Change of CEO at mermaids…

There's such a long list where this organisation is concerned. Rev Parker resigned in 2019 over Mermaids training and child protection in a CofE school.

This link includes his interaction with Bishop Cotterill who is now the Archbishop of York:

christianconcern.com/comment/a-bishop-a-vicar-and-mermaids-whos-misleading-whom/

It was covered in the Mail as well:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7070773/Vicar-resigns-schools-plan-eight-year-old-pupils-sex-change-secret-parents.html

Going back even further to 2017, a judge told a mother that her child must have no further contact with Mermaids:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4960080/Transgender-charity-banned-contacting-family.html

Hence that Telegraph byline is so important. Things were known. There were massive red flags. But no action was taken by those with the power to do so in government, and those with the public clout in public life to stand up and say no have been very limited indeed.

The byline:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/26/mermaids-chief-susie-green-steps-six-years/

Chief executive of Mermaids, Susie Green, has left the transgender children’s charity after six years that have included public scrutiny

Has anyone actually rung Mermaids? I'm really curious and might give it a go, just so I can gently overturn what they tell me. It really doesn't take much to do it, I'm perversely interested to hear a helpline worker try to convert me to their ideology. It would at least block that person from talking to someone less informed, or indeed, a child.

We are no where near that stage yet. But it looks like the school have been saying there was no problems with his behaviour (despite me explicitly asking) for a year.

Shit has recently hit the fan because DS was put with a child who had bad behaviour because DS had good behaviour (but still clear adhd) and things have rapidly gone downhill.

To be told that they may not be able to refer despite it being clear there's an issue, because he is smart enough to get by is fucking depressing enough.

We will need to go through due process but the system at its very basic entry is not fit for purpose on any level.

If DS was solidly average he would not be getting the attention he currently is and that boils my piss tbh. He clearly was close enough to exceeding at his Yr2 SATs for it for them to be a case worth trying to argue. That's just wrong.

Mermaids and their ethos has to exist to endorse the concept that middle aged men have always been trans.

Mermaids being told that going forward they must be accountable to these people.

Taking this opportunity to improve accountability to trans communities would be a powerful signal that service users can maintain confidence in the future direction of Mermaids as a world leading trans support and advocacy organisation.

I can’t see Green being investigated by the police unless it’s for financial fraud.

Not only did she effectively capture her local force and have a lot of friends there (which is how myself/KJK got ourselves investigated by the police), but it wouldn’t be seen as being in the public interest.

I know this board would disagree on the public interest front, but we aren’t the police and the case is way too complex for the average copper. It would have to be driven from on high.

Green was a lynchpin in all of this. She was an extremely effective campaigner, using her own personal story to drive change, so it isn’t a case of throwing a useful idiot under the bus.

I agree though, it’s not enough for Mermaids to fall. A statutory inquiry is what is needed here, for wider questions to be asked.

In years to come, sadly, there will likely be something like the inquiry into institutional child sex abuse to examine how many people were physically snd/or emotionally harmed by the way in which Mermaids and transitioning of children embedded itself into society.

I feel sore over what happened to my family as a result of Green (my DH got yeeted as a governor of the Catholic school our DC attended on the morning I made the front pages over Green, because in an antediluvian decision, they decided to hold a priest accountable for his wife’s Catholic and now mainstream views). We were caused so much hurt and lost a lot of friends for pointing out that transitioning children was wrong.

But at least, unlike these poor kids, we still have our bodily integrity and our mental health.

Schadenfreude is so natural but we have to still keep putting the children and vulnerable front and centre.

It makes you wonder if the deafening silence amongst the usual suspects regarding SG 'leaving' Mermaids is because they know something else is coming out.

I find it strange that none of those who praised SG to the skies are posting good wishes for her future, thanking her for the work she did and lamenting her loss to Mermaids or indeed outrage that she has gone and loads of it's all the fault of....

Definitely a fishy whiff in the air.

However it's spun does not change the funding crunch though.

Unless Mermaids can get a big US benefactor with a vested pharmaceutical interest, its got a problem that can't be spun away.

Especially in the midst of a cost of living crisis where many of its allies are going to seriously strapped for cash.

The fashionable charities to donate to are now more likely to be things about food banks not gender identity too.

Mermaids as a charity in trouble needs a safe pair of hands with a salary to match to get out of the problem. No one with ability is going to go for the poison chalice for peanuts.

So whoever they get next I'd argue is going to be coming from a limited pool with limited good experience.

@RedToothBrush has he got an EHCP, a parental request for an EHCNA is worth it. I had to do that for my daughter. She now has theraputic needs met via her EHCP which goes some way to mitigate how awful CAMHS are.

You may have already done this of course .

But I agree that GLP is massively missing the mark, but hasn't JM got a personal interest in affirmation, which possibly explains it.

But you are right, autistic and ADHD kids just aren't interesting enough, unless they also ID as trans. Which I believe was in the interests of CAMHS because they could then signpost to GIDS (not sure if they still do this now in the light of CASS) or Mermaids. Case closed. Waiting list reduced.

Looking at Twitter very few other than the faithful are really believing the spin - they hired a paedophile apologist as a trustee of a charity helping vulnerable children. They have a major newspaper investigating them sending breast binders to children. It will be interesting over the next few days to see if something more comes out.

