Fugged

Hi,

How’s things with you? Hopefully good, and if not, fingers crossed they improve soon as.

Because my style of blog writing is absolutely seat of the pants – cynics & snarks might just say “nah, it’s just pants” 😉 – we’re going with what’s just landed in my addled ADD/ADHD brain: the good, the bad, and the wibble*.

( Yes, that is a Blackadder Goes Forth reference, and no, there will be no extra prizes for placing pencils in each nostril. Yes, I realise this a /S very modern reference 😉 Kids, you may need to ask your parents 😁 Gah, who am I kidding: like anyone under 30 is reading this! 👵).

The Good

The East Midlands no longer feels like Arrakis. As someone of thick Celtic blood, I do not do hot weather. So no longer melting during the afternoon – or even on the 8AM doggo walk. 8AM too hot?! 😬 – the return to more sensible climes is very good news indeed.

Shopping-wise the summer sales have kicked in and I landed on two bargains. A rather pretty blue dress that is had in my basket since May, but I didn’t mind it enough at fifty quid. That and a fancy shirt – for my bloke wardrobe – that’s a coral colour with sunflowers. Yes, I do love a print. Yes, my fanciness does spill over into my guy mode gear. Both were down to half price and I’ll take that, thank you.

Vinted strikes again with a lucky find of a sleeveless summer dress. A paisley pattern and in a cool cotton to boot. I’m thinking this will go for late summer and again in late autumn with the right cardi. Also it matches the wedges from last time, so this is a bonus.

I’ve been streaming my favourite game online, and a few – as in two 🙃 – folk pop in to chat via the text system. It’s a win, IMO, in that I get to enjoy playing/modding Skyrim, I hear ideas from others, and there’s company to boot. As with a lot of things, conversation wanders, and I ended up being asked about how to help a friend who was struggling. Cue pausing the stroll through the virtual forests, and engaging Listen Mode, before advising on the options. I guess I must give off a vibe of someone folk like to ask. I don’t quite understand why, but I’m happy to try and help if someone wants a friendly ear.

The Bad

This week the Grauniad ticked their GERM* quota this week, with two items that felt factually and ethically wrong.

( Yes, thank you Kate Nash 🏳️‍⚧️✊🩷 ).

One article spoke about how the Cass Review has helped reduce the number of children being referred to gender services.

Old memes aside, I feel this is the same flawed logic as firing your helpline staff, and saying “we’re not getting any complaints, so everything is working.” See also removing the thermometer means it’s not hot outside.

Maybe, and here my Systems Thinking bias comes in: maybe you’re not measuring the right thing. Maybe, brace yourselves and have a tinfoil hat ready: that’s the point of the article.

I guess it would be funny from a WTAF are you smoking, if this wasn’t so dangerous and cruel. I mean, it’s not like I’m aware of the impact to people such as Child 2.0, families who contact Chams for help, or by just listening to parents on a trans youth charity forum.

So, in the context and equating one point of view and selected quotes, I’ll provide this research paper and a sample from the abstract.

This paper presents an analysis of data from trans children and young people and their parents following the imposition of a UK-wide ban on puberty blockers for this group. The consequences of this ban on trans and non-binary children and young people are analysed revealing very serious adverse effects, less than a year after its imposition, including sharply declining mental health, increased depression, social isolation, anxiety, stress, self-harm, school avoidance and suicide ideation. The ban appears to be a particular worry for children who are currently known only by their identified genders who fear being coercively outed. Parents themselves also report corresponding increases in levels of stress and worry about their children’s well-being and the possibility that they might attempt suicide. Increasing levels of transphobia and social exclusion since the ban’s imposition were also reported. The data presented here questions the entire rationale and ethical basis for the puberty blocker ban, providing hard evidence that it is both dangerous and unjustified given the significant level of harm it is causing

Harming children: the effects of the UK puberty blocker ban

Yes, the researcher is trans, and yes, that should not mean you treat their collected evidence and summary less seriously.

Okay, and in the spirit of fairness, you can, if you’re the sort of person who disbelieves antisemitism from a Jewish academic; denies racism from a scientist of colour; or who ignores the evidence collected and reviewed by women around everyday sexism. Or, to put it in a media sound bite: you’re a twit. 😜

On the subject of research, the second thing to nearly cause an eye roll induced injury (ERII? 😁), was a different report. One where certain folk complained that their anti-trans investigations – I’m not qualified to say if this is or isn’t ‘research’ 😉 – has apparently been caught up and faced significant delays by university review panels.

My experience around review panels has been around data security (GDPR), providing training on safe IT systems, and listening to informed trainers cover the necessary ethics and ensuring the personal safety & wellbeing of applicants. That and listening to the explanation and what this means to me as a lay person, when volunteering for the study. I’ve not been involved in the ethical decisions – not even the legal risk conversations – but I’ve friends who have.

