers targeting children have been making for decades. To claim it applies to libraries is particularly absurd.

To solve this “problem,” the Library Director violated the county’s own procedures and covertly allowed a previous Board member to re-apply after the posted cut-off date. Thus, the former member got re-appointed instead of the legitimate candidates. The Commissioners later stated they were unaware of that violation at the time. But they refused to do anything about it.

Our activists fight back

Our activists refused to give up. They made a huge effort to expose the terrible books, the appointment violation, and the other outrages of the County Commission and Library Board to the entire county.

 After uncovering what really happened, our activists made sure that the local media knew about it!

GOP issues “Resolution of No Confidence”

In particular, they strategically reached out to the Fremont County Republican Party Central Committee – and thoroughly educated them on the situation. That got a powerful reaction: In March 2024, the Fremont County GOP issued a Resolution of No Confidence to the four liberal County Commissioners, along with a list of reasons for doing so.

In an area where voters vote overwhelmingly Republican – but need to know which Republican to vote for – that information is very important.

County Commissioners swiftly react – and we get results!

There are two Commissioners up for re-election in the upcoming August Republican primary. Within days of the GOP Resolution of No Confidence, both incumbents announced they were not running again. (One of them, the Chairman, later changed his mind and decided to run. The other is still not running.)

But that was just the beginning. A few weeks later, on April 2, 2024, the County Commission wrote a blistering memorandum to the Library Board.

They demanded that the Board immediately address a list of problems that our activists were complaining about. Those included: the Library Director’s use of “labeling” people in her communications to the Board; age-appropriateness of books for minors; pornography filters on computers; making the Material Review Policy have public involvement, reflect local values, and not be unreasonably time-consuming or bureaucratic; and other issues.

To make their point, the Commissioners ended their letter with these strong statements:

We have witnessed inappropriate behaviors from the Board Chair, and members of the Library Board. This must stop.

If we don’t see the issues listed above addressed by the end of the May Library Board meeting, we will be forced to remove the Chair and place Commissioner Mike Jones on the Library Board for a few months to ensure these policies and concerns are addressed.

A victory for families versus leftists

This is a significant victory. Things are changing and the momentum is now on our side in Fremont County.

The County Commission is still too reticent to say the obvious: Such disgusting and sickening sexual obscenity has no place in any library – and that the people who put it there and defend it need to find other employment (and deal with their own likely personal pornography problems).

But that will come!

And more – important “Pride” victory in Fremont County

Lander is the county seat of Fremont County. For years, in June the Lander City Council would pass a very offensive proclaimation celebrating Pride Month. Here is a sample.

But last year (in June 2023), the City Council decided not to celebrate Pride Month after outcry from our Wyoming MassResistance activists. (Here is an example.) That was a very important victory for families – and society – that we’re replicating in many places.

The Lander City Council is expected to reject a similar Pride resolution for June of this year, according to sreports!

Little by little, the RINO public officials in Wyoming are getting the message from their constituents!

Final thoughts

We must always keep in mind that small victories lead to big victories. Across the country, MassResistance is focusing on moving forward!

Downtown Torrance Association Member: Torrance Residents are Ignorant Bigots

On May 7th, 2024, large numbers of Torrance residents spoke out against the proposed pride resolution for the city of Torrance.

For the second year in a row, Mayor Chen declined to recognize pride month, and rightfully so. These are behaviors, so-called lifestyle choices, and not innate identities.

Furthermore, he has shared that there are other proclamations which has dismissed, like "Walk Your Dog Week." It's time for the city council to get back to dealing with serious, substantive issues, not virtue-signaling over a bunch of divisive proclamations. These kind of government-based exhortations are just ridiculous.

But, there is one strident voice in the city of Torrance who insists on celebrating sexual perversion.

His name is Adam Schwartz:

Adam Schwartz

He is also a vocal member of the Downtown Torrance Association, and he is obsessed with pushing LGBT in the city of Torrance. From the Talk of Torrance:

At the June 6th Torrance City Council Meeting, several Torrance residents came to speak about the lack of a Pride Proclamation for the city. Mayor George Chen had made it clear that Torrance would not have a Pride Month. The Downtown Torrance Association decided to write, propose, and approve of their own People’s Pride Proclamation and read it during the Oral Communications of the June 6th meeting. 

