Michael Powell and the Mail on Sunday are upset that doctors are being ‘told not quiz patients on trans status’.

Rare are the days that go by without some perfectly normal thing upsetting one of the Mail titles and today it is the turn of the Mail on Sunday.

Rather than give space to JK Rowling’s further descent into a Linehan lifestyle, they have given it instead to Michael Powell so he can get people upset that doctors are being advised to respect trans people when they say they are trans.

You know, like how we just accept it when someone tells us they are gay. Or not trans.

Doctors told not to quiz patients on trans status The Mail on Sunday16 Oct 2022By Michael Powell TRAINEE doctors are being taught to unquestioningly accept patients are transgender if they self-identify as such, potentially leading to body changes they may regret. Three-quarters of UK medical schools have signed up to a charter issued by The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors & Dentists (Gladd) which promotes that trainee medics should be taught to ‘respect and affirm’ patients who say they are transgender, rather than explore other issues they may have. An NHS review this year warned youngsters who say they are transgender get puberty blocking drugs or sex-swap hormones when they may benefit from other treatments. Some experts believe that among children who believe they have gender dysphoria are those who may have mental health conditions such as autism. But the review by Dr Hilary Cass, which led to the closure of the NHS Tavistock trans child clinic in north London, said doctors there felt under pressure to adopt an unquestioning approach to sex-change youngsters. Thirty-three out of 43 medical schools have signed up to the Gladd charter, which equates questioning someone’s gender identity with quack ‘conversion therapy’ which seeks to ‘cure’ people of homosexuality. The charter says medical schools should ‘work with LGBTQ+ patients to respect and affirm their gender and/or sexual identity’. Gladd’s trans rep is Dr Katie McDowell, a trustee of charity Mermaids which allegedly sent breast binders to children behind parents’ backs and promoted puberty blockers to teens as safe and ‘reversible’. Jane Galloway from Transgender Trend accused medical schools of ‘falling into a trap’ set by Mermaids. She warned: ‘This means doctors will not be able to properly explore if a child has gender dysphoria, autism or something else.’ Figures from Tavistock clinic said 48 per cent of children treated there between 2011 and 2018 displayed autistic behaviour. Other studies found a quarter of youngsters at transgender clinics may be autistic. There are also fears many who say they are trans may be struggling to come out as gay. Psychotherapist Bob Withers said: ‘The danger of doctors being taught to unquestioningly affirm a patient’s gender identity is that it encourages those with gender dysphoria down the path to medical treatment, making permanent changes to their body that they may later come to regret.’ A spokeswoman for Bayswater, a support group for parents of children wrestling with gender identity, said: ‘It is worrying trainee doctors are being taught this rubbish. It will lead to more children being harmed.’
Doctors told not to quiz patients on trans status
The Mail on Sunday16 Oct 2022By Michael Powell

Once again, the Mail turn to Transgender Trend to provide reasons as to why this is wrong (did Transgender Trend get in touch in the first place to moan about it? It is a possibility and I’m ‘just asking questions’.).

Powell also spoke with Bayswater and a psychotherapist called Bob Withers, both of whom hold anti-trans views. And, just for good measure, Mermaids, autistic trans kids, The Cass Review and Tavistock all get a mention, too.

Powell writes that the Cass Review led to the closure of the Tavistock clinic. He of course fails to mention that it will be replaced by a much better model.

He then adds about Mermaids that they “allegedly sent breast binders to children behind parents’ backs and promoted puberty blockers to teens as safe and ‘reversible’.”

Binders aren’t illegal and puberty blockers are as described – safe and reversible. They have been used in cis children without hysterics since the 1980s.

Wikipedia notes, “Delaying or temporarily suspending puberty is a medical treatment for children whose puberty started abnormally early (precocious puberty). Puberty blockers have been used on-label since the 1980s to treat precocious puberty in children, and were approved for use in treating precocious puberty in children by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993.

“The use of puberty blockers in transgender youth is supported by seven American medical associations, four Australian medical associations, the British Medical Association, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).”

Powell does not quote a single trans person or trans-supportive organisation in this article/ Every sentence is phrased so as to imply wrongdoing or nefarious motives without directly lying.

Once again, it is just more cis people crying about things they don’t like nor understand while trans people are kept from the ‘conversation’.

You might remember Powell’s name from the Mail on Sunday’s stunt back in December 2021, when a reporter (it’s not clear if it Powell in the photo as he seems to keep a low profile online) went around trying to see what changing rooms he could get in to as an attempt to show why trans people having rights is a dangerous thing.

