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(Comes with a content warning) - Reduxx EXCLUSIVE: Two Survivors Allege They Were “Groomed,” Sexually Exploited By Staff at Scottish LGBT Youth Charity

31 replies

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 08:40

Lengthy, grim piece in Reduxx

reduxx.info/exclusive-two-survivors-allege-they-were-groomed-sexually-exploited-by-staff-at-scottish-lgbt-youth-charity/

"Two men who had previously accessed services at LGBT Youth Scotland as minors have come forward to speak to Reduxx about what they describe as a nightmarish involvement with the charity – one they allege involved child grooming and sexual exploitation. Sam Cowie and Daniel Nechtan, two abuse survivors, are demanding an inquiry into the organization and asking why no investigation was launched after the CEO was imprisoned for raping a baby.
LGBT Youth Scotlandd_, formerly the Stonewall Youth Project, is known as Scotland’s national charity for “LGBTI young people.” The organization works with youth aged 13 to 25, and delivers programs to schools, organizations and businesses. The charity was founded in 1989 and renamed in 2003, the same year a notorious pedophile, James Rennie, became the Chief Executive Officer.
In 2009, Rennie was found guilty and given “lifelong restriction” orders after it was discovered he was operating what was described as Scotland’s “largest pedophile network.”
Renniee_ and a man named Neil Strachan were considered the ringleaders of the network, which involved at least eight other men who collectively held over 125,000 pieces of child sexual abuse materials. The ring was broken up in 2007 after a lengthy operation by Lothian and Borders police.
Other men arrested include John Murphy, a former journalist with The Gay Times; Neil Campbell, an after-school program instructor who was married with children but led a double life with a male lover; and Craig Boath, who had just applied to become a special constable with police. Neil Strachan’s much younger boyfriend, Colin Slaven, was also amongst those arrested. Slaven had been a minor when Strachan began a “relationship” with him."

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NeighbourhoodWatchPotholeDivision · 28/12/2022 00:20

Text of screenshot

Congratulations on your Award! 🎉🎉

The work you do to support, empower and advise young people is wonderful! 👏

Queen's Award twitter

(Comes with a content warning) - Reduxx EXCLUSIVE: Two Survivors Allege They Were “Groomed,” Sexually Exploited By Staff at Scottish LGBT Youth Charity
NeighbourhoodWatchPotholeDivision · 28/12/2022 00:14

Here it is:

Volunteers are key to this work – without our volunteers we could not run our life changing group sessions or life-saving live chat service: Our 130+ volunteers have donated over 4,000 hours of their time over the last year, to support nearly 1,700 hours of group work, over 300 live chat sessions, meetings, events and testimony in Parliament.

well as direct youth work, our volunteers are essential to LGBT Youth Scotland’s activities in several other ways. Young people can volunteer to represent all LGBTI young people nationwide as Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament or join our youth commissions, giving their time and experience to inform policy and practice on topics such as inclusive healthcare and education.

Our Board of Trustees are volunteers who all commit time throughout the year to ensure our sound governance. Each of them directly help improve rights, policy and practice for LGBTI young people across Scotland. They are supported by our Youth Reference Group, a group of young volunteers from within our services that ensure the youth voice is heard at a Board level

Hmm.

NeighbourhoodWatchPotholeDivision · 28/12/2022 00:09

The group was granted an award for its work, just this month.

statement

THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II PLATINUM JUBILEE VOLUNTEERING AWARD

LGBT Youth Scotland is delighted to win prestigious Royal Volunteering Award

A judging panel chaired by Martyn Lewis CBE has recognised the volunteering programme at LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) with one of only 20 UK awards given in the name of the late queen, Queen Elizabeth.

“The work your charity does for young people was very much admired by the award’s judging panel, chaired by Sir Martyn Lewis CBE. We are delighted to inform you that His Majesty The King has approved their recommendation that LGBT Youth Scotland should receive the award. We hope that everyone involved, and particularly your volunteers, will feel immensely proud of it.”

The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award recognises and celebrates outstanding national charities working to empower young people and provide them with skills and opportunities, with volunteers playing a key role in delivering this work.

Read more: platinum jubilee award

Funnily enough, Arabella, the statement goes on to refer to Mhairi's submissions to parliament as a reason the group deserves the award!