Isabel Douvan Schwartz and Adam Schwartz, members of the Downtown Torrance Association, explained that, “if the City Council and the Mayor won't issue a Pride Proclamation this year, the people will. And [...] if the city drops the ball, Downtown Torrance has not and Downtown Torrance has your back”. 

It is really disturbing the extent that local activists want to normalize homosexuality and transgenderism in the public, and especially around children.

What does a business association have to do with pushing sodomy in the streets, anyway?

Schwartz was so determined for disturbed men to push their "schwartz" in public, that he insisted on launching his own pride celebration at the Torrance city council chambers last year:

Six people showed up ... really.

Does it make sense for six people to shove this destructive agenda onto everyone else? Why does the city of Torrance have to bend over (no pun intended) to celebrate one interest group at the expense of every other person in the city?

This year, Adam with another small band of LGBT activists (really, disruptors) came to the May 7th, 2024 Torrance City Council meeting to support Councilwoman Sharon Kalani's pushing for a pride resolution, even though the mayor had wisely, correctly decided to forgo the resolution again this year.

What was really stunning, and quite vindicating, was that the vast majority of people in the audience opposed the resolution. People of all ages and backgrounds said NO to pride. It was a great scene. Clearly, Torrance residents don't want sexual degradation to get special treatment.

The Muslim community came out in large numbers to oppose the pride resolution, as well. I was honored to meet with them the week before, informing that Councilman Sheikh was thinking about supporting this resolution. They were glad that I had informed them about what was going on. They confronted Councilman Sheikh about the resolution at Friday prayers at the Islamic Institute of Torrance, and then they appeared in considerable numbers in person to oppose the resolution! It was great to see a bold stance against this perverse agenda which has been forced on the general public in all too many ways, shapes, and forms.

Not just the Muslims, but many Christians, and many Asian-Americans also spoke out against this terrible resolution. If Councilwoman Kalani was trying to unite the community, she did a pretty good job, but not in the way that she intended.

Councilman Aurelio Mattucci gave one of the boldest statements against the resolution, calling out the fact that the whole LGBT has shown its fascist face, shoving its abuses in everyone else's face. The fact that his son had received an invasive, abusive questionaire about his own gender identity and sexual conduct was really infuriating. Keep in mind that Aurelio's son is only ten years old, yet he received a survey asking him "What is your gender?" with four choices listed (there are only two sexes, for those who are till confused), and then another question asking him if he was gay, straight, non-binary, etc. Not even five years ago, if a stranger was asking someone's child such outrageous questions, he would be in a jail cell. That is child abuse, nothing more.

Yes, a divided city council ultimately approved the terrible resolution, which corrupts the civil rights movement and turns lies and abuse into essential characters, but in the long run, the massive turnout of people against this ill-conceived resolution, plus the clear lack of peace or joy in the faces of those who ultimately caved in and supported this resolution, proved that the passage of this resolution was no victory.

Adam Schwartz certainly shared as much:

Adam Schwartz had a total meltdown on social media after the city council meeting. He called Torrance residents ignorant bigots.

He called Asian-Americans ignorant bigots.

He called Muslim-Americans ignorant bigots.

He called Christians ignorant bigots.

He called anyone who thinks that sexual license shouldn't be celebrated in the streets and shoved in people's faces ignorant bigots.

He called children, adults, men and women, parents who care the safety of their well-being ignorant bigots.

What's worse, though, is that when Councilman Mattucci called out the abusive surveys his son had received, Councilwoman Kalani called that point "decisive" in her push for the pride month resolution.

And apparently, so does Adam Schawartz.

He's ok with kids being groomed in the classroom by this agenda, too.

This is who the Downtown Torrance Association thinks should represent them?

Contact them and ask them: "When are you going to get rid of Adam Schwartz? How do you expect Downtown Torrance to thrive when one of your most outspoken members thinks that Torrance residents are ignorant bigots? How do you expect Torrance businesses to thrive when they are represented by a hatemonger who thinks it's OK for creepy adults to groom kids in the classroom?"

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adam.schwartz.750

DTA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Downtowntorrance

Email: streetfaire@gmail.com

Open Letter to Torrance City Council re: Pride Month Resolution (2024)

 Torrance City Council:

It is very disappointing, and in fact quite disturbing, that Councilwoman Sharon Kalani insists on bringing in all of this woke drama to the city of Torrance.

The Torrance City Council should reject her so-called pride resolution.

