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

[sanluca]

Is it a coincidence that the two people on threads here defending Mermaids and saying we are the ones hurting chuldren, both are transpeople who believe they would have benefited from a earlier transition?
For one you don't know that because that did not happen.
Secondly, other children are not you. GD is very rare, but trans is now also non GD. Why medically transition children who in all probability are non GD?

Children are not allowed to rule their own lives yet, can't make medicial decisions, can't vote, can't get married, can't get tattoos. So it is the parents that make this decision, not the children. Parents pushed by harmful 'charities' like Mermaids who do not offer alternatives to medicalisation.

[BernardBlacksWineIcelolly]

[Bowlofbabelfish]

Telling possibly gay teens and preteens that they’re not a gay boy but a straight girl, or vice versa IS conversion therapy.

Telling children their bodies are wrong is wrong
Giving children puberty blockers for anything other than precocious puberty is wrong
Giving children opposite sex hormone is wrong
Sterilising children is wrong
Mutilating children is wrong.
Promoting practices which work in opposition to safeguarding in schools leaving gender questioning children outside the safeguarding framework is wrong.

Mermaids do all this. And they are wrong

[HandsOffMyRights]

Playing catch up today, having read that Glinner's thread was taken down.

This spurs even more of us on to challenge the Big Lottery over its ethics is using public money to fund child experimentation.

[RedToothBrush]

Why is someone comparing their experience more than 40 years ago with now anyway? As if any one is proposing that or as if that's what the alternative to Mermaids approach is anything like that?

Seriously we are far more enlightened with mental health than we were even 15 years ago and what went in the 1970s (before I was even born) would not be acceptable to the vast majority today regardless of their views on the trans issue.

To float that as an argument to support Mermaids isn't just it's out of touch and scaremongering in its own right. It's bonkers and frankly offensive in its own right to even make to comparison.

It's not what anyone here would support or think is anymore right than Mermaids.

Mainly because, well safeguarding ironically.

[LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD]

Questioning is not scaremongering.

Nor is pointing out the scary truth of those who set up the organisation and the long term physical and mental health issues of what they push, querying their ‘ties’ with certain police forces, and asking about research and discredited stats that they bandy about.

Kids company - again this was emperors new clothes. All very well intentioned no doubt but just so wrong in so many ways.

[FloralBunting]

'Kin 'ell.

Who reads a forum of women, many of whom are mothers, and thinks their concerns about the things listed are because they 'want to damage trans children'?

[Danaquestionseverything]

Just a heads up in case people don’t realise it. Smeg is DJ Gripper, FM Stomp and numerous other twitter aliases.

I would urge caution before clicking the link they have provided. I only say this because there were suspicions about the links (website) provided by the weirdo that is harassing Carowiththegoodhair. I’m not saying this is the case here but....

If you don’t believe me check out their twitter account (same as name here). There is no love lost (to put it mildly) for GC women or Mumsnet.

Things are escalating. Stay safe.

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

Hadley Freeman tweeted about this and in the replies someone asked The National Lottery about how funding decisions are made and this was the response:

The National Lottery
‏@TNLUK
Hi, you would need to speak to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to discuss your concerns around where National Lottery funding is distributed. Decisions on how and where funding is invested are made by 12 specialist organisations chosen by Parliament. ^TJ

Father Jack
‏@urcrazytoo
Please give details of who to contact, with email address. This is very concerning and affects your brand significantly.

The National Lottery
‏@TNLUK
Replying to @urcrazytoo
Hi, decisions on how and where funding is invested are made by the 12 specialist organisations. You'd need to speak to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to discuss your concerns around where National Lottery funding is distributed.

^Asia

Father Jack
‏@urcrazytoo
Replying to @TNLUK
That's not very helpful as it's a very large Department, isn't it? As it affects you directly I'd hoped for a better response.

The National Lottery
‏**@TNLUK
I'm sorry you feel that way. That's all the information I can give you as the distribution of money to 'good causes' is not the responsibility of the operator of the National Lottery.

^Asia

[LangCleg]

Anybody can find out how and why a grant was made by using Big Lottery Fund FOI procedures. Information here:

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/about/customer-service/freedom-of-information

I believe someone earlier on the thread said they have sent off such an FOI, asking to see the grant application and the minutes of the panel at which it was approved.

Others might like to send their own requests for the information they themselves are particularly interested in.

[Bowlofbabelfish]

ECT electrodes are not placed on the body. Just to clarify.

[BernardBlacksWineIcelolly]

Thanks Lang. FOI request submitted. Never done anything like this before, will be interesting to see what I get back.

[AngryAttackKittens]

The comments are a fascinating insight into what the public really thinks about what Mermaids are doing (they really, really don't like it). Makes you realize why Susie, MimmyMum etc are so determined to prevent anyone who isn't already inside their bubble from speaking at all.

[Theinconstantgardener]

complained to ceo

[NotBadConsidering]

AAK

There’s a comment by someone using the name George Monbiot. I wonder if it’s someone who’s stolen the name or the real George Monbiot goes over to comment on the Times because he can’t say it at the Guardian?

[AngryAttackKittens]

Huh. I wonder if they'd sack him for wrongthink if they confirmed it was him. Does this violate the "be nice to little Owen?" policy the instituted a while back?

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

I missed that policy! How did that arise?

[happydappy2]

Have emailed the complaints department & Dawn Austwick-if mermaids are given this money.....words fail me.
With so many deserving charities desperate for funding, this could be a travesty.

[AngryAttackKittens]

I suppose "Shut Up, Hadley Freeman!" might be a better name for it.

(She was needling him on Twitter. He didn't like it.)

[hackmum]

Fairly sure from the way it's worded that that isn't the real George Monbiot.

Very very encouraging to see the overwhelming number of commenters are horrified by this.

[OnTheDarkSideOfTheSpoon]

I've seen Susanne Moore challenge Owen Jones (about the role of the press, I think) where the idea that Guardian journalists shouldn't attack each other was floated.

[AngryAttackKittens]

The problem being that what a rational adult would describe as "being disagreed with" Jones sees as an attack. Because he is a petulant baby.

[Needmoresleep]

Things are escalating. Stay safe

As the Sunday Times article points out, Mermaids, and its level of influence, makes no sense at all. Indeed is dangerous.

The gender industry is so interrelated. Helen Webbersley, GIRES etc, LGBT spokespeople in political parties and elsewhere, grant receiving academics. Mermaids is a major domino. If it falls it could bring others.

Even the biggest domino of them all might face scrutiny. Are they really the same respected organisation before the T was added in 2015. And should the Government be paying a lobbying organisation, with their own interests to promote, vast sums to provide training and advice. Including in schools.

A lot of careers are at stake.

[KenDoddsDadsDogsDead18]

If people are sending in FOIs would you consider doing it through 'What do they know?'

[KenDoddsDadsDogsDead18]

And also letting us know so we can follow.