The Trans Agenda: The papers go quiet

News you need, the perspective you won't find anywhere else. The trans community's guide to UK news, media and politics and our place in it.

Sep 02, 2024

The Trans Agenda

[1 September 2024]

Welcome to The Trans Agenda: The papers, a newsletter that will arrive in your inbox every week if you are subscribed.

Transgender. How do you know? By Lee Hurley

Welcome to this week's edition of The Trans Agenda: The Papers.

First up, some housekeeping. Apologies for the lack of an edition last week. I was absolutely slammed with my bill-paying job writing about Arsenal. The transfer window was in its final weeks and, contrary to the protestations of most football fans, they love gossip. I can make more money during 2 -3 months when there is no football than I can during the 9 months there is.

That’s also the reason there hasn't been a main Trans Agenda over the summer. Normal service there will be resumed next week and you can also follow me on Twitter and Bluesky, where I frequently tweet news, including exclusives.

Now, back to the last two week's of papers.

On the whole, it's been a very quiet fortnight in the papers, suspiciously so, although there were quite a few stories they opted not to cover ( see the Trans Agenda next week for those).

Last week, there were just four articles in total which is the lowest total since I began recording the stats. This week, there were 10, boosted largely by The Sunday Telegraph who accounted for three all by themselves. Is this the Khelif Effect in action? It’s too early to tell and with Valentina Petrillo due to race on Monday we will get a better idea in next week’s roundup.

With August just finished, I can report that the month saw a total of 118 articles. That’s an average of four a day. The Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph accounted for a large chunk of that number, churning out almost 50% more than the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday with 52 (44%). The Mail published 27, The Times/Sunday Times 24 and The Guardian/Observer 15.

While quiet, it has still been ridiculous. We've got the 'woke' Bank of England annoying The Telegraph, who also have trouble understanding a job advert and the Paralympics. Hannah Barnes continues to rail against healthcare for trans kids and, while it might be nothing, there could be a rise in articles targeting the wider LGBTQ+ community as abusers to keep an eye out for. This is more a hunch than anything, highlighted by a helpful friend on Twitter that rung a bell in my head, so we shall see how it plays out.

THE PAPERS Monday 19th August - Sunday 1st September 2024

Monday 19 Total: 0

Tuesday 20 Total: 1

The Guardian [0]

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [1]

First transgender Paralympian has sprint ‘advantage’, says opponent The Daily Telegraph20 Aug 2024By Ben Rumsby Gender row: Italian Valentina Petrillo won 11 national titles in three years while competing as a man A rival of the Paralympics’ first openly transgender runner has spoken out over her opponent’s potential “advantage”. Katrin Mueller-rottgardt, of Germany, sounded the alarm over the participation of Valentina Petrillo, who she will face in races for the visually impaired at Paris 2024. The inclusion in the female category of the Italian, who won bronze in both the women’s T12 200 metres and 400m at last year’s World Para Athletics Championships, has sparked sport’s latest gender row. The 50-year-old transitioned in 2019 after undergoing hormone therapy, having previously won 11 national titles in three years while competing as a man. Mueller-rottgardt told Bild: “Basically, everyone should live in everyday life the way they feel comfortable. But I find it difficult in competitive sports. She has lived and trained as a man for a long time, so there is a possibility the physical requirements are different to those of someone who was born a woman. This could give her an advantage.” Speaking after competing against Petrillo in a recent race, the German added: “For me, that [Petrillo’s gender] wasn’t a focus. It was only after the race that people started talking about how masculine she looked. I can’t judge that.” Mueller-rottgardt spoke out after Petrillo was selected to represent Italy at the Paralympics in the women’s T12 200m and 400m. In a statement last week responding to her selection, Petrillo said: “I still find it hard to believe it and I’m keeping my feet on the ground.” The sprinter told BBC Sport her participation at the Games was an “important symbol of inclusion”. Diagnosed with Stargardt disease – an eye condition – at the age of 14, Petrillo’s visual abilities are limited to one fiftieth of the normal range. Fairness-for-sport campaigners have previously raised concerns about Petrillo’s participation in female sport. Mariuccia Quilleri, a lawyer and athlete who has represented a number of competitors who oppose Petrillo’s participation, said inclusion had been chosen over fairness and “there is not much more we can do”. Like the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee effectively allows individual sporting bodies to decide their own guidelines on categories for women’s sport. Last year, World Athletics banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events such as the Olympics. But, under World Para Athletics’ rules, an athlete legally recognised as a woman is eligible to compete in the category for which their impairment qualifies them.* Article Name:First transgender Paralympian has sprint ‘advantage’, says opponent Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Ben Rumsby Start Page:12 End Page:12

Wednesday 21 Total: 0

Thursday 22 Total: 0

Friday 23 Total: 2

The Guardian [0]

