Sex, Lies, and an Invidious Landscape

Why is it that trans organisations, charities, activists and the media want to present trans people as frail, weak, eternal victims?

 

It's an integral counterweight that allows for the excesses of trans activism, that's why. How, for example, can we be so fixated on Karen White's crimes and wary about what could happen when trans people face such terrible discrimination and violence? How dare you get so caught up in outrage over Vancouver rape relief centre being terrorised, or the shrill, authoritarian Labour Campaign for Trans Rights demanding A Woman's Place and LGB Alliance members be expelled from the party? 

'Don't you know what trans folx are going through right now?'

In September, The Canary stated - 'We stand in solidarity with the trans community against the physical, emotional, and cultural violence being perpetrated against them. Paris Lees explains what's really happening.'  

In her thread, Paris claims lots of things I would argue with, but I'll stick to her claim;

'THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A TRANS WOMAN OF COLOUR IN THE U.S. IS JUST 35'

It's commonly cited, Patricia Arquette has also said it, as has Indya Moore, although they claim it is for all trans women. But it isn't true.

While trans women of colour are certainly among the more vulnerable of those under the trans umbrella, by far those most at risk of murder are trans sex workers in Latin America, and that's where most of the data comes from. In addition, their average life expectancy was not 35 either. The average age of those who were murdered was 35 or younger. Which is not a surprise, as murder tends to happen to young people.

As well as this, a high number of these victims were sex workers, a notoriously dangerous life. 

And, how many women are murdered in the same conditions? I'll leave this (before I'm derailed) with a suggestion you try putting 'femicide + Latin America' into a search engine. These countries are obscenely dangerous, and it's a tragedy that hits in every angle.

(I could go on and on here and still not cover it as well as Katie Herzog at The Stranger;  - I definitely suggest taking your traffic this-a-way and rewarding such good, thorough and brave journalism).

TRANS PEOPLE FACE A GROWING EPIDEMIC OF MURDER!

Well, again - no. To work this out, we do get somewhat stumped by irregular or bad recording; this is becoming more and more of a problem. Legal fictions that erase the 'trans' could leave those with doctored birth certificate being wrongly overlooked as that adopted sex, according to some activists (this is one of those times when the 'trans' prefix is readily embraced), or maybe they are just closeted. Which is valid too!

Luckily, the press, an unending mob of LGBTQIA2S+ organisations and HRC never stop looking for the transphobia angle so while this argument pops up everywhere, I wonder if there's actually anything of substance they do have?

So bear that in mind, look at TDoR's spurious attempts to pass random gunpoint robbery as targeted anti trans hate and remember the definition is so broad that Dennis Rodman would be considered a woman.

These LGBTQIAA2S+ organisations have thousands of eyes watching out for anyone who might fall through the net.

Last year's Trans Day of Remembrance, 331 trans murders were recorded. I often see this attributed to just America, but no - 331 murders of trans people on planet earth. 

Around half occur in Latin America, so I won't repeat myself there.  

In America in 2017, professor Wilfred Riley at Kentucky state university studied the murder rate of trans people using data from the HRC (human rights council - an extremely pro-trans activism organisation) and FBI. He found that out of 100,000 trans people, 1.48 were murdered every year. This is significantly lower than the general population, at around 5 out of 100,000. For men generally it is 6.68, and for black men it is a staggering 18.8.

Average rate of murder per 100,000

Black Men = 18.8

Men = 6.68

General Population = 5

Trans People = 1.48

(Trans murder rate 'surprisingly low' -https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/8/transgender-homicide-rate-remarkably-low-despite-h/ or transcript, here

If, after all this, we factor in how many were killed by partners during domestic violence (like many, many women), how many were killed during robberies, hit and runs or other non-transphobia-motivated crimes I think we would have a very different picture again.

Verilybitchie does a great bit of unpacking here and here, for Queer Majority.

The UK murder rate of trans people in the UK according to Channel 4 fact here there were nine murders between 2007-2018. In addition I've looked at the records of Stonewall and Trans Day of Remembrance to come up to today.

The Channel 4 article was pretty good considering just how explosive this conversation is, but it gets some things wrong and avoids others totally.

