Mermaids - need help

[GoodCheer]

I’m hoping to peak trans my lovely friend who is a senior manager at a big (huge) organisation and recently sang to me the praises of her E&D manager, who is a stunning & brave TW who transitioned as a child and is pushing Mermaids as her saviour and an organisation everyone should be praising and following. Oh, how fun that was.

Friend is one of my oldest and a truly wonderful woman, highly intelligent and a good person. She just hasn’t encountered this issue before and I need to point her in the right direction.

Got very over excited at dinner the other night and I think I scared her. Now need to back up my diatribe with some pertinent facts, calmly delivered....

I know she is a Times reader so have recommended Janice Turner, btw.

tell her their CEO took her underage son to Thailand for sex re assignment surgery (I'm sure you can explain to her what that consists of)

The CEO took her son to Thailand when he was 15 in order that sex reassignment surgery could be performed on the 16th birthday.

Obviously it would have been planned many months, if not longer, ahead. Obviously anyone thinking about this would be concerned about informed consent.

The clinicians who have resigned and whistleblown at the Tavistock? (relevant to the excess influence Mermaids seem to have had there, and the inherent risks of an affirmation and swift transition approach).

There's also that transcript of one of the Mermaids trainers floating around somewhere which is quite eye opening.

www.transgendertrend.com/questions-school-mermaids-training-teachers/

There's also the question of the data breach (and the CEO is an ex IT consultant so might have had a bit of a clue about that) and the 'private' chat rooms which they have admitted were abused. There is a chat room for parents and one for children. You can probably guess which one was infiltrated.

Not sure if the police connections is worth pursuing too, would depend on whether your friend believes that public services like the police force should be influenced by lobby groups.

The CEO did a Ted Talk that's still online if that helps oh and there is the sweets and puppies/dogs at their marketing stands that is a tad...hmmm I don't know, makes me think of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trans-ideologists-are-spreading-cod-science-m8n0pdbq3?shareToken=736856991e22ff32e35af937b3619e6a

docs.google.com/document/d/1aeFV0T6j4PXvm1xZBS_50oSJYV-_gO8YMoFjKjNA_9Y/edit

docs.google.com/document/d/1NDOMlo2aEpBl2ySfKdEWCb1H94tZciKiqUffjH1ku0Y/edit

Also Susie Green to her 16/ yo child to Thailand for genital surgery as a birthday present. This surgery was, and still is, illegal in the UK and has since also been outlawed in Thailand.

then there was this:

High Court decision to place a child with his father after his mother, on the advice of Mermaids, had insisted he was trans and made him live as a girl. Judge orders mother to not allow contact between the child and Mermaids.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2016/2430.html

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mermaids-uk-charity-ban-as-boy-forced-to-live-as-girl-dvx3j99cn?shareToken=25dfa5e0f54bb6dd3dad0e320d46f085

Thank you so much for your swift responses.

I think I need more of a simple, 3 or 5 point conversational argument. Think ‘sitting at dinner talking’ rather than bombarding her with links to read.

What main points would you raise in conversation?

I work in safeguarding, so you’d think I would be well versed in this. However, I’m sadly not. I only ever talk about this to a few GC allies (echo chamber) - mainly my Mum, actually! My own professional area is uber woke, so haven’t even put my head above the parapet there yet 😞

A variety of sources on Mermaids' data breach: www.gutenberg.org/files/345/345-h/345-h.htm

You can also read through this weekend's Mumsnet coverage on the Lib Dems' pharmaceutical co donation, for some sources about the effects of puberty blockers on children.

Also agree about the Tavistock whistleblowers and the Sue Evans/ "Mum A" case going to court: loads of arguments and evidence sources marshalled there, too.

Then there was that time Helen Islan, ex-comms and press officer for Mermaids, took a trans person to court for transphobia and lost very very badly. (it was a criminal case so technically it was the CPS who took Miranda to court)

uncommongroundmedia.com/miranda-yardley-transsexual-prosecuted-transgender-hate-crime/

I had a quick look but couldn't find a video I saw on their ws about support for parents where they spoke to a mother of a primary aged child who had 'been trans' for several years, meaning they were first 'identified' under 5. I was quite surprised they allowed this to go out under their name as it was clearly a parent thing not a child thing. Maybe that's why I can't find it now

Isn't there that video of Susan Greene giggling about her child's micro penis because of blockers?

Child J:
This little boy had a very mentally unwell mother who tried to transition her son into a girl when there was plenty of evidence that this was not the child's wishes. Mermaids were involved and the judge was scathing about them and other professionals who followed the ideology and allowed the child to be repeatedly emotionally abused by the mother. He was removed from the mother's care and now lives with his father.
It's a long judgement but very worth reading as a classic example of the harm that adults can do to a child when they follow a belief rather than centre a child's needs:

hiwww.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2016/2430.html

Tell your friend, "Find me a single news article from anywhere in the world about a transing child that doesn't mention toys and I might begin to think this is not a child abuse issue."

Isn't there that video of Susan Greene giggling about her child's micro penis because of blockers?

39 minutes in.

Here it is ItsAll:

xpost

I think the thing that always gets me about Mermaids is how reliant it is on gender stereotypes.

It's all about what toys they like, what hairstyle - long or short! - what clothes they want to wear.

Mermaids answer to a child saying they want to be a 'girl' or a 'boy' is to change the child's body to match the appropriate gender stereotype - rather than just saying "fuck me, you can be a girl, and like football and have short hair, and even call yourself Tom, all you like!" - but to introduce powerful drugs like puberty blockers - at such a young age - is that the right thing to do? I think not.

The pathway Mermaids take is 100% affirmation - and they endorse puberty blockers - which in almost all cases lead to a medical pathway including cross sex hormones and surgery.

Yet substantial evidence shows that around 80% of children, when left alone, "watchful waiting" (ie without puberty blockers), and given counselling, and allowed to present how they like - will desist.

I find it so, so disturbing how Mermaids push affirmation and puberty blockers. I feel sure that puberty - while often distressing - is an essential thing to go through - linked to brain maturation, not just the secondary sex characteristics development. Puberty blockers have been linked to an inhibited cognitive function too. None of this is good IMO.

I would also mention the whistle blowers at the Tavi, the resignations, and Marcus Evans, the top bod at the Tavi who resigned over this.

Have a look at the Transgender Trend website to help you form your arguments.

Don’t forget that god awful training session.

Ask her if she thinks it’s okay that a powerful lobby is influencing politicians whilst deliberately avoiding public debate and media scrutiny? The reason for the secrecy is their agenda has no popular support. Is that democratic? Ask her if she thinks it’s okay people are sacked for a belief in biological sex. Does she value freedom of thought? Freedom of speech? Tell her to google Maya Forstater and Harry the Owl. Show her the article below.

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/12/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/

They promote a removal of safeguarding and work to isolate children from their parents at school where the parent might wish to take a more cautious approach - I.e. they push positive affirmation at schools whether or not the parents agree.

You can get them to say quite a lot on their webchat, like here when they told “me” school staff shouldn’t tell parents anything about their child being trans unless that child wants them to- can lead to a teacher(s) affirming and reinforcing the ideology on the child behind the parents’ backs.

Mermaids advocate a medicalised route for children who are confused about their gender, despite evidence that children who do not take a medicalised route often desist.

They advertised the services of Helen Webberly on their website even after she'd been suspended by the GMC.