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [2]

Spaniard changes his gender to dodge trial Accused avoids domestic abuse case by becoming a woman under country’s liberal trans-gender rules The Daily Telegraph23 Aug 2024By James Badcock in Madrid A MAN has been accused of switching gender to avoid a trial for threatening his former partner in Spain. The victim’s lawyer has described the move, which takes advantage of the country’s ultra-liberal transgender laws, as “fraudulent”. One of the country’s specialist courts to protect women from male violence says it now cannot try the individual, who has a conviction as a man for threatening his former partner, because he has changed his official legal status to female. The victim has reported that her former partner has continued to threaten her and violate restraining orders since being ordered to serve 15 months in prison – and subsequently registering as a woman – last year. Seville’s Court for Violence against Women has ruled that it is not possible to investigate and try her former partner because “the sex of the accused person has changed to that of a woman”. Jose Antonio Sires, the victim’s lawyer, said: “It’s a fraudulent use of the transgender law because this man, who has a criminal record in matters of gender violence, is seeking to be tried by a criminal court and not by a specific court for gender violence in order to avoid specific penalties.” Created nearly 20 years ago, Spain’s courts for violence against women have the ability to impose protection orders to safeguard victims from abuse. The 2023 reform of Spain’s transgender laws, passed by the country’s socialist-led government, means that anyone can switch their legal sex denomination, without having to justify the change on psychological or lifestyle grounds. Asked to comment on the case, Spain’s equality ministry said: “Anyone who changes sex to avoid conviction may ultimately be convicted for two reasons: one, for gender-based violence, and, secondly, for fraudulently effecting change in their public documents, such as an ID card.” The ministry said that of 6,000 gender changes this year, only 0.001 per cent had proven to be fraudulent. “My client feels totally abandoned, she has told me that she no longer has any faith in the judicial system,” Mr Sires said. In 2014, his client obtained a restraining order from a court for violence against women. The same court convicted her former partner in 2019 of threatening her and breaking the restraining order. The then-man appealed but another court last year confirmed the conviction and ordered that he enter prison to serve a 15-month prison sentence, something the now-woman has succeeded in delaying by asking for a government pardon. Article Name:Spaniard changes his gender to dodge trial Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By James Badcock in Madrid Start Page:14 End Page:14

Saturday 24 Total: 1

The Guardian [0]

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [1]

Abusive man swaps gender to walk free from jail term Daily Mail24 Aug 2024Mail Foreign Service A MAN given 15 months in jail for assaulting his partner has avoided prison by changing sex so he cannot be punished for gender-based violence. Antonio Luis B.R. walked free when the Court of Violence against Women in Seville, Spain, withdrew from the case after he legally became a woman. According to the victim’s lawyer, Jose Antonio Sires, his client broke off her relationship with Luis five years ago following a decade of psychological and physical abuse. Although she took out a restrain ing order, he simply ignored it and continued harassing her. In 2019, the case was brought before the court and Luis was sentenced to 15 months in prison for violating the restraining order and making threats against his ex. The case dragged on for years while his defence repeatedly made appeals against the sentence. These failed and eventually the court ordered his imprisonment on September 11 last year. But having become a woman the month before, Luis escaped justice. He used a new law allowing those over 16 to change their registered gender without needing medical or psychological reports. His lawyers again, saying he could not be tried for gender-based crimes because he was a ‘new person’. They claimed the court could no longer try him as a man because that would violate LGBT law, requested a pardon and demanded that the case be dropped – and the Court of Violence against Women has now withdrawn from it. During a hearing on August 13, the court heard that ‘now that the accused is a woman’ there is ‘a lack of objective jurisdiction’. Mr Sires called Luis’s actions ‘an undoubted fraud’, and said he changed sex with the sole purpose of avoiding ‘specific penalties for men who commit violence against their wife or ex-wife’. He added: ‘The perpetrator... seeks to exploit the law in a deceitful way.’ Mr Sires has now called for Luis to be tried by a criminal court instead of a specific one for gender violence. He said the victim was still suffering from ‘a continuous ordeal’, adding: ‘The attacks and threats, far from ceasing, have continued, raising fears for the victim’s physical integrity.’ Last July, Luis allegedly attacked his ex again and threatened her, reportedly saying: ‘You only have days left to live.’ When police arrived, he told them: ‘I am a woman.’ Mr Sires insisted ‘men cannot evade convictions for gender-based violence’, and even if they register as women, ‘the legal responsibilities they had before remain’. ‘You only have days left to live’ Article Name:Abusive man swaps gender to walk free from jail term Publication:Daily Mail Author:Mail Foreign Service Start Page:30 End Page:30

Telegraph [0]