Likewise the Ever Lovely Mrs J – technically, Doctor J – does review papers, and yes, the data and claims are subject to rigourous review. Studies where the statistics are not quite right, or a claim – and science folk seem to love probability as much as they love data 🩷 – isn’t substantiated by Wingnut Kryptonite (or as we lay people say, evidence); this can cause a paper to be sent back to be checked again until corrections or recommended improvements are addressed.

I need to be clear when I say this, in that there are famous cases of papers published, that have since been withdrawn or refuted due to their method and/or analysis. The Wakefield paper around MMR (see the British Medical Journal, here). Some do not make it out of the department, because of concerns about flawed, or even fabricated data. Yes, scientists are human and sometimes people make mistakes or try to game the system. This is why there are checks to ensure the research is valid.

The Cass Review – and I mention this as a different example, in that we’re not talking about the above Wakefield issues – has come under criticism from other research groups and experts, around the validity of the research data. That information was – in the critics’ words – “cherry picked” with little explanation why some sources were more ‘valid’ than others.

So yeah, checks & balances seem built into the system, and just because you are delayed from publishing, this doesn’t mean you’re being oppressed or the shadowy forces of Big Pharma* are out to get you; sometimes, and it’s a harsh truth, your paper doesn’t satisfy the necessary controls in order to be started, researched, or released.

( /S As the Trans Mafia have an agreement with Big Pharma, I’m not at liberty to say who their sock puppet officials are 😁 but I will say we need to up our game, ‘cos the conspiracy nutters seem to be dismantling years of evidence based progress and leaning in hard to quackery & woo 😁)

On the point of academic freedom, there are topics where organisations are deeply uncomfortable and do not wish to engage with. I’ll include funding bodies in that catch all, not just universities and scientific institutions. Race Science is one of those subjects and I’m sure there are others. Am I comparing anti-trans investigations to racism? No, I am saying in the context of freedom, there are still limits.

Wibble

Given the above long-winded paragraphs, I’m now thinking it should have been the Good, the Bad, and the Waffle. But that would make me think of delicious, carb-rich, toasty snacks, warmed gently in the toaster, and with a rich buttery topping…. not exactly ideal for summer slimming 😁

Talking of which, I’ve managed to cut my bread and beer intake this week, and while I’m not back to a 16, I feel less bloated. 🙂

So, from a not waffle point of view, I had the good fortune to attend a round table event chaired by our local Labour MP.

I did, but of course, have the usual Imposter Syndrome of Not Being Trans Enough. I did wonder if I would’ve been better going in Lynn Mode, but trust was not to be. I’m not complaining, only observing. With Child 2.0 having finished his mock exams, he had a much needed day off. Likewise, the Ever Lovely Mrs J joined me in a Friday off, as she needed some recovery after a minor medical procedure.

As Mrs J and I had a coffee out, I shared my feelings, and bless her, she listened and provided wise advice. Pretty much not to listen to the negative voice, but to remember that I’m Child 2.0’s Dad, and I help run Chameleons. That the anti trans stuff affects me, even if this isn’t my everyday experience. But the hostility, the bullying, the lies, the abuse, and the legal rulings hit all trans people; regardless of where they are under the big ol’ umbrella 🏳️‍⚧️ Understandably, this helped 🩷

For privacy reasons it would be wrong to name the trans people there, and equally, I won’t go into who said what. Some of you may call this Chatham House Rules.

What I will say is I think the meeting was positive and that steps are being taken to improve things. Will it all be sorted by Christmas? No, it won’t, but I’ll take gradual improvements over further regression.

Primary concerns were safety in public (yeah, been there every as a ‘part timer’ – sorry, Jo; I know you’re not a fan of that term 🩷) and avoiding engaging with hateful forces.

Did I just say all concerns are hateful? No, but some behaviours are. For example, a resident might say I’m worried about what an asylum centre might do to the village, meaning they are concerned about traffic, protest groups, the impact on local services, and/or the safety of those fleeing war & persecution. Those concerns may be unfounded and even if not, conversation and discussion can help address them. Conversely, their are…. people with very strong views anti-immigration and are both vocal & active. Sometimes, as we saw last summer, violently so.

I think with the trans equality situation, there are some people who don’t know us; who don’t know more than the misinformation they’re exposed to; or who’ve been raised under the roof of ‘queer is bad’. I think if someone comes in kindness and with curiosity, there’s an opportunity for us all to learn.

However, we must be wary of those who seek to disrupt, to sow fear & hate, while hiding behind the false façade of innocence.

Therein lies the rub.

I feel it’s going to be long walk and certainly not a straightforward one. Still, if you don’t try, things won’t improve. Big Girl Pants on!

L x