Of the 9 deaths (found on TDoR records), one is Vikki Thompson. Thompson was found to have accidentally killed herself.  She was covered very sympathetically in the press - its a very sad story of a really damaged, vulnerable person - but she wasn't in a women's prison because she never applied for a transfer, and had been jailed for robbing a young girl and mother. 

Jacqueline Cowdry's death was initially reported as a murder but then found at inquest to be not suspicious.

So, thats 7 murders. One of these was Sonia Burgess, who was killed by another trans women, Nina Kinagassingham. Since Naomi Hersi in 2018, I haven't been able to find another murder of a trans person in the uk, which is surely a good thing?

Also between 2007 to today, we have had these murders perpetrated by trans people:

1) Kayleigh Louise Woods, tortured and killed her flatmate, Bethany Hill, with Bethany's ex boyfriend, Jack Williams, who she was now dating. Woods later had to be moved from a women's prison after having sex with other inmates. 2016

2) Craig Hudson/ Kimberly Green. Murdered wife along with other members of his family. She had been forced to write letters to reassure her parents she was ok. She was in her second pregnancy when the targeting began and after having the baby she was never seen again. She was found dead in a carpet, weighing 6 stone and with her ear split in two, her lip detached from her face, broken bones and cigarette burns.

3) Gerald Matovu, killed a man after repeatedly meeting gay men on tinder, drugging and robbing them.  He met Eric Michaels on Grindr in 2018, and gave him a lethal dose of GHB, leaving him dead, only to be found later by his children. Matovu and his boyfriend, an accomplice, were later caught on CCTV using the victim's credit cards. He is now transitioning in prison.

4) Gavin / Joyce Boyd, who murdered a 20 yr old girl who was his friend. 2008. He also has convictions for breaking into a woman's home and raping her.

5) Jenny Swift murdered her friend, Eric Flanagan, a father of two, in 2016. The attack was said to be 'totally unprovoked' and precipitated by a heavy drink and drug session of Swift's. One medic described it as 'the worst stabbing I have seen in my entire career in the ambulance service'.

6) Claire Darbyshire was found guilty of murdering her father. She was recently on a documentary with Ross Kemp on Belmarsh and a lot of people praised her as the murder was apparently a mercy killing, although carers disagreed with her, as did the court. She had been imprisoned before after breaking into her friend and bosses home and ejaculating and defecating all over her underwear. 2015

7) Melissa Young murdered elderly neighbour by repeatedly stabbing him after he was 'ungrateful' over Xmas present. Young had previously assaulted him. 2013

8) Paris Green, along with two men brought another back to their house for a drinking session. They robbed, beat him up then tortured him. Green sexually assaulted him with a rolling pin. Then they killed him. 2013

9) A trans man - Hannah/ Adam Bonser, murdered a 13 yr old girl 2012, stabbing the unknown child to death.

10) Nina Kinagassingham, threw friend in front of a tube train in 2010

11) William / Jilly Jaggs, 23. Stabbed Lucy Braham, 25, to death at her family home. Jaggs forced his way into the house and ferociously attacked her, cutting off her clothes with scissors. She had 66 stab injuries and Jaggs continued to mutilate her body after she died. 2007

12) Christopher Hunnisett. Hunnisett, 28, had begun a relationship with his victim Peter Bick after meeting through an online dating site. He had searched for Mr Bick after compiling a “hit list” of 900 supposed child sex offenders made up from gossip by fellow prisoners. The court was told that “not a shred of evidence” existed to show Mr Bick was a paedophile. Mr Bick had been bludgeoned and strangled with a shoelace.

Just four months before the murder of Mr Bick, Hunnisett had been acquitted at a retrial of drowning and dismembering 81-year-old Rev Ronald Glazebrook in 2001, for which he had served 8 years. Mr Glazebrook's head and limbs were found in a sports bag in Hastings, East Sussex, his dumped torso in Eastbourne. Hunnisett had accused Glazebrook of attempting a sexual assault.

