Have you damaged the life of a child?

[LargeSquareRock]

The Cass Review into child’s gender services is out. For those of us who have been following this for years, it really is a No Shit Sherlock moment. All of our beliefs and fears for what is happening to vulnerable children (mainly autistic, traumatised or same-sex attracted girls) is set out in black and white.

https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/

So,

Every doctor, psychologist and therapist who ignored evidence and went along with this medical scandal and who set a child on the path of no return to future infertility, osteoporosis, increased heart disease and dementia risk, lower IQ and foreshortened life span;

Every school counsellor who felt they were Rosa Parks, whispering secrets to vulnerable kids and damaging the parent-child relationship;

Every teacher who adopted gender ideology and actively poured poison into their student’s ears;

Every teacher who shut down a student who wasn’t toeing the party line;

Every teacher who made girls feel ashamed for not being happy about sharing toilets with boys;

Every social worker who damaged the parent-child relationship and threatened parents with consequences for not affirming their child’s trans identity;

Every child’s friend’s “cool” parent who claimed their home was a sanctuary from the child’s bigoted parents;

Every autism organisation staff member or volunteer who swallowed the nonsense whole and damaged a generation of autistic girls;

Every person who cut off friends when they raised concerns about trans ideology and kids;

Every Facebook group moderator who blocked members raising the mildest questioning of gender ideology, then out up the sickening virtue signalling post about “no hate allowed”;

Every single person who chanted “protect trans kids” without knowing a single thing about the issues;

Every sports coach who allowed boys into the girl’s teams and berated objecting parents and girls as bigots;

Every separated parent going along with the child’s trans nonsense to get back at the other parent.;

Everyone who has ever donated to Mermaids;

Every single person who blindly believed that a parent’s doubts about transitioning their child were based on transphobia and bigotry, not love and concern;

Everyone who has ever told a child that society hates them because of their trans identity;

Every parent who didn’t do their due diligence and happily went along with their child and who enjoyed the attention of having a trans child;

Every politician (pretty much all of them) who decided to ride this one out, even though they could see the harm occurring in real time

This disaster, ruining the lives of a generation of children, is on you.

So which professionals have been claiming to be Rosa Parks? In what way would claiming to be Rosa Parks have any connections with what the OP is discussing? She wants people to leave Rosa Parks out of it? She's the only one I've heard bringing Rosa Parks into it.

It's an analogy people make it for all sorts of reasons. Have you really never heard it before from anyone else?

It's fully respectful of Rosa Parks as a brave civil rights heroine and activist for the rights of black people.

It's saying that often people in modern "rights" movements think what they are doing is similar, when actually it is not.

The people who are damaging lives of children are keyboard warriors like the OP who are making this debate even more toxic than it already is. Cass makes that very clear in her report. Shame on you, OP.

Calling any questioning at all "bigotry" in order to silence it has been a key tactic of people pushing this ideology and wanting it to remain unquestioned. As a result, this scandal has been continuing for YEARS longer than it should have been already. With more young people irreversibly harmed by it.

So can you point out the "bigotry" that you'd like to be "silenced" please? What counts as "bigotry" and what doesn't, in your opinion - and who gets to decide this?

If you haven't seen people comparing themselves to Rosa Parks while they campaign to give blockers to children (and refuse to leave women's spaces when they aren't women) then I don't think you've been paying enough attention to the debate to comment on it. It's been done a lot.

Thank you. This is exactly why I voted YABU. This is a difficult area that needs sensitive discussion and the balancing of harms and benefits from different approaches. The divisive 'them and us' rhetoric in the OP is so counterproductive.

I am very disconcerted to find myself on the same side as Allison Pearson. Even a stopped clock etc etc....

The OP hasn't actually enabled any sterilising of children, told any lies, threatened anyone with violence or sacking for speaking out, suppressed information or sent children down unevidenced irreversible medical pathways though, has she?

I suggest those who have are those who should be feeling the shame right now. Not the people pointing it out. Even if you don't like their tone.

