Lee Ardis

Christian Korean Women-Only Spa Ordered To Admit Naked Trans Clients

A federal judge ordered a Korean-American women’s spa with compulsory nudity to admit men who identify as women, even if they have intact penises, in a decision on Monday.

Olympus Spa attempted to sue the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) after being ordered to remove any mention of “biological women” from their website and to admit transgender men without question. Senior District Judge Barbara Rothstein dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the WSHRC’s orders as legal and requiring the spa to comply.

Haven Wilvich, a man who identifies as a woman, complained to the WSHRC in 2020 and claimed the spa declined his membership request. Wilvich alleged that the spa said, “transgender women without surgery are not welcome.” The spa disputed this claim, stating they had no record of an application.

The family-owned spa is modeled on jjimjilbang — traditional sex-segregated bathhouses in Korea. The spa only admitted trans-identified men if they had “gone through post-operative sex confirmation surgery.”

In March 2021, the WSHRC served spa owner Myoon Woon Lee with a Notice of Complaint of Discrimination. The spa’s president, Sun Lee, explained to the commission that Olympus was a family-owned “women’s Korean traditional health spa” that required nudity for certain treatments.

“We firmly believe it is essential for the safety, legal protection, and well-being of our customers and employees that we maintain adherence to this adaptation of a females-only rule,” Lee wrote.

The president also educated the board on the traditions of Jjimjilbang, arguing that the spa had “worked so hard over many years to build and preserve, simply for the sake of promoting gender neutrality.”

Both the owner and the president said they were Christian and cited their faith — the Christian belief in modesty between the sexes — as a reason why they did not wish to accept biological males into the women’s nude spa. Employees also involved in the suit — all of whom were women — refused to perform body scrubs on naked men, citing Christian principles as well. The District Court rejected their religious liberty claim.

The court upheld the WSHRC’s requirement that the spa removes all references to biological women from their site and subject their staff to “inclusivity” training. The spa challenged this as “compelled speech” in violation of the First Amendment, which Rothstein also rejected. The court rejected the spa’s third argument, which claimed that the WSHRC’s requirement of admitting men violated the right of association.

After the WSHRC ruling in 2021, Wilvich celebrated on social media, saying the order allowed “all self-identified women access regardless of surgery and genitals.”

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Ben Shapiro Challenges Biden Admin To Read From Sexually Explicit Book Found In School Libraries

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro challenged a member of the Biden administration to publicly read from a sexually graphic book found in school libraries across the country as the administration appoints a coordinator to challenge so-called “book bans.”

Shapiro said that someone from Biden’s team should publicly read the book “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe if they think that it is appropriate for young children. The book contains graphic descriptions of masturbation and oral sex alongside explicit illustrations.

“I challenge somebody from the Biden administration to get up and read out loud on camera while showing the pictures ‘Gender Queer,’ and explain why that should be available to 9-year-olds or 15-year-olds, for that matter, at public expense,” Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, said on his Friday podcast.

Shapiro’s challenge comes as the Biden administration announced that it would be creating a position in the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to fight against local and state laws intended to shield children from graphic books like “Gender Queer” in schools.

One scene in “Gender Queer,” found in school libraries across the country, involves a teenager having a sexual fantasy about an adult male.

“What [Biden] really wants is for your local second grader to be able to walk into a school library and see graphic cartoon depictions of anal sex. That’s really what Joe Biden wants. I notice that everybody on the Left who constantly talks about these book bannings is unwilling to actually read out loud the books that they think should not be prevented from being disseminated,” Shapiro said.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

California Bill Would Classify Not Affirming Child’s Transgenderism As ‘Child Abuse’

A recently amended California bill would classify not affirming a child’s gender identity by one or both parents as “child abuse.”

AB 957 was introduced into the California legislature by Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) and state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). The bill rewrites much of the state’s family law and classifies “a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child.”

The bill amends Section 3011 of the Family Code, which deals with child custody disputes, and requires that a court determining the “best interests” of the child must consider affirmation of transgender identity. If a parent were to deny the child’s “gender identity,” it would be a violation of the child’s health, safety, and welfare — equivalent to child abuse.

Because the bill changes the definition of what constitutes the “health, safety, and welfare” of a child, any organization interacting with children — including schools, churches, and hospitals — would be required to affirm gender transitions in minors.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Wilson’s spokesman disputed the claim that the revisions change anything about the bill and stated that AB 957 relates only to family law, not criminal law.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

New study destroys ‘doomsday glacier’ narrative: Today’s ice 8 times THICKER than last 8000 years

Scientists have determined there is no measured data to “indicate thicker than present ice after 4ka” at a West Antarctic study site near the Thwaites “Doomsday” Glacier. Any ice melt observed today is thus “reversible”… and natural.