(Comes with a content warning) - Reduxx EXCLUSIVE: Two Survivors Allege They Were “Groomed,” Sexually Exploited By Staff at Scottish LGBT Youth Charity
ArabellaScott · 27/12/2022 15:17

More excerpts from Mhairi Crawford's evidence:

'young people really want to shorten or eliminate the lived experience requirement'

'We are concerned that, if young people do not have a supportive family, those who have acquired a GRC might face vexatious challenges through the courts from their parents, carers or supporters.'

'There are more than 1,000 young people—that is, people who are 17 or under—on the waiting list on Scotland. That is a huge number, and that leaves young trans men and women in limbo. They can, and often do, progress with social transition, but they cannot progress with medical transition. Under the current scheme, if they wait so long to obtain the first appointment, there is no way they can even consider getting a gender recognition certificate. That is one of the reasons why we are so keen on that changing.'

'If you are looking at the gender recognition certificate, please remember what we have talked about: trans people have come out and lived in their true gender, often for years, so a bit of paper makes absolutely no difference to them accessing single-sex spaces'

'Eighty-two per cent of the trans young people whom we consulted, from youth groups or in online surveys, feel that the three-month reflection period post application is too long or unnecessary. They have pointed out that applying for a GRC is currently one of the last things that trans men and women do in their transition. As a result, many feel that they have ample time to reflect on it and that the reflection period is therefore utterly unnecessary. Interestingly, many young people feel that a reflection period after statutory declaration does not respect their decision and effectively contravenes article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is about respecting the views of the child.
I go back to my earlier point about the average age of coming out as trans being 15 years old. Vic Valentine has mentioned that people take a long time in introspection, figuring out who they are before they even come out. If we think of that period of time before people come out—and if the average age for coming out is 15—people have already been living in, and reflecting on, their acquired gender for years before they turn 16, so the addition of an additional three-month waiting period is unnecessary.'

ArabellaScott · 27/12/2022 15:10

'We know that discrimination is not allowed in the workplace, but we regularly hear from young people who have lost opportunities or had them delayed when an employer has found out that they are trans. I have recently heard from young people whom I am working with about investigations for fraud by, for example, the Student Loans Company, because their birth certificate does not match the rest of their identification, even though they disclosed their identity when first making an application.'

investigating fraud is 'discrimination'.

(From Crawford's evidence in above link/meeting)

ArabellaScott · 27/12/2022 15:09

Mhairi Crawford, chief exec of LGBTYS, gave evidence to Scotgov as part of the consultation on GRR:

www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-6-equalities-human-rights-and-civil-justice-committee/meetings/2022/ehrcjs62214

ArabellaScott · 27/12/2022 15:01

'I emailed Shona and other ScotGov officials on the 6th of March 2022 via email. This included Nicola Sturgeon as she is my MSP.'

Oh, that's interesting.

Sturgeon never responded to any comms when I was a constituent.

ResisterRex · 27/12/2022 11:06

General story picked up in The Times:

LGBT Youth Scotland refers itself to police over historical grooming claims

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0da53a9c-8539-11ed-8ebd-06f6e5e80272?shareToken=2a45bc8bdf65f7321eee98697b2858f5

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ResisterRex · 27/12/2022 10:56

Reading this and the replies - if I read it right - it seems as though concerns about this group were raised with Robison and Sturgeon in March this year:

twitter.com/wundt_vil/status/1606027481932337160?s=46&t=UK65SFDEX3xWmD2-pGWaOw

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Ramblingnamechanger · 24/12/2022 09:57

I wonder how many lesbians were in this organisation. I really resent the way we are lumped in with the Dicks Harrys and Johns to cover who is really running this shit show. Brave young men exposing it. Yes there will be a backlash on gay men and lesbians regardless, because of the absolute lunacy around. We warned for years about youth groups that mixed the ages.

Signalbox · 24/12/2022 08:28

*my eyes when I read it!

Signalbox · 24/12/2022 08:27

BlackForestCake · 23/12/2022 09:42

Schools have been successfully conditioned to believe that LGBTQ organisations can do no wrong?

As Maggie Chapman said in her email, “trans people aren’t sex offenders”. None of them, ever. Not a single one. Unlike the rest of the population.

I couldn’t believe my ears when she said this. Have people learned nothing from all the other abuse scandals. How are politicians making the same mistake AGAIN. It’s only a matter of time before something horrific is uncovered.

MangyInseam · 24/12/2022 02:22

Signalbox · 23/12/2022 09:13

Isn't it just that Schools have been successfully conditioned to believe that LGBTQ organisations can do no wrong? All the normal rules of safeguarding go out of the window and any criticism is off-limits because criticism = being a bigot. Until an investigation takes place, or more young people come forward these organisations will continue to operate on the basis that it's impossible for LGBTQ people to be abusers and therefore no need for the normal safeguards to be applied.