Sunday 25 Total: 0

Monday 26 Total: 0

Tuesday 27 Total: 3

The Guardian [0]

The Times [1]

Doctors quit BMA over trans children stance Eleanor Hayward - Health Editor Doctors are leaving the British Medical Association in revolt at its opposition to the Cass review, amid claims that the union has been taken over by an ideologically driven “vocal minority”. Hundreds of members, including NHS clinical leaders and former presidents of medical royal colleges, have gone public with their dismay at BMA leaders for voting to reject the review into the care of transgender children and reverse a ban on puberty blockers. Some have resigned from the union after up to 50 years, and others said the BMA’s “abysmal” leadership was “increasingly bonkers” and “ideologically captured”. The rift began on July 31 when the BMA announced it would lobby against the implementation of Dr Hilary Cass’s review, which recommended the NHS stop prescribing sex hormones to children with gender dysphoria. The rest of the medical establishment and the NHS have fully accepted the review. The BMA’s council of 69 elected members was asked to vote on a motion rejecting the review at a meeting described by critics as “secretive and opaque”. The motion was carried, making it BMA policy, although the breakdown of votes is not available and the union’s 195,000 members were not consulted. The motion was tabled by Tom Dolphin, a consultant anaesthetist in London, and Vassili Crispi, a junior doctor in Birmingham. It was backed by Emma Runswick, deputy chairwoman of the BMA council, who is the leader of a left-wing and pro-strike coalition of junior doctors elected to the leadership body in 2022. She has described the ban on puberty blockers as a “terrible decision” and repeated a debunked claim that it had led to more suicides. Some other senior council members were perplexed that they were being asked to vote on the issue and said it did not reflect the views of the wider membership. Jacky Davis, a consultant radiologist and BMA council member who opposed the motion, said: “The council contains a vocal minority who have an anti-Cass agenda. They are driving policy in a direction that the membership have not been consulted on and do not agree with.” The BMA has argued that there are “weaknesses in the methodologies” used by Cass and that the review’s recommendations are “unsubstantiated”. More than 1,400 doctors, 900 of whom are BMA members, have signed an open letter calling for the BMA to drop its opposition. The letter criticises the union’s leaders for “going against the principles of evidence-based medicine and against ethical practice”. The letter has been signed by nearly 70 professors and 23 former or current presidents of medical royal colleges. Professor Philip Banfield, chair of the BMA council, said a group set up to evaluate the Cass review would report on progress at the end of the year. A Cass review spokesman said it had “met the highest standards of quality, validity and impartiality”, adding: “Everybody should remember the ... young people trying to live their lives and the families/carers and clinicians doing their best to support them.”

Daily Mail [1]

Doctors to quit BMA in protest at gender row Daily Mail27 Aug 2024By Tash Mosheim DOCTORS are quitting the British Medical Association over its opposition to a review into gender identity services for children. Members voiced their dismay after the BMA voted to reject the Cass review, which recommended halting the prescription of sex hormones to young patients with gender dysphoria. They accused the BMA of being influenced by a ‘vocal minority’ with an ideological agenda. The vote involved the BMA’s elected 69-member council, but other members, including NHS leaders, have argued it does not represent the views of the union’s broader membership. Jacky Davis, a consultant radiologist and council member, told ‘Activists have taken over’ The Times: ‘This minority has voted to block the implementation of an evidence-based review which took four years to put together. They have no evidence for their opposition. ‘It is not our business as a union to be doing a critique of the Cass review.’ More than 1,400 doctors have signed an open letter urging the BMA to drop its opposition to the review, which was led by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass. Many members said they had resigned or were considering resignation from the BMA. One signatory called for a ‘vote of no confidence in BMA leadership’ and another said ‘activists appear to have been allowed to take over’. Despite the BMA’s stance, the NHS still plans to implement the review’s recommendations. Article Name:Doctors to quit BMA in protest at gender row Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Tash Mosheim Start Page:8 End Page:8

Telegraph [1]

