[20 October 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
Transgender. How do you know? By Lee Hurley

Welcome to this week’s Trans Agenda, and it’s a biggie as the usual suspects continue their relentless and ridiculous attacks on trans people.

For example, we had Kemi Badenoch praising the political moves that allowed Hilary Cass to do her hatchet job while Wes Streeting praised Cass for taking politics out of children’s medicine.

Using politics to remove politics from something that politicians have politicised non-stop. Aren’t our overlords just so great?

Full paper review below.

NEWS

Chalmers GIC pauses all gender surgery referrals for under 25s, cites Cass review [Trans Safety Network]

  • The Chalmers Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) in Scotland has paused surgical referrals for under 25s and for gender surgeries conducted in England, citing the Cass review which “did not review any evidence relating to surgical referrals in adults, or indeed any evidence relating to medical transition in over 18s.” NHS Lothian, which oversees the clinic, confirmed that referrals for over 25s would restart from 17 October 2024, but under 25s face an indefinite delay as the referral process undergoes review.

    Despite being aware of the potential negative impact on patients’ mental health, NHS Lothian delayed informing patients about the pause until 13 September, over four months after it began. The lack of transparency and clarity regarding timelines has caused significant concern, with affected patients left without clear guidance or access to adequate support.

    The Trans Safety Network has criticised NHS Lothian for its handling of the situation, which leaves many trans patients uncertain about their access to necessary surgeries.

Over 200 trans patients have been refused hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by GPs in England in the last year [WeAreQueerAF and TransActual]

  • Jamie Wareham‘s analysis for the WeAreQueerAF newsletter highlights the serious ongoing problems trans patients in the UK face in accessing hormone treatment. Since the Cass Review, many patients, even those who had already waited extensively for care, are now being refused hormone prescriptions, leading to serious mental health consequences.

    Wareham notes that trust in GPs and the wider NHS has plummeted, with many trans people delaying essential check-ups, exacerbating their health issues. The widespread refusal to prescribe HRT could force some patients to detransition, with doctors choices being driven by misinformation and personal bigotries, overriding clear guidance from national health bodies.

    Wareham also points to resources being shared among activists, including a template letter to challenge GP refusals which you can access via the link above.

100+ LGBTQ+ experts write to Streeting about Cass [TransActual]

  • TransActual, along with 100+ LGBTQ+ experts, have written to Wes Streeting to express their lack of confidence in the Cass Review and their concerns over the DHSC‘s implementation of it.

Badenoch’s latest Cass admission

  • Having previously admitted stacking as many positions as she could with GC people, Kemi Badenoch has now said she recommended a peerage for Hilary Cass to ‘protect’ her, “Those who told the truth about the damage extreme gender ideology was causing children are some of the bravest I’ve ever met. As Equalities Minister, I did all I could to protect them but I knew my time in the role was running out.

    “Getting their voices into parliament would guarantee some protection from those who want to shut them up. Not all my recommendations made it over the line but I am particularly delighted to see Dr. Cass elevated to the House of Lords.

    “In the face of intense obstruction and hostility and no doubt at great personal cost, she produced a seminal report that has provided clarity and saved many children from making irreversible decisions that would harm their long-term health. Public service at its best.”

Times and Streeting go full Orwell

  • Health Secretary Wes Streeting expressed his gratitude to Hilary Cass, saying her evidence-based review meant that, at last, “we are taking politics out of children’s medicine”.

    This was delivered in a Times article [See Paper Review below] praising Cass for changing gender medicine across the globe, which is just not what has happened at all. In fact, Australia recently held their own review and came to the opposite conclusions to Cass. They also found that Cass was ‘out of line with medical consensus and lacks relevance in an Australian context’.

    The Times then talk about “Cass having to contend with a wave of “misinformation” which, it can be revealed, largely originated in the United States and has been spread by groups including the British Medical Association (BMA).” Yes, you read that right. The BMA.

Labour launch new Office for Equality and Opportunity, stating that one of its “key immediate priorities” will be “delivering a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practises” [Telegraph]

  • Naturally, the Telegraph are enraged by this, claiming it will ‘criminalise parents’ who do not affirm a child’s gender. This is, of course, an anti-trans view, aiming to create fear around a policy designed to protect vulnerable young people from harmful practices. See the full article below in the Paper Review.

Labour advising US Democrats to lean in to transphobia to win election

  • Despite all research showing that anti-trans rhetoric loses elections and that Labour’s landslide came about because the Tories were so awful rather than anything Labour actually did, the red Tories have sent a large number of people to assist the Democrats ahead of next month’s election in the States. The end result has been Democrat candidates spewing anti-trans nonsense for the first time.

Updated forms include trans identity to respect deceased children’s gender [Mail]

  • The Department of Health and Social Care has updated forms for reporting a child’s death to include transgender and nonbinary identities. The new forms allow parents to indicate “which gender the child identified as at the time of death,” recognising trans male, trans female, and non-binary categories alongside traditional options. Helen Joyce, the court-described non-expert on these matters, was not happy, calling for it to be “dropped immediately” while Tory Mims Davies laughably called the inclusion unnecessary and insensitive. In last week’s Trans Agenda, I covered Joyce setting out her plan for the eradication of trans people from public life. Now, we see she wants trans people eradicated even in death, too.

UK’s first transgender judge has delivers unusual farewell judgment [A Lawyer Writes]

  • Dr Victoria McCloud, the UK’s first transgender judge, delivered her final ruling as a High Court master before stepping down, citing an increasingly hostile judicial environment for transgender people. McCloud also addressed whether she should have withdrawn from the case due to her identity, ultimately deciding against it, affirming her duty as a judge. McCloud is now an associate at Gatehouse Chambers. Her ruling reflected her broader concerns about bias and public perceptions of transgender individuals in the judiciary.

Trans people protest anti-trans rally in Morpeth

  • A rally led by transphobic activist Kellie Jean Keane, known as Posie Parker, was met with peaceful opposition by trans rights supporters in Morpeth, Northumberland yet was reported by the Daily Mail as ‘Trans rally clashes at statue of suffragette’, despite Keane stating clearly she is not a feminist. The two groups were separated by police.

Pope is open to appointing trans-friendly bishops [Times]

  • The Pope has reportedly expressed a desire to appoint bishops in the United States who are more welcoming to transgender Catholics, according to campaigners, as reported by The Times (see Wednesday in the Paper Review). He allegedly made this comment during a private meeting with 11 transgender, intersex, or supporting Catholics, arranged by New Ways Ministry. Participants shared personal testimonies, and the Pope expressed that transgender issues would be more on his mind. He said openness to transgender people would be a criterion for appointing new US bishops. The Vatican declined to confirm this. The meeting was held in response to the Vatican’s April doctrinal paper, which criticised gender-affirming care.

Texas sues doctor for prescribing testosterone to transgender minors [New Hampshire Union Leader]

  • Texas has filed a lawsuit against Dr. May Lau, a paediatrician, for allegedly violating the state’s ban on providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors. The lawsuit claims Lau prescribed testosterone to at least 21 minors, with most prescriptions issued before the law took effect in September 2023. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued these actions still counted as providing banned care after the law was enforced. The suit also alleges Lau falsified medical records to hide her patients’ transgender status. Texas is seeking damages and a court order to prevent future violations. The law, upheld by the Texas Supreme Court in June, mandates revocation of the medical license for any doctor providing gender-affirming treatment to minors.

