From PN reporting of the Home Affairs committee on Hate Crime:
(extract below refers to the interview of Ian Brunskill, Assistant Editor of The Times)
"Pushed by Doughty on whether the term “trans lobby” was acceptable, [Brunskill] said: “I don’t have any objection to that. There is a lobby, or rather there are several transgender lobbies.”
Asked if he would use the term ‘gay lobby’ or ‘Jewish lobby’, Brunskill replied: “If there were one.”"
James Kirkup: 'Why are some MPs trying to shut down the transgender debate?'
"The other column that Doughty was so interested in also concerned children. In particular, he was struck by the Times’ headline using the phrase “trans lobby”. This, for reference, was on a column that argued that a number of changes in policy and convention are being made at the urging of groups advocating things that they say would benefit transgender people which, the columnist suggested, were not in the best interests of children. “You will understand why that is a particular concern, given the previous use of “gay lobby”, “Jewish lobby” and all of those sorts of things,” Doughty said. “Do you think the use of the phrase “trans lobby” is an appropriate one?”
As it happens, Dr Carmichael in her lecture said some things that seem relevant here:
“Gender has become amazingly topical and we have to be really careful not to assume that anyone is exploring or questioning their gender is going to want to change their bodies in line with that. The extremes on either side are not helpful. We need to look at the grey areas in between. To do that we need to be able to talk and discuss these issues. All too often stakeholders become lobby groups.”
She did not name any stakeholder. But her words might be relevant to a charity called Mermaids. Mermaids is a charity that describes itself as “a support group for children and young people with gender dysphoria and their families”. Its CEO, Susie Green describes herself as “parent to a daughter who was born male.” Mermaids is a relatively small charity (it had income of £127,000 in the year to March 2017) with a big reach. It has prominent backers and its advice and recommendations have been absorbed and adopted by many public bodies."
blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/why-are-some-mps-trying-to-shut-down-the-transgender-debate/
Trans Media Watch's submission to the Home Affairs Committee:
"We are pleased to make this submission to the Committee’s Inquiry into hate speech
Trans Media Watch is a charity registered in 2010 with the express aim of encouraging the British media to report on trans and intersex issues with accuracy, dignity and respect – three cornerstones we would expect every media organisation to uphold. A representative from the charity (Helen Belcher) gave oral evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in 2012, and also to the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s Inquiry into trans issues in 2015
We have been monitoring the British media’s reporting of trans and intersex issues since 2010, and can observe the trends in terms of topics covered and tone used.' (continues)
'Of particular current concern is Mumsnet. Originally set up to be a support group for mothers, the website has expanded to have a variety of “boards”
. The feminist activism board seems to have become an area for those opposed to trans rights to organise. 18 out of the latest 26 threads are conversations on trans rights, with a large number of posts alleging variations of “trans women are men”. The feminist chat board also has a number of threads on the “trans agenda”, containing posts such as “I have no hatred for transwomen, I just don't want to be anywhere near humans who were born with a penis”
thread discusssing Trans Media Watch written evidence
Intersex Community have issues with Trans Media Watch:
by twitter.com/mrkhtake2
"The problem in the UK is that Trans Media Watch have been allowed to become voice of the intersex community, for example, in this report to the hate crimes committee which was submitted by them..
The document says intersex all over it but represents very little from intersex community. In fact, if this is supposed to be looking at accurate reporting and media representation in order to fight prejudice, why didn’t they pick up on this?
@NUJofficial why does your LGBT+ advice say that intersex people are transgender and reduce complex medical conditions to one wildly inaccurate statement? This is ignorant and offensive, and explains why our representation is so poor in the media. Can you please fix this?"
Quick note: The head of NUJ ethics council has said they will review this at their next meeting since being made aware
Gender radical trans organisations can’t represent intersex people as their beliefs are interphobic. I witness this all the time. The gender radical view that chromosomes have nothing to do with sex and my inability to conform means I am called a man a lot by trans activists. "
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1013106135002476544.html