Roxanne Tickle’s victory proves that trans rights now trump women’s rights The Daily Telegraph27 Aug 2024Suzanne Moore Roxanne Tickle, centre, won her discrimination case against Giggle Is there anything that women can have for ourselves alone that certain men do not want to take away from us? Or get access to? Anything at all? I am asking this, not of countries in which women are clearly under the cosh such as Iran or Afghanistan, but of our so-called progressive democracies. Can we have women-only spaces? Women-only sports? Women-only rape crisis centres? Or as ridiculous as this may sound, women-only apps? Well, not in Australia, where Sall Grover has just lost a landmark case: Tickle vs Giggle. It’s not as funny as it sounds. Let me explain. In 2020, Sall Grover founded an app called Giggle. It was for women the world over to meet up whether for dates, flat-shares, or to travel together. Having lived and worked as a screenwriter in LA, Grover was sick of the sexism and harassment she went through. This app, then, was women-only and used biometric software that verifies gender to stop men joining. Why was this even needed, one might ask? Because apparently lesbian dating sites are flooded with men who identify as women. A trans-identified male calling themselves Roxanne Tickle was removed from the site and complained, tweeting that as a trans woman they should be admitted. They then got hold of Grover’s private number and demanded to speak to her. Grover refused. Why did this person want to go into a space where they clearly were not wanted? This seems to be the pathology of certain trans activists – or should we just say it like it is: men’s rights activists who refuse to accept women’s boundaries. By 2022 the case had gone to the Australian Human Rights Commission, where it has just been heard. Tickle was accusing Grover of “gender identity discrimination”. She refused to be “re-educated” or have her site moderated and instead closed it down. This case, then, was a fundamental test of whether sex takes priority over gender and Grover lost. On Friday, after a three-day hearing, the judge Robert Bromwich discounted Grover’s argument that this person was excluded from the app because of their sex. Instead the judge ruled that Tickle had suffered indirect discrimination because, according to Australian case law, sex is “changeable and not necessarily binary”. Eat your heart out Richard Dawkins. But while Grover has lost this case, I know she will keep fighting and take it to appeal because I met her while she was here in March. She may have been jet-lagged and missing her little daughter but she is super bright, articulate and will stand her ground. She knows a lot of us support her because women worldwide are sick of being told that our rights matter less than a man who thinks they are a woman or who waves a certificate about to prove they are. We just saw what happened at the Olympics where a passport now stands in for a DNA test. We have seen the ridiculous spectacle of a biological male running a rape crisis centre in Edinburgh and yes, we all know that many trans people are not predatory nor want to oppress women. What is for sure, though, is that there are some whose primary purpose is exactly to be validated or even titillated by entering female-only spaces. In search of their imagined gender identity they will violate women’s privacy and safety. And so we have a fight that is now worldwide – the basic need to protect the existing rights of women which are being eroded. How did we get to this? In Australia in 2013, then prime minister Julia Gillard – whom I have praised previously for taking on misogyny while in power – signed into law that discrimination against trans people, even in intimate care services, would be illegal. I have seen her spout the “trapped in the wrong body” nonsense as well as talking about gender being somehow an issue of mind and soul. That’s her religion but not mine – and now she ducks difficult questions about it. Being trans-friendly, it seems, is a shortcut to proving you are progressive and modern – but what actually in Australia is so great for women? An Australian women’s soccer team that has five biological men in its squad has won all 16 of the season’s matches and is now champion of the Women’s Premier League division. In April this year Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that violence against women had become “a national crisis”. One in four women had experienced violence from an intimate partner. More women were killed in 2023 than the year before. In other words, so much of this fake liberalism around trans rights is a smokescreen for what is really happening. One of the reasons for female-only spaces is because of male violence – but women are no longer allowed to say no to men in any shape or form. They are not allowed to call them men even when it is obvious that they are. We are having our boundaries trampled on physically, virtually and legally and yet we’re told this is modern and inclusive. Sall Grover stood up and said no. In court she was asked to say that Tickle was a woman. She refused. She will keep on refusing and she should know that many of us, male and female, see exactly what is happening and will stand beside her. Women are no longer allowed to say no to men in any shape or form Article Name:Roxanne Tickle’s victory proves that trans rights now trump women’s rights Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:Suzanne Moore Start Page:7 End Page:7

Wednesday 28 Total: 1

The Guardian [0]

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [1]

Thursday 29 Total: 1

The Guardian [1]

