Brits Buck ‘Gender Identity Ideology’ in Schools, Strange Bedfellows with Red States

by Greg Piper   The United Kingdom pioneered the legal practice of recognizing a person as the opposite sex without a surgical operation nearly 20 years ago. Its gender-identity clinic for children was created before the fall of the Soviet Union. But as 2023 draws to a close, the U.K.’s. educational policy for gender-confused children is leaning toward red America. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Department for Education published “non-statutory guidance” for schools in England this month that resembles legislation and school board policies in conservative U.S. states that have quickly provoked litigation. The alignment is all the more surprising because supporters of Britain’s governing Conservative Party, at least on social views, more closely resemble Democrats than Republicans in the U.S. Addressing schoolchildren by pronouns that correspond with their sex, and requiring them to use restrooms and locker rooms in line with their anatomy, may be the only subject of agreement among Brits and Idahoans other than an affinity for potatoes. Nearly half of U.S. states joined a brief last week backing The Gem State in a legal challenge to its sex-separation law for schools. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted a federal district judge’s order refusing to block SB 1000 in October. The Biden administration and American mainstream…

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Finland Officially Becomes 31st NATO Member

Finland officially became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance Tuesday, an event brought on by the shock of Russia’s aggression in eastern Europe, according to Reuters.

Finland and Sweden reversed a decades-long nonalignment policy after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, beginning the process of seeking entry to the alliance that requires all members to come to the defense of any one attacked in May, Reuters reported. NATO members ratified Finland’s entrance on Thursday, sparking threats of “countermeasures” from Moscow.

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Senate Approves Sweden and Finland’s NATO Entry

The United States Senate voted to approve a treaty to allow Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday.

The treaty received bipartisan support and was passed with 95-1 votes in favor of expanding NATO, The New York Times reported. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced their support for the ratification of the treaty and the growth of the organization.

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Three Virginia Congressmen Among 18 Votes Against Supporting Addition of Sweden, Finland to NATO

Virginia had the most representatives voting ‘Nay’ on Monday against a resolution supporting adding Sweden and Finland to NATO. The resolution passed with 394 votes in favor, just 18 votes against, all Republican, and 19 members not voting. Three of Virginia’s four Republican congressmen voted against the measure: Congressmen Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Ben Cline (R-VA-06), while Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) voted in favor.

In a press release, Griffith said that the Senate has the constitutional power to ratify adding the two countries to NATO, but not the House. He said that the resolution also calls for other NATO countries to support adding the two countries.

“I think that goes well beyond the House’s jurisdiction,” Griffith said.

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