A trans-Identified BDSM fan/gun nut is now a senior leader at Girlguiding

[Scraggythang]

Via Glinner’s sub stack. Sorry if this has already been posted!

grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/wtf-are-girlguiding-thinking

Argh Necessary I hope that isn't true because at that point really.... we just need to get the kids out of GG and let them crack on with their important work with males uninterrupted by safeguarding or principles or basic common sense or any other nasty old fashioned stuff. They can join up with the women's rape crisis service who don't serve women and are wholly dedicated to the much more important male clientele.

Debbie thank you for reading, I completely agree with you. There should be no exceptions to safeguarding based on a protected characteristic, this is a disaster for LGBT+ teachers and those in positions of trust with kids and vulnerable people. Takes #notourcrimes into the realms of #notourbloodyawfulbehaviour.

The red flags are the guns and the BDSM- not being trans

I disagree, I think both points are red flags. The open door policy for trans women is a fantastic opportunity for some very dodgy, boundary pushing self-ID men to enter a single sexed environment not designed for them. Plus the cynic in me always wonders what the motivation is for TW to get involved in female only spaces when there are so many mixed sex organisations they could volunteer in 🤔 summed it up perfectly IMHO.

I disagree, I think both points are red flags.

Being "trans" is the red flag in the sense that in this case it means "being a (probably lone) male in a 'female' organisation".

Being "trans" in a mixed-sex organisation is much, much less of a big deal. It's just another male. There are still potential issues if they insist on being treated as female, but the organisation will at least be set up to allow for being mixed-sex.

In a "female" organisation like the guides, "trans" specifically means violating the single-sex paradigm. It requires an organisational belief that this person is somehow different or an exception to other males. They're compelled to pretend they're female to justify excluding the other males. And every single safeguarding and women's rights violation follows from this.

Also noting it's not even just the guns, the BDSM and the messages inviting discussions of a sexual nature. It's the fact of publishing this publically, under their real name, on social media. That demonstrates an astonishing lack of judgement and understanding of boundaries and what is appropriate behaviour for someone in a position like this.

Have people got responses to their emails? I am still waiting. Maybe I need to write again.

In a "female" organisation like the guides, "trans" specifically means violating the single-sex paradigm. It requires an organisational belief that this person is somehow different or an exception to other males.

This.

It's the sacred caste concept. Like priests, police, TV personalities. Giving an ideological pass to certain men who constituent exactly the same risk as all other men is a red flag.

Ideology isn't a protection. In this case it's a loophole.

@Helleofabore

Have people got responses to their emails? I am still waiting. Maybe I need to write again.

@Helleofabore yes someone on the previous page has one. It doesn't address the issues in my view. Would be interested to see if they send exactly the same email to everyone, regardless of what they actually said in their email to Girlguiding.

Eggybrains

I am keenly waiting to see if they send a prewritten reply.

I did not make any mention of this leader’s sex or trans status.

My focus was purely on the sexual nature of their SM posts and the way the guns were portrayed. It was sent before the topic hit MN or the mainstream though, so maybe it has been lost in the deluge.

@Helleofabore please post your response if/ when you get one!

Will do.

I had a reply last night. I complained as a leader and family of current young members.

Looks like a standard reply to me.
Especially as the "Meet the team" page for Nottinghamshire GG is back up showing Monica as commissioner for Southwell.

Thank you for your email.

The safety and wellbeing of our members is our absolute priority. We follow rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures, have clear policies, and a volunteer code of conduct which volunteers are expected to follow to keep our members safe. We are aware of the concerns you have raised.

We are looking into this as a matter of urgency and will provide the necessary support and action in line with our compliance procedures.

Kind Regards
Complaints and Compliance

'Urgency' and 'rigorous vetting procedures' seem to have fallen the way of 'safeguarding', 'girl', 'woman' in GG land i.e. lost all meaning.

@averylongtimeago

I had a reply last night. I complained as a leader and family of current young members.

Looks like a standard reply to me.
Especially as the "Meet the team" page for Nottinghamshire GG is back up showing Monica as commissioner for Southwell.

Thank you for your email.

The safety and wellbeing of our members is our absolute priority. We follow rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures, have clear policies, and a volunteer code of conduct which volunteers are expected to follow to keep our members safe. We are aware of the concerns you have raised.

We are looking into this as a matter of urgency and will provide the necessary support and action in line with our compliance procedures.

Kind Regards
Complaints and Compliance

Isn't that copied and pasted from Twitter?

Eggybrains yes it is- I've checked.
They just don't give a shit, do they?

