Mermaids given £500,000 by National Lottery (Sunday Times)

[crsacre]

A transgender charity that campaigns for children to be given prohibited sex-change treatment has been awarded £500,000 by the national lottery.

The payment to Mermaids has angered MPs, feminists and women’s organisations, who accuse the charity of bullying doctors, promoting falsehoods and using “emotional blackmail” to pressure parents to support life-changing medical interventions for their children. Mermaids will use the money to create a network of 45 groups nationwide.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/child-sex-change-charity-handed-500-000-by-national-lottery-dvbt7t2kb?shareToken=cd8d6faad97cd9dd3fe3f16eb3810f45

[LizzieSiddal]

What an amazing article. I do hope the Fund reconsider.

It’s a fucking disgrace that money would be given to these people. They actively encourage children to think they need healthy bits of their bodies cut off FFS.

[feministfairy]

Michele Moore has posted her excellent Woman's Place talk in the comments.

[Bowlofbabelfish]

Excellent cartoon, Sandy.

I can’t see that being allowed to stay up for long.

[papayasareyum]

that article is very very disapproving of Susie Green, isn't it?
I'm surprised that someone with no medical training is treated with any credibility at all.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Yes, I was struck by how angry Gilligan sounded in the piece.

[HandsOffMyRights]

In his article from 2017 which tells of how Mermaids was banned by a judge from contacting one exploited family, Andrew writes:

The latest accounts for Mermaids UK, published last week, reveal it has been granted £35,000 by the Department for Education (DfE) and a total of £138,000 by the national lottery’s Awards for All fund and the BBC’s Children in Need appeal.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mermaids-uk-charity-ban-as-boy-forced-to-live-as-girl-dvx3j99cn

[Victoriapestis]

Had anyone got a chance to post the outline/structure of their complaint to the big lottery fund, or specify things they mentioned in it? I ask because I don’t want to miss anything in mine.

Also how about a complaint about this to the various Children’s Commissioners? I think there is one for England and a separate one for Wales. Scotland too?

I’m also wondering- is the big lottery fund required to have regard (either as a kind of public body, or by its own rules) to have regard to the UN convention on the rights of the child? (Sorry, have forgotten its exact name). Might be worth a read of that to see if there is anything useful. You’d think protection against unnecessary life changing sterilising medical treatment might somehow be brought within its scope.

[Waterparc]

Yuck.

[SandyDrawsBadly]

Stay up on here or on twitter? The last time one of my cartoons got taken down by twitter it had a bit of a Streisand effect. Every time I’m deleted or suspended, I end up with more shares and follows.

[Bowlofbabelfish]

On Twitter 😁

Keep up the good work

[SandyDrawsBadly]

Well, they suspended me for the pic of that Canadian, and my heartfelt apology gained me 250k impressions and about 400 followers.
Considering that the initial pic and tweet got about 100, I thought that worked out in my favour eventually

[EmpressAdultHumanFemale]

Sandy

[TheSteveMilliband]

Victoria, I think it would be really helpful to have ideas for an outline of stuff to cover in a letter. I was going to write to dawn austwick (CEO), Peter ainsworth (chair) and Tony Burton (head of risk and audit on board)


I was thinking of asking them to review the award and specifically investigate how the charities statements and actions align with 4 and 6 of their principles
"Simple processes, good judgements
We use simple, proportionate processes which enable us to make good judgements."
"Using resources well
We make informed choices about the resources given to us by National Lottery players: with knowledge, with people and with money, and in an environmentally sustainable way"

and their "goal in practice" of being "Valued, trusted and efficient"

Does anyone have particular knowledge of charities and grants and know what references / wording would have most impact?

[Candidpeel]

Not directly related to the Mermaids grant, but Big Lottery Fund's equality categories are (of course!!) 'gender' not 'sex'. And they have David Isaacs from EHRC on the board...

[OldCrone]

I’m also wondering- is the big lottery fund required to have regard (either as a kind of public body, or by its own rules) to have regard to the UN convention on the rights of the child? (Sorry, have forgotten its exact name). Might be worth a read of that to see if there is anything useful.

Various bodies that are in favour of transing children have been using the UNCRC to back up their position.

Scottish government consultation, Annex M

consult.gov.scot/family-law/review-of-the-gender-recognition-act-2004/supporting_documents/SCT10172517581_Gender_p4%203.pdf

TransForm Cymru charter, a Welsh Government funded project to "support trans young people"

youthcymru.org.uk/transform-cymru-charter/

It has been created in line with the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and establishes a number of rights belonging to trans young people and their expectations of organisations to ensure that these rights are met.

[LangCleg]

Not my complaint but I have seen this round up of points and suggestions posted elsewhere. Copied here with permission Hope it helps!

