CEO of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity signs pledge "Stand with Trans"

[ArabeIIaScott]

'The CEO of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity has signed a political pledge "Stand with Trans" GOSH have the contract for the new children's gender clinic. Are we heading for GIDS 2.0? Maintaining an apolitical stance is crucial for ensuring unbiased care.'

'The full pledge and it's signatories can be found here: https://charitysostraight.org.uk Lining up with Susie Green, Helen Webberley and Mermaids are the CEO's of The Quakers, Samaritans and The Children's Society along with young people's mental health services and Croydon NHS Trust'

https://twitter.com/Neverfallingfo1/status/1686312580774539264

I don't believe that children can be transsexual. How can you be transsexual when you don't yet understand what sex is (apart from knowing that some people are boys/men and others are women/girls), and have never experienced sexual activity?

But, there is a place for health care settings to declare their commitment to supporting trans people. Why wouldn't they?

Did you see their definition of transphobia?

Health care professionals shouldn't be signing up to a cult.

However, there are people with gender dysphoria and people who hold deeply held beliefs about being trans.

Are these two separate groups?

I clicked on their definition of transphobia.

Absolutely chilling. Absolutely unhinged.

Extract from that "pledge":
And never before has the American ultra-conservative transphobic movement influenced UK culture to the degree it is doing right now.
This transphobic movement represents a small but vocal minority. As part of their efforts to halt and roll back LGBTQIA+ inclusion in society at large, these fringe groups are attempting to erase our community from public life. And they are specifically targeting the trans and non-binary community first"

The CEO of a leading children's hospital about to take on the politically challenging role of operating a controversial service found to be inadequate and (as cited above) where staff felt they couldn't operate with the standard process of clinical assessment and diagnosis that they have been trained to undertake in all other clinical encounters. They felt pressurised to affirm children, to offer inadequate health care to these most vulnerable children because of political pressure .

But the CEO of GOSH reckons signing up to a pledge promoting this political pressure is the right thing to do?

Perhaps the CEO was signed up without their knowledge? rather like Alison Rose not knowing what was going on in NW's reputation management unit.

But, there is a place for health care settings to declare their commitment to supporting trans people. Why wouldn't they?

This isn't that though. This is an ideological statement. It's not about supporting trans people, it's about pledging allegiance to an extremist belief system. I don't think that health care settings, children's organisations, charities of any kind should be signing up to contentious ideologies.

And even if this were about support trans people, where are the public declarations of support for deaf people, young carers, type one diabetics? foster parents, dyspraxics, amputees? No, just one small group must constantly be affirmed and celebrated.

But the CEO of GOSH reckons signing up to a pledge promoting this political pressure is the right thing to do?

She's not the CEO of GOSH, she's the CEO of the GOSH children's charity.

@DinnaeFashYersel, I'd take issue with your statement that GOSH is the charity and not the hospital. You may be right that it's the CEO of the charity that's signed the pledge but the hospital itself is often referred to as GOSH by both lay people and HCPs. Either way, it's political and shouldn't be happening.

Because they are a hospital, charged with treating children including those with dysphoria. Taking a wholly objective view of their patients. Not publicly supporting an ideaology which declares anything other than ‘affirmative treatment’, including surgery for children, as transphobic.

Thank you - my apologies for misreading this. However, my points about her political naivety / or sinister threat still stands. This is a massive political issue and for GOSH to be associated with this "pledge" by such a senior CEO gives a clear message to clinicians about the influence of the trans lobby in a place that must be free of this - especially with the new service.

That is a lot of organisations on that list.
You wonder if there are enough trans kids to keep them all occupied.

I'm also speechless that the CEO of the Children's Society (AKA the Church of England Children's Society), Mark Russell, has signed up.

As a senior member of the Church of England, I'd like to take this opportunity to say: Gee thanks, Mark. Culty batshittery and more safeguarding nightmares are exactly what the Church needs right now.

This is horrific. Transing children or adolescents is medical experimentation on people who need psychological help.

