Mermaids CEO Susie Green has left the charity after six years in charge. Chair of Trustees Belinda Bell said: “The Trustees are very grateful to Susie for everything she has done over the last six years to support trans, non-binary and gender-diverse young people and their families, and to build Mermaids into the organisation it is today. “We wish her all the best for the future.” An interim CEO will be appointed shortly.
Mermaids would like to update our service users and allies in light of recent events. Firstly, we have regrettably continued to receive a high volume of distressing, and in some cases threatening, calls, emails and web chat contacts as a result of some of the recent coverage. We must protect our staff from this unacceptable abuse, and therefore we will be closing the helpline service tomorrow (Wednesday 12 October) in order to give them respite. We will be resuming a normal service as soon as we can, but we are operating in a particularly challenging environment at present and there…
We want to update you about the position in relation to Dr. Breslow, the former Trustee of Mermaids who resigned his position this week. We have explained that it was only on the 3rd October that we became aware of his participation in a 2011 conference that would have disqualified him from becoming a trustee. Once notified, we immediately launched an investigation and Dr Breslow tendered his notice that same day. We want to apologise for the distress and concern this news has caused. It is clear that Dr. Breslow should never have been appointed to the board, and as…
Mermaids’ response to false claims in the media this week about the organisation and the services we provide We’re in the midst of a targeted, cynical attack on Mermaids and the services we provide, which seeks to distract us from the important work that we do, and to discredit the organisation. While aimed at Mermaids, we believe this to be an attack on the trans community as a whole, and an attempt to undermine the rights we have fought – and will continue to fight – so hard for. This particular smear campaign began with the publication of a Telegraph…
On Thursday 22 September, we were alerted to an upcoming piece in the Telegraph about Mermaids. We made the decision not to respond to the journalist’s request for comment but wanted to clarify our stance and offer some reassurance to anyone who might have concerns about some of the issues raised. Access to the forums We have robust security and moderation processes in place to ensure our forums are a safe space for trans, non-binary and gender diverse young people and their families. In August 2022, an individual – possibly a journalist – tried to gain access to the Youth…
Today (10 August 2022), Suella Braverman QC MP, the Attorney General, made a speech for the Policy Exchange think tank on the affirmation of trans, non-binary and gender diverse children in school. The contents of Braverman’s speech do not reflect our understanding of the Equality Act 2010 or the realities of being a trans child in schools. Her speech is not legally binding on schools and does not mark a change in school’s duties toward trans children in their care. What does the Equality Act say? Under the Equality Act 2010, people with the characteristic of “gender reassignment” are protected…
As the fifth major sporting body looks set to announce a ban on trans women athletes that will directly prevent trans girls’ participation in sports at a grassroots level, Mermaids is publishing our open letter urging the UK’s four national sporting bodies to support trans-inclusive policies across all sports. The letter, which urges sporting bodies to start from a point of inclusion, received more than 2,100 signatures from individuals and organisations, including Stonewall, LGBT Foundation, British Kickboxing Council, cyclist Dr Veronica Ivy, former footballer Neville Southall and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s Divina De Campo. To date, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI),…
Yesterday (4 April 2022) the Equality and Human Rights Commission published its guidance on single-sex spaces which can be found here. This is non-statutory guidance that explains the law, it is not the law itself. The guidance provides a number of worrying examples of instances where trans people could be barred from single-sex spaces. The guidance states that trans people can be excluded from single-sex spaces if their presence infringes upon the ‘dignity’ or ‘safety’ of others. This is very concerning as it suggests that sharing a space with a trans person is inherently dangerous, and that trans people risk…
Content Warning: Conversion “Therapy”/abuse. Mermaids announces that we will be joining the coalition of LGBTQIA+, trans and HIV organisations who have decided not to sign up to the government’s ‘Safe to be Me’ conference planned for Summer 2022. This is following a culmination of government inaction which has seen them fail to reform the Gender Recognition Act, address the year-on-year rise in transphobic hate crime or develop a comprehensive healthcare strategy for trans and non-binary people. The government’s latest decision to actively exclude trans and non-binary people from the ban on conversion practices has left us with no choice but…
Mermaids condemns the government’s decision to back-track on its promises to the LGBT+ communities to ban all forms of conversion abuse. By actively excluding trans and non-binary people from the ban, the government has decided to condone conversion abuse for our community. The government’s own data illustrates that trans people are at an unparalleled risk of being victim to this abhorrent practice. This decision allows conversion abusers to keep harming trans people without punishment. Such a decision secures decades of future abuse, pain and suffering. It is a dark moment in the history of LGBT+ rights in this country. Notes…