MoS does it again

[BettyFloop]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7244783/Academics-medical-experts-fears-children-number-seeking-sex-change-operations-sky-rockets.html

How is it that the newspaper I least identify with is one of the two stalwart media outlets that continues to be barefaced about this?

Anyway, pleased to read it - can't pick a hole, frankly.

*The question you should ask is not why newspapers such as the mail and times are reporting these serious factual matters, it's why some of the others aren't.

Spot on.

GIDS is frantically trying to cobble together some data from the Puberty Blocker trial, referenced in the article. The trial started in 2010.

Now GIDS is saying that the trial actually ended in February 2019 (coincidentally around the time that Prof Biggs asked very serious questions about it).

5 months after the trial ended, GIDS state that they are still collating data.

Prof Biggs' assessment of the puberty blocker trial

There needs an instant ban on teaching this to children in school. Children as young as four, ffs.

All the in school training needs to be shut down immediately.

And no this is nothing like section 28.

They said it's 'unlikely that this number of children are all coming out at the same time'. Coming out? Even the language is wrong. Gender dysphoria is a psychological condition, not a bloody sexual orientation.

I'm so glad the Mail on Sunday is highlighting this.

It feels to me as though maybe, just maybe, the grown-ups will be able to wrest this fiasco back from the zealots.

When I think about poor Jazz Jennings...

Very good article. Sanchez Manning has laid it out in a very accessible way.

A sobering read though.

Great article. The Mail has huge readership numbers so hopefully this will peak more people.

I shall be buying the book in support of those brave enough to write it and to have my own copy of the evidence!

Thank you to all involved.

I wonder if any organisations could crowd fund for a copy of the book to be sent to every MP?

With their own copy they can't plead ignorance when it all blows up.

A Mermaids spokesman said: '[...] Our children and young people are often desperate for support and recognition '

my bold. weird phrasing

and the response of GI to the news that children they are intended to help are being rendered infertile is

"We are extremely disappointed that our professional relationship with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) is being called into question and that the experiences of trans and gender-diverse young people and their families continue to be undermined."

so fucking irresponsible

Gendered Intelligence and Mermaids show themselves again and again to be not fit for whatever the fuck their purpose is

oh and for Sanchez Manning - fantastic article
'

The lying Mermaids - one of the leaked emails was a discussion between Polly Carmichael and SG on information leaflets and confirming the treatment path from first referral on that could be expected.

If SG told me the time of day I’d check my watch. She seems to have a serious problem separating fact from fiction.

"We are extremely disappointed that our professional relationship with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) is being called into question and that the experiences of trans and gender-diverse young people and their families continue to be undermined."

Gender diverse young people??? Why the fuck does normal childhood behaviour need charitable support groups???

Why does normal childhood behaviour lead to them being prescribed puberty blockers...

I am concerned that Prof David Bell has left GIDS, because I think the results from this blocker study will be manipulated to say what they want it to say, and those who are critical (and no longer an insider) will struggle to get the accurate raw data to do an unbiased assessment.

There's an interesting recent FOI Request to GIDS recently. From someone involved in that book, presumably.

tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/about-us/contact-us/freedom-of-information/foi-disclosure-log/

Click on the sixth one on the list. 192011 GIDS Research Information. And then open the document.

Someone is asking about GIDS' ethical approval process for the study. And it is as murky as you might expect. The original application was rejected as the study did not have a control group, nor a control/robust validation mechanism. GIDS claim that they then resubmitted the study (with no changes to it) to a different Research Ethics Committee, who passed it. With no control group, nor a control/robust validation mechanism. Hmmm.

The rest of it is the usual obfuscation from GIDS.

Including on page 4: "SANDY PLEASE ADD EXEMPTION HERE (SECTION 22?)"

Presumably Sandy was supposed to add information into the FOI response, but didn't do so. And clearly nobody checked it. Embarrassing mistake and perhaps indicative of a service that is floundering.

The upshot is that GIDS won't comment on any outcomes of the study because they intend to publish the complete data set. Soon. Very soon.

I'm not sure about the idea of an autistic 'obsession' - but many autistic women and girls are gender non-conforming, and struggle to fit in with girls groups especially at school. Girls are also far less likely than boys to be diagnosed with autism because its still profiled along male lines - (eg the idea that your special interests often include trains).

Also due to sensory issues, autistic people might have different relationships with their bodies - being hypersensitive or hyposensitive. Theres some evidence to suggest sexual orientation more fluid/ higher rate of asexuality in autistic people - (liking people who share their special interests more than sexual attraction.)

sorry posted too early, so yes I can think of a few reasons why autistic girls especially might think they are trans - I can't see this ever being looked into in depth though, beyond the idea that it could be an 'obsession' or there is some genetic link.

It was good that the article stressed infertility as a consequence of puberty blockers. Do many people realise this I wonder?

You have to wonder what people think puberty if for if they haven’t connected it to reproductive maturity.

It's reproductive maturity, but it's also a time of brain maturation.

The other thing about autism is ‘gender’ is learnt from observation and reinforced by approval or disapproval. If you don’t read other people well you aren’t going to pick up the subtle cues that tell you what is ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’.

Because of sensory issues, autistic girls might prefer heavier clothing, eg jeans instead of dresses, boots instead of open-toed shoes, as well as short hair and fingernails.

It's reproductive maturity, but it's also a time of brain maturation.

Yes, of course, but your brain will continue to develop until your mid-twenties, and it isn’t obvious in the way that the onset of menstruation is linked to the ability to bear children.

It's reproductive maturity, but it's also a time of brain maturation.

Yes and if that brain maturation is blocked as some endocrinologists suggest their ability to give informed consent remains limited. It's possible that they will be more likely to do as told rather than think options through for themselves. Hence so many go on to transition further when those not on blockers are more likely to decist.

I think that was at the forefront of my mind having just read a letter by Sarah Champion today in the Sunday Times about outlawing child marriages. One of her points, which is pertinent here, is 'In various ways the state recognises that those under 18 lack capacity to choose.'

(Also the results of last week's readers' poll 'should children under 16 be prescribed puberty blockers?' ... 96% said No.)

There's an interesting recent FOI Request to GIDS recently. From someone involved in that book, presumably.

Excellent spot.

I’d like to know why the research on puberty blockers is so crap. It’s not known if they’re beneficial or not for children with gender identity disorders, so why wasn’t this research done more rigorously? I can’t see any reason why they couldn’t have used a RCT design. As it stands the results are pretty meaningless, especially as the ‘control group’ were evidently chosen because they had psychological issues for which they needed support. What a wasted opportunity.

There is an interesting thread on autism and puberty from Anne Hegarty. I adnire her so much but was even more impressed after reading this. She highlights that feeking uncomfortable about bodily changes is not the same as wanting to be transgender but there is an assumption that it is:

twitter.com/anne_hegerty/status/1148913265575178241?s=19

It includes her tweet that:

I have been that bewildered autistic child with sensory issues around bras and sanitary pads. I could so easily have been persuaded into making appalling and irreversible decisions.