Newly Published Mermaids article by Jo Bartosch for Spiked.

[DuDuDuLangaLangaBingBong]

An excellent, Jo Bartosch, long-read article on Mermaids published by Spiked today:

www.spiked-online.com/2020/07/03/mermaids-leading-children-up-the-trans-path/

Thank you for sharing - that's a great article and I included a link to it in my letter to Tesco about their donation to Mermaids.

DuDuDu I'm so sorry about how your stepdaughter has been treated and I hope that lockdown will help her step away from the positive affirmation madness.

Oh well, the aibu thread didn't last long, but interestingly drew comments for MNers that I hadn't seen on the FWR threads. All pleased to hear what's happening, and all supporting child safeguarding -- not surprising on Mumsnet.

It really is quite poorly written and very biased. The fact that it is affirming the bias (correct or not) of this board is making people lose their critical facilities.

It is a shame as the facts speak for themselves.

I am far closer to gender critical than the reverse but diatribes do not change people’s opinion, merely entrench them.

The counsellor had informed my stepdaughter that a hatred of one’s breasts could be an indicator of a non-binary, or transgender male identity
Oh god damn these idiots to hell! What qualifications does this shitforbrains 'counsellor' have? And the school -- beyond disgraceful.

I hated my breasts at that age, and hid them as much as I could, for the same totally obvious reason as your stepdaughter and millions of other girls -- sexual harassment by men. Much exacerbated these days by the porn-soaked culture children grow up in, no matter how much their parents try to protect them.

I'm so sorry your stepdaughter, and all your family, are being put through this totally unnecessary stress and pain, Du. Bad enough when a child is ill, but when a child is mistreated by adults -- unbearable. Love and best wishes to you all, and I hope both your little daughter and your stepdaughter recover fully.

Thank you, DuLang.

I wish you and your family the very best.

RoyalCorgi, you are right they are far worse, I should have expanded to explain that my comparison to Kidz Company was more about a charity being exposed as a fraud rather than a comment on the work they do.

@larrygrylls

It really is quite poorly written and very biased. The fact that it is affirming the bias (correct or not) of this board is making people lose their critical facilities.

It is a shame as the facts speak for themselves.

I am far closer to gender critical than the reverse but diatribes do not change people’s opinion, merely entrench them.

What about it is biased? Genuine question, not being goady.

I don't know why its a biased diatribe. It looks really carefully done to me. Have you clicked on all the links Larry? In what way don't they stand up to scrutiny?

It is a shame as the facts speak for themselves.

Larry, could you give some examples, please?

The facts certainly do speak for themselves.

An excellent piece and really good read. Thanks Jo.

I thought it was well and clearly written.

doesnt read like a diatribe to me either

i still dont understand how a small charity like Mermaids has this much influence

ive worked in the charity sector for years. Very very few charities ever get this much access to power and the ability to influence policy and practice. it beggars belief that one of the few successful ones is this one; charities for people with learning disabilities for example would give their right arm to have even half as much influence as Mermaids has

DuDuDuLangaLangaBingBong, I've just read your family's story and wanted to wish you all the best. And hooray for Coronavirus, coming along and disrupting things and giving your lovely girl time to catch a breath.

I am seething with rage at the school's part in this, and the counsellor. Can the counsellor be reported? What happened to safeguarding? This is the big question.

Larry, please elaborate on this It really is quite poorly written

Give examples of what you mean by that, please. I started my career in journalism and later went into publishing and the media and to me it seems a calm and professional account and by no means poorly written.

I thought it was a really clear article and shared it on Facebook. Yes, why has she got so much power? Reminds me of Kid's Company x 100.

I hated my breasts as a young teen. Hated that it hurt to lie on my front, hated that I could no longer run around topless but the boys still could, hated the teasing and comments I got from boys, hated boys pinging my bra (although I liked my starter bra that came in a square cardboard box - anyone remember those?). I felt very sorry for one girl in top juniors who was fully developed and had to hide under a table to get changed for PE.
By the time I was 15 or so I learnt to love them, and appreciate them. But that first couple of years, nope, hated them and wished them away.

What safeguarding policies are in place at Mermaids? Surely as a children’s charity safeguarding should be paramount. I have noticed on Twitter there are quite a few parents of trans kids, who are clearly completely wrapped up in the trans ideology and constantly seek approval for their parenting/kudos from various higher profile trans rights posters on Twitter. One in particular highlights any trans questioning posts or media attention and immediately personalises it to their child as if the child is being singled out and that horrible adults are calling the child names. Usually with a picture of the child with sad face. This inevitably engenders a barrage of affirming posts. It all screams out fabricated illness -or Munchausen by proxy as it was previously known - which is a safeguarding issue and should merit a referral to social care. How do Mermaids safeguard the children accessing their service against fabricated or exaggerated illness? Is there any data regarding how many safeguarding referrals Mermaids make a year?

Ah genderbread, to Mermaids questioning = transphobia so there will be absolutely no safeguarding checks. Unfortunately this affirmation only approach is being pushed at places like the Tavistock where, as the report says, clinicians have strongly suspected strong homophobic feelings from the parents and in a few awful cases that the children concerned have been subject to sexual abuse.