GMN Labour Manifesto response

[DennisNoelKavanaghOffTwitter]

Hey Mumsnet, Kavanagh interloping again if I may, we've just published a response to the Labour Manifesto focusing on the Cass Review, Conversion Legislation and the meaning of Sex in the Equality act. Full document is available at:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6200252604e9795287de2ada/t/6671b5cc373b6025fffcbbec/1718728141412/GMN+Labour+Party+Manifesto+Response+2024+Branded+V2.pdf

If you find it of any use speaking to Labour canvassers or contact please be our guests and use as much as you like and we're most grateful for any other forms of amplification.

Re what she said here from the screen shot you posted:

*I genuinely do believe there is a way that we can do that effectively, balancing those challenges^,

^recognizing the concern
but also making sure that young people's well-being is properly supported and protected.^

Put what she is saying on an imaginary balance scale -
On one side ‘the concern’

on the other side a young person’s well-being to be properly supported -

But these are not two sides. They should be the same.

The concern side is that full support of a young person entails exploration of what might be behind their dysphoria, and that they must be given time to grow up before any life changing decisions are made. And concern that affirmation, if necessary, should only come after, not before this.

A young person’s well being is not some other side. I think she may believe they are born ‘trans kids’.

@ScrollingLeaves I agree.

Here she is this morning explaining her position to Laura Kuenssberg (from 35 mins):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0020jr5/sunday-with-laura-kuenssberg-23062024

@DennisNoelKavanaghOffTwitter I hope it's not a derail of your thread but this is a key aspect of the Labour Manifesto/obfuscation that will perpetuate the confusion of children and young people who may otherwise grow up to be happily gay (some/many of whom may also be autistic). What happens in schools is critical when it comes to ending the enforced preaching of gender identity belief as truth.
Here's Baroness Foster calling it out:

https://x.com/jfoster2019/status/1804798662054216018?t=dAi2mIQDJ9GrlNq4JQZ67w&s=19

From her comments in this interview, my suspicion is that a Labour government will remove the important language that describes gender identity in the Gender Questioning Children guidance (my bold):

Gender identity: is a contested belief. It is a sense a person may have of their own gender, whether male, female or another category such as non-binary. This may or may not be the same as their biological sex. Many people do not consider that they or others have a gender identity at all.

And that they will water down the RHSE guidance in the same way.

I appreciate this isn't directly covered in the Manifesto but the silence (in the Manifesto) on how they will cover this important aspect of gender identity belief is deafening. It's becoming increasingly clear that the pipeline from schools to gender clinics will continue under a Labour government.

Thank you for the video clip and links, @BonfireLady .

So, she says that if the guidelines, that were just about to go out, were to say that the concept of gender identity should not be taught in schools, (just mentioned as a contested belief), that would be drifting into ‘partisan and unnecessary language’ .

It seems she has no idea about the issues involved and the extent to which schools have been driven by a partisan trans activist agendas on this, or what the cost to children has been.

This is awful. Just when we thought schools might become safer and less thoughtless about cementing the harmful gender identity idea.

She either hasn’t been paying attention to developments in this area post-Cass or she’s ideologically in favour of keeping that pipeline active - neither is a good option.

Posted this on another thread - I wonder whether we're seeing the impact of a number of labour politicians / staff members having children caught up in all this and colleagues feeling unable to raise issues relating to Cass etc. To answer repeated questions about children and gender ideology by referencing adults suggests she's either a raging TRA or possibly, unfamiliar with the implications of Cass.
I suspect here's been virtually no discussion of Cass / the pathway to infertility, double mastectomies, bodily mutilation etc in the Labour hierarchy. You're not going to raise these issues when you're sitting next to parents with children caught up in this - especially if they've been cheerleading them on (no doubt suppressing any mounting horror at what's happening). With Stonewall literally in the room, how could any labour politician or staff member express anything other than positivity about a child going down this route?
That's why it's only Wes Streeting (a gay man) who's been able to appreciate some of what Cass has found (homophobia & transitioning gay children).

It's just a thought and I don't mean any disrespect to parents with children going through this - they need all the support available. But it might be why labour are so out of step with the rest of the population watching in horror as children think their bodies are wrong and they must change sex. They don't have the difficult, painful, hard conversations as they're just not allowed. Only positive affirmation is acceptable. So that's why they don't talk about Cass as they haven't (and some of them can't) engage with it.
Which leaves us with a massive problem in terms of what they'll do with all this

@DennisNoelKavanaghOffTwitter are you still here? 🤞

Now that Bridget Phillipson and Anneliese Dodds have the Woman and Equalities mandate and apparently want to "break new ground for LGBT people", the danger to children and young people in education has risen considerably. In other words, every child. Particularly those who are autistic and/or may grow up to be gay or lesbian.

