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Mermaids Links Come Back to Haunt Tavistock

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 17: A Trans rights activist wears an earring featuring a ‘they’ pronoun symbol, during a protest outside the Ministry of Defence Main Building in Whitehall on January 17, 2023 in London, England. Rishi Sunak announced yesterday that the UK government will use a Section 35 order to block Scotland’s recent Gender Recognition Reform Bill on the grounds that it will impede the operation of the UK Equality Act. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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As reported not long ago on The BFD, social media recently saw a wave of deleting and un-friending by celebrities and institutions which had previously championed “trans” lobby group Mermaids. Media and public figures, as well as public and private institutions rushed to stealthily wipe any mention of Mermaids from their social media accounts and website servers.

Mermaids gained prominence — or notoriety — as well as hundreds of millions of pounds in funding, including a half-million from the UK’s National Lottery, for promoting gender transition for children. It “consistently encouraged policy changes within the British government and its agencies to effect the quickest possible transition times of the highest number of children with the fewest safeguards in place”.

And then, just like that, Mermaids vanished from the public sphere faster than a Chinese tennis player.

First, a Mermaids trustee was forced to resign after his links to a paedophile support group were leaked. Weeks later, CEO and founder Susie Green abruptly resigned as well.

Scandals under Green’s leadership included not just the pro-paedo trustee, but revelations that the “charity” had mailed out breast binders to 14-year-old girls, without parental knowledge or consent. There were child data breaches, Green’s endorsement of puberty blockers for children as young as nine. Green — who has no medical knowledge or training — also boasted of taking her teenage child to Thailand for transgender surgery (surgery that would now be illegal under Thai law).

But, as I wrote at the time of the Mermaids Memory-Holing, The Internet is Forever. Another pillar of the British groomer establishment is finding that out the hard way.

The NHS Tavistock gender clinic is facing legal action for failing to provide information about its links to a trans charity.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has given the trust until the end of the week to respond to allegations it withheld details about its links to Mermaids, requested by a parent under the Freedom of Information Act.

Failure to do so could see the matter referred to the High Court, where the trust could be fined if found to be in contempt of court.

Tavistock, which is already in deep trouble, including lawsuits by young people arguing that they were railroaded into crippling “transition”, had tried unsuccessfully to stymie an FOI request.

The FOI request asked for details of emails sent between the then Mermaids chief executive, Susie Green, and trust staff between 2014 and 2018, as well as records, notes, or minutes of any relevant meetings.

The Tavistock and Portman Trust originally refused to provide the information under a section of the law which allows them to deny ‘requests which have the potential to cause a disproportionate or unjustified level of disruption, irritation or distress.’

But when this was questioned by the ICO, the trust claimed it did hold the information relating to the controversial charity, which has been accused of putting pressure on staff to transition children.

The ICO ruled ‘on the balance of probabilities’, the Trust does have relevant emails, The Telegraph reported, giving it a deadline to respond of face the courts.

They’ve got two more days to stump up.

A spokesman for the trust said: ‘We have noted the ICO’s recent decision and are proactively working toward supplying the relevant data before the deadline.’

Daily Mail

A less charitable person than myself might almost suspect that they’re trying to hide something.

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