Mayor Chen did the right thing--and one must acknowledge, the brave thing--by rejecting such a resolution last year as well as this year. He is correct, to the extent that homosexual and transgender behaviors are that ... behaviors. They are not innate nor are they genetic. They should not be celebrated on that basis alone. Should we have a Resolution celebrating Smokers and Heroin Addicts, too?

Frankly, I would like to see all the hyphenated-American Month resolutions discarded, but that's another discussion for another day.

These behaviors: homosexuality, transgenderism, etc., are inherently disordered and harmful. They involve a clear misuse of organs, all too much like shoving a straw up one's nose to drink or using one's elbows to scratch one's ears. The high rates of disease, dysfunction, and death (promiscuity, drug use, other high-risk behaviors) associated with homosexuality and transgenderism are too great to ignore, and they should not be celebrated. Critics will counter-argue: "Well, LGBT people have had to cope with all this discrimination and persecution. That's why they engaged in all those destructive habits." The truth is that these dsyfunctional behaviors are all too prevalent among homosexual populations in even the most LGBT affirming countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc. The average lifespan of homosexuals declines by 20% compared to the general population. That is not healthy, and that has nothing to do with external social pressures.

These behaviors are borne out of abuse, neglect, confusion, molestation, or shame. No one's natural rights should be violated because they struggle with these issues, but the solution  is not to celebrate and enable these behaviors. Shame on you, Sharon, for stirring up trouble in this community and celebrating behaviors that harm people, and promote an ideology that harms rather than helps or heals.

In fact, this whole LGBT movement has gotten so perverse, that now activists are demanding the sex mutilation of minors, all under the guise of "gender-affirming care." There is a better phrase for such acts: child abuse. And now women are being erased in the name of "Transgender Tolerance." Enough already! The whole LGBT movement is riddled with child abuse. A large majority of homosexuals and transgenders SUFFERED child abuse, and the trauma has not been resolved. How dare anyone enable the ongoing abuse of these poor people!

The destruction of marriage, family, and public order has also come in the wake of this whole LGBT movement, and there is no right or reason for the city council to celebrate any of this. This garbage has gone from the bedroom, to the boardroom, to the classroom, to the courtroom, and now the rest of us don't have any room. Again: when is enough going to be enough?

And there are specific problems with the resolution, too:

The resolution offered to the city council provides all of this glowing praise surrounding the Stonewall Riots of 1969. That whole narrative is just one more example of the false hagiography that has inflated the whole LGBT movement.

The reason that police officers stormed the Stonewall Inn was due to the fact that it was a mob bar, and the bar was not paying its liquor license. The whole raid had nothing to do with homosexuals and transgenders, but the LGBT movement has turned it into a cause celebre to justify its abusive, agressive, militant agenda.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-why-did-mafia-own-bar/

The resolution also suggests that supporting LGBT "rights" is supporting human rights. That is a lie. There is no civil or natural right to engage in sodomy or cross-dressing. People are born black, white, Hispanic, etc. People are not born homosexual nor are they born in the wrong body.

You can check out these testimonies for proof that LGBT is not forever, either:

Formerly Gay Man Could Go to Jail After Sharing Testimony of Finding God, Embracing Bible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zRtjHOoPAY

Former Gay Man Exposes the Truth about the LGQTB Agenda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsbO4Zyj3U

Jeffrey's Story: Ex-Transgender with Regret

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r09cDPsQ1wI

Ex-‘Drag Queen’ shares his story – what that lifestyle is really like

https://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen3/19c/MR-Dallas-Kevin/index.html

Reject this resolution immediately, and never bring it back.

Sharon Kalani should save face and just withdraw this item once for all.

Texas Scorecard: Whom Do You Love? (Michael Sullivan)

 Culture at large tells us we must love and accept ourselves as we are. The doctrine of self-esteem and the creed of self-affirmation have created a generation of narcissists worshiping a false god.

Since at least the 1960s, popular culture has told people that it is OK to embrace and even celebrate their flaws—be that unnatural sexual desire, ravenous gluttony, perpetual laziness, or whatever.

It is spiritual and emotional garbage, physically destructive, and morally bankrupt.

Humanity has long been about the business of attempting to dethrone God by erecting gods in our own likeness, complete with our own failings. It always ends poorly.