Preamble:
Grant awarded
Spread the group round the country
Children should be supported themselves
Concerned treatment for gender dysphoria in children should be evidence-led

What the charity campaigns for:
Affirms ‘gender identity’ in kids
Treats boys and girls as homogenous populations
Takes this message to schools and youth groups
Advocates for early social transition and blockers
May have argued for hormones for kids

Why this is a problem:

Views cross-gender identification as innate thus irreversible yet what we know says the opposite
Boys and girls treated the same although aetiology are different, even each sex has different aetiologies
Gender nonconformity is being coded that the child is trans
The narratives are either metaphysical or based on cultural stereotypes
GNC in children is known to be indicative of homosexuality in later life
Blockers are risky and self-fulfil transition. No puberty.
Effects of drugs and surgery effect infertility and make child sterile

Why Mermaids are not to be trusted:

Approach is not evidence based eg no evidence for gender identity and ignores what we know of resistance
Actively campaigned to suppress research into gender dysphoria in children eg Littman/ROGD
Susie Green, circumvents the law to get the chop at 16.
Abuse of suicide statistics
Activism based on stereotypes (GI Joe v Barbie)
Tying cultural preferences to child’s body wrong for their personality
Aggressive activism tactics, vectoring AGPs in abusive pile-ons against women

Conclusion
Faith based group pushing extreme body modification on children
Ultimately their mission is cruel, telling children they are wrong
Tactics are abusive because they can’t defend approach with arguments
Ask them to reconsider the award

[TheSteveMilliband]

Thankyou for posting langcleg, that's a brilliant outline.

[Waterparc]

I have taken a screenshot of the cartoon. Congratulations on an important piece of work Sandy.
Has anyone alerted Private Eye?

[R0wantrees]

James Kirkup Spectator May 2018
'Why are some MPs trying to shut down the transgender debate?'

(extract)
"The other column that [Stephen Doughty MP] 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.

Some people in the gender debate say harsh and critical things about Mermaids. I am not doing so here. My suggestion is that Green, having had her own family experience of transgender issues, has decided to devote herself to charitable work in the hope of offering what she believes as help to others who need it. The same is true of several others who work or volunteer at Mermaids. Read this for a moving account of how devoted some parents are to Mermaids for their help.

Despite its influence, it is worth noting what Mermaids is not. It is not a research body. Its activities are support (for families) and advocacy: based on its contacts with those families, it argues for what it sees are better policies and practices by the NHS and others. It does not carry out or commission clinical or academic research. Its most recent annual report lists among its charitable activities “campaigning and advocacy” and says: “Mermaids has also become more active in lobbying”.

There is regular dialogue between Mermaids and the GIDS, but the two sides do not always agree. An example is on the time the GIDS team take to give referred children the hormone-blocking drugs that stop their bodies developing the physical characteristics associated with their birth sex.

In evidence to another Commons inquiry in 2015, Mermaids argued that GIDS should make such drugs available much more quickly. The GIDS team has generally resisted that call, more than once saying that “any decision around hormone treatment needs time and considered thought.”

And in evidence to that earlier committee, Dr Bernadette Wren of the GIDS said this:

“I know that Susie and Mermaids would like a fast track so that young people who are already well into puberty and feel that they know that they want to move forward into physical intervention would bypass our assessment process and move straight into physical intervention. We feel that is not an ethical way to practise.”

Here’s another summary. A transgender charity that says it is engaged in lobbying lobbied politicians and doctors to change the way children are treated by doctors. The doctors declined to make that change because it would be not be ethical to do so." (continues)

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/why-are-some-mps-trying-to-shut-down-the-transgender-debate/

[CleanArea]

Email to lotto complaints.

I was disturbed to read the article by Andrew Gilligan in today's Sunday Times which states that a Lotto grant of £500000 has been approved for the charity Mermaids.
This charity has been actively promoting the medicalisation of gender non conforming young children, many of whom have autism.
Mermaids advocate the use of drugs which are unlicensed for children and are known to cause long term health problems in adults. They also push for sterilization of under age children and mutilation of their healthy bodies.
This is a child abuse scandal on a grand scale which will in time be looked back on with incredulity and horror.
Mermaids also use discredited suicide statistics to guilt trip parents and carers to affirm without question any child who is struggling with their gender identity.
Mermaids is not a support group for parents and children - it actively promotes physical harm to children who are not even old enough to buy one of your lottery tickets.
As a former gender non conforming child and now a healthy happy gender non conforming female mother of children I'm glad they were not around to encourage my sterilization.
Please, do your research and do not allow Mermaids to harm more children. I'm assuming you do not fund "pro ana" anorexia websites? Or provide funds to assist children in self harming? If not, why not?

I look forward to your statement withdrawing your support for this organisation. Until then I will be cancelling my lotto account and donating money directly to a charity which helps children to grow up into healthy, happy individuals no matter how they identify.

[HermioneWeasley]

Can everyone write their complaints to Dawn Austwick [email protected] and urge others to do so.

[feministfairy]

The comments under that Times article are fantastic! Intelligent and informative.

[R0wantrees]

info from Andrew Gilligan's twitter link:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724523/National_Lottery_Distribution_Fund_2017-18_Annual_Report_Web_Accessible.pdf

[Ereshkigal]

Those tweets by Susie Green are shocking.

[hackmum]

Good to see some pretty supportive comments on the Times article. People are finally starting to get this.