Promotion of gender themes in children's publishing and therefore in books in schools

[Thehorticulturalhussie]

I have mentioned this on another thread but I think that it deserves its own.

SEEN in Publishing recently published a report entitled 'Through the Looking Glass'
It describes the chilling subservience of children's publishing to the very vocal trans movement. Please read it. This narrative is being pushed to children via the books in our schools.

This is the foreword by Anne Fine, Children's Laureate.

Would it be possible to put together a more damning indictment of the world of children’s publishing than we have here? I doubt it. It is shameful. Shameful. Publishers will rush to climb on any bandwagon. But this one? Really?
This dismal betrayal of young readers. This unthinking capitulation to a biologically unfounded ideology whose false and troubling messages have damaged so many families. Over the last decade, publishers, booksellers, librarians and a bevy of joyless would-be authors became a major conduit for trans-activist propaganda and harmful lies, while others (whose books sold a good deal better) were bullied into silence, or out of their careers, by positively terrifying campaigns of cancellation and spite.
…[J]ust as the children’s publishing industry appears to have been the first captured, it is still almost the last redoubt of this dangerous idiocy. Everyone should read this report.
For far too long, children’s publishers and authors have ignored the safeguarding dangers of promoting trans ideology to young children and teens. A course correction is long overdue. We hope that this report will give readers pause for thought.

https://www.transgendertrend.com/childrens-trans-themed-books/

Thank you Op. It's insidious how some of the most unsuitable people in the world to influence children are being ushered into schools / libraries via the publishing industry.
It needs to stop.

There is an earlier discussion about this, I think, if you're interested:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5543489-5543489-seen-in-publishing-report-on-childrens-books

I went to the library to pick up some summer reading for DD13 - she's quite an advanced reader, so I tend to look in the Teen and Teen Plus sections of the library. We are very liberal and generally allow her to read anything she wants to read.

I could not find more than one or two books (which tended to be thriller types - fine but hardly literary fiction) that did not have an LGBTQIA++ theme. I am all for lesbian and gay literature - and absolutely fine for children to read about people questioning their identity and life choices, but the library's choices were just so noticeably overwhelmingly focused on these issues.

I actually checked I wasn't in the LGBT area by mistake. It is absolutely astonishing.

At least one Mumsnetter contributed to the SEEN in Publishing report....

Oh sorry, I tried searching but evidently incompetently.

It is genuinely astonishing to see how pervasive it is, until you try discussing it with someone (let's say, in your family) who has had no idea of what's been going on. It's just "reality" to them. It's "normal." What is impossible for them to believe is that 15 years ago, none of this ideology existed, and these books would never have been published.

And they don't want to believe, they don't want to see it, so they decide that you are the problem!

I have no problem with books from certain points of view being published, but they should be balanced with books from differing points of view as well, which is what has not happened. And I think some of these books for younger children are actually harmful.

Thank goodness the tide is turning, but it's going to be a long time before those books are seen for what they are: activist tracts.

It's particularly worrying when schools and local authorities stock books directly against UK law safeguarding children, with themes the courts have decided are emotional abuse eg of children of transpeople like 'She's My dad'. It is a safeguarding breach and also breaks the legal requirements protecting kids in school from political/ gender coercion, and children of transpeople from emotional abuse and child cruelty.

The UK Supreme court previously ruled it is emotional abuse to lie to children their mum is their dad, or vice versa, the Gender Recognition Act specifically bans this and confirms if someone is both trans and a parent, they are either a mother if they gave birth, or a dad if they provided sperm , whatever their gender beliefs or GRC status. They can't lie to kids. yet so often it's ignored.

The ECHR recently ruled to confirm telling the truth about who a mother/ father is protects the human rights of children of transpeople- and this takes precededence over the trans fantasies of transparents. The link to the ECHR ruling is https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/news/challenge-to-registration-of-transgender-man-as-mother-declared-inadmissible/
and the Children of Transitioners groups wrote about these issues here:

https://childrenoftransitioners.org/paperwork/
childrenoftransitioners.org/six-children/

Don't apologize! The more spotlights on this, the better! I just thought there might be further discussion there, to add to this one. The search facility on MN never picks up what you want when you want!

I don't have a problem that (the majority of these) books exist. The more books the better! Though of course I do agree that books that tell children they can magically change sex and nobody will ever know are misleading and harmful.

It's just the proportion of LGBT books vs non-LGBT books is totally not representative of the population at large. Yes, I want my daughters to read about LGBT (one of them enjoyed Heartstopper for example - fabulous). But I don't ONLY want them to read about this.

They're not into fantasy and werewolves and there's only so many thrillers I'm willing to feed them before they start thinking everyone's a murderer... so where are the books about an average teenager dealing with issues? Like Lottie Brooks for a more grown-up generation, or more Hunger Games for example.

What I'm not sure about is whether it's the library who's selecting these books, or whether that's just what the publishers are churning out.

Thanks for that, I hadn't read the ruling and it's certainly relevant to the children's books criticised in the SEEN in P report.
I find it actually unbelievable that the wishes of a shouty and boorish minority should be deemed more important than safeguarding children. Honestly, how did it come to this?????

Yes that ruling is really important - and already trans activists and their lawyers are moaning they want the law changed to remove the protections for children!

The trans lobby has had £££££ of pounds to push this stuff on kids, including from the gov, schools and local authorities, and schools have stayed quiet and allowed trans activists to lie and coerce children about it. When you consider some of the children will be survivors of CSA , it's just vile people in positions of leadership have let dodgy adults tell them they are hateful if they correctly acknowledge someone's sex (even the CPS who is supposed to prosecute male sex offenders said this in withdrawn schools guidance a few years ago!!).