Is anyone else boycotting Tesco's for giving £80,000 to Mermaids?

[loveyouradvice]

Just that really... I was shocked, especially given all the news coverage there has been about the issues recently. I would have expected them to give it to an uncontroversial charity at the very least - and ideally one that most of their customers would like to support

And yes, I agree that people can't biologically change sex. There's so much more than that going on here though, and people just can't or won't see it.

Or they disagree with your personal opinions, Lemonade. Glad that you aren't a biology denialist though, despite what certain of your posts today have suggested.

You really aren't making any sense @PotholeParadise you just seem adament or accuse me of awful assumptions like supporting child abuse where I've actually said the opposite.

@GimmeAy

Well what if you thought that you were the wrong sex Kit? What then?

What about them? Thinking that we are Something or someone we are objectively not is only considered as needing affirmation when it's about sex. It is no more possible to be the "wrong sex" than it is to be the son of God, or for an anorexic with a BMI of 16 to actually be overweight. Why is this considered to be true when it is demonstrably not so?

Boycotting is not so Tesco will notice or care (very unlikely). It is for peace of mind that my own hard earned cash is not going towards enriching an organisation that, in my view, does not centre children and their well-being.

If Mermaids had their way, people like David Bowie wold have been given drugs and surgery to make them female
because he was most definitely nonconforming

See, you're going to have to walk me through this one.
OK, he was non conforming, but did he ever express the fact that he thought he was a male trapped in a woman's body, or was he completely happy expressing himself as a non conforming male?
As there's nothing wrong with that. He did brilliantly in his career as one.
Do you think people are going to come knocking on your door if your kid is a boy and look like a girl and tell you they must be trans?

Except I am not OK with any of that and I honestly cannot fathom how me saying I fully blame parents for their kids medically transitioning somehow suggests I'm OK with child abuse such as FGM. You have yet to clarify how you made that link.

If the parents are fully responsible, that means no-one else is.

Your argument about parenting equally applies to FGM and would excuse a surgeon who performed FGM, a charity that supported FGM and people donating to a charity that supported FGM.

If you say it's just a matter of 'bad parenting', then where is your sympathy for the victim?

@2BthatUnnoticed

Boycotting is not so Tesco will notice or care (very unlikely). It is for peace of mind that my own hard earned cash is not going towards enriching an organisation that, in my view, does not centre children and their well-being.

This

What on earth is that screenshot just posted? What has that got to do with Mermaids?
Then "you" want on topic?
Bloody hell. I fear for some's internet history WTF lol

Does anyone know if mermaids are still signposting people to dr helen webberly who was struck off in this country and now opperates from spain?

That's a screenshot of some vile, misogynistic and disgusting abuse to a woman standing for women's rights by someone claiming to stand up for trans rights. Similar tweets are very easy to find. Happy to clarify.

@2BthatUnnoticed

Boycotting is not so Tesco will notice or care (very unlikely). It is for peace of mind that my own hard earned cash is not going towards enriching an organisation that, in my view, does not centre children and their well-being.

Do you also boycott all the retail chains who use slave labour for their products? What about the ones that have been linked to racism? Also, do you not buy any products with palm oil in?

Yeah, but unsurprisingly you're missing the point - what exactly has it got to do with Mermaids, and why the hell post a pornographic looking pic on a MN thread about Mermaids?

It's the type of abuse women receive for caring about safeguarding children. JK Rowling received loads of similar tweets on her twitter posts praising children's drawings.

Could you not read my post Lemonade?

Funny that nobody has been able to address my valid points about it being the parents who allow their children to transition. Seems people want to blame an organisation for bad parenting. Very bizarre

Both the parent and the organization can have some of the fault, it's not one or the other. As I said before, if the organization has no impact on parenting, what is the point of their parent support groups? Either it has an influence that it should be responsible for when that impact hurts people and put in structures to prevent further issues or it's pointless and the funding should go to other support organizations. Dysphoric people and their parents deserve something that works and has protections in place to make sure it's doing the best for them.

