Mermaids vs Kids Company

[MrsNoah2020]

I keep seeing comparisons of the two, and I think they are misleading. Camilla Batmanghelidjh is as mad as a box of frogs, a total narcissist, and racist to boot, but I have never seen any evidence that she wasn't genuine in her original intention of helping deprived kids. KC was a charity with a laudable mission, which it totally failed to deliver because of its crazy methods and abysmal management.

Mermaids, meanwhile, seems to be quite well-run from a management point of view, and very successful at delivering its objectives. But it's far more sinister than KC because its mission is to encourage kids to undergo harmful treatments that leave them infertile, incapable of sexual function and medicalised for life. It would be better for all concerned if Mermaids were as chaotic and clueless as KC, but it isn't. And if is far, far more embedded in institutions and the Establishment than KC ever was.

The only thing the two really have in common is the support of a bunch of witless celebrities.

I don't like the comparison, because it underplays the sinister nature of Mermaids' mission. Camilla B got let off with a slap on the wrist. Mermaids needs to be held to account for all the kids whose lives have been irrevocably damaged.

I think any comparisons are that both were ‘well regarded’, well funded and had celeb status. Then the shit hit the KC fan.

I take your points but it's a useful comparison because it makes people think....oh shiiiiit.....or at least it should
I told my MP this was a combination of KC and thalidomide. She never replied but it's striking enough that she will remember it I think when the shit hits the fan.

Waiting on this thread going poof...

@Sexnotgender

Waiting on this thread going poof...

Really? I can't keep up with the rules on here. I avoided the M word, whichI know Mermaids don't like.

FWIW, I am prepared to believe that S did think she was doing the right thing for her child, however misguided I may feel her actions were. I also don't deny that there are children in genuine distress from gender dysphoria, and far too little resource out there to help them, so I understand why Mermaids ended up filling that gap. But then, as the money and publicity snowballed, things got out of hand.

There were posts being deleted on other threads for making comparisons between the 2.

I think it’s more of an analogy really. KC were massive, everyone threw money at them, celebrities queued up to endorse them & fundraise for them, CB had direct access to government dept. Anyone who questioned them was shouted down & CB would deploy epic levels of emotional blackmail - stopping meetings to take a call from a child who was about to commit suicide was a favourite tactic. KC was horrendously mismanaged but anyone who wanted to look could see that was the case years in advance, they just didn’t want to see. Same level of wilful blindness with mermaids - it’s not mismanaged in the way KC was but there are many deeply concerning issues with them but people in power have chosen not to see them