After 2015 Hunnisett began to identify as a woman. He appeared at the high court (where he had pursued - unsuccessfully - a claim against the prison service for keeping him on segregation) he told the court 'I have cut off my testicles and sliced the shaft of my penis in half', complaining that the prison had 'a lack of respect' by recording this as self harm and not using female pronouns. 

13) Paul 'Keira' Fitzgerald originally imprisoned for the brutal assault and rape of a woman walking her dog, Fitzgerald decided to kill while in a sex offender's prison. He made plans to kill several, and first targeted Richard Huckle, 'Britains worst paedophile'. He enjoyed the rape, torture and murder of Huckle so much he was caught in the act, unable to continue onto any further victims

Non transsexual, but under trans umbrella:

14) Roderick Deakin-White, a transvestite who murdered his partner after she complained about his presenting as female. 2019

15) Graham Cleary-Senior, a transvestite. After what was apparently an 18 year marriage of continual domestic violence, he murdered his wife by stabbing in 2015

16) Philip Tarver, 47, stabbed his 86 year old mother in the heart, decapitated her, placing her head in a box in the freezer, and cut off her wedding ring finger and boiled it in a kettle. He then tried to blame his elderly father.  Tarver had lived in the family home for most of his life, and was open with his parents about his transvestism. On the morning of the murder he had come downstairs in a see-through negligee, before attacking his mother and then setting on his father when he tried to help her. Mrs Tarver had been severely disabled for nearly 30 years after a stroke. 2019.

17) Paul Hayhurst, a transvestite leading a double life, murdered his partner 2010 with a stab to the heart. After waiting about half an hour, Hayhurst staged a panicked call to emergency services, having placed the knife in his dying partner's hand.

18) Colin Coats, a transvestite, tortured Lynda Spence over 2 weeks having kidnapped her and tied her to a lounger, fully reclined, where she was left to urinate, defecate and forced to lie in it for the duration. He and another man paid regular visits to torture her by burning with an iron, cutting off her finger and thumbs to threaten someone else and breaking her legs with golf clubs, before murdering her. Lynda's body has never been found. 2013

19) Rowan Thompson, strangled his mother then stabbed her 118 times. Died before standing trial. 2019

Since 2007, seven trans people have been murdered, one by another trans person. In that same time, 19 trans people have been convicted of murder.

Attempted murder by a trans person; 

Lauren Jeska, went to the office of UK athletics and repeatedly stabbed him when he had asked for evidence of hormone levels (she was a pro fell runner, completing alongside women) 2016

Helen Doe, axed brother in the head while he slept. After the ambulance arrived, Doe said that he had intended to kill him. 2015

Joanne Latham tried to murder fellow patient in hospital. 2011. Latham also has two previous convictions for attempted murder. 

Alan / Sarah Baker, tried to murder fellow prisoner while serving a life sentence for kidnap and torture. 

Liam Suleiman / Lucy Edwards, tried to kill member of staff at Ashworth hospital 2018.

And again, if, after all this, we factor in how many were killed by partners during domestic violence (like many, many women), how many were killed during robberies, hit and runs or other non-transphobia-motivated crimes I think the 'killed for being trans' would cease flying, drop tothe ground and crawl away.

It is breathtakingly deceitful and manipulative to be constantly pushing this line. Why does anyone want trans people to believe this?

TRANS PEOPLE ARE AT HUGE RISK OF SUICIDE

Sadly, this is true. But it's more complex than suggesting it has a singular factor, and we desperately need to look at those factors around causation as well as be very, very cautious about how we discuss suicide, because suicide is a contagious tragedy, and it's time for editors, journalists, charities and activists to take note.

Janice Turner tackles the intense hyperbole of activists like Helen Belcher and Paris Lees and makes some important points here, in Suicides should never be a political weapon.

The Movement Advancement Project, a 'think tank speeding up equality for LGBT people' did an in-depth report on this. The report, in collaboration with Johnson Family Foundation, American Foundation for  Suicide Prevention, National Coalition for LGBT Health, GLAAD, The TREVOR Project and many more, said;

'Research has shown a link between repeated, sensationalized media coverage of suicide, and a subsequent increase in suicide deaths—a phenomenon known as suicide contagion. 