If they won't engage on women's rights, is there something that GMN could do relating to education? It's all interlinked and ultimately relates to the ill-conceived conversion therapy plans.

Are you familiar with the new statutory safeguarding guidance that kicks in from 1st September? It successfully separates LGB from T, makes it clear that the declaration of a transgender identity could be a safeguarding issue and links to both the Cass Report and the draft Gender Questioning Children guidance. In turn, the GQC guidance holds an incredibly useful definition of gender identity (see below).

IMO, the "battlefront" for both common sense and good equalities legislation is now firmly in schools.

Thread on the forthcoming statutory guidance:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5082317-finally-keeping-children-safe-in-education-has-been-updated

Is there any possibility this change on the T for schools could be overturned by the new Labour government?

Before September 1st?

I hope not as this would be unfair to schools who are (hopefully?!) preparing for training, given it's statutory, and will be breaking up for summer imminently.

Unfortunately the wording could change after that, given it says it is subject to change 😔

Screenshots below.

Given the RHSE guidance consultation closes tomorrow and Bridget Phillipson hasn't mentioned this at all, the indication is that there will be a quiet shift in the wording at some point 😞 The priority seems to be anything but safeguarding unfortunately.

Worryingly, the media isn't picking up on this. Not even the usual ones that might. The dots just aren't being joined up.

I hope we can encourage every child to be gender questioning, because gender - a bag of sexist and homophobic expectations on your appearance, behaviour, preferences and interests, based on your sex - should be questioned.

I'd hope most younglings come to the conclusion 'what a bag of dicks gender is, how about I just do me, and you do you'.

Labour are in a mess over this.. A number of self interested adults who will be unable to discuss social contagion, negative impacts of puberty blockers and the brutal experimental surgery being foisted on children dispassionately. With powerful labour men like Cashman openly pushing back against discussions on safeguarding children in schools (right wing apparently), yet again this becomes an ideological issue - instead of the fundamental human right of children to be safeguarded. And I've no doubt Stonewall have been threatening all sorts from behind the scenes to remove the nuanced new language.

BUT - the press are now onto this. Parents now view the influence of queer theory lobby groups on schools and children with great suspicion and are openly challenging them.

So I'm cautiously optimistic that they won't dare water down safeguarding at the behest of the trans lobby groups.

I’m also cautiously optimistic that this guidance remains at least for this school year, as I can’t see how the government will have time to rethink it before September now. And I also think Cass provides a clear basis to adopt a cautious approach, allowing ministers to hopefully point to that as the justification instead of entering into ideological debates. It also provides an obvious way to challenge any changes to the new guidance.

BUT - the press are now onto this. Parents now view the influence of queer theory lobby groups on schools and children with great suspicion and are openly challenging them.

So I'm cautiously optimistic that they won't dare water down safeguarding at the behest of the trans lobby groups.

🤞🤞🤞🤞

It's more important than ever that children and safeguarding are centred.
This rant won't be to everyone's taste (some people will find it too much) but Barry Wall articulates the "hold the line" end of safeguarding here:

https://x.com/HeadWarriorTWM/status/1810660213847969858?t=SP0ehcCVG6b9FZTcCOZQ9g&s=19

It's 10 minutes long and worth a listen IMO.

He opens with a reference to Suella Braverman's speech. I'm aware there is a separate thread on that. What remains to be seen is whether hard-hitting rhetoric like Suella and Barry's helps or hinders. IMO it's all needed: angry voices and more moderate ones. It's unfortunate that Suella has a style and a reputation that proceeds her but when you look at what she's saying, she's centring a) what's happening to children and b) the political capture that got us to this point.

Unfortunately when people get ranty, some take the opportunity to write them off as unhinged, rather than listen to the content.

Today Keir Starmer praised this intake of Parliament ……..

“the largest cohort of LGBT+ MPs of any parliament in the world!”

Keir Starmer hails diverse Commons in first speech to parliament as PM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cQZbyQQZxG4
O:25 s in

This is something that might have been unmentioned as being simply to be expected, or he could have stopped after “diverse”.

But given the prominence going on, of the catch-all umbrella term “LGBT+ he used, imo, he is most likely wedded to a general TWAW/TMAM to be further entrenched by Labour throughout all institutions, without too many questions.

This approach maybe too important a Labour identity badge to give up.