This is, in part, why our Founding Fathers rejected the idea that human kings have a divine right to lord over the citizenry. They wisely created a pluralistic republic built on the biblical principles of self-governance.

But self-governance, most literally, means that we must be able to govern ourselves. Yet we have become so infatuated with self-love and self-service that we are trading away our republic. Theoretically, the bargain made between a king and his people was that—when push came to shove—he would trade his life for theirs. In practice, human monarchs have always demanded that their subjects die in defense of the crown.

Only Jesus, guiltless and sinless, took on the kingly duty of self-sacrifice for His people—because He was obedient to His Father and because He loves us more than He loved Himself.

What a contrast to our self-love culture!

So, who did Jesus tell us to love? The Gospel of Mark records Jesus as saying God’s law can be summed up as, first, to “‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Notice who I am called to love in Jesus’ summary. First, God and then, others. And…? No, that’s it. What about all the energy that sin says I should direct at loving myself? God says to give that love to others.

Culture says to look out for ourselves first. The Christianized self-help books are better; they say to put ourselves second, presumably behind God. Yet, by my count, I don’t rate any of my own affection when following Jesus’ summation of God’s law.

The law and prophets tell us that we must, in love, serve God and serve others. For our self-governing republic to function as intended, you and I, as the citizen-leaders, must die to ourselves and live for each other.

BREAKING: Former LA County District Attorney Jackey Lacey Endorses Nathan Hochman for DA

Nathan Hochman has been endorsed by two prior LA County District Attorneys!

The momentum is building for him to remove George Gascon.

YES!

FIRE GASCON!

Dear Friend, Jackie Lacey, the first woman and first African-American to serve as District Attorney of Los Angeles County, announced today that she is endorsing Nathan Hochman for District Attorney.  Lacey made the announcement outside of her childhood home in South Los Angeles, the location where her father was shot and wounded many years ago – an incident that inspired her to pursue a career in criminal justice. She said D.A. George Gascon has emboldened criminals and caused an increase in crime by failing to properly enforce the law.   “We must have leadership at the District Attorney’s Office that understands its mission is to seek justice by, among other things, sending a message that criminal behavior is unacceptable in our county. We don’t have that with the current District Attorney,” Lacey said. “Criminals are more brazen because they know they have allies embedded in that office. They know the office policies better than we do. It is time to elect someone who will be proactive at making us safer.” Lacey, a lifelong Democrat who served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 2012 to 2020, said she supports Hochman because of his decades of criminal justice experience, as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, and the fact that he will strive every day to improve public safety. “I am endorsing Nathan Hochman for District Attorney because I feel a lot less safe than I did four years ago,” Lacey said. “It’s time to thank and excuse the current district attorney and elect someone with a conscience. Please join me and vote for Nathan Hochman for District Attorney.” Lacey is just the latest in a growing list of prominent Democratic leaders who have rejected Gascon and called on Angelenos to unite behind Hochman. Last month, he received endorsements from former Democratic D.A. candidates John McKinney and Maria Ramirez as well as Rory and Max Kennedy (daughter and son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy). Nathan is building the broad, bi-partisan coalition that is needed to defeat Gascon this November. Please consider making a contribution today to help us get out our winning message on TV, social media, print mail, radio, and text messaging. You can donate by clicking here or the button below, or by mailing a check. Instructions for mailing a check can be found on the donation form attached below. Together, we will defeat George Gascon and restore public safety to Los Angeles County. Sincerely, Team Hochman

Boston Children’s Hospital’s Infamous “Gender Clinic” Changes Website to Hide Systemic Child Abuse Towards Children

 

Apparently reacting to public outrage.

MassResistance led the effort to expose the gruesome details.

Also at BCH Gender Clinic: Another macabre transgender research project.

Public pressure needs to continue!

May 6, 2024

 This page on Boston Children's Hospital's website was quietly taken down as outrage over these gruesome "medical" procedures on children has grown.

The infamous “Gender Clinic” at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), which opened in 2007, was the first major medical facility in America providing “gender” procedures for children. Since then, it has been the model for similar major hospitals around the world.

The BCH Gender Clinic site previously included descriptions of most of its surgical “gender” procedures, the names of the doctors involved, and even videos of its staff explaining how they diagnosed and treated the bodies and minds of children and teenagers. But that has changed recently. The site has recently become an irrational, deceptive maze.

