BBC removes trans charities from support page

[teawamutu]

From Penis News, but hopefully this link won't give them revenues:

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200710172219/www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/10/bbc-gender-identity-support-mermaids-lgbt-transgender-non-binary/" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200710172219/www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/10/bbc-gender-identity-support-mermaids-lgbt-transgender-non-binary/

[Kit19]

I agree merry

I don’t think they are financially dodgy the way Kids Company were

Still think they are wholly irresponsible in multiple ways though

[NeurotrashWarrior]

The thing that bothers me the most about mermaids are the obvious hoards of 18 year olds who can volunteer for an awful lot of contact with younger children. The new website is plastered with "ways you can help." It's going to be mostly younger woke types volunteering, as it's a trend and not a charity connected to middle or old age health issues.

I'm sure some are thinking they've being altruistic but the projection will be enormous and they'll have no real understanding of a raft of complex safeguarding issues in a mature way. And that's at the most positive end. At worst, they're very likely to be encouraging (or the other word beginning with G.)

This is not a neutral organisation and it is not a transparent organisation.

If the bbc have any semblance of safeguarding post Savile it's wise to remove such an organisation from its pages.

Thomasin describes in the times detrans article how an older TW encouraged and dismissed doubts and how she was encouraged via tumblr etc (groomed.)

[merrymouse]

Given the recent Newsnight report on GIDs and the current concerns about whistleblowers and safeguarding, and the likely involvement of Mermaids in all of those concerns, it seems unwise of the BBC to continue to link to Mermaids.

If this does all blow up, they won't be able to say they weren't aware of what was going on.

[Thingybob]

Will Mermaids be seeing big changes in the next week?

If the Times story from a few weeks back is correct, Liz Truss will be reporting on the governments plans for the GRA before parliamentary recess next Wednesday.

In April, when detailing the priorities of the Equalities Office she said,

"Finally, which is not a direct issue concerning the Gender Recognition Act, but is relevant, making sure that the under 18s are protected from decisions that they could make, that are irreversible in the future. I believe strongly that adults should have the freedom to lead their lives as they see fit, but I think it’s very important that while people are still developing their decision-making capabilities that we protect them from making those irreversible decisions."

Wouldn't it make sense for her to tackle both these difficult issues at the same time or am I being too optimistic?

[Binglebong]

It would make perfect sense. But sense and politicians rarely go hand in hand!

[GrimDamnFanjo]

I'm concerned to read that Liz Truss is rumoured to be for the sack shortly :(

[Greengreatgran]

Tell this to Welsh Gov't who have a trans-biased group writing the RSE curriculum, backed by a declared commitment to Stonewall.

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

I'm crossing my fingers that there HAVE been financial irregularities at Mermaids because I will laugh and laugh and laugh if I hear Susie Green saying "that money was just resting in my account"

I'd probably die of laughter.

[ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings]

vivarium if that happens I'll have the tweet framed and hung in my living room 😂

[NearlyGranny]

I suspect the BBC's in-house lawyers are hearing the distant rumble of massive class actions involving de-transitioners. While the Beeb is demonstrably ready to throw women licence payers under the latest trendy bus, I predict it will be much more careful with our money.

[ScrimpshawTheSecond]

the distant rumble of massive class actions involving de-transitioners.

Such a shame that it takes legal pressure and the threat of monetary losses to effect change. Nobody really seems to care that much about lives ruined or the problems caused for women until it gets legal.

[ThatsHowWeRowl]

I'm crossing my fingers that there HAVE been financial irregularities at Mermaids because I will laugh and laugh and laugh if I hear Susie Green saying "that money was just resting in my account"

Imagine the memes!

[ThatsHowWeRowl]

I suspect the BBC's in-house lawyers are hearing the distant rumble of massive class actions involving de-transitioners.

Yes, the sky is definitely becoming a distinct shade of grey....

[Wolfgirrl]

I believe in 'gender dysphoria' as a mental illness, but I think the number of people truly affected is tiny, and most of the people claiming to be affected today are probably not truly dysphoric.

I think there is going to be a huge number of people in 20 years' time seeking to reverse their surgery and go back to their original 'gender' and the NHS will have a lot of lawsuits on their hands. It will go down as a scandal like thalidomide etc.

I think the BBC are distancing themselves from being seen to 'promote' dodgy organisations like Mermaids and instead swapping for a more generalised 'speak to your GP' approach. That way they can absolve responsibility by taking the 'we were following the experts' route, sort of like what Johnson is doing with corona.