A "less measured tone" is what happens when you actively suppress what was in the beginning wholly reasonable questioning. Which was met immediately with abuse and cries of "shut up, you bigot". People have had to shout to be heard. And then they get tone-policed and blamed. A tactic gaslighters everywhere use to deflect from who actually has caused the problem here. I don't think shooting messengers is helpful.

OP I agree with every word.

Well done.

What with the trans movement and smartphones we have effectively ruined a generation of kids and will look back in absolute horror, much as we do on the smoke-filled homes and public places of yesteryear.

Erm...the original post?

The problem is that people (on both sides of the debate) are so lost in their ideologies that they don't realise that the toxicity of their debate is so harmful to the mental health of the very young people they claim they are trying to protect.

There is plenty of room for adult conversation that doesn't descend into mudslinging, and I think the Cass report does a good job of trying to rise above it all and provide a realistic view of what is going on, including inappropriate medicalisation but also the damage done by discourse like we see on this thread.

I am pleased that you have put this on AIBU OP, but it’s hardly surprising that individuals have gone along with this. I have been on the FWR aboard since 2017, and there were times when I thought I was living in an alternative universe. I still cannot believe the organisations that were swept along with this, not just those that had direct contact with children. Their whole hearted support of this has made it impossible to stand up to the madness.

The media organisations that until recently kept very quiet, and particularly The Guardian which still didnt report the scandalous WPATH info and the BBC who opened their coverage of this report offering alternative view points. The news organisations that manage to mangle reports so that men sound like women.

The Police, who have arrested the wrong people, spent money on Priding their cars and uniforms. Non Crime Hate Incidents. The judiciary, who’s bench book meant a woman had to refer to her male attacker as SHE and when she refused they took away her compensation. Rapists in women’s prisons, Rape and Murder being listed as being a female perpetrator when (one would think obviously with rape) it was a male.

Any organisation that spent money on Stonewall Training, because this was nearly always about the Trans rights, not the LGB, and is exclusive of many women, not a sign of inclusivity.

Universities, Charities, even Children and Animal charities and the RVS (vets and animals know all about sex). The NHS for Gods sake, obfuscating single sex wards to single gender. Political parties - calling women Non-Men, and all ignoring basic safeguarding for inclusion.

The absurdities are astounding, when you list it all its frightening how many people and organisations lost their minds over this. We have many years ahead of us unpicking all this. The Cass Report is the tip of the iceberg.
Long may these threads be laid bare on AIBU, and long may there be decent discussion.

In principal I agree with you but we are also on the back of several years where anyone calling this out for what it is is often screamed out the room. Its gross.

What is "the ideology" you think the OP is promoting? And what is "bigoted" about it? You say "The original post". Which comments exactly? I'm sorry, but I think you're confusing a tone you dislike with "bigotry" here.

Anger at whistleblowers being silenced and demonised and facts suppressed for years when active harm has actively been caused by delays in discussing it is not "bigotry", in my opinion. It's anger. You may find the tone unpalatable and shocking and not "nice" enough, but that isn't the same thing. Most of us started out being "nice". We were then told we were evil far right fascists, lied about everywhere, knew people speaking out who were doxxed and lost their jobs, were ostracised, called names. For saying what Cass is saying now. Not everyone feels particularly forgiving.

No

Yeah, but these professions have absolutely thrown out all safeguarding concerns, safeguarding which existed for a reason, in favour of this ideology.

Its incredibly irresponsible.

They absolutely had the capacity to understand what they were doing. All the arguments and evidence gathering was out there for them to read.

You can't just jump on popular bandwagons and then claim ' Oh I never realised!' when the shit hits the fan. Plenty of other people realised and they were trying to tell you. You just were not listening.

Like a lot of mendacious propaganda.

The trans kids who killed themselves? Aw, who cares, right?

Is there a handbook somewhere for writing posts like this? They are consistently vague, include no actual point but always have a vague reference to something awful with no clear connection or meaning.