BMA accused of witch-hunt after transgender care leak The Guardian29 Aug 2024Denis Campbell Health policy editor The British Medical Association has been accused of undertaking a “witch-hunt” to try to identify which senior figure leaked that it was set to oppose the landmark Cass review on transgender healthcare. It has warned its ruling council’s 69 members that whoever tipped off the media about its controversial stance should own up or face their non-cooperation being seen as “an act of dishonesty”. Critics say its action is “disgraceful”, “Orwellian” and “witch-hunt-like”. The BMA has been heavily criticised by key medical figures since it voted on 17 July to in effect reject Dr Hilary Cass’s report. It is the only medical organisation in the UK to not accept and to find fault with her findings, which were accepted by the last government and its Labour successor. The union has been in turmoil ever since. Its dismissal of the report as “unsubstantiated” has led to a serious split, resignations and huge tension within the body, which represents about 195,000 doctors – a large majority of the UK medical profession. The New Statesman revealed on 16 July that the BMA’s council was going to discuss a motion recommending that the union “disavow” the Cass review when it met the next day. That disclosure led to the motion being reworded, with the new version no longer using the word “disavow” and instead committing the BMA to “publicly critique” the findings. Rachel Podalak, the union’s joint chief executive, has added to what some leading BMA figures say is “a climate of fear” within it over the “toxic” subject of Cass by telling council members that it has launched an investigation into the leak and that the culprit should reveal themselves. In a message posted on the council’s message board the day after the motion was passed, Podalak scolded whoever had leaked details of the two Cass-related motions and made clear that, because the confidentiality of council proceedings had been breached, “we are investigating further”. She asked anyone who had shared information about the move to disassociate the BMA from the Cass report to contact her so she could decide what purposes it had been done for. Then, in language that some council members found threatening, she added: “Legal advice received confirms that failure to admit breach of confidentiality may be regarded as a denial, which in turn could be viewed as an act of dishonesty if/ when responsibility is established.” Dr Clare Gerada, an ex-BMA council member and ex-chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “I think the BMA are blaming the messenger, not themselves.” She questioned why it had adopted such a controversial position on such a sensitive subject without asking members for their views first. She is among an array of leading doctors who have signed a letter voicing serious concern at the BMA’s stance. The BMA defended its actions. A spokesperson for the union said: “The BMA treats very seriously any breaches of confidentiality, especially so where they include a breach of personal data. “Leaking confidential information as well as that which contains personal data and then failing to declare it when asked, is likely to be a serious breach of our conduct and governance rules. In addition, the law contains restrictions on processing personal data and on disclosing confidential information which must be respected.” It has set up a “task and finish” group to examine and “produce a critique” of Cass’s four-year-long research and conclusions, including a focus on claimed “weaknesses in the methodologies used”. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents all UK doctors professionally, has criticised the BMA’s refusal to accept “the validity of the evidence and consequently the findings of the independent Cass review of gender identity services for children and young people. Our view is that further speculative work risks greater polarisation on this matter, which is not helpful.” The BMA has also been criticised for decrying the government’s ban on puberty blockers. Cass said that the drugs were not based on sound medical evidence and could cause harm. ‘I think the BMA are blaming the messenger, not themselves’ nd Dr Clare Gerada Former BMA council member Article Name:BMA accused of witch-hunt after transgender care leak Publication:The Guardian Author:Denis Campbell Health policy editor Start Page:5 End Page:5

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [0]

Friday 30 Total: 1

The Guardian [0]

The Times [0]

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [1]

Abuse charity asks trans women to apply for women-only post The Daily Telegraph30 Aug 2024By Simon Johnson SCOTLAND’S leading domestic abuse charity has advertised for a senior “women-only” role but will allow “men who identify as women” to apply. Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) advertised for a head of policy, and said that “applications from women only” would be accepted for the key role. But the advert then said that the definition of women included people with “the protected characteristic of gender reassignment” under the Equality Act 2010. The legislation defines gender reassignment as proposing to undergo, undergoing or having undergone a process to reassign sex. People do not need to have undergone any medical treatment or surgery, or even have applied for a gender recognition certificate confirming their change of legal sex. But feminist groups argued that the SWA had misinterpreted the legislation and put the “feelings of men with trans identities before the needs of vulnerable women”. Maya Forstater, the chief executive of charity Sex Matters, said: “If a job needs to be done by a woman, as is usually the case in the women’s sector, employers can lawfully discriminate by excluding men from consideration for the role. “SWA may, indeed should, turn down applications for this post from men who identify as women. “The Equality Act protects transgender people from discrimination in situations such as renting a home or being served in a restaurant. It does not mean employers must consider men who identify as women for jobs that require an actual woman.” SWA is the umbrella organisation for 33 autonomous women’s aid groups helping people, including children, across Scotland. The advert was posted despite Dundee Women’s Aid (DWA) facing criticism in January for allowing those who identified as women to apply for a female-only job. Clare Blom, of the group Women Won’t Wheesht, said they had written to DWA earlier this year to complain and it had changed its practices. She said: “It is unconscionable that SWA – yet another organisation funded by the Scottish Government – have learned nothing from their colleagues in Dundee and are gaslighting and lying to their service users by pretending that only women are employed in their ‘women-only’ roles. “We are deeply disappointed by this wanton disregard for women’s privacy, safety and dignity, not to mention their profound lack of understanding of anti-discriminatory legislation.” The job advert said the head of policy post was a “key member” of the senior leadership team and would “identify, shape and develop policy priorities”. It said the successful applicant would be responsible for “leading a diverse range of policy areas and levers for change to end domestic abuse and violence against women and girls in Scotland”. The role also included submitting consultation responses to government, researching and writing briefings and preparing for SWA to provide evidence in parliament.the Edinburgh-based post has a salary between £41,026 and £47,078. Applications will be accepted from “women only under Schedule 9, part 1 of the Equality Act 2010”, the advert said. But it continued that “all women, including women with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, may apply for women-only roles”. SWA declined to comment. An employment tribunal ruled in May that a trans woman who heads a Scottish rape charity presided over a “heresy hunt” against a former worker who held gender-critical beliefs. Roz Adams won her constructive dismissal action against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), with the tribunal finding she was harassed and discriminated against over her belief that biological sex is “immutable”. ‘We’re deeply disappointed by this wanton disregard for women’s privacy, safety and dignity’ Article Name:Abuse charity asks trans women to apply for women-only post Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Simon Johnson Start Page:11 End Page:11

