The water is making the frogs gay

Gender dysphoria is the experience of distress that can occur when a person’s gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth, and is common in transgender people. After public comment, regulations on atrazine are expected to be finalized.

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And Susan isn’t alone in thinking that something in our H20 might be turning people h-O-mo.

I tried to reach Susan King for a comment, but she has no social media accounts and no contact information is available. “Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution.”In the week that’s passed following King’s somewhat whacky outburst, I’ve been speaking to experts, scientists and others in the know myself, determined to find out if we’ve all been laughing at her unfairly.

The podcast episode was taken down from YouTube for sharing misinformation about vaccines, but clips continue to spread on Twitter and TikTok. "So, at a lower dose, they might absorb the compound more." Most people are mostly exposed to atrazine through drinking water, Hayes said.

“Atrazine, one of the most commonly used and controversial weedkillers, can turn male frogs into females,” researchers claimed, according to Reuters.

Multiple remixes of the clip laying Jones’ rant atop club music were posted to YouTube, and crafters on Etsy sold merchandise depicting frogs frolicking among rainbows.

But today, nearly a decade later, someone who buys into the same conspiracy could soon be the nation’s top health official, with two Senate committees considering Robert F.

Kennedy’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services this week.

Kennedy has spread misinformation multiple times over the past three years claiming that herbicides and other chemicals are leading to “gender confusion” among kids and “destroying them.” That those claims have barely entered the public discourse over his nomination speaks to both the vast number of conspiracies Kennedy spreads, and also to the rise of alt-right groups and other conservatives twisting environmental science to justify restricting the rights of vulnerable populations.

Kennedy’s promotion of chemical conspiracies that demonize transgender people have helped him gain support among alt-right influencers online who push a mixture of “wellness” and far-right conspiracies.

“What concerns me about RFK Jr.

is that he is so mobilizing for them,” said Cassie Miller, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center who tracks hate groups online. But no scientific studies in humans link atrazine exposure to gender dysphoria.

TikTok identified video from the podcast as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. One such ban, in Tennessee, is currently being considered by the Supreme Court.

All of the country’s major medical societies consider the treatments to be safe and even medically necessary.

“I’m not suggesting this type of water pollution is harmless, but I am saying it’s not the holy grail of gay water it’s being made out to be.”

“It’s a very long way from saying chemicals in the water are changing people’s DNA and changing their sexuality,” adds Stuart Haylock, a biochemist at Imperial College London.

"There are no data that trans people prior to treatment have different hormone levels" than people who are not trans, said Dr. Joshua Safer, an endocrinologist and the executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery.

Our ruling

Kennedy said the herbicide atrazine in the water supply is contributing to "sexual dysphoria" in children.

It’s a mystery. I’m gay, and I drink water. Other male tadpoles exposed to atrazine remained male, but produced lower levels of testosterone and higher levels of estrogen than those that had not been exposed.

The results were the first indication that atrazine could be significantly harming frog populations writ-large.

What is atrazine?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, atrazine is one of the nation’s most commonly used herbicides. Just a few weeks ago, a long-serving Tory MP on the Isle of Wight was forced to drop out of the election race after telling a bunch of kids that homosexuality is wrong.

Maybe she’s onto something? The rest of us can keep swallowing in peace.

The Lib Dem press office wouldn’t put me in contact, the local party refused to pass on my note.