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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

When trans rights trumps children's safety

133 replies

ReunitedThorns · 19/01/2023 17:24

This story has come about in my local area:

An elderly man spotted wearing a girl’s school uniform near a Leigh secondary school and on a bus “does not pose a risk”, according to police who have urged the public to stop sharing photos of him.

uk.news.yahoo.com/police-man-seen-outside-leigh-163212326.html

This old man is riding school buses and hanging around schools in full girl's uniform and bad wig.

Apparently the schools have had to arrange special assemblies to brief children not to travel alone.

But police don't want anyone to share images of this man online and he has told them that he is not a risk.

He's clearly not trans, but I fear that the police are so scared of the subject that they're allowing this behaviour to continue.

OP posts:
Meaningofthesea · 19/01/2023 17:26

If he is clearly not trans, as you state, why have you chosen to title your thread 'when trans rights trump children's safety'?

Original poster
ReunitedThorns · 19/01/2023 17:28

Meaningofthesea · 19/01/2023 17:26

If he is clearly not trans, as you state, why have you chosen to title your thread 'when trans rights trump children's safety'?

Because as soon as the police see old man cross-dressing and hanging around schools, they will refuse to investigate for fear of being deemed "transphobic".

OP posts:
Meaningofthesea · 19/01/2023 17:32

But the police do seem to have investigated and have spoken to the man involved?

WeAreOnTheRoadToNowhere · 19/01/2023 17:32

Why isn't he trans? Cross dressing is under Stonewalls trans umbrella
Also, we shouldn't assume that being trans would mean he is harmless. It is dangerous to assume and group of people are totally safe, there are offenders in all groups

Elmo230885 · 19/01/2023 17:33

First poster beat me to it. The article and the man in question have nothing to do with trans rights or children's rights. You've made quite the leap from 'man dresses inappropriately' to 'police rufuse to investigate due to perpetrator being trans'.

Original poster
ReunitedThorns · 19/01/2023 17:35

Meaningofthesea · 19/01/2023 17:32

But the police do seem to have investigated and have spoken to the man involved?

Police have spoken to the man and he says that he's not up to anything wrong. Is a criminal going to admit to criminal behaviour?

Whilst at the same time schools are telling all children to be aware of this man.

OP posts:
DarkDayforMN · 19/01/2023 17:36

The force says it understands the community’s concerns, but the man is not a risk to the public.
Police have also urged residents to stop sharing photographs of the individual on social media.

Wow. I would sincerely like to know how they did their risk assessment.

Villagetoraiseachild · 19/01/2023 17:53

You would have to wonder what his intentions are....
And that he lied to obtain a uniform.....
He'd be arrested for wearing a police uniform....
Why is he on the school bus?

MidsomerMurmurs · 19/01/2023 17:59

You've made quite the leap from 'man dresses inappropriately' to 'police rufuse to investigate due to perpetrator being trans'.

Thats literally not what the OP said. FFS 🙄
It’s the police’s fear of the sacred caste that means they’re not dealing with this man. They’re scared of being accused of being transphobic (by the “eat shit” brigade currently being discussed on another thread). It’s got nothing to do with whether this man is “trans” or not.

ItallwentwrongwhenBowieleft · 19/01/2023 20:24

If this man wasn’t wearing a schoolgirl uniform & wig but was regularly loitering outside schools or deliberately travelling on busses full of schoolchildren for no good reason would the police still say he poses no risk & take no action?

gravyriceandchips · 19/01/2023 20:46

Ffs. If someone is wearing a school Uniform and getting on the bus with children from that school, does anyone think this is normal behaviour.

Whilst no crimes may have been committed, what the fuck is he doing it for.

Time bomb waiting to happen.

Original poster
ReunitedThorns · 19/01/2023 20:48

So I have more information.

  • The man owns at least 3 uniforms for 3 different schools (1 primary school, 2 secondary schools, in different towns about 5 miles apart).
  • He lied to the school outfitters saying that it was for his grand-daughter. They have since banned him from the store.
  • The police issued a statement about him not being a "risk", he was spotted today in full school uniform and wig going to another school.
  • The police have since deleted their post asking people not to post his photograph (in the uniform) online.
  • Someone claims to have spoken to him on the bus and he claims to be transgender. School boys were becoming aggressive towards this man.
  • There are also claims that he is attempting to gain access to the schools.
  • There are further claims that his family are saying that he has mental health problems and is harmless (yet seemingly are doing nothing to prevent this behaviour).
  • Schools have held assemblies telling no child to be alone when travelling to school and to be around family members if travelling on a bus (as he has been photographed on buses with school children).