MassResistance raised awareness

MassResistance began raising awareness of this clinic almost immediately after it opened. In 2007, we did a segment on our MassResistance radio show on its puberty blocking treatments for young children. We were featured on Fox News in 2008 exposing the clinic to the country. At that time the public was just beginning to address this outrage.

Still today, the mainstream media recognizes BCH as a great institution, despite the harm inflicted on “transgender” children.

Despite all the outrage over these ghastly procedures being done on children, US News and World Report named BCH as one of the "Best Children's Hospitals" - which BCH advertises widely.

In April 2023 we released our detailed 70-page report on all the Gender Clinic programs at Boston Children’s Hospital. It was shocking to read, and we received feedback from around the country. As more people have become aware of what BCH and other hospitals are doing to children, the outrage across the country has increased tremendously.

The fraud of “transgender health” being exposed

Recently, two major reports have been published that are exposing the fraud of “transgender health. The exposé on WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health – the organization cited for “standards” on “gender” procedures), and more recently the Cass Review out of Britain, are opening eyes around the world, and should help to get these treatment programs shut down.

Yet the BCH Gender Clinic proceeds as if nothing has changed! (It also continues to brag about being a strong ally of the LGBTQ "community.")

 BCH staff and administrators cheer as transgender flag (center top) is about to be raised in front of the hospital building.

Changing their website – to hide their horrible activities

Nevertheless, the public’s increasing alarm over the past year seems to have rung a bell at BCH.

Sometime in the fall of 2023 (not long after our report), BCH changed much of its Gender Clinic website. We have compared the new version to the old pages. The new pages seem purposely poorly organized and vague, lacking detail and information that was previously clearer. The strategy seems to be to make the clinic’s activities even less transparent to the public and media than they were a year ago.

These changes include:

• Removed names of doctors and staff. The hospital has taken down all the names of doctors and staff in the gender clinic. The current “Meet Our Team” page is now essentially empty. Why are these doctors hiding? Are they unable to defend their practices and answer their critics?
  
• Removed the videos that describe how they diagnose and help children “transition.” It was chilling to watch these doctors and medical specialists calmly outline their “reasoning” and procedures. MassResistance preserved these vile videos in our April 2023 report.
• Deleted the separate page for the Center for Gender Surgery. This is where the important (and still publicly alarming) descriptions were. The old pages on surgeries offered are here & here: 
  
  
   The BCH's original page discussing and explanating their approach to "gender surgery."
  
  
   Their original "procedures" page also listed and described the various kinds of surgeries.

  Now this is all that appears:

   The new page is greatly abbreviated!

As noted above, the changes also include replacing detailed descriptions with vague references (or none at all):

• Now, the only surgeries currently listed are “Breast Augmentation” (breast implants on males) and “Chest Reconstruction” (mastectomies on females). But clicking on these two surgeries takes you to the vague page “Gender Services” which gives no detail. (And searches on the BCH website yield no descriptions.) As far as we can tell, these two surgeries are available to children ages 15 and above. (See older pages here and here.)
• The elimination of the Center for Gender Surgery page is significant because it hides detail on BCH’s so-called “bottom surgeries.” They were previously described openly, but now are referred to only on the “Transgender Reproductive Health Service” page. These are particularly gruesome even to list here. These surgeries include:

1. Metoidioplasty: Surgically creating a small pseudo-penis on a female using skin from her genital tissue, and realigning the urethra. It is performed after the clitoris has been enlarged through the use of testosterone therapy.
   
2. Phalloplasty: Surgically creating a pseudo-penis on a female using skin from other parts of her body. In this procedure, surgeons harvest one or more "flaps" of skin and other tissues from a donor site on her body (usually the forearm or thigh) and use it to form a pseudo-penis, and realign the urethra. Serious complications are common.
   
3. Vaginoplasty: Surgically creating a pseudo-vagina in a male after removing his penis and scrotum. Vaginoplasty requires a lifetime commitment to aftercare, because men who have a vaginoplasty will have to painfully dilate their “vagina” regularly to keep it open. Serious complications are common. (In earlier years, the hospital said the earliest age this could be done was 17, later changing that to 18.)

