A psychologist working for an agency in the Joe Biden administration is being punished for expressing her concerns about the Veterans Administration’s agenda that pushes the transgender ideology on veterans.
A report in the Washington Stand profiles the situation involving psychologist Nina Silander.
She was placed on “administrative leave” after he and other psychologists working for the VA released a commentary expressing their doubts.
The Stand said it obtained documents confirming that Silander was put on leave after the article was released.
“According to a letter Silander sent to her senators and representatives in Washington, D.C., she was ‘put on administrative leave due to patient care/safety concerns, which are entirely unsubstantiated given the reality that I have provided quality veteran services and received no complaints to date.’”
She explained, “My co-authors … anticipate facing similar repercussions for their authorship of this article.”
She wrote, “We maintain that we are within our rights as federal employees to comment, in our own time and with appropriate disclaimer, on matters of public concern and information already available to the public.”
The report said the article, co-authored with VA psychologists Catherine Novotny and Edward Waldrep, explained, “VA leadership, perhaps inspired by President [Joe] Biden’s executive order on ‘Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,’ recently began … injecting concepts of gender ideology into our clinical work.”
They warned, “From here on, the distinction that will matter in patients is their self-identified gender, not their biological sex. We believe this effectively extinguishes the entire class of women, undermining many physical and legal protections for female veterans.”
They explained the VA is betraying women by allowing men who call themselves women to access single-sex spaces such as bathrooms, exam rooms and medical exam areas.
The threat is obvious, they wrote. “Women face a disproportionate statistical risk of assault, harassment and voyeurism by men. And male violence patterns are unchanged by subjective feelings about gender.”
They three wrote, “Imagine a rape victim being forced to share a bedroom in a residential program with a man. Even worse, according to VA policy, if the female veteran objects, she is required to relocate, despite being the complainant. What has happened to women’s security? What of bodily privacy?”
They said the VA’s agenda under Biden is motivated by “politics and fickle media narratives” and is “anti-female and unconstitutional.”
The punishment developed when Christine Fultyn, Slander’s manager, asked about the article after it appeared. Shortly after, Fultyn demanded Silander answer questions about the “backlash.”
That’s when VA officials inserted “patient safety concerns” into the issue and demanded an investigation.
That same day, the report said, Fultyn and “LGBQT+ coordinators” announced an event to “support” anyone with concerns about the commentary.
Then, the report said, Fultyn claimed the investigation was ended “without need for disciplinary action,” but reports revealed Waldrep was facing retaliation for the article.
Under Biden’s directions, all of U.S. government has become involved in promoting one of his two top priorities, transgenderism. His other key agenda point is abortion.
The VA’s LGBTQ and “diversity” schemes already have caught the eye of Congress, the report said.
“Reps. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., and Eli Crane, R-Ariz., sent a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough outlining their concerns over the agency’s LGBTQ and DEI initiatives.”
They charged, “The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has started to enforce VHA Directive 1341(3) in a way that puts women veterans in danger. Specifically, the VHA is allowing biological men into women-only single-sex spaces, including bathrooms, exam rooms, and medical exam areas irrespective of where the veteran is in their ‘transition’. We are concerned that this would put women veterans in danger … ”