The problem comes back to CAHMS not being fit for purpose and the criteria for referral being bollocks.

One issue I'm facing with my son and a possible adhd referral is the fact he is meeting all his targets.

It's only because he's exceeding in certain things and he's got clear ability that's not necessarily getting met that school are doing anything at all now. Whether that will continue I don't know. Dh has a history of behavioural issues at school which started from exactly the same age so we know how it could pan out.

Its bonkers. You might have a genuine problem but until its demonstrably a problem in the eyes of others, no one fucking cares and even then there's no guarantee you can access services.

And the good law project go for getting medical help for trans kids as a separate and singular group rather than merely representative of a wider issue over poor diagnostic services and access to support at an early age.

except it is being spun as withdrawal of funding after a hateful campaign by TERFs, rather than because of safeguarding failures

SG may be ok in the US for a bit but I do think there will be a backlash. As I say it won't be a moral rights-based backlash it will be a capitalist panic. A lot of corporations are wokewashing and that doesn't work if detransitioners start to bring successful cases or links to paedophile apologists are found.

The thing that has ultimately damaged Mermaids is the withdrawal of funding because of the safeguarding scandals. Similarly, large corporations will just walk away from all the trans issues if it looks like they might get tainted by association. You only have to look at how corporations have jumped on the pride bandwagon - how many of them really adjust their service model to support LGB rights - I bet they still deal with homophobic countries.

You cannot put pictures of a kid self harming on social media to promote the problem because of the accepted social contagion issue with other forms of self harm.

It absolutely beggars belief that it is fine to promote self harming even if it causes social contagion if the child says they are trans.

There are so many girls in my daughters peer group (autistic and unable to be at school) who are now identifying as transboys or non binary and all of a sudden it's acceptable to post all of this stuff on social media and everyone is saying they are stunning and brave (or words to that effect).

it's no wonder they, and their families, are happy to embrace it as they literally turn from invisible children who no one gives a shit about into a special category. Suddenly it is very wrong to discriminate against them, everyone is a bigot.

Reading Twitter there are a few dedicated Susie fans who flat out refuse to accept that her taking her son to Thailand aged 16 to have his genitals removed which is medically known as castration happened despite the Ted talk being posted where she admits it.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that they can deny she did this.

What are the reservations about Bayswater?

I say this as someone who had cause to find both them and Transgender Trend very helpful a few years ago, but didn't get overly involved with either. But their recommendations for therapists etc and supporting research were incredibly helpful,

I hope someone has had the foresight to archive all of SG and her child’s tweets.

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude Lawsuits can only happen if the law backs up your claim. States like California have been pushing through extreme trans friendly/women hating laws on a state basis. I can see SG finding a place in a number of well funded and powerful trans friendly organisations looking for an advisor. I just hope that she can't go because she's in a prison cell over here - but unless her child turns on her and cooperates with the police, I don't see the police taking action against her.

Standing up for a kid that's developed behavioral issues isn't Instagramable.

You cannot get it past safeguarding to be publicising the problems of such children in photos especially if they've spent the last term bullying or hurting other kids in the class.

You cannot put pictures of a kid self harming on social media to promote the problem because of the accepted social contagion issue with other forms of self harm.

You cannot put pictures of a kid who has suffered from sexual abuse or trauma which leads them to want to identify out of that pain on twitter.

The beauty of the trans child is its media friendly and can be clearly visually seen. Whereas adhd or autism is invisible in a photograph, self harm is off limits and sexual abuse has legal implications and issues over the right to privacy.

None of these things exist in the world of the trans kid or the drag artist kid.

Celebrities can't exploit the issues for their own benefit in the same pr friendly way.

I don't know, @MarmaladeFatkins I haven't seen any hint that she's had a change of heart, have you? She seems steely in her resolve.

I am sure that this much have dawned on her in her time at Mermaids mustn't it

the problem is, she left herself no room to change her mind or position even a bit, did she. once you have taken your son abroad to have his testicles removed, it would be too devastating to 'reflect'

and as Suzie built a life and career on this, Jackie has no room for regrets.

One of the things that shocks me is that I've read she said she knew her son was gay from the age of 2 because he didn't play with boy toys and preferred girl toys.

What on earth has gone wrong here? Don't we say these days there are no boy or girl toys? Don't we want children to play with whatever they like? Playing with "girl toys" doesn't mean someone is gay. And it certainly doesn't make a boy a girl. That poor child.

Well exactly. They are not being denied an education because they are trans, they are being denied because of their sex.

I find this line of reasoning very offensive as many children with SEN really are denied an appropriate education because of lack of appropriate provision, where are the famous advocates and massive charitable donations to help these kids.

Same with being denied healthcare.

I think the state of play in the US is that some states and groups and politicians are so engrossed in 'but transphobia' that Green has a few years at least where she can make a career there.

Its worth mentioning the politicised nature of the US court system with that in mind too. As long as she picks the right blue state she will be fine.

Those ban conversion therapy people. Transition is literally a synonym for conversion... Are these people stupid or just too lazy to research before jumping in a bandwagon?

Hope her child/children are alright. I think late twenties is a reflective time. It must be weird if your family has been so defined and dominated by this.