Mermaids and the evolving understanding of gender identity.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Given recent events, I thought it would be interesting to trawl the Wayback Machine and see how the organisation has developed over time with regards to diagnosing children as transgender.

What is Gender Dysphoria?

2009
Gender Identity Disorders in infancy, childhood and adolescence are complex and have varied causes: in the majority of cases the eventual outcome will be homosexuality or bisexuality, but often there will be a heterosexual outcome as some gender issues can be caused by a bereavement, a dysfunctional family life, or (rarely) by abuse. Only a small proportion of cases will result in a transsexual outcome
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090307015630/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/gidca.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20090307015630/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/gidca.html

2010
Gender dyphoria, also known as Gender Identity Disorder, applies to someone who is unhappy with their biological sex and who wishes to belong to the other one.

Gender Identity is the sense of belief that "I am male" or "I am female". A child becomes aware of its gender identity before or around the age of five years, in many cases as early as 2 or 3 years of age. In most people their gender identity is the same as their sex, i.e. a woman or girl feels she is female and a man or boy feels he is male, but in a few people their gender identity and their sex do not match, and this can cause problems.

Gender Identity Issues vary considerably, some may be transient in nature, and some may not. They may arise when a child exhibits cross-gender behaviour to some degree or other. Some may be boys who prefer to take the female role or vice versa; others may have a compulsion to play with toys mostly used by the other sex (for instance, a boy who predominantly plays with dolls or a girl who always plays with action men and 'army toys'). Some children may only feel comfortable when playing with peers of the other physical sex, or may cross-dress from time to time.

Some children may be unhappy about their own biological sex and either wish to belong to the other one, or feel that they actually do; some adolescents may experience a crisis over a problem of gender identity or sexual orientation, or both. These situations can lead to considerable concern and distress for all those involved.
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100718215911/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/New%20Mermaids/whatisgid.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20100718215911/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/New%20Mermaids/whatisgid.htm

2012
For example, your daughter may say that she wants to be a boy, or your son may identify himself as a girl. Or perhaps you are worried about your child's cross gender behaviour, but they won't discuss it with you, and instead are isolated and withdrawn.

Or it may be you, as a young person, and you feel that your body is wrong, and that you should have been a girl if you were born a boy, or a boy if you were born a girl.
(Added to 2010 description)
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121109215055/mermaidsuk.org.uk/index.php/what-is-gender-dysphoria" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20121109215055/mermaidsuk.org.uk/index.php/what-is-gender-dysphoria

They seem to have removed their page about gender dysphoria sometime after 2016. However, we can glean some information about how to diagnose children from their parent testimonials

2019
"Kelly"
“From the age of two we started to notice that Evie didn’t quite fit in. I thought that my son was going to be gay, but it became apparent that there was something more than that.

“Evie always wanted to play with dolls, and never had any interest in traditional boys toys, like cars or dinosaurs. We had an older son and the two could not have been more different.

“Evie loved bracelets and constantly wanted to wear one, and when I bought the children Guess Who? to play she unclipped all the female faces and put them in a handbag to carry around with her.

“Evie would look longingly at other little girls who were wearing dresses or skirts, and every time I picked her up from the childminder she would be have raided the dressing up box for a princess costume. She would come to the door to meet me in a sparkly pink dress and a tiara with a big smile on her face.

“At other children’s houses she would love putting on the princess outfits, and would have a meltdown when she had to take them off as it was time to leave.
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190301090129/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/parents-voices.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20190301090129/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/parents-voices.html

"Denise"
“We didn’t notice Sally having any particular problems or issues as she was growing up, but her primary school was very small and the classes were mixed together in infants, so there was no real distinction between boys and girls or age groups.

“But looking back I can see there were pointers. Sally always wanted to play with the dressing up box, and she always wanted to be a princess. She always wanted long hair too.
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190301090129/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/parents-voices.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20190301090129/www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/parents-voices.html

To me the whole issue is that SG affirmed her child’s feelings about being a girl and this was encouraged by Mermaids who she contacted. Once it was affirmed that was it, everyone was on the trans train.
GD is treated by transitioning as it isn’t a MH issue any more right? So SG’s son was just diagnosed and put on the path to change sex. Rather than the son either being left alone (as they now advocate) or receiving help for his GD.
It’s a bit like wedding photos. However crap they are, you’re obliged to think they’re great as there’s no second round!

@yourhairiswinterfire

Looks like the Guardian missed the memo (sorry if it's been posted already)

twitter.com/guardian/status/1309866584735875072

Little Girl Review-tender film about a girl born in a boy's body.

Even more disturbing is the interview with the filmmaker (he reminds me of a certain high profile campaigner🤔). At about 12:30, he talks about inveigling his way into the child's bedroom.

@CharlieParley

So, what happens to the wrong puberty demands if there's no such thing as born in the wrong body?

We do know this claim is a vital cornerstone holding up transgender ideology. Very many non-homosexual males who transition later in life retcon their childhoods to underline their claims to being born in the wrong body, pointing to children suffering from gender dysphoria to legitimise their claims. (Regardless of the fact that almost all children who suffer it desist in the end.)

It's also why the trans community's stance on medical treatment is so incongruous. Children must be transitioned medically and as soon as possible, because this holds up that vital cornerstone, but adults must not be expected to transition medically because the numbers of those comfortable with their sexed bodies far outnumber the transsexuals who are so unhappy with their bodies they do feel the need to transition medically. Children serve an important purpose in aid of the ideology - they legitimise the narratives of late transitioners, they shore up public support, their exclusion from opposite sex provisions is easier to attack as unkind and they make resistance so much more difficult. Because who wants to be accused of being cruel to children by opposing the ideology and its demands.