Also, medical treatment should be about what's best for the person, not what the 'parents allow' or ideology or even always what we think is wrong with us - I know I've been wrong and had doctors who were wrong on it before. That's why there is meant to be a full assessment. There have already been issues discussed about the faults on the hands of certain medical profession and structural issues with systems - any system or charity or group that is meant to be providing support for gender dysphoria but focuses on the highly medicalized route is ignoring the majority with the condition deserves some scrutiny. As I said and linked before, that's not how most cope with it. Locally there is wide variation in support, but way too places - Mermaids included - have structural issues that need addressing that treats gender dysphoria unlike any other condition.

Plenty of fault and need for improvement all around. Tesco has that in so many areas, as do most corporations and large organizations. The way to push for those changes is going to need a varied approach, not sure how much a boycott would do anything (and it kinda ignores the other charities donated to), but none of it is above criticism.

@PotholeParadise

Except I am not OK with any of that and I honestly cannot fathom how me saying I fully blame parents for their kids medically transitioning somehow suggests I'm OK with child abuse such as FGM. You have yet to clarify how you made that link.

If the parents are fully responsible, that means no-one else is.

Your argument about parenting equally applies to FGM and would excuse a surgeon who performed FGM, a charity that supported FGM and people donating to a charity that supported FGM.

If you say it's just a matter of 'bad parenting', then where is your sympathy for the victim?

You can't compare the surgeon performing FGM to a charity organisation. Of course the surgeon is at fault for performing something illegal but that's still down to the parent consenting. I was saying it's the parents choice, the charity doesn't make parenting choices.

Most of your posts have nothing to do with Mermaids. This derail was started by people you were high fiving.

@LemonadeAndDaisyChains

Yeah, but unsurprisingly you're missing the point - what exactly has it got to do with Mermaids, and why the hell post a pornographic looking pic on a MN thread about Mermaids?

It wasn’t me who posted it but it may be in response to the poster who suggested it was “transphobic” to say trans rights activists had sent misogynistic abuse

Also pot that doesn't explain why me blaming the parents means I'm OK with FGM you haven't explained that bizarre link you made.

Is Helen webberly to do with mermaids?
Can we talk about her and how she was struck off for giving young kids hormones after one consultation conducted via video link?
I think that's interesting and will bring the thread back to the point in hand which is mermaids.

greyt & lemonade

Both of you constantly revert to calling the boards discussing pro-women's rights as transphobic and brandishing that term around in general. If this is so, then please provide examples of posts that are still standing to illustrate your points. I have seen many posts say 'the tone' and greyt you have provided very general examples.

Please provide actual examples of what you both mean. And no more generalisation, please. Actual examples that are still live on this site.

If you are referring to posts that have been deleted, then obviously MN are doing a great job on keeping the boards free from phobia. If you are talking about general 'tone', then perhaps you need to properly define this too. Because I have asked if generally discussing the preservation of women's rights is phobic to you and got told that I was making wild leaps. Please do clarify your thinking.

"You only have to look at the online and offline behaviour of some Mermaids volunteers to see they should not be around children. (One volunteer at a march this weekend proudly chanting 'trans rights or fist fights', or the one who made a YouTube video -since removed- about what he likes to insert in his anus)."

Did you miss this bit Lemonade? Some seriously dodgy people hang around these 'charities'.

I think that the reason people are discussing adult trans women is that some people tried to make the OP all about -phobia and hate when it’s not about that at all but actually about very valid and widely held concerns about safeguarding of young and impressionable children who might otherwise be put on a pathway that might not be appropriate for them long term, that certainly isn’t appropriate whilst they are minors and do not have the maturity to be fully aware of all implications thereof in order to make informed and considered choices, and that might be potentially genuinely and irreversibly damaging physically and psychologically, and in order to refute that it was necessary to discuss the wider context and be clear that it was not about -phobia or hatred of trans individuals.

But again, please, parents of pre teens and young teens especially, please do look into Mermaids.

Do you also boycott all the retail chains who use slave labour for their products? What about the ones that have been linked to racism? Also, do you not buy any products with palm oil in?

Why is it any business of yours what people do and don't choose to boycott? Do you? People make a stand for what they personally believe in, for their own reasons. You can't boycott everything, there is always some sort of problematic element in the modern world.

@blubellsarebells

Does anyone know if mermaids are still signposting people to dr helen webberly who was struck off in this country and now opperates from spain?

You mean the good doctor who explained over the weekend that puberty blockers allow transgender children to have a skeletal system that matches their gender?

That Dr Webberley?