The Thwaites, Pine Island, and Pope Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica are all situated on a hotbed of active geothermal heat flux, which has led to anomalously high regional melt rates. Indeed, “there is a conspicuously large amount of heat from Earth’s interior beneath the ice” in the very locations where the ice melt is most pronounced.

While the Earth’s crust has an average thickness of about 40 km, in the Thwaites-Pine Island-Pope Glacier region the anomalously thinner crust (10 to 18 km) more readily exposes the base of the ice to 580°C tectonic trenches. The “elevated geothermal heat flow band is interpreted as caused by an anomalously thin crust underlain by a hot mantle,” which is exerting a “profound influence on the flow dynamics of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet” (Dziadek et al., 2021).

Despite the established natural causes of ice melt this region (see also Schroeder et al., 2014, Loose et al., 2018), it has nonetheless become commonplace for those who believe human behaviors are the climate’s “control knob” to claim the melting of the Thwaites Glacier – dubbed the “Doomsday Glacier” by alarmists – is caused by humans driving gasoline-powered trucks or using natural gas for energy.

But a new study categorically undermines claims that the ice melt occurring in the Thwaites-Pine Island-Pope Glacier region is unusual, unprecedented, or unnatural.

The thickness of the ice sheet at this Amundsen Sea region site averages about 40 m today.

Scientists (Balco et al., 2023) have used cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations and bedrock cores to determine the ice sheet is presently around 8 times thicker than it was for most of the last 8,000 years of the Holocene, when the ice thickness ranged between 2 m and 7 m.

“…the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) at a site between Thwaites and Pope glaciers was at least 35m thinner than present in the past several thousand years”

Washington, D.C., Library Holding ‘Children’s Pride Parade’ For Those ‘0-18’

The D.C. Public Library system will hold a “Children’s Pride Parade” on Saturday that will be open to ages “0-18,” according to a flier from the event.

The parade will be a “celebration of diversity and inclusion, particularly the diversity of gender and sexuality,” according to a flier from the library first obtained by The Daily Signal. The event is being hosted by the Georgetown, Palisades, and Tenley branches of the D.C. Public Library.

“The parade is for LGBTQ kids and families, signaling that their community supports them,” said media relations manager George Williams. “The event does not require registration, so we do not have an estimate of how many people will attend. The program will not include any speakers.”

“The parade is for ALL kids to signal that their community supports them being themselves, regardless of their gender or sexuality,” a notice for the parade says. “One of the parade themes is ‘Be-YOU-tiful!’ For LGBTQ kids, kids who want to be allies, and kids who haven’t figured that all out yet, the parade will signal that their families, school and community joyfully accept their full identity — whatever that may be. We want this to be an event for every family, not just ones that already know they have members that are LGBTQIA+.”

According to the flier, many kids are “coming out” at younger ages. “A Pride event especially for kids, many of whom are coming out at younger ages,” a section of the flier under “goals” reads.

It is also described as “an opportunity for local schools and community groups to show they support LGBTQ youth and families.”

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Elon Musk Rips Target After Its Stock Is Downgraded: ‘Won’t Be Long Before’ Shareholders Sue Target

Twitter owner Elon Musk took a shot at Target on Friday morning after JP Morgan downgraded the retailer’s stock, saying that it was only a matter of time before the company faced lawsuits for its controversial actions that have led to the company losing billions of dollars in market value.

Target made “emergency” calls in mid-May to managers and senior directors after the company faced backlash for its Pride collection, which included “tuck-friendly” female swimwear.

“We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage,” a Target insider told Fox News.

The woke company has since faced boycotts, lost more than $12 billion in market value, and faced its longest losing streak in years.

JP Morgan said that it was downgrading Target’s stock because of the “recent company controversies.”

Musk responded to the news by tweeting: “Won’t be long before there are class-action lawsuits by shareholders against the company and board of directors for destruction of shareholder value.”

Daily Wire host Candance Owens responded in agreement with Musk’s disapproval of Target, praising the CEO for his commitment to free speech and the safety of children.

Target has been perceived as “woke” by many online since at least 2014 when the company announced it would no longer divide certain products by gender.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Anheuser-Busch InBev Market Value Plunges Further, Staggering $27 Billion Drop Since Mulvaney Fiasco: Report

The latest estimates of the staggering losses suffered by Anheuser-Busch since April 1, the day the Dylan Mulvaney controversy exploded, put their loss in market value at about $27 billion by the end of May.

The company had a $134.55 billion value as of March 31 before it plunged to $107.44 billion by the end of May, according to Dow Jones Market Data Group. The company’s stock plummeted 19.98% from its high in March. That 20% drop enters the zone of a bear market. Bud Light sales revenues have dropped 25.7% for the week ending May 20 compared to the same week in 2022, Bump Williams Consulting estimated.

On April 1, Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman, posted a video to his 1.8 million followers on Instagram promoting his partnership with Bud Light. “This month I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood, and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever, a can with my face on it,” Mulvaney said.