I think maybe this is it.

People have been taught that in the past, it was assumed gay people were perverts, and this was bigoted, and that they should not assume gay people are perverts.

Somehow, in the minds of a lot of people, this seems to translate into "if you question these particular individuals in any way you are a bigot."

Which seems crazy, but I can think of several instances where I have heard people in real life say that. Any question of propriety in terms of safeguarding, or even just saying, because there is some real reason to think so, that some specific gay person is in fact into weird (but legal) perverted stuff, is seen as bigoted.

The conclusion I've come to is that there is a good sized segment of the population who have very basic thinking skills.

ArabellaScott · 23/12/2022 23:12

wingsoverscotland.com/what-you-find-under-rocks/
grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/a-piece-of-the-pie

LGBT Scotland are or were members of ILGA

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 22:53

Another Malcolm Clark thread on this story referencing the Telegraph article:

twitter.com/twisterfilm/status/1606413164714901508?s=46&t=Jz2bIPbgfU1_0xL4U283iA

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Ofcourseshecan · 23/12/2022 22:51

asking why no investigation was launched after the CEO [of this youth charity] was imprisoned for raping a baby.

I have no words ….

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 22:08

In the Telegraph

archive.ph/zhZvn

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ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 19:56

Update:

twitter.com/reduxxmag/status/1606360799861014528?s=46&t=lROpVsgjpHCDGCKjDEpamw

"BREAKING: LGBT Youth Scotland have issued a statement on the allegations of grooming and abuse made against them by two former youth members.

The charity says it has filed a police report on the allegations. This was done without the knowledge or consent of the survivors."

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ForeverFaithless · 23/12/2022 18:43

He said here that people have contacted him to say it's still happening.

twitter.com/wundt_vil/status/1606027481932337160?t=owlfD23m5cxE78iPHGDZHg&s=19

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 17:23

I thought I read one of the names in a Malcolm Clark thread a while ago. Turns out I did (it's as bad as the Reduxx article, be warned):

twitter.com/twisterfilm/status/1595805690530254848?s=46&t=Mgmu207mx4blCs9qR34Scg

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Whereareyourshoes · 23/12/2022 17:16

That is grim.

And interesting link ’In 2005, LGBT Youth Scotland received a Phillip Lawrence Award for community safety, and Rennie was welcomed in parliament.’
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2005-02-02.14174.0

From the link:

Susan Deacon, Labour, ‘I am sure that colleagues will want to join me in welcoming to the public gallery a number of visitors from LGBT Youth Scotland, including Jamie Rennie, the chief executive… Alongside all the support that the organisation has given to young people, those of us who have seen its work at close quarters cannot fail to be impressed by how effective it has been at working with agencies—the police, education authorities and the health service, to name but a few—local authorities, Government and other policy makers to help to shape policy and practice.’

James Rennie appears to have had many ‘friends’z No wonder LGBT Youth Scotland were never investigated.

SamphiretheTervosaurReturneth · 23/12/2022 11:13

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 09:34

From FWS:

twitter.com/forwomenscot/status/1606217077571960832?s=46&t=Yj8z8TU27SMTRhxu1Eywpg

"This organisation was one of those thanked by MSPs. They were never investigated after Rennie's arrest. Now this."

That explains why I can't find anything via Google etc. Why the hell was there no investigation? And will those same MSPSs step down (at the very least)
when this becomes more widely known?

I was all for thinking that the current craziness was to trip Westminster into 'interfering with Scottish government, the will of the Scottish people". Shit like this makes me more wary. What else is being hidden in plain sight?

ArabellaScott · 23/12/2022 09:53

ResisterRex · 23/12/2022 09:34

From FWS:

twitter.com/forwomenscot/status/1606217077571960832?s=46&t=Yj8z8TU27SMTRhxu1Eywpg

"This organisation was one of those thanked by MSPs. They were never investigated after Rennie's arrest. Now this."

jfc

BlackForestCake · 23/12/2022 09:42

Schools have been successfully conditioned to believe that LGBTQ organisations can do no wrong?

As Maggie Chapman said in her email, “trans people aren’t sex offenders”. None of them, ever. Not a single one. Unlike the rest of the population.

BlackForestCake · 23/12/2022 09:41

Was there really no investigation after Rennie was jailed? That is incredible.

Organisations could be shut down on the spot for less.

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