#14: FIRST "GENDER QUEER" ANGLICAN PRIEST
France wants to ban "free play" on playgrounds + Denmark's youngest drag queen + calls to investigate Madonna's charity for human trafficking + MORE!
CHURCH OF ENGLAND’S FIRST “GENDER QUEER” PRIEST
36-year-old Bingo Allison is the first non-binary and “gender queer” Anglican Vicar.
According to Allison, they had an epiphany while reading the Bible.
“There's space in God's creation for change and transformation, just because you're created one way doesn't mean that you can't live another,” they claimed.
The Church of England was “open to” the idea of a gender queer priest and had even moved him to another diocese that supports LGBT people.
“On the outside you might think "oh, they're quite a traditional church so they might have traditional views", but I've always been treated as a person and as a priest,” said Allison.
FRENCH EDUCATORS WANT TO POLICE SCHOOLYARDS FOR GENDER “STEREOTYPING” PLAY
France’s National Association of Directors and Executives of Education of Cities and Territorial Communities (ANDEV) wants to ban “free play” on school playgrounds over fears that it leads to stereotyping.
In a post titled “Free play, the royal road to stereotypes” the group argues that allowing children to play freely reinforces gender stereotypes.
“Sociologists warn against free play where children are left to themselves without adult regulation,” ANDEV claims.
“The child is not innocent of social relations. Free play is the royal road to stereotypes! The children will build their games from their frames of reference and reproduce the stereotypes. Without an accompanying adult, they will not be able to open up to other symbolic spaces.”
“Thus ‘degendering’ a schoolyard by redeveloping it will not be enough. It will also be necessary to observe the children, to probe them, and to accompany them in the new uses.”
JAPAN TO PAY FAMILIES $7,700 PER CHILD TO LEAVE OVERCROWDED TOKYO
Japan is so desperate to solve Tokyo’s overcrowding problem that beginning in April it will give residents a one-time payment of $7,700 USD per child to move into the countryside.
This isn’t the first time that Tokyo has attempted to persuade people with money to abandon metropolitan areas.
A prior relocation grant allowed residents to claim $2,300 per child. Additionally, families can already receive $23,000 for relocating and starting a business elsewhere.
To qualify for the funds, families have to remain outside of the Tokyo region for at least five years and will have to return the money to the government if they decide to move.
“DENMARK’S YOUNGEST DRAG QUEEN”
Sweden’s public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) recently premiered a new show about a 12-year-old drag queen.
“Danmarks Yngste Dragqueen” follows a 12-year-old Swedish boy being groomed by a 33-year-old drag performer for the stage.
The show seemingly has the approval of both of the boy’s parents, who regularly accompany the youngster in the series.
“It’s not for boys. I thought: not now. It’s too early. But I see him flourishing,” says the father.
CALLS TO INVESTIGATE MADONNA’S MALAWI CHARITY
The Ethiopian World Federation is calling on the government of Malawi to investigate Madonna’s charity “Raising Malawi” over “human trafficking and social experiment” claims.
A statement by the Federation demands that the nation restricts “her and her associates accessibility to Africa and to African children as a precautionary measure until a thorough investigation is done into child trafficking, sex exploitation, sexual slavery, adoption reversal, threat of coercion, fraud, deception and abuse of power or vulnerability.”
The group is citing Madonna’s provocative and sexualized stunts, according to Nyasa Times.
“We firmly believe that Malawi has been robbed of its most precious resource – its children,” wrote the Federation.
CHINA REACHES OIL DEAL WITH THE TALIBAN
China is swooping into Afghanistan to take advantage of the Taliban-controlled territory since the departure of US troops in 2021.
The Taliban government recently signed a deal with China’s Xinkjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co.
Chinese ambassador Wang Yu was present for the signing of the contract with the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
“In terms of natural resources, Afghanistan is a wealthy nation. In addition to other minerals, oil is the wealth of the Afghan people on which the economy of the country can rely,” said Baradar.
China will be investing up to $540 million a year in three years.