Ooo, Jo Maugham isn't happy...

Aah. Thank you! I thought it mught be something to do with pubic hair.

Well he needs to prove that claim

I cant see how people can talk about stopping the body developing without acknowledging brain development. All very strange.

SophocIestheFox

Interesting.

I can't see how a judge could rule on this without it setting a general principal that waits for pretty much any treatment is unlawful. As pointed out cancer can have much more dire outcomes due to waits (including those as a result of covid). But even things like speech and language therapy can impact on a young child's ability to take part in community life/education, or some orthodontic treatments if not treated young require much more drastic surgery. And what about people waiting months for a covid vaccine? This is really a political matter as it requires balancing of costs.

That is without considering the matter of consent and whether transition is even appropriately given it leads to poorer outcomes.

I saw that on Twitter this morning and was taken aback- most intemperate and odd for a lawyer, I thought.

What’s his personal connection?

What does astro-turfed mean?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

Astro turfing is when something is disguised as a grass roots movement when actually it is being funded top down.

See for example the accusation that all of the pro women groups that have been crowdfunded are actually funded by far right evangelical orgs.

I see LGB Alliance is trending on Twitter now, and being called a hate group by TRAs.

Astro-turfed is a faked grass-roots movement

wellthatsunusual

This 'it takes too long to see a specialist, we're being discriminated against' thing really pisses me off.

People are waiting years in my area for hip replacements, gynae appointments, ent appointments, rheumatology appointments, mental health help. There's nothing special about gender clinics.

Yes.

Normal waiting times. Plus...

a deadly pandemic - anti-reality/genderologist people.

OldCrone

I suspect that one reason TRAs are so keen to stop trans identified children going through puberty is because they know that if those children have no physical treatment 80%+ will desist after puberty, and they want to keep the numbers up. No idea what Maugham's motivation is though. Those tweets make him sound unhinged.

You say "I suspect". I say: you are absolutely correct.

Had a quick squizz at the Good Law Project website, as was curious to know more. These are their criteria for cases.

Good Law Project uses the criteria below to assess potential litigation:
1. Does the case fall within our priority thematic areas, such as tackling poverty, upholding democracy or protecting the environment?
2. Would the litigation address significant issues of disadvantage, unfairness or discrimination, preferably for a relatively large cohort of people?
3. Would the litigation have strategic impact, with systemic implications beyond the specifics of the case?
4. Is the litigation consistent with our values?

Their priority thematic areas are: COVID-19, Tax, Protecting Democracy, Environment, Poverty, Migration and Workers Rights. So this is a bit off piste from those, suggesting this is more of a passion project. So I don’t think it meets criteria 1. Not sure about criteria 2, as the numbers of trans identified people varies depending on which criteria you use to define the population. Definitely meets criteria 3, given what we know about the pursuit of strategic litigation on this theme from all sorts of angles. And probably meets criteria 4, given how enthusiastically Maugham is throwing himself into this cause.

Interesting.

What does astro-turfed mean?

Also, I see he's complaining because the BBC didn't mention his argument about suicide risks. The BBC steers away from mentioning suicide because normalizing it is dangerous ("kids who are denied puberty blockers will become suicidal" - imagine the effect of that on a vulnerable mind).

'I made - and Reece made - this point very carefully. If you hang around for years on a waiting list without the suspensory effect of reversible puberty blockers you are most likely (few teenagers detransition) creating pointless scarring and an unnecessary need for extra surgery'

^ From JoM's twitter, my bold

Where has he found these reversible puberty blockers, because the NHS doesn't know about them, it seems. And I thought that teenagers DID detransition if their dysphoria was managed in a watchful waiting way.

we believe the law shows they should be providing alternative care to anyone on the waiting list. That could include private and overseas healthcare.

Presumably if that is the case that would apply to all on waiting lists and I am fairly sure the NHS simply can't afford to do that.

"we believe the law shows they should be providing alternative care to anyone on the waiting list. That could include private and overseas healthcare."

They can't vote or drink or get a tattoo, and their brains haven't finished developing yet, let alone their bodies - but yes, let's send 14-year-olds abroad to have experimental, irreversible treatments. What could go wrong??

When we look back on this case and his actions in general we will say "ah, it is obvious now why he did what he did".

Im not sure how his demands can be realistically met?

If it's impossible for the NHS to meet the vast demand then will they in some way withdraw or limit the existing gender service? I can't help but think that this legal challenge risks being counter-productive for the gender identity cause.

I see Maugham is quoted at length in the BBC article and there is a quote from the other point of view to balance him. The BBC is obliged to be balanced.

For some reason this has infuriated Maugham.

He's gone full tin foil hat

That's what happens when for personal reasons you simply cannot allow yourself to consider the alternatives.

[quote nauticant]Just in case

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201123085114/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1330765359222296576" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20201123085114/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1330765359222296576

archive.fo/wip/IU9IN[/quote]
He's gone full tin foil hat

Just in case

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201123085114/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1330765359222296576" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20201123085114/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1330765359222296576

archive.fo/wip/IU9IN

This 'it takes too long to see a specialist, we're being discriminated against' thing really pisses me off.

People are waiting years in my area for hip replacements, gynae appointments, ent appointments, rheumatology appointments, mental health help. There's nothing special about gender clinics.