Contagion risk tends to occur when there is a high volume and prominence of media stories about a suicide death.... and when 

persons who have died by suicide are depicted in ways that encourage identification by vulnerable individuals.'

(For more information, read Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide,http://reportingonsuicide.org

Mermaids;'JK Rowling's comments have caused self harm and suicide attempts'  

Jeanette Jennings; 'I'd rather have a live daughter than a dead son'   
 NPR; 'LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Survey: 40% Have Considered Suicide in Past Year' 
LGBTQ Nation: 'Study finds Epidemic of Suicide Among Trans youth'

Pink News: 'One Third of Trans Youth Attempted Suicide in Past Year'

Transit: DO NOT DELAY. You have a moral responsibility as a parent to ensure the safety and happiness of your child as they grow up. If you allow them to go through their genitical puberty, you could very well end up with a dead child. Transgender people under the age of 25 are 5x more likely to commit suicide than their non-transgender peers, according to official statistics. This is directly related to trauma brought about by their puberty (if they went through their self-mutilating genetical puberty), and abuse that they might receive because of that, especially if they start *not passing as their desired gender* as a result.'

From the Samaritans:

'Avoid dramatic headlines and strong terms such as ‘suicide epidemic’. Oversimplification of the causes or perceived  ‘triggers’ for a suicide can be misleading. Suggestion that a single circumstance or incident, such as bullying, job loss, relationship breakdown or a bereavement, was the cause increases the risk of contagion. 

Vulnerable people experiencing similar issues are more likely to over-identify with the deceased when a single reason is given.

Avoid making unsubstantiated links' 

https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines/media-guidelines-reporting-suicide/

Susie Green, (CEO of Mermaids and well known public activist) 

'Tell that to the 4 families who donated funeral collections to Mermaids last year, after their children took their own lives. Each and every life lost because of prejudice and bigotry. Honestly, you need to fuck off. You know nothing'

Samaritans;'Steer clear of presenting suicidal behaviour as an understandable response to a crisis or adversity. This can... normalise suicide as an appropriate response to distress.

When media suggest that suicide 

is a natural response to such external factors... they may be more likely to think of suicide as a solution."

Interesting, then, that ITV's Butterfly, a drama heavily influenced by Susie Green of Mermaids tale of realisation her son was in fact a girl, also used the suicide narrative frequently (and erroneously implied the previous year four of their clients had committed suicide.) 

An investigation by associate professor Michael Biggs, in response to the Mermaids - informed ITV drama 'Butterfly' was carried out in 2018. He contacted GIDS, the gender identity development service at the Tavistock, a service for young people and children with gender dysphoria said 'suicide is extremely rare, with one case in the service in the last decade, of a young person who was inpatient at a psychiatric ward with severe psychiatric difficulties .'

Mr Biggs made a freedom of information request on the subject and ultimately found that over the course of 10 years there had been four suicides and four attempted suicides. Tragic, indicative of profound indivual suffering, but not quite as Susie Green wants us to believe. And then we need to ask why. Why does a mother who knows the shock, struggle, pain of a child coming out, not knowing what to do, want other parents to believe they will potentially cause their child to take their own life is they aren't affirmed?

*Please see https://gendercriticalwoman.wordpress.com/2019/09/12/suicide-in-the-trans-community/ for her excellent coverage which I've badly skimmed over here, along with Fair Play for Women, txtslady and

https://www.transgendertrend.com/a-scientist-reviews-transgender-suicide-stats/

So, why, for the love of God, Dog and my gendered soul, are organisations supposedly here to protect and advocate for gender dysphoric youth behaving like this? Why are we supposed to be supporting a narrative that trans people are always trans, even when other issues like sexual abuse, psychiatric issues, social contagion via social media (ROGD), that they are murdered and despised by feminists and frequently driven to suicide? 

Mermaids on suicide prevention day, 2019;"Studies show that, just by using a transgender person’s correct name and pronouns, their anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts reduce to almost the same as their cisgender counterparts.

"We know that by failing to support trans children and young people, we are losing them to suicide."

Susie Green, The Daily Mail; “The blockers offer the only chance for them to stop the terrible trauma their children have started to go through as they begin to develop into a sex they feel is absolutely alien to them.”