It's bizarre how often you see this around trans issues.

I'm glad to see someone post about this issue. I'm fed up of people throwing the "transphobic" word around at anyone who doesn't agree with this madness of giving kid's medications and surgery's.

No it doesn't make someone transphobic to not agree with such an extream movement. I couldn't care less if a man would like to dress or become a woman, what I do care about however, is my 13 year old daughter being made to feel uncomfortable at school because a MALE child has decided to rename himself as a girl and is allowed in the Female changing room's.

Or where her school lock the toilets and only leave the "gender neatural" toilets open where the boy's look over the cubical doors at the girl's. Also if you do you're research there are lot's of transgender males and females speaking out now about the irreversible damage the surgeries and hormones have caused and how they wish they hadn't been allowed access to these things so young and knew what affect this would have on them. They are actually hugely camapging against this movement. But are they "transphobic"?

Cass highlights in the report that being gender questioning is NOT like being left handed. For years TRAs have been trying to claim that the sudden rise in gender questioning kids is just because it's now socially acceptable, like being left-handed or being gay.

But with left-handed or gay people, there's a pretty even split among male and female and across all age ranges. With the people lumped together under the trans umbrella you've got two very disparate groups and not much in between:

A huge cohort of middle aged men, the vast majority of whom seem very keen to hang on to their dicks.

A huge cohort of young girls who are desperate to change their bodies.

Why did the people who were cheerleading gender ideology not have more intellectual curiosity? Surely it's blindingly obvious that there are other factors at play here than just 'being born in the wrong body'?

As the review makes clear, there is no evidence whatsoever for "trans kids killing themselves" because of lack of puberty blockers or transition. Even GIDS used to say that there is no evidence that "trans kids" are more likely to kill themselves than other teenagers with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Which, let's not forget, the report points out were conditions actively NOT being treated as soon as "gender" was mentioned.

I think gender-questioning kids, many of whom the evidence shows were vulnerable, autistic, struggling with sexuality and a greater than average proportion of looked after children (so from troubled and often abusive backgrounds) deserve far better than being treated as guinea pigs for adult ideologies, frankly. Like having evidence-based treatments for a start.Like having their data collected and being followed up adequately. Like being safeguarded as we'd expect for all other children. Why do you not?

The people are the system. All those decisions to adopt Stonewall guidance against the existing evidence base were taking by people, not a system.

All the professionally trained and experienced medics, social workers, teachers and others in the front line of safeguarding are the system. Its not impossible to challenge - you might not win but you can ask questions and challenge. Its happened before many times and this is ultimately what drives change and forces reviews of evidence.

People of all stripes are susceptible to fashions, trends and the drive to stay in the pack, have a quiet life. People with a responsibility to protect and safeguard, in positions of power and influence over their clients/pupils/patients also take on a responsibility to check facts, to follow evidence. The more who do this the easier it is.

I'm not pretending its always easy - been there, got the t-shirt more than once on other issues. It was still my responsibility to question to the greatest extent I could.

Blaming it on "the system" is an abdication of individual responsibility.

So, your 'The trans kids who killed themselves' was illustrative of that mendacious propaganda you were talking about wasn't it?

Because leveraging suicide for political aim is considered a very harmful tactic.

And it has been shown to be easily misconstrued. Because it has been shown through clinical papers, interviews and studies as well that being 'trans' doesn't lead to more suicides compared to comorbid conditions that exist within that patient as well.

So your post here is what? Intending to show the propaganda and I have misread it? Or you are spreading that mendacious propaganda for your own political aims?

Do we have any data about the number of trans kids who have killed themselves?

Without the keyboard warriors on Mumsnet I doubt the Cass review would ever have seen the light of day.

@MissScarletInTheBallroom I remember there was a confused child who took her life despite her parents following advice to affirm her and getting puberty blockers from Gender GP. Nobody had informed the parents that blockers can actually increase feelings of suicidality. The parents wanted to have a second inquest after they found that out.