It's very clear that this is alarming the local community with rumours (whether true or not) about what he is doing. The police and local news seem more interested in keeping knowledge of this to a minimum, particularly as twitter and Facebook posts get locked preventing discussion. People locally believe that if it wasn't cross-dressing the problem would've been resolved by now, instead of the police essentially protecting him and allowing him to carry on (they didn't confiscate the uniform).

I live in the area, he owns the uniform to my former school and has been spotted loitering around it. There's a good chance that I may bump into him one day.

We aren't happy and the authorities won't do anything about it.

OP posts:
AlisonDonut · 19/01/2023 20:51

If you'd have put 'police' in the title you'd have the resident police on here telling you there was nothing to see here.

ReedRite · 19/01/2023 20:53

How can the police be so confident he ‘poses no risk’? I mean, how can they be 100% about anyone?

Rewind 5 years and this individual would have been seen unequivocally as a potential risk. Now he only has to say he’s transgender and magically the police can know 100%, no shadow of a doubt whatsoever, that he categorically poses not risk. At all. Ever.

Thankfully the local community aren’t so pitifully naive.

AlisonDonut · 19/01/2023 20:57

Perhaps they mean even if they did anything, he'd be back out on bail, or receive no sentence at all and be released so there really is no point in them doing anything and paperwork is such a drag.

Soubriquet · 19/01/2023 20:57

Why is this man’s feels more important than the kids?

Kids are being told not to travel alone. That screams that something is wrong.

BlackeyedSusan · 19/01/2023 21:03

Oh goodness, it's going to end in crime of one sort or another.

tomfromloveislandsbeard · 19/01/2023 21:04

I guess it's tricky because he hasn't done anything illegal. And the police probably are keeping a beady eye on him but don't want to have vigilantes. They're probably being honest with the schools' management I'd guess. Tricky all round. How can you legislate against this?!

Clymene · 19/01/2023 21:07

How can they say he poses no risk?

“We would like to remind the public that continued circulation of images on social media could have a detrimental personal impact on those concerned and we would ask that the public refrain from circulating images.”

A detrimental impact on the old bloke wearing a dodgy wig and posing outside schools and on buses?

What about the detrimental impact on the kids?

Soubriquet · 19/01/2023 21:09

tomfromloveislandsbeard · 19/01/2023 21:04

I guess it's tricky because he hasn't done anything illegal. And the police probably are keeping a beady eye on him but don't want to have vigilantes. They're probably being honest with the schools' management I'd guess. Tricky all round. How can you legislate against this?!

I suppose technically he hasn’t done anything against the law. I mean anyone can wear a bad wig and a school girls outfit, and it’s perfectly legal.

But it’s just not right..especially since he’s taking photos of kids whilst on the bus

Clymene · 19/01/2023 21:09

And I'd like to remind Essex police that any man getting a sexual thrill from dressing inappropriately in public is involving everyone around him in his fetish.

mrshoho · 19/01/2023 21:18

Isn't this one reason why charity shops will not accept branded school uniform to be donated. Or any corporate uniform. Ffs an adult wearing different school uniforms and loitering around the school and on school buses is antisocial behaviour at the very least. If authorities won't move him on parents may do it.

DarkDayforMN · 19/01/2023 21:35

If you'd have put 'police' in the title you'd have the resident police on here telling you there was nothing to see here.

I would almost welcome some policesplaining here. I know how annoying it is, with the boneheaded repetitions but they often give you an insight into why the police are failing so badly. In this case I'd love to understand how they came to confidently announce this man is no threat (But not enough to actually summon it up!)

Did they get some training about the trans umbrella?

DarkDayforMN · 19/01/2023 21:42

And isn't this the kind of situation where cops would normally "have a word" even if the man truly were harmless, and advise him that he's scaring people, and he should stop? Maybe they did that - but if they did and he kept doing it, exactly where do they get off announcing he's "no threat?"

Noicant · 19/01/2023 22:00

It’s something isn’t it when freaking children out and making them deeply uncomfortable is less important that a blokes right to dress up as a schoolgirl. Don’t have boundaries kids and adults won’t enforce your boundaries for you either.