A trans sanctuary and place for community organising

[Copperkettles]

The very vulnerable daughter of a friend of mine (has a personality disorder, an eating disorder and severe depression along with chronic pain - recently announced she is trans) brought this place to my attention because of trying to raise funds for it. Lupinewood

I have no idea how big it is but they do seem to be attracting sizeable donations and support from all sorts of organisations. I have no problem with people who feel vulnerable gathering in what they feel is a safe space, but I do wonder how much clout an organisation like this can end up having in a world of social media. It has nearly 4k likes on facebook at present but is raising tens of thousands of pounds for various individual projects. I can see that someone like this girl I know being hugely sucked in. Call me wary, but I have a family member who joined a cult at the same age which seemed to have lofty ideals and she lost several years of her life to it. The way it appears on fb makes me feel it is a similar setup (and it took her family ££££ and a lot of upset to get her away)

I think that people are entitled to collaborate, socialise and organise as they see fit. My preference is to focus on where pressure groups are actively promoting hatred and division, peddling falsehoods that divide us in society and influencing children below the age of consent. I'm not going to criticise adults for the personal choices that they make, only for any actions that harm others.

Sorry if that comes over as 'pompous' - I appreciate that you are concerned about influence on a family member but I don't think criticising personal choice / building networks is fair.

No I can see your point and I expected someone to say that. There is nothing wrong with it at first glance and indeed potentially nothing wrong with it in reality. I can even see it being a positive for many. Just with my family's experience, I'm concerned it isn't completely benign when they are using it as a meeting place to discuss 'community organising' and generating funds. It's paired with environmentalism, at first glance, which lots of people are really passionate about (myself included) but it has the potential to then suck other people in who don't necessarily strong feelings about the trans issues and - well - that's all the stuff that reminds me of a cult.

I think for every person they help, there is huge potential that they are sucking in other vulnerable teens and young adults.

I wouldn't go anywhere near as far as saying I don't want it to exist. I just feel it's the kind of place people need to be aware of.

Yet women can no longer have a safe space?

I think it looks potentially dodgy as well, but not specifically because of the trans aspect. It's more that it's another of these well-meaning communities which will, sooner or later, become dominated by some predatory man who thinks he's a deity, and then it will fall apart.