Mermaids closes chatlines

I suspect ‘abusive’ means ‘undercover press reporters and we’re scared of anything else getting out’

If they’re actually abusive they should compile a list of recordings and sent them to the police immediately. They’re very quick to respond to ‘transphobia’ so I’m sure they will find those responsible without delay.

I also used to volunteer for the Samritans and can confirm I recieved a fair few wanking / fetish calls. Some of them were very creative, took me a while to work out what was going on.

So I've no doubt that Mermaids recieves more than its fair share of fetish calls.

In fact, given the various shocking stories of online grooming / abuse which a number of detransitioners have shared, I'm afraid it would not surprise me if a fair number of adults who call Mermaids are looking for something other than advice.

You really are determined to keep defending the indefensible aren’t you?
I wonder why

Hopefully they will also supply recordings of the calls of them giving 'advice' to teens so the world can see exactly what they have been doing.

Oh and BTW the counter argument is that all staff and volunteers were a-ok with penis porn man and paedo apologist trustee.

We know that Mermaids have recently filed a few serious incident reports with the Charity Commission. Obviously one of them was the trustee. I’d bet good money some of the others related to the helpline. Are those reports ever made public?

Two Trustees quit Mermaids right before all these scandals started to break.

Thats pretty coincidential timing.

And I've long said I don't believe in coincidence.

They quit for some reason and its hard to argue that was for no reason.

What often happens with the press is the press is someone whistle lows and quits or the press ring up before publishing a story and say 'we've got evidence of x, y or z, what is your response?' in order to improve their story.

Now if two trustees quit (28th and 29th September) immediately ahead of a shit storm (started 1st October) that's a pretty good indication they head wind of trouble afoot. And if you've got people quitting from these roles, it's actually hard to give credibility to the idea that other people in other roles would ALL stick to their jobs and volunteer roles.

Now we know that one of the roles of Dazza was as forum moderator, so immediately we know they are going to be short staffed in that area and will have to cover that. It doesn't take more than a couple of resignations for them to have a problem.

Honestly we are talking about balance of probabilities not just rumours on this one.

Marge us too busy catching up on KF @TheClogLady there’s been a lot going on down the farm and I think Marge is glued.

Cool, hopefully you are like the old owner and opposed to images of child sexual abuse and pro the sex offender register.

Explanation for MN members not on the KF thread:
I asked Marge if Marge thought the sex offender registry was a positive thing several days ago, no answer as yet.

"You seem quite invested in KF, Marge. Are you a member?"

I'm now the owner, according to rumour 😄

Pretty easy to check that KF is still up -
impossible to check re: Mermaids volunteers until the CC investigation (and perhaps criminal investigation) is complete.

Exactly. And saying they closed due to abusive phone calls can also be made up. Just because one person says so doesn't make it true 😉

Except here I suspect rumours have as much status as Mermaid’s official line.

You seem quite invested in KF, Marge. Are you a member?

"There was a rumour that their volunteers abandoned them."

There is a rumour that Joshua Moon has now closed kiwifarms and will dedicate his life to helping LGBT people.

See I can make things up too. Rumours aren't worth anything without a source.

This.

b) there was a panic about volunteers not being DBS checked.

Or maybe c) there was a panic from some volunteers about now having to be DBS checked? (Even a "trans friendly" version?) Just speculating...

Maybe a 'trans-friendly DBS check' means ensuring the candidate had displayed Dick, Bumhole, upSkirt on social media

That.

Twitter rumours so far suggest that the actual truth may possibly be

a) volunteers walked, in droves, not wanting to be further involved once all this mess spilled everywhere

b) there was a panic about volunteers not being DBS checked.

But frankly considering Mermaids are wailing that pointing out that having a trustee who openly talks about how sad it is that society is not more supportive of his sexual attraction to children and seeks to legitimise this through books and papers, and a media person who has regaled the world with pictures of his anus, is 'hate' and 'bigotry' and totally unfair to expect them to be basically fit for the job they do?

Anything they say at this point has to be regarded with several mountains of salt. Their capacity for a grip on reality and interpreting facts accurately is not currently being demonstrated as one of their strengths.

Yes, given that any criticism is instantly branded "transphobia" I'm somewhat sceptical about how MM are defining "abuse".

Oh thank goodness. That could definitely never be abused

Yep.

Which only possibly can be at odds with safeguarding. It is impossible not to be.

And indeed Datun.

Everything they do is incompatible with safeguarding yet they wonder why they get so much attention and concern about their practises and the only the defence they have is to wail "everyone hates us"

This is a dynamic which is reminiscent of a cult where everyone outside the bubble is out to get them, hurt them and hates them.

This is not normal and is cause for concern in its own right.

Never mind all the other stuff.

To be shilling about the hotline without announcing proactive steps for culture change is indicative of the problems that persist at Mermaids and aren't going away.

Potentially for those that needed the attention this was an ideal way of getting it.

For a lot of parents, it is genuine fear of having a gay child.

Which is why 'transing away the gay' became a thing, and medical professionals at the GIDS were saying 'soon there will be no more gay kids'.

And I'll get banned if I also mention the other reason that parents were keeping their children in a child like body as I am sure that will all come out in the wash.

Yet it does not support any research for long term studies and it can not produce research that isn't deeply flawed.

And hasn't read the Cass report. Or did they 'skim it'?

The most comprehensive report into the treatment of children who think they are the opposite sex, and the country's leading charity who claims their sole concern is to support these children, hasn't read it.

They seem to have been pushing an ideology rather than adopting a child centred, evidence based, approach.

Safeguarding can not exist in a charity that continues to signpost the Webberleys OR promotes the idea that Susie Green knew better than doctors and was right to take her child abroad.

It is incapable as it is bypassing ethical practice and protocol.

As a charity its role has to be to prove evidence and research that harm isn't being done by transition and that transition provides better outcomes.

Yet it does not support any research for long term studies and it can not produce research that isn't deeply flawed.

What you don't do is offer up children for affirmation only in the absence of this.