Ooo, Jo Maugham isn't happy...

[Xanthangum]

Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) Tweeted:
"We waited some weeks for the BBC to be ready to cover our legal action to protect the legal rights of trans children. And the piece is up and is quite extraordinary. I'm not going to link to it because it is inaccurate and gives space to a transphobic hate group." twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1330758709140729856?s=20

Which I assume refers to this piece:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55015959

And he says this about LGB Alliance, which feels stupidly for a lawyer libellous: The third point is they have quoted the so-called LGB Alliance - a dark money funded astro-turfed hate group - on the healthcare of trans teenagers. What next? Will the BBC be quoting white supremacists on whether sickle cell anaemia should be treated on the NHS?

Honestly the women on here. Are the best. Ever

Agreed

Yes. Thanks, women 😊

He is such a tube. Laughed like a drain at that

That’s the insults we throw at our sibs

You are a tube

No you are a tube.

Sums up the privelged tube Maugham

As I’ve been reading Austin I will simply say that he does seem to be a deeply unpleasant man —keeping my swears for later—

Surely the “send people abroad for trans surgery” demand is only one step down from the crazy crazy Edinburgh Action for Trans Health “let us do our own surgery” demand

@Duckwit

He's retweeted a follower who is deeply swayed by the asinine observation that if someone wants to attack a woman in changing rooms they don't need trans rights to dress up as a woman to do so.

Ah yes the 'look ladies, blokes are gonna rape you anyway so we might as well just let anyone in anywhere and if you are not comfortable with that well I'm afraid that's just tough shit'.

Great, fucking thanks a lot!

How very t phobic! No one has to dress as a woman to enter a woman’s space because all identifies are valid and you are your identify. You cannot challenge anyone.

Is this person getting cancelled?

@KiposWonderbeasts

My 14yo had to wait 2 weeks before I’d let her bleach her hair, ffs. Bollocks would I let her make life altering permanent medical decisions at that age! Why aren’t the parents advocating caution for their child?

With JM, do you think his garment choice when fox-bashing is why he’s so keen on this?

To be fair many of us are. Proceeding with caution is definitely my MO for my gender questioning child. It’s a myth that all parents of children with possible gender dysphoria are desperate to get to GIDs so we can shove hormones into them. Many of us just want the psychological support .

@gardenbird48

the person he is talking about is 14!! They have been gaslit for years by trusted adults and friends that they are 'really' male and must therefore fix their body to match. I remember being 14 quite clearly and there was absolutely no way that I should ever have been allowed to make life changing decisions at that age (nor most of my peers) - that's why 14 year olds are children and the age of majority is not 14.

It must be luck of the draw on waiting times. Many cancer treatments and treatments for life limiting or altering conditions have huge waiting times so as wellthats points out there is no difference there.

The person I know who realised they were non binary seemed to get an appointment with the gender clinic during lockdown pretty much straightaway (either that or they realised they were nb after the gender clinic appt, I'm not sure) but they started taking testosterone 3 months later so hardly a significant amount of time considering the life changing impact of the treatment (which is already causing changes).

Bev Jackson makes such reasonable points about self-diagnosis and it is nice to see a non-derogatory reference to LGB Alliance (is this new DG Tim's influence?)

The person you know must have gone private as the child waiting list is now 3 years and the adult one even longer.

@MillieEpple

I dont think thats fair. When your child is hugely struggling you end up desperate and if medical professionals are telling you this is the solution then you put your trust in them. It can take a long time to feel confident enough to stand up to the professionals. I have this with my sons SEN. At first we did everything we were told. Not all of us understand medical language even. I still get told things like 'child is maladaptive and needs excessive proprioceptive input' and have to head off and look up each word, then assess if their solution is in any way evidenced. I dont have a degree. I was under social services care and got a job at 17 as a secretary.

Its why its really important those with education and time fight as parents are too exhausted looking after their unhappy child.

Absolutely - dealing with both Autism and a gender questioning child you have to Wade through red tape, medical vocabulary at the same time as trying to understand what on earth is going on for your child. It’s time consuming, distressing and exhausting.

Was there a newsletter distributed with appropriate talking points for allies? Because Naomi Wolf read it too. With Xmas coming up, I’d be happy for a large bundle of used twenties to be dropped over my garden gate

I’ve yet to see any financial return for having sold my soul to the dark side. There’s an annoying whiff of sulphur about in the mornings, but that could be the eggs for tea, I suppose.

I question what skills he has exactly in the game. Same with OJ. They ramp up the narrative with such aggressive enthusiasm.

Skills? I meant skin!

@Fraida, it must be awful and you have my sympathy. My own teen with ASD and a MH crisis had us worried to death, and we weren’t fighting against a tide of Mermaids misinformation.

That sounds tough, fraida

@Fraida and @SophocIestheFox thank you.

Just addressing a few points on this thread: I don’t think anyone could or should argue that waiting lists for the NHS as a whole are not intolerable. No one should have to wait in pain or mental distress, however the option to challenge is open to anyone as in this particular case. Going private simply isn’t financially viable for many people and most people don’t have private health insurance. We are fortunate to be able to pay for private support in lieu of Tier 3 CAMHS services which are quite frankly not fit for purpose.