“The self-harm and suicide rate among transgender teens is extremely high so offering blockers saves lives. It’s quite simple.”

Green reels off shocking figures from a 2014 study by the mental health charity Pace which surveyed 2,000 young people with gender issues: 48% attempt suicide, 58% self-harm. “It’s really common.” She pauses. “You can see why we’re worried.”

The study Susie is citing here was actually an online, anonymous questionaire. A non-probability sampling method that was targeted via online LGBTQ organisations, so already this is steered directly at youth who are reading LGBTQ media. I wonder how, knowing suicide and self harm are so frequently presented as a way those who REALLY are trans will behave, what that affect has young people. 

2,078 people completed the survey, of whom 120 were trans, and just 27 were under 26. So, out of a study that actually comprised 26 people, on an anonymous questionaire targeted at those already accessing trans groups and pages, THIRTEEN claimed to have attempted suicide in the past. 

The manipulative and underhand tactics among this movement, this relentless and unbounded grab to play victim, rescuer, persecutor, that batters those who dissent as bile-fuelled bigots while directly flouting guidelines on how to discuss the most sensitive issues responsibly, are staggering.

Threatening or insinuating there will be devastating consequences by way of victimising oneself is common, from toddlers who hold their breath to the crap parental guilt trip of 'that made me feel so sad',  emotional blackmail right the way to extreme domestic violence. To force someone into the role of persecutor by way of harming oneself, 'look what you made me do'. It's something adolescents do as they find their boundaries and scope of control. It's a very difficult attitude to deal with, when we love that person, and if they're our child and we are aware of the pressure to affirm. The most powerful threat is not to us, but to those we love most.

PUBERTY BLOCKERS, AFFIRMATION AND TRANSITION ARE THE ONLY WAY TO COUNTER THIS EPIDEMIC

Except, no. Left to their own devices, with support, the vast majority of children will desist by mid puberty. Stories where children are removed from those who mindlessly affirm, from their computers and smartphones, and then come to the realisation they are simply lesbian or gay are very common. The anecdotal reports of children going from extreme bullying for being gay, seen as weird and gender non-conforming, to coming out as trans and being celebrated by their peers are very common. Adolescence can be absolutely horrendous - racked with insecurity and fear; self conscious, searching for identity and community; feeling powerless and insignificant while simultaneously conspicuous. To then believe you've found the answer, a source of your pain, that is widely recognised as both vulnerable and brave (there's a definite romance to this) that has a strong prominence, that forces the adults to sit up and be very fucking careful with their words - that can bring all non-parental authority figures to the table to admonish your parents - this is a new drug. It feels far more threatening to the status quo than punk, and you are given a pedestal of moral superiority. Real power. I can see how completely intoxicating that is for many young people in pain.

but modern trans activism doesnt want you to think about this. These kids are expressing only their true, authentic selves. And they may commit suicide if they're hindered in their quest to fulfill it. 

This mean puberty blockers are the answer? 

Here's what I found with a quick search online;

'You will not get puberty blockers before your puberty damages you if using NHS. The only way to guarantee it is to self-medicate.'

This site then directs to GenderGP, an online practice which was founded by Helen Webberly, who was struck off and fined for illegally prescribing hormone blockers and cross sex hormones to children as young as 12. She then moved the business outside of the UK to circumvent the law in the UK     

https://transit.org.uk/children.html

'You can request blockers or full HRT, even at age 12. They have prescribed full HRT to children in the past! Go to the GenderGP clinic. You do not have to go to them physically, you can do everything over the internet, and they are licensed doctors. If you want *prescribed* HRT (or just blockers, if that’s what you want, but they also will prescribe full HRT if you want it), then this is your best bet. The NHS, by comparison, will make you wait, and by that time you’re screwed because you have breasts. Or a beard. Or a deep voice. Or periods. Don’t delay! These people are here to help you.'

'PARENTS: this is IMPORTANT!'

"You need to make sure that your child DOES NOT go through their genetical puberty, the one that their body is programmed to go through. It makes most trans people depressed, or worse, suicidal, especially as they get older. If you love your child, you will let them take hormones, including hormone blockers, as early as physically possible."