And in all of that, the need of these vulnerable children to be protected from iatrogenic harm has been ignored. That is the principle that underlies the watchful waiting approach. That there be no avoidable harm to the children suffering from gender dysphoria by medically transitioning the large numbers who would naturally desist.

Brilliant post CharlieParley as always.

That is the principle that underlies the watchful waiting approach. That there be no avoidable harm to the children suffering from gender dysphoria by medically transitioning the large numbers who would naturally desist.

I wonder if this will be one of the outcomes of Keira's case against the affirmation approach. And if so, will GIDS and the 3 new clinics follow it

? sorry but a positive outcome to a court case for Keira would give them no choice, or am I misunderstanding.

@highame

? sorry but a positive outcome to a court case for Keira would give them no choice, or am I misunderstanding.

I hope so @highame I've no legal expertise and have no idea how it would work legally. I would imagine though, that the social outcry after Keira's case alone would surely stop the affirmation only model. They might even claim we 'never did the affirmation model' just like they 'never said 'born in the wrong body'.

@highame

? sorry but a positive outcome to a court case for Keira would give them no choice, or am I misunderstanding.

if we're talking about the same case for Keira (I think there is a sort of bundling with Susan Evans judicial review) - she updated recently to say that her case is now stopped because an NHS review of GIDS is now going to take place.

There is some major concern however that the review will be anything but independent though as the Care Quality Commission are involved and they are fully paid up Stonewallies - in the Top 100 list no less.

savageminds.substack.com/p/the-care-quality-commission this article sets out the concerns.

The reverse ferret reaching insane levels:

twitter.com/tryingattimes/status/1310327722082742272

Have been off social media for awhile and busy in RL. have I missed something? Have Mermaids done a complete 180 and now saying that kids should be free to play with whatever toys they want, wear whatever they want and that this isn't a sign of being born in te wrong body or being trans - exactly what GC women have been saying since they had kids? From an organisation headed by a woman that had her son undergo sex reassignment surgery at 15/16 with the almost exclusive justification of liking playing with "girls" toys?

Can someone explain how this has unfolded? I take it there's going to be some sort of attempt to turn it all on us?

Can someone explain how this has unfolded? I take it there's going to be some sort of attempt to turn it all on us?

Oh yes, last night I even saw aTRA tweeting that TWAW was never meant to be taken literally. Apparently all that, and the wrong body stuff, was just GC people being too stupid to see it was all poetic metaphors.

Everyone's favourite fox hunting lawyer seems to be determined to forge ahead without reading the room (probably because he's blocked everyone).

Considering even orgs like the BBC have backed away slowly this seems like a spectacularly daft move at this juncture.

I know GC people believe that people are gifted with some kind of magic, unmeasurable, immutable sexed soul at conception, but there's just no evidence for that mate

Have we got a jaw-on-the-floor emoticon yet?

Such binary thinking; can this person not understand that our argument that gendered souls dished out at conception is bollocks isn't an assertion that souls are sexed, not gendered?

A hell of a lot of us don't believe that souls are sexed or gendered because we don't believe in souls.

[quote HPFA]The reverse ferret reaching insane levels:

twitter.com/tryingattimes/status/1310327722082742272[/quote]

When I followed that link I was told:

"This is not available to you."

What is it I'm not allowed to see? Anyone?

See the italics in my post right above yours, Butcher.

In response someone's highlighted the tweeter's bio, which states "I was literally born in the wrong body." Which looks rather like an assertion of the existence of sexed souls.

When I followed that link I was told:

"This is not available to you."

What is it I'm not allowed to see? Anyone?

Just try it again - worked second time for me.

Ah, yes, thank you both. And yes the link did work.

Gardenbird Keira does have another case I think or perhaps she is a witness. Getting confused but her page on Crowd Justice is not showing the second case and only shows the one that is on hold pending the review.

When I saw her page, there was a link to an article about 'no such things as being born in the wrong body' written last September, so no one can say it wasn't being used as a serious term quillette.com/2019/09/24/no-one-is-born-in-the-wrong-body

@Nestme, this is the key post:

twitter.com/Mermaids_Gender/status/1309192315467116547

Anyway, @KatyMontgomerie operates on social media as a troll. Worth doing an Internet search to find out places that have more information about them but otherwise best ignored.

It's all too little, too late. And too mad.

Let mermaids and Stonewall set themselves up as gender critical trainers in schools.

They don't have any material.

Un B bloody believable. I take it their lawyers have pointed out the personal liability coming their way when they start losing cases. How does anyone at Mermaids sleep at night?

And all this cos someone was married to some homophobic arsehole and was too afraid to stand up to him.

In fairness it should be noted that there are a few rather odd voices turning up on "our" side too.

twitter.com/fairplaywomen/status/1309750244947759110

I mean, getting a seat at the table is huge progress - saying that groups are "selling out" by sitting down with Stonewall is basically going to guarantee irrelevance. There is absolutely no possibility that any of the political parties are going to adopt a position of abolishing the GRA.

I agree - FPFW need to be in the same room as stonewall having the discussion. Refusing to be in the same room with them would achieve nothing.

I agree too. Can’t believe some people were against FPFW being there.

It reminds me of the position of some in the Labour Party. The purity of the ideology is paramount. Even if that means being in perpetual opposition and not being able to shape what happens. It's safe and people can enjoy their no-compromise position while changing stuff is left to others.