Libraries promoting body mutilation as “joy” in Norfolk

[CarobBean72]

Anyone here from Norfolk?

Norwich Millennium Library has a display of “Trans Joy”, apparently aimed at children & young people, which IMHO promotes body mutilation & self harm of women & girls & glorifies drug use. In the wake of the Cass Report it’s incredibly irresponsible.

It includes images of hypodermic needles for injecting testosterone, a packer & mastectomy scars, with the slogan “Self-made men play God right”.

Most disturbing is a small figurine of a woman’s lower half, cut off at waist & knees, bearing what appears to be a hysterectomy scar & what is either a pseudo-phallus ( an appendage made from a flap of tissue removed from the woman’s arm or thigh, rolled up and sewn to the groin to mimic a penis ) or a hypertrophied clitoris, one of the often painful effects of testosterone on the female body.

The display is accessible to children as the cabinets stand only a couple of feet high, designed for a child’s eye line and it’s placed next to the 8-14 book section. The cases are by the entrance - not noticeable when you go in but inescapable when you leave.

I can’t believe someone okayed this. If it was promoting anorexia or cutting or glorifying steroid abuse to children and teenagers, we’d all see it for what it is. Instead, it’s promoting self-mutilation under the banner of “Trans Joy”.

It’s especially irresponsible in the week the Cass Review revealed how poor the evidence base for so-called “gender affirming care” is and how little followup there has been to assess regret and de-transition rates.

Ive been trying to find a contact for the head of Norfolk Library Services - it’s a woman called Kerry Murray, who is also the Safeguarding Lead! But I can’t find any email listing for her.

Any suggestions?

Sharing images with trepidation: it’s a horror show!

Post edited by MNHQ

Take away the trans message and it still looks unsuitable for children; the disembodied torso with weird penis, the hypodermic needle, all very disturbing. The Trans Joy image is thorns and tears or droplets of blood (!!??) not my idea of joyful, it suggests a lot of mental and emotional turmoil. This not suitable for public view without warnings and age restrictions.
What were they actually thinking? Are there no checks and balances when it comes to presenting challenging content to unsuspecting audiences? Who said this was Ok? Can we find a name of the person responsible and ask them?

I am the Leader of Norfolk County Council, who are responsible for the Norwich Library at the Forum. I was very unhappy when I heard about this display. Staff have guidelines, and this exhibition seems to have been approved without realising the actual content. As soon as it came to my attention, I alerted senior staff and it was removed immediately. I apologise if anyone was offended but thank you very much for alerting us. We are open to different points of view on all subjects but there are times and places for these and we have to handle them with sensitivity and consider the impact on others, especially children. There will be a investigation into how and why this happened and staff will be issued with strengthened guidance for the future.

I forgot to mention the display has a QR code (not shown) which takes you to a website.

I should have checked WTF that was. Again, a safeguarding risk.

So many questions!

KayMasonBillig · Today 12:05

I am the Leader of Norfolk County Council, who are responsible for the Norwich Library at the Forum.

If you are who you say, good job and thanks.

https://norfolkcc.cmis.uk.com/norfolkcc/Councillors/tabid/63/ctl/ViewCMIS_Person/mid/383/id/748/ScreenMode/Alphabetical/Default.aspx

Wasn't Norfolk (possibly not the CC though) one of the Council's thar passed a motion (oo-er, although appropriate imo) unanimously stating twaw, tmam, something, something non-bin? They should concentrate on the actual bins.

You apologise IF anyone was offended?? People WERE offended. Have you read the comments here and on Twitter?

Please read through then come back and tell us if your non-apology was the appropriate response. Look forward to hearing from you.

At least @KayMasonBillig has done something about this display - a few years ago everyone involved would have doubled down if there were any criticism.

Not good enough, I am afraid. How many children and people who didn’t consent to viewing images of mutilation etc, were exposed to this?

Those crafty women with their knitting needles, card making, jewellery making etc they can’t be trusted!!!

😂

Fuck. Ing. Hell.

So, so inappropriate.

Thanks you Kay

Trans joy.
FFS.

That's a positive response. Thank you.
This is what all local authorities, the government, civil service etc should be doing. Abiding by the Nolan principles of public life, being impartial and not allowing any group to weaponise the workplace in favour of their preferred ideology.

Yes. This is a post-Cass response to a pre-Cass piece of propaganda. We’ve all known how ludicrous and dangerous this ideology has been for years, but the Overton Window of wider public consciousness has shifted this week.

If this is true, then thank you for coming on here - probably making an account - and answering us. It is appreciated.

If you would like to DM any of us, your local residents and library users, and have a constructive discussion about the TRA agenda your library - my library - is pushing, I would very much welcome this.

I also hope that the Council looks at the safeguarding aspects of this. The adults who put up this display in an area where children of any age congregate, appear to have a serious lack of knowledge about safeguarding.

Hopefully there will be an investigation that will include a risk assessment. Should they have access to children given the evidence of their lack of safeguarding?

If anyone wants to contact me with any concerns my email address is [email protected]
I will ensure that your comments are seen by officers and responded to.

No, that’s Norwich City Council.

Norwich CC fund Pride - I assume that means funding Trans Pride too, which supplied the display.

I’m cursing myself I didn’t follow the link to the website…

Thank you. I hope that you will investigate how this could happen and take steps to ensure that there is more oversight.

Sorry, my CC was the County Council, it was the other CC (City Council) beclowning themselves. I had my suspicions @CarobBean72 thank you for confirming.

Thank you for intervening and getting this taken down. I hope that particularly in view of the Cass Review of recent days the staff concerned will be given a very firm warning.

Thank you very much for your intervention @KayMasonBillig & for responding here with your contact details. Very much appreciated & I hope you get some answers & accountability.

FYI the reply from the Library Services is rather at odds with yours. It’s anonymous (and also doesn’t explain how they got my email address - I assume because one of the County Councillors I emailed passed it on).

This is their message:

Good afternoon

Thank you for contacting us. The display at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library was planned to be in place for a short period as part of our programme of events, and is no longer in place.

It is important that our libraries are a place
where everyone feels safe and welcome and we will reflect on the feedback that you have given us when considering future displays".

Regarding the second sentence in bold, I would prefer libraries to be a place where everyone - especially children & vulnerable adults struggling with body issues - actually ARE safe. I’m sure most people would agree.

That reads like 'yah boo sucks, we were going to take it down anyway terf!'. Or perhaps that's just me?

Not a resident but a frequent visitor to the city. I do recall another memorable exhibition a couple of years ago that was all knitting and crochet including the amazing/utterly bonkers Sandringham. A joyful, eccentric labour of love in wool