Bringing me on to my next point, GIDs is considered a specialist mental health service and thus a Tier 4 service the same as adolescent inpatient psychiatric units. The wait for the latter varies but can be up to three weeks which is also intolerable when you have a teen experiencing an acute mental health disorder. The point being here that CAMHs will not touch gender dysphoria in the community, instead will refer on to the Tavi. Thus what are parents supposed to do for their child who is suffering from conditions associated with the GD?! The only answer based on the structures above is timely access to GIDs to avoid worsening of the symptoms and to tackle the reasons that may lie behind the dysphoria. As many people have identified most kids work their way through this and come out the other side having decided not to transition.

Not providing a service that is fit for purpose runs the risk of people falling into the hands of organisations such as gender gp that work on a model of affirmation rather than assessment and will prescribe after one information gathering session. Even worse teens have been known to purchase hormones from overseas on line and self medicate.

Gender dysphoria is hideous and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, it’s awful watching your child in so much distress.

The bottom line for me is that we do need speedier access to GIDs so that children can be counselled, assessed and monitored and thus saving children from worsening associated mental health disorders.

Ultimately I want my child to be robustly and carefully supported psychologically, if over time a diagnosis of GD is made and precipitating factors discounted then yes I will support medical transition (which can’t happen under the NHS until the age of 16). Neither myself or my child, thankfully, want to go down the route of blockers.

I'm not sure if the Naomi Wolf's really believe us all to be a right wing cabal (personally, I'm really not and actually just a normal person) or if it's a tactic of if you keep saying it, other people will believe it. Chuck enough mud and it sticks sort of thing.
The righteous left really think they represent all non right wing thinking. But this is a fundamental problem that Labour have in the UK, an inability to accommodate a range of opinion within the party.

@DancelikeEmmaGoldman

Was there a newsletter distributed with appropriate talking points for allies? Because Naomi Wolf read it too. With Xmas coming up, I’d be happy for a large bundle of used twenties to be dropped over my garden gate

I’ve yet to see any financial return for having sold my soul to the dark side. There’s an annoying whiff of sulphur about in the mornings, but that could be the eggs for tea, I suppose.

It WOULD be ironic if such groups were getting money from people called the Koch brothers.

I am guessing that they are making such a fuss about funding to force LGB Alliance to publish their receipts - seeing a lot of demands for that.
They can then see who supported LGB Alliance and target them.

@Duckwit

There does seem to be an increasing desperation to stop the wheels coming off. David Paisley and his 'research' into the LGB Alliance, Jolyon and his claims (which as a PP said are fairly surprising for a lawyer to make), lots of links to Pink News everywhere claiming this and that. And now Owen Jones is supporting JM and wanging on about 'transphobic haters'.

Surely the most sensible thing to do when the wheels start coming off is jump off the fucking bandwagon

@Tanith

I am guessing that they are making such a fuss about funding to force LGB Alliance to publish their receipts - seeing a lot of demands for that. They can then see who supported LGB Alliance and target them.

Ah yes.

@Beamur

I'm not sure if the Naomi Wolf's really believe us all to be a right wing cabal (personally, I'm really not and actually just a normal person) or if it's a tactic of if you keep saying it, other people will believe it. Chuck enough mud and it sticks sort of thing. The righteous left really think they represent all non right wing thinking. But this is a fundamental problem that Labour have in the UK, an inability to accommodate a range of opinion within the party.

I read her tweets. Does she have a book due out or a tour due?

I always go back to the Jack Applebee’s question: ‘What's more likely: That a load of life-long left-leaning LGBT-supporting women have inexplicably and uncharacteristically all suddenly become bigots or that one might be missing something here?’

I find it ludicrous to think the LGB Alliance is funded by anyone except the individual supporters they state.

Whereas, the logic that a large big pharma backer for life long medical treatment... well that is just no surprise and is good business while people believe it to be in the beneficial interest of patience (and of course, channeling support into lobby groups to continue that message is an obvious move).

however the option to challenge is open to anyone

This is quite obviously NOT the case. Will the Good Law Project fund them all? Who do you think will? The financial barrier is huge.

I agree Fraida to quicker access to better mental health care is needed for our children and teens. It is a massive problem that there is a gap when GD is involved.

I also question though if you search specifically for a private clinician that specializes in GD, does that mean you end up with affirming only treatment vs a clinician who specializes in the wider health of children and teens who treats other issues as well?

I'm not sure if the Naomi Wolf's really believe us all to be a right wing cabal (personally, I'm really not and actually just a normal person) or if it's a tactic of if you keep saying it, other people will believe it.

I often wonder this. In Wolf's case, I think it's quite likely that her relationship with the truth is tenuous at best. It's not very long since her book on nineteenth century homosexuality was publicly shown to have a catastrophic error in it. Instead of showing some appropriate degree of shame, she has just bounced back, nuttier than ever. Who can forget her claim that, thanks to the lack of 5G, Belfast today was just as peaceful as it was in the 1970s?

I always go back to the Jack Applebee’s question: ‘What's more likely: That a load of life-long left-leaning LGBT-supporting women have inexplicably and uncharacteristically all suddenly become bigots or that one might be missing something here?’

Bears repeating