By May 24, a report had estimated Anheuser-Busch InBev’s market value plunging $15.7. That estimate came from Investor’s Business Daily, which used a conversion to U.S. dollars using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“We believe there is a subset of American consumers who will not drink a Bud Light for the foreseeable future,” Jared Dinges, beverage analyst at JPMorgan Chase, said on May 23. “We believe a 12% to 13% volume decline on an annualized basis would be a reasonable assumption.”

“Shares [of Anheuser-Busch] have underperformed EU Beer peers by 15% since the start of April,” Dinges continued. “We believe this is due to U.S. uncertainty, as investor focus has shifted squarely to the potential impact from the Bud Light controversy. … We do not expect the lost sales to be recovered in fiscal year 2024.”

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Oxford College Can Now Expel Students For Using The Wrong Pronouns

A prestigious college at the University of Oxford announced Thursday that violating its new transgender harassment policy, including using the wrong pronouns, could lead to expulsion.

Regent’s Park College released a Trans Inclusion Statement, which outlines in detail what the college considers “transphobic harassment” and threatens offenders with severe penalties, including expulsion.

The statement declares, “Any unlawful discriminatory behaviour, including transphobic harassment or bullying of by individuals or groups, will be regarded extremely seriously and could be grounds for disciplinary action, which may include expulsion or dismissal.”

The college’s statement goes on to define “transphobia” broadly, including acts like “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity,” “refusal to treat a person in accordance with their affirmed identity,” and “misgendering” by using “the wrong name or pronoun.”

The college further admits that “it is not possible to have a comprehensive definition of transphobia.” The college interprets the United Kingdom’s Equality Act of 2010 to forbid discrimination based on gender identity, even though the law uses the medical term “gender reassignment” rather than “gender identity” in its anti-discrimination language.

The Trans Inclusion Statement came out in the wake of a controversial talk the college hosted given by “gender-critical feminist” Kathleen Stock, a former professor at the University of Sussex. Stock’s talk was heavily protested and even interrupted by a trans activist who glued her hands to the floor of the stage.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

University program linking Christians, Republicans to Nazis granted DHS funds under ‘anti-terror’ initiative

Biden admin funding controversial efforts to treat conservative groups as radical, watchdog warns

The Biden administration is doling out taxpayer money through an anti-terrorism grant initiative to a university program that has explicitly lumped the Republican Party, as well as Christian and conservative groups, into the same category as Nazis, according to documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.

The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, obtained documents through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests showing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program meant to fight terrorism is funding a group whose work has explicitly targeted the American political right. The MRC outlined its findings in a report, arguing what the group found warrants criminal prosecution.

“This terrorism task force is engaged in an active effort to demonize and eliminate Christian, conservative, and Republican organizations using federal taxpayer dollars,” said Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center. “What we have uncovered calls for criminal prosecution. The American people need to know those who are abusing their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for their criminal behavior.”

DHS’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program (TVTP) provides funds to various public, private, and non-profit institutions — such as universities and county governments — “to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism.” Grant applicants must be based in the U.S. and implement a U.S.-based program.

The Biden administration has awarded 80 grants through the TVTP totaling just under $40 million. The lowest grant was for $85,000, the highest was over $1.1 million, and the median was about $442,000. TVTP grant recipients are prohibited from engaging in viewpoint discrimination, according to DHS.

Started by the Obama administration under a different name, the TVTP was broadened and revamped by the Biden administration with a new focus on violent extremism and white supremacy. DHS named one of its TVTP goals as “media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives,” which many grantees listed as the mission of their projects.

Dozens of kids vanish in Cleveland area as police probe alarming trend

One Ohio police chief said ‘it seems like an extraordinary year’ for missing persons

Almost 30 children were reported missing in the Cleveland area over a two-week span at the start of May, which is something a local police chief said he has not seen in his 33-year career.

Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy, who also serves as the board president of the volunteer nonprofit Cleveland Missing, told Fox News Digital that the number of 12- to 17-year-olds reported missing has remained at unprecedented levels throughout the month.

“There’s always peaks and valleys with missing persons, but this year it seems like an extraordinary year,” said Majoy, who heads a police department in a suburb just outside of Cleveland.

“For some reason, in 2023, we’ve seen a lot more than we normally see, which is troubling in part because we don’t know what’s going on with some of these kids, whether they’re being trafficked or whether they’re involved in gang activity or drugs.”

Cleveland police recorded 27 juveniles under the age of 18 were reported missing between May 2 and May 16.

It is more likely a majority of cases are runaways versus abductions, Majoy said, but young teenagers are naive and susceptible to predators, who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Their disappearances do not make the news unless there is an Amber Alert, and their stories are not being shared on social media.

“It’s a silent crime that happens right under our noses,” he said. “The problem is where are they? Where do they go? They can be in a drug house or farmed to prostitution or caught up in drug trafficking or gangs.”