[gardenbird48]

@Wolfgirrl - absolutely- although from Keira Bell’s recent thread it seems that the lobbyists have succeeded in getting it redefined so it is no longer a mental health issue - I’m not sure how they define it though. Also Stonewall has stated (I’ve got a link somewhere) that you can be trans without having dysphoria (I really can’t see how that makes any sense) which moves the concept of transgender even further from the lay person’s understanding. I have also noticed that they are including ‘Cross dressing’ under the trans umbrella so it makes the whole concept so vague as to be meaningless. Leaving it all wide open to being defined at will by the self appointed ‘owners’ of the definitions - Stonewall -and making it virtually impossible to argue because it is so vague. I reread Animal Farm recently and it is sounding so familiar. Especially the bit about the incremental rewriting of the rules.

[umbel]

The BBC might be backing slowly away from Mermaids, but they’re not backing away from the ideology. I see they’ve just bought this for CBBC: tvtonight.com.au/2020/07/first-day-to-screen-in-uk.html

[ThatsHowWeRowl]

although from Keira Bell’s recent thread it seems that the lobbyists have succeeded in getting it redefined so it is no longer a mental health issue

The contradiction of

'Gender dysphoria is not a mental illness and needs to be de-psychopathologised'

And

'If you don't put this 12 year old child on puberty blockers immediately they are going to kill themselves and it's better to have a living daughter than a dead son'

Certainly is a tricky circle to square!

[PumbaasCucumbas]

And why does anything vaguely equality/lgbt/trans rights end up with donations to mermaids.... surely adult/late transitioners have specific needs and may need charity support? International women’s day... mermaids? I just don’t get it. They must be one of the richest charities in the country.

[nauticant]

I believe in 'gender dysphoria' as a mental illness, but I think the number of people truly affected is tiny, and most of the people claiming to be affected today are probably not truly dysphoric.

This was written some years ago before it became transphobic to think that trans people were trans because of their gender dysphoria:

According to the DSM-5, among individuals who are assigned male at birth, approximately 0.005 percent to 0.014 percent are later diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Among individuals who are assigned female at birth, approximately 0.002 percent to 0.003 percent are later diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Because these estimates are based on the number of people who seek formal treatment—including hormone therapy and/or surgical reassignment—these rates are likely an underestimate of actual prevalence.

www.psychologytoday.com/gb/conditions/gender-dysphoria

If one assumed the numbers are still relevant today, one could ask that if less than 5% of trans people have gender dyshoria, what condition do the remaining 95+% have?

[Wolfgirrl]

@nauticant

There is a high incidence of autism among people with gender dysphoria.

It is also generally accepted that there has been an increase in autism, although I am not sure to what extent.

It just baffles me that rather than say 'Hmmm, before drugging children with lifelong consequences, shall we look into why there has been a 4000% rise?'

I also suspect part of it IS a fad if I'm honest. Anyone that thinks teenagers wouldn't go to such extremes to be edgy and cool clearly havent met many teenagers. I hate to triviliase it as it is most often genuine, but there was a bit of a self harming fad when I was a teenager. A lot of people now have lifelong scars.

[gonesolo]

I find it odd that it’s against the law for someone under 18 to get a tattoo, presumably because we don’t want young people to make a rash decision and have something done to their bodies which is permanent and very difficult to reverse if they regret it/change their mind. And yet there are organisations allowing young people to make these major changes to their body which have far greater implications.

[Xanthangum]

it seems that the lobbyists have succeeded in getting it redefined so it is no longer a mental health issue - I’m not sure how they define it though.

Japanese lobbyists have succeeded in getting the status of gender identity disorder changed so that it is no longer considered a mental illness.

The new guideline, which will go into effect from 2022, reflects the thinking that gender diversity is not a form of illness but rather a matter of personal choice.

www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/13533139

Which is a kind of 'careful what you wish for' thing I feel. By removing the stigma that comes with a mental illness diagnosis you also remove the medical and social support - and sympathy- that comes with that diagnosis.

[Wolfgirrl]

How is it not a mental illness like body dysmorphia or anorexia? Is there any difference at all?

[aliasundercover]

Stonewall’s “ cross dressers are trans” thing is something I cannot get my head around.
Many TRAs claim self ID isn’t just anyone saying they’re trans, there will be safeguards,,etc. But surely cross-dressing is as simple as a man putting on a dress - job done.

So these are the people women have to accept in their spaces: any man with access to a skirt is trans, and we’re doing them literal violence if we don’t agree.

[hoodathunkit]

How is it not a mental illness like body dysmorphia or anorexia?

or a dissociative disorder?

"Dissociative disorders remain controversial in respect of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder), which is much more frequently diagnosed in America, Dissociation of a body part is, however, a recognised phenomenon and may occur again under conditions of extreme distress, with the subject feeling that part of their body no longer belongs to them. Similarly, this is associated with other mental disorders such as mood difficulties."

source: (scroll down)
www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/psychological-evidence-toolkit-guide-crown-prosecutors.

or conversion disorder or body dysmorphic disorder
www.nhs.uk/conditions/body-dysmorphia/

or a whole lot of other conditions