Janice Turner - article in the Times about Mermaids

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drspouse

Exactly. I mean, quite apart from anything else, why didn't their PR guru say, er...

Strange how the TRAs are very quiet on twitter today.....its almost as if they have nothing of any value to say

@datun yeah you have to wonder.

If Mermaids are so convinced by their cod science they should be delighted this training session recording is out there. I hope it's heard widely and by the Big Lottery Fund.

Well, exactly. If your organisation is being funded with public money and you are going into schools as well as providing training to the public and private sectors, as well as lobbying on the basis of your expertise in this area, why would you want to conceal from public scrutiny the contents of training you deliver?

Oh yeah, that'd be because it's made up unscientific ideological bollox that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Haven't had the time to look through the document, but anyone can email us for it, if that helps. [email protected]

I missed the 42 chromosomes thing. What do they think is on the remaining 4 that must be censored?

What was the 42 chromosomes thing?

It's available here, LiverpoolReSisters.

See images for restricted funding sources and purposes. They also got £63.5K grants and awards which were unrestricted. They don't list the benefactors for these.

Also under the 'achievements' section they say:

Training:
Mermaids delivers training into schools, the NHS and other organisations such as Fostering Agencies and the Police. The training into schools is partly funded by the DfE initiative to provide schools with help to combat Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic bullying.

But I can't see that DfE funding listed anywhere.

What was the 42 chromosomes thing?

The Mermaids person said:

Now, when I went to school a long time ago, we were taught that men have these chromosomes and women have these chromosomes and that was it. And most people still think that way, but what we now know, through advancements in science, is the human race can have a combination of up to 42 different sets of chromosomes.

Found the DfE funding in the 2017 accounts.

£35K over 2.5 years from October 2016.

I wonder if that £128K over 3 years from Children in Need is in addition to the £12,445 they got from them in 2017 and the £70,300 they got from them in this year's accounts?

Now, when I went to school a long time ago, we were taught that men have these chromosomes and women have these chromosomes and that was it. And most people still think that way, but what we now know, through advancements in science, is the human race can have a combination of up to 42 different sets of chromosomes.

That is astonishing. Were they really taught that? Because when I was in school (some 40 years ago), we were taught that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, only one pair of which is involved in determining sex.

Does anyone else have a very strong suspicion that the Mermaids person doesn't know what chromosomes are, or what they do?

Mermaids delivers training into schools, the NHS and other organisations such as Fostering Agencies and the Police.

I think it is extremely concerning if Mermaids are providing training to - presumably private, rather than LA - fostering agencies.

Outstanding article Janice. So awfully awfully sad to read though.

I just cannot reconcile how someone in their 20's who has had their children & wants sterilising or gynae treatment that would have the same effect could be told they are "too young" and that they may change their mind about whether their family was complete but children can be given hormones and other treatment that will ruin their bodies and leave them with lifelong health concerns aside from potentially being denied the chance to have children and the chance to have sex. It's pretty fundamental stuff.

I also saw an article in The Times about women's sport where Martina Navratilova has commented about trans women competing in women's sport. She was shot down in flames for speaking common sense.

It's year 7 biology surely - mens' bodies are made and develop differently. That's why women and men don't compete together but mixed sex sport at primary school is ok.

Even Serena Williams and Martina would not be able to compete with male bodied tennis players. Same in golf, rugby etc.

It is such a sad world for some children.

How would we try to challenge the Big Lottery Fund? Does anyone know?

I'm sure that I say the words "this could be a turning point" at least once a week.

But I really think that with Mermaids, all it needs is one gentle poke and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.

Janice and her colleagues at the Times and Sunday Times have been doing sterling work on this. I think if the lottery fund decides to withdraw its funding, then Mermaids will come under even closer scrutiny. It's quite frustrating that most other newspapers haven't yet picked up on what a shocking organisation it is. But surely, once they see which way the wind is blowing, even papers like the Guardian will be forced to do an about-turn. It's like the early days of the Savile revelations - you still had a lot of people insisting that there was no real evidence, that he wasn't here to defend himself, blah blah, and eventually the trickle of evidence turned into a tsunami and people had to admit the truth.

There may be several mixed metaphors in the above.

Strange how the TRAs are very quiet on twitter today.....

Yeah, I noticed that and thought: "Hmmm... it's quiet... too quiet..."

I wonder if Miles Goslett (who helped blow the lid on the Kids Company scandal) would be interested in taking up the mantel on this one...

He was also involved in the Saville expose.

If a woman's domestic abuse charity lost funding because they didn't help men then

Can someone explain to me how Mermaids are helping tackle homophobia? Indeed they are promoting it.

I wrote this for all the men who style themselves as rational & scientific yet chide feminists as “transphobic” for pointing out dangerous unscientific ideology Mermaids spread about gender- nonconforming kids

Otherwise known as all those men prepared to put their misogyny before their rationality. So quite a few I would think.

As an aside, I never did like jelly babies. Shifty little fuckers.

I'm cancelling my story for the Guardian's 'fearless independent journalism' today and switching to the Times.

*support not story. And I'm telling them why.

the human race can have a combination of up to 42 different sets of chromosomes.

Eh? Any GCSE student can tell them that’s bollocks.

This whole issue has very seriously been getting me down recently. It is such a relief to see articles like this. It gives me hope that we will stop all this damaging nonsense. I hope we can all build on this good work in 2019 and thank you so much Janice for speaking out. You are so brave.

I am at the point where I truly believe the Western world has lost its marbles. That we are even having such online discussions is testament to this insanity.

"fearless independent journalism" can't believe the Guardian have the nerve to use that! Either that or they don't know what fearless means.