Mermaids sending free binders to teen girls

[rogdmum]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/09/25/exclusive-trans-charity-mermaids-giving-breast-binders-children/

Can also be found in the usual place.

“A transgender children’s charity is giving potentially dangerous chest-flattening devices to 14-year-olds against their parents’ wishes, an investigation by The Telegraph has found

Mermaids, which receives funding from the taxpayer and runs training for schools and the NHS, offered to send a breast binder discreetly to a girl they believed was only 14, even after they were told that she was not allowed to use one by her mother.

Evidence obtained by The Telegraph shows that the charity’s staff have offered binders to children as young as 13 who say that their parents oppose the practice.”

We sometime get the odd poster here denying Mermaids does this (or saying there is no evidence that it happens) despite people with direct experience stating that it does. And yes, it does happen.

Times also reporting it now:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/37b9fc6e-3d8b-11ed-b24d-96120f17513d?shareToken=b7024129d88dc69f21651e242034aa9d

But it is a bitter success because it is the right wing Telegraph pursuing the story and not the liberal lefty Guardian.
The Guardian must have had the chance and passed it by, Guardian journalists must have been told about this since forever but the story didn't suit the paper's priorities.

The Guardian was definitely not sent the evidence of what was going on in the Youth Forum which the Telegraph used. There would have been no point in sending to them. The Guardian would have just ignored it like the Charity Commission (who did not respond to one complaint until called out on Twitter) and the National Lottery (who didn’t even bother to acknowledge receipt despite at least one complaint containing evidence of adolescents happily recommending (with substantial details) GenderGP to each other.

Also, and I can't find the right part of the thread as it's really long - didn't Mermaids say in the LGB alliance tribunal last week that they were not medical experts / didn't know anything about that?

Mermaids were absolutely back tracking in the court case and claiming not to be medical experts. It makes me so angry that they are carrying on as if they are not harming children despite the massive evidence to the contrary. What will it take for them to admit they made a massive mistake?

On the plus side I think it's great that the Telegraph article ends with a clear statement that following Mermaid's advice could lead schools to end up in court.

@Plasmodesmata Nikki da Costa included some of what you might be after in this thread:

twitter.com/nmdacosta/status/1574170920217989128?s=46&t=XXr4U7KpuHijzPoNjgLOrQ

Thanks Resister I struggle with Twitter because it keeps wanting me to log in but shall see how much it lets me read.

Plasmodesmata
I reluctantly set up a twitter account but only use it to read. I like nothing, follow nobody (couldn't even tell you the name I've used) but it allows me to read freely.

Chest binders should be classified as medical devices.

Mermaids cannot have it both ways- We’re not experts/puberty blockers are safe/binders are safe. And they are going against NHS statements when they say blockers and binders are safe.
These are children they are harming, how and why are they getting away with it?!

If it's true they're sending out binders to children then they are harming children.

They have stated clearly in a court of law they are not medical experts, they are not the parents of these children, so they have literally no grounds on which to provide binders or to risk assess whether binders will do harm or good in a child's life.

Binders have physical harms. Like breast ironing.

If this is true this is child protection issue - the police should get involved not just the Charity Commission.

Unbelievable that they're the ones trying to strip charitable status from another charity.

I hope the parents of one of the children provided binders by them sues them to high heaven.

@Plasmodesmata . I don't have Twitter either, but have discovered that when the log in request comes up, you can select either log in or sign up and then when it takes you to that page click the cross in the top corner and it lets you carry on reading.
Not sure ive explained that well. Hope it works for you

I wonder why comments have been turned off. Times not normally squeamish?

Dr Michael Brady, the National Adviser for LGBT Health has come out in full force for Mermaids:

”Thanks for the work you do @Mermaids_Gender to support trans, non-binary and gender diverse children and young people and their families.

I’ve seen many young people (and their parents) in clinic who have benefited greatly from the advice and support you give #LGBTHealth 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈”

twitter.com/drmbrady/status/1574416112552476672?s=21&t=-R6EeI0ub9uZxpeRSVznfQ

He temporarily locked his Twitter account but it’s back open now. Dr Brady completely ignores parents who write to him with their concerns which is quite poor given his position.

I know I ask this all the time, but: why do Mermaids think having a flat chest has got anything to do with being a boy, a man, or non-binary person?

Gender is your true feeling of self - regardless of what body you are in. So why change anyone's body?

Someone has found that advice on the Met Police page says that "using a binder to flatten breasts is ‘a form of child abuse’":

twitter.com/firewomon/status/1574414992635580417?s=46&t=t-HPFDVYBwa_7fZQGHSUaw

And here's their page

www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/caa/child-abuse/breast-ironing-flattening/

So, if the police say that binders are child abuse, what is it when adults are supplying children with binders behind their parents' back?

Comments are now open under that article @Birdsweepsin not many at the moment and I bet they will be heavily moderated.

Colour me completely shocked that Dr Brady backs Mermaids. Another gay man unable to see the homophobia right in front of him

Woah, that Met police link is shocking. I just did a spot the difference and there's not much.

So does anyone else think the difference between "breast ironing" (abuse, dial 999) and "binding" (support that young trans people can benefit from) is mostly ... racism?

With a bit of sexism thrown in, since "breast ironing" is typically done by female relatives (with the intention of avoiding trivia like abduction and forced marriage) instead of being supported by adults of either sex for the all-important Expressing Your True Self.

And for the avoidance of doubt - I'm not suggesting that "breast ironing" is not abuse.

Apparently the Charity Commission is now doing something:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/09/26/trans-charity-faces-watchdog-scrutiny-amid-child-chest-binding/

That’s excellent news @ResisterRex

I wonder how the investigation will be carried out, primarily if the public will allowed to send in further evidence of their title unsuitability to be anywhere near children.

Well, good, if they actually do something this time.