• Direct mention of hysterectomies has been removed. Like the others above, this is a permanent “gender affirming” procedure that cannot be reversed. There is no dedicated page on hysterectomy (and there was none on the older website). But the “LGBTQ+ Equality” page confirms “gender affirming hysterectomies” are still performed:
  
  

  The Division of Gynecology offers LGBTQ+-affirming pediatric and adolescent gynecology services. They also offer gender affirming hysterectomy and vaginoplasty to transgender adults between the ages of 18 to 35 years. 

Incredibly, Boston Children’s Hospital refers to many of these procedures as “transgender reproductive health.” This is illogical because those procedures in fact cause permanent sterility.

BCH website is silent on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones

The gender clinic continues its silence on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Although those are both standard parts of transgender “medicine,” BCH has never included descriptions of them on its website that we could find.

BCH is still aggressively pushing “transgender medicine”

Despite the fact that BCH is hiding most of its harmful procedures from the public, it still stands up for the ghoulish concept of “gender-affirming health care” for children and young adults. They still claim – without providing any documentation – that their practices are “grounded in scientific evidence.” This is laughable, especially in light of the recent “WPATH Files” and “Cass Review.”

Still prominent on the BCH site is this description:

At Boston Children’s, we are proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States, the Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS), which has cared for more than 1,000 families to date. We believe in a gender-affirmative model of care, which supports transgender and gender diverse youth in the gender in which they identify. This is a standard of care grounded in scientific evidence, demonstrating its benefits to the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth. In addition to supporting our patients and families, we stand with our colleagues who may identify as transgender or gender diverse, those who provide care to transgender youth and who are allies to the transgender community.

The proposed bans on medical care, sports participation and other legislation aiming to restrict the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth are in direct opposition to our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity, as well as the standard of care that we live by. Here in Massachusetts, we have been fortunate—there has not yet been movement on any of these initiatives. You may recall that in 2016, Massachusetts voters upheld legislation designed to protect the rights of transgender residents in public accommodations. Boston Children’s was proud to be part of the coalition that worked in support of that ballot question. [bold added]

BCH believes its controversial practices cannot be challenged. The hospital is protected by the Massachusetts “transgender rights” law (2016) covering public accommodations.

Further protecting BCH is an absurd law passed in 2022 that criminalizes legal challenges filed against the hospital for its “gender affirming” services. Anyone from out of state who would dare to bring a lawsuit for medical malpractice could be charged with “abusive litigation”!  This law needs to be challenged by a detransitioner or other patient harmed by the clinic.

Another outrageous discovery on the hospital’s website

As we tried to make sense of the gender clinic’s redesigned web pages, we came across an unbelievable outrage. One of the doctors at the gender clinic (seen in this video) has used the hospital’s facilities to conduct (NIH-funded) research on a device to aid female-to-male patients who have had phalloplasties (fake penises created from other skin) to have “erections” during intercourse. (Since a female-to-male’s pseudo-penis is non-functional sexually, it remains flaccid.)

The official description of the clinical trial on the BCH website describes it in gruesome detail.

The “principal investigator” of this research is Dr. Elizabeth Boskey (who appears to be a man). In the undated video below (now removed from the BCH website) Dr. Boskey talks about “gender affirming surgeries” – and cites standards from the discredited transgender health promoter WPATH.

BCH VIDEO: Who is eligible for surgical "transitions"? - featuring Dr. Elizabeth Boskey (48 sec)

Final thoughts

By any commonsense measure, all of this is medical quackery that would be challenged in any other context. But gender ideology has taken a cult-like hold on many of our institutions. And a lot of money is being made on the backs of the many children being irreparably harmed.

Most disturbing, Boston Children’s Hospital’s beliefs in “gender affirming health care” are not even considered extremist or an outlier in the medical profession. They are still considered mainstream by the medical establishment in the United States and much of the world. The major medical societies, such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society caved in years ago to these bizarre ideas (as a result of pressure and intimidation, not actual scientific inquiry), and still openly accept and promote them.

But the tide is turning. The claim that these treatments are “grounded in scientific evidence” is being exposed as nonsense, as revealed beyond dispute in the recent exposé on WPATH (the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, an organization BCH refers to as authoritative). Furthermore, the recent Cass Review out of Britain is calling for a re-examination of gender treatments and can’t be ignored.

How much longer can the Gender Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital go unchallenged?

 BCH staff during Boston Gay Pride parade - from their "LGBTQ allies" video.

   

Please help us continue to do our uncompromising work!

Our successes depend on people like you.

Donate to MassResistance

Your support will make the difference!