[guest post by JVW]

I love this story:

A significant number of men misrepresented their gender identities to attend last week’s Grace Hopper Celebration, an annual convention and career fair intended for “women and non-binary technologists.”

“We are committed to providing a celebratory space for women and non-binary technologists and we hear your concerns around male participation,” the non-profit organization AnitaB, which organizes the convention, wrote on social media. “This year at GHC, we have seen an increase in participation of self-identifying males.”

According to the AnitaB organization, there were 30,000 attendees and over 400 speakers at the 2023 convention. The career fair portion allows attendees to connect with the event’s sponsors and patrons, including high-profile corporations like Apple, Amazon, Capital One, Deloitte, Disney, Goldman Sachs, Meta, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Tesla.

“Yesterday, it became clear that there are a far greater number of cisgender men participating than we anticipated,” said Cullen White, the chief impact officer at the AnitaB. “Simply put, some of you lied on your gender identity to register.”

Right off the bat I object to these attendees being mislabeled as “men.” How dare Cullen White assume somebody’s gender just by their size, or their facial hair, or the way the dress, or any other of dozens of characteristics generally associated with — ahem, ahem — “cisgender” males? Have you ever heard of anything so bigoted in your life? We have been told that if someone says that they are non-binary then, by heavens, we are morally obligated to accept them as non-binary, even if their gender is “fluid” and subject to change from day to day. (But criminey, fellas, couldn’t you at least have thrown on some nail polish or maybe carried a purse? Put at least a bit of damn effort into the subterfuge.)

Naturally, there are the highly implausible claims that the male — sorry, non-binary — attendees “trampled” attendees who identify as women and reserved interview slots and then tried to sell them (which to me is capitalism at it’s finest, but whatever), though some heroic men are pushing back by hoisting the trans-rights crew on their own petards.

It’s just funny to me to read all of the negative comments about the event coming from “cisgender” women and people who identify as women which are in essence saying, “Screw inclusivity, this event should only be for the gals, and we’ll be the ones who decide who qualifies as a gal.” The organizer of the event, AnitaB, strikes me as the typical feminist advocacy organization which couldn’t resist the soothing song of the transgender sirens and have thus steered the ship of their little nonprofit grifting outfit way too close to the woke shoals, causing it to crash into the rocks of intersectionality absurdity (ok, I’ve taken this metaphor as far as it can go). This was the perfect way for the organization’s final conference held in Orlando to end, since in light of Florida’s “constant affront to human dignity” they plan to reconvene next year in Philadelphia, where there’s a fair chance that at least one of them might be murdered if they stray beyond the conference hotel.

Meanwhile, kudos to those temporarily non-binary heroes who challenged AnitaB and all of the conference attendees to confront the contradictions in their own dopey ideology.

– JVW

[guest post by Dana]

Sure, why not. Crazy is as crazy does:

Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said in a statement Tuesday afternoon his first order of business when the House reconvenes “will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

“President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again,” he said.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., followed suit in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday evening: “@realDonaldTrump for Speaker.”

Additionally:

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas) have been the most vocal proponents of electing Trump to the speakership, with the former saying Trump is the “only candidate” she is supporting at the moment, and the latter vowing to nominate him.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who introduced the measure to dethrone McCarthy, has also said that “’Speaker Trump’ has a great ring to it.”

While a speaker does not have to be a current sitting member in the House, Trump may be ineligible because of Rule 26 (from the House Republican Conference Rules of the 118th Congress):

A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years’ imprisonment may be imposed.

So, is Trump interested in the position?

“Lot of people have been calling me about speaker, all I can say is we’ll do whatever is best for the country and for the Republican Party…My focus is totally on [the presidency]. If I can help them during the process, I’ll do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party that could do a great job as speaker,” Trump said.

Of course he’s interested…

If Trump becomes Speaker of the House, the House chamber will be like a Trump rally everyday!!

It would be the House of MAGA!!!

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 5, 2023

P.S. Only House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Republican Rep. Jim Jordan have announced that they are running for the speaker of the House.

-Dana