Saturday 31 Total: 1

The Guardian [0]

The Times [1]

No one is above scrutiny when a child’s at risk For years, Children in Need gave money to an LGBT charity tainted by child abuse: why did it get a free pass for so long? Janice Turner @VICTORIAPECKHAM Janice Turner In 2009 eight men were convicted of running the most depraved child sex ring in Scottish history. Besides sharing the worst categories of dark web paedophile abuse, they fantasised about gaining access to a real child. One of them, James Rennie, was trusted to babysit his godson, the child of university friends. So, starting when the boy was three months old, Rennie filmed himself sexually abusing the child then shared videos with the other men, even suggesting it would be “hotter” if they came along to join in. Rennie, who was given a life sentence, was the head of LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), joining the charity in 1997 and becoming chief executive in 2003. Rennie’s trial heard that he often accessed his special sex ring Hotmail account “kplover” (kiddy porn lover) at work. You’d expect the Scottish Charity Regulator to launch an inquiry to ascertain whether Rennie had access to vulnerable young people, or how being led for years by a predatory paedophile had affected office culture and safeguarding. But it did not. Nor did the police forces that had exposed the sex ring investigate LGBTYS. Both accepted its internal investigation which concluded that everything was fine. Even more extraordinary, seven months after Rennie was jailed, BBC Children in Need decided to award, for the first time, a grant of £24,000 to LGBTYS. The charity turns down 90 per cent of good causes that apply for funding, yet money raised by BBC viewers was given to a charity whose outgoing chief executive sexually abused a baby. Indeed Children in Need has continued to fund LGBTYS for the last 14 years, with a total of £466,000, until this week, when it abruptly terminated funding. Why? Because this month Andrew Easton, a co-author of the LGBTYS’s 2010 guidance for schools, was convicted of sharing indecent images of children as young as newborns and attempting to groom online what he thought was a 13-year-old boy but was in fact a police officer. For Children in Need this was the final straw. In 2022 two men said they were groomed at LGBTYS around the time Rennie was chief executive. Sam Cowie, now 28, was 15 and in foster care when he was given cigarettes and alcohol by staff, then taken underage with a fake ID to clubs where he was assaulted and raped by older men. The second claims he was groomed by Rennie and one of his sex ring associates: the culture of the charity, he says, was “like a social network to connect older men with teenagers”. In response, LGBTYS suspended a staff member and has referred itself to the police. It became ‘a social network to connect older men with teens’ After these revelations, at a tense board meeting in May, Children in Need’s chair of trustees, Rosie Millard, proposed LGBTYS’s funding be suspended, pending an inquiry. But then came Easton’s conviction, with the BBC charity at risk of serious reputational damage. Senior figures argued it should quietly pay the last two tranches of money in LGBTYS’s grant, rather than risk the wrath of activists by publicly defunding it. But Millard prevailed and Children in Need finally cut ties. But even before these two recent scandals, LGBTYS raised numerous red flags. Its stated charitable purpose is to work with young people aged over 13, yet its “champions scheme” operates in 40 Scottish primary schools. Its 2017 schools guidance, funded by the Scottish government, stated that a child must be allowed to choose whichever changing room matched their gender identity. A girl upset at undressing with a male should wait until after the “trans young person is done”. Likewise on overnight trips, schools should permit a male pupil to sleep in female dorms, with no need to inform parents. This guidance, after opposition from women’s groups, was removed. LGBTYS has also campaigned for the prescription of puberty blocking drugs (banned after the Cass review), advised girls online to bind their breasts, referred children to the trans charity Mermaids (which is now under investigation by the English Charity Commission) and demanded schools not inform parents if a child socially transitions. Extreme ideas that few Children in Need fundraisers would support. Keeping secrets from parents, compromising children’s privacy, discussing sexuality with very young children, swerving official scrutiny even after being led by a child-rapist: LGBT charities have lately been granted a free pass on safeguarding protocols afforded to no other organisations. And many gay men are horrified. They abhor drag queen story hours where men in dresses twerk at toddlers, child drag artists performing in gay bars or little children colouring in Pride flags. The oldest and gravest homophobic slur, the justification for Section 28, was that gay men can’t be trusted around children. This myth was rightly demolished, yet since then, a collective guilt has tipped the scales the other way. Anyone who raises safeguarding concerns about LGBT groups or individuals risks being called a bigot. I spoke to a gay man who worked at Stonewall in the early 2000s producing materials for schools. The guide for primaries said little more than that gay families exist; the one for secondary kids was about emerging teenage sexuality. But there was a mix-up and some secondary guides went to primaries. Aghast, this man offered to resign; the materials were retrieved with apologies. A gay charity dreaded being accused of sexualising children. Now, he thinks, it wouldn’t care, because no one would dare point a finger. As another friend puts it: “We’ve gone from every gay man is a paedophile, to no gay man can possibly be a paedophile. We are no worse than other men — but neither are we any better.” True equality, he says, means being treated the same, not a free pass. Because predatory paedophiles will always look for places where silence grants them impunity, which is deadly for children and calamitous for LGBT people themselves.

