Lactation support conference in Ireland - the quiet part out loud

[ArabellaScott]

https://genspect.org/where-does-male-lactation-fit-in-breastfeeding-support-networks/

'This year’s program lists a lactation consultant called Jacob Engelsman speaking on “communicating inclusively: creating gender-affirming clinical spaces for families” and “lactation support for gender-diverse families”.'

'Jacob Engelsman is a Certified Lactation Consultant based in the US. He describes himself as an infant care specialist, speaker, and writer. He is the author of a recently published book, Lactation for the Rest of Us: A Guide for Queer and Trans Parents and Helpers, and specialises in inducing lactation in non-gestational parents (parents who haven’t given birth). “Lactation is for anyone” Jacob tells us in this podcast interview.
Engelsman’s interest and expertise is not limited to lactation for the purpose of feeding an infant. One of his previous presentations was “Inducing Lactation for Kinksters” and according to his CV he has been giving various talks including on lactation at Frolicon, an adult lifestyle and fetish convention held annually in Atlanta, Georgia with substantial programming around kink, BDSM, sexuality, polyamory, LGBTQ+ relationships and alternative sexual/family cultures.
He is not a nurse, midwife, doctor, or healthcare professional (nor does he claim to be). He is not a parent or someone with personal experience of breastfeeding. He got his certification five years ago and prior to that worked in the food service industry.'
...
'Why would a man want to lactate? In Engelsman’s own words:
“There are several reasons a person may choose to lactate regardless of whether they can gestate a child…a non-gestational parent might choose to induce lactation as a way to feel emotionally closer to the baby, assert their own feelings of parenthood, gender euphoria, or just for the unique experience of it.” (p.49)
Writing specifically about “cis” men, that is men who identify as men, he says:
“As to the question of why they would want to, it seems reasonable to believe that cis men want to lactate for the same reasons as anyone else. Which is to say, usually to feed and bond with their baby and to a lesser extent for curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification.” (p.152)'

I'll be very surprised if some of mine survive the day, but I don't care. I've had my say, I know what I believe, and I know I'm right about what I believe. And it's right that Engelsman is no longer involved with the ALCI conference.

And it's all there on google for anyone who cares to check. The whole sorry, sordid saga.

Updated conference details, out goes, 'gender diverse' and 'gender affirming' nonsense and back to mothers and babies .....

Forgot to attach it

Maybe this has ended up as a positive? They've been shown that once you drop boundaries and start centreing men in breastfeeding then you get the kind of men intervening who should be nowhere near babies or breastfeeding mothers?

No doubt an embarrassing for them but if they've learnt that hard lesson about inclusion and limits, it's good.

"It’s not for me to censure anybody else in different ways if they’re doing something that’s lawful…"

This is where so many politicians have ended up, scared to offend anyone and lose votes to the point that any fetish has become acceptable.

One might hope that, one might be naive, I include myself here, so no, I don’t trust this backtrack. We do not know who within the ALCI was pushing the gender agenda, whom are presumably still there. The members, all women, seem pretty weak as they have let this dangerous nonsense take hold. A cursory glance just now leads to this link, full on “chest feeding” and “human milk feeding individuals”. ….

https://alcireland.ie/disclaimer

Statement of Inclusivity
ALCI is dedicated to the Protection, Promotion, and Support of Breastfeeding for all persons. ALCI is inclusive to all persons and the intention of written material produced by ALCI specifically, such as protocols, statements, and position statements is to remain inclusive to all breastfeeding, chest feeding, and human milk-feeding individuals. For the purpose of such materials and throughout this website the terms Breastfeeding and Mother are chosen without bias or prejudice. ALCI fosters a positive ethos and operates a policy of equal respect, regard, and fair treatment for all visiting this website

🤢

When I did a [excuse the cliché] 'deep dive' into the ALCI website, I noticed that a lot of the chestfeeding and all people and human lactation stuff was under the heading of DISCLAIMER instead of Policies or whatever..
The average user visiting their website probaby never sees all that stuff.
I'm not saying they hid it, but it certainly wasn't immediately accessible.

The minister's mealymouthed response doesn't surprise me - I met her once when she was canvassing, and I brought up the issue of biological women's rights having been written out of the law by replacing the word 'sex' with the word 'gender' in equality legislation.

She recoiled - that's the only word to use, she actually stepped back in surprise, her smiley-smiley-vote-for-me attitude changed immediately and she turned and walked away, blabbering about inclusivity.

It's a shame, because I get the impression that she has the makings of a half-decent health minister, which is one of the most challenging portfolios in government.

As we've seen in recent court cases in Australia, this is what happens when you legalise self-ID:
men can do pretty much anything they want, from 'chestfeeding' to taking places on women's teams, councils, committees, dating sites, etc, by saying they are women.

I don't know if there's any legal come-back to that if there's self-ID legislation in place.

Can I encourage anyone who lives in Ireland to start having conversations with people they meet on dog walks, in the supermarket and waiting on the side of sports pitches. I have been having conversations for two weeks now and being a chatty place it is easy to talk to lots of people! I have only found one person who had any notion of gender identity stuff. I think the main thing needed is chat on the street! And this topic of the breastfeeding conference is a good way to start the conversation.

I second that!

Also contacting radio discussions etc., Letters to the Editor etc.- if you're brave enough as you have to put your name to them.
Just being a voice is important, as I strongly suspect that most people do not agree with 'genderwoo', and are unaware of how embedded it is in Irish legislation. E.g. I'm guessing that there are a lot of people who are not fully aware that a man can legally 'become' a woman just by saying so, and the implications, like that if a man says he is a woman and turns up at a breastfeeding support group saying he wants to breastfeed, that is 'lawful'.

It's the people objecting to men in women's spaces who are on the wrong side of the law, not the men who ID as women.
I don't think most people would think that's fair, and the ALCI conference case is a good illustration what legalising self-ID can result in for society.

I've been having plenty of discussions with people and I'm heartened to say anyone I've spoken to think this gender wokery is madness. I've also noticed people have become more vocal since this lactation conference blew up. I think it's the straw that's broken the camel's back.