@averylongtimeago

Eggybrains yes it is- I've checked. They just don't give a shit, do they?

@averylongtimeago I think you've just summed up Girlguiding's attitude to safeguarding in 6.5 words.

They make such a song and dance about keeping your training up to date- it's all recorded on Go, you have to keep your DBS up to date.
I've got to update my safe space training (to level 3) as we are, hopefully, going for a weekend away after Christmas, otherwise I won't be allowed to go. (The advisor will check my records to make sure I've done it and will refuse permission if I haven't) and I know several units who have had a last minute scrabble for another leader on a trip as someone's dbs wasn't back on time.

Helen and Katie were sacked ostensibly because of their comments on social media.

And yet- Monica can break all the rules about social media, share children's photos, pose with guns. Monica knows the rules- as a leader and commissioner M will have done the training but choose to ignore it.

What special quality does Monica possess that means the rules don't apply?

Not sure if anyone has already posted this, but if not.

Girl Guides is absolutely loaded even though they ran a deficit of £4m last year which came from losses on investments not a reduction in subs.

They still had £19m in revenue in 2020, including £7m in subs. It costs them £19m to run the operation which is quite staggering. Scouts is even larger, with income of £50m.

Guides also have £50m in assets including £28m in property and £5m in other investments.

Wonder what their current membership numbers are...

It is going to take a lot of girls leaving or a significant legal case before anyone in HQ will care...

@Tootsweets23

Not sure if anyone has already posted this, but if not.

Girl Guides is absolutely loaded even though they ran a deficit of £4m last year which came from losses on investments not a reduction in subs.

They still had £19m in revenue in 2020, including £7m in subs. It costs them £19m to run the operation which is quite staggering. Scouts is even larger, with income of £50m.

Guides also have £50m in assets including £28m in property and £5m in other investments.

Wonder what their current membership numbers are...

It is going to take a lot of girls leaving or a significant legal case before anyone in HQ will care...

@Tootsweets23 You do realise that's not all their assets, as property is mainly held by the Guide Association Trust which is a separate entity. There is also different properties held by different regions.

Membership is, I believe 240k-ish young members, down from 535k in 2013.

@averylongtimeago - I'm glad your area is on it with safespace and DBS. Ours is not. Apparently it's "unmanageable and unsustainable" for these to be checked up on. We have had multiple volunteers without a disclosure.

I've had a slightly differently worded reply from Inclusion Support:

Thank you for your email.

Girlguiding is aware of concerns raised. We are looking into this as a matter of urgency and will provide the necessary support and action in line with our compliance procedures.

A lot of care and attention to detail goes into making guiding happen safely, and ensuring that all our young members’ needs are balanced and considered in everything we do. Our rigorous recruitment and vetting policies help keep our member safe. And we have policies that are followed by all our volunteers, including our Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policy.

We have been looking after girls and young women for over 100 years and we will always have their needs, their safety and their enjoyment at the heart of everything that we do.

Kind regards,
Volunteer Support

Still cobblers. I have written back to point out that they are putting the needs of biological males above those of girls and women and - more importantly - that they didn't answer my question about how these appointments work with inclusion for girls from a religious background which requires single sex spaces.

I am not anticipating an answer.

My reply has arrived and is very similar. Not all of it c+p but most of it. And a combo it seems.

And we have policies that are followed by all our volunteers,

This obviously isn't true.

Eggybrains: "Membership is, I believe 240k-ish young members, down from 535k in 2013."

Then, notwithstanding that the organisation is rich, it looks to me that they are on their way out.

@Lovelyricepudding

And we have policies that are followed by all our volunteers,

This obviously isn't true.

They have form for saying stuff that’s not true.

Sounds to me like they’re intending on doubling down. If they were going to do something, if they apply their own rules, it stands to reason it would be done quickly. Or at the very least, that there would be a temporary suspension while they investigate. That the website has gone back up, with the profile still in place, is bad news, I think.

Given how much they’ve invested in getting this individual on board, they will presumably be even more invested in preserving their position. And of course, having seen the fuss some similar individuals make when crossed, they’re possibly now realizing just how far they have backed themselves into a corner, assuming they have even that much insight, which possibly they don’t.

I'm afraid at this point I would not leave a child in their care under any circumstances. They are utterly unsafe, intentionally, wilfully, and because they are blindly adhering to politics and ruddy awful advice and advisors, it has nothing to do with 'inclusiveness' (Which is yet more bollocks since they are now far less inclusive than they were before they became male centric.)

This will end in disaster. The serious case review will be horrific. The trouble is, some poor kid will be the one who actually pays the price of all this adult hubris.