Bearded 6ft reporter told he can use women’s changing rooms in shops – after he says he identifies as female A week after MoS Charlotte’s awkward encounter in Zara The Mail on Sunday12 Dec 2021By Max Aitchison and Michael Powell MYSTERY SHOPPER: MoS reporter, above, tests which shops let men into female changing rooms. Left: Charlotte’s report last week HIGH street retailers are allowing men to use their female changing rooms – so long as they say they identify as women. An investigation by The Mail on Sunday has found that shops, including luxury retailers, will welcome men into traditional female spaces if they do so. A 6ft-tall male reporter with a beard, who said he identified as woman, was given permission to use fitting rooms in the female sections of stores including Selfridges, Matalan, Uniqlo and even the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur’s concession in Harrods. In each instance, the reporter, who was wearing a Covid face mask, made his excuses and left without crossing the threshold. It comes as women’s rights campaigners embarked on a mass leafleting campaign on high streets across the country to highlight ‘Wishes of a tiny minority trump safety and dignity of women’ how ‘women and girls are losing their rights to single-sex spaces’. Heather Binning, of the Women’s Rights Network, who is organising the campaign, said this newspaper’s findings were ‘truly disturbing’ and showed that ‘common sense has gone out of the window’. ‘While we believe every-section one can identify however they wish, shops should not be letting men who say they are women go into female changing rooms,’ she said. ‘It might be well-meaning and shops do not want to be accused of discriminating against anyone but it is utterly wrong that the wishes of a tiny minority are being allowed to trump the safety and dignity of women and young girls who are getting undressed.’ The investigation came after this newspaper’s Charlotte Griffiths wrote last week about how she was shocked to find two men in women’s changing rooms at Zara as she undressed. She was later told by a manager that the issue was ‘sensitive’ but ‘as a general rule, if people are carrying women’s clothes to try on, they can use the changing rooms on the women’s floor’. Her experience prompted a deluge of responses, with many condemning the store for not protecting single-sex spaces for women. Others suggested it was transphobic to question other people’s gender and that they should use the fitting room they felt most comfortable in. To test how widespread the issue was, the MoS asked the top 25 high street stores if they had a policy for changing rooms. Several, including Primark and Urban Outfitters, only operate unisex booths, whereby men and women will change in cubicles next to each other. Meanwhile, Next, H&M, John Lewis and M&S said customers were free to choose a fitting room that suits their chosen identity. For those shops that did not reply to our questions, a male reporter conducted a ‘mystery shopper’ investigation. In each case, the reporter asked if he could use a changing room in the store’s ladies since he identified as a woman. The default was always ‘yes’ – in line with the guidance from the sector’s trade body, the British Retail Consortium – although some assistants did check with superiors. In the Harrods concession of Agent Provocateur, a staff member said she was ‘fairly sure’ it was OK but had to consult a colleague. While the reporter waited, another member of staff on the shop floor addressed him as ‘sir’ and asked how she could help. Upon returning, the first staff member said: ‘We are happy to do it but we would recommend normally that you go to one of our boutiques instead, they’re just a bit more used to it and there’s a lot more privacy because our fitting rooms are just quite open here.’ A female staff member at the women’s fitting rooms in Nike Town on London’s Oxford Street was hesitant at first but then said: ‘They normally don’t allow men because women can feel disturbed if they come out wearing just a bra.’ The group Fair Play For Women actively campaigns against the loss of female-only spaces, such as toilets and changing rooms. They have said service providers have relied on ‘simplistic and incomplete trans-inclusion guidance’ and ‘elevating the needs of one protected group over another’. Dr Nicola Williams of Fair Play For Women added: ‘This is the whole problem with allowing people to self-identify their sex. It means you don’t have to look transgender or actually be transgender to be allowed in to what should be a women’s only space. ‘It means there is no way for shop assistants to distinguish between a 6ft guy with a beard and someone who is transgender.’ Miranda Yardley, 54, who was born a man but now describes herself as a post-op transsexual, said: ‘The surrendering of women’s changing rooms to anyone who claims to be a woman really is nothing other than the natural consequence of saying that anybody can be a woman.’ It appears that most shops were following guidance from the British Retail Consortium. Tamara Hill, its employment adviser, said: ‘Retailers strive to be inclusive and encourage their customers to choose whichever fitting rooms they feel most comfortable using.’ However, Debbie Hayton, a teacher and transgender rights campaigner, said: ‘The shop workers are left in an impossible position. Shops have a duty to produce a clear policy that they consult on and everybody understands.’ The MoS repeatedly tried to contact Stonewall, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity, but they failed to respond. ‘Shop workers are left in an impossible position’
Bearded 6ft reporter told he can use women’s changing rooms in shops – after he says he identifies as female – A week after MoS Charlotte’s awkward encounter in Zara
The Mail on Sunday 12 Dec 2021 By Max Aitchison and Michael Powell

Other headlines from pieces written by Powell include, but are not limited to:

  • Taxpayer-funded quango hands thousands to group that says: Let transgender women compete in female sport with no medical checks [Mail on Sunday, 27 October 2019, joint byline with Sanchez Manning]
  • Civil servants ‘caved in to trans lobby over Census sex question’ [Mail on Sunday 21 February 2021]
  • Soldiers’ inclusive language ‘toolkit’ declares: Not all women are female [Mail on Sunday 10 October 2021]
  • NHS-funded guide that says trans men can fund treatment with prostitution [Mail on Sunday, 13 March 2022]
  • Trans rights activist on panel judging Christian ‘sacked by school over views on gender’ [Mail on Sunday 19 June 2022]

You can see what nonsense was going on in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend here.

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