Daily Mail [0]

Telegraph [0]

Sunday 1 Total: 4

Observer [0]

Sunday Times [1]

Mail on Sunday [0]

Sunday Telegraph [3]

Mayor’s cash for trans artwork goes to migrant support group The Sunday Telegraph1 Sep 2024By Craig Simpson The artwork Imprints by Teresa Margolles is to be mounted on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Funds to help make it went to the group Micro Rainbow, inset FUNDING for a transgender-themed artwork on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth went to a group that campaigns to release detained migrants. The empty pedestal on the square is used to display a rotating series of artworks, chosen by an independent commissioning group and signed off by the Mayor of London. The latest piece, to be unveiled this month, is Imprints by Teresa Margolles, a Mexican artist. It comprises plaster casts of the faces of 850 transgender people. Enlisted to help with the production of the sculpture was the campaign group Micro Rainbow, which pushes for the release of detained migrants and seeks to place them in housing. Micro Rainbow held a session that transgender people could attend and have their plaster face casts made and incorporated into the artwork. The campaign group said in an online advert that all attendees would be “thanked monetarily” for taking part. Fourth plinth artists receive a £30,000 fee, according to mayoral office documents, and a further £140,000 to cover production costs for their installations. Micro Rainbow was paid £4,648 to find a venue and “to reach out to the wide and marginalised trans plus community in London”. The charity’s website states that it can provide an “alternative to detention” for “LGBTI migrants”, and outlines one case study in which it secured bail for a “gay detainee from Bangladesh”. It provides other services, including helping detainees prepare their asylum cases for safe housing and bail applications to release LGBT arrivals from detention centres. Micro Rainbow provides further services to help LGBT arrivals after detention, including assistance with opening bank accounts, securing a National Insurance number and registering for Universal Credit. In September and October 2023, the charity held sessions for “all trans, non-binary, gender nonconformist folk” to attend to have casts made of their faces. The intended sculpture would serve as a “giant show of resilience and humanity from the trans plus/nonbinary community”. The statue will remain in place until 2026 and will replace Samson Kambalu’s Antelope, which has a statue of John Chilembwe, a black pastor who tried to lead an uprising in colonial Nyasaland and who had a white estate manager beheaded. A spokesman for the Greater London Authority said: “The Fourth Plinth programme is funded by the GLA, Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Every artist chosen by the independent Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group to display their work has been provided with a set fee.” Article Name:Mayor’s cash for trans artwork goes to migrant support group Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Craig Simpson Start Page:5 End Page:5

‘Woke’ Bank of England tells staff to share their pronouns The Sunday Telegraph1 Sep 2024By Camilla Turner SUNDAY POLITICAL EDITOR BANK of England staff have been told to share their pronouns at the start of meetings and use “gender neutral” language when speaking to customers. Threadneedle Street employees were also advised that it is a “microaggression” to state that “everyone is born a man or a woman, it’s science”. The lessons, delivered to staff as part of a “trans inclusion” training session, also encouraged the Bank of England to promote a “trans day of visibility”, a “trans day of remembrance” and a “trans awareness week”. Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, has written to the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, about the training. He told him that “while fostering a sense of inclusion among employees is, of course, a worthwhile objective” training courses like the one given to staff were “ideologically driven”. “As a result, they may have the unintended effect of fostering an intolerant workplace culture in which some employees feel they cannot express certain, perfectly legitimate points of view,” the letter said. “Our primary concern is that the ‘Trans Inclusion’ course appears to promote gender identity ideology while stigmatising gender critical beliefs, which are protected under the Equality Act 2010.” His letter highlighted a part of the training that stated “using the wrong pronouns” is another example of a “microaggression”. It also mentioned the section telling staff to use language such as “cisgender” to refer to an individual who identifies as the sex they were assigned at birth, or “Enby” to describe people who do not identify exclusively as a man or woman. The Bank of England defended the training, with a spokesman saying: “Our objective is to ensure monetary and financial stability for the UK. We encourage a welcoming environment for our colleagues working hard to achieve this – as such, we offer inclusion training on an optional basis.” Mr Young said: “The Bank of England, like so many other pillars of the British establishment, has been infected by the woke mind virus. “This kind of training creates the impression that believing in the biological reality of sex is discriminatory, when in fact it’s a belief that’s protected by the Equality Act and the reality is that any employer punishing an employee for expressing such a view would themselves be guilty of discrimination.” Last year, the Bank said people of any gender identity could be treated as pregnant and vowed to bring in gender-neutral lavatories. It has also used the gender-neutral term “birthing parent”. ‘An intolerant workplace culture in which some employees feel they cannot express legitimate points’ Article Name:‘Woke’ Bank of England tells staff to share their pronouns Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By Camilla Turner SUNDAY POLITICAL EDITOR Start Page:5 End Page:5