State-level anti-transgender laws increase past-year suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary young people in the USA [Nature]

  • A recent study examined the impact of anti-transgender laws enacted in the USA from 2018 to 2022 on suicide risk among transgender and non-binary youth. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the researchers found that within the first year of these laws being enacted, there was a statistically significant increase in past-year suicide attempts among transgender young people aged 13–17. The increase expanded to all young transgender and non-binary individuals by the second year, ranging from 7–72%.

New South Wales parliament passes bill to strengthen LGBTQ+ rights [Guardian]

  • The Equality bill will allow transgender people to have their sex changed on their birth certificates without surgery.

MEDIA

Oliver Brown’s trans obsession continues [Telegraph]

  • After spending the summer attacking Imane Khelif, then turning his attention to footballing minnows, Sutton United because they have a trans manager, the Telegraph’s Oliver Brown has found himself another woman he can attack under the cover of ‘just protecting women’. Almost seems as if he likes attacking women. See the Paper Review below for more.

HRT for everybody who wants it says the Mail!

  • This obviously only applies to cis people.
SITTING in the dentist’s chair is no one’s idea of fun – especially when you’re 57 and you smoked cigarettes and chewed gum for years, as I did. So during a recent check up, when my 30-something male dentist said he wanted to talk to me about a tooth I’d lost, I was fully prepared for a lecture. What I didn’t expect was to be curtly told that the lost tooth wouldn’t have happened if only I’d taken HRT. He was almost evangelical about the power of these drugs for women ‘like you’, saying they could make my teeth and gums healthier. I said I wasn’t interested, and that I’m sure my own unhealthy lifestyle choices are really to blame for the lost tooth. He just kept on about why I should reconsider. As he talked, I took stock. Here was a young man – amply qualified yes, yet young enough to be my son – who was an NHS dentist, not a doctor, telling me what I should be putting into my body. Imagine if I’d pointed out his receding hairline and asked if he’d had his testosterone levels checked. Yes, there are studies that show women taking HRT may have lower rates of gum disease. But while there might be a discussion to be had, current NHS guidelines state it’s always my choice whether I want to take it. And I have no intention of doing so. Far less do I want to be repeatedly hectored, after I have made my decision clear. I’ve been post-menopausal for five years. I didn’t take any medication to get me to this point. I go to the gym three times a week, eat healthily and gave up smoking two years ago. Yet it’s not just my dentist pushing me to take HRT. There’s pressure from my GP, targeted online ads, even conversation with friends who see me as stubborn. I know some secretly think I am showing off when I say I don’t take it. DON’T get me wrong, I’m very glad this treatment – which helps so many women – is widely available. I applaud the work of HRT campaigners, and fully support any woman who chooses to take it. But blindly pushing it at all women, while turning a deaf ear to our preferences, is unhelpful. No wonder half of women believe the NHS treats our health as a ‘second-class issue’, according to a poll this week. I suspect we’ll look back and feel sorry for Gen X women – those of us now aged 44 to 59 – caught in the middle of this HRT revolution. Once, we were unfairly shamed for taking it. Now if you don’t, you are the outlier. While the drug has been on the market since 1965, over the past decade it has become a huge cultural talking point. To some extent, that’s thanks to celebrities talking about its life-changing properties, as much as any medical advance. In 2015, only 3 million HRT-related items were prescribed (the most common being oestrogen). During the 2022/2023 financial year, that number had risen to 11 million. I admit, I see not taking HRT as a badge of honour. Here I am in the prime of my life; my blood pressure is fine, I don’t get hot flushes, I don’t have any issues having sex. I have gained some weight since I gave up smoking – I used cigarettes as an appetite suppressant – but at 5ft 10in and a size 16 I don’t feel I have much to worry about. So why, when there is apparently a shortage of HRT, are NHS employees constantly telling me I should be on it? The first time, I was 47 and I had made an appointment to see my GP about a persistent ear infection. He began the conversation by talking about how I was looking ‘tired’ and … perhaps I should consider it? There was no discussion about potential health risks – he didn’t ask if my family has a history of breast cancer. (HRT can slightly increase the risk of hormone-related cancers, including some breast cancer.) He just told me frankly that in his view, woman should be taking HRT. When I said no thank you, he didn’t stop. Instead, he repeatedly brought up the risk of vaginal atrophy. The way he spoke about my body was so personal, I felt very vulnerable. Of course, it’s important for women to know about this risk. One medical study found that 36.8 per cent of women aged 40 to 55 had symptoms of vaginal atrophy. But the way he spoke about it felt like bullying. I was left with the impression that I had to do what he said – or else pay severe health consequences. I’ve since discovered I’m not the only woman he has made cry over taking HRT. If I hadn’t been so upset, I would have complained. It’s true that I was perimenopausal at the time. This period of hormonal disruption had started a year earlier, when I was 46. The first symptoms were hot flushes at night in bed. I’d get to sleep with a flannel on my head. Then there was weight gain, stress, periods that were heavier and closer together. Until then I’d always had a healthy and active sex life with my husband Kevin, now 63. Suddenly we were averaging sex two times a month – and, if I’m brutally honest, that was just to stop Kev being miserable about a lack of it. I would get tearful and anxious about the smallest of things. I’m not a fool, I did look into HRT and how it could help me. But after careful consideration, I decided it wasn’t for me. I don’t like taking medication I don’t need, preferring to trust my body. I never took the contraceptive pill, either. There are always side-effects when you take a medication. I’m just exercising my right in declining to do so. I can understand why my doctor might have suggested HRT during those difficult years. But after I’d firmly said no, and made clear that my choice was an informed one, I cannot believe how hard my local surgery continued to push me on the topic. I decided life would be easier if I avoided seeing the male GP who’d been so adamant about HRT. So when, a couple of years later, I had a broken toe, I saw a female GP in the same practice. I was floored by her attitude too: she really took me to task over my refusal to take HRT. IPOLITELY told her I knew the pros and cons but wasn’t interested – in response, she started going on about my risk of osteoporosis. I had never previously broken a bone as an adult, but on this occasion I’d managed to stub my toe violently while doing DIY, so I really didn’t feel that was relevant. In the end, I came away with a prescription for a combined oestrogen and progesterone HRT item. Even today I can’t believe I allowed her to browbeat me like that. As soon as I got home I popped it in the bin. I treated ‘the change’ as a time to overhaul my unhealthy habits, working out how best to embrace this next part of my life. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days blaming my absent mindedness on ‘meno-fog’ or my excess pounds on ‘meno-fat’ when there was so much I could do about it. So I quit smoking and started working out – I have met a close circle of women around my age as a result, friends I treasure. I started taking a daily magnesium supplement, and treated myself to a fortnightly reflexology session which I believe helped balance my mood. Even so, the first year after my periods stopped altogether at 53 was awful, as my body adjusted to my new lower hormone levels. Yet by 54, I was through the menopause – and three years later, I feel great. I’m lucky that I took early retirement from the civil service ten years ago, which allows me to be a present mum for my daughter Hannah, 34, and my five granddaughters aged between seven and 17. I feel useful and needed doing the school runs and helping out. My sex life with Kev is back, and better than it ever was. We’re intimate at least twice a week. I’ve got more energy, too. Everything just seems better. If I have an occasional hot flush, I know perfectly well it’s down to the slab of chocolate or glass of red wine I had the night before. I’d never suggest anyone stop taking HRT if it works for them – but I do want my doctors (and dentist) to respect my choice to leave it well alone.