'Transphobic behaviour can come in many different forms, including but not limited to:
• Deliberate and/or repeated misgendering or incorrect use of pronouns, including when a person is not present
• Offensive jokes, language, innuendo and mockery, including those directed towards someone’s trans identity and/or practices intended to be inclusive of trans people
• Inappropriate and intrusive questioning or gossip, which can violate a person’s dignity
Systematic exclusion of trans people from discussion about issues that directly affect them, or the expectation of trans people to participate in discussion or debate about their rights and/or identities
• Deliberate exclusion, including from conversation, professional and/or social activity and physical spaces
• Propagating ideas, concepts and misinformation harmful to trans people and which erase and ignore trans history, such as trans as an ideology or contagion
• Supporting and propagating the vilification and demonising of trans children or their parents and supporting adults debate'

I already don't give to GOSH because of Charlie Gard but if I did give this would be enough to stop me giving to them.

@MrsOvertonsWindow

The CEO of the charity is a different person to the CEO of the hospital.

They are separate entities.

The rest of your post is correct but this person is not making clinical decisions, overseeing clinicians or involved in any way with the running of the hospital.

I had two of that charity's chuggers knock on my door yesterday. I politely declined to sign up to a direct debit. I saw no point in mouthing off at two perfectly pleasant young people trying to scrape a living.

The email telling the charity why I refused will in contrast be very strongly worded. Some adjectives will be used.

Yes. I was particularly struck by: 'Propagating ideas, concepts and misinformation... such as trans as an ideology or contagion.'

The whole movement is ideology from beginning to end, and it absolutely is spread by contagion.

This is what feels so cult-like about the Pledge. It knows it's vulnerable to criticism of its unhinged claims and creepy practices, so it pre-empts those criticisms and gives them a derogatory label. It suggests a person would be hateful or even lawbreaking if they dared to voice even the most valid of concerns.

I know, I shouldnt but sorry. Guffawed at this.

Ya gotta let off steam when you can.

As for it's the charity not the hospital, why are they called the same?
And what the charity signs up to sends a message plus I guess funds can be given with caveats.

It knows it's vulnerable to criticism of its unhinged claims and creepy practices, so it pre-empts those criticisms and gives them a derogatory label. It suggests a person would be hateful or even lawbreaking if they dared to voice even the most valid of concerns.

Yes, absolutely. It's quite a common tactic within genderism, when you think about it. Someone has thought it all through.

And most people are taken off guard by the disproportionate, well prepared response of outrage to reasonable, sensible, predictable questions. It's destabilising and suggests that we don't know what's going on (you don't, because you've just been ambushed), which leads many people to back away and stop asking questions.

Long term as a strategy, though, what I think tends to happen is that although many people will just back away from flashing 'Here be Dragons' warnings, some will find their curiousity piqued. Or even peaked. And start to ask questions.

We all know what happens when you ask questions.

Thank you. I have already apologised for misunderstanding this. BUT the charity & the hospital are intertwined. Nobody in such a senior powerful position at GOSH (hospital or the fundraising arm) should be signing up to that inflammatory, incorrect pledge - especially in light of the political issues the hospital is wading into with the new service.
If she wants to sign up to stuff like that she can go and be CEO of an animal / ecology charity instead of a hospital for sick children.

"The charity and the hospital are intertwined". It does look that way. I can't agree this isn't a concern.

www.gosh.org/about-us/leadership-and-governance/directors/

"Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity) is the UK’s largest hospital fundraising charity and the largest dedicated funder of paediatric research in the UK. As Chief Executive Louise Parkes has responsibility for both strategic leadership and operational management of the organisation, which raises money to fund:
• Rebuilding and refurbishment of the hospital,
• Vital medical equipment,
• Pioneering child health research at GOSH and across the UK
• Services that support children and their families."

@MrsOvertonsWindow

I agree

I have declined to sign it myself

Deliberate and/or repeated misgendering or incorrect use of pronouns, including when a person is not present

So not only are we expected to pretend to the individual that we believe in their neo-religion, but we are also expected to continue pretending - effectively to evangelise for the trans faith - when they are not present.

Like hell!

It is our right not to believe what they believe, just as it is their right to believe whatever they believe. It is not their right to impose that belief upon us.

Truly a chilling definition.