Peaked

Italian Girls Haven't Escaped the Gender Meatgrinder

Peaked

Show Notes

🎙️ Peaked Italian Girls Haven't Escaped the Gender Meatgrinder Host: Róisín Michaux

🎙️ Episode Overview

Why are some countries more susceptible to the transdemic than others? There are some things about Italy, British transplant Agata Rossi told me, that might protect the country from the worst excesses of this bizarre global mind virus. Strong family bonds, lower levels of depression thanks to a healthier diet and more exposure to the sunshine — all these things might make kids more resilient to a phenomenon that preys on the already-unwell. Another anon activist told me that this only really holds true in the south of the country; the north is much more "modern", with smaller, overworked nuclear families spending too much time indoors, staring at screens and eating trash. It is indeed, in the north of the country that the burgeoning paediatric gender medical scandal is concentrated, which Agata thinks could also have something to do with language: there are more English speakers in the north, who are thus more exposed to a trend that emerged and blossomed in the anglosphere. It was during the country's COVID lockdown, one of the harshest in the world, that Italian girls disappeared into their bedrooms in droves and emerged claiming to be in the incorrect bodies. It raises an interesting point: there is plenty of anecdotal evidence in TERFworld that as the coronavirus circulated in the physical realm, a digitally-driven social bug was jumping from host to vulnerable host online. If academia hadn't been so completely captured, along with the media, we might have some data on how lockdown severity correlated with the number of teenage girls deciding they're now boys. Earlier this year, authorities in Florence opened an investigation into a duo of rogue doctors in the Careggi hospital, a psychotherapist and an endocrinologist, who were doling out triptorelin, a puberty blocker, with no psychological evaluation. Both doctors, whose names have been shared with me but who, I'm told, haven't been named yet in the press, are members of WPATH. Just after I spoke to Agata, another story emerged from Rome wherein it was revealed that an Italian hospital had commenced prescribing triptorelin without prior approval from the ethics board. After a journalist called Assia Neumann Dayan published a story about the Careggi case in February this year, a number of parents of trans-identifying kids wrote letters to the paper (some of which were published), expressing gratitude and desperation. Other giornalistas have bravely taken on the story, too, despite the usual transphobia taunts, and you can find their Twitter handles below if you want to follow developments in the investigation. One of the people flying the flag highest for the sexual stunting of the country's youth is an Italian mother living in Spain called Camilla Vivian, Agata tells me, who has not one but two children whose bodies suffered some kind of cosmic mismatch, ending up in the erroneous corpus. What are the chances. These woman will wreck everything not to be wrong, as Helen Joyce has repeatedly noted. Transmomhausen is featured in a video, screengrabbed below, with a professional puberty-stunter whose non-trans-related academic output focusses on taming the urges of paraphiliacs using the same drug.

Isolated cases, or a sign that Italy is badly infected? The country's rainbow lobby is big and organised, though there is a decent fightback in the form of radical feminists (Radfem Italia), an NGO that is (mercifully) full of TERFs. No-nonsense mothers, who play an important role in education as parent representatives (there's one in every class) are another formidable firewall. In 2022, a socialist MP called Alessandro Zan introduced a self-ID bill that ultimately got rejected in the senate. Then the conservative Giorgia Meloni took power, and all bets were off. Meloni's rise was the result of what my anon activist friend claims was the first time Italians c

More from Peaked

Oct 15, 2026

Show notes (AI generated) Episode Overview In this episode of Peaked, Róisín Michaux speaks with journalist and author Jo Bartosch about the growing influence of online pornography on culture, politics, gender identity, and sexual behaviour. The discussion centres around Jo's forthcoming book Pornocracy, exploring how internet pornography has evolved into a powerful cultural force extending far beyond individual consumption. Together they examine pornography's relationship with gender ideology, autogynephilia, gynandromorphophilia (GAMP), online radicalisation, algorithmic recommendation systems, Reddit "egg" communities, fetish culture, masculinity, female objectification, and the changing attitudes of younger generations towards women. The conversation also explores the historical roots of cross-dressing, WPATH, Genevieve Gluck's investigative work, Scottish Government funding, Stephen Ireland's criminal case, and recent legal developments in France concerning violent pornography.

Sep 26, 2026

Albanians have reason to trust Brussels more than they trust Tirana. Interview with Esmeralda Petrela.

Aug 15, 2026

A backlash and a breakthrough: behind the scenes in Belfast with Nora Calder.

Aug 7, 2026

There's no weekly newsletter this week because I've been travelling to Belfast and Amsterdam for TERF-related activities (see below), so here's an interview I did with one of Germany's fiercest warriors against the forces of gender irrationality, Rona Duwe. Rona was sued by a psychotherapist called Sabine Maur because she shared a video in which Maur could be seen telling fellow mental health professionals how to fiddle with insurance forms so that 'gender-affirming' mastectomies get reimbursed for women claiming to be 'non-binary'. While female-to-male breast removal is considered totally sane in Germany, breast removal for female-to-non-binary is not, which is bizarre, to be fair, because neither of these things is actually real. The Maur video was not originally shared by Rona, but she did share it once it was already online. Rona also made comments on Maur's dubious practices. Because she is a known (and much-hated) entity in German feminist/queer circles, Rona was the one who was pursued in court for this already-public video. In the interview we get into the details of what went down during the legal proceedings, and we also talked about Rona's strategy of being gloriously defiant. Like a growing number of women being hounded over this trans nonsense, Rona has decided to take on her detractors rather than slinking away in fear and silence. You love to see it. "Did you consider coming out in defence of those women?" Meanwhile, I spent 24 hours in Belfast on Tuesday in order to cover the Women's Rights Network Northern Ireland non-reinstated Féile and Phobail event. If you missed all that and you have no idea what I'm talking about, I recommend you read this article by Helen Joyce and my running thread of the conference content. Bonus: enjoy this awkward confrontation between myself and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, neo-Laundry Nun Ailbhe Smyth (prolific Irish prawn sandwich brigadier feminist), and even the brand new Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Jul 6, 2026

🎙️ Peaked — Episode 16 Host: Róisín Michaux Guest: Angeliqa Episode Overview In this episode of Peaked, Róisín Michaux speaks with Angeliqa, a Swedish-American mother who was convicted of defamation after warning parents in her local community about a man exposed by the Swedish watchdog organization Dumpen. The conversation explores Sweden's defamation laws, freedom of expression, child protection, media responsibility, and the tension between protecting reputations and protecting children. Angeliqa recounts two incidents that shaped her decision to speak publicly, including an earlier case involving a suspected child predator near her child's preschool and a later case that resulted in criminal prosecution after she shared information in local Facebook groups. The discussion also examines Sweden's migration policies, political culture, public attitudes toward controversial issues, the work of Dumpen, and the ongoing debate over whether Sweden's legal framework adequately protects children from sexual predators.

See all episodes →