Well, the question now is; does transition help?

From Gender HQ -  'The Swedish National Board found that people with gender dysphoria who commit suicide have a very high rate of co-occurring serious psychiatric diagnoses, which in themselves sharply increase risks of suicide. Further, they found that the general population with no gender dysphoria diagnosis but with other psychiatric diagnoses, had even higher suicide rates than the gender-dysphoric population. Another study (Wiepjes 2020) states that suicides happen at all stages of transition, including post medical transition.

Unfortunately, no studies to date have shown that affirmation of children or adolescents reduces suicide, prevents suicidal ideation, or improves long-term outcomes, as compared to either “watchful waiting” or psychotherapy (Biggs 2020). High post-transition suicide rates found in the adult populations further complicates the “transition or suicide” narrative. It is vital that debate regarding the treatments and outcomes in the area of transgender health is conducted in a fair, responsible, and intellectually rigorous way, to improve the quality of the available evidence and to provide gender-dysphoric individuals, their families, and their clinicians with accurate information on which they can base their decisions.'

https://www.genderhq.org/trans-youth-suicide-statistics-kill-themselves-manipulate-parents

Gender dysphoria is a psychological condition. Where more traditional patriarchal society has demanded we change our behaviour to fit our bodies and the roles that we are assigned, this new order claims it is our bodies and gender roles we should change. That's how we can be our true selves, as if we all have an immutable, constant self. However many times you might ask for an explanation of what this true self that's liberated and expressed by transition is, I've never seen it be articulated without implied reference to an eternal, authentic self which is to be pursued, unearthed and polished. Even tiny children, toddlers, have this burning truth they must express. It lies there, restless and tormenting, like a little stone in your shoe. It has to be identified to stop the suffering. It must be honoured, for it is immutable and innate. Read some parent's stories of how they were forced to recognise this - look for descriptions over stereotypes and emotions like despair and rage. What is it they are trying to describe? Is it a soul?

A cohort study in Sweden from 1973-2003 studied 'Persons with transsexualism, after sex reassignment, have considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behaviour, and psychiatric morbidity than the general population. Our findings suggest that sex reassignment, although alleviating gender dysphoria, may not suffice as treatment for transsexualism' https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885

I at this stage began to collect data on puberty blockers, but the amount of deeply concerning material is massive and distressing, so it'll have to fit in another blog (A long list of links on puberty blockers, childhood transition, detransition etc is here). Overall tho, it seems apparent that children and their parents have not been given full disclosure on the risks, known and unknown. There are significant issues with suicidal ideation actually increasing, while the behaviour appears to turn from internalized to external. For natal boys there are significant problems later on if they choose to go for sex reassignment surgery later on as blocking puberty leaves them with children's pre-pubescent genitals. This means there is insufficient tissue to invert and form a neovagina. In addition to that while puberty blockers are sold to us as a magical pause button, the evidence shows they begin a cascade of intervention and map the way ahead to transition. Very few children (1% at the Tavistock) will take puberty blockers and then desist, as most would without them. Pubery will more often than not resolve the problems, and this obviously will be hard, these children need a lot of love and support, and anecdotally physical activities that can help them to bond with their bodies and feel some pride in their material self. To get outside, away from the bright lights, mirrors, pressure and introspection of modern life where we are sedentary, online, inside. Sadly I envisage a looming torrent of court cases with young people forever harmed by a medical profession that is sworn to help them. I really wouldn't be the parent of a trans child for tea in China and I can only imagine how they and their children are feeling. It is a medical scandal

I wait with baited breath to discover what the real objective is here. It can't be these children, and neither is it the anxious, insular, easily frightened trans people I know who are gleefully informed by self righteous liars they are intensely hated by feminists and will forever walk a tightrope, teetering between suicide and murder, while forever vigilant, straining to make out the dogwhistles from the applause.

This is about something other than the welfare of trans people and the tactics are propaganda campaigns which enable violent men to do what they want.

Challenge this. Remember what the women before us fought for, and don't give it away for momentary fluffy feels.