School have a trans information session/day

conatusnews.com/stephanie-davies-arai-transgender-trend-john-maddox-prize/

Interesting article about the scientific community. Interesting to note this event was hosted by Nature magazine, source of the op ed much quoted as proof of something or other going on in the brain......

there's no other point of view to 'it's impossible to change sex', though, is there? I mean, that's not a point of view, that's a fact.

OP it might be useful for your daughter to hear a different point of view about it, other than yours, so she can make up her own mind.

rightreckoner

Fair enough, thanks for that clarification.

I find the notion that teens are being taught about an incredibly rare condition as part of this trans-peddling to be extremely sinister.

To give an unbiased, informative lesson with an idea to help create a society of people who have mutual respect and understanding

Its not unbiased though is it. Its the complete opposite. No way will my children be peddled that shit.

No vicky it was actually a talk given by school girls about intersex. But since they are 11 and are still on the very basics of reproductive biology they won’t have a clue.

It sent my spidey senses tingling because I know how intersex is being used by TRAs and since it was via the school’s Pride society I’m assuming (perhaps wrongly) that the material was courtesy of one of the many Gendered Intelligence type groups who are using Pride in schools as a vector for their BS.

If you think you are gay and you are wrong, the 'worst' that can happen is you have a sexual experience that you don't actually like at all and you feel rather embarrassed. If you think you are trans, the pathway to medical and surgical intervention is nothing like that. It's a different order altogether.

It matters what a school says about this. It really bloody does.

Correct. And I speak as someone who only came to terms with being gay aged 41, after a series of relationships with men (and one marriage, to a lovely man). I might have wasted a bit of time - though I was not unhappy (just much happier with a woman, with whom I've been ever since) and I haven't taken body and life-changing drugs or carved up my body.

I think that stats can only tell you so much really. Anecdata is obviously limited, but stats are no better in many ways.

Obviously it's a good thing that young people seem to be losing the massive stigma that being LGB had when I was a teenager wrestling with my sexual feelings and the shame that seemed to come with it. This is a good thing.

But losing a stigma does mean it is an awful lot easier to adopt an 'identity', in the way that young people have always done, that isn't really the right one, and statistics can't really drill down into those complicated motivations.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in the days when homosexuality was still hugely taboo, it was the case that those who said they were, were much more likely to be damned sure about it. That's not the case now, and that's great, but it does mean you can't necessarily base any argument about 'growth' on it in a straight forward way - in exactly the same way that massive increase in trans-identifying girls cannot be used bluntly as proof that there are actually more people with gender dysphoria.

These things are really nuanced and complicated, and frankly the difference between the consequences of thinking you are gay in error and thinking you are trans is so marked I can't see why anyone is persisting with the conflation.

If you think you are gay and you are wrong, the 'worst' that can happen is you have a sexual experience that you don't actually like at all and you feel rather embarrassed. If you think you are trans, the pathway to medical and surgical intervention is nothing like that. It's a different order altogether.

It matters what a school says about this. It really bloody does.

rightreckoner

I’m with you, obviously it’s good that LGB teens are more able to be ‘out’ these days, but there is a difference between LGB teens being out and pan/trans bandwagon jumpers.

There are also some highly dubious people running ‘pride’ clubs in schools these days.

Before anyone jumps on me, I say that as the mother of an out gay teen who gives the pride club an extremely wide berth.

But I still would rather DD wasn't having to fend off invitations to learn about intersex from her 11 year old friend who knows bugger all about anything because she is 11.

I assume you mean 'transgender' here, because intersex is not a thing you can 'identify' as - it's a specific biological state into which a person is born (and that person is - nonetheless - definitely male or female, I might add).

There's certainly a growth in out teens compared to my school of 1500 pupils where there was apparently not one gay child (1980s). OK I didn't know them all but it would have caused enough of a scandal for there even to have been the remotest hint of a gay pupil. Or my year at university (late 80s early 90s) where there was not one gay student (small college but still, ludicrously unlikely outcome).

I'm assuming this masks a horrible amount of hiding that was going on in my youth which is not happening today rather than an increase in numbers. All good. But I still would rather DD wasn't having to fend off invitations to learn about intersex from her 11 year old friend who knows bugger all about anything because she is 11.

just because a teen identifies as gay or lesbian doesn't mean any more than them identifying as a goth or emo - it doesn't mean that they are actually gay.

From a quick google www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-41498713

to what would you attribute the growth in homosexuality in teens?

There's a growth in gay or lesbian teens? Really? Statistics?

So melamin to what would you attribute the growth in homosexuality in teens?
I made an observation about the difference in my teen experience and my dc’s experience and there is a big one in terms of teens exploring their sexuality.
FWIW I am not for trans rights taking away women’s rights, encouraging transgender in children etc etc but I have heard a few times people say homosexuality hasn’t grown since it became accepted, but it has. Not that that is a bad thing might I add.

oh yes, I see it now - thanks. And FFS.

this is what they retweeted, post all the grief they got about gender bollocks.

It's the next tweet up.

Please do all feel free to correct me on the Pride society matter by the way. I am open to being convinced either way.

Yes DD has just started at secondary (girls' school) and was invited by her 11 year old friend to come to a talk at the school's Pride club to learn about intersex Pretty good idea I know where that is going.

A part of me thinks that 11 year olds should not be joining Pride or any kind of sexuality related club at secondary school anyway. I realise that makes me massively old school and I wouldn't want children with early awareness of their sexuality to feel alone. It's not a grooming issue of course (although the TRAs are clearly grooming - lesbians aren't). It's having to declare an allegiance and an identity before time. We have lots of gay people around us and in our close circle so it's not news to DD - it just feels like not something for 11 year olds to be consciousness-raising about. Prepared to be disagreed with on that though.

Just want to say that as acceptance of homosexuality has grown children are also coming out earlier. My ds is gay and he said 8 of 30 children in his class are gay, lesbian or bi. When I was at school no one came out at all, it only happened later on and in far fewer numbers.

That is homosexuality. It stood on its own merits.

You are creating a false parallel, false equivalence.

Because A->B in the past does not mean

X---->Y

The reasoning needs to stand on its own merits.

rightreckoner can you link to the doubling down comment, I can't find it.

Thanks! I also identify as a dimwit

Ive already contacted my DCs school (independent) and told the Head of PHSE that I do not want my children participating in any sessions on the trans issue without my specific consent. This was necessary after they posted a tweet from a year 7 session linking to Mermaids.

Just want to say that as acceptance of homosexuality has grown children are also coming out earlier. My ds is gay and he said 8 of 30 children in his class are gay, lesbian or bi. When I was at school no one came out at all, it only happened later on and in far fewer numbers.

twitter.com/STAHS/status/1065987063995084801

The comments on the St Albans Girls School thread are cheering.

twitter.com/STAHS/status/1065987063995084801here. It's upthread but posted again because they are worth a read.

Everyone is calling out this BS although the school have doubled down by retweeting some Vogue BS about trans identities which is just basically pretty people, or the sort of ugly people that Vogue can cope with, being non-binary

Just googled the leadership and governance team at St Albans and it's very impressive. I wonder which dimwit allowed this nonsense in.