Austria’s Freedom Party pledges to enshrine two genders in law The Sunday Telegraph1 Sep 2024By James Crisp EUROPE EDITOR LGBT activists have criticised the Freedom Party’s policies AUSTRIA’S poll-topping Freedom Party plans to ban transgender athletes from women’s sport and enshrine in law that there are only two genders. The far-Right FPO, which is predicted to triumph in a general election on September 29, has pledged to abolish rules allowing people to choose a gender other than their one on the civil register. The register is necessary to get access to benefits, health insurance and other social rights. The FPO manifesto also promises to ban civil servants from using genderinclusive language and end public funding for so-called woke ideology. “Anyone who thinks they can arbitrarily determine the number of genders or change gender at will is disregarding the nature of human beings,” it reads. “The number of people who do not want to identify as either a man or a woman is negligible. That is why we are opposed to permanent transgender brainwashing, which is ultimately only aimed at destroying our social foundations.” The party programme also vows to protect children and “firmly reject indoctrination with transgender ideology.” “Drag queens have no place in schools and nurseries,” the manifesto adds before promising to stop taxpayers’ money going towards “the promotion of ‘queer’ and ‘woke’ experiments”. Its manifesto vows to “save women’s sport” by banning transgender or intersex athletes from female events. It follows the controversy in the women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics in which two gold medal winners competed despite being said to have failed a gender eligibility test. “We, the Freedom Party, are in favour of respecting the laws of biology. We will therefore lobby the sports federations and sports clubs to ensure that intersex or transgender athletes are not allowed to compete in women’s sports competitions,” the manifesto states. Chaber, the executive director of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s Europe arm, condemned the policies, saying: “They represent a direct attack on the dignity and rights of trans people in Austria. “These policies are not only regressive but are a blatant violation of human rights, reproducing discrimination against an already marginalised community. We call on voters to exercise their democratic right and vote against intolerance and discrimination.” A spokesperson for TGEU – Trans Europe and Central Asia – said: “The FPO’s manifesto is alarming, and is perpetuating harmful myths about trans people in sports and education.” The umbrella organisation for more than 200 trans rights groups added, “Austria already has one of the highest rates of discrimination against trans and non-binary people in the EU. “What we need at this moment in Austria is in fact a stronger commitment to the recognition of trans people and respect for their human rights.” Since taking over as leader in 2021, Herbert Kickl has rebuilt the FPO into a political force by ruthlessly exploiting unease over coronavirus rules, saying anyone convicted of breaching pandemic rules would be pardoned. An election victory would complete a remarkable comeback for the FPO since it was ousted from coalition government in 2019 in a corruption scandal. Article Name:Austria’s Freedom Party pledges to enshrine two genders in law Publication:The Sunday Telegraph Author:By James Crisp EUROPE EDITOR Start Page:15 End Page:15

TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

Trans Kids Deserve Better letter to Secretary of State for Education, by Gemma Stone
Are teachers really being sacked for misgendering? (No and The Press is in on the lie), by Sarah Clarke
Will those who defended Imane Khelif also defend Valentina Petrillo at the Paralympics? By Lee Hurley
Trans Kids Deserve Better and need your help right now, by Jess O’Thompson
When was the T added to LGBT? A quick history, by Sarah Clarke
Trans people are the greatest assault on women in JK Rowling’s life time, apparently, by Gemma Stone
NHS & puberty blockers: Former GIDS patients reflect on long wait times, invasive assessments, by Sasha Baker.

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The Trans Agenda: The papers go quiet

News you need, the perspective you won't find anywhere else. The trans community's guide to UK news, media and politics and our place in it.

THE PAPERS Monday 19th August - Sunday 1st September 2024

Monday 19 Total: 0

Tuesday 20 Total: 1

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Sunday 1 Total: 4

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