Transgender

Did a doctor prove that transgender girls have no performance advantage over cisgender girls in athletics? No, that's not true: Contrary to the claim in a British website's headline, medical researchers have documented trans women's performance advantage over cisgender women, although the advantage starts to shrink once trans women start taking hormones. There is no peer-reviewed study cited to support…

Would a proposed Florida bill make a transgender student athlete "drop her pants" to prove she's a girl before playing on a Florida school sports team? No, that's not true. Both versions of the bill in Florida (a state House bill and a state Senate version) provide for either genetic testing or testing of a child's endogenously produced testosterone levels…

Did Time magazine name Rachel Levine "Woman of the Year"? No, that's not true: This magazine cover is not real, it was published by "The United Spot," a Facebook page that is clearly labeled as a satire site. The fake magazine cover does not have any satire labels, but does have the watermark of The United Spot. The meme appeared…

Was the Milwaukee County Children's Court judge arrested on seven counts of child porn also the former president of Drag Queen Story Hour Foundation? No, that's not true. Children's Court Judge Brett Blomme was arrested on seven counts of child porn in Milwaukee on March 16, 2021. But, he was not the president of the Drag Queen Story Hour Milwaukee…

Did a buff father who "identifies as the tooth fairy" knock the teeth out of a man pretending to identify as a woman who followed his daughter into a public restroom? No, that's not true: The meme is a mash-up of fabricated events that mock transgender women, attached to an authentic photo of a protective father. The memes featuring this…

Did schools ban Dr. Seuss books? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has not found any recent reports of schools which have banned all Dr. Seuss books in the wake of Seuss Enterprises' decision to cancel six titles of dozens because of "hurtful" images. In early March 2021 there were rumors circulating that Dr, Seuss was being 'cancelled', more specifically,…

Did a feminist conference use platform shoes of various heights to negate "height privilege" and lobby to make such shoes mandatory on college campuses? No, that's not true: This post is from a satire page that mocks various social justice causes. The photo used to illustrate this made-up outrage over 'height privilege' actually shows a 1997 conceptual art piece from…

Did Vanity Fair feature Dr. Rachel Levine on the March 2021 cover of the magazine, and did Dr. Levine send a 'thank you' tweet to Vanity Fair expressing dreams of one day being President of the United States? No, that's not true: This photoshopped magazine cover is not real and was tweeted by a parody account on Twitter. The fake…

If Joe Biden wins the election are there people planning on mass murdering POC and LGBTQ+ people? No, that's not true. A claim has gone viral that if the Democratic nominee beats Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, there are people plotting to kill people of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, and warns that people should stay…

Did Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden say during an ABC News Town Hall, "If your 8-year-old child says they want to be transgender ... they have a right to transition and there is no reason for you to deny it"? No, that's not true: The quote is distorted. Although he did talk about an 8-year-old wanting to be transgender, he…