A Times article which says the governments plans to improve the process for changing gender will harm children has been slammed. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, the government announced a move to streamline and de-medicalise the Gender Recognition Act, to allow transgender people to more easily change their legal gender. <\/p>\n
The progressive move was welcomed by a huge number of LGBT activists. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
However, it prompted a backlash from some who desperately yelped that political correctness had gone too far. Too many rights for too many people, it seems. <\/p>\n
Today in The Times, Clare Foges, a former speechwriter for Prime Minister David Cameron, wrote that the new reforms which have not been proposed in any concrete way would create a world of confusion and anxiety for children. <\/p>\n
She states that giving children the freedom to self-define which seems to be outside of these potential reforms would worsen mental health problems in young people. <\/p>\n
I am no expert on children, she says. <\/p>\n
But, she continues, seeming to express intimate knowledge on the subject, childrenare being led to believe, on social media and in schools, that gender is simply a lifestyle choice. <\/p>\n
Foges also says all of the great legislative battles on equality have been won, which will be news to many campaigners, before going on a tirade laced with hypotheticals. <\/p>\n
If they dont enjoy girly things like make-up are they perhaps a boy? <\/p>\n
She then confuses the concepts of gender and sexuality, saying: If they have a crush on people of both sexes could they be agender? <\/p>\n
Foges adds: If they simply feel different to everyone else and uncomfortable in their own skin, common enough in adolescence, might they be genderfluid? <\/p>\n
This viewpoint was dismantled by Susie Green, the chief executive of Mermaids, a charity which campaigns for the rights of gender nonconforming children. <\/p>\n
Once again, people who this will never affect, who have no issues around their gender and never will are attempting to dictate to a vulnerable population how they should be supported, Green told PinkNews. <\/p>\n
Pointing to the latest Stonewall statistics, she added: Trans children have a 45 percent suicide attempt rate, and 1 in 10 young trans people receive death threats in school due to ignorance and prejudice. <\/p>\n
Surely, she added, any moves to both educate and support these young people should be embraced. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
She said that young trans people feel invalidated, and that articles like this question their identity and sense of self. <\/p>\n
This is not political correctness, this is children dying. <\/p>\n
On the point Foges makes about all of the great legislative battles on equality having been won, Green said: I absolutely dont think so. <\/p>\n
Weve got a very long way to go in looking at the way trans people are treated in all walks of life. <\/p>\n
There still needs to be far greater protections, not to mention the way theyre depicted in the media. <\/p>\n
Essentially, we want children to grow up and be valued members of society, so we have to acknowledge and embrace the differences that are there. <\/p>\n
She said that not doing so is not helpful, and can actually be very detrimental to those young people affected. <\/p>\n
Mermaids provided quotes from the father of a trans child, who said that our kids and youth are scared they are being bullied in our schools, they are being demonised in our press and they are self-harming. <\/p>\n
A Stonewall spokesperson said: Were disappointed to see another attack on trans identities this week, and these comments certainly underline the need for more education. <\/p>\n
Its vital that all young people feel supported and know that all identities are valid and, no matter who they are, they will be loved and accepted. <\/p>\n
Foges is not the only person who has been given the chance to object to trans people gaining more rights in a major national publication. <\/p>\n
Helen Lewis, the deputy editor of the New Statesman, wrote in The Times that coming out as trans should be treated like changing nationalities. <\/p>\n
And a Sunday Times article also drew criticism for the way it reported the governments proposals. <\/p>\n
Tim Shipman and Jason Allardyce wrote: Adults will be able to change their gender legally without a doctors diagnosis under government plans that will transform British society. <\/p>\n
Men will be able to identify themselves as women and women as men and have their birth certificates altered to record their new gender. <\/p>\n
Women would identify as women and men as men under the new plans, which acknowledge trans rights. <\/p>\n
Paul Embery, a Fire Brigades Union official, also came out against the governments plan, comparing gender identity to weight, height and attractiveness. <\/p>\n
He added that forcing society to recognise someone as one gender when he\/she maintains the anatomy of another is ludicrous. <\/p>\n
The FBU has refused to condemn Emberys remarks, despite Stonewall saying that comments like this underline how much work there is still to be done to make trans equality a reality. <\/p>\n
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Original post:<\/p>\n
Times article on trans reforms slammed: 'This is not political ... - PinkNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Times article which says the governments plans to improve the process for changing gender will harm children has been slammed. Continue reading