Update – Feb 26th Yesterday, the Government accepted a proposed amendment to the Bill. The Bill was expected to return to the House of Commons for the Lords’ proposed changes to be debated, with the potential for them to be refused by MPs. This decision means that the Government will likely tell their MPs to vote for the new wording to just include ‘mother or expectant mother’. This action was unexpected and is the first time in many years that a government has deliberately excluded a minority by changing accepted inclusive language to be exclusionary. We welcomed the original inclusive wording of the bill, and this amendment constitutes a…
News — Press Statements
Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids said: “Mermaids is delighted to learn that Gendered Intelligence, Brook and The Endocrine Society have been given permission to intervene in this important case. “Caring for young people means listening to them when they share their needs and experiences. The court must now reflect that it has the best interests of young people at heart by listening to what they have to say. “No other child is subject to court proceedings when they, their parents and their doctor agree on what care is needed. “As one of the UK’s leading charities for transgender youth, Mermaids…
Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids said: “We’re absolutely delighted to see that the appeal of the Bell v Tavistock case will involve interventions from four fantastic organisations. “These organisations aim to give the children impacted a voice during the appeal hearing, something that was shamefully missing from the first instance ruling. “As one of the UK’s leading charities working with transgender children, we are proud to join together with many other organisations to support this important legal intervention, and of the unity and consensus behind it. “We stand together in the hope that we can speak up for young people…
Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids said: “For years, parents, young people and medical professionals have been saying that the GIDS needs more support. The waiting times are absolutely unacceptable, no other child is expected to wait years for expert healthcare and wellbeing support and nor should they. “The CQC report shows that the NHS is failing in its responsibility to provide the best care for all children. “When a child goes to their doctor asking for help, they should be seen by the right specialist as soon as possible. We expect this NHS trust to treat the CQC report as…
Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids said: “We are delighted that the Bell v Tavistock case has been granted permission to appeal. “The first instance ruling would force transgender young people and their parents to go to court before they can get basic healthcare. Whatever our beliefs, most of us can agree that it is the young people themselves, their parents and their doctor who best understand their needs. When all three agree on what care a child needs, there is no need for a court process. “We have seen first-hand the immense damage the High Court’s ruling has done to…
A DANGEROUS BETRAYAL OF TRANS YOUTH Today’s judgment from the High Court risks untold, irreparable damage to young trans people in England and Wales. It heralds nothing less than a new era of discrimination, treating trans youth differently from all other young people and barring them from accessing life-saving care. The judgment does not make it a mandatory requirement for clinicians to seek judicial authority before prescribing puberty blockers to those under 18. The judgment did not decide that hormone blockers are illegal or unlawful. However, the court ruling effectively makes it very difficult for expert clinicians, who see the…
Read our full response to the DfE’s new schools guidance on RSE lesson planning here. Read our article on the relevance of clothes and toys to gender identity here. Details of the Mail on Sunday request for comment can be read for context below. In response to the Mail on Sunday article published Sunday 27th September 2020: no teacher has ever been encouraged by any LGBTQ+ organisation to state that ‘tomboys’ should be transgender. The suggestion is discrediting to the teaching profession and we call for the Mail on Sunday to explain its journalistic basis for this assertion. We have…
We welcome the broadening of this independent review of the Gender Identity Development Service’s important work. We call for transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse voices to be placed at the core of the report. If children and young people are to benefit from a better-provisioned service, the review must be based on clear evidence and lived experience. We also support the Care Quality Commission’s focused inspection of GIDS, due in the Autumn, and we trust it will further support the work of the service’s hard-working clinicians. The wellbeing of our service users lies at the very heart of everything we do….
(Scroll down for a full analysis of the Government’s announcement) After years of unhelpful speculation, debate and concern around Gender Recognition Act reform for England and Wales, we are relieved an announcement has been made. Many of our supporters feared that trans and non-binary lives would be negatively impacted by new barriers, so we are pleased that the extraordinary effort of combined LGBTQ+ organisations and allies has prevented such harm. It is particularly welcome news that the Equality Act 2010 remains resolutely unchanged amidst a barrage of misinformed demands to weaken equality law in the UK. For too long, transgender…
We have received a letter from the Government Equalities Office and would like to thank the Minister for Women and Equalities, Rt Hon Liz Truss for her communication. You can read the Minister’s letter and our original letter below. The past few months have been fraught with hazardous speculation around the impact of potential GRA reforms, and we have raised our service users’ concerns with parliamentarians, allies and the wider public in the hope that any changes brought forward are to the benefit of trans lives. We refrain from pre-empting the Government’s response to the GRA consultation, though we are…