Toilets article in Times Ireland edition

[Womansisterdaughtermother]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bf894946-aabc-11eb-acd8-e39d812fcf8b?shareToken=6a1dd7321c6e5d8a3de7d997f1d28539

Hoping this works

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/48407988-aabf-11eb-acd8-e39d812fcf8b?shareToken=d7d33766ea463f1028cb932e8d1a206e

Letters Page Sunday Times Ireland.

The minister's use of the phrase "young people" rather than 'children' or even 'teens' and 'adolescents' is very striking. Mermaids also use this term and I believe it is a linguistic trick to obscure the facts. It ages up the group in question, making them seem more mature and less vulnerable than they really are.

I suppose talking about mixed sex toilets for children aged 12+ including 18 year olds would make the actual situation a bit too clear.

I’d be looking for a single sex school or considering home educating if I were faced with this for my children. Unfortunately those are very difficult decisions especially if a child is already settled in the school.

It is an appalling imposition of a niche ideology on the majority, as the article reports without consultation nor impact assessment.

Make sure you add something in the comments. It does help

The arrogance of that.

School is tough enough?

It certainly is. Now imagine being a 12 year old girl in first year, trying to navigate the early days of erratic periods and being expected to potentially share space with 16/17/18 year old boys.

Stop expecting girls to be quiet and accommodate others.

And Minister Foley, sidestepping again.

Will the government be providing the cash to redesign the toilets in all the schools?

Guess is no.

So it's the old style big room with door, and a bunch of cubicles usually with gaps above and under.

Will they be providing cash to put sanitary bins in all cubicles and the money to get them all emptied?

Guess is no. So what happens?

In the UK there have been loads of recent reports about girls being sexually assaulted in school. This is not the first time this has been reported on. What are the stats in Ireland? Has he considered that side of things?

In the UK there are laws for public funded places about toilets and what is ok for single sex/ mixed sex. Although they are being ignored all over the place. I don't know if there are similar laws in Ireland. Has he checked?

What do girls and boys actually want? When asked in class etc there is pressure to say the right thing. Have any anon surveys been taken?

So many questions...

extract
“I think the measures that are being taken in a number of schools in terms of non-gender specific toilets is a reflection of the reality that a lot of young people are questioning elements of their identity and it’s about trying to make life in school, which can be tough enough as it is, as easy as possible,” Roderic O’Gorman told The Sunday Times last week. “I’d be supportive of the measures in terms of unisex toilets because I understand the direction it’s coming from.”

Despite being Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth since June 2020, O'Gorman does not understand the responsibility to Safeguard children.

Wiki
"In July 2020, O'Gorman announced his intention to make it easier for those under the age of 16 to legally change their gender with their parent's consent"

www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/new-childrens-minister-to-make-it-easier-for-under-16s-to-change-their-gender-39346464.html

Roderic O'Gorman has fully drank the koolaid. So dissapointing.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=gript.ie/roderic-ogorman-and-the-toxic-logic-of-peter-tatchell/&ved=2ahUKEwjs4uLTq63wAhWaVhUIHflODUgQFjACegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw1KsNpmKAYTA001h_gDn_3D" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=gript.ie/roderic-ogorman-and-the-toxic-logic-of-peter-tatchell/&ved=2ahUKEwjs4uLTq63wAhWaVhUIHflODUgQFjACegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw1KsNpmKAYTA001h_gDn_3D

I really lost respect for ROG after this episode. While I appreciate he probably was unaware of Tatchell's previously expressed views, I felt that as Minister for CHILDREN, it was quite reasonable for him to be expected to clarify the situation.
His accusation of homophobia towards those asking questions was what annoyed me and is very similar to the tactics used by TRA"s who scream Transphobia when they don't like the questions that are being asked.
It appears from the statements above of ROG regarding Gender neutral toilets, that his main concern is for gender questioning children, with no real interest in the effect on other children.

@fireproofwitch it really is a deeply troubling duo at the helm of child safeguarding now, ROG alongside the captured Ombudsman Muldoon.

@FlyPassed

The minister's use of the phrase "young people" rather than 'children' or even 'teens' and 'adolescents' is very striking. Mermaids also use this term and I believe it is a linguistic trick to obscure the facts. It ages up the group in question, making them seem more mature and less vulnerable than they really are.

I suppose talking about mixed sex toilets for children aged 12+ including 18 year olds would make the actual situation a bit too clear.

The spotlight was well and truly on Mermaids a few months ago in relation to their vaguely threatening rhetoric against larger organisations (I believe one was the BBC) who quietly dropped their name from their list of associates.

This was also accompanied by some furious backpeddling in regard to their comments 'no one is born in the wrong body' - a 180-degree about face from their former position - or their disingenuous comments that puberty blockers were not irreversible. That's quite aside from the very measured rebuke from the likes of the Samaritans as to what they advise on the sensitive subject of suicide. Then came the verdict on the Bell case.

I was waiting with bated breath for some huge scandal to break. Yet for some reason, it's all gone quiet.