Allison Rudd becomes more vocal with her anti-trans views

  • I’ve made my living writing about football for over 15 years. That’s Allison Rudd’s main beat, too, although in 2024, she has become a rarity in the sport – a mainstream female football journalist out as anti-trans. This is her second column on the ‘issue’ since the summer, with Valentina Petrillo her first target. You can read her latest offering in the Paper Review below (Sunday) as she turns her attentions to trans women in cricket.

    When former footballer, Eni Aluko, said that football stadiums are “not a safe space physically” for women, Rudd was quick to leap into action. She, of course, did not defend Aluko’s position, rather, she took the opposite view.

    Like all GCs, she believes her experience to be universal, so if it hasn’t happened to her, it isn’t an issue that needs dealt with.

    But yes, Rudd is concerned with the safety of women in sport. Just not all women.

Allison Rudd 10 April 2024 Aluko is wrong, football stadiums are not cesspits, they've been my safe space for 2000 games
Allison Rudd, The Times

Counting hate

  • 1,777 words v 343 words – How the Telegraph covered trans women in cricket versus an actual rapist in swimming in Friday’s edition, which you can see in the Paper Review below.

Discontent deepens among Guardian staff over Palestine ‘double standard’ [Novara Media]

  • Guardian staff are increasingly unhappy with what they perceive as double standards regarding Palestine. The discontent is partly driven by the decision to publish an extremely ‘controversial’ piece by Howard Jacobson, while censoring a leading Palestinian author’s work. Employees argue that fear of antisemitism allegations influences editorial choices, undermining balanced discussion. This tension has highlighted a broader issue within the Guardian on how it handles debates about Israel and Palestine, with many staff members calling for fairer representation of Palestinian voices.

WHAT’S ON IN PARLIAMENT

Select business. Full House business can be viewed here.

Monday 21 October

  • House of Commons, 2.30pm, Oral Questions Home Office, including: If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing Georgia from her Department’s list of safe countries for removals, in the context of the recent passage of legislation on LGBT rights in that country. More here

Wednesday 23 October

  • House of Commons, 12pm: Prime Minister’s Question Time

Thursday 24 October

  • House of Commons, after Oral Questions at 9.30pm, General debate Black History Month. More here.

THIS WEEK

  • The 3-day inquest into the murder of Brianna Ghey begins on Wednesday. It will look into “matters around safeguarding” and “how it is Brianna was brought into contact with Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe“.

    The coroner also said she will also examine whether Brianna was appropriately supported by relevant agencies involved with supporting people with issues of gender, eating disorders and mental health. Agencies named at the hearing include the Gender GP counselling service and the Gender Identity Development Service. The BBC has some more here from when the inquest was announced.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Kemi Badenoch believes she cannot be painted as ‘prejudiced’

Kemi: Wrong leader could spell end for the Tory party Kemi Badenoch says that her ethnicity makes it impossible for PM to use same language about her

Italy bans couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy [BBC]

  • Italy has banned couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy, extending the existing domestic ban. Those breaking the law could face up to two years in prison and fines up to €1m. Critics say the law, part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni‘s socially conservative agenda, targets LGBT couples who already face adoption and IVF restrictions. Meloni has described surrogacy as morally unacceptable and against traditional family values. The law passed Italy’s senate by 84 votes to 58 and is criticised, amongst other things, for making it harder for people to become parents despite a declining birth rate.

European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Tucker Carlson [Newsweek]

  • Tucker Carlson may face potential sanctions from the European Union for his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which critics see as providing a platform for Russian propaganda. EU lawmakers, such as Guy Verhofstadt, have called for Carlson to be investigated by the EU’s External Action Service, citing concerns that he is acting as a “mouthpiece” for Putin. While no formal discussion of sanctions is currently underway, some European politicians argue Carlson’s actions could warrant a travel ban. Carlson insists his aim is to inform Americans about the motivations behind Russia’s actions.

THE PAPERS

In terms of numbers, this week saw the most articles about trans people since the start of September but, at 17, it is still some way from the 48+ we were seeing in July. Still, it’s not fun, and there was only one day this week without any articles at all (Tuesday).

The Guardian broke their 27-day no article streak on Friday when they published a piece on England cricket’s governing body, the ECB, banning trans women from the top two tiers of the sport.

Long after the event, we finally got a report on Trans Kids Deserve Better releasing thousands of crickets at the LGB Alliance conference earlier this month. It was buried in the Times legal section.

Beyond that, we have them going after another black athlete because they do not deem her feminine enough, Kemi Badenoch calling for JK Rowling to get a peerage, and some more flat-out lying about the Cass Review and the impact of a trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban.

In a break from tradition, the Telegraph did not have the most articles this week. The Times had seven to their six. The Telegraph even managed three whole days at the start of the week with none. Given those followed a few days at the end of last week without any anti-trans content, I can only assume the editor in charge of commissioning it was off for five days.

The Daily Mail had three.

Someone from Sex Matters was quoted in four different pieces, JK Rowling got a nod in two, while For Women Scotland, the LGB Alliance and Sharron Davies got their nonsense printed in one each.

No trans people appear to have been quoted.

THE PAPERS Monday 13th October – Sunday 20th October

Monday Total: 1

The Guardian [0]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [1]
Trans rally clashes at statue of suffragette Daily Mail14 Oct 2024By Liz Hull and Alex Storey TRANS activists gatecrashed a women’s rally held yesterday in the town where suffragette Emily Davison is buried. Around 70 supporters who had gathered at a statue of the feminist for the Let Women Speak event were confronted by protesters wearing masks and carrying placards reading: ‘Trans women are women.’ They also blew whistles and shouted ‘get off the stage’ and ‘get some new material’. The two groups had to be separated by a line of more than 20 police officers at the event in Morpeth, Northumberland. Let Women Speak organises free speech rallies across the UK ‘Want to speak about our rights’ and speakers are known for their strong gender critical opinions. Organiser Posie Parker told the crowd in Carlisle Park: ‘Some women are coming to speak and some spoiled brats are trying to stop us. We just want to speak about our rights. ‘We want to speak about our spaces, our sports, our children, our safety. Those people over there are trying to shut us up.’ The speakers raised topics including schools, women’s rights and the concept of being non-binary. Supporter Liz Panton, 69, thanked the police, saying it was ‘insane’ that officers ‘have to stand in a park so we can speak’. Ms Davison lived in Northumberland before dying at 40 after throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby. Article Name:Trans rally clashes at statue of suffragette Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Liz Hull and Alex Storey Start Page:19 End Page:19
Telegraph [0]

Tuesday Total: 0

Wednesday Total: 2

The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Pope ‘is open to appointing trans-friendly bishops’ The Vatican James Imam - Milan The Pope has privately expressed a desire to appoint bishops in the United States who are more welcoming to transgender Catholics, campaigners claim. He allegedly made the comment on Saturday at his private residence during a meeting with 11 Catholics who are either transgender or intersex, or supporters of those groups. The encounter lasted 80 minutes and was arranged by the New Ways Ministry, an American group championing LGBT Catholics. Five participants, including a transgender man and a doctor who jointly heads a clinic providing gender-affirming hormonal care, shared personal testimonies with Francis about their experiences of transgender issues. He responded with comments and questions. “Francis mentioned that the situations experienced by transgender people will be more on his mind,” Raymond Dever, a retired Catholic deacon with an adult transgender daughter, who read one of the testimonies, told The Times. “He said that when he appoints new bishops in the US he will consider their openness to transgender people as a criteria.” A second participant confirmed they had heard the Pope’s remark about US bishops. The Vatican’s press office declined to comment on the content of the meeting, saying the encounter had been “of a private nature”. It did not respond to a subsequent request for confirmation of the comment specifically relating to US bishops. The meeting was arranged by Sister Jeannine Gramick, an American nun who co-founded New Ways Ministry nearly 50 years ago, after reading Dignitas Infinita (Infinite Dignity), a doctrinal paper published by the Vatican in April. The document states that gender-affirming care “risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception”. Some of the speakers underlined the obstacles they said some worshippers faced in the US. The Catholic diocese of Marquette in Michigan indicated in 2021 that transgender people and those in same-sex relationships should be prohibited from being baptised or receiving communion, and American bishops issued guidelines last year aimed at stopping Catholic hospitals providing gender transition care. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, who claimed the Vatican had not consulted transgender people before publishing Dignitas Infinita, said Saturday’s meeting was intended to ensure the Pope was aware of the issues facing transgender Catholics. “We wanted him to know that transition treatment had saved the speakers’ lives and turned their lives around while deepening their faith,” he said. During the meeting, Dever spoke of “a stunning lack of compassion within so much of the Church for transgender people”. Michael Sennett, a transgender man who works at a parish church in Boston, said that gender transition had taught him that “living authentically will bring me closer to God”. The speakers said that the Pope had listened “deeply and with empathy” and had appeared “very engaged”. DeBernardo said Francis had “a chequered record” with LGBT rights but that he hoped the meeting would promote dialogue between transgender people and the Church. He predicted Francis would indeed appoint more progressive US bishops. “I would not be surprised if the new crop were more pastoral on the whole,” he said.
Daily Mail [1]
Now forms ask parents if dead child was trans Daily Mail16 Oct 2024By Sam Merriman and Martin Beckford TRANSGENDER and nonbinary categories have been added to official documents for reporting the death of a child. The Department of Health and Social Care has this month updated the forms that must be submitted following the tragic loss of a young person. The paperwork asks: ‘Which gender did the child identify as at the time of death?’ It includes the categories ‘male (including trans male)’, ‘female (including trans female)’ and ‘non-binary’. As recently as July the form simply listed ‘male’, ‘female’, ‘other’ and ‘unknown’ under the ‘sex’ category. Labour MP Charlotte Nichols ‘Gender at time of death’ called for changes to the Gender Recognition Act following the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey last year, ‘to allow transgender people who are deceased to be legally remembered by the gender they lived by’. But while the change will be welcomed by some, it has attracted criticism. Tory spokesman for women and equalities, Mims Davies, said: ‘It is a deep insensitivity for families to then be asked... if their late child was trans or non-binary in order to tick the boxes for NHS diversity officials.’ Helen Joyce, from charity Sex Matters, said: ‘This ill-conceived, agenda-driven question needs to be dropped immediately.’ The Department of Health and NHS England were contacted for comment. Article Name:Now forms ask parents if dead child was trans Publication:Daily Mail Author:By Sam Merriman and Martin Beckford Start Page:10 End Page:10
Telegraph [0]

Thursday Total: 4

The Guardian [0]
The Times [2]
Badenoch calls for Rowling peerage Aubrey Allegretti - Chief Political Correspondent JK Rowling should be given a peerage, Kemi Badenoch has said as she hit out at “oddballs and bad people” who campaigned against sex-based rights. Badenoch praised the Harry Potter author, who shares her belief that protection for women should be based on sex, not self-identified gender. Asked whether she would give Rowling a seat in the House of Lords, Badenoch told Talk TV: “I would. I don’t know whether she would take it but I certainly would give her a peerage.” The Tory leadership candidate also praised Baroness Cass, saying she “managed to get” the paediatrician a peerage following her review of children’s gender services. Badenoch, the shadow communities secretary and a former equalities minister, said Cass was “a strong voice in parliament” for “women who have fought for so much [and] need protection”. She added that sex-based rights activists had been “attacked relentlessly by all sorts of oddballs and bad people”. Despite facing criticism from some fellow Tories during the leadership campaign, Badenoch said she did not take a “combative” approach with fellow party members. “I’m a mum with three kids,” she said. “I’m not getting involved in the people who are playing silly politics. They got us into this mess. “They started the psychodrama that the party members are sick of seeing all this petty squabbling. It has to end. I am a clean slate. I am the bold choice. I am not more of the same.” Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are fighting for Tory members’ votes to replace Rishi Sunak. Ballots are being issued to party members this week with voting to close on October 31 and the winner announced on November 2. Badenoch later claimed in a virtual rally that she was running a “grassroots campaign” rather than a “media campaign”, which will be seen as a swipe at her opponent. Jenrick sought to strengthen his policy platform by suggesting a 2p cut in the basic rate of income tax. He accused officials of “medicalising normal human stress” by signing people off work unnecessarily.
Bug fest A bad day for crickets last week as protesters released thousands of the insects at the annual conference of the LGB Alliance, a group that was co-founded by the barrister Allison Bailey. The criminal defence specialist successfully sued her chambers, Garden Court, over claims that its leadership discriminated against her because of her view that men cannot become women. The alliance takes a similar view and a session at the conference featured Akua Reindorf KC, an employment lawyer, discussing the finer legal points of sexual orientation and the workplace. But teenage protesters from a pro-transgender group unleashed the crickets at the London event. “It was distressing to see thousands of insects killed for the sole purpose of trying to disrupt the UK’s only conference for same-sex attracted people,” said Kate Barker, the alliance’s chief executive. The event continued in spite of the invasion.
Daily Mail [1]
THE BBC has sparked controversy after it nominated an African at the centre of a gender eligibility row for its Women’s Footballer of the Year prize. Barbra Banda, 24, missed out on playing for Zambia at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 amid reports she failed gender eligibility tests. During the summer, there was controversy when she was allowed to take part in the Olympics in Paris, where she scored a hat-trick against Australia. The BBC published a profile of Banda as it unveiled the shorlist of five for its award, but it makes no mention of the controversy. Fiona McAnena at charity Sex Matters said: ‘No female footballer has ever had to lower her testosterone levels, as Banda has done. The BBC has a duty to be impartial and accurate, but instead it is spreading confusion around this problem for women’s sport.’ The BBC said Banda, who plays as a striker for Orlando Pride in Florida, is ‘fully eligible for nomination’.
Telegraph [1]
GPS told to refer children for counselling by LGBT group The Daily Telegraph17 Oct 2024By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT FAMILY doctors have been told to refer children who wish to change gender to an LGBT activist group for “affirmative” counselling despite the findings of the Cass review. New guidance issued to GPS by NHS Lothian, Scotland’s second-largest health board, urges them to send 16-year-olds questioning their gender to LGBT Health and Wellbeing, a group which has promoted the transition of a five-year-old. The charity states that it offers “LGBT+ informed and affirmative counselling” which does not involve “inappropriate curiosity or incorrect assumptions” about a person’s gender identity. Critics said the move contradicted the findings of the landmark Cass review, which the Scottish NHS had previously pledged to adopt. If following the “affirmative” sessions patients as young as 16 still wish to transition, GPS are told to refer them to the Chalmers Gender Identity Clinic, which can recommend hormone treatments when they turn 18. Dr Hilary Cass’s review was seen as endorsing a move away from the “affirmative” model of care, which originated in the United States and reinforces a patient’s “subjective gender experience”, which was previously widespread in gender clinics. Her report for NHS England instead urged caution over social transition, for example when a young person changes their name and pronouns, raising fears it could push patients onto a potentially unnecessary medical pathway. Rather than an exclusively affirmative approach, Dr Cass called for in-depth “holistic and personal” assessments to interrogate underlying reasons for gender distress. “Telling GPS to send confused 16-year-olds to activist groups for ‘affirmative’ counselling flies in the face of the Cass review findings and the assurances the health board had given at Holyrood as recently as last month,” Trina Budge, a director at the For Women Scotland campaign group, said. “For the NHS to be sending vulnerable patients to partisan lobbyists which promote the transition of five-year-olds and have described puberty blockers as ‘wonderful’ is utterly reckless.” The prescription of puberty blockers to under 18s has been suspended in Scotland after the Cass review. NHS Lothian was approached for comment. Article Name:GPS told to refer children for counselling by LGBT group Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT Start Page:12 End Page:12

Friday Total: 4

The Guardian [1]
ECB bans transgender women from top two tiers The Guardian18 Oct 2024David Charlesworth PA Media Transgender women will be unable to feature in the top two tiers of the new women’s domestic structure or the women’s Hundred, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced. An updated transgender policy mirrors last year’s decision from the International Cricket Council, which banned anyone who has gone through male puberty from taking part in women’s international games. In prohibiting transgender women from playing in women’s professional domestic cricket, the ECB said it had consulted “relevant science and medical evidence” and considered “fairness, safety and inclusion”. However, the ECB confirmed tier three of the new domestic system set to launch next year, plus recreational cricket, will welcome individuals in the gender with which they identify. It comes with the caveat of an already established ‘disparity policy’, which covers anyone with an appreciable strength, stamina and/or physique advantage that could cause a safety or fairness issue. A statement from the ECB, which will roll out the new policy for the 2025 domestic season, said: “Considerable time has been taken to reach this policy position. “The ECB recognises that transgender participation is a complex area, with many strongly held views, and it is impossible to balance all the considerations. “We want everyone to feel included and welcome in our sport, and believe the position reached strikes an appropriate balance by ensuring fairness in the elite game while ensuring inclusivity at a recreational level.” Transgender athletes have been banned from taking part in elite women’s competitions in other sports such as swimming, cycling, athletics, rugby league and rugby union. The ECB’s existing policy dictates anyone identifying as female could compete in professional club and England pathway teams, if they had written clearance. Dr Seema Patel, an associate professor at Nottingham Law School, said: “Recognising the importance of participation at the community and grassroots level is incredibly positive.” Article Name:ECB bans transgender women from top two tiers Publication:The Guardian Author:David Charlesworth PA Media Start Page:44 End Page:44
The Times [1]
‘Pronouns’ conductor wins case An acclaimed conductor has won an unfair dismissal case after he was sacked when students complained of bullying and his “use of pronouns”. Mark Shanahan had been accused of “intimidating, bullying and possibly discriminatory” behaviour towards young musicians at the National Opera Studio, an employment tribunal in south London tribunal was told. The studio chief was said to have told Shanahan “we are living in a different world now, where people are likely to call out behaviours”. Other staff members and coaches at the studio in Wandsworth, southwest London, also raised complaints about his conduct, the tribunal was told. Shanahan was dismissed when an inquiry found his behaviour went against the studio’s code of conduct. Emily Gottlieb, the studio’s chief executive, said he had been the subject of several complaints during his employment from 2010 to 2021. The employment judge Alison Frazer said Gottlieb formed the view that those complaints formed a pattern of behaviour. Frazer said Shanahan was asked in March 2021 about the use of pronouns “in respect of a young artist”. The conductor, who said he was shocked at the allegations, was dismissed in September 2021, after which he began legal action. The tribunal upheld his claim of unfair dismissal but reduced his compensation by 15 per cent for several reasons. The panel said Shanahan would have probably been dismissed fairly in any event and that he “contributed to the dismissal by blameworthy conduct”.
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
ECB’S pandering to inclusion only hurts grass-roots game The Daily Telegraph18 Oct 2024Oliver Brown Chief Sports Writer Crossover: Trans athlete Danielle Mcgahey played for Canada’s women before an ICC ban The fundamental mistake that sport’s governing bodies tend to make, in their terror of the transgender lobby, is to assume that women’s fairness and dignity, even their very safety, is a subject for delicate compromise. Behold the England and Wales Cricket Board’s latest effort, a true classic of the oeuvre. On the one hand, it acknowledges there is a problem by banning players who have gone through male puberty from competing as female. But on the other, it restricts this rule only to the elite level, leaving the grass-roots game – the area where the stark power differences I still have letters from parents who drew attention to the case between men and women are most vividly manifested – as a self-id free-for-all. You could not help but scream silently at some of the ECB’S wording. Trying to justify the decision to include men identifying as women in amateur female cricket, it described the issue as a “complex area”. Except the reality is that it is anything but. You do not need a doctorate in developmental biology to grasp the potential dangers of a middle-aged man hurling a hard leather ball at a 12-year-old girl. And in case you think this is a hyperbolic example, the exact same situation arose last year in a club league, prompting six first-class counties to call on the ECB to act. I still have letters from parents who drew attention to the case. One father wrote how he had given his consent for his two daughters to play only women’s cricket in a women’s league, describing the presence of a much stronger male-born opponent as “uncomfortable, unacceptable and dangerous, both morally and physically”. One mother threatened to remove her daughter from the competition in protest, arguing that the officials in charge were failing in their duty of care, and that she had “genuine worries for her personal safety”. This was 20 months ago. In that time, the ECB has had ample opportunity to formulate a policy that prevents such rank injustice from happening again. I know for a fact that the need for change is recognised at the highest levels of the organisation. But the result, sadly, is a dismal fudge. Yes, the ECB acknowledges the potential for women to be put in harm’s way, stressing the need to “manage disparities”. And yet it implicitly argues, through its two-tier approach, that only those players at the sharp end of the pyramid are deserving of protection. How can this be, though? You would never dream of applying such logic to doping, so why do so to another issue where unfair performance advantages are self-evident? It is bewildering, this assumption that you can uphold the integrity of female support for some women but not all. Where does the ECB imagine that elite women start out in their playing careers, if not at the grass roots? And why can it not see that prospective future internationals might give up on the game altogether if they find themselves pitted, through no choice of their own, against players of glaringly superior strength? “We want everyone to feel included and welcome in our sport, and believe the position reached strikes an appropriate balance,” the ECB says. But here lies the essential problem, in the word “balance”. It has already been established by the Sports Councils’ Equality Group (SCEG) in the UK, in a report released in 2021, that a balancing act is impossible. Its conclusions state: “The inclusion of transgender people into female sport cannot be balanced Article Name:ECB’S pandering to inclusion only hurts grass-roots game Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:Oliver Brown Chief Sports Writer Start Page:12 End Page:12
Ban on trans cricketers – but not at grassroots ECB debars players who transitioned after puberty – but only at top two levels, leaving amateur girls at risk The Daily Telegraph18 Oct 2024By Ben Rumsby Transgender women are to be banned from professional and semiprofessional women’s cricket in England – but not from the grassroots game, raising fears over young girls playing alongside those who may have previously been men. The new guidance has been described as “two-tier” by critics. Sharron Davies, the former Olympic swimmer, said: “If it’s dangerous, unfair and unsafe at professional level, it’s the same at grassroots or pathways.” TRANSGENDER women are to be banned from professional and semi-professional women’s cricket in England – but not from the grassroots game. The Telegraph can reveal that the England & Wales Cricket Board is poised to announce its long-awaited new trans policy following a review of its existing rules. Its current rules are among the most liberal in sport, allowing anyone identifying as female to play in women’s cricket – subject to written ECB clearance only for “professional club and England pathway teams”. This has caused major concern among women’s rights campaigners about fairness and safety for those born female, including around shared changing facilities. The ECB’S new policy is set to be announced almost a year after the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned anyone to have gone through male puberty from playing in the likes of the Women’s Ashes or World Cup. That was after Canada’s Danielle Mcgahey became the first transgender cricketer to play an official Twenty20 international. The ECB’S policy will mirror that of the ICC at the highest levels – tier one and two – of the new women’s game pyramid that begins next year. However, the ban will not apply below that, with anyone who identifies as female still able to play in women’s and girl’s competitions. The participation of trans women will instead be policed under the ECB’S “disparity policy”, which covers any player deemed to have a significant strength, stamina or physique advantage over their opponents. The current policy allows the game’s authorities to make “non-binding” recommendations when it comes to such players on the grounds of fairness or safety. Imposing a ban at professional and semi-professional level may see the ECB avoid the kind of storm to engulf the likes of swimming and cycling following the emergence of Olympic hopefuls Lia Thomas and Emily Bridges. The closest English cricket has come to that was when Maxine Blythin, pictured inset right, who transitioned as a teenager, won Kent’s female player of the year award in 2019. She told Sky Sports that same year: “I was born with a condition that meant I never had any real levels of testosterone, which meant I never went through any form of male puberty. “That condition means I’m eligible to play women’s sport at any level, in any sport, naturally. A lot of the debate that’s been going on and around doesn’t actually apply to myself.” The current ECB policy has also raised concerns about changing facilities, with a frequently asked questions document produced by the governing body stating: “Trans people should have access to toilets, showers and changing rooms that accord with their gender identity wherever possible.” Sharron Davies, the British swimmer who was denied Olympic gold in 1980 by state-sponsored doping in East Germany and a leading voice in the trans debate, said: “It’s a coward’s cop-out. If it’s dangerous, unfair and unsafe at professional and semi professional level, it’s the same at grass-roots or pathways. The ECB can’t say, ‘We’ll protect these females but not these females – because they’re not good enough’. All sport for females should be protected and an open category created, made welcoming of all, no matter how they identify. It’s wilful negligence to pretend biological males and females aren’t physically different.” Fiona Mcanena, director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “The ECB’S decision to include men who identify as women in amateur female competition is a disastrous, two-tier policy that makes no sense. “Anyone who has ever played cricket knows that it’s neither fair nor safe for women to face male bowlers and batsmen, yet that is what most amateur female cricketers will have to do if men are included in women’s competition. And they will have no grounds to object. The message to women and girls from ECB seems to be that unless you’re a top player, you don’t get fair play. This policy will put promising girls and women off the game before they ever have a chance to progress to elite level, with catastrophic effects on the pipeline of player development. “The ECB claims to support the women’s game but its grudging and partial acceptance of the ICC’S policy to protect the female category signals that male feelings come first.” Last year, Telegraph Sport revealed six first-class counties had demanded urgent answers from the ECB as to why a middle-aged player who transitioned from a man to a woman was being allowed to compete against girls as young as 12. Multiple letters from coaches and parents whose daughters have faced the player expressed alarm at the safety implications of an adult carrying the residual physical advantages of male puberty playing in the same league as girls. One letter from a coach claimed the player “hits the ball harder than any other I have seen in the league”. It is understood that the player previously caused injuries, although inadvertently, including one to an umpire and another to an opponent at county trials who was left unable to play for months. A mother of one girl in an under-13 county squad acknowledged she had genuine worries about her daughter’s safety, arguing it was “inappropriate” for an adult with the physiological benefits of male puberty to be included in the same league. The worries raised by the case became so acute that a group of six firstclass counties met the ECB to insist on clarification of the governing body’s transgender policy. All argued they had been left without any clear guidance on the issue of girls’ physical safety or that of bathroom access. Confirming the new policy would come into force next year, the ECB said it had been arrived at “following and extensive consultation”. It added: “The ECB recognises that transgender participation is a complex area, with many strongly held views, and it is impossible to balance all the considerations. We want everyone to feel included and welcome in our sport, and believe the position reached strikes an appropriate balance by ensuring fairness in the elite game while ensuring inclusivity at a recreational level.” ‘Anyone who has played knows that it’s neither fair nor safe for women to face male bowlers and batsmen’ Article Name:Ban on trans cricketers – but not at grassroots Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Ben Rumsby Start Page:5 End Page:5

Saturday Total: 4

The Guardian [0]
The Times [2]
How Cass reshaped gender medicine Six months ago, her review transformed NHS care. Now it is influencing the world, Eleanor Hayward writes Hilary Cass swore an oath of allegiance to the King last Monday and took a seat in the House of Lords, almost six months since publishing a seminal report on NHS child gender services. The retired paediatrician, now Baroness Cass, spent four years researching the most toxic and complex question in modern healthcare: how should we care for transgender children? That she has emerged a universally respected crossbench peer is a remarkable testament to her 388-page report, which found no good evidence to support the prescribing of sex hormones to under-18s. Six months on from the Cass review, the medical landscape has been permanently reshaped — puberty blockers are illegal, the gender clinic at the Tavistock has shut and NHS services are providing “holistic” care. This is despite Cass having to contend with a wave of “misinformation” which, it can be revealed, largely originated in the United States and has been spread by groups including the British Medical Association (BMA). Cass said she believed the political backing for her report’s 32 recommendations was crucial to its success. She told The Times that the “broad crossparty support means it didn’t become a political hostage to fortune”. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, expressed his gratitude to Cass yesterday, saying her evidence-based review meant that, at last, “we are taking politics out of children’s medicine”. British doctors undermined Cass with US ‘misinformation’ Cass has commanded support across the political spectrum and in the NHS but has been criticised by a “vocal minority” of doctors. Influential figures in the BMA tried to halt the implementation of the review this summer by seizing on an error-strewn paper published online by academics and lawyers in the United States. The doctors’ union announced in July that it would lobby against the Cass report, without consulting its 195,000 members. To support its position, the BMA council cited as its source a 39-page document published by the Integrity Project, based at Yale Law School. The paper claims Cass’s work — which reviewed data from 113,000 children and was the largest of its kind — has “serious methodological flaws”. Its lead author is Dr Meredithe McNamara, a paediatrician who has argued that giving children puberty blockers is “one of the most compassionate things” a parent can do. She acts as an expert witness in US court cases arguing for gender-affirming care. The paper, which was widely shared online and fuelled international criticism of Cass, has been exposed as having a “significant number of errors”. Cass ‘heartened’ by challenge to critics In an article published this week in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, a peer-reviewed British medical journal, paediatricians identified a series of unfounded claims, misrepresentations and factual errors in the US paper. They found the McNamara study was “tailored for the courtroom” and written with the “primary purpose” of supporting cases in the US, where the issue of gender medicine remains bitterly divided along party political lines and is settled through legal action. The article said doctors should not use the flawed paper to “jeopardise the implementation of crucial reforms” in the NHS. The lead author, Dr Ronny Cheung, a paediatrician based in London, said the US report had been “very influential in swaying online discourse” and he was “surprised” it had been cited by the BMA, whose stance is at odds with the rest of the medical profession. “The overwhelming response from medical royal colleges, and politicians on both sides of the debate, has been to recognise the potential for the Cass review to help us move things forward,” he said. Cass welcomed moves to debunk the critiques of her report. She said it had been “frustrating” to see her report misrepresented but it was “heartening to see respected clinicians and academics ... challenge the misinformation”. The BMA has been forced into a partial climbdown to adopt a “neutral” stance. More than 1,400 doctors signed an open letter expressing their “dismay” at the BMA for “going against the principles of evidence-based medicine and against ethical practice”. NHS shuts gender clinic and overhauls services While a bitter row rages in the doctors’ union, the NHS has remained committed to implementing Cass’s recommendations and ensuring children are not rushed on to a medical pathway. Her report in April highlighted that distressed children must be seen as a “whole person and not just through the lens of their gender identity”, also receiving treatment for “ordinary” problems such as depression or autism. Cass said: “The aim of many of the recommendations was to bring these young people back into mainstream care.” She added that “good progress” was being made. The NHS has replaced the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service, which prescribed puberty blockers, with six specialist clinics. Two have opened — at Great Ormond Street in London and Alder Hey in Liverpool — with a third to open in Bristol next month. NHS leaders said the Cass review had been essential in providing a “backbone” around which services could be built, despite a “toxic debate”. Dr James Palmer, the NHS director who oversees gender services, said views on the area were polarised. He added: “Having the Cass review ... means there is a solid touchstone that we can refer to as we set up new services. The feedback the first two clinics have had from patients and families is impressive. I’m optimistic that we’re getting this sorted.” The process by which children get referred for specialist gender care has been overhauled, after referrals increased 100-fold in little over a decade. Previously teachers, social workers and GPs could send children to the Tavistock. Now children must be seen by a specialist who will assess for other conditions such as mental-health problems or autism. Palmer said closing the “easy-access referral route” may lead to an initial reduction in referrals. Global impact of Cass means NHS is ‘leading the world’ When her final report was published, Cass concluded that a global field of child gender medicine was “built on shaky foundations”. The findings of her review reverberated around the world and, unusually for an NHS-commissioned report, are laying a foundation for a branch of medicine. “We are fortunate our health system allows us to set up independent reviews that guide national policy, act on the evidence and implement improvement across the country,” she said. Cass said her review was “a starting point, not an end point” and further research was essential. As part of this, an NHS clinical trial into puberty blockers will begin early next year. Palmer said: “It looks like the NHS in England is going to be the world leader on producing the evidence base for this particular sector of child gender medicine, including puberty blockers. “Some other countries, including Sweden, have stopped puberty blockers but they have never been able to put together the research studies. We’ve got a single national health service. This is where the NHS really flourishes, in terms of leading in research.” Streeting said the government would continue working to “implement the full recommendations”. He added: “I’m grateful to Dr Cass. We’re taking politics out of children’s medicine.”
Boston trans row A video for a new professional women’s football team in Boston, USA, ran into trouble this week after its slogan of there being “Too Many Balls” in the city — a riff on the number of successful men’s teams in various sports — was condemned as transphobic. “Yeah, Boston loves its balls. But maybe, there are too many balls in this town,” the strapline for the club BOS Nation read. The video ended: “No balls necessary”. The Canada international Quinn, who identifies as transgender and non-binary, responded with a social media post saying, “Feels transphobic”. The video was soon withdrawn and the club apologised.
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Girl footballer faces ban over ‘transphobia’ Seventeen year-old with suspected autism asked her older transgender opponent: ‘Are you a man?’ The Daily Telegraph - Saturday19 Oct 2024By Ben Rumsby A GIRL footballer with suspected autism is facing a ban of up to 12 matches for asking an adult transgender opponent: “Are you a man?” In the latest case to raise major questions about the Football Association’s ongoing failure to ban those born male from the women’s game, the 17-year-old has been left distraught at being charged by her county FA over a remark made during a match against a trans-inclusive club. She was charged last month with saying, “Are you a man?”, “That’s a man”, “Don’t come here again”, or similar comments during what was a pre-season friendly back in July. In documents seen by The Telegraph, the girl admits asking a player she describes as having “a beard”, “Are you a man?” She also admits asking the referee for guidance about the player’s eligibility to participate in women’s football “given my concern for my safety after already suffering a number of overly physical challenges”. But she has denied doing so constituted transphobia or that she made any comments that could be construed as such, while The Telegraph understands the referee also heard nothing he deemed to be discriminatory. The girl was charged after the opposition club lodged a complaint via Kick It Out, English football’s anti-discrimination watchdog, which included testimony from the trans player and that team’s captain accusing her of persistent ‘I raised a concern about the risk of injury playing against a much larger biological male’ transphobia. She faces a six to 12-match ban if found guilty during a hearing later this month and she and her mother have decided to speak out about her plight because they feel they have been left with no choice. The Telegraph has agreed to conceal her identity due to her being a child and her being on the assessment pathway for autism. In a written statement submitted in her defence, the girl said she had become “confused” about the participation of the trans player during the match in question due to the latter “wearing jewellery and sunglasses” and not being in opposition kit. She added: “The moment the player clarified they were transgender (which I previously hadn’t considered), I respected their answer fully, dropped the situation and immediately shifted my focus back to the game before seeking guidance from the referee. At no point was my question meant to be hurtful or malicious as I only intended to seek clarity in an unfamiliar situation. “Knowing now that the player was transgender, I understand that there were better ways to approach this question.” She said she was then accosted during a drinks break by the opposition captain who told her she should not have an issue with playing a trans opponent. She added: “I raised a concern about the risk of serious injury as a 17-year-old girl playing against a biological male who was much larger than me and a very physical player, which was possibly a safety issue as I did not want to get dangerously injured right before the start of the new season. “Despite this, I made it clear that if the player met the eligibility criteria of the FA I would respect the rules and ‘At no point was my question meant to be hurtful or malicious. I only intended to seek clarity’ accept the risk involved in continuing to play the match.” She said she was “truly disheartened that these allegations have been made against me “, stressing: “I have always supported and respected the diversity within my team, including members who are in the LGBTQIA+ community.” Her mother said the trans woman quizzed by her daughter was one of two opponents who appeared to have been born male. She revealed she had contacted the county FA after the friendly to raise concerns about the duo’s participation. The club that filed the complaint against her has been approached for comment. The county FA said it was “aware of the incident”, adding: “However, we are unable to comment as this incident is part of an ongoing investigation. The case will be heard by a national seriouscase panel in due course.” Article Name:Girl footballer faces ban over ‘transphobia’ Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Author:By Ben Rumsby Start Page:5 End Page:5
Schools told to permit trans teachers to use female showers The Daily Telegraph - Saturday19 Oct 2024By Connor Stringer The Telegraph, The Telegraph: Senior reporter TRANS teachers must be allowed to use the same showers and toilets as female colleagues, schools have been told. Training from the National Governance Association (NGA) tells governors that staff should be given access to the bathroom “available to other members of their newly acquired gender”. The advice, seen by reads: “Employees who have undergone gender reassignment or who are transgender must be supported to use all toilets and shower facilities which are available to other members of their newly acquired gender. Requiring transgendered people to use disabled toilet facilities instead of making reasonable adjustments is not lawful or good practice.” The NGA is the national membership association for governors, trustees, and governance professionals in England’s state schools and trusts. More than 80,000 members across 70 per cent of schools and trusts in England access its services, which include advice, training and events. A chairman of governors at a secondary academy told “I decided to take the NGA equality and diversity training today to keep myself up to date. I’m shocked at this content.” Maya Forstater, the chief executive of Sex Matters, a human-rights charity, said the training was “grossly irresponsible” and “deeply disturbing”. Bridget Phillipson, minister for women and equalities, said that a trans woman who had a gender recognition certificate (GRC) “would be using female toilets” if they had not had reassignment surgery. To obtain a GRC trans people have to receive sign-off by a panel of doctors and lawyers and provide two years of evidence that they have been living in their new gender. A spokesman for the NGA said: “This training material is designed to help those who govern understand their legal obligations in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 supporting all employees, including those who are transgender, in the workplace setting.” A government spokesman said: “Teachers from all backgrounds should feel supported in the workplace. The Equality Act allows providers of single-sex services and spaces to restrict their use on the basis of sex and gender reassignment when it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as protecting the privacy and dignity of others. “It is important that school leaders understand the law, which is why the Equality and Human Rights Commission offers guidance on how to apply it, noting the importance of balancing the impact of decisions on all users.” Article Name:Schools told to permit trans teachers to use female showers Publication:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday Author:By Connor Stringer The Telegraph, The Telegraph: Start Page:5 End Page:5

Sunday Total: 2

The Observer [0]
The Sunday Times [1]
The ECB’s new transgender policy is not only the most illogical of its kind, it also risks alienating young women Alyson Rudd Alyson Rudd ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me” was the mantra of many a playground in my youth. It needed a few tweaks, obviously, to be more helpful to those teased and verbally bullied but every time a sports governing body puts the feelings of men who identify as female before the physical welfare of women, they are completely inverting the principle that the avoidance of bodily harm is the priority. Sticks and stones and cricket balls may break my bones and that’s just fine, it seems, because to exclude biological males from women’s cricket is unwelcoming. The oddest part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new policy on transgender participation is that it actually acknowledges the inherent dangers yet halfway through its statement the governing body makes an achingly unintelligent U-turn. Those who have been through male puberty cannot compete in the top two tiers of the new women’s professional domestic structure or in any of the eight teams in the women’s Hundred, says the ECB. If, however, someone who has been through male puberty really wants to play women’s cricket they can compete in tier three of the new domestic layout or at any other non– professional club. This has to be the least logical piece of sports governance ever issued. Are women who play professionally more likely to come to harm than those who do not should they be facing a biological male at the crease? I very much doubt there is any scientific research that supports this notion. Common sense suggests if there is a disparity then it is more likely that the women still learning the ropes of the sport are the ones who might suffer more jeopardy. Indeed, last year, six first-class counties, worried after a man who had transitioned was allowed to compete against girls in their early teens, demanded clarity from the ECB on inclusion and female safety. The justification for the new policy is, according to the ECB, that it provides “fairness” at the elite level and “inclusivity” at the recreational level. In other words it wants to pander to both lobby groups. This never works as a successful ploy. What is the point of a sports governing body? What is its fundamental priority? In every case, from cycling to rugby, from swimming to football, it is the participant’s safety. The rules of games are regularly tweaked to improve the viewer’s experience and add excitement but the underlying principle remains player protection. When parents drop their daughters off at the local cricket club they assume the people coaching know the basics of the sport and what equipment needs to be worn. They assume their child will not face a fast bowler until ready to do so, that teams are organised into ability levels so that one group of kids don’t lose every session by a margin so huge no enjoyment is to be gained playing. This all comes under the heading of fairness that the ECB is keen to promote at the elite level yet it is a value that matters enormously further down the pyramid. Young women will be put off cricket altogether if they do not feel they can be nurtured through the sport. Parents regularly complain about their daughters having to get undressed in front of biological males in changing rooms and so what is to stop families ditching cricket and guiding their offspring to the rugby club down the road who have the straightforward policy of only allowing those registered female at birth to take part in women’s teams, no matter the level? “What is the point of a sports governing body? In every case, the priority is the participant’s safety The Rugby Football Union Council was unambiguous when it drew up its policy two years ago. The safety risk applies to all women, not just the best players. It smacked of such good sense that Fair Play For Women predicted other governing bodies would naturally follow suit. And yet, somehow, the ECB has found a way to ignore the obvious and contradict itself. And what of the person who identifies as female and hankers to play women’s cricket? Their feelings might be hurt if turned away but what has gone so wrong among the trans lobby that it seeks to turn women’s sport into a joke, that it fails to recognise the basic right of girls and women to play the sport they love, or might come to love, without fear and discomfort?
Mail on Sunday [0]
Sunday Telegraph [1]

 

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