The Good News Supplement: Monday 21st October - Sunday 27th October
A handful of the good news stories from the gender beat this week. Enjoy!
Mermaids on the Rocks
The child-catchers at Mermaids have been found guilty of ‘mismanagement’ in a number of areas following a two-year investigation by the Charity Commission.
In September 2022 the Charity Commission for England and Wales opened a regulatory compliance case into Mermaids following complaints by the public and the highlighting of serious issues in the media. This action was escalated to a statutory inquiry in November 2022. The resultant report has just been published.
It concluded there were several areas of mismanagement. “The regulator cites the charity’s failure to ensure its governance, culture and practices kept pace with its growing size, demand for services and public profile, as a major factor that contributed to wider governance failings.”
Furthermore, Mermaids was found to have provided breast binders to minors without parental consent and to have provided false information about puberty blockers on its website.
Orlando Fraser, KC, Chair of the Charity Commission said:
“Following the Cass Review, we have required Mermaids to present a more accurate picture on its website as to the risks involved in the use of puberty blockers, and to follow Cass Review findings on the involvement of parents in social transitioning as regards any future provision of chest binders to children… As the report indicates, there are lessons for other charities working in these areas, including that they need to have regard to the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Cass Review.”
Women to the Fore
Hundreds of female golfers are speaking out to protest the inclusion of trans-identified males in their sport.
As reported by the Independent Women's Forum, 275 female professional golfers have written to the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) over its ‘trans inclusion’ policy which allows males to compete in women’s categories.
Their letter reads:
“We all know there can be no equal athletic opportunity for women without a separate female golf category… Competing at the highest level is the greatest honor, and thanks to our determination, years of hard work, and world class skill we have earned a shot at the prize—whether that is the opportunity to play on tour, earn eligibility for certain tournaments, improve our ranking, or come home with that victory. We deserve to strive for these rewards with a policy that recognizes fair and equitable competition for women. We hope you will stand with us and act promptly to protect the integrity of the sport that we love.”
All power to you, sisters. We stand with you.
Later in the week, The Telegraph reported that “The LPGA Tour is deciding whether to ban male-born golfers”. Mollie Marcoux, the tour’s commissioner, responded to the female professional golfer’s letter by revealing that an extensive review is ongoing and will be completed by the end of the year, with any changes implemented before next season. Could it be the LPGA is starting to listen?
The Dominoes Begin to Fall
Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis has withdrawn its membership of scandal-ridden umbrella organisation, Rape Crisis Scotland.
The Glasgow based rape crisis centre has broken its ties to Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) over the former’s wish to provide a single-sex women-only service. In a statement on its website, the organisation explained: “We were created to provide support by and for women. We believe, and women have consistently told us, that single-sex services delivered by an all-female workforce are crucial to help them heal from sexual trauma. This approach remains our priority but is at odds with RCS.”
Katie Cosgrove, co-chair of Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis, said the centre had decided to ‘publicly disassociate’ from RCS. She said, “We believe very strongly in the rights of women to have single-sex services within a rape crisis setting and we believe, to ensure that they are protected and that risk is minimised, that it should be an all-female workforce”.
Darlington Five at No 10
The brave nurses taking legal action against the NHS took their fight for women’s single sex spaces to No 10 Downing Street this week.
In recent weeks we have reported on the group of nurses in Darlington who are taking legal action against their NHS trust employer after they were forced to share the communal female changing room with a trans-identified male called ‘Rose’.
This week, the nurses, dubbed ‘The Darlington Five’, travelled to Downing Street. They delivered a petition - now with almost 50,000 signatures - supporting their case to No 10 and they met with Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, for almost an hour.
Streeting was supportive of the nurse’s case, agreed that sex is biological, said that the issue of women’s spaces is not taken seriously enough and promised to talk to government colleagues about the difference between sex and gender identity. According to The Daily Mail, when shown a photograph of ‘Rose’, Streeting raised his eyebrows. He told the nurses that “Single sex spaces matter” and commented “We’ve got to deal with this”.
Our huge congratulations and solidarity to Lisa Lockey, Bethany Hutchison, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury. We salute their courage and wish them every success with their legal case.
Many Happy Returns!
A very happy birthday to the LGB Alliance which turned five years old this week. (They glow up so fast, don’t they??)
Our very best wishes to all at the LGB Alliance, especially these two legends, Bev Jackson and Kate Harris. Many happy returns!
Barnes Storming
Hannah Barnes - who wrote the game-changing book, Time to Think, about the Tavistock and Portman GIDS clinic - is a finalist in the 2024 Press Gazette British Journalism Awards for public interest journalism in the health and science category.
We wish Hannah the very best of luck.
And Finally…
Happy Hallowe’en to all who celebrate! 🎃
Thanks JL. Are you another insomniac?
I wonder who will be monitoring that Mermaids actually implement the requirements from the Charity Commission. It's a bit like all the guidance that the Tories released in this matter, without actually passing any laws